#tonja

Wiping that away with his sleeve, he slowly removed himself from the calf and stood up. Jordan took in a deep breath of the fresh air and observed all that he could see.

The dream world was beautiful, plain and simple. Ponds and rivers glittered as the sunlight hit the rippling water, tall grass and colorful flowers dotted the landscape, and in the far distance, a picturesque house sitting amidst landscape.

Leaving the family of cows behind, he picked his way down the gentle hill. He took his time, stopping to watch some birds pick at the ground in search of food, or brush his hands over a patch of flowers and seeing them bloom larger than he’d ever seen. Jordan wanted to go to the house, but he felt no rush. Time was slow in this place, meandering along just as he was. He could spend eternity in this paradise, the sun warming his face and the grass tickling his bare feet.

As he approached the house, Jordan realized it was much larger than he had initially thought. It was practically a palace, with spires scraping the sky and a two story high arched doorway with a intricately carved dark oak door.

Awestruck, his feet carried him to the door, knocking on it and wincing at the loud echo that emanated from inside. Hopefully the owner of this mansion would be amicable to visitors.

The lock clicked, and the door slid open without a sound. Nobody greeted him, but as he took a hesitant step inside he heard a faint melody reverberating from somewhere further into the mansion.

“Hello?” Jordan called, deciding to explore when nobody made themselves known. He gasped as he looked up and saw the ceiling three stories above his head, covered in beautiful murals. He walked along the edge of the room, craning his neck to get the best view.  The pictorial images seemed to be telling a story of some kind, with clear figures interacting in the art, but he couldn’t understand what any of it meant. There was a being made out of black and white clay, one of blue, green and yellow, and one of gray, white and gold. From there a being of bright green, who seemed to wither and die within the story.

As the murals wrapped around the other side of the room and he rubbed his neck, one figure in the pictures caught his attention, and he could have sworn the music he’d been hearing swelled and the sound became brighter as he recognized the being.

She was pictured more gorgeous than he thought was possible, radiating ethereal beauty even from the 2D art. His goddess was cloaked in purple and silver with a crown of gold, holding her scales in one hand and a bow in the other. In front of her stood two other beings, one red and black and one white and gold, but she took all of his attention.

The song grew louder, and he tore his eyes away from the murals without looking at the remaining ones. Nothing could top the beauty of Ianite, so why bother?

Instead, he walked to the nearest doorway, heading up a flight of stairs and stepping into a plush sitting room, decorated to his tastes with a wall of glass giving him a view of the garden a story below. The bright sunlight shimmered off the trees and flowers below, tempting him to break the glass and jump into the bushes, sure that they would catch him when he fell.

Jordan shook his head. Where did that thought come from? Even if this was a dream, nothing about the leafy greens below would be enough to keep him from breaking his knees. He backed off, opening another door that lead to another room, larger than the first but in the same theme.

The third and fourth rooms he entered were largely the same, minus the windows as he ventured further into the mansion. He found a kitchen at one point, cabinets stuffed to the brim with food and a batch of warm, freshly baked cookies sitting out on the counter. The smell alone made him swoon, and one bite warmed him to the tips of his fingers and toes and he unintentionally let out a moan of contentment. They were that good.

Swiping a handful of cookies, he continued his exploration, wandering aimlessly until he began hearing the singing again, closer than it had been before. Jordan shoved another cookie into his mouth and followed the song.

It was a woman singing, and as it got louder he continued straining his ears to understand the words until he realized that she wasn’t singing in English. No, the continuous stream of song sounded much more like the chants he would use when performing witchery rituals in Ruxomar, or the whisperings of World Historian. A language lost to humans, with only fragments surviving in the form of magic.

But the singer he was hearing had no trouble with the language, strings of syllables rolling off her tongue like a rushing waterfall, mesmerizing him with her song and compelling him to find her, even if it meant searching the whole mansion.

“Miss? I’m friendly!” He spoke slowly, tiptoeing into another room and seeing a flicker of movement on the other side as someone ducked into the next room. "Wait, please! I'm not going to hurt you!" he promised as he ran after the long haired stranger.

Jordan kept up as long as he could, but the mysterious singer was always just out of his reach, catching only a lock of hair or a flash of purple clothing as she played tag with him inside the huge mansion. If he had been awake, he would have long run out of breath and lost her, but in this dream world his body had infinite amounts of stamina as he kept after her.

