Vows and Bullets
Chapter 141: Last Week of August (Part 4)

Chapter 141: Last Week of August (Part 4)

Please DON’T READ this Chapter yet. I will update this next week!

I sincerely apologize, beloved agents, my hand hasn’t healed yet T_T. I’m taking medication and following doctor’s advise so hopefully I can get back to writing soon.

I will replace this Chapter with the real one soon, don’t worry, and upload a new one for the next day. I really apologize once again.

In the meantime, please enjoy the continuation of the story below titled "The King’s Beloved". This is the revised version I am planning to submit for paperback publication. Hopefully, I get a chance someday.

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(Part 4 - Continuation...)

Soon after that, the two of them slept—or at least tried to. Hearing those ominous things, Rania couldn’t help but worry. She prayed earnestly that night for everything to be okay and that maybe, it had a different meaning. Shaking things off her brain, she finally managed to sleep a few moments later.

But then, when the clock struck twelve, signifying the next day, which was actually her own birthday, she dreamt that dream again. Yes, like how it happens every year for her. It was a dream about... a planet crumbling until it turned into ashes and disappeared completely.

***

Chapter 2 NO HAPPIER DAY

A beautiful and enchanting planet—such was Rania’s first thought when she started dreaming that repetitive dream of hers. At first glance, she thought it was their planet, Earth, but after observing for a few minutes as her body flew adrift in outer space, she noticed a few differences. The landmasses and regions weren’t the same, the waters looked sparklier than usual, and the skies had a subtle iridescent glow.

For some reason, in her dream, she was looking at the planet from the outside as if she somehow gained powers to breathe and survive in outer space without any protective gear like what astronauts wear. She could even zoom in the view like a camera just by thinking. Funny how her imagination worked was the first thing she told herself. Though what’s more interesting was how vivid it was for her, especially the experience when she came inside the planet.

Curious, Rania suddenly found herself standing on bluish grass, inside what seemed to be a forest filled with different colored trees and peculiar-looking flowers. As she thought, it really wasn’t their planet. The plants, animals, the sky, and all other things looked so different. There were even lands floating in the sky! And on a closer look, not only were lands floating but there were also people flying as they pleased as if it’s the most natural thing in the world!

There’s no way this is Earth. Am I somehow dreaming about a game I played before? This whole place looks like a fantasy world. Hmm, I should probably lessen my playing time.

Then, while she was busy thinking of dozens of reasons why she was somehow having a weird dream, the ground she stood on suddenly shook terribly. The plants and trees started to wither, followed by the animals and other creatures falling one by one on the ground. The clouds began to darken, and the seas roared. Soon after, a huge cyclone formed, and the volcanoes erupted. What’s worse, the people living there started dying one after another.

The next thing she knew, she was back in outer space. From there, she saw the planet shake terribly, and great darkness covered its once iridescent glow. Wherever the darkness touched, life died. In just a snap, what once looked so magical became a rocky, fuming, collapsing planet covered in darkness. After that, it started to crumble. Slowly, it disintegrated in the air turning into dust until every speck was nowhere to be seen. Just like that... as if it never existed in the first place.

"Haah!" Rania gasped awake from her dream. "Hahh... Hahh... Hahh..." She panted hard, and sweat formed in her forehead. Wiping it off with her hands, she embraced herself, trying to calm herself down.

Somehow, that dream always left her heart beating so loud, her body shivering and sweating profusely, and her lips dry. What’s more irritating was how she didn’t know what it meant—if it was real or just a fraction of her imagination, and what was it that she was supposed to do? Why did she keep dreaming about it every year on her birthday? And most of all, why was it that... her heart always ached seeing that planet crumble? She didn’t live there. She didn’t even know what it was, or where it was, or if it even existed in reality. But then, the dream was too vivid for her to ignore. Because of that, she would often pray to God for hours after dreaming, asking Him to tell her what it meant and what she needed to do, only to hear silence in return.

At times like these, Rania would turn to the voices she named Rose for the gentle one, Lily for the playful child, and Iris for the wise, old woman.

"You all see the future, right? That’s why you always warn me or tell me important things," Rania said, trying to talk to them through her mind. "Since you know, can you please tell me what the dream is about? I’m not sure if I can survive the anxiety of thinking a planet out there is dying, and I don’t know what to do to help. Or if I can help. Or if it’s just my imagination playing tricks on me. But then I would keep dreaming about it. Why? Please, can you tell me anything? Anything at all?"

Yet, no matter how noble Rania’s intentions were—to help an unknown planet—she never got the answer to her questions. Even the voices would remain silent whenever she asked them about it. Well, at least until...

"Today," the old woman, Iris, responded, much to Rania’s surprise. She only ever heard her seven times, starting from her childhood up to that moment.

"Yes, Ms. Iris?"

A soft sigh could be heard from the old woman.

"Remember to be strong and take heart."

"Huh?" Rania got confused. "What do you mean? You didn’t answer my question. Will something bad happen?"

"..."