Chapter 4

Note: This is a work of fiction.

Unknown Universal Calendar. Earth.

Year 1431.

Location: ??? Inside a cold prison tower.

«Command Acknowledged»

«Host has fulfilled the prerequisite parameters for ability execution: [Nightmare]»

«Executing Protocol – Ability [Nightmare] Activated»

—Cold.

"Hn."

Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

The soft rattles of chains filled an empty narrow space. 

"Huh?"

What came next was the obvious sound of a groan, one that belonged to a young teenager who had no business being here in the first place.

His eyes groggily shot open as his crimson eyes gazed around slowly. It was anything but a familiar location to him.

Damp surroundings, a dimly lit room, and steel bars that formed horizontal lines casting a shadow inside.

The scent of mold and rust filling the air, accompanied by the faint metallic tang of blood—whether his own or another's, he wasn't sure.

Additionally, he felt something tighten against his wrists and ankles, letting out soft yet occasional clatters.

It took a moment alongside a pause.

"Where am I…?"

He tried forming a train of thoughts, and surely, he had fallen asleep. That meant he was currently under the influence of [Nightmare]?

Then again, everything felt vivid for it to be a dream again. 'Could it be that, this never been a dream in the first place.'

Pushing the unusual situation and unfamiliar location he was in, he had calmly analysed his surroundings.

After going through a situation where he had no means of stopping, he had simply learnt to be able to do this instead of panicking.

Looking over his body, he seemed be cloaked on an outfit that would be deemed ancient.

Dirt white-like short-sleeved shirt, coupled with brown-like trousers that seemed to stink.

Additionally, his there were chains wrapped over his arms and legs.

'So, now… what's the situation.'

He had witness death by decapitation as well as other means, it could be said that nothing fazed him at this point.

However, it was at that moment.

"You're up."

Ren's head snapped in the direction of the speaker, chains rattling in response to his movement. 

Beyond the iron bars was another cell, where a girl sat shackled in similar chains.

Blonde hair, braided neatly into twin French plaits that cascaded past her waist. 

Even in her state—half-collapsed on the ground, body marred with bruises and dirt—she carried herself with a sense of unshaken dignity. 

Shadows partially obscured her features, but Ren could still make out the curve of her lips as she chuckled.

"...Who?"

The Aristella narrowed his crimson eyes. This wasn't the same endless loop he had endured countless times. 

He should have woken up bound to a guillotine. He should have been staring at the faces of executioners awaiting their moment.

Had [Nightmare] grown tired of repeating the same death and decided to introduce a new variation?

He didn't know.

But he needed answers.

However, in response to her questions, she merely cutely tilted her head.

Despite being bruised, she certainly still looked beautiful. But, to Ren, he couldn't be bothered about that.

"E?? So… You don't know, huh? That's strange, I certainly believed I'd be known around this part, hehehe, guess I'm not, huh?"

Was she some famous person he should know? Certainly not.

Besides, the entire design of this place that seemed to resemble a prison, it was far different from what would be the product of his world.

And if this were a dream, he obviously wouldn't know her.

The girl on the other hand that looked no older than him seemed genuinely surprised, but it quickly faded into something else.

A smile. A lonely smile.

"It doesn't matter either way. My name is Jeanne. Jeanne D'arc. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Jeanne...?"

Pushing his back against the wall for support, he muttered her name, but it didn't ring any bell to him.

But in the end, perhaps it didn't matter after all.

If this was indeed related to [Nightmare] then it's nothing more than its manifestation.

"My. How rude. You're not going to introduce yourself?"

She suddenly said that glaring straight at him from inside his own cell with a obvious pout on her face.

And hearing that from the young girl, Ren averted his gaze briefly, lost in thought before responding.

"There's no need. However, if I must, Aristella Ren."

Jeanne's smile widened at that, her lips curling in amusement as she let the name roll off her tongue.

"Aristella, huh? Not a name you'd hear around this part, but a beautiful one."

She leaned back against the wall, tilting her head towards the damp ceiling as if trying to recall something.

"Wait, so, you're the one sentenced to decapitation?"

'Huh?' The moment those words left her lips, Ren's entire body tensed. His eyes widened.

The chains rattled loudly as his fingers clenched around the steel links.

"What did you just say?"

In response, Jeanne raised her chained hands slightly in a pacifying gesture.

"Uhm... Calm down. The thing is, you were brought here not long ago. I merely overheard what the prison guards said, that's all."

Hearing that, he immediately fell into thoughts.

Before, he'd have never considered it. After all, it's a funny joke no? A dream which keeps on looping one scene over and over again for the past five years.

He had counted it but nothing more than a dream obviously.

But now, things weren't so like he'd thought.

No, he knew better than to dismiss it as one. There was too much sensation. Too much clarity.

And most of all—no dream would ever give anyone, someone who spoke to them so vividly.

"Makes me wonder what you did wrong."

If you were to go by that sense. Now. It all made sense.

This would mean, that, this was probably moments before [Nightmare] forced him to relive the inevitable.

And his rebirth into the waking world.

But why? Why was there a delay? Why was he here before the execution instead of skipping straight to the blade?

The corners of his lips curled slightly.

For the first time in five years, there was something different.

Finally, a chance to break the cycle, and a chance for revenge. 

Though he may look like he was in a disadvantage, however, twisting a few bones wouldn't hurt much.

As long as he wasn't dead, then, it didn't matter.

But the problem now… this young girl in a cell just like him.

"And you? You must have been given some kind of sentence. Why aren't you resisting?" 

"I find it hard to believe someone like you would commit a crime worthy of you being treated like this."

Ren who had a slightly better eyesight than normal could obviously see the bruises she was trying to hide.

No, she couldn't hide them all in the first place, after all, there were some on her face.

And following her ascent which sounded like one that is used in the middle ages, piecing this and that together lead him straight to a conclusion.

Jeanne's expression softened, but sadness flashed in her eyes. She exhaled lightly before smiling once more.

"Everything is God's will—"

That was her belief, the reason why she was here. She felt it had been like that.

However, there was someone who hated that reply more than anything.

"Bullshit."

Her reply was instantly cut short by Ren's words, in which he glared at her with an obvious frown.

These words were ones he had heard from his grandparents, and more than any atheists, he denied it.

Jeanne on the other hand widened her eyes slightly at his sudden aggression.

"Eh?"

"You're telling me that my death—your death—is by the Almighty's will? I refuse to believe that."

Ren's shackles clattered as he shifted, his body tense.

For the first time in years, frustration burned within him. The phrase was one he had heard countless times before. 

A meaningless justification. A hollow excuse.

His parents' deaths had been his own doing. His own recklessness.

If some almighty force truly dictated fate, then Ren would curse it for making him the way he was back then.

That was all there was to it.

Jeanne, on the other hand, simply looked over to his cell, silent.

To Jeanne, this was not the first time she had heard such words; if anything, she was more or less used to it.

After all, on her missions, she was met with such rejections, and she knew better, how to handle it.

"Seems like something terrible has happened to you. However, that too, is certainly God's will."

That was the last straw.

Ren's eyes contracted as he stared at her, his frustration seeming to double over again.

'This damned—!'