The Dream Sanctum: The Eternal World (7 page)

“We’ll figure that out later,” Kai answered
reassuringly, but he felt as frightened as she was. He was used to not having
all the answers to start, but he had never seen his friends so worried.
Whatever was going on, they needed to start getting answers, and soon.

W
ithin the hour, everyone
decided that they were finally ready to go back into the dream world. Ella
seemed hesitant, but given that she was yawning too frequently to finish a
sentence, she decided sleep was the better option. Surprisingly, Lindsay seemed
eager to get back in – much more so than Kai was. Kai honestly felt like
sitting this particular night out and perhaps having a normal dream for the
first time in weeks, but he decided not to say anything. He was sure he wasn’t
the only one dealing with fear.

Kwin seemed to have gotten over the shock that
had shaken her earlier and was back to her normal self, taking charge of the
group and laying out a tentative plan for the night.

“I should stress that this is my plan and my
plan only. If you do not wish to join me, you are more than welcome to do
anything else,” Kwin emphasized, but the others unanimously refused.

“With what I just saw, I’d rather stick with
you, if you don’t mind,” Ella said, and Lindsay nodded emphatically.

“As you wish,” Kwin replied, raising an
eyebrow.

They returned to bed, planning to meet in
front of what used to be the gates to Golden Capital. Instead of falling asleep
quickly as he usually did, Kai lay awake for nearly half an hour, replaying
what had happened over and over in his mind. The city’s glittering window’s
shattering, buildings collapsing, people screaming…

He rubbed his eyes feverishly, trying to shut
out the noise. He didn’t want to go back just yet, but everyone else was there,
and he wanted to be there to help in any way he could.

Ten minutes later he arrived in the forest
near the city gates, searching through the crowds of people who were milling
about uncertainly. Clouds of dust still filled the air and people were picking
their way through the debris, looking confused and scared.

A great shadow fell over him as he reached the
gates, and as he looked up he saw the great black dragon, Asmodiel, standing on
top of the gate, his wings outstretched. His full wingspan stretched more than
the entirety of the city’s grand entrance and nearly to the guard towers at a
distance on either wide. It was an impressive and intimidating sight. Asmodiel
stared at Kai as he approached, and his gaze made Kai very uncomfortable.

“Kai, you’re late,” Kwin said, tugging at his
sleeve.

“Sorry, I couldn’t fall asleep. What’s going
on?”

“Ask
her
,”
Kwin answered in a tone full of disgust, jabbing her finger towards the gates.
Standing underneath the massive form of Asmodiel were Dumar and Semyaza. The
woman with the butterfly wings was now addressing the crowd.

“As I have said repeatedly, Golden Capital is
off limits to everyone, no exceptions,” she called impatiently. “The city is
badly damaged, and for your own safety you must stay out.”

“Funny how it’s always someone else deciding
what people need to do for their own safety,” Kwin muttered. “What’s going to
happen? I’ll get a bit of dust on me? A rock will fall on my head? Gee, if only
this were a dream world where none of that actually mattered.”

“Hey, who are they to decide what everyone
else gets to do, anyway?” Ella fumed. “They’re just dreamers like the rest of
us, how can they take control like that? Alastor, go beat them up.”

“I’m a little puzzled about that myself, but I
think Kwin would be uncomfortable with that for some reason,” Alastor said as
he looked at Kwin pointedly, but she ignored him.

“There’s no point trying to get past them. I’m
not scared of them, I just don’t want more drama,” Kwin explained. “Anyway, if
they’re standing around here that means they won’t get in our way while we
search. Do you all remember what we’re doing?”

Before anyone could reply, a deep rumbling
sound caused everyone to fall silent immediately. Lindsay gasped and grabbed
Kai’s hand, but the rumble passed harmlessly only a moment later.

“There’s no need to be alarmed, it was only an
aftershock!” Semyaza shouted to the crowd as they started to mutter nervously
amongst themselves. Kwin rolled her eyes.

