Chapter 17

Zalli woke up with a startle, and sweat beading on her forehead. She sat up, placing her head in her hands. As she hunched over, she felt heat emanate from her cheeks.

A soft breath left her as she patted her head to wake herself up. She did it with a gentle regard in her dark room. Her shoulders sagged from knowing she slept the day away, getting nothing done. She did nothing for her farm, nor did she actually do anything for her situation. All she did was have another sex dream with Cal, which was useless to her.

Even if it was a memory, it was a memory that contributed to nothing in her information gathering.

Zalli pushed herself off her bed at a slow pace and went to her curtains. She peeked through the glass and saw moonlight stream in. I really did waste my time away. She hugged herself in comfort as another thought appeared in her head about the dream she had.

She found it oddly coincidental she had a dream interaction with Cal as her other self. It was only just earlier she had thought to have none with him yet. Zalli pushed her hair behind her ear and thought deeper into a theory.

Does that mean he is aware of my thoughts even now? Or does he only have an inclination to where my mind goes? A shudder crept over her body.

Either way, this meant Zalli had to act fast. If he was catching on that her trust in him is wavering, and that she knows he is the culprit behind all her issues, then it would not be long until he placed her in another slumber. As Green Tepi said, she was in a dream within a dream. She would not know how much harder it will be to escape a third time around.

The maiden turned around and ran a hand through her hair to gather her thoughts about the riddle. Her lame first attempt at solving the riddle resulted in her falling into a deep slumber. Zalli needed to switch up her approach.

As she walked to her door, she rubbed Huizi’s head to let her companion know she would return. The maiden peeked her head out to find the hallway dark. She opened her door slowly, cringing at each creak the hinges would make.

She walked with measured movements; her feet landed from her heel to her toe so she would limit her noise output. Zalli sauntered with outstretched arms to avoid bumping into her surroundings. Without windows to provide even the smallest light, she remained in almost complete darkness. It made it hard for Zalli to see her home well, but it allowed her to attempt her second strategy at the riddle. She was going to try to physically see the dark.

She walked past each door and noted if any light seeped through the crevices. She did not consider checking the time when she left her room, so she was not sure if her family would wake up soon.

Zalli made it to the hallway next to the stairs with all doors closed. Her surrounding area was dimly lit from the window by the stairs. She wondered if her family had tried to wake her for dinner during her nap. Knowing them, it was always important to eat with everyone, if it was possible.

Well, that was what her mamá had always told her when she was young. Digging through her memories, she could only recall her mamá explaining the concept. She could not see her abuela or tía talking about it to her before. They only acted on it, as if to fulfill their roles.

With all that has happened, Zalli was not sure anymore if her family here acted the way they did from their own volition, or if it was because it was her mind’s expectations of them. She supposed it did not matter in the end.

Zalli bumped into the corner of the handrail as she turned and released a small squeal from the pain. She brought her hands to cover her mouth and tried to silence her breathing; the first breath was too loud, but after focusing on slowing down the flow of her inhalation, she could achieve minimal to no noise.

With wide eyes, she looked around to see if anyone had heard her. Moments passed in silence, which comforted Zalli to move on. As she took her first step down, she heard a soft tapping approach her. She halted her movement again and waited for who was approaching her.

If it was one of her family members, then they would have brought a candle with them to see properly. The vast darkness showed no candlelight.

The taps got slightly louder, indicating to Zalli the thing was approaching her. Her heart rate stayed the same as she willed herself to remain calm, but her stomach fluttered with a thousand butterflies. The tapping stopped in front of her, and Zalli heard gentle breathing by her side. Taking a chance, she whispered out to the shadows.

“Huizi. Is that you?” Time passed with no response. She whispered out again. “Huizi?”

Suddenly, Zalli felt her hand being licked, and she jumped away from the source, almost losing her balance on the stairs. Her heart beat like a loud drum, no longer in her control.

Going against her better judgement, she reached her hand out to where she imagine Huizi’s head would be, and came into contact with the plush skin of her dog. Gathering confidence, she moved her hand to caress the would-be head of her canine. When her hand moved up to find the fluffiness of her ears, she was relieved to discover it was Huizi that had followed her.

Zalli crouched down and scratched the dog a little more aggressively before she spoke to her.

“Huizi, go back to my room and stay there. I will be right back.” She stopped her massage and waited to hear movement from her dog, but nothing happened. “Huizi, I said go.”

After using her firm voice, she heard the taps again, this time getting softer in volume as her dog obeyed and went back to the room. Zalli relaxed into a sigh, then turned around to continue her journey down the stairs.

The maiden arrived at the first floor and placed her hands on her hips. She looked around as if she could properly survey her home, even though everything was shrouded in shadows and darkness. With a careful step forward, she brought both hands out in front of her.

She walked with trepidation as she turned and headed for the restroom first. She tried to walk straight in the middle, but with her sense of sight being restricted, Zalli found herself walking in a diagonal line when her hand made contact with the wall. Not finding it to be an inhibitor, she used it as a guide. When she made it to the restroom, she placed herself in what she assumed was the center.

