\\ DUSK\\ Fantasy AU \ ATEEZ Fanfic

// Chapter 14 \\

Seonghwa merely hummed— hummed— after I told him the dream I'd just had or rather, the way he put it, the "light vision" I'd had once I stepped into Lenuil.

We'd closed the doors to the room to begin the process and our conversation while Elara waited outside in the halls. I'd sat down on the bed, awake as ever as I hadn't fallen asleep again. Perhaps it was the magic that kept my eyes peeled open or maybe it was the images of what I saw once I stepped into this room that plagued me.

I'd fallen. I couldn't get my wings out. And I felt the pain.

It felt real and he had only hummed at how I described it. That's how I found myself glaring at Seonghwa. In those moments, I didn't care that he probably knew more about the dream world. So I glared at him and when he turned to me. He still wasn't the least bit shocked as he was when I told him about the dream I'd just had. But my look must've said everything.

"You're wanting results far too quickly, Star," Seonghwa merely commented, nodding his head towards me as I sat there on the bed, still inside the walls of Lenuil.

"Well I haven't fallen back asleep. I'd count that as something," The quiver in my tone couldn't be helped as I worked to maintain my contact in his stare, taking in a sharp breath afterwards. Never have I ever wished more to blink, shut my vision, and turn away.

Seonghwa let out a calm exhale, slightly lowering his head but maintaining contact with me. It was like he spent a moment analyzing me then. He raised his head once more, "Star, the dream realm can be a difficult place to tap into."

I couldn't help my sarcastic smile, raising my brows as my voice clearly began to break into slight hysteria, "Ah, I suppose you would know that, wouldn't you?"

"Star," Seonghwa sighed, breaking contact as he began to walk slightly closer to me. He licked his lips, eyes gazing out the window that gave a glimpse of his Court below, "The dream realm is... an ascended place. It can reveal the past, the future, it can even reveal truth. But." He paused his steps, his eyes turning to the floor, "It has its share of lies, deception— not intentional. Well, you see, dreams aren't exactly straight forward answers all the time and the realm hardly gives you space to decipher truth from lie."

"So what are you trying to say?" I asked half out of curiosity and the other my dwindling patience. I narrowed my eyes as I craned my neck up to him— a small stroke of confidence.

That was quickly snuffed out when he looked back at me. "It means, Star, that what you saw very well could've just been something the realm completely came up with on its own from the reins of your mind."

It felt real though. All of it did.

I stood then, glaring at him with the cold blaze in my eyes, "And what if it wasn't, Seonghwa? What if it wasn't a lie?"

He took another step close, his eyes going hard in fiery, "That can never be for certain, Star. You haven't taken the reins to the realm yet and that is a rare occasion only a spare few can experience." He narrowed his eyes with a nod before his voice spoke with a hidden tone of rage, "You're stuck in this world with your eyes open. You're stuck in limbo when they're closed. You aren't trying to grasp the concept of the feel of the place, you're letting yourself believe it because you're letting the place hold the reins to your mind. But you won't know that because you're stuck on the how's, what's, and why's of what you're seeing!" He practically was yelling at the end of it before he paused and finally closed his mouth shut— tight. He took a step back then in the new silence after his words.