Vimara was a village located in the middle of the forest, on both banks of the river which connected Sumeru City with Port Ormos and the sea. However, despite the constant maritime traffic, the village enjoyed a remarkable tranquility, also in part because the most common traffic between those two localities, road traffic, circulated far away from there. For that reason, many people sought out that haven of peace, away from the hustle and bustle from the capital, and the stress from the Akademiya. Most people just spent a short stay of a few days, but some had even moved there.

And this was because in Vimara Village hardly anything ever happened. Not even when the Withering was beginning to spiral out of control throughout Sumeru did they have anything major to regret. The only event worth mentioning for a long time was that a Forest Ranger who lived there went on a long trip, and shortly after, another of its inhabitants left all of a sudden without notice. Therefore, that Withering attack had been an unprecedented incident. The whole village was shaken up.

Withered Monsters. That was how those monsters covered by that black ooze were called. They had been determined to be the root cause of those new Witherings, for they were the only thing present within, and the Witherings disappeared once the monster was exterminated in every reported case insofar. Four cases had been reported, being Sucrose's the first, and Vimara Village's the fourth. However, that fourth case was the first one in which an actual attack had been rued.

In the largest house in the village, located at its highest point, there was a room big enough to accommodate the three attacked children in makeshift beds while leaving enough room to move around. In that room there were Collei, crying at Kavus' bedside; Sucrose, comforting the fourth child, Mihikah, who wasn't present when the attack occurred; and Nahida, checking on each of the children.

During her dream, Sucrose was told by Nahida that the childrens' lives were not at risk; they were just in a deep slumber. Even so, Collei was distraught when Sucrose told this to her during breakfast, almost to the point of having a panic attack. Once she had calmed down a little, they both agreed to go to Vimara Village without any delay. Once there, they bumped into Nahida, who was waiting for them at the entrance of the village.

"Curious…" Nahida commented. "I admit that I was not expecting Collei, but Dori."

"Dori left early for Bayda Harbor," Sucrose explained, "and Collei is now the one who accompanies me when I want to go out."

"If this has been cleared up, can we go see the children already?" Collei urged.

"But of course. Follow me."

Nahida showed them to the larger house. There were plenty of people inside: Iotham's adoptive grandmother; Mihikah and her parents; and Kavus and Sudabeh's parents, as well as their grandfather, who was also the village chief. The quiet, still environment was gloomy in its entirety, and every person present had a long face. The chief, Amadhiah was his name, slowly approached the newcomers.

"Ah, Lesser Lord Kusanali, you're back already," he greeted, trying not to let his melancholic emotions affect his speech. "Is Collei accompanying you? And who is this other person? My sight isn't what it used to be, but I think that I don't know her."

"This is Sucrose," Nahida introduced. "She is going to assist me in finding a way to awaken the children."

Nahida's announcement astounded everybody, including Sucrose herself; despite that, Sucrose didn't dare to say anything in front of everybody for fear of ruining everything. Still, however surprised everybody had been, nobody put Nahida's decision of bringing a complete stranger into question. They must have had considerable faith in their Archon, for their crestfallen expressions had also relaxed, albeit only slightly.

Amadhiah suggested to the others that everybody should return to their homes, since the children weren't going to recover any sooner regardless of how long they would stay there, and let Lesser Lord Kusanali and her assistant take care of the children. Everybody agreed to the chief's suggestion; everybody but one: Mihikah.

"I want to stay!" she protested.

"Now, now, Mihikah, you heard it. Let's not bother Lesser Lord Kusanali," Mihikah's mother rebuked.

"Let her stay," Nahida interceded. "She will not be a bother, I assure you."

Since Lesser Lord Kusanali herself had allowed Mihikah to stay, her parents insisted no further and exited the house along with the other relatives. The four people who had stayed, Nahida, Sucrose, Collei, and Mihikah, went to the room where the children lay asleep. When Collei saw the three motionless children on the beds, she fell apart. And so did Mihikah, who hugged the nearest person to her: in this case, Sucrose.

A while later, Collei had calmed down, and now she was the one giving comfort to Mihikah. Sucrose was with Nahida, who was still checking on the children. Nobody would say that Nahida was doing any check up, because she only closed her eyes while reaching her hand towards them. However, Sucrose knew what she was doing: Nahida wasn't checking their physical condition, but their minds or their dreams. Nahida shook her head and turned towards Sucrose. She saw that the camisole of 'her assistant' was full of stains of tears.

