Another world, Celeste

Thirty One, pt 3

Dream World

A forest welcomes me and I see a path paved with stones of which I'm certain leads to his winter tree. Barefooted, I slowly take my time walking on the path and taking in the scenery of the trees and ground densely blanketed with flowers. Midway down the path, a wooden park bench appears but I continue walking until a familiar coldness touches my skin. My steps halt instead of walking into the domain of the winter tree. I observe the winter tree's stillness for a minute before turning around.

"Let's wait."

So, I walk back to the wooden park bench and sit there. Nothing else but the sound of leaves rustling now and then. Eventually, I slump down on the bench and gaze up at the sky. It's difficult to tell the passing of time in this place but one thing for sure is that it gets lonely being here all by myself. I express my mutterings to the family of clouds floating closely and idly.

"He's not here tonight too."

Silence.

"Is he not sleeping or what?" I grumble.

This dream world is mysterious. Unlike experiencing a lucid dream, we can't come and leave here as we want to yet the changing landscape seems to be affected by our strong emotions. When I remember the uneasiness I felt during the day, I whisper to the now darkening grey clouds.

"Please, let me be wrong."

All of a sudden, a nostalgic voice surges up in me and a random forgotten memory plays in my head. I can only hear grandmother's voice, everything else is a blur. I might've been crying.

Grandmother says to my younger self, "No matter the place, real or imaginary, beautiful scenery is best shared with people you love. That's how they become your beautiful moments. My only wish is for you to have many, many beautiful moments with people who loves you and cares about you."

Grandmother wipes my overflowing tears.

She continues, "Your first beautiful moment is happening now, with me and my husband."

The memory ends.

Grandmother was right. For the past year, my collection of beautiful moments are even more than it used to. Sometimes that makes me scared.

"You better be alright, Leon."

At the same time very late in the night, Captain Leon Woolfe just finish reviewing the reports regarding the monsters' movement over the past five months in Lord Dumont's territory. The reports are meticulously written that it's taking quite some time for him to read through it all. The person who provided the reports also includes summarised accounts, nevertheless, the more information he has will be most helpful for his unit's mission in the forest. Vice-captain Dreyes is also in the room with him, massaging his tired eyes after setting down the papers on the table.

"As expected of the ideal town for tamers and adventurers alike," Vice-captain Dreyes speaks. "No other place would list the local monsters' favourite place to rest along with an estimate of their population per season in one report."

"There isn't any recent report about a magical beast's sighting," Captain Woolfe comments.

"I also don't find any report bearing the same description as the injured magical beast we came across. That was the only magical beast case that happened this year."

Captain Woolfe leans back in his chair and thinks silently.

Vice-captain Dreyes informs Captain Woolfe that he's going to gather more information and leaves the room. Now that he's all alone, tiredness takes over him and the dream begins.

He unhesitatingly walks down the stone path. When the sky grows darker, there are no stars and the grey clouds are covering the sky entirely. Despite the darkness, he walks forwards using his senses to where she's waiting. Luminescent droplets of water float up from the ground as though to support him and his pace fastens. When he finally sees her sitting on a wooden bench, the expression of her gazing upwards made him stop. She's smiling but her eyes are tinged with redness. Pain stabs him in the chest. He immediately wants to ask what made her unhappy. Before he could do that, she notices his presence and abruptly sits up. Relief replaces the sadness that was on her face just a moment ago. When he shows no signs of moving from his spot, she quickly walks over and holds his face firmly in her hands.

She frowns at him and says, "You're late. You're working overtime again, aren't you?"

The many changes in her expression in that split second baffles him and she's not even giving him a chance to speak.

"As long as you're alright," she mutters.

Then, she looks him in the eyes and questions him. "You are alright, right?"

He realises that she wants to hear the answer from him.

"Of course," he reassures her with a smile.

She stares into his blue eyes before looking seemingly satisfied with his answer. With a sigh of relief, she finally let go of her hold but he wouldn't allow it. He gently grasps her hands and let her touch stays on his face. The pain in his chest disappearing and the accumulated fatigues wash away.

"All I can do for you is recharge your energy. If this keeps up, I'm going to start feeling like a human charger."

He bumps his forehead with hers.

"This is enough," he utter softly.