//------------------------------// // Chapter 1. Inception // Story: What Dreams Can Come // by EsotericPhantasm //------------------------------// The fire giant standing before me pulled his arm back and tossed the giant ball of magma towards me, like a baseball player delivering a fastball. The sphere of molten rock was too slow as it was easy enough to dodge and I didn’t even feel the heat. I quickly rushed forward to end this with my giant claymore. All I would need was one cut. I took a moment in my thoughts to admire the size of my opponent and the surrounding landscape. He was easily 100 feet tall with a burly build and clad in a loincloth that looked like it was made of liquid fire. What I think counted for hair looked like a bonfire on his head while his expression had a look of pure fury painted across his rough facial features. I guess he wasn’t happy to see me again. The surrounding landscape was basically a hellhole with the nearby volcanoes spewing lava and plenty of steam vents releasing their scalding contents sporadically. Not exactly a place you’d want to visit too often. But enough about the paradise I was currently in, it was time to dispose of a violent fire giant. Before I could get too close the giant leapt backwards high into the air and landed, causing a tremor that made me stagger and some nearby vents to release their payloads. He then cried out in rage as he manifested a blazing sword in his right hand while with his left he conjured a fireball as least half his size, and lobbed it at me. It was too big to dodge at the speed it approached me, so I took a defensive stance, readying my sword across my right shoulder. My giant claymore began to glow blue with an otherworldly aura as I channeled magic into it. In a few seconds the fireball had nearly reached me while my claymore was now ablaze in blue fire along with electricity crackling across it. When the flaming sphere of death was so close to me I could feel the heat radiating from its fiery form, I swung my claymore forward, releasing a large swath of magical blue fire that cleaved the opposing fireball in twain, causing it to quickly deform and dissipate. It was no time to celebrate because the moment the fireball disintegrated I felt the earth tremble behind me. I turned around and found the giant had used his fireball as a distraction to sneak behind and flank me. He swung his colossal flaming sword down towards me hoping to cut me down where I stood, but fortunately I had just enough time to bring my sword around to block his assault. The impact of our blades meeting created a violent shock wave that sounded like thunder and sent nearby rocks and debris flying. Slipping from underneath the giant’s sword I expertly tossed a pellet full of flash powder into his face. The bright light dazed him, causing him to stagger back a bit. Meanwhile, I moved in for the killing blow. Within mere moments I was close enough to cut a large gash slightly above the right ankle of the monster. The giant cried out in pain whilst counter-attacking with his left foot. Before he connected I placed my hand on the wound and performed the transfiguration spell. With a loud *pop* the giant was gone and in my hand was an ice cube. I quickly placed the ice cube in the freezer next to me I had just conjured. It was about seven feet tall and five feet wide, and standing before me like a large door. After placing the ice cube in the freezer and closing it, I turned around and started walking. After sheathing my claymore a small movement in my left peripheral vision prompted me to stop. I didn’t turn to look at whatever it was directly, but instead focused as well as I could without doing so. I beheld a man in a very nice business suit. It was the sort that you’d see a Wall Street trader wear in movies. He was about 6’5” with a thick muscular build and his skin was pale as though he spent almost no time outside. I couldn’t make out his face, but I could at least note that his hair was like a raven’s plumage, a black color with a violet sheen. He was just standing there. I turned my head towards the stranger without moving the rest of my body. He was no longer where he stood before, but was still in my left peripheral, except closer now. This time I quickly shifted my entire body in the direction of the stranger while putting a hand on the hilt of my claymore. Again the man was gone and this time nowhere to be seen even as I made a quick sweep of my surroundings. Relaxing a bit I decided that I should just get on with my journey. I turned in my desired direction and standing right in front of me was the smartly dressed stranger. I couldn’t react since I now felt frozen in place as though I was now a statue. As fear gripped me I saw that my