The Dream Shifter

Chapter 164

Yumi tightened her hands out of worry. The fear of rushing him choked her and the repercussion it may have. "But we're only delaying and it pushing it back. This isn't resolving the problem. He's got to have the time to sort them out."

"When he collapses it'll be up to his trusted partner to give him a shoulder to bare his feelings and support him. Until then I'll make sure to keep driving forward to where he wants to go. That is my job as his friend…" Saki walked off having kept her back to her the whole time.

Yumi stared at her tall proud back and felt like she saw something deeper unnoticed by Saki. 'Saki? Aren't you the one he trusts the most?'

Yuki had found his focus and everyone finished their preparations. Since Ayumi appeared to have a plan, she took the lead. A large vehicle materialized in front of her looking like a snow plow. It had enough seating for five as arranged. The girls partnered with Ayumi while the boys stuck with Yuki. A ride on the trucks, through the snow and ice across a wasteland, hung over everyone's mind. Trust in what Ayumi claimed became the continued point of concern for some. They barely knew her and her continued mysterious nature did not endear herself to them.

Everyone gathered up in their truck. In the distance on the horizon, dark shining mountains stood surrounding them with vast stretches of snow covered ice. Ayumi took the lead knowing where they needed to go and Yuki followed behind. He did not have worry too much about controls letting it do most of the work. The hours passed in solitude with only the rumbling of the engine and treads bleeding dully into the cabin. Most of everyone slept having not had the chance since arriving so late and unable to sleep prior. Some comfort in land beneath them gave them peace of mind, that and heavy fatigue.

The endless scenery continued to pass them by with no sign of anything. Plentiful rest consumed their time, but it reached a point where even sleeping was impossible. Seiji unsurprisingly awoke the last from a slight stirring in the truck in a patch of rough terrain. He yawned deeply before working on his surroundings. The windows held a little fog to lighten up the darkness. "Hey, it is morning or afternoon, right? Did I sleep through the whole day? I thought it was only supposed to take us half a day to get to her home!"

Yori leaned back from the front seat to address him. "It's only been about half a day since we started."

"Then why the hell is it night still?!"

"Because when you're this far south during this time of the year it is almost always dark."

Seiji looked a little ruffled, but crossed his arms leaning back. "This continent is annoying and weird."

"Yuki! Make your field smaller!" ordered Ayumi through the radio.

Yuki glowered through the windshield at the back of Ayumi's truck. "I'm trying to, but it's not very easy as I said before!"

"Just do it unless you want to walk the rest of the way there!"

'I didn't miss the old Ayumi this much…I like the new her better…' The last few hours had Ayumi frequently telling him to work on his field. The closer they came to Atlantis the more often that Ayumi yelled at him. Yuki grew tired of hearing her reminding him to something that was not possible for him.

Another hour passed with Ayumi berating his failures. However, on the last message Ayumi's truck came to a stop. Yuki feared that her threats about walking turned serious. He stopped next to her vehicle and looked across towards the girl's truck for answers. The doors to their truck opened giving them the signal that they did the same.

"I guess we're walking the rest of the way," Yuki tried to say cheerfully to the guys. He got a couple of uncertain looks back considering their situation. "Well let's just find out what it is. We should be pretty close anyway." Yuki hurried out of the truck not really wanting to face the looks further.

Ayumi stood out in front of the group of nine staring deeply at the endless abyss of Antarctica. She knew of their suspicions. Their answers would come soon enough. She turned back around finished confirming what she needed.

"So where is it?" demanded Seiji still holding his arm crossed. "I'm not seeing anything but ice cubes."

"As I said before it's not something that can be seen. But this is the land the Atlantis before you. Follow me and you'll understand."

A barren wasteland of ice laid out for their view in every direction. The field for Ayumi protected them from most of the elements. Even still, the wind dug through like claws and fangs to grope at the teens. It managed a cool chill that left everyone feeling as though they had been splashed with cold water.

The words from Ayumi failed to provide any reassurance to the group. Seiji and the others that had strong doubts about the entire thing saw the lack of any proof to be suspicious. They went along with her vague explanations, but it seemed that every time that she came to a point that was expected to give them answers it failed. The emptiness they saw furthered their doubt.

Seiji spoke first, naturally, "You keep saying to go further and further, but each time there's nothing! I'm thinking you're just stringing us along."

"But Ayumi says—" tried Yuki before getting cutting off.

"She says a lot, Yuki! And we've yet to have any proof anything she's saying is true!"

Yori kept to his spot still examining the situation. He found his own concerns about their progress. He wanted more information from Ayumi. The number of pieces missed prevented him from understanding. 'It's almost like she's purposely keeping us limited and in the dark.' He knew that left alone Seiji would not get them any progress. "I think we all have our doubts, but only a few more steps is not much too to ask considering the distance that we have traveled. I assume there's a reason we can't see your homeland from here?"

"I certainly don't like being strung around," Chiharu added, "So there better be something to good explaining things in these next few steps."

"Seiji, if Ayumi says you'll understand soon then she means it," Yuki persuaded. "One thing I know to be true is that she tells the truth even to the point of being tactless." The last word from Yuki gave him a chilling sensation down his back as though someone had just stepped on his grave. He refused to turn afraid to see the look that Ayumi gave him.

