Mending What's Broken

[Patrick]

Ymiden 1st 719

It had all been there right before him. The inescapable moment he knew to be the deciding factor which the fate of all hung in the balance, as the one came to suffer at the hands of not one but two in the escalating tension. He had never met one of those two responsible before but if he did, then he would've liked to offer the dagger he held at that point. That glimmering dagger that felt so important, felt like a crucial key in saving all of mortal kind. The other he...

Even now all sense of familiarity with that one slipped away somehow, and Patrick wondered endlessly through the wasteland before him yet again. How did it come to this? One moment he was near the edge and ready to fall into eternal darkness, ready to allow himself to fade into it now that his sacrifice felt all for nothing. But this? The empty wasteland he'd wandered felt even worse than that, for there was nothing to offer a glimmer of hope here. No wind to caress the shoulder, no sun to light warm the skin, no clouds to empower the imagination, not even a sound to kill the silence that lingered here. This had to be a relative towards what death felt like, what true and utter isolation had to be from the rest of the world.

Thus the Rharnian wandered until he couldn't anymore, feeling his feet give out as he caught himself on the ground. Hands and knees planted firmly into the dirt he clutched hard, trying to fight back the dread he felt in knowing what he'd done in that last moment. He failed. He had literally failed and it costed not just him, but everyone, more than just a chance for a good night's rest in the dark. Things were happening on Idalos now that he couldn't take back, he knew that already and no matter how hard he wished... it was just too late. Yet somehow it seemed that just as all hope had been lost, there still resided a second chance for everyone who'd been there. Patrick honestly never knew or suspected the possibility, but once the sound started to gently hum with music... Well then suddenly the impossible just became possible.

It was a melody he'd never heard before but the chords were unmistakable, and just like that they were the first to drown out the sense of isolation he had come to feel. No more did the Rharnian struggle with being alone, for who could create such beautiful music and...

His grief stricken eyes opened to find not gray sand from the waste, but pale white stone illuminated with blue beneath his hands. Why? What had happened to suddenly change the world? Had he been lost in Emea the entire time? No... This was not Emea, but a husk of what remained. A Dreamscape. As Patrick looked up from where he'd rested, before him was yet another world entirely new and unexplored by the Rharnian. Never before had he seen such a desolate but beautiful place, lost deep within the depths of what had to be the ocean from the looks of it. Far above the sky swiveled with ripples with schools of silhouettes darting overhead, the remains of some ancient city all around as he slowly came to rise onto his feet. "This... this is..."

He almost couldn't believe it... right now he should be suffocating, but the fact he could not only breathe but stand underwater; he almost certainly knew at this point this was a dreamscape he'd fallen into. Was it his own though? He looked around and no sign of his peers seemed present, not even the fairy he'd lost along the way when the cathedral came crashing down. "I have to find them... I have to find my friends and fix this. Somehow..." He reassured himself with a low tone, his newfound confidence already wavering even before he'd set out on the chance. This was something beyond him as with all other things, something he never knew he'd be involved in much less able to handle. But he couldn't falter... not this time. Patrick intended to make things right here, and so he started to wander down the nearest street with the intention to search every standing building.

No matter how empty each one might be, there still felt to be a chance at finding the ones he'd brought with him. Each time he passed though he didn't just look, he took in the sight of the environment and it's condition entirely. The impressive stonework, the intricate design of the doorways and window frames, even the broken pieces of stone scattered throughout the street; all of it beheld a forgotten sense of discontent abandonment he didn't like. In a sense being here made Patrick feel even sadder than he expected, as the lives that once filled these empty lots seemed long gone now that the sea claimed it. Seeing the overgrowth of seaweed, mollusks, barnacles, and whatever else littered the corners and crevices, it all got the Rharnian to think about how this beheld some relevance in the actual world. Mortalkind sort of did that in a way much like wildlife did, when an abandoned ruin or fort came into discovery; mankind simply just moved in to rebuild it into whatever formed suited it most.

Were things really so entropic in that regard? Chaos reigned wherever one might go but that was nature, and yet to disregard the beauty left behind by those that came before? Were the Immortals so much the same? What came before them? He didn't know at all... There was so much he didn't know much less bother to ask, and now that he finally realized this part of him began to really wonder. "There you are!!" Ri'ku cheered in relief as she and Lush seemed to approach almost from nowhere, when in truth their general direction had been from the left down another street. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"You... You both made it." His tone grew heavier even in relief, as he found it nearly impossible not to tear up at the sight of them.

