Chapter 7 "It was just a dream, right?"

Reality felt really altered as if the dream was the reality itself. That’s why Devika doesn't have any idea that she’s already half asleep. Her consciousness was stuck between awake and asleep.

"Devika! Hey Devika! Wake up! Get up! It’s already late! " Madchen tries to wake up Devika.

"Why isn’t she reacting?" She said curiously. "Devika! Hey Devika! " She continuously calls for the sleeping Devika.

"I think she really got tired last night," Saimon commented while smiling.

On the other hand, Devika was still not awake despite the aggressive calls of her comrades. She stayed imprisoned in her nightmare. Cyrus silently sighs because of the sight, seeing his childhood friend fail to wake Devika up.

"Maybe that’s the effect of the rock when it hit her head last night?" young Rory said.

"A rock?!" Madchen said, in disbelief. She looked at young Rory, and young Cyrus looked at Rory as well.

"Tch! He threw a rock at the airhead's head last night. Tsk! Cyrus said irritably. You can see how shocked she is by looking at her face.

"E-Eh?! Why didn’t I know about this? " Madchen asked.

"Heh! You sleep like a sloth. How will you know what happened last night? " Rory said to Madchen, trying to tease her while laughing.

"She said something..." the young Saimon silently said while thinking about what the young Devika wanted to say. On one hand, he is looking at the young Devika while, on the other hand, the other three continue to argue.

"So you are the reason why she’s not waking up?" "Madchen angrily said to the two young men.

"It should be "your" fault!" young Rory said to Madchen.

"Indeed," young Cyrus agreed.

"How is it my fault? I was asleep when it happened! "ballistically said by Madchen.

"Exactly, you’re asleep, that’s why it’s your fault!" Rory answered back. Young Cyrus agreed with young Rory’s statement once again.

"Where’s the connection?! What’s your point?! It was your fault that she’s not waking up! "She enraged.

"Your fault!" young Rory said.

"You two!" – Madchen

"Yours!" —Cyrus said to Madchen.

"You two!" —Rory said to Madchen and Cyrus.

"Hey! You might be forgetting that you’re the one who threw the rock at her?!" Cyrus reminded Rory.

"W-what? I-it’s also your fault! "he answered back at Cyrus. You can hear the guilt in his tone.

"You two! Can we please stop blaming each other? "The young Madchen tried to stop their endless argument.

Because of the noise that the three made, Devika finally woke up from her nightmare.

"Hey! Why are you guys so loud? "she said sleepily.

"She’s finally awake." "Young Saimon whispered.

The three suddenly stopped their argument and looked in Devika's direction.

"Why are you guys so noisy-" she began, but cut herself off when she opened her eyes and saw her companions' stares.

"E-Eh?! W-what? "she asked.

"The audacity to ask us that!" the three said.

"EH?! W-what? What did I do? " Devika asked again.

"Haha, how come there is someone more of a deep-sleeper than you, Machine?" Cyrus teasingly said.

"Hey, Sirius Cyrus! Don't even speak my name if you're going to mispronounce it!" Madchen burst.

"Ohh, so that’s why Cyrus only called her Chen, I see," said the three, who were trying their best not to laugh.

"Hey! You three! What are you gossiping about? " Madchen shouted.

The three immediately stopped laughing when they heard Madchen.

"U-uhmm, n-nothing," Saimon and Rory said nervously.

"N-nothing Machine," Devika answered.

As soon as she realized that she had accidentally mispronounced Madchen’s name, her eyes widened and her hands went into her mouth. Madchen, irritatingly growling when she hears her mispronounced name, Rory hits Devika’s head because of what she said.

"Ouch!" Devika said while touching her head. "Is it your hobby to hit people's heads?" she said, getting annoyed.

"Heh! Don’t look at me, [pointing with his lips] put your gaze there, "Rory said. Devika reverted her gaze to where Rory was pointing. She met Madchen’s eyes, fiercely glaring at her.

"I-is there something wrong, Madchen?" She nervously said.

"Oh, come on," Rory said, facepalming. "Don’t ask her dumb questions, it may fuel her anger," he added.

"Wait, let me ask you something. What time did you sleep last night?" Rory asked Devika again.

"Almost the same time as me," Saimon interrupted.

Rory was about to tease Saimon about what he said when Madchen spoke.

"Huh?! Then why are you so hard to wake up?! We have to continue our journey to Daova! " Madchen said, "Pissed."

Devika was suddenly dazed when she remembered her dream.

"That was just a dream... right?" she whispered.

Devika came back to reality when she heard her companions calling her to continue their journey. She immediately ran in their direction and followed them. They have to leave the cave, for it can be a den of wild and dangerous monsters that can only be seen at night. They start off their journey as they head towards the Land of Daova, but Devika seems to be feeling uneasy. Perhaps because of her dreams?

"Yes... It was only a dream. Just a dream, Devika," she whispered. Persuading herself that what she witnessed was a dream.

Though she’s saying this to cheer herself up and to convince herself. She was still worried that it may not be "just" a dream. It could be something else.

"I can still feel the burning feeling of the chains," she whispered to herself.

She gazed upon her left hand, for it was the hand that was bound with burning chains in her dreams. This is where she saw her newly burnt skin.

"Huh?! Wait! What the heck is this?!" she whispered to herself. Nervously