Elisa's POV:
Leonelle and I had been strolling down the hospital hallway when suddenly, a loud and sharp scream pierced through the air. It seemed to be coming from Leon's and Tessia's room, where we had left them just moments ago. The sound echoed throughout the hospital, causing a sense of unease and worry to creep up on me.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The sound echoed through the room, making me anxious and worried about what might have happened.
Leonelle's reaction was immediate and instinctual. He was instantly alarmed and concerned by the scream. "What happened?!" he exclaimed, his voice tinged with worry and fear.
Without a moment's hesitation, we both hurried towards Leon's room, abandoning the food we had just bought from the market. As we entered the room, we were met with a terrifying sight. Leon was writhing in his bed, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Hey! Leon?! Leon!" Leonelle yelled as he rushed to Leon's side, then started slapping Leon's face to try and snap him out of whatever nightmare he was experiencing. "Wake up! Wake up!"
"AHHHHHHH! Haaa... Haaa..." Thankfully, Leon eventually regained his senses, but both Leonelle and I were shocked to see his eyes glowing. After a few moments, Leon's breathing slowed down, and he looked around the room, confused. "Haaa... Haaa... Uh? A...dream?" he asked, his voice trembling with fear.
Leonelle was quick to respond, "Yes, that's right, Leon. Just a dream. Take a deep breath and calm down." He gently placed his hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He knew how to deal with these situations better than anyone else. I stood beside him, watching Leon with concern, waiting for him to regain his composure.
I knew that the right thing to do was to help him calm down, but I couldn't help but feel the need to know what he had seen in his dream. What he saw in that dream would probably happen in the future. The power of premonition that he possessed allowed him to see into the future, but it was not something that anyone would wish for. The burden of seeing the future disaster, the death of those around you, and even your own death was too much for anyone to bear. Many high elves had died because of the mental strain that this ability caused.
"What...did you see in that dream?" I asked, my voice filled with concern. I wanted to know what he had seen, but at the same time, I didn't want to push him too far.
"It was nothing. Just... a scary dream. A really scary dream," Leon said, his voice trembling with fear. I could see the tears welling up in his eyes, and I knew that he was hiding something.
"Please, tell me. Tell us what did you see..." I said, my hands resting on his, trying to comfort him. I needed to know what he had seen, no matter how terrifying it might be.
"Mom, I-I'm scared," Leon said, tears streaming down his face as he trembled in fear.
"Don't push him, Elisa. It's not good for him," Leonelle said, gently patting Leon's back to calm him down.
I nodded reluctantly, realizing that pushing him to reveal the contents of his nightmare might only worsen the situation.
If his dream involved the death of those close to him or even his own demise, there was little we could do but wait for fate to unfold. It was a cruel and unpredictable force that could either bring joy or sorrow in equal measure.
"You're right. I'm sorry, Leon," I apologized, feeling a pang of guilt for causing him distress.
As I gazed at the little girl sleeping soundly beside her brother, I felt a surge of sympathy. Even though the scream was loud enough to echo through the hallway, she remained oblivious to the commotion, lost in the depths of her own nightmare. I approached her slowly, careful not to wake her up, and caressed her forehead gently. Her expression relaxed, and she let out a sigh of relief.
Leon lay back down on the bed, his face still etched with fear, but at least he had stopped screaming. Leonelle covered them both with a soft blanket, tucking them in and making sure they were comfortable. He turned to me, and I could see the concern etched on his face.
"Was that...?" he trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence. I knew what he was referring to.
"The premonition. The same ability that I awakened twelve years ago," I replied solemnly, recalling the fateful event that had changed my life forever.
It had happened during a routine dungeon crawl with my adventurer party. One misstep, and I had triggered a trap that almost killed me. But it had also unlocked a dormant ability within me, one that allowed me to see glimpses of the future. At first, I had dismissed it as a fluke, a mere hallucination brought on by my brush with death. But as time passed, I realized that my visions were more than just vivid dreams.