"Don't celebrate just yet," Lush remarked with a slight curve of his maw, "from the looks of it we have work to do here."

"Together!" The little fairy insisted as she fluttered around the two of them. "If we can find a way to fix this, then we can restore what's been lost."

"How though?" The Rharnian shrugged at his complete loss of sense, clearly overwhelmed at what it was they were supposed to do. Fixing all this? How did one fix an entire damn city? How did one bring back what was loss, or worse take it away from what's already claimed it. So much sea life lived down here now, it would've been just as bad to liberate it from them as well.

"We've been here for a while now Pat, and we've come to the conclusion that this place is missing something."

"Missing?" That was one way to put it, then again Patrick was totally lost in what she implied.

"Deep within there's a building of some kind that has an empty doorway, sort of like the arch you crossed over into back in the cathedral."

"So... you were there?"

"We were but in a sense. We saw what you saw, and that was enough to push us forward." The pixie assured him as she hovered close to his face. "Now listen carefully Patrick. There's more going on than you realize here, right now everything is at peace but that'll change in a few Bits."

The Rharnian's eyebrows furrowed a little. "Why?"

"Things happen repeatedly here, almost as though we're stuck in a time loop of some kind." Lush interjected as he turned to look down from where they came. "That tower way at the end down there, it's going to collapse due to structural damage. It's done it seven times already, but when the event ends; it pieces back together half a Break later, and then remains so for the other half." Patrick looked at the tower in question as the architecture did look a little damaged, with a heavy lean away from them as though it's base already looked unstable. There was also something else near the top that caught his eye, some sort of glistening as though an object reflected light towards them.

"What's that in the tower?"

"Hard to say." Ri answered for him. "It's too large for me to push, and Lush can't climb up to get it. When the tower falls neither one of us can find it, but whatever it is it seems important." Patrick curled a finger beneath his chin in thought. Climbing fallen towers... opening ancient doorways... this suddenly felt all too familiar, and for all intents and purposes that 'object' could've very well be a key.

"What else goes on here?"

"So far that's it. Once we figure out if that object and the archway are connected though, I'm pretty sure anything else is possible at this point." Famous last words when Patrick heard them, yet all the same he couldn't help but softly grin. This place still had Emea in it alright, therefore if anything really were possible here... then he only needed to use his imagination to get through this. He hoped at least...

"Alright then, let's go." He urged as he started to walk with a zip in his step, his shoulders a little taller as he led the way towards the tower. However they wouldn't reach the tower in time... As Patrick had made it halfway down the street, the building seemed to shudder and slowly collapse as mentioned. Stone slowly gave way to its weight as a cloud of white slowly spouted from its base, the sound of it's intense crash heavily muffled by the ocean's density; while the grayish white cloud slowly filled the street Patrick stood in, with a powerful rush that very much felt like a current driving against him. All three weren't able to withstand the mighty force, and thus the last thing Patrick remembered was being swept away before jolting awake.

"Patrick", "Ri", "Lush"

[Patrick]

Ymiden 2nd 719

He drifted? No. He felt sand and stone beneath him. Patrick stirred to find that he was laying on the ground once more, right back and the starting point of where he'd first entered this place. Both Ri and Lush were there too, as they'd somehow entered his dream with him; just as they had done the night prior to this one. "We're back!"

"How long though?" The Rharnian checked as he immediately looked to the tower overhead. "How long until the tower falls?"

"Considering we just got here it's likely bound to happen any moment, after that we'll have seven more times if nothing pulls us out of the dream." Lush remarked as he referenced to the surging current from the aftershock felt in the tower's fall. Patrick remembered good and well, which meant they needed to stay outside of the area of impact; while making sure the rushing current didn't sweep them away. "So hop on!"

"What?" The Rharnian looked to him a little dumbfounded, as the leaning tower began to shift with bubbles rising from all around it.

"Travel in this place is slower since we're under water also, but I still have enough power to get us there at a faster pace. I also know a detour that'll keep us safe from the rushing current." The Rharnian didn't think he'd be very good at holding on, until he remembered that this was still Emea in some aspect. Which meant this dreamscape was in a way his to affect, and thus he moved to Lush's side with the intention to grip the saddle he imagined would be there. Sure enough it was like second nature kicked in, and Lush found himself strapped within the harness built saddle customized for both beast and rider combined. "Nice!" Ri'ku commended as he got comfy within the saddle, as Lush bent his limbs to ready for a take off.

