Chapter 8: Somnium
A few hours later, the blizzard died down and the winds calmed. Halo was chucking rocks against the wall of the sphere. French was laying down. Magpie was staring at his torch. Lossius was sleeping. Quite boring. Yet better than freezing to death. Halo peered through one of the holes they punched through the rock. He saw the mountains reappear and become visible again as the snowfall lowered in intensity. He got up and walked over to Lossius, prodding him to wake up.
"Lossius," Halo said, quietly, "the storm stopped." Lossius woke, rubbing his eyes briefly. He placed a hand on Halo's shoulder, pushing down so he could get up. With no response, he walked over to the hole and nodded.
"Great," he exclaimed," so it's time to move." French sat up, then slowly stood up. Magpie stood up with his torch, their shadows dancing across the wall, contrasting with the orange light. They got their backpacks and cloaks on. Halo made an opening in the sphere, allowing them to leave into the cold. Magpie extinguished his torch and put it away. They began to walk to the mountains. The sky had began to clear up. The ground was covered in almost a foot of newly dumped snow. As the Sun began to shine through the parting clouds, the snow lit up and sparkled.
"It got warmer!" Halo said, flailing his arms. They weren't bent over, walking like they were before. It was a nice day. A nice, sunny day. "The Sun feels so nice." They were happy. The rest certainly lightened their spirits.
It took them an hour or so to make it to the mountainous area. Hills began to roll, becoming gradually steeper and steeper. They reached a canyon-like area. Pine trees were scattered everywhere in a dense forest. The air smelled of pine needles and sap. They looked up in awe as they passed through the canyon, looking up at the surrounding rock formations. An arch was above them. They then realized they were walking into a cave. French was the first to notice.
"Guys!" French outstretched his arm to stop them in their tracks. "We have to be careful, look." He pointed ahead into the darkness. "A cave! OUTSIDE of Mikeland. You never know what's down there."
"Well, it's impossible to climb over. We have to go through," Lossius concluded quickly, "plus, even if there are monsters, there are four of us. With Elemental Arts." French shrugged, then nodded.
"I guess you're right."
"Good, then you get to go first!" Lossius nudged French, moving him forward. His feet dragged through the thinning blanket of snow beneath them. French then moved back.
"Are you kidding me?" French said, crossing his arms, turning his head the other way. "Screw that. Send the bait in first." He glanced over at Magpie. Magpie grimaced.
"What the hell, French?" Magpie questioned, shaking his head at him. Lossius laughed. He then turned to Magpie.
"It makes sense," Lossius explained, "you can light up the cave ahead of us. And fend off the monsters too." Halo chuckled. Magpie mumbled, then moved ahead of them.
"Hey, I've got guts." Magpie boasted, conjuring up a flame that flickered almost immediately. A cold wind blew from the cave, causing the flame to move towards French. He jumped then fell back behind Lossius and Halo. Lossius shook his head, holding in a laugh. Magpie gulped then descended into the cave with them behind him. The flame lit up the rocks within the cave. Wind would howl as it would pass through, past the men. They trekked onwards. There seemed to be a tunnel that was already carved out for them. French ran his fingers along the wall on his right.
"Strange," he exclaimed, "it's like someone was here already."
"Lossius!" Magpie exclaimed as well, pointing his flame towards what appeared to be a stick snapped in two. It was thick, and the bottom had a stand made of forged iron. Lossius lowered, picking it up. He then looked up at the wall it was in front of. There were four branches of iron barely sticking out of the wall. He squinted, standing up.
"Someone was here before." Ryo concluded his thoughts out loud. All of their faces had an expression of surprise. They were all in deep thought when all of a sudden the sound of falling rocks came from the darkness up ahead. Magpie immediately cast a ball of flames which Lossius caught with his Air. He then moved it on forward, allowing the area to be lit. Then a hiss was heard.
"What in the?" Halo freaked, taking a step back. He then looked at French. "What do you know about monsters?"
