1st World :: Dreamers [ Number 0 of Tarot Cards ]

CHAPTER 3

“Will…”

“ugh… Five more minutes…” He groaned.

“Come on, wake up already!” She nudged him.

“I said five more minutes… shut the hell up, Fai!” He groaned again and shove the hand away. Then he realized that the size of the arm was different.

“…huh?” He looked at the girl with eyes staring wide. An image of his brother was quickly replaced with the annoyed face of a girl crouching next to him. “What do you mean, Fai? I’m Tairah!” She pouted at him then stood up and walked away. He could hear the small rustling sound. He could hear birds chirping around happily. And the grasses around him were green.

“Did we return to the real world?!” He shouted as he sat up and looked around. They were in a forest. A calm bright forest. “No, I don’t think so, these might look real, but this is also someone else’s dream… I think.”

“Someone else’s dream? What do you mean?” He asked. “And… weren’t we in that plain with silver grasses and purple sky, and black cherry tree, and the skeleton thing?” He added.

“Yeah. We were. But we’re not anymore. This world, as I said is ‘dream’ which consist of people’s dreams. Well, I guess there are two kinds of people here. Those who can travel through dreams and have abilities like us, and people who create worlds we travel through. I guess I would like to call us ‘travelers’ while them ‘dreamers’.” She paused a while before taking a breath and continued.

“I think that blond girl determines everything, so don’t ask me why. This theory is basically something I made by collecting testimonies from people. Oh, and about how we can move from that place, it’s because we climbed the dream stair. The dream stair will appear whenever we defeat those Nightmares.”

The silver haired nodded in understanding. It’s not like he believed in her story, sadly it already happened and he had no choice but to agree. Then he realized something about the girl and decided to ask her out of curiosity. “You said that you have gathered information from people, where are they now and why are you traveling alone? You’re after all, a girl. Isn’t it dangerous for a girl to travel alone? In such a place like this?” He asked.

“Hey! I’m fifteen! I’m old enough to travel alone!” She replied. Then she sighed and looked away. “…The people I met are all older than me. I don’t feel safe with them. Besides, they are all guys.” She said with a blush in her face. No wonder why she felt unsafe.

“… But I’m a guy too?” He replied. “Well, at least you’re younger than me. Aren’t you? How old are you anyway?” She asked.

“…Thirteen.” He said with a sigh. Now he felt inferior toward the girl.

And at that she smiled widely with a winning aura from her face. “Oh, may I ask something?” The girl asked out of the sudden. He didn’t think of it and immediately answered with a ‘yes’.

“About this Fai person. You called me Fai just now, who is he?” She asked. This time, it was Will who looked away. He couldn’t define his relationship with his brother. Although brothers, he couldn’t feel the relation. It’s like they were strangers. And whenever he saw the younger boy, he felt… irritated. Now that someone has asked how they are related, he couldn’t find the word and just stated the obvious.

“…He’s my brother. I lost sight of him when I came here.” He said.

“Ah! I’m… sorry, you must miss your brother a lot, didn’t you?” She apologized, sympathizing the boy.

“…Nah, I don’t really like him. I don’t really care what happened to him.” Or so he thought, but then again, he had shouted to defend the younger boy. Now he wondered what he really feel for the boy.

“Eh? Are you not blood-related?” She asked. But then realized that she might have hurt the boy’s feelings that she apologized again.

“…No, we are blood-related. It’s just that… I don’t know. I can’t… I can’t love him like what brothers do.” He said.

“…Will…” Tairah had put that worried face again. She had no idea what to say to him. She fell silent for a while… then she chuckled. “What’s funny?” He grumbled at the girl, yet she kept her smile. “No, it’s just that… I had a brother too.” She said.

“We are twins although we don’t look alike. He’s really wild, but kind… He was really a good brother, however…”

“However?”

“… As we grew up, He was… ignoring me. It felt distant. Everything is just so wrong.” She confessed, then sighed. “…We were so close back then.” She finished.

Now it was his turn to fall silent. Why was she telling her story out of the sudden anyway?

“O~kay. Enough of sob stories. We can fix everything when we return to our world.” She said as she stretched her arms to the sky. “You know, sometimes I don’t feel bad of coming here. It’s like, we came here so that we could change something. I never thought I’d miss my brother this much. Back then, I thought I don’t want to care for him anymore...” She turned and show her sad smiling face.

