Conscious, Conscientious

Deon had never experienced silence like this before.

The only lingering sounds in the Chamber were Skrili’s hurried footsteps, and then his own as he dismissed his floating plank and ran by her side.

He blinked, wiped his eyes, and then blinked again.

But somehow it couldn’t correct his clearly faulty eyesight, because Hiroko still wasn’t there anymore.

Oh, wait a second—a sneak attack, he recognized. Hiroko’s always ahead of things.

He searched around everywhere for where she might strike from. She was as fast as Skrili, after all. Perhaps she was targeting the workers manning the machine in the back corner; that seemed like a smart move.

Nothing. Hiroko was absent from the Chamber.

Deon and Skrili came to an unsteady stop before the platform when they noticed Aoi take a single step. But she ultimately did nothing else.

Eventually, Deon let a nervous laugh slip out.

“Come on, Hiroko, what are you pulling?” he called into the air. “Phillip—you in on her plan or something? Fill a guy in! Hey, why are you on your knees like that—?”

Skrili wrapped her arm tightly around his.

He turned to find her head low, her blue bangs concealing her face. Shaking, she let out a sob and shook her head.

“What’s wrong?”

She fell closer and let her face sink into his chest, her head still shaking back and forth. Her single sob spiraled into a constant weep.

“Huh…? Guys…?”

He found Zayza at the far end of the Chamber, on her knees just as Phillip. Her eyes were wide and stuck to the wired zone Hiroko had thrown Layla from. Trembling, all she could do was cover her pale mouth.

It wasn’t until Deon’s gaze fell to Lammy that he could accept it. His cousin lifted himself from where he had fallen beside Zayza and immediately wrapped her in an embrace.

Lammy’s aching gaze met his. The tears fell.

His face curled into something of a hopeless plea. And as they did, Deon forgot how to breathe.

“Aw, come on. We really have to run it again?” came a moan from behind.

Wei floated in from the opening in the walls, observing the scene like he forgot to take his bread out of the oven.

“Man, her body completely disintegrated,” Wei noticed. He shrugged. “Well, that checks out. She wasn’t a Dreamer; her body wasn’t compatible with that type of exposure.”

Deon couldn’t move, or even think. He noticed a subtle green tint beginning to shine in from the window behind Wei.

But his focus quickly averted:

“Hiroko.”

Kotono’s utterance was soft, but it demanded the attention of everyone in the room.

She sat on the floor where she’d been thrown, Layla right behind her. There was a long scrape across her cheek and a cut on the hand she used to hold herself up—but she seemed oblivious to both.

Soundlessly, Kotono stood.

Her steps were light and slow. She approached the collection of wires, and came to a stop precisely where Hiroko had vanished.

Her hand lifted, reached into nothing, and then fell.

No tears came.

The green in the air intensified, removing her shadow from the floor.

Deon forced himself to take a shallow breath. Even with Skrili’s tears soaking into his cloak, his skin was cold. A faint hint of orange illuminated from his eyes.

But through its dull hue, he could still see the increasing green overtake the Chamber. Shadows disappeared. Small specks floated throughout the air, but Deon didn’t remember seeing them before.

Wei floated as a silhouette in the uncanny air. Behind him, much of the setting sun’s rays had begun shining through the Chamber’s massive green window.

Deon couldn’t see Wei’s face against the light. He had no idea their eyes had been locked on each other until his voice came like a phantom.

“What? Come on kid, don’t give me that look,” he said coolly. “She didn’t have to die. You could have prevented that, remember?”

Deon didn’t react. He couldn’t even bring himself to open his mouth. The anger he wanted right now—he needed right now, failed to well up. It only formed faintly, deep within—but it reached a wall he couldn’t seem to control. He couldn’t feel it.

He could barely feel anything.

…Only the tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks.

“This is your fault. I gave you the option days ago,” Wei reminded him. “All you had to say was that you’d join Proscious. It was simple, really.”

Deon tried to clench his shaking hands.

But it wasn’t supposed to happen like this…we were all supposed to make it out...

Hiroko said so.

“Well with that little ordeal out of the way, it looks like it’s just about that time,” acknowledged Wei, observing the blanket of green over the Chamber. “Fire it back up! Same settings as before!”

