Conscious, Conscientious

Lammy divided his attention just long enough to see Deon and Skrili's mouths hanging open at the subtle glittering aftermath.

A Wei-sized hole was in the Great Window. Given the familiarly ethereal sound of Zayza's energy blast, he knew she was the cause.

But now, Zayza was gone.

She went after him, he knew. Considering he could withstand Kotono’s attacks earlier, he might not be done yet…

So it was indeed time: Zayza's powers were awake in reality.

Dreamwake had truly begun, and with it, the ultimate phase of Layla's plan.

Fewpar's sudden shift in footing jolted Lammy back to their other immediate predicament. A blue beam ascended from Fewpar's palm and struck one of the dozen Dreamer Guards. Then he shoved Lammy, and the two rolled out of the way as the Dreamer's own beam narrowly missed them.

Beside them Phillip peered up, switching from guard to guard in preparation to sabotage any of their attacks.

"Go!" he shouted, his deep tone unusually clear.

Lammy nearly asked 'where,' until he realized the urgent instruction wasn't for him.

"Go help the princess! This is our chance–she's our chance!"

Phillip turned his head towards Deon and Skrili only briefly, until he had no choice but to refocus on their attackers.

The duo seemed to hesitate, their eyes on Lammy. Even when they broke off to dodge a beam, their concern didn't waver from him.

Phillip is right…Lammy believed. If Deon and Skrili are there to help Zayza, with all of their added strength, we really could end this!

He gave his cousin a definitive nod.

"You'll stay here?" Skrili inquired of Phillip.

The Illusionist clutched his ribcage. "At this point, there isn't much I can add against Wei. I'll help hold these fighters off."

Deon and Skrili exchanged glances. Finally convinced, they began their charge away–but not before Deon's gaze locked with Lammy one more time.

"Hey Phillip, and random-other-guy: keep my cousin safe!" he shouted, turning away. "And that girl he likes!"

Lammy beat red. His eyes found Layla.

But thankfully she didn't seem to hear, too preoccupied between Kotono and Aoi's standstill and the Dreamer blasts raining down around her.

With motions appearing a far cry from Zayza or Fewpar's mastery, Layla aimed a hand to the sky and fired her own feeble, uneven pink energy beams. Only a few of the Dreamer Guard attacks towards her managed to survive Fewpar and Phillip's defense–but they simply evaporated once they reached Kotono’s colorless aura.

Lammy couldn't help but pause to observe Kotono, even though it only made him feel cold.

Aside from her cutting black and white eyes, which remained unaverted from Aoi, she appeared as a lifeless statue. The deep ripples in the air persisted between the two women.

Layla hugged Kotono’s leg tighter for a moment, recoiling from a beam that ultimately dissipated like all the others.

Nothing had even come close to penetrating Kotono’s gray energy.

Her powers come from her emotions…Lammy contemplated.

His throat tightened. Thick tears pushed their way out.

Hiroko.

But right now, he couldn't tell if his pain was for his own loss, or the loss he was witnessing in Kotono.

Why did all of this have to happen…? What do I do now…?

At least for now, it was clear Layla was safe from both Aoi and the Dreamer Guards with Kotono.

Fewpar and Phillip continued their hard-fought defense on either side of him. Another Dreamer fell to Fewpar's blue blast.

And ahead, Deon and Skrili had almost reached the end of the Chamber. They ran close, discussing a hushed plan of attack to assist Zayza.

What do I do?

A flash of Kotono’s rays brought his eyes back to where she stood, and where Hiroko had just sacrificed her own body to save her and Layla moments before.

For some reason, Lammy remembered a particular moment from days ago–one he'd completely forgotten about.

Since he met her, Hiroko had offered all kinds of brief wisdom and encouragement. But somehow, it was this fleeting moment that revisited his mind.

He and Zayza had been traveling from Gloat Center, and Hiroko and Kotono were speaking with them through magic. Zayza had recovered some memories of Oflenur, so they reluctantly detailed his fate.

But when their time for discussion was cut short, Hiroko only had time to utter one last thing–and surprisingly, she reserved her words for Lammy:

"Keep an eye on her, alright?"

It seemed little more than a passing statement at the time, intended only for Zayza's emotional state in that moment.

And maybe that's all it was.

But Lammy could recall it vividly: Hiroko’s assertive tone, the way she cocked her head in Zayza's direction as she kept her icy eyes on him.

Now, it was like she'd transcended time–like she'd found a way to answer his current uncertainty.

Just as much as back then, those words were meant for this moment.

Hiroko had just spoken to him.

Lammy felt more tears soak his cheeks. He remembered his promise to Raznizu.

There was only one role for him to fill right now.

Lammy refaced Phillip and Fewpar.

"H–hey guys–"

"Go with them," said Fewpar.

