With a jelp, Arian opened his eyes. His breath was heavy, his skin glistered with sweat.
The prince blinked, confused, trying to orient himself. He was staring at a grey surface- metal with rusted spots. Arian squinted his eyes- that's a ceiling. I'm staring at a ceiling- a ceiling of the Akai-Dezato Academy.
Arian took a deep breath, doing his best to stay calm.
I'm safe, he told himself. I have awoken from this stupid vision. Well, thinking about it, he should rather call it a nightmare.
The prince needed a moment before he could make sense of the situation. It seemed like he lay in his room.
When he turned his head to the right, he saw his servants standing next to his bed. Most of them looked worried, and even the guards showed some emotion.
As soon as they realized Arian had noticed them, they started to ask questions.
"What happened?"
"Are you okay?"
"You suddenly started bleeding. What was wrong?"
Arian shut his eyes, overwhelmed by all those demands for answers. After all, he wasn't sure what exactly happened, himself.
He tried to sit up, but failed to do so. The prince groaned in pain as he looked down at his own body. With horror, he realized his wounds- those he had attained in the vision- he attained them in real life, too. They weren't as numerous as they were originally since the water in the vision healed most of them, but still-
How scary, Arian thought, distressed. For all the time he had been bonded with Sublimus, he had seen his beasts' powers as a safe space. In the visions, he was invincible. He decided what, when, and how to see. And since it was only a vision, Arian never feared it could harm him. After all, it wasn't real.
And yet, when he looked at himself, he couldn't deny the obvious truth.
He could be hurt and thus be killed in those visions. They were dangerous.
Maybe this had always been the case. Or it was a sign that Arian lost his grip on his former powers.
Arian suspected it was a mix of both, though he leaned more towards the former option.
The veil of superiority that Sublimus' powers had gifted Arian had been shattered a long time ago. By now, he knew the visions didn't tell him everything. They only revealed the things he asked for, and not even that was guaranteed. If your question wasn't precise enough or your technique was lacking, you ended up seeing something completely different from what you actually wanted.
Arian learned that the hard way. It took him almost three years of constant training before he could see his first real vision.
And even then, it had only been short ones. Now that he thought about it, he suspected this had been the longest vision he had ever seen.
"How long was I out?", he asked his servants weakly.
"Roughly from in the morning to late afternoon, my prince", his personal maid Marie answered with a bow. "We were so worried about you. You suddenly started convulsing, and then we tried to talk to you, but you didn't respond... So we just brought you here, back to your personal chambers, and hoped for the best."
"But then- you suddenly got wounded and cuts and bitemarks appeared on your body. It was really scary. We didn't know what to do! We are all the more relieved that you seem quite alright and that the wounds started to heal repeatedly on their own," Sir Balay continued, his voice almost cracked with stress.
"Yes, it was so weird! I mean, at first I suspected that you accessed your powers- your former powers- and that because you're bond with Sublimus had been weakened, something went terribly wrong. But when the cuts appeared, I wasn't so sure anymore. So what the hell happened?!"
Arian didn't know how to answer. Of course, Marie was right. He had used his powers. Pretty spontaneous, but somehow he still felt like he had some control over them, at least in the beginning.
He was sure he had seen a clue to why so many girls appeared exhausted or ill, but he just couldn't fathom it.
How was his vision and the ill-looking girls connected? What did it tell Arian?
He did not know.
And he was a bit hesitant with an interpretation, yet. I will think about it a bit more, before I start to draw conclusions, Arian decided, and remembered the last time he had interpreted a vision.
Back then, he was still on the battlefield. And he wanted to know how the battle would end and what beasts they would have to fight. The vision revealed everything he had asked for, and thus Arian's troops won the battle. That his best friend would betray him in the process and that he would leave the battlefield paraplegic, however, was not in the vision.
So Arian experienced a bitter surprise he never wanted to have again.
I have to take this vision with a grain of salt. I have to remember: Most of the future is shaped by your own decisions, and thus cannot be revealed in a vision.
Taking the vision too literally could be fatally wrong.
Just by thinking about the interpretation of that weird experience, Arian got a headache.
"Is it right to assume you used your powers?", Marie tried again.
Arian only nodded, and his maid sighed. "If you don't mind, I would like to talk with you privately."
Arian had nothing against a private talk with his favorite maid, so he sent all his other servants away.
They gave him a few concerning looks, but then gradually left one after another.
Maloc lingered the longest. He gave Arian a look the prince couldn't quite pinpoint. He didn't seem as concerned for Arian or didn't pity him as much as the rest of his servants- but still- there was something Maloc wanted to say.
Arian raised an eyebrow, a gesture that should encourage his deputy to speak.
Only after an awkward moment of silence did Arian realize, Maloc couldn't see his expression; he wore a veil, after all.
Arian shook his head. Clearly, his mind was still dull. He hadn't recovered from the shock.
Once Marie and he were alone in the room, Arian tried to tell her about his vision to the best of his abilities. Marie listened with great interest, but with each sentence her expression grew more concerned.
"I would highly advise you not to use your powers anymore. That Sublimus can attack you- or rather is willing to attack you, is quite scary. But also, what does this bastard think he's doing?! Isn't it enough to reject you? How can he be so cruel and haunt you even now? If he can't stay away from you, then maybe he shouldn't have rejected you in the first place! But I guess even from a qilin you can't expect that they have activated all brain cells."
Arian had to agree with her. "But I don't understand what the vision wants to tell me. Heck, I don't even understand what was up with that water. It had been so confusing. Somehow, the water healed me but harmed Sublimus- or at least made him weaker, and he seemed reluctant to get in. He also didn't attempt to fly. Somehow, he seemed put off guard by the whole situation. Something made him extremely wary, but I don't know what."
Marie gave Arian an understanding look. "I guess you first and foremost need time to process what happened. Maybe talk about it with someone else. On that note- those two girls, Satori and Shivani, have asked about your whereabouts. They want to check on you, if you're okay. Well, at least Shivani wanted to do so."
Arian had no reason to refuse them. Maybe talking to more people would help indeed. Besides, he had built quite a good relationship with them over the past weeks. At least with Shivani, who spoke with him quite comfortably. Satori, on the other hand, had been quiet as always. But as long as she didn't annoy him, the prince had no problem with her company.
When the two girls came in, he was ready to speak about his experience, but Marie interrupted him.
"Now there's this Pidgeon guy outside, too. I guess he wants to see you as well, my prince."