The Cave of Dreams became a hunting ground for the Blue Jays.

  Like their namesake, the Blue Jays showed no sign of discretion as they loudly chased Luno on foot through the cavernous corridors. The moth woman proved faster than them but carrying Lenoria with her slowed her down.

  "I wish I could wake her. She's so...heavy!"

  For her part, Lenoria had wrapped her arms around Luno in her sleep. "Al..."

  "At least she's having a nice dream. Unless she wakes herself like Caesar did, the cocoon's magic won't wear off for another two- Ah!" The moth woman flinched at the sound of gunfire. "Oh, I always hated guns..."

  "Can't handle the heat?" The sound of flapping wings was getting closer and closer. While he was unable to use his hands during flight, El Buitre held on to his deck of cards with his talons. "Why don't you grab something ice cold?"

  "They can fly?" Luno lowered her head as she felt something zip past her. A card with blue energy struck one of the cavern walls before exploding with blue energy. With an angry grunt, Luno ditched her humanoid disguise with the blink of an eye, sprouting two additional arms which suddenly glowed with black energy. "I can't fight like this! You want me? Then come and find me!"

  Stretching her extra arms sideways, Luno released black energy, which quickly enveloped herself and Lenoria before both disappeared. There was no finding either of them, even when the Blue Jays stopped to take a look around.

  "The Guardian escaped!"

  "What do we do now, boss?"

  "Master Grif won't like this at all!"

  "Shut it!" Filled with rage, El Buitre dropped his deck of cards, all of them scattering across the hard, jagged floor. The rest of the Blue Jays sat down on the ground with understandable hesitation. This allowed them to catch their breaths while their squad leader paced around aimlessly. "They must still be heading for the exit. We'll head there and blast them to bits!"

  ***

  "Made it."

  With Lenoria still in tow, Luno successfully arrived at her destination thanks to her spell. The cavern walls around her had lost their glistening sheen and their bioluminescent fungi had lost their shining light. In fact, the entire cavern had darkened, yet everything was still visible. Color had been bleached from the world around them, leaving behind only a monochrome cavern. The walls were now a rocky, chalky white, with the areas beyond holding nothing but darkness.

  Yet, despite the new, bleak environment, Luno had lost her pursuers. She was free to take a breather for as long as she needed to.

  "The Plane of Shadow. It's creepy, but I had no choice." The moth woman's compound eyes glanced over at the snoozing Lenoria, who had already made herself comfortable in her sleep by spreading her arms and legs. "How can someone with a frame so small weigh so much?"

  Not much time passed before Lenoria yawned. She sat up to stretch her arms and scratched her back when she was done but dropped the casual attitude once her eyes fully opened. She quickly rose to her feet before asking Luno the obvious. "Where are we? And where's everyone?" She gasped. "You didn't-!"

  "Look around you. We're in the Plane of Shadow...and away from our pursuers."

  "What happened?" Pearl's presence manifested itself in an instant. "Are the demons gone? Did we succeed?"

  "Let me ask her. She can't see you, remember," Lenoria whispered. "Did the plan work, Luno?"

  "Not quite. They found us, and we had to split up. The boy stayed with the blue girl and demanded that I flee with you. He...he said he'd fight better knowing you were out of danger. But now he duels with the demon commander while we're currently hiding from his lackeys."

  "Al, I'm touched but you're an idiot," Lenoria mumbled. She found a rock on the ground, which she kicked in a short tantrum. The rock did not bounce or fly into the distance, but turned into a puff of smoke, instead. She reached for the smaller pebbles, but those disappeared in her hand, too. "You mentioned the Plane of Shadow. Are we really safe here?"

  "In a manner of speaking. We're on the border of the Prime Material and the Plane of Shadow. My spell saw to that."

  "Can every one of your kind cast that spell," Lenoria wondered.

  "Yes. It allows us to work the threads of fate and slip safely to the shadows. But I use mine to hide my babies from intruders."

  Right on cue, dozens of compound eyes light up in the cavities of the chalky walls. Moth after giant moth emerged from them, clinging on the walls to keep their distance while they kept their sights on Lenoria.

  "See? I was able to move them here while you slept. The spell's still got a few hours left before the shadows punt them back to our world, but hopefully that's enough time to kick those demons out of my forest."

  "You said we're hiding from the demon commander's lackeys, right?" Lenoria crossed her arms. "Won't they find us eventually?"

  "Thankfully, no. Unless one of them can travel to the Plane of Shadow, we'll be safe here. We're in a parallel world, so to speak. We're in a cave that looks just like the one I have, yet nothing lingers here."

