Darkness....Infinite and eternal surrounded him...There was something..Far, far off in the distance of the void. It seemed to move closer, a glowing ball of light that bobbed and hovered in clear defiance of the blackness that surrounded it. It seemed to stop and curiously begin rotating, a sphere of mystery shrouded by nothingness. There was a sensation of....joining...and the light was everywhere, objects and shapes began to take form, a grassy hill, a tall, resilient bodhi tree sitting at its peak, stretching towards the clouds and the sky. He could feel the warmth of the sun's rays on his face, his arms and legs, the smooth caress of the grass beneath him and the gentle touch of a rolling breeze as it passed. He sat up and looked around.<br/><br/>The grasslands stretched on for miles in every direction except directly ahead, which rolled gently into a slope and lead downward out of sight. Jack rose slowly and noticed that the wounds he had had were gone, the damaged and dirtied flesh replaced by smooth, unflawed flesh. Hell, he was even clean shaven! Scratching his now bare chin, Jack looked himself over. He was wearing light orange robes that appeared to be made of some form of silk and inscribed with long flowing characters that looked...familiar...They glowed slightly with a cerulean hue and memories flashed through his mind of long hours spent studying these figures, learning them, committing them to memory but...for what? Shaking his head, he ran his hand through his hair and began to walk around, the silky blades of grass tickling his bare feet. He looked down the slope and saw water, clear and sparkling in the sun as it lapped gently at the sandy beach at the bottom of the slope. On the beach, Jack could just make out three lawn chairs.<br/><br/>Blinking, he began to walk towards the slope. Once there, he descended the wooden steps that were slotted right into the side of the hill and he reached the beach. There was a man, about his size and height standing there, staring out into the waves.<br/><br/>"Heh. I was wondering when you would show up. Nice little place, this is. Little boring though. At least the sunsets are pretty though." Suddenly, the sun descended from it's zenith and sat just above the horizon on the water, a fiery red ball say farewell to the two men standing on the beach. Jack stood awkwardly, the thought that he had no idea where he was or what was happening just occurring to him.<br/><br/>"Relax, your not here. Not really anyway." The man turned and looked at Jack. He was an older man, maybe in his late thirties, early forties, black hair kept short and merging with a thick beard on his face. He spoke with a slight accent, though Jack couldn't quite put his finger on it. He shifted about uncomfortably before fixing his eyes on the other man's.<br/><br/>"So if I'm not here...Than why am I here and how did I get here?" At this, the bearded man's face turned quizzical at first before turning to one of bemusement.<br/><br/>"Hmm. Must be some pretty big holes in your memory for you to forget this place. Then again, we were never really all there in the first place." He said, rapping his knuckles on the side of his head. "Your here because after what happened you have too much power to be expected to just cope with it."<br/><br/>"Wait, what do you mean 'we'?! And how do you know about my memory? Answer me!" The older man ignored the question and lowered himself into one of the lawn chairs slowly.<br/><br/>"Heh. So concerned with finding the answers you forget to look right under your nose. Just sit down and enjoy the sunset. I'll tell you everything in just a moment" Glaring, Jack could hardly believe the man. Grumbling, he seated himself on the chair adjacent to the old man's. He had a point, the sunset was enrapturing and staring into the hazy ball he felt his apprehension and anxiety slowly fade from his body.<br/><br/>"There now, isn't that a little bit better?"<br/><br/>"Yeah...It is..." Jack relaxed a little further into the chair, the silk robes, the sunset...it was all perfect. His eyes closed for just a moment and he saw an image of a body being gripped by a great and mighty werewolf as it darted from place to place, evading encroaching guards. Suddenly, he realized that he was the body and the werewolf was Shey. He sat up bolt-right and looked around. He was still on the beach but the sun was back at it's zenith, the other two lawn chairs gone and the old man no longer in sight. Rising slowly, he stood and heard a voice from over the hill.