Not many people had ever heard of Eryn Village, but those that had visited knew just how beautiful it was when the sun went down. Accompanied by the sounds of chirping crickets and a light breeze that blew every now and again, the otherwise dark town was bathed in the dull light of the full moon. Living in such a serene place made drifting off into a peaceful sleep quite a simple process for the villagers.

But no matter how beautiful and soothing the nearby environment was, getting a good night's rest became a rather difficult ordeal for the guests currently residing in Crimson Roselia's atelier. It was easy for a recent traumatic event to have direct effects on one's sleep quality, after all. And tonight, one unfortunate girl was learning that lesson the hard way.

For a long time, Altina Orion had never experienced the phenomenon that her classmates and other acquaintances referred to as a "dream". Whenever she had to sleep, she was almost always able to do so without any difficulty and wake up exactly when she needed to the next day. It was difficult for her to relate when other people talked about dreams, because she had never really experienced one firsthand.

At first, she didn't believe that she was even capable of having dreams. When she joined the new Class VII, however, things began to change. It wasn't often, but every now and again when she dozed off, she would have these strange visions in her head. Sometimes her dreams were nonsensical, and she usually forgot about them within minutes of waking up. Sometimes she dreamed of something pleasant, like setting a new record time for the swim club or devouring a large plate of pancakes. On one or two occasions she found herself waking up with a small smile on her face, unable to explain why it was there.

Tonight, however, was different. She laid in bed tossing and turning as she fruitlessly tried to achieve the tranquil slumber that she needed. She did succeed in falling asleep, and she was once again having a dream. But in stark contrast to the peaceful environment outside, her dream tonight was anything but peaceful.

The girl stirs, finding herself in an unfamiliar environment and feeling strange clothes on her body. She could hear the ferocious roaring of a beast, the sounds of arts being cast, and clashing swords in the distance. She could also pick up some faint shouting voices that she recognized. The owners of the voices weren't immediately apparent to her, but she instinctively knew that she trusted the people who they belonged to. Whoever they were, they were important to her.

However, that wasn't all. Something else was off. Perhaps what was most unusual at the scene was an uncomfortable pressure around her neck, as if a person's hands were firmly clamped around them. Another masculine voice reached her ears, this one much closer to her than the others.

"It would seem my turn has come." She felt her upper body being pulled up from a lying position. "Sorry, Black Rabbit…but this is the only way." The pressure around her neck started to tighten, and she could hear the desperate protests of the voices from earlier. Now that she heard them a second time, she knew who they were. Juna, Kurt, and Musse – her friends and classmates from Thors Military Academy.

The hands continued to squeeze her neck harder and harder until it became difficult to breathe. But now, she was starting to fully wake up and realize where she was, what was happening, and what was about to happen if she didn't act. The voice from earlier must have been coming from one Cedric Reise Arnor, the crown prince of the Erebonian Empire. And if he was the person whose hands were tightly gripping her throat with killing intent, that could only mean one thing.

As model number Oz74, she was the most recent iteration of the Originator Zero series. Despite her enlistment in the Intelligence Division, her creation had been for one purpose and one purpose only: to serve as a sacrifice. She would be used to create a weapon forged from a human soul. She was to become the Sword of the End, a tool with which to slay a Holy Beast.

"I will make it as quick as I can…"

Altina had to make a choice. If she did nothing, then she would be killed, and the Sword of the End would be wielded by the Vermilion Knight. She didn't know what the prince and the chancellor had to gain by slaying the Holy Beast, but if that weapon fell into their hands, the lives of the people she cared about would be in grave danger.

Despite Cedric's crushing grip on her neck, she was barely able to get a word out. "…must…"

The pressure around her throat suddenly stopped intensifying. Cedric was clearly surprised that she was awake and began to hesitate. Now was her opening. "I must protect…"

Her classmates: Juna, Kurt, and Musse. The members of the old Class VII. Her sister, Millium. And her instructor, Rean. She alone had the power to protect those who were important to her. And in that moment, she knew what she must do.

