A woman leaned over the occupied white bed the way a lioness leans over a twitching gazelle. "Wake up Diyus." her voice like an innocent wind chime in a pacifist breeze. Diyus awoke abruptly and looked at the woman like a bat looks at hell.

"Oh god it's you." the woman's face made it seem like she ignored Diyus's remark. But her black stilettos tapping against the concrete made a clicking noise that echoed distaste in the prison like room.

"How did you sleep?" the woman asked patiently. Diyus started looking around his room and got out of his bed. He felt different than usual, in this dream it all felt real. And Diyus had a sneaking suspicion that something very bad was about to happen. He put his hands on the cold slippery stone walls. He looked back at the woman out of a trance and answered.

"I'm dreaming right now." he looked unsure of himself.

"Well then, what happened to you yesterday?"

"I was in the forest of nothingness. I almost battled an ice phoenix who I remembered was the love of my life. I went to arena of greatness to find the missing piece of the green tower, so that I could defeat lord Sagittarius. But as I went to grab the piece I fell asleep. And here I am with you, Grace."

"You didn't learn how the green tower works?"

"No but as soon as I wake up I'll be back to. Why?" tears and fears welled up in Grace. She ran out of the room leaving the door open. She turned into the door on the left in the long hall way. Diyus was befuddled that the warden of his jailed dreams had left the gateway open. Diyus looked cautiously at the hallway. He had never been outside of this room when dreaming before.

His chipmunk curiosity made him stare. The cement colored floor changed into a dark shade of sienna at the doorway. The bright white lights carried throughout the long hall just as in his room. Somehow the hall looked familiar to him. He moved forward stealthily. A door to the left was open and Diyus heard voices. He listened.

"You said he would have the dream." Grace hissed at the scientist. His eyes were wide and his brow looked sweatier than usual.

"He didn't?"

"No. He said he was close but he woke up or fell asleep or, or, something." Grace not only lost her train of thought, but more accurately couldn't find her way to the station.

"I think I know one thing that could work." the scientist stood taller than before, mustering confidence from his scientific prowess. Grace could've peeled an orange with her glare of questioning. She crossed her arms tightly.

"Well? What is it?

"My people have been working on a serum since we've begun this project, a serum that can take the incoherency of a dream and fix it. Steady it."

"How is that possible?" Graces question came with a slight smile accompanied by the reoccurring thought that the General would still have to wait.

"Well the serum basically puts neurological guiding walls in the brain. It steadies the information he receives and sends it one path. By doing this we can have him tell us what happened in simple terms, instead of decoding the riddles. Because no matter how you argue it, this boy is…psychic or prophetic. We could gain straight information if this worked." the scientist took a deep breath. Grace stared down at the ground as if reading some puzzling riddle. She then sighed.

"You said ‘if', though. ‘If' it works. How long will it be until you can be sure?"

"Well that's the thing… It would work if we used it, but we can't yet prevent the side effects."

"What? What are the side effects?"

"He could become insane, or simply at a heightened state of emotions. And we do not know what that will do to his dreams."

"He's already insane!"

"Well I don't think-"

"No! If we have a chance of using this serum on him and then waking him up the hard way in a couple hours so that we can give the general the answer to these riddles, then I'll take the brunt of a cranky Diyus. The General is coming here to retrieve Diyus's most important riddle. If we give him a straight forward answer he'll be so pleased with us. Now I want that serum in a syringe in the next twenty seconds or I swear to god I'll blame his lack of answers on you!

Diyus stood listening, and felt like it was time to make his exit. He had to move on. He ran down the hall when he saw something. A jet black door that patiently bore a sign on its head that read: "stairway", he experienced déjà vu.

"Haven't I seen this before…in the Green Tower?" he pondered. Diyus put his right hand on the platinum door handle.

"Diyus." a familiar devilish voice with a rising pitch, rang through the hallway in his direction.

"Oh shit." Diyus felt his neck tense tight and cold as he turned to his secret image of Lucifer.

"Where are you going Diyus?" Grace asked sweetly, walking slow steps up to him. Diyus nonchalantly fingered the handle as he turned to face her. It was locked. He stopped trying and realized his nightmare was going to win. Grace was going to win. She stood in front of him with an odd looking needle. She betrayed a look of sadness behind her determined eyes.

"I'm sorry Diyus."

"For wha-" a needle to his neck interrupted him. Grace pushed the syringe deep in his flesh. He didn't move. He didn't flinch. He just stared at her as something in his mind felt like snapping branches. The Hero woke up.

The Arena of Greatness

The Man stood up in a hurry. He felt panicked, like something was wrong. All he saw was mist and sand. Broken shards of the arena littered the ground. Phoenix was gone and the missing piece of the Green Tower was nowhere to be found.

