Sharon was shocked, confused, and scared. Her demeanor was that of a frightened little girl. She instinctively looked to Abbey for help. Abbey, who was still staring, had a look of bewilderment on his face. He thought of something and pondered to himself, "they never listen." Now that the dreamentia, or dream keeper, had her, she was calling for his help.
Nevertheless, Abbey sighed before moving at the speed of light to catch up with the dreamentia. He unleashed a series of blast waves at it, causing more and more dreamentia to arrive from nowhere.
Seeing that Abbey was being surrounded and outnumbered, Sharon decided to unleash her own blast waves, copying Abbey's movements. This upset the dreamentia and freed her from its grips.
She felt a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived as more and more dreamentia kept coming at Sharon. There was little she could do but look to Abbey for help. Her blast waves worked for a brief moment, but the dreamentia kept coming back. After fighting off most of the dreamentia, Abbey managed to reach Sharon.
Pulling Sharon towards his side, he formed a dream-like barrier over them to protect them from the dreamentia. Finally, he was able to catch his breath and stare directly at her with a straight face. As if she was able to read his thoughts, she put her head down as a form of submission. Sensing her remorseful nature, Abbey didn't press the issue any further.
Instead, he proceeded to explain some basic survival skills to her, specifically how to use her internal energy to form weapons. "You can manifest any kind of weapon from your pure energy or internal energy to push back these dreamentia," he told her. Sharon was surprised and asked why they were called dreamentia and who came up with the name.
Abbey smiled at Sharon, thinking to himself that her sense of humor, even in the face of danger, was commendable. "Who gave them the name is not important. They are called dreamentia because they operate in the first phase of the astral realm, which is the dream world. There are different phases in the astral realm, each with its own keepers. Remember, it is a labyrinth up here or down here, depending on where 'here' is."
"These dreamentia can steal your dreams and leave you empty and numb," he continued. "You don't want that to happen, and no one wants that to happen to them." Abbey trailed off for a moment before continuing with his explanation. "Remember, you can form any weapons with your internal energy here, but you can't kill them. The laws of thermodynamics state that energy cannot be created or destroyed. These creatures are made of energy, which means they cannot be destroyed, but they can be dispelled."
"My protective barrier can't last forever, so once I drop it, you have to give it your all. Remember, they are here for you, not for me. Sharon was shocked, surprised, and dumbfounded all at once. She couldn't help but ask, "Why are these dreamentia here for me?" Abbey replied, "They sense or feel the energy you are giving off." Sharon had a confused expression on her face as she pondered what Abbey was saying. Seeing her confused expression, Abbey smiled and said, "You are just too new here. They can feel your fear."
Sharon, with an icy demeanor, replied, "I know you are enjoying this, preying on my misfortune. I can see it written all over you, how excited you are that this is happening to me. Enjoy it while it lasts, maybe even gloat if you can. I know my misery is a source of joy for you right now." Abbey couldn't believe what he was hearing. He whispered to himself, "What is this lady thinking? I am trying to keep her alive and well, and she is accusing me of something else." Still, he couldn't be bothered by what Sharon was saying. He spoke with a loud voice, "I hope you're ready. I am about to release the barrier."
Sharon, feeling agitated and on edge, stole a glance at Abbey, who gave her a reassuring smile and said, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Don't be afraid, for I am with you." Feeling reassured, her bravado was now at an all-time high, with the feeling that she was not alone.
With little or no effort, she managed to wield a sword. Abbey seemed impressed with her. She could feel the satisfaction on his face after she wielded her sword. Abbey spoke to her with a calm demeanor, "Shall we begin?" Immediately, Abbey let go of the barrier. The dreamentia came rushing in, trying to surround and encircle them. Abbey launched another round of pure internal energy before wielding a double-edged sword in each arm. He immediately went all out in attack, not holding back and yelling at Sharon to do the same.
Their attack was like a well-oiled machine, with each turn and movement in perfect synchrony. They were able to maneuver through the traffic of the dreamentia with ease. If one didn't know better, one would think they had been fighting together for a long time.
After escaping the dreamentia, they made their way through the labyrinth of the astral realm to a quiet place. "Let's stop here for now, before we move further to our starting point and find the door that leads out of here," Abbey suggested. Sharon seemed confused once again. "What are you saying?" she asked. "And what door is that? I never saw any doors when we came here." Abbey tried his best to explain. "The first door to get here is in your mind – that is, the doorway to get here is within you. The doorway to leave here is also linked to you, but you first have to find it. Since we both came here together, we share a joint door."
"We have to find the place of solace. It is always moving, not in one place. So it is going to be difficult to find, especially because the dreamentia are after us now."
Sharon sighed again thinking how tedious there task would be now , especially finding a door that seemed to be moving. Sensing the desperation on her face, Abbey smiled before laughing out loud. Sharon became agitated again. I thought you have changed for a second ago but I see you are not capable of changing. Do my misery excite you, she inquired. No you have it all wrong, Abbey tried to explain. You still think at looking for the place of soulence, is like looking for a place in the real world, were you can get lost. You have to remember things don't work that way here.
Sharon let out another sigh, thinking about how tedious their task would be now, especially when it involved finding a moving door. Sensing the desperation on her face, Abbey smiled before bursting into laughter. This only agitated Sharon even more. "I thought you had changed a second ago, but it seems like you're not capable of changing," she inquired, "Does my misery excite you?"
"No, you have it all wrong," Abbey tried to explain, "You still think that finding the place of solace is like searching for a place in the real world where you can get lost. You have to remember that things don't work that way here."
"Here, you have to calm your mind and focus. The way will reveal itself to you. That's why I brought you to the place of quiet. So that you can calm your mind. Since we came here together, it will take a joint effort to attract or conjure the place of solace. Please, you have to relax your mind now. We can only leave this place together," Abbey's words were a reminder for Sharon to keep herself composed and focused on finding the place they were looking for.
Sharon was able to steady herself and together with Abbey, they focused all their thoughts on finding the place of solace. Suddenly, they could both feel the direction to where it was. They immediately got their confirmation and started moving in that direction. "Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we should get there in no time," Abbey said with a smile on his face, trying to reassure Sharon.
Sharon, on the other hand, had an impassive demeanor. "You always say that, and every time, something else happens," she concluded. She felt like Abbey was just playing with her.
Abbey reminded Sharon to calm herself down, "Since we are leaving the place of quiet, if you're not calm, you could attract the dreamentia again." These words made Sharon's hair stand on end and her heart race. She thought to herself, "This guy is doing this deliberately to provoke me. When we get home, I am going to have my say."
Unfortunately, you were exerting herself too much. Using all her mental energy to focus on the place of solace and also trying to stay calm, Abbey could feel herself slipping away. He immediately reached out to her by holding her hand. She felt the warmth of his hand and the fresh new energy flowing through her. She felt embarrassed and could only return the favor with a grateful smile.
Before long, they were standing at the place of solace. Abbey said to Sharon, "You have to focus, as do I, to manifest the door we need to get back home." They both held hands to maintain their focus and before long, the doorway started to appear.
Sharon looked up to see the doorway manifesting itself and felt happy. But suddenly, she noticed the dreamentia appearing again and coming right at them. She lost focus for a while before realizing she was thinking about something else. Immediately, the doorway finished manifesting itself, she ran into it before Abbey could stop her.