Lucy peered into the bubble nearest to her. To her surprise, the bubble’s surface functioned like a kind of microscope, magnifying her vision so she could clearly discern its contents. Inside, a bolt of lightning crackled into existence at one end of the dome before an invisible force seemed to grab it and throw it clean through the air where it disappeared at the opposite edge. This sequence repeated over and over, reminding Lucy of those animated holographic demonstrations she had seen at museums. Toward the front of the bubble was a placard reading:

  Mini Lightning Javelin - Conjure a small bolt of lightning that can be thrown at foes and obstacles. [1 minute] [10 Ideation]

  Lucy smiled, finding it odd but comforting how the realm of Dreams so closely resembled video games in some aspects. But perhaps it wasn’t that strange; video games were a construct of the human mind, after all.

  “The first value in the brackets,” she said, “I’m guessing that’s how long you have to wait before using this Feat again. And the second bracket shows the alignment requirements for acquiring this Feat.”

  The King nodded. “Impeccable deduction. As you can see, this Feat and many others are ones you cannot currently acquire due to your current alignments. I can rearrange these Feats so that only the ones you can acquire are visible. But if you would like to peruse the full collection of Feats, I can leave it as so.”

  “Oh no, that’s okay, I—”

  Lucy was about say that it was fine for him to go ahead and show only the Feats valid for her current alignments, as she wanted to focus on only the next step without being bogged down by the seemingly infinite decisions to make afterwards.

  But one bubble, floating higher than all the others and seeming to look down on her from on high, suddenly drew her attention as if calling with a silent voice. Although Lucy had no idea how to get that bubble within reach, as it was so far above everything else, she instinctively reached up toward it, stretching her arm out as far as she could. She climbed onto her tiptoes, straining like a child desperately chasing after a kite that was about to fly away.

  The bubble she reached for descended, floating softly down, like a pure white feather from on high. As it drew closer, there was the paradoxical sense of the bubble carrying a great deal of weight to it, as if it ought to have smaller satellite bubbles orbiting its grandeur, while also feeling like it was straining in every direction, eager and excited to launch itself far across every plane of existence.

  Lucy hadn’t realized she was holding her breath, and once she did, she exhaled sharply with such force she was worried it would blow the bubble away. But instead, it held fast, moving closer to her still. Soon, it had floated perfectly into her line of sight, and she held her breath again as she peered inside.

  Facing her was a miniature armoured figure with a cape. Most likely a Dream Knight, she inferred. The knight faced two large crystals, one red and one blue, and Lucy recognized them as the representation of Dreams in the King’s scaled-down model of the Lattice of Dreams.

  The knight pointed their sword at the red Dream. For a long while, nothing happened, and nothing appeared to change at all within the bubble’s miniature realm. But during this nothingness, a powerful, unseen force emanated from the tip of the knight’s sword, drawing both Lucy’s gaze and the rest of the miniature realm toward it, as if claiming it all and rewriting it all with the same unilateral, unstoppable force of an author’s pen upon the words they had written.

  And then the knight was gone.

  Lucy blinked, her eyes scanning the bubble’s contents rapidly, until her eyes focused on the red Dream—and the knight’s figure now standing within it.

  A gasp was all Lucy could make as she froze stock still. The way the bubble had floated high above everything else, the inherent weight and influence it carried—all of it made sense now, if Lucy’s hunch was correct. Her eyes took a moment to focus as she read the placard:

  Into Dreams - Instantly travel to the Dream of a specific individual. [Until return to Final Dream] [300 Ideation + Understanding + Rebellion]

  Lucy’s hands shook. This was it. The Feat the King had described to her back when she was still in doubt about becoming a Dream Knight, the Feat that justified her entire reason for continuing to exist by promising her a means to reach Thomas, and her mother, and Kathy, and…anyone, and everyone, she had ever wanted to connect with, all those people she had failed back in her past, powerless life.

