A Court of Dreams and Nightmares discussion
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The smell of pancakes wafted up the stairs and filled Gaia's 10-year-old nose, waking her from a dreamless sleep. Her eyes flicked open.
"Pancakes?" she gasped. "I want pancakes!" She jumped up out of bed and ran down the stairs into the kitchen, shouting "pancakes, pancakes, PANCAKES!!!" all the way down them. When she got to the kitchen the smell was so strong it made her eyes water. "I love pancakes!" She squealed.
"Well, good morning, Honey," her mother looked down at her. Gaia looked up at her mother, who seemed to suddenly apparate in front of her. Sometimes Gaia felt like her mother was twice her height, but she knew she was gaining on her. She started to dance around the room, making circles around her mother.
"Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes..." she said very happily.
Gaia watched with baited breath as her mother flipped the pancake, hoping it would land safely back in the pan. She clapped when it did, knowing that her dream breakfast was safe.
She squealed when her mom set the steaming plate of pancakes down on the table in front of her. "Yay! Pancakes!" she yelled.
She was about to take her first bite when they heard loud knocking at the front door.
Suddenly, her mother seemed to deflate. Where before she had been happy and relaxed, now she seemed... afraid.Another knock.
"Stay here, Gaia," her mother said strictly, before cautiously approaching the door. Gaia followed her mom's movement with wide eyes, wondering why she was scared.
Her mother opened the door.
Outside was a tall, pale man, wrapped in a cloak. His face was hidden by a hood, and when he spoke it was with a deep rasp. Just four words.
"Give her to me."
"A-Alright, if you will wait a second, just let me go get her," said Gaia's mother, her voice quivering.The man grunted and leaned against the doorway. Gaia's mother returned to the kitchen, her face pale as snow.
"Gaia, listen to me," she said in a low voice, "You are going to go out the back door and into the forest."
Gaia looked past her mother to the man and whimpered, pancakes forgotton.
"But-"
"No. Listen," she said harshly. "You must do as I say. And quickly. And whatever happens, just remember that I love you. Now go!
As her mother turned back to the door, Gaia turned and fled into the forest.
Tree branches reached out and snagged on her dressing gown, the thin material doing nothing to protect her from the chilly morning air. Stopping to catch her breath, she looked behind her to her home in the distance. Was her mother ok? And who was that man at the door? She'd never met her father or uncle and knew her mum didn't like them, but surely they couldn't be the reason for this?
Suddenly the back door banged open and she saw the man sprint out of the house, coming towards her at an alarming speed. Gaia, feeling more terrified than she ever had, quickly turned and started fighting her way through the branches. She wasn't looking at where she was stepping and tripped on a rock. She heard a crack and felt a sharp pain run all through her leg. Gaia fell down and everything went black.
She didn't know, at the time, that she would never see her mother again. She didn't know that she would never visit her house again. She didn't know that the stranger she had seen that day would become her guardian, would become the only adult she would know for six whole years. But there was one thing she did know: she would do anything it takes to be normal, and free, and happy.
(5 years later)Gaia was now 15 years old. She lived with the man, whose name was Dario, in a small but comfortable house. It was a happy life, and she hardly ever thought of her old one. But there was still the mystery: why had he captured her?
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The fire cracked and popped as Gaia focused on the flames. She opened her senses up, letting the flow of heat rush into her body from head to toe. She dived deeper into the heat, her magic - pure, undiluted magic- rushing to meet it. She made the flames turn sapphire blue as they became hotter, her magic beckoning the element to do as she willed.
Gaia was an Elementis. She had the power to control the five main elements on Solai: Air, water, earth, fire, and shadow. But she had always had an affinity for fire and air, and had always struggled with water and shadow.
“Good job.”
Gaia’s head jerked up to see her teacher- father, if you willed. His dark brown skin shone in the morning light as he looked at her with glowing brown eyes. Being trained in the ways of magic from the head of the royal guard was not a bad thing for Gaia.
“Yes,” she replied, looking up at Mysto.
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Yours is way better though! Everyone ignore my comment XD
Mod
Mysto landed on Gaia's shoulder. He was a shapeshifter and often liked to take the form of an osprey. Gaia playfully shot a stream of water at him. She had trouble controlling even small amounts of water, though, and it missed him. He laughed as he turned back into a man, but then he became serious. "Gaia, I have some news for you," he said.
"I know," he started. "that it has taken a long time for you to adjust to living with me." Her heart palpitated, afraid to see where this was going."I like it here," she said, hating how shaky her voice sounded.
