Chapter 18 : The Reality of Dreams
Brightly colored streamers whipped violently while cheerful voices and balloons floated into the air as the wind picked up during the celebration held for the 'Heroes of Auria'. The dazzling decorations, the mirthful singing, excited dancing and overall jubilation that lined the streets did not calm the storm of emotions raging inside of Imperial at the moment. She desperately wanted to join in the festivities, yet something kept her on edge as she watched from the bandstand with the others the ongoing parade. After awhile the ever-growing sensation of uneasiness caused her to take Kaiko into her arms, leaving their seats to walk the busy fairground streets. As she strolled along the surrounding wafting smells of different roasting meats assaulted her nose, causing her stomach to turn slightly.
"...Perial" Kaiko called once again, finally gaining her attention. "Candy?" He asked, tugging on her hand as he pulled her towards a brightly colored stall. A group of children and some adults were all vying for the notice of the overworked man behind the counter. Once he laid his weary eyes upon Lakaiko, his haggard face lit up like a bright light. Imperial was amazed at the man's reaction. It was comic to see how differently people perceived Lakaiko. When they were in Avolon, he was the "destroyer of life". Now, in this small war torn town he is considered to be a savior.
"Its funny how fickle people truly are." She thought to herself as she watched the child.
Although a puffy multi-colored flop hat hid the vender's face from view, Imperial could easily see an unusual amount of teeth grinning at her, creeping her out in the process. "It is an honor to have you visit me, young champion. Anything you want from my stall is free to you. Please choose what ever you like!" the dealer offered.
The young child readily pointed to the multiple confections that lined the modest stall and with each point of his finger the old man gladly gave the candy to the small boy.
Imperial hastily shook her head no. "Kaiko, if you eat all of this candy, you'll make yourself sick. Not to mention put this poor man out of business. Pick one thing and lets go on."
Lakaiko gave a deep sigh as his head fell to his chest, signaling he rather have nothing at all. Imperial turned to leave but was halted by the merchant's raised finger signaling for her to wait a moment. After looking through some items inside of a crate, the merchant produced a round emerald and blue colored candy ball about the size of a man's fist. Imperial stared at the candied ball for a moment take note of how closely resembled the ball she had seen in her earlier dreams. Shaking her head as if it would remove her troubling thoughts, she set Lakaiko down in order to pay for the treat.
"Here you are sir," She began reaching into her leather pouch to pay for the purchase. The elderly man shook his hand as his twinkling purple eyes finally landed upon her. "The child's smile is all the payment I need."
Imperial gasped taking an involuntary step away from the stall. The blue haired child by her side glanced up with uncertainty, giving her enough time to see the small silver crescent moon shine briefly on his forehead only to fade just as quickly as it came.
"See you later." The merchant offered his multitude of teeth in an appalling smirk. Imperial face gave an unintentional grimace as she walked off with Kaiko in tow. Without warning Lakaiko let go of her hand and took off running into the crowd. Imperial's voice mixed with the loud conversations and music filling the streets. She raced after the blue haired imp, yet it seemed every time she was just about to reach him the more the crowd pushed into her causing her to lose sight of him momentarily.
Fleeting glimpses of blue hair kept her on the trail finally leading her to a large black tent. The child escaped the view of the ticket holder by crawling under a loose flap out of her line of sight. Imperial ran on only to be stopped by the swift crack of a cane coming down in front of her.
"You need three tickets to come into the Giggle Tent, my dear." The shapely middle-aged woman dressed up in a lavender and lime harlequin suit declared. Reaching into her hip pouch once again, Imperial pulled out three tickets placing them in the outreached gloved palm of the jester. The clown pulled back the curtain exposing a thick darkness to the young woman.
With a large smile, the harlequin bowed down low "There are surprises at every turn. Enjoy the ride." She ended, her smile suddenly disappearing. Imperial hesitated until she heard Kaiko's elfin laugh right next to the entrance. Stepping inside, Imperial called to the child as the light from the outside disappeared abruptly as the tent's heavy flap fell into place.
