30 Chapter Thirty

While the other two shared their stories, Nora remained silent. Cierra looked at her expectantly, but she offered nothing, instead choosing to answer Cierra's earlier questions.

"We're not sure how many relics there are or how many other people may have them, but Goldie has brought us together shortly after each one of us arrived, so it's logical to assume we're the only ones for now."

Hans nodded in agreement, "My second day, or night, I guess," he corrected himself, "I met Nora here, in this clearing."

"Same for me," Lonnie added, "I met Nora and Hans on my second night." Lonnie was still eyeing Cid, slowly coming closer. Cid looked at him, clearly bored.

"And," Cierra almost felt silly for what she was about to ask, "Can all of you shapeshift?"

"No," Hans laughed, "That's only me."

"So then, what about you two?" Cierra asked, cheeks flushed.

"I," Lonnie looked at Nora for approval, at her nod he continued, "I make things…complicated."

"Complicated?" Cierra asked, unsure what he meant.

"Basically, I can make people or nightmares angry." He explained, shrugging his shoulders.

Cierra wasn't sure she ever wanted to see that power in action.

"And you?" She asked, turning to Nora.

"Strategy." Nora answered, before throwing Cierra's question back at her, "And you? From what Hans said it sounds like you can minimally reduce the nightmare's influence?"

Was that all she could do?, She wondered to herself.

"Maybe," she answered, uncertain, "I can revert things to how they were before the nightmares, but only if I know what they looked like originally. And like the tears, I can also do the same to people and things that aren't affected by the nightmares."

"Watch," Cierra tore her shirt, focused on the few seconds before it was torn, and it became whole again, "I can heal, and," She hesitated, she wasn't sure if she could pull this one off, but she closed her eyes anyway, thinking back to when she was standing behind Cid on the trail, right before they entered the clearing.

Cierra opened her eyes when she heard Lonnie in the distance ask "Where'd they go?," surprise in his voice.

Cid was in front of her, just like she remembered. He looked back at her; was that annoyance she saw in his face?

"Just showing 'em what we can do," She patted him on the head, apologizing. He turned around, giving her side eye.

They walked around the corner and back into the clearing.

Hans eyes were wide, and Lonnie's jaw had dropped, only Nora kept her composure.

"I can also do that," Cierra said, somewhat proudly, "I can't go far, and I don't think I can go to an area I haven't recently been, but I can travel somewhat."

"What are you?" Hans asked, looking at Cierra as though he was seeing her for the first time.

"That's what I was hoping you guys would tell me." Cierra answered, "But it doesn't look like you know either." She finished, looking over each of them.

She had hoped that meeting with them would give her answers, and in some ways, it had, but it had not clarified the most important point of all, which was what was she?

Nora stepped forward, shoulders back, eyes capturing Cierra's.

"We might not know what you are, but we will help you find answers. At the very least, it sounds like we have a common enemy: the nightmares." She paused, trying to read Cierra's face and get an idea as to her thoughts, "Why don't we work together?," Nora offered.

"Right," Cierra said, nodding slowly, "First I need know, what are the nightmares? And the dream realms? Why does it need to be us protecting this place?"

With realm after realm seemingly filled to the brim with mythical creatures, gods, and goddesses, what was so great about four people from the real world? Cierra didn't buy it, why them? Why, at the bare minimum, weren't people like Goldie fixing this place themselves?

"Goldie told us the nightmares have always been here," Lonnie said, "Sorta like a, balancer? Or something."

"The dream realms are a mix of good and evil," Hans picked up where Lonnie left off, "And everything is kept in balance. But lately—"

"Lately there has been a rise in nightmares and their activities, like what you saw with Menace," Nora stepped in, "Goldie keeps us informed of their moves, and we're asked to go out and stop them," She paused, "When we can anyway."

"Why don't the gods act against the nightmares themselves?" Cierra asked. Divine beings would surely do a better job than a motley crew of mortals, she thought to herself.

"See," Hans started, "We were confused about that ourselves, but apparently the dream realms are super old or something; the gods aren't what they once were, and so they fall prey to the nightmares, like what you saw with Freya."

"What were they doing to her?" Cierra wasn't sure she bought the 'gods are weak' explanation, but it did explain how Freya was subdued and the problem Sekhmet was having keeping the nightmares at bay in her neck of the woods.

Nora sighed, for the first time looking defeated, "We're not really sure. Personally, I think they want to usurp the gods and take their powers, but who knows?"

A silence fell over them, and Cierra bit her lip, deep in thought. What could the nightmares want, enslaving divine beings and conducting experiments on their artifacts?

"That reminds me," Cierra said, suddenly remembering, "Sekhmet. There was some sort of dark fog trying to invade in around her desert. She spoke to me, telling me to bringer her Ra or bring her fighters."

"Sekhmet?" Hans said, "The blood thirsty Egyptian God who was known for being ridiculously loyal to their pantheon's leader?"

Nora cut in, "Wasn't that desert where you met Baaqir?"

Cierra nodded along with both of them, "Yeah, he had been telling me something about the West Mountain, how I might find information about Freya and her relics there."

Nora snorted, "That's doubtful. West Mountain is a Chinese myth, it's not often that the gods hand around places not associated with their pantheon."

"Makes them weaker." Nora added, seeing the confusion in Cierra's face.

"Yeah…," Cierra said trying to recall what Sekhmet's exact words were, "Sekhmet said no one had even seen the West Mountain before, that it was just a legend."

"Ah, I doubt that." Nora replied, "The gods rarely ever tell us everything. More than likely she just didn't want you going out trying to find the place for whatever reason."

"If there's anything I've learned from my time here, it's that if you can imagine it, it exists. That's what I really think the dream realms are: a collection of every human idea or thought, turned into reality." Nora grinned, "I bet if you look hard enough you might even find alternate realities or King's magic tower."

Cierra shivered. If that was true than there would be world for every horror movie her and Dawn had ever watched together. How lucky had she been to never run into a world like that before?

"Have ya'll ever come across something like that?" Cierra asked, voice a pitch higher than she had intended.

"Not yet, but who knows?" Nora said, before turning her question back on her, "You're the one who's been coming here their whole life. Have you only ever traveled in the god's realms?"

Thinking back, Cierra couldn't tell if any place she'd been in before was godly or not. There had almost always been some form of life there, but other than that, she had no idea.

"I'm not sure," She answered honestly. "Nothing's ever bothered me before; I just kind of…walk by unnoticed most of the time."

"So you don't have much fighting experience?" Nora asked, looking Cierra up and down, assessing her frame and muscle mass. For the first time, Cierra realized she didn't have her sword with her, but then, even as she thought it, the sword appeared in her right hand.

"You didn't say you could do that!," Lonnie exclaimed, "Do you have any more for the rest of us?" He asked, eyes twinkling. He had mostly given up on his pursuit to pet Cid, and each time he got close, the cat moved to the other side of Cierra.

"No," Cierra said, taken aback, "I had no idea I could do that."

"We'll add it to the list then," Hans said, chuckling, "It seems like you can do just about anything."

"Is that Damascus steel?" Nora asked examining the blade.

"I think so, it belonged to one of the Fólkvangr women." Cierra explained, "It was gifted to me when a lady…" Cierra struggled to find the right words—passed on? Died? They were already dead.

"I thought you could heal?" Lonnie asked.

Cierra felt her stomach knot with guilt.

"I can't bring anyone back from the dead," Cierra said, staring at the ground.