"Come, Claiomh Solais!"

The white-haired girl willed her faithful combat shell to manifest beside her, startling the crown prince enough that he released his vicegrip on her neck. Mentally commanding Claiomh Solais to pick her up, she got onto its arm without hesitation and flew upwards. Before her was a terrifyingly large beast, pinning down the Ashen Knight and tearing chunks out of the robot's chest with its sharp teeth.

Her instructor was in danger. Without hesitating, she rushed forward and struck the Holy Beast on the side of its head. The beast was caught off guard and recoiled from the impact of Claiomh Solais' arm, releasing the Ashen Knight from its jaws as it reeled back. Before it could recover from the surprise attack, Altina placed herself between it and her instructor and erected a small barrier in front of her.

She knew very well that the barrier she had set up was nowhere near strong enough to fend off an attack from a Holy Beast. Now that she was the target of its aggression, it was only a matter of time before it took its revenge and swiped at her with its massive claws. But ignoring the panicked voices of her friends and her instructor begging her to run away, she remained steadfast.

Altina was fully aware that she was about to die, but this was the best possible outcome. If she became the Sword here, it would not fall into the hands of the Vermilion Knight and could not be used for whatever nefarious purpose Chancellor Osborne had in mind. The Holy Beast, now having shaken off her strike from earlier, reared back and lifted one of its enormous claws to strike her down. She shut her eyes tight and braced herself for the final few moments of her short life.

Before she knew it, she was blown back by another heavy impact, but it wasn't from the beast's claws. Altina was flung off of her combat shell and crashed to the ground as the beast roared in pain once more. Looking back up in surprise, she was shocked to see that another girl on a combat shell had taken her place. This time, it was her sister: Millium Orion.

This wasn't supposed to happen. This couldn't be happening. She was supposed to meet her end here for the sake of her loved ones. Nobody else needed to lose their life but her. Especially not Millium. In an ironic mimicry of what had just happened seconds ago, she desperately pleaded with the White Rabbit to flee.

No matter how much her sister begged, Millium refused to listen to reason, staring certain death in the face with the same goofy smile that usually adorned her face. Altina had failed to perform the one duty she was created for. And now, because of her failure, her sister was going to pay the ultimate price right before her eyes.

"I'm…gonna protect everyone!"

Altina was completely powerless to do anything. All she could do was watch in horror while the tainted Holy Beast brought its humongous claw down onto the white combat shell, ending Millium's as it effortlessly sliced through her flesh.

The girl's green eyes suddenly snapped open. Finally freed from the traumatic memories that had been torturing her, her body jolted awake, and she quickly sat up in her bed with a gasp. Her skin was sticky with sweat and she felt sick to her stomach. It took a decent amount of effort to keep the contents of her dinner from coming back up.

Her breaths were quick and shallow, and it was a struggle for her to calm down with the rapid pounding of her heartbeat against her chest. If she had to describe how she was feeling right now in one word, "terrible" wouldn't be a strong enough descriptor.

She knew that she wasn't actually there and that it didn't just happen, that she was safe in bed in Eryn Village instead of in the depths of the Gral. But it all felt so real. That horrific scene from two weeks ago was still very vivid in her mind, and she wanted nothing more than be able to forget about it. It was no use, though. Those awful memories continued to plague her no matter what she did.

Even her dreams were no longer a safe haven for her. Every other time she had a dream, it was about something pleasant, something fun. She rarely remembered what they were about for long, but she was happy when she woke up. This, though? This was not a mere dream. This was a nightmare.

After a few minutes, Altina was finally able to catch her breath. It was a surprise that her bedmate hadn't been woken up by her sudden movements, especially considering Juna was never a particularly heavy sleeper. Yet the pink-haired girl was still asleep, oblivious to the distress of her classmate next to her.

Altina felt physically and mentally drained. She knew how tired she was and that she needed to sleep, but at the same time she couldn't bear the thought of enduring another nightmare like that. Perhaps she just needed to think about something else. Maybe that would make the bad dreams go away. She hesitantly lowered her head back onto her pillow and closed her eyes.

