Dunn's gaze swept everyone in the room.
"So it will be just the three of you."
Klein, Selina and Leonard stood side by side. The former middle had her hands intertwined below her abdomen, while the latter's coat casually reveals his shirt.
Captain, you don't seem very enthusiastic with our lineup... Selina mused quietly while maintaining a faint smile.
Perhaps likely due to her presence, Dunn had not taken out his pipe, instead he inspected the three of them with crossed hands.
Midnight Poet Seeka and Royale are tasked prior to investigate and cleanse the apartments of the deceased, and their relatives, reserving the dream matter for Dunn and the next unit. As for Frye, he's currently patrolling a Saint Raphael cemetery.
After awhile, Dunn unfolded his arms and said, "I will need only two, that way we can file for 3-0137. The region we'll be covering will be the southern boundary of Iron Cross lower street."
"I'll see myself out then." Leonard slight threw both hands away as he walked out. Leaving only Klein and Selina.
Watching the poet out, Dunn rubbed the bridge of nose and lifted his eyes to look at the two recent rookies, but have brought the most cases since they've joined.
Not only that, it was clear he's stressed. Simply because the female of this group is being eyed by some secret organizations, and a God. Where their subordinates may erupt and appear at any point during their mission.
"Sigh... We'll only be visiting four of the affected families, so hopefully we'll be done before sundown." Dunn stride to reach his coat, bent one hand and slipped the other into the clothing before taking his top hat.
Klein watched as their captain prepare, he can't help but address in his heart, Captain, you find Selina and I as troublesome do you?
As the thought fade, he glanced at Selina momentarily before immediately being startled by Dunn's voice.
"Let's go."
...
In front of a building in Colian Street, southwest boundary of the Iron Cross.
Inspector Bitsch Mountbatten came to greet Dunn, Selina and Klein arriving from a trackless carriage and immediately stepped aside to allow the Nighthawks to enter.
On their way to ascend from the stairs, Selina adjusted the squared briefcase, containing 3-0137 to her front, matching its motion with the rhythm of her steps.
Pungent odor seeped into the crevices of the doors and stained clothes hung on the ceilings of balconies where many tenants eyed on them and their attire, but not one was an elder.
Selina endured the smell of wax mixed with sweat as she clutched the briefcase and abandoned testing her Spirit Vision as the subjects aren't present.
Soon, they reached the specified floor. Dunn silently twisted the door open and they saw a cabinet right across.
The panes of the cabinet was broken, revealing hangers. The dresser underneath it had a match, an unlit candle and some tattered cloth.
Dunn and company pressed in and found that there are two doors leading to the exact same room. Where bunker beds are placed and a man around his fifties, quietly sorting his merchandise under the sunlight.
"Ah ahem, so today's the inspection. Thankfully Mort and Telph won't be coming back until evening." The man with dark pupils, sullen face, and recessed eyes lowered the toys down from his hand.
It was a cloth mannequin, holding a spoon.
Dunn nodded and he answered in a deep voice, "You can lay down anywhere you want."
"My wife... she used to enjoy these mannequins I made. She would stitch the cloths, I design them..." The man's voice was hoarse and he said while slowly standing up.
Unbeknownst to him, there were already drops forming around his eyes while his vision slowly blurred.
"Ahh if only she did not fell ill... if only our daughter had not passed away... if only she wasn't obsessed with gazing the stars at night... if only... Our house did not burned down."
As he laid down on the lower bed. Dunn approached him and lowered himself on one knee. Klein followed and Selina was closely behind him.
"Persich, that's your name right?" Dunn asked.
Persich nodded, forcing himself not to shed a tear, instead focused on the iron railings of the bed.
Dunn sighed. "Persich, there are a couple of things one will learn from having a dementia. First, forgetting is a burden, you do not want to lose sight of things you value. But sometimes, it allows you to pay attention, and see that forgetting is also freeing yourself.
"Will your wife agree to what you're doing if she's still alive?"
Persich Roumel is a former middle-class gentleman, who's life crumbled when a fire broke out inside his toy factory. One of casualties was their daughter, who was once intrigued by the stars that she would invite him and his wife to enjoy comets.
That was five years ago. Afterwards, due to the lose, Persich's wife fell ill cause by stress, urging him to sell his properties just to glimpse of a day where his wife recovers.
However, medicines did not aid her effectively, rendering unable to leave without Persich.
This reclusion made her develop a habit of stargazing from the window of the room, as another family slept alongside them on the bunk bed across.
"She probably wouldn't." Persich answered melancholically.
He turned his gaze to see the mannequin he's trying to dismantle and added, "But would that even matter if she's gone?"
Dunn traced his eyes and fell onto the cloth mannequin holding a small spoon.
"Klein, could you hand me that?" He said suddenly.
Klein snapped as he grew more and more intrigued by their Captain's personality and innate ability to make an example.
He quickly reached for the mannequin and as ordered, left it on Dunn's palm.
Dunn looked at the toy momentarily before he faced Persich again. "Your wife loves this as much as gazing at the stars right?
"I don't see why you don't."
