Disclaimer: I own a copy of the Odin Sphere game and this particular story. Everything else belongs to VanillaWare.
Summary: (AU) Oswald, a sick and dieing young man, dreams of the days of knights, fairies, dragons, and the woman of his dreams. But is she actually real?
Chapter 01: Reality and…?
Crap… am I really dead this time? Everything is so white… and blurry. Wait… can white even be blurry?
My eyes are so heavy; it takes everything I have just to keep them open. Maybe I'm not dead, just somewhere else? Where am I?!
My eyes scan the whiteness, trying desperately to find anything that could help me remember. Nothing. Just white, white, and more white. Damn it! Think, think! What happened?!
I shut my eyes tight, and I swear I feel part of my forehead cave in from the pressure. My head was hurting like no tomorrow, but I didn't care.
I tossed myself back and forth, trying to smash my brain into my scull as hard as I could. My own form of shock therapy I guess. It worked last time I forgot everything, granted it's not so bad this time. I can still remember my name.
Think! Damn it, think!
School, I remember school. I remember how tight my damn tie felt as I was walking home. And then…
Pain erupted from the back of my skull…
Then, someone grabbed my backpack! They pulled me back, and I fell out of my backpack straps. And I hit the back of my head…
It explained one thing at least…
Then there's darkness. And a flash! There were three of them, and they're laughing.
Oh, yeah. Let's pick on the sick kid. Assholes…
I can't see their faces, but they're all wearing the same uniform as me. One of them is still holding my backpack, and I can see his hand rummaging through it…
Bastard! When I get my hands on him I'll…!
The flash is gone, and my head is counting down the seconds before it explodes. I stop shaking my head in a sad attempt to convince my brain to not kill itself today, I still need it. And I already know no more memories will come anyway. But one fact, even without knowing all of the day's events, becomes glaringly obvious:
I never took my medicine today…
FUCK! FuckfuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK!
A fit, I had another fit. This damned disease was so unforgiving, and so unbelievably painful.
What the hell did I ever do to deserve this?!
I can't help but groan from the pain, the unfairness, whatever other depressing bullshit I'm to lazy to think of. Fetal position, that sounds nice right now. More self-comfort, another attempt to convince myself that the world isn't nearly as bad as I believe it to be.
It's never really worked…
None the less, I soon find myself curled into a tight ball on my right side and I don't even bother trying to find out what I've been laying on this whole time. It doesn't really matter anyway. For now, I'll just lie and wait for that tell tale presence that will soon usher me away.
…That was fast…
But this person doesn't seem carry the hostile vibe that I'm used to dealing with. A sudden wave of fear struck me as I, once again, franticly began to think of all the places I could be.
Not at school, the nurse would have thrown me out by now. Not the hospital, the doctors would have had someone come and get me. Not at home, Melvin would be reminding me how stupid and useless I am. So, where…?
I slowly eased my eyes open, if only to prove to myself that I really was dead. I wasn't really sure what to expect, an angel or something maybe? But the being that stood before me was someone I had never expected to see outside of my dreams.
Her voice reached me first, though my muddled and confused mind couldn't understand what she was saying, it soothed my mind like an expertly played violin. And if her voice wasn't enough, she looked like and angel. Flawlessly pale skin wrapped around her petit frame with a simple white nightgown making her all but glow. Her hair was mane of woven silver that cascaded past her shoulders like a waterfall: untamed and beautiful. Although knitted with worry, the deep blue pools of eyes swallowed my heart into to the depths of her soul.
Was this a dream?
I wanted to touch her so desperately, to prove that, unlike all the other times I have seen this woman, she was in fact real. But I couldn't budge; all I could do was stare.
She spoke again, and again the words where lost to me.
Desperately, I tried to force my mouth to work. One word, that was all I needed. One word and I would know if this woman was really her. I could feel the corners of my mind being pulled back into the darkness, and still I tried. Just one word… please, let me say this one word…
"Gwendolyn…?"
Her eyes lit up in surprise.
It really was her…