by SunnyJustice » Wed Jan 04, 2017 12:04 am
[Even though I laughed about Rowan's healing power on the chat, for Rowan himself, it's no laughing matter! Which in itself is kind of funny... poor boy.]
In his dreams, his vision was normal again. The world seemed suddenly darker. Everything around him was more colorful, but the lights were gone. He could see people walking by, people he didn't recognize, and he was disappointed to see they didn't shine. He thought he caught glimpses of familiar faces in the crowd parting around him, but when he looked for long enough, he realized it was someone else.
Rowan started to walk along with the crowd, though they kept a fair distance from him. Wherever he moved, the people seemed to move around him, like he was surrounded by some telekinetic bubble. These people were not going to give him a hug. He didn't know where the crowd was going, but he followed them anyway.
Eventually he came to a fork in the road. The crowd split and headed both left and right, and they never looked back. Once the group had cleared, Rowan realized that his destination was right here. On this bench sat his dearest friend. The one he felt so lost and lonely without.
"Lily," he sobbed, falling onto his knees and looking at her with imploring eyes. "I'm sorry."
She slapped him across the face.
Rowan looked into her eyes, horrified. These weren't Lily's eyes. They were green, but not the vibrant verdant of Tacet's eyes. They were a dull, lifeless green, like a wilted rose with only thorns and no petals. The not-Lily stood up with an inhuman laugh. Before Rowan's eyes, she began to grow, as her hair darkened and became longer, and her features morphed into someone else. This was someone Rowan barely recognized. There was a sense of familiarity about her though.
The woman cackled.
"Lily...?" Rowan whispered.
The woman bent down, putting a hand on his cheek. The same way he did to the redheaded soldier before killing her. Rowan was too horrified to even struggle.
"Poor baby," the woman sneered. "You have no idea what's coming for you."
"Do you work for Alastair, m-ma'am?" he stammered, trying to look away, but he was frozen in her dead off-green stare.
"Alastair?" she cackled. "Silly boy... I don't work for any king. The king works for me."
She raked her claws down his cheek, smirking as Rowan flinched in pain. The woman brought her hand back up, this time positioned over Rowan's eyes.
"Please," he whimpered.
The woman simply laughed as her claws came forward, positioned to impale him in the eyes. Rowan wanted desperately to move away, but he was completely paralyzed and helpless. His vision was plunged into darkness.
But not for long.
Light stirred him from the nightmare. The sun was high in the sky, and he stood in a meadow of green grass. He could see his friends in the distance. Rowan breathed a sigh of relief. The woman hadn't stabbed him in the eyes after all, and now he could enjoy his dreams. He just wanted a few minutes to relax and rest. That was all. Just a few minutes, and he would be okay for another two days.
"Rowan!" Laurel called out loudly.
"I'm here!" Rowan responded, breaking into a run.
Everyone was there. Even those they had lost. Lily, Kylie, Tacet, even those from long ago. Cyprian was reunited with his sister Cyrena. Cilan was laughing, with his sister Clotilda riding on his shoulders. Rowan even caught a glimpse of Gwen and another girl, giggling as they played together in the meadow. It was too good to be true.
Because it was.
As soon as he approached them, the sounds of laughter abruptly stopped. His friends assembled themselves into an organized formation, like soldiers confronting an enemy.
"Hello," Rowan ventured tentatively. He could feel the tension in the air, and the hatred emanating from everyone. It made him weak in the knees. "What's w-wrong?"
"You." Erion was the one who spoke, stepping forward to slap him in the face. It had been so long since Erion actually slapped Rowan, and he had been long forgiven, but the slap still haunted his dreams.
"I'm sorry," Rowan said quietly, trying to scurry away. "Why-"
"Shut up," Cilan snapped. "You murderer. Look what you have done."
Before his eyes, half the group vanished into thin air. His family, Clotilda, Cyrena, Kylie, Tacet, even the unknown girl beside Gwen. Others disappeared before his eyes too. Timpani, Ari, Rose, and the twins were gone. Lily stayed, but she wore an expression of hurt betrayal.
