Chapter 24: Sleep Talk
As soon as the purple light encompassing Drowzee disappeared, he groaned and staggered a few steps, dropping his head into his hands. It was always disorienting to enter someone's mind, but this time seemed worse than any of the others... Soon enough, however, he blinked and shook it off before muttering, "All right, so what do we have here…?"
He looked around and frowned. He appeared to be in an entryway… That wasn't too unusual, but what was unusual was how white and… empty it seemed… and how silent it was… He started to feel very uneasy…
Drowzee began to wander the corridors of Laura's mind. The more he saw, the more unease he felt. Most of the corridors were white and empty, like the entryway. A few had picture frames on the walls… but the pictures contained within had been blacked out, ripped up, hidden by chains, or other such combinations. There were also multitudes of locked doors. Drowzee tried to open one… but he quickly gave up when the moment he touched the lock, the entire place began to tremble. Plus, as if that wasn't disturbing enough, there was also the lack of inhabitants in the dream realm to consider…
"I can see what Cresselia meant…" Drowzee thought with a frown. But then he perked up when he heard a soft noise. "Huh? What's that?" he wondered as he headed towards it.
The closer he got to the sound, the louder it became. Drowzee realized that the sound was of someone sobbing, and he became worried, fearing that it was Laura. Eventually the sound led him to a door. But the door… it was different than all the others he had come across. It wasn't locked, for one, and it was also much larger, pretty, and ornate. The surface of it seemed to be swirling with rainbow colors, reminding him of Laura's eyes. Drowzee looked around. When he saw that there was no other way forward, he hesitantly placed his hand on the door. He gave a relieved sigh when there was no shaking as a result, and he began to push it open. It took a bit of struggling, but he eventually succeeded.
He stepped into a spacious room. The walls were white, like the rest of Laura's mind, but he was surprised to see that, along with the ruined pictures, they were covered in broken mirrors. Two doors were on the far wall. One looked like a carbon copy of the door he had just entered through, but the other was plain and painted completely black.
In the center of the room was a small cage with bars made of what looked like glowing, rainbow-colored energy. Something shimmery was huddled in the center of the cage. It was trembling, and, with a start, Drowzee realized that it was the source of the sobbing.
"H-hello?" he greeted cautiously.
At the sound of his voice the figure immediately silenced and stopped shaking. It uncurled and looked at him suspiciously. Drowzee was not certain what kind of creature the figure was. It kept flickering between a mostly incorporeal form that seemed to be made of rainbow-colored energy and a more defined form that looked like... honestly, he wasn't sure. Beings of pure energy, he could handle. But when it came to the defined form… he had never seen anything like it before. It was rather gangly-looking, and it appeared to have very pale skin and long, white fur. Strangely enough, however, the fur was only on its head. Its torso was covered in a strange, long cloth, and it had a bag tied around its waist. It also had what looked like a rainbow-colored jewel on its forehead… But in either form, one thing remained the same: its eyes looked exactly like Laura's.
"Who's there?" the figure demanded, sitting up. Its voice sounded ethereal, but Drowzee could tell that, whatever the creature was, it was a female, and she sounded scared…
"It's me! You know… Drowzee?" Drowzee said, unsure of whether or not the creature recognized him. There was no guarantee of that, after all. Even if they were currently within Laura's mind.
The flickering girl frowned. "Drowzee?" she repeated in confusion, wiping tears from her eyes. Then she blinked in recognition. "Oh… him. What are you doing here?" she asked as she drew her knees up to her chest.
"I'm looking for Laura…" Drowzee said slowly, relieved that, whoever the figure was, she recognized him and didn't seem hostile. "Do you know where she is?" he asked. Then he paused as he thought of a remote possibility and added, "Or… are you Laura?"
"Am I Laura…?" the figure repeated before sighing sadly and laying her forehead on her knees. "Yes… and no," she answered.
Drowzee was confused by the cryptic statement. The creature noticed this and sighed once more, this time in annoyance, before lifting her head and looking into his eyes. "I am Laura… but I'm also me," she explained. "I'm both of us… at the same time." At Drowzee's continued confusion, the girl gave a sad smile. "It's complicated, I know," she told him apologetically.
