Willow Bloom and the Dream Keepers

by E. V. Farrell

  She began to imagine that everything around her was transparent – as if she had X-ray vision. She visualised herself looking at a book, then through its front cover and reading a page; she pictured herself seeing through desks and chairs and then right through the walls of the History Room and into the next room; she even saw herself being transparent too. Willow slowed her breathing right down, consciously listening to the inward and outward flow of air. Her heart rate was now unhurried, and she was feeling the strangest sensations. It was almost as if the cells in her body were dancing out of tune, out of phase, somehow. She opened her eyes.

  “Oh … my …” she said. She let go of her pendant and, catching sight of her hand, she squealed. “I can see through my hand!” and held it up to the others, who were just looking at her oddly.

  “Guys, get over here!” Willow said. “This is insane.”

  “What can you see?” Hugo asked.

  “Oh, just my bones and muscles and veins. It’s so weird.” She squealed again.

  “What else, Willow? Can you see through the walls, through the books?” Avari asked.

  “Hang on. They’re a bit blurry.” Willow closed her eyes for a moment and focused again. When she reopened her eyes, she stared at the wall of shelves to her right. “It’s holographic! I can see straight through them into the adjoining room!” She turned her head slowly from side to side. “This is so awesome. Whoa! Wasn’t quite expecting that,” she said, as her gaze encountered her friends. She could now see straight through their bodies. It was like she was staring at ghosts, but ghosts with internal organs. Their innards weren’t clear, but she could make them out. “Aah … guys. I can see through everything. I mean everything. I can see straight through you.”

  “What? No way!” Hugo said, his hands instinctively dropping in front of his private parts.

  “Yes, way. But relax, it’s not that clear. They’re more like shadows. You’re safe,” she said.

  Jessie started to laugh. “That’s hilarious. I so want a super-power right now.”

  “It’s pretty cool, I have to say.” Willow turned to Avari and Atlas. “Hey, you guys have got four lungs.”

  “Yes, we do. Our original home planet, before we were installed here, had an atmosphere that required us to have four lungs. On Thera, however, the atmosphere is different and over time our lungs have reduced in size.”

  Avari took Willow’s hand. “You have found the key to finding the Book.”

  “I hope so,” she said. Willow suddenly felt quite heavy. “Er, something’s happening. I don’t feel … right.” Some of the objects around her had begun to take on a solid form again, and looking at them was making her eyes literally throb. She began to sway. “I think …”

  Avari grabbed her arm and Hugo caught her in mid-fall.

  A look of alarm crossed Hugo’s face. “What’s happening to her?”

  “Willow’s body has been overwhelmed. She needs to rest,” Avari explained.

  “Maybe I don’t want a super-power,” Jessie said.

  A Consuli came to help but Avari reassured him as Atlas helped Hugo carry Willow to a chair.

  “For Willow to do what she just did, her body must go out of phase,” Avari told them. “Being on Thera is already a step away from your Earth’s field; anything more is a challenge.”

  “So a simple rest will do it?” Hugo asked.

  “Yes. She cannot attune her human energy field to Thera’s field for long periods; her cells will strive to return to their normal vibration.”

  “Wish I knew that beforehand,” Willow said, opening her eyes after a few minutes. “I would have sat myself down first.”

  Hugo leaned in closer. “You okay?”

  “Yep. Just tired.”

  Avari turned to the others. “Please, stay here; I will return shortly.” She disappeared out through the doors of the History Room, returning a short time later carrying a small bottle of pale green liquid.

  “Here, drink this,” she said. “It will help you recover more quickly.” Avari removed the glass stopper and handed Willow the bottle. “I went to one of our restorative chambers. Lira promised me this would help.”

  It took only a few moments for the drink to take effect. “Wow! I feel better already,” Willow said. She stood up.

  Hugo swooped in beside her. “Go easy.”

  “I’m fine.” Willow carefully placed one foot in front of the other and made her way to the table. Coming back, she was already looking pale and unsteady. “But I think I’ll sit for a bit longer.”

  “Your body will not endure more than a minute out of phase,” Avari told her.

  “So I can do short bursts only,” she said. “Okay, I can live with that. As long as we can find this Book.”

  “Atlas, I must update the High Council,” Avari told him. “Once Willow is able, please escort them to the Food Hall. She will need some nourishment before continuing further.”

  Avari met them in the Food Hall and informed them that some of the security fields had been extended. She handed Atlas a shiny grey back-pack before turning to Willow. “I am pleased that you are fully recovered. How would you like to proceed with the search of the Book?”

  Willow had been wracking her brains trying to come up with some kind of plan, but the only thing that was obvious right now was to go to the foundations beneath the city. Where exactly, she wasn’t sure.

  “So where are we going?” Jessie asked, scoffing a strange-looking pastry on the way out of the Food Hall.

  “Avari knows a way to get beneath the city,” Willow said. “So we’re going to the Dome Room. She’ll show us once we get there.”

  They walked quickly and Hugo’s gaze went skywards when the hall opened out to the Dome Room. “Now that’s impressive.”

