Conscious, Conscientious

“Uuuuugh…” Deon sighed.

He peaked beside him to Skrili, who paid no attention.

“UUUUUUUUGH,” he repeated even louder.

“Do you mind?” Skrili finally said.

They had been waiting behind countless other consciousness teams on the tan cobblestone bridge at Fantasy Country’s border. While it felt to Deon like an eternity had passed, it had only been several minutes. Now they stood about three-fourths of the way to the station at the end.

Deon wanted to just rush past everyone and go in. According to Skrili, the registration center was not far beyond the wall, which meant he was moments away from becoming a professional consciousness fighter.

Not only this, but they were about to step into an entire new world. Deon was already amazed at the “color palate” of this place making everything more vibrant, so he couldn’t wait to get in and see what else was in store.

“Man, this thing is taking forever,” Deon complained. “What are we even waiting in line for?”

“The boarder patrol needs to check our bags and make sure we’re not carrying anything illegal,” Skrili explained. “And I need to convert my money to the mainland Fantasy Country currency.”

“Oh, right.”

They took a few steps forward as a team got checked through, but stopped again. Deon started whistling to keep himself busy. He looked at the line before him: there were all sorts of people waiting. Most were young, aside from a few veteran-looking teams, and they wore a diverse array of clothing seemingly from many different cultures.

“Hey Skrili, how many of these teams do you think we could beat?” Deon asked.

The team in front of him glanced back for a moment and then muttered something to each other in annoyance.

Skrili sighed. “Let’s try to avoid making more enemies,” she told him.

“But there’s no fun in that,” Deon said with a laugh.

Eventually, they arrived at the border patrol station at the end of the bridge. It was under an enormous stone archway within the massive wall that blocked Fantasy Country from view. As it turned out, there were actually two stations: one for incoming consciousnesses, and one for exiting ones.

On either side of the pathway, two tall guards stood facing both lines. They were covered from head to toe in metallic armor, and each carried a large sword sheathed on their belts.

Deon followed Skrili’s lead as she unstrapped her travel bag and approached the guards. He prepared to open his bag up, but all Skrili did was hold hers up for the guards to see, so he did the same.

“You’re both free to go,” one of the guards announced after a few seconds of observation. The guards separated from each other and allowed Skrili and Deon to pass.

Skrili nodded and advanced through the dense archway, followed by the confused Deon.

“Um…how was that a safety check?” Deon commented.

“They’re specialized Sense Enhancers,” Skrili explained. “They could see through our bags.”

Next, they came to a window built into the stone wall. Behind it sat another guard. Skrili reached into her bag and pulled out a worn blue wallet, retrieved paper bills from it, and placed them on the table of the window. The guard counted the money, and then focused on it intently. The money then faded into less bills and changed into salmon and green-colored paper.

“Enjoy our Country,” said the guard politely.

Skrili retrieved her converted money and led Deon out of the rest of the archway. At last, they were officially inside Fantasy Country.

Deon couldn’t believe his eyes.

He and Skrili stood before the grandest, most fanciful place he had ever seen. It was an enormous, circular plaza crowded with stores and people, and shining with lights and colors. Most of the buildings were made of the same cobblestone as the walkway, while others were of different textures and shades.

There was a massive, round hole in the center of the plaza that took up most of the space, so the walkway and all of the stores ran along the outer rim. It was like a giant circular balcony. In four spaces, the walkway extended into the hole slightly, and at first Deon wondered why they were there. But a second later it became clear:

These were landing zones.

“What are those flying—” started Deon.

“Dragons,” Skrili quickly answered.

Dragons flew to and from these platforms, carrying people on their saddles. Their colossal size, matched with their elegance, left Deon in awe. Their glistening scales varied in all shapes and shades, and the flaps of their wings echoed off the buildings around them.

Deon looked to the sky, to find dragons soaring all across it—some so high that they were practically specs. Some flew alone, while most carried passengers to and fro.

“This is…amazing!” Deon exclaimed. But then he noticed something else odd about the sky: in many spots, colorful and perfectly spherical orbs floated in place. Some were larger and closer, while others were smaller and seemed far away. Around many of them, the normally blue sky was tinted with other colors.

“Whoa…Fantasy Country sure has a lot of moons,” observed Deon.

“Those are Worlds,” Skrili said beside him.

“Worlds?” repeated Deon.

“They look like a single planet from far away, but they’re actually different realities,” explained Skrili. “Remember how we walked through a Worldline to get here? Each of those Worlds have their own Worldlines. They’re all different fantasy-typed realities.”

