Not So Distant

Berry stared at the jar of gummy bears sitting on the table, they looked delightful and he would give anything to have a taste but Caelum gave him a stern warning to stay away from sugar and although he hated it, he had to comply.

He stayed looking at the jar for a while until he finally pulled away and returned to the bed.

Caelum was out again, this was now a normal routine. He would go when Berry fell asleep and return later the next day.

Berry felt bored staying all by himself in the room but he also felt scared to go out, remembering the last incident.

He looked around the room, looking for something to do but he found nothing, it was just a boring and empty room.

"Urgh" he groaned loudly, then proceeded to fall flat on the bed, looking up at the ceiling with a pout on his face.

The days after the incident had been quiet, the Runes recovered and the scientists stopped calling Berry for tests.

He spent most of his day inside the room, waiting for Caelum and doing nothing, but at least it was better than a bomb or sudden illness.

Berry didn't have any other strange dreams either and his health was at it's best, it seemed like everything had come back to normal after all.

He raised his hand, looking at it, "I wonder if I still have those powers" he muttered.

He flicked his wrists and waited for something to happen, but as usual, nothing did.

"Typical"

The door opened and Caelum walked into the room slowly, his feet dragging. He looked tired but he was trying to hide it with his usual stoic face.

"Are you okay? How was your day?" Berry asked, sitting up on the bed.

"Boring, annoying and tiring"

"Jeez, what happened?"

"Apparently, they want me to return to the mountains and stop 'frolicking with the Runes', stupid lot"

"The mountains?"

"That's the Dragon Base, it's where my palace is and some other interesting things"

Berry looked at him with curiosity, "Is it cold up there?"

"No, just high up, only dragons can't fly up there and the oxygen levels do not affect us"

"So you are keeping it away from humans"

"And Runes, especially Runes" he said firmly, as he began taking off his coat.

Berry felt his heart drop, "so Runes can't see it? At all?"

Caelum smirked slightly, "do you want to see it?"

Berry felt flustered at the sudden question, he looked away and stuttered, "I mean, I don't know I…maybe…"

Caelum chuckled as he found him cute, "Maybe some day".

The small Rune's eyes widened and he smiled warmly, "thank you".

Caelum nodded and went back to whatever he was doing. Berry spoke up again, "Do you ever sleep?"

"Hm" ..."I have a lot of work to do, so I rarely have time to do that"

"But then you'll lose energy and you will fall ill"

Caelum smiled, catching Berry off guard, this was the first time the dragon had shown, clear and genuine expressions, even if it was just a small smile, it was a step in a direction neither of them were sure of.

"Dragons are not like humans or Runes, we do not need to have a certain amount of sleep to be productive, we can stay awake for very long and not feel tired"

"Oh" was all Berry could say, he was still trying to recover from the sudden smile which was already gone but the dragon's face was not stoic anymore too.

Is he warming up to me? He suddenly doesn't seem as distant as when we first met.

"Talking about sleep…have you been having any nightmares lately?" he asked seriously.

Berry immediately shook his head, "No, I've been fine".

"Good"

Berry went back to being quiet but then his eyes drifted to the jar of gummy bears on the table once more, he sighed and pouted again.

Caelum's eyes went to Berry, noting the pout on Berry's face, he followed his eyes and saw the gummy bears, "who brought that here?".

"One of the guards"

"I see, I will ask him about it later"

Berry pouted even more and became like a solemn puppy. "No you are not having any" Caelum said sternly, giving no room for arguments.

"I'm gonna shower"

"Meanie" Berry muttered as he watched Caelum walk away.

He suddenly got an idea and he waited till Caelum was out of sight before he looked back at the jar of gummy bears and smiled mischievously.

He slowly got up, making sure to be extra quiet and then he got to the table and took the jar and opened it slowly, trying not to make sound.

The sweet smell filled his nostrils and without wasting any time, he reached in and took one, popping it in his mouth.

Hm…tastes so sweet!

"I forgot my towe-"

Oh no!

"Berry!!"

.

.

.

The evening came fast and the sun began to set. Caelum wanted to ease Berry's boredom a bit, so he offered a stroll and so they went out, wearing black hoodies and walking outside but still within the facility.

"This is nice" Berry said with a satisfied smile, he was happy to be away from that boring room.

Some dragons passed by them, bowing at Caelum and giving Berry weird and wary looks.

But there were only a few of them as it was evening and almost everyone was inside their apartments. However, they both ignored the others and focused on their stroll, "the weather is nice", Berry commented once, to which Caelum agreed.

In that moment, everything felt peaceful.

"The sacrifice must be made!!"

The two flinched as a man appeared out of nowhere, coming into their view and yelling in their faces.

"The sacrifice must be made!!"

Caelum instinctively pushed Berry behind him and took a protective stance.

"The sacrifice must be made!!"

He wanted to attack but what he saw next made him frozen.

The man began to bleed from his mouth but he kept yelling, "The sacrifice must be made".

His body convulsed where he stood and his clothes were stained from the blood pouring from his mouth but he did not stop yelling.

Berry hid behind Caelum, unable to look at the scene, he felt fear, so much he became rigid and suffocated.

These were the same words that were said in his dream but now someone else was saying it here, in the real world. His breathing was shaky and laboured, his hands went to his ears and covered them from the man's spluttered yelling.

"The sacrifice must be made!!"

Caelum reached back and held Berry with one hand and the other hand he stretched out, a bright light emerging from it and shooting out to the man with precision and speed that was incomprehensible.

The man stopped screaming and dropped to the floor.

Lifeless.