Ryan had just rounded the corner, and came to the front of the house. It had a long driveway that looped around and lead off onto a small road that would eventually take you to the nearest 'main' road.
In the middle of this neatly paved driveway, there was a large basin shaped fountain on a raised platform. In the centre of the marble basin, an ornately designed marble fountain spout rose up.

Apparently, this was the source of the loud noise, as it was running. But instead of the marble fountain being full of water, and spraying it into the air. It was full of little round marbles, and it sprayed them into the air instead.

They were all colors, bright blues, reds, greens and golds that caught the sun like precious jewels, clear ones with colored centers, and misty ones that almost looked like water while in the air. That was just naming a few of the kinds that could be spotted. The marbles all came back down in an arc to land in the basin, which seemed to be filled nearly to the rim with little marbles.

Each one hit hard, and gave its own clicking-clacking sound as it bounced and rolled to a stop. The almost water-like roar was the combined sound of nearly hundreds of them all at once, being pumped out in an unending stream.

 

Drake rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks, watching. He blinked a lot, tipped his head to either side, slowly, then eyed the fountain sideways before looking at it directly again, sure that his eyes weren’t fooling him… but… “Is that a marble, marble fountain?”

 

Ryan was smirking hard, as this was probably one of the few times he had stunned Drake. “Yeeaaah!” he answered, somehow putting all his smugness into how he pronounced the single word.

 

“…” Drake nodded, impressed. “You actually have something I don’t… and have never heard of.” he walked forward, toward the fountain.

 

“My father commissioned it... I am starting to believe he is getting a little eccentric...” Ryan explained, also stepping closer to the strange fountain. He had been dubious about the whole thing when they had started to build it. Nevertheless, he had to admit he liked it, especially because it seemed to have shocked Drake.

 

Drake scooped up some of the marbles and dropped them again, grinning. “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen—wait… no, the fireworks that make fire creatures that fly and move across the sky with the shower of glitter and confetti and the really loud noise and bright flash is… but this is the coolest thing that I don’t have!” Drake took a minute to think about that, then nodded.
This beat the four headed python! And the electric train was nothing compared to this! This was a marble, marble fountain!
“This beats my sixty foot slide…” Drake decided. “… I wonder what happened to my fireworks. We could send them down the slide and see what happens… Or, we could go to the market, buy fireworks, and put a small one in this fountain… or both.”

 

Ryan stared at Drake for a moment. It was like the sight of the undeniably cool fountain was like a sugar high to him… though for the life of him he couldn’t remember Drake being allowed to have much candy… but Ryan also had other things to worry about...

“Since when do you have a sixty foot slide!?” He asked, shocked. Was Drake joking? Or had he somehow missed it? Most importantly, what would happen if they poured oil down the slide, and then threw Pricilla down it?

 

“Since my tenth birthday when I told Grandma I wanted a really big slide. Apparently, her entire purpose on this earth is to make Marina run around and have people clean frantically, Chaucer hide, Eclipse groan, Ellipsis stay in his room, and buy me anything I want that no one else will. She never visits, but when she does I get stuff I don’t ever need… and hard caramel candies.” Drake replied, not looking away from the fountain. “I don’t use it much because you go so fast you can’t breathe and then you either grab the end of the slide at the finish, or get thrown fifteen feet into a lake… I still use it, it makes you feel light headed, but it’s fun so long as you don’t throw up.”

 

“I'd imagine so... if I puked while going that fast, I would probably have nightmares for weeks...” Ryan commented, “Still, you have to let me try it!”

 

“Fine. Then you can meet Spot.” Drake stated, “But let's get the fireworks first.”

 

“Spot? New bird?” Ryan guessed. It was his first guess, and probably a valid one, knowing Drake.

 

“No,” Drake shook his head. “I’m forbidden from getting any more birds, so I begged for a puppy.”

 

“Oh, just get it?” Ryan questioned, his attention slipping slightly as he idly started to pick up handfuls of marbles, and let them slide through his fingers. He had considered actually getting into the marble basin more than once, but a marble rebounding off his knuckle painfully convinced him it would probably be unpleasant. As long as the fountain was on, anyway.

Around the base of the basin, a few stray marbles lingered. Sometimes one would bounce in just the right way that it escaped the fountain completely.

 

Drake caught one marble that did try to escape. “Not really… Now let’s go,” he urged and headed back to the stables.

