Chapter 8 — Cruel Dream

 

"D-Don't come any closer. . please, my siblings are still young and they depend on me for living, so please. . we can still talk it over, right?" he pleads.  

With a blink of eye, the woman's expression suddenly became darker as her red lips curved into a terrifying smirk. 

"We're here now. Why not try a free fall. . ."

Tristan's life flashed through his eyes as he felt the tip of the woman's index finger gently touched the light-cloth covering his left shoulder. 

That touch was something he could not explain in that he was literally electrified, causing him to unconsciously close his eyes. The next thing he knew, his feet no longer touches the ground and the darkness that surrounds him is now closer to nothingness. 

He was falling. 

For how long was he being pulled downward, he couldn't even tell, he was too terrified to even notice such detail. 

'Once you fall down there, your physical body, soul and mana energy will fall apart due to the nature of the barrier set in there. . .'

'. . the mana flowing in you will be attracted to the closest compatible vessel. . .'

Is it going to happen anytime now? 

Oh yes, he is going to be a significant part of the second destruction of the Kingdom, what an honour. 

"Thea. . Johann. . " he whispered to himself, facing up from where he believes he fell from.

'I guess this marks the end of it. . .'

Having no other choice but to surrender himself, he inhaled the heavy air he grasps, and closed his eyes. 

As if he was awaken from a dream, Tristan once again had his eyes open. However this time, he was unable to control his own body. Though he feels the tight grip of his hands to the bow, and the critical focus he concentrates on his eye, he couldn't make a single move out of his own will.

This setting, this familiar stance — it was the night when he first met her. 

'What now?' 

As he has anticipated, the same deer came as he freed the arrow up. But this time, the arrow pierced only the after-image of the animal as it fades away. 'An illusion?' he asked himself. 

With his body still standing at the same position and pose, his eyes followed the direction to which the arrow went. And at the middle of the deafening silence, a strange and horrifying sound reverberated throughout the entire forest. 

It was a growling beast — no, two of them—no, there are more than just three. Fear came running down his spine as he realized he is now surrounded by multiple dangerous creatures he could not even recognize. 

"E-Ersilia?" he called out. "Please get me out of here! What have I done to you!?" He knew very well that no matter how loud he screams, she will never give him the aid he needs, rather, treats him with nothing but silence. 

He is aware he was not transported back to that certain event back then. He is being trapped in an illusion, one that is a part of his memories but modified to be a disturbing, dreadful one.

'A dream?' a thought crossed his mind. 

At the midst of his tribulation, he contemplated he could do something rather than immersing himself on the horror he feels. With that, he repeatedly recites a desperate prayer of safety. Then, pushed all that he has to reach his consciousness, believing everything is just one hell of a cruel dream. 

But things just gotten worse. 

Upon successfully reconnecting his mind to his physical body, he opened his eyes as he felt a foot take a step forward, just to see the horrible sight before him. 

At the peak of his suffering, he couldn't even yell a sharp scream of agony. Every piercing and tearing of his skin and flesh were distinct that he could tell which part of his body was struck. The beasts, four chimera to be specific (each one has three heads of different animal species), were attacking him nonstop while barking like mad dogs. 

"Alright. That's enough," a voice echoed throughout the area, it was so clear that it almost feels unreal. 

'Huh?'

With that signal, the extreme pain he feels mysteriously disappeared in an instant. 

That soft yet monotonous voice, there's no way he would mistook it as someone else's. He knew it, it was her all along. What good would she get from toying with his reality? With him? 

"Still no reaction, perhaps he really is no extraordinary after all."

By the moment he opens his eyes once again, the image of wild, bloodthirsty beasts who feasted on him just now fades, and so did the dark tainted forest that surrounds him. 

"A-Am I. . dead?"

"Not yet." 

He stretched his neck up to see the source of that voice, finding her comfortably seated on the back of a deer, looking down at the pathetic state he's in.

"W-Why?" he stuttered. 

"I just got carried away is all," she reasoned.

Hearing that lame reply he bursted into an exhausted, sarcastic laughter. "Really. . maybe I just got unlucky. . ."