“This is all…so much…” Deon uttered. He was simply amazed. Days ago, all he wanted was to find something besides Tailpiece—anything different than his small, wooded village with nothing to do. Now, here he stood: in a fantastical city, in a fantastical World, within a fantastical set of realities.

He made it. He found his dreams. They had been waiting for him, all around him, all this time. And there was so much to explore.

This Multiverse was where he belonged.

Deon noticed tears building up, so he rushed to wipe them before Skrili would notice. “Um…so…what’s this place right here?” he asked.

“This is the Fantasy Country Mainland,” Skrili said. “We’re in Conscious City right now. It’s the most popular place in the Country for consciousness teams and fans of consciousness fighting.”

“Then this is my kind of city,” Deon said with a big smile.

Skrili nodded plainly. “It is. Let’s get something to eat, and then we’ll head to the Registration Center.” She began walking along the road. “I know a place.”

Deon followed her, still in wonder of this new dimension he had entered. Now that there was more to see, the vibrant tint of this reality’s color palate stood out even more. Almost all colors were bold, and everyone’s eyes—especially Skrili’s—were very bright and sharp. They even appeared a bit larger.

Rare eye colors seemed more common here. In Tailpiece, eye colors like brown and hazel were the majority while greens, blues, reds, yellows and purples were less common. But here in Fantasy Country, it seemed to be the opposite.

As Deon passed by people, he also took note of their clothing. Many of the people seemingly from the area wore clothing like tunics, robes, colorful dresses, and pieces of armor. While some dressed more conservatively like a person in Tailpiece would, others had on very fashionable, flashy outfits filled with color and accessories. Their hairstyles also followed this trend.

Why did Skrili have to make that dumb ‘no flirting’ rule? Deon thought disappointedly as he passed by countless stylish, beautiful girls.

Eventually Skrili led Deon to one of the landing platforms. Some dragons were landing and lifting off around them. These remarkable beasts fascinated Deon; their sheer power caused the ground around them to rumble. He felt insignificant as they towered above him.

Skrili walked over to an edge of the platform. As Deon joined her, he looked down and noticed that Conscious City was far bigger than he thought: a lower floor existed far below them, identical in form, and featured just as many stores and people. Even still, more floors existed beneath this: Deon counted that this great abyss of a city continued down for at least five or six more sections.

When Deon looked back at Skrili, she was searching for something in her bag. She pulled out a thin, clear bracelet. Then she tossed her bag back over her shoulder and put the bracelet on her wrist. Skrili looked up at Deon.

“Hold my hand,” she told him.

Deon was taken off guard. “Skrili, I have to admit, those are probably the last words I ever thought I’d hear you say to me.”

“Just do it, stupid,” Skrili demanded.

With a chuckle, Deon obeyed and grabbed Skrili’s hand. Then all of the sudden, Skrili’s bracelet began to glow purple and they gently levitated into the air. Deon let out a nervous exclamation, fearing he’d lose balance and fall into the enormous pit, but Skrili seemed to be keeping them very stable. They smoothly drifted down the center of the city, towards the platform beneath them. Skrili guided them to its surface and they touched down lightly on the cobblestone.

She silently removed her hand from Deon’s as the bracelet ceased its glow.

“That was cool!” Deon exclaimed. “You should use that thing more often, like in fights!”

“Levitation bracelets run on magic, which can run out fast if you’re not in Fantasy Country,” Skrili explicated. “And they’re illegal to use in professional consciousness fighting.”

“Oh.”

They continued walking, turning onto the main walkway. Skrili didn’t lead too far before approaching a specific restaurant. It was a small building, crammed right between two larger, more expensive-looking restaurants. This humble dive was built with faded red bricks. A vintage wooden sign was nailed to the top, reading “The Phoenix,” and smaller letters, “Home of the famous Phoenix Float!”

Compared to the traffic going to and from its neighboring competitors, The Phoenix seemed to be receiving much less customers.

We must have gone by dozens of restaurants already. Why’d she single out this shabby one? Deon wondered as Skrili opened the door and they entered.

The inside was not very impressive, either. The room was compact, with a few empty round tables and a small, unoccupied bar at the front, where a teenage boy stood waiting for customers. And yet, Deon couldn’t deny that it smelled amazing in here. He didn’t know what was cooking, but it made him twice as hungry as he already was.

The face of the boy standing behind the bar lit up when he saw Skrili. He was tall, scrawny, and looked to be about fifteen years old. The boy had wavy brown hair and round glasses, and he wore and apron over a faded red shirt.

