I rarely ever dreamt about anything, even since childhood, but whenever I did, they were either vivid recreations of memories or strange pys I couldn't quite figure out. This dream in particur belonged to the former category, as I found myself once again in the town tavern where Matilda and I were talking about Daphne.

  "What do you think about her?" I asked Matilda.

  "She... troubles me, Lucia," She answered as if trying to find the right words. She wasn't the most vocal member of the party, but her opinions were always interesting.

  "I mean, raising that much money in so short a time is pretty scary. I'm dying to find out what she did, but I feel like she wouldn't tell me," I admitted quite honestly, but it seemed like we were not on the same page.

  "That's not what I meant," She said in a kind, understanding tone. Matilda had this unique aura about her, the kind that could rejuvenate you just by talking to her, and what surprised me the most about her was the fact that her predictions were never wrong. I suspected it was some kind of rare intrinsic magic, but she would occasionally catch glimpses of the future or develop premonitions about things, circumstances, and people.

  There were many instances of this. One time, we were looking to recruit new party members, and Matilda was against our collective choice. She insisted until we asked other party members about him and discovered his true colors. In short, he was a swindler who wandered from party to party, stealing funds once he had gained the trust of the party members. Another time, we came across a rare item, which Matilda described as having a unique curse. That time, we dismissed her concerns and paid for it dearly when Kimmel, the item's user, was hit with more than four status effects at once in the middle of a mission! We would have failed that mission if not for Matilda's Recovery staff.

  However, the most notable premonition of hers, and the one I regret not following the most was when she tried to stop us from taking the mission where we would encounter the Cyclops. I could never forget that look in her eye, almost of sheer terror as she pleaded with us not to go, but the rewards were excellent and nothing about it seemed dangerous, so we disregarded her advice, thinking, What's there to be scared of? I wish I had believed in her enough to try to convince the others that day, but thinking about it now was futile, as Arturia was dead and would never come back.

  "So, what do you mean?" I asked.

  "I've never felt it as clearly as I do now, but she is an enemy of god, and walking with her any further will only invite more danger," She said with a solemn look on her face.

  "If you feel it so strongly, why are you telling this only to me?" Unfortunately, we didn't always listen to her, but the Matilda I knew would still try to save everybody regardless, so I was genuinely puzzled at her passive stance.

  "Because... we are all going to be swallowed up... and there's nothing we can do about it." Her face, hair, clothing, features, and aura melted into nothing, leaving a faceless figure sitting right next to me. I didn't know how I could tell, but it was staring at me with a cold anger so intense I felt uncomfortable in my seat. I tried to stand up immediately, but it grabbed me by the neck and started choking the life out of me.

  "W-why me?" I asked, but it said nothing, continuing to choke the life out of me until I woke up in the tent that night, sweating profusely and out of breath. A nightmare? I wondered as I tried to catch my breath. No, I feel like this is more than that. Who was that? I wondered. And what does it all mean?