#21: Dream Wanderers' Tune

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Tsukiko sat, passed out and drooling, in a chair next to Lily's bed.

She woke up to find Claudia tugging on her sleeve.

"Huh?" Tsuki woke up in a daze. "What do you want?"

The redhead continued to tug.

"I'm not leaving..." Tsuki stayed planted in the seat.

Claudia pulled harder.

"Back off, Claudia..."

Claudia wrapped her arms around Tsuki and desperately tried to drag her out of the chair.

"What do you want?" Tsuki growled.

Tsukiko moved her right leg under Claudia to push her off. "Just let me be."

Claudia shook her head.

"What do you want then?"

A red piece of paper appeared in her face. "Get up."

Tsuki pushed it away.

Claudia waved it in her face.

"Why?" Tsuki slouched down.

More red papers entered her vision but she kept shoving them away. Tsuki stared at the room's dirty grey floor.

A scratchy, and weak voice spoke. "Lilith would not want to see you like this."

"Huh?" Tsuki looked up and the same redhead stood before her. "You can talk?"

Claudia nodded her head.

Tsuki sighed. "Why don't you talk then?"

Claudia shook her head this time.

"Why not?" Tsuki asked again.

Another red paper was shoved in Tsukiko's face.

"What's this? It's blank." Tsukiko narrowed her eyes.

The redhead looked at the paper then hid it behind her back before looking down and shaking her head again.

"Claudia..." Tsuki spoke softly.

Claudia spoke again, her voice hoarse and strained. "I have my reasons, miss."

"Alright, alright." Tsuki stood up. "I should be tough. She always said she wanted to be tough like me. She doesn't want to wake up and see me all scared."

Claudia nodded with a smile on her face.

Tsuki turned back to see Claudia missing, a blank red slip of paper lying on the ground.

--

As Tsukiko stood up and opened the door, it led to a place she did not expect.

Before her sat Aurelia, at a table for two. They were in a mansion, lit only by the sun filtering through the windows.

Outside, in the far distance, was a tree with a bicycle. Beyond the tree was a vast green plain stretching out to a distant infinite horizon.

Tsuki stared out to the pastel coloured sky and the huge white puffy clouds. In the distance were scattered oak trees and flower beds.

"Sit down, Miss Himura." Aurelia smiled.

"Passing through all these doors is making me dizzy." Tsuki sat down in the chair.

Everything around her was an ornate relic of the past. An old phonograph, a wooden rotary telephone, drawers and a wardrobe, all made of dark oak wood.

The table itself was made of a dense wood. The chairs were almost uncomfortable with the amount of intricate carved designs. Clearly those things were more for looks than for use.

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