"Y/N!"

I hear a voice call out.I open my eyes and adjust to the brightness. I recognize the room."The shop"I slowly sink in the bed and shift my weight to get out of bed. A wonderful scent of lapsang souchong fills my nostrils. 

"Asra..."

Suddenly, the curtains move and a white haired man with purple eyes comes in with a tray of food.

"Oh. Awake from your nap, I see."

 He says.

"Nap? Wait was it all a dream?" I thought.

Asra's brows furrow and his eyes are kind.. but weary and so very sad.

"Hey now, is... there something wrong?" He asks, placing the tray of food on a work desk.

He holds my hands and leads me down to the bed. Suddenly, the room shifts and Julian is on the bed, looking like he just woke up from a nightmare.

"Julian?"

 I walk towards him. He looks at me and pulls up his soft smile.

"Did I wake you, my dear?" He asked trying to hide the startled feeling.

"I...sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you.." he added.

I see his hands trembling and reach out for it. I can clearly see panic on his face. He's not even meeting my eyes. I retract my hand to give him spacece until, I come back to my senses.

 I look around and noticed that we aren't in the shop anymore. We're in a cozy home too different from the shop.

"Dear, What's wrong?" Julian stops me from looking around.

 I turn to look at him and see Count Lucio standing behind me.

"LUCIO!" I step backwards.

 He looks down at me and just blinks uninterested.

"Let me guess? Asra and Muriel caused you trouble? Or maybe, my darling, Jules did?" Lucio said, his face coming a bit closer.

I back up a little and his smile is utterly shameless. He tugs his shirt open and beckons me closer.I seem to panic and then notice snowflakes. I look around to see we are in a white forest. A few errant snowflakes land and melt on his exposed chest.

"You know, Y/n, I'm also a very generous kind of guy." He said shamelessly.

What is happening? I keep backing up until I fell down a cliff, rolling down as pain surged all over my body. Soon, I reached the bottom and caught my breath.

"What...in..the arcana...was..that..?"I said as my vision became blurry.

I close my eyes, trying to process what happened. Out of nowhere, I smell the scent of eggs. The cold disappeared and something fluffy is beneath me. My eyes widened and quickly sit up but vertigo caught me,leading me back on the fluffy fabric. I breathed and calmed down noticing the ceiling above me.

Where- where am I?

I slowly sit up and see a hulking figure across the room from me. I tense up, ready to fight until, I see its face from the light of the hearth.

"You're awake." He said.

I finally see who it is.

"Muriel!"

 He is holding a plate with two plain eggs on it,looking a little shocked.

"Uhh is something wrong?" I asked him.

His next words confused me.

"I didn't give you any myrrh. H-How?" 

He looks troubled and shocked. I've always known Muriel. Why does it matter that he didn't give me myrrh?.

"Y/n..."

I look beside me and see a short, red headed, woman, staring at me.

"I guess you guessed at the shop huh?" She said looking guilty.

I placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her. I can't help but see a bit of Julian.

"Who are you?"

She steps back and then she turns into Nadia.

"You know? Others wouldn't be bold enough to touch me. I am the Countess. But I guess I'll make an exception for you." Nadia said as she looked over the bridge.

I looked around and saw beautiful lights of the castle and then over the bridge to see eels, swimming around.I looked at Nadia and asked, 

"Is this a dream?"

 I only see her laugh.

"My, you are a flatterer, magician. I guess it might be since you are with me. Others would love to be in your position." She said so calmly.

"No. I mean is this a dream?" I asked more stressed out.

"I do not understand. What ever do you mean?" Nadia asked, worriedly.

"This has to be a dream or vision of some sort. I can't be shifting from one person and place to another. This must be it." I said to myself.

"Y/n... are you feeling alright?" She asks, putting a hand on my left shoulder.

I look at where her hand is and then back at her.

 "If there is anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to tell me." She said worriedly.

I watch her figure as see her glitch. I slapped her hand away and watched her glitch from every person I saw today.

From Nadia to Asra to Muriel to that strange red head girl to Julian to Nadia again to Lucio to Asra to Julian.

