The Dream Shifter

Chapter 199

Simonides had a name of one of their opponents, more than he hoped. 'Yuki Hayashi…maybe he isn't inexperienced like I thought…I'll have to be careful with him…' He pushed off the pole and scanned around at his men. "Thank you. Our enemy may be determined and believe strongly in their cause…but what we stand for is even stronger! Our resolve is stronger than theirs! The peace of Atlantis is in our hands and because it is we can't fail!"

"Yes, sir!" all three shouted.

"Now get some rest." The Captain stepped out of the tent and looked about the camp. Purpose filled his eyes after his talk with his men. However, his search did not reveal what he sought. He marched between his men and propped tents reaching the south side of the camp. A larger tent stood before him with two guards flanking the tent flaps. Short swords and shields decorated their sides with well-defined muscles accenting their uniforms.

He stared at the two soldiers with a firm expression. "Is the Commander inside?"

"Yes, Captain!" The guards stiffened their backs even more than they already had when Simonides came within sight.

"Very well." Simonides stepped forward drawing the flap to the side. The tent interior lightened a little with the sun bleeding through. Only one other light illuminated the chamber and it hung from near the top of the center wooden pole. No furniture or weapons lined the space. All that he saw was the back of Abeiron.

The Commander tilted his head over his shoulder a little noticing the entrance. "Captain."

Simonides walked around the man and over to his flank. He looked down at the chair and the figure tied to it. The young teenager's arms pulled back behind the chair tied both to the chair and together. His tanned tunic held together through the rough treatment. "He say anything?"

Darkness fell upon his world so suddenly. A cold hand wrapped his eyes closed leaving him blind. Numbness surrounded his body losing any sense of weight. Balance collapsed next for him until he felt turned around and spun upside down. Any sense of direction disappeared along with time. He no longer knew what happened to him. The world had vanished utterly.

'Brother!' yelled a voice repeatedly, that only became clear recently. The voice sounded desperate and panicked pulling at him. He did not recognize the voice, but it gave him a direction again. 'Brother!' Repeating as it had before; he tried to search for it with his mind becoming more aware of his surroundings. His body suddenly gained weight and feeling with his eyes opening.

His eyelids widened a little in surprise and confusion. 'Where am I?' Adjusting to the new space, he could finally make out shapes. The entire region he floated in stretched on as far as he could see. In the distance, a bright light shined providing illumination to all. It carried warmth, baked his skin, and soothed his muscles. About him as he scanned, he saw scattered furniture, toys, papers, dolls and cloths. It looked as though someone had shook out an entire house and left it to gather.

The strange space distracted him dragging him closer and losing the voice. He took hold of the edge of a table finding that it held him still. 'What is all of this stuff? Why is it here?' Near him, a smaller accessory shifted around as though on a current. A passing doll bumped into his hand. Before it rebounded too far away, he grabbed it. 'This is familiar…'

'Brother!'

'Huh?' He spun his head then body around. The voice became deafening loud suddenly. It pulled at him again. He felt compelled to follow the voice. The table shrank away as he floated towards the sound. 'Who's calling to me?' Each second made the feeling strong until it pounded in his chest. 'I know this…why can't I remember?' He moved to the light, but it never seemed to get any closer to him.

'Brother!'

'Argh!' A needle like pain stabbed him in head making him stop. He turned around feeling a dark chill breathing down his neck. All of the light from behind no longer existed, not even shadows. He looked down at his feet seeing gray where he stood. It suddenly felt as though a blizzard blew in freezing the air he tried to breath. 'What's happening?'

'Brother!'

He turned back feeling the desperate pull of the voice. The eerie void behind him did not make him want to stay. He tried to escape, but it followed him and seemed to be gaining on him. His eyes caught the blackness encroaching at the ends of his vision even staring forward. 'I can't out run it!' The light in front of him began to fade, losing out to the overpowering crushing pressure. However, close to him he saw an outline of something still blurred. 'What is that?'

'Where…' The voice seemed to cut off or come through muffled preventing him from understanding the rest.

His hand reached out towards the object trying to see it clearly. Everything became dark again with only a small flicker of light from the object. In the empty void, he could see it better. It gained form appearing like half of a star.

'Where are you, Brother?'

An outside force grabbed him away before he could grab on to it. He strained at the pressure trying to get back. He did not understand what was going on. Nevertheless, he knew he needed to reach it. The force was too strong for him. It was all nearly gone. 'Yumi!'

"Brother!" gasped Yumi, throwing herself up. She looked around trying to get her bearings. Next to her, Yuki rested with his head tilted down and eyes closed. 'He's been here the whole time?' Time became lost to her after she started crying. She did not know how long it had been, but felt as though hours had passed. Yumi stretched up her hand towards Yuki's face feeling a little comfort from seeing him.

"Where the hell have you been?" snapped a distant voice.

It was enough to make Yumi jump. She immediately retracted her hand thinking that they were speaking to her. However, as Yuki started to wake and she looked around at the camp she realized what happened.

