Conscious, Conscientious

Aside from the continued dull banging against the door, the tower had finally gone quiet.

"You must be terrified," Phillip observed in a deep utter barely loud enough to hear.

Lammy sniffled, but broke into a smile. "Well…yeah, but…I knew Deon would come for us."

He no longer had to keep reigning in his heart to keep his hopes from getting too high–his highest hopes were now their reality.

No, it was more than hope: it was expectation. And once again, even when tossed into different parts of an entire Multiverse, Deon didn't let him down.

His lungs finally filled again.

He let out a sigh, and the burning glow in his eyes dissipated.

Once they did, he turned to find Zayza approaching them with Layla on their back. Now that his heightened powers had expired, the invisible walls he'd imagined vanished just the same.

"Queen, Princess," Phillip greeted with a respectful nod. "And…"

"Fewpar. A servant of the Queen," the Dreamer said as he sheathed his magic sword. "A…a reformed one, I suppose."

Phillip nodded his way as well.

"Good Phillip, I cannot honor you and your resistance enough. We already owe you an unpayable debt for saving us just now," Layla told him loftily from over her sister's shoulder. "Though lamentably, we still have much of a fight left to overcome."

Her words sparked a quick realization in Lammy.

"That's right–we still have to find Pang!" Lammy realized. "She's your friend, right? We'll help you save her, too!"

But Phillip's reaction was far from what he'd expected. His small smile vanished, and he looked off towards nothing in particular. Then, seemingly hesitant to accept the words he was about to share, he shook his head.

"Pang isn't here anymore. They took her away," he revealed. "Proscious admitted it themselves."

Lammy stiffened.

Then we already failed her, he knew. We couldn't return the favor.

"So you've met her, then," Phillip learned.

Lammy caught Zayza's eyes. They both nodded, heads hanging low.

"We were all kidnapped at the same time. She…she tried to free us," Zayza said. "She had the perfect opportunity to run away, but she didn't. Instead, she tried to fight Proscious so we could all escape."

Her mouth quivered as she raised her head and allowed her gaze to reach Phillip.

"Back there, Pang and Raznizu were the only ones who still believed we could make it–they promised us help was on the way," she continued. "If not for their faith…I know we wouldn't be alive right now."

Lammy clenched his fists. "I'm standing by it," he vowed. "We'll save Pang, too. I swear."

He averted his attention briefly as the banging on the door intensified for a moment.

"Did you hear Proscious say anything about where they're taking her?" checked Phillip. "Did they say what they want with her?"

Once again softening, Lammy and Zayza shook their heads.

Phillip let out a slight, resolute sigh. "Then right now, my main objective is to protect the three of you. My friends care about all of you very deeply. And…I owe it to them."

Despite his lanky stature, Phillip's presence dominated the room. Even standing still, he appeared like a shadow–but now, he was more the kind whose shade could offer shelter than the kind that would keep Lammy up at night.

But as he stood there, with incapacitated soldiers all around, Lammy could feel his disappointment. Clearly, Pang was the main reason he'd come on this quest.

"You've said you and Noble Lammy's cousin have arrived with friends. Who else is in your ranks?" inquired Layla. "What abilities do they possess?"

"There are five of us total," Phillip revealed. "Deon's teammate Skrili, a highly skilled Power Rebound, is here with us. But our strongest are our League seniors, Hiroko and Ko–"

He couldn't even finish; Zayza's exclamation burst out. It was a sigh and a brief sob all in one. While her eyes welled up, Layla's widened as a young child's.

"They really came here for us…don't they know what they're risking?" Zayza breathed.

"Of course they do. And you're worth it," Layla said rather bluntly before Lammy got the chance to struggle through a similar reply.

Phillip smiled subtly, noticing he didn't need to give any further elaboration.

"We will win. We'll stop Proscious–Now I'm sure of it," Zayza declared.

"We'll need to be able to defeat their leader," emphasized Phillip. "We've been operating as a five-person team, but we split up to weaken theirs. I've only defeated one so far, and I'm unsure if Deon and Skrili have encountered the other. But Kotono and Hiroko can't restrain their leader for long."

"Wei is powerful," Layla agreed. "We've been working towards that same goal. I believe your rebellion's presence has forced his hand, so I've set a strategy in motion. Allow me to catch you up to speed:"

She took in a deep breath, even as the banging on the door persisted.

