Doors to Utopia
Chapter One
Dreams to Dream
The Temple of Time lit up with loud explosions, bright lights, and the screams from battle. An elfin woman skidded into the hall but lost her balance and slammed against one of the Roman pillars behind her. Her body slumped to the ground, arms weakly trying to hold herself up. She started slightly when she heard a slam right next to her; a woman, quite a bit taller than herself with snow white hair and dark brown skin, had been thrown next to her. She bled profusely from the forehead and her crystal eyes struggled to stay open.
"I d-don't think this is going well, Aran." Mercedes said, and then bent over to cough up blood. The pain made her feel like she was going to cough up her organs. Aran nodded halfheartedly as she tried to balance herself on her polearm; her long legs shook at the pressure that was being put on her obviously broken leg. The woman barely made it to the archway to glance at her allies with blurred eyes.
Evan was laying on his dragon for support, weakly waving his wand in the general direction of the laughing old man while Phantom lunged forward. Arkanium knocked him away easily; both of the males were far too weak at the moment to fight this general. Aran considered that perhaps this had been a foolish venture—perhaps they had not yet trained enough, that they had not fully recognized their skills again, that they had not managed to train Freud young replacement…yes, Aran was having one of those few moments when she was in regret for rushing into battle. She HAD always been headstrong.
But Mercedes, Phantom, and Evan had thought they were ready. Aran had even thought they were ready. She couldn't remember a single thing about how strong she had been back then…she had assumed she had once again taken on that strength. She had thought she achieved the pinnacle of perfection. And suddenly, so suddenly, Aran knew she hadn't and that it was too late to turn back now. She heaved herself up and dragged the elfin woman with her. Mercedes moaned pitifully but obliged as they limped back into the corridor.
Arkarium was cackling loudly as the snake men alongside him lunged at Phantom's throat. The blonde grimaced and rolled out of their grip, smacking against Mir's thick front leg. The dragon snorted as his head threatened to slam against the floor in fatigue. His master, Evan, slid off of his black scaled back to crouch next to the thief. Mir moved to become their barrier while Evan shook in fear. Aran rushed over to them and roughly sat Mercedes down in the crook of Mir's tail. She groaned in pain again.
"Phantom." Aran said steadily as she looked at the bruised thief. She didn't even have to proceed with her sentence—they both knew that this battle couldn't won. Only she and Phantom were even slightly close to be in a well enough condition to fight. Mercedes didn't seem capable of moving on her own and Evan simply wasn't strong enough. His training just wasn't complete enough. And Arkarium…the general was barely scratched.
Aran gazed above them at the only remaining ally they had; Luminous was perched on one of the thick fallen pillars glaring maliciously at Arkarium. Yes, he was in okay shape…but the bruise upon the pale skin spoke that soon he would be in just as poor of shape. He wasn't something that Aran figured they could rely on anyways—the glow in his left eye spoke of a tainted soul, one that she did not trust. She would not put her faith into this strange man. The warrior had certainly not been in contact with him as long as, say, Evan or Mercedes.
Evan himself hefted his body up to look nervously over Mir's massive back. Scratches dug into his delicate skin and blood coated his arm. It made him vaguely nauseous. The smell was overwhelming and just the idea of having this much blood on him was nauseating. He wanted to go home but at the same time he wanted to please the four people fighting alongside him. Though they didn't seem particularly fighting fit anyways. All they had between them and death's door was Mir's hulking form.
The boy flung his arm out over the dragon's back; bursts of light purple crackled above them then slammed down upon the enemy in dark pillars. It left a thick fog that Arkarium blew away with one of his snakes. The smirk on the old man's face was evident—Evan wasn't particularly known for being aggressively violent but at that moment, he had no greater desire than to punch Arkarium's face in. Not that his untrained punch would do anything. He was young and he was focused on magic. If anyone would be qualified to punch Arkarium's face in, it would be Aran, and she wasn't looking all that great at the moment.
"Will you continue to hide, my dear?" Arkarium chuckled deeply; it was a sound that send chills down their spines. "I have seen you all at much higher than this. The battle we are in…it hasn't even been hard. You have made this a cakewalk, like all arrogant fools would. I would kill you now but…you know, that simply wouldn't be any fun, would it?"
