Chapter 08 - Nightmare

- Maria's POV

How did I get into this situation?

That was the only thought dazedly floating in my head as I felt my bound body cradled against something firm and warm. My legs, tied tightly together, rested over one arm, while the man's other supported my back, holding me as if I weighed nothing at all.

Oh, he already treated his injuries.

My arms were wrenched behind me and bound at the wrists, pressed uncomfortably against my lower back, but even the discomfort felt distant. I didn't have the strength to lift my head, let alone speak—only the rhythmic rise and fall of a steady chest beneath my cheek kept me tethered to awareness.

My body felt useless now: slack, sore, drained of everything, physically and emotionally. I couldn't remember when we started moving through this storm.

Hours ago? Longer? Time didn't mean much anymore.

I had nothing left but the faint awareness of being carried, and the dull ache of surrender.

A subtle warmth pulsed in the air around us, strange and comforting, like I was wrapped in a half-remembered dream. I tilted my head, barely managing to glance over to the side of this man's cloak.

She was there.

The little girl, now curled up and sleeping soundly, held securely in the arms of the pink-haired woman walking behind us.

Thank goodness, they already patched her up...

Her expression was calm, peaceful, and that warmth—maybe it was coming from her? Or was it something else? I dunno, the H.U.D didn't say anything for the last hours...

*Sigh... you little devil, we got stuck in this situation because of you.

I let my head fall back gently against the armored chest that held me. I could barely see his face from here, but what I could see was sharp, composed, and strangely… reassuring. The same pink hair like the woman behind us caught the stormlight like the colour of a setting sun, his gaze focused forward, unwavering.

He looked… hot. And strong.

Damn.

Somewhere in the hazy, delirious fog of my mind, I slurred, "My, what strong arms you have, sir…"

I saw the shimmering pillar on the horizon—gold and iron in the storm's embrace. The H.U.D in my visor finally flickered as it confirms it being the coordinates from before.

A shelter.

Their home, maybe.

We could've just asked them for direction...

But that went out of the window because that little brat decided to steal my blade and jump on him.

*Sigh... this has been a long day...

Why am I this tired?

By the way...

How did I get into this situation again?

---------

-Flashback

The roar.

The screams.

The whistlings of bolts, arrows,

—and bloody Expeliarmus-es flying straight at me.

Screams, clashing metal, the stomping of boots on sand and bone—it all meshed together into one single command that tore itself from my throat.

FUCK IT!

"STAND BACK! DON'T FUCKING MOVE! NOBODY FUCKING MOVE! I HAVE A GUN!"

My voice cracked, scared and strained, but it rang clear. My finger hovered near the trigger, eyes locked onto the approaching wave of swords, axes, and bolts. My legs screamed with every twitch, my sides burned where the needle had jabbed me, my sights moved frantically from left to right, my H.U.D blinked rapidly with cautions, damage readouts, and heart rate warnings.

Still, I stood my ground. She was behind me. She needed me.

I didn't notice them at first—the pink-haired twins. The man who'd struck earlier, standing still, and the woman beside him, her long hair fluttering faintly, her arms reaching out to the cacophany of demon-like humans in front of me.

What are you guys looking at?

Confused? Shocked?

What the hell are you guys shocked of?

Was it something I said? Or is it about your fellows there?!

Two others followed them—two tall, commanding figures. One of which is impossibly tall, huge, and he wore a veiled helm, I can't read any movements from him, but his ghastly stillness stood in stark contrast to the frenzy around them.

The other… was different. I could see her face beneath the shadowed veil—cold, regal, and pointing some sort of stick—no, a wand at me.

Whoa, you're pretty—Who are you? A wizard—?Well the others attacked me with magics, so she might be one as well.

And they all stared.

At me.

Like I was something alien.

No time to think about that!

HUD, I have almost no fucking idea how to use this thing!

I was screaming internally as the lasgun locked magnetically into my grip. My breath was erratic, a pulse of heat firing through my sore arms. My legs were aching, my ribs jabs me with every gasp, and my arms—fuck, my arms—were barely hanging on.

