Chapter 50: Oneiros

…

"It did what? It fired him?"

"Like a cannon," Hunter told Nester through his attempt to keep from laughing aloud. He was doing quite well compared to Lawrence, who had to stay in the berthing deck outside because he was cackling too loud. They could still occasionally hear him snort.

"With the grace o' a fart," Gold added, able to keep his amusement down to an occasional chuckle. "Yeh know. Pbt."

Nester, who had been previously looking Sello in the eyes while Sello sat in his chair, glanced up at Hunter, Gold, and Link. "And he landed in a box full of hats?" he asked.

"More like a cart," Link said. He pointed and added, "That's where the cap came from."

Nester glanced at the red knitted cap on Sello's head. Then he snapped his fingers in the engineer's face. It only elicited a look of mild confusion, which seemed to be Sello's general expression for the moment. "Mister Sello," he said in a loud voice. "You in there?"

"Moss squeeze," Sello said with a nod.

Nester gave Sello a difficult look. Then he turned to ask, "That's normally how he talks, right?"

"Yeah…" Link replied.

Link's concerns about The Night having taken Sello had been alleviated during the trip back to the Island Symphony, but he still felt it prudent to have Nester check on him anyway. Admittedly, Link was not sure what Nester might detect that would not be apparent from Sello's general behavior. From the way Sello had acted so far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. If anything, The Night spitting him out seemed to make him relatively sedate. But then, Sello always seemed like that if he was away from his two favorite things: engines and alcohol. Not that it would have gone toward explaining his behavior in the mines three days ago.

"Well, normally, I'd ask how he's been acting, what symptoms he might be having," Nester said. Then he turned a glare at the trio looking over his shoulder. "Normally."

"We know, we know…" Link moaned. "Sack of potatoes…"

"What I don't get is how he survived," Hunter said. "As far as he flew, if it'd been me, I think I'd've broken my neck."

Nester picked up Sello's wrist. "Well, that's the fun part about being drunk," Nester said. He paused for a moment, and then he dropped Sello's wrist. "When a normal person sees a hit coming, they tense their muscles to brace themselves for it. But, for drunks, they don't perceive that sort of thing fast enough, so they remain limp. They just let their bodies slosh around like the alcohol in their system."

"Less 'crack', more 'splat'," Gold said.

"Yeah," Nester said. He stood up and started feeling around the back of Sello's head. "And because they don't respond to pain right, they can't tell if they've been hurt or not."

"Explains why he says 'didn't hurt' a lot," Link said.

"I just thought he was always faking," Hunter said.

"Being drunk or being tough?" Nester asked.

"We—… being drunk, really," Hunter admitted.

Link shrugged. "He's always talked like that. Ever since we found him in the volcano."

Nester turned back to Link and asked at the same time as Hunter, "What's a volcano?"

Link gave a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Never mind… Nester, can he get back to work?"

"So long as that work doesn't involve being shot again," Nester told him as he rose. "Have the engine crew keep an eye on him. If he has any sort of wounds or bruises, I'll wanna know immediately."

Link nodded and said, "I'll make sure they know." He gestured toward the doorway as he told Hunter and Gold, "Return to your duties."

"Aye aye," Gold replied as Hunter said, "Aye, sir."

"C'mon, Chief Ding-Dong, get up," Nester said, waving a hand to indicate he was done with Sello.

"Da kooker is ma feelers," Sello replied as he swiveled in the chair.

Nester gave Sello a confused look. Then he said, "C'mon, Chief, back to duty."

"Ah wanna goose!" Sello answered, shaking a fist at Nester.

Nester traded a look with Link, who took a step backward into the empty space where a bed had once been. Nester then hollered at Sello, "Get outta my chair!"

Sello, at the moment the first syllable came out of Nester's mouth, dove out of the chair. He scrambled back to his feet and performed a combination of running and stumbling as he left the sick bay. "Ah abdicate to yer nipples!" he hollered just before tripping and falling down the starboard staircase. Ba-bup. Whump! "Didn' hurt!" Sello called out.

"What the f—" Nester began.

"He'll be all right," Link told him, watching as Hunter and Gold, who had jumped out of the way when they heard Sello approaching, leaned back into Link's view as they peered down the staircase. "How about your other patients? How are they doing?"

Nester glanced at the bed at the back of the sick bay. Then he indicated the doorway with a finger and said, "Let's step out for a moment." Link gave Nester a confused look, but followed him out into the cargo hold nonetheless. He indicated one of the empty cots across the bay from where Layna lay. Once Link was seated, he took the other cot. Before saying anything, Nester glanced over his shoulder as if checking that no one from the berthing deck was overhearing them.

