With a punch to the face, Sentience crumbled and fell with Elena landing next to her. Though before Elena could strike her again, Sentience restrains her with several chains and drags her away. Elena's hair started shedding off its color. Though before she was forced to forget she would wrap threads around her hair, she's now forgotten how to.

"I let you go and this is how you thank me?", she said as the chains loosened. Strangely, Sentience showed no hostility. Because she had achieved her goal, there was nothing hindering her from leaving and pretending as if nothing happened.

Elena just got back onto her feet confused and frustrated as she realized that her own will wasn't enough to break free from the illusions. Not aware of her having grown tired from the mental strain and memories she may have lost in the progress, she tried to strike Sentience once again. With no coordination, no recollection of her magical abilities, and no recollection of the weapons she used before she lost her memories, she stood no chance against her foe.

Disinterested, calm, and tired, Sentience evaded her punches and held onto her wrists. After a deep breath, she asserted, "You're back to square one. Fighting now won't get you anywhere."

Almost about to tear up, Elena kept pushing. She kept trying but all she did was look like a fool who desperately tried to change something she couldn't change. Finally accepting total defeat after a minute of struggle, she backed off and grabbed her unconscious companion.

"If you listen, I'll give you back some wisdom you've lost," Sentience said.

"So now you're going to toy with me?! You have what you want! He's probably as wise as a toddler while I don't even know how my magic works! What else do you want?", Elena yelled as a response. Awkwardly waiting for Elena to calm down, they glared at each other. Elena, after a long minute of deep breaths, was forced to comply as this may be the only way she'll get her powers back.

"Fine! Say it! I've nothing else left to lose anyway!"

As soon as she said that, Elena dropped Liam as great headaches plagued her. Going from not knowing anything about her magic to knowing everything was overwhelming. As such, Sentience decided to remove most of them again as they caused anguish to Elena.

"I wasn't expecting that. I'm sorry," she said with a much softer tone. Helping her back up and checking up on Liam's pulse, she finally invited Elena into her barrier.

After being blinded by light, Elena found herself sitting on a stool. In front of her sat Sentience. With both of their stools frozen in air, she gazed below and looked at the massive sea she could find no end to. Directly beneath them was a dark vortex while above was a hurricane.

"Why I'm here... Why I took away your memories... Where exactly a divine key is located... What's going on in the outside world... You can choose from two of those questions and I'll answer them as far as I'm allowed to. That's all I have to tell you."

Elena, starting to seethe in rage once again, calmed herself down before she could explode. She uttered, "What's the point of this?" Deeply frustrated and just about ready to kill herself after such devastating losses, she simply cannot endure standing in front of the victor.

Silence...

"What's going on in the outside world?", Elena asked concerned about the utterly useless council, Prometheia, Hellfire, and Alpha, as well as Franky and Emma.

"The world has changed. Starting off with your two-faced council, all of them are fine. Raven is in critical condition while Sylvia and Daisy are busy writing reports and attending meetings while you are away. Several other Dream Catchers you don't know have appeared and pretty much trespass onto your territory. Prometheia and your juniors are fine. Hellfire suffered some minor injuries but he's fine already." Nonchalantly and still uninterested, she decided to hurry up. Short on time as she had some other business to attend to, she decided to answer all questions at once.

"I took away your memories because it leaves you fatigued and vulnerable. I was a slave to a cruel but incredibly powerful person that would allow me to roam free as soon as I do take out a nemesis of hers. Just recently a divine key settled in Danakil Depression, Ethiopia. Cover the area with your threads and you'll notice there's a point where your magic just turns off."

As soon as she quickly ran down all questions, she let her domain disperse, grabbed Elena's arm, and started imprinting something on it.

"Too late, huh?", someone arrogantly declared. Elena held something within her right hand. Not knowing what exactly it was, she stared at it for a couple of seconds only to realize that this was a severed arm that had been petrified.

Knowing that something is amiss, she tried to reach for Liam. Within seconds, the ground beneath her rose and swallowed her whole. Dropping into a world below, she caught herself falling upwards in a mirrored world. Meanwhile, several beings were lurking within this world just about ready to snatch her.

This world was perfectly mirroring Elena's home planet. However, unlike her home planet, it was perfectly silent. The homes that were destroyed, the vehicles that had flipped over... Everything returned to normal. However, something, maybe even everything, is wrong. Falling back down she wonders what had happened as everything becomes blurry. As such, she falls unconscious.

"Hey!", someone yelled out.

"Hey! Can you hear me?", said that very same young man.

Slowly but surely, she regains her functions. Lying within the arms of someone she deemed familiar, she squinted trying to see something out of her blurry vision.

"Are you okay?", he asked frantically.

"I'm fine," Elena replied. "Thank you." Slowly making her way out of his arms, she looked up at the sun.

"You should get into the shade!", he said as people walked past them going about their business as usual. Standing in front of a coffee shop that seemed familiar, something still felt off.

Dragging her into the shop, Elena simply complies allowing him to lead her away. Everything still felt blurry and strange until she pulled away.

"What's your name again?", Elena asked. But she wouldn't expect the answer that would follow. Hearing his name felt strange and yet comforting.

"It's Alpha."

From there on out, she started adjusting to the world she's living in now. Everything was a lot more vibrant than before and gained detail. Though this world was fake, she'd never know as she had forgotten what made her Elena. Still, she felt strange all around.

