A dream. A state where one person can imagine anything at their own hands. People claim that it's the strongest orce in the world, yet others flock in their belief that its a simple delusion, that age is the blinder of dreams. When one stops dreaming, their world becomes grey, like they have nothing to live for. Only that is when you've suffered a true death.
In what seemed to be a completely different realm, the land as the water, rippling gently as Shiro slowly opened his eyes, glancing up at the countless amount of stars that filled the sky. Countless rifts of energy crackled through the landscape that he was currently sat in. He felt the water, but his hands weren't wet. He felt a sharp pain in the side of his head, feeling a warm, light embrace start rubbing their fingers across his face, then slowly drifting through his hair. For some reason, he didn't move. He moved his hand towards the light, before he heard a voice.
"Shiro, is that you..? I'm seeing you...now..." The feminine voice whispered. Shiro looked in confusion at the hand, noticing the light starting to materialize. With a slight blink, Shiro looked as a woman had revealed herself to be sitting infront of him. Her robes were lose, yet nothing was revealing. Her hair was in a bun with no loose ends. Her eyes glistened a light grey as he gazed up and down at her.
"Who...are you..?" Shiro looked at the woman, trying to stand up, but failing as he fell back into his initial position. As him and the woman locked eyes, he felt an overwhelming presence linger over him. With each second, his stomach churned. His head ached. His eyes twitched. He gritted his teeth before he took a deep breath, speaking,
"You're-" He could barely even finish the words before he felt his energy getting drained. Before he even noticed, his body wasn't moving. Despite how hard he wanted to try to move, he needed to know more. The woman who sat in front of him with a smile knew the answers to his questions. Was everything just a chance? Just, fate choosing to interfere this ONE time with certain events? Or were they all orchestrated by the one in charge.
"Don't be foolish, Shiro. I knew you'd accuse me for things that are out of my control. I'm not who you think I am. You don't even know who, or even WHAT you're actually looking at. But that doesn't matter. Nothing does in a realm like this. Remind yourself that this is YOUR dream. I'm just a figment that you've made up. You assume that I'm responsible because that' what you're hoping. Isn't that right?" The woman spoke, looking at him with a sense of disappointment. With a light tap to the chest, she knocked him unconscious, extracting his impure soul. She looked at its bright glow, absorbed by small shards of darkness.
"There's only one piece of advice I can relay to you, soul. You have the ability to save everybody. I know that you'll figure it out. You just have to take a different form in the same body." She whispered as she tore out the impurities, placing the soul back into Shiro's body. With a quick tap, she quickly eliminated him from his dream, causing him to instantly wake up in his bed. His breath staggered as he adapted to finally waking up after remaining asleep for a longer amount of time than he had usually slept for. He took a deep breath as his eyes drifted from the left to the right, sitting up again.
"Save everybody...That's my goal, huh..." He spoke as he stood up, looking at his clothes. They still remained intact. With sharp looks, his instincts suddenly kicked in as he sprinted out of the house, stopping near the grassy areas. In the distance, he saw 2 figures walking back to the house. One who seemed to be burnt, his scars reflecting his raageful emotions, and another, who seemed to be carrying him.
"Cera and Roya...But--" Shiro looked as he sprinted over to the both of them.
"Shiro..? I didn't think you'd be up and fully sprinting this quickly. Is your head okay? We tried patching it up to the best of our abilities but it's you who gives the okay, right? So, tell me you're okay." Roya spoke, looking directly at the soaked bandages on Shiro's forehead, then looking into his eyes with a sense of desperation. She couldn't have another one of her friends being hurt. Not after Cera...
"Yeah...I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me. The question is, what the HELL happened to him..?" He glanced over at Cera, seeing the burns on his face, the splatters of blood all over his clothes, his hair messy and undone. He was at his currently lowest state that he had been in the last 2 years. It's like disaster lurked no matter where they went.
"I'll have to explain everything...." Roya looked as she continued walking, trying to carry Cera before gently dropping him onto the grass, taking her sunglasses off as her energy started flowing from her eyes to her fingertips, creating a field of healing energy.
"It doesn't matter how large everything is. I just need to know everything. I want to know why they did this to him, what happened to you two and so much more. Why you hate Lord Eryx, how you even found this place, I want to know everything, Roya. Please." Shiro looked, latching his hand onto her shoulder as he pleaded, "I want to know. I have a job to do." He spoke with a full amount of certainty, Roya simply looking up at him, sighing.
"Recalling events is gonna be hard, you know? Just- let me heal Cera first, then I can show you everything." She spoke, trying to force a smile on her face, but despite her efforts, she just couldn't. She couldn't find it in herself to smile at a time like this. Shiro watched as he sat down, looking at her.
In her most vulnerable moment, Roya looked at Shiro. Shiro looked at Roya. Her eyes weren't the original hazel that they used to be. He saw a glistening flash before they both seemed to be sharing a conscious mind that Roya was in control of.
"The past. Let's slow down the pacing."