Rebellion (After the Haunted FF)

Chapter 41

Remember when I said chapters would be shorter? I lied apparently. You might be able to tell that I rushed a few scenes.
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Lalea's point of view-

My eyes slowly fluttered open, my breath being taken away as a scent of something burning that hung thickly in the air. I covered my mouth with my arm and coughed. Once I was used to it and able to regain my breath, I lowered my arm and looked up at the familiar environment I was in. The walls, ceiling, and floor that encased me were red with small spots of black and grey. Solid netherrack. Fire raged on the floor and licked at the walls, flickering but not spreading like normal flames. Thick clouds of smoke and ash floated above me and made my eyes water, giving a hint of grey against the atmosphere.
I knew that this was a dream, one where I would see Drake. The environment gave it away. It was rare for me to have dreams where I saw him, or at least ones where I saw him in this room. These dreams were the ones that seemed more lifelike; the ones that made me think that perhaps he was trying to reach out to me. Now that I have nearly mastered lucid dreaming, perhaps I can now figure out if it really is Drake's spirit or just images created in my head by my worries and paranoia.
I looked down, my eyes going wide. He sat there in his usual position, on his knees with his wrists and ankles chained down onto the floor by transparent black shadows. His head was down, but I could see red dripping from his head and bloody hair. His clothing and skin were covered in blood, his flesh ripped and scarred. There was complete silence with the exception of the crackling flames and my heartbeat pounding in my ears.
He lifted up his head, thick crimson syrup like liquid running down his face. Even without a body, even through he was just a soul, he still bled. Repeatedly tortured both physically, mentally, and emotionally...I could imagine how he felt. No. Not even I could come close to guessing what torment he had endured. After seeing him so broken down when he was alive I could only guess that his sanity was reduced to nothing. The smell of the blood and the sight of my love so broken down never failed to consume me with dread, but I could not turn away.
He looked up at my slowly, a small groan escaping from him. It was almost like he was still alive. He gave off no life force, but instead pure spirit energy. It was weak and I could feel a strong pressure against me, letting me know that he was in agony based on the feeling of his energy.

"L-Lalea..."

I had to know if this was real. I had to know if he was real. I tried to use my new abilities as a lucid dreamer and make him and the dreadful room I stood in vanish from my mind. Instead it all remained the same, no matter how much I tried to make it disappear. The fire continued to burn, the smoke lingered, and Drake continued to stare up at me with white, lifeless eyes. I let out a breath as tears began to slowly run down my cheeks. This is real. This was not my mind playing tricks and latching onto my fears. This was truly him; my love.

"Drake...it really is you!"

I ran up and fell to knees in front of him, hugging him tightly. For a moment I sat there, crying as I borrowed my face into his neck. It was the first time in a year I was able to touch and hold him. I never had the courage to in my other dreams with him that I had on rare occasions. I never knew if it was some trap by that demon that took him from me or just a regular nightmare where when I touched him, he would disappear. Other times, there was this invisible wall between us, and he never seemed to notice that I was there.

His voice was low, slow, and void of emotion. "Stop coming here. You're only making things worse."

I pulled away and kept my hands on his shoulders. He put his head down, his pure white eyes barely visible to me as his hair fell and covered my view. A strand of my hair fell over my face but I ignored it. I sniffed and retracted my hands, wiping my tears away. A part of me wished that he would say that he was okay despite that he was not okay, or to wipe my tears away for me. I just wanted to see some sign that he was not completely broken, that he was not completely numb or no longer care about anything.