Cassandra did not sleep again after waking from the dream.
She stayed curled beneath her blanket until morning, listening to the faint sounds of Apollo Familia's home slowly coming alive around her.
The servants began moving through the corridors, adventurers returned from early training, and somewhere outside her room, someone laughed loudly enough that the sound slipped through the door and stabbed into her already aching head.
Her hands were still trembling.
No matter how many times she told herself that it had only been another dream, the feeling refused to leave her.
The black scabbard, the golden flowers, the dark water, the people sinking beneath it, and the voice asking whether she would open her eyes all remained clear in her mind.
It was the same as always.
A terrible future had shown itself to her, and once again, she had woken knowing that no one would believe her.
Cassandra slowly sat up and hugged her knees.
'Maybe I can just ignore it.'
The thought came naturally.
It was cowardly, but she was tired.
She was tired of running to people with warnings they would laugh at.
She was tired of watching Daphne frown at her with that mixture of worry and exasperation.
She was tired of Apollo praising her beauty while dismissing her words as another strange episode.
Above all, she was tired of being the only one who saw the cliff ahead while everyone else kept walking with smiles on their faces.
Even so, ignoring the dream did not make it fade.
The voice from the water remained.
"Will you open your eyes?"
Cassandra buried her face against her knees.
"I don't want to..."
Her voice was barely audible.
A knock came at the door.
"Cassandra? Are you awake?"
Cassandra flinched.
The person outside did not wait long before opening the door, and Daphne Lauros stepped into the room with a towel draped over one shoulder.
She had probably just finished morning training. Her hair was tied back, and there was still a thin layer of sweat on her skin.
The moment Daphne saw Cassandra's face, her expression changed.
"You look terrible."
"Good morning, Daphne-san..."
"Don't 'good morning' me with that face! Did you have another nightmare?"
Cassandra lowered her gaze.
That was enough of an answer.
Daphne sighed, walked over to the bed, and placed one hand against Cassandra's forehead.
"No fever. At least that's good."
"I saw something."
"You always see something."
This time, Daphne's voice was gentler than her words. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at Cassandra properly.
"What was it this time?"
Cassandra hesitated.
She wanted to speak, but the familiar pressure gathered in her chest as soon as she tried. It was not pain exactly. It was closer to the feeling of trying to scream underwater.
Her words could leave her mouth, but they would never reach anyone the way she wanted them to.
Still, Daphne had asked.
So Cassandra forced herself to answer.
"There was a sword."
"A sword?"
"A black scabbard with golden flowers. It was inside Hephaestus Familia's weapon shop, and people were reaching for it. Some of them sank into dark water, and some of them came back as bones."
Daphne stared at her for a few seconds.
Then she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.
"Cassandra."
"I know it sounds strange."
"It sounds like one of your worse dreams."
"It's real."
"You don't know that."
"I do."
Daphne opened her eyes again, she did not look angry, only tired.
Cassandra hated that expression more than anger.
If Daphne shouted at her, at least that would mean her words had struck something.
But that tired look made Cassandra feel as if she had become a burden someone was patiently carrying.
"Daphne-san, please listen to me. There's going to be a trial at Hephaestus Weapon Shop. A Zanpakutō is being sold publicly. If people touch it carelessly, something terrible will happen."
Daphne blinked.
"Wait. A Zanpakutō?"
Cassandra nodded quickly. "Yes."
"That part might actually be true."
"Huh?"
Daphne stood up and walked toward the window, pulling the curtain aside.
Morning light spilled into the room.
"I heard people talking when I passed through the corridor. Apparently, Yōtōsai placed one of his swords in Hephaestus Weapon Shop yesterday. Everyone's making a fuss about it."
Cassandra's heart dropped.
The dream had already begun.
She gripped the blanket tightly.
"Then we have to stop them."
"Stop who?"
"The people going to touch it."
Daphne turned back and gave her a helpless look.
"How exactly are we supposed to do that? Walk into Hephaestus Familia's shop and tell them Cassandra had a scary dream, so they need to shut everything down?"
Cassandra's throat tightened.
"That sword is dangerous."
"Of course it's dangerous. It's a weapon made by Yōtōsai! Everything about that man is dangerous."
Daphne crossed her arms and leaned against the window frame.
"Do you know what people are saying about him now? They say he fought Rakia's army alone and came back as if he'd only gone out for a walk! Some people even claim he froze the royal capital with one sword. I don't know how much of that is exaggerated, but even half of it would be ridiculous."
"It isn't only the sword. The dream showed me people dying because they tried to force it."
"Then Hephaestus Familia will handle it. They aren't fools."
Cassandra shook her head.
"That won't be enough."
Daphne's brows drew together.
"Cassandra, listen to me. I know your dreams scare you, but this involves Hephaestus-sama's Familia and Yōtōsai himself. We can't just rush in and make accusations. Apollo-sama will hear about it, and if he gets interested, things will become troublesome."
At the mention of Apollo, Cassandra's face paled.
Daphne noticed and sighed again.
"See? You understand too."
Apollo was not cruel to her in the way some gods were cruel. He smiled at her, praised her, dressed her beautifully, and called her one of his beloved children.
But his affection was heavy, and when he decided something was beautiful, interesting, or entertaining, he could easily drag everyone around him into trouble.
A public Zanpakutō trial was exactly the kind of thing that would amuse him.
Cassandra looked down at her hands.
"Daphne-san, if Apollo-sama hears about it, he might try to make someone from our Familia challenge the sword."
Daphne's silence answered her.
They both knew that was possible.
After a while, Daphne clicked her tongue softly.
"Fine. Get changed! We'll go look at the situation first. We're only looking, understand? If Hephaestus Familia has proper rules in place, we don't interfere."
Cassandra lifted her head.
"Daphne-san..."
"Don't give me that face. I'm not saying I believe the dream."
"I know."
"I'm going because if I leave you alone, you'll probably sneak out by yourself and collapse somewhere."
Cassandra's shoulders relaxed slightly.
That sounded like Daphne.
She did not believe her, but she still came with her.
To Cassandra, that was already more than most people gave.
...
By the time they reached the district around Hephaestus Weapon Shop, the crowd had grown even larger than expected.
Daphne stopped at the edge of the street and stared.
"This is worse than I thought."
Adventurers were gathered in clusters, arguing loudly about the trial. Some claimed the sword had already killed someone.
Others said the first challenger survived but lost his mind.
A few insisted that Yōtōsai had personally dragged a soul out of hell and shoved it back into the challenger's body.
Daphne's mouth twitched.
"People really will say anything."
Cassandra barely heard her.
Her gaze had already moved toward the shop.
The moment she saw the building, her chest tightened.
It was the place from her dream.
The angle was different, the street was brighter, and the crowd was noisier, but the feeling was the same.
Somewhere inside that shop was the black scabbard with golden flowers... and it was waiting.
Cassandra took half a step back without realizing it.
Daphne noticed immediately.
"Cassandra?"
"It's there."
"Well, yes. That's why everyone is gathered here."
"No, I mean..."
Cassandra pressed one hand against her chest.
"It feels like it knows I'm here."
Daphne looked at her for a moment, then followed her gaze toward the shop.
"I'm starting to regret coming here."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize yet. Save that for when something actually happens."
They moved closer to the crowd.
---------
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator