A Dream to Die For
Dreams: something people have always believed to hold an underlying truth kept hidden from us by the deepest depths of our unconscious mind. But the truth is, dreams are nothing more than what they are - dreams, that is, things in our minds or memories that randomly come shooting back to us during sleep, bits of information that the unconscious is unable to comprehend without conscious thoughts, and in an attempt to weave together the unrecognizable bits into something sensible, wind up creating a false reality that can ultimately embed itself into the dreamer as a truth. But quite often, dreams are their own resolves, for as discretely as they form, they fade away from the person's memories along with the unconscious as it loses it's control when waking approaches, thus preventing any false realities from taking shape. That is the true nature of dreams - not messages from the gods, not glimpses of the future, nor is it even anything meaningful, but rather just the failure to construct an idea from random abstract bits of information.
If one were to ask the members of the churches in any cities, towns, or villages, they would state with confidence that it's a message from a higher being, and if one asked Kraden, he would surely propose Alchemy is the driving force behind dreams as he would argue for anything else in the world for that matter, but in order to pursue the truth, all people have to do is to search inside themselves and accept the simple answer that dreams don't mean anything - at least, that is what I believe.
For that reason, I've ignored all the constant repetitive nightmares I've experienced, the horrors of the deaths of my friends, which I thought to simply mirror the death of all the creatures I've slain, the dark Excalibur I held mirroring the darkness that it has pierced in my journey, and the fight with Felix representing our rivalry, and in the end, I was still unable to let go of the possibilities that the church members may be right, that it really is a message from a higher being like the Wise One, or that perhaps Alchemy was indeed the one giving me the messages, for it does possess the ability to see into the future as Master Hama once said, leading me to ultimately become determined to journey out again one day to search for that elusive underlying truth that plagued my dreams.
I opened my eyes slowly to a seemingly omnipresent and repetitive voice that sounded awfully annoying and disturbed my peace. A whole day had already passed since I fainted and I found myself rested against the same familiar crystal. Weakly, I lifted my head off the glimmering purple Psynergy stone that radiated under the light of the sun and turned my attention towards where the voice forcefully dragged it, bringing into sight a person whom I knew was soon to die – the one whose name I don't even know nor care to know, the most abnoxious self-deemed "blacksmith" I've ever seen in my life, the first date of one of my two first childhood friends: Jenna. Before giving the "blacksmith" anymore thought, I took a second to survey my surroundings and though I had expected it, I was disappointed to find myself at the end of midday, even more so for having to put up with a repetitive "Isaac, Isaac! It's my big day!" as he tried harder and harder to claim my attention. Being here upon my wake must have meant I slept here since yesterday's break after falling unconscious, and it bothered me that no one seemed to notice. They just went on with their own part in the revival as if nothing ever happened to me.
I finally let out a sigh as I turned my face towards him, and once again rested my cheeks against the cold hard Psynergy Stone that felt like the warmest thing in the world as long as my Psynergy wasn't fully recharged, "Yes? What's the matter?"
"Guess what? Guess what?" he pestered maniacally.
I wasn't really in the mood to talk to him today even more so than the days past. While my Psynergy may be great, my physical stamina still had its limits that never strayed too far from the norm, limits that I've long breached, leaving me constantly in my weakened state. This feeling is worse than that of having my flesh pierced by sharp fangs of the hordes of demons I've slain in the past. Perhaps this is my punishment and hopefully, my redemption for taking lives endlessly and disobeying the Wise One, for all these actions I have taken out of selfishness and claimed to have done so for the sake of justice and righteousness; this was indeed, perhaps, the punishment placed upon me by Wise One, that is, the power of the mars star.
"It's my big date!" he announced throwing his arms out into the air when I didn't answer in a while. It was not that I didn't want to answer him; it was simply that his presence wasn't the best cure in the world for my stress and weariness.
"Oh, yeah, with Jenna…Good luck with that." I sincerely wished him, because he was going to need every bit of it handling her, even though it probably wouldn't do any good once Felix is thrown into the picture. Seeing him celebrating so cheerfully about his impending death really startled me however and I supposed that ignorance really is bliss.
"Thanks Isaac." He replied with a big smile and took a seat next to me. Then his frown disappeared and he took on a much more serious tone, "You know? I think I can really fall for that girl…" he said dreamily as he looked into the dawning sun as it descended towards the horizon, it's yellow beams giving the Pysnergy Stone a reddish tint. "She's really something, isn't she? Her beautiful reddish lavender hair tied up into a cute pony tail, the warm and inviting gentleness deep in her eyes hidden under a much more piercing and mature exterior, the invisible but sensational fiery glow in the center of her eyes that takes shape according to her emotions, and her amazing choice of clothes that not only matched both the colors of her hair and eyes, but dressed in such an alluring way that I simply find myself unable to tear my gaze away from her presence.
"I had no idea you thought that way." I too replied in a serious manner. Maybe this guy isn't as bad as I thought if he can cherish her in a way I've never dreamed about.
"Only problem is, of course…Mia is the exact same, except where Jenna is red, she is blue, and where Jenna speaks her mind, Mia holds back, but I can see in both their eyes that deep down they're both very similar."
