"Mhmm, no…"
Someone was sleeping inside his own house, and it felt like he was having a really bad dream. He couldn't stay still under the covers, and his whole body had started to sweat.
"No, Orechin… Syrmax… how did he kill you…" This person was speaking in his sleep when suddenly, some cuts appeared over his body and started to bleed.
"No… No… Don't kill me!" Suddenly, Tyel opened his eyes and found himself on the same bed he had slept in for the past ten years inside his house.
'What happened?' Tyel was confused. He was breathing heavily, and he felt something dripping down his body. He slowly moved his finger there and noticed that he was bleeding.
'Blood?' Tyel looked at his finger and remained confused. It had never happened that he started to bleed randomly while sleeping. 'And that dream…' Tyel lay back on the bed while looking at the ceiling, feeling as if he had just experienced an extremely realistic dream.
'It isn't my first time dreaming… but why can I remember it all? And why did it feel so real?' Tyel remained with his eyes fixed, as he didn't know what had just happened.
"At the end of the dream, I heard that weird voice… what did it say? Déjà Veil?" whispered Tyel. Realizing that falling asleep again would be hard, he decided to get up and go toward his kitchen.
Tyel's house wasn't big. He was the only person living there, and the house was only made of three rooms: a kitchen that worked as a living room, too, as he had a small sofa there, a bathroom and his bedroom.
Tyel went near the sink and drank a glass of water when suddenly he realized something. 'No, that isn't possible…' thought Tyel as he finished drinking the water.
"That was my voice…" Tyel at first couldn't realize it, but now he remembered it clearly: that voice that said "Déjà Veil" was his own.
'It definitely was a dream… but why was it so realistic?' Tyel slowly touched his neck as he returned to his bed. 'It felt like Ashikunz cut off my head… but then why…' Tyel looked directly at his hands and gulped. Then why am I still here?
As his whole body kept shaking, Tyel slowly returned to his bed. The moment he lay down, he started to fall asleep once again. 'I can't waste any time… tomorrow, we must go to the Secret Laboratories with the others.'
The following morning, Tyel woke up at the same time and went through his usual morning routine. While at first there wasn't anything wrong, Tyel realized that, just like in the dream he had, the food tasted exactly as he remembered, and he took the same watermelon doughnut he had taken in the dream.
'That dream surely was realistic…' thought Tyel as he looked around and noticed everything was in the same position as it was in the dream, except for the glass he had used to drink from earlier.
'It felt too real…' Tyel suddenly got up from his chair and walked toward the sofa.
As he slowly moved it, Tyel noticed that behind the sofa was a dead bug's body, in the same position and of the same species as the one he had found in the dream.
'I was sure I got rid of this yesterday…' Tyel grabbed the bug's body, went to the window behind the sofa, and threw it outside. Without him noticing, the bug landed near a robot's body and alarmed it, exactly like it had happened in Tyel's dream.
As the hours passed, Tyel took the usual outfit of his favorite hero and put it on. 'A clock, eh? Like Timehors turned back in time, it feels like the same happened to me,' joked Tyel, but he soon realized that wasn't possible; if it were like his favorite hero, everything would be better and, like the hero, he would be able to do something else rather than just the same things.
'That simply was a too-realistic dream.' With this thought in mind, Tyel went out of his house, and he noticed that everything was exactly like the day before, the same people walking and the same guards patrolling.
Tyel didn't give it much weight at first, as he had to pay attention so that the guards wouldn't spot him. But the moment he entered the hidden alley, his heart started to beat faster in fear.
He noticed the group coming out in the same positions as in his dream, and they were talking about the same topic. Tyel remained still for a moment, as he couldn't believe what was happening.
'Don't joke, hey…' Tyel remained still for a moment until the group turned toward him. "Tyel? Why are you standing there and not saying a word?" said Orechin playfully as he walked toward Tyel.
The moment Orechin touched his shoulder, Tyel remembered when he was carrying Orechin's lifeless body through the hall of the Secret Laboratory, and he fell to his knees, shaking.
"Tyel? Are you alright?" asked Orechin, worried that he might have done something he shouldn't have. The moment Tyel fell to his knees, everyone else rushed toward him, wondering if he was alright.
"Tyel, are you feeling well?" asked Syrmax as he kneeled down in front of him. The moment his eyes met Tyel's, the scene of Syrmax's head rolling toward him played again in Tyel's mind.
At first, Tyel didn't answer. He simply looked around and, as he looked at the others, the scene of them dying played again inside his mind. 'But that was a dream… they're all here again…' with this thought in mind, Tyel slowly got back on his feet as Orechin and Vane helped him.
"Hey, should we do the mission another day? Maybe he's not feeling well…" pointed out Liro. Lily and Darian, next to him, nodded.
"Are you sure you didn't catch a cold?" asked Darian as he raised his left arm to touch Tyel's forehead to see if he was cold. The moment Tyel noticed Darian's left arm was back, he felt a long shiver run down his spine.
"No, no… I'm alright," he said as he slowly removed Darian's hand from his forehead and turned toward the path behind him. "Let's go… don't mind me, I'm doing alright." With this, the others, even if a bit unsure, followed him normally from behind.
'Don't walk and hide in the same ways as in my dream… please do something different,' thought Tyel desperately as he noticed that while they were passing behind some old boxes, everyone took the same positions Tyel had dreamed of.
