Hi again, everyone! It's time for another new chapter of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Reflecting Balance!
Thanks to everyone who has been following the story so far, and I hope you're enjoying it! If there's anything you'd like to tell me about what you think about the plot/characters/writing, feel free to let me know!
Chapter 38: If this works, then surely there won't be any doubt anymore.
"When they returned to Illumine Town, Cassandra sent out a telepathic message to all the Pokémon in town, letting them know she wanted to tell them something. It didn't take long before they had all gathered in the center of town, wondering what the town oracle had summoned them for…"
Cassandra took a deep breath as she prepared to address the crowd, mentally trying to work out what she was going to say to them. She, Simon and Pandora were a short distance away from where the other Pokémon had gathered, and could hear them talking amongst themselves as they wondered just what was going on. Several of them were simply curious and hoped that their town oracle would explain what was going on and what they were going to do about it, if anything. However, there was also a bit of frustration emanating from the crowd, since Cassandra hadn't explained anything about this sooner.
The tension in the air was making Pandora feel even more nervous about asking them to help gather ingredients for the spell they were going to use to stop Erebos, and she wanted nothing more than to go home and hide in the darkness. As Cassandra was about to step forward, Pandora wrapped her sleeve-like arms around Cassandra's thin, black arm.
"Cassandra, I'm sorry," Pandora said, looking down at the ground. "I… I don't think I can do this…"
"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Cassandra responded, touching Pandora's arms with her free hand. "I'm sure I can convince them to help us out!"
"No, they'll blame me for keeping you away from town and refuse to help me," Pandora replied, tightening her grip slightly. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but… this just isn't going to work out…"
"Pandora, we won't know until we try," Cassandra responded, trying to free her left arm from Pandora's grip. "Just trust me, okay?"
Pandora just remained silent for a few moments, before somberly nodding her head and letting go of Cassandra's arm. Pandora nervously watched as Cassandra went to address the crowd.
"I don't know exactly how well Cassandra knows the Pokémon of this town, but it seems she knows at least some of them well enough," Simon commented.
"What do you mean…?" Pandora asked, glancing over at Simon.
"While bothered by the strange events, some of them are clearly concerned about Cassandra herself," Simon said, smiling as he thought back to his conversation with Richter. "It's just nice to know that I'm not the only one looking out for her."
"I see…" Pandora responded, nodding her head slightly.
"So, if these Pokémon truly believe in Cassandra, I'm certain that she will be able to convince them to trust you as well," Simon said, giving Pandora a reassuring look.
"… I hope you're right," Pandora muttered, staring into the ground.
Pandora tried to hide herself behind Simon as the two of them followed Cassandra. Soon, all eyes were on Cassandra.
"Everyone, there's something I need to tell you all," Cassandra said, looking out over the crowd. "So, please stay calm and listen to what I have to say."
"Cassandra began telling the other Pokémon about the vision she had had and how it led her to Silver Woods, where she met Pandora and Erebos. She explained to them what Pandora had told her, about the dark magic and how it had been corrupting Erebos, and that Erebos was the one responsible for the strange things that had been happening in the mystery dungeons near Illumine Town.
After that, she told them of the plan she and Pandora had come up with, and how they needed some help to gather the ingredients for the spells…"
"… And, that's about it," Cassandra said as she concluded her explanation. "Are there any questions?"
"Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?" one of Era's heads asked.
"I didn't want to worry anyone," Cassandra responded. "However, once Erebos came here, I knew something had to be done, which is why I had to talk to Pandora and come up with a plan before I told you all. I'm sorry for any trouble I caused."
"Hmm… Can we really trust that Mismagius?" a Liepard asked, pointing a claw at Pandora, who was just silently staring into the ground. "I mean, if the trouble-maker is her brother…"
"She has a point," a Scizor commented, crossing his arms. "How do we know that the Mismagius won't betray us?"
"Pandora wants to make sure that Erebos won't be corrupted any further by the dark magic," Cassandra responded, throwing a quick glance over at the Mismagius. "If she can use her own magic to stop him, and we can provide the ingredients she needs, then shouldn't we all just work together?"
Pandora nervously looked up at the various Pokémon as she heard a few murmurs from the crowd, some of them looking a bit skeptical while others just seemed uncertain and concerned. None of them seemed entirely sure about what to do.
