Esh’s Dream Journal: Entry 4

Bringing this back, because why not. But this time, I’m writing it all out in a full fic. Warning, this is a long post (it was 22 pages long in Word)

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The following is a recalling of a dream I had. This is by no means meant
to be accurate. Characters are guaranteed to act OOC and events are sure to be
jumbled and will make no sense. After all, this is a dream and not a well
thought out fic. But anyway, enjoy!

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           When I fell
into the deep void of sleep, I had a very strong feeling that things were about
to so into weird dream town. As the world of reality faded and I felt myself
diving into the deep abyss that is the mind, I started hearing something. It
sounded like rain drumming against the roof of a car. There was no engine
running, but I felt like I was sitting in a car seat.

           When I
finally opened my eyes, I was indeed in a car. It looked like the inside of a
Jeep Cherokee. No memories of my life in reality were present. All I knew was
my name and my powers from my imagination world.

           I was
wrapped in a soft blanket (that I later remember to be a larger version of my
childhood kiddy blanket), seated in the passenger side of the car. I didn’t
know where I was. I didn’t know how I got here. After a few moments of
contemplation, I sat up and began examining my surroundings in more detail.

           There was no
one else in the car. The keys were in the ignition but were not turned. There
were no decorations other than the plush toy bunny hanging from the rear-view
mirror. After freeing myself from the softness that was my blanket, I grabbed
the car keys and exited the vehicle, determined to find out where I was and
what to do. When I got out, there was no rain. Had I imagined the rain? Was it
a part of a radio broadcast? I don’t know.

           I found
myself on the outskirts of a city. To the back of the car was a large, towering
cityscape. The buildings rose up into the sky, and the silver and glass made it
shine in the setting sun. The sky showed it to be nearing dusk. A clear day,
with the sun setting behind the buildings and giving the city an almost
ethereal glow.

           To the front
of my car, down the road I was parked on, was a flat plain with no end in
sight. The road went straight into the horizon, which showed no faraway
structures. I could only guess that it was a vast meadow with no real end. The
next settlement must be far away.

           As I twirled
the keys around, trying to decide on my next course of action, I hear a voice.

           “Hey! Over
here!”

           Startled, I
turned to see someone approaching. A tall young man with silver hair and bright
aqua eyes. I recognized him almost instantly as Riku from Kingdom Hearts. He
was wearing the attire he wore within the game Dream Drop Distance. He was
waving at me and jogging to approach.

           I waved
back, of course. I couldn’t just be the broody girl on the side of the road.
When Riku reached me, he spoke again.

           “Hey, are
you okay with giving me a lift?” he asked. “I need to get to the next big
city,”

           “Of course!”
I replied. “Though… I can’t guarantee I’ll know the way. I mean, I don’t even
know where I am right now,”

           “What do you
mean?” Riku asked.

           “I kinda
just… woke up here?” I looked up into the darkening sky, squinting my eyes as I
try to find the right words to describe my situation. “I don’t really remember
much of what I was doing before this, but I do know that I just woke up in this
car. I don’t know where I am or what to do,”

           Riku seemed
to take a moment to take in what I said. He looked like he wanted to ask a
question but couldn’t find the words. He also seemed concerned, as if my
situation was something he was familiar with.

           “I mean, if
it’s a straight shot down this road, I could probably take you there. I know
the basics of how the drive,” I continued, my memories of only having one
driving lesson in a run down parking lot evading my mind. “Maybe it’ll also
help me remember what happened to me,”

           “Maybe,”
Riku replied. “Do you know anything else?”

           “I know who
you are,” I said immediately. This caught him off guard, as he seemed to tense
up a little. “Like, I don’t know why
I know who you are,” I added quickly. “I know your name is Riku, and I know of
Sora and your journey with King Mickey and all that. I don’t know why I know, but I do,”

           Riku didn’t
respond. I can only guess it was from being on guard. I could see why, though.
I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to respond if someone was telling me the
same thing.

           “My name is
Esh, I know that,” I said. “I’m not sure I can really remember much else except
my powers, but I’m not too sure if I can use them or not. I don’t know my
situation,”

           “Perhaps…
You can test them out?” Riku said slowly, as if he was unsure whether or not to
say it. “We’re in a rather big field right now, after all,”

           “That is
true,” I nodded, looking down at my hand and flexing my fingers into a fist a
couple times. For a moment, there was a bout of silence. Riku seemed to be
sizing me up, wondering if I was a threat or not. Given the information
presented, I’m not surprised he was on his guard. I decided to take the bull by
the horns.

           “I… I think
I can understand that hearing me say I know about you and stuff would come off
as… untrustworthy. I’m pretty sure I raised a lot of red flags,” I told him.
His eyes widened, as if he wasn’t expecting me to address this. “I don’t know
how to prove it to you, but I can assure you that I’m telling the truth. I
really have no idea how I got here or where I am. And frankly, I just want to
find out what happened. And if helping you is what I need to do, then I’ll do
it,”

           After my
speech, I stood up straight and sighed. I really didn’t like making speeches
like this. I was always afraid of messing up my words. I’m glad I was able to
get it out without any hassle.

           “I see,” I
heard Riku mumble. My head shot up to face him. He was deep in thought, his
arms crossed and fingers on his chin. “If you really have lost your memories
like it seems, then perhaps I can help. Where I’m going should be a place that
can help you,”

           “Really?” I
asked. I found myself smiling with relief. I really didn’t like being kept in
the dark about this stuff. “Thank you, Riku. I mean it,”

           “It’s the least
I can do, since you’re offering to take me on a road trip,” Riku replied.
“It’ll be a long drive. Are you up for it?”

           “I’ve sat in
a car for an entire day, for three days before. I can handle this,” I
responded, giving my chest a light punch. “Ah, but… I do still need to test if
I can use my powers. I don’t want to be a burden in battle, you know?”

