Elliot: A Lucid Dream

18: Burn

"Remember your coat, Milly! You, too, Sunshine, I can see you tryin' to get away!" Ashley called to us. He scowled at us, pretending to be angry, but both Camille and I knew that Ashley never meant it. I rolled my eyes, grinning. A smile was tugging at the corners of his lips. Camille spun and stuck her tongue out at him. The smile broke through. 

"Ashley," Sonnet's voice came from the kitchen. "Let them be. If they catch colds then they will have to deal with it themselves." 

"Aw, come on, Sonnet. They're gonna freeze an' get sick. I'll have to take care of them..." Ashley's voice faded as he walked back into the café. 

Camille grabbed my wrist, giving it a harsh squeeze. She grinned at me excitedly, her eyes bright. "Come on, Azure! This is gonna be one of the only times we can leave the café before spring comes again. We might as well do something cool today!" 

Sonnet waved to us as we walked out into the snow from one of the large windows in the café. She was actually quite pretty, when she wasn't all stressed and sad. Maybe she was finally moving forward. She certainly seemed better now. I smiled at her and she smiled back, lit up from behind by the soft yellow lights of the café. 

"Hurry up, Azure! There's news in town today! I heard the customers buzzin' 'bout it back in the café! They were whisperin', so I couldn't really hear them! We gotta find out what they were talkin' about!" Camille continued to pull at my wrist until I gave in and followed her, running.

Come to think of it, I'd seen that, too. They were all leaning across the tables, talking in hushed whispers. Whenever I approached a single table that morning, they'd hush, but only for a second. It made me feel like I was being watched. They giggled. It was probably nothing, but it made me all the more curious as to what had happened. 

We laughed happily as we went through the streets. The air was very cold. It bit at my nose and fingers, but I slowly began to warm up as we ran. Running actually wasn't that bad, now that I  thought about it. Maybe I was just getting used to the excercise. Maybe. Camille was still much faster than me, of course. I'd begun to pick up the pace when suddenly I slammed into her.

"C-Camille! Why are you-" I looked up, then gaped at the sight.

There was a fire. A huge fire, some distance off, but not far. It was a bright, burning color, all oranges and reds and yellows. A dangerous one, not the pretty scintillating ones that Camille made. Immediately, goosebumps rose on my arms. Somewhere, something was burning. 

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Azure... that's... that's the direction Mavia's in..."

"Mavia? Are you sure?" I squinted at it. It didn't seem that far away. I couldn't see much else besides the flickering flames. Eating away at something. 

She swallowed. "Yeah..." 

Camille stood there for a few more seconds before abruptly taking off, running through the snow. Snow was flicked up by her feet, spraying me and every other passerby in a messy glob of slush. She was headed back towards the café, passing the center of town. I followed, my heart rate increasing rapidly as I felt a rush of adrenaline fuel me. 

"Ashley! Sonnet! Ashhhhley!" Camille wailed loudly, pounding on the large front window of the café with both fists.  

Sonnet immediately opened the door, her brow furrowed in worry. She took one look at us and asked, "What? What is it?"

"They're burning down Mavia!" Camille screamed. 

"What?" Mixed emotions- fury, fear, and disbelief, crossed Sonnet's face. It was gone the next moment, replaced by her usual mask of calmness. She opened the door of the café further and called, "Ashley!" 

"What?" He came running, wiping his hands on his flour-stained apron. "What's up... did something happen?"

"Mavia's being burned!" Camille yelled, in a frenzy. "They're... they're fucking burning it!" 

"What the-? Why?"

"I don't know! Come on!" Camille waved. Ashley immediately took off the apron and sprinted down the block, headed for the center of town. Sonnet looked around, then quickly followed, pulling her skirts up to run in the snow. Camille and I went after them. There was a different look on all their faces. They all were feeling the same thing. I was at a loss. I didn't feel it. This was something that they all understood. Something that I would never understand. 

Others looked at us as we ran through the snow. I heard yells from either side of the street but there was no time to reply. 

There already was a bunch of people gathering in the middle of town. They had also seen the fire. Ashley, Camille, and Sonnet were with them when I arrived, looking at the flames in the distance. 

Whispers came from all around us. 

"Serves them right..."

"Why? Mavia..."

"Queen Aya... Infernale will be angry..."

"Who cares? Kaviel can deal with Infernale. We're strong enough... we've got an alliance with Aseania, too..." 

"That's Zephia... the capitol... economy... fallen." 

"Who did it?" 

"We have to go there!" Camille yelled. She pushed at the crowd, running for the train station. "We need to go there now!" 

"Look at that girl... oh, you can see the gray eyes and that face shape... she's Mavian..." 

"Poor girl..."

"Poor girl? All Mavians can burn with their city." 

"Camille, stop!" Ashley ran and pulled his sister back, a desperate strength in the way he moved. "We can't go! It's boarded off! There's no way that they'll let us go there now! Camille! Listen to me! You can't go there! Camille!"

Camille screamed and pulled at Ashley, trying pull free of him. Her face was red and her hair was everywhere, tangled and blocking her eyes from view. There was a shrill note to her voice, something that was on the verge of breaking. She was breaking. Finally, she gave up, sobbing as she stood there, in the snow. Ashley hugged her tightly, resting his head on hers. I couldn't see his face. 

Camille knew. She knew that Ashley was right. 

Sonnet continued to stare at the flames. She was quiet. No reaction at all. 

I looked at her, trying to stay as calm as she was. Fear was bubbling up inside me. I fought it, trying to force it down. I guess that, in a way, I was trying to force myself to not think my real thoughts. I just didn't let myself. With this realization, however, my resolve was turning to dust. 

"What's going to... what's going to happen now?" I asked, my voice betraying all my efforts. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to be brave. I need to calm down. I was spiraling back into that horrible feeling. That panic. 

She didn't say anything, just watched as the flames grew bigger. They were faintly reflected in those eyes, the pale, colorless eyes. Glass eyes. 

No matter how close my experiences were with theirs, I would never exactly understand what it meant to be a Mavian in the Waking World. I would never experience the exact same thing. Because of that, I would never be able to perfectly empathize with them. 

I guess there were some things I wouldn't ever understand.