Yume:Kiri* Prologue Part 3

Yume:Kiri* Prologue Part 3: [no chapter title]

         That night I began to dream of a world where Kairi and I could be together. In this dream I wasn’t myself and she wasn’t the person I know now. Although I wasn’t accustomed to the physical form I have taken in this dream world, it felt like it was meant to be.
         In the mist of this astral adventure we met countless people who felt strangely familiar that I did not recognize. Even though it was just a dream, it felt as real as anything I’d experienced before. Like all good things it eventually came to an end; blurred in a haze of lost dreams and hidden memories. Just what exactly happened during this dream sequence…? I couldn’t help but wonder as the residual emotions began to fade away.
         The sun had started to rise and I could feel my destiny calling to me as I opened my eyes to absorb the translucent rays that pierced our crystal ceiling. Finally the day had come where Kairi and I would leave on an expedition together. I could hardly contain my excitement!
         Quickly I began my preparations… Clothes, rare gems for bartering, provisions and…. the psycho-active herbs I require for inspiration and motivation.  Cannabliss Divinicus was a plant sacred to my people, when smoked or ingested it would amplify our abilities to perceive through the mind’s eye. Not only that but it was one hell of a mood lifter!
         After switching on the hologram device from my chambers I prepared to make another announcement prior to embarking upon this journey.

         “Hello and good day to you all, people of the Immortalis Empire.  I am certain you are all aware if not a bit concerned in regards to recent events that have caused communication outages between planetary citizens and lunar citizens. Rest assured that even in the absence of our King, we will restore communication between the colonies! My party shall depart momentarily in pursuit of these endeavors. May you all find peace in these times of chaos and have a stellar day everyone!” I finished the announcement with pride and determination in my voice.
         All the preparations have been finished. I have calculated the journey should take about a week’s travel time if we use the planetary transportation systems available in our major cities to travel through any potentially dangerous terrain. We do not have need for weapons as we can create any tool to defend ourselves simply by willing it into existence.
         Although we have occupied this planet and its moons for centuries, there are still many mysteries that we have yet to provide viable explanations for. In all honesty I have no idea what to expect as we spiral outwards into the mysterious darkness of the unknown.
         I arrived at the palace courtyard dressed in flowing royal robes, a platinum tiara with a special variety of gems imbedded to further amplify my ability to manifest change through the mind’s eye and a special smoking relic that had been in the royal family since before my birth lay rest upon my lips.
         The courtyard was a vibrant collage of blooming flowers and piercing sunlight coming directly overhead the canopy of tree’s which rained flower petals about in the soothing breeze. All of the people I had invited to take with me on the expedition were already there waiting for me. Kairi Soulnova, Mikaeus Starsworn, and Sky Aeternus stood together waiting for me to lead them to their destinies.

         “Aesteria!” Kairi exclaimed as she was the first react to my arrival, doing so with great enthusiasm. I acknowledged this by subtly bowing and smiling at her and followed that up by starting to speak.

         “Everyone here, I trust each of you with all the love in the world. This mission is incredibly dangerous; countless unknown variables stand to complicate any calculable probability for success. I am thankful for your nobility and selflessness in accepting the task before you today, and as your leader I promise to protect each of you with all of my power. I only ask that you do the same for each other.” I looked at each of the three I was speaking with directly in their eyes while I said this to them.
         All three nodded simultaneously. I did not sense any lack of truth in their sincerity and this made me smile to know that I had picked my friends wisely. These are my friends, they mean the world to me and I would never even consider leaving them behind.

         “Prince Aesteria…” Mikaeus began to speak but I interrupted him briefly.

         “I grow weary of such formalities Mikaeus. We have been friends for so many years I don’t mind if you just call me Aesteria.”

         “Thanks Aesteria. If you will it so shall it be!” Mikaeus bowed humbly as he said this.

         “Same for you two.” I added while gesturing towards Kairi and Sky. Kairi immediately responded with-

         “Hah! You don’t have to remind me, my celestial prince.” She had a wicked sarcasm and winked sadistically at me in a completely innocent manner. I was of course, speechless at this, and tried my best not to think about my attraction to her beyond our companionship. A leader must remain strong and vigilant in his resolve to the bittersweet end.

         Sky seemed to notice my awkwardness and began to speak. “Aesteria, did you hear back in the lab our guys have created a new game…? I’m talking about a game that you play by allowing your consciousness to merge with the digital interface and you awaken in a new Universe entirely. It’s not only like the coolest game we’ve come up with it also takes mere minutes of time here to exist for a century in our virtual world. The world itself has been challenging the young minds of our people and bringing out extraordinary gifts from the individuals whom master it.” He seemed incredibly excited and eager to go on.