"I knew this was a bad idea…" Pandora whispered, looking away. "They won't help me…"
"Don't give up just yet," Simon whispered back.
Cassandra just quietly waited for a few moments, looking out over the crowd and trying to get a general idea of how they felt about the idea. She began to feel a little nervous herself as she picked up on the feelings from the crowd, but she tried not to let it show. After all, she was the town oracle. She had to remain calm, and inspire and give advice to the Pokémon of Illumine Town.
She felt as she had to say something, show the Pokémon of the town that she had full control and knew what she was doing. However, what could she say to convince them?
"I… I know some of you might have your doubts, since I didn't tell you about any of this until now, and again, I'm sorry," Cassandra said.
"It's not just that," Era's left head commented. "This plan of yours… It sounds kind of crazy…"
"So, you mean it's crazy enough to work?" Era's middle head questioned, looking over to her left with a hopeful smile.
"No, just crazy," the left head responded.
"Oh…" the middle head replied, looking down at the ground.
"Guys, we won't know if it'll work or not until we try it," Cassandra responded, throwing a quick glance over at Simon and Pandora. "I mean… Pandora is the only one who has the knowledge and power we need to solve this, so…"
The Pokémon in the crowd continued to exchange glances and talk amongst themselves, some of them acknowledging that Cassandra had a point, but that they were still skeptical about the whole thing. After a few moments, Richter, who had just quietly been listening this whole time, decided to speak up.
"I'll do what I can to help," Richter said, looking up at Cassandra. "Since we don't really have any better options, I'd say we better get started on this as soon as possible."
Cassandra couldn't help but smile, and it didn't take long before she felt a change in parts of the crowd.
"We'll help too!" Era's middle head cheerfully exclaimed, while her other two heads nodded in agreement. "You can count on us!"
Pandora looked on in surprise as more of the Pokémon decided to help. Simon smiled at the Mismagius, and motioned for her to move forward. Pandora reluctantly hovered over to Cassandra's side.
"Uh… H-Hi everyone…" Pandora said, meekly waving to the crowd. "I… I'm sorry about the trouble my brother has caused, and… I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again, I promise…"
"Tell everyone what they need to do, Pandora!" Cassandra said, smiling at Pandora.
"R-Right…" Pandora responded, nodding her head. "Please listen to me, everyone…"
"Pandora began explaining which ingredients were needed for the spells. While some of the Pokémon of the town were still a bit skeptical, they still joined in as everyone began putting together a plan for how they would proceed. They soon decided that the Pokémon that were to gather the ingredients would be organized into teams consisting of two, three or four Pokémon, and that they would be sent to the mystery dungeons that they were best suited to explore depending on their type and species.
In order to reach the faraway places quickly, they would make use of Simon's teleportation powers. However, they also needed a way to make it back to town quickly, and so they had to gather as many Escape Orbs as they could find…"
Simon examined the small blue wonder orbs that one of the shopkeepers had brought over, before nodding his head and adding them to the small pile of Escape Orbs that had been gathered so far. He then glanced over at the shopkeeper, a gray moth-like Pokémon with yellow wings with orange patterns.
"These are all the Escape Orbs you have at the moment?" Simon asked.
"Yes," the Mothim responded, nodding his head slightly. "I still have some other types of wonder orbs left, if you need any."
"Thanks," Simon replied. "If we need anything else, we'll let you know."
The Mothim returned to check on his shop, while Simon glanced over at Cassandra and Pandora who were just a short distance away from him. Cassandra was currently discussing something with a Leavanny, while Pandora just quietly hovered beside her and listened to whatever they were talking about. Cassandra held a hand to her chin for a moment while she thought about something the Leavanny had apparently suggested, before smiling and nodding her head as she responded to the Leavanny.
Simon couldn't hear what they were talking about, but seeing Cassandra so excited and cheerful made him smile. Simon just watched for a while, before he suddenly heard someone giggling and turned to see Era looking at him.
"What is it?" Simon asked, taking a step back.
"Working hard for Cassandra's sake, aren't you?" Era's right head asked, cheerfully swaying from side to side until accidentally bumping into the middle head.
"Ow!" the middle head exclaimed, blinking a few times before looking to her right. "Don't do that!"
"Oh, I'm sorry!" the right head responded, looking down sheepishly. "I totally forgot you were there!"
"... I'm not even going to comment on that one," Era's left head said, rolling her eyes.