  “The dome is usually much clearer than it is presently,” Atlas told him. “Our security fields have turned it grey, as you can see.”

  A shadow passed overhead and Hugo’s body tensed. “Was that a Vraag?”

  “Yes,” Atlas said.

  “I almost forgot they were there,” Willow remarked. “Thank God for security fields.” She gestured to the medium-sized back-pack that Atlas was carrying. “You’re obviously prepared.”

  “Yes. There are items in here that may be of use,” he answered.

  Avari led them to a console with a holographic screen and tapped in an instruction. “Willow, would you like to use your hand?”

  “Sure.” Willow placed the palm of her hand over the console screen. “I hope this works,” she murmured.

  Avari motioned to the wall close by. “Can you all see it?”

  A golden door revealed itself within the wall.

  “I can see it,” Willow said. The others nodded.

  “We are going through that door,” Avari announced. “It is one of the entrances that leads beneath the city.”

  “Well that’s where we’re going then,” Willow said.

  The golden door began to open, giving way to a wide stone staircase that led to the foundations below, illuminated by dozens of small floating crystals that cast a golden hue. As they stepped through, the door closed behind them.

  “I have only been beneath the city once,” Atlas said. “With my father. But only as far as the first chamber.”

  “As have I,” Avari said. “The area beneath the city is vast and most areas require high-level clearance, which of course we have.”

  Hugo nudged Willow. “So you’ve got the key to an inter-galactic city too.”

  She gave a little comical shrug.

  Willow led the way down the stairs, and oddly, their footsteps barely made a sound. Her hand glided along the polished stone wall as they descended. It wasn’t long before they reached the chamber, where the walls had a glass-like appearance. Four narrow passages stemmed from the chamber’s circular wall, with a panel of buttons at each entry point. The walls inside the passages looked like crushed yellow crystal, generating a soft lighting across the wall’s surface. W
illow took a step closer and the light intensified.

  “The walls possess intelligence,” Avari said, coming up beside her. “Do you recall the Viscent Chancellor explaining the symbiotic relationship we have with the crystals? The whole of Mondria runs on the energy frequencies coming from these and other crystals throughout the city. They are the life-blood of the city, and they all connect with the huge crystal rods contained within the Crystal Chamber. The roots of these crystals extend deep within our planet. Every interaction we have helps to energise the crystals. The height of our consciousness directly relates to the frequencies being emitted by the crystals.”

  “Is that why you guys are so level-headed about everything?” Willow asked.

  Avari placed her hand on the crystal wall and focused her attention there. The surrounding crystals immediately became more vibrant and gradually spread further, beyond their line of vision. “We assist each other to stay in balance.”

  “Can I?” Jessie placed her hand on the crystals. For a few moments the golden hue intensified around her hand and then dissipated. “I guess Earth frequencies are different.”

  “Yes,” Avari agreed.

  Jessie waved her hand in front of the crystal wall. “Hey, look, it’s following my hand movements.” She drew patterns in the air and the crystals quickly responded before returning to their normal state. “That’s amazing.”

  As fascinating as it was, Willow was responsible for finding the Book and time was precious. “We should keep going,” she said. “I wonder which passage we should take …”

  “Use your pendant,” Avari suggested.

  Willow reached for the pendant around her neck. Closing her eyes, she pictured the four passages and waited for a sign. The pendant warmed in her hands and began to glow. She opened her eyes. “It’s so much clearer this time.” She pointed to the passage on her right. “This one. Follow me.”

  The Search Widens

  They entered the narrow passage and headed for a sweeping bend that led them further and further away from the chamber. The glowing crystal walls traced their movements with waves of intensified light followed by a softer radiance.

  “So what are we looking for?” Jessie asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Willow replied. “I just know that this is where we’re meant to start looking.”

  “So the Ancients built these passages and the entire city,” Hugo observed as they continued on.

  “The Ancients established the foundations and passages in preparation for a city,” Atlas said. “Contemplation and dreaming first occurred on your planet when humans evolved beyond their immediate survival. That was when the Dream Keepers were installed on Thera. With the assistance of the Ancients, we created Mondria as a symbiotic city to assist in the preservation of these new human dreams. The Ancients left, and we have been here ever since.”

  “And just how long is that?” Hugo asked.

  “Two hundred and seventy thousand of your Earth years.”

  “Seriously?”

  “That’s insane,” Jessie said.

  “I can’t believe you guys have been helping our dreams for that long,” Willow said. “So where did you come from?”

  “From many galaxies beyond this one. We became Dream Keepers once we were evolved enough to do so,” Avari explained. “We also underwent a similar growth as yourselves and continue to do so. The Ancients have returned to Thera on seven occasions during our time here to assist this process.”