Surrounded in total darkness, Imperial lifted her hands out in front of her, cautiously groping her way around the unknown structure. A few feet into the murk, strong hands came around her waist, causing her to give a frightened shriek. Laughter filled the air from various surrounding voices within the gloom. A gruff voice whispered into Imperial's ear as the large hands left her waist.
"Alright girlie, move ahead. Keep going, more surprises around the corner." Imperial gave an annoyed huff at her reaction to what in her mind called simple "ride". This wasn't a new experience to her. Actually, this was hers and Kaiko favorite thing to go to whenever the Avolonian's celebrated the fisherman's harvest festival and held their annual town fair. Hell, she even had her first kiss in a tent just like this...
So why did she hate this particular one all of a sudden?
As she continued on, the smell of meat again reared up as she came to another dead end. This time, however, it smelt as if the roast was left on the grill for way too long. The charred stench followed her as she made her way back to the fork in the pitch-black tunnel. With every step she took the thicker the odor became to the point where her breakfast threaten to reacquaint itself with the outside world. Gripping her stomach tightly with one hand and reaching out with the other, she grasped around the other pathway hoping to find the exit.
"Eric! Watch where you're grabbing!" A young girl voiced in alarm as Imperial roughly bumped into two bodies closely standing together near one of the corners. "Rosalind," a teen boy's voice piped up into the mix "it wasn't me that time!"
"Hey, buddy!" he yelled into the enclosed darkness "Be more careful next time. You interrupted our uh...conversation with you just tripping around like that!"
Giving a weak apology, Imperial was prompted to continue on as the sounds of wet kisses and soft giggling soon filled the air. An echo of Kaiko's light laughter caught her attention once again triggering her to stagger more rapidly into the unfamiliar.
She moved as fast as she could in the shadows, fighting the urge to gag from the overpowering stink of something terribly putrid nearby. A sliver of light nearby gave her a blurred glance of blue hair moving away a few feet in front of her. Imperial hurried on to the brightness.
"Kaiko!" she called out just as he reached the exit flap, the child never turned around as he ran into the sunlight. Entering into the daylight blinded her for the moment yet she couldn't believe how happy she was to be in the sun's rays again.
As her vision came into focus, she noticed Kaiko standing motionless in the middle of a crowd of people on the main street. "Kaiko, what in the world were..." She began with her temper flaring as she made her way over to the child, roughly grabbing him by his shoulders only to have her voice catch in her throat as she fell back horrified.
Maggots crawled from within crimson center of the candied ball "the child" had taken several bites from. The monster merrily leered at her as the tiny white worms crawled around and into the holes in his darkened red lips. The thing walked slowly towards the horrified girl becoming more distorted the closer he came. His face and body lost its angelic radiance as patches of his skin decayed away showing the white of his skull and bones underneath. Shredded, corpse gray wings shot out from it's back as black blood and gore dripped from his gaped maw unto his clothing. The twisted humanlike mass of decayed flesh finally stopped in front of Imperial.
"The boy is mine!" the sickening gurgle of a voice bubbled from the creature. "Emblems will not stop me!" Imperial screamed with all of her might as the fiend lurched forward with his bony hands reaching for her neck.
(Awakening)
"NO!" Imperial jolted awake shattering the stillness of the night. A few seconds later Silver and Puren both entered into Imperial's room, lighting the gas light on top of the nearby dresser. Imperial tightly clutched the sweat-drenched sheets that covered her lithe body. Orion's voice immediately questioned what happened as the Silver tried to make sense of what was happening.
Finally understanding what caused all the commotion, Puren made her way over to Imperial's bedside. Taking the young woman's trembling hands into her own the fox-woman fought to gain Imperial's attention. "Imperial, it's okay! You're all right! You're okay! It was a dream! It was only a dream!" the worried fox-woman chanted until Imperial's frightened face turned towards hers.
Shaking her head slightly, Imperial swallowed thickly "We have to find the rest of the Emblems now! Kaiko's in dang..." she stopped speaking as the sound of someone violently gagging interrupted them.
