There were nights where Djeeta was too afraid to sleep.
She never told anyone this, even if she suspected that some people knew. There were days where Lyria would ask her why she had bags under her eyes, and Djeeta would lie and say she had lost track of time while trying to figure out what she needed to do to craft a new Revenant Weapon.
Some days Djeeta would wake up before dawn, and until sunrise came she’d sit in the Raguda. Ladiva was always awake herself and she would always ask what was wrong, but she seemed to accept it if Djeeta preferred to keep it to herself. Ladiva knew enough, Djeeta had told her once and she suspected that either Morphe or Phoebe had used their domain over dreams to tell her more.
There were nights where Djeeta didn’t feel safe in her own dreams.
She didn’t want to tell Vyrn because he’d come to the wrong conclusions. Was she having nightmares of the time she had died? Either of the two times, between the Hydra and Cosmos? Was she terrified that she’d have a repeat of the incident with the Darkherald Scythe, where her hunger for power had left her vulnerable to influence by a chaotic power? Was it perhaps his fault, for the time she had to fight tooth and nail to save him from the great dragon he had sacrificed himself to?
The answer was a lot more complicated than that. There were definitely times where Djeeta dreamt of the past and relived the terror, but she had almost grown used to it.
The dreams that terrified Djeeta were the ones that had never happened. Dreams that sometimes felt so real she mistook them for memory. Dreams of people she knew well, but not as she knew them. Dreams that could have been the future if it wasn’t for the absence of her closest allies. Dreams of what-if and possibilities.
She should tell someone of these dreams, she knew. It would make them easier to bear. But some dark whisper in the back of her mind told her to keep it to herself, told her that people couldn’t understand. After all, she saw these dreams because…
Because why? Djeeta didn’t know. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
…Every time she stepped closer to the answer, she could feel the revulsion crawling through her skin. Like she was rotting fruit, with worms crawling through her body.
On that night, her dreams were vague and unformed. There was a courtroom and a prosecutor. An old Erune calling himself a King. Katalina was there, as a defendant. Usually in these dreams Djeeta could wonder as to how something could be and the answer came to her, but no answer came here. She would have dismissed it as a fantasy entirely for that, was it not for the sudden clarity and overwhelming sense of horror she felt as that King spoke.
“Zarazustra. Guillota. Remember those names well.”
Djeeta woke with a start, sweat heavy on her brow and dread heavy in her heart.
Who… Was that?
Whose names did those two belong to?
Her eye was itching as she blinked it open, but before she could try to rub it that itch fell away. There was a sense of helplessness in that nightmare, like Djeeta couldn’t do anything. That she had no control over what was going on. She hated that feeling.
It was long before dawn, but Djeeta didn’t think she could face Ladiva right now. She needed a bit more focus to calm her nerves.
…Guild Wars was coming up soon. Preparation and training could help Djeeta focus. People were used to her being weird about Guild Wars.
Standing from her bed and moving for the training halls, Djeeta tried to purge her mind of that nightmarish helplessness.
Azusa had found herself watching the Captain a lot recently.
It wasn’t like it was hard to keep an eye on Djeeta. The Captain of the Grandcypher was the sort of girl who just attracted attention rather easily. How could she not? When Narmaya had been lost enough to run away from home, Djeeta had still caught her eye.
The two of them happened to pass on training grounds a lot for one thing. Deep in the gigantic airship was a room full of training enchanted training dummies. Azusa spent a lot of time in that room to try to adjust for the damage to her eyesight and accuracy. The training dummies could keep track of how much damage they had taken and how many times they had been hit. When Azusa’s sword flickered ten times through the sky and the dummy only recorded seven hits, she got a better measure of how to improve her accuracy despite the haziness that kept overcoming her damaged eyes.
But if Azusa spent a lot of time in those training halls, she had to wonder if Djeeta ever left. The girl would leave for missions of course, but Azusa couldn’t recall ever being in this room while the Grandcypher was in transit without seeing that girl there. Sometimes she was alone, rearranging a set of weapons on the ground behind her before turning to test damage. Sometimes she was with an ally, trying to figure out the best order of attacks based on their abilities.
Azusa wasn’t sure what to think of it. She could admire a girl who trained this hard. How could she not? She had admired Narmaya ever since they were children, when Narmaya would sneak away when her parents weren’t watching to keep training when she had been told to rest. Her dedication was admirable.
But the resemblance to the younger Narmaya was also the issue. Sometimes when Azusa looked over, she could imagine Djeeta looking back with familiar empty eyes. Sometimes when she heard Djeeta muttering nonsense to herself, a cruel part of Azusa’s mind would play tricks on her, translate the incomprehensible muttering as some sort of declaration of worthlessness.
Azusa tried to ignore that voice. That was the same voice that had seen Narmaya empty her soul in desperation and whispered despair into Azusa’s ear. Listening to that voice had led Azusa to a dark place before. Narmaya had never called her worthless, even if her nightmares still took the memory of those hollowed eyes to convince her she must have.
“Are you okay, Azusa?”
The voice from the outside was what made the samurai realise she had gotten lost in thought. She opened her eyes to a blurred sight, but the golden-yellow pigment let her know who was speaking before her eyes could focus.
“Captain.” Azusa nodded. “Forgive me. I was deep in thought.”
“Ah, that happens.” Djeeta dismissed. “Oh, while you’re here, can we test something?”
“Hm?” Azusa tilted her head. “Of course. What are you curious about?”
“Hold on here a moment.” Djeeta ran to the side of the training room without another word. There was a curtain around a sort of cubicle there, a training room the Captain had set up close to her preferred training dummy.
No sooner had the curtains closed than they opened again, and suddenly the Captain was wearing a completely different outfit. Gone was the simple pink blouse, with the short skirt and white sleeves that flowed into gloves that covered most of her arms. Now Djeeta was wearing some kind of tattered cloak with a hood, wearing little more than shorts and a top that left a significant length of her stomach exposed. Her boots had a pattern resembling skulls over the knee, and she was wearing a mask over her mouth and nose.
Azusa knew the Captain had a lot of outfits she could switch between a lot, but this was one she had never seen before. It was somewhat ridiculous in all honesty. She was holding up a complex blade, but all Azusa could pay attention to was the pattern on her gloves that resembled fingerbones.
“Whew, been a while since I pulled this out.” Djeeta brushed some dust off of her cloak. “Alright Azusa, just let me…”
The Captain stepped behind Azusa, close enough that even with the mask her breath was tickling Azusa’s neck. “Try that big ranged technique again now.”
