Oneiromancy Is The Loneliest Number (Thel)

The girl calmed under his steady, firm ministrations, leaning back into the brush and letting her eyes slide closed. "It is hard, being without a family, but we make due as best we can, don't we?" She trailed off for a moment, eyes searching skyward. "I hope you can find someone you could come to see as mother and father, Thel. People older that you can trust with every secret, feel safe with. It's... different, even then the bond you have with Patience, or your Pokemon."

"Let's see what we can here until Monday, and find out what the specialist has to say about your sister? Play things by feeling from there.". Em murmured softly, at ease, so relaxed as she might have even been asleep. "The world is too hectic right now to commit to much in the long term, but we have plenty of time to get to everything. At least I hope we do."

Warmth hung in the night air. Wrapped in heavy thoughts, his love for Em, and the fatigue of the day, consciousness gave way to sleep under the stars, against the one he treasured the most.

So many nights had dreams given way to nightmare, but not this one. It came as gentle waves lapping on the shore. A mild sweetness punctuated by the tinge of setback and struggle. Days of soft kisses, and mutual love. A life with Em, bliss, but not unrealistically perfect. Dreams born of tempered expectations.

At the end of it all, he sat on a swing, his wife cradled in his arms, when a figure pale as the moon, garbed in yellows and pinks came smoothly across their lawn. Her hair was spun gold, and a crescent moon shaped mark sat amidst her forehead under a widow's peak. A sharply angled nose, and slight chin gave the woman a pointed appearance. She was older, but Thel's understanding of such things was limited.

In stride with her was a man who preferred red and black accoutrements. His skin, too, was of such a shade that it painted him different even from her. Tall, narrow, and broad of shoulder like the long shadows of the evening, or those that invoke fear in the twilight. A red scarf hung about his neck and lower face, striking blue eyes and pale hair giving quite the contrast. Amidst the center of his forehead was an unbroken circle, a darker shade from the remainder of his skin.

"So then, you've passed the first of your trials.". The woman smiled. "You are coming to know what it is to be human."

"We aren't strangers to each other, my child. There's no need to be so formal." The woman laughed behind her hand and moved to sit on the step leading up to Thel's porch. "A human shape, for a human's dreams, wouldn't you agree Darkrai?"

Darkrai rolled his eyes and left them lid heavily. "Yes yes, the fleeting nature of dreams, from rote and repetition.". He curmudgeoned. "Your role in the shape of the waking world ends with the ambitions of the one you call Giovanni. When, and howsoever his ambitions stop or run their course, then you may consider yourselves free from the yoke of destiny."

"You long for assurance that all will be well in the end. It is a sentiment shared by many who look to the future.". Cresselia explained warmly. "You build strong friendships, and those bonds will see you through. Some victories come with sacrifice. May yours be few and far between."

Darkrai approached the sitting woman and gently alighted a hand on her shoulder. A small affectionate gesture, which was withdrawn shortly after it began. "Those around you will have their own trials.". He offered stiffly. "Some, you must accept are theirs to bear. Others, it will be the love you have made that will see you through."

The pair shared a look, some unspoken communication between them. "I won't be far.". Darkrai stated dryly, squinting against the light of the sunrise. "I find open sentimentality... saccharine at best and nauseating at worst."

"Just as well, a woman's touch seems to carry more weight with them.". The male departed without so much as a backwards glance, moving out of the light without regards for whatever apology or utterance Thel might have to offer for his take on young love.

Cresselia stood, and with a gesture lengthened the deck, house, and the very seat Thel was on, to admit her to join him in comfort and in close proximity. Such was the malleable nature of dreams. "You'll have to excuse him, it's rare he speaks with mortals, much less in a casual or passing way.". She looked after Darkrai with a little sigh, and then turned her attention to Em's peacefully sleeping expression.

"What she wants does not come to humans naturally. It takes tremendous effort and dedication. She has come a long way in a short time on her own, but risks come with developing the sight too much. Some, she would do well to be wary of, in preserving your feelings.". She lightly brushed a thumb through Thel's bangs.

"Empathy is what she desires. The girl who offered to train her is a telekinetic. The technique that goes into each are vastly different, but a few things hold true.". Cresselia settled a pale hand on his shoulder. "The power of the mind is governed by focus and practice. Were she to reach the potential she had before, emotional outbursts become dangerous. Psychics and Occultists tend to be very closed, passive individuals for this reason."

The woman trailed the back of her hand along Em's cheek. "In her quest to know you, and the hearts of others around her, she will need to close herself off. It isn't enough to hide the emotions, you control them. Will them away. Failure to do so is immensely dangerous to all parties involved. The stronger she becomes in the gift, the more necessary that control becomes. The woman she is learning from could level buildings before she was half your age... And she is a natural human. I balk at the idea of the power your love could bring to bear should she be so inclined."

"We've met countless times, it's just you had no cause to see or remember before now." Cresselia smiled wisely, wrinkles creasing the corners of her eyes. "Idyllic dreams, waking or not, do tend to catch my eyes.". She folded her hands lightly across her middle.

"You aren't a disappointment, though I wish your fear of such weren't so profound. As you find success, it is my hope you can find confidence in your abilities." Lacing her fingers, she sat forward, elbows on her knees. "As to her family... I cannot say. Her father will be able to do little for her. Gallade are latently psychic creatures, enhancing their fighting abilities with mental clarity and body control techniques. Her mother may succeed where he wouldn't, if you could find her."

The Goddess of Dreams closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. "I may be able to narrow your search. That is to say, if her mother yet lives. There are few who pine and yearn for family, as a Gardevoir might. As creatures of emotion they pairbond for life. In most likelihoods she was captured by a trainer."

"I will discuss it at length with Darkrai, for the sake of her happy ending, and yours."

"You needn't bother with the feather touch, I was never out of earshot.". The edge of a shoulder and the side of his face were visible just past the edge of the building. Though Darkrai's posture was stiff, there was a yielding quality to it, as thought it were in part an act. To what end, who could say.

Moving to the leading edge of the porch, Darkrai's blue eyes drank in Thel with great intensity. "Boy, do you swear to hold to your dreams, fantasies, and loved ones with every fiber of your soul. For so long as you draw breath, no matter how dark the world becomes, or how long the night?"

Even Cresselia regarded him with a surprised, flattened expression.

Unblinking, his attention slid to Cresselia. He held her eyes, before returning to Thel. "See to it that you hold your Oath. There are too few stars in the night she admires as she does yours. Keep it sheltered. Nurture it when you can. I will find her the help she needs, be it family or stranger."

Cresselia sat back with a knowing smile but said nothing. The dark, brooding male made a small noise between a grumble and a protest, and turned his attention elsewhere.