o-o-o0o-o-o
Errende was pleased to wake up in his bed the next morning, despite Laurell's rustling in his arms. He smiled as he peered down at the other boy, and quietly placed a kiss on Laurell's forehead. Just as Errende was about to fall back asleep, he looked over at the clock settled on the bedside table–internally groaning when it read nine in the morning. While he wanted to leave Lighthalzen as soon as possible, he also exhausted from the previous nightmare and wanted to sleep in.
Relenting, Errende tried to nudge the sleeping boy awake–occasionally calling out his name–to no avail. After much deliberation–all of 5 seconds–Errende settled on a simple solution that would surely wake Laurell without fail. He moved his hand from Laurell's back–the one not pinned under the boy's weight–and placed it on his waist.
Laurell's initial reaction to the tickling was disappointing to say the least. He let out a barely audible moan of discomfort and attempted to swat away the pesky hand before curling back into Errende's chest.
"This is disappointing." Errende murmured, deciding to move his fingers at a quicker pace, eventually causing Laurell to jolt out of his sleep. The tickling didn't cease even when Laurell was squealing and begging for Errende to stop, nearly falling off of the bed as he tried to move away from the hand in his fit of laughter.
Finally pleased with the given reaction, Errende continued for a few more moments–his other hand now free to tickle the other side of Laurell's waist–before stopping and smiling mischievously at Laurell who was now red in the face and less than happy with being woken in such a manner.
"W-was that.." Laurell paused to catch his breath, "completely n-necessary?"
"Completely." Errende stated, "You were out cold. Quite the heavy sleeper."
Laurell grumbled in response before stealing the bed covers and turning his back to Errende.
"Don't fall back asleep, or else we'll miss the airship to Yuno." Errende leaned over and placed a hand on Laurell's shoulder, urging him to get up.
Grumbling once more Laurell moved off of the bed and let out a tired yawn, "We should stop by the department store first. We were running low on grape juice, right?"
"I suppose, but I think we have enough for the ride back." Errende replied as he leaned back on the bed with his arms behind his bed.
"Are you sure? What if we run out before we get back to Prontera?"
"I'm sure we'll be fine."
o-o-o0o-o-o
With everything ready to go, they left for the airship to Yuno. As previously expected by Errende, there was no need for restocking their grape juice supply with the ride being more than uneventful. It didn't take long for the Izlude connection to arrive, and since the previous flight was quiet Errende decided to catch up on missed sleep from the night before.
He settled into one of the cabins and quickly fell asleep.
o-o-o0o-o-o
Groaning when he opened his eyes, Errende glanced around the room—not unlike the laboratory space from the night before. Errende attempted to sit up but found that his legs and arms were tightly bound to an operation table and let out a breath as he tried to relax as much as possible—repeating to himself, It's just a dream.
When the door behind Errende opened suddenly—no sound of approaching footsteps, or even the jingle of the door handle—Errende tried desperately to turn his head to get a glimpse of the intruder. He struggled against the binds on his arms in hopes of breaking free of them despite knowing he lacked the physical strength. When they showed no signs of budging, and the scientist appeared in front of him with a syringe and a crooked grin, Errende repeated the earlier mantra to himself and tightly closed his eyes—hoping that when he reopened them the dream would change.
The feeling of a cold, disinfected cloth rubbing his skin told Errende that everything remained the same, and the sharp pain of the needle piercing his arm threw him even more off guard. He never felt pain in his dreams as the scenery would always change before anything could hurt him. Errende heard the scientist chuckling as his body began involuntarily thrashing on the table, and Errende feared what would happen next as he tried to regain control over his body.
As his body's reaction to the injection started to pass, everything around Errende felt heavy—even the simple task of breathing. He slowly reopened his eyes but found that he was no longer strapped to an operating table.
o-o-o0o-o-o
Turning, somewhat angrily, in his bed, Errende took a few deep breaths and rubbed his temples, keeping his thoughts as far away from the dream as possible. Not long after waking up, the cabin door opened and Errende felt the bed dip as—most likely—Laurell sat on the edge and began gently shaking Errende's shoulder. Errende turned around immediately—with a sour look on his face no doubt—and faced Laurell.
