Rebirth+of+Je-Song


 * DISCLAIMER* Due to unforeseen circumstances, this story could not be completed.

Entering the bath house they were met with a wall of stream. Normally the humidity in the air would bother him, but being in astral form like he was the air had no effect on his lungs. Kryster on the other hand was used to a colder weather and was strangely affected by the heat in the air.

“How does anyone deal with this heat?” Kryster inquired . “Honestly, I don’t notice it in my astral form.” Asher replied.

“Lucky you.” Kryster said sarcastically under his breath. Kryster was still more than a little irritated by his scrape with Apostolate.

Walking through the bath house, Asher looked for a dark enough room to enter the dreamscape. Finding it at the end of the hall, he motioned for Kryster to enter before him. Kryster did, met with an even stronger wave of heat. He pushed forth, not happy about it, only because he knew what he had to do.

“Entering the dreamscape is easier than one might think. However it takes a good deal of concentration and an open mind,” Asher said as he walked to the other side of the room.

Kryster nodded unsure of what to think. He was predisposed to dislike his and everyone’s magic, but his mind was very open for a centaur. He pursed his lips and decided to carry on. “What do I do to get there?”

“Astral Projection is the easiest way to get there but you need to be more relaxed than you are.”

Kryster took a deep breath, shook out his arms, then looked at Asher expectantly. “Is this good? How relaxed are we talking?”

“Clear your mind. You can’t be distracted by thoughts,” Asher said as he sat down in a meditative pose.

Kryster sat down too and tried to clear his mind. He was finding it unusually difficult. After focusing hard for a long moment, eyes squeezed shut, forehead wrinkled, in full concentration, he let out an exasperated sigh. “How exactly do you clear your mind?”

“Clearing your mind is like when you are about to go to sleep. Totally relaxed, unable to think about anything else than sleeping,” Asher replied, closing his eyes and slowing his breath. “If it helps, focus on slowing your breath and only that. Every time a thought about something else pops in your head, throw it away and focus on your breath.”

Kryster nodded again and settled in more, then focused on his breathing. He found it much easier to clear his mind once there was something to focus on. Eventually, his mind was blank, the only thing on it being his inhales and his exhales. After Kryster’s mind was completely cleared he felt as if a large weight was being pressed down on him. Concerned, he wanted to stop concentrating on his breathing.

“The weight is just your physical form detaching from your astral form it is nothing to worry about,” Asher said.

//“I don’t know if I want to detach...”// Kryster thought, still very unsure.

“It’s completely harmless. You will be able to return to your body when we return from the dreamscape just as easily as if you were waking up from a dream,” Asher told him.

The weightlessness was the next thing that Kryster noticed. He could feel himself floating up above his body. Quickly lowering down, he felt ground beneath his feet, however he could tell that he was no longer in the bath house. Where he was could be considered the bath house, but only the floor and the things on it. The walls were replaced with an empty black space that was speckled with other places, all of which he remembered being in.

Asher reentered the dreamscape next to Kryster and looked around. This time it looked different than before. He saw places that he didn’t know but could only assume that Kryster did. However, he still could see the path that led to Je Song.

Kryster looked at Asher, mildly confused. “Where are we supposed to go?”

Asher pointed in the direction of the path that would lead the pair to the tiny island he called home. “It’s this way,” He told Kryster as he set off on his course. Kryster followed, still bewildered by the view he was taking in.

When they finally reached the platform that held their destination, Kryster’s eyes were met with the devastation that covered Je Song. No buildings stood completely and all were in varying stages of collapse. There seemed to be no life, only death. Not a single plant nor animal in sight was thriving. The decaying bodies of rodents and small creatures littered the streets at random. Rubble was scattered across every path. Kryster started moving forward, overwhelmed, looking for something to redeem the place, and tripped over something. He looked down and leapt away immediately. What he had tripped over was the only human corpse in sight, the body of an aged man. Half decayed the only identifiable feature was the blonde hair that seemed eerily similar to Asher’s Kryster looked at Asher, stammering and stuttering and trying in vain to find words, Asher seemed unaffected by the scene. What Kryster was unaware of was that the scene looked completely to Asher. To him, the island was unaffected by time, still lush with vegetation and life. Bright colors and plants were in place of the grey-brown shroud of decay. “What is the meaning of this?” Krsyter asked.

