Everything's Fair in Love and War - An Amourshipping story

Chapter 6 - The Dream

"Good morning Ash! Had a good night's rest?" Serena asked.

"Yeah" Ash replied "Is the bath ready?"

After Serena nodded, Ash hopped down his bed and walked to the bathroom; his mind still groggy from the dream he had.

It was noon and the Sun was at its peak in the sky. Ash was standing all alone in a field of buttercups and instead of the unpleasant mid-day heat, he was surprisingly feeling cold. He kept walking but he seemed to be getting nowhere. On every side it was just buttercups for as far as the eye could see.

The more the Sun shone, the colder it got and soon it was freezing. Teeth chattering, he wrapped his robe around his shoulders, a feeling of dread and helplessness took over him as he kept trudging on to practically nowhere.

His foot went crashing onto something and he tripped. Keeping his other foot out to balance himself, he broke his fall and turned around to see what he had tripped on.

It was a girl.

In a flash all the buttercups disappeared and the sunny weather got replaced by a snow storm. he slowly bent down and picked the girl up. She was very young, barely eight-years old and she was fast asleep. At least that's what he thought. Ash brought his hand up to her chest to feel the beating heart, but he couldn't sense any vibrations.

She was dead.

He felt slightly uneasy. His mind was racing with thoughts, mostly about him ending up in the same position if he stayed any longer. Not knowing what to do with the dead body, he just kept staring at it. Will the girl's parents want it, were the girl's parents even alive? He moved her slightly out of the way, revealing a name card. The holes on the top indicated that it was once a part of the dress.

He flipped it over - Age: 8 yrs-old, Gender: Female, Name: Serena

He woke up, trembling in fear at about midnight because of the nightmare and he sat there holding his head, trying to calm himself down. He did eventually drift back to sleep, but it was not as pleasant as it was when he first went to bed.

He sank down in his bubble bath and took in the pleasant scent of the soap. He was still a bundle of nerves when he climbed out of the tub.

Even at breakfast, he couldn't stop thinking about it. He was alone at the table as his mom was with his father and his mind was racing with questions. Was the dream a sign? Was it a warning? Why was it Serena of all the people? Why did her death scare him so much?

"Something wrong, your highness?" the butler asked, bringing him back to reality "You don't seem to have touched your food"

"No no, it was just a nightmare" Ash shook his head.

When he came back to his room, he found Serena missing. Panicking, he frantically searched around, only to find her in her room. She was looking at some pictures. On seeing Ash, she quickly stuffed them into a folder and walked out of her room.

She mumbled a "I'm sorry" and went back to sweeping the floor.

"What were you looking at?" he asked "I mean- you don't have to tell me if you don't want to-"

"My parents" she answered, still facing the other way "Today's their death anniversary"

Ash looked down "I can give you a day off if you like" he offered.

"It's okay, working helps get my mind off it"

After a brief silence, Ash continued "How old were you when they passed away?"

"It was a month after my birthday and they had gone out to get some groceries" she replied, slowly stopping her sweeping "I had just turned eight"

Ash felt his stomach drop. She had just turned eight? The eerie similarity to his dream, got him more scared than ever.

He got up, stopping behind her. "And then what happened?"

"They never came back" she sobbed, her voice cracking "I waited the whole day, but -"

"It's okay to cry" Ash interrupted. "You've been holding it in for so long, it's okay to shed some tears"

So she cried. She cried her heart out. And like any person who sees someone they love crying, Ash went up to her and enveloped her in a hug. The room was completely silent minus the sobs and sniffles. Ash had decided not to say anything, he didn't know what to say.

Like a very unexpected gust of wind, he got hit by a strong sense of déjà vu, like he had already been in this position before. It was the garden in front of the castle and he was comforting a girl who was around his age. She was crying her heart out too.

And that girl; she was the one from his dream.

A/N--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spooky 😱👻👻