"You have something important to tell us?" Aria asked immediately as she crossed her legs on her bed, her back facing the violet moon rays piercing through the windows.
"Is he going to tell us more about this dead Goddess?" Xavier waited anxiously, his poker face beginning to crack.
Emilia looked to her side, her opened mouth expressing curiosity towards Vael's statement.
He gave a gentle smile as his pink hair flew slightly, despite there being no wind.
"As I've already told you, Ethereon is the boundless and infinite energy source that permeated the dimensions."
The trio instinctively took on confused expressions. They didn't at all expect Vael to mention Ethereon again.
Vael continued, his tone unchanging.
"And, I've already told you all that there are certain organizations that wield Ethereon. The Dominions are one of them, and so are many governmental organizations. They house people who are able to wield Ethereon."
"I am one of those people. I know you all know this."
As Vael spoke, all sorts of thoughts went through the trio's head.
"Why is he telling us this all of a sudden?"
"Did something important happen regarding that lady?"
"Is he going to make us into one of those people?"
They nervously gazed at Vael, their bodies nearly trembling due to impatience of what he was going to say next.
"And…" Vael's expression darkened as he began to look out at the moon-illuminated forest, swarmed with fireflies.
His mind flashed with memories of the mysterious lady, her cryptic warnings, and her mention of the name Astra Sera. It was as if they were stuck in his mind, unable to remove them.
"It's time to make you all one of those people."
Before the trio could even gasp, he sighed as he continued,
"Yes…you all will enter the Celestial world."
…
Astra laid down on what appeared to be nothing, her blonde hair lying flat on an invisible surface. This was due to the fact that she was in the atmosphere, above the dark side of the Earth and below the darkness of outer space. She had rested on a boundary that separated the planet and outer space.
Amidst this, the violet moon shone through the Saturn-like rings as the electric blue sun peeked over the horizon.
Of course, this scenery was only an augmented reality effect she had chosen.
Dressed in a black buttoned shirt and black pants, the purple crescent moon on the breast of her shirt gleamed as violet holograms appeared above her. Her pale blue ball of light floated next to her.
"Another case…I'm surprised at the frequency of Phantom-class anomalies being assigned to my group." With an exasperated face illuminated by the holographic interface, Astra whispered silently to herself.
"This time, it's mental subconscious stabilization due to knowing about Ethereon. At least it's different from finding stolen or lost artifacts."
Closing her eyes, Astra sighed as she used her mind to shut off the holograms.
"Well, my shift is over. I'm not going to worry about such things."
From her pants, she pulled out her phone given to her from the Dreamlanders. As she turned it on, she saw the words: 'Sleep time?' pop up at the top of her screen.
"It's interesting how persistent this culture prioritizes sleeping over working." She chuckled.
This was because she had found out that despite her shift only being fifteen hours, the other twenty-five were supposed to be spent sleeping or napping.
However, since Astra wasn't sleepy at all, she decided to surf the internet in preparation for her upcoming lesson. Since she was hungry, she had decided to eat while studying; she would be killing two birds with one stone.
She got up from the invisible 'ground' as she walked in a particular direction.
After doing so, she slowly disappeared into the darkness of the scenic office, her steps being obscured by the slowly encompassing fog.
…
Exiting her personal elevator that led her to the lobby, she stepped out into the main lobby of the Dreamlander organization.
This lobby wasn't bound by conventional means. Every structure shifted with each step—some subtle, some not—like a dream constantly reinterpreting itself. Marble pathways curve through floating platforms, glass bridges arc across illusionary waterfalls, and gravity obeys aesthetic more than physics.
Despite this, there was still order; it was akin to a person not questioning the strange nature of the Dreamscape.
In the center of the lobby, there was a massive projection of the violet moon resting above dark blue pillars of light. Surrounding this structure were sectors dedicated to the needs of Dreamlanders, such as stores, restaurants, shops and so on.
Resting above the entire lobby was a cloak of the gentle, ever-shifting twilight sky, with nebulous constellations drifting across the ceiling like subconscious thoughts.
Astra was used to such sceneries, so she wasn't surprised at the beauty of the lobby.
"It's quite silent…" Thinking to herself, she was a little shocked at the lack of noise.
This was because despite there being quite a few people here—some even in the Dreamer uniform—it was strangely almost silent. It was as if they were collectively quiet due to someone sleeping.
"Ah. I see why," She recollected memories of her previous research on Lunan culture. "This meant that the loud, bustling scenes at the intercity were because of the tourists, not of the locals…"
"It makes sense why the suburban area and even the phone store was so quiet…"
Satisfied, she adjusted her glasses as they showed a display of a restaurant.
She decided not to go to a cuisine that had food similar to the previous Earth this time. Instead, she had wanted to go to a restaurant that sold more 'local' food.
As she moved past the subtly shifting landscape and the strange motion of the twilight sky above, she finally arrived at the 'Deli of Dreams'.
Incidentally, even though there were other restaurants that were interesting, Astra had chosen this because of the wonderful naming sense.
Before stepping inside, she glanced sideways at the pale blue ball of light for a second, checking for any abnormalities.
Even though she had already confirmed that no one was able to see the light, she couldn't help but still be cautious.
After accomplishing this, she stepped inside of the deli as the door streaked with violet light slid behind her.
