"Nelly, would you like something to drink?" Meil surprised me with a question.

"Wah! D-Don't pop up on me like that!" I shouted, closing the mysterious book with a plop, "I-I was just... really in the zone, and you broke me out of it, y'know!?"

"Mnn..." He seemed suspicious of me, "You have been doing nothing but reading those books from the Library all this time. That in addition to not even telling me how far into your research you have been progressing... how do I say it, it feels a bit lonely."

When he says "Those books", he's actually only talking about the one brown unnamed book, but he doesn't know that. You see, since this book is way too mysterious and even contains some pretty huge news for Meil, I didn't yet want him to see it, so I made a point out of changing the jacket of the book to a different color and size every day, that way making it seem like they're different books. On the other hand, this also gives me an excuse to regularly go to the Library, a place where he cannot enter, to "pick up some more books". By the way, I usually tend to stow away into a quiet corner to read the book, so the librarians and Javi are none the wiser that I keep taking their book with me. Then again, it more so resembles a notebook than anything, so maybe that's why they're not so suspicious of me.

"Ah, is that so? You're lonely, huh?" I looked up at him as a smile grew on my face, "Wanna cuddle or something?"

"Nelly, please stop joking about that..." He recalled all the times I had to snuggle up to him to help him avoid getting night terrors, "It is a serious problem for me, and I would also much rather not bother you with it if I could too, but..."

"Whoa, whoa. Who said anything about me being bothered by it? I quite enjoy sleeping in the same bed as you?" I picked the book up as I jumped from my seat, "Ohhh dear~! Whatever shall I do with my troublesome upperclassman? He's been treating me so coldly lately, and he doesn't even realize how lonely I myself can get?"

Heheh, there we go! Just look at his confused and troubled face! I spun the story perfectly to make him feel bad for not calling out to me these past few days to help with his sleeping! Well, not to say I'm not glad his night terrors are slowly decreasing, but he's reached a point where he can handle them without shouting and waking me up in the middle of the night now. I do sometimes hear twisting and turning through the walls, but when I enter the room, he always stops. Cute, yes, but it gets very annoying and sad to have to walk back to your own room to sleep in your own bed all on your own.

"You... are quite problematic, princess." He gave me a deadpanned expression, "Secretive, cunning, and when all is said and done, you still have yet to answer my first question. Just like your mother, you are."

"Hm? What was your first question again?" I tilted my head.

"Want something to drink?" He sighed.

"Oh, that. No, I'm gonna go to bed now." I walked out of the room, "It's pretty late in the evening, and I need to get up early for tomorrow's classes."

"Alright then, goodnight."

"Yeah, g'night."

Walking back to my room with the brown book in tow, I had tried my best to figure out what exactly it was. This book, it's definitely magical, or at least not a normal book. Basically, it's like a prophecy telling book, wherein whatever the reader, or "the protagonist" as it calls itself, asks themselves a question, the book will give them their prediction about it. Even still, it speaks in short bursts, and the paragraphs are vague enough to not even give out the context of the event or even when it takes place. So, for example, if I were to think "What happened to the Raamans?", it'd probably write something like "The protagonist reads in a history book that they were killed by the Carmenians." Of course, this is true, but it didn't tell me what the name of the book I would read it from is called, nor does it tell me when I read the book. Just a very complicated and annoying fate-reading system. Even still, it seems asking it questions you will never learn in your lifetime will result in a simple "The protagonist never learns that." message to pop up. In short, it seems I was fated to one day learn of Meil's previous life, with or without this book.

"God, why him of all people...?" I sighed as I stopped in front of his room, "I need to tell him, he needs to know about his past, but... If I tell him, he'll only drift further away from me."

There's a lot of things stopping me from being with him, but this would definitely be the final nail in the coffin. I... I could ask the book if he ever finds out about it to quell my worries, but then there's a chance I'll find out something I don't want to. There's a chance he'll figure it out on his own.

"Mnn...!" I slapped my cheeks to ground myself back into the moment, "Well then, my goal is clear!"

Running back to my room to get dressed in my nightgown, I had stealthily snuck into his room and under the blankets. He's gonna be in for a surprise, but his reaction is what's gonna tell me how he feels about me as of now! If he kicks me out, then I'll know he only let me sleep with him to protect him from night terrors, but in the off chance that he gets in the bed with me... Uoooh, no, I can't be thinking that! That's too much! Eheee~...

----------------------------------------

***

----------------------------------------

"Hm? Where am I...?" I rubbed my eyes as I scoped out the scene around me, "This feels like... Stringwood? But also not?"

"Lune!" A blood-curdling shout caught my attention, "Shit, shit! Meil, get me the first aid kit! Fuck, Lune!"

Huh? This is... dad and uncle? And Meil, he's over there also. What's going on? No one's noticing me, even when I'm literally in front of them. Dad too, I'm making direct eye contact with him, but he's not registering me at all. His wound, it's pretty bad. I didn't get to properly see it back during the funeral, but if this dream is telling me what really happened, then I know for a fact that a first aid kit wouldn't have had any effect on him.

"Edward, calm down. He's been shot, there's no..." Meil tried to speak reason, but uncle wasn't having any of it.

"Shut the fuck up! He'll be fine, he just needs to cast Heal and he'll be all good!" Uncle was on the verge of tears, "Dammit Grim, come on man, focus!"

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Dad's eyes were hollow, like that of a cat. He was already past the point of no return, and his irises were a visible amethyst purple. He was all but dead already. Then, just as I was expecting him to close his eyes, they suddenly shot wide open as he turned his face towards me. I was pretty unnerved by it, but recalled he can't really see me, so I figured he was just looking at someone behind me. Though when I turned around, there was no one there.