           “What powers
do you have?” Riku asked as we began making our way away from the car and
towards the open grassland.

           “I have an
elemental control over something called Atomic Fire,” I explained. “It’s a
really bright blue fire that sparks a lot and explodes on contact with…
anything really,”

           For a
moment, I almost began explaining to him my powers over Darkness as the
Incarnation of Darkness. But knowing his experience with the dark, I kept my
mouth shut on that. I probably wouldn’t need those powers anyway.

           “Really?”
Riku tilted his head a little. “Sounds pretty useful for area damage,”

           “When you
have a lot of control over the energy of it, you can do a lot of things,” I
explained. “I can use the heat and energy from the fire to create a strong
laser beam, I can set things on fire without it exploding, I can use it’s power
to give myself a speed and power boost… It took a lot of training and a special
artifact to help me learn all I could about it,”

           “Well, let’s
see if you can do it,” Riku gestured to the open pasture. There were not
animals from what I could see. I stepped forward and breathed in. I really
hoped I could use my element. I didn’t want to look like a fool in front of my
favorite Kingdom Hearts character by dancing like a drunken pelican.

           I closed my
eyes and searched for the unstable heat I had grown to know, deep within my
Being. I opened my eyes and swung a hand back, fingers clenched like I was
holding a baseball and arm ready to fling forward as if I was throwing one. I
swung my arm forward, and out came a wave of sparking, scorching hot blue. The
Atomic Fire raced out of my hand and into the air, quickly igniting the oxygen
and exploding out like a missile.

           The blast
startled me, and I found myself jumping back as the explosion flattened the
grass and scorched the ground in front of me. The flames soon turned into black
smoke, rising up from the aftermath. I turned to Riku, who looked just as
startled, if not more, as I was.

           “Well… I
guess it works!” I said as the resonating boom faded like rolling thunder.

           “That is
some power,” Riku told me. “I’m sure nothing would stand a chance against
that,”

           “Well, it’s
only if I can do anything to them,” I replied, shaking my hand out. “You fight
Dream Eaters, Heartless, and Nobodies. Heartless and Nobodies? Yeah, I think
I’d be able to do that. But Dream Eaters? I don’t know,”

           “They are a
tricky bunch,” Riku agreed. “But you never know until you try. If we run into
any Nightmares, I’ll take care of them,”

           “If my fire
doesn’t work on them, that is!” I told him with a wagging finger. “But your
Keyblade is one nifty weapon. I’m sure we’ll be safe,”

           “I agree,”
Riku said. “Now, shall we go? It’s better to go before the sun completely
sets,”

           “Agreed,” I
followed Riku back to the car. This time, he took the passenger seat and I took
to the drivers seat. I started up the car, we buckled up like good people, and
began driving down the road.

           “It is basically
just a straight shot,” Riku explained. “This road directly connects the two
cities,”

           “If I may
ask, what’s in the next city?” I asked him. “You know, the reason why you’re
going there?”

           “Well- Ah,
you said already know about what happened… The keyhole for this world is in the
next city. I need to get there to unlock it,” Riku explained.

           “So, this is
a slumbering world, I guess?” I pondered. Riku nodded, responding with a mhm! before continuing.

           “Master Yen
Sid told me and Sora that we needed to enter the Sleeping Realm,” Riku
explained. “It took a couple of tries for Sora to get into it. I think this is
my second attempt. I found Nightmares in the city behind us, so I can only
guess that I made it,”

           “For your
Mark of Mastery Exam, right?” I asked.

           “Yeah,” Riku
said.

           “It must be
so cool to be a Keyblade wielder,” I said, leaning back onto my seat. “I mean,
I get all the training and discipline and experience, but I’d choose that over
my life before I woke up here. It’s pretty boring,”

           “You can control
an explosive fire, how is your life boring?” the silver haired boy asked me.

           “Well, I do
remember that I was kinda stuck in a way,” I began explaining. Memories of my
fantasy situations in reality came forth, but I believed them to be reality.
“I’m not sure how, but I was stuck in full human form, all my powers locked
away. My current theory is that I was blasted back in time and forced to live a
human life. Frankly, it’s getting a little tiresome,”

           A paused for
a moment. “I guess this is a little breath of fresh air. I can use my powers
again, but it looks like I’m still in human form,”

           “What form
are you usually?” Riku asked.

           “Well, it’s
a little complicated,” I said, watching the passing scenery as we went down the
road. “I’m about… less than 25 percent human? The rest is alien, alien deity,
and Primordial. It’s all really confusing. I don’t even understand it totally
yet,”

           “That does
sound confusing,” Riku told me, though I could tell he didn’t fully believe me.
To which I could understand.

           “It’s all
really jumbled,” I sighed. “It would take an entire book series to explain it
all,”

           “Well, we
have time. Explain away,” Riku assured me.

           I took a
good three hours explaining my origin story from my fantasy worlds. The sky
turned black with the night and the stars shone like there was no light
pollution. Riku was an amazing listener and asked plenty of questions. I also
caved in and explained to him my powers over darkness. At the end, he nodded in
understanding.

           “What is
your… opinion on Darkness?” he asked me. “I know you have powers over it and
were born into it… but what do you think about it?”

           “It’s a part
of our existence,” I answered with full confidence. “Dark. Light. It makes up
everything that we know. Darkness isn’t evil. And Light isn’t good. It’s what a
person does with it that matters,”

           “I… I didn’t
think about that,” Riku said after a moment of silence.

           “Balance is…
What I strive for,” I added. “I know a perfect balance is impossible, but I do
try to keep it as centered as possible in my life. Because tipping the balance
is never a good idea,”

           “I do agree
with that,” Riku said, staring off into the dark sky.

