Hyu's Adventures

I'm a bit disappointed in myself for managing my time so poorly lately.
Somehow I have picked up a really bad habit of procrastinating.
And because of this I end up spending much less time on LD activities than I intend to.
I'm seriously considering to block reddit/youtube like sites for a few days a week...



I find myself on a beach. It is quite late, the sun is going down.
I should probably walk back to the hotel before it gets too dark...
Unfortunately I don't recognize any of the buildings alongside the beach.
Am I lost? How does that even happen?

Realizing that the situation is somewhat out of the ordinary I try to increase my awareness.
However, my thoughts feel scrambled. I am unable to come to a conclusion.
Now what? Am I dreaming or not? This does feel pretty real...
I decide to fall back on a more robust technique, the nose plug RC.

I can breathe normally through my plugged nose. This is a dream.
Wait really? I look at my hands and they seem perfectly normal.
I walk over to the first person I find, which is an elderly man, whom I assume is walking back to his hotel.

"Excuse me."
"Yes?"
"Am I dreaming?"

The man seems rather confused by my question.
In retrospect, that was probably not the most intelligent thing to do.
I decide that the answer to my question should be behind myself.
I turn back towards the ocean.

This is no longer the beach I was on previously on. This is my beach!
I must have changed scenes during the short moment when I was turning.
Sweet!

I try to remember my dream goals, and for once I actually manage to remember them!
My only dream goal at the moment is to "calm the fuck down".

(Lately I often forget to properly stabilize my dreams when I become lucid.
And then to make up for it, I rush through the dreams out of fear that they might end prematurely,
which is of course the worst possible thing to do.)

I slowly walk towards the ocean, taking all the time in the world.
The sound of the water is very relaxing, and I love the contrast between the warm sand and the refreshingly cold ocean breeze.
Eventually I take a few steps into the ocean, getting my feet wet. The water is very cold.

As I look at the stars, I feel a familiar presence.
It's Yuya! This is going to be a great night.

Ever since I found this picture and felt that it reminded me of her,
she's been playing around with hair colors a lot.
Today it's mostly orange and blue.
She can change it simply by shaking her head.
She's smiling at me the way she always does.

"Come out and play?"

At first I find it a little amusing that she phrases her question this way.
But then it reminds me of when I was very young, and I'd go knocking on the neighbours door to ask them to come out and play in the street.
Back then there was nothing to worry about, no important decisions to make.
I'd ask my friends to come out with the sole goal of having a good time.
Perhaps what I initially found a little odd, was after all the perfect way to phrase it.

This starts off a series of DEILDs.
I've written down the fragments I remember.
Unfortunately I don't remember them very well.
The last few moments before I woke up are quite clear, but everything before that is a bit of a blur.

Fragment 1:
I help Yuya prepare dinner at her place.
I'm not of much help though, given that I don't know any of the herbs and spices she has, nor the meat that she wants to prepare.
She is very patient with me, and explains how to prepare everything,
even though she knows that I probably won't remember any of it.
It takes us a good hour to prepare everything.
Liv joins us for dinner. (And there was someone else as well I think.)
Everything tastes absolutely wonderfully.
Later, I help Yuya to do the dishes.
She knows that my dream time is limited, and I can feel that it makes her really happy that I spend it with her,
even if it means doing something as mundane as doing the dishes.

Fragment 2:
In my scribble DJ I wrote "Dance" "Leaf in the wind" and "Happy".
I don't remember anything about this fragment though, and I don't recall taking these notes.

Fragment 3:
We're at a Café, sitting outside, enjoying the good weather and some amazing drinks.

Crow joins us. He felt my presence so he came by to say hi.
Since there's drinks and Yuya and Liv are here, he obviously decides to stay.
He ends up ordering something that isn't on the menu.

They bring us a plate with very small pipettes on it, all containing a small amount of a yellow liquid.
It's quite fun really, you use the pipette to place a single drop of the liquid onto your tongue.
It immediately gives you that cold chill / frisson feeling all over your body.
It also tastes rather sour. Perhaps a little like lemon juice.

Fragment 4:

Crow, Yuya and I are on some sort of airship.
It looks more like an old sail ship though, nothing like an actual airship.
Does fly rather well though, even though I'm sure this violates a few laws of physics.
According to Crow, there are very few of these, and it is very difficult to get a ride on one.
It is quite late and we all sit on the front deck watching the sun go down.
Yuya leans against me because she is really tired.

Crow is telling a very captivating story about love and betrayal.
It is quite an emotional story.
Usually his stories are about himself, and he exaggerates... a lot, I'm pretty sure he even makes stuff up on occasion.
His stories are quite amazing though, I'll give him that. Plus, he's a fantastic story teller.
I don't mind that he does this, we all know that it's for entertainment.
But this time around he claims that it is a fictional story about another person.
And then there's the way he narrates it. It is quite different. More serious, and seemingly less exaggerated.
I'm convinced that this time, he's actually telling a genuine story from his past.
The story eventually comes to an end. (It was a little sad, but I recall that there was a silver lining)

"Say, aren't you supposed to wake up or something? You've been staying for an awfully long time."
"Oh Crow... you're not supposed to remind dreamers about that."
"Why not?"
"Waking up is not something you want to think about."
"Why?"
"It could make you wake up."
"It can?"
"Unfortunately, yeah."
"That is rather inconvenient."
"It is."
"Seriously though, isn't it bad for you to spend entire days asleep so that you can be here?"
"Haha, I appreciate your concern Crow, I really do, but fortunately it doesn't work quite like that."
"I assure you, on the other side I've been asleep for a few hours at most."
"Huh, that is quite fascinating. It is good to know that I don't have to worry then."
"I'll make sure not to mention anything about waking up in the future."
"Thanks mate. I appreciate it."
"Sure... mate."

(There was a joke earlier in the dream about saying "mate", but I cannot quite recall what it was.)

"Anyways, I'm afraid I have to get going. I'm running late."
"Take care."
"So long."

Crow charges forwards and disappears in a cloud of colorful particles.
I think that's the first time I've seen him do that.
The dream is slowly becoming unstable.
I can no longer see beyond the airship.
The airship itself has also become somewhat blurry and desaturated.

Only Yuya I can still see clearly.
She seems to have fallen asleep, resting her head on my shoulder.
I can feel her chest expand against me as she breathes.
Even if it is just for a short moment, perhaps for just a fraction of a second,
it makes me really believe that she is out there somewhere, and not a construct of my own mind.
Sometimes I wish I could entertain this thought for longer, because I find it quite beautiful...

I'm browsing DreamViews on my PC. I think that I am currently doing my WBTB.
There is something important I need to ask ~ Dreamer ~, but I cannot quite remember what it is.
I have the private message site open, trying to remember what it is I wanted to say.
Then, I spot some movement from the corner of my eye.
I could have sworn that ~ Dreamer ~'s Avatar just winked at me.


After some initial confusion, I think that she must have changed her Avatar to an animated gif, which does just that.
I think it is a pretty hilarious idea, because it is going to catch people off guard.
It might get people to RC if they notice...
I try to increase my awareness, given what just happened.
Hmm...
That avatar does look somewhat suspicious.
I poke it with my finger.
The avatar giggles and moves further into the screen a little.

"... Hello?"

The avatar then proceeds to climb outside of the screen and eventually ends up on my desk, still giggling.
It is so cute. But I resist the urge to poke it again.
The avatar points towards my left. I turn around.
~ Dreamer ~ is standing right next to me!
This comes as one hell of a shock. I immediately stand up.
I was in a semi-lucid state, but now, in the blink of an eye, I am fully lucid.

I run my fingers over the palm of my left hand to check my senses.
Everything is crystal clear. I can feel the individual patterns on my skin.
I haven't had a dream this clear in some time...
Oh... right... Dreamer!

"Hi..."

Really? That's all that I can come up with? "Hi"?
Well, I suppose I'm still a bit in shock from her sudden appearance.
She smiles.

"Hi Hyu."

I try to calm down a little. I point at my monitor.
Her voice is very soft, so I decide to reply softly as well.

"That was one hell of a trick."
"Which trick?"

I look at my monitors, and they are all blank now, with a purple haze around the corners.
This has happened many times before. I don't worry about it.
There is no sign of the Avatar.

"You made me realize that I am dreaming."
"Yes."

This is amazing! And the dream is so vivid and clear!

"Hyu, do you remember my dare?"

I wouldn't have remembered that on my own.
Lucid Dares

"I am to confront Faye."
"Yes. It is time to solve this once and for all."
"Yes... it is."

But you're right here in my dream.
I want to talk with you about all sorts of things.

"Go now. Faye awaits you."

She points towards the door leading out of my room. It becomes clear that Faye awaits me behind it.
I suppose ~ Dreamer ~ has a better grasp on priorities than I do. She is right.
The dream is so clear and stable, I need to use it to confront Faye.

"Thank you!"

~ Dreamer ~ winks at me, just like her avatar did, and then slowly fades away. Wow... what an amazing encounter.
I approach the door, but hesitate a moment before opening it.
I assert again that the dream is perfectly stable, and that my head is clear.
Yes, I am. Though I'm not entirely sure what to say yet. But that's okay, I'll figure it out on the fly.
I open the door with confidence, expecting to encounter Faye behind it.


To my surprise, this new room that I've just entered looks like some sort of an interrogation room.
One table, two chairs facing each other, and a big, probably one sided mirror.
Faye sits in one of the chairs waiting for me.
I'm not off to a good start. Not only does Faye look like Kate again, but I really dislike that this is an interrogation room.
I can understand why this happened though. It must have been caused by my determination to get answers from her.
I sit in the other chair and try to smile.

"Hello Faye."

She doesn't answer. She just stares down at her hands which are on the desk.
That's alright. I'll talk for now.
I recall positive memories we shared together. I retell those stories. (Unfortunately I don't remember this part of the conversation well)
But I can't seem to get any reaction out of her.
I gently grab her hands. She finally looks me in the eyes.

"I miss you Faye."
"We had so much fun together. I want to go on adventures with you again."
"..."
"The Faye that you remember is dead."
"..."
"I understand... What do you want?"
"No. You don't understand. And what I want..."

She smiles.

"I will destroy you. I will destroy us both."

She plays with a butterfly knife a little, then shows me the palm of her left hand, and then cuts right across it.
I can feel the cut in my left hand clearly. I look at it, and I have the same wound Faye has. We're both bleeding a little.

"You and I we are the same. We've always been."
"What has changed?"
"There is darkness within you. I am that darkness now."
"Nothing you do can stop me now."

This is not what I wanted to hear. But I suppose deep down, I already knew that things would never return to the way they were.
She also made it quite clear that I cannot remove her by force. What do I do now?
... first of all, I need a change of scenery. This interrogation room is inappropriate, it probably plays right into her hands.
Teraluna it is. I stand up and use the wing technique to teleport to Riven. Faye follows me. We are on a bridge close to Yuya's place.
She's no longer looking like Kate. She's looking the same way she did when we first met. She shows me her knife and says.

"I will never let you be with Yuya again."

I can see Yuya in the distance. She reads my thoughts. I make it clear that now is not a good moment to come over. She understands.
I look at the horizon. The gas giant that we are orbiting is experiencing a huge storm. It is quite beautiful.
This change of scenery was a good idea. I feel refreshed. And I know what I have to do...

"Oh Faye..."
"When I look at you, I remember all the good times we've had together."
"I will cherish those memories. I'll always remember you as the person you were, not as the person you have become."
"Whatever it is you are trying to do. It is not going to work."

I just smile. It is a genuine smile. I truly do cherish those memories.
And what I am about to say is going to hurt. But I know that it is the only way out.

"Faye... you are right. You always are. You and I, we are the same. And there is darkness within me... I do understand that."
"You do not... you have no idea. It will destroy you. I will destroy you."
"I know."
"No."
"You see, I've done a terrible thing."
"..."
"I didn't see what was wrong. I couldn't understand. So I have channelled all that darkness; all what was wrong, into a single dream character."
"You're making this up..."
"I needed for it to have a face. So that I could clearly identify..."
"These lies will not work on me!"
"Faye, I am sorry. I did not do this consciously. But it is all clear to me now."
"You are all that remains of that darkness. I will have to let you go..."
"No... I am your dream guide!"

Her voice has become faint. I can see fear and sadness in her now.
Is this truly the explanation I believe in?

"Faye is no longer here... My dream guide is dead."

I touch her face... one last time. I look deeply into her eyes. I can see nothing within them. You are no longer Faye.
Was it my fault that she ended up like this? Or was it beyond my control? I will never know.
But this is the only choice I have left. I take a step back... and then I let go...

"Goodbye Faye..."

She closes her eyes... and slowly fades into dust. The wind takes her away until nothing is left. Faye is gone.
Have I done the right thing? Was this really the only way?
Yuya approaches and hugs me. I hold her tightly.
I can feel her thoughts, her emotions, how helpless she felt, because this is not something she could help me with.
This was something I needed to solve on my own.

"Did I do the right thing?"

She gently answers:

"What do you think?"
"I think so... but I cannot shake the feeling that I may have taken the only path, rather than the right one."
"When there is only one path, is it not by definition always the right one?"
"Well..."
"Worry not. This was the choice you needed to make."

And suddenly I feel such relief. Like all the weight has been lifted off my shoulders. My dreams are mine again.
Yuya rarely gives me such a straight up answer. Instead she helps me to find my own.
But this time I needed to hear it from her.
I am so happy to be with her again.

We walk through her gardens, knowing that my dream will soon end. That is fine. I am exhausted.
I know that I can now visit Yuya again whenever I desire. That is what is most important.
But Faye is gone. Forever.

I stand in the middle of the platform, with the gate in front of me and Silver, Yuya and Shinave behind me.
I hold out my left hand against the gate, and give it a slight burst of energy.
Some engravings on it light up. I focus on the templars, and sure enough a connection is made to a gate right next to them.
A portal forms inside the gate in a dark purple color.
The doors are open, they can simply walk in now.
I'm nervous.



After a rather tense minute, some shapes finally emerge from the portal. Templars.
All 12 of them. This is it.
They all appear to be rather calm.
Then again, why wouldn't they? It's not like we'd stand a chance in a fair fight.

Finally, one of them addresses me. And to my surprise he looks somewhat different than the other templars.
He isn't wearing a helm, and his weapon of choice seems to be a sword rather than a lance.
How curious. Do the templars have some sort of leader after all?

