Dionysus And you dream

Dionysus To your left is a black pit.

Dionysus To your right is a crystal palace.

Dionysus Ahead of you is a long, winding road that echoes faintly of music.

Dionysus And behind you is your home, your family, the band, & your past.

Aurelia Is this dream active or passive?

Dionysus Active.

• Aurelia looks to both sides, then back for a long moment before hugging herself and starting forward on the path.

Dionysus The pit & the palace remain next to you, but the path is getting louder, the music more distinct. It is sorrowful, but beautiful. You realize Kashaji is beside you.

• Aurelia lets go of herself with one arm to put her hand on his side, seeking reassurance.

Dionysus He licks your hand & sticks close to you.

Dionysus As you move forward, obstacles rise up before you. The first is D'Laney Hleeh.

• Aurelia puts out her free hand towards D'Laney, fingers splayed.

Dionysus The obstacle vanishes.

Dionysus The next one that appears is a flood, coming to drown you, the ocean itself.

• Aurelia again reaches for the water.

Dionysus It covers you.

Dionysus You feel as though you are drowning.

• Aurelia doesn't fight it.

Dionysus Everything goes black, & you 'awake' on the road again, back further than you were.

Aurelia Kashaji?

Dionysus There beside you.

• Aurelia leans against him for a moment, then starts forward again.

Dionysus D'laney Hleeh appears again.

• Aurelia stops.

Dionysus She begins to suck your musical skill from you.

Aurelia "Please..."

Dionysus She continues draining you.

• Aurelia puts her face to Kashaji's shoulder and tries blindly to touch D'Laney.

Dionysus D'Laney dies again.

• Aurelia flinches, and starts forward.

Dionysus Once more, the waters begin to rise.

• Aurelia puts her arms around Kashaji and holds on.

Dionysus Kashaji's powerful muscles hold you both afloat. You swim across.

Dionysus As you swim, a deep one rises up in front of you.

• Aurelia lets go of Kashaji with one arm to reach for the deep one.

Dionysus It erupts into blood, & the water fills with more deep ones, who overwhelm you.

Dionysus You reawaken on the road again.

• Aurelia shudders, reaches for Kashaji, and starts forward again.

Dionysus Shall we assume you pass the first two obstacles the same way as before?

Aurelia Yes.

Dionysus You get back to the deep one.

Aurelia Am I wearing the bracelet?

Dionysus Yes.

• Aurelia tells it to make her look like a deep one.

Dionysus You do. The deep one watches you suspiciously, but you are able to pass.

Dionysus You come to another shore.

Dionysus On this shore, Kansallus stands, smiling at you.

• Aurelia hugs Kashaji more tightly.

Dionysus "Aurelia?"

• Aurelia doesn't look at him.

Dionysus "I am sorry for not being there. How do I make it up to you?"

Aurelia "No."

Dionysus "No?"

Aurelia "Go. Leave this place."

Dionysus "But why? I want to help you?"

Aurelia "It is not an Ender's right to heal."

Dionysus "All have the right to heal. It is not excluded from an ender."

Aurelia "No."

Dionysus "What makes you think so?"

Aurelia "The blood always shows true."

Dionysus "You've as much empath blood as ender blood."

Dionysus "You think all enders are evil?"

Aurelia "All."

Dionysus "Then let me tell you the story your mother told me, of an ender none remember but all know of.

• Aurelia doesn't interrupt.

Dionysus "Once, long ago, the Mother of Darkness tried to dominate the world, to destroy it.

Dionysus "She used a vast empire known as Vesturia as her pawn in this quest.

Dionysus "But in her arrogance, she forgot the power of a name. Her emperor-pet named one of his daughters Sallanan, for the Mother of Light, as a mockery.

Dionysus "But the name drove her to other things: She rebelled, quietly, though it cost her. She was raped, by one of the original enders, & she was forced to flee.

Dionysus "She found solace with the King of Dragons, helped by the Queen of Cats & others.

