Chapter 214: Delving Deep Within, Part 2

From the corner of my eyes, gazing upwards to the empty night sky, a nod.

I knew it...

"Will I be aware that I am asleep?"

A nod again, this time harder to see, she crept back slightly.

Putting me to sleep, but I'll be aware that I'm asleep... I can only think of one reason why that was the case.

"Are you going to somehow link our consciousness or something? Put me in her head?"

Just barely in my peripheral sight... I saw, I think I saw... another nod, maybe.

So this was her plan? This was why she needed me here? I'm going to enter Ria's mind and do what exactly? And why me? Shouldn't Irene be better suited for this? She knows her better than I do, doesn't she?!

God - all these questions that I can't ask 'cause you can't speak! Seriously, what's a guy to do?

I -

I'm hearing something, something out of the line with the ambiance. It sounded like a firecracker...

Or a bone snapping out of my place.

Uh oh.

I heard it again, and that's when the alarm bells started to blare.

New question.

"Is... is this going to hurt?"

I didn't see her nod her head, I didn't see her shake it either.

A hand. Not her hand.

Too many fingers, jagged, broken splintered edges...

The other hand. From her cloak.

"Sera...!"

It lunged at me, darted itself at my throat - she said not to blink, she said not to move...

Screw it!

I pulled up, I moved away - too late. I felt the pressure, felt the sudden stop.

Squeezing. Tighter.

The jagged parts burrowed, I can feel it rending, grinding the surface of my throat.

I squirmed, but the more I struggled, the more it snared tight.

She was going to kill me. This was exactly what she attempted to do before.

But she can't kill me, she can't! I can't die, she -! The deal, this wasn't the deal... this...

So why does this hurt? This sensation, I felt this... I know this...

Death.

This was death.

Dying.

My blood staining the green grass, my eyes blurring the view of the night sky...

The night... sky...?

Bright blue, white clouds. This wasn't night.

Green grass? No blood?

Wait.

I can breathe.

Wait.

What the fuck.

No freaky hand. Nothing crushing my throat. No pain, no dying sensation.

"Dream," I heard myself speak loud and clear. "Dreaming now."

Took in all the dream-air that my dream-lung could take before letting out a big dream-sigh.

You're gonna get it from me, Sera. Swear to God...

Anyways, after I got myself coming to terms with that near-death experience, I got up to my feet to survey the rest of my surroundings.

My first takeaway from it? Public park this was not.

Got the green grass, and the tall trees just like the park, but then suddenly I also got a colossal mountain range to stare at on the far distant horizon.

Then just barely two feet away, I'm already locking my gaze at the strangest assortment of flora and fauna I've ever seen.

A flock of birds in the sky... four-winged flock of birds in the sky.

I've crash-landed in an alien world, haven't I?

A different world.

Oh, boy...

The question still stands though, what the hell do I do know?

Um, I guess... I'll walk a bit.

One step.

Two steps.

"Ria?"

I stopped at three, catching sight of a bright orange glow in the trees, skirting through the barks and leaves.

Humming a tune so dainty and free. I know that tune too, that hum.

Ria always hummed that tune ever so often, that one time we went clothes shopping, or whenever she'd be cooking in the kitchen.

Those days seem so long ago now.

I stopped walking, I started running... closer and closer, to the humming girl's prance.

"Ria!" I called out again, this time close enough to be heard.

She stopped humming, then slowly, she turned around and brought her eyes looking back at mine.

I stopped too... and stared.

She's smaller than I thought she'd be. Usually, Ria would always be at eye-level with me... but this girl, I had to slant my head down to even make eye contact.

But everything else, there was no mistaking it.

Her long red smoldering hair, her bright crimson eyes.... the sleek curves of her face. It was all a one-to-one ratio.

This was Ria.

I didnt know where to start, I didn't know what the hell to say. So soon and so fast - who the hell would have expected any of this to happen waking up first thing in the morning?

Well, I certainly didn't, and judging by her unblinking rigid gaze… clearly neither did she.

"Ria..." I think I was smiling, I can feel my cheek straining. "It's me… it's - !"

I never got to finish. It was like an explosion but without the inital eruption - a bang with no boom. One second, my eyes saw greenery as far the eye could see, the next they were squinting nearly, almost blinded by the harsh glow of swirling red flames.

Ria was nowhere to be seen, instead ringing out from the between the violent crackling and the tulmultous roar of the blazing heat - a shrill cry resonating, echoing just as a pair of shimmering bright golden wings sprang forth from the pillar of fire. 