Drowzee just shook his head and decided to ignore the statement in favor of figuring out what was causing Laura's continued unconsciousness. Seeing as this strange creature in the cage was the only thing in the room, and that she was also the only inhabitant of the dream realm that he had met so far, he could probably assume that she was involved somehow… or that she'd at least be able to tell him what was going on.
"Are you locked up?" he asked. The girl hesitated before nodding warily, so Drowzee reached out towards the door of the cage and offered, "Here, let me just open this—"
"No! Don't touch that!" the girl yelled desperately, clutching at the bars. "This cage… it's the only thing keeping this body alive!"
"What?!" Drowzee yelped, immediately withdrawing.
"This cage around me is all that is left of my aura," the girl explained, gesturing with her hands. "There's only enough to maintain an unconscious body! If I leave it… then Laura will wake up. And if that happens…" she trailed off ominously.
Drowzee gulped. "She'll… what? Die?"
"…Something like that…" the figure mumbled, glancing at the ground.
Drowzee frowned before getting a flash of insight. "You're the one who forced Cresselia out, aren't you?"
"…Yeah," the girl admitted, nodding sadly. "I'm sorry about that… but the way things are right now…"
Drowzee nodded in understanding. "Is that why Laura's mind is so empty?"
The girl sighed. "Yes. I almost preferred the mess that Uxie made… But now it's all…" she trailed off and sighed again, laying her forehead back down on her knees. "I shouldn't have freaked out like that," she mumbled. "I was already aura-drained before the Spirit Trio's little 'stunt.' Now it's almost completely gone…"
"And you said before that that's what the problem is…" Drowzee muttered with a frown on his face. There was silence for a few moments as he processed this. Then he cleared his throat to get the girl's attention. Once he saw that he had it, he asked, "So… are you saying that if you… Laura… this body gets more aura… then Laura will be able to wake up safely?"
The girl shrugged. "Essentially, yeah."
"Okay, so how do we get more aura?"
The figure straightened up and got a contemplative look on her face. "…Well, under normal circumstances, Laura and I would be able to generate more on our own. But right now… we can't do that. Something's… something's wrong. Something has been draining our aura for a while now…" she trailed off and shivered before continuing, in a much quieter and scared-sounding voice, "and… it's still draining it, even as we speak…"
"What?!" Drowzee demanded, beginning to panic. "So… so what do we do? Isn't there anything that can help?"
The girl thought for a moment. "…Maybe," she said, causing Drowzee to perk up with hope. "If you can find Laura an Aura Crystal… then it might give her enough energy to wake up."
"An… Aura Crystal?" Drowzee repeated, unfamiliar with the item.
"…Yes…" the figure replied, becoming dreamy-eyed. "They're so pretty… that cave was full of them… That cave… in the T— AAAUGH!"
The girl cut off and began to shriek in pain and fear when the room began to shake. The mirrors on the walls became even more cracked, and the girl's form began to flicker more wildly and stay longer in her incorporeal form. The cage she was trapped in began to spark with energy and contract further.
"Whoa! Wh-what's going on?!" Drowzee asked frantically, trying to maintain his footing.
"M-my aura! It's… it's draining away…!" the figure gasped in pain. She quickly grasped the bars of her steadily shrinking cage. "Drowzee!" she pleaded. "I don't think this aura can last much longer! If you're going to do something, then you'd better do it soon!
She screamed again as sparks exploded around her and the room began to shake even more violently.
"You have to leave now!" she commanded. "Go through the black door! This body… it can't support you any longer!"
"A-all right!" Drowzee agreed, making a mad dash for the indicated door. But when he grabbed the handle, the figure called out to him and he paused momentarily and turned back.
"One last thing!" she cried. "You can't tell either of them about me! Not Laura, and especially not Mason! If he learns of my existence… then it will only give him false hope…" she trailed off, her eyes portraying the emotional turmoil she was in. "Now go!"
