You barely had time to dust off the cursed city’s grime before you heard them—those soft, light steps echoing down the hall like a memory. You looked up just as she collided into you, slender arms wrapping around you in a fierce, shaking hug.

Cassie.

She buried her face in your chest, not caring about the dirt, the stench, or the months between you. Her fingers gripped your coat as if afraid you'd disappear.

She had always been elegant in a quiet, unspoken way. Once a skilled fencer, she'd been full of fire - until the First Nightmare took her sight. Her Aspect gave her visions, whispers of the future no one else could hear. But in return, it left her blind. That flaw should’ve killed her long ago. In the Nightmare world, sight meant survival. And yet, she’d endured. Because of you. Because of Nephis. Because somehow, the three of you made it through the Forgotten Shore, the Dark Sea, the Carapace Demon... and even that ancient horror beneath the waves.

She held on longer than she had to. Just breathing.

“You smell horrible,” she finally said, voice muffled and trembling, but laced with a familiar, teasing note.

“Let go of me then,” you murmured.

“No,” she whispered back, her smile fragile but real. “Not ever again.”

She tilted her head slightly, listening to your breath, maybe your heartbeat too. Her pale blue eyes, forever clouded now, turned toward your face like she could still see you.

“I knew you’d come back. Not from a vision... just something I felt.”

You remembered the day you left the castle - forced into exile in the cursed city, away from her. You remembered how she’d pressed the Endless Spring into your hands, a Memory born from hope and grief.

“I counted the days,” she whispered. “Even when it hurt too much to hope.”

Then, softer, as if she feared you'd slip through her fingers again by - “You’re not allowed to leave me anymore.”