“Very well. You may proceed.”

  As the King proclaimed this and held out his hand, Lucy couldn’t help but notice a flicker flash across where his face would be. It was momentary, like the sun catching on a shimmering arrow shooting by, and as with everything that might give something away about him, that flicker was impossible to scrutinize. But it was the mere presence and timing of it that informed Lucy of an important detail she had not noticed before: when she agreed to progress further, this elicited a strong reaction from the King, one that even he could not fully suppress.

  This observation stayed with Lucy as the otherworldly mists gathered and condensed into the three blue rods of the alignment grid. Before, the grid had been a curious wonder inspiring Lucy with the joy of moulding the essence of herself like a role-playing game. But now, the Axes’ pristine, glass-like appearance exuded an unfeeling austerity, as if to emphasize that they were not a part of herself but rather an extension of that unseen but all-powerful collective unconscious. Adding to this was how the Axes stretched on and on, lacking a definite end as they gradually faded and melded into the sky, becoming one with infinity. Lucy simultaneously felt a vice grip around her soul as well as an invisible force tossing her out into empty air, as she was faced with the endlessness of the road her existence was bound to.

  Silence crept its way into Lucy’s awareness, as the King had brought his arm back to his side and the alignment grid stood with motionless expectation: it would not leave, but nor would it move on until its corresponding Dream Knight took the necessary actions. Staring simultaneously at the grid’s focal point and at the vast expanse of the skies surrounding it, Lucy was struck by anxiety. It was similar to when she had first faced the King and the alignment grid, holding her in place so that she was unable to take even one step forward. But where that initial anxiety had come from feelings of self-doubt and the inability to conceive that one so small and inconsequential as herself could step up to such lofty expectations, this present anxiety was born from uncertainty and outright fear over the expectations themselves.

  Tying her personal growth and development to the placements of marbles on a bizarre three-dimensional grid…Stepping into the Dreams of others where she would be subject to horrible fates befalling not only herself but those around her…And the fact that this would all repeat, over and over, including her conflicts with others tied to the same fate, all while she was kept in the dark about the forces watching her every move…

  Just what had Lucy gotten herself into?

  The Axes were only a foot away now, her hand reaching out toward the alignment orbs—without being conscious of it, her feet had already propelled her forward. When there was that lapse in her skepticism, in her awareness, it all happened of its own accord in a way that felt oddly routine. Mundane and mindless. And when this realization struck, Lucy gasped as her fingers curled in apprehensively before reaching one of the alignment marbles. For she could not help comparing this repetitive and compulsive situation to the same feelings she’d had in the waking world, where every day was the same classes, the same same shifts at work, the same staying up late at night scrambling to read and do homework. In every case, she was suppressing her inner turmoil, inching out her patience and tolerance for distress, as she vied for those tiny, fleeting moments of being away from the duties of living even though she knew, in the lucid pits of her mind, that she was trapped.

  Even here, floating in the boundless sky with gorgeous armour that promised infinite growth, was there no freedom to be had?

  It was a paralyzing dilemma, but what could be done about it? As the King had said, she could take all the time in eternity—or at least, the remains of her diminishing eternity—and idle about it in the world below. But Lucy had had enough of wallowing and standing by. She needed change: something to do about this ever-changing life of travails within an unchanging system. It was exactly the same as when she been Lucy Lockhart the lesser, scurrying off to class and to her work front, and this fact she had to come to terms with.

  But this time, she was not powerless. She was already far more powerful than she had even been in her previous life, and she could continue growing stronger. Even if it was all within the constraints of the framework laid out by the King, here in the realm of Dreams there was still the hope that she could one day become so powerful that no framework nor set of rules could limit her.

  And if Lucy were to set that as her goal, then her immediate priority was clear: eliminate all immediate threats to her progress. It was like getting chores out of the way immediately so that one could focus all their mental energy toward a difficult assignment.

  Her eyes drifted toward the Dream Threshold that continued to spill dark, cloying mist into her Dream. Even if she hadn’t been consciously aware of it, clearly this Encroachment had already been using up valuable mind space. Lucy’s eyes narrowed as she promised herself she would get rid of this Dream’s problems as quickly as possible. Then, finally, she could consign the entirety of her being toward the impossibly difficult but necessary task of breaking through the barriers imposed on her by the collective unconscious.

