Chapter 6: Betrayal (Omnipotent) (Time- Around 11:45 AM)

The five humans exited Umbra's house to see Solis arguing with Fauna, who was trying to placate the other's anger. All of the other animal villagers minus Rudy and Cookie, since the two were up on Main Street, also headed to where the lavender-haired human and deer were. Fauna had her back at the river, and the bridge slightly to her right. But she didn't want to make any sudden movements, out of fear that the human might harm her.

"What's going on here!" Umbra asked loudly. Solis turned her attention to her brother, and uttered one word in a lost language.

"Traitor."

Umbra's hands clenched into fists to keep himself in check. That one word had hurt him more than he expected. He felt a part of him break. He could hear Kenshin take a step back, as if he had been stabbed.

'So, Kenshin shares the same lost language as Solis and I,' he thought, 'That explains what happened earlier.'

"Solis, if-" Kosei started, but abruptly stopped.

"Stay out of this! You three have no business in this matter, or in this town for that matter!"

Mel's eyes noticed that Solis was reaching for her pockets. She was about to grab something. Torii stepped forward, holding her arm out in front of the male twin protectively.

"You need to understand something, Solis. I invited them here so that they can help us help you. I know that you still feel upset. But you shouldn't abuse the Dream Suite as you have. You're self-destructing yourself, and it's only going to get worse if you keep doing this. Especially to the animals."

Torii's tone was motherly and soft; it was her attempt to placate Solis's temper. But the red tulip in her blonde hair unknowingly made the mayor even more upset.

"The two of you betrayed me." Solis's words showed her bitterness. "Even when I knew how wrong it was for me to act and feel, I couldn't help it. And then you…," she pointed a finger at Umbra with her other hand, "You just had to tell me the truth." Solis looked about ready to cry, but she blinked her tears back. She deleafed a silver shovel, which made everyone back up in tense fear. Adrenaline was spiking their blood, and getting ready. Kosei remembered vaguely that there wasn't a police station established yet. If anyone got hurt, it'd be a while for them to get help. Especially considering the status that Mira has.

"That's enough, Solis!" A high-pitched voice spoke. Everyone turned their focus on Isabelle, whose expression was unlike her usual cheery demeanor.

"And what gave you the impression that I'll listen?" The mayor asked, her gaze hardening behind silver frames. "Heck, what made you think that I'll listen to a-"

"Solis." The intensity in the secretary's voice caught the three visitors in a loop. Two thoughts ran through their heads.

'What was Solis about to say? And why does her secretary look like an exact replica of Isabelle?'

Umbra winced. The fact that Solis was going to let that secret slip was enough proof that she didn't care about the mental crashes that was going to happen to the human residents of Seaside if Isabelle hadn't interfered.

"Please, Solis. For our sake, calm down. We'd hate to send you to Aika because-" Agnes's sentence was cut short when she felt herself hit the ground with an intense stinging sensation on her right cheek. The animals gasped in horrified shock while the humans felt a cold sensation go through them. As if Solis's attack had frozen them in place.

Kenshin was the first one to notice the red liquid on the metal. Blood was shed. The pig put a paw up to her cheek, and the amount of red that appeared on it when she removed it had an effect on Solis.

The mayor looked at the end and saw the red stain, and immediately dropped the tool as if it burned her. Something like regret flashed in her eyes. Even though she was starting to become more susceptible to temper flares, Solis would never hit any of her villagers. No exceptions.

"I'm sorry, Agnes. I didn't mean to do it. I didn't…" She stopped talking, feeling something claw at her. It was guilt, and it was relentless in its attack. Solis sprinted away from the group, but she didn't head for Main Street, for once.

Instead, she headed for her home, but the animals blocked the only bridge. She ran past everyone and the Town Hall, destroying any flowers between her and the river edge. At the last moment, she jumped across.

Unfortunately, only the top half of her body made it to the other side. Her legs were in the swift, cold river, and the current was attempting to pull her off. The sudden cold stunned Solis momentarily, but she shook it off, at someone's calling. She didn't care who it was, although it sounded like Fauna.

Her right hand grabbed the base of one of the bushes while her left hand held a clump of grass that was starting to show the signs of wear. Slowly, she pulled herself up and out of the river. Her skirt stuck itself to her thighs as she headed into her home.

Mel looked away from the event to stare at the blood-stained shovel. Everyone else sounded muffled, as if they were talking through water. Solis had lost it and harmed an animal. Would that be enough to send her away to a different town? Or was there something else before that?

'Torii and Umbra did say that she had developed an addiction to dreams. So then what…?'

That was when she saw the little scroll of paper tied around the handle with a piece of string. Since it blended in, it would've been easily missed. Undoing the small knot and removing the paper, Mel unfurled it and a look of irritation flickered across her features. The characters were not Animalese, but she remembered how Kenshin reacted to Umbra's gibberish earlier. He could understand him. But could he understand the writing? And if that's true, then was possible that Kosei could as well?

"Kenshin, take a look at this." The architect of Seaside handed the paper to its respective barista and his eyes widened almost imperceptibly.

"Kosei," Kenshin almost sounded afraid, "This is for you from Solis."

By this time Isabelle had managed to convince everyone to return to their usual routine, but she had allowed Hopper and Fauna to help Agnes with her injury. "Head to the valley. I'll notify the people there and explain the situation." She said, her tone calm, yet strained.

As Kosei read the note to himself, a removed part of his brain was running around in circles, firing synapses. He could translate the weird characters. And its contents weren't good.

Mayor Kosei of Seaside:

You have piqued my interest, professionally speaking. Unlike your friends, you've yet to encounter any sort of living nightmare. I'd like to fix that. Which is why I'm offering you a challenge. In my current state, I won't say it without threatening your life with a shovel or axe.

I'd want you to enter the dream version of Mira, and figure out not only the secrets of my friends and I, but the true purposes of the Dream Suite. And to verify that you've done it, I will join you.

I hope to hear your response in a few hours.

-Mayor Solis of Mira