earlier assessments about the stranger’s appearance were correct. Additionally, I now could see that this man had a rather masculine face with a fairly square shape, high cheekbones and a wide set jaw. It held a smooth yet roguish quality about it, and a smirk was planted upon his rosy youthful lips. However, his most striking feature was his eyes. They appeared to be a pale blue and looked as if he held twin moons within them. They seemed as if they held an infinite amount of wisdom within their depths. Although I couldn’t move I sensed no hostility from him. Finally the stranger spoke in almost a whisper, “Awaken, and ignite the spark within you.” **** “…Have a nice day.” My eyes shot open as I found myself where I had been sleeping, which was on a plane in first class. It was early morning, and it appeared that I had just woken after the plane had finally landed in New Zealand. The flight attendant had just finished announcing our arrival, and I had woken up to only hear the last bit of it. Meanwhile my fellow passengers were starting to make their way towards the exit. As I followed suit to exit the plane I couldn’t help but reflect on the dream I just had. I’d been having it at least once a week for the last three months. However, the strange man I always meet at the end had been in every dream I’ve had for the last four months. Every time he tells me the same thing before I wake up. I’ve told some friends and family, but while they agree that it was strange they didn’t think it was anything to worry about. I wasn’t that sure myself, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t had repeatable elements in many different and unrelated dreams. Often having telekinesis in my dreams was pretty cool. Yet the dream I’d just woken up from was different. In the beginning I couldn’t hear anything the stranger said and only saw his lips move before I woke up. About two months ago I could hear him tell me to wake up. Now I finally heard him say the whole message. I have no idea what he meant by telling me to 'ignite my spark.' A spark is often a euphemism for potential. Maybe my subconscious was trying to tell me something. It did make me wonder if that would be last time I saw the strange man at the end of my dreams. Repeat dreams or elements often end after a condition has been met or fulfilled. For example when I finally turned around and beat the monster that was chasing me to a pulp my chasing dreams were never the same, or when I finally found out the steamroller of doom was driven by a rat I never saw it again. Perhaps now that I heard the whole message I wouldn’t see him again. I guess I’ll find out later. I should just focus on the task at hand now. At the moment I had just started my self-imposed vacation. Last year it was a trip down part of the Amazon River and almost getting attacked by piranhas. This year I decided on New Zealand. Mainly because I really wanted to take a tour of Hobbiton, the place they filmed The Shire in the Lord of the Rings series. There were other things I planned to do as well such as hiking, camping and a myriad of other things, but going to the Hobbiton movie set was my first stop. Making my way into the terminal I got to the area I planned to meet my ride to The Green Dragon Inn where I would be staying for a few days. I was looking forward to trying their custom brewed cider and non-alcoholic ginger beer. I didn’t really drink anything alcoholic. The idea didn’t really appeal to me since I liked being in full control of my faculties. Additionally I wanted to stay healthy as long possible. I would go with being alive and healthy forever if it were an option. I hope someday it will be. I had been waiting for my ride for a few minutes, but it didn’t seem like it was here yet. I decided to do another sweep of the numerous chauffeurs holding up various people’s names once more. My ride didn’t seem to be there at the moment. Perhaps he was delayed. With nothing else to do at the moment I decided to just explore the terminal. While ignoring any gift shops and restaurants I eventually spotted someone I never thought I’d see. Right there along one of the hallways was the man from my dreams. He had the same light complexion, same pale blue eyes and the same black hair with a violet sheen. However, he was dressed slightly different with a casual grey suit. At the moment he seemed to be levitating a fifty pound dumbbell above his right hand while a billboard on a stand next to him said, ‘Come See the Amazing Hypnos and His Physics Defying Feats of Magic and Wonder.’ I was sure I hadn’t seen him just moments ago. How could I have missed him? No one has hair like that. The violet sheen on a raven’s feathers is caused by their nanostructure causing the light to refract in a certain manner. Human hair just can’t do that. Sure we can get crazy colors, but unless there had been a recent nanotech invention in hair dye what I was looking at shouldn’t be possible. I’m pretty sure I would know about it since I keep up with as much nanotechnology news as feasible. Nobody else seemed to even be glancing towards the guy. This was certainly peculiar considering the spectacle he was making. Deciding to approach the man I greeted him in the normal fashion, “Hello, my name is Dante. Nice trick you got going there.” “My name is Hypnos,” he responded in a genteel manner while putting forth his hand, which I met in a handshake. I couldn’t help but notice that the dumbbell was still floating where it was before he put forth his hand. There didn’t seem to be anything holding it up as far as I could tell. “It’s nice to meet you face to face,” he said with what seemed a mischievous grin as though he had just told a hilarious inside joke. If I tossed out all logic that might be the case. “So is Hypnos your stage name, or your real name? It sounds familiar. I feel as if I’ve read it somewhere.” “It’s my real name. It’s Greek.” “Greek? Hmm, I’m pretty Hypnos is the root word for hypnosis correct?” “You would be correct, but I’m sure you’re not here to just talk about names right?” “No,” but something about his name felt off now. Hypnosis was an induced trance, and a synonym of trance is sleep. Digging around my memory now I’m pretty sure that Hypnos was a Greek god, and going with how Hypnos is the root for hypnosis I’m pretty sure it was the Greek god of sleep to be precise. I’m definitely going to Google that name now. I've read a lot of Greek mythos, but no story he was in instantly springs to mind. So if his name is that of the Greek god of sleep, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure I met him, or someone that looks like him, in my dreams, what does that mean? Before I could finish my train of thought Hypnos interrupted, “Are you alright?” “Oh. Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment there.” “It’s fine.” “I can’t help but ask. Would you mind if I handled the weight you’re levitating?” I had a suspicion for how it worked, but I doubted he would let me touch it. “Of course not. Go ahead and take it.” “Um, okay.” Reaching out I grabbed the bar on the dumbbell and pulled it towards me. It didn’t seem to weigh anything at first, but after a few seconds it gradually got heavier until it was definitely fifty pounds of weight I was handling. “Pretty amazing right?” he asked in a giddy manner. It was like he was dying to tell me a secret of some sort, such as how the trick worked. “Yes,” I responded in a slightly apprehensive tone while handing him the weight. He just took it and casually tossed it back to position it was in moments ago. One thing is for sure. This man had my attention. “That’s nothing. Check this out.” He pointed to the cardboard sign that advertised his show. To my utter astonishment the letters began rearranging themselves into different words until they spelled out, ‘Would You Like to Ignite Your Spark? If So, You Must Do So In Equestria. Would You Like to Go There?’ Wait what? What kind of question was that? The only thing I could think it would refer to was the land where My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic takes place. Sure I watched the show and considered myself a brony, but that still wouldn’t that account for the display before me? “That’s not…,” I slowly uttered. “...possible? Oh, it is. The question now is: what will you do?” I was a little taken aback at this. Giving a nervous chuckle I thought that I could either just walk away and always wonder, ‘What if,’ or actually accept this strange offer from the man that haunted my dreams. Okay, reality was seriously starting to break down here. “There’s no rush. Take your time,” he snickered a bit at this. I was already planning a three-month vacation at the moment. If I could go to Equestria for this I would. I couldn’t think of a better place for a vacationing anyway, but the idea of going to a place with magic was pretty appealing as well. Meeting the characters of the show would also be awfully sweet. Still staring at the billboard I finally replied, “All right. Fine. I would like to go to Equestria. If it were possible.” Well that’s it then. Now I find out, ‘What if’. “You’d be surprised at what’s possible.” I looked back into Hypnos’ eyes. It was just like in my dream. Only this time his eyes were glowing like the full moon and swirled as twin vortexes. My mind was in a stupor trying to process what was happening as Hypnos seemingly gazed into my soul while I couldn’t seem to look away. “Bon voyage,” he declared, and my world turned black.