"I don't get it…You've only seen Mia once. How can you talk like you know them so well?" I asked him out of curiosity. "I've known Jenna before I can remember and I've spent much time with Mia during our travels, and in neither of them did I see anything like you described."
"Heh, that's because you're looking at them all wrong, Isaac." he said to me with a cocky grin and patted my shoulder.
"Looking at them all wrong?" I wondered to myself what this guy was talking about and I certainly didn't appreciate his grin or the fact that he tilted his face upward so he can look down on me.
"Have you ever heard of the mind's eye?" he asked.
"My…mind's eye?" By now I was just thinking he's gone crazy over the fact that he finally had a date.
"Yeah, you know, how you see her in your own mind, like, your visualization of her." he explained pointing his index finger to his forehead.
"So you mean what you said was all just in your head?"
He looked at me with a surprised look on his face as if he had no expected the question, "Erm…Not really, but sort of…"
Seeing him looking desperately for an answer, I decided to give up on him, because in my "mind's eye" as he calls it, he had no idea what he was talking about. "Forget I asked." I told him. I didn't want to listen to his nonsense anymore, but still, as much as I tried to forget, and as much as it pained to me remember, a part of what he said during this conversation still lingers unforgotten in the back of my mind, and ever so slightly did I begin trying to see with this "mind's eye", which is really nothing more than one's own imagination of what the physical reality is without basing it on any actual visual perception.
"So, when's your date?" I tried changing the subject but mentally slapped myself when I realized I was changing it from bad to worse.
"Oh, it's like in a while. We said we'd meet when the sun meets the horizon." he said pointing far away into the distance where the sun was still a little above the mountain range.
"Isn't that kind of late?" I asked. "By the time the sun meets the horizon, it wouldn't be long before nightfall." He stood up and brushed some dirt off his pants and smiled at me.
"The darker, the better. See you later, Isaac." And with that he waved to me and dashed up the mountain towards Jenna's and Felix's house.
I knew I should be working right now, finishing up what little – relatively speaking – work I have left until the completion of Vale. Just this once though, I wanted to relax and dream about my past. It is ironic that I had so much more smiles and laughter during times of great peril compared to the times of peace and harmony. I suppose all this just goes to support all the theories Kraden have of the balance between everything that's good and everything that's bad, not in just Weyard, but in the entire world, beyond the infinite stretches of the Gaia Falls.
I thought about the happy days when I was a child. Before I got to know Jenna and Felix, I was always with my parents because I didn't know anyone else. But eventually, sooner or later, they would leave to do their part in Vale, and I would be left alone for hours that would seem to stretch longer and longer as each ever-expanding minute passed by and prolonged their return, until one day, when I finally took a bold step out the house.
I was still young, only five years into my life. This was the first time I left far from my house without my parents holding my hands, my mom taking my left into her gentle warm hand, and my dad taking my right into his firm and unyielding grasp, making me feel both loved and protected. This time, without those same comforting feelings, I headed out, observing my surroundings, seeing all the familiar things that now felt so alien to me, as if I expected those same faces, same houses, same trees and grasses, flowers and butterflies, the waterfall, the stream, would all show me a different side to them as I experience them again by my lone self. At first, I thought it would be true, because at the time, as I headed down towards the lower levels of Vale, the people I've met with my parents and had given me a bright smile now gave me a different look, one that was far from a smile, a look that I had not yet known to be that of curiosity and surprise. It scared me for a while and I began have second thoughts about breaking my parents' rules and sneaking out of the house until when my own curiosity rose to meet my fear upon seeing two kids that looked my age outside a house situated by the waterfall.
That was the day when I finally met my first two friends and found something new and exciting in the world. I suppose that's where I got my enjoyment of adventuring from, although one wouldn't really call taking a few steps down a village an adventure, but it sure felt like one back then. It had afforded me the opportunity to meet the some of the people I cherish more than anything else in the world, the people I'm proud to call my friends, and in a way, they are a part of my family.
Then reality hit me and I realized that was all in the past, that I was trying to drown myself in my memories of the past that should no longer bear any meaning, for like dreams, they serve no purpose. I knew Jenna might be here soon, and not wanting to see her yet until my dreams of being with her, along with Felix and the rest of the gang under a starlit sky while relaxing on a bridge that went from cliff to cliff high above her house and spanning the river that quietly streamed underneath, I forced myself up and slowly trailed down Mt. Aleph. I had only managed to take only a few steps before I saw a figure before me, standing by the entrance to Vale, and just as quickly as I saw it, I realized who it was. To my disappointment and regret, my eyes wide with shock, I whispered out his name, "Felix…"
From behind his shadow emerged three more, "Jenna, Garet." I called out their names one by one as I saw them. The third shadow was a bit out of the norm as it hung on Felix's right fist, and as soon as he stepped towards me, I noticed it was the "blacksmith" that was suppose to be Jenna's date. He actually dressed up pretty well; he looked fine and all, everything except that he was unconscious – most likely having been knocked out.
Felix slowly approached me, his fierce gaze unwavering and deathly, and as soon as he got into arm's reach, I tried asking him, "Feli –"
However, before I could finish my sentence, a fist came flying at me and just as soon as I felt the impact of the blow and my body flying off into the distance, I felt my consciousness too, just as the blacksmith, slip away from me and sending me into utter darkness once again.