RP:I Dream of Daedria

Part of the I Write Songs Not Tragedies Arc

Summary: Pilar has a strange dream and receives her quest.

Frostmaw Fort

Pilar sat on her bed, plucking the strings of her new guitar idly. She had never played, but several family members had. Unless she found a mentor, she would have to be entirely self-taught, but that was okay with her. She had all eternity to figure it out. Her myriad pets were snoozing away in their beds, and after awhile, Pilar decided it was time to turn in, herself. She placed the guitar aside, crawled under the covers, doused the candle on her nightstand, and fell asleep.

The first thing she noticed when she awoke was the sugary, nutty smell of polvorones. It smelled of childhood, and family... But wait, no one in the fort knew that recipe, and her room wasn't close enough to the kitchens besides... Pilar's eyes snapped open and she sat up. She wasn't in the fort anymore. She was on a bedroll, in a tent. Outside, she could hear voices. Familiar voices. She swallowed the lump in her throat. It couldn't be true. She crawled to the entrance and opened the flap.

"Hey hey, there she is!" her older brother Tulio exclaimed when she saw her. He looked just like she remembered; tall, thin, with a goatee and long black hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Nearby her older sister Inez was baking over a fire. Little Felicia tried to snag a polvoron, only to have her hand slapped away. Giggling, she ran off to play with Marisol and Miguel.

Tears sprang to Pilar's eyes. Her family... They were all here. Her parents were nearby, tuning their guitars. Her sister-in-law was feeding her niece. There was her brother-in-law, her cousins, her aunts and uncles and nephew... It had been so long.

"Pili, why are you crying?" Soledad, her mother, asked. The family stopped what they were doing and all gathered around her. Her mother pulled her into her arms. "Another nightmare, mija?" she asked gently. Pilar sniffed and could only nod. She had dreamed that they had all died, all but her, and she was left alone in the world, to try and survive as a vampire.

But... those four years couldn't have been a dream, as much as she wanted her family back. She had a new family now, didn't she? Confused, Pilar looked into her mother's face, only to find a stranger staring back. A beautiful stranger, with long, wavy auburn hair. Pilar stepped back in shock, looking around. Her family was gone, their campsite abandoned. It was just her and the stranger.

"Listen to my words, mortal," the strange woman began. "I am Daedria, Ascendi of Music. I have left this message woven into my guitar, so that you, worthy one, may find my greatest work. Go to the city by the sea. Within the cliffside caverns you will find the key to saving yourself and those you love."

Pilar stared at the woman while she recited her message. She was still reeling from seeing her lost family again, and now this woman was spewing nonsense. "I... I... What?"

"Listen to my words, mortal," Daedria started again, and repeated her message verbatim.

Pilar blinked. "I don't--What are--" Daedria kept speaking, as if Pilar had said nothing. The vampire tried again to get a word in edgewise. "I'm sorry, I don't--Please, I'm not--" "--to the city by the sea. Within the cliffside caverns you will find the key to saving yourself and those you love." Pilar reached out to touch the woman, a move she normally wouldn't make, only for her hand to pass through Daedria like the woman wasn't there.

Pilar took another step back, only to trip and fall onto her tent. She hit the ground with a grunt. "Pili! Are you alright? What's wrong?" Pilar blinked and looked up. The woman was gone, and her family was back, staring at her. She looked around at them, eyes wide. "Where's... never mind. Nothing's wrong. Still groggy, I guess." Strange vision or no, dream or no, she was with her family again and she wasn't going to let anything ruin it.

When she awoke, there were tears in her eyes, and a fire in her heart. She had a mission.