Saki stepped up slapping Seiji in the shoulder blade hard. "All you've been doing is whining all this time. Thought you were a tough guy, not some pansy." She gave him a mean smirk taunting him with her last words.

He took the bait without thinking. Seiji leaned over to face Saki and got close enough to accidentally spit on her while he spoke. "Oh yeah?! I'm not letting some tomboy get away with that! I'll show you who's actually a pansy!" He shoved Saki aside into Fumiko and charged in the direction that Ayumi intended to take them.

Ayumi tried to speak up to stop Seiji, but she did not have enough time. She groaned to herself about dealing with children before throwing up a barrier. He smashed into it and nearly shattered it to her surprise. The barrier gave her the time to catch up to him and stand in front casting a heavy imposing shadow. "I'll be going first. Follow behind me in any order that you wish. If you won't want to trust me then you can leave your trust to Antarctica." After her words she stepped forward and disappeared from everyone's sight.

The disappearance of Ayumi left the party stunned. It took them a while to react and approach the area where she stepped through. A few of them waved their hands through trying to see if part of them disappeared, but nothing happened. After the failed attempts they turned to exchanged stares.

Chiharu made the bold move to stand where Ayumi had been. She paused only long enough to check her surroundings one last time before diving into the void that Ayumi must have gone. Her body disappeared like Ayumi had before giving some certainty to the others.

Seiji kept quiet after seeing two of them vanish before his eyes. He had no room left to complain and the procession of the rest gave him a slight indignant look. The next few in the group went leaving only Seiji, Haruo and Yuki behind. He decided to take his turn to prove that he had no fear, though the muffled scream did not help his case.

"See you on the other side," Yuki exclaimed with cheer to Haruo before going next. The moment that Antarctica became a black void he knew that he had entered the space everyone else had before him. His connection to his body seemed to stretch out until it no longer felt as though he moved. A great and gentle hand reached out pulling him forward as though the void itself beckoned him. The call summoned him as though to greet him home from a long journey grateful in his return for his absence was greatly missed.

'I feel so warm and invited…' It felt as though all of his worries and fatigue melted away in the warm embrace of his homeland. He had never felt something that made him feel so welcome. It forced out any thoughts in his mind. Only a blank sense of bliss stirred within the gaps. He knew of only one time before that made him feel as he did at that moment.

Yuki soon bathed in a bright light signaling the path. 'Atlantis is beyond here…' He reached out to take hold of the doorway. A yearning grew inside the closer that he came to the light. It felt so familiar. 'Why do I feel like I've come home?' The void shattered like glass as he broke through smiling wide. Excitement pounded in his heart. Atlantis stood before him. "Atlantis!"

However, all of the preparation and thrill seeking fell short of the magnificent vista that lay out upon everyone's eyes. Even those ahead of him that had been there longer still stood in awe. A nearly cloudless sky of pristine blue hung veiled over boundless fields of grass and farmland. Warm soothing breezes comforted everyone. No sign of ice or the Antarctica everyone knew existed. It seemed impossible.

"Is this Atlantis?!"

"Impossible!" Seiji declared having appeared behind everyone.

"How is it possible for this to exist?!" Fumiko asked looking over at Ayumi.

Ayumi stepped forward and tilted her head over her shoulder to look back at them. "I'll answer your questions later. Right now we have to move quickly."

"Huh?" broke Seiji.

Yuki stepped forward to place himself in front of her looking for an answer. They had just arrived and already told to rush. He did not understand how a place that looked so peaceful presented a threat to them. The urgency to reach Atlantis for him still persisted, but a few minutes to gaze hardly seemed to be a problem. "What's wrong, Ayumi? Why do we have to leave so fast?"

"I'll explain later! We can't stay here!" The sense of urgency in her voice mixed with danger. It made things clear that something was wrong.

"Why can't we stay here? What's going to happen?"

"We've entered the South Gate's territory and they'll know that we've entered."

The rest of the group started gathering around them sensing the seriousness of Ayumi's words. Ayumi led them away from where they had entered. Their view back held a strange mirage of ice that looked more like water that had been poured around the world. The water pressed back by only the mere strength of the world's integrity. Further up away from the horizon filled the perfect sky becoming like a world trapped within a dome.

Yuki tried to keep himself focused on leaving, but the world held him in constant awe. Saki dragged at his arm to force him to keep walking. 'We're here…the place where I face my so called destiny!'

"I'm…really…sleepy…" Seiji managed before he collapsed to the ground in a peaceful dream state.

Yori looked back along with the others confused by what happened so suddenly to him. "He's been sleeping for the entire ride and he's still sleepy?!" He rushed over with Yuki to get a better look at Seiji. A few shoves and hits did nothing to change him, but redden his skin. The fact that he did not react to anything worried them. He fell too deeply into sleep to be normal.

Yuki shouted ahead to Ayumi needing an answer. "What's wrong with him?! Is there something special in the air that makes it poisonous to outsiders or something?!" He worked with Yori to turn him over on his back for a better view.

"Nothing so hazardous or dramatic as that," commented Ayumi. She stopped from her place and only faced them. The glare from Yuki demanded an answer and Ayumi sighed before relenting to his request. "Pick him up and carry him with us. I'll explain as we walk. Time's still of the essence."