O Green World

[Lex]

He was running.

For a moment, he considered why he was running. Where was he running to? How much further would he be running? Could he get there by walking, instead of running? When did he start running, exactly? There were leafless trees around him, a sea of muted grey. Where a blue sky should have been, there was only a wall of clouds, or fog, or something obscure, yet light, he wasn't entirely sure. It suddenly occurred to him that he was lost, and so, he stopped running. Looking around in all directions, he was disoriented, confused.

A flash of white, like a wisp, darted through the trees in the distance, drawing his attention. Not a wisp, he realized, but stark white hair, streaming behind the head it was attached to; a pale, lithe body, running through the barren trees. As he watched this unknown person running, hearing a far-off, feminine giggle, he realized he had done this before. He had done this just now. He would run after her, and lose sight of her, and then forget why he was running. He would stop, and she would reappear, a reminder of the past. He had no choice but to start running again. But he would not forget this time.

He was running.

For a moment, he considered why he was running. But just for a moment. He was chasing something. No, someone. And as he reminded himself, that flash of white hair reappeared, a little closer than before, but still running from him, as if leading him along somewhere. He would follow her.



"Was that so hard, Lex?" she asked. Though she wasn't facing him, she knew he was there. The girl with white hair sat at ease in a wooden chair. With a wave, a second chair appeared on the other side of a small table, but still, she didn't face him.

"Who are you?" he asked, moving to the chair and taking a seat. As he did, the girl turned her face away from him, avoiding his gaze.

"Allow me to defer," she smiled. Or at least, he had the impression that she was smiling. "There are more important questions, surely." As she suggested it, another question popped into his mind, and without thinking, he blurted it out.

"Why were you running from me?"

"You were insufferably dull when you got here," she answered bluntly. "Incapable of retaining anything. You wouldn't stay in one place, always walking off into the mists," she trailed off, gesturing at the pervasive fog around them. "A predicament, truly. For all your strength of mind and body, you are no lucid dreamer. So, I ran, and you followed, again and again, countless times, until you realized it." Lex looked around, but it was a wasted effort; the fog hid everything beyond the girl and the simple table between them.

"I'm dreaming," he confirmed with a slow nod, as if realizing it for the first time. "This is a dream."

"You are dreaming," she nodded back. "But this is no dream. Indeed," she laughed, raising an arm lazily into the air. "You stopped dreaming the moment you sat down in this chair." She swung her arm down with both force and grace, like a sword cutting into the fog, and as she did, the fog ahead was parted, revealing a pleasant scene. They were on the edge of a lake, its waters serene and undisturbed, for nothing lived within it. For the first time, Lex saw the sky through the clouds, a black, star-studded canvas. "Lucidity is no different from reality, in this world. And I can't say that doesn't please me greatly."

Lex grabbed the table's edge with both hands, pushing it towards the woman with all his might as he stood up, his chair falling to its side with a loud thud as he stepped away. The woman stopped the table with her hand, an effortless gesture, and she laughed, rocking her own chair onto its back legs with a smile. "It seems I've answered both questions by mistake," she conceded, turning to face him for the first time. Her face was obscured by a white, marbled mask with no facial features, no eyes to speak of, just a number of cracks that had the slightest semblance of a face. As she continued to laugh, her pale skin turned pitch black, her snow white hair bled into a deep crimson, the marbled mask taking on vermillion hues. Lex spat a name in disgust.

"Atranellia."

[Lex]

"Oh, you say it like that, like we're friends," she sighed wistfully.

"That was not a friendly greeting," Lex hissed back, clenching his fists. "Why are you here? Don't," he started as Atranellia began to stand up. "Don't get up."

"To help, naturally," she answered, standing up. "Ismat can't," she began, but was interrupted by Lex's arm changing into Ismat's long, lance-like blade.

"You think I need consent in a place like this?"

"Hmhmm, quick study," she said, sitting back down and facing the lake. "You're looking for your Spectres, but they're not looking for you. Myself, the exception," she explained, turning to face him at the end. "Are you surprised, really?"

"Not at all," Lex answered, lowering his arm as the blade turned to dust, but still remaining cautious. "Spectres are driven by their nature, even after being bound. Despite any wisdom they've gained from me, they'll go back to that drive if they ever see a chance," he told her calmly. "You're no exception; you just want to take me over. That's your drive." Atranellia laughed loudly for a moment before stifling it.

"Fear what you like," she relented, not willing to argue the point. "Regardless, I am here to help. Or will you find them alone?" Even though he wanted nothing to do with her, she seemed to know something that he didn't. Even if what she told him was a lie, or a trap, he had to hear it.

"How do I get my Spectres back?"

"At this moment, they're off dreaming," she answered him, crossing one slender leg over the other. "They lack lucidity, they think this is the waking world, and that they are free, truly."

"But they aren't," Lex countered, rolling up his sleeves, revealing ink. "They're still bound."

