The proof of my existence.

[Lehti Itajumala]

Lehti was dreaming. He knew this implicitly. What he was dreaming of was another story entirely. One moment flames roared around him, the next there were strings tying him to dying men, the next he was sitting over children with glowing hands. He tossed and turned in his sleep, a sweat breaking on his forehead. Finally, mostly in his mind, he screamed. "Make some sense!" Instantly, it kind of did. He was floating above a small village against a beautiful river. His tutoring whispered 'The river Jordan' in his ear. He began to move slowly but surely towards the village, getting closer and closer to it. He began to notice individual people, and the scene suddenly blurred. When it focused again, he was among the people. Two, a man and his wife, stood gazing lovingly at each other. They were in perfect focus, as if they were the only people in the world. "That's the way we saw it, kid." A voice spoke from close to him, and it sounded like his father's voice, so he turned in fear. Instead, he found himself looking at the man, standing alone. Lehti turned his head and saw the same man still holding his wife. He turned back, and the man nodded. "Sorry, son. This is my memory, so you'll have to deal with me being here. Now, look closer." Son? Still, Lehti obediently turned and looked closer at the couple, letting his observant abilities take control. He reeled back in horror and surprise. The woman had his face! "Yes, she did." He turned to the man, disbelief covering his features. "Don't be so afraid, boy. We lived so long ago, we're basically related to everyone. That wasn't what I was talking about, look again." The man waved an arm, forcing Lehti's attention back to the couple. This time he focused, and took in every detail. The love between man and woman was nearly tangible. People seemed to break like a wave against a rock, moving so that there was a wide space around the couple. His eye was caught by a small white and blue stitched skullcap nestled on the top of the man's head. Jewish, a dispassionate voice in his mind said, a religious and cultural belief set which celebrates one god as well as listing the heavenly messengers in deliberate order. They believe implicitly that one day a savior will come to free them from oppression. "How did I know that?" Lehti asked, confused. The man chuckled. "That's a story for another night. But you're right, kid, I am, or should I say was, Jewish." A voice at the back of his head, gravelly and nasal, spoke. It was the voice of the priest who had tutored him in Manala when he was a child. "Jews are heretics! They defy the laws of Manala and believe in another god as their own! Kill them!" He shook his head. Disgusted, the man spat on the ground. "That's dumb. Who thinks that way? Sure, I might get pissed off at someone who verbally shouted down my beliefs, but I wouldn't kill them. It's just that kind of thinking that makes religions turn bad. Just look." Another wave of his hand, and the world blurred. Suddenly, they were at some sort of temple, listening to people yell at the man. "She's not one of us, ______! You can't trust her." Yelled one faceless man. The feeling of the man's name against his ears was impossible. He could hear it, but he couldn't tell what it was. Lehti sighed, obviously he wasn't ready for it. "Very good, kid! I guess you're smarter than I hoped you would be! You even understand emotion-based dream mechanics. Either way, listen close." He turned his head back to the crowd, and saw anger rising in the man's eyes. "I love her. I trust her. And if you don't, then by all means ostracize us! We'll survive alone if necessary!" The man, the one beside him, closed his eyes. Pain was etched on every line of his face. "She was Muslim. We were at war with the Muslims, and according to the people of the village, anyone who was Muslim was the enemy. So, the love of my life was the enemy of my friends and family. They didn't take it well." Another wave, and the scene changed. A little farm on the edge of the village, and all was not well. The woman lay dead, her arms outstretched, bloody stab wounds all over her body. They were ragged, ripped rather than cut, like they had used farm instruments instead of real weapons to kill her. They, meaning the villagers. They were still here, and the man was returning. They turned to meet him, and they were laughing. "See, ______? She was a spy! She had more of her little Muslim friends here, telling them of our village!" The man dropped his pack and food tumbled out. He ran to his wife's corpse, and now Lehti felt that same horror. Death was fine, but the body should never be left behind. Terror rippled through both of them, the man and Lehti. "They were her family! She had invited them here to tell them we were together! To make them understand!" The man screamed. "You killed her! Murderers! Murderers!" A small man in a red robe stepped forward, an arrogant grin on his face. A red robe, a blood red robe. Lehti turned to the man beside him, but the man was weeping, the pain had overcome him. So Lehti turned back. The little man spoke. "No, ______, that was not her family. She lied to you, in order to keep you from becoming suspicious. She was telling our secrets to the dirty Muslim infidels. But it's over now, ______. You can return to your life as it should be, find a good Jewish girl, and stop defying our laws." The man's eyes