Din's Dream Ch. 2

"Uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle!" At first the flurry of words, in his fogged mind, didn't make any sort of sense. He tried to patch them together, that blur of sounds, but still came up with nothing. Where was it coming from, why was it so insistent? Or for that matter... did it have an off button?

"UNCLE!" came the louder cry, which he caught a moment too late as a body came flying onto his chest. Startled, he opened his eyes to find a set of bright blue eyes staring right at him. Seeing that he was awake, the owner of those eyes breathed a sigh of relief and embraced him tightly. "Uncle Din! I didn't mean to wake you but you promised! You promised me today you'd take me out to see your gardens!" The voice was almost childlike, although it held a mystery about it. Like the owner, despite their behavior... had perhaps seen one side too many of life. But it was a voice he knew well, and loved. He smiled lightly, giving a nod.

"I certainly did, didn't I?" he asked, before kissing her forehead lightly. The girl he held squeed at the small gesture, wriggling happily in his arms. Her name was Violet... and she was family. Adopted family at least, but still very much family to him. She had bright blond hair, tipped in neon green, almost as short as his own hair was. Brighter still was the pair of blue and neon green demonic wings upon her back, and the neon pink, yellow, and green outfit she wore. Still, it fitted her well. He should know. After all, he was the one who created it for her.

"Yep yep! So lets go! Lets go! Come on come on!" she called, jumping out of his arms only to start jumping back and forth in front of him. He reminded her a slight bit of a boxer he had once seen. And he laughed, a warm sound. But as he laughed... he was reminded of the dark laughter from his dream. And that voice, taunting him. "Why deny it? Why deny who you are?" And for a brief moment, a serious look crossed his face. Only for a brief moment however, as Violet was quick to come closer. Worry lined her eyes, eyes which held many of the same qualities her voice did.

"Uncle? Are you alright?" she asked, concerned. And he looked back at her, the smile returning. Slower this time... but certainly still there.

"I am. I truly am. Violet... I need to straighten a few things before we go. Could you wait for me at the Cave?" Violet nodded.

"Okay!" she agreed, before trotting off. He watched her, smiling still, but it was a smile that shortly faded as more of his dream returned to him. That was the way it was with dreams, although usually they were fleeting things, things to be forgotten as reality crept back in. But this one... this one only grew stronger, more real. And he knew, without a doubt, it was no dream at all. Standing up, he paused for a moment.He could feel a soft breeze enter his fine shoes. Glancing downwards, he saw five perfect holes puncturing each. He didn't have to ask what made them, he already knew. Claws, his own claws. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. The Dreaming Alchemist had apparently tempted Din more than he had thought. The beast had stirred once more.

'I will not loose this fight...' Din thought to himself, taking his shoes and socks off to replace them. There was too much at stake, too much to loose. It was the same battle every mortal fought, be they living in Heaven, Hell or even Earth itself: the battle to retain ones own humanity.

And now, Din knew, it was about to become a war.

* * * * *

Once he was satisfied, he left his chambers. He looked very much the part of Hell's Alchemist today, although his role today was only as Uncle. He had seen to it that none would interrupt this trip after all. He retained his dark black suit, the one accented with a white undershirt, dark crimson cravat, and red and black hairband. Such a suit however seemed strange, foreign to one with a middle-eastern build and tan such as himself. His hair was short, lightly wavy... and completely silver. Everything considered, he stood as a stark contrast to Violet, who once more hugged him tight as he entered the Caves.

At least that was the crude name for this place simpler demons knew it by. Din knew it as the Illumination Chambers, and today he was going to his his niece why. He hugged her back, smiling once more. With her it was always a genuine smile, for he felt she deserved nothing less. "I see you waited for me. And here I thought you were going to get bored and go on without me," he teased her, one of his hands lightly ruffling her hair fondly. She looked back at him and stuck her tongue out as she wiggled free.

"You're terrible Uncle! Of course I'd wait!" she said with a slight pout, hands upon her hips. "Come on! You said you'd show me a secret today!" Din nodded. Indeed he did. And indeed, he was terrible.

"Of course. Now, tell me. What do you see when you look at this place Violet?" he asked her. Violet scanned the area, finding it all looked alike. There was cold stone below them, with the occasional pebbles for tehir shoes to tred upon. Beside them on all sides, forming like a tunnel was almost a dark black sort of wall. The only light came faintly, from far down the 'cave.'

"A lot of darkness and cave..." she replied, shaking her head. "But that's not the whole story is it?" Din smiled.

