Section Author: 'Yui-chan'

"You’ll find, I think, that the battle you are trying to fight is the wrong one. This war of insults and debate will go nowhere until t" … The rest of the words faded into illegibility, the neatly-formed script shrinking down to nothing but a scribble. Beside the page, her fingers still loosely gripping the shaft of the quill, Yui-chan lay with her head on her arm, fast asleep. The guttering candle on the tabletop beside her sent shadows dancing across her features, creating motion on the stillness of her smooth, fair skin and lighting the tired circles that underlined her eyes. In the stillness of deepest night, the only sound was the rhythmic whisper of her breath stirring one corner of the yellowed parchment.

But even in sleep, peace eluded the Huntress-mage, and her brow furrowed in consternation as the dream began...

‘One.’ The voice closed around her heart like a vise, stopping it cold. Unable to move, unable to breathe, she could feel the cold seeping into her core, into her soul. Without motion, she struggled, fighting to hold onto a light that was quickly extinguishing, a warmth that was fading to nothing under the onslaught of pitch black. ‘We are One.’

She wanted to scream, wanted to shout her desire to stay apart, to keep herself, but she was not free to do so. ... and she knew she was losing, caught between the enemy without and the enemy within, fighting a battle against hopeless odds. As the realization stabbed into what was left of her heart, she cried silently, tears sliding down her cheeks as the void closed over her shoulders, crawling its way along the soft skin of her neck.

Fear joined the grief as she reached desperately for the soft, flickering light that pierced the blackness high above her head. ‘Help me,’ she whispered, the void flowing around her ears and along her cheekbones as she strained, stretching her hand as best she could. Silence was her answer, but there was never a chance for another plea.

With finality, the icy darkness flowed into and over the only color left, swallowing the grey-green of her terror-filled eyes...

Yui-chan awoke with a violent jerk, her arm whipping across the surface of the desk in a desperate attempt to protect herself from nothing at all, sending parchments, quills, a wax stick, and her glass inkwell to the ground in a flurry of chaotic motion. The crash of the fragile container against the bare stone of her chamber floor only made the Huntress jump again, watching in mild shock as the pitch black liquid flowed around the broken glass and across the stones towards her bare feet. For a moment, she could only stare in mute horror as it moved, the imagery of her dream flashing before her eyes...

It reached for her, staining her with its grip, infecting her with ice and emptiness.

With a little yelp, Yui shoved her chair back, only further damaging her shattered nerves as the chair toppled with a terrible clatter. Unnerved, shaking, unreasonably terrified, the young human backed away from the dark puddle as if it truly could harm her, wide eyes fixed on its every motion. As her nervous retreat took her to the foot post of her canopied bed, she reached out absently to grab a hold of the sturdy wood, using its strength to restore what she could of her own.

After a moment, the magess managed to tear her gaze from the innocent ink, closing them in an effort to gain control of her rampaging fear. G-gods... calmly. It was a nightmare, only a nightmare. As she sank weakly onto the soft mattress, she took a deep breath, wondering why she did not quite believe that. Calmly... Yui sat motionless on the edge of her bed for long moments, forcing herself to breathe and simply concentrate all her attention on the steady rhythm of those breaths. Eventually, she felt composed enough to open her eyes and force herself to look carefully over the room.

With the exception of the mess that she’d made around the desk, everything looked normal, the deep shadows growing deeper as the nub of candle began to burn to its wick end. Heaving a deep sigh, Yui pushed back to her feet and went to the cupboard to fetch a spare candle. At this moment, the last thing she wanted was for the light to die in the room, leaving her in total darkness on such a moonless night. It would come for her, then, and –

Stop that! There’s nothing going to come get you, Yui. It was just a nightmare. Her anger at herself momentarily overshadowed her fear, and she strode across the room to the dying candle, quickly using its flame to ignite its younger twin. Are you a child to be skulking about your chambers like a mouse because of a dream? Yes, it was frightening, and felt very real, but it was nothing, a figment of your exhausted imagination. Ebon is silent and under control, way too weak to be any danger! You’ve just been working too hard, worrying too much, and fighting too often because of this war.

The Huntress nodded to herself, carrying the lit candle over to her bedstand and slipping it into a spare holder there. Now, stop quaking like a mouse and get some sleep. The letter to the guilds can wait until morning. Despite her determination, Yui-chan could not stop the fear from returning as she slipped under the soft covers...

She fell asleep with the candle still burning on the little table beside her, and a chilling voice echoing through her thoughts.

‘One. We are One...’