He finally recognized that long-lost scent and where it originated from. Hidden, buried memories rushed through his mind; He knew this place, this landscape. It had not changed a single bit since he'd last visited it, almost as if it'd been frozen in time.
Reed gazed at the seemingly endless field of glowing daffodils that softly shone underneath the dimming twilight sky. The glittering flowers swung slowly as gentle winds passed through the beautiful sea of tiny lights, carrying their scent westward towards the horizon.
His feet carried him forward, step after step as he ventured into the field. He was gone; both here and elsewhere. A better place. Someplace safer and warmer than here.
This wasn't the first time Reed had seen this flower field; once upon a time, he'd visited this place in his sleep. His memories were hazy and fragmented, but Reed still remembered the main gist of what happened in that dream.
A woman held him in her arms as she leisurely strolled through the flower field. The daffodils blossomed around her with every step she took and their lovely aroma filled the air. She spoke to him but he couldn't understand her at all, no matter how hard he tried. Her soft, melodious voice was comforting and he felt safe. Protected. Even loved.
He craned his small head and saw a small girl running freely among the daffodils without a care in the world. She giggled and squealed in delight as a man chased after her half-heartedly in jest. He caught the young girl, tossed her up into the sky and gracefully caught her as she fell.
Their faces... Reed couldn't remember what they looked like — it'd been far too long — but he knew that they all had gentle, loving expressions on their faces. For once in his dull and miserable life, he'd felt complete if only for an instant.
And then, it ended. Just like that. Fleeting bliss destroyed by reality. He remembered waking up in tears back in the orphanage, as always...
It was a vivid dream that he'd been buried in his mind along with the final fragments of his childhood innocence.
The slums back home would not allow such a wild fantasy to exist, even if it was merely a dream — it robbed him of whatever joy he initially had and replaced the void with pessimism and despair.
Time passed and he grew older. Old scars faded and healed; the sun and moon continued their eternal dance.
And now, he'd returned. It wasn't a dream. Here he was, walking in a place that should not have been real.
His feet finally stopped and he fell on his knees, filled with an indescribable emotion that he dared not identify. Reed carefully plucked a flower and held tenderly in his hand, afraid of damaging it any further.
A part of him feared that the flower would vanish and the ground would give way; that he'd wake up again.
Itotia felt the shackles in her heart begin to break and fought back against the maddening urge that sprung up within her. It took all of her strength and will to hold back the tide of thoughts bursting from her heart; screaming, begging her to act — to speak the words she desperately wanted to speak.
Her eyes flickered as she stared at his lonely figure and she bit her lips fiercely. Cold waves of reason washed over her emotions and slowly put out her irrational outburst.
Itotia gathered her resolve and decided what she would do, even if it meant she'd pay for it. She slowly began strolling towards the young boy as she sweetly hummed a tune that sounded like a charming hymn for children.
Daffodils blossomed with every step she took and their petals shone with even greater brilliance as they lit up her path towards the boy.
A bridge of light formed as the girl sung her song and the flower field suddenly grew quiet. All the animals that lurked within the wilds of the field stopped moving and silently watched the young maiden from afar. Even the energetic winds grew tame and weak in the presence of her song.
Reed hurriedly turned around when he heard her song and gasped. His emotions flew off the handle in an instant; astonishment, confusion, and hope swirled unpredictably within his heart.
A bridge of light formed around the girl as she walked, extending far into the twilight up above... almost as if it were a staircase into the firmament.
He gazed at her radiant figure among the glimmering flowers and pondered why her song sounded — although beautiful and serene — forlorn and somber.
It was the same song he remembered but something... was missing. It was incomplete; Her song lacked the spirit that the woman possessed. It was a pitiful imitation of the original, and perhaps something distinctly opposite to it. He didn't know a better way to describe it.
Reed shook his head in sadness as listened watched her approach him and suddenly felt something warm and tender brush by him. It caught him off-guard and he spun around as he surveyed his surroundings.
There was nothing there, except glimmering daffodils and the last remnants of the setting sun on the horizon...
He didn't know what he expected to find. He bitterly smiled. Just as he was about to turn around and call out to Itotia, a powerful gust of wind struck him in the back and he stumbled foolishly. The poor, irritated boy was about to let out a foul curse upon the wind but abruptly choked on his words before they left his mouth.
A flurry of dazzling, twinkling petals floated along with the wind en masse as the flew towards the coast and covered the sky like miniature shooting stars. Tiny streaks of light converged in the distance and Reed witnessed the impossible.
There she was, all alone, observing the final gleam of the setting sun.
The woman from his dream. Her figure was indistinct and fleeting; the storm of petals kept blocking his line of sight. But he knew that she was still there — something inside gave this absurd conviction.
What was he supposed to say? How should he approach her? What if she doesn't know? A million thoughts all rushed through his head and he panicked. There were words he wanted to tell her but he couldn't voice them out — they were stuck in his throat.