"Oh dragon... It's unfortunate that you have resisted your death for this long."
"But I see you have finally seen the light."
"I respect that you stand here, offering to sacrifice yourself in exchange for the life of your friends."
"It is not an action that I would have expected from a dragon."

Oh.
That assumption sort of makes sense I guess.
The thought that we would fight them is pure insanity, yet I've shown them exactly where we are.

"Unfortunately the deal is not acceptable."

He points at Yuya.

"I'll need the life of the water goddess as well."
"Both of your lives for Teraluna. We have no interest in the others."
"Come forward and kneel down."

He wants to see the look on my face when he executes her in front of my eyes.
Typical Templar reasoning. They want a show. After all they could just charge at us and kill us all.
I turn around to look at Yuya. She's not worried at all. In fact she grins. Good.
I look back at the templar.
I stare deeply into his eyes and lough out loudly, which confuses him to some extend.
Finally the feeling of eeriness goes away.
No more anxiety. No more worries.
There is only the present now. No future to worry about.

I nod at Silver to give him the signal to activate the seal.
The symbols he has drawn on the ground grow all over the platform.



A transparent bubble surrounds all of us.
The portal generated by the gate collapses immediately, because as of right now, both gates no longer exist in the same space time continuum.
Everything within the bubble is separated from normal space and time, at least for as long as Silver keeps it up.
Nothing comes in, nothing goes out.
As far as I know, it is the ultimate spatial sealing technique. I've never seen anyone use it before.
Still, the templars do not seem alarmed. After all there's 12 of them and only 4 of us.

"And now what little dragon?"

There is complete silence now. Sound doesn't penetrate the seal.
I speak in a dark, assertive voice.

"Why, isn't it obvious?"
"I am going to kill you all"

That made him angry. He snaps his fingers and 2 templars charge at me immediately.
This is it then. This is what I've gambled everything on. Work!
Phoenix catalyst. Only once before have I drawn power directly from it, instead of using it as a catalyst to amplify my own powers.
It was when I resurrected Yuya. But of course that used up the entire catalyst. There is nothing left.
But I do use the same technique in the hopes of having understood what the orb that was given to me is.
Even though it was just an intuition. But right now, that is all I have.

The templars that charge at me do not have their lances drawn. Their goal is to push me to my knees. To put me in place.
To teach me a lesson. But I have other ideas. I propel myself forwards and slap my hands against their breastplates.
I use the technique and draw energy as hard as I can and concentrate it within my hands.

I feel some resistance. But it's like slapping your hands against a water surface. It hurts a little initially, but your hands still move straight through.
Through their breastplates. Through the bodies. I'm going straight through with my bare hands.
The lifeless remains of their bodies drop to the ground. They are not human bodies. There is no blood. It's like some sort of clay surrounded with skin.

It worked... It worked!
I can freely draw energy from the orb. My intuition was right. It is the same type of energy.
But I have no time to think about this any further.
Because the templars have now realized the danger, and 3 of them have already rushed past me towards Silver.
They want to destroy the seal, in case they need to retreat.
But Yuya is on it.
She is projecting some of her water spheres towards them.
Right before impact Shinave casts some kind of frost magic onto them, causing the spheres to erupt into ice spikes.
They are not strong enough to penetrate the armor of the templars, but they do manage to immobilize them for a moment.



I draw energy again, focus it into 3 small spheres and toss them at the templars.
Yet again, their bodies shatter on impact. They won't be able to get to Silver without dealing with me first.
Too late I realize that this is exactly what they're doing.
A lance hits me right in the stomach. I manage to blink away before by body suffers the full impact.
Another Templar is already striking me from another side.
I block his lance with my hands and give it a pulse of energy, breaking the lance in half.
I promtly throw the gained head of the lance at the Templar who previously managed to hit me in the stomach.
The lance shatters into pieces as I try to infuse it with energy, but enough of it discharges into the Templar to incapacitate him.
A few energy infused punches take care of the Templar with the broken lance.

To my surprise the remaining templars have not moved towards me at all.
4 of them stand there, emotionless, in front of their leader who is in anger.
I don't think he fully understands what just happened. 7 down, 5 to go.
And although only one of the templars displays any emotions, I don't notice an ounce of fear.

"Do you really think you can kill us all?"

I respond with an evil smile and draw my katana from its scabbard on my back.
That's right, I've been fighting you with my bare hands.

"Fine."

Some sort of growth on the leaders left arm becomes visible. It looks somewhat organic and insectoid.
Extensions reach from it to the necks of each of the templers bodies, all 11 of them.
With a motion of his left hand, the extensions retract back into his arm and all remaining templars drop dead.
All Templar bodies slowly begin to turn into something that resembles sawdust.
Suddenly, an immense amount of pressure originating from the remaining templars aura pushes against me.
I have to concentrate a small layer of energy around my body to protect it from burning up.

So much raw power. So this is why the templars were always so emotionless and their bodies so unnatural.
They were puppets controlled by this single person.
He confidently draws his own sword and begins walking towards me slowly.

"You have caused me grief, dragon. These are rather difficult to create you know."
"They have to be captured when they are but little children, then carefully raised into weapons."
"It takes such a long time, and now I have to do it all over again."

Even though right now, I have a virtually unlimited supply of energy, I am afraid of this guy.
Being in possession of this orb thing, but he is radiating so much energy naturally.

Here he comes. I draw huge amounts of energy into my katana, hoping to power through his sword.
But he merely deflects my attack, I do not manage to release the energy. This goes on for a few strikes.
Each time our swords clash he deflects it skillfully. He has the upper hand.
Then unexpectedly he charges in close, even though I haven't given him an opening.
Somehow he manages to get his blade uncomfortably close to my face and I have to blink back.

I quickly realize that I've been somewhat late. He managed to leave a small cut between my eyes.
A few more centimeters and that would have been it...

"Hmm. How odd."
"Clearly you have the energy to fight me, but you are not good enough of a swordsman to do so."
"I wonder. Years ago, you fought a Templar in the depths of hell. A fight where none of you had access to energy."
"A fight against someone who had perfected the art of sword combat."
"You do not have the skills necessary to have won that fight."

He is right. I should not have been able to do that. It is something I cannot explain.
It just happened, even though it should have been impossible.
And I can feel that this guy uses similar moves. If he hasn't perfected the art of sword combat, he is close.
I am no match for him. I cannot win in a sword fight. And the only way to discharge enough energy to deal damage to him
is through my katana.

"Also I wonder. Where does all of that energy suddenly come from?"
"You have done something rather curious indeed."

He charges at me a few more times. Fortunately I manage to deflect his attacks, but it is very close.
He just has to wait until I make a small mistake.

"And the dragon does not use his dragon powers."
"Instead he fights me with what seems to be divine energy."

I can't use it because both powers clash with each-other. It would rip me apart.
But he doesn't need to know that.
He attacks a few more times, and manages a few deep cuts into both of my shoulders and my back.

"Your time is slowly running out dragon."
"Not only will your body give in sooner or later, but that white haired friend of yours isn't going to last much longer keeping that seal up either."

Silver... He doesn't even know the proper reason he is keeping that seal up for, yet he is still giving it all hes got.
Hold out a little longer... I'll figure something out...

The templar performs a downwards strike over his shoulder, which I attempt to block directly.
He somehow angles his body in such a way that he is able to rotate around and punch me in the chest.
Even though I concentrate most of my energy into my ribs to absorb the shock, they still buckle a little under a loud crushing noise as I'm projected backwards.
I cough up some blood, but I manage to keep by defensive posture.

Due to the lung damage I decide to stop breathing entirely, and instead filter the CO2 in my blood using energy.
An easy technique, usually used to go to locations where breathing is not possible, such as underwater or planets without oxygen rich atmospheres.
I quickly repair potentially lethal damage using a variety of phoenix techniques.
My body is taking one hell of a beating, it won't last much longer.

"It is a shame that I have not found you when you were a child."
"You have so much potential, you would have made a fantastic asset."

Right as he readies another attack, something startles him to the point that he looses his focus on me.
I can feel a new presence. A dark, cold one. I look for it and spot a person that must have just appeared.
This is not possible... Nobody can enter this space as long as it is sealed. There are no tricks or techniques to circumvent interdimensional seals.
He immediately looks right at me and pronounces in a loud voice:

"Death has come for you."

As he summons an oversized pitch black scythe I understand what has happened.

"Silver, break the seal... It is no longer of any use."

The bubble surrounding the platform dissipates. Silver has to lie down from exhaustion.
Yuya and Shinave look rather worried. They know what it means when death comes for you.
He looks like a teenager. Somewhat long, black fuzzy hair. Worn and slightly torn black pants and shirt.
He's very skinny. But the scythe is what really makes it clear what he is. Death. Or a messenger of death.
I don't know the specifics behind how it works.

I try to utter the words "Not today". Because that is what you say when death comes for you.
But my voice is faint and fragile. It's not even because of the damaged lungs.
He is amused by this and laughs.

"Good one! I haven't heard that one yet. You may have just made my day."
"Seriously though, you're coming with me."

The grip on my katana loosens. I have fucked up.
This is the end. It's because I took the orb.
This orb, I don't know what exactly it is, or why it exists. All I know is that it has to do with life energy.
It plays a role in the birth of things. This is also the reason why I was able to draw power from it. It's the same type of energy as in the phoenix catalyst.
Because they are so important, each orb is assigned a guardian, so that no individual can ever obtain one.
Ironically, it is one of the guardians who gave me the orb. And she warned me that death would come for me.
I am not sure why she decided to give it to me, but I understand that I must now pay the price for having taken it.
Death acts as some sort of backup protection in case an orb is ever stolen.

In a moment of desperation I ask:

"... a minute then?"

Death looks at me a little surprised. Why would he ever agree to that? What am I even doing with another minute?
He made it clear that he is here to get me now. He looks at the templar, then back at me.
Then he shrugs.

"A minute it is."

And he sits down.
What?
Just like that?
He is completely carefree, as if he was about to grab some popcorn.

The templar laughs, realizing that he has already won.

"You fool! All I care about is your death, nothing else matters to me."
"You have just lost everything."

I know. The guardian told me.
For a moment I believed that Silvers seal would make me invisible to death, and I could use the orb without being spotted.
In retrospect, that was a rather idiotic assumption. But it is too late for remorse now.
Not like I had any alternatives anyways.
But before I go, there is one thing left to do...
Forget about the future, it is no more. There is only the present now.

"You asked me earlier how I managed to kill a man who had perfected the art of sword combat."

My voice has recovered some strength.

"Yes, I am curious about that indeed."

I remove the protective layer of aura surrounding my body and focus all of it into my katana.
Immediately I feel the pressure of the templars aura on my skin. It burns away my clothes and slowly begins to eat away at my skin.
Energy distribution in your body is a key aspect in advanced combat techniques. You can divert energy that is intended to defend your body into your attacks and vice versa.
Removing too much defensive energy leaves you without any defense.
But it's not like I have any need for that anymore.

"I admire your will, but you do not have the technique to beat me."

Yes. He can just deflect my attacks.
I open my dragon eyes, which is of course a rather self-destructing thing to do, given that my body is flooded with divine energy, which will immediately attack the dragon eyes
which are of demonic nature. I don't care.
I understand the confused look on the templars face, as the dragon eyes do not work on them.
But they are not intended for him.
I look for my own reflection in his eyes, and attempt to stare directly into my own dragon eyes.
This is something you are never supposed to do.
There is a high risk of getting lost forever.

I do it to look into my past.
Into the exact moment I fought that templar in the fires of hell.
I was but a young teenager back then. I can see it clearly now.
I walk towards the templar whilst looking at my memories at the same time.

"Back then, I had only a minute to kill the master swordman."
"And now you have a minute to do the same with me."
"I will show you exactly how I defeated him."

I begin to mimic the movements of the templar I fought against years ago.
Our swords spray sparks every time they touch. At this point it looks more like a dance than a sword fight.
He quickly realizes that he no longer has the upper hand. We are on equal terms now, and I have nothing to loose.
He changes to a more defensive style, attempting to simply outlast the minute that was given to me.
Fortunately, I require so much focus that I am completely incapable to think about what is going to happen next.
Sure enough, just before the minute runs out, I perform a combination of moves that creates an opening.
I take it without hesitation and lodge my katana firmly into his chest.

The burning sensation and the pressure emitted by the templar stops immediately.
He is visibly confused. He does not understand the mistake he made, and neither do I.
This style of combat is way too advanced for me. I merely copied what I saw.
But still, even with my sword lodged in his chest he smiles.

"It doesn't matter. I still won."

I have nothing witty to reply. He is right. His goal was that I die, and he achieved that, after all death has come for me.
I have lost. I release the energy stored within the katana and the templar bursts up in purple flames, leaving nothing behind.
I suppose this should provide some sort of relief. At least the templars are gone.
But I feel no such thing. All I feel is failure.



Death approaches me, carrying his scythe on his shoulder.
This is the end.

What the fuck am I doing?
I'm feeling awkward... anxious? eerie. Yes, that's the right word, eerie. I feel overwhelmingly eerie.
I don't feel the way I'm supposed to feel, given that I might loose everything, and that is immensely irritating.
And then I had the glorious idea to take that orb, which I was told would inevitably lead to my death.
I'm confused as to why I have made that choice. It seemed obvious at the time, but I just don't understand.
Perhaps it was because I am desperate. Perhaps it was to put and end to this feeling of eeriness.
Or perhaps, deep down, I know what I'm doing. Maybe. Hopefully?
One thing is for certain. The decision I've made is final. There is no going back. There is only one path left to walk.
From now on there are no more choices to be made, and that is somewhat of a relief.



I arrive on the central platform in Riven on Teraluna, where everyone is waiting for me.
The city feels abandoned. The animals have gone. I don't like it. It doesn't feel like home right now.
It's nice to see the old gang together though, although I wish it was under different circumstances.
Yuya, Shinave, Silver... even Ifrit is here? That is unexpected.
Everyone is eagerly waiting for me to explain what is going to happen next.
What am I going to say?



But then all of a sudden, looking at everyone, I gain an immense burst of confidence.
Everyone has so much confidence in me. They trust me completely. They know that we stand no chance whatsoever to survive the battle that is ahead.
But they are smiling. Well, when I say everyone, I mean everyone besides Ifrit. Clearly he doesn't want to be here.
And saying that he would have any confidence in me whatsoever is ridiculous. He hates me.

