A Heart Of Fire (Final Fantasy XV)

Chapter 26

When I woke up, I saw that I was back in my dream world. The tree's leaves were still mixtures of gold, copper, and vermillion, and the ground where I sat was flooded with fallen leaves.

I pushed myself up to my feet and glanced around. Everything, for the most part, was still the same as it was before.

"You're awake. Good!" A voice spoke up behind me. I jumped startled and quickly turned around to see nobody behind me. Confused, I looked around for the owner of the voice when they spoke again.

"Down here, sweetie," they said. I looked down at my feet and saw the small, fox-like critter sitting in the leaves.

"It's you..." was all I could muster.

"Yep! It's me, alright!" the little critter chirped. My eyes widened as the thing seemed to smile up at me.

"You--! You can talk?!" I exclaimed in shock.

"What? Of course, I can!" the critter huffed as it stood on all fours. "This a dream, after all."

"Umm....right..." I muttered awkwardly.

"Now then, since we've gotten that out of the way, I believe it's time for introductions, no?" the critter said. "I am Alev, one of the overseers of this dreamland."

"Alev..." Nuraya repeated to herself. "It's nice to meet you. I'm..."

"Ah, no need, sweetie. I know who you are," Alev said with a wave of his paw.

"You do?" I ask, cocking my head to the side.

"Of course!" Alev chirped. "I've known you since the day you were born."

My jaw dropped as my eyes widened. "Since I was..."

"Yes, yes. Strange, I know," Alev stopped me before stretching his back legs. "I'm sure you've no end of questions now that I told you that, but unfortunately I don't have the time to answer all of those for you, sweetie." He stops and looks up at me with his large, golden orbs. "That's a job for someone else."

"Who?" I ask. Alev then jumps up and lands on my shoulder and makes himself comfortable.

"Don't worry," he says, "I'll take you to them," Alev says. He then sticks his tiny nose up and begins to sniff the air around us. He turns his head in one direction and points with his two tails. "That way!"

I gave him strange looks before walking in the direction he told me to. I had no idea how long we'd be walking for, so I decided to engage in some small talk with Alev for the time being.

"So, Alev. What exactly is this place?" I asked him.

"This, sweetie, is your Sanctuary. A world that you conjured up in your own mind as a sort of resting place for your soul," Alev answers.

"Resting place?!" I stuttered. "Do you mean that I'm---I'm--!"

"No, it doesn't mean your dead," he chuckles lightheartedly, "it just means you exerted yourself too much, so now you've got to rest your mind and soul if you want to heal."

"O-Oh...okay," I muttered with bright pink cheeks, embarrassed from the sudden outburst. "So, how exactly did I create this...Sanctuary?"

"I can't tell you much myself, but somewhere along the line, you made a small world of your own for you to visit. Not many people can do this, mind you. It's only those who are balanced with their mind and soul that they can create these Sanctuaries. In these places, you rest your spiritual body through mediation or physical training. This, in turn, heals the wounds on your physical body outside of the Sanctuary."