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Firefly really shouldn’t be here.
Well, technically she really shouldn’t be anywhere, but it usually didn’t matter unless she was about to get caught. And she was about to get caught. So it mattered very much.
She fell asleep this morning and woke up both feeling and feeling refreshed. The previous night’s aches and evernumbing pains kept her tossing and turning, and the memoria took too long to embrace her. Eventually, though, it did, and she entered the land of the Family’s dreams.
The perpetual sunrise greeted her at her home in Dream’s Edge, and for the first time in a while, she smiled. There was something about today, she thought, that would make it one of the best days of her life.
Firefly couldn’t exactly pinpoint why she felt this way, but she had a strong feeling that it would hold true. And much to her inevitable detriment, it left her acting bolder than usual.
She spent the morning playing around with some of the sparklers she got the other day. She danced around wildly and freely with them. Firefly loved running, and feeling the rooftop’s wind caress her every step. The sparks glowed in the dawntime light, and she glowed with them.
Then, she snuck out of her hideaway and decided to take a stroll around the Dream’s Edge.
When she approached the central fountain near the entrance of the region, Firefly saw a couple of visibly stressed Architects arguing about the logistics of something. She was in good spirits with no care in the world, so she thought ‘why not?’, and waltzed up to them, asking what was wrong.
The two Architects explained their conundrum - apparently, some workers from the Nightingale Family were supposed to come and help set up the indoor furnishings of a new establishment, but they were late. By two and a half hours. Taking pity on them, Firefly volunteered to help them out. She fibbed a little, saying that she was an on-call contractor for the Family with no project to work on right now, but they seemed to buy her story and agreed to let her help them.
She spent the next couple of hours helping them set up a very ornate lobby (one so full of life and character that she couldn’t even begin to compare to the lifeless and desolate entrance of the rundown hospital that she called home). By the end of it, she was thanked and handed fifteen thousand credits for her hard work. Fifteen thousand! She had a mere seven thousand in her dreamscape savings which took her forever to save up. While Firefly was getting an uptick in clients asking for tours because of the upcoming Charmony Festival, they usually didn’t pay very well. But she was happy to do it anyway. It gave her an excuse to explore the world she very much loved, and to take her mind off of things plaguing her from the real world.
Firefly skipped away, humming happily. She planned to go to Glaux Avenue and try to find some clients to give tours to, and then she would enjoy the rest of her day. Maybe she’d get two oak rolls today to celebrate. Then later, she’d rehearse some of the scripts given to her by one of the directors from the Iris troupe. The chance of her actually being called to the stage was low, but she still wanted to be prepared.
But lady luck left her side, and she saw two Bloodhounds narrow their gazes at her, murmuring suspiciously. This wasn’t good. Her forged Dreamscape Pass was usually good enough to show to vendors if they asked for it, but she had a feeling that it wouldn’t work on a couple of officers.
So when they started walking steadily towards her, she ran.
Firefly dashed through the sparse crowd and tapped a nearby Dream’s Eye device. She felt the dreamscape bend around her. The fragmented buildings twisted and distorted themselves together in the pseudoreality. Normally, she would stop and admire the site before crossing these temporary bridges, but urgency and adrenaline were shooting through her, quickening her pace. The oppressively violent caterwauls behind her were getting closer. Hopping across the warped platforms, she dived towards a crevice that would lead her to Golden Hour.
The fierce shouting chasing her faded away, and she dissolved into a dimly-lit alleyway.
The noise of the street was quiet for this time of day. She saw a handful of visitors walking about, and some vendors trying to catch their eyes. Firefly wouldn’t be able to conceal herself easily, since there wasn’t much of a crowd, but as long as she kept herself quiet, the Bloodhounds wouldn’t be able to find her. Hopefully.
Firefly sat down and leaned against the wall. She inhaled. Then exhaled. The street beneath her felt cool, and a breeze swirled about.
It had been a while since she had caught the attention of any Bloodhounds. Normally, she avoided excessive interaction with the workers in the Dream’s Edge and booked it straight to the Golden Hour town center. Visitors were permitted to do whatever they wanted in the dream, so long as they didn’t disrupt the other guests or cause unorderly chaos. It had made it easy for Firefly to do whatever she wanted, like getting paid to give tours, and using the funds she earned to enjoy the things she wanted and have fun.
Right now, in reality, her physical form was sleeping and immersed in a bootlegged dreampool. When she woke up, she wouldn’t be able to move as fast as she does in this dream. When she woke up, she would go back to being the half-alive version of herself that she couldn’t escape. And she hated it.
