Dreams of Heathens, A Golden Sun: Dark Dawn fanfiction

Part 1

The sound of thousands of gears grinding through millennia of unused reverberated through the chamber. Emergency lights flashed, staining the walls with their blood-red hue. The man looked right into my eyes; I could see both the calm, sky blue iris and the eye wrapped in shadow behind the mask. A slight smile danced on his lips and I knew exactly what he wanted to say to me.

"You look just like your father."

I opened my eyes, taking in the silence of the campsite, the cool night breeze flowing over the fields. The remnants of the dream, the memory, clung to my fingertips, wisps of smoke from the dying campfire. That man, Arcanus, Alex, had been wandering my dreams since I saw him last atop the Apollo lens. It must have some meaning. I remember my father's numerous tales of prophesies in dreams, and of Ivan, who's destiny had been set since the prophesy that occurred in his infancy. If these dreams hinted at the future, their secret eluded me, hiding behind the mask, behind the half smile.

This line of thought was foolish. Dreams and visions were the tools of Jupiter, airheaded foolishness easily dispelled by one whose feet were planted firmly in the ground. To cement this idea in my head, I decided that the best way to commune with the earth would be walking upon it, so I carefully stepped over the inert forms of Tyrell and Karis and walked into the night. At first, I meant only to wander aimlessly and reassure myself, but the cool caress of grass on my feet filled me with a desire to watch something grow.

Walking over to an oak bent with age, I placed a hand on its trunk and filled it with my mind. There was a creaking sigh of relief that permeated through the tree as the tendrils of my Psynergy rushed through it, reaching from root to leaf. With several sharp cracks, the old oak lifted from its defeated stoop and stood tall, unwavering in the wind. After inspecting my work carefully, I turned to leave, but was momentarily frozen by the sight of the figure behind me.

"You look just like your father," said Arcanus "I've wanted to talk to you for some time, but I could never seem to get you on your own."

My hand automatically danced to my waist, groping for the sword that lay beside my sleeping mat. I cursed my thoughtlessness and settled for launching a barrage of stone spires at him.

"Now now," Alex whispered "there's no need for you to fight."

How had he gotten behind me so quickly? Even after all of the battles I had fought, I was powerless, cornered in a single move. No, I wasn't finished yet, I couldn't let him scare me.

The grass at Arcanus' feet erupted into a writhing sea of thorn-covered vines. They sprung up and waved their spiked limbs wildly, searching for a target that was no longer there. I spun on the spot, trying desperately to spot him before he could counter, but all was silent in the night.

"Damn." I breathed, looking at the stillness all around me, starting to wonder if these dreams and fantasies had copulated and given birth to waking dreams. Could I be losing my grip on the ground and falling into the sea of stars above me? There had to be some proof. I stumbled about, looking in vain for a sign that my mind was not fleeing. There was no proof, not a bent blade of grass, nothing that suggested that anyone else had been here. Nothing but a dream.

The sky and the plains opened wide to the heavens, and I felt lost within them, within my head. I needed to think, to sleep, to escape, to run away, to fly away, to do something that would make this real. Sinking to my knees, I clutched my head, moaning 'I need to get away' again and again. This sudden bout of Agoraphobia was so great that I didn't notice the hands that slid around my chest until I was pulled away from the ground and into the sea of stars above me.