DREAM OF REALITY

Hordin had been searching for people his age he could interact with at least. In the place where he found himself, everyone was conversing with other people, so the least he could do was find someone. At least he could gain some information on a topic or two, and if lucky enough, he could get some confidential information from an unsuspecting victim.

But...where could he find that someone? That was the big unanswered question. He roamed about for so long till he saw his age mates, the prince and the princess who he was sure hated him although he couldn't figure out why. Because of that, he removed them from his mind as possible people he could interact with. 

He wandered some more, and after another while of aimlessly moving about and being stared at by people older than him who he guessed were wondering what he was doing, he found someone.

She had long, dark hair and blue eyes that drew him in. He just couldn't take his eyes off her and felt his heartbeat quicken when she turned to him. She was frozen as well and he thought he felt something and smiled, expecting a similar reaction from her, but she just looked away when she saw his smile. Her expression, he saw was one mixed with suspicion, fear, and a bit of disgust. Well, that was what he remembered seeing.

Hordin gave up at that point. He wasn't a person to think much about his appearance, but he was sure he wasn't ugly enough to scare a girl away. So...why?

He walked off to sulk in a secluded corner where he wouldn't be bothered by anyone. the spot was perfect. It was dark, and no one paid attention to him.

"How perfect," he thought, still sulking as he observed the people. Out of nowhere, the prince and princess were seen walking towards him. 

In all their grace and elegance, they were walking towards him. Maybe the first time, it was a misunderstanding. A smile blessed his face. 

...he fantasized way too early. They stopped a few steps away from him. The princess turned to her brother.

"Are you sure she was here? Nothing shows"

Hordin was startled. 'she'? He wasn't a girl.

He looked at his hands and noticed that even though he was a boy, he had the slender fingers of a girl.

"Oh, there she is! Was she hiding?" The princess shouted. Hordin's heart burned slightly, but he felt elated as he raised his head to see them walking away from him. They went to a familiar face. the blue-eyed girl he had seen earlier. 

HOrdin looked at him, feeling a bit of jealousy as they talked normally. With a bit of focusing, he was able to hear their words as if he were with them. 

As the three engaged in their conversations, Lia suddenly sucked in some air as she remembered something. She looked around and then told them,

" I just remembered Dad told me to go meet with someone from a certain kingdom," she said. Aramith furrowed his brows. "Is it them?" 

"Who? What do you mean by them? There are a lot of people here," Lia laughed lightly, but Aramith still felt off.

"Why do you have to meet foreigners when the king and queen are still alive?" Aramith switched to using the words 'king', and 'queen' which wasn't his normal behavior.

Lia didn't like him refusing to acknowledge them as parents but separating them as king and queen. She frowned at him. 

"That wasn't nice of you," she told him.

"What wasn't nice? Besides, where are they?" 

"Mom was with some of them, having a chat, but Dadd is having a meeting with the representatives from each kingdom."

"Oh, but still," he persisted.

Lia rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "Well, I'll be off to do something important. Try to keep him from ruining my big celebration, Mozrael." 

Mozrael was caught off guard by the sudden attention given to her. 

"What?" But Lia was already gone before she could ask. 

"I hate that about her," Aramith scowled at Lia's disappearing back. He hadn't realized, but he was acting that way mainly because of the nightmares he had before waking up.

Hordin who had been eavesdropping suddenly realized that his skin was covered in goosebumps. He couldn't shake off the feeling that something was about to go wrong. A thought flashed through his mind as he remembered something he had overheard that old man say the night before. It scared him and a chill went through his body. 

Uncomfortable thoughts kept his mind distracted as time went by.

As the hour passed...

two hours passed...

A third was almost reaching when Hordin saw Aramith rushing through the mass of people. Hordin decided to follow him.

Aramith searched for a long before finding Mozrael. 

"Oh, there you are," 

"mm?" Mozrael looked at him.

"Have you seen Lia? I haven't seen her for over an hour now. It's been almost two hours." 

Mozrael thought for a second then told him she last saw her heading out to the washroom, saying she drank a lot. 

A flashback of his nightmare assaulted him, giving him a sharp headache. He ignored it and headed towards where he thought he would find her. He searched there, asking any guard or servant he could find. Their replies were almost the same- nothing.

This was getting more and more uncomfortable for him. He could easily sense Lia because of their special attributes, but after reaching out, he couldn't find any trace of her.

He could sometimes sense her presence, but then it would scatter everywhere, confusing him, and alarming him more.

"No, the dream can't be real," he thought out loud as he rushed out of the place and made his way to the garden. There, he could think and relax to find her. He sensed around, but then something worse than he could think of happened. He felt something blocking all traces of her. It felt like a gate was being used to block out her aura, but it would open slightly and Lia's aura would force its way out a bit. 

"What's this feeling?"

He traced it, and his heart sunk as he felt her aura outside farther and farther away, getting fainter and fainter. It could be that he was wrong, but he wasn't going to take any chances, especially after those nightmares he had.

Looking at the situation, it would have been more advisable if he got some help, or at least alerted someone, but he did none of those. The thought crossed his mind, but realizing it might waste time, he rushed out faster than the eye could see. The night favoured him and he was able to slip through the shadows. This was a risky move, since others could spot him, what did he care about? THe heaviness in his heart grew stronger and stronger as he traced her presence farther and farther from the palace. 

"Was she kidnapped?" The thought burned a flame inside him, but he had to calm down and find her first. 

He was told not to use his true abilities in the presence of anyone, but putting all rationality aside, he leapt into the sky, flying off in a dark mist as he followed the faint trail of Lia.

He sensed her struggle slightly in his mind's eye, making him speed up more and more. soon enough, he reached a clear place, looking like a small park. as he approached the place, he realized the eerie silence and the fact that, there were no people around. the place felt strange. He landed on the ground and mist spread about him as he moved in the direction of her aura. It was getting stronger and stronger, and soon he was dashing through the streets.

He passed buildings quickly, moving through alleys as he meaved his way to his destination. As he passed through one street, his heart sunk and he stopped, quickly turning around to see something on the floor. 

He approached the heap, feeling his heart beat faster and faster as he got closer. An image flashed through his mind and he shook it off. At least he tried to do so, but the image kept returning. He got closer and fell to his knees as he looked at A figure clad in white, her signature color.

 He saw a slight movement in her chest. She was taking slow deep breaths, and that scared him. Her clothes were dirty and torn at certain places. With trembling hands, he raised her head to his laps. 

Her eyes opened slightly. "You...came...," she rasped then had to take in a deep breath. Aramith couldn't speak. He was trembling with fear, shared, anger, and seething with a thirst for revenge. He tried to speak but the words wouldn't come out. 

He heard a whistling as an arrow sunk into his back, but he couldn't feel any pain. They were poisoned and he could feel that they had some alchemy formations around them but he didn't care. Two more sunk into his back, and the poison spread into his blood. A formation lit up on his back, rotating a few times, then disappearing. 

"Your fate is sealed," A voice spoke up a distance from him. 

He gently lay her back on the floor and rose to his feet, turning to whomever it was that spoke, but he saw no one. 

"You were shot with three arrows, all poisoned. An alchemy formation was used on you as well. How convenient. THe poison will kill you within 24 hours max, and the formation would prevent you from using your attribute. You're a dead boy already," the voice echoed in the streets from atop the buildings.

Aramith raised a finger and the poison disappeared from his system. The arrows also came out and fell to the floor.

From atop a building, someone watching him closely frowned slightly.