~A Day Before the Challenge~

[Valerie]

As I walked to the arena the next day, I was certain that I had become incapable of feeling any emotion. I felt numb. Only that. The claw marks on my palms had healed and the indents almost felt like a figment of my insane brain. I couldn’t erase the look on my face that I saw in the warped memory. Why can’t I remember? What happened after I fainted? Would Viola know? Would she tell me?

My senses jarred back when I bumped into someone.

“Woah, you okay?” I looked up to find myself staring at Moran. He had grasped my shoulder lightly, steadying me. I nodded and stepped back, murmuring a ‘Thank you.'

“I just… got no sleep last night,” I explained, although there wasn’t any need to do so. He didn’t prod, either. However, as he fell into step with me, he asked anyway, “Worried about your cousin?” In retrospect, had I been more myself, I would have noticed a certain edge in his tone when he uttered the word ‘cousin’.

I shook my head. “She is quite relieved with the ‘punis