Wait…she's gonna go through all of it right now? Lammy worried.

"Proscious' secret objective is to steal our Dreamer powers. They've constructed an incomplete technology for doing so, and right now, they're in the process of configuring it for me as their source. But with your rebel team here to challenge them, and with the secret known, I believe they'll attempt to rush their experiment, take what they want, and leave us in ruin. Their best chance at success would be to commence during Dreamwake."

The door rattled in response to what sounded like an explosion. But even still, it remained as if untouched.

"Uh…do we have the time?" Lammy timidly intervened.

"Fear not, Noble Lammy: my enchantment will hold…for now," the Queen assured. "They will require much more power on that gate than Azvaylen soldiers possess."

While her magical prowess continued to impress him, 'for now' were the words that lingered in Lammy's head.

Nonetheless, she continued–though she spoke a bit quicker:

"Dreamwake is a phenomenon that occurs in our Dreamer Chamber, which Proscious has converted into a lab," Layla explicated. "From sunset to nightfall, Dreamer powers become active in the real world–making them more tangible. I believe Proscious will take advantage of that, despite the severe and catastrophic risks it carries."

The next few booms on the door even shook the floor. Lammy, Zayza, and Fewpar exchanged increasingly impatient glances while Phillip remained engaged with the Queen's briefing.

Seemingly fighting not to look over to the door, Layla paused. Then, her speech poured out even faster.

Words practically overlapping, she raced through every remaining detail: Zayza and Fewpar's successful efforts to wipe out Dreamers so Wei couldn't use them during Dreamwake, Zayza's secretly superior powers, and their bottom line–for Zayza to face Wei during Dreamwake with strength he wouldn't see coming.

Layla took a labored, hearty gasp, but blinked instantly back into her Queenly demeanor.

"Do you understand?" she reviewed collectedly.

NO HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND!! Lammy wanted to blurt. I already know the plan and I almost didn't get half of that!

"Yes," said Phillip.

HE UNDERSTOOD?!?!?!

"And if my team has defeated the other Proscious member, there will be nothing between us and Wei. Our plans compliment each other well," Phillip added.

"So it seems," said the Queen.

As Fewpar visibly struggled to keep up and Zayza obviously pretended to, Lammy shrugged to himself. He figured it was better to be grateful for Phillip's apparent intellect than to stay confused by its convenience.

Then Lammy pounced–another blast resounded through the tower.

But this time, it left a tall crack in the door.

"It appears they've gathered the power they need. We're out of time," Layla observed quickly. "Phillip, you said your team hunted the other Proscious members?"

He nodded. "I've only defeated one. But I haven't spoken with everyone since the attack began, so that's all I know."

"Then that still leaves them plenty of power to overwhelm my enchantment with force," Layla derived. "Proscious is on the other side of that gate. They'll want me for their experiment, and the others for execution."

The crack spread drastically with an even more ferocious blast. A streak of light from the castle bled in.

Immediately, Fewpar ripped out his light sword and raised it at the ready.

"Then here we go again," he grumbled.

"Wait," hushed Phillip. "There's a better way to approach this."

Layla nodded fervently, already on the same page. "By your fighting style, I assume you're an Illusionist?"

Lammy's mind lit up, and everyone looked to him as he visibly jolted into excitement. Back during the Conscious Competition, he and Rob had watched an Illusionist compete on the small screen in the kitchen. Finally, Phillip's abilities made perfect sense.

And now he knew precisely where Layla and Phillip were going with this.

"Here's what we'll do–" started Phillip.

"I have an idea," Lammy accidentally interrupted.

"As do I," noted the Queen.

Stunned for a moment, Phillip stared back at the even younger consciousnesses.

All with matching glimmers in their eyes, Lammy and Phillip drew close to Layla. Thoughts fired off of each other like lightning as their joint strategy began to take form.

~

Lammy couldn't help but squirm. Somehow, he'd expected being invisible to look and feel completely different.

But as they all stood huddled in the corner farthest from the door, his body appeared just as intact. Everyone's did, for that matter.

He resolved he'd simply have to trust Phillip's word that only they could see and hear each other right now.

After all, he was Deon's friend. There was no better reason to count on him.

"Here they come…" Zayza muttered.

The blasts and bangs had grown more frequent, until escalating into a steady thunder. Loose broken planks tumbled from above and crashed against some of the incapacitated soldiers.