"Um… Was there something you wanted…?" Simon asked, looking slightly confused.
"Oh, it's nothing!" the right head replied, winking at Simon. "Just keep working hard!"
"Uh… Of course," Simon responded, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, everyone is doing what they can, so I've got to do what I can to help as well."
Era ran off to help with something else, and Simon just shook his head and decided to count the Escape Orbs again to check how many were currently gathered.
"Just what was that about…?" Simon muttered to himself as he telekinetically picked up the orbs one by one and mentally counted them.
"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"
Simon turned to see Richter walking up to him, and noticed that a Banette was currently sitting on top of the Swampert's head for no apparent reason.
"What do you mean?" Simon asked, curiously glancing at the Banette for a moment.
"Well, Simon, the Pokémon of this town may not know you very well," Richter responded, crossing his arms. "But your feelings for Cassandra… I'm pretty sure everyone in town knows about that."
"E-Everyone…?" Simon replied incredulously, glancing around.
"Yep," Richter responded, nodding his head.
"Mmph mm!" the Banette replied affirmatively, snickering a little.
"T-That's… I don't…" Simon stuttered, his face having turned red. "I-I don't see how this is relevant to the current situation at hand!"
"You're right," Richter responded. "We should be getting back to work."
"Mmph mmmph!" the Banette said, cheerfully waving good-bye to Simon as he and Richter walked away.
Simon just shook his head, and looked over at the Escape Orbs again.
"Wonder how many of these we need…" Simon commented, tapping one of his spoons against his face.
Simon glanced back over at where Cassandra was. The Leavanny she had been talking to earlier was now nowhere to be seen, and Cassandra was instead talking to Pandora. Simon decided to go check on how they were doing.
"How are things going over here?" Simon asked as he walked up to the two.
"Things seem to be going well so far," Cassandra responded, smiling at Simon. "And you?"
"Well, we've gathered seventeen Escape Orbs so far," Simon replied.
"Wow, that's great!" Cassandra responded, looking over at Pandora. "Isn't that great?"
"Yes, that is pretty good," Pandora replied, thinking for a moment. "Since the wonder orbs can only be used once, it'd be good to have some leftover if some of the teams fail to obtain the ingredients they need to find on their first try…"
"That reminds me, do we even know how many teams there will be?" Cassandra asked, tilting her head slightly.
"I'll go check the status on that," Simon responded.
"Thanks, Simon!" Cassandra replied, grinning. "You're the best!"
"No problem," Simon responded, smiling back. "I'll do anything for you, Cassandra!"
"Oh?" Pandora inquired, tilting her head slightly.
"Ah, did I say that out loud?" Simon responded, blushing slightly. "Uh, I mean… Because we're friends, and… um… I'm going to go check on that thing now!"
Simon quickly left to go check on the other Pokémon, breathing a sigh of relief once he was out of Cassandra and Pandora's earshot.
"Ah, I'm not very good at this, am I?" Simon said to himself, leaning against a tree. "Well, maybe I'll be brave enough to tell her someday… but for now, I have other things I need to do."
"Soon, the first set of preparations was complete, and Simon could begin sending the different teams of Pokémon to the mystery dungeons in which the ingredients for the spell could be found. A Leavanny had with the help of an Audino made scarves and other accessories for the different teams, to help make it easier to identify which Pokémon were part of what team by the color of the scarves.
Over the next few days, Pandora would stay in Illumine Town during the day, looking over what progress had been made with Cassandra and Simon and what ingredients had been gathered, while returning to Silver Woods at night so Erebos would not suspect anything when he returned home after spending the day experimenting with different spells elsewhere.
Of course, she wished there was something she could've done to keep Erebos from using his dark magic so he wouldn't cause any trouble while preparations were still being made. Since there wasn't much she could do about it, she just had to hope that everything would be ready soon, and that the spell would work.
Finally, the day when the last of the ingredients were gathered came, and soon everything would be ready…"
Pandora watched as Simon used his spoons to dig a pattern into the ground, following the instructions on a scroll. Simon occasionally glanced up at Pandora to check if he getting the details right, to which Pandora responded with a quick nod. After a while, Cassandra walked over to the two with a big smile on her face.
"Two of the teams just returned with the last ingredients we needed!" Cassandra said, grinning.
"Ah, that means our preparations should be complete soon," Simon responded, looking up at Cassandra and Pandora.
