Chapter Fifty-Nine: Best of Both Worlds
Tenzin-lama, I will defer to your wisdom, as always, but I believe the creature should undergo the Second Birth.
The voice of Sifu Indira still rang with perfect clarity in Theo's mind, uttering the words that had condemned him. As the eighteen-year-old stared numbly down the cliff face he was standing at the edge of, gauging just how many thousands of feet the drop was, he wondered where everything had gone wrong.
All this standing-at-the-edge-of-a-cliff business was supposed to have happened two days ago, just the morning after Theo had been brought before the Council of Masters.
The pterodactyl-consorts of the Land of Fog and Shadow lived in a caste-based society; Theo did not need to do very much observing to come to that conclusion. The four castes were quite simplistically known as the Warriors, the Scholars, the Artisans, and the Intellectuals; each caste representing the chosen life path of its members, comprising of a variety of smaller guilds. As each caste fulfilled a function in the Eyrie, each guild served a unique purpose in its parent caste—the Artisan caste, for example, was composed of the Musician's Guild, the Chef's Guild, the Builder's Guild, the Craftsman's Guild, and several others; all sharing a common caste due to their respective works being very tangible forms of art, expressed through any of the five senses.
Though the four castes had their own governing council of Guildmasters, members of all related guilds would—by popular vote—choose a worthy adept to take the title of Sifu and represent their caste on the Council of Masters. The four councilmasters had an equal voice in guiding their society, but even they ultimately deferred to the advice of the Council's fifth member, the lama, who was considered to be the wisest among the elders of the Eyrie. Similar to how the councilmasters were chosen by popular support from all their guilds, the lama is chosen by popular support from all four castes.
It had been Sifu Indira, the warrior-caste councilmaster, who had made the suggestion to Tenzin-lama that Theo prove his claim to be the Thane true. Theo would have to complete a rite passage that all consorts had to survive at a very young age. Before he could learn about what it was, however, a colossal super-swarm of wyrm underlings migrating towards the sea passed through the skies close to Whiterock Eyrie, prompting the warrior caste to declare a state of High Vigilance for two days, delaying Theo's 'Second Birth' trial until…well, this very moment.
So where had he gone wrong?
For the life of him, Theo could not really answer that question.
Theo's assigned escort during his time in Whiterock Eyrie had been Gyaltsen—the pale blue-skinned pterodactyl who had found and rescued Theo from the underling swarms in the forest. Gyaltsen seemed to have a deep enjoyment of teaching Theo more and more about the Eyrie; Theo learned a lot during the two days he spent stuck in Whiterock Eyrie because of the High Vigilance.
Gyaltsen was a member of the Warrior caste, though Theo learned the importance of knowing someone's guild when he mistakenly assumed his escort to be a member of the Eyrie Watch. The light blue-skinned pterodactyl was part of the Hunter's Guild—his task was to venture far from the Eyrie into dangerous wilderness, where he would hunt down and kill small groups of ogre and gicyclops underlings, bringing them back to the Eyrie as food.
Bringing food back to the Eyrie was the primary mission of the hunters, but their toils benefited many other guilds from all castes. The tusks from the larger underlings, for example, were popular among warriors as knives, among artisans as crafting tools and artistic projects, among the scholars as writing implements when filed down, and among the intellectuals for the simple purpose of decoration. And in times of conflict, hunters were commonly used as scouts by the warriors—it was a humble guild, but one of the most important.
Considering Gyaltsen's enthusiastic efforts toward educating Theo about Whiterock Eyrie and it inhabitants, the teenager could not help but wonder why the hunter had not chosen to follow the path of the Intellectual Caste, which specialized in knowledge and energy. The hunter was quiet and withdrawn when in the presence of others, rarely speaking up to voice his own opinions…but when he was alone with Theo, his intelligence began to shine through.
Gyaltsen had been the one to explain to Theo that the 'Second Birth' was not necessarily a 'trial' for his people—it was a rite of passage that young ptero-consorts had to pass in order to survive, almost like a human baby having to take its first breath. Before young ptero-consorts' arm-wings developed the strength required to sustain flight, Gyaltsen said that they would 'take to the skies' and be forced to connect with the energy of the Breath Aspect in order to fly.
Theo had assumed that Gyaltsen had meant that a ptero-consort would not survive in a world like this without the ability to invoke Breath, requiring it to go through the Second Birth in order to expose it to Breath at an early, instinct-driven age. Therefore, Theo figured his own rite of passage would require him to invoke Breath all by himself. And while all this was technically true…Theo found out that Gyaltsen had been speaking with a much more literal meaning.
Theo would have to unlock his abilities as a Thane of Breath, or he would die.
