Chapter 7: Dream
'This morning I had a dream. It was a very strange dream.
'It wasn't really of me that was different... yet I was.
'No Gift... no Obscurity... no empire. It was a completely different world.
'But... even then, it wasn't without suffering. It wasn't without burden. It wasn't without a cursed fate or the second soul... in fact, there were many souls, an influx of souls if such a thing were possible. And certainly... it wasn't without pain.
'Pain. Physical, mental, emotional... it felt as though the me in the dream wasn't there, if he were an empty shell of existence. It felt as though his world was failing.
'He felt lost.
'Where he was... where he was going... reflections on what he wanted and couldn't have... what he longed for but could not reach... who he felt he was and could never show. A person with "great" promise, unlimited potential, and vast creativity. A person who felt life was crashing down upon him and he could never escape the expectations of those around him.
'As I said, it was a strange dream. But whether the feeling of pity was coming from him or me, in the end... I couldn't help but feel connected to him.
'Heh... but in the end, comparing our lives and which I rather have... all issues of safety aside, I would certainly choose this world I live, for it alone gives the me here that which the me of the dream can never hope to grasp: Release.
'It gives me freedom.
'It gives me death.
'Pain...
'And many other bits of the worst emotions imaginable, all viewed through the eyes of my enemies as their souls slip to the nether.
"It gives me... peace. Were such a thing possible.
'It gives me... a moment of relaxation... to feel the still warm blood of my enemies against my skin... to watch as the light dies.
'For in this land of darkness, what purpose does light give the individual?
'Thus, if it's me, and I have any say in this matter at all... then I will free others by extinguishing everything that binds them to this world.
'I will sacrifice for understanding... even if it wishes to elude. This I swear upon the me of the dream. In that way, may we both be free... and may those whose lives that I end here, be used to fill the shell of my other self there, in that world of the dream, so we may both feel at ease.
'And if I send enough, perhaps when next he dreams... it will be a dream of me.'
A/C 2/15/07 - Long chapters take a while to write if I'm not in the mood... so I may do more short chapters for the heck of it since this seems to be my ranting fic. More ranting equals more adventures in the long run. If you don't think that works out for anyone still interested in this story, just let me know and I'll try to get longer chapters from now on.