“The island looked small from above. Is this really where the Falor Ghula is?” Marge asked as we began our trek.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Maverick answered nonchalantly.

  “I don’t sense anything strange about the ether,” I replied, almost tripping over a giant weed. Seriously! That thing was the size of a full-grown sunflower!

  “We should be careful,” Finn said. “We don’t know what else is up ahead—”

  “It’s so cute!!!” I all but screamed as I ran forward towards… towards… I didn’t know what it was! It was like a bunny made out of tiny clouds. I expected it to run away when I got near, but to my surprise, it actually let me hug it! It was so soft to touch, like a bunch of cotton balls.

  “Hey! Be careful with that!” Maverick snapped at me. “We don’t know if it’s dangerous.”

  “How could something so cute be so dangerous?!” I whined.

  More of the cloud bunnies appeared. Rather than hopping forward, they simply waddled. Penguin bunnies. They formed a circle around us and performed what appeared to be a mesmerizing dance of waddling forward, spinning around, walking backwards, all while shifting right. Or maybe it was just me who was mesmerized.

  “We should kill them to be safe,” Finn suggested.

  “What?! Why would you say that?!” I shouted.

  “We don’t know what they are or what they can do to us!” Finn shouted back.

  “I don’t see any reason to harm them unless they do so first,” Zephyr added.

  “What if it’s too late by then?!”

  “I gotta agree with Finn. Something about this doesn’t feel right,” Marge interjected. “Like they got a plan deep in their fluffy brains…”

  “We don’t know if that plan is violent!” I shouted back. How could everyone be for killing the cute cloud bunnies?!

  The bunnies stopped surrounding us and instead formed a line straight in the direction we were already headed. One of them paused and looked back at us before jumping in place. Awww! A puff of smoke appeared every time it landed!

  “Do they want us to follow them…?” Aidan asked.

  “It would appear that way,” Zephyr answered.

  “Then we should go the other way.” Marge crossed her arms.

  “Back the way we came, off the cliff?” I asked.

  “Ugh! I’m having my weapon ready just in case!” She summoned her yo-yo and readied it for immediate use.

  We followed the super cute and totally innocent animals. I mean, they didn’t even have to lead us at this point. We would have gone this way regardless.

  “I-is it just me or is it getting foggy?” Aidan asked.

  “No, you’re right.” Maverick looked around—his expression stern and hesitant. It was suddenly starting to get foggy. In fact, it would have been much more difficult to see if it wasn’t that the cloud bunnies glowed a faint light blue in the fog. “I don’t like this. We need to turn around. Now,” he demanded.

  The urgency in his voice made me nod in compliance. Maybe he sensed something I and the others hadn’t. We started to turn around, but walking became much more difficult… Breathing became heavier, and it felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. Was this… the Falor Ghula?

  I hit the ground and lost consciousness. The last thing I heard was giggling.

  When I came to, I was still lying on the ground, the fog still present, but it was also nighttime. How long had I been out for? I pushed myself off the ground and started looking for the others. Wait… I didn’t remember all these trees here before. In fact, I didn’t remember seeing any trees on the island. Had my friends been turned into trees?! No, that was stupid. I should keep looking.

  I looked up at the moon, which had a light blue tint to it. There was so much light coming from it, it was like a dimmer sun. There was enough light to see around me, but not enough to see far ahead. The light almost seemed to follow me, like a spotlight. Weird.

  “Elaina, what is it that you seek?” an ethereal voice called out to me. I spun every which way trying to find who called out to me, but nobody was there. “Again, I ask what you seek.” Was the voice coming from the sky? The moon? Was the moon talking to me? No, that would also be too weird.

  “I want to defeat the Falor Ghula!” I called out, certain that the mysterious voice would hear me.

  “Why?” The voice inquired.

  “To save Vafir,” I answered earnestly.

  “Because it is your wish or because it is Her Imperial Majesty’s wish?”

  “Um… Both? As much as I want to save everyone, I’d be lying if I said that Av— Her Imperial Majesty holding us hostage wasn’t a factor.”

  Silence. Had she finished talking to me? Was my answer bad? Well, I still had to find the others.

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  The world around me felt so weird, like it wasn’t real. Was it? I didn’t think I was dreaming. I mean, when you’re dreaming, you don’t really think about whether or not you’re dreaming, right?

  I walked until I found a tree with large vines wrapping around it. Something appeared to be trapped—an animal? Upon closer inspection, I gasped. It was Marge. She was unconscious and dangling from the tree, held in place by the vines.

  “What happened?!” I said to myself, more than anything. I reached out to push the vines out of the way, but stumbled back when I felt a sharp pain in my head. Everything around me seemed to stop—the fog remained still, and the leaves no longer rustled in the gentle breeze.

  Visions appeared around me. Visions of Marge. I watched her running through the hills as a child, baking with her family, and… I watched her watch her parents die. It seemed like they had been attacked by something, but I couldn’t tell what. I watched her sit beside what appeared to be her grandma as the older lady coughed in bed. Lastly, I saw Sylvis appear out in a field with an outstretched hand that Marge took.

  The visions ended, and time resumed around me. Were those… Marge’s memories? But how?

  “You asked to know what happened to her, and your Ether Recollection responded,” a voice said. I recognized it as the voice from earlier. I spun around to see a beautiful lady with dark brown hair dressed in a long, light blue and white gown. She wore a short veil that reached the middle of her back, and had some sort of constellations on it.

