A/N: My first update of the new year! Yay! My New Year's resolution: to finish this gosh-darned story. I'm finally to the exciting parts I've been waiting to write. And I've decided that it's okay if this story doesn't turn out perfectly. It's like a first draft, and maybe I can revisit it if I really don't like it.
Enjoy this chapter, guys! I'll do my best to update again soon.
Chapter Thirteen – The Power of Dreamscape
It didn't take long for word to spread across the base regarding Sky's crazy plan. Nobody tried to stop her, though. Everyone was just too concerned about losing a friend to question an absurd plan. Most of the base stayed out of the way and did their normal jobs, with the exceptions of Windlifter (the spiritual guide along with Katherine) and Sparky (who feared for Sky's safety, even in the dream realm).
The first step, according to Sky, was to find the Goddess's dwelling place.
"In most mythologies, deities and spirits reside in temples or places connected to the natural world around us." Windlifter advised. "If your last dream took place in a cave, this goddess must live there."
Sky flipped through her book. "Let's see….which of these would work?"
"Wait, go back." Harley turned backed a few pages. The picture showed a Greek-style painting depicting a hearth. "I think that's what you need."
"A fireplace?" Nick asked.
"This is a hearth, drawn similarly to images seen on Greek vases." Harley explained. "That means it must be a symbol for the Greek goddess Hestia. She was the goddess of hearth and home. If we're trying to find the goddess's home, maybe you'll get a dream from this picture."
"Let's try it." Sky said. She pulled over a cot from the corner of the main hanger.
"I'm not so sure about this forced sleep thing you're doing, Raven." Blade said. "It can't be healthy."
"Well, we can't wait until dark." Sky said. "Every day that passes is a day closer to Nick or me disappearing. This forced sleep will make me dream faster, and then I can wake up and we can talk." Sky lay on the cot, placing the book on her chest with the page still open to the hearth image. "Do your thing, Harley."
"Don't rush me, Sky. You need to relax." Harley said, kneeling by Sky's head. "This is supposed to be a calming technique for injury patients going into shock. Now hold still. Breathe evenly." She put her hands to the sides of Sky's head, focusing her energy.
Sky took a few deep breaths, shutting her eyes. She felt so calm and loose. After several minutes, she drifted off to deep sleep.
"Guess we're sharing a dream again." Nick noted as he and Sky shared a look.
"Yep. Maybe that's for the best." Sky said. They switched again. "Okay, where are we?"
Looking around, Sky and Nick found a forest around them. A lake rested to one side. On the other side of the lake, tall hills with plenty more trees. "Not a lot of identifying features here." Nick noted.
"Look!" Sky gasped, pointing to the lake. She and Nick saw the same woman from their last dream. She dressed the same, and her skin and hair color changed every time Sky and Nick blinked.
"Who are you?" Nick asked. "Can you hear us?" The woman didn't answer. "Guess not."
"That has to be the Goddess of Psyche." Sky said. "It makes sense."
"I just wish we could actually talk to her." Nick said. "But I guess we should just watch, for now. See where she leads us."
They did watch. The Goddess stood at the edge of the lake for a long moment, and then turned to the trees and began walking. But instead of walking past and between the trees, she disappeared right into one.
"That must be where she lives!" Sky gasped. "Come on!" She ran right towards the tree as she and Nick switched again. But instead of going into the tree, Sky ran right into it.
Nick flinched. "You okay?"
"Yeah…" Sky grumbled. "I don't feel pain, but it's not exactly pleasant to run into a tree."
"We can't follow the Goddess." Nick sighed. "Now what?"
"We wake up." Sky said.
"How do we do that?" Nick asked.
Sky snapped her fingers.
Sky opened her eyes, and Nick materialized next to her. "Well, that wasn't very pleasant." Nick blinked several times.
"What did you see?" Harley asked. Sky described her dream.
"That's not very helpful." Katherine sighed. "A forest with a lake? That could be anywhere."
"I wonder if Nathan would know anything about this." Sparky said. "He's got to have some idea about this kind of thing."