“I’m speaking too much, aren’t I? Me and my big fat mouth!” She yelled as she smiled with a blush.

“…No, maybe you’re not wrong at all.” Will added as he stood up as well.

It might be true…

I… never thought I’d be worried.

Where did this feeling came from?

The two continued their exploration for a while and found them lost in the forest.

“Booey, where is the exit?! I’m tired of trees!” Tairah protested.

“Calm down, Tairah. We have to keep our head cool.” Will advised.

Although… It feels weird. It’s as if we’re walking in circles

“Ooh, I want to see something else…” Tairah keep protesting.

“Leave.”

“Eeh?! Now you’re telling me to leave you?! You meanie!” She shouted at the boy.

“… That wasn’t me.” Will said, looking cautious as he examined the area. The voice belong to someone else. “…Tairah, we’ve got company.” He notified the girl. Her face turned serious as she drew her Tarot deck.

“Will, use your ability.” She whispered to him.

“…” He gulped

“Will! Get ready!” She whispered even louder.

“…” This time, his face paled.

“Hey, Will! I told you to-“ Not waiting for the girl to finish, he shouted back at her.

“I know! It’s just that…”

“Just what?!”

“… I don’t know what my ability is.”

There was a long pause before the unknown voice returned.

“Leave this place… or die!” The eerie voice shouted. Along with that, a herd of human-shaped mud launched to attack them.

“Aaaaaahhhh!”

“Run!”

The boy grabbed Tairah’s arm and led her away from the herd of mud monster thing. They ran for what felt like hours and managed to get away from the mud monster. Then they arrived in an unfamiliar place. Wherever they are, they must be far enough from where they were. Both of them were panting, they were out of breath after running for so long.

“Youuuu!! What do you mean by you don’t know what your ability is?!” She shouted at him and he responded with the “I don’t know what I don’t know” look. She sighed then crossed her arms. “Well, I already told you that ability is a gift given to us… travelers to fight those monsters. Which would be the skeleton thing, and that mud thing.” She said.

“Yeah, but how do I know what is mine? How did you know yours anyway?” He shrugged. She seemed to be taking it so seriously that she responded with nothing but a serious face. “… Now that you mention it…” She muttered. “… I don’t really know.” She stated with a confused face.

“Huh?! But- Wait, this isn’t right. You’re able to use your ability, but you didn’t know how you got yours?!” He shouted at her. She closed her eyes, as if trying to remember. But when she opened, all she gave was a sigh. “…I don’t remember much… It’s like I’ve known about it from the start, you know.” She stated.

“From… the start?” He repeated. ‘Then what is mine?’ He thought. The thought saddens him. Without an ability, all they could do is run. And there’s not a chance that he will rely his life to some random girl. He was a boy. A man. A man shall not depended on a girl. Although he was younger, he should be the one protecting her. Not the other way around. ‘I don’t want to be useless.’ He said to himself as suddenly a music box tune cracked the silence between them.

“…Did you hear that?” She asked him. He nodded in return. Still not in the mood to talk. “It’s so beautiful.” Tairah said, totally mesmerized to the tune.

“There might be someone else here. Let’s try to find out where this song came from!” She said to the boy.

“What if it’s a trap?” He replied shortly.

“I don’t think it’s a trap, besides, you have me! I’ll protect you until you know what your ability is!” She said cheerfully.

At her statement, he felt even down. A little angry. But that anger was addressed to himself. He was angry, because he was useless.

1st World :: Dreamers [ Dream World ]

CHAPTER 2

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!"

The sound of his own voice echoed through his mind. It was like a dream. He never thought he could say that. Well, maybe only for once. But that was before his mother's disappearance. Right when he was expecting a brother. When he thought he would have someone to care of, to play with, to protect. "... That's crazy... I said that?" He asked himself with a laugh. Disbelieving what his own mouth said. Deciding to get his mind off the sentence, he stood and looked around. He wasn't on the same park where he was. He was in a totally different place. There’s no single living soul exist in the plain. Not even his brother. 

He frowned when he looked up.

"What the?" He asked. The sky was dark purple. There was no sun or moon. The clouds were black. And the grasses around him were silvery white. "... A dream?" He asked himself as he slapped his own cheek. And it hurts. "No way." He laughed like crazy and moved back without him knowing. He bumped something big... and strong. Much like a tree's branch. He turned and saw a black trunk. When he looked up, there were cherry flowers. A black colored cherry flowers. He can't believe what he just saw. The fact that he was hurt from the slap means that he wasn't in a dream. But all of those things were unbelievable. The sky was never purple. And there were no white grasses exist in any part on earth.

