"This shouldn’t be possible," Elena muttered as she sat in a brightly lit meadow, wearing a yellow sundress with a flowery design.
Seated across from her was a familiar face... her face.
It was Princess Berenice, once ruler of Thebes, the city of which its inhabitants were now lost in limbo.
Berenice managed a smile as she replied. "You say that every time you come here."
"And I still strongly believe that it shouldn’t be possible," Elena said.
"Well, it is and the sooner you get used to it, the better."
"... How’s everyone doing?"
Silence followed briefly before the princess replied. "Most are restless, after all, they are still stuck here. But I’ve managed to convince them to trust in you, to trust that you would one day be able to free us."
"Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that," Elena admitted, her expression taking a dramatic turn as she looked away from Berenice.
"Don’t sell yourself short," Berenice said. "You are growing. Soon enough, you will, I can feel it."
"Not too long ago, I lost my sight, princess." Elena retorted. "What are the chances that my life would be next?"
"Eventide is dangerous. Things far beyond our understanding prowl underneath the veil of mysteries and any attempt to pry into them would cause untold damage."
"What are you getting at?" Elena asked, prompting Berenice to remark.
"But that doesn’t stop humanity from prying. You cannot give up now because of a minor setback."
"Minor?... I can’t see!" Elena lashed out. "You speak this way only because it is not your life at risk."
Heated as she was, Elena said nothing more, merely turning away while taking deep breaths, trying and mostly failing to calm herself.
Silence reigned briefly before Berenice spoke up. "You are afraid."
"... Who wouldn’t be?" Elena asked.
"Maybe you are right," Berenice said. "Maybe I am only speaking this way because it is not my life at risk. But I hope you don’t give up... I hope you keep fighting. Not just for the people of Thebes or me, but for yourself as well."
Elena took a deep breath before ultimately rising to her feet. "Let’s stop here today. We’ll continue tomorrow."
With that, the meadow swiftly dissipated, replaced by the frightening void that Elena had been forced to get accustomed to.
Seconds of silence followed before she heard heavy breathing coming from somewhere close by.
"... Are you alright?" She asked, causing the heavy breathing to stall briefly before a response came.
"You are willing to speak to me now?"
"Don’t deny the fact that you have been actively ignoring me, Elena. Don’t worry, I don’t blame you." Ulysses said. "After all, I’m the reason you lost your sight."
Elena bit down on her lower lip, unable to say anything in response.
"Do you regret it?" Ulysses asked. "Do you regret staying back to help me?"
Elena hesitated, as a part of her regretted it in truth.
She was barely a year old.
She hadn’t experienced the world enough, only for her sense of sight to be brutally taken away.
Now, no matter what, she wouldn’t ever be able to see like a normal person, and that was the takeaway: her chance to be normal was gone.
Clenching her jaw, Elena leaned back against the wall, struggling and failing to contain the raging emotions within.
"No." She responded, cutting Ulysses off and perhaps surprising him as well as herself.
"... I don’t regret it."
There was silence for a few seconds before Ulysses replied. "... Thank you. I’m glad... to hear it."
The first thing she saw was a roof that had soaked quite a bit of moisture and was on the verge of a breakdown, a telltale to the fact that it had been poorly maintained and even worse, cheap materials had been used to build it.
"Awake so soon?" A voice asked, jolting Arwen from her mundane thoughts.
She immediately sat up in bed, her gaze falling on Ana, who had on a blue chiton with a similarly colored shawl.
Based on the book she was holding, Arwen guessed that Ana was reading before now.
Ana’s expression shifted slightly. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Arwen answered as she messaged her temples while trying to gather her thoughts.
"You sure?" Ana asked as she leaned closer. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"... Something like that."
"Oh..." Ana’s expression fell, causing Arwen to quickly clarify.
"Not that kind of nightmare."
"... The ordinary kind."
"Ah." Ana’s expression lightened up a bit as she let out a sigh of relief.
After the last incident, there was no way Ana or any member of Constellations would make the mistake of taking her dreams as a joke.
Realizing that Arwen was still troubled though, Ana asked. "So what happened?"
"... I saw Riona," Arwen muttered. "She seemed to be in pain, a lot of pain."
"And?... Doesn’t she deserve it?"
Arwen pursed her lips, taking a moment to ponder a response before ultimately shaking her head. "I don’t know, but I was thinking..."
"No... Well, yes... I mean, not just about that."
Ana’s expression darkened. "Arwen..."
"I know Alex told us not to bother with it for the time being and I promise, I don’t have any ideas. It’s just..."
"We have always been led to believe that though the Branches are dangerous, due to their identity as parts of the Absolute One, they wouldn’t intentionally want to bring the world to ruin."
"... That is correct."
"But the Veil clearly disproves that. It wants to burn everything, bestowing death on all living creatures, including life itself."
"It is indeed troublesome," Ana admitted with a worried look in her eyes. "The Branches are powerful enough to destroy the world and I doubt anyone would be able to stop the destruction they would bring."
"Exactly, so my question is this," Arwen said, putting up two fingers as she added. "What exactly caused the Veil to want to burn us all and most importantly... is it the only Branch with apocalyptic desires?"