"Well, normally..." They remained still, French talking very quietly, "... monsters make audible noises, regardless of their situation. They normally don't creep up on people..." The word he said coined a name in his mind. But it was already too late. The four-legged camouflaged creature came out from behind some rocks. It stood a good four feet tall and had no arms. It was a greenish-orange due to the light of the flames bouncing off of it. It proceeded to scurry towards them.
"Creeper!" Lossius yelled out, turning the other direction. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. The hissing began to amplify as the creeper expanded, turning white. Then a brief white light shone through the darkness. A loud explosion was heard throughout the cavern as the four men were sent into the air. Rocks went flying as the shockwave pierced the tunnel's perfect walls.
It all went black.
Lossius had forgotten everything. A white light shone in front of his face. Clouds departed, a large, black tower appearing. It had many platforms on the its sides. His sight was forcibly zoomed into the tower quickly, revealing that there were kids on a platform. About thirty. They all had white suits that appeared baggy, yet uniform. At the head of them was a man who was in a red suit that was of the same design. The kids appeared to be twelve years old or so.
"Lossius!" Lossius, twelve years old, moved his head up. He was out of form, unlike the others. The man walked up to him, his hands behind his back. "You are slacking. What happened to your ethic?" Lossius blinked multiple times, then looked ahead, at the man's waist.
"Master, I..." Lossius' light voice began, "I'm not sure."
"You are to stay after class." The man noted. Lossius then responded by bowing.
"Yes, Master Ryuga," Lossius obeyed. Time skipped to when the class was over. The kids quickly gathered into their social groups, walking into the tower. Lossius stayed behind, walking up to Ryuga.
"What is wrong?" Ryuga confronted, standing straight and looking down at Lossius. Lossius looked to his side, unable to answer. He felt his lower lip tremble slightly at the thought. Ryuga stroked his chin, thinking for a moment. Then his serious face turned to a concerned one. Lossius managed to muster up the courage, looking up at Ryuga. A few tears were in his eyes.
"J-Just..." Lossius stuttered, blinking multiple times to return the tears into his eyes, "Mother and I were told that... Father won't return." Ryuga lowered to be eye-to-eye, placing a hand on Lossius' shoulder.
"Your father is a brave man, just like you," Ryuga stated, a little smile appearing on his face. "I'm sure that wherever he is... even if he made it to the Far Lands, I guarantee you he's fine." Lossius was somewhat shocked by the affection his master was showing. Master Ryuga was always tough on his students. Then a deep voice could be heard from behind them.
"Yugaya," a man said, stepping out from inside the tower. Ryuga stood up, ushering Lossius to look at the man. He was Litwin, the leader of their clan. He wore a dark blue robe that hanged just above the ground, swaying as he walked towards them. Lossius bowed. Litwin nodded at him, then looked at Ryuga.
"After the confirmation of..." He looked at Lossius, recognizing that he was the son of the man he was going to speak of. "Ah, Lossius." He acknowledged him fully. Lossius looked at him with a neutral face, although his eyes' purity remained.
"Good afternoon, Litwin-sama," Lossius greeted, bowing once more.
"I apologize for not recognizing you." Litwin looked at Ryuga. "Ryuga, we need to speak about it..."
"Is it already time?" Ryuga asked. Litwin nodded as he began to walk back into the tower. Lossius watched him, somewhat slouching now. Ryuga followed after him. Lossius sneaked, following them. After a few turns within the tower, they stopped in a small room.
"You can't keep lying to him, Ryuga," Litwin began. "He has to accept reality."
"But he's just a young boy!"
"But if he keeps holding on, he might even want to go there too!" Litwin shouted, then realized he had to be quiet. "The Essence of Air resonates within him. We cannot afford having him leave without proper control of it."
"That's true..."
"Tell him the truth, Ryuga." Litwin demanded once more. He cleared his throat. "Lagrin, one of our greatest warriors... Even if you are alive, there is no hope of escape." He breathed deeply. The next words that left his lips were the words that began Lossius' nightmare. "Lossius' father is dead."
