Hedgesville, West Virginia
Caspian Residence
Saturday, August 24, 1996
8:21 PM

Here she was again. In a strange illusion of fear and overwhelming panic. Jennie's whole body felt cold while her dark surroundings proved to be an underground walkway and she seemed to be wandering aimlessly deeper into it.
The further she went the more frozen her bones felt. And her breath got caught in her throat when she entered a cavern.
Torches lined the wall and gave everything an eerie, red glow. But her eyes settled on a person who was hunched over in the furthest corner. Slowly inching her way up to the individual, she knelt down to find it to be a young man with his wrists chained to the floor along with his ankles.
"Who are you?" she asked as the man looked up at her.
The look on his face showed pure astonishment at her appearance while his flaxen hair seemed to glow orange in the firelight. His pale blue eyes seemed dark and full of anxiety.
"Are you really here?" he asked as he tried to sit up only to be hindered by the chains.
“Yeah. At least I think so,” Jennie whispered, shifting her head to the side as she studied him with interest, “but…why are you chained up?”
The man cracked a small smile as he fell backward against the rock wall. He closed his eyes while he mused over her question.
“It would appear I am a prisoner," the man replied.
Jennie glanced around the fissure, taking in the area. It didn’t seem like a place one would keep someone a captive. He was the only one in the vicinity.
"Who are you?" she asked, turning her eyes back to him.
"Shen," the man said, giving her a sincere gaze.
"Shen,” she repeated as he nodded.
"Yes," the man said as he leaned his head back against the cavern.
“Are you a demon?” she questioned, sitting down in front of him. She watched him as he situated himself forward where he could look her in the eyes. It was then that she could see his pupils narrow into thin slits.
“I am a dragon,” he whispered, “or I used to be. Now my body is like this.” He lifted his shackled hands and stared down at them.
“I appear to be human,” he replied, “but I do not age or die…”
“Then you’re a demon,” Jennie announced, grabbing a hold of the man’s hands.
The man’s eyes widened in horror as he recoiled at her touch. Jennie fell backward. And both just stared at each other without making a sound for a few seconds.
“You’re warm,” he finally said aloud.
“You haven’t felt someone’s touch for awhile, have you?” she questioned as he shook his head, “But you’re a demon…can’t you just break out of those chains and leave? Why are you even here?”
"I’ve tried. Many times, but these chains are bound to me magically," Shen whispered, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I was put here as a punishment for my brothers‘ crimes."
"What crimes?" Jennie questioned.
"Tian and Jiao," Shen stated. When he mentioned the names, Jennie felt her heart quicken. They were familiar names. Ones from a previous dream.
"The goddess does not approve of going against one’s family,” Shen whispered, “or against her. Jiao broke her heart and Tian broke him.”
His words were a bit confusing or maybe just misleading, but Jennie’s brow furled. She thought about it a few times, rolling his words over in her head. Glancing above the man’s head, she noticed markings etched into the wall. It was a language she couldn’t understand.
“What does that say?” she asked.
Shen glanced over his shoulder and peered upward, staring at the markings. “I am a dragon. I never learned to read. You here to taunt me or something?”
"I'm not here to taunt you," Jennie said in a quiet voice. "I keep having these dreams. And nightmares. So I‘m just trying to find some clues to way…"
She hugged her body. "First I dreamed of my dead parents. Trying to take me with them."
A look of pain crossed her face as she dropped to her knees suddenly. "Then I remember a time when my cousin was killed in front of my eyes by a man with green hair and cold, yellow eyes. I know a few people like that, but he didn‘t look anything like them."
"I never met anyone with green hair or yellow eyes," Shen said with curious eyes. "Are these demons you‘re talking about?"
“Yeah,” Jennie whispered with a small laugh, “it’s kind of nice finding someone just as clueless about demons as I am. Even though you’re obviously one of them…”
Shen’s eyes were sedate as he watched her. “So all this is a dream for you?”
Jennie opened her mouth, but slowly and miserably pressed her lips back together. Her head dropped as her eyes darkened. And a twinge of despair come to pass.
“What else has happened in these dreams?” he questioned. “You’ve had more, right?”
“One other,” she said, fingering the dirt ground underneath her. “A friend of mine. Someone close to me. In the future.”
“A dream of the future,” Shen breathed out as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back. “Those are very important. Ones that should never be overlooked.”
