It was a place of complete darkness,
So cold and oh so silent...
...
Before gradually color started to appear and take shape...
...
Slowly and surely gathering into a familiar scene...
"This place is...The Sakura garden where we loved to gather…A place where we spend our free time."
"But it was so long ago, why am I having this dream...?"
...
She saw Sasayuri, Chiyo and Saiguu, sitting with her on the picnic blanket,
And there was her sister, standing with a parasol a few feet away...
...
"We were all so happy back then, so content. I thought those times would continue forever..."
"How I wish I could go back to those simpler times now."
...
...
Suddenly blood appeared on Sasayuri's clothes...
"Sasayuri...!"
The red rapidly grew until it drowned him whole...
"...No..."
And he started melting, soon turning into a deep puddle of blood...
...
"...You shouldn't have died back then...In the war..."
"I was too late to stop your death, only able to slay Orobashi in return."
...
...
Then Chiyo was enveloped in a dark smog,
The darkness surrounded her from head to toe...
"...The corruption, not again...!"
Tainted by the darkness, she went insane...
"...Not again..."
Finally, having been slain by her friend,
With her form soon crumbling down...
"...No, I didn't want to do it...! I didn't want to do it!"
"...I had no choice, she was already long gone...!"
Or did she now...?
"...The last time I saw her, she was still alive..."
"...She flew away...And then..."
...
"...I don't remember what happened next..."
...
...
Her last friend alive was Saiguu and she too shared a tragic end,
Swallowed whole by a huge blob full of darkness and decay...
...
"...No...Not her too..."
She tried getting away, struggling to get free...
"...Please, stop! I can't watch it anymore!"
She finally got out at last, after struggling so much,
Her hands and mouth were full of her own blood...
"...Please..."
Only to be eaten by the darkness once more,
Never able to return...
...
"I am so sorry, Saiguu! I shouldn't have left you alone!"
"...I should have done more, instead of leaving you to protect Inazuma all by yourself back then..."
...
...
And now, all that remained of her three friends,
Were a puddle of blood, a black smog and a dark blob,
They all soon disappearing like they were never there before...
...
The only one remaining was her sister, her twin...
"...Makoto..."
"...You will stay with me, right...?"
"...You wouldn't leave me too, would you…?"
...
...
And then, her sister suddenly collapsed,
Lying on the ground like a ragdoll...
...
"No! Makoto!"
She wasn't moving...
"Don't leave me too!"
There was no light in her eyes...
"I don't want to be alone!"
...
She soon disappeared in sparks of purple light...
"COME BACK!"
Never to be seen ever again...
...
...
"...Please, come back..."
"...Don't leave me alone..."
"...Please..."
...
Then, everything shattered,
The world crumbled down...
...
And darkness reigned once more...
...
...
So silent,
So cold...
"...No..."
...
There was nothing,
But the darkness around...
"...No...!"
...
...
Suffocating,
From the inside out...
...
"...Please...!"
...
"Please, come back!"
...
A place of anguish and death...
Ei jumped up with a start,
Finding herself in her residence room...
-This nightmare again. Why do I keep dreaming of it so much recently and when did I even fall asleep...? -Ei couldn't help but say aloud, very confused about the whole thing, yet tried not to show it. -...No, it must be nothing important. Just sad memories catching up to me. -She reassured herself, ignoring the creeping feeling that something was wrong, before deeply sighing. -I should have stayed in the Plane of Euthymia to mediate, after all...
She added in some annoyance, before standing up and teleporting away,
Deciding that this is the best time to check up on what Yae was currently doing...
*And see those amusing novels of hers, too, as she wondered what the Kitsune was up to now,
Promising to herself to have Yae buy her some sweets while they are at it...
...
...
Unbeknownst to the self-reassured Archon, those weren't simple nightmares,
As a weird dark-purplish smoke was slowly coming from Enkanomiya,
Some of it already seeping into the Sacred Sakura Tree's roots…