Conscious, Conscientious

A muffled explosion rattled the floor under Lammy’s rushed steps.

He peered around, determined not to grow frantic. The long castle hall’s structure was unaffected.

“The city’s front gate,” Layla uttered on his back. “The fight has already started.”

Lammy turned to the tall windows all along the wall. Smoke rose into the sky, far behind the city’s many rooftops.

“I pray this resistance is strong,” added Layla lowly.

“If they’re the people I think they are,” said Lammy, “then yeah—they’re really strong.”

Another rumble shook the walls.

“Good. Proscious won’t waste time. We have to stop them before sunset begins.”

Just as Lammy was about to ask why, they heard the clatter of metal emerging from the next intersecting hall.

More guards.

“This won’t do. We’ll have to utilize a less direct path towards the western tower,” decided Layla quickly.

She guided Lammy further down the hall as he broke into a jog. But the hair on his neck stood as he realized they were moving closer to the sound of the guards.

“Uh…Layla…”

“There. To the right of that painting.”

She’d pointed to the one nearest the next corner. Heart racing, Lammy rushed to reach it. He felt Layla begin to release her grip, so he helped her drop to her feet.

Layla limped closer to the wall and inspected it with an unexpectedly laborious squint.

“This is it,” she confirmed. The Queen reached for a section of her skirt that would have been hard to access from Lammy’s back. After retrieving the necessary fabric, she began to pull.

But her movement slowed. Suddenly, Layla began swaying to the side. She failed to catch her balance.

“Whoa!”

Lammy jumped forward with a start and caught her in place. Layla fought to stay on her feet, but she was shaking even more visibly than before.

“What is the meaning…of this?” she said airily. “I…I did not approve of installing floors that tilt and spin…”

“Um…before anything else,” Lammy suggested, “maybe we should try and find you something to eat?”

~

The surprisingly humble kitchen smelled much less appetizing than the Phoenix, or Lammy’s family dinner back home. The only vaguely familiar scent was bread. All he saw besides the wooden counters were heavy barrels and piles of sacks. He set Layla down carefully in the back corner of the cramped, dark room.

“Another wise decision, Noble Lammy…”

The small Queen’s usually sharp voice had gone queasy. He was grateful she’d remained alert enough to activate enchantments in the walls and weave their way through dozens of minor rooms to reach this area.

Lammy wondered how long she’d been keeping up this façade of resilience, but he could certainly relate: he tried to hide it, but he’d been growing a bit dizzy himself from the lack of food.

“Is it safe for us to stop here?” Lammy checked.

“Not for too long. But they won’t think to search in here,” Layla assured. “This is a minor kitchen for the castle’s overnight guards and workers. A young royal like myself wouldn’t typically have reason to know about it.”

Following Layla’s tired instructions, Lammy rummaged through some of the barrels. He managed to fish out a sack of bread that seemed fresh enough. It appeared nothing else had been prepared yet for the day—likely due to the ongoing emergency he and his friends were responsible for—but considering the circumstances, this was more than he could expect.

He joined the Queen in the back corner farthest from the door and handed her the majority of the bread buns.

“The wall we’re leaning against is enchanted, as well,” Layla explained as she received them.

“You even enchanted this room ahead of time? That’s really impressive.”

Layla seemed to bite her cheek to mask her reaction. “Let’s remain in this spot as we eat. We can escape promptly if we see the door open. And regardless, we need to move quickly to prevent their next move.”

She took an elegant, rehearsed bite, but quickly gave in to her starvation and ate with little concern for loftiness.

“You know, we didn’t have time to get into it,” Lammy started, “but what is Proscious’ next move?”

On top of that, he couldn’t grasp why she was so sure about it. He’d watched something click in her head after hearing Fewpar’s news in the Dream World. But the details alone didn’t seem sufficient enough to decipher the enemy’s entire strategy.

Clearly, there was more he didn’t know.

“What I’m about to tell you has been a secret of the Dreamer Arts since the earliest days of civilization in this reality,” Layla started seriously. She took a hearty bite of bread. “So as Queen of Azvaylen, I now dub you an honorary member of the Royal Castle,” she muffled out through bread-filled cheeks.

“Wait—just like that?!” exclaimed Lammy.

“The Dreamer Chamber’s location isn’t for aesthetics or convenience—my ancestors constructed it there for a reason,” she continued. “In that precise place by the shore, Dreamer powers transform. It only lasts less than an hour, but at sunset there every day, Dreamers can use their powers in the real world.”

Lammy paused his rushed eating as his eyebrows rose. He reflected on everything he’d seen Zayza and Fewpar do in the Dream World—the light energy, the flying, teleportation, transforming the entire landscape into a new domain…

…There was a place they could do all of that in the real world?

