Chapter Text
“This is a stupid idea.”
Aureus heard his own voice, albeit a much higher pitch, echo from behind him. Another dream of a past he didn’t know. “What? Are you scared?”
This time another voice answered, and he turned in shock. Another child stood beside him, face nothing more than a collection of scribbles that he couldn’t see past.
“No! But... what if we get in trouble?”
“That’ll only happen if we get caught!”
And with that, the other child scampered off and disappeared in the surrounding fog. Aureus, the younger version of him at least, seemed to stare off before turning to face the magician.
“You forgot who we are.” It was chilling, but it had a sense of sadness more than anger. “It’s not your fault. But you have to remember.”
“I... I can’t.”
“You can. All it’ll take is the right time, the right memory. Asra can not help us. Not with this. He fights with his own past - he, unfortunately, does not have the gift we were given of forgetting ours.”
“Then what can I do?”
“Find the Doctor. He can help. He will help.”
“Doctor- I don’t know any doctors.” Aureus sounded exasperated, the child frantically looking away as an eerie howl echoed through space. “What was that-?”
“Find the Doctor!” Their voice was filled with fear, Aureus staring himself in the face. “He’s in Vesuvia-“
The world warped and twisted mercilessly around Aureus, the child disappearing along with it as an array of dark blues and purples took over the surrounding area. Aureus stood on a slightly raised platform of white, whipping his head around as something caught his attention. A large shadow, standing at almost eleven feet tall, stared down at him with striking blue eyes, features hidden in the darkness. A loud bugle, and a garble of a language that gave Aureus a headache erupted from it. A bleat came from behind him, the much smaller man turning to find another shadow. One by one, more rose from the darkness and presented their silhouettes - a cacophony of noise joining them as they howled, hissed, chirped, and bugled. He held his hands over his ears as he yelled to drown out the noise, but to no avail, the shadows only getting louder and more urgent.
“Wake up.”
A voice cut through the rest with ease, Aureus’ eyes snapping open as he bolted upright in his bed. Asra reeled back a bit, almost being hit in the head if they hadn’t. Aureus was in the shared bed in the upstairs part of the shop he worked in - the one thing he really knew.
“Are you alright?” Asra asked, and Aureus took a moment to release a shaky breath. “Another nightmare?”
“Yeah.” He waved his hand dismissively at Asra. “I’m fine - just need a minute.”
“Of course.”
Asra sat on the edge of the bed, keeping a careful eye on Aureus as he managed to calm himself down. When they first started happening, it took hours to get him grounded, let alone a few days to properly get over them; now he only needed a few minutes to calm himself. Asra reached over to the bedside table, a mug filled with hot tea being passed to Aureus who mumbled a thank you.
“Was it the same one?” Asra finally asked, Aureus taking a sip of his drink.
“No - this one was… very different.”
For a moment, he juggled with the idea of whether to tell him what happened. Aureus decided not to.
“It’s fine. Just a dream.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
With a doubtful hum, Asra got off the edge of the bed and headed for the door.
“I’m opening up the shop. Take your time up here, alright?”
A nod was his answer, and Asra disappeared down the stairs. It didn’t take long for Aureus to hear a repeat customer chatting up a storm with Asra, getting out of the bed and shambling over to the window. The street was already busy, the markets having opened hours ago and many folks still pulling on their shoes as they left their homes. It was a comfortable constant though as Aureus’ eyes lazily drifted over the people, he made a startling discovery. A plague doctor dressed in white stared up at the store, seeming to peer directly into the window Aureus stood in. His blood ran cold.
Surely he wasn’t actually looking at him?
He released the breath he was holding when they turned away, peering into the crowd. Aureus saw a tuft of red hair and a black cape wildly waving at him, the doctor taking one last look at the shop and hurrying off. Much to his chagrin, they disappeared into the crowd the moment they stepped in it, leaving Aureus to sip at his lukewarm tea. Setting it down in the sink to wash later, he set off downstairs to take over the shop for the day. Asra was leaving later in the evening to go on whatever weird errand they had decided was pressing, and Aureus would be damned if they put something where it didn’t go one more time.