What the hell was going on!?
Drifting along the thin borders of consciousness, Cassian was unable to form intricate thoughts. Instead, his mind was operating solely on primal intuition- processing crumbs of the surrounding information wherever it could. Noticeably, he was being taken somewhere. The weighty pressure pushing against his sternum hinting at him being flung loosely over his attacker's shoulder.
He attempted to listen in to the interactions happening around him, only picking up a handful of disjointed words with little meaning. Most were menial conversations, but two names stuck out enough to remain within his mind.
"Avernum"
"Auriel"
People's tones shifted sharply when these words were mentioned, their voices becoming notably frigid. Cassian was assuming they were the names of something- or someone important enough to warrant such gravity.
The air is getting colder, are we heading underground?
Before Cassian could attempt to further regain his rationality, he perceived a familiar pressure pushing against his already closed eyes. Only this time- it seemed to go even further.
The alien force began to assault his very being, digging into every nook and cranny of his body- repelling any futile attempts he made to wake up. A mysterious, arrogant hostility delved into his very soul forcing him asleep. Before giving into it completely, a single thought radiated through his mind.
My arm hurts like hell again
—------------------------
Unlike before, the welcoming embrace of unconsciousness felt.. Strange. It felt like he was witnessing an endless black void from the third person, watching the space subtly shift as if it were alive.
Additionally, he remained strangely aware of himself.
In stark contrast to the foreign thoughts that had wormed their way into Cassian's mind moments prior. The space surrounding him emanated a feeling of absolute harmony, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
An incongruous uncertainty ate away at him as he looked upon this silent void. Mere moments ago the assault on his mind had begun anew- pulling the ebony curtain back over his autonomy to think and feel. However, this obscurity had quickly vanished as fast as it came. This space, whatever it was- allowed him to once again be the sovereign of his own mind.
As he continued to ruminate over it, Cassian began to feel a fundamental difference in his perception of this null space. Where previously he was able to witness it in its entirety from a detached perspective, he now felt as if he had been dragged off that throne of omniscience- drawing his view to that of someone standing within this endless void on their own two feet. At once, his vestibular sense was revived. Up became up again, and down became down.
He seemed to have been given an almost human form upon entering the strange darkness. He still had two arms and two legs, but instead of the pale flesh that normally adorned them- there was nothing but pale translucent light that continuously twisted and turned.
It may have been more accurate to say he had been given an imitation of human form.
Can't catch a break even while dreaming
Cassian laughed internally at the absurdity of it all. A mere week ago he was nothing but another nameless vagrant wandering the streets of the outer city. Aimlessly drifting from one rotting community to another with thoughts of nothing but his next meal.
And now here he was- practically kidnapped by someone who was able to interfere with his emotions and control what he thought.
An utterly insane statement.
Interrupting him, a faint echo rang out within the void. Instead of originating from a single direction- it seemed to emanate from the fabric of the space itself.
"Can't catch a break even while dreaming.. Hahahaha"
Cassian froze sharply at the sound of his own voice. He had not opened his mouth- hell he wasn't sure he even had one right now. Yet, the exclamation cascading through the void was unmistakably his.
Breathing in deeply he rapidly shook his head, as if trying to expel the discomfort he felt through force alone.
Damn strange dream
"Damn strange dream"
There was less of a pause between the thought and the response. Cassian, annoyed at having his every thought regurgitated back at him, snapped back at the strange space.
Shut up
"Shut up"
Whoever repeats this a freak
"Whoever repeats this is a freak"
He suppressed the urge to laugh like a child, knowing it would just be reflected back at him.
Returning his attention to the surroundings, a few things became apparent- revealed likely due the change in perspective. For one, a faint blue glow illuminated where he stood, forming a simple illusionary path. The path seemed to stretch out in front of him a few meters. Its luminescence slowly losing its luster the further it went, before ceasing to exist entirely.
Cassian dared not walk towards the end of the faded path. Looking down, he could see that the pale light that formed his foot was colliding with its soft blue glow. The intersection between the two glimmering colors began to blend together to form a peculiar barrier between them.
The void itself continued to pulsate and move around him, seemingly uncaring about his presence. There remained no colors within it except the soft rays of white, blue and purple.
Purple?
Unlike the reflections of white and blue that shone outwards from where he was standing the purple cascaded inwards from deep within the void. In fact, Cassian could swear that the light was actively moving towards him at a slow speed.
Out of nowhere, raging hostility descended like a bomb within the area. The void itself had seemingly begun to move towards the fresh light, areas of the empty space folding in upon itself to smother it -breaking the laws of reality apart. Even in this dreamlike state witnessing an infinite plane simultaneously becoming 2 dimensional whilst also remaining 3 dimensional was far too much information for his brain to handle. Cassian stumbled to the ground clutching his pale visage of a head.
This pain feels damn real
He mentally screamed at himself, ignoring the audible reflection of his thoughts that seemed to also be distorted by the inversion of space occurring in real time. The only problem was that the purple light that seemed to cause this reaction had not stopped- at all.
Just as it began to approach him, the blue path he was standing on exploded with radiance, pushing back against foreign light.
Cassian would be lying if he said he had any idea what was going on in front of him, but he was not stupid- or at least he'd like to think he wasn't. There was serious doubt blooming in the depths of his brain if this dream was his dream. If Dawn could influence and control what he felt while he was awake, as crazy as that was, then what would happen if the strange power acted upon him while he was unconscious?
Hell, he was beginning to doubt if this was a dream at all.
The stalemate between the two colors was slowly broken, with the blue path growing brighter and brighter in luminescence. However, as it grew in intensity Cassian began to feel more and more lethargic. Not a regular lethargic mind you, a truly soul crushing tiredness.
Somewhere along the way he unconsciously changed from idly spectating to seriously wanting to remove this purple light from the space. This demand seemed to move the void itself, as if it were waiting for a command. Once again, it started to break down and fold around the remaining light. Successfully returning the now vibrantly bright space to relative darkness once more.
The only light left was the pathway, happily glowing away as if nothing had occurred. He tried to speak, but remembering he had no mouth to do so, instead utilizing the void to think out loud.
"Thanks? I guess"..
What he didn't expect, was an answer.
[You shouldn't be here yet. You need to wake up now]