Even if it was only possible for such a brief period of time, the possibility shot a shiver through his body.

“The Chamber’s Great Window was built to mark the onset of this phenomenon, which we call ‘Dreamwake.’ When the setting sun shines through the Great Window and lights the entire chamber green, Dreamwake has begun,” Layla revealed.

Lammy recalled Zayza’s mention of this window in her account. She’d gazed through it to spy on Proscious’ experiments.

“…And you believe Proscious is planning to do something during Dreamwake,” Lammy pieced together.

“It depends on the outcomes of these battles,” said Layla. “I’m certain they know of Dreamwake now that they’ve taken over the Chamber for their own uses. But Dreamer powers, in nature, are abstract. They’re unquantifiable in the real world, and frankly, unscientific. So trying harness Dreamer energy—as Zayza has witnessed them attempting—would likely be a severe risk during Dreamwake. I doubt they’ve attempted it yet.”

Layla’s eyes narrowed as she looked into an unspecific distance. “However, if they’re unable to squash our new allies, I believe they’ll take that risk. It’s obvious they don’t want the Multiverse to know what they’re doing here. But several of us now know the truth. So they’ll expedite their mission by trying to take my powers during Dreamwake. They’ll need me in their clutches before sunset.”

Lammy blinked. “You…figured out all of that just from what Zayza and Fewpar told us?” he uttered slowly.

“Yes.”

“Whoa. You’re amazing, Layla,” Lammy admired. “I need to get my strategizing to your level.”

Again, Layla bit her reddening cheek as her eyes met his intensely. “No. From all I’ve heard and seen of you, we are equals, Noble Lammy.”

He shrugged, remembering to eat. After finishing a roll, Lammy granted control back to his desire to understand. “So this all has to do with why you told Zayza and Fewpar to stay in the Dream World,” he assumed.

“Indeed. Sadly, as you saw, my Dreamer Guards now answer to Proscious. They will be indispensable to him during Dreamwake. He can order them all to defend the Dreamer Chamber from any attempted rescue as he carries out his experiment with me. With their combined powers at his disposal in the real world, he can truly create an impenetrable force.”

She paused to finish her last roll of bread. But all the while, there was a glimmer in her eye—a determination.

“But if we act preemptively,” she said, “we can prevent that force from even forming.”

Finally, Lammy began to catch on.

“So Zayza and Fewpar are a trap,” he understood.

Layla nodded. “Precisely, Noble Lammy. Since the Dreamer Guards are on the hunt for us, it will be easy to lure them in. But they don’t realize it’s them being hunted,” she shared. “Our enemy has a major blind spot: one my father forged and maintained even until his end for this very purpose.”

Her gleaming gray eyes became contagious. Layla’s tenacious hope filled Lammy as, for once, he knew exactly what she was about to say:

“They have no idea how powerful Zayza really is.”

~

A squad of ten robed fighters evaporated within a beam of green light, clearing the Dream World sky. Just the same, their cries of aggression vanished.

“There was a rumor about you when we were young, you know.”

Zayza turned to Fewpar as he joined her atop the light blue hill. Despite the harmless nature of his speech, he still avoided her eyes.

“Some said you were merely feigning inadequacy in the Dreamer Arts to avoid responsibility, when you’d actually mastered each technique,” he remembered. “Now, I see those rumors were completely underselling it.”

Zayza glanced at her hands. By now, she’d used them to defeat over a hundred Dreamer Guards—even more than that when factoring in Fewpar’s help.

She frowned.

“I had no choice but to pursue this strength,” she uttered. “It was the only path.”

Zayza stepped forward, sensing for the presence of any more Dreamers in the area. After an uncomfortable moment, Fewpar followed.

“We’re only ejecting them and knocking them dreamless. They’ll be alive and well when this is all over,” Fewpar tried to reassure.

Zayza didn’t know how to reply, so she remained walking. She couldn’t understand the blend of emotions building as she listened to Fewpar’s encouraging tone.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I picked up on the guilt in your voice,” explained Fewpar. “It…it very much resembled Vayva’s…”

His voice cut out the instant Zayza’s shoulders tensed.

“I…I apologize, Princess.”

Zayza almost sped her pace, but caught herself. She wasn’t here to reconstruct the rift between them. This was everything she’d been hoping for once she noticed him outside of her cell and revealed the truth. It was exactly what Vayva would have wanted them to do: honor her love for them. Come together as one.

Celebrate her legacy and fight for her kingdom.

Fewpar was misguided, Zayza reminded herself. He was misguided when he hurt me.

But he was still her torturer.

The same loss that chased Zayza away from everything was the loss that broke him. Their mourning for the same deaths had turned them into bitter enemies.

But now, he understood. Now Zayza wished she’d fought harder to maintain Vayva and Fewpar’s respect before it was far too late. Perhaps they could have all worked together.