"I... I did this?" he whispered. As he watched in horror, he saw everyone else slowly become transparent. They were disappearing too. He didn't know why, but he was helpless to stop them.
"You aren't helpless to stop this," Lily told him in her familiar, reassuring voice. She seemed to see directly into his mind. It was a faint spot of light for him, but it was quickly extinguished as she continued.
"All you need to do is cease to exist."
Rowan watched in silent horror as they closed in, weapons at the ready. The people who used to be his friends surrounded him, each raising a sharp blade in the air.
He closed his eyes just before the blades stuck at once.
Light stirred him from the nightmare. The stars shone clearly above, without a single cloud in the sky. He sat on a peaceful riverbank, holding someone's hand. Rowan didn't need to look to know who it was. He sighed in relief, leaning against his companion's shoulder.
"Isn't it beautiful?" she said.
"Yes," Rowan breathed. "Although not as beautiful as you."
She laughed sarcastically. With worry building in his chest, Rowan turned to look at her. His heart seemed to stop with pure horror as ice ran through his veins. Only her hand was intact. The rest of her was a gruesome mess, and no longer looked human. She let out another laugh.
"I wish I was beautiful enough," she said, "that you didn't have to do this to me."
"No," Rowan whispered, closing his eyes tight. "I would never."
"How long will you feed these lies to yourself?" came her voice, echoing in the dark before finally fading away.
Light stirred him from the nightmare. No, it was something much brighter than light. Queen Solara was looking directly into his eyes, yet he felt no pain, not even the slightest burn.
"That is because you have my blessing," she murmured, placing a warm hand on his cheek. A sense of calmness and relief spread through him, and he closed his eyes, letting everything fade. He was grateful this time wasn't a horrible dream like the others. Rowan was dimly aware of his heartbeat gradually slowing, but he was too comfortable to care.
Just before his heart would have stopped, it accelerated and his eyes shot open. He was kneeling on a stage, and he quickly recognized exactly where he was. This was the platform on which Solara executed her victims.
"Auntie Solara?"
Heavy footsteps approached him from behind. Solara walked around so she was facing Rowan, and then knelt beside him. Rowan was always adept at sensing emotions from others, yet he rarely sensed the faintest traces from Queen Solara. Right now, he could feel a heavy disappointment.
She placed a hand on his cheek, and again, her power embraced him with comforting warmth. "Rowan."
"Are you going to kill me?" he asked with awe and not fear. It was impossible to be afraid with how blissfully calm he felt right now. He looked up into her eyes, which shone like the sun, yet did not burn him. He felt like a flower reaching for sunlight. Rowan did not want to look away.
"I might have," Solara murmured.
A long pause.
"If you had not committed a crime so great."
Solara removed her hand from his face and stood up, cutting him off from the much-needed warmth. She turned her back and started to walk away. Rowan stared at her in horror. What was going to happen to him?
As if on cue, arms grabbed him from behind and pulled him backstage. Rowan was too weak to fight back. He was thrown roughly to the floor, where he could get a good view of his attackers' boots. He looked up into the sneering faces of Alastair and his most renowned underlings. His apprentice boy. A dark-haired assassin girl who looked oddly familiar. And above hovered the demon that had blinded Rowan in the real world.
"You..." Alastair chuckled. "You thought you would get off easy... Solara is too soft on you..."
"What did I-" Rowan started, but he was swiftly kicked in the stomach by Alastair's apprentice. He slumped to the ground as the pain blinded him, yet this darkness didn't take him away from the horrific dream.
"You know full well what you have done..." Alastair growled as Rowan regained his sight. "Even Solara and I have united against our greatest enemy... one with the power to destroy all of Hesenia..."
"No," Rowan gasped in an almost soundless voice.
"Nobody should have power that strong..." Alastair continued. "This... this is for the good of everyone..."