"They'll need reminding," she suggested. He was certain she was grinning beneath that mask. "You'll have to do to them what I did to you; once they are lucid, and they realize the truth, they can awaken. Although," she giggled. "There are some who would rather kill you than accept that this isn't real."

"I'm not concerned," he said quickly, brushing her off. "How do I find them?" In response, she rested a cupped hand on the table for a moment; as she pulled away, a small globe of light was revealed.

"You know this?" she asked.

"Omnilium," Lex nodded. "It can be shaped into anything."

"In the waking world, yes." Atranellia picked up the tiny orb between her thumb and middle finger, crushing it easily into a ball of paper -- an imitation, and nothing more. "Ideas are stronger, in this place. In the waking world, if you were lost on the way home, you could use omnilium to make a compass, or a map. In this place, you could use omnilium to be home, simply."

"I just have to want to find one," he nodded. As much as he didn't want to accept her word at first glance, it did make a certain degree of sense. He had wanted to find Tendo. But he couldn't do that here; it would take time, and concentration, to use his omnilium to find him. Time during which she could do whatever she liked. "Goodbye, then," he said quickly, walking away from the lake. Atranellia stayed seated, looking up from the lake, to the starry night sky.

"Don't be a stranger."

[Lex]

Lex stepped gingerly through the forest he now found himself in. He had had no luck finding solid ground beneath and between the plant life, so he stepped as lightly as he could, trying to avoid any of the black flowers budding from the green. "It's bigger than before," he marveled under his breath. "But it's only been a day..." Lex trailed off, realizing he wasn't entirely sure how time worked in this new world. For all he knew, this could have been the product of months of hard work, or even years.

Coming into a clearing, he pushed his musings aside. As soon as he caught sight of a hill covered in green vines and black flowers, like a bump in the ground, he stopped. "Tendo," he called out, and the bump in the ground shifted slightly. "Let's talk."

The vines on the hill fell to the side, the delicate flowers upon them falling apart, as a slim creature sat up from underneath them, its skin a speckled mix of green and midnight black. As it turned to face Lex, still seated on its hill, the vines around it crawled back up its body, seemingly of their own accord, and taking their place as clothes, burying its bare skin in a sea of vines. New flowers, all dyed black, began to blossom as the Spectre called Tendo spoke. "About?" he asked plainly, his voice like gravel, rough but not harsh.

"This is just a dream world, Tendo," Lex told him, making certain not to move his feet. He had the benefit of knowing Tendo's quirks, especially in regards to how it interpreted free-standing creatures in its grove -- a lesson he wouldn't need repeating any time soon. "You're dreaming."

"And what of it, Lacuna?" Tendo retorted, slouching back slightly. Lex hadn't expected that.

"You're not dreaming," Lex corrected himself, furrowing his brow. "You're lucid."

"I have a world to tend to," the Spectre told him, laying back down slowly. He bit his lip, and clenched his fist. Would he have to remind Tendo the hard way? Recreate the act of being bound? No, he decided. That was her plan, not his. Spectres are driven by their nature. He had learned to take advantage of that before, he could do it again.

"Growing things isn't your desire, Tendo," he told him, and the Spectre sat up as slowly as he had laid down. "You told me once that Spectres are focused on goals, not actions."

"They are," he answered carefully. "I am."

"Tell me what you want," Lex demanded. Tendo just sat there, unflinching.

"You already know," he answered, confused.

"Tell me again," he insisted. The Spectre began to stand -- or rather, the vines beneath him propped him up higher, for he had no legs to speak of.

"A world of green, filled with life."

"That's right," Lex nodded. "A green world. And you think you can make it work here, because you're free again. But you can't." The forest around him rustled at that, leaves like a death rattle. "Because this world just goes on, Tendo," he explained quickly. "If you stay here, you could grow forever, but you'll never get what you want."

"I'd rather a world unending," Tendo spoke up, the plants around Lex seemingly echoing him. "Than a world I cannot help, bound to you." The vines beneath Tendo began to snake their way towards Lex, bringing their master closer along with them. "You have a good soul, Lex. But the fact remains," he paused, settling down in front of Lex, meeting him face to face, looking into Lex's green eyes with his own. "In your world, tied to you, I must set aside my own desire. I'd rather not."

"We're not in our world anymore," Lex corrected him. "The world I'm in now, the waking world?" he waited, piquing Tendo's interest. "It's a green world. A world that grows itself, and it's beautiful, Tendo." The vine-covered Spectre sat in place, confused. "Tendo, I know we don't exactly align. I know that asking you to come with me means you won't be able to grow like this," he gestured to the forest around them. "But I need your help here. And in exchange, I can show you a world where your desire is already achieved."

"You could lie," Tendo squinted, his vines taking him a good foot higher than Lex, towering over him with his gaze. Lex stood still and looked up to match his gaze, unintimidated.

"Trust me."

<Leaving: The Spirit Realm (Attunement)>
<Continuing: How Does It Grow