"Did you find anything, Nahida?" Sucrose asked.

Nahida shook her head again. "No matter how hard I focus, I can't see anything," she confessed. "Each time I try to dive into their dreams, I only find myself within the darkest dark; I can't even see my own hands there. If it weren't for a faltering voice speaking from time to time, I think that that darkness would have engulfed me."

"A faltering voice?" Collei repeated. She had been listening. "Whose was it? What did it say?"

"I couldn't hear it very well. It sounded too weak, so I couldn't understand everything," Nahida explained. "But I do remember what I did understand. I just need somewhere to write it down."

Collei pulled out her notebook and her pencil, and lent them to Nahida. Nahida then began to write on a blank page. Once she finished, she returned Collei the pencil and spread the notebook out so they both could read it. In it Nahida had written the following:

my… heed…

accom… it…

gate of… seek…

to… guide…

"What is the meaning of this?" Sucrose wondered.

"I wish I knew," Nahida regretted. "That's everything I could grasp from that voice."

"But do you at least know who it belongs to, Lesser Lord Kusanali?" Collei asked.

"I don't, either. It's a voice I had never heard before," Nahida asserted, ignoring that Collei hadn't called her like she had asked her before, since now wasn't the time for that. "And, to tell the truth, that's what frightens me the most."

"It's all my fault," Mihikah sobbed. "If I hadn't gone to the cave…"

Neither Sucrose nor Collei understood Mihikah. Nahida apprised them of what had occurred. All five of them were playing together in the forest when Mihikah began to feel unwell from being out in the open for too long; thus, she retired to the cave. As usual, Arakom went with her to keep her company. It was while they were in the cave when the attack occurred. Hence why Mihikah was blaming herself: according to her, if she hadn't gone to the cave, Arakom would have also stayed, and he would have protected everybody.

"But I don't blame you, Mihikah," Nahida comforted her. "And neither does Arakom. In fact, nobody is blaming you."

"By the way, Nahida," Sucrose wavered. "Where's Arakom?"

The four girls entered the cave in a straight line, with Nahida in the front, followed by Sucrose, Mihikah, and Collei. Nahida thought that it might be a good idea for Arakom to see Sucrose, as well as giving Collei and Mihikah a change of scene. They reached the bottom of the cave. There, under one of the rays of light filtering through the gaps in the ceiling, was Arakom. He was with his back facing them, and he seemed to be preoccupied; thus, he didn't notice them arriving.

With a few tugs on her vest, Nahida asked Sucrose to bend down, and whispered something to her ear. What she had told Sucrose baffled her; however, before Sucrose had a chance to say something, Nahida put her finger to her own mouth, signaling Sucrose to keep quiet, and nodded several times.

Sucrose looked at Arakom, then at Nahida, and then at Arakom again. She vacillated. She took a deep breath and approached Arakom in silence. Mihikah and especially Collei were utterly puzzled, unable to make heads or tails of what was happening. Nahida also signaled them to keep quiet while winking at them.

Sucrose stood behind Arakom. The yellow Aranara still hadn't noticed her. She vacillated again; but then, she decided not to think about it anymore and just do what Nahida had told her. She crouched down and grabbed Arakom, who was taken by complete surprise and began to scream and kick violently. Sucrose was having difficulty in keeping him in her arms.

"I knew this wasn't a good idea…" she groaned.

All of a sudden, Arakom stopped dead, as if he had turned into a statue. "Nara Crows?" He turned his head around. "Nara Crows!"

Arakom began to flutter again, though now in a different way, as if he wanted to snuggle up to Sucrose. Given those recent events, Sucrose couldn't find in her heart to refuse, and hugged Arakom as if he were a plush, to the Aranara's great delight. Truth be told, the Aranara could pass for plushies, even though they weren't as soft as a genuine one.

Nahida approached them, bringing Mihikah by her hand. Collei came behind them.

"Arakom was quite downcast, so I thought that a little pleasant surprise might lift his spirits," she revealed.

"Lord of Dendro is thoughtful towards Arakom," Arakom said, "even though Arakom doesn't deserve Lord of Dendro's attention. Arakom failed Nara friends."

