The stairs were cold under her bare feet, leading into the darkness below. She didn't know what lay in wait for her at the bottom and the unknown terrified her. Yet, she felt an irresistible urge to discover it and grasp the hidden truth. With each step forward, she had to summon a renewed mountain of courage. With each step she took downward, her heart ached more. Slowly, she descended. Second by second, she tried to control her trembling breath. Clouds of steam formed near her lips and a little frightened squeak escaped them when she slipped on a warm, viscous liquid. Repressing her overwhelming desire to turn back and flee from this obscure place filled with nothing but a faint metallic scent and a loud silence, she continued forward. Each step felt more difficult than the last, as if she were approaching an invisible magnet. Yet, she had to reach the bottom because she knew that, deep down, there was...

"Yuyu!"

She jumped, awoken by the sound of her own voice echoing in the room. Sitting up in her damp bed, her body covered in sweat, she took deep breaths to calm herself, still panting and, for no reason, crying. She fumbled around in the dark, searching for her glass of water. A long chill ran down her spine as she felt the cold night air on her skin.

"What was that...?" she murmured, placing a hand on her forehead and trying to grasp the remnants of her dream which were melting away like snow in the sun. Soon, nothing remained but an unsettling feeling. Not wanting to go back to bed right away, she got up and went to the moonlit bathroom to freshen up. "Are you looking at it too?" she wondered, wiping down the water from her face. "To think we are living under the same sky... and tonight... tonight we will watch it together. The same sky, filled with lights and wonders. Yet... I'm sure the most beautiful spectacle won't be up there, but next to me...".

She sighed, her heart filled with mixed feelings: Impatience, apprehension, anxiety, fear, excitement and sadness. "No, no, no, no, this night has to be memorable. There's no time for negative feelings with her, I must put them aside for now.". She returned to her room and opened the window and let in some fresh air and pale light. She grabbed some parchment, her quill as well as her Konghou and sat on the windowsill.

"What was it again? That weird dream... Let me bleed you out of my heart..."

She waited there for a long time, contemplating the large white disc that had inspired so many poets, grazing her fingers over the strings, looking for inspiration until a little insect with four wings flew past, its silhouette fluttering against the moon.

She dipped her quill in ink and wrote the first note of her new composition:

"Midnight butterfly"

Ye Yu's melody

Midnight butterfly