“H—Hey, Skrili,” the boy said kindly with an awkward wave. He sounded like his voice had just lowered, cracking at the end of the sentence.

Skrili gave him a small, warm smile.

Happy and seemingly nervous, the boy turned towards the kitchen in the back. “Hey dad, Skrili’s here!” he called.

“What’s that, Peter? Skrili? Who’s Skrili?” answered a deep, resonant voice. Soon a man emerged from an old wooden door behind the bar. He was even taller than Peter and very stocky, with a bald head and a thick, dark brown beard. His small blue eyes observed Skrili and Deon and immediately widened with joyful surprise.

“Blue!” he exclaimed. “You’re back! Long time no see, dear!”

Skrili gave another subtle smile as she and Deon approached the bar. “Hi, Rob. Hi, Peter,” she greeted.

“I wasn’t sure when you’d stop by again!” said Rob, adjusting his apron. “Where’s Red?”

“She and I ended up parting ways,” Skrili explained.

“What? Oh, well that’s a shame. She’s such a sweetheart. A funny little thing, too,” commented Rob. “I’m bummed to hear that. What happened?”

“Just…different outlooks,” said Skrili. “She has a new teammate now.”

Rob nodded with understanding. “Well that’s alright, maybe she’ll come by sometime with the teammate. So what about you? Is this new fellow here a teammate or a boyfriend? Or both? That seems to be common with you kids these days.”

Deon quickly interceded. “I’m Deon, her teammate,” he introduced.

“Nice to meet you lad, I’m Rob.” Rob leaned over to Pete with a mischievous look in his eyes. “You hear that, Pete? He’s not her boyfriend. You still have hope.”

“Dad!” Pete shouted, blushing intensely.

Rob laughed heartily as he made his way back to the kitchen door. “Alright, take these folks’ orders, Pete. I have to get back to work. It’s good to see you, Blue!” he said as he entered the kitchen.

“W—would you like the—the usual, Skrili?” Pete asked nervously, still blushing.

“Yes please,” she confirmed.

When Pete looked to Deon to hear his order, Deon noticed the menu at the top of the wall behind the bar. He didn’t recognize any of the foods—they were all completely foreign to him. “Um…I’ll just get what she’s having,” he decided.

Pete nodded, wrote something on a piece of paper, and turned to the back wall. There was a small window that connected the bar to the kitchen, where he placed the slip.

Skrili and Deon sat down at the bar.

“So um…how’s fighting going?” Pete asked Skrili.

“Okay,” she said. “We’re on our way to get my teammate registered.”

“Oh…I hope you guys made an appointment, then,” Pete said. “I hear the wait is getting crazy down there. We’ve had customers come in and tell us they’ve been on the waiting list for weeks.”

“Weeks?” repeated Deon with dismay.

Pete nodded. “I guess consciousness fighting is getting even more popular lately.”

As Deon sulked, Skrili looked down in thought.

“Well—there is another mainland registration center I’ve heard is way less busy,” Pete added, noticing their disappointment. “It’s not as touristy, though…or as polite, from what I’ve heard.”

“How far is it by foot?” asked Skrili.

“Oh, by foot it could take you a month,” said Pete. “But it’s probably just a few hours by dragon.”

Rob called out to Pete from the back, so he quickly turned to help.

“So…does this mean we’re about to ride a dragon?” Deon asked eagerly.

“It depends,” said Skrili. “Renting dragons can be expensive. If I can remember my TeamTrack login, maybe I still have enough saved up in there.”

She retrieved her TeamTrack from her bag and turned it on. Leaning on the counter, Skrili tried typing all kinds of combinations onto the screen. As she typed, Deon leaned closer and closer to see her progress. This was the only thing standing between him and two things: a dragon ride, and a chance to go pro.

“Any luck?” Deon finally asked, now an inch from her face.

Skrili jumped. “Back up,” she shot with aggravation. “And no…it’s no use. I can get this fixed at the registration center, but that doesn’t really help us now.”

“Darn.”

Pete and Rob reentered from the kitchen, carrying Deon and Skrili’s meals. They placed two colorful salads and glasses of water before them.

“I threw in a couple add-ons—they’re on the house!” Rob called, heading back to the kitchen as Pete returned to his station.

Deon didn’t know what to make of his dish. It looked appetizing, though he didn’t recognize some of the fruits and vegetables in it. Also, there was one problem. “There’s no meat, huh?” he noticed.

