I planned for a bit of reprieve. Just some time dedicated solely for me, myself and I.

Figured a couple hours of some shut-eye would do the trick just fine. Mentally, physically, whatever-ly - they were all worn down to the bone. My state of being was like a rickety, creaking bridge that just needed a single feather's worth of weight for it to come tumbling down to a sheer drop into the rapid, raging, rapids below.

That bridge was in dire need of some refurbishing, and sleep was indeed a very good fixer-upper.

Why sleep again, just woke up, didn't I? Had breakfast not even a few minutes ago, didn't I?

Trust me, I wouldn't be clamoring so desperately for some forty winks if I didn't need it. Truth of the matter was - I was still very much at the brink of collapse - eyelids so heavy that if I was up for any longer, I'd be needing some strong adhesive to keep them from closing shut.

'Sides, I don't see Ria batting an eye at my decision. Clearly she could see that I was still running on fumes here. Gonna need to recharge again.

Didn't think it'll take more than just a couple of hours before I'll be waking up right as rain.

Right as rain… funny…

It was a good plan, said me to myself, as I drifted into dreamland in the comforts of soft, silky sheets.

I'll be awake soon enough.

I did not start stirring until it was the crack of dusk.

Six in the evening, as claimed by the dim glow on my smartphone, also flickering awake with a nudge from my sluggish fingers.

Okay, maybe I dozed off for a bit longer than I originally planned. Surprised no one came to check up on me too.

I smell like shit.

Guess I'll take a shower first.

Groaning, I slowly clambered out of bed. Dazed, I flung a towel across my shoulder. So much slow, nearly stagnant movements made from my room to the bathroom - inert as all hell… but… there were no aches hampering my every joint, could stand upright without much effort, and there was no struggle placing one foot over the other… sleep did the trick.

I was in pain no longer.

Yay.

The water from the shower felt like the modern day fountain of youth. Every sprinkle, every warm droplet pouring down my face, was like a breath of life washing down upon me cleansing me of all my fatigue.

Needless to say, I left that bathroom as a new and improved me. For a moment or two… just a moment or two.

Then it all came rushing back as fast as it had left me. The three objectives that needed fulfilling.

Cleanse the Blightfall, find out where Adalia ran off to, and talk to Ash.

First one was already a no-go, I can't go about doing that without settling the second one first, and I don't have any leads to go off of to even go about accomplishing that too.

Third one was… well, the third one was as easy as simply walking down the stairs to the living room sofa.

Guess I'll settle that one first. Won't settle anything if I just stood around the room in my underwear.

Drew out some casual wear from my closet and began to dress. From fitting into baggy pants to throwing over a loose shirt over my head, dunno why but this pressure kept mounting inside of me, I guess now that I'm fully cognizant I was actually starting to comprehend the gravity of the situation before me.

Three and a half weeks… and a day off those weeks was spent just simply lying in bed.

Good job, me.

Creaked open my door only to be greeted by a warm glow of orange filtering through the windows. Outside, no flashes, no rumbles, wasn't even a single cloud in the sky - for all intents and purposes, it seems that today was a clear, sunny day.

Could almost forget that the events of yesterday even happened with how peaceful and calm everything was from the inside looking out.

Almost.

A step out the doorway, and immediately something wasn't off.

It was like a sixth sense. Wasn't sure whether it was due to recent events or something I just honed overtime, but the feeling in my gut just screamed at me that something wasn't right.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to a house as silent as the night. Seems about right that time, no one was inside except for me.

So why did I still wake up to quiet now?

It was still so very quiet, so very still.

Ash's room, her door remained ajar with a nary a soul in sight. The darkness, the dim atmosphere of the interior - what, nobody thought to turn on the lightswitch in the evening?

Why?

"Ash, you there?"

My voice was steady, strong surprisingly, and didn't sound like a sixty-year-old man no more, so it couldn't be that my voice was still too frail and weak to not be heard especially in such a silent ambiance.