"Yeah, I guess they will…" Pandora replied, thinking about it for a moment. "If I can get everything ready, I might be able to cast the spells later this evening…"
"Well, in that case, I'd better continue working on this, then!" Simon said, and continued working on the pattern on the ground.
Pandora took a deep breath, and looked over her magic scrolls one more time. In only a few more hours, she would probably have everything ready. If things went as planned, she wouldn't need to worry about Erebos using any more of that dark magic. However, she knew things likely wouldn't go back to exactly the way they were before. She just hoped that Erebos would realize that she was doing it for his own good, and that he would eventually forgive her for this…
"Cassandra, I…" Pandora said, looking over at the Gothitelle.
"Huh?" Cassandra replied, tilting her head slightly. "What is it?"
"I… I wanted to thank you," Pandora responded, glancing down at the ground. "I couldn't have done this without you."
"You're welcome, Pandora," Cassandra replied, smiling and looking up at the sky. "I guess you can thank the stars too, since they guided me to you."
"The stars…?" Pandora inquired, looking up at the sky. "But… we can't see any stars during the daytime."
"Just because you can't see them, that doesn't mean they're not there, right?" Cassandra responded, glancing over at Pandora for a moment. "I've been told that some Gothitelle can receive visions when it isn't nighttime."
"Hmm… I guess you're right," Pandora replied, nodding her head slightly. "Even during the daytime, the stars are still up there somewhere, even if we can't see them…"
"Yeah, that's how it is," Cassandra responded, smiling.
Pandora looked over at Cassandra again, and smiled.
"You're actually quite a good oracle, you know that?" Pandora asked, still smiling.
"Huh? Oh, I'm not, really," Cassandra responded, shaking her head. "I'm still not really sure what I'll do after this, when everyone can return to their normal lives…"
"But Cassandra, look around!" Pandora said, pointing around at some of the Pokémon. "You convinced them all to work together on this, helping with our plan."
"Well, yes, I did do that…" Cassandra responded, thinking about it for a moment.
"You may have done a few things wrong, but you've made up for that, haven't you?" Pandora asked, looking over at the pattern Simon was digging into the ground. "If this works, then surely there won't be any doubt anymore."
"You're… sounding unusually optimistic about this," Cassandra replied, blinking a few times.
"I can't help it," Pandora responded, blushing slightly. "When you're around... I don't feel as scared, because… I know I'm not alone…"
Cassandra smiled, and took one of Pandora's hands into her own.
"Of course you're not alone," Cassandra responded, looking into Pandora's eyes. "Even after this is over and we've saved your brother… Let's stay in touch, okay?"
"… Sure," Pandora replied, smiling back. "I'd like that."
"And so, Pandora prepared the ingredients that had been gathered by the Pokémon of Illumine Town for the spell. With the help of Cassandra, Simon and the others, everything was ready by evening. As the sun was going down in the distance, Pandora was getting ready to begin casting the spell. This was the moment that everyone had been building up to in the past few days…"
Pandora took a deep breath, before pouring a mixture of the ingredients she had prepared into the pattern that Simon had dug into the ground. She glanced over at Cassandra, who just nodded and gave Pandora a reassuring smile. Pandora smiled back, and then turned back to look at the pattern on the ground. She closed her eyes, and began chanting an incantation of some sort. The pattern on the ground turned pink, and began to glow as Pandora spoke.
She opened one of her eyes for a moment, letting an orb of ghostly energy for between her hands as she continued chanting the spell, before tossing the orb into the center of the glowing pattern. The orb was absorbed into the light, and the glow got brighter. Suddenly, something shot out from the center of the pattern, and flew off into the distance…
Meanwhile, in a mystery dungeon near a river, Erebos was cheerfully humming to himself while using one of his spells to dry up the water that made up the floor of the maze. The wild Pokémon of the dungeon seemed rather annoyed by this, but Erebos didn't particularly care and was instead trying to decide on which spell he wanted to use on them. However, before he could cast another spell, he suddenly spotted something in the sky.
A magical force began pulling him away, and as much as he struggled to break free, it forced him out of the mystery dungeon and kept on pulling him further away. In only a few moments, he found himself trapped inside some sort of force field, and examining his surroundings, he realized that he was now in Illumine Town, and he spotted his sister Pandora hovering nearby.