  The only thing she could think of doing, to contain her agitation and excitement, was to ask for the obvious clarification: “Three hundred Ideation plus Understanding plus Rebellion…Does that mean all of the alignments, across the three Axes, added up together?”

  “That is correct,” said the King without a moment’s delay.

  “I see.” Taking a step back from the bubble, Lucy stared at it, taking in how it was just the right size to fit in the palm of her hand. So easily within her grasp, and yet so far away. With shaky hands, she brought both her palms up and lightly pushed the bubble in an upwards and forwards direction. The bubble began moving just before her palms made contact, so that it was as if Lucy was using an invisible force to move the bubble back to its perch from on high.

  Lucy spent some time gazing up at it wistfully, then looked at the King and said: “I’d like to see what Feats I can get with my current alignments.”

  “As you wish,” said the King with a bow of his head.

  He joined both his hands together, producing a single clear clapping sound. Lucy looked at the bubbles, expecting to see the majority of them pop due to the clap just now, but instead a large swarm of bubbles flew off to the left where they quickly disappeared into the sky, as if exiting stage left.

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  The remaining Feat bubbles were still quite numerous; if Lucy were to inspect each and every one of them, it could easily take up to an hour or more. Because of this, Lucy decided that she would go through them and pick the first one that she felt truly drawn towards. The King had said that Feats not chosen can still be acquired later on, so she didn’t have to worry about locking herself out of options prematurely. Instead, what she needed to focus on was her first Feat’s utility in the next Dream.

  This was a broad line of thought, and not one that was easy to narrow down. Lucy reasoned that one method would be to consider what she was lacking. Looking down at herself, she noted her armour and her sword. In this way, it was apparent that she was lacking a shield, another of a knight’s hallmarks. Thinking back to those skirmishes atop Cole’s boat against the monstrous arms, she imagined how much safer she and Cole would have been, or at least felt, if she’d been able to block some of the oncoming arms with a shield, or had given it to Cole as extra protection.

  With this decided, Lucy peered around at the bubbles. Even with the conviction to prefer Feats that granted a shield or something similar, the act of picking the first one to look at was still daunting with so many options before her. On a whim, she picked one bubble to step up to and peer inside of.

  This Feat showed a miniature knight, similar to the one Lucy had seen for “Into Dreams.” But this time, the knight stood facing her, one arm crossed over its chest. Then, in a quick and forceful motion, it flung that arm off to its side in a wide sweep. As it did so, a barrage of black needles shot out, each one flying at different angles to cover a fan-out area in front of the knight. The needles struck a group of ink-black beasts at the edges of the bubble realm, causing them to jolt and then step backwards out of sight. Fascinated, Lucy read the placard:

  Repellent Needle (Fan) - Fire an array of needles in a forward fan-out motion. Sentient entities struck by the needles will not be harmed, but will move away from the user for a brief time. [30 seconds] [2 Ideation + 4 Rebellion]

  The alignment requirements made sense to Lucy, as Rebellion was the first Axis to come to mind. She thought back to those skirmishes atop Cole’s boat, where the monstrous arms had threatened to swarm them. If she’d had this Feat, she would have had an easier time holding them off, as the needles could strike multiple targets at once and stop their advance.

  And, in a way, it could be considered a protective Feat, as it stopped enemies from getting too close and causing harm. Still, Lucy wasn’t sure if this Feat was what she wanted, as it didn’t actually provide protection and would only prolong a battle. It might still be useful in Dreams where she regularly had to face a horde of enemies all at once, so she kept this Feat in mind while stepping away from its bubble.

  Lucy looked through several more Feats. Some were similar to Repellent Needle, providing a means of attack that briefly stopped or pushed away enemies. She wondered if their non-damaging properties were due to her relatively low Rebellion alignment. As she considered this, there came that creeping curiosity of what it would be like to align herself more toward Rebellion. After all, as she had heard in so many shows and movies, the best defence is a good offence…

  pop

  pop

  pop

  Lucy froze, stepping back with wide eyes. Among the pool of bubbles, many of them were rising up in the air slightly and popping, leaving only empty air where each one had been.

