OCEAN DREAMS

Before being alarmed by that, they thought with a cool head, Jolene was lying, that conclusion was the most accurate, if she lied about the reinforcements, she would do it with the subject of the traveler with the intention of seducing the survivors and attracting them. Nothing escaped them, they created a world-saving messiah to gain followers and it seemed to be working.

*There can't be two travelers, I'm the only one," Zev thought, his ego had risen, his attitude changed a lot.

He rolled his eyes and still tied hand and foot he continued speaking.

"I want you to lock me in your loop, Evander," he looked at him decisively.

The blond was surprised, his eyes said it all, Zev longed to be inside his loop, he got a little annoyed thinking that what he wanted was to make fun of, so he wouldn't agree so easily to that request.

"I still want to be in the water and the land," he looked at Barret, "but this time in a difficult level."

Barret was quite offended, they had already gone through his loop but that was not even a quarter of his power.

"Loops aren't like video games where you can choose the difficulty," Ayden said in his defense.

"Well, for me they are," he snapped, "I already passed the Ocean level, I can with you three."

"Why are you asking that?" Ocean dared to ask, holding him by the shirt.

"Don't touch me," he said with a somewhat despotic attitude.

Apparently Zev was getting over his whim with Ocean, he didn't listen to her anymore, he even seemed to have lost respect and interest in her, now she was one of the bunch. However, she did not let go.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, "I want to be in your loops because it terrifies me, the idea terrifies me that if one day I lose my power as a traveler I got stuck there and die in this dimension, I need to stop being afraid, otherwise Nix is not going out."

Zev had a strong point and a valid reason for wanting to be inside the loops, he wasn't looking to humiliate or mock them, he just wanted to prove to himself that he could stop being a coward.

"If Nix gets out before I get out of all their loops, then they should be stopped."

"Let us discuss it," Ocean said, releasing him.

The four reinforcements left the room to discuss Zev's proposal.

"He's an idiot, who thinks he is?" Barret complained, "what's more, I don't even know why I don't end up liking that boy."

"It's for Nix," Ayden said based on the rivalry they had against her.

"Yes," Ocean said. They all looked at her in bewilderment, "I think that if he got into the loops but I'll go too."

Evander looked at her out of the corner of his eye, apparently he had become annoyed and even jealous. Ocean took his hand and continued.

"There's something I haven't told you, I wanted to tell Evander only but since we're all here."

Her brothers looked at her strangely, Ocean acted quite helpful with Zev and that was strange.

"When I was in a coma after using my loop on him, I had dreams but I think they were actually glimpses into Zev's dimension. If he tries hard enough to get out of the loops I'll be able to cross."

"Why would you want to go to his dimension?" Evander asked, still annoyed.

"Because I saw a painting, it was a kind of cloudy but dark sky, also if I managed to talk to Ocean about his dimension, maybe that will fix things here and his feelings will no longer be an obstacle for us," she stressed in front of Evander.

Evander said nothing, just looked at the ground with a frown.

"Nix can't win," Ocean looked down.

Ayden and Barret accepted, they were afraid, like Evander, that Ocean wouldn't be able to return to her dimension but they also trusted her so it was a 50/50 mission.

*Zev won't even notice that I'm going in with him."

"As you wish," Evander sighed, moving away from them.

Ayden and Barret left them alone while they went to tell Zev and the rest that they accepted the deal. Ocean followed Evander to speak with him in private.

"My love, what's wrong?" she asked, feeling nervous for the first time.

Evander wanted to say so many things but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth, however, his teary eyes about to explode said it all.

"I discovered that if I'm afraid of something," he began to say, "I'm afraid of being taken away from you."

"That will not happen, I will always be with you, I want to be with you, no one will separate us."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I love you."

Evander noticed she was very sure of herself, took her hand and rubbed it with his cheek, those words relaxed his heart. He felt like a failure, he had never been made to doubt or feel less than before but Zev's insistence could break him, even so, he was determined to recover his power and not let himself be overcome by the black-haired man's influence. Ocean brought her lips to his and they danced together with their tongues.

"There's something else," he murmured.

"What thing?"

"Evander, in my dream there was a specter that stained the paint, if it is not an intruder, it could be another traveler."

Before continuing with his talk, Ayden came back for them but he noticed them worried, however, they knew how to hide it well. The brothers would find out sooner or later, but for now there was no time for hasty conclusions.

Zev was ready. The first loop he would enter would be Barret's, this time he had prepared something special for him. Evander told Ocean to be careful, as well as telling her how much he would miss her.

They moved towards the training area, they closed all the doors warning those still in the bunker to stay away from the area until further notice, they would use that space for their exorcism experiment, Nix would have to get out.

Barret brought his fingers to the third eye and psyched himself up to create his loop.

"Infinite ground loop."

Zev felt the movement of a strong earthquake and before it closed, Ocean turned her body into an almost imperceptible flame of fire that quickly went deeper into the loop.

Once inside, Zev saw how the earthen walls rose above him, the same giant of white rock appeared but it looked even stronger, and not only that, it kept shaking, a strong earthquake destroyed everything in its path, no there was nowhere to run and the dust got into his lungs. The ground broke causing him to fall and get stuck in small holes that were formed, he felt heavy, like being in mud, then he suffocated due to lack of air, that element was burying him alive.

For a moment the disaster calmed down and he saw a beautiful forest in front of him but when he tried to get closer, the scene changed, returning to the labyrinth with the danger of the walking giant. He psyched himself out of the loop, however, there was no sign of Nix in his head. He tried many times to escape, to find what was strange or different within the loop. Ocean, on the other hand, was on the lookout for when the bridge that divided its dimensions would open.

The loops had a peculiar characteristic, the absence of darkness but slowly, within the ground loop it began to get dark. Zev and Ocean were surprised, the sky was covered in black, like an artist's work being modified.

"I'm beginning to believe that there is a god who manipulates everything," Zev said to himself, he was never a believer until now.

"That must be the way," Ocean thought, putting out her fire and turning into ashes to mix with Barret's earth and be able to cross over to the other side.

As the earth buried Zev alive once more, the ashes spun like a small tornado and drifted off into the night. Ocean felt a lot of energy stirring, it was like visiting another planet and adapting to its gravity.

Ocean felt her charred body fall on a concrete floor, she dragged herself into an alley and there she recovered her muscular figure. She discreetly peeked out and saw ordinary people, like the survivors of her dimension, walking through the streets, laughing, eating ice cream, talking, kissing, doing human things.

When she left the alley she saw a light coming out of her chest, it was thin and blue, perhaps it was the energy that connected with her counterpart, the Ocean of Zev's dimension, it was time to meet her face to face.

She followed the path that her heart led her and saw her in a wheelchair, sitting in a cafeteria, alone. She seemed to be calm or so she was hiding, she was crying out for company and it was the perfect opportunity to get closer.

She approached the table and stood in front of it with that imposing aura she always projected. The other Ocean made herself small but didn't take her eyes off her. The resemblance was impressive, at least physically, yet that fragile Ocean didn't recognize herself.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked with a kind voice.