Disclaimer back on chapter 1, This was chapter was written by my co author Mysterygirlfreak. If your reading this disclaimer just want you know you're the best and thank you so much Kyra is an awesome character.

"In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own."

-Albus Dumbledore

Chapter 2 - Real or Not Real

Before she opened her eyes, Kyra could feel something was off.

The scent of fresh sheets and pinewood woke her up. Groggily, Kyra slowly sat up in her bed, the quilt sliding off her back. She stretched her arms out and rubbed her eye with the heel of her palm, her hair a bit tangled. After a brief look around the room, she promptly let her head fall back to her pillow. A sigh escape her lips.

'More sleep...'

Sunlight peeked through the curtains, shining on her face.

She jolted up, wide awake.

'Sunlight?'

There was no sunlight in space.

Kyra hurried out of bed, almost falling to the floor when her legs got tangled in the sheets. Fully awake, she scanned her surroundings.

She blinked. "Is this...my old room?"

Kyra stared in shock at the lilac painted walls, the lily patterned curtains, the hardwood floor, the charcoal nightstand and desk, the white wardrobe, the bookshelf with only a few books and an assortment of objects in it. All of it. Everything from her bed to the ring on the lamp was just as she left it. The last time she was in here, she was running in to retrieve Rusty from under her mattress before her whole room broke apart. Darkness spilling in like water and drowning them both.

Kyra rushed to the window and looked out, pushing the curtains aside. Outside, lay a meadow filled with tall grass and springtime flowers, a grove of trees stood right beside it while on the left one could make out other houses in the distance. A small band of deer nipped grass near a stream, the birds singing along to the bubbling of moving water. Her hands gripped the curtains hard, turning her skin white. She backed away from the window.

"This...this isn't possible."

A knock on the door startled her. Instinctively, she grabbed the nearest thing and raised it as a weapon.

"Kyra? Are you awake?"

At the sound of the voice, Kyra dropped her fighting stance. "Is that..."

Before the question could finish, the answer opened the door. A woman with dark hair and indigo-blue eyes stood there, dressed in a red blouse and blue pants.

A lump caught in the archer's throat. "Mom?"

Her mother, Gabriella furrowed her eyebrows. "You okay, sweetie? I heard a thud and I thought something fell. Was it the lamp?"

Kyra looked at the lamp in her hands and put it back, her insides roller-coasting with emotions. "No, I...it just..." Kyra ran her fingers through her hair, speechless. It felt as if she forgot how to breathe, how to speak. Her eyes filled with tears.

"You still got that migraine? I got some peppermint tea boiling downstairs. It should be ready soon." Gabriella frowned in concern. "Is everything ok? Are you upset?"

Choking back a sob, Kyra rushed to her mother. She threw her arms around the older woman, almost knocking her off balance.

"It's you," Kyra said, her voice muffled. Her face was buried in her mother's shoulder, holding on tight as if afraid she would disappear. "I missed you so much."

"Miss me? What are talking about?"

That question put a scratch on the moment.

Kyra broke the hug and stepped back, seeing the surprise and confusion on her mother's face.

"Y-you were gone. The whole family. I was separated from you and spent years searching to find you."

Now her mother looked really confused. "Separated?"

"Because of the darkness," Kyra elaborated. How could she not remember? "The one the war brought and destroyed everything."

"Darkness? War?" Gabriella took her daughter's face in her hands and started to examine her.

"What are you doing?" Kyra asked, flinching back after her mother pushed her eyelids back to check her pupils.

"Checking you for a concussion," Gabriella answered. "That thud was you earlier, wasn't it?"

"Wha-no!" Kyra moved away from her touch, backing up into the desk. "I don't have a concussion! How can you act like nothing happened for the past eight years! Our world was wiped out of existence and we each ended up on different worlds and I searched everywhere for you for eight years! How can you act like nothing has ever happened!"

Her mother clasped her hands against her stomach, looking at her with such worry that it made Kyra's stomach sank.

"Kyra," she said calmly, as if she was trying to get close to an injured animal. "There hasn't been a war in over fifteen years."

Now that took the wind out of her. "What?"

"You must of had a really bad dream, or the pixie's bite is still infecting you," she made a face at that last part, "but our world is still here and we've never been worlds apart from each other."

"But that can't be right," Kyra said, more to herself than to her mother. She stared ahead, facing the floor but looking past it. "I lost you and ended up at...at..."

Kyra sat down, the back of the chair bumping into the desk. She rubbed her forehead, grimacing. "My head's killing."

Gabriella nodded. "Definitely the pixie's bite then." She left the room and returned a moment later with a damp washcloth. "Here, hold this to the back of your neck," she said, already placing it on Kyra's neck. Kyra flinched at the sudden contact with something cold. Her mind raced with scattered thoughts and foggy memories.