Seiji towered over Ayumi, having only suddenly appeared. The time of recovery for him had restored his energy and anger. Ever since they realized that Ayumi was missing no one knew what happened to her. Her sudden appearance took everyone by surprise, but it did not stop him from demanding an answer.

She tossed some new cloths to the grass to land at their feet. "I was out finding new cloths. Knowing you, I figured that you would be needing some new ones."

"You went shopping?" he shouted incredulously, "Why did you leave in the middle of a fight?"

Ayumi picked up the long tunic that shaped a little more like a dress. She carried it over to Yumi seeing the blood that coated the one she wore. After she finished, her eyes caught Seiji glared down at her still expecting an answer. "My presence isn't needed. There were enough of you to deal with them."

"That isn't for you to decide! If we're attacked, we fight together!"

Yuki felt the shaking from Yumi's body. He saw the worry building up from the two arguing and the other problem that weighed on her. "Enough!" he shouted over both of them. Once he had their attention, if only partially, he held a hand on Yumi's shoulder. "We have more important matters. Ayumi's safe, but we're still missing someone!"

"What are you talking about?" questioned Ayumi. She counted through everyone noticing the quick flip of emotions. The air became cold and still, almost surprisingly so. "Where'd the brother go?"

No response came to Ayumi's question. They had all been avoiding the subject as much as possible knowing the reactions. However, Yuki knew that someone had to tell her. He carefully let Yumi go and stood up. "We can't find him… He's been missing since the end of the fighting."

An awkward stirring from Yuki's last words filtered through everyone. Ayumi narrowed her eyes from her observations. She felt a difficult pull inside that she ignored. "Where was he the last time you saw him?"

"Near me," Saki stated quietly stepping forward. "He did not move for most of the time they had us surrounded."

"How did he disappear after the fighting finished?"

Yuki's eyes glanced over quickly before meeting Ayumi's gaze. "I was healing Seiji and Yumi. We were focused on that…"

"So they captured him?" She spoke the word that everyone else had been avoiding. While she knew it to be a land mine, they could not ignore the truth forever. They needed to face it head on if they were to move past it. "It's regretful, but you knew this could happen. We need to move on."

"What?" exclaimed a few of the teens.

A painful gasp came from Yumi making Yuki turned back towards her. He took a hold of her when her body lost the strength to support her. His eyes slid in their sockets towards Ayumi in disappointment and anger. If he were not with Yumi, he would have confronted her.

Acting as a stand-in, Seiji barged forward, no longer feeling the lightheadedness from his blood loss. He grabbed the fabric of Ayumi's tunic and lifted her up off the ground to come to eye level with him. "You cold unfeeling—"

"Seiji!"

The angry teen turned his head still holding onto Ayumi. "Yuki, you can't be serious! I can't let her so selfishly dismiss what's happened!"

"…I know…" Yuki's head fell down darkening a little with his thoughts. His hands shook a little, even while he tried to keep himself together. "I'm angry too, but…"

Ayumi's flat expression remained unchanged, even restrained by Seiji. She lifted her hand up to his wrist gripping it tightly, but realized that his strength exceeded hers. "As a soldier, emotions only cloud your judgment."

"Shut the hell up, right now!" snapped Seiji. "You're not one of us! We aren't soldiers!"

A slight thinning of her lips to a grim touch washed over her briefly. "We have a purpose. A goal that doesn't have the time for us to waste."

The hand that held Ayumi up began to shake. Seiji's hand tightened audibly for Ayumi to pick up. "Your goal doesn't matter right now! Someone's been taken! It's more important to rescue them! Any time lost you can make up with your powers!"

Amongst the yelling, Yumi felt like she shrank away. They were worried about her and thinking about her. They wanted to help her. Yet she remained distant. She wanted to do something, but felt so helpless. Ever since Yori disappeared, she could not find her strength. Even at that moment, she relied on Yuki's aid. '…Brother…where are you?'

'Damnit! Why are you acting so helpless?'

Yumi turned her head within her mind remembering the voice again. The same voice that spoke to her during the fight she had with the Atlantean woman. 'It's you!'

'So annoying…why are you doing nothing?'

'Huh?'

'You know what I mean!'

'But…what can I do?' She thought through all of pasts where she tried to be assertive. She wanted to change, but nothing happened. Everything remained the same for her. 'I'm not…'

A loud sigh came from the disembodied voice. 'I'm really getting tired of this! You can't keep shrinking back to this hole when things get a little difficult! Stop making others stand up for you!'

Yumi staggered a little from the forcefulness of the tone. No one had ever been so direct or piercing with their words. She knew the truth that they spoke, but still hesitated. 'I didn't ask them to… They're doing it on their on…'

'So that makes it alright for you to not do anything! I thought he was your brother!'

'Yori is my brother!' The tone in Yuim's voice sharpened a little in response. She leaned forward a little not quite lifting from her folded legs. Her back straightened a little more bothered by the voice.