"Oh, you're up already." Laurell let go of Errende and continued when he didn't respond, "We're going to be landing in Izlude soon."
"Okay."
"Are you feeling all right? You look a little pale.." Laurell worriedly asked and placed his hand on Errende's forehead.
"I'm fine. Just tired." Errende moved Laurell's hand from his forehead and sat up in the bed.
"You sure? We can stay in Izlude for the rest of the day if you're not feeling well. It's not like Father Thomas is expecting you today."
"That won't be necessary." Errende was dead set on seeing Father Thomas before the day ended in hopes that the priest might know what was causing his nightmares. With all the travelers that visited the Church on a daily basis he must have heard something related to them.
Laurell pouted, but agreed nonetheless, "Alright. But the second you're done speaking with Father Thomas you're resting.
"Yes, mother."
o-o-o0o-o-o
Despite Laurell's warning to slow down on the walk to Prontera, Errende hurried as fast as possible, only stopping when they reached the center of town to sit by the fountain and catch his breath.
"I told you no to go so fast." Laurell scolded the acolyte as he sat beside him on the wooden bench, watching all of the townspeople running around every which direction. He made a mental note to come back when Errende was sleeping and stock up on grape juice—if the pink-haired vendor was still there later.
It took a few deep breathes for Errende to regain composure and begin walking toward the Church, "We're almost there. Once I've spoken with Father Thomas, we'll head to the inn."
"I'll hold you to it."
They both walked at a steady pace, Errende leading them through back alley shortcuts and Laurell keeping a careful eye on the acolyte just in case he started slowing down. Once they arrived, Errende quickly bounded through the front door and straight to the familiar figure of Sister Linus.
"Errende! I didn't expect you back so soon. Your trip went well?"
Errende politely bowed his head to his elder and smiled, though a bit tiredly, "Yes. We finished ahead of schedule. Is Father Thomas in at the moment?"
"He's in his office. Let me take you to him." Sister Linus led both boys through the hallways before reaching the simple wooden door that lead to the priest's office. She entered first and notified Father Thomas of their arrival and left them to talk.
"I'll wait out here." Laurell spoke up as Errende reached for the door handle.
Errende nodded, "It'll just take a minute."
o-o-o0o-o-o
"It's good to see you, my boy." Father Thomas quickly embraced Errende and gave him a pat on the back. His brow furrowed when he moved back and took in the young acolyte's features, however. "You do not look as well as when you departed. Something is troubling you, I gather."
Errende let out a soft, disappointed sigh as the priest led him to the desk teeming with paperwork, "It's that noticeable, is it? No matter, I was hoping to discuss this with you anyway."
"Oh?"
"I've been having unusual dreams as of late and well, to be frank they've been more than a little troubling." Errende paused, waiting for Father Thomas' nod to continue, "At first I thought it was just a nightmare brought on by my surroundings—it took place in a Rekenber laboratory somewhere in Lighthalzen—but what happened earlier today was startling to say the least." He took a moment to gather his bearings before retelling the nightmare from his earlier nap, "I'm normally a lucid dreamer, and I can't recall ever having problems changing the settings of which my dreams take place when they start to get too... scary. But this one was different, to the point of feeling every bit of pain that was inflicted upon my body and I couldn't so much as wake up until I seemingly passed out in the dream."
Father Thomas was silent, possibly contemplating what it could all mean, if he knew at all, and all the while Errende had his head in his hands, pushing back the feeling of the needle piercing his skin as if it was happening again. "Most troubling indeed." The priest began, "I can't say that I know for sure why this is happening to you, but if it is related to Rekenber then it cannot be good."
