The Dream Sanctum: Beyond The End (12 page)

“This is why we can’t have nice things,” Alastor lamented as they looked
around in surprise, but they all stopped as Elvia suddenly held up her hand.

“Movement,” she said quietly, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

They followed her gaze to a set of buildings not far to their left, and
as they watched, two figures stepped slowly out from behind them. The strangers
walked them, showing their hands in a sign of peace. They were pale and
scrawny, and they wore black cloaks drawn tightly around them to keep out the
cold, but had no shoes.

“You are new here,” one of the figures said in a near whisper. Kai looked
closer and saw that it was a female, slightly younger than himself. She spoke
cautiously, as though afraid of their response.

Her partner, a young man who looked a few years older, extended a skinny
hand in welcome.

“You’ve come from the other side of the world, I guess?” he said in a
louder voice. Alastor nodded as he shook hands before sweeping the city with a
quick glance.

“You seem to know about where we come from; can you tell us where we
are?” he asked in a friendly tone.

Instead of answering, the boy nodded to a point behind where they all
stood. As they turned to look, they saw a small group of about twenty people
walking toward them. They too were dressed in black cloaks and looked rather
frail, and slowly approached the group of newcomers with their hands raised.

“Our leader can tell you,” the young man said, and as the others drew
near, he and the girl vanished back behind the buildings.

“Greetings!” a tall man said, walking ahead of the group and extending
his hand. Again Alastor took it, shaking it warmly. “It has been a long time
since we have had visitors. Do you hail from the other side of the world as we
suspect?”

“That we do!” Alastor replied. “Are you the leader that young man just
mentioned?”

“I am indeed,” the tall man said. “My name is Devnon, and I am in charge
in this unfortunate place.”

Kai studied Devnon with a mix of interest and wariness. He looked thin
and weak like the others, as though he hadn’t eaten in days, but there was no
question of his authority. He walked with a slight hunch, and his thin, white
hair fell over his eyes and down his back. Piercing gray eyes looked out from
under a prominent forehead and grizzled eyebrows, and a pointed nose matched
his pointed chin. His hands were gnarled and thin, and his long, slender
fingers were tipped with chipped, dirty nails.

“Wonderful,” Alastor continued undeterred. “My name is Alastor, and I’m
just here for fun. Might you tell us where we are?”

“Oh, I think you know where you are,” Devnon said with a crooked grin.
“The name of this particular area is The Banished Lands.”

“Sounds rather unfortunate,” Alastor mused.

“Unfortunate indeed,” Devnon repeated icily. “I’m afraid we don’t have
much to offer in terms of supplies, or even a warm place to sleep, but I’m sure
our unwavering hospitality will make up for that.”

Devnon let out a raspy laugh as thunder sounded again, this time much
closer.

“Oh I don’t doubt that,” Alastor said, still as friendly as ever. “I’m
afraid we won’t be here for long, but we do want to make sure we have plenty of
interesting information for our return voyage.”

“Oh, you don’t mean that you’ll be leaving us so soon?” Devnon asked
softly, taking a step toward them. “There is much to do here, and many
interesting people to meet.”

“I’m sure there is. Actually, some of you look a little familiar,”
Alastor started, and Devnon nodded.

“As well they should. I’m glad you pay attention.” Devnon broke off,
staring right at Kai, and Kai felt distinctly uneasy. “But you… you look
familiar to me. That does not happen often.” He looked away, and relief washed
over Kai. “Now you mention it, however, there are a few people I would like you
to meet.”

Devnon raised his arm and waved at a few people standing at the back of
the group. Five of them made their way forward, their faces shrouded by their
black cloaks, and stood in a line behind Devnon, who stepped aside.

“Come now, don’t be shy. Say hello to our new guests,” Devnon pressed,
still grinning.

The five cloaked figures obliged, and simultaneously pulled their hoods
backward. As they did so, Kai took a step back, and his friends did the same.