When she was younger, Firefly didn’t live life like this. She had no shackles and could move as she wanted to, wherever and whenever she needed to. Her life before this was far from easy - she was always struggling to find food, and she was constantly on the move. She didn’t have the privilege to keep her childhood intact, and had to learn how to read people for her own survival. Despite her measures and precautions, she wasn’t always able to avoid fights, and sometimes she couldn’t find a decent place to sleep for the night. But like the Nameless, she was free.
Then her body started to turn against her, and chained her down with fetters.
A doctor told her that she had Entropy Loss Syndrome, and that it was only going to get worse from here. Taking pity on her, the woman offered Firefly a permanent home, and access to a dreampool.
Of course, Firefly was suspicious at first. What if the woman wanted to rob her of what little she had? What if she was turned over to the authorities? She had been on her own for so long, and couldn’t bear to lose the little freedom she had.
But more symptoms kept appearing, and she kept visiting the doctor for medication. The doctor stopped charging her, and kept offering her a permanent home. After a few incidents that rendered her helpless in the streets, Firefly finally agreed.
Despite all of the hardships she had faced so far, she was grateful to the Aeons that she finally wasn’t alone. Her new home was a spare office in a poorly funded hospital near the Reverie, but she was safe. And for the first time in her life, she finally had access to the dreamscape.
Something clattered nearby, and her head snapped upwards. She saw a billboard hopping in her direction. The Billboard stopped next to her and looked almost expectant. Smiling, she patted the top of the Billboard, and it jumped up a few times. Firefly laughed quietly. It reminded her of a puppy - like one she might have played with in her childhood.
She kept stroking its smooth, brassy head, and it curled up next to her.
They sat like that for an hour, with Firefly lost in her thoughts and the Billboard snuggling beside her.
"She’s around here somewhere! C’mon!”
Firefly shot up and ran, sprinting down the alleyway in the opposite direction. She heard the Billboard trill sadly, but it couldn’t be helped. Hopefully she’ll come across it later.
She spun around a corner and ran down the sparsely crowded stairs. Firefly couldn’t tell if the footsteps behind her were getting closer, or if it was just her heartbeat pounding fiercely in her head. She saw one of the Bloodhounds from earlier emerge from an alleyway several meters ahead of her. Shoot.
She shouldn’t be in this situation. She should have kept her head down, but instead, she made a stupid mistake and was now about to get caught.
Firefly didn’t regret helping those architects earlier, though. She actually enjoyed it a lot.
She skid to a stop and was quickly cornered. They said a few things at her mockingly, but she couldn’t hear them over her battering heartbeat.
She looked at both of them closely. The two bloodhounds towered over her, so there was no way she would be able to beat them head on. But from the looks of how they stood (with their tense postures and unsquared shoulders), they didn’t look like they were experienced with rogue street fights. Or perhaps, the officers weren’t prepared to throw hands with a girl half their height. Both of their palms look like they were calloused from using some sort of weapon - probably handguns or rifles - but their knuckles looked very soft. Firefly guessed that their hand-to-hand combat skills were possibly lacking. Maybe, if she used the element of surprise and had a little luck, she could outmaneuver them and escape. Running down the stairs to her right would be the best bet…
Firefly heard some gentle footsteps. A lithe figure with dark grey hair walked into her peripheral vision. She turned, and saw the girl of her dreams sparkling right before her eyes.
The girl’s aura glowed as if the memoria was dancing around her. Her grey hair was slightly tousled from the dreamscape’s wind. Firefly’s feet moved her forward, and she instinctively called out to the Nameless for help.
To Firefly’s surprise and delight, the Trailblazer agreed.
The two Bloodhounds that were chasing her pounced forward, aiming to ensnare them both. Swiftly, the grey-haired girl fought back against them with a fiery lance, and all Firefly could do was stare in awe at her. Within a minute, the two officers lay defeated.
The Trailblazer turned around and smiled at her. “You okay?”
Firefly nodded, an expression of wonder glazing her face. Despite her years of being on her own and gaining some lifesaving tactical experience, she was always awful at concealing her expression. But it was alright; she would forever trust the Nameless.
A brown-haired man strolled down the stairs towards them. Firefly felt the blood drain from her face. Gallagher.
She met the man once a few years ago in reality, when she first moved into the hospital. He had been inspecting several of the dreampools that the hospital had access to, making sure that the records were clean and no one was illegally using or hacking into them.
And since Firefly had been and continued to stowaway in them (very much illegally), she was nervous, to say the least.