         “That is truly amazing Sky. I will have to try it with you when we return from the expedition.” I really admired his creativity and enthusiasm. His genius mind was responsible for our society using games to progress ourselves through tougher and tougher challenges and interactivity that can connect the user to the game they are experiencing in ways that have proved invaluable to our societies progression.
         I began to speak to him once more, silently thanking him for his helping me to take my mind off wanting to be with Kairi. “Maybe we can all play the new game together when we get back.” I smiled at the thought of hanging out with my friends for centuries.

         “Alas the time has come to take leave of this sanctuary.” I said to them as I gestured to begin moving out. Just like that we turned and walked away from a place that had protected us for years, the safety and comfort of home was soon to become just another memory.
         We were walking from the palace to its surrounding major city, a vast city in its prime would serve as a monument for the potential a sentient species can achieve. We are heading towards the capital city of the Immortalis Empire, the grand city of Solaeria; named after the distant star that provided life to this world Solaeris.
         Solaeria has a very profound transportation system for any being who can envision their lightwings. It can take us to any place connected through the systems at the speed light travels. The process itself is quite simple; we envision the particles that make up these bodies becoming waves and then create our lightwings to carry ourselves in pure information form to our destination. We then convert the wave form of our body mass back into particle form to revert back to physicality. This process is elementary for my people.
         It was only a few miles to travel on foot before we made it to the outskirts of Solaeria.  As we got closer, the absolute captivation of Solaeria’s beauty had begun to dawn upon all four of us. The city stretched vast, a completely clean and efficient city with plant and animal life co-existing with our people in peace and progression for centuries.
         There was no need of roads here; all paths were designed for the use of our lightwings. As such; it was time to use the first Light tunnel to reach another Empire city a couple continents away. This city was less than a week’s travel time from our destination to the ancient ruins where the pyramids matched the constellations to create a safe light tunnel to our lunar colonies. From Solaeria we needed to reach the Empire city of Lunaeria which was essentially distant enough from Solaeria to be considered on the other side of the planet. I began to speak before we switched our bodies into their waveforms for the first light tunnel.

         “From here we shall take the light tunnel to Lunaeria and set on foot to reach the ruins where we can investigate any technological issues with communication and transportation to the Immortalis Empire’s lunar colonies.” I instructed my party as we stepped aboard a platform with a complicated looking piece of machinery.
“See you guys in Lunaeria.” Kairi said cheerfully as I watched luminescent wings of light erupt from her back, shimmering diamond-like rainbow prisms from all angles; I watched her body turn into pure shining white light which shot across the platform and took to the skies like a shooting star. I found myself awed and captivated watching her body transform into a winged force of light and justice.
Mikaeus and Sky looked at me as if they knew what I was thinking about while I stood on the platform daydreaming about Kairi using her lightwings. Before I had realized it; I had spaced out and was the only one still standing on the platform.
         I closed my eyes for a moment and envisioned archangel wings of light that could carry me amidst the stars. I could feel their energy pulsing as the wings materialized, than I began to imagine every particle in my body shifting into a wave and moving with the light. All of the colors in my field of vision instantly turned into a collage indistinguishable pigment.
         In the short amount of time that we perceived while traveling to Lunaeria; the only thing on my mind was Kairi using her lightwings. She is sacred to me in all ways.
         I began to see the pigment in my field of vision take its form again. The journey to Lunaeria was over almost as quickly as it had begun. Upon landing at the arrival dock I noticed that Kairi must have been staring at me the whole time since I began to convert from wave form to particle form. I felt a little embarrassed and extremely shy at the thought of her looking at me in that way. I don’t even know if she was aware that she was staring, and I certainly wouldn’t want her to think that I saw her staring at me.
         Of course I would just pretend that I didn’t notice her staring. It’s less painful for us both this way; I never wanted to see her hurt again. In our younger years we had become really attached, before we truly understood the nature of the world we existed in. Things were simple and clean… I will always cherish those memories, as painful as some of them may be- it was those experiences that helped me become who I am today.

         “Alright mates, let us make our way to Lunaeria’s Inn. It’s been a long day since leaving the palace and we have a much longer road ahead of us if we are going to make it to the ruins on schedule.” Sky proposed to the rest of our group.

         “A sensible request indeed Sky.” Mikaeus responded letting me know that he also wished to rest before heading towards the ruins.

        I glanced at Kairi briefly to see how she felt about this idea. Her face lit up with the glow of a hundred moons when she saw me nodding in agreement for this idea.

         “Yes my good fellows, let us take rest in Lunaeria’s Inn for this night. I shall share the Cannabliss Divinicus from the palace with you guys once we get there. Tonight we shall celebrate the union of 4 friends and the destiny we may create together!” I was excited at the thought of partying with my friends; so much-so that I did not feel even the slightest trace of worry or fear for what was to come.
         That night was a great memory. We told each other stories and jokes, smoked the Cannabliss together and created harmony through music as we envisioned different instruments and light patterns together. When the four of us worked together in Harmony, it felt as if the entire cosmos shook in the wake of our existence. The heavens would look upon us with envy this night.