"Let's go!" The Rharnian called as the Lion pounced forward towards a nearby street below, right as the tower began to slowly plummet with debris scattering along it's collapse. Just as it did before grayish white smoke filtered through the surrounding streets, quickly approach where Lush had landed as the lion took off in a westward direction into a few back alleys. As the lion rushed forward Patrick could actually feel what the lion meant earlier, each push through the water felt immensely drawn back; as if the momentum they should've created felt immediately pushed against by the ocean. Thankfully when they'd reached the area Lush had mentioned, no current seemed to rush against them in his rush down the alleyway. However one of the archways above quickly started to crack apart, and collapsed as the lion ran past underneath it in just the nick of time.

"Hold on!" Lush huffed as he pushed harder into the ground, his claws scraping against stone as he made the best of the time they had. Soon after they seemed to reach a wide open street where the white smoke lingered, but slowly cleared out as the remaining currents softly carried it away. "Not much farther now, although we'll have to wait for the tower to reset itself when we get there." He puffed aloud as he slowed to a steady stroll now, as Patrick petted and scratched the mane behind the lion's skull.

"Take it easy big guy, you did your part well enough." He complimented as they moved along at a slower pace now, while Ri'ku fluttered out of Pat's pocket to hover around them. Lush continued along until they were in some sort of old open square, which was littered with different types of colorful coral as they walked along. Seeing it now led Patrick to wonder what life was like here before, as he could imagine this place being as lively as a market before. Midway through Lush took a turn to the left and while Pat had no real sense of direction, he wanted to assume it was southward as it felt that way to him just now. He was probably wrong of course but to him, south felt like the direction they were just going towards. Eventually they reached what looked to be a garden filled area, as dead trees were littered with seaweed and coral all around in their passing. Lush didn't stop for anything though until they reached a staircase that took them up towards another part of town, where they finally came to a stop once the lion reached the top with deep steady breathes.

"We're here." Though here didn't look like much since many of the buildings were crumbled and worn, and the distinctive landmark that should've been there was still in ruins nearby. Patrick dismounted the lion as he decided to sit down, and the Rharnian in turn joined alongside him since now they were to wait. "I'm not sure what to expect when you start climbing that tower, but when you reach the top to find whatever's up there; try to be quick about getting down before it collapses again."

"Right." He responded in turn as they remained vigilant for any sign of change, although none would come until just a little while later at least. Approximately somewhere between ten to fifteen Bits until something would happen, which the stone beneath them shuddered once more before pieces of the tower slowly started to rise. Bit by bit the parts of the tower that had fallen slowly rose to gather back to their place of origin, accumulating in a fashion that left it still half torn down with that same heavy lean the tower displayed like before. "There it is." He pointed out with a rise to his feet and wipe of his hands, as the Rharnian looked hard at the next obstacle that stood tall before them. The tower... There was no telling how bad the infrastructure really was inside, which meant if he wasn't careful in climbing it then he could've caused it to fall sooner.

"My turn!" Ri declared as she nearly bounced in what should've been air; except they were in water of course. "There's a couple dark spots in there I'll try to illuminate for you."

"Thanks." Patrick shot a grin to her and with a glance to Lush, he waved as the Lion nodded for them to proceed without further delay. Time was of the essence now, they had somewhere close to thirty Bits before the tower would fall like before.

"Patrick", "Ri", "Lush"

[Patrick]

As they made their way into the base of the tower, through the ramshackled remains of an entrance, Patrick brushed his way through seaweed to look at ascending stairwell before him. It was obvious parts had fallen into such disarray that they covered parts of the ground floor, whereas other segments littered the stairwell or even clung to the walls loosely. And that was just the places he could see, the parts without natural lighting were just dark crevices he'd be feeling around for sure; that is if he didn't have Ri there to help illuminate the area. Thus the Rharnian started at the bottom of the circling stairwell, eager to get on the move before the tower might proceed to fall again.