"You..." He muttered with a smile, "You've grown up into such a beautiful girl."

"G-Grim!?" Uncle frantically looked around to see what his friend was talking about, but quickly gave up, "Shit, he's gone delusional! Meil, where the fuck are those meds!"

"Here they are, calm down!" Meil angrily tossed it to him as uncle began the procedure, "I know you are a good doctor, Edward, but Lune is not gonna get better unless he himself casts Heal!"

"And he will, dammit!" Uncle yelled as he shoved the tweezers into the bullet hole, "Right, bud?!"

"Heh, just look at you, just casually wearing that uniform like it's nobody's business...!" Dad once again spoke to me, "Your mom must be proud..."

"Dad, c-can you really see me?" I gulped.

"Lune! Cast Heal before it is too late!" Meil shouted.

"Grim!" Uncle started crying as he patched him up, "Grim, please be okay!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're interrupting us, so please be quiet." Dad muttered, a bit peeved before turning back to me and smiling, "Yeah, I'll be fine, so don't worry. Just wait a bit, will ya'?"

"Wait!? We can't wait anymore, you don't have any time left!" Uncle got up close to dad's face, the tears dripping down as he sobbed, "Cast Heal! Do that and you'll be all fine!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Dad closed his eyes finally, "I'll do that, just... gimme five more minutes..."

"Grim? Grim!? Fuck, Lune!?" Uncle shook him up, desperately waiting for dad to get back up, "Get up...! O-Oi, get the fuck up, you fucking asshole!!"

"Lune...!" Meil too started to panic, "T-This cannot be... No!"

Dad... saw me. I wonder, this is all my dream, so it probably didn't happen this way, but there's still a chance... No wait, the environment just looks way too lifelike to be a dream. For this to manifest in someone's mind, they have to have been present in the moment, surely! Just as I thought that, a chill ran down my spine. I turned to see a weeping Meil, clutching dad's hand tightly as he wailed and wailed.

"Why!?" He shouted, "Why can't you at least live in my dreams!?"

Ah, this isn't my dream, but his. Yeah, now everything makes sense. I mean, I did sneak into his bed tonight, so maybe that's why? Wait, so does that mean he let me sleep in his bed with him? I kind of feel like I'm focusing on the wrong parts here, but I don't really feel all that sad after realizing what I saw was all his dream.

"What was that!?" I jumped as I heard loud and scary shrieks.

"They're coming..." Meil suddenly grabbed me by the hand, "We need to run!"

"Huh, you can see me!?" I was a bit stunned as we ran away, "Who's coming? What's going on?!"

"My past..." He gulped, "My past victims..."

Turning around to see what was happening, what I saw struck me to my very core. Almost an entire army's worth of zombies ran with all their might, chasing us like there was no tomorrow. All of the zombies were extremely detailed, you could probably recognize each and every one of them if you knew who they were, which I imagine Meil does. But wait, is this the root of his trauma? Some of them are wearing army uniforms, so is Meil's schizophrenia caused by him killing the enemy troops during the war? That's too much to handle for any normal person, much less someone with such a photographic memory like him!

"I-I couldn't save your father, but I can't let you die here!" He held onto my hand tightly, "I-If we just make it up that hill...!"

"Meil, this is all just a dream, remember?!" I shouted so as to calm him down, "You're having a night terror right now, but it's fine, because I'm here! Just close your eyes and try to pry them open! You'll wake up back in bed and everything will be fine!"

"I-I...!" He shook his head as he continued running, "I can't risk it, Nelly! I-If I close my eyes, you might vanish, a-and then I'll...!"

"Fine, I get it!" I clutched his hand tightly as I started running in front, "If you have no other option but to make it over the hill, then I'll help you!"

"Nelly!" He smiled, "Alright, let's go!"

Running with all our might, just barely escaping the horde of decaying corpses practically piling up behind us, but never seeming to let up, we had finally reached the supposed peak of this hill. Expecting some sort of safe haven check point or something like that, our hopes were shortly crushed when we were greeted face to face with nothing but a cliff with a long, long drop.

"No, but..." Meil tried to make sense of it.

"Jump!" I went to run up.

"No, wait!" He stopped me, "What the hell are you doing!? We can't survive that!"

"Pick your poison, dummy!" I smiled to curb his worries, "Either succumb to your past, or take the plunge and see what the future holds!"

Hell, I'm completely talking out of my ass here, but that's beside the point. Meil obviously has some unresolved issues, but I'm more so saying this because I really don't want to have to experience getting eaten alive by a horde of flesh-hungry grotesque monsters. He seemed inspired by my words though, and with his hand tightly linked to mine, he was the first to jump. Of course, this meant I soon followed.

"What now!?" He shouted the question.

"Brace for impact?" I shrugged.

With our loud screams echoing down the abyss as we looked up at the horde of zombies stopping to look down on us and laugh, I didn't really know when this dream would end. The ground was approaching fast, but just when we were about to hit it, I felt someone grab my other hand. That left hand was familiar, its calluses and ring were instantly recognizable, not to mention the fact that the hand was missing its pinky. Looking up to see the face of the man who saved us, I had suddenly found myself back in bed, firmly snuggled up to Meil as I tightly held his hand.

"Were back, phew!" I sighed in relief before panicking a bit, "A-Ah, sorry, my hand must be super sweaty...!"

I looked over at him to gauge his reaction, but he didn't seem too bothered by it. It seems Meil was still sleeping, but surprisingly, his face was quite happy. Even smiling a bit as some drool fell out of the corner of his mouth, he muttered something about eating a nice meal at Arthur's with an old friend. Well, whatever, I guess that means I can keep holding his hand for a bit more.