Drowzee's eyes widened in surprise, but then he nodded and obeyed her command, flinging open the black door and stepping through.
For a moment, Drowzee found himself in an environment of total sensory deprivation. It was like… he couldn't even describe it. Whatever was happening to him… there was no accurate comparison. The only thing he could pinpoint for sure about the feeling was that he hated it. He freaked out for a moment… but then his senses came rushing back to him and he was thrust into a world of brightness and panicked voices…
A few moments earlier…
While Drowzee was still in Laura's mind, the guild, Paula, Mason, and Cresselia were gathered around Laura's bedside and waiting eagerly for his return.
"…So… hey, hey! Is it supposed to be taking this long?" Corphish asked, turning towards Cresselia.
"Normally, no," Cresselia answered. "But Laura is… special."
"Hey, hey? 'Special?'" Corphish asked, cocking his head. "What do you mean?"
Cresselia glanced at Mason, who had his lips pursed in anxiety, and murmured, "I… can't say."
Paula's brows furrowed. "Why not?" she asked.
Cresselia opened her mouth to answer… but she was cut off when Laura went rigid and began to spark again. Everyone began to panic… and the panic only increased when Drowzee suddenly appeared in a flash of light. Laura's sparking continued for about a minute more before calming down. Once Laura's body relaxed back into the blankets, everyone turned to Drowzee.
"What happened?" Cresselia demanded.
Drowzee glanced back at Laura before beginning, "W-well…"
Drowzee told everyone what he had seen (leaving out the mysterious figure, as per her request, and just saying that he saw Laura). "…and then I saw a bright light and ended up back here," he finished.
"So… you're saying that the reason Laura is like this is because she is 'aura-drained?'" Chatot summarized.
Drowzee nodded, and Corphish exclaimed, "Hey, hey! What is aura, exactly?"
"…'Aura' is synonymous with 'spirit,'" a visibly upset Mason, answered. "So because Laura is 'aura-drained,' it means that her level of spirit is low… She doesn't have enough 'knowledge,' 'emotion,' or 'willpower.'"
"Okay… but why would that translate into unconsciousness?" Paula asked.
"No knowledge means no memories, no emotion means apathy, and no willpower means lethargy…" Mason answered quietly.
Bidoof shuffled his feet. "So… how do we cure her?"
"Apparently something called an 'Aura Crystal' might help…" Drowzee said.
"What's THAT?" Loudred asked.
"No… I was afraid of this…!" Mason moaned, dropping his head into his hands.
Paula blinked. "Mason, you know what it is?"
Mason sighed. "…Aura Crystals are an extraordinarily beautiful—and powerful—type of crystal," he explained. "They're the same color as Laura's eyes… You've actually seen some, Paula. Back in the Cave of Reflections…"
"Really? That's what those crystals were? Then let's go back and get some!" Paula exclaimed eagerly, heading for the door.
Mason stopped her by grabbing her arm, and she turned back in surprise. "No… it's no good," Mason said. "When I left earlier, it was to go look for some. But… I can't find them anywhere! They had disappeared from the cave… along with those moronic idiots…" Mason suddenly dropped to an evil hiss. Then his voice returned to normal and he continued, "And they weren't in any of the other places I'd seen them before…"
"What?! Oh no!" the apprentices exclaimed in horror, beginning a panicked chatter.
Wigglytuff's brows furrowed. "Pretty crystals the color of Laura's eyes…?" he wondered aloud as something nagged at his memories. Then his eyes widened. "Oh! I know!" he exclaimed before dashing off to his quarters.
His abrupt exit caused everyone to silence themselves and stare in his direction curiously… and their curiosity was further peaked when they heard a series of crashes and bangs and his trademark "YOOM-TAH!" before he returned with a cloth-wrapped bundle in his arms.
"Do they look like this?" he asked Mason as he unwrapped the bundle to reveal a tiny, but lovely, rainbow-colored crystal.
Mason was shocked. "Yes!" he gasped. "That's it exactly! Where did you get that?!"