The first few steps felt heavy to take of course due to the fact they were still underwater, so when Patrick wanted to proceed with caution before that quickly changed soon after. From first glance the stairwell seemed fine, therefore he'd just have to move quickly as possible; while being wary of the potential dangers looming above. As he made his way up the first section of the stairs, Patrick noticed the slight disturbances felt beneath his feet. The tower felt as though it were trembling somehow, and while he still heard the piano something else lingered. He could hear it once more, the faint sound of a requiem humming at the fibers of his being while he was here. It had been so faint before but mostly because of the Dreamscape, and how mesmerizing it was just to traverse this broken remnant of a dream.

But now it plagued him like this eerie sound that just wouldn't recede, much like the piano music that continued to add the allure to this underwater ruin. While he moved onward though he reached a section of the stairwell that'd chipped away completely, leaving him to with nowhere to go except outside of the tower window. "Welp, looks like I get to climb."

"I'm with you every step of the way!" Ri'ku encouraged as he leaned out the window, a careful stare cast at it's outer frame as he gauged the distance to the next window. In fact... he could've probably cleared half the tower just by climbing it from the outside, which would save him a bit of time if he scaled it quick enough. Thus Patrick slipped his upper half out the window to grapple the top of the frame, mindful that his fingers didn't slip since the stone was supposedly wet. For what it's worth he could maintain a steady grip, thus he pulled out the rest of his form with his bare feet pressed against the tower. He could've swore he heard Lush a couple stories down below, although the lion's comment went ignored as Pat reached over to begin his journey up the side of the tower.

The Rharnian reached for stone bricks that rested just far enough out from the other's, allowing him enough leeway to essentially monkey his way up towards the closet window. With the architecture and design of the building, even in it's broken and ruined form, he found himself able to climb straight up from there. Thus he moved with an occasional leap up to grapple the next spot, with a curious note on how gravity seemed to work during his ascension as well. While movement felt weighted due to the mass of the water here, it almost created a minor sense of buoyancy when he would attempt to leap at all. It was as though he had an easier time with jumping upwards, which still felt difficult since getting anywhere was accompanied with that heavily slow sensation, and the time in descension was prolonged due to a slower fall instead of a quick one.

That meant he was, relatively, safe so long as he didn't fall from such an extreme height. "Ah, there we go." He remarked once he finally reached the next window, already he was about halfway up the tower now that he'd climbed inside; with the wooden floor giving away with a muffled groan when he landed inside. More stone and rubble seemed to cover the stairwell on his way up, making it nearly impossible to continue that way as he planned. "Damn... We probably don't got much time left."

"I'd suggest going through here!" Ri exclaimed as she soared to a window straight across from him, Patrick couldn't help but chuckle as he started to walk across the floor.

"You know it's a good think I'm not afraid of heights, otherwise this shit would be scary as..." He trailed off as he felt the floor planks give away, and caused one of his legs to slip through all the way to his knee as he fell.

"You okay?!"

"I'm fine! I'm fine." The Rharnian quickly answered as he started to use window frame to help lift him out, that is until he felt the very stone rattle beneath his hands. "Oh fuck." Sure enough something loud hit the floor above him, the large object immediately crashing through as chunks of debris plummeted down relentlessly. All he had time for was to bring his arms up in self defense, hopeful that whatever came down would spare him but only to find no such luck remained. Ri called out to him desperately just before everything crashed down on him, and the moment Patrick saw black he jumped out of his skin breathing heavily.

Had the tower fallen on top of him? Was there something up there he could keep from going down? He slammed a fist at his pillow now that he'd awoken, still dreadfully tired and knowing that he'd have to face the day with that lingering.

"Patrick", "Ri", "Lush"

[Patrick]

Ymiden 4th 719

Smooth white sandstone. Or was it just granite with sand covering it? Deja vu was a sense that overcame him everytime he returned here, as he started right back to where he left off with Lush and Ri right next to him. "Okay, so whatever the fuck drops from the top of the tower causes the rest of the infrastructure to break, and that's why the tower's going to fall like it does... now." Sure enough the moment he finished that hypothesis, the leaning tower began to falter and break away just as it did many times before. By now he knew the routine in how to get there, as Lush was already fitted with that saddle the moment the trio arrived into the dreamscape.

"Patrick I want you to try something this time!" Ri'ku called out as she kept to his shoulder during Lush's sprint. "I'm sure you've noticed by now how gravity works in this place?"

"Yeah, what of it?" Pat called as they raced beneath the crumbling archway, Lush still putting as fierce of a push into his legs as he possibly could.