Then he leaned forward and asked, "Which one do you wanna hear about first?"

"Huh?" Link asked, confused by Nester's newfound need to be secretive. "Uh… Geordie, I guess."

Nester heaved a sigh and raked a hand through his hair. "Not good," he replied. "He found out I was giving him placebos last night."

Link's expression turned shocked. "How?" he asked.

"I don't know," Nester replied. "It's all kinda academic right now; I'm not sure how or when but… I haven't been able to wake him today."

Link's eyes grew wider. "He-he's not—"

"No, he's not dead," Nester quickly told him. "No, I think the head trauma caused him to fall comatose. He's still alive, but I can't say if he'll be that way for long. He's still breathing, but I've had to intubate him to make sure his airway's clear. I've also got him on intravenous solutions, but it isn't gonna hold out. I don't have the stuff I need to watch a coma patient long-term; if we don't get him to a proper clinic or hospital, the malnutrition will get to him. Assuming the brain trauma won't take him first."

Link heaved a sigh. "How long?"

"It's not an exact science, Captain. The malnutrition won't kill him by itself; it's gonna be complications caused by that malnutrition. There are a few things I might be able to use around the ship to help stave it off. But… maybe a month, maybe two."

"Is there a chance he might wake up?" Link asked.

"Sure there is. He could wake up in an hour, or he could wake up a month later. Or any time in between. We know so little about comas that treating them for a long time could lead to his death. I'm hoping he might come to before one month is up; otherwise, he might die on the trip back."

"Assuming we make it that far…" Link moaned.

"I'd rather assume; I can't do anything for him otherwise."

Link gave a solemn nod. "How about Beech?" he asked.

"Psssh," Nester hissed with a hesitant look on his face. He took a moment to change subjects. "Well, whatever Dholit's been telling him has been both helping and hurting."

"Has he at least been interacting with the crew?"

"In the littlest of ways," Nester said. "They don't get much past what's happening lately. They give him news, he gets depressed about it. The man's broken, Captain."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"We know that if we don't do anything, he could easily be the next to take his own life," Nester said. "I'm not joking about it, either; the man is teetering on the edge here. But, like I said, what Dholit's been doing is helping and hurting. The fact that he comes out of the berthing deck at all seems to be a good sign. And… he's been helping with Geordie."

Link blinked for a moment. He gave the doorway into the berthing deck a quick glance before asking, "He's been helping with Geordie?"

"When I couldn't wake up Geordie, I started hollering, and it got his attention. I gave him the same basic rundown as I did you. Though… I gotta admit, I was worried it'd be the last straw for him. But he's been helping me move Geordie around and… well, change Geordie. Kinda. You know… throwing soiled towels over the side."

Link blinked for a moment. "You know, I thought I saw him on-deck earlier, but I thought that was just me being tired. But it didn't look like he was in there just now."

"He wanted to try getting some sleep before The Night woke up. He's depressed beyond belief, but he's pushing himself along just the same. And, if it's all right with you, I'd like to restore him to duty in the sick bay."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I'd rather keep him away from the engine room for now. Besides, I'm a little concerned things might get worse for us before we get outta here."

"I suppose nursing duty is better than no duty," Link said with a sigh. "The Goddesses know we could use all the help we can get."

"Flower's doing all right," Nester continued. "The placebos are helping, but that can only last so long. I've been giving him whatever sedatives I can spare. He's been a little pissy because he doesn't like being confined to the berthing deck."

"Is Beech bothering him?"

Nester shook his head. Then he paused and said, "Well… no, he does a little. I've had to chew his ass out for hollering at him through the bulkhead. I think it's more that he doesn't like being stuck where he can't do any good. He's been hearing about what's going on from the rest of the crew, and it seems to be pissing him off."

Link groaned and covered his eyes with a hand. "I can't really blame him, but we don't have a lot for a man with a broken leg to do."

"He's had a couple suggestions."

"Like?"

"Well, he said he could be a lookout if someone left a chair up on the deck for him. Maybe sit in for one of the engine crew since it's basically a babysitting job."

"Okay…" Link took a moment to consider the suggestions. He had to admit that a regular airman like Flower would be much happier doing his job, especially considering the position the crew was in. He had had to deal with a similar issue a few years ago when a tumble off a yardarm caused him to dislocate his shoulder; although he was officially on sick leave, he still did some work while he was supposed to be recovering back at Skyrider Port. "Okay, I'll let Leynne know, and maybe he could make some arrangements."

