The Dream Shifter

Chapter 165

"…fine…" Yuki looked back to his friend relieved, but still worried. The attitude from Ayumi bothered him more at the moment. 'It's like she's back to the way she was when I first met her. Why'd she change so much when we entered Atlantis?' He cooperated with Yori to lift Seiji up to his back. Once Seiji's sleeping body full weight pressed against his muscles he started to regret doing it alone. "Man, he's heavy…"

Fumiko and Yumi approached Yuki seeing the state that he was in after trying to lift Seiji. "It's too much for you to carry alone, Yuki," pleaded Yumi to share the burden. She glanced over to Yori with the expectation for him to help.

"Yeah, Yumi's right Yuki. You should let us help you carry him," Fumiko added already trying to get Seiji off Yuki's back.

Yuki raised his hand up to stop them. "No, I'm fine." He tried to get to his feet again and failed. His knee jerked out stabbing his leg. "I could use some help getting to my feet though…"

Through stubbornness and reluctance they brought Yuki to his feet. He still appeared unbalanced and staggered to the side even on his feet. They hesitated to let him walk on his own, but he insisted. After a minute, Yuki seemed to improve finding his stride. A pace for everyone settled in pushing them away from the sky.

Once they marched enough to be considered brief stares began to pop up. Each of the pairs of eyes focused on Ayumi. She needed to give an answer that they would accept. Ayumi shifted her sights around to take it all in while she filtered through what she had. "I guess I'll start at the beginning. Around Atlantis is a barrier in the shape a large dome covering the land completely."

"Is that why we were unable to see it from the outside," inquired Yori.

"Correct. The barrier has a number of purposes all meant to protect Atlantis from the outside world. The first is making it completely invisible and creating an illusion."

"But that doesn't prevent people from just walking in. There are bound to be scientists and explorers that have stumbled into here. And aren't there bases within here as well?"

"That is the second part and is a little more complicated. It also creates a false sense of space. So people are further to the coastline than they realize."

"Are you telling me that everything that science has done here is inaccurate?!"

Ayumi did not seem to care about the larger implications of Yori's question. She answered him plainly as though it held no bearing for her. "Only when speaking of distance."

Yori did not believe what heard from Ayumi. It made him sweat a little when she looked back at him confused to why he took it so seriously. The surprise he felt slowed down words. "So casual…"

"I don't see the big deal. No one's hurt and this is our land."

"But you stay hidden from the world," Fumiko commented. "Don't you think it's time that you show yourselves? This won't last forever. Something's going to happen."

"Third," continued Ayumi, ignoring what Fumiko said, "The barrier creates a sense of confusion when someone's enters and followed by deep uncontrollable sleep. Which is the reason for his condition." She pointed over her shoulder to Seiji peacefully sleeping on Yuki's back.

"Why was Seiji the only one that was affected though? We all passed through the barrier."

"That's because my field protected you from the effects. The only way to enter is with someone that can negate the effects. He strayed too long inside the barrier realm before leaving. So he was affected while you weren't."

"What happens to the people that wander in here?" questioned Yumi.

"The last part of the barrier and the reason why we must leave. The barrier is connected to four gates set across the perimeter. Any entry is registered with the closest gate. Unscheduled entries are declared to be intruders until established otherwise."

"What happens then?"

"A border patrol locates the intruder, wipes their memories and sends them back out."

"But Yuki and you are Atlanteans. Shouldn't you be able to get past the patrols with that?"

"No, Yuki is being hunted and as am I for trying to find him. All that would happen is getting captured." A small forest and a brush ahead gave Ayumi hope for cover. She knew that the longer they remained in the open the more dangerous it became. She directed them into the bushes granting them rest for the moment. While they spread out, in such a disorganized manner as to throw away any sibilance of stealth, she peered out through cover to check their flank. 'Their response time is ten minutes at best. But I don't know how long we can evade them.'

"Is he awake yet," Saki asked not watching her voice.

Yuki shook his head concerned for how long he slept. They had entered the lion's den and he knew the dangers increased the longer they stayed. He knew Seiji would blame himself if he caused their capture even though it was not his fault. 'I didn't think we'd have this sort of trouble just trying to get to Atlantis.'

"What are we going to do if he doesn't wake up?" worried Fumiko. She might have found him to be a little simple minded, but Seiji was part of the team.

"We just leave the deadweight behind," replied Chiharu softly, "If they find someone they'll probably not try to pursue the rest of us further. They probably aren't expecting a group."

"We can't do that!"

"Quiet!" Ayumi snapped back trying to keep her voice from rising too much. Her fears proved to be stronger than her hopes. In the distance, the shadowed figures of the South Gate border patrol appeared. Time ran out for them. "The patrol is in the area. Keep down and silent!"