But I had no choice. The girl, well the assailant was behind me, clutching my suit, and the approaching warriors were too close, I saw their silhouettes, and the horns in each their heads growing larger, shouting something I couldn't understand.

The HUD pinged my visor, no voice, just text:

[Point and shoot.]

"What?! B-But—" I whispered hoarsely.

Another quick flash of text followed:

[Lasgun: T-231 Imperial Pattern Lasgun, energy-based weapon, semi-automatic fire. Minimal recoil.]

[Charging capacitor: ready.]

I swore under my breath. My fingers adjusted on the grip by instinct. The gun felt alien to me. It felt too light, too full with unknown energy.

Yet why is my body seemed familiar of it?

I felt it buzzed softly in my hand, what seemed to be the capacitor coiling heat up the frame. I could feel it even through the gloves.

But I was still frozen.

Do I really want to shoot them?

T-They're people. They're shouting, cursing, attacking me—us! Because of this kid!

B-but I don't understand what they're saying. This could still be a misunderstanding.

M-Maybe if I shout again... maybe they'll listen?

I stole a glance to the sides. The pink-haired girl and the tall, sharp-featured man with her—they both looked stunned. The giants that flanked them—a figure in a thick veil and armor, and another wearing a dark, see-through veil—also hesitated. The one with the dark veil had their hand out, slowly reaching.

They weren't attacking. Not yet.

But the others—the ones screaming—they weren't slowing down either.

My thumb hovered near the activation switch on the side of the lasgun.

My mouth was dry.

I could no longer feel the iron in my tongue.

I didn't want to kill anyone. I just wanted to protect her. I didn't even know her name.

I adjusted my footing, bringing the lasgun up.

"S-Stand back! Don't move!" I shouted, heart thundering in my chest.

They didn't listen.

This isn't real.

This can't be real.

Just a nightmare. Just some twisted imaginations my brain cooked up from too many sleepless nights and overtime movie marathons.

I-I'll wake up.

I have to wake up.

Any second now—

Thwip.

A gust of wind… over my side.

Then comes the pain.

But not mine.

A yelp behind me. Small. Weak.

I turned.

Blood.

Red was blooming across the girl's shoulder. An arrow—scraped her. Not deep, but still bleeding.

She was crying.

She was hurt.

Because I did nothing.

My breath caught in my throat.

I looked up, eyes wide.

The HUD flickered calmly in the corner of my visor.

[WARNING: HOSTILE PROJECTILES DETECTED]

[CAUSALITY: 1 CIVILIAN UNIT]

[CAUSE: INACTION]

[VERDICT: COWARDICE.]

[MEEK.]

[WEAK.]

[ COWARD.]

My thoughts stopped. Everything went numb.

"…W-What?" I whispered, barely hearing myself. "What… what did you just call me?!"

[COWARD.]

[WEAK.]

[COMPROMISED.]

[RE-EVALUATE PRIORITIES.]

My legs buckled slightly. My throat tightened until I could barely breathe. The static in my ears roared louder, like the wind was suddenly screaming at me.

Coward.

No. No. Please—no. Not that. Not again.

It burrowed deep, scraping against something buried—memories of silent rooms, of eyes that wouldn't meet mine, of whispers behind doors, of someone once saying "if only she had acted"—and the unbearable, choking guilt that never went away.

Coward .

[IF YOU WILL NOT DEFEND YOURSELVES, WHO WILL?]

[COWARD.]

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. Just a rasp of breath. My knees buckled slightly.

"I'm not… I didn't…"

I gritted my teeth. Trembled. The storm screamed louder, but it wasn't as loud as the silence in my head.

"I'm not… a coward," I muttered.

No one was listening.

The HUD didn't stop.

[PROTECT THE CHILD.]

[OR WATCH HER DIE.]

[AND THEN YOU DIE.]

[CRYBABY.]

That was the last straw.

My hands trembled. My vision blurred. I couldn't think—I didn't want to think. The weight of that single word pressed down like an avalanche on my chest.

I am not meek.

I am not a coward.

I am not—

I didn't say it.

I snapped.