"Pandora…?" Erebos said, narrowing his eyes. "So, this is your doing?"
"Erebos…" Pandora muttered, opening her eyes and sadly looking at the other Mismagius.
"Wow, the first spell worked!" Cassandra said, staring at the scene with wide eyes and a big smile.
"I must admit, this demonstration of magic is quite interesting," Simon commented.
Erebos looked around at the different Pokémon watching him, before smirking and turning back to Pandora.
"My dear sister, just what are you trying to do here?" Erebos asked. "We both know that my magic is stronger than yours!"
"Erebos, I tried to reason with you…" Pandora responded, sighing and looking away. "But… since it's clear that you won't listen, I have no choice but to take drastic action."
"Drastic action, you say?" Erebos inquired, smirking. "Ha, we'll see about that."
Erebos fired a bolt of dark energy at the force field, but to his surprise, the barrier remained intact. Pandora picked up a bowl containing the ingredients needed for the second spell, and Cassandra felt uneasy as she realized what was going to happen next. Erebos stopped attacking the barrier for a moment, curiously looking over at his sister.
"What are you planning on doing with that?" Erebos asked.
"I'm sorry, Erebos," Pandora responded, her eyes hidden under the brim of her "hat". "But… you need to forget that you ever used any of this dark magic…"
"Forget…?" Erebos muttered, before his eyes widened in shock. "You… you wouldn't!"
"I hope you'll forgive me someday…" Pandora said, still not looking up at her brother. "This is for the best…"
Pandora began chanting another spell, and a green mist began rising from the bowl and swirl around the force field.
"She's… really doing this," Cassandra muttered under her breath, her uneasiness building up to a dark feeling that something really bad was about to happen.
"No, I won't let you take my most powerful magic away!" Erebos shouted, his eyes suddenly flashing red before he began chanting a spell of his own.
A red aura began emanating from Erebos' body, and the pink force field that was keeping him trapped began turning darker in color as the two Mismagius both continued chanting their spells. The green mist was starting to dissipate because of Erebos' counter-spell, and Pandora struggled to fight against his magic as the darkness continued to spread through the force field.
"This doesn't look good…" Cassandra said, taking a step back. "Simon, help me set up another barrier!"
Cassandra and Simon used their combined psychic power to create a barrier to keep the nearest buildings and bystanders safe, as the two Mismagius now fought a magical duel. It was clear that Erebos had the upper hand at the moment, as red sparks of electricity began shooting out from the force field. While it was clear at this point that her original plan wouldn't work, Pandora kept trying her hardest to keep the spell under control.
Erebos' eyes flashed red once more, just as a bolt of red lightning struck Pandora.
"Pandora!" Cassandra exclaimed as Pandora fell to the ground.
Pandora lifted her head slightly, glancing over at her brother. Erebos laughed maniacally as the force field continued crackling with red sparks of electricity, which kept shooting out at random. Somehow, the force field had remained intact, although the dark magic had clearly changed something in it.
"Erebos…!" Pandora called out, gasping in pain as she tried to get back up. "You have to stop this!"
"What's the matter, Pandora?" Erebos asked, grinning as he looked down at his sister. "Are you going to keep fighting even though I'm stronger than you?"
"The magic in the force field… has become dangerously unstable," Pandora responded, managing to rise up. "I don't know what will happen to you if it isn't stabilized right away…"
"Are you trying to trick me?" Erebos asked, snickering a little. "You can't fool me, little sister!"
Pandora didn't bother responding, and just started chanting another spell in hopes of stabilizing the force field. However, it only seemed to get worse, and Pandora had to quickly move out of the way to just barely avoid getting struck by the lightning again. Erebos just laughed maniacally, and Pandora couldn't even tell if he was aware of what was happening around him anymore.
"Erebos, please..." Pandora pleaded, looking up at her brother. "I can't get it under control… but if we combine our powers, then maybe…"
Before she received any response, Erebos was hit by the lightning and screamed out in pain.
"Erebos!" Pandora exclaimed, staring in horror.
"Ugh… Didn't see that coming…" Erebos said, giggling a little. "But, it'll take more than that to stop me!"
"What… Erebos, are you okay?" Pandora asked.
"Ha… ha… I have everything under control…" Erebos said, grinning. "I control this dark magic! This power is mine, and you can't take it away from me, little sister!"
"E-Erebos…!" Pandora exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Your arms…!"
