[19] Training: Our History (Part 2)

“Her name was Aislin. Her name literally means ‘Dream’ when cracked down into the language –that’s part of my work. Can any of you just take a lucky guess what her power was?” Amara paused, smirking.

We all knew it.

“She could control dreams,” Amara said, without a response. “She was a very powerful Muse. She could give people dreams when they go to bed at night, or take a short nap. She used her power of dreams to inspire people, so when they woke up, no matter their profession, they would always have a new idea to keep living by. She kept people happy. She gave people a sense of purpose. She was beloved by many if not by all. The other Muses often asked her to help them relay inspiration to their few entrusted humans. She was like a messenger, though she was a Core Muse.”

“Why did she go bad?” Ashley whispered.

“As the story goes,” Amara began, “Aislin was popular among the Muses. Her power worked best when she was asleep. She could properly relay messages to people when she and the receiver were both in the same condition; both at complete rest.

It is said that Aislin got jealous. The other Muses adored her, yes. They asked her for many favours... but even as Muse, she felt inferior to the rest of them.

She felt like she was just a messenger. She felt as though her power would be useless if it weren't for the help of the other Muses. She felt like there was no way she could inspire people without the help of the others who could create inspiration from nothing, and she loved so many of the ideas they'd given her to relate.

Dream wielding was -at the time- more of a supportive player for all other fields. She didn't realise how much the others needed her. She felt like they'd just been using her. They could all relate the inspiration to their entrusted for themselves, but they all loved the way she approached the matter with grace and diligence -and she was so beautiful. They saw her beauty and skill as an opportunity to relate their messages to the humans in a way that they would never forget. Think about it for a moment. You're getting inspired to do a new clothing design, or try a new equation that could possibly end up taking you to space, and you're getting this inspiration from a beautiful woman in your dream. Pretty unforgettable, wouldn't you think?”

Josh looked over at Olivar and chuckled.

Amara continued, slightly saddened. “Aislin never said much about how she felt, but over time she became annoyed.

One night, she was in the middle of a dream with an Entrusted, when she began to feel an awful headache. It was so extreme that she pulled herself out of the dream and woke up. She stood but fell dizzily to the ground. She thought she'd overused her power for one day. She thought she needed to relax for a little while. She decided against relaying anymore messages for the night.

When she woke up, the Muse of Physics, Anni, was outside crying bitterly by the entrance door. Aislin thought something awful had happened to her and she went out to comfort her. Anni was angry and shoved her away, saying what a disgrace Aislin had been for not relaying her message to the Entrusted. Aislin tried her best to explain that she had an awful headache...but Anni wouldn't listen. She was too caught up in her tears, complaining over how much she could have gotten done with that one person.

Aislin was upset. She’d had enough. She ran away. Somewhere no one would find her. She was never found, and it is believed that she put up magical wards all around her just so the other Muses wouldn't be able to track her down. She tested out her power for herself, trying to inspire humans on her own, but every time she used it she would make herself believe that the dream wasn't good enough and she would become enraged in her sleep. Humans would wake up afraid. Her powers changed drastically. They were no longer dreams -but nightmares. It was this fear that caused her to create the first Seguidore –or so we believe. She became frustrated, and so she created an army. Ever since then she's been hidden away. We believe she's gone into an eternal slumber –that she found ways to maximize her powers. It’s said that she sees everything that goes on, even though she’s asleep. We have heard of a few cases of people who have seen her in their dreams –people from this very academy. They never really bothered with it. They just shrugged it off as a nightmare. She didn’t get fear so deep into them that they forgot who they were and lost sight of our world.”

“How did she create her army?” Jeremy asked. “Was she ever able to do it through dreams, or where they all nightmares?”

“From what we know,” Amara said, “Most known cases of the people who have joined Aislin’s Movement were people convinced to join it by fear. Fear in general; fear of failure, fear of disappointment, fear of loss, whatever. So we do think they were all nightmares.

She attacks humans because they have the potential to become Guardians and Muses. She attacks humans because she wants a decrease in our population and an increase in hers. She attacks humans because she knows Wielders are out to protect them, and she doesn't mind sending Seguidores to kill one of us in the process. She attacks wielders because she sees us as a threat to her cause. She’s not the root of all evil, though. There was evil before her –the balance; The Supreme Evil. We believe that this higher evil is what drives her. Her motives are always changing, but we don’t think it’s because of her.”

Jeremy asked about how the Guardianship was formed. He asked about who the first Guardians were. Amara explained that when the Muses had discovered that Aislin had run away, news was beginning to spread of some Entrusted falling out of their careers, some committing suicide because they thought they were going insane from the nightmares. Some completely forgot their love for the arts and sciences and went down a completely different route. This had caused distress among the Muses. The fields were heading downhill, and they had to find a way to protect it. Anni eventually confessed that she'd possibly angered Aislin, but they had bigger problems to worry about than a confession.

The Muses all came together for an in-depth discussion over the matter. They decided to entrust humans with abilities from birth, so that as they grew older they would learn to wield better and more efficiently. These individuals could be born into a family that was active in the fields, or they could have their own interest in a field. Over time, with a population increase on Earth throughout the ages, the number of wielders who inherited traits or followed their own path and journeyed towards it had increased.

When Aislin saw what the Muses were doing, she began a war. There were two wars. Amara explained that we lost the majority of our Guardian population on Earth in the second war.

She turned to me and smiled saying, “It's only now, I see, our numbers are rising to the primary level once more.”

I slowly lowered my head. I hated being put on the spot.

“Faye, you're awfully quiet,” Berry announced. I internally cringed.

I pondered over everything I just heard. I was mesmerized by the history of it all, but the mention of Aislin and the dream wielding brought back a memory I'd decided to ignore since it happened...

My nightmare.

I struggled for a moment to put something together in my head to say... then I found it. “I do have a question, actually,” I said, “These nightmares. These thoughts that Aislin puts in people’s heads to make them join her. Can the receiver ignore them?”

Amara nodded, “Yes. Aislin uses her power now to discourage people. It proves that she betrayed the Trust to create, protect, and inspire. She’s pulling down the aspects of life that make us especially unique; our intelligence.

She tries an awful lot to get to people, no matter if they're on the creative side or the logical side. She brings people down, she sends discouraging thoughts. She takes people to a place of fear and depression until they feel like they don't have a choice but to follow her. They believe she can help them.

She turns them all into monsters. The saddest part is they become her slaves without realizing it. They become monsters and eventually they are too far gone to pull back. If we can’t help ourselves to fight against her, then the Muses be with us... we’d be doomed.”

Amara took one last pace over the thread of newcomers before her, and she stopped in front of me. “For you all, I just have one piece of advice,” She said. “Dreams are very powerful... too powerful to be brought to ashes and dust by discouragement and fear. Never listen to those negative voices in your head.”