Chelsea sat outside of Mister Midnight’s house. Seated around the three tables were so many others – Adelaide, Fae, the Star sisters, Gerick Irsotz, Shias, Kathryn, Rae, Ben, and Mineria.
The ones missing were Shana and Ingrid.
Before they’d even been able to sit down and talk, Shana had asked Mister Midnight for “more of that sleeping stuff.” Midnight had obliged, and Shana was upstairs in the house fast asleep, with Ingrid watching over her.
While Shana looked to Dreamer’s Heart for advice and guidance, Midnight and the others filled in Chelsea and Adelaide about their situation.
I just came here to get help finding Caleb. Now I get tossed into this mess?
I don’t have time for this.
Chelsea did her best getting that point across.
“Caleb vanished doing a Phase Step,” she said, not for the first time. How much did she need to repeat herself to get across how dire things were? “No one knows where he is. But he left behind the whistle that helped me get here.” She cast her gaze on Midnight. “He knew he’d need your help.”
“And I need your help,” Midnight said, staring back at her. “Considering what we’re up against, I need every bit of strength I possess. I can’t go chasing after Caleb right now. Once this is settled, once Nocta’s healed and Collapse is destroyed, Caleb will be my top priority.”
How can he say that?
Chelsea gritted her teeth, biting back a number of angry replies.
How am I the only one who seems the least bit worried? Even Shias and Fae look like everything’s just fine. If Shana hadn’t gone straight to sleep, maybe she’d back me up here, but…
Is this the best I can hope for? Really? After losing him, I have to take a detour before being able to find him?
“How long is it gonna take to save your owl?” Adelaide asked, staring at Midnight. “Do you think you can be really super fast about it? Because if you’re fast, then it might be okay.”
“Addie…” Chelsea started, frustrated that even the one person who she’d thought was on her side was trying to compromise.
“And you don’t need me for your owl, right?” Adelaide asked. “So maybe you could give me something, or some hints or stuff, and I could start on trying to find Caleb while you’re gone. Then when you get back we’ll have a head-start, right?”
Midnight stared at the little girl, silent for a long time. No one else spoke, as if all waited for the Master of Midnight Bridge to speak.
Finally, he let out a long, heavy sigh. Pushing himself to his feet, he spoke as he walked towards the bridge. “I’m going to talk to Madame Chronos. Most likely, he ended up in Chronoshin, but even if he didn’t, this is a Time Magic issue. She’ll know where he is, if anyone will.”
With that, Mister Midnight was gone, and all were left waiting.
“How long does this usually take?” Chelsea asked.
“He isn’t fond of Madame Chronos,” Mineria said.
Is he fond of anyone?
“Which means his conversations with her are usually very brief,” Mineria continued. “And he can travel there and back nearly instantaneously. He shouldn’t take long.”
“So we just wait,” Adelaide said, hopping to her feet. She started wandering, and Chelsea followed, not trusting the kid on her own.
“He’s not at Chronoshin,” Adelaide said.
“How would you know?” Chelsea asked.
Adelaide pointed at Chelsea. “Because you know. It’s written all over your face.”
Since when was she so perceptive?
“He went there before,” Chelsea said. “But his body was left behind, until he was able to leave Chronoshin. So I just can’t believe he’d end up there again. Wherever he is… I think it’s a lot more serious.”
They stood at the small garden behind Midnight’s house. A single wrought-iron bench was there, facing out into the gloomy void. Adelaide hopped on top of it, pacing back and forth with her arms outstretched to keep her balance.
“I think you should help Mister Midnight,” the girl said.
“I came here to find Caleb,” Chelsea said. “Once that’s done, then I’ll gladly help.”
Adelaide smiled. “Good!” She hopped down from the bench. “Looks like he’s back. Let’s see what he knows!”
Midnight’s expression was grave as he approached. He sat down wearily as Chelsea approached and shook his head.
“The blasted fool,” he said softly.
“You know where he is?” Chelsea asked.
