Doors to Utopia
Chapter Four
In a Name
Aran stared at him, blue-green eyes filled with confusion. Her hand, which had been previous extended out to help the brunette boy at her feet, had gone slack. Evan hesitantly jostled the outstretched limb but received no response. The warrior girl's eyes seemed to be glossing over—Evan couldn't figure out if this was good or bad. She COULD be remembering something…but at the same time, she could also be angry or injured. He flinched when Aran shook off his hand and placed it on her forehead.
"Uhm…I…I think we oughta go inside…now…" Aran's voice was weak and unconvincing. "It's, uh, too hot out here…I think I might be…"
With that, the girl collapsed at his feet with her eyes completely glossed over and empty. Evan shrieked slightly and jostled her side. Three of the training instructors had flew over to them immediately, pushing the child away from the tan girl to check her vitals. The boy sat there uncomfortably; had he done something THIS wrong? The teachers seemed very distressed. But he felt a tiny hand on his neck, patting him for comfort. Kairos sat at his collar quietly as they both watched the scene.
"You did good. You challenged her dream." Kairos mumbled. "But watch out—the dream might get more aggressive from here on out."
"Aggressive? How?"
"You'll see…" Kairos said. Her tone sounded unsure and uncomfortable. The boy poked her head irately. "Evan! Stop that. I don't really know, okay? It could be anything."
"Whole lot of help you are." Evan groaned.
"I'm just trying to help by warning you. That's the best I can do right now." Kairos whined, clearly offended. Evan sighed and patted her head with one finger. The little goddess was right. He was getting carried away and frustrated. Stuffing her head back down into his shirt, the boy followed briskly after the teachers that were hauling his now youthful ally off. They carried the girl off to the side into a hut. Two men stood in front of it with spears, but moved away when they saw the unconscious white haired girl.
"What happened here?" One demanded.
"We're not sure. Perhaps heat stroke." The teacher replied as he dragged the girl inside. Evan made to follow but he was greeted by a spear at this throat.
"This is Aran's quarters! You are not allowed in here."
"Buh…but…she's my friend…" Evan stammered. The guard was having none of it; he even jabbed forward a bit to scrape at the pale skin of his neck. The young magician jerked back to sit against the hut wall; the guards didn't seem to have a problem with him just SITTING there, after all. Evan felt his eyelids falling. The day had been eventful and he could feel himself falling into a deep sleep.
Hours later, the guards jostled him awake. Evan was surprised that a time skip apparently had not happened. Apparently one memory needed to be completed before they could move on to the next arena. Slowly, he hobbled to his feet to stare lamely at the bulking guard and his menacing spear. The man simply grunted and shot a thumb in the direction of the door. Evan raised a brow.
"She requests we allow you in."
"She's awake?"
"What do you think, numbnuts?" The guard said sarcastically. He was clearly bitter; Evan figured he had been punished for not allowing the dragon master in when he first asked. "Go on, go say hi. Aran isn't a patient girl and she isn't going to just sit in there forever waiting. Get going before she comes and drags you in."
"Yes sir." Evan said, hurrying past the two guards into the wooden hut. They glanced at each other and shrugged, returning to their posts with their spears crossed over the doorway. Inside, Aran was sitting up in her bed and looking out the window with forlorn eyes. The boy approached her cautiously and quietly but Aran's blue-green eyes immediately snapped over to him. A trained warrior with a trained ear, Evan supposed. He slackened slightly and sat down nervously in a chair next to her bed.
"Hey, Aran. How are you doing?"
"…Fine." He voice insinuated she felt anything but.
"Was it a heat stroke?"
"That's what they're calling it."
"…Is it really something other than that?" Evan dared. Aran looked at him, eyes full of judgment, before she laughed weakly. The warrior girl knew there was no point in evading the obvious; it hadn't even been that hot today.
"You shocked me a bit…I don't think I've ever fainted from shock before, but it was like a powerful force overloaded my mind and took over." Aran said slowly. Evan perked up; she was becoming more aware of her false reality. "It was like I had no CHOICE but to pass out. Like I was POSSESSED or something. But I don't think I'm actually possessed, do you?"
"…Not really." Evan said. He didn't really know if what Aran was going through could really be considered possession. It certainly was supernatural, though. "Something else happened. Maybe you're trying to block out the obvious?"
"Block out the obvious…" Aran tapped her head lightly. "…You know, I really can't remember your name. I feel like you told me it before, many times, but outside of my past. Like…somewhere beyond this place. But that'd be impossible—even if I did know you in the future, I still wouldn't be able to recognize you or know your name."
"What if the past and present became one?"
"That's absolutely ridiculous, Evan." Aran paused then smiled. "That's right! You're Evan. The kid who…who did something…"
"And…?" Evan pressed.
"Who…something about a different person, a person I can't really remember…" Aran was obviously hammering herself hard for information that was being hidden behind a tough mental wall. "He was…he wasn't tall, wasn't short…had hair like yours…but I didn't know him too well. But…he was smart…?"
