I approached her, taking her trembling hands. Her eyes opened, and I noticed those gray irises looking at me with the fear that children have when they think they have done something wrong. I shook my head and wiped those tears from her eyes with a smile, knowing that I was not the weapon that the old man claimed with such certainty.
"I know you... I feel like I have known you for years," I said as if I were reciting a song in a sweet intonation that I remembered in the most hidden part of my memory: "in my dreams, every night, as if they were memories of a life that I have not lived." I could feel each word as if it were my favorite song, "you were like a shadow in each one of them, but now I know who you are and why you wanted to alert me to the noctales and their dark cult," I finished the song, closing my eyes and leaning her forehead against mine. I finished the song, closing my eyes, leaning her forehead against mine. I finished the song, closing my
"I am Helena Lunari, and I have seen you in my dreams as if I had lived your memories," she intoned with a sweet voice identical to mine, "your joys and feelings; now I understand why I can see you, Mera Albaceleste," replied the girl with almost albino blonde hair.
At that moment, my mind was transported in a vortex of memories from the most joyful, the warmest as the embrace of a mother, and the saddest, the farewell at the grave of someone so loved. When I could make out the end of that storm of memories, I saw my gaze fixed on the reflection of myself in a huge mirror in a room where I felt tiny; I stood up, abandoned that cold bed, and walked towards a window, opening the curtains with the longing of that bird who wants to fly away from his cage. When I looked, I could only see a huge gray wall loaded with brambles growing over the rustic wall, as if they wanted to keep my seclusion away from the world. I longed from my heart to flee from there until I could hear a voice from the almost withered meadows of that huge mansion: today, like every day, Crow, that child with dark hair and eyes that resemble that sky that I can only see through the glass of this cell, badly called room.
"Hey, pretty girl of the closed window, today I'll get you out of that horrible house!" he shouted, clasping his hands close to his mouth as if he wanted me to hear him behind the glass.
Crow's words and that warm smile seemed to fill with light that dark corner where I felt imprisoned, until the moment when I heard an angry murmur of something I recognized moving in the corners, as if it was trying to somehow find the intruder. I walked towards the shop and started knocking on the glass that separated us.
"Please leave," I shouted in desperation, "before the dark man catches you and throws you into the thorns," I concluded as I listened to the creaking behind the walls.
I heard his answer near that crooked tree: "I swore I would get you out of there, and I won't rest until I do."
I see how he shakes his head at my pleas and ventures to climb from the trunk of an old, crooked tree. My fears became bigger when I heard the screams of the custodian of my cell; this time he had been quick to find where my friend was hiding. I could hear him moving fast through the corridors, opening the doors with the desperation of one who seeks to thwart the enemy. My body remained motionless as I thought about how to prevent him from catching me and taking me back into the darkness again. I reached the door, trying to block it with the furniture I could move, but when I was ready to hide, I saw a golden butterfly pass by my side until it landed on my shoulder.
"The power to overcome your fears comes from how determined you are to face them," said a sweet voice through that butterfly.
It was like hearing mom's words of comfort when I had a bad dream and her embrace scared away the fears that overwhelmed my mind; growls and screams of fury brought me out of that sudden memory. Listening as her heavy footsteps approached the door, I moved my hand towards the butterfly that was climbing up to my fingers. I looked at it and noticed that it was very different from any I had seen before; its light radiated warmth, pushing away the oppressive cold from my hands, and with decision I began to answer.
"I am not afraid; fear no longer stops me; I want to escape from here and go back to play with my Crow friend!" I expressed decisively.
"You are the one who decides when to open the lock of this prison, little Helena," that pleasant voice exclaimed again.
It was in that instant, when I was firmly in my decision and I let that vibrant power in my being come out, that I remembered the gift that my mother hung on the headboard of my bed. It was a ring woven as if it were a spider web, and together with a kiss on my forehead, she promised me that the bad dreams would go away if I believed in it.
"Arise, Abrenka!" I shouted until I heard my voice echo.
I put my hands together as if I were beginning a prayer, and in front of them I could see the perfect circle adorned with the fabrics of what mom called a dreamcatcher, and from this symbol the blade of a luminous, cyan-colored sword sprouted until it pierced with its blade the door that was wobbling because of the strength of the one who was behind it. The scream of pain did not take long to sound, and from that opening due to the sudden attack, a viscous and dark liquid gushed out like a freshly opened wound, until after a few seconds the gurgling of the dark substance and the last
"Helena!"