Hm, Takijin? Azusa nodded, then took a moment to position her sword. When used properly, Takijin was a rather powerful technique. Azusa could put magical energy into her sword as she swung to let that energy linger in the air, before collapsing the arc of her swing into several projectiles. It was rather inaccurate, though. Even with perfect eyesight, Azusa’s hit rate was somewhere between eighty-seven and ninety-two percent. When her eyes were really suffering, she could write off accuracy altogether.
And yet when Azusa swung her sword, she found every single trace of magic striking the training dummy.
“Aha!” Djeeta declared. “It works! I was really scared the accuracy-boosting effect only worked on debuffs, but it works on all skills!”
“...That could have been a fluke.” Azusa observed, trying to blink some fuzziness out of her eyes. “But that technique takes a lot out of me. Give me a moment to refocus.”
“Of course, of course.” Djeeta’s hands closed around Azusa and pulled her close.
It took Azusa a moment to realise she was being hugged. Her body froze at that realisation. W-What was Djeeta doing?
“You’re amazing.” Djeeta declared. “That much damage… Oh, you’ll be perfect for Guild Wars.”
“Excuse me?” Azusa tried to hide her embarrassment at the sudden affection. Thank goodness she was looking away from her Captain right now. “Guild Wars?”
“The update should be out for modifiable full auto by then, right?” Djeeta let go of Azusa after a moment and started muttering to herself. “Hm… Two-button zero-chain should be faster than 0B3C, right? I’d need to test… Oh, I don’t have JP Ping, it’s not a concern at all.”
“Ufufu.” The laugh to Azusa’s side surprised her enough to make her jump, but she knew who was laughing before she even processed the sound.
Looking to the side, Azusa looked over to her dear friend Narmaya. “Djeeta’s worked herself up again, I see.”
“Narmaya?” Azusa blinked. She took a moment to look over her friend. The lilac-haired Draph was wearing her usual outfit- A vest buttoned up over her top that fell into a sort of cloak around her waist, with her top long enough to cover her shorts without covering much of her thighs.
She had her mismatched shoes again - One boot stopping halfway up her calf, the other resembling tights that pinched the midsection of her thighs. Azusa had always just assumed that Narmaya had misplaced one set of each boot, but Azusa also knew she had other shoes. So she wore the mismatch intentionally, then?
“Djeeta always gets determined like this before we return to That Island.” Narmaya explained. “There are a lot of Primal Beasts that need to be defeated there. It’s cute how into it she gets.”
“What was she talking about earlier?” Azusa paused, then realised another question. “How long were you watching us?”
“I walked in to see Captain helping you with that technique.” Narmaya observed. “And… I don’t know what she’s saying either. It’s almost as if she’s speaking her own language when she’s like this; Even Djeeta is confused whenever someone asks her what she means.”
As if on cue, Djeeta’s muttering continued. “Hm. Is one PnS enough? I need to test this a bit. If I’m 2B0C I don’t need to go Double Huanglong, so… Ah, if I’m gonna test a PnS I should put in more Axes.”
The Captain of the Grandcypher swept her hand across the sky in front of her, and nine weapons manifested in the air around her. They hovered in place as if held by invisible spectres, and Djeeta took a moment to pull a sword out of them.
“Really need to get more uncapped Ultima’s.” Djeeta mused. “Maybe an Axe? Do I need an Axe for anything else? Well, I think I want to run the Scythe for the Seraphic Mod for now…”
The sword disappeared, and a scythe appeared in Djeeta’s hand in its place. There was something in the scythe’s design which made Azusa uncomfortable, but she couldn’t place why. Was it the material around the scythe’s blade which was blatantly magical, yet reminded Azusa of blood? The stream of dark feathers coiled around the pole? Or was it just the smell of darkness on it?
…No, it was none of those things. Azusa wasn’t uncomfortable because of the scythe at all. It was just distracting enough to her eye that she had leapt to conclusions.
What made her uncomfortable was the way Djeeta paused to look at the scythe.
Djeeta muttering in tongues may have been concerning, but the silence of that moment was all the more unsettling. Her gloved hand rushed down to the scythe blade to rub against it, as one would caress a beloved friend more than a weapon. And in all her obvious fascination with the weapon, Djeeta stared at it with eyes that felt hollow.
Those eyes…
“Farewell, worthless creature.”
Azusa’s arm was shaking. She reached over to hold it still. She had hoped the movement was subtle, but in the corner of her eye she could see Narmaya turning to her.
If Narmaya asked her what was wrong, what could Azusa say? That she was still haunted by the memory of Narmaya at her worst, when her eyes looked like they could only look at the world as a means to grow stronger? That her treacherous brain kept ahold of the memory of Narmaya’s words to that monster? Words that had never been said to Azusa herself, but which echoed through her mind every time she thought of Narmaya outgrowing her?
No, Azusa would bury that thought. If Narmaya asked her what was wrong, Azusa would merely lie. Even if it was obvious she was lying, Narmaya could never hear the truth.
“Alright!” Before Narmaya could speak, the light returned to Djeeta’s eyes. She turned around and let the weapons behind her vanish. “Let’s try this again. Azusa. I wanna see how much damage we can get out of your Takijin!”
Azusa nodded, welcoming the distraction. “As you wish.”
Djeeta turned to face the training dummy, but her eyes paused as they came across the other Draph in the room. “Naru? When did you get here?”
Narmaya smiled. “Were you that deep in thought, Captain?”
“N-No…” Djeeta looked embarrassed to be called out. “Ah, right! I forgot, I wanted to speak to you later anyway!”
“Hm?”
“Schedule says we’ll have a Light-advantage Unite and Fight after Dark-advantage.” Djeeta explained. “Gonna need to pull you and Tweyen aside later to work out some strategy there.”
“Of course.” Narmaya stepped forward to take Djeeta’s hand. “Should I go find Tweyen now?”
“Ah, could you stay and watch?” Djeeta wasn’t able to meet Narmaya’s eyes as she spoke. “I think it’d be good luck to have you watching over me.”
Narmaya’s eyes closed as she gave a warmer smile. Azusa felt something in her heart she couldn’t quite place, a pang of… Something. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“Captain.” She didn’t know what drove her to step forward and pull Djeeta aside. “Shall we return to the matter at hand?”
