Middle Ground

“Aria...”

Was this falling feeling waking up?

“...you’re...”

Am I dreaming again?

“...back?"

I’m jolted awake by a violent shaking, groaning as I roll away from the harasser.

“Aria, you’re back remembering again—I...yanori, I can’t believe it. Aria.” The intruder of my sleep rolls me over again, and I open my bleary eyes to see freckles and brown eyes—an excited face looms over me.

I shoot up and rub my face. Her. “You’re...Lacey, right?”

The face smiles sympathetically. “Leisia.”

“Oh.”

Suddenly, she lets out a sharp exhale. “Reim better have an explanation for this. Come on.”

With a tug on my shoulder again, I slowly get up and wipe the sleep from my eyes. I’m back...in the Middle Ground. You can’t go back to dreams, can you? I ask myself fearfully, letting out a stream of air. After staring at the cavern I’m in for a moment, Leisia tugs at me again.

“Come on. You’ve already been here, remember?”

I do remember; it’s fuzzy, but the same dimly lit crystalline stalactites and stalagmites are in my memories of the Middle Ground. The countless number of beds lined up in rows and rows and rows...I remember that, too—vaguely. The visitors come from here. I remember. The high roof of the cave still makes me feel vulnerable, and the smell of iron and minerals wasn’t forgotten. Yes, I remember—the Waking Chamber on the Outside Mountain. Where the outsiders awaken. Following Leisia out of the chamber, my eyes are blinded as we step into abrupt golden daylight. As they adjust, I see the Middle Ground Hillcountry. The same shimmering rivers, floating islands, and peaceful twittering of birdsong greet me with a smiling grin, but I don’t return the smile.

We head to the west towards Leisia's nearby village of Trilom, the straw roofs of the huts glimmering strangely. The atmosphere is hazy, and the valleys are blanketed with fog—it must be the wet season. How long has it been? I think. A wistful sense of longing comes over me as I look at the vast landscape before the Middle Ground's surreal yellow skies from the Waking Chamber on the mountain.

I’d forgotten that the last time was just as beautiful. This can’t be a dream.

Before I can process anything that just happened, we suddenly arrive at the village square, right outside of Reim’s large and ornate hut—I remember it well with its decorations of feathers, beads, talismans, and pots. And I think I remember the sleep-charmer Reim. After rapping on the mud walls, Leisia lets us into the hut.

“Reim? Are you in here?”

“Hold it, hold it! Don’t move.” The familiar, feral-looking seventeen-year-old comes bursting in from the other room, hands up. Yes, Reim. Him. His head is moving all over the place, his wild black hair bouncing to and fro. His brown eyes flash with fear. He slowly places a finger to his lips. “Hush.”

From within the house, a growl starts to crescendo into a small roar. A cold dread seeps into my chest like heavy ice. I hang close to the door, hand on the knob in case I need to bolt. I definitely remember Reim’s "experiments," but never anything like—

A deep and loud snarl sounds as a small, dark creature prowls into the clearing. A little blob of black embedded with what looks like stars bristles its fur and gnashes yellow teeth maliciously. Making no sudden moves, Reim reaches to a mudshelf on his wall and picks up a large glass jar. As the creature takes a step closer and as my heart skips a beat, Reim stoops down and traps it up into the jar, snatching a cork from another shelf and keeping the creature inside. It squirms before realizing it can’t escape, surrendering itself to an angry rest.

He sighs with relief as my heartbeats slow again and places the jar gingerly onto the shelf again, turning to finally face us. "Leisia, what a—"

“You released a nightmare in your hut?!” Leisia explodes. “Do you know what could have happened?”

“But I’m on the verge of a breakthrough! Can't you just imagine if we made a dre—“

“You won't be able to imagine anything if you get killed! Ugh! Never mind that,” she waves a hand in the air and glares at him. “We’ll worry about releasing nightmares into houses later. We didn’t come for your naïve experiments. Look at who’s here.”

He whips out a pair of makeshift spectacles and squints for a moment at me before his eyes go wide. “Aria! This is certainly a surprise. A Rememberer has never returned. She's back?”

“Yes, back, and we need you to tell us why,” Leisia answers firmly.

“Why? Oh, um...let me see…” He starts pacing a circle in the manner of an old professor, though he looks as much seventeen as I do. Suddenly, he stops and glances at me intensely. “Aria, are you about to die again?”

“I wasn’t even about to die the first time!”

“But you must have been. That’s the only reason anyone visits—the Middle Ground has always been the time-between-times. You know the system of outsiders. You awaken when you're about to die in your world, you visit, and then you vanish as if nothing ever happened and don't remember anything when you return to your world or die on your world. Well, unless you die here, of course, but that's an entirely different story, as you know," Reim chortled.

“I know I’m fine back home.”

