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Ever since Rover has defeated the Dreamless, he himself has become the exact opposite of its name. As temporary peace has been established in Jinzhou, the borderline city could finally receive its long-deserved moment of rest. Perhaps, the citizens did enjoy the tranquility, but their hero couldn’t indulge himself in such a treat.
Every other night has greeted him with a new dream – yet none of them could’ve been called at least remotely pleasant. In the best case scenario Rover would wake up totally exhausted no matter how many hours he slept, with no recollection of what he’d even dreamed of. He’d be left with a devastating feeling of something missing, having no idea what to search for in order to escape this miserable state.
Other times, Rover would sink into a stream of chaotic frequencies. They would rush through him, none distinguishable from the other, somehow creating a harmonized cacophony. A cacophony of whining, screaming and crying – may the source of these noises be the deceased soldiers, their mourning relatives and loved ones or the roaming tacet discords themselves. it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. This torture would end in him waking up in the middle of the night, covered in cold sweat, with the inability to go back to sleep – and no wish to do so anyway. No matter the fatigue, he would be bound to tossing and turning in the bed for the rest of the night, haunted by the occasional remaining echoes of these screeching voices.
Rarely he’d find himself in the middle of less abstract scenes. These seemed to be real, or, at the very least, possible events from the past or the future. Like the visions he’d encountered many times before. Unfortunately for him, anything he’d be faced with in those dreams would barely make any sense, as he’d never had the knowledge of the places he’d happen to appear at, nor had he known the people around. Though, these had the potential to be of use in the future turn of events. If he would be able to remember them long enough.
Of course, Rover had shared his troubles with his friends, but neither Chixia, nor Yangyang could do anything about it. He tried joining Chixia in her patrols, finding himself dreadfully tired from all the tasks they’d need to accomplish and her endless chattering, but this didn’t help. He tried to stay at Yangyang’s place for the night, enjoying the wuthercake she made that day and her serene and calming singing, but this didn’t help either. He even came to Baizhi at some point in order to be examined, but after multiple different testings she had no option but to assure him that everything with him has been stable enough. Abby, too, couldn’t be bothered more – and honestly, Rover envied his little companion’s ability to sleep with no disturbance. Oh how he wished to be as carefree as the little one is!
Day by day, he was growing more and more tired of this endless loop of nightmares. Sometimes, he would wander aimlessly in the outskirts of Jinzhou at night instead of sleeping, clearing all tacet discords he’d catch in sight, but in the end, even the muscle pain from this meaningless massacre couldn’t dull the uneasy thoughts inside his mind.
Rover was afraid. Terrified, even, of those dreams. He really wished he’d known what would drive him to insanity first – a lack of sleep or these damned nightmares.
After another session of tacet-discords-killing-spree he once again returned back to his apartment in the City Hall. How ironic was it – in the most secure place in all of Jinzhou he couldn’t feel more vulnerable. There was no solace for him in solitude being, no soothing in engaging with the close ones. No doubt, with the others’ presence he could avoid being cornered by the memories of his disturbing dreams for some time, which was a benefit indeed, but it was too brief to keep him sane at the end of the day.
Usually calming stream of hot water was now overwhelming his feelings, the embrace of the steam managed to turn into a poisonous gas instead, and Rover couldn’t be more happy to finally step out of the shower. He wished that he’d be able to wash away the weight of his suffering along with the dirt. That all this uneasiness would dry out like the remnants of water with a couple towel wipes.
He slowly walked in his bedroom – the room was covered entirely in darkness as the curtains were dead shut for who knows how long. Seriously, he’d lost count on how many days have passed since all of this had begun – it felt like an eternity.
With a deep, desperate sigh Rover fell onto the bed. He turned to the side and wraps himself with a blanket, preparing himself to delve into another dreadful episode of the night.
