The Emperor's Dragon II

Landscapes of the Mind

Izuku knew that like most people, he dreamed, but, also, like a lot of people, he didn't remember them. That's what made it so odd when he did and as he lay in bed and thought, he wasn't certain that what he remembered was a dream.

It was odd enough for a dream. And now that he was awake, the memory lacked the hard feel of reality but he knew, at the time, that it had felt so real. Now that he was awake, it was obvious that it wasn't real.

He had been on a beach. Probably on an island because when he'd looked to the left and right, it had turned and disappeared. It felt like an island. Izuku had turned to look at the ocean and it had stretched into forever before him. The water was clear and small waves washed against the white sand beach. He'd heard a noise then. Something that was so out of place yet perfectly suited to a beach, the squeal of a child.

Izuku had known immediately that the child wasn't in any danger. It was a squeal of happiness but as he turned to look at the island, he realised he couldn't see any footsteps in the sand and there was lush greenery shielding whatever was happening on the island.

He was curious now and had stepped forward. His bare foot dug into the sand and he felt it hit something solid. Without even thinking Izuku had brushed the sand away using Caeli Imperium and was left staring at a skull. It looked to be a human skull but it wasn't complete. Half of it was missing so he was looking at one eye socket, and a half row of teeth. The lower jaw was gone... Izuku had looked at it for a few moments and was surprised that he didn't feel anything at seeing it. Then he'd realised, it was just a skull. He had no idea how it had gotten here, who it was or anything. It was bleached white, which would indicate it had been on the beach for a long time, so long it was the same white as the sand. Whoever it had been, their skull had been here for a while, so there was nothing he could do for them.

Another happy squeal had distracted him and Izuku had looked up. It sounded like it was coming from just behind the shielding layer of greenery. He took another step and soon, the sand under his feet turned into the softer feel of soil. It was moist without being squelchy and he carefully lifted the big leaves as he headed further on to the island. He did cast one eye back to the beach. He couldn't see the skull but he could see the way the white of the sand and the blue of the water interacted with each other. The colours were so vivid, and not even the shadow in the water could change that.

Izuku looked back at the greenery. There were trees and bushes and as he took a few steps further, he could see a sort of path between them. It was narrow, but definitely there because it was the only part of the ground that wasn't covered in leaf litter. Izuku had frowned at that. There was something odd there and it was only because he was awake now that he realised what it was. There were no trees that had leaves of the shape that were covering the ground.

His dreams were weird!

He hadn't been concerned then. There was sort of a blanket over his mind, keeping him calm in his dream, something that told him he was safe and that nothing would hurt him. Izuku hadn't minded that. It was kind of nice and he walked with a sort of dreamy lassitude towards where he could hear the squeals of the child... children, he figured, listening to their pitch.

It didn't take long for the leaves and foliage to open up into some sort of clearing. It was the oddest clearing Izuku had ever seen as it seemed to be bigger than the island and it was covered in an assortment of things. There were tables bearing food! A jumping castle. A ball pit and what looked to be a petting zoo, the type that could travel for events. There were even some beds, which appeared to be occupied by children who were sleeping soundly. Izuku just took it in for a few moments and then his eyes focused on the outer areas of the clearing. They were different. There was a series of solid looking poles driven into the ground. He was actually standing beside one. Izuku looked up at them and just stared. Each of the poles had a cross beam and adorning each of those cross beams was a crucified person. He just stared at them for a few moments, feeling oddly detached.