Oh, Zoe's been bitten by the writing bug ^^; I know I said something about less songfics, but I seem to HAVE to write songfics for prologues. This is supposed to be a multichapter ficcie, so don't worry, this should be the only songfic. To clear up some confusion, you might want to read Orestes first, but it isn't necessary. Email me if you want that story first.
Great Beyond was written by REM and is on the Man on the Moon soundtrack.
navy = flashback
Euphoria is laying upon the softest bed of sweet grass, breathing the candied air heavy with the scent of wildflowers.
Serenity is the playful breeze dancing across exposed skin, delivering a complementary chill to the warm light of the golden sun.
Happiness is here, in the dream... and satisfaction is knowing you're dreaming so no one can disturb you. Lina cracked open one eye and smiled as she lazily studied the beauty of the area. The emerald grass, the cloudless sky, the pleasing sound of rushing water somewhere beneath the cliff on which she lay.
Yawning, she closed the eye and stretched, content as a cat. She loved this feeling, the comfort of this dream-place.
It was so familiar...
Lina only stirred when she felt another presence in her Dream, not one of the phantoms of the sleeping, a real, honest to goodness separate identity. It would seem that she had a visitor.
I watched the stars fall silent from your eyes
Said 'visitor' stood among the tall grass, close to the exiting hill whereas she was closer to the cliff.
Lina languidly climbed to her feet and brought up one hand to shield her ruby eyes. The sun was just so she couldn't see the face of the tall man.
But something about him was so familiar...
Of all the things I have seen...
Val's breath tangled up in his sculpted throat in a disbelieving whimper. By Cephieed, he had ached inside for her ever since his 'death'; the fae's spell had broken, leaving him with all his memories from Before.
Gods, he had missed her, damn woman.
And there she stood, as innocent of his torment as she pleased. If it had not been for her attire, he could have sword it was her from... from then. Lina stood, proud, confidant and as tall as possible, her hair shining burnt gold in the sun and the wind playing the silken strands across her noble and childlike face.
"It's you!" he finally shouted, bounding up to her in a few short sprints and enveloping the petite woman in a great hug.
I can't believe that I believed I wished you could see -
- the dismantled planet in the solar system
I'm so sorry, he thought, burying his face into her long red mane of hair. So sorry...
Too bad Lina didn't feel the same way.
"Va-Va-Va-VALGARV?!?!!!"
Uh oh.
"GET THE HELL AWAY!!" Lina screeched, kneeing the former mazoku in a more 'sensitive' region of his anatomy.
There is nothing up my sleeve
"STOP IT YOU #@%^ING WOMAN!!" Val howled, obviously in a great amount of pain.
Lina blinked, well that was a different reaction. But that wouldn't deter the sorceress supreme! No supposed-to-be-an-egg-former-enemy could accost an innocent maiden and get away with it! "Don't talk like that in front of a delicate lady! Lina-that's-gotta-hurt-PUNCH!!"
"Who's a 'delicate lady'?" he sneered, easily catching her small fist in his larger hand.
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
"Wha?!" Lina could only squeak in surprise as the aqua haired youth pulled her towards him. Blood filled her face, making it glow redder than her hair as her cheek hit his chest. Lean, strong arms snaked around her and held her tenderly.
"It's Valteria, by the way."
I'm tossing out punchlines that were never there
"Huh?"
"Valteria, as in not Valgarv."
Lina glared as she noticed, with reluctance, it didn't seem to be the revenge crazed servant of Garv ah, holding her now. The scars and horn was gone, his shining hair left down. His outfit... the red and blue jacket was still there, but it was longer, whole? The pants were also the same, but he wore black boots and sported no bandages...
Where had she seen that outfit before?
Over my shoulder a piano falls
- Crashing to the ground
"Um..." she figured she could play along. It was just a dream right? As her dream she could throw anyone she wanted out, right? "What do you want, Valte - .... Val?"
He smiled softly and raised one hand to cup her cheek. "I remember everything. Don't you?"
"HUH?!" @_@ Great, she could FEEL her face getting hotter. Good, hope he burns his hand!
Val laughed, his disposition becoming less gentle and more condescending. "So I beat you, huh? I got my memories back firrrrst, you loooosssst, nya nya."
"Hey!" she snapped, playfully shoving him away. "Did not!"
He grinned, proud at his accomplishment and Lina clamped one hand over her mouth in shock.
In all this talk of time,
Talk is fine
What just happened? Lina shook her head and backed away. "Why did I just say that?! And how did you get in here anyway? You're still alive, you can't just walk into other people's dreams!"
Val raised one perfectly formed eyebrow. "Lina... I'm an egg. I'm in a bit of a loophole at the moment."
"So you just decide to pop in and give 'ol Lina Inverse a visit?!"
"Yup," he winked. He moved to take her hand, but she slipped it away, and couldn't help but notice the hurt in his eyes when she did. "Come on Lina, just look at this place."
Yes, she knew this place very well.
But she had never physically walked here on these feet.
Cuddling together under a blanket, watching the fireworks above.
I don't want to stay around
Lina reeled from the sudden memory, but Val made no move to catch her. "Wha-what the?!"
"Lina..."
"Get out!" she snapped, pointing at him. "It's my dream, get out, you have no right to be here!" And I shouldn't feel so relaxed in his presence... he tried to kill me for gods' sake!
