image [https://urogyn.sakura.ne.jp/images/2024-10-09chess1.png]

34) DRAGGED INTO A GROUP DATE

It was a day Sophia wasn’t particularly looking forward to. Luna had been spending more and more time with Bone, and their endless romantic chatter was starting to wear on her. At first, Sophia could tune out Luna’s dreamy conversations, but lately, the details were becoming too specific to ignore, leaving her feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“Hey, Sophia, are you even listening? Bone took me to my favorite café the other day!” Luna's eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Yeah, I’m listening,” Sophia mumbled with a slight nod, hiding an internal sigh.

That was tolerable enough, but things took a turn when Luna dropped a surprising suggestion.

“Why don’t we go on a double date? We can invite Alex too!”

“A double date?” Sophia blinked, caught completely off guard. The thought of inviting Alex filled her with instant anxiety.

“Yeah! Alex would totally get along with you! You’re both into chess!” Luna continued, oblivious to the rising tension in Sophia’s chest.

Sophia, albeit reluctantly, agreed to ask Alex. Nervously, she approached him at the chess club, where he was deep in thought over a chessboard.

“Alex, um... I have a favor to ask,” Sophia began, her nerves getting the better of her.

Alex glanced up from his game, his sharp eyes locking onto hers. “What is it?”

“Luna and Bone want to go on a double date, and... well, they were hoping we could join them...” She could barely get the words out, her voice faltering.

But Alex's response was blunt and unexpected.

“I’m not interested in you outside of chess,” he said flatly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The words hit her like a cold slap. Sophia stood there in stunned silence, feeling a rejection that hadn’t even been a confession.

“I see... understood,” she managed to say softly before quickly retreating.

Despite the awkwardness, Sophia ended up going along with the double date. Bone mentioned he would invite his friend Leo from North College, which only added to her apprehension as the day approached.

When the day arrived, they met at an amusement park. Reinhart, the Chihuahua, sulked with his head peeking out of Sophia’s bag. The park was full of couples laughing and holding hands, and watching Luna and Bone be so happy together made Sophia feel even more out of place. Leo, meanwhile, seemed even more detached from the whole situation than she was.

Suddenly, Reinhart jumped out of the bag and whispered into Sophia’s ear. “Hey, these three smell the same!”

“What do you mean?” Sophia asked in confusion.

“They all smell human, but not exactly. There’s something... off about them. I can’t put my paw on it, but something’s strange,” Reinhart replied, his nose twitching in suspicion.

Later, someone suggested visiting a historical site to cap off the day.

“How about the Pendle Heritage Centre?” Bone proposed, referring to the site of the infamous 17th-century witch trials in Lancashire. While Sophia was curious, she also felt a strange unease gnawing at her.

The four of them piled into a car and headed to the Pendle Heritage Centre. As they arrived, the atmosphere around the place felt cold and heavy, almost as if the past tragedies were still lingering in the air. The old witch’s cottage, preserved from centuries ago, stood eerily in the distance.

“Wow, this is where the witch trials happened...” Luna remarked, wide-eyed. Bone and Leo were equally absorbed in the history, but Sophia found herself frozen in place.

Standing in front of the cottage, an odd sensation washed over her. Her head grew heavy, and a dull throb pulsed behind her eyes. Before she could understand what was happening, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Sophia!” Reinhart scrambled onto her cheek, desperately trying to wake her. But Sophia’s consciousness had already slipped away, fading into the dark void.

image [https://urogyn.sakura.ne.jp/images/2024-10-09chess1.png]

35) WITCH TRIAL

Sophia opened her eyes to find herself standing in a world shrouded in dense fog. The mist was so thick that it was impossible to see more than a few feet in front of her, creating a strange, dreamlike atmosphere. The air was cold and heavy, and though it felt surreal, the sensation of the damp ground beneath her feet was alarmingly real. She questioned if this was a dream, but everything felt too vivid.

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Through the mist, a figure appeared—a woman bound to a wooden post, her clothes ragged and torn. Her face was etched with sorrow and exhaustion, yet her eyes glowed with a fierce intensity.

"Mom...?" Sophia whispered, her heart skipping a beat. But as she looked closer, she realized this wasn’t her mother. The woman resembled her, but she was from a different time, a much older era. There was something ancient and otherworldly about her.

"A witch! We've caught a witch!" came the shouts of men in the distance. A shiver raced down Sophia’s spine. The woman, bound tightly with ropes, locked eyes with her, pleading silently. The message in her gaze was clear: *Run away.*

Just then, another figure appeared in the fog—a girl who looked startlingly similar to Sophia. It was as if she was looking into a mirror. The girl, eyes wide with urgency, grabbed the hand of a small boy beside her.

"Run!" the girl screamed before sprinting down a rugged path, pulling the boy with her. Without thinking, Sophia chased after them, her feet stumbling over the uneven ground. The fog swirled around her, making it hard to see, but the girl's silhouette remained just visible ahead.

The sound of heavy footsteps and harsh voices echoed from behind, growing louder with each second. Fear gripped Sophia’s heart as she realized they were being pursued.

