𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 [𝚐.𝚒 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚡 𝚐𝚗!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛]

XLVIII

“I don’t know what that thing was! I’ve told you seven times now!” You hissed at Ariel. After going through your story several times already, you were starting to get annoyed. The only upside was Aether patiently sitting in front of you as you practically manhandled his hair into a braid before pulling it apart and putting it in a new one.

“I’m just trying to help you.” Ariel said calmly.

“Well, right now, when I’m tired and my head hurts, all I’m feeling is annoyed!” You took a deep breath. “Thank you for trying to help, but can we please just talk about this in the morning?”

“We can go in the teapot. It’s much quieter than the barracks.”

You look down at Aether with concern. “Were you having trouble sleeping?”

He nodded. “Turns out a ton of people who snore sleeping in the same small place will really get on your nerves.”

You let out a breathy chuckle, running your fingers through Aether’s once again, loose hair. “Yeah it sounds good to sleep in a bedroom right now.”

The three of you left the boat deck, all filled with exhaustion and concern. Finding your way back to the bed given to you all in the barracks, you lifted a sleepy Paimon into your arms as Aether activated the teapot. Her head lolled onto your shoulder a little sigh was the last thing you heard before reality twisted around you.

-

Stepping out of the shower, you dried your hair and body. Before slipping into your sleep clothes, you caught sight of your body in the foggy mirror.

Though your injuries from the fall from the Jade Chamber were mostly bruises and broken bones, there was still a significant amount of stark white scars that ran across your torso and legs. Deep cuts from debris or poking out bones, no doubt, but it was still strange to see such a change to yourself. There were even smaller scars around your wrists from when Lumine dangled you in a dungeon.

You stood in almost a daze, staring at yourself. You looked… jagged. Not so much as a grizzled warrior from films but like broken ceramic someone had hastily pasted back together. Combined with the dark circles under your eyes, the disproportionate look of your body from going to years of muscle, to malnutrition, back to muscle, and the stance of someone ready to fight at the drop of a hat… it was a strange vision.

You shook your head and pulled on your sleep clothes, falling into bed in record time. It was hard, trying to fall asleep. Not because the bed was uncomfortable, or that you weren’t tired, but because a deep seed of fear had been planted into your stomach.

When you had first brought up the idea of mediation and dreamsharing to Jinfeng, it had been enthusiastically, interested in doing something so out of your comfort zone (and admittedly because it sound cool as hell), but now, with that creature prowling inside your head, you felt stark waves of discomfort. When you were asleep was when you were most vulnerable, it was when all the other visions had appeared to you.

What if that creature came back during your dreams and succeeded in hurting you because you were unable to defend yourself? What if you got so hurt you wouldn’t wake up? The thoughts had you tossing and turning.

Finally sighing when you were unable to even close your eyes you threw the covers off and climbed out of bed. You ambled your way down the hallways to the little library you and Aether had set up only yesterday.

Alongside all the books and pillows, you had asked Aether if you could put some of your painting stuff in there. You weren’t able to carry much with you, so most of it was left at the Mond apartment, but you did bring a few sketchbooks, pencils, a glass pen, paints, and brushes.