Chase sat across from one of his best friends, his face was bright, as he smiled back at his friend.
Around him, the wonderful scenery of The Oasis was vibrant with life.
Chase smiled back, as a group of people began to walk past them and into the well-crafted home for the Unity.
They sat on the steps of the front porch as a pleasant waterfall gushed down the side of the mountain beside the home.
A hound was asleep with its fluffy head resting on Chase's thigh.
"Chase..."
Cloudy began to speak, his eternal happiness fading from his matured voice.
Chase had gotten to see everyone grow up beside him, they had chased their dreams and became wonderful, all of them.
His father had peacefully left this world with no regrets only a couple of months ago, and his mother was out teaching the students of new ways to implement their Primis into every day lives.
Yet his friend spoke strangely.
"Chase... Did you hear me?"
Chase twitched back to life, as his consciousness returned to his head.
"Sorry, I zoned out. Could you repeat that?"
Chase asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
His hand pet the soft fur of Sparky's head as he raised an eyebrow at his friend.
"What do you plan on doing?"
Cloudy asked seriously, with a distant expression resting on his solemn face.
Chase tilted his head.
"What do you mean?"
Cloudy only shook his head.
"You are blinded by bliss..."
He muttered under his breath, causing Chase to feel a spike in his heartrate.
'I feel as if something is wrong...'
Cloudy pointed at a tree standing a couple of meters away from them.
"Do you see that tree?"
Cloudy asked, as Chase lowered his hand to pet the hellhound once more.
However, Sparky was not there...
He hesitated before he looked down, only to see Obridean plates resting on his thighs.
Cloudy smiled softly.
"Chase... What do you dream of?"
He asked, this time his voice was far more distant, like Cloudy was slowly getting farther and farther away.
Chase felt his body expand with energy, he was confused, but more so he felt pain in his heart.
"I- I don't understand the question."
Cloudy chuckled sadly.
"You must have a dream? You cannot go on in this world without having something distant that you wish to obtain..."
Chase shook his head.
"I don't know... Be strong or something..."
He didn't know why, but he felt that he was lying, even though he didn't truly know why he had answered with that.
Cloudy frowned.
"Perhaps if I took the form of Poppy, Michael, or even Blaze you would at least try to come up with something new..."
Chase flinched, he tried to summon his sword but felt only cold emptiness from where his catalyst should have been.
"I-"
"Do not try to fight against me Chase, I am beyond your comprehension. But you can view me as Cloudy, I am your friend after all..."
Chase shook his head, grabbing his own face, shaking it as he blinked rapidly.
"I don't understand."
Cloudy reached out, putting a hand on Chase's shoulder as the scenery began to change around them.
It was like time was speeding up, like the world around them had bypassed the very laws that governed the real world.
'Real world? is this not the real world?'
He questioned his own thoughts as if they were not really his...
"Cloudy... Can I ask you something?"
He asked as the water was moving ten times faster then it had been before, even the trees had begun to grow larger before them.
"Go ahead, time moves differently here..."
He responded softly.
"Where are you right now?"
Chase asked, tightening his grip that had found its way onto his own shoulder.
"I cannot answer that one..."
"Did you survive Willowmere!?"
Chase yelled, as the sky began to grow a hazy crimson.
Cloudy only smiled.
"You did..."
Cloudy said softly, as his eyes shimmered with a distant light.
"I did?"
Chase asked, gripping his own shoulder so hard that blood began to fill the cracks in the wood below him.
"You did. And you made it all the way to Phoenix Academy, you survived the diversity that you were forced to face, you made friends, you made new family, you found light after facing the darkness for so long, and after it became comfortable... It was taken from you again, but you fought to take it back, and you did. But only now are you realizing that you haven't truly fought yet. You haven't fought because you don't know what your fighting for, you are far too selfless, you fight for others with little regard to yourself. Do you know who you are Chase of House Phoenix?"
Cloudy rambled on, not making any sense to the boy who sat beside him.
"I- I'm Chase the nameless..."
He answered with confusion, as his hands began to tremble.
Cloudy chuckled, but shook his head.
"I cannot spell it out for you, and you cannot leave until you answer honestly...
What is it that you want most...?"
Chase felt the ground shake, as around him... Giants began to topple over the mountains, thousands of troops were killed in seconds by beings of mass power who stood at the center of it all.
Chase shuttered in fear, as he watched The Oasis burn to the ground, around him, all of his friends began to fall to a vibrant orange blade.
"What is this!?"
Chase yelled, unable to move.
Cloudy's face stiffened, but his smile never faded.
"You see it now?"
Chase shook his head, trying to free himself from his restricted movement.
"No!"
He screamed.
"Good, you have enough time to burn it into those emerald eyes of yours..."
Chase screamed in agony, as the world he had loved began to slowly cease to exist.
But the words that left his childhood friend's mouth next, would haunt his very being.
"This... Is the world without you in it..."