“The Middle Ground doesn't work like you say it does, Aria. Trust me. People come because they are hung between life and death. Nothing more, nothing less.” Reim crosses his arms challengingly.

“I’m telling you, I’m fine. And I remember last time. Do you see any wounds on me from home? Hospital clothes? A weak heartbeat? A sniffle?” I do remember that. The people from the first visit had questioned me for it. People usually come with their conditions on them, still. Stabbing victims appear briefly before collapsing and vanishing; strangled victims show up with bruised necks before going; sick people come in full hospital clothes and ashy, dull skin...but I never came here with so much of a scratch. I know I’m fine.

"Whatever you say." Reim shrugs before rubbing a hand over his mouth in thought. “However...what if...what if someone else brought you here? Someone you know?”

I freeze. “There is someone, actually. My brother.”

“Sick?”

“Comatose.”

“Ah. He’s probably been here for a long while, then. Time works strangely in the Middle Ground.”

“Last time, I was here for two weeks in one night.”

“And it could be different again! Yanori, he’s probably been trying to summon you for ages. He finally did it!” His sepia eyes glimmer with sudden discovery.

“What—"

“Hold it! He may have discovered something revolutionary! We have to find him and—“

“Reim, what is it?” Leisia interrupts.

“He’s discovered a working way to call people into the Middle Ground, Leisia. And do you know what that means?”

“I—“

“He’s made a dream.”

“Reim—“

“Can you imagine? Dreams! This could explain why we’ve been here since the start, or—how to get out.” Reim gasps involuntarily.

“Reim!” I grab ahold of him to calm him. “Then how did I come the first time and why did I have to leave?”

“He must not have perfected it. Oh, this is revolutionary, unheard of…”

“Reim,” Leisia cuts in again. “Shut up! What is she supposed to do?”

“Oh—we’ll have to find her brother right away and—"

"What do you mean, 'we,' Reim?" Leisia growls.

"Well, her brother obviously—"

“Caleb. His name’s Caleb,” I interject again, picturing his stock-still body on the hospital bed in my mind. The memory of the car accident is fresh. I shiver, staring into space until Leisia's voice reels me back.

“Where is she supposed to go?”

“We’re all going, Leisia. We could get out of here...find out why we’re here...and the dreams!”

"No!" Leisia cuts in.

“I—“

“A signal. He must have sent a signal!” Reim says.

Without another word, he hurries past me and into the open. Following calmly, Leisia and I look to the Hillcountry where Reim is pointing. In the distant yellow sky is what looks like a gleaming white star, twinkling every few seconds. It’s the middle of the day, though, and besides...there are no stars in the Middle Ground.

“We’d seen it for a few weeks now, but I had no idea it was a signal.” His eyes gleam as he breathes in awe, “Revolutionary.”

“Is that where Caleb is?”

“I’m almost positive. Come!” He whirls around suddenly, starting to gather beakers of herbs and a few vials of pottery. “Gather your things!”

“Reim, you can’t expect me to go with you. Trilom needs me,” Leisia interrupts.

“Excuses! When does anything put Trilom in danger?” They stare at each other for a moment before Reim mutters, “Eh...forget I asked.”

“I thought so.”

“But I can’t go with Reim alone!” I butt in.

“...why not?”

“Because…because…he’s Reim!”

"Yanori, Aria. You don't dislike me that much, do you?" Reim asks suspiciously.

I cringe. "Um..."

Reim rolls his eyes, sighs, and continues packing.

"It's not you, I just—well, it's the Middle Ground, and you're only a sleep-charmer here, and—"

"She...has a point, Reim." Her eyes narrow and roll. "You can't go without me, I suppose."

"'Only a sleep-charmer.' Yanori," Reim grumbles.

"I suppose I'm your best bet for navigating this place. I'm the only one who has a Glassbit around here." Leisia turns to me, holding up what looks like a silver medallion with a triangular hole in the center, and huffs. "You can't get around the Middle Ground without one of these. Space works strangely here, like time. You know that, Aria. I would've given it to you, but I guess I'm going with you two phribahs anyway."

"Watch it, Leisia." Reim shoots her a glare.

I don't know what that Triphori word meant, but I have a pretty good guess. Leisia returns the glare with a haughty grin.

"Shouldn't we be going?" I interrupt.

"Ah, yes," Reim says, "I'm about done packing for us. We should try to get to Lompich before nightmare hour."

"What's Lompich?" I ask, shuddering at the thought of the time when nightmares come out to feed.

Leisia huffs again. "Reim's right. Lompich is a hilltop about five leagues away. It'll make it easier for us to keep watch during the dark hours."

"I didn't think it got dark in the Middle Ground."

"Well, it does occasionally," Reim says darkly, his eyes sparkling. "And it's not pretty."

A moment of silence ensued until Leisia swung a basket-pack up and around to land on her back. "Let's move out, then. Can't stand here forever."

With a nod, I fall into line behind them and start the trek.