  "Parallel world?" Lenoria looked around again, this time more focused wherever her sight landed. She noted the similarities between this cave and the one back in 'the Prime Material,' as Luno put it. The ground was the same, but the giant corridor they were in had much more space that the narrow corridors back in Luno's cave. "I see. In other words, we're in the 'shadow' version of your cave."

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "That's the layman's way of putting it, yes. You seem to have a grasp of how it works."

  "I did take some classes on the subject," Lenoria boasted arrogantly. "I'll have to talk to Clara about it later, though. She's the expert, and it's not like I always paid attention in class. I just know the basics; like how if our world can be represented by a circle, then the Ethereal and Shadow Planes would be two other circles overlapping underneath without coming in contact with each other."

  "Who's Clara," Luno thought to herself.

  "Anyway, if we're safe in here, wouldn't it have been better to bring everyone else along instead of splitting up?"

  "I..." Luno bashfully scratched her head. "I-it was a heat of the moment thing."

  "Fantastic..." There was no point of crying over spilt milk, but that didn't make Lenoria less worried. Alistair could focus more on his duel with the demon commander as long as she was safe, but what if his power was not enough? Moreover, if she and Luno successfully avoided their pursuers...

  "We have to go back," Lenoria proposed. "Even if Al can handle the demon, what are the odds of his goons just going back to him and gang up on him and Aquamarine? I know they're decent fighters, but..."

  The young scientist still remembered the fireball that nearly claimed her life. The shockwave from the explosion, the intense heat, the caster's mad cackling; her nap only brought momentary respite with no signs of rejuvenation. The healing spell that brought her back closed most of her burns and wounds, but the pain was still fresh in her mind.

  "The people chasing us...was one of them a mean, vulture-looking guy?"

  Surprised to hear that description, Luno proceeded to elaborate. "Y-yeah. How did you know?"

  "The gang and I bumped into him when that halfling girl tried to escape from the forest. We underestimated him and he nearly killed us. He's the reason I'm worried."

  "He's that strong?"

  Calmly yet furiously, Lenoria balled up her fist. "Yeah. Given his affinity with magic, his reflexes, and his accuracy, he must be a magus of some sort. And a good one, at that."

  "W-what do we do, then?"

  "I can tell you one thing: We won't kick him out of this forest if we stay here and wait things out. My man is out there, and I'm not going to leave him alone with that vulture or any of the Blue Jays." Drawing her pistol from her holster, Lenoria loaded a single cartridge before crouching down to one knee, facing her pistol upwards while keeping a single hand on the cold ground. "Send me back."

  "Are you sure? Even though we haven't moved, if I cancel the spell on you, it may put you some distance away from the location we teleported from. The spell isn't that precise despite its power."

  "I don't care. Al is out there and even with Aquamarine, he won't have the manpower necessary to take that bastard down. We end this tonight!"

  ***

  Dragging her feet, Aquamarine shambled away from Luno's chamber with her eyes facing the ground. She had found the motivation to keep going for the time being, but something still tugged at her spirit. Mr. Horsey hovered alongside her, quietly giving her some space while also watching over her and the road ahead in case they face unexpected danger. He had faith Alistair would rescue Lenoria and finish what they all set out to do, which was why he gave his mistress all the time she needed to sort herself out.

  What was it like to be useful? What was it like to be dependable enough for people to worship the ground you walked on? What was it like to never fall short of anyone's expectations?

  What a useless girl.

  She can't mop the deck, always drops the booze-

  She can't even cook a fried tilapia right! Why did we even adopt her?

  Why don't we throw her overboard? Maybe the sharks will finally stop hanging around our ship.

  N-no, please don't! I'll be better, I promise!

  On three, boys!

  No, wait! Beat me if you want, but don't do this!

  And a one, and a two, and alley-oop!

  Nooooo!

  Deep down, there was a longing to be part of something greater, a desire to belong in a place where she could be accepted without ever worrying about being abandoned ever again. When Constable Richards approached her to request for Lenoria's protection, the girl was more than ecstatic and accepted once the Constable reassured her that Clara's parents would be protected. With her hydrokinesis and Mr. Horsey's guidance, there was no way she could fail.

  Until today.

  Aquamarine and Alistair survived their nasty encounter with the demon commander, but it wasn't exactly what one would call a victory. It was a one-sided struggle which needed an entire party to even the odds. Alistair was able to hurt the demon, but Aquamarine couldn't even scratch him. If the boy had fallen, she would have been next; and she would be ill-equipped to even have a chance of escaping.