"So you found her after she suffered from heatstroke and was fine after a coffee?", Franky asked in disbelief. Though he was Alpha's friend in reality, here he was Alpha's younger brother.

"Yeah. I know. It was strange but she could stay with us for a while, right?", Alpha said as Elena stood by awaiting their verdict.

"And you seriously don't know anything about what you were doing before you got here?", Franky asked Elena.

She could only shake her head. There was nothing she knew about how she ended up in this city. Elena couldn't remember the relatives she once had, the friends that once were by her side, the mentor that had died in battle, or the Authority of Sentience that brought about this memory loss.

But she was happy. She could forget trauma and despair and start over. It's the ideal situation for her.

"I could help out somewhere and cover for my part of the bills while I try to find out what had happened to me! Just give me some time and I'll lea-"

"As long as you don't bring trouble to my brother, you can stay." With approval from both Franky and Alpha, she can rest at ease.

"Ok, then! Have you had dinner yet?", Elena asked them. The apartment became far more vivid than before. Colors that had been dull just a second ago, furniture that lacked detail and contrasts, and the general vibe all felt more lively. Though it felt familiar, it also felt as if she had never been here before.

A linoleum floor with a rather simple golden new moon and blue night sky pattern spread throughout the house. With Franky showing her around, she's strangely overjoyed despite his rather rude side handed comments.

The living room was rather simple. A small glass table, a hideous, old, and brown couch bought off a flea market, an armchair in green, and a wooden closet filled to the brim with folders. Though something felt amiss, she kept following Franky on to the next room.

The bedroom Alpha and Franky slept in was rather cramped. Two beds, a desk directly in front of the window with two laptops and a tablet on top, a backpack within one corner of the room, and another closet to the right. Alpha's bed had rather light shades while Franky went with primarily blue, and a little silver and gold. A guitar was mounted to Franky's bed. The curtains were a necessary compromise as Alpha wanted to go for something light while Franky always wanted the same blue color palette he has on everything else. A light blue one satisfied them both.

The second bedroom was meant as a training room. Alpha usually spends a lot of time on the running machine while Franky uses all of the weights, the running machine, the kettlebells, and the jump rope. For now, Elena is supposed to sleep on the couch that needs to be replaced.

The kitchen is rather small and narrow. All white, there's only enough space to place a small wooden table with two chairs in it.

"I'll do my best to contribute while I'm here!", Elena promised them. Just as she had wished, this dreamworld created the perfect encounter that would lead to a family and a brand new life full of bliss and ignorance.

However, within the remains of Munich, it was the once appraised Phantom that was running for his life. Carrying Elena as he ran through rubble and distorted space, he tried making it out alive. Everything had lost its color and simply remained in shades of gray as if someone put on a filter.

"What's going on? What is this place?! Where the hell am I?!", he yelled as he ran for his life. He couldn't remember anything except for a name. Calling himself both Chronos and Liam he ran for his life with Elena's safety in mind. However, the Authority of Stars wouldn't allow that. Tearing what is left of this city to shreds, Liam is sucked into the skies above and vanishes within.

Emerging just a few seconds later upon a new landscape, he still was fleeing from a Demon that hindered his escape. However, he had to take in the changes to this world. Landing on the edge of an unending spiral, he felt as if he had entered an alternate dimension. As if the sky was dead, there were no stars. No living beings were to be spotted. The demon fell below into the abyss. The demon made out of black clay simply resembling the average man fell to its demise and could pursue Liam no longer. Above was the spherical void Liam fell out of. As the void itself was a kilometer wide and the conical spiral going so far down, it would take half a day to have Liam return to Munich.

However, several black eyeballs formed around them hindering them from making progress. Through fear, Liam activates his ability to stop time and starts running. Though he didn't know that he did just stop time, he ran for his life questioning everything that was going on.

"What's with this creepy place? And what's with this girl I'm carrying? None of it makes any sense!", he thought as he ran at top speed. Not questioning his ability to keep running for hours and why the eyes had stopped moving, he kept running as he panicked. Stopping time also drained his energy and strained his body, something that he could ignore for a while.

As soon as he reached the top of the spiral, he fell upwards holding onto Elena making his way back out. While he fell upwards, he was submerged within the abyss only seeing himself and the person he was holding. Within he started to relax and the strain of stopping time hit him hard. His heart stopped beating as he made it out the other end of the sphere. A kilometer above ground, he kept flying upward as momentum kept carrying him, only to fall back down shortly after as he let go of Elena. His consciousness faded away before he could be saved.

"Railgun is within a coma while Phantom lies asleep out of exhaustion. Isn't that utter defeat?", asked a young woman at the age of 20.

"Had we anticipated that it could come so far, I would have intervened as soon as I had known." It was a seemingly young man, a Dream Catcher that placed second among the rankings. Had he gotten involved, all of this would have been over in a few minutes. Instead, it dragged on with one of the two Authorities disappearing.

"Then you won't mind if I take a look myself? Not only did they overestimate their own strength but also did they get common people involved. Things like these call for proper punishment, right?"

Aqua, a Dream Catcher that once lived within Bavaria and even had been responsible for a part of it, was intending to go back and keep her eyes on the situation to see whose fault it was that this disaster escalated as far as it did.