In the dimly lit confines of the memory zone, Caelus fixed his gaze on the monstrous entity before him. Its claws gleamed ominously under the flickering lights overhead, casting elongated shadows that danced across the walls. The creature hovered, a mass of dark energy and malevolence, its multitude of eyes locked onto him with unsettling intensity.
'What a bizarre creature,' Caelus mused silently as he eyed the bat he had instinctively thrown earlier. His mind raced through his arsenal. 'I could use my lance... No, not Preservation. Too risky without knowing how it might react.'
Grasping the situation with a grim resolve, he decided it was time for direct action. "Ah, screw this," he muttered, his annoyance peaking as he summoned his lance and shield. The weapons materialized with a fiery display, illuminating his figure in a halo of blazing glory.
"Hey, Sparkle," he called out to his companion, who was slowly regaining consciousness on the floor.
Stirring from her daze, Sparkle rubbed her eyes and blinked up at him. Her expression was weary, but recognition flickered as she recalled their last exchange. "Hmm... Oya? I was giving you my lecture, right?"
"Yep, and you're about to do a lot more than that," Caelus replied, bracing himself. He positioned his lance for a charge, his shield raised defensively in front of him.
"Hm~ I don't know what you mea—AAAAAAA!!!" Sparkle's sentence turned into a scream as Caelus surged forward like a bullet train, the heat from his fiery aura scorching the dreamscape around them. Clinging to his jacket for dear life, Sparkle was swept along in his wake, her heart racing from the sudden acceleration.
The creature, caught off guard by the ferocity and speed of the attack, was slammed against the wall with such force that it crumbled the pillars behind it. The impact of Caelus' shield, powered by the momentum of his charge and directed by his lance, sent shockwaves through the structure.
Admiring the wreckage he had caused, Caelus noted the cracks spider-webbing across the damaged wall. The rubble of the dreamscape glitched and flickered, hinting at potential weaknesses in its fabric. 'If I apply enough force, maybe we can break out,' he pondered, contemplating the implications of exploiting these glitches for their escape.
Setting aside his strategic considerations for the moment, he muttered, "Where is my bat..." His weapons dissipated into a mist of flames, leaving him scanning the area for his misplaced equipment.
Behind him, Sparkle, ever the enigma, bounced off his back with a gleeful exclamation. "Wahahaha! That was fun! You should do that more often."
Caelus's eye twitched at her carefree demeanor as he spotted his bat near the collapsed wall. Picking it up, he turned to her with a practical tone, "Nah. First and foremost, we need to get out of here. Who knows when that thing will wake up and come after us again."
As he strategized their next move, Sparkle danced around him playfully, her voice teasing, "Oh my~ What's next? Will you carry me like a knight carrying his princess?"
"Absolutely," he replied without missing a beat, momentarily caught off guard by his own reflexive response.
"Eh?" Sparkle paused, her playful facade faltering into genuine surprise.
Before she could process his answer, Caelus swept her up in his arms, carrying her like a princess straight out of a fairytale. The unexpected gesture seemed to short-circuit her usual flamboyant persona, leaving her momentarily speechless.
"I- I was just joking!" she stammered, her character momentarily stripped away.
---
As Acheron and Black Swan stepped through the dimensional threshold, they found themselves within a realm where reality seemed suspended. Their eyes were drawn upward to a spectacle that defied ordinary perception, to the vaulted expanse above them where countless blocks, detached from any foundation, floated in a mesmerizing pattern. Cascades of translucent blue geometries hung in the air like a frozen explosion, an architectural ballet paused mid-leap.
The sight was so extraordinary that it coaxed a rare delight from Black Swan, her usually inscrutable demeanor giving way to a childlike wonder. "A realm formed from someone's distorted memories, where the course of streams has become aimless, and the hands of time have come to a halt. How marvelous!" she proclaimed, her arms outstretched as if to embrace the chaos above them.
Acheron observed her companion's unusual glee with a furrowed brow. "You express your admiration in the oddest of ways," she remarked, her voice tinged with a disquiet as she scrutinized the myriad of anomalies that surrounded them.
