"You-u-u've come back..." the rose moans.
"M-M-Ms. Rose!" Rachel gasps.
"H-o-o-o-w you've gro-o-o-wn...how you've blossomed. Yo-o-o-o-o-u are no longer the little sprout you were before."
"What happened?"
"Much...much has happened since you've last been here. The magic of imagination has faded...when Master Eli was taken by the enemy."
"Nebulus." Rachel guesses.
"Yes-s-s-s-s-s..." Ms. Rose hisses. She moans, "He. With the help of the Dr. Channing, has taken Eli for his boundless fancies...to control...allthings."
"I knew Dr. Channing was still in cahoots with Nebulus! I almost got choked to death by him today."
"To kill such a lovely flower as you are is a breach of life..." the rose says, as she lifts one of her petals to Rachel's chin. "Yo-o-o-o-o-u have been fortunate to have escaped."
"I...I couldn't save him." Rachel sighs in defeat. "I didn't know what to do. I was scared to stand up to...I couldn't use my imagination to save Uncle Eli."
"It was not your doing, child."
"Yes, it was." Rachel shudders. "It was all my fault. All of it."
"Shhhhhh... My little flower, it was never your fault to begin with. Eli...had known long beforehand that...that Nebulus would be coming. But he...he had to keep you...away...that very last day to save you...because he knows...how very special...you really are. Oh...how I have waited to tell you this myself."
"You've waited for me to come back all these years? This whole time?"
"Fifteen years...yes. Fifteen years have slowly passed by...since you had fled while Master Eli was taken away. Fifteen years I have stood here, living with whatever drops of water was left...whatever sunlight could break through from the heavens to this darkened abandoned place...withering away into the dust...waiting. But now, you have come back after all these years...you've come to claim your destiny."
"No, Ms. Rose, it's nothing like that all. I didn't mean—"
"Rachel," Ms. Rose interrupts, "Nebulus will return...somewhere...someday...sometime soon. It will not be much longer...for Nebulus to figure out that Master Eli is not the true identity he has been looking for. As I heard from the gentle urgent voice of the warm Floridian winds, the trueDreamfinder has returned to our world creating dream worlds and inspiring others. So long as he is here...Nebulus will stop at nothing until he captures him and his Figment for his dark purpose. You must not let that happen!"
"Ms. Rose...I can't!" Rachel sobs. "I—"
"Yes you can, Rachel. I know you can. You are a very special child of the Earth, one whom Master Eli had recognized...such greatness waiting ahead just for you. And now it is time...for you to see it for yourself."
"But I—"
"You must save Master Eli..." the rose gasps, as her dry leaf petals grip onto Rachel's hand and says, "...save our world...save imagination! Promise me...that you will...and that you will never ever give up...or lose sight of who you are...and what...you are truly capable of. Promise me."
"I...I...I promise." Rachel sighs once again in defeat.
"...Take...this-s-s-s..." the rose weakly lean over to a nearby tumbleweed bush and removes it to the side. Under a small pile of dead leaves, she struggles to pull out a small metallic blue mirror with golden edges and dressings. The glass on the mirror is dirtied around the edges, but other than that it seems to be in pretty good condition.
"Do you...remember this, Rachel?" Ms. Rose asks.
"I do." said Rachel. "It was a gift from Uncle Eli. He said that it's a magic mirror and if I ever needed him or wanted to see anything that I wanted to see, I ask for it in the mirror and it would appear. I even remember the magic words he told me to remember. I thought I lost it the day Nebulus came. How did you—"
"I've kept it safe for you. I figured you could...use this on your journey. Keep it safe. Don't let anyone have it."
"I won't."
At that, Ms. Rose lets go of Rachel's hand. She breathes her last breath with a smile and closes he eyes with one last look of the lovely flower of a human she had once and always known. Her head, now wrinkled and heavy in her death, falls gently to the ground nestling to the dust of the remains she had shed off for so long. Her stem is shriveled to the maximum, completely dry with no water or any sugars left for her to survive.