“Oh, sorry.” Djeeta put her hands together in front of her head as a sort of over-the-top apology. “Let’s get to work, Azusa!”
Within moments, they were testing Tokijin once more. That was the way the rest of Azusa’s afternoon went, as a matter of fact. Azusa would use her technique, then wait for her eyesight to recover. Djeeta would step back and adjust her weapons while Azusa waited. And all the while, Narmaya was watching over them.
And still Azusa couldn’t figure out why it had bothered her so much when Djeeta had asked Narmaya to watch. It wasn’t as if Azusa was opposed to the idea. As a matter of fact, Azusa quite enjoyed it. Every time Djeeta reported an increase in damage, Azusa found her eyes turning to her beloved friend to see her reaction. Every little smile, every little wave Narmaya gave when she saw Azusa looking over, every little thing made Azusa feel happy.
So up until the moment they were called for dinner, Azusa couldn’t help but wonder what her problem was.
Djeeta spent a while looking into the mirror, her brown eyes twitching as she looked over her face.
She looked fine. You wouldn’t be able to tell she’d barely slept last night. Djeeta never thought she’d think this, but thank goodness for Guild Wars consuming so much of her time. It hadn’t even started yet, and it was giving her the grounding she needed to act normal.
…She did have a moment of weakness with the Scythe of Darkherald. That was a rather scary moment of weakness. The temptation of the Seraphic Weapons…
The Power of Angels was too much for mere mortals, under most circumstances. Even if Djeeta had bound it, that maelstrom had led her to pointing a sword at a beloved friend. It had been some time since that had been her worst nightmare, but Djeeta sometimes found her dreams ending with her eyes burning red, her hair dyed white and her friends dead at her feet.
If Djeeta was feeling the allure of that power again, then perhaps the helplessness inflicted by that dream was more dire than she thought. She needed a distraction from herself.
…Azusa was amazing today. It took a lot of work to figure out a proper team to take out the Primal Beasts of Guild Wars under most circumstances, but Azusa really could just swing her sword once and instantly obliterate something at least that powerful. And she did it so calmly too, she gave off such a cool and collected expression while sweeping her blade. No wonder Narmaya doted on her so much.
…Hm? Djeeta thought she felt a twinge of something in her chest at that thought. She couldn’t quite place it, but she felt…
Unpleasant, was all Djeeta could think.
Was she jealous? Why would she be jealous? It’d be unfair of her to be jealous of Narmaya paying attention to someone else in the first place. How many people would dote on Djeeta if she just asked?
Nier had offered Djeeta to rebuild the world for Djeeta and Djeeta had stood by her side even knowing of her sin, offered her love even when she was convinced she deserved none. But Narmaya speaks to her childhood friend, and Djeeta gets jealous? She’d be the worst person in the world if that was the case.
So no, that couldn’t be it.
…Djeeta’s dreams must have been getting to her in subtle ways. She had dreamt of a world where she had never met Narmaya, and her beloved friend had been consumed by a cursed sword. Had Djeeta seen that and grown possessive because of it?
She needed to talk to someone about her dreams. She’d say immediately, but she wasn’t sure who to speak to. Raguda would be full of patrons this time of night, and Djeeta couldn’t pull Ladiva away from that. It would help her sleep easier tonight, but it could wait for the morning.
Lyria? No, she was surely asleep by now. Vyrn too for that matter.
Narmaya? She was the one whom Djeeta was uncharacteristically jealous over right now, she deserved to know. But Djeeta hadn’t told her anything of her dreams, so she would need to explain so much to get to the point.
…Djeeta was just making excuses, wasn’t she? The Captain sighed as she laid down to rest, putting aside these thoughts. She just needed to endure another night. If it was particularly bad, it should motivate her to actually tell someone.
And with that thought in her mind, Djeeta drifted off into another nightmare.
“You should not be seeing this.”
Djeeta blinked. This dream was the strangest she had ever had, and that was rather disturbing to think about.
She stood in the halls of some great palace, one she had never seen before. In front of her was a woman clad in green armour. Djeeta had never seen that armour before, but the aesthetic was…
Oh. It reminded her of the Black Knight. Was this one of the Seven Luminary Knights? But if so, what was she doing here?
“You should not question this reality.”
Djeeta turned to the source of the voice. It was not the Knight, but a spectral figure. It took her a moment to realise the spectre was the old man she had seen in her last dream. “The King?”
The old man didn’t answer, but Djeeta instinctively felt she was wrong. He wasn’t the True King any longer, he had abdicated the throne to-
Her? But why-
“I can see on your face that you are realising more about this world.” The spectre noted. “So let me tell you now that only you are hearing me. The ‘You’ of this world is speaking with Octavia; This discussion is only between us.”
…Was that so? “What’s going on?”
“The ‘You’ of this possibility stands on the threshold of a decision.” The former King explained. “You should not be here when it happens. If you do not understand what is happening here, your world is in no danger. You should not have to bear the weight.”
“The weight of what?” Djeeta was growing annoyed. “I’ve been having nightmares of what-if’s for ages if that’s what you mean! I’d rather know what’s going on than not.”
“So be it.” The former King turned away. “Why don’t you look to see what ‘You’ are holding?”
By the time Djeeta had processed the ominous tone of voice, her eyes had already looked at the piece of paper in her hand.
‘There is another helmsman.’
…And? What was the context of this? Was this related to Anamaria, or-
Who was Anamaria?
Why was that the name Djeeta had thought of first? If she was thinking of helmsman, surely she’d first come to her own helmsman and friend, Anama-
…Who was the helmsman of the Grandcypher? Surely it was Ana-
No it wasn’t.
Djeeta closed her eyes, thinking as hard as she could. Her friend who had been with her ever since Port Breeze Archipelago, Ana- No!
The one who had known Noa as a child, An- Stop it!
What the hell was going on?
And as the dream gave way to vision, she saw it all.
She could see Anamaria and a stranger- Rackam, that was Rackam, why couldn’t she remember Rackam- And she could feel the world distorting around them. And then Rackam was gone, and Anamaria looked away with an immense guilt etched into her face.
She could see the courtroom, see the dark-haired public defender and the Draph by her side. Then the prosecutor said something Djeeta couldn’t hear, and his face betrayed his instant regret. The world distorted and shattered, and the prosecutor was gone. In her place was Katalina, and the Draph was gone too.
“Zarazustra. Guillota. Remember those names well.”
They were gone, and only that King remembered them. In the same breath he abdicated the throne and named Djeeta his successor, he told her to remember those who were gone.