Mysto looked at her, dark brown eyes meeting her pale grey ones. He seemed to be trying to tell her through his eyes what he did not want to say aloud, but she didn't want to hear it. She turned away from him, absently making patterns in the flames.
Mysto sighed. "You must understand that I have no choice."
No matter what he says, I will not cry. I won't.
She looked back at him, making sure to leech all expression from her face. The Solai were warriors, and she was one of them now. Though she had been raised human, though she knew what he was going to say, she would not cry.
Looking at her, Mysto gave a tentative half-smile, something like pride reflecting in his eyes. It was gone a moment later, however, replaced by sorrow at what he was going to tell her.
"The king has asked you to participate in his Trials."
No. She must have heard him wrong. The Trials? No one had ever survived them. The king had been searching for someone to go on a top secret quest for years, and so he had created the Trials to find someone worthy of it. And now Gaia was going into them."Wh-What?"
"I'm sorry. I tried to get the king to change his mind, to pick someone else, but he insisted."
Gaia couldn't believe this.
"The Trials start in 2 days, we'll need to head to the castle first thing tomorrow morning," said Mysto, looking at the ground.
She couldn't go to the Trials. She had barely learned about her Elementis abilities, and now she was going into the Trials?
The trials were done behind closed doors and were very secretive so she had no way to prepare. Sometime they went on for only a matter of days, sometimes months. And each night, there was an announcement of who hadn't survived the day. Gaia struggled to imagine herself lasting more than a few days.
Mysto seemed to know what she was thinking about."Hey," he said, squeezing her hand. "It is going to be okay."
But do you really believe that? She turned to him with imploring eyes. "Is there really no other way?"
He sighed. "I am the commander of the royal army, loyal to my liege. I cannot ask him to exempt you anymore than I would ask him to let criminals run scot-free. I am sorry."
She sensed from his words that he really was sorry, yet she couldn't help but feel a twinge of betrayal.
In a daze, Elia walked to her bedroom and slowly started packing. What was she supposed to bring? She sighed and laid down. There was a knock at her door."Come in," she said, sitting up.
The door creaked open and Samuel, the boy who she trained with, her "brother," came in. He was a mind reader, but Mysto had taught Elia how to block him from her mind. He sat down next to her, his usually twinkling blue eyes now serious and sad.
"I'll come with you tomorrow to the castle, if you want," he offered.
"Thanks, Sam."
"I know you can do it. You will beat the Trials, I just know it," he said, but he looked like he was trying to convince himself.
After he left, Elia laid down again and slipped into a dreamless sleep.
Gaia woke the next morning, refreshed and ready to face another day. Then she remembered. She let out a long sigh, burying her face in her hands, resisting the urge to bury back under the covers and hide there forever. She heard a squeal from the matress, and without looking up, she knew Mysto would be there, waiting, watching. With a groan, she grabbed her pillow and covered her face. "Gaia.." he started. Overcome with emotion, fear, sadness, desperation, she sat up and stared at him, all of her emotion layed bare for him to see.
"There really was nothing you could do?" she whispered. He shook his head sombrely, and looked up, meeting her eyes. For a split second it looked like he wanted to say something, and she waited, hoping for someone to make her feel the tiniest bit less miserable, but all he said was,
"We need to leave now". The horror closing in on her chest felt like an icy fist, wrapping around her heart in a tight vise. Squeezing her lungs until she couldn't breathe. But she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. Some people suffered worse. She could do this. But deep down she knew the truth. She really couldn't.
Gaia picked up the suitcase she had packed last night, full of clothes, books and articles of jewellery that Mysto had given her in the past six years. As she started combing her long golden hair, she heard Samuel come in, and felt her heart stutter. This was really happening. Somehow, it hadn't felt real, even when Mysto had told her where she was going, even when she had packed up her meagre belongings. But now, with her adoptive family standing in the doorway of her room, ready to escort her to the palace, she could feel the trials like a huge shadow, looming above her future.
She set the comb down, and turned to look at them. No matter what happens, I will be brave till the very end. She gazed into Mysto's bronze eyes, willing herself to be composed, to be courageous, to be all that he had taught her. "Let's go."
