ximilialog | dreamwalk two

CHARACTERS: Blue, any sleepin folks out there
LOCATION: Someone's subconscious
DATE: Late Oct/Early Nov, pre-mission things
CONTENT: Psychics gon' psychic, dreams gon' dream...it's free dream/memshare real estate
WARNINGS: none in the tl; tagged as needed

It happens one of two ways:

outside

When he sleeps, Blue's subconscious stretches itself outward, instinctively drawn to things familiar to itself: Feelings, imagery, names...bonds already made or half-formed. It's in a Mu's nature to connect in this way, to be linked in thought and emotion, and this happens even in sleeping. The universe he hails from lacks much of the color and diversity and freedoms of others', but there are common lived experiences to be tethered to, for better or worse.

Peril and pain, longing and loss, hope and harmony...while Blue reprocesses his own volume of them, he unconsciously seeks out meaning in those notions which might flicker throughout the station in minds other than his own.

That means a routine recollection or predictable dream comes with something new this time.

inside

The door swings both ways, for when Blue is asleep, he can't consciously keep it locked, can he? So those who have even a passing capability to perceive matters of the mind or heart, be it magic or something more, could find themselves drifting out of their own dreamspace and into his own, where pastel marble floors mold effortlessly with sheer metal surfaces dappled with clouds that shouldn't hold any weight, let alone a person's.

It's where the sky is no sky, but a gaping field of stars not unlike the view outside a station window...save for the massive, red planet crowning the horizon. Beyond it, a pale blue dot no bigger than what Earth's moon would be glimmers in the dark. A lyre's strings are plucked from some unseen place, filling the place as one would fill a vast, empty room, and Soldier Blue stands at the edge of the horizon in his old, familiar vestments and headgear, absorbed in...something...until the shuddering of the dream's veil prompts him to acknowledge the presence passing through.

Red eyes turn to fix on the interloper, unsure of what they are perceiving yet.

This is still simply a dream, after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The words Sabriel says make so much sense for that woman to say, that even when he takes her hand, Blue's awareness doesn't yet shift. So to him, she's that reflection.

"I'm still Soldier," he assures. "Even now. Even though it won't be much longer now. Jomy will see you all through the rest of the way, and you won't have to fear your futures any more."

His hand squeezes hers gently, as though to impress that assurance.

"So even when I'm gone...you will be alright. You believe that, don't you?"

"Yes," Sabriel says, nodding. All things pass, all people die. This is part of the world's nature, and Sabriel has no desire to alter it. Not when she's seen how high the price is. "For everyone and everything, there is a time to die."

"But please... for now, hang on a little longer. There are people here who care about you. Finn and Yzak- and all the rest of the crew, including me." Hopefully, this will gently nudge him out of the dream.

The names are what do it - what make his smile and confidence falter. Blue begins to frown, brow furrowing, leaning back on one foot and just about to withdraw completely. Those names don't come through in Physis' voice, and they ripple the sight of her, hinting at the truth that stands before him.

"Those names..." She doesn't know them. But...he does? "Where are they from?"

"The Ximilia, Sabriel tells, him, giving his hands a reassuring squeeze.

"Remember? This place is beautiful, but it's a dream. I think it's yours, but I'm not sure how I ended up in it." It's not something that's happened before- Sabriel might have been able to step out of her body, but only into Death- not into dreams.

Despite the reassurance she means to bring, Ximilia causes a shuddering to the scenery around them. Blue withdraws, as though her touch were suddenly too sharp or hot to stand any more.

Sabriel is herself, and the reflection is gone. And, after a few more seconds of processing, much of the varied scene is, too - replaced with the confines of the station.

"Just a dream," Blue murmurs, his gaze drifting down. "Of course..."

After a beat, his brow furrows, and he looks at Sabriel more critically.

"I have strayed into your dreams...but I did not know you could do likewise."

"I didn't either." There were Charter spells related to dreams- spells to suppress them, or to stop nightmares, or inflict them, although Sabriel knew most of them only in theory.

