185 Three Hours Until Dawn (2)

***

"You found Gracie?!" Alicia sat down in shock.

From the other side of a comms screen, Larry nodded. "You said we had to find her. So I did."

"How?"

Larry shrugged. "She called me on the comms."

Alicia stared. "Wait. She has a {phone}?"

"She does now. She got the entire newbie package, badge, Comrade, vouchers... everything."

Sitting in a comms room at Ocean Tower, Alicia gulped. "Gracie has started her Journey on Nakama World using the Cult's rules."

"It's not all that bad. At least she doesn't seem as angry as you said she was. She seems to actually be enjoying herself. She was doing mission 9."

"What's mission 9?"

"Phone a friend using her watch." Larry said. "It has to be another Traveler on Nakama World and it seems she gets some vouchers for pet treats by completing it."

"You get items as a reward for {calling} someone?! How did she even get your contact?"

"She called her mom on Transplanar and her mom gave her my contact." Larry scratched his head. "I wonder why she called me, though?"

Three different reasons came to Alicia's mind right that instant, but she left it alone for now. What she said was, "So basically, she's all right?"

"She's fine. She's got three Comrades training in the Gym and doing fetch-quests already." Larry paused. "I hear she's even joined a Gym club."

"What's a Gym club?" Alicia blinked.

"A group of friends who train together to compete in tournaments." Larry told her. "She has a card with a list of Tournaments she needs to check off her list before her club promotes her."

"It's a Guild." Alicia said in a daze. "Not even an hour and she's already gotten into a Guild."

"She invited me to join." Larry admitted. "I don't know. I mean... the Order of Justice just disbanded, so... maybe. Want to join?"

"Actually..." Alicia made a decision on the spot. "I'm going to move on to Adventura. I'm going to register tonight."

"But there's an age limit! I can't go." Larry protested.

"There was." Alicia agreed. "But I'm in a comms center and one of the screens up front advertised that Adventura is lowering the age limit for 100 new Dreamers this week. I want to register you for that."

"I have to tell Jonah..." Larry mentioned.

"Wait, Larry..." Alicia winced. "Can you... not tell Jonah?"

Larry looked at her as if seeing something weird. "Why not?"

"Um... I kinda..." Alicia didn't know how to explain it. "I don't want to?"

"I want to." Larry said. "He's our friend! We always go together!"

Except that they didn't. Not now, not for a while now. Alicia wasn't very comfortable going around with Jonah any more. There were three reasons for that right at the top of Alicia's mind, but again, she didn't speak of them. "Fine. But I want to go around on my own for a bit."

"I thought you were going around with Colin." Larry said.

Alicia looked at her brother intently, sharply seeking out even a hint of mockery or complaint. But there was none. None at all. Her good-natured brother wasn't teasing her or anything. He wasn't upset. He was just saying.

"Yeah." Alicia admitted. "For now. Later on... who knows?"

And then from outside and inside the comms room, the sounds of bells started tolling. On every screen except the one Alicia paid for to call her brother, the emblem of three tightly clustered coniferous trees and a crown appeared.

Lynn was making her counter-broadcast.

Her face came on screen. "You are liars, Cult of Gaia. You have not met me in battle, much less captured me. Face me on the field and see if your strength can bring to pass what you so blatantly boast of! Unless you do, I will destroy your new Headquarters!"

Somewhere nearby, Alicia could almost hear Sora protesting, {"What? Lamico again?! Why us?! We just rebuilt the place!"}

Lynn's broadcast ended, and immediately afterward, the Cult's eye, crown and planet appeared and another face showed up. This guy was a long-faced fellow with tanned skin, perhaps in his late twenties or early thirties. He said, "We apologize for that interruption. It was a rogue broadcast. A maintenance crew is being sent to fix the problem. Until it is repaired, we will have to shut down local comms. Thank you for your patience."

And with that, all comms on Nakama World were completely disabled.

***

In the midst of all the running around and screaming, Colin and Alicia were able to board the ship leaving for the West side of the Crescent Continent. Though it was the same continent as his own Home Base, though it was the very continent he had started on, Colin had never been farther west than the Forest of Legends. He had never been to Boom Desert or Boom City.

