"Would you like to dance?"
Atelier looks at Jungkook with wide eyes. "I can't dance," she admits. She envies the ones who can – those who have been showing off on the dance floor, gliding through and across to the beautiful orchestral music. He must have caught her watching them.
"You can learn," he tells her. "I'll teach you." He's already standing up and extending an arm to her.
She panics again. "Um..."
"It'll be fine," he assures her as he leads her to the centre of the ballroom. He guides her hand to his shoulder and gently places one hand on her waist. She can feel her nerves tingling, sending pulses to her heart and lungs to /keep breathing/ because she is afraid she might collapse.
Jungkook is a good dancer, and a very patient teacher. To be fair, they're just sort of waddling side to side slowly to the music, standing awfully close to each other – so close she could feel his breath. Not that she minds, and he doesn't seem to mind it either.
Once in a while, she'd step on his shoes and break away with a string of apologies, but he'd just laugh it off before telling her that it's fine, because she's doing great.
Everything feels just perfect. She will remember this night forever, though it makes her a bit sad that she might never see him again.
"Is something wrong?"
She looks up, then shakes her head. "No. Just thinking."
"About what?" he asks, curious.
"The future." She almost said '/our/ future', and would have bitten her tongue clean off. "I'm... still not sure where I'll go from here." That's a lie. She knows she'll go back to slumming in Morheim. It scares her, but not as much as the uncertainty does. Where's her life heading to, really? Dr Winston's words play in her mind – /somewhere out there, there's something only you can do./
She wishes she knows what that is.
Jungkook is looking at her intently, his expression unreadable.
"Don't you ever wonder about your future?" she asks.
He smiles again, but this time, it carries a hint of sadness. It disappears quickly; the sadness, not the smile. "Not really. I try not to worry and just live in the moment," he answers.
Perhaps she should too. Tonight won't last forever.
She is about to say something when it catches her eye; the three soldiers marching into the ballroom. Her paces come to a standstill and she stares at them, a sudden, irrational fear creeping into her heart.
"Primarch Lee must be arriving soon," Jungkook says.
"The Primarch is attending?" Her voice is shaky.
"Yeah, because of Soo Young, of course."
Right. Soo Young, The Primarch's daughter. /She's/ nowhere to be seen, and Atelier doesn't think that's a good thing at all. Suddenly, she doesn't feel so safe. The voice in the back of mind is yelling at her to leave.
/No!/ Why should she leave? She won't. Jungkook chose /her/ over Soo Young! This is her night. She won't let Soo Young ruin it.
Still, something feels off...
"Are you alright, Atelier?" Jungkook asks. "You look pale."
"I'm fine," she heaves, but she is pulling away from him. "I will be. I just need to – excuse me for a moment."
Before he could respond, she hurries away, out the door. She heads to the washroom, where – unknown to her – a threat is waiting.
But one never fully realises they're in danger until it's too late. Atelier won't be an exception to the rule.
---
"Hngh!"
"Tao!"
The guardians surround their collapsed comrade. Tao is on his knees; one hand covering his eyes, the other shaped in a fist and pressed hard against the ground. Lucem gets down next to him and allows him to recompose himself before demanding to know what he saw.
"A crowd. Screaming, running," Tao says in between heavy breaths.
"And the sorceress? Did you see her? Is she okay?" another guardian asks.
"I don't know, but she's there. I feel her presence, her fear. She's with them." Tao looks to Lucem, his features forming a mask of fear. "She's in trouble. She /will/ be in trouble. I don't know where she is."
Someone curses. The same guardian punches the tree next to him. "How much time do we have?" It's pointless to ask. Seers see what will happen but never know /when./ All that matters now is that they hurry.
Lucem bites his lip and hesitantly reaches forward. He stops. "Do you mind?" Tao shakes his head, and Lucem presses his palm over the younger's forehead.
Immediately, the images flood his mind. He sees a grand hall in chaos. People in fear. The earth splitting. She is nowhere to be seen, but as he scours the area, he sees something else. A broken statue, a nameplate.
Jeron Vidar.
He knows where she is.
---
Atelier splashes water onto her face with shaky hands.
She remembers smiling and dancing just a while ago. Everything was fine! It was all going so well, and then it happened – as though something in her mind just snapped and left her feeling unsettled. Something she isn't able to pinpoint.
She almost cried looking at her reflection. She looks so frightened. She can't stop trembling.
Jungkook is waiting for her. She has to go back.
Very quickly, she rips off a piece of paper towel from the dispenser on the wall and pats her face dry, just as the door swings open and a slender figure steps in.
"Well, don't you look pretty today."
Atelier feels the fear when she sees Song Jin standing there by the door – the exit – with a smug expression on her face. She tries to slip past her, but Song Jin won't allow it.
"Did you not hear me talking to you?"
"I need to go. Please, you're blocking the way."
"I suppose you're in a hurry to go back for the last dance?" Song Jin smiles, but it is dry and sinister. She shakes her head slowly. "I don't know what Jungkook sees in you. He probably confused pity for love, and /you/ confused his kindness for love."
Atelier grits her teeth, fists clenched tightly. "/Please./ Excuse me."
"Once he sees Soo Young, he'll realise what a big mistake he made, roach. Maybe you'll see yours too."
She doesn't want to listen anymore. "Get out of my way."
Song Jin narrows her eyes. "Did you forget who you are speaking to? Rephrase that. I might consider letting you go."
/I'm sorry, please let me pass./ The words rise to her lips, but Atelier bites them off. "No," she says. "I don't want to."
She watches as Song Jin's face contort with anger, and secretly feels a sense of defiant excitement, but it only lasts for a second. "It looks like Jungkook won't be able to dance with you, Atelier. /You/ won't be available."
As two guys barge in and grab her arms, Atelier realises too late that she's in trouble. Song Jin smirks and opens the door to the supply closet, and Atelier, despite struggling as much as she could manage, is whirled into it headfirst. She strikes the wall and falls onto the floor as the door slams shut and the key turns in the lock.
"Let me go! Open the door!" she yells, pounding her fists on the door. "Please!"
"Please? A little too late for that now, isn't it?" The light bulb goes off in a click, plunging the tiny room into complete darkness.
"Let me out!"
But Song Jin just laughs, drowning out her helpless screams. "Save it. No one can hear you. I'm sure one of the janitors will find you. In two hours."
"No, no, /no!!/"
They leave, the footsteps growing softer and more distant until she can no longer hear them. She doesn't stop shouting. Someone /must/ hear her. Someone /must/ help. The darkness is suffocating. She's going crazy.
Her head hurts. A disconnected voice haunts her, triggering a flood of images. She was wrong to think nightmares only come when she is asleep.
She remembers now – what happens when she opens the door. /Happened./ She wishes she doesn't.
She screams again, clutching both sides of her head, begging for the memory to go away.
Brightness fills the room once more. The door is knocked off its hinges. And her hands, they remain where they were a second ago – on her head.