Aran was in a forest. A weird forest, its floor covered in pink petals that didn't at all match the trees towering above, bathed in a yellowish light that was akin to a late autumn evening. A stream flowed through, but made no noise.

In fact, very noticeably, there was no sound at all. The breeze blew against her skin, but no leaves rustled. No birds chirped. No insects buzzed. Even the petals at her feet shifted about without so much as a whisper. All she could hear was her breathing, her heartbeat, and—

"You woke up, was the dream not good enough?"

Aran turned around.

Lucid sat on top of…well, I suppose it was a flower of some kind; a large flower that glowed a bright neon blue, contrasting the amber lighting of the rest of the forest. Lucid sat with one leg crossed over the other, foot swaying impatiently.

The pair held a brief staring contest.

"You need to work on your Lilin impression," Aran sighed, "Lilin doesn't smile, and she certainly doesn't smirk."

"The others don't seem to mind any…inaccuracies…so long as they're happy," Lucid remarked, "you don't enjoy training?"

"Oh, I enjoy it all right." Aran kicked a small petal into the air near her foot. "Certainly would have been better with friends. Maybe keep that in mind next time. Add in a Shade…or a Phantom—do Phantom. I'd love the chance to beat him into the ground."

Aran held her gaze at the elf.

"Dreams are nice little escapes, aren't they?" The warrior hummed lightly. "But they're not meant to be permanent, they're just temporary illusions designed to make us happy. There's nothing in that little dream that could make me want to stay there forever. Not a thousand training sessions, not a million fights, not even world peace. Nothing."

"And what do you want?" Lucid asked.

Aran thought for a moment.

"I dunno." She shrugged. "I guess I've never given it much thought. What I want for the rest of my life, that is. I've always been more of a 'right now' kind of person, I think."

She drew Maha off of her back and pointed it at the girl.

"And right now," she said, "I want nothing more than to beat that smug look off of your pretty little face."

Lucid's eyes flicked back and forth between the blade and the woman holding it.

"Surely you don't plan on fighting me." Lucid gave a cocky huff. "This is my dream. You can't possibly—"

"Say," Aran interrupted, "did you know her ears are ticklish?"

Lucid raised an eyebrow.

"…beg your par—"

"Mercedes." Aran said. "They're ticklish. If you blow into her ears, she jumps and babbles like a little girl. I'm speaking from experience here."

The explosion shook the trees, sending more petals to their eventual demise. Aran was blown back, only able to stop herself by slamming Maha into the dirt.

"Ahh…" Aran cracked her neck. "Now that's a nice reaction. What a way to start a fight. Why would I waste my time in a dream when I get everything I want, right here and now?"

Lucid scowled, and raised her hand to cast another spell.

Aran gave her a smirk and took off running through the forest, drawing a large circle around the girl. With a click of her fingers and a wave of her hand, Lucid called forth a line of blossoming flowers, which Aran narrowly managed to avoid just as they exploded in a sound like a gunshot.

"How does it feel?" Aran taunted as she jumped over another line of magical flowers. "How does it feel knowing a complete stranger—a human—knows your beloved queen more than you?"

Several butterflies materialized, hurling shots of energy at the warrior. Aran swung Maha towards the girl, sending a frigid blast of ice that exploded on contact.

"Her favorite color is turquoise!"

A hole was blasted through a tree.

"She enjoys mystery novels!"

Energy ripped through the branches of the forest canopy.

"Her favorite dessert is crepes!"

Several craters formed in the ground.

"And now for the grand finale!" Aran announced as she skidded to a halt in the middle of a clearing.

The warrior—rather loudly and obnoxiously—cleared her throat.

"Freud and Mercedes sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S—WOAH!"

Aran barely noticed the dragon in time. The green flame the creature belted out managed to singe her fur coat.

"That," she said as she extinguished part of her ponytail, "was actually really close, I'll give you that."

"Is there some point to this?" Lucid asked, her face contorted in a mixture of anger and tiredness. "Even if you make me angry, this is my dream; my power far surpasses yours."

"True," Aran said, "your power far surpasses me alone."

Lucid thought for a moment, until everything clicked into place.

Or, rather, something else clicked. And whirred. And beeped once the target had locked on.

Lucid spun around and found herself staring down the barrel of a very large gun which had materialized out of nowhere. Atop the gun sat a young man with black hair, wearing a glowing-blue futuristic outfit.

Aran wisely dove out of the way, taking up shelter behind one of the trees. But Lucid, having been caught off-guard by the sudden increase in opponents, did not have the opportunity.

Xenon took a deep breath, and the laser fired.

Aran wasn't really sure if the laser actually hit Lucid, but it definitely did something because all of a sudden the forest no longer had the unnatural silence hanging over it. For the briefest of moments, there was wind; a loud, roaring wind caused by a gigantic laser cannon, but wind nonetheless. Leaves rustled, before being vaporized by the energy. Trees creaked and moaned, before collapsing into a pile of charred trunks.

As the laser died down, the sounds of the forest were replaced with something else…music? Chatter? The mindless static of the nonexistent void? It was difficult to tell exactly what it was.

And then the cracking began. It didn't sound like glass—nothing so fragile—it sounded vaguely metallic, and a bit plastic, like the sound of a building crumbling mixed with someone popping bubble wrap.

"No!" Lucid's voice rang out above the din. "The dream is collapsing!"

Somewhere in a dream…

Maple Island crumbled to dust.

Momijigaoka poured away like sand.

A meadow shattered into a million pieces.

A movie theater was plunged into unending darkness.

The forest ceiling opened to reveal the night sky of Lachelein above.

The dream broke.