Sand and Fire

Shattered memories crashed back into place, and her warped, alienated perceptions were restored in an instant, as if the entire world had returned with a single breath. Vana heard an illusory boom from the depths of her consciousness—in that boom, she came to know her "self" once more.

The yellow sand filling the sky was battered by an invisible force, scattering and spiraling through the wind. Wisps of black smoke appeared out of nowhere and flowed back into Vana's limbs. She remembered her name, her origins, and how she had come here. She remembered the Lost Homeland, and her captain.

She turned and saw that tall, imposing figure standing beside her, quietly watching her as though he had been standing there all along, ever since long ago.

Vana finally let out a long breath. After the brief confusion and chaos, she calmed down and murmured as if speaking to herself, "I feel like I had a very, very long dream—what a long journey it was."

"Fortunately, you didn't lose yourself completely." A faint smile appeared on Duncan's face. "For a moment, deep within that burned-out history, I could barely see your shadow anymore."

Vana felt a lingering shiver of fear, but quickly cast it aside. She raised her head and looked around, realizing that the boundless desert and the ruined city within it had not vanished just because she had "awakened."

Everything here was not an "illusion" designed for her alone. It was something that truly existed at this "node," something akin to a "phenomenon." It was the eternally sealed dream of the Eternal Burning Hearth, another kind of "reality" on a different level—she had merely awakened within the ancient god's dream, but had not yet left this vast dream.

Yet with her awakening, this place had changed—the prosperous city