You, Me and Our Dream

I open my eyes and what I see surprises me. I'm standing in front of our former home at the edge of town, sitting steadily in the dead of night. The darkness of the surroundings doesn't hinder me from scanning the entirety of the home from where I stand from a distance. That's thanks to the unusually bright light from the moon. Numerous cries of creatures of the night from the nearby woods don't faze me from fixing my sights on the strangely well-maintained home. Eerily enough, I see peculiar figures roaming around the house as I see shadows wandering about.

          "Vatic." I hear someone whisper from all directions but the volume seems to be too loud that the voice echoes all over.

          I'm stuck standing from where I'm at but I try to look around and find where the woman's voice came from. I didn't find anyone. Shivers start to form from my soles to the back of my neck. All I see is a Black Panther sitting next to me nonchalantly, looking intensely towards our former home. Masid? What is he doing here? He's supposed to be resting. There's no way he has already recovered. I'm the last person who saw him and I can tell he still has a long way from full recovery. I know that for sure.

          "Vatic." A distinct voice of a man calls out to me. I'm certain this came from within the house.

          As I turn back to look at our former home, a woman is peering out of the second-floor window and looking at us directly. My senses tell me that I know this woman but my memory seems to be failing me for some reason. The cold evening breeze blows her short blonde hair away from her face. She smiles at me, sending me a wave of comfort from where I stand. From the front door, I see a man standing defiantly as he offers me a welcoming smile. His beard almost covers the bottom half of his face yet his emerald green eyes glisten as the first cracks of fire engulf the house from behind.

          The fire embraces the home violently in seconds but my panic isn't being shared with the blonde woman and the rugged-looking man. They gesture towards me, inviting me inside the burning home with them. My muscles continue to disobey me from running away and finding a safe place maybe because my gut tells me to help them somehow. I keep standing there watching, bottling all the panic, fear, and concern within me. The crackling of fire becomes more adamant, eating and burning every crevice of the home more forcefully. Then again, those odd people aren't bothered and still continue to invite me to join them.

          "Masid, no. Don't!" I see my familiar stand up and rush towards the burning home, jumping into the man's arms.

          What's strange from that sight is that with every step Masid takes to close the distance between them, he seems to become younger and younger until he lands on the man's arms like a Black Panther cub. What in the Gods' names is happening? The woman vanishes from the second-floor window and reappears at the front door now together with the man and my young familiar. I'm not minding the tears pouring out of my eyes as the dread lingers. There's this feeling that if I let him be burned together with the home and those strange individuals, he will be gone for good.

          I choke and hold my breath with all my strength as I see them walk inside the burning home, carrying Masid with them. Their smiles are as ominous as they can be. It's as if they know something about me that I don't know –or I don't let myself know. When their silhouettes were completely devoured by the gigantic flames, the same flames seemed to mirror my heart beat then ate the entirety of the house with the assistance of one strong gust of wind originating from the depths of the dark wilderness. The event becomes even odder when the burning house instantaneously becomes ashes falling slowly to the burnt ground. The flames were suddenly extinguished like it wasn't even there in the first place.

          "Vaaatic." A mob sounds like it's calling me from behind me but I'm afraid to look around for some reason. I start to tremble.

          Voices of young children, elders, and common folks reverberate the entire area as they continue to call out for me but I continue to watch the ashes sitting warmly in front of me. I hear screams, cries, and even anguish as they try to get my attention. The space behind me seems to be more crowded the more I ignore their calls. It seems like the entire townsfolks have some kind of congregation but that shouldn't be possible. As Mother says, no one lives on the island since the entire place was devastated by a plague and … Dalakethnon.

          As soon as the thought of the Beast of Hiraya hits me, I slowly turn my gaze behind me. I'm preparing for whatever it is that's about to happen but all I see is a thick mass of fog filling the entire space from the ground to the heavens. It is like all the clouds in the sky gather right here to obstruct my view of what's beyond. After all this time, my foot finally let me take a step as I aim to pass through the heavy fog beyond but as soon as my heel touches the ground, the earth rumbles. The same ominous feeling I felt when I was watching our former home burns came back and it's grander than it can ever be.

          Before I can even realize it, I'm freefalling towards what I think is the earth's very core as the ground where I was standing only seconds ago cracked then evolved to a gaping hole which sent me plummeting to only the Gods know where exactly. My screams for help and fear provided me with nothing but a stinging ache in my throat. The feeling of falling for an eternity came to my realization. I've been falling oddly for too long now. Where am I falling into anyway? Is there an end to this?

          I maneuver my body to face the direction in which I think I'm falling. Total darkness. However, there's a distinct smell being carried by the wind from its deepest surface. It smells so unnerving that I can only describe it as death with a tinge of suffering and also that familiar odor of burning flesh. And strangely enough, a smell of iron wafts alongside them. I squint my eyes as I think I can see something moving from afar. Something huge, something otherworldly. With the last of the light being offered from the gaping crack far above, it illuminates the sharp edges surrounding me as I continue to fall.

