I Reincarnated as an NPC Witch

The Nightmare

She nods, although, she’s feeling very sick at the very moment. “Maybe it’s just the juice, I never tried some of these. And, this is a big mug by the way. My whole hand doesn’t even wrap around the handle.” Edsel laughs, “Didn’t you specify a much smaller container? I mean, how can Thallasses know you don’t like a big mug.” Abigail sighs as she gulps some more drink, “It’s a good drink, though.” As she was drinking, her peripherals caught the sight of a concern, Lavena. She lowered the mug, “Are you okay, Lavena?” “I should ask you that, Crocus. Are you really okay? Your face is flushing.” Abigail starts to get concerned, “What?” Wren joins in the conversation, “Yeah, your face is a bit red at the moment. Are you falling in love with the drink?”

“Are there any mirrors in here?” Lavena looks at Catrina, “I know Catrina has one.” The alchemist looks at them with a straight face, “My mirror is not for those purposes. Just believe them you have rashes on your face.” Abigail’s heart dropped, “R-rashes?” Catrina hisses, “It looks like one.” Suddenly, the witch feels itchiness on her body. She started scratching herself, “What’s in this drink?” “You’re the one who ordered that, fella. You should know that.” Winsel said as he takes a peek at the mug. Abigail immediately carries it and rushes to the counter, where she even pushed one individual just to get to Thallasses. “Thallasses!” She cried as the robust bartender’s attention shifted towards her. He was still holding some pints in his hand and sets them aside. “What’s with the distressed call, my lady?” Abigail puts the mug rather harshly, making a loud thump on the desk. “What did you put in here?” She said as she breathes heavily, resisting the urge to scratch her body is the hardest task she could do. “Hmm… What’s your order again?” He grabs the mug and smells its inside. “A Regon Whiskey!?” She shouted loudly with a troubling red face. “I-I thought it’s some sort of juice that’s made of flower!?” Abigail can’t resist it as she started scratching her arms and even her abdomen, just hiding everything with her robe. “It’s concerning because I remembered that I offered you a Pipe Poppy juice. I am sure that you didn’t order a Regon Whiskey, and this is a strong one.”

“I got her juice! That’s my order!” Someone with a short stature said it stood on the table just to be seen. Thallasses sighs, “My bad. I have exchanged your two’s orders.” “M-my bad!? I-I have a literal allergen with these things!” She said as she starts to burp but it’s not a good one. It’s one of those acid burps and it makes her more uncomfortable. “Is there a restroom here, a sink, or something!?” She said as Lavena and Keeana approached her as she started to descend on the ground. “Here, hero!” One squeaky voice said as an empty bucket appeared in front of her. She didn’t hesitate or even questioned anything and immediately vomits on the bucket. Some people walk back in disgust as Abigail makes a scene.

She doesn’t care if they are judging her indecency right now. She needs to let it all out or her breathing pattern would be affected with refluxes. She breathes for some seconds before going through another batch. “Catrina! Help us here, come on!” Keeana shouted with concern. “I’m on it, okay!? I don’t know what could I let her drink for this situation!” Catrina said as she shuffles on her robe, finding something that could help them right now. “Anyone here is a witch or something of a herbal doctor!?” Keeana looks at everyone. “I am one but I don’t know what I can help for her.”

Abigail kept vomiting. She feels every energy she had gained from the past hours slowly fade away in just a manner of seconds. She leans on both Keeana and Lavena. “Crocus.” The latter called her as she cupped her cheek. “Crocus, what are you feeling exactly?” Abigail was too tired to even open her mouth. She feels like she has vomited everything, the food she has eaten, the drink she drank, and everything in her body maybe. She slowly closed her eyes. “Crocus!” Lavena shakes her head. Keeana shakes her as well. “Crocus, don’t close your eyes.” Abigail didn’t listen as soon as she closed her eyes, her consciousness shut down as well in an instant.

Abigail’s eyes are still close but her consciousness is already up. She feels a very cold environment. She can’t feel any soft mattresses behind her back. She can’t feel any soft pillows behind her head and neck. It was a strange feeling. It makes her scared to open her eyes. The next thing that happened makes her even more scared.

She heard a voice whispered in her ears. It was a cold, ominous voice. She can feel something breathes onto it. “Such a weak rival…” The voice said it made Abigail embrace herself more. “I pity you.” Even though she can’t see anything, she feels that the voice withdraws from her ears. “A drink, a simple drink, not even a magical one, could do that to you.” She can now hear it in both of her ears, it became more echo-y than it ever was. She hears a sinister mocking giggle. “I don’t want to call you weak because I still don’t know you.” A laugh can be heard again. “What if you already confronted me? What your weak body will do? Tremble into pieces?” She feels something touched her chin. It was cold, it was intimidating. She shakes it away in hopes that it will go away. It did but the voice didn’t. “I would love to see that.” Another ominous laugh was heard. Then, there’s silence.

