Pyre stirred in his sleep. His dreams were never calm anymore. FOr the past few days he had been tormented by dream after dream. At first he thought the terrible nightmares were because he had been sick for a day, but after they had persisted well into when he was healthy again, he began to gain suspicion. Had he been cursed? It was unlikely, while he had dealt with some suspicious people recently, he hadn't had any run-ins with the Baurai family, they were all but non-existent here in magnolia. Which brought Pyre great concern. Pyre had expected them to have roots everywhere, maybe not a lot, but just a little. The Aurelle family had them everywhere, even in Dahlia where the Baurai reined supreme.
Pyre's dream was dark, he couldn't see very well. Like most of his recent dreams everything was so vivid, something that concerned him greatly, he hadn't expected dreams to be so real.
He was walking along a river, it had clearly been raining because the ground was wet and the river was high. The mud squelched in between his toes, causing him to shiver a bit. Then, the song. It was a melody, rolling up the hill from the river. It was calm, soothing really. There were no words, just humming. Pyre was lulled closer to the haunting tune, as he got closer to the riverside the fog grew thicker, and he never noticed when his ankles entered the rushing river. By now the humming was almost within reach, to the point where he could likely reach out and grab whoever was singing. He squinted at the fog, a shape was barely noticeable. A hourglass figure stood waist deep in the water. The sound resonated from her, Pyre waded out farther, trying to reach the humming girl.
As soon as he got within a few feet, she stopped humming. "Why'd you stop?" He called out. There was no response. "Hello?" He tried again. Still no response. He waded out farther, now up to his knees, maybe ten to fifteen feet away from the girl. Finally, when the water was up to his thighs, and he was right behind the girl could he hear her quiet sobs. They were almost inaudible, but the tears hitting the water, the shaky breaths were what confirmed that she was crying. "Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay." He reached his hand out to put on the girl's shoulder. But she was quick, grabbing his hand and pulling him under. The water was suddenly much deeper, and he was far below the surface. Something invisible had grabbed him and was going for his throat. Pyre flailed, trying to escape the monster's grasp, but it was to no avail. Whatever it was wrapped their ice-cold hand around his throat. He was choking, he scratched at whoever was in front of him. He drew no blood from the monster. Slowly, his limbs went still, the hand withdrew, he felt like he could breathe now.

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He lay still in the deep water. Everything was calm...until the red drifted through his vision. Suddenly he was in searing pain. He glanced toward his arm. A skeleton was eviscerating his arm. The skeleton had long strands of hair that were attached by flaking flesh. Strands of muscle were still snagged to parts of the bone. Pyre tried to wiggle free from her demonic grip but it was too strong. Long, sharp teeth dug into his arm, tearing at his own muscle, blood was pouring into the water, Pyre was losing consciousness now. The Demon skeleton turned to him, Her eyes black pits, a snake slithered out of her skull and into the open water. The skeleton leaned close to his ear and whispered something, "et morietur, sanguinem autem vis currere a flumen. A sacrificium novum fontem iuventae" She opened her jaws and dug her teeth into his neck. Pyre screamed and jolted awake. He clasped his hands to his neck, he rand them along his veins, checking for any scratches, none existed. Pyre leaned against the wall. He had flung the blankets everywhere when he had woken with a start. His heart still pounded with unnatural strength within his chest. Just like before, he could remember everything from the dream, even the odd language that the skeleton had used. He peered out his window, the sun would rise soon and he needed to take a walk to get whatever was plaguing him, out of his system.
He made his bed and turned on the shower, maybe trying to wash away whatever had caused the dream again tonight would be a smart idea. The shower was warm against his skin, he closed his eyes, but opened them again, as soon as the skeleton appeared in his mind. He didn't spend long in the shower, he was still suspicious of the fog so he wouldn't spend too much time in there.
Changing up the military uniform he often wore, he decided on something simpler. A thin jacket for the changing season, with jeans to keep his legs warm. Instead of letting his hair normally brush the edges of his neck today, he pulled it up into a tiny ponytail on the back of his head. Finally satisfied, Pyre strolled out his inn door. The sun was just rising and he heard the calls of people exiting their homes in the morning. The only peculiar thing was the way people were heading. An unusual amount of people were heading down the road, away from the market. Most people went to the market street to sell things, but not today, they were heading to a different part of the streets. Curious, Pyre followed the wave of people heading in a different direction. There were whispers of Medias, Pyre, trying to stay out of anything bad, did not ask anyone who Medias was. Instead he just stayed silent and followed people down the road toward one of the nicer parts of the neighborhood.