This time, he woke up in an unknown place. Rover opened up his eyes and slowly stood up, observing his surroundings. Pink cotton candy clouds drifted in the sunset sky, scarlet grass hardly swayed at the breeze's command. This realm, it was… almost empty. And quiet. So quiet that he didn’t even hear his own thoughts as he usually did. This eerily calming place should’ve been just another misled and he couldn’t afford to trust it even for a second. Staying on guard, he took a few steps forward before merely a whisper hit him like a bullet.
“Long time no see, Rover” in an instant he, who was addressed, turned to the voice that greeted him, but couldn’t spot the intruder. Then a card has landed before his feet, no longer supported by the wind. He raised his head to finally see the person who called him – this time it was not an unknown face for a change. Rover was briefly taken aback by the sight of a certain someone shuffling his iconic black deck of cards, but immediately grabbed his sword’s handle.
“Scar.” Rover hissed through his clenched teeth.
“So quick to put up a fight…” the Fractsidus Overseer couldn’t be bothered by the other’s raising anger and discomfort. “I greatly enjoyed our previous clash, but to start a new one without a proper prelude? That’s a bit too boring.”
Scar jumped off a small cliff he was sitting on to meet Rover’s gaze. He landed near him, keeping a safe distance just in case.
“You don’t seem well.” he remarks, putting a caring smile on his face, yet his eyes were cunning as always. “Something has been lingering on your mind for quite a while, hasn’t it?”
Rover strengthens the grip on the hilt of his sword, but doesn’t dare to attack Scar just yet, although he’s already begun to annoy him.
“Why does it matter to you, even?” he looked away from the Overseer as he couldn’t handle looking him in the eyes for too long.
“Ha-ha-ha, have you forgotten already?” Scar laughs, crossing his arms. “We, the kindred spirits, the fellow black lambs, have a much deeper connection with each other than it seems at the first glance. I can sense how many things you’ve had to withstand lately…”
Surely Scar would say something like that. Rover was quick to remember that this was another mere projection of his mind that has gotten so twisted with all the nightmares and visions. Just another dream…
“I have no need in your sympathy.” he answered coldly. Suitable enough for his enemy that has already caused who knows how much destruction.
“Of course you don’t accept it.” Scar smirked, moving slowly to the side Rover was looking to avoid his sight. “You have all the world laid before your feet to comfort you, but honestly…”
He disappeared into a red mist too fast for the other to notice his new whereabouts, and then whispered:
“How could you, of all people with boundless freedom and will, be so trapped by your own consciousness?” In his words there was a hint of jealousy – after all, at the same time he himself was rotting in prison; and a genuine interest.
Rover instantly pushes him back, turning to face him. He stares at the Overseer with a warning – he won’t hesitate to initiate a fight and to put an end to all his blabbering.
He’d been storing his anger and despair for far too long to keep his cool.
Come to think of it, he never fought Scar with enough force to end his life like when he fought tacet discords. They were nothing but mindless creatures with the one and only aim – to devour and destroy in hope to prolong their futile existence. Scar, however, was a human. He had a mind, a goal, a will and, perhaps, his own hopes and dreams, and Rover couldn’t bring himself to actually… kill. He’s meant to be a hero, a savior, not the executioner - even if that’d be for the greater good of Huanglong.
But it’s a dream. Anything can happen in a dream. And the urge to blow off some steam was almost unbearable at this point. In a dream, he can regret nothing, as it will never be real.
Rover attacks him with a sharp strike, restraining himself from holding back any longer, but Scar easily dodges this move.
“You’re not in a mood to talk indeed…” he mutters, giggling a bit before drawing some flaming cards in his hand. “So be it. Embrace the anger then!”
He sets a trap with his cards, encircling Rover with them ready to explode at any time. However, he easily escapes it by jumping high and flying away with his only dark wing, which amuses Scar for a split second. He dodges the series of sharp attacks and regains his focus, still trying to keep the distance. Right now, with the enraged Rover, he couldn’t afford to be too close to him.
