"Wishing for Hope"

Chapter 5 :
Dreams of God

Fei was suspended in mid air, lying on his back, deeply folded away in dream. All around him, a dreamy column of clouds rose high above, a mixture of yellow and white pastel, shining light piercing through the breaks in it's structure. This beautiful mixture extended as far as he could perceive; there was no beginning to it, and conversely, there was no foreseeable end.

His eyes were wide open, staring upwards, and he could feel his dry lips, open in a surprised expression. He was conscious of his senses, but had a hard time distinguishing the normal feeling of body. The only way he perceived his form came from a source that was not his, strangely watching himself from high above. It was like being able to see from two different sets of eyes at the same time, without needing to concentrate on either one. The long, black ponytail of his hair was gently flowing in the soft, wavelike wind coming down on him. His arms were spread outward, and his legs closed together. The muscular, defined lines of his naked, lithe body made the scene almost a work of art.

In fact, along with the dual sight, it seemed like there was something else occupying his consciousness, making itself known to him. A throbbing, familiar essence that was calling, beckoning him to share his thoughts and memories with it. Gentle waves moved through the sky and Fei's body. Whatever he saw himself out of, it was coming closer towards him, and his own eyes revealed to him a burning star..

Suddenly, a startling revelation hit him, as he jerked in sleep, twisting in his camping pack. He knew he had been here before, seen the same light, the same feeling. A drop or two of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his teeth grit.

In his thoughts he could see a face, approaching closer with the coming of the star, disrupting whatever common ebb and flow there was around him. As it reached him, he realized that these waves were different from the ones he had just felt, they were lifelike, moving, thinking. They, or, it was alive, conscious, aware. What's more, the face he saw was familiar, he knew it. It was Krelians, but it was also different : immeasurable power shone behind the visage.

Another drop of water slid down Fei's face, but it hadn't come from his forehead. The huge mental burden of the dream had lifted and flown off, leaving his miserably drenched body awake. He left his head motionless, aware of the time being just before dawn. There was a bad taste in his mouth, as he had been neglecting his personal hygiene and forgetting to wash in the past week.

The soft light cracking beyond the horizon was partially shining through his shelter tent, weaving through the mesh of fibers. He brought his arms out of the sleeping bag and put his hands beneath his head, looking up into the tents roof and partial sky above. Krelian's face, the blue hair, the thin golden tiara around his head, that fatalistic frown of his. It was ingrained in his memory, repeated so many times.

"What am I looking for..? What am I fleeing from..?" These dreams had been coming over him, stronger by the passing months. As a result, he fled from place to place even quicker.

"I feel so... helpless." His thoughts danced like flames across the rich palette of memories stored within him. Kim, the scientist doctor, who lived 4,000 years ago, Lacan, the talented painter and martial artist, 500 years before his time. Yet he knew that they were him, previous versions of his body and fate.

"If there is no more destiny for me to fulfill of God, why must these dreams continue? Why is it me, who has to live so long? It must be fate." Fei was surprised at the logical, swift, and accusatory movements flowing through his thoughts. "That old sage... Taura. He saved Elly and I when we were dying so long ago in that forest. But I know, I just know he could have recovered us in other ways. There must be a reason to this... life."

He raised his hands up before his eyes, not quite thinking about the motion. Looking over his palms, the gentle complexity of his hands, he sighed.

"Whose body do I really posses?" and to pause and add thought to his dreams, "Why is Krelian reaching for me from the wave existence?"

In the back of his head, he knew the answers would present themselves sometime in the future.

--

Hyuga had left Elly and the young child in the care of the nurse, walking off with amazing vigor for his age. He was atleast in his mid-eighties, aging gracefully, yet also winding down like a beautiful sunset, his youth now over, but not completely gone. Elly had wondered as to whether Fei and Hyuga had ever talked, long and hard, about their relations with each other after the death of Deus. Hyuga was appointed as a guardian angel over Fei, to watch him and make sure he was not a threat to Deus' ressurection. The thought of Hyuga spreading a full pair of angel wings was not hard to imagine, she felt, as her thoughts wandered.

The Yggdrasil, legendary tree of life. She had ridden in it, and then when it was redesigned, flown in it. Closing her eyes briefly, she tried to imagine the thing buried deep within Bart's hidden fortress, no light reaching it's black, oblong shaped hull. It was a strange notion, looking at the thing, then claiming that it could fly. As if by some sort of advanced aerodynamics, two sets of wings was all it needed to take to the skies.

Then there was the other problem with the Yggdrasil. Besides digging it up, who today was alive and knew how to operate the thing? A brief flicker image of the feisty young crew of the Yggdrasil sitting in their designated positions as senior citizens caused her to smile to herself, then reach back into contemplation. Maybe, she thought, it had an autopilot system of some sort.

On that same night, Elly was asleep in Hyugas personal living space. After long thought on the days progression and an adequate meal, she had crawled into his bed and snuck herself into sleep. The bed took up most of the small room, its only other provisions being a desk with pen, ink, and paper handy. Her heavy pack lay to the side of the slightly open door, the light from the outside casting a dying light across the room and the equipment. Her red hair was cast out long and dipped off the bed; the soft rays of light that managed to hit the strands gleamed in refraction. She now was laying motionless, sleeping peacefully.

.........

Dreaming. Yes, Elly was dreaming also.

The nurse was sitting at her desk, when in the other room, she heard one of the girls staying here vomit quite noisily and with much pain. As she stood up and rushed towards the Doctors personal room, there was a continuation of coughing and groaning.

"Oh my God.. are you allright?" the nurse opened the door wide and got an eyeful of what had just happened. One side of the bed, where the girls head had been facing, was soaked with fluids, the rest was caught on the clothing and chin of the young girl. She was on her knees, rollen off the bed, coughing loudly.

"I must tell Shitan and Fei about this... dream." Elly's eyes were completely blurred, and only heard muddled noises. But that was the only thought that crept through her head before she fell unconscious.