No…this isn’t right…

Though his body remained heavy and his mind numb, he forced himself a step towards Wei.

We were supposed to save them together…

Skrili tugged his arm and kept him in place. Her face wet, all she could manage was to shake her head one more time.

He knew what she meant: they couldn’t take Wei like this. Not without Hiroko. And one glance was all it took to understand Kotono was no longer in this fight.

This can’t be happening…it’s not right…

Wei didn’t seem to pay any mind to his brief advance, or at least, he didn’t deem it to be a threat. Instead, his focus was on Kotono.

But strangely, he paused.

“Hm.”

He allowed another pause as the machinery rumbled.

“Hm…hey Aoi,” he ultimately said. His voice was oddly hesitant, his throat tight. “Put the Queen back for me.”

Wordless, Aoi stepped over to the edge of the platform nearest the contraption where Hiroko had disappeared, and where Kotono now stood with her face to the wall.

Aoi focused on Layla. A moment passed, but nothing happened.

“A—Aoi?” Wei checked.

She took a strained step, pressing her stare even harder.

Then Deon noticed it: the air around Kotono and Layla had gone wavy, like a horizon in the heat. Tiny dots of pure white and empty black emerged up against it, increasing by the second.

“Aoi! Get her!”

Then slowly, Kotono turned her head to Aoi and showed her face.

Deon froze.

Until now, it never occurred to him that she could be anything other than radiant—even her fear was vivacious, thanks largely to the colors it would create around her body.

But he’d never seen her this colorless.

He’d never seen this on anyone.

Her eyes were the first part he noticed. At first, he couldn’t free his stare from them—even when he immediately longed to do so. Round and big as always, their bubbly red shade was absent now. Even the light energy they now emitted wasn’t the same.

But could he even consider it light anymore?

It was more like the inverse: it sucked away color and created a cold gray all around her body.

It was strangling the light.

One of her irises was white with a black pupil. The other was the reverse. And neither blinked as they stared Aoi’s way.

Their wide gaze was the only sign of a surviving expression on her normally emotive face. The rest was void.

Kotono stood unmoving, shrouded in the physical manifestation of her emptiness.

“Layla.”

The small Queen looked up at her with a nervous start, color withering from her dress and hair. Deon envied her angle—she didn’t have to see Kotono’s face.

“Stay right behind me, sweetheart.”

Again Aoi shoved another step forward, forcing some sort of unseen phenomenon their way.

A tone resounded so low, Deon could only feel it through his body as he watched Layla dive closer and hug Kotono’s ankle. She hid her face and braced herself.

An otherworldly buzz ripped at the greening air between Kotono and Aoi, and ricocheted endlessly against the remaining Chamber walls. Deon couldn’t help but recoil several steps backwards. Skrili did the same.

There was no use in trying anything to help. Whatever was unfolding between these two, it was something so transcendent that Deon couldn’t even formulate the thought of participating. It was nonsensical.

Not even Wei moved to interfere.

Wind burst out from between the two unwavering women. The force sent Phillip, Lammy, and Zayza rolling against the ground until they could recover their grip. Deon and Skrili almost fell backwards.

Completely drowning out Proscious’ machinery, the tearing and buzzing intensified. The floor vibrated under Deon’s feet with each fluctuation.

“Aoi!! This shouldn’t be…how?!” growled Wei.

“You can’t have her.”

Kotono’s soulless words drifted throughout the room, carried within the wind.

With one more burst, the air seemed to condense. A single, heavy gust passed through the Chamber. Everything blinked into pure silence for less than an instant.

Then, the entire Chamber’s structure erupted outward. Deon and Skrili ducked low, vaguely hearing the cries of their companions underneath the near-deafening roar.

But no wreckage fell down onto them, or even around them.

Lammy’s location was the first place Deon turned to. But he and Zayza crouched there just as unhurt. Phillip was recovering his footing paces away.

The only harm the surge created, he found, was to the Chamber itself.

They were no longer indoors.

The walls and ceiling had been blown away. Now the orange sky, beach, and the hills leading to the castle were their surroundings beyond the tattered shell left behind. Remnants of sparking wires dangled, and only a single piece of the wall remained: the section that held the arching window welcoming in the sunlight.

