Sometimes, when he slept, he found himself falling. The scene was the same. A man showed up to offer an exchange. And then. Bodies stacked atop another, so many bodies, it was like he was falling into the sea. But one stood one, one so alive and so terrified and so similar to himself. He never reached the bottom of the sea of bodies.

Sometimes, he dreamed and a tall man showed up, with kind, sad eyes extending a hand to two like bodies. One so alive and sad and the other cradled in his arms.

Sometimes he dreamed and 'Fai' was in a place so similar and dissimilar, a land of snow and village houses and yet the people would smile at him, welcome him, appreciate him and all he did.

Sometimes he dreamed of a grandiose library and spend time gazing over pages he could not read and a warm fire giving light and warmth to the room.

Sometimes he dreamed of bodies - bodies he could not place and yet seemed so familiar with blood stains everywhere. Running past and his dream looked like he was bobbing his head out of a lake, but he could not be in a lake if he was running past bodies.

Sometimes he dreamed that he was still trapped in the tower and Yuui used the sword the King used and Yuui killed himself down there, having finally given up. He cried and screamed for him but now it was nothing but dead bodies down below.

Sometimes he dreamed and there was these three individuals nearby. There were others, the most prominent a woman, tall and formal and powerful. There were children, not yet adults and a man covered in blood. It did not look to be his own. They all had to give something up to travel across dimensions.

Sometimes he dreamed of dark skin and red eyes, staring through him and leaving him exposed… vulnerable. When he woke, he wondered if that man could really see him.

Sometimes he dreamed of children, so young and only one full of life. The other looked comatose and yet a single feather was sucked into her and she was just a little more alive.

Sometimes he dreamed of a bird lifting him far from the ground and into a fight.

Sometimes he dreamed of the rain. Looking down through a window as it poured and poured. The rain looked like the sky was crying.

Sometimes he dreamed of four legged beasts that were big enough to ride and snow. He dreamed of a lady who looked similar enough to their mother, surrounded by children. He dreamed the castle crumbled and the kids were safe.

Sometimes he dreamed of a tornado and a child, dreamed of a powerful lady with long nails and acid pouring from the sky like rain, and yet they seemed to be in a building.

Sometimes he dreamed of a giant lake that glowed. Of nothing but forest around. The world seemed so peaceful he wouldn't mind staying there longer.

Sometimes he dreamed and he saw that tall man who took 'Fai's' hand. The man seemed to know only one of them could be saved, and it made him sad, but he expressed he wanted to save them both even if it wasn't possible.

Sometimes he dreamed of charming women and a new house and as the light disappeared, a monster crashed through the wall. With the red eyed man and the kid attacking it, it soon disappeared. He dreamed of chocolate that made him hungry when he awoke.

Sometimes he dreamed of being killed and waking up in a cocoon.

Sometimes he dreamed of furry creatures wearing scarves and dancing around a fire. There was the sound of drums and nonsensical singing.

Sometimes he dreamed of trying to break out of the Tower, and his hands becoming raw and the feeling of crying for years to no avail. Reaching out to do anything to ease his brother's pain.

Sometimes he dreamed and there was a girl as small as he with long hair and she looked like royalty. He dreamed of talking to her, although the conversations were always short.

Sometimes he dreamed of a temple and endless liquor. He dreamed of a statue that began to bleed from the eyes and the sky cracking abovehead.

Sometimes he dreamed of a castle, although it looked more like a giant crystal with pieces sticking every which way from far away, dreamed of being at war and felling people with the strike of an arrow, of a swordsman with black eyes and dark skin refusing to deliver a death blow, even though he easily could. Everything that was said around him was complete gibberish.

Sometimes he dreamed of strange flying creatures holding people and an explosion where he fell from the sky.

Sometimes he dreamed of the Tower crumbling all around him, and being so ready to join his brother, yet the building crumbled and he lived. He dreamed of looking for him, and finding him partially crushed. He worked as hard as he could to unbury him, when he heard shouting and the sound of thundering footsteps.

Sometimes he dreamed of a party, a lot of celebrating and then an explosion. A familiar face was there, wielding a weapon of sorts.

Sometimes he dreamed of a land, a land he hardly knew, and yet he was to rule it. How could he rule a kingdom when everyone else was dead? There was one soldier from one of those foreign armies that swore to him he would help him restore this kingdom. How could two people alone restore an entire kingdom?

Sometimes he dreamed of libraries on fire and yet the books did not burn.

Sometimes he dreamed of buildings crumbling under the burning rain. And one standing tall yet filled with bodies killed with arrows.

Sometimes he dreamed of being eaten, of seeing that man with the dark skin and red eyes, holding 'Fai'. Of a girl trapped in a cocoon, and a man with fingernails as long as the lady that brought forth acid.

Sometimes he dreamed of seeing magic used against children, against adults, anyone and anything that stood in the way of retrieving those white feathers.

Sometimes he dreamed of being almost entirely alone. There would be footsteps, and that brief hope it was his brother, that he hadn't really died, but it was inevitably dashed as he saw the soldier. The soldier that had promised to serve him. Why? What had he done to earn that loyalty when everyone else had shunned him, wanted him to be unhappy, would have been happy if he had died?

Sometimes he dreamed, and he was sure he was in a dream. That young child was stabbed and dissolved into petals, trying to say something.

Sometimes he dreamed and it felt the most like a dream of turning back time, of soldiers with bat insignia and of a tube with souls inside. Of time warping and bending and twisting as reality dissolved, as that man, that man that offered an exchange fought against children, against that red-eyed man, against 'Fai'. It was always such a whirl that sometimes he forgot his perspective changed during the fight.

Sometimes he dreamed of desert sands and ruins like feathers. He dreamed of birds and flowers, and running waters, something he had rarely seen except in dreams. And children, almost adults who shared their real names. And somehow, this, this felt right. Even as he knew, this 'Fai' was not him, where he knew he would have to die to see that this dream was the one that became real.

Sometimes he dreamed of that soldier, of going out to the lands and working magic to heal the lands as that soldier stood by, guarding him. What from, what could possibly hurt them now, now that there was only the two of them? And yet, the soldier stood dutifully. He cooked for him, acted as much a servant as a soldier for him. He found out one day, why that soldier was there. Men with bat insignia showed up. And no matter how hard he fought, more would show up. And even with his healing magic and his protection magic, there was only so much he could do for his one loyal soldier. He dreamed of holding that soldier, knowing what was about to happen, knowing the world, their reality, was being destroyed, slowly becoming only the land around them and the bodies on the ground. He dreamed of removing that soldier's helm, and there was red eyes and dark skin looking at him, saying he was sorry for not being enough to save him.

But mostly he dreamed of falling.