“Thank you
so
much
for explaining what an aftershock is; I thought it was tree
flatulence. Patronizing old bat.”

Ella snorted and started to cough, causing
Alastor to quickly pat her on the back. He flashed Kwin an approving thumbs up,
and she finally smiled.

“All right, let’s get out of here. Alastor,
Ella, take Sky Capital. Make sure it’s intact; we don’t want buildings raining
down on our heads. Lindsay, Kai and I will take Aqua. Ask questions, look for
anything unusual and get as much information as you can. I’m not sure if these
disasters are going to continue, but I’d rather play it safe.”

The group split, and Alastor and Ella took off
immediately in the direction of the Sanctum’s floating city.

“Kwin, are you all right?” Lindsay asked
concernedly. When Kwin looked at her with a puzzled expression, Lindsay
continued, “I just know that’s your favorite city, and the library was in there
too.”

“I hadn’t actually thought of the library,”
Kwin admitted. “But the building the library is in seemed to be mostly
undamaged, so if there were any issues the librarians no doubt took care of
them. Besides, I am not completely without; Aqua has a library I may make use
of as well. I plan to do that once we arrive.”

At the speeds they were capable of flying, the
journey didn’t take long, and they soon touched down within Aqua Capital’s
walls. A few people waved at Kwin as they landed, but Kwin ignored them as
usual. She led Kai and Kwin to a set of benches next to a nearby fountain, and
the three of them sat down. The sound of the fountain and the general atmosphere
of the city was calming, and Kai felt himself relaxing despite the situation.

Lindsay looked as though she were about to
speak when Kwin suddenly looked at her.

“I realize I completely forgot to ask you
before we came here. Does being in this city bother you?”

Lindsay looked slightly confused, but then
shook her head with a smile.

“Oh, I’m fine. I think I just need to stay
away from the…
exhibit
.”

“Understood. All the same, I apologize for the
oversight. If I ever make a request of you that will result in your discomfort,
please let me know. I would hate to think that–”

She gasped as the bench she was sitting on
flickered, then disappeared. She landed painfully on the glass ground beneath
them and stood up irritably.

“This is going to get irritating
very
quickly,” she hissed.

“I was thinking about this myself,” Kai spoke
up, and Kwin looked at him interestedly as she took a seat on his bench
instead. “The things that we’re seeing vanish are all Sanctum creations, like
inanimate objects and things like that. But no people have disappeared, so it
doesn’t seem like there’s anything dangerous going on. Not like the… not like
before,” he finished.

“That’s right,” Lindsay nodded thoughtfully.
“That reminds me, I wanted to ask you, Kwin: are there any people who aren’t
real in here? Are there people who are just as much created by the Sanctum as a
tree or bench?”

“Yes. Many of the shopkeepers are not real, as
well as the mail services and teleporters. As far as I’m aware, none of them
have vanished or flickered. If any of them did, that would be most
unfortunate,” Kwin answered.

“If that’s the case, maybe we can start
narrowing down what’s causing the problem,” Kai said.

“That’s a good thought,” Kwin said
approvingly. “But we need to start somewhere more basic to answer those
questions. Namely, we need to figure out how the Sanctum works so we can figure
out what’s wrong with it. You can’t fix your car before you know how the engine
works, for example. So if–”

“Ashley!” came a cry from across the small
square. Kwin looked mildly annoyed at the interruption until she seemed to
remember that Ashley was her own name, and looked up with sudden interest. Kai
and Lindsay glanced at each other in surprise. They had never heard someone use
Kwin’s real name in the Sanctum before.

A dark-skinned girl who looked to be about
fifteen or sixteen jogged up to them. She wore a set of black silk robes with
gold trim, a wide gold belt and a white bandeau that elegantly crossed her
forehead. The robe’s wide sleeves fell slightly past her wrists, partially
covering hands wearing white silk gloves. At her side was buckled a most
interesting sword; beyond the white metal hilt, instead of a blade, was a long,
white jagged feather that appeared solid and sharp. A similar, smaller feather was
stuck in her shoulder-length, tightly ringed black hair. A single skeletal wing
could be seen over her left shoulder, and a black cloak with gold trim and
tassels was draped over her right shoulder, falling slightly below her waist.
She wore gold winged eyeliner around her deep brown eyes, and her cheeks had a
subtle blush.