“Sorry, I’m a vegetarian,” Skrili explained.

They ate, and Deon was immediately blown away: this was the best salad he’d ever had, meat or no meat. This was also the first real food he’d eaten in a while, after being in No Man’s Land for all those days. He found himself digging in rather ravenously as Skrili neatly ate beside him.

A few minutes into their meal, they heard the front door open. A young woman quietly walked up to the bar, across from Pete. She covered herself in a dark cloak with a large hood, so Deon couldn’t see her face. But some of her hair was still visible: it was a shiny, strawberry blonde color and flowed gracefully.

“What can I get for you, miss?” Pete asked politely.

“Can I have a medium Phoenix Float, please?” she asked softly.

“Sure! That’ll be three scale cards.” Pete received the money from her and turned to grab ingredients from a counter. The girl sat down at the bar silently, a few seats away from Deon and Skrili. Deon noticed that the girl wore very expensive-looking red and gold shoes that resembled the flat, thin style of Skrili’s.

Deon and Skrili eventually finished their meal. After Pete brought the young woman her drink, he made his way over to Deon and Skrili and gave them a slip. Pete took their empty dishes and headed into the kitchen.

Skrili read the slip. “Twenty-five scale cards,” she told Deon. “Even with the discount, that doesn’t leave us enough cash to rent a dragon. We’d need at least two-hundred.”

“Crap! Come on, Skrili—I know you can get the password! I believe in you!!” Deon exclaimed.

“I tried everything.”

Deon took a long sigh. “But…we’re so close…fighting with you on a pro team would be awesome…” He let out a bitter laugh. “I bet Pang and Phillip have plenty of money for a dragon. Heck, they’re probably almost certified again by now. What the heck.” He sulked in his seat. “Guess we’ll have to wait in line forever.”

“Maybe I can help,” the hooded girl said kindly from where she sat. Deon and Skrili looked over to her, but the girl still hid her face behind her hood. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, placing it on the table. The girl scribbled something onto it.

After this, she stood up and walked over to Deon and Skrili with her head down. Now Deon could barely see one of her red eyes as she approached them.

The young woman placed the piece of paper on the counter in front of Deon. “This might come in handy,” she said, looking away. Then she immediately headed back to her seat.

Deon and Skrili observed the piece of paper she had given them. The name “Kotono Inoue” was signed on it.

“Ko…Koto…” Deon tried to pronounce.

“Kotono Inoue,” Skrili finished in a hushed tone. “She’s…”

Skrili quickly looked over to where the young woman sat, and so did Deon—but the girl was gone, leaving an empty mug. Skrili and Deon looked around the rest of the restaurant, but she had left.

“She’s who?” Deon asked.

Skrili turned back to him. “Kotono Inoue is one of the top consciousness fighters in the Multiverse” she said. “She and her teammate Hiroko Hamasaki are the most successful and famous team from Fantasy Country.”

“Whoa…so is this girl telling us to find Kotono Inoue?” guessed Deon.

“No…I think that was Kotono Inoue,” Skrili told him. “And if that’s true, then this is her signature, which is worth a lot of money in this Country.”

“What?! So if we sell it, we can rent a dragon!” Deon finished. “Dang, talk about a lucky break!”

Skrili nodded.

Suddenly, Pete and Rob burst through the kitchen door.

“THAT WAS KOTONO INOUE????!!!!” they both screamed.

Startled, Deon and Skrili nodded.

“Wanna buy her signature?” asked Deon, holding it up.

Rob and Pete dove onto the counter of the bar, staring closely at the piece of paper in sheer awe. Deon backed up a little bit, alarmed by their excessive enthusiasm.

“This is almost definitely a legitimate signature,” decided Rob.

Pete nodded. “It’s even got the little swirl at the end…none of the fakers can do that right…” he analyzed.

“Um…these guys seem a little obsessed…” Deon whispered to Skrili as the father and son continued to study the signature.

“Like I said, people are really big fans of her around here,” Skrili explained.

Finally, Rob and Pete got themselves under control and stood back behind the bar. “It’s too bad, though…” said Rob. “There’s no way we could afford that. You’re gonna make a fortune off that piece of paper.”

“I can’t believe she was actually in our restaurant,” added Pete. “And I served her!”

