Lana Del Rey - Once Upon A Dream

I hadn't thought I'd fallen asleep against my door, but I woke up from fitful half-dreams when someone knocked on the other side of my pillow. The noise seemed so loud, so close, and because I was disoriented, I rolled away into a crouch, thinking I was being attacked. The second knock was faster, clearly impatient.

"Hey Mors, wake up! God, you're like a teenager. You have a lesson in fifteen."

I was dressed in fresh clothes with semi-brushed hair and teeth in under three, but Ailech still teased me about sleeping like a rock the whole way to my training with Zodiac. I pretended to be annoyed, but at least I hadn't had any nightmares, not any I could remember. At least I hadn't woken up screaming with Ailech shaking me by the shoulders, something that had happened too often in my short time at the Vault.

I was almost in a good mood, knowing I would be busy for the next few hours and not have to think about my vision, or any other worries I'd prefer to ignore.

Zodiac was waiting for me when Ailech and I arrived, a small table in one corner of the otherwise empty room. I was glad the mannequins were gone, especially since we hadn't even needed them in my first practice. My flicker of happiness blew out when I saw what was laid on the table; guns.

"I don't like using guns. Too easy," I tried to make my voice casual, but Zodi still peered at me with her violet eyes. Ailech was the one to speak.

"Too easy is how you can use air to squish someone, you know, the stuff that surrounds us, everywhere. That's not fair."

"Well, guns are crude."

Zodi gave a soft smile at my words before picking up a gun that looked much too large in her slender hands.

"You don't have to shoot them if they scare you. I'll shoot you instead. I won't aim for your heart or your head, so try to use the least amount of energy you can, the weakest shield you can while still stopping the bullet. I'll use different guns from different ranges so you'll learn to gauge the strength you need for each caliber and type. Ailech, stay close to her, she'll need heals today."

Ailech looked like he wanted to protest the person he was charged with protecting getting shot at, and if I had paid less attention to her accusing me of being frightened, I probably would have argued too, but instead I just nodded dumbly. Something about her voice made me want to do as she said.

Ailech only had to heal me twice. Once when my shield shattered and I couldn't dodge the shot, having it glance my shoulder, and a second time when she had instructed me to use two small, separate shields as she shot two different guns at me. She quickly learned that was a little beyond me since both bullets easily broke my blocks and went straight through me. The worst of the session was the noise though, not the injuries. I hated how loud each shot was, how each made me jump. More than once the noise had almost made me lose focus on my shields.

I hated the shiver I felt in my mind each time she pulled the trigger, just like I'd felt when we fought the hunters with Ace, when I had thought it was James flinching and my connection picking up on it. Now I knew it wasn't just his flinch, but my own as well. I hated that even our fears seemed to be bleeding together.

Near the end of the practice Zodi quickly switched her aim from me to Ailech where he stood beside me. I threw up a shield just in time, the bullet frozen in midair six inches from the center of his forehead. He scowled at Zodi before grunting a hasty thank-you to me. Ember had joined about halfway through the class and looked as if she might have peed herself when Zodi pointed the gun at her trainer. She glared at her for the remaining minutes of my session, which was a much angrier look than I would have guessed her doe-eyes could accommodate.

"Good job. I know what areas to work on with you now. I had a hunch you would be able to control your shields much better and more quickly for others than yourself. Today was productive."

I smiled at her compliment, feeling a little puffed up from her words. She had that way about her, like an approving word from her meant more than the same from someone else. I swallowed my smile as Levi's thoughts floated through my mind. I did not like Zodi. I didn't like anyone.

I wanted to ask Ailech about my next two tutors, Danny and Katz, but that would require talking to him. I thought of Levi's words again, that the 'bad man' already wanted Ailech, so me being his friend wouldn't put him in any more danger than he already was in. But the risk outweighed my curiosity, so I stayed silent as we walked to Danny's room, Ember trailing behind like a shadow.

I had to wait outside Danny's office since there was no answer when I knocked. Ailech rolled his eyes like he wasn't surprised my tutor was late, but I didn't ask why. Ember stood on the other side of Ailech from me. Finally, a tall, all-American, Cali-bread blonde came strolling down the hall, an overly-white smile stretched across his overly-tanned face.

"Jordan! You look fantastic! I'm so glad you're here with us! I would have come sooner to welcome you to our home but Abraham advised against it, he said you needed time to 'adjust'. Silly old man, right?"

Danny threw his arms around me in a far too intimate hug, his body pressed against mine uncomfortably before purring into my hair.

"I'm so glad you're here."

I jerked back from him with far more force than needed, bumping into Ailech where he leaned on the corridor wall behind me. He tried to cover a laugh with a very loud cough before speaking.

"She isn't really the touchy-feely type, more of the breaky-bleedy or stabby-slicey."

