The sun was setting over the quiet beach, painting the sky in gold and crimson. The teachers' villa stood a short walk from the shoreline, its glass windows reflecting the waves as the breeze carried the scent of salt through the air.
Milly, still in her human disguise silver hair tied loosely and blue eyes dulled by thought stood near the balcony, gazing at the ocean. The sound of laughter from other teachers echoed faintly behind her, but her mind was far away.
She held her head.
"Why does it feel like I'm… forgetting something again?" she murmured softly.
Her vision blurred for a moment, and a flicker of memory flashed a tall figure in dark armor, his voice firm yet teasing.
"You're hopeless sometimes, you know that?"
"Shut up, you stupid commander," her own voice replied, echoing faintly through the haze.
Milly gasped and stumbled back.
"...Basei?" she whispered, the name rolling off her tongue naturally, as if it had always belonged there.
But just as quickly as it came, the memory dissolved into nothing leaving only a faint ache in her chest and confusion in her heart.
She sighed, gripping the balcony rail.
"Why did I just call him… stupid?" she muttered with a small, bewildered laugh. "Who even was that?"
A soft wave crashed against the shore, almost like an answer she couldn't understand.
She shook her head and turned away, trying to push the strange feeling aside.
Still, as she headed back inside to join the others, that one word echoed in her mind like a whisper she couldn't silence
Basei… that stupid commander.