There's this dream you keep having.
It starts pitch black. It's so dark, you're not sure your eyes are even open. It's like being woken up when the power's gone out. All those familiar bits of light snuffed out, swallowed up. Just you and an empty night. You can't help yourself. You reach out, hoping that it is just a blackout, that you can just push away the weight of being alone like too many heavy blankets. But the darkness doesn't move.
You tread midnight like water in a well, all the while the cold drip of loneliness slips down your back. Then you realize that there's no surface to break. Your chest tightens. Your panic rises and it's hard to breathe. You're in way over your head. Then someone or something's pulled the plug at the bottom of the darkness and you're sinking further into the inky black. Your mouth opens to yell, to scream, but only silence comes out.
What did you expect when you have a mouth full of nothing? You heart's beating too fast. Just when you're about to give up, just when you're about to let go, you feel them.
Lux, Janna, Jinx, Lulu, Poppy, Ahri, Sarah, Neeko, Rakan, Xayah. You feel their light. It's like warmth and joy and comfort and laughter got balled up together so tightly they had no choice but to catch fire.
Your eyes are open. Maybe they were there from the beginning, but this is the first time you can truly see. Their faces are so beautiful, so peaceful. They're sleeping, dreaming maybe, untroubled by the darkness that surrounds you. You stretch your arms out, but they're too far. That's when you realize you’re falling.
The horizon of a world big and blue rushes up to meet you. You can't concentrate on where you’re going, the danger that's fast approaching. At this point you don't care. All you can see are your friends falling. The atmosphere of the planet below you burns hot, and their lights ignite.
Your arms ache to the bone. You try to catch them. You try to hold on, but you can't stop them from falling. You're not strong enough to keep them together. You're not enough for them. The tips of your own fingers start to glow and break apart. The last thing you see is their emblems darkening as their light shatters into a rainbow of ragged cinders.
And then you wake up.
You're in bed, the blanket in a sweaty tangle. The darkness is gone, replaced by a muted gray. You’ve taken to sleeping with one of the windows open. You walk over to it and watch the street below. The soft glow of the lights outside paints you and your room in shadow. Above all the sleeping quiet is darkness. You can feel it still, stretching on and on. It's hard to see the stars from the city. Just a few pinpoints of light break it up. But you know more are out there. Somewhere.
You crawl back into bed and wait for the dawn. You don't go to sleep. You can't. The dream is the same.
Always the same.
Star Guardian:
You Are Not AloneLux: Are you going to join us?
Jinx was lying on a plastic lounge chair in the backyard, while Shiro and Kuro napped in the grass at her feet. It's hard to tell if she's heard the pink haired girl. Abnormally large plastic sunglasses covered her eyes and most of her eyebrows. She had one earbud tucked in her left ear, but Lux could see the other dangling over the side of the recliner.
She totally heard her.
Lux: Hey, are you coming inside? We’re going to get started.
Jinx sticked a wad of fluorescent gum back into her mouth, chewed loudly, cracking the bubbles with her teeth, and then slowly began to blow a big, pink bubble. When she got the bubble big enough to obscure her sunglasses, she sucked it back in with a loud pop.
YOU ARE READING
Star Guardian: You Are Not Alone (Male Reader)
General FictionIn a vast and dark universe, young warriors are chosen by fate to protect the light of the stars. They are destined to burn bright, but collapse as furiously as they shine. Magically empowered by the First Star, high schooler Lux and her team of Sta...