Abrial gasped awake.
Her glittering obsidian eyes opened wide, staring unseeingly at the ceiling of the tent. Everything glowed a blood-red color, bathed in the light of the tattoo peeking through the collar of her night robe. Breaths were heaving from her chest in gasps, and sweat dripped across her smooth white forehead, soaking her woven pillow damp.
“Shin Minyeo,” she gasped. “Shin Minyeo. I need to talk to Shin Minyeo.”
She rolled over in a panic, tangled up in her own blanket. When she crashed clumsily onto her left side, she met a pair of sharp hazel eyes. Finley’s pale hands clamped down on her shoulders.
“Breathe, Abrial. Breathe. What is going on? What is the matter?” Finley’s hazel eyes gleamed red in the light of Abrial’s still-fading tattoo. She stared at the tattoo, eyes widening. One of her hands fluttered down to press against it, then recoiled. “What is this? Breathe, Abrial. Breathe, slowly.”
After a moment, Abrial recovered from her hyperventilation. Her tattoo had cooled to its original inky black, leaving the tent bathed in cool, eerie shadows.
Wide-eyed, Abrial grabbed Finley by the shoulders. Her hands were hot as irons.
“I need to go and visit Shin Minyeo,” she breathed fiercely. “I need to ask her what the meaning of that dream was. And why I have this tattoo! And what the heck is happening!!!”
“What dreams? Where did you receive this tattoo, Abrial?”
Abrial drew in a deep breath. She swiped at her hairline to stop the beads of cold sweat that were dripping into her eyes and stinging them. Then she started talking at the speed of light. What Shin Minyeo had said about the tattoo, and all the weirdly vivid dreams that came after—she blurted everything out.
Finley was quiet the whole time, watching Abrial with a deep focus. When Abrial had finished, she sucked in a deep breath. She looked at Finley with two uncharacteristically anxious dark eyes.
“I thought it was something I could ignore before, but now there’s no way these dreams can be meaningless. Shin Minyeo gave me this tattoo. It’s gotta be causing the dreams, since it glows every time! And then—today, that freaked me out! Seeing her in the dream. How did she show up in the dreams if everything looks ancient? Like, hundreds-of-years-ago ancient! I need to know what the heck’s going on!”
Finley stared at Abrial a moment longer, the gears clearly turning in her head.
“How about we visit this Shin Minyeo tomorrow?”
“What?! Just—just leave camp and go see her to ask what’s happening? Oh…wait, that’s a good idea! Yes! I need to do that. I’ll take Dal, and then I’ll go and ride to see her. And she’ll tell me what’s happening and take this tattoo away, because clearly it’s not healing me anymore, it’s just driving me crazy!”
“And I will come with you,” Finley emphasized. Her hazel eyes were staring at Abrial sharply, trailing down to inspect the tattoo on Abrial’s smooth collarbone, which she had loosened her robe to show Finley. “I have some questions I want to ask Shin Minyeo about this situation.”
“You’ve read a lot of books, right?” Abrial said eagerly, sitting up. “Have you ever read about a tattoo like this? One that can give you strange dreams?”
Finley pushed herself up as well, eyebrows drawn low in solemn contemplation.
“I have an idea of what it could be, but I cannot be sure. I will research before we leave. Do not worry about this too much for now. Rest here and drink water.” She pushed off her thin blanket and stood, striding to where her pale robes were laid over a cabinet. Swiftly, she pulled on her outer robe and began tying her sash. “I need to go and check something at the scroll tent. I will return before breakfast. Afterward, we can set out to visit Shin Minyeo. How far is her cottage?”
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“To the south, for about a day’s ride. I’m sure she’d let us stay the night! She let me stay for two whole weeks, heh…Hey, wait up! Let me come with you—!” Abrial moved to struggle out from her blankets and join Finley, who was already turning to leave the tent.
But quicker than a rushing stream, Finley appeared by Abrial and pushed her shoulder back down, forcing her to lie back on her pillow.