It was a wonderful sight, a too familiar sight…

Then, in a flutter, a ruffle of glittering feathers, a gust of wind just as strong, blew away the flames in an instant. Another piercing cry, then the phoenix hastily took flight.

Gliding gracefully through the leaves, weaving effortless through the trees. She's going away, she's running away…

Not again.

"Hey!" I shouted after her, lifting my legs, I chased after her. "Where are you going?!"

In here, my legs didn't hurt, my body didn't ache, I was navigating past the trenches and ditches like I had the physique of an Olympian demi-god. Alas, though I jumped and sprinted fast...

When has legs ever beaten wings?

I was losing her. Her luminous glow fading further with every passing second. Don't know where she was going, but I'll be damned if I was gonna lose her again. 

"Ria, stop flying!" I shouted, swatting away loose branches. "I know you can hear me, you better stop ignoring me!"

I was so busy keeping watch of her from the gaps on the treetops, that I neglected to keep my eyes front to see what was coming ahead of me… and what eventually came.

No, I didn't smack my face into a tree, though I did have my close brushes… no, complete opposite in fact… the forest suddenly opened up, suddenly the view from up was no longer cluttered in rustling greens.

It was the most expansive lush plain I've ever seen, no longer was I sprinting through bushes, my legs were rushing through the tall grass… and the view for seemingly endless overlooked a vast open valley from below. 

That's right, below.

I was bolting towards the edge of a plateau. 

"SHIT!" 

Nearly dove headfirst skidding to a halt - just a few more inches, another second more and that'd be it for me. I'm no big fan of falling… even if it's a dream.

The phoenix in the kept flying unabated, meanwhile I stood there… unable to move a single step forward.

She was getting away, after all.

Can't lose her, now. Think! What did you come her for?!

"Listen, I just want to talk!" I cupped my hands to my lips. "Ria! I just want to know! Please! Don't go yet!"

Further and further…

"Argh! You're a stubborn phoenix!" I needed to know, before she goes. "Why won't you wake up?!"

She continued to flap her wings, away… far away, then she flapped again, turning…

Turning more.

Another flap, the little glowing speck in the sky gradually increasing in size. She began to dive down, touching ground in a burst of golden light - then emerging from that light, out walked a figure in scarlet. 

Slow, precarious steps my way…

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thought you were gonna go…"

Ria took a moment to stand and stare, before both her hands went down to her hips, and she took in a deep breath.

"You…" The first word I've heard in a long time, she sounded off a bit... her voice felt a little higher pitch. "What did you call me just then?"

There was a stiffness to her tone, her crimson eyes burning with curiosity aplenty.

"Stubborn," I replied, tilting my head. "What, you're gonna say I'm wrong?"

"Not wrong," She tilted her head too. "But wrong word. The other word, the word after that word." 

The word after… what?

"Phoenix?"

"Ah! That's the one! That one!" She stomped swift strides too close, standing on tiptoe to meet face to face. "Where did you hear that word, huh? How do you know it? Where did you learn it?"

Ah…

For once, I actually wanted to be away from her, so I took a few paces back. 

"What are you talking about? Ria, are you - ?"

"And why are you calling me by that name, strange man that I've never met before?" She demanded, a prominent frown on display. "Well, care to explain yourself?"

My blinks right then were faster than my mind could process what was just said.

"You don't... remember me?"

"Remember you?" That frown became a bemused smile that funneled a chuckle. "I don't even know you, good sir!"

"Ria, it's me! It's - "

"I'm not Ria!" She interjected, baring a grin of even greater bemusement. "I'm Latrissa!"

Latri-wha? Is it possible to faint within a dream? 'Cause I think I might actually.

"Latrissa..." I began to sputter, grasping for straws in my mind of things that'll make sense of the situation. "Latrissa… Latrissa - okay! Latrissa what? What's your last name?"

"Ignis," She proclaimed with a flourish. "Latrissa Ignis, the fastest flier this side of Frieden Rike."

"Ignis! Okay, Ignis..." Steady breaths, calm yourself. "So Latrissa... um, do you happen to - "

"Know who exactly this Ria Ignis person is, perchance?" She gave a snide look. "Is that what you're about to ask?"

"Cheekiness, guess it comes with the surname," I remarked, before steadying my composure once more. "Well, do you?"

Latrissa looked almost ready to burst into full-blown laughter at any moment.

"Well, I'd be a terrible daughter if I didn't!" She said, smiling that same smile I haven't seen in so long. "I mean she is my own mother, after all!"