New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Alexander had no way to know how much time had passed, as the sun stayed at its zenith perpetually, only changing in hues. The longer the dream went, the fewer people at his side remained, until he was fighting alone.

The army before grew in size, again and again, with more and more people he knew joining them. On the front lines of this battle, facing him, were more and more of his friends, seemingly talking to him, but he couldn't hear their voices amongst the noise.

He just fought and fought, his body no longer responding to his commands. He screamed and cried, begging his body to stop killing, all in vain.

When he stabbed his clawed hand through a familiar woman, the dream finally became silent. Only the words of the woman he loved came to his ears.

"Why did it come to this? Why did you lose faith in humanity? I forgive you, but you need to die with me today…"

Kary's face teared up before him, Alex unable to do anything, still screaming in pain in his mind. When her body hugged him and caught fire, he felt the flesh on his bones slowly turn to ash.

That was the last thing he saw before everything turned to darkness. Floating inside this nothingness, Alex had finally regained control of his movement.

He wept at the horror he had just seen and committed. A voice floated to his ear, that he recognized.

"What a terrible way to end…"

Alex stopped crying, turning his head left and right, trying to find the provenance of the voice.

"Old man Solomon? What is happening?"

The surrounding emptiness vanished, suddenly replaced by the same white room, with a cloudy floor and two sofas. In one, Solomon was seated, looking at the cup of tea in his hands.

His silence prompted Alex to go sit across from him. Amon was still faithfully standing to the side, his eyes closed.

When Alex sat down, Amon stepped forward, a teacup appearing on the tray that sat on the table. Amon took the teapot and poured Alexander a cup.

Taking the cup, Alex was still reeling from the horrors his eyes had seen.

"How am I here, sir? I thought you were inside New Eden?"

Solomon lifted his eyes from his teacup.

"I do not live anywhere in particular. My domain is inside the ring on your finger, and I follow it, wherever that may be."

Looking at the ring on his left hand, Alex still wondered what kind of psychedelic dream he had just had.

"What was that dream? It felt so… real…"

Solomon nodded his head slowly.

"Because it was. Or at least, it could be. What you experienced is not a dream, young man, but a vision of a possible future. That was Vassago's doing."

Alex was taken aback.

"Why would Vassago show me such a future? I would never betray my friends, let alone kill my loved ones. Surely he is mistaken."

Solomon shook his head.

"Young man, Vassago sees possibilities innumerable, with so many paths that lead to different futures. He may be a demon, but he makes no mistakes. If he saw it, then it could happen. The question is, what leads to this?"

Alexander kept quiet. He did not know what to say.

What the demon had shown him was something that he believed would never come to pass, and if it could, it shouldn't. Looking inside himself, his soul was still clean and white, aside from that small black fragment inside it.

He doubted the corruption could grow, or that he wouldn't see it fast enough to do something about it. There was simply no way he would ever turn on his friends, allies, and humanity itself, like the vision seemed to point out.

But Solomon seemed perplexed by the vision's contents. He kept murmuring to himself, too low for Alex to understand him.

"Young man. I think I know what can cause this. I also know a potential way to prevent it. But it is not something that can be done in a short time. Nor is it risk free."

Alexander took a sip of tea, calming his nerves, which were still all bunched up from the nightmare he saw. He raised his head to ask Solomon what his solution was, but before he could open his mouth, the vision vanished.

He slowly opened his eyes up again, to the inside of the private plane. In front of him, Kary was smiling.

"Wake up, Alex. We are back in Montreal. Jack has offered to drive us home to rest before we return to the facility for a round of testing on you again."

Alex rubbed his tired eyes, trying to push away the sleepiness in them.

'Was that just all a dream? So weird…'

He got up, smiling at Kary.

"Yes. Let's go home. A good shower and an actual bed will do us lots of good."

Leaving the plane, Kary walked by David, who still looked half dead, even though he was awake.

"Wait," David said, raising his hand. "Take the wand with you. Having that will help you in case you ever need it."

David knew Alex wouldn't take the swords, since he had already said he wouldn't. But Kary had said no such thing.

Having her owe him a favour would be a good thing for his future plans, so he cast the bait.

Kary looked at Alex, who looked disappointed at David, and smiled. She turned her head back to David and shook her head.

"No, thank you. I think it's better if I learn to control my power better on my own. I appreciate you offering, but I won't be needing it."

She turned around, not even giving him time to argue, and stepped into the limo that was already waiting for them. David stood there, mouth agape.

He was also about to step into the limo when Guo blocked his path.

"Mr. Boudreau says he has endured your rudeness and pushiness enough for a time. He asks that you find your own way home and trusts you are resourceful enough to do so. Good day, Mr. Magnus."

Guo stepped into the limo, closing the door behind him, and it immediately drove off, leaving David standing there, alone, like a pariah. He couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Well fuck you too, I guess…" David ranted tiredly.

He called a taxi and walked to the front of the airport on his own, trudging like a zombie. He was in disbelief.