Cassie's heart thundered against the cage of her chest, while her breath came in short, uneven gasps.
The things she saw were simply too much. Too harrowing.
She reached for something - anything- to replace what she had seen and stave off the rising panic, but of course...
She was blind.
She would know nothing but darkness for the rest of her life.
The thought sent her spiralling and fear tightened its grip around her mind.
Desperate to regain control, Cassie turned to the only thing she was allowed to see.
The attributes of her companions.
When she had first received her Aspect along with her Flaw, she had despised this ability. Even though the act was forced upon her - and those she observed would never know - she had felt vile for intruding upon what most Awakened considered deeply private.
Over time however, her feelings had changed.
At the Academy, she grew fond of studying the runes and piecing together what trials her peers went through like fragments of a story. it would have been far simpler to ask them about their first nightmares… had she not been ostracised.
But companionship, too, was something the Spell had taken from her.
So instead, she observed.
What began as a way to pass the time soon became something quietly thrilling.
Ironically, the individuals with the most interesting set of runes she had seen were the ones surrounding her now.
Sunny's runes were intriguing. He carried a spark of divinity, and as a child of shadows, it was logical to assume his Aspect revolved around them as well. But the rune that drew her gaze again and again was [Fated] - an attribute that declared itself both a great boon and a terrible curse.
Looking upon it, Cassie felt a dormant hatred stir within her.
Fate was the reason for her current misery.
She, too, was a victim of its machinations.
And she hated it.
The first time she had heard of Nephis was when the Academy revealed the rankings. She had expected the top Sleeper to be exceptional.
This, however, went far beyond that.
Her attributes were both fascinating and, in a strange way, expected. Based on the webtoons Cassie had read before her sight was stripped from her, she could say with confidence that Nephis embodied every trait of a classic protagonist. Her existence itself was unique and rare - being both a Dreamspawn and a Nephlim. She possessed a spark of divinity which tied her to the dead gods as well.
But the most stunning of Nephis' attributes was [The Fire].
She bore the lineage of the Sun God.
That single fact was enough to shake the foundations of the waking world. That a mere Sleeper was in possession of such a thing was almost unthinkable. Cassie was so stunned by the revelation that, for a fleeting moment, she forgot she was blind.
And then there was Yoru.
She had seen his runes before anyone else's and even now, long after that first glimpse, they held her attention more firmly than any of the others.
One of Yoru's Attributes simply… refused to be read.
it was an indecipherable attribute that the Spell itself refused to translate, as though whatever it described lay beyond its willingness - or ability - to name.
Cassie had never heard of something like this ever happening before.
The Spell named Gods, created things as unfathomable as nightmare seeds and unleashed beings of unparalleled power on the waking world. Yet here, it remained silent.
What was so disturbing that even the Spell feared to translate?
What had transpired within his first nightmare?
What kind of being was Yoru, truly?
The questions tangled together, forming a puzzle unlike any she had encountered before.
Gradually, Cassie noticed that the frantic drumming of her heart began to soften. The world felt less distant and the voices around her were no longer as muffled.
"Cassie? What happened?"
She recognised Nephis' voice instantly.
Cassie would always remember the voice of her friend and saviour with ease - even more so as she didn't know anything else about her.
Changing Star's voice carried a steady clarity that cut through the fog in her mind, grounding her in the present. It brought comfort… and yet, with it came a sharp resurgence of the vision.
It inspired another bout of dread and terror.
"Th-the head… I saw… oh gods!"
The horrors flashed once more and Cassie squeezed her eyes shut, as though that could banish what she had already seen. She wanted it to be over.
"Cassie, you're safe don't worry. You want to be calm right?"
There was a new voice, one that was both composed and strangely alluring.
Yoru.
His was a voice Cassie loved to hear. His wondrous tales, his peculiar presence, the way he spoke of himself with shameless grandeur - it all stirred something inexplicable within her. She could listen to him for hours and never grow weary.
But even now she couldn't bring herself to respond as her throat seized up, so she nodded, frantically, almost pleadingly.
And as she did, a strange calm washed over her.
She could feel her emotions softening, becoming pliable. The terror that had once felt overwhelming receded, no longer an insurmountable force.
For the first time since the vision began,
Cassie felt safe.
***
The first hints of dawn had just barely peaked over the horizon so Yoru could see very little of his surroundings. Nephis had affirmed that there was no immediate danger but he kept the Savage Lie in hand, just in case.
Cassie lay cradled in Sunny's arms, while Yoru and Nephis stood watch over them both.
After some time, the blind girl's trembling eased. She still looked pale, but the hysteria had faded, leaving behind a fragile calm.
When she finally spoke, her voice was soft and unsteady.
"Thank you… all of you."
Then, after a brief pause, she added:
"Sunny… could you let me go now?"
"Oh! Right - sorry!" Sunny blurted out, flustered, releasing her immediately.
A moment later, he scratched his cheek and asked awkwardly:
"Uh… can I have some water?"
Cassie turned to him and scowled, as though confused by the question. Then, she suddenly gasped and opened her eyes wide.
"Oh! Oh, sorry. Yes, of course…"
She summoned the limitless water bottle and offered it to Sunny. He took it with a grateful smile and greedily drank a few gulps before giving the bottle to Nephis who then offered it to Yoru. Eventually, it returned to Cassie.
"You drink some too."