 "What is happening??"

 I felt tears in my eyes forming. I was scared. It didn't make sense. My heart had heavy palpitations and my only instinct was to run away from the glitch. But wherever I went, I was seeing all the places glitch from what I once saw. The white forest, the shop, the hut, the castle and the room.

"Please stop-AHHHH!"

Again, I am hurling down a cliffhanger and into a black ocean.Suddenly, I hit the cold hard ground. Pain surged all at once.

"Y/n!"

I hear a familiar voice.I look up to see Julian helping me up. He places me back on the bed and I see who was in the room.

"Is this a dream?" I asked.

"What?" They all were in shock.

"Are you finally real?" I said squeezing Julian's hand.

"Are they.. mentally okay?" Nadia asked.

I slowly look around and see I am in Muriel's hut. Nadia, Asra and Julian are in the room."You aren't glitches are you?" I asked.

~Julian's POV~

Y/n pulled my coat to bring me closer to them. They looked weak at the moment but they were strong enough to pull me down.

"D-Darling, you passed out remember?" I said trying to get away from them.

On their face realization hits.

SMACK!

I got hit by Y/n's arm swinging animatedly.

"REALITY IS AN ILLUSION! THERE ARE SEPARATE TIMELINES AND I SAW IT ALL!" They yelled.

"You were there." They pointed at the countess.

"You were there." They then point at me.

"And you were there too, Asra." They said waving their hands around.

I try to not get too close and move away from the bed.

"Muriel was there. Count Lucio was there and oh!There was this red headed girl too and she reminded me of you, Ilya." They said still not in their right mind.

One thing caught me off guard. Red headed woman? Could it be Pasha? But that's impossible... they never met.

"She looked cute tho. She had blue eyes and an orange stripey headband too. That's all I could remember tho. You had a nightmare and Asra brought food to my bed. Muriel brought me eggs then said that he didn't give me any myrrh yet and looked shocked and Nadia was there too on a bridge following wherever the eels swam too and Lucio well.. he was weird in the forest.

" Y/n said recounting everything as tears brimmed their eyes.

"And I kept falling off of cliffs and I couldn't find you and everyone was glitching or shapeshifting- I DONT KNOW! I.. " Y/n started crying.

"Everything didn't seem right! Are you real tho? Maybe this is one of my dreams?" They pointedly looked at each of us.

"Perhaps, stay within Vesuvia. The strange haze must've affected her." Nadia said looking at Asra.

He had this guilty look on his face. He has already told us what happened and Inanna and Faust were there to help with plotholes through talking with their owners but what happened to Y/n? I place my hand on my lips trying to figure out what happened.

"I know that look Ilya." They said, making me look at them with confusion.

"You don't believe me, do you?" They asked.

I froze a bit.

"Well uhh.."

If she saw Pasha... maybe..

"Maybe it was a vision of some sort or  whatever you Magicians do or get." I said looking at Asra.

"Perhaps it is" Nadia nodded.

Asra doesn't meet Y/n's gaze and looks at the ground. 

"Maybe.." He said.

I looked at Y/n and smiled.

"I do believe you have some kind of gift, Y/n. But right now, please rest. We will figure this out when you're feeling better." I said patting their head.

They smile and then sigh with a nod.

"I guess so."

They tuck themselves to bed and the rest of us go out to meet Muriel, Lucio and some of the animals. 

Pasha... 

They have never met.. but Y/n saw Pasha.. or maybe mother.. or maybe I'm wrong and it's a random lady with red hair. I shake away my thoughts and meet the others outside.

"They are normally weird but weird like this? I really am fretful about their capabilities of thinking." I heard Nadia say before she looks at my direction.

"What do you think, doctor?" She asks.

I look around to see worried or shameful faces. Lucio, on the otherhand, looks calm. 

"I think they might be experiencing hallucinations. It is possible when you are lost and alone that you'd eventually find yourself going crazy and see things that isn't there." I said logically thinking of their situation.

"The red haze affected me in the worst ways..." Asra spoke up.

He looks at Muriel who has their back turned from everyone, even Inanna. 