"Huh…" Immediately, Astra felt a strange yet comforting feeling ooze through her.
"This, is strange….ah…" She exhaled as the tiles beneath her boots warped like water, hardening again just before she took the next step into the place that looked like a regular café.
The walls of the deli stretched and twisted as a low hum pulsed through the air. Even the people who were enjoying their meals looked to be twisting and turning into something dark, something round.
A lullaby that she never heard but still felt nostalgic about played in the background as the night sky took its place in the ceiling.
Composing herself, Astra paced her steps towards a nearby floating platform that presented itself as a table with classic metal cutlery. She held her breath as she took her seat. Her eyes were narrowed—not out of anxiety or fear—but out of a peculiar sense of satisfaction.
"I don't really like this feeling…" She thought as she held her forehead, frowning slightly.
"Wait, I think I do…?" Experiencing another strange feeling, she immediately changed her mind.
After a few seconds, Astra's eyes widened as she felt herself and her surroundings turn to normal.
She looked around, seeing no disturbances or feeling no weird senses.
She gave a soft giggle as she reclined in her seat, closing her eyes in the process.
"Just when I think this world can't surprise me…"
"Hey! What can I get for you, Dreamer Sera?" Almost instantly, a rather cute female voice resounded in Astra's ears.
Immediately, she opened her golden eyes and locked them with the server's red, almond-shaped ones.
She was decently tall, someone who can be described as an adorable beauty. She had short red hair that didn't get past her neck—her bangs almost covering her eyes. Pimples were adorned on her light-skinned cheeks. Her face was somewhat sharp but soft.
She had worn the 'Deli of Dreams' uniform, a long dress that had designs of the night sky and the violet moon, some stars shifting subtly into meals and condiments like it was influenced by subconscious eating desires.
Astra stared at her for a second. Then, in the corner of her eye, she saw holographic menus drifting from a floating platform at the center of the deli.
"I can clearly order using those menus, so why did she come here to me personally…"
As if the server interrupted her thoughts, she immediately spoke again.
"Oh, sorry for not introducing myself. I'm your personal server, Olivia." She said softly, as she held both of her hands in front of her.
"Personal server?" Astra asked with no discerning emotion.
"Yes! Since you're a Dreamer, you have the privilege of having a human server."
"Privilege…" Astra chuckled inwardly as she thought about certain memes on the previous earth regarding AI replacing everything.
"So, what was that effect earlier? When I came in?" Astra asked, her glasses gleaming showing the reflection of the server.
"It's simply an effect that triggers bringing your subconscious into reality." Olivia explained calmly. "We also use some pleasure-inducing effects in case some people's subconscious aren't…" She paused, glancing sideways with a nervous smile.
"The most pleasant…"
"That's understandable." Astra affirmed in her head. "But still…"
"Is that even legal? It almost sounds like another way to drug customers so they come back," She said.
Olivia shrugged.
"I don't know, I only recently came here…"
Astra looked forward, almost looking as if she was in thought. She then shook her head as she chuckled.
"What's on the menu?" Succumbing to her hunger, she went back on topic, turning her head towards Olivia.
Olivia nodded as she moved her hand in a swiping motion, causing a holographic interface to move in front of Astra.
She didn't hesitate to look through the menu, scrolling up and down periodically.
"…" However, unusual for her standards, Astra found herself unable to choose a meal.
Almost everything on the menu was unfamiliar to her, and she didn't know which meal to trust!
"Sigh, I guess this is why I should've gone to more familiar restaurants…!" Facing such a conundrum, she couldn't help but lampoon herself inwardly.
"Can I make a suggestion?" With a smile and almost teasing eyes, Olivia happily asked.
"Yeah." Astra didn't hesitate.
"You can taste the Virel Soup," Olivia said excitedly. "It's one of my favorite dishes that come from Sentaia. The meat and veggies are grown and farmed naturally. The spices also come from Virelya itself. You should definitely try it!"
"Okay, you can give me that." Not wanting to wait any longer, she immediately accepted the offer.
"What do you want to drink?" Olivia asked.
"Lemonade. The classic," Astra responded.
"Anything else for you ma'am?"
"Nope!"
"Alright then, your food shall be here shortly." With Olivia saying that, she turned around to walk away as the hologram disappeared.
After ten or so minutes, while Astra was playing with her phone, she saw Olivia in the corner of her eye moving towards her.
She fully turned her head towards Olivia, who now was holding a metal plate that held a porcelain bowl. She had held a glass of lemonade in her other hand.
Olivia approached the table, and, with somewhat unrefined grace, rested the plate that held the bowl and the glass of lemonade on the floating table.
"Please enjoy." Olivia said with a smile.
"Thank you," Astra responded in kind with a soft smile.
Without waiting any longer, Astra held the metal spoon and dug into the soup—like she was possessed by the tasty, meaty aroma.
As the hot broth and steamy, tender meat entered her mouth, she immediately felt a sense of déjà vu.
"This is the same soup which Kayla gave me…" She thought to herself.
However, she was too hungry to think about the implications of such information. She continued to eat the soup, her face glowing due to satisfaction.
While calmly sipping her lemonade, she pulled out her phone.
As she opened it, she saw a notification that popped up, saying:
2 Veylars have been deducted from your account…
"I see…" Putting away the notification, she went on the internet to begin studying.