Fan Fiction ❯ Esthenia ❯ Part One, The Guardian ( Chapter 1 )

Part One- The Guardian

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Okay, after editing this silly thing countless times, it finally is completed. I wrote this story three years ago. My life was a living hell I'll grant you that. I suppose this story is based on my life and the life inside my head. By the way- This story is broken up into parts. Not chapters.

This is a story about a girl, like myself, who was once a pathetic low life with a big dream. She'd been having troubles lately- Mostly with having strange nightmares. It wasn't until she was visited by a strange floating object that took her to a whole other world and changed her life forever.

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The lonely dreamer

Have you ever woke up one morning and wished you could sleep forever? Sleep is one of the many things the mind cannot live without. Without rest, the mind gets tired, shuts down, and stops thinking all together. One thing most people would say is that you cannot dream. Inside the human mind, there are millions of thoughts, desires, and fears that make up these life-like images of the imagination. They vary by the millions.

Like me, most would wish they could live inside their dreams and never go back to the real world. Imagine never having to worry about the hustle and bustle of every day human life. Never the same old boring routine, nobody telling you what to do. Well, let me tell you a secret; If dreams are so real, then are they? One must start to wonder, why do we dream?

My mother once told me that very creative people dream all the time. I used to think that dreams were only visions inside a person's head that came to mind before they go to sleep. Well, I didn't only dream when I slept. I dreamed when I was standing, or even just sitting there listening to the teacher drawl on about history before having a wad of paper collide with my head.

This pathetic girl's name is Christy Miller. Yup, that would be me before my change. I was just an average thirteen year old middle school girl. Let's just say that I was a huge daydreamer. Of course, people always made fun of me for it. I guess at times I'd deserve it. I suppose it was considered un-cool to stare out the window for a hour.

It all started three years ago. It was the summer after seventh grade, the most horrible year of my life. I was finally away from school, evil class mates and boring teachers, but even then I sat and wondered if it could have gotten any worse.

The summer days were boring. I lived in the middle of nowhere outside a small town. My problem here was based on the fact that none of my real friends lived nearby, and I couldn't go anywhere because my parents had to work all day. It's okay though, I look back at it all now and found out that watching the corn grow was healthy for me.

Those days, it was hard to express yourself without turning into a total outcast. At times, I wished I was popular. I had lost most of my so-called friends from the school year. Teenagers are petty and cruel in this stage in life. I was one of the lucky ones I guess. I didn't turn out like they did. I was glad that I turned out the way I am now. Never worrying about impressing people, not getting involved in sex or drugs, and I could just be my self. I think I was one of the first to actually mature that year.

My change wasn't any better I guess. Normally wishing to be alone and excluding myself from group activities. Another problem was that I was too forgiving. I didn't like being walked all over, but it was better then arguing. I was one of those types that respected anyone, no matter who they were. I learned that respect matters to everyone, even if they claim that they don't desire it. I am one of those people. But I also learned that it's not only respect that matters in this world, it's dreams too. Now I will tell you the story of what taught me all of this and how it made my life worth living. It's a long story about how I came to be, and how I discovered how to unlock the human imagination.

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Sounds

BEEEEP! BEEEEEEEP!!

I awoke with a start. Reaching over and pounding the snooze button on the alarm, I sat up and yawned. It took me a moment to even open my eyes. I hated mornings. I've hated them ever since I could remember. I amused myself with a thought of possibly not wanting to come out of my mother's womb when I was being brought into this boring place. That'd be something to see…

When I finally looked at the time on the alarm, it read six-thirty in the morning. Wishing the clock was wrong, I peered out the window. The sun was just barely rose over the horizon, telling me that if I wasn't about to get up, then the light would come in my window and flash me in the face. The whole world seemed to be against me.

Wishing I could remember what day it was, I pulled the covers off of me and I stood up out of my bed. I stretched my arms out and suddenly heard a loud "CRACK!" as my backbone popped. I fell back onto my bed. I didn't want to move anymore out of fear of falling apart. The P.E. finals were flashing through my mind; Reminding me of how I fell on my back while attempting a handstand. Just then I felt my hand hitting me on the face telling me that I was dumb. That day was Friday. It was Saturday and the school year had just ended. I had just gotten up early and killed my back for no reason. It just wasn't fair.

I must have fallen asleep again because I woke up for a second time. I could hear more sounds and it wasn't the alarm. I got up again and walked over to my window. The sounds where coming from outside and I figured that it would be the first place to look. I identified the sound as a putting noise. I realized then that it was my mom pulling out of the driveway. Unlike most parents that had a career my mom worked on Saturdays. It was the old Ford Bronco that she drove that was making all the racket. Such a clunky and old machine should be squished under something heavy so it could be turned into something more useful like scrap metal.

After lying there for a moment, I got out of my bed, walked over to my dresser and looked in the mirror. If looks could kill then the mirror would have been shattered. A thirteen-year-old girl with green eyes and fluffy, long brownish hair looked back at me, but the image was wrong. My hair was a mess and heavy bags where under my eyes. I felt old… I then noticed something on my cheek. I stared at it for a moment…

Suddenly, I started to remember things. The dream I had… I shivered. Something had been chasing me, something dark and hard to see, only those large red eyes that glowed in the darkness.

For some reason, I'd been having dreams like that a lot lately. I wouldn't call them dreams actually; they were nightmares…True nightmares. It was horrible to think that something so petrifying and horrible could come from somewhere in my mind. Those were the kind of dreams that I wished I could wake up from right away.

The dark thing had touched me, right on my face. I felt my stomach churn. Whatever it was left its mark there for the mark on my face was like that of a claw mark. It was long and started from my ear to the center of my cheek. Being the color of a normal scratch, it looked more like a burn mark than anything else.

I decided not to freak out just yet. It was the first time it had happened and…well, it's just a dream right? There's no possible way that the mark came from a dream.

With little effort of walking over dirty laundry, I made my way to the hallway and the top of the stairs. I glanced at my little sister's half-open bedroom door. Like most normal families, I had a mom, a step-dad, and a little sister, who just happened to be at a sleep-over.

Knowing that I was home alone, I started down the stares. I enjoyed being alone. Glad that I could go downstairs and eat without being humiliated for my horrid look. I walked down the stairs and stopped on the second landing. Looking out the window, I noticed that it was wide open and a bunch of bugs had gotten in over night. I groaned and grabbed the handle to close it but then I noticed an ugly head was looking in. Straight at me! I jumped back then tripped on a pile of folded clean laundry and landed on my butt.

"Can you help me?" it asked.

"Oh!!" I sighed in relief.

It was just old Mr. Dambsby, the neighbor. Like usual his eyes were bulging and he was practically drooling. It was easy to mistaken him for an alien or monster.

"I asked you a question." he growled. "I need my lawnmower fixed. Can you fix a lawnmower?"

I just stared at him in misbelieve for asking me such a stupid question. I got to my feet and said, "No, not really." I tried to sound casual as if I wasn't annoyed by his intolerable, sudden appearance.

"Well, is your father home then?"

I shook my head.

"Darn kids…" he muttered as he turned. "Lazy brats can't even fix a lawnmower… Back in my day…" he ambled away still muttering and cussing under his breath.

"Well apparently you can't fix one either grouch!" I growled.

I closed the window and headed for the kitchen, thinking about what else would happen to me that morning.

What a stupid thought…

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The Gateway

As I was pouring my cereal that chilly morning, I looked out the large sliding-door window. It was a nice sunny day. The sun was completely up now, and every thing seemed to spring to life. It was the perfect summer morning. I sat at the table and I thought about what I would do that day as I ate my breakfast. It seemed perfect to go for a walk in the woods behind my house. I had taken a major liking to wandering around.

Suddenly, the light went away and the shadows faded. I looked out the window once more and saw that a cloud had covered up the sun. Disappointed at the fact that the sun had gone away, I looked at the reflection in the window. I could see my self and my surroundings as clear as a bell. I lowered my head to take another bite but then I noticed a little glowing sphere above my head in the reflection. I stared at it for a moment. It was no bigger than a baseball and it was lit up like a light bulb. I focused on the image a little more, and then I saw it move. I jumped up from my seat and spun around. It was gone. Or was it?

After I finished eating I went up to my room. I decided to resume my normal day and not be frightened by the strange occurrence. Too many seemed to be happening in those days so I wouldn't have been surprised if I was going nuts.