She must be talking about that guy. Freud, I think. Evan thought. It's a step forward, at the very least. Although I doubt she's going to remember much more…but remembering the name of who I replaced is a good start!
"Don't get cocky…" Kairos mumbled from inside his shirt. "The dream still has full control here, don't you forget that…"
"Still, we've been friends for some time. That I know. I guess it doesn't matter how we became friends." Aran replied. Evan paused; Aran had never referred to him as a friend before. In fact, she had made it clear outside of this dream that she didn't want anything to do with the young dragon master. But within this dream, she was a tween interacting with another tween. The age gap had been deleted; the misunderstandings provided by it had been closed.
"How come I have memories of you?" Aran piped up. Evan shrugged. "I see all these memories of you and my brother and all these people…but they seem so off from what it all was."
"Memory can be like that. Things get hazy, ya stop rememberin' right."
Aran's eyebrows rose. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"Your voice. It did something funny."
"Huh? Oh, do you mean the accent?" Evan flushed brightly; he had really tried to kill that slight twang of a farmer's accent, but it still persisted at times. "Uhm, well, I was born in a town way far from here. On a farm, actually. With chickens and pigs. Got a slight accent somewhere along the way. Kind of a 'Henesys' voice, I guess?"
"What's…Henesys…" Aran's voice slowed down considerably.
"Henesys is a town on Victoria Island."
"You speak nonsense. Victoria Island is almost entirely uninhabited by humans. All that live there are monsters and elves." Aran shot back irately.
"Not in three hundred years."
"Well…of course things are going to change three hundred years ago. But you can't say you're from a town that won't exist until way after your life will run out." Aran said matter-a-factly. "Unless you're some kind of fairy or elf. Are you an elf, Evan? It would explain why you're so weird looking. And why you never seem to grow any taller."
"I'm not an elf." Evan said irritably.
"Sure." Aran chuckled lightly. "But you're definitely weird."
"I'm not weird." Evan felt strangely calm; perhaps because at the moment he wasn't looking at a threatening full grown woman. He was looking at a little girl with a personality and strength to match her age. "I'm telling you the truth. I come from Victoria Island and there's a reason you can only barely remember my name."
"Shut up." Aran said sharply, defensively.
"No. This has gone too far." Evan snapped back. "Aren't you even paying attention to your surroundings? Don't you even realize that neither of us belong here? Don't you realize that I've NEVER been part of this place—that this is all an illusion?"
"…I don't know what you are talking about." Aran's eyes had fully glassed over. No shine was visible and the lids fell almost completely shut. "Evan, you're being ridiculous. Maybe you got heat stroke too…maybe you should go lay down."
"The dream is taking hold." Kairos whispered to Evan. "You didn't really think it was going to be that easy, did you? Straight out saying to people that their 'reality' is a dream will get you laughed out. Consider this: if some person, even a close friend, came up to you outside of this dream and told you that reality was a lie…would you believe them, Evan?"
"Eh…no."
"Exactly. Just SAYING it is fake won't get her attention. She'll drown you out with what is more 'logical'…because really, it IS more logical to assume that your current place of being IS reality." Kairos explained. Aran was staring at Evan as he talked to what she saw to be nothing. "Really, you don't have definitive enough proof to show her that this all doesn't exist."
"O-oh…so what CAN I do?"
Kairos shrugged noncommittally. "Wait it out. She'll figure it out soon, especially if you stay in the picture. Just keep yourself in this chain of memories and eventually you'll reach a weak point—a place where you existing would defy all forms of logic. It'll come up soon, trust me. This chain is almost there…unless I'm not foreseeing something. Which is possible, I'm much weaker than Rhinne is."
"Evan…?" Aran asked nervously. "Come on, you're freaking me out. Why are you talking to yourself like that? Why are you even talking like THIS? This is reality. I…I guess I've been pretty busy lately so my mind got scrambled. I've got big obligations here but I guess that's no excuse for neglecting a friend, huh?"
"Uhhh…no, it's fine." Evan said sheepishly. I don't think we were really friends to begin with. Not in a normal timeline, anyways.
It felt a little bad knowing that this little tan girl clearly trusted and worried for him like her own flesh and blood. Especially because Evan knew when reality came back, Aran would go right back to her cold self and Evan would lose this trust and friendship. It was kind of nice to see this happy girl who was at least MILDLY friendly. He wouldn't peg the tween as the most appealing personality-wise but she was several steps up from her adult form—the adult that glared at him judgmentally, made snide remarks about his abilities, and even went as far as to suggest he just be left behind on many missions.
Aran was different here.
And it was nice. Just to sit here talking with another Hero without being barraged with insults or coddled like an inept baby. Kairos tugged his ear impatiently; Don't create a dream within a dream and get sucked into a false reality as well, boy. Evan twitched; the little goddess was right, of course. He was getting caught up in his desire for approval from his allies. Quickly, he shot to his feet.
"I hope you get better." The boy muttered forlornly as he exited. Aran watched in complete confusion. Finally, though, she went back to sipping at her tea.
"He's awfully weird, but I guess that's why I made him my friend." She muttered. "After all, I don't like boring people…"
