To protect one's dream
It was yet another busy morning in Sumeru City, with visitors coming in willing to stop by and admire the town of wisdom, with merchants eager to sell their wares to passersby and students going towards the Akademiya, willing to share and enrich their knowledge with other scholars.
Along one of the streets there stood a young woman with long, bright red hair tied loosely at the back into twin tails. Wearing a blue and white belly dancer outfit consisting of a white and blue cropped top with baggy, detached sleeves and gold details going from her cuffs to her upper arms paired with a patterned dark blue skirt held together with a large blue bow adorned with a blue ornament.
As she was looking around herself, she eventually saw a blonde boy slowly walking towards her, a familiar figure she immediately recognized on sight.
"Oh hey Aether!" The girl shouted, waving her hand toward him in a friendly gesture.
The boy simply raised his hand, signaling that he had heard her salute.
"Hi Nilou, I'm happy to see you here, how are you feeling today?" The blond boy asked with a timid smile, now finally standing in front of the red-haired girl.
"Oh I'm fine, thank you for your concern, and what about you ? Is everything alright ?" Nilou responded, sending back the same question he had asked her.
"I'm okay too, after getting a long night of sleep I'm fully recovered from what happened yesterday" Aether replied.
But while talking Nilou suddenly noticed that something felt like it was missing from Aether, or rather, someone.
"Wait, what about the little fairy that always accompanies you ? Why is she not with you right now ?"
"Oh you mean Paimon ? I left her sleeping in an Inn in order to let her recover her energies, this whole misadventure took a huge toll on her too." Aether clarified.
"Speaking of which, that's exactly the reason as to why I invited you here today, I'm sure you still have so many questions about what happened at the Sabzeruz Festival, and I want to help you understand what exactly happened." Aether concluded.
"So, let's sit down, shall we ?" He proposed, indicating the wooden bench that was standing in front of them.
"Sure, I'm all eager to listen to your story" Nilou responded as they both sat down.
"Well alright, The story I'm about to tell is going to be a long one, so I guess that the best place to start is from the beginning…"
-{~}-
"So basically, we have been reliving the day of the festival again and again ?" Nilou questioned while placing both of her hands near her mouth, a hint of worry noticeable in her voice.
"Yes, that's exactly what happened, we were literally stuck in a one-day loop. I eventually found out that this cycle is known as a "samsara." Aether said while continuing his story.
"We were all stuck in a collective dream, repeating the same day, with the same events and the same actions almost endlessly. It's…honestly quite terrifying when you think about it." He then stopped, trying to take a breath of relief.
"That's…that's horrible! How could this happen?!" Nilou screamed in horror. Shocked at the tale she was hearing from Aether.
"It was, and it all happened because of the sages of the Akademiya, they were the ones who developed this whole plan, by using the power of the Akasha, they trapped all of the citizens consciousness into the samsara, with the intention of harvesting their dreams for their purposes."
"..." Nilou stood silent, both because she was too shocked to say anything and also because she didn't want to interrupt Aether, who continued his story:
"While going through the samsara's cycles, I eventually met…someone who helped me and Paimon realize that we were stuck in a dream. This someone also told us that the only way to end the samsara was to find the host of the dream and make them realize that they were dreaming, doing so would have ended the samsara, once and for all.." Aether finished.
"But then, how were you and Paimon able to find out that I was the host of the dream ?" Nilou asked Aether, whom after registering what Nilou had just said lowered his head, looking at the floor with a sorrowful expression on his face:
"During the dream, I eventually met Dunyarzard at the usual spot, or at least, what remained of her inside the dream…" Aether said before briefly stopping, it felt as if whatever memory he was trying to recall was a really painful one.
"The…"puppet" told us that the point of life was to not leave behind any regrets. I then remembered that one of her wishes was to see the dance of Sabzeruz, that's when I thought of you, and rushed towards the grand bazaar."
"Oh…I see," Nilou whispered softly in her breath.
"After arriving, I saw the same scene as always: the grand sage and his entourage asking you to cease the festival immediately and to set aside the dance of Sabzeruz. That's when I realized that if this was all part of the Sages ploy, then there was no way they would directly involve themselves within the samsara itself."
"So is that the reason why you decided to step in between me and the Sage?" Nilou asked Aether.
"No, it wasn't because of that," He replied.
…
"Huh ?" Nilou gasped, as that wasn't the answer she was expecting to hear from Aether.