Erebos blinked a few times, before looking down at his sleeve-like arms. Both of his arms were burning with red flames, which were slowly working their way up to the rest of his body.
"I'm… burning?" Erebos said, staring at his arms for a few moments, before breaking into hysterical laughter as the flames spread to the rest of his body. "AHAHAHAHAHA! I'M BURNING! I'M BURNING!"
Pandora frantically tried to cast a spell that could save her brother, but the sounds that were coming out of her mouth barely even resembled words. The magical force field was glowing brighter, and the heat could be felt even outside of the psychic barrier that was keeping everyone else safe. Cassandra had a feeling she knew what was going to happen, and tried to warn Pandora. However, it seemed the words couldn't escape past the lump in her throat.
In only a few seconds, Cassandra realized what she had to do. She quickly opened up part of the psychic barrier, and forcefully pulled Pandora out with telekinesis. She held Pandora tightly as she sealed the barrier again, just before the magical force field exploded. Cassandra and Simon just barely managed to keep the barrier up for a few seconds, before they were sent flying back by the explosion.
"Ugh… Is everyone okay…?" Cassandra asked, looking around.
"I think so…" Simon responded, sitting up and rubbing his head.
Thanks to the psychic barrier, nearby buildings and the Pokémon that had been watching were unharmed, although some of them were visibly disturbed by what had happened. Cassandra was still holding Pandora in her arms, a bit surprised at how light the Mismagius was, as she barely felt any weight on her arms.
"Pandora, are you okay?" Cassandra asked. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"E-Erebos…" Pandora muttered, looking up at Cassandra. "Cassandra, what happened to Erebos?"
"Huh? Well…" Cassandra looked over at the spot where the magical force field had been moments ago.
As the smoke cleared, one could see a giant scorch mark left on the ground, and Erebos was nowhere to be seen. Pandora quietly stared at the burned spot for a few moments.
"No… It can't be…" Pandora muttered, shaking her head lightly. "Erebos couldn't be… Cassandra, where is he? Did you see anything?"
"I… no, I don't know…" Cassandra responded.
Cassandra glanced around at Simon and the other Pokémon, and from the looks of their faces, most of them were probably just as confused as she was. Pandora kept calling out for her brother, but received no response.
"Erebos, where are you?" Pandora shouted, trying her best to hold back her tears. "Please, answer me!"
"Pandora kept calling out for him, until she gave up and collapsed on the ground. Cassandra tried to comfort her, but didn't know what to say. She just sat there next to Pandora for a while, until Pandora finally got up and said she wanted to go home. Cassandra offered to go with her, but Pandora told her she wanted to be alone for a bit. Besides, there was something she needed to do. The scrolls that Erebos had hidden away, the ones that had corrupted him, surely she could reach them now. She wanted to destroy them as soon as possible, so that they could never harm anyone ever again.
Cassandra said she understood, and asked Simon to send Pandora home. As she went on her way home, she wondered if she could've prevented this from happening. If she hadn't gotten involved, would things have played out differently? She wondered about the vision she had back then, the one that led her to seek out Pandora and Erebos. Why did she have that vision?
With how things had turned out, it was difficult to make sense of any of it. She thought she had finally found what she was looking for, a purpose of some sort… but now, she once again felt confused and as if there was nothing she could really do to help anyone. She tried to push those thoughts away as she went to sleep that night, but…"
Cassandra was shuddering in her sleep, as she ran through the silvery grass of Silver Woods in her dream. Her dream self could smell smoke as parts of the forest caught on fire around her, and soon she spotted Pandora, covering in fear as a large shadowy figure was partially obscuring the moon and looking down at Pandora with glowing red eyes. Cassandra picked up the pace, trying to reach Pandora, but a wall of flames suddenly blocked her path.
She watched as the shadowy figure moved, its form resembling a black spear as it shot down from the sky towards the ground. Cassandra couldn't see the past the flames, she only heard Pandora's scream...
Cassandra opened her eyes, looking around at her surroundings before sitting up. Her heart was still racing, and she shuddered as she looked up the stars. A dark cloud was obscuring some of the stars as it was slowly being pushed by the soft wind. Cassandra managed to calm herself down, but she was uncertain if she would be able to sleep again tonight.
"I guess… this isn't over yet," Cassandra quietly whispered to herself, before getting up and hurrying outside.
End of Chapter 38