While the night fell deeper and deeper, silence blanketed the Grimlock home. The fire in the hearth had dimmed to glowing embers, and the cold wind whispered faintly through the cracks in the windowpanes.
Shin lay asleep on the couch, his breathing steady, his face calm—until his fingers twitched, and his brow furrowed.
He was dreaming.
In his dream, he stood in a tranquil garden bathed in moonlight. Cherry blossoms drifted through the air, their petals glowing faintly as they fell upon a stone path. The air was warm, fragrant, and peaceful.
Beside him walked a woman.
She was beautiful—her long black hair straight and smooth, cut in the elegant style of a Hime. Her kimono shimmered with patterns of silver cranes and blue waves, and her eyes—pale, vibrant blue—seemed to hold both sorrow and serenity.
"Shin," she said softly, her voice like a melody carried by the wind. "You've come so far."
He turned to her, his heart tightening with a strange familiarity. "Who are you?"
She smiled faintly. "You've forgotten me again."
"I... I don't remember," he said, his voice trembling. "But I feel like I should."
She reached out, her fingers brushing his cheek. "You always forget, and yet you always return."
The garden shimmered around them, the moonlight flickering as if disturbed by an unseen force. The air grew heavy. The scent of blossoms turned to smoke.
Shin looked around, alarmed. "What's happening?"
The woman's expression changed—her smile fading, her eyes darkening. Flames erupted from the ground, devouring the trees, the flowers, the sky itself. The peaceful garden became an inferno.
"Stop!" Shin shouted, reaching for her hand. "What's going on?!"
But her form began to waver, her body dissolving into mist. The gentle blue of her eyes turned into a blazing crimson glow. Her laughter echoed through the burning air—sharp, cruel, and haunting.
"You still don't understand, do you?" she hissed, her voice now layered with echoes. "You can't escape it, Shin. You can't change what's been written."
Shin stumbled backward, shielding his face from the heat. "Who are you?! What do you mean?!"
The mist swirled around him, forming a fiery silhouette of the woman he once knew. Her laughter grew louder, almost inhuman.
"You won't succeed in your quest," she said, her tone dripping with venom. "You never have. You never will."
Shin fell to his knees, clutching his head as the flames closed in. "No! Tell me what this means! What quest?!"
Her voice became a whisper, fading into the roar of the fire. "You'll remember... when it's too late."
The world around him exploded in light and heat.
Shin gasped and jolted awake, drenched in sweat. The fire in the hearth had burned low, casting long shadows across the room. His heart pounded in his chest as he stared into the darkness, the echo of her laughter still ringing in his ears.
He pressed a trembling hand to his forehead, whispering to himself, "Who... was she?"
Outside, the wind howled through the frozen peaks, carrying with it a faint, distant sound—like laughter fading into the night.