With other participants arriving for the trails, security was at an all time high. They had to walk the last mile from the gates where guards were stationed through the grounds to the castle itself. In front of Mysto and Gaia but still in-sight another pair walked. The one figure was tall and cloaked, the other hunched over a walking stick with flowing silver hair. Both had an air of power and experience about them, Gaia wasn't sure which was the escort and which was the participant. Considering she felt to have little chance against either of them, she was in no rush to find out either.Mysto however had other thoughts, as he quickened his pace in an effort to catch up with the pair.
Samuel and Gaia quickened their steps as well, dragging each a large bag of belongings. Gaia probably wouldn’t need hers for long. They soon caught up to the trio, panting from the blistering heat of that day. Mysto had a small smile on his face as he spoke calmly with the man with the cane. “My old friend, what brings you to the castle this time of year?” Mysto prompted joyfully but the man just looked at Mysto with a worn out look.
The younger man instead spoke, “The king requested me to participate in the trials. I am personally delighted by the news, but Merek here has been in a bad mood since. Can’t blame him can I? I will probably survive the tournament unlike anyone else here. So what brings you?”
Mysto looked at Gaia sadly then started to speak, “Gaia was requested as well, but I think she will do better than we think. And you are young man?”
"I'm Rook, soon to be off on the King's quest." The arrogant young man answered.Gaia all but ignored Rook, offering only a small smile as Mystos led them away. She looked up to see Mystos giving her a stern look. "What?" she asked.
"You will need allies in the Trials Gaia. He may seem full of himself, but anyone under Merek's watch will be well trained, he may be a perfect ally."
"I thought the whole point of an ally was someone who wouldn't kill you. I think he'll do anything to win, and if he's that annoying in two minutes, I may be tempted to use force to shut him up during the trials."
Mystos sighed, getting Gaia out of the Trials in one piece would prove to be a challenge, even for him.
Soon, they reached the castle. Though Gaia had visited it with Mysto a few times before, the polished marble floors and the intricately carved frescoes on the walls never failed to take her breath away. As she stared around her, she saw quite a few men and women, all looking at each other furtively, assessing their competitors. It made the whole thing feel more than a bit real.Mysto nodded to a pair of guards as they stepped into the throne room, before taking her face in his hands. "Best of luck, Gaia," he said softly. "This is as far as we're allowed to come with you... the rest of this trial will be yours to bear alone. Find allies, and plan your moves well in advance, and you can win the Trials. I know it."
As he stepped aside, Samuel grabbed her in a rib-crushing hug. She squeezed him back, feeling unshed tears lining her eyes. "Come back," was all he said as he stepped back to Mysto's side.
"I will," she whispered softly to him. Then they were both escorted out of the room by a tall guard, and she was left standing there, all alone. "I will," she repeated.
The room was huge, and when she glanced around the room, anger coiled in her gut. The walls were ornate and intricately painted, the dais at the front of the room furnished with a huge, golden throne. There were people out there, dying from hunger and poverty while the king luxuriated in wealth he had no need for. She brushed wispy strands of pale blonde hair which had come loose from its bun, and brushed away the thought with it. The room wasn't tightly packed, but everywhere she looked, she saw people. All looking different, nothing in common. Except they were all her competitors and would try to kill her. And they will probably succeed a tiny voice in the back of her mind whispered. She didn't let the thought plague her, but still butterflies shot around her stomach, as if trying to find escape. That's when the king emergrd. She had never seen him before, but he was younger than she had expected. Whenever she thought of him, she had always pictured an old, greying white man, wearing red velvet and other stupid articles of clothing. This man was.... "Why are there only 49 people present?"
He couldn't be as sadistic as he appeared, so she searched his face for any sign of warmth, that spark she had almost certainly seen before. But as if sensing her stare, his eyes shot to her face, unmoving and unnerving. He just scanned her body up and down, and without a hint of emotion, turned away and repeated his question, louder. Anger swirled in her mind and she saw red, but she refused to see the worst. Every evil person had a tiny bit of good. But she was unsure. Maybe this king was different. A vicious killer that didn't care about his people, watching people kill others for sport. Her thoughts were interuppted by his question, asked a third time, with no response. It was in that same tone, but it had an edge of anger. A promise of violence if no one spoke. The person next to her whimpered.
Just then a courtier appeared at his side, seeming to rise from the shadows themselves. She briefly wondered if he too was an elementis. She was either too busy surveying the stoic King that she did not notice his arrival, or was correct in her assumption that he could manipulate the shadows. If he was her kind, he could bend the shadows around him much better than she had ever hoped to. Where he shifted the light and shadows around himself as to move through a separate realm entirely, she would fumble uselessly with the darkness. So uselessly, that it often shrouded her as if offended by her failure and kept her from seeing anything. The man bent his head down to the King as he murmured words too quite for her to hear. She took this time to study him. He, too, only seemed a year her senior with hair the shade of still-burning logs in her fireplace back at home. There was an odd tattoo on the back of his neck formed several lines tangling together that circled an inflamed sword. Oh. The King’s crest. This man was not just a courtier- but his Seneschal. Appearing to be done with his conversation he misted into thin air. She was right, thought Gaia with a swell of pride. He was an elementis. Before disappearing entirely however, she caught sight of his eyes. The iced over hue of a frozen lake- identical to the King’s. She snorted. Thinking of both her foster father and the apparent Seneschal, a thought came to her that maybe the King took care to only employ beautiful people, people to match his own grandeur. Fitting. An arrogant and cruel King. This will be a piece of cake. She huffed out a breath of air which seemed to
|sorry GR cut me off, I’ll finish shortly|draw the attention of the King in question. “Is something the matter?” His apparent anger was now directed to her and she struggled to not let her fear show. With just a word-or a hand gesture seeing the way his knights grimaced as he walked by- he could have her beheaded. “Not at all. I’m just as troubled as you that our fiftieth companion has yet to show.” There. That wasn’t so hard. Her voice came out much smoother than she believed it would. From the look in his eyes though, he was pleased. “It shouldn’t trouble you. One less opponent of yours.” Opponent. So it was true, they would be pitted against each other. She wondered if he knew he had released that tidbit of information. “And next time,” he added “take care to address me as the King I am.” Heat rushed up to meet her cheeks. How careless was she that she had forgotten, even momentarily, tears worth or training. She thought of the disapproving glance she would’ve earned from Sam if he was here.
"Of course. I'm very sorry, your highness," Gaia answered, itching to escape the king's piercing gaze. He seemed to want to say something else but one of his guards came up and started whispering urgently to him. Gaia used this as an excuse to get away. She turned and bumped right into another contestant in the Trials. "Oof. Sorry," the stranger said as she helped Gaia to her feet. "Hi, I'm Marie. Are you here for the Trials too?" "Yeah! I'm Gaia! Oh, I'm an elementis, by the way." Gaia answered. "That's so cool! I'm an alchemist." Gaia had always wanted to meet an alchemist. They were exceptionally good at making potions. Marie cut through her thoughts. "Hey wanna go get some food from that table over there? I'm starving."
"Sure," Gaia replies, blushing when her stomach growls. Marie giggles quietly when she hears it. "That's a definite yes then." She strides towards the table, calling over a shoulder, "Well, are you coming?" "Yeah," I catch up to her and stop suddenly when I see all of the food on the table. From pastries to pasta and soup, and even a whole bird! Marie laughs and drags me over to the plates. "Here, before you start grabbing them, we should get a plate." "Uh...yeah, sure," I respond, barely paying any attention to what she's saying. Marie shoves me towards the food and hands me a plate. I look at all of the food, not understanding where it all came from. I glance at Marie and find her walking towards a pretty female with hair the color of strawberries and a petite body. I glance at the food then back at them; deciding that the food can wait just a little bit longer.
Gaia strode over to where Marie had begun giggling with the girl. As she joined them, Marie grinned over at Gaia, and with a flick of her black hair, her gaze returned to the girl with red hair. The new girl grinned at Gaia, holding out her hand, and spoke, her voice sweet and lilting."Hey! I'm Claire! Marie's girlfriend!" Everything about her was bright and enthusiastic, and Gaia couldn't help but like her on sight.
"I'm Gaia," she replied, returning the smile. But Gaia couldn't help the sadness swirling in her stomach. Those two would have to fight eachother eventually. She would have to fight them. If she had to, she would need to kill them.
Her thoughts had drifted from the current conversation at hand, and Gaia wasn’t sure of the topic. So when the red- headed girl asked what Gaia’s opinion on the matter was, she was thankful the King’s booming voice interrupted all conversations before she had to answer. “It appears we have lost a participant in the trials. Last night a boy by the name of Loftin Manuel attempted to flee the castle.” Last night? That’s odd. Gaia assumed all contestants arrived the same as her- earlier today. Though it would make sense due to the Kingdom being a little over 11,000 miles reach to reach that others would have had to schedule time for delays. The King continued. “As participation in the trials is mandatory for all asked, he was... disposed of. Please learn from his mistake.” This last part the King said with a small smirk earning a few half hearted chuckles from around the room. The kingdom of Dleirna, where death was funny and life inconsequential. Gaia promised to win these trials, and she would, but no one knew what would happen to the victor if they lived. She shuddered at the thought of prolonged existence in the presence of people like him.
