Editing City Series:Volume6c Chapter5 (section)

===Part 3===

Hazel didn’t see a cloud in the sky.

There was a forest in the distance, but right in front of her were…

…''People?

A large crowd of people.

Not just dozens or hundreds, but thousands or tens of thousands.

There were men and woman. No children, but some were elderly and others still young.

They were all keeping quiet while looking her way. Their gazes were directed somewhat upwards.

…''They’re below me.

And they were surrounding her.

She stood on a wooden stage overlooking them. Their silence coiled over their heads as expanding dark-red 

Lives that looked ready to explode at any moment.

She looked down at them without fear.

But when she noticed the movement of her gaze was not her own, she realized this was a dream.

…''Another nightmare?

She took half a step back while viewing the dream brought to her by all her senses. An oppressive atmosphere hung over the dream.

When she looked closer, she noticed something new.

All the people spread out before her were wearing old-fashioned clothing or armor.

This was not the mass-produced clothing or armored uniforms designed for the soldiers who fought in modern battles. They were mostly equipped with swords and spears, but none of them looked mass-produced either.

When she looked between the distant forests’ trees, she saw a few old-fashioned Barrels.

…''What is this gathering for?

Wondering that, her vision tilted down again. A wooden altar-like platform was built below the stage.

Four men stood there.

The armor, clothing, and cloaks they wore were nothing like the rest of the crowd. It was much higher quality.

One of the four, the one on the far right, was not wearing armor and was only lightly equipped, but he held a thick scroll under his left arm.

“…”

Just as Hazel wondered who those four were, her vision moved again.

She looked to the horizon and then side to side. She looked to all the people below.

Her dream self raised her right hand. It held a sword Device.

She recognized the sword. It resembled the one wielded by the Heavy Barrel named Kaiser she had fought two years ago.

When her dream self held that sword aloft, she was answered by an explosion of voices.

The waves of people spread out before her released their voices and their coiling dark red Lives into the sky above.

Thousands or tens of thousands of voices joined together to form an indistinct roar that reminded her of a crashing waterfall.

The wind was afraid, the forest surprised, and the earth trembled, but it did not stop.

Her dream sense felt the vibration. She saw the thundering Lives and rejoiced.

But her current self sensed something strange from her position a step removed.

…''Why?

Her vision was looking down at the people thrusting up their weapons and shouting.

…''Why am I looking down at them?

She was definitely looking down at all those people. And…

“?”

She suddenly looked up into the sky. The clear blue sky.

A dragon flew there.

When she saw the 30-yard azure dragon, she knew for certain this was a dream.

…''The Sylphide.

The craft that had once broken apart in the sky above the North Sea was hovering in the sky now.

It rocked in the wind, seemingly enjoying the waves created by that wind.

Hazel felt dizzy and, by the time she took another breath, her vision had lowered and slowly turned to look behind her.

Someone else stood on the stage too.

Behind her.

Her vision looked back and found a color she hadn’t seen yet here.

This was not the blue of the sky, the green of the forest, the brown of the dirt, or the silver of the armor.

It was the black of shadows.

The young man standing there had only one arm.

She recognized him.

…''No!!

She denied it. She rejected it. She refused to accept it.

This was a nightmare, but the nightmare continued. Her recurring nightmares always ended with a certain image.

She would dream of saying goodbye to someone.

He would disappear into the shadows of the night and she could not follow after him.

The dream of loss had repeated itself so often she started to feel like it was one of her memories. And now it was happening again.

…''No.

She shouted. And not just on the inside. She shouted out loud like a child.

“Noooo!”

She shouted his name. Instead of telling herself to wake up from the dream, she shouted the leaving person’s name in order to reject the dream.

“–––––!!”