She saw…
She saw worlds upon worlds, as if every vision she had ever seen in these dreams was upon her at once.
She saw Katalina fighting in a burning Albion, weeping as the land itself was destroyed.
She saw Narmaya with the cursed blade, cutting down every soul in her path with a smile on her face.
She saw her own death. An Otherworldly beast, a bright flash of light. She didn’t see the moment her corpse disappeared, but she watched the life fade from Lyria’s eyes. The lifelink meant that her death and Lyria’s were one in the same, and Lyria’s body went deathly still.
She saw everything and then she saw nothing. The next thing she knew she was in her own bed, arms down to hold her up as she looked down into a pool of vomit. She felt ill, and not just because of the sick before her.
Djeeta tore from her bed, tossing aside the covers without a care for where they landed. She lunged for the mirror, accidentally smashing her open palm into it so quickly that it shattered around her hand. She didn’t care for that either, too busy looking at her own reflection.
There was life in her eyes. And there was only life in her eyes, not visions of other places or dreams of someplace else. She could think of her friends and remember them. Narmaya had never found a cursed blade. Katalina was never the Lord of Albion. Rackam was Rackam and he was here and she remembered him.
But for too long she couldn’t recall his name at all.
Everything she had seen had been connected. The Otherworlder killing her; The prosecutor erasing the lawyer and forcing Katalina to take her place; Anamaria replacing Rackam in reality and in her memories. In another world they had happened. If she had lived it, she wouldn’t know a thing about it.
Her open palm curled into a first, even as it forced broken glass into her palm.
Who was to say the Otherworld hadn’t done anything like that in this world? Who was to say she hadn’t forgotten a friend here either? How was she supposed to protect the people she loved when the enemy could change the world itself?
Or maybe the enemy didn’t need to change the world. She had been killed so easily, after all. She wasn’t strong enough to protect herself against that. And if she couldn’t protect herself…
…No.
She needed to push these thoughts out of her mind. That old Erune wouldn’t have lied to her, and he had said she was safe. He had tried to stop her bearing the weight without need. Whatever was happening there was not happening here.
She just needed to drop the weight.
But how could she just forget the lifelessness that had taken Lyria? How could she just forget all of that?
Djeeta had never felt so powerless before.
…Power. That was it. She had pushed through some helplessness by focusing on Guild Wars, on the power she and her crew had. If she was going to escape this worthlessness that made her want to throw up again, she needed to think about that power.
She needed enough power to forget this nightmare. Enough power that she didn’t feel this helpless. Enough power to know that she’d be able to hold onto her friends forever.
She needed…
Staring into the shattered mirror, Djeeta saw the exact moment she gave in to temptation.
Her brown eyes looked back at her through the cracks in the glass. The hurt and fear in them gave way slowly to determination.
Just as the brown gave way to burning red.
Azusa was used to rising with the sun. She had spent long enough on her own in the wilderness that she needed that ability, lest a predator find her in her sleep. And if she was rising with the sun anyway, she ought to make use of the time.
Narmaya adapted to the peace a lot easier. That or she just slept easily. Actually, Narmaya had a tendency to fall asleep whenever she tried to meditate. One time she had gone off to a distant shrine to meditate without telling anyone and ended up sleeping for three days straight.
…On deep reflection, perhaps Narmaya was just as adept at sleeping as she was at swordfighting. How impressive.
But the point of this little tangent was that Narmaya would often sleep in far longer than Azusa did. As such, there was not much point being awake this early. She would wait until Narmaya was awake to eat breakfast with her, and until then Azusa had nothing to do but train.
It wasn’t unusual for the Captain to be training at the crack of dawn, so the sound Azusa heard through the halls leading to the training room wasn't inherently a surprise. But as Azusa drew closer, she felt something cold in the sky. It felt like she was wading through mud spiritually. The sounds from the training room only grew louder, and it wasn’t just the volume that closer proximity would suggest.
Her hand fell to her katana as she stood at the door to the training hall. This feeling…
Azusa couldn’t just stand there and dread. She pushed the door open to see what was going on.
The training hall looked like it had become a prison of a rampaging beast. The dozens of training dummies in the room had been rent asunder, torn from the ground and then limb from limb. Scars were carved into the walls of the airship, including a cavernous hole in the wall leading to the sky outside. If Azusa saw the room on its own, she would assume there was a monster trying to bring the ship down.
But at the centre of the room was someone familiar, but distorted enough that it took Azusa a minute to recognise them.
Hair as pale as snow. Eyes as red as blood. Their blouse painted black and torn to reveal pale flesh underneath. There were red strings looped around their body, around their neck like a noose and around the joints of their limbs like a puppet’s strings. Those strings went up into the air behind the figure and disappeared…
No, it was more than that. There was a shadow behind the figure, like a kind of demon.
The shadow shifted the red strings, and the pale figure tore into the training dummy at her feet. A sick laugh bubbled out of her throat as she ripped the roof apart, red magic flinging from her weapon like blood.
It wasn’t until Azusa recognised the laugh that she realised that she was looking at Djeeta.
“Captain…” Azusa stepped forward. Her hand reached for the hilt of her katana, but she forced it away once she realised as much. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, Azusa~” Djeeta turned to her, stretching out the final syllable of the name. “Are you impressed?”
“Impressed with what?” Azusa forced herself to step closer, as if drawing closer would make Djeeta suddenly appear as her normal self. As if this sight was a fault of Azusa’s damaged eyes. “Is there something wrong, Captain?”
“Wrong?” Djeeta looked herself over. The torn blouse stained black, the red string pulling tight across her neck. As Azusa drew closer, she saw the bags under Djeeta’s eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with this body, Azusa.”
“Then what happened?” Azusa’s hand was drawn to her katana again. She kept it there that time. What did Djeeta mean, ‘This body’?
“I just had a realisation.” Djeeta answered. She turned and swung her blade, and even at a distance of several metres the force of her blow carved another hole into the outer wall of the Grandcypher. “This body is powerful, Azusa. Why wouldn’t I embrace that power?”
That wording again. Azusa couldn’t help but ask. “‘This body’?”
Djeeta spun in place to face Azusa again, a demeted smile across her face. “The last time this body was like this, I was just a prisoner in it. But I needed to control that power before it hurt Lyria, and now I’m the one in control. So now I can use this power with this body to keep you all safe.”