She did her very best to keep only happy thoughts in her head. The fun times at the Heimdallr Summer Festival. The feeling of accomplishment when setting a new record swimming time. The taste and smell of a thick stack of buttermilk pancakes. The sickening crunch of the beast bringing its claw down onto Airgetl—

Her eyes snapped open again and she let out another small gasp. Why? Why did it keep coming back? The Gral was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. She hoped she would have been able to drown out the pain with other good memories, but it appeared her brain seemed hellbent on torturing her tonight.

If that didn't work, then Altina didn't know what else to do. Getting to sleep right now would be an impossible feat between the traumatic intrusive memories and her current physical discomfort. It may be the middle of the night, but her bed did not seem to be the best place for her to be. Maybe going for a little walk and getting a glass of water would help chase the nightmares away. She was a little thirsty, after all.

She carefully slipped out from under her blanket and pushed herself off of the bed, trying not to awaken the sleeping Juna. With a little bit of effort, she succeeded in her task, getting back onto her own two feet without disturbing her bedmate. After wiping the sweat from her brow with a few tired blinks, she glanced around the dark room. She didn't want to turn on a light and wake anyone up. Thankfully, she had some pretty good eyesight even in the dark. It probably wouldn't be too hard to get to the kitchen from here.

Slowly but surely, she started making her way towards the atelier's kitchen. She tried to concentrate on keeping her footsteps from being too loud and also watching where she was going, but those awful visions kept on popping back into her head. She felt her stomach churn every time her mind unconsciously drifted to the events of that day.

Altina wasn't the type of girl that tended to have strong feelings about things. Right now, though, she absolutely hated how this felt. Life had been so much easier when she didn't have to worry about this stuff, when she had little comprehension of concepts such as "feelings" and "emotions". It was only after she joined the new Class VII that this sort of thing started.

Living her life at school with the rest of Class VII certainly had its stressful moments, but overall, it was a relatively happy life. However, happiness as a concept cannot exist without the opposite of happiness. And that was a lesson Altina was finally realizing for herself tonight.

Eventually she reached the atelier's spacious kitchen and dining area. None of the lights were on, but the dim moonlight through the windows lit up the room enough for Altina to see where she was going. She began to quietly walk over to Rose's cupboard. Opening the cupboard, she retrieved a small glass and proceeded to fill it with water from the nearby sink.

Now that she had her glass in hand, the next thing to do was find a place to sit down. She wandered the room briefly in search of a chair. After a few seconds of looking around, she found the dining room's table. Altina carefully slid one of the chairs out from underneath it and took a seat.

The first thing she did after sitting down was take a sip from her glass. The cold water was just the thing she needed right now, soothing her dry throat as she drank deeply. After a few seconds of drinking, she placed her glass back down onto the table and wiped her lips with the sleeve of her pajamas. The glass was already half empty. Maybe she was thirstier than she thought.

Getting something to drink may have made her feel a tiny bit better physically, but it did nothing to help her feel better emotionally. She was now alone in a dark, quiet room, with nothing else to occupy her mind but her own thoughts, none of which were pleasant. Altina reached for her glass again to take another sip of water but found herself having difficulty picking it up. For some reason, her hands were shaking.

This horrible, awful feeling inside her just kept building and building and she couldn't make it go away no matter how hard she tried. All she was able to think about was what happened underneath Karel Imperial Villa on that dreadful day. How she failed to protect her loved ones and lost two people very dear to her.

Altina didn't know if she'd ever be able to forget the moment that Millium's life came to a cruel, brutal end. The wide smile she was wearing as she was sacrificed to become the Sword. Jusis' agonizing scream as he helplessly watched the White Rabbit's life get extinguished. Rean's demonic roars as he tore the tainted holy beast to shreds with the blade forged from her sister's soul. All of these things had been burned into her mind.

