Fate of the Dreamers

Chapter Nine - In His Waters

The sound of rubber tyres hitting the asphalt of the runway jolted Zoëy awake. She leaned up in her seat to try and remember where she was, what she was doing, her brain hazy from a restless sleep. A glance out the plane's window gave her the answers she was looking for.

She was in South Korea.

A broad smile resulted from the giddiness inside her. The thought of the upcoming adventure through a new country took its place in Zoëy's mind, clearing the fatigue away.

"Somebody's excited, isn't she, Mel?" Percy teased. "Looking forward to seeing a certain someone?"

Zoëy stood as best as she could in the cramped space after tugging at her travel bag underneath her seat, putting it on her front. "Well, duh. But we're also in a totally new country, Percy!" She turned around and made eye contact with Pen who sat next to JiU. He nodded towards her before standing himself, reaching for his own bag, and joining the forming horde of people in the aisle.

The three friends shuffled out of the plane and through all the customs of the Seoul Incheon Airport. The whole procedure felt faster for Zoëy due to her elation, and she instantly absorbed the contemporary architecture of the airport. White walls and tiles were decorated with green spaces: trees growing tall inside the terminals, vines twisting around wooden trusses. Curved glass ceilings left Zoëy and her friends in awe as they made their way to the exit.

Pen and Dreamcatcher followed the group in pairs, looking as discreet as possible in case there was any danger present. Percy had thought it was a bit over-the-top, but Zoëy was still thankful Pen was there. He had fixed her dream problem at least. After Chris had called, Pen had told her he needed to go inside her head to remove whatever was in there. So he did, and that was that. Zoëy had tried to ask what it was he did, or what it was he had to deal with, but he hadn't told her. All she knew was that she felt better.

Her stomach flipped. Chris stood outside the glass entrance.

Her friends, Pen, the possible end of the world, they all left her thoughts as she ran to Chris with the greatest amount of happiness she had felt in the past year welling inside her. His eyes lit up, his teeth showing in the grin Zoëy had missed so dearly. He spread his arms open as Zoëy almost barged through the doors and into his embrace.

"I'm sorry, Zoëy," He whispered in her ear, holding her as if he'd never let her go. "So much has happened..."

Zoëy's arms rested around Chris' neck as she looked at him, his dark eyes locked with hers. "Tell me all about it, please. There was a while there where I thought you had forgotten about me."

A guilt-ridden chuckle escaped his throat. "Soon."

Once Mel and Percy caught up and said their greetings, Chris moved from holding Zoëy's body to holding her hand and guided them to the transport station to begin the journey to Seoul. "I have some friends you need to meet. One of them is having the dreams like you," Chris said.

That reminded her. "Now, there are people following us..." Zoëy told Chris as they stepped onto the bus.

Chris eyed Pen and Dreamcatcher who walked in pairs varying distances behind them. "I noticed. Were they on your plane?"

Zoëy nodded. "I'm pretty sure they're good." The two of them found a seat towards the back of the shuttle. "The guy stepping on now is Pen. He does things with dreams." Zoëy turned to Chris. "He got rid of mine after you called me, and he agrees: there is absolutely something going on."

"And I assume the others are the rest of his team?"

"Yes. You've heard of Dreamcatcher, I assume?" Chris' mouth opened at the realisation, bringing forth a soft laugh from Zoëy. "That's them. They've been disguising their work by being the K-Pop group." Zoëy turned to the front of the bus and rested her head on Chris' firm shoulder once the bus started moving. "Pen senses more dreams like mine here in South Korea, and he wants to know why."