I got dressed and brushed my hair. After all that I looked at myself in the mirror. A girl in a red t-shirt and blue jeans looked back at me. This is how I was supposed to look. My hair was more controlled and less poofy. My bangs went all the way to my eyes but I didn't bother me. I had my own style and I stuck to it. I then leaned forward and examined my cheek. The mark was gone.

"That's better." I said to myself. You all must think I'm crazy for talking to myself, but let me tell you this: there is nobody else intelligent to talk to right?

Feeling that I had nothing else better to do, I decided to go for my walk. I opened my bedroom door and stepped out.

Right there in front of me was the glowing bubble hovering about two feet in front of my face.

Not moving an inch, I just stood there like an idiot, staring blankly at it. I began to notice that it was getting bigger and bigger. I still didn't move being petrified with fright. The bubble still grew until it was about the size of a playground kickball.

Then suddenly a blinding flash of light came from it. So bright I couldn't see anymore. I closed my eyes and screamed. I felt my body moving as if it were floating, or falling? I couldn't tell. All I knew was that I was in deep. Too deep to think, feel or even breathe. All senses were shut down, and my body grew numb as if it were freezing cold, like I fell into a deep cool pool of water that I was unable to swim out of. Was I dead?

*You are the one***

"Who?" I heard a voice, an echo from somewhere in the darkness. At the time, I was unable to tell who, but it sounded familiar, like I had heard it before.

*You are the one who was chosen to save us all. You must be brave. Only you have the power… To save this land from darkness… Esthenia.*

"No… wait."

Suddenly, I felt my knees give out as I felt my feet hit solid ground. Right away, I placed my hands out in front of me to keep myself from falling over. I felt tired, weak, and confused. My heart was racing inside my chest, and beads of sweat were appearing on my forehead. I could breathe and feel again though my hands and knees felt numb. I was alive. I had to be.

After sitting there for a moment, my mind began to work again. I started thinking of where I ended up or if I was even okay. Maybe I really had died and this was heaven or maybe I was sitting on my bed and it was all just some horrifying dream. Either way, it was a startling notion that kept me from opening my eyes.

"Okay…" I said to myself out loud. "This is dumb." I opened my eyes. I felt my heart jump away from me as I looked around. "Okay… I'm definitely not at home anymore…"

I was in a strange new place. I found myself kneeling in a bed of grass. I stood up. Gasping at the sharp pain, I glanced down at my knees to see that there were small cuts. The grass I had been sitting in was white and kind of hard, like ice, and apparently, it was sharp too. Ignoring the pain, I looked around. I appeared to be in a field. It was a white with crystals and icy figures growing on everything. I looked to my right and saw a large steely grey ocean, then looked to my left and saw a large green forest. I looked up at the sky. Large purplish clouds covered the sun. Everything was dark and cold.

"Welcome to Esthenia, Christy." said a male voice from behind me.

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The Attack

I spun around and searched for the one who spoke. There under a large tree, was a beautiful white winged horse. I stood there and stared, noticing every feature and detail of this fine creature.

He wasn't as large as a draft horse, but just as tall. His muscular body and large feathered wings were completely white except for his blue mane, tail and the hair around his legs. His white ears poked up from his thick blue mane. Underneath his bangs I could see a strange black mark on his face. The one thing I was focused on the most was his blue eyes. They seemed so friendly and trusting. Something about them made me feel like I had known him all my life.

I felt my eyes get watery. This was so strange. I wasn't sure if it all was just a cruel joke or some kind of dream. Keeping my focus on his eyes, I hoped that they'd give me some kind of comfort.

"You look frightened." he said, "Please, don't be afraid. I don't wish to harm you."

Suddenly I felt warm again, like taking a hot bath in the wintertime. His words made me feel more comfortable for some reason. His voice was soft and eased and it relaxed me in a way I couldn't explain. At first I wanted to run away, but now I wanted to stay and hear his comforting voice.

Suddenly, a hideous screech came from the sky above. It took me out of my comfortable feelings and made me scared again. I looked up and searched around, trying to find out what made the noise. I glanced over at the horse to see his reaction.

Surprisingly, he looked calm. Being alert, he was listening too. He bit his bottom lip and mumbled to himself for a moment. After some thinking he finally spoke.

"Come on!" he said kneeling down, inviting me to ride.

Trusting him I climbed on to his back. His fur was soft and the feel of his feathery wings on my legs seemed as if they were weightless.

"Hold on tightly." he said urgently.

For a moment, I wondered where I would hold on. His fur was too short and I didn't want to grab his beautiful blue mane. He didn't give me much of a choice when he took off running.

As he spread out his wings I noticed how large they really were. I could hear the wind whistling as he sped up. His hoof beats were forceful and kicked up dirt as he leapt up into the air.

We rose higher with every stroke of his mighty wings. It was as if we were climbing stairs in the sky. When we got high enough, his wings spread out and were motionless as they took us into a glide. We soared over the frozen, white meadow. The glittering ice looked pretty but for some reason I knew that it wasn't the way it was supposed to be. The wind blew through my hair. We were high up now. I didn't ask where we were going. I felt sick and dizzy from my stomach churning with anxiousness.

After a moment of gliding, he began to beat his wings again, increasing his momentum. It made me wonder if we were being chased. I looked over my shoulder and saw a hideous sight.

An ugly creature was following us. I couldn't quite describe how it looked and I'll tell you why: It was a bright shade of purplish-blue almost completely blending into the colors of the sky. That's why I couldn't see it before. It was getting closer. I tapped the horse on the back. He looked over his shoulder at me and smiled warmly.

"I know." he said in the same relaxing voice, "Don't worry, I wont let anything happen to you."

I felt better. I returned the smile and nodded. Trying to look ahead and not at the monster. I looked down and saw that we were flying over the forest now. The canopy was so thick that I couldn't see the branches let alone the forest floor. Suddenly I heard another screech. It was louder than before. I couldn't help it. I had to look.

I let out a startled gasp when I plainly saw that the monster was only a few feet away from us! It hovered for a moment, then, without warning it dove down, straight at me. As it got closer I could see it more clearly. It looked kind of like a dragon. It had large leathery wings and its feet and talons were large enough to grab a cow.

I screamed.

The horse turned his head and gasped when he saw what was going on. "Hold on!" he shouted as he made a stomach-churning dive.

The creature missed us by a hair. It didn't give up though. It rose up a little higher then perused us again. When it got close enough it dove down. It was obvious that when it flexed out its talons that it was aiming for my shoulders. However, the horse shook and rolled, nearly knocking me off. Causing the monster to miss me again.

"Are you all right back there?" he called to me over his shoulder.

"Yeah." I replied, tightening my grasp.

The creature let out another earsplitting shriek and dove at me again. It missed when my ride rolled again. I dizzily looked back to see if it was lunging down again. Glancing around in confusion, I didn't see it anywhere. Panicked, I searched the skies. After a moment of silence, I thought we were safe. That was until I heard the shriek again. I glanced behind us once more and saw it again. This time, to my horror, another accompanied it. They both dived for the same thing- me.

The horse suddenly whipped around like lightning. With his teeth bared he seized one of the creatures by the leg with his mouth. The creature yelped and tried to get free as if it were caught on a barbed wire fence.

I couldn't bear to watch any longer. I held on tighter and buried my face into his soft blue mane. However, when I felt a rough jerk, I lifted my head out of curiosity. The horse had thrown the creature fat into the purple clouds as if it were a rag doll. He turned to the other one and with a forceful flap of his wings he went into a controlled dive and bashed it hard with his head.

The creature whimpered in its pain and agony, then appeared to be knocked out cold as it began to fall. I never saw it hit the ground because we took off so fast.

"I think we lost them." I said as we landed on a rocky cliff that jutted out of the trees.

"That's what you think." the horse panted as he looked into the sky. "They never give up. Their cries were bound to have attracted more."

"More?" I gulped as I looked around. I noticed a huge cave behind us that lay in a bed of rocks. A gust of wind lifted my hair. I turned and saw that we were up high above the whole land. I didn't like heights very much. Flying on the horse's back was scary enough. The view was marvelous though.

"Yes there are lots of them. Don't worry though, we'll be safe in that cave over there where they can't fly." he said as he lowered himself to let me off his back.