"Lakaiko's choking in his sleep, turn him over before he throws up into his lungs!" Puren ordered rushing over to the child's bed.
Tossing the drenched sheets to the side, Imperial hurried to Lakaiko's bed on the other side of the room. Wasting no time, Silver rushed over to the boy with the room's wastebasket in tow. Imperial lifted the child from his laying position, leaning him over the side of his bed in order to vomit into the waiting trashcan. Imperial reached the child just in time as the contents of his stomach came rushing forwards.
The child continued to retch into the basket as Orion hobbled into the room. "Did he eat the same thing we had last night?" the cat inquired as soon as Kaiko's bout of sickness slowed. Imperial nodded slightly as she continued to pat the child's back until his gagging stopped. Silver covered his nose "He had to had something else. The stuff in that bin smells absolutely terrible."
Orion leaned into the doorpost giving the dog a remorseless glare "It's vomit, Silver. It's supposed to smell terrible." Silver gave Orion a flippant gesture with his hand as he wiped his nose in his handkerchief. Kaiko began to whimper, raising his arms up for Imperial to lift him into her lap.
Imperial hesitated for a moment as her memory flashed back to the "dream" she had a few fleeting minutes ago. Tears fell from the boy's beautiful deep blue eyes.
"I scared!" he wailed pitifully "the monster gonna get me!" All fear and trepidation fled from her heart as she lifted the terrified child into her arms. Imperial quickly recapped her vision to the drowsy bewildered group to bring them up to date.
"I guess there is no choice in the matter now." Orion folded his arms across his chest as he took in what Imperial explained. "We have to leave for the Woran village as soon as possible. Which means we'll need to find a ship to cross the inner sea. "
"Leave that part to me. I know someone that owes my granddad a favor." Silver announced as he softly patted Kaiko's head as he turned to take the basket away "Well, for the most part, it looks like the worst is over with for him." Imperial shook her head as she spied a small white insect clinging to the side of the wastebasket.
"No Silver," She clutched the child closer as she whispered, "I think the worst is yet to come."
Brightly colored streamers whipped violently while cheerful voices and balloons floated into the air as the wind picked up during the celebration held for the 'Heroes of Auria'. The dazzling decorations, the mirthful singing, excited dancing and overall jubilation that lined the streets did not calm the storm of emotions raging inside of Imperial at the moment. She desperately wanted to join in the festivities, yet something kept her on edge as she watched from the bandstand with the others the ongoing parade. After awhile the ever-growing sensation of uneasiness caused her to take Kaiko into her arms, leaving their seats to walk the busy fairground streets. As she strolled along the surrounding wafting smells of different roasting meats assaulted her nose, causing her stomach to turn slightly.
"...Perial" Kaiko called once again, finally gaining her attention. "Candy?" He asked, tugging on her hand as he pulled her towards a brightly colored stall. A group of children and some adults were all vying for the notice of the overworked man behind the counter. Once he laid his weary eyes upon Lakaiko, his haggard face lit up like a bright light. Imperial was amazed at the man's reaction. It was comic to see how differently people perceived Lakaiko. When they were in Avolon, he was the "destroyer of life". Now, in this small war torn town he is considered to be a savior.
"Its funny how fickle people truly are." She thought to herself as she watched the child.
Although a puffy multi-colored flop hat hid the vender's face from view, Imperial could easily see an unusual amount of teeth grinning at her, creeping her out in the process. "It is an honor to have you visit me, young champion. Anything you want from my stall is free to you. Please choose what ever you like!" the dealer offered.
The young child readily pointed to the multiple confections that lined the modest stall and with each point of his finger the old man gladly gave the candy to the small boy.
Imperial hastily shook her head no. "Kaiko, if you eat all of this candy, you'll make yourself sick. Not to mention put this poor man out of business. Pick one thing and lets go on."