"But - "
" - Why should I care what happened in a past life?!"
Why can't we just pantomime?
- Just close our eyes and dream sweet dreams
Past life?! Where did that come from? No longer knowing what she was trying to say, Lina turned away, staring out past the cliff and to the landscape beyond.
"I know I can't make you accept the past, but Lina, you're still in danger!"
"..."
"Damnit, you fucking stubborn girl!! Why won't you just listen to me for once?!"
Lina looked over her shoulder at his outburst, a slightly curious expression on her features.
Me and you with wings on our feet....
"You have five minutes, then I'm waking up!"
"And I'll just keep coming back again and again."
"What if you hatch first," she shot back.
Val bristled. "I'll come back as long as it takes," he swore between clenched teeth. "Until you remember."
"Remember what?"
And as if in reply, the ground beneath her gave way, and Lina was falling. "Ray Wing!"
And magic was apparently not working.
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
I'm tossing out punchlines that were never there
Over my shoulder, a piano falls
- Crashing to the ground
Shaking his head, Valteria allowed his massive wings to sprout from his back and he took of after Lina.
Can't die in a dream, can't die in a dream, can't - "Oof!" Can't die when being held by a muscular young man with greenish black wings...
"I'll always catch you." Funny, she never really noticed how beautiful his eyes could be... the amber irises weren't slit and they... were warm. Lina did the only thing she knew to do in such situations, she froze.
Deciding to again switch tactics, his eyes became more amused and he threw the redhead a mocking grin. "Hmph, you really are a lot of trouble you know, I'm always having to save you."
An overhead explosion, falling out of the sky, out of her Trueshape and
landing on her human form's slim knees. "What the hell do you think you're
doing?!" she yelled at the psychotic dragon landing before her.
"Saving your life, you ungrateful little girl! Didn't you see that mazoku
above you?"
"Who are you calling 'little'?!
"Can't even fly," Val tisk tisked, shaking his head.
I'm breaking through
With a competitive growl Lina pushed away from her flying safety. Beneath her shoulder blades, muscle twisted, bones expanded and joints contorted - a pleasant pain, much like stretching long neglected muscles.
She proudly fluttered her red-black wings.
I'm bending spoons
Laughing triumphantly, she let her wings expand and pump the air, raising her above Val. "As I recall," Lina danced around him with surprisingly nimble twists and turns. "I beat you the first time we met."
I'm keeping flowers in full bloom
"I recall that as well," he conceded, smiling.
Lina cocked her head to one side, puzzled. Why did Val-chan look so smug?
Val-chan?
Ah, then Lina remembered some things: She was human. She didn't HAVE wings.
I'm looking for answers from the great beyond
Upon this idiotically simply realization, Lina's wings simply ceased to be. With a yelp, she again fell...
THUMP About two feet, right back onto the soft grass where the whole mess had started.
Above her, Val was rolling around in midair, laughing so hard that tears ran down his red face and he had to hold onto his sides. After he had slowed down to a chuckle, he banished his wings and landed beside the bewildered Lina. "Do you believe me now?"
I want the humming birds to dance in their sweetest dreams with you
"I..." Tell you the truth, she didn't know what she thought.
"Please remember," Val pleaded.
"I...I don't think I can."
I Could Show You, Favored.
And look into the stars
The Voice which Spoke belonged to no person, this Lina knew. It belonged to All. In the grass, in the breeze...
In her head.
"G-g-get away!" Lina wailed, covering her ears and throwing herself into the arms of a very startled Ancient's arms. "Why is She in my head?!"
Unsure, Val ran his hands through her hair. "Um, you did seal the Giga Slave inside your body."
Oh yeah. "..."
And look into the moon
I Would Show You, My Favorite.
"Fa-favorite?" Lina unburied her head from the crook of Valteria's neck. Then, realizing how they must look (to the Golden Eyed One of all er... people!) she punched Val square in the jaw. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"That hurt!" Val yelled, stumbling back and grabbing his sore jaw. "You grabbed me first, wench!"
"You still shouldn't ha - "
Yes, My Favorite, L-sama restated. Always Have And Always Will Be, Mine.
Both Lina and Val quickly shut up, no little thanks to the gold lightning and suddenly tornado worthy winds.
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
I'm tossing out punchlines that were never there
Over my shoulder, a piano falls
- Crashing to the ground
"Well... what are You going to show me?" Lina asked, suspicious. She couldn't be the Lord of Nightmares for nothing.
Your Past.
"Hmph," she folded her arms and prayed her cape was hiding her shaking knees. As if She didn't know what Lina was thinking ^^; "And what good would that do me?"
"For your safety," Val urged.
"Since when do you care about my safety?"
He turned red, partially from anger, partially from embarrassment. She was partially right, but damnit, what did she think he had been doing out here this whole time?! "Since - "
- The Past Shapes The Present. Learning The Past Prevents Repetition.
Lina's resolve crumbled. For one, there was no hope in opposing the Lord of Nightmares... and there might be an itsy bitsy chance that this whole thing was bad pastrami, right? Might as well play along.... And she'd probably forget when she woke up...
"Show me then."
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers in full bloom
I'm looking for answers from the great
Answers from the great -
Answers