FIREWORKS

Chapter 7.

The morning of the following day is relatively uneventful - the rush of nerves as Diana wakes and is hit by the reality of the training ahead is nothing new and, she deals with them far more easily, shaking them off as she gets up and goes about her routine, struggling to recall the details of yesterday's task past the fog of sleep in her mind.

She knows that there's a training planned.

She also knows that she's got to survive, no matter what.

And as the girl makes her way through winding corridors, doing her best not to get lost as she recalls the path to the dining room, she weighs up all the possible influences on this task - all the skills that have been tested so far and all those that she knows her friend Dream values.

Honestly, she doesn't come up with much by the time she gets there, resolving to be cautious when her challenge is revealed to her.

Though then again, it's not like she wasn't planning not to be.

Sighing, Diana pushes the doors of the dining room open and smiles, making her way over to the seat Dream had saved for her and, as she does so, Dream gives her a brief nod before continuing his conversation with George in hushed tones.

The girl's left to eat her meal in silence, watching as Punz hits Sapnap over the head again and laughs, Dream watching and rolling his eyes at the two.

Then Diana's gaze travels to the other end of the table, catching George's eye before sinking back down to look at Bad.

The rather feminine boy glances away as soon as their eyes meet, but the girl's already too busy worrying about the exhausted look in his eyes to wonder why he was staring at her in the first place.

Diana spends the rest of the meal in silence - that is until Dream stands up, and then all of her attention is focussed solely on the blonde man.

The others take longer to notice though, but even when they do, Dream still maintains his silence until he deems it necessary to speak.

"Diana, there's something that we haven't been telling you."

It's that same static voice again and, not giving the girl a chance to ask any questions, that voice continues almost immediately.

"When you agreed to the trials you agreed to much more we let you in on. You remember agreeing on joining in on every task you're given and know that when you decline our instructions you'll be met with death, correct? The trials may last up until 2 weeks, if we still haven't decided on whether or not you'll be a good fit for our team by then you're also going to die. The two weeks mark will be hit in 4 days and, though we've all agreed that we'd be honoured if you'd be taking in a spot in the Dream Team, there's one final task we've been buildig up to. We're planning on attacking your home nation in just 3 days and, unless you want to die you'll have to train longer and intenser both today and tommorow. That doesn't only add up to Diana though, we all have to train."

With those final words, Dream strides out of the room, closely followed by George, Sapnap and Punz.

As the door slams shut, Diana is left sitting at the dining table in pure shock, along with Bad who doesn't seem surprised at all - was she really the only one who they'd kept this a secret from?

The day passes rather quickly, Diana had been training alone the whole time and, after having to dig around her room in hopes of finding a flashlight, the girl is standing in front of the forest she'd been told to go to at sundown.

Exchanging looks with Punz, she waits as the sun sinks below the horizon, casting their surroundings into eerie shades of red.

It's not until the last rays have disappeared and Diana's left only with the weak beams of light emitting from the torch she carries that the sound of static behind her causes her to turn, jumping back slightly as she comes face to face with Dream.