Skrili stood up, preparing to leave. “The next step is to find someone willing to buy this,” she decided. Deon stood up next to her. “Though convincing them it’s real might be—”

“GOOD AFTERNOON, FANTASY COUNTRY!!!” interrupted the energetic and booming voices of two ladies. Their greeting had come from outside the restaurant, seemingly from a distance. It sounded like they were amplified somehow. Immediately after their introduction, Skrili, Deon, Rob and Pete heard the city erupt into cheers.

“What in the Multiverse?” wondered Rob. They all rushed to the door to find the source of the commotion. The four of them stepped outside, joining an enormous crowd. The circular walkway was packed with people all the way around, who were elatedly looking to the groundless middle of the plaza.

There floated two young women, appearing to be in their early twenties. They were both dressed in very fashionable, expensive clothing.

One girl appeared very light, in a sense of both color and charisma. She had pretty strawberry blonde hair that flowed stylishly and didn’t quite reach her shoulders. Her eyes were round, bright red, and full of joy, and she had a smile that immediately welcomed all to feel befriended and cherished. Her makeup only brightened her face even more.

The girl wore a wavy, short red dress and dark red leggings. Deon noticed that her gold and red shoes were the same as the girl’s from the restaurant. Even still, she seemed far too petite to believably be one of the Multiverse’s top consciousness fighters.

The young lady beside her appeared just as flashy, but much less dainty. She had smooth dark skin and curly, deep purple hair that was even shorter than her friend’s. It was buzzed on the sides of her head and longer on the top, with her bangs falling to the side of her tough-looking face. Very dark eyeliner shaded her ice blue eyes, bringing out their intimidating yet alluring intensity.

Her sleeveless purple shirt was similar to the shirts Skrili and Pang wore, but hers seemed pricier and more fitted. She had on tight black pants, and was barefoot. The girl had numerous triangular black tattoos of varying size down her arms, on her feet, and a small one on her cheek.

Four large security knights stood posted around the girls, facing the crowd. Both of the girls wore glowing levitation bracelets, and Deon assumed the guards wore them underneath their armor. The girls each had a transparent circle of light floating in place in front of their mouths, seemingly meant to amplify their voices.

“How are you all doing?!” the girl in red asked the crowd enthusiastically.

Conscious City exploded with cheering and applause.

“I’m Kotono Inoue,” she continued.

“And I’m Hiroko Hamasaki,” added her tattooed friend.

“And we have a super-special announcement for you!” Kotono finished.

“Most of you probably know the National Fantasy Country Conscious Competition is coming up in just a week,” said Hiroko. “Well, we would like to officially announce that we’ve entered it!”

The colorful crowd applauded vigorously. Deon heard a young man nearby loudly ask Hiroko if she’d marry him.

“Now, I realize that’s probably not too big of a shock to you guys,” Hiroko admitted. “But this year we’re doing something a little different, and we’re going to need your help. Would you like to explain, Kotono?”

“I’d love to!” Kotono accepted with a delicate clap. “This year, we’re proud to announce that we’ve partnered with the Imagine Change Foundation. Imagine Change is an organization that works to create high-end, permanent imagined products meant to serve and benefit communities around Fantasy Country. Here’s the deal: if we win the championship of the National Fantasy Country Conscious Competition again, Imagine Change has agreed to fund the creation of a full lake in the Mainland Desert!

“For the past four years, there has been a decrease in their water supply. Because of that, the native people and creatures of the Mainland Desert have been suffering. In just this past year, over thirty percent of the natives have passed away, and the legendary sand dragons have become endangered. But if we can put a lake in the desert, it will change everything and save countless lives.”

“So this is where you come in: we need your support,” Hiroko announced. “We didn’t become the top team in Fantasy Country on our own: your support helped us to become champions, and you can do it again. So buy tickets to the national Conscious Competition, and cheer us on so we can fund that lake!”

“If we all work together, we can make a beautiful change in this world!” declared Kotono with a big, endearing smile. “So let’s do this thing! We’ll see you there!”

Kotono and Hiroko both gave a salute. Then, with a bright flash of gold and purple light, they were suddenly gone.

The crowd stood in amazement for a few seconds before returning to their usual business, only much more excitedly.

“You know what this means?” Rob said as people passed by.

“Yeah: Kotono is smoking hot,” Deon answered.

“Not that, I mean the signature you’re holding is legitimate,” Rob finished. “It turns out she really was just here. And you’re gonna make a fortune off that thing.”

Deon and Skrili gazed down at Kotono Inoue’s signature.

After a moment, Skrili took the signature from Deon and put it in her pocket. She uttered a farewell to Rob and Pete and began to walk away. “We have a dragon to rent,” she declared.