Venus in Real Life

3. Dreamland memories

A long time ago, when they were kids, the twins used to play to materialize objects.

At first, it was part of their training.

Their father, Fabrice Bossuet, made sure they received all the knowledge he could give them, and that included materialization.

He was a skilled sorcerer, with plenty of experience in his craft, as well as in other magickal paths.

He was the one who taught the girls the appropriate techniques to bring about objects from wherever they were, even if Rachel, his wife, and the twins' mother, was against it.

Ciel was very much like her father.

She was full of hows and what-ifs on anything related to the magickal path, while her sister was more careful and by the rules, more like their mother.

The girls enjoyed bringing about candy and small objects, and of course, trying the opposite and disappearing things too, like pencils, erasers, and such items.

Seeing something that wasn't there a second before, show up the next one thrilled them, and was what made them keep on playing.

Fabrice and Rachel made sure their daughters had everything they required, so they didn't feel the need to materialize anything or misuse their magickal abilities in any way, yet Ciel and Mei loved to play that game.

Knowing it was not approved by their parents, they kept the secret for years until it got old and they stopped doing it. Neither of them ever suspected that their game would be so useful at some point in their lives.

Back in their hotel room, they started meditating.

The natural daylight was gone, and the moon gleam passed through the opened window.

Ciel was ready to start the search when they heard Venus's voice, just above a whisper.

"They are buried." She paused and looked at them.

"My arms were left underground. They didn't break me on a fight, they just didn't dig them out. Nobody knew where they were. They are on the coast of Milos. Does that make it any easier for you?"

"A lot easier," Ciel said with a smile.

They could worry later about how she knew that sort of thing, now Ciel was a girl on a mission.

She easily closed her eyes and focused, and after a few deep breaths, the images started to come.

The coastline drew itself in front of her. She started seeing the beautiful island surrounded by turquoise water and chalk-white cliffs.

Soon after the image was clear, the objects she was looking for revealed themselves to her, as she felt attracted to the marvel pieces.

It took plenty of both girls' energy, but it didn't take long to have Venus's arms appear on the floor between them.

A few minutes later, Venus stood in front of them as they tried to attach the marble arms back to her, one at a time.

"Isn't it easier with glue?" A voice behind them said.

"Not really. She is no longer a statue, so she can't be fixed like one. Besides, her body feels the attachment to her limbs, so the fracture will probably glue itself together as she changes completely to her human form. Whatever magick brought her to life should fix her in the process."

Ciel was so focused on the task at hand that she failed to notice how Hugh was waking up, and the more conscious he was, the more frightened he looked.

Seeing how they were holding arm pieces to a partially human girl didn't help either.

Mei saw the scream that was expanding in his chest and menaced to come out as he started to notice he was not dreaming.

She saw his mouth started to open, and, almost as a reflex, she extended her hand, as if she was telling him to stop.

Light orbs formed on her fingertips as a translucent sphere quickly encircled Hugh.

She surrounded him with a soundproof bubble made of energy to contain him for as long as it took Ciel and her to figure out how to help Venus.

Now inside the bubble, Hugh finally screamed and ranted, but they couldn't hear him, as he was now surrounded by the glassy energy sphere.

"I'm sorry to do this," Mei told him. "I promise I will explain later."

After a few unsuccessful attempts trying one arm at a time, Mei ventured and talked.

"Why don't we try to put both arms at the same time?"

Ciel tilted her head with a soft smile and agreed.

Both of them held Venus's arms and got closer to her. The three felt a pull as if instead of marble pieces, they were magnets. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Ready?" They asked Venus.

"Ready," she replied with a grin.

The sisters moved towards her, as she was pulled to the missing parts of her body.

A bright light formed in the gap as her arms got closer and started to connect until they were one piece again.

Her slightly tanned skin and her long, black-blueish hair were now free of the small stone pieces as well as the rest of her body, all the marble just slipped from her skin.

The three girls were happy and smiling when they heard the news on the TV.

"Meanwhile from Paris, in an unusual event, one of the masterpieces held at the Louvre for almost two hundred years, disappeared today.

This happened during the day and in plain sight of the many security officers and visitors.

Authorities are trying to figure out how the very well known statue, the Venus de Milo, which heights six foot and seven inches, and weighs close to 2000 pounds, disappeared without anyone noticing.

The authorities suspect that this happened during a power failure, before which the statue was in place, but after it, it was gone.

