Chapter 3 - The Lady In Black

Aramis sat a blanket of snow. This was how this dream always started. He found himself dressed in simplistic, rustic clothing. As usual when he reached up to touch the top of his head, he felt the rusty crown that rested atop of his head. He threw it to the ground and stood, taking in the familiar surroundings.

Again and again, he found himself in the same place in the same desolate snowy landscape. Any direction he looked, Aramis could only see a sea of white covering the world around him. He could not sense a single sign of life. It was as if he was the last human left in this strange world. 

The worst thing about these dreams were that they felt so…real. It didn't just feel like his imagination cooking up a storm. He could feel the icy winds biting into his skin, see every crystal of ice falling from the sky to the ground, hear the roaring gales in the distance. After being in the Lost for so long, the cold wasn't something he was unused to. With a sigh, he began to walk. He had no idea where he was going but he also knew that it didn't really matter where he went.

Seconds, minutes, hours could have passed by and he would not have known. His perception of time within this space was not the same as in the real world.

Finally, he saw her. A figure in the distance. The only reason why Aramis could see her so clearly from such a distance was because she was dressed in black from head to toe. A distinct mark of difference from the marble white landscape. His eyes narrowed and they watched each other for a moment.

The lady dressed in black. The only other one here. They stared at each other for a bit longer before she began to walk. He followed. 

He just wanted answers and the only possible way he could think of getting those answers was to get to that woman. He never really had a problem with nightmares or dreams, considering he knew it was not real.

To him this was much more terrifying than any nightmare. Day in day out, every single night he closed his eyes, he found himself here. It felt he could never escape it, cursed to forever be here and it was driving him insane. Each step he took, his boots trudging through the thick layers of snow, his visible breath in the icy air. All of it seemed so genuine, it couldn't just be a fucking dream!

If he really was just lying in bed, why was he starting to actually feel tired? He could feel the mushy sensation of melting ice in his boots and the slight tightness beginning to form in his muscles. He had to find out what was going on. 

They went through mountains, pushing through forested areas. The trees around them clung on for dear life, their branches thin as needles which was unsurprising in such harsh weather. She kept a constant pace just to the point where she stayed ahead of him but not out of his field of vision. Slowing down just enough so he could keep up and speeding up when he came too close. 

It was like a game of cat and mouse. 

A small part of him felt a little ticked off. Was she trying to piss him off? He broke into a run, dashing and forcing himself through the snow. Did she really think he could not catch up to her? He crashed through the branches in his way in a reckless approach but he cared no longer. Dream or not, it would take more than sticks to hurt him. 

He ran faster and faster, stumbling here and there but retaining his rapidly increasing momentum as he ran in her direction. Somehow after all that, she still seemed so far away. It was like he would never catch up to her no matter how hard he could try. But he continued forward anyways. 

Running as fast as he possibly could only to find he could never close the distance between them was a bit disheartening, Aramis would admit that much.

Would he really give up just because it seemed like they were just a bit faster than him though? No way. He gritted his teeth, pushing himself to sprint faster till the world around him became a bit of a blur from his perspective. He channelled the frustration into his charge, throwing himself forward to gain even more speed.

He had not exactly been looking carefully where he was running because his foot caught on a rock and he went tumbling. He crashed through the snowy ground before rolling to an eventual stop. Wincing slightly from the fall, he looked up to see…that the figure in black now stood over him. She had an ancient energy to her now that he could see her right up close. Her skin pale as the snow itself, her eyes brown and hair pitch black just like the silks she was draped in.

"How…persistent." She whispered amusedly, just loud enough for him to hear it over the raging winter storms. He sat up immediately, both a little surprised by that she had actually talked and a little pissed at how condescending it had sounded. She gestured to him to get up and follow her, but this time she did not try and keep her distance.

Instead they began walking alongside one another in an awkward silence.

Now that he was finally here, Aramis honestly...wasn't sure what to say. He knew he shouldn't piss her off although he did want to cuss her out. As far as he knew, she was basically the only one who might be able to give him an explanation for all the questions running through his mind.

While he was thinking of the right questions to ask, she stopped and stared into the sky. He had been so focused on watching the woman in black that he had not been paying attention to the scene around him.

Before him stood a giant fucking sphere of energy, large enough that he could not see its peak. He could feel the pure level of magical energy running through the entire barrier that appeared before him. A single touch and he'd probably be in for a painful shock. Any normal person would be reduced to ashes. 

It wasn't just a construct powered by an outward source of magic, it quite literally seemed to be...pure magic itself. He hadn't seen quite anything like it, this was not something any normal human mage should have been capable of. Controlling pure mana itself was not within the capabilities of a mortal.

As he was trying to wrap his head around the landmark, he felt a shift in the world around him. It was hard to explain in words but it suddenly seemed like all of it was shimmering. Instability seemed to fill his body as he stumbled back and forth yet no physical tremors had actually occurred.

The neutral expression on the woman's face instantly morphed into one of annoyance.

"It seems we do not have not much time left. Listen to me boy. Are you fine with how things are now?" She asked urgently, grabbing him by the shoulders.

Aramis held onto her arms, trying to regain some balance as everything tilted around him. "What the fuck are you talking about, what's going on?" He asked and a sudden piercing pain filled his skull. He clutched his head but her grip hardened as if forcing him to focus on her. 

"I will simply ask you this, Prince of Snow. Are you really satisfied with your life as it is now? Do you want to gain back what you have lost? I already know the answers to these questions. Once you are ready, call on me and I will appear. Farewell young one. I hope we shall meet again."

Gain back what he'd lost? Was she talking about his magic? And the Prince of Snow? How did she even k-

Without giving Aramis a chance to process all of it, the world around him shattered like glass. Thousands of pieces scattered in an explosion of light before it all faded into obscurity.

Finally, the boy awoke.