Free Embody by Jamie Magee

quite frankly it
took a lot to shock us these days.
    “Olivia has been having strange dreams. We
thought maybe you guys could help us understand them,” Chrispin
said, reaching for Olivia’s hand.
    “What kind of dreams?” I asked, concerned. I
looked at Landen, then back to Olivia.
    “They’re just weird,” Olivia answered,
blushing a little. “They always start off black and white – well,
almost gray.”
    Chrispin looked back and forth between me
and Landen; the color gray brought only one place to our minds:
Esterious.
    “Everything is still, then I feel a rush of
energy, and a wave of color comes out of nowhere and washes over
everything,” Olivia finished
    “Are there people, buildings?” I asked.
    “Sometimes they’re all different. At times,
I’m in a field; other times, I’m on a city street - but I’m never
alone. All of us are there.”
    “What are we doing?” Landen asked,
completely taken in by Olivia’s dream.
    “I don’t know. I don’t always see you, but I
know that you’re there,” Olivia answered, confused by her own
words.
    “Do you think it has anything to do with
this Mercury thing?” Chrispin asked.
    Landen looked at me for an answer.
    “I don’t know, but if it does, at least
Esterious will have more color than a simple Willow tree,” I
answered, longing to see the mark that I’d left in Donalt’s center
court.
    “I don’t want Olivia to have anything to do
with this; she’s already played her part,” Chrispin said
sternly.
    “It’s just a dream,” Landen said, trying to
calm Chrispin down.
    “Maybe so, but we all saw where Willow’s
dreams took her,” Chrispin said, looking at me, referring to the
nightmares that I fought to forget. I knew that not all dreams were
bad, though; I’d seen Landen every night of my life.
    “We do… Landen,” I said, understanding that
sometimes we have to live through the darkness to see the
light.
    Chrispin saw that he had offended me and
nodded. “Sorry,” he said quietly.
    “You’re fine,” I said, trying to reassure
him that his words couldn’t hurt me - not with Landen as my
reward.
    “Anyways,” Olivia said, “tomorrow we’re
going to Paris; my aunt thinks I’m living there with you. I need to
check the voice mail and take some pictures to send to her. Will
you guys come?”
    I wanted to go so bad. I looked at Landen,
who was pushing his food around on his plate. We all knew he was
worried that Drake would find me, using my star in my Ankh. There
was no doubt now that he was alive and well.
    “Landen, he’s not stupid enough to try
something with me and you there. Even if he was, he wouldn’t get
anywhere. Dane and Clarissa are coming, too, and we’ll all make
sure that you two are safe,” Chrispin said, trying to reassure
Landen.
    Landen looked at me. “Do you want to
go?”
    “ Can we just go for the day?” I
asked.
    Landen nodded and smiled at me, then leaned
over and kissed me. “You are almost impossible to say no
to,” he thought.
    “ Almost,” I mocked. His grin
widened.
    Olivia and Chrispin were looking back and
forth between us, watching our wordless communication.
    “Do you think it’s possible for us to learn
how to do that?” Chrispin asked, full of envy.
    Landen laughed. “I’m sure the two of you
communicate without words more than you know,” he answered.
    “Are you guys going to come?” Olivia asked,
seeing that we hadn’t answered her.
    “Yeah, we’ll go - but only for the day. We
need to spend some more time with Preston and Libby,” Landen
said.
    “I would stay close to them, too, especially
if they can still see your future,” Chrispin said, realizing
Landen’s concern about us being away from them.
    “It’s just a day. I’ll call Clarissa,”
Olivia said, getting up from the table to clear away the dishes. I
stood and helped her. I didn’t want to be accused of being unable
to clean; cooking was bad enough. When everything was cleared away,
Chrispin and