It was as though he were staring into a mirror. He knew that Lindsay,
Kwin, Alastor and Elvia were standing next to him, but they were also standing
directly across from him. They looked exactly the same except for the fact that
their skin was pale, and their sallow eyes were grim, almost malicious.
However, Kai’s attention was taken by the one who stood at the right of the
group, for he was a mirror image of Kai himself.

“Welcome to the Dream Sanctum,” the pale copy of Kwin said in a haunting
voice.

T
he shocked silence was
broken only by the occasional roll of thunder and rustling of leaves on the icy
breeze. The sky darkened further, and the city, which had before simply looked
abandoned, now looked foreboding and dangerous. If Kai had been able to break
his gaze from the mirror image of himself, he would have noticed even more
cloaked figures starting to move into the square from the bleak streets and
alleys.

But he could not look away. The similarity in their appearance – and even
personality, it seemed – was far too great to be a coincidence. The copy of
Alastor stood with his arms crossed, a thoughtful expression on his face, while
Elvia’s copy stayed close, studying Kai’s group with an intent stare. Lindsay’s
copy seemed slightly nervous and avoided making any eye contact, and Kai’s copy
looked genuinely interested in the newcomers.

It seemed Kwin’s copy was the leader of their group. She stood slightly
ahead of the others, fixing the real Kwin with a hollow, unwavering gaze. Kwin
stared back, determined to win this staring contest, but Kai knew she was in
shock. The copy seemed even more intimidating than Kwin herself, and her eerie
gaze and voice sent shivers down Kai’s spine.

“Well this is unexpected,” Alastor said finally. His words seemed to
break the spell that hung over them, and Kai let out a breath he didn’t
realized he’d been holding.

“I know, right?” Alastor’s copy replied with a chuckle, stepping forward
to greet him. “I’m Alastor, but you knew that.”

“Likewise!” Alastor said with a grin, and Kai marveled at how comfortable
he seemed with the entire situation.

“You guys aren’t dressed for the weather we’ve got around here,”
Lindsay’s twin said quietly. “You should come inside by a fire so we can
explain everything.”

“Good idea,” Kai’s double agreed. “We’ll take it from here, Devnon.”

“As you wish,” Devnon replied in a low voice. Though he smiled, Kai
didn’t feel like he could trust him at all.

Kai and his friends followed the others down the street and up the steps
toward the main hall. Kai saw that several of the tall windows were broken, but
the inside was mostly clean and empty. A few fires burned near the back, tended
to by a few more cloaked figures who stepped away and out the door as the two
groups approached.

They all sat down close to one of the larger fires. The glow and warmth
of the flames were comforting, and Kai found that he was already becoming more
accustomed to the presence of the strange, pale copies of himself and his
friends. Weirder things had happened in the Sanctum before. However, he still
avoided making eye contact with his doppelganger.

Kwin’s copy sat cross-legged in front of the others. She was the only one
to not seem at all affected by their situation. If anything, she seemed like
she wanted to get their conversation over with.

“Before anything else, I think we should decide what to call each other,”
Alastor mused. “If we use our real names, all of us are bound to be confused.”

“How about we add ‘two’ to the end of our names?” Lindsay’s twin
suggested. “I’d be Lindsay Two, my friend would be Kai Two, you know?”

“Oi, why do we have to be two, why can’t they be two?” Kai Two asked. “We
were here first.”

“Because it’s easier for them! We’re the hosts, they’re the guests, see?
If you’re against it, we’ll call you Kai Three and say that your twin brother
fell off a cliff and died somewhere.”

“Oh knock it off,” Kwin’s copy commanded, and the others quieted
immediately, though Kai and Alastor’s doubles looked at each other with wide
grins. “Lindsay’s – or should I say, Lindsay Two’s – suggestion is fine.”

“This is remarkable, I must admit,” Kwin said. “I never expected we would
come across something like this.”

“I would imagine you have a number of questions for us, so we will do our
best to explain,” Kwin Two replied.