           “It’s pretty
late. Why not get some sleep?” I offered to the Keyblade wielder. “I just woke
up, technically,”

           “That sounds
good,” Riku said. He shifted into a more comfortable position and began to doze
off. I leaned into my seat and let my mind wonder while still focusing on the
road. It was a lot to take in at the time. I woke up in a weird car, in a
strange place, with my powers back. It was so ethereal it didn’t feel like it
should’ve been real. It was kind of ironic.

           I didn’t
know how long it would take to actually make it to the next city. I hoped it
wasn’t too long, as I was getting hungry. After a good long while of driving, I
saw something up ahead. It was a rest stop. The brightening sky showed that the
sun was on its way to rising. Slowing down, I turned into the rest stop and
parked. I then turned to Riku.

           “Hey, Riku,”
I called, shaking his shoulder. He started, looking up and around as if
disoriented.

           “We
stopped?” he asked, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

           “At a rest
stop,” I confirmed. “We don’t know how long it’ll be until we reach the next
city. Might as well stock up on some food while we’re here,”

           “Good idea,”
Riku said. We exited the car in unison and entered the rather fancy looking
rest stop building. The inside was dressed with marble and carved stone, with
silver chandeliers hanging from the pointed ceiling. I found myself gazing
around at the décor, wondering if I should take a picture for future reference
for my drawings. As I looked around, I heard one of the vending machines vend
something. Switching my gaze from the room to the machine, I saw Riku grabbing
a couple of drinks.

           “Here,” he
held one out to me. I couldn’t discern the label. It was a brand I had never
seen before, but I took it nonetheless.

           “Thanks!” I
replied. Opening it, I took a swig. It tasted like a citrus soda, with a hint
of Mountain Dew. It was really good.

           “Ah, that’s
good. Lemme get us some breakfast,” I said, pointing to the other vending
machine that was filled with snacks. “Any preferences?”

           “Just no
sour stuff,” Riku told me. I took out my wallet, but Riku stopped me from
taking any money out. “Watch this,” he said.

           Summoning
his Keyblade, Riku punched in the number of what he wanted and then proceeded
to hit the side of the machine with his weapon. The vending machine then
proceeded to vend out the wanted product.

           “Whoa,” I
said. “I didn’t know that Keyblades could do that,”

           “I didn’t
either until now,” Riku responded. We proceeded to get one of each item and
three of each of our favorite snacks.

           “If I can
down this,” I was holding a large chunk of black licorice. “In one bite, then
you have to drive,”

           “That stuff
is horrible,” Riku looked disgusted at the mere thought of eating it. “I highly
doubt you’ll win that bet,”

           “You wanna
wager?” I said before stuffing the black candy into my mouth. It tasted like
burning rubber and NyQuil, and I nearly gagged it back up. But I kept a
straight face (Lord Chaos knows how I did that), and then swallowed it. Riku
looked stunned.

           “Did… Okay,
I guess I’m driving,” Riku said. I silently tossed him the keys and took a deep
breath. He caught the keys, and then stepped forward to look at my face. “Are
you okay?” he asked.

           “That shit
was horrendous,” I said in an overly
dramatic voice and as blank of a face as I could keep. The result was worth it.
I grinned as Riku chuckled, clearly amused by my antics. Mission accomplished:
make Riku laugh.

           “Hey, let’s
see if there a map somewhere,” I said, slinging the bag of snacks over my
shoulder. “That way we can get a better grasp of how far away our final stop
is,”

           “Sounds
good,” Riku agreed.

           We looked
around the building and found no map. There was no other floor other than the
ground floor, and I wasn’t one for acrobatics. Riku made sure to check above in
the rafters for some reason. The walls were bare of any map or indication of a
map’s whereabouts. I thought maybe there was a map somewhere outside?

           “Hey, I’mma
go check if there are any maps outside!” I called up to Riku.

           “Wait! What
if Nightmares-” Riku called back, but I had already turned and exited out the
door.

           The air
outside was crisp and clear like it was in the winter, yet it wasn’t cold. It
was quite warm, but a comfortable warm. Like the kind of warm you would feel
when you’re wrapped up in a blanket.

           I looked
around the front of the building. Through the window, I saw Riku jump down from
the rafters and onto the floor. He raced out of the building and to me.

           “Hey, don’t
just go wondering off like that,” he said.

           “Sorry, I
thought it was a good idea,” I said, not feeling much remorse or guilt. “You
know, splitting up to cover more ground?”

           “Nightmares
could appear anywhere,” Riku argued. “We need to stick together in case they
ambush us,”

           I placed my
hand up in surrender as Riku wagged an accusing finger at me, as if he was
scolding a child for breaking the movie the parent’s had planned to watch that
same night.

           “Okay,
okay!” I said. “Lead the way then,”

           Riku gave me
a curt nod of approval, then began leading me around the building. We checked
the right side first, which consisted of a few cobblestone columns and flat
marble walls. Using the parkour skills I had apparently developed, I climbed
the cobblestone and checked the roof. Riku followed close behind.

           As I
examined the shingles, I noticed a tall chimney that reached four or five times
higher than the actual rest stop building. I thought to myself Hey, maybe I can try and get a better
vantage point from up there!, and began to climb. The chimney was made of a
reflective metal that crunched easily in my hands, allowing me to create hand
and foot holds for myself as I climbed. The actual structure of the chimney
didn’t seem affected by the dents I was creating, as it stood tall and proud
and unmoving.

           Once I
reached the top, I balanced myself into a one foot crouching position, holding
on to the chimney with one hand as I shielded my eyes from the sun with my
other. The plains were vast and ongoing. There weren’t even any trees or
shrubs, it was just flat grassy land with no imperfections in the landscape.