In the heat of battle none could notice the setting sun. This realm was slowly swallowed up by the twilight, the last streaks of light outlining their constantly moving bodies, yet the end of this deadly tango was nowhere near. None of them could assert dominance in the fight. Perhaps, Scar’s sheer craziness and impetuousness and Rover’s long-lost temper were on par with each other, resonating in both’s desperate wish for freedom – mental or physical as it is.
This fight – a scenery so breathtaking, worthy of capturing it with the finest colors on the finest canvas – intensifies as one of the clashing forces finally gains an upper hand. Scar acted too rashly by trying to block the blade with his bare hands. The small streams of blood started running down, and he chuckled at this sight before getting hit too suddenly to avoid. He fell down on the ground and got pinned by his opponent like a true loser. When Rover steps on his chest, not allowing him to even try standing up, he coughs blood, a drop of which fell on the sword’s end, pointed right on his throat, the center of his tacet mark. The threatening force of the Overseer’s opponent made him think that he’d even crash his limbs at any time, destroying everything beneath them.
Semingly defeated, Scar stares in the Rover’s deadly yet captivating eyes, admiring his face, stained with red, in the dim light. This cold, pure gold – he wished he could look in them for eternity. No matter what fills his eyes – love or hatred, he will accept everything. His coughing becomes a hysterical laugh, which catches determined Rover off guard.
Rover doesn’t understand him. He doesn’t get why he just laughs, not attempting to take revenge. He frowns, he clenches his teeth. Scar’s laugh irritates everything inside him, it makes him itch with confusion, but his hand still feels too weak to finally put an end to it all.
“I can see a question in your eyes…” as if reading his mind, the Overseer grabs the blade with his bruised hand again, staining it with his blood even more. Rover gasps, frozen in place. “To be scarred by you, Rover… is an honor, not a punishment.”
At this moment, he looked reckless enough to pierce himself with this sword without a second thought.
His head hurts from this idea. It hurts so much that his senses betray him one by one – the smell of dirt and blood dissolves, the noises are no longer present and the image of his enemy becomes faint and distant in a mere second. Everything mixes into pure black. This illusion erases itself, leaving an abrupt end for Rover to wake up with.
His head still hurts and his hands are shaking – luckily, there is no sword in them and no one to harm with it. He grunts and shuts his eyes, running his arm through dark disheveled hair. The pain dulls itself over time, finally letting go of Rover. He cautiously opens his eyes again, taking a few deep breaths, then slowly stands up and stretches.
Despite the odd ending, Rover remembered the dream very vividly and clearly, and it continued to replay in his mind thorough the whole morning. As if it wasn’t enough already!
When he cooled a bit from all the mixed feelings, he began to think if anything he’d seen bore a meaning. He couldn’t categorize it properly, as it didn’t match with any other dream. Something – besides Scar’s appearance – was different. He just couldn’t figure out what exactly just yet.
Suddenly he finds himself laughing at an idea that came to his mind – a bad influence of a particular individual, perhaps. Since it’s the first time he saw a person he had in reach, why not ask Scar himself about it, then?
He really wanted to abandon this idea, but he decided to take this as a chance to take a glance into his past as well. The Fractsidus Overseer knew something after all, and now he wasn’t in a position to bargain, so Rover should really make use of this opportunity.
Sanhua, who was in charge of things while Jinhsi was busy with some preparations, approved his request to confront Scar with great caution, as she didn’t know his true intentions. He convinced her that he only wanted to interrogate the prisoner in order to help with some previous unresolved investigations. As an argument, Rover reassured Sanhua that Scar would be amenable if he of all people spoke to him. He agreed to go not alone but with the guards just in case, but stated that he’d send them back if the Overseer refused to speak. The Magistrate’s bodyguard really wondered why all of a sudden he was so invested in cases related to Scar, but she believed that Rover was more than capable of keeping the situation under control.
