25.[Bonus Chapter] Meaning of a dream...

*Earlier that morning*

"Dad," Reuel suddenly breaks the silence as they both sat there on the stairs of the cottage, with a steaming cup of coffee in both their hands. Helfer sat not to far away on a chair. 

"Yes?"

"Is it normal to have the same dream over and over and over, every single time?" Ligo slightly turns his head to look at Helfer who quietly sat there listening to the conversation.

"It depends, what kind of dream did you have?" Ligo slurps his coffee, and the action made the lizard stare at him. He could tell that the lizard did not fancy the noisy way of drinking.

"I don't know how to even explain it." Reuel breathes, closing his eyes for some seconds, trying to collect all the details he could remember.

"All I know is that I have this same dream, around the same time. I'm standing in a wide mass of land. Like a meadow," He closes his eyes again as he tried to remember more details.

"There's a mountain that's shaped like a bell, and some other things. But the main point is I've been having this same dream consecutively, where I'm just standing there, and I know that this might sound stupid, but at some point, I can hear my name in the whispers of the wind and the echoes of the trees." He looks at his father, who was just quietly listening to his story, "I sound stupid right?" he chuckles dryly.

"So the time has finally come," Ligo mutters to himself.

"What?" Reuel asks.

"I'm thinking," Ligo lies

"I'm just saying if you keep having the same dream over and over again, son, then it must mean something, don't you think?" He asks. "You say you hear your name echo in the wind. Do the voices tell you anything?"

"That's the problem, whenever I hear my name, I'm sure some other words are about to follow, but it's either I can't make out the words, or I'm forced out of sleep before I hear anything further."

"So he's not fully awakened yet," Ligo mutters again, causing Reuel to ask, "What?" and Ligo just shakes his head, waving the question away.

"These dreams started occurring recently, right?" Ligo asks, and Reuel nods.

"Last time, I saw Helfer in it too." At his words, Ligo's gaze shifted to the Lizard, and for some seconds, it felt like the man and the lizard were communicating through telepathy.

"You know, they say new things come with new people..." A mocking smile played on the old man's lips as he tauntingly shifted his brows up and down to tease his son.

"OH, not again!" Reuel rolled his eyes tiredly. "I'm being serious dad,"

"And I'm also being serious. You say the dreams started recently, right?" Reuel nods wearily. "And you also recently started dating this white-haired girl, am I right?"

"Erina is her name, and Yes!" She had a name, he couldn't understand why it was too hard for people to use!!

"What if this dream of yours is associated with her appearing in your life?"

"Dad, please." He waves a hand tiredly. His old man was definitely the wrong person to come to for advice.

"Alright, alright, fine. I won't talk about her anymore." The man finally gives in. "But if you've been having the same dream repeatedly, then next time you find yourself in such a dream, try staying longer." Ligo advices. 

"Sometimes a dream isn't just a figment of our imagination. Sometimes, dreams are more. Our dreams can be a means of communication with our inner selves. While other times, dreams are visions, visions of things to come or things past. So the only one who can answer your questions is you. Stay a little longer next time, and hear what those echoes are saying."

On one hand, it all sounded like gibberish, like the words of a crazy old man, but on the other hand... On the other hand, Reuel couldn't help but think there was some wisdom in the words his father spoke.

He really didn't know how to explain it, but his dreams in that meadow felt real. It felt like a familiar and yet strange place. Like he'd been there before even though he'd never seen such a place in real life, like he had a connection to the place.

"If you're done with your questions, and you're done with your coffee, I'd respectfully ask that you rise on those two sturdy feet, get your things, and get out of my cottage," Ligo says as he slowly rose.

And maybe because he had been sitting, and standing really close to the man, but it was a whole new view from where he sat now.

Now he could see how much his father had grown older. For a fifty-six years old man, it was expected that his face and neck wrinkled, but even with the wrinkles, the resemblance between father and son was not to be missed.

The onyx dark hair, even though strands of grey now laced through his curls, the broad chest, and shoulders, the slightly tanned skin, that perfect jawline. He was the exact copy of his father.

The only thing they didn't have in common was their eyes. While Reuel's was malachite, Ligo's was light brown.

Ligo had always told him that he had his mother's eyes, so whenever he missed her, he just had to stare at Reuel to feel okay. But since Reuel never met her, as she left this world while he was a baby, he never really missed her.

"What? Why?"

"Because it's my house, and I'm leaving. If the owner of the house is away, would he leave a mere stranger inside his house?"

"Dad!!" Reuel almost screamed but quickly composed himself back.

"Don't dad me! Take this chance and spend some quality time with that girl that has you drooling." Ligo winks at Helfer, and the lizard clearly did not appreciate the overfriendly gesture.

"I already told you, dad! Why do you keep making me repeat the same thing over and over again? I'm not going to see her until Saturday. If I'm being considerate, I'll go tomorrow Friday, but not today!"

"I don't care if you go to her or not. I'm just making a fatherly suggestion. Get up, because the instant I pack my bags, I'm out, and I'm taking my keys with me." Ligo wasn't joking as he threw out what was left in his coffee cup, and matched inside the house, with Reuel following like a puppy chasing its mother.

He was sure he didn't want to see her, even though images of her flashed in front of his eyes nonstop. He was sure it was because of what his father had been saying, so even when the old man had thrown out his things, to the time he watched the old man leave for only gods knows where, and up till the moment he called Gary to book a flight for Black-crust. He was hellbent on not going to her.

"I'm not going to her, cause I don't miss her" If anything, he was supposed to make her miss him. And even as he sat in the plane with Helfer on his lap and Gary next to him, he repeated the words in his head like a mantra.

And yet the moment his feet touched Black-Crust soil, it was like a strong and irresistible urge. He couldn't stop himself from collecting the keys from Gehen who had come to pick them up from the airport.

He had no idea when his thinking switched from "I'm not going to see her," to... "If I go to her now, she'll probably be shocked, right? I wonder what expression she will make when she sees me"

And just like that, his mindset had switched, and so did his direction. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of her school gate, like a car model.

And he thought to himself... "There's something drastically wrong with my head," that was the only plausible reason for his change of mind. "there has to be... If not, how did I even end up here?"

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Thank you all for your love and unending support. I can't even thank you all enough. I know this book has a lot of flaws, but y'all still take out of your precious time and read it.

Thank you so much is all I can say.

Queen_A is ever grateful <3<3< p>