A dark guest I

Trisha was lying on her bed, her eyes were closed and she was sleeping. During the last weeks she had a lot of time to relax, but this also meant that she had a lot of time to think about various themes, spooking around inside her head. One of this themes was a special person and a memory that always lightened up when she was dreaming like she did now.

She was following a dark corridor, she was running because she knew she had to hurry. But the more she was following her path, the longer it became in the end. Her lungs were burning and she was running as fast as possible. It became darker around her and finally she reached the end of the long corridor and was looking at the shadow of a person who was standing in front of an opened door.

"Don't go in there … take me with you, I will protect you!" Trisha was shouting breathless in direction of the shadow.

The shadow didn't turn around, just opened the door. "Behind this door there is the solution of all my problems … just wait a while, I'll be back soon." and then the shadow slipped through the door.

Trisha hurried to the door, she tried to reach it before it was closed but as always she was too slow. She slammed against the door and began to shout "VALE! NO! COME OUT THERE! YOU WON'T COME BACK!"

From one moment to the other the dream ended abrupt and Trisha opened her eyes, gasping for breath and the eyes wide from the horror. She could feel cold sweet sticking at her body and her heart was beating very fast, her breath was running and just slowly her mind began to tell that this wasn't real, that it had been just a dream. Trisha wasn't standing in front of the door anymore, she was lying inside her bed,  in her own hut, safe.
But she also knew that this wasn't just a simple imagination, there was truth inside it, a bitter truth. Memories, memories of this day when she lost a good friend, memories of the moment when Vale opened the door to the IKARUS chamber, went in and closed the door … and never returned. Trisha tried to open the door on her own so many times, she went back to Safe Harbor and took Sanix to the complex but even he wasn't able to open the entry. Day after day Trisha had returned to this place, for weeks and months, but the door never opened again and Vale never appeared again.

"Whatever happened inside there Trish, you can't change anything … Vale had chosen her path, she didn't want any help. So don't blame yourself."

These were Sanix words but Trisha didn't listen. She even thought about asking Jade if she could break the walls of the building, but this complex was very old and a giantess rampaging there would maybe causing more damage than necessary. And so she started to blame herself every day when she didn't get any sign of Vale, and even now, after months of waiting she felt bad when she woke up from such a dream.
Now she was blinking three times, her eyes slowly got attuned to the darkness around her and she went up, half naked, before she began to collect up all her clothing. Sanix was already up, as always, but it was okay, Trisha hated these moments when Sanix saw her that helpless and perplex. Slowly she was dressing herself up when suddenly somebody was knocking at her door very quickly.

Trisha was raising her eyebrow before she slipped inside her sandals. "Come in, it's open."

A young woman, Nahali, was rushing inside her hut. Nahali was living in Safe Harbor since Jade rescued her from a dridder nearby a year ago. Usually she was a calm person but now she was out of breath and her face was palm, an attack again?

"Nahali? What's going on? Something wrong?" Trisha asked anxious and came closer to the young woman.

"Trisha, Sanix told me I had to hurry … she's back." Nahali explained while she was catching for breath.

"Back? Who is back? Jade?"

"No … Vale is back!"

Trisha blinked two times and then she was running out of the hut.



The sun was blending Trisha for a few moments when she suddenly left her hut and ran as fast as possible in direction of the central place of the village. Her breath was running, her heart was beating and when she reached her goal she saw almost everyone from the village standing around somebody. When they recognized Trisha, they stepped back a little and Trisha was staring into the familiar face of Vale, who was now looking at her. It was the same face she had seen before she vanished behind this door.
The same black hair, the same eyes, the same body … everything was quite similar, just one thing was different; Vale didn't wear her suit. She was dressed in a short shirt and some long jeans, clothing she would wear usually but the last time they saw each other Vale wore her suit because of a possible danger. But this detail vanished when she smiled bright and walked upon vale and hugged her with all power, so much that Vale had to gasp.

"You're back … you're back!" she just whispered and when she loosened her grip to look into vale's face she was smiling happy.

"Yes .. I'm back ..." Vale replied silent and smiled thin even if there was something within this smile that confused Trisha for a moment but then she was just smiling again. The other inhabitants were looking at both and at the border of the small circle both were standing in Trisha could recognize Sanix who was smiling content. Other now came closer again, greeted Vale and Trisha stepped a little beside in Sanix direction.

"I told you she would return ..." he whispered into her ears and his arms slipped around her hips.

"Did she just appear suddenly from the jungle?" Trisha asked still overwhelmed by this surprise.

"No, Jade found her. It was a little bit strange; she told me that Vale was straying around confused and when Jade found her she was extremely shocked for the first moment. Maybe she was just confused … seems like a lot happened to her."

Trisha just nodded and was looking back to the crowd that became more and more smaller, finally leaving Vale standing alone at the place, standing there like she didn't know where to go. Trisha went to her and examined her a little alerted,

"Are you okay Vale?" she asked softly and the young assassin was looking at her with an exhausted expression "You look tired … I think you should rest a little … but first … please tell me one thing: What happened inside this door? Where have you been? Why didn't you return immediately to Safe Harbor?"

Vales expression confused her even more, she was looking distracted at Trisha before she opened her lips, just to close them moments later before she started to answer. "The door … well it … a lot of things happened. I couldn't return as fast as I wished … there were people hunting me down, you know? And then I had to take care of them … I know that you all were concerned but believe me, I couldn't come back earlier. And now … sorry I need some rest … where was my hut again? I feel so tired ..."

Trisha raised one eyebrow after these words but then she pointed into the direction of Vales small hut. "Take a rest, we will talk later again … I think you need just to recover. Oh and Vale? Just one last question: What happened to your suit?"

Vale was blinking at her before she asked really quick this time. "Destroyed during a battle. I was forced to leave the suit behind ..." and with these words she stepped in direction of her hut, without giving Trisha a chance to ask another question.

The wild mage was looking to Sanix who was now standing behind her. "Did you listen what she said?"

"Yep … and whatever she had to go through it seems like it was a little … harder." he replied thoughtful.

"It was like she didn't know what I was talking about. And how could it be possible to destroy her suit without killing her?" she sighed deep and looked to Vale's hut "I'm worried about her … something happened to her Sanix."

"Just give her some time, I think she'll be okay."



When Vale entered her hut, she closed the door behind her and looked around before she fell down at her bed. She was staring at the wall of the small, wooden hut. All the other people, it was too much for the moment.
She was weakened, she was tired … and she had to do something against this status. She sat up and began to think about her situation, about everything happened while she was on her way to this place and while she did so, she lifted her hand and stared at it. The rose skin began to vanish and changed into a more transparent greenish color.
A silent course went over her lips before she looked down at her body that began to change for a moment. Qucikly she closed her eyes and concentrated, and the old appearance of the young woman, called Vale, returned.

She needed new power and this meant only one thing: It was time to hunt and time eat. The appearance began to smile slim … there was enough food right here in this village and it would become a wonderful night … finally after years of captivity.