Images swirling round and round.

I've never seen any of these before, though.

Images flashing in a mystical sequence.

A boy of sixteen with messy brown hair.

He's yelling at a blonde woman, much older than he is.

What could they be arguing about?

Another presence yet to come into being...

Aqua?  What is she doing here?

Long dark hair.  Expressive amber eyes.  The embodiment of childhood innocence.

She runs down a sidewalk, happily chasing a puppy.

Another scene...

Why do you look so hurt Aqua?

Her hair has lost its luster.  Her eyes look bleak.  Innocence?  What innocence?

Hair flapping in the breeze of the night.

Fingers gripping an iron bar.

The scream of a child.

Blood among roses.

Roses...

I awake from my dream feeling slightly overloaded.  Many the images I saw are starting to slip from my mind already save the few most striking ones.

Roses...

Slightly unnerved by that word now, I swing my legs over the side of my bed, pushing aside the green bed curtains.  Nighttime still.  The room is lit only by the soft glow of candles placed sparsely around the room.  Rather pretty, they are.  Better than no light at all, that's for sure.  I shake my head, cutting off my train of thought about candles and getting back to where I was headed: to the windows.

I have stared out these gigantic windows many, many times over the course of my life in this room.  During the day, looking out through them makes me feel like I'm looking through a giant's eyes, and I can see everything from everywhere.  Granted, an endless ocean of sand isn't the greatest view in the world, but it's enough.  And there is something else below these windows that always catches my eye...

Roses...

Exactly that.  Below my window is one of the places around the Palace walls where immaculate statues are set.  The ones below my window?  Marble roses.  Three huge marble roses, with stems coiling up, down, and to the sides like creeper vines.  The thorns on those stems look quite sharp.  Deadly, even.  Still, I think they look beautiful from this distance, especially when bathed in this moonlight.  Heh.  Just like a typical person.  Humankind.  We all seem to get a kick out of danger from a distance.  Close enough to admire the threatening beauty, but far enough away that one could never be touched.  Never.

Eh?  Aqua!  You're back!  You'll never guess what!  You were in one of my dreams.  You looked hurt in it though-- Huh?  Someone's coming here?  Is it a servant?...  The one I've been waiting for?  What's that supposed to mean, Aqua?...  Oh, don't giggle like that.  It's not nice to keep really important stuff that you know to yourself....  Oh, am I starting to rant again?  Sorry about that.  But what do you mean by the one I've been-- oh wait!  I know!  I'm finally getting a new Master, aren't I?  Is that right?...  Sure, like "maaaaybe" doesn't blatantly scream "yes!"  ...  Hey, where are you going?  Don't you want to meet my new Master?...  Yeah, I suppose I need some time to get used to him first.  Okay.  I'll see you later....  Bye!

As Aqua leaves, I turn to face the door.  Sure enough, I can hear the light treading of footsteps down the hall, coming this way.  Smiling, I walk back to the bed, hopping back into it and closing the curtains.  It always seems that the most interesting introductions occur when it is the Master that finds me, rather than me going to greet them.  So, I'll wait behind these bed curtains, pretending to sleep...

Pushing the door open ever so slowly, Scipio took in the appearance of the room with every inch the gap between door and doorframe extended.  It was very dim, lit only by candles and faint moonlight from outside.  The flickering light of the flames just barely allowed Scipio to see that most of the colors in the room were cream, yellow, and light green.  The ceiling arched high above his head, making him feel slightly smaller.  What would have been three walls were almost completely overtaken by enormous windows, giving a spectacular view of the desert.  A few beautiful tapestries decorated the only solid wall, and potted plants sat in front of both it and the windows.

Scipio could hear soft breathing coming from the bed in the middle of the room.  At the moment, the light green bed curtains were drawn closed, but it was still obvious that there was someone behind them.  It was over to the bed that Scipio was drawn, and once there, he gently pulled back one half of the curtains.  The sight that greeted him was not at all unpleasant.  Apparently sleeping was the form of a young man.  He was quite possibly one of the most beautiful creatures Scipio had ever encountered in his life.  The urge to reach out at stroke the man's long blond hair was impossible to resist.  However, the moment Scipio's hand laid upon the golden strands, the young man's eyes fluttered open and looked up at him.

"Who... are you?" asked the young man, expressive green eyes fixed on him inquisitively.

Scipio wasn't quite sure how to answer.  Assuming that this was Leor Avari, Scipio was supposed to be acting the role of Leor's Master.  His strategy for this observation period was to gain Leor's trust, and to do that, he would most likely have to get quite close to the young man.  After a few quiet moments, the answer Scipio gave was, "Someone you've been waiting for."

Leor smiled slightly, sitting up with Scipio's fingers still lightly cupping his head.  "You are my new Master?"

Scipio nodded lightly, taking his hand away.  "I think you and I are going to get along well," he said in a low, almost amused voice.  As he turned in the direction of the bathroom, he said over his shoulder, "Quite well."

With that, he headed to the bathroom, leaving Leor on the bed.

Good.  I've said just enough so that Leor might be curious.  Curiosity will most likely lead to conversations with rewarding information.  Eventually the trust should build up enough that I can ask him about the strange events and he will have no reason to lie.  Then we shall see what we shall see...

I don't know how it was that I finally fell asleep last night.  I had stayed awake for hours on end, waiting for Master to come back to the bed.  However, he didn't come.  For a moment, I feared that I had only imagined his coming, or that he might have been a specter of some sort.  Somehow, though, I didn't think that this man was simply an illusion.  Something about him seemed to inspire belief in his reality.  A little while later, I was proved right; I heard light snoring coming from the bathroom.  No doubt Master had found some fern leaves on the floor and was sleeping there.  I thought that odd, and I sprang out of bed, heading for the bathroom.  Sure enough, there he was, short hair cutely strewn every which way as he slept on the bed of leaves.

Why come in here?  The bed is certainly big enough for the both of us. I had thought to myself.  However, it is not a Key's place to question the decisions of the Master, and so I let him lie, quietly slipping back to my own bed with... was it a breeze at my back?  I can't remember.  It was too late to have been thinking about things like that.  Anyway, eventually I did manage to sleep...  What did I dream about?  Heh heh.  Wouldn't you like to know?...  Seriously, I'd rather keep my dream to myself.  You're too young for the sort of thing I was thinking of...  You can always bring a smile to my face, Aqua.  You know that?  Maybe it's the fact that you're probably the most adorable kid I've ever met, or maybe it's just because of your personality, but something about you makes you the best friend I've ever made, even if you're only in my head...

You're going again?  This is getting really annoying, you leaving all the time...  Oh, Master's almost awake?  Good!  I want to see more of what he's like!  He is quite the odd sort, it seems...  See you later, Aqua!...  Bye!