          It was too late when I realized it. I fell into the beast's readily available mouth. His tongue offers me cushion but I have to think fast. I have to find a way get to out of here. The gaping hole seems to be a speck from down here now. My brain doesn't seem to work as I can't make myself think for a way to save myself. The despair already fuming my thoughts intensifies as I feel something touch me. Something fell from the surface. It's a drop of blood. Not too long passed, and it started raining crimson. Right after a woman's menacing laughter reverberates the entire space and with Dalakethnon's last breath, his colossal mouth closed, trapping me in.

          I snap back into the waking world drenched in sweat and chasing my breath. It was just a dream but it feels like it wasn't. A part of me was lost and I am afraid that it will never come back –he will never come back. The dream I had is beyond explanation as I didn't know who those people were or why the Gods let me see them and let all of those happen. However, there's one thing I know for sure as the moon's light shines on my waking self. It was not me whom they were inviting to join them in the burning home. It was Masid. As it turned out, Masid happily joined them.

          "I have to check on Masid." I beckon myself under my breath as I chase it.

          Before I can fully collect myself and rush to where Masid is recovering, I suddenly hear a woman's inaudible whispers nearby. As soon as her voice registers in my mind, I remember why I am in this bare state. I made love with a woman who I don't know anything about. That's an experience I will not be able to comprehend even if I ask the wisdom of the Gods themselves, I think. My concerns for Masid were set aside as my curiosity got the best of me. Searching for the origin of the whispers, I slowly walk around the King of Trees towards the opposite spot where the woman and I made magic.

          I see the same ethereal woman leaning gently against the bark of the humungous tree, resting her forehead on it as well as both her palms. She's still unclothed as I am, sending me in awe once again with her flawless stature. Her skin glistens as the moon watches her every breath. Her hair screams as it contrasts the color of the tree towering over her by a thousand or even a million folds. Her smell dances together with the plethora of calming aromas surrounding the area. Whoever this woman is, I'm convinced that she's a Goddess. Who? I may not even know.

          "Tibi me trado, Deos e coelis ex alto. Vivat hic puer." She murmurs which I can only tell is a prayer, eyes closed. She continues to feel the tree and then says, "Vivamus." She opens her eyes without any haste, kissing the tree innocently.

          Sensing an unfamiliar aura enveloping the entirety of the tree, I look up to where I think its crown is. At first, I thought it was just in my imagination but in just a blink of an eye, millions and millions of fireflies emerge from within the resting leaves of the tree. Their glows illuminated the tree in a way I've never seen before and I bet that Mother hasn't either. The lights of the glowing insects dance alongside the chorus of the birds of the night singing from a near distance. It leaves dance rhythmically in the same tune. I don't know what I did in this lifetime or in the last to deserve this scene. Nevertheless, I thank the Gods with all my being. 

          "You're finally awake, Vatic." I didn't notice the woman was already standing in front of me. I can't help my mind to reminisce about everything that happened between us just a few moments ago.

          "Y-Yes, I am awake. I s-see you are as well." I respond, rattling. She laughs, placing a hand on her soft lips.

          "Before anything else," She starts, placing a hand on my chest. I feel my blood in places it shouldn't be so I try my best to contain my desires. "I'd like to thank you for what you did. You've fulfilled our dream." I don't know what she's talking about but her smile sends a great calm to my nerves.

          I gently grab her hand from my chest and pull it in gently for a kiss. "It is I who must be grateful. That experience was beyond words." I reckon that's the right response. "Please, stay. You will, won't you?" I cup her face with my free hand which she didn't contest against.

          "I won't deny myself of you anymore, Vatic." She says as if she's known me for quite some time now. Both of her hands found my face then she pulled me in closer to hers. My arms rest around her waist. I thought she was going in for a kiss but she settled just looking into my eyes. "You sparked something in me the night we danced in the moonlight. Embers were born from that spark the more I hear your voice, the more I smell your scent, and now that I know how you taste like." She grins playfully, looking at me from top to bottom and back to my eyes. "I can confidently say that I burn for you and my flames will be in your hands for you to extinguish or for you to nurture."

          "What do you mean?" I ask, starting to get worried. "What is it that you're talking about?"

          "I will completely be honest with you for the first time after a very long while. Once you heard everything that I want you to know, it's up to you if you're going to still ask me to stay."

          "You don't have to if you don't want to." I feel a great sadness building up from within me as I see the corners of her eyes starting to get damped. "I will ask you again and again until you will."

          "It doesn't matter what I want anymore. What matters is what you deserve."

          "What I deserve is…" I whisper so she and I can only hear. I am fixated on those pearl eyes of hers. It's like I'm watching a black hole up close but instead of vacuuming the entire space, various images rush out and come flooding my mind. All the memories of her are coming back to me all at once. It feels like I'm in a vast ocean with rampaging waves higher than the rocky mountains themselves. All I can do is smile wholesomely and then give in to my emotions. "...you."