Chapter Thirty-Seven
A plume of fire whooshed through the air, igniting the surrounding treetops. Sakura backed away, smoke making her eyes water as the sound of splintering wood stabbed at her eardrums. Where am I? she wondered, staggering away as something moved in her peripheral vision. A few feet away, a black creature writhed behind the curtain of smoke, a mass of chitinous limbs and plated body parts. Half the size of a house, it dominated her field of vision, crushing everything in its path. The way it scuttled across the burning earth made her think it was some kind of giant insect.
It swiveled around, bringing its eight golden eyes to stare at her. Sakura froze, heart jumping to her throat. Oh, no, she thought, rushing backward. Her ankle caught on a tree root. She toppled, tailbone slamming into the ground hard enough to sent sparks of pain up her spine.
The monster's opened its maw wide, exposing three rows of gleaming incisors. I'm going to die, Sakura thought. Before she could get to her feet, a white light streaked across her field of vision. Her hands flew up to protect her face—which proved to be a wise impulse because, moments later, a torrent of sludge splashed her body.
"Come on, you hairy freak!"
Sakura's eyes snapped open. She knew that voice. "Kurogane-san?"
The ninja stood a fair distance away, brandishing a sword and baring his teeth in a savage smile. The beast that had almost killed her hissed like a reptile, raising one clawed leg to slash at Kurogane. The ninja met the attack head on, his sword scraping against the monster's plated foreleg. As the blade slid up to the joint, Kurogane's arm jerked. Black fluid sprayed across his armor as the monster's limb jerked free, twitching on the ground before melting like butter in a pan.
That's the sword he gave up at Yuuko's shop, Sakura realized. Then . . . I must be in a dream!
Kurogane spun, fast as a diving falcon. As he rotated, flames poured from the blade of his sword. The monster screeched, the fire spreading across its body as if it had been doused in oil. Moments later, it collapsed, dead.
"Kurogane-san!" Sakura yelled, running through the trees to where the ninja stood.
He took no notice of her, instead turning to a woman with copper skin and black hair. "That makes seven for me. You're losing your edge, Souma."
"I thought Tomoyo told you not to be so bloodthirsty," Souma remarked, eyeing Kurogane. When neither so much as glanced at her, Sakura paused.
"Ah, what's she going to do? It was just a demon."
Souma scrutinized the still-twitching corpse, wrinkling her nose. "Satisfied?"
Kurogane wiped the black sludge off his sword, then sheathed it. "I guess."
"Um, Kurogane-san," Sakura said, raising a hand, unsure whether he even knew she was here. "Where are we?"
"That's all of them, then," Souma said, ignoring Sakura completely. "Shall we go back?"
"Sounds good. I'll lead the way." He strode over to a black horse, pulling himself into the saddle with ease and starting down the grassy path. Well, it doesn't look like I'll be able to follow, Sakura thought as they trotted off. How do I get out of this dream?
She willed herself to wake up. Whatever she'd walked into, the casual conversation between Kurogane and Souma suggested it had been a common event. As the pair trotted away without her, Sakura decided there probably wasn't anything particularly relevant in this dream, which meant she had no reason to stay.
When she didn't wake up in her bed after a few minutes of focusing, distress bubbled up in her chest. What if I'm stuck here until the dream ends? she wondered, turning frantic. What if another monster comes by and attacks me? What happens when a dreamseer dies in a dream?
The possibilities terrified her. At best, she'd wake up. At worst . . . I could die. Or fall into a coma. Or . . . what if I get stuck in between somehow, lost between reality and dreams? "No," she whispered. "No, no, no . . . Let me out!" she yelled, unsure who she was calling to. "Let me out of here!"
A strange, tugging sensation made her body jerk. She spun wildly, shapes and colors blurring as she twisted. And then, suddenly, she seemed to be floating above the dream. What? She blinked, refocusing. Beneath her, she could see the demon's smoldering remains, but she could no longer smell the smoke.