“Right,” Jennie whispered, “well, he murders me.”
Glancing up, she found Shen’s eyes on her. The blueness of his irises seemed like flowing waters as he drew up his hand. The chains clanked around his wrists.
"Come here.” He motioned for her with his hand. "Sit closer."
He nodded to his open legs as Jennie hesitated for a moment. But the ambiance he gave off made her feel at ease. Bit by bit, she inched her way toward the man.
"Listen to me," Shen said when she settled herself between his legs. "Dreams are dreams. You can fight them. Even the ones that predict the future.“
A large hand reached up, touching her collarbone. “But you are here with me“
“This is not a dream” he whispered into her ear, “I can touch you, see you, hear you.“
His voice was hot in her ear. His words felt heavy on her heart. And yet she wasn’t sure how to truly understand what he was trying to tell her.
“I do not dream,” Shen stated, “I cannot dream. Coming here only means that the goddess is trying to protect her worlds. Which means trying to confuse your direction.”
“I don’t under…”
“You cannot let yourself be drawn down the wrong path,“ he said, “Don't let what you hear rule your decisions. Just because one person says something is bad, doesn't mean it is."
"If I can free these chains from you" Jennie stated calmly, peering at the chains, "will you help me?"
The man laughed as he leaned his head back and smirked. "Freeing me isn't that easy. But if can figure it out, then you can be my master."
A burst of brightness in Jennie‘s eyesight caught her off guard as she yelped and covered her face with her hands. When she drew her hands away, she quickly realized the world around her was simply fading away.
"The dream is ending,” she said as she felt the tight grip of hands on her wrists.
“Don’t forget what I said,” Shen called out, “don’t lose your path.”
“I won’t,” she whispered.
“And don‘t be fooled by twisted shadows…”
Before she could ask what he meant, she opened her eyes to find herself laying in bed with her arm over her face. She groaned to herself as she sat up, finding a bewildered looking Kasei standing at the foot of her bed.
“What?“ she questioned with shock.
"You okay?" he asked as he peered down at her. "You were muttering in your sleep. I could heard you all the down to my room."
"It's your damn cat ears," Jennie said as she glared at him. She crossed her hands over her chest and looked away, thoroughly annoyed with him. "You could hear a pin drop."
"True," Kasei said with boyish pride, but his face quickly turned to concern. "But you did sound like you were in a lot of pain. I mean, A LOT of pain. Almost as if someone was trying to ripe your arms off or something."
"I'm okay," she whispered. "Just had another dream."
"Oh," Kasei muttered, “then are you sure you’re okay?”
"Fine," she said with a laugh. "No need to worry about me."
"I‘m a Scion," he said proudly as he lifted his chin, “so it’s my right to worry!”
"What‘s so great about being a Scion anyway?" Jennie asked with a sigh as Kasei gave her a wide-eyed expression.
"It's an honor!" Kasei shouted, clinching his fists. "I get to fight and prove myself a man. And show the goddess that I uphold tradition."
"What if your tradition falls apart?" she asked abruptly. After her dream, the words of the man made her think that something like could happen. But Kasei’s offended eyes made her regret her words. "I didn‘t mean that…"
"If it falls apart, then it was meant to happen," he said coldly as he stared down at her. "Are you talking about oniisan? His arranged marriage?"
"What?" Jennie questioned. When she realized he had misunderstood what she had meant, her eyes filled with horror. "NO! I was talking about something else. About this Scions and Seraph. What if that changes?"
"Then I‘d go with the flow," he said with a smile. "It‘s something we shouldn‘t worry about until we come to it.”
Jennie eyed the jovial twelve-year-old and sighed. How can one person go from content to annoyed and back to being cheerful so easily in a matter of a few seconds?
“It's getting late, so maybe you should go to sleep,” Kasei said, looking away while placing his index finger to his lips as if in thought, “and Rem will probably be coming in soon. He was downstairs playing on the Playstation again…"
"Okay," she whispered, looking over to where her computer desk had been and noticed it had been moved. In its place was Rem‘s bed. "When did you guys…?"
"Earlier," Kasei said with a grin, “when you were sleeping. You were out cold. So no worries. And we were really quiet.”
Jennie nodded. She turned and looked to Kasei who was already moving to the door.
When he was almost out the door, he paused and looked back. He beamed. "Oyasumi."