Something unprecedented was happening to the patchwork world of the Dream Realm.
Most were oblivious to it, while some were confused, wary and alert.
But only a few would realize the truth.
And it was going to change everything and nothing at all.
- - -
In the Ivory Tower, above the great castle of Bastion, Cassie was looking up, her documents temporarily forgotten on her desk.
She could sense a disturbance in the air, like a ripple.
As though the fabric of reality itself was trembling.
It was subtle, barely perceptible to most.
Saints, whose souls were fused and connected to the world to an extent, would be able to feel it like vibrations pulsating in the air. Perhaps some exceptional Masters would notice, too.
But people like Cassie, whose affinity to fate made them more susceptible to changes in its tapestry and the world, could sense much more.
And Cassie in particular, was especially attuned to such things.
Not only that, she was now a Supreme.
To her, the ripples in reality were akin to tremendous waves, towering dozens of meters in the sky, rushing forward with unfathomable speed. Each wave felt like they would crush her whole.
Her eyes widened in awe and wonder, mixed with a sense of foreboding.
She could feel something profound was happening to fate and existence itself.
As though something that had been lost had at last been found and replaced in its proper place.
As though the fabric of existence was once again whole and complete and right.
A brilliant smile bloomed on her exquisite face, even as reality continued to shudder around her.
- - -
A short distance away from Ravenheart, the clangor of steel rang out in a small valley, its echoes drowned out by the winds.
On the floor of the valley, a man and a woman were locked in combat, kicking up snow and breaking the stone around them as their swords met in the middle. They clashed and retreated, only to come together once more.
The man had dark auburn hair that looked like soft silk, green eyes that were mesmerizing like summer trees, his flawless ivory skin smooth and unblemished, even in the heat of battle. He handled his blade with great skill, his movements easy and calculated.
The woman was like a goddess of war, long raven-black hair shining in the silver light of dawn, sharp vermillion eyes like the color of a man's lifeblood. Her sword was a symphony of death in her hands, its blade whistling with every slice and cut she made, as though the air itself parted before its razor edge.
Even though Kai was first and foremost an archer, his skill with the blade wasn't one to be scoffed at. But in front of the tantalizing beauty before him, it was nothing. His defenses were easily bypassed, and he was forced onto the backfoot, parrying, blocking, dodging.
It was just as well.
The only time Morgan looked truly alive was when she was fighting. She smiled as she moved, her every step flowing seamlessly into the next, as though she was dancing to a song only she could hear.
Beautiful and graceful and dangerous all at once.
'It's such a pity…"
If only he wasn't the one on the receiving end of her onslaught. Kai could stare at that smile all day and he'd never get bored of it, but right now he was barely getting any room to breathe, let alone stare.
Her sword struck his blade again and again as he parried over and over again. They kicked up the snow as they continued, one advancing, the other retreating.
Around them, the winds howled, whipping through the valley, blowing up even more snow, sending it swirling in the air. The cold bit against his skin, chilling him to his bones, like ice in his veins. The wind blew against them, and Kai almost stumbled from the force of it, as if an invisible wall was pushing against him — pushing through him.
Kai's mind blurred for a moment, going to another place. He vaguely felt something lifting from his mind, like a fog or some sort of veil was being blown away.
He blinked, feeling like he was just beginning to wake up from a dream he didn't even realize he was having.
'What—'
Morgan's next attack came at him, and he barely managed to react on time, blocking the blow haphazardly. He winced at the strength behind it and, as he wasn't paying close enough attention, his foot slipped, and then he was falling backwards, towards the snow-laden ground.
His first instinct was to float up into the sky, but then he imagined what Morgan would think if he did that, and he immediately discarded that line of thought. He resolved to simply sink into the snow like a normal person rather than trying to look too nonchalant.
Except he never did fall into the snow.
He felt a cold hand grab onto the collar of his armor, brushing against the skin of his throat as it did, and hauled him forward so he was instead standing on his feet again, bending slightly toward…
He swallowed.
'Too… close…'
His face was barely a few inches from Morgan's, her striking red eyes boring right into him, cutting straight to his soul. His breath caught in his throat as he stared into her daunting eyes, unable to look away, as if he had been caught in a trap.
Morgan blinked and let go of him, and whatever trance had settled over him broke.
"…Are you okay?" She asked, her voice perfectly even, her eyes a little too still.
Kai was silent for a moment.
"…I'm fine." He felt a little short of breath. "It's just…"
He trailed off. His mind was torn between the lady standing in front of him and the odd sensation he had felt earlier.
