Chapter 11 : Dream Manipulation

Klergy - Dangerous Game

Lobodepeluche

✡️✡️✡️

I opened my eyes to be met with a cloudy sky. I watched three crows fly above me and I ducked down real quick thinking they were going to attack me. But, they just flew to a branch and just watched me. All I did was blink and stare at them. It was then that everything around me got into view. I was surrounded by pine trees. How was this possible? The next minute I was getting ready to bed and had my eyes closed to sleep and now, I am awake here in this huge forest of pine trees. It was all the silence and the wind blowing that was around me. Was I dreaming? I quickly rolled up my hoodie sleeve and pinched my hand. I winced in pain as I shock my arm to the sudden pain of pinching myself.

Underneath my feet were leaves and tall grass. Just this moment, I bent down on all fours and just placed my hands on the brown soil. I could feel the dampness of the soil as I realized this was all real. So, I'm not dreaming. But why does it feel like I am? Just then, I heard a rustle in the bushes and my heart suddenly started to beat fast. Fear rushed through me like a lightning strike and I quickly hid myself in the tall grass, laying down in my stomach in utter stillness and slowly moving the tall grass to see who it could be in the bushes. Noises of leaves crunching from different sides made my head turn from left to right in fear. I was totally getting an adrenaline rush.

A sudden breeze hit my face and when I opened them, I was face to face with a huge, gigantic, probably 10 feet tall, serpent. I swallowed a huge lump of saliva down my throat as I stared into its eyes. The fear rushed through me ten times than before and when I realized its eyes were in different colours, it reminded me of Luca. They were like his eyes. One blue and the other green. Automatically, I felt a calmness in my heart the more I thought of Luca being this serpent. It gave me a safe feeling that my hand slowly started to reach for it. The closer my hands got to it, the more still the serpent became. Just as my hands placed on its face, I watched its mouth curve into a smile. Okay, am I seeing shit or did this serpent just smile at me? I withdrew my hand and held it in my chest as I felt my heart pulsating.

"This is not the first time we meet, Ruby." Its soft male voice gave it away.

"L-Luca?!" I exclaimed in shock as I flinched backwards, hitting my butt a little too hard on the ground. "Ouch! That hurt!" 

He laughed and just stared at me as I stood up feeling much calmer, realising its Luca. I dusted my hands and my butt that ached a little from hitting too hard on the ground. It was all Luca's fault for showing up in a serpent form. It was then that it dawned on me that I never feared snakes or any animal to that matter. When I was small, I had the ability to talk to animals and I could understand them. This was a reason for me not having any friends from when I was younger. I actually hid this from Aoi too, thinking he wouldn't be my friend if I told him, I talked to animals and had the ability. He did find out when I was 8. I helped a snake that was trapped between some branches. The rest of the children were screaming out of fear, but I remember clearly walking upto the snake and telling it not to fear me and I freed it. Aoi watched me in utter shock, releasing the snake and telling it your welcome. But, like other kids, he didn't run away from me. He found this rather cool and started to bring in pets asking me what they were thinking and what they were saying.

"Yeah, it's me, Luca. There's nothing to be so surprised about. And I'm that snake you helped when you were eight." He answered me with such calmness that it was me that looked at him in utter shock again.

Now it was me that had my mouth open in an 'O' that Luca transformed into a human right before my eyes, slowly walked up to me and closed my mouth with his right hand while keeping his left hand behind his back.

"Wait...WHAT?!" This was what came out of my mouth after I processed what he just said.

To my loud voice, Luca moved his face back, closing his eyes. "Gees! You're so loud." He scratched his ear as he looked at me again.

I backed away from him a little as I suddenly started to walk back and forth. "Okay, I need a place to-" before I finished my sentence, Luca just pointed his index finger to where I was, made a nice chair made of branches appear in front of me.

"Just sit down there Ruby, if you need to think that much. But, you really don't have to think that much." Luca crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the pine tree that was beside him.

"I'm trying not to think but, tell me first where the hell am I?!" I asked, turning around in my chair and looking around me.

Luca sighed when he suddenly snapped his fingers and the whole scenery changed into a mountain top. The wind was a bit harsh but the view behind was breathtaking. I stared into a beautiful view of the ocean. The tree that Luca was leaning on was now a huge oak tree with beautiful flowers everywhere underneath it. For a second, I watched Luca's beautiful long silver hair dance to the breeze. His face even looked more angelic as the sun was bright. It was then I caught his black marks glitter and glow to the sun's light. When his mouth suddenly curved into a grin, I realized what I had been doing and quickly looked away.

