There wasn’t much to do, really. Satsuhiro and Ash could only wait until the Nightmare was retrieved from the prison, which of course she’d no longer be using for training as it was decided that the creature would be made to fight Kaori in her trial.

Satsuhiro had told Ash that it simply wasn’t safe for them to be on the streets at the moment. Legally, they had been excluded from the murder, but the people of Jade were just as hostile to them as they were to Kaori right now.

Currently, they stood in the living room of the Savior House where Satsuhiro was casting more spells at Ash.

“AGH, shit!” She cried out as a Dark spell hit her chest. The feeling was the same as ever, just as terrible time after time. There seemed to be no getting used to it. At least it was consistent though. Her attunements went up to 70% for Light and 60% for Dark respectively. Satsuhiro speculated that in just two or three days, she could finally start learning actual magic.

However, as he would point out, that meant there was one more piece of training Ash would start having to do.

“Uh, meditation?” Ash asked. “Seriously?”

“Yes.” Satsuhiro nodded. “It is the main way of increasing your Wisdom, which also increases your Mana Pool. But, aside from these factors, there are other benefits to meditation that don’t show up on a status screen. Increased focus, developing the ability to remain calm in tense situations. Even for those who aren’t mages, meditation can be useful.”

“So, why am I just starting to hear about all of this?” Ash asked. “Kinda sounds like I should have been doing this a while ago.”

“Because you simply didn’t have the time to do it. Meditation in short bursts doesn’t do anything, and you’ve been busy learning multiple vital things up until now. But, now though… with all of this going on, it’s a good time, since we’ll likely be here for a while.”

“Fine. So, how does this work?”

“Simple. You go somewhere you feel comfortable, you focus on something, and you empty your mind.” He explained. “You don’t necessarily have to close your eyes, though some people do that. It helps others to focus on their own breathing. However, at the end of the day, you simply need to let your thoughts flow through your mind, and focus on the world around you.”

“… Guess I’ll give it a shot.”

Ash looked around. There weren’t many places she felt comfortable in, really. But, she supposed she might stand a chance at letting herself focus in one of the bedrooms. So, she went to the bed she’d been sleeping on and sat down on it. So, uh, what now? She asked herself. Do I just…

It was surprisingly hard to do. Every time she tried to focus on something, questions would pop up in her thoughts like ants crawling on the walls. What’s going to happen with Kaori? Are we going to get chased out of the city or something?

The entire first hour was unsuccessful, but soon after that, Ash felt like she was getting the hang of it. Whenever a stray thought appeared, she’d try to let it go through her and enjoy a few seconds of internal silence. It was a strange feeling, one she could only compare to lying down on the streets of Jade looking up at the sky, waiting for the day to pass.

Her eyelids started to feel heavy, and she began worrying that she’d fall asleep. Then, she heard some sort of crackling sound and quickly opened her eyes. Black lightning was swirling around her, much like when she had tried casting spells during her first day of Savior training, only instead of pain, she couldn’t really feel anything right now. However, as soon as her thoughts got going once more, the lightning scattered and Ash stood up.

She quickly walked out to talk to Satsuhiro.

“Uh,” she started as the man who had been reading a book in the living room looked up at her. “Is lightning supposed to come out of you when you meditate?” She asked.

Satsuhiro nodded.

“When mana takes a physical form, it often appears as lightning.” He explained. “It is up to the user to twist it and transform it afterward. So, yes. That is normal. It means your meditation is starting to work.”

“Oh, wow. Gotcha.” Ash nodded and walked back, resuming what she was doing.

It took her thirty minutes this time before she started hearing the crackling noises again, but she didn’t open her eyes. She tried as hard as she could to continue letting whatever thoughts came to her pour through her being.

Soon, she heard a message blink in front of her.

Wisdom Increased!

Wisdom: 2

MP: 20/20

She took a deep breath. Honestly, this is strangely intense.

She continued for another hour, managing to increase her Wisdom to 3 and her MP to 30 when a knock came. Not a knock at her own door, but at the front of the house. She stood and walked out, wanting to see who it was.

Satsuhiro was already there, opening the door to find a courier.

They exchanged a few words and Satsuhiro nodded. Ash walked up to him as he closed the door.

“They’ve brought it.” He announced to her. “The Council was letting us know ahead of time so we could go to where the trial will be held without running into too many angry people.”

Ash nodded.

“So… She’s really gonna fight that thing?” Ash asked.

“Yes,” Satsuhiro replied.

“Is there anything we can do to help her?” She asked.

“Not much.” Satsuhiro lamented. “I’m afraid Kaori will likely have to win this on her own.”

—

A couple of days later

Kaori

Kaori was currently asleep, experiencing a dream unlike any she’d ever had.

She was in a room devoid of color. It was so dark, she couldn’t see her own body when she looked down. There wasn’t much she could tell about what was happening, but she did note one thing. It felt like she was crying. Aside from that, there was a deep chill in the air so cold she swore she should have been able to see her own breath.