"I hope you are ready, outsider." That voice… Sifu Indira's voice spoke to Theo again, only this time it was not a memory. She was standing behind him, somewhere, come to observe the Second Birth along with the rest of the Council of Masters. "Send him on his way, Gyaltsen-hunter."
The softspoken hunter acknowledged the warrior-caste Sifu's order with a nod, stepping around Chodak, the ill-tempered, heavily-muscled, red-skinned brute who served as Captain of the Eyrie Watch. He fluttered forward to the edge of the cliff, lighting back on his knobby, sinewy legs and walking the last few paces up to where Theo was standing.
"When you explained this to me, I think you left out a few key bits," Theo murmured over to Gyaltsen, trying to keep his voice calm even as his heart rate continued to increase. He could feel sweat breaking out on his neck and forehead as he continued to stare downwards past his feet. "I don't suppose you're here to rescue me again?"
Gyaltsen said nothing in reply, initially, looking straight at Theo until the teenage boy met his gaze. When he had eye contact with Theo, in a very quiet voice so that no one else could hear, Gyaltsen asked a single question. "Are you truly the Thane, like you said?"
Theo Gibbons could be described as many things, but a 'good liar' was not one of them. Gyaltsen had correctly been able to come to that conclusion, and so he looked now for any signs of dishonesty, however slight, that would give themselves away in his answer.
It was a difficult question for Theo to answer. Sure, Deltasprite had told him that he was the Thane of Breath, but what did that even mean? Theo didn't feel any different. How can someone strongly believe themselves to be a hero of legend when they only just found out about it five or so days ago? Theo's answer reflected his inner doubts: "I… Yeah. Yeah, I think so."
"You think so, or you know so," Gyaltsen pressed, not satisfied with the weakness in Theo's response.
Theo now found himself at a loss for words; latent doubts now coming out of the shadows into the limelight, the dizzying vertigo of standing at the edge of a mountainside, and, deepest down of all, a low self-esteem were working together to keep Theo from calming down and centering himself. Gyaltsen seemed to sense this on some level, prompting him to try and give Theo some last-minute help.
"I… I…" Theo started to stammer, but he was immediately cut off by Sifu Indira.
"Enough delay, Gyaltsen-hunter!" the warrior-caste Sifu called down from the high ledge where the Council of Masters had gathered to watch Theo's Second Birth. "Be done with it-"
"Patience, Sifu Indira," the soft, jovial tones of Tenzin-lama were spoken in his normal, subdued volume…and yet, everyone could hear his words just as clearly as Indira's powerful, commanding voice. "It is not natural for a creature to undergo the Second Birth this late in its lifetime. The Evening Cliffs seem much taller when one stands upon their edge than when one glimpses it from the sky—to a creature without connection to Breath, this might come across as terrifying. Give him a moment to prepare."
"If the outsider is the Thane, then he already possesses a strong connection to Breath," Sifu Indira muttered in reply, though her tone gave away that she had already deferred to the lama's wisdom. It was simply in her nature to argue and to challenge, part of what led to her becoming one of the most influential members of the Warrior Caste.
"You would be correct, but only in that the creature possesses a connection to Breath," Tenzin reminded Indira. "His connection, unfortunately, is still mostly dormant, as it is in all of us before we underwent our own Second Births. He must be awakened…"
While Tenzin-lama and Sifu Indira conversed, Gyaltsen took advantage of the temporary distraction to speak to Theo one last time, to try and ensure he was able to meet the imminent challenge and come out on top.
"If you speak the truth, if you truly are the Thane…then you have nothing to fear," Gyaltsen said quietly to Theo as he stepped back from the edge of the cliff, moving behind the teenager, still speaking softly enough for no one else to hear him. The Council of Masters had fallen silent by now—all attention was once again focused on Theo. Gyaltsen continued to speak, quietly murmuring, "Our Breath is a part of us, its energy within us. It is not a power of the mind; therefore, it is not through your thoughts that you can access it. You embody Breath only through your acceptance of it. If you are truly the Thane, then still your thoughts and own that truth. Know that this is a trial that you can pass—this confidence, alone, will suffice."
Gyaltsen hesitated for a moment, leaned in close to Theo's left ear, whispered, "Come back to us, Thane. We need you."
There was a single moment of clear, pure, and total silence that Theo experienced immediately after Gyaltsen's parting words. He felt as if Adam Sandler had hit the 'pause' or 'mute' button on the reality-altering remote from that one movie he was in. His thoughts no longer churning like a maelstrom during that brief moment, Theo not only heard the gentle whispers of the wind, but he also began to feel it-
The shove was quick, concentrated on his upper back, between the shoulder blades. All Theo could do was blink as he was propelled forward, his eyes opening once again to an upside-down view through his legs of the edge of the Evening Cliffs, bathed in the subdued red, orange, and purple light of Skaiaset. The light of the Skaiaset appeared more as an omnipresent, ambient glow because it was heavily refracted through the Veil.