I take a deep breath. What's the plan, now that I have the orb?
Yes... that's how we're going to do it...

"Silver... do you still practice sealing techniques."
"Yes. What do you have in mind?"
"How well could you seal off this area?"
"The entire platform?"
"Yes..."
"Hmmm..."

He thinks about it for a bit.

"If focus solely on that and noting else, I can give you an interdimensional seal covering the entire platform for a few minutes..."
"15, maybe 20?"

That is impressive. I never expected him to be able to do that much. Not with such a high level sealing technique.
This might work... sort of. It's all going to depend on me.

"Alright... I have a plan."

The magic words.

"The templars are all united in the same location, scanning for our auras."
"They know the rough location of Teraluna, but even though they are immensely far away, they have not come any closer."
"This leads me to assume that they have access to a gate, and they plan on dialing in once they have our location."

Silver points at the gate on the platform we're on.

"An ancient gate?"
"Yes."
"Indeed... I suppose they are capable of using the old network. And it's not like the cities barrier will provide much protection against them."
"Using the gates they also won't waste any energy to get here... What do you want to do? Block the gate?"

Heh.

"Quite the contrary."
"Oh?"

I see some slightly confused faces.

"We're going to send them an invitation. Show them right where we are, and open the gate ourselves."

Everyones eyes are opening widely.
And then I smile.
And then everyone else smiles.
Except for Ifrit of course.

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?"

I ignore him.

"When I give you the sign Silver, seal off the entire platform for as long as possible."
"Yuya, Shinave, protect Silver. The seal must not be broken."

They nod.

"Ifrit... are you in or out?"

Silence.
He draws a fire portal behind himself and turns away.
Shinave is clearly disappointed by these actions.

"You're going to run away?"

Considering that he's one of the ancient gods, that was very offensive.
But clearly he doesn't give a fuck about my opinion. I am no god. I am a lesser being.
He would have killed me long ago would it not be for Shinave to have urged him not to do so.

"Should you survive this day due to some miracle, know that I will end you."
"For what? Trying to save Teraluna while you run away?"
"It's all your fault. EVERYTHING is your fault."

Shinave intervenes. "It isn't."
He hates it. All gods should always side with him. After all he was the leader of the council of gods.
Which interestingly did actually fall apart because of me. That was my fault. In my defense though, it was beyond corrupt.

"At least I'm not hiding in the godly realm while the fate of Teraluna is decided."

His eyebrows twitch in anger and he leaves through his portal. He doesn't want to hear any more of it.

"I'm not sure what I was expecting, bringing him here."
"It was worth a try."

"So, when do we do this?" Yuya asks.
"As soon as everyone is ready. I have taken some actions that have kind of decreased the time we have left to deal with this."
"Good. Let's end this once and for all."

She smiles.
Yes. The time is now. I can feel it.
I nod at silver and he begins to prepare the seal.
He cuts into his left hand with a dagger, and draws some sort of incantation on the floor using his blood.
He then puts a bandage on it and sits down in a meditative pose.
Finally, he gives me a nod. He's ready.
Seven spheres of water appear around Yuya, who gives me the same nod.
And so does Shinave.
I summon my katana and wear it on my back, since I will no longer be able to summon it once the seal is up.
Show time.

After many weeks of having to hide my aura, I can finally power it up again.
I let the energy flow through my body freely. It feels so good. So refreshing.
I immediately sense the auras of all 12 Templars locking onto us.
Teraluna is found.

I arrive in Haven with the hopes of plotting against the Templars.
Although I have no new ideas on how to approach the situation, Silver might.

He joined us just a few days ago, because I put off asking him until then.
After attempting to make Ifrit join our cause, which failed quite dramatically,
I did not have the confidence to ask Silver.

Silver had done so much already, not to mention his horrible childhood.
He deserves to rest... to enjoy life a little. I shouldn't burden him with my issues.
But I ended up visiting him anyways, because I felt lost completely.
I'm not sure what I was expecting when Yuya and I got to the place he lives at now.
Talking to him again ended up being a little awkward. I wasn't really sure what to talk about.
Right as I managed to muster enough courage to address the topic of the Templars
I saw something that completely threw me off.
A woman entered the house holding a baby. She nodded at us and continued upstairs.
I realized Silver had a family now.
I made up an excuse to leave. I could never ask him to join us,
not after knowing Silver was finally at peace with himself.
But as we left he told us to hold on.
He ran upstairs and shortly after returned with his katana strapped to his back...
It turned out that he had read in my eyes that I needed his help.
I tried to talk him out of it but I failed.

So here he is now, standing in Yuya's garden next to a table, a place where we like to sit down
and discuss tactics. He is talking to Yuya and another person I don't think I have met.
Yuya's expression worries me quite a bit.

"What's wrong?"
"... It's about Vega."

Given the way she said it, something terrible must have happened there.
Vega is a small village which we often visit to go to a Café called Serenity.

It's situated on top of some sort of structure extending over the village.
An amazing place to stargaze whilst under the influence of some kind of psychedelic drug Vega is known for.

"What happened?"
"It's gone."

It is clear to me now that the other person with us is a messenger who informed her about the terrible news.
He tells us that I need to go and see. Yuya draws a portal and we enter it together with Silver.

The remains of Vega are in flames. They are small in numbers, they must have been burning for some time.
A man points towards Café Serenity, which still sits on top of the structure which appears to have withstood the fires.
He doesn't say anything though, he just walks away. Did he live in Vega?
We rush towards the Café, finding both of its owners outside.
Although the building still stands, it is heavily damaged and no longer in a usable state.
The owners tell me not to worry. That it is not my fault.
I enter the Café. Across the walls is written in burned wood:

"For as long as the dragon remains hidden, those that help protect him shall share his fate"

Templars... they've done this. Yuya hugs me in an attempt to console me.
They have killed these people because we are hiding from them. To show that if I do not reveal myself they will kill those that I know.

"They are right you know. This is not your fault..."
"Yet I feel guilty"

I know that she's right. I couldn't know that they were going to do this. And even if I did, what was I supposed to do, sacrifice myself?
The owners of this Café were honest when they told me that they do not consider this my fault.
They know who I am and what I have done. But somehow the fact that they do not consider me guilty makes me feel even worse.

One thing is clear to me now though. The goals of the Templars have indeed changed.
Back in the old days they were attacking other worlds in order to steal something I have long forgotten.
They did not know who I was, and it was me that got in their way because I wanted to protect these worlds.
But this time they are not after the belongings of worlds. They are after me specifically.
This is very odd, considering that Templars have no concept of campanionship.
Yes, I have indeed killed one of them a long time ago, but they would not hunt me in an attempt of vengance.
They know no such thing. They see each-other as assets, not as brothers in arms.
Until now I assumed that they are attempting a pre-emptive strike. So that I can not interfere with their goals again.
But in that case I would be a secondary objective, and I am clearly not.

That is exactly what the voices said...
Recently, when I slept in Haven, I would hear voices during my dreams.
They would whisper things suggesting that "they" were after me only. That it was because of time? And that I cannot surrender.
The messages were rather cryptic, and I didn't pay much attention because until now my dreams whilst in this realm have always been
very abstract and not really meaningful. But now that I think about them I get a feeling that they might help me find a way to deal with the Templars.
...
My hopes lie with abstract and cryptic dreams I had within a dream. That is how desperate I am.
No. It's worse actually. If the Templars were here it means they are on the right track.
Surely they were able to force someone into telling them that we are hiding on Teraluna.
It won't take them long to find that place, even though Haven is heavily shielded and we are masking our auras.

"They will find Teraluna..."

Both Yuya and Silver look at me rather depressed. I am the one who always comes up with the plans. They are relying on me for a strategy to save Teraluna... to beat the Templars once and for all.
And I've got nothing.

"Silver, knowing only the name of the moon, how long would it take you to find Teraluna?"

He's unreasonably good at finding things.
He sighs.

"The location of Teraluna is a rather well kept secret. The library is of great importance, protecting it is easier if its location is not known."
"Unfortunately there are many stories about it, some of which hint at its location."
"If I would try hard enough I'd probably find it in less than a week."

Less than a week? How am I supposed to do anything within that time frame?
And it's not like evacuating Haven and going into hiding somewhere else is a solution without removing the Templar thread.
They would manage to hunt some of the inhabitants down somehow.
Not to mention the library. It is of great importance, and they would burn it to the ground.
And then there are other things... even more crucial things.
Teraluna cannot fall.

The three of us combined aren't able to deal with a single Templar, yet there are 12 of them left.
Even if I had my dragon spirit and the phoenix essence back, it would be utterly hopeless.
And besides Ifrit I don't know anyone remotely as strong as us, yet I would need an army.
Perhaps death is catching up with me.

"Don't you dare even thinking about surrender."
"... I won't."

Silver is looking at me, probably expecting me to reveal some kind of backup plan I had all along.
Something insane enough that it might just work. I've got nothing.
In my desperation I recall the voices I heard in those dreams.
For some reason I reach out with my aura, attempting to locate anything that reminds me of these voices.
As I catch myself doing this I ponder about how ridiculous this is.
That's not how scanning for auras works. You need to at least be able to guess how it would feel like to be
in proximity of a person in order to find someone through aura tracking.
But for some reason that is beyound me, at that very moment, I do find something.
It doesn't feel like a person though, and the feeling is very weak.

If I wasn't hiding from the Templars, I could probably pin the location down near instantly.
But that would involve releasing an amount of energy that cannot be hidden.
The Templars who are actively scanning for my aura would find me immediately.
That goes for all of us. The templars know all of our auras.
But there is someone else I know, who is rather talented in aura tracking.
He might be able to help me find... whatever this is.

"Okay..."
"So I might have..."

Silver and Yuya open their eyes wide in hope.
Oh boy...

"Listen. This is a longshot... no, I wouldn't even call it a longshot."
"I have a lead alright. A lead to maybe find some sort of way to..."

They are euphoric. Are they not listening to my words? I don't have shit.

...
Fuck it. This is all I've got. If it turns out to be nothing then that's it.
They are relying on me.

"I need to visit an old friend to help me track someone down."
"Until I do, I won't be sure on how to approach the situation."
"I assume there will be a grand battle though, so prepare yourselves accordingly."

They both nod.

"I'll be back within less than three days."
"In case I should fail..."
"Bullshit! When you come back you'll have a plan."
"You always have a plan."

No pressure...

"We'll evacuate Haven in case we need to make a last stand."
"Yes."
"And I'll have my mother talk to Ifrit..."

Somehow I doubt that'll help.

"Hyu?"
"Yeah?"
"... Don't you die on me, alright?"

I smile.

"Working on it!"

That extinguishes the last worries in her facial expression.
I summon my phoenix wings.
Time to go annoy the hell out of an old friend of mine. Time to meet a talking bird.
I take off into the fabric of space.

Too much conversation.
Some things are going to be phrased incorrectly etc, I tried to patch it up as well as I could.
Usually I use pink and brown to color code female and male DC voices, but there's 2 women this time,
so I'll use pink and green, pink being Yuya.


There's no more messing around.
Going anywhere but Haven feels dangerous.
Whenever I'm on the plane I can feel the Templars scanning for my aura.
It is inevitable that they will find me if I linger for too long.
Haven is one of the only places I feel safe. The barrier prevents them from locating my aura when I'm here.

But I cannot remain here forever.
Not only am I imprisoning myself here until I tackle the Templar issue, I'm doing the same to Yuya.
The Templars are after her as well.
In fact they're probably after everyone, the whole team from back then... back when lucids still came naturally to me.

There is only one solution.
I will fight them.
But not alone; that would be utter suicide.
I will gather the old team, the team with whom I fought the evils of this world back in the days.

I feel like a hero, about to embark on a long and difficult journey.
First I will gather a team capable of surpassing the strength of the Templars.
And then I will have to come up with a plan to beat them.
Because this is what I do. This is what I have always done.
Regardless of how much more powerful my enemy is, regardless of what it takes, I will beat them.
Because I am dragon.

"So... who will we find first?"

It is scary being in company of a serious Yuya.
I'm used to her playful and innocent self.
Not the one capable of carrying the weight of a world.
The whole atmosphere has changed.

"Silver?"
"... No. We will find Silver last. I'm not sure how to convince him to join us yet."
"Will he not want to join us?"
"I'm not sure. Back then he fought with us to pay for his sins. But he has already given back so much to this world."
"True..."
"I will convince him. You know I have my ways with words."
"Yes. If there's anyone who can motivate him it is you. You're the only one he listens to."
"So, if not Silver..."
"Shinave"
"..."
*sigh*
"You're making me meet her again huh?"
"Yes. We will meet with the goddess of ice."
"Alright then... I know where she is. I sure hope you know what you're doing."
"Probably."

I most certainly do not. Why is Yuya somewhat reluctant to meet with her again?
Did we part on bad terms?
Meh, it will come to me eventually.
These memories have a habit of popping up whenever I need them lately.

Yuya opens a rather odd looking portal and it seems to take her quite a considerable amount of energy to do so.
Right... we'll mask our auras. It should buy us enough time for a meeting and to get back before the Templars find us.
We hop through the portal and end in a rather odd looking place.


It's an old temple of sorts. Parts of it are covered with rather beautiful ice crystals, but most of them are broken.
Right. The goddess of ice. Or rather the person who used to be the goddess of ice.
Back then two gods fought together with us.
The goddess of ice: Shinave; and the god of fire: Ifrit
Yeah... there was 6 of us I think.
The 3 gods Shinave, Ifrit, Yuya, and Silver, Selene and myself.
I will reunite all of us... somehow...

We walk through the old temple, searching for Shinave.
I have a feeling that she's here somewhere, even though I cannot sense any aura besides Yuyas and my own at all.
I can feel the Templars scanning the entire plane though.
Their searching pattern reminds me of that of a computer rather than that of a sentient being.
They are perfectly coordinated.
But it will take them hours to track me down with my aura masked.

"You have some guts to show up here after what you've done."
"Indeed..."

The voice coming from behind caught me by surprise, but I'm not showing that I was off guard.
I turn around slowly and full of confidence.
Shinave.


Her eyes look young, but she's clearly older than Yuya or myself.
She has long white hair, deep blue eyes, very similar to Yuya's, and a rather pale skin.
A wise woman, once one of the most well known gods.
But now she lives in a seemingly abandoned temple.
And somehow I get the feeling that it is my fault.

"How are you?"