'I can't recall the world I was at when my world was gone. Why can't I remember where I ended up at? What did I do there? I can't really remember the people there. There was West, Merlin, and...and...some kind of resistance? What's happening here?'

"It was real, though," she said out loud. "I lost you guys and couldn't find you."

Gabriella rubbed Kyra's back, reassuring and sympathetic. "It was a too real-like dream. You've just been suffering from powerful hallucinations. Just the other day, you thought you were a demigod and were in war with some time titan."

She made a face at that. Funny thing is, Kyra was beginning to recall that. How she tried to get in contact with some other demigods by throwing coins in a hot shower. She's even starting to remember where she was when a pixie grabbed ahold of her hair and how sharp it's tiny teeth were when it bit her in the back of the neck. She was remembering more things that had nothing to do with space travel or darkness. Things here, that happened here on this planet. Normal, safe, no-monsters-after-your-heart memories.

But how could that be? How could she have two sets of memories? Could a little bite really mess with her head that much? Or was this really not real? Which one wasn't real?

While Kyra's mind raged war with opposing thoughts, her mom rubbed her back and talk to her in smoothing tones. It brought back more memories for Kyra, of whenever she was sick as a kid and her mom took care of her. She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to make sense of everything.

"I feel as if, I have two different lives."

Gabriella breathe through her nose, gently touching her daughter's hand. "The doctor said mornings would be challenging, but he also said to go about our regular schedule as usual and that it would help you get your head cleared up." She removed the washcloth and put it back in the bathroom. Kyra stood up slowly, her movements slow. There was a dull ache in her head and a soreness at the base of her neck. She raked her fingers through her hair.

'What is going on?'

A bundle of clothing hit her in the face, breaking her out of her stupor.

"Best to get dress, hon," her mom said, heading for the door. "I got to get the teapot off the stove. I'll see you downstairs." With one last smile, Gabriella left.

Kyra stood stun for a moment.

Looking down, Kyra took note of the purple t-shirt and the dark washed jeans in her arms. Something that she would wear, had worn before.

Shaking her head, she changed out of her pajamas and into the outfit her mother threw at her. Whatever was going on, she would just have to roll with it. Just until she figures all of this out. It couldn't hurt to do that, right? After pulling on some hiking boots, Kyra headed downstairs.

Upon entering the kitchen, Kyra spotted her father and her little brother at the round table, talking about the recent fishing trip they had. Her father looked just as she remembered-or always has been. Same sandy-colored hair, lean build, and blue eyes. Garnet, though, wasn't the little boy she pictured he'd be. He was a young teenager, about fourteen now with similar features akin to their father, drinking orange juice and looking bored. Her mother set a plate down for Kyra and then for herself. Kyra walked in just as Gabriella sat herself down.

"Hey, sleepyhead. How are you?" her father, Truen, greeted her.

Kyra smiled back, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Did you try to talk to water again?"

Gabriella glared at her son. "Garnet..."

Garnet held his hands up in defense, feigning innocence. "What? It was only a question."

Kyra chuckled, taking a seat. Then she frowned as she saw one seat still empty.

"Wait, where's Luke?"

Garnet raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean 'where's Luke'? He's at school."

"School?"

"The University, remember?" He shoveled a forkful of eggs into his mouth before continuing. "He took Rusty with him so your pet can learn advance animal magic while he's learning medicine and healing magic."

"Oh, um, right," Kyra said, remembering. Her mouth twitched, recalling how Luke gave Garnet a noogie after he said he was too old for hugs. She missed Rusty, but this was an incredible opportunity for the both of them. That felt like it was a real memory. She poured herself some tea. "So, how about you guys? What's new with you?"

"We were just talking about the fishing trip the other day," Truen explained, dropping a sugar cube in his own teacup.

Garnet groaned, resting his chin in his hand. "And how horrible it was."

"It wasn't that bad."

Garnet looked at Truen blankly. "We didn't catch anything and I almost lost an eye."

"I've warned you not to stand behind a fisherman when he's casting a line."

"I was right next to you, not behind."

Kyra grinned as she listened to her father and brother lightly argue, her mother looking slightly exasperated. Maybe this was real and all that other stuff was a crazy dream. How could it not be? Although, she still had roots of doubt planted in the back of her mind...

Gabriella looked over to her and furrowed her brow. "Kyra, what's wrong?"

That drew the attention back to her. It was then she felt something wet on her face. She didn't even realized she was crying.

Kyra wiped away her tear. "Nothing," she sniffled. "I'm just...happy to be here."

Garnet rolled his eyes. "Ok, weirdo."

Kyra ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance. "Love you, too."

Kyra spent the rest of the morning talking to her family, enjoying breakfast with them in what felt like since a very long time. Unbeknownst to her, a black raven watched her from afar, perched on the tree just outside the window.

TO BE CONTIUNED