With a wave of her hand once more, Faye instantly recovered Hiro's mental and physical state - though this did not mean that he wouldn't remember the feeling.
"Hiro!? Please say something!"
"You... you shouldn't have accepted the deal." Hiro muttered.
"What? What do you mean!? You could've-!"
"I would've rather died than help this bitch." Hiro scowled.
"Don't be stupid, Hiro! Did what just happened now teach you nothing! You're so-!"
"Fear not, Connie, my dear. He's simply throwing a temper tantrum and being a little moody because he didn't get his way. I should watch out for this one. Seems like he has a tendency to be swayed to do bad for the gain of power. Pretty villainous if you ask me." Faye chuckled.
"Yeah... well no one's asking you. And I'm not throwing some dumb tantrum. I'd like to see you go through what you put me through just then and still not be moody afterwards." Hiro folded his arms and rolled his eyes.
"Oh, Hiro! You're so fun to tease! Do lighten up a bit. You act if someone had tried to kill you!"
"You did. Literally just now you tried to kill me."
Faye's laughter boomed at his groggy face and serious glare. She laughed so much that she actually shed a tear. Neither Connie or Hiro were impressed, gave each other a shrug, exchanged a confused look and just stared at her having the time of her life.
"You two are the perfect recruits for this. You'll make a great team, I know that for sure. You bicker like a married couple already and you have the same dry sense of humour."
"We do not!" The two yelled together.
"Oh my god! Shut up, Hiro!" Connie stuck out her tongue.
"No! How about you shut up, CONSTANCE!" Hiro put emphasis on her full name because he knew it would annoy her.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"Look at that! Even speaking in unison and getting on each other's nerves... you already have such great chemistry! So in sync... no wonder why my bond of fate between the two of you is so strong." Faye nodded to herself in approval again. "Right! Let us begin then!"
Faye gave a glowing smile before all three of them were teleported to a new place again.
How it felt to be warped to a new place within seconds was mostly ineffable, but the feeling when arriving left both Hiro and Connie experiencing a shaky weakness in the knees. So much so that Hiro fell to the floor; however, Connie managed to keep her balance after wobbling a bit - recalling the same feeling of teleporting from hell before.
"Amazing..." Connie practically gawked at the beautiful scenery, whilst helping Hiro up.
"What is this place...?" Hiro found himself staring in awe too.
A wondrous land that seemed to stretch on for eternity, filled with colourful and glowing greenery. Exotic plants, large and picturesque rivers that met and intertwined with cliffs and elegant waterfalls reflecting the stunning sky.
The sky which was a mostly pale blue with patches of darker areas where fluffy, cotton-candy like clouds were gathered. Stray stars dotted about and occasionally flashing as twinkling wisps sparkled and zoomed through the skies like shooting stars. They were all headed for the same destination.
What seemed to catch the eyes of both Connie and Hiro was the huge floating building with water cascading into the river beneath it. It looked big and lavish enough to be a royal palace. It was mostly blocked off with massive, sturdy walls but you could see the blinding beam of light attracting all of the star-like entities to it - drawing them in as if it were a magnet.
This beam went straight up into what appeared to be an unusual moon or planet. It had a crack in it with debris floating around. The chasm would emit sparks like small fireworks and let out the dim glow of a bright light, which pulsated like it had a heartbeat.
"It's so magical!" Connie began trying to reach up to the sky to touch the wisps and when she did, it burst into a starry image that appeared to be a small family of rabbits hopping and leaping around playfully. "SO CUTE!"
"God, you're such a kid. Be careful, Connie, it might steal your soul!" Hiro called, jokingly, as Connie chased after them.
"Ha ha, very funny." She replied, sarcastically. "They're so pretty!"
"Welcome to Tzerha, Home of Good Dreams." Faye said.
"Good dreams? Y-You mean to say that when we sleep and dream they actually are stored somewhere!?" Hiro asked, almost a little worried.
"Every single one of them. Any good dream anyone has ever had is collected, organised and stored here. What Connie is witnessing right now is the dreams of a person. She touched a dream wisp which temporarily released a vision of the fantasy. All of these dreams above us eventually end up at Luciform Academy for Dreamcatchers, where we will be headed now. That building over there.