"Given the fact this is still a part of Emea, I'm curious as to whether or not you can use that to your advantage."

"How so?"

"While Lush is too large have tried it, you're actually light enough to hopefully gain a bit of momentum. And since you can materialize the saddle; then maybe, just maybe, you should be able to propel yourself up the tower before anything falls." Now that they'd reached a third quarter of the way, Lush slowed down as the cloud from the fall slowly passed within the currents of the ocean. "But that means you'll have to tweak reality here, only slightly mind you, to the point where you can run up that wall rather than climbing it."

"You want me to try and run up a wall." He remarked a little perplexed by the idea, then again given where they were right now... it wasn't the worst idea to come to mind in comparison to avoiding a collapsing tower four times repeatedly. Lush brought them to base of the tower's remains, still with plenty of time to spare now that they'd reached "Point A" which seemed the easiest.

"If it helps try running up some of the other walls around here, wouldn't hurt to try since we have the time now." The Rharnian shrugged as he looked to the nearby buildings that remained, nearly all of them worn away save for one which only half caved in. It was a starting point nonetheless, thus Patrick took to approach that and inspect it's surface firsthand. Completely flat with no means of climbing... and after a quick 'hop' to test the limits of his height, the Rharnian took further consideration into hand after the delay in his landing. It seemed feasible, though not likely, if he tried to do it the way Ri'ku has suggested. But what was that about slightly tweaking reality?

Right. Imagination. She was getting him to think about that, and how it could play out into his favor if done right. Thus Patrick raised a foot to press onto the wall, his mind focused on changing some feasible aspect of the dreamscape by chance. He closed his eyes for a moment nothing, so when he pictured standing on the wall somehow he felt gravity the gravity shift him into place. "That did it!"

"I don't think so..."

While he'd looked to his friends to see that they were sideways, as he stood on the wall, the rest of the world titled horizontally as well which really played his senses. Overwhelming was the sudden change of gravity for him; and when he pressed his hands on what should've been the ground, Patrick felt like he'd been pushing into the wall in his low-key panic mode he'd fallen in. "I can't get it to change back!!"

"Yes, you can!" The fairy tried to encourage him as she veered in close. "Stop panicking, listen carefully! You're overthinking it entirely Patrick, you only need to alter things only slightly! Just slightly! Now remember, the Dreamscape responds to you're very whim! It feeds off your imagination if you let it, which is why you only need to make slight changes." As she explained this Patrick closed his eyes, wishing that he'd be lying on the floor at this very moment in time. Sure enough when he opened his eyes and his equilibrium straightened out, Patrick slowly rose to sit against the wall with a sigh of relief to follow afterwards.

"Not much time left," Lush reminded him, "I hope your second attempt is better than the first."

"Fuck you." The lion grinned at him mischievously as Patrick paced his lungs with deep slow breaths, eager to calm the shakes in his hands before the tower began to reassemble itself. Piece by piece that damnable structure came back together, until once more it stood leaning like it always did beforehand. "Okay," he muttered as he rose to a stand, "let's do this." He had to think but not too much or not too hard, so what should happen when he hit that damn wall? Normal circumstances dictated he'd wreck his face on it, but this all far beyond exceeded the expectations of normalcy now. So what was he going to do?

"I'm going to run."

"Good. I'm with you." At her assurance Patrick didn't dare look away from his objective, his body pushed forward to at least get a better bearing on how to run.

"When I'm closing in on the tower's wall, I should be able to jump and land on it." He could envision it now clearly, albeit getting the momentum proved hard enough as is. Running up on the tower he'd jump with his feet pressed forward, so that the moment they hit the wall he'd kick hard. He'd run as hard as he could up that damn tower, putting as much force as he could into running up the wall. Yet halfway there he stopped, as Patrick wasn't getting anywhere near the amount of speed he needed to pull this off.

"What's wrong?"

"I need more muscle power..." Patrick turned to look back at Lush, as the lion himself approached Pat with curiosity in his golden eyes.

"You already know I'm not gonna be able to get you up there."

"Right but you can gain a better speed than I can, because you've enough form to power through the density of this water! I need that in order to climb the tower, so if you can get me that then I might be able to pull this off."

"... I can certainly try." The lion finally agreed as he turned to allow Pat onto the saddle once more. Once the Rharnian was settled on, Lush took to run a few clicks away from the tower with Ri back on Pat's shoulder. "You do have an idea on when to jump though. Right?"

