“I’m sorry,” the beautiful young woman said to Lammy as her tears fell. “I’m so sorry…”

The Sage looked at each of them with a frown of deep empathy.

Lammy didn’t get it. It seemed this woman was talking to him, but he had never met her before. He’d been traveling alone for a while now. The last friendly face he’d seen—besides the Sages and Wobble—was Ryan in College Town College, when he laid down his life to help Lammy get away.

He took note of the strange and elegant black markings all over her arms. What’s going on? he wondered.

“Um…I’m sorry, but—” he began.

And then a veil began to lift from his mind.

Suddenly, he cared deeply about this young woman. He wanted to make her feel better.

She was his friend.

She was Zayza, his friend.

It all came back to him.

“Zayza,” Lammy said simply as a smile grew. “Zayza! I still know you!” he exclaimed.

Zayza’s crying stopped for a moment. “Wha…? How?” she asked in utter shock.

The Sage smiled warmly. “There is only one explanation,” she said. “He knows your true self.”

Beaming, Lammy walked up to Zayza and took both of her hands, as she had in Our Snowy Village after the villagers vowed to help them.

“I knew it! I know the real you, Zayza!” he proclaimed. “I don’t care what Fewpar and Najinzu say, you’re not the horrible person they think. You’re incredibly caring, encouraging, fun, and brave!”

Lammy felt his own tears building.

“Even if this all changes you, I know that all those good things about you will stay the same,” he continued. “You’re still my friend. Heck, you saved my life! That’s the kind of person you really are—the earring proves it!”

Zayza began crying again, this time much harder. But Lammy knew it wasn’t out of sadness this time.

“You’re my friend, Zayza. I love you!” Lammy concluded—then instantly, his entire face flushed bright red. “Um—like, in the friend kind of way—I love you as my friend, you know? I mean, you’re a lot older than me and stuff and I’m just a kid, so that would be weird—but I mean you are really pretty, though—crap, I made this awkward—”

“You can stop child, she gets it,” the Sage whispered with a smirk.

Zayza shot up from the stool and embraced Lammy in a big hug, still crying. “You shouldn’t have to put up with all of this…or with me…” she managed to mutter.

“I choose to,” Lammy insisted. “We got in this mess together. I’m not letting you face all of this by yourself.”

“What if I can’t protect you?” Zayza sniffed.

“Then I’ll protect you.”

“Stop it with all of the clever comebacks, Lammy,” muttered Zayza. When she released her embrace, he was relieved to see her smiling. She still appeared totally exhausted, and her cheeks were wet with tears, but at least she was finally smiling.

Lammy knew it: even with the darkness around her bright eyes, the markings all over her body, and the pain she was feeling inside, this was still the same Zayza he met outside of Tailpiece. He was confident that if all of her memories returned one day, this would still hold true.

“So…can we keep traveling together?” he decided to ask.

He could tell Zayza felt the weight of his question’s implications. She would need to stop pushing him away, and accept that any harm coming for her would probably be awaiting him, as well.

But it meant she wouldn’t have to be alone.

Zayza nodded. “Let’s,” she said. “I want to help you make it home.”

Lammy matched her smile. “Good,” he replied. “So uh…what do we do from here?”

“For starters, I have another earring,” the Sage pointed out beside them.

“Oh, right…I guess Fewpar and Najinzu are after me, too, and that organization Ryan and Felix were a part of,” Lammy realized. “But…will Zayza remember me?”

“They can come off, you know,” answered the Sage. “You’d have to rip them out, but if you’re that worried about it…”

This Sage sure is sassier than the other one, Lammy noticed.

The Ancient Sage instructed Lammy to sit on the stool. Zayza watched as the Sage retrieved another earring from the back of the hut. Just like Zayza’s, it was simple: a tiny black ring with two small loops.

As the Sage raised it to Lammy’s lobe, he expected her to pierce it in. Instead, a black fog emerged from around her hand for a moment, and then she touched his ear. When she stepped back, it was on.

Lammy immediately looked to Zayza. For a couple seconds, she appeared confused and a bit indifferent, but then her eyes widened.

