"That's an interesting choice." James, dressed in a black metal trench coat that was illuminated by the digital night sky, had remarked.
"I don't remember seeing much Consciousness Celestials in the Dreamlanders." Placing his hand on his chin, he stared at the green and blue orb that looked alive.
Astra, dressed in a bruised purple sweater and jeans, raised an eyebrow.
"Really? That's strange. I mean, I'd have assumed that it is the easiest one to refine, yes?"
"You're correct. It should be the easiest to refine. But a lot of the Dreamlanders don't choose it, opting for Dreamscape instead. Perhaps the reason why is because Dreamscape and Consciousness are very similar in many ways, meaning they share a good amount of the same benefits and costs."
"In that case, the differing factor could be things like environment, religion, the level of guidance, etc." James responded calmly.
Astra sighed.
"Well, what about Possibility?"
"That's more common than Consciousness. In fact, our Vice-Captain is a Celestial of Possibility." James said, his lips curling up into a sincere smile.
"Is that so? I guess a lot of people like the concept of manipulating potential and chance." Astra responded, her voice dry signifying a lack of interest. However, she was inwardly curious about how the powers of Possibility would work.
"Indeed. In any case, let's begin." Immediately after James said that, the faint fog that was below him pulsed rhythmically with violet light. It shook softly as it coalesced into a semi-corporeal arm about the size of a human.
Using this 'arm', James grabbed the Orb of Consciousness. Having the arm's palm facing up, the green and blue orb that had white sparks pulsed with a faint, glowing green light. It was in the center of the palm made out of fog.
James walked closer to Astra with this arm. Right when he was less than a meter away from her, he stopped.
"Once you become a Celestial of this dimension, you will become an Awakened."
"However, with your superhuman strength and with your mind, you'll be on the level of an Ember that has refined their powers halfway."
Astra nodded.
"Just for reference, how strong would our group be after I become an Awakened?"
James didn't hesitate to answer.
"Well, with your inclusion, it would easily be above average. Most Dreamlander groups have about 6 or 7 people, with most of them being Rank 4 or Rank 3 Dreamers. It would be rare if they have a Vice-Captain if they're not a combat type of group."
"For our group, which specializes in combat missions and dangerous searches/investigations, we have a Vice-Captain and a Captain. Along with that, we have three people on the level of a Rank 3 Dreamer."
"Sadly, I don't know the inner workings of the Dreamweavers, so I can't comment on their strengths."
Astra shrugged.
"I guess we're going to have to find out, then."
James' eyes widened in shock due to Astra's sudden showing of confidence. After a second, his expression turned neutral as he gave his response.
"Excellent. Let's start the ritual."
Astra immediately grabbed the Orb of Consciousness with her right hand. As she did, she heard a faint ringing sound.
However, the sounds were distant and illusory—but they also sounded as if they were close and real. It was like hearing birds chirping, roosters crowing, fish jumping in the water, leaves ruffling, and all other sounds of life in the distance.
They resonated through Astra's ear that gave an effect of a person moving through a noisy crowd.
Observing Astra's somewhat rattled expression, James spoke up.
"If you hear faint ringing sounds, don't worry. That's just a side effect of a non-Celestial coming into contact with pure Ethereon powers."
Astra didn't react to this, since she had long connected the dots that made her discover this fact.
James continued to explain as Astra awaited instructions for the ritual.
"It's harmless, since it's coming from a low-level artifact. Incidentally, this also means that as the threat level of the Ethereal Artifact increases, so will the danger of side effects—including that ringing sound."
"This also applies for Celestials who are at a lower level experiencing the effects of Ethereon manipulation from other Celestials who are at a higher level."
Astra nodded once more.
"Okay, now I will explain the ritual to you. It is a relatively simple ritual—one can even figure it out just by the name 'Ethereon' alone."
"The first thing you have to do is get into the traditional praying stance of the God of the dimension that you wish for. For Consciousness, the praying stance is to close your eyes, then rest both of your hands on a surface. The orb can also act as a surface, so you can place both of your hands on the orb." James explained as his voice echoed lightly throughout the artificially starlit room.
Astra, listening attentively, placed both of her hands on the orb. The soft, alive ringing sounds didn't get any more intense, though she felt as if they were coming closer.
"The second thing you have to do is to pray to the God of Sentience. Now, you might feel a little uncomfortable due to your faith resting within the Dreamscape, but trust me. The Gods don't care whether or not you pray to another deity for a ritual. They are all interconnected. For this reason, you can pray in any language and get a response if you do the steps correctly—which is why you don't need to learn Sentaic for this ritual."
"Though, some languages are more effective than others. Some can even be too effective to the point of danger, like certain ancient languages." James clarified.
He then took a step forward, his feet soundless.
"The third and final step is to ask the God of Sentience to give you the power that comes from the artifact and from 'His' dimension. After you do this, make sure to give your motivation for doing so. It can be as simple as wanting to become a Celestial. For the best possible result however, make sure that the motivation deeply resonates within your heart. The stronger the motivation, the more successful the result."
