Ashes to ashes

𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯

╝❀╚

❝𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚...❞

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          You hate dreams, and you hate dreaming. You always seemed to know when you were dreaming, though you remained vulnerable to the dream like state, and was unable to wander and break from character. So, you were unable to lucid dream, just watch through your own eyes as you went through past series of mistakes. After all, you have nothing to dream about other than your past.

Peaking your eyes open, they eventually fully widened as you sat yourself up from the patch of scorched grass you had been laying upon. You geared your head left and right, trying to figure out where you were and what memory this was. Glancing downwards at your hands, you furrowed your brows in slight confusion.

You were quick to notice that your normal attire that you once bore was discarded, instead you were wearing a beautiful flowing hanfu dress. Standing up, you brush the top of the dress, the bright and livid screaming shade of red was decorated with golden flame accents. Taking a peak down, the skirt of the dress was a light beige color, white ribbons flowing from your back.

Drifting your hands upwards, you touched the middle of your eyebrows, noting the gem that was pressed firmly there. You could only guess it was a ruby.  You let your hands glide down to the collar of your hanfu, a wreath necklace laying itself dormant there. It was made of gold and woven with wonderful silvers.

Letting out a breath, you shook your head in realization that you had somewhat control over your body this time around. You were able to turn your head and look around, every now and then you would be allowed to move your arms and hands. However, your feet seemed to have a mind of its own, dragging your away from the charred patch of grass and elsewhere.

It took a while of roaming before you came upon a dirt path, your shoes crunching lightly from the tilled path. You continued to look around, not familiar with this dream nor memory. Then again, you tended to shut your past away from yourself quiet often. This was a way to protect yourself from your Karmic Debt.

Though you weren't sure of where you were going, your body was confident on the path ahead, leading you through the dirt road and up windy paths. After a few more moments, your feet were starting to ache, yet your body resisted the urge to sit down and pushed itself forward. You could only admire your old body's stamina and confidence.

Eventually, you spotted a few dots in a somewhat faraway distance, and it seemed they were walking towards you. Yet, you did not stop, instead you pushed yourself faster towards these dots. After a while of walking, the dots eventually blurred into reality, making you gasp softly.

Out of all dreams you've had, this one was definitely one that was unique. Upon approaching the group, you were quick to notice all familiar faces, old friends if you must. Sun Wukong was lazing on his cloud, leaning back and picking something out of his ear, a calm expression on his face. Next to him on a white horse was Tang Sanzang, eyes closed as he seemed to be muttering things to himself.

Noticing the lack of two primary, and scary, figures, you decided to take a peak behind you, as your shadow had seemed to grown in size. There behind you stood Sha Wujing and Zhu Bajie, both of their weapons thrown across their shoulders lazily as they gave you a hard glare. You wanted to burst out into smiles and laughter at the sight of your old friends, however you remained hopeless in your dream as your body acted on it's own.

You took a few steps backwards, stumbling on your feet before tripping and falling on your ass. The two giants only snickered as they slowly started to circle you, looking down at you as if you were their next meal. The two of them only stopped when Tang Sanzang opened his eyes once more and told the two demons to move.