She answers me with a small hand gesture that's not really saying much.
Is she mad at me? Is she mad at us?
I feel that she is in some way, yet it also feels like the complete opposite.

"And how are you... Yuya?"
"I'm alright... mother."

mo... Mo... I... wait what?
Nonono.
Oh shit.
Fuck my life.
Goddess of ice, goddess of water... yeah. Am I fucking retarded? How did I not remember that.
And I have... with Yuya... oh my god...
Yeah, I might be screwed.

"You haven't talked to me in a long time."
"I have not. Not after you suggested that I shouldn't try to bring Hyu back."
"It was a bad idea."
"Yet here I am."
"Yet here you are."
"I guess I should be impressed that you managed to find your way back after what happened."
"I should also kill you for what you have done."

She approaches me without changing her facial expression.
I'm at a complete loss. I can't tell if she's serious.
Well. She is. But there's something more. Something she isn't telling.
She stands right in front of me and stares into my eyes.
I don't blink.

She hugs me tightly.
What?

"I hate you Hyu. I hate you so much."

She starts crying and grabs more tightly onto me.
I'm getting mixed signals here.
But somehow I understand. She wants to hate me, but she can't. She cannot help but love me for whom I am.
She looks deeply into my eyes again.

"You've sent my daughter towards certain death you know."
"Stop! It's too early."
"No."
"Yes it is! It is too early for him to remember!"
"Maybe. But there's no choice. He must remember."
"And then what? What if he does remember?"
"What if he realizes that he has cheated? Then what? What if he dies if he remembers that?"
"If he abides by the rules then yes, he will die."

... yeah.
I don't like everything I'm hearing, but I do want to know.
And I am so close. I can remember parts on my own. The puzzle is fitting itself together as we speak.
A tiny nudge in the right direction and I'll remember everything.
I look at Yuya and say reassuringly:

"Am I the type who abides by the rules?"

She can't help but smile for an instant, but then quickly puts on a serious face again.

"It's too soon."
"Yes. And bringing him back is impossible, yet here he stands. And yet here you stand."
"..."

I'm beginning to remember on my own.
Because I need to remember.
Because now is the time to remember, even though Yuya suggests otherwise.

"We all fought together. We fought many evils. But there was one we simply could not beat."
"... the Templars."
"13 of them there were, and only 6 of us, but that was not the issue."
"The issue was that one of them was a true immortal, and the 12 others had their lives linked to him."
"All 12 of them were unkillable as long as the 13th was alive. And he had perfected the art of combat."
"He was supposedly unbeatable. And even if he would be killed, due to his immortality he would just resurrect."
"Yes..."
"So I came up with a plan."

"You did come up with a plan."
"You always did, regardless of how hopeless the situation was."
"But this plan I did not like."
"This plan I did not like."
"But it was yours."
"It was mine."
"I didn't choose it because it was a good plan, I chose it because it was the only plan."
"Indeed..."

... what a horrible plan it was.
I have trouble saying the words, but they must be said.

"... Yuya would give her life to allow Silver to cast the ultimate spell."
"I would hold the Templar in place."
"And Silver would kill him with this spell, and the both of us in the process."

...

"This would send the Templars soul to hell. Because that's where immortals go."
"But immortality means you only have to spend a single minute, and then you are reborn."
"And I have the phoenix wings. I can move through the realms. I can go to hell once I am dead."
"Even after dying, my soul should have an afterglow of energy, enough to go there and challenge him."
"One minute to do the impossible. One minute to kill the soul of the only one who ever perfected the art of combat."
"And all of that without any energy left."
"But if I would kill his soul, he would truly die. You cannot be reborn without a soul."

"The plan was ludicrous. All of you would die for certain, for a glimpse of a chance to do the impossible."
"But it would cripple the Templars for years."
"It would... And it has."
"But things did not turn out according to your plan."

"Fortunately they did not. If they did we would be dead."
"So how did you kill him? And how is my daughter still alive. And how are you?"

...

"How I won the fight in hell... I truly do not know."
"I do not believe in miracles. But if they do exist, then this was one."
"We were joined in hell by our swords, and fought for a full minute without any energy."
"A true old-fashioned sword fight."
"I didn't stand a chance of course. He had figured out the perfect technique."
"But for some reason beyond me, as we danced in the fires of hell with our swords clashing..."
"..."
"I stabbed him in his chest."
"He never made a mistake, there was never any opening. I never figured out the perfect technique."
"Yet it happened. Neither one of us did understand. And I released the last bit of energy I had left in me into my blade..."
"And his soul evaporated. He died the true death."

"And then...?"
"And then I died."

...

"But how?"
"If you die you have to pay the price. Unless you are immortal you have to pay your soul."
"That is what dying is."
"But I never had a chance to give my soul."

Shinave's expression changes. She understands.

"The dragon within me. The dragon soul I shared my body with."
"He gave his soul before I had a chance to give mine."
"And with the price paid, I was no longer bound to the world of the dead... so I left... so I came back."
"And then I approached Yuya's lifeless body. And I summoned the true phoenix wings, and I brought back her soul from the dead and resurrected her."

"So you did use your one resurrection."

She sighs.

"So not only is the dragon soul, the one who taught you the ways of the dragon, no longer with you; but you also sacrificed your near infinite source of energy. The phoenix catalyst."
"That is the price the phoenix must pay to perform a resurrection, and the reason why he can perform only one."
"But these were the reasons why you were so strong. The dragon soul and the phoenix catalyst. And now you have none of them."
"A small price to pay."
"A truly huge price to pay."
"Perhaps, but the choice was an obvious one."
"It was not. You could have used the catalyst to destroy the remaining templars."
"And let Yuya be dead?"
"..."
"It would have been the logical choice."

"Pff... logic. Yes, I might have noble goals, some people may even have called me a hero."
"But I truly am a fool and you know it. I do not regret having made that choice."
"And I love you for having made that choice. You saved my daughter."

"We all paid a huge price back then. Selene died. Silver managed to get back for some reason which is beyond me."
"The council of gods was destroyed."
"But the Templar died. And now they are mortal."
"And they are after you."

I shrug.

"And I am after them."
"You're mad."
"I am Hyu."

Yuya has been awfully silent.

"I understand how you were able to come back and revive me."
"Your soul is taken when you die. But for you, 'a' soul was taken, but not yours."
"But still. After that you should never have been able to come back to this world."
"You are supposed to be dead."
"You have tried quite intensely to bring me back though. Surely you must have believed that it would work."
"Maybe... but what now that you know that you are supposed to be dead?"
"Nothing."

"But... what if death comes for you."
"There is only one thing you do if death comes for you."
"... give up... ?"

I give her a disapproving stare and raise my voice.

"You look death straight into its eyes and you say: 'not today'"

Shinave smiles for the first time.

"It is good to know that you are still Hyu. It is good to know that you are still the fool I remember."
"Can he do that... just like that?"
"How would I know? Do I know anyone who has tricked death itself?"
"What I do know is that he is Hyu."
"He is..."

Shinave inspects me from top to bottom.

"You have aged."
"You are weak."
"And you come to me now, which means..."
"I will ask you the impossible."
"After all that has happened, you really dare ask me?"
"Yes."
"And what do you suggest we do if I agree?"
"We will be a dead man walking and 2 gods that are no longer gods up against the Templars."
"How is that going to work?"
"You're forgetting about Silver and Ifrit."
"Ifrit? You are more insane than I thought."
"But even then. That's 2 dead men walking and 3 gods that are no longer gods. My question remains."
"I will come up with a plan of course."
"Because you are Hyu."
"Because I am Hyu."

For the first time in what feels like an eternity I put on a certain smile.
It is a somewhat dark smile. A smile looking forward to a battle that seemingly cannot be won.
A smile that challenges all beliefs. A smile that says that we can do the impossible.

"Will you come with me, oh goddess, and fight with me again?"
"..."
"Of course I will."

She looks at Yuya, then at me, back at Yuya, and back at me, clearly understanding what is going on.
Then she faces me and says:

"Back in the days the gods would have killed your for this."

But she doesn't say it in a serious way. I'm not sure if she approves, but I do know that she does not mind.

"I wonder what Ifrit is going to think about this."

I turn around and start walking towards the portal and shrug.

"I'd rather not."

We laugh, even though it isn't really that funny. He's one of the very old gods. He can never know. He would indeed kill me.
I stop.

"As long as we can still laugh like this, the world isn't lost."

That puts a reassuring smile on Shinave and Yuya's face.
Ha. I still have it in me.
I am still a leader.
And I will do this.
I will end what I have started 15 years ago. I will end the tyranny that is the existence of the Templars.
I just have to figure out how.
Preferably without killing half of us in the process this time.

I can't really keep up with my DJ, which is sort of a good thing I guess?
I've stopped journaling non-lucids entirely and I'm skipping unimportant details in my lucids.
For example I skip details such as becoming lucid or doing mental stabilization etc.

I'm pretty sure this is the longest dream I've ever had.
It definitely felt "deep", which is how Yuya describes it, which is oddly enough a term WakingNomad uses as well.
It feels very rewarding to have such a dream after spending dream time "training" to achieve this.



Day 1: Barfight - Earth from Space

... It takes longer than usual to locate Yuya's aura.
Where... what the hell?
Is that a bar?
I also vaguely feel a demonic presence near her.

I decide not to teleport straight to her, but instead teleport to outside of the bar.
I'm not really sure what's going on and I don't want to cause a scene.



I end up in front of what appears to be a bar from an old western.
It's on top of a cliff with nothing but desert surrounding it.
The demonic presence is more clear now.
There's multiple instances, but they all seem weak.
I decide to mask my own aura after I notice that Yuya is masking hers.
That's probably why I had trouble locating her.

I enter the bar, acting as if I belong here.
I spot Yuya sitting at the bar. She's wearing a brown coat?
Probably trying to look inconspicuous or something. (Or a firefly reference you idiot)
I on the other hand am wearing my typical attire.
But it doesn't matter. If you mask your aura people barely notice you unless you talk to them direcly.
And even then they usually don't notice any oddities and forget you quickly.
This works only on weaker minds of course, who don't fully use their 6th sense.

I sit down next to Yuya and order a beer.
A passively scan the surrounding aura's.
Yep, just as I thought, they're all kind of weak. And they are all of demonic nature?
They are all oddly similar, even though the creatures are of different species.
Most are humanoid though.
They must belong together in some way.

The beer is mediocre. It's lukewarm. Beh.

"So... What's going on?"
"Hm..."

She grins.
I hear someone drop a glass in the background and it shatters.
Then it happens again in another corner of the room.
Yuya's expression reveals that she's responsible for this.
She's controlling the water molecules in the drinks to throw them off the table.
It will take these people some time to figure out what's going on.
The bartender will probably notice first, he has the strongest aura.
I can already see it in his eyes that he has noticed that something is wrong.
So... Yuya appears to be starting a barfight.
Ha, this is kind of fun.
Since I've started time dilation training we've deliberately gotten ourselves into a lot of trouble.
Fully emerging myself into the dream allows me to stay for really long times.
I've managed to stay many hours a few times in a row now.
The only thing I haven't managed yet is to go to sleep without waking up.

The bartender looks straight into Yuya's eyes.
Even if he doesn't notice her aura, he'll be able to tell by her eyes that she's not a demon and that she doesn't belong here.

"What? Who are you?"
"*smile* Trouble!"

The bartender then proceeds to lift up a double barreled shotgun from under the bar and aims it at Yuya's chest.
I look at Yuya.

"Have a safe trip."

The shotgun blast propels her off her chair into the back off the room and she crashes into one of the tables.
A fight breaks loose.
This is starting to become very comical.
Yuya won't need any help. I do kinda want to get involved in the fight though.
But... priorities!
I still have that shitty beer taste in my mouth.
Fortunately I spot a bottle of whiskey.
The bottle is kind of dirty.
I grab it, clearly annoying the gentlemen whom it belongs to.
I take a few big sips directly from the bottle.

"HEY!"
"Wat?"

I unleash a rather colossal burp, and to my surprise I spit quite a bit of fire in the process. Oops.

"Hey Yuya, I think I just figured out where that whole 'dragons spit fire' thing comes from."
"Congratu fucking lations."

She sounds rather occupied defending herself.
They're attacking her with wooden chairs, how cute.
Guy next to me I stole the whiskey bottle from has obviously figured out that I'm not supposed to be here.
He decides to run away... and there I was hoping to throw him across the room.

My fine bottle of whiskey is shattered by some dude crashing into me.

"Yuya... did you just throw this guy at me?"
"Oops?"

I'll better return him.
I pick the guy up and throw him back at Yuya.
It's funny how that works. It feels like throwing a tennis ball.
I have only fought properly strong opponents lately, I completely forgot how ridiculous my power is compared to normal beings.
Well, not normal. They are actually halfway decent demons.
But with mine or Yuya's power it really doesn't make a difference.

I enter the fight and start throwing more people around.
This is kinda fun. I like smashing the furniture into pieces.
Some of them shoot at me with revolvers. This is adorable.
Do they really think they stand a chance?
Well, they actually might.
My aura is probably so intense and overwhelming for them that they can't feel it at all.

Mid-fight I organize myself a new bottle of whiskey, because I still have some of that atrocious taste in my mouth.
This one is actually pretty good.
Most people start running away after they realize that we're completely out of their league.
Yuya sits down next to me on the only table that is still intact and I share the bottle with her.

"So. I take it 'start a barfight' is off the list then?"
"Haha. I think this makes me a bad person."
"Heh. I wonder what the gods would have thought of this back in the days."
"Oh boy, I would have been in so much trouble."

Huh? "The gods?"
Yuya used to be the goddess of water... uuuuuh.
There were more gods obviously, but I can't remember.
I wonder if they're still around.

A slightly stronger aura emerges from the distance.
Shortly after what appears to be the town sheriff enters the room pointing a rifle at us.

"Yeah, good luck with that."
"Haha."

That poor guy. He actually catches a glimpse of our true strength.
He must be terrified. I feel kinda bad now.

"Dude, don't worry, we'll leave."
"Okay..."
"Yeah... we really should go..."

We get up and Yuya tosses a coin at the sheriff.
I draw my phoenix wings to teleport us out but I'm not really sure where to go.
Oh! I have an idea!
I grab Yuya's hand.

"I'll show you something interesting."
"Oh?"

