POV: Bash
Location: Southern Empire
The only room I was able to book is located near the pleasure district, I have lived here for two weeks and the scent of cherry perfume filling the neighborhood always makes its way into the tiny room I sleep in.
After settling inside the room, I remove the charcoal-colored cloak covered in blood, it is long enough to cover my Knee but stops short of reaching my toes.
Even my black leather pant was not spared from the blood splash. The blood on it had already frozen due to the chilly wind blowing against me as I walked out of the tavern.
I Changed into my underwear and then soaked my blood-stained clothing in a bucket, my body felt too tired to wash during the night. I was only able to get myself soaked in hot water located in the bathroom, the bathroom has an opening where hot spring water flows inside into a stone-built bathtub.
While resting in the bathtub, all of my body was fully immersed in the water except for my shoulders upwards, my back was pressed against a stone behind me and my hands were spread in opposite sides, resting on the floor behind me.
A narrow ray of moonlight made its way into my bathroom through a crack in the roof, it highlighted my black hair that wore a stylish haircut, the opposite sides of my head grew a two-inch hair while the top hair grew as long as six inches. Making me blend with the rest of the hot-bloods roaming around in the Southern Empire.
I soaked in the bathtub for over thirty minutes before my eyes finally gave up and I fell asleep. I fell asleep to a dream I started having at ten years old, it is a dream where I find myself in a white room.
A room with no walls nor ceiling, it is just plainly white, a whiteness that spreads through the horizon and deprives me of my ability to sense distance or space.
It is in the white room, in my dreams that I met Ash. The person who is the reason why I am alive today.
Just like other times, today at random I found myself in a dream where Ash existed, I am in one of the many shared dreams we had.
"Ash," I called out her name from a distance, I was standing in a space that was nothing but white, standing on a white floor that was as smooth as a glass.
There was a lot of distance between where I found myself and the sight of Ash, I could barely see her.
Walking in her direction for a short period—her gray hair began to come into view, from a distance the blue eyes with dark circles in them spotted me and we made eye contact.
My heart sank upon taking a clear look at her, my legs ran as fast as I could without my brain giving them instructions. My eyes were met with the sight of Ash tied up in two chains, one spreading to the left and the other to the right.
I knew from first glance that it was the reflection of her state in the physical world.
I got to Ash's location with her breathing heavily, my hand immediately reached for her cheeks but it only passed through, like I was a ghost.
I knew the rules of our dream, we could not touch each other, however, seeing Ash's gasping heavily made me wish I could cut the chains binding her with my sword.
"What is happening to you in the phy..physical world?" I asked. My voice stammering because of the insane heartbeat in my chest.
Ash was levitating in the air with chains spreading her arms in opposite directions, I am normally six inches taller than her but now she was staring down at me, her lips moving but I could not hear what she was saying.
With my face tilted upwards a teardrop threatened to fall, I held it back with all my strength as the nerves in my eyes began to turn red.
"I am captured under a basement by a witch." That was what Ash said, even though I could not hear her voice, the movement of her lips revealed everything to me.
I also started to gasp, "Do you think you can survive this," I asked.
She tilted her face upwards with strands of ash hair dangling over her face. "I made a promise to you Bash," she replied, "I would make it to the memory barrier even at the cost of my own life."
Her words trembled in my body and devoured all the little energy I have. My knees gave up and I fall to a kneeling position. With my eyes stuck at the blue eyes staring down at me.
"Don't speak like that Ash", I whispered to myself.
"I am going to come to you Ash," I said, "I would become a villan if I have to, I am good with the sword, remaining only five villages to the memory barrier, I would go on a killing spree to get all the gold coins I need, I would murder with no remorse until I reach your site."
The smile on Ash's face disappeared, her face growing even more sad.
"We promised to never let our selves resemble the world we hate so much, the people who took everything from us...Are you going to break that promise?"
My face stuck in disappear was still staring at Ash hanging between two chains, my mouth opened but no words came out of it. Ash was right, the last thing I want is to do anything that would make me resemble my father. But for Ash, I am more than ready to abandon my creed.
"I would keep the promise," I replied, "but promise me Ash, that you would not die, that you would come to the memory barrier."
The smile returned to her face, the last thing I saw before forcefully waking up from sleep was Ash's lips moving.
"I promise," that's what they said.