There were no truly clear days in LOFAS because the Veil of fog hung a little bit higher than cloud-level and it obscured the sky of the entire planet, save for two places that were tall enough to penetrate it—the ruins of the Great Eyrie, which Theo had not had the time to ask Gyaltsen about, and Theo's upwardly-expanded house. The planet's wind kept the equilibrium of the Veil in a state of constant flux, however, and this would result in the fog being thinner on some days and denser on others—a weather pattern, of sorts.
Whiterock Eyrie was a very tall mountain, but because most of the fog from the Veil was concentrated in the open sky, higher than cloud-level, it was at a higher elevation than the summits of all the mountains in LOFAS, with the sole exception of the Great Eyrie ruins. Whiterock was no exception—the summit of the Eyrie came close to touching the Veil, but fell short by a hundred feet or so.
As such, Whiterock Eyrie was never free of the obscuring fog, but the white peak had an advantage: a natural wind current that liked to 'visit' the region frequently; the powerful winds it brought were strong enough to disperse the Veil to a very thin level, allowing for today's bright Skaiaset. Being the wind, this 'friendly' current never lingered for very long, but it always seemed to come back to Whiterock Eyrie sooner or later. Its affinity for the Eyrie was well-known among its consorts, prompting many to come to the conclusion that it was much more than a simple wind current.
Theo was about to find out why.
The winds had died down considerably, growing very gentle and breeze-like as Theo was taken to the edge of the Evening Cliffs. The very moment Theo was sent over the edge, the winds grew completely still, all the air in the surrounding sky hanging, even if only for an instant, in a state of balance—no higher pressure seeking to fill the gap of lower pressure, resulting in no wind. This moment of equilibrium, however, was just that; a moment.
The wind roared back after the moment of stillness, stronger than before, and…and it felt different…familiar…
The brief few seconds after Gyaltsen pushed Theo over the edge of the cliff felt both incredibly slow to the teenager, but were also blurry—a disjointed cacophony of images, sensations, and thoughts. It was only after Theo blinked a second time that the powerful winds suddenly arrived, tearing at his face, violently shattering the hazy silence that Theo had experienced from his shock. Yanked back to his senses, Theo's insides churned and tensed, seizing up as the teenager realized that he was now falling down a drop of over ten thousand feet, the pale rocks of the Evening Cliffs glittering in the bright westerly light of the refracted Skaiaset, blurring together as they rushed up past Theo.
During the walk from the Eyrie, down the upper ridges of the mountain's west face, to the shelf-like ledge at the top of the Evening Cliffs, Gyaltsen had made Theo fully aware of what he was about to face in his Second Birth rite of passage, finally driving home a subject Theo had been almost unconsciously skirting away from until the very end.
Like every ptero-consort who ever survived into maturity, Theo had 'taken to the skies', as Gyaltsen had previously put it. Turned out that 'taking to the skies', in this case, meant being pushed off the edge of, depending on the time of day, either the Morning Cliffs of the mountain's eastern face, or the Evening Cliffs that made up most of the mountain's western face. Both cliffs stretched from the very base of the mountain all the way up to the bottom of the mountain's upper third—the 'summit pyramid', so to speak, that served as the foundation for Whiterock Eyrie. Their height and sheer drop of over a mile made them suitable for young consorts to undergo their Second Birth.
Infant ptero-consorts underwent their Second Birth before their arm muscles really developed, preventing them from relying on their physical strength to get themselves out of danger. In this fashion, any connection made to the energy of Breath by someone as new to life as an infant would be due solely to survival instinct. Accessing that subconscious connection to Breath became instinctual to the consorts—not much different from other involuntary reflexes, like sneezing or swallowing.
And failure to connect with the Breath Aspect… Underdeveloped arm muscles did not have the strength to sustain flight; without the ability to fly, it was a long way down. It became all too clear why infant ptero-consorts would not survive their Second Birth if they failed to unlock their Breath. Down, and down, and down, and…splat.
That distant, fuzzy carpet of dark green—the canopy of the misty, bioluminescent, underling-infested forest Theo had been rescued from, the eaves of which Whiterock Eyrie was located within, trees growing even all the way up to the bottom of the Evening Cliffs, growing from the ground Theo was about to splatter into—suddenly didn't look quite so fuzzy. Theo could begin to see it in much sharper focus as it rushed up towards him.
Theo squeezed his eyes shut, concentrated as hard as he could on feeling his connection to the Breath Aspect, desperately trying to trigger or unlock his Thane of Breath powers. He focused intently on his memory of Tenzin helping him breathe through a near-fatal asthma attack, tried to remember what he'd felt when the lama had used his own Breath energy to spark Theo's. When he'd felt his connection to the Breath Aspect flicker back to life and sustain his ailing lungs, Theo had felt a profound sense of wholeness.