  She looked to the King, confusion and panic lacing her voice. “What’s happening?”

  The King raised his arms, but then stopped abruptly and brought them back down. It was the first time Lucy had seen the King do a double take. He shook his head. “I am afraid I do not know.”

  “No, no…” Lucy grasped the sides of her head. “This has to stop…or else I’ll lose…”

  Her voice trailed off as her body moved on its own, grabbing one of the bubbles that had begun to rise up. Grasping it between her hands, careful not to squeeze too hard despite her shakiness, she stared down at it intensely, seeing her reflection in the glare.

  “Please don’t, please don’t…”

  She continued chanting this under her breath for some time. It was strange: cradling the bubble like this, she felt as though as she were protecting it, forming an empathic bond as she was ready to endure whatever it took.

  Just like her reflection in that mirror: an icon of Understanding.

  A wave of calm washed over her, and with her composure regained, she looked up. Several other bubbles were also risen, but they stopped and then slowly descended, nestling back into their earlier spots like dropped marbles merrily settling on their final position.

  Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. She was still utterly confused, especially with the King having been perplexed as well. But for now, she was glad simply to no longer see so many Feats vanishing with a sharp, definitive popping sound.

  Looking down, she saw that she still held that one particular bubble in her hands. Letting go, she let it float back into the air on its own then, out of sheer curiosity, she peered into it.

  Within the bubble, a miniature Dream Knight squared off against an ink-black beast. The beast struck with a razor-sharp claws. Instead of moving to repel or evade the attack, the knight stood still and took the attack—which did nothing despite clearly connecting. Oddly, everything went motionless, as if time had stopped for a moment, then the beast followed up with another attack. This time it struck true, for the knight recoiled. Confused but intrigued, Lucy read the placard:

  Cognizance (I) - Passive. When attacked for the first time by a particular foe, become impervious to the attack. When the attack connects, time will stop for a brief period to allow the user to become cognizant of the attack. Subsequent attacks from that foe and all other foes will apply as normal, until this Feat becomes available again. [5 minutes] [10 Understanding]

  This Feat was certainly more complicated than the others she had seen, but Lucy understood that it would make her invincible to the very first attack from an enemy, and freeze time so that she could mentally register she had just been attacked (likely to safeguard against surprise or unseen attacks).

  As she thought about it, Lucy smiled. This one definitely fit her criteria of being a protection-based Feat, and it guarded her against immediate deaths that she couldn’t possibly see coming, which at this point was her greatest concern about entering any Dream. On top of that, the time stop gave her a chance to slow down and understand the situation, which fit neatly into how she preferred to approach combat.

  Looking at the King, who also no longer looked shaken, she said: “I think I’ve decided on a Feat. How do I acquire it?”

  “Excellent,” said the King. “To acquire a Feat, you need only pop its bubble with the blade of your Ideal. Your Ideal will siphon its power and broadcast your new influence across the Lattice of Dreams.”

  “All right.” Lucy raised her Ideal, delighted again by how simple actions like these were enough to commit important decisions such as these. She hesitated as she brought the blade’s tip in front of the bubble, and then, holding her breath, she thrust it forward. The bubble popped, but unlike the earlier chaos, the sound it made was light and cheerful.

  Looking down at her Ideal, Lucy saw the faint blue aura around it become more opaque. The blade glowed, becoming a silvery white, and then shafts of light shot out in every direction far across the distant skies. Probably to reach all the other Dreamers in the Lattice of Dreams, Lucy thought.

  “Congratulations,” said the King, bringing his hands together. “You have acquired your first Feat. This ends the realignment process following your first successful rescue. Once you are ready, you may proceed to the next Dream.”