Djeeta curtseyed with the blade still in her hand. The shadow behind her solidified for a moment as she did so. “It is strange, but who am I to turn down this power?”
The shadow behind Djeeta waved a hand. The red string restricted around Djeeta’s wrist as it did so, and Djeeta mirrored the movement a moment later.
“There’s no need to be afraid of anything.” Djeeta declared as she stood upright again. “I’m the one in control now.”
So that was it. The shadow wasn’t just some sort of representation of Djeeta. Whatever the Captain had done, her soul had left her body to act the puppeteer.
“Here, let me show you.” Djeeta reached out her hand and a red string shot from her, latching onto Azusa’s wrist before she could react.
Azusa pulled her hand away and the red string stretched and frayed.
“Oh, don’t be like that.” Azusa stepped closer and closer, until she was close enough to take Azusa’s hand with her own. “I need you to trust me, Azusa.”
“I can’t.” Azusa answered honestly. “There’s something wrong with you.”
“...So you won’t listen?” The warmth in Djeeta’s voice faded away. “Didn’t I help you yesterday, Azusa?”
“Let me help you now.” Azusa tried her luck. “We can find Lyria, she can help you-”
“No.” Djeeta snapped away with a snarl, turning her head away. “Lyria… I can’t let Lyria see me like this.”
Azusa tried to step closer. “So you know this is bad for you.”
“She wouldn’t understand.” Djeeta muttered. “She’d be scared. But I need it to protect her.”
There was something Azusa was missing. She needed more information if she was going to help the Captain. “Protect her from what?”
“...Why do you care?” Djeeta’s voice was growing colder again. “You won’t listen to me. You won’t let me help.”
“Captain-”
Azusa knew what would happen the moment she saw the shadow pull the string attached to Djeeta’s sword-hand. She leapt back just in time to evade the swing of the bloody blade, and she pulled her own katana free of its sheath before she landed on the ground again.
“I won’t let you!” Djeeta snarled. “If you won’t listen to me, I’ll make you listen!”
Was this what it was like for Narmaya, when Azusa was lost to her own madness? When Azusa was so desperate for something only she understood that she used a cursed blade that damaged her own eyes?
Was the sight just as sad when it was Azusa instead of Djeeta?
Azusa didn’t have time to think on that as the Captain fell upon her. Throughout the ruined training hall, blade clashed with devilish blade time and time again.
“Need to make you listen.” Djeeta sounded like she was talking to herself more than Azusa. “Need to lead the way, need to keep you safe.”
“You’re the only danger to me.” Azusa answered bluntly. “Put down your sword-”
“You won’t trick me!” Djeeta raised her off-hand to knock aside Azusa’s katana, cutting into her own arm in the process. “If I stop fighting, I’ll lose everything!”
Whenever the two girls fell silent, the only sound in the air was the clashing of blades. If only they were anywhere but here. If someone heard fighting in the training halls, they’d think nothing of it.
“I won’t let them take you!” Djeeta’s red eyes burnt possessively.
“Let who take me?” Azusa asked.
“Anyone!” The desperation in Djeeta’s voice left her hoarse. “Otherworld cursed sword Empire Akasha Moondwellers Astrals- Everyone’s my enemy!”
“On the Grandcypher?” Azusa had to try to get through to her, even if Djeeta wasn’t going to listen to her. “Isn’t this where all your friends are?”
“You’re my enemy!” Djeeta dismissed. “You’ll take Narmaya from me!”
Azusa’s hand tightened around her katana at that. Azusa was going to take Narmaya? Wasn’t it the other way around?
As soon as that thought came, Azusa was left wondering where it had come from. She had no time to address it as the sound of clashing blades filled the sky once more.
Cut, slice, parry and dodge. Repeat ad infinitum.
“I won’t let her be taken.” Djeeta snarled. “She’s safe if she’s with me. It won’t happen, I won’t let it happen.”
Parry and clash, sidestep and duck. Jump back. Catch a blade for just a moment to buy time to dodge.
“I saw it all.” Djeeta’s voice fell into a rough whisper. How much of it was choice and how much was that hoarseness again was unclear. “If it wasn’t for me…”
She faltered for a moment. Azusa saw tears take Djeeta’s eyes for just a moment. If Narmaya were here, would she be able to talk Djeeta down from this?
It didn’t matter. It was just Azusa here. She didn’t know what Djeeta had seen, nor did she have the emotional intelligence to navigate this situation. The samurai stepped back as she cut, estimating the distance to cut the string at Djeeta’s wrist without cutting her flesh.
But the string phased through her sword like nothing, and all she did was inflict the thinnest of possible scars on her skin.
“I need to be stronger.” Djeeta’s voice redoubled, that moment of weakness already gone. “Strong enough to live up to that. Strong enough that she never has to pick up the sword. Otherwise…”
And as quickly as it had disappeared, the weakness in her voice was back “...Otherwise all this power is worthless.”
“Farewell, worthless creature.”
Azusa couldn’t help but see herself in the Captain once more.
“Why don’t you understand?” Djeeta continued. “There’s too much of the world out there. If I can’t keep her safe, I’ll lose her. Is that what you want?”
Djeeta was stopping. Was this Azusa’s chance? “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. What sword is it she will have to pick up?”
Djeeta’s eyes widened. Did she not realise she had said that?
“...I keep seeing them.” Djeeta muttered. “Visions in my dreams. I keep losing them. I keep never having met them.”
Azusa bit her tongue. Djeeta was finally talking. For as long as the Captain was able to talk, she should be talking.
“Do you know what would have happened if we never found Narmaya?” Djeeta asked. “She kept chasing Eahta, kept craving power. She was worse than you ever were. The cursed sword she found ate her memory away, until all she remembered was that she needed to cut someone down. Until she cut down everyone she found to make sure she found the right person.”
Impossible, Azusa wanted to scream. Narmaya would never be like that. She had too strong a heart, she was too good…
…But could Azusa believe that? Narmaya was a good person, but desperation drove people to despair. How long had it been before Narmaya even remembered who Azusa was, after how much she had given up in the pursuit of power the first time?
A bitter voice in Azusa’s mind asked if she was jealous that it had been Djeeta to save Narmaya from that. Azusa couldn’t give it an answer.
“I won’t let that happen again.” Djeeta’s voice was shaking. “I’ll keep her with me so I can keep her safe. I’ll never let her feel like that again. I’ll never let her be consumed.”