 

Ryan had mixed feelings about going into town with Drake. People were always hounding the prince and often gave Ryan looks asking why he deserved the privilege of having regal company. Drake spent most of his time solving arguments, stopping fights and being dragged around so people could show off their finest products or show him a new invention.

 

There were constant begs for money, too… “This invention will really be a great seller! It will replace the need for window washers by spraying a powerful blast of water! I just need some money to get going and to help make adjustments so it stops breaking the glass…” followed by them getting upset for him turning them down, but providing funds for other products like the one that was designed to keep small children from drowning. Ryan hated it, he couldn’t’ at all understand how Drake could be so patient with all these people. Following him, badgering him, grabbing at him— it was insane. He never had his guards with him, either, making it all the worse.

 

It had been like that since Ryan had first met Drake. The other students had been afraid of him and he was usually the youngest in the class, which Ryan saw to mean his Advisor had extremely high expectations that Drake was rather forced to fulfill. To be honest, he’d shared their fear at first, too, but Drake was much different than anyone had expected; which both worked for and against him. He didn’t look like his parents, but he had their same kind-hearted nature. A person could insult him and he’d just smile and turn away… He’d share everything he had and still offer more, he was good at most everything and despite the fact that he was very easily distracted, he was as sharp as a tack. Yet everyone tended to keep their distance; watching him as if he were some beast they needed to be sure was tamed, first.

 

Ryan, true to his own nature, took advantage of that. He still believed the only reason he had it so good was because he became the Prince’s friend so early on; before the younger boy grew to fight back and demand respect. Drake had a large following of admirers, fans, fangirls and worshipers, but he didn’t trust them. They were just people to him, and that worked well for Ryan, because Ryan was…well, Ryan. He was a noble, he was very high in class, but… he was common. He was neutral beige while Drake was intense red. They were very different, and under ordinary circumstances, Ryan couldn’t see them being friends. He considered himself both smart and slick enough to have known how to get in the door before it had closed.

 

For a very short while, Ryan felt bad for using Drake… they were friends, sure, but… Drake was not Ryan’s best friend, really, Ryan had a lot of friends. He was still in school and Drake wasn’t; he’d passed all the classes and learned from home. Ryan hardly spent any time with the Prince, but he did still consider him a friend and he knew Drake did, too. As long as that kept up, Ryan got everything he wanted; as did his family… but if it came down to it, Ryan could see himself abandoning Drake easily. He’d felt bad for it, but… it seemed many others felt the same way, so why worry? Drake had to be used to being used by now—just look at the people bothering him now! None of them really cared, he bet. It was all about reputation; getting it in good with the regals. Ryan had to tell himself repeatedly that it was that very reason that Drake had so many girlfriends while Ryan… didn’t. They liked the exotic look, that was it! He wasn’t stupid enough not to be able to tell there was a difference in class level between his and Drake’s appearance, but he was too egotistical to admit Drake was better looking and would be even without the wealth and expensive clothes. He could be covered in mud and those idiotic girls still swooned. It was tiring.

 

Ryan eventually got tired of it and went off to buy some things on his own. There were a great deal of shops; it was practically a college town anyway. New things to try, things to learn, things to do, things to eat… anything you could imagine, he bet you could find. Magick shops where you could purchase all sorts of tonics, potions and spells, to general stores where you could get different types of potions meant for healing as well as an assortment of other goods commonly used in battle. There were weapon shops and other things, which had a fierce competition with the ones inside the library. The ones inside catered only to tourists that were either unknowledgeable to the items in the market, or not willing to pay the place a visit, they charged a great deal more, too.

 

Eventually, Ryan found Drake again at the fireworks stand with a few attendants hauling stuff away. “…Again?”

 

Drake looked over at him, then the bags and shrugged. “I’m terrible at saying ‘no’ to these people…”

 

“Explains your fashion sense.” Ryan stated, giving a smirk.

 

Drake made an annoyed grunt and gave a glare, “I’ll have you know this entire outfit was imported.”

 

“I’m just saying!” Ryan said “All the black; all the time! You’re not helping people not be afraid of you.”

 

“I like black…” Drake sighed “I don’t see why that gives them a right to hate me.”

 

“Well I like blue, but I don’t wear it every day.”

 

“Ryan… Why should it matter? Someone who is perfectly sane and kind, but likes to dress like Pricilla it doesn’t make them Pricilla. It means that’s their style. If someone wears armor, but isn’t a knight it just makes them—,”

 

“Crazy.”

