Fairies... and chill?

In the mortal worlds, most humans say that dreamscapes are remnants of memories; or perhaps cognizance trick. However in the realms of magic, a mere dream can be much more dangerous. Death in a dreamscape is easy, although visiting a dream is rarer. However powerful beings can always call you against your will. If there is a connection between two souls, a resonance or simple summoning can be done even with weakened powers, unless someone had a blessing to protect them.

“--der!” A blurry voice pierces my ears, groaning. I turn on my side and pull my blanket tighter “ALEX! Alexander D’vania Oceania! Wake up!” With a merciless tug my warm cocoon is pulled from me, I feel my lips pursing as I glower sleepily at my best friend “Aidrien! No fair, I haven’t even slept that long!” I know my protests are useless, he has darker bags under his eyes than I do. There’s rarely time to sleep when flying between battlefields, more so for the crew of the Starlight.

The Starlight is a ship with a crew of misfortunate displaced nobility, the mechanic and architect ranked lowest at Marquess. Followed by the navigator an archduke. Then the pilot a duke like the strategist. At the top the royals; the forger a princess, her twin the seamstress. The commander and trainer the imperial prince and the chef the crown prince. A literal world turned into a chess game for the gods boredom to be alleviated, displaced the crew of this ship and wrought destruction to the world of Natura.

Aidrien sighed and pulled my arm, dragging me upright despite my protest, his strength was one of the reasons he was uncontested for the crown of flames on the groundlands. Yawning I rubbed my eyes acting cutely, forcing my blue bangs out of my eyes “Have we arrived? Uncle will kill me if I’m late…” I sighed when Aidrien nodded “We’ve arrived, Ravi is talking with the chiefs. Things are escalating quickly. Our families are truly too much to understand aren’t they?”

Each crew member had their own story, I was no exception. One slight difference was, my father was still alive, he intended to sell me to the gods. Aidrien’s father took a page out of his brother’s book and assassinated the crown and the majority of the castle staff, similar to the situation of his skyland cousin Sky. As for Selina and Monique their father banished them and tried to rob them of their powers to fuel his longevity, turning the rule into a dictatorship. Estevan refuses to share his story, but his country is now under the rule of a gods crazed church which he needs to put back into their place. Goldii fled as his aunt slit his uncle’s throat and poisoned her best friend to rise to the highest position. No one besides Goldii knows Ravii’s story, just that he and Goldii have a lifelong contract.

Sighing I got up using my water magic to rinse myself and I pull some clothes over as Aidrien heats the air around me helping me dry off. Ice is my primary element, but I can control any fluid form, other than bodily fluids. Aidrien can control most any flames, he has some trouble dealing with white and blue flames. Monique deals with shadows and possibly blood, no one actually knows. Selina is a wind user. Estevan can use earth and electric elements. Goldii can use healing magic and navigational skills. Ravii can write almost any formula and is an alchemist weakly skilled with poison and fire.

Aidrien tossed me the file of information for me to scroll through, I catch it with a hand of ice while I tame my bedhead and glance over it. Our meeting with our allies from the skies and my closest uncle is to plan for our next largescale battle. The uncle who took the crown of Oceania is planning a genocide of those who support the true heir, well me, and is tired of hearing praises about me. As a child, I was considered a prodigy, although it isn’t uncommon for a child to show signs of their magic, the first week I was able to sit up I caused a blizzard that only ended after eight nights. Newborns generally have very weak magical powers, or they grow into them, my powers frightened many and were admired by many more. When I turned one my mother perished from backlash after attempting to seal my magic within herself, so my father made a move for the betterment of the country. That uncle, Ethenox is no longer welcome in our family for what he did.

Closing my eyes I commit the file to memory. Ethenox has lured a dragon into a trap and plans to assassinate it and use the magical explosion to wipe out the main prison, and effectively silence the rebels. The main prison is thirty levels with fifteen above and fifteen below ground, a dragon explosion would likely destroy everything upwards, and the debris would do the rest. My birthday March 22 this year I come of age, fifteen turns. On that day I can lay claim to my crown, on that day he plans to paint our gorgeous landscapes in red.