But now, as Theo struggled so hard to remember that feeling, how Tenzin had triggered his energy, he could not recall the sensation, too distracted from the sensory bombardment of falling to one's death. Panic started to seize his chest, and Theo found that he could not seem to take in a satisfying breath—both early signs of another asthma attack. Theo had not had an attack since the one Tenzin-lama guided him through, three days ago; potentially having one while falling to his death was not convenient for him at all-
Falling to my death… After having that specific thought multiple times, Theo finally realized on an instinctive level what was wrong, why he was failing. Despite knowing for a fact that he was, without a doubt, the Thane of Breath, Theo's fear of falling to his death meant that he still believed he was going to fall to his death. That fear was blocking his connection to the Breath Aspect, and unless he dealt with it now…
Thane of Breath or not, Theo's attempts to connect to the energy of Breath were much more difficult than the instinct-driven reactions of an infant consort—he had the huge disadvantage of having his survival instincts hampered by his consciousness, of having to consciously connect to a primordial force; dormant powers he needed to awaken which, a week ago, Theo had not even known existed.
But then something happened to Theo just as he was about halfway to the ground. The staunch, firm breezes of the wind current that had just arrived, the same ones that had brought Theo back to reality after being pushed over the edge, breaking that moment of stillness… It lasted only for a fraction of a second, but it was enough.
The powerful winds all seemed to focus on Theo for a brief moment, long enough to be consciously noticed, blowing straight into him from all directions. The winds coalesced around the falling teenager, holding him aloft in mid-air for that single moment, briefly arresting his fall. Though it only lasted for a moment…when the winds gave him a helping hand, when all their collective focus was on Theo, the teenager had been able to feel their energy, somehow…
The winds' concentration on Theo ended up blowing him head-over-heels several times, until he was finally falling feet-first. Plummeting off the side of a mountain right-side-up was slightly less disorienting than plunging headfirst towards the ground, and it allowed Theo to clear his mind, the teenager still doing his best to ignore the continuing symptoms of another asthma attack.
Theo could feel the steady, enduring winds…the swirls and eddies of gentler breezes…and the few gale-force gusts—all focused on him in that single moment. He knew, then, that these were no ordinary winds. They were much more than that—powerful, primordial expressions of pure, unrestricted Breath energy. Theo could sense the raw Breath energy of the wind, and he could feel an individuality to it, almost a consciousness—the culmination of the energies of countless smaller winds.
Feeling the winds' natural energy, while it did not spark Theo's connection to Breath like it had with Tenzin-lama, was still able to give Theo a 'reminder' of sorts, a faint echo of the wholeness he'd felt while freely manifesting his Aspect energy.
The echo Theo felt from all that 'wild' Breath energy acted like a ripple that spread throughout his mind. Theo suddenly found that he was now able to recall quite clearly what that sensation of 'being complete' had felt like, and when he did…the feeling took on a life of its own, coursed through his entire body and psyche.
Theo could not help but smile even as he continued to fall. Though he had not yet awakened his powers, the teenager had at least managed to gain a true awareness of their existence, and that awareness brought with it the knowledge and certainty that the energies of the Breath Aspect were within him. The realization that, as a Hero, he was a source of that energy, that it was within him…
Theo found himself unable to accurately remember what it had been like to live in ignorance of this very mysterious and important part of himself. As his connection with Breath was established, Theo felt his familiar ability to sense the energies of the winds amplify exponentially, sharpening to such a heightened degree that Theo could almost physically feel the Breath of each individual breeze.
I can't fall; I'm the Thane, Theo thought—no, believed silently to himself, his traces of doubt dissipated like evaporating water. He had made an instinctual connection to the Breath Aspect, but now he had to bring that connection to the conscious level.
The winds had a subtle, but noticeable reaction to Theo's mental declaration. Emboldened by this, a newfound confidence finally filled him, complementing the familiarity of reawakening his connection to Breath. Riding the wave of this confidence, Theo allowed his body to completely relax, and rather than voicing his thought with a shout, he quietly declared to himself, "I can't fall, I'm the fucking Thane."
Theo could not tell when exactly the first breezes started 'behaving' for him. While before, Theo could only sense the winds' energies, he was now quickly learning to exert his will over them, redirecting their forces in an upward direction even as Theo envisioned them doing so. This created a stiff updraft from the receptive winds, slowing Theo's fall considerably, and ultimately buying him enough time to remove the final traces of fear from his mind. His confidence increased even more, strengthened by his breakthroughs, and he finally allowed himself to do the only thing he could in order to survive.
