Munto had Marty bring her breakfast while he had others get a bath ready for her and fresh clothing. They met outside of the gardens by a few broken columns.
"Yumemi, is there anything you love?" Munto offered her his arm and when she looked at him puzzled, he led her hand to the crook of his elbow. Then, he guided her through the palace.
"Gntarl-sama said love was a joke." He couldn't help the sigh that left him.
"Do you dream? Have any hopes for the future?" When her silence became deafening, he glanced down to her, a frown now adorning her face. "How long have you been with Gntarl?"
How much had he destroyed of her?
Yumemi shrugged, "forever, I suppose."
"You've never dreamed of returning home?" Her grip on his arm tightened and she bit her lip at the thought.
It had plagued her most of her life.
"I don't remember much of home."
"I'm sorry." Munto had led her away to a secluded portion of the palace grounds. A small island laid a simple bridge away with a tall, sturdy tree providing shade. "When we rescued you from Gntarl, he mentioned that you were not who we thought you were. However, just the day before, you shielded Toche without effort and question. How did you do that?"
Munto let her go, letting her explore the space for a bit before she decided to sit against the trunk of the tree. Sprinkles of sunlight fell around her and she watched them shimmer in the palm of her hand.
"I don't know." He had almost begun to think she wouldn't respond. "When I was little, he'd make me go through tests, to see if I could… conjure things or manipulate them. Catch myself from falling. Stuff like that." Munto's eyes widened at the implication of the last test. "I never really succeeded very well, but Gntarl-sama hoped that would change as I grew older. Eventually, I couldn't do anything at all."
"But you did succeed."
"I guess." Again, she shrugged as if it didn't matter and to her, it probably didn't. "I'm not sure how I did it. He just…" Trailing off, she stared off into the sky.
"He just what?" Yumemi plucked a few blades of grass, still not looking Munto's way.
"That boy. He reminded me of someone."
Toche?
"I see." He sat beside her, stretching his legs out. "Yumemi, you said you'd help us."
"I recall."
"Do you understand that it's your power that can save both our worlds?"
His words echoed in her head and at that time, she did try desperately to understand. She did.
Yumemi couldn't fathom being the sole keeper of the not only one world but two worlds' fates in the palm of her hand. She had never been able to complete the simplest of tasks assigned to her. It didn't surprise her that Munto grew frustrated at her confusion and eventual denial of such a prospect.
Thinking back on those days, when Munto and Lady Ryuely hadn't been trying so hard to explain her role in such a large world, Yumemi had questioned Gntarl's verbal beatings. For the first time in a long time, she had doubted his teachings aloud and Munto sat with her through it all. Something she had become accustomed to.
"I, at one point, thought I could make Gntarl proud. Maybe even love me, but I concluded that perhaps love wasn't something I could give." She voiced her skepticism to him by the waterfall, back pressed against the rocks and her knees drawn into her chest.
Munto rested beside her, head leaned back, eyes closed, and legs stretched out far in front of him. His lips always turned up in just the slightest of ways every time she called Gntarl without the honorific.
"It's not that you cannot give love, Yumemi. It's simply that he's not worthy of any." The reply had been dripping with venom and spat out quickly in anger.
For a moment, it had thrown Yumemi. Munto had only spoken in the upmost polite manner, to which she tried to return in kind. Though, he had never thought less of her when she would drop the polite mannerisms.
He had huffed, dropping his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He apologized and assured her that his response was in no way against or meant to offend her.
While that conversation had spoken volumes in its isolation, Yumemi shook her head of it. She wasn't in the Magical Kingdom anymore. Not next to Munto or receiving breakfast from Marty or watching as Toche helped Lady Ryuely with every ounce of enthusiasm she envied.
She was held captive in the arms a solider, golden and goliath-like. As lifeless as a doll, it steadily made its way to Gntarl's ship.
Yumemi watched as a piece of the island began to crack, rocks splitting under the force of an unseen geyser. Ready to rupture. Then, like sand, it gave way and the pillar that had guarded against the kingdom's collapse fell.
No…
No.
No!
Yumemi struggled, kicking and squirming until she slipped from metal hands and to the clouds below.
I can fix it.
I can fix it!
Marty always had greeted her with the utmost respect, a smile on his face and a 'breakfast for the lovely Princess!' every morning. Her new title had been embarrassing to her. She never thought of her self so highly. But Marty did. Then, Harka, Shuza, and even Rui began to address her as 'Yumemi-hime', esteem in their tone and eyes soft with a kindness perplexing to her on bad days and welcoming on good ones.
The sensation it caused had been oddly tender. Like her memories. But more real. Her heart beat fast at their attention and a smile always slipped past her resistance and onto her face.
An array of clothes was offered to her every morning and even when it seemed like all she would choose were baggy pants and shirts, the maids never failed to provide her skirts, blouses, and dresses should she ever change her mind. They offered without fail to braid her hair and decorate it with bows or leave it down.