'. . meeting you of all people. . .'

Did he actually manage to voice those words out for her to hear? He could not tell. His strength has already been drained and he feels nothing but numbness thereon.

Being completely swallowed by the aftershock of that mental corruption and physical torture, he closed his eyes once again. However, this time, it wasn't due to his incapability to face the nightmare before him, but total capitulation. Moreover, it was absolutely peaceful and quiet. Now, his tomorrow lies on whatever it is that will come to his rescue. 

***

"Oh — shoot—!"

The ear-splitting sound of continuous breaking and falling of objects which obviously are dining utensils struck Tristan's chest and pulled him off his blissful rest. Being traumatized by that horrifying experience he was brought into, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive that the same happening would occur to him again. 

"A-Anne? Why are you here?"

"I-I, I just came by, and. . and the kids told me you were sick." It was a lie. Spending the whole night by his side, she heard all the mumbling and crying he did while asleep. By that, she knew someone reliable and independent like Tristan finds it hard to show his weakness off to everyone. Thus, she decided not to disclose her limited knowledge of what he possibly encountered. 

"Sorry, but could you call Johann over?"

"S-sure thing. . ."

Exactly when she just closed the door behind her, Johann and Thea came rushing to her direction. Uneasiness is evident in the faces of the children whose spent the night restlessly, upon learning their brother's condition.

"What is it?" Johann nervously blurted. 

"I-I broke—"

"What?! You do realize that the only excess utensils we have are those you use, right?" He angrily screamed. 

"Brother, please don't be mad at Sis Anne." The round-eyed girl plead, clutching his big brother's shirt with her small hands. 

"Aww, thanks my baby girl," Anne bent her back to meet the height of her little saviour. She then averted her gaze to Johann, "Anyway, your brother asks me to call you over to his side . . please don't tell him that . . you know, I was there," she added. 

"A'ight."

Johann then took his turn to enter the room. 

"Why won't you tell brother, sister Anne?" the little girl asks. 

"I just thought it'd be better that way."

***

"You're finally awake. You could've just told us you want a day off." Arms crossed, he made his way to meet his all worn out brother. 

"Johann. . ." he called out.

"What exactly happened?"

"Too much. . too much happened. . ." his voice sounded hesitant and confused at the same time. Also, he bent his head down, avoiding his brother's gaze. Remembering how hopeless he was, thinking of his siblings while fighting for his life, he feels like he was going to burst into tears any second from now. 

"By the way, how did I get here?"

"Uh-ah, we searched for you and found you. . on the ground. . ?" 

"You and Thea?" Tristan's anxiety rose, there's no way he would let her witness that pathetic situation he was at last night. 

"Uh, I was with Percy. He happened to pass by and, I asked him for assistance," his brother's nonchalant demeanor quickly shifted to an agitated state as he was reminded of that certain request to conceal the truth, forcing him to make an excuse on the spot. 

"So that's how it was."

"Hey, you haven't answered my question yet, you weren't even scratched so I assume no feral attack?" He finally got the chance to initiate the interrogation he was eager to do. 

"Yes, was it all a dream after all?" 

"What dream?" he asked at his brother's seemingly gibberish words to himself. 

"Or no, maybe she was behind all of those," he continues. 

"Just now you we're talking with me, now you're—" He desperately tries to grab his attention back. 

"An illusion? Could be. But which of those were real and which are not. . ."

"Can you stop? Look, I'm here. You can always tell me whatever the hell is going on."

"I-I met someone. . back at the forest. . a woman."

Recollecting himself, Tristan bursted what's boggling his mind out which he finds quite hard to carry out. It was his brother after all, despite his usual mundane appearance, by the end of the day, he'd still be his sweet, little pal.  

"And?" 

"I-I think she plans to revive a Witch."

It was an assumption and conclusion he came up with by the time he woke up. That woman baited him to perform his part unwillingly for such purpose, he thought.

"W-What?" Anne shockingly exclaimed upon hearing Tristan's revelation from behind the closed door.