A thrilling tale that weaves through time and dreams. Betrayal and agony are the least of Jiu's worries. For the truth, is the most dangerous one of all. The truth that enlightens and yet, is a deadly poison. A poison that can destroy or strengthen...
Those words echoed through every corner of Dream World as its inhabitants mourned the passing of their beloved princess, who had died in the dead of the night, at the hands of a twisted, cruel fate.
"We hope that in the netherworld, you will find peace and... just like before, be the guiding star that gives hope to those who have given their lives to defend our kingdom, our home. May all the courageous Dreamers reunite with you and become the stars that light up the night sky, watching over us. Always guiding us to our true north. Being our Polaris. Farewell, my princess. You will be missed, Princess Lily." The one who spoke was Emma, the Guardian Knight of Dream World, the highest position in the ranks, most loyal knight of the late princess. And above all, one of Lily's most trusted close friends. Her voice sounded like a glass - loud and clear, yet standing alone against the storm, defending others from it, about to shatter at any moment. Following those words, everyone in the hall bowed to the casket that held the body of their beloved princess, the last heir of Dream World.
"If the mortal realm is really as it is said to be - dark, treacherous, chaotic, evil - then perhaps, this is what it looks like in our world. But why... did it have to be our princess who bore its cost? " Emma added, as she recalled the events that had led to this disaster. Every moment seemed to flash before her eyes vividly as if it was happening all over again. The pain from the wound, still fresh in her memory as if inflicted at this moment. A wound worse than walking on broken glass. A wound more painful than any physical wound that could be inflicted by violence, weapons and force. It was a wound of the heart. Dami blinked back her tears, as she knew that she would never heal from this pain. Ever.
Whispering softly, Emma knelt before the princess' lifeless body, "I'm sorry, Lily. Because of all that has happened, you had to suffer more even in death... Having to be locked up in the castle while war broke out in our home all around you. We could not even send you off until the war was over. And although the kingdom is now safe again, we have lost too much. Families separated from their loved ones. Destruction of homes. Our brethren who fell in battle... Too much blood has been spilt for this victory." She spat the last word like it was venom, bitter in her mouth. A word that was meant to be brimmed with meaning and pride came out as nothing but emptiness.
"Most of all, I lost my friends. My sist- " Her voice started to break. She continued, "I promise you, Jiu. I will rebuild Dream World, return it to its former glory and protect it with all my heart, until my last breath."
*******
A week. That was all it took for the entire kingdom of Dream World to experience the biggest war they have ever seen, a war that eventually became known as The Great War. It was a catastrophe that every Dreamer—inhabitants of Dream World—wish never to have happened. To never have to go down in their history. Though most knew how it began, very few knew how the war really ended. And they was how Emma wished for it to be forever. The war had ended as abruptly as it began. Its battles within that week, however, had seemed like an eternity. All because of a single deed —betrayal.
A quality that is against all principles of the Dreamers and has only been known to them from the stories of the mortal realm - the neighbouring realm of Dream World that has coexisted with it for aeons, since the beginning of time. Time runs the same in both worlds and so do their developments because Dream World exists for the mortal realm. For as long as mortals dream, Dream World will exist along with those dreams. And although both realms are connected, Dream World has been hidden from the eyes of mortals, its existence unknown to them. Between the two worlds, only Dreamers have the ability to travel to and fro both worlds—whilst guarding the secret of their existence.
The one thing that differentiates the two worlds is magic. The mortal realm never had the need for magic and was never a suitable place for magic to exist. For it was filled with everything that made it more of a dystopia than a utopia. Though goodness and light did exist, it was never enough to fight off the darkness that clouded over it. A darkness that is born from the worst qualities of mortals. If words and actions were fruits of a tree, the tree in the mortal realm would bear poisoned, endarkened fruits—inflicting destruction at every second, without care for the consequences that followed. If magic existed in the mortal realm, there would undoubtedly be more chaos than a 'magical miracle'.
On the hidden side of the world, in Dream World, magic is a necessity and has always been a part of its inhabitants' lives, the Dreamers because they require magic to carry out their responsibilities—guarding the dreams of all beings in the world, letting the good dreams in and keeping the nightmares at bay. Nightmares, however, are a tricky thing, which is why only the most skilled of the dreamers are assigned to the job of fighting nightmares. The royal family that rules... ruled Dream World were the most powerful Dreamers who had the power to do fight nightmares and on top of it, enter dreams and manipulate them from within. They were the only ones capable of creating dreams and placing them within the minds of others. Altering dreams as if it was just an alternate reality, creating a new world in the minds of others, was just like writing a story or drawing a picture. Unfortunately, with the passing of Princess Lily—the last heir to the throne—these abilities would cease to exist and only remain within the inked words in historical records as legends.
*******
The princess' funeral went on until the night until the crowd that had filled the Great Hall, eventually left one after another after paying their respects, each placing a blue rose around the princess' casket. By the end of the day, when the moon took the sun's place in the sky, only Emma was left in the big, empty hall. Tomorrow the burial ceremony is to begin at dawn. As the Guardian Knight, Emma was the next-in-command to lead the kingdom. As her sorrow grew, so did her responsibilities. She was to lead the burial ceremony tomorrow and still had much to prepare. Before leaving, Emma took one last look at Lily, whispering "She's gone. And so is the sword. I made sure of it myself. The sword has been destroyed too." She added, "I made sure that she can no longer harm Dream World ever again or anyone for that matter." Hesitating to turn away, the tears that she had held back for days—because of the brave front she had to put up when leading the other knights to defend their home —began to overwhelm her. She hated herself for showing such a broken side to Lily. Forcing herself to utter the final words, "Goodbye, Lily," she turned away, her back to Lily. And a single tear fell.
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*******
After Emma left the Great Hall, from the shadows, a lean figure of a woman emerged. The moon, at that moment, was hidden momentarily behind the clouds. Its light that had illuminated the hall earlier, began to dim. Hidden by the shadows, the figure made her way towards the casket, brimmed with a sea of blue roses. Without a word, she took a quick glance at the princess and placed a single blue rose in her hands. She slowly placed Lily's clasp over the rose and interlaced the princess' delicate fingers together. Just as the clouds cleared, revealing the full moon again, the mysterious figure disappeared as swiftly as she had appeared. Leaving no trace behind, except the blue rose in Princess Lily's hands.
