Moon Angel

Chapter 34: Dreamscapes

Chapter 34: Dreamscapes

In the five days since the last dream, I had become more and more convinced that I had communicated with Cyra somehow. I was sure we had both been in that space, wherever 'there' was. I sat on the bed in the hostel that night.

The lights were off and I had left the window open, the drapes blowing in the breeze that was coming past.

It felt quite eerie, sitting in the darkened room, but it was so peaceful, relaxing.

I stared at the Moon through the window and I could feel its energy ebbing around me. It was amazing how much stronger I could feel its presence in the past week. It still wasn't as strong as what I had felt on Elvira but it was getting stronger every day.

I focused on the Moon, its light and pull. I closed my eyes and thought of Cyra, of the space that we had been in together. I needed to get back there; I needed to see her again. I thought of the field we had been in, the feel of the grass beneath my bare feet, the way the tree which she had been sitting under moved in an unnoticeable wind.

I felt something shift around me. The bed seemed to move from beneath me and I was standing.

I opened my eyes. I had done it! I was there. I stood in the field, in the same place I had arrived the week before.

I almost laughed. I couldn't believe it. I was sure it wasn't a dream this time. I still didn't know where I was though.

I looked around and realised something was missing. Cyra wasn't there. My heart sunk. I had been so sure.

I called her name, shouted it, but she didn't appear. I remembered how Cyra had sat under the tree in such deep concentration. I walked over to the tree and touched its surface. I could feel all the crevices and bumps in the bark, the smooth and the rough. I sat down, and leant my back against it. I ran my fingers through the grass, felt the slight moisture from the dew or the rain. It was all so real. Where was she?

I closed my eyes, imitating what I had seen Cyra do. I didn't know what I was supposed to do next, but I had been able to get here after all. Cyra must have called me the first time, so I just needed to call her, right? It was worth a shot.

I called her name in my mind, shouted to her wherever she was. I brought up an image of her in my mind, just like I had brought an image of the field up when I had come here. I thought of all the time we had spent together, what felt like a lifetime ago, when we had both been prisoners in the facility. I pictured her; her white hair, her smile, the way it felt when she had comforted me, when she embraced me. All the memories started coming faster and faster, bombarding me with who she was. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten it all. I felt tears start to leak out. I had not only lost my best friend, I had forgotten who she was, and that to me was worse.

"Selene?" I opened my eyes. There she was, standing in front of me, just like I had stood in front of her.

Huge relief flooded through me. I didn't know what I would have done if she didn't appear.

"I didn't think you would come," I admitted. "I don't even know where this is."

Cyra looked confused. "You mean the dreamscape?"

Now that she said it, I recognised the term. The other Lunairs used to use the term a lot. I had never understood what it meant. No-one had explained it to me.

"Yes," I said. "But how is this possible? I mean I can feel everything, touch everything as if it were right in front of me, but they're not. I'm still in a hostel room and you're... I don't even know where you are."

"I forgot how young you were when you left. I didn't learn about dreamscapes myself until about three years ago. The fact that you called me through one is remarkable, if you didn't even know what they were."

Her statement made me remember just how long I had been gone for. It had been seven years since we crashed. Seven years since we had been separated. For me, it hadn't been that long since my memories had been restored, but for her, it must've felt like a lifetime.

I brought myself back into the present. I couldn't dwell on that now. "So how do they work?" I asked.

"I'll tell you everything I know about them. But it's not everything. I still have so much to learn. Dreamscapes are landscapes where we can go to communicate with other Lunairs over long distances. When we, Lunairs, use our abilities, we pull energy from the Moonlight. That's why when we were trapped on Elvira, we couldn't access any of our abilities. This pull of energy is unique to each Lunair and their ability. When we use the dreamscape, we can locate that energy pull and use it as a compass to find others and communicate with them. When we answer a call, so to speak, we are projected into this realm. A sort of in-between place." Cyra pauses for a while. "I tried to find you after you went missing but there was no sign of you anywhere. I thought you were dead." She pauses to let this knowledge sink in. She thought I'd been killed. I couldn't even comprehend how she must have felt. I had lost Em and that was bad enough. But Cyra and I had been like sisters. For me to suddenly disappear...

"I'm so sorry," I managed to utter.

"It was a long time ago now," Cyra said, trying to smile. "And you're here now. You answered my call, and even managed to call me. I won't lose you again." She smiles, more confidently this time.

"Now, the connection of the dreamscape will start to thin as the Moon cycle on Earth, which I assume is where you are..." She looks to me for acknowledgement. I nod. "...starts to change. I don't know how much longer we have. Last time the connection was cut short. The Moon on Earth is a lot weaker than the Moons on Elvira. There is so much to catch up on, and I wish we... I wish I had enough time to explain everything that has happened. You need to know that I managed to get back to Elvira, which is where I am now. Since you contacted me so strongly today, it means that your connection with the Moon is growing. I don't know what happened last time, but I'll be able to locate your energy pull and use it as a compass to find your location. I'll leave as soon as I can. I've made the trip to Earth a few times already when I was looking for you the first time, so it should only take me two Earth weeks, if all goes well. I'm not going to leave you alone again. You've been alone on Earth for far too long. I'm so sorry I didn't find you sooner." I could feel the connection waning. She could too. She began to shout as her image started to fade from view, "I'll come and find you. Just stay where you are, or as close to it as you can. I'll be there soon..."

Then she was gone. And I was left sitting in the field alone, with just the tree behind my back and the grass beneath my fingers. Even that soon began to fade, and I was once again sitting cross-legged on the bed in the hostel room in front of the still-open window. Except now, the room was no longer dark. I must have spent longer than I thought in the dreamscape. The sun was beginning to rise, and a few strands of morning light came through the window.

Cyra would be able to find me now. She knew I was alive and she was coming. I wouldn't be alone for much longer.