Dreams & Prophesies
Kain ran
down the corridor as fast as he could, but the abomination behind him pursued
with such great vigor that he could never flee. It was coming too fast, and soon it would catch up to him, and he
knew that this force, this being, could defeat him with ease.
The beast
had showed up out of nowhere, and it wasn't that the beast was huge, or pulsing
evil unfathomable energy, it was simply an abomination of sorts and something
that Kain found so grotesque that he couldn't fight it, all that he could do
was run. But the beast pursued him and
he knew that sooner of later it would catch up to him and bring him to a land
of pain and anguish, this he knew with the very fabric of his soul.
Kain looked
forward from his running only to see a monstrous brick wall ahead of him, it
blocked up the entire corridor in front of him and he knew the only choice that
he had was to dive head first into it and pray to the wind that it broke
down. So Kain did leap at the wall, but
the wall did not budge and Kain came down back onto the floor.
Kain turned
around to watch the beast's approach, but when he turned the corridor it was no
longer there. Instead he was now laying
down on a field of grass, so pristine and beautiful that the fear and near
madness that was inside of him, melted away.
Kain stood up and looked around at the field, he spun so that he could
take in all of its beauty. Suddenly
though something caught his eye, four people coming towards him.
At first
Kain assumed that it was Dekan, Phantine, Dawne, and Naxos. But as the four figures approached he knew
that it was not them. It was the four
that he had fought with before, Cecil, Rosa, Rydia, and Edge. They approached him and encircled him so
that every time Kain looked somewhere, there was only one person and the
pristine, perfect field of grass.
"Who are
you?" Rydia asked him.
"I am Kain,
True Dragoon."
"Who are
you?" Edge asked him.
"I am Kain,
True Dragoon." This time he said that
with more force.
"Who are
you?" Cecil asked him.
"I am Kain!
True Dragoon!" He shouted.
Rosa
approached him and put her hand to his cheek and pulled him to her, then she
looked up at him and said. "Kain, you
are a True Dragoon, but who are you?"
Kain was
speechless; he couldn't even look at her.
From the first time he had laid his eyes on her he knew that he loved
her, but Cecil was always there. He
wanted to love her so badly, but his honor forbade it... though Kain knew that
he was a better man for never doing anything about his love for this
unattainable woman.
Kain looked
down at the grass at his feet, and said.
"I am... I am... I don't know who I am..."
Cecil took
Kain's shoulder and said, "You who would save this world from the evil, you who
would bring about the day, you who would defend the sacred dawn. And you do not know who you are?"
Kain felt a
deep, deep feeling of remorse, self-doubt, and dishonor. He dropped to his knees and said. "But I am not the Dawn! I am True Dragoon! All that I need to know about myself is that I am an honorable
man of faith and power; power enough to help bring about the day! And so I will bring about the day!" He shouted to the sky.
"But, who
are you? Why have you come here, if you
were to die on that mountain? Why was
it you that was brought back to life, and no one else? Cecil was your superior, he should have been
brought back to save the world, and bring about the day. But no, you were.... We want to know why Kain." Rydia said in a sympathetic tone.
"So that
you could pay for your sins against us?
Or maybe it was because you deserve a second chance at life? Are you destined to this? Why Kain, why you?" Edge said in an almost offensive manner.
"I don't
know... no one told me!" Kain shouted
dropping to his knees again.
"These
things are not things that are told Kain, they are things that are known, why
don't you know?" Rosa asked him.
Kain looked
inside of himself and not thinking about what he was saying said. "Because I am True Dragoon, the last
Dragoon, but because I was brought back so that my noble order could live
again. And I will bring back all of
your order's as well, I will!"
The four of
them stepped away from him and gathered to one spot about 10 feet away from a
kneeling Kain who could do nothing more then stare at the sky. Then Cecil looked back as the others began
to walk away and he said. "Kain, we who
walk the path of the sacred light never know what the future will hold, some
will live, some will die. But the
sacred light will always be there to guide us.
Open yourself up to it and it will carry you along its course. And above all look at and trust those that
you know that you should trust, because if you do not, you will perish along
side of them." Then Cecil turned to
follow his comrades, when he caught up to them he heard Cecil shout back to
him. "Bless him light!" And then the four disappeared into the
beautiful field and Kain was left alone kneeling and looking with a blank stare
at where his friends had been.
Suddenly
darkness flooded the field and it was no longer a field, nor was there grass
under his feet. The only thing that
Kain could see was a blank darkness, though when he looked at himself he could
see his body as bright as if it were in the noonday sun. Then two figures emerged on the black
field.
