The bruised and bloody faced Astra turned around as she looked at Anna with a shocked expression. She didn't even pay attention to her surroundings turning back to normal.
Normally, Astra's hallucinations wouldn't really be affected by the 'outside world'. That is, nothing that is actually happening in reality can impede itself onto the hallucination.
But shockingly, Anna's appearance did exactly that. This allowed Astra to see her smile—a real smile that penetrated Astra's illusory surroundings.
"What…why did this happen? If the hallucinations truly are a message, does that mean that the 'messenger' wanted me to see Anna's smile? Or is it that Anna is more special than I thought? What could this be….no, what do the black dolls even mean exactly? And why wasn't Anna depicted as one just now…?" Astra nearly scratched her head as her mind tried to race for solutions.
"Could it be that she's naturally resistant due to my hallucinations because of her dream and illusion powers? At first, Anna's voice wasn't drowned out by the white noise. Then, as of now, I was able to see her as she is. Her naturally being resistant does seem like a likely theory…"
Astra's face began to relax as she thought of something else.
"Or…could it be that the reason why I was able to see her, is because she smiled…"
During this, because Astra's mouth was agape and her eyes widened, Anna had involuntarily mimicked her movements.
"No…I don't know what my face looks like right now. Maybe she saw a weird facial expression?" Anna quickly covered her mouth with her hands. At that moment, Astra's countenance returned to normal, and she closed her eyes.
After a deep breath, she opened them and looked at Anna.
"Sorry for appearing shocked. I was just thinking of some things that I'm not sure you'd understand."
"I see…" Anna didn't ask further. Instead, she looked around and saw that most of the onlookers and most of the people recording were gone. There were some people walking by that had casted their gazes on the scene, but they minded their own business.
"I heard some people who were here earlier were calling for the ambulance. In that case, all I have to do is wait for the ambulance to arrive at the scene." Astra's throat began to hurt as she struggled to sigh.
Though, in the corner of her eye, she saw something peculiar behind Anna.
"Hm?" Astra raised an eyebrow slightly as she looked down at the unconscious man.
She saw that his skin looked parched like the desert. Pale, yellow liquid that looked almost ethereal was running down his face, through his sleeved hoodie, and down to his hands.
His eyes were beginning to open slightly, and his body was starting to twitch. In the whites of his eyes, blood red veins streaked across it, almost blending in with his red pupils.
Then, a word had sounded from this man's mouth, and it was almost silent:
"No…"
An indescribable, sunken feeling had scurried down Astra's spine. Her body was giving her all sorts of warning signs about this sight!
"Run!"
As adrenaline was still coursing through her veins, Astra didn't hesitate to grab Anna's hand.
"Sh*t, this still hurts…!" Naturally, the residual pain that permeated throughout her body struggled to make her even begin moving!
"Ah!" Anna shrieked as she felt and saw Astra suddenly grab her hand.
Astra didn't care. With Anna, she began to quickly walk away from the man, fastening her pace with each step.
"What happened?" Anna quickly recollected herself as she attempted to find an understanding of the situation.
"Look behind you." Astra responded quickly.
Anna turned her head around and saw a man who was on his knees.
His twitching became even faster and more exaggerated as his limbs started to extend themselves.
His hoodie and pants were almost completely ripped apart, as his body began showing patches of exposed "skin" that looked like molten lava.
His muscles kept getting larger and larger, as if they wanted to reach out into the sky and dig into the ground.
His face looked almost unrecognizable. Pieces of molten skin began to fall off from his cheekbones, eyes, and forehead. It was also churning, as if it was struggling to take back its original form.
"Gah! Cough…" Anna gagged out of extreme disgust as her face contorted into a horrified expression. She immediately looked back as she covered her mouth with her available hand, preventing herself from vomiting.
Ring!
A faint ringing sound was heard in both Astra's and Anna's ears!
Crack…crack…
The sounds of glass, concrete and metal cracking could've been heard in the distance!
"ARGHHHHHH!" A terrifying screech was heard from the same direction!
"YOUUU!" A horrifying, drawn out word had filled the minds of the two retreating ladies!
Nobody present had understood the language that this word belonged to. However, it was said with such a malicious, murderous intent that it made everyone who heard it had their body hairs stand up.
Naturally, this noise had caught the attention of everyone nearby. Like before, many bystanders and pedestrians had stopped in their tracks, attempting to figure out the reason for this feeling.
