Chapter 453

453 Troubling Dreams

***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE***

Tidas drifted off relatively easily into the void of sleep. He was staring at the ceiling to his bedroom one moment, and the next he was in a beautiful garden-covered courtyard..

White marble fountains with intricately carved fish and waves dotted the expansive area as he looked around. They weren’t any kind that he had recalled seeing before, but they were somehow familiar to him as his fingers brushed over the smooth stone. As Tidas looked up, he saw Skye and Genie.

As he called out to them, they looked at Tidas, smiled, then went back to talking to each other. Everything seemed alright until the skies above them started to darken. It went from a beautiful sunny day, to a deep crimson color with black clouds rolling in.

When Tidas looked over at Skye and Genie again, they were screaming at each other. He couldn’t make out any words, and they didn’t seem to be paying attention to him, so Tidas ran at them. As he stretched his hand out towards Skye, Genie’s eyes went wide, and he jumped in front of her..

Tidas had stopped before he’d even touched Genie, but saw fresh blood when he looked down at his hand. When he looked back up at them, Skye was on the ground: holding a dead Genie and crying. As her wails intensified, a massive tornado rose up from behind her.

Tidas tried to grab Skye, but he was pulled into the vortex before he could reach her. As the wind forced him to cover his eyes, the last thing Tidas saw was Skye’s eyes glowing..

Chaos whipped Tidas around like a rag doll for a few moments, then nothing. As he lowered his arms, the sun was so bright that he thought it would blind him. When Tidas’ eyes had finally adjusted, his eyes were met with an ocean of sand as far as his eyes could see.

He frantically looked around for Skye, but she was nowhere to be seen. As he called out her name, the sun felt like it was cooking him alive. Hot, sweating, and frustrated; Tidas dropped to his knees, and slammed his fist into the sand. As soon as he went to lift it, war cries so loud that they rattled his brain surrounded him.

.....

As Tidas looked around, he realized that he was in the middle of a battle. A man wearing a black and red wrap around his head ran at Tidas with a sword as he stood up. Suddenly, he found himself in his dragon armor with his swords at his hip, and on his back.

As Tidas quickly unsheathed and defended himself, a thunderous sound rang out over the battlefield. After he had killed the man trying to end him, Tidas looked up..

An ocean of water stretched out in place of the sky, which made no sense to the prince. As he stared into the expansive blue above, Tidas felt his feet lift off of the ground. As he fell towards the water, Tidas called out Skye’s name right before he hit the surface, and sank like a rock.

As Tidas drifted down into the darkness of the water, a flash of light from above gave him hope.. Until he had looked up. Skye was there, but she was sinking too. And she had the most heartbreaking expression on her face that he’d ever seen. As he reached out to her, something grabbed his foot, then yanked him down into the darkness.

The pressure felt like it might crush him, so Tidas started to kick and flail wildly. Feeling the grip release him, he frantically started to head for the surface. But the closer he came, the farther away it looked. Unable to hold his breath any longer, Tidas squeezed his eyes shut before he took in a breath of water..but it turned into air instead.

Opening his eyes, Tidas’ heart sank as an army of dead soldiers stood in front of him. Grabbing his swords from their sheaths again, Tidas readied for another fight, but the dead didn’t move. They just stood staring at him for a few minutes before one started to laugh.

After the first, another started to chuckle, then a small female one started to as well. As their weird laughs became louder and louder, their flesh started to melt and change. After a few highly disturbing minutes had passed: Tidas was face to face with an army of Marcos..

“This is Definitely a fucking nightmare,” he muttered as he swung at anything that moved.

The army of Marcos stared at Tidas with with pitch-black eyes, then they charged him. As he lifted his sword, a bright, golden light flashed above him. As Tidas refocused, a blurry image of Skye stood between him, and his brother.

He called out to her, which made Skye turn to face him. As tears streamed down her cheeks, she smiled sadly at him, them muttered; “I love you..”

As he ran to her, they stabbed each other in the stomach. Tidas cried out as he reached for her, and Marco grinned at him. Right as he was about to reach her, Marco said; “The lass is Mine!”

A blinding light flashed again as he screamed Skye’s name...

************

Tidas shot up in bed with an outstretched hand as he literally yelled Skye’s name. She was already awake, and immediately rolled over with a panicked expression on her face. As she grabbed his hand and tried to entwined his fingers in hers, Tidas pulled his hand away, and pulled her whole body in for a hug.

