"Ugh… My head."
Cassia groaned, the splitting pain from earlier still echoing behind her eyes.
Her vision was a blurry mess. When it finally cleared, she realized she wasn't in the wooden cabin. There was no farm. No long table. No Natsu, and no guests.
"Where… am I?" she muttered.
She looked around. There was nothing but an endless expanse of illuminated darkness and heavy, black mist. Her boots clicked against a surface she couldn't see.
Slowly, she anchored herself. She stood up, though her legs felt like lead and her head continued to throb.
"This isn't the farmland," she said, her voice swallowed by the void.
You're right where you should be.
The voice spoke directly into her mind. It was the same distorted, mocking tone that had broken her composure at the dinner table. It sounded playful, but it was dripping with venom. It was the voice of an abyss.
Have you forgotten already? What you need to do? What a shame…
"Fuck you!" Cassia snapped.
She turned on her heel, scanning the shifting mist. Her pulse thudded heavily in her ears—not like her own heartbeat, but like the frantic, racing footsteps of a frightened child.
Then, a movement caught the corner of her eye. A shadow darted just out of sight. She spun around to face it, but it immediately flicked to the edge of her vision again. It was playing with her.
"Why don't you stay still for a moment?" Cassia challenged, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her dagger. "Too shy to show yourself?"
Hahaha… Hahaha!
A diabolical laugh echoed from all directions, sending a cold chill down her spine. The shadow moved faster now. It darted to her left, then her right, then directly behind her.
Cassia drew her dagger, the steel catching the strange light of the dark space. She slashed at the empty air, her breathing turning ragged.
You're weak, the voice whispered.
Still the lost little girl. Unloved. Unfortunate. Unwanted.
"Shut up!" Cassia yelled, her frustration boiling over.
She swung her blade wildly. Left, right, behind. But there was nothing to hit. Just the mist.
"Stop talking!" she shouted. "Who are you?! What do you want with me?!"
The shadow darted directly behind her again. Cassia felt the sudden shift in the air and reacted on instinct. She spun around, driving her dagger forward with all her weight.
Thuck.
The sound of steel biting into warm flesh echoed in the silence.
Cassia's eyes went wide.
The mist cleared. Standing before her wasn't a shadow. It was a young girl, barely half her size, wearing a simple white robe.
Cassia's blade was driven straight through the girl's chest.
Crimson blood welled up around the steel, trickling down the blade and dripping onto the dark floor.
Murderer.
Cassia froze.
The girl coughed up a mouthful of blood, her small hands clutching at Cassia's wrists. Then, her knees gave out. She fell backward onto the ground, Cassia's dagger still lodged deep in her chest.
She lay there, her eyes wide, her breathing slowing to a shallow rattle as the blood pooled beneath her.
"No…"
Her voice broke.
"No, no… No!"
Cassia dropped to her knees.
"Shuvi! No!"
Cassia pulled the dying girl into her arms, cradling her head. Tears spilled freely, blurring her vision.
"No, please… forgive me," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to."
She rocked the small form back and forth, her hands stained red. "Stay with me, please. Stay with me!"
Her grip tightened.
"Stay…"
Behind her, the mist shifted again.
Another child appeared from the darkness. She stepped quietly toward Cassia and slowly pressed her small hands against Cassia's face from behind.
Cassia froze. The touch was as cold as ice.
Traitor… the child whispered.
Cassia tried to turn her head, but her muscles refused to move. The air turned freezing. One by one, more figures began to emerge from the black mist.
The air froze in Cassia's throat like jagged ice, her tongue tasting of old iron as she watched them surround her. They were all young girls wearing identical white robes. Different faces, different ages, but all of them watching her with dead eyes.
"Please… don't do this," Cassia wept, her voice barely a whimper. "Please."
The child clinging to her back leaned closer, revealing her face. Her eyes were hollow black sockets. A wide, jagged grin cut across her bloodied cheeks.
As the other children drew closer, their features began to twist. Their faces disfigured, distorting into nightmarish shapes that didn't belong to the living. They moved toward Cassia as she sat slumped on the ground, unmoving.
Traitor. Murderer. Cheat.
The words echoed in a terrifying loop, overlapping until it sounded like a chorus of the dead.
Then, a new voice cut through the noise.
Cassia?
It was gentle. Familiar.
The nightmare figures parted, making way for a small girl with short, raven-black hair. She couldn't have been older than seven.
Cassia.
The little girl smiled warmly.
Fresh tears streamed down Cassia's face. The pain in her chest was almost unbearable.
"Eri… Eri, please," Cassia sobbed, her hands reaching out. "Please forgive me. I didn't mean to…"
Eri's smile softened, though it carried a heavy, unbearable sadness.
You promised, she whispered. You promised us.
The small girl took a step closer, stopping just a breath away from Cassia.
For a fraction of a second, Cassia thought the nightmare was over. She thought she had found an anchor.
Her hand trembled.
Then—
Eri's face warped.
Her jaw unhinged, opening impossibly wide as hollow darkness filled her eyes. Thick, dark blood poured from her eyes and mouth, dripping onto her white robe.
Her small, cold hand shot out, grabbing Cassia's face in a vice grip.
"You promised…"
YOU PROMISED US!
Cassia kept her eyes squeezed shut, but the voices wouldn't stop. They swirled around her, a rhythmic, haunting chant that felt like drowning.
CASSIA! CASSIA!
Then, a different sound broke through. It wasn't a chant; it was a plea.
"CASSIA! Miss Cassia! Wake up!"
The man's voice was sharp, cutting through the darkness of her mind like a blade through mist. Cassia hesitated. She didn't want to open her eyes and see the bloodied faces of the children again, but this voice felt… different. It was gentle. Careful.