"See what you like?" Luca suddenly asked me with a smirk on his face.

"What? What did I see?" I asked like nothing happened.

"Anyway, I'm in your dream. You are currently asleep in your room. You really got some pretty nice sleeping posture." Luca smirked, staring directly at me.

I coloured so much more this time as he got to know my sleeping habits. "You stalker! Pervert! It's not right to enter a girl's room! It's private!" I retorted back covering my chest with my hands.

"Chill Ruby, I am not that kind of a person. Plus, I'm here to tell you a story. The story you wanted to hear from me." He smiled genuinely as he looked away staring into the distance.

I looked in the direction he was looking at when I spotted a lovely modernized house. It was more of a cabin in the woods. Luca smiled as he suddenly snapped his fingers and we were now inside the house. All the dreams that I had been seeing when I was young, popped up. This dream happened to be the time I saw Luca's back. It became clear to me. I watched a little girl peep through a wall as her caretaker, Mrs Arabella, talked to a guy who happened to be Luca. This was the vision I saw when I met Luca for the first time when I was brought into the castle.

"It was you! You were there." I answered, staring at Mrs Arabella.

"Yes, I was there to ask for her help as Queen Rina needed her help." Luca spoke, staring at the little me.

"Wait, so you're telling me that Mrs Arabella was a spiritualist too?" I asked, this time turning towards Luca. I needed confirmation from him.

He turned towards me, giving me a genuine smile that had a sad feeling to it as well. "Ruby, Mrs Arabella is your real mother's best friend. And your real mother is Princess Althenea." Luca answered, looking away from me and snapping his fingers.

Everything changed into darkness. We were now in a huge corridor of brick walls. As I looked out and took a step out, I realised it was raining. It was also night time and really windy that I started to get soaked by the rain. But, right in the middle of the courtyard was a lady. The red hair was what triggered me. My feet dragged me towards her. Just when I got closer to her, I was met with a little boy with silver shoulder length hair dressed up in a royal outfit. The white royal outfit matched perfectly with his silver hair. His eyes gave away who he was. The blue and green eyes. It was none other than little Luca.

"Mrs Althenea, where are you going? You shouldn't go! You will die if you go there!" Little Luca pointed his hands towards a castle that was on fire.

It was then I watched in horror as the castle was partly falling apart with gunshots in the air. There was a huge war happening. There were sounds of running footsteps that seemed to echo through the heavy rain in the distant woods. There were even loud screams and swords clashing with each other. But, I was concentrating more on Princess Althenea who happened to be my real mother. No wonder I looked like her and that little girl in my visions was me. The more I stared at her the more my heart aches for her.

"Luca! What are you doing here? You should be back inside there to be safe!" She answers in worry and concern, pointing towards the corridor.

"You should be inside there too! The baby girl is yours isn't it? She will be sad if you are gone." Luca answers back with concern towards Princess Althenea.

She bends down towards Luca's height and smiles. "Are you worried about me not returning back to my daughter?" She asked, ruffling Luca's head.

He just nodded his head and looked directly into her eyes. It was then I saw how concerned he was that his eyes sparkled. It was like he was about to cry. Princess Althenea hugs him to stop him from crying. Luca wasn't a cold hearted person. It was just that people saw him as a cold hearted person that kept that side of him. I realized it now. He was always a kind person and cared about the people that were close to him.

"Luca, listen to me. I have to be there to help your father. Everything will be over soon. I will be back, but it might take a few years." She answered him looking up at the castle.

"Then I'm coming with you. I can fight bad guys pretty well. I am the first in combat classes and I always win the competitions." Luca answers by doing some pretty good moves.

I'm impressed. If I was his age, I wouldn't be able to even throw a punch. It kind of made me smile with amusement for a second. Princess Althenea laughed, placing a hand over her mouth. Her laugh lasted for a few minutes as it was like this was going to be her last laugh. Little Luca stops as he starts to laugh too.

"My goodness! Look at you! You are such a brave young man! But listen to me Luca," she held Luca by the shoulder and looked seriously into his eyes. "You can't come with me. Never! You have to stay behind to protect your sister and also my daughter. Will you do that for me Luca?" She asked Luca with her eyes beaming.