She didn't want to die... but did she really want to live around people like him? Gaia thought of Loftin Manuel. She had never met him, but she still felt sadness over news of his death. His family probably hadn't heard the news of his death yet, if they were indeed foreigners, and Gaia imagined their inconsolable grief once they found out. God. Maybe he had kids. Gaia wouldn't let herself meet the same fate. Not only for herself, but she knew the pain she would put Mysto and Sam through. She didn't want to be arrogant, but although none of them had been related by blood, the love, the bond they had all come to share couldn't be faked. Gaia once again strained the tendons in her neck, and stood on her tip-toes to see the King. She had lost all hope that he had any good left in him. He was disgusting. Anyone that would send assassins after someone who fled the place he would possibly killed for entertainment, was absolutely horrible. Gaia couldn't believe that she had created that illusion, that maybe, just maybe, the King had known her. That she had somehow forgotten him, and he was a good person. She just sighed. She read books so often that it was a miracle she could tell reality from the fictional worlds she loved. Gaia cursed herself for letting her overactive imagination create a scenario in her head. A scenario where eveyone would be happy. The reality of her predicament struck her. She was going to die. There was no way she could survive this tournament.
She was jolted from her thoughts as the king continued talking. "Because there is now an empty space, we need a replacement. I have consulted with my council and it appears that we have found our new contestant." The everyone in the crowd seemed to be holding their breath in anticipation. "The person who will be going into the trials instead of Mr. Manuel will be
Samuel Alwood." Gaia's heart seemed to stop beating. No. This can't be happening. NO!. But Gaia finally cracked, when she saw her brother stride through the doors, trying to hide the fear on his face. As he was led by guards to the middle of the room. As they shoved him forward, and the King proclaimed, that he was now a contestant in the Trials. This can't be a coincidence. They can't choose two people from the same family. But Gaia knew. She and Sam. They weren't related by blood. Gaia met the King's eyes, which gleamed with wicked amusement and another emotion she couldn't decipher, and with all her being, willed hate into her gaze. They had brought her family into this. Before she had accepted her death. But now? She was going to go down kicking and screaming until the very end. Before she turned away, she could have sworn something like guilt flickered over his face, but she knew it was just her wishful thinking.
I push through the group, reaching Sam's side, "What happened?" I hiss at him. He looks at me and whispers, his voice cracking, "They--we were leaving the castle grounds when the guards stopped us at the gate, a-and said that I'm replacing one of the contestants."
"Are you alright? Mystos?" I inquire and grab his arm, leading him toward Marie and Claire.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Mystos is too. They sent him home." Sam leans into me, "What am I going to do G? I didn't plan for this! We didn't plan for this!" He starts freaking out.
"Hey, we'll get through this, I promise."
Sam shakes his head, "I can't do this! Gaia, I don't want to do this!"
This is a community story! There are no rules - just follow the basic group rules and please keep the stories strictly PG-13 and I do ask that you don't change the time frame (present, past, future) and that you don't change the POV - (third person [he, she, they...], first person [I, me, my, ours...] and second person [you, yours...]) I am okay, though, if you skip time. For example, in The Cruel Prince, it skips time from the beginning to about ten years after. I am totally fine with that.
Here is how it traditionally works... it's really simple and Aahana and I would love for you to add some of your writing!
I will start the story with a prompt or a paragraph or two. Then, you all continue the story with your own posts. It doesn't have to follow any guidelines. By all means, you can add kissing and sure... (view spoiler)[ undressing, if you really want to, (hide spoiler)] but don't make it too graphic. We don't know how old the people in our group are and I know that when I was ten I didn't want to know about (view spoiler)[ people taking off their lovers' clothes. (hide spoiler)] You can add sword fighting and taking-off-of-heads, but again, don't make it too graphic.
Also, please add details! Add dialogue, add the thoughts, just anything to make us intrigued - instead of saying that "the shirt was yellow," say, "her too-small t-shirt showed her belly button, which, of course, had a ring in it. The shirt had the yellow that one would only see inside of a lemon; spellbinding. I could tell she wanted people to look at her."
Dialogue makes everything better, so let it go like the clouds let go of rain. We can have no end to dialogue.
Thank you, and please add to our story!