He had to reach her. He had to move his feet and reach her, no matter the cost. But his legs felt heavier than iron rods and would not budge despite his protests. His voice could not come out. It felt like he'd been burdened with all the world's burdens in the span of a second.
Never before had he felt such an enormous distance between himself and another person. A hundred meters stretched into infinity before his feet. He would never reach her and despair took hold.
A miracle occurred right then and there, on the eve of Reed's desolation. From afar, her figure had shifted ever so slightly. He couldn't make out her visage even though she had turned as the garden continued its flower dance but Reed knew that'd she saw him.
He couldn't make heads or tails of appearance but from the posture of her arms, she looked like she was carrying something. She shook her head and pointed at something behind him, which caused Reed to turn around.
The bridge of light had transformed — it'd become far more defined and radiant — into a majestic set of stairs that stretched out in the stars and beyond. Anima thrummed softly as it visibly concentrated around the staircase; the sound of deep, booming bells rung in the afar. Even the stars themselves seemed to dim in the presence of the otherworldly construct of holy light.
Ethereal. Sacred. Glorious.
Eventually, Itotia could not withstand the immense burden of her song and roughly fell onto the ground. The wind calmed down and the staircase quickly faded into nothingness. Normality returned to the wild garden.
Reed bolted towards Itotia and was about to ask if she was alright, but she raised her hand as she coughed and hoarsely said, "You need not worry, Noble One, this is only a minor aftereffect from overdrawing my power. I will be fine." She shakily stood up and closed her eyes as she focused on her breathing.
"Are you sure you're alright? I can carry you to th-"
"I appreciate the gesture but I am not worthy of such excessive assistance," she said. Itotia smiled and said, "A full night's rest will be enough for me to recover from this, I assure you. 'Tis merely fatigue and nothing more."
He doubted that. But if she would continue being adamant about her condition, he would respect her wish.
Reed wanted answers desperately, but it looked like she wasn't in any kind of state to provide them at the moment. He'd have to put his feelings aside for now and focused his attention on getting the girl back to her home. Then he'd find the way back home, somehow.
"For now, let us return to the road, Noble One. It is getting rather dark and Citlai is only a short walk from here." She gestured towards the road and waited for Reed.
It turned out that she wasn't lying; a small walk down the winding dirt road led them over several bridges until they reached a certain area. The simple path transformed into an old stone road that had an elaborate pattern. It was faded, but it looked serviceable, a sign that it'd gone under maintenance at some point recently.
The stone road led up a large hill that had a large azure flag with an odd-looking glyph woven in the middle. When they reached the flag's summit, Reed finally saw the city.
His eyes almost bulged out their sockets when he first saw it and he said, "T-That's your hometown?!"
This couldn't be called a city at all — it was a goddamned island! A. Massive. Island.
Not only that, it effortlessly hovered above the sea several hundred feet in the air. Gorgeous white pillars made of quartz and gold poked out of the bottom of the island and softly glowed. Even from a distance, he could see a myriad of twinkling golden lights on the island and the shades of brilliantly illuminated towers, skyscrapers, and other buildings.
It looked like something that'd come out of a fairy tale or a myth from an ancient legend. How was this a city? Reed wondered if he was out of touch with the world but quickly rejected the notion. Even back in Mulia, he'd never seen something this absurd.
"Hmm? Yes, that's my home, Noble One. Is... there something wrong with it? It was once the heart of our empire, so I don't think it is any less beautiful than any other city you've might've seen."
"..." Reed was speechless. He didn't know how to respond.
Itotia touched the flag's post and it lit up instantly with a golden glow. Radiance gathered on the flag itself and it shot out a beam of grand light into the sky. The beam twisted and morphed until it formed the shape of the glyph that the flag had.
"Now, we wait. They should arrive soon to pick us up, Noble One." She let go of the flag post and pointed at small blinking lights that seemed to grow bigger by the second.
"They? Who's coming to pick us up, by the way? Your friends?"
"Mmm, I wouldn't call them friends but I am acquainted with them, I suppose. They insisted that they be the ones to escort you once I brought you back." Itotia shrugged her shoulders helplessly.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Oh, you know... The Royal Armada, the Silent Fleet, and the Grand Protector's elite battalion."
Those small blinking lights had grown a hundred-fold in the span of a single breath and they continued growing as they approached. Mountains of refined, shining metal lurched silently at blistering speed and eventually became visible, even in the night's dark.
Massive and imposing ships covered the sky, blocking the starry sky above. Searchlights turned on and landed on the pair as they slowed down and eventually stopped in front of them. They organized themselves into a formation around the largest and most fearsome ship the lot.
A pair of words were inscribed upon the hull of the giant behemoth — Joyous Divinity. Presumably, it was the name of the hovering titan. Reed thought it was a well-deserved name, without a doubt. It was large enough to rival the goddamned Reef in size.
"Forgive them, Noble One, they are merely excited and wanted to greet you personally. Think nothing of it."
"Y-Yeah, sure." He felt butterflies forming in his stomach and wanted to cry. It was too much for him to handle. He wanted to go back home already...