part 1: What nightmares tell

CW: slight blood

It was a peaceful night. A gentle breeze flew through the wooden cottages and small vegetable fields of the village. The sheep and goats rested as their fur was fluttered away by the wind. Blowing through the library windows, it left a cold but refreshing aroma throughout it that anyone could easily sleep well. Despite that, Alice wasn't having a sound night.

She tossed and turned in her bed, sweat streaming from her face as she kept saying things in her sleep, "No…stop…we need to run."

Her dreams were blurry. She didn’t know where she was. Everything was covered in fog. She was running. When she looked behind her, she finds several shadowy figures chasing her, and a kid holding her hand tightly.

Who-

It was hard to look at the kid. Their face was covered in shadows, streams of tears falling like waterfalls off their hollow eyes. They repeated, ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again.

What's going on? Who are these people?

Alice was confused. She wasn't sure whether this was a dream or not. "Leave us alone! What did we ever do to you?!"

"Fool…dare…attack…"

What the heck are they even saying? Are these guys even human?

"I'm sorry."

"This again-hey, don't apologize. Don’t cry. Don’t worry about it. Whatever you do, don’t stop running-"

"Argh!"

Not seeing where she ran off to, she tripped and both of them fell. That was it. The two were surrounded, with no chance of escaping.

"Oh no," seeing the kid’s entire body shake, she shielded him, "Leave us alone already! We didn’t do anything!"

"...Know…must…misery."

"I have no idea what you're talking about! Just leave already!"

"...Die!"

"Stop!"

"Alice!"

All the shadowy figured had thorns grow out of their chest, stabbing through a young man, who pushed the two kids away.

"No-no way."

The man turned to face her, coughing out blood as the life vanished from his eyes.

"D-dad!?"

"My child," he put his hand on her shoulder, slowly falling on the ground, covered with his own blood.

"Dad!"

Reaching her hand out to nowhere, she woke up. It was hard for her to breathe. It was only when she took a look around, finding herself in her own room, that she was able to take a deep breath and calm down.

Whelp, that got first place in the list of nightmares I never want to experience again.

She gets up, cleaning up the mess that was her bed once.

What the heck even was all that? I can only remember the last bit where I was chased by those weirdos with that shadow kid, I guess? I wonder, how did we even get into that situation? Who were those creeps, and why was dad-oh.

Getting lost in thought, she held the pillow tightly to her chest.

He was there too,, huh? I guess I haven't moved on as I thought I did…It’s that dumb book’s fault. I better get back to sleep soon. Thank goodness I didn't shout too loud earlier, otherwise, I would have woken mom up. So, great job Ally!

"Alice," Talisha stormed into the room, fire blazing from her hand, "What happened?!"

Nevermind.

Talisha tightly held her in her arm that wasn't on fire, "Are you alright? Did a monster enter this place!?

"Mom-"

"Were they burglars?! Did they steal anything?"

"Mom-"

"I need to call in the hunters immediately-"

"Mom!"

Alice gets away from her mother's solid grip and puts her blazing hand down.

"I'm fine, it was just some silly nightmare, no monsters, no burglars, no need to call in the hunters, ok? Ok. Don't worry about it."

"I see," she puts the flame away, taking a few deep breaths as she sat down on Alice’s bed, "I'm sorry about that, it's just that…that scream gave me quite the shock."

"Hey yeah, sorry about that," she awkwardly rubbed her cheek, "But everything is fine now, you can go to sleep now."

"I will," Talisha got a smirk on her face, "You know...if you're so scared, you could tuck in my bed."

Alice gasped in shame, "How dare you, mother?! I am 12 years of age! I have passed the need to share beds after a nightmare, soon I shall master blue purity, become a master pyrocinetic, get a husband or wife or whatever I don't really care, fight monsters, and write books of my adventures and you'll be here to witness it all!"

"Pfft, I know, I was just joking," Talisha chuckled, giving Alice a big hug.

"Hey, don't mock me, mother."

"You probably got nightmares after reading those books earlier. What was it even about?"

"Uh…"

It's better that I don't mention him. Quick, how do I change the subject? A-hah!

Carefully stepping around all the books down on the floor, she opened the window, pointing towards the night sky, "Mom, come and look!"

"What is it?"

"See it for yourself!"

"Heh, I'm coming," despite saying that, she struggled to move across the room with all the books thrown around the place.

"Didn't I tell you to clean your room up yesterday?"

"Uh, well-look!"

"My, it's beautiful."

"You bet it is! It's called Veles!* But others also call it the Imperial star as well"

"Really?"

"Sure is! It's a part of a constellation that forms a crystal-like shape and people use it as an orientation to travel from Lai to Igal* for centuries. What's more, there's also a myth connected to it too! People say that long ago a hunter who was trying to get food for his family lost his leg in a fight with a wolf. After he pleaded to see his family again, The star turned into an angel who gave him a dragon to ride on so that he could reunite with his family! What's more-"

"Heh."

"What's funny?"

"Nothing, I just love how you get so enthusiastic about this. Your dad used to rave on and on about them for hours on end and I never got tired of it,"

"Heh, I am a lot like him, aren't I?"

"Sure are…"

In a moment of peace, Talisha looked at the night sky, while Alice simply looked at her with relief to see a smile on her mother’s face.

"I don't know much about the stars, but they're gorgeous."

"Yeah, it's spring now, so there should have been more visible now, but the sky is weirdly cloudy tonight for some reason."

"Hm, it's probably nothing, but you should head to bed already. It's late and you don't want to miss class again tomorrow."

"Ugh, don't remind me. The professor's complaints are ingrained in my brain at this point.."

"Can't do much about that, I'm afraid."

"Oh, mock my misery."

After cleaning the sheets, Talisha tucked her in and kissed her on the cheek, slowly caressing her hair.

"Good night sweetie, have sweet dreams."

"You too Mom."

Off to sleep I go. Thank goodness I haven't worried about her too much, she's been through enough already. Good night dad.

*The name "Veles" is the name of a Slavic god who ruled over the land and water, but the entire hunter myth is something I came up myself.

*Alice and Talisha live in the continent of Lai while the Unia empire is in Igal.