And you see that orb above it? That is Loistava, the dream vault. It's sort of like a magic library of organised dreams and is almost a whole planet in itself." Faye pointed to the large spectacle quite far from where they were standing.
"That thing is an Academy!? You mean you're sending us to school!?" Connie gasped.
"...In a way."
"Just great." Hiro sighed. "Seems like a pretty long walk, don't you think?"
"Who said anything about walking?" Faye smirked, warping them once again.
This time both of the two fell over on top of each other and stared awkwardly at their now close faces before they frantically scrambled get up.
"Maybe a warning would be nice next time you do that." Connie turned away blushing a little.
"Agreed." Hiro brushed himself casually off.
"Nyx! I have arrived~" Faye sang, directing everyone's attention to her.
"You're late, Faye... was there some sort of hold up?" A glamourous woman questioned.
"More or less. But I'm here now! And I've bought new minions! Look!"
"You know I don't like that word Faye. Hmm... what's this?"
The lady peered down at the two with a hint of curiosity in her gaze but her striking deep azure eyes saw something recognisable in Connie. She suddenly gasped, lost her composure and pulled Faye to her.
"T-This girl! She's an Ortiz! She's so young still! Why is she dead!? Does she know that her mo-!?" Faye put her hand over Nyx's mouth.
"There is a time and place for everything, my dear!" Faye laughed, loudly, in an attempt to distract Hiro and Connie especially from the whispering and secrets going on.
"Ahahaha... Of course!" Nyx moved Faye's hand from her face, calmly. "Let's get on with the initiation then." Giving them a kind smile, before escorting them down a well lit hallway.
"So... what are we supposed to expect from this 'initiation'? Some sort of ritual?" Hiro asked.
"Exactly that. Here in Loistava is where the Dream Catcher system originates." Nyx responded.
"Dream Catcher System?"
"You don't know, Connie?" Nyx paused her graceful stride and glared at Faye in disappointment. "You did not inform them of their role?"
"Too much like work." Faye sighed. "They ask way too many questions and you're much better at the explanations, my dear!"
"Goodness me, Faye." Nyx shook her head. "Must I do everything? Is there anything you did tell them!?"
"She told us that we were helping to sustain this thing called Ethereal Balance."
"Don't forget she threatened to make our second deaths much worse than our firsts if we didn't accept her offer."
"Is that all?" Nyx raised an eyebrow, in suspicion.
"She tried to kill me on top of that." Hiro added.
"Excuse me!?"
"Ahahahaha! Worry not, Nyx! I was merely doing some reprimanding for his bad attitude! You know how rowdy teenagers can be! You two make it seem as if I'm bad at my job. We also had an intellectual discussion on the transformation process of a lost soul into an Akumatenshi!"
"You threatened to kill someone who's already dead...? Faye, are these two really that bad?"
"Uhhh... indeed. Mortals are so annoying." Partially the reason Faye agreed was so that it didn't seem as if she tried to kill Hiro without a purpose behind it; however, it was also the truth - she thought humans were one of the most troublesome creatures.
"If they are as bad as you tell me, I will have to make them take my severe discipline classes." Nyx's eyes had a scary glint in them as she looked at Hiro and Connie.
"We're definitely not as bad as she says." Hiro said, quickly.
"Yeah! Hiro may be a bit dumb sometimes, but I promise we're all good here!" Connie remarked.
"Good. Then you are to become Dream Catchers in training, and as Dream Catchers it will now and for evermore be your sworn duty to protect against chaotic spirits, who try to immorally alter the lives of the living. You are to be paired with your personal Asubakacin, which should assist you in the battlefield."
"An asu-what now?"
"Does everything have to have such funky names?" Connie groaned.
"An Asubakacin, or Dreamie if you want, is a small creature derived from your bond of fate. It feels all emotions of the owner and adapts with its experience and surroundings, so it must be trained and raised with precaution. Now, it is time to meet your Asubakacin. Are you ready?"