"What makes it any safer in there?" I asked while climbing off. I peered into the cave. It was obvious that they couldn't fly in there. "But can't they walk or run in after us?"

The horse shook his head with a smile.

"I already anticipated this. They cannot stand to walk. Their legs are only strong enough for perching. They cannot move their own body weight." He said reassuringly.

"Hmm." I shrugged with a sheepish smile. "Didn't know that…"

He just chuckled and shook his head as he flicked his long tail. He then made a motion with his head beckoning me to follow.

"What were those things any way?" I asked as we began to walk to the cave. I stopped for a moment. There was this odd prickly feeling on the back of my neck. For some odd reason, I had this strange feeling we were being watched. After a moment, I decided to ignore it. I didn't need anything else freaking me out at that moment. I could only be paranoid about one thing at a time.

The horse stopped and looked at me.

"A human hunter." he replied. "Humans aren't aloud in our world."

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Pagasis's story

We looked out at the beautiful world from the mouth of the cave. Like before, I noticed that we were on an island. In the distance, I could see that there where hundreds of other islands. Glancing around at ours, I could see the meadow where I first ended up and the place were I met my new friend. That half of the island seemed to have a darkness over it. The forest, however, was still green and appeared to be okay. I noticed that it covered half the island including the cliff where we where. Having another strange feeling that I was being watched I looked up at the horse to see his blue eyes on me.

He smiled down at me.

"So…" I said, tapping my toe nervously on the ground. I wasn't sure what to say to him. It felt strange talking to a horse let alone having one that talks back. I decided to say the first thing that was on my mind. "What's your name?"

His smile widened and his eyes lit up with a warm glow.

"It's Pagasis." He replied. "How about you?"

"Christy." I said. For some odd reason, my face flushed. "Pegasus…" I repeated, making sure the name was confirmed into my memory.

He shook his head and smiled.

"Pa-ga-sis." he said.

I nodded. His name was Pagasis. It made me wonder if it was the same horse from mythology or was named after him. I knew a lot about Greek mythology. The story of Pegasus was astounding along with the other myths. I then realized that my mind was drifting off again. For some reason, it seemed to happen more often then normal and in the little time I was there it didn't seem to make sense.

"Well. Now that we're aquatinted, I guess I'll take this opportunity to tell you why I brought you here." He said, taking a deep breath. "I'm not sure that you know much about this world. Please, try to bear with me."

"Okay." I said, making sure my face was back to its original color before looking at him again.

"Not too long ago a vast plague of demons swept over this land. It is the job of a Dream Guardian to protect their island from these monsters. On this island, Esthenia, my family and I were the Guardians. We were strong, but somehow, they managed to get stronger. Led by a demon king named Isthrak, a whole army of them raided the island without warning and killed my family. I am the sole survivor of my family, but I'm afraid that time is running out for me." He sighed and lowered his head.

I felt a stab of sympathy for him. It was bad enough for him to try to explain it to me so quickly, but I knew that his memories were hurting him even more. It took me a moment to absorb what he just explained to me. Scanning through his words I got to the part about how time was running out for him. Did that mean he was dying? I suddenly found my words. "Dying?" I gasped. "But…"

He looked at me and gave me the comforting smile. Right then I knew could sense my worries. He just smiled sheepishly, giving him a modest look. It was obvious that he didn't want me worrying about him.

"Don't worry about me right now." He said with a nod. "This is about you."

"O-kay…" I sighed. I then felt bad for interrupting his story. "I'm sorry… You can continue."

"Don't be sorry…" he smiled warmly. "To make a long story short- they took over everything and altered this island."

Feeling a bit confused, I thought about what he just said. My mind was still on the part about him dying. I didn't want him to die. I decided to ask him about something else.

"So, why do the demons do all those bad things?" I asked.

"Long ago the Dream world was discovered by the mythical creatures of old. They once lived in the human world and for years the mythical creatures protected and served the humans and in return they got love and respect, but something inside the human minds turned them greedy and malicious.

"The mythical creatures wanted to make things better so they came here on a mission to destroy the ones responsible for corrupting the human minds.

Later they learned that the demons did it to feed on the human's nightmares. It makes them stronger and more powerful. They would do anything to purge the world of all dreams and beauty.

That was why they attacked this island so ruthlessly. My family was so powerful and even the Guardians before that, that this island was a threat to them."

"Wow." I murmured. I was in deep awe. The history was amazing. It was all based on my world, the human world. All those creatures that I had read about in books were true.

"So," I shuffled my foot, trying desperately hard to keep a hold on to his words. My mind was still drifting around. It was starting to get annoying. "Where did the demons come from?"

"They can come from anything." Pagasis explained. "Anything can turn into a demon. Using my family members as an example: The ones that weren't killed turned into demons themselves out of rage for the loss of their friends and family. Rage is a Guardian's worst weakness. It can taint one's soul and turn it evil."

"I see…" I then looked at him. "I'm sorry… I'm asking too many questions aren't I?"

"You do like to apologize a lot don't you?" he asked, giving me a concerned look.

"I guess…" I felt my face flush again.

"Well." He smiled. "I prefer you asking questions so you can know what is going on. Don't worry about it."

"Okay." I smiled, feeling a bit better. For some reason, the way he spoke to me reminded me of a teenager like myself. This made me feel a bit more comfortable. I decided to ask the question that I didn't want to bring up. "You look perfectly fine… How is it that you think you're going to die?"

"My type of Dream Guardian should never loose its horn. It is like our life force you'd say." He replied, heaving a deep sigh. "Anyway, once it is gone, a scar will appear and it will get bigger and bigger until it spreads throughout the whole body. Eventually killing its host. My mother died trying to protect me when it all happened. She had told me that she would have taken her own life to save mine. And she did.

"Isthrack heard of what she did for me. It infuriated him because my mother must have cast a spell so they couldn't kill me or something... I don't even know the details of that one myself. So they captured me and the evil king took my horn. Then they released me to my fate."

"I see…" I murmured, feeling somewhat guilty for asking such a question. Taking a quick glance at him, I noticed the strange black mark on his forehead just beneath his blue bangs. I thought to myself for a second until a vital question came to my mind.

"Why am I here?"

"I need your help. The demons will come back and I need all the help I can get. In my condition, I'm too weak to fly to other islands for help. We will find more on the island. We just need to look." he said. "So, will you help me?"

I thought for a moment. I wanted to know more and I needed more answers.

I looked at the Guardian, the one with the evil black scar that would soon kill him. Without his family he was helpless. I looked into his blue eyes. They looked content but it didn't hide their sadness and distress and that helped me make up my mind. I nodded. I decided to help him.

"Good." he said with a pleased look. He lowered his head until his blue eyes were level with my green ones. His expression turned serious. "But first, you must make an oath that you will not tell anyone."

"I promise." I said with a smile. "You can count on me!"

* * * * * * * * * *

Rinoa

`Where is he leading me to?' I wondered to myself as I followed him across the edge of the meadow. The crystal-covered grass poked my bare feet with every step I took. Having walked in the forest behind my house without any cover on my feet, I didn't mind it too much, but I realized that it was a little different when I jumped up when a particularly sharp one had poked the soft part on the bottom of my foot. For some reason I never did like to wear shoes but in this case I wish I had.

Pagasis had no trouble at all. Enviously, I could see that his hoofs were as hard as rock. The frozen blades cracked and snapped every time his hoof hit the ground with every step he took.

I could have ridden on his back but I didn't want to impose upon him. He had already helped me once. It was his idea not to fly because he wanted to lie low in case the human hunters returned.

The island was a lot larger than it looked. I estimated that the whole thing was about seventy miles across from shore to shore. The meadow itself was about thirty five out of that. Another astounding feature was that the trees in the forest were huge! They were at least ten feet around and seemed to touch the sky with their wide out-spread branches. They had leaves. Each being the size of my hand and was a long oval shape. The wide trunks that were covered in green moss were spaced far apart from one another. It still confused me about how the forest looked fine and the meadow was all warped. Over all I felt as if I were in some kind of city with the huge buildings towering over me. I continued to stare upward when Pagasis spoke.

"Amazing aren't they?" he asked while glancing up too.

"Yeah…" I murmured. "This is incredible."

