Hello, Fizby here. Again. Who else? ^_^
Well, scary as it is, I'm gonna do a fic that's actually serious. ::Gasp!:: Oh well, here goes the horror
Oh yes, and I can't remember who sings the song in this chapter, so if you could tell me, I'd really appreciate it so that I can give credit to that artist. Thankies! =^-^=
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CHAPTER 1: THE SWORD
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"I'm not crazy,
I'm just a little unwell.
I know, right now you can't tell.
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me.
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired.
I know, right now you don't care,
But soon enough,
You're gonna think of me,
And how I used to be. . ."
Shells rattled together as they hit each other. Shortly after, a double knock hit the door. Without invitation, a tall, motherly figure opened the door and entered the room.
Rei, who had already stopped singing, was busying herself with shuffling papers around on the floor, pretending she was actually working. "Hey, Mom." Rei greeted the person with a smile.
Her mother, Anna Marie, glanced quickly around the room. Her sharp gaze quickly noted that the mess on the floor hadn't changed much since she was last up here. Which was well over and hour ago. "I just came in here to check and see how you were doing." Her eyes settled on Rei.
Rei plastered a fake grin on her face, replying politely. But secretly, she blessed the curtain of shells outside her room. . . They allowed her to daydream and "doddle", as her mother put it, as much as she wanted, and it gave her a second to look like she was doing something productive.
Rei and Anna Marie looked at each other for a while in silence. Well, almost silence. Rei had her boom box turned on, and it played softly in the background. After a minute or two, Anna exited the room. But before Rei could sigh in relief and go back to her daydream, Anna Marie's head poked through the door. "Remember," she warned. "No internet or TV until this mess is picked up." With that said, she left in a clatter of shells. The stairs creaked as Rei's mother went back downstairs.
Rei counted to 10 in silence. Deciding that her mother wasn't going to disturb her for a while, she got up with a groan and closed the door. She remembered to lock the door this time, even though it didn't work. Her dog could push open the door when she tried to lock it. Still, it gave her a feeling of privacy.
She stretched and looked around the room. Her bed was cluttered with books. The floor was full with paper, notebooks, and clothes. The desk. . . Well. . . Rei didn't even want to *think* about that. Taking care not to crush something or stab her foot, Rei crossed the rook and stood in front of the mirror.
Looking back at her was a girl who had just become a teenager. Black hair that came half a foot beneath her shoulders was tied back in a messy ponytail. Crystalline blue eyes stared back at Rei, catching the light with a mischievous twinkle. Her semi-pale, semi-tan skin contrasted with the dark clothes she was wearing.
Tearing her gaze away from the mirror, Rei looked again around her room. For the past three days, she had been "working," but only an hour's worth of cleaning had actually been accomplished. She sat down in a small circle of bare carpet, where she had been sitting before her mother interrupted her.
Her eyes first fixated on the closet doors across from her. Slowly, her eyes unfocused and she escaped from dreary reality to a dream with no boundaries. Often, she dreamt that she had magical powers that were secret and hers alone. While sometimes her dreams were unrealistic, she did have "normal", mundane daydreams too. Dreaming about things like that "special guy" who would not consider her a freak.
An hour or two passed. Rei was right now dreaming about obtaining a sword with magical properties when a shout awakened her. "Rei! Come downstairs! Dinner's ready!"
Rei sighed and left the sword where it lay. Quickly, she crossed the bedroom and left. She flew down the steps and entered the kitchen. Anna Marie and Rei's father, Derik, sat at a round, wooden table. Meike, her little sister, sat at the island in the center of the kitchen.
Rei sat down next to Meike and looked at her plate. On it was steak, potatoes, and corn. She smiled and ate with a will. When she finished, Rei trudged up the steps. She went into her room and sat down once again on the floor.
For half an hour, Rei struggled to recapture her dream and claim the sword. But she couldn't go back. Cursing herself for her weakness, she worked on cleaning her room for fourty-five minutes. Finishing with the pile of paper she had been working on, she yawned. "I guess I can go to bed now." Rei smiled, looking at her handiwork. "This should throw Mom off the trail for a while."
Chuckling at her jest, she entered the bathroom, conveniently located bright by her room. Shooing Meike out, she grabbed her toothbrush and. . . brushed her teeth. She pulled the ponytail out of her hair and grabbed a brush. She combed her hair while walking back to her room. When she finished, she set down the brush on the nightstand. Rei then switched her normal attire with pink pajamas with sheep jumping fences on it.
Rei turned off the light and slipped into bed. Quietly, she waited for her parents to go into their bedroom and close the door. When she knew that they wouldn't be bugging her, she grabbed a flashlight and a book out from underneath the pillow next to her. Burrowing under the blankets, Rei started to read.
When Rei could no longer stand the air under the covers, she got out and turned off the flashlight. She took it and the book and stuffed them underneath the pillow. Looking over at her alarm clock, she almost cussed out loud. The time was 11:59.
That would not be so bad, except that tomorrow was a school day, and Rei had to wake up at 6 o'clock. Rei quickly closed her eyes.
Rei fell asleep almost instantly. She dreamed that she was walking along a wide hallway. . .
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THE DREAM
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Rei's footsteps echoed as she walked along the hallway. She was the only one here, and she thought she could hear water dripping nearby. None of that caught her attention, though. In front of her was the sword, the sword from her daydream.
The blade shined with an arcane brilliance. On the hilt was a strange stone that Rei had never seen before. It seemed to be four colors all at once: red, yellow, purple, and blue. She wasn't sure how that was even possible, but there it was, before her.
Rei ran over to the sword with a cry of childish delight. When she got there, she felt drawn to the sword. Knowing that this was a dream, she decided to pick it up.
Her hand closed over the hilt.
::Or am I dreaming?::
She picked up the sword.
::This metal is really cold. . .::
She felt a prick in her hand.
::You can't feel pain in dreams, right?::
She pondered about whether or not this was really a dream, when the metal became colder than ice. The unnatural chill spread like a disease all throughout her body. Rei screamed in pain and tried to let go of the sword, but it wouldn't let her. It had become like a part of her body.
::This is a dream. A terrible, terrible dream. I'll open my eyes, and this will all be over. I'll be in my own bed, in my house.::
The pain suddenly increased. It seemed her body would be ripped apart.
::This is a dream. Please, make it stop.::
Black outlined her vision.
::This is a dream! Make it stop!::
The world crumbled beneath her feet.
::I'm not dreaming. This is rea---::
She never got to finish her thought.
In the distance, Rei could hear footsteps and someone shouting. But she didn't hear. She was floating down into darkness.
Floating. . .
Falling. . .
Black. . .
Nothing. . .
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END OF CHAPTER 1: THE SWORD
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Sorry I have to end this with a boring commentary, but the story would be a lot more interesting if I knew how you can put italics tags in without it actually showing the tags. So, if you know how to get the desired effect, PLEASE share your knowledge, Oh Wise One! ^^;