ೃ༄ "she reminds me of a goddess..."
✧──────✧
it took a while for sebek, yuu, and grim to find silver as they brought him back to the dream's original timeline. as soon as they landed on the ground, silver quickly stood up and brushed off the dust from his clothes before looking at his companions, "are you alright?"
"i think so..." mumbled yuu as he groaned a little, rubbing his lower back from the pain the fall had caused. the moment they stood up and dusted their clothes, they looked around as silver spoke, "where is this place...?"
"this scenery... this is where we got swallowed up by that darkness! we have returned!" exclaimed sebek as he felt a slight sense of relief from returning to the original dream.
"where is father?" asked silver.
"i believe they have headed to the dark forest," replied sebek.
silver hummed in response as he looked down at the muddy ground, "everyone, look at the ground! the hoof marks..."
sebek looked down and he knew it was undeniable, "this belongs to the silver owls!" a sense of danger dawned upon them as silver spoke, "father's in danger! let's chase after them quickly!"
they made a run for it, chasing after baul and lilia as the rain got heavier and the road muddier than it was hours ago. meleanor's anger was evident as the storm continued. on the way to where baul and lilia were, grim started asking sebek about his unique magic that he witnessed when they were saving silver from the pit of darkness.
as the conversation escalated further, silver suddenly mentioned something else, "i've been thinking about this ever since the dream started... malleus-sama oversees these dreams and what occurs within them... then... why do so many painful things happen in this specific dream?"
"now that you mention it..." trailed yuu before he glanced at sebek and silver, "oh... i have a question. since you two know f/n better, what do you think she does over these dreams? since malleus is the one overseeing them..."
"peace control and direct supervision," replied sebek, making silver glance at him. "peace control? what made you so sure?" asked silver.
sebek continued running as he looked at the owl by the tree, "...she's watching us right now, silver. she always has been all this time." yuu, grim, and silver looked up at the owl as the bird narrowed its eyes before disappearing into thin air, making them widen their eyes in shock.
"an owl...? how come we did not notice that earlier?" questioned grim.
"she hides well..." replied silver, "however, i completely forgot she can take the form of an owl when she's spying on others. it's one of the traits that makes her useful to the army."
"transform to an owl...?" asked yuu, "this is confusing me. what can she not do?"
"bringing her friends back from the dead, smiling genuinely, and gaining freedom are some of the things she can't do," replied grim.
"hey! don't badmouth her!" exclaimed sebek. silver sighed at their little banter as he looked around, not seeing a glimpse of the owl or any sign of f/n watching over them, "back to what i was saying, it seems she realised we found out about her supervision and left... but don't let your guards down, everyone."
"you know, she reminds me of a goddess in a mythology i vaguely read before in my home world when you mentioned she can transform into an owl," spoke yuu as sebek looked at him with a smile as if he had found a fellow man of culture.
"goddess! what a perfect way to describe lady l/n!!! you truly are a man of great taste and intellect!"
yuu blinked in confusion and surprise but awkwardly thanked sebek nonetheless. "...um... so, if n/n is the one directly supervising every one of us... does that mean she's malleus' eyes and ears?" asked yuu.
sebek and silver stayed silent for a moment as they had not considered this analogy. grim looked up at yuu for a moment as he spoke, "i think you're reading too much into this, yuu..."
"we're stuck in a dream managed by them, how can i not?" spoke yuu. "wait, but... if f/n is now aware of our existence in lilia's dream, wouldn't we be eliminated like what happened during sebek's dream?" asked grim.
"...i have a speculation. f/n-sama and malleus-sama are unable to interfere in lilia-sama's dreams for some reason..." spoke sebek, "and so far, we have not seen malleus-sama, only f/n-sama as she was watching over us."
"could it be that she is not able to interfere? or could it be that she did not tell malleus-sama about it yet?" asked silver, "...either way, i want to get father to wake up from this dream..."
suddenly, they reached a place where they started to hear swords colliding. they paused in their tracks and looked at one another.
"let's go!" spoke silver as they all ran.
they all soon reached an area filled with the land of briar's soldiers and the silver owls. it did not take long for them to assist the soldiers, but more enemies kept coming and one of land of briar's soldiers told them to make a run for it, and so they did.
traces of baul and lilia were seen along the way and they gladly caught up to it. they soon reached them and stopped nearby as they saw flashy fighting. "look! someone's fighting brilliantly!" exclaimed grim.
"that crocodile mask... baul-sama!" spoke silver as he was relieved they finally reached the two.
"he is surrounded by the silver owls! we must help him, let's go!" declared sebek.
and just as baul was about to be overpowered by the number of silver owls, they were suddenly knocked out as they fell to the ground, and standing behind them were the four night raven students. the rest of the soldiers saw the scene and quickly called out to them, "humans! why are you on the side of fairies?!"
"humans or fairies - that does not matter! we just don't like you guys! that's why we fight against you!" exclaimed sebek. "that's right! i'll hit whoever i dislike! 'cause that's the night raven college way!" added grim.
the silver owl soldiers were confused as hell as one of them spoke, "what the hell... rebuild your stance and take a temporary retreat, everyone!!!" and with that, they ran off.
"wha- they ran away!"
silver and sebek sighed as the former spoke, "it would be a problem if they called the rest of their troops... but following them is dangerous. right now, our priority is baul-sama's treatment." sebek quickly rushed to his grandfather as he spoke, "baul-sama! i'm sorry we were late!"
"you're..." trailed baul as he grunted softly and crashed on the ground, causing them to panic.
"baul-sama!!!" exclaimed sebek and silver in unison before they both held onto him, letting his arm drape over their shoulders while sebek spoke, "this is a terrible injury... we need a magic potion right away!"
suddenly, a loud sound caught their attention as grim looked around, "oh dear... that sound is the silver owls calling for the other soldiers!"
"we must move quickly! baul-sama, please hold onto my shoulder!" exclaimed sebek. baul shook his head as he stood up, weakly, "no... i'll stay... i must deal with the enemy... you, kids, should go and quickly chase after the general..."
"no, we can't leave you behind!" spoke silver. "no! i don't need help!" replied baul stubbornly. a quick silence took over them for a moment before sebek sighed and tightly held onto his sword, "...silver, grim, yuu. you guys go on first."
"eh?"
"i'll stay here and fight with baul-sama to stop the silver owls," explained sebek. "what? but... no matter how much you and baul-sama would fight..." trailed silver, "and we do not know what would happen if you strayed further away from father."
"this is not the time!" exclaimed sebek, "lilia-sama is in a difficult state while holding a large egg! go quickly! protect what's important to you, while i protect what is important to me!"
"sebek..."
sebek crossed his arms as he urged them to go, "don't underestimate me. we'll clear this up and catch up with you guys."
silver was silent for a moment before he nodded, "...understood. let's go, yuu and grim!" and with that, the three ran off while sebek and baul were left behind to fight against the silver owl soldiers, holding them in order not to reach lilia and the egg.
...
back in reality, f/n made her crystal ball disappear with the use of her staff with a soft groan, "damn it, they found out..."
getting off the throne, she leaned over the railings of the stairs as she looked down at all the sleeping students, "...how peaceful... but where is malleus? he's taking quite a while..."
a bored sigh left her lips before she sat back on the throne, placing her elbow on the armrest and resting her cheek on her fist, crossing her legs, and looked at her hands. the blot and greyish tint were a reminder of her current state as she laughed softly, "the overflowing surge of power is amazing! i haven't felt so free~"
"haa... i'll be waiting for your return, mal..."