As she watches the rose die right before her, the tears in Rachel's eyes begin to pour heavily drenching and soaking her face. Some of those tears have blurred her vision, some have fallen off of her cheeks, while the very few that have gone have entered her mouth and left the bittersweet taste of salt on the tip of her tongue. The sparks around her begin to cry, too. Each one of them have formed into a more spiky shape as little droplets of their aura erupt from their little bodies like a tiny volcano. A spark or two lowers down to Rachel's height and gently nudge themselves against her cheeks and shoulders. Yuna, who has watched the whole thing happen with tears forming in this sad event, crouches down at Rachel's side and lift her back to her feet.
"I'm so sorry, Rachel." said Yuna in a solemn tone.
"Watch carefully..." Rachel whispers under her breath, "listen closely...see what you can see. Through the power of words and the magic in your mind, I can be whatever I want to be."
"Rachel?"
"The magic words. Those are the magic words Uncle Eli taught me a long time ago. To keep remembering these words makes me feel close to him...but also feel great heartbreak. ...I can't run anymore. I wonder...if..." Rachel holds the mirror to her face and speaks to the glass it holds. "Show me the Dreamfinder!"
The glass in the mirror starts to show visions of puffy clouds at Rachel's command. They swirl rapidly in a quick pace of pattern. Swirling and twirling in a circular pattern it's enough to cause hypnotism onto a defenseless soul staring at it too long. The least it's doing is make a couple of the sparks feel dizzy. Suddenly, the mirror starts showing an image. It's mostly blue with hints of black, red and violet pink. Two figures are appearing within the blurry blob, one with black hair and one with red hair and a beard. The Dreamfinder and Jess are now present in the mirror as if they are having a conversation together. Looks more like an argument as far as Rachel is concerned. The way Dreamfinder looks with his face scrunched up and angry and his eyes filled with a fiery hate.
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"Perhaps if you can just talk to her and get to know her more once you find her—" Jess says, but is interrupted by Dreamfinder's rant.
"I'm done with getting to know her, Jess!" Dreamfinder shouts, as he slams on the table real hard. "I don't want to have anymore to do with her!"
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The shrill of the Dreamfinder's voice has shocked through Rachel's ears. Her eyes widen wide and her heart begins to break in a terrifying rate of agony. More tears flow down from her eyes. Her chin and bottom lip are quivering and her hands and arms are shaking. Rachel's head hangs troublesomely low. Her eyes now close halfway in an emotional defeat.
"Oh dear." said Yuna.
"Bah! What would be the point in asking for their help anyway?" Rachel groans.
"Rachel—"
"We'll be fine without them. Besides, the further we stay away from them, the less danger they'll both be in."
"Mama! Mama!" called a couple of the sparks.
"You cannot dodge them both forever." Yuna warns.
"Maybe not forever," said Rachel, "but perhaps long enough for me to deal with Nebulus personally before either Dreamfinder or Figment find out what's happening."
"You are not ready to face him yet, Rachel.
"You don't think I am?"
"No. If anything, you're definitely ready for some healing and rest. You haven't exactly healed up from bursting through that window at the academy. See? You still have a few cuts behind your neck."
"Oh...I haven't even noticed."
"Mama! Oh Mama! Mama!" the sparks cried. They all gather together around Rachel at the back of her neck and coddle her neck trying to help soothe the cuts. "Mama...Mama!"
"There, there, you guys." Rachel coos softly, as she pets the little sparks softly. "It's okay. Mama's fine. I am a little tired from running and stressing today, so what's say we all take a nap somewhere." In an instant, the sparks chirp with delight. Whatever Rachel wants to do, they do it happily. "I'll take that as a 'yes.' "
Followed by Yuna, the sparks take Rachel out of the garden room someplace cozier. Down the hall to the right hand side to a small staircase they go up, but it is only a couple of steps, at least ten. With ever step they take it urges Rachel the need to yawn. It had been a very rough day. To travel to a place that has haunted her memory for so long, escaping from a school that has been cherished by both Dreamfinder and Figment to save one little spark from evil hands, and to traverse through an unexplained vast of darkness. For all of that to happen within a day is enough to wear a person out.
