I stood over the body of my opponent. I could feel the the power coursing through my every molecule. I had become one with it, and it had become one with me. I looked down upon that which had tormented me for many years. He made no attempt to resist. Even he knew it was over. "So, this is how it finally ends, is it? You, with all your power, have defeated me? Ask yourself, will you destroy me? If you do, then even you must know that you will be as dark as I. Are you willing to live your life with that stain on your conscience?" I grabbed him by his collar. "Next to all the others you inflicted?" I raised my hand.
"Yes." I struck.
The sound of a knock at the door woke me up. I was sitting at the desk in the tower, where I had been transcribing the Folio Daemonia into English. I looked up at the clock. It was 1 AM. Who would be knocking at this hour? I stood up, limbs complaining, and went to the door. I opened it to find Elise, wearing a nightgown, looking faintly worried. "Oh, I'm sorry. Were you asleep?" "Uh, kinda. What's wrong?" She looked embarrassed. "Well, I had a nightmare. I just couldn't get to sleep after, I just didn't feel safe in there. So I decided to come up here." She looked even more embarrassed. "But, I probably shouldn't. It's probably not good to have the monarch running to the first person she can find after a bad dream." She turned to leave. "Wait, you're probably right. Some daemons can induce paranoia in their targets, which can lead to nightmares, which gives a lasting sense of dread. This makes it easier for them to bring down their targets. If you think it's safer here, you're probably right."
She turned around. "Well, if you think so." She came in. "You can have the bed. I'll probably fall asleep at the desk again. If I fall asleep." She looked concerned. "When was the last time you got sleep?" She sure got to the point. "I don't remember. I only sleep when I dream, and even then, I don't really dream anymore." Puzzled, she climbed into the bed. "I don't understand." "When I do dream, it's not the kind of dream coming from the subconscious. It's all premonitions. Every dream I have comes true at one point or another." I sat down on the bed. "Sometimes I see exactly what's going to happen, but can't understand without context. Other times, the meaning is cryptic, but comes to me later."
She looked empathetic. "Ever since daddy died, I haven't had a single dream where he wasn't there. It's like I want him alive so badly that my mind creates him for me, but then I wake up, and suddenly reality hits me." She looked sad. "Well, we should get some sleep. Climb into bed, you need it." "You don't mind sharing a bed with a stranger?" "Well, it's only for one night." I came to a decision. "Tomorrow, we will go to Kingdom Valley and end this." She smiled. "Ok." I climbed into bed, reached over to turn off the light, and slept.