I had a dream last night. When Raymond, my son and the son of his mother asked me what it was, I told him that I was 54 in my dream; reliving the best moments of my life.
"Was mother with you?" He asked. I only could chuckle and answer positively.
In the dream I walked out from a train and approached a kind lady, my lover who I had met just a day prior. There was no surprise in her eyes when we met, such emotionless was the entire meeting. It were as if we had already been married for years and all too accustomed to each other's presence. People walked out of the train in waves of hundreds, but none bumped into us as I felt the lady's lips overlap mine and held her in my arms. The world was still and I knew I had to spend my life with this woman. And so, we were married.
Raymond told his mother shortly after, who, despite me not having talked eye to eye to her in almost our entire married life looked down for moment and huffed at me. "You have made be angry." She said with a smile and a blush.
Oh, I wish not for there be a way by which I could tell them that it was not Raymond's mother that I danced around with, chose to marry and lead a happy fulfilled life with in the dream. Such a woman was too perfect to be in the real world. And dreams follow not into the waking realm.
His mother is a great woman, not someone that I deserved to have. Her laughter is very much like Raymond's, who, I dare say I could tickle all day long to hear the laughter of. I could say that she put her laughter into him. Her voice is like that of an angel and kindness that eludes me exists in every corner of her heart. Although she does not speak to me being a woman who speaks less in general, she walks happily like the buoyancy of her soul carries her off the ground and to the skies, her arms spread around like her wings that wish to take the world under them. Her face is a mystery of charms. Her cheeks are tinted like moonlight on the white marble and lips as pouty as a blooming rose, soft yet speaking out with allure. Eyes that say you never must, nose that says why don't you? Her hair is flowing like a river to her soft and alluring back, dark and shimmering like black jewels coiling like a serpent.
Indeed, Raymond gets a lot of qualities from her. For such a young age, teetering at the brink of suddenly growing up to find the world much more unsettling and uninteresting than they had hoped, he still holds a lot of hope in his heart.
Anytime that you let go of his hand at the park, he would dash around like he wished to fly into the clouds with the fairies and the birds; another quality he got from his mother. Everyday, my son feels more and more like his mother to me. The only quality he gets from me is my hair, which are bright brown.
I watch as he plays with the other kids in the park, running around with a smile stretched out from ear to ear and laughing and laughing without a care in the world. I savored each piece of it. Eventually, the child would grow up.
A child dreams to grow older, yet when they do, all they can think of is to be a child again. I wished to cherish his small moments, before I no longer could.
The clouds in the sky swaddled off to the horizons and the blue ceiling of the world took on a orange tint.
At that point, both I and Raymond decided to head back to home. It was not until 10 minutes later, when we were still somewhere about distance from home did Raymond demand to be carried on my back. Naturally, I was not one to refuse. However, just as I leaned down for him to climb up a bright gleam impacted my eyes. I narrowed my eyes for a moment, looking towards the right corner of the street where a small golden light shimmered. It was not too prominent. Something one wouldn't even notice if not for the peculiar angel of the light rays that reflected off to my eye.
I picked Raymond up and walked over to the shining object. And as I loomed over it, the sight left me a bit speechless. It was a golden coin, shining with a bright shimmer simply laying there on the ground. It was not known how it had gotten to that point.
I leaned down and picked up the coin, glancing around cautiously to seek out anyone that might be prying.
The coin was slid expertly into my pocket and off we headed over to home.
~~~
"We're home!" I said cheerfully. The reply from a feminine yet shy voice came quickly.
Raymond's mother came to greet us at the door and looked fondly at us.
"Did he grow so tired?" She laughed.
At that point I noticed that somewhere down our journey, Raymond had fell asleep on my back.
I nodded and headed off to his room to put the child to sleep.
I did not deem it right to ruin his sleep when he slept so peacefully like so.
His mother, Elise was her name, had made dinner. It was delicious.
Not long after, we headed off to sleep.
~~~
I dreamt of a man. Of myself.
Theolis Clear was his name and he was an average man in all respects. He was never too great at anything he did, always falling behind.
He inherited his father's talent for carpentry, but failed to chase that occupation. From his mother he inherited his looks.
His nose is like a keel which he rides while he dreams.
Before long, the projection of myself disappeared. I rode on the keel, higher and higher until I ended up at a foggy space.
There was nothing in the vicinity. Just gray fog and two chairs situated opposite each other.
I wondered how I had ended up in this situation.
As if driven by instinct, I walked and sat onto the chair. It was at that moment that I noticed that there was another man seated on the chair right in front of me.
The man had short red hair and wore a brown trenchcoat. His eyes gleamed red like his hair and his body was lanky and thin.
"Who are you?" I asked.
Red. Crimson droplets were the next thing I saw. It started raining with blood and the clouds took on a shade of bright red.
My eyes couldn't help but widen.
"Who are you?!" I screamed.
Yet the man stayed seated. Unmoving.
And then, I woke up.
Huuuuuuu!
I inhaled sharply, finding myself laying on a bed. I looked around myself, looking at the surroundings.
I threw the sheets aside and went outside.
Sure enough. We're still on the Archimedes. I thought to myself.
It was not clear how it had happened, but the white dwarf had somehow managed to get himself on the Archimedes. And naturally, I was included too.
I held my temple, feeling a strange headache.
"Damn." I cursed.
Just then, I noticed something peculiar at the corner of my vision.
My hand. The shinsu around it was turning red.
What is... what the hell is this?
I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
I stared at my hand for a moment. The few droplets of shinsu spun around my hand, as if they were true and sentient creatures.
"Well ain't that something."
"WHAT THE-?!"
I jumped, hearing a voice right beside me. It was an albino man with red eyes. He wore a dark trenchcoat and held a smile on his face.
"That's really something. You unlocked a shinsu quality."
"Shinsu quality? Wait. In the first place, what are you even doing on my balcony?!"
Samuel shrugged.
"It's not too difficult to traverse the ship. Enough of that. Let us adress this." Samuel pointed to the red shinsu around my arm.
"Now, you can fight even more effectively." He smiled.
I raised a brow.
"How so?"
"A shinsu quality is something that is suited to a specific person. It is the one that you are most attuned to. If one can channel their own quality, the baangs will form quicker and easier. They will also have more power compared to normal." Samuel explained.
"That's... certainly convenient."
"It is, truly. Even more so now that the target is nearing us."
"The target? Who?" I asked, intrigued. Samuel had never explicitly stated the name or the abilities of the target.
Samuel tilted his head and looked at me.
"Well he's not here right now. But I feel we'll be able to encounter him in some time. By last year, most of our problems will be solved. And if you can survive through it, you'll be a free man and be able to climb the tower through your own volition."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I get that. But what's the name of the target?"
Samuel held a finger to his chin and narrowed his eyes, as if contemplating.
"Hmm. It doesn't hurt to tell you actually." He broke out with a toothy grin. "It is... The Silent Leviathan, Winston Heath."
And that was when I confirmed it.
Samuel Helmons was not only the Spawn of the Devil and a certified psychopath, but also a suicidal maniac.
~~~
A/N: I went a bit too poetic on the earlier parts of this chapter.
Anyway, throw some stones and drop a review.
Cheers~