“What do you mean?” Asher asked.

“This was not what I thought the island would look like, I expected something a bit more tropical,” Kryster responded.

Asher was confused by this. “How much more tropical could you want it. I mean I’ve never been to a place more warm and thriving with life than this.” Asher responded. Kryster laughed.

“Then you must not be well traveled.” Asher didn’t know what Kryster could mean, to him the sun was warm and shining, a beautiful breeze was blowing through making for a perfect day.

“Do you not see any of the beautiful plant life around us?” Asher asked.

“Beautiful? Asher everything is dead.” Kryster told him.

Asher paused “Th-that can’t be right. Maybe you should try and bring back the island, that might help.”

Kryster nodded and started to focus. He thought only of the island, just as Madam Cho had instructed him, focusing all of his newfound power and energy on only that. It was substantially easier after having astral projected. The ground started to shake softly, then the shaking grew more violent. Kryster lost his focus, clearly scared.

Asher looked at him, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s... I... never mind.” Kryster set his focus on the island once more and the ground resumed shaking. Kryster clenched his eyes shut and tried to ignore the terrifying movement under his feet. As the shaking grew more intense, things started to change for Asher. Leaves tore themselves from the trees and changed to the brown color of death as they descended to the ground. Animals started turning to dust as they ran from their fate. Buildings crumbled before him. The sun hid behind a menacing gray cloud that started filling the space around them. Before the small clear patch that Asher and Kryster stood in was filled by the foreboding mist, the half decaying body that Kryster tripped over previously appeared at Asher’s feet.

Asher looked around at the devastation. He turned to Kryster. “What did you do?” He asked at a whisper.

“Nothing, I just brought the island back. Asher you were gone for two hundred years, this is what happens,” Kryster replied.

Asher turned away from him and started to walk around and saw the body lying there half decayed. the blond hair and tattered clothes a dead give away to who it was. His heart sank and he ran to the body hoping that he was seeing a mirage or some side effect of Kryster’s magic.

He got to the body and knelt down beside it. It was indeed his father. It was then that he dropped to the ground with a scream of grief so loud you would think it could wake the dead. Unfortunately it didn’t. Asher paused, slowly stood up, and turned to Kryster. “WHAT HAPPENED.” He screamed.

“Asher I didn’t do this.” Kryster responded softly.

“Then who did?” Asher asked on the verge of a mental breakdown.

“I don’t know, but two hundred years is such a long time to be gone.” Kryster commented.

“But he can’t be gone......he can’t be. I need him.” Asher said. A tear started to fall down his face.

“I know this is hard-” Krsyter tried to console Asher but he was cut off.

“He needed me and I couldn’t protect him. He died and it’s all my fault.” Asher broke down then, physically, mentally, he was gone, and it would be a long time before he would even consider being okay again.

“Asher this wasn’t your fault,” Kryster told him.

“But it is...” Asher said, all emotion gone from his voice. He was in shock.

“We need to get back to Madam Cho.” Kryster said. Asher didn’t respond, he just stared blankly not moving or saying anything. Kryster picked him up and put him on his back. The journey to the east wasn’t long, but it would be difficult with someone who was in shock, and this was only the beginning. The trek to the library was never easy for Kryster to begin with and, since he’d been out of practice with the war games being put on hold, carrying another person with him was not helping. He put his head down and moved forward slowly but surely until he reached the monastery. He was welcomed in by the monks, having been known as a friend and not a stranger. They stayed the night, Kryster too tired and Asher still too in shock to say much. Kryster was so muddled down with thoughts of what had occurred that he hardly noticed that he was in the library until Madam Cho had greeted him.