After exchanging pleasantries, Aurora immediately got to the point.
"I'm sure both of you have your thoughts on the report, yes?"
Sonar nodded.
"Yes. It involves someone who ventured outside, so there's a chance he could've gotten corrupted by an evil spirit, artifact, or a particularly malicious Rogue."
"That's probably what happened," Aurora concurred. "Depending on each case, we may have to prepare some ritualistic ethereal magic to purify the corruption and erase his memory."
She later continued, stoically adding, "Captain Smith has already given me the authority to use the Tier 5 Artifact to enter his dream and erase any memories of Ethereon after we're done."
"Isn't she only an Ember…? Why is she using something that Embers can't use…" Astra had thoughts on Aurora using the Tier 5 Artifact.
As if Aurora had noticed Astra's concerns, she looked at Astra and said, "Don't worry. I can use the Tier 5 artifact because it's an artifact of Dreams, making it easier to control. It's also because I'm a fully refined Ember."
Astra nodded as Aurora confirmed her suspicions.
Not even a second later, Sonar expressed his opinion on Aurora's earlier comments.
"Wouldn't it be easier to enter his dream first to purify the corruption?"
"Well, in normal circumstances, yeah. But we don't know what he has come into contact with since he went outside the city. We don't want to see something we shouldn't see." Aurora replied.
"Then," Astra interjected. "Wouldn't a solution be to investigate him first?"
Aurora replied calmly.
"We were going to do that anyway. It's just that scattered memories are the norm in these cases, and going based off of the victim's experiences is unreliable."
"In that case, what if the purification ritual fails?" Astra asked.
"Then we hand the case over to the Captain. Using his judgment, he would either come with us so we can try again or he would hand it over to the Dreamweaver Sector." Aurora explained.
"As expected, this case is a lot more complicated than it seems. An Ember using a Tier 5 artifact, this case being described as something that doesn't have normal circumstances…" Using a series of questions, Astra indirectly confirmed her suspicions.
"Though, why was this mission given to us instead of Captain Smith? I can understand it not being given to Vice-Captain Nyxen…"
"Perhaps Captain Smith believes that this mission is hard enough for me where I'd get experience? It could also be that it was recommended by a Dreamweaver, since I am a Protector."
"And also, I am apart of this case. If this case is more serious than it lets on, it could potentially involve a certain organization…"
"Knowing that, things become much clearer."
"Anyway, so we have our plan on what to do." Sonar interjected confidently. "Him having these nightmares could only really be because of corruption. Whether it was from an evil spirit, Rogue, or artifact, we'll have to do further investigations."
"Once we investigate, we will use a purification ritual to cleanse any sort of threats that may come from within the man. Afterwards, you and I enter his dream to erase any remnant memories or any Ethereon remnants."
Aurora nodded, affirming Sonar's summary.
"Also, Dreamer Sera," She turned towards Astra. "You won't be entering the dream with us. This is for two reasons."
"First, you're not a Celestial of Dreams and Subconsciousness. You won't have any dream manipulation abilities, so there is an extremely likely risk of being stuck in the dream by the artifact, even with our control."
"Second, and more importantly, while we enter the dream after the ritual, you will watch over our bodies to make sure nothing goes wrong. If you see or sense that anything does go wrong, do not hesitate to wake us up."
"As Celestials of Dreams, we have full control over our bodies in our dream. We can even sleepwalk consciously. But if you notice any expressions that indicate that there was a failure, wake us up."
"I understand." Astra said with a serious tone, having further thoughts.
Aurora smiled faintly, and then returned back to her stoic expression. "But before that happens, I'll try to use my Celestial powers to exit the dream if anything goes wrong." She turned towards Sonar. "If that too goes wrong, then you will also try to make an Ethereal connection to the Artifact in the dream. That way, we'll both try to control it, increasing our chances."
"Awesome. Are we doing this tonight, or…" Sonar said casually, looking at Aurora.
Aurora gave a small sigh as she said, "Yes. If this goes unhandled, his condition will get worse."
"I'll get the items for the ritual and the Ethereal Artifact from the Umbral Reliquary. You two can wait outside of the facility. When I come back, we'll take a multi-personal train to get there."
"Multi-personal train…? Isn't it called a multi-person personal train?" Astra almost laughed at the naming sense.
"Alright. I'll pull up the information needed to arrive at the location and set up the multi-personal train." Sonar didn't have any problems with Aurora's comments, and even made the initiative for something.
