The tree branch continued bending steadily under an unwelcome weight.

“I suppose we can climb down from here,” said Zayza, brushing aside her long, cloud-dampened hair. She eyed their distance from the grassy ground with reluctance.

“Sorry—the dragon disappeared on its own,” Lammy explained.

Thankfully, when Lammy’s imagined dragon had vanished, they weren’t far above the ground of a tree-covered hill. Just as his relief that they escaped Raznizu and Xinderzin set in, and just as they neared the safety of the grass, the colorful dragon had dismissed itself. The warmth and glow in Lammy’s eyes had vanished, as well.

Lammy made his way to the ground quickly, having climbed many a tree in Tailpiece with Deon. He waited patiently for the wary Zayza, providing guidance along the way. Finally, she touched down, almost pulled off her feet from her travel bag’s momentum.

Zayza straightened up and let out a decisive sigh. “Alright, well, we should probably summon the dragon once more. Our pursuers can’t have gone far.”

She waited expectantly.

“Yeah…so about that…” started Lammy. “I have no idea how I did that. I’m starting to figure out a connection between my imagining abilities and my stress, so I think I have to be really stressed for it to work again.”

Zayza brought a hand to her chin ponderingly. “Ah, what if I told you that Raznizu and Xinderzin are probably going to try kidnapping us again at any second?”

Lammy searched deep for that power surge he’d felt. But it was nowhere. While Zayza’s reminder was certainly stressful, it didn’t reignite his heightened state.

He shrugged. “It’s not enough.”

After a moment, Zayza nodded. “Let’s be off, then,” she said.

Lammy’s feet dragged as he followed her hasty pace. Just like that, he went from transcending anything he thought he could ever imagine, to being useless and scared again.

“I’m sorry, Zayza,” he uttered.

But she laughed, warmly and tenderly. Zayza turned to show a smile, and slowed her walk until the glum Lammy caught up.

“What?” he wondered.

“Let’s see…” Zayza thought aloud, looking towards the cloudy sky. “How many times are we at, now?”

“For what?”

“First, there was the time I almost froze in that storm outside Our Snowy Village…” she recalled.

“I mean—the wall I imagined almost fell on us…” Lammy pointed out dismissively.

“Then there was Felix and Snowdust,” continued Zayza. “Then all of those dreadful customers in Food Town…and then you escaped us from Fewpar and Najinzu. You crossed over into the Dream World, and then teleported us to safety.”

“Yeah, but…for some of those I didn’t really know what I was doing—”

“And then you protected us in the championship, and just now, you imagined a revered creature and flew us from our enemies. So that makes…six times so far.”

Blushing, Lammy didn’t know what else to do but shrug in silence. “So you’re saying, if I can do all that, I can make the dragon come back?” he tried.

Again, Zayza let out a short, patient laugh. It was as weathered and weary as it was warmhearted.

“No, silly,” she said. “I’m saying you’re allowed to be weak every once in a while.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder. In that instant, Lammy could feel tears well up all at once. He adamantly held them in.

“Sometimes…given all you’ve done, and how courageous you’ve been in our travels, I forget how young you are,” Zayza added gently. “It reminds me of something…or someone…but I can’t remember exactly who.”

A soft wind chilled them as their still-drying clothes fluttered against their skin.

“None of this should be happening to you,” said Zayza. “So please, don’t ask too much of yourself.”

Lammy sniffed, no longer able to hold back his tears. Zayza paused their walk to embrace him as he cried reluctantly.

“I promise we’ll make it to Deon,” she whispered, her own tears now falling.

~

The next several days of travel were uneventful.

Entirely contradictory to their expectations, Raznizu and Xinderzin had never returned that day. Actually, Lammy and Zayza never traced a hint of their presence anywhere, despite staying on high alert day and night.

While the lack of danger was welcome, its cost was an unceasing unease that they could be ambushed at any given second. Lammy and Zayza moved hastily all day, and developed a rotating schedule at night for scouting duty. Zayza kept watch for roughly two hours as Lammy slept, then they switched repeatedly until the earliest sign of dawn.

After that, it was feet to the road.

