Warning: Potential manga spoilers - AND WITH MY OWN TWIST AS USUAL.

⤜✵♤✵⤛

Reader POV

"Be on guard," I warned the others.

They all had their weapons out and mana skins activated.

"Remember, the goal isn't to kill them," I reminded everyone.

As we advanced into the mining tunnels, I heard the faint sound of instruments playing.

"I believe it is someone who has music magic," Rill piped up.

I stopped. "I know this song..."

Dancing bears,

Painted wings,

Things I almost remember,

And a song someone sings,

Once upon a December.

Someone holds me safe and warm,

Horses prance through a silver storm,

Figures dancing gracefully

Across my memory

Someone holds me safe and warm,

Horses prance through a silver storm,

Figures dancing gracefully

Across my memory.

Far away,

Long ago,

Glowing dim as an ember,

Things my heart used to know,

Things it yearns to remember,

And a song someone sings,

Once upon a December.

(Disclaimer: I do NOT own Anastaisa the Movie Soundtrack!)

My heart started to thump against my chest as I heard the song.

My mother would sing it to me. Back home, I had a music box that would play the same song.

"Mother..."

I slowly started walking towards a ray of light.

"(y/n)!"

My vision turned white and I was transported back to happier times.

"MOM!!" A younger version of me was running through a snowstorm to the house where I grew up.

My mother was standing in the doorway. "(y/n)! Come in, come in! I've got a song to sing to you,"

I followed my younger self, feeling the warmth of the fire as Mother tucked in my younger self to bed.

She began to sing the same song with a hint of sorrow in her voice.

I noticed something about her.

Now I understood why Vanica reminded me so much of someone I knew long ago.

My mother looked just like her, in terms of facial features.

Almost as if they were related.

"Darling, I'm going to go soon," she was saying. "Sleep well, alright?"

My younger self was fast asleep.

I knew this memory very well. It was the night before she died.

She had given birth to my brothers. I could hear their cries in the next room.

I could see my mother collapsing on the ground outside of my room.

My father heard the noise.

"Anne!" He helped my fallen mother up from the floor. "You need to rest. Save your strength."

Mother coughed up some blood. "Oh, shut up, William. You know damn well that I'll be dead by tomorrow. It's the curse, darling."

My vision flashed and I was back in the mines.

My group's eyes were all glossy.

"I'm not surprised you broke out of the spell," a male with black hair and green eyes smirked. "After all, you are the daughter of the King's daughter."

My heart pounded. Something about that seemed...true.

My head begun to spin.

"Well, it is no shock," he continued. "The name's Ebony."

Ebony stood up from his piano and it kept playing many tunes.

"To you, you will hear one tune. Everyone else will hear tunes from their past. Along with a vision," Ebony explained as he sat cross-legged in the snow. "Now. Music Magic: Symphony of Lost Memories."

My vision flashed once more and I was outside of a castle.

I saw a younger version of my mother. She was carrying a little baby outside of the castle.

"Anne!" My father was pulling up in a horse. "C'mon."

I watched my mother pass me over to him carefully so she could climb onto the horse.

It sped off into the night from the Royal House.

Shouts could be heard from the Royal Family, House Grinberryal.

Things spend up to when Mother was walking on her own, when suddenly, she was cornered.

Mother was pregnant with the triplets.

"Hello,"

I recognized the voices.

It was Dante, Zenon, and Vanica!

Dante raised his hands. "Found her. She's one of the last House Grinberryal descendants."

And so, I watched with horror as she was cursed to die after giving birth to my brothers.

The vision faded.

"Now do you understand?" Ebony said as he got up and cupped my cheek.

My heart rate increased.

"You see, I'm the one who was tasked with killing you. It's a shame, really. You're a beautiful girl, no doubt about it. But we cannot have any loose ends. We as the Dark Disciples will bring peace to the lands by bringing the devils to this land."

He was about to speak again when Asta came out of the trance and his demon form took over.

"Asta!" I pushed Ebony away and ran over to my comrade. "Are you alright?"

He was shaking. "What was that I just saw?"

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "He was showing you something about your past, Asta."

I could tell the teen was badly shaken up, by the way he could hardly look at me without crying.

"What did he show you?"

"My parents."

Nozel POV

I could hear footsteps ahead.

"Be on your guards," I snapped. Fuegeleon was beside me as we lead our group out of the mine.

"Oh, it's just us," two figures emerged from the shows.

One was female, one was male.

The female had black hair and red eyes as the male had blonde hair and purple eyes.

The female was wearing clothing that streetwalkers would and the male was dressed like a noble.

"Has she no shame?" I growled. "Whoever you are, change. I refuse to be in the presence of a woman who dresses indecently."

"It's because of my magic, darling," she winked as I internally gagged. "Seduction Magic: Roses of Aphrodite!"

Flowerpetals rained down on us from above.

"It's a trap!" Noelle put us all in Sea Dragon's Cradle.

However...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the male said quietly. "Rina gets lots of power from me,"

To demonstrate, he kissed the female deeply and his hands roamed her body.

The spell that Rina was using turned into rose thorns and Sea Dragon's Cradle popped and the air became hazy.

"Time to sleep, darlings," Rina had a sadistic smile on her as our world went dark.