"With this strength, it is most likely Wei!" Layla warned over the eruption. "Stay strong, everyone!"

"But don't move," added Phillip.

At last, an otherworldly crack resounded all around. Lammy marveled at the ensuing spectacle: white light ejected from spots all over the door and shot into the air. They lingered, matching some of the foreign shapes Lammy had seen in the magical inscriptions for the Dreamer traps.

Then they fizzled into nothing, and as they did, the towering door tilted. It collapsed with a slow, creaking fall, and deafened Lammy for an instant as it met the already-damaged floor.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"

Azvaylen soldiers piled into the room immediately. Many tripped over their fallen comrades and paused to observe the destruction all around them.

Their silvery armor flooded most of the room, evening out a little over midway through. Lammy sighed: this provided plenty of distance to help conceal their presence.

But his eyebrows furrowed the longer they analyzed these adversaries.

"How did they…" Layla whispered.

For once, her estimation proved incorrect. While Lammy had never seen Proscious's leader, he assumed he'd stand out in some obvious way. But Lammy's eyes only saw regular soldiers.

Wei was nowhere in sight.

"They did it without him?" uttered Zayza.

Phillip simply watched, jaw tightening.

"Where are they?!"

"They're gone!"

The soldiers scrambled in a fruitless search. Some ascended up the stairs, returning moments later to report similar bewilderment.

"How?"

"There was nowhere to run to!"

Layla's eyes found Lammy. She gave a small nod.

So far, the most ideal form of their plan was playing out. They just had to wait until the soldiers gave up and exited.

A cough echoed from the ground within the cluster of soldiers.

"They're…still in here…" came a weak grumble from one of the injured.

The group of disguised consciousnesses didn't stir. It was still too early to panic.

As Layla had expressed, the defeated soldiers might speak up. But Phillip revealed he had been obscuring everyone's voices since the end of his counterattack.

If the soldiers knew they were hiding, but didn't know how or where, an advantage remained intact.

It just meant shifting to the next form of their plan: waiting for the right moment to strike.

The soldiers seemingly failed to gather coherent details from their semi-conscious ally. One of them, clearly a leader with his gold-plated shoulder armor, emerged from the troops and stood before them in the center of the room.

"Still no sign of Proscious…" Layla noticed.

"Remain on guard! This is some sort of magic or trickery!" the elite warrior proclaimed.

"They had an Illusionist working for them in the courtyard!" a soldier recalled.

"Illusions! Contact General Irma!" the leader bellowed immediately. "Where is General Aoi?"

A hand raised up and pointed down next to itself deep in the crowd.

"Well BRING her here, you oafs!!" the commander demanded.

Layla pouted. "Reminder to self: re-enroll Commander Tayper in Respectful Communication Training–"

"You're worried about that right now?!" huffed Zayza.

The sea of armor shuffled around as a soldier seemed to nudge someone through it. Finally, they surfaced at the front–but it was not at all the type of person Lammy was expecting.

He thought he'd misheard the commander, but this was indeed that Aoi: the small-framed young woman Irma had used to interrogate Raznizu. Her blue-green hair and the hood of her oversized cloak hid her face as she stood there with no apparent emotion.

"Aoi…" Zayza whispered.

"Who is this…?" wondered Phillip.

"She's Proscious's fourth member," Layla shared. "She's the one they're trying to give our Dreamer powers to."

Phillip gritted his teeth. "There's a fourth one…? My team was foolish to assume there couldn't be more…"

"Unlike the other three, she doesn't participate in combat," Layla assured. "So this still doesn't explain how they destroyed my enchantment…"

Lammy thought back to her brief appearance in the dungeon.

His heart dropped.

"Wait a second…can't she read minds?!" he realized in a shouting whisper.

Phillip analyzed her for a moment. "Perhaps not if she doesn't realize we're here."

"General Aoi, contact General Irma immediately," the commander told the small woman.

Aoi lifted her arm and let her large sleeve fall back to reveal an alarmingly pale hand with black fingernails. She touched the device on her wrist.

But when she did nothing else after that, the commander shifted impatiently.

"Well?!"

Aoi simply lifted her head to look up at him mutely.

"Right…" the commander seemed to remember. He grabbed her wrist and tugged it up close to his face. Aoi's hand dangled like a doll's.

Weird…Lammy noted, they refer to her as a superior, but they kind of boss her around…

"General Irma!" the commander called into the device.

No response.