He plunged his sword into Rowan's stomach, exactly where the apprentice had just kicked him. Three attacked him then, savagely and mercilessly, as the fourth watched with an unreadable expression. Through a haze of pain, Rowan could hear the laughter of the audience offstage. It sounded just like the village of Windwoods.
Light stirred him from the nightmare.
"I'm sorry!" Rowan sobbed, automatically curling up into a fetal position. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"What are you sorry for?" whispered Tacet's reassuring voice.
"I'm sorry..." Rowan cried softly. "I'm... I'm..."
"There, there." As gently as only a father would do, Tacet gathered the broken boy into his arms. Rowan wanted to relax, but he couldn't. In every nightmare, he was first confronted with something good, before it shattered into horror before his eyes. He let out a pitiful whimper and looked away from Tacet.
Something was wrong here.
"I don't know what has happened to you," Tacet told him, "but that is over now."
"I'm so, so sorry," Rowan whispered. He had lost his voice, and he was completely weak and helpless, a baby bird in the jaws of a tiger. He was completely at the mercy of his own nightmares.
"I promise it's over." Tacet said soothingly as he rubbed Rowan's back. "You can relax now. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore. It's over, and you can rest here."
Against his previous experience, Rowan couldn't help trusting the older healer. "Tacet?" he whispered hoarsely.
"Yes, my boy?"
"I'm sorry I didn't save you. Please don't hurt me," Rowan met Tacet's vibrant green eyes, which almost glowed with life. Here it was warm, and the morning sun was rising outside. Tacet would never have to worry about the darkness.
"Don't be sorry about that. I won't hurt you, not even after all you've done... the things you should be sorry about."
Outside, the light extinguished completely. The sun hadn't been rising. It had been setting, and now it was gone. Rowan felt a sudden chill settle over the room as he looked up at Tacet with horror.
"How can you apologize for simply failing to save my life," Tacet said with tears in his eyes, "if you have taken someone else's life away? You are a healer, yet you have used your power to commit the most unforgivable crime."
"I'm... I'm sorry..."
"As sorry as you are, I am too," Tacet told him. "I am sorry that what you have done can never be forgiven."
"You have outlived your usefulness here," snapped Cadence, who entered the room from the hallway.
"Let's face it. You are not the only healer here," Tacet sighed. "We have three, all of whom could never kill their patients. Two are better. We have no use for you anymore."
Three healers. One of them was Tacet. The other two had greater power than Rowan, yet none of them ran the risk of harming someone. It was only now that he realized just how pathetic he had become. Once upon a time, he was a valued member of his tight friend group. He was their healer, the one who helped them through thick and thin. He was the one to comfort everyone in their time of need. How the great fall from glory.
"Before we dispose of you, I want to see if your friends actually give a care," Cadence sneered. She turned and shouted into the darkness. "Anyone want to say their goodbyes to Rowan Adamson?"
Her words were met by silence.
"It looks like your friends have moved on," Tacet cooed to him. "I'm sure it must be embarrassing for you, but don't worry. Soon you will be forgotten completely. They won't even remember your name."
Now, Rowan finally realized what was wrong. He couldn't sense the emotions coming from anyone around him. It was like they were completely lifeless and dead. Like the green-eyed woman's piercing gaze, scorched forever into the back of his mind. He would never forget that moment.
But even as he thought this, he felt the memory becoming blurry before fading into a dull fog. He tried to recall it, but his mind had gone blank. Images flashed before his eyes before disappearing completely from his consciousness. Playing with his friends outside the orphanage. Growing up beside his cousin Cilan. The journey with his closest friends that had taken him here... here... where was here?
He could feel nothing but overwhelming confusion and lingering regret as darkness consumed him for the final time.
Light stirred him from the nightmare. This time, his vision was a glowing array of golden lights, and no darkness could stifle it again. Was this another illusion conjured by the green-eyed woman, or had he truly returned to the waking world? Rowan didn't have the strength to trust his own judgement. He felt energy surging through him, and without turning his head, he could 'see' where it had come from.
