Trails of Intertwined Stars: Chapter 74 {Part 1}

~Chapter 108: Dreams of Melodies~

Perhaps it was Henry's words that night, but Jiu did not sleep well. Another dream plagued his mind. And at first, he hadn't even realised the dream was a dream, it was that ordinary.

In his dream, Jiu had woken up in Leora's tuberculosis room. His arm had been positioned in such a way that he seemed of been cuddling Leora, but when he opened his eyes, she was not there with him. Rather, there was the shape of where her body had been, made out of purple coneflowers and anemones. Jiu sat up, puzzled, glancing around for the girl. He couldn't find her, but what he could find was the flowers in a footprint sort of pattern; trailing to the head of the bed, onto her bookshelf and going up until it reached a rather large painting on her wall. Jiu silently followed the flowers, slightly nervous to step on them, so decided to carefully teeter around them in hope to find Leora. He scrambled up the bookshelf, till he reached the portrait. There was something about it that had always felt off to him. He gently pressed his hand to the surface of it, only to find it pushed like a heavier version curtain and revealed an incredibly dark passageway. The purple coneflower and anemone footprints seemed to glow slightly, guiding him where to go. Jiu held his breath, and plunged to the darkness, taking cautious steps on the stone floor around the flowery footprints belonging to Leora. He reached the end of the passage, and felt for the wall; finding it to be the same material as previously. He pushed on it to reveal a billard room that Henry likely used. He gently slipped out of yet another portrait and down onto the wooden floor of the room, glancing around for anything with bated breath.

Bookshelves, a pool table, a fish tank, a chess board, a servant bell but nothing else of much use. He spotted the flowery footprints trailing out of the room, to the corridor. Jiu was about to follow, till he heard something that made him freeze. It was...an old music box. It was a faint tinkling sort of sound, and it sounded like it was coming from a nearby room. The melody was soft, and seemed to once be a rather sweet tune, but in the dark of the night in the manor, there was something rather eerie about it. Jiu followed the footsteps out of the billard room, to a corridor he recognised in the manor. The footsteps went down the hall, to a door he hadn't entered for many months. The ballroom. Jiu clenched his fists to his side, willing himself to press on. As he approached, creeping down the dark corridor, feeling the wait of the many Mohan family portraits; the gentle tinkering of the music box seemed to grow louder. It made Jiu shiver. The door was already cracked open, and the ghost dared himself to open it fully. Inside the haunting memory of the music box seemed to sweep across the halls of the ballroom, filling it with the mournful tune. The ballroom was empty, and the footsteps were no longer there. And then Jiu realised, he was wrong; the ballroom was not, completely empty. Stood only just a little further from the centre, was Leora.

She stared at the floor, her back turned to the general, as if bewitched by the music. She seemed to sway oddly, not dancing, not standing still, just...in some sort of trance. The room was dark, and rain thrashed open the large, cathedral-like windows; a storm brewing in the night sky.
"Leora... you're sleep walking..." Jiu whispered, not yet understanding he was in a nightmare," Leora..."
Leora did not look at him. She continued to keep her head lulled to the floor, swaying unsteadily on the spot. The dreadfully lullaby didn't stop either. In fact, it only got worse. The pianos in the ballroom started to join in by themselves, and the knight ornaments stood by the patio door startled to rattle their armour with the music. Jiu forced himself into the room, ignoring the horrible sights around him and focusing solely on the slightly twitching girl.
"Leora..." Jiu whispered, urgently," Leora-!"
He froze as he heard a whimper escape the girl's lips.
"Duncan...Duncan...save me...Duncan..."
The music box seemed to grow louder and more erratic and scratched. Jiu moved forward to grab her, to try to snap her out of it.
"Leor-!"
Just before he could reach the centre, something golden clattered down from the ceiling.

That stupid, ornate dagger that seemed to appear every dream. It was then, Jiu realised, this had to be a nightmare rather than reality. Just as he was about to call out to the girl again, he felt something wet fall onto his cheek. The general raised his hand and wiped at the substance, startled. Red was stained on his very finger tips, and the awful smell of iron seemed to make his senses spin. He glanced up slowly, to where the grand chandelier was placed above him. His jaw dropped in sheer horror at the very sight he saw.