The lasgun came up. My movements weren't steady, but mechanical—a reflex, survival instict, desperation. My breath hitches as my finger curled over the trigger, not because I was calm, but because there was nothing else left to do.

I didn't even realize my mouth had fallen open, or that tears had started to blur the HUD's readout.

Shut up

Shut up

SHUT UP

"I'M NOT WEAK," I cried. "I'M NOT A COWARD!"

They were still charging.

Screaming.

I Screamed back

Weapons raised.

And I pulled the trigger.

++++++++

-Theresa's POV

They weren't listening.

"Ramale—enough!" I stepped forward, raising a hand. "You'll frighten them both!"

But she was already striding ahead, her veil lifting slightly in the wind, revealing those fierce eyes. Her grip on the black pen-shaped scepter was trembling.

I turned to Nezzsalem. "Stop her. Order them all to stand down. Now."

He hesitated, then raised his arm and signed the order to retreat, voice sharp beneath his breath. "Stand down. Everyone."

Theresis joined in with a commanding shout. "This is a misunderstanding. Fall back!"

And that's when I felt it.

A ripple.

Then a flood.

I gasped—genuinely stumbled back—as something snapped behind me. Something I could not see, but felt.

It was like a wound ripped open in the air.

Grief.

Terror.

Pain.

A lifetime's worth of it poured straight into my soul, dragging my breath out of my lungs like a sudden storm tide. The Civilight Eterna flared with soft, sorrowful light, and through it—I felt her.

The one in the suit.

The outsider.

Until then, I hadn't even been able to tell if it was a woman or a man beneath all that armor—her voice earlier had been muffled, her words incomprehensible. Whatever language she'd shouted when she raised that strange glowing long rifle, it wasn't any I recognized.

But her emotions—no language could hide them.

She was a woman.

A young one.

Lost.

Terrified.

And something in her mind had snapped .

A streak of glowing blue light tore past me like lightning unleashed from a dark cloud in the sky.

It missed me by a hair—rushed past Theresis, past Laqeramaline—and pierced straight into the chest of one of the charging Sarkaz mercenaries. He didn't scream. He just dropped.

Dead.

A single shot.

The battlefield fell silent.

All heads turned to her.

I did too.

She was standing still. Her rifle—whatever strange construct of a long gun it was—lowered slightly, smoking at the tip. Her armored body trembled, head dipping, shoulders tight.

The Civilight Eterna's light pulsed around me. And for a moment, I could see through the storm and armor and language.

I felt her pain like it was my own.

She didn't want to shoot.

She had begged herself not to.

But she had.

And now she would never forget what it felt like to kill.

Not in a dream.

Not in a nightmare.

But in reality.

I took a step forward, holding the reaching my arms out to her, the Crown on my head flickering as it responded to the storm of emotion I was feeling—and the torrent flooding from her.

I had to reach her.

Before she collapsed.

Before she broke further.

The pain, the guilt, the raw self-loathing—if I let this continue, she might never return from ehatever depths she'd just fallen into.

I whispered under my breath and extended the light again, letting it reach out—not physically, but through the flow of sensation, the channel of soul to soul. My own energy, my own heart, flowed into the link. I sought her essence through the connection her grief had made with me.

And then—

I touched her.

Or I thought I did.

Because the moment I reached out—

Nothing.

My breath hitched.

The warmth of empathy, of human presence—gone.

It was as if I had been standing before a vast door, only to open it and find…

Void.

A cold, black, empty ocean that stretched into eternity. No form. No shape. No edges.

No her.

My fingers tightened around my rings, and I swallowed a sudden knot in my throat. I tried again, deeper this time—willing the light to find anything inside her soul. A thread. A memory. A name.

But all I found was—

Silence.

And for a moment—I wasn't sure if it was her mind that was void—

Or if something else had hollowed her out long before she came here.

I stepped back, a chill passing through me despite the heat of the storm. I looked up at her, and for the first time, I felt a terrible, quiet realization settle in my heart.

This wasn't just a frightened outsider.

This girl had been broken long ago.

And whatever had done it—left behind a shadow even the Civilight Eterna couldn't pierce.