The Dream Sanctum: The Eternal World (21 page)

“You probably have a lot of questions, so I’ll
see if I can explain this properly. See, every time someone enters the Sanctum,
they open a connection between them and the world. That’s why you don’t have to
find the door each time. For a keeper, it’s the same thing – that is, until you
become a Creator. When that happens, that connection is kept open for as long
as you live. Your unconscious mind powers the dream world until the day you
die. The catch is, it must
always
be
open, and you can’t fall asleep forever, can you?”

“My unconscious mind? But… I’m conscious right
now even though I’m asleep, aren’t I?” Kai asked slowly.

“Yes! That’s exactly it. When you become a
Creator, your connection is locked to your unconscious mind so that you can
keep the Sanctum alive whether you’re awake or asleep. In turn, you are locked
out of the Sanctum. If you were to come into the Sanctum consciously while you
were
also
keeping it alive, then it
would be like there were two of you in the world at once. And then bad things
would happen, and the world would… I don’t know, explode or something.”

“So I’d be keeping the world alive just by
existing, but I could never come back?” Kai continued.

“Basically!” Hayel exclaimed, clearly pleased
that he understood, but Kai’s heart sank. This disappointment was apparently
evident in his expression as Hayel’s joy quickly turned to concern. “Is
something wrong?”

“I just… I guess I thought that if I were a
keeper I’d still be able to play a part in the world. That I’d still be able to
do something, you know?”

“Oh but you would!” Hayel replied quickly,
putting her hands on his shoulders. “Remember? All of your memories and experiences
would be transferred to me. You might not be here to see it all, but then, no
keeper ever has been. Don’t let that worry you, though. You won’t be unattached
entirely. Your unconscious mind has a funny way of telling you what’s going on,
even if it’s not directly. Trust me, you’ll know.”

“Wait, so if the keeper is keeping the world
alive, does that mean that if they die unexpectedly the world dies with them?”
Lindsay asked.

“Correct!” Hayel answered.

“That seems a little… risky, don’t you think?”
Lindsay pressed.

“Oh, definitely. I actually had ideas, many
ideas, to make it safer. Backup plans, failsafes, that sort of thing! But…
well, look at my to-do list.” Hayel giggled guiltily and pointed to a corner of
the room towards multiple stacks of papers at least thirty feet high. “Lots of
ideas, no time to implement them. Hoping to get more time now, all depends on
you. No pressure, though.”

The room fell silent. Kai still had questions,
but they weren’t nearly as important. He knew everything he had to know for
now, and with the way Hayel seemed to be getting weaker by the second, he knew
it had to be now. Despite every fiber of his being pulling him away, telling
him to back out and let someone else do it after all, he knew it had to be now.
The more he thought about it, the easier a choice it was – the only problem was
how abrupt it seemed. He wanted more time. But then, they had all known from
the beginning that time was something none of them had.

“Thank you for this,” she said quietly. “If
this works, you will have done this whole world a greater service than I can
describe.” She placed her palm gently to his forehead and closed her eyes.

“Wait,” Kai said suddenly. “What’s going to
happen to me?”

Hayel opened her eyes and smiled down at him,
not looking bothered at all.

“It’s easy. Basically, our minds are going to
connect for just a minute as your new connection to the world is established.
During that time you’ll see everything just as I do. It won’t hurt! It’s
actually a really cool experience.”

Kai nodded hesitantly, then looked down. Hayel
closed her eyes again, then spoke.

“With this, our minds will combine. You will
be bonded with the Sanctum like never before and join the consciousness of the
Creators. Now… we begin!”

Kai’s whole body tensed, and he held his
breath, waiting for what was sure to be an overwhelming mental experience.

But nothing happened.

He looked questioningly at Hayel, who had
opened her eyes again, looking puzzled.

“Drat. Hold on. I said… now we
begin
!” she said forcefully, pressing
her hand harder against Kai’s forehead. But instead of feeling anything this
time, it was Hayel who cried out in pain. She withdrew her hand, looking
suddenly faint, and fell back weakly against the sofa’s cushions.

“Are you all right?” Kai asked quickly.

“No, I’m dying. Haha, humor!” Hayel coughed.
Semyaza sat protectively by her side, helping her stay upright. “But there is a
problem. I… do not have the strength to create the bond, as I feared. How
frustrating.”

“Don’t have the… wait, but does that mean we
can’t do this after all?” Kai asked hurriedly, feeling his heart rise in his
throat.

“I don’t know. This is complicated,” Hayel
answered breathlessly. “I have never… never encountered this before. I don’t
know what to do. If I can’t create the bond, nothing can happen. We lose.”

Kai sat back onto the floor. That couldn’t be
it. They were
so close
. They were
here, with the Creators, who was willing to select a new keeper. That was all
they needed. But they needed her to be strong. It was all up to her now.

“Wait.”

Kwin stood up suddenly, looking thoughtful.
Everyone in the room turned to look at her. It was a few moments before she
said anything, and when she did so she sounded uncertain, but she continued.

“If Hayel is too weak to perform the bonding,
that means that too great a burden is being placed upon her. Kai alone is not
strong enough to take that burden off her. To make use of Hayel’s analogy, the
organ is… insufficient. No offense, Kai.”

“Well, that’s a conundrum,” Alastor said
thoughtfully. “So we need a stronger organ. Where can we get one of those? I
figured Kai would be the perfect choice since his dad was keeper.”

“I already have an idea,” Kwin replied. “It
won’t work unless we all do this, but I must stress that no one should feel
obligated or pressured to do anything.”

“What is it?” Alastor, Lindsay and Kai asked
in unison.

Kwin sighed.