Would it be possible that he wasn't on earth anymore?

"... No kidding... I know that wasn't possible." He said as he started to walk around and search if he could find a clue where he was right now. But there was nothing else there but him, the grasses, and the black cherry tree behind him. It was a big empty field with nothing else but mountains around him. It's like he was trapped in somewhat different dimension. Unable to find anything else, he decided to go back to the starting line. The Black Cherry tree.

He walked around the tree, climbed it, even shook the tree but nothing happened. Until he noticed that there was something on the ground. He didn't saw it at first because it was under the tall silvery grasses. It was a bone. "What's this doing here?" He asked to himself as he jumped down and started to dug the soil where the bone stick popped out from.

He managed to pull the bone out from the ground, and then examined what bone that is. It was kind of old. It seemed to be there for a really long time. "Gee, what does it have to do with why I'm here..." He said to himself as he threw the bone away. And that was when he heard a noise. A somewhat hissing noise. He turned his gaze to the hole he dug. Black smokes came out from the hole and the noise become much clearer and bigger. A croaky voice.

He trembled. His instincts told him that something was not right. That he was in danger somehow. He gritted his teeth and walked backwards slowly. He didn't put his gaze off the black smokes, just slowly took a few steps backwards. And then he heard a stomping noise. It wasn't his. It belonged to something with huge or heavy body. And as the smokes slowly disappeared, a human form was seen from the shadow. He was a little happy, he thought he was about to find another person.

However the shadow he saw didn't belong to a person.

A skeleton. His eyes widened at what he saw. He gasped in fear and then turned to run. He tried to run away from the huge skeleton with a bone club on its hand. However the skeleton was chasing him. He was running to death. He was getting farther from the Cherry tree until he wasn't able to saw the tree again. He started to lose his balance. He was exhausted. The scenery around him just passed around just like when you're in a train. But the skeleton won't stop chasing him around.

Wha- what's this thing?

A ghost?!

No , I can't die now!

His head was filled with death thoughts when he lost his balance and fell to the ground. He looked back and saw the Skeleton behind him swinging its club, ready to crush him like a cracker. He put his hands in front of him for protection. He closed his eyes. NO! He screamed within his inner thoughts. The club swung towards his direction.

"Major Arcana! The Magician!" A voice shouted. Bright red light appeared behind the skeleton and distracted the Skeleton from crushing him. A girl with long auburn hair wearing white linen dress with belt made of coins, bright red cape with a tarot cups as its button, a spare knife tied on her thigh, and a wand on her hand appeared before the Skeleton. She smirked and then motioned an infinity symbol with her wand, the infinity symbol appeared on the air. The girl waved her wand and the symbol flew to the Skeleton. It hit the Skeleton and made it screamed in agony. Slowly its bones cracked. And then the Skeleton dissolved into ashes.

"Are you alright?" Asked the same voice that shouted before. He turned his face to where the voice came from. There he saw the same girl, now with different clothes. She was a little bit older than him, She wore casual green dress and green hairband. She smiled knowing that the boy was alright. Will wasn't able to say anything. He was too confused to think. He didn't know what he wanted to say. "Can you stand? Here, I'll help you." She said as she offered a hand to help him stood.

He looked at her hand and refused her help. He stood on his own and then looked down. He had just survived a moment between life and death. His feelings were all fused. "It's alright. I can help myself." He said to the girl and then looked around to spot the other girl, the one defeating the Skeleton with somewhat magical powers. The brunette girl took a card from her waist bag and showed it to him.

“Surprised? That is my ‘ability’.” She said with a wink.  

"Huh?! What do you mean?" He asked the brunette. The brunette looked at him with a smile and began her explanations. "This is a tarot card. It enchanted my physical power and… spiritual powers… I guess. " She explained as she showed the card to him. On the card was a picture of a girl pointing her wand to the sky as an infinity symbol was engraved on the sky. "…Tarot card?" He muttered before he realized what he wanted to ask to the girl. He grabbed the girl by her shoulder and then started to rain her with tons of questions.

"Where are we? How did I end up here? What's with the weird environments? What's that Skeleton? How did you do that? Are you a magician?!"