"He should be our next stop after we find that amulet." Blade said. "Maybe we need to focus on that part of the plan first."
"Okay. So, according to the legend, the amulet was lost." Sky murmured, studying her book again.
"Or it could've been stolen." Katherine noted.
"We don't even know what the amulet looks like." Nick said. "How are we going to find it?"
"I'm wondering which picture is supposed to relate to the darned thing." Sky said, still flipping from one page to another. "None of these look right." She stopped at a picture of a magpie. "What the heck is this supposed to be for?"
"It looks like it's drawn like a Native American-style tapestry." Harley said.
"That may be your answer." Windlifter said. "Magpies are thieves."
"Thieves?" Sky repeated.
"Right. The magpie is a motif for thievery in several cultures." Katherine said.
"Try that page." Blade urged. Sky lay back down on the cot, and Harley forced her into sleep again.
This time, they were back in the Goddess's cave home. The Goddess removed something from her neck and placed it in a wooden box, which she set on the bookshelf against the wall. The cave had more furniture than the last dream showed. A later time, perhaps?
"Let's check the box. I'll bet that's where the amulet is!" Sky urged once the Goddess left. She hurried to the box. But she blinked, and suddenly there was someone in front of her. "What the—"
"Where did he come from?" Nick asked, seeing how the man popped up out of nowhere. The man had no identifying features from the back. He dressed in a black cloak and had brown hair. The man grabbed the box off the shelf.
Suddenly, Nick and Sky woke up.
Sky gasped and bolted upright, startling Harley. "Geez, Sky!" Harley put a hand to her racing heart. "You fell asleep like two minutes ago!"
"The dream was different. Disjointed." Sky said. "But we saw someone taking a box that must've had the amulet."
"You didn't see anything else?" Blade asked.
"No." Sky said. "Let's try again."
"Maybe we shouldn't." Harley said. "Too much napping and it'll ruin your sleep tonight. I don't think this is healthy for you mentally."
"The worst part is, we only get a partial story." Sparky said. "You need to be able to follow that thief wherever he goes."
"Which you can't do if you don't have control of the dream." Blade added.
Katherine snapped her fingers. "Of course! Sky, you have the power of dreamscape. Now that you have a feel for these dreams, you can learn how to control it and discover more about them."
"Sounds like a plan!" Sky agreed.
"Slight problem with that." Harley said. "Somehow, you two still switch in dreamland. If you're going to control these dreams, Nick needs to be able to use those powers too."
"But I don't have the power of dreamscape." Nick protested.
"You have Sky's powers when you're in control of her body." Katherine reminded him. "You just haven't harnessed them yet."
"Let's be thankful you don't have to worry about controlling that pyrokinesis." Blade said. "But Katherine's right. You need to be able to control the dream should you two switch in the middle of the night."
"Tonight, when you go to sleep, I want you to use that time to practice in dreamland." Harley ordered Nick and Sky.
"But aren't we cutting it close on time?" Sky asked anxiously.
"Yes." Harley said bluntly. "So you better practice hard."
Despite their anxiousness, Sky and Nick did what they were told that night. Once they entered the dreamland, Sky began her instruction.
"Dreamland isn't like the real world." Sky said. "You can only rely on what you see and hear. There's nothing to smell or taste. There's nothing to feel, either: no pain, no temperature, not even the dirt under your bare feet."
Nick looked down and saw Sky was barefoot, though he could've sworn she had her shoes on just a minute ago. "Okay. Sights and sounds. Got it."
"Now, the reason dreams can get out of control is because of our imagination." Sky said. "It's a powerful thing, and sometimes it can run away with us."
Suddenly, the forest around them burst into flames as though they were sitting in a wildfire. Nick jumped, his eyes wide with fear.
"Our natural instinct is to fear things that are dangerous." Sky said. The flames began to retreat and disappear, bringing back the lush scenery of the forest. "If you're going to control the dream, you have to control your imagination."
"How do you do this?" Nick breathed.