"She's been groaning in her sleep for a while now," the voice muttered, sounding genuinely strained. "I'm getting worried."
Cassia's eyelids fluttered. Slowly, she forced them open. Her vision was a milky blur, the shapes of the room swimming before her. A figure sat at the edge of her bed, leaning close.
"She's waking up. Thank goodness," the figure whispered.
Focus returned in slow waves. The first thing she saw clearly was Natsu. He looked tired, his brow furrowed with concern. The sight of a familiar, living face caused the tightness in her chest to finally give way. She realized then that her face was damp—she had been crying in her sleep.
"Hey there," Natsu said softly. "You're finally awake. You've been having a rough time of it for a while now."
Cassia didn't speak. She couldn't. She just stared at him, her mind still half-trapped in the nightmare. She needed to know he was real. Reaching out a trembling hand, she pinched his left cheek.
She felt the warmth of his skin. She felt the slight stubble. To be sure, she gave his cheek a lingering tug.
"Mmmmmkayyy?" Natsu's voice came out muffled and distorted. He didn't pull away, though he looked baffled. "I'm not sure what that was for, but it looks like you had quite the nasty nightmare."
He reached out with a clean cloth and gently wiped the stray tears from her face.
In the corner of the room, Tanya and Anyael watched the exchange. Tanya looked on with a neutral, observing gaze, but Anyael's eyes were narrowed. She didn't like the way the mercenary was touching Natsu.
"Ehem!" Anyael cleared her throat loudly, the sound echoing in the quiet room.
The noise snapped Cassia back to full consciousness. Reality rushed in—she was in a bed, she was vulnerable, and she was casually pulling on the face of the man who owned this territory.
She let go as if his skin had turned to fire, her face burning with heat.
"Oh! I—I'm sorry, Natsu," she stammered, pulling her hand back to her chest. "Please forgive my transgression. I wasn't... I didn't mean to."
She tried to bolt upright, but a white-hot spike of pain drove through her temples.
"Ahhh! My head," she groaned, clutching her skull.
"Careful now," Natsu cautioned. He moved quickly, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder to guide her back down. "Don't go making sudden movements. You're still recovering."
Cassia didn't fight him. She let herself be assisted, sinking back into the soft pillows.
"Uuugghh… how long was I out?" she asked, her voice raspy. She needed to focus on the mission to hide the sheer embarrassment of her behavior.
"Almost two days, actually," Tanya answered from the foot of the bed. "You collapsed the evening before yesterday. It's midday now."
"That long?" Cassia groaned, closing her eyes against the sunlight filtering through the window. "Aagghh."
"Yeah. That long," Anyael added. Her tone was like ice, clipped and unfriendly.
Cassia looked at the two sisters, then shifted her gaze to the ceiling. As she shifted under the covers, she noticed a soft, light texture against her skin. It was too breezy, too comfortable. She looked down and realized her heavy leather armor and travel-worn tunic were gone.
In their place, she wore a simple sleeveless top made of soft cotton that left her shoulders bare. Her rugged trousers had been replaced by short, stretchable undergarments that stopped mid-thigh.
"Where are my clothes?!" Cassia asked, her voice rising in alarm.
"We had to change you," Tanya replied calmly. "Your gear isn't exactly meant for sleeping, and you were in a cold sweat. It wasn't comfortable." She pointed toward a small table in the corner. "Don't worry. Your equipment is right there."
Cassia looked. Her gear was stacked with a precision that bordered on the clinical.
On the table lay her form-fitting tactical leather bodice, the ornate silver filigree of the collar catching the dim lantern light like a cold reminder of her life in Azmuth. Beside it, her sleeveless black greatcoat was folded neatly, its tattered and frayed hem draped over the edge of the wood, revealing the flash of its vibrant teal lining.
Her glass vials, still filled with that strange, glowing teal liquid, were arranged in a row next to her elbow-length gauntlets. Seeing the sturdy combat boots and the reinforced leggings sitting uselessly in the corner made her feel exposed, as if her very skin had been peeled away.
"You didn't have to do all that..." Cassia remarked, her voice trailing off.
"We had to," Anyael rebutted, crossing her arms. "You were in pain. It's hard to help someone when they're wrapped in boiled leather and iron."
Cassia met Anyael's indifferent gaze for a moment before looking away. "I see…" she murmured. "What about my men? Where are they?"
"They're camping just outside," Natsu replied, reclaiming her attention with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Gent and the others are doing just fine. We've been keeping them fed."
Cassia scanned the rest of the room. Her eyes fell on a slumped figure on the floor right next to her bed. It was Lorie. The mage was fast asleep, her brown hair a tangled mess over her face, a small trail of drool escaping the corner of her mouth.
"Lorie?" Cassia whispered in surprise.
"Ah, yeah," Natsu said, scratching the back of his head. "Miss Lorie refused to leave your side. She cried for hours when you first went down. We couldn't get her to move, so we just let her sleep there."
A sharp prick of guilt hit Cassia. She looked at the sleeping girl, remembering the terrifying faces from her nightmare. She reached out, her fingers hovering over Lorie's hair before she gently smoothed the messy strands back.
"Mmmph… Lady Cassia…" Lorie mumbled in her sleep, leaning into the touch without waking.
Cassia pulled her hand back, her expression hardening again. She hated feeling this way—indebted, soft, and exposed.
"Thank you... for letting me know," she said quietly.
Natsu nodded and stood up to give her some space. But as the room grew quiet again, the final words of her nightmare echoed in the back of her mind, louder than the breeze outside.
I... promised.