“Lammy,” she said. “It seems I understand your true self, as well.”

“Lovely. Spare us the monologue this time,” uttered the Sage. But again, she gave them a kindhearted smile.

She walked over to the hut’s entrance, and then turned to them, her expression now somber. “Young ones, this is the path you have chosen...I’m sure my sister also warned you of this, but this is a path that leads to darkness. You must stay true to your convictions.”

Lammy and Zayza exchanged uneasy glances.

“Next, I advise you to journey southbound,” she continued. “Head inland, towards the more populous regions of Fantasy Country.

“But…if we’re on the run, shouldn’t we avoid places with a lot of people?” Lammy questioned.

“That’s what the earrings are for,” said the Sage. “If your hearts are pure, the only people who will recognize you are friends who would wish you no harm.”

True…thought Lammy, but he still felt unconvinced.

His expression must have given his feelings away, because the Sage continued. “Tell me, young one, do you have any money?”

“Uh…no.”

“Do you have access to resources, other than what little you’re traveling with?”

“No…”

“Survival skills?”

“Big no for that,” Lammy admitted. “At least, not any I know how to use.”

“You two must find employment, so you can accumulate the resources and skills you need to complete your quests,” urged the Sage. “Jobs are extremely rare to come by in such uninhabited regions as Northern Fantasy Country, so you must travel inland.”

Lammy and Zayza nodded to show they understood, but their unease still remained.

The Sage sighed. “As a friendly reminder, they do refer to me as an ‘Ancient Sage.’”

At last, Zayza nodded more decisively. “Alright,” she said. “We’ll follow your guidance.”

“Speaking of ‘guides,’ I presume you’ll need one…” the Sage remarked. She peered outside the hut. “Were you listening?” she called.

“Always am, captain!” Wobble replied, hopping into the hut with a flip and a dramatic landing. “Sometimes I wish I wasn’t!” it added.

“Good. If you’re up to it, this next task will be a longer one,” the Sage told it.

“I’m sure it’s no biggie—my heart and soul are always prepared to accept any challenge, rigorous as it may be, yo!” Wobble declared before waving to Lammy and Zayza. “Howdy, again! Been a while, y’all—like, eleven minutes.”

Again, Lammy couldn’t decide if he was happy or annoyed that Wobble would be leading them. But aside from that, he was worried about Zayza: she was still very obviously in rough shape.

“Are you sure you’re already good to keep traveling?” he asked her.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we have a choice,” she said seriously. “If Fewpar can still connect with me in the Dream World, I think that means he isn’t that far. It would be best to keep moving.”

Lammy tried not to stare too long at the weariness in her eyes. “Alright…” he uttered.

“So, ‘more inland,’ eh? That’s super broad,” Wobble noted. “Where to, specifically?”

The Sage thought about it for a moment, seeming to search her mind for something beyond common understanding. “Take them to Conscious City,” she instructed.