Fully embracing the reality that he was the Thane of Breath, that he was much more than he gave himself credit for, that he was the stuff of legends to these consorts…finally embracing these disorienting truths gave Theo the last thing he needed to consciously invoke Breath: resolve.
His mind now as relaxed as his body, Theo opened his eyes once more, ignoring how quickly the ground was rushing up to greet him. Though his eyes were now open, Theo wasn't using them to 'see'—the teenager could feel the crisp, eager buzz of his Breath powers aching to be unlocked, finally exploding to life as Theo slowed his fall even further, manipulating more and more of the winds' energy currents, intending on adding their strength to his artificial updraft…but he ended up not needing to.
When Theo was able to control the winds, he made a fully conscious connection with Breath, which meant he'd basically already survived his Second Birth. He was not out of the woods yet, however—he still had to get back into the air.
Theo's entire ordeal—from Gyaltsen pushing him over the edge to the successful awakening of his Breath powers—had only lasted about nine or ten seconds, but it felt more like an hour to the teenager. Nine seconds of free-fall until Theo was able to, on the fly, manifest his Aspect to arrest his fall and save his life. The teenage boy felt some measure of pride in that as he released his artificial updraft. He now generated his own winds to keep himself aloft, weaving his way between the pre-existing wind currents.
This grew easier when Theo 'flew' faster—generating enough wind to sustain a solid momentum, guided by the natural wind currents, took much less energy than continuing to fuel the updraft by bending the winds to his will—the winds seemed to enjoy being worked with, but they did not like being commanded. As Theo slowed down, nearing the shelf at the top of the Evening Cliffs, his momentum was lost, and he had to expend large amounts of energy blasting winds of his own that were powerful enough to get him safely back onto the ground.
But then, finally, Theo felt the soles of his sneakers touch down on rock-solid ground…and even as the relief flooded through his body, the surge of adrenaline that sustained him throughout the fall wore off, making Theo feel almost hollow with sudden exhaustion. The moment he took a step forward, towards the gathered ptero-consorts, Theo's strength failed and his legs gave out.
The teenager must have expended a good amount of energy, because the weariness he now felt was causing him to fight a futile battle against losing consciousness. He could hear the sounds of the awed ptero-consorts' voices, but could not make out the individual words. His eyelids grew so heavy, they felt like leaden weights had been tied to them. By the time his legs gave out, Theo was already half-asleep.
Theo's eyes flew open to the sight of a bedroom that existed entirely in shades of indigo, but was otherwise a perfect reflection of his real bedroom. As Theo regained his bearings, he looked down at himself, noting with a confirming grunt that he was indeed wearing the crescent moon-emblazoned purple pajamas of his dream self on Derse.
Theo remembered hitting the ground, and then only flashes…more unintelligible voices…a firm grip on his shoulder…and that was it. That must have been when he passed out, because that was the only explanation for why Theo was waking up as his dream self. At first, he still felt the relief at having survived his ordeal at Whiterock Eyrie…but then, he found the details of what he'd experienced would grow fuzzy, and any concern he'd felt about them would end up lifting.
Theo was dreaming. He could fly easily, now, and just let loose.
A familiar girl in identical purple Derse pajamas was the first thing Dream Theo noticed as he peered out the nearest window. It was Gwen's dream self, and she was flying past Theo's dream tower in the near distance. Excited at the prospect of finally being reunited with some of his friends, Theo floated out through the window, up into the air, cupping his hands to his mouth and shouting over to Gwen.
Dream Gwen could not hear him, however. Not willing to give up the chance to see Gwen, Theo looked off in the direction she was flying. If she kept going that way, she would eventually run into…Gino's dream tower. Theo was already soaring into the sky, trying to match Gwen's speed as he pointed himself in the direction of Gino's tower. He focused on maintaining that speed for the next few minutes as they covered the sizable distance between dream towers.
As Gino's dream tower started to come into sight, Theo increased his speed and banked toward Gwen, surprising the teenage girl by flying right up beside her. "Hi, Gwen!" Theo waved over at his fellow Derse dreamer.
"Oh." Gwen gave a surprised start, temporarily thrown off-guard by the sudden arrival of her friend in the middle of flight. "Theo, hey… Um… Okay, this is Derse, right? The dream self place? Sorry, this is my first time waking up here, and I'm sorta new to all this!"
"Yeah, this is Derse," Theo replied, before adding, "Well, Derse's moon, if you want to be technical. When you fall asleep back in the real world, you wake up here as your dream self—trust me, it's really simple to understand once you can wrap your mind around it. It's actually kinda awesome! Our dream selves can fly, and…uh…there's a whole city out there to explore."
"I already know about our dream selves, Theo," Gwen clarified to her friend before he could go on. "What I just don't get is…why now? It's been five days since we got zapped here, and I haven't woken up here until tonight."