Midnight let out a weary sigh. “Yeah, I know where he is. And unfortunately for all of us, he’s completely out of anyone’s reach.”
“Even yours?” Chelsea asked.
“I’m barred from going there. Everyone is, but for some reason people think a ‘Master of Time Magic’ should be able to go anywhere that’s remotely related to Time Magic.”
“Where is he?” Adelaide asked.
“We call it the Edge of Time,” Midnight said. “That place… no one can go there unless they’re called there. Which means, as much as we may not like it, the kid’s exactly where he needs to be. He’s been called, and it’s up to him to answer. Whatever he finds there, whatever choices he makes, however long it takes… there’s nothing you or I or anyone else can do to influence it.”
“But then… he’ll be back, we just have to wait, right?” Adelaide asked.
Midnight frowned. “It’s hard to say whether Caleb will even reach his destination at all. What little I know about the Edge of Time makes it clear that time there is… distorted, for lack of a better word. And since memories are linked to time, those are distorted as well. If Caleb doesn’t keep his wits about him, he can forget about all of us. And if he forgets, he won’t have a reason to move forward.”
He could forget… about all of us?
Even…?
“That’s unacceptable,” Chelsea said, standing up. “Caleb would say the same if it was one of us. There has to be a way to reach him.”
Midnight stood up, slowly, as if a great burden lay across his shoulders. He fixed his gaze on Chelsea, entirely serious. “Come with us. Help us save Nocta and destroy Collapse. After that, we’ll return here, and I will pursue Caleb with every shred of strength and will I possess. I don’t say it lightly when I say I cannot go to where he’s been called. But if you help us with this… I will find a way.”
Chelsea couldn’t respond immediately.
Does he mean…?
And even if he does, then…
I still have to…
A soft warmth against the back of her head, a ruffle of feathers, a gentle coo. Chelsea reached up, petting her owl Summon behind his head. Slowly, she closed her eyes, listening to his wordless voice in her mind.
You want to go, huh?
They did say they needed you. I’m just an accessory, I guess.
And…
Isabelle wasn’t wrong. I did say you were like me. And I know how lonely, how broken and isolated you felt when we first met. I know…
You still feel some of that, even now.
How would I feel if it was you? If you had been stolen away from me, and infected with Collapse, and I finally, after so long, discovered the way to save you? And then to hear the one person who could help me save you demand that I step away from that for some other task…
I guess…
I can understand him.
When Chelsea opened her eyes, Adelaide was gazing up at her with those big, hopeful eyes – one blue, one green.
Kids and their puppy-dog eyes.
She sighed.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll help first. Let’s hope Shana gets some good answers from Dreamer’s Heart.”
-----
Shana stood in the open, tower-shaped library in the Dreamworld. Before her stood Heart.
“So I can do it?” Shana asked.
“Just like I taught you,” Heart said, smiling.
Shana let out a sigh. “Thank goodness. But… I can’t help but be a little nervous. I couldn’t get my Dreamer powers to work at all on the Nightmare Road until the very last second. And against Nocta, I could only just barely block one of her attacks. This… this is a lot more complicated.”
“But entirely within your abilities,” Heart said. “You’ve come a long way. Those trials helped you grow. And besides, you have the perfect motivation for using this new power, don’t you?”
Shana smiled.
If I can make it work… then we can all use our magic, even on the Nightmare Road.
I’ll be able to have Altair with me.
It had been heartbreaking and lonely not to have her faithful Summon by her side in the darkest places of the universe. With this hope… she could be brave, even braver than before.
“Let’s run through it again,” Shana said. “I don’t want to mess this up.”
“Your Dreamer powers come largely down to will, not technique or strength,” Heart said. “So while we go through this again, don’t focus as much on the technique. Focus on why you need to allow you and your friends’ magic to be used in Nightmares. Your reason is your greatest strength. Latch onto that and let it guide you.”
Once more, Heart showed Shana the way. Once more, Shana took her words and guidance and embedded them within herself.
Once more, Shana found a hope she desperately needed.
In the end, she was smiling.
