Chapter 37 *Dreamscape* 4
Flange Orphanage, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, the Year 2022, Planet: Grimoire
Grifton cheered up at the thought that occurred to him. Maybe he was getting introduced to younger siblings through a common factor such as a sire? That might be why he was seeing others than those who were born with him currently.
That did more to calm Grifton's unsettled nerves than anything else. A sigh escaped him. Well, first he should take stock of the situation. He turned his attention to what was happening all around him.
Hmm, it appeared to be in an area that was specific for warehouses, docks, and ports. Now to find out the name of the area...Ah, it was near a Central Marketplace in Three Pronged Forks. What the hell kind of name was that?
Well, wherever it was, it definitely was populous. Grifton looked around thoughtfully. For all he knew, this might be dealing with a different potential future and not even related to him at all. At least that's what he'd hoped for.
Just then, two familiar forms appeared. They were distinctly full-grown and wearing some kind of uniform with the same insignia attached to their left shoulders. Huh, right, Anara, and Sherpa? Right two from his first dream. This had to do with them? So where were the others?
Grifton was stupefied. Just how did he know there were others? That made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever. Once more he was shaken out of that dreamscape.
~*~
Utter dark nothingness, hello netherworld once more. It seemed that the voice who'd addressed him once more was in a really chatty mood, unlike the previous dream times. Grifton folded his arms. {All right, what did I do this time to piss you off?} He didn't even bother to greet the speaker.
There was distinctly miffed silence. {Well, you're certainly on the right track to figuring out your surroundings.}
He supposed that could be viewed as progress? Grifton wasn't sure what to make of her sarcasm though. {To what do I owe the honor of you talking to me as if I'm an idiot?} True he was fumbling around a bit. He was still gaining his bearings. Was it too much to ask for a wee bit of leniency before receiving bad tidings of what futures were headed his way for once?
The speaker wasn't in the mood to have a leisurely chitchat with him it seemed. {It is too bad that you're not paying attention to the details of the world you've wound up in though.}
Uh-huh, well la-di-da, he sighed. {Okay, take a moment to view this from my perspective, okay? I apparently was only birthed, hmm, 10 hrs. ago, I'm guessing. I only just gained a smidgeon of my memories and then the next thing I know I was screaming from the pain of injuries inflicted.}
The speaker was speechless. {You're in an infant's body?}
{Yup,} Grifton shrugged. {I'm still not sure how I wound up here. Reincarnation but I can tell you right now, this isn't a setting familiar to me at all.} So would this individual cut him some damn slack, sheesh. He folded his arms.
The speaker sighed heavily. {I think something went wrong with this reincarnation that happened. An adult in an infant's body. Yeah, you were supposed to have received a clean slate.}
More silence.
{Well, what's done is done.} The speaker sounded rather sour and aggravated. {Guess you'll be stuck in this state until you reach adulthood, and someone can tell you what happened.}
That wasn't at all helpful, but Grifton wasn't surprised at that response. {Okay, so other than not being at all helpful in guiding me to understanding why I'm going through these precognitive dreams that I might not even remember, why is this happening?}
The speaker grunted. {Your curiosity about who you are and with whom you'll belong, family blood connection.} The hint of a shrug was all that he got from that. {Have fun with it. It'll be the last time you'll dream of anything remotely helpful for what you'll deal with in the future.}
What a snarky individual. The nothingness of the netherworld altered subtly alerting Grifton that he was about to return to the dream state that he'd just left. Great, wonderful, that wasn't useful at all, damn it.
~*~
Grifton looked around in horrified shock. What was the meaning of this scene? Uneasy, he realized that this time his body was almost bare of clothing. That was awkward. That's when he realized it was a reflection of a scene going on beneath him. What in the world?
Several buildings were afire. Many of them appeared to be warehouses and possibly shared room types of groups. Dormitories? So, this was also a later future that evidently involved him and some other people. That didn't seem like good tidings to him. A sigh escaped Grifton.
As he looked around, he realized this resembled more of an arson-induced nightmare, not a warzone. Huh, all right, so there were many culprits involved that had nothing to do with instigating a war. That much was a relief to Grifton.
Then he saw an older version of his body. He was also in the middle of that mess. Although he appeared fully clad, though stained with soot and other stuff. He'd probably been searching for anything and anyone salvageable in that unbelievable fiery scene.
Hmm, he hadn't found what he sought and seemed rather despairing and panicking too. His elder self didn't remain there long. Grifton didn't care for the implication of what he saw. As his future body stumbled along, it was clear he was in a daze.
That's when it dawned on Grifton. The uniform matched the ones that the two siblings wore, and he rolled his eyes. Unlike them, it appeared he was on his way out, literally, as in a senior graduate. Jeez, so he was attending that school too?
Hmm, this was rather unsettling to Grifton who hadn't actually anticipated having to enter any kind of educational institute. On the other hand, it made sense because this Republic, according to his information sheet, heavily emphasized formal education to gain a high reputation and glorious career prospects. Where had he heard propaganda like that before?
Bah, he was going off in another direction entirely. Grifton realized he needed to sort through all the information dumped into his head regarding this world he now resided in.