"I was dreaming about the Charter, before." Those were some of Sabriel's more pleasant dreams, for all that they could be incomprehensible. It was soothing, to float among all the marks, and to feel connected to everything.

"Your magic."

Or...basis for magic? Blue's still not entirely clear on the concept, even with it being such a key element to Sabriel's identity. But if it were so simple a thing, it'd be likely there'd be more of her sort around, he figures.

"You've never done this before, then?"

"The source of part of it, yes," And far more pleasant to dream of than Free magic, of the struggle of will against will, of the caustic, burning reek of hot metal and the absolute cold of Death.

"And... no. Connecting to people this way... hasn't happened to me before."

How strange. Blue gives her a more critical up-and-down look, as though doing so would yield some clues.

"I never pulled anyone to my dreams before who...wasn't Mu..." But then, when had he had much of an opportunity to try? This could be something he could've done before, had he the chance to be around others unlike him, perhaps.

And for her to appear in shades of Physis...

"Something about you...must've resonated with my memories of her. At just the right time for you to draw near." No matter who opened the door, it opened, and she passed through.

"That's possible," Sabriel says, thinking of the woman she'd seen reflected in Blue's dreams- long and fair hair while Sabriel's was short and dark, and not at all attired like a warrior.

"I saw... Someone reflected in your dreams. A woman with long blonde hair, who kept her eyes closed. Did she heal you as well? Or have... some manner of connection to Death and the Dead?"

Although something about the woman seemed more akin to the Clayr than the Abhorsens.

"Physis..."

Blue's expression grows somber, the awareness of the dream making it clearer that she hadn't been here at all. Just a memory in flux.

At mention of Death and the Dead, a small table appears near them, and on it, a series of tarot cards. Death is face up, plain to see, and it stands out from the rest of the cards in some peculiar way.

"I wished to make sure...she would be free of those shadows. To live feeling safe, without fear of a terrible, lonely demise..."

Sabriel looks, and while she vaguely recalls Ancelstierrian beliefs about fortune-telling with cards, her father had always laughed at them.

But Blue's words send a pang through her chest. An Abhorsen is never safe, and Sabriel knows she's unlikely to die of old age. But telling Blue that would just be cruel.

So instead, she asks about Physis, and the card, "Was she... a foreteller of some sort? I've heard of fortunetelling through cards, but it's not really a practice in the Old Kingdom."

"In a way."

Blue approaches the table, but his arms stay at his sides. He instead simply looks over the setup, wondering if it's arranged at all in a meaningful way beyond that singular card - the source of his regret.

"It was the way she could channel her power." His power. "It focused her visions and helped us all discern the path forward."

He at last moves to pick up that card.

"These cards...bound her fate to us. To me."

As he says those words, the card ignites in a soft, blue fire and quickly turns to ash, leaving him empty-handed. A rueful smile plays on his lips as he lifts his head and looks to Sabriel.

"And it seems to have bound me to you and that station in the end."

"Like the Clayr and the ice- she was using them to see possible futures?" Like how the Clayr had guided her back to Ancelstierre, and the final confrontation with Kerrigor.

Sabriel watches the card burn, and how the ash disperses, like it might have never been there in the first place.

"We're all bound- bound to our regrets, and the bargain we've made to undo them. And in that, bound to each other and the orbs."

And Sabriel's not even sure what that means, beyond that they're all likely to share the same fate.

Her wondering on Clayr gets no answer, because Blue has none to give her; her assumptions may or may not be true, but it doesn't seem to matter much in this space. To Blue, Physis is incomparable to anyone, no matter the similarities.

And that aside, Sabriel's remark about the bindings and bargains is more pertinent to them both. Blue nods upon hearing it, his expression shifting to something more neutral.

"Yes. But I have no sight into what futures that may hold for us, so you may leave this space somewhat empty-handed, I'm afraid."

dreamwalk two | ota

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