Today, she had chosen a rosy, pastel dress - much to their delight - with sleeves reaching to her elbows and the skirt stopping at her knees in the front and her calves in the rear. Gold trimmed the collar and matched the cords they had weaved into her hair as they braided it down her back.
Her dress had shredded in a few places from her rough abduction. Honeycomb hair haphazardly tumbled out of the tight braid. Part of the ribbon for the bow had gone missing. Her flats were left by the stream where she had been playing with the water while eating lunch.
Their happiness, at even picking a dress rather than pants, had become her own. She stood a little taller around them. A little more proud of being Yumemi.
She felt relevant around them. Even if her importance was only to save their dying world… she would take it. If that's all they could give, it would be enough. She would take it.
The golden soldier dived after her, but her race wasn't with the creature of old. No, she raced the pillar, the large island of Munto's kingdom following suit, in an attempt to see who would reach the Lower World first.
Gntarl had educated her well on the history of this world. Of the evil things they had done. Of their cruelty and destruction to others and themselves.
She didn't want to see them fall.
It was as Munto once told her, "I don't want us to suffer because of the sins of our ancestors."
And Yumemi had agreed. Because the citizens of the Magical Kingdom had been nothing but sweet and welcoming, even when it became apparent that she had nothing to offer them.
Unlike the previous times, Yumemi didn't focus on the fact she was falling, but that the pillar was falling. They rapidly descended together and past the clouds, she saw the ocean's blue and the land's green. People rushed about in their own busy lives like ants. Most likely still blissfully unaware of the danger they were in.
Reaching her hands out, she faced the pillar and felt her will, the Akuto, come to the forefront. Just like she had been taught since she was five, she closed her eyes and commanded it, feeling the push of old memories that begged to break the surface every time she did this.
"Chi-" A light pulsated all around her, stealing her breath in the worst of ways.
Heavy weights pressed on her chest and she struggled for a moment to open her eyes. The light blinded her, but she forced herself to look. To see if she succeeded.
Below her, Yumemi could see only plain rocks. The Lower World was temporarily out of her sight. A cloud rolled by and suddenly, she could see the oceans and land filled with sea creatures and people alike. Busy with their lives. Safe.
Above her, the Magical Kingdom floated proudly in the sky, the pillar returned to its post. Its denizens secured.
Yumemi kneeled under the pressure, waves of rippling light scattered at her touch. She held herself up effortlesslyin the air, but she couldn't focus on that right now. Not when her head spun a mile a minute.
She could hear shouting in the distance, but her eyes were beginning to shut and her shoulders slumped. Everything blurred.
Sweaty hands cupped her face, bringing her back just in time to see a pair of worried, golden eyes scrutinizing her for injury. The thought was touching. Especially when he found none and the relief flooded him like a tidal wave, displayed for all to see.
Yumemi blinked sleepily up at him, her platform beginning to dissipate. Munto kissed the top of her head, a moment that would bewilder her later, and hoisted her into his arms with tender care. She eased into his hold, closing her eyes, and letting one hand curl up against the spot on his chest where his heart beat just beneath.
Munto smiled, but it quickly slipped off at the cry of concern from the others with him. Looking up, the Akuto Doll flew above them, not destroyed by Yumemi's blast. Granted, she had been focused on fixing the damage, not causing it.
When it looked like the Doll would attack, it stopped. Crushed under his palm, Gass discarded the crumbling gold to the side. His curse displayed in the black tattoos that lined his body. They faded and Irita came to stand by his side.
He had failed to see the abduction of Yumemi all those years ago. How that was even possible was more concerning than baffling, but not a priority. While Gass had fought with Munto's father on breaching the barrier and entering the Lower World, he no longer fought against the vision of Munto's parents.
Gass decided to go against everything he knew. His fate. His purpose. He let Munto take the reigns of the Heavens' destiny and with it, the guardianship of Yumemi.
Nodding to each other, they headed their separate ways.
Night had settled by the time Yumemi came to. A candle flickered beside her but it held more of a use for the other occupant in the room than it did her.
"Munto?" His head shot up from the papers in his lap.
"You're awake!" The relief that settled across his shoulders was unreal. The smile on his face almost a boyish sort of happy. Almost the making of a lopsided grin.
She blinked, at first confused by the uncharacteristic outburst, then by the foreign chambers. Walls rather than vines and leaves surrounded them. Marble flooring rather than grass and soil beneath them.
"Ah," catching onto her confusion, he explained, "a portion of the garden's roof collapsed, so I had brought you here to rest. It's one of the last remaining bedrooms."
Yumemi frowned at the news. She had liked her place in the gardens.
