[center][h2]Sweet Dreams - Final Part[/h2][/center]

[color=black][b]"This one...this one is dead.  Her sustenance lacrima was broken, and her body failed.'[/b][/color]  Annalise stared at the woman's face for a moment before turning to Fleo, Ariel, and Trinity with an unfounded ferocity in her eyes.  [color=black][b]"Are the body and the mind one and the same?  All chemicals, and tissues, and hormones?  I thought so.  But they are different.  Linked, but not conjoined.  When these bodies were sleeping, their minds wandered through a million different dreams.  Some knew they were dreaming, and some didn't.  There were dreams of fantastic, unimaginable things, and then there were dreams like this girl's.  They were mundane, but they were strong.  She dreamed of youth, joy, adventure, and freedom, and when her body died, she lived on inside the dream.  Isn't it sad?"[/b][/color]

Having a few minutes to rest Ariel sat back up and struggled to her feet. Taking a moment she looked at Fleo. "[color=yellow]Whoa. What happened to you?[/color]" She'd missed the transformation and short explanation. Annalise started explaining something and she stopped to listen. It almost sounded like the woman was saying she was a dream. But that could also be her own brain not quite up to speed. "[color=yellow]I'm sorry. Now I'm confused.[/color]"

Though distracted by Annalise's words, even if she didn't quite understand them, Fleo was able to come up with a succinct summary for Ariel.  [color=C04000]"Dust Devil.  It's a spell that makes...uh, covers my arms and legs in dust, and makes me better at fighting."[/color]  She knelt by Annalise, her menacing black eyes now full of consternation.  [color=C04000]"I'm sorry about your mom, Anna.  Is there a way to...to help her?  Or any of them?"[/color]

[color=black][b]"She's not my mother."[/b][/color]  Annalise said, sighing.  [color=black][b]"Didn't you get it?  She's me.  My body.  Ten years ago I was put into this sleep, which is why I'm ten years younger than my body.  A few weeks ago, my body died."[/b][/color]  She gently nudged the dead woman's head to the side, exposing a greenish shard of lacrima in the back of her skull.  [color=black][b]"An accident, or maybe on purpose.  Don't know, don't care.  I guess my spirit fused with my dream-self, rather than moving...on.  It's like the real world is my dream now.  When I came in here, I remembered, and now that I know, I can better manipulate the dream.  Look."[/b][/color]  She held up her hand, and her sword appeared in it, materializing in a blur from nothing.  All at once, the scabbard shattered into a swarm of butterflies, and they rapidly changed constitution from normal, to gold, to water, to stone, and back to normal.  Annalise tossed the sword into the air, and it changed into a living bird before exploding into a shower of miniature fireworks.  [color=black][b]"I guess I can do anything now.  But what I want more than anything...is to wake up.  The personality changes aren't going away, and I can't go on like that."  

"For them,"[/b][/color] she gestured to the other sleepers, [color=black][b]"Just douse them with water.  It'll shock them awake.  But for me...what is the one thing that always marks the end of the dream?  When the kids run to their mommies and daddies, they say, this happened, that happened, then I died, and I woke up.  Do you understand?  You've got to kill me."[/b][/color]  She held out her hand, and a pistol materialized in it.  [color=black][b]"I'll...forget all this.  Working with Frenzy Plant, and then Phoenix Wing.  Being friends.  But you always forget dreams once you wake up, sooner or later."[/b][/color]  She trembled, terribly afraid but more determined, and she stood.  She pulled off her hood, and knelt in front of her chair, facing away from the wizards.  In the dim lighting, her purple-and-blue hair looked feathery and ghostlike, and the green shard in her head glimmered in time to her heartbeat.

