Interlude- 3- 4- Watching Dreams

  Citadel- Third Floor, Exodus’ Personal Quarters- 24- 10- 2008 (Early Morning)

  Exodus-

  The knight awoke actually excited for once, as he reached up and removed the metal cup that secured the stone to his forehead. Like most mornings Exodus was floating instead of lying in the bed, so he just curled closer to a fetal position as he examined the stone. It had been a dull grey thing when he went to bed, now it was a soft yellow.

  After a moment he looked at the pte again and asked. “Citadel? Can I see my dreams with this pte alone, it looks different from the ones that Curha uses?”

  “A Recording pte, cannot be used to py back stored dreams, so no.”

  "I should have asked for one of the ptes she uses when you gave me this stone st night," Exodus compined.

  “Your quarter’s central table has a projector built into it, do you wish for me to turn it on?”

  The knight smiled at this news and immediately replied. “Yes, please.”

  He then heard metal moving in the adjoining room, as he nded and walked into the living area of his quarters. Sure enough, in the middle of the coffee-like table, a three-pronged rod was rising out of it.

  “Pce the stone, by itself, into the cradle.”

  Exodus took a couple of attempts to separate the stone from the pte, but once he did, he easily socketed the dream-stone into the prongs of the projector. A moment ter he heard the base of the rod start to hum. Another moment passed before a glow in the stone could be seen, and after a third, an image appeared above the stone. I was a bit small, being about the size of a watermelon, but the image was clear.

  Exodus was very saddened when he saw the image reveal that he dreamt of training with both Nightcrawler and Quicksilver in swordsmanship, and not about his past. He did smile at the sight of the two boys getting better in their fencing and footwork.

  Of course, it was only a dream, and not real, but the thought that they might one day be that good, motivated the old crusader in him.

  Exodus sighed before he triggered his flight and hovered beside the table. After a minute of watching the dream, the Citadel interrupted his depressed viewing.

  “Are you not going to check the others?”

  “What others?” He asked confused.

  "According to Magi medical discoveries, you Tribesmen of the Land have multiple thoughts while you sleep, this is why your dreams can be seen as confusing or disjointed. Shall I walk you through how to access the stone's other recordings?"

  “Aye, please do.” The knight stated before he returned his attention to the projector.

  “Touch the image.”

  Exodus did so, causing the scene of him demonstrating a disarming technique to freeze.

  “Touch and hold the image with two fingers.”

  “Do the fingers matter?” The knight asked as he reached out with his index and thumb out in front.

  "No. Once you are ready, while still touching the image, separate your fingers."

  Exodus again followed her instructions, and the image distorted as it revealed what looked like a piece of honeycomb. Five of the seven areas held a frozen images from his dreams. Most he recognized something in them, and he originally wanted to tap the one in the bottom row, as it showed him the face of the druid woman. However, it was her current appearance, rather than something from his past.

  As he stared at the images the Citadel continued to expin things.

  "It is safe now to remove your fingers. Tapping one of the images will start that dream."

  He did remove his fingers, and was about to tap the one of the druid, but then he frowned at the image of him in a field holding a sword. The reason it caught his attention, was that in the image, his skin wasn’t stained red yet. This means that this scene was from before his capture by En Sabah Nur, and his being entombed in the golden sarcophagus for over nine hundred years.

  So he tapped that one instead.

  The honeycomb was quickly filled with a scene of him practicing swinging in a field near the end of the day. Exodus didn't remember this scene, so he continued to stare at the dream being pyed out before him. He didn't really look at himself, but at everything around him, as while the exercise wasn't new to him, the field and the terrain were completely unfamiliar to him.

  The hills and houses all were new to him, so he was completely caught by surprise when a woman ran into the view and tackled him of the past. Past him was about to fight back against the woman who tackled him, but when he saw her face he instead scolded her.

  "Never tackle an armed man like that again. I could have hurt you, Gwen." Young Exodus told her.

  The young long long-haired blonde woman smiled and argued. "You could have tired, and I would have disarmed you before you hurt me."

  "Your magic is impressive, yes, but that doesn't mean that a good sword blow still can’t kill you, because it can.” The young knight reminded the young druid. Then the knight moved in close to her and rubbed his thumb over her lips before adding. “And I would rather you lived and died with many children surrounding you, and not knights from either Engnd or France standing over your beautiful body.”

  Then the two young people leaned towards each other and the druid and the knight shared a kiss.

  Exodus reached out and tapped the image, pausing the pyback of his dream. His mind was running as he tried to grasp what it was he had just saw before him.

  His eyes couldn't focus on the image anymore, as instead he was searching his own memories trying to locate the source of this dream. After several minutes, he had to admit defeat. As he just couldn’t honestly recall this event in his memory.

  "Nath'aniel was right again… or this is just a made-up parody. Either way, I clearly knew this woman before my capture." The knight had to admit. Then he wondered if there was a way to confirm this dream's validity. So he asked. "Where is Psylocke?"

  “She is currently sleeping in the young master’s quarters.”

  “When she awakes, let her know I would like to speak with her.” Exodus requests, before tapping the image into motion again.

  As the dream continued, the couple swayed as the kiss continued. Then suddenly young Exodus backed away, and the current Exodus could see that the young druid was rubbing the over top of the younger versions' groin.

  The young knight told her. “No, there is no cover here, if your father saw us…”

  “What does it matter, the odds of a mage impregnating a non-mage are very low.” The young druid told him.

  The two shared a look before the young knight admitted. "We very much know that I am not what you think I am. My father is an English bcksmith, and my mother is a simple woman who died in childbirth. And if I was what you thought I was, I would have done something with the lessons that your people have been teaching me over the past few months.”

  The young druid ran a hand through the knight's shaggy hair, before leaning in close to his ear and whispered to him. "So, you're not a mage. That doesn't mean you're not special. Now does it?"

  The two younger versions he and the new head of the mystic order, stare into the other's eyes for a time. Then they both jump to the sound of a stick breaking. He quickly pushes her behind him, and raises his weapon to fend off the intruder, but it is just a deer that was as startled as they were.

  It was not the first time such an animal had walked into their vilge, why wouldn't they when the druids seemed able to converse and tame even the wildest of animals with their magic.

  “Guest Exodus.”

  The knight reached over and tapped the image, pausing it again. The two younger people were looking at each other once again, and from the stretching of their mouths, it looked to Exodus that they were about to ugh.

  "Yes, Citadel?" Exodus asked once the image was frozen.

  “The young master wanted to know if you were satisfied with the results of the dream-stone.”

  The knight thought for a moment, before answering. “Tell him it worked, but it has led me to more questions than answers… Citadel, when is the next Entreatment day?”

  “Entreatment day is tomorrow.”

  ‘So maybe I can see her again tomorrow then.’ The knight thought. Then he looked at the paused image. ‘And get some answers.’

  “Guest Exodus, Psylocke wanted me to tell you that she is willing to speak with you in the Great Hall.”

  ‘Yes,’ he thought. ‘I need to verify that this dream isn’t some wild fantasy of mine.’ Then he told the ceiling before removing the stone from the cradle. “Tell her I will meet her there.”