Both of
them were in front of Kain, but on either sides of him and both were about 25
feet away. One of the figures was
dressed completely in black, though Kain could make out every detail that he
wore even against the completely dark field.
The man was wearing a black trench coat and behind it the hilt of a
sword stuck out above his back, and Kain could make out a black sheath covering
the blade.
The other
man was dressed in a brilliant white.
His clothing was identical to the dark man, but everything was white
instead of black, and this man too was carrying a sword behind his back.
The two
approached each other and both drew their swords in almost identical fashion,
suddenly the two began to thrust and parry, hack and slice, block and dodge. It was almost like a dance though; the
fighting was so beautiful to watch. For
a long time all Kain could do was stand and watch them.
Kain then
began to feel an impulse, a feeling deep inside of him, almost like some deep
dark part of his mind was talking to him, no commanding him. Kain followed this command and approached
the fight. Suddenly the two stopped
their fighting and looked at him then both raised their swords across their
bodies as if they were expecting a new fight.
They both
said at once. "Who are you that would
dare disturb us?!?!" Their voices
filled the black void that the three inhabited.
"I am Kain,
True Dragoon."
"And we are
the gods that decide the fate of this world, now leave us to our battle." Both said again in the exact same voice,
Kain looked at their faces and noticed that they were identical. Everything about this two was exactly the
same except the color of their wardrobe.
"This
world's fate should be decided by the people of the world, not by omnipotent
forces!" Kain shouted at them with a
slight hint of rage.
"We are the
will of the people." The two said in a
silent tone.
* * *
Suddenly
Kain woke up with a cold sweet all across his body. He remembered the dream that had just crossed his mind, in full
detail.
Kain looked
around he was exactly where he had been when he feel asleep, in the inn that
they were all staying in, in Mist.
Around him he could see his four friends each in separate beds, except
for himself, he had obliged to sleep on the couch of this enormous room. Though he then noticed that Naxos was not in
his bed, Kain got up from the couch and tossed the blankets aside. He looked around the room and noticed that
the curtain to the small balcony the room had was slightly open. Kain went though the opening and onto the
balcony and there he saw Naxos looking over the railing at the nearly dead city
below him.
"Something
interesting down there?" Kain asked
Naxos, who promptly gave a small jump and then looked to see Kain.
"I couldn't
sleep, and I always liked to watch people walk around like that, it's almost
like watching a colony of ants scurry about."
Naxos said with a blank look and an even blanker tone. "Why are you up?"
"I'm not
sure... I woke up from a very odd dream."
"You're
lucky, I almost never dream any more, though that might be because I barely
sleep anyone, sure I close my eyes and I slow my breathing. But it's not the same as real sleep."
"I see..."
Kain said and then turned around to go back into the room. "Try to get some sleep though Naxos, we all
need sleep especially with what we're going to be doing tomorrow, we're going
to need all the rest we can get."
"I don't
need sleep." Naxos said turning around
to watch the little traffic there was below him. "I never had, I don't know why but I just don't. I'm almost more able without sleep then I am
with it."
"Well then,
you are luckier then most Naxos."
* * *
Naxos
watched Kain exit the balcony and began to think about how much he respected
him. He was able to be cold as winter,
yet also he could be friendly at the same time, and by doing thus no one would
think anything of his coldness more then he was emotionless. "But with myself on the other hand," Naxos
said very, very quietly, "everything I say seems to offend, I am almost as cold
as Kain, but I must be lacking something that he has."
"That is
because you don't pay attention to what you're saying." A shimmering voice inside of Naxos's head
said.
Naxos was
quite frightened by this, the only voices he had ever heard in his head, before
this, were his own. "Who are
you?!?!" Naxos shouted inside of his
head.
"That does
not matter, all that matters now is that you realize that I am here to help
you. And I'm going to start by teaching
you some manners, that's what you want isn't it? You want people to like you."
"I don't
need 'manners."' Naxos said to the
voice with a pinch of disgust. "So
please whoever you are leave me to my thoughts."
"You don't
really want that do you?" The
shimmering voice asked. "You want me to
stay and help you out by giving you advice on how to live your life, but you're
too man enough to admit it... am I close?"
"Leave me,
or I shall call a demon to loosen your head from your shoulders!" Naxos whispered under his breath.
"Fool, you
can as easily force me to leave you as you can force yourself to breath water,
now work with me and we will have a nice time together, don't and well you
don't want to know what will happen."
"What are
you going to do, talk me to death."
After he said that, Naxos could have sworn he heard a small laugh. Then without warning or notice, he was down
upon the floor of the balcony shivering with pain and nearly crying inside of a
fetal position.