Finally, he came into a room that seemingly had no way out of it. No doors or open doorways in sight, but no person either. He cursed under his breath as he considered the real possibility that he had been chasing an illusion, created by his own desire to share this wonderful world with another person. Disappointed, Jordan turned around and went to leave the room when he heard the slightest noise. He stopped, straining his ears to see if it was just another figment of his imagination.

But no, as soon as he stopped he heard it again, just the smallest noise, so faint it was hardly there. A stifled sniffle, coming from the corner of the room, behind a bookshelf.

Jordan took a deep breath. So she was real. He closed the door behind him, not out of malice but only out of curiosity. He didn't want the stranger to run away again.

"Please, I'm not going to hurt you. I only heard your beautiful singing and wanted to meet you. Won't you come out?" He pleaded, running his fingers through his hair when she gave no answer.

"My name is Jordan, but my friends sometimes call me Sparklez. You can call me either, I don't mind."

"Sp-Sparklez..." the woman said, her voice incredibly soft. It filled him with a warm feeling, that lovely voice, fearful though it may be.

"That's right. So, since you know my name, may I know yours?"

"... No."

Jordan's shoulders slumped. She sounded so sure about that, her decisiveness crushed him more than he expected. "But, why not?"

"You're... it. You're not Sparklez."

"Wha... yes I am!" He shouted, immediately regretting it as he heard a tiny yelp and shuffling, as if the woman was trying to make herself disappear into the wall. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. But I promise, I am Sparklez. Or CaptainSparklez. Or Sparkley-dick, Sparkley-pants, Glitter-lap... really, you can pick. I've been called them all."

Perhaps despite herself, the woman laughed, and Jordan caught just the slightest glimpse of purple hair flicker out from behind her hiding place. He smiled.

"Please, won't you come out? I don't have any weapons."

She went silent, and Jordan took her non response as a no. Sighing, he flopped down on the couch behind him and started munching on one of his cookies, crushed from his chase but otherwise delicious.. "Mmm, these cookies are really good. Will you join me in enjoying them?"

"Don't eat those!" the woman yelled, abandoning her hiding place and rushing out fully into his sight. And that sight dropped his jaw and his cookie, both of which hit the floor.

"My... lady...?" Jordan's eyes widened and filled with tears as he took in the woman in front of him. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. More than she had been the first time he'd seen her, more than she had been when they had spent time together in Ruxomar, more than the day he lost her to the void.

          Ianite's hair flowed over her shoulders and down her back like a gentle river, covering her otherwise bare shoulders. Her dress accented her body perfectly, giving her a figure that was calculated yet effortless. Gold bands were wrapped around her biceps and up from her ankles, and the goddess's hair was held by a golden circlet, set with a flawless amethyst the perfect color to draw attention to her eyes.

And her eyes. As Jordan met them, he was lost in memories of both the world of Mianite and the world of Ruxomar. Happy memories, spending time together and going on lunch dates at the wizard's village. Beholding her for the very first time, when she was nothing more than a mirage appearing in front of him. And of course, the moment that he finally saw her in her true form, physically standing in front of him. After they defeated Dianite, and after they reluctantly killed Captain Capsize. He had taken one look and fell in love all over again. Not any kind of romantic love, no. But the undying love for her as his goddess. The willingness to do anything she asked, the belief that she could do nothing bad, that she would bring balance to a world that teetered on the edge of a knife.

And in that love, in that devotion filled state where his mind perhaps wasn't too clear, he did the only thing that came to him.

He held out his fistful of crushed cookie, offering her the least damaged one. "Want one?"

Jordan expected her to refuse. He expected her to take it. He expected her to stand there, silent. But what he didn't expect was for her to bring her hand down on his, knocking the gooey cookies out of his grip and scattering the crumbs all over the carpet.

He blinked, swallowing his half chewed bite and looking at his hand in disbelief. "Why... did you do that?"

Ianite stepped directly in front of him and grabbed him roughly by the shoulders. "Sparklez, please, you can't eat that! You can't eat anything from this place! In fact, you shouldn't be here at all! Jordan, I beg you, leave this place and never come back! I've been trapped, but if you wake up now you can escape! If you ever find yourself in this monster infested world again, I want you to run away, run as far away from this house as you can. Do you understand me?"

