sprouts of redemption: [o4] ability
Her fingers squeezed together under a sudden tight pressure surrounding them, and that was enough for the princess to reluctantly lift her eyes. A beat of silence passed as her still-sleepy brain assessed the situation, and she gasped, sitting up abruptly as she realized what was happening.
She and Kyungsoo had fallen asleep next to each other, tired out from their emotional discussion. He was now writhing fitfully in his sleep. His hand around hers tightened and loosened with every twitch or jerk of his body. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw his eyebrows furrowed deeply and eyes shifting back and forth rapidly under their lids. He was having a nightmare.
Vartouhi carefully pulled her hand out of his grip to push herself onto her knees, sitting on her legs so she could lean over him and use the hand to prop her up. “Kyungsoo,” she called gently, not wanting to startle him. He did not wake up. She frowned and put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a few small pushes. “Kyungsoo,” she tried more insistently. But again, he did not wake up.
She chewed her bottom lip lightly, eyes darting over his face. After their talk, it must have brought up some very painful, persistent memories. Vartouhi felt bad, like it was her fault because he talked about his past with her. She thought of waking him more aggressively, but she didn’t want to give up the softer method just yet, hoping it would allow him to wake calmly rather than in a panic. She took his face gently into her hands, leaning forward until her stomach pressed against her thighs. The princess rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes. The worry settled as a sickening discomfort in her stomach. She just wanted to help her friend.
After just a few seconds, Vartouhi felt strange. Her abilities were activating, but they weren’t as overwhelming as they could be when she felt distressed. Rather, she could liken it to being led by the hand. A dizziness filled her head. She felt as though her consciousness was sliding out of her body. The darkness of her eyes being closed became blacker, deeper, something more.
Eventually, she was grounded again. The air was chilly, and she rubbed her palms over her upper arms absentmindedly. The whole area radiated a sense of pain, sadness, and anger. She began to walk, and soon, grayscale images began to fade in from the darkness. They were blurry; she could barely make out the figures of three people in the first--a man, a woman, and a child. Their features were indistinguishable, as was the room they were in. She could only see basic shapes and shades of gray.
As she walked on, more and more came up. She could only speculate as to what was happening in each scene, judging by the positions of the figures. Each scene filled her with more and more discomfort. It was very clear that they corresponded with Kyungsoo’s earlier explanation of his past, and not a one depicted anything close to happiness.
The princess heard a faint sound, and her head snapped in its direction. Nothing had come up in the noise’s direction yet, so she was looking into complete blackness. She hurried, and soon she could hear better. Mumbling and whispering, hiccups and gasps. As she pressed on, scenarios lit up further and further down, and finally, she saw a figure kneeling on the ground.
Kyungsoo.
Vartouhi ran to his side, dropping down next to him. “Kyungsoo… Friend Kyungsoo,” she called worriedly. He lifted his head slightly to look at her, his eyes connecting with hers for just a moment. But then they averted, distracted by the scenes behind her, and he whimpered, lowering his head again and shutting his eyes. “Come on. Look at me. Only at me,” she urged, but he shivered and shook his head, not wanting to face the awful memories around him.
“My mom… I can’t look at that sad expression on her face. I can’t.” He began to repeat it to himself, and Vartouhi blinked in confusion, looking back at the blurry image. She realized he must be able to see the scenes clearly.
But why? she wondered.
Had she somehow fallen asleep without realizing it? She doubted it; she’d felt completely alert the second she realized Kyungsoo was suffering. Even when she’d closed her eyes, it hadn’t been out of weariness, but rather a natural gentle reaction. But why else would she be in this dream-world?
One of her hands rested on his back, rubbing up and down in an attempt to soothe him. The images around them started to move, circling them, coming closer. Her eyes glowed, and she tried to concentrate, reaching out her telekinetic influence down to molecular levels. She tried to slow the wavelengths of light to infrared levels, where they would no longer be visible, but she couldn’t find them. This puzzled her, because the space went dark anyway, almost as if her will alone was enough to make her idea happen. She let the glow in her eyes die down, and thought of rearranging the light to make a lovely scene of a garden.
And suddenly, as if a large rock had been dropped into a pond, color splashed up out of the void. It washed the darkness away as it fell, wiped it away as the color spread like a wave along a shore. Soon it was creeping up, up, up, and overhead. The entire space had transformed into a beautiful garden. Warm, golden sunlight shined down on the two of them. Soft green grass grew under them. Colorful flowers swayed with a gentle breeze.
Vartouhi’s eyes widened. She didn’t even notice Kyungsoo look up, too amazed that the exact picture from her imagination was before them. She only snapped out of it when he let out a tired sigh, and she turned to look at him. He still looked a bit shaken, but his brow had smoothed out considerably and his eyes held no fear in them. His lips parted in awe as he took in the garden, and he looked to Vartouhi after he’d given it a once-over.
A slow smile spread across his lips, tired but genuine. Relieved. Thankful. It was almost like she could feel the emotions rather than just perceiving them in his expression. Before she could think on it, however, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
“Thank you,” he whispered. She brought her arms up to wrap loosely around him, resting her cheek on the top of his head, and sighed while she closed her eyes.
When Vartouhi next opened them, she was holding the side of Kyungsoo’s face with her forehead pressed to his. Her eyes were still glowing. She let the light fade out as she pulled back, staring down at his serene face. There was even the ghost of a smile on his lips. She slowly slid back into bed, stumped. As she mulled over the strange events, she tired out her mind, and fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke up to the smell of food. Vartouhi felt exhausted, and immediately crawled out of bed to get some food and water. When she saw Kyungsoo in the kitchen, she called quietly, “Good morning~” And out of habit, she asked, “Did you sleep well?”
“Actually, it’s weird,” he replied, sliding his spatula through the eggs he was scrambling. “I had a nightmare, but it turned into a good dream.”
The words made Vartouhi pause as she was taking the water pitcher out of the refrigerator. She tightened her grip on the handle, afraid she may drop it, and closed the door to walk over to the counter. “Oh?”
“Yes,” he answered with a nod, which she caught as she glanced at him out of surprise. “My nightmare was full of bad memories. I was trying to outrun them, but they trapped me. But then ah…” A faint tinge of pink rose into his cheeks, and she looked back and forth between him and the water she was pouring, trying to witness his reaction without spilling her drink. “Well, you showed up. And then when you tried to comfort me, suddenly we were in a garden, and I started to feel better.” He chuckled. “It’s weird, right? Weirder that I remember it so well…”
Vartouhi stared at him, and when he looked to her, he blushed harder. “Wh-what?” he asked. She abandoned her water to go closer, hands moving to press to the sides of his face again. He let her turn his face to look at her, eyes wide with surprise, and she lifted up onto the balls of her toes to press her forehead to his. She closed her eyes, concentrating. She experienced that odd sliding feeling again, but it stopped after a certain point, as if there was a wall in her way. She tried again, attempting to push past the invisible barrier.
“What… are you doing?”
Like a rubber band, it felt like her brain snapped back into her head, and her head hurt like it might if she hit the back of it on a wall. Vartouhi stumbled back against the counter, one hand clutching it to keep herself up while the other pressed to her forehead. Kyungsoo rushed over, hands finding her shoulders to try to help her stay steady. “Touhi! Are you alright?”
She nodded faintly, and upon his uncertain look, she waved him away. When he dropped his hands, she left her glass on the counter, forgotten, and headed for the bathroom instead. With a sigh, she closed the door and began to draw a bath.
There was no way it was just a coincidence, but she still didn’t understand. How exactly had she entered Kyungsoo’s mind and controlled his dream?
