☆ﾟ* 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦

And there it was. The mind he had fallen in love with. It was clear that this was indeed the Sydney Sage he knew, but he couldn’t wrap his head around why she didn’t know him in return. He could only deduce that it was due to whatever magic brought them to this place. 

Was it truly magic? Hell if he knew.

      “You can here. This is a Spirit Dream, Sage. Or have you forgotten about those, too?” The fact that she couldn’t remember him was extremely unsettling, but he was doing his best to ignore it. It would do either of them little good for him to outwardly panic or show how truly bothered he was about it. 

Surely something could trigger her memory.

      “Try it. Think of where you want to be. I’d do it for you, but I’d probably get the details wrong. If I’m going to impress you it’s not going to be by accidentally getting the Pantheon wrong.” 

Her next statement would have roused a chuckle, but it only proved that she didn’t seem to remember anyone from back home. What was going on? Surely the Alchemists hadn’t done something… did they? “We’ll worry about them later, but first? Rome. Or Athens. It’ll be the date of your dreams. Pun intended.”

‘ a spirit dream? ’   she repeated, decidedly ignoring the question that followed.   ( acknowledging it, she knew, would only bring up an avalanche of her own inquiries ) .   ‘ what – like a lucid dream? where you can control the narrative? of course – i should’ve known my brain would immediately immerse itself into rem cycle after all the stress from last week. ’   it calmed her down, to know that there’d been a reasonable explanation behind all of it and to have something concrete to focus on.   ‘ you could’ve told me this earlier, you know. ’

the dream world had always been a mystery to sydney. it was always too vague. too abstract. decisions, though? that, she could do.

‘ rome. ’   she answered in a heartbeat, a clear image of the eternal city in her mind.   ‘ they have some of the world’s richest cultural heritage – athens does too, of course, and the roman architects were heavily inspired by their greek predecessors, but ultimately, they had a much broader architectural palette because of the new techniques they’d developed. and the coffee is – ’

she blinked.

The moroi’s expression immediately fell. Sydney’s reaction wasn’t exactly what he had expected—and he briefly had to wonder if this was his Sydney or a dream Sydney. Had he overdone the spirit and just conjured some hallucination of the girl he had been yearning for since he arrived here?

Well, technically much longer than that, but… context.

      “What, you can’t seriously be leaving already. Or are you wanting a different setting?” Playing hard to get. That had to be it. Though, he couldn’t really picture the alchemist going for such a thing, but weirder things had happened. Like witchcraft. 

      “Come on, Sage. I’ve been going crazy here. I’ve even started to miss Castile a bit. Hell, I’d take Belikov being here if I had to.”

she shouldn’t have, but sydney couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty. it didn’t take a considerable amount of effort to tell that this wasn’t what he had expected, nor probably what he had wanted to hear. but what else was she supposed to say? she only had a modicum of social skills – and none of them included dream conversations.

‘ logically, i know that this is a subconscious stimulation meant to create the best mixture of emotions for my brain, ’  she mused,   ‘ but if i could control where my dreams are set, do you really think this would be my first choice? it would be – i don’t know, rome, maybe? or athens. some place with character. i bet the main epicentres of classical architecture would be just as breathtaking in a dream, and – ’

why was she telling a stranger all this, again?

whenever he needed a time out from the crowded city, he walked up to one of the rooftop’s. it was a good hiding place & no one could disturb him ( or so he thought. ) diego sat leaned against the wall, throwing up one of his knives in the air when a voice broke the silence. a low mutter escaped from him as his eyes rolled “i guess” he answered & glanced up at her “i have not thought much about it. i usually come up here to run away from everyone”

very little seemed to surprise sydney these days, and very rarely was she fazed by others’ actions – but the sight of the sharp blade had managed to throw her off. she could admit it made her nervous   ( frightened too, even ),  and for a moment she considered leaving the male alone and seeking out another secluded spot. but why should she be the one to leave? indignation bubbled in her chest at the thought. she had just as much right to be there as him.

( closed | @dysphvrias )

      “I don’t even know why I’m still trying.”