"Now, I will tell you the prayer. For maximum efficiency, make sure not to stutter, pause or stop while you're praying."
"Repeat after me."
Astra's expression immediately turned serious as she prepared to hear James' voice.
"O God of Sentience, Intelligence and Emotion, you are the one who gave all things the ability to truly be self aware, to truly be intelligent. We thank you for giving us sentience, and giving us emotions, which truly differentiates us from mere animals." James said in a dry tone, however his voice sounded strangely heavy to Astra.
"I thank you for this blessed opportunity to make contact with you. Please allow me to use this artifact and channel your infinite powers of Consciousness, Sentience and Emotion."
"Then, after you say that, make sure to give your motivation for gaining the powers of the Second Dimension. Once that happens, your body will slowly become ethereal, and your senses will experience all sorts of strange things. Don't worry, this means that your body is truly going through that qualitative change."
"After this, you will interact with your subconscious. This can be in a variety of forms—it is your subconscious after all. The good thing is that you'll know once you have interacted with it. Now, once you achieve this step, the ritual has succeeded."
Not long after such words left James' mouth, his semi-corporeal arm of fog had dissipated into the ground.
He was ready for Astra to start.
"Breathe in…breathe out…" She whispered to herself as she took deep, measured breaths. Cold sweat began to form on her face as anxiety she hadn't felt in a long time bubbled up within her.
She didn't know why exactly she was nervous. Was she terrified of failing? Was it because of Loken's cryptic message? Was it because of her sense of responsibility that was now starting to foster inside of her?
Or was it because of something else?
Without wasting any more time, Astra closed her eyes and attempted to dispel those thoughts. She knew that such doubts would have hindered her motivations, and by extension, the ritual.
She closed her eyes as she softly repeated the prayer that James had given her.
"…Please allow me to use this artifact and channel your infinite powers of Consciousness, Sentience and Emotion." Without stopping, Astra began to say her motivations.
"Please allow me to connect with you and the heavens. Please allow me to be able to find myself. Please allow me to be able to find the people who I care about, and to allow me to protect and care for them properly."
The instant Astra had said that, her surroundings had completely shifted. The walls that depicted an artificial night sky were now blank white, the foggy ground was now covered with a surface that looked whiter than snow.
The pillar of light and the holographic chairs had completely vanished. Sonar and James weren't spared either—they too had vanished.
The only thing that surrounded Astra was a vast, empty, white expanse.
Astra stood thoughtless as she 'felt' her body becoming more and more ethereal.
In the distance, an object that looked to be like a semi-open door had faded into existence. It was blurry, but it was slowly gaining its resolution.
It was also growing in size, appearing as if it was approaching Astra.
Soon enough, it was mere meters away from her.
Again, she had no thoughts. Her body was slowly losing its grounding in reality as she simply stared at the door like a puppet.
In the opening of the door, a dark river could be seen under a purple night sky. On the banks of the river was dark violet grass gently flowing in the wind—opposite the direction of the movements of the river.
As Astra observed mindlessly, large black dolls that had no definition had appeared instantly. They acted as trees in this strange landscape, extending outwards into the fantastical sky.
Suddenly, each one of the dolls had strange, green-colored pupils appearing on their bodies. They looked like grotesque holes in the darkness of the dolls, and would give a person with trypophobia intense nausea.
Each one of these eyes were staring at shadows that were beginning to roam around in this 'forest'. These shadows then shook violently as they contorted into different forms of strange, twisted, indescribable 'life'.
Some had looked like deformed dogs with three heads and six legs, some looked like humanoid creatures with extended limbs and small heads, some looked like large spiders that had twelve legs, some looked like fish heads with human legs.
These forms of 'life' began to extend itself toward the semi-open door, appearing as if they wanted to reach Astra.
However, Astra was rapidly fading away. She was not merely becoming ethereal.
No, she was vanishing from existence!
Something had gone terribly wrong!
The closer these shadows that represented 'life' got to Astra, the closer she was to fading away into existence—perhaps into this strange 'forest of life'!
Ting!
Suddenly, a point of blue and white light appeared in front of Astra. It had appeared in the center of the opening of the semi-open door, looking as if a star itself had descended upon the land.
Instantly, all of the pupils that rested within the darkness of the dolls had casted their gazes at this point of light. They all constricted and dilated randomly. As they did, tentacles began to stretch out from them, desiring to take hold of this point of light.
At the same time, the landscape also appeared to have shifted. The dark river was shaking violently as if innumerable sea monsters were threatening to burst forth, the violet grass was now completely still despite the now tumultuous wind, and the purple night sky had turned into a boundless sea of 'sparks' that looked like neurons and dendrites.
These neurons and dendrites suddenly convulsed violently, instantly stretching out from the sky to dive at that point of light as it desired to banish it from existence.
Blare!
A trumpet that came from an infinite height had sounded throughout this landscape, causing tremors akin to an earthquake.