She relaxed her arms down by her side. Zalli looked at nothing as she turned around in a slow circle from the toilet to the tub and cabinet. When she reached the sink, she detected a faint outline of herself in the mirror above. She wondered if all the mirrors in her house were affected like the one in her room.

Zalli moved in close and grabbed hold of the counter. With one arm approaching her reflection, she brought a fingertip to the surface. As she moved to tap the mirror, she looked at the image of her reflective self. Her heart dropped to stomach as she observed the thing that looked like her, but was not her.

Just before she followed through with her action, her reflection smiled back at her with sharp teeth and narrowed glowing eyes with white pupils.

Zalli jumped back as she witnessed her shadowed reflection revert to normalcy in the rippling movements of the glass. She placed a hand over her chest as she tried to calm her breathing down. With a bite of her lip, she moved in close again to check if her reflection would remain the same.

It was difficult to tell, but she couldn’t see a glow in her eyes. She bared her teeth to check if they were pointy, but everything looked the same. She must have allowed the dark to mess with her vision.

With a shake of her head, she turned around in the opposite direction and left the little room. Zalli still was not sure what she should look for, but she hoped she would at least sense something internally as an indicator.

So far, all she felt was emptiness and fear.

She released a sigh through her nose. She ran her hand along the wall again, combined with adjacent furniture, until she found herself at the entrance of the living room. Zalli stood there for some time before she walked around the couch and coffee table. She found nothing stood out there.

She headed towards the kitchen, where some moonlight seeped in from the sink window. All the other windows had their curtains pulled close.

With no notion in mind, she followed it and placed her hands on the counter. As she looked out, she studied the aftermath of the fire. A heaviness fell on her heart. A battle grew within her.

She wanted to shed tears from looking at the disaster. But every time she felt like crying, a boiling heat would rise in her chest. It left Zalli in a struggle to find the right reaction.

She felt the deep loss of her hard work, but she also felt anger. Anger from it happening, but anger from crying over something that wasn’t even supposed to be real, even though it seemed real to her.

Zalli pushed herself away with a hard shove. It was irritating at how it appeared like mental gymnastics for her to make sense of the situation.

I need to focus on the task at hand. She continued her tour around her house after completing her thought. She walked around the dining table, dragging her hand along the back of the chairs. When she completed her loop, she blew out a forceful breath.

Just as what happened in the living room, she felt nothing in the kitchen. There was nothing reaching out to her. She decided to make her way back to her room, thinking all that she had done was for nothing. All she did was spook herself.

As she passed by the storage room, the maiden realized she almost forgot about it and entered there. The cold brought a shiver to her shoulders. She did her spin and used her hands to touch the shelves. She found nothing of consequence, yet again.

This time, she let out a loud groan. Zalli marched out of the room and went straight for the stairs. As she passed through the living room, she forgot about the coffee table and bumped her shin hard against the corner. She released an audible yelp and fell down to her side to brace her lower leg.

Pain radiated over where she hit it and caused her to cry. Tears ran down her face and her nose got stuffy. Her heart raced as she thought about how she hated everything in the current moment. She laid on the ground for a while. Her blonde hair covered her face, acting like a shield to the outside world.

Zalli took her time to calm down. Once her tears were subdued, she picked herself up and trudged back up the stairs. Her head hung low.

She still felt pain in her shin, but it wasn’t enough to cause her to limp. Once she was inside her room, she slumped against the side of her bed. Huizi was there, laying on top, waiting patiently for Zalli’s return.

The canine came over and licked the side of her owner’s face a few times with her tail smacking against the bedcovers. A small smile left Zalli as she reached a hand up to scratch her pet’s head.

Zalli thought she would sit there and think about nothing, but her mind acted contrary to her motivation. It forced her to think back to the dream she had with Cal. Heat washed over her face.

With eyes downcast, she wondered if the thought she had earlier was valid. If Cal was catching onto her, then he should have intervened by now. Analyzing his character, he was definitely one to involve himself and take charge of the situation, so it turned out in his favor.

If everything was under his control, then he would be aware she was awake right now and would be here to either dissuade her or place her in another slumber. But he wasn’t intervening right now. So maybe it was something else. Maybe it was her intuition reaching out to her to tell her something about him.

Maybe it was her intuition talking to her about how to deal with Yoltzin. Even though she shared a very intimate moment with him in the memory, her other self felt she should place an air of caution around him. Her other version simply overlooked his keen interest in her and the showroom.

She could blame the alcohol, but Zalli knew it was really because she found him hot. She shook her head and braced it on her fingertips as a heat rose in her face.

Still sitting on the floor, she re-positioned herself to sit cross-legged. A sense of strong confidence settled in her stomach as she confirmed why her other self made the decisions that she did.

When Zalli acknowledged it, a nugget of certainty appeared in her center. It was like the puzzle she was piecing together became clearer in resolution.