Indulging in the grandeur of their surroundings, Black Swan's gaze settled on a solitary gate, grand in its scale and beckoning with untold stories. "It's not every day one gets to delve into the memories someone or something has cast aside in the dreamscape. Such mysteries are the very essence of my fascination," she mused, her usual poise intermingled with a hint of fervor.
Shifting the focus from the abstract to the immediate, Acheron inquired with an urgency that cut through the whimsical atmosphere, "Have you located Caelus?"
Pausing her reverie, Black Swan conjured a card, its runes pulsating with a gentle luminescence. "It appears he is drawing nearer... Curious, is he fleeing something?" she pondered aloud as the card's light flickered with increasing rapidity.
"Nearer? Then we must make haste toward him. We do not have the luxury of time," declared Acheron, ready to forge ahead, only to be halted by Black Swan's outstretched arm.
"Do you not sense it?" Black Swan queried, her eyes narrowing as she regarded the formidable gate. Acheron, though irritated by the interruption, couldn't deny the ominous aura that seemed to seep from the woodwork. A silent, creeping dread, akin to the specter of death, loomed over them, its presence baleful yet oddly restrained.
Their attention was abruptly commandeered by the violent opening of the door. The forceful kick sent it swinging wide, and through it barreled a figure, clearly in the throes of desperate escape.
"Oh my~" Black Swan murmured, her initial shock giving way to a flirtatious intrigue as she recognized the newcomer.
Caelus emerged, breath ragged from exertion, his presence signaling both relief and the advent of a new urgency.
"You two! I'm so glad to see you now," he exclaimed, halting before them, his expression alight with recognition and something akin to hope.
"Mmhm~ as long as you're fine, all is well, isn't that right, Acheron?" Black Swan said, turning to gauge Acheron's reaction, only to be met with a sudden resurgence of her earlier discomfort.
Acheron's face betrayed no emotion; she did not share in the moment's levity. Instead, her gaze fixed intently on the figure cradled in Caelus's arms. As he approached, the emotional floodgates within Acheron seemed to yield, spilling forth in silent waves.
"Caelus," she addressed him, prompting him to look her way.
"Yes?" he responded, unwittingly stepping into the eye of a brewing storm.
"Who is that?" she demanded, gesturing toward Sparkle, from whose mouth an ethereal wisp, resembling a soul, was escaping while unconscious.
Caught off guard by Acheron's probing inquiry, Caelus glanced sideways to Black Swan, whose expression conveyed a silent plea for discretion and an unspoken warning against any misinterpretation.
Their silent exchange was swift; Caelus offered a subtle thumbs up, affirming his understanding, though it was accompanied by a hint of uncertainty.
Turning back to Acheron, who stood with crossed arms and an impatient tap of her foot, he inhaled deeply, preparing his response. "She i—"
Before he could articulate his explanation, the atmosphere tensed with the imminent approach of danger. Shadows seeped through the doorway, clinging to the walls with a sinister grace. The monster, its presence now revealed, latched onto the doorframe, its purple eyes casting malevolent glares.
Quickly adjusting his hold on Sparkle, Caelus' free hand summoned his trusty bat, ready for what may come.
Black Swan merely observed the encroaching entity, her gaze sharpening with anticipation.
Acheron, unfazed, acted with swift decisiveness. A massive crimson arc of her sword rent the air, severing the monster's limb and shattering the fabric of the zone. The creature recoiled, consumed by its own agony as it tried in vain to recover its disintegrating appendage.
While the entity wallowed in its pain, the trio scarcely gave it a second glance. Black Swan and Acheron understood the finality of the Galaxy Ranger's strike, but Caelus found his attention momentarily drawn to the Galaxy Ranger. The way she re-sheathed her sword with a swift click, it was not just skill but a glimpse of another, a vision of a woman with an aura of power that transcended mere technique.
As the reverberations of the encounter settled, Black Swan acted decisively. "Let us depart," she declared. A circle of runes unfurled at their feet, and with a flare of light, they vanished, leaving the creature to its misery and the memory zone to its fragmented solitude.
---
With the flicker of runic light, they materialized within the storied confines of the Golden Hour. The transition was a welcome reprieve, delivering them from chaos to a space suffused with the reassuring familiarity of order and camaraderie.
Caelus could hardly conceal his relief. "Wooh! We're back! I have to say, it feels like an eternity since we were in safe quarters."