And the boy was interrupted with the girl. She pushed the boy off her and tried to calm him down. "Whoa whoa whoa, one question at a time there, young man." She said to the younger boy. She smiled to him and brushed his head slightly. "Let's start with myself now, shall we? My name is Tairah Rosaline. I got here last week." She stated before she searched for a comfortable place to sit down and continued her story.

"Did you meet a blond girl before you woke up here? She's the real magician. Somehow she had a magical power or whatever it is that brought us here. To the world we call ‘dream’." Tairah continued her story. Will listened to her carefully as he remembered the things before he arrived in that dream world.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!" He shouted to the girl. Somehow, his numb limbs were able to move again. He ran to his brother's side, grabbed the boy, fell to the harsh ground. He still felt his brother's warm body on his hands. That small fragile body.

But then everything went black and he was unable to remember anything past that.

"So, uh. Monsters like that skeleton just now, They are called Nightmares. Um, but we were saved with our abilities. Like, my tarot cards! These abilities seems to take a reflection of our character. For example, I'm a Tarot user, I read people's future using these Tarot cards. I'm not an expert, but sometimes it works. So, my ability is Tarot." Tairah explained. Will was completely confused with her story.

"Well, to make it simple, you're given power called ability. To survive in this world called Dream, to fight these monsters we call Nightmares. You were sent here by a blond girl." She said, summarizing her story. Then she stared at the blank eyed boy. "Umm... are you alright?" She said as she waved her hands in front of the boy's eyes.

Everything was hard for him to swallow. All of those were almost impossible to happen. Someone with magic, he thought no one like that existed in the world. There are just magicians with tricks. Not magicians with magic.

"...How do we get out?" Decided to believe her, he asked to dig more information out from her. At this question, the girl’s smile faded. “…I’m sorry, I still don’t know how.” She replied. Oh, great. Now he’s stuck in this weird dimension. “…Why did you call this a dream? And where is this…’they’ ?” He asked again. “Well, I heard that this place can grant any wish. It’s like… you know, a dream. That’s basically where the name came from. And about everyone else… Some stayed within one dream while others traveled alone like me.” She said.

He looked down to the grass. Trying to swallow everything he had just heard of. Just like what the girl said, this world is like a dream. However, it is one that he couldn’t wake up from. An Endless dream one would say. He had no idea what to do now. He had not a single reason for being here. He wanted to go back. Go to school like he usually do. But first he had to make sure his brother was alright, despite the hatred he had for his brother.

“…Hey, you haven’t told me your name yet!” She exclaimed. Realizing his fault, he quickly apologized and introduced himself. “I’m Will. Will Licht.” He said as he scratched the back of his head.

“Will… That’s a good name! Nice to meet you, Will.” She said as she took his hand and held it for a while. She looked so calm for someone who had just been a week here. No, maybe it was because she came here a week in advance.

Suddenly, a pillar of light appeared. The boy jumped back in surprise while the girl just smiled calmly. “Ah, that’s the dream stair!” She exclaimed as she clamped her hands. “Dream stair?” He asked the girl.

“That stair will bring us to the next dream. Well, it’s easier to understand if you see it by yourself. Come on.” She said as she pulled the boy’s hand and then dragged him to the said pillar. Slowly, his mind became hazy. Sleep has took him over and let him lose his consciousness. 

1st World :: Dreamers [ When You Wish Upon A Dream ]

CHAPTER 1

It was one peaceful morning to every beings in the world. Rooster crowed if it called for the sun, Birds sang the wake up songs. Waking up humans in the complex. They groaned and yawned. Everyone greeted the morning cheerfully and happily. Hoping that today would be a good and happy day for them. Everyone were happy but not for one boy.

William Licht was a boy that knew no happiness. He did, for once when his mother was still alive. Until the birth of his younger brother, as well as the disappearance of his mother, he started to erase the word 'happiness' from his dictionary within his head. Soon after he woke up, he immediately took a quick shower, and left really early in the morning. He didn't want to see his brother. His younger brother, Fai Licht. A boy whom Will knew as a disaster.

"If he didn't born, mother wouldn't have disappeared..." He muttered as he walked to his school. It was still 6 in the early morning. His school started at 8. But he didn't want to see his brother. Especially since they were going to the same school. They were five years apart, still the school building were next to each another. He was in Junior high while his brother were in his 3^rd year of Elementary.