The most haunting of these dreams was the one that showed my entire party dying on the 31st floor of Melcorean's Dungeon. I had tried to warn them, but they had shrugged off my warnings, chalking it up to my overactive imagination. But as we reached the dreaded 31st floor, everything that I had seen in my vision came to pass. Everyone died, except for Leonelle, myself, and one other member of the party.
No, even warning them wouldn't be able to help. What I was seeing in that dream was coming true, no matter how much one tried to prevent it from happening. Fate could never be changed. If you were fated to die, then there was nothing that could change that. It was a bitter truth that we had to accept. The idea of an unchangeable destiny was unsettling, but it was something we had to acknowledge. Fate was a fickle mistress, and she played by her own rules. It was as if she enjoyed toying with our lives, bringing us to moments of joy and despair with no apparent reason.
"What do you think he saw?" Leonelle asked, his voice low.
I sighed, glancing at Leon's sleeping form. "If he was screaming like that, then there's no way it could be something good."
Just then, Lirien burst into the room, her footsteps echoing loudly on the wooden floor. "What happened? Is he okay?" she asked, worry etched on her face. "I heard him screaming all the way from downstairs!"
"He's...okay now, but..." I trailed off, hesitating to finish my sentence.
"But what?" Lirien pressed, her eyes searching my face for answers.
"He's okay, Lirien. Leon was just having a nightmare," Leonelle said softly. "It was a scary one." Although he tried to whisper, I could still hear his words. Lirien, who wasn't standing close enough, couldn't hear him.
Lirien's expression softened as she looked at Leon's face, her fingers gently brushing aside his crimson hair to reveal his delicate features. "I suppose if what you're saying is true, there's nothing I can do about it. Having a nightmare is a normal occurrence for mortals, after all," she said, careful to use the word "mortal" so as not to highlight the differences between demi-humans and humans. "But," she added. "As someone who has gone through something terrible, then having a nightmare bad enough to even jolt him awake screaming is not a good sign." Her tone was solemn, and her gaze was fixed on Leon's small form.
"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling a rising sense of concern that there might be something more serious going on with Leon besides his premonition ability.
"I've noticed in his behavior that Leon has been struggling to maintain eye contact, so he may be experiencing social anxiety. Then, as I observed him more closely, I noticed that he was experiencing flashbacks of what happened during that time. His eyes would widen whenever someone came into the room, indicating that he was still reliving the traumatic event. It was a terrible experience, and it's possible that he may be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder. I also suspect that Tessia may be experiencing similar symptoms," Lirien explained.
I lowered my head in contemplation as I listened to Lirien. To be honest, the possibility of Leon and Tessia having PTSD had never crossed my mind, not even once. Because both of them always seemed cheerful and lively, making it easy to believe that they were coping with their traumatic experience. But now I realized that their cheerful demeanor was only a facade to mask their inner struggles.
"What can we do to help them?" I asked Lirien, desperate to find a solution to their struggles.
Lirien's gaze softened as she looked at me. "Talk to them," she suggested gently, "and try to understand what they're going through. Then, you can support them by being there for them, helping them get professional help if needed, and creating a safe and supportive environment for them to heal."
"Okay!" I said, trying to bolster my spirits. "But who will become his mind healer? None of the healers or mind healers here are willing to help our children. They refuse to treat demi-humans, claiming that their conditions are beyond their expertise," I lamented, my spirits sinking at the realization that we were alone in this struggle. It was disheartening to think that even the medical professionals we turned to for help were discriminating against us.
My heart felt heavy with worry as I thought about what we could do to help our children. The thought of them suffering alone in silence was unbearable. Lirien had been our only source of support when we brought Tessia and Leon to the hospital, and I didn't know what we would do without her.
Lirien's eyes widened in surprise. "Where are you looking for?" she asked incredulously. "I'm already here! I can help you out!"
Relief flooded through me as I realized that Lirien was willing to help us. "Really?" I asked, feeling a glimmer of hope.
"Of course," she said, smiling reassuringly. "I'm more than willing to help your children heal from their trauma."