"General Irma, are you there? We request your assistance! General Irma?!"

"She's unconscious in an alleyway deep in the city," Phillip muttered to his cohorts. "She won't be able to help them."

Lammy almost shivered at his nonchalance. It was just as eerie as it was impressive.

"General Benton, then!" the commander exclaimed, returning Aoi's arm for a moment as she pressed the device again in silence.

"General B–I mean–Benton, sir! We require–"

"Ah, leave me alone, will ya?" came a despondent voice. "Unless y'all can get me down from way up on the outer wall and heal me up in record time, I ain't any help."

The soldiers muttered nervously amongst each other.

"Those kids are real good. I'll give 'em that," Benton added. "Welp, good luck. Y'all need it."

The signal went quiet.

A dark smile grew on Phillip. "Good work, Skrili and Deon."

Lammy's heart warmed. Even as his situation felt like it was only growing direr, it turned out Deon and his friends had been weakening the enemy all along.

If they could just get away now, all that remained was one final push.

The commander paced in a circle, cursing to himself.

"Master Wei…?" a guard suggested.

"He's occupied with…whatever they're doing in the Dreamer Chamber!" the commander spat. "He gave us clear orders. And if we even try to bother him, there will be punishment! This is our objective!"

"But…"

Ignoring him, the leader returned to Aoi.

"General, isn't there anything else you can do?!"

She only stared back at him.

"If you have any way to locate them, do it quickly!"

This time, Aoi stirred. She took a single step forward and instantly looked towards the back corner.

Precisely where Lammy and the others were standing.

"What?!" gasped Fewpar.

"Brace yourselves," Phillip grunted as he grasped his head. "She's canceling the illusion!"

Lammy didn't know what to do other than step in front of Zayza and Layla. Fewpar narrowly beat him to the position.

Then, every eye in the tower turned to them.

Magical swords ignited everywhere.

Lammy's eyes went hot.

"THIS WHOLE TIME?!" the commander boomed. "You could do that this whole time?!"

He pushed Aoi several steps closer to them as if counting on her to remove a beehive.

"You're the one with powers like them! Go! Seize them!" he cried, fear emerging in his tone.

Aoi stumbled for a moment, but stood still again. Her gaze returned to Lammy and the rest.

"We've no other options! We must fight!" Fewpar urged.

But in a blink, even that option became impossible.

Lammy felt his whole body seize up. An indescribable pressure overcame him. Then, his body lifted weightlessly into the air. Only able to turn his neck, he could barely see the others floating around him just the same.

They all touched down in a row just before Aoi. Even up close, Lammy couldn't read the cloaked young woman's blank demeanor.

The soldiers remained in place, gasping at her abilities.

Puffing his chest out once more, the commander strutted closer and stood behind Aoi.

"At last," he said proudly.

"You've all been deceived, Commander!" Layla cried.

"You, my impressionable young Queen, have been deceived," he argued. "By your wretched terrorist sister."

"Execute her!!"

"Take her to the courtyard!!"

The soldiers' shouts filled the room.

"Watch your mouths…" growled Fewpar.

But Zayza remained silent, staring back at them with nothing more than a grim frown. Lammy couldn't imagine what she was feeling.

"At ease! That isn't Master Wei's plan anymore–he needs them alive!" the commander roared.

Wait…he does? thought Lammy.

"But there is unrest, sir!"

"A brewing uprising!"

"We need justice!"

"That is why we follow the plan!" the Commander seethed. He returned his attention to his captees. "...And without Irma, we'll need an Illusionist to complete it."

He ignited his sword and pointed it at all of them.

"Whichever one of you that is, create copies of Zayza and the stout boy, now!"

Lammy caught Layla's eyes to the left of him, and Phillip's to the right. They both shared the same pensive stare.

They're gonna fake the executions, he deciphered. He could tell they knew it, too.

But why? What will he do with us instead?

Whatever it was, he knew it couldn't be much better. And they couldn't risk returning to captivity now–not after everything it took just to get this far.

There was no time left to brainstorm. They couldn't communicate.

So their only chance now was to stick to their plan.

And with their current entrapment, that left only one last iteration: their endgame.

Lammy glanced at Phillip one more time. He prayed he'd understand, despite their minimal encounter thus far.

We have to do it, Lammy tried to say through his eyes alone.

"Hurry up!!" barked the commander.

Then came Layla's voice.