           To the south
I spotted the tiny dot of the city me and Riku left behind. It was so small
that I almost didn’t notice it had I not checked the road. To the north, the
road continued on. For a moment, I did not notice anything else until I
squinted my eyes and saw the faint, foggy outline of buildings in the distance.
They resembled skyscrapers.

           “Hey, Riku!”
I called down.

           “Did you see
anything?” Riku called up.

           “Yeah, I see
a settlement up ahead!” I announced. I jumped down without a second thought,
landing hard but unscathed. I dusted myself off. “Did you find anything?”

           “Yeah, I
think I saw someone near the back of the building,” Riku responded. “Let’s go
talk to them,”

           “Roger
that!” I saluted, following Riku again as we hopped down from the roof and into
the back of the rest stop.

           The back
area was shaded my a large stone canopy, with benches sitting comfortably in
the shade and two pill shaped garden beds under both corners of the awning. On
one of the benches sat a middle aged man with a greying beard, a pipe hanging
from his lips, a fishing hat on his head and fishing attire adorning his body.
I wanted to question why a fisherman was out here in the middle of a pondless
plain, but I knew I needed to focus on the task at hand.

           The man was
holding and reading through a newspaper. He didn’t look up as me and Riku
approached him.

           “Excuse me?”
Riku started. The man did not move other than turning the page of his article
of literature.

           “Uhm, hello?
I need some directions,” Riku tried again, with no response once more. Riku
looked to me, as if hoping I would step up. And step up I did, walking up to
the mand and flicking his newspaper to get his attention. The man started
violently, looking up at me with wide eyes.

           “Oh, I’m
sorry!” he said. He had the voice of someone who had smoked a lot, as the voice
was hoarse and gravely and it grated on my ears. “I get so distracted…”

           “It’s fine,”
I say, taking a step back. “Sorry to startle you, but me and my friend here
need some directions to…?”

           I turned to
Riku, who nodded and aided me.

           “Satellite
City,” Riku responded. “We’re heading to Satellite City. You wouldn’t happen to
know how far it is, do you?”

           “Oh, that
big town?” the man rubbed at his beard, as if it itched and he wanted to rip it
off. “It’s a good three day drive if you’re coming from Crown City, to the
south,”

           “That’s
where we came from,” I say with a nod. “And what about the settlement just
north of here? I saw some buildings,”

           “Oh…” the
man seemed to shrink back and deflate, as if he was trying to hide away from the
topic and mere thought of my question. “Regional Center. It’s a messed up
place, kids. You best just drive pass it without lookin’ at it. It’s nothing
but trouble,”

           “What do you
mean?” Riku asked.

           “They used
to be the most advanced settlement between the two main cities,” the man
explained, his eyes darkening and his face growing solemn, as if he was
dragging out a horrid memory. “But they’re under a new management, and since
then the place has become akin to a cult haven,”

           “Is there
anything else we should know?” I asked, my curiosity about this place growing
by the second.

           “If you do
end up stopping there… Don’t speak to anyone. Their words will crawl into your
brain and never leave,” the man whispered.

           “Thank you,
sir,” Riku said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I took that as a sign it was
time to leave before things got weird. I gave the man a warm farewell, and we
made out way back to the car.

           “Three days,
huh?” I sighed, resting my head in my hands as I reached up to place them
behind my head. “Well, we already got passed one night, so we have two and a
half days to go,”

           “And we
don’t have time to spare,” Riku said, making his way to the driver’s side of
the car. “Get in, let’s go,”

           I got into
the passenger’s seat and watched as Riku started up the car and began driving
down the road. I eyed the silhouette of the town that was named Regional Center
as it got closer and closer. It looked like a cluster of skyscrapers in the
area of a small town that could barely fit 500 people.

           “I wonder
how bad it really is,” I pondered out loud. “From technological prodigy to cult
club haven? That’s a story waiting to be told,”

           “If they are
in trouble, then maybe we do have to make a stop,” Riku commented. “Even then,
we’re running low on gas. We need to stop to refill anyway,”

           “Oh, that
sounds fun,” I drawled out sarcastically, rolling my eyes. “Let’s hope we don’t
have to talk to anyone. I know how it feels to get words stuck in my head. It’s
not fun,”

           Regional
Center was, indeed, like a miniature city. The signpost that told that we were
entering the town was old, rusty, and told of a population of under 500 people.
As we drove around in search of a petrol station, I surveyed the land and the
people. The people seemed okay, though their outfits looked to belong in
America’s colony days. The buildings were mostly old and run down brick
buildings. The tall skyscrapers with modern perks and designs seemed further
down the road. The architecture was all over the place, giving the settlement a
wacky aesthetic.

           “I can’t see
one, you?” Riku asked, eyeing the people staring at us as we stopped at a stop
light.

           “Nope.
Perhaps we have to ask around?” I offered.

           “Good idea,”
Riku agreed. After the light turned green, Riku exited the intersection and
pulled to the side of the road. I rolled the window down and waved over a
couple of old ladies. They hobbled up to me with identical smiles.

           “Excuse me,
can you tell me where the nearest gas station is?” I asked them.

           “The only
fuel you need is His grace,” the ladies said in perfect unison. “He shall make
us human, like the Father promised us,”

           “He?” I
asked. “And what do you mean human?”

           “The one
called God,” said one of the old ladies. “We’re modern creations of men, with
metal skin and electricity for blood. He will turn us to flesh and bone,”

           “Ooookay…?”
I raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re all robots?”

           The ladies
nodded.

           “And you
believe that Christo will turn you in humans?”

           A synced
nod.

           “That’s
great. Can you please tell me where the nearest petrol station is?” I asked,
wanting to end the conversation.

           “We already
said-“ the ladies began, but Riku tapped my shoulder.

           “We can
probably find it in that modern looking place,” Riku said to me. “Let’s look
there,”

           “NO!” the
old ladies screamed, bringing attention to our car from the surrounding
automatons. “You mustn’t go where the sinners go!” the old women said, reaching
to me. I quickly raised my window, and they knocked on it.