"If it's not too much to ask, could you tell me what you know, Father? I have little information of my own to go off of since I've only passed through once before."
The priest smiled, though not the one full of joy that Errende was accustomed to, "As you know, many travelers come through our great Capital, and a great many have visited this Church. When I was a young acolyte like yourself, I remember a small group came for in a wedding. I don't condone eavesdropping, but while I watched them all celebrating I overheard a pair whispering amongst themselves about trouble brewing in Lighthalzen. There had been reports of missing people, primarily peasants, and the government had just invested a large sum of Zeny into the Life Experimentation Division of the Rekenber Corporation." Father Thomas shuffled through his desk drawers momentarily before pulling out a very old-looking newspaper and handed it to Errende, the title 'Rekenber Corp. Investigation Comes to a Close: No Evidence Found.'
"A large number of residents—from the slums, that is—insisted Rekenber had been kidnapping their family members in the middle of the night, but since the guard standing at the entrance denied seeing anyone passing through and the authorities could not find any underground laboratory as the peasants claimed, the case was closed." Father Thomas leaned over the desk held his hand next to his mouth, "But between you and I, because of the innovations Rekenber brought—not only to the Schwartzwald Republic, but all of Midgard—no onecared. It was thanks to the Corporation that we have the Airship, and that same Life Experimentation Division created the Guardians that are used to protect the Guild Castles."
Errende stared at the newspaper, briefly reading the article before looking back up at Father Thomas, "Do you think it's true, Father? That they kidnapped the peasants in the dead of night and experimented on them?" Honestly, Errende wouldn't have believed it if he wasn't having the strange nightmares, if he hadn't experienced it in all of it's vivid detail.
"Perhaps. It would certainly make sense, that is for sure. If the laboratory was underground as they said, who is to say that there wasn't a tunnel leading from the laboratory and into the slums? It would explain why so many missing persons reports were filed, and why the guard claimed not to have seen a thing." The priest leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, "A tantalizing possibility. But who knows what is true and what is mere speculation, am I right?"
"You are, as always Father." Errende smiled, though a bit weakly. The conversation itself wasn't a very happy one, but it had cleared up some questions he had, and hopefully questions he would have in the future. Errende decided it best to wrap up this meeting, changing the subject to what would have been the main point of discussion upon his arrival, had he not been rudely kicked off course by the recent nightmares. "Before I go, I want to make sure everything is prepared for my trip to Rachel."
Father Thomas nodded, "A letter confirming your acceptance to the Church of Freya arrived a few days ago. Though, the Head Priestess stated that you would be staying with residents near the Church since you are not an official student and the Freyanist acolytes may feel offended being in the same quarters as you."
"I am not surprised. I'm just grateful they're letting me learn from them at all." Errende shook his head, he did feel quite lucky to have been given the chance to study in the same place his father once had before coming to Prontera. "Would you mind sending a reply for me?"
"Not at all."
"Thank you. I have a magician accompanying me and would not want to arrive without first notifying the family we would be staying with. There's no rush at the moment, though—we're heading out to Geffen before leaving and that should take about a week." He hoped it would only take a week at most. If his memory served him right, they would only need about two days to walk there—two more to travel back to Prontera—and maybe two days to finish up whatever it was that Laurell had to do—Errende really wasn't sure what the Magician's Guild quests entailed, but there was no harm in giving themselves more time just in case.
"I'm sure they will get the letter in time, then. That is all?" Father Thomas asked as Errende stood from his chair.
Errende nodded and walked around the desk to give Father Thomas a hug, "Yes, I've been ordered to rest for the day, but I wanted to come here first."
Father Thomas returned the hug and watched Errende walk to the door, "You had better come back before you leave for Rachel."
With his hand on the doorknob Errende replied, "I wouldn't dream of leaving without saying goodbye, Father." He smiled over his shoulder before opening in the door and leaving the office and closing the door behind him. Errende smiled at Laurell, his mood a little better than earlier, "Shall we?"