"Their safe. That matters. Let them rest."  Muriel said in a sad tone.

"I agree. Let them rest. They might return to their senses." Lucio said standing up while his dogs run into the woods with Inanna following their trail.

"What bothers me is that it appeared." I pointed out.

"We have no such cases like the red haze before." I added.

"Could it be magical?" Nadia said turning her gaze towards to Asra.

Asra shakes his head, unsure whether it is possible or not. I can feel his uneasiness. He looks like he doesn't know already.

"I am not sure, Nadi. But I can call upon the cards to help find answers." Asra said giving an apologetic smile.

"Thank you, Asra." Nadia said with gratitude.

"I'll keep working back in the castle and check on them every once in a while." I said while looking at the ground.

"No matter! I can come back and take care of them. I'm very good at taking care of people." Lucio said proudly.

I manage to stifle a chuckle and then look away. I hear Lucio scoff and then his boots coming closer.

"Are you mocking me?" He said intimidatingly.

I look at him uninterestedly and gave him a small smile. 

"You can't even take care of those red plagued victims and sent almost all of them to Lazaret to die." I said looking down at him.

His right eye twitches and then he scowls at me. 

"Lookie here, Jules. I'm the count. I deal with everything and everyone. I do as I please and those disgusting red eyed demons are no longer my citizens. Might as well throw them into the fire pits of hell." Lucio said pushing me on the last sentence.

"You, have no, soul."

Countess Nadia, suddenly, comes in between us as Asra pulls me back. Lucio is pissed.  I like that idiots face burning and I hope he fries up and die. 

"Ilya..Ilya.."

Asra's voice snaps me back to reality. I see him upset and worried at the same time. I look away as I grit my teeth in anger.

"That's enough Lucio. Your bickering doesn't help at all." Nadia said pushing Lucio as far as she can.

Lucio starts fighting back at Nadia to launch at me. 

"LET ME PASS THROUGH AND GIVE HIM THE PLAGUE!" Lucio yells.

Asra pushes me back and I stay in my place. Asra smiles at me and I manage to give a small smile.

"You did great. Now, stay in place." Asra commands.

I immediately obey and stand there watching the evil goat screech useless words I'll never listen too.

SLAP!

A slap was heard and we both look directly at Nadia and Lucio. Lucio seems to be holding his left cheek in his hands as Nadia stands her ground.

"I said "enough", Lucio." She hissed at him.

Lucio whimpers and he seems small under her gaze. He lowers his head and mumbles.

"I am your wife and you will listen to me as much as you must listen to others. What you are displaying is not formal, but childish." Nadia said coldly.

"But Noddy-" 

Nadia raises her right hand and does a gesture that means to shut up. 

"Go home and do not bother us. I will join you, in the late evening, for dinner. Now, go." Nadia said pointing at the path ahead. 

Mecedes and Melchior arrive as if on que to lead Lucio back to the right path with Inanna ahead of them. Nadia massages her temples in annoyance and then turns to us.

"We'll need to transfer Y-"

"No. They need to stay here until the morn." Muriel said finally turning to look at us.

I stepped back seeing his eyes. They were puffy red and he had bags under his eyes. He looked disheveled. 

"He's right, Nadia. Y/n should stay here for the night. Moving them would disturb their rest." Asra said agreeing with Muriel.

Muriel flinches a little and then turns to go inside the hut.He looks back at us with tiredness showing on his face.

"Leave. I'll watch them." He said while shutting the door to the hut.

I stood there baffled as Nadia slowly mmoves around and then nods.

"They'll be safe in Muriel's arms for tonight. We must return home and rest as well." Nadia said tilting her head and smiling.

My face heats up a little and I cleared my throat, leading Nadia towards the path but we stop to see Asra staring at the door.

"Asra..." Nadia calls out to him.

He doesn't budge and just keeps staring. I noticed his hands are in a fist and is trembling.

"They'll be fine, Asra. Let's go home." I coaxed him.

He finally moves and lowers his head. We both hear him sigh. I interlock my arms with Nadia and lay my other arm on Asra's shoulders while walking.

"Come on. I know a place where we can unwind for a while."