Deborah's POV
"Welcome to Conscientia."
The deep voice echoed in my ears.
"Congratulations, you've passed the judgements."
Matthew and I jolted awake, and the surrounding mist gradually faded away as the first light of dawn filtered through the forest canopy.
We exchanged confused glances.
Passed the judgements?
What judgements?
And why congratulate us?
I silently repeated the words in my mind, my heart filled with questions.
What on earth happened?
All I remembered was a beautiful dream that felt more like a fairytale—there were sunlight, blue skies, crystal-clear streams, and verdant mountains… and then, a wedding.
Our wedding.
But how could that be a judgement?
Could it be that the mist… put us through some kind of test?
I frowned, trying to piece together every fragment of the dream.
Matthew looked just as perplexed. His brow furrowed deeply as if he were struggling to make sense of the jumbled images in his mind.
"I just had the strangest dream. In the dream—" I hesitated, unsure of how to describe it.
But before I could finish, he blurted out, "We were getting married."
We both froze, staring at each other in shock.
We'd had the same dream.
Then, the awkwardness hit us both, and we quickly looked away, avoiding each other's gaze.
"Uh… yeah," I murmured, fidgeting with my fingers but unable to resist glancing at him from the corner of my eye.
"Married…" Matthew repeated softly, his voice trembling slightly as if he were holding back something.
We stood in silence, the strange mixture of embarrassment and glee bubbling between us.
It wasn't like our feelings for each other were a secret anymore. At least not to me—Telepathy had made his emotions clear as day.
But marriage? That word felt almost absurdly distant and unrealistic. We were still on the run, still fighting to survive… how could we even think about something like marriage? The mere thought made my cheeks burn even hotter.
"Uh, I mean… it was just a dream, right?" I stammered awkwardly.
"Right, a dream," Matthew agreed in a low voice, but then he shook his head. "No, maybe… it was a hallucination?"
"A hallucination?" I repeated, the idea startling me.
He nodded slowly, as if piecing together his thoughts. "That mist must've trapped us in some kind of… mental world. Everything we saw— the island, the wedding… none of it was real."
"No." I shook my head adamantly. "That island was real. That's Tirfothuinn."
I stared at him, my heart thudding wildly in my chest.
"You think… that was Tirfothuinn?" His voice quivered slightly with unspoken hope.
"Yes." I nodded, excitement bubbling up inside me.
Matthew let out a breath, wonder flickering in his eyes. "The place in the dream… it was beautiful. Tirfothuinn—a place of hope and rebirth."
Images of the dream resurfaced in my mind, and a surge of longing welled up within me.
"But what about Conscientia?" I murmured.
"Look," Matthew pointed at the leather map. "Could it be… that we're in Conscientia, right next to Tirfothuinn?"
I followed his finger and saw the two names marked clearly on the map.
"Are we… in Conscientia?" I held my breath, my voice tinged with both excitement and disbelief.
"It must be!" he said, his eyes bright with anticipation.
The thought sent a shiver of excitement through us both.
What did this mean?
It meant we were truly, finally, close to finding Tirfothuinn!
"We need to leave right away," Matthew said, clenching his fist with determination.
"Wait, Matthew." I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm.
"We can't use teleportation to get there," I explained. "From what I've learned, long-distance teleportation won't allow us to arrive at a precise location. The spell can only take me to familiar places I've been to before— but only if they're relatively close by."
I glanced at him, meeting his confused gaze.
"And as for a place like Tirfothuinn— I've only seen it in a dream. Even if it's nearby, I still can't teleport us there accurately."
Matthew frowned, his expression thoughtful.
After a moment, he nodded slowly.
"So… we'll have to make the journey on foot." He spoke softly, a hint of frustration in his voice, but his eyes were filled with resolve.
"Yes, we'll walk," I said, letting out a small laugh, but my heart was swelling with hope.
Even if the road ahead would be hard, I wasn't afraid.
If it meant finding Tirfothuinn, what did it matter if we had to climb every mountain and cross every river?
The journey ahead was grueling and filled with obstacles.
The forest, despite its tranquil beauty, was not as safe as it appeared.
We trekked through dense undergrowth, the leaves rustling softly above us, blocking out most of the sunlight.
Thick moss and layers of fallen leaves covered the ground, making each step feel like a struggle.
Occasionally, small streams crossed our path, but neither of us dared to drink from them—the forest had no insects, no birds, no animals.
There was no way of knowing if the water was contaminated.
After all, the surface was filled with Enigma's radiation.
The tangled roots of trees sprawled everywhere, massive trunks towering like slumbering giants.
In the evening, with the moonlight barely illuminating our way, we cautiously climbed over one hill after another, ducked beneath low-hanging branches, and at times, even crawled on hands and knees through narrow spaces.
Every step felt like trudging through mud.
Our muscles ached, the fatigue weighed heavily on our bodies—yet excitement drove me forward.
We were getting closer.
After climbing peak after peak and descending into valley after valley, we finally emerged on a hilltop.
The sky was already beginning to brighten.
I looked up— and my breath caught.
Below us stretched a vast, endless beach.
The sun was slowly rising, casting its golden rays over the shimmering surface of the ocean.
Gentle waves lapped against the shore, and where the sky met the sea, the horizon glowed with an ethereal light.
Before us lay the boundless, sparkling expanse of the sea.