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As the people caravan moved on they finally approached another group of people, who were helping decorate. Pyre watched from a bench for awhile as people hung up streamers and paper lanterns. Some people had dragged benches all the way from the other side of the town to place here on this street. Pyre looked around, everyone was smiling. The smile was actually infectious, and for someone who was having a terribly nasty day, like Pyre, this was something that he could use. So, he let it consume him, his lips sliding up into that familiar U. It was nice having that warm tingle people get when they feel happy. Pyre looked around for the man running the gig, the supposed Medias.
There, surveying what was going on from the sidewalk stood a somewhat elderly man with blonde hair and dark skin. He seemed to be making calculations in his head, but he was still smiling, and he nodded at everyone who made eye-contact with him. Pyre strolled up and introduced himself, "Hello sir, I saw what you were doing here, I was wondering if you needed the help of a wizard?" He asked. Medias smiled, "Good day sir, My name is Medias, this extravaganza is for my daughter, Elcia. If you can help over there, I'd be extremely grateful." Medias said. Pyre smiled and walked towards the table at which the lord had pointed at. Medias called out as he walked away, "I will be paying you for your help, don't say no, there's nothing you can say or do to stop me. I AM the Lord of Magnolia." He said with a slight laugh. Pyre smiled and strolled away towards the table. Where he had been asked to help. A old lady stood behind it, organizing cakes and different tarts in the order of the rainbow, she was analyzing the color orange when she noticed Pyre. "OH! You must be here to help, If you wouldn't mind bringing some of my desserts out here, I just finished green desserts and I'm moving on to the blue ones. There just in the freezer if you wouldn't mind helping out." She said cheerfully. Pyre smiled and wondered into the lady's wonderful smelling shop.
Inside was a large amount of delectable things. The lady had already pulled out some the blue desserts, but when Pyre glanced in the back there was still a large amount to be taken out of the freezer. How many people were expected to be at this party. Pyre nabbed a few of the blue pies and took them out to the table, then he carted a beautiful three tier blue iced cake. He spent close to half an hour unloading the rest of her giant fridge, including all of the purple desserts. When he was done he took up some of the other decorating utilities, a red ribbon, and began to string it along the street. Whoever this was, Elcia, Was going to love her party.

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Pyre found setting up for the party delightful. Everyone was cheerful and nice. And so when the time for the party was drawing near, he almost decided to stay, but last second vetoed the idea. Pyre smiled to everyone as he walked up to Medias. "Its been a pleasure helping you out today sir, I'm glad I was able to assist you." Pyre said. Lord Medias nodded, "Thanks to you good sir as well, do you plan to stay for my daughter Elcia's seventeenth birthday?" He asked. Pyre shook his head, "I'm afraid not. But I can say with certainty that this is one of the greatest things I've done in awhile." He said, smiling. Medias nodded back, "Well, I hope whatever you may be looking for in life finds its way to you, but here, take this." Lord Medias said. He pulled out a bag of jewels out from his robes like magic and placed it in Pyre's hand." I hope this helps ends meet." He said coolly. Pyre smiled and walked down the street. He had spent most of the day here, actually, all of the day. Now the sun was getting close to the horizon and orange light was starting to climb its way into the sky. As he strolled on down the street he could hear the cheers of the people when they saw their beloved birthday girl. A small tear welled up in his eye and strolled out. As Pyre continued to walk away he noticed that the city was almost entirely empty. And by power of deduction, that meant everyone had spent their day helping prepare for Elcia's birthday, because their lord Medias was just such a truly nice person. Pyre was moved by the man's kindness. Stopping for a moment he looked back at the party, the fireworks were being lit and launched into the sky. It was a sight to behold. Pyre stood there for awhile just watching.
Finally, once the fireworks stop he proceeded on his way back to the inn. He wasn't scared of the night like he had been that time in Orchidia. And he wasn't scared to sleep tonight, he no longer feared the decaying lady. If he saw her in his dreams, he would take care of her. The strength of kindness proved a powerful one and he would use it to its full strength, even in his dreams.
Magnolia at night was surprisingly pretty, there was soemthign oddly magical about it. Unlike any other. The candles were beautiful, everything was beautiful tonight. The entire city had been decked out for this girl's birthday. Assuming she was to be the heir to the magnolia throne, Pyre hoped she treated the people of Magnolia with the same kindness her father, Lord Medias did. It would prove her well in whatever tumultuous times were to come. TIme was known to wreak havoc on cities and towns. but one rooted in kindness, stood the greatest chance at surviving the storm.

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