We walked silently along the roads of Lethepolis, a neighborhood in the border between the Industrial and the Commercial District, surrounded by factories and warehouses. Its streets, filled with stands and shops of all kinds, were bustling with movement and noise. The air was filled with a mix of discordant smells: sewage water and rotten garbage, broken now and then by a whiff of freshly baked bread from an open bakery, or flowers from a rare garden, or a nose-breaking blend of spices from a street stand.

The desccription in our mission summary had reduced this rich liveliness and variety to a few dismissive half-sentences. "Lethepolis. Socioeconomic status: below average. Predominant occupation type: blue-collar work. Majority demographic: Faunus."

Coco cursed under her breath, fiddling with the settings on her scroll. We all had the address on our navigation apps, but directions were erratic and inconsistent. We'd already rejected two dead ends – a brick wall and an unfinished construction project in the form of a gaping hole in the middle of a road – and we'd gotten lost in the labyrinthine routes that seemed to always be leading back to the same points. If it wasn't for Velvet's infallible recognition of paths we'd already tried, we'd probably have spent our whole morning going around in circles.

Coco and Yatsuhashi were sticking out like sore thumbs, causing people to turn heads. Though I could not actually see their stares, I could sense their suspicion. Three humans in a majority-faunus neighborhood would not necessarily have been an unusal or worrying sight, but two of us being openly armed made it a different matter. Yatsuhashi's mere presence was always intimidating, and Coco was, simply put, too well-dressed for the setting.

"Okay, let's try this route", she said, sending it to our scrolls. "I don't know who thought that meeting our escort on-site was a good idea."

"Ozpin, probably?" Yatsuhashi suggested.

I chimed in using teamspeak. "So we're talking out loud like casuals now? Boring."

Coco groaned, but humored me. "Fine, just until we reach the house."

"If we ever find it", Yatsuhashi added pessimistically.

"Hang on, I'm pretty sure I got it this time", Coco said.

"You were pretty sure the last two times", I pointed out.

"I could ask for directions", Velvet offered.

Coco dismissed her. "No, I've got this."

"She said, like a dad on a road trip."

"Thanks, Fox, very funny. Okay, fine. If I'm wrong this time, Vel can ask for directions."

As it turned out, she hadn't been wrong. An unnecessarily serpentine route led us to a busy street, in the middle of which was our address. Coco rang the doorbell. She was answered by a cautious female voice.

"Who's this?"

"Team CFVY", Coco said. "From Beacon. Ms Carter, right? We were told you'd be expecting us."

"Ah, yes, of course. I'm sorry, it's been a rough week…" The door creaked open. The silhouette of a woman appeared at the door. A smaller figure – presumably a child – was hiding behind her, arms wrapped around her waist. "I'm Annie Carter. This is my daughter Tracey. Your escort is waiting for you inside. Please come in."

XXX

"I apologize for not meeting you in Beacon", Shion said. Their voice was deep and clear.

"Under the circumstances, I thought it would be best if I stayed here to keep an eye on the situation."

Coco nodded, taking a sip from the coffee our hostess had offered us. "Understandable."

Across the room, a man lay on a bed, his body wrapped in vines. His breathing was unsteady; a feeding tube was connected to a large opaque container on the wall behind him. He was in a deep sleep, completely unresponsive to the outside world. But it was not a normal sleep.

"He has been like that for a week?" Velvet asked our hostess.

"That's when these horrible vines appeared." She sounded on the verge of tears. "But perhaps the infection took hold earlier. He'd been melancholy for weeks, you know, lost in his own thoughts. I don't know how it started, or why. There was no big event, no obvious reason. He didn't tell me anything was bothering him. But eventually, it got really bad. He was slipping in and out of a dreamlike state, so deeply drowned in his own mind that he wouldn't do the things he needed to do here, in the real world. He was slipping up at work – he's a teacher, you see, and he always loved it. But suddenly he didn't seem to care for it anymore. And he wouldn't help around the house or spend any time with Tracey. People started calling him lazy, but I knew he wasn't. There was something wrong with him, something outside his control. I tried to get him to a doctor, but the waiting lists were so long… and, well, in our neighborhood… " She stopped, wiping her eyes. "Last week, Shion knocked on our door. Said their hunt had brought them here. I had no idea what they were talking about. They were very polite, but I thought they were crazy. And then the vines appeared."

Her voice broke. Shion put a comforting hand on her back.

"Let's start with the basics", they told us. "Since you accepted the mission, I assume you are somewhat familiar with the concept of Nightmare Grimm. What exactly do you know about them?"