Oceania is considered a peaceful, although adequately frozen in history country. Beautiful buildings sculpted of ice, glass or crystals line the streets, with bodies of water on three sides of the country. Known as the country of free waves and endless starlight we are a peaceful people. Peaceful in no way means weak, we foster the largest military force, most of our children go to Cloudia to study, the neutral country that teaches the histories of this world as a whole, unbiased as recorded by the bookkeepers. The bookkeepers are mysterious, they record every piece of history across the worlds in an unbiased way, based on the facts as if they’re watching everything unfold before them. Unlike the prettied up versions that some countries tell, Oceanic and Cloudian children learn unbiased truths and that often causes conflicts as they age and meet those from the proud and biased countries. Still I couldn’t be prouder of our educational system, idly I wonder how the bookkeeper will record our story. Will our crowns fine our heads, or will our world really fall as the gods so wish?

I notice Aidrien leading to the last meeting and I quickly follow putting the file down in a pile of others, I won’t need it. We’ll be leaving the ancient ship Starlight with uncle Axedous to protect and possibly be enhanced, we’ll be teleporting to one of our bases through magic crystals so we evade the detection of an instantaneous apparition. Here above the clouds, I could just drop into the waves and enter, but the others aren’t able to do that. The icy water would be fatal to Aidrien and none of the others have an affinity with the cold or the water, Selina can’t swim though I think she could fly in with her feathery angelic wings. Distracted I keep thinking thoughts like this as the meeting drones on, I’m just here as an accessory, I don’t have anything to do with the planning. No one asks me anything, my job is on the day of the battle, Aidrien who is downing a herbal brew to energize himself is seriously talking and making arrangements with the skyland commanders, we plan on lending the princesses and pilot navigator pair to them while we go battle. Aidrien, Estavan, myself and our army on the ground will face the upcoming battle. Simple enough.

Those who stand against us the next week are wearing restrictive collars that force them to follow the commanding order, lest they die painfully. Frowning I glower at the spot beneath the false flag, a silver flag decorated with a shark. The true flag is a beautiful blue with a crowned mermaid despite the story that only kings could stand above this land. Oceania is said to have a legend that a mermish fae was sealed frozen beneath the castle in the grand lake and that if a queen ever rises to rule she will be cursed and destroy the lands unable to overcome any trial.

The sacred lake did exist beneath the castle, frozen solid like the heart of the country. I yawn wondering when this battle will end, I yawn as I weave through the attacks that lack real killing intent while the others work on disabling them I freeze them and call to my uncle “Under the fair starlit skies, I do declare. I will return us to free waves! Free winds and eternal starlight! A fallen face cannot lead true!” I was feeling pretty cool as I parried a sword aiming for me, though with my blade and attention distracted I was too slow to stop the crushing blow aimed at my head. A splitting pain washed over me as I collapsed. My last thought was, I probably need to visit Alex Alrain later, I can fix the veins and organs, but not the bone.

I know I blacked out, I can still feel the pain in my head as I tenderly caress the crown of my head. I look around. I'm somehow in a frozen forest? As I look around I notice a lake identical to the frozen lake beneath the palace I saw once. With a sigh I smack my face with a resounding force and wince, I’m not wholly asleep, this could be bad. According to the battle-mage guide, in a dreamscape. if you feel pain it is possible to die. Swallowing my saliva I take a breath, I see my reflection in the ice underfoot, my sapphire eyes are getting serious, and my figure… is changing? My true body is being revealed, or at least my birth body, Alexanderia is my name. The only heiress to the crown, with an endless battle to face, my father signed a deal with Anastasia to bind my powers and sell my soul as girl if I could not overtake her.

Reluctantly I take a step, the ice cracks beneath me and I see something rising under the ice as I walk. When I arrive in the center a block of ice rises out and icy water splashes about. Face to face with Anastasia I prepare for my mental battle, but my nose crinkles, why does it smell like smoke?

Outside the battle wages on, no one would believe Aidrien had trouble with the hottest category of flames, his anger watching Alex fall was unrivaled. His anger brought forth flames that melted the mithril walls of the prison and cut through the binding collars on the dragonkin and the high ranking officials facing against us.

The dreamscape started to reflect what I smelled, a burning forest with a frozen lake, would… I be able to wake up if I went into the flames? The fire would never be inside Anastia's dreams, after all a mer-fae would never wish to draw near to the flames. Perhaps the battle could wait for another day. It was worth a try, passing the center I headed toward the fire and closed my eyes to motivate myself to move forward outside of this lake should be no man’s land.