Retvik grunted to himself as some timid knocking woke him up from his nap. He’d been barely asleep, having only just drifted off, which meant the knocking was enough to snap him back to consciousness. Admittedly, Retvik was only in bed because he was slightly drunk and Litvir had sent him to “horny jail” for having “bad thoughts” that Litvir didn’t like. He wondered if the knocking belonged to Litvir, but it was far too quiet and Litvir wasn’t one for knocking.
With a sigh, Retvik climbed out of bed and went to see who it was. He was quite surprised to see a small, red-plated little creature, sniffing awkwardly and failing to hide his emotions.
“Hello, Helkas, are you well?”
“O-oh… I… I thought this was Arkay’s room…”
Helkas was stuttering. And slightly scared.
“No, it is my room, but Arkay sometimes comes in here to sleep. He is not at Savepoint currently, but you clearly want to talk to him. Perhaps I can help?”
Helkas sniffed some more but didn’t answer.
“Helkas, dear, what is wrong?” Retvik asked.
“I… I… It’s nothing… It’s silly…”
“It clearly is not silly. You are upset.”
Helkas continued sniffing. “It was just a bad dream. I shouldn’t be crying over a bad dream…”
The tiny Decayling turned to leave, but Retvik put a hand on Helkas’s shoulder, stopping him from doing so.
“Have I… done something wrong?”
“No, you have not, Helkas. You are clearly very upset and I want to talk to you and try and help you with your pain.”
“But-”
“No buts. Come on in. Come and sit on the bed, warm yourself up and let me help you through your sadness.”
Helkas relented and let Retvik lead him inside. Retvik swiftly sat Helkas down on the bed, picked out a nice, soft blanket, warmed it up a little and wrapped it around Helkas. He then went to the mini-fridge in the corner (Retvik ran an entire Decay Lord sect, the mini-fridge was his one little luxury), opened it up and thought for a moment. After that thought concluded, Retvik grabbed a mug, some milk and some chocolate powder and made a hot chocolate for Helkas, topped with marshmallows.
“I… I didn’t want a drink… I don’t want to cause any problems…” Helkas muttered.
“You are not causing any problems!” Retvik smiled as he handed Helkas the hot chocolate. “You are sad, you are hurting. And I want to help you. I do not want you to feel sad.”
Helkas frowned, then clammed up.
“Little one, please, you can talk. Your problems are not burdens. We are here for you.”
It took a while for Helkas to say anything. He closed his eyes, sighed a few times then sipped the hot chocolate. It was gloriously warm and sweet. And it helped settle Helkas’s nerves. Retvik clearly just wanted Helkas to feel better. He just needed to accept that.
“I… I had a horrible dream… One where I… I was drowning in an inky darkness. I could hear shouting and screaming and it felt like my skin was burning, like my very soul was being torn apart. I was melting down into nothing. And then I was nothing.”
Retvik put an arm around Helkas. “I assume that dream scared you.”
“Yeah. Because I don’t know if it was a dream or a memory. Or if it was a premonition. I am… always scared that my bad dreams will become real.”
“Hmph…” Retvik grunted. “Well, you are not alone there. As Litvir routinely tells me and Arkay, dreams are a way for our minds to try and clean up after a hard day, but sometimes they do mix with our memories, and we are reminded of our pasts. Considering how painful some of our pasts are, it is not unusual for those dreams to become nightmares. But at the end of the day, we have to accept that the dreams are not real, we have survived the pain and we will move forward, becoming stronger as we do so. You are scared right now, that is perfectly natural. At the same time though, you are strong. You are not a bad person, you are a growing person. And your past cannot hurt you any more.”
“I guess… I’m still scared that it’s a premonition or something. I know mister Arkay sometimes has time powers, so does mister Elkay. I might be the same.”
“That is definitely true, you are like Arkay and Elkay. However, keep in mind that we actually have two pure Time Drakes here at Savepoint. Elksia and Thassalin are, as Arkay would say, the “real deal”, they are proper Time Drakes. And they can see these things happening before anyone else can. If your dreams were premonitions, they would know about it.”
“But… my dreams…”
“They are just dreams. They are bad dreams, yes, but they are just dreams. Right now though? You are safe. Scared, sad, but safe.”
Helkas shivered a little. Retvik noticed he was a little cold, and warmed the room up a bit.
“Helkas, do you want a hug?”
“I… I would love a hug… I don’t remember much but… I think mum would hug me sometimes. I… I miss her.”
“I understand. And you ought to know, she wouldn’t want you to be sad. She is proud that you are learning and building a new life, that you want to carry on her legacy and create beauty outside her universe. You are a good kid. Your bad dreams will pass.”
Retvik held Helkas tightly, and Helkas quickly leaned into the hug, settling down properly. he closed his eyes and sighed, but it was a different sigh.
“Thanks, mister Retvik. I feel better now.”
“I am glad, little one. Do you want to go back to bed or do you want to stay here for a bit?”
“Can… can I stay here please?” Helkas asked. “And can I have more hot chocolate?”
“Of course!” Retvik beamed as he patted Helkas on the head. “You can stay as long as you need…”