`It all happened in a flash, like a bolt of lightning.
The moment Nero slipped into the dreamscape, Sosei Nagasaki appeared silently behind her. Before anyone could react, her scissors snapped shut with a soft click.
The demonic tool—"Scotty"—seemed tailor-made for this exact moment. Sosei had quietly stepped back, unnoticed, and drawn the weapon. Using the black mist it emitted to cloak her presence, she swiftly positioned herself behind the sleeping Nero.
Then, with the twin blades combined, she closed them in one fluid motion, severing the "thread" connecting Nero to Chuka.
"Sosei, you—?!" Rikishi stared at her old friend, stunned, unable to believe Sosei would pull a stunt like this now. Aine, meanwhile, was still clueless, her face blank. What was Sosei doing behind Nero? Why snip at the air like that?
That's all Aine could process.
Kairi darted through the shadows to Sosei's side, aiming to take her down. But Sosei had already split the scissors, using the black mist of their dual-sword form to boost her speed as she bolted for the planetarium's exit.
"Sorry, Aine," Sosei's voice called from the distance. "But I had to."
With that, she leapt out of the planetarium and vanished into the night.
"Damn it!"
Rikishi grabbed Rakuna, who was about to give chase, and whirled on Kairi. "Forget her for now! What's happening with Nero?"
She only half-understood Sosei's abilities, but whatever that snip did, it had clearly screwed something up. Chasing Sosei wouldn't undo what happened—time doesn't rewind. Right now, stabilizing Nero was priority one.
Rikishi wanted to lose it, to scream, to hunt Sosei down and knock some sense into her. But she couldn't. Nero, their strongest fighter, was in who-knows-what kind of mess. Someone had to keep cool and hold things together.
Aine and Rakuna were out of their depth. "Sorrow" and "Love" weren't fully trustworthy either. This was on her and Kairi.
A voice drifted from beneath the starry projection. "It's too late."
"Huh? What?" Aine glanced around, confused. "What's wrong with Nero?"
"Explain," Kairi said, taking a deep breath and stepping back to ask calmly. "Maybe there's still something we can do."
"It's too late," Chuka said after a pause, her voice heavy with a sigh. "The connection's been cut. She's probably lost in some other dreamscape now. I can't track her."
Aine gasped. "Wha—"
Only then did she realize what Sosei had done, and the shock hit her like a wave of absurdity. Sosei had no reason to turn on Nero—not now! Nero was helping them, protecting the city, even trying to save their old friend "Shoko." Weren't those Sosei's goals too?
"Sosei… why…?"
Hina was the one hurt most by this betrayal. She was completely lost, clinging to Aine's hand like a lifeline. "Aine, w-what do we do?"
What could they do? Aine wanted to ask the same thing. Even lambasted herself. Even with her wish-granted powers, she felt powerless to help her friend in this crisis.
"Everyone, calm down," Rikishi said, though she was anxiously biting her lip herself. "There's only one option left. We go into the dreamscape and find her."
It barely qualified as a plan. "She's lost, so we look for her"—anyone could say that.
But in this moment, it seemed like their only shot.
Kairi nodded silently, turning to the sleeping Chuka. "Is there any chance this could work?"
"It's like searching for a needle in a haystack," Chuka replied, practically pronouncing the idea dead on arrival. "She was just rejected by Shoko's dream. She could be anywhere now."
Chuka went on. "You need to understand—there are tens of thousands, no, millions of people asleep in this dreamscape. Each dream is its own separate world, and there are only four of you. Finding someone in that mess is impossible."
Rakuna, still held back by Rikishi and tilting her head as she listened, suddenly piped up. "Why's it gotta be so complicated?"
Chuka faltered. What kind of question was that? Why so many dreams? Because that's how many people live in Neo City! She'd even lowballed it with "millions"—the city's population was supposedly well over ten million.
Sure, in this dreamscape, people with close real-world ties might actively or passively visit each other's dreams, merging their dream worlds into something bigger. But even accounting for that, you're still talking millions of distinct worlds. Finding one lost person in there? No way.
"Why do we need to look?" Rakuna asked, like she hadn't grasped how dire this was. "She'll come back."
Her words left everyone speechless, wondering if Rakuna was oblivious to the gravity of the situation or just had blind faith in Nero's abilities.
Rakuna scanned the room, frowning when no one responded.
Then, without a word, she walked over to Nero's side, reclined a nearby seat, and sprawled out comfortably.
Like she was about to take a nap.
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A spark of realization hit Rikishi. "Wait, I get it! Nice one, Wildcat!"
Without another word, she grabbed a seat and started adjusting the backrest.
"Huh? What's going on? Explain!" Aine demanded.
Rikishi didn't answer her directly. Instead, she looked up at Chuka. "If it's her, she can move between dreams on her own, right? Even without your help, as long as she's got some kind of real-world connection to the dreamer?"
"Yes, but that requires a certain level of connection in reality…"
Chuka trailed off, catching the meaning behind Rakuna's "she'll come back." "I see. You're planning to wait for her to find your dreams through those connections?"
Aine's eyes lit up. "So if we fall asleep too, she might come to us!"
"Exactly."
For once, even Chuka thought this plan had a decent shot. "I'll monitor your dreams. If she shows up, I can bring her back."
The other two settled into their seats.
"Nero, hurry back," Aine whispered, praying as she slipped into sleep.