"Like I said: control your imagination." Sky said. "It's not easy, I know. You imagine what you want to happen, but then you have to be aware of it. Let it loose, and it'll go wild. So go ahead. What do you want to happen right now?"
They had switched by then. In the dream world, they could only tell because the person in control of Sky's body didn't have a blue glow around them. Nick thought for a moment. "Could I turn that bush over there into a giant cake?"
Pop! The bush nearby did indeed turn into a huge birthday cake.
"Cool!" Nick said. He yelped when the scenery changed abruptly, and the forest turned into a land of cakes and sweets.
Sky lifted a foot, grimacing at the pink frosting stuck to her skin. "You lost control."
"But I just wanted the one bush to turn into a cake!" Nick protested.
"And you just let it happen. Then your imagination went crazy and turned the dream into this." Sky said. "Once you start to manipulate and change the dream, you have to control it or it will control you. The dream will react to your emotions."
"You have a lot of experience with this, huh?" Nick asked.
"Yes." Sky nodded. "I will admit that dream manipulation is ten times better than therapy or counseling."
"Yeah?"
"Once I got the hang of changing the dreams, especially the dreams of Blade and my dad, I started changing my own nightmares about my past. At first, I would make it so that my parents never abandoned me. But that didn't help me feel better. Instead, I made their leaving seem like a great thing. I took the nightmares of the bad moments in my life and used my dream changing to cope with them."
Nick smiled, awed. "That's pretty cool."
"There are some things we can't change in our lives. The power of dreamscape is my saving grace." Sky said. "In here, I can change my fate, change my own mind." She shook her head. "Try something else."
Nick concentrated. He focused solely on the one thing he wanted to happen. The dreamland changed to show the backyard of Rosa's foster house. A young Sky sat all alone in the backyard, playing with a soccer ball. Nick continued to focus, biting his tongue in concentration. A child version of Nick hopped over to Sky, nudging her foot. The child Sky looked up to him in surprise, and then rolled the soccer ball to him. The child Nick rolled it back. The two children began to play together, laughing.
Sky and Nick switched control again, and Sky grinned at Nick. The helicopter had a faux innocent look on his face. Sky changed the dream to show her and Nick as adults, fighting fires in Piston Peak.
Nick's smile grew. He still felt remnants of the sensation of all the power Sky had. I think I'm finally understanding you, Cuervo.
The dream ended abruptly as Sky jolted awake courtesy of Maru blasting music over Patch's loudspeakers. Blade was already gone, most likely spot fire scouting.
"Thanks a lot, Maru." Nick grumbled.
"Well, do you have an understanding of dreamscape power?" Sky asked as she changed into her jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers.
"I think so." Nick nodded, following Sky out the door.
"Great." Sky tied her hair back with a bandana. "Let's find Harley, and she can make me sleep again so we can learn more about the dreams the book gives us."
"I don't think we can force it." Nick said. "The length of a nap is not going to cut it."
"But we need to find answers soon." Sky protested.
"And we won't be able to do that if our dream is interrupted by you waking up." Nick said. "You need to be in a deep sleep for a few hours, not a few minutes."
"Nick, we are wasting time by waiting." Sky said. "Our switching is becoming more frequent and lasting longer. One of us is going to disappear if we don't hurry."
"Well, we already know which one of us will." Nick muttered.
"What do you mean?" Sky demanded.
"Let's get real, Sky." Nick snapped. "I've been dead a long time. Maybe my spirit should've moved on ages ago. I'm going to be the one who disappears, not you."
"Neither one of us is going to disappear." Sky said.
"I'm preparing for the worst-case scenario." Nick said. "I've already talked to Harley to see if she can erase Blade's memories of me."
"Why would you do that?" Sky gawked.
"Because I don't want him to suffer anymore!" Nick growled. "And you know what? Harley thinks that, if she can suppress pain, she can suppress memories, too."
"Erasing Blade's memories of you won't solve this problem." Sky said.
"And if we don't do this safely, one of us could get hurt, Sky." Nick said. "Think about that." He turned and flew off, apparently ending the conversation. Sky growled and grumbled to herself on her way to the kitchen for breakfast.