  Willow stopped suddenly. “Hang on. Back up a bit.” She took a step backwards, frowning at the floor. “I thought so,” she muttered. “Look at this.” She knelt down beside a small symbol of two triangles overlapping each other with a wavy line running through them carved deeply in the floor. Had she not looked down at that moment she would have missed it completely. But she knew better than to put that glance down to luck. Her mother often reminded her that there was no such thing as a coincidence; something that looked like a coincidence was actually a group of movements through space and time that culminated in an event not understood in practical or scientific terms. Willow must have heard variations of that statement a hundred times.

  “I’m pretty sure I saw that symbol in one of the books I was going through last night,” Hugo said.

  Atlas took a closer look at the image. “I have also seen it before. My father specialises in the History of the Ancients, and I am certain this is on the cover of one of his books.”

  “It’s gotta be a clue then,” Jessie said.

  “Atlas, it would be good to image this,” Avari said.

  “I agree.” He reached into his back-pack and brought out a device that looked like a camera with a large crystal cube sitting on the top.

  “What’s that?” Hugo asked.

  “We call it an Imager.” He pointed the crystal towards the symbol. “The crystal absorbs the image and then converts it into a holograph – like this.” He pressed a button on the side of the Imager. The crystal lit up and magically beamed the image of the symbol carved in the floor.

  “Can I have a go?” Hugo asked.

  Atlas handed him the Imager and he immediately took several shots of the symbol from different angles, enthusing, “How cool would this be back on Earth! You could take shots of birds flying or some really cool car, or a plane and then display them like they were moving objects.”

  “We can’t take anything back,” Willow reminded him.

  “I know but a guy can dream, can’t he? Especially here.”

  “True. But we should keep moving,” Willow said.

  “It feels like we’re walking in loops,” Jessie said.

  “My father once told me that there are many passages and chambers beneath the city,” Atlas told her. “And that they all eventually lead to a central chamber connected to the Crystal Chamber within the city.”

  Willow raised her brows. “So we’re in some sort of maze?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “The passages are similar to the Halls of Mondria, where many halls converge and separate in a seemingly confined space,” Avari added.

  It was Avari who discovered the next symbol in the floor and Hugo the one after that.

  Willow watched Atlas record an image of three vertical lines with a wavy line crossing through the middle of them. It reminded Willow of a symbol in the Keepers’ Safe back home in the Cottage. Curiously, the wavy line was present in all of the symbols they had discovered so far. “It would be really useful if we had a list of what these symbols mean?”

  “High Council must follow the Prime Directive handed down by the Ancients,” Avari reminded her. “They cannot interfere. These symbols are letting us know that we are on the correct path. The path is just as important as the Book itself. Without it, the Book cannot be discovered. Our conversations, our thoughts, our intuitions, will all play their part in the final outcome.”

  “You sound like my parents,” Willow said. “I just hope …” She stopped as a succession of small tremors began to shake the walls, causing the light from the yellow crystals to flicker and become dull. “What was that?” She looked back in the direction from which they had come. The others followed her gaze.

  Avari caught Atlas’s attention and for several moments they just stared at each other with their purple eyes. Avari looked away first. “Please wait here,” she said. “We passed a communication panel quite recently. I will return to it and make enquiries.”

  Willow was sure that Avari and Atlas had just communicated telepathically with each other again. Both sets of eyes had deepened in colour during their silent exchange. “You can’t go back that way!” she exclaimed. “The tremors came from there.”

  “I acknowledge your concern, Willow, however it is the action that I will take. Atlas will remain here with you until I return.”

  Avari disappeared around a bend in the passage.

  “What do you think is happening?” Jessie asked Atlas.

  “I do not know. With the Vraag maintaining thei
r presence above the city, Maliceius’s agenda has not yet fully played out.”

  Hugo sighed. “I sure picked a great day to turn up.”

  “Yeah, except that you didn’t pick it,” Jessie said. “I’d call it an intervention of some kind.”

  They waited, tense, as the tremors continued.

  Willow’s eyes lit up when she saw Avari appear around the bend. “She’s back!”

  “Can’t be good,” Jessie said. “She doesn’t look her usual calm and cheerful self.”

  “The screen at the communication panel has warped,” Avari said, “and a computer-generated voice could only respond with a garbled message that I could not understand.” She had attempted to ask the question again but a sudden flash across the screen had made the display completely disappear. “Perhaps we will find another console that is operational,” she said. “For now, we must continue forward.”

  Willow breathed a heavy sigh. “She’s right. We have to keep going. Who knows what’s happening in the city? Either way, we have to find this Book as soon as possible.”

  Avari looked upon Willow, thoughtfully. “You are correct. You do not have to know all of the details; accepting the events that have taken place gives you the space to be in the moment with more clarity and focus. That is how you can help to change events that are in the process of unfolding. That is how dreams come to life.”

  Willow frowned. “But I’m not accepting the events. We have to do something, somehow. How can you just accept what’s happening in your city right now?”

  Avari stayed silent for a few moments before answering. “Willow, I am not asking you to like the events that have happened, and are continuing to happen, I am asking you to accept that what has already occurred cannot be changed, but you can positively change what is yet to happen, when you stay focused.”

  The difference between liking and accepting hit Willow. “Okay, I understand now.”