To think that Altina had only regarded Millium as a nuisance for so long. She had always been quickly annoyed by her sister's antics and didn't make much of an effort to spend any time with her. It was only recently that Altina started becoming more receptive to her counterpart's company. She would give anything just to spend a little bit more time with Millium. But now, that was impossible. Because of her failure, her incompetence, she would never be able to see her sister's goofy smile ever again.

It wasn't fair. Even if she could be a bit obnoxious at times, Millium was a sweet girl with a heart of gold. She still had so much to live for, so many things to experience. Experiences that she'd now never get to have. Altina's hands continued to shake, and the horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach continued to grow out of control.

What would her instructor be doing if he was in her shoes? She knew that he would be devastated, but that he'd power through it. Rean was the type to give 100% effort wherever he could, to continue moving forward relentlessly no matter what challenges stood in his way. On the other hand, Altina felt completely lost right now without his guidance and didn't know what to do on her own anymore. She felt an unusual sensation of something building up in the corners of her eyes. Deep down, she knew what was coming, but it was far too late to stop it now.

The members of Class VII, especially Rean and Millium, were such strong people to be able to do the kind of things that they had done. But Altina? Calling herself strong would be laughable. In fact, the opposite was true – she was weak. It was because of her carelessness that Millium lost her life. It was because of her weakness that Rean lost control and triggered the Great Twilight. All she had to do was die and become the Sword like she was supposed to. But she was too pathetic to accomplish even that.

Not able to control her turbulent emotions anymore, she let go of the glass and brought her hands to her face. The pressure behind her eyes finally reached a tipping point and she couldn't hold it in any longer. So, she let it go. All the sadness, grief, and despair she had been feeling finally manifested itself physically.

For the first time in her life, Altina began to cry.

"Mrgh…"

Juna Crawford's eyes slowly opened as she woke from her fitful sleep. Her eyes groggily glanced at the wall clock on the side of the room. It was still the middle of the night, and this had now been the fourth time she had woken up. She hadn't had this much trouble sleeping in a very long time. Probably not since her field exercises in Crossbell.

Something seemed different this time, though. It was as if something was missing from the room that had been there the last few times she woke up. Once Juna rolled over to look at the other side of the room, it immediately became apparent what that something was. Her bedmate was missing.

Juna curiously stretched her hand out to feel the other side of the mattress where the other girl had been asleep earlier that night. It still felt warm to the touch. She had to have gotten up recently. And if it were anyone else, Juna probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

For as long as Juna had known her, Altina never had a problem with her sleep. The Crossbell native didn't consider herself to be a particularly light sleeper, but she couldn't think of any times in the past where her roommate was wandering around in the night. Altina was always the early-to-bed, early-to-rise type. Her being missing was more than a little concerning.

Normally Juna would have made another attempt to return to sleep and get some semblance of rest before the sun rose, but she couldn't help but worry about Altina's whereabouts. Maybe the smaller girl just went for a little walk. Eryn Village's scenery in the pale glow of the moonlight was nothing short of beautiful, after all. It was the perfect place to go for a late-night stroll. Altina would probably appreciate some company.

After pushing the blanket off of her body, Juna slowly lifted herself out of bed and onto her own two feet. She let out a loud yawn and briefly stretched to get some of the tiredness out of her body. Since it was dark and she couldn't see very far, she grabbed her ARCUS II from the nearby desk to use it as a light source. Hopefully nobody else in the atelier would be woken up by the extra brightness.

Light source in hand, Juna slowly walked through the open door to their bedroom and made her way down the hall. Once she set foot into the spacious dining area, she started towards the front door but was suddenly stopped by an unusual sound. She only heard it for a split second, but it sounded like a person's voice. The voice had a tone giving Juna the impression that its owner was significantly distressed.

Taking another step forward, she heard it again. Now that she was paying attention and listening for it, it sounded like someone crying. It was clearer this time that the voice belonged to a girl. Juna suddenly had a really bad feeling about this. Whoever the voice's owner was, it was certain that they were in this room.