 

“No. Lots of people do. Maybe they dream of becoming knights; maybe it fits in something they do throughout the day. Maybe they’re fighters or maybe they just like the look.”

 

Ryan stared at him a second. “And wearing exclusively black with silver, gold, blue, red, orange or an assortment of those with skulls, flames, blades, spikes, barbed wire and the sort says…. What?”

 

“Punk?” Drake shrugged. “This is what I like… I’m not murdering a lot of people, I don’t kick puppies or abuse animals, I don’t host human sacrifices or do spells. I just wear what I like, which I assumed was the same with you and that you weren’t a preppy schoolboy.”

 

“I am not a preppy schoolboy!”

 

“And I’m not a demon or devil worshiper. If they have a problem with me then they have a problem with me. Why should I change so long as I’m not hurting anyone?”

 

“Says the hunter…”

 

Drake smirked, “I liked this style long before I liked hunting.”

 

Ryan rolled his eyes and looked around. He noted that the stand was far away from the palace and practically hidden from view. “Is that because last time you bought them, you made the whole country think that we were at war for three days?” The tall boy asked, remembering the time rather well.

 

“… Yes,” Drake grinned with a glance back at Ryan. He walked over to the stand and noticed they had a few new things. “I wonder if I can get away with ordering another ten crates… I’m going to regardless, but…”

 

“Maybe you can convince them to write 'Bird Seed' on the side of the crates. Then no one will bother to check what is inside.” Ryan suggested as he looked at a large rocket-shaped firework with a black case gold decorations, and the name 'The Golden Dragon' on the side. Its price matched its flashy appearance, being expensive even by Ryan's standards.

 

“Brilliant.” Drake shrugged and placed an order with a few special requirements, and using up just about all the Gil he had with him.

 

Ryan glanced at the shopkeeper that looked as if his eyes were going to fall out as he stared disbelievingly at the order sheet. The total order was probably almost enough for him to retire on.

“At least they make some people happy...” He commented quietly, before turning back to Drake.

 

Drake nodded once, “You can order something if you want. I still owe you for when you told Chaucer you were the one that set his prized Red Gils free.”

 

“So that's why my father ranted at me about that! What the hell is a Red Gil?” Ryan asked, kind of annoyed. It was half the reason that he had started to think his father was losing his...marbles.

 

“You’re the one who said you took them.” Drake reminded, “And they’re fish. Ugly, silver fish with red gills and heads that look like their brains are showing through their scales. They get viruses and diseases super easy and they taste as bad as they look. Now we have speckled trout. Which I love.”

 

Ryan shuddered at the memory. “Oh yeah... as if I could have touched them...” He commented and picked out a few dozen things that Drake bought for him.

 

Drake and Ryan got back on their horses and headed off. Drake looked around when a shop caught his eye. Urekala’s Elixirs. All Things Magick. Potions and Tonics now half off, featuring: Fire, Healing, and Ice Tonics. Love, Desire, Dreams, Wealth, and Sleeping Potions.

He’d never really noticed it before and he just had to go closer. As Ruxandra passed by, Drake got dizzy from the many scents coming from the place.
Some sort of mist came from a window and surrounded him; he was forced to breathe some of it in.

Nearly instantly, flashes from the dreams he’d been having entered his mind. He felt odd, but only for a moment and then spurred Ruxandra on, galloping back to the palace swiftly.

 

Once they reached the stables he dismounted and walked over to the man delivering the crates, giving him some orders and then payment for the delivery. Before showing Ryan the map inside the palace.

 

“… This map is to kill us all.” Ryan stated, looking at the map.

 

“Told you.”

 

“Huh….” Ryan stared some more, completely forgetting about the slide he’d wanted to see. “…I should go.”

 

“It won’t help, we know where you live.” Drake informed, giving a wicked laugh.

 

Ryan shuddered and headed home. Drake went back to his room.

 

It was rather late; Drake hadn’t realized they had been out for so long… he fell asleep the instant he hit the bed.

 

He left the real world and entered the realm of dreams.

There were two paths. Simple as that. Two paths into a very dark forest. He had to walk, he knew that much. It was as if he were being pulled forward, but he wasn’t being pulled down a specific path.

He chose one because it felt… right. Favorable. Better. He didn’t have a lot of time to decide, the ground was disappearing behind him. But he liked the path he’d chosen.
The forest was still dark, there were unexpected turns, it was a mystery, but it was his path, and that was comforting.

It didn’t last long.