Now confused, She pressed him further:
"Wasn't it because you had finally realized that the Sage and his entourage were puppets ?" She spoke, eager to hear what Aether's response was going to be.
"Yes, but that wasn't the main reason."
"So what was it then?"
At which then Aether stood silent for a few moments, as he was preparing himself to say something very important. Once he felt ready, he spoke:
"The main reason as to why I intervened was because I..I…"
Aether struggled to say the final part of the sentence, until he had finally managed to find the courage to say it:
"...It's because I wanted to protect you."
"...!?"
Nilou's heart skipped a beat the moment she heard Aether say that phrase, a hint of red began to appear on her cheeks.
"I remember the sage saying how things such as art and dance were nothing more than frivolous activities and I…I couldn't take it anymore." Aether said while clenching his fists upon the wooden board of the bench.
"I couldn't take it, I could no longer stand there and watch as he mocked you and your passion, I couldn't bear to watch as your dreams were being torn apart, I…I had to do something."
...
"Aether… you-"
But before Nilou could say anything else, Aether suddenly tilted his head towards her and gently laid his hands on her shoulders, now looking at her with a determined glaze.
"Nilou, you have to promise me something, you have to promise me that you will never let anyone treat you like that ever again, that you will always try to protect your dream, no matter what happens." Aether announced.
Upon hearing his request Nilou's pupils slightly dilated, the red on her cheeks grew deeper.
"I saw you dancing at the festival, and it was amazing, you were amazing, the way you were moving across the stage, the elegant movements you were performing, it was as if I was stuck in a trance, I was struggling to take my eyes away from you."
Nilou's embarrassment kept growing as Aether continued to compliment her:
"You have a talent Nilou, it's almost as if you were born to dance, that's why you must never let anyone take it away from you, ever" Aether finally ended, taking a slow breath while still looking at Nilou.
"A-aether I-" she glanced elsewhere, no longer able to keep eye contact with the blonde traveler, the color of her cheeks was now reaching the same intensity of her hair.
And it was right at this moment, right after seeing how red Nilou had gotten, that Aether realized how embarrassing the things he just said were. Which in turn made him blush too.
"O-oh Nilou I'm so sorry I-" Now aware of the disaster he had just caused, Aether let go of his hold onto her and slowly backed away from her in an attempt to mitigate the damage, they both stood silent while visibly blushing.
They looked quite awkward now, if anyone were to see them in that state while passing by they would easily assume that they were a newly born couple who was still too shy to show affection in public.
In an attempt to de escalate the situation, Nilou finally broke the silence:
"T-thank you Aether, I-i really appreciate your compliments" Nilou said in-between breaths.
"It means a lot to me to know how much you enjoyed my performance, the dance of Sabzeruz is something I have been preparing for a long time now, I'm happy that you were satisfied with how it turned out" She finished, now finally starting to recover from the embarrassing moment she just had with Aether, who was now looking at her with curiosity.
"And I promise… that I'll try to protect my dream" She then added, hoping that Aether wouldn't be disappointed with her answer.
"T-thank you, Nilou, it means a lot to me." He replied, hoping that the red on his face had finally disappeared.
Then silence between the two fell again, neither of them having the courage to continue the discussion further in fear of things getting awkward again.
-{~}-
It was now afternoon, Aether and Nilou had been sitting there for hours on end, and dusk was finally approaching.
"Guess it's time for me to go," Aether said calmly while standing up from the bench.
"Where are you heading off?" Nilou inquired.
"I have to go on and check on how Paimon's doing. Last thing that I want is for her to get into some sort of trouble after what we have just been through" Aether said while adjusting his clothings, before looking at Nilou one last time.
"Once again, thank you for coming to Nilou, I'm happy that I had the chance to clear things up with you." Aether said, while looking at her with a bashful smile.
"Oh you don't have to thank me Aether, I enjoyed talking with you today." She said while placing a hand on her chest.
"I see, I'll get going then." and with that they both said their last goodbyes to each other before Aether headed off, Nilou remained sitting on the bench while watching Aether's silhouette slowly disappear until she could no longer see him.
Before heading off to home too, Nilou decided to remain there a little while longer, thinking about the conversation she just had with Aether.
And more specifically, the "promise" He had demanded from her:
"promise me that you will never let anyone treat you like that ever again, that you will always protect your dream, no matter what happens."
Just recalling that moment makes Nilou flush again, not only because of how strongly he said it, but also because of the way he said it: while staring deeply at her with his shiny, golden eyes.
"I promise Aether." Nilou said to herself.
"I promise that I will."