There was more fire in that voice. Azusa needed to intervene before Djeeta worked herself up again. “You’ve saved her already. She won’t-”
“I’m already losing her.” Djeeta looked up with eyes burning red with hate. “You! I’ll lose her to you!”
“What-”
“I can’t keep her safe if I lose her.” Djeeta stepped forward. The shadow pulled the string on her sword arm. “And I won’t let her fall for you!”
…Fall for?
Azusa could barely think as the battle was joined once more.
“Ever since you came back, she’s been looking at you!” Djeeta continued, another sword through the air. “Of course she’s looking at you! You’ve known her longer than anyone!”
Parry and dodge, sidestep and back away.
“She’ll stay with me if she loves me.” Djeeta’s words felt more desperate the more she spoke. “But you… If you take her, I can’t protect her!”
Parry and dodge and try not to think about what Djeeta was saying. Try not to think about how much Azusa hated the idea of Narmaya loving Djeeta.
Try not to say-
“Narmaya isn’t just yours.” Azusa didn’t realise she was speaking until she heard her own words. By that point it was too late to stop herself. “I won’t let her look only at you!”
“...So you are going to take her?” Djeeta brought her blade down. Azusa only barely blocked it before it came down on her head, and Djeeta pressed her own face close to the blade as she peered through it to look at Azusa. “You’re trying to replace me?”
For some reason, her eyes went hollow at that word. ‘Replace’. Who had replaced who in Djeeta’s visions?
“You… You must be the Otherworld!” Djeeta’s voice was somehow more hateful than her eyes had been.
Azusa had no idea how to get through to Djeeta. Her logic seemed detached from any knowledge Azusa had. Whatever she had seen in her visions had hurt her enough that she had gone this far to justify her logic- In the span of a few minutes, she had gone from asking Azusa to listen to her to stay safe to declaring Azusa some kind of demon.
…An idea came to Azusa here. A bad idea, but the only idea Azusa had. It depended on the idea that the Captain was pushing back to any logic which defied this coping mechanism, but she was still there underneath.
Azusa pushed her sword out to shove Djeeta away. The other girl stepped forward to regain her footing, plunging her blade towards Azusa’s heart.
And with death staring her in the eye, Azusa dropped her sword.
There was the dull sound of flesh being cut. Blood scattered to the ground below, dyeing the floor red. Almost as red as Djeeta’s eyes, which were wide with shock.
Azusa reached out to hold the blade still. If Djeeta pulled it out, Azusa would lose blood faster. As it stood, Azusa was taking a heavy bet on a healer being awake right now.
“What…” Djeeta was shaking as she stood in place. “Azusa… No, this isn’t what I wanted!”
“Isn’t it?” Azusa asked, trying to ignore the taste of blood in her mouth. “Weren’t you saying I was part of the Otherworld?”
Djeeta’s eyes clouded as she tried to remember. “I… No, I was meant to keep you safe… Why wouldn’t you just listen to me?”
Azusa had no idea how to answer the question in a way Djeeta would accept. But right now, in this moment of vulnerability…
“I’m jealous too, you know.” Azusa wasn’t sure why she settled on this topic alone. “Whenever Narmaya speaks about you, she sounds so warm…”
The blade in Azusa’s chest was shaking. The Draph pushed Djeeta’s hand off the blade so her shaking stopped shifting the sword.
“Narmaya is… Precious to me.” Azusa considered the euphemism for a moment, but no. It wasn’t appropriate. Not after how much it hurt to consider Djeeta’s earlier words. “I love her.”
Djeeta was crying. It was hard to tell how hard she was crying, Azusa’s vision was going in and out again.
“It should be the right decision for me to let her be safe.” Azusa muttered. “And if I was fighting you for her, the right reason for that would be because Narmaya is her own person, that she shouldn’t be controlled. But…”
It was embarrassing to admit, but proximity to death made it so much easier to admit things.
“But I’m selfish.” Azusa muttered. “I want Narmaya to look at me. It’d kill me if she was hurt, but it’d hurt more if she never looked at me again.”
Was any of this even helping Djeeta? Or was Azusa only talking for herself?
“I destroyed myself once trying to make her look at me.” The Draph continued. “You’re destroying yourself for her sake. For everyone’s sake, even. Even mine.”
“Stop- Stop talking.” Djeeta stepped to the side and surged forward, trying to hug Azusa from the side. “I’m sorry, I didn’t- I don’t know what’s wrong with- Let me help, I think Tikoh is- This body shouldn’t have-”
“And now someone getting hurt is enough to make you stop.” Azusa couldn’t see anymore. “I only stopped because Narmaya beat me. If it was what it took to make her look at me before, I might have killed her before I stopped.”
The world suddenly lurched. Oh, Azusa was falling, wasn’t she?
“...I guess it’s better if she did love you instead.”
Azusa wasn’t expecting to open her eyes again. She wasn’t sure why. The Grandcypher did have a lot of healers, after all. She wished she could see enough to tell which one had helped her…
Hm. Which healers had white hair again? Or was she looking at robes, or a doctor’s coat? She blinked a few times to try to focus her vision, and she felt tears fall on her cheek as she did so.
Those tears were the impetus Azusa needed to figure it out. “Djeeta?”
“Azusa.” The Captain wrapped her arms around the samurai. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I- Oh thank god I unlocked Iatromantis recently, I wouldn’t have had a good enough healing skill without it-”
She was talking nonsense again. She really was back to normal, then? “I’m glad you’re safe, Captain.”
“That I’m safe?” Djeeta sounded angry at those words. “This body wasn’t in danger! You’re the one I almost…”
The captain trailed off. She collapsed on top of Azusa, her head nestling into Azusa’s shoulder as she started crying again. With a hand that felt exhausted enough that it was hard to move, Azusa tried to pat her on the shoulder.
“Tell me what you saw.” Azusa demanded. “Help me understand what happened.”
Djeeta tensed at the suggestion, but it only took her a few seconds to relax again.
“...I felt so small.” Djeeta muttered. “I saw a world where they took Rackam and replaced him. Until the dream moved on, I couldn’t even remember who he was. I lost him so hard that I couldn’t even remember having him. I don’t… I can’t lose someone like that.”
Azusa held onto Djeeta tight. What was she supposed to say to that? What would Azusa be like if she lost Narmaya like that?
…Perhaps Azusa almost did.