The ship they boarded was a bit lost as to what to do at first, but pretty soon people started scrambling to get on board for some reason and the captain decided it was high time to set sail and never mind the schedule. They headed north-west directly toward Port Dolphin, without stopping by Turtle Island or Crabby Island on the way.

https://imgur.com/PTmiqW2

"One hour." Remarked Alicia as the ship went for it at a rather brisk speed. "Is it worth it? To spend an hour on a boat when we could just fly straight there? I know it's less likely to draw attention from the Cult, but a lot could happen in one hour. Lynn's entire battle could be over by then."

"Sora and Satrox have gone to help her. Satrox said some of the Knights would probably join in too. Something tells me it's going to be a very long battle." Colin said. "We're basically sneaking to Port Dolphin. It's not a good idea to show my face in the skies around a war zone when whole fleets of Cult Saucers are flying around here."

For a moment there, Alicia looked like she was about to say something snarky, something to tease Colin, like being surprised at wisdom coming from him of all people... but she looked at his face and she held her peace. Now really wasn't a good time.

"Do you regret it?" Alicia asked instead. Colin turned to her and regarded her seriously. "Do you regret having so little time here, having to move on when it seems we've barely even started in Nakama World?"

"It's hard not to." Colin admitted. "This world has so much potential, such huge possibilities..."

"{Had}." Alicia corrected. "The Cult's put an end to all that now."

"Had." Colin conceded. But then he paused. "Still, I have a feeling it will have that again. Maybe not tonight, maybe not next month, but some day, somehow, the true nature of Nakama World will surface again. There's something more here, something more to this Dreamworld than the laws people put on it. I'm not sure how to describe it, but somehow, this Dreamworld... it almost seems..."

"Alive." Alicia nudged him. "It has a life of its own? The Gaians would be happy to agree. They're the ones who say planets are gods."

"But a Dreamworld is not a planet." Colin said. "Remember Cody's Inner World? Somewhere, sometime ago, people were supposed to have their own Dreamworlds."

"What are you saying? Each Dreamworld is somebody's dream?" Alicia hesitated. "That's... a bit creepy. I mean... we've been Dreaming in Nakama World for weeks now. It's like saying we've been Dreaming somebody else's dream. Like we've been playing in someone else's head."

"More like someone else's house." Colin mentioned.

"Now you sound like Rita with her Tree Comrade as a moving Home Base. A Home Base that's alive."

Colin barked a laugh. "Wouldn't it be funny if Nakama World turned out to be the Dream of an actual plant in real-life?"

"Or like the Gaians would say, an actual planet?" Alicia mused.

Colin's laugh ended abruptly. "That's not funny. That's not funny at all."

"No, because then we'd have to consider every Wild and Comrade as the Dream of some real-life animal somewhere. And what about all the other 'living' things in every Dreamworld out there? There's no way. There are just too many things."

"But back to what I was saying." Colin cleared his throat. "It's like someone else's house, remember? Someone laid a foundation for it. Someone built it. Someone furnished it. Someone organized it. Even if you move things around to suit yourself, there are things that can't be moved. Not without bringing the roof down."

Alicia paused. "Not unless you can build stuff like houses and know to add the right things at the right places so the roof won't fall. But I think only Dreamworlds Admin can make Dream Worlds."

"That's right. Even if they own the stocks, the Cult can only use the tools that Dreamworlds Admin permit them to use. And in the end, it's Dreamworlds Admin that controls the sector that this Dream World is located in, Dreamworlds Admin controls the Middle Plane and the other Planes, and the whole Network. The Cult couldn't even delete or seal Leviathan and the other ultra-high level Wilds. It could only ban them, which led to them being sent elsewhere."

"But still. The Cult does own the place." Alicia pointed out. "Dreamworlds Admin didn't stop the Gaians from buying up all the shares. It didn't stop the Gaians from invading in the first place."

Colin thought about that. He really did. In the end, he said, "I think we could have done that. Not you and me, exactly, but 'we' as in, all the Dreamers of Nakama World. If we had stopped them the first night, fought them the way we fought them later... they wouldn't have had time to gain a foothold. They would be forced to withdraw or fight openly. And if it came to a serious fight, there must be something stopping them from really going all-out, or they'd have done it a long time ago. It's like Sekai said. If she steps in, something worse is going to step up to oppose her. I think if the Cult really attacked us seriously from the start, something out there would have stepped in and stopped them. That's why they needed to buy the place."