"Yes." he said, looking back at me while paused. I was glad that we stopped for a moment. "I admit, I've never truly wandered in there."

"I see…" I said, still not taking my eyes off the natural sky scrapers. When he let out a chuckle, I took my eyes away and looked at him. "What?" I asked, seeing him smile. "Something funny?"

"No." he said, staring at me from head to toe. "I've just never seen a human before. Are they all this cute?"

"Umm…" I blushed. "I donno…"

He just laughed again when he turned and continued walking.

I let out a yelp when I saw that he'd started moving again and followed after. I avoided those blue eyes for the rest of the walk. When we finally stopped, I glanced away, trying to make it look like I was still staring at the trees, when he looked at me.

"We're here." He said. He then glanced around. "Now we'll just have to wait…"

"For what?" I asked, taking a specific focus on something.

Trying to take a closer look, I leaned slightly forward to catch a glimpse of something move in the dense trees. I backed up a little.

"Pagasis…" I whimpered, not taking my eyes off where I saw whatever it was.

Pagasis was already looking.

I felt the color drain from my face as I saw something large out of the corner of my eye. I forced my head to turn to view a large black wolf that was suddenly standing at the edge of the forest in front of us. I let out a yelp. It was enormous!! At first I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me. That is until it turned its large head and looked straight at us.

Being scared out of my wits I didn't move a muscle. Pagasis didn't move either and this worried me even more. What if he couldn't protect me this time? Was he paralyzed with fright? I tried to think of a way to get his attention without getting the wolf's attention. I decided to take a crack at it.

"Pagasis," I whispered. I was looking up at him waiting for his response. "Can you hear me? We should get out of here."

To my confusion, he merely smiled and nodded. Was this some kind of joke? I looked to where he was looking and to my horror the wolf was walking right toward us. As it got closer, it seemed to grow. I just stood there and trembled until it was staring down at me with those dark red eyes.

"Hello Rinoa." Pagasis smiled. "You're late."

"Huh?" my jaw dropped.

"I was waiting for you first." Rinoa said while sitting down, not taking her glance off me.

I just stared back up at her. My knees wanted to give away. She was about twenty feet tall!

"So this is her, huh?" she asked, finally taking her eyes off me and glancing at Pagasis.

Pagasis nodded.

Rinoa turned to me again and lowered her huge head. Her nose was inches from my face. My hair blew forward as she took a deep, steady sniff. Her ears were jet-black, much darker then the rest of her body. The same color surrounded her shiny red eyes. They looked kind of evil to me.

She raised her head and looked at Pagasis.

"The girl is young." she said while nodding. "She looks good to me."

I trembled. Overlooking the fact that she commented me, my thoughts were focused on the second things she said. I looked good to her?

Rinoa looked back down at me again. I had this feeling that she could sense my fear.

"Don't worry." she said reassuringly. "I may be a carnivore but I would never eat you. If I did, this island would die."

"Huh?" I was confused again. I looked at Pagasis. "What does she mean? This island could vanish on the count of my death?"

"How much did you tell her Pagasis?" Rinoa asked with a frown. "Does she even know why she is here?"

She could sense every thing I felt. My mixture of fear and confusion must have puzzled her.

"I told her as much as was needed at the time." Pagasis replied. He then looked down at me. "You must forgive her. Since she is the largest thing of all dreams she thinks she is the smartest too."

"Hey!" Rinoa barked, making me jump. Her lips were pulled back exposing her huge teeth. "Careful. I bite!"

Pagasis grinned.

"Okay Rinoa." he snorted while rolling his eyes.

Rinoa glared at him for a moment then looked down at me with a sly grin. It was obvious that she was just messing around before when she looked scary.

"You see. This island represents you. There are millions of islands in the Dream world. Each one represents a human." she explained. "There are families of Guardians on each one. However, if the family is small and weak the demons could take over their island."

"Yeah…" I said. "Pagasis told me about that part. What I was confused about was the fact that the islands represent people."

"I see." She said. "Well… What else would you like to know?"

"Umm…" I thought to myself for a moment. I didn't quite know what to ask. "He told me how demons are born but what do dreams and nightmares have to do with this?"

"Well. First off," Rinoa said. "It depends if the people believe in themselves. If they do, they believe in us. You are one of those people. You don't have many nightmares because you have a high rate of self-respect. However if the person does not believe in him or her self then the Guardians would give up and leave. That is where dreams and nightmares come in. The demons are addicted to nightmares. It is their life force, but they don't cause them."

"Wow." I murmured. "So do the Guardians make dreams?"

"Well, actually the Guardians need the dreams like how demons need nightmares." Pagasis replied. "You see, dreams make the island more beautiful. All the trees, grass, water come from the beauty of dreams. The islands can provide the things the Guardians need- Food, shelter, water. They work for these things by keeping the demons off their islands. Sometimes the Guardians have to adapt."

I nodded, confirming that I understood. I then scanned my brain again until a vital question came to mind.

"Oh… I have another question." I said.

"Yes. What is that?" Riona asked. She seemed amused about what I just said.

"How do I get home?"

Pagasis and Riona looked at each other.

"Eh… right…" Pagasis shook his head. "Sorry I almost forgot."

Suddenly, the bubble appeared right in front of me. It was the very same one that had brought me there. It was hovering between Pagasis and me.

"This will take you home." he said.

"Oh…" I marveled while slightly touching it with my hand. It made me wonder. `How in the world could this little thing do that?'

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah." I said. "So, how does it work?"

"It all happens in your head." Pagasis replied. "You just imagine a place in your world, and your there."

I nodded. "Interesting…"

"Also, you can use it to get back here from your world." Rinoa added.

The bubble suddenly disappeared with a faint pop.

"Where'd it go?" I gasped, afraid that I already messed up and lost it.

"Don't worry." Pagasis smiled. "It will come back when you need it."

"Oh…"

"You will need this too."

I let out a gasp when I felt something light fall on my shoulders and neck. I looked down to see that a silver chain appeared around my neck. Too overwhelmed to speak, I noticed that it had a little pendant that was a silver heart with wings attached. It was beautiful.

"Those are your wings." Pagasis nodded. "Whenever you wear it to sleep, it will block nightmares. We really don't need those. Also, since humans cannot reside here, you can pick one creature to become in this world."

I continued to look down at the wings. I held on to his every word. I then thought about the last thing he just said. "Do what?"

I took my eyes off the charm and looked at him with a confused frown.

"I don't understand… What do you mean? Become another creature?" I asked.

Pagasis and Rinoa both smiled at this.

"Yes. That is exactly what we mean." Rinoa nodded.

"But, how is that possible?" I asked.

"Any thing is possible." Pagasis smiled. There was a sudden feeling that he didn't tell me the whole thing.

"It will come in handy. Trust me." Rinoa said. "The human hunters… ring a bell?"

"Oh yeah." I shivered while nodding. I really didn't like those things. They nearly had us, but Pagasis kicked their butts. "So tell me… What do I do?" I sighed.

Pagasis' smile widened.

"We'll leave that for you to decide. Go back to your world. I bet you'll find some kind of source to find something in. Besides, the human hunters will be back soon, and this time I know there will be more." he said.

I nodded.

Suddenly the bubble appeared with a faint pop. It floated above my head then landed in my hands as I held them out.

I looked down at it then I smiled up at Pagasis.

"I'd better go then…" I said as I looked at the orb in my hands. Thinking it would be better if I did so, I closed my eyes and held it tight in my hands and held it close to my chest. Inside my head, I saw my room along with my messy floor, unorganized shelves, and unmade bed. After a moment, I began to feel somewhat stupid when I didn't feel that anything was happening.

"Uh, guys… I don't think it's work-" Sighed as I opened my eyes and gasped. I was back in my room! Shocked, I was standing on a large pile of laundry in the middle of the floor. I looked down at the orb in my hand and smiled. With a smile I tossed it up and caught it again.

"Amazing…" I murmured.

* * * * * * * * *

Flying

Noticing that the orb didn't disappear in the Human world, I placed it in my pocket and walked over to my book shelf. I began to search through my encyclopedias for something to become in the other world. I wanted something simple, but something that also suited me.

I saw a dragon in the D volume. I looked at the illustrated picture on the page. I shook my head, thinking that it would probably scare Pagasis away to see me running up to him as a gigantic fire breathing lizard. After placing that volume back, I grabbed a different one for something else. Deciding to go down alphabetically, I grabbed the E. After a while, feeling disappointed I closed that and grabbed the F. I then looked at a really ugly picture of a goblin n the G.