As they ran, Sophia noticed the girl biting down on her own finger, drawing blood. Before Sophia could understand what was happening, the mist around them began to shift and thicken, swirling violently. Steam erupted from the ground, rushing towards the men chasing them with terrifying force. In an instant, the steam engulfed the pursuers, sweeping them away.

"You look just like me..." the girl panted, turning to face Sophia. Her eyes were wide and filled with a mixture of desperation and sadness. Sophia stared back, speechless. It was like looking at her own reflection.

"To survive," the girl continued, "you have to pretend you never saw this power." There was a weight to her words that made Sophia’s chest tighten.

Without thinking, Sophia took the girl’s hand, and together they fled into the mist. The ground was icy beneath their feet, but they ran with everything they had. The voices of their pursuers faded behind them as they raced through the wilderness, over mountains, and through valleys, driven by the need to escape.

After two days of running, they finally stopped in front of a secluded, mist-covered place. Seven small shrines stood silently before them, surrounded by the swirling fog like ancient sentinels.

"This is it..." the girl whispered. Sophia, gasping for breath, stared at the shrines, her heart pounding in her chest. She could feel it—this place was powerful, deeply connected to her past, her ancestors, and something far greater than herself.

"The earth shook here," the girl explained softly, her gaze sweeping over the shrines. "Our ancestors sealed this place, this power. It’s our curse. We can use it, but we must hide it. Always."

Sophia felt something stir deep within her—a burning, unexplainable connection to this place, to the girl, to the ancient power that ran through her blood.

The fog grew thicker once more, the girl’s figure starting to blur before Sophia’s eyes. Panicked, Sophia reached out, but her hand grasped only empty air.

And then, everything went white. Sophia’s vision dissolved into mist, and her consciousness slipped away, swallowed by the fog.

image [https://urogyn.sakura.ne.jp/images/2024-10-09chess1.png]

36) WE WANT HIGHNESS TO AWAKEN

Sophia blinked slowly as she opened her eyes, feeling disoriented and heavy-headed. The remnants of the mist from her strange dream still seemed to cling to her, both physically and emotionally. She could barely make out the small shape of Reinhart, her faithful Chihuahua, licking her cheek with urgency.

"Sophia, are you okay?!"

His tiny voice, filled with concern, reached her ears, and despite everything, she smiled softly at his cute, worried face.

"Reinhart…"

Time felt distorted. In the dream, it felt as though hours had passed, yet here, only a few minutes had gone by. But something deep inside Sophia had undeniably shifted, as if the dream had unlocked something hidden.

"Snap out of it!" came Bone’s voice, breaking through her foggy thoughts. He was holding her gently, helping her sit up, while Leo stood nearby, looking equally concerned.

"I'm fine, really. I can stand..."

Sophia shakily got to her feet, her legs unsteady but her resolve clear. Her eyes, however, shone with a newfound intensity, as if they had glimpsed a deeper truth.

"I'm really sorry, Sophia. I didn’t expect this," Bone said, his tone filled with regret, while Leo stood silently beside him, his lips pressed together as if holding back words.

"It's okay," Sophia replied, forcing a smile to ease their worry. "I just got dizzy for a moment."

They walked to the station together, Sophia and her friends bidding farewell to Bone and Leo. As the train approached with its distant rumble, Sophia instinctively turned around to look back at the two. For a brief moment, she thought she saw something strange—both Bone and Leo's eyes glowed green, flickering with a mysterious light, as if a hidden force lay within them.

"If only our Highness would awaken now..." Bone whispered under his breath, too low for Sophia to hear.

Leo, his face tense, responded quietly, "The earthquakes are increasing. We don’t have much time..."

And just as quickly as the green glow had appeared, it vanished, leaving them looking like their usual selves—ordinary students.

Sophia returned home, her body exhausted and her mind swirling with confusion. The moment she stepped into her room, she collapsed onto her bed. Luna, who had been by her side all day, watched her with worry.

"Are you feeling better?" Luna asked, her voice soft with concern.

"Yeah... I think so. But honestly, everything feels like it’s blending together—dreams and reality," Sophia admitted, staring blankly at the ceiling, her thoughts tangled.

Luna smiled gently. "Then maybe you should eat something. It might help settle your mind."

She went to the fridge and, with a cheerful grin, said, "Look! We have pudding and éclairs!"

Sophia’s mood instantly lifted. "Really?!"

Luna laughed as she handed her an éclair, and soon the two were sitting side by side on Sophia's bed, enjoying their treats. As they ate, they couldn’t help but laugh, the weight of the day lifting little by little. The sweet taste of pudding and éclairs seemed to melt away their worries, if only for a moment.

"Sweets really are magic, aren't they?" Sophia said between bites, smiling contentedly.

"Absolutely," Luna agreed. "With sweets, we can pretty much handle anything."

But behind their lighthearted conversation, Reinhart had been watching Luna closely, his little eyes fixed on her, his tail wagging anxiously.

Sophia noticed his unusual behavior. "What’s wrong, Reinhart?"

The Chihuahua hesitated, his ears twitching as he muttered in a low voice, "I don’t know... Something feels off."

Luna stood up to leave, waving goodbye as she stepped out of the room. The door clicked shut behind her, and for just an instant, one of her eyes flashed with a faint green glow before returning to normal.