Dionysus "And she had an ender child.

Dionysus "Though she died shortly thereafter, the child was raised by the King of Dragons to be an exemplary warrior. His teachers were many & varied, & ultimately, he found the faith he needed in the flowers that grew in the King's pond--the chrysanthemums.

Dionysus "Decades passed, & finally, the child gathered to him a powerful Gifted Sword. He set out with a small force to the dark continent Ansulym, then a wasteland.

Dionysus "And he went to the dark ruins there to face the Mother of Darkness herself.

Dionysus He leans in close. "And there, he plunged the Gifted Sword through her, sacrificing himself to drive darkness from the world."

Aurelia Does he continue?

Dionysus No.

Aurelia "Who did he heal? His path also was paved with blood and with death from his first step."

Dionysus "He loved. He had two close companions, closer than any others--a girl of the Wind tribes & a fellow ender.

Dionysus "They both loved him fiercely, but also loved each other.

Dionysus "They could never be happy, divided as they were, the three of them.

Dionysus "His sacrifice brought them together, & showed them how to be happy."

• Aurelia looks at Kansallus, then away again.

Dionysus "Let me help you."

Aurelia "How?"

Dionysus "Let me show you how to be what you are without all this turmoil in your heart."

• Aurelia repeats, "How?"

Dionysus "You once held onto your faith. I could feel it in you, holding up your identity to the world. You had music to bring you into a world of beauty. Your castle of crystals & mist protected you. But that castle has crumbled, & you have found yourself adrift in the dark seas of blood.

Aurelia "The castle was a lie."

Dionysus "An illusion, perhaps. But the music was not, nor the beauty you created. You do not hide from the seas to protect yourself, Aurelia. You control them."

Aurelia "No."

Dionysus "No?"

• Aurelia holds Kashaji more tightly. "Beauty is also a lie."

Dionysus "Beauty is the essence of truth."

• Aurelia shakes her head against the dhole's side.

Dionysus "Beauty is the truth one sees in the world, despite the dirt of deception & the ugliness of lies. Beauty comes in all forms."

Dionysus "Beauty is the truth of oneself."

Aurelia "No."

Dionysus "No?"

Aurelia "It is a lie told to hide that the world is built of cruelty and decay."

Dionysus He laughs, then gestures behind you.

Dionysus "Is it? Then what of /that/?"

Dionysus Do you look?

Aurelia No.

• Aurelia is afraid to.

Dionysus "/Look/! See the beauty! Experience it! You know it's real. Be not afraid!"

• Aurelia trembles. "It is false."

Dionysus "It is all that is real!"

Dionysus "It is the purity of art, the connection of emotion, the fire of the soul. It is the joy others take in what you do, & the sadness in seeing you go. It is the love of a mother, a friend, & a family. It is mortaility's connection to the gods, & the gods' connection to mortaility. It is the very tapestry of life."

• Aurelia pleads, "I do not want to look..."

Dionysus "Why are you afraid?"

Aurelia "I am not strong enough."

Dionysus "No one ever is. That's why we have others to help us."

Dionysus "I will help you face it."

Dionysus You hear Avery's pennywhistle. It's beautiful.

• Aurelia whispers, "Make it stop..."

Dionysus "He loves you."

Aurelia "He cannot..."

Dionysus "Of course he does. You can feel it."

Aurelia "He rejected me."

Dionysus "He is in pain, confused, lost. He is overwhelmed by emotion, coming to terms with his own personal demons. There was /iron/ in his blood. Can you imagine his misery? You could feel it! You know how he was suffering. His love still abided, though he chose not to manifest it physically, & no wonder."

Dionysus "Add to this his honorable upbringing, his respect for you. His love for you kept him from taking advantage as much as his pain."

Dionysus "Love is many faceted, & does not always appear as you expect it to."

Dionysus "Like truth, like beauty, it has many faces."

Aurelia "I craved his misery."

Dionysus "Are you proud of that?"

Aurelia "Should I feel shame?"