"Ewww…"

I didn't know why I was being so picky. I was halfway worried about picking the right one. They all looked great to me but there was something that didn't seem right with each one. They just didn't seem to suit me.

I amused myself for a moment by looking at the snakes in the S volume.

I imagined myself as one crawling up my grandma's leg. She was terrified of snakes. I visualized her doing a little dance in the dress she always wore.

Sighing, I scanned its pages more until my eyes fell upon the coolest thing- a sphinx. I read the text describing the creature. There were two different kinds: The Egyptian sphinx, witch had the head of a man and the body of a lion, and the Greek sphinx, witch had the head of a woman, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird, and the body of a lion. Both of them were pretty cool, however I wasn't too keen on having the head of a man or the tail of a serpent.

I shut the book and thought for a moment. Then having made up my mind, I got up and went down stairs to see that the house was still empty. I looked at the clock before going to the entry-way closet and saw that I was only in the Dream world for three hours. If I went back, I'd only be able to stay for two. After going to the closet and grabbing a pair of sandals, I pulled out the orb and held it tightly in my hands. Closing my eyes, I visualized the place where I first landed- The place where I met Pagasis. Curious, I opened my eyes to see that I was floating weightless in a different dimension. Swirls of color danced around me. I wanted to see more, but before I knew it I found myself kneeling in a large patch of crystals. I looked at the orb in my hands before it rose and disappeared with a faint pop.

Suddenly I heard the sound of breaking crystals as someone approaching me. I turned.

Pagasis walked up to me. His black shiny hooves cracked and shattered the crystals beneath them.

"Hi Pagasis!" I said, still astounded that I knew him.

Pagasis smiled.

"Hello yourself." he replied with his usual warm smile.

"I see you're back." a voice said from behind me that made me jump.

I turned and met Rinoa's large face. Her eyes were level with mine. I just stared at her like she was going to eat me or something. She still scared me a little. I wasn't used to her size.

Rinoa's red eyes seemed to look right through me as she sniffed me from head to toe.

"Okay Rinoa, why do you have to do that?" Pagasis suddenly asked.

Rinoa raised her head and looked at him.

"It's good to learn everything you can about someone." she said while glancing at him. She then looked down at me. "I believe that you still have a fear of me." She cocked her head to the side and waited for my reply.

"What?" I frowned. "Wait a minute! How can you tell all of that by smelling me?"

Rinoa grinned. She seemed to look more evil as she did so.

"It has always been a special sense of mine. All us wolves have it." she said. "Don't be alarmed. I suppose you must have something like my kind in your world. That is a good thing, because it means that the blood of the moon goddess still lives."

All of this confused me. She was right about there being wolves in my world, but I didn't understand the part of the moon goddess. Was she a wolf too?

"Yes." I finally said. "There are wolves in my world, but they aren't as big as you are." My eyes trailed to the ground. "But I guess the size doesn't matter. There are many people who are afraid of wolves."

I for one have never seen a live wolf up close but I wasn't afraid of them either. I always thought they were beautiful and majestic. I never really comprehended why people feared them so much. It didn't help when they'd make stories and legends that made the reputation of the wolves go bad.

"Although you are the first human I have ever encountered, I hear that humans fear things they don't understand." Rinoa said clearly while staring at my face. "In this world, fear comes from what we see and smell. Not about what we hear and speak."

This made me think for a moment. She was right. People do fear what they don't understand.

"So," said Pagasis taking me out of my thoughts. "What do you wish to become?"

"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed. Though I was excited and nervous, I had completely forgotten about it. "Well… It took me a while to think about it. I'm not quite sure if you know what a sphinx is…"

"A sphinx?" Rinoa nodded. "I've heard of them."

I looked up at her in surprise. "Really?"

Rinoa nodded again. "Yes. You would make a great sphinx. I can smell the feline in you."

I smiled. People always told me that I was like a cat.

"I agree…" Pagasis smiled.

I smiled back.

"Don't be nervous now." Pagasis eased. "Okay? Take your mind off of everything. Focus on the creature you want to become. What you want to look like."

I thought hard. I thought about what a sphinx looked like, trying to picture it in my mind. They both had something that I didn't like. The Egyptian sphinx had the head of a man and it had no wings. I wanted wings. The Greek sphinx had the tail of a snake. I really didn't want that! So, I decided to improvise.

"Ready?"

"Ready!" I replied, concentrating really hard.

I kept my eyes closed. I could feel a force move all around my body. Like a strong wind. Suddenly I could feel my body changing. I dropped to all fours when I felt my back curve. I then opened my eyes and watched my own hands turn into paws. I gasped then let out a startled yelp as I suddenly felt something grow out of my back. Something else caught my attention as this happened. "My voice…" When I had screamed it sounded more like a shrieking roar. This had to be the weirdest sensation I'd ever felt in my life. Then, before I even knew it, it was over.

The wind settled and my hair relaxed. There I stood. I stared blankly at the ground. I could feel my heart beating in my chest and beads of sweat dripping down my face. My chest heaved in and out as I took long steady breaths. Suddenly I felt my own ears twitch as the sound of breaking crystals met them. The sound was much louder then when I heard it before.

"Are you all right?" Pagasis asked.

For a minute I forgot who was talking to me. His voice sounded different. Just like his hooves hitting the crystal-covered grass, it seemed a lot louder.

"Yes…" I finally said. I lifted my head and looked up at Pagasis.

"Wow, you look great." he said with an astonished expression. "Come and see." He turned and walked to a small pond and beckoned me to follow.

Like a newborn kitten, my first step was a wobbly one. Trying to keep my balance, I then took a couple more. Suddenly a dark figure whipped past me followed by a gust of wind. It took me a second to realize that Rinoa had just bolted past me and joined Pagasis' side by the pond.

"Come on scaredy cat!" she teased.

After a few more successful steps, I then decided to forget taking it slow and began to jog. I reached the pond and looked at my reflection. The first thing that caught my attention was my ears. They were large and pointed. I was very relieved that I didn't have the head of a man. My face and hair was still the same. Except my eyes were larger and they had slits instead of round pupils. Also my eyes were lined in black and gold like an Egyptian. My skin tone on my head didn't change either, but when the skin went down my neck, it turned more into fur and ended in a ruff at my shoulders.

"Wow…" I murmured. As I spoke I noticed that my teeth were long and pointed like a cats. I then looked over my shoulder and at my back. I had orange fur and large, feathery black tipped wings. Another thing that relieved me was that my tail was not a snake. Instead, it was just like a lion's with the bit of hair on the end. The hair was the same color as the hair on my head. I flicked it back and fourth a couple times. It was kind of cool. I then looked back down at my paws and saw that my toes were white. I made my claws come out. They were black, long and incredibly sharp. I liked that…

"So, what's it like?" Pagasis asked.

I turned and looked at him with a grin.

"I love it! It had turned out exactly the way I wanted it."

"That's great." Rinoa laughed. "I am glad to see that nothing went wrong. I was scared there for a while."

"Really? What of?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, but if you would have came out deformed, I probably would have fainted…" she replied.

I laughed too. Pagasis and Rinoa reminded me strongly of normal human teenagers. I didn't know how old they were, but like it mattered anyway. They were both pretty cool.

"So," Pagasis smiled. He was staring at my wings.

I looked at him in question.

He looked back at me with a smile. He then walked up behind me and lowered his head until it was right next to mine. I could see that he was looking at a small cliff at the edge of the field. I knew that at the bottom of the cliff there was nothing but water. I wondered why he was staring at it for a moment then… I grinned. I knew his intentions.

"Well, are you scared?" he asked me. I could feel his warm breath on my ear. It made it twitch again.

My grin widened. Then I just decided to go for it and I took off in at dead run. My claws automatically came out and dug into the ground, making me go even faster. The wind whipped through my hair. I loved to run, even when I was human. I could hear Pagasis' hooves pounding the ground next to me. I didn't look at him. I was looking straight ahead as the cliff got closer, and closer… Then I chocked. "What am I doing?" I was afraid of heights. I didn't even like airplanes, or roller costars, or… Then before I knew it I was leaping off the edge of the cliff. I could see the fierce water pounding the rocks below me as I hurtled toward them. I closed my eyes and spread my wings. Feeling my body rising, I found myself soaring through the air. I rose all the way up to the purple clouds. The wind rushed through my hair and all over my body. It felt refreshing and wonderful on my orange coat. I then felt something cold on my cheek and realized that I had tears in my eyes. Suddenly Pagasis appeared by my side. He didn't say anything. He just smiled when I looked at him.