"I love gazing at the stars too. I became affection of it because of her and our daughter." Persich retorted.
"I see... then if you love the things she loves. Why do you dismantle the mannequin?" Dunn probed another question.
Persich felt a clog in his throat when answered, "Because it would remind me of her."
Dunn set aside the mannequin before saying frankly, "Then you don't love her."
"I..." Persich realized it and was left utterly speechless.
"You seem to forget the valuable things from the bitter ones. I may not one to say this but learn how to discern between the two, as life alters between losing and gaining." Dunn gave one last advice before saying,
"You can close your eyes."
Persich's thoughts stirred with emotions, like an eruption. However, inexplicably, he suddenly found himself struggling to stay awake.
Dunn lied down next to the bed, and in synch, the two fell asleep.
Klein took a breather and he glanced at Selina, standing beside him. He heard her say, "Captain is so wise..."
"I feel the same sentiment." He looked at the sleeping Dunn for a moment before adding, "Do you think you can attempt dreaming the nightmares of 3-0137?"
Selina nodded as her clear answer.
Thinking for a short while. Klein made careful considerations, which made him flick a coin upon reciting the line: "Dunn would not wake up for four minutes", seven times.
It is his standard set for Selina's window of opportunity.
When the coin results in a positive. Klein relievedly said, "You can use the time now to enter, but do it three times only. I'll be here with you as you sleep.
"Remember, signal me with the seed if there's a problem or if the dream you encountered can be used, that way I can setup the ritual to siphon the dream and transfer it to the seed."
From Daly's letter this morning, she detailed of a variant of mediumship ritual called 'Hollowing'. It is the practice of using high spiritual materials to allow as vessels for spirits to be contained, just like a normal mediumship ritual, which includes dreams.
Klein already finished the Hollowing ritual with the turquois seed he had earlier this daybreak. Which now comes extraction.
His plan was to allow Selina to take the dream with the protection of Mrs. White. Afterwards, use her uniqueness while dreaming to signal him for extraction, and if the dream is nothing of significance, she is ought to wake up.
Extraction is done simply by lighting up the tip and allowing the sleeping Selina to inhale the smoke, creating a bridge in her Astral Body.
This smoke inhaling in mysticism is the 'Trance' state, and it is common in the Evernight Church where the Slumber incense drives one to serenity. It uses the successive word, 'implore', 'relinquish', and 'embed' while praying to oneself in Ancient Hermes.
And since the seed also acts as a sort of candle directed to Mrs. White. This solves the need for excessive materials.
Carry me? Selina fell daze for a moment, and she quickly shook the redness off before saying, "Alright, I'll do my best."
Klein drew a faint breath and he revealed a clothed silver dagger from behind his coat.
After unwrapping it, he wasted no time to seal the area in a wall of spirituality. Careful not to hinder the sleeping Dunn.
During that, Selina went behind the wall that separated the front door from the room. She opened the briefcase, took out the veiled object from inside and pried the cloth away.
Reflected on her eyes was a lamp, a chain-handle lamp. Within it glass casing and iron black grid, there was a candle, burning brightly.
It is as though it had never shed a single melt from the last time Selina saw it.
Caught in the brilliance of its flame, Selina slowly and gradually, found it difficult to divert away. Whatever is within it, the dreams it stored would have details of this world.
The deeper they uncover the history and mysticism, the closer they will be from returning.
Selina's eyes has now began to droop, and the flame of the candle burgeoned intensely before it lost a size.
Clank!
The lamp fell out of her hands and her body sway to collapse. However, just as her head met the cold floor, a hand caught her shoulders.
Following that, Klein calmly returned the veil back to conceal the lamp before setting the briefcase aside. His eyes are filled with concern, but there's nothing he can do but trust.
He quietly shoved both of his hand underneath her, and lifted her limp body up effortlessly.
"Selina, are you skipping meals?" Klein muttered jokingly while looking at her peaceful face.
After that, he carried her back to the room along with the veiled lamp, and without putting her down, he sat on the bunkbed across.
He placed the briefcase next to him, just in case Dunn wakes up and he had to return the lamp back immediately.
Bathed in the glow of the afternoon sun cutting through the dust motes in the air, and the bustling ambience of the lower street beyond the open window.
Where the burgeoning dim light of 3-0137 fades.
Klein fixed a strand of Selina's hair and silently watched three people in the room fall into a deep sleep.
...
In darkness swirls an iridescent streaks of violet and gold, blending with the gray smoke.
Suddenly, a light shattered. Selina found herself in an antique room. She had a pale arm, where her colored veins faintly seen between her recessed skin.
Walking up to her from the counter—a boy with an adorable face, pearl skin and round brown eyes. He seems to be saying something, but only silence followed it.
When the boy turn, the vision also shifted. To a clock with distorted appearance, it then continued to fell onto a portrait, which is also vague and obscured.
This dream doesn't seem to offer much... Selina gained lucidity soon after. A portrait... from the looks of it, these are the dreamer's family...
Right next to it, an antique lamp. It has an iron grid, casing a flame that was captivating.