Some of these people were going to work. Some were heading to the personal trains, others were even on the highway and stopped their vehicles to observe under the faint neon purple light.
All of these people were living their normal lives.
"Is that a monster?" A man on the neon lit highway had curiously stared at the creature that looked as if it emerged from the core of a volcano.
"Oh God of Dreams!" A woman who was next to Astra had screamed as she dropped to her knees in terror.
"Someone call the Dominion! Now!" The holographic projection of the owner had shouted in a panicked tone to the other onlookers.
As for Astra, when she heard this, she didn't even look back to see the state of the man who was once unconscious, Omar.
She didn't even allow her thoughts to race to analyze what in the world was wrong with this man. She didn't even give herself the chance to regret finishing him off instead of knocking him out.
Immediately, she was darting across the sidewalk, heading towards the Dreamer's Construction building. She had zoomed past many of the pedestrians who were just now beginning to sprint away from the scene.
She had moved so fast that the pedestrians moving in the same direction as her had looked as if they were a blur in Astra's vision.
She had moved so fast that she was comparable to the vehicles zooming past on the highway.
She had moved so fast that Anna couldn't even keep her footing and was merely flowing in the wind.
Despite being injured, this was the fastest she's ever ran in her life. She didn't want to make the same mistake as before. She didn't stay.
However, in her peripherals, Astra had seen a blur that shouldn't be there. Instead of being at her side, it was above her.
It looked like molten lava that had just erupted from a volcano. Even though its face couldn't have been seen, Astra knew that this thing was smiling arrogantly.
Without wasting any time, Astra had started to decelerate to not allow herself to slam into this creature that had intercepted her.
CRASH!
The creature named Omar had landed directly in front of Astra and Anna, causing glass and dust fragments to spray apart in the shockwave.
"Sh*t!" Instinctually, Astra had dug her feet into the concrete and metal to stop herself completely. This had completely ripped apart her shoes.
Anna had also found her footing when Astra had stopped, finally laying her feet on the ground.
At the same time, both ladies had looked forward and then looked up and saw a petrifying sight.
It was a massive creature that was no more than a meter away from them.
This monster was so massive that it had completely blocked the velvet crescent moon from Astra's and Anna's sight, casting a faint shadow on them.
It had its skin cracked and broken like magma. Faint yellow light was being emitted out of each crack, and its skin was flowing as if every fabric of it was alive. Its face was completely deformed, as the "lava" on its face kept trying to churn to keep its form.
The only thing that appeared human was the large, red eyes.
"Blegh!" Anna immediately held her stomach and vomited out a strange, clear liquid. "Cough…cough…" Anna coughed as she held her head down, her arms clutching her waist.
Anna had gone past her limits. She was on the verge of breaking down.
Astra, however, had stared at the monster with an emotionless gaze. It had looked like seeing such a sight had barely affected her.
Though this meant nothing. Inwardly, Astra knew she had no tricks. By all intents and purposes, she would most likely die here.
"Die." Out of something that appeared to look like a mouth, an ugly word that no one present understood had reared its head.
In that instant, a large rotating circle that had emitted a faint yellow light had appeared in front of Anna and Astra.
As the circle was rotating, strange symbols had materialized on the circle, also appearing to rotate along with it.
These symbols looked as if they had contained immense knowledge.
"Ha…" Astra couldn't help but curl her lips up anxiously as she looked at impending doom.
VWOOOM!
Immediately after Astra had such thoughts, a large yellow light had quickly protruded from the circle and symbols.
Astra didn't even close her eyes. All she saw in front of her was a large yellow light completely blocking her vision.
One second…two seconds…
Three seconds, and the light had never reached them.
"Something's wrong…" Astra couldn't help but look confused as she continued to stare at the light that had appeared frozen.
"Huh…?" With grimaced teeth and half closed eyes, Anna finally stopped looking at the ground and looked up towards the light.
In that same instant, the light began to suddenly retract itself. Immediately, it disappeared, as if it had never existed.
Not only did the light disappear, but so did the circles and the symbols!
All that was left was the molten monster that had appeared as if it was frozen in time! Even the features on its body that were churning and moving had also completely stopped!
Astra and Anna looked in disbelief. They were speechless, no…they were thoughtless!
They couldn't help but be shocked!
The monster that was going to kill them in less than a second had been completely stopped!
Before Astra and Anna could even react or process what had happened fully, the monster had also completely disappeared. It was as if it never existed.
…
In a distant, foggy realm that no human could see or have access to.