"Please," Nester replied. "I'd hate to think of how a fight between him and Beech might go."

Link nodded. "And…" He glanced at the cot he was sitting on. "Is Stan all right?"

"Yeah. He went back to work last night."

Link then cast his eyes across the hold to see Layna sitting on her cot, staring at them. "What about Layna?" he asked.

Nester glanced at Layna. "Her wound's closed for the most part," Nester said. "Just another scar. As for the heartbreak, well…"

"Nester…" Link groaned.

"Look, I'm not a head doctor. My philosophy is to let a person get past their trauma before they get back to work, but Layna's… she's Layna."

"Layna?" Link asked as he looked back across the hold.

"Ay'a, My C—"

"Yikes!" Nester suddenly hollered upon realizing that Layna had appeared in between the cots they were sitting on.

Link's glance quickly snapped in the opposite direction. "Oh, geez," he breathed out.

"How the hell did she…?" Nester trailed off, glancing back and forth as he tried to puzzle together how Layna had crossed the bay without either of them noticing.

"Trust me: there's no point asking." Link told him. Then he turned to Layna. "How are you doing, Layna?"

Layna gave the empty space next to Link an uncomfortable look. "'Inu mikwutsak," she replied. "Marix 'inu 'axoykwaylya mizaxobak My Captain dha' 'aycbun."

"Uh huh," Link replied. Then he said to himself, "Wow. And I thought this was gonna be awkward…"

"Why?" Nester asked. "What'd she say?"

"That's just it; I don't know. I know she can speak Hylian, but it looks like she's sticking to Gel—"

"My Captain, yasmaylufan marix 'inu 'aniygthya!" Layna suddenly blurted out, startling both of them. "'Inu—…" Layna glanced down as if realizing that her hands were held up as if to hold Link back. A tinge of crimson rose to her dark cheeks, barely visible in the nearby lantern light. She stood up straight and clasped her hands behind her back. She took in a deep breath and let it out carefully. "'Inu mizanugth ba' nayx nadxilutak, 'itab 'inu lwacisak wabnik. Taf 'inu nadlwaym'aythikak mikalwubat My Captain mosah. Nway nadmithijak. 'Inu yamsoyilak 'idus My Captain ga'na. 'Itab nwaki ijd mizaxobak My Captain dha' 'aycbun. 'Inu matikak My Captain nayx yasnaygudh 'inoy 'anw 'afi'il taf 'anw giyt. 'Inu nayx mitaylwabak nwiy taris 'utamokwya 'immu zanak." Link could see her start to breathe heavier and wondered if something was wrong. "'Itab 'al My Captain taynol, 'inu nayx nadsilwubak wammu na'kib."

Link and Nester let Layna's words hang in the air for a moment. Then Nester commented, "She certainly has a lot to say today. I kinda wish I knew what it was."

Link sighed. "I… I wish you would talk to me in Hylian, Layna," he said. "I know you can."

"My Captain yas'aytinak 'inoy mizangiyth Xili'anay 'anik," Layna said, her eyes cast aside once more.

Link had to take a moment to puzzle through her words. He failed, naturally, so he said, "I… don't think I'll tell you you have to talk Hylian to me. I'd like to think that, if you really wanted me to understand you, you'd just say so."

Layna looked up. Then she glanced over Link's head. "'Afi'il Cayminnadhiyf Irliyn!" she said with a shocked look in her eyes.

"Huh?" both Link and Nester uttered at the same time. They followed her gaze to find that Irleen was standing behind Link.

Irleen heaved a sigh. "Līnca, kaatōn tanì," she told him. "Hīltonìn kárōl ō, àt Láħìna cùhu nòt kárōl ahà."

Nester just blinked in bewilderment. Link felt his pockets, although he already knew what the problem was. "Sorry, I can't understand you," Link said. He shrugged. "I must've left the gem in my cabin."

Irleen stood frozen in place, although it appeared to them that her smug grin turned embarrassed. "Àt ìpā káħàrōlat kákirōl ō," she said, holding her expression. "Ħacò. Kōwì nìko ħacù ħìtīn ħál kùn, hòħō karōl ahà ō?"

"Think she knows we don't understand her?" Nester asked Link in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, probably," Link told him.

"Ħòūwòpa," Irleen said, giving an irritated wave of one hand. "Hòħō ħarōl cōthu ō." She turned and walked away.

