<"Miya."
Miya ran over to the woman. She had bright yellow hair and completely yellow eyes, similar to Sarah's, but the air she exuded was vastly different.
"I have a gift for you."
The woman's presence was warm, giving Miya the urge to embrace her instead of pursuing her gift. She hugged Miya back, smiling with a genuine love that Miya hadn't seen before. Miya still held tightly to the woman who accepted the fact that she'd probably not let go of her.
"Here."
She held Miya while turning her attention to a sword that the woman held in her other hand. The sword gave off the same energy as her. Miya grabbed it tightly and hugged the blade; it didn't damage her at all.
"This is a sword made specifically for you. You are the only person that can truly use it's power."
"What power?"
"You'll find out soon enough when you get older, Miya. I trust that you'll become a strong woman who protects her friends to the end."
The lady relocated Miya to her lap and began rubbing her head. She whispered into her ears softly, nearly hypnotizing Miya.
"You can protect that boy you like. What was his name? Isaiah?"
Miya instantly flailed her arms toward the woman, her face bright red.
"Stop teasing me!"
Miya pouted while still sitting in the woman's lap; she lay on the woman's arm as she played with her new sword.
"He will only strike those which you intend to strike. He will only save those who you intend to save. Protect Tadashi well, Miya."
She looked upward toward the woman, curious.
"His name is Tadashi?"
"Yes, his name is Tadashi. I think it's cute."
They both laughed lightly, but Miya stopped, asking the woman a question.
"What about Owen? Does he get a present too?"
"Yes, he does, but his uncle decided to have him for the day, so they've been playing all day."
"Why does uncle only play with Owen?"
"You'll understand soon… Soon, my dear.">
Miya came back to reality. Chance and Nifla looked at Miya worriedly. Chance's eyes looked glossy, tears swelling as he looked toward her. He frantically tried to comfort her, worrying Miya.
"Are you ok, Miya? I didn't overstep, did I?"
"No, I'm fine, Chance."
"But…you're crying, Miya…I never meant to…"
Miya hadn't realized the tears that ran across her face. Chance let tears of his own flow, soon, he swiftly removed himself from the room.
"Chance, wait!!!"
Miya dashed toward the door, but he'd already vanished into the crowd that lied beyond it. Nifla still sat at the foot of the bed as Miya grew somber, guilt setting in.
"Why'd he leave, Nifla?"
"He feels responsible for you crying after giving you a gift. I thought it was pretty obvious."
Nifla stood up and pulled Miya back into the room, closing the door behind them. She pulled her toward the bed before returning to her gaming chair, reverting back to her smaller form.
"You see, Chance's in the Miura family... You're in the Sleep Clan."
"Yeah. What of it?"
"Your settlements used to be directly in front of each other. It's almost fact that he knew you before you lost your memories."
"...But didn't they not like each other?"
"That's not the case, at all, but there was a power struggle at one point leading up to the incident. Central Government called in Gale after things got too out of hand, to help settle that dispute. That's the same day that the incident happened."
"Do you know what happened afterward?"
"Yes."
Nifla paused, wondering if she's saying to much, but she continued.
"A man, believed to be of the curse, attacked the meeting where Gale was helping settle the dispute and they fought. Her child, Icarus Kreyn, fourteen years of age at the time, accompanied her on her mission, but was forced to watch as his mother was killed after a fierce battle."
"Huh?! I thought that Icarus was the one attacking! I thought he'd killed his mother!"
"I'm not done... The trauma caused by the loss of his mother awakened his Full-Body Takeover, causing an explosion of heat surrounding the area. That caused a lot of the deaths in the two clans. He continued rampaging all night until he'd wore himself out, and he was soon taken in and set to be executed."
"But--"
Nifla whispered into Miya's ear, almost inaudible to Miya herself.
"Don't put all of your trust into the Central Government. It'll come back to bite your ass."
Nifla got into the bed near Miya and turned the lights off in the room off. The TV remained off, the only light coming from the idle monitor at the bed's side. Miya sat at the opposite end of her, taking in her newfound information.
'The Central Government... Are they using Icarus's name to hide something?'
Nifla tossed in her bed, eventually ending up staring toward the ceiling.
"Can you do me a favor, Miya?"
"S-Sure."
"You can control dreams, right? I-I don't feel like I'll have a good night's sleep otherwise."
Miya didn't respond but placed her hand onto Nifla's head. She could feel a groove on her forehead as she placed her hand. Miya imbued power into her palm, putting Nifla to sleep and beginning the dream control process.
'I've grown confident in my ability to control dreams... What's so bad that it'd bother Nifla to this extent?'
As Miya entered Nifla's dream world, she appeared inside of a large traditional Eastern home, surrounded by multiple people wearing red yukata's with roses engraved into them. Miya quickly stepped backward, unsure of what she was seeing. She tried not to panic, slowly gaining control of the altered mind, but it proved difficult, as if she were controlling Nifla's psyche in its entirety as opposed to a simple dream.
"The blue-haired girl. Kill. Kill the blue-headed woman."
They chanted as Miya tried to gain control of Nifla's dreamscape.
"Kill the blue haired girl... The Reaper will fall..."
A tall woman came into Miya's view, surrounded by two other girls who had red eyes with distinct patterns. The others surrounding Miya made way for the woman, and she wore a purple kimono, her hair looking like space itself.
"Concubine, be rid of yourself, Alter-Reaper."
"What are you talking about?! What do you want with me?!"
"Playing ignorance will not save either of you. You will regret your act in due time."
Miya finally got a hold of the dream world and got rid of the strange illusion. Miya felt a chill go down her spine as she struggled to catch her breath, but Nifla lay her hand on her shoulder, reassuring her and helping her calm down.
They remained in the dream world, the landscape completely devoid of anything as they spoke to each other.
"Thank you, Miya. I've been having that dream over and over again since a few days ago... You're a life saver. I--I never wanted to remember those people. It's torture."
"Do you know who they are?"
"I'm sorry... Goodnight, Miya..."
Miya understood and switched the location of her to a hot spring spa. Nifla jumped in and sat in the water, thinking about something. Miya decided to leave her be and exited the dream world. The noise of partying returned, and the room was completely empty, Nifla sleeping soundly now.
'I need to use the restroom.'
Miya headed out of the door and roamed in search of the rest room.