In fact, he could still feel it. Like something curling deep inside of him — or unfurling from within — he wasn't sure exactly. But the sense of foreboding only deepened when he saw Morgan frown at nothing, her expression turning confused.
It was clear she had felt it, too, albeit a little later than he did.
'What's going on…?'
- - -
"Can someone please tell me why exactly am I here?"
Effie looked down at the petite woman who was frowning at her with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She smirked.
"It's just nice to have someone short around to make fun of, and you're really short, Midget."
"I'd rather be short than be a beanpole like you." Aiko retorted.
Effie waved her off dismissively.
"Bah! You obviously don't mean that — you'd love to be me. Besides, Little Ling likes Auntie Aiko a lot, so you're here. You're also glad to spend more time with the little dumpling, right?"
Effie gave her an innocent smile, eyes glinting with a mischievous light but also a warning.
Aiko scrunched up her face, opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she settled for glaring at the huntress, grumbling a 'I guess…' before floating away to where Effie's husband was preparing some biscuits and fruit juice.
Effie laughed as she went, turning to look into the distance, where her little dumpling was playing in the emerald fields.
The seven year-old boy was currently in his transcendent form, grey fur ruffled by the wind, yellow eyes shining with merriment and joy.
They were in the backyard of her estate in Bastion. It was a rare day off for Effie, Steward of the East and one of the pillars of humanity, so she, in all her grace, had decided to coop up at home with her husband and child. She had also invited Aiko to join them on their short day of rest.
…Though the short businesswoman was likely more inclined to say the huntress had threatened her to show up. Which was obviously not true at all.
Effie's husband smiled sheepishly at Aiko and offered her a drink.
"Sorry about her," he said apologetically. "If you want to leave, you can. I'll deal with my wife."
Aiko accepted the drink offer, but shook her head at his suggestion.
"No need. I'll stay." Then she lit up with a grin, full of avarice. "Besides, who can pass up an offer for more Beast Farm stocks? Money is very important, you know."
The nameless man laughed. "In that case, feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen."
Just then, Ling Ling ran across the fields back to Effie, assuming his human form once more and leaping into the tall huntress' arms. If it had been anyone else, they'd have been sent toppling to the ground, but Effie was like an immovable boulder. She met the full force of the young boy's tackle without difficulty.
"Mommy!" Ling Ling beamed at her, face shining like the morning sun. Then he furrowed his brows, looking around them. "The wind is weird today, mommy."
Effie frowned.
"Indeed…"
The winds were strong today, blowing up fallen leaves and causing ripples in the crystal clear waters of the Lake of Bones, which wasn't an abnormal thing in Bastion, but Effie could sense an underlying… wrongness in the air.
It wasn't a bad kind of wrong, however. Rather it was… like a wrong was being corrected, repaired.
Fixed.
Though Effie couldn't explain exactly why she felt it was so. It was a gut feeling, something primal deep in her, screaming to her that something was wrong… or right.
Nearby, her husband and Aiko exchanged a confused look. They had not noticed anything abnormal, but their experiences in the hellish depths of the Antarctic Center and the Forgotten Shore respectively told them to keep their guards up. Especially if two Saints were saying that something was wrong.
Effie looked up at the sky.
It was completely empty and clear, the usual clouds that drifted its vast expanse nowhere to be seen. There wasn't even a single flock of birds — or the equivalent of it in the Dream Realm — flying in the air.
'Ah… I have a feeling those two are the reason for this…'
Effie thought about Sunny and Nephis, who had left to go on a journey for, in Sunny's words, bird-hunting. She could only guess as to what kind of bird would warrant such distaste from the Lord of Shadows, who found a corrupted-rat-monster-turned-shadow cute.
The wind seemed to pick up even more, blowing into her, and Effie thought she could see a white fog in front of her, rolling and churning and being blown away by an invisible force.
And then the vision was gone and she was left in pure confusion, a scowl marring her beautiful face.
'Okay, what the hell…'
- - -
Violent gales ripped through the world. The clouds churned in the sky, black like the void. Arcs of lightning smote down like the fury of the heavens, striking the water and blowing up the ocean's surface, giving birth to waves that rocked the ships sailing through the restless waters. The waves rose high into the sky, reaching heavenward like towering mountains, yawning as they crashed back down and broke against the hull of the Night Garden.
The indomitable vessel remained unfazed in the face of such savagery, seemingly impervious, continuing to sail through it as it had been doing for countless years.
In the main pagoda atop the titanic vessel, Jet stood in the helmsman's runic circle. Her short black hair was wet and stuck to her temples, her flawless ivory skin glistening with the rain. Her icy blue eyes were sharp as she carefully guided the Night Garden through the vicious waters of the Stormsea.
