Chapter 5: A Key (Mel, Kosei, Umbra)

My muscles are cramping from sitting in here for so long. I have no idea when I fell asleep, but I remember waking up to the opening door. My mind immediately thought that Solis came back, and I immediately held my breath.

"Mel? Are you here? If you are, give me a sign." It was a boy's voice. Neither Kosei nor Kenshin, but it definitely wasn't Solis. Could it be her brother, Umbra, the other twin that Torii mentioned?

"Torii sent me here to find you. Your friends are worried about you, you know." I could hear the boy speak as he ascended the stairs.

I knocked on the door of the wardrobe lightly with my left knuckles, hoping that he'd hear me. A set of footsteps headed towards the door, but stopped.

"Hold on." Umbra grunted as he pulled something heavy out of his way. The sudden brightness made me recoil and shut my eyes.

"Oh jeez, I'm so sorry." A shadow blocked the light, allowing my eyes to slowly adjust. The boy before me wore a kiwi tee, ninja pants, and a pair of yellow sneakers. His green eyes reminded me of the trees during the summer months. His hair was as black as Torii's eyes, and a bit unkempt. The worry of his face made me believe that I was safe.

He outstretched his hand to me. "Would you like some help?" I blinked, before nodding and grabbing his hand. Almost immediately, I collapsed to the floor. My legs had fallen asleep.

"Again, I'm so sorry for not catching you." The boy knelt down.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, staring at the boy before him.

The boy before me relayed the events that had occurred earlier that morning. Of course, with me being stuck in a closet the whole night, I had nothing to recount besides what I heard and what I held in my hands.

"Also, Solis was freaking out over this." I offered the journal to the boy, who had introduced himself as Umbra. He held the journal as if it were a sacred item. He opened it, his eyes scanning some of the pages.

He pulled me up once I said that my legs could bear my weight, and he smiled at me. "What?" I asked as we descended the stairs and exited the house.

"Mel, you just gave me a reason to save my twin. Come on, let's head to my house." With that, he sped-walked to the bridge, with me trailing behind him. As I crossed the stone bridge, I felt like someone had splashed cold water onto my face. I suddenly felt more alert, even though the scent of the roses and perfect apples trees still lingered in the air. As we walked towards his house, which required to walk around the town hall, we could see Torii, Kosei, and Kenshin running towards us. They were all out of breath.

"What happened to you three?" Kosei and Kenshin looked at me, and immediately, they hugged me tightly, relief evident with the way their muscles relaxed.

"We met.. Solis.." Torii gasped out while trying to regain her breath. She looked at Umbra apologetically. I could see the male twin tighten his grip on his sister's journal slightly.

As Kenshin and I let go of Mel, we all heard Umbra clear his throat and unlock the door to his home. "Come on in, everyone. There is something I'd like to talk about."

I felt a little concerned. The remaining four of us walked inside to see a standard living room. Torii made a beeline to the room on the right, and the smell of food being cooked made my mouth water. It didn't matter what town I was in, I loved food. Mel took a sideways glance at me and smirked.

"Just be sure to not drool all over the floor," she teased. Kenshin looked like he was trying not to smile. Umbra headed into the kitchen as we took our seats around the table. We heard shouts coming from Torii and Umbra. But whatever Umbra shouted back wasn't in Animaleese, but it did make Kenshin stiffened slightly.

"Something wrong, Kenshin?" I asked, and he let out a shaky breath. He was quiet for a few seconds.

"I... I think I understood what Umbra said," He said, his eyes cast downwards, "He had called Torii crazy."

"Wait, you understood me?" Umbra reentered the room slowly, holding some sodas. He stared at Kenshin worriedly, before replacing it with a mask of seriousness. He gave a soda to the three of us, then set one down on the table for Torii. His eyes were distant, as if his brain were going in many directions before settling on one. He cleared his throat.

"I'm aware of your encounters with my twin sister, Solis. And I'd like to explain… Her condition."

"Condition?" Kenshin asked warily. There was no doubt that he was replaying his memories. Mel held his hand to remind him that he needed to focus on the present.

I heard the caution in Kenshin's voice, making me look away. If I tell the three of them, would they get upset? If Solis finds out about the true purpose of my project, would she hate me even more than she already does now? Torii came in, carrying a tray of food. The red tulip in her hair made my heart freeze momentarily. Flowers held a hidden language within them. I had given Torii one which she kept in her bedroom. Then, Solis had given me a bouquet of them later that day. I had given Solis a striped carnation in return.

"Yeah. When we all moved here, Solis was the first one who stepped foot on Mira. It's how she became mayor. During the first month, she was the ideal mayor. Constantly working on projects, conversing with the animals, blah, blah.

"Then, she disappeared for a few hours one day. When she came back, she was a bit dazed. She sounded far away, and she had said that she went to the Dream Suite."

I stopped talking to take a sip of soda, but it allowed Torii to take over for me.

"After that, she started to plant perfect apples trees. She started to become less talkative to all of us. She still worked at the Roost, but was silent whenever she served. After that, she'd make a beeline for the Dream Suite. And she would be in there for hours.

"Each time we got a chance to talk to her, we noticed how much different she was acting. The Solis we all knew was an extrovert, friendly, and cheerful. Now she's being cold and rude."

Kosei was the only one enjoying his food, while Mel and Kenshin picked at it. Guilt stabbed me. I should've stopped Torii. I should've stopped Solis. It irritated me. They mocked my inability to stop them. But Mel gave a way to fight against this helplessness.

I looked at the journal that Mel gave me. "However," I started, "when I found Mel this morning, she had this." I held up Solis's journal. A quick scan gave me the severity of her addiction. In fact, she even had the codes for each dream. But one entry in particular caught my eye.

Date: XX/XX/17
Today I visited the town of Seaside. It's so beautiful, even though I got soaked in the imaginary rain. The perfect cherry trees were something I had yet to see before, and I'd imagined that they tasted divine in real life. The mayor's name was Kosei, joined with Mel and Kenshin. The very same Mel and Kenshin who had gone through Aika Village! My village is the closest to the valley of flowers here in Animalia. Then again, a lot of stuff has happened across the islands.
-Solis
Seaside: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

"Say, Kosei, what's your town's Dream Code?" I asked, hoping that my mind was crafting this theory. Unfortunately, he relayed his town's code perfectly, without missing a beat.

"Your town has cherries as the native fruit, doesn't it?" The way they still stiffened answered m question.

"H-How…" Mel couldn't even finish her question.

"Solis has visited your town before. She even wrote your names down." I answered.

"Well, that's creepy." Kenshin bluntly stated.

A loud scream caught our attention. Humans are known for having selective hearing. We'd let words in and out, and react to something that's out of place. Even in Mira, there wasn't anything severe enough to elicit something like that.

All five of us got out of our seats and left my home to see what had happened.

My brother was a plant researcher, so he often left Mira to head for the valley. The striped flower he gave me was his answer. And it broke me.

It was sibling love that I had for my sister.

A/N: I would like to let you guys know that the island of Animalia, as well as four others, belongs to NewgamePlus-LD. They're working on a 3D animated cinematic for AC and have included my quiet town of Mira.

Thank you for reading the chapter.