The evening wind picked up, cutting through the warmth of the cabin's light with a sharp, persistent chill. For a moment that felt far too long, Cassia's question hung in the air, unanswered. Lorie, Gent, and the four soldiers sat as still as statues, their eyes locked on Natsu, waiting for a single word that might make sense of the world around them.
Natsu didn't answer immediately. He offered a small, weary smile before tilting his head back to look at the darkening sky. His deep black eyes wandered across the stars as they began to blink into existence, his expression distant and unreadable. Tanya and Anyael watched him closely, trying to catch any flicker of what he was feeling, while Cassia searched his face for the trick, the catch, or the lie.
Natsu let out a deep, strained sigh that seemed to rattle in his chest. He shook his head slowly, as if dismissing a thought he found particularly unpleasant. He turned his gaze toward Nyxara. She didn't speak, but her fingers tightened around his hand in a silent, grounding gesture of reassurance.
Finally, Natsu turned back to Cassia. His face was relaxed now, but his eyes carried a weight that hadn't been there before.
"Are you sure about your question?" Natsu asked quietly. He leaned forward just an inch, his voice dropping. "Are you sure you really want to know?"
The weight of those words made Cassia hesitate, locking her in place.
Why is it so hard to just say yes? she wondered, the air in her throat felt like dry sand. The answer should be simple. I came here for the truth. Why am I hesitating?
His warning had caught her completely off guard, forcing her to look at her own curiosity as if it were a blade pointed at her own throat.
Across the table, Tanya watched Cassia's internal struggle and felt a sudden, sharp pang of pity. She knew these people were from Azmuth—the same kingdom that was likely still scouring the borders for her and her sister—but seeing them so small and out of their depth was painful.
Anyael, however, felt no such sympathy. Her gaze never wavered from the soldiers at the end of the table. She stared at the Azmuth crest embroidered on their tunics—the crown and the crossed swords—and felt a heat rising in her blood. She remembered that crest on the kingdom who had terrorized them. She remembered it on the men who had treated them like tools for a war they never asked for. A kingdom who only saw them as weapons.
She hid her hatred behind a mask of cold silence, but in her mind, she was already imagining them coming apart.
"Patience, little flame" Lunara whispered, leaning close to Anyael's ear. Her voice was a low, dark silk. "You'll get your chance soon enough. Maybe sooner than you think."
Anyael gave Lunara a sharp, sideways look. She saw the predatory glint in the goddess's eyes and felt a grim sense of agreement. She nodded once, a tiny, almost imperceptible movement, before turning her attention back to Natsu and Cassia.
"I want you to think really carefully before you give me an answer, Miss Ghast," Natsu said firmly.
Cassia was visibly sweating at the implication of his words. She tried to maintain her usual stoic, cold mask, but deep inside, she felt unraveled and cornered. The air around the table seemed to thin, making every heartbeat thud against her ribs like a drum.
Say it. Tell him you want to know. Just say it. Say yes. Tell them you want to know the truth. Tell them you wish to know what they are, what this place is, and what will happen to you.
"Ah… I… I…" Cassia stammered.
The hesitation was plain for everyone to see. She was struggling internally, her icy demeanor finally cracking under a pressure she couldn't calculate. Beneath the table, her hand trembled violently until a smaller, softer hand reached out to hold it.
"Lady Ghast?" Lorie whispered.
The mage felt the tremor in Cassia's grip. Ever since they had left the kingdom, Lorie had seen Cassia as an unbreakable leader—the cold, calculating heart of their party. She had held an image of Cassia as a pillar of strength and endurance, regardless of the hardship.
That image was shattering. It wasn't because Cassia was showing weakness, but because Lorie finally realized the truth. These beings sitting with them held total control, and they had since the moment the party stepped into No Man's Land. These entities were far worse than any demon, and the fact that they couldn't even be named was terrifying.
"Lady Ghast," Lorie called out again, her voice a gentle anchor in the dreaded silence. "You don't have to shoulder everything alone. We're here for you."
She squeezed Cassia's hand, offering what little comfort she could muster. The gesture seemed to pull Cassia out of her daze. She looked at Lorie, holding her gaze for a long second as if to steady her soul. She took a ragged sigh and faced Natsu once more, her resolve beginning to harden.
"Y—"
You're pathetic. Try as you might… you are still that tragic little girl.
A voice echoed in her mind, sharp enough to cut her words short. Cassia froze.
Look at you. Do you think you look tough? You think you're untouchable? You think you're powerful? Don't fool yourself… you're weak. And you know it.
The voice was cold and mocking. Cassia snapped, her eyes darting frantically around the darkening farmland. "Who's there?!" she shouted, her voice cracking.
Her sudden outburst startled everyone at the table. Gent reached for his belt, and the soldiers half-rose from their seats.
"Miss Ghast?" Natsu asked, leaning forward with a look of genuine concern. "Is everything okay?"
Nyxara, Tanya, and Anyael all watched her with varying looks of bafflement. Veyron and Lunara simply observed, their expressions unreadable.
Cassia looked at them, her chest heaving as she searched for the source of the voice. "Did you not hear that?!"
"Hear what, child?" Nyxara asked, her icy-blue eyes narrowing.
YOU'RE A DEAD WOMAN.
The voice screamed in her mind. The sound was so sharp and sudden that Cassia felt like her head was being split open by an axe. She clutched her temples, letting out a pained, guttural cry.
"Aghhhhhh!"
She stumbled back, her chair screeching against the grass before she collapsed to the ground. She curled into a ball, clutching her head as if trying to keep her skull from bursting.
"WHO… ARE… YOU?!" Cassia shrieked one last time.
Then, the world went dark. Her body went limp, and the silence of the farm rushed back in to fill the void.
"Lady Ghast! What's wrong? Please wake up!" Lorie cried, falling to her knees beside her leader.
Gent and the soldiers rushed forward, but they were stopped instantly. The shadow maids moved like a wall of smoke, blocking their path with terrifying speed.
"Dear guests, please do not panic," Tara said, her voice calm and absolute. "We will care for her."
Gent and the four soldiers froze. They looked at the flaring neon-purple eyes of the maids and slowly backed away, returning to their seats without a word of protest.
Natsu stepped around the table and knelt beside Cassia. He checked her pulse, then moved to lift her unconscious frame into his arms. He handled her with an ease that suggested her weight was nothing to him.
"Tara, prepare the bed inside," Natsu ordered, his casual tone replaced by a direct authority. "Also, look after her for me."
Tara and her sisters bowed in unison. "Yes, my lord."
Natsu carried the unconscious Cassia toward the cabin, leaving the rest of the group sitting in the dark. The feast was forgotten, the plates half full, as the remaining adventurers stared at the closed door of the cabin.