A faint furrow creased her brows, her pale lips slightly downturned.
Jet had braved countless perils in her life, many of those fatal to the average Awakened, and her instincts had been honed over the years, until it became a weapon of its own.
Those instincts were screaming at her now.
And she wasn't the only one to notice something was odd with the weather, either. The other Saints of the House of Night — Naeve, Bloodwave, and Aether also wore complicated expressions on their faces.
A sense of unease curled inside of her, but before she could say anything, her mind wandered, becoming unfocused. As though she had been pulled into a dream, and in that dream she thought she could see a wall of white fog, vast and endless. But it also seemed to be growing thinner and…
Jet blinked.
The blurry visage vanished before her eyes and she was back in the runic hall of the Night Garden once more.
'What the hell was that?'
Had she been put under a mind hex? Had an abomination managed to get past the ship's defenses and snuck up on them? No… it didn't seem like anything had happened at all.
At that moment, Naeve interrupted her thoughts.
"Do you guys feel that too, or is it just me?"
Aether nodded. "I feel it. It is like the air itself is shaking."
"Did Song of the Fallen say anything?" Bloodwave asked, looking over at her.
Jet shook her head. "No. Give me a moment. I'll ask."
[Cassie, you there?]
[I'm here.]
The blind seer's answer arrived almost immediately.
[What's happening right now? The others are concerned, and truth be told, so am I.]
[Oh. Sunny and Nephis just finished their hunt and there are… certain repercussions, is all.]
Jet frowned.
She knew the Lord of Shadows and Nephis had left to do something, but didn't know the finer details. Now, though, she had a feeling they had engaged in a very crazy endeavor that will likely end in heaps of trouble for everyone else…
Which seems to have become a common recurring event after a certain someone joined their group.
'Damn that Lord of Shadows…'
The Saints of Night shifted, their faces lined with worry and concern.
[…What sort of repercussions?]
There was a short pause. Then Cassie's voice returned, taking on an uncertain tone.
[Uh… I think you'll find out soon enough — but don't worry. There's no danger around you… or at least, nothing more dangerous than normal.]
And then their line of communication cut off. It seemed that the blind seer had said all she wanted to say, and Jet had a feeling she wouldn't answer if she pushed.
Jet remained silent for a long while, making the three Saints even more uneasy.
Eventually, Bloodwave broke the quiet.
"What did she say?"
Jet scowled. "…She told us not to worry."
But she could still feel that tug in the back of her mind, like the wind itself was pulling at something inside her. Cassie's haste earlier only made her more suspicious.
Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie…
She could only sigh in exasperation, before another frown twisted her lips.
'Hm? Since when did I get so familiar with…'
Jet's eyes widened in realization.
'Oh, you've got to be kidding me.'
- - -
The winds moved like one as they swept through the Dream Realm's many regions, something which had not happened since the frozen hell that dominated its western reaches.
The floating islands of the Chained Isles shifted and swayed, the chains between the islands groaning with the effort of holding on.
The white clouds that usually drifted the expanse of Bastion's blue skies were blown away, leaving it empty save for its sun. Trees bent in the wind, leaves swirling in the air.
In the skies of Ravenheart, the clouds of volcanic ash parted and dispersed, allowing the citizens to get a clear look at the sky for the first time since they arrived there.
The waters of Stormsea undulated restlessly, enormous waves towering in the sky as though reaching for the heavens. The black clouds, like tattered banners, churned, the storms heavier than ever.
The grey veil above Godgrave broke, allowing the radiant white sky to shine upon the world. All life was reduced to scattering ashes, the only salvation was the single strip of road along the gigantic skeleton's collarbone which was submerged in shadows.
The mist that wrapped around the peaks of the Hollow Mountains stirred. North of it, the Forgotten Shore, the Burned Forest, the Nightmare Desert…
All of the Dream Realm felt it.
It washed over the world in waves, over and over. Until it eventually calmed down and the tremors in the air subsided, though not disappearing entirely.
Reality mended itself, returning to its usual state.
But not all was the same.
Something had changed.
Forgotten memories returned.
A long lost friend remembered.
…and a lot of confusion, concern, and fury.
- - -
Cassie turned her head to the side, as though looking at something beyond the walls of the Ivory Tower.
Not a moment later, there was a loud boom followed by tremors that shook the entire floating island, almost making it tilt completely to one side, as if a huge boulder had crashed into it.
"Oh dear…"
Someone was very, very angry.