I woke up to pain.
The headache returned stronger than before, sharper.
I curled in on myself, knees drawn tight to my chest, hands clutching my head as I forced myself to breathe.
Haah.
Each breath felt shallow.
Haah.
The pain didn't leave right away, but it dulled with each breath.
Haah.
When it finally eased, I waited a moment, taking another breath before placing my hands on the ground and pushed myself upward until I was sitting.
My eyes stung. Tears clung to them, blurring everything into smears of grey.
The air felt cold against my skin.
Too cold.
I glanced down.
My upper body was bare.
I hugged myself and looked around.
A black cloth lay on the floor beside me.
I reached for it—
"Ah!"
Pain flared through my arm, fingers curling reflexively as the ache spread.
My memories were in disarray, scattered, but the pain brought them back.
The slaver.
The brand.
The pain.
My chest stung at the memory.
I grabbed the cloth and wiped my eyes clean. As my vision cleared, I realized it wasn't just a cloth.
It was a shirt.
They must have thrown it inside after I blacked out.
I held it in my right hand and looked down at my left forearm.
The brand.
My hand moved, fingers brushing over burned skin.
Every touch left pain behind.
Warmth still lingered where the metal had burned into skin.
My gaze shifted.
Toward my chest.
There, burned deep into my flesh, as if carved into my skin, was my name.
[Adonis]
The clean writing made it even crueler.
I couldn't look at it any longer.
Rustle.
A breath left me as I pulled the shirt over my head, fabric scratching against my wounds.
The long sleeves covered the brand on my arm, pressing roughly against it.
The shirt, cold from the floor, cooled my burning skin.
And for a brief moment—
The pain faded.
Only for another to creep back.
Pain crawled up my skull like an invisible weight pressing down from above.
It started slowly.
Subtle.
Then stronger.
Sharper.
Like a hammer striking down on me again and again.
I clutched my head and collapsed back onto the floor.
"Agghh!"
My limbs trembled as the pain spread through my body, sending shivers down my spine.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Darkness.
Haah.
Shallow breaths left me.
I tried to force the headache away, the same way I had done at the banquet.
It didn't work.
The pain stayed.
I curled up, pressing my head between my knees. My eyes were still shut tight.
Then—
The darkness vanished.
The pain faded.
Replaced by a flash of white.
And through that light, they came.
The visions.
They were strange.
Places I didn't recognize.
People I'd never met.
Things I'd never seen.
And yet—
They felt familiar.
A glowing square flickered in the dark.
Numbers shifted across it like living things.
Tap.
Quick clicks rang through the air.
Tap.
Fingers dancing across soft black wood, each touch making a clicking sound.
The clothes were strange.
A white buttoned shirt of smooth fabric, black trousers, and something thin hanging loosely around the neck.
Every touch made more numbers and letters appear on a glowing white square.
No ink.
No paper.
The air smelled faintly chemical, like an alchemist's lab.
The one who sat in front of the glowing square?
It was me.
My strange clothes.
My hands tapped across the wooden board.
My eyes watched as the letters changed with every click.
Pain tore through me again, taking the vision away.
My eyes opened wide.
"Ahh!"
A gasp left me while my fingers clawed at the stone floor.
Tears slid down my cheeks as I screamed.
"Stop—!"
Then—
Suddenly, as if hearing my cry, it eased.
Haah.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes in relief.
But—
Instead of darkness, another vision welcomed me.
The buildings and floor around me were strange.
The floor was hard but not like stone, something else.
The buildings were too tall, and their walls reflected light, blinding me.
Around me were carriages without horses, their eyes shining with light.
It was loud.
People moved around me busily, but their faces were strangely blurred.
Tap.
My head turned as I felt a hand slip into mine.
A girl stood beside me.
Light brown hair fell loosely over her shoulders. Her green eyes met mine, lips curving into a smile.
A familiar scent brushed my nose, Yune flowers.
She wore strange clothes.
A white shirt with an image painted on it, and words I couldn't read.
Ripped blue trousers clung to her long legs, and white colored heels clicked sharply against the ground.
The delicate silvery necklace around her neck, adorned with a blue gemstone, moved softly against her shirt as she tilted her head toward me.
Her voice came soft.
"Lukas."
I tried to speak, to ask who she was, but pain ripped through me and out of that world.
Another pain spread in my chest, like something being twisted.
A name surfaced with it.
My lips moved before I knew it, giving it shape.
"Lisa."
The pain dulled for a heartbeat, like a receding wave.
Before coming back.
"Agh!"
A breath left me as my eyes opened.
I pulled my knees closer, pressing them against my chest.
It felt safer that way.
My breathing turned ragged.
The pain was becoming stronger with each vision.
I tried to force my eyes open, fearing another vision and more pain if I closed them.
But—
Blinking once was enough.
Another vision.
Just that this one wasn't foreign.
I recognized it immediately.
Rowena.
My mother.
The training yard stretched beneath the clear sky.
My body.
I was younger.
Smaller.
A wooden sword lay on the ground beside me.
It was the day I had first held a sword.
Mother knelt before me, not caring about her dress getting dirty on the ground.
Her warm hands cupped my face, wiping blood from my lip. Green eyes inspected every part of my body, searching for another injury.
Her voice was soft, filled with concern.
My hands moved before I knew it.
Rustle.
I hugged her tightly, sobbing into her dress. Her lavender perfume filled my senses.
"Mother…"
She couldn't answer.
Warmth had turned into pain.
"Aggh!"
I was kneeling on the floor, forehead pressed against cold stone, tears dripping onto it.
The stench of burned flesh clung to me.
My fingers clawed at the floor as if it could hold me.
Hah.
My sharp breaths steadied the pain for a moment before it surged again.
Hah.
I couldn't breathe.
My legs trembled as I forced myself up, desperate for air.
The cell tilted and stretched under my blurred vision.
"No—please…"
Begging didn't help.
Flash.