"Want to
see what else I can do to you, boy."
The shimmering voice said, sounding much more like a taskmaster then an
omnipotent force.
"Why did
you come to me, just so that you could torture me like this, is that
it?!?!" Naxos again whispered under his
breath with rage on his tongue.
"Wouldn't
you like to know, now go back to bed and get some sleep, we will talk more of
this in the morning."
"You are
not my master! I have no master! And for another thing we will talk about
this now! It's not like I need sleep
anyway."
"You needed
sleep before." The voice said in an
almost sympathetic tone. "Before
Zeromus infested you, you needed to sleep then, as much as everyone else. You simply don't want those nightmares to
come anymore, am I correct?"
"How do you
know these things!" Naxos said in a
very demanding fashion.
"I will
tell you in the morning, now go to sleep, if you don't you will soon end up
little more then a quivering mass of flesh and bone."
"All right
fine. But, who are you?"
"That and
all of your questions will be explained later, if I should divulge things
before their time then your mind could possible implode upon itself."
Naxos did
not even want to think about the voice anymore, maybe he was asleep, maybe...
no he was awake, and the pain that the voice had sent him before proved
it. Naxos got up and exited the
balcony.
Inside of
the room he could see everyone in their on beds, and poor Kain on the
couch. Naxos approached Kain as
silently as he could, for Kain was a tremendously light sleeper and he did not
wish to wake him up. When Naxos got
about 5 feet away from him, he noticed that Kain's eyes were open as wide as it
seemed they possibly could be, but his pupils had disappeared all
together. Very odd, Naxos thought to
himself and then he went to his own bed and lay down under the covers and
waited for sleep to come.
Naxos was
soon standing back in the crystals' shrine in the Tower of Babil, he looked
into the box ahead of him and he began to stare at all of the crystals. "They're so beautiful." He whispered to himself.
Then Naxos
began to feel a presence behind him, so like any unwitting person in a dream,
he turned around to see what was behind him.
It was Zeromus, standing there panting for air, his body was scarred and
there were many cuts and bruises all over his bone covered body, in certain
places Naxos could even see that the bone had broken off.
Zeromus
then cried out with a blood-curdling screech.
Then it approached him and stared into his eyes, with it's own massive
blue eyes. Then Naxos could feel it
sending its consciousness into his body, he could feel the disgustingness of
the creature filling him. Every inch of
his body wanted to crawl off and be away from this vile thing, and soon the
vile thing had complete control over Naxos.
He began to walk Naxos around and Naxos couldn't control a damned
thing. All he could do was watch as the
terrible demon walked towards the crystals, in his body.
This was
the one thing that brought Naxos more pain then anything else, the lack of
control. Suddenly though the roof in
the crystals' shrine was torn off and a near golden light began to shine
through the hole and onto Naxos's body.
Naxos could feel it's glory washing over him, and it felt like a
blessing. Within seconds the demon was
gone, it was no longer inside of him, and for that he felt that the sacred
light had personally blessed him. For a
long time all Naxos could do was stand inside of the blessed light, and laugh
and almost cry; because, what usually happened at this point in his dreams was
not occurring, something had stopped it, and Naxos had a vague idea as to what.
* * *
Phantine
was icy cold; she could barely even feel her body. Her consciousness seemed to be flowing out of her cold half dead
shell, and all she could do was wait and see what happened next. Soon she could look down and view her body,
there on the ground. It was laying on
it's side, and inside of her back, she could see the hilt of the knife sticking
out, the knife had cut her back in such a way that her spinal cord had been
severed in two, that way the murderer made sure that she could not simply walk
away from this. Though it didn't matter
now, she was dead.
Her body
lay down in a dark grassy field, with many stones and rocks around it. Though the more she looked at the field the
more it reminded her of a graveyard, with headstones peaking out of the ground
all over and statues of angels and saints in the background. And near the edge of her site, she could see
a dark man wearing a trench coat walking away from her, she could see blood on
that man's gloves, and the worst part was she knew who that man was.
A beam of
light then erupted out of the darkened clouds behind her, she turned around to
see the beauty of the light, but she was blinded by it. Her eyes seemed be burning out of her head
it hurt so much. She began to cry, she
hated this place and she wanted to leave, she wanted to be back where she was
with Dekan and everyone else.
When
Phantine opened her eyes next she was in a very bright room, though there were
no doors and no windows. She didn't
need to ask where the light was coming from as everywhere in the room torches
were filled with burning white flame.
