[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qzjFVFN.png[/img]
[hr][i][color=LightSteelBlue]Time: Evening[/color] 
[color=LightSteelBlue]Location: Damien Estate[/color] 
[color=LightSteelBlue]Mentions / Interactions:[/color] [@princess] Lottie, Calbert[/i][/center]
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Cassius sprawled in the grass, his body stretched out beside Charlotte as the sun bathed the meadow in a warm, golden light. The world was a panorama of green beneath them, and the sky above, vast and endless, held drifting clouds like lazy white ships sailing across a sea of powder blue. Charlotte's voice broke through the silence, light and musical as she pointed toward the sky, her finger tracing the shapes of clouds with childlike joy.

[color=D0B4EC]“Look, Cassius! That one’s a wolf, and that one’s a heart!”[/color] She giggled, her laughter like the softest of songs, rising and falling with the breeze.

His gaze, however, was not on the clouds. It was on her. The way the light kissed her skin, turning her pale complexion into something luminous, something delicate. The way her hair, wind-tousled and dark as the midnight sky, framed her face in soft waves. She was a painting, an ethereal vision in the perfect moment...and for once, Cassius could feel the tumultuous storms inside him recede. There was no battle raging in his chest, no echoes of haunting days past that so often darkened his quiet moments. The world felt still, quiet in a way that was almost unnatural.

It was a peace he hadn’t known in years. Maybe never, really. And yet, despite the relief it brought, it felt...off. Unfamiliar. Jarring in its perfection. He could almost hear his own heartbeat as it thudded in his chest, the sound a sharp contrast to the stillness surrounding him.

Charlotte shifted, her hand finding his. She wrapped her fingers around his own, the simple act so small, yet it caused something inside him to flutter...something tender, something unspoken. She turned her head toward him, her bright blue eyes meeting his with an innocence that made his heart ache in a way he couldn’t explain.

[color=D0B4EC]“You're quiet,”[/color] she said, her lips curving into a teasing smile, but there was an undeniable warmth there, as if she knew exactly what was going on inside his mind. [color=D0B4EC]“Are you actually enjoying this?”[/color]

He managed a smirk, his fingers tightening around hers, and he shifted, propping himself up slightly on his elbow to look at her more fully.

[color=lightsteelblue]“Charlotte,”[/color] he said, his voice half-mocking, half-serious, [color=lightsteelblue]“have you been casting spells on me?”[/color]

She let out a soft laugh, the sound like a melody he wanted to memorize. But she didn’t answer him. Instead, her gaze flickered toward something behind him, something that caused her smile to falter ever so slightly.

Cassius turned, following her gaze. And that was when he saw it. At first, he thought it was more clouds, but no. The shapes were wrong...too thick, too heavy. It was smoke.

His stomach twisted, his pulse quickened. His breath hitched in his chest as the air around him seemed to grow heavier, thicker. Something was burning. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. But he couldn’t place it. His mind floundered, unable to make sense of the surge of dread that gripped him.

Before he could react, Charlotte sprang to her feet, her hand slipping from his grasp. [color=D0B4EC]“Come on, Cassius!”[/color] she called over her shoulder, her voice still light and carefree. [color=D0B4EC]“Let’s go see what it is!”[/color]

She dashed toward the smoke, her laughter echoing through the meadow like a bell ringing in the distance. But Cassius didn’t move. His body felt frozen, a strange and desperate panic starting to churn in his chest. He couldn’t breathe...couldn’t find air as his lungs began to seize. The sensation was suffocating, thick with smoke. His heart pounded in his ears.

[color=lightsteelblue]“Charlotte!”[/color] he shouted, pushing himself up from the ground, his feet stumbling beneath him. He was panting now, desperate, his breaths shallow and ragged as the distance between them grew. [color=lightsteelblue]“Lottie, wait!”[/color]

But she didn’t listen. She kept running, her form a blur ahead of him. The meadow, the peaceful sky, it all felt like it was closing in, narrowing down, folding into the darkened smoke that was rising in the distance.

And then...then it was like the world itself shifted.

The sky above them darkened, the clouds turning to billows of black smoke that twisted and swirled in unnatural patterns, choking the very air.

Cassius ran. He stumbled forward, his body shaking with a sense of urgency, of panic that was too raw, too primal to control. [color=lightsteelblue]“Lottie, stop!”[/color] he shouted, but his voice was drowned out by the distant, deafening sound of crackling flames.

She turned back to him then, her smile wide and innocent, the way it had been when she’d first looked at him. But it wasn’t her smile that stopped him in his tracks...it was what happened next.