Yatsuhashi shrugged. "Just what was covered in class. They're not very common – at least I hadn't heard about them before attending Beacon. As I understand it, they're a family of plant Grimm that latch on to emotionally vulnerable people. They're parasites, feeding on people's negative feelings, exploiting their weaknesses. Essentially, making a nightmare out of a person's mind, specifically tailored to them."

"That's the gist of it, yes", Shion agreed. "There are various ways to attack a person's mind. Manifestations of their worst fears… illusions of tragic events that never actually took place… exaggerated presentations of a person's flaws. The possibilities are endless." They pointed to the man on the sofa. "This particular variant specializes in making its victims relive their past traumas. It uses the victim's worst memories to elicit negative emotions. And like you said, it preys on the vulnerable, although the specifics are somewhat obscure and complicated. In my view, it is possible this situation could have been prevented if Mr Carter had received the appropriate medical and psychological support in a timely manner. But since he didn't, his mind was weakened enough to allow an infection."

"Shion set this up for us", Ms Carter said in a trembling voice, pointing at the feeding tube. "If they had not spoken to the hospital, I wouldn't even have been able to keep him alive."

"You can do that?" I asked Shion, mildly impressed.

They nodded. "I'm a Nightmare Hunter. The people I tend to are, by definition, unable to feed themselves, and the mundane logistics of managing that are part of my job. So, yes, that affords me some special privileges."

Coco hesitated. "How long do we have until he… uh…"

"Death is not immediate. The nightmare takes a toll on the physical body, but its primary concern is with the mind. Victims of this type of Grimm have remained alive for weeks or even months – in a comatose state, of course – before they were either rescued or killed.

On the other hand, body and mind are interlinked. Better physical condition typically enables higher mental resistance. So a balance must be found. Remember, these Grimm are parasites. It's in their interest to keep their host alive, but weakened for as long as possible. They can even adapt to their victim. If a host has active aura, the Grimm will drain it at a slow pace. After aura has been depleted, it will ease up and allow it to regenerate."

"What happens after the host dies?"

"The plant will wither, but its seeds will fly away, in search of a new host. Unless someone catches them."

"Is that what your weapon does?" Velvet asked. Shion nodded.

I examined their weapon more carefully. It appeared like a staff with a circular net attached on top.

I cleared my throat. "Um, yes, excuse me. Perhaps a simple-minded question with an obvious answer, but what happens if you just cut the vines? I mean, it's a plant. It's not like it can run away."

"It wouldn't work", Shion said. "Go ahead, try it."

"Uh…" I had not expected such encouragement, but fine. I got up and tentatively walked to the man. "Don't worry", I told Ms Carter. "I won't hurt him." I carefully slid one of my tonfas beneath a vine on the side of his arm, and cut upwards. The top part of the vine fell on the floor, writhing. From the lower part, three new vines immediately sprung, wrapping the man's arm in an even tighter hold.

"I… understand." I returned to my seat. "Damn", I sent the rest of CFVY. "So, I figure stronger attacks wouldn't work either."

"Well, we could try setting it on fire, but that might be counterproductive to the goal of actually saving the guy", Coco replied dryly.

"Oh, ha-ha."

"The nightmare must be destroyed from within." Shion's voice brought me back to the task at hand.

"Okay", Coco said firmly. "What do we need to do?"

There was a hint of apology in Shion's tone. "You must allow yourselves to be infected. By the same plant. That way, you can enter the dreamscape. Once you're there, you will be secondary hosts, and your minds will start to become part of the nightmare. The Grimm will have access to your worst memories and it will try to use them to hurt you. Your aura will be drained at a slow but steady pace, and there is nothing you can do to prevent that. Physical injuries can hurt you like in the real world, but you don't need to worry about that too much. Like I said, it's not in the Grimm's interest to kill its hosts fast. First, it will exploit your memory for everything it has to offer."

"How lovely", I said.

Next to me, Yatsu moved impatiently in his chair. "Yes, that is all very… vividly descriptive. But how do we actually defeat this thing?"

"You don't."

"Excuse me?"

"Your mission is not to try to defeat it. That would be too high an ask for a team of first-year students. No, your assignment is to navigate the dreamworld and collect information about it."

"That sounds a bit vague", I said.

"It is", Shion acknowledged. "There isn't much specific guidance I can give you, I'm afraid. Every nightmare is unique, you see. Each has its own rules, its own weaknesses. Each one requires its own individual strategy. And to develop such a strategy, we need knowledge. To stand a chance of defeating this man's nightmare, we must first understand it. So go in there. Navigate it, observe as much as you can. And then come back and report what you learned."

