Done a bit later then I had intended, but here comes chapter two
Oh, and a belated happy birthday to Ame :) enjoy!
~***~
Chapter One: The Harvest Begins
“For the last time, insomnia is not an excuse for your lax performance!”
Standing in the tiny office, Simon had begun to sweat. The lighting didn't seem quite right, and his boss's features had taken on a distinctly demonic twist. “I really am sorry, ma'am. It wont happen again.”
“Damn right it wont! Your fired!”
For a moment he thought his heart had stopped. Simon staggered into the chair behind him. He felt himself slipping deep into the dark leather. Too deep.
What's going on? This isn't right. This isn't ...
“No-one likes you.” His boss added, a cruel glint in her dead-black eyes. “No-one loves you. Your fired. You have no future.”
Simon tried to clear his head. He tried to take deep, calming breaths. He tried.
“No! No, this can't be true! I've worked hard for this company! I've ... I've given up so much!” tears began to slid down his face. “You ... you can't do this!” He cried.
“I can, and I have. You only have one solution.” She reached into her desk. “Only one option. I suggest you take it.”
“What-” he began, and stopped. In the outstretched hand of his superior was a gun. He recoiled in horror.
“No! No, I won't!” This isn't right ...
“Why not?” Asked witch in front of him. No, not a witch; a demon. Why he hadn't noticed this before ... and she actually sounded curious.
She got up. “Your wife has left you.”
Wife? What ... Susan. How could he have forgotten.
The demon-lady leaned in close, offering the gun again. Through his tears she almost seemed like his estranged lover.
“Your children have disowned you. Your friends have left you. You have no reason left to stay alive. Take the gun. Take it. Feel its sweet relief.”
“No ... no.” His voice was barely a whisper. He tried to push the gun away. “I ... I still have my mother-”
“She died yesterday,” she snapped. “Coming to get you out of jail. She died because of you.”
Simon felt his stomach heave. He tasted bile in his throat.
This isn't right!
The room began to shake.
“Take it! Take the gun!” Hissed the beast, its form blurring and changing.
No. Don't.
The new voice resonated in Simon's head like a gong, driving out the demons roars. A swift blur of motion in front of him knocked the creature from his vision. He tried to move, but the chair had pulled him in deeper, holding him tightly.
“Whats ... whats going on ...?”
Leave! Now! None of this is real. Go!
Simon tried to shake his head, but that to was now impossible. Not real?
Franticly, he tried to pull his body loose from the half-living bonds, but it was no use. Out the corner of his eye he saw the beast writhing on the ground, fighting an Amethyst serpent.
No, not a serpent.
A Dragon.
The witch lashed out with her claws, trying to slit the dragons neck open, but the serpent retaliated with a whip of its tail, shattering the body of the beast.
With inhuman grace, the fire lizard leaped over the shards of the horror at its feet – already gathering together once more – and fixed the struggling Simon with a gaze like two stars. Once more he felt the salamanders thoughts.
Listen to me. This is a dream. This is all a dream. Hurry! Leave while it's weak!
“I can't!” Simon pulled uselessly against his bonds. “I can't!”
You CAN! This is YOUR world! This is YOUR dream!
Blue flame flowed from the dragons maw, enveloping Simon. Simon's once desperate struggles now seemed placid as he heaved his body to and fro, trying desperately to escape the searing heat of the metal skinned creatures awesome will. He screamed.
Fear not! My fire is a fire of life, not death. Be still!
As Simon's thrashing slowed, and then stopped. He could feel it, the blessed calm in the dragon's fire cooling his pain, soothing his mind. The 'chair' dissolved, dropping Simon to the floor. He hadn't realized he had run out of breath.
He raised his hand to his head, and felt a pain so dull he hadn't realized he had had it melt into the aether. How could I have been so blind? None of this had made any sense whatsoever.
Like I was dreaming ...
But the Purple lizard had said that he had been.
Not had. Still are
Simon looked up into compassionate eyes.
“You can read my thoughts?”
The dragons form seemed to waver, and then solidified into the body of a woman. The eyes, however, remained the same.
“Only some. Come on! It won't stay dead.” She grabbed his hand, and pulled.
The world seemed to swirl, many colours blending together as the room lost its form. As the last elements of the room faded away, Simon thought he heard a cry filled with rage and hate.
The bronze-haired babe pulled him to his feet.
“What was that?” He asked, a hint of hysteria in his voice. Oddly, he felt very calm inside.
“That was a nightmare, friend. Worse then a nightmare actually, but since your going to wake up without any memory of this, I don't think you need to know any more.”
“I won't remember ... are you with the FBI? The CIA? Your going to do a Men in Black mind wipe thing?” Simon backed away. “Well, you can keep your mind-probes to yourself! I won't tell anyone! I swear!”
“I know you won't, but its not up to me. Its actually up to you. Your not used to recalling your dreams, so ...”
“What are you talking about? This isn't a dream! This is ...” He paused.
“What ... what ...” his body began to fade. “What ...?”
“Goodnight, dreamer,” The star-eyed girl said softly as he faded away. “Goodnight.”
Simon woke in his bed to the sound of rap. He yawned, and moved to get out his covers.
“Hurry up, Simon, Paul!” His mother called. “Your going to be late for school!”
Right. School.
Getting into his slippers, he scratched his head. Something about last night seemed to bug him. It had seemed ... odd, somehow. He shrugged. He hadn't recalled a dream in thirteen years, the last being something of a blur anyways.
He moved to where his brother was sleeping.
“Come on, Paul,” he muttered, his voice thick with sleep. Paul didn't stir.
“Come on, Paul,” he repeated. “Wake up.”
He placed his hand on Paul's shoulder. “Wake up!”
In the kitchen, Simon's mother heard him scream.
Deep in the world of dreams a purple statue was suddenly filled with a brilliant white light. Moving of its pedestal, it stretched its arms, and took on a more human appearance.
An ancient red statue was soon to follow, taking the form of an old man.
The Purple-one bowed respectfully to the other. “Greetings Seeker.”
The old man acknowledged her with a nod. “Greetings Amethyst. I sense that you succeeded?”
“Yes, sir. I got there in time. I moment later and he would have been lost. I am glad you told me when you did.”
“As am I.” He grinned, a surprisingly imp like look upon his face. “Its good to see you again, Ame.”
She grinned back. “Its good to see you too. I just wish it could be under more ... pleasant circumstances.
“As do I. They have been stepping up there activities. Moving where they can be seen. Far to many of us have been corrupted ...”
“I know. There getting desperate; taking direct action in peoples dreams. Getting them to kill themselves ...” she stopped. “Jade didn't succeed, did he? Thats why we're here right now, and not at the Citadel, isn't it?”
Seeker sighed. “Yes on both counts. Jade couldn't stop Drego'or from claiming the Green One. Without that, our options are ... diminishing.”
“But this ...” Amethyst gestured to the hall. “This isn't an option now either. Their too strong to be kept here now.”
Seeker shook his head. “Follow me.”
They walked down the dusty, stagnant formed passageways, forever shrouded in unnatural twilight.
They stopped in front of a half-rotted tapestry.
“We appear to be exactly where my grandfather said we would be, Ame,” Seeker said as they gazed upon the ancient cloth, the forms of men and woman barely visible on its worn surface. “And these people will be our saviors.”
~***~
Don't worry if it doesn't make that much sense now. I'm going to try and make the next one a bit more ... coherent.
:) Once more, I hope you all enjoyed :)
