A shallow pond sprawls out like a mirror in front of you. When you approach, the reflection shows flying banners, marching polearms and tents – not the silent battlefield you stand in. Do you dare look at your own reflection amidst the thrum of war?

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After the terrible nightmare, when Logue wakes up from his nap, they were ready to go further.

Walking through the The Moor of Sleep, Cithis can’t help the uncomfortable feeling creeping up her spine – the remnants of the battlefield clearly visible all across this level, with humanoid skulls and crushed bones scattered across the ground, broken weapons pierced right through walls, holding up crumbling skeletons. She can see the crows carefully watching her and Logue as they traverse through this part of the dungeon, and she moves herself a little bit closer to the more experienced Courser, swallowing hard. Though she wasn’t a scaredy-cat by any means, the creepy and weird atmosphere of the third level of the dungeon made her feel uneasy; along with the nightmare that haunted her mind just a few hours ago.

She didn’t say a word about the strange slumber experience, only asking seemingly irrelevant to her current predicament questions to the mercenary.

“Are… spirits real here…?” she asks, clearing her throat as she straightens herself up, but quickly regrets it, as a crow dashes right by her ear, making her squeal, with Mothra chirping immediately, wanting to protect the Courser from danger.

“Of course” Logue hums, giving Cithis a quick glance to make sure the crow didn’t accidentally bit her ear off, or worse. “There are many mysterious, magical beings all over the dungeon. The deeper you delve, the more you discover.” he answered, feeding the grullo’s curiosity. It was clear that he was passionate about the dungeon and the secrets that lurked in the Ruined Kingdom. It seems Hillcrest not only chose the mercenary, that would keep their sister safe during the dive, but also one who could answer any question of hers that she had. And he didn’t mind her chattering and outgoing personality, too.

The battlefield of the past is quiet, other than skull-headed crows croaking whenever they walk past by, fluttering their wings in an attempt to intimidate the two adventurers. Cithis looks behind, making sure her pet was safely on her back – to be honest, having Mothra here calmed down her nerves a little bit… Maybe if anything bad happens, it would be able to eat the crows…? Alright, that seemed unlikely. But maybe at least it’ll have the ability to hit them with its giant wings… That could give the Courser an advantage in case of a fierce battle with the dungeon creatures.

The two Coursers stop by a pond, and Logue gives Cithis a warning look.

“Be careful.” he said. “The pond shows the past of this place. And I’m warning you – it’s not as quiet as it is now… Well, maybe it is at least a little bit less creepy than it is now.”

Cithis nodded slowly, but ultimately couldn’t contain her curiosity.

The grullo approached the shallow pond and sees her reflection, which quickly gets surrounded by flying banners, flashing before her eyes, polearms marching and clashing against each other, the sound reverberating through her ears as she soaks up the loud atmosphere of the past shown in the pond, her dark brown eyes focused on what’s happening… and with how messy everything was, it was hard to do so. There are screams and yells of weird creatures she doesn’t recognize… but they’re on top of Coursers, she’s sure of it. She narrows her eyes, moving a little bit closer to the pond, and the reflection becomes a little bit clearer.

As soon as she’s closer, it’s as if she’s right there on the lively, bloodied battlefield, amongst the tents and loud noises, undistinguishable screams of the creatures clad in iron and yells of her own kind. Cithis looks around the mess – blood, scent of war and battle, Coursers falling down left and right along with the ones on top of them, loud noises beaming from someone using a horn, and more and more silhouettes rush forward, holding weapons. This is the same place she’s currently standing in in reality, but…

What does it all mean?

Cithis finally pulls away when a polearm grazes her neck in the reflection, and with heavy panting takes a few steps back, checking out her neck. She’s not wounded, that was just an illusion… good, good. She can already tell why Logue was warning her about the images in the pond. He might’ve said it was a bit less creepy than the battlefield left in current times, but it still had a weird atmosphere, with a stench of blood and death wrapped tightly around it like a snake.

“It’s… it’s weird, all right.” she cleared her throat after finally calming down, once again. The disturbing voice in her dream… could it be related to those, that got struck down here during the fierce war? Maybe it was the spirit of a Courser from the past…? But why would it be so aggressive towards Cithis wanting to explore the dungeon further, was it not the calling of most, if not every Courser? Why would it want to keep her away…

The other option was that it was the voice of that weird, two-legged creature that mounted her kind in the visions of the dungeon’s pond… But she clearly couldn’t understand them while seeing the past, how could they possibly communicate in her dreams, so she’d understand?

Ah, well, dreams were unpredictable, and she had already experienced that slumber here in the deeper parts of the dungeon wasn’t as normal as the one on the surface. She’ll just have to go further, deeper… discover more mysteries of the dungeon to unveil what was hiding behind the cryptic words in her nightmare.

“Let’s go. These crows are already looking like we’re their next meal.” Logue joked and resumed his walk, and Cithis soon followed beside the mercenary. “I’m still not sure what exactly the images in the pond mean… But damn, you’re one of the bravest I’ve had the chance to lead through the dungeon. Most of them either immediately screamed, or wouldn’t even dare take a look.” he grinned.

Cithis only laughed in response and playfully swatted the other Courser with her tail, traveling into another cavern.

“Mhm, I’m one of the bravest, after all!” she puffed out her chest like a peacock, at least for now forgetting about the creepy things happening to her mind, and the disturbing atmosphere of The Moor of Sleep.