"Ugh…" Still dressed in a bruised purple sweater and jeans, Astra was hunched back slightly as she held her right hand to her head instinctively. This was because her mind was dizzy, and she felt like she had gone through an illusory, abstract world.
No, she actually did go through a world like that!
After she had accepted the invitation to the Dreamlanders, Loken had carried her through a foggy realm filled with abstract things that no human was able to describe. This was so that Astra could've been transported to the Dreamlander headquarters in Luna instantly.
"I'm not tired at all anymore…?" Astra thought with a confused face as she fully recovered from the dizziness.
She didn't dwell on it further. She looked at her wrist and saw that her immigrant band was gone.
"It seems like while Loken was carrying me here, everything had been finalized. This means that I passed their tests, and I'm now an official citizen of Morpheus."
She chuckled slightly.
"I guess that means I'm a Dreamlander now. And I didn't even have to sign anything. Weird."
"Anyway remains to be seen is if I'm actually a Protector…"
Feeling satisfied, she looked around and examined her surroundings.
Feeling the cold, comfortable breeze of air conditioning, she saw that she was in something that looked like a study. However it appeared as if it was made for multiple people, instead of one person.
This room was dark, as if it was made for people to sleep in. The only source of illumination was holograms of the violet crescent moon and makeshift picture windows that showcased the night sky.
A faint grey fog also permeated the atmosphere, with it especially being prevalent around the pieces of sci-fi technology combined with floating desks and holographic smart devices. Where the fog was most abundant however, was the floor. One wouldn't be able to see their feet even if they looked down.
Astra felt as if she was in a mythical, dreamy yet technological space. Her intuition told her that this was an office for a group of Dreamlanders. Though, she couldn't figure out why Loken would send her here specifically. Well, it was more like she didn't think too much about it.
She looked around the space, doing a 360 movement to figure out where Loken was. However, when she completed this movement, she didn't see him anywhere.
Behind her, there was a large translucent door that emitted a faint pink light. It looked akin to a portal.
In front of her, was the dreamy sci-fi study.
"Did he just leave me here…?" Astra sulked outwardly.
"Do you feel rejuvenated?" Immediately after Astra said that, a male voice resounded through the space. It sounded soft and deep, but teasing.
Astra flinched.
"Huh?"
"Sorry to have surprised you," The man chuckled. "I'm going to guess that such a reaction means a yes."
"Loken?" Astra asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion.
"Yours truly," Loken replied. "By the way, the reason why I sent you through that space was to make your body feel as if you slept for a full 8 hours. Heh, I can't let you be on the verge of passing out for the ritual."
"Such a convenient ability." Astra felt a little jealous.
"Why aren't you here with me?" She asked.
The voice resounded inside Astra's head again.
"I do appreciate that you enjoy my presence. But I'm quite a busy man, you see." He gave an exaggerated chuckle, displeasing Astra. It showed on her face, but she didn't express it outwardly with her words.
"Though I will leave you with some tips."
Taking a deep breath, Astra nodded instinctively.
"When they come, they'll inform you that you must go through with a ritual. This ritual involves making your body ethereal, and letting the object's essence permeate your subconscious."
"Of course, this is only after they talk about some other stuff that needs to be said to new Dreamlanders. I don't have much time, so I won't explain it."
"After you let your body become ethereal, you'll experience a qualitative change. To avoid losing sense of yourself, try to find any sort of motivation within yourself. A particularly strong motivation will increase the chances of success exponentially. Think of it as finding a will to live in a life or death situation to tap into newfound strength. Though, it's not that extreme."
Astra's brow furrowed slightly when Loken explained this point. She fully understood why Mia was to become a Celestial despite such odds being stacked against her.
Loken continued.
"Once you become a Celestial, you will have to go through some mental and physical training. This isn't that hard, and with your mind and body, you should be able to pass it easily."
After he said this point, he cleared his throat. He gave a sigh; one that sounded genuine and not exaggerated. This made Astra feel a piercing chill in her stomach. It wasn't too intense—but it almost felt real.
"As for the last thing you need to know," Loken said, his voice turning serious. "If something goes wrong due to your abnormality, do not panic."
"Under any and all circumstances, do not let it affect your mental state."
"If you let it, something terrible will happen."
"Corruption is the least of your worries at that point.
"…"
A short silence took place. Astra's mouth opened slightly as her eyebrows creased. She didn't know how to react to this cryptic information.