"Um. Yeah. Totally." The lion didn't sound so convinced, yet after a sigh he took in a quick breath; and started off with a fierce pounce at the ground. Lush didn't relent at all when he pushed his paws down hard, the force of their pounds on the stone loud as he slowly gained a better build-up in momentum. Within moments the tower's base drew closer as Lush braced to rush up to the side, hopeful that his rider would be ready before he'd have to reach a hard stop in such a short time. Patrick figured out what he needed to do though, while he couldn't get the momentum alone he could easily get the height. Thus when the time came for him to time his jump, the Rharnain brought his feet up to perch on the saddle.

And then he jumped.

Lush skidded to a halt as he bumped into the tower's wall with a minor grunt, as Patrick elevated as high as he could before smashing his feet onto the wall as planned. "Don't overthink it! Just fucking do it!" Right as he felt his momentum starting to fade Patrick pushed with all his might, the bottom of his bare feet scraping hard against stone as he cycled his legs in a running motion. Sure enough what momentum he had left kicked in, and slowly the Rharnian started to run up the side of this damnable tower.

"That's it!! You're doing it Patrick!!" It probably helped that the lean of the tower allowed it as much, since it rested in a slight slant it granted a favorable amount of leeway in his effort. That didn't mean he'd stop or let up at all however, as Patrick aimed to clear his way to the top as soon as he could. When he'd started he was less than a quarter of the way up, now he was somewhere between that quarter and half in his ascension to the top. What posed a bigger challenge was the windows and broken sections of the tower, since he wouldn't have any means of placing his next kick on a solid part of the wall. Thus he did his best to run upward in an obtuse manner, rather than straightforward, until the moment came where he was finally halfway up with nowhere else to run.

"Not here," He thought to himself as his foot moved to miss the wall, "I can still use this to my advantage!" Right as his foot missed he angled his body to where he straightened out, placing his foot on the edge of the crumbled wall to project himself as high as he could from it.

"Yes!! You've got this Patrick!!" Ri'ku encouraged him as he nearly reached a third of the way to the top, without Patrick barely stopping or slowing down in his hard fought momentum. Sure enough he nearly reached the apex of the tower and in doing so, pushed to rise higher with his body straightened out in the rise. His momentum continued to elevate him just enough for him to latch onto the edge, a hand firmly caught on as he threw a fist in the air at his success.

"WOOOOO!!" He bellowed as the fairy soared around him eagerly, a roar came down below from Lush to celebrate the victory also. "FUCH YEAH!!" Patrick couldn't help but continue to celebrate as he climbed onto the top, happy to finally reach the top floor of the tower; where whatever this shiny object was awaited for him to find. Amongst piles of rubble that rested atop the tower, therein lies his quarry that he struggled so hard to get. And now? Now this dream was hopefully fixed as it needed to be, once Patrick moved the piles of stone collected over it. What he found was some sort of... crystalline ball of some kind, which emitted the glimmering white quality they could spot from afar. As to what it was though?

He didn't have a chance to figure that out, much less put it to use before the floor fell beneath is feet. "Shit!!" Was all that came out of Patrick as he fell within the collapsing tower, with another sweaty jump scare from his sleep in the waking world. Had it not worked? He'd gotten whatever that was right? How on Idalos did that not fix everything?!

"You had it!!" The fairy declared as she came out from her little nook Pat made for her. "I saw you hold it! So what happened?!"

"I don't know..." Patrick answered lowly in turn, clearly as disappointed as Ri'ku was upset over the ordeal. "I don't get what I'm supposed to do..."

"Patrick", "Ri", "Lush"

[Patrick]

Ymiden 5th 719

After the hard day he'd have the drink finally kicked in hard enough to waste him, thus Patrick slipped back into that dormant space of Emea he felt trapped within. The answers were so close last time he left off but now, now the more he thought about it the more he began to wonder. As if he didn't have enough distractions already, what with his first love returned with a child that supposed to be his no less. That was all in the waking world however, first world problems would have to wait until after he awoke once again. And so for now...