Instead, soon, that cold faded and the darkness brightened. It did so gradually until the room turned grey and then a blinding white. Kaori looked down at herself again. Now, she could see herself. She was naked, wearing nothing but a thin coat of what looked like black ink over her hands.

The ink started spreading. It reached her chest and nearly spread all throughout her body until something appeared in front of her. it was like a blob at first, Kaori really couldn’t tell what it was, but then it began morphing into the form of a woman.

Piece by piece, it constructed a figure Kaori could comprehend. At the top of her head, she had white smoke that Kaori almost saw as short hair, and she possessed a kind smile aimed back at Kaori. Her eyes held no pupils, yet Kaori felt them fixed on her.

The woman approached. Kaori was frozen. The black ink was almost about to consume her entirely before a hand that the lady placed on her shoulder stopped it. It retracted, flowing all the way back to her hands and disappearing. The same hands that just stopped the ink then went up to her face and wiped away her tears.

Just as she was about to ask what was going on, the woman hugged her. She froze. Kaori felt a deep sense of peace spread throughout her very being. She didn’t say anything, just embraced her.

And then, Kaori woke up.

—

When Kaori opened her eyes, the first thing she did was look down at her hands, finding them clad in the Savior Armor she’d been wearing when she was arrested.

She guessed it had been a few days since what happened at the church. She couldn’t see the sun from here, nor did she have any type of clock to tell time, but she figured it had to have been at least that long since her reality had been essentially broken.

What was that? She thought, referring to her dream.

A group of people walked to her cell. She didn’t look to see who it was.

One of them pulled out some keys and opened the iron gate.

“Kaori.” A pair of voices said and Kaori’s ears perked up. She glanced and found Talo flanked by a few guards. “It is time for your trial.”

“Already?” Kaori asked dejectedly.

“We sped things up quite a bit, the people are restless. Come.”

Kaori sighed. Nodding, she slowly stood up and walked out, where a guard slapped some iron cuffs around her wrists. She kept her head low then as she was taken through the halls of this part of the palace and led out. She smelled terrible and her eyes were a little sore from all the crying she’d been doing.

“It is quite the situation you find yourself in,” Talo said. Kaori didn’t respond. Noting the silence, they continued. “Of course, with your tale, it is somewhat understandable why you did what you did. There are some good news.” Talo smiled. “We spoke to Varcon’s deacons, and they informed us of his expenses. The Red Tear he bought, the Milk of the Dreamer he gave to your parents, which they will be curing them of soon. They’ve all but confirmed your story. As horrible as what he did was, should you succeed in your trial, given some time you should be forgiven once the citizens of Jade hear about this.”

Kaori didn’t respond.

“Well then,” they continued, “the trial, as you can imagine, will be as simple as could be. You will face a Nightmare in battle. If you win, you will be pardoned for your crime. If you lose, well, the Nightmare shall end you.”

Kaori wondered if she should even bother fighting. Now that she had learned what kind of people lived in this world, she didn’t know if she wanted to be a part of it.

“Ah. I see they managed to arrive in time.”

Huh?

Kaori looked up and saw Satsuhiro and Ash standing by a doorway. When the pair noticed her, Satsuhiro’s expression didn’t change, but she noticed Ash’s eyes widening slightly. Do I look that bad? She nearly chuckled.

“Kaori,” Satsuhiro quickly said, taking a few steps closer. “Have you fought a monster before? An animal, anything that isn’t human?”

Kaori shook her head.

“Alright. I should let you know then, monsters tend to attack in unpredictable patterns, often going for wild swings and almost emotional types of attacks. Nightmares are no exception.” Satsuhiro told her, but Kaori was barely paying attention. “Don’t focus on reading its attacks, because even it won’t know what it’s doing. Just react and play it safe. Eventually, it will mess up. Be it due to an overreach or a strike that’s simply just a tad bit too slow. That is when you should go for the kill.”

Kaori lightly nodded. Satsuhiro did the same.

“Good luck.” She heard the half-demon say and turned to her. Ash crossed her arms and said, “I… Kinda sucks that things between us started the way they did, but I get it now. For what it’s worth,” she pointed between her and Kaori, “we’re fine.”

Kaori’s eyes gleamed. Well… At least there’s that. She nearly cracked a smile.

“Thank you.” She bowed a little.

Just beyond the nearby doorway, Kaori could hear a crowd getting antsy. The light from the room stung to look at after spending so many hours in the darkness.

“Are you ready?” Talo asked.

“… Yeah.” Kaori nodded. “I’m ready.”

She briefly thought of the woman that appeared in her dreams, wondering if maybe she would have seen her again had she gotten the chance to sleep once more. And so, the golden-haired Savior was led into what was an arena, where she’d resigned herself to her fate.