Velvet spoke up. "How do we… come back?"

"There are two ways: one you can initiate yourselves, and one I can use as an emergency fallback. Hold out your hands."

We did so. Shion let something drop in each of out palms. ADA gave me the outline of a three-dimensional rectangle, with something stick-like protruding from it. I ran my fingers through its surface. Smooth. Cold. Metallic, or similar.

"A box? With a key?" I asked.

Shion nodded. "There are few objects that can help you in the dreamworld. These boxes are one of them. They can only be used once. Opening your box will materialize a portal back to the physical world. Each portal can allow the passage of exactly one person, and will disappear after use."

"Seems risky to have that as our only option", I said. "Small items can get lost. Even if we're careful, accidents can happen. What is the other way we can return?"

Shion paused for a moment. "My semblance allows me to interact with the dreamworld to an extent."

I whistled. "That's convenient."

"It's not perfect", they clarified. "I get glimpses of what is happening in there. I can sense large changes in the emotional state of its inhabitants. And, if you do not return by a certain time, I can – and will – pull you out."

"By a certain time?" Coco asked.

"Half a day. Remember, the dreamworld gradually weakens you, both mentally and physically. If you become too weak to resist its influence, I will not be able to pull you out, and the portals will not work either."

"I assume these exit strategies would not work on Mr Carter, then?" Velvet asked.

"No, the Grimm's hold on him is too strong. And he was the original, involuntary host. The Grimm infected him by force, starting at seed form, after a difficult battle with his mind that most likely took place for a long time before physical symptoms appeared. It's different for you: you are allowing yourselves to be infected to rescue him. But even as secondary hosts, if you stay inside the nightmare for too long, you could get trapped in there forever. So you do have a time limit. For the typical mission, a safe time limit is usually around one day. Half a day is more conservative and should still give you plenty of time.

And one last thing." Their tone got sharper. "Trust your instincts. If the Grimm perceives you as a true threat, it will become more aggressive. I'm not talking about your aura or your skills, I'm talking about the potential to upset the balance it has established. For instance, one rescue mission consisted of a team of Hunters escorting the victim's son through the nightmare. Eventually, the son met the father in the dreamworld and started reminding him about happy memories and his love for his family and friends. Nightmare Grimm find this kind of thing… annoying. It ruins their game. That's why it's a common tactic to bring a loved one in these rescue missions. In any case, the Grimm focused entirely on the son: torturing him with mind games, amping up his past traumas, changing the dreamworld to increase his physical discomfort, and so on and so forth. At that point the lead Hunter should really have sent the son back and tried again later – it's also common for these missions to take multiple attempts, sometimes involving different people. But in this case, the Grimm was also weakened, the father seemed responsive, and it looked like they were very close to succeeding. So our lead Hunter made the call that the son could take it for just a bit longer."

"What happened to them?" Velvet asked quietly.

"They failed", Shion said, without further elaboration. "Now, I don't want to scare you too much. It's unlikely the Grimm will perceive you as a true threat – no offense. It usually happens either with very experienced, very powerful Hunters, or with the victim's loved ones, who have the power to influence their emotional state. However, you should still stay alert. Trust your gut. If something feels off, if you think you're getting weaker than you should, go back."

XXX

The dreamworld was… empty.

It was as if we were standing in the middle of a lifeless sky. Standing was the right world, not floating: my feet were resting on what felt like solid surface. I took a tentative step. I could walk, but it was like walking into a void. It was walking into a void. I could smell nothing, hear nothing. ADA reported nothing. Was ADA even still operational?

I held up my own hand in front of me. A rough, greyscale image of it formed into my brain.

ADA was working. But was it also working on objects in the dreamworld? I'd come from outside: maybe the rules were different for me. But then, I'd still be able to sense the world in other ways, right? Smells, sounds…

"Fox."

Coco's voice filled me with relief. I'd made fun of her for insisting she'd go in first, but now I was glad she had. I followed the sound until I located her outline, a short distance in front of me. I could have sworn I'd searched that part before and found it as empty as the rest. Was it a mindgame? Was it really Coco?

"Fox! Stop standing there like a lost toddler. Are you trying to make the Grimm feel sorry and adopt you? Get your ass over here."

It certainly sounded like Coco. I tentatively walked towards her, still on alert. I reached her and stood next to her. She didn't attack me or transform into a monster, so I let myself relax a little.

"Does this place feel empty to you?" I asked.

"It is empty", she confirmed. "It's not just you. This place is a damn void, like the outskirts of someone's animation project. I couldn't even see you at first, even though I'm sure I looked at where you'd been standing. It's messing with us."