'I actually wonder if it was an actual dream…' thought Tyel as they finally arrived at the small hole that would lead them outside the walls.
"Liro… remember what I told you this morning?" asked Darian as the group kneeled in front of the exit.
'Hey… I remember this conversation, too…' thought Tyel, an horrified look all over his face.
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten," said Liro, sounding sure of himself. 'And he has the same tone as in my dream, too…'
Liro created an illusion of himself that passed right through the hole. While the group remained silent and with serious expressions, Tyel was the only one who was feeling scared, and he couldn't believe what was happening.
'And after this moment, I spoke and told Liro…' thought Tyel as he looked over the group who was still focused on the illusion. "We can assume it's safe to go… still, don't remove the illusion, Liro."
Liro, hearing these words, nodded and sent the illusion a few steps ahead, the exact number of steps Tyel remembered.
"Hey, Tyel, are you doing alright? You're looking a bit off…" pointed out Syrmax. Tyel looked at his body and noticed that he was as big as he could remember.
"We're actually out…" whispered Orechin, unable to believe what had just happened and that he was finally outside.
'And Syrmax should speak now…' thought Tyel. But because Syrmax was still next to him, he couldn't have answered Orechin.
'And then we talked about how we would return to save the city after we saved Catripple…' thought Tyel as he crawled out of the tunnel and went outside.
'My heart isn't beating as fast as in my dream… it feels like I've already been here… and not only in a dream,' thought Tyel as he was followed by Syrmax, who had his hands in his pockets.
"Hey guys, look what I found here," called out Vane. Tyel remembered these words, and he remembered that Vane went slightly ahead of the illusion made by Liro, too—and it happened exactly like that.
"What did you find?" asked Darian as he walked next to Vane, who was standing between some bushes. As Darian pushed them aside to have a better view, everyone noticed what Vane had spotted.
There was what looked like an entrance with some stairs that would lead the group directly into the Secret Laboratories.
"Is this supposed to be the entrance of—" Orechin couldn't even finish speaking before Tyel interrupted him.
"It's the entrance…" whispered Tyel, his heart starting to beat faster. As he looked back toward his companions, the scenes of them getting brutally killed were playing again.
"We know that it is a bait… but don't worry, we still have my illusions," said Liro. "I can camouflage us before we enter; they will not be able to spot us," he added.
"And in the end, I actually have to wait for you here. I will not be able to gather any solar energy from deep below; I'll wait for you here," said Syrmax. Tyel looked at him with a worried look.
"Syrmax… are you sure you want to stay here?" Tyel asked, as he easily remembered that once he had reached him, Corvinus had been able to kill him.
"Why are you saying this now, Tyel? This was the plan we created," said Syrmax as he sat down in front of the entrance. "I'll be useless there; I'll wait for you here," added Syrmax, while Orechin created a small blue crystal and gave it to him.
"You'll be able to hold as much energy as you need…" Orechin gave the blue crystal to Syrmax. "Here, it will definitely help you if someone comes nearby." Syrmax took the crystal and nodded.
"Yes… because Corvinus will arrive…" whispered Tyel, realizing that everything was going according to his dream.
"What do you mean by that? No one is around; we would have spotted him," said Lily as she happened to hear Tyel's whisper and looked around in search of someone, but she couldn't spot anyone.
"And don't worry… Syrmax has been able to store a lot of energy already. Whoever comes will be destroyed by his attacks," said Orechin as he positioned himself near Liro, who was waiting for the group to gather next to him.
"I'll store as much energy as I can and I'll blow everyone up, don't worry," said Syrmax as he noticed everyone else turning black because of Liro's illusion.
By holding the same formation, the group walked into the laboratories again, which were exactly like Tyel remembered—the same cameras in the same positions, and the corners always led to the same path.
"I wonder when they will arrive…"
Tyel immediately recognized that voice, as it was coming from the huge room on their left; it was Ashikunz's voice.
'If I'm correct, now Orechin should…' thought Tyel as he looked over at Orechin, who was becoming angrier as time passed.
"Hey… maybe going there will not actually be a waste of time," whispered Orechin as he slightly raised his voice and immediately broke free of the illusion, walking toward the huge room because he had spotted Catripple's head in Ashikunz's hands.
"I'll kick your ass!" shouted Orechin angrily. Ashikunz slowly moved his head toward the group and realized that the rebels were finally there.
"Oh… look who's finally here," said Ashikunz as he got up from the chair and launched Catripple's head toward the group. It rolled exactly in the same position as the last time, near Orechin's feet. Some blood was still dripping from it, and as Orechin looked at it, he got extremely angry.
"We don't have much choice now," pointed out Vane, who was the first to follow Orechin into the room. Everyone else entered the room, and as Tyel stepped in once again, he felt extremely scared.
"I'll fucking end you," whispered Orechin, looking into Ashikunz's eyes with an angry expression.
Ashikunz, without any fear, grabbed the spear near his throne and stood up. "I'd like to see you try."
'No, no… it is going exactly like that dream…' thought Tyel. He realized that it was going exactly like he had dreamed. 'Calling it a dream isn't correct… it actually feels like I've turned back in time… and we're falling into that trap again!' thought Tyel, terrified, realizing that the group had already reached the point from which they could not turn back.