“Conscious City, it is!” bellowed Wobble with a sprightly flip. “Grab your travel packs and let’s skedaddle, my new homies! For behold: a weeklong journey awaits!”

~~~

Days later, in the streets of Crooked Plateau…

Deon and Skrili walked along the clay road, heading for the landing pad where Gibblezgorv had dropped them off four days earlier. They had just come from a fitness building where they had been showering after their daily training, and now they passed through the side streets where the desert refugees dwelled.

During their days on the plateau, they realized they felt much more comfortable amongst fellow outsiders. Before long, they had developed a mutual trust. People from either clan occasionally waved and greeted them as they walked.

“So this is it,” Deon said. “It’s the big day! You ready?”

Skrili nodded. “The training definitely helped,” she said. “And you didn’t snore last night, so I was actually able to get enough sleep.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t kick me for once, so I did too,” Deon retorted.

“I had my fill of kicking you every time I defeated you in the desert,” came Skrili’s retaliation.

Deon laughed, and Skrili smiled briefly. Between all of their training together and spending each night in such close quarters, they had grown more comfortable with each other. Deon realized he was right to ask Skrili to be his teammate—not only was she a better fighter, constantly beating him and stretching him to get stronger, but he found he enjoyed her very mellow company.

It was still hard to read her at times, but he guessed she appreciated him as well. At the very least, she hadn’t told him otherwise.

“Hey! Are you guys going to the tournament today?” a girl’s voice called.

Deon and Skrili turned to see the little girl from Hiroko’s clan, the same one they had met the day they arrived. She stood a block away with her parents.

“You bet we are!” Deon said back. “Well—I’m not fighting, but Skrili here is!”

The little girl pointed at Skrili defiantly. “Well, you’re going down!” she exclaimed. “Hiroko and Kotono are gonna win and rebuild my village!”

Skrili smiled kindly at her.

“I hope you win all your other fights, though…” the girl added a bit more shyly. Her parents began walking towards another street, so the girl followed. “See ya!” she added.

Deon and Skrili waved, before continuing on their way.

“Kotono and Hiroko put a lot on the line for this Conscious Competition, with that partnership thing they’re doing,” Deon thought aloud. “They have to win it all for it to happen, right?”

“That’s the agreement,” said Skrili. “But they know they can do it. That’s how good they are: I’ll be shocked if they don’t make it all the way to the championship.”

It was only another few minutes before they arrived at the outskirts of Crooked Plateau. They walked onto the wide, circular landing pad at the very edge of the city.

Skrili reached into her bag and pulled out the mint green dragon scale Gibblezgorv had given her. The day before, she used it to schedule their trip to Gloat Center. The simplicity of the process surprised Deon: all she did was use her finger to write out the details, under the instructions glowing on the inside of the scale. She said it accepted payment through her TeamTrack information.

Now, it displayed a dragon-shaped dot following a line, which led to another dot towards the bottom. The dragon icon was most of the way to the end.

“We’re a bit early—he should be here soon,” said Skrili.

Sure enough, after only a short while, they heard the flapping of massive wings. Soon Gibblezgorv came into view in the sky above. He swooped towards the landing pad gracefully, giving them a wave. Once he was above it, he plopped down with a grunt. The impact shook the ground.

“My little friends Skrili and Deon!” Gibblezgorv greeted. “Thank you for giving me something to do—I haven’t had a trip since our last one!”

“Hey, Gibblezgorv!” Deon said as he approached the elderly dragon.

“So…we’re headed to Gloat Center, are we?” noted Gibblezgorv as he crouched low to allow them to mount his saddle. “Are you two attendees, or participants?”

“Both,” answered Skrili as she climbed up. “I’m fighting one last time with my old teammate.”

“Oh, then this is quite the final fight, indeed,” noted Gibblezgorv. “Perhaps I’ll buy a ticket.”

Once Deon was settled behind Skrili, he put his arms around her to prepare for their takeoff. He hoped now that he had done it once, it wouldn’t be quite as terrifying.

“Well friends, we’ll be there in a few short hours,” Gibblezgorv said back to them. “I’ll have to mind the traffic, but I know a few shortcuts. Now—unfortunately, I’m required to say all this again: please remain sitting in the saddle at all times…”

As Gibblezgorv finished reciting the instructions, Deon braced himself.

“…And lastly, enjoy yourself! We’re off!”

Gibblezgorv shot straight up into the sky with even less forewarning than last time. Again, Deon felt a sinking in his stomach as he tried to scream, and he could hear Skrili burst out laughing like before.