So why wasn't Ash answering me back?

"Ria? How about you?"

Why wasn't Ria?

I'm gradually hating the feeling of hearing nothing… It's starting to get a little discomforting.

My steps down the stairs echoed loudly and profoundly in the quiet. Didn't take me long to reach the living room, rushing steps slowing to a halt atop the carpet - it was there that I got my answer.

Why wasn't Ash responding?

Because she was still asleep.

Ria?

Well, she was too. Soundly asleep, right across from each other.

It was just fatigue catching up on them, simple exhaustion as a result of keeping an eye on me overnight. It shouldn't be something worth getting worked up over.

Just simple paranoia on my part.

Yet I still was, still am - my sixth sense, that gut feeling, it was blaring louder than ever.

Something still wasn't right.

"Ash?"

A light tap at first, just a little nudge on the shoulder.

"Ash?"

Louder now.

"Ash, wake up!"

Harder now.

"Ria!"

None would budge. None would stir. None would wake.

There it was again. Apprehension surfacing as it has so many times before. At this point, I should be used to the feeling by now.

Maybe come one day, I will be… but as for now…

"Fucking - not again!"

Here as I was amidst a mystery I knew jack all about, standing helplessly in the center of the room, wondering to myself what the hell even happened.

I don't understand. Just this morning, they were fine. The both of them showed absolutely no signs of anything at all to indicate something off.

Ria was up, moving, talking, that snarky mouth of hers doing its job to perfection. Even had a chat with her over eggs and toast no problem.

And Ash was…

Ash was sleeping… noises pestered her.... but she never woke. I always thought that was peculiar… Ash was the lightest sleeper I know… yet she never stirred once despite it all.

Was that it? Was she already like this even in the morning and none of us had noticed it?

I thought she was just exhausted.

So what's the case here with Ria? Last I saw of her was with a smug expression, basking in the chance of having to see me hobble up the stairs myself.

She was still there, that smug look locked behind closed eyes and sealed lips, breathing faintly - her chest slowly rising and falling, the dim glow of her hair pulsating with every breath.

I searched my thoughts, scrounging desperately for any tidbit I might have missed that could explain all this.

There wasn't any. Blightfall can't do this… at least as far as I know. We talked of Listeners, Speakers, the Blight… Where the fuck in any of that was there any mention of people falling into comas?!

And if they did…

"Why am I awake?"

Another question strung in a line alongside many other questions. If only answers came as easy as questions do…

"Because… you are… Terestra's… son."

Apparently, they do.

I spun my head - the hallway leading to the front door, once empty, wasn't any longer. A pair of clouded, misty eyes, unblinking, stared at me from across the living room.

My voice sounded out loud before I even thought about speaking.

"You're back…" Thoughtless words that spoke the obvious. That's not what needed addressing right now. I spoke again, this time with thoughts collected. "What happened to them? Adalia do you know?"

A nod of the head.

"The Blightfall… isn't ordinary Blight..." Adalia spoke. "Ordinary… remains red… affects only when… touched."

"O… okay?" I didn't say much, I wanted her to continue.

And continue she did.

"The Blight… didn't remain red.... It turned… it blackened."

Blackened Blight. Ria mentioned this. Ria said that it was bad - how many weeks do I have?

"Blightfall… never turns… once fallen," Adalia continued. "But somehow it has…"

One and a half. I have a one and a half week timeframe to fix this… there's just one thing I didn't know though.

"What does it do?"

"It spreads… faster… and… better..."

"How? No, wait..." Now I was starting to understand. Adalia wouldn't be telling me this information if it wasn't relevant. The mystery of it all was slowly unraveling, and I didn't like the answer that was in front of me. "You're saying, Ash and Ria - they're both Blighted?"

Adalia shook her head, and for a moment, just for that split second in time, I thought perhaps I was wrong.

Fuck… if only I was…

"We all are…" Adalia corrected. "The Blight… it's in... the air..."