All Theo could do was shrug. "Dunno. Cruz and Adam have been dreaming on Prospit all their lives; who knows how the system works? Why were their dream selves awake before the game started? Why do we even have dream selves in the first place…?" Theo let his voice trail off, realizing that he was starting to ramble. He organized his thoughts, concluded by stating, "Haven't you gotten it, yet? The Medium is a place where any answers you get will only leave you with more questions…"
"That's true, but I would imagine that's because we have a lot to learn," Gwen surmised, Theo's last words still ringing in her ears. Feeling strangely inspired by them, Gwen continued to speak, her word surprising her even as she heard herself saying them. "Skaia's biggest mystery is its purpose. But a mystery is simply undiscovered knowledge; and I can feel that knowledge, humming out there in the dark…but I can't find it… Sorry," she apologized, shaking her head to return to her senses. She realized that they had stopped flying, were instead merely hovering in the sky above a dark street. Gino's dream tower loomed nearby. "Sorry, I must sound crazy…"
"You're apologizing for sounding crazy while you're floating in the sky of a purple city-moon, dreaming consciously in a different body," Theo chuckled, pointing Gwen's attention back to the absurdity of where they currently were. "It, uh… You mentioned being able to, uh…feel knowledge? Did it feel like kind of a, you know, like a sixth sense?"
Gwen nodded in reply. "That's exactly what it feels like. A sixth sense… There's got to be an infinite number of ways for someone to arrive at an answer—an infinite number of different questions, different inspirations, expressions, and actions; it all sort of forms a pathway as someone gets closer to the answer. And I feel like I can sense which of those 'pathways' is the best one to follow…and yeah, that's kind of why I thought I was sounding crazy."
Another quiet laugh from Theo. "No, I totally understand," the floating boy reassured Gwen. "Pretty sure it's just your Light powers starting to shine through. If you think that's weird, then watch this." Theo raised his hand to the side, away from Gwen, focusing on his Breath, and was surprised when a sudden gust of gale-force wind was blasted in the direction of his raised hand, almost sending him flying through the air in the opposite direction.
That wind had been much more powerful than what he'd intended, sounding almost like a sonic boom from its sudden acceleration, echoes of it still jumping between buildings. "Damn," Theo swore, lowering his hand, flexing his fingers several times. "Easy to do this while dreaming, apparently…"
Gwen's expression had not changed much when she watched Theo create his own wind—her eyebrows, on the other hand, had shot straight up. "Yeah, uh…well… Okay, you can control wind. That's now a thing."
"Point being, I've got some weird powers, too. You're not alone!" Theo reminded Gwen, deciding to wait a few seconds before changing the subject, asking Gwen something he'd been wondering since he'd first seen her today. Nodding over at the looming shape of the nearby dream tower, Theo asked, "So, uh… Why've we been flyin' to Gino's tower? Nothing to see, really—his dream self is just sleeping up there."
"Dunno." Gwen could only shrug. "Like I said, I was confused. I woke up, and got this feeling that I had to come this way. It…it almost sounded like a whisper in my head, but…never mind. It was just a feeling."
Theo did not have a reply to that, couldn't think of anything to say. As the silence went on, Theo found himself observing their surroundings. Looking down, Theo noticed that they were now drifting over dilapidated, run-down structures…partially-collapsed buildings, crumbling ruins, the charred husks of burnt homes…pockmarked streets, strewn with garbage and rubble… Gino's dream tower was located within what appeared to be a giant ghetto, and it looked like a war had been fought there. Theo had never been to this part of the Obsidian Moon, before.
Look, Heroes…
If shadow had a sound, then the whisper that entered Theo's mind at that moment would have been it. Theo's gaze whipped back over to Gwen after he heard the whispers, but it had not been her voice he'd just heard. Still, just to be sure… Even as he looked at her, however, Gwen turned to him and asked, "Did you say that?"
"I…you…" Theo stammered, unprepared for Gwen's question…but then the implications of that question quickly dawned on him. "You heard that, too?"
"I…" Gwen looked at a loss for words, too, now. "That… Those whispers were what I heard when I woke up here… Now I remember why I wanted to fly to Gino's tower-"
Theo watched the explosion happen in slow motion. He saw the top-sphere of Gino's dream tower, silhouetted for a moment by a blinding light, fire shooting out the four windows. It was immediately blown to smithereens even before Gwen finished speaking, engulfed by a vaguely mushroom-shaped blast of flame. Theo's jaw went slack with horror, his eyes widening as he watched the flames billow outward and upward, fiery chunks of debris and masonry arcing through the sky like remnants of a volcanic eruption…
Gino… Theo's thoughts were numb. He hadn't known Gino as well as some of his other friends, but watching anyone die…
Gwen whipped around, seeing the ruins of the tower just moments after it had exploded, but quickly enough to notice a familiar shape hurtling through the air, blown into the sky by the explosion. Though she could not get a clear look at the object, she was nevertheless certain of what it was, and it gave her hope. "Theo, look!" Gwen pointed into the sky. "I think that's him!"