I nodded. "Good to know it's not just me. But also, I'm confused."

"Hey, Coco! Fox!" Velvet's voice rang across the void, its cheerfulness sounding completely out of place. She ran towards us and gave each of us a hug.

"I'm so glad I found you", she said. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Join the club", I said.

"Are we sure we're in?" Velvet said doubtfully. "Maybe Shion hasn't finished yet."

Shion had had each of us sit on a chair while they handled the Grimm's physical body, arranging its vines around us just so, like a precise gardener. That was the way to enable a secondary infection, apparently. Before this mission, I would not have imagined gardening could be a relevant skill for a Hunter. But if it worked, it worked.

Yatsu was the last one in. He joined us, expressed confusion regarding our predicament, and then the four of us stood there like idiots.

Coco scratched the back of her head. "Let's check our scrolls and weapons", she suggested. "See if they work as they should."

I started with my scroll. Its clock and aura meter seemed to be working normally. My aura was not being drained, like Shion said it would be. Perhaps the pace was too slow to notice a difference, but I didn't think so. Calls and text messages were not working: there was no signal.

"Come on, Grimm", I muttered. "Do something interesting."

My tonfas were still attached to my wrists, blades at their proper place and sharp as usual, and the new shooting components – courtesy of Velvet – weighing at the bases. I fired a shot into the void, partly for testing, partly in sheer frustration. I expected it to do something completely bizzare and irrational, fitting of the situation we were in: maybe dissolve into flowers, or something. Instead, I heard a bang.

"Over there", Velvet said, pointing.

In the distance, something stirred. A sprout. Where it had risen from, I could not tell: when it first appeared, it seemed as if it had just grown from nothing. But the next moment, a patch of fresh soil was materializing around its base. The patch expanded; the sprout grew. Now it was a full plant. Then a thicket, its thorny snake-like vines intermingling and growing. Growing into a forest. The earth underneath it expanded in all directions, including towards us. It stopped a few steps away from where we were standing. In the border of earth and void, a light breeze stirred the soil. It went softly forward to meet the void we stood on, like a wave kissing the shore. And then back again, as if it had extended a challenge and was now waiting for our response.

"Let's go", Coco said.

As we went in, a faint beep from my scroll made me check my aura meter again. My fingers searched the specially made tactile screen until they found the status report that said my aura was now getting depleted in a slow but steady pace.

XXX

"You know, I'm getting really tired of evil forests", I complained, struggling to get past a particularly thick overgrowth of thorny branches.

"I'll ask Ozpin to set our next mission at the beach", Coco replied. "Oh, get off me, you stupid weeds", she added irritably. Yatsuhashi, standing next to her, cut down the branches blocking the path with his sword.

I was in some guy's bizzare dreamworld and my leader was trying to argue with the local flora. Wonderful.

In fairness to her, the trees might very well have been listening. There was a kind of sinister sentience about them: it was clear from the way they were changing formations to block our progress, brushing against my shoulders like snakes, altering the landscape so that we could never be sure where we were in relation to where we'd been before. I had no idea if we were making progress, or if there was even a way out.

But we were in a completely unknown world. What other choice did we have but to try and navigate it?

"Do you get the feeling that this is too simple?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"Uh, no", I replied. "My thoughts were more along the lines of, if we were in a fairytale, this place would be the soul-eating maze you have to traverse before you slay the final dragon, or something. Probably located between the lava pool and the mountains of doom."

"I didn't say easy, or pleasant", Yatsuhashi clarified. "I said simple. We're inside someone's mind. Okay, maybe a distorted version of someone's mind. Shouldn't this place be… richer? Shion said this Grimm thrives on past traumas. So where are the host's memories and thoughts? I don't know how exactly they're supposed to manifest, but there should be something other than some forest."

He had a point, but I did not have an answer to it. "Maybe we're still at the outskirts of the world", I suggested.

"And the Grimm probably has some control over what we're experiencing", Velvet said thoughtfully. "It's Mr Carter's mind, but it's been essentially taken over."

"If the Grimm controls what we're experiencing, how are we supposed to find weaknesses?" Yatsuhashi asked in frustration.

"I don't know", I said. "I don't understand the rules of this place any better than you do. Our mission is just to observe and report. Let's just stick to that. Shion can decide what to do with the information."

"I'm just saying, I'd feel better if we had a more concrete plan."

"I understand that. I just don't know if we have anything to base a plan of. What do you think, Coco?"

No response.

"… Coco?"