The Rharnian and his friends didn't even budge when they arrived, instead they watched together as the tower did it's first initial fall. When the current caused from the collapse came to rush, Patrick merely sat down and held on as the force barrelled against him. However it didn't last for very long and soon after, the white cloud filled the area surrounding the crash site like it normally would. Until that too would dissipate within the sea, and still the three looked at what remained after the tower's fall. "We have to fix... this." His frustration was evident when he gestured at the scene, his expression one full of irritation and confusion the longer he thought about it. "How the fuck do you fix something like this?? I don't get it."

"Something about this dreamscape is broken, that's all I know after we first arrived here."

"You said that glowing thing was an orb of some kind. You think it has something to do with the archway?"

"The orb isn't the key... Honestly the fact it's up in the tower rather than there... something tells me the orb belongs there." Patrick shook his head slowly as he wondered what the hell causes the tower to fall, aside from it's poor infrastructure there had to be something causing a chain reaction. When they were halfway inside the tower a few nights back something fell through from the top, something that had enough weight to cause the floor to give away and damage what fragile remnants kept the tower standing. So why? Why did the tower keep resetting? Why did it fall apart every thirty minutes or so?

"Okay so maybe we're looking at this wrong."

"We are." Patrick looked up to the fairy with consideration in his eyes. "The tower is the only thing here that's legitimately broken as far as I can tell. We stop that from falling then we can fix this dreamscape."

"Any suggestion how??"

"Yeah..." Patrick looked sharply where the tower would reassemble soon. "Figure out what's falling from within." At that note Patrick mounted the saddle on Lush's back once more. "One more time big guy, get me in close and I'll finish this."

"Yeah!!"

"Hmph! Better hold on tight then, and make sure you finish it this time!" He reprimanded Patrick as they took off once again into a mighty charge, however Lush went straight for the tower this time since they didn't need to avoid the shockwave. The tower proceeded to reset as per the cycle, and their progression didn't slow or falter once they came to draw close. Instead the Rharnian readied himself for another push, determined to land it on queue since this was already done once before. However Lush had too much momentum built up, and so when Pat launched off the lion rammed the tower harder than before. Patrick made the landing well enough but he was lower than last time, and nearly hesitant to move as he worried about Lush. "Don't worry about me! Get going!"

It was as though the glance down said enough, and with a firm nod Patrick pushed as hard as he could. What little remained of his momentum went into a full sprung jump, as he used both feet to get a head start in propelling himself upwards. This made up for the lack of the upward lift he needed, as Patrick immediately went into a drawn out sprint up the tower much like he did before. Only this time as he closed in on the half-point, he didn't try to push himself further up than necessary to go. Instead Patrick shifted to catch a window somewhere between halfway and three quarters of the way up, and proceeded to enter inside where the area became immediately dark elsewhere. Suddenly the piano music sounded closer than before, moreso in person than as the ambience that filled the air... or sea.

Ri'ku caught up and proceeded to flutter around ahead of him, lighting up a tiny portion of the stairwell as he followed her up into the next chamber. Once in there the room Ri fluttered around a little to highlight what little she could with her own glow, revealing much piled rubble and debris in masses as something rested at the center. There. The sound of the music pouring from the room, a piano somehow remained standing as it played endlessly on it's own. "I can't believe this is what's causing the tower to fall."

"Repeatedly no less." Patrick remarked as he approached the piano slowly, mindful of the floor as he started to feel it rattle beneath his feet. Yet he felt it much more clearer now, the call of Emea as it lamented what happened. For what felt like eons here Patrick felt like Emea's absence slowly faded, and now that he found the source of the music and the requiem he constantly felt; it suddenly felt ironic that this was the very thing that they had to find and fix in some way. "We have to stop the damn thing from collapsing the floor."

"Well, moving it is out of the question. What do you suggest?" That posed as the biggest question yet, as they had no means of getting the piano out of here...

"The piano causes the collapse every time but I don't think it' destroyed, because we still hear the music even after the tower falls." The floor started to feel weaker as he thought more about it, and when he approached the playing instrument he squinted to see the moving keys. How would he efficiently get this damnable thing to stop playing? Setting it ablaze didn't seem likely since they were under water, but the moment Patrick considered that a fire erupted from within. Yet still the chords played on as the instrument burned from the inside, the surrounding water bubbling and sizzling as the Rharnian quickly put the thought to rest.

"So much for that!"

"Ri, get over here quick!" Patrick remarked as he knelt down enough to be level with the piano. "Hover over the keys for me, I need to see them better before the floor caves."