I want to show her Earth from the ISS.
It actually takes me a few seconds to find it within all the crap that is in orbit around our planet.
And something is off, I can't locate any auras within it.
The port feels different. It feels like the first port I make when I become lucid, not like the kind of port I make to change locations later.
Am I bringing us back into my private dreams?

The first thing I notice when we emerge is that it is rather unpleasant being in space.
My body instinctively reinforces a layer of energy around itself to protect me from the cold, vacuum and radiation.
We float a few meters and sit on the ISS.



This is exactly what I wanted to show Yuya.
Earth is such a beautiful planet. And only a handful of astronauts get to see it at a time.

"Wow!"

It's difficult to surprise Yuya like this.
She's seen so many wonderful things in her life.
But it seems I have found one that is worthy to be added to that list.

"She's such a beauty."
"Yeah... I wonder if I'll ever get to see her like this in my life."
"But... surely you will? You have had the technology to go to space for many years?"
"Exactly!"
"Oh... I don't really understand why this isn't moving forward."
"*sigh* There's not enough funding because the people in power don't care about it?"
"How can you not care about it? It's fucking space!"
"Yeah it's really sad. They argue that we should first solve our problems down on earth instead of bringing them with us to space."
"That is the most idiotic argument I have ever heard."
"Yep. And many people hear that and agree with it because they don't know any better."
"They don't see how much good has come from space exploration."
"It's the only thing that has managed to unite us as a species, which is kind of sad actually."

Well shit, I wanted to show Yuya something really cool and beautiful, and now I find myself rambling about the state of our space program.

"But there's hope! Private companies are getting involved who want to get commercial programs started."
"Ah!"
"So... I'm still confused about this."
"Huh?"
"Are we in your world or in my dream space right now?"
"... How can you not know this?"
"I don't know..."
"We're in your dream space or bubble or whatever you want to call it of course."
"Right. Because the ISS doesn't exist in your world."
"Right."
"But Earth does?"
"Yes, but it's another Earth. It's another dimension entirely."
"And the Moon"
"Yeah."
"The green Moon"
"Ha. Wasn't that one of you dreamers who did that?"
"WakingNomad"
"Heh. He sounds like an interesting fellow."

I spot someone in the Cupola module gazing at Earth as well.


If this were the real world and she saw 2 guys sitting in outer space she'd probably have a heart attack.
I start to feel tired. Took me a long time to get lucid, then we had a barfight and now I'm resisting the dangers of outer space.

"Yeah, we should go to bed, I haven't slept in 22 hours."
"Does Teraluna have a 24 hour cycle as well?"
"No, it's about 28 hours."

I summon my phoenix wings and target Teraluna.

"Can you really not feel it?"
"Hmm?"
"The difference between the universes, or planes or whatever. Like, when you target Teraluna, can you not feel how it isn't a location created by your own mind?"
"Uh. I guess... I always assumed that anything I target with the wings must be in your world."
"Huh, that's really weird. You dreamers really seem to have a hard time perceiving these kind of things."

We teleport to Teraluna.
It's nighttime. We both walk under one of the many small waterfalls within Yuya's place before getting to bed.
This is how you shower on Teraluna. There is something cleansing about these things.
It's much more practical than using soap, and you can also dry yourself up with some quick magic tricks.
I simply boil the remaining water on my skin away.
We need this stuff in waking life. And also magic.
Everything is better with magic.

We get into bed.
I love this ridiculously large bed.
It got these satin-like bed sheets that are kind of cold and feel super refreshing.
They also smell really nice.
And the mattress is sooo soft.
I quickly feel rather dizzy and my vision becomes all fuzzy.
I don't have time to think about the issues I've been having with sleeping dreams, which might be a good thing though.
I fall asleep. I clearly feel my dream body turning off.
My eyes close automatically, but my vision remains very active.
I see colorful plasma clouds and a lot of pink noise.

I feel cold wind on my skin as images are coming into existence.
They're memory flashes mixed with some really odd things I do not know.
The word "Ravenclaw" pops into my head.
Then I see tribal dragons and ravens flying around...


Day 2: Exploring Childhood Dreams

... Mmmh. I want to sleep some more.
I nest myself deeper into the bedsheets without any intention of getting up.

"Uuuh, we should really get up."
"I don't wanna."
"Dude."

She starts poking me relentlessly until I get our of bed.
Everything is a bit of a blur.

We have breakfast when it finally strikes me.
I finally managed to sleep in a dream!
Holy shit!
And it feels quite odd.
The "omgthisisamazing imsuperexcited" train of thought is certainly there but I don't feel it?
That tension in your body you feel when you get extremely excited which can cause you to wake up?
It's not there. It doesn't make it feel any less of an achievement, but I perceive it as rather odd that the sensation is missing.
This is a good thing though I suppose.

Yuya's expression changes to a rather intriguing smile.

"Hyu... do you think you are ready for me to show you something about your past?"

She's excited.

"Yes. Of course! What do you want to show me?"

Part of me hopes that it might be about how we've met, but I know that's not going to happen anytime soon.

"I need you to close your eyes."

Sure. I just slept without waking up like a boss, shouldn't be a problem to close my eyes.
... sleeping without waking up. One of those things that only makes sense in a dream.
I hear Yuya approaching and she sits down on my lap.
She seems to look into my closed eyes.
I can feel her thoughts entering my head.
They feel so different from my own.

I can see a scene materializing. Just like when you WILD. I get incoherent flashes first, and then everything stabilizes.

"Open your eyes."

I open them and see both her and the scene from my imagination.
She's drawn into my eyes and after a moment of heavy confusion we find ourselves in this new place.
I look around. It appears that we're on some sort of rather huge space station.



We're standing on the outer hull. There's gravity and an atmosphere, and temperatures appear to be normal.
There must be some kind of forcefield surrounding the station that prevents the atmosphere from escaping.

And then I suddenly get chills.
Holy shit!
I know this place!

"This is..."
"Oh my god... this is..."
"Fuck, I can't remember the name... it's... there's the motorcycle races and colony and mining and..."

Ugh, too much information at once.

"Take it easy. You have all the time you need."
"This is from my dreams. These were like my first consistent lucid dreams."
"Except I didn't know what lucid dreams were..."
"Wow, I must have been like... not even in my teens yet."

My memories are vague, but I start to recall the global setting.
This is a slave colony built around a big asteroid.
The slaves are forced to harvest it, which is a rather difficult task.
There were these bunk rooms were you live with 20ish other people.
Then every day you get up, go mine.
If you find valuable minerals you can trade them for food.
I was one of these slaves.
During some event I escaped the system and was able to enter the automated regions of the station,
where there are no cameras.
I Mcgyvered myself a small sleeping compartment in between some plasma conduits.
Nobody dares to get close to them, so I was safe there.
I got my water from the automated water recycling system and traded it and some things I've built for food with people in similar situations than myself.

And then there were the motorcycle races.
Holy shit those were amazing... and scary... and... batshit insane!
There were different racing classes, much like in a video game.
Starts out at D, then goes up to C, B, A and finally S.

D is comparable to superbikes in waking life.
Then with C class you get electric downforce systems.
They produce downforce without creating drag. Something with artificial gravity or magnets, I can't remember.
But you get the idea. You have ludicrous grip with these modules, so you're able to put down
a lot more power, break much harder and later, and corner at multiple g's.

The races were held on the outer hull of the station. The outside got pressurizes for maintenance on a regular basis,
just like it is now, so you can walk around and race motorcycle outside.
The higher classes had actual race tracks that surrounded the whole station, and they were insanely dangerous.
The station owners obviously knew about this and about all of the slaves that had escaped to the automated regions, but they didn't care.
They probably made a ton of money with the races, so why would they?

Races were properly dangerous as I already mentioned.
Not only do the motorcycles go way too fast, but all of them are tinkered together.
When you win races you get money, which is useless except for buying new parts.
They make you faster, you get into higher classes, win more money etc.
You're pushing most of the components way past their limit once you get into the higher classes.
It's perfectly normal for one or two bikes to blow up during a race and people dying because their brakes failed or they cornered a split second too late.

You can get to A class on the parts you can buy, but winning A races or getting into S requires you to build your own custom stuff.
I had a few useful contacts that could forge things for me if I gave them blueprints, but obviously you can't test anything.
You have an idea, you build it, install it and hope you'll somehow survive the next race.

"This was pretty sick. And by that I don't mean awesome... well, maybe a little."
"But... this was a bit messed up though. How did I come up with that?"
"Eh, video games might have played a role."
"Maybe..."

We walk around and I remember most locations.
The world is frozen though. It's like walking through a memory snapshot.
I can move things, but nothing will act on its own and all characters are frozen in time.
Most of them have blurry faces, which I assume is because I don't remember how they looked.

I find a small hangar which I shared with another racer. Both of our bikes should be in there.
I open the hangar using a hidden button on the outside.
And sure enough, both bikes are there.
The other racer is also there, and I can actually see his face.
He played a major role in those dreams. He was also the one who got me my first bike.


(Imagine this, except longer, twice as fat, and an engine that barely fits)

I sit on my old bike and turn on the systems.
Ecu, ignition, fuel 1, fuel 2...
Xgc? No idea what that was but better turn it on.
Throttle to 2% and a strong kick to the starter.

I nearly shit my pants as the engine comes to life.
I remembered it as pretty brutal, but mother of god...
I immediately let go of the throttle.
The revs drop to about ~4,5k where the engine begins to idle very roughly.
It idles at 4500rpm? holy shit!
Further inspection reveals that the rev indicator goes all the way up to 20k.
Redline starts at 14.000 but I remember reving it to over 17.000 on a regular basis.
The cooling systems can take it just barely.

I rev the engine gently and it immediately shoots up high into the rev range.
These things don't really have flywheels. The clutch is pretty much an on/off switch.
You use it once to get going and from there on you shift sequentially.
Investigating the engine, the exhaust manifolds indicate a V10 engine.
But then I spot another set coming from below. An X20?
The exhaust manifolds feed into two massive turbochargers that finally lead to 4 straight exhausts.
Even though the engine is idling, the pipes are glowing all the way back.
The bike is huge, but the engine barely fits.

I wonder how much power this has.
I remember getting it up past 700km/h on a straight runway, and just over 900 on a few suicidal runways that had
track parts that pointed straight down for a few kilometers.
At these speeds, even if you hide your face behind the tiny windshield, you simply cannot breathe.
You just hold it in until the next corner, and hope you don't black out during breaking.
I turn the engine off... now is not the time to race it. I'll definitely come back though.

I investigate the rest of the station with Yuya and try to remember things.
We talk about the only guy I can remember mostly.
I explain to Yuya what he did, how he got me my first bike and taught me how to upgrade it etc.
During that I realize that he was a dream guide.
I ask Yuya if he's Faye without thinking, which she laughs at.
Obviously he wasn't.

"So, what was the reason for racing? I mean sure, it's exciting, but also quite suicidal."
"Yeah... there was a rumor that when you win the S cup you can buy your freedom."
"They'll give you your identity back and get you to the next tradehub with some money."
"Ah. That makes sense."
"Yeah... it was a scam though. Only people with superhuman capabilities could get into S class and actually win."
"Obviously such a person would win nearly all races once he becomes skilled enough."
"That is a problem for the station owners because if the same person wins every time it becomes boring and they make less money."
"So once every S cup, they sell 'freedom' to the best guy. It's a good excuse for making someone disappear really."
"It gives all the racers a reason to race and keeps the crowd entertained. In the end they just kill you though."

But she already knew that, she asked to help me remember.
Fuck, this whole setting was dark.
Young me had some messed up dreams.

After spending half a day exploring old dreams we get back to Teraluna, where we proceed to drink and smoke what resembles weed.
It tastes different though, but it does a rather good job at getting you high.

We go to bed where I snuggle with Yuya.
Before falling asleep I make a rather overwhelming discovery.
Except it's... well it's not.

I'm holding Yuya in my arms as we fall asleep and I can feel her chest expanding as she breathes.
I can even feel her heartbeat.
Now, this is obviously perfectly normal, but for some reason I cannot help thinking:
"She is real!" as if this was some kind of proof of her existence.
This makes me think of waking life for the first time in many hours.
I question the reasoning I make in waking life but know that there's nothing I can do about it.
I think differently here.

I fall asleep and get pretty interesting visuals.
It's mostly very vividly colored plasma clouds and some geometric shapes.
It looks really interesting and makes me feel blissful.


Day 3: Yuya

I can't remember waking up, but I'm still on Teraluna.
It's afternoon and I'm coloring Yuya's back with some kind of dragon like tribal patterns.



There's a dance this evening which is why I'm doing this.
I have to be careful not to color over the tiny things living in her back, and on all the other citizens of Teraluna.
They grow up there using the body heat and Teralunas atmosphere.
If you leave they hide in a deeper layer of your skin.
When they have matured they fly away and new ones settle in in their place.
They're pretty cool because they glow in the dark.

I'm not really drawing these things myself. I just let dragonic energy slowly flow into some sort of pen and everything else just happens.
My hand moves on its own. I couldn't draw like that.
Then it suddenly strikes me.
Yuya is naked.
Well... yeah. Obviously duh. How else could I paint her entire back?

I gently kiss her on her neck.
...
What am I doing?
I wouldn't have dared to do that not too long ago.
I used to feel so shy around her, but that's gone completely.
She enjoys it, so I kiss her again, which starts a series of events leading to her bedroom.
It's very different from a recent dream with the hibiscus girl.
It probably helps that I didn't turn into a fucking animal, which still weirds me out thinking back.
I'm more like myself. The whole experience is very blissful, but even more powerful in emotions.
It's very difficult to explain. Everything is just right. I'm at peace...

We're at the party were we dance to music that bears a strong resemblance to vocal trance.
Liv is there as well, and it takes us half an eternity to motivate her to join us on the dance floor.
My vision becomes messed up because the scene is very dark, but lights are flashing everywhere.


I also start seeing the music at some point. Deep tones warp the entire field of vision whereas
high tones influence the colors I'm seeing.
At some point I loose it and wake up.

I'm properly confused for one or two seconds, thinking I woke up in a wrong bed and that I must have a false awakening.
Logic kicks in quickly though and everything is perfectly clear.
I close my eyes again and go through the dream backwards, trying to remember every detail.
Then I get up and immediately write the whole thing down rather than taking dream notes.