The deeper Rover ventured into the depths of Jinzhou’s jail, the less enthusiastic he felt. A borderline city’s prison surely wasn’t a place for living beings’ thriving. There were a lot of criminals and he really didn’t want to know about their deeds and sins. At some point he couldn’t even see who’s been in the cells, as the walls weren’t transparent unless a special access pass with matching id was used.
Once he finally reached his destination, he stopped, looking at the only occupied cell on one of the bottom floors. Rover slightly turned his head to look at the guards behind him. He nodded, ordering them to go back up and wait outside. Despite their obvious protest, he remained determined – they had no option but to obey his command.
After their departure, Rover found himself not so confident anymore. But for sentinel’s sake, what could Scar do to him right now? Perhaps, brainwash him to join his cult, but he’s already ten times resistant to his delusional words.
With a long deep breath he attached the pass to the suitable position. With the walls gone, his target was finally revealed.
Scar was sitting across his bunk, leaning on the wall. His right leg was pressed to his chest and his right elbow rested on the knee. He was seemingly asleep in this not so comfortable position, and Rover now had to wake him up somehow. But before he took action, he spotted a wide collar on his neck. The collar fully covered the prisoner’s tacet mark. He remembered that devices like these were used to suppress resonators’ powers and at the same time prevent them from overclocking, numbing their feelings when needed. He was simply curious if a thing like this would work on him and subdue his nightmares, terminating them once and for all.
“It seems that I have a guest today.” a smirk appeared on the Scar’s resting face as he slowly opened his eyes, drawing Rover’s absolute attention to himself. “I’ve almost forgotten that a world exists behind these bars!”
His overexaggerating words sounded much more lively than Rover might’ve expected. He slowly walked closer to the invisible wall.
“Missed me, Rover?” Scar’s eyes lit up with an unhinged spark as he was able to inspect Rover for the first time in what seemed to be forever.
“I’m not here to banter.” he kept his composure, crossing his arms in a defensive manner.
“Hmph… yeah, sure.” the prisoner snorted resentfully before speaking again. “What do I owe the honor, then?”
“I have questions that need to be answered.” Rover already saw the confusion on the other’s face, but proceeded further. “I’ll put in a good word for you if you cooperate.”
He liked to play the cop to some degree and waited patiently for Scar’s reply… only for his expectations to be shattered shortly after.
“After all that’s happened… Why do you have so much confidence that I’d tell you everything?” he burst into laughter, comedically covering his stomach with his arm.
Rover stayed silent for a moment, letting the Overseer calm down. He was trying to come up with another plan to force the words out of him.
“On the other hand… Your charming presence makes me want to share all the world’s truth with you right now. Sadly, you simply won’t agree with my perspective, as always…” Scar's flirtatious attempt to show his willingness to actually cooperate at least a bit wasn’t appreciated. “Well, what’s the question you seek an answer to so desperately?”
…and now, when Rover could actually ask about his dream, he couldn’t find the suitable words. What does he even want to say? Something like: oh, you know, I've been troubled by nightmares for quite a while, but then I saw a different one where we had a fight and it seemed to differ from the others, do you know something about it?
What a dumb idea it was to begin with...
“Rover?” Scar squinted his eyes, keeping the smirk and tilting his head to the side. “You really are intriguing me….”
“...why do you believe that the new world needs to be renewed by the Lament? After all that the new humanity has gone through already to establish peace and to progress…” to be frank, Rover asked the first thing that came to his mind. It’s not that he was interested in the Overseer’s personal beliefs.
“It seems you still haven’t caught up on that after all my explanations. But I must forgive you, as your knowledge of the world is very limited.” he clicked his tongue and took a deep breath, then stood up from his bunk and began his answer. “The Lament itself is inevitable. One civilization will be crushed to dust after another no matter what they do if they proceed with the same rules over and over again.”
Scar shortened the distance, almost forgetting about the wall between them. He began walking in circles around the cell as he explained his point of view.
