"About that dreamwalker…" Amore mumbled, "you're saying that creature is still out there?"
"I know damn well it is… there's no way a dream like that could just form something like that." Zale replied.
The night had passed as Zale and Amore ended up in the kitchen of their dorm. Although Atsuji hasn't been "up" yet, they had waited for him to exit his room.
Amore sipped a cup of coffee to keep herself awake from the abrupt night, while Zale was left thinking about this Dreamwalker. How did it end up in her dream? Why was it trying to kill her in the first place? Why did… Ayaka seem to respond to this dream?
Wait… Ayaka Kushiko. Ayaka Kushiko. How did she end up in my dream…?
Clouded with thoughts, Atsuji's door snapped open. Knocking her out of the clouds as Amore and Zale both jolted from their daze. There, Atsuji stood staring at the two, confused.
"You two look messed up." he commented.
"We've been waiting for you since 3 AM…" Amore complained.
"I've been up since 2 AM." he replied.
"Why didn't you say so?!"
"Why didn't you knock on my door?"
"Amore.. He kinda has a point."
"Look Zale— there's a thing called respecting privacy."
Atsuji sat down on the table along with them, though he had grabbed a cup of coffee before he had done so as he took a sip.
"Why do you two look so dazed and empty anyways?"
"We need to talk about something!" Amore shouted.
"Go on."
"Zale had this weird dream last night and there was this creature that tried to kill her in the dream!" Amore continued.
"You sure your dream was not a… nightmare?" he sarcastically replied.
"Atsuji… just hear me out on this. The creature.. It was rather tall and had no face. It looked like it was just made out of white bandages. That thing entered my dream when it shouldn't have. I know it shouldn't have!"
"Shouldn't have…?"
"Yes… because she was there! She was warning me of something!"
"Who was?"
"Ayaka Kushiko!"
Amore and Atsuji's eyes widened. Amore's jaw dropped slightly while Atsuji's hand seemed to jolt, causing his cup of coffee to spill over the table a bit.
"You… know Ayaka Kushiko?" Amore asked softly.
Zale slowly leaned back on her chair as if she was just punched back but she was only left with confusion.
"She appeared in my dreams… constantly actually." Zale replied.
"How do you not know who she is…" Atsuji groaned.
"Am I supposed to know?"
"Everyone knows her, silly." Amore replied. "Ayaka Kushiko, she's from TheElite and she's been a wanted criminal for a while now."
"And how do you two know that—?" Zale asked.
"Erm—" she stuttered.
Atsuji sighed. Placing his cup of coffee down on the table before crossing his arms.
"We don't entirely work for ROSS. We're actually from a company named The Unity. We're just here under cover because we were warned that things would happen in the City of Reverie… so we went undercover to get hired in ROSS and then… we met you."
"Woah… Okay… that was kind of a drop." Zale sighed.
"Please keep this a secret until our mission is fulfilled, Zale." Amore replied.
"Of course… but your mission?" Zale asked.
"Our mission was to find Ayaka Kushiko's—"
"Will have to wait." Atsuji interrupted. Uncrossing his arms, he stood up as he fixed his turtleneck a bit.
"We have a job to do… get rid of this Dreamwalker before it reaches innocent civilians in the City of Reverie." he continued.
Amore and Zale smiled but with confidence. Now with Atsuji on their side, the trio seemed to be at its peak.
"Wait. You knew about the dreamwalker—?"
. . .
As the sun had set, the moon was out once more. The trio had waited for this moment, they were better off searching in the darkest night. Where the Dreamwalker hunted and found prey. The trio stood in an alleyway, waiting silently as the City of Reverie was empty. The only thing keeping away from the silence was the heavy security the government had implemented ever since the ambushes of Shadows.
"I've known about this Dreamwalker. I just wasn't so sure of it until Zale had mentioned Kushiko." Atsuji commented.
"What is the connection between Kushiko and the Dreamwalker?" Zale asked.
"Kushiko used to own a dreamwalker as a spy… more of a pet I guess. But she had used a dreamwalker to spy on one of our members in The Unity."
"How come I didn't know this?" Amore pouted.
"Mr. Arsen trusted me with this information until we came upon her little pet again."
The hell is Mr. Arsen—? Zale thought.
"So you're saying Kushiko owns a dreamwalker?" Zale asked.
"I'm saying a dreamwalker needs a host. It can never act independently. But from what I remember, someone had killed off their previous leader."
"But she fought the dreamwalker…"
"Either she fought her own spy to protect you, or she isn't the host."
"Hm…"
Amore placed a hand under her chin, though Atsuji tapped the tip of his sword against the wall.
"Alright, let's go. Avoid getting caught by security to keep us from getting questioned." Atsuji whispered.
Zale and Amore nodded. Quickly, the trio snuck away from the alleyway, slipping into the darkness as they went full stealth to avoid ROSS' security. Upon entering another alleyway, Zale's eyes perked up as she felt a sense of aura sparkling.