"Are we just gonna ignore the fact you set a piano on fire under the ocean?!" She declared rather fiercely as she drifted in front of him, revealing a section of the chords that played through a couple loops of the tune. Patrick ushered her over along to another section of the keys, watching as the higher chords were struck to create the notes that they made. By now the floor started to sink as the foundation crumbled away, signifying that time was almost once again up if they didn't hurry. Ri was even getting a little impatient when he motioned for her back and forth a couple more times, determined to memorize the keys so that when the next loop began...

His fingers fell in place of the keys that fell down.

Though he second guessed it his fingers hesitantly followed the melody along, nearly keeping up with it's tune as the ring around his wrist started to glow. "I feel you in there..." Through Celarion it was an unusual concept to apply, but Patrick knew he could better harmonize with the entity. Thus he created a bond through him and the piano, the newly created ring signifying their bond somehow looped around Pat's right wrist now. Was he connected to this now? Or perhaps through this in some way... Emea... Emea had to be in there somewhere. None of that mattered unless he finished what he started now, which was why the Rharnian finally played in refined sync with the piano's keys.

This led to him finishing the melody into a fade out, that in turn quieted the ambience all around; save for that haunting presence of what had to be Emea's requiem. Aside from that however silence filled the depths all around him, and the piano proceeded to fade away into bubbles before him. "That... actually worked." He pointed out with his jaw agape and eyes wide, surprised to find that the floor hadn't collapsed at all. In fact after a slight rumble felt all around Patrick and Ri were there to witness it all, the tower straightening itself out as it's walls came back together block by block. Until finally it stood complete and what felt like a straighter position than before.

"Are you fucking kidding?!"

"It worked." The Rharnian muttered once more as he rose to look at the stairwell, which would allow him to descend back down below if necessary. However there was something else that needed to be done, something he had to fetch from atop the roof as of now. Thus when Patrick made his way up to the top, sure enough at the center wasn't debris but the pedestal; in which the glimmering orb rested on now. "We had to fix the dreamscape before we could get the key. That's what this was about the entire time." In taking the orb from its resting place, a nearby structure tore apart as the stones seemed to gravitate upwards; building a new path from the tower into the open sea. Finally as the stones gathered to build this new bridge, the archway Lush had mentioned before slowly rose to rest at the end of the bridge.

"Told ya!" The lion snickered as he came up from below to meet with them. "I knew the archway had to be important."

"Yeah." Patrick remarked as he looked from his companions to the orb, as the object started to fizzle and brighten it's glow now. The orb then proceeded to float away as it's light started to emanate particles, with bubbles dancing around it to carry the orb towards the top of the archway. After it'd been planted within the slot the arch released a shudder, the doorway now revealed as bubbles and particles started to drift between it's space. Within the doorway was the span of what appeared to be a universe, a night sky so heavily decorated with stars that were too great in number to count. "Let's go." The Rharnian announced as he started to lead the way, before too long they entered beyond and he felt himself adrift, and then ready to awaken finally with a sense of exhausted accomplishment.

"Patrick", "Ri", "Lush"

[Yrmellyn Cole]

Thread Rewards

Pat

Overview

Oh, the fall of Emea! A desolate landscape, ruins, sad piano music, an enternal loop and the feeling of déja vu. It's strange, it's complex and it feels a bit like being inside a computer game with a puzzle to solve. A highly creative tread and a creative end, well worth the rewards. Enjoy!

Points

15

Loot

Wealth

Renown

Injuries

Knowledge

Skill
Strength: Wading Through Depths
Mount, Lion: Gripping The Saddle
Mount, Lion: Leaning In To Increase Momentum
Mount, Lion: Using The Momentum To Increase Distance
Acrobatics: Climbing On Slippery Surfaces
Acrobatics: Balancing On Slippery Surfaces
Acrobatics: Jumping Off The Back Of A Running Mount
Running: Charging Up A Slanted Structure

General
Personal: Emea Is Gone
Personal: Emea's Requiem
Personal: Caught In A Broken Dreamscape
Personal: The Mending Of Emea
Dreamwalking: Figuring Out How to Mend The Dreamscape
Dreamwalking: Altering Physics With Your Imagination
Dreamwalking: Tends To Utilize Intuition A Lot
Dreamwalking: Mending Broken Dreamscapes
Dreamwalking: Skills In The Waking World Affect You In Dreams Too
Dreamwalking: Assessing Your Limitations In Dreams

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