Yoi jumped, jolted out of her half asleep state by Cassia's shout. She slid out of the chair and climbed on the bed, next to Cassia. "C-cassia a-are y-you o-ok?"

The wild look in Cassia's eyes slowly faded, and she took a shuddering breath and hugged Yoi tightly. "I-I'm ok..." she whispered.

You was slightly taken aback at Cassia's sudden show of emotions. She gently released​ Cassia and looked at her with worried eyes. "W-what h-happened t-to y-you?"

Clancy walked into the room, for she had been waiting outside, and stood at the end of the bed. "I'd like to know that as well."

"I-i don't know..." Cassia said quietly, a puzzled look on her face.

"What the hell do you mean, you don't know??" Clancy asked in disbelief.

Cassia looked up at her. "I don't know! The last thing I remember is the cavern-" she broke off from what she was saying suddenly as a spike of pain went through her head and a wave of nausea washed over her. She bent her head quickly, taking short, shallow breath to combat the nausea, and holding her aching head in her hands.

"C-cassia?" Yoi whispered fearfully.

Clancy was about to give an exasperated sigh when the gleam of the amulet caught her eye. "Where'd you get that necklace?"

The pain faded slowly, and Cassia realized that she was being asked questions. "I-I'm ok..." She then looked at Clancy with a confused look on her face. "I've always had it..."

Clancy raised an eyebrow. "Not a red one you haven't."

Cassia frowned, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. "What do you mean red? It's purpl-" she looked down at the gem and stopped in shock. She lifted the amulet in her hands and gazed at it, transfixed by the soft red glow coming from it.

     Clancy frowned, Cassia's actions reminding her of something she'd seen before... "Cassia, are you SURE you can't remember anything?"

     She broke off from staring at the gem and looked at Clancy. "Yeah... Why?"

     Clancy bit her lip, a little worried. "Because from when I worked with... Him... I learned to recognize a few things, and you're not acting normal. I'm afraid that He did something to you, that's why you can't remember anything and why you have that." she said, pointing at the necklace.

     Cassia rolled her eyes. "Please. If he'd gotten ahold of me, do you think I wouldn't​ know?"

     "What other explanation do you have for what happened then?! You woke up here, instead of the last place you remember, and you yelled something about your dad, and none of that is normal! What other reason is there?"

     Cassia pulled back the covers and slid off the bed, then walked over to Clancy. "There's plenty." she snapped, towering over Clancy by a good foot or two. "I have to go, I need to figure a few things out." She said sharply before she left the room quickly, and once downstairs paused to catch her breath. 'What the hell Cassia? You're not normally THIS hostile!' was her final thought before she cast a final glance upstairs, then vanished.

     Clancy looked at Yoi, who looked slightly shocked. "Are you ok?"

     "W-what's w-wrong w-with C-cassia?" she asked fearfully.

     Clancy sighed, and sat next to Yoi on the bed. "I'm not sure, but I don't like it. If she comes after you, or acts abnormal, let me know ok? I don't want you to get hurt."

     Yoi nodded shakily. "I-i'll t-try."

- in another location -

 
     Cassia paced back and forth, wearing a track in the soft forest grass. "The hell is wrong with me?" she growled. "I'm not normally that hostile..." she stopped pacing and sat down under the shade of a large oak tree, and closed her eyes, suddenly exhausted. "She can't be right..." she mumbled. "Not after last time..."
     Cassia started drifting off to sleep, the cool breeze and the hot sun making it perfect for simply dozing. But, as she slept, her mind was filled with terrible images.

- in her dream -

Blood, death, despair.
Images of these filled the black void, shoving everything else aside. The images were terrible, each one worse than the last.

A small child, bawling her eyes out when she's​ told her dad isn't coming back.

The same girl, growing up bitter and alone, scared of everything.

A sister, bleeding out on the floor of her own home.

A cousin, torn from her family to take care of another.

A mother, murdered before her daughter's eyes.

A father, once a man of honor, now a demon wearing the mask of humanity.

Then, came new images. Ones that hadn't been seen before.

A man, falling from the sky with an echoing scream of rage.

A hybrid, cowering in fear as the one she trusted turned on her.

A girl, tears pouring down her face as she held a loved one's broken body.

A boy, reunited at last with his sister, only to be torn from his family once again.

A storm, flashes of lightning illuminating a battleground.

The cries of the damned, echoing across the plains.

But the final image was the most terrible of all.

The world burned around a girl as she screamed in fear, in frustration, in loss.

- back in the waking world -

     Cassia woke with a start, her eyes a vibrant dark purple.

_______________________________________

Hey it's ya boi Cassia! I finally got this chapter out, and quite a few twists and turns in this on, don't you agree? 😁

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you in my next update.

Until next time,
~©@$$/@