Curious, Zale stopped. Looking around her surroundings while feeling the constant spark of aura. As if she was being dragged or connected to it. Though not even noticing she had gone way behind to catch up with Atsuji and Amore, the sudden spark of aura seemed to get closer. And soon, a hand was placed right on her shoulder.
Oh shit. Her eyes widened, slowly turning around.
"Excuse me— Wait a second. Zale?" a deep female voice called out.
Zale slowly looked, her eyes slowly shifted up as she tilted her head. This voice was very familiar, yet now seeing who it really was, there stood a 6'6 foot tall woman. Her skin pale and her eyes took a light blue color while her hair was white with black fading tips. It was surely she worked for ROSS, but her uniform was rather more elegant. Of course, Zale knew. The person right in front of her eyes was a detective.
"Aelin!" Zale sighed in relief.
Aelin's eyebrow raised calmly, taking her hand off of Zale's shoulder she crossed her arms. Still waiting for an answer.
"Ah— You see…"
"You're out here late.."
"See now—"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
A blood curdling scream echoed. Jolting the two as they suddenly looked at the direction from where they both had heard the cries. Without hesitation, Aelin quickly turned. Dashing ahead while Zale followed.
"Quickly." Aelin said.
. . .
Rushing over to the scene, there the trio had reunited along with Aelin. However, what stood in front of their eyes was one of the co-workers of ROSS, Rosaline. Her body trembled uncontrollably, unable to move.
"Miss Rosaline! Get down!" Aelin shouted.
"Eep!" Rosaline yelped, falling to her knees as she stared at the ground in fright.
Though Aelin summoned her longsword Chronos, Zale felt an overwhelming dark aura. Looking around her surroundings, she soon realized that shadows were arising. Another ambush.
"Watch out!" Zale shouted.
Aelin glanced over at one of the shadows, swinging her longsword as it sliced the shadow immediately. Though there were already more arising, surrounding the four. Amore and Atsuji had already taken out their weapons, holding them tightly as they carefully watched their surroundings.
"Go! Aelin. Zale! We'll handle the shadows!" Atsuji yelled.
Aelin nodded, grabbing Zale by the waist before using her strength to launch both herself and Zale out of the small crowd of Shadows. The two quickly hopped over the shadows while the Dreamwalker ran across the streets. Zale and Aelin chased right after as they were quickly catching up. But as the Dreamwalker began to realize there was nowhere to run, the dreamwalker turned. Grabbing cars with its hand with such ease and tossing them towards the two.
Aelin quickly slid in front of Zale, swinging her longsword upwards to slice the car neatly in half. Without hesitation, Zale ran across. Approaching the Dreamwalker quickly before climbing up, confusing the creature before twisting her legs and using her strength to slam the creature straight to the ground. Slammed to the ground, the Dreamwalker yelped in pain, though quickly getting back up in anger to strike back, Aelin followed up. Dashing right in front of Zale before clashing its fist with her longsword with a light gold aura and purple colored aura spreading across the streets.
Zale soon crouched onto her knees, launching herself into the air before downslamming the Dreamwalker back to the ground. The dreamwalker screamed while its body crashed into the ground. Aelin tilted her longsword up, aiming it right at the Dreamwalker while Zale stared furiously at the Dreamwalker.
"What have you—!" Zale was suddenly interrupted by the sudden burst of aura the Dreamwalker had sent.
Knocking them both back, the Dreamwalker stood up before dashing towards Aelin with her guard down, proceeding to bash its body against Aelin. Though with her quick reflexes, Aelin barely managed to dash aside, receiving only a feeling of a small bump to her hip before the Dreamwalker quickly began to flee.
"Oi!" Zale shouted, attempting to chase after it. Though a strong grasp on Zale's shoulder held her back.
"Leave it. It's going to retreat and die anyways…" Aelin replied.
"No. I must know…" Zale mumbled.
"Know what?" Aelin's eyebrow raised.
"That dreamwalker can kill innocent beings just through their dream." Zale responded.
"She's right." Atsuji commented.
They swiftly turned to the sudden response of Atsuji's voice. Which Atsuji and Amore had finished taking out the ambush of shadows.
"We need to hunt down that Dreamwalker before it can cause even more chaos." he continued.
"Alright. I'll start—" Aelin replied, only to be interrupted by Zale.
"No! Miss Aelin… you have other work to do already. Let us handle it. We can take care of this."
"Are you sure? But—"
"Trust us."
Aelin stared before sighing, shaking her hand softly before looking back up at the trio. Her hand on her hip as she smiled softly.
"I trust you then. Finish it off." Aelin replied, her back turning towards them as she walked away.
"Enough chit chat.. The Dreamwalker left blood trails." Zale replied.
"No more wasting time!" Amore commented.
The trio dashed off, following the trail of its purple blood. Though it had led away from the City of Reverie, the trio soon found themselves in a wave of nothing but forests. Just as the trails of the Dreamwalker's blood seemed to come to an end, there. They had spotted the Dreamwalker once more, healing its wounds with its aura.
"There." Atsuji pointed.
Once the Dreamwalker had spotted them once more, it suddenly stood up straight. But it wasn't exactly the same figure it was before back in the City of Reverie.