Whatever was in the showroom was the thing that Cal wanted from her at the start. The knowledge her brain had about the showroom must be what he was trying to extract from Zalli here.

Clarity smacked Zalli in the face. Maybe this was the darkness Tia Xilo—no Xilo was speaking of. She needed to see her inner darkness—to accept her inner thoughts and judgements—in order to see the light, which was the truth. She needed this acknowledgement and accountability of her behavior in order to remember.

She straightened her back and placed her arms in her lap. She was going to try her first strategy from earlier again, but this time allow the images to enter her brain freely. The young woman needed to see her inner thoughts rise, allow them to pass through, and accept them as they are.

Zalli was sure each time she did this, her memory of her true self would return. She just didn’t know where to start. A soft sigh escaped her.

Trying not to stress about it too much, she settled on starting with whatever thought appeared in her brain first. Which happened to be images of her kissing Cal.

Zalli tried not to enjoy it too much, but a satisfaction washed over her at remembering how good it felt. She wanted to ignore the feeling, but knew she couldn’t do that. It would go against her plan.

So, she sat there and enjoyed reliving how soft his lips were on her body. She brought her fingertips to her own lips at the memory. But no matter how good she felt with him, she was aware Cal was not someone she could trust. No, not Cal. Yoltzin.

She found him attractive, but he was also her enemy. Even if he showed helpfulness here in this dream world, her intuition was telling her he moved with an ulterior motive. Another feeling of confidence settled inside her.

Along with this feeling, Zalli also felt like there were vibrations within her insides. It forced her to stand up and pace around for a bit as more of her memory returned.

Her eyes lit brightly as she remembered the rock she spoke of within her dream was actually a precious gemstone. It was valuable because ... of her town. Her town considered it with high regard because of the history behind it.

But she was not sure why Yoltzin was after it. It certainly had a lot of value to it, but the mines nearby still had an abundance of the stone. Although, it would be an easy sell if he were to take it from her instead of the smaller gems that still needed to be extracted.

So, he was a thief looking for an easy plunder.

Zalli grimaced and sat back down with her eyes closed. She breathed in deeply and released it through her nose with a controlled exhale to think about her next thought.

Her farm. Her farm caught on fire. It didn’t matter; the farm was not real. But it still left her stomach clutching from remembering it. She could not care for her farm properly and uphold her duty to her family. Her family that was not even real.

Her abuela, her tía, her sister. They were not who they say they were. Or, they were not the actual roles that they were given here. They were ...

They were the fairies she saved a long time ago. Fairies she had befriended. Huizi approached Zalli and nudged Zalli’s head. It was as if her pet was confirming her thought process. Zalli continued on with a shake in her shoulders to settle into her position more.

They were fairies that gave her powers for rescuing Tepi and bringing her back to health. Zalli clenched her hands into fists. Powers like heightened strength, like the strength she has now. And there were other ones too. Two more, to be exact, but she was not sure what they were.

She thought on the strength she used to push the men away, which directed her to think about the fire—which was not her fault. It was out of her control. If anything, Yoltzin caused it to probably stir up trouble and direct her into his arms.

That thought did not settle well within Zalli. Like her mind was saying, that was not true. The surprise he had that night was genuine. Which meant her mind acted on her own.

Why would I do that to myself? Zalli opened her eyes with scrunched eyebrows as she questioned herself. She hugged her arms and adjusted her legs to cross the other way. Then she closed her eyes again and continued on. Her arms lumbered back to her lap.

Her mind was ... it was warning her. It was alerting her about Necalli. Based on her memories from the real world, Necalli was someone she had to be careful about. From what she had seen before, he was someone that was clearly her opposition. There was never a policy they truly agreed on.

It was possible he could be after the stone too, as he always acted for selfish gain. That seemed to be unclear to Zalli, though.

She wished she could remember what the name of the stone was. Another sensation of confidence grew inside her, stronger than before. As she considered the identity of the stone, Zalli opened her eyes and spoke in a clear voice.

“Kyanite!”

Recalling everyone was still sleeping, she stared around with wide eyes to see if she had disturbed anyone. When no noise came from outside her room for a long period, she continued with her internal investigation.

Just as she was going to shut her eyes again, she looked down briefly to find her hands were glowing blue—the same blue as Xilo’s eyes. She jumped up and went to shake the glow off her. It was a futile attempt, considering how her body was the source of the light.

Her heart beat loudly in her chest as she was skeptical about what the phenomenon could mean. Zalli brought her hands close to her face to observe the soft light. She noted how she felt no unease or pain with the glow that was around her whole body. If anything, she felt a tranquility overcome her, and if she paid close attention, she swore she could smell fresh water, like from a river.

The sensation was familiar to her. She had felt it once in this world before, when she spoke to Yoltzin about not digging by her mother’s tree. But she also felt it from the other reality. It was when her friends had blessed her with her powers. Zalli was receiving her second power.