I smiled back. I then looked around. The view was spectacular. The ocean was a pretty blue and it was huge. Beams of sunlight gleamed through the thick clouds in many places. There where many other islands everywhere. The closest one was to the west. I looked down at our island, still amazed by how big it was. The crystal covered meadow shimmered. I then spotted the place where Pagasis and I first met. I looked next to me. He was still there- Flying by my side. I looked down and saw Rinoa slowly following us. I gazed back up into the sky. `They may not be human…' I thought to myself. `But I'm glad to have friends.'

* * * * * * * * * *

The Plan

When Pagasis and I finally landed, my heart was racing what seemed to be a million miles pr hour.

"So, how was it?" Rinoa asked me with a smile on her doggish face.

I looked up at her with wide eyes.

"That was so cool!" I exclaimed.

Pagasis and Rinoa looked at each other.

"Cool?"

"Huh? Oh, well you know… um… neat, awesome, tubular…" I explained.

"So let me get this strait," Pagasis tilted his head to the side. "You have a word that means all those words?"

I nodded. Feeling kind of embarrassed, I lowered my head knowing that Pagasis and Rinoa didn't have a clue what slang words were or what they meant.

"Okay then. Cool." said Pagasis.

"You want to know something else that's cool?" Rinoa grinned. "Blow."

I looked at Pagasis with a bewildered expression. "Blow?"

"Blow."

"Okay…" I murmured. I took a deep breath. I then felt something strange in my throat. It was like a door opening inside of my body. I couldn't explain it any better. As instructed, I blew. My throat got hotter and hotter until a huge spout of flame shot from my open mouth.

"Woa!" I heard Pagasis exclaim. Apparently I didn't watch where I was aiming and almost set his hair on fire. Just by luck he ducked in time only to singe a few hairs instead of the whole thing.

"Cool!" I shouted in amazement. If my eyes had gotten any wider they would have rolled right from my head.

Rinoa was laughing hysterically, trying to keep herself from falling over.

"Yeah, `cool' for you." Pagasis snorted. "I was almost char broiled by the killer blow suggested by that crazy lunatic." He looked up at Rinoa. It appeared to me that Pagasis wasn't very mad about his head almost burning at all. He was grinning. It appeared like he was thinking of something witty to say back at Rinoa. Instead, she went first.

"Do it again!" she shouted. "I want to see him dunk his head in the pond!"

"Shut up." Pagasis snorted.

"Oh no, what are you going to do!" Rinoa mocked. She had that fake, fearful voice you only hear in old horror movies. "The little horse is going to stomp me!"

I had this feeling they would keep this up for a while. They looked like robots in combat mode. Only, Pagasis and Rinoa were in competitive argument mode more than anything else. This taught me another thing about the two of them. They were competitive and always seemed to progress a little more than the other.

"Hey guys?" I asked.

The two took their eyes off of each other and looked at me.

"Umm, not to break up your little… tussle, but we have to start getting serious." I didn't really know what I was saying, but when I looked at Pagasis' head, it made me remember why I was there. The deadly black scar had gotten a little bigger since the last time I saw him. I was so exited about my new form that I didn't notice it before.

"I suppose we should." Pagasis sighed. He then looked up at Rinoa. "Sorry about the comments."

Rinoa shrugged. "It's okay. Sorry for calling you a little horse and a shrimp and a stubborn donkey…"

"You didn't call me a stubborn donkey." said Pagasis with a frown.

"I was thinking it…" Rinoa grinned.

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked. "I don't have much time left here. Back in my world, my mother will come home from work and see that I am gone. The one thing she does not tolerate is when I don't tell her where I am going…"

"Okay," Rinoa nodded. "There is this bird called the Misia bird."

"The Misia bird?"

"Yes," said Pagasis. "The Misia bird is a very powerful being. It flies wherever the winds take it. I could be on any island here in the Dream world."

"But, what is so special about it?" I asked.

"It can grant a wish to anyone who catches it. Rumor has it that it's on our island now. The winds had brought it here and will remain here for some time. The legends say that the wind carries it to islands in need of its power."

"Who started the rumors?" I asked. "Aren't we the only one's on our island?"

"Heavens no." Rinoa looked shocked that I didn't know that. "There are many creatures here. Most of them live in the forest. What do you think I'm supposed to eat? Trees?"

I giggled. The thought of Rinoa eating a tree seemed to amuse me in some way. I felt kind of dumb though. I should have known that we weren't the only ones here.

"As the forest guardian, I know almost every creature in the forest. I'm not a pure Dream Guardian, but I do keep some order here. If anything goes wrong in the forest, the animals call me, and I come to their aid. Basically, I am taking care of my food supply."

Suddenly, a shrill cry came from nowhere. The next thing I knew was Rinoa speeding past me so fast that I was almost knocked of my feet. Then Pagasis and I watched as she bolted for the forest. As I watched Rinoa run, I noticed that there was a huge crystal in her way. It was almost as tall as she was but that didn't stop her. She kept on running and jumped clean over it. I felt my jaw drop. It was as if she could fly. She then disappeared from sight.

"What was that about?" I blinked.

"I don't know. Something must be wrong." Pagasis replied. "I suppose that's what she was talking about. Heh… Ironic…"

"Pagasis, what is a pure Guardian?" I asked. The subject had questioned me since Rinoa had brought it up.

Pagasis smiled down at me. "A pure Dream Guardian has many attributes that sets them apart from other normal Guardians. First of all, a pure Guardian has wings. Also, they cannot be seen in a dream, were a non pure Guardian can, but if a pure Guardian is powerful enough, it can disguise itself in a dream so the human cannot see it." he told me. "The last thing is that in order to be considered a pure Guardian you must know the Guardian language."

"The Guardian language?" I tilted my head to the side. It made me wonder how many languages existed in this world.

Pagasis nodded.

"Each island has it's own language." he said, making my jaw drop. That's a lot of languages! "There are millions of them. However, in order to communicate with other Guardians, that language is used."

"I'm curious." I said. "Could you speak it for me?"

He smiled warmly. The look he was giving me made it seem like he was laughing at me.

"I already am."

"Ohh…" I nodded with a smile. I should have known. "Then would that make me a pure Guardian too?" I asked.

Pagasis' smile widened.

"You are your own Guardian."

* * * * * * * * * *

The Dream

The sun was setting and the stars were starting to appear when I finally got home. I had been staring out the window for quite some time. I was thinking about all the things Pagasis had told me. I had asked him many questions about his world. He told me that there are gods that control the balance of the Dream World. There where stories behind each god and he would tell them to me someday. I was very curious to know. The whole Dream world fascinated me. I never knew that there were different worlds that were based on almost everything in the human world. That's right. Pagasis told me that there were other worlds besides the Dream World in the strange alternate universe that it resided in. It all just went on and on. He didn't have time to tell me everything because I had to get back home. I didn't realize how late I was until I looked out the window. That's when I heard a knock on my door.

Thinking it was my little sister I said, "Go away brat!"

"Say that again…" my mom's voice hissed behind the door. She sounded peeved!

I ran from the window, nearly tripped on some old laundry, and opened the door. I then stepped back as my mom stepped into my messy room.

"And where have you been. I called you down stairs a million times when I got home. So I came up here and you weren't in your room or anywhere else. I called your friend's houses, the neighbors, your grandmother's house…"

"Don't you think you are over exaggerating this a little…" I said while nervously scratching my cheek with one finger.

"Don't you give me that bull sh-"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that…"

"So, where have you been?" she placed her hands on her hips and waited for my reply.

"I went for a walk." I said, trying to keep a casual face.

"Really, then how did you get inside without me seeing you?" she pointed out.

I knew I couldn't get around this one. She wanted a straight answer. Of course I wouldn't give her the straight answer. I didn't want to break my promise with Pagasis. Nobody must never know about the Dream World.