"It never is," he replied, as he flicked his fingers. Suddenly his hand was alight in a silver flame, which illuminated the 'cave.' And it was revealed that this was no cave at all really, but a small tunnel. The walls were made of granite and opal, and as the light refracted off of it brilliant colorful patterns.

"Woooooah..." Violet exclaimed, staring in wonder. Prisms of colorful light fell upon the pair, the walls, the floors, everything. But more curious still was that in the granite itself were inscribed drawings. Her eyes fell upon these, as she tilted her head and stared. "Uncle, what are these?" she asked. "They look like... stories?" He nodded.

"They are. Stories of those who have come upon this chamber and seen it for what it was. Stories of fallen warriors, poets... for you see. Within these chambers a terrible beast dwells." Violet blinked a moment, her eyes wide.

"I-it does?!?" she asked, clinging to her Uncle's side. "You're just saying that right?!?" But of course he wasn't, and instead closed his eyes a moment. "Would you like to meet this beast?" he asked. Violet, who was shaking a moment, gulped and then stepped back. She then grinned, giving a nod.

"Yeah! I have you so it'll be okay!" Din nodded towards this.

"Alright then, follow me," he told her, as they continued. The walk could have lasted minutes, hours, days... it was easy to loose track of time here. And the walk was silent, leaving one with but their own thoughts. Thoughts that almost always seemed to turn towards themselves eventually. Din kept his mind clear at least, having learned the first time.

And finally the tunnel seemed to widen, until at last they came upon a chamber. From the upper caverns, a fountain of light cascaded downwards upon a rather large treasure collection. Again, light was cascaded everywhere off of the gems, the gold coins. But upon this treasure there sat two beings. The first was a massive looking black beast. It stared at them with cold blue eyes, three pairs of them to be exact. The faces were canine, although ridges with spines and scales, each muzzle drawn to a snarl. These were mounted upon long necks, and a long snake's tail lashed out behind the beast.

Stranger still, upon its shoulder sat an exact replica of Din. Except this version had yellow  eyes, glowing with insanity. The hair was wild, going in every direction long and haggard. A beard too grew, and the clothing was of an ancient style.

Violet went pale upon seeing it the beast. "T-that's me..." she whispered quietly, as her eyes met it. She started to shake now violently, as Din held a hand upon each of her shoulders.  

"Is it? Think carefully before you answer," he replied carefully. "Ash her questions, she shall tell no lies," he added. With this he let her go, and Violet indeed did walk forward.

"You... what are you doing here?" she asked it quietly. But it was silent, those eyes still fixed upon her. "Are you... are you me?" she tried again, but still nothing. "Do you mean me harm?" Still, silence. She looked up at it again, then closed her eyes.

"You are... you are just a shell! I am here, I am real, I am now!" she yelled at it. "You are a memory... nothing more! BEGONE!" Din smiled lightly, folding his arms as the huge monster started to shimmer, before vanishing into fog leaving behind but the wild human.

"Indeed, be gone wretched one," he replied, and it too vanished. Violet watched the mist lift, evaporate. "This 'Cave' is actually called the Chambers of Illumination. You see Violet, it is here that the guardian shows us shades of ourselves... memories. But it is up to us to shine the light of truth upon ourselves and remember the truth. But many... many die here," he added, as he walked forward and touched the stack of jewels. The precious stones and gold fell away into dust, revealing a mound of rotting corpses, skeletons, and some fresher souls.

"Nothing, and I mean nothing, is ever as it seems," Din told her. "I-" he paused a moment, and all of the color drained from his face at once.

"U-uncle?" Violet asked, concern lining her voice again. It wasn't the corpses that bothered her, she had seen many of those. But his expression... it was a rare thing.

And then Din started digging through the pile, and beneath it all one could hear a faint sound. As he dug, it grew louder, like a faint whimpering sound. And finally, through it all one could see a small canine-like nose. And then a paw, a strange hybrid of both organic and inorganic, emerged to rest on top of Din's hand. Din pulled the creature out then... a dog. Only no regular dog. Its entire body was that strange unholy mix of machine and fur, cogwork and flesh.

"How did you...?" The canine smiled, as it pressed its head against Din's chest. But it was clear the creature was weary, hurt, and barely together.

"Bad man came. Bad... bad man. He told me to tell you this. He said... to... to... remember what you are..." Kaynine whined then, causing Din to hold the creature like one would a dear child.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "I thought you were...?"

"I was... I was looking for you but they wouldn't let me in. Never alive they said, so never dead. Never... dead. But without you around Master I... I... felt dead and..." Din closed his eyes, and from them one could see tears flowing. Kaynine lifted his head to lick those tears, and Violet... she realized she had never seen her Uncle cry either.