Theo was jerked out of his numbing shock by Gwen's shout. He looked away from the burning dream tower, spotted what Gwen was pointing at…and sure enough, she was right. Theo's vision wasn't spectacular, but he could easily recognize the white-trimmed violet of Dersite pajamas on the flying figure… Gwen was right; it was Gino's dream self. How…?
And that was when, much to his alarm, Theo realized that Dream Gino was not flying; he was falling.
"C'mon, we gotta go!" Theo was already flying off in the direction Gino was falling, grasping Gwen's arm and pulling her along until she could adjust and fly on her own. His thoughts had been whirling a moment ago, but now they were calm, focused on one thing: get Gino.
Rooftops and alleyways shot past below as Theo and Gwen blasted through the sky, trying their best to not lose sight of Gino. Their friend's dream self had been blown quite high into the air by the force of the explosion and was only just now beginning to plummet back toward the ground. Fortunately, due to the almost weightless nature of dream selves, Gino did not seem to be falling at terminal velocity…but the force of the blast had been massive, and at the speed he was falling, Gino was not going to have a happy landing.
Theo kept his gaze stubbornly fixed on Gino's dream self, but his friend was already less than a hundred feet from landfall. Knowing they weren't going to reach him in time, with only seconds left to spare… Theo found himself suddenly rocketing ahead of Gwen, his velocity almost tripling as he was propelled even farther forward by a strong wind that he had managed to concentrate into a narrow stream.
The teenage boy nearly splattered himself against a row of stone chimneys as he reached the target area. Like a car speeding downhill, Theo was not able to come to an abrupt stop. Thinking faster than the speed of light, Theo felt like he was acting more out of instinct when he quickly, desperately, seized greater control of his wind and wrenched it around. It took a huge effort to accomplish in such a quick moment of time, but Theo was able to change the direction of his wind so that it was now blowing toward the chimney, bringing him to a halt in mid-air…
…only for Theo to be dropped, facefirst, onto the stone rooftop when Gino's dream self landed directly on top of him.
"Oof!" All of the air in Theo's lungs was violently forced out as he hit the stone rooftop, fortunately managing to keep his head raised away from the impact. He lay still for a moment, trying his best not to think about the bruises that had to be forming on his torso. His concentrated blast of wind had cushioned him enough so that the weight of Gino's dream self plowed him into the stone—which would have resulted in quite a few broken bones—but was not enough to make for a comfortable landing.
Still, it was pain Theo could handle, and he knew he would be able to get back up. But first, he had to get Gino's dream self off his back. Theo rolled slowly onto his side, gently depositing Dream Gino onto the stone rooftop. His lungs slowly expanded to their full capacity as he took in a deep, sweet breath—inhaling slowly so that his battered chest would not throb with pain. As he leaned down to examine Gino, Gwen finally arrived, having closed the distance put between the two teens by Theo's Breath powers. She landed on both feet gracefully, quickly kneeling down next to Gino's dream self, anxiously reaching for his neck to check for a pulse.
"Owwwwwww…" The groan came from Gino's mouth, and Theo's heart leaped as he watched the other boy's eyes flutter open. Rather than check for a pulse, Gwen instead cupped her hand under the clearly-alive Gino's upper neck, slowly helped him elevate his head, and then begin the process of sitting up.
"What the shit was that, dude?" Theo asked Gino, the shock of the explosion still coursing through him, making him feel almost jittery. "Were you awake for all that?"
When Gino spoke, his voice was raspy, his words labored. His eyes seemed a bit unfocused, gazing off into space at times—he was likely in some form of mild shock. "I was just…just flyin'… We can fly here, y'know? And…and I ducked out one of my windows, and then everythin' gets so fuckin' bright, and hot, too, and…and now my ears are ringing, and… What…? What the fuck happened?"
Theo wordlessly pointed off into the near distance.
Gino had been in a daze; he had not really been looking at anything beyond the crumbling waist-high wall that surrounded the perimeter of this particular rooftop—everything had been too bright for him to get his bearings. Following where Theo was pointing, Gino's eyes watered and refocused as he squinted, glimpsing the billowing flames, now realizing what had been making it so bright.
Looking away from the aftermath of the explosion, he returned his gaze to his two fellow Derse dreamers, his mouth forming a silent 'oh'. When he finally found words, he still had trouble getting them out; his speech was likely being affected by his shock, as well. "Was…was that… Was that my…?"
