Chapter 27: “Dream” [Illustration]

Lecia sits near a window in an empty cafe close to the heart of downtown. Outside, rain pours on the streets, making everything look muggy and grey. She watches various hooded and umbrella-protected pedestrians pass by, eager to get to their dry homes after a long work day.

Personally, hearing rain calms her while the rumblings above serve as a reminder of Earth's forces, humbling her. Of course, hearing is one thing; she can only hope that the weather lets up before she leaves for home.

'You'd think we'd be having more rain after our ritual. Instead, we got a special fire and an unknown creature on the loose.'

She sighs, taking a sip of her coffee. Then, the front door opens with a bell ring, and soon enough, wet steps come her way. Settling down her mug, she smiles as she looks up to a friend who slides down her raincoat hood, revealing a gently-aged woman sporting grey pixie-cut hair that remains mostly dry from the rain.

"It's good to see you, Rachel. Can I buy you a coffee?" Lecia asks as her more striking pupils meet the kind gaze of the busy researcher.

Rachel shakes her head, raising her hands. "No, I'm good. I can't drink as much caffeine as I used to. Anyways, I'm sorry for requesting to talk in person when it's getting late."

"Oh, it's not at a problem! Getting a chance to come to this cafe has helped to clear my head a bit. You've been away quite a while, so allow me to welcome you back to Keystone."

Rachel giggles, taking her seat. "Thank you. I wish I was there to see the ritual, but I heard good things about the results. A green fire from nothing certainly seems magical, doesn't it?"

"I...suppose so," Lecia rigidly responds before coughing. "There's a lot to follow up on, you see."

"On top of your company duties, I'm sure," Rachel adds.

Lecia smiles bitterly before she waves such concerns. "Don't worry, I'm taking care of myself. More importantly, what about you?"

"Things have picked up lately with the number of conferences and observatories I visited, but it's helped to keep my mind busy. Speaking of, I thought I should show something interesting."

"Ha ha, straight to business, huh?"

"I'm quite excited to show you this, after all!"

Lecia raises an eyebrow as Rachel pulls out two photos from her bag showing various stars in a clear sky. They're nearly identical, except several of the stars appear dimmer in one of the images.

Taking a pen, Rachel draws lines on the images, marking the same constellation on both pieces. It turns out the dimmer stars are all part of the constellation's border.

"This is known as Aquarius. On the night of the ritual, one of our remote telescopes I had set up captured a change in luminosity for an hour before they all reverted back to their normal state."

"All at the same time?"

Rachel nods, her eyes shining with excitement. "Now, stars dimming do occur and it can be for various reasons like dust or orbiting companions; however, having synchronized dimming at the same time has never happened before!"

Lecia holds her breath as she stares at the photos, her mind trying but failing to gather what this could mean.

"Why haven't I heard of this in the news? Surely others would've noticed?"

"Since the constellation isn't particularly bright in the first place compared to other constellations, anyone could miss it. I only actively monitored because of my suspicion that it was being referenced."

"Referenced?"

Rachel pulled out another paper, a copy of one of the Stonehenge book's pages. The page shows the unfamiliar language and a drawing of twelve figures standing around a lake.

It takes a moment as Lecia switches between the constellation and shape of the figures before widening her eyes. They never found any record of an actual lake with this shape, so it was assumed that the lake had long been lost due to changing geography.

But now, Lecia can see that the lake actually resembles the closed shape of Aquarius!

Rachel smiles, ashamed. "I'm sorry, dear. I never disclosed this because it only started as a guess. The shape of the lake isn't perfectly aligned either, but to my eyes, the positions of the members around the lake seemed to resemble this constellation."

The researcher leans back and curls her lips. "The only thing is that this arrangement isn't related to the one performed, but the timing is too good of a coincidence for me to dismiss it."

Lecia's throat dries, staring intently at the text. "Right, this one...there are words that our members say resemble the Latin word, sigillum."

"Seal, was it? We weren't sure though."

The president nods slowly, her eyes remaining on the paper and the stars laid out. After some silence, she closes her eyes. "...It makes sense though."

Rachel knits her brows together and cocks her head. "In what way?"

Lecia lifts her head to stare into the astronomer's worried gaze before sighing. "There was an...aftermath to the ritual we haven't yet disclosed to everyone."

Daniel's eyes slowly open.

Instead of being encased within Anne, a vast lake reflecting the night's stars spreads before him as he stands at the shore. The water spills over his feet and recedes consistently while a slight wind brushes through his hair.

He looks down at himself and notices he's naked. Although confused, the artist doesn't feel shame. Instead, he feels unusually calm as the coolness of the water and wind slides past him.

'Still, why am I naked?'

An appropriate first question. Yet, Daniel can only set it aside to expand his awareness. Turning around, he sees green plains behind him with no end in sight except a few mountains in the distance, but otherwise, the land remains sparse.

"Is this alright, Mary?"

Daniel flinches as he hears Anne's voice echo around him, then surprisingly, his ex mixing in.

"Yes, love. Keep one arm around your chest and the other on your belly."

"Hehe, this is so exciting! Didn't know I'd be posing nude!"

"Love, you can't say that when there's barely any clothes in the first place to fit you right now."

An embarrassed cough follows.

"Mary? Anne?" Daniel finally calls out, unable to find where their conversation is coming from. They seem pretty loud, yet, they aren't standing near his vicinity.

"Either way, you're gorgeous, Anne. I never asked Daniel, but are you imitating someone's appearance?"

"Not a specific person...at least I think. When I was building myself, I encountered many portraits in his closet from which I picked features from."

"Hello?!" Daniel shouts. "Where are you guys?"

It's apparent to the artist that they can't hear him. Unsure what to do, he wades around the shore momentarily before coming to a halt.

