Lucid

CHAPTER 12 - EMOTIVE

"You need to keep your mind relaxed."

Celine sat in front of me, her legs crossed in a meditative pose, mirroring the way Clare had helped me back at the hospital during my panic attack. I took a deep breath, steadying myself as I watched her settle in.

"Inhale slowly," I guided. "Let it fill your lungs, and then release—feel your body do the work."

I closed my eyes, shifting my awareness inward. My heart. My breath. The steady rhythm of life moving through me. Unbeknownst to Celine, keeping my eyes shut allowed me to see—not in the way she did, but through something deeper. Energy shimmered around us, a calming pale blue descending over me like a ripple across a still ocean.

"Once your mind is blank," she continued, "I want you to take my hands. Firmly."

Our knees were close, barely an inch apart. I felt the warmth of her palms hovering over my thighs, open and waiting. I focused on my breathing, clearing away the noise in my head before placing my hands in hers. Her fingers wove between mine, locking them in place.

The moment was... odd. A flicker of something almost intimate threatened to surface, but the feeling never quite took hold.

"Whatever happens," she said, voice softer now, "stick with me. No matter what."

I nodded. "Okay."

Celine inhaled deeply, and as she exhaled, I felt it—the first stirrings of warmth in her palms. The sensation crept up my wrists, tingling like static against my skin.

Curious, I cracked my eyes open.

Golden strings wove through the air around us, caught in swirling streams of dust, shifting and pulsing with a dim glow. They moved with purpose, curling along the edges of the room, coiling around us like living threads of light.

I looked down at my hands.

The golden glow slithered over my skin, slow and deliberate, as if testing the limits of my existence. My rainbow shimmer pulsed in defiance, resisting the intrusion—but not for long. Instead of repelling the golden energy, it folded into it, merging like paint bleeding into water.

It crawled up my arms, coiling around my chest, moving in tandem with the steady rise and fall of my breath.

Then, just as it reached my head—

I was yanked away from the wheel.

~~~

My eyes opened.

I was standing beneath the tree at the centre of the meadow, my arms still outstretched like they had been before Celine brought me here.

Naturally—almost instinctively—I turned toward the icy dome that held me hostage.

I exhaled, my breath curling in the air like mist. "Celine," I called out, unsure if she could hear me. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do here."

My words echoed, rippling outward across the open valley.

But the sound didn't just fade.

It hummed.

The ground beneath me trembled, a deep vibration that resonated through my bones. Overhead, where the sun had been, a spectral glow unfurled—tendrils of golden light drifting downward in waves of dust and wind. It carried warmth, not just heat but something deeper, something that settled inside me like reassurance.

A healing light within the darkness.

From it, a figure emerged.

She descended slowly, her silhouette taking shape within the cascade of light. She wore a long, flowing dress—white silk adorned with golden ornaments. I had never seen Celine wear anything like it before. It felt ancient, belonging to a time I couldn't place.