From his first step, he’d felt pressure, something causing his movement to be hindered; but as he walked, the harder it became to stay on track. He’d try to go faster, but it was as if he were running through water that rose quicker the faster he tried to go, till it was waist-deep and he stopped.
It was so hard to continue on this path; too much pressure to just go the other way… the thought crossed his mind to just give in… but… he wanted this path, it was his! He didn’t want to change now! So he started walking again.
A storm started.

He fought as hard as he could, but the storm was stronger. It roared and howled, the sky darkened till there were only flashes of light as the lightening struck. Trees whipped in the wind and groaned as their trunks broke and they were torn from their roots.

Drake fought and fought, grabbing hold of rocks, vines, plants, anything he could to try and keep going forward. It never got easier— it just got harder, till it was nearly impossible to keep going! He had to, though. The ground was disappearing behind him.

Without warning, a bolt of lightning struck a tree directly to Drake’s right. It fell, blocking his path and forcing him to stop.
He wasn’t sure what to do next, he didn’t know how to get past this obstacle. He didn’t have enough time to think, either, because something to his left moved. Drake looked, trying to see what it was, when something struck him hard across his ankles, knocking him off his feet.
He was very afraid when he hit the ground, because the ground was disappearing quickly. It was so fast, he couldn’t push himself up because it disappeared where he tried to put his hands.
Drake pulled his legs up, his knees to his chest, and then swiftly thrust them out in front of him, flipping himself back onto his feet. Then he tried to grab hold of the tree, but something else grabbed him. Some… vine was around his waist, preventing him from getting to any braches strong enough to support his weight.

The dirt under his feet disappeared, and just as suddenly, he was pull to the left by the vine, through the dense jungle, he stumbled, trying his best to stay on his feet. The other path, that’s where he was now… The vine now pulled him forward and he tried to follow, but other vines lashed at his feet, tripping him up. It was hard going, he was being pulled forward but still there were all these forces preventing him from doing what he so apparently was supposed to do.
It didn’t take him too long to get fed up with this, but it did take him a while before he could get away from the vines. As soon as he had, Drake tore through the jungle, headed for the other path.

Drake ran at an angle, tying to dodge the vines coming after him, stay ahead of the disappearing ground, fine the other path, and dodge the various rocks, trees, vines, bushes, and other plants and debris. It seemed to be harder then just trying to travel down either path, even harder than just moving on the first one was… but he was still going to try to get back to that first path, even if it meant destruction in the end.
He growled, speeding up, putting more speed and strength into his steps, fighting against everything that dared try to stop him—and he was finally gaining ground, finally moving faster than the things trying to stop him.

One more step, though, and everything he’d gained went away.

He hadn’t seen the drop, it had just been ground! It had looked solid, but… it wasn’t. He let out a surprised scream as his foot sank down, further than expected, off a short drop and into what should have just been rocks, sand and dirt, but wasn’t. He fell forward, trying to catch himself and only succeeded further in, watching his hands disappear.
Panic erupted in his mind as he realized what this was. One of the few things he truly feared but never knew why. He’d never seen it, but he knew what this was.

Quicksand.

Drake pulled his arms out, one at a time, trying to get free but being pulled in deeper. He tried being still, he just sunk faster, so he fought it out of fear and desperation, but nothing helped. He tried to push himself up and he hands got stuck in the sand. It went up to his throat before he could get an arm free again. Then all he saw was darkness.

Drake woke up and sat up suddenly. What was going on? Why did these dreams keep happening? This one was slightly different from the others, it didn’t seem as realistic… but he still felt trapped during it.

Quicksand doesn’t pull you down. Thrashing dislodges the sand and makes you sink, that was all. If you stopped moving, you’d float, what’s what happened in real life. He knew that…
Quicksand had always been something he feared, but he didn’t think that was the cause of the dream. Usually his nightmares involving quicksand involved nothing else…
This dream was far too complex—far too rational. Dreams were not supposed to follow a path.

Drake got up and walked downstairs; he needed to look this up.

The book he found in the palace’s grand library was… disturbing.

Quicksand: You may be experiencing feelings of helplessness and an inability to get out of a situation in your daily life. This common sense approach can easily be applied and with some effort, you can examine your feelings and actions symbolized in this dream.

Jungle: The jungle could represent your confusing and overwhelming thoughts regarding daily life. If you dream you are in an impenetrable jungle, your unconscious may be revealing to you the anxiety you have about a particular situation, a current difficulty, or the future.

… None of it was good.