“You stay here,” she said sternly. “Drink some water and rest. I will return in an hour or two.”
“But I’m fine! I just—”
“Rest,” Finley repeated firmly, still holding Abrial down by the shoulder firmly. “You stay here.”
Abrial spluttered helplessly. In a flash, Finley had swept out of the tent, the flaps brushing closed behind her after letting in a brief flash of orange dawn light.
Abrial rolled over grumpily onto her stomach, burying her face in her sweaty arms. Her black hair stuck to her forehead like paint, and her skin was pale and clammy as cool white jade.
“What’s with her?” she muttered grouchily. “I’m not even sick or anything…”
After only moments, she had drifted back to sleep. Yeah…sleep when she had these dreams wasn’t super quenching. So, maybe it was best for her to stay and get some real sleep. Finley had a funny knack for knowing what Abrial really needed.
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Over breakfast in the dining tent two hours later, Abrial and Finley talked in low voices. It was a strange sight to see that Abrial’s bowl of steaming rice and vegetables was left untouched and forgotten in front of her, instead of scarfed down in seconds. She leaned over the table, listening to Finley with a determined look on her face.
“I went to the scroll tent,” Finley explained, her bowl of fried rice pushed to the side as well. “And I did some research. What I thought might be the case was confirmed.”
“And?” Abrial leaned further across the table, dark eyes wide and gleaming. “What’s going on?”
“You are observing the memories of another person.”
Abrial sat back, clenching her fists. She looked deeply satisfied with herself.
“I knew it! Those dreams were way too vivid to be something made up in my head! I mean, I didn’t know it…but I kind of thought? Maybe…I mean, the tattoo says ‘Remember’, right? Figures.”
Finley nodded. She sipped her barley tea, which steamed hotly.
“It is likely these memories originate from some period four hundred to five hundred years ago, based on the attire and architecture you described, along with the fact that the bigoted term — ” Finley lowered her voice even further, “ — about nonmagical people is commonly used in these dreams to refer to that boy, Shao Cheng. There is an ancient art that has largely died out with most memory manipulation magic, from before the time when the Emperor restructured Gongkua’s views on magic, called ‘Remembrance’. The source of the memories you observe in dreams is that tattoo of remembrance. The one who gave it to you imbued the memories they wish you to see into its ink. As it seeps into your skin over time, you will receive more dreams holding these memories. Once all of the memories the tattoo’s creator desired for your to experience have been experienced, the tattoo will naturally fade away, as though it had never been there at all—unless another force interferes with it.”
Abrial blinked blankly. She raised a hand subconsciously to the spot where the tattoo was hidden beneath the scarlet collar of her robes.
“Just like that? It’ll just…disappear?”
Finley nodded. “In a better-worded way, it will fade away. But, you are correct; it will not leave a trace, and will not permanently affect you.”
Abrial nodded absently, already lost in thought. Her dark brow furrowed as she processed this information. Even though she knew what the tattoo was for now, something still didn’t make sense…
“Why would Shin Minyeo give me a tattoo like this?” she muttered, frowning deeply. She hovered one palm above her own wooden cup of barley tea, feeling the smoke rise and heat her palm like a warm fire. “Did she make a mistake when she was trying to heal me, and give me this instead? But she’s super good at healing! And if it was on purpose, that doesn’t make sense, either. I’ve never heard of a Shao Cheng in my whole life! Why would she want me to know about him and his life? I’m just a stranger she picked up off the street…And what about her showing up in memories from centuries ago? This doesn’t make any sense…”
A determined gleam entered her dark eyes. Abrial nodded to herself, then chugged her entire barley tea in a flash and smashed it back down onto the table, causing several people nearby to turn and shoot her dirty looks.
“I need to see Shin Minyeo as soon as possible. I can clear everything up then!”
Finley sipped the last of her barley tea peacefully. She nodded as she set her cup carefully back on the table.
“Let us leave after we eat.” She pushed Abrial’s bowl of rice and toppings towards her firmly. “Eat first.”