<br/><br/>"Are you ready to hear what you came for?" Jack set his resolve and marched up the steps. The grasslands were the same as before, with the Bodhi tree set atop the small hill at the center of the vista, the old man seated beneath it. Jack began to walk over to it but the old man shook his head and suddenly Jack was standing beneath the tree.<br/><br/>"Heh heh. You really must be a blank slate if your trying to play by the rules here." Jack spun to and fro, wondering how exactly the old man had performed such a feat.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Afterall, the secret of teleportation has been lost since the Atlantean days...WHY DO I KNOW THAT?!</span><br/><br/>"Because I knew that." The old man chimed in. Jack froze.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">What did he say?</span><br/><br/>"Don't be stupid. You heard me."<br/><br/>"But...How?"<br/><br/>"You really need me to spell it out for you laddy?" Suddenly, Jack recognized the accent. It was Irish. Jack glanced at his left forearm and pulled back the robe's sleeve. The enchanted arrow gleamed and thrummed slightly with mana. He looked up and saw the old man do the same.<br/><br/>The old man knelt for a second before a mountain sprang out of the ground beneath his feat, bearing the two of them high into the sky.<br/><br/>"This is your<span style="font-style: italic">Terra Di Somnium</span>. Your sanctum sanctorium. Its a place you can go to, metaphysically of course, to meditate, to train. I worked for years to develop it and now you've come to use it as I did."<br/><br/>"Wait, what does this mean?" He said, indicating his forearm and the glowing tattoo.<br/><br/>"We were a part of a warrior society within the mage community known as the Adamantine Arrows. This was their symbol, a mark for others in the order to recognize you."<br/><br/>"So why did I know about the teleportation, but not this?"<br/><br/>"Because, there are somethings that are buried deep down, that are just taken for granted until directly observed and noted."<br/><br/>"But...if you know something...than why do I know it?"<br/><br/>"I made this place. This is my imprint on it, everything I was and in a way, still am."<br/><br/>"Huh?"<br/><br/>"This is a dream world I created to help me train and focus my abilities, and now I'm giving you access to it. Gods above why is this so hard?"<br/><br/>"Alright, if you've got all the answers, then what the hell is going on out there? What was all that mana?"<br/><br/>"All in due time, there are things we've gotta talk about first. Like those friends of yours in your head."<br/><br/>"Did you hear voices?"<br/><br/>"No. But then again, I didn't have the fate of an entire world hinging on my decisions."<br/><br/>"What?!"<br/><br/>"Uhh, methinks maybe I said too much. Listen, there isn't much time left for you here, and it looks like...it looks like Shey managed to get you two somewhere safe. Come back when you get the chance and we'll talk more then. Just remember, your there for a reason and not everything is as it seems."<br/><br/>"Wait, goddammit! Who are you?! How do you know so much about whats happening!?!? Answer me dammit!" Jack sat upright, his face now covered with itchy stubble and his body aching, dirty and in pain. He looked around and saw that he was in some form of deserted warehouse. Rising slowly, he leaned up against the dusty wall to support himself and saw Shey around the corner of a shipping container watching the door for any sign of trailing enemies. Slowly, Jack made his way over to her, in part because he was trying not to make any noise, but mostly because his ankle was throbbing and he was hesitant to put any weight on it.<br/><br/>"Shey...I'm....sorry....I didn't want to....I mean I...He sat himself down hard on the floor, staring down at the ground.<br/><br/>"I just wish...I just wish that everything could be like it was..." Images of a quaint farmhouse in rolling green hills filled his mind's eye and he saw the two of them when they had first come there. It was paradise and he could see a portion of it still reflecting in her eyes. The memory had come surging back when he had first seen her upon awakening, the torrent of images coming unbidden and previously unknown to him. Struggling, he dragged his gaze upwards to peer into her eyes. Hot tears rolled out of his eyelids, cutting into the layer of dust and grime that had accumulated in the chase. As the tears reached his lips, he wiped them away with a dirty sleeve.<br/><br/>"I'm so sorry..."