Marissa was flying in her dream. She was weightless, no clue as to where she was going but she felt free. Like none of the weight of life was on her. The wind pushed at her hair, freeing her vision of any loose strands and she could see a golden city. Even though she was dreaming and she knew none of this was real, a sudden sense of foreboding filled her and her gut dropped.

And then she was falling.

Down, down, down she went. She was still going forwards but she was falling in a direction that would land her in the golden city. Does it hurt to fall in dreams?

Marissa remembered what Ellie Rae's mom had told her once when she'd had a nightmare. She had said,

"Dreams cannot hurt you unless you allow them to. You are the only one who can make that decision."

Marissa was hurtling towards the ground and breakneck speeds, not giving her many options but to curl into a ball and think 'I choose not to be hurt, only I can choose when.'

She crashed into the ground seconds after she thought that and rolled to a stop at the foot of a flight of stairs. She lay there for a moment, blinking as she stared up at the sky.

She wasn't hurt.

She fist pumped the air and yelled. At least she could have some control over what she was doing. Then she felt the slight twinge in her shoulder from where she had landed mostly and winced. Okay, some control. She could deal with that. It was better than none at all.

Marissa slowly got to her feet and dusted off her jeans, slowly looking around as she did so. She had no idea where she was. Her understanding of dreams was that your mind takes people and places it had seen or been to before and reused those to create dreams. This was not a place Marissa had ever been to before.

She looked up and squinted. The sun was in the middle of the sky, beating down on her but she didn't feel like she was hot. At least her brain gave her that courtesy. She looked up at the golden city itself and tried to figure out why it made her feel so uneasy. She was interrupted by a voice.

"Adonis, come quick. The meeting is starting!" Marissa spun around, eyes wide. Adonis? The voice had come from a young man, dressed as though he belonged in a city made of gold and he was looking right at her. Marissa frowned, mouth gaping as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"Yes, I'm coming! Had to close out the other meeting I was in. Surely I told you that earlier, Dalton?" A woman's voice came from behind Marissa. She turned around just in time to see a young woman – presumably Adonis- walk right through her. Marissa gave a yelp of surprise. Adonis didn't even seem bothered, like walking through people was normal in dreams. Marissa blinked a few times as she watched Dalton greet Adonis with a kiss on the cheek and he offered her his arm. They didn't even know she was there. This was one hell of a dream because Marissa's dreams usually involved people talking to her. But also Dalton hadn't entirely spoken to her- he had spoken through her, right to Adonis. Like she wasn't there.

But then again, she was exhausted and her brain was probably trying to give her a break.

Adonis and Dalton walked up the stairs, talking amongst themselves as they entered the main doors of the golden city. Or was it a golden hall? Marissa, out of pure curiosity, followed them. Curiosity did usually kill the cat but because this wasn't real, it couldn't hurt to be nosy. Sometimes following your nose delivers you to exactly what you need.

The same can be said when there is food involved.

She slipped through the door just before it closed behind the two people she was following. Just because Adonis walked straight through her didn't mean Marissa wanted to find out if the same thing would happen if she tried to walk through a wall.

Well, really that was a lie, Marissa wanted to test it out but she wanted to see where Adonis and Dalton were going.

She followed them through several corridors, winding her way through whatever it was she was in. It was beautifully made, that she would admit to. Never in her wildest dreams did she think her brain would be capable of inventing such intricate beauty.

It wasn't all gold on the inside. In fact, it looked like most buildings she had explored when scavenging. Maybe a little less clinical and more richly decorated but nonetheless, she was impressed.

Adonis and Dalton finally came to a stop and a set of white doors. Dalton knocked and they waited for a brief period before the doors opened and they were let in. Marissa followed them still and saw she had entered a grand office space. In the grand old days, before the world had almost ended and had taken a fair portion of the population, this room would have been the equivalent of the oval office the president resided in- Marissa had learned that in her history classes (not that she had cared but it was useful information now. Helped with comparisons).

She didn't notice that there were other people in the room until one of them greeted her tour guides.

"Adonis, Dalton. Thank you for joining us. And thank you for coming on such short notice. I know you have been busy, my dear Adonis." Marissa spotted the man who had spoken. He was a greasy looking man, his hair slicked back into what Marissa could only think of as an unfashionable backwards comb-over. His nose was mildly hooked, and he peered over it through round glasses. His eyes were a very watery green that made Marissa shiver. He did not look like a nice man.

The two sat down across from the man and Marissa followed closely behind.

"Thank you for calling us, Chancellor. I'm sure you have been busy while he has been busy." Adonis smiled tightly. She looked uncomfortable with the Chancellor staring at her over his nose and his glasses. Marissa thought he looked like if he slipped out of his clothes, he would be able to return to the depths of whatever dark ocean hole he had emerged from. Dalton looked uncomfortable as well. He rested a hand on Adonis's knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. The Chancellor noticed the small movement and his eyes narrowed.

Creep.

"Shall we go straight to the business you have called us here to discuss?" Dalton asked. Marissa looked at the Chancellor and had a bad feeling again. She commanded herself to breathe slowly, calming her heart down but it had minimal effect.

"Yes, I suppose we should." The Chancellor reached down to open a draw in his desk and from within, he pulled out a book. Marissa had no idea what it was but from the looks that came onto Adonis's and Dalton's faces, it wasn't good. "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you two." He opened the book slowly, turning each page as if he were inspecting it. Marissa was dying to get closer to see what was in it. So she tried.

Only, she couldn't. Her feet felt like they were glued to the ground, cementing her in a position where she could see and hear everything but the smaller details were not for her. She cursed.