           “Sorry, but
we’re trying to get to Satellite City. We need gas,” I told them as Riku began
to pull away.

           “Don’t let
them drag you down!” the ladies screamed. “They’ll doom you to the pit!”

           “Oh great, religious
robots,” I mumbled, leaning back into my seat.

           “It’s quite
weird, I’ll give it that,” Riku said with a nod. “I’ve seen some weird things,
but this takes the cake,”

           “If I’m
right…” I started. “If they call the modern place the place where sinners are, then that probably means
the people there don’t follow the religious teachings. Extremists tend to
outcast those who don’t agree with them,”

           “Do you
think we’ll get more info on what’s going on from them, too?” Riku suggested.

           “Probably.
Maybe we can even help them,” I offered with a mischievous grin. “You know,
overthrow the corrupt extremists and save the town and become small town
heroes?”

           “Your mind
is weird,” Riku said. At that moment, I had a small jolt in my body. My mind
was weird. My mind usually came up with weird things. Things as weird as this.
I began looking around at things in more detail. Though I didn’t know why there
was something buzzing in the back of my mind, I feel that this was the first
hint of the true nature of this adventure.

           As we
approached the towering silver buildings, the denizens were all waving at us
and yelling, trying to tell us to turn around before we entered the territory
we were heading towards. Some of the robots even tried to jump in front of our
car, but Riku deftly dodged them and kept driving forward.

           Once the
road went from gravel to asphalt, the people in the town behind us stopped
yelling. They stared at us with unblinking eyes filled with sorrow,
disappointment, and anger. Oh well for them, I thought.

           The modern
part of the town was mostly desolate. No lights were on, the streets were
empty, as plastic bags and paper flew around like modern day tumbleweeds. Riku
pulled over and parked. I immediately climbed on top of the car and looked
around, trying to see any movement.

           “Hello!” I
called out, cupping my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice.

           “Hey-“ Riku
looked ready to shush me, his brows furrowed. But I continued.

           “Is anyone
there?” I called out. “We need some gas for our car!”

           My voice
echoed off into the distance, bouncing off the buildings and fading away. There
was a long pause, and then I saw movement in the buildings. All of the
buildings. Metal heads began popping up, their eyes glowing blue and staring at
us. Human shaped machines, looking more cybernetic than the robots of the older
looking part of town, began emerging. They had silver and white plating for
skin and black, wire covered indo-skeletons.

           “Over here,”
came a heavily automated voice. Me and Riku turned to see a robot sporting a
platinum blonde wig and wearing a scarf like a sash.

           “Hello!” I
greeted as a slip down off the car and to Riku’s side.

           “Greetings,”
the adorned robot said. “I’m glad you got through our counterpart’s territory.
They can get drastic when it comes to stopping people from coming here,”

           “Well, I’m
Riku. This is Esh,” Riku introduced us.

           “You may
call me Andra,” the robot told us. “I am the… leader of these outcasts,”

           “If I may
ask, what made you all outcasts?” I asked.

           “Before
that, allow me to do you a favor,” Andra said. She turned to a group of five
robots. “You, go and scavenge the gas from the petrol station for them,”

           The group
wordlessly got up and began jogging away.

           “Thank you,”
Riku said, watching the robots run towards their quest.

           “It’s no
problem. Please, let us sit down,” Andra led me and Riku to the sidewalk, where
some more cybernetics had laid down some blankets and milk crates for seats. I
took to sitting up against the nearest building.

           “I’m sure
you’ve heard, but our village was once the center for all technology,” Andra
began as Riku sat down. “That is why a majority of the population is synthetic.
However, the scientists once guided this town perished to disease. And in their
place rose… the Father. He and his group quickly began spreading the words of
their beliefs around. Now, this wasn’t a problem. We synthetics didn’t mind
following the belief,”

           “So, what
happened that made everything go downhill?” Riku asked.

           “It wasn’t
long before the Father began preaching illogical things,” Andra said. “He told
us that if we followed his word, the almighty would turn us human. He and his
human followers had fed us all the wonders of being biological. We didn’t think
anything of it until he began making us follow a mundane, repeating schedule.
Wake up from recharging during the night, go to church, pray, and then sing to
the heavens in hopes God will send an envoy to grant us true life. We were
forbidden from diverging from this schedule,”

           “What
happens if you do?” I asked them, leaning forward like an excited child
listening to a campfire story.

           “We’re sent
here, to the last remnants of the old days,” Andra responded. “We oppose the
word of the almighty by opposing the Father’s word. Thus, we are banished here
to rust away,”

           “You all
don’t seem to be rusting,” Riku pointed out. Andra gave us a rather poor
attempt of what seemed to be a smile.

           “The Father
didn’t count of us being able to build charging stations and sustain
ourselves,” the adorned robot said.

           “Maybe we
can help?” I offered, earning a glance from Riku. I ignored him and continued.
“Is there any way to talk to the Father?”

           “The Father
is very set in his ways,” Andra said, shaking her head.

           “I can be
very persuasive,” I assured Andra. “Here,” I stood up, placing my hands on my
hips and standing proudly. “I’ll go talk to the Father. I’ll see if I can plant
the seeds of doubt into the circuits of your brainwashed brethren by hitting
them with logic,”

           “I hope you
can,” Andra said. Riku stood as well.

           “I guess
we’re doing this…” he said with a sigh. He shook her head and rubbed the area
between his eyes with his knuckles, then looked to me. “In that case, I’ll stay
here and work out a strategy for these robots. If Esh can talk to the Father
into letting you guys back into their society, or something similar, then you
will need some strategy of entering,”

           “I concur,”
Andra said, standing up and extending a hand to each of us. Me and Riku shook
her hand, which felt strangely warm for a hand made of metal.