Will always left early in the morning and went back really late. He usually stayed in his friend's house before going back home. He knew that when he went back, his brother would have been in his own room, studying, or perhaps doing something that Will didn't care what.

It's been 8 years since that. When his brother was born, he thought he'll get a nice little brother to play with. He was looking forward it. He really did. Until the next day, his mother disappeared. Everyone told him that she ran away. However, the possibility of her death was high. The window was open when they found out that she was gone. So she might run off on her own. But why would she? What made her run away from the hospital at such weak condition? What's the differences between that day and the day before?

His brother.

That must be her reason. "There's nothing else that could have made her run away like that... And running away at the day after giving birth... She won't survive..." He muttered to himself as he stared at the photo of him, his mother, his father, and the newborn Fai on his mother's held. The photograph was taken on the day when Fai was born. And that was the last time he saw his mother. And the first time he ever loved his brother.

The first and the only time.

He walked across the photograph and proceeded to his school. His school was near his complex. He knew the shortcuts. Passing through an open field and he'll find his school right a few blocks away. He always spent a minute or two staring at the giant cherry tree in the middle of that open field. They said it was a sacred tree. However for him, that tree was his most memorable thing in his life. That tree somehow resembled his mother. A scent of... kindness and calm. The tree had a good aura. Somehow it could make him smile even if it's just for a few seconds.

"... Do you?" Came a voice.

He gasped and turned his head to the source of the voice. There behind him stood a young girl with blond hair. Covered with black cloth. She stared at him with her bloody crimson eyes. "... Do you want to meet her? Your... mother?" She asked with weak and croaked voice. Then she approached him. His body froze. Somehow an eerie feeling lingered around him. He felt sick. This girl's presence just brought him somewhat disgust feeling. Although he had never met her before.

"Wha- ... Who are you? How did you know... about my mom?" He replied. His head felt dizzy. He could collapse in any minute from now. He used the tree for support while his left hand held his head. It's so painful. He didn't know why.”Do you want to meet your mother?" The girl asked again. This time, with a smile. A scary and somewhat dangerous smile.

He didn't know what he was doing anymore. Slowly he answered the girl's question. Unknowing what would happen next. "Yeah..." He muttered. Somehow the pain stopped. The pain turned into comfort. It was dark even though it was morning. It's like the night time. Where no light exist. He could feel his eyelids starting to close. He felt really sleepy.

"...That's right. It doesn't matter where I would be... As long as she's there..." He muttered to himself until he heard someone else calling his name. A voice he know. A voice that he wanted to forget but couldn't. "Brother Will!" Called a young boy with similar silver hair as his but a little bit longer. A pale skin and silver eyes. He was like a shorter version of Will. It was his brother.

The blond girl stared at the running boy and then smirked. Slowly, she walked to the direction where his brother was. "Fai?" He asked. Unsure about what he heard just now. His vision blurred. He couldn’t see whether his brother was really there or not. However, it seemed like his brother couldn’t see the girl. The blond girl pointed her finger to the little boy. And then, behind the boy appeared a figure with dark robe and a scythe. Ready to cut the younger boy's soul off from his body.

And at that moment he shouted.

For the first time he ever felt the fear of losing his brother.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!"

Then everything went dark. 

1st World :: Dreamers [ Prologue ]

PROLOGUE

Click Clack

There was the typing sound. Few mutters. Bubbles. Few laughs. Then, as the men in white approached, they congratulated each other. They were in a laboratory. A very bright room with rays that hurt your eyes if you were there. But the four eyed men didn't seem to bother with the emitting lamp. They were all smiling. Creepy smiles. 

“Congratulations” They said.

What? What are they saying? Why are they smiling?

She couldn't see them. They were blurry, she couldn't see their faces. She couldn't recognize them either. Who were they? What are they doing to her? And why is she here? Why is she in some kind of... tube? Waters surrounded her. Yet, she could breathe. No, there was an oxygen mask placed on her face. There were other cables connected to her, but she didn't know what they are. 

“Congratulations, Siren.” One spoke to her. The once blurred vision of hers slowly cleared. One man in white smiled at her She stared at them. The man’s glasses reflected her appearance. She has eyes of a cloud. Her skin pale like snow. Hairs, also white like a dove’s feather. She did not remember anything. No, she doesn’t know anything.

 “Let dreams come true.” He said.