The museum wing where the statue was held for many years will be temporarily closed, as the police run a deep investigation to figure out what happened."

A worried look came to Venus's face, as she figured the people talking on the black scrying mirror on the wall were talking about her.

Mei turned off the TV.

Hugh kept silently watching them. Now he knew they would not hear him anyway.

What was happening over there? Who was that girl that was partially made out of stone? And how was she alive anyway?

He knew the twins for at least half of his conscious life years, but now sparks came from their fingers and magickally imprisoned him in a bubble that tickled when he touched it, while out of his bubble, they were playing 3D puzzles on a girl they kept calling Venus, that seemed very familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out why.

Maybe he was still sleeping and this was one of his weird dreams, like the ones he had the previous night.

Now that he remembered, it was very similar to the nonsensical reality he seemed to be trapped in, maybe not in the details and happenings, but definitely in the weirdness.

His first dream, as he remembered, was about an island, a beautiful paradise that had white sand and stunning beaches, as well as very scarped cliffs.

Enormous, chalk-white walls that disappeared under the sea level. He was standing near the cliff when he heard his name called, but it was not Hugh, he was called by a different name, one that he felt he could recognize as his as well.

He paused the memory to try to remember. It was hard, but he was able to retrieve it.

"Onetor!" A beautiful, young woman was calling him, as she came running towards him.

Her long, black, wavy hair was free, and dancing in the wind. Her perfect smile and tanned skin all brought up the color of her beautiful green eyes. The smile and anticipation in her face matched perfectly with his, as he could feel himself grinning at her.

It was all too real, Hugh noted.

She jumped to Onetor's arms and he caught her, spinning her around while both laughed.

He could feel the texture of her silk dress and her light, warm body in his arms.

Behind her, there was a guy, his skin was tanned, and his hair was black, curly, and very shiny. He was very tall, as Hugh could see, compared to himself, or rather, to Onetor, that still was not short.

He seemed to be following the girl and looked angry. He called her name, but it was muffled by the sound of their surroundings. Onetor pulled her behind him as the guy approached.

"Thaulos, stop." But that was the only thing he managed to say before the guy came closer and punched him in the stomach.

Onetor bent in pain and fell to the ground, while the girl held him.

Her expression showed her concern, as tears formed in her eyes. Why was she so worried?

A fit of deep anger built on him.

He quickly got up as Thaulos waited for him. More punches were thrown at Onetor, some of which he was able to dodge, as he connected some on Thaulos' face and body as well.

Thaulos finally hit him in the jaw and when Onetor was distracted by the pain, the other took the girl's arm and tried to take her with him.

She yelled and pushed him, but was not able to break loose from his grip. Onetor once again launched himself at Thaulos, but then the guy raised his hand, the way Mei had done to create the bubble.

Onetor felt a push on his chest, that sent him flying back through the cliff while the girl screamed from the top of her lungs and tried to reach him, but it was too late, he was falling.

He saw the blue of the clear sky that had not one cloud. Saw the white side of the cliff passing in front of him and could hear the waves breaking on the sharp rocks right below him, closer and closer, but before he touched the water, Hugh woke up with a jump.

It was a weird dream. Sitting on the floor of the hotel in Paris, he reflected on how unusual it was for him to have dreams, let alone so vivid ones.

Looking around, his glare stood on Venus. She sat in one of the beds, focused on the twins as they wandered around the room. He noticed then how similar she was to the girl in his dreams.

Maybe it was that his mind was playing tricks on him and mixed the recent events with his memories of his dreams, and the thought made him feel confused, but everything he dreamed was surprisingly very clear.

He even could keep two out of the three names that were said in his dream. Names that, for a reason he didn't understand, he thought was important to remember.

His curiosity was spiked, and now he tried his best to remember what else he dreamed about. After the fall and jump-awakening back in his room, it was hard for him to get to sleep.

It was about two in the morning, and he then recalled the art class trip he had in a few hours, so he tried harder to force himself to sleep.

When he finally made it, he saw another island.

This one was further in the ocean, but somehow he felt it was relatively near the first one he saw. Its shape was circular, and it would have passed for an artificial island, as it was an inner island surrounded by a ring of water, encircled by a ring of land, and then the open ocean.

He saw temples that he, as an archaeology student, knew were for the god Apollo.

It also called his attention that there were very tall people among the ones with more regular appearance. So tall they could have easily been called giants. They displayed more vitality, strength, and magical powers compared to regular humans.