For a while, he suddenly looked in the direction of the corridor. Probably he was looking in the direction where his sister was and also where I would be.

"Okay, I will. But, will you come back?" He asked, staring into Princess Althenea's eyes.

"Yes, but it will take time. You are such a brave boy, Luca. When you grow up I know you will be a better fighter than everyone else. Someday, you will also teach my daughter." She smiled at Luca and patted his head standing straight.

"I will wait for you to come back safely!" Luca beamed a smile of confidence as he said this.

"Luca, I need you to protect my daughter. She will probably look like me. She will have black hair. Due to her ability in power, the roots of her hair will be red. This will probably affect her, but I know she will be someone strong. She will be with the humans and will be raised by a couple in the human realm. Please protect her for me." She answers with her eyes beaming again.

"I will! I will look into your daughter all the time. Until you come back safely, I will protect her!" Luca smiles with confidence as he gives a salute.

"I trust you Luca. You are the only one I trust. Because you are different from your mother." She answers with a smile as she suddenly starts running towards the castle.

As I watched her run with her red hair bouncing, my chest started to hurt. She started to get smaller by the minute as she ran. In a few minutes, she was only a dot and then gone. All I did was stand there staring at where she had run off too. I looked around if she had run off elsewhere but, my heart knew. She had gone to save this land from destruction and chaos. I had always wanted to know how my real parents looked liked and all this time, my mother had been close to me in my dreams. Right now, I miss her. I suddenly crouched down in the pouring rain and for the first time, let out my tears.

As my crying got worse, I felt a warm hand on my head. I suddenly looked up to be met with those blue and green eyes. They glistened to the moonlight. I realised Luca had made the weather change into a nice cool night time and had made my clothes dry. He snapped his fingers and we were back in the mountain top, underneath the oak tree. All he did was pat my head like I was a little kid and smiled genuinely at me.

"It's okay to cry. She will be back, I know. Until then, you have to stay strong and be how she wants you to be. And everyone is going to be there to help you. You aren't alone, Ruby. Plus, it was I who created the dream of you with your mother. That way, it makes you closer to your mother." Luca sits down next to me, as he looks up at the sky.

I slowly sit down and do the same. "Isn't it classified to know about my mother?" I asked, looking at Luca. He looks angelic from the side though.

"She's your mother, Ruby. You have the right to know about her. To get some information, I had to break into Queen Rina's library. Anyway, I was always a troublemaker back then as I didn't like royal duties." Luca answered with a laugh, speaking a bit about himself.

I smiled. "You were a troublemaker huh. I should have known." Suddenly I scoffed out a laugh.

Luca turned towards me and glared at me that I suddenly broke into a fit of laughter. Slowly, Luca breaks into a laugh too.

"I always thought you were someone who went by the rules. But it turns out you are someone who actually breaks the rules." I laughed as I spoke.

"It's only royal rules, I obey other rules, Ruby. Unlike you, who does pranks on your teachers in school." He smirked as he suddenly went back to his usual persona.

"Wait...hold on! You have been stalking me?!" I answered, suddenly standing up in utter shock.

Luca just crossed his arms over his chest as he grinned with amusement. "I was only watching you. I promised your mother, didn't I? So, that wasn't technically stalking." He got to his feet and slightly flickered my forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?!" I rubbed my forehead in annoyance.

He just laughed. "In a few minutes you have to wake up, so for now let's call it."

Luca looked up at the sky when I slightly started to hear a bell ring. I knew it was coming from outside. I was dreaming and it was then it dawned on me, Luca had the power to manipulate dreams and be in other people's dreams. This made me colour again thinking he can actually pry on my dreams and see them anytime he wanted too. I should probably make some rules for that. He can't always come into my dreams and take over. I need my own privacy too.

__________

Hey guys!

Its finally another chapter! I am back! (What am I even saying, obviously I am back 😂) Well, I told you guys I would be updating daily, so here it is! Hope you all liked this chapter and enjoyed it.

I think a lot of your questions got answered in this chapter. But look forward to the next one because, its gonna be much more interesting! 🤭

Question time!
🌟
What's your favourite animal and why?
🌟

Inline comment your answers. Also, if you got any question, do ask me and I will try my best to answer them. 😊

Thank you so much for the love and support to this book! I love you guys!

Will see you in the next chapter!

Bye bye!

- Kei