A similar music track played during the training part of this dream:


I'm some sort of private investigator, and I'm searching for evidence with 2 coworkers in an apartment.
I quickly realize that I don't seem to have any gloves on me and ask one of my friends to give me some.
After putting on the gloves I go to the kitchen and start opening all the cabinets.
I wonder what I'm looking for...

"Hey, what are we looking for again?"
"Are you serious?"
"Uuh... yeah..."
"*sigh* we're looking for a quantum accelerated pipe."

... wait what?

"Like, for smoking?"
"For smoking weed, yes."

A quantum accelerated... wtf?
I keep searching and end up finding the most glorious of smoking devices I have ever seen.
It seems to be made out of some sort of glass and it glows in all kinds of colors, depending on how you angle it against the light.
But then finally it dawns on me... a quantum accelerated pipe... yeah... right...

I rub my hands and further investigate the pipe.
I am sad to find out that it isn't loaded. I would have loved to smoke some weed.

I remember that Yuya told me that I should break out of the dream plot when I become lucid.
Oh! And she wanted to teach me about time dilation!
I become very excited and quickly teleport myself to Teraluna.

I end up in a flower garden. Yuya is attending to some flowers right in front of me.

"Yuya Yuya Yuya"
"Hi?"
"Hi! Time dilation and stuff!"

She grins.

"Calm down! You're going to wake up."

Right...
After attempting to get myself into a calmer state I take a look at my surroundings.
The flower garden is beautiful. All of the flowers are very colorful and they smell great.
I touch and smell some of them until I decide that the dream is perfectly stable.

"So... the thing you call time dilation."
"Yes!"
"Well, for starters it isn't really time dilation."
"I guess. I couldn't think of a better word to describe it."
"Right. So, there's quite a few ways to approach this."
"I'm pretty sure I know which way works best for you, but first of all we need to work on something else."
"Oh?"
"Well, it's sort of directly related."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Your awareness in dreams."
"I've noticed that you sometimes are extremely aware when you're here, but only for short periods of time."
"You experience awareness in short bursts rather than continuously"

I quickly realize that she's spot on about that.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it's pretty bad."
"Good, so first of all I am going to show you a technique to hold a certain level of awareness."
"Great!"

She drops the flowers.

"Let's go for a walk!"

We walk through the flower garden and talk some more about time dilation.

"Alright, stop!"
"Hm?"
"I want you to tell me the color of each flower on the plant we just passed, without looking."
"Err, sure? Let's see... it was green, yellow, blue, yellow..."
"No, you're cheating."
"I am?"
"You're using your sense of global awareness to tell what color they are without looking, what I need you to do is to remember what color they are."
"What? All of them?"
"Yes! I want you to remember every single detail of what you experience."
"Let's keep walking and pay attention."

This is going to be hard... like, really hard.
Is it even possible to do this?

"Sure it is, especially since you're dreaming. Remember when I told you the difference between focusing on something in waking life and in dreams?"
"Oh yeah, that's right."

I focus really hard on everything I see, even the smallest of details, and try to take mental note of them.
We walk past a similar plant, with approximately 50 flowers on it.

"From top to bottom, go!"

I try to remember and surprisingly, accessing my memories feels natural and easy.

"Red, red, yellow, blue, yellow... err, ultraviolet?, red, blue, blue..."

I keep going through about 20 of them until Yuya stops me.

"Hey hey, awareness!"
"What? Was I wrong?"
"No, but you're neglecting your awareness. Have you noted the details of the things we just passed?"
"Oh... oops. Wow, this is hard."
"Haha, see, just memorizing and remembering is easy."
"What I want to teach you is to remain aware of your surroundings, even if you are focusing on something else."
"If you can do that you should be able to continuously remain aware much more easily."

This makes so much sense!
Yuya is so amazing, why haven't I asked her about this before?

We keep doing this. I memorize all the flowers including other details and try to recite them from memory without loosing awareness of the new surroundings I encounter through walking.
It's really hard at first, but then it becomes surprisingly easy.
I feel like a genius, having such amazing memory all of a sudden.

Since I focus so hard on my vision, it becomes more and more intense.
I can see beyond the color spectrum visible to the human eye.
Ultraviolet and infrared, I can see them so clearly.
They aren't red or violet at all, they are entirely different colors.
The now 5 base colors start merging together to form new ones.
Everything is so beautiful.

It is so hard not to get distracted by this beauty. I have to remain aware of everything.
But it works! I can quite literally feel my awareness leveling out and remaining strong as I go along.

Yuya keeps asking me more and more difficult questions.

"How did this plant smell like?"

I can no longer answer these question with words, so I project my memories towards her, showing that I remember clearly.
We go on like this for some more minutes.
I feel like I have just achieved something major.
I have never ever experienced such an amount of focus.

We finally reach the end of the flower garden.

"And stop!"
"Okay?"
"Yep, time to relax, you cannot possibly keep this up much longer."
"Oh, I can't? It started to feel natural some moments ago."
"Still, if you keep that level of focus up for too long your brain will just spontaneously break out of it."
"You'll either loose all your awareness or even wake up."
"So it would be a bad idea to try and do this all the time?"
"Yes. You can do it for a limited period of time, for example during a battle where you need the extra focus."
"What I'm teaching you is to remain at a constant level of awareness."
"The important part here is that it is constant, not that it is on a level where you have surreal perception and memory."
"The goal is to never let it drift below a certain threshold, this way dream stability should remain high."

I understand her so well, her explanations are perfect.

"It's just more efficient for you to learn it this way."
"Not everyone is capable of achieving such a level of focus."
"It's something you often find in dreamers that are experienced with dream battles."

Dream battling has so many uses, how amazing.

"So dream stability is directly related to your level of awareness?"
"Well, yes, sort of. It's complicated."
"It always is."
"Actually, it is really simple... like most things."
"Yeah right."
"It's the painfully simple things the human mind cannot comprehend."
"After all your mind is trained to understand the complexity of the waking world, not the simplicity of the dream world."

Wow. That is deep.
I have never thought of it this way.
Yuya never ceases to amaze me.
She just drops these mind blowing ideas on me, as if they were the most obvious things in existence.

"Should I try to do this awareness technique in waking life?"
"No. At least not right now. You said you have constant headaches."
"Yeah, probably a bad idea."

She smiles and gives me a big hug.

"We'll continue this next time."
"Wake up and write this down so you don't forget it."
"I will! Until next time!"

Wake up... Have I ever tried waking up from a dream that wasn't a nightmare?
Heck, even a nightmare I haven't tried to wake up from in forever.
I close my eyes and command myself to wake up with my inner voice.
I feel a tingling sensation all over my body.

I open my eyes.
A quick nose plug RC confirms that I am awake and I start taking notes, excited to have taken my first step towards properly long dreams.

More music for no good reason:



Immediately after falling asleep, I wake up due to some noise in the house.
I look at the clock, and 6 hours have already passed, which frustrates me a bit.
I change position and try to fall back asleep, thinking about lucid dreaming.


... I'm walking to school.
There's quite a few other students walking there, but I don't know any of them.
The weather is nice.
For some reason a blue flower catches my attention and I stare at it.

I'm dreaming!
I can't help but say out loud:

"YES!"

Some of the student look at me as if I was mentally retarded, but I don't care.
I rub my hands and try to activate my other senses, but the dream already feels very stable.
A female voice whispers into my ear:

"You know, you could totally do one of the students."

...

"FAYE!"
"Haha"
"Really? Aren't you supposed to help me rather than encouraging distractions?"
"I'm just messing with you."

I shrug it off.

"You're messing with me all the time."

I summon my phoenix wings.

"I'm off to see Yuya, you coming?"
"Sure!"

She holds onto my arm and I teleport us both to Teraluna...
... We appear in Yuya's garden where she, Liv and two other people are having tea.
We join them.
It feels good to be here again, it has been too long.
We talk about various stuff until I finally bring up the topic of my recall, chronic headaches and tiredness.

Yuya approaches me.

"Move forward."

Hm? I slide forward on my chair a bit and she sits behind me.
She starts pressing against various points on my neck, similarly to what a doctor did in waking life.
Then she presses her forehead against the back of my head and wraps her hands around it.

I can feel sort of a click in my head.
I suddenly feel very lightheaded, as if I was floating.
I can sense her gradually feeling though all the fibres of my aura in my head.
It feels pretty damn good.

"Do you have headaches even when you're here?"
"No. Only when I'm awake."
"Hmmm..."
"Is there something wrong?"
"Actually no... not really."
"No-one seems to know in waking life either... I'm getting a scanner thing done in two days."
"Oh, what's that?"
"A machine that looks into your head without touching it... it's harmless."

She hugs me.

"You'll be fine, I bet it's nothing."
"Yeah, it's probably something really stupid that is just difficult to detect."

I look around. I'm so happy to be back here. I know I will recall this dream.
It'll be fantastic for my motivation.

"Hey Yuya."
"Yes?"
"You really need to teach me about time dilation."
"What do you mean?"
"How to stay in dreams for hours, days, months... years!"
"Shouldn't you worry about fixing your recall first?"
"Yes! And then time dilation!"
"Haha, alright alright. It's difficult though you know?"
"I don't care."
"You don't care?"

I shrug.

"I have all the time in the world. I don't mind if it takes months or years to learn how to do it."
"Because once I do know how to do it, making up on the time spent learning it should be pretty easy."

She smiles.

"That's a good attitude. I'll make sure to remind you next time you visit me."

We talk some more and the dream fades away.

I try to remain still to DEILD, but someone's being noisy again which is too disctracting.

(I can't really remember the beginning of the dream and how I got there)

I'm in Haven with Yuya, Faye, Liv and Silver.
Silver is in Haven on business, I think he delivered an important package or something along those lines.
Yuya somehow talked him into taking a drink with us, and he is visibly displeased for accepting this offer.

Silver is a man who doesn't like to socialize much.
He is a fighter. He lives from battle to battle with little concern for other things.
Or so he used to be until he met us. Over the course of years we made him realize that he was fighting for the wrong side, which was obviously quite devastating for him.

He has changed his lifestyle since then, but it seems like he only lives to atone for his sins.
He doesn't have the same concept of friendship that we do, he considers us brothers in arms.
I wonder if that will ever change.


Faye is playing with a pony she has summoned.


What is it with all the ponies in my dreams since I've watched the MLP pilot?
I blame the guys on DV IRC...

Liv appears to be scared of Silver.
Yuya, Silver and I are talking whilst drinking some sort of lemonade.
But things aren't going well, Silver really doesn't want to talk, he just replies with "Yes" and "No" mostly.

I think about my situation. Sometimes this feels a bit like living a second life.
I wonder if that is weird? No... it isn't.


Silver leaves and I agree to help Yuya with something... (though I cannot recall what exactly with)



... Yuya and I are on another planet, entering some sort of temple.


We are here to obtain a certain item related to the device that powers the protective barrier for Haven.
Some of these devices were stolen a long time ago, but most of them have been returned.
There's still a few missing though, and this is one of them.

I can't really recall what the plan is, but I believe we are here to steal it.
Yuya and I are both disguised with the same attire worn by the monks in this temple, and we mimic their movements in order to not draw any attention to us.

But before we encounter the first monk, Yuya gives me an angry look.

"What?"
"Your hair!"

She's right. My hair is slightly blue-ish, which would draw a lot of attention.
I shake my head and my hair color changes into pitch black.
Yuya nods, confirming that this is much better.

We enter deeper layers of the temple and no-one seems to notice us, things seem to be going rather well.
That is, until we encounter a locked door.
There is a computer terminal in front of it, presumably responsible for opening the door.

"Open the door, I'll cover you."

Right. I approach the terminal which asks for a password.
Well, I'm not sure what I was expecting.

"I don't know the password."

Yuya looks at me confused.

"You're supposed to hack into it?"
"Huh? How...?"
"Well... you can hack into things no?"
"I can?"
"What about all those movies you've watched, they show you how to hack don't they?"
"Err Yuya... those movies are fiction, you can't just hack into something, it's a rather complicated and time consuming thing to do."
"Oh..."

Well... that's not good. But then I have an idea.
I touch the door with my left hand and enlarge my aura to encompass the whole door in order to get a feel for the interior mechanics.
It's a rather simple system with locking bolts, like in a safe.
I proceed to create small gravitational fields for each bolt and pull them out of their locks.
I then casually open the door smiling at Yuya.
She grins.

We enter what appears to be a treasure or storage room.
There are quite a few fancy looking boxes, most likely all containing very exotic and important items.
Yuya immediately spots the correct box and proceeds to open it.
This requires removing a considerable amount of locks, which is taking quite some time.
I decide to cover her until she's done.

After a short period of time I feel a presence.
There's someone else in this room, but I cannot see him.
I reach out with my aura and find 'something' approaching Yuya that is not visible.
I immediately blink next to it, whilst summoning my katana and take a defensive pose.

A monk materializes, holding a staff.
He seems contemplating to attack us.

"I'd advise against that"
"Thief!"
"We are merely returning what does not belong to you."

He decides to attack us anyways.
He leaps forward, swinging his staff at me.
I blink right behind him and slap him in the neck.
He drops to the ground unconscious.

"We should probably hurry up."

A mob of angry monks is running towards our room.
I yet again create a gravitational field, and use it to close the safety door.
I then launch a stream of fire at it, welding the locking bolts in place.
This ought to slow them down.

Yuya finally manages to open the box, and takes out a tiny transparent crystal.
She smiles at me.

"This is it!"

Monks are teleporting through the door. How did I not think of that?

"Open a portal, I'll hold them off!"

I power up. I feel the dragon tattoo on my back growing and erupting into flames.
Time slows down.
The monks are charging at me one after another.
I slash down their staffs with my katana, and push them away with shockwaves.
I try not to hurt them too much, after all I do not know if they know the details about the current situation.
They might just be trying to defend what they think is theirs.

"Hyu!"

The portal is up. I blink backwards, next to Yuya, and we both jump through the portal...

Been pretty sick lately and my dream recall hasn't been very good.
I had quite a few dreams, some lucid, but the lack of details made them feel unworthy of posting.

I'm walking on the promenade in Haven on Teraluna.
Enjoying the fresh air, I walk towards one of the main streets on my way to Yuya's place.
On the main street I go up a level, ending up one level below the topmost one, with all the houses and apartments.
This level features mostly shops and restaurants, I sometimes come here with Yuya for dinner.
It's dusk, so the city is quite lively.