Nester waited until Irleen started up the steps. "Question," he said to Link.

Link, having placed his hand over his eyes, pulled down on his skin as if to increase the usual amount of dismay he revealed. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Who was that?"

…

~~Same day, 1930

~~The Night spat Sello out. I don't know why, but I guess The Night couldn't stand letting him in again. How it didn't kill Sello is a wonder, but Leynne thinks the soft landing might have been a coincidence. Of course, we kinda had to agree that this definition of "soft" just means it was survivable. I don't think it would be a good idea to try it again; The Night may not let him live the next time, and it may even come after us. But, thanks to this, we don't have the device the mystics left in the last technoworks. I'm a little hesitant, but I've decided to go into those technoworks tonight anyway. I didn't have the items in the first two technoworks and, with some difficulty, I still made it through. Janni said that this technoworks is themed "self". I can't really say if it helps; so far, I've been through "death", "uncertainty", and "mystery". Knowing doesn't seem to help. I'll just have to give it my best shot.

~~When we get out of this, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't know what to do about Layna; I've never had someone confess they love me before. And then she tried to kill herself! I still can't wrap my head around it. Was it just The Night messing with her? Messing with me? Or does she

…

Link left the lamp lit in his cabin so he could see what he was doing when he woke up in the dream. While ultimately a good idea, he woke up three times thinking that he was in the dream world until he looked at the shield propped up beside his desk to see that the eye was still open. The ensuing frustration just added to the difficulty of getting to sleep. How he had been able to simply will himself to sleep before, he could not understand now.

Sometime while he had his back to the desk, he started to hear a creaking sound. His first impulse was to ignore it since trying to find the source of the sound would be near impossible. On a ship the size of the Island Symphony, any loose timber that would be making such a sound would be better off replaced by a decent repair crew; Link's crew only ever repaired the ship's structure if it was an emergency, and one loose or misshapen timber hardly counted. Besides, for all Link could tell, the offending timber could have been under the deck where his crew would have to work to find it.

Krrrrrrk. Krrrrrrrk. Krrrrrk. Krrrrrk.

Silence.

Krk. Krk. Krk.

Silence again.

Krrrkrrk.

Link finally flung himself onto his opposite shoulder to see if the sound might at least be coming from the room.

Janni sat in Link's chair, her feet pressed against the edge of his desk so that the chair was leaning on its back legs. She wiggled her brow and pushed against the desk. Krrrkrrrk, the chair responded to her single rock back and forward.

She gave him a large grin, her pointed teeth glistening in the flickering lamp, and said, "Good evening, Captain."

Link sighed, not bothering to lift his head from the pillow. "Well, I've certainly had worse things waking me up," he commented.

"Oh, that dry wit I've come to love so much," she said as she carefully lowered the front end of the chair to the floor. "You said so little the last time you came. I missed our usual banter."

"I was busy last time," Link said as he threw his covers off.

"You left in such a rush, I had to fly to keep up with you," she replied. She watched in silence as Link rose from the bed and moved over to his footlocker. "Oh. Playing the silent, brooding type now, huh?"

"No," Link said just before pulling his tunic on. "Last night, you laughed your head off at me once we figured out that the Sorian Obeetans only speak Sorian."

"Don't tell me you're mad at that," Janni said. She rose up from the chair and floated through the air toward Link. "It wasn't as if you would have made any progress that night anyway."

Link, once he had his tunic on, turned to her and said, "You could've at least told me."

"I would've expected you to have figured out our relationship by now, Link," she replied. "I tell you about things you absolutely need to know, and you entertain me." She giggled and added as Link started putting his gear on, "And, I do have to say, I am feeling quite entertained tonight."

"Does that mean you'll start answering questions?" Link asked.

"You know, it just might."

Link paused buckling his gun belt and glanced at her. She still wore her grin, her arms folded under her chin as if waiting for him to do something. "There is something you could clear up for us," he said, quickly buckling his belt. He straightened it and asked, "Are you the Dreamweaver?"

Janni giggled. "No."

Link leveled a glare at her. "Somehow, I don't really wanna believe you," he replied.

This only caused Janni's grin to grow wider, wider than any grin should be. "That's too bad," she replied. "That's the only answer I have."

"So you're not just some self-loathing creature living in denial in a shield?" Link asked, his tone venting a touch of cynicism.

"Oh, don't get me wrong," Janni answered, pulling back from Link a bit. "I just might have a self-loathing nature. It's hard to say, really, being insane and all. But that's just my personality; it doesn't stem from failing to protect the dreams of an entire island."

