literature

Requiem - Chapter 3

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The next day, surprisingly, Soren was one of the last people to wake up. Normally, the last person up was Shinon, and he only got up because Gatrie and Rolf would mess with him and not leave him alone. Today, even Shinon was up before Soren. Usually Soren was one of the first people up, and Mist immediately noticed this.

"Hey, Ike?" she asked, turning to her brother, who was helping her carry some fresh laundry to the appropriate rooms. "Have you seen Soren yet this morning?"

"Huh?" Ike said, glancing up from where he had been concentrating on not dropping anything. "Soren's not up yet?"

Mist stared at him, then said "I thought you had already noticed that."

"No," Ike replied. "I though he was just in the library, reading like he always is."

Mist sighed at her brother's cluelessness, then paused at Rhys' door. She knocked on the door with one hand and the slender healer answered.

"Yes?" he asked, opening the door.

"Hi, Rhys," Mist answered, then carefully held out one of the smaller baskets. "Here's your clothes," she said, and the healer took them gratefully.

"Thank you," he said, turning and placing them in his room. He turned back to the brother and sister and asked "How's Soren? Have you seen him yet today?"

"No," Mist replied, frowning slightly. "but we're going to check on him after we drop off the rest of these clothes. I'm worried about him."

"Me too," Rhys said, and Mist smiled and gave her mentor a light hug. Then she and Ike turned and walked down the hallway, leaving Rhys to go back into his room. After the siblings had dropped off the rest of the laundry, they headed to the mage's room. Ike let Mist knock on the door, and the young girl called "Soren? You in there?"

No reply.

"Soren?" she tried again, but there was no reply. She took hold of the doorknob and tried to turn it, but the door was locked. "That's weird," she commented. "The door is locked, but it's like he's not inside. Are you sure he's there?" she asked, turning to Ike.

"No," Ike replied.

Mist sighed, rolling her eyes slightly, then backed up and said "I have to go. I promised Oscar I'd help with the rest of the laundry. You stay here and try to see if he's in there."

Ike nodded, then smiled when Mist gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. He watched her as she ran off, then turned his attention back to the door. "Yo, Soren! You in there?" he called, knocking on the door.

No reply.

"Oscar made bacon for breakfast."

Still nothing.

"Huh," Ike muttered, scratching the back of his head. "That usually always gets me out of bed."

The Commander frowned slightly, then bent forward from his height and studied the doorknob closely. It was getting old and looked fairly weak. Ike let out a grunt and backed up, glancing around. Nobody was around. Ike looked at the door for a moment longer, then gave a small, bounced step forward, lifted one of his legs, and kicked the door open.

Just like he predicted, the lock quickly burst under the pressure, allowing the door to slam open harmlessly. Ike stood in the doorway for a second, then glanced to Soren's bed. The mage was there, laying motionlessly under the covers, his back to Ike. "Hey, Soren! Come on man, it's time to get up," Ike said, walking over.

As he neared, he noticed that Soren had the covers pulled up tight around his body, his fingers twined into the blankets. Ike paused and studied him for a second, then felt his eyes widen when Soren suddenly shivered violently. Ike was even more shocked, however, when the mage whimpered, letting out a tiny fearful sound.

Ike quickly stepped forward then, placing his hands on the mage, calling "Soren? What's wrong?" Ike turned the mage onto his back and instantly realized that he was still asleep.

He was having a nightmare.

"Soren!" Ike called, trying to wake his friend. "Soren!"

"Soren!"

***

Everything was dark. As far as the eye could see. There was nothing. He was alone.

Soren glanced around, wondering where he was. Why is it so dark in here? he thought. Where is everyone else? Where am I? He turned, searching this way and that for any signs of life. "I'm alone," he said softly, then froze.

No.

He wasn't alone.

A soft hiss echoed out of the dark, and a large form moved. Soren glared at it, then raised both of his hands and said "Firaga uuldar." Instantly, two fireballs came to life in Soren's hands, illuminating a small area around him.

The dark form hissed and retreated a small distance away, keeping out of the light.

"Who are you?" Soren called, his voice stern. "What am I doing here and how do I leave?"

The form spoke, its voice deep and gravelly. "Accept it," it said, growling.

"Accept what?" the mage asked, a glare firmly plastered onto his features.

"Accept the blood," the form said, shifting around. As soon as it said the word 'blood', a massive flood of red liquid suddenly flowed around Soren's legs.

Soren gasped in shock, dropping the fireballs he was holding into the thick liquid. The light they had given off, however, didn't disappear. The thick, red substance sucked at Soren's legs, tugging at his robes. He quickly fired a wind spell at the river, pushing it away from him, only to see it pour right back. "What is this?! Whatever you're doing, stop it right now!" the mage shouted, turning his head to glare at the dark form.

"Accept it," the figure growled, rising up.

Soren suddenly realized that this figure was many times bigger than he thought it was.

"Accept it," the figure said again, followed by a horrendous snarl. "It is, after all…your blood."

"What?!" Soren gasped, only to see that the figure had disappeared, leaving a mark behind.

A Branded mark.

Soren frantically tried to back away from it, but everywhere he turned, the mark was there, shinning in the darkness.

"Accept it," the voice of the figure from before called, right behind him.

Soren whirled, anger rising. He wanted this madness to end; now! The bloody water, which was now up to the mage's waist, sloshed around him as he turned. Soren utterly froze, fear shooting down his limbs, when his gaze landed on what was behind him.