A large, velvet full moon hung up in the atmosphere. It took up at least half of the sky, and was the only source of illumination in this realm.
A large yellow light, a circle with many symbols on it, and a creature that appeared as if it was made out of magma had suddenly manifested in a random area in the fog. They all appeared frozen, as if no sense of time or entropy had existed in this realm.
Ting!
In an instant, the velvet full moon had turned into a crescent moon. The ends of the moon were touching, and in the middle of the moon existed a great, dark void.
Immediately, everything that was frozen in this realm got sucked into the middle of the great, dark void that rested within the moon.
…
In the outside world, before Astra and Anna could even register what had happened, a male voice had sounded behind them on the sidewalk.
"Miss Astra Sera and her companion. Both of you are now in temporary custody for questioning."
Both ladies turned around as they saw multiple men dressed in midnight blue metal armor that was covered by a neon purple exoskeleton. Their black helmets completely covered their faces as symbols of the velvet crescent moon were adorned in the center of them.
They had worn rifles that had streaks of neon purple light and were mechanically shifting at every move.
In the middle of their armor had the words inscribed: "Lunan Police".
As the police inspected the area, faint purple walls of light had been erected, surrounding the sidewalk. They had penetrated through the purple lit skyline. It appeared as if the purpose of these holographic walls were to prevent anyone who wasn't allowed from coming in or coming out.
In the instant the walls were erected, large neon aerial vehicles had hummed and hovered over the area, with one even descending onto the ground. On the side of each vehicle had the lit words: "Dreamkeepers Division."
Astra couldn't help but to continue to have her mouth agape at the scene. She was fascinated by the technology, but she had also felt so powerless.
As for Anna, her mouth was closed as her eyes were casted downwards, showing hints of sadness.
"Please come with us so we can treat your injuries. After your injuries are treated, we can proceed with the questioning." An officer who had an almost robotic voice spoke up as he approached behind the two ladies, attempting to handcuff them.
"There's no need. The threat here has already been taken care of." A deep, male voice rang throughout the space. It sounded ethereal, and it had an authoritative tone.
Immediately, all of the police officers, including the one attempting to handcuff Astra and Anna, looked in the direction of the voice. This made the two women also look in the direction of the voice, their eyes showing a sense of curiosity and confusion.
However, in the direction of the voice, there was no one present. It appeared as if the voice came from nowhere.
A short, eerie silence pierced the air as the officers anticipated the arrival of the voice. They immediately understood where this voice had come from.
As for the curious and confused Astra and Anna, they were standing there wondering what could possibly happen next.
As if it was practiced, all of the officers quickly bowed slightly as they held both of their hands to their chest in a strange monotonous motion.
"No, isn't this more than a little strange…this seems like something out of Star Wars!" Astra lampooned silently as she awaited the arrival of the voice.
Ring! Whoosh…
A piercing ringing sound had reverberated throughout the space as the surroundings quickly turned darker. Cold wind that seemed to come from nowhere blew through the atmosphere, fluttering Astra and Anna's hair and clothes.
The surrounded area warped slightly as if everything flowed like water. This caused all people present, except for the man, to feel extremely dizzy and hazy. It was as if they were dreaming, and they couldn't form coherent thoughts.
Out of thin air, a tall, masculine figure appeared, with his feet appearing first.
As he walked, his figure revealed himself from the bottom up, as if he was "loading" into reality.
When his figure fully appeared, the dark and warped surroundings had fully turned to normal and the ringing sound had completely disappeared.
"The use of those powers are much greater than Anna's…and he wasn't even trying. All he did was appear…who is this man, and why is he here…?" Astra couldn't help but have her body hairs rise up thinking about the implications.
Meanwhile, Anna, who was still thoughtless, looked at the man who had revealed himself.
He had a hooded robe that went all the way down to his ankles. It was a sleek black, and despite it being metallic, it happened to flow as if it was cloth.
The man didn't wear a hood, so his facial features were able to be seen without any obstructions.
He had midnight black hair that had bangs that covered his forehead. He had soft, fair and almost pale skin, and had high cheekbones with a sharp jawline. He had dark, almond shaped eyes and had a slight, cheeky smile on his face. His face was fair and young.
He had a soft, serene smile on his face. It was a comfortable smile, one that resembled a cozy winter night.
This man was one of the Saint of Dreams, one of the Leaders of the Dreamlanders.
His name was Saint Lucian Orpheus!