In the blink of an eye, Charlotte’s form was engulfed in flames.

Cassius screamed. It was a sound that tore from his throat, raw and jagged, as her body was consumed by the fire. Her pretty smile flickered out, replaced by a scream that broke his heart. She disintegrated before his very eyes, her skin and hair turning to ash as her figure vanished in a burst of smoke. The wind carried the remnants of her away.

His hands shook violently, reaching out for her, but there was nothing. Nothing but the ashes that stained his palms and the blood that rushed in his ears.

He was alone. And yet, somehow, he wasn’t.

The wind picked up, the ashes swirling in the air around him as the world transformed into an inferno. In the distance, beyond where Charlotte had stood, he could see the village. The snowy village. It was burning. A cascade of orange and red flames that spread through the streets, devouring everything in its path.

Screams. Screams were everywhere. People ran through the streets, their faces twisted in terror as they were consumed by the flames. The air shimmered with a strange, purple energy that clung to the smoke, a haunting and unnatural hue that sent a cold chill through his very soul.

Cassius couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. The panic, the horror, the ghosts of his past...it all collapsed onto him at once, suffocating him. Then, through the cacophony, a voice pierced the void...a steady, familiar voice, firm and commanding yet tinged with concern.

[color=0072bc]“Cassius. Wake up.”[/color]

The voice called again, cutting through the haze of his nightmare like a beacon.

[color=0072bc]“Cassius, wake up. Now.”[/color]

The fire, the ash, the screams...they dissolved into darkness, leaving only the sound of his ragged breathing. His storm-gray eyes snapped open, and he found himself kneeling on the floor of his chambers, his palms pressed against the cool wood of the bed frame next to him. His heart pounded in his chest as if trying to escape, and the faint remnants of imaginary smoke lingered in his mind and lungs. He was absolutely drenched in sweat.

Above him, a figure loomed. Count Calbert Damien stood with a hand on Cas’s shoulder, his sharp features illuminated by the dim light of the room. His expression was utterly full of concern for his son..

[color=0072bc]“Are you alright?”[/color] Calbert asked, his tone calm but probing.

Cassius looked up at his father with confusion before piecing together the reality of his situation. He pushed himself to his feet, running a hand through his messy, sweat-dampened hair and forced a smirk to his lips, though it felt like a thin veneer over the turmoil beneath.

[color=lightsteelblue]“Just a little dream,”[/color] he said with a shrug, brushing past his father’s concern. [color=lightsteelblue]“Nothing serious.”[/color]

Calbert studied him for a moment, his calculating gaze lingering, but he nodded curtly, accepting the explanation for now without pressing further.

[color=0072bc]“Good. Because we need to talk.”[/color] He stepped back, motioning toward the chair near the window. [color=0072bc]“I was hoping we could discuss your conduct since arriving in Sorian.”[/color]

As Calbert spoke, Cassius moved with practiced nonchalance. Grabbing his shirt from the edge of his bed, he peeled it over his sweat-soaked body, the muscles of his back taut as he bent to pull on his boots. The Count’s voice droned on, clipped and precise, outlining his concerns with all the precision of a surgeon dissecting an ailment.

[color=0072bc]“Your disappearance after the party this morning, for example...what exactly do you think that signals to those that already question your legitimacy here? You can’t afford to appear unreliable, Cassius. You’re playing a dangerous game, and every misstep...”[/color]

Cassius ignored the rest, crossing the room to the small side table where a decanter of wine awaited. He grabbed a glass, poured the deep crimson liquid, and swirled it idly. The weight of his father’s words brushed against him, but his focus wavered, his gaze drifting toward the window.

And that’s when he saw it.

The column of smoke in the distance, rising against the twilight sky like a dark omen. His grip on the glass faltered as his eyes scanned the scene, landing on a familiar figure...a flash of black hair and a pale blue dress. Charlotte. She was moving with hurried determination toward the smoke, her lithe form disappearing into the haze of the evening.

The glass slipped from his fingers, shattering against the floor in a spray of wine and shards.

[color=0072bc]“Cassius?”[/color] Calbert’s voice sharpened with confusion, but Cassius had already turned on his heel, his pulse thundering in his ears.

[color=lightsteelblue]“We’ll have to talk later,”[/color] he said, his voice clipped as he strode toward the door.

[color=0072bc]“Cassius, what...”[/color]

[color=lightsteelblue]“It’s Charlotte.”[/color] His hand gripped the door handle as he cast a glance back at his father. [color=lightsteelblue]“I have to go.”[/color]

And without waiting for a response, he was gone, the door slamming shut behind him as his boots echoed down the hallway.
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