“I know why are you with them.” Abigail clenches her fist, she’s motivating herself not to be shared with all of these. Although, she’s trembling in fear, for she doesn’t know where she is right now. “What do you want?” She said in a determined manner. She can feel the figure looks at her, she knows who is in front of her. “Right question, but, I don’t answer things for you. Isn’t that the meaning and purpose of adventure?” He giggles. “Then, it will be longer ‘till you get what you want.” Another faint giggle was heard, “I can wait. I am not impatient. The best things come at the right time if you wait. And, I want that best thing to come.” She can feel a hand touches her shoulder, it sent another wave of chills through her. “Besides, I still need you to be prepared. I can’t just push someone who just came a day ago to cooperate.” He squeezes her shoulder, she released a guttural squeal with the pain he inflicted. “You will someday, you will. You will be useful for once.”

Abigail took a deep breath as the dark wizard released her. “You flinched. Adorable.” She kept her eyes shut, she doesn’t want to look at anything or even know where she is. “They’re finding you now. I guess I need to let you go.” She feels his hand caresses her hair, “I’ll be watching your growth. Don’t disappoint me.” Her head was suddenly pushed in a harsh manner.

She rises up on the bed that startled half of the people in the room. Her eyes are wide open and she’s breathing heavily as if she was from a nightmare. “Crocus!” Keeana embraces her. “Crocus, are you okay?” Lavena approaches her and caresses her cheek. Abigail was just staring wherever her head turns. She was still mesmerized by what just happened. “Hey, are you okay?” Lavena slaps her gently on her cheeks. Abigail turns to her with a straight face, although, it’s obvious in her eyes that she came from a distressing place. “I… I am fine.” She takes a deep breath and looks around. It was the room she had, everyone was here. They are either standing or sitting somewhere. All of them are looking at her. “You don’t seem fine.” Winsel said as he approached her, “Tell us what happened. I am sure that it’s worth mentioning.”

She looks away, thinking about everything that just occurred in the past minute. She sighs as she sets her hair aside, looking on the mattress in a concerning way. “You were struggling earlier, your arms were closed tight on your sides as if you were tied. What happened, Crocus?” Winsel added as she looks at him, “I was here the whole time?” Gallant snorts, “What makes you think you aren’t? Do you think we will throw you in the woods or something?” Lavena glares at him that makes him shut up and straighten his attitude. “What happened?” She turns to Abigail, looking at her directly at her eyes. The witch sighs, “He’s back… He haunted me in my unconscious mind.” Winsel clicks his tongue and a winning smirk as his face, “I knew it. That justifies me shouting at her.” Lavena rolls her eyes and sighs, “What did he do to you?” Abigail wraps her arms on her knees, turning herself into a ball. “He really didn’t do anything else to me. My body was just stiff, frozen in time. My eyes are closed the whole time, I only can just feel his figure wherever he goes. He’s still murmuring about me being weak, especially what happened earlier.”

“Speaking of, are you feeling much better, Crocus?” Keeana sets her hair behind her ears to see her face behind her hair. Abigail nods, “Although, I am not feeling better as a whole with that happening. He haunted me just to mock me in my dreams. That I am still weak and not prepared.” Lavena shakes her head, “He will do that of course, he knows you can’t fight. Especially in a dream. Winsel, do you still got those dreamcatcher necklaces?” He nods as he pulls one out of Edsel’s backpack. “I do.” He chucks it across the room as Lavena catches it. She shows it to Abigail, “Wear this. That will ward off his powers over dreams. As someone that doesn’t have anything to do with dreams, you aren’t suited to be unprotected.” Edsel shrugs, “I am glad that Win even thought of stealing those in our father’s house. It’s not one of his attitudes, but he’s a great thief if he was one.” Winsel nudges him in the elbow and glares at him.

Abigail reaches for the necklace as looks at it. It looks like a real dreamcatcher in her reality. Although, she thinks that the materials that are used in making these are much authentic and more magical than the ones sold in her world. She lets it swirl for a while, watching it spin on the lace. Finally, she wears it. There she just realized that her robe was gone. She was just wearing the dress that was under the robe. She also noticed another necklace, it was a necklace with a crescent moon pendant that holds a purple gemstone. It was buried in the upper piece of clothing she has, thus, it prevents it from hanging.

“I am sure he will not bother you anymore in your dreams. At least, if he bothers you again, you have an ability to fight back in anything that he will do to you.” Lavena stands, “We should be preparing for the day. I think the breakfast is served downstairs. Crocus, you could stay here for a while if you want. We will just get you some food.” “Yeah! You better rest for now. You released a lot last night!” Lavena shakes her head, “Let’s go.”

They all left her alone in the room. She wasn’t able to say goodbye to them. She was looking at the pendant of her other necklace. She lets it rest on her palm where she can inspect it. Abigail looks at the window, thinking that she could inspect it better with much better lighting. She goes off her bed, holding the pendant which is buried in her hands. Suddenly, she felt a sudden change happened in her hand. She can’t feel the thin edges, but rather, a cylindrical one. She pulls her hand, revealing something more magical in herself.