I heard behind me the voice of a crow who had broken the window with a stone in his hand and a smile on his lips, and just like him, I smiled remembering the good times when mom was alive. The warm hand of the boy pulled me out of my memories, taking mine, and looking at those silhouettes that many golden butterflies illuminated behind me, the brightness was so intense that it made me close my eyes.
"Thank you for saving me that time, Mera!" I heard Helena's voice.
I had lived one of the memories of that girl, and not only that was what I could perceive: I could see my face through her eyes as I saw Helena's face through mine, and she, with surprise, could also look at hers as her eyes were fixed on mine; we not only shared the same sight, but our memories, thoughts, doubts, and fears were flowing from one to the other. At that moment, something else took us out of that shared self-discovery. Not only were our existences combining, but also our dreamcatchers were giving shape to another one in front of our hands together, and from it a large sword emerged, giving a deadly thrust to the chest of that creature that the gray-eyed girl summoned as a product of her fears. It was clear to us that the power of our emotions flowed into these objects, making the doors to both worlds open and giving the awakened the power to manipulate the reality of the Midnight Kingdom. It was as if something else were happening in this war of existence, but at that moment we were all ignoring it.
"This is a sudden change of possibilities!"
Commented the older man who seemed to be the leader of those Noctals as he approached us.
Zeylan, Kyara, Sharin, and the rest of the dream guardians turned their eyes to him when they could see him coming out of the shadows. Each one started to wield their weapons again, and we thought for that instant that the war would resume. By surprise, Nezret, as was the name of Helena's father, just raised his hands, simulating an expression of fear in a sarcastic tone.
"I am not armed; let's declare this a draw and come back another night to settle it," I commented.
"No, this ends here and now, motherfucker," Crow replied.
The captain of the guardians put the blade of his sword in Nezret's direction.
"Believe me, son, I would like to kill you too, but time is our enemy now."
Nezret pointed to that old watch he always wore on his wrist, and we all realized that the union between the Midnight Kingdom and reality ended with the closing of the bridge between the two, the vigil. I felt again how our consciousness became separated again, seeing how the Noctals, Nezret, and Helena were absorbed in the confines of the deepest darkness.
"Helena!"
We shouted Zeylan and I, but no matter how hard we tried to reach them, it dragged them until the light of the threshold of our reality stopped our step. The guardian hit in frustration the now-glazed floor of that dance floor, and we were back to where the madness of this night began, and I could not feel again Helena's consciousness in me. Something was gone, leaving uncertainty and a lump in my throat like the one who loses something very precious, mixed with a feeling of helplessness that made my body tremble.
I felt lost again in the confusion of not knowing who I really was, but seeing the now calmer faces of my two friends made me feel that the horrors we defeated were a flash of light among so much uncertainty, and the Noctales were facing a new enemy. Leaving behind my thoughts and fears, I ran to embrace them both, sinking my face full of tears between the two cousins, and a thousand pardons accompanied my sobs. If there was a moment in which I regretted feeling so weak, it was this one.
"Forgive me, I... I didn't know I would drag them into this..."
I said with a broken voice, while other guardians mourned their fallen comrades.
"I wouldn't blame you for that, my friend, much less for something you couldn't prevent," said Remina, placing both hands on my cheeks. "Besides, the three of us were unaware of what kind of scum Deimos was."
"Now that we are aware that things like this lurk at night, we will be more careful," Anetta added, "plus what to do if it happens again."
I smiled along with her, wiping my tears and the mascara marks that went down my cheeks. Zeylan began to approach where we were, noticing that look of concern and leaving behind that serenity that he tried to show in his role as leader.
"Mera, are you all right? How is your friend?" said the dark-haired boy. "If any of them needs to be taken care of, we will go to the Agora to decide what to do with Nezret and his cult."
My friends gave us space to talk. There was a tidal wave of emotions when I saw him; it was as if I knew him from before, as if I could recognize every expression and concern with just his gestures. It bothered me to feel this nostalgia when I saw his eyes. Like him, I was also surprised by this strange feeling that when we were face to face, we could perceive clearly.
"We are all fine; at this moment we just want to get out of here," I answered to his question, "What is an agora?"
"It is the place where the guardians meet to regroup," he paused as if he had just remembered something, "and there we also inform the council of the 7 Vigilares; we need you to come with us."
I thought for a moment to refuse his request for hurting my pride when I offered my help, but many people sacrificed themselves so that my friends could be with me at this moment. The least I could do to honor him is to help his cause.
"I will do it, but only if my friends come with me," I said, determined.