Lakaiko gave a deep sigh as his head fell to his chest, signaling he rather have nothing at all. Imperial turned to leave but was halted by the merchant's raised finger signaling for her to wait a moment. After looking through some items inside of a crate, the merchant produced a round emerald and blue colored candy ball about the size of a man's fist. Imperial stared at the candied ball for a moment take note of how closely resembled the ball she had seen in her earlier dreams. Shaking her head as if it would remove her troubling thoughts, she set Lakaiko down in order to pay for the treat.
"Here you are sir," She began reaching into her leather pouch to pay for the purchase. The elderly man shook his hand as his twinkling purple eyes finally landed upon her. "The child's smile is all the payment I need."
Imperial gasped taking an involuntary step away from the stall. The blue haired child by her side glanced up with uncertainty, giving her enough time to see the small silver crescent moon shine briefly on his forehead only to fade just as quickly as it came.
"See you later." The merchant offered his multitude of teeth in an appalling smirk. Imperial face gave an unintentional grimace as she walked off with Kaiko in tow. Without warning Lakaiko let go of her hand and took off running into the crowd. Imperial's voice mixed with the loud conversations and music filling the streets. She raced after the blue haired imp, yet it seemed every time she was just about to reach him the more the crowd pushed into her causing her to lose sight of him momentarily.
Fleeting glimpses of blue hair kept her on the trail finally leading her to a large black tent. The child escaped the view of the ticket holder by crawling under a loose flap out of her line of sight. Imperial ran on only to be stopped by the swift crack of a cane coming down in front of her.
"You need three tickets to come into the Giggle Tent, my dear." The shapely middle-aged woman dressed up in a lavender and lime harlequin suit declared. Reaching into her hip pouch once again, Imperial pulled out three tickets placing them in the outreached gloved palm of the jester. The clown pulled back the curtain exposing a thick darkness to the young woman.
With a large smile, the harlequin bowed down low "There are surprises at every turn. Enjoy the ride." She ended, her smile suddenly disappearing. Imperial hesitated until she heard Kaiko's elfin laugh right next to the entrance. Stepping inside, Imperial called to the child as the light from the outside disappeared abruptly as the tent's heavy flap fell into place.
Surrounded in total darkness, Imperial lifted her hands out in front of her, cautiously groping her way around the unknown structure. A few feet into the murk, strong hands came around her waist, causing her to give a frightened shriek. Laughter filled the air from various surrounding voices within the gloom. A gruff voice whispered into Imperial's ear as the large hands left her waist.
"Alright girlie, move ahead. Keep going, more surprises around the corner." Imperial gave an annoyed huff at her reaction to what in her mind called simple "ride". This wasn't a new experience to her. Actually, this was hers and Kaiko favorite thing to go to whenever the Avolonian's celebrated the fisherman's harvest festival and held their annual town fair. Hell, she even had her first kiss in a tent just like this...
So why did she hate this particular one all of a sudden?
As she continued on, the smell of meat again reared up as she came to another dead end. This time, however, it smelt as if the roast was left on the grill for way too long. The charred stench followed her as she made her way back to the fork in the pitch-black tunnel. With every step she took the thicker the odor became to the point where her breakfast threaten to reacquaint itself with the outside world. Gripping her stomach tightly with one hand and reaching out with the other, she grasped around the other pathway hoping to find the exit.
"Eric! Watch where you're grabbing!" A young girl voiced in alarm as Imperial roughly bumped into two bodies closely standing together near one of the corners. "Rosalind," a teen boy's voice piped up into the mix "it wasn't me that time!"
"Hey, buddy!" he yelled into the enclosed darkness "Be more careful next time. You interrupted our uh...conversation with you just tripping around like that!"
Giving a weak apology, Imperial was prompted to continue on as the sounds of wet kisses and soft giggling soon filled the air. An echo of Kaiko's light laughter caught her attention once again triggering her to stagger more rapidly into the unfamiliar.
She moved as fast as she could in the shadows, fighting the urge to gag from the overpowering stink of something terribly putrid nearby. A sliver of light nearby gave her a blurred glance of blue hair moving away a few feet in front of her. Imperial hurried on to the brightness.