Dionysus "It's up to you. You can relish in the pain of those you love," he gestures to the pit, "Or you can channel the passion you feel from their pain into healing them." He gestures to the right, which is no longer a crystal palace, but a swirling mist of possibility.

Dionysus "Or you can continue down the road, balancing between the two until it gets the best of you."

Aurelia ""When does the road end?"

Dionysus "No one knows."

Aurelia "Then it will be best to cause its end."

Dionysus "No!"

Dionysus "Why?"

Aurelia "I cannot deny my family. I cannot deny my blood."

Dionysus "You need not deny it! You can control it."

Aurelia "I cannot."

Dionysus "What makes you think so?"

Aurelia "To 'channel' it /is/ to deny it."

Dionysus "No. To channel it is to use it. To deny it is to pretend it isn't there, or to pretend it doesn't affect us."

Dionysus "Your feelings are not dictates to your actions."

• Aurelia shakes her head. "To deny it is to refuse its hunger, its lust. To deny it is excruciating."

Dionysus "To channel it is to satiate it through other means."

Aurelia "What other means?"

Dionysus He sighs, "Only the strongest enders can do it, but your lineage suggests that you are one of the strongest of enders. You wield a black-blade without apparent effort. It accepted you. Those with the darkest tides are the best at mastering them.

Dionysus "You must find a focus, Aurelia. You had the beginnings of one before, but it failed you. It might not work again.

Dionysus "Once you have that focus, when the hunger strikes you, you feed it into that focus.

Dionysus "Over time, the hunger will be slowly replaced with the new focus.

• Aurelia shakes her head a little, not understanding.

Dionysus "It might take years to master, but it is possible.

Dionysus "It is like... Like your friend Jack. He craves alcohol, but eats that spicy jerky instead. It's not going to work all the time, but it slowly will alter his body's reactions."

Aurelia "Jack does not find blood on his hands when he falters."

Dionysus "Do not underestimate the power of substance abuse."

Dionysus "You've seen others in a drunken rage. You know what it can do."

• Aurelia looks away.

Dionysus Behind you?

Aurelia ... Yes.

Dionysus Every ounce of beauty you have ever experienced is there. Every moment of happiness in your life. Every work of art you've ever made. Every natural & man-made wonder. Everything beautiful.

Dionysus As you look, you realize it is all encapsulated in /you/.

Dionysus The beauty is what defines you.

• Aurelia begins to weep.

Dionysus You feel Kansallus's hand on your shoulder. "Now you see what others see in you."

Dionysus "You find the beauty that they would otherwise pass by, & show it to them. You are the beauty within us all."

Aurelia "Where is the blood..?"

Dionysus "It's in there, if you look deep, but that is merely one aspect."

• Aurelia lets go of Kashaji to hug herself.

Dionysus The model of beauty, you mean?

Aurelia No, the immediate 'physical' self.

Dionysus Kashaji nuzzles you slightly.

• Aurelia leans against him, crying.

Dionysus "You are more than your blood, or the blood on your hands. You are the Seeker of Beauty as much as you are the Child of Cruelty. You can choose between the two, or you can balance between them... or even, some think, reject them both. But you are not a slave to your blood."

• Aurelia doesn't respond. She doesn't have a response to give.

Dionysus He says, "This is the true you, Aurelia. It is beautiful, & yes, there is cruelty, but this is true of anyone. You can choose which side to follow. You are strong, & you can do this. Can I help you, Aurelia, down the road?"

• Aurelia hesitates, then nods a little.

Dionysus "Come with me, then." And he gently guides you down the road.

Dionysus You wake up.

---

Avery's Dream:

Dionysus You dream of a song.

Dionysus This song is in three parts:

Dionysus The first part is the epitome of peace, & it is meant for Jack's bass, oddly enough.

Dionysus The second part is the gentle caress of a mother, & is meant for guitar, probably Avery's.

Dionysus The third part is an oboe part, & it is an echo of the 'self' you saw in your last dream.