Pillar of Yita

”Miss Tata, did I just experience something strange?”

”You were sleeping, but not very peacefully. I don’t have the ability to enter dreams, as that is said to be the domain of the deities,” came the voice of Miss Fairy.

Fang Hong then silently nodded his head. But he at least remembered the scenes in the dream and the words the girl had spoken. He now finally recalled what an Oathkeeper was, a nickname for the Dragon Slayer clan. Was that girl one of Mazak’s people? What’s the relationship between the two? From which era was she? Where did the scene in the dream take place, was it Dolifen’s past?

And who was he in that dream? What was the ”it” they spoke of, was it the Dark Giant Dragon? Dolifen had associations with the Dark Giant Dragon -- what era did that belong to? He remembered his name was Luen, and the girl mentioned making amends and dissolving hatred. These scattered clues were making it hard for him to grasp the situation.

He subconsciously reached for his chest, wanting to see what the girl had given him, what did she tell him to bring out? But as he felt a cool and slightly soft sensation, a voice mixed with surprise and shyness came from the darkness, and Fang Hong realized what mistake he had made.

He was touching Gita’s hand and quickly let go. The young girl’s face flushed as she pulled her hand back, looking down in a fluster and stammering, ”I, I, I’m not of age yet, Brother Ade, sorry, my mother doesn’t allow me to... ”

”No no, sorry sorry,” Fang Hong hurriedly explained, ”It was not intentional, I just woke up and was still groggy. I had a dream, someone gave me something in it, and I thought it was in that place.”

”Really?” Gita looked at him with shining eyes in the darkness.

”Really, I promise.”

The young girl finally breathed a sigh of relief, her face not as flushed, but she still felt a little embarrassed. ”Brother Ade, it’s time, the others sent me to call you.”

”Is it time?” Fang Hong was startled, then sat up from the bed. ”Has everyone already gathered?”

”Everyone except Parker.”

”Where is everyone?”

”Now in the lobby on the first floor. Oh, Brother Ade, this is the fourth floor. There might be some changes outside later, don’t be too surprised.”

Fang Hong did not find anything the girl had given him in his chest; it seems after all, a dream was just a dream, and he nodded his head. ”Thank you for calling me, Gita, let’s go and join the others.”

”No, no problem, Brother Ade.”

After speaking, the two left the room, Fang Hong closed the door behind them, but after a moment’s thought, he pushed it open again – the door swung open, and the inside remained the same as before, presumably no longer restricting people from entering or leaving. In other words, after midnight, the phantoms of Lady Tengye’s hotel had solidified, no longer as unpredictable as during the day.

He closed the door again, turned around, and saw Gita curiously looking at him, so he asked her, ”What time is it now, Gita?”

”It’s, it’s about a quarter past twelve.”

”Right, Gita, what did you see?”

In a low voice Gita replied, ”I had a very strange dream about a logging camp where I felt like I had lived there for a long time in the dream. As the seasons passed, I watched the laborers work. I don’t know if it’s Mr. Chris’s logging camp, but the owner of the camp was a young man.”

”A logging camp?” thought Fang Hong, the scope of what each person saw seemed to be jumping all over the place.

The two arrived at the stairway, where an overweight Noble with an out-of-place, fancy dress, fanning himself, with a heavy layer of white powder on his face and big black beauty marks stuck to his cheeks, looking very much like a monster, startled Fang Hong.

But the Noble didn’t even glance at them and, muttering complaints, went up to the fourth floor, followed by his two Servants, carrying his luggage big and small.

Fang Hong watched the man disappear around the corner in astonishment, then turned back and asked, ”Who was that?”

”A guest of the hotel.”

”A guest?” Fang Hong was stunned for a moment before realizing, this was a Shadow of the Past. After midnight, the former Phantoms of Dolifen started to reveal their true face.

They arrived at the lobby, where indeed everyone had already assembled. Unlike during the daytime, where it was dim and empty, the lobby was now brightly lit up with many Guests appearing as if they were in Elpaxin.

Fang Hong noticed in front of the lobby entrance there was a long, curved counter with a dark lacquer, behind which several Servants were busy with their own tasks, occasionally pressing a crystal on the counter which resulted in a Dwarf Goblin popping through a round wooden door from the side pipes, taking a note from the Servants and leaving the same way they came.

However, he noted that whether it was the staff, the guests, or the Dwarf Goblins, their bodies were slightly transparent, reminding outsiders that this was a world of Ghosts, a Phantom of the Undead.

The others had gathered on one side of the lobby, with the usually lively French girl appearing as if she had transformed into another person, pale and with a distant look in her eyes, lost in her own world.

Fang Hong inquired Atira what had happened, but the Elf Girl merely shook her head, telling him Tianlan had not spoken much since she came out and had cried bitterly at first.

”Is everything alright, Tianlan?” Fang Hong turned around and asked softly.