Secret of the Spider Lily

Chapter 19 - Sweet Dreams

Alone in one of the carts towards the front of the train, 4 young children sat before the disembodied hand of the dream demon, Enmu. Enmu told them about his plan, each of them listening intently to his words.

"You all know what to do to eliminate the demon slayers, but none of you can tether yourselves to the Ice Hashira."

"Don't you need her eliminated though?" One of the boys asked.

"Not that one. The Master needs her for information. Another demon will be taking her to my Master once she falls deep enough under my spell."

"We understand. We'll make sure they get eliminated so we can have our good dreams."

"Good. Remember to not touch the slayers. I'll be waiting."

Yuki slowly opened her eyes, finding she had fallen asleep at her desk. She was confused on how she had fallen asleep, but recognized the book that was in front of her. She was reading one of her journals on the Blue Spider Lily. She hadn't seen these books since she handed them to Master Ubuyahiki after she retrieved them from her home.

Wait. How were they back here? She quickly stood up from her desk, going to her bookshelf to look for her books. All of them were back in their respective spots. It felt odd seeing them all back on the shelf again, but something else caught her attention. She could smell food coming from the other side of her door.

Yuki was confused why there was a smell of food, and opened the door to her room, peaking out into the kitchen, "Yuki! Perfect timing, your father and I were just about to come get you for dinner."

"Come over and sit with us. We'd love to chat with you and spend more time with you."

Yuki stared in disbelief seeing both of her parents alive and well. The last time she had seen them was when they were corpses on the ground. She ran over to them and hugged them, hot tears pouring down her face as she did so.

"Yuki, is everything alright?" Her mother asked, her tone laced with worry.

"You guys are ok! I thought you were dead!" She sobbed.

"Why would we be dead? We're safe here at the house." Her father reassured.

"I-I... I had a nightmare..." Yuki admitted, "I just woke up after falling asleep at my desk. I had a dream you both had gotten killed by a demon, so I was relieved to see you're ok."

"Oh Yuki, I'm sorry to hear you had a nightmare. Come and sit with your father and I. We can talk about it over dinner."

She nodded, sitting down with her parents. Her father brought her a plate of food, the plate containing her favorite meal. She took the plate, reaching with her left hand outstretched, quickly noticing that her markings were gone. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't say anything.

She thought everything was so odd. Her parents being alive. Her markings being gone. She was trying to wrap her head around it, when her father's voice caught her attention, "Yuki, are you sure everything is alright? You seem really distracted."

Yuki nodded at his question, but didn't say anything. She had started to eat her food, thinking to herself about everything, when she looked up at her father to ask, "Where's Kori?"

"Don't you remember? She went out on her mission yesterday afternoon."

"Are you sure you're feeling alright? You aren't running a fever are you?" her mother worriedly asked, placing a hand on Yuki's forehead.