Lammy paused. "Are you…sure?"

"Every time I look at her, I see Vayva," Fewpar told him. "Whenever Vayva wanted me there for her, but knew it would put me in a rough situation, she wouldn't say anything. She wouldn't even acknowledge me. Zayza just did that to you."

Lammy thought about it. Since the moment Dreamwake had started–even before that, when Hiroko disappeared–Zayza hadn't uttered a single word to him.

"She doesn't want you to get any more hurt, but she still wants you with her. She needs you right now," Fewpar said. "Phillip and I can take these fools ourselves, can we not?"

Phillip nodded. "I've had worse fights."

"So go with them, Lammy," Fewpar insisted. "Go to her."

Taking a deep breath, Lammy nodded.

"You guys can do this," he encouraged them.

A tiny smile appeared on both of their faces.

Lammy whirled back around decisively, his eyes lighting up even more than before. He noticed Deon and Skrili had reached the end of the Chamber. They nodded to each other, seeming to agree on an approach.

We're on our way, Zayza, Lammy promised.

Then, he broke into a run.

"LOOZOOLOOZEUX!!"

"Remember, Lammy: it is Dreamwake," Fewpar called back to him as the rainbow dragon began taking form. "The strange abilities you possess in the Dream World will now work here."

That's right! Lammy realized. I can imagine almost anything!

"Give Wei a taste of the force you unleashed on me!"

The fully-formed Loozooloozeux released a humanlike roar. It lowered beside Lammy as he ran, and scooped him up.

Sinking into the saddle, Lammy found wooden planks had appeared before Deon and Skrili: they were about to take off. But they turned to find his furry dragon swooping their way.

Lammy landed Loozooloozeux at the edge of the Chamber. Harsh crackles and blasts echoed over the ocean in the distance.

The fight had already resumed.

"Come on," Lammy instructed.

"Lammy–what are you doing, bud?" demanded Deon.

"Zayza needs me. And so do you guys," insisted Lammy.

"But it's gonna be too–"

"I'm going with you."

His assertion seemed to shock Deon. He realized he'd never spoken to his cousin this way.

But Deon's surprise took the form of a proud, tenacious smile.

"I don't know everything you've been through, Lammy," he said, "but I like this new side of you."

He and Skrili hurried up to Loozooloozeux and joined Lammy in the saddle.

"Lammy: keep to long-range attacks and defense only," said Skrili.

"Sorry. She can be a little bossy," Deon explained.

"Shut up. I'm trying to protect him."

"I know. It's cute."

Loozooloozeux launched into the air and everyone clutched tight. Debris gusted away as they departed the Chamber, ascended above the beach, and began soaring over the sea.

Lammy struggled to scan the vast ocean for any sign of Zayza and Wei. The sun's reflection cast everything into near-obscurity.

"Where are they?" Deon wondered.

More violent crackles and blasts resounded. Lammy picked out Zayza's energy within the furious ensemble.

"There," Skrili pointed out.

Lammy squinted and shielded his eyes from the setting sun. Finally, he picked out miniscule bursts of light dancing across the ocean in the distance.

"That's them?!" Deon exclaimed. "We're still that far away?!"

"And they're moving around fast," Skrili noted. "Barging into this fight won't be easy."

Following the flashes the best he could, Lammy tried to keep his heart from sinking. This was beyond anything he could fathom.

Come to think of it, he still had yet to witness Zayza's full power after her memories returned. She'd defeated Fewpar so swiftly, he nearly missed what even happened.

Now, it was finally on display before him. Now he fully understood why Layla placed all remaining hope in her sister.

But even against Deon, Skrili, Hiroko, Kotono, and Phillip all at once, Wei had managed to outlast their onslaught.

"Just…how strong is Wei?" he checked.

Deon and Skrili remained silent much longer than he would have liked.

"We still don't know," Skrili admitted.

"But…we can win this," Deon promised.

"We will...for Hiroko," added Skrili lowly.

Lammy chose to absorb their words and ignore the hint of uncertainty beneath them.

Yeah. Zayza will be okay, he told himself. Especially now that we're here.

The sparks and explosions heightened in both frequency and intensity as Loozooloozeux carried them closer to the battle.

"So Proscious caused all this, just to somehow steal Dreamer powers?" Skrili contemplated. "Why?"

Lammy shook his head. "Zayza could only figure some of it out," he shared. "She told me when she spied on them, Wei said something about 'separating' the Multiverse and making it so 'the concept of a consciousness can't exist.'"

"Whoa," remarked Deon. "Well that sounds kinda seriou–AH!!"

Everyone fell forward and squeezed onto Loozooloozeux: the dragon suddenly spun out of control, whirling off to the side.