Something is odd about the water.

Tilting his head with an increasing furrow, the water bends with another image beside the stars' reflection. It's not widespread but rather concentrated into a meter-wide blob that seems to follow wherever his gaze lands on the water.

To make sure he's not crazy, he looks up but finds nothing out of the ordinary. What could show within the water that can follow his eyes?

Puzzled, he stares longer at the colorful blob. This focus seems to be key as the colors in the lump begin to separate, creating a more of clear picture.

Daniel's breath holds as he stares in awe, unable to believe the magic before him. Soon, he sees a moving picture of Mary beside a canvas in his studio. While blinking a few times to ascertain his sanity, the perspective shifts to see a pair of breasts with an arm compressing them. More importantly, there's a huge belly with a hand rubbing on top.

'What the fuck?! But, if I'm in there, then this has to be some sort of dream, right?'

Daniel can't be sure since he can feel the sand and wind winding past him. Further, he could never stay in a dream after becoming aware of it.

The artist can only assume this is some strange side effect of being in Anne's makeshift womb. Although he's unsure about the meaning behind an empty land and lake, perhaps it means something to Anne.

"Mary, you're quite beautiful too! Although Daniel said it was a conflict of interest, I still find it hard that you split just because of that!"

Daniel's ears perk, returning his attention to the image within the water. He sees Anne refocusing on Mary by the canvas, who smiles bitterly while running a brush to capture the slime girl's pose.

"I appreciate that, but it's really that simple. It didn't work out because we wanted too much validation of each other's work. Honestly, the issue was that we were still early in our careers and we needed more time to grow confident in our craft."

"...and now?"

Mary looks up from the canvas and raises an eyebrow. "Now?"

Anne hesitates but clarifies. "What would stop you from getting back together? Aren't you both established now?"

Mary furrows her eyebrows. "I..."

She holds herself back and snorts while shaking her head. "Love, too much time has passed, and we moved on. Besides, asking that hypothetical question is pointless when he's 'literally' taken by you. "

"But you...still care for him, don't you?"

The female artist sighs. "How could I not? Daniel is still my friend, and it's not like I can forget all the fun we had together."

Opening her eyes and working a few strokes, she continues with a smile. "Besides, it's important for fellow artists to look out for each other. We each have our strengths and weaknesses, so it helps to provide support once in a while."

There's some silence before Anne hums sadly.

"I...see. I'm sorry for being too nosy. I just...I'm still his mother in a way and I feel strongly that Amy would've been sad to see you break up if she knew the kind of person you are."

"It's perfectly fine, Anne. Like I said, he has you now."

Anne's view wiggles a little, but she otherwise remains silent.

Daniel would like to see Anne's expression at this point, but that doesn't seem possible, with her perspective being the only view available. Regardless, he's troubled by Mary's words and hesitation. Could it be there was a chance they could have gotten back together? How could he know?

The artist rubs his face, groaning, wishing he hadn't eavesdropped on their conversation.

Regardless, Anne shouldn't need to dig further into their former relationship. Everything Mary has said is essentially what he's told her, but now that he's heard directly from his ex, it's hard not to think about it.

Daniel shuts his eyes and shakes his head. "It doesn't matter now. I need to wake up and-"

"Daniel..."

The called artist opens his eyes and lifts his head at the whisper. At first, he thinks it's just Anne lovingly whispering to her belly.

"My child..."

But this voice sounds different, thanks to the overlapping pitches that belong to neither Mary nor Anne. Plus, the two girls in the water don't appear to react on the outside, so why would they call him?

Growing concerned, his eyes wander around again until he freezes, noticing a small reflecting figure in the distance of the lake. Although he can't make out any features, he assumes it might be a woman based on her voice. Oddly, she stands on the water's surface without sinking.

"H-hello?"

"You're finally here. Come to me, my sweet."

Her arm raises for him.

"Uhh..."

Not eager to comply, Daniel swallows and tries to step back, but something prevents him from exiting the lake. Staring down, he wishes he hadn't as several metallic hands have risen from the water to pin him down.

Perhaps Anne has trained his mind to tolerate strange phenomena, but even then, his heart is about to burst from his chest.

"Aha...ha...L-listen, I...I didn't sign up for a nightmare...huh?"

Lifting back his head, he sees the female gone from the waters. This only makes him feel worse as he thins his lips and sweats. He can still feel the damn metallic hands holding him down. Seeing how things are not going well for him, his breathing grows uneven. Shaking, he clasps his hands on his head and screams out.

"Wake up, damn it! I said, wake up!!"

Yet, with the sounds of wind and shore following, he's still not in the comfort of Anne or reality. The only tiny relief is that he feels the hands loosen and sink below. Free, he's about to book it, but before he can take the next breath, a silent arm stretches past his shoulder.

The artist freezes again, sweating buckets as the arm gently reaches over to caress his chest. Two soft mounds push past his neck as he comes within her hold.

Daniel doesn't dare look behind him, but he can tell about new features of this strange being: tall, composed of some liquid silver material, and busty.

"Don't be afraid."

That's impossible for Daniel right now.

The female's hand strokes his chest, and another hand travels below, reaching for his crotch from around his hips. He shakes as he feels the woman's fingers slowly rubbing out against the front of his member.

"She's had you for long enough."

He feels the woman's breath tingle his neck. Despite his alarm, this only adds to his lower reaction as he feels his cock rise in response to this woman's smooth touch.

"Oh!"

Anne's voice rings out from the lake. He wants to call out to her but finds his voice failing as the figure behind him wraps more of her fingers around his cock, pulling him closer. He can feel his back nearly sinking into this soft being that has captured him.

"Something wrong?" Mary asks.

"Hehe, it's just a kick from my naughty baby."