He spoke before he really realized what had happened. Dream walking. Adrian had been trying to connect with any familiar face he possibly could with the ability, but he hadn’t had much luck. He’d been trying since he first woke up in this dreaded place, and so far he hadn’t really been able to make contact with anyone.

Well, until now.

His first clue was when the dream actually held more than just himself and some blank space. Amberwood’s campus materialized around him without much effort, and before long he could spot a familiar figure in the distance. Blonde hair, small, and dressed like she was prepared for an interview. Adrian nearly thought he had conjured some dream version of her.

      “Sage?”

His eyes grew wide, and without really thinking (did he ever?) the moroi jumped into a sprint. He crossed the sidewalk quickly to meet her, a hand quickly moving out to grab her arm as if to ensure she couldn’t disappear on him. “Sage…! God, I was starting to think I was going to go crazy—well, more than I already am I guess. It just wouldn’t feel right to be a poor, tortured soul with no one around to see it. That’s not the Adrian Ivashkov style.”

the fact of the matter was that something was very wrong with sydney sage, and not even she could deny it any longer. she hardly slept at night, keeping herself awake and alert with copious amounts of caffeine – and when she did, it ended with the strangest dreams; bits and pieces thrown together to create the ultimate amalgam of confusion and apprehension.

this one, though. this one was different. that much was obvious from the vivid colors and the modern stucco buildings. even an eerie ghost town was better than nothing.

the sound of her own name startled her more than she’d care to admit. sydney took a sharp step back, body taut with unease. how did he know who she was? did she know him? was he someone from college she’d seen during class? a stranger she’d passed on the street? didn’t that happen in dreams? she could’ve sworn she’d read something similar years ago.

      ( as if that wasn’t strange enough – her fingers tingled with a sensation long forgotten, heart raced to the beat of an unknown song, and nostalgia took center place in her mind. in that moment, she felt a lot more vulnerable than the first minutes of being there. ) .

did she cause this? one minute she’d been working with her stones and the next she was sitting in the middle of street with the stones around her. scooping the stones back into her satchel quickly she picked herself up off the pavement. the biggest question running through her mind was the whereabouts of maddy. did whatever she cause manage to bring her with? they were connected through her magic, she wasn’t sure what a major distance could have done to it. she had to find the female, but she didn’t even know where to begin to look. it wasn’t until she was off the street that she ran right smack into another. “shit.” she muttered under breath. “sorry.”

she strode along the pavement at a brisk pace, head low and absent-minded gaze focused on the cracks in the asphalt. it wouldn’t take an expert to notice that sydney wasn’t in the best mood. her father wouldn’t stop breathing down her neck about responsibility and competence   ( both of which she lacked, if you asked jared sage ),  she’d woken up at least ten times during the night from strange nightmares, and worst of all – her espresso machine had broken, leaving her with no other choice but to face the dreaded morning queue in the closest coffee shop.

   but she wasn’t about to blow up at a complete stranger just because she’d had a horrible day.

pucca was always happy to be around people she knew, since they wouldn’t ask her why she hardly ever talks unlike on first meetings, where she has to explain she doesn’t talk because she doesn’t feel like it. the girl is leaning dangerously forward and against the rooftop, her hair in usual pigtails flowing in front of her as a smile stays on her lips, her school backpack tossed away somewhere nearby.

         “  sunset !  “   she points at the sky, knowing well that the older female could see it to but still wanting to bring attention to it.  “  pretty. “

there’s a sort of youthful, childlike innocence about the girl that makes it hard not to feel fond of her. and sure, maybe she didn’t talk much   ( sydney had questioned it at first, the way she did most things ),   but in a city where everyone seemed to have something to say – it was a welcome change.

early evenings always feel like a special kind of reward – especially ones spent so high above the city. the orange glow stretches far and wide, bathing the girl’s silhouette in the color of fire hearths and tangerines and in that moment, in her little corner of the rooftop, sydney feels light years away from the monochromatic streets of washington city. not that she minds – in fact, it’s soothing to her. it makes the rest of the world slip away, even if only for a couple of minutes.

( she takes what she can get. )

Was that VIRGINIA GARDNER? Oh no no, that was just SYDNEY SAGE, a CANON CHARACTER from VAMPIRE ACADEMY. They are 21 years old and ARE NOT aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.