~~~***~~~

He dreamed again.

He told us his dream.

He showed it to Logan and me.

And maybe I'm not so sure I want to know the truth anymore.
It's easier living a lie.

~~~***~~~

Atruis lay on his bed, praying for a night of solid sleep, undisturbed
by dreams or nightmares that would become paintings. He turned over,
slipping into a silent blackness that would soon explode into colors so vivid
and bright, and he might be blind when he woke up.

Atruis was allowed for a pleasant moment blackness, no dreams or souls,
no war, nothing. Just open empty space.

And then the dreams began.

/The unicorns were on one side, the dragons on the other. There was a bright
red line in between them. The unicorns were lined up, tossing their heads,
snorting, stamping their crystalline hooves. The dragons were also lined up,
their wings stretching from time to time, their great red scales
gleaming in the dark sun.

Atruis looked around him. There were small scrub brushes littering
the dry gray dust that covered the earth. The sun was a dark orange
ball, and it was almost noon. The sky was covered with dark oily-looking
clouds, looking about fit to spew acid rain all over the ground. The red
line ran on forever, off into the horizon.

There was a sudden movement in the crowd that made him look up
suddenly. It was unlike the small mutterings that had been happening
for what seemed to be the hours that he had been here. It was two
creatures that had stepped out of the crowd; one was a white unicorn, the
other a red dragon.

The unicorn took a step back, and then released a piercing cry that
echoed over the dry landscape. She reared, her horn pointing at the
red dragon's heart. Her horn gleamed in the dull light. The dragon
threw its head back and roared, stretching his wings as far as they
would go. It occurred to Atruis that the unicorn could be Marie and
the dragon Logan. He ran forward in an attempt to stop them.

"Rogue!! Marie!! Don't do this!! You can work everything out,
the war can end!" His vain attempts to shout at them went
unheeded. There was a blinding explosion that rocked the very soil
as the unicorn threw herself at her alleged foe. He snapped her in
half one quick flash of his razor-edged teeth. The dragons all
roared their victory as they advanced upon the unicorns.

The one dragon that had killed the first unicorn stood there,
staring down at her broken body in shame. Then he stood
tall and brave and continued on with the war. /

Atruis woke in a blinding sweat. His heart was racing. In his
mind, he knew that the dragons had won. Evil had prevailed. That was
perhaps the scariest dream he had ever had. And now a small voice in the
back of his mind told him that he would paint his dream, and that Logan
would prevail in the end.

~~~***~~~

Atruis was almost running towards his studio. He had to paint the dream,
and he had to paint it now. He slowed to a halt outside the recreation room
door, the massive and intricately carved door not hiding the raised
voices from within.

"Logan! What do ya mean you're leavin'?" Marie shouted, sounding very
confused.

"I have ta go Marie, it's not right for me to be here now. This is a
bad time, we could lash out at each other at any moment and not regret it.
We could hurt other people and not even know it!" Logan sounded on the
verge of panic.

"You never cared that much about anyone else before. Are you just runnin'
again? Like you always do?" she sounded really upset, then her voice got
icy. " Big ole bad ass Wolverine, afraid to stand up to a painters visions?"

"I just don't want to hurt you." Logan sounded helpless.

Rogue turned and walked toward the door that Atruis was hiding
behind. She threw it open and encountered Atruis.

"Atruis," she said, sounding not the slightest bit surprised, "how do you
dream of me?" Then she walked around him and paced down the hall.

Atruis, one of his other gifts being telepathy, did the only thing he could.

~Professor? ~

~What is it Atruis? ~

~Make sure that Logan and Rogue are here by morning. ~

Atruis left it at that. He continued on his way down towards the studio,
leaving a helpless looking Logan standing in the rec room.