I pass a shop that sells flowers and I wonder if I should buy some for Yuya.
They're all on display outside, so I wander a bit around having a look at the different kinds of flowers.
Some don't look like flowers at all, and some are clearly alive.
They're all very beautiful and they have a distinct smell.
I suddenly realize that I have no money, how am I going to pay for these?

Wait, what? WTF! I'm on Teraluna! How did I not notice that I'm dreaming?
This surprises me quite a bit and it takes me a few seconds to settle down.
The dream feels very stable and vivid, but I still rub my hands and try to feel the presence of my surroundings to make
that the dream remains perfectly stable.

Looking back at the flowers I see one that is immensely beautiful.
The colors somewhat match those of Yuya's eyes, I feel they would be an appropriate gift.
I ask the lady selling the flowers:

"Would you be willing to trade something for these flowers?"
"Haha, of course young man, what did you have in mind?"

I summon my phoenix wings on my left arm and remove one of the smaller colorful feathers from it.
They fall out occasionally, it'll grow back.
I hand it to the lady.

"How beautiful! Please, take the flowers, thank you!"

That went well.
I take the flowers and continue walking towards Yuya's place.
I think about how this dream started on Teraluna, even though I was non-lucid.
Then I realize I'm wasting time.
I can see a bridge crossing from this street to another one on the level above me, I'll be able to see Yuya's place from there.
I blink on top of it, and from there I blink to Yuya's place.

Yuya greets me, telling me that I'm right on time. Did we set a meeting?
I hand her the flowers.

"They're for you."

She seems extremely happy. I am yet again surprised by the way she shows her emotions.
She simply doesn't hold back at all. It feels so pure, I've never seen anyone with such a happy expression in waking life.
Yuya puts the flowers in some sort of vase.
I notice that the dream doesn't feel as stable anymore, and I attempt to re-stabilize which succeeds.

"Alright, I promised you we'd visit the library, let's go!"

The library? Did we talk about this in a previous dream?
Maybe a dream that I cannot remember?
Clearly, I can't recall such a dream, but I am convinced that we did indeed decide to visit a library somewhere on Teraluna.
It must have been a lucid dream I do not remember.
I get ready to draw my wings but Yuya interrupts me.

"Let's fly there! We shouldn't teleport into the library, we might disturb someone."
"Sure, lead the way!"

I take off and fly next to Yuya, trying to keep up.
She's accelerating fast, I can't keep up without summoning my wings.
I remember that in my last big fight I managed to summon my phoenix wings on my back, in full size.
I wonder if I can do that again and use them for fast flight, just the way I've been using my dragon fire wings until now.

I try to accumulate some of that pure energy and manage to draw the wings on my back.
They're very beautiful and very large. They feel somewhat oversized for my body.
It is VERY easy to fly at high speed with them, much easier than with the dragon wings.
We quickly break the sound barrier and everything becomes very calm.

This is the first time I'm really exploring other parts of Teraluna, usually I just stay in Haven.
It is beautiful!
There are very high and complex trees growing directly out of the sea.
They must be over a kilometer high each.
We slow down and fly down, through the crowns of the trees.
It is difficult to navigate them due to their complexity.

There are waterfalls in the crowns as well, I wonder where they come from, are the trees emitting water?
We go lower and lower and finally fly through a maze of waterfalls leading to a spectacular entrance.
The entrance is absolutely huge. Fortunately it opens by itself.
Inside there are the same angel statues as in the entrance to Haven.
As I pass under them I feel myself passing through a forcefield.
Makes sense, the library must be protected as well.

I enter the library in amazement, the bookshelves reach into all eternity.
There is literally no end to them. Even zooming in they seem to go on forever.
The library is very well lit, everything is very bright and white.
The shelves are mostly made out of glass.
Materials feel very modern, but some shapes remind me of the Victorian era.

Yuya explains what the different kinds of books are and we wander around a bit.
She shows me quite a few things which I unfortunately cannot quite remember.
Then we come to a rather special shelf.
Yuya tells me there's 1001 books in this shelf.
They all seem very old, and they are huge.
Nearly 1 meter high and very thick, probably 1000 pages each.

They feel very special, there's is something about them that really intrigues me.

"Are we allowed to touch them?"
"Of course, just be gentle, they are very old."

I pick the first of them, it's very heavy.
I gently deposit it on a reading table and open the first page.
The pages are so old... they feel like papyrus, and you can actually see how the paper was weaved.
Everything in them is hand written and hand drawn. They are not printed copies.
It feels sort of amazing touching such an old book, plus the smell is very nice.
The title of the first page is in a language I do not know.
The letters are formed by geometric shapes, but somehow I am able to understand it.

This book is about the beginning... the beginning of... everything?
They all are! Those 1001 books, is this the story of this universe?
The story of the dream plane?

"Yes, they are, are you able to read it?"
"I'm not sure. I cannot understand the individual words or letters, but somehow I understand some of it."

I randomly try to read the first few lines at the beginning of some chapters.
The first one talks about there being nothing but energy.
Some chapters further they talk about the first gods.
I honestly have no idea how I'm understanding any of this.
The numerous images and illustrations help though.

The language used to write these is very powerful though.
A single word carries much more meaning than any languages in waking life.
Considering this, needing 1001 books to describe the history of the dream plane...
it just feels impossible like any single person could ever know the whole story.

"True, but it's not finished yet."
"Not all books have been written yet, after all we're still living the story written in these books."
"Then why are there exactly 1001 books?"
"Because exactly 1001 books are needed to tell the story."
"But, does that mean the dream plane will end once you reach the 1001st book?"
"Not only the dream plane, the planes cannot exist on their own, they all exist together."

I'm very surprised, it is known when existence will end?

"Hyu... the dream plane has existed for eternities, long before Earth was created, long before your universe was formed."
"That being said, we've barely filled 400 books."
"We cannot even comprehend for how long things have existed until now, so there is no reason to worry about any ending."
"True..."

I browse through some more pages in amazement.
Somehow I understand that this language is very ancient and was meant to be universal.
I think I am able to interpret some of it due to the divine phoenix powers, but I'm not sure.
I end up getting lost in thoughts and wake up...

I'm hanging out in Haven with Yuya and Liv, but the dream isn't very vivid and I feel groggy.
We're standing at some table, and I don't really know what's going on. How did I get here again?
I'm not feeling adventurous at all, which is weird.

Yuya notices this and approaches me.
I feel uneasy and nervous as she is standing very close to me.

She gives me a kiss on my cheek.
Suddenly, I feel the urge to breathe, as if I had forgotten to do so for the past few minutes.
As I breathe in, I get a massive shock of vividness and awareness.
Colors become vibrant and burn into my eyes. I start to hear what is going on around me.
It feels like every nerve in my body just turned on, I can feel everything!
As if I was in a coma, and somebody just woke me up.
I knew I was in Haven, I knew I was with Yuya and Liv, but it is only know that I truly realize what this means.
I've experienced this sensation a few times, but it remains as impressive as the first time.

"Holy shit!"
"Indeed."

Yuya laughs.
I look at my hands, I can feel every single tiny hair on my hand and fingers, as the wind gently brushes through them.
I quickly investigate my surroundings because I'm hearing music.
The 3 of us are standing at a table with different drinks on it. There are other tables with other people as well, it appears that we're at some kind of party or celebration.
There's a band playing many different string instruments, so that's where the music is coming from.
I really like the music, it's mostly cinematic music, very dramatic, but also full of energy and very pleasant.

Yuya hands both Liv and me drinks, they look like shots.
Liv doesn't seem to trust her drink, she's investigating it carefully.
Yuya and I pour ours down. It burns a bit in my throat, the drinks are very strong.
But they're very good. Liv finally drinks a shot as well and seems quite surprised.

"What wonderful liquid is this?"

Yuya and I have to laugh, and we continue having a good time and having drinks. Liv is such an innocent girl.
I clearly feel that I'm getting drunk, and I do so faster than I should.
After just 3 shots I can already clearly feel the effect, but the dream remains extremely vivid.

"Yuya... how come dreams feel more real than waking life?"

She smiles.

"In waking life, it feels like I'm on autopilot the whole time. I do not see the beauty of my everyday life, everything seems boring and normal even though it really isn't."
"Why does it feel like I'm asleep in waking life and awake in my dreams... awake right now?"

After some thinking Yuya replies.

"In waking life, you are busy thinking about a million things at the same time."
"You might not realize most of what's going on, but you subconscious continuously tries to solve all the problems of your life."
"There is simply not enough room to think about your surroundings the way you do right now."

As always, Yuya's explanation makes a lot of sense, but I still feel like I'm missing something.

"Well... I simplified it quite a bit... it is quite complex, I don't know how to put it in words..."

She puts her drink down and puts her hands around my neck. She then presses her forehead against mine an closes her eyes.
Our thoughts merge for a second and I catch a glimpse of the proper explanation.
But I can't understand it, it feels like it goes beyond the limits of my imagination.
I do understand the conclusion though, and I feel like it makes more sense now.

As Yuya opens her eyes I get lost in their beauty.
I'll never get used to such beauty, to such infinite detail.
Usually, I'd start feeling insecure and look away, because I know I'm streaming my thoughts towards Yuya, and she'll immediately realize that I'm thinking about how beautiful she is.
But I'm drunk, and I keep looking for a bit as she smiles...

"I feel funny!"

Both of us look back at Liv, she seems to have had quite a few shots while we were distracted.

"Liv, are you drunk?"
"Huh? I don't know."
"Have you never had any alcohol?"
"Uuuuuh, I don't think so?"

You can tell by the way she moves that she's really drunk.
I have trouble avoiding to laugh out loud, but I got a funny idea.

"Liv, tell us a funny story!"

Yuya is about to crack up.

"I'm way too insecure to tell you anything shameful!!!"

But she continues anyways.

"So... you know how I seduce people in their dreams to leech some of their energy?"
"Well... see, when a succubus seduces someone, she awakens the natural sexual urges within that person, but blocks out the thought of having sex..."
"This way you get lost in a state where you're extremely aroused, but you won't do anything..."
"But err... apparently not everyone is... interested in the same things?"
"There was this guy, about a year ago... he casually started to get his dick out... I thought I had forgotten to block his sex thoughts at first... but I didn't!"
"He proceeded to try to FUCKING PEE ON ME. I mean, can you believe this shit?"
"What is wrong with people???"

This is too much.
Yuya and I burst out laughing. We both have to hold on to the table to avoid falling to the ground.
Liv, the shy succubus, that fact alone is funny enough as it is, but hearing her tell this story because she's drunk, it's just too funny.
All three of us can't stop laughing... I can feel the dream fade away, but I can't stop.

I'm on Teraluna.
Yuya is teaching me about dream bubbles, or temporary dimensions like she calls them.
We've done this before, but this time she's telling me how to create a completely customized bubble, with my own rules at will.
She's explaining that using the 'natural bubble' we spawn in when we dream requires little to no energy, but it is also impossible to fully control.
We can definitely influence it to a great extend, but the control is limited.

Creating a custom bubble whilst in the dream plane requires a lot of energy, and it is fully customizable, but unfortunately they are very small and somewhat limited in features.
You can create a simple room, and apply some rules to this room, but you cannot create a beautiful outdoors environment for example.

The idea is quite basic, create a custom room and apply the rule "create gradually more powerful monsters attacking myself".
According to Yuya this is a rather high level training method, and quite effective.
Not only do you have to stay alive, but you also have to keep the dream bubble up, which requires a high degree of concentration.
Maintaining such concentration during a battle is very hard.

I don't understand how it works, but I somehow understand how to do it.
It's quite complex and requires delicate energy manipulation and a lot of willpower.
You have to fade into the new dimension at the same time you're creating it, it is a very weird and confusing experience.
My first few attempts are quite unstable, and the dream bubble breaks twice.
When it breaks I simply fall out from the spot I created it.
But then I get a feeling for it, and suddenly it seems very straightforward.

I am fighting waves of increasingly more powerful monsters, using my dragonic powers and my katana.
Even though the monsters are very realistic, there is no blood or anything.
When I slice through one, it simply fades away.

I'm trying to push myself to the limit, to see how powerful I truly am.
My own aura causes massive vibrations throughout my body, it feels great!
I move at an incredible speed, and the heat of my aura leaves burning trails behind me.
The dragon tattoo is fully grown and glowing in a bright blue.
Even though when I fully focus, time progresses so slovely I can time every one of my movements perfectly,
I still occasionally manage to move so quickly that my mind cannot keep up.
It's a fantastic experience.

I'm at my limit, I cannot keep up with the monsters anymore, at this point I'm just reacting instinctively to stay alive.
One scorpion like monster manages to pierce me with its tail.
It feels really cold for a split second, then the dimension disappears and I fall back to Teraluna.
I check my chest, I haven't hurt myself, this really is an amazing way to train!

... I'm now at Yuya's place.
I'm exhausted and we go to bed... I feel myself falling asleep very quickly...
I know this feeling from waking life. The numbness of my body, the heavy blanket feeling, the lightheadedness, I'm beginning to dream!

I am floating through darkness. I do not have a body, I am pure energy.
A scene starts to form around me.
The ground is volcanic, there are small crates everywhere and colorful plasma is streaming out of them.
There are a few lava streams as well.
I realize I cannot be on a planet. The horizon has no curvature and there is no atmosphere, I can see directly into space even though it is daytime.
Somehow this place feels oddly familiar.

I feel a presence behind myself and turn around, I am still floating in the air.
A white and blue dragon approaches me. He is very beautiful but also very fear inducing.
He has two pairs of insanely large Wings, and two tails with white blades on them.
He stops right in front of me, gazing into my eyes.
His voice is deep and so strong it is resonating in my body.

"You are Dragon!"

I am surprised by this statement, even though people call me Dragon all the time.
I always figured I was somehow using dragonic abilities, but I never considered being an actual dragon.

"I use the powers of a Dragon."
"No. You are Dragon. Always."
"You were born Dragon. Appearances are irrelevant. You are Dragon!"
"I am here because you need to know this."
"You are near the age of waking. When you do, your powers will fully awaken."

His presence is absolutely overwhelming, I feel that whatever question I would ask would be inappropriate.

"Thank you."
"Remember... you are Dragon... ALWAYS."
"Yes."

I wake up in my bed at home. I want to tell Yuya about this dream, but when I turn around I realize my mistake.
I am not on Teraluna, I am at home... I just woke up... stupid me.
I take some quick notes but then my eyes start to itch.
Rubbing my eyes, I walk to the bathroom to check in the mirror if I have something in them.

