Cassia sat hugging her knees. Her eyes were closed, but small tremors that periodically ran through her body betrayed that she was awake.
Reinhard was sitting nearby, though his attention was on Sunless and Nephis instead.
1000 strikes? Damn, that's a lot.
Slightly motivated to start his own training, Reinhard stood up from his spot and went a bit further away, sitting near the edge of the statue, he gazed down at the receding sea.
To his companions it would simply look like he was relaxing, but Reinhard was currently increasing his adaptability towards Soul essence control, and by extension Spirit essence absorption.
A few moments passed, and by the time Sunless was done performing the thousand strikes, Cassie was finally ready to speak.
Reinhard and Nephis were already sitting near her, Sunless approached tiredly, then looking at her he asked.
"Cassie? Do you feel better?"
Several seconds later, the blind girl slowly nodded.
"Can I have some water?"
Cassie turned towards Sunless and scowled, as though confused by the question. Then, she suddenly gasped and opened her eyes wide.
"Oh! Oh, sorry. Yes, of course…"
Hah.
Sunless took the bottle memory with a smile and greedily drank a few gulps before giving the bottle to Nephis. Eventually, it returned to Cassie.
"You drink some too."
After she did, Reinhard decided that was enough beating around the bush.
He was very curious to know just what she had seen to have such a reaction.
"If you are feeling fine, can you tell us what happened? Was it a vision?"
Cassie turned her head towards his voice, she dismissed the bottle memory then spoke in a timid voice.
"Yes.. I think. It was all so confusing, I don't even know what I saw."
Reinhard did not judge her on that, he didn't know what it felt like to get visions after all.
I could still handle it better though...
Internally shaking his head he got his mind back on track.
"I don't really remember much. It's all in fragments."
Oh c'mon who forgets important stuff like that?!
"Tell us what you remember."
Right after he said that, Reinhard could practically feel Changing star's and Sunless's gazes on his back.
What's your problem? I have full right to be direct here!
Cassie curled into herself a bit more, then she looked down.
After a long pause, she finally found the courage to speak:
"At first, I saw a… a boundless darkness locked behind seven seals. Something vast was churning in the darkness. I felt like if I directly saw it, I would lose my mind. As I watched, terrified, the seals broke one after another, until only one remained. And then that seal broke, too."
She trembled a little.
"After that… I don't know. It was as though my mind shattered into a thousand shards, each shard reflecting its own image. Most of them were dark and scary. Some I have already forgotten. The other…"
Cassie fell silent for a moment, remembering.
"I saw the human castle again. Only this time, it was night. There was a lone star burning in the sky, but somehow everything still felt dark. At the very top of the castle, I saw a dim light."
Her voice became quieter.
"There was a dark figure standing near it. In one hand, the figure held a bright silver hammer, and in the other, silver smithing tongs. In front of them was an anvil glowing with white light… they were forging something. Then the figure raised the hammer and struck the anvil. And the entire castle lit up with a blinding light. After that, I saw a corpse in golden armor sitting on a throne. Thin, almost translucent strings were attached to every limb of the corpse, disappearing into the air above it."
Cassie's brows furrowed.
"Then the scene changed again. I saw the whole city from above. Similar strings stretched out from every settlement, every tower… even the castle itself. All of them converged toward a dark figure floating beneath the lonely star. The figure was covered by a cloak. I couldn't see their face. But all those strings… they seemed to come from their hands.
Then I saw a woman with a bronze spear drowning beneath a tide of monsters. An archer trying to pierce the falling sky with his arrows…"
Finally, she looked up, her face full of horror.
"In the end, I saw a colossal, terrifying crimson spire. At its base, seven severed heads were guarding seven locks. And at the top, I saw something.."
Cassie's expression twisted slightly, as though the memory itself hurt.
"I don't remember what it was, but the moment I saw it, I suddenly felt as though… as though something so precious that it can't be described with words was taken from me."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Then, I felt so much sorrow, pain and rage that what little remained of my sanity seemed to disappear. And that was the moment I forgot what it was.. I think. And maybe... that's when I woke up too."
Reinhard, Nephis and Sunless remained silent for a while, each trying to make sense of what Cassie had told them.
I was expecting it to be a lot more decipherable.
Most of it sounded fragmented and symbolic. A normal person would probably dismiss it as a nightmare born from stress and exhaustion.
But Reinhard knew one thing for certain.
If the vision truly meant something, then the figures Cassie had described in such detail were important.
There was the archer, the corpse in golden armor, and the woman with the bronze spear. But when Reinhard thought about those two... Well, his intuition was telling him they weren't supposed to be ignored.
In fact, the more he thought about the vision, the less it resembled a simple nightmare.
***
After some discussion, they decided to leave the stone statue the next day.
Now, with nothing pressing to do, Reinhard simply lay on his back near the edge of the platform. His cloak Memory had been folded beneath his head as a pillow.
With the excitement of the past few days slowly fading, even training [Soul Essence Control] felt tedious to him.
Lying there peacefully was surprisingly very relaxing.
So while enjoying his break, Reinhard observed others. Nephis was doing her favorite free time activity—meditation.
Sunless and Cassie being the two most socially adept people of the four, were sitting a few meters away and chatting.
Considering the smiles, the conversation was probably going well.
Reinhard listened absentmindedly from a distance. He could probably join in if he wanted to, but just listening to them was enough to satisfy his boredom so there was no need.
***
Thanks for reading the chapter.
This one took a lot of time to write because I had to do a lot of brain storming for the future.
I am curious to know what you think about the vision.
Who are the two figures? Are they oc's? or something else?
Why didn't Cassie know about what happened atop the crimson spire this time around? Did she really forget? Or is she simply hiding it? :)
I would love to read your theories, suggestions or ideas related to this fic.
See you later.