Luckily for Deon, Gibblezgorv didn’t ascend for as long as their first takeoff. With several strong flaps of his wings, they were on their way to Gloat Center. Deon watched the plateaus disappear behind him as Gibblezgorv activated his magical windshield.

As they flew across the clear sky, Skrili took out her TeamTrack and logged in. Deon looked on while she messaged Pang to say they were on their way.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit envious: he had to merely watch while Skrili and Pang fought in a massive consciousness tournament. But he knew his heart was set on doing this too, one day.

What bothered him even more was that right when he and Skrili were officially about to begin their career together, Pang swooped in to interrupt it. She put his exciting future with her on hold.

It’s to save Phillip…Deon had to remind himself. He seems like an alright guy…and I shouldn’t resent Skrili for trying to save someone’s life.

“Hey, you got this,” he decided to say to Skrili. “You’re gonna kick butt.”

She looked a bit flustered, but he noticed a small smile as she turned away. “Thanks,” she said.

~

After a few hours, Deon noticed something strange in the sky. He was about to ask if they were here, but he didn’t bother: this had to be Gloat Center.

Once they had pulled away from the desert area, most of the land up until now was grassy with small rivers. But now, near the horizon, the rivers all led to a vast and perfectly round body of water. This wasn’t the amazing part, however.

Above the water, countless white buildings and structures floated in the sky. Small dots of colorful lights twinkled on all of them, especially at their bases. At the very center floated the largest of them all: a round, dome-covered stadium. As they neared, Deon could read the words “Gloat Stadium” shining across it.

Many of the other buildings looked like smaller versions of Gloat Stadium—they were clearly smaller arenas to host more fights.

He could see the specks of people all around this floating center. Some were floating, themselves, probably using the same levitation bracelet Skrili had, some rode dragons, and others bustled about in the courts and walkways. There were festivities everywhere: food stands, games, and booths selling all kinds of merchandise.

Deon had never been so excited in is life. The only thing that could increase his utter bliss was if he was fighting in this Conscious Competition himself.

“This is gonna be insane!” Deon shouted as they neared Gloat Center.

As Gibblezgorv drew close to the buildings, he began to swoop and turn in all kinds of directions. There were other dragons all around, but he appeared to be following a different path, avoiding much of the air traffic.

“You know,” Gibblezgorv started as he twisted past a building. “Back in my slightly younger days, I flew Scoknee Mitchegrin and Ghoul Spencer to a few Conscious Competitions here.”

Skrili seemed just as unfamiliar with these names as Deon.

“You know, the famous consciousness team?” he tried. “Well, they were a little before your time…this was about two hundred years ago, after all. But I flew for them during several of the Competitions they won.”

“That’s awesome!” Deon commented.

“Now, I wonder…am I carrying another future champion on my back?” he pondered joyfully.

Skrili didn’t say anything.

Deon patted her shoulder. “You absolutely are!” he declared. “Actually two, if you give me a while.”

“Ah, youthful spirit!” Gibblezgorv laughed.

Soon he took a much-unexpected swoop straight up. Once he flew above the surface of the nearest structure, Deon looked over: they were right beside the floating ground hosting Gloat Stadium. With one more flap, Gibblezgorv dropped onto the white stone pavement. People nearby stepped away respectfully to give him space.

Deon hurried out of the saddle and hopped straight down, managing not to land flat on his face this time. Skrili followed quietly.

“As always, my friends, you may use the scale to contact me for another flight!” Gibblezgorv reminded them. “And thank you for the generous tip, Skrili. Perhaps I’ll use it to buy a ticket if you make it to the Gloat Stadium fights!”

“We’ll see you soon,” Skrili confirmed.

“Have a good one, old-timer!” added Deon with a big wave.

Gibblezgorv leaped back into the sky as he waved back, and then he whirled away.

“Alright! Where do we go?! When does the fighting start?!” Deon asked, filled with eagerness.

“Tomorrow,” Skrili explained composedly. “We have to meet up with Pang so we can sign in. They shouldn’t be far…” She took out her TeamTrack to send Pang a message.

Deon looked around, still in awe of everything. There was so much activity—so many consciousnesses. It was like leaving Tailpiece meant discovering paradise.

“Oh my God, you two are too cute!” he heard a familiar voice exclaim. Pang and Phillip emerged from the crowd, heading towards them. “Flying in together like that, with your nice tans and everything…I can’t!” Pang added.

As they met midway, Deon noticed Phillip was glaring into his eyes very intensely.

“Um…hey, man,” Deon said.

Phillip continued to glare unblinkingly, his fists clenched.

Okay then…thought Deon.

“Goodie, the gang’s all hear!” Pang exclaimed. “Alright guys, the Preliminary Rounds start tomorrow. Let’s get this party started!”