A violent storm raged over a forest and in the middle of the dark umbrellas of trees stood a white haired man with red eyes who appeared dreamlike, soaked in water. The man stared upwards looking at one tall tree in particular. It had dark green leaves and gray thick trunk. Hidden behind some of its leaves was a red light that caught his eye.
A fruit.
Other fruits dangled from the tree, greener, riper and more in reach, however, he had no interest in them. He wanted the red one, unwilling to settle for anything else.
It was as if his body had a mind of its own, as he began climbing the tree. Branch by branch, he got higher, ignoring the raging shower. A certain eagerness grew in his otherwise emotionless heart as he got higher. Then he began to wonder why the other fruits on this tree were ripe green but only that one was red. The oddity among the bunch.
Finally the man reached the highest point, standing on the top branch with his clothes dripping with water. His wet lashes blinked as he looked at the object of his desire. Bright red it was, more beautiful than what he had seen from a distance.
His mouth watered as a hand stretched pluck, when his eyes caught something that stifled his breath.
His lips parted slightly, as he sucked in air.
It had taken his breath away; the view.
From up there, he could see the yellow sun shining brightly over a bright green field far away from the grim forest. The peaceful grasslands and rustling flowers reflected in his red crimson eyes, different from what he was used to.
He had never seen anything so beautiful. He had been so focused on climbing the tree that he hadn't even realized when the rain stopped pouring.
He lowered his gaze to the fruit in his palm, he craved it even more now.
Hungry to taste, he sank his teeth into the red fruit letting the juices burst into his mouth. His eyes widened immensely as the liquid overwhelmed his senses with intense sugar. By far the most delicious thing he had ever tasted. Without waiting to swallow he bit down again taking another piece for chewing. Before he knew it, he was eating the fruit like a mad dog.
When suddenly a sharp gut wrenching pain stroke from within his body. It was as if his throat and his stomach was set in agonizing flames. He clenched his stomach as he fell to his knees from the excruciating nausea. He nearly lost footing from the quick movement but his instincts kicked in, aiding balance. His red eyes darkened as he realized what was happening. Poison, it was poison. Instantly his stomach turned rejecting the consumed items.
He could feel the solids rising threatening to spill out. But as his stomach flexed to force the solids out, a hand slapped his mouth stopping it from escaping.
His eyes narrowed in confusion as the pain intensified.
Why?
His body violently tried repeatedly to vomit the poison out of his system but each time his hands would glue to his mouth forcing the fruit back in.
Why?
The fruit was clearly hurting him, why was he still trying to keep it in. His body was trying to save his life. Why wasn't his mind willing to let it go?
Why couldn't he let go?
It was killing him.
Back and forth, his body and his mind fought over dominance, causing his stomach to twist and bite adding to his suffering. A pained whimper escaped his throat as he dug his nails into the sides of his cheeks, begging for the poison to kill him faster so it all could end.
In the chaos a loud buzzing appeared out of nowhere. Growing louder and louder, a swarm of bees rose from beneath the tree. Before the man could realize the growing threat, the swarm of bees went straight for his face.
Emperor Najeer jerked from his sleep into an upright position, sweat dripping from his face. His chest heaved as he looked around the dark room, before gazing out the open window.
White flakes fell from the sky as cold breeze lightly blew the curtains.
Najeer pinched his eyes in exhaustion. Despite waking up from sleep, it felt as if he had gained anything but rest. His fingers rubbed the wetness on his bare chest making his eyebrows knit.
Sweating in winter was odd. No matter how bizarre the nightmare.
Memories of the dream he just woke up from flashed in his head causing him to squint his eyes in an effort to forget. A low grunt escaped his breath as he dropped his feet to the cold ground and just stayed there for a minute.
Another nightmare. These days nightmares had flooded his nights. Ironically that had made him look forward to sleep more. As it was better than not having any dreams at all. Blankness preoccupied most of his night for years.
Najeer rose to his feet and began walking to the bathing chamber with his white snow hair messy, sweat etched to his skin.
It appeared the trouble of losing access to Earth had its advantage. These days he was so stressed about the ordeal that he was having dreams now, well, nightmares. Something he had been taking potions and pills to have, but non had any effect in over a hundred years.
Most nights were filled with nothingness to the point he had forgotten what it was like to experience transcending to another world. Heavens knows he would have been hooked on drugs if substances had any effect on him. But it didn't. Same reason he could never be poisoned.
If nightmares were the effect of the shock from losing Earth (that, and his coming engagement) then this would only be the beginning. Afterall there was impending chaos threatening the empire.
Without Earth, doom for the people of Naqil was not too far away.
And it was his responsibility to stop that from happening.
Najeer turned on the faucet and clear purple water began flowing out, into the white gold sink. He let the water fall into his palms before splashing it on his face.
He better get cleaned.
Other than the problem of his Empire losing its primary food source, he had to prepare for his engagement tonight.