By now, the sun’s rays reflected into every corner of the glass. The glittering green increased, and the natural sky’s shade mixed in.

Deon couldn’t help but wonder if the Chamber had in fact caved in on them after all, and he was now in a dream.

But everything was too vivid. This wasn’t reality anymore—but it wasn’t a dream, either.

They had slipped into a realm in between.

The first person to stir was the last he expected: Layla lifted her head from behind Kotono, the gray energy still emptying her colors.

Fear no longer defined her face.

“Wei,” she uttered. “You have lost.”

Wei scoffed, though his teeth remained clenched as he watched Kotono and Aoi. Neither backed down from their stances, and the haunting rumbles of energy continued between them at a lower volume. Clearly, they remained at a standstill.

He didn’t break his agitated stare until a single set of footsteps resounded.

Zayza had risen from the floor, and walked gradually towards the middle of the Chamber. Her long hair hid everything but a simple, small frown.

Deon cursed. “What is she thinking?” he muttered to Skrili.

“Kotono may have that Proscious girl locked, but that doesn’t make our offense any stronger…” his teammate agreed under her breath, her speech still uneven with lingering tears.

Deon prepared to shout a protest and wave Zayza away—no—just imagining something to pull her to safety would be best at this point.

But then he noticed Lammy. Just like Layla, his demeanor had shifted immediately. In fact, his face practically glowed in hopeful anticipation as he watched his companion march towards certain death.

It was illogical.

No…if Lammy had faith in what he was witnessing, it had to be logical.

“Don’t—!” Skrili started.

Deon covered her mouth.

“Wait a sec.”

Wei’s scoff became a sick smirk when the princess stopped only steps away.

“This was the strategy, then?” he laughed. “Wait until Dreamwake and then send your only loyal Dreamer at me? I appreciate the patriotism here—or maybe this is family pride at play—but at the end of the day, your plans fall flat when you don’t have the muscle to back them up.”

“That is precisely why I said you have lost,” came Layla’s quick deflection.

“Hm. I think we have a misunderstanding. Let me show you a bit more of what I mean,” Wei said. “Show yourselves!”

A light flashed into the air around the desolate Chamber, followed by a few more beside it. In their places appeared purple-robed men and women floating on the outskirts.

As more sparked into place one by one, Wei opened his mouth again.

“I was more than attuned to your impressive efforts in the Dream World, so I ordered a retreat: their work fighting you there was insignificant compared to my use for them at Dreamwake. You didn’t really believe Zayza scared them all off, did you? And now, do you think one somewhat strong Dreamer can face me, plus hundreds…of…”

Wei trailed off. His eyes darted around the Chamber in pure bewilderment.

“HEY! Where the heck are the rest of them?!”

Deon searched around. The sky was far from filled with ‘hundreds’ of these Dreamers he spoke of. Instead, merely a dozen surrounded the Chamber with their hands aimed pointedly.

“Goodness…I suppose they couldn’t retreat fast enough,” Zayza commented, a sass in her tone Deon would have never guessed someone so lighthearted could possess.

“Wait, hold on a second…that makes no sense…seriously? One Dreamer took out hundreds?” Wei doubted. “I’m guessing that one traitor Fewpar helped you out, but come on…you’re that powerful?!”

Deon caught another glimpse at one of Wei’s Dreamers. His jaw was clenched tight. His aiming hands shook.

They’re terrified…but not of Wei.

Of her.

“Just as my baby sister told you,” Zayza said, “you’ve lost.”

But Wei’s disappointment didn’t appear to indicate impending defeat. Rather, he shook his head at what Deon could only interpret as a missed opportunity.

“No…this will only be beneficial to me. And you still have a problem: you’re about to be a little distracted,” Wei said.

He signaled to the Dreamers.

“You guys here to fight, or what? Target her friends!”

Zayza tensed.

The air filled with mystical sound. Deon and Skrili whipped around into fighting stances, to witness round glows of energy emitting around all of the Dreamers. Each color was unique.

Lammy and Phillip braced themselves steps away, while Kotono remained fully immersed in her struggle with Aoi.

