Chapter 4

            Molento tries to break free of the chains, but cannot, they are squeezing his chest, constricting his neck, squishing his arms, pinching his skin, he is dying to take a breath, but can't it is like he's underwater, slowing down, slowing down, everything fading to black.

            Molento sits bolt upright, a scream on his lips. A dream, it was only a dream, but it felt so real he thinks as the sits there, panting, remembering the horrible nightmare that he just had. He notices the time of day, morning, birds singing, sky blue, fresh breeze whistling through the grass. It's so peaceful, Molento thinks as he surveys his surroundings, but something's wrong, this is not where we were camped out, and where's Eliena.

            "Eliena," Molento calls out, "Where are you?"

Molento hears laughter, cold and steely as though his own sword has learned to speak, and the sky turns red, the same red as his pupils, and a figure melts out of the strange shadows. The figure solidifies into a recognizable shape it is... himself! Molento backs away quickly, surprised, fearful.

            "Who are you?"

            "Why I am you," that laughter, again.

            "Is this a dream," Molento asks.

            "Yes... and no," again, the laughter.

            "If this is not a dream, then what is it, because this most certainly is not reality."

            "This is a memory, buried deep within yourself. This place, it was our favorite place to go as a kid, a place where we had many memorable experiences, before IT happened," the dream Molento explains, looking fondly over the landscape.

            "It, what it," Molento asks, "Why are you being so cryptic?

            "I am afraid that I am not allowed to tell you that, for we must figure it out for yourself," more laughter, this time with a hint of hysteria in it. "But what I can tell us is this: carmina reserare."

            With that, the dream Molento melts back into the shadows and the sky turns back to normal.

            "Wait, what does that mean," Molento called after himself, "What does it mea..."

            The sky starts to swirl black, red and blue, swirling, swirling, until the blue fades away and the red creates a hollow circle, and Molento is looking at a giant copy of his own eye. At this, Molento has a flash of his own power, and a sliver of his memories return.

            With that, everything turns black.

 

            Eliena gets up and yawns. She opens her eyes and finds herself not in the clearing that they made camp in, but an unfamiliar place. A field with trees and blue skies, wind whistling through the grass. Unbeknownst to her, this is the same place that Molento just had a dream about. Where am I, she thinks as she looks around, and where's Molento? As it happened in Molento's dream, Eliena hears laughter and the sky turns red. As the shadows change, she nearly misses a figure detaching itself from the shadows that forms into Molento. When she sees what she thinks is the normal Molento, Eliena breaths a sigh of relief.

            "Ah, there you are," she says, still not looking fully at the dream Molento, "Where are we?"

            Eliena hears laughter, the same as before, only now she can pinpoint the source, it is coming from the dream Molento. Eliena focuses on the dream Molento and realizes that it is not exactly like the real Molento. For starters, the dream Molento is not wearing the black tunic that Molento owns, it is wearing a black leather shirt and pants, with leather straps loosened on its arms, which were being blown in the breeze to give the impression that they are moving. The dream Molento's eyes are different, as well, instead of being red with black "whites," they are black with red "whites" and full of hatred.

            Throughout the time while Eliena is studying it, the dream Molento just stares back, not making a sound. Eliena realizes this, and at the same time that she does, the dream Molento starts to laugh again, cold and steely with a touch of hysteria.

            "Who are you," Eliena asks, "what do you want from me?"

            "I am Molento," the dream Molento laughs.

            "You're not Molento, you don't look anything like him."

            "If you knew me before I woke up in that crater, you would not say such," the dream Molento tells her, "If you had known me or even known about me, then you would have run away screaming at the mere sight of me."

            "Why is that?"

            "Because I did some terrible things, after IT happened."

            "After what, what happened?"

            "Why," the dream Molento laughs, "My family being murdered and me going insane because of it," the dream Molento cackles at the very idea of his own insanity.

            "Oh, you...your family?"

            "Oh, yes, yes, yes," the dream Molento chuckles, "and the insanity that followed was just SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!!!"

            With that, the dream Molento disappears, and everything fades to black.