Weightless, she twisted in the air. A transparent membrane separated her from the dream, almost like a bubble. But how did I get out? And where am I now? She kept twisting, then froze at the sight she beheld. Thousands of similar spheres floated all around her, each containing a different dream. Some of the spheres looked clouded, while others were transparent. Shimmering trails of light bound some dreams together like beads on a string, but many floated alone.
Curious, she drifted toward one of the other spheres, peering through the clear membrane to observe the dream captured within. A pale man in a tan cloak stood over a pool in the ground, his expression mournful. A name floated through her mind, spoken with a voice she didn't recognize. Subaru . . .
"You're even more adorable than I expected."
Sakura whirled, her pink and white cloak fluttering. A girl with black hair and skin as pale as the moon smiled at her. Cloaked in elegant robes and capped with a colorful, crown-shaped hair clip, she reminded Sakura of aristocrats she'd met in Clow, except more serene. "Who are you?" Sakura whispered.
"I am Tomoyo, of Nihon."
"Nihon—wait, Tomoyo? As in, Princess Tomoyo? You know Kurogane-san!"
"That's right." Her violet eyes flickered to the orb that held Kurogane's dream, her expression turning tender. "He is my finest—and most troubling—servant. I'd hoped to find his dream while I walked, but I see I've found something far more interesting." Her eyes returned to Sakura's figure. "Do you come here often?"
"I . . . I'm not sure." It felt familiar to her, and she'd had several dreams lately that fit Yukito's criteria for a true dream, but she's never been to a place where she could see more than one dream at once. "Not here, but . . ."
"You must be very new, then. With practice, you'll be able to better direct your dreams. I could teach you, but I don't know when we might meet again." Tomoyo sighed, propping her head up with her hand. "Which is too bad, really. If we had more time, I could start planning outfits for you to have once we meet in person."
Her eyes widened, and she rushed forward. "Please, teach me," she said. "I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know how to get out of here."
Tomoyo smiled, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Have no fear. The dream world poses no danger to you. Your soul will linger here awhile, then return to your body when you wake."
"Return to . . . You mean my soul's not connected to my body anymore?"
"Your soul will always be connected to your body—only death can separate the two permanently. Right now, your body lies as if in sleep. If something wakes you up, you will return to your body, provided there is nothing tethering you to the dream world. Do not worry. If dreamwalking were dangerous, I believe I would have encountered much more trouble." Amusement glittered in her eyes, then returned to the serene look she'd had before. "I suppose I can teach you, as long as we are both here. First, know that not all dreams you encounter in this realm are the dreams of people. Many of these spheres will give you a glimpse into the future." Tomoyo turned, gesturing toward the orb Sakura had been peering through when they'd crossed paths. "Try looking at the shell containing that dream."
"This?" Sakura floated closer to the sphere with the young man peering into the water. "This is the future?"
"One of many. Do you see how the membrane surrounding the dream looks a bit cloudy?"
Sakura nodded.
"That cloudiness suggests that this future can be changed, although only with great effort and careful choices. The foggier each future appears, the easier it is to change, or the more you have to do to make it happen; I'm not certain which is the case. The clearer the bubble surrounding a future is, the more difficult it is to change that future." Her expression darkened.
"Can they always be changed?" Sakura asked.
Tomoyo paused for a long moment, staring into the dream. "That is . . . a difficult question to answer. Dreamwalkers can see the future, but not always the paths that lead to it. In many cases, the act of trying to change a future instead nudges you closer to it." Tomoyo turned as a smaller sphere drifted past them. Sakura peered through the hazy surface and saw herself and her companions standing on what appeared to be a giant chess board, chained together. A world we haven't seen yet?
"If you wish to enter a dream, all you have to do is touch the edge of it. If you wish to leave a dream, all you have to do is ask to be let out. Often, the best way to study an uncertain future is to experience it. You may wish to practice that when you have more time."
"This future," she began, indicating the chess world. "Could it still happen? It seems cloudy."