“The first time I met Narmaya, she found me on the street.” Azusa explained. It must have sounded a non-sequitur to anyone else. “I was just a beast, but she took me in. I’m only able to call myself a person because of her kindness. But… I watched her fall apart. Watched her lose herself to desperation, to the drive for power. I watched the girl who made me human lose her own humanity. It was worse than if I’d died.”
“...And I just did the same, didn’t I?” Djeeta sniffed. “I’m awful.”
Azusa considered disagreeing for a moment. Then she considered how she would react if Azusa was calling herself awful, and someone tried to disagree with her.
“Maybe.” Azusa decided on. “Maybe we’re all a bit awful.”
“Oh god, how am I going to explain this to Lyria…”
If Azusa had any idea, she would have said so.
“...I’m jealous, you know.” Azusa muttered. “And not just because of Narmaya.”
“Hn?” Djeeta couldn’t muster the effort to say anything else.
“When you went mad, you were still trying to protect people.” Azusa explained. “...Did I say this before I passed out? I think I did.”
“You did.” Djeeta confirmed absent-mindedly.
“I still mean it.” Azusa confirmed. “I wish I had your heart.”
“...No, I was selfish.” Djeeta dismissed. “I didn’t want ‘Everyone I know to be safe’. I wanted ‘To protect everyone myself’. Because I saw how easy it was for the people I love to be hurt and I felt powerless. Worthless.”
“You’re not worthless.” Azusa spoke as a kneejerk reaction. Now she had to actually finish that thought. “You’re kind enough to feel responsible at the idea of people around you being hurt. It’s a lovely kind of selfish.”
“...You’re not going to make me feel better.” Djeeta sounded stubborn. “I don’t deserve it.”
“Then neither do I.” Azusa declared. “Should we just skip the logic here and jump into the Otherworld from here for our sins?”
“Oh, don’t do that.”
Azusa and Djeeta looked to the side in unison. All Azusa could see was lilac, but she knew who it was from voice alone.
“I see I missed something important.” Narmaya commented as she stepped closer. “...Are you two okay?”
“This body is unharmed.” Djeeta answered. She paused to consider her statement. “I don’t think I can say I’m good emotionally if I’m still saying that.”
“Perhaps not.” Azusa muttered. Djeeta shifted to get off of Azusa, then slowly helped Azusa step up.
“Oh, Azusa…” Narmaya gasped at the sight of Azusa. It was only that gasp that made Azusa think about her current condition. She could feel bandages wrapped so tight around her chest, in such number, that they were effectively another top. And that was good, because Djeeta had to pull aside Azusa’s kimono to bandage her up and had not pulled it up.
Even if the bandages covered everything, Azusa took the time to pull her kimono back up to ease the embarrassment.
“Naru, come here.” Djeeta asked. Azusa heard Narmaya’s footsteps come closer, then heard Djeeta stand.
Suddenly there was a rush of movement. Narmaya gasped. A shadow fell onto Azusa, and Namaya’s body fell on top of her with enough force to push Azusa back to the ground.
“Whoops.” Even without sight of the Captain, Azusa could tell Djeeta was smirking. She might even be poking her tongue out, the gremlin. “Well I should just give you two a room. I should uh. Tell Lyria what happened.”
“Ah, Djeeta-” Azusa started.
“By the way Narmaya, Azusa said she loved you.”
And then the Captain was gone.
…Damn her, damn her, why would she just say that-
“Is that true?” Narmaya asked.
Azusa paused. What was she supposed to do here? Lie? She couldn’t lie about this. But she couldn’t just say it either, the embarrassment would kill her.
…Perhaps there was a middle ground here.
“I can’t answer that right now.” Azusa admitted. “My heart isn’t strong enough.”
A nonanswer that was also a clear answer. Narmaya didn’t answer, the subtext clear enough to her. It was true, but Azusa wasn’t ready to act on it. If Narmaya was going to reject her, or for some reason if Narmaya accepted her instead of Djeeta, now wasn’t the time for it.
“...I see.” Narmaya rolled off of Azusa, sitting next to her. Azusa sat up as well. Her vision was returning, so she looked away from Narmaya. “Azusa, do you think someone can love more than one person?”
“Hm?” Azusa didn’t know where she was going with this.
“It doesn’t need to mean anything for now.” Narmaya was quick to clarify. “But… Well, it might be important. If someone loved you but also loved someone else, would that be painful to you?”
“...I don’t know.” Azusa admitted. “I’m a selfish person. I’m not kind like you or the Captain. I think I might get jealous whenever I saw someone I loved looking at someone else. If I could stand being with them despite that jealousy… I just don’t know.”
“I see.” Narmaya leaned back, resting her back against Azusa’s. “Then… I think you should consider it yourself some more. When you have an answer for me, I might have an answer for you.”
Azusa could read between the lines enough to understand the subtext, but deep in her soul she refused to believe what she was hearing. Her soul rejected the idea. But…
“Then I’ll try to think of an answer for you, one day.” Azusa sighed.
Perhaps that was the most painful part of that morning. Narmaya was at her back, all but saying she would be willing to repay Azusa’s affection.
But the only girl Azusa could think of now was Djeeta.
It had been a long day for Djeeta.
It had taken at least an hour for her to explain things to Lyria. Or rather, the explanation had been done rather quickly, and then Djeeta had spent the rest of the hour crying with her. This body’s tears had dried rather quickly from there-
Her body’s tears, rather. Djeeta needed to catch herself. The shadow that represented her soul was… Mostly back in her body now. She should think like that so it didn’t disconnect again.
After that, the day had been a long series of meetings, difficult conversations and tears. Djeeta had actually lost track of how many people she had talked to, in all honesty. It seemed like everyone knew by the end of the day. Ladiva had given her a hug so tight that it had nearly broken her ribs. Nier had quietly asked Djeeta if she would have considered remaking the world in the state she had been, and when Djeeta admitted the idea seemed tempting the dark-haired Erune had given her a hug tight enough to actually break a rib. Thank goodness for Tikoh’s healing.
…The conversation with Rackam had been the hardest. He had tried to distract her by asking about details of the vision, saying something about wanting to look into Anamaria, but Djeeta could tell he had been shaken. Djeeta had a vision of him being deleted, and that vision had been the one to shake her the deepest. That had to sting.
Black Knight had been shaken too, though Djeeta was more willing to accept that her curiosity about Djeeta’s visions was curiosity. From the moment Djeeta had mentioned the knight in green, Apollonia had been strangely intense. So that was a Luminary Knight after all, then?