Black Swan's laughter rippled through the air, a gentle tease to the weighty atmosphere. "Hahaha~ You might think of overreacting, but I must admit, after our recent escapades, such an outburst is warranted."
She scanned the horizon of their safety, her gaze lingering on the spectral trails of the creature they had left behind. 'Curiosity for later,' she mused.
Caelus turned to the other members of their unexpected quartet, his eyes settling on Sparkle, whose bouts of consciousness were akin to the flickers of a faulty lantern. Black Swan, with the grace of a seasoned dramatist, couldn't resist the allure of a little theater. "And now, if I may, who might this be?" she gestured towards Sparkle, with a flourish that belied her genuine curiosity.
A disoriented Sparkle surfaced from her intermittent slumber, the sensation of solid ground beneath her a startling contrast to the disarray she remembered.
"Uwegh? Mou! I should be out there, weaving the fabric of chaos and — Ah! Oh..." Sparkle's gaze fixed on the two women, Black Swan's eyes shimmering with mischief, and Acheron's radiating an aura that sent shivers down her spine.
But Sparkle was an embodiment of anarchy, the very essence of the Masked Fools. Rather than cower, she tucked herself closer to Caelus, her mischievous grin broadening as if she thrived on the thrill of the confrontation.
An internal alarm screamed in Black Swan's mind, sensing the static of Acheron's brewing tempest. She needn't have worried, for Caelus—perhaps in wisdom or a moment's folly—suddenly let go, and Sparkle thumped onto the ground.
With the agility of her namesake, Sparkle bounced back onto her feet and presented herself with a dramatic flair. "Hallo~! Sparkle of the Masked Fools, at your service!" Her hand found Caelus's, her grip tightening with impish intent. "A true delight to make your acquaintance~"
Acheron's face remained stoic, yet her aura rippled with suppressed emotion. It was a battle within, the struggle to maintain composure amidst the storm of newly awakened feelings. "It is a pleasure. Now, Caelus and I must attend to an urgent matter. Immediately." Her voice was calm, but the urgency behind it was palpable as she moved to assert her presence.
Eager to quell any further mischief, Acheron seized Caelus' free hand, pulling him along with a haste that betrayed her desire to escape the tension.
"Eh? Wait! The others—?" Caelus's voice trailed off, his protests lost to the determined stride of the Galaxy Ranger, pulling him away as a mother might rush her child from danger.
Behind them, the laughter of Black Swan and Sparkle melded into the ambient hum of the Golden Hour. "Worry not! Enjoy what time fate has granted you!" Black Swan called out, a knowing smile gracing her lips.
Sparkle, never one to miss a chance for theatricality, chimed in. "Don't forget the fun we had! Until next time~"
Acheron, propelled by a mix of protectiveness and possessiveness, ignored their commentary, her focus solely on the man beside her whose presence had become a touchstone in her turbulent world.
As the pair vanished from sight, Black Swan and Sparkle settled onto a nearby bench, the earlier excitement giving way to a quiet reflective pause.
"So," Sparkle began, her curiosity piqued as she lounged on the bench, "what endeavors guide a Memokeeper to this junction of dreams?"
Black Swan, usually inscrutable, found herself pondering the question with newfound introspection. Her mission—to dive deep into the nebulous sea of dreams, to uncover secrets before they were wiped clean by the unforgiving Memosnatchers—now seemed to intertwine with the fates of Acheron and Caelus. Her curiosity, once a singular flame, now flickered in myriad directions.
She returned Sparkle's knowing gaze with one that silently communicated a burgeoning scheme, an invitation to indulge in a collaboration of whimsy and chaos.
"I recognize that glint," Sparkle said, her tone rich with amusement. "Your intentions aren't as cloaked as you believe, Memokeeper."
Black Swan feigned ignorance. "Intentions? I'm simply an observer, nothing more."
Sparkle's laughter was light, a contrast to the gravity of their situation. "Then let's entertain a thought, shall we? The IPC could use a touch of our unique flair—Aventurine is among them, after all."
Black Swan's lips curled into a smile at the prospect. "...Sure."
End of Chapter
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A/N: Hello, everyone! Wishing you all a wonderful day. There isn't much I need to say, except that I hope you enjoy your reading. Your support means a lot. Thank you!