A man of a noble stature appeared in front of him out of a portal made of black glitter shards. It was like crystallized night. His robes were a light shade of cherry blossoms and emitted the scent and taste of lilacs.

"King Leo?" The Man asked the stranger

"Yes, it is I old friend." King Leo's voice was rich with hate. "I thought you would never return." his soft face turned to a rough scowl.

"Never return? I couldn't have been asleep for more than-"

"A thousand years! You left us all! You were supposed to find the missing piece of the Green Tower and activate the great weapon to kill the Lord Sagittarius."

"But I was about to grab it. I fell asleep."

"You betrayed us! A needle from the sky turned countless to the Lord Sagittarius. He won. The Green Tower was broken to pieces. One other thing, your name was revealed, Diyus!" Diyus was so confused. As he should be. I wouldn't have left.

"Its time to pay for your treason!" King Leo roared. He leapt towards Diyus with dagger in hand. Diyus raised his left arm instinctively.

"Fire!" he yelled. Lightning bolts shot from his hand into King Leo, blasting him back twenty six feet into a redwood tree. Splinters flew like cautious birds in every direction. Diyus looked at the harshly burnt king Leo to his hand.

"Uh, not what I meant to do, but that works." misfiring magic is quite embarrassing but witches say it happens to most guys. King Leo fumbled to his knees as Diyus felt a new sensation. Hate. It was strutting through his defenses confidently. Confidence killed the cat you know. Diyus's sword flew toward him through the tall trees right past the now standing Leo King into his hand. The mist cleared and his rage grew stronger.

"Time to feel my fury, old friend!" Diyus called out, losing himself in his minds inferno. He ran at Leo. The king swung his dagger at the speeding sword. His last mistake, hahaha. Diyus blocked and swung. His sword trekked unopposed through King Leo's neck. The King exploded into pieces of lime & emerald green metal. Diyus knew what it was but did not know why. Remnants of the Green Tower. His anger left and was replaced by intense remorse. His Clouded eyes became rainstorms.

"I'm so sorry Leo. For whatever happened here. For what ever happened to me." Diyus found a half buried bottle of absinthe and drank it down. "Cogito ergo sum." he whispered to himself.

He was then at the Cave of Light. At the entrance he could tell it was much darker inside then the name made it sound. He entered. It was raining inside, yellow and violet raindrops. He put on his rose tinted glasses and could see clearly in the darkness. He knew this was the fastest route to the Green Tower.

The rain was warm and rolled off his clothes. It was very refreshing and utterly convenient. I wish I could be there again. Out of the dark passage to the left he heard a rumbling growl. A Shadow Wolf. The right passage was growl free and the exit was in sight. He decided to take the left. The easy way out is never as rewarding.

The leader of the wolf pack came into his sight. It was ten feet tall. Tall as the dank cave ceiling. It roared and leapt at him.

"No thank you. I'm not really in the mood for that right now." Diyus said calmly with relaxed eyebrows and slumped shoulders. The wolf stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong Diyus?" the wolf said with a surprisingly velvet concern in his throaty speech.

"I don't know, it feels like the whole world is out to get me, like everything's gone to shit. Ya' know?"

"Well Diyus when-"

"Please stop calling me Diyus." the wolf listened to the request then cleared his throat.

"Well as I was saying. When I was a little pup my wolf dad always said: ‘son you'll never catch a rabbit if you don't learn to like carrots.' Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"No, not really. I don't really think that applies to anything. But thanks for trying."

"Your welcome." the wolf said with a toothy grin.

The Man walked away and continued. He trekked deeper and deeper into the cave and his glasses were running out of batteries. He saw glowing golden writing on the wall.

"yaW sihT toN sI tixE ehT" it read. He put a hand mirror up to it so he could read. He lifted an eye brow and was severely unconvinced. It did seem quite juvenile. The Man continued out of the cave and into a vast desert with melting clocks, a forked tree, and a high tide of liquid mirrors.

The scenery was completely unrealistic. Kind of like when you see an eagle and then you realize that it's just a figment of unreality borne from proper ideals of decency and nobility that we all like to subscribe to in the magazine of life. Or maybe it's like when you leave the oven on.

I'm not sure but more importantly he continued. The Hero approached a familiar sanguine sky above the glossy purple sand. On the ground, remnants of the Green Tower sat scattered like locusts.

The Green Tower lay in its general shape with an exposed skeleton of wall support bars like broken ribs and shattered windows like gouged skin. He thought to himself that he should throw the pieces from Leo on the remains, like scattering dirt on a coffin. He tossed them.

The earth shook like a stampede of buffalo. The Green Tower roughly assembled itself. It clanked and shuddered and grew tall and imperial. It was like a tower of blocks missing places that would support the rest of it. Parts of it floated in midair held by nothing but architecture of what it should be. It once again stood back against the blood red sky with a brilliant clash of colors.

