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It had been a long day, longer than most. Escape came not in the form of dreams, but by returning to his world, his sense of peace and tranquility.

The beach was dark, the evening having set in on Elysion just as it would the world he roamed in as a civilian. He didn't know how time worked in Elysion - it was simply something he would never question. It simply was. The majestic, holy grounds of Helios' world had grown to become his home, his sanctuary, his refuge from the troubles the world brought upon him. Blessed silence, save for the sound of waves lapping at the sand beneath his feet.

Sleep did not come to him this evening, but that did not stop him from enjoying the sleep of others. Across the world, dreams filled the hearts and minds of those able to slumber away, heads resting against pillows, chairs or even open books and keyboards. It was his job to look after not only Elysion, but those who dreamed of his dominion. With Nehelenia and the others long gone, banished from most memories, there was no threat to dreams...leaving only lingering, hungry curiosity.

His path altered, taking him further into the water as opposed to walking alongside it. Legs ignored the cool seafoam as it nipped his legs, soaking into his clothing. The Guardian pushed against the force of the water until he was several feet in, now safe from the oncoming waves as his waist submerged itself under the chilled sea.

Reaching out, his hand brushed the surface of the water, ripples bubbling from his fingertips and slowly dancing, expanding into larger circles as blue eyes studied his creation.

He was not a dream weaver.

No - he was a dream watcher.

Fingers gently brushed the water aside, as though he were dismissing an insignificant thought. As the ripples cleared, a scene began to appear on the water. The image was faint - it always was at first - but slowly drew into focus the longer he watched it.

The first dream was a simple one, friends playing beneath a sun-drenched sky as they splashed water back and forth at one another. Typical - thoughts of water naturally led to beach days, of escaping to happier memories. He watched the companions tousle the water for a few minutes more before he swiped the image away, moving on to the next dream.

It would take sifting through several more dreams before he finally paused again, this time icy blue eyes narrowing at the sight that lay before him.

A girl stood, alone and shivering on top of a glacier. Her face was hidden by the water, the Guardian's eyes narrowing as he peered closer. It took nearly an entire minute for her face to come into view...and his head pulled back as he noticed the black crater on hers.

The temptation to brush her aside like the last dream was strong, but his curiosity was even stronger.

"What are you up to this evening, my dear?" He whispered softly, studying the long haired woman. She seemed confused, herself. Was she creating a nightmare for herself? Would he free her from the terror, release her from fear and return her dream to happiness...or not?

One finger gently dabbed the water alongside the glacier, pushing it ever so slightly. Would this little senshi find herself sinking or swimming?

Either way, the urge to join her in this peculiar dream was growing more enticing the longer he watched her.

"Spirited little thing, aren't you." He murmured to no one in particular, watching as her hands rose in preparation for attack. A low chuckle escaped as she fumbled, then fell into the icy water below. The Dream Guardian continued to look for her, but she was struggling to resurface.

Hm.

Perhaps it was time to intervene, after all.



The air was frigid, wind whipping through sandy colored hair as he approached the drowning girl. He would have possibly enjoyed the serene sound of the nearby waterfall, if it was not for the current, curious task at hand. The breeze nipped his ponytail, causing it to fall from his shoulder and nestle itself into the furry neckline of his pelisse. Blue sandals remained strangely afloat, as though the angry, choppy surface of the ocean was nothing more than a smooth walkway.

Seal's Eye approached the dreamer at a leisurely pace, clearly in no hurry. The roar of the waterfall swallowed any screams, had she been fortunate enough to manage any. What he noticed first, consuming the water around her, was the hair. Her teal locks, tangled and soaked, spread out into the water in waves that reminded him of billowing seaweed. It was beautiful to watch, despite the growing alarm coming from the thrashing girl. Apparently having pounds of excess hair tended to weigh one down when it came to water.

A frantic hand splashed and broke the surface, inches away from where his foot stood. In a flash, he knelt down and seized the opportunity, a single gloved hand snatching the senshi around her slick wrist.

It took more effort than he would care to admit, but he managed to yank her from the water's grasp and pull her up, allowing her to rest on the surface of the water alongside him. He remained on one knee, studying her as fingers moved out to casually brush a few strands of damp hair from blocking her face.

"If you wouldn't mind," He said calmly, raising his voice enough for it to be heard, "Please silence the waterfall when you catch your breath. I don't particularly care to yell."

He couldn't help but chuckle, tickled at the girl's reaction. It was clear she was in awe at her new abilities - there had been a time, long ago, that he had felt similar. When he was introduced to magic, given powers and abilities from a corrupt source, only to find himself placed in one of the most revered positions he could possibly ask for. A blessing. Yet time had consumed the joy surrounding the blessing, the task growing more of a responsibility than an adventure. A simple guard, tasked with guarding something that no longer held threats against it. Perhaps one day, another force would appear but until that day, he would continue as he did.

While years had passed, it was still refreshing to show others how to manipulate and enjoy their slumbering thoughts. It was unusual for him to directly interfere with their dreams, but sometimes curiosity was far too hard to resist.

His hand moved out, gesturing to the icy water world around them. "We are where you will us to be. This is your creation, this is your dream, Lady...Hydra, was it?"

The waterfall was silenced, but the soft sound of waves echoed around them, the water slowly calming itself down as the churning grew softer. He'd taken a chance with her name, echoing the term he'd caught her whispering before she used her attack. Isn't that how the silly senshi did it, after all?

The girl was taking it all in, gazing at their surroundings before turning back to the mysterious man who stood before her. Both individuals were drying up at an incredible pace, but that was the wonder of being in a dream world. Perhaps she was already willing things without evening realizing it.

"I am - " Seal's Eye paused suddenly, noting the dark, gaping chasm in the girl's forehead, once hidden behind tangled strands of damp hair. He would have to tread carefully, it seemed, around this one. "- the Guardian of water dreams. You seemed in distressed, so I felt it was my duty to intervene on your behalf."

He gave her a half bow, one arm resting behind his back as the other bent and rose back up with him. "At your service, my Lady."

His eyes widened as she riled herself up, going on about some reference he had no clue about. A movie, maybe? Television show? Book? He had a Netflix account but with his current plate full of studying and trying to balance his time between work and play, there wasn't much left for television or reading.

Hydra seemed to calm herself down in a matter of moments, her attention turning back to him and not the dream around her. Her stature seemed to visibly relax as gentle fingers moved to poke at his arm, soft fingertips gliding across his tan skin. The sensation was ticklish, but he forced himself to remain still as she did her testing.

And then, the questions came.

"You whispered it, before." The tips of his ears began to redden as the young man confessed to his eavesdropping. The debate was still fresh in his mind - should he tell his name to the corrupted scout standing in front of him? She seemed rather harmless enough, her soft fingers seemed disinterested in moving up to take hold of his star seed. On that same note, he held no inclination to start digging in hers for her dream mirror, so...

"Seal's Eye." Would Helios be upset with him? Did it really matter? The Negaverse had tried to take over Elysion before, but the hidden world of dreams seemed to have lost its allure to the dark forces of Chaos - and what was he, but a mere soldier of the expansive kingdom?

His hand moved up and took hold of hers. Lifting it gently, he placed a chaste kiss across her warm skin before releasing her fingers back to her own control. If she thought he was charming, who was he to deny her that impression.

"Tell me, Hydra - now that you know you are in control of your dream - what are you inclined to do next?"

Arm outstretching, he motioned towards their watery surroundings. "Why merely walk on water when you can choose to control it? You are the master of this world, not I. Perhaps you should give it a try, before you awaken?"

As gentle fingers probed along the tips of his ears, he let off an involuntary shiver that coursed through his otherwise still frame. He bit his tongue, his instinctive response to lash back with a petty comment, such as well you have a hole in your head, at once again being compared to an elf. It was a resemblance he wasn't prepared to embrace, the word coming across more as an insult than anything else. But she meant no harm by her comment, he at least knew that much. She had a curiosity in need of sating, just as he'd had upon entering her dream in the first place.

Hydra's hand left his ear, but the sensation lingered long enough for him to lift his own hand to rub over the soft prickle. She inquired further into his name, which returned the smile to his lips. The same fingers that rubbed his ear moved to the front of his head, pushing back sandy strands of hair long enough to reveal the symbol embossed on his forehead before letting his hair fall back down in front of the marking.

"I could ask you the same of yours, but we're wasting time with trivial details, yes? No one sleeps forever and you've only just begun to play with your powers."

At the mention of powers, she revealed her own and he listened with intrigue written across his expression as she explained how she controlled water as a senshi. As far as the elements went, he was biased when it came to all things aquatic, so stumbling across someone else who held power in his shared domain piqued his interest. How many others were out there that could do what they did? If he controlled water in dreams, were there others that held the same abilities as he did, but in the waking world? And how many of them were sided with the dark forces, as opposed to the Moon Kingdom?

His thoughts drifted off as his gaze moved to where she looked, studying the ripples she was creating with one of her heels. At her suggestion, one eyebrow rose and his grin grew wider. A single arm extended out, gesturing to the watery world around them.

"Why don't you test it out and see for yourself, my Lady?"

He watched with mild amusement as she skipped and hopped around on the water, her hands rising as beautiful eyes looked around them...but for what?

The answer came as he felt the world around him shift, a shimmer of light reflecting on a new surface that hadn't been there only moments prior. Like glass, they were surrounded, as if in a protective globe. One gloved hand reached out to caress the thin wall of water, his finger dragging itself upwards, testing the hold. His palm moved to catch his grip, however, when the bubble began to move with them inside of it.

Bracing his legs, he watched as they descended beneath the water, the waterfall and icy fragments disappearing from his vision as the depths of the water became their new surroundings. Glancing towards his dreamer, his surroundings faded from his thoughts as he watched her awe and excitement, her delicate hands still motioning in their bubble creating.

"If you wish."

His arms fell behind his back, hands linking together as he walked alongside the corrupted senshi. In truth, it was secretly delighting him to be given a nickname - he hadn't exactly needed one, not until now. The slim number of people who even knew of his existence were kept at arm's length, none having a desire to speak with him closely enough to recall his name.

Memories of the pink haired General floated to mind and he blinked, wishing the thoughts of that irritating presence away. Instead, he focused on the dream he was still invading, turning to watch the young girl as she continued her exploration under the sea.

Suppressing a grin, one finger waved from behind him, motioning in circles towards the water in their wake. Seconds later, a pair of dolphins floated by, trilling and clicking happily as they swam corkscrews around the couple.

Nudging her gently, he motioned towards the new arrivals. "It seems you've found some new friends, my Lady."