Lammy fought to reclaim their balance in the air. He knew he hadn't caused that: he'd been keeping a part of his mind on Loozooloozeux at all times so he wouldn't accidentally imagine it away.

Another wave of air barreled into them. Loozooloozeux flipped backward for a moment and almost descended into the water, but recovered just in time to regain a steady flight.

Lammy peered ahead to the fight, and he found what generated those gusts.

"It's that again!" Deon warned. "Wei's attack!"

A section of the sky darkened around a terrifyingly spectacular orb of light that rivaled the sun's rays. Its infinite colors reflected on the water, and Lammy felt its heat even from here.

The orb plowed forward through the air, creating stormy waves beneath its path.

But green energy ignited around Wei's apparent target. Equally as bright, a perfectly straight beam matching the orb's height rushed to challenge it in the midpoint.

The green energy sang.

Zayza.

Sound vanished for a second, and then the entire world seemed to tremble from the aerial eruption.

"She blocked it!" Skrili's voice barely cut through.

"YES!!!" cheered Deon.

"Hold on!!"

Lammy hoped his warning came in time. He commanded Loozooloozeux to pull up, and he braced himself for a gust he didn't think he could protect them from this time.

He pressed his eyes shut.

But when the wind arrived, it was muffled. In fact, he didn't even feel it.

Lammy opened his eyes to find a massive, levitating stone wall before them. Loozooloozeux had swerved to avoid crashing into it.

Once the wind passed by, the wall disappeared.

Deon sighed. "Close one!"

Releasing an even larger sigh, Lammy reached back and they shared a high-five.

"Nice thinking," he told his cousin.

Right…imagining, Lammy thought to himself. I'm stressed, AND I'm basically in the Dream World…I can imagine like that right now, too! I have to start reacting as fast as him, or I'll be useless…

Loozooloozeux powered forward, and Lammy kept his attention sharp.

"Man…how are we supposed to follow this fight?" Deon bemoaned. "They're blinking all over the place!"

"Zayza is the green, right?" Skrili guessed. "Then right now, she's on her heels. Wei must have acted quickly after the blast."

Lammy grit his teeth. He could hardly process their rapid motions, so he had to trust Skrili's eyes.

"Crap. Alright, projectile attacks, then?" Deon decided. "Lammy: when we get close, help me light him up!"

"Wait. They keep moving. You don't want to hit Zayza by accident," Skrili urged.

"Then how do we help?" wondered Lammy.

Gradually, the sparks began to take the vague shapes of Zayza and Wei's bodies.

It could have been too far to spot for sure, but in an instant, Lammy could have sworn Zayza's head spun their way.

She warped away, appearing higher in the sky–and closer to Wei.

Then, her voice rang out across the ocean:

"Nightmare."

"Oh…" Lammy gasped.

"What?" wondered Deon.

But he didn't need Lammy's answer: the transformation began. Beneath Zayza and Wei, the waves began turning from water into solid, black earth. The rest of the ocean caught the same instant plague; hills began taking shape far below Loozooloozeux's feet.

Everything darkened around them into a deep shade. The sunset sky faded purple, with pitch black stars replacing the clouds.

It's happening again…Lammy recognized.

He was returning to Hell.

"What is this?" Even Skrili's collected tone wavered as her eyes shot around. "Did she say 'nightmare?'"

"Yeah…" Lammy uttered. "Zayza's nightmare."

By now, nothing of their previous setting remained. The sound and scent of the waves, and the fresh wind–it had all succumbed to this new realm. Hills and mountains rose soundlessly from the former ocean towards the repainted purple sky.

Lammy followed the higher peaks with his eyes, and they led him to a gruesome sight before he had the chance to pull away.

The infinite shadows of people dangling by rope, awaiting execution, were not present this time.

New shadows took their places.

Thick wires stretched down from the unseen sky above like decrepit, prying fingers. The floating shadows all cowered from them, as the wires all pointed at their heads in a series of angles too fresh in Lammy's mind.

It was like watching Layla trapped inside Proscious's device all over again.

"This is…awful…" Deon managed.

In varying patterns, the shadows exploded into black light, destroyed…only to reappear again and relive their demise.

Lammy could see Hiroko giving her life in each silent destruction.

But the shadows were not anonymous this time: many of them had silhouettes Lammy could recognize.

Layla…Hiroko…Kotono…Raznizu…himself.

The long, droning moans of voices he knew filled the sky in an endless chorus.

He wanted to pull away and fly off as fast as possible.

No. This is Zayza's pain, he knew. This is her fear.

He forced himself to watch the shadows once more, and he began to understand his impulse to run and hide.

It wasn't because he saw Zayza's nightmare unfolding around him.

It was because he realized it may as well have been representing his own.

This is our fight, now more than ever, he thought.