The Man's smile was like a child's in a circus. "If I find the rest of the pieces I might still have a chance to defeat Lord Sagittarius. I can put all of this right." he said encouragingly to himself.

"That sounds like a logical conclusion. I would try if I were you." a mysterious voice sounded from a man in a silver suit. The Stranger was kneeling, smelling the freshly grown sapphire roses in a diversely planted garden.

"Who are you?" Diyus asked cautiously, the battle with Leo still playing in his mind. The Stranger stood up and walked a few paces closer.

"Trust me. You don't want to know my name. I would be pleased to help you in your noble goal. I am in a great mood and I haven't been adventuring in at least… Well a thousand years. How about it? The Stranger asked in an ease inspiring tone.

"Yes. That would be great. Do you know what happened when I left? I feel like the whole world is upside down."

"When you left Sagittarius took over. He dismantled the weapon that is the Green Tower. And for some nefarious reason stole a few pieces and left to do what he thought was right." The Stranger looked to the ground in thought.

All of the sudden an electric pain coursed through Diyus. He held his hands to his temples and squeezed hoping he could reach his mind inside and alleviate the harsh pain. Diyus thrashed on the purple soil which changed a shade of moon white where he touched. He was about to fall asleep. Fatigue was gunning him down. "No!" Diyus yelled to the skies.

Otherworld March/25/2010 7:17 AM

Diyus's body thrashed around on his bed. Grace, three nurses and the scientist trying to contain him. The volts they just sent through him to wake him up invoked a terrible response. One of the nurses grabbed rubber tubing and tied down his limbs, one at a time. "Do it again, we need him awake. Now!" Grace yelled to the doctor staring from the shadows in the corner of the room in a panic. He sprinted to Diyus, silver device in hand. He looked between grace and Diyus trying to decide what he feared more.

"He could die!" the doctor said hurriedly gesturing to Diyus.

"I'll do it then!" Grace ripped the silver pen looking contraption and stuck Diyus where the doctor had. On his right temple. Diyus stopped moving.

The Green Tower

Bolts of lightning ran wild, coming out of the ground, the sky and striking everything with electric blue streaks. The earth itself was shifting, rolling, like waves in the deepest and least merciless parts of the eighteen oceans. Diyus convulsed on the ground. When he opened his mouth thunder boomed forth. The Stranger was standing his ground looking over Diyus calling to him.

"Wake up, Diyus! Wake up!" The Man choked and coughed on his own blood.

"I'm trying." he managed to whisper. "I'm trying."

Otherworld March/25/2010 7:47 AM

"I'm trying." Diyus said loudly in the echoing cement room. The familiar bright white lights pulled his eyes open like pry bars. He looked around. The nurses and doctor were gone and no silver trays were left around. It was like it never happened. It all was a dream after all. Diyus sighed relief as he thought this dream would be better. Grace and an unfamiliar man in a black suit decorated in colorful square tags and badges stood a few feet to the right side of his bed. They stood in the exact same cross armed fashion as if grace had learned it from him. His blonde hair and blue eyes looked wasted on his leathery tan face, covered in the wrinkles of scowling and worry.

Grace was about to ask Diyus her usual script when the new man silenced her with a raised finger. She visibly closed her mouth and looked down as if she had been advised to by gun point. Judging by the look of this man in black, Diyus wouldn't be surprised.

"Diyus. I am General Ivan Ginn. I am the one who put you here. I have been awaiting what you have to say about the weapon from the Green Tower. My sources tell me you would have the answer in yesterday's dream." General Ivan glanced over at grace with just his eyes. Whether grace noticed it or not she withered slightly.

"Are you the same as grace? You really think this is real life? You are part of my imagination. I wonder all the time where I come up with people like you." Diyus said in a mocking tone. General Ivan's mouth was agape as he stared at Diyus.

"What are you talking about? You are awake right now. You are not dreaming."

Grace looked over at him with concern that General Ivan might be frustrated.

"You could try your whole life to convince him but he wouldn't believe you. Trust me, I have tried. Grace looked the General in the eyes. The general conceded though still unsure.

"Listen up kid." Diyus cupped his hand over an ear dramatically as if listening intently. "I want to hear the secret to the weapon. So tell me."

"One question first." The General shifted uncomfortably and said nothing denoting he would listen to the request. "Are you the one who controls my dreams?

"Yes I am in control of this whole operation. I am in control." Diyus rounded his feet around the bed and on to the cold slippery floor. If what he was about to do went right it would be the last time feeling it.

"So let's say you were gone, I could be free to do whatever I want like anyone else." Diyus asked with hand gestures to him and the door.

"Yes. I suppose. I am the only military leader who believes in this project. You will tell me now about the weapon. I heard you were given a serum which decodes your prophetic ravings." it was the General who somehow affected the Green Tower and the space time continuum. Diyus's face went hot red at the thought. His dark green eyes became right triangles that flooded with determination. A smile of challenge was posted like a banner on his face.