"Kaiko!" she called out just as he reached the exit flap, the child never turned around as he ran into the sunlight. Entering into the daylight blinded her for the moment yet she couldn't believe how happy she was to be in the sun's rays again.
As her vision came into focus, she noticed Kaiko standing motionless in the middle of a crowd of people on the main street. "Kaiko, what in the world were..." She began with her temper flaring as she made her way over to the child, roughly grabbing him by his shoulders only to have her voice catch in her throat as she fell back horrified.
Maggots crawled from within crimson center of the candied ball "the child" had taken several bites from. The monster merrily leered at her as the tiny white worms crawled around and into the holes in his darkened red lips. The thing walked slowly towards the horrified girl becoming more distorted the closer he came. His face and body lost its angelic radiance as patches of his skin decayed away showing the white of his skull and bones underneath. Shredded, corpse gray wings shot out from it's back as black blood and gore dripped from his gaped maw unto his clothing. The twisted humanlike mass of decayed flesh finally stopped in front of Imperial.
"The boy is mine!" the sickening gurgle of a voice bubbled from the creature. "Emblems will not stop me!" Imperial screamed with all of her might as the fiend lurched forward with his bony hands reaching for her neck.
(Awakening)
"NO!" Imperial jolted awake shattering the stillness of the night. A few seconds later Silver and Puren both entered into Imperial's room, lighting the gas light on top of the nearby dresser. Imperial tightly clutched the sweat-drenched sheets that covered her lithe body. Orion's voice immediately questioned what happened as the Silver tried to make sense of what was happening.
Finally understanding what caused all the commotion, Puren made her way over to Imperial's bedside. Taking the young woman's trembling hands into her own the fox-woman fought to gain Imperial's attention. "Imperial, it's okay! You're all right! You're okay! It was a dream! It was only a dream!" the worried fox-woman chanted until Imperial's frightened face turned towards hers.
Shaking her head slightly, Imperial swallowed thickly "We have to find the rest of the Emblems now! Kaiko's in dang..." she stopped speaking as the sound of someone violently gagging interrupted them.
"Lakaiko's choking in his sleep, turn him over before he throws up into his lungs!" Puren ordered rushing over to the child's bed.
Tossing the drenched sheets to the side, Imperial hurried to Lakaiko's bed on the other side of the room. Wasting no time, Silver rushed over to the boy with the room's wastebasket in tow. Imperial lifted the child from his laying position, leaning him over the side of his bed in order to vomit into the waiting trashcan. Imperial reached the child just in time as the contents of his stomach came rushing forwards.
The child continued to retch into the basket as Orion hobbled into the room. "Did he eat the same thing we had last night?" the cat inquired as soon as Kaiko's bout of sickness slowed. Imperial nodded slightly as she continued to pat the child's back until his gagging stopped. Silver covered his nose "He had to had something else. The stuff in that bin smells absolutely terrible."
Orion leaned into the doorpost giving the dog a remorseless glare "It's vomit, Silver. It's supposed to smell terrible." Silver gave Orion a flippant gesture with his hand as he wiped his nose in his handkerchief. Kaiko began to whimper, raising his arms up for Imperial to lift him into her lap.
Imperial hesitated for a moment as her memory flashed back to the "dream" she had a few fleeting minutes ago. Tears fell from the boy's beautiful deep blue eyes.
"I scared!" he wailed pitifully "the monster gonna get me!" All fear and trepidation fled from her heart as she lifted the terrified child into her arms. Imperial quickly recapped her vision to the drowsy bewildered group to bring them up to date.
"I guess there is no choice in the matter now." Orion folded his arms across his chest as he took in what Imperial explained. "We have to leave for the Woran village as soon as possible. Which means we'll need to find a ship to cross the inner sea. "
"Leave that part to me. I know someone that owes my granddad a favor." Silver announced as he softly patted Kaiko's head as he turned to take the basket away "Well, for the most part, it looks like the worst is over with for him." Imperial shook her head as she spied a small white insect clinging to the side of the wastebasket.
"No Silver," She clutched the child closer as she whispered, "I think the worst is yet to come."