Visitor

Neph opened her eyes in the Real World. She was hiding in a corner of the dining room. After habitually looking around and finding no sign of Miss Laila, she left to look for Tracy.

She found Tracy on deck. The Demoness captain was leaning against the railing with her second mate, Miss Laila. Neph heard her voice drifting through the sea breeze:

"Laila, how do you feel about being aboard the Black Death?"

Laila's gray-blue eyes were unfocused, as though she were looking at something far away. As Neph approached, she heard a voice that seemed to drift from a distant place:

"I like it here very much."

"Is that so?" Tracy smiled. "I haven't been sleeping well these past few days. It feels as though something is about to happen. Have you sensed anything, Laila?"

"No." Laila's voice finally steadied. She turned and looked straight at Tracy. "I think everything is fine aboard the Black Death."

"Is that so?" Tracy smiled. "Then perhaps I'm overthinking things."

She pushed herself away from the railing quite naturally and headed inside, leaving Laila alone on deck, lost in thought. Neph glanced at Laila, then followed Tracy.

Neph slipped into the captain's cabin. Tracy sat at her desk and pulled a book from the shelf. Just as Neph was deciding whether to search her memories now or wait until evening, her spirituality stirred. She turned her head. A ripple spread across the Full-Length Mirror, turning its surface into water, and a figure stepped out of it.

She wore a white dress and possessed a beauty that left one dazed. In that brief moment of distraction, Neph had only just remembered who she was when she heard a deep male voice:

"So this is where you are."

"...?" Neph glanced back at Tracy,