"No, Arakom, it's all my fault," Mihikah objected. "It happened because I left. You just didn't want to leave me alone, that's all."

"Is not. Arakom should have considered possible Marana appearance, but Arakom did not."

Just then, Sucrose let out a loud, long, heavy sigh which cut off the 'debate' between the two. All eyes were now focused on her, although it mattered little to her for what she was about to say:

"This is nobody's fault, okay? Nobody could foresee that a Withering was going to appear right there, right then."

Sucrose was showing such an earnest expression which she had barely put in her life, as she had hardly ever spoken her mind as she had just done. Nahida stroked Arakom's head, who still was in the alchemist's arms.

"Sucrose is right. Even I can't know where a Withering will appear beforehand. None of you did nothing wrong," she asserted. "And besides, the best we can do for them is to find a way to awaken them. That's why I asked you to come, Sucrose; you are the only one who can prepare the remedy."

Sucrose suddenly felt a great pressure on her. "Me? Why only me?"

"Because you have already prepared it once: the cookies you made with alchemy."

Collei remembered how everybody felt quite energized just after eating those cookies from Dori, which turned out to be actually from Sucrose. It could be said that they were miraculous.

"But what's so special about those cookies?" she asked.

Sucrose blushed, and speaking in a low voice with shyness while using Arakom to conceal her face, she explained:

"Because I had run out of Sweet Flowers, and I didn't have time to go get some sugar, I tried something else with a similar texture: Luminescent Pollen. Since it has medicinal properties, I thought that…"

Cookies made with fungal pollen. Such a thing would be impossible to make in confectionery. However, it seemed that it was feasible in alchemy, and with results beyond both confectionery and medicine.

"Even so, they worked in your case because you were already awake," Nahida detailed. "For the children we need an additional ingredient, something you already have as well."

"Something I have?" Sucrose repeated in puzzlement.

"Indeed: Viparyas. Do you remember them? The Aranara gave some to you."

Nahida explained that Viparyas had the characteristic of restoring broken dreams; and, according to her theory, the children were unable to wake up because the attack from that Withered Monster had damaged their dreams. In Sucrose's case, she never got hit by the monster; thence, even though she had been affected, her dreams remained undamaged, and she could awake on her own. In the childrens' case, though, they would need Viparyas to restore their dreams, and fungal spores to restore their vitality.

"Can you synthesise them? They might be the answer we seek."

Synthesize the alchemy-made cookies once again, but this time, adding Viparyas. Sucrose wasn't quite sure about how they would turn out this time, yet she knew that she couldn't afford to hesitate: everything depended on her.

"Well… I would need fresh pollen, but I can try to make them again," she decided. "But still, how are we going to make the children eat them?"

"True, I hadn't considered that," Nahida said, giving herself a slap on the forehead.

There was silence in the cave. Sucrose and Nahida were pondering, and the others didn't want to distract them. Collei looked at Mihikah. She hadn't cried again since Sucrose had spoken so in earnest. Then, she looked at Sucrose's arms, which, to her eyes, were hugging thin air. She assumed that Arakom was there.

"I can try to make a potion instead," Sucrose spoke, after reaching that conclusion.

A potion was possible to be drunk, even if the children were unconscious. Furthermore, Sucrose was quite experienced in concocting potions; therefore, she was certain that she would be able to synthesize one with both ingredients. Nahida supported her idea. Now it was time to think about the next step: gathering the fungal pollen.

"It's not going to be easy, though," Collei said. "There's been barely any sight of fungi lately."

"Arakom knows! Arakom knows!"

"What does Arakom know?" Mihikah asked.

"Arakom knows where are many Chattra!"

"Chattra?" Sucrose repeated.

"Fungus in Aranara," Nahida answered.

"Lately there have been many Chattra where forest dreams!" Arakom explained. "They're everywhere! That's what sibling Araon says!"

Sucrose looked at Nahida, waiting for a better understanding as to where Arakom meant.

"It must be Mawtiyima Forest. For the Aranara, this is where memories and dreams of the forest dwell," Nahida interpreted. "Actually, it's true that there are more and more fungi there: I have been several times to investigate that matter. They migrate there from everywhere else in the forest, although I still don't know why."