Despite her hunch that Mr. Gallagher knew she wasn’t supposed to be using them, he didn’t say anything. Firefly’s doctor gave him a tight but grateful smile, and Firefly thought that would be the last time she’d see the man.
But here he was, and Firefly wasn’t sure how this was going to go down.
To her surprise, Gallagher told the officers to back down, and that they were after a different silver-haired stowaway. Firefly didn’t know who they were talking about, but she had a feeling that he wasn’t lying about it.
Gallagher gave her a look filled with scrutiny and recognition. She kept her gaze steady. He sent the officers away, apologized to the Trailblazer and Firefly, and briefly explained the situation.
She looked down guiltily. At this point, she was certain that Gallagher was aware that she was in the dreamscape illegally, but he didn’t arrest her for it. She didn’t know why he would do that for her. He could have cut her off from this wonderful dream, and taken away the one thing that made life worth living for her.
Firefly looked at Gallagher. “...Thanks. Without your kind help, I wouldn’t know what to do.” Without access to the dreamscape, she wouldn’t be able to do much else in her life. She would be limited to wasting away, and to sleeping without this dream. Penacony’s dreamscape was the best thing that had happened to her, and she couldn’t bear the thought of it being taken away.
He nodded, eyes softening. “Just part of the job.”
Gallagher said goodbye to the two of them, and she was left alone with the sparkling Trailblazer in front of her.
Firefly can’t remember the last time she was enjoying life this much.
Stelle was everything she ever imagined a Nameless to be and more. The girl was funny, took on risks like they were nothing, and was fiercely kind towards her. Sure, Stelle did have a large appetite, but she was worth every credit. They had only hung out for a day, but Firefly knew she would do anything for Stelle, and she felt that Stelle would do the exact same for her.
Despite the fun they were having, Firefly knew that they were being followed by someone. She tried to shake them off by running through crowded areas on their tour (she was grateful that Stelle didn’t question this or complain), but the stalker seemed persistent on their trail and wouldn’t leave.
She almost let out a sigh of relief when the stalker (whose name sounded fake and distinctly like a hair product), made his presence known. But she kept herself at an arm’s length away from the man at all times.
Sampo took them through the shadier parts of the city. After they were denied from entering a heavily guarded establishment, he had Stelle turn into a gremlin modeled after one of Clockie’s friends to fetch some materials. (Firefly was glad that they weren’t going to visit the club Sampo wanted to take them to. She knew that pepeshi were not to be messed with, and could be scary when they wanted to be.)
Afterwards, the two were dragged off to another random place that Sampo wanted them to visit.
Firefly had given tours of this part of Golden Hour in the past, but she had never actually spoken to Dr. Edward. He creeped her out. If she had known that he had the power to let guests experience their own personal dreams, then they would have met a long time ago.
Stelle handed the materials that Sampo made her hold to the giant eyeball, and they were whisked away into an unfamiliar dreamscape.
Well, it was only unfamiliar to her. It was Sampo’s dream, and Stelle seemed very acquainted with the frigid area.
After some enthralling conversations and fights with literal garbage, they were taken to a snowy canyon filled with running trashcans. She was certain that this was one of the weirdest things that she had encountered in any dream.
But then Firefly took a closer look.
Hoards of garbage running away from an unknown entity.
(Her parents and the members of her hometown grabbing their kids and running for safety.)
The canyon quaking and causing snow and rocks to tumble down.
(The planet quaking and burying the only place she’s ever called home.)
A giant Sampo gleefully causing havoc and destruction in a place that would soon be overrun by monsters.