turned to the man, and they were dry. Anger of the most amazing heat blazed within them. "Your laws. YOUR LAWS! What in the name of Hell do I care for your laws!? Your laws that killed an innocent woman for no other reason than that she wasn't of your kind! Didn't believe what you believe! I defy your laws because your laws are EVIL!" He rose from the ground, his feet planted wide, his arms rising to the sky in rage. "Why!? Why did you make these disgusting beasts human? Why did you do this to me!?" His eyes returned to the crowd, who were no longer laughing. Anger was in their eyes now, and Lehti couldn't help himself. "NO!" He screamed. They would kill the man! Then he stopped, as anger was replaced by fear in the peoples' eyes. A red glow erupted from the ground, a shining sparkle, like red gems beneath the surface. "Impossible. That's impossible! Manala crystals didn't exist back then!" Lehti yelled, his beliefs were shaken. "Didn't they? Have you never considered that your Father Manala had nothing to do with what you refer to as Manala crystals?" The man spoke calmly, as if he had rehearsed the speech again and again over years. "If it's impossible, how do you explain what comes next?" He nodded towards himself, and Lehti stared, unable to look away. The man, enshrouded in the red glow, ran forward and thrust out his hand. A shimmer in the air caught Lehti's notice, and he whispered softly. "No, no way." The man seized the little robed man, an the little man lit on fire. A raging bonfire erupted from his flesh, and Lehti's companion dropped the burning figure. The scene disappeared, faded into darkness. Lehti, enraptured, jerked his eyes to the man beside him. The man smiled softly. "My fault. Sorry, but it's a bit much for me right now. That bit is unnecessary to the lesson at hand. I'll tell you right now what happened." He paused, and looked unabashedly into Lehti's eyes. "I slaughtered them. I let not one worthless piece of scum escape me." He looked out, and the scene resolved back into existence. Flames raged everywhere, dead bodies were engulfed in fire, as was the entire countryside. The man kneeled over his fallen love, and wept. Lehti watched as the man buried his wife, digging the grave with his bare hands. He ripped his hands open on rocks and soil, but he kept digging. When he was done, he lifted his wife and carried her to the grave, setting her gently in the hole. He covered her with Earth, a single shining red jewel resting just above her in the dirt. And he wept. His prayers moved slowly, then increased in speed and feeling. It mixed Jewish and Muslim, and Lehti was amazed how similar they were. The man raised his hands and eyes to the sky, and wept. The man waved his arm again, and the scene shifted. For the first time, Lehti was grateful. The world opened up to the man standing, his hands on fire, before a group of soldiers with spears. "Demon! We are here to exorcise you from this world!" Yelled a man in a red robe from behind the soldiers. This word rankled on Lehti's nerves. He had met demons, and the man was no demon. "Let it go, kid. I was standing before a group of religious zealots as one of the first wielders of Manala energy in the history of the world, and my hands are spewing fire. Demon is a pretty obvious conclusion to make." Lehti sighed, and watched. The word demon had made the man stop. He looked at himself and a disgusted look crossed his face. Then resolution. The fire dispersed from his hands, and he raised them to the heavens. "So do it. Just remember to say a prayer for me. I became a demon for a good reason." He looked to the skies, and the soldiers thrusted. Lehti's hand rushed out, ready to cast fire...only to find that he couldn't. The man rested a hand on Lehti's shoulder. "It's my memory, kid. Nothing for you to burn." The spears impacted with the man's body, and a flash crossed his face. Peace covered his features, and he yelled to the heavens. "Oh, my God! I see it now, I see your plan! I see now why! Please forgive me for doubting you! Thank you, thank you!" And then he died. It was obvious. His eyes misted over, and he slumped onto the spears. The soldiers let him down and removed the blades. The priest, for Lehti knew him for one now, moved forward and laid the man's hands across his chest in a sign of peace and respect, and then spoke to the soldiers. "Rejoice, men. This man was a demon because he let his anger overcome his beliefs. But, at the moment of death, the darkness and anger were dispelled, and he saw the Lord's plan. He died a prophet, the first prophet of our age. Feel grateful, for you have given birth to a holy being." But Lehti wasn't listening to the priest, he was staring at the man. "What did you see that could return your faith after all that happened?" The man's face was alight with love and happiness. "I saw the most beautiful, wonderful thing in the world. I saw you, Lehti Itajumala. And that was the most absolute moment of my life."

Lehti sat up straight, sweat pouring from his skin, tears from his eyes. He held his face in his hands and wept. The flames within him roared and flared, and told him it was alright. They told him that as long as they existed, the man lived on. Lived on in him, because the man was his Great-Great-Great-Great-grandfather's brother. And he wept out the name which he hadn't been ready for before. "Azriel Tel Eschen, the First Flame."

End of the first dream.