Crap! Zayza’s gonna need us against Wei…but we can’t ignore these guys! Deon’s mind stormed. But we’re outnumbered! And how do you even fight a Dreamer? What are their powers?!

A blue flash blinded the Chamber.

When Deon’s vision recovered, two of the Dreamers were freefalling to the ground.

Another man he’d never seen now floated where the Chamber’s entrance used to be. Deep blue energy emanated from him with the same nature as the Dreamers’ while he observed his surroundings, gasping. His clothes appeared burned and ripped all over, and his face was hard.

To Deon’s confusion, he paused to reach up and tidy his pale blonde hair.

“I made it in time…” the man observed between breaths.

“Fewpar!” Lammy exclaimed.

Fewpar lowered to the ground between Lammy and Phillip, his energy-loaded hands pointing between all the Dreamers in the air. Somehow, his clothes transformed: shifting into a clean, unblemished version of what he already wore. Even his injuries vanished.

Without hesitation, Phillip sprung to life and zipped to Fewpar’s side, preparing his fighting stance.

“Greetings. So Dreamwake has ensued,” Fewpar knew. “If you still have fight in you, good Phillip and Lammy, we can handle these guards. Zayza: your time has come!”

“Fewpar…” breathed Zayza. Her composure recovering, she hardened her glare on Wei.

Her eyes illuminated with the same green as the light all throughout the Chamber. Then her long hair drifted upward and flowed gracefully, as if she’d just submerged underwater. Star-like dots awoke around her body until she outshone all the energy and light around.

Like a spectacle of countless shooting stars, the light began to encircle her, speeding up until she was hidden behind it.

Then Deon’s mouth dropped: when the light dispersed all at once, Zayza reappeared in a flawless, glistening green dress adorned in pearly jewelry. All the smudges and scrapes on her now-radiant skin were gone, and her hair fluttered back down around her head perfectly.

She was utterly gorgeous.

Her eyes still sparkling in a manner somehow more mystical than what Deon had seen on himself, Kotono, or Lammy, she rose into the air and brought herself to a stop only an arm’s reach from Wei.

“Beautiful…after hearing of your ambush, I thought you might be useful,” Wei remarked. “I was more than right to try faking your execution. The Queen can be the backup instead; you’re the key Proscious really needs.”

“You won’t be awarded the chance,” uttered Zayza. “This is the moment I was made for.”

Wei smirked. He nodded, as if to give credit where it was due. “Your family hid your true power this whole time, then,” he accepted. “That’s smart, I’ll admit it. But I hate to break it to you: while beating hundreds of Dreamers is pretty darn impressive...it’s still not nearly the same as beating me.”

Behind them, beams of all colors began raining down from the Dreamer guards. Deon and Skrili turned to defend themselves—until they realized none were coming their way: Fewpar’s much stronger blue blasts blocked the majority of them, while the others exploded on the floor nowhere near their intended targets.

Phillip’s masking all of our true positions…Deon recognized.

Zayza remained unfazed by the battle, somehow composed even while floating just before the face of the most vicious power Deon had ever witnessed.

Lammy…you sure about what she’s doing…? he wondered.

Wei shrugged. “Even now that you’ve revealed yourself as your nation’s secret weapon, it doesn’t matter. If you can’t match my power, Proscious will grow yet another step closer to our—”

“I’m not just a secret weapon.”

A green orb suddenly emerged from Zayza’s chest, and launched itself directly into Wei’s.

If Deon blinked, he would have missed it.

But nobody could miss what followed: the immediate sound from the blast was somehow musical. Its single chord sang just as the green energy spun out from Wei too beautifully to be an explosion, yet too violently to be anything but.

The only way Deon understood the damage Wei took was by the shattering of glass at the end of the Chamber: a hole now existed in the center of the green window, and the blur of Wei’s figure spiraled away over the ocean.

Zayza shot down her fists, and glitters of green awoke around her arms.

“Father. Mother. Vayva. Raznizu. Ryan…Hiroko.” she uttered, her eyes brightening. “You thought you could silence the voices against you, Wei—the beautiful voices you stole from me. But you have failed…because I am their final word.”

Her eyes rested on the ocean. Zayza flashed away to her enemy, leaving behind only twinkles of green to blend into the air.