Meanwhile, in the Nurture gang's base…
The room was dark except for the strip of light coming from the outside. Joan was sprawled across the bed, with only a thin bedsheet barely covering her figure. As always, her blade was on the nightstand within arm's reach.
She was lost in deep sleep when suddenly her fingers began to twitch. Then her brow pulled together, the small muscles around her eyes tightening like something behind them was pressing outward.
A moment later, her breath changed. It wasn't calm like before, becoming shallower and faster. Faint and intelligible sounds escaped her parted lips, and she began thrashing around.
Images and sounds she had never been able to forget looped in her nightmares.
It was the scene of a temple. It had been serene and quiet. The trainees were lighting incense and washing the temple. Like in thousands of nightmares before, Joan was asked to bring a bucket of water by Sister Maren while High Priestess Dova blessed everyone.
