As Nujah closed his eyes, a strange warmth began to bloom in his chest.
It started as a soft yellow light… then flared into a searing blBefore he could react, flames twisted around his body, not burning—grasping.
He tried to scream.
But something—something unseen—snatched the sound from his throat.
Darkness took him.
When Nujah opened his eyes again, he wasn't in the sitting room.
He was somewhere else.
A cavern? A vision? A memory? He wasn't sure.
The air smelled like iron. The stone beneath him pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
Then—
Footsteps.
The mother entered, her expression unreadable.
Behind her were Childrens. Quiet. Unafraid.
She raised her hand, casting a faint glow into a pitch-black tunnel.
Screams echoed from the depths—inhuman, broken, bone-chilling.
They didn't flinch.
The mother turned toward the darkness and took a single step forward.
The childrens followed. And so did Nujah.
He didn't want to. Every part of him screamed to turn back.
But his instincts told him:
You need to go forward. You need to see it.
He pushed ahead, through the twisting halls, ahead of the others—
Until he reached it.
A red-flowered room.
At its center: a door.
Nujah stepped through.
And froze.
Inside, time itself seemed to bend.
There she stood—
Mitra.
Her younger self.
Her demon mask firmly over her face.
And in front of her…
The mother.
Bleeding.
Mitra's blade was lodged in her heart.
She twisted it slowly, mercilessly.
The mother reached out, trembling.
Mitra leaned in and whispered something—garbled, cursed.
> "Nu... … k... her… use your full power… become t.e ....—"
Nujah's mind snapped.
He understood everything in an instant.
Too much. Too fast.
His hands shook, rage flaring in his veins—
but there was nothing he could do.
He dropped to his knees.
Clasped his hands.
Closed his eyes.
He ignored the noise. The death. The screaming.
All that mattered was her.
The mother.
---
Ten days passed.
Or maybe only seconds.
Then—
A warm, wet feeling brushed his cheek.
A tongue.
Nujah gasped, eyes flying open—
He was back.
Still on the couch.
Sayu's pet beast loomed over him, tail wagging.
He sat up in a panic, breathing hard.
Sayu and her family stared at him—
shocked. Pale. Frozen.
Nujah looked around, realizing what had just happened.
How long he'd been gone.
What he'd seen.
"I… stayed too long," he muttered.
He stood.
"I'm sorry for the trouble. I have to leave."
He ran.
Sayu called after him—
But he was already out the door.
Too fast. Too far.
---
In the forest, Nujah fell to his knees, panting.
The trees closed in like shadows.
He whispered to himself:
> "Please…
"I hope you didn't do something foolish, child."
---