Wigglytuff looked over to Chatot and smiled. "Chatot and I got it as a gift a long time ago," he explained.
"Oh my gosh! That's so lucky!" Sunflora squealed in delight, holding her leaves to her cheeks.
"Yup, yup!" Bidoof agreed. "And that crystal sure is pretty…"
"And you're sure you don't mind giving it to Laura?" Mason asked, looking at Wigglytuff almost reverently.
Wiglytuff grinned and shook his head. "Nope! Laura needs it more than I do."
Tears sprung to Mason's eyes and he bowed. "Thank you," he whispered with gratitude. Then he took the small crystal from Wigglytuff and turned to Laura. He carefully peeled back the blankets from her body and gently set the crystal on her chest, praying, "Please… please let this work…!"
Everyone gasped as the crystal began to glow and dissolve into pure, rainbow-colored energy. As Laura absorbed it into her body, she, too, began to glow. Once the light dissipated, Laura took a deep breath…
…and continued to sleep.
There was absolute silence as everyone watched her, and then everyone jolted when Loudred broke it by asking, "So… did it WORK?"
"Oh my gosh, Loudred! You just totally ruined the moment!" Sunflora exclaimed in annoyance.
"RUINED the…" Loudred repeated in disbelief. "SUNFLORA! This is LIFE and DEATH! WHY would you waste worry on something like a MOMENT?!"
Laura's eyes twitched at the noise, but everyone was too focused on Loudred and Sunflora to notice.
"Squawk! Quiet you two!" Chatot ordered. "This isn't the time!"
Sunflora ignored him in favor of arguing with Loudred some more. "You're always like this, Loudred!" she accused. "You were totally ruining the mood at Fogbound Lake, too!"
Laura's eyes slowly blinked open, but still no one noticed. Nor did they notice that her eyes' rainbow colors were more muted than usual…
"Oh, so I RUINED the mood, did I? Well what about YOU screaming 'EEK!' And 'OH MY GOSH!' all the time?!" Loudred shot back.
"That's not half as annoying as all your screaming and—"
"Um… what's… what's going on?" a timid and quiet voice asked, cutting Sunflora off. At the sound everyone whipped around to stare wide-eyed at the occupied bed. Their stares were met by Laura's open eyes and expression of utter bewilderment.
"LAURA! YOU'RE AWAKE!" everyone cheered with joy.
"Laura!" Mason all but sobbed with happiness as he and Paula pulled her into a hug. "I'm so glad you're all right!"
"I… what?" Laura asked in confusion. "Why am I… how did I end up in the guild? Where are Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf?"
"We don't know," Paula reluctantly admitted. "They had already fled the cave when Mason went back…"
"The… cave?" Laura asked, her confusion mounting. "What cave? We were just… wasn't I just on the beach?"
Everyone stared at her in shock.
"You… you don't remember…?" Paula asked slowly, disbelief etched on her features.
Laura frowned. "…Remember what?"
"Your kidnapping, by golly!" Bidoof exclaimed before shrinking under Mason's sudden glare.
Laura blinked in surprise. "My… my what?" She looked to Mason for answers. "M-Mason…?"
Mason sighed and, very unwillingly, answered, "…A few days ago, you were kidnapped by the Spirit Trio. Paula and I managed to rescue you… but this is the first time since then that your eyes have been open…"
Laura's eyes widened. "B-but why would they…?" she stammered.
"Apparently they needed your memories of the Time Gears," Dugtrio explained.
Laura frowned as her memories sluggishly tried to catch up with the times. "The… Time Gears…?" she muttered. Then her eyes widened and she jumped up. "Oh! That's right! My vision—!"
She cut off when she immediately began to feel dizzy and saw spots dancing across her vision. Her knees buckled, and if it wasn't for Mason catching her and lowering her back to the bed, she would have blacked out and fallen to the ground.
"Ugh… So… s-so dizzy…" Laura moaned. Then her eyes fluttered and she added in a whisper, "…And t… tired…"
"…I don't think that one crystal is going to be enough," Drowzee muttered with a frown. "Laura, where was that cave that the g—I mean you—were telling me about before? You know… right before I was forced out of your dreams?"