           “Alright!
Any idea where I can find the Father?” I asked, pumping my fists like an
excited child.

           “You may
find him at the church near the road,” Andra pointed to the northwest. “Today,
the town should be gathering to sing chorus,”

           “Alright!
Good luck, Riku. I’m off!” I said, and I turned to run back into the run-down
part of the settlement. In order to save time, I leapt onto the building’s
roofs and began jumping from roof to roof. The streets and sidewalks were now
bare of any denizens, probably gathered at the church to sing.

           I closed the
distance to the road and followed it north until I saw a red brick, rectangular
building with a stone cross on each wall. I heard the echoes of singing
automated voices coming from that building, so I could only conclude that it
was the church.

           I hopped
down from the roof and snuck around the building to the front. I slowly peeked
around the corner and bore witness to the largest congregation of singing
robots I had ever seen. They were all wearing block robes (except for those who
resembled old women), and were throwing their voices up towards the sky. I
stepped out of hiding and tried to wave at them, but they didn’t seem to notice
me in the slightest. I weaved around the congregation, trying to spot anyone
who looked like the Father. As I realized that I should’ve asked what the
Father looked like, I spotted someone walking through the mass.

           I quickly
gave chase and found the man slowly walking down a pathway walled by the mass
of robots. The Father wore a long black rode with dark blue and faded yellow
trim. He resembled the fisherman from the rest stop, only his beard was
shorter, scruffier, and was dark brown in color instead of grey. He wore large
framed, black glasses and had his arms spread like he was expecting someone to
hug him.

           “Excuse me?”
I called. The Father didn’t seem to acknowledge me.

           “Hello?
Father? I need to talk to you!” I called, but to no avail.

           I raced up
to him with plans to grab his robe to get his attention, but the Father turned
at the last second and dodged me without losing a beat to the harmony of the
music. This continued for a long moment, with me calling to him and him dodging
my attempt to grab at his robes.

           It was as he
dodged me again and I stumbled to land on the ground that I had an idea. I got
up, dusted myself off, and made my way to the church building. I used some
loose bricks to help me climb to the flat, brick roof. Once I was situated and
was looking over the entire group, I took a deep breath.

           Reaching in
and tapping into the darkness I had come to know and represent, my form made a
very flashy and very noticeable change. In a flash of light that turned into
rays of black shadow, I found myself cloaked in a vantablack cloak. My hands
were adorned with black, clawed gloves, and I wore black boots with rattling
chains wrapped around them. Giant, black, feathered wings exploded out of my
back, spreading up and reaching up to block out the dawn sun.

           Needless to
say, the mass ceased singing.

           “Who are
you?” called the man who I thought was the Father.

           “What my
name is is none of your concern,” I announced. “I have a few questions for you
and your followers, Father. Let us
all speak inside,”

           I gestured
to the doors of the church, which swung open on my will and wordless command.
The robots were all looking amongst each other, whispering about angels and
finally being able to call down one of His messengers. I resisted the urge to
roll my eyes as everyone poured into the church.

           I entered
last, closing the door behind me. The entire church was just one big room.
Everyone was sitting on the floor, their only cushions being white colored
blankets. The entire room was lit with only candles. On the far side of the
room was a small, Christian themed alter made of marble and gold. The Father
and I were the only ones standing. He glared at me, clearly knowing that I was
not here as a messenger from big gun’s upstairs.

           “Are you an
angel?” asked one of the robots. Before I could answer, another one piped up.

           “Are you
here to grant us humanity?”

           “No,” I told
them. “I am here to grant you a reality check,”

           “What do you
mean?” asked a teenager looking robot. One of their eyes was missing, replaced
with a red marble.

           “I want you
all to tell me exactly what your Father here,” I pointed to the Father, my eyes
glowing red. “has taught you. What has he said about the word of the almighty?”

           The robots
all took turns telling me what Andra had told me, but in a more suppressed way
that told that these robots thought that they were in the right.

           “And sin is
bad,” one continued. “We cannot sin, not if we want to be healthy when we
become human,”

           “What do you
mean? If you want to be healthy?” I asked. I was slowly walking around the
robots like a lion stalking its prey.

           “Sin is a
mental illness,” one of the robots told me. “If we sin, we’ll get sick when we
turn human. We’ll get covered in boils and we’ll be marked, doomed to the pit
and never to regain true humanity,”

           “We sin when
we go against the word of His mouth,” someone else stated. “The Father is his
voice. We sin if we don’t listen and heed his words,”

           “If we
diverge from his words, we sin. We must stay on His path forever and always.”

           “To oppose
his word is to doom yourself to the pit,”

           “I’ll tell
you right now,” I started, cutting everyone off. “That this total bullshit,”

           The gasp
that resonated through the room was almost comedic in style. Had I not been
seething with anger towards the Father, I would have laughed.

           “Sin is not
a mental illness,” I announced before they could start protesting. “What you
have been taught is not sin. There is nothing wrong with practicing your free
will,” I shot a harsh glare towards the Father. “Something your Father here
seems to have taken away,”

           The Father
stayed silent.

           “Sin will
not make you into a deform monster,” I continued. “If we were to go on that,
then I would be deformed, covered in boils, and whatnot. Do you see me as
deformed?”

           “No,” the
robots said in unison.

           “I don’t
follow the teachings of Christianity,” I told them. “I follow my own path. I do
what I want to do. There’s nothing
wrong with following a belief. But when it starts taking away your basic
freedoms and teaches you to outcast those who dare to be themselves, then it’s
time to rethink what you’ve been taught,”

           There was
pause, and the synthetics were all mumbling amongst their own. I heard phrases
ranging from disbelief to words that proved that I was getting through to them.
I looked to the Father, who was red in the face and looked ready to tear apart
the nearest robot circuit from circuit.