"I used the window…" I sighed. I knew I would get in trouble for this but it was a risk worth taking.

"And how many times did I tell you not to do that?" my mom said in a deadly whisper.

"A million…" I muttered.

My mom just gave me a cold look. I then decided not to aggravate her anymore. Even though she was a lot shorter than me, she could take me down in a second.

"Grounded." she finally said. "For a week.

"Fine." I remarked. "There's nowhere to go any way."

"Wanna make it two?"

"I'll pass…"

I ate dinner with my family. My father and sister were home by then. We all sat around the table and waited for my mom to pull our fates out of the oven. I was disgusted when mom carried in a casserole dish and sat it on the table. She took off the lid and a bunch of steam rose and a foul smell crept into my nose. One of mom's "cauldron creations". My mom sat herself in her chair and looked around the table with a smile on her face. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, everyone reluctantly took a large scoop, though still expecting to see a rat or squid tentacle. It didn't make anything better when my mom said: watch for bones. I ate my portion and left the table. Nobody had spoken much when we ate our meal. I couldn't blame them. They probably didn't want to say anything they would regret.

That night, I didn't take the necklace off when I crawled into my bed. I lay there awake for a while, examining the chain and the little winged hart, and wondered if it really worked. There were other thoughts that were creeping into my mind also. In a way, I was afraid to fall asleep. `What if everything that happened today was all just a dream itself and if I was to go to sleep then it would all just go away?' I didn't have much of a choice however when my eyelids grew heavier and heavier, eventually closing and not opening for quite some time.

The beam of light shining through my window woke me up early the next morning. For a moment I just laid there. Suddenly, my memory kicked in. I couldn't believe it. I had remembered every dream I had that night. There wasn't a single nightmare amongst them. One dream had me concerned the most. It was so real. I was in my sphinx form and I was flying, and this bird was flying next to me. It was large and had a rainbow plumage. Mostly greens and purples. Its large, black eyes where bright and alert. Every so often it would open its pretty, golden bill and let out an echoing cry that gave me goosebumps all over. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. I didn't remember much after that. I was expecting to see Pagasis in one of my dreams, but like he told me. A pure Guardian cannot be seen in dreams.

After taking a moment to get the effort just to roll out of bed, I got dressed and pulled out the orb from my dresser. I figured that it was the best place to stash it seeing as how nobody ever went in there. Not to mention it was in the small drawer where I kept my socks just to be sure. Feeling excited, I wanted to tell Pagasis and Rinoa about the dream I had. Was it the Misia bird that I saw? I didn't quite know, but I made a bet that Rinoa would.

I visualized the crystal covered meadow in my head and soon I was floating again. The winged hart around my neck began to glow. I looked down at it and remembered when I was returning home last time. I could see myself turn back into a human. This time, I turned back into a sphinx. It didn't feel as weird as the first time I was transformed into a sphinx. This time it was quick and to the point. The void disappeared and I landed on all fours on the crystal covered grass. I looked around. I didn't hear or see anyone. I walked around a bit until I found Pagasis and Rinoa both at the edge of the forest. They were lying under a large tree that was filled with fruits that looked like apples.

"Hey, look who's here." I heard Pagasis say to Rinoa.

I ran up to them. "Hey, guess what?" I exclaimed when I stopped at Rinoa's feet. I then looked at Pagasis. His scar covered his whole head. It had vastly spread overnight.

"I had this dream…"

Pagasis and Rinoa looked at each other. They could tell that nothing was wrong by my countenance and knew that it wasn't a nightmare.

"What kind of dream?" Rinoa asked. She didn't have any eyebrows but if she did then one would have been raised.

"I saw this large bird-"

"Say no more." Rinoa interrupted. "You say you saw a bird?"

I nodded.

Rinoa grinned. "Then the rumors are true… The bird is on our island."

Pagasis looked up at her with wide eyes. He had one of the fruits in his mouth so when he spoke his voice sounded muffled. "Cheh?" he exclaimed.

"What does my dream got to do anything with it?" I asked while sitting beside Pagasis and grinned that he had an entire fruit in his mouth.

"It has everything to do with it." Rinoa explained. "If it appears in the person's dream when it's on their island. No doubt about it."

"But Pagasis told me that a pure Guardian cannot be seen in dreams." I pointed out.

"Yes, that is true, but the Misia bird is no Guardian. It is a god. It is made of pure, white magic, and is able to live forever." said Rinoa.

Pagasis stood up. He looked exited. "You all know what this means?" he exclaimed. It was the first time I'd seen him this excited. It almost didn't seem to suit him.

Rinoa and I grinned at each other. We knew exactly what it meant. We could save the island and Pagasis' life.

For a while, we all sat under the tree and talked. Although that day was Sunday, I knew that my family back home was still asleep, and would still be asleep for a while. I learned that the fruits were apples. They were even called apples in that world. This surprised me. I never would have thought that things from my world were also in the Dream World.

"Well, what do you expect." said Rinoa when I told her about the apples. "We have grass too. You have grass right?"

"Well yes…" I said. I had learned something else about Rinoa. She had good common sense. She was no fool.

"So, how is it that you all know so much?" I asked, knowing that it might have been a difficult question to answer.

Pagasis and Rinoa exchanged perplexed looks.

"What do you mean?" Rinoa asked.

"Like, you know, about humans and stuff." I replied.

"Legends." said Pagasis. "The legends of humans and the discovery of the Dream World has been passed down our families for generations. We have to know everything to understand, and a Guardian must understand everything to be a true Guardian."

"So it would be like going to school, and then to college to learn how to do the career you want. I suppose being a Guardian is like having a job. You have to understand a job do it." I said.

"Very good." Rinoa nodded. "Although I don't know what college is, I fully understand what you mean."

"So, if you guys are as smart and capable of learning as any human, then why don't you learn everything that humans learn?" I asked.

"Because it would ruin our culture. We don't want anything to change in our world. I suppose that your world has been changed by the knowledge of humans." Pagasis pointed out.

I nodded. "Yes, now their trying to use their knowledge to fix the mistakes made." I felt kind of guilty at that moment. I was human like everyone else in my world.

Pagasis could sense my guilt. He nudged my side with his nose. He gave me a comforting smile when I looked up at him. "Hey, forget it. You didn't know. Besides, when you're here, you aren't human. You are a sphinx named Esthenia."

I smiled at him. He was right. I wasn't human anymore. Therefore, I decided to throw my human past behind me whenever I was a sphinx. It was like having two lives. Back then it didn't seem to be so much of a hassle. However, I wished I could have thought it through a little more thoroughly.

* * * * * * * * * *

Work

We sat around and talked for quite a while. Wanting to get to know them a little better, instead of asking questions about the island, I began to ask questions about them.

Rinoa told me that she'd lived in the forest all her life. She never left it until the demons came and destroyed Pagasis' family. It wasn't until after that that she met him.

Pagasis had lived in a large herd that made up his family members. He'd never met his father, but he never left his mother's side. When he spoke of her, his cheeks went a bit red. I could tell that he thought about her all the time.

As all would know- If you ask someone a question, they expect you to answer it in return. When they asked me about my background, I glanced at the ground very quickly. Eventually, I told them about my human life and my painful past. As expected, they felt a bit sorry for me, but Pagasis did something I didn't expect.

"Well…" he chuckled when I got done telling him about one of my most embarrassing moments. "Look at it this way- At least you really didn't stuff your shirt and those girls look like fools now because they were paying more attention to your chest than your face when they spoke to you."

Rinoa snorted.

I laughed. His optimism made me feel glad all over. After this, I had learned his true personality. He was the ideal friend I had been looking for all my life. He didn't care about the way I looked or acted sometimes. He looked deep inside and found the real me. And it just might of been his blue eyes, but the way he looked at me when I was worried or sad made me feel calm and relieved.

Before I left for my world we talked about how we were going to catch the Misia bird. Our first concern was:

"So where are we going to find it?" I asked. Pagasis and I both looked at Rinoa.

"In the forest is my best bet." She replied.

"How long do you think it would be to do this?" I questioned.

"I don't know, a couple of days…"

"A couple of days!?" I exclaimed. "But, how will I explain it to my mom?"

"I don't know…" Rinoa sighed. "I keep forgetting that minor detail…"

"Geeze, why can't your parents just make you leave the nest when you are old enough?" Pagasis asked. "My mom stopped taking care of me years ago."