All she could've thought about was how she turned pale on that fateful night, and how Kayla said that she could've easily died.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, Loken let out a strange laugh.
"Haha! That's all you need to know. Anyway, those guys just got my memo." Loken's voice gradually got quieter and quieter.
"They should be coming here shortly."
With that, Astra sensed as if Loken had left the space—that she wouldn't hear his voice in her ear again.
She still felt frozen. Trying to calm herself, she shook her head slowly.
"No, this is what I should expect."
"Right, this will further my connection to the heavens. And only by this, I can get stronger to be able to contact Kayla and Mia." Steeling her resolve, she allowed herself to reaffirm her motivations.
After some time, Astra heard a soft humming resonating from the portal-like opening behind her.
She turned around. It didn't take long for the translucent violet light to slowly fade, revealing a figure.
He was not much older than a teenager, and had a slim build. He was wearing a dark buttoned shirt with dark jeans, with the right breast of his shirt having a velvet crescent moon. The crescent moon had a velvet star that was under it. He had short dark hair with bangs streaking across his forehead. He had purple eyes and a somewhat soft face. He looked to be about average height for a man, so he was quite a bit shorter than Astra.
Aside from his pinkish-purplish eyes, he looked pretty average.
"…" The young man stood silent in the space that looked quite similar to an elevator, except it was larger. It was also pitch black with the only light being from the moving fluorescent points of light on the walls.
He stared at Astra in this space. His mouth was open, and his eyes had widened. He wanted to size her up, but he felt it would've been disrespectful to do so.
She proceeded to meet his gaze, though he was evidently struggling to keep eye contact. She then noticed that two faint red spots were appearing on his cheek.
"Are you the one supposed to help me become a Celestial?" Astra didn't waste any more time.
"Oh!" The man shook his head slowly. "Uh, yes! I was just thinking of something, sorry…"
"Astra Sera, was it?" He asked, trying his best not to smile nervously.
"Yes."
"By the way, how did you get up here? Captain never told me why you'd be here…" He asked. Though the young man knew the answer, he just wanted to prolong the conversation.
Astra shrugged.
"I guess somebody wanted to pull a prank on you and I," She said nonchalantly, noticing the young man's tactics.
The young man cleared his throat.
"Ahem. Anyway, Captain sent me to tell you that you'll be a part of our group when you become a Celestial. He also told me to come for you to send you to the room to perform the ritual."
Astra nodded. Soon enough, she walked in the dark space that looked like an elevator.
The young man's heartbeat got faster when she did this.
"I'm assuming this is an elevator that will carry us to the room?" She asked curiously.
"Yeah." Suppressing his nervousness, he responded.
Quickly, he tapped a holographic projection that appeared on his wrist. As if the elevator listened to him, it closed itself by sliding a translucent violet barrier down in front of Astra and the young man.
As it did, the walls inside the elevator turned into a starry night sky. The lights were trailing downwards, as if the elevator was in a spaceship.
The man sighed. He closed his eyes while he crossed his arms, appearing serious.
Inwardly, he was deeply unserious.
"Are you kidding me? They didn't tell me that a literal Goddess was going to be in our group!"
"She was clearly involved in some accident, but she still looks like she came from the heavens themselves! Even her voice sounds angelic!"
"And I'm alone in an elevator with such a person!"
"What should I do? Should I just play it cool and talk to her normally?"
"Right. She's just a human being…"
"By the way, you never told me your name." Astra spoke up, interrupting the man's thoughts.
Appearing nonchalant, he opened his eyes while still crossing his arms.
"My name is Sonar Leo. Though some people usually call me Zero. I personally like that name more." Sonar said, his cheeks still appearing a faint red.
"Okay, I'll call you Zero then." Astra replied with a soft voice.
"Excellent." Still feeling nervous, his lips twitched as they curled up slightly, appearing as if he was resisting a smile. Trying to collect himself, he finally uncrossed his arms.
A few seconds later, the points of light had stopped trailing downwards and were now stationary.
The elevator had finally stopped.
The translucent violet barrier slid down, revealing a dark room. The only lights were the ambient pulses of the grey fog on the floor and the purple streaks of light that flew across the ceilings and walls. There appeared to be no other objects in the room.
"This is our destination. Are you able to see?" Sonar asked while looking inside the room.
"Yes. I'm able to see rather clearly." Astra said with a rather soft voice.
