It was a calm and peaceful night, the bright lights are off in every base located inside the subdivision.
The wind is whooshing in a lulling manner, along with the coldness that seeps through one's skin.
It's late at night, everyone's asleep. It's just that, not everyone is having a good night's sleep.
Inside the room of the only female resident of the gaming subdivision, murmurs and grunts of pain can be heard.
Key is currently having a nightmare, one that is too vivid as an effect of the sleeping pills that she bought from the pharmacy.
The reason Key asked Chela to remind their family doctor of her sleeping pill is that she has a custom-made, one that is developed specifically for her, that will help her fall asleep without the risk of triggering nightmares or dreams.
"Ma… ma…" she was panting as she continued repeating the same syllables
"Mykola…" Key called the man's name in her dreams
She didn't realize that she was already showing the emotions she was feeling and the expressions she had in her dreams in the real world, everything in her dream is so vivid that Key could no longer differentiate it from reality, or to be precise, her mind had fallen to the illusion that this is her current reality.
She is dreaming of the time that she can still be with the man she first loved, the time when everything seemed so simple.
"No… no…" she started gasping for air as she continued shaking her head violently, the same way she did in her dreams and at the time when everything came crashing down
"Ma… no…" she didn't realize that she was already crying while trying to stop the man in her dreams from protecting her
"Stop…" she cried the same way she asked him to stop when he tried to save her on the day of his death
"Please…" her voice was hoarse and dry as she cried that word out repeatedly
Meanwhile, for some reason, Nicholas woke up in the middle of the night. He felt like his throat is dry and he noticed that there were bullets of sweat on his forehead as he sat up.
He stood up and left his shared room with Quant to head to the kitchen when he passed by Key's room and heard her cries.
He held the doorknob and carefully opened the door, as soon as he went in, he saw Key's doleful expression and the state she was in as she was tormented by the nightmares of her past.
He approached her and sat on the side of her bed before he tried waking her up.
Key was once a soldier, and so, even while she was being tormented by the memories from her past in the form of her nightmares, her defenses are on high guard.
She held his hand and flipped him before sitting on his stomach with her one arm ready to press him down on his throat if she deems him a threat, her eyes are still closed, it was as if she was in a trance.
She was doing the things she wished she was able to do when the villagers broke into their house and dragged her family out.
"Keychantel,"
Nicholas's choked voice broke her out of her fervent defense mechanism
"Captain," she breathed out, panting heavily
She jerked away from her position above their captain and stood up on the floor, barefooted, as she watched him sit up and catch his breath from her choking.
She lowered her head and bit her lower lip, her eyes were a bit red from the crying she did under the trance of her nightmares, and she started fidgeting her fingers as she felt awkward from their position earlier.
"I'm sorry," she apologized
"You were having a nightmare," that was the only explanation Nicholas could think of to shed some light as to why Key reacted that way
"I didn't mean to hurt you," Key said in a low voice
"Don't mind it," Nicholas said and stood up
"It wasn't true," he added and tapped Key's head, which made her look up to him
"Huh?" Key asked while blinking and processing what Nicholas had just said
"Your nightmare," Nicholas said and kept his hands inside his pockets
"It was," Key replied, her eyes reflecting just how painful it was
"A memory?" Key could only nod to answer Nicholas's question
"I'm thirsty," Nicholas said and walked past Key
Key followed him out and they went down to the kitchen, where he poured the both of them a mug of lukewarm water.
The both of them stood and leaned on the kitchen counter while holding the mug.
"I don't usually have nightmares," Key said after taking a sip from her cup
"It's from the sleeping pills," Nicholas said and Key nodded
Indeed, it was, and that knowledge was already basic knowledge to people who take them occasionally.
But, what Nicholas didn't know is that Key had been dependent on sleeping pills ever since they started existing.
It can also be classified as substance abuse because Key takes sleeping pills every single night, unless she's on the call over the phone with Kami, to fall asleep.
"I couldn't sleep… I had to take it." Key said in a low voice
"Were you missing your mom?" Nicholas asked and Key looked up before lowering her head and shaking it as a reply
"It wasn't about Mama…" she trailed off and sighed when she realized that her parents died on the same day as him, in the hand of the same people who brought his death
"Well, it was about them…" she said and lowered her gaze
She didn't know why but even though it's been years, two millennia to be exact, she's still hurt by the fact that she killed her family.
It was as if carrying the guilt of having a whole town slaughtered and burnt down to the ground, beating herself up for the belief that she brought upon their deaths just by merely existing alongside them and it scarring her for all eternity of her existence wasn't enough to torment her.
If only she wasn't born with the curse of immortality, if only it didn't manifest at that moment, then maybe…
"Key?" that snapped her out of her reverie and she looked up to see Nicholas looking at her clenched fist
"I… It wasn't really that bothering."
That was an outright lie and both of them knew that but still, Nicholas didn't probe any further after sensing that it was a sore spot for Keychantel.
They continued sipping on their lukewarm water in silence, his presence allowed Key to get a rest from her thought as for some reason his presence calms her turbulent of thoughts.
Meanwhile, Nicholas can't help but steal a glance at Key from time to time, he knew something was going on with her and so he's connecting all the things that didn't use to make sense to him since he met her.
Nicholas recalled when IBJ Fox said that Key is his cousin, they found out that this girl not only graduated law school, she also passed the Law board exams and was supposed to work in a law firm in Doitsu for her internship had she not flown to New Yastrid to join E-sports.
He then recalled when Key talked to someone over the phone in a distinct language after they talked about their loss to Dominant Rooks, then when she managed to win over all the Dominant Rooks alone.
He doesn't believe that Key can do everything alone, she must have someone help her and he is suspecting Fox but the man doesn't seem to be in constant contact with his second cousin, he's wondering just who is behind Key for her to able to pull off everything behind their backs.
He's also having suspicions that Key's background is not simple, he remembered how she didn't hesitate to pay their bill with her phone when they ate outside and when they bought takeout for the team, and how when they went out, Key was able to get an access card in the recreational facility and the receptionist called her 'Ma'am KC'.
"You're a hard question to answer," Key said, something that Nicholas had thought about her at the same moment she had voiced out her thoughts
"I'd like to say the same to you," Nicholas replied and Key placed the mug on the counter
"Captain, you…" Key shook her head and didn't continue what she was about to say
"What was I saying…" she chuckled bitterly and Nicholas looked at her while keeping his amusement
"You're more open," Nicholas said and Key looked at him with a feigned amused expression
"Really? I didn't know," Key remarked and it was Nicholas's turn to shake his head