"And why do they want to in the first place? For you? Or Philip? What happens if you two disappear? Do they just give up and sell this Dreamworld right back to the public?" Alicia added.

"They're in a dreadful hurry. And Philip is serious enough to give up everything to evade them for just the rest of tonight. I think there's a time limit and once that happens, it's over. Whatever the Cult wants, it's so serious and urgent that they're willing to buy a whole Dreamworld for it. Once their time is up, well... maybe if they don't make enough profit, they'll just drop the idea and quit Nakama World."

"Then things can really go back to the way they should be." Alicia mused. "Although I do like some of their ideas for newbies. I doubt I'm the only one. The Guilds might want to do something similar. Sponsored Start-ups?"

Colin shrugged. "That might be interesting."

Alicia's eyes narrowed. She gave him a closer look. "You're... not planning to come back, are you? Even if the Cult leaves..."

"I don't know." Colin said. "But I had a special time here with some special Comrades. To come back here again after losing everything that made this place so special... I don't know."

Alicia turned away. "Well, there's no hurry. Me, I'm planning to move on to Adventura World. You are too, right?"

"If Gracie ever gives my present to me." Colin sighed.

"Go apologize and be nice to her for once. She might decide she had had enough fun tormenting you for one night." Alicia advised.

Colin spluttered. "Don't make her sound like you!"

Alicia laughed.

***

Port Dolphin looked like it used to be a fun place, not too long ago. It looked like a holiday town, with a few small hotels (all Comrades welcome! *size limits apply) and a large variety of food and snack shops. There was a big park just outside town, and the beach here had lots of umbrellas, beach chairs, even picnic tables and camp sites. More than one enterprising hawker sold cold drinks or snacks from auto-carts.

But the people at the beach weren't wearing swimsuits. They were wearing armor. Their Comrades were not relaxing on beach towels or playing. They were arrayed in formation, and most of them were practicing drills.

"Brown armor. That's the Order of the Phalanx. What are they doing?" Alicia wondered. Colin, having no answer for her, said nothing.

Their boat docked at a very, very extended pier, and the pier actually had a small tram offering rides back to land. Before Colin and Alicia could get to it, however, quicker passengers from the boat filled it to bursting and it had to leave the rest behind.

Colin tapped his badge. "Kirin."

The storm swan appeared on the waters next to them, a juvenile on the very edge of becoming an adult. {What would it be like,} Colin wondered, {to fly on her back as Shinji does? Roaming the skies freely and swiftly, dashing from continent to continent with important packages every night...}

[More like always running around trying to deal with emergencies.] Alicia tossed in wryly. [Help me down once you're on board, will you?]

"Come on." Colin sighed, feeling sad at the thought of never knowing. Kirin was close; close enough that he dared hope he might actually get to see her as a full grown adult. But he would never have the option of joining the Wind Knights and doing the kind of job Shinji did.

{I should train her,} Colin decided. {Train her enough to reach adulthood, just to see her fully grown before I go. }

{And then... and then what? If I have to give up everything to go through that Silver Arch... then... I'll have to give Kirin away. To whom...? Katrin? May? Henry? Maybe even Satrox? Or Shinji himself? Kirin would probably be happiest with Shinji and her mom... maybe even her dad...? Is her dad with Shinji as well? I have no idea.}

Colin got on Kirin's back gingerly, trying very hard to keep his balance as the swan suddenly dropped a bit deeper into the water with his weight. He almost fell over, then flailed to maintain his balance as Kirin compensated and tried to balance out. It was a tricky situation for a bit, but at last, they managed to stay afloat without tipping over, and drifted on the gentle waves for a bit.

"Okay. Now..." Colin raised a hand to help Alicia. Alicia grabbed it, got onto Kirin, and Kirin dipped even farther down. Alicia put her foot far behind Colin's perch, intending to keep a distance from him as they sat, but that put her weight all the way to Kirin's back, tipping their precarious balance too much that way. Kirin flapped a bit as she tilted over, with both Colin and Alicia sliding off her back. Colin grabbed for the saddle, but by then, things were way too off-balance. "Uhoh. Whoa... whoa... WHOA!!!!"

Alicia went first, landing in the sea with a splash, her hand clenched around Colin's in a death grip. He got dragged down along with her and then Kirin flapped and fluffed and somehow ended up practically on top of them.