“I assume you know more about us than we do about you, considering people
from our side have traveled here before, but I don’t think anyone from your
side has traveled to ours,” Alastor said thoughtfully.

“You assume correctly. Visitors from your side have helped us create our
theories about this world and why it exists. However, we are left with nothing
more than that: theories. So bear with me as I explain.” Kwin Two took a deep
breath before continuing. “Our theory is that this place, this land that we’re
on right now, was the very first version of the Dream Sanctum ever created.
However, we believe that whoever made all of this – I believe your people call
them ‘The Creators’ – made a number of mistakes and abandoned it in favor of
creating a world that is much better. Yours, of course.”

Her explanation seemed simple enough, but her tone was irritable, as though
the words she spoke left a bad taste in her mouth.

“So this is like a rough draft, is it?” Alastor asked with fascination.

“That’s the idea. We think that this world was first and set the foundation
for the ‘real’ Sanctum that you five are accustomed to. That is why your world
is free of flaws and everything is fine.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say we’re without flaws,” Kai chuckled. At Kwin Two’s
inquiring look he continued, “Not too long ago we were invaded by Nightmares
that nearly destroyed the entire Sanctum.”

“No way!” Lindsay Two said, aghast.

“Yeah. It all started with two dumb dreamers who accidentally found a
loophole in the Sanctum’s rules. It got pretty serious. People were getting
attacked and forced out, towns were destroyed, the works.”

At this, Kwin Two seemed to relax, and she looked somewhat comforted.

“So even the perfect world is not so perfect after all,” she said
quietly, and a small grin flitted across her face.

“Yeah, right,” Alastor said, giving her a strange look. “Anyway. That
explains why this is all here, but what about all of you? Is everyone here a
copy?”

“Absolutely right,” Alastor Two answered. “Based on what we know, when
this world was created, no one was here. Your Sanctum is supposed to be the
‘real’ one, so that’s where everyone comes in. Our theory is that whenever
someone enters the Sanctum, they leave an imprint on the world. That’s how they
can continue to get in whenever they want without having to find a new entrance
each time; and since this world, regardless of how broken it is, is still
considered the Dream Sanctum, a copy appears here as well to keep the balance.
It’s like a perfect mirror.”

“It hardly perfect,” Kwin Two interjected. “If it were a real copy we
would not be sentient, but would mirror the actions of our counterparts
precisely. Yet we have minds of our own. I imagine our cities wouldn’t be so
broken, either. Instead we are given these dilapidated excuses for buildings,
cold weather and no way to fix anything.”

“Couldn’t you just wake up?” Lindsay asked. “I mean, to get out of here.
I don’t know why anyone would want to stay.”

“Wake up? Wake up to what?” Kwin Two replied in a furious whisper. “We’re
copies. We don’t exist in the real world. There
is
no real world for us. We’re stuck here while you have the
freedom to do whatever it is you damn well please.”

The room fell quiet at her words. Looking quite guilty, Lindsay shifted
her gaze to the floor. Alastor Two cleared his throat.

“Don’t worry about it; it’s a perfectly reasonable question. Kwin Two
occasionally makes the mistaken assumption that everyone will understand how
everything works whether they’re new here or not.”

Kwin Two glared at him, but he stared back until she looked away with a sigh.

“He is right. I do apologize,” she said, though she didn’t look as though
she meant it. “It is frustrating to know that while we are stuck in this
meaningless existence, there are those who have the freedom to go wherever they
please, and that their very existence dooms us to this life.”

“Why not just travel to the other side of the world?” Kai suggested,
wondering if his suggestion would end up sounding just as foolish. “If you
really are stuck then you might as well live in a proper place, not like this.
And who knows? Maybe we could find a way to help you.”