  "Mr. Horsey," Aquamarine finally said, "what are we even doing here?"

  "Constable Richards hired us to protect Lenoria until Starflower's arrest, remember?"

  "That's right. Starflower isn't even here. So, why are we even here? All I've done is get in the way."

  "That is untrue, Aquamarine. Don't let a single bad day cloud your memory from your own accomplishments." The seahorse floated in front of her. "Who stopped that giant from eating that poor girl?"

  "Alistair did," Aquamarine said matter-of-factly.

  "No, we did. As strong as he is, Alistair could not have done that alone. It was a team effort, and you contributed to that giant's demise."

  "All I did was heal and maybe launch a couple of blasts. Heroes are supposed to do all the work."

  "Aquamarine, the road to heroism begins with humility. Wealth and fame keep many heroes around, but such people will abandon the people who look up to them if it doesn't directly benefit them. You, however, joined the Guardians because you wanted to do good in this world. Your heart made you worthy of the Delphinus stone you wear. Will you let a single loss hold you back?"

  Before the heroine would answer, she felt a heavy weight on her shoulders. She collapsed when it proved too much to bear, feeling something hard place itself on the back.

  "Owie..." Lenoria patted herself as she obliviously sat on our magical heroine. "Oh, hey Mr. Horsey."

  "Lenoria," the seahorse said as he bowed politely. "Would you be so kind as to get off my associate?"

  "Huh?" The girl jumped away once she heard Aquamarine groan from underneath. "Ah! Sorry, Aqua! Did I hurt you?"

  "The only thing that's hurting is my pride..." Aquamarine was in no hurry to stand back up. Her face was purposely glued to the ground, refusing to look at either her leader or familiar.

  "We'll patch it up later. Where's Alistair?"

  When Aquamarine kept quiet, it was up to Mr. Horsey to explain what had happened. By explaining the results of the battle and the current situation, he gave Lenoria all she needed to know.

  "You split up?! What is it with you guys and breaking up into smaller teams?" Lenoria raised her arms in the air. "Ugh, this is what happens when I'm not around. We better fix this! Hurry up and stand up!"

  "Why? Al should be fine," Aquamarine protested.

  "Because those bullies outnumber him! He's going to need us!"

  "No, he won't. He needs you, for sure. But me?" Still glued to the ground, Aquamarine shook her head as best as she could. "I'm just dead weight."

  "So you couldn't hurt the big vulture. Big deal," Lenoria said dismissively. "You and Al came out fine, right? Then you must still have the strength to fight."

  When Aquamarine offered no response, Pearl manifested herself next to her partner. "Leave her. If she thinks she's dead weight, then nothing you can say will snap her out of it."

  "But-"

  "You want to save Alistair, right? One head is better than none. You better get to him while you still can."

  Lenoria sank her head. "Mr. Horsey-"

  "I understand, Lenoria," said the marine animal. "I know how much Alistair means to you. Go."

  Nodding to him, Lenoria turned around and sped off into the distance. At least...she would have, if Aquamarine not called out to her.

  "Captain, wait. I'll b-be better! I-I promise!"

  Hearing sobbing in between the heroine's words, Lenoria stopped and looked back. Aquamarine had raised her head, her face now tear-stained and red. No longer irate, Lenoria looked in the direction Alistair had gone to before returning to Aquamarine. The heroine sobbed and sobbed, trying to get words in that didn't make sense to the party leader.

  "I beg of you...please give me another chance. I'm not as useless as I was earlier. I'll learn to cook better! I'll make sure the ship's deck is spotless! I'm sorry. Please don't leave me! Please don't abandon me..."

  Confused, Lenoria didn't say anything. She looked over at Mr. Horsey for answers, but he could only offer her a saddened stare. Something felt familiar about this, but Lenoria couldn't quite put her finger on it. Aquamarine's loss had affected her more than she let on, and it appeared something in her brain finally snapped. She wasn't looking at anyone in particular; once Lenoria moved out of her line of sight, Aquamarine's face did not follow her. Torn between figuring out what's going on and rushing to Alistair's side, there was no right answer for Lenoria. Was it right to leave Al to handle who knows how many Blue Jays were in the cave? Was it okay to leave a weeping, delirious girl behind?

  Now she remembered, and Lenoria didn't want to admit it. This was just like her days at the Artificers Guild.

  That wasn't the face of a heroine.

  Those weren't the words of a girl desperate for attention.

  Those were the tears of a child who didn't want to be alone anymore.