“Thank you,” she said. “And… um… well… do you think I could stay longer? Before I call everyone to come to the door to the Nightmare Road… I’d like to just talk to you.”
Heart looked taken aback, but her smile returned, more joyful than ever. “I’d very much like that.”
For a long time, the two flew through the Dreamworld. Despite saying she wanted to talk, for much of the time Shana was silent, and so was Heart.
There was a comfort, a peace, that they both shared by just being in each other’s company. Shana’s heart felt light.
Shana found her courage, and her hope, and she took hold of them as she prepared to call upon her friends and allies.
It was time. Time, once more, to enter the Nightmare Road.
Time, Shana hoped, to save Nocta and end the wretched curse of Collapse.
-----
Chelsea stood within the Dreamworld, before the door in the castle that led to the Nightmare Road, and found that the conversations happening around her were fading into background noise.
I’ve seen so much, been through so much. Why is this freaking me out more than anything before?
But it wasn’t just the strangeness of this Dreamworld, the odd lightness of being she felt.
There was also that door.
It stood open, revealing the Nightmare Road beyond. Not that there was much to see. There was a brief glimpse of dark rock, winding forward in a path, but that swiftly vanished into thick, impenetrable black mist.
Chelsea stood staring, feeling a pit of dread open up in her heart.
Why does it make me feel so uneasy? I’ve been through that shadow world. It can’t be worse than Nightmares. And Mister Midnight said all I need to do is cast out all fear.
That’s easy.
But…
What is this feeling in my heart? It isn’t fear.
It’s something…
Chelsea didn’t have the word for it. “Dread” captured the surface of the feeling, but it ran deeper than that, to places and sensations dark and mysterious, so that they had no words to describe them.
There was a darkness. And while Chelsea had felt the darkness, had heard the darkness, had seen the darkness…
This was different. This darkness…
It seemed like it came from within.
“Everyone ready?” Midnight asked, standing with Shana at the front of the group. Chelsea was the only newcomer to this team, with Mineria, Ingrid, and Adelaide staying behind.
I’m ready, right?
Nods and words of affirmation went around. Chelsea joined with a simple nod of her own.
Why can’t I seem to speak?
Midnight and Shana led the way. Shias and his friends followed, and then went Fae, the Star sisters, and Gerick.
Chelsea started after them.
“Wait,” Heart said. She stood at the door, watching them all depart, but she stopped Chelsea just before she entered. Both locked eyes with each other, and for a moment, neither spoke.
“Be mindful of what you carry,” Heart said softly. “It need not be your undoing.”
She stepped aside, nodding for Chelsea to proceed.
What…?
But Chelsea said nothing, simply following after the others.
The door vanished behind her. Before her, the darkness seemed to open up, revealing the path ahead. It wound left and right, up and down, narrow and treacherous, surrounded by nothing but empty darkness.
Shana and Midnight led the way, while their friends and allies snaked a path behind them. Chelsea brought up the rear.
Friendly chatter popped up now and then. All had faced the Nightmare Road before, and they were clearly better prepared for it this time.
Chelsea continued to follow in silence.
Their path climbed a staircase to a wide, rocky platform. Two paths branched off from it, and Shana seemed to be considering which was the proper path forward.
But Chelsea barely had a chance to take that in before she saw her.
Through the crowd, on the opposite side of the platform, stood the other, the shadow, the reflection.
There stood the other Chelsea, with her long hair and black dress. Around her neck was a black chain, from which hung a softly gleaming emerald.
The other was smiling, her head cocked to one side, her knowing eyes seeing to and through Chelsea.
This is it…
This is what I felt…
Seeing her in Grimoire wasn’t a fluke. She’s not gone. I never defeated her, I just thought I did.
And now…
Now she’s here.
She could ruin everything for all of us!
“No,” Chelsea said softly. Slowly, all eyes turned towards her. “I… I shouldn’t have come.”
The other’s smile widened. She spoke, her voice like silk. “Come now. Did you think you could escape me? I’m a part of you, you know.”