Mawtiyima Forest was the grove northeast of the Palace of Alcazarzaray. Sucrose had already heard Nahida mention it. It was on the same day in which she and Dori tested the Catalyst Staff against some fungi in their Hilichurl neighbors' cave. Perhaps both cases were related? In any case, that place was where she and Collei were originally going to go, so it struck her as a rather curious coincidence.

Nahida suggested finding Araon before looking for the fungi, as he might provide a more precise location of their current whereabouts. Sucrose didn't dislike the idea, and while she was at it, she might as well continue the streak of meeting the Aranara family.

"If Nara Crows is going to visit sibling Araon, then Arakom is going too!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sucrose doubted.

"Araon is very easily frightened, and he always avoids everybody who isn't his siblings or myself," Nahida explained. "Besides, this will be a nice distraction for Arakom, and I'm going to remain here and look after the children."

With Nahida present, the childrens' relatives should feel more at ease. That was the reason why she had chosen to stay. However, the way in which she had described Araon, it sounded like both Sucrose and Collei were outgoing compared to him, and that they would really need Arakom's help if they wanted to meet him. The plan was already decided, although there was still something to confirm:

"What do you think, Collei?" Sucrose asked.

"What do I think about what?" Collei said while shrugging. "I've only heard half of what you've talked about. I can't see the Aranara, remember?"

With so many issues going on at the same time, no, Sucrose hadn't remembered. She turned bright red once she realized, and began to apologize profusely to Collei. That many apologies made Collei blush as well, because she began to think that she had thrown what she had said in Sucrose's face, something that she had never meant to. And now she didn't know what to say in order to undo the misunderstanding. They both were surprised when Mihikah burst into laughter:

"You two are so funny! Are you making a tomato-face contest!?"

Watching Mihikah laughing this happily, both Sucrose and Collei, instead of turning even redder, burst into laughter as well. After having been crestfallen and crying all the time, they both felt relieved to see the little albino laughing, even if it was at their expense. Nahida was also laughing, although with dissimulation, and Arakom flailed his arms.

"So," Collei spoke while trying to stop laughing, "what were you talking about?"

Back in the atelier, in the afternoon, Sucrose was putting the knowledge she had acquired by reading her alchemy books during those past few days into use. She was in the middle of synthesizing some offensive items before setting off towards Mawtiyima Forest. After what had occurred in Vanarana, she didn't want to make the same mistake of going to hunt monsters unprepared, especially if they didn't know what exactly they would be against.

While Sucrose was focused on her syntheses, Arakom watched her from the couch in the atelier, and Collei, beside him, stared at the Aranara.

"Honestly, after what I've heard about you, I confess that I was expecting that you wouldn't stay still for even a moment," she told him.

"Arakom is very happy to be in Nara Crows' Vana, yes, but Arakom also knows how to behave," Arakom stated proudly. "And Arakom would never want to make Nara Crows angry."

Collei couldn't still believe her eyes: she was seeing an Aranara, and furthermore, talking to him. She had always desired to meet one, but now that she had done so at last, she didn't know what to do. She had never considered that it would become a reality, and to cap it all, everything had happened in quick succession.

Inside the cave, while Sucrose apprised Collei of what she, Nahida, and Arakom had talked about, Nahida gazed at Collei with concern.

"It's clear that the fact that Collei can't see the Aranara will be a hindrance to your search," she said.

Both Sucrose and Collei turned towards Nahida in puzzlement. It had sounded as if she were going to propose a solution.

"What do you mean?" Sucrose asked. "Are you going to ask Arakom to show himself?"

"No, not that. That would be unsafe for Arakom," Nahida refuted. "I have something else in mind."

However, before telling them her idea, Nahida made Collei swear two things: the first, that she would go to bed as if it were just another day; and the second, that she would never ask her to do it again. Nahida made her swear over and over; she was being oddly insistent. Once she had felt convinced enough, Nahida asked Collei to bend down and close her eyes. Collei did so: she kneeled in order to be at the same height as the little Archon, and closed her eyes. Nahida then put her hands at both sides of Collei's face, and pressed her own forehead against hers. Then, she chanted:

Dream, o sweet child of mine,

dream with the flow of time.

Dream, o bearer of mine fay,

dream under the light of day.

"It's done. You may open them now."