[Alicia... you're...] Colin struggled, not quite sure whether he was trying to push Kirin off or save Alicia or to get her to release his hand. [We're...]

But Alicia's thoughts were furious. [Traitors! The Phalanx betray us!]

[What?] Colin blinked.

[We have to get out of here! NOW! The Phalanx have joined the Gaians!]

[How do you know?] Colin marveled.

[Can't you hear their thoughts? The Comrades of those knights are...]

Colin froze. {She can hear their thoughts from here? Without even trying? Or was she already curious and tried to sense them out earlier?}

Kirin's beak came darting down and grabbed Colin by the collar. Colin found himself fished out on a swan's beak, Alicia hand still locked onto his wrist like iron. There was choking, and there was spluttering as Kirin settled them both at the very center of her back and adjusted their balance herself.

There were catcalls, whistles, and laughter from the pier, but Colin had more important things on his mind right then. He searched out the thoughts of the Phalanx Comrades and saw what Alicia meant.

They were practicing formations to fight other knights. They hadn't spotted him, not yet, not while he was on this side of the pier, but very clearly, Colin understood it. The Order of the Phalanx were preparing to join the battle between the Cult and the Forest Princess... on the side of the Cult.

"Let's get out of here." Colin told Kirin. "Fly north. Keep low, but let's be quick."

"Kirr." Kirin took off with a running start, kicking up water as she sped up into the wind.

Maybe some of the Phalanx knights saw him, possibly even recognized him. Maybe they didn't. But whatever the case, nobody stopped them as they zipped over the town of Port Dolphin and headed north toward the most popular eating contest on Nakama World.

***

The moment Colin saw the schedule of the contest categories, he knew he had what he needed.

"Fish!" He grinned even as the very, very bored mayor handed Philip the map as prize for winning the Heavy Meats category. By the time they got here, it seemed, Philip already won his contest. "Kirin, you up for it?"

"Kirr..." Kirin paused. Meanwhile, the mayor tried to put a medal around Kyria's neck but she bared her teeth at him and he stepped back apprehensively. He gave it to Philip instead, and no longer looked bored in the least.

"We have an hour before it starts." Colin assured Kirin. "I'd like to get in some training before then. That should have you nice and hungry."

"Kirr." Kirin agreed.

Boom City was ten times what Port Dolphin had been. There were so many restaurants, coffee shops, food hawkers and snack stands here, it was impossible not to glance around and see something interesting to eat. This was, Colin discovered, the center of all foods in Nakama World. The Eating Contest was just one of about ten different nightly contests, the most prestigious of which was the Master Chef Cooking Contest. There was a stadium famed for the Technique Tournament held nightly in between all sorts of Comrade related sports like non-flipper swimming races, Spiky Soccer where heavily armored or rock-type Comrades would kick around a spiked wooden ball, even a Fauna Marathon where only plant types were allowed to race. There was a massive theme park that ran underground all the way around the city, and in three rings over it, currently advertising today's special: 'Free Matching Masks for Couples!'. Sometimes it looked like the entire city was a theme park, except it had power stations, police stations, fire stations, bus stations and whatever other stations real cities needed. There was a Zoo of Wilds, which had some of the most stubborn Wilds who refused to be tamed; this zoo was actually part of the Boom City Comrade Home, so there were plenty of Tames available for sale as well. There was even a Cram Study Quiz Contest about Comrades.

{This world could actually be so much fun.} Colin thought to himself. {But I never got to discover it that way. When the Cult attacked and hunted me, everything I did here became centered around that. That, and working for the Forest. I never got to have fun the way Travelers here were meant to.}

{But for tonight, for this one hour or so, at least, I'll be doing something Travelers are supposed to. I'm entering this competition and I'm in it to win.}

"How far are you from reaching adulthood, anyway?" Colin asked Kirin. He brought up his Comrade Summary

https://imgur.com/PFDZGlr

"Well... Sonia reached adulthood somewhere in her early 80's, right...?" Colin thought back. "Since you're both Class 10, you must be almost there. Maybe just one or two levels to go."

It was a nice idea. {Seeing Kirin reach adulthood might be a lot closer than I thought. Now. Where shall we train?}

And then Alicia said, "Let's go on a date."

Colin tripped over even pavement and fell flat on his face.