Aside from the diminished rest, this approach came with a worse complication: this way, Lammy could no longer accompany Zayza in the Dream World at night. If that treacherous memory monster was to find her, and she couldn’t get out in time, there was no way Lammy could help.

Thankfully, as she shared, her newfound approach of warping to various discreet locations across the Dream World was still working.

But how long could this keep up?

They evaded hunters in their waking and their sleep, and Lammy feared eventually, one was bound to catch them.

Kotono and Hiroko kept in touch each day as often as possible—especially after learning of Lammy and Zayza’s near capture. They always stayed to talk for what little time they had, before their professional obligations forced them to leave.

According to them, Raznizu had been a vague colleague of Zayza’s—though she didn’t seem to know him as well as Fewpar and Najinzu, since they had no more insight than that. All they could conclude was that he was likely serving the same mission.

But Hiroko and Kotono’s further observations gave Lammy and Zayza hope—which at this point, was their most crucial resource. Judging by Zayza’s descriptions of their current surroundings, Hiroko estimated the dragon chase had pushed them much farther along the trail to Fiction Country: by roughly a full day.

It was day eleven now, and as long as the champions’ estimates were correct, they would reach Fiction Country soon—perhaps even by dusk.

Lammy swung his travel bag to his front and shuffled through it as they kept their steady pace. What his hand felt only made his stomach grumble louder than before.

“Almost out,” he uttered.

“I am, as well,” said Zayza. “We should have just enough leftovers to get us to Fiction Country if we’re vigilant. Then we’ll have to restock in town.”

“But our earrings won’t work anymore,” Lammy reminded her.

“Oh—that’s right.”

They both sighed, their hunger fatigue fighting against their rushed speed. Lammy scanned the sky and the ground around them for Raznizu and Xinderzin as he’d been doing habitually for the past several days. But still, they were nowhere to be seen.

“I remember now,” said Zayza softly.

Those three words sent a chill down Lammy’s spine.

“Wait—seriously? Everything?”

“No—I just mean, I remember why your courage reminded me of someone…well, sort of,” she clarified. “As I mentioned the other day.”

Lammy felt air return to his lungs in utter relief. He wasn’t prepared to learn the truth of Zayza’s past so suddenly.

“Oh, right,” he said. “Who?”

“I’m not entirely sure…it wasn’t a full memory I gained,” shared Zayza. “But I used to know a young girl. I don’t have details…but I know she was tenacious, and bold. She didn’t realize her own brilliance, but she was unafraid to pit herself against the adults. Not unlike you, Lammy.”

Lammy failed to conceal his returning blush.

“I wish I could remember her face…” Zayza uttered.

“Well, it’s a good sign that you remember someone like that from a positive memory,” Lammy realized. “Between Kotono, Hiroko, and this girl, it seems like you have a lot of good people in your life—which says a lot about who you were in the past.”

But Zayza looked around oddly. “Oh—yes. From a positive memory,” she repeated.

As she returned her attention to the trail silently, Lammy kept his eyes on her a while longer.

Huh? What’s with that reaction? he wondered.

~

Despite their grandest efforts, their hunger had overcome their ambition that day, and they didn’t see the Fiction Country border before nightfall.

But only a few hours into the next sunny morning, their checkpoint was clear over the horizon: a towering, picket fence-shaped wall that stretched as far as they could see. Its massive stature dominated the sky, and specks of distant dragons lowered to the ground before it to drop off their passengers.

In the very center at the end of the Fantasy Country trail, Lammy observed what he deduced was the Worldline Kotono had explained to him. Its colorful glow was distinct, even under the sunlight from this far away.

Lammy and Zayza had passed by many more travelers today than any other. The foot traffic and sky traffic alike were increasing the closer they got. While it reassured them of how near they were at last, it also made scouting for Raznizu and Xinderzin that much trickier.

While having a destination in sight inspired them to increase their rush, it wasn’t without reluctance: once they stepped past that Worldline, their earrings would become useless. Anyone who remembered Zayza would recognize her.

It kept crossing Lammy’s mind: Xinderzin referred to Zayza as ‘royalty,’ condescending as his tone was.

Could it be true?

Lammy kept eyeing his companion, who had grown progressively more withdrawn into her thoughts with each day.

He’d travelled long enough with her now to know something was up.

