#and that namines powers are keeping him alive in someway

[akashicmuses]

EPHEMER TO LAURIAM: Ephemer blinks open his eyes and the very first thing he sees--nearly the only aspect that drowns his sight entirely--is the color white. He stares at the far flung ceiling above him--pearly smooth and blank--confused for a moment until he remembers: ' that's right... i'm still dreaming... '

He sits up and, yes, more white--he's sitting in a spacious hall smothered in the lack of color. It feels... cold and eerie here... like he's been slapped into a blank canvas, yet the artist no longer feels compelled to fill in the background and story surrounding him... he rubs his exposed arms that are suddenly rippled with tiny goosebumps.

"What a strange place..." Ephemer murmurs, climbing to his feet and peering around--he wants to touch on something specific here, a nice colorful detail to distract him from the frigid lack of one... the walls have pillars nestled in the corners and a few marble stairs leading to white-washed doors, yet otherwise there's nothing notable here. "But who could have brought me to such an odd dream anyway...?"

Because he had to have a connection to someone to wind up here--

Those large doors fly open before Ephemer quite abruptly and the Keyblade Master goes rigid as a splash of light silhouettes a tall figure trotting to him neatly, confidently...

And the moment the light settles around the other man across from him, Ephemer freezes, a stunned, panicked gasp rips from his throat--

"Lauriam......?!" Ephemer half-cries, half-whispers, so stunned all he can do is stare wide-eyed at this old friend across from him. "Lauriam...." He says again, as if both relishing the chance to say the name and finding it so strange to ever say it now.

Lauriam appears as Ephemer remembers him last--a youthful, sharp face and bright blue eyes. The same outfit he wore as he climbed into the Lifeboat... that same buzz of confidence radiating off him, Lauriam had always worn it much better than he did...

Ephemer takes a sudden, aching step towards him, his hands before him as if he might rush forward and embrace him, yet Ephemer finds their past is wedging itself between them too stubbornly and he isn't sure how to wade beyond it to reach his friend now.

Instead Ephemer manages to relent, however his face is flushed in shock and bemusement, eyes watery--he straightens now, a quivering smile dancing onto his lips.

"I've looked everywhere for you...." Ephemer whispers hoarsely. "After everything that happened I tried to find you through connections--and now... after all this time... you're here! It's--it's really you, isn't it....? Lauriam from Daybreak Town...?"

He asks as if he expects this to turn out to be some elaborate hoax--which, to be fair, they are in a dream. The Keyblade Master is finding it very hard to discern between reality and dreams these days... he's been lost within the latter for so long.

And his weariness suddenly begins to show--Ephemer is crumbling--there are dark rings under his eyes ( ' but how...? i've been sleeping forever... ' ) and he's slightly shaking, his smile tumbling down as easily as his former bravery before a supposed stranger... when it's one of his dearest friends in front of him it's so hard to act brave all the time...

"I've wanted to see you for a really, really long time now..." He admits, a rough, sorrowful chuckle sliding between them like the loneliest of truces--it is truly all he has to give this boy before him that has lost everything just like him....

ASK RECEIVED.

'This place is hideous...' the boy thought as he walked the halls of this empty castle. Colorless, void. It was as much of a sham as the person that he'd become now. An empty husk without a single thing inside of it to give it any meaning.

But there was no way to fix that right now. He had tried to reach himself, to do everything to repair the damage that the lifeboats had done to his heart, but there was just no way. The boy was starting to become discouraged. Maybe he should just give up.

It was strange, though. Here, while his waking self was in the Castle, he felt stronger than ever. By all rights, he should be fading more and more over time, but something was holding him here. Just a single memory that he had managed to push through.

Strelitzia...

And so, thinking of nothing but his own predicament, Lauriam descended the stairs.

That was when he saw him. At first, he seemed to be nothing more than a hazy being; his eyes refused to focus on him. It was only when he heard his name passing through the other's lips that everything clicked into focus with startling clarity.

It was him.

"Emphemer..." the name leaves him almost breathless as he all but runs down the rest of the stairs. But before he can reach him, the floor falls away between them. A roaring abyss of darkness separates them, thick black and purple mist rising like a toxic miasma.

Lauriam has to skid to a stop lest he fall into it. A sick feeling rises in his stomach as he looks down into the darkness. Is that what his heart looks like now? Is he unable to escape from it even in his dreams?

He looks across the gap at his friend, chewing on his lower lip viciously. What is he supposed to do now? How can he fix this? How can he fix ANYTHING?

"Ephemer, it's me!" he calls back to him, trying fruitlessly to will a bridge into existence. But he needn't have even bothered. There's no point to attempting the impossible.

"How are you here? How have you breached through my dreams like this?" A sudden discomfort grows on his face. Is Emphemer here now, in the castle? Oh no, please, no... He can't...

"You shouldn't be here." He says, his voice growing firm. He pushes a careless affect as hard as he can even though it feels as if it may break him. "I hope you haven't come to me in person. It... it's all gone wrong, Ephemer."

He shakes his head, flower blossoms flowing down from the stairs to swirl about the two of them. They cross the gap so easily that Lauriam feels nothing but jealousy. He reaches his hand out to catch one, holding it delicately.

"Please tell me that you aren't here." He says, his head tilting down.