[ it truthfully doesn't take her long to realise the music is coming from inside of her mind. she's spent years walking into another's dreams, manipulating it to her liking, that she can easily discern when another wishes to take to her own. though it'd taken her quite a few minutes to learn stefan was manipulating her within the tomb, it only takes her a few days to realise the music that renders her remorseful is coming from inside of her head. it makes her angry, knowing it's tricking her as she wonders if she's truly asleep now as she lies within her chambers in mair. she knows she's asleep, but a part of her wonders if she is at all. ]

[ she slips into her dreams, finding herself within bulgaria once more. the cottage she stands before is cloaked within darkness, fire brimming along the skirts of the woods as she can see the destruction from inside the house from outside. she can smell the blood of her mother, her father, and her sister inside, but above the sounds of the harp, she can hear the cries of a baby, too. it's with long strides, through timid if one was to glance at her fingers curling within fists, she approaches her childhood home. and it's with a deep breath she steels herself for what it is she's about to find, so determined to shatter the harp that haunts her even when she's not asleep. ]