'Where am I?' Pier asked himself as he couldn't recognize the place.
The last memory he had was sleeping on the bed with the vampire king cradling him in his arms.
He roamed his gaze around the unfamiliar place. His feet wanted to roam around and see the entirety of the house.
"Is this a dream?" He spoke before scratching his cheek as he was not sure what to do.
One could not really tell if they were in a dream unless it was lucid.
"A lucid dream?" He hummed as the silence of the rickety old wooden floors erupted all around the porch.
"Doesn't seem like one though," he then turned his head to look at the exterior scenery. There was a pleasant aroma of the autumn breeze caressing the wide field of green grass.
It was tranquil. Not one unpleasant view was there. Everything seemed like it was a place spoken in books where the calm serenity overflows through the field of lush green.
"It looks like a place in the countryside," he then looked at his back and saw that the door of the house was ajar.
Gaining the courage to roam inside, Pier started to walk.
He really did not know how he could get out of the place or his dream but he had a hunch that he needed to see what was inside.
Creaking, the door opened further when he pushed the material.
"Hello?" He tried to call for anyone but silence responded again. Stepping inside, the floor emitted a small creak when his foot landed on the wooden material.
The first scene that greeted him was the living room which was void of any extravagant things. An unlit fireplace had the remains of what looked like burnt wood while the curtains were dangling on the corners to allow sunlight.
The furniture was covered with dust. Chairs and tables alike had traces of small, dusty particles on them and Pier grimaced at how old the place must be.
"Hello?" He called for the presence of another life again but he was still met with an empty response.
'There must be a purpose why I am inside this dream, right? Or is it a random occurrence?' He hummed while trotting inside the house.
An old chandelier was hanging from the ceiling and it looked like it would fall anytime soon. Since the house was divided into what seemed like two divisions, the first and second floor, Pier decided to explore the place.
He first headed into a room that was the nearest.
It was an empty bedroom.
There was a wooden bed frame on the room's corner but nothing else aside from the wooden floor was present.
A single window was perched on the wall and he was able to see the backyard of the house where the presence of the glimmering sun and satisfying breeze could be seen and felt.
"This is nice," he complimented. It was always a lowkey dream of him to live in a place in the countryside where life was simple and he was away from all of the drama.
When he finished analyzing the first room, Pier then got out and went to the second room.
"I hope whoever lives here does not mind having a trespasser like me looking through their house." He shrugged his shoulders and then decided to enter the room that was next to the previous one he entered.
"Oh, this one's messier." he clicked his tongue before roaming his eyes around the room that he entered.
Just like the first room, everything was either covered with dust or are old enough to break with a single touch. The curtains that seemed worn out were hung on a round stick which was then inserted on parallel nails attached so they won't fall.
The floor had small patches of covers as if someone tried to fix the holes that were present there. Even the window that was awkwardly similar to the first room's was giving Pier the ick.
He hated dusty places.
"I might get an allergic reaction if I stay here longer." Pier swatted his hand to make the flying dust go away from his face.
The last thing he wanted to happen was to actually start sneezing nonstop and have a runny nose after inhaling all the dust. Sighing, he turned his back and proceeded to head towards the door of the room.
But that's when he heard something else.
"Hmmm.... Hmmm..."
Surprised by the sudden noise, Pier flinched and completely halted his steps.
"Someone's humming?" He inquired himself.
'Must be the owner of the house.' He then proceeded to exit the second room and started to wonder where the sound had come from.
Pier identified that the melodious humming had come from the second floor of the house. It was faint but he can hear it clearly because of the silence that was engulfing the entire place.
Taken over by curiosity, he started to walk up the stairs and ignored the other rooms that had ajar doors. He really wanted to exit the dream right now and get back into his real life. Pier needed to visit Taron and deliver Asher the thing he wanted the prince to do.
As he stepped onto the first step of the staircase that led to the second floor, it made a creaking noise and the humming stopped.
'Crap, did I alert them?' He might look like a burglar or whatever right now but Pier can clearly discern that this was a dream. He had vivid memories of what happened before he slept and so he easily knew this was not reality.
"Are you home?" A woman's voice asked from a distance and Pier raised both of his eyebrows.
'I don't recall having a wife though?' He decided not to respond and instead, continued heading up the stairs until his feet landed on the second floor.
'If I did have a wife, man, she must be beautiful'
Pier's humor can sometimes be out of place especially now that he has a vampire king who was always trying to get in his pants and marry him.
With a small chuckle lingering on his lips, he continued to take strides as to where he last heard the woman's voice.
'Why did I even assume that it is my wife. I'm trespassing their house!' He rolled his eyes at his thoughts and stopped when he reached the door where he knew the voice had originated from.
Unlike the other doors, this one was not ajar and completely shut. The knob looked carefully cleaned and even the door seemed like it was new.
Thump!
'My heart...?' Confusion doused him when he tried to reach for the knob of the door as his heart pounded loudly in his chest.
'What is this?' He started to feel his back and neck getting cold while sweat formed on his forehead. A premonition that something he will not like was behind the door lingered on his mind and body.
But he did not know how to end this dream. Instead, Pier chose to fully grab the knob and slowly turn it.
"Honey, are you home?" The woman's voice asked again and Pier stopped turning the knob.
'Honey?' He glared at the door.
Nevertheless, his heart did not stop pounding in his chest and Pier chose to ignore the nervousness and anxiety he felt. He completely turned the knob and opened the door.
"Hey, what's with this dream-"
"Oh, it's just the wind."
He closed his mouth shut in bewilderment.
"Your father's going to be home any time soon now, aren't you excited?" She cooed something in her arms as if the white-haired king was not standing in front of the ajar door.
"Hey? Woman?" He called again but she paid no attention to him.
'She must not see me,' He concluded while observing her from behind. Pier carefully analyzed her back like a creep while she continued to hold something in her arms.
The most remarkable visual of the woman that stunned him was the similarity in their hair color.
She had white hair just like him.
Though hers was longer that it reached up to her waist, the resemblance was quite uncanny that it made him shiver for unknown reasons.
"Have you woken up, little ones? The sun feels good at this time of the morning!" She exclaimed gently and played with what seemed to be wrapped in clothes.
'Does she have ice magic too?' He wondered since he really cannot identify. He knew one reason for their hair turning white was because of ice magic like him but it was possible she had just dyed her hair.
Deciding that he looked creepy enough, Pier walked towards the woman, and each step he took created creaking sounds on the floorboard.
The woman turned her head again to see if there was anyone but none. No one was there whilst the floor continuously creaked.
"Frost of the highest order, guard my sons against harmful entities,"
Pier halted in his steps again when she chanted a spell and the entire room was covered in ice in a split second.
His eyes widened when he saw what had just occurred. No, it was not just covered with ice.
It was snowing inside the room.
'She created winter inside the room...' Alerts instantly rang in his head the moment the woman cast her spell.
It was greater than his ice magic.
Pier cannot do that. He cannot manifest winter inside the room in a split second.
"As I thought. It must have been the wind," she swept her hair behind her ear and continued to hold the bundle in her arms.
"Hey, woman!" This time, Pier spoke louder.
"Do you want to have lunch now?" She asked the bundle in her arms which meant that she did not hear the white-haired king.
'She can't hear nor see me but can hear the floorboards creaking?' He clicked his tongue and cautiously trotted towards her.
The ice-covered ground and the snow falling from the clouds that formed on the ceiling were passing through him as if he was a ghost or intangible spirit.
This time, there were no longer any floorboards creaking or doors moving. Everything was held by her ice magic in place which amazed Pier.
"Does that tickle you?" She giggled and wriggled her fingers.
When Pier finally got to stand in front of her, he couldn't take his gaze away from her face.
She never really turned her face completely in his direction earlier so he cannot see her face but now that she was smiling and laughing while playing with a set of small hands, he was baffled to see the sight.
Porcelain pale skin
Hair as white as snow
Eyes as blue as the skies
Red ruby lips
'Is she... the female version of me?' He wanted to speak out loud but was too stunned to do so.
The woman has an awfully similar appearance to him.
His gaze then drifted to the bundle of clothes that she was holding dearly. At first glance, it looked like a pile of clothes but upon closer inspection, Pier slowly gasped when he saw the child that was inside.
The white-haired king could not take his eyes off of the child because aside from the fact that it was small, unlike other babies, it had the same blue eyes as her.
"Uwaah!"
His eyes widened when a cry erupted from the bundle of clothes but it did not come from the baby he saw.
Pier took a step forward. The ice cracked beneath his feet and his heart pounded again.
"Are you hungry, Silas?" She asked and Pier flinched when he saw what was next to the first baby he saw.
It was another young infant. The woman was holding two babies in her lap and cradling them gently in her arms at times.
He couldn't take his eyes off of the two infants in her arms. It felt as if Pier was being drawn to them for unknown reasons that even if he wanted to look away, he couldn't.
But he was not expecting what she would continue to say.
"Silas... Pier... My sons..."