It's late at night when Ren suddenly opens his eyes. He's drenched in cold sweat, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
He looks around in a panic.
Everything is quiet, as usual.
Iris lies to his right, Yuzu to his left, and Mika on top of him, with her head resting on his chest.
A nightmare — the same one that has tormented him for the past six years. The night Raelor appeared at their doorstep.
Before Eliss gave up her title as a princess, Raelor had been her loyal bodyguard, and even after she married Aoshi and moved to Earth, they remained on friendly terms. To the point that they often invited Raelor over for dinner, and that night, that was why he was there.
But when Aoshi opened the door…
Ren can never forget his father's charred body crumpling to the ground, or the sound of his mother screaming.
«Ren, Iris, take Yuzu and Mika and run, hurry!»
Those were the last words he ever heard from her, before she too was turned to ashes, struck down by Raelor's devastating attacks after she tried in vain to resist.
That night, Raelor could have easily killed all four of them too — and yet he didn't.
Why were only their parents killed? Why were they spared? Ren has no answer.
«B-Big brother… that bad dream again…?» Mika murmurs sleepily.
The agitation and panic Ren woke up with have stirred her awake.
Ren gently rubs her back.
«It's nothing, really. Try to get some sleep, Mika.»