But past all the discussions, everyone worrying about Djeeta, everyone promising they’d never die on her and hurt her like that…
There was one more person Djeeta wanted to talk with. And it wasn’t until the end of the day she got her chance.
Djeeta knocked on the door and waited. It took a few seconds for Azusa to answer.
“Djeeta.” The Draph samurai greeted.
“Azusa.” The girl bowed her head. “Can I come in?”
Azusa stepped aside and let Djeeta in, closing the door behind Djeeta as she entered. Both girls sat on the bed, side by side.
“...I can’t say I’m sorry enough.” Djeeta muttered. “All that talk about needing power to keep people safe, and I nearly kill someone precious to me.”
“I was worse off once, with less of a reason.” Azusa tried to justify Djeeta’s actions.
“I’m just gonna feel worse if you defend it.” Djeeta admitted. “I just want to be here to remind me that you’re okay.”
“I’m okay.” Azusa confirmed. “The wound has already been healed.”
“Tikoh’s magic is really good, isn’t it?” Djeeta asked.
“Tikoh had nothing to do with it.” Azusa answered. “This was your work.”
“...Oh.” Had Djeeta really healed that much?
“...You’re kind.” Azusa noted. “You’re going to be worried about me as soon as I”m out of sight, won’t you?”
“Possibly.” Djeeta muttered.
“And there’s nothing I can say to change that.” Azusa accurately predicted. “So why don’t you stay here tonight?”
“Huh?” Djeeta blinked. Azusa was looking away as Djeeta looked at her.
“I’m going to be worried about you too.” Azusa decided. “So stay here for tonight. The beds here are big enough for male Draphs, so they’re big enough for two people our size.”
“...If you’re okay with it.” Djeeta nodded. “I hurt you. I wouldn’t want to remind you of that.”
Azusa smiled, though Djeeta only saw the side of her face. “Do you have anything else to do tonight?”
Djeeta shook her head.
“Then lay down.” Azusa declared. “I won’t leave your side until you’ve slept well.”
The offer surprised Djeeta enough that she didn’t think to argue against it. It took her a moment to lay down, and once Azusa turned off the lights she laid down next to Djeeta.
“...How did it go with Narmaya?” Djeeta asked.
“There’s still time for me to throw you out of the window.” Azusa pointed out.
“Sorry.” Djeeta winced. “...Narmaya’s kind, so I assume you- Why am I still talking sorry I’ll shut up.”
“Good.” Azusa huffed. Honestly, as kind as she was Djeeta was a bit thoughtless sometimes. “...Next time you’re hurting like that, tell me, okay? You’re precious to me too.”
Djeeta didn’t reply. For a moment Azusa suspected it was because she was trying to think of how to reply to a statement that strong, but…
That train of thought was disrupted by Djeeta suddenly snoring. Really, she was asleep already? Well, she did look tired earlier…
Djeeta looked cute while she was sleeping too. Her hair was steadily fading back into blonde, though the majority of it was still white. There was a red line on her neck where the string had been pulled against her earlier too. Azusa hated the sight of it.
…Despite it all, Azusa felt some level of satisfaction. She was the one who saved Djeeta. Not Narmaya, not Lyria, it had been Azusa. It was selfish and it was cruel to think of it like that, but Azusa couldn’t help it.
Azusa wasn’t kind like Djeeta or Namaya. It was one of the ways she fell short compared to them. She wasn’t as strong as them, nor as kind. Where Djeeta’s fear came from dreams of losing those she cared for, Azusa’s fear came from dreams of those people leaving her behind. Fantasies conjured by her weak heart.
Perhaps that was the actual reason she couldn’t answer Narmaya earlier. It wasn’t jealousy, or at least not a common form of it. But if Narmaya did take another lover, why would she ever need to look at Azusa?
It was a foolish fear, but Azusa had been a slave to that fear before. Perhaps that’s why she revelled so much in the fact that she had been the one to save Djeeta. It was something nobody could ever take from her. Azusa’s heart could whisper fears of worthlessness, and she could push past it knowing that she had been the only one to save Djeeta. Azusa knew from experience how that kind of salvation could carve itself into your heart and soul, and now it was Azusa who had carved that salvation into another.
Was this how Narmaya felt when she had saved Azusa? With the knowledge of what could have happened to Narmaya, was this how Djeeta felt about saving her?
It was almost funny how that worked out. Djeeta had saved Narmaya, Narmaya had saved Azusa, and now Azusa had saved Djeeta. It all came full circle with both the people Azusa loved.
…Hm? That thought…
Azusa closed her eyes. If she tried, she could bring herself to see painful sights in her mind’s eye. Narmaya’s empty eyes in their youth. Djeeta’s gaze burning red as she drove herself to madness. Thoughts which made Azusa want to never see again.
But she could also see Narmaya’s kind smile as she pulled Azusa from the depths of despair, as the two of them travelled the festival together, the spars the two of them had enjoyed. She could see Djeeta welcoming her to the crew, the way Djeeta had helped her find the courage to speak with Narmaya when she had first joined, and the soft expression on Djeeta’s face as she came to ensure Azusa was well just a few moments ago.
Azusa had a lot of warm memories of the crew, and of those two girls. She’d seen all sorts of sides of them, experienced their kindness and witnessed their suffering as they collapsed upon themselves. She supposed it was only natural that you’d care for someone when you’ve seen them at both their highest and their lowest-
In her sleep, Djeeta gasped. Azusa put aside her own thoughts as she watched the girl’s face contort, heard her start to whimper.
Acting on instinct, Azusa reached her arm over Djeeta and pulled her closer. Djeeta’s face relaxed into Azusa’s shoulder as the Draph held the human girl close.
“You have no need for painful dreams.” Azusa promised her. “I am with you.”
…No wonder Narmaya enjoyed playing the older sister so much. It felt nice to comfort somebody. To have them rely upon you.
Djeeta’s breathing steadied slowly. It wasn’t much, but it was proof enough that she was more relaxed than before.
Good. If Azusa’s presence brought her peace, it was the least she could do.
As deep in thought as she was, Azusa didn’t hear the creak of the door. She didn’t see the brief ray of light that peeked through, nor the shadow standing before it. She had no way of knowing that the other girl she loved was watching, a smile on her face.
The door clicked shut after but a moment, and the whisper was quiet enough that only the speaker could hear it. “Sweet dreams.”
And even if the dreams were not sweet, Narmaya mused, at least those two would be there for each other come the morn.