Looking at the scene before him, Shade felt his consciousness blur for a moment. When he looked again at the nearshore waters, there were still some strangely shaped pink reefs rising from the sea. Though the reefs were not large, they made the scene even more grotesque.
"Where is this...?"
Then he saw something floating atop the Blood Sea, carried by the tide toward the shore. Shade continued forward and saw that it was four dolls holding hands. Three of them were Witches, while the last was a faceless Outlander.
He stepped through the crimson tide and bent down to pick up the dolls. But when he straightened, he discovered that a shadow had already engulfed him. Looking up toward its source, he saw a gigantic round head with a pure silver surface open its hideous mouth and bite toward him.
"Oh!"
Shade jolted awake with a violent shudder. Gasping for breath, he saw the familiar ceiling above him.
"What's wrong?"
Dorothy's sleepy voice came from beside him. She looked at Shade drowsily as he tried to steady his breathing and gently shook his head.
"It's nothing, nothing. Go back to sleep. Little Mia won't wake up for another two hours."
Dorothy gave a soft "Mm~" and said nothing more. Shade was not sure whether she had heard him. He could still feel his heart pounding violently; that scene had truly frightened him.
Though the Outlander had seen plenty of grand spectacles, that thing's appearance was instinctively repulsive.
The young ladies beside him slept peacefully, but Shade could not close his eyes again. He recalled their journey across life and death in the coffin, and recalled that dream and that pink beach.
Her voice was gentle in the deep night, as though she too feared disturbing the young ladies' peaceful