Previously on Glassflower: Ursa and the Scarf Squad:

In her quest to find the elusive Ursa, Lyn A. El-Amin travelled into the Dream Realm of one: Amara Auer.  Facing set back, after set back, time is not on either of their sides. Having split off once again, Lyn must race to find Amara, while Amara is met by a familiar face in the Dream Space.

Chapter XXIII

Lynception

AKT IV

Sisters

Lyn jumped through a newspapier, finding herself in the back of an old automobile. Taking a glance outside, the entire area was a single, wide road with two endless walls of building images cut out of a newspapier. She saw tiny paper triangles and bits of ink floating off of the ground, towards the grey and white sky.

“You shouldn’t write an’ drive,” Armina advised.

“It’d help if ya could drive,” Amara argued.

In the front, ink images of Amara and Armina sat. Amara was hard at work, trying to drive, drink coffee, and write in her notebook. Armina, meanwhile, leaned forwards, carefully watching the wheel as Amara messily steered it.

“Drivin’ is a waste of time when ya can walk,”

“That’s a sludge rat mentality,”

“Maybe the Sludge Rats have a good mentality, since it don’t smog up the streets. Plus its faster,”

“Unless them streets are cleared,”

“The streets ain’t never cleared,”

“oy morons-,” Lyn jumped in.

Amara screamed in response, while Armina steadied the wheel.

“-Might ya know where I could find a news-,”

The pair vanished into puddles of ink. Lyn’s eyes and hood narrowed.

“Dreschers really know how to make an immigrant feel welcome,”

Sirens blared behind her. Dreschers bundled together into the shape of vehicles chased after her. She smirked, took the wheel and pointed her fingers back.

“Lets hope i know how to drive one of these death machines,”

---

“What’re ya doin’ here?!” Amara exclaimed, taking a step back and placing her hands together against herself.

“Been lookin’ fer ya since that scum took ya away,” Armina stated, reaching out her hands. “Sorry I couldn’t be there to help ya at the time, but I can do better, the resistance an’-,”

“-the resistance? What is there to resist?” Amara asked, taking steps back and looking around.

“The Dreschers ‘re everywhere, ya can see that right?”

“I don’t see nothin’,” Amara exclaimed, placing her hands on her head.

The ringing was going off again. 

The ink lake began to glitch. The tube they were in opened up, and the lake became a river.

“I-I gotta go,” Amara exclaimed, jumping into the black river.

Armina jumped in after her, “AMARA! We need ya! The world is suffering under their rule, you must see that!”

“I DON’T SEE NOTHIN’!” she responded, placing her hