Title: "The Chimera"        

         As the sun bore down on his sweaty forehead, the chills from the icy wind tore through his thin shirt. The streams from the ground that he walked on shown the ice from the dew of the night before, but it melted just as fast as it steadily formed. But still, Zero matched forward amongst the slosh of the ground.

         He didn't know where he was. He didn't know what he was doing. It was only a quest. It was a journey, holding a mission that was slowly leaking the information in to him.

         His surrounding was a desert, dry and isolated amongst the sporadic green that he could spot in occasional places. For as far as he could see, it was desolate. He didn't know how he had gotten there. It would be futile to holler out in hopes of others hearing him.

         But suddenly, before even given that chance, he heard the distant cry of a woman. He looked to his left, but it ceased. He looked to his right, and again, the cry rang back out from his left. He spun in his position, only this time, the cry did not stop. Zero heard it as its volume increased. He started to run towards it, but couldn't move. He looked to his boots, only to see that the dew had frozen the soles of them flat to the desert sands.

         The cries increased. Zero tried to free himself. He struggled against the frozen soles, but the ice only moved further up his leg, encasing his shin and knee in a polar lock. Zero reached out his arm in desperation, realizing that he was stuck, powerless to change what was happening far off.

         But slowly… the cry died away, only to be replaced with a low rumble. Zero looked to the sky as if it were clouding up in lightning, but only the sun greeted his gaze. And from far off, the rumble became clearer. It hit a high note, suddenly transforming the rumble into a fit of laughter, laughter at others' humiliation. It came from the sky, but Zero tried to turn suddenly, as he heard the sound reverb directly behind him. But all he could see was over his shoulder, with it being nothing more than the desert that lay before him.

         As he lunged forward to break free from the hold, the ice suddenly melted. It caught him off guard, slamming him down to the ground, and into the stream of water beside the sand. And once again, the laughter arose. This time, it came from directly above Zero's body. He laid there, powerless to move. Powerless to turn around and face it. And then suddenly, the voice spoke.

         "I Own You," it bellowed out.

         At that moment, Zero was able to spin over onto his back, hoping to see a glimpse from where this source originated. But it was only the sky. The voice ceased.

         Zero climbed back to his feet, stumbling in every direction while trying to make sense of what direction it was that he was going. He went to brush the dirt away from his body, but a heavy gust of wind blew by. The chills from it caused a powerful shiver to run through Zero's body. Once it had passed, he looked down at his body. All specks of dirt were free and gone. But instantly, his head popped back up as the arising sound of something coming from his right.

         Zero turned, only to see a storm of dust and ice speckles flying up and into the air. He heard the loud clatter of what sounded to be the hooves of a horse. But the shield of dust overshadowed everything to be seen. Closer the sound got, but still it was just a ray of secrecy surrounding the source.

         Zero ran forward, intent on meeting whatever it was head-on. But as he neared the slowing dust cloud, he heard the loud snorting of a horse. Zero stopped, waiting for the dust to die down. He could hear slight treading of a horse, stomping it's way forward.

         And then suddenly, from out of the sky, a sword landed in front of Zero. Ice on the ground shattered, sending particles up into a ray of melting rain on Zero. The sword landed just inches from his feet as it stuck in the crowd, wobbling back and forth as the vibrations rippled through it. And so, Zero pulled it free from it's earthly binding. His journey was nearing its completion. His goal had been realized.

         The dust settled. Alone from it stood a dark figure. The sunlight blocked out his face. The glare from the sun shone brightly down on his sword in hand. And he stepped forward, walking as a man who had an army behind him, ready to die for him in the name of power.

         Zero took his sword and stepped forward to meet his adversity.

         As the swords clashed with the initial meeting, Zero looked into the face of who it was that he was fighting. But the face was void, a hollow shadow lacking any humanly features. But it's emotions cried out in agony, as it swung its sword one more time at Zero.

         Zero blocked the sword, countering by running his own sword up the shaft of the opposite blade and into the fingers of its owner.

         The sword fell from their hand. Their blood fell down to the ground, instantly freezing upon contact with the sand. And his adversity fell to their knees. The bloodied hand instantly clutched their right knee upon impact, as they crashed to their side in agony.

         Zero propped his sword against their throat, ready to deliver the deathblow. But suddenly, as he looked into their face, the facial hood vanished. In its place, the face of Karen looked up at him, cringing from the sword placed upon her neck. A tear ran down her face, begging without words for him not to harm her.

         Zero, visibly shaken from the sudden appearance of Karen, dropped the sword to the wayside. He fell to one knee, scorching his kneecap against the sun-heated sand. His hand went to Karen's face in an attempt to sooth her, but her tear froze on her face. Instantly, she rose up to her feet in a straight 0 to 180-degree arch. While looking down upon him, Karen's facial expression turned sinister. Her eyes blackened. And from her mouth came the voice of a man, low and dark… and familiar. "I own you," she said. And suddenly, from the depths of her throat came a low rumble of laughter.

         Zero looked up at the face as a feeling of helplessness and commitment overwhelmed him.

         The figure swung her arms out, sending powerful winds against Zero. It ripped his shirt from his body, casting it off into the stream. Instantly, the stream turned blood red. It was an ocean of blood, signified by the presence of what was Zero's.

         Zero tried to get up from his knelt position, but his body had frozen to the ground. He was helpless as the figure turned their back to him and picked up the sword that he had cast aside. And as the figure turned back around, it was no longer the face of Karen. It was Mason Xavier… blood seeping down the pores of his mouth, his eyes darkened and cast aside of all sanity.

         As the figure raised the sword, the face of Mason Xavier -Havoc-, slowly said, "I own you, Lint. Nothing you do will stop that…"

         As Zero saw the sword being swung at his neck, he raised up his arms to block himself. But he knew that that wouldn't have an effect. He could only fight back. Self-defense would do no good. He had to fight back…

         Slowly, the sword swung closer… and closer…

         Zero felt the edge of the blade enter his neck…

         Suddenly, Zero awoke, kicking the bed sheets from off of his body. He rose up in his bed like a madman, throwing his arms up into the air and swinging punches at a figure that was not there. Slowly, he realized that it had been a dream.

         He reached for his neck, but there was no marks or blood. He looked to his left and right, but they were just as how they were before he had gone to sleep.

         It was 4:30 AM. Zero reached back across his bed, only to feel a mattress that he could have swam in.

         He looked to his walls… he looked everywhere. He didn't know why. It had seemed so real. So imaginary, only for the dream to be so real.

         He looked down to the side of his bed. Slowly, he put one foot down on the carpet. It was warm… something normal.