They come to a dark brown dark that has faded and deteriorated overtime. Inside the room, the sparks open the door revealing a small bed, a small vanity, a big enough dresser, a large rocking chair, a lamp and a chest of old toys. The walls were once pink, but over the years the color has faded and been reduced to a sandy tone like on a beach in Hawaii. The sparks float ahead and lift up the sheets for Rachel to cover herself in. The bed is obviously too small for Rachel to fit in, so she turns over to the old rocking chair. Making sure the chair won't break, the girl sits down gently with one little spark, the one whom she rescued at the Academy Scientifica-Lucidus, cradled in her arms. The instant Rachel makes herself comfortable with the sparks, she falls asleep, while Yuna and some of the other sparks stayed awake and guarded them for the time being.
Minutes go by, and then hours go by. For however long they slept it seemed like they are about to sleep for a millennia. In her sleep, Rachel can hear the soft murmuring of her little sparks sleeping with her. But when one spark or another would start crying for whatever reason while she slept, Rachel would take them both and rock them softly to calm them down and fall asleep again. Sometimes throughout the night, Rachel was starting humming such soft lullabies to the sparks, much to Yuna's delight since it was she who had encouraged Rachel to sing for her in a dream a while back. As soon as everyone was comfortable enough in that room to not notice anything else happening, Yuna turns off the light in the lamp and goes to the sleep on the small bed in her sprite form.
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The next morning, only a small beam of light had shown throughout this mysterious place illuminating and bouncing the light to any other space it could touch. A little bit of that was able to reach inside the room Rachel, Yuna and the sparks were sleeping in. The sparks were all sleeping soundly. Some of them were breathing quietly while some others were softly snoring. Thankfully, it had not affected Rachel or Yuna's slumber. Out of her own will, Rachel eyes open ever so slightly slowly. She slowly tilts her head back and forth, noticing all of the sparks sleeping right beside her. It made her happy very much. It was enough to make her smile. Excluding the times she had with Dreamfinder and Figment, this is the first time Rachel has ever smiled for any reason. Not since the day Nebulus had kidnapped her Uncle Eli. She calmly stretches her arms and makes a big yawn. As Rachel rubs her eyes, she leaves the sparks on the rocking chair and walks over to the door.
Suddenly, she hears a feint but earsplitting scream coming from outside; an intruder! Rachel rushes out of the room without waking everyone else and heads back to the foyer, hiding behind a corner at the Rainbow Tunnel's entrance. The screams were coming from a very large door across the room. She recognized that door all right; she remembered that this was the door she came through to this room a long time ago. Finally, the screaming had stopped. But why? Could whoever is behind that door have fallen to their death on the hard floor that had awaited them? What else could it be?
The door begins to open slowly. And who should be coming out through that door...Dreamfinder and Figment! Rachel is shocked. How did they find this place? She then remembers how their friend Fye had explained where the phenomenon in that security footage had happened. But even then, there was no way they could have found this place so quick let alone find the entrance! As Rachel stays completely hidden, she watches her former friends enter bedazzled by the sight of this incredible worn down mansion. On a lighter note, she is happy that the both of them are alright. However, it does not satisfy her enough to know that they are actually here of all places.