Jordan stared at her like she'd grown a second head. "My lady, what are you talking about? There are no monsters here. Come with me, I'll show you!" He tried to stand up, but his goddess kept him tightly pressed against the couch.

"No! Sparklez, you have to understand, it is not safe here! I have tried to escape so many times, but there is no way to leave!"

"My lady, please, I think you're a little off from running through this house. The world outside is beautiful! The sun is shining, and there was a cute family of cows where I woke up. My lady, I have missed you so much, if I find myself in this place again, I can't not come back and see you! You don't understand... I've missed you... so much."

Ianite's eyes filled with tears, and she lifted one hand off his shoulder to caress his cheek. "I know, my champion. It has been a long time, but until I can find a way to leave here, I cannot see you. If you get stuck here with me... I could not live with myself."

Jordan's lip quivered, and he averted his eyes and stared to the side. "My lady..."

"I can send you away, yes... and you can still escape. You ate, but if you do not come back, it will wear off... Sparklez, give me your word that you will not come back to this place!"

"My lady, I can't--"

"Promise me!"

His eyes filled with tears, and he lowered his head. His hand floated up, taking hers and intertwining their fingers. "I... I..."

"I promise."

Ianite smiled, brushing away her own tears. "Good. Now... go."

And when Jordan raised his head to meet Ianite's eyes, she was gone, and he was left with only an invisible hand in his, and a heavy stone in his heart as he fell into darkness.

--

“...dan. Jordan!”

The man sat up straight in his bed, clothes and sheets drenched in sweat and cheeks stained with tears. Beside him, Tom reeled back to avoid a collision.

“You alright, Sparklez?” he asked, black eyes filled with concern. Jordan shook his head, breath hitching.

“No, I... had a bad dream. I mean, it was good at first. I was in paradise. The world was perfect. But when I went into the mansion, I found Ianite...” He bit his quivering lip, trying to steady his voice enough to continue.

“Wait, you saw Ianite? How could that be a bad thing, if she’s alive?” Tom immediately clamped his mouth shut in horror as Jordan sniffed and tilted his head back to hold another round of tears at bay. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant, you know, if she’s alive in this world, then that’s a good thing, right? Jordan, please, don’t cry!

Jordan took a deep, shuddery breath and pulled himself together, wiping away his tears and tossing his tangled bedclothes to the side. He went to stand up, and realized something was holding him. Or rather, someone.

“Tom, why are you holding my hand?”

The zombie man looked down at their intertwined hands. “You were reaching out and calling for someone. I grabbed it and you calmed down. What, do you not like me holding your hand?” He teased, waggling his eyebrows, a grin breaking out as Jordan smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Aww, c’mon Jardon, I thought we were together forever! #Team Syndisparklez!”

Jordan rolled his eyes, pulling his hand from his friend and rolling away, ending up in a pile on the floor as he misjudged the size of the bed.

Tom burst out laughing as Jordan scrambled out of the awkward position, brushing off the dirt on his clothes and straightening his collar, trying to salvage some dignity. Yet, the contagious bubbly laughter broke him and he started giggling as well.

“So, Mr. Sparkley Dick, what’s the plan for today?”

Jordan raised an eyebrow. “Since when do you ask for a plan?”

“Since you made me climb this mountain and sleep with a stupid zombie groaning right outside the door, that’s when! You made us come up here so it better be worth it!” Tom whined, only half teasing. Jordan shrugged, pulling his jacket on properly.

“Oh. Well, I thought we could get a good view from up here. Then, we, I don’t know, find something interesting and go from there.”

Tom stared at him from his position on the floor. “That’s it?”

“Uh, yeah, that’s it.”

“Ok, then let’s go!” Tom sprang to his feet, punching out the wool he’d placed in the doorframe and ran out into the light with a whoop, and Jordan heard several mobs meet their end.

As he gathered the items Tom had left in the room, he realized that somehow, his dream that had had him in hysterical tears didn’t seem as bad now. After all, it was just a dream. That was why nothing Ianite had said made sense.

And as much as he wanted to keep his promise to his goddess, even a dream version of her, he couldn’t help but pray to dream of that paradise world the next night.