The Trial of Dreams and Memories (TMM 2)

The Outlands

"Mrs. Sheridan!" Lillie called from down the hall as she jogged toward the head of the task force. 

"Mrs. Sheridan, it's been a long time! Do you think we could see—oh..."

The young trainer looked at Morai's unconscious body in the arms of two guards. She was covered in abrasions and small tears in her clothes from fighting. The wrist she had bitten had yet to be properly bandaged, and Lillie eyed it with a puzzled expression. Her brother, Gladion, walked up beside her, and Hau followed suit. 

"She...bit her own hand? Why?" 

"It's a long story, Miss Lillie," Sheridan answered with a sigh. "Please go back to your designated area. You all can see her soon after she wakes up."

"Why is she moving like that?" Gladion asked, his arms crossed over his chest. His Silvally sat freely beside him. Objections were silently made by much of the staff, but given Lusamine's recent act of charity, no one made their opinion known. Lusamine herself joined the group, who were all looking at Morai curiously.

Morai's mouth was moving every so often, forming words that no one could quite make out. Soft but recognizable expressions crossed her face as if she were conscious, or at least deeply steeped in vivid dreams. Sheridan looked at the doctor, who was deeply invested in this new development. 

Could it be true?  she thought. Is this Dream World of hers a real place?

A look of confusion spread across Morai's face and she tilted her head. Her fingers twitched, and she began to stretch her arm very slowly into the air. Everyone let out small gasps and leaned in. One of the guards nearly let go of her.  

Morai stood at the edge of the world, or so it seemed. She had taken a walk through the garden with the intention of visiting Shadow Morai's old house, but had begun to wonder how far the garden itself spanned. In all of her time here she had never ventured out past Shadow Morai's house. Come to think of it, even Light Morai's home was a mystery to her. Past Morai was nowhere to be found, so Morai began to walk past her old counterpart's home until she reached a steep edge. 

The trainer peered down, but nothing seemed to occupy the vast and empty space below. It was as dark as the night sky itself despite it being daytime. She stretched her hand out past the edge just to see if whatever Dream Realm physics that existed would allow it. 

"Did they know?" the group in the waking world heard her mumble. 

"Is this how they got to those forests we trained in? Is Shadow Morai's original dungeon in there somewhere? There has to be a way down," she surmised, walking along the edge. "Surely they didn't just—"

Something pushed her off, or least she swore that's what happened. Her entire body twitched in the waking world, and the doctor urged the men to get her to his lab. 

Morai began plummeting toward what she thought might be certain death, however that worked in this world. She yelled as she fell endlessly through pitch black darkness, blindly reaching out to grab or feel anything that would perhaps save her. 

Have I doomed myself to this fate? Falling forever? Will I wake up?

She couldn't feel her heart pounding against her chest, and in such darkness she seemed to forget that she occupied a body in the first place. She began to feel as if she had become a part of the expanse itself. She couldn't hear her yells or the air against her body anymore. She couldn't even tell she was falling. Sharp fear turned into a sort of peace and quiet curiosity. 

Suddenly, Morai landed. It was as if she had fallen asleep and woken up again. There was no impact when she touched the ground. She just appeared there, standing. A sense of inherent unease returned when she realized she was in a place far different from the Realm of Dreams she knew. She was surrounded by four giant mirrors that took place of the walls, floor, and ceiling. Everywhere she turned, her own face was looking back at her. The confused trainer went to take a step, and as soon as the foot she lifted touched the ground again, every surface fractured into thousands of different pieces, filling the vacuum of sound with the booming noise of breaking glass.