The room was made of solid blocks of what looked like ordinary brick,
though not the brick of today, the brick that was used in older times to build
houses. In front of her was a fairly
ordinary wooden podium, beyond that a much greater wooden podium stretched for
nearly fifteen feet, which was nearly the same width that the room was. Behind the podium sat five men, or rather
persons for their features were completely covered by robes and hoods were
positioned over their faces so that they could not be seen at all. Each of these robed figures was standing,
and the one in the middle motioned for her to stand at the podium in front of
her. When she did as was instructed
each of the robed figures sat down on chairs behind their podium and she could
tell that something important was about to happen.
"Do you
know why you are here?" A booming voice
came from the figure in the center.
"Is it
because I am the one who caries the sacred light of the dawn?" She asked them.
"No..." The booming voice came again, though
suddenly she realized that the voice could have come from any of the robed figures
and she would never have known which one.
"Am I here
because I broke some rule or regulation?"
"No..."
"Then I do
not know why I am here." She consented with a slight bit of annoyance.
"You are
here so that we may asess you."
"Very well
then, but what are you assessing me for?"
"For your
entry to become a legend, we received it several days ago." Phantine was stunned, she was not a legend,
nor did she wish to become one.
"I'm sorry
I think you've made a mistake, I'm not worthy of becoming a legend, in any
way." She argued to the figures.
"This is
not your decision to make Phantine, it is the decision of higher
authorities. But we are here to make
sure that those higher authorities made the correct choice with you."
"But I
don't want to..."
"What you
want is irrelevant, now we will ask you questions, and you WILL answer
them. Do you understand?"
"I do,
but..."
"Good," The
figure interrupted her again. "Now then
do you believe that your are the one who caries the light of the sacred dawn, such
as Cecil did before you?"
"Yes, I
mean I think so, that's what everyone..."
"Good. What is your relationship with True Dragoon
Kain?"
"He is a
good friend of mine, and Dekan's mentor, and I suppose he's kind of mine too."
"I
see. Phantine, what is your
relationship with Dekan Regulas?"
"He is, I
mean we're a... I don't how to describe it... I'm sorry."
"Let me
rephrase the question, is Dekan Regulas your lover."
Phantine
paused, and then said. "Why do you wish
to know that? It is not your need to
know!"
"Phantine,
is Dekan Regulas your mate, your sexual partner, your lover." The last was the one that whichever shape
emphasized.
Phantine could not believe this, but
she could tell that she was not going to leave until all of these people, figures,
whatever, had the answers they wanted.
"He is..." She said with as much
dignity as she could muster, though it was also said in the quietest tone she
could muster.
"Very well
then, are you a scholar of the old ways?"
"I am."
"Then you
know what a Paladin of the Light is?"
Phantine nodded her head. "Good;
are you a Paladin of the Light?"
"I am much
like a Paladin of the Light, but I have not gone up to the shrine at Mt.
Ordeals to proclaim myself one like all the Paladins of old."
"You have been
to Mt. Ordeals though, with two men, your lover Dekan Regulas and Naxos
DeNoir. There you successfully
retrieved the crystal of flame from your enemies, you do not consider this a
trial at Mt. Ordeals?"
"I do, but
I did not have to fight myself in its darkest form so that I could destroy all
of the darkness within me, like the Paladins of old did."
"You are a
scholar, good. Now tell me, do you
consider yourself a Paladin of the Light?"
"Not as
yet."
"Do you
believe that you can bring about the sacred dawn?"
"I believe
that I can." She said with as much
confidence as she had, which unfortunately didn't sound like very much.
"Do you
believe that the dawn would never come should you be disposed of?"
"I... I
don't know, I never thought about that."
After a short pause she continued.
"Yes actually, I think that it would still come with or without me."
"Well then
how can you say that you are the one who brings the sacred light of the dawn,
if you are not needed to bring about, the sacred light of the dawn."
"Oh well,
then I mean no. I must be necessary to
bring about the dawn."
"Then you
believe that you are the only person that has the overwhelming power of the
sacred light on your world?"
"I... I...
I don't know." With that, she could
make out all kinds of sounds and mumblings from the figures as if they were
talking amongst themselves and didn't want her to know what they were
saying. But each of the figures was
still facing towards her.
Phantine
blinked, and then suddenly she was back on the ground looking up at the night
sky and all the stars shining bright in it.
Just like in their war against darkness the sources of light really
showed themselves during the night, but during the day there was only one
source that you could ever see. An
interesting analogy, and a very true one.
Then suddenly off a great distance in front of her a bright sun appeared
above a group of tall mountains.
"The Dawn
is so beautiful." She said quietly and
serenely.
"Those who write reviews shall be karmically rewarded."
-Kain DeLuman
