A sea of flames was raging all around Reverie and her companions as they faced against the Chimera. They were at a disadvantage and Rens face was pale because things had not gone as she planned.
In a moment of carelessness the Chimera struck with it's snake tail, aiming for her neck. She was distracted by the sudden cries from one of her companions behind her, but she couldn't make out who it came from. When she turned around the tail of the Chimera was already in front of her. Only mere metres was between them and she knew there was no time to dodge.
She braced for death to come but it didn't. Instead the figure of a blonde haired man stood in front of her. He threw himself in front of her in order to protect her.
Rens eyes widened in shock as she took in the scene in front of her. Her best friend, the one she always trusted, no matter what, stood there with the giant snakes fangs dug into his neck.
His face was grimacing in pain, yet he didn't yield. The snake ripped it's fangs out of his neck and the man fell forward into the arms of the girl.
She caught him and they both plummeted on the ground in an embrace. Hot tears rolled down Reveries face as she was holding her dear friend in her arms. The young man gently tugged on her shirt at the back and whispered into her ear.
"Ren, I-" yet his words never made it, as his voice died out.
The last bit of strength left his body and he slumped into her chest lifelessly.
The girl, still in utter shock, held the body of her friend and stared at the creature in front of her.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this....this isn't right...it's your fault!" she exclaimed in a calm but angry tone at the Chimera. Her eyes were now full of anger and pain and she had lost all sense of reason, as she stood up to face the beast with tears still rolling down her face.
~~~~
"WAKE UP!"
*slap*
Reverie opened her eyes in shock. She stared at the boy in front of her, as tears stung her eyes.
She was still in a daze when the boy hugged her delightedly and exclaimed how worried he was for her. She had a nightmare and was screaming and crying, when the boy tried to wake her up.
Ren came to herself and reassured the boy, that she was okay now, however she didn't feel okay.
Her dream felt too real to simply be a dream, she thought.
-a predictive dream? No it can't be...I did have some in the past, however they were only about small and minor things ,nothing as extreme and detailed as this... But if it's not a predictive dream....then is it a memory? It felt too real to be simply a nightmare... but if it's really a memory then it can't be mine, but the ones from a different timeline...
She was deep in thought and starting to think over the possibilities she had to interpret this dream, yet no matter what idea she got, it was just worse than the one before.
-I would prefer if it was just a predictive dream...the other possibility is actually an even worse situation...
There's different timelines and thus there is also different "me's". The timelines exist parallel to each other, never interacting or getting involved with each other, so generally speaking there should never be memories transferred between the timelines, yet if that really was what was happening right now, then it would cause a space time paradox. It might only be a small paradox without much impact yet, but it will grow into an immeasureable catastrophe, if I leave it be. That memories are transferred only means that time space was warped somewhere at some time and now the timelines harmony is in disarray. It's easier to think that this was just a predictive dream, than a time space dilemma...
I certainly hope it's the first, then I can at least do something against that unfortunate future...
"Are you really okay big sis?" the boy asked in a worried tone and cut her out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, was just thinking about complicated adult stuff, don't worry" she smiled warmly at the boy and then turned to pack things up.
"I hope you are well rested Michael, because we are going on an adventure now!"
The boys eyes sparkled in response. He helped with cleaning up their camp. He rolled up the two blankets they used and held them in front of Ren with a quizzical look, as if asking where to put them.
Reverie held her pocker mirror in front of him and the boy got the gist. He held the blankets at the mirror, which swallowed them whole in an instant.
After that Ren placed the mirror back in her coats pocket and held her hand out to Michael.
"It's a really dark path, so it's best to stay close ,or we might get separated" She said.
The boy nodded as he placed his hand in hers and the both of them made their way down the cave, tracing the walls just as Reverie did the first time she walked this way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The group arrived in front of the underground station. The atmosphere between them was more electrified, than the whole station itself.
The climbed down the stairs , when they were greeted by a group of refugees.
"Yo! So there's more survivors out there huh? What a relief to hear!" a cheery voice from a middle aged man rang out.
Gilbert thought his cheery tone wasn't really befitting of the things he said.
Vincent frowned annoyed in response and Soraya decided to reply in the mens stead.
"Hello, we are just a traveling group , please don't mind us too much, we will go our own way" she said in a resolute tone.
She learned from Vincent, that if she didn't give the impression of not wanting to collaborate and just doing their own thing, then people would pester her for her help and support without a break.
What wasn't dangerous wasn't monsters, but people. Especially in times like these and she learned that after training under Vincent. It's only been a few days since she joined him but her improvement was immense.
She gave a cold stare at the refugees in front of her and swiftly walked past them.
Vincent and Gilbert followed her without wasting a second glance at them.
The three walked down into the subway station and saw a mass of people gathered there. They all sought refuge and protection in this dirty place. The companions pretended to not care about them while they passed them to get down on the rails. They wanted to set their camp somewhat off from other people and walked down the rails into the dark tunnels.
After ten minutes they halted and decided to set camp there. They left enough distance between themselves and the mass of refugees and started a bonfire. Vincent and Soraya actually carried alot of things with them to make living in this world.
Gilbert sat next to Soraya and stared straight at Vincent. He didn't like the guy at all, yet he wanted to understand him.
The latter noticed the stare and gazed back. These two men certainly didn't need words to communicate. They seemed to understand each other regardless.
"It's not gonna help you even if you know" Vincent said at last.
Gilbert shrugged, he didn't ask if the information would be helpful or not, he just wanted to know but he understood, that the guy opposite from him didn't want to talk.
The two fell silent again and stared into the flames. Soraya prepared dinner for everyone, by cooking the meat from one of the monsters she killed earlier, in the flames. She didn't feel comfortable in this situation but she remained quiet since she had no clue what was actually going on.
"Ren isn't a bad person, you know" Gilbert said in a soft calm tone at last while keeping his eyes fixed on the flames in front of him.
Vincent frowned , he knew she wasn't, but he also knew she brought misfortune upon everyone she meets.
The two fell into silence again and so it remained the entirety of the night.
-to be continued-