He raised his eyebrows as he spoke, giving Danny a meaningful look, but my tutor hardly seemed phased as he stepped closer to me again. I mirrored his movement, keeping the distance between us, practically stepping on Ailech's toes to do so. Danny's smile dimmed slightly, but he kept his position, which was still too close for my comfort, but it was either stand my ground or spoon Ailech into the wall.

"You'll have to get used to people touching you, little one, must always be polite. For show and diplomacy and all that. Act the part of the beautiful human you are."

He reached out and stroked my cheek and I didn't even try to hide the revulsion from my face as I leaned backwards, now completely invading Ailech's personal space. Danny pulled his hand back a moment later, his fake smile still plastered across his face.

"Right, well, let's get started then. Ailech, will you go get me some cold water? I'll need it for training."

"Don't you have cold water in your roo-"

"I'll get you some, sir."

I had almost forgotten Ember was with us. She faded into the background so naturally, and by the look on Danny's face when she spoke, he hadn't noticed her either. Her big eyes were full of adoration as she watched him, her cheeks glowing pink when he glanced to her.

"Of course, that works just as well, but you should take Ailech with you, so he can help you. What kind of mentor would he be to send you off all alone?"

Ailech made a noise in the back of his throat before answering, clearly not willing to leave me with the sleazy man I had to spend the next two hours with.

"I think little Fireplace is capable of finding water on her own. I'm supposed to protect Jordan from people...and people from Jordan and I sense I may be needed a great deal today."

He smiled angelically and I almost laughed out loud, but cleared my throat instead. The fake smile on Danny's face thinned again, but he kept it dutifully in place. He opened his door and waved us in, his smile tightening as Ailech walked past. He spoke once the door clicked closed behind us.

"To be honest, I'd hate for Jordan to feel uncomfortable talking about her visions and prophecies and such personal, intimate issues with someone she isn't close with. She and I will become very close through our time together, but you, well you are assigned her, correct?"

Ailech looked at a loss for words, and I spoke up even though I wished I didn't have to. My plan had been going quite well since arriving, at keeping my distance from others, but Abby's plan seemed to be going better. Damn old, meddlesome wizard.

"I'm closer with Ailech than anyone else here. I feel completely comfortable with him hearing my...with him being present."

Danny's smile stretched larger, though his eyes didn't match, almost making his expression look like a grimace.

"Wondrous. Well then, please tell me about your last vision; where you were, what you felt, what you saw, how long, how you came out of it. Just tell me everything. Open yourself to me."

He sounded like a psychiatrist and I had to force away the cringe trying to crawl up the back of my skull to my face. He sat with little glasses perched on the end of his nose, suddenly looking very professional, with a leather bound notebook in one hand and a pretentious, heavy ink pen in his other, poised and ready to write.

I thought of my vision from the evening before, but felt like I should tell Abby before Danny. I didn't have a solid reason why, but something in my gut didn't want to talk to this man about the Skia or Kael and Nevaeh's involvement.

"Well, um..."

I realized the silence was dragging on as I tried to remember my previous visions. Then my heart sent a bolt of pain through my chest and I had to fight back a wince. The last vision or prophecy I had had that didn't involve my former Clan was Syn's death. I clenched my teeth, wishing I could come up with a different story to narrate, but I couldn't.

"My last vision was of a friend's death, his murder, but I guess it was more of a prophecy."

Danny's smile widened even more at my words.

"Prophecies and visions. Wondrous! Absolutely wondrous. I feel privileged. Please, tell me your last prophecy. Has it come to pass, has your friend expired?"

"Yes."

"In the way in which you saw it? How abstract are your prophecies? How accurate? Did you know its meaning immediately?"

I had to take a deep breath before I could answer, glancing to Ailech who looked entirely uncomfortable. His discomfort made me feel slightly better, at least he didn't want to hear about my past any more than I wanted to share it.

"I was with a Clan before I came to the Vault. I became close with one member in particular, he was my...my friend. I was hunting one night and stayed in the city afterwards. I had a dream that he was watching me sleep, then I saw the dream again, but it was like through a Shift. Something crawled from me, pulled itself out of me and went to him. It was evil and I knew what my dream meant. I didn't make it back in time. He was dead before I got there."

The room was quiet for a moment before Danny spoke in a voice much too chipper for the conversation's topic.

"Wondrous, now, please describe what you believe the dream meant, spare no detail, my sweet."

Danny smiled over at me widely, pen at the ready, and I felt my teeth grind before I could make my jaw relax. I glanced to Ailech again, who was watching the ground by his feet intensely. My words hissed from behind clenched teeth when I spoke, trying to not let Danny's lack of respect for Syn's death tempt me into collapsing his lungs.

"It meant I was responsible for his death. It meant I had poisoned him with my presence, my friendship, and because of me something dark came and took him, killed him. I knew I couldn't do anything in the dream to save him because I had already brought the darkness to him. Meaning I can't save anyone once I've poisoned them, cursed them. My mere association seals their fate. My friendship kills them even before they die. So yes, I understood it's meaning. The message was crystal clear."