Juna gently and slowly moved the light of her ARCUS II over towards where she had heard the sounds, and what she saw made her blood run cold. Seated alone at the dining table was a small figure hunched over, head resting on the table with their hands covering their face. The girl's normally neat white hair was slightly tangled and messy, and her shoulders trembled as Juna's ears registered another quiet sob.

"…Allie?"

Altina visibly stiffened once she heard her nickname being called but did not move from her position nor acknowledge Juna in any other way. She quietly whimpered as Juna slowly crept towards her, torn between wanting someone to comfort her and wanting to be left alone.

Juna scooted the chair next to her classmate out from underneath the table and took a seat, gently placing her hand on her friend's shoulder. The sadness and grief radiating from Altina's body was palpable, which was extremely concerning.

For as long as they had known each other, Altina had always been very levelheaded with excellent control over her emotions. Juna had seen her get upset a few times before, but never to the point of shedding tears. Not even close.

"Hey…are you alr—"

As Altina slowly lowered her hands and turned towards her classmate, Juna barely held back a small gasp. This was a sight she never expected to see and hoped that she would never have to see again. Altina looked terrible. Her eyes were red from crying, tears were streaming down her cheeks, and the uncharacteristic grief-stricken expression on her face made Juna's heart feel like it was breaking in two.

Altina sniffled, trying and miserably failing to suppress another sob. "…Ju…na…"

Juna had been in situations like this before with her siblings when they were younger and had gotten upset over something, but this situation was completely different. Despite the fact that Altina was the youngest member of the new Class VII by a decent margin, Juna hadn't ever seen something upset her this much.

Right now, words would probably not give much comfort to her despairing classmate. But there was something else she could still do that would help, even if just a little bit. Juna slowly moved her chair closer to Altina's and wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, enveloping her in a gentle but firm hug.

"It's okay. I've got you."

Altina hesitated for a few seconds, but eventually tightly gripped Juna's waist and leaned into her chest. They remained there for several minutes, Juna quietly holding onto her classmate while Altina let out everything she had been bottling up.

Once it seemed like the flow of tears finally began to slow down, Juna took the opportunity to figure out what had happened to Altina to make her so upset. "What's wrong, Allie?" she softly asked. The younger girl hesitated to answer, but Juna was nothing if not persistent. "It's okay. You can tell me."

After another brief period of hesitation, Altina finally spoke. "It won't…it won't stop…" she sniffled. "I just want it stop…"

"What won't stop?"

Altina gripped Juna's waist even tighter than before. "E-every time I close my eyes, I see it again. I hear it again. Instructor Rean…M-Millium…I…"

With that last statement, Juna had a strong suspicion of what had happened. Altina always slept soundly and never awakened before morning. The thing that had shaken her so much that it woke her up in the middle of the night could only be…

"A nightmare."

Juna didn't need to even look at her classmate to know that she was right. The way Altina's body tensed up at the word "nightmare" told all. Altina slowly gave a very small nod, confirming Juna's suspicions beyond a shadow of a doubt.

She pulled Altina a little bit closer, hugged her a little bit tighter. It was difficult for Juna to imagine how awful that must have been for the poor girl. As far as she knew, Altina had never had a bad dream before. Having to relive the traumatic events of two weeks ago as her very first nightmare, something completely unexpected and unwelcome when she closed her eyes to sleep, must have been absolutely terrifying.

Her train of thought was broken when she heard another small sob from the girl leaning against her chest. "…it's…i-it's not f-fair…why am I the one…t-that's still…?"

"Hm?"

"She never had to d-die, but because of me, she's…s-she's…!"

There it was. Juna was afraid that Altina might have been thinking like that. It wasn't enough that her sister died brutally in front of her eyes, but she was blaming herself for it all.

"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. Nobody could have predicted that Millium would do something like that."

"B-but…but…if I had just been a little more careful, s-she'd still…"

Juna grimaced. "That's—"

"I'm the one that was stupid and got c-caught…if I hadn't, then Millium and Instructor Rean w-would…"

"Hey, that's not—"

"All I needed to do was d-die like I was supposed to, but…"

"Allie."