Sonar thought this was strange, but also a little cool. Complimenting her inwardly, he began to step forward. Astra followed behind him, their steps not even sounding through the dark, foggy room.
Immediately, they both felt an artificial, cool breeze flowing past them.
Suddenly, Sonar had stopped moving his feet. Astra had ceased her movement as well, copying him. Before she could even ask about the occasion, Sonar's voice echoed throughout the room.
"Captain, we're here!" He shouted.
In a short moment, the room began vibrating slightly. Both Astra and Sonar heard a resonating hum, as if a metal door was sliding to open itself.
Then, in the center of the room, a faint violet light appeared in the midst of the fog below. It then protruded itself outwards, appearing almost like an especially large pillar of light. It had extended itself to reach the height level of Astra's waist.
"It almost looks like a lightsaber coming out of the ground…" Astra said inwardly as she focused her attention on the top of the pillar.
Later, Sonar and Astra both came closer to the pillar, with Sonar walking first. As they did, the light had illuminated the front of their bodies, casting shadows behind them.
On this pillar were three orbs.
The first orb was the orb that looked similar to what Mia had held earlier. It was dark blue with blue and purple velvet hues, and appeared as if boundless fog and endless stars were trapped within it. This orb looked deeply mysterious, illusory and abstract—but it also gave a strange feeling of warmth and comfort.
The second orb looked completely different. It was dark green with light blue and white 'sparks' that connected to each other. It seemed as if it had contained countless neurons, dendrites and other brain cells. Each of these 'sparks' pulsated in a strangely rhythmic tune as if the orb itself was alive.
The third orb was completely white. Inside of it were little black dots scattered about—appearing as if they were rolling dice. However, it suddenly changed its appearance, showing what looked to be a wheel of fortune with many choices. Then it changed its appearance again! Now it seemed as if the orb itself had shattered like glass, with each shard showing multiple different futures of where it hadn't shattered. It looked as if the scenes it was showing were completely random.
"It isn't hard to guess what dimensions those orbs represent…" Astra added in her head.
"Congratulations Miss Astra," A deep, male voice sounded from the distance. Footsteps couldn't be heard, but as he spoke, it was evident that he was getting closer.
"You're officially a Dreamlander."
As the voice got closer, Astra saw the man's figure.
He was tall and had a somewhat muscular body. He had short black hair that was parted 30-70, and he had sharp, deep red eyes. He looked about thirty, wearing a dark, groomed beard. He wore a black, long trench coat with two inch boots. He had on rectangular glasses, giving him an almost scholarly aura. His face was sharp, and he looked quite attractive.
"Captain…" Sonar muttered as he saw the man fully outline himself.
"Welcome to the Dreamlanders, Astra Sera. Though, we can call you Dreamer Sera." The man said as he stopped right before the pillar of light—it too casting illumination on his well defined face.
"I'm glad that someone like you was placed to be in our group, and I'm a little depressed that the other two group members couldn't come." He sighed, then looked back up at Astra.
"You can call me James Smith."
Astra nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Captain Smith."
James gave a faint smile.
"I was wondering why the higher ups would be so fond of someone who just appeared in the country not even a month ago—to the point of even giving them the status of a Protector."
"But even just by looking at you, I can see why."
"I actually got that status…" Astra elaborated inwardly, almost ignoring the compliment.
Sonar's mouth widened as he heard this information. Before he could ask why, Astra spoke up.
"If I may ask, what does that term mean exactly?"
"I also have some other terms I'd like to know the meaning of…"
"Great question. Don't worry, I'll fill you in with a lot of general info that a Dreamlander must have before they try the ritual. The meaning of that word is also a part of that information." James responded in a low, deep voice.
James later held his right hand up and pressed a small point of light that was on his wrist.
The room vibrated once more, causing slight tremors across the bodies of the three people standing.
Suddenly, three pillars of light surrounded the pillar of light that held the three orbs. They coalesced and formed into what appeared to be purple holographic chairs. They hovered near Astra, Sonar and James.
"Why don't we have a seat? I don't think you guys would like standing up throughout this process." James said politely.
Immediately after he said that, Astra and Sonar and himself all sat down on the holographic seats.
It felt cold and comfortable, as if the chairs were made out of actual fabric.
James pressed the button on his wrist once more. A large, blue, holographic screen appeared above the pillar of light that contained the three orbs.
"Before we begin," James looked up towards Sonar and Astra. "Let us pray."