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  It was with this new resolution that Lucy breathed in, taking in refreshing air that originated far beyond the boundaries of her Dream, and focused on her outstretched hand once more. The three alignment orbs were positioned in the same positions she had left them previously, with numbers hovering over each Axis to show Lucy’s current alignments numerically:

  Ideation: 5

  Understanding: 11

  Rebellion: 4

  Lucy, with her hand still outstretched, closed her eyes in deep thought. In addition to strengthening her alignments along each Axis, there was also the matter of Feats to consider, as her updated alignments would determine which Feats were available to acquire. Recalling how desperately she needed a light source in that Dream of impenetrable darkness, Lucy rummaged through her memory to recall the three Feats she had previously been considering:

  Dark Vision (10 metres) - Grants the ability to see entities in the dark up to 10 metres ahead. [Always Active] [12 Ideation, 12 Rebellion]

  Conjure Light (Small) - Conjure a light source that follows along and illuminates a radius of 20 metres for 10 minutes. [2 minutes] [10 Ideation]

  Concentrated Illumination - Emit a beam of light from one’s Ideal that illuminates up to 30 metres ahead. The beam lasts for as long as the wielder focuses on it; losing conscious thought of the beam causes it to end. [5 seconds] [15 Understanding]

  If she remembered correctly, her plan was to allot 4 of the 5 alignment points she had just received into Understanding so that she could acquire the Concentrated Illumination Feat. This would allow her to maintain her Primary Axis. As well, she greatly fancied the notion of using her Ideal to light the way as if it were a true legendary sword.

  But as Lucy’s hand reached for the alignment orb for Understanding, the hand of doubt crept in and halted her fingers. She could continue to specialize in Understanding like this, but where would that leave her in other two Axes? Her ability to utilize Ideation was mediocre at best, not least because it was her companions who had figured out many of the intricacies of Kenneth’s Dream, and also because she’d had a bad habit of falling into tunnel vision when it came to circumstances like whether or not to trust General Hawthorne.

  And in terms of Rebellion…Lucy’s pondering was shattered by the sharp, clattering sound of a blade hastily intercepting another. She could still recall the moment she had blocked Diana’s spear in the church with perfect clarity, as well as the fight that had ensued—and how quickly it had ended with Diana quite literally throwing away all of Lucy’s ability to fight back through sheer strength. Lucy’s back ached with memories of the explosive pain from being thrown into a church pew, but instead of leaving her feeling debilitated, those memories caused frustration to brew within her. Diana had been so confident—mocking, really—about their next encounter, and according to the King it was inevitably going to happen. The next time they fought, Lucy absolutely did not want to give Diana the chance to grab her by the head again. Next time, she needed to be the one to deliver a decisive blow, make Diana fall in defeat for once, and show the older Dream Knight that Lucy Lockhart would not be subservient to her forever.

  With that in mind, it made sense for Lucy to align herself more with one of the other two Axes. Ideation would allow her to evade Diana’s brutal strength and devise some new avenue leading to victory. But at the same time, Lucy couldn’t see herself being satisfied with simply outwitting Diana and winning on a technicality. She wanted to prove that she herself was far from weak, that she wasn’t the fragile “little girl” or “princess” Diana kept insinuating she was. She was a strong and capable woman whose values and ways of doing things were valid, effective, and not so easily crushed by the alleged necessity of wanton conflict and violence. And the best way to prove that would be to properly overpower one who was so hell-bent on never-ending animosity, acting as a deterrent force against the maligned viewpoint that Diana espoused through her every word and action.

  Lucy looked up and beyond the alignment grid, far over the horizon to the infinite worlds of Dreams that lay past. It sounded conceited and pretentious, but she had the sense that her triumph over Diana held a greater weight to it than simply settling a score. If their encounter had influenced the collective unconscious to such a degree that the collective believed the two Dream Knights to be forever intertwined in destiny, then it only made sense that the ultimate victor in their inevitable conflict would also influence the collective unconscious’s belief of whether the values Lucy or Diana stood for were ultimately the correct ones.

  And if that were the case, Lucy could not afford to lose to Diana again.

  She needed strength, she needed firepower, so her hand swiftly changed course toward the alignment orb for Rebellion, her fingers wrapped around its cool, smooth surface before she knew it. Picking it up and holding it between her thumb, index finger, and middle finger as she brought it up to her eye and marvelled at its tiny brilliance, Lucy was reminded of those moments where she was amazed at how effortless it was to reconfigure herself with a motion as simple as dropping a marble into a slot. Here, especially in the open air of the sky, there was no resistance to be had against the simple but meaningful actions she could will into reality. In barely a second, she could align far deeper down the Axis of Rebellion and reconfigure herself into a much stronger entity, feeling the newfound power course through every fibre of her being.

  Then she saw herself reflected in the alignment orb.

  Her hair, subject to the whims of the howling wind and her own harsh descent toward the audience chamber, was a wild mess of tumbled blonde that fanned out in every direction behind her like a golden tempest. Her teeth were grit together, their outlines almost visible through her gaunt cheeks, and her eyes possessed a piercing quality that looked like it could shatter the surface of the alignment orb at any moment. All that was missing was a crimson-plumed helmet, but regardless, the object of her observations was clear.

  Here, as she was pining for the Axis of Rebellion, Lucy looked very much like Diana.