Feeling like he was crushing her, Skye squeaked out; “H-Husband...Can’t breath, love! Canna breath..”

“Oh,” Tidas muttered as he released her; “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. I liked it up until I felt me soul tryin’ ta leave me body,” Skye quipped, trying to get him to smile.

When Tidas’ breathing wouldn’t calm, Skye wrapped her arms around him, and asked what was wrong. He told her about the insane dream that he had, which made Skye worry. She’d had similar dreams lately, and worried that they were more than just nightmares.

As he finished his tale, Skye squeezed him reassuringly, and said; “Dinna worry so, love. Even if Marco had an army of himself, I’d kick his arse. No one is gonna take me from ya, love.”

Tidas smiled sweetly at her, but it was a cover. He didn’t want Skye to worry about him on top of her other problems, so he acted like it wasn’t a big deal. He was ready to brush off the morning, and get started on the day when he realized something unusual..

“What were you doing away already? Normally I have to fight tooth and nail to get you awake. What’s going on?”

Skye shrugged; “Ima just feelin’ a wee stiff is all. No need ta worry fer me, love. I’ll be fine once I get me blood pumpin’.”

Tidas nodded like he understood, but Skye already seemed off to him. She Never woke up early unless it was absolutely necessary, and grumbled the whole first hour that she was awake. As he watched her get up and head for the bathroom without so much as a stretch: Tidas knew that she’d been awake for a while.

Since he wasn’t sure what time they had fallen asleep, he had no way to tell how much sleep she’d gotten. Since Skye could heal her own fatigue, it was hard to tell when something was wrong with her. Only her lack of sleep was a sign he could see, so he followed after her.

As he came into the bathroom, Skye already had the water going. As she went to step into the water, Tidas stared at her with a serious expression, and asked; “How did you sleep?”

Skye shrugged again, which Tidas found slightly annoying, before she answered; “Ta be honest, me body’s been a bit off ever since that fight wit yer uncle. Like me cells were stretched out, er somethin’.. I dinna ken.”

“Are you alright? Is it causing you pain?” he asked as Skye stepped into the steamy water.

“Not now that I’m awake, but it does wake me up at night. And it’s not really ‘pain’ so much as it tis sore. Like me body’s a bit run down. Maybe I just need some extended rest?”

Tidas eyed Skye skeptically; “I still think that you should go and see Tien before you do your usual routine. Don’t need you getting sick now.”

Skye grinned at her husband in a reassuring manner as she replied; “Aye, husband. I’ll go see Doctor Gohan before I leave the palace. I wanna stop and check on Maggie, too. Ima worried about him.”

Tidas’ eyes narrowed as they stepped into the shower together; “Was it Marco again?”

“I dinna know if it be a good or bad thing, but naw. Fer once, yer seventy-plus year old da had a natural heart attack. Wit all the stress he’s under, it doesna surprise me. He has lived Much longer than the rest of the men in yer family.”

Tidas huffed; “Only because His brother failed to kill him. I wonder how long Marco will wait after father passes before he tries to kill me off.”

Skye locked eyes with her husband; “Like Hell that’s ever gonna happen. Over half the bloody kingdom would turn on him if he did Anythin’ to ya! And dinna even get me started on what Murdoc and the Highlanders would do.”

Tidas chuckled as he imagined Murdoc avenging him, then said; “He’d only do it thinking that you’d marry him afterwards.”

Skye smirked; “Who knows? I could be the Queen of all of Alcon, Haha!”

Calming herself, Skye wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck as she added; “But if you die, husband: I might as well be dead, too. Life just wouldna be worth it without ya.”

Tidas smiled sweetly at his wife before kissing her, then replying; “I feel the same, love..”

Skye and Tidas chatted as they washed each other, then got out. When they went back into their room, Peggy had already set their clothes for the day out on their bed, and set some hot tea out for them to sip while she brought them their breakfast. Skye giggled as she realized that Peggy had them matching again.

Tidas’ shirt was nearly the same hunter green shade as hers, and they both had black slacks on. After quickly wolfing down a sizable meal of bacon, eggs, toast, and hash browns; the three left their room in a rush. As they turned the corner at the end of the main hall, Sheri stepped out of a darkened corner, and slipped in and out of the room without anyone noticing...