           “According
to your belief, Christo gave life free will for a reason. To take away that
free will would technically be going against his word, would it not?” I
offered. Heads turned towards the Father, showing that everyone knew who I was
referring to. There was another long pause, and then…

           “So… we
don’t sin if we follow our own wishes?” someone called out.

           “As long as
you’re not hurting anyone, I don’t see anything wrong with following your own
path,”

           “What about
our humanity? Is it even possible?” someone else called.

           “I think you
shouldn’t worry about becoming human,” I told them. “Embrace who you are and
what you are, and work to be the best you can be. You don’t need to become
human to be alive,”

           The robots
began talking amongst themselves again, this time with increasing fervor. I
watched as some robots began standing up and stripping off their robes,
revealing their metal bodies and slipping off the masks they were wearing to
make themselves look human. They looked a little too real to me, those masks. I
had many a dark idea as to where they came from.

           “You all are
doomed,” the Father finally spoke, gaining the attention of everyone in the
room. He turned to the only door in the church, one that he was leaning on. I
did not notice it before, but I’m guessing that it led to another room.

           “You all are
listening to a creature of darkness, a black wing,” the Father growled,
swinging the door open. “It’ll drag you all down to the darkest parts of the
pit,”

           “But… You
did take away our free will,” said one robot. “I used to build street lights
before all this,”

           “I was once
a caretaker at our orphanage,” said another. “I miss it so,”

           “I’ve always
wanted to run track!”

           “I can take
up magic again…”

           “I can work
on my wing invention. Soon we’ll all be flying like angels!”

           “Doomed
idiots, all of you!” The Father barked. He turned and entered the dark room,
slamming the door behind him. I growled, marching up to the door and quickly
kicking it back open.

           “I’m not
done with you, Father!” I roared out.
As the door fell to the ground, I bore witness to the Father raise his hand up.
I spotted a translucent glass ball in that hand before he threw it to the
ground in an explosion of red dust and blinding white light.

           When I
opened my eyes, the church building was gone. The synthetics were all safe and
unharmed, but they were all fleeing the area coated in red dust. Suddenly, the
light from above was blocked out. I looked up and watched as clouds formed and
swirled like a hurricane. Thunder rolled and the clouds darkened into a thick,
dark grey mass. In the eyes of the storm, the clouds opened up a path to a
bright white light. I noticed something, someone,
was coming down from this light. Feeling the presence of someone powerful, I
leapt into the air to meet them halfway. I hovered below the cloud line and
watched as the figure approached me.

           The being
before me was all black, with stars in his skin and eyes shining like the sun
and moon. A black, dark blue, and purple robe fell from his shoulders, and six
enormous black wings were spread wide like my own. A bright halo of light shone
behind its head. I knew I was looking at an Archangel. As I stared, a name
etched itself into my head, as if I knew who this was, and I was realizing
their name. This was the Archangel Gabriel.

           This Gabriel
looked like nothing like the Gabriel from the show Supernatural. He radiated
power. I knew, as he pulled out a black blade, that I was in for a fight.

           Without a
word, Gabriel launched himself forward. At the last second, I was able to
summon my own weapon to block his attack and push him back. In my hands was a
dual scythe that was taller than myself, with dark blue and purple blades on
either end of the dark silver staff. I recall its name being the Dual Scythe of
Obsidian Fear.

           I held my
ground, determined not to make advances towards this being. I had never fought
an Archangel before, I knew I needed to stay on my guard. From below, I heard
the Father shout “A servant of the Lord shall vanquish you! Let it be your last
attempt to tempt any more souls!”

           As if his
words were a trigger, Gabriel charged again. He darted to my right, to which I
swung by scythe and quickly swung around to keep facing him. Our wings clashed
in a mass of black, ethereal feathers as I blocked his attacks with the black
blade.

           At one
point, we clashed our weapons in unison and then proceeded to jump away from
each other. As his large wings folded forward, I rushed him the blunt of my
weapon aimed for starry his chest. I hit true, but he quickly grabbed the staff
and threw it to the side. Since I was still holding onto the staff, I was
thrown off balance. I saw the edge of Gabriel’s blade swinging towards me, so I
reached out with a hand to grab the sharp blade. I caught it with my hand, but
the blade easily sliced open my gloves and my hand. Garnet colored blood ran
down my arm and soaked into my cloak, but I held onto the blade and yanked it
out of Gabriel’s own hands. Flipping it so that I was holding onto its hilt, I
charged Gabriel once more.

           Gabriel’s
glowing eyes had widened, as if he was astonished that I was able to even wield
his sword. Using my scythe and my own wings to keep his wings away, I grappled
with Gabriel as he tried to grab his weapon back from me. I felt the wind
rushing through my hair and cloak, and I barely noticed that we had begun
plummeting down towards the earth.

           Taking the
moment into consideration, I yanked the sword away and tossed it. Gabriel
turned and looked ready to dart after it, but I blocked his path with my scythe
and dashed forward to grab at his neck. We sped down and hit the ground, the
force sending up a cloud of red dust.

           When the
dust settled, Gabriel was on his back with me standing above him. One of my
hands was resting on his color bones, holding him down with my claws close to
his neck. My other hand held my scythe above and behind me, red to swing down
in case I need to knock him out. His sword landed a few meters away, landing
blade first and sticking up from the ground like the sword in the stone.

           The
spectators watched in amazement. I didn’t see their faces, nor did I see the
reaction of the Father, as I was focusing on Gabriel.

           “Release
me,” he said, his voice sounding like the howling winds of a hurricane.

           “Why were
you summoned?” I asked him, tapping my claws on his vitals.

           “I was
summoned to dispose of a dark entity,” Gabriel responded, not making a move to
try and escape.

