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Collei finds herself in a large, echoing chamber. The floor is marble with decorative mosaics adorning each large tile. Bookcases are towering over her, and she feels dizzy just looking up.
A library… is this the Akademiya?
The frigid marble tiles shock her nerves as she walks barefoot. A breeze whistles through the never-ending building as Collei shivers. She feels the unfamiliar fabric rub against her skin and quickly realises she isn’t wearing her usual forest ranger garb. She looks down to see herself wearing stained cotton rags sewn together with basic stitching. She frantically scans her surroundings, only to be met with unfamiliar decor.
Where am I? This isn’t what the buildings in Sumeru look like…
She walks forward into the infinite library. The books on the shelves vary in size and shape, but she can't read the complicated titles on the spines. She picks one up, but even with her limited reading skills, she can’t discern any meaning. All she can recognise are diagrams of humans, so she puts the book back on its shelf. As she walks, Collei notices the colours of each worn hardback repeating. After an hour or so of silence, she begins to hum a tune. Her feet pad along to whatever unknown destination she was cursed to find next.
Eventually, she reaches a familiar door that looms over her short figure. It’s made of larchwood, with a shiny silver knocker. Collei knocks firmly as the impact of metal on the wood echoes throughout the hall. There is a brief silence as she waits, but she can feel nausea bubble up in her stomach. It ominously creaks open as Collei connects the dots.
The book she looked through was a medical journal .
She’s about to enter a certain Harbinger’s lab.
Through the door, she can only see shadowed figures. It’s too dark to make sense of anything else. To her surprise, Collei’s legs walk forward on their own. No matter how much she wills herself to turn around and run, she can’t. Something is approaching her as she walks, and her entire being is filled with fear.
It’s him .
As the Doctor leers at Collei, she finds herself frozen in place. She could easily outrun him, but her feet are defiantly stuck to the ground. His eyes mirror his own soul, empty of any empathy or emotion.
The man is now right in front of the now trembling girl. A sinister smile forms on his face as he pulls out a needle filled with an unidentifiable liquid.
“Don’t worry, Collei. It’ll hurt, but it will help people. That’s what you want, right? So just be a good girl and stay still.”
He firmly puts his left hand on the girl’s shoulder before she blacks out.
—
Collei wakes up, her breathing staggered. Sweat is dripping down her forehead, and she quickly sits up. Her eyes are bleary as they adjust to the gentle, golden light. An almost burnt-out candle is still alight in the room. It’s dark outside, and she can hear crickets chirp through the humid air.
As she looks around, she realises she fell asleep while practising her handwriting. Discarding her slightly drool-stained papers, she slowly stands up and rubs her eyes. She can see the glow of a candle in Tighnari’s room down the corridor.
A nightmare… that’s a relief.
Collei felt pretty shaken up, even if it was just a dream.
She got up from her seat, walking down the corridor to the glow of Tighnari’s room. If she was fully awake, she would not so easily give up her pride. Yet here she was, off to burden her master with her emotional baggage. Gently opening the slightly-ajar door, she peeks in to see Tighnari diligently writing. Being his subordinate, Collei can’t help but admire him, even in her fragile state.
“Collei, is that you?” Tighnari asks, turning to her.
“Yeah, sorry to disturb you so late, Master Tighnari. I just… couldn’t sleep,” Collei murmurs.
Tighnari gets up from his desk and stretches. His fox ears twitch as he readjusts himself from a long period of sitting down. Turning to Collei, a look of concern flashes across his face.
“Have you been crying?”
“Huh?” Collei puts a hand to her face, feeling the remnants of some tears on her damp cheek.
“Your eyes are red. What’s wrong?”
“I had a nightmare… but I’m fine.” Her voice wobbles as she recalls the horrendous scenes from her dream. “I didn’t even notice I was crying.”
Suddenly, Tighnari pulls Collei into a hug. His embrace is strong; yet comfortable.
Like a warm pillow , Collei muses. Tears are streaming down her cheeks. She lets herself cry this time, muffling her cries in Tighnari’s shirt. He’s stroking her hair, whispering reassurances to her. She tries to recount what happened in her dream but ends up sounding like a blabbering mess, choking on her words in the middle of her tears. Tighnari just listens quietly, keeping her in his firm embrace.
—
After Collei calms down, Tighnari prepares some tea for them both. They sit in comfortable silence, sipping on tea before Collei speaks up.
“Master Tighnari… I’m sorry for disturbing you so late in the night.”
“Don't worry about it, Collei. I was getting too caught up in my reports anyway. If you didn’t come to see me, I probably wouldn’t have stopped working until sunrise,” he responds. “Plus, I don’t mind helping you calm down.”
Collei smiles in response. Placing her cup of tea down, she feels much calmer than before.
“Thank you, I really appreciated it.”
It was just a nightmare. Tighnari would never let anything like that happen to me now.