(J̷̪̃v̶͕̜̪̦̀͂̌̓͗p̴̗͚͔̹̑̂̈ ̴̺̥̌̏͝ḏ̴̤̈́͠p̷͚̿v̶̜̙̭̬̜͋̔̐̏ ̶͚̤̜̗̈̾͂͊ͅc̷̫̫̘̤̎̀p̷̨̬̓j̴̬͛̎̀ń̸̩͇̔̀̄̕t̴̘̍̔͆͑̆ẗ̶̜͚́s̶̛͕͚̣͕̐͆i̶̤̓̍̅̈́ḑ̶̤̥̩̓̂͝c̷̙̘̝̈̽̎c̸̼͓͌ ̴͈͇̿̉e̶̮̫̓͜h̸͖̗̾̆̀e̴̳͍͖̟͊̌̕͜m̴̠͈̅̇̿̂̚t̸̙̣̀̀͐͛͌ ̵͇̝̩̚x̵̢͍̘̞͒̾̋̅p̶͔̬̓̐͊̀d̴͖͔̥̘̏p̶̻̪̼̻̊̈́̚͝q̵͇̮͖̈v̴͙͔́͌i̴̞̠̍͐̾̓͝ͅ ̷͓̺͓͔̀̀̔f̵̡̣̰̚s̷̡̙̀͒͆ï̸̛̐ͅ ̴̢̨̛͉̜̀̆h̶̙̬̠͎̰̑̐͝n̵̖͙̹͖̈̀̈̓̐ ̶̳̠̮̗́̀̊̚̕ķ̸͕̞̯̘̇̊q̵̠̄̋ě̵͉́̈́r̷͓̾̓͝g̷̢͎̰̟̍̅̀̆h̵̹̍̅̾͝t̶̟̖̳̘͕̔ ̸̡̀̑͗̍͝i̵͙͇̬̊͗̉́p̴̛̗̼͚̯̈́͘ǘ̶͓̬̠̊ ̶̨͔̈́̀p̷͖͓͒͒͗̚j̶̰̿͂͝b̵̧̨̮͚͐̿͋͝v̷̢̞̐́͜q̵̨̣̟͗̔p̸̖̅̑x̴̫̋͝ ̵̡͍͚̮̃̈́̌́r̵͔͓͘w̴͓̮̥̋͗̽x̶̩̟̜͓̮͒̏͗̅͘ ̸̧͌͒͐͌̀w̷͎̝̙͒ͅv̶̻͉̻̱͔͋̃n̵̥̬͊̽p̷͍͈̊ ̷̯̓̕͝f̸̧̙̘̩͖̀̓p̷͎̘̼̼̘̎͒͝i̴̢͚̋x̷̰̬̱̠̑̄̋̃q̷̰̰̳̲̬̏p̵̱̯̞͠v̸̛̟̬̭̜̔͜q̴͔̰͍̬̀͑͆h̷̡͖͔̟̥̊̈́ ̸̡̛͉̬͎̹́͒͝l̷̯̉͂͛p̷̥͚̘̟̖̒̿͛m̶̼̥͒̚’̵̄͜u̴͍̖̞̅̾̈̀ ̴̠̭̋v̴̧̬̜͈̇t̷̨͈̯̊̇ͅẗ̶͔̟̟͕́̕ḱ̷͖̣ ̴̭̮́́p̴͎̩̦̂́́ͅḯ̴͖͙̎̀̓̕f̴̯̼̺͓̰̈͊͒ ̶̥̙͉͕̾̇͜z̸͔͙̠̼͔̿̂̃̽l̷͓͈̄̿̃ ̸̰̓̑̉w̸̧̝͔̄̇͗̚x̸̰̻̳̳̂z̴̝̣̱̮̐̔̋ͅ ̷̡̗͇͍̝̌̓͠t̸̯͍̜̊k̵̡͎͕̇̊̑̓ẉ̴̭̀c̷̟̺̈́̎.̸̦͔̘͙͇̌̒͘)
Firefly shattered the barriers holding her back and paused the dream.
She opened her eyes to Stelle’s expression of disappointment and Sampo’s one of amusement.
How did he know? Firefly thought that sliver of history died with her past. Her limbs shook and her lungs started to quiver. She didn’t- she couldn’t-
She had to get out of here.
Stelle was the most wonderful person that Firefly had ever met. She was so understanding and compassionate.
In Firefly’s experience, most people care more about the truth than keeping relationships intact. Which is great for people with no secrets. But it isn’t for those like her who couldn’t bear to expose parts of her past to the world.
Firefly promised to herself that cherish the picture of herself and Stelle for the rest of her life. Even if they lost touch, or even if they weren’t friends anymore, she wanted to preserve the feelings and memories of this moment forever.
Why do people choose to sleep?
I think… It’s because they’re afraid to awaken from the dream.
It took all of Firefly’s willpower to keep herself from waking up, and to keep moving.
She knew the risks of staying in an unadulterated dreamscape - or at least, she’s heard of the rumors about its impact - but she couldn’t bear to wake up. Not when she knew what suffering and loneliness felt like whenever she was conscious. Not when she has finally, for the first time in her life, experienced what true friendship and love was.
Not when she was the closest she’s been to discovering the Watchmaker’s legacy and fulfilling her purpose for coming to Penacony in the first place.
Of course, it would be easier to find the secrets and history she needed if she wasn’t lost. Secrets were both open and shut in wild dreamscapes, and she knew she would inevitably find some if she just kept going.
A blurry sentence clouded up in front of her, and Firefly skidded to a halt. She was so close, she could feel it.
