A gaudy room, decorated mostly in magenta and gold with distinct wall design, seems way too familiar and easy for Cenric to identify. He can feel himself standing in the room, but he clearly remembers that he was not in the castle when he was last awake. Nor did he visit the Queen’s room yesterday. Right after the celebration, he went out with Atreus and has not been back since then. Bearing those in mind, Cenric realizes in less than one minute that he must be dreaming.

Cenric turns his head and finds the Queen sitting by the window, facing towards the deep, dark night sky. The fact that this is his first time seeing the Queen in his dreams leaves him feeling unsettled. As Cenric carefully approaches the Queen, he senses an uncomfortable chill. The way the Queen is sitting looks rather unnatural.  

‘Did she fall asleep on the chair?’ 

Cenric halts his steps, his eyes start to wander, searching for any clues that may provide him insight. The intricate bottle of his perfume gift catches his attention, only half left, resting quietly on the majestic vanity. Alas, he is unable to smell its fragrance, for he is anosmic in all of his dreams. Even in his previous dreams, he could survive walking in the middle of the sewer without vomiting. Perhaps it is not an alas afterall – he bets the room smells horrible if the Queen has used half of the bottle within half a day. 

Then, Cenric starts to walk again. When Cenric is close enough to the chair, he notices from the window that the sky is kind of reddish compared to the regular night sky he knows. The moon is nowhere to be found – perhaps it is a new moon day, but Cenric never bothers anyway. 

A seemingly slumpy left hand is the first thing Cenric notices before he turns to check on the Queen’s face. He gasps, a sudden tightness grips his throat as he stumbles back. Surprise is an understatement. Colors have vanished from her face, her lips shaded with the icy touch of blue. Then, as pieces come together, the realization finally strikes him hard.

The overwhelming shock jolts Cenric awake. Cold sweat is beading down his skin as he breathes raggedly. A sudden intense pain shoots through his chest, causing him to cough twice. It seems that he has let out a loud scream, because Atreus is already awake next to him, showing a worried expression.

“What’s wrong, Cenric? Nightmare?”

Ignoring Atreus’ question, Cenric rushes to take a peek outside, where he sees a familiar moonless reddish sky. His eyes grow wide as he questions himself why he is seeing the exact same sky as the one in his dream – a sky that he can only describe as blood-like horror and nothing else.

“Cenric?” asks Atreus, seeing Cenric freezes, with no knowledge of what has just happened to his cousin. 

‘Is he… Wait, am I witnessing his psychic ability right now?’ asks Atreus to himself. Now kind of aware, he focuses his sight solely on Cenric for a while, preparing for any action Cenric might take. Thirty seconds have passed before realization finally hits Cenric, prompting him to turn around, grab Atreus’ shoulders hastily, and start shouting – something he almost never does.

“Atreus! What time is it?!”

Surprised by the sudden act, Atreus asks in bewilderment, “What happened, Cenric?”

“Just answer me!”

Atreus urgently reaches into the pocket of his mantle, his hands trembling as he pulls out his pocket watch. Never in his life has he seen Cenric this agitated, which makes him wonder repeatedly what is happening at the moment.

“Five. Yeah, my watch is working perfectly.”

Both of them realize something is wrong as they see the sky still as dark as midnight.

“Shit!”

Cenric screams as he gets out from the tent and starts to run as fast as possible, leaving Atreus with incomplete guesses of what is happening right now. Atreus, seeing Cenric run, starts to chase after him. When he realizes Cenric is heading towards the capital, he at least knows something terrible is happening.