"I'm afraid," The Chancellor drawled again. "That your number is up." Marissa had heard that saying before and had even said it herself- usually when it came to beating the crap out of someone. Besides the fact that she was stuck in one place, something was being to feel very... real about this dream. The reactions of Adonis and Dalton, the impending sense of doom that now hung in the air. The lack of control over what was happening. This almost seemed like something not even she could conjure for herself. She had never been blessed with an imagination and this seemed like something her brain would not usually provide as nightly entertainment.

The fact that she had no idea where she was or who these people were.

"I... What did we do? We pay our taxes. We help supply the City. We've made sure to be good citizens!"

"Yes, you have. However there have been... discussions around your character and how you would fit into the new world has been questioned." Marissa was even more confused. And apparently, so were Adonis and Dalton.

"What did we do? What did we do wrong?" Dalton demanded. He remained sat in his seat but only because Adonis now had a grip on his hand and that seemed to keep him in his spot. The Chancellor shook his head.

"I'm afraid I am not at liberty to discuss this with you." Marissa scoffed at that.

"Oh come on, surely they deserve to know if they've done something wrong?!" Even though her voice was raised, they paid no attention to her. It was like she wasn't even there.

"I am only here to inform you that your time here has come to an end. The Master sends his sincerest apologies that he was not able to be here to thank you for your services. He did, however, allocate a.... representative of the Four." Marissa watched as the blood drained from the faces of the two. Her heart quickened. He made it sound like a....

"No, please. Please. You can't do this."

"I did not make this decision, Adonis. I am only one voice of many."

"You have the strongest pull with him! Surely..... Please..." Adonis pressed a hand to her mouth. The Chancellor shook his head at her and looked towards the doors they had come through in the beginning. Marissa watched as an old servant gentleman nodded his head and opened the door, slipping out. Marissa felt sick.

"Wake up, Mar. Come on. This is just a dream. Just a dream." She muttered to herself. She pinched herself, hard. No pain. She cursed. She was still asleep but at the same time, she wasn't. Her feet were still frozen in place, nothing she tried freed her. Adonis and Dalton were still begging for an explanation and pleading for something as Marissa bent down to untie her shoe and see if that helped her get free form being stuck. It didn't, much to her dismay. Her foot was just as stuck as her shoe.

There was a thunderous noise and Marissa bolted upright, looking right at the doors as it swung open. Adonis started crying as Dalton jumped to his feet, looking ready to start a fight. Marissa looked between him the doorway. She wanted to shrink into her boots when a dark figure entered through the doorway, ducking to avoid hitting his head on the frame, his body covered in blackened Armor. She couldn't see his face because it was covered with a black helmet that reflected the lights from the room. It was sharp and revealed nothing but two piercing eyes through the eye holes. The man stopped in front of Dalton and Adonis and peered down at them. He sighed; his voice distorted through the helmet.

"These are the two?" The Chancellor nodded his head as he got up from his desk and Marissa watched as he began to prostrate himself before the figure. Marissa looked back at the armoured giant and felt her heart rise into her throat.

Whatever was about to happen, Marissa felt like she was going to be sick.

"They are yours for the taking, Lord. Do what you will." He looked at the bent over Chancellor then back at the couple before him. He didn't seem to have noticed Marissa's presence either, which she couldn't help but thank God for that.

The giant nodded his helmeted head and Marissa heard him breathe heavily. He raised out a hand and grabbed Dalton by the neck, so quick that Marissa didn't have time to blink. He lifted the man into the air and held him there for a moment. He didn't squeeze but Marissa was shocked to see what looked like a stream of black water wind its way down his arm. Adonis was frozen in her seat, mouth open in horror as she watched the black liquid flow on to Daltons' skin and up and around his neck, pushed his mouth open and slid in and up his nose. Dalton squirmed, trying to fight but there was nothing he could do but wave his legs in the air.

Marissa wanted nothing more than to wake up from this nightmare.

When the black fluid finished entering Daltons body, he dropped him and turned to Adonis, tears streaming down her face as she watched helplessly. She looked up at the giant and shook her head, mouthing the words no. Marissa heard the man sigh again only this time, he didn't grab the woman by the neck. With another quick movement, the man flicked his wrist and the same black fluid flew from his hand and entered her the same way. She seized for a few seconds as she tried to fight, choking on the black fluid. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she went limp, the fluid doing its job.

Marissa stood there, frozen. She had no idea what she had just witnessed. The two were breathing still but clearly unconscious but that wasn't the worst of it. Blackened spots were appearing on their skin, spreading from their fingers first. The giant flicked his wrist and they disappeared, the only sign they had even been there was the chairs being out of place. The Chancellor looked up from his position and saw they were gone.

"Where did you send them, Lord?"

"Away. They will die soon but not before they spread the illness I put into them. I will go and claim the lost soon." The Chancellor nodded.

"Of course, Lord. Is there anything else you need from me?" The man shook his head. Even though he had a helmet on, there was an air of boredom to him. Despite what he had just done. "Very well. I will send word to the Master that it is done, Lord Pestilence. For the Citadel." The Chancellor held a fist over his heart and bowed low. Marissa's eyes almost fell out of her head. Pestilence. Citadel. The fourth horseman. They really were all here and clearly, they were not working alone.

And this... This was the Citadel. This was where the guards had come from\. All those soldiers.
As she thought that, mind whirring, she noticed a small movement from Pestilence. His eyes were focused on something else now.

They were focused on her.

"Spy." He hissed. He waved his hand and a sword appeared in it. He swung it at Marissa and she didn't have time to scream as the sword came for her neck and everything went dark.