She follows Dreamfinder and Figment everywhere they went including the "Flower Room" where they had found the dead corpse of her old friend, Ms. Rose. Then upon arriving in the "Literature Room," she too becomes scared to her wits at the sight of the spelled-out lightning bolt striking in the room. Thirdly, in the "Theatrical Arts" room she makes a lightly humorous smile as she watches her friends play dress-up. But then her cover-up is becoming less and less stealthy at the moment where one of the sparks of imagination had already woken up and appeared before Figment and the Dreamfinder. Rachel follows the Dreamfinder and Figment once more as they follow the spark to wherever they were going, overhearing their conversations and theories about what kind of mannerisms the sparks must have. All of sudden, Rachel bumps into a boulder that is blocking her way from Dreamfinder and Figment's reach. She had to go another way to catch up to them unnoticed; while her friends were passing by the rusted steel door they were not supposed to touch.
When Rachel finally finds them in the Ballroom, she sees that all of the other little sparks have already woken up from their sleep in the bedroom they were in. They were enjoying the Dreamfinder and Figment's company as they fly around their waists and other parts of their bodies, playing with them. She watches the sparks showing them the portrait of the little girl, her Uncle Eli, and another Figment on the wall all tattered and shredded from Nebulus' previous invasion. A crack is forming in Rachel's heart as she sees the poster. And it is hurting her a lot more to see the Dreamfinder and Figment look at it. Rachel takes a couple of steps back in fear, but in doing so she suddenly stops. She sees how intrigued her friends are in this great discovery. She had hoped that she could hold out what has happened a long time ago out until she would settle this all out herself. Apparently, that is not going to happen. The girl then feels a sudden calming pat on her shoulder. She looks over to her left and finds Yuna, awake as ever from her sleep in her human form, standing next to her with sad sympathy.
"It's time to tell them the truth, Rachel." said Yuna in quiet truthful tone.
She is right. She is always right. It's time for Rachel to finally face up to her friends, the ones who have been so kind to her despite had badly she had treated them back, and clear the air. As soon as Yuna morphs back into her sprite form and hides back into Rachel's necklace, Rachel slowly walks out of the shadows at last and walks to the Dreamfinder, depressed. There is no turning back this time, like there has every been from the start of her adventures with them to begin with. It's time to tell the truth.
"Figment...this girl." Dreamfinder observes aloud. "She looks a lot like...like—"
"Me." said Rachel to her discouragement. "She looks a lot like me."
"RACHEL! Dreamfinder shouts.
"Rachel!" Figment exclaims. "You're okay!" In his excitement, the little purple dragon speedily races over to Rachel with open arms and gives Rachel a big hug. "We missed you so much!"
"I see you guys are having a lot more fun in here than I have been." said Rachel with a smirk, returning the hug to Figment.
"Rachel, what are you doing here?" said Dreamfinder. "We thought you were gone."
"I made a wish through my necklace to bring me and the spark I saved to the safest place we could be and here we are...of all places."
"Oh Rachel!" Dreamfinder grabs Rachel into his arms and hugs her very tightly. "My dear Rachel, don't you ever do this me and Figment ever again! Do you realize how worried you've made us?"
"I can imagine." Upon looking at the picture on the wall, Rachel lets go of Dreamfinder, walks over to it and sighs, "I...I had hoped you two would never have found this place. Ever. This place is...is..."
"Rachel, what is going on?" Figment asks. "You haven't been yourself over the past couple of days and I can tell that this place, that spark and this portrait has a lot to do with it."
"I can't!" Rachel exclaims. "I can't tell you anything! I...I promised I wouldn't—just place!"
"Rachel!" Dreamfinder shouts in his frustration. "For all of our sakes, you have to tell us! We promise that we won't say a thing of it to anybody! Please, Rachel. I hate seeing you this way."
"......"
"Rachel...please."
"...You really want to know?" Rachel asks, receiving a pair of nodding heads back. In her defeat, she sighs, "Fine. I'll...I'll tell you everything, but you should that this is going to hurt me a lot more telling you this than it's going to be for you."
"We'll take our chances." Figment assures.
"Please, Rachel." said Dreamfinder in a calm voice. "Start at the very beginning. We're listening."
"You'd better find something to sit on first because I have a lot to say." warned Rachel. "It all happened like this..."
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