Promise

Abyssia tried her hardest to forge on ahead, most of her elite guard had now fallen to the slumber, she had to reach Araenia, at all costs. She walked toward the city of Brannam, past the sleeping travellers. As she did, she began to hallucinate, the dream magicks were far too potent for even the Celestial Harbinger to resist. She fell to the floor and gave in to the Eternal Dream.

When she awoke, she found herself in the throne room of Aranei, as it had been centuries ago, when she founded it as Andre.

"This is the dream..." Abyssia realized, as she looked around the room, the felt the smooth arm of the Steel Throne, it felt real. Too real. Abyssia stood up and slowly descended the stairs, as she did, the room began to change, as if hundreds of years passed with each step.

By the time she reached the bottom step, the throne room stood as it did today, in ruins, the roof collapsed in, the giant stained-glass window shattered, and the throne collapsed into a giant chasm that ran across the city.

"No... it's just a dream" Abyssia reminded herself, she then noticed a body on the floor, it was Araneia, Abyssia ran over, but she was cold and lifeless. Abyssia yelled and shook her, but as she did, Araneia's face was replaced by Roisin's face.

Abyssia was filled with rage and ran out of the throne room, instead of finding herself in the corridor outside the throne room, she was in the smouldering ruins of Avadey. Ash rained down on the burned city, a single dragon remained. Arranthian, he stared at Abyssia with hatred.

Abyssia charged at him, but as she did she fell to the ground, then fell through down a long vertical hallway of the Imperial Palace. When she landed, she was in the Academy in Utopia, as it stood before it fell, on the throne here however, was Treleva.

"You..." She growled.

"Hello, Abyssia, enjoying your dreams?" He asked.

"Wait, are you real?!" She yelled as she stepped closer.

"In a manner of speaking" He smiled. "I'm in Brannam, using Brannam's mind to speak with you" He laughed.

"That's impossible! She'd never let you control the power of dreams..." Abyssia grunted.

"Oh?" Treleva shrugged. "She doesn't have much of a choice herself, trapped in the Eternal Nightmare herself" He winked.

"I will kill you, Mystic!" Abyssia roared.

"I think not" Treleva winked. "My friend, Keegan currently has a knife to your dear demon friend, Araneia's throat" He smirked.

"Let her go..." Abyssia spoke calmly, with a touch of menace.

"No" Treleva shook his head. "Sweet dreams" He winked again, as he faded from the dream, leaving Abyssia stood alone in the halls of Lumina Academy. She fell to her knees, as the Academy collapsed around her, rain poured down as the sky turned everbright.

Abyssia laid on her back and stared at the white sky above the now ruined city. At a loss of how to break free from the dream. The rainfall got heavier and heavier until the city flooded and Abyssia was washed away in a flood.

When she came to, she found herself on the shores of Rivenlake, that cursed town that sat near to Ishtall. She got to her feet and walked toward the town. It looked the same as she had last seen it, ruined from the attack by the fiends.

That day seemed so long ago now, when it seemed her enemy was simply her sister, ironically, she longed for those days, when it felt like a battle she could win. Now she was pitted against some entity she knew nothing about from somewhere she couldn't comprehend.

Abyssia sat outside a ruined store, and put her head in her hands.

"Wake up, Abyssia" She said to herself.

"That's not gonna work" A voice chuckled from in front of her. She looked up to see a face she hadn't seen in millenia. Tristal.

"Tristal?! You're here too?" Abyssia said, as she stood up.

"Indeed, voluntary of course, she Crystalla's powers are unable to affect others" He nodded.

"I need to get out of here, I need to wake up" Abyssia sighed.

"Yes, you do, there is much work to be done if you are going to disobey fate and save your friend" Tristal winked.

"You know?" Abyssia raised her eyebrow, before remembering Tristal's powers. "Of course you do..." She chuckled to herself. "How do we get out of here?" She asked.

"We need to wake Brannam up, but I'm having trouble finding her" Tristal nodded. "We wake Brannam up, and the dream ends" Tristal smiled.

"Right, do you know how to navigate a dreamscape?" Abyssia shrugged as she looked around.

"Uh... no" Tristal shrugged. "But we have 'time' to learn" He winked.

"That was a terrible pun" Abyssia smirked.

"Indeed it was" He laughed. The two walked away from Rivenlake, as the dream once more began to shift.