A chill ran through my spine as I realized she was no longer beside us. We all repeated the name, frantically, scanning the area we'd just passed; but, of course, the landscape had changed. I began to panic.

Then I remembered I could sense auras.

"She's some distance behind us", I said, after focusing for a little while. "It's a bit odd – her aura is kind of muffled. Not too weakened, but it's like there's something intercepting it. But I think I can still trace it. Follow me."

I led them to where my trail led me. But when we reached what I thought was our destination, I had to stop and check my surroundings in confusion. Coco was not in the picture ADA had formed. Granted, ADA was not great with fine details, but this was way off. Coco's aura was emanating from what appeared to be a plant.

A human-sized plant.

Velvet pointed at it. "I… think that's Coco."

We walked closer. It was Coco alright: completely enveloped in vines and unresponsive as a statue. I held out my hand, waited until it'd stopped trembling, and slid one of my blades underneath the vines. I hesitated, remembering what had happened when I'd tried the same thing on Mr Carter. But I didn't have too many options. We'd been able to cut our way through the forest so far, so maybe things would work differently now.

I cut off a small tip as an experiment. New vines immediately emerged to replace the fallen one.

Okay. So the Grimm was cool with us destroying the environment, but was drawing a line when we interrupted its weird mummification thing. Good to know.

I was about to ask the others for ideas, when I heard Velvet gasp beside me. I followed her voice and noticed something odd. Part of the forest had been replaced by a kind of barrier. It was like a curtain or wall had been placed between me and a part of my surroundings. ADA couldn't see anything behind the barrier.

But sounds were still coming from behind it.

"Toma, it's your turn to be seeker." Coco? My immediate reaction was relief, but I checked it. Something was off. It was Coco's voice, but… younger. A child's voice, though it had

Coco's characteristic utter confidence. Toma, I knew, was one of her brothers.

"I don't wanna be seeker", he complained.

"You have to", she insisted. "It's not fair if you skip it."

"I don't like searching all by myself!"

"That's how the game is played, stop whining."

"The places you hide are too hard!"

"Deal with it."

Yeah, that was Coco alright. Smug little shit.

"I wanna be seeker", another boy said cheerfully. That had to be a different brother, either Mate of Van. "It's fun! You get to run all around the house and mess stuff up! And Coco finds all these awesome secret places!"

"Aw, thanks, sweetie."

"See? Mate wants to do it! Let him do it."

"Hm. I don't know. It's still against the rules..."

"You break rules whenever you want!" Toma protested, echoing my own thoughts.

"You have to know when to break rules", Coco said with an air of superiority. "You gotta do it the right way, for the right reasons. It takes experience and finesse."

"Oh, shut up. You're nine, only one year older than me."

"One and a half", Coco corrected with merciless accuracy.

"And don't be rude", Mate added, with the comical seriousness of a small child reprimanding his elders. "Are we playing or what?"

"Okay, Toma, tell you what. Since the places I hide are too difficult for you, let's make things more interesting. I hide, you and Mate join forces to find me. You're both seekers. Then you won't be alone and you'll have an advantage. Which you'll need."

After some more squabbling, her brothers agreed to these terms. I heard Toma start counting, but his voice faded midway. Then there were sounds of footsteps on stairs, doors being opened and furniture getting moved around.

"Okay", I told my teammates. "I'm confused. Coco is right here, but it sounds like there's a kiddie version of her behind that wall."

There was a pause before Velvet answered. "What wall?"

"Uh… " Now I was even more confused. I pointed at its direction. "This one. You know, the wall where the voices are coming from?"

"Fox, that's a house."

"Huh?"

"It's a house", Velvet repeated patiently. "Well, more like a mansion. At first Coco was with her brothers in a giant living room. Now she's moving between different parts of the house. We can only see the room she's in at any time. We can no longer see her brothers."

"What does ADA show you, Fox?" Yatsu asked.

"It's… well, like I said, it's a wall, or another barrier of some sort. ADA can't discern anything behind it."

Yatsu walked towards the barrier and rested his palm against the surface.

"Huh", he said. "I can feel it." He tried hitting it with his sword, but stumbled backwards as if pushed back by an invisible force. He sighed, putting the sword back over his shoulder. "Yeah, okay, I didn't really expect this to work."

"ADA works by emitting pulses to scan an area, right?" Velvet said. "It can see whatever they hit on. It has to be something tangible and three-dimensional. It detects the barrier even though it's invisible to us because it has physical substance, but the pulses probably can't travel past it and detect anything behind it."

"If the scene behind it is even a real physical thing", Yatsu said thoughtfully. "It could just be some kind of illusion."