Damn Ariel was right. How the hell... "[color=yellow]You are a dream. How come I couldn't tell with my Spirit magic?[/color]" Well, maybe it was a little presumptuous to assume she could recognize something like that. Maybe that's why the sleeping spell worked so effectively.Of course now they had a choice. To effectively kill Annalise or leave her trapped in this unstable state in the real world. Were Ariel able to change magic right now she would have turned blue. So for the moment the sadness and conflict in her expression showed in short bursts. Glancing at her companions, Ariel seemed to be looking for answers. "[color=yellow]What do we do?[/color]"

Fleo gave a helpless shrug.  [color=C04000]"I don't know!,[/color] she whined, distraught.  [color=C04000]"All my magic's good for is combat, and I'm not good with serious situations like this!"[/color]

Trinity puts a hand on the gun offered and pushes down gently. "Let's not be hasty. I... have an idea." She smiles gently at the dream projection before turning to the body. She crouches beside her and leans in close, inspecting the shard in her neck. The corresponding shard in the dream's neck seemed to pulse with life, so what would happen if she imbued this one with energy? She takes a slow, easy breath, drawing her magic power together. She was a little worn from the fight, but she could manage this. "May the bonds of love grant strength and peace. Love Arrow." She forms another ornate, heart-themed arrow and touches it carefully to the gem.

As Trinity began to infuse the shard with her own energy, Annalise gasped.  [color=black][b]"Ah, ah, ow!  Cou-agh!  ...Could you maybe use...a less painful way?  It'll...ow!  It'll do the job, but it's really hurting me!"[/b][/color]  The anguish in the woman's tone made ti clear that while the shards were definitely sympathetic in nature, charging the real shard only caused her agony.  Apparently the power of love didn't mesh as well with dreams -the mind-as it did with more heart-felt emotions.

"Hmm... Well, shit. What if I..." She steps around the... living?... Annalise. She conjures another Love Arrow and taps it to her shard. Would this have some kind of other effect? It better, she was getting tired. "This shard is... strange. Is it a part of the machine?"

Annalise shook her head, oblivious to the presence of another Love Arrow.  [color=black][b]"Best I can guess, it's a piece of a lacrima.  Maybe one of the ones that keeps the bodies in suspended animation while they're dreaming.  From the aches, I think it goes straight to the brain."[/b][/color]  She turned her head slightly so that she could see Trinity's Love Arrow out of the corner of her eye.  [color=black][b]"If you're trying to do something to my shard, don't bother.  This body is a...product, I guess, of that one.  If you were to draw a line on her arm, one would appear on mine."[/b][/color]

There was a whirring sound from Fleo's direction as her arms and legs began to shorten.  They shrank back to their original sizes, now covered by the bandages.  The claws and sixth fingers vanished.  She closed her eyes, and when they reopened, they were human and magenta once more.  [color=C2B280]"I'm sure the shard's a part of it,"[/color] she fretted.  [color=C2B280]"If it's in the brain, maybe it's cutting off some important bits.  Like your personality section, or dreaming section."[/color]

Watching from the sidelines, Ariel wasn't coming up with a much better solution. Maybe if they knew what was actually trying to be done here they could figure something out. But the two that would probably be able to tell them were not really able, or perhaps even willing, to tell. One one hand Annalise appeared to be mostly separate from her actual dead body. Could it be holding her back, or was it the shard in the dream girl? Either way she seemed to want to be free of this limbo state. Taking the shard from the body in her hand Ariel hesitated. 

As the shard slid out from the body's head, trailing thick, congealed blood, the one in Annalise flickered and, abruptly, vanished.  For a moment, the young woman didn't seem to notice the displacement, but she was aware of some sort of change.  [color=black][b]"I feel...the aching, it's gone.  I..."[/b][/color] she scrunched her face up, as if rummaging around in her own mind.  [color=black][b]"My mind.  I think it's...fixed!"[/b][/color]  She looked at the three Phoenix Wingers with a face that glowed with joy.  [color=black][b]"I don't have to move on!  I can stay after all, even if I'm living a dream, it's real enough to intersect with the waking world!"[/b][/color]

Then her form flickered.

It was as if a faucet had been turned off.  All the happiness and eagerness present in Annalise a moment ago had vanished.  This wasn't an alternate personality: it was fear, plain and simple.  She held a hand up and watched it lose its definition momentarily, as if fading from existence.  [color=black][b]"No..."[/b][/color] she whispered.  [color=black][b]"I'm...I'm waking up.  I'll forget...everything."[/b][/color]

Trinity gives the disappearing woman a hug, trying to give her some form of comfort as she fades away. She didn't know what else to do, now that Ariel had taken the shard out. "We'll remember for you." There must be something. Dissatisfied, she uses "Radar Love," trying to feel for some way to preserve this life. A container, or an ebb and flow to Annalise's energies.  Though faint, she became aware of something.  The spirit of Annalise was resonating in reply--she did not want to leave this world.  It was, however, fading quickly.  The strange interference that had sustained her, as a result of the embedded lacrima shard, was seeping like water through the open drain.  Some sort of white energy, like smoke but with the appearance of liquid, was seeping out through the hole in her head and dissolving in the air.