"S-she's the one who…the one who deserves to live. Not someone like m—"

"That's ENOUGH, Allie."

Altina turned her gaze up towards Juna in surprise. She could still see that look of concern in Juna's eyes, but now it was mixed with a bit of anger, too.

"You had no idea that anything like this would happen and you had no control over Millium or the Instructor's actions. I'm not going to sit here and let you talk about yourself like that."

"But…"

"No buts. I can guarantee you that no one thinks what happened is your fault. We all know that you did nothing wrong."

"…I…"

"So please…please don't blame yourself and say things like 'I should have been the one to die'. You deserve so much better than that."

Altina remained quiet. A small part of her brain still desperately wanted to find some way to pin the blame for everything on herself, but she had no real rebuttal to Juna's words. All she could do was remain in the older girl's tight embrace, finally able to feel some relief from the crushing sorrow that had been overwhelming her.

After what felt like forever, the sniffles finally seemed like they had died down. "Do you feel a little bit better now?"

"Y-yeah…thanks, Juna."

Juna softly smiled. "That's good…I'm glad I could help. Everyone here cares about you, Allie. Please don't forget that." Releasing her grip on Altina, she stood up from her chair with a loud yawn. "We should get back to bed. It's really late, and both of us need to get some rest."

"…"

She glanced back down at Altina, noticing her hesitancy to stand up from her chair. "Are you worried you're going to have another nightmare?"

The smaller girl slowly nodded her head. "I'm so tired, but I don't…I don't know if I can…"

"I know you're scared, but you need to sleep at some point, right? If you have another nightmare, you can wake me up and I'll be there for you, no matter what. We're in this together, okay?"

"…okay."

Wiping her face with her sleeve, Altina grabbed onto Juna's outstretched hand and pulled herself to her feet. ARCUS in hand, Juna led the two of them back to their room. She closed the door quietly behind her and turned off her ARCUS unit's light, placing it on her dresser before climbing back into bed. Altina followed suit, pulling the covers over herself on the opposite side of the mattress.

"Good night, Allie."

"Good night…"

The pair closed their eyes and attempted to get a bit more rest before the sun rose. Juna's brain, however, didn't seem quite ready to settle back down, and she stayed awake a little longer lost in her own thoughts.

If she was being honest with herself, she had similar thoughts to Altina's on a smaller scale. It was hard to ignore the notion that if she had just been a little bit stronger, just a tiny bit better, this tragedy wouldn't have befallen her and the people she loved. Being in this kind of situation without Rean's guidance felt very unsettling.

She knew that she wasn't alone in these feelings. The rest of her classmates and friends who had escaped the Gral were probably feeling similar things. Just then, Juna felt an unexpected warmth on her side. Tilting her head towards the other side of the bed, it quickly became clear what the source was. Altina had drifted off to sleep and rolled over onto Juna's side of the mattress, curling up right beside her. Juna wasn't sure if she was dreaming, but she seemed to be sleeping peacefully now.

Now was not the time to think negatively. She needed to be strong, for Altina's sake as well as her own. If there was one group of people that could solve this whole problem, it was Class VII, both new and old. Reflecting on the "what-ifs" of the past wouldn't do any of them any good. They had to instead look to the future and what they needed to do. No, what they were going to do.

They were going to find their instructor. They were going to put a stop to the looming war with Calvard. They were going to get rid of the curse that had spread all over Erebonia. And once they found the people responsible for all of this, there would be hell to pay. She'd make sure of it.

A/N: I'm kinda bad at coming up with my own writing prompts, but this is one I really wanted to run with, even if it did come out a bit more upsetting than I first intended. While I do like the whole "teaching a robot to love" trope, it tends to touch on the good aspect of learning emotion and rarely the bad. Traumatic experiences, nightmares, and losing a major pillar of support all come together at this point to make the perfect storm for learning the bad.

Hopefully the next idea I come up with doesn't end up being a sad one like this, but we'll just have to wait and see.