"Mhm, splendid. Now, did you see how he died? Or was there merely an ominous feeling of death within the prophecy? Were there any signs, say like a rope in the corner and then he died by hanging, or your skin felt metallic and he died by being stabbed with a knife? Anything of that sort?"

"No."

"Are you sure? How exactly did he die?"

I glared at my tutor as I spoke, hardly able to contain my anger.

"Someone snuck into his home as he slept and slit his throat like the coward they were. He died drowning in his own blood."

Ailech stiffened at my words, his head snapping toward me. The next question was from him, in a much softer tone than Danny's, full of reverence.

"What did he look like? The man that killed Syn?"

I closed my eyes and tried to remember, but I had only seen him through Chi's memories, which were warped with panic and confusion. I just remembered he was tall, and dressed in dark colors like the bandit he was, a flash of pale eyes.

"He was already gone when I got to the Clan. He...he took Syn's body."

Ailech's face set into an expression I had never seen before, fury mixed with determination. His green eyes flashed, shades darker just from their rage. My words had struck something within him, and without asking I knew.

"Your brothers, the same happened to them, didn't it? That's how they died. Someone came in the night and killed them, and then took them."

A muscle in Ailech's neck jumped, his shoulders involuntarily tightening, but his expression didn't change. He gave a short nod, looking past me, refusing to meet my eyes.

"We should tell Abby. I know the man was from the Collector, and if he stole your brothers too, there must be a reason, a connection between Syn and your family."

"No. Abby already knows. That's why I don't leave here. He wants all of my family and I'm the last one living. If I leave, I'm dead. I don't know why he needs us, but there must be a reason and I won't finish his collection."

"But why would he need Syn? He can't - he couldn't - heal."

"Neither could my brothers, at least not like I can."

I paused for a moment, thinking of how Ailech must feel. I had lost a friend of a few weeks, he had lost his brothers, all of them. He hadn't caused their deaths like I had for Syn, but I knew he carried their deaths with him. I knew he felt guilty.

"Syn was my fault, I killed him, your brothers weren't because of you. I hope you know that."

"I should have been able to save them, heal them, to bring them back."

His eyes bore into mine now, like he was angry with me, but I knew there was only one person he was mad at.

"Abby said you came here when you were young. A child couldn't possibly be expected to save people, to know what to do in a situation as terrifying as what you must have gone through. The fact that you made it out alive is amazing, that you got away and are now alive to fight back, to ruin whatever plan he has."

Ailech scowled before looking at the floor in front of him.

"You sound like Abby."

"Levi says Abby's always right."

"Lee is a little brat," Ailech smirked as he answered, looking up again.

Then Danny cleared his throat, tapping his pen on his notebook, leaving little black dots with each beat.

"This is wonderful, but we have a lesson, yes?"

I turned my attention back to him, my eyes steeled.

"I think I need to cut today's lesson short. Some things have come up that require my attention."

I got up quickly, Ailech following me and we were out into the hallway before Danny had a chance to speak, his mouth hanging open in a way that pleased me, he was fun to upset. We were two rooms away before Ailech spoke up.

"Going to talk to Abby about whatever prophecy was actually your most recent?"

I nodded.

"You need to work on your poker face." He paused before continuing, sounding annoyed.

"You might as well talk to me, if I die it isn't because of you, it's because I've had an evil bastard hunting me for the past two decades. Hell, he's been after me longer than you. So really, it's me who's putting you in danger with my presence, not the other way around."

I paused, wishing I could come up with another reason to keep my vow of silence firm.

"He could use you against me."

"I'd kill myself before I let him use me for anything."

I knew that was true. Ailech wasn't afraid of death, and after the things I had learned about him, after figuring out why he was how he was, I didn't expect anything less from him.

"I know."

"So talk to me. It isn't healthy staying holed up in your own head, especially when the head is as screwed as yours."

I glared over at him, but knew it was true.

"Fine, you can be my friend."

I smiled at him with sardonic sweetness and he half-scowled, half-smiled back.

"I'm honored."

I knocked on Abby's door frame, since his door was ajar, as usual, and he immediately called admittance, sounding tired. We walked in to see Cordelia and Levi sitting in the chairs Ailech and I usually occupied. Abby looked at his clock, a confused expression on his wrinkled face.

"I thought you had a class with Mr. Danny. Did it slip your mind, child? Ailech I thought you were to help her with her schedule?"

Ailech opened his mouth to answer but I cut him off.

"I went, not a fan, but that's not why I'm here. I had a vision last night."

Abby's face perked up at that.

"And you came to me instead of discussing it with Danny? This is his specialty, you know, he is one of the most prolific prophetics we have ever had at the Vault."

"Like I said, not a fan, and I had a feeling. I'd like to speak with you about it. In private, if that's okay."

Levi turned in his chair and smiled at me.

I already know.

Of course you do.

I shook my head but couldn't stop the small smile on my face. I liked the kid. Cordelia and Levi both left, the little boy winking at me as he closed the door behind him.