Astra stood at the edge of the balcony, arms folded over the cool stone railing, her gaze lost somewhere between the quiet glimmer of stars and the unrest in her chest. Behind her, Xue slept soundly, the rise and fall of her breath a soft rhythm against the hush of night.
Astra sighed and turned away from the view, murmuring to herself,
"Am I missing something…?"
She lingered for a moment longer, then pushed off the rail and stepped inside. But the stillness in the room only made her thoughts louder. Restless, she slipped down the hall and out into the quiet courtyard for air.
The stone paths were cool beneath her feet as she paced slowly across the yard, hands behind her back, mind circling. Then—she stopped. A faint rustling, barely audible, drifted from the trees lining the edge of the courtyard.
She tilted her head, brows knitting. That wasn't the wind.
Carefully, Astra made her way toward the sound, stepping lightly through the grass. The rustling shifted higher now. Above. Her eyes narrowed. Someone was in the tree.
Without hesitation, she gripped one of the low branches and began to climb. The bark was familiar beneath her palms, and with quiet precision, she pulled herself higher, until she reached the upper limbs.
Astra blinked.
There, half-hidden in the leaves, perched on a thick branch with a half-eaten persimmon in one hand, sat a figure she hadn't expected.
"Guo Ping?"
The boy jumped, startled out of his skin, nearly slipping off the branch. He flailed for a moment before hugging the trunk tightly, eyes wide.
"Wha—A-Astra?! What—What are you doing up here?!" Guo Ping whispered, his voice cracking with panic as he clung to the branch.
Astra raised a brow, climbing up with practiced ease and settling across from him on the thick limb. "I could ask you the same thing," she said coolly. "Shouldn't you be resting right now? And here you are perched in a tree, eating fruit in the dark."
Guo Ping took another bite of the ripe persimmon, chewed quickly, then mumbled around the last of it, "I was hungry. Brother Kaen healed me earlier… somehow that made me hungrier."
"You should be glad you got saved at all," Astra muttered, leaning back against the trunk, her arms crossed.
"I am," Guo Ping said with a small nod. Then his expression sobered. "That's why I didn't want to be the one sacrificed for that wraith. I—I was nearly dead."
Astra's gaze faltered. Her tone dropped. "It nearly killed me too."
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The wind stirred gently through the branches above, cool and whispering.
Guo Ping exhaled slowly, gaze dropping to his lap. "Ever since it… possessed me, something's been off."
Astra looked up.
He continued, "There's something strange inside me now. I've been having these dreams—these… memories. But they're not mine."
Astra frowned, her posture straightening. "Memories?"
Guo Ping nodded. "Master Zhang said that sometimes when a spirit possesses someone, especially something as twisted as that one, it can leave remnants behind. Like pieces of itself." He looked up at her, face pale under the moonlight. "I think that thing left me with its memories."
"What kind of memories?" she asked, voice lower now.
He swallowed hard. "They're terrifying. Sometimes it's just screaming… sometimes blood. Faces burning. Shadows moving too fast. A child crying for help and then silence. The kind of silence that… that feels like it'll never leave you." He wrapped his arms around himself. "I wake up sweating, sometimes choking. I don't even know who those people are, but the fear—it feels like it's mine."
Astra stared at him quietly, the weight of his words settling into her chest.
"I don't know if it's a curse," Guo Ping whispered, "or just what's left of something evil trying to keep breathing through me."
Astra was quiet for a moment, her gaze drifting past him toward the dark canopy above. "You're not the only one having nightmares."
Guo Ping glanced up at her, blinking. "What do you mean?"
"They come almost every night now," she murmured, voice low and distant. "Always around midnight. I never remember them clearly, but… there's fire. Screams. Faces—half-burnt. Twisted. People begging for help, clawing at the air like they're trapped in something." Her hands clenched slightly on her lap. "And I'm always in the center of it… but it doesn't feel like my memory. It never has."
Guo Ping's brows furrowed, his earlier fear shifting into something more focused. "…can you describe more? Anything else?"
She shook her head slowly. "That's all I can remember. As soon as I wake, it fades like smoke. Just those images. That feeling."
He was quiet for a moment. Then said softly, "Mine… they're not just visions. It's like I'm inside someone else. Seeing through his eyes. Feeling what he felt." His voice dropped further. "There's always a sword in his hand. Blood dripping from the tip. He's standing in a field of bodies, and he just keeps—going."
Astra's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't speak.
Guo Ping swallowed hard. "The strangest part?" he murmured. "He wasn't angry. Or proud. He felt… hollow." His gaze dropped to his trembling hands. "All I could feel from him, again and again, was regret. Like he knew he had no choice… like something was forcing his hand. Controlling him."
Guo Ping's voice grew quieter, almost lost beneath the rustle of leaves. "But something's strange about that dream. That memory whatever it is." He paused, his brows knitting together. "He was… hesitating. Right before the end. There was a boy. A little one. I couldn't see his face clearly, just his silhouette fragile, trembling. And the man… he couldn't do it."
Guo Ping's fingers curled around the bark of the branch. "He stood there, sword raised. But it wouldn't move. His whole body trembled like he was fighting against himself. Like part of him wanted to finish it—and the other half was screaming not to."
He exhaled slowly, his voice shaking. "And then… he turned the blade. On himself."
Astra's eyes widened, the wind brushing her hair against her face as she stared at him.
"He stabbed straight through his chest," Guo Ping murmured, one hand rising unconsciously to his own. "I felt it. Every inch of it. The pain… it wasn't just physical. It was deeper. Like something tearing out from inside."
"Waking up from that gasping, heart racing it feels like it actually happened to me." He hesitated, voice barely audible. "It feels too real. Too… raw. I think whoever that man was… whatever he did—it left something behind. And now it's living in me."
The silence that followed was heavy. The stars above blinked cold and distant.
Astra didn't speak. But something in her expression shifted barely visible, a flicker of unease. Her thoughts spun in wild, tangled loops. A strange tightness settled in her chest as a chill crept along her spine. And then like a whisper in the back of her mind something clicked.
Her breath hitched, and a single cold bead of sweat slid down her temple.