Everyone shone with a different light in Rowan's bright vision. Cilan glowed intensely with a brilliant flame, sprung from the sun itself. Right now he shone brighter than usual, and Rowan could feel the anger spiking off his phoenix cousin. Cilan was holding a girl, and Rowan could tell she was unconscious by the way her glow faded in and out slowly. It was a softer light, gently flickering tendrils of verdant and violet, compared to Cilan's intensely pure radiance. Rowan shifted his focus from the girl to himself. He had the same light flowing through his veins, adding to his own glow and making him shine brighter. The girl seemed to be dimmer than she should.
"Will she be okay?" Rowan whispered.
Cilan nodded, though the anger wasn't fading. The boy's light sent off sparks as a fiery glow flared randomly around his outline. Although Cilan was furious because of what happened with his eyes, Rowan was focusing on the bright side. He could see no darkness after all. He was extremely grateful for the girl's help, he was grateful that Cilan had brought him inside safely, he was even grateful to the demon that hadn't truly blinded him, but had rather opened his eyes to reality. This was the world as he should have always seen it. Bright and full of life.
He had left the nightmare for good this time.
"It's Guinevere," Cilan explained to him in a controlled voice. "Mayor Cadence's daughter. I'm really trying to keep my anger under control so I don't burn her, but it's not fading. Can you help me?"
Rowan nodded, although he was instantly fearful. One wrong move near Gwen, and the angry mother bear would completely obliterate him from existence. He didn't want to be scared of the girl who saved him, though, but he couldn't help but feel very cautious. It didn't lessen his gratitude in the least, though.
He felt for the edge of the couch, which glowed as he ran his hand over it, and then he swung his legs over the side. He stood up easily and walked towards Cilan. He had completely regained the use of his legs, thanks to Gwen. With each step he took, light radiated outwards from the floor beneath his feet. He could see the ground this way.
As he moved closer to Cilan, he immediately noticed the boy's aura of anger was dissipating. It was even more evident up close. Rowan looked into his cousin's face, and he could make out Cilan's features, all outlined with a brilliant glow of sunshine gold. It was interwoven with a darker light, the bloodred of anger.
Rowan reached out and gently placed a hand on Cilan's shoulder, where there was a layer of cloth. He realized it was the sleeve of a t-shirt. It was a few seconds before his power passed through the fabric and took effect, and then he watched with complete awe as the red light left Cilan. It seemed to evaporate, floating up in the air before disappearing.
"Are you okay?" Cilan asked, completely calm now. "Rowan..."
"Yes," Rowan breathed. "I wish you could see the lights. You... you glow so brightly... you're like the sun."
Rowan could see so well, he could even make out the furrowing of Cilan's brows as he stared in confusion. "Are you saying you can see me?"
He nodded. "Guinevere healed my eyes, didn't she?" Rowan whispered, touching his face. He smiled when he realized there wasn't even a scar. "I will thank her when she wakes up."
"Rowan..."
"You are so bright. It's wonderful." Rowan whispered, not moving his other hand from Cilan's shoulder. Although, after a while, he saw flickers of golden light beginning to dissolve in the air. Rowan immediately took his hand away then.
"Rowan..."
"You're... you're all made from light." Rowan felt himself tearing up. "It's so beautiful."
"Rowan... I think Gwen needs a hug."
Rowan didn't need to be told twice. He gently took the unconscious girl into his arms, cradling her as he would a child. The different colors of light making her up didn't clash, but rather they glowed side-by-side in harmony. It was beautiful and Rowan really wanted to sit down and have a good cry. He went back to the couch, since he could generally remember its location, and sat down with Gwen in his arms. He let the warm light of his healing ability flow through her steadily, though he kept a careful eye on her. He would let go at the first sign that her light was starting to evaporate. Rowan didn't want her disintegrating. He would not be the evil person his dreams insisted he was.
The nightmare was over. The darkness was gone, and he could focus on nothing but the light surrounding him. Rowan used to be scared of the dark, but never again.
Now he would always have light.