"I think it's a memory", Velvet said.

"What's happening now?" I asked.

Velvet started describing. "Coco is trying what's probably the fifteenth room… Jeesh, how big is her house? This room is smaller than most of the others and looks kind of abandoned. Not dirty or anything, just not used much. I think it's for storage. It's full of wooden boxes and old cupboards, and there are a bunch of wrapped clothes on a sofa. There's a large window on one of the walls. The sun is high – should be around noon. Coco is opening one of the cupboards and peering in… she likes it. She's getting in now."

"But she hates closed spaces", Yatsu said. And then: "Oh."

I heard a door creaking a little, complaining against the pressure put against it, before being forced shut with a slamming noise.

We stood in silence for a few moments.

"Is something happening now?" I asked. "I can't hear anything."

"The scene just… disappeared", Yatsu said in disbelief. "There's nothing in there now. It's just a void, like the one we were at before. Wait, hold on. It's appearing again. It's the same room, but slightly different lighting. The sun is lower in the sky."

"She fell asleep", Velvet suggested.

"For one second?"

"Maybe the concept of time isn't the same in a memory", I said. "It plays out from Coco's perspective, so it can only include what she experienced."

"Toma? Mate?" Coco's young voice interrupted our discussion. "What time… oh, come on", she muttered to herself. "Yeah, okay, I'm coming out. I can't believe these two."

There was a pause, then a bang.

"Come on, stupid door." I could guess what was coming afterwards, but it didn't make it any easier to listen to. "Open up." More thudding. Then pleading. "Toma? Mate? Come on, guys, you have to look harder. Come on." More thudding. Eventually, pleading turned into screaming. "Mom! Dad! I can't get out. I can't get out! Please, there's no light, and it feels like it's shrinking..." A broken sob, the sound of small fists slamming against an unyielding surface. "Help me! Help!" Her voice broke in despair. "Please…"

As minutes passed, screaming gave way to a quiet, helpless crying. Then silence.

And then, the wall dissolved, and the forest materialized again in its place.

A soft thud made me turn. Beside me, Coco was shaking off unresisting vines from her body. They fell lifelessly on the ground, their mission complete.

"Hey", she said. Her voice was tired.

XXX

"Okay", Yatsu said. "So you were in your younger self's body? Like, two minds inside the same body?"

"Yes and no", Coco said. "I was experiencing things from my younger self's perspective, yes: I was in her body, I could feel her feelings and relive her thoughts. But she didn't have access to my feelings or thoughts, or any experiences and memories past the point in time when I was her. I couldn't communicate with her: I tried to warn her not to go into that cupboard, because I knew what would happen if she did. She couldn't hear me. She wasn't aware of my presence in her body. I also couldn't use any of the skills I acquired later in life: for instance, I couldn't use my combat training to try and bust the door open. The moves were locked in my adult mind – I couldn't transfer them to her body. I relived the whole experience, every thought, every emotion, all the while knowing exactly how I could have prevented it but unable to actually do so."

I put a hand on her shoulder. She tensed, then gave it the briefest squeeze.

"By the way, this never happened", she added as she stood up.

"Yeah, yeah", I said. "The secret of your ability to feel fear is safe with us."

"How are you feeling now?" Velvet asked.

"Tired", she admitted. "I don't mean my aura, it hasn't dropped too much. I mean mentally tired. It's hard to describe. When I came to, I was still in the headspace of my child self, and she was feeling scared and helpless. Let's keep walking", she added, after a pause. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, so you can ditch these ridiculous long faces. I'm just telling you what it was like so you know what to expect if the same happens to you."

"Do you suppose we can prevent it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure", she said. "We can try. But you said you couldn't release me from the vines or break the barrier surrounding the memory. Maybe it's something we have to let play out to makr progress."

What if there was no way to make progress? What if the forest had to exit, and we kept wandering endlessly looking for one, with the Grimm slowly draining our mental endurance until it forced us to give up?

I tried to express the thought, but my voice stopped in my throat. The world was feeling more distant now, like something I was aware of but not experiencing for myself. Someone else was trying to speak with my voice. Someone else was walking with my feet. Someone else's teammates were calling out their name in concern.

Someone else stood still. Behind him, the forest rustled and moved, like a serpent with many heads. He stood indifferently as his friends tried to fight it off, making no movement to defend himself as he was enveloped.

XXX

The first change I noticed was the scorching heat.

My feet were drowning in sand. Some of it flew against my face and clothes, carried by a desert wind. In the distance, I could hear the chatter of people talking, the laughter of children playing and the splashing of water.