"Yeah, dude, that was your dream tower getting blown to Westeros and back that you just survived!" Theo finished Gino's thought and answered it, already understanding what the other boy was trying to ask. "Good thing you were out the window…you'd probably be toast if you hadn't gone out the window…"
"Never…woulda…guessed…thanks for…the heads-up…" Gino grumbled as he was finally able to sit back up all the way, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. He had managed to put together a coherent sentence, which was in of itself a sign of recovery.
"Oh, can it." Gwen rolled her eyes, giving into her own urge. "He just saved your life by letting you fall on him. Don't be an asshole."
"I just survived a fuckin' assassination attempt," Gino mimicked the same emphasis Gwen had put on her own words. "Pardon me for bein' a little fuckin' grouchy!" He let those words hang in the air for a few moments, before taking a deep breath and forcing himself to start breathing normally again. He glanced over at Theo again, told him, "Thanks for…you know…savin' my ass, and all…"
Recognizing the olive branch, Theo accepted it. "I'm sure you'd save my ass, too, if it ever needed saving?"
"Okay, sure. Count on it."
With that, Theo finally rose to his feet, taking a second to steady himself as his body adjusted to being upright, allowing himself to float an inch or two up into the air. After the initial dizziness vanished, Theo drifted over to the edge of the rooftop, looking out at the sprawl of low-lying, ramshackle buildings that spread out in all directions, as well as the ragged, disheveled Dersites who were coming out of the woodworks, having heard or felt the explosion.
"Eastvale Ghetto…" Theo murmured to himself. He'd never been to Eastvale, before, but it had been described to him by the dissenters as a dark, forgotten place, full of forgotten people. Most of the street lights in the ghetto had been torn down and scavenged over the decades, and Theo noticed that the few that remained in place were nevertheless dark.
It would seem that Eastvale Ghetto was no longer connected to the Dersite power grid. Theo was grateful for the fact that it was still daytime—he could only imagine how dark the ghetto got after nightfall.
Sudden shouting caused Theo to whip back around, turning away from the view of the surrounding ghetto. He heard Gwen's voice exclaiming, "Who the fuck are you?" Theo turned around, took in the sight of two Dersites standing in the open doorway of the roof-access stairs. When had they gotten here? Gwen had stepped in front of Gino, who rested back against the side of a stone chimney.
The taller Dersite was unfamiliar—he was wiry, built like a runner, wore midnight-black clothing and a likewise-colored skullcap; clearly much better prepared for trekking through a dark ghetto than his friend. The shorter Dersite, on the other hand, was slender, clad in a dark gray suit, his right eye marred by a line of scar tissue from an old wound. The Wrathful Veteran looked like he'd just run across an entire continent, judging from the ragged, torn-up state of his suit.
The Wrathful Veteran held up both hands in response to Gwen's belligerent query, trying to calm her down while the second Dersite fidgeted uncomfortably. "We are friends, Witch."
"The fuck you just call me?" Gwen's attitude, so rarely seen that it was considered to be nonexistent by many, came through to the surface, exacerbated by the stress from the explosion.
"Witch of Light!" Theo interrupted, hopping onto the 'Calm Gwen Down' bandwagon. "He's calling you by your title!"
"Oh…" Gwen's hostility seemed to visibly deflate, and she looked around, as if surprised at where she was. "Sorry, I…didn't mean to… The explosion, it…I… I just don't like loud explosions, I've had bad experiences involving loud explosions…" The teenage girl's voice trailed off, still hearing the thunderous roars of the Viridian Wind's gun decks echoing in her mind.
"Today has been traumatic for all of us," the Wrathful Veteran reassured her. "But today is also not quite over. We must leave Eastvale immediately, before the Enforcers arrive. I know a safe place." The shorter Dersite stepped back into the roof-access stairwell, gesturing for the three Heroes to follow him. "It would be wise of you to come with me."
Gwen still looked a little unsure. Nevertheless, she was still teetering on the fence enough to look over at Theo, a questioning eyebrow raised. "My gut instinct is to just fly out of here and forget all this, but… Do you trust this guy?"
Theo nodded without hesitation. "I do. He's on our side."
"And, uh… I can't fly."
Everyone looked at Gino, who had been silent until his declaration just now. He had gotten back up to his feet and was jumping into the air, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to soar into the sky like he'd just barely managed to do before the blast… But there was nothing happening. He could not fly.
"What's wrong with me, guys, why can't I fly?" Gino asked, balling his fists in frustration as his efforts continued to fail. "C'mon, what the fuck."
"Flying would be unwise. The only way out of this ghetto for the three of you that does not end in death or capture is with me, and we're sticking to the ground. Your condition can be addressed later, Prince," the Wrathful Veteran assured Gino. "But we must move now. The Black Queen will send in the Enforcers to find the Prince's body, and we need to be far away when they report a mission failure."