Third chapter. I'm doing this for that one person who added this to her story alerts. You have my thanks.

When having nightmares, one usually wakes up at the brink of the moment, supposedly the most terrifying part. In my case, however, waking up doesn't seem to be an option. I was still asleep, having another nightmare about the past. Strangely enough, this doesn't happen very often, yet of all times for it to occur, it had to be the night when I had that little chat with Matthew.

I was out in the market, along with my supposedly deceased friend, Luke, though apparently, he seems to be very well alive in this dream. Luke was quite the mischievous person, yet cunning at the same time. As I previously noted many times before, he was very much like Matthew. He had that certain charm in his personality that would somehow attract people like me. Nevertheless, we still remained close friends, and nothing more.

By the time we arrived back in the village, everything was in complete chaos. There were a number of dead bodies lying around, and there were bandits terrorizing the villagers everywhere. Some of our fighters were fending them off while other villagers tried to escape. Everything was completely disorganized, but before I could even think of a strategy, I quickly ran to my home as fast as I could.

I slammed the door open, hoping for the best, but instead, everything turned out for the worst.

My father and my mother were lying on the floor, with a large pool of blood slowly flowing out of their bodies. There was clearly no life left in them. In other words, they were killed. Now as I stated earlier, this is supposed to be the part where most people wake up, but in my case, things just get worse.

Before I could even let out my tears, Luke suddenly came running in, saying that everyone was in need of tactician right at that moment; however he was then dismayed by the scene portrayed in front of his eyes. At last, my tears started flowing out. Luke moved towards me and gave me a hug and said a few words in my ear, but quickly dispersed due to the impending danger.

We then separated ourselves. I went towards the hoard of fighters, thinking of a good strategy while Luke went towards the villagers to help escort them safely.

Just as I gave out my orders, I was soon spotted by a lone bandit. The bandit started running towards me. I hurriedly ran to a nearby alley, but it gave little to aid my situation. I hit a dead end, while the bandit was swiftly approaching. He inched closer and closer, taking out his steel axe. I was completely stuck, no where to run. The bandit raised his axe, and-

"Erk! Where are you? Come out and start serving me!"

My eyes flew open from the sound of Serra's astoundingly irritating voice. It's a wonder how Erk manages to endure her. I stood up from my mat and stretched my arms. After yawning a bit, I decided to go out and eat. Though usually I would get a bit cranky when someone wakes me from my slumber, this time I'm actually thankful. I decided to keep this in mind and try to tolerate Serra, at least for the day.

"Oh, Ione. There you are! Can you believe that Erk actually ran away from me? How could he disrespect such a charming and beautiful woman who clearly has authority over him? Ah, my breathtaking beauty may be too much for him to handle."

You know what, scratch that. This cleric is nearly impossible.

"Yes. Your beauty is very overwhelming." I replied, very sarcastically, sighing afterwards.

"Oh, I suppose that is to be expected. It may as well be a crime. Why, all men are doomed to be bewitched by my charm…"

'Drat. This conversation could go for hours.'

Luckily, I spotted Matthew by a corner and I quickly thought of an escape plan.

"Oh look, Serra," I began to say, cutting her off from her extremely conceited prattle. "Isn't that Matthew? I think he'd love to be dazzled by your, um, charm."

Before she noticed, I swiftly crept away from her, making sure of our distance before I was finally able to walk leisurely again.

While walking on my way to the supply tent, I came across Lyn, looking as determined as ever.

"Good morning, Ione. Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"Erm, not exactly. I actually had a nightmare this time. Luckily, Serra woke me up with that rambunctious voice of hers." I replied. For some reason, Lyn looked slightly surprised with my statement, but I could tell she was also curious.

"Well, no wonder you looked a bit anxious. Care to share with me what happened? Honestly, you never struck me as the type to have nightmares."

"Haha, I guess I give out quite an impression. I'll tell you about it as soon as I get myself some breakfast."

I went inside the supply tent, looking for some food to eat. After some scavenging, I had decided to eat two apples. Finished with my business, I went outside and met up with Lyn.

Before I could meet up with her, however, I was soon caught by Matthew, much to my misfortune.

"Hey! Ione!" He called out, slightly angry.

"Good morning, Matthew." I greeted, as innocently as possible. "What seems to be the problem?"

"OH nothing. I just wanted to thank you for telling Serra how eager I was to hear about her astonishing beauty."

I let out a laugh.

"Hey! This is no laughing matter. You should know how difficult it is to avoid her."

"Oh really?" I said, trying to hold back my laugh. "I thought both of you were such good friends."

"Please, do not ever make such a horrifying assumption ever again."

I chuckled a bit. "Haha, but really, though. I was desperate. You know how she is."

"Yes, but that does not necessarily mean you have to give her away to me."

"I apologize for that…sort of. Well, I best be going now. I told Lyn that I would talk to her after I got myself a meal."

"Hey! Wait!"

I slipped away from the area and quickly strolled along the path. Finally, I found Lyn's tent and went inside.

"What took you so long?" Lyn asked.

"Matthew spoke a few words with me along the way." I replied, taking a bite out of an apple afterwards.

"Well, anyway, tell me about that nightmare of yours." She said.

"Right. Well, this nightmare happened to be about my past. It was that incident I told you about."

"Oh. I'm sorry. That must have been a horrible experience, but didn't you mention that it doesn't bother you as much?"

"Yes, I did say that…" I take a last bit out of my first apple. I then move on to the next. "-but…well…things change I guess. That night, I told Matthew about my past, in exchange for him to stop stealing my belongings, but apparently, this time I couldn't get that incident out of my head. Even now, that scene replays over and over inside my mind."

"I…see. Well, I just want to let you know that I'll always be here for you, okay? We've been through similar experiences, but that's what makes our bond grow stronger."

I had to agree with that. The fact that both of us were alone for quite some time, it's a similarity that makes us good friends.

"…You're right. Thanks for listening. We should probably go now, though. We need to meet up with the others and make a new strategy for our route to Caelin." I said.

"Agreed. My grandfather won't be living any longer if we don't get there fast. Let's go!"

Lyn and I stepped outside and walked towards the designated area.

Yeah...not really a good ending sentence there. I would love it if you would review.