After she did, Sunny awkwardly patted the blind girl on the shoulder.
"Everything seems to be fine now. Uh… did you dream of another vision? You can tell us. If you want."
Cassie hesitated for a bit before saying:
"I… don't know. Maybe it was just a nightmare."
"You can just tell us what you remember. Maybe we'll be able to make sense of it together."
Cassia sighed and tentatively nodded. 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, remembering.
"I saw the human castle again. Only this time, it was at night. There was a lonely star burning in the black skies, and under its light, the castle was suddenly consumed by fire, with rivers of blood flowing down its halls. I saw a corpse in a golden armor sitting on a throne; a woman with a bronze spear drowning in 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, a… a dying angel was being consumed by hungry shadows. When I saw the angel bleed, I suddenly felt as though… as though something so precious that it can't be described with words was taken from me."
Her voice became quieter.
"And it all shattered when another star appeared. Though it looked so wrong. it was both a star and perhaps not..."
She took a moment and continued:
"When its light touched the fragments, they changed. They splintered again and again - countless times. Most of those reflections are gone now, but in one… the figure in golden armor wasn't dead at all, but alive - leading a charge toward the spire. In another, I saw the angel devour the shadows instead, tearing into their formless bodies. And in yet another… the two stopped fighting and existed together. "
She swallowed.
"There was more. So much more. But my mind couldn't bear it."
Cassie lowered her head.
"Then, I felt so much sorrow, pain and rage that what little remained of my sanity seemed to disappear. That was when I woke up… I think."
Nephis and Sunny remained silent for a while, trying to make sense of what Cassie had told them.
Yoru however, had already made sense of everything.
'Ha... this is just too much...'
He was both overwhelmed by the latent potential of the future and scared of what it could be.
The beginning of Cassie's vision was more or less the same.
Gunlaug and the bright castle fell. There was still a desperate siege of the crimson spire, where an army of Dreamers was swallowed by endless tides of Nightmare creatures. And inevitably, Sunny and Nephis still stood at the centre of it all - locked in their fated confrontation.
And Toward the end... he appeared.
A star.
Yoru exhaled slowly.
'That star has to be me… right?'
Who else could it possibly represent?
Cassie had described it as wrong, something that wore the shape of a star without truly being one.
'But what does that even mean? Am i ugly in her vision...? Tch, Not that it matters.'
Yoru shook his head, ridding himself of any distracting thoughts.
'There's a lot to unpack but the most significant has to be Sunny and Nephis's duel.'
That single moment had defined everything that followed. It was the spark that ignited Cassie's rebellion against fate, her long awaited apology to Sunny and Sunny's relentless pursuit for power. His reason for growing stronger had always been simple: to be free and, if necessary, kill Nephis with his own hands.
But based on the details of Cassie's vision. That pivotal moment may not happen at all...
The realization sent a strange thrill through
Yoru's chest.
It was terrifying.
And yet… exhilarating.
In hindsight, it made perfect sense as he recalled his Aspect description:
[Your being is a Tragic misstep in fate yet accounted for nonetheless. You are a miracle to all that ever is and ever will. You do not dream…but others do that for you.]
The "The tragic misstep" part was revealing itself in all its glory, and that only severed to stroke Yoru's already magnified ego.
'I couldn't possibly get any cooler. Who else is making fate stumble like this?'
But that thought evoked a disturbing question.
What price would his flaw exact for this?
The things he wished to achieve were most definitely miracles in every sense of the word, so without a doubt, his flaw would unleash all of its might upon him.
He knew what [Karma] was capable of after losing his arm and the second tragedy still had not struck yet, which was a separate kind of fear entirely.
Before he had the chance to even challenge his wavering resolve however, Sunny let out a sigh and faced Cassie.
"Maybe it actually was just a nightmare. Your previous visions weren't like this, right?"
Cassie silently shook her head.
Sunny scratched the back of his neck, clearly grasping for reassurance as much as offering it.
"Well… people don't usually dream in the Dream Realm, but you do. Perhaps seeing a random nightmare once in a while is a side effect of your ability."
The blind girl turned to him, a faint relief written on her face.
"You really think so?"
He hesitated, trying to find the right words.
"Why not? It's a possibility."
Yoru nodded.
"I think so too. All aspects are different. The norm may not be so for others."
Cassie's pale face seemed to brighten at that, some of the lingering tension finally easing from her shoulders.
Yoru watched her quietly.
'It's better like this.'
He determined that it was better for the blind girl to believe this than to agonise over what she had seen. She had plenty of time to torment herself with visions in the future anyways.
Nephis then broke the moment of calm, wearing a distant expression.
"The Scavengers should be finished with the carcass by now... our journey will be difficult, more so than before."
Sunny wore a grim look and said:
"We Should leave once the sun fully rises. The next hill is a bit far but we can make it."
Nephis considered his words, then nodded once.
"Then that is what we will do."
She paused.
"In the meantime however..."
Then her gaze shifted, settling squarely on Yoru and Sunny.
She looked between the two and let the silence drag on for an uncomfortable amount of time.
"However what, Neph?" Yoru asked, familiarly shifting beneath her gaze.
"...You will begin your training."
A/N: I know not much really happened in this chapter but let me know how you guys feel about longer chapters.
Also super big thanks for all the support! We'll be coming up on some of the more interesting stuff I have planned so I'm really excited to write it all.