"What's he talking about…?" Mercedes breathed, coughing up blood. Evan grimaced and he could see that Phantom and Aran shared his feeling here. The elf had to be removed from this situation. She was dying. But there was no way to get her out of there. And Arkarium seemed to be going for a finishing blow anyways—Evan figured that soon, it wouldn't much matter.
But he spoke so cryptically…what was this fun he intended to have?
Evan didn't have time to think about it, as Mir was blown to the side by the hooded snake minions. The dragon extended his wings to cease his movement but could not stop himself from slamming into the pillar across the room. Phantom and Aran shot up in alarm; their barrier had been compromised. They had to move quick. Aran flung Mercedes onto her shoulder and grabbed Evan's wrist, rushing the two across the room while Phantom tried to distract the old man with flashy attacks.
Arkarium was not fooled; Phantom soon followed his fellow heroes to the corner, forced back by Arkanium's spell. Luminous soon followed, smashing against the hard stone floor with a cringe-inducing speed. If it had been anyone besides his fellow 'Heroes', Evan would have counted Luminous off as dead. But in this scenario he was not surprised to see the pale man struggle back to his feet. He was just as tough as Aran sometimes.
But what can I do?
Evan's mind had no time to answer him; all of the Heroes were blown off their feet to lay on the cold stone ground. The snake minions closed around them, their cackling laughs sinking down into Evan's memory forever. They cut off the routes of escape while Arkarium chanted; Evan did not know this spell. He wasn't particularly SURPRISED that he personally did not know the spell—but it was not one they had seen Arkarium use before.
And that was never, ever a good thing.
Evan couldn't move despite his fear of this new spell. He lay, motionless, as the spell washed over them. Laying on his side he could see Aran struggling to stand. But when Arkarium's spell hit her, the warrior's face went blank and she collapsed to the ground motionless. Phantom, who lay right in front of him, had glassy and empty eyes and a blank expression. Evan cringed; he could feel the spell washing over his body yet…felt nothing at the same time.
A blinding, painful light erupted.
And then everything went black.
Evan awoke to a cool rag on his forehead. He could feel warm blankets over his feverish body and he could hear a sweet female voice humming lullabies—humming healing spells. He cracked open one blue eye to peer up at the blonde woman. The Goddess of Time, Rhinne, was sitting beside him humming a tune and caring for his injuries. Evan supposed he had encountered weird scenarios.
"Good morning, Evan." She said quietly. "I'm glad you have woken. We have something of utmost importance that we must discuss."
"Where is everyone?" He said immediately. "Mercedes, she needed help more than me. She was dying! And Aran, her leg…I think it was broken…Luminous hit the floor pretty badly too! And Phantom…bruised all over! They need medical attention! Where are they?!"
"Relax yourself, boy." Rhinne said sharply. "There isn't anything we can do to help your friends right now. I have done all I can. Their bodies, though likely sore, are in tip top shape."
"So they're going to be fine?!" Evan exclaimed excitedly. Rhinne looked to the side nervously and Evan's face fell. "What…what's going on, Miss Rhinne…?"
"There was a…there was a problem." Rhinne faltered. All she could truly do was gesture behind her. Evan stumbled to his feet to stare, wide eyed, at the comatose forms of the four other Heroes. They looked pale, almost ghostly. Rhinne nearly read the boy's mind immediately. "They aren't dead. Don't worry. You…have much bigger things to worry about, unfortunately."
"What's wrong with them?!" Evan shrieked, panicked. He flung himself down by Aran and shook her shoulder violently as he trembled uncontrollable. The woman's head just flopped around listlessly. The boy raised his terrified eyes to inspect the other three, clambering over to Phantom to pull at his arm. The arm slipped from his thin fingers with ease. The body seemed almost dead; all of the Heroes looked deceased. Evan's eyes were quickly filling with fat tears as Rhinne rested her hand on his shoulder.
"Evan."
"What's wrong with them?!" He screamed, turned around to the Goddess. The floating woman held him still by the shoulders, running her fingers through his brown hair in a calming motion. No matter how nice it felt…Evan did not feel any happier. "Please…tell me what's going on! They…they look DEAD but you said they weren't…how is that, huh?"