  “I wanted to know how she got trapped, not her entire life story!” I shouted. I felt angry that the one time my magic decided to work, it was used to violate my best friend’s privacy.

  “It seems that you do not know how to use your Affinity. Ether flows freely in dreams. As does imagination. The two allow for stronger magic.”

  “So, I’m dreaming?” I asked.

  “What do you think?”

  I sighed. I was never a fan of people who answered questions with more questions.

  “Nalupie, must you be such an instigator?” another voice said, not much different from the lady in front of me’s.

  “I do not remember inviting you, Starlett.” The lady in front of me shook her head.

  I turned to see a young lady who looked identical to Nalupie. Except she wore her hair in a ponytail, and wore a pink silky jumpsuit. She wore flower and star barrettes in her hair.

  “We’re a team, aren’t we?” Starlett asked.

  “I do not mind you being here, I simply do not remember including you in this dream.”

  “Well, I found my way here anyway. This is her?” She gestured to me. “The one who’s been causing problems?”

  “Yes. This is her.”

  Starlett clicked her tongue as she examined me. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you and your friends have caused?”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, clenching my fists at my sides.

  “Do you know what happens any time you defeat a Falor Ghula?”

  “Um, the ether becomes less distorted and everything becomes a whole lot safer?”

  “She doesn’t know.” Starlets glanced at Nalupie.

  “We already knew that, sister. That is why we are here.” Nalupie paused and turned to me. “To reawaken your Ether Recollection so you may know the truth for yourself.” She turned and walked away. Starlet followed her and beckoned me to do the same.

  Reawaken my magic to learn the truth...?

  I followed them hesitantly, not knowing whether or not to trust them. They seemed upset with me, but they were also trying to help? I would have to keep my guard up.

  We paused when we came to another tree. This one held Finn. He was sound asleep, the way Marge was.

  “This friend of yours is a mind reader,” Nalupie began. “Surely he would not mind if you peered into his memories as he has done so many times to you?”

  I froze. Finn didn’t have a choice when it came to reading my mind. Something about willingly looking into his past felt… wrong. Even if he knew my entire past. No, it would be much easier to look into the memories of—

  “If you try to use your Affinity on either of us, I will end the dream.” Nalupie crossed her arms.

  “How did you—” I sputtered. “Can you read my mind?”

  “This is Nalupie’s dream,” Starlett explained. “Of course she would know everything in her dream.”

  “I’m not looking into Finn’s memories. I refuse.” I crossed my arms.

  Nalupie closed her eyes and released a small sigh. “Then will you look into his?” She motioned towards another tree. The light from the moon shifted to illuminate it, revealing Maverick dangling from the tree.

  My stomach dropped. He had just told me about his past, so I wouldn’t feel guilty prying. But at the same time, it was exactly because I knew what he experienced that I didn’t want to experience it for myself.

  “You cannot use Ether Recollection on someone or something more than once. That leaves your other little friend.” Nalupie said.

  The light shifted once more to a third tree that held Aidan. I swallowed. I knew his past, and it wasn’t quite as violent as Maverick’s. Still… A part of me felt like I was violating his privacy.

  “Wanna know a fun fact about dreams?” Starlett asked. “Many dreams only last a few minutes despite feeling like hours have passed. In theory, we have all the time in the world here.”

  They weren’t going to let me out of this dream until I could use my Talent, were they?

  I sighed and began to raise my arm, but immediately stopped. I couldn’t move—I was being held in place.

  “Patience, Elaina,” Nalupie said. “We do not want to be here any longer than you. If you do not wish to peer into your other friends’ memories, I suggest memorizing your steps and feelings so you may repeat them in the waking world.”

  Feeling returned to my body, and I took a deep breath. I tried to focus on how the ether around me felt. There was plenty of ether here, but that was also true around the Falor Ghula. I could feel the ether readily flowing through my body, passing through every nerve and cell. It felt like I only had to call out to the magic within me to use it.

  Show me Aidan’s memories.

  I raised my hand out in front of me, and the world, or rather the dream, around me stopped. Interesting that time could stop in a dream.

  I saw a vision of a young Aidan shivering on the street, his back against the wall of a building. A younger girl, maybe five, walked up to him and hugged him. Then another vision of him being pushed around by a group of boys his age, before he was sent backwards into a pond. Finally, I saw a vision of him in an area that appeared to be Vafir. Wait, was that Avaline? I don’t want to see this!

  The visions immediately ended as I panicked, trying my best to back out.

  “Hm, the visions ended sooner than I anticipated. But I believe you have succeeded,” Nalupie said.

  I wondered if she could see the visions too, given that this was her dream.

  “How come you can’t tell me the truth? Why do I have to see it for myself?” I asked.

  “Dreams are not entirely safe from peering eyes,” Nalupie answered. “And besides, seeing is believing. There is a mural in the village. When you arrive, you will be greeted by Her Imperial Majesty’s envoy. He will show you the mural. It is of utmost importance that you use your Ether Recollection on it.” With that, she began to walk away, as well as her sister.

  “Wait,” I said, stopping both young ladies in their tracks. “Before you go, can you tell me who you are? Like, besides your names.”

  “We’re twin Ethereal sisters.” Starlett smiled at me.

  The dream ended, and the last remaining sunlight hit my face. I frantically looked around and realized my friends were still asleep. I imagined they’d wake up soon but…

  Twin Ethereals. One of them had power over dreams. Only one Ethereal could hold that power at a time, according to the master.

  So if Avaline wasn’t an Ethereal, what was she?