They left Rythwith with some fanfare following them. Not everyone could fit on one train at this point so some of the lesser nobles had to wait for another train to come along the next day. Amaiara was reluctant to let Blas go, and had become fond of Wisteria over the course of the party - in part because of how absolutely wasted drunk she had gotten. She saw them off before slipping into the waterways with a grumpy expression and a hangover.

The train was bustling with energy, even the commoner cabins were full, this time with their servants. His immediate family was at the front with his mother and father and aunts and uncles, spread out between two cabins. The separation was mostly between adults and children.

Alister was exhausted. There was far too much going on for his small body over the last few days, and so all he wanted to do on the train was sleep. And so he passed out as the train crossed over the bridge into the Arfranz territory, somehow managing to drone out the sounds of the other people in the cabin.

His eyes fluttered open to a field of petiflass flowers. A dream. There were thousands of the small plants, the crystal petals shimmering as a rainbow of colors danced in the light. Rolling hills as far as the eye could see, all filled with delicate flowers and their pale glow. Alister let out a soft huff of a laugh, pursing his lips as the sound was still young.

Right. I’m not Raalin. I will never be Raalin again. Why would I dream as anything but Alister… but myself? He sighed, standing up in the flowers. He still needed to adjust a bit, it seemed. He was so busy with all of this noble stuff, he hadn’t had much chance to work on getting stronger. All he’d felt like he’d done was get some exercise in… and the system and class unlock, of course. But he hadn’t even used it for anything yet.

“You’re so little,” a voice said, making Alister just about jump out of his skin as he whipped around to look at the source. A petite half-elf was looking at him with bouncy pink hair and a cheeky smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes. Demerieth. Alister couldn’t make any noise reach his lips, starting to cry upon seeing his old friend. “Oh! Don’t cry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you!” she fumbled, crouching to meet him, “I just didn’t expect to see anyone. Dreams are cruel like that. Who are you, little one?”

He hiccuped, unable to help himself as he sobbed and buried his face into her, “Dreams are so cruel… Demerieth… oh, my dear friend… I’m so sorry I failed you all. I tried my damnedest. Carlia, Lucas, Samuel, Sarriel… you… you all died terribly because of me I’m sure of it. As soon as I died you were free game for the bastards. I’m so sorry.”

“Woah woah slow down,” she hushed, petting his hair. Demerieth pulled him into her lap and hugged him tight, trying to comfort him, “You’re not making sense. How do you know those names?” She spoke softly at the end, muttering more to herself, “…Doesn’t the system torture me enough, now this too?”

Alister coughed and sniffled through his tears, forcing himself to look up at her face. She looked exactly like her. Demerieth. One of his five best friends. Curly pink hair, her little half-elf ears peeking out… but her eyes were weird. He frowned. They were supposed to be pink, but they kept flickering between their normal pink and a shimmering opalescent.

“Raalin… I’m Raalin,” he said, voice soft as a whisper, “But something isn’t right. Is this supposed to be a nightmare or something? Why are your eyes like that? What, do I see the system even in my dreams now? Even in a dream as lucid as this??”

“Hah…,” Demerieth was staring at him, mouth agape, “You… shouldn’t know that name… little guy… That… isn’t right. None of this is right. Raalin got destroyed. Soul and all. He shouldn’t… couldn’t… reincarnate… the gods wouldn’t have allowed that.”

His brow furrowed at that, squinting up at her. Both of them were deeply confused by each other. His tears were drying up swiftly with the confusion, “Five thousand years… I suppose it took that long because my soul was heavily damaged…”

She gently removed Alister from her lap and stood, starting to pace among the flowers. As she walked, the delicate flowers she stepped on exploded into glowing dust. It was how the plant reproduced. A beautiful display of destruction. Demerieth softly laughed, a desperate, chaotic sound of pain, “Hah… hahaha… this is fucking impossible. OS! Why are you doing this to me!? Isn’t it bad enough I’m your fucking puppet!? Don’t mock me with this child! Don’t you DARE mock me with Raalin!”

Alister was left in silent, stunned thought as she shouted to the sky. He took a long moment before he spoke again, “Demerieth. This is just a dream. A really weird dream. Right? You… can’t be you anymore. It’s been thousands of years. Even if the gods didn’t rip your souls apart, you’d have reincarnated hundreds of times by now. And your eyes… this is all so wrong.”

Demerieth bit her knuckle, shaking her head, “For me, it’s been a long time, but… not that long. I didn’t think that long. It’s all fuzzy - the passage of time. I can’t trust any of this shit. It could all just be the system fucking with me. All of it… What’s your name now?”

“Alister Severin… Demerieth, if this is real, I promise I will find you. I promise,” he said, unable to take his eyes off of her, “If it’s not… it's a cruel, cruel dream.”

“Right… I should act like this is real. Just in case,” she muttered, stopping her pacing and turning to him, “The system- doesn’t- I have no- but the damned thing- and- just be safe, please.” It was like someone turned off her voice throughout her sentences. She looked so frustrated, like she was trying not to cry. And seeing her like that made Alister tear up again. This was all so fucked up.

She continued, “I don’t- the gods- They aren’t- the biggest- small pond- different world now. Raalin-”

Alister awoke suddenly.

A knight was gently shaking him and gave him a polite smile of concern as soon as he blinked his eyes up at him. Alister was crying, and the knight offered him a handkerchief, “Hey there, my lord… are you alright? You seemed to be having a nightmare. You were shaking and crying. It’s okay. It was just a dream.”

“I… y-yeah,” he muttered in response, still getting his bearings, “Just a dream… I how far out from the capital are we?”

“We’re still one day or so from the capital city, Merron, my lord. You must’ve been quite tired. I didn’t want to wake you, but you looked miserable, and it had been more than eight hours.”

“It’s… fine,” Alister muttered again, shaking his head. He waved the knight off and sat up, staring into nothingness. It was dark outside, and he didn’t know what time it was. Many of the other kids were asleep. Wisteria was sitting across from him, leaning against the window with a blanket wrapped around her. She looked tired, but awake, staring at him with a questioning gaze. He watched the knight walk back off to the others before giving her the answer she wanted, albeit quietly, “It’s… past life stuff… I can’t talk about it right now. I have to ask my father about some things when we’re alone.”

Wisteria yawned and nodded, “Oh… ok… Are you alright?”

“Not really, but I'll manage. Don’t worry about it, go back to sleep,” he said, smiling softly at her. She grumbled and adjusted herself to be more comfortable before dozing back off. Alister stared out the window at the stars.

That dream was too real, but he didn’t understand how it could be possible. What it meant, where she could be, if she was truly herself… why her eyes were flickering like that… and what the system was doing with her. Everything was a question. None could be answered. He didn’t even know where to start, or how to explain this to his father. More than anything he just felt sick to his stomach with worry.