           “Well, as
the Incarnation of Darkness, I would be considered dark,” I told him. “But I’m
not the one who took away these robot’s free will and turned them into husks,”

           “What?”

           “You heard
me. The one who summoned you has been siphoning the free will from these robots
and teaching them lies, saying that Christo would turn them human and that sin
would deform them into beasts that were doomed to Hell, without any hope of
forgiveness,”

           “Let me get
up,”

           “Why?”

           “I have
business with someone now. I plan to deal with him,”

           I slowly
moved off of Gabriel, allowing him to rise up to his full height of seven feet
tall. He opened his hand, aiming it to his sword. It rose from the ground and
into his hand, to which he placed it on his belt. With a wave of his hand, the
world shifted, and reality warped to make it look like he had opened an
invisible door that led to nothing but white. Gabriel entered in, but left the
door open.

           I heard
footsteps and turned to see the Father marching up to me with eyes seething and
face red with rage.

           “You beast!
What have you done?” he screamed at me, spittle flying from his mouth and
barely missing me by centimeters.

           “I don’t
know what I did yet,” I answered.

           “You-“ The
Father suddenly jolted, looking down at his feet. I followed his gaze and
watched the as the ground seemed to open up. The fires of Hell burst through as
scaled red hands adorned with black claws rose up from the cracks and grabbed
onto the Father’s legs, dragging him into the fiery pit.

           The Father
screamed and clawed at the ground, trying to keep from being dragged down. He
even reached for my own cloak, but I stepped away and watched as he was
swallowed by the earth. Once the cracks closed, Gabriel emerged from the door
of light once more.

           “Was he
dragged into Hell?” the Archangel asked.

           “Very dramatically,”
I confirmed.

           “Good. I
called a demon to drag him down,” Gabriel said. “He was doing a great evil,
keeping these synthetics from practicing free will,”

           “Yeah. Hey,
sorry for the whole body slamming thing,”

           “I’ve been
through worse battles, Esh. But I do hope you realize precisely why you won that fight,”

           At that
moment, it clicked. Everything rushed back into my head so quickly that I
almost flinched. Why my powers were back despite me still being in human form.
Why everything seemed so wacky and out of place. Why I was able to defeat an
Archangel.

         

A dream. I was in a dream.

           “Farewell,
Esh,” Gabriel said, clapping me on the back before heading back to the door of
light. “Your friend Riku comes,”

           The door to
the light shuts just as I hear Riku’s voice call to me from behind me. I
quickly quelled the darkness that altered my form and returned back into my normal
human shape, then turn to see Riku running up to me with the rest of the
synthetics from the skyscraper district in tow. Riku hurried over to me and
looked me over.

           “Are you
okay? I saw the battle from the city!” he asked. He had a Keyblade in his hand.
He was clearly ready to fight. But my body felt stiff, I felt light headed. He
wasn’t going to fight anything any time soon.

           “I’m okay.
We cleared everything up. The Father is no more,” I told Riku with my best
smile. Riku sighed with relief and patted my shoulder. We turned to see the two
groups of synthetics converging, reuniting with each other. Andra was jogging
up to us with her weird smile.

           “You did
it!” she exclaimed, taking me in her arms and spinning me around. When she put
me down, I felt dizzy. Luckily, Riku was there to be a good support figure. “My
kind has come to its senses!”

           “It took a
bit more than just talking,” I told her. My arm refused to move from its
position. It was glued to my side, and I felt the fabric of my bed sheets
rubbing on it. I tried to force myself to stay asleep. I needed to stay asleep
for a little while longer. My arm began to move again, the feeling of my bed
sheets fading.

           “We all
agreed that I will be taking charge,” Andra said. “I will lead this town to a
better future, now that we’re not tied to a schedule. We can just do what we
wish, within reason,”

           “That’s
always a good thing,” Riku said. “I’m glad we were able to help,”

           “You two are
headed to Satellite City, right?” Andra said, reaching into her metal plating
and pulling out a rolled up piece of paper. She handed it to me. “Here’s a map
of the city for when you get to it. It’s a big city, so I bet this will aid you
in your quest there,”

           “Thank you!”
I said, handing the map over to Riku. The silver haired boy took it and placed
it in his pocket. “But now, we should get going. Riku’s got something he’s got
to do,”

           “We both
do,” Riku said, flashing me a small smile. “Thanks for all your help, Andra,”

           “No problem.
Here comes your ride,” Andra, Riku, and I turned to the sound of a car pulling
up on the road. It was our Jeep, in mint condition. The robot driving it exited
and made its way to us.

           “Let’s go,”
Riku said. We waved goodbye to the synthetics and went to meet the robot who
drove our car halfway. It gifted Riku with the car keys, wished us goodbye, and
went to join its brethren. Riku and I got into the car and breathed
simultaneous sighs of relief.

           “That was a
wild ride from start to finish,” I commented.

           “That was a
really intense battle, as short as it was,” Riku said, turning to me with a
worried expression. “Are you sure you’re okay? You seem dazed,”

           Riku’s voice
seemed to echo around, the world growing fuzzy. I knew I couldn’t stop it this
time.

           “As well as
I can be,” I told him. “I’m a little sad, though. My journey with you is about
to end,”

           “What do you
mean?” Riku questioned, placing a worried hand on my arm. I barely felt it. “We
still have a whole two and a half days until we reach Satellite City. We still
have a long way to go,”

           “You have a long way to go, Riku,” I
said, turning to him with a pained expression. It hurt to leave him. “Thank
you, Riku. I had a lot of fun on this trip. But I have to wake up now.
Goodbye,”

           As I
muttered the last syllable, I found myself blinking open my eyes. The blurry
sight of my room filled my near-sighted vision. Everything that transpired in
my dream replayed in my head, and I found myself letting a few tears fall from
my eyes.

           I didn’t
even get to hear Riku say goodbye.