“That option is out of the question, and only because we have considered
it for ages,” Kwin Two replied, looking disappointed rather than irritated. “We
would not be accepted. We would effectively double the population of your
Sanctum, and we would not be looked kindly upon. Having a double of everyone
would cause chaos. There is also the fact that whenever anyone new entered,
they would arrive here, so who would guide them in this empty world? I would
not wish that loneliness on anyone.”

Kai rested his chin on his palm as he looked into the flames.
What kind of Creators would leave a world
like this here?

“Well, there’s bound to be something we can do, at any rate,” Alastor
said cheerfully. “We’re not the kind to ignore a problem if we can help it, so
how about we stick around and see if we can come up with something together? At
the very least we could try to rebuild. It would be a lot easier if we had our
imaginative powers, I will grant you that.”

“Your charity is not necessary, but we thank you for the thought,” Kwin
Two replied, and this time she looked as though her sentiments were genuine.
“We have thought about our possibilities for quite some time, and we doubt you
would be able to come up with anything that we have not.”

“You never know,” Alastor said, and left it at that.

“I was actually wondering about that, what Alastor said,” Lindsay spoke
up quietly, looking nervous at the prospect of speaking again. “Why is it that
we lost our powers here?”

“I’m afraid I cannot answer that,” Kwin Two answered. “We have no powers
here, and we had no idea that any existed until the first travelers who arrived
here mentioned it themselves. It has always been that way for us. We do not
know why, but it has never bothered us.”

“Perhaps we can discover the reason for that later,” Kwin suggested.
“However, if you don’t mind my asking, I am quite curious about the details
behind your existence now that I am aware of how they work. What are your
memories like? What is it like when you first enter this world?”

To Kai’s surprise, Kwin Two looked rather pleased to touch on the
subject. He wondered how long it would be before the two Kwins were talking
together like long-lost sisters.

“The subject of our existence has long fascinated us and driven us to
find out as much as we can. We think this knowledge would give our lives more
meaning. As for me, my first memories are from the instant I appeared; at
least, I assume that is the case if you first entered at a very young age.”
Kwin nodded. “I remember opening my eyes to an unfamiliar world. I was not
devoid of all knowledge – I had motor skills, communication skills, and what I
now know is all the knowledge you had accumulated by that point in your life.
The world was very new to me, however, and I was completely lost. Luckily, a
few others took me in and taught me about the world.”

“So it begins just like that?” Kwin replied, looking very interested. “So
at least to start it sounds like we are exactly the same, but only from the
moment we enter.”

“That’s what we think, too. We believe that from that moment, you and
your mirror image travel separate paths.”

“Is there any transference of memory after the first time we enter?”

“No. I have your memories up until the moment you entered the Sanctum,
but nothing more. Holding memories of a life I never lived is disconcerting at
first, especially when the reality is that I essentially popped out of thin
air.”

“Do you age, then?” Kwin continued eagerly.

“Yes. We’re living beings, after all, and so we live and die just like
anything else. Otherwise this world would be overflowing with people.”

“Do you know what happens after death?” Kwin asked, and Kwin Two shook
her head.

“We simply cease to exist, as though we never had. We have nothing but
our books and journals to keep the memories of our loved ones who have passed
on.”

“That’s so sad…” Lindsay whispered, and Lindsay Two nodded in agreement.

A long silence fell at these words. Kai stared into the fire, listening
to the crackling flames as he attempted to digest what he had just learned. He
still believed that there had to be something they could do. He couldn’t
imagine simply leaving everyone in this world behind in this state, but he was
beginning to understand how little they could do.

“Well, this has been an interesting conversation, but before we explore
any more I’d like to return to our ship for a moment to retrieve some
supplies,” Alastor said as he stood up. From his side, Elvia stood up as well,
alert as usual.

“Supplies for what?” Lindsay Two asked curiously.

“Well, we’re going to be staying for a while so we can have a proper look
around. We just need to be able to document what we see. And even though you
said our help isn’t necessary, we’d like to do what we can instead of just
looking around then heading off. Feels a bit tourist-y to me.”