I am shocked when I see myself in the mirror. My eyes are glowing lightly... The same way Yuya's eyes do, the same way mine do when I look at myself in a mirror on Teraluna.
What is happening???
I am Dragon... always? Shit... this can't be!
I turn around to look at my back in the mirror, searching for the dragon tattoo which I know cannot be there.
But there it is...
It is not fully formed yet, my skin is bleeding in the spots where the dragon tattoo is in my dreams, and it is slowly being filled with color.
Holy shit... am I really a Dragon? Am I awakening?
I can't decide if I should be amazed or be worried about the consequences this would have on my future life.

But then I realize that I'm wrong.
Of course... I am still dreaming, holy shit!

I wake up again, this time for real.

I'm trying to exit my room, but for some reason, opening the door requires an abnormal amount of force.
I realize that I'm dreaming and the door suddenly gives in and acts normally.
Ha, how weird.

For some reason I remember one of KristaNicole's recent DJ entries, where she RC'ed by counting her fingers.
I never do that, I wonder if my finger count would be correct?
I look at my hands, and although they look normal, I do count 6 fingers on my left hand.
Wait.... what am I doing? I should try to visit her!

I summon my phoenix wings and search for her aura, which surprisingly, I find immediately.
I take a step through the fabric of space and find myself in an unknown building.
At first I have a feeling that I don't belong here, but it immediately goes away.
I look around trying to find Krista.

I notice that my surroundings make little sense, something is just off.
When I look at a shelf, then away, and back to the shelf, it looks completely different.
I'm getting distracted again... I try to sense Krista's presence and approach it.
Then I finally spot her behind some sort of desk, but it changes shape whenever I don't concentrate on it.

I understand that this is the shop she has mentioned a few times in her DJ.
She's dreaming, but she most likely isn't lucid.
I approach her, wondering how I should make her become lucid.
I think about projecting the thought directly into her head, like I do with Yuya sometimes, but it feels wrong, like it would be invading her privacy.
For some reason I also feel that I can't just tell her she's dreaming, she has to figure it out on her own.

As I stand in front of her, she looks at me and clearly finds my appearance quite weird.
No wonder, I'm just wearing loose white pants and nothing else.

"Can I help you?"
"Hi Krista."
"... do we know each other?"
"Of course we do... even though we have never met."
"..."
"It's weird, isn't it, you didn't even see me come in."
"... err"

I hold out my right hand.

"How would you like to go on an adventure with me?"

Krista looks at her hands. Yes! she's doing an RC.
She looks back at me astonished, then she looks at my hand, clearly pondering whether or not she should take it.
I act all confident, like I knew exactly what I was doing just now to make her become lucid,
even though I had no idea what I was doing, I just went with what felt right.

To my surprise, Krista then walks straight through the desk between us, and grabs my hand.
I summon my wings again, and take us both to Teraluna.

For some reason we end up in a lookout spot, at the top of Haven. You can see the whole city from here.

"Welcome to Teraluna."

Krista looks at the two suns, the planet Teraluna is orbiting, and finally at the city beneath us.
She's wearing different clothes now, more comfortable ones, though I cannot remember what she was wearing before.
For some weird reason I feel the urge count my fingers, because I feel that the count wouldn't be off now that I'm here.
5 on the left, 5 on the right, everything seems perfectly clear...
What am I doing...?

I look at Krista, she's still staring at the city. I wonder if it looks anything the same for her as it does for me.
She looks back at me, and I notice the incredible amount of excitement in her face.
I want to calm her down, I know I lost quite a few dreams by getting overexcited, but I don't know how.

"I..."

She vanishes in front of my eyes.
I should probably have warned her about getting too excited...

I feel happy that I remembered one of my goals, and that I was able to make Krista become lucid.
I wonder if any of this really happened, even though right now I know it did.
But I also know that I probably won't believe it anymore once I wake up.
I realize that I have asked myself this question too many times, and it is a waste of time because it cannot be answered.

I try to meditate but I wake up.

This dream was bloody amazing o_o
It was so exciting!
I wrote it down immediately after waking up to make sure I don't forget anything.





I set myself an alarm for ~5 hours of sleep to WILD.
I had a hard time transitioning... I was about to give up but then somehow I ended up in a dream anyways.

I'm on Teraluna, in front of Yuya's house.
Before entering I decide to attempt to induce a "deep dreaming state" similar to here.
I grab a fruit from a bowl on Yuya's table and sit down in a meditative pose, trying to focus on each of my senses individually.
But just before I feel that I'm done, I am interrupted by something very weird.
I hear a deep growl, like in a thunderstorm, and I see the sky above me deforming.
It feels like someone is trying to break through the sky, but that doesn't make any sense.

Actually, it does, the protective energy shield surrounding Haven?
The ground starts to shake, it is so strong I nearly fall over.
The growling is now excessively loud. I am confused. Something is wrong.
A big creature smashes into the ground right besides me and debris is shot into the air.
At first glance, he looks human, but he's excessively muscular and at least 3 meters tall.
He looks at me with a dark smile. I don't like this at all, I feel like he's here specifically for me.

Yuya storms out of her house.

"NO!"

The man grabs my arm and I am dragged into a wormhole.
I fall out in a completely different place.
I get up, ready to defend myself.
This place looks dark, I don't feel very well at all.
It's a place of ruins, I feel that many battles have taken place here, and many souls have died."

"Why did you bring me here?"
"To die..."
"... why do you want me to die?"
"You're supposed to be dead."
"What?"
"Pff... you don't get it, and you won't, and I don't give a fuck that you're alive again or why you are."
"Then why do you want to kill me?"
"This discussion is pointless, I just want to kill you."
"Why the fuck would you want to do that?"
"Pointless... absolutely pointless..."

He seems disappointed.
He approaches me slowly, making a fist with his right hand.
This feels so real... I have had dreams that felt perfectly real before, but for some reason, this is even more intense.
It's not that my senses are superior to previous dreams but... I'm afraid.
I feel real danger emerging from this man, like he could really hurt me.
I don't understand why that is, and it confuses me.

My phoenix wings are not reacting, I cannot get out, I must fight... or... I could try to wake up?
No! I won't. I must fight. I do not know why, but I am absolutely certain that it is the right decision.

He charges me, and I blink a few meters back, trying to increase my focus on this battle.
But he blinked right with me.... FUCK!
I try to defend myself from the imminent hit with my arms, drawing up a protective energy shield around me, but I am still hit hard.
I feel the pressure of his hit all over my body, the energy shield makes a cracking sound and disappears, I'm not sure if I would have made it without it.
He's strong... too strong maybe. I can't feel his energy, probing his aura reveals nothing.

He charges again... I launch a sphere of energy at him, but he just blinks through it.
I concentrate as hard as I can... time slows down allowing me to evade a few hits and place myself in an advantageous position.
With all the energy I can muster into a fist, I hit him in his shoulder.
I can feel my energy resonating in his shoulder and causing some damage and he blinks away.

He laughs histerically.

"AHAHAHAHA, this is going to be SO MUCH FUN!"
"FIGHT you little dragon, FIGHT WITH ALL YOU GOT!"

I feel threatened, but at the same time he makes me furious, trying to kill me without even explaining what the fuck is going on.
He summons a very long katana, probably 2 meters long.
I power up as hard as I can, the dragonic energy causes strong vibrations within my body, and I feel very hot.

"AHAHA, you're gonna fight me with your fists? WITH YOUR BARE HANDS?"
"You amuse me dragon."

Fuck... the katana... if only I had my...
He blinks in front of me, trying to slice me with his katana.
I blink away, but he keeps blinking after me.
With every blink we make, he manages to barely slice into my skin.
It hurts every time he cuts me. He doesn't deal any real damage, but I can't keep going like that, this needs to stop.
I'm fighting a loosing battle, I need to do something now!
If only I had my katana... if only I knew more about these dragonic powers...

Thinking about the dragon within me, I feel anger... rage... fury!
Fuck dodging these hits!
I carefully time my next blink and manage to deflect his katana with my left arm.
I hit him right in his stomach with my right arm, releasing much more energy than last time.
But he manages to blink back before I have released all of the energy.

As he blinks back, my body reacts on it's own fueled by anger.
I use both of my hands to launch a fireball at him, it should hit him just after he exits his blink.
But my body keeps going instinctively, I form a ball of energy in each hand and launch one angled to the left and the other to the right.
He appears out of his last blink with the fireball right in front of him.
He instinctively dodges it by blinking sideways, causing him to blink right into one of the energy balls.
It explodes and he is launched against part of the ruins.

All of this happened within less than a second, the battle is so fast, and he is so powerful.
But finally I can catch a short break.
I feel vibrations in my arms from launching spells so quickly in a row.
It feels like the bloody in my veins is on fire, but it doesn't really hurt.

I feel powerful, and so angry. But... it's a bit different from anger I experience in waking life.
It doesn't feel like I am controlled by my anger at all, it feels more like the the dragonic energy causes me to feel angry,
but without loosing control, and without properly despising anyone, more like a "state of mind to battle".
The power of my dragonic energy feels a bit like a combustion engine.
The harder I rev it, the stonger the vibrations, the anger and my power becomes.
But I have no idea how hard I can rev this energy through my body, the vibrations feel like they could be dangerous to myself if I overdo it.

If have many small cuts and bruises on my body, but nothing serious, but I can still feel the pain.
It doesn't numb down the way it usually does, but I somewhat enjoy it...
I enjoy the fear, the pain, the anger, the power, not knowing what will happen next, it is SO EXCITING!
The man emerges from some debris, he doesn't seem hurt very much, just a few small burns on his chest.

He smiles

"This may become an interesting fight after all."

He's extremely arrogant, acting as if I pose no challenge against him.
He summons two large snakes and sends them to attack me from left and right.
I can somehow remember moves, as if I suddenly had conscious access to my muscle memory.
I let the anger fuel me and concentrate energy into my right arm.
The dragon tattoo on my back has grown tribal extensions over my right arm which are now detaching from my arm, forming a glowing red whip.
The end is still attached to the tattoo.
I grab onto the whip and use it to kill both snakes with ease. It immediately turns back into the tribal tattoo.

I charge at him, but he summons a lot more snakes, too many to handle with the whip.
I concentrate my energy into both of my fists and hit the ground below me with both of them, releasing all the energy in the process.
The energy creates a burning shockwave which obliterates all the snakes attacking me.
I blink in front of him. Because he's so big I end up mid-air, and try to punch him in the face.
He blocks with an arm, and hits me in the face.
I can't block it, and I can't draw a barrier in time, but oddly enough his punch doesn't hurt that much.
I land on my feet without falling over.

Blood is leaking from my nose.
I lick it, looking at him, and I smile.

"You're right, this may indeed become an interesting fight after all"

That was a very arrogant move, but all this battle emotions make me so excited.
I feel that I'm strong, and I deserve to act like that, in fact I believe this is the proper etiquette when battling other beings of such strength.

I finally manage to probe his aura. He's way stronger than me.
Then again, my aura is a lot stronger than last time I battled.
I don't know what the difference in power between us is, but I feel like he's stronger, but I'm slightly faster.

He laughs hysterically.

"That's the spirit."
"NOW BRING IT ON AND DIE!"

I power up even further. The energy revs through my body faster, I feel that I'm approaching the limit of my body.
My eyes start to burn up. I feel pressure and heat on them.
The sky turns into a dark red color, and the clouds turn into storms of fire.
I understand why this is happening:

Those who use the eyes of the dragon shall see the red sky burning, and so shall those who glance into these eyes.

We charge at eachother. He jumps up high, trying to slice me with his katana from above.
I can feel so much energy emitting from his blade. I can never let it touch my body.

I instinctively jump up as well, trying to meet him mid air, to clash our swords.
But... I don't have my katana? Why did I jump?
But then I realize why. My katana... I have been searching for it... but it has been with me all along.
It is a sword made specifically for me, to be used by my powers: those of a dragon.
This is why it was forged using a bit of the essence of my own dragonic energy.
This sword has a spirit... and as such I can hide it by depositing it within the fabric of space, which only very few beings can access.
And this is where it is... where I left it years ago as a child... everywhere yet nowhere.

We're both approaching each other in the air, closing in for the kill.
I call out into the fabric of space for my katana, and it materializes in my hands.
It is so full of energy, I must have left it like that.
We both swing our swords, time has slowed down to the extreme.
The blades clash, and release tremendous amounts of energy.
A small bit of his sword shatters, and fractures form all over the blade.
I notice a lapse in his focus and take the opportunity to blink and ram my katana into his heart.

Due to the speed of these actions, we land about 10 meters from eachother.
He's holding his damaged sword, and my hatana is lodged in his chest.

Yuya appears from a portal, ready to help me fight, but she quickly realizes just how strong my aura is right now.
She looks at me somewhat surprised. She was obviously worried sick.
The man jumps at me again, trying to finish me with his sword now that I have no blade to defend myself.
Yuya wants to act but I interrupt her with my thoughts.

"Don't be afraid... I got this..."

She stops...
I look at the man, who is halfway through his jump.
My katana is still full of energy, and lodged in his chest.
I give him a dark smile, to make him understand that he will now die.
I snap my fingers, and all the energy in my katana is released at once.
The man, whoever he was, is burned to dust by the energy, and his broken sword falls to the the ground and is shattered into pieces.
I catch my katana. It is very beautiful, but I'll have time to admire it later. I cast it back into the fabric of space.

I approach Yuya, slowly powering down. The sky turns back to its normal color, and the vibrations slow down.

"Are you alright???"
"Yes. Just a few bruises."

Considering my blood covered face and all the cuts, this may have been somewhat of an understatement.
She seems speechless.
She understands exactly how strong this man just now was.

"Sorry for making you worry, I was trapped in this place."
"It's.... it's all right... you're safe... but... how did you remember... these powers... and your sword?"
"I suppose all it took was to fight for real once."
"At least I think this was for real... was it?"

She goes back to her mysterious self, knowing that I am safe.

"Maybe... only you know the true limits of your abilities."

I feel absolutely amazing.
The feeling of overcoming such danger, of winning a fight against such a deadly opponent, the power I experienced just now.
But as the vibrations leave my body, my vision blacks out.

I wake up.
I feel extremely refreshed, full of energy, I feel like going for a run around the block right now.
But it's still a bit early for that...
I get up and start writing down this dream.
Screw taking notes and getting back to sleep, I don't want to forget a single detail...