Laura frowned. She had just noticed that Drowzee and Cresselia were in the guild. A small part of her was curious as to why and how long they'd been there… but most of her was too tired to care, so she just focused on the question he asked. "C-cave…? I don't… know… what you're talking about…" she mumbled tiredly.
"Meh heh heh… Looks like she can't remember that either," Croagunk summarized. "So? What do we do now? Do we have time to wait for her to remember on her own, meh heh heh?"
Drowzee shook his head with worry. "No… whatever was draining her aura is apparently still doing it…" he explained.
"Squawk! What?!" Chatot demanded, wings flapping wildly. "So we now have even less time?!"
"Less… time?" Laura repeated, the phrase nagging at her mind for some reason. "Less… time… less… oh… that's right…" she muttered. "There was a cave… so pretty… crystals everywhere… It was… in the Timeless Forest…"
Everyone stared at her in surprise. "The TIMELESS Forest?" Loudred asked. "Where's THAT?"
"Yes… even I, the head of guild intelligence, have never heard of such a place…" Chatot muttered, stroking his chin in contemplation.
Mason frowned. "The Timeless… oh! Duh! Of course you haven't! The name didn't stick!" Everyone looked to him in confusion, so he explained, "The Timeless Forest… a more common name for it nowadays is the Eastern Forest."
"Hey, hey! I explored all over that forest and I didn't see anything remotely like an Aura Crystal there!" Corphish said, pouting slightly.
Laura mumbled something unintelligible. "Hm? What was that, Laura?" Paula asked.
"…I said… you wouldn't have been… able to get into the cave. Only Mis…tress and I have… have access to it…" she repeated in a slightly louder tone.
"So… it's like my house? With an aura sensor?" Mason guessed. When Laura nodded sleepily, he sighed. "That means you'll have to be present to get to the crystals… I guess there's no help for it. I'll have to take you with me into the forest."
Mason bent to pick her up, but he was stopped by Wigglytuff.
"Hold it, Mason. Are you really going to take Laura into the forest alone?" he asked.
Mason frowned. "Of course," he replied, as if the answer was obvious. "She's my responsibility. I can't let you get involved. What if there's danger?"
"Exactly," Wigglytuff nodded. "Laura won't be able to walk, so you'll have to carry her. How will you be able to protect yourself—or her—from danger if you can't fight because she's on your back?"
Mason was silent, glancing at Laura and biting his lip.
"Then I'll go with him!" Paula piped up. "I can fight just fine!"
"I'll go too!" Bidoof added.
"Oh my gosh! Me too!" Sunflora said.
"And ME!" Loudred announced.
"We'll all go!" Wigglytuff suddenly decreed. "It'll be like an impromptu expedition!"
"Guildmaster! You do realize the seriousness of this matter, yes? Laura is in grave danger! You can't just decide these things on a whim!" Chatot chided.
"It's not a whim! Laura is our friendly-friend!" Wigglytuff defended. "I want to make sure she's as safe as possible. And to do that, we'll need everyone's help! YOOM-TAH!"
"…All right," Chatot agreed. "In that case, we'll leave first thing in the morning. Everyone, spend the rest of the day getting ready. Dismissed!"
"HOORAY!" the apprentices cheered before rushing off.
Wigglytuff, Chatot, Cresselia, and Drowzee left the room to discuss whether the latter two would be willing to guard the guild while everyone was gone, and Paula and Mason were left alone with Laura.
"Are you okay with this, Mason?" Paula asked.
"…I'm glad that Laura will be protected, but… I have a few misgivings…" he admitted quietly. "I'm not sure how much of her past we'll have to face…"
"I'm sure it'll be fine. Laura will be able to handle it," Paula said, confident in her friend's coping abilities.
Mason looked at Laura—who had fallen back asleep and curled up into a loose ball—and murmured, "It's not Laura's ability to 'handle it' that I'm worried about…"