"What about you, Dreamer Sera?" Aurora turned her Astra, her nebulae-like eyes softening.
"I don't have a problem with either of your suggestions. This is my first mission, so I'll take this as a learning experience." Astra replied.
"Excellent." Aurora smiled faintly. "I'll end the meeting here. Remember to meet up at the border."
Astra and Sonar nodded.
As soon as they did so, Astra's eyes widened as she found herself staring at the ceiling that was covered in darkness. There was only purple moonlight faintly lighting up the edges from the two corners of the room.
She had woken up, returning back to her room.
Astra rubbed her eyes as she processed what had happened in the dream space.
"It's impressive how efficient they were. What can I learn from this?" Astra asked herself as she proceeded to get up to get ready.
"Even though their conversation was short, and I didn't say much, they ended up being very decisive very quickly. They identified the potential problem, came up with a solution, thought about what should be done in case something goes wrong, and examined any cases where we might have to use our discretion and caution depending on how severe the situation is." Immediately, Astra learnt the process by which they deal with such cases.
"You can tell that they're experienced." She later added, praising them.
Without turning on her lights, she grabbed her Dreamlander uniform and began to put each piece of clothing on one by one.
Once she fully wore her uniform, she exited the room, not even paying attention to it increasingly getting messier.
Coming out of her room, she had decided to go to the bathroom to further get herself ready.
While fixing her blonde hair, Astra thought, "Aurora seems like a nice woman, though her nice expressions almost seem forced. No, trained is the better word."
"Judging by how she acts towards me and how she acts towards Sonar, the latter is definitely more genuine. It appears that her family is quite restrictive, which is expected from a large rich family. With that said, it's likely that she became a Celestial to break off from her family. Not out of contempt, but out of freedom to be herself. However, it's entirely possible that such thoughts are her family's plan." She continued to analyze Aurora's situation, knowing her current predicament regarding funds.
"Anyway, she has a pretty good relationship with Sonar. They remind me of Xavier and Aria in a way, but not quite. The genders are reversed, though…"
After a few more minutes of preparing herself in the bathroom, she left the room and stopped her steps inside of the living room. She looked outside toward the balcony, staring at the violet moonlight.
"My first mission…I hope this goes well." Astra said, conflicting with the feelings that were present in her gut.
…
With curly blonde hair and glossed lips, Astra stepped out into the Dreamlander's lobby. She hadn't carried her glasses or her monocle and had only decided to carry her phone.
As always, the atmosphere was quiet. Despite there being many facilities and dozens of people walking in and out, there was not much chatter. It was as if the people were one with the silent, shifting, dream-like space.
Astra stared at the blue ball of light for a second. She then headed to the Deli of Dreams to get a light snack and to chat with Olivia for a while.
Finishing up with her food, she stepped out to head to the end of the lobby, which was called the 'border'.
It was a massive, translucent purple gate that looked as if it was made out of energy. It almost looked like a portal to another world in a video game.
On its surface were strange, indecipherable symbols that ebbed and flowed gently. A whirring sound was felt, but it wasn't heard.
Astra stared at the gate, almost mesmerized by its strange nature.
After a while, she felt two people approaching her. Turning around, she saw the expected.
Sonar Leo smiled, waving his hand as Astra. He wore his classic all-black Dreamer uniform.
Aurora Rosewood, also dressed in an all-black uniform with a long black jacket, walked majestically but apathetically. She held a crescent shaped jar in her right hand. It had star-like dots that flowed gently but also shifted suddenly, almost as if it was glitching out of reality.
"They both came together…" Noticing this, Astra waved back at Sonar, however it was subtle and her hand was at her waist. It was quite an awkward movement.
"Here is the Tier 5 Ethereal Artifact: Dream Visitor." Aurora said as she stopped a few feet in front of Astra. She held it up so that Astra can see it properly.
"Once it is opened, the stars in the jar will cling to all people in a ten meter radius and pull them into the same dream." Aurora started to explain the artifact.
"The dream that they will be pulled into is always the person who fell asleep first, hence the name 'Dream Visitor'. If it is at the same time, or if it is just one person, then everyone involved gets pulled into the Artifact's dream, which is usually never good."
"Also, the time it takes for a person to be pulled into a dream is ten seconds, so the user can exit the ten meter radius in that time to avoid being pulled. The timer always resets when you leave the radius, though."
"Like all Ethereal Artifacts, it has side effects. Once one is pulled into a dream, they will slowly become one with the dream. It takes only one hour after being pulled before the effects begin, with each hour getting worse—lessening your chances of gaining any lucidity."