The people that lived there seemed to have special abilities as well.

Hugh knew in his dream that they could talk through their minds, lived much longer, and could move things without touching them.

He also was almost sure that the place he was seeing was the lost city of Atlantis.

He was not part of the events, but only a witness, and life seemed to be normal, the day was beautiful until the sky started to turn gray, and along came another tall one, one they called Apollymi, a name he heard until she started to kill everyone on the island.

"Apollymi, please don't!" Hugh heard the screams. The island started to collapse, prey to Apollymi's wrath. People ran towards the fleet of boats they had all around the island, but Apollymi was determined to destroy everything.

She killed the tall ones one by one, and then came after the ships. Many of the ships were destroyed by her, but a couple of them managed to escape.

When the sea was calmer, he saw the ships that made it, sailing away. In one of them, the girl of his previous dream was a passenger, the one girl that looked so much like Venus, stood there, watching her home sink in the ocean, while thick tears rolled down her cheeks.

A guy that Hugh recognized from his previous dream, was standing a few steps behind her. It was obvious that he wanted to get closer. More than once took a step forward, but finally sighed and turned to go to the other side of the ship.

They spent some time in the sea to finally arrive on another island.

The girl's ship stood there, while the other followed a different route and went to the land that was further ahead.

The island where the first ship stood looked very familiar, like the one in which Onetor died, but if it was, it had to have been a very long time before, about a thousand years, Hugh thought while remembering.

The shape of the island was pretty much the same, but the people and town were different, even the animals they fed on.

He saw the girl again.

She took the little belongings she could save and carry from her home, and disembarked, always followed closely by the same guy, Thaulos.

Then the alarm clock started yelling at Hugh to wake up, he remembered from the previous day.

He didn't pay much attention to the dreams, but now it seemed like it was somehow related to what happened, especially, as he kept staring at Venus and her resemblance with the girl in his dreams.

At some point, it all went quiet in the twins' room. He looked up to notice he was now alone but still if he paid attention, could hear some voices, whispers that came from the bathroom.

His thoughts went to when he stood in front of the statue. Back at the museum, there was a sense of familiarity, a strange pull, a wish in the back of his mind that urged him to hug her, to keep her safe. An urge he had never felt for any real girl he'd ever tried anything with.

A couple of minutes later, he saw the three girls coming out of the bathroom.

Venus was no longer wearing the robe Ciel fixed for her in a rush at the museum, now she was wearing a pair of fitted jeans and a crimson loose top. She seemed to be the same size as the twins, as their clothing fitter her like a glove.

She looked perfect.

She was smiling calmly, seeming content with being alive. Maybe she didn't completely understand the world she was living in, and he secretly felt a deep desire to show her everything.

Something he was definitely not going to do.

He was never ready to have real feelings for a girl, but pretty much he had never wanted to. This was the first time the idea passed by his mind, and he immediately rejected it.

He didn't know how to be a good guy for a girl, especially one that he saw so perfect, so innocent, and so happy without him.

He would never ruin the happiness that was hers already, not for the world, even if it meant that he could not touch even one hair fallen from her head.

In the few seconds it took him to resolve to that, he saw how Ciel wrapped her arm around Venus's hand and pulled her out the door, telling Mei it was her turn to do the explaining, while they went out to buy food.

"They can materialize objects, but go out to buy food?" Hugh got distracted once again.

"If I had those powers, I would probably not leave my room in months, although, of course, that's probably why I don't have any superpower."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself.

Being in an energy bubble was boring, but had served him well to collect his thoughts and try to understand the recent events, but he still wondered if he should tell the twins about his dreams or not.

Maybe they were not important, just dreams. Maybe there is an explanation for it all.

"Maybe if Freud heard them, he would say I had some s****l repression combined with father issues. Or maybe mother issues."

He still was deep inside his head when he saw the younger sister approach the bubble.

He was definitely calmer now. He stood up from the position he'd kept for about an hour.

As he moved, his muscles ached as if they were on fire. He finally stood straight and faced his friend, because she was a real friend to him, one of the too few real friends he had, that he could count with about three fingers, and he wasn't sure if there wouldn't be extra fingers.

He resented a little that she never told him about who she was and what she and her sister could do, but it was sort of understandable.

She stepped in front of him and talked. He saw her breath deeply and could hear her say, in a low pitch, slowly addressing him.

"You gotta promise me you will not scream."