Bursts of light blinded her severely, as laughing silhouettes shrouded her sight. She could feel her blood evaporating within her, the hellish tongues from the flames easily claiming her extremities. Her fingers burned from the pain, her charred skin emitting its own, noxious embers. Crimson cascaded down her ears, accompanied by a deafening ring echoing throughout the air. Numbness coated her body, as the cackle of the flames caressed the silence surrounding her, all the while covering her vision in a mess of gray and orange. Red strands of hair splayed themselves all around her, those shimmering reflections easily gazing back at them with feral delight.

She clutched the ground, her nails scraping past dried scarlet. All the oxygen kept escaping her body, rapidly diffusing into the starved fires. When she tried sitting up, she cried out, the searing pain entwined within her back. She saw the empty darkness staring up in front of her, the ceiling already entwined within the thick wall of flames burning so casually near. She bit the inside of her cheek, as she tried moving again, only to fail miserably.

And yet, despite that, she could still see them.

She could still see their familiar shadows racing towards her, their instincts taking over. She could see them, mouths wide, fangs filled with organs and limbs and the like, the excitement clearly settled within their eyes. She could see them press on with all their might, that same, terrifying greed evident in their enthusiastic heartbeats. She could see the saliva already coating upon their mouths. She closed her eyes, and endeavored willing them away. And yet, when she reopened them, she saw those monsters.

Limbs, stricken with ash, with tiny red spots covering their torsos. Some had arms missing, others legs, and even still, half of their skulls. Even through her blood she could see their ribs, their still beating hearts disintegrating within the caress of the nightmarish flames. She could see them there, with those same, predatory smiles on their faces, as they licked their charred lips, ready for yet another buffet.

She screamed for herself to run. Her body kept twitching desperately, doing whatever it could to try and escape. Only fear kept her awake, though the fatigue had burdened her, so much so she only thought of lying there for a few more seconds, a few more moments. Dying and surviving meshed together, the lines blurred until finally, she'd no idea whether or not this was all just a dream, a frightening illusion she could shatter. But as they drew closer, Akiza had immediately cast away the notion, and once more, she attempted to stand. She opened her mouth, tried calling for help, though in the end, that same, whispery plea fell from her lips.

All the while, they drew closer and closer. She could almost smell them now, their breaths cutting through the smoke. Formless shapes, ominous shapes, practically every tiny thing surrounding her. She shut her eyes, terrified of the fate that awaited her.

"Aki?"

She froze.

Yusei?

Warily, she reopened her eyes. She couldn't see anything, nothing at all but blinding darkness. And yet she felt her body being cradled by a cool presence, a shadow that shielded her from the flames. She tried clinging to it desperately, knowing full well the monsters that were waiting for her, the nightmare she tried waking up from. But when she tried hiding behind that presence however, she fell limp, the weariness overtaking her with its own burdens.

"Aki," Yusei whispered softly. "Are you alright?"

She didn't answer.

"Aki?"

Again, nothing.

Slowly, she allowed herself to lean against his chest, and closed her flickering eyes once again. A steady heartbeat, with cool hands to relinquish the fire. There was a brief pause, before she felt his icy fingers brush away her bangs. "You're going to be okay."

She managed a nod.

"Can you sleep for a while?"

She did just that.