“So uh…is the Dream World still going okay?” he checked, once they weren’t nearby any other travellers.

Zayza hesitated. “Oh—um—yes, it’s been fine,” she ultimately stammered.

“No run-ins with the dark memories?”

“N—no, not at all.”

He knew this was going nowhere, and besides, they had approached another cluster of consciousnesses moving at a slower pace. To be extra cautious, Lammy dropped it for now.

By late afternoon, they finally reached the border. They neared the Worldline within the fence steadily, and Lammy watched as consciousnesses before them disappeared into its light.

He felt for his earring, bidding its power one last goodbye.

All the while, Zayza was still silent. There were travellers before and behind them, so Lammy spoke lowly.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but…you’re really bad at lying,” he told her.

Her green eyes met his with hesitancy.

“So…the memory shards found you?” Lammy asked.

“I’m…I’m sorry, Lammy…” she uttered. “That memory about the girl…it was from one of the dark memory shards. But that was the only one, I promise.”

Lammy sighed. “You can always ask if you need backup next time. We decided we’re in this—”

“Together,” Zayza finished, nodding to remind herself. “I know…I’m sorry.”

There were only a dozen people between them and the Worldline, now. Lammy felt this discussion was far from over, his concern very much unquenched. But now simply wasn’t the time.

Within moments, the duo stepped through the immersive colors. Lammy was surprised to feel nothing as they passed into Fiction Country, leaving their magical disguises behind.

They both lifted their hoods, covering their faces as much as possible.

While he was begrudged to find yet another line leading to another giant fence, this instantaneous new setting dominated Lammy’s attention. Between the time-hop to later in the warm afternoon, to the darker, less bold or vibrant colors here, everything was different. This transition was initially jarring, similar to when they’d fallen into Fantasy Country from Realistic Fiction Country weeks ago.

He was sure not to let his eyes drift for too long, however, keeping his head low. There were much more people in line here. His heart raced, the reality of their constant danger now sinking in even more tangibly.

Zayza tapped his hand subtly, catching his uneasy eyes with hers. She gave a brief nod, not uttering a word.

Somehow, Lammy felt a peculiar essence of assurance and comfort emitting from her. It wasn’t the nod or eye contact alone—there was something deeper, something alive.

They could do this.

His slight boost in confidence wavered once he realized where this line was headed: two guards stood analyzing each incoming and outgoing traveler, group by group. Soon it was Lammy and Zayza’s turn, and Lammy’s heart pounded into his throat. They both hid their eyes behind their hoods.

The two tall guards stared at them intently, seemingly veering through them. Their grips on their black metallic staffs remained tight and ready.

Lammy gulped.

“No weapons or illegal items,” one guard declared. “You’re free to enter.”

With a start, Lammy followed Zayza forward. But the other guard’s gaze remained set on them as they passed through the giant fence’s plain gate.

“She must be a famous pro or something,” he overheard the guard mutter to his peer.

“Mm. They’re always trying to avoid recognition. That reminds me—I saw Skrili Kay a few shifts ago.”

“You know I don’t follow the League enough to know names.”

The rest of their discussion faded as Lammy and Zayza continued on. But Lammy smiled under his hood—not only did they get through, but if that guard saw Skrili, then that meant Deon was with her. And that meant Hiroko and Kotono had them on the right track.

The next station would prove to be less than a challenge. Lammy gathered the scale cards they’d earned from the Phoenix and exchanged them for Fiction Country’s parchment points at the designated booth, as Hiroko had recommended. With Lammy doing it, Zayza could avoid another interaction altogether.

As they stepped beyond the archway and onto the cracked sidewalk of Fiction Country’s Conscious City, Lammy felt his whole body ease up. Perhaps he’d been worrying far too much about this portion of their journey.

He pounced when Zayza suddenly clutched his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” he wondered.

Her eyes were fixated on the sidewalk across the road. Lammy looked forward, having to peak past bulky, loud four-wheeled vehicles and flocks of pedestrians.

“Run,” Zayza whispered, her face pale.

In the exact instant, his eyes fell on the object of her terror. Amongst the bustling crowd, still as a looming statue, stood Raznizu.

And he was gazing right back at them.