Collei opened her eyes. Nahida had done something to her; of that much she was certain. However, she felt that nothing had changed in her. She looked around, at Nahida, at Mihikah, and at Sucrose. And in Sucrose's arms there was…

"An Aranara!" Collei exclaimed. "It's a real Aranara!"

Collei stared at Arakom just like a child stares at the new toy they have just received. She was having difficulty in resisting her urge to hold him and cuddle him. Arakom could sense her longing and, shivering, he held firmly onto Sucrose's arms. Sucrose smiled and chortled. It was nice watching Arakom being on the receiving end for a change.

"But how is this possible!?" Collei asked in excitement. "Lesser Lord Kusanali, what have you done to me?"

"So you aren't going to call me Nahida after all?"

"I'm sorry, Lesser Lord… Nahida!"

"That's better. To put it in a simple manner, let's just say that I've 'reactivated' your ability to dream," Nahida explained. "However, this is nothing more than a temporary solution. Once you awaken tomorrow, you will have returned to normal."

Collei kept staring at Arakom back in the atelier. She was aware that, once she went to sleep, she would lose the ability to see the Aranara again; therefore, she wanted to make the most of that time. She would love to have Arakom on her lap, but she didn't dare to ask him because she was scared of upsetting him.

"By the way, Sucrose," she said, "what do you think about this power of Lesser Lord Nahida?"

"'Lesser Lord Nahida'?" Sucrose repeated in surprise while adding some red neutralizer to the synthesis.

"I'm trying, okay!?"

"I know you are. But what do you mean by that question?" Sucrose asked while stirring the cauldron.

"I mean, don't you find it a little weird that she has used it now and not, for example, that time when you both caught me in that tree trunk? I think it would've made more sense, back then. And besides, me being able to see the Aranara or not isn't actually a hindrance to our fungi hunt, right?"

Sucrose finished her synthesis and pulled out five red spheres the size of her palm. She kept them in one of her pouches, and then she went towards the couch. She sat down beside Collei, then Arakom sat onto her lap.

"Honestly, I find it quite strange, too," she opined while petting Arakom. "I wouldn't be surprised if she did it so that you don't feel out of place during our expedition."

Collei felt guilty. She thought about the inconvenience that she had caused by being the exception of the group. However, she then realized that said exception applied only under specific circumstances, like back in the cave; that she didn't know any other adult who could see the Aranara, which made Sucrose the usual exception. She remembered about that time when they had talked about them in her house back when they had first met, and tried to think about how Sucrose must have felt at that time. She shook her head.

"I should better not mull over it," she told herself.

"In any case, from the way Nahida acted, it seems that this ability can't be used lightly," Sucrose said, "so do what she told you."

"I was going to do it anyway…" Collei grumbled.

Sucrose gazed at Collei with a concerned expression. She suspected that having the ability to dream reactivated for a long period of time might lead to side effects, yet she avoided any mention of it to Collei for fear of scaring her. She trusted that Collei would follow Nahida's instructions, but in order to better be safe than sorry, she would ensure that Collei would go to sleep that night.

For the moment, though, there were other, more pressing matters. Sucrose moved Arakom from her lap to Collei's, to the latter's content and the former's dismay, and returned to her workspace.

"I'm almost done," she said. "Just one more synthesis and we'll be good to go."

"What are you synthesizing?" Collei asked out of curiosity.

"I'm working on a project to replace the flasks I use," Sucrose explained while synthesizing. "If it goes well, I'll have a larger assortment of offensive items than just my flasks, and probably stronger."

Sucrose finished her synthesis, which, although it used completely different ingredients in relation to the previous one, its result seemed quite similar at first glance: she took out another five palm-sized spheres, only that those ones were blue, instead of red.

"This is all I can manage for now…" Sucrose sighed. "Still, they should be enough."

"Does Nara Crows mean that she is finally ready?" Arakom said, expecting to be able to use that as an excuse to get off of Collei's lap.

"Yes, I am. Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Don't worry; we still have plenty of time until nightfall," Collei said. She stood up and struck a pose. "Well then, let's go to Mawtiyima Forest! Nobody will lay a finger on you while I'm around!"

Sucrose chuckled. She was aware that Collei was trying to rally everybody, herself included, and that she was fighting against her own embarrassment in order to do so. Still, she had sounded like Amber a little bit.