Neither one of them realized Blade had returned from scouting, and hid behind the hanger when he heard them exit. As he watched them separate to cool off, Blade sighed. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake his feeling of unease and fear. It was starting to hinder him in his work, which only frustrated him more.
"You needn't worry, Chief Ranger."
Blade jumped a little and turned as Finn approached. The Aston Martin wore a gentle smile. "Harley and Katherine are working overtime to help how they can. Your friend and Miss Riley will be fine."
"Wish I had that same confidence." Blade said. "I don't want to lose either one of them. They mean too much to me."
"I understand." Finn said. "Losing Leland hurt, and I was overjoyed to have his spirit rejoin us. If I lost him a second time, I don't think I could take it."
Blade watched Sky disappear into the kitchen. "Do you think Sky's plan will work? Are we going in the right direction to find a solution?"
"I'm not entirely sure." Finn said. "But I think we should have faith in her."
"That's a bit surprising, coming out of you." Blade mused.
"Yes, yes, I know." Finn nodded. "A decade ago, I would have never considered something like this. But since I met Harley, and after going on so many adventures with her, I've learned to accept and take chances with things I once believed to be entirely unorthodox. Such is the life when you're connected to a psyche human."
Blade nodded in agreement. "I don't remember ever interacting with a psyche human before I met Sky. Now I have one for a Partner."
"Trust in her, Chief Ranger." Finn advised. "Never lose hope. That's one thing I learned from Leland about being a spy. You can't give up, even when the odds are stacked against you."
When night finally fell and Sky settled into a deep sleep, she and Nick returned to the dream inspired by the magpie picture. Again, they didn't see the amulet, but they saw the Goddess put something in the box and place it on the shelf. They waited, and the man appeared again when the Goddess left. As the man slipped away towards the exit, darkness began to creep into the scene.
Sky held up her hands, and the darkness froze. "This is where the dream ends. But we're going to follow that guy."
"Well, you're in control." Nick said. "Lead the way."
Sky focused all her power. This was different from her usual dream manipulations. It was almost like time travel. Sky and Nick seemed to levitate, and they followed the thief as he escaped out of the cave. The thief pauses only when a mighty storm appears out of nowhere. The Goddess must've discovered the robbery. The thief hurried away, escaping onto a covered cart. The cart rolled away, taking the thief with it.
"What do you think he wants with the amulet?" Nick asked. "Didn't Windlifter say that it was just for watching over the psyche humans?"
"Maybe this is an enemy of the Goddess." Sky said. They continued to follow the thief, but it was a boring trip.
"Are we just watching this all in real time?" Nick yawned.
"I guess so." Sky said. "Maybe we can speed this up a little."
Suddenly, it was like they were flying as the scene sped up like fast-forwarding in a movie. They watched the thief escape to what they believed to be his hometown, and the thief hid the box with the amulet in a safe place. Then the thief relaxed in a chair. Nothing else really happened.
"What? He doesn't use the darned thing?" Nick gaped.
"He's just laughing at the Goddess while she searches for it." Sky huffed. "What a jerk." Sky gasped, startling Nick. The scene resumed its normal pace, and darkness came in again. "Nick! Take control!"
"Uh, right!" Nick focused. "How do I….uh….."
"Nick!" Sky urged.
"I got it!" Nick bit his tongue in concentration. A TV remote popped into existence, and Nick pressed the PAUSE button. The scene froze.
"Huh. Nice thinking." Sky said. "Good job."
"No problem!" Nick said. "I think I got this. We're just a couple kids watching a movie. And since our thieving friend isn't doing much, why don't we skip ahead a few chapters?" Nick clicked the button that said SKIP AHEAD. The scene changed. The thief was still in his chair, but he looked older. Nick clicked the button a few more times. Sky found a bag of popcorn in her lap, and she started munching while Nick continued to skip ahead.
"This guy really didn't do much in his life, huh?" Sky noted.
"Not really." Nick sighed. "This guy's really getting up there in age. He looks like he's retiring." Nick glanced out the window. "Those kind of look like the hills of California where Blade grew up."