"Ah yes, the serum. That was your call?" he managed to ask calmly.

"Yes. Grace was ordered by me to do whatever it took." the General smiled back.

"So you want to hear about the weapon, General Sir?" Diyus was buying time. He noticed the silver pen in Grace's white leather overcoat pocket near her name tag, positioned on the right side of her chest… But it wasn't a pen. It was a sort of defibrillator or something.

"Yes!" the General said with a red face of his own. Diyus used his positioning of sitting up on the bed to aim his right foot. His legs were sore. Just as the general leaned forward Diyus quickly rose up on his left leg channeling all his strength to knee him in the jaw. A load crack sounded and Diyus was already improperly grabbing Grace to get the pen. He got it, and then knocked Grace down forcefully on his bed so she didn't too badly hurt. He lunged at the bleeding General and shoved the shocking pen on the nape of his neck squeezing the blue button on the side of the device.

The General screamed and lay completely down on his stomach, with arms and legs sprawled out. Diyus ran out of his cell as grace started to chase him and slammed the door shut. He then pulled up the locking mechanism. It was sweet justice.

Diyus had no time to lose. He sprinted to the always opened door to the left, to see the bald scientist sitting at his computer completely unaware of anything. He obviously had not looked at the screen displaying Diyus's room.

"What's your name scientist?" The bald scientist looked shocked at him standing there with the silver defibrillator.

"Um, uh my name is, is, is Bradley sir, Br- Bradley O'Neill." Bradley stuttered quickly.

"Well Bradley I'm going to need the antidote to whatever it is you gave me. You people somehow snapped the space time continuum and the world is ruined." Bradley looked around and kept a meek and confused look as if re-noticing that everything in the room was fine. Then he snapped back his face at Diyus with understanding.

"Antidote? Wait do you mean you still don't know how the Green Tower works?

"No. Somehow you broke it." Diyus looked at him with an authoritarian crossed armed pose which he quickly changed, realizing it was from Grace he had learned it.

"Well, there is no antidote, you're not poisoned."

"What?! No antidote then how do I fix this?"

"I don't know, just dream it fixed I guess. All the serum did was shake your mind up like a snow globe and put up a net to sift out the flakes, flakes meaning the dreamy stuff."

"Oh you shook up the snow globe! I am really losing my patience about this dream business. This is about reality."

"Um. Sorry but your awake."

"Keys! Give me the keys to get out of here." Diyus stomped his foot impatiently.

"I can't, when Grace and the General get out…" Bradley finally looked at Diyus's room camera. "Oh my god what did you do?" Bradley stood up. He looked around for something.

"It's the same thing I'll do with this if you don't comply. I can hurt you really bad." Diyus held out the silver device.

"Hurt me? You could kill me with that!"

"Well then, I'll kill you if you don't give me the key." Bradley put a hand up to his face in self loathing, comprehension that he just explained the threat Diyus had over him took hold. It would be like telling a mugger how to take the safety off his gun. Bradley knew he was out of options. He reached in his lab coat pocket and handed Diyus a copper key.

"Thanks." Diyus ran out of the room. He went to the jet black door and reached the key out to stick it in the lock. Then the door busted open and Diyus was knocked on his back. Two men in completely black clothes, with masks over their heads, both with an AK-47 in their hands entered cautiously.

"Who are you?" the man on the left spoke to Diyus at gunpoint.

"I am Diyus. If you are with these psychos then I'll kill you too." Diyus said with hands holding him up. The two men looked at each other and shrugged. The man on the right spoke this time.

"You're Diyus?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"And you aren't on the side of this army?"

"Not at all."

"Looks like we don't have to kidnap you then. Come with us." the man on the right ordered. The floor Diyus was on felt very comfortable all of the sudden. He felt tired. He woke up.

The Green Tower

Diyus got up off the sunset purple ground and looked around everything was fine (besides the green tower). The Stranger was using some kind of magic to make it rain on the roses, putting a small beach ball sized cloud over it. When he noticed Diyus he sprang up joyfully.

"Diyus, are you okay?" The Stranger inquired.

"I'm just fine. I want to start that journey now." Diyus said with a smile.

"That sounds great. We should start with Prince Virgo. He has changed greatly from the mild mannered man he was, to a traitorous tyrant."

"He was so nice though. I was his friend."

"You would not know this man."

"Well prince Virgo it is then. Are any of the royals still good? Or have they all turned to the evil Sagittarius?"

"A lot has changed Diyus. A lot has changed."

"Before we go, could you tell where to find my girl, phoenix?"

"I'm not certain. But I'll help you look. Shall we begin?"

"Yes. Where to first?"

"On the seventeenth ocean there is a place called Dawn-Fox Island."

"Let us go then, my friend." Diyus said with hope.