"Holy… I don't remember the Dreamwalker being this… huge." Amore mumbled, slowly regretting her decisions.
The dreamwalker was much taller and rather bigger. Being around 7 feet tall while its limbs no longer looked thin but now muscular. Though Atsuji and Amore had never seen the figure like this before, this was the exact shape the Dreamwalker took in Zale's dreams. This same overwhelming aura and its creeping smile and golden eyes.
"What the…" Amore gasped.
"It's regained its strength!" Atsuji replied, getting into stance.
"Then we'll knock it out." Zale commented, clashing her fist together.
Without wanting to waste anymore time, the trio quickly zoomed towards the dreamwalker. Splitting up as they proceeded to entrap and circle the dreamwalker. Zale quickly lunged forward, her aura bursting as bright as the moon before firing an uppercut to the Dreamwalker. Atsuji quickly followed up with his sword, smoothly unsheathing his blade before using the light reflection of the moonlight of his blade to quickly blind the Dreamwalker before swinging his sword downwards. Slashing the Dreamwalker's shoulder. The Dreamwalker screeched in pain before swinging it's arms, using it's claws to try and slice Atsuji. Though Amore quickly ran up with her rapier, clashing her rapier against the Dreamwalker's claws.
"Now!" Amore yelled, keeping steady of the clash.
Atsuji and Zale quickly proceeded to follow up, their stances ready for a double blow while Atsuji's angle of his sword tilted upwards, ready to strike the Dreamwalker through the head and Zale, ready to punch the living shit out of the Dreamwalker. However, just in the corner of Amore's eyes, she could see the Dreamwalker's core slowly light up. Acting like a ticking time bomb.
"Wait!—" Amore shouted.
But it was too late. The Dreamwalker's core on it's chest sent off a massive purple colored shockwave. Heavily knocking all three of them back. But not only did it immobilize the trio, but it had forced them into sleep.
The Dreamwalker growled, staring at the sleeping trio before slowly approaching Zale's limp body. Raising its arm, it's hand suddenly became sharper. Sharper than a blade, ready to slice and tear with ease. Quickly swinging it downwards, it's arm was suddenly interrupted by a quick clash. However, the blade of Amore's rapier had sniped the Dreamwalker's hand as a sign of warning.
The Dreamwalker quickly turned its head left before suddenly being struck in the left side of its face. The Dreamwalker screamed in pain, backing up from Zale before it looked up to whatever had hit it. But there, Amore's awakened body stood as she grabbed her rapier that had struck the ground. Pulling it out of the ground.
"Idiot… I've been through this before!" Amore yelled, raising her rapier up as her aura began to glow a bright golden color.
"Luxten! Cure the dreams… and awaken them!" she shouted.
A bright light began to emit from the skies as her rapier, Luxten, took the light like a battery. Yet it had soon spread across, enlightening the rest of their dreams before waking them up softly.
Zale and Atsuji's eyes slowly opened while the Dreamwalker screeched from the bright light. Their skin was rather sensitive towards such brightness.
"Amore…?" Zale mumbled.
"Go! I'm keeping it steady!" Amore replied.
Zale glanced at Atsuji before they both nodded. Without wasting any further time, Atsuji got into a crouching stance, though holding his sword with both hands, he turned to Zale.
"Allow me to give you a lift, Zale."
Zale stared, her eyes widening in surprised before realizing Atsuji wanted her to give the finishing blow to this Dreamwalker. And there. Right now. She will fulfill it. Zale quickly dashed forward, running straight towards Atsuji while the Dreamwalker was stunned from such brightness.
I must… my aura must reach higher than those dreams! Zale thought.
Clenching her fists, Zale's eagerness to kill this Dreamwalker began to ignite. No longer eager, but formed into determination. To protect, and prevent those from harm. The tips of Zale's hair began to light up in flames, the same color of her flaming aura before she had jumped up onto Atsuji's sword. With Atsuji's help, he launched her high into the air right towards the Dreamwalker.
"It's now… THE END FOR YOU!" Zale shouted, raising her fist that was engulfed with her aura.
The Dreamwalker looked up in pain, multiple parts of its skin burnt off from Amore's light of her rapier. Though Zale slid in, striking the Dreamwalker with her fist with all of her determined strength while her aura burned harder than Amore's light itself. Soon, Zale's aura began to burst, causing an explosion to the Dreamwalker while it had knocked the trio away from the explosion…
. . .
Zale, slowly opening her eyes, noticed the sun was already rising. Though the trees gave her shade to prevent her eyes from getting blinded, she slowly sat up.
Did we…! Amore! Atsuji!
She quickly stood up, looking around. Though suddenly hearing Amore's cheerful laughter from behind, Zale quickly turned around. Her doubts were now smoothly eased as spotted Atsuji carrying Amore.
"Zale! We did it!" Amore cried happily.
"We wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for you, Amore." Atsuji replied.
Zale smiled softly, knowing her closest partners were safe and sound from the battle, she could now rest in relief now that the Dreamwalker could no longer fulfill its task.