"Yeah," I said. "At age eighteen."

"So, why don't you just tell her you are going to visit someone for a couple of days?" asked Rinoa.

My eyes widened. "Yeah! Rinoa, you are a genius!"

"Mooom…" I groaned. I had left the Dream World right away to beg my mom about going over to my friend's house for a week. I went down stairs to see that she was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. It seemed to be a difficult question to ask her.

"How about… no." she said after I gave her my perposal.

"Pleaase."

"No."

"Please"

"No!"

Hours later…

"Please…"

"Christy, leave her alone…"

"Shut up Cassie! Please mommy!"

"Damn it child, you never give up do you?" my mom exclaimed. "How about this: you clean that rat-trap of yours upstairs, I just might think about it."

I slumped up the stairs. Cleaning my room wasn't my most favorite thing to do, but in this case, I would even eat a full plate of mom's cauldron creations for her to let me go. So, all day I picked up my month old laundry, cleaned up god-knows-what, organized my shelves, and vacuumed the floor. When I finished, I begged some more until finally…

"Fine!" my mom exclaimed.

"Oh thank you!" I groveled. "You won't regret this! Your life will be like god's."

My mom just gave me a sarcastic look. "Oh, shut up before I change my mind."

I gave her a hug and ran up to my room. I was so overjoyed and exited that I wanted to tell Pagasis right away. I opened the dresser drawer and pulled out the orb. I held it in my hands and was just about to go when Pagasis' voice came from nowhere. I jumped back and dropped the orb on my bed.

"Christy, you there?"

I then realized that his voice had come from the orb. Shocked, I picked up the orb and gazed into its depths.

"What the heck are you trying to do? Give me a hart attack?!" I exclaimed.

A miniature Pagasis was standing inside the orb. He was grinning and laughing.

"How are you doing that?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow. "I thought this thing was a transport."

"Exactly, it transported me to your world, but I can't go past the barrier. Guardians aren't aloud in the human world just as human's aren't aloud in the Dream world." he said. "Didn't know I could do that did you?"

"No I didn't, but why is it that I can pass the barrier if humans aren't aloud?" I asked. I began to feel like I was talking on the phone. Only I could see who I was talking to. Which was a lot cooler.

"Why do you think there are things called human hunters here? There aren't no Guardian hunters in your world are there?"

"No," I said with a hint of sarcasm. "Just the Navy, Army, and Area 51…"

"Can you go?" he suddenly asked.

"I can go!" I said with glee.

"I see you did a little work to convince her…" he said.

"How do you know about that?" I asked. I could feel my face getting red with embarrassment.

"I had a little peek earlier…" he said.

"Okay, forget my messiness. So, when do you want to start the search?" I asked.

"As soon as you can." he replied.

"How about tomorrow morning." I suggested. "My parent's won't be home and my sister probably won't be awake by then."

"Good." said Pagasis. "We need to start right away!"

After telling my parents how long I would be gone, I started to gather some important things for my trip. I got my backpack that I used during the school year. The pack was pretty worn from heavy school textbooks, but it was pretty okay. I laid it on my bed and adjusted the straps so it would fit on my back when I was a sphinx in the Dream world. I then went around the house and collected the things I would need. I needed a source of light. I checked all the flashlights to find out that all the batteries had died, so I found a lantern instead. It was in the back of the storeroom under the stairs surrounded by painful objects and nearly killed myself in order to retrieve it. I then figured that I needed a blanket in case it got too cold for me since I didn't quite know the climate of the island. It wasn't much of a chore to get that since I had one on my bed I could take. It was most important to keep track of the time and date. I didn't need to be late coming home. So I got a watch and calendar. With everything in hand, I placed them into my bag.

We had meat loaf that night for dinner, but I didn't care. I hated meat loaf a lot but I couldn't stop thinking about the next day. A whole week in the Dream world looking for something that was vary rare, like gold, but more difficult…

"You're quiet tonight." my dad said to me. "Normally you're complaining or saying things that would make me lose my appetite."

I ignored him. Actually, I hardly even heard him. I was in a deep sea of thought that I couldn't swim out of.

"Helllo…" my sister said while waving her hand in my face. "Going off into space?"

"You really bug me…" I sighed as I picked at my food. I ate what I could and went up stairs with what seemed to be an empty stomach and a full mind. After I took a shower and changed into my nightshirt, I decided to go to bed. I kept myself unwillingly awake by thinking about how all of this could happen to me within only two days. A week seemed like forever…

* * * * * * * * * *

Nightmares

I awoke from a nightmare. Cold sweat ran down my face and my whole body shook like I had been sleeping out in the cold. My blankets and pillow were on the floor. The vision of a huge, black, red eyed monster chasing after me was still fresh in my mind. I was afraid. After a moment, the hard truth struck me. Placing my hand on my beating chest, I panicked. Right away, I knew something was missing. I frantically looked all over my floor, under my bed, and through my blankets. I then ran to the dresser and opened the drawer. I pulled out the orb and cried out Pagasis' name. I didn't know if he could hear me, but I also wasn't really thinking about what I was doing at that moment.

"Christy?" came Pagasis' voice.

It worked! I was so relived.

"Christy?" Pagasis repeated. He had appeared now and was giving me a look of concern on top of his tired countenance. "What's wrong? You look like you saw a demon."

"Close enough…" I remarked. "The necklace, it's gone!"

"What?!" Pagasis exclaimed. His eyes got big with fear. "Did you have a…"

"Yes." I interrupted. "I don't know where they are. I am so sorry…" I almost started to cry. I felt as though I had ruined everything. Without the wings, I couldn't turn into a sphinx and go to the Dream world and help them out, and worse: I had a nightmare, and I knew that was no help to my friends. For all I knew, the demons could have already been on their way to feed off it.

"Calm down. It's okay. We'll find it." Pagasis reassured calmly. "Let's back track. Where did you last see it?"

"I was wearing it, then I took it off when I got into the shower so the water wouldn't ruin it." I said. I fought hard to hold back my tears. I didn't want Pagasis to see that I was crying.

"Look where you set it down. Maybe it's still there." Pagasis suggested.

"Okay, good idea…" I said, feeling rather dumb that I didn't think of that in the first place.

I walked into the upstairs bathroom with the orb still in my hands. I looked around the sink and on the floor and almost started to cry again. There was a jolting fear that it might have somehow gone down the sink. If that were the case, I'd never get it back.

"It's not here either…" I sighed, trying desperately to contain myself.

"Is there anyone who would take it?" Pagasis asked.

"Cassie!" I exclaimed. "I bet she has it." I left the bathroom and crept into my sister's room. Cassie was still asleep when I stomped up to her bed. I lifted her hair and examined her neck. I saw a familiar chain around it. I slowly lifted the chain and saw a silver winged hart. I felt my face get hot from my anger.

"It's here Pagasis." I whispered into the orb.

"Good, grab it and get out." he whispered back.

I found the chain clasp with my fingers and took it off of my sister. Not caring if I woke her up or not, I slapped her upside the head out of spite. To my surprise, she didn't wake up. Instead she rolled over on her stomach and stuck her butt in the air. Showing her underwear. Disgusted, I shielded the orb with my free hand as I turned away from Cassie's bed and walked out of the room. When I got back into my room, I sat the orb on my bed.

"What did you do that for?" Pagasis asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do what?" I asked as I put the necklace back on myself.

"Cover me up."

"Trust me, you didn't need to see that."

"Well, I'm glad you found it." Pagasis yawned. It made me feel kind of bad that I had woken him up.

I looked at my clock. It was only 3:38 in the morning. I then looked back down at Pagasis.

"No, we found it." I said, trying to hold back a yawn. "Thank you for helping me. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Don't worry about it." Pagasis just smiled. "Good night. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night." I said.

After Pagasis vanished from the orb I put it back into the dresser drawer. I then laid back down, and before I fell asleep, I checked the chain clasp on my necklace just to make sure…

* * * * * * * * * *

Whew! Never thought that would end did ya? Well, anyway, the next part will be up soon. I really appreciate you all for reading this. It means a lot to me.

Preview: When Christy returns to the Dream world the next morning, the hunt for the bird begins. However, this journey will take an unexpected turn when they run into some of the forest's inhabitants and their quest will get a little bit more complicated.