"As I said, sweetheart. They aren't dead." Rhinne said sadly. "They have been forced into a deep, possessed coma by Arkarium."
"W…what…?"
"He cast a spell. I'm quite sure that he came today with the intention to cast this specific spell. It was a trap." Rhinne held the crying child against her bosom as he sobbed softly; Evan didn't want to be the only 'hero' left. He knew he wasn't strong enough. "Arkanium knew he couldn't beat the Heroes so easily…you five always had something up your sleeve that brought him down. But he has also spent the last three hundred years developing devastating new techniques. I have already examined them…and it is a very powerful, very dangerous spell he put them under. It is very lucky they suffered this spell in the Temple of Time."
"W-what…?"
"The spell they have been placed under is a sort of elaborate sleep spell." Rhinne elaborated. "Each of them have been captured in a dream that the spell convinces them to be real—their perfect world that they would never want to leave for anything. Arkanium's spell has lulled them into a sense of ease and trapped them within the one cage they cannot possibly escape. Themselves."
"Buh…but if they can't escape…" Evan stuttered weakly. Rhinne shook her head.
"It indeed is a difficult situation to ramify." She sighed deeply. "I fear there is only one way to fix it, and I'm not even entirely sure if it will work. And it could end up being very dangerous. Dreams in themselves can be horrendous burdens on even the minds of the individuals who own them. For a person who is not the creator of the dream…it could lash out on them…"
"What are you talking about?" Evan asked, clearly bemused.
"There is only one way to fix this, Evan." She tucked a tuff of brown hair behind his ear. "You will have to help them, Evan."
"But I can't do that!"
"Oh, but you can." Rhinne said softly. "You are the only one completely aware of the situation. You are the only one in a position to save your allies. You are the only one who can drag Aran, Mercedes, Luminous, and Phantom out of their dreamworlds and back into OUR world—if you don't, I'm afraid our world will be left without them forever. They shall not die, as time is stagnant in the Temple of Time, but they will be completely useless. They will be trapped within themselves. Trapped in their fantasies, forever."
"That's…horrible." Evan said slowly. "But, Rhinne?"
"Yes?"
"Why didn't the spell work on me?"
Rhinne laughed bitterly. "Oh, Evan. You are young. A child of thirteen, nothing more. Children don't have a fully developed idea of a perfect life. They want so many different things at once and have not yet fully recognized their true desires in life. You are underdeveloped in mind." Evan scrunched up his nose in distaste. "I don't mean that in a cruel way. It simply is reality—children don't know what they truly want, not yet. They will convince themselves they will…but it very rarely survives to adulthood. Do you understand?"
"Not really."
"No, I figured you wouldn't." Rhinne smiled softly. "You'll get it one day. Let's just leave it at this: the spell can't affect you because you are a child. And that is where your responsibility to your allies comes in…your responsibility to your FRIENDS. You must help them, Evan. Will you do it?"
"…Y-yes." He said nervously. "But what do I have to do?"
"Evan." She kneeled down next to the boy. "You must do what reality and time tells you that you cannot do. You MUST invade their consciousness and infiltrate their dream world. Once you get in, you MUST find a way to break that dream world apart. Talk to them, break their lie apart, bring them back to the harsh reality."
"That sounds so mean…"
"It is mean. But reality is mean." Rhinne said quietly. "They are adults and they must accept reality. As must you, despite your age…you have been thrown into adult responsibility very early. But you MUST do this…no one else can. Your dreams are young and disoriented and cannot be manipulated like the other four dreams can. Even I cannot substitute. I cannot fool the dreamworld. But with my powers and the force of this Temple we stand in, you can invade their dreams."
Evan was silent, looking at his hands. He knew very well that he didn't know his fellow heroes very well. He didn't know much about their hopes, aspirations, driving points, or even their pasts. He didn't know if he could do this. But…if Miss Rhinne was to be believed, only he could do this. Because of his age. Sure, he didn't really understand it, but he didn't suppose he had to. He nodded slowly and Rhinne smiled.
"I know this is difficult, Evan, but…" She paused. "…well, I'm happy you have the bravery to help these four. This bravery is always a good predication of how good you'll be at being a 'hero' in your future. But that isn't important."
"What is?"
"What is…is going to the dreamworld. Come with me."
TBC~