"But you must have had to deal with the Dreamweaver before," Link said. "You were imprisoned by him."

Janni gave a huff and said with an offended look, "You don't have to remind me."

"C'mon, Janni, you've gotta give me some answers," Link said, his tone dropping to a calmer level. "My crew are depending on it. Did you or did you not encounter the Dreamweaver when all this started to happen to the Obeetans?"

Janni set her feet on the deck and crossed her arms. "The last time I 'encountered' the Dreamweaver, he put me in this shield. I would think that much is obvious."

"And what about the Dreamweaver? You must have followed him around in the dream afterwards. According to you, you're always in the dream."

Janni shrugged. "I might've for a little bit. It was a long time ago."

"Did you ever see him fighting The Night?"

To Link's surprise, Janni put on a look as she appeared to think. It was not the sort of contemplation he had been expecting. Instead, the look on her face was exaggerated, eyes to the deckhead and barely visible lips puckered, as if she was just amusing Link by taking that moment to think. She swiveled her shoulders, a motion that only emphasized the lack of sincerity behind her need to remember. Link put on a scowl.

Janni deigned to look at him again. Her grin returned as she answered, "Yes. I did."

"That took a ridiculous time to think about," Link commented.

"According to you, I've been stuck in this for about two hundred years," Janni pointed out. Then she frowned and added, "Or was it one hundred? Huh. My memory actually feels kinda fuzzy." Then she grinned once again at him. "Or, well, maybe I would rather believe I'm fifteen years old. But then, it would only make you wonder how all this damage happened two hundred years ago when I'm still fifteen."

"It's not like I haven't heard of that kinda thing before," Link pointed out. "The Undying Storm held a demon airship and its crew for about one hundred years. From what Irleen explained, the Sorians locked everything out of that storm, including time itself."

Janni frowned and said, "Oh, you've heard of that kind of magic before…"

"We're getting off the subject," Link told her. "What did the Dreamweaver do? How was he fighting The Night?"

Janni's face turned neutral. "Willpower mostly," she said. She stepped over to the door to Link's cabin and pulled it open. "In the end, The Night won."

Link gave the floor a downcast look for a moment. Then he asked, "What happened to him? Did The Night just kill him? Or did it do something worse? Like make his own people kill him."

"It's really kind of grim that you would ask something like that," Janni commented as she moved to lean in the doorway.

"But he is gone," Link reasoned.

Janni giggled. "Nope."

Link's expression blanked. "Then… he's an Obeetan. Just like the other Sorians on this island."

"Wouldn't that be convenient for you," Janni replied.

Link glared at her. "Then… what? He couldn't still be alive, could he? Not after all these years."

"Not unless he found a new way to sustain himself," Janni said. She raised a thumb and indicated the deck outside.

Link slid past her and stepped out onto the deck. Leynne was standing at one of the aft capstans with a supportive hand on Dubbl's shoulder. Link could not see her face, but her head was bobbing up and down as she fought sleep. Further away were Biluf and Ray, seated on the deck near the port main-mast and apparently in the middle of a conversation. No… No, Link could see that, when Ray started to slump, Biluf clapped her hands and snapped Ray back to sitting straight. He could not see Line at the forecastle, but Gillam was loitering on the main deck just behind there, appearing to have a conversation with someone out of Link's sight. Link felt a touch of despair, witnessing his crew struggle to stave off The Night.

Then the horror set in.

Janni had just said that the Dreamweaver would not be alive today unless he had found a way to sustain himself. Link knew that the Obeetans had become the way they were due to The Night. He could vaguely recall his first conversation with Janni. She had said that The Night ate good dreams and left nightmares. He had thought she was being metaphorical, that The Night simply had a lust or compulsion to take those dreams. What if they actually were for nourishment? Feeding night after night on dreams, slowly stripping the Obeetans of their identities, even their bodies with every meal. Sustenance. But what allowed The Night to simply take those dreams?

What else could it have been, if not having not only the device of the Dreamweaver, but the power? Power from a being that was rare, according to Irleen. The Dreamweaver could not possibly willingly feed The Night. Besides that, what would the Dreamweaver be able to feed on if it was under The Night's power? Except… the same thing keeping The Night alive…

With fright in his eyes, Link slowly turned to the island. He stared at the tower, his jaw slack, as it dawned on him exactly what Janni was implying.

"That's right, Link," Janni told him as she stepped out of the doorway.

"The Dreamweaver is The Night."