It was a dragon's eye, which was as big as the mage was tall.

The eye was attached to a whole dragon, which Soren hadn't been able to see before in the darkness, due to the distance between them. The dragon was pure black in color, but his eyes were crimson red. "Why do you not accept me?" the dragon asked. Only his eye was visible in the light. "Why do you push me away?"

"Who are you?!" Soren screamed, feeling the water creep up to his chest.

The dragon's eye blinked, then pulled back, leaving Soren alone again, save for the water. "I am you," the voice said, then fire exploded around the mage.

Soren screamed, the flames burning him, feeling the tongues of fire scorch his body. He frantically splashed backwards in the thick, oozing waters, only to slip. He managed to let out a choked scream before the red liquid closed over his head. Even though he was underwater, the fire continued to burn him until he though he was going to pass out from the pain. He tried to get his legs back under him, only to find that the floor was gone and he was now sinking through an ocean of blood.

He felt like he was suffocating. A horrible snarl echoed through the liquid, and Soren turned to see the dragon's eye next to him again.

"I am you," it said again. "And you…are a dragon!" It opened its gaping maw and breathed fire over Soren's body again, causing the mage to scream.

"…ren! Soren~! Soren!"

The mage suddenly became aware of a familiar voice calling his name, and quickly put his hands over his ears, trying to block out the sound. "Leave me alone! I don't want to accept you! I don't know you!" Soren shouted. "You are not me and I am not a dragon!"

"Soren!"

The mage's eyes snapped open at the call, and he abruptly sat up, gasping for air.

He was in his room.

His panted hard, gasping for each breath. He had his blankets clutched so tightly in his hands that his knuckles were hurting. "Soren?" a familiar voice said next to him, and Soren gasped, pressing back against the wall, away from it. He quickly glanced over to see who had spoken to him, only to see Ike standing there, leaned over slightly, looking fearfully at him. He realized that Ike was the one who had been calling his name.

"Soren? Are you okay?" the Commander asked, reaching a hand out to the mage.

"Don't!" Soren immediately said, flinching back from Ike's hand. "D-Don't…touch me," he finished, panting.

Ike frowned sadly, then carefully down on the edge of the bed, lowering his hand. "Are you okay?" he asked, his gentle gaze focused on his friend.

Soren sucked in a deep breath, thinking about what he had just witnessed, then said "I…y-yes, I'm okay."

Ike gave him a reassuring nod, then asked "What happened?"

Soren's eyes briefly widened, then went back to normal. "I just…had a dream, is all," he said, slowly lowering the blankets he was holding.

"Just a dream?" Ike asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Soren said, slowly moving to the edge of the bed and standing up. "Just a dream. Nothing more."

Ike mimicked his movements and stood up, keeping an eye on the mage. "Are you sure? Because it sounded like more than a dream to me," he said. "You were yelling and whimpering in your sleep, and you kept saying weird things…"

"I assure you, Commander," Soren said, pulling some of his robes out of his closet. "that it was nothing more then a normal dream."

Ike looked at him closely, then said "Okay. If you insist." The blue-haired young man walked over to the open door and stood in the doorway, his hand on the knob. "If you have anything to tell me, you know that I'll listen, okay?" he said, casting the mage a soothing look.

"R-right," Soren stammered, turning his head away from Ike.

Ike nodded, then fingered the doorknob. "I'll have someone come later and fix this, okay? I kind of broke it to get in," he said, glancing back at the mage.

"Whatever," Soren replied, still not looking at him.

"Okay," Ike said, then closed the door as best he could and slowly walked off.

Soren let out a deep, shuddering sigh once he was gone, then sat back down on the bed, his robes still clutched in his hand. For the first time, he realized that the small pain in his stomach had intensified slightly since the last time he had felt it.

What WAS that? What did that dream mean? he thought, then ran a hand over his forehead, feeling the mark on his brow. He glance down at his stomach, feeling the pain shift and flicker inside of him, then slowly took the edge of his shirt in one hand and lifted it, feeling his abdomen with the other.

On the outside, there was just smooth, pale skin. On the inside, it felt like fire was wiggling painfully around in his stomach. What is this weird pain? he thought. What does it mean? I have so many questions and none of them can be answered!

Soren suddenly let his shirt fall down and collapsed back on his bed, pressing his face into his pillow. "What do I do?" he whispered, wishing someone could, for once, figure out the answer for him. He was always figuring out things for all of the other members of the Greil Mercenaries. Didn't they ever realize that he had problems too?

Suddenly, before he could stop himself, tears began pouring from his eyes. Sobs broke from his lungs, and shudders ran down his body. He couldn't stop himself, no matter how hard he tried.

"Soren?" the soft voice came, and Soren quickly glanced up to see that Mist was standing in the doorway. She stepped forward once, one hand curled up against her chest. It only took her a second to realize that Soren was crying.

"…Soren…" she said softy, walking forward when she saw the tears in his eyes. He didn't stop her as she gently leaned down and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body against his back. He put his head back down into the pillow, his cries resuming.

Mist simply held him, letting him cry, being the shoulder he needed to cry on at that moment in time.
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The-Water-Maidenmoon's avatar
I e never plate the game but this is amazing! Is it cannon from the game or is it made up by you? Ether or way, it's still great and I freaking love it to death!