“Until the old order of things collapses, this loop of death and rebirth shall carry on. This is where the rulebreakers enter the stage and put an end to it all, erasing all unnecessary to finally take a new step in evolution. No more wars between humanity and tacet discords, no more gap between the resonators and the ordinary… This is my part in this play. And yours, too, no matter how hard you deny it.”
Instead of starting an argument about his twisted bravado, Rover sank deeply in his thoughts. This answer was way less obscure than the one during their first meeting in the destroyed village. Still, it didn’t bear any details that would deepen his understanding of his true goals. Perhaps, it didn’t matter, as he’ll never take his side anyway.
“Just to make this fair… may I also ask a question, Rover?” he took a less serious expression, smiling gently at him and waiting for his approval.
Rover only bent his eyebrow, waiting for whatever would come out of his unpredictable mouth.
“How are you finding your new powers?” the amusement fills his eyes as soon as he sees the stunned interrogator. “I really liked that wing of yours, actually. I wish you would wrap it around me as we watch the destruction of the world ablaze together. Otherwise, if our paths are doomed to not intertwine… I’d pluck all those feathers one by one with utmost care.’
“How do you…” after a short silence Rover spoke, but couldn’t finish as Scar interrupted him.
“Don’t be a fool, you know exactly what I mean. And I know exactly why you’ve come to me.” he laughed, taking steps forward. With his hands against the wall, he leaned closer to another man’s face. Small ripples went away from the surface of his hand coming into contact with the wall, indicating a presence of touch on it.
“This dream… have you seen it too?” Rover gasped, taking a little step back, not feeling comfortable seeing Scar too close. “Or was it some of your tricks?”
“Ha-ha… I can’t even ignite a simple spark with this thing…” Scar measured the width of his suppressing device with two fingers, tracing a line down with one of them yet unable to leave a scratch even with his sharp nail. “And you accuse me of something like manipulating your consciousness in order to see your precious face again.”
The Overseer clearly enjoyed hints of fear on the other’s face. It was a real treasure in this boring, unchanging place.
“I myself can only wonder how our frequencies managed to merge and bring us to a place like this… But anyway, I enjoyed it till the very end.”
Rover nervously looked around, trying to escape Scar’s obsessive gaze. He felt a sense of déjà vu and that actually made him remember something.
He recalled that in a dream he managed to acknowledge that he was, in fact, in a dream, unlike all the previous ones. Still, it only raised even more questions.
“But you seem to be not so fond of it… Don’t you find it ironic? Out of all people, these nightmares laid a path for you… to meet me again. And now you’re here. I’m so glad that you’ve started listening to your inner voice, Rover. Perhaps, one day we…”
He didn’t allow him to finish. He took away the access pass as soon as his hand reached it. The wall reappeared, soundproof and non-transparent as it is.
Scar’s voice was too sickening at that point. Rover couldn’t listen to this madness any more. He still had questions, but for his own sanity, he needs to end this ‘interrogation’.
On the way back he was analyzing everything that he’d gathered, but still couldn’t find a solution to this mystery of a dream. Once he returned to the City Hall, Sanhua was already waiting for him, but unfortunately for her, he didn’t bring any valuable piece of information. He lied about Scar not telling him anything despite his attempts, to which she only sighed and then let him go. He felt guilty about lying, but he just couldn’t share the actual truth with Sanhua.
That night, he returned to his place again. The same routine repeated as a familiar loop. Except this time there were finally neither nightmares nor dreams.
In the end, Rover didn’t figure out what was causing this strange ‘curse’ of his, but as it didn’t bother him anymore, it didn’t really matter.
Now he had more important things to do. Whatever was waiting for him at Mt. Firmament shall not wait for long.
The very morning of the day after Rover and Jinhsi’s return back to Jinzhou Sanhua informed them that Scar had broken out of prison with the help of an unknown individual.