He remembered her innocent smile back in No Man's Land, the day he fell out of Tailpiece.

He looked towards her now, a green star atop a mountain just before the gloomy horizon.

I have to get to her.

Loozooloozeux darted forward even faster.

"This is a Dreamer power-up–at least, that's my understanding of it," Lammy called back to Deon and Skrili. "She's trying to finish this now!"

"Now?! Will it be enough?" wondered Deon.

"If we can get there in time to help her, it might be," Skrili insisted.

Lammy felt his arms shaking. Zayza faced Wei atop the highest, blackest mountain. But while Zayza stood tensely, her energy steadily disintegrating the peak, Wei appeared to be laughing.

Even when plunged into the darkness of someone else's trauma, he was laughing.

He clapped, taking in the domain.

This wasn't laughter of mockery, but of sheer admiration.

Or worse: anticipation.

But Zayza held her ground.

"That's the thing, Skrili," Lammy said. "She's trying to make it so we don't have to help her. She wants to save us."

He grunted under his breath.

I thought you said you'd stop doing that…Lammy contemplated, his heart softening.

He filled his lungs.

"ZAYZA!!!"

He couldn't know if she heard. In that very instant, Zayza's energy combusted in all directions, destroying the mountain. She and Wei vanished from view.

"Incoming!!" Skrili alerted.

Lammy felt her hand grab at his arm in an attempt to help him steer. His heart plummeted into his stomach: some chunks of the mountain were now soaring towards them.

Loozooloozeux ducked harshly. Lammy nearly lost grip. But before he could pull up, the dragon's belly crashed against the tip of a mountain that had finished forming beneath them.

The trio spun out of control.

"HOLD…" Lammy tried.

But his own hands slipped away, and he spun through the sky.

Not like this!! was all he could think.

Struggling to fight the increasing wind of his descent, Lammy squinted his watery, burning eyes towards the place they'd crashed.

Deon and Skrili had lost hold, as well.

"LAMMY!!" Deon's voice rang out just before they disappeared behind the mountain's peak.

NOT LIKE THIS!

But another eruption rang out, and within moments, a hot gust sent him spiraling even faster.

He couldn't focus now, so he was sure Loozooloozeux disappeared from existence. And he couldn't aim anything new to catch anyone–not when he didn't even know his own displacement.

But above all else, he could barely think.

Catch…CATCH…

Deon's rescue returned to his mind.

GIANT PILLOWS!!

Lammy could only hope his mind had accurately guessed where the ground might be when he imagined his desperate attempt.

He couldn't even tell how close he'd come to the ground.

But apparently, it was close.

Lammy sunk safely into a cushion so dense, it almost swallowed him entirely. Gathering his senses, he swam his way back to the surface of the softness.

Fewpar was right. My Dream World imagining works during Dreamwake.

He reached the top to find the sea of pillow material he'd created. It appeared to span even around the mountain where they'd crashed–perhaps behind it.

Did I catch them? he prayed.

But hope kept his breath steady: even if his pillow landscape didn't reach them, he'd seen Deon's new skills. He knew his cousin would be able to save himself and Skrili.

Steadying, Lammy gazed ahead.

Even with the wind no longer cutting at his ears, Zayza's nightmare was still far from silent. Partially drowning out the moans of the infinite shadows, thunder dominated the sky ahead.

Lammy focused on the distant flashes. Though they seemed to scale impossible distances in less than a blink, he knew it wasn't a lightning storm, but the ongoing duel.

Lammy…

He perked up, but didn't look around to find the source of the voice. It was in his head.

Zayza! he replied immediately. We came to help you!

She went silent for several seconds.

Zayza…?

I know, she replied. I didn't want to revisit this place…but when I saw you all coming to join me, I thought…with Nightmare, I could probably end this before anyone else would have to get hurt.

But Zayza, we'll help you win! pleaded Lammy. I thought you promised to stop doing this…Don't push me away again when you need–

I need you, Lammy. I know I do, Zayza agreed. I felt such hope when I saw you flying my way…but at the same time, I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, too…

Her voice vanished for an even longer while. The battle continued to light the sky, just beneath a looming black moon.

Something is wrong, Lammy detected.

He sensed her feeling of reluctant confirmation.

Lammy, she said, I'm afraid even with Nightmare, and even with your help, we may not be able to defeat him. And that's precisely why I need you…

A wave of deep, heavy sorrow came to him from Zayza, mixed in with an odd sense of finality.

Please listen to me, she begged. Let's fight him together. But…if you stop hearing my voice, or if I tell you it's time, I need you all to hurry back to Layla, Kotono, and the others, okay? Don't hesitate…

Wait–why are you saying that? Stop talking like that, Zayza!

…If that happens, Lammy, gather everyone, protect them, and run as far away from here as you can.