A metallic clattering sound thumped towards her. She tensed. Although Firefly was more than proficient in fighting, she was usually only good against humans.
The sound banged louder and rattled closer and -
“Billboard?!”
The Billboard jumped up in excitement, and a smiley face emoji painted its display.
Firefly relaxed, bent down next to it, and placed her hand on its head. “What are you doing here, little one? You could get hurt.”
The Billboard changed the smiley face to a watch and a screwdriver on its display.
She frowned. “Are you referring to the Watchmaker? Do you know any information about them?”
A red X was painted over the watch and the screwdriver, and it began to flash.
Firefly dropped her hand and stood up. “I’m sorry, Billboard, but I have to try searching for this. You can’t stop me, but if you want, you can follow along.”
The hallway shook, and she heard the fizzling of a SoulGlad soda can coming closer.
Firefly started to jog and heard the trilling of the Billboard following her. She was glad she wouldn’t be alone.
In the unregulated dreamscapes, you could never tell how much time had passed in the real world. She lost track of how much time had passed in this place a long time ago - however long ago that was. For all she knew, Firefly had either been asleep for minutes, or possibly an ungodly amount of hours. She hoped that her disappearance didn’t worry Stelle too much.
Keeping herself as hidden as she could from enemies, she quickened her pace and kept going downwards, following the word clouds and solving whatever puzzles were blocking her path.
Firefly leapt off the stairs and landed on a new floor. The air thickened with fog. The room quieted. She slowed herself down slightly. Abruptly, a freezing metal thing thwacked her leg, and she jolted violently.
"Billboard!” she hissed. The dreamscape was creepy enough as it is, and she didn’t need her newfound acquaintance freaking her out more. But Billboard urgently bounced, like it was trying to get her attention.
“What is it? Did you see something?” Firefly glanced behind her and at the hallway in front of her. It looked clear of any nightmarish monsters. She bent down, and stroked the Billboard’s head, trying to calm it.
(She vaguely remembered a woman - it might have been her mother - doing the same motion on her. She remembered it comforting her a lot).
The Billboard steadied itself, and cleared the scribbles from its display. Stroke by stroke, it slowly drew a face she was familiar with. Stelle.
Firefly held onto the side of the Billboard. She remembers feeling Stelle wake up, safe and sound. Surely she didn’t get stuck in the true dreamscape… Right?
“Billboard, please, tell me if you know - Is she safe?” Firefly ignored the slight tremor in her voice.
Stelle was a member of the Astral Express. She was a Nameless, and she was a Trailblazer. In normal circumstances, she would be okay. But this was the dreamscape - everything was unpredictable, and Firefly knew that her friend wasn’t quite used to memoria or the physics of this world yet.
Firefly’s heart squeezed with dread as Billboard drew an X next to Stelle’s face.
Her heart pummeled viciously and pounded so intensely that it was almost deafening. Billboard worriedly chirped behind her as she sprinted upwards.
Her friend would be fine. Stelle would be okay. But she just had to make sure that Stelle was safe. She wouldn’t forgive herself if something happened and she wasn’t there to at least help her friend.
The hallways grew longer and narrower and Firefly’s vision tunneled. She was so close. Unless Stelle had been here for a while, she was probably still near the lobby. Firefly only hoped that she got to her friend in time.
She couldn’t hear the Billboard behind her anymore. She hoped that it stayed safe.
Firefly hurtled through the lobby’s entrance. At the end of the hall stood Stelle, and two other women next to her. Stelle was safe.
Tearfully, she grinned and sprinted towards her friend. Stelle looked equally as happy and full of relief.
The aura of the purple woman behind Stelle - the one who was with Misha earlier - glowed potently. A violet fog spawned behind Stelle, and before she could call out a warning, and Abyssal monster surged forward -
Firefly felt her body get tossed in the air -
An expression of horror and desperation painted Stelle's face -
And the abyssal creature stabbed Firefly from the back. She felt dozens of knifes blossom in her chest. Her vision sparkled with tears.
“S-Sorry -” Firefly choked out. Sorry that she got here too late. Sorry that she wouldn’t be able to defend her friend.
The creature plunged its tail deeper, and Firefly burned up.
Her eyes fluttered shut, and the dream threw her tears and her body to the ground.
Firefly thought she could feel the ghost of a hug embrace her.
In my dream, I saw a scorched earth, and a new sapling emerging from it. It bloomed against the morning sun, and whispered to me.
In Penacony’s reality, a young girl immersed in a dreampool breathed in. And out. Her breaths slowed, and a violet fracture traced her torso.