Not that this room was shabby, to say the least. Gold trimmed molding ran along the edge of the ceiling that seemed to stretch in every direction. Only when she fully turned her head could she see the end, where two large doors led to a terrace, sheer white curtains framing them. Decorative and enchanting in the candlelight, there were golden, painted petals on the ceiling with an ocherous-colored background. The bed could easily fit several people, big and small, and had silk sheets and a warm, soft comforter. Plus all the pillows she'd ever require.
"Oh…" Despite the refinement of the room, her disappointment couldn't be helped.
"Yumemi." Munto set aside the reports, catching the girl's attention. "I understand you must be exhausted still and require more rest. However, I'm afraid we are almost out of time."
Yumemi's eyes refocused on the ceiling, tracing the gorgeous pattern as if to distract herself.
"I understand."
Lady Ryuely had expressed her concern about continuing without much progress made with the preparations. She had watched Yumemi repair the pillar and stop their world from falling. The spike of Akuto had been life-saving, but it didn't last more than an hour before the lands where Akuto had stopped flowing, returned to decaying. Would she be enough to bridge the gap between the two worlds?
One she only knew in dreams and the other a living nightmare.
"Munto?" Somewhere in the short time she had been back in his care, she had stopped addressing him so formally. Munto couldn't find it in him to scold her for it, especially when the bitterness in her usual tone had finally eased a bit. "What will the merging the two worlds do?"
"Restore the balance of the Akuto cycle and let the spirits from their cages." It almost sounded rehearsed.
"How?"
"We'll have to build a bridge, but first, we'll have to make a path." Her brows furrowed in confusion, lips puckering to keep herself silent. She didn't want to make him frustrated while he prepared for their trip.
To make it easier on herself, Yumemi requested a pair of harem pants, so she could freely move her legs, and a simple, short-sleeved blouse with four buttons at the top. She forewent shoes as most of the time she found herself in the air rather than on the ground. Plus, she found them a little stifling at times.
However, as Munto carried her down to the clouds, Yumemi tugged on his collar. His men waited above, prepared to defend the kingdom and stop any interference.
Land crackled above them still. The cycle of Akuto like the frayed ends of a thread.
Had she changed her mind?
"Munto, I don't think this right." Yumemi pulled away to properly look him in the eye.
He came to a stop, clouds passing by touching the tip of his boots.
Bizarrely enough, she managed to step out of his hold. The clouds dispersed as she found her footing, Munto holding onto her hands as she did so. Together, they looked to the world below. Now visible to them with twinkling lights of those just getting ready for work.
"You said you wanted the balance restored. For the spirits to be free again." At his nod, she continued, "but how can that happen if only a bridge connects us?"
"Yumemi-"
"If the worlds were once one, then shouldn't that be the way to fix this?" Her voice pitched towards the end, a sudden desperateness to her words. "To make everything balanced again, it first has to be whole, right?" She moved away, kneeling to peer at the world below. The Akuto rippled from underneath her.
Her hands on her thighs, she bit the inside of her cheek. So many people down below. And she knew not a single one of them. Fabric fisted in her palms as she looked back to Munto.
"Perhaps, but-"
"When this is over, Munto, could I find my family?" The question came rather blunt and rushed and loud.
Her emeralds shined with a fear they both had thought to be stripped of her.
"Of course, Yumemi-hime." At the name, a deep red filled her cheeks. "You can do whatever you want." But those last few words brought a sincere smile to her lips and her fear was outshined by the sudden joy he brought her.
It made her glow. Or perhaps, that was the sudden rush of Akuto surrounding them.
"Would you help me?" The grip she had on her pants only tightened.
"Of course." He stretched out his hand, a gentle look about him. His eyes were so friendly in that moment, so open and honest, and the reassuring smile he gave her finally made her release the fabric from her hands.
For the first time, Munto felt the Akuto flow through him as she took his hand. Rich and powerful. A bit strong, but he didn't let go.
Her heart had finally opened to him. Fully and without question.
Yumemi returned to the world that sat oblivious under their feet.
"Chikara."
"What?" Munto didn't recognize the name.
"That's what Toche reminded me of." She squeezed his hand tightly as excitement ripped through her. "It was sitting in the back of my mind and I didn't know quite what it was. When I stopped the pillar, I remembered that name."
"Who is he?" Munto watched as she looked below without fear. Her eyes shined brightly in the night sky, her face glowing from the Akuto that waved underneath them still.
"I don't know. But, I want to." Without wasting a second, she floated down, leaving him behind, to where the sheer glass separated their world. Her reflection staring back at her, palm reached out as they grasped for one another.
Munto knew it would take a while for the Akuto to settle out. It chaotically ruptured through the air around them, the very minute she broke the barrier. Like it had been starved, the higher world greedily sucked in the Akuto through every pore it possessed. It was a tidal wave hitting a dry sponge.
There were many preparations to make for the future, but as Yumemi's hand found his again, he knew which one came first.