I wondered why ADA was not transmitting any images. I tried to bring my hand to my ear, check if ADA was still there and functional.

My hand wouldn't obey me. Instead, it went to the cloth around my head, making sure it was securely wrapped: it was an important piece of protection from the sun. Then I started walking. Everyone would be at the lake at this time, taking a well-deserved break from the day's labor. But if I hurried, maybe I could still get a nice place in the shade of the oasis.

This makes no sense, I thought.

And yet, the thoughts were mine; or rather, they had been mine. I was twelve years old, a proud member of the Kenyte tribe, and had no ADA.

Blindness isn't darkness. Before ADA, I'd had no concept of color, including black. The limited scope of shapes and colors it had opened up to me, bypassing my eyes, had been mindblowing. The true answer to "what can a fully blind person see?" is, of course, nothing. Everytime I took off ADA, I lost a sense – or rather, the limited replacement of a sense ADA could offer. When my teammates asked what that felt like, the closest explanation I could give was that it was like if they tried to describe the view from the back of their head. It would be outside their scope of vision: not black, or white, or any other color. It just wouldn't exist to them.

But I still walked toward the lake, the familiarity of the landscape allowing me to orient myself with additional help from noises and smells. Friendly voices welcomed me, making space under my favorite palm tree. I sat down and accepted a freshly picked date, savoring the delicate fragnace before taking a bite. We'd been really lucky to find a new water source to settle around after the Grimm had forced us to abandon our last settlement. We'd built our new homes fast, as we'd always had to do. I rather liked the place, but I knew not to get attached.

Eventually, the other kids left to play in the water, and I started building a sand castle. There had been a time when I'd scoffed at such a childish occupation: I longed to be allowed to do grownup things. Now I'd started getting involved in grownup work, and it had given me a new appreciation for moments like these, when I was allowed to be a child.

My twelve-year-old mind was relaxed and content, happy even: he was making an impressive three-story construction with beautiful arches and domes, the tree offered its protection from the sun, and there was still a handful of uneaten dates next to him. Life was good.

But my other mind was filled with a mix of melancholy and growing dread. The actions I'd taken so far had awakened my memory. I knew exactly what day it was.

I tried to warn twelve-year-old Fox, but my thoughts were mute. He just continued building his castle, until something made him perk up. He'd sensed an aura. His surprise was succeeded by delight as he recognized it.

Unlocked auras were unusual in general, and the Vacuan desert was no exception. Only a few people had them, and one of them was my favorite person.

I sensed him approach from behind, his footsteps silent on the sand. I smiled. Pretended not to notice, kept building my castle as if I didn't have a care in the world. But when he pounced at me, I was ready.

I turned around, sharply, and caught a stray arm. I hooked and dragged it, using our physical contact to calculate where his feet would be. I planted mine between them like he'd taught me before tossing him over my back. When he fell, I fell on top of him and put him in a headlock.

"Uncle Copper!" I yelled. "You're back! And I've got you now. I'm not letting you leave again!"

"Very good!" he exclaimed. "You've been practicing, little guy. But can you withstand my secret technique?"

The next moment, he'd released himself, trapped me in a bear hug and started tickling me.

"Uncle Copper! Stop! That's not fair!"

"There is no fairness in battle! Only the ruthless survive!"

For the record, my headlock had been performed with impeccable technique and would totally have worked if he wasn't three times stronger than me.

He eventually released me and we both sat back on the sand, laughing and breathless.

"Did you find a lot of mole crabs?" I asked.

The question would have confused most non-Vacuans. Mole crabs were actually massive animals and a genuine threat to most people: they fought with their claws and would eat pretty much anything given the chance, including human flesh. When a nest of them had been detected in the vicinity of the settlement, we'd sent out some of our best fighters to deal with it. It wasn't a completely safe job, but it was better than fighting Grimm: firstly because mole crabs were less threatening than most Grimm, and secondly, because they left behind a body. An edible body.

"Not so many", he replied. "We killed off what we found and destroyed the nest. Still brought back a fair amount of meat. Don't worry, you'll be getting your favorite burger soon."

"That's good." I laid on my back with a contented sigh.

"We rescued someone from them, too. Said he'd been separated from his tribe and was trying to catch up to them. He's mostly fine, though. He's in my home now. I'll be hosting him for a few days until he figures out what to do."

My adult mind was screaming, desperate to warn him. But my boyish self was more interested in the prospect of a good burger. Though he did also think that Copper was very generous to share like that with others when he had so little himself.

"Maybe next time you'll take me, too", I said.