Kai found himself staring at her, and she
smiled cheerfully at him. He nodded in greeting, finding himself unable to say
anything. At his side, Lindsay seemed equally struck.
She’s gorgeous
she mouthed at Kai when they made eye contact.

Kwin stood up to greet the girl, though she
looked slightly confused.

“You look familiar. How are we acquainted?”
Kwin asked, holding out her hand. She then gasped as her offer of a handshake
was met with a powerful hug.

“Don’t you recognize me? I was a teacher’s
assistant in the year you graduated middle school,” the girl said brightly.
“Resona, remember?

“Oh! Yes, I remember now,” Kwin replied, warming
immediately. “A pleasure to see you again. How long have you been here?”

“Only about a month,” Resona replied.
“Actually, I just saw you in Golden Capital at the debate. I could hardly
believe it was you! I was even more surprised to hear you’re like, totally
world famous in here. But I guess it shouldn’t be surprising, should it? I
mean, you’re nationally famous in the real world, too.”

“Yes, well, I’ve had significantly more time
to make a name for myself here. I’ve been in the Sanctum for six years, after
all. One of those years was spent without interruption.”

“Oh yes, I heard,” Resona said
sympathetically. “But six years! How can you have spent six years here already,
that means you first came in here when you were…” the girl paused, whispering quietly
to herself as she did the math. “Five years old!”

“You are correct. I was privileged to meet the
friend of a skilled individual immediately upon arriving, and the rest is
history. What brings you to Aqua?”

“I just got finished spending a whole week
trying to teach my girlfriend how to get in here, and now that she made it I
wanted to go relax in the library. I would have gone to Golden but apparently
we can’t get in there anymore.”

Kwin cracked a smile.

“A girl after my own heart. I can appreciate that.
I was hoping to visit the library myself, actually. Before we do, however, I’d
like to introduce two wonderful friends of mine.” Kwin turned and gestured to
the others, who stood up. “This is Kai, and his best friend, Lindsay. I have
had the pleasure of spending the past few months with them, and they are two of
my closest friends. Kai, Lindsay, this is Resona. I am sadly unfamiliar with
her on a personal level, but I can say that she performs all of her educational
duties adequately.”

Resona beamed, looking honored to receive such
a compliment.

“I was just on my way to the library here. Do
you guys want to walk with me?” she asked.

“That would be fine,” Kwin affirmed, and they
started on their way down a nearby alley. “Will your girlfriend be joining us?”

“Probably not tonight. Besides, I told her I
had some super-secret business to take care of. Actually, on that note, I
wanted to ask you something.”

Kwin raised an eyebrow.

“And what might that be?”

Resona stopped and looked around before
continuing in a hushed voice.

“Have you met those two new guys and their
dragon?”

“I have.”

“What… what do you think about them?” Resona
asked anxiously.

“I have no opinions yet on Dumar and Asmodiel,
but Semyaza is a vile woman. She is sanctimonious and arrogant and rude and
childish and overall completely insufferable. If given the chance, I would like
to graciously invite her to walk into traffic and intimately acquaint her face
with the front of a truck.”

Resona sighed heavily with relief.

“Okay, good. I was worried for a moment you
might be on their side.” Kwin looked highly offended at the thought, and Resona
quickly continued, her voice even lower. “I just ask because… I want to do
something. I don’t know exactly what yet, but I’m not the only one. It’s a
secret for now. If they caught wind of it before it really got moving they’d
put a stop to it for sure. But I don’t like watching total strangers come in
and try to take over, and considering you’ve got great connections I was
wondering if you’d like to… you know, help out.”