Dreaming Up Reality

Ch. 7.

"There, that should finish up the bandaging." Aleice smiled and patted Kain gently on his arm where Tord had hurt him. He shook his head and sighed. "I still can't believe I let him do that to me. I'm such a joke." She frowned and sat down on rock infront of him. "You're not a joke.. you were quite brave. Tigers are no joking matter and you went after him wihtout a fear in the world." She smiled, trying to cheer him up. He continued to face the ground, sulking. Ah well. She tried.

A hand was placed on her shoulder and she turned to face Desmond. "Oh hey.. what's up?" "We finished bandaging Lex. Looks like they'll both make a full recovery." He smiled and removed his hand. He returned over to the corner where everyone but Kain was. She joined them.

"We can't go to her. She's a flippin psycho!" Damien shouted towards James. "She is rather.. outgoing. But I fear we're not facing a matter of "who are you" anymore. I did some thinking after you guys left the other day." Everyone got silent and focused in. She took a seat next to Lex. "You all know the story of our world, right? How Rutia was created?" "Sure." "Well, not all of us." Desmond said, looking towards Aleice. "True. Well I'll tell you the story."

"Rutia was said to be created by humans. Although if humans did ever exist they have been long gone in our world for ages now. Which is partially why we can't believe your story Aleice." She nodded. "But anyways, it is said two mere humans are the reason for our existance. Adamite and Evean. They couldn't thrive in the world they originated in. They were miserable and looking for any way out. Their love was strong but their spirits were not. It seemed like all was lost and they would die without ever figuring out what it was life had to offer.

Slowly as their human life grew old, they would began to tire, and eventually sleep more and more. Their dreams would take them to a wonderful thriving place filled with nature, free from humans grasp. They could be young again, happy in the world they seemed to share in their dreams. They loved it so much they never wanted to wake up. Every waking day they would dream of the dream they wanted to go back to. They began to forget about their world, and the dreams they had would last longer.

Evean loved it so much she began to lose sight of what was important to her. Adamite.

One day while walking through the forests of the world they called Rutia, she stumbled across a mighty lion. His allure was powerful. He convinced Evean that her world was nothing special. She was nothing special. He offered her deals and schemes on how she could live in Rutia forever. The thought of never having to leave was too great to pass up! "I will grant you the ability to remain in Rutia forever. You will become a Rutian, and live out your days amongst us. You can never return to your world." He would tell her. She immediately agreed and a contract was made.

As Adamite woke the next day, he found his wife laying dead next to him. He greived and pleaded on empty winds to take him too. His greiving got so intense he couldn't dream of Rutia for days. He didn't dream, at all.

And then finally one night he was back. Alone. In the dream world him and his wife had created together. He couldn't feel the same amount of joy as he had before, but it did comfort him.

A playful little boar popped out of the bushes one day. She seemed to instantly connect with him, never leaving his side and whenever he would sit to rest she would curl up in his lap. At first he enjoyed the company, but something inside him was beginning to bubble up. It was pent up rage and nager that Evean had left him. How dare she die before him, abandoning him to face the world all alone! How DARE she! His anger took him over and as the boar slept, he slit her throat out of pure rage.

To his surprise the bloody little animal began to change. Slowly he could make out the curves of a womans body, and not just any woman, Evean.

He couldn't believe his eyes. His wife was still here. She was in Rutia all along. He had just slain her with his own two hands!

As he sat there holding her close to his chest and sobbing, the same lion that had visited Evean found him. He stood overlooking as the man greived in his wifes blood.

"You were not happy in this world nor your own. You did not appreciate either for what it was. Your wife did the same, and became too greedy. She wanted to remain here forever, and left you behind. You wanted to escape and couldn't think about what had already happened, you only dwelled in the bad and not the good." The lion sat and wrapped his tail around his hind legs. His trickery was not over.

"I will bring your wife back. She will not be a human, but she will not continue to be a boar either. Instead she will be both." Adamite wiped his eyes and began to listen. "The only cost to you is that you have to agree to leave all of humanity behind. You will no longer be a human either. You and her will bear the same curse and live out the rest of your lives here, in Rutia. Think wisely." Adamites smile had finally come back to him after so long! He didn't even need to think, he was hasty with a stern "Deal!". The lion sighed and bowed his head.

"It is done, but know this. Rutia is not heaven. It is a sad day when you're ashamed to be you." With that, he vanished. Evean began to wake, and when she did her and Adamite shared one of the happiest moments they had ever had. Both were oblivious to the lives they had given up, to the people they no longer were. "

Everything was silent for a few seconds after. Aleice shook her head. "So wait, this place was created from a dream of a perfect world?" James nodded. "Yes, but the moral of the story I guess was be happy with who you are, and don't be quick to demean yourself. Adamite and Evean gave up who they were just becuase they thought they wanted more. They already had what made them happy, each other." Desmond jumped in. "It's said that there are still people who have lost their way and been brought to Rutia. But we figured those were just old folktails to keep our world story going." "That's what I'm saying! Maybe Aleice is the proof to that tail. If that's the case she needs to go visit Decker." James' voice began to crack at the last part.

Everyone was silent again. Kain had finally joined them.

"Sending her to see Decker is like throwing fresh meat to a hungry lion. Literally." He sneered. "Yes but he is the oldest being from here. He was around looong before us." "That's true but he's also a filthy liar. Why would we ever put credit into what he's saying?" Lex jumped in. "Because we have nowhere else to turn." Everyone just kind of got silent and looked around. Damien was the one to finally break the silence again.

"Well then it's time we recruited Geena." He sighed. "My thoughts precisely." James added. "She's one of the few people I know who know their way around him. Atleast with her Aleice has a chance of knowing the truth."

She finally stood and got the guts to ask, "Why are we even doing this again? I know we want to find out why I can't shift, but c'mon.. this seems like too much trouble for something like that."

Kain wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled. "Well before we were just curious. Now we're worried. If this story proves true, then you might be here because you're miserable. We would'nt want the real you to be miserable, now would we?" She thought about what he was saying.

'The real me? But.. I'm the real me.. aren't I?' Suddenly she began to see flashes of light. Wait.. was.. was this a dream? How could she not know for sure? The lights grew. Her head began to pound and she fell to her knees. Desmond caught her arm and everyone stood to help, She groaned and thrashed trying to get the pain to go away, but it wouldn't. Opening her eyes wide she found herself in the same white room as before. She could remember now.

She was in a hospital!