"It is over, good Phillip," she said. "Obey his demands."

Lammy tried not to express it, but courage poured in: she was on the same page as him again. Yet, she found a way to vocalize it subtly.

She's brilliant.

Finally, Phillip nodded.

"NOW!"

"It takes time," Phillip muttered. Only barely able to turn his head, he studied Zayza. Then, he turned to Lammy.

There was no way to tell if he'd caught on. Lammy couldn't read his stoic face.

Within a minute, Phillip sighed.

"It's done."

Lammy's heart skipped when suddenly, a copy of his body stepped forward as if emerging from within him. The illusion stood identically like a mirror reflection with its back turned to him.

Just the same, an exact copy of Zayza emerged before her.

The commander stared in an uncomfortably sustained pause. Though his helmet hid most of his face, his frown gave away his attempt to hide uncertainty with intimidation.

"You don't see any more trickery in these illusions, correct?" he demanded of Aoi.

She shook her head once.

"Then off you go! Take the Queen to Wei in the Dreamer Chamber immediately."

He turned and signaled to two apparent subsections of the armored crowd.

As Aoi shuffled towards Layla, several soldiers rushed over. Lammy recoiled at the sudden heat: he, Zayza, and Fewpar found themselves each with a light sword glowing right around their necks. Phillip had two, and the guards eyed him unblinkingly.

Now in the soldiers' custody, Lammy felt Aoi's invisible pressure dissipate. He watched as she took Layla's hand in her oversized sleeve without the slightest hint of force.

"Aoi…" Layla tried. "Why?"

The pale young woman seemed to stare back into Layla's longing eyes, pausing for just a moment.

Then she turned and began guiding Layla away.

The Queen let out a sudden cry as she struggled to limp after her captor. Aoi stopped abruptly and observed her shaking, bloodied ankle.

Then Layla began floating. Wide eyes replaced her painful grimace. She looked down to find that while her ankle was still damaged, it was no longer shaking.

Aoi floated up to reach her height. Even more gently, she reclaimed Layla's hand. Together they hovered across the room, over all the soldiers.

Lammy tried to catch Layla's eyes before she disappeared beyond the destroyed gate. Even one quick glance, just to assure each other that this wasn't over, would comfort his heart. He was sure Zayza had attempted the same.

But as they looked towards her, something far different, and far more urgent caught their eyes.

Words.

Duck and step forward NOW.

Thin, giant letters hovered over the soldiers, and nobody but them seemed to notice.

An illusion? Lammy thought. Phillip?

His heart skipped, and then pounded. It dawned on him.

Phillip got the hint!

More words faded in underneath.

Don't hesitate. Now!

Lammy caught Zayza's eye for less than a second. That was all he needed to recognize her intent.

Sucking in air and hoping it wasn't his final breath, Lammy dove into a squat. The light sword nearly burned his skin.

But the guard didn't move in the slightest.

Lammy pounced up and shuffled over to his illusionary copy. Just as he did, the illusion had already begun obscuring: it was there, and yet simultaneously, it was shifting backwards to take his place.

Once Lammy stood, praying he'd managed to take over his illusion's exact position, he and Zayza stood dead still.

He could have sworn his heart was pounding loud enough for everyone to hear.

Didn't they notice? Did I follow Phillip's instructions right?

But the commander, and all the soldiers, didn't stir in the slightest.

The text in the air disappeared.

The commander pointed at the illusionary Lammy and Zayza.

"Now, take the princess and the boy back to the dungeon!" he ordered. "And bring this Illusionist and Fewpar to the courtyard balcony immediately. If they do anything to these illusions–or anything suspicious at all–kill them."

The soldiers sprung into motion behind Lammy's sight.

They heard Phillip grunt after armor slammed against him.

"No foolishness! Make the illusions move!"

With a start, Lammy and Zayza realized they had to start walking. They needed to operate as if under Phillip's control.

Lammy tried to stare ahead mindlessly, but his mind couldn't race any faster as he followed behind the leagues of soldiers.

Though they nearly missed the opportunity, they'd come down to the very last version of their escape plan–the one that only existed if all other hope was lost.

Everyone mostly doubted the plan, yet they couldn't dismiss it. And though it was Lammy's initial idea, he regretted its simplicity the most.

It wasn't truly a plan, but a gamble. It meant abandoning logic to rely solely on a hunch.

And now, consequently, it meant marching straight to their execution.