"Interesting." Sky mused.
Nick eyed the thief. He was riddled with wrinkles and his hair had turned grey. The thief was an old man now, but he still kept the amulet hidden well. Nick saw the amulet box up on the bookshelf. Then, when Nick skipped to the next chapter, he jumped when he saw the drastic change. A woman stood at the now-busted door, and the thief cowered on the floor.
"Isn't that Skylar Saysheen? The owner of that Megami-Hito shop in California?" Sky gasped.
"Hang on, let me rewind." Nick turned back the scene. When he pressed PLAY, the door burst open and Skylar Saysheen entered the house. The thief jumped from his chair, screaming in terror. Nick laughed at the funny sight, and he rewound the scene to watch it again. He replayed the funny scene several times.
"Nick." Sky said with a deadpan expression. "Time works differently in dreamland, but we are short on it nonetheless."
Nick cleared his throat. "Right." He rewound the scene one last time and played it.
The thief scrambled backwards until his back hit the wall. "S-S-S-Seishin."
"Seishin?" Sky murmured.
Skylar Seishin changed her form, and Sky and Nick realized it was the Goddess. The deity marched into the room, leaving footprints burned into the floor as she walked. Snowflakes swirled around her. She went to the bookshelf and grabbed the wooden box on the higher shelf. She opened it, and her eyes began to glow in her anger. She threw the box, and it shattered against the wall. The amulet was gone.
"WHERE IS IT?!" Seishin roared at the thief.
"I'll not tell!" the thief said bravely, though he still shook. "I and my descendants shall all live a hundred years as long as that amulet is out of your hands! I was promised this by Hades himself!"
"That lousy god of death has pulled you into a dangerous situation." Seishin growled. "You should not have given in to your own and his greed." She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him up so that his toes didn't even brush the ground. Sky never realized the Goddess was so tall. Seishin's eyes glowed like little fires. "I cannot kill you, or I may never find my amulet. But know this: I will never stop hunting until I get that amulet. I curse you to live a life of suffering. You and your descendants may live for a century, but you will not have happy lives. This curse will only be lifted once the amulet is returned to me."
The Goddess dropped the thief, and she spirited away like a bitter, cold wind. The thief stared at the spot she once occupied, terrified.
"That's it? What happened next?" Sky asked. Nick pressed the fast-forward button, and the scene showed the thief pulling apart a dresser and taking a pendant glued to the inside of the furniture. The thief took the amulet out into the forest near his home. The desperate thief found a patch of dirt and dug a deep hole. He tossed the amulet into the hole, put a pinecone or two on top, and then buried it. Nodding and muttering feverishly to himself, the thief looked around for any sign of the Goddess and then ran off. Sky and Nick switched again, and Sky made them stay in the forest.
"So the Goddess must still be searching." Nick said. "She couldn't have known that he buried it."
Sky moved the scene forward again. Based on how much time passed, the Goddess truly did not know where to find the amulet. "That rotten little jerk."
"But at least we know what happened to the amulet." Nick said. "Now where is it?"
"I'll fast-forward, and we'll find out." Sky moved the scene forward. "Tell me when you recognize something."
Time passed rapidly around them. In less than a minute, a tree grew where the amulet was buried. After a while, Nick made a funny, loud sound that alarmed Sky. "There!" Nick gestured to one side, where a blue building stood.
"What is that?" Sky asked.
"That's a camping store. It's also where Maru gets his firewood." Nick said. His and Sky's widened. "No way…"
Sky sped the scene by again. She and Nick watched as the tree grew for a few more days, became struck by lightning, was chopped down, turned to firewood, and shipped off to Maru at Piston Peak Air Attack.
Sky and Nick woke with a shock. Sky bolted upright, gasping deeply. Thankfully, she didn't wake up Blade in the process.
Nick blinked several times. "You have got to be kidding me."
Sky stuck her hand under her pillow and pulled out the amulet Nick gifted her. "This isn't a replica. This is the Goddess of Psyche's amulet!"