He ruffled my hair. "Maybe, little guy. I wouldn't be so eager about the prospect of a next time, though."

"I'm not scared", I said. "I can fight pretty well now. I'm gonna be a great Huntsman one day. Mole crabs are small pickings."

"You're smaller than them", he teased. "And Grimm will be even harder."

"You don't think I can be a Huntsman?" I said, a little insulted.

"I don't know", he replied honestly. Copper wasn't one to sugarcoat things or tell you half-truths. "I'm not a Huntsman myself, so I can't fully judge. I think you have the potential to become a good fighter. What the limits of your abilities are, only time will tell. You'll have to train hard. But in general, I think you should try to fulfil your goals. You'll ever know if you could have achieved them if you don't try. On the other hand, it's okay if these goals adapt and change. You're still young: who knows, maybe in a few years you'll change your mind. And that's also fine."

"I won't change my mind", I said.

He laughed. "Then I'll be cheering you on." I heard him get up. "I'm going home", he said. "I really need some sleep. Pass by later for dinner, alright?"

"What should I bring?" It was polite to ask that, even if someone invited you.

"Nothing, there's plenty of crab meat", he dismissed me. "Bring your fun self." Then, in an afterthought, he patted me on the shoulder. "Well, if you insist, bring some of these dates. I'm an old tired man; I'm not climbing for them. But you have a knack for it."

I agreed. Then Copper left.

It was true that I was an excellent climber, relying on touch – a sense I'd been practicing constantly since birth – to feel my way up a tree through all the wrinkles and cavities of its bark. But Copper was hardly an old man: he was only nineteen. Barely two years older than me – the current me. The one who was trapped in my past self's body, letting my mentor leave for what I knew to be the last time, completely unable to stop him.

XXX

When I couldn't sense Copper's aura as I approached his house, I knew something was wrong.

I went inside, staying near the entrance. There were nervous footsteps and a sound as if something was being rubbed against fabric. A metallic clang. Then a small thud.

"Oh, hello", an unknown man's voice said. "I… you're blind", he added, with what sounded like relief. "You must be Fox."

"I'm here for dinner", I said carefully. "Where's Copper?"

"He didn't mention you were coming. He's still asleep."

If he had said Copper had gone outside, I might have believed him. As it was, I had to re-experience my twelve-year-old self's transition from a happy, carefree mood to the most horrible realization.

"You're lying", I said.

There was a short pause. "I'm not lying. He's right here. Sleeping."

"What did you do to him?" My voice was loud enough to attract attention now, and all the houses in the settlement were relatively close to each other. His hand was on my throat in a second; I clutched on in as hard as I could and turned his wrist. And then I threw myself at him, making sure I held on to something, like Copper had taught me. Never letting go, inferring where everything was by touch and calculation, hitting, kicking, biting, shouting. I wasn't scared for my own safety. My adult self knew the outcome; my child self did not care.

The man had probably not expected me to put up such a fight, so my survival had been partly luck. Eventually he managed to wrestle me off him and push me aside. I heard him stomping through the exit and making a run for it. But, by that time, my shouts had drawn the attention of nearby homes. He didn't get very far.

XXX

"That's so awful, Fox, I'm sorry."

I nodded to acknowledge Velvet's words. Coco held my hand and gave it a brief squeeze – a rare gesture from her. Yatsu put his hand on my shoulder, awkwardly giving it a few sympathetic pats.

Although the memory was very personal and had not been shared on my terms, I realized I didn't mind that my teammates knew.

I now understood what Coco had meant by mental tiredness. The first few minutes after the memory, I'd just wanted to lie down and give up.

"How much time has passed since we came in?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

Coco checked her scroll. "Just three hours."

I nodded, then got up. "Let's keep moving", I said. "It's fine", I added, interpreting my teammates' silence as skepticism. "I'll feel better if I have something to do."

"No", Yatsu said. "It's Velvet."

"What do you mean?" But even as I said it, I knew what he meant. Turning towards her confirmed my suspicion. I just didn't understand how it was possible. Velvet was talking with us just a minute ago. How could it happen so quickly, and how was it possible that none of us had noticed?

Velvet fell softly on the ground. The vines around her body slowed down her fall, embracing her almost gently, like they were welcoming her to a comfortable bed to grant her the gift of sleep.

XXX

A/N: For context, Shion is a character from Ice Queendom: a nonbinary Hunter specializing in Nightmare Grimm. The Nightmare Grimm I use is a variant I made up belonging to the same family, rather than the exact same Grimm. Also, I nerfed Shion's semblance and changed some of the mechanics.