The point of light then began to expand, covering the tentacles, shadows that conceptualized strange life, and other peculiar imagery in a blinding blue light.
Abstract and illusory shockwaves filled with strange and indescribable concepts had ruptured throughout this space, devouring all forms of 'life' in a blinding expanse.
As the blue light rapidly expanded, it had covered the semi-open door but it had never crossed the opening. It was as if it was forming a barrier, effectively 'closing' the door—shielding Astra from the chaos and destruction behind the door.
SLAM!
As the white and blue barrier fully formed, it didn't take long for the semi-open door to close in on itself.
At that moment, Astra had felt her body becoming corporeal. Her surroundings that embodied a white, empty expanse was starting to rapidly shatter, forming illusory white shards. The now closed door was also quickly fracturing into shards.
As these shards broke off from the rest of the scene, they fell from the bottom up, slowly revealing the artificial starry night sky that was plastered on the walls.
In the center of the room, Astra's eyes were widened and her body was trembling. It had looked like she had encountered a near-death experience—the reality of the fact only just processing through her being.
The sudden influx of sensory information had hit her like a drum as the uneasy feeling that dwelled in her stomach pierced her as if it was hundreds of spears.
"Cough! Cough!" Hunched back, she held her waist as she struggled to contain her nausea. She felt as if the only way that she would have relieved herself was to puke out her insides.
Soon enough, she collapsed to the ground as her blonde hair flew down with her, covering her head like a curtain—her knees being the only thing preventing her from completely lying flat. The orb that she was just holding had fallen to the ground, giving off strange animalistic sounds as it rolled.
On the ground, Astra's arms were helping support her body, but they too were shaking involuntarily.
Even though her hands were on the foggy ground, she couldn't feel anything from them. It was as if her hands had turned completely cold and numb.
"What…happened…?" While coughing, Astra struggled to even mutter as she used all of her strength to look up at James. She was baffled and confused. Her body had reacted in a way to a situation that her mind wasn't even aware of!
James looked at Astra as if he had seen a ghost. His hand had rested on the top of his head as he used his other hand to adjust his glasses—which were now displaying red error readings on its lens.
Incidentally, he was now further away from Astra, as if he had walked a few steps back due to a strange fear.
Meanwhile, Sonar had woken up from the rather intense ringing sounds that had resonated within his ears.
As he woke up, he immediately got on alert as he saw the enchanting Astra on all fours, coughing violently.
"What happened?" He said, standing up immediately. "Did something go wrong during the ritual?"
"I don't know…" The trembling Astra spoke, her voice low and soft like a whimper.
Sonar immediately turned to James, his body feeling unnaturally chilly.
"Captain, what happened?"
James slowly turned his head toward Sonar. It was as if his mind was still trying to process the conundrum that had just taken place in the once calm and soothing space.
"Something terribly wrong happened. I don't even know what…"
"Everything was fine at first. After I explained everything I needed to explain, we began the ritual. I made sure to not leave out any important parts. I even added parts to ensure accuracy!"
"What's even worse was that when she began the ritual, I saw Dreamer Sera perform the ritual perfectly."
"But strangely, during the ritual, I heard a horrifying ringing sound."
"And not even a second later, I saw her trembling terribly." James said, his voice expressing traces of confusion and shock as he recollected the past events. He later cleared his throat as he adjusted his suit.
Sonar creased his eyebrows at James as his mouth slightly opened in disbelief.
"Has this ever happened before? Maybe this was a trap and the wrong artifact was given?" He hurriedly tried to find solutions to the current dilemma.
"No, this has never happened in my experience or in the digital readings that I have." James immediately responded as he tried to gain some control of the situation.
"It could very well be a trap, but I don't know how or why. We don't have any information that could lead us to the truth, so it's best we try to investigate this matter thoroughly." He said as he slowly walked towards Astra.
"What if we still don't figure anything out?" Sonar asked, worriedly.
"Then we have to leave it to the Dominion." James responded, his voice still low. Finally a meter away from Astra, he squatted down in front of her.
"Are you okay? Are you sure you don't know what happened?" He asked warmly.
"…No. I don't know what happened during the ritual…" Astra hesitated as she responded..
"You don't know…?" James repeated what she had said in disbelief. Without waiting for her to respond, he continued, "That's not good. This really does require an immediate investigation."
"I don't need to be investigated. I already know that this was because I'm not normal." In a strange, whimpering tone, she had expressed her thoughts sincerely.
James stared at Astra with an expressionless face, although she couldn't have seen it.
"I understand, but I'm afraid we have no choice. What just happened was extremely rare. It isn't even in my logs. Even if it is because you're special, we still need to know if there are any other potential reasons."
"…" Astra didn't retort. She simply kept staring at the ground in pain.
"I understand."
"Did I…did the ritual succeed?" She asked, attempting to cling onto a small sliver of hope amidst the pain.
James sighed, his breath laced with disappointment as his glasses showed digital readings once more.
"No. It failed."
Instantly, Astra felt that something had shattered inside of her.