"It could happen, yes. But this feels more like an echo of another dream. One that could have happened—could still happen, even—but has started to die because of the path you have taken." Tomoyo looked up suddenly, seeming alarmed. Sakura tensed. "I must go," Tomoyo said, relaxing a bit. "Time flows differently in my world—my attendants are trying to wake me." Her soft smile widened. "I will see you again—that much is quite clear."
"Oh, but . . . Will you teach me more when we do meet?"
"Of course." Tomoyo's eyes twinkled. "But I think you'll learn a lot on your own just by wandering." Her figure started to fade, as if dissolving. "Until then, farewell!"
Her body evaporated like mist, leaving Sakura behind amidst a sea of dreams. She floated in place a moment longer, hoping Tomoyo would reappear. When nothing happened after a few seconds, she sighed, studying the spheres around her. She drifted between several, catching snippets of each dream. In one, a man with a ponytail adjusted his goggles, smiling at a girl with mint green hair. In another, Yuzuriha from Ookami-kuni sat with others from her tribe, smiling and laughing.
The next dream showcased a man with a cloudy glass eye. He looked up as she passed, giving her a knowing smile, and disappeared moments later, swallowed up by the dimensional sea. Sakura stared at the dream he'd abandoned for a moment. It looked a bit like the country they were in now, except the skyscrapers rose like metal skeletons above the streets, some tipping toward one side, as if on the edge of collapse. Bits of rock shot up from the ground, their tops looking eroded. If people lived there, they'd hidden themselves well. A broken world, Sakura thought, moving on. I wonder if we'll visit that place someday.
She paused as she reached the next sphere. In this dream, she and Syaoran twirled on a tiled floor. Her dream-self wore a gauzy, bell-shaped dress with ribbons trailing down her back. Syaoran wore a crisp, black ensemble with a bow-tie. As she watched, he rested an uncertain hand on dream-Sakura's waist, leaning forward to whisper something in her ear.
Why do I look so somber? she wondered, studying her dream-self's face. I should be happy. Syaoran and I are perfect for each other. She frowned, floating closer to the sphere. Her hands hovered just above the surface of the bubble, and she felt a tingling in her fingertips. A resonance. Is this a true dream, then?
She hesitated. Would entering a true dream allow her to change it somehow? This sphere looked so clear, its outer surface transparent. A nearly certain future, according to Tomoyo. Would I simply become part of that dream? Sakura wondered. An observer, unable to change anything?
Bracing herself, she pressed her hands to the sphere. A chilling sensation through her chest, and a moment later, she found herself in Syaoran's arms, twirling to the music of the quiet string section in the corner.
"Kliss says that House Eldrine suddenly acquired a lot of political power a few months ago," Syaoran said as they twirled. "They took advantage of the assassinations and placed themselves close to some powerful allies."
Sakura met his eyes, words forming on her lips without a conscious thought. "You think they might have been behind the assassinations?"
Syaoran nodded, looking troubled. What am I talking about? Sakura wondered, lifting one hand and placing it on his shoulder. The movement occurred without any input from her mind, and when she tried to lift her other hand, it wouldn't obey her, remaining glued to Syaoran's side. So I can't alter a future through a dream. I just have to play along.
"Do you think a feather could grant magic to someone who doesn't have it?" Syaoran asked, glancing around.
"It could. Or it could strengthen someone who's already a magic-user, like what happened in Koryo."
"Possible," Syaoran said, lifting his head. "We could be facing a very dangerous enemy."
The vision stopped abruptly, and Sakura found herself once again floating among dozens of little spheres. The dream she'd been ejected out of shriveled up, the shell blackening as it vanished. Did the dreamer wake up? she wondered. Or did the vision just end?
Her body lurched, pulled back by a powerful force. Sakura spun, catching glimpses of dozens of nearby dreams. The force kept pulling, however, always dragging her backward, no matter which way she turned. The shimmering dreamscape around her darkened, like glass stained by smoke.
She woke in her bed in Avantine, clutching Mokona to her chest.