"Once eight hours have passed, the victim will become one with the dream, stuck in the Dreamscape forever." Aurora explained apathetically, almost unaware of her cryptic messaging.
Astra didn't mind though, she continued to listen attentively.
Sonar then explained, "As you know, most people don't know that they're in dreams most of the time; they can't pull themselves out in time. So the artifact is especially dangerous if one is not careful."
"As for us, we always know when we're dreaming, and we can leave whenever. The only problem is that since we're not Sentinels, the artifact is particularly hard to control. Which means if we stay in there for a few hours or more, it'll be especially hard for us to exit since the artifact wants us to stay in the dream."
Still listening, Astra fully understood why they made her observe their bodies instead of joining them in the dream.
Though, she still had a few questions.
"If that's the case, then how am I able to wake you up if the artifact wants you to stay?"
Sonar grinned.
"Well, it only works on an ethereal, non-corporeal, subconscious level. It has no resistance to you simply punching us if you want us awake."
Astra placed her hand to her chin. "I see. So afterwards, you'd have to immediately move away from it in the next ten seconds, right?"
"Bingo." Sonar snapped his fingers while pointing at Astra.
"This is important, so I'll explain it now." Aurora interjected. "The sealing method for the artifact is to simply create a small barrier of Ethereon over the tip. This has to be done when all people involved woke up, or else they'd be stuck in the dream instantly."
"Despite its tier, even Awakeneds can seal it."
Astra nodded in understanding.
"Okay, let's move." Aurora suddenly exclaimed while walking towards the border. "I don't want the moonlight dust to get stale."
Astra followed Aurora afterwards, with Sonar falling right behind her.
As they walked through the border, a faint but strangely calming whirring sound invaded their ears. Their vision was taken over by a whirlwind of fog and peculiar symbols that glowed violet.
A ringing sound reverberated, causing Astra to instinctively want to cover her ears. She didn't attempt it, as she knew that it would be to no avail.
Once they exited, they found themselves on a classic suburban street with bioluminescent hovering houses lining the sidewalks, along with luminescent violet lights providing illumination in the night. It was quiet, despite vehicles flying overhead and hovering over the street.
"That was trippy. Though something like that should've been expected just based off of how that 'gate' looked…" Astra thought to herself as she tried to process the feeling of passing through the border. She rubbed her ears slightly as she adjusted her body and her emotions.
Though, it wasn't long before she noticed something else that was strange. Every breath that she took was short, like her lungs were left wanting.
The air felt thin, dry, and cold. Every breeze that passed by felt strangely still, despite the wind trying to carry it.
Astra immediately knew what this meant. They were thousands of feet high in the air!
Since this Earth was so large, everything still appeared the same, relatively speaking.
Knowing this, Astra looked up and saw that there were two violet moons in the sky. One looked almost like a hologram—it was clear that it was a projection of the violet moon. It was full, and completely overhead.
Then, there was a violet moon that looked further away. Not only was it crescent, but it was positioned slightly to the side, like it was partnered with the projection. This was the real moon.
"So that's why the moon's appearance keeps shifting irregularly. There were two moons in the sky!" Astra thought, almost flabbergasted.
"Why am I just seeing two moons now, though? I should still be able to see the real moon even when I'm closer to the surface…"
"I wouldn't be surprised if Lucian or Loken was involved with the projection. Maybe its the source of their power? Perhaps that's why this city is called the City of the Moonlight?"
"You've never been this high up, huh?" Sonar asked, observing Astra's confusion.
Aurora only turned her head at Astra curiously, but began to walk in the direction of a personal train station.
"No…" Astra responded to Sonar, still staring at the sky.
"Actually, I haven't been outside of the facility for a while now…" Astra added inwardly.
Sonar laughed.
Aurora, as if she was always listening, looked back on Sonar and Astra still talking. She sighed and continued to walk at a steady pace.
"Haha!" Sonar loudly expressed his joy. "Don't worry, you'll get used to certain scenes. I also saw you a little dazed after you came out of the border."
Astra narrowed her eyes, looking down at Sonar, noticing that this meant that there was something special about the border.
Observing this, Sonar kept his grin as he asked, "Do you know why that is?"
"There's something special about the border…no, there is something special about the facility, right?" Astra responded, looking for confirmation.
"Yes." Sonar held his thumb up. "The Dreamlander's facility is very special."
"It doesn't exist in the real world."