“We’re all going to become keepers. If Kai
can’t do it alone, then the four of us combined may just be enough. We can
provide the strength together that Hayel no longer has.”

Alastor opened his mouth to reply, then closed
it again. Hayel sat up, looking completely enthralled.

“That might work! That is very smart, oh so
smart. I knew I liked you. But the question is, do you all want to do that?”

Lindsay, who had been very quiet up until this
point, spoke before anyone else.

“I’m totally in,” she said, and smiled at Kai.

“If she’s in, I’m in,” Alastor continued.

“And I was in from the start,” Kwin reminded
pointedly.

“You four, you are amazing friends, you know
that?” Hayel commented happily. “Never give that up.
Never
. This is something very special. Anyway, let’s hurry. This
new plan will only work for a short time – wait! New problem.” The others froze
on their way to kneel next to her.

“What is it?” Kwin inquired expectantly.

“Two hands, four people. How will I make the
bond if I can only make contact with half of you?”

“Use your feet,” Alastor suggested helpfully.

“We’ll all hold hands. That should work,” Kwin
said emphatically, glaring at her friend.

The four friends knelt down in a row and held
their hands together. Alastor and Lindsay, who were on the ends, joined their
free hands with Hayel’s. Semyaza helped the girl sit up, and Hayel took a deep
breath.

“With this, our minds will combine, blah blah,
we covered this. Now, for crying out loud, BEGIN.”

This time Kai definitely felt something, but
what it was seemed almost too hard to explain. He felt as though his mind were
being stretched as thin as it could, though it didn’t hurt. A cool sensation
washed over his head that was almost soothing. But then, as his mind expanded,
he felt it. Suddenly he was connected to tens of thousands of minds, and though
his eyes were closed, he could see everything. He saw the Sanctum as though he
was everywhere at once, and as he watched, it started to regenerate.

He watched as the gigantic wave surrounding
the entire continent slowly receded back into the ocean. The dark storm clouds faded,
replaced by bright blue skies and puffy clouds. The burning forests around Aqua
Capital regrew and the city walls and buildings pulled themselves together like
a disaster happening in reverse. The Sky Capital’s buildings rose from the
ground and came to rest in the sky once again upon brand new clouds. Finally,
Golden Capital’s broken and faded buildings repaired themselves. The tower
destroyed by Kwin’s battle with Semyaza stood tall once again, and the entire
city stood gleaming in the sunlight, looking as majestic as it ever did before.

It lasted all of a minute, but to him it was a
blink of an eye. He opened his eyes. His friends were still beside him, and
judging by the looks on their faces, they had felt it too.

Hayel leapt to her feet, looking absolutely
ecstatic.

“Ah! Look! Did you
see
? You did that! You fixed it. All of you together, you were
enough. I am… the world is… alive again.”

No one said a word, relishing in their
victory. It had been their closest call yet, but they had succeeded. Though
that success had come at a price, none of them were thinking about it yet.

Semyaza stood up and invited them to stand
with her.

“Well, you did it. You have surprised me more
than once, but I never imagined in all my years that I would see this. I’m sure
you know the repercussions of what you have done, but hopefully you can also
understand the true gravity and meaning behind your actions. Let no one ever
attempt to diminish what you have done here.”

“No regrets!” Lindsay beamed.

“No regrets,” the others echoed in unison.

“Now! More important information!” Hayel said,
clapping her hands excitedly. “You are all now officially connected to the
world. However, it won’t kick in until you wake up and leave the Sanctum for
the last time. So that’s the good news! You still have a whole day left in this
world to have fun and do whatever you please.”

“Is… is there bad news?” Alastor asked
uncertainly.

“Oh yes. Now that I’m not dead, I’ll have to
make my way through that whole to-do list. I really did not think this through.
But oh, I’m so excited! I can continue my work! Maybe even four times the work,
considering all four of you did this. The productivity potential is very high,
very high.”

“Wait,” Lindsay interrupted. “So… now that you
can work again… can you fix the broken world?”

Hayel paused, then smiled widely.

“You know what? I can. I can! I will do that
right now. It will take time, maybe days, but I will make sure that their world
is as wonderful as ours. I am ashamed to have left it. I will fix it. Make everything
better.”

Hayel rushed off, gathering up old dusty books
and maps and nearly tripping over one of her chairs.

“Well folks, we’re all done. We saved the
world for the last time,” Alastor remarked. “What is this, three times in one
year? Not too shabby.”

“Not at all. Perhaps it’s a good thing we
won’t be able to come back; I might have started to feel like an overachiever,”
Kwin retorted with a grin.

Despite his relief, Kai couldn’t help but feel
sadness start to sink in. This was it. It was over. They had one day left, and
then he would have to say goodbye to the world forever.

He walked over to where he could see more of
the screens clearly, watching people reappear inside the Sanctum. The mood
everywhere was the same: total delight. Within minutes, Kai saw thousands of
people appearing out of thin air in the capital cities, as well as on the
beach, in the forests and on the streets. Suddenly he wanted nothing more than
to be there with them, but the world already seemed so distant. It felt as
though he had already left.

Kai felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to
find Lindsay standing beside him, watching the screens with him.

“You know what? I’m happy. I’m actually really
happy,” she said, and she looked like she meant it.

“What happened? You seemed so sad, but then
you volunteered right away,” Kai asked. Lindsay laughed and put her arm around
him.

“You’re going to make fun of me. But when you
volunteered, I was sad because… I didn’t want to be here without you. You took
me here, you showed me this place. As much as I love everyone else, I wouldn’t
want to be here without you. That’s why I volunteered as soon as I knew we
could. I had the chance to do this with you, to save the world along with
everyone else. And now we can’t come back, but so what? You’re my best friend,
Kai. We go together or not at all.”