The waiting grew left to draw out while the hunters sought a hidden prey. Minutes fell to hours as the hunters scoured everything within sight unwilling to give up. The longer they remained the more that arrived to aid in the searching. Afternoon light held strong over the lands of Atlantis for the hunters making it appear like only a matter of time before they found their targets.

Ayumi struggled to keep everyone under control. She explained to them all before that they needed to wait it out. Her plan waited for nightfall and then an escape while they had cover. The rest of the group became tired of the waiting as well as nervous about being surrounded. Ayumi monitored everyone keeping them all within her sight. 'There's enough hot headedness in several of the people here that I can't let my guard down for a moment. We just need a few more hours. This would have been easier if it was just Yuki and me. We're too big…'

Yuki strained in his staring at Seiji. Both of them had their veins nearly popping out of their heads from the stress. They ignored any of it focused intently on their task. 'Can't blink… Almost there…' It felt like sounds should have been coming out of them, but they remained in silence. Not even a groan of struggle left their lips. Yuki felt at his limit. Everything he worked for stood on the edge of collapse. He forced himself on not acknowledging it.

Just as his hope seemed lost a small light popped up displaying 'Level up!' over his head. Yuki raised his fist up at Seiji taunting his success in his face. He took a moment to breathe and accept the sweat bleeding down his face. 'Look at that Seiji! You can't beat me! My knowledge of manga is too vast for you to comprehend!'

Seiji rammed his fist into the dirt out of frustration. 'Damn it! I can't believe in just a few hours you managed grind up to level ten already.'

'Would you two stop with your childish games,' spoke Saki telepathically. 'It's really unnecessary to be so high for just talking.'

'You're just saying that because you're already fifteen,' teased Yuki, 'You're trying even harder than us!'

Saki glared back at them not about to let them get away with their insinuation that she had let herself get dragged into their game just to show them up (even though it was totally what she did since she could not let them beat her). 'Why don't you look at Yori and Yumi, they're in the fifties.'

Yuki waved it off nonchalantly not taking her misdirection. 'They're just weird. They began in the forties anyway.'

'But everyone knows it takes more experience to level up at higher levels!'

'Looks like someone's taking this game a little too seriously,' mocked Seiji, smirking silently at Saki. Saki rose up from her crossed meditative state looking to be barely holding herself back from charging straight for Seiji to deck him.

Yori narrowed his expression a little disappointed that he had been dragged partly into their antics. 'They're all taking it too seriously…'

'That may not be a bad thing, Brother…' Yumi smiled up at Yori when he looked back at her. She knew that despite their arguing that the waiting had them all on edge. They needed a vent to release. 'Besides I think it's the way they play. They won't hurt each other.' Unfortunately, Yumi's timing proved poor when Saki flattened Seiji into the ground for his continued badgering. She forced his face through the dirt making a deep impression with him. Yumi sweated a little regretting speaking too soon. '…too much…'

After watching all of them fooling around Ayumi reached her limit of what she could stand. 'Would all of you shut up! This isn't a game!' She punched the three of them in the head leaving steaming sores from her impacts. For a moment, Ayumi looked like a mother dealing with misbehaving children. However, the time passed as she checked on the movements of the border patrol once again.

Only few moments were spared for it, but in that time Yuki, Seiji and Saki gathered around her. Yuki's attention focused on Ayumi while the other two looked ahead into the fields. 'Wow, that's amazing Ayumi! You can do telepathy too!' He saw a moment later examining her information the reason for it. 'You're level ninety-nine?! I didn't know you were such a hardcore RPG fan, Ayumi!'

Ayumi rammed her elbow, not even looking, into Yuki's head. 'Enough with the jokes already and get serious. They're getting closer.'

"You're still talking telepathically, Ayumi. The joke's ended," whispered Yuki reminding her to go back to the way they had been before. He grinned back at her as she blushed embarrassed that she fell into their game. Their moment shattered in the face of their approaching danger.

The mood completely reverted back to the tense atmosphere as a few of the men from the border patrol made their approach for their cover. It had gone previous passes with the lack of a Meso Prosecho user, since Ayumi turned them invisible. However, Yuki and the others could see clearing that the reinforcements that arrived held one.

The difference between them as explained by Ayumi had them wearing the white clothed uniform that Yuki was used to seeing in Japan. All members of the military that had the power wore white, while the standard military used black. The style was identical otherwise. They all wore the same cloths that Yuki found to be unusual for any sort of uniform. The style was nothing like he had seen or read. All research and explanation from Ayumi revealed that it had ancient Greek influence. The lack of any real war also gave no need to change or improve the design, left stagnant in tradition.

The man's white draped clothes stood out emblazed brightly in the sun. He marched with an assured sense of confidence. The confidence came from repeatedly being successful without fail against almost childish odds. A normal unsuspecting human stood no chance against him, but he ignored that fact.