Doing her best to keep her own head on straight, Fleo remembered a second from her past.  [color=C2B280]"Wait, I think I might have something.  I'll explain later, but we need to get an object..."[/color] she ripped off her cap, and stuffed it into Trinity's hands.  She reached for Ariel's, and pulled them close.  [color=C2B280]"She's basically a ghost right now, borne of the dream.  If we can bind her to an object, we might be able to get a Spirit wizard to revive her.  Before, it was the shard, but it also messed her up.  Both of you, try to use whatever Love or Charm magics you have, and contain her spirit in my hat."[/color]

Trinity nods softly, holding out a hand. "The bonds of Love give us Strength. Love Arrow." This time, no orb of golden energy formed in her hand, but an arrow still took shape. What would have, before, been golden trim was now transparent, as though empty.

Charm magic? Ariel barely managed to come out of Lightning mostly unscathed. Speaking of which it was currently much stranger than her Charm at the moment. Stepping back from the others so as not to harm them she discharged as much electricity as she could. It didn't take but a moment. Afterward she weaved a bit and tried her best to get Charm to surface. After shifting through a couple of her other magics for seconds at a time Ariel finally grabbed onto Charm. Practically falling against Trinity she used her to stay upright. "[color=hotpink]Okay, we can do this.[/color]" Lending her magic to the cause Ariel focused on putting Annalise into the hat. Somewhat of an odd object but they didn't have much of a choice.

Trinity puts an arm around Ariel as she falls against her, speaking gently, "I know, sweety. Just a little more." She takes a deep breath and focuses on the energies of Annalise's spirit. With a little bit of Energy Make, she uses her empty Love Arrow as a catalyst to guide Annalise's soul into the hat.

Annalise's body vanished into nothing, quicker than a person could snap her fingers.  The leaking energy disappeared also, leaving no trace of her behind.  All three wizards looked down at the hat, but it appeared unchanged.  [color=C2B280]"Oh...rats,"[/color] Fleo mumbled sadly.  [color=C2B280]"I...I was wrong.  I messed up.  That wasn't the right way."[/color]

Rather sleepily Ariel patted Fleo on the sholder. "[color=hotpink]That's okay. She's gone on to...[/color]" Surely there was more to the thought but before the Charm mage could get it out she drifted off to sleep. Her mind, body, and magic had all reached their limit. Already leaning against her guildmates at least she didn't have to worry about falling over.

"Rest in peace, Annalise." Trinity strokes Ariel's hair gently, putting her other hand on Fleo's shoulder. "You tried. I didn't know what to do, either. We should hold a service for her, later." She then takes her Love Arrow and focuses on it, the transparent trim filling in with gold before she taps Ariel on the head with it. Though the shell was made with Arrows Magic, the core of the arrow was formed with her Energy Make. That was the magic she used, in order to give.

Utterly unhappy and looking ready to cry, Fleo stood up.  She took one last grieving look at Annalise's body, turned away, and put her cap on in preparation for leaving.  A moment later, she uttered an indescribable sound--a cry from the heart, wild and powerful, and suggestive of great joy.  [color=C2B280]"Hahahaha"[/color] she laughed afterward, tears of happiness streaming from her eyes.  [color=C2B280]"It worked!  She spoke to me!  She's in the hat!  We need to go, right now.  We'll call the authorities and tell them about this in a bit, but we've got to get back to Phoenix Wing.  Amelia is a Spirit mage, I think.  She'll be able to revive Annalise!"[/color]

In short order, and supporting the slumbering Ariel between them, the wizards made their way back to the train station.  They notified a guard on the way of what lay beneath the university's locker room, and boarded a train home in great haste, their mission nothing less than to reignite the dream that would keep their friend awake and, after a fashion, alive, unencumbered by mood swings and possessed of great powers.

And they did.