Regardless, circumstances and wishes couldn’t undo what happened.

Fewpar tortured her. That pain would never go away.

Zayza knew she didn’t hate him. But she couldn’t bring herself to love him as family again, either.

She turned back to Fewpar and finally managed to catch his eyes after they darted around in uncertainty. In spite of herself, Zayza gave him a soft smile.

It was the only reaction she ever knew to give, despite the lack of sense it often made. Even as she didn’t know what she was feeling, even despite her reluctance, her smile came naturally.

Perhaps my family was right, she thought. Perhaps I’m just friendly to a fault.

She tried to ignore the confusion of her own thoughts and focus on what she could grasp. Despite the mutual discomfort that came from them, Fewpar’s words of encouragement were accurate: they weren’t deeply harming any of the Dreamer Guards.

Zayza had been unleashing attacks powerful enough to eject them from the Dream World quickly, and knock out their powers. If they tried to return too soon, they would find themselves only able to sleep as a normal person. It required an immense amount of strength and precision, so Fewpar mainly focused on defense and standard ejection as Zayza led the offensive.

On top of that, any Dreamer Guards whose bodies were unable to awaken would simply fall dreamless until they could.

Zayza’s mind eased the slightest bit. After all, these were her colleagues and former classmates. At least she knew she wasn’t causing them life-threatening harm.

Though it hurt her too, they had to keep fighting. If Layla was right about Proscious’ plans, they had no other option.

“Above us,” Fewpar alerted lowly.

“I feel it.”

Fewpar had already begun constructing the shield, so Zayza charged her arms with green light. An umbrella of transparent blue energy unraveled in the air just above them, Fewpar’s hands guiding its shape.

Within the moment, a dozen robed guards flashed into their presence above the shield. Blasts of beams in various colors immediately rained down, but they all burst against the blue barrier.

Zayza stood at the ready and awaited the opening in their onslaught. The thought that she’d been so unrehearsed, so frightened and clumsy in the Dream World before she recovered her memories felt like another life entirely.

She watched Fewpar as he focused everything on their defense, his stance nearly perfect. Right now felt much more like their years of classes in the Dreamer Chamber.

No—not quite.

Now, she had no reason to hold back or hide.

“Almost….” Fewpar called over to her.

His signal came a second after Zayza knew to be ready. But she appreciated his effort, nonetheless.

The beams of energy were coming slower.

“Now!”

Zayza raised a single hand. The shield vanished, and she fired straight into the air. Their timing was flawless: only two blasts were in descent, and they provided no challenge to Zayza’s energy as it scooped them both into its radiance.

There was nothing the guards could do. The burst of light enveloped all of them and tinted the sky above. They were gone when it faded, just as the ten guards moments before—and just as the countless others who’d challenged them.

Zayza caught Fewpar staring. She averted her gaze, unable to accept his admiration for her abilities. Not when she had to use them to fight their own people.

“I still don’t understand…how?” Fewpar marveled. “Is it innate? Did you always know this potential was within you—?”

“DUCK!” Zayza pleaded.

Thankfully, his reflexes were quick. Zayza’s beam of light zoomed just over his head and met a hidden guard crouched not far behind him. The damage ejected the guard instantly.

Fewpar rose back up slowly, correcting his hair. “You didn’t have to save me,” he muttered. “I…I certainly deserve the opposite.”

Zayza paused to sense for any other lingering attackers. Then, she stepped closer. “Perhaps let’s navigate where we stand with each other another day,” she said carefully. “Today, let’s just keep fighting.”

She turned and gazed over the multicolored horizon to prevent herself from catching his expression.

“I meant it when I said these powers were my only path,” Zayza shared. “Vayva…she was sharp, and perfect in every other avenue of our duties—leadership…diplomacy…strategy…magic…and Layla was already proving to turn out just the same. But I couldn’t grasp any of that. Even back when I really cared—when I used to try so hard for my family’s sake.”

She observed her hands once more. “The Dreamer Arts were all I had. It was the only study I understood, and so I poured my everything into it. It came naturally—I suppose in this way alone, I took after my father…”

“…So when he ordered me to keep my abilities a secret, to hide them from the entire world, I…felt so unvalued. I let it create a distance between us,” she explained. “But now…I see why it needed to be that way. Now, I know what my powers are meant for. The day has come, and I don’t have to hide them anymore.”

She stepped forward, a confidence in her strut she hadn’t had since she was a small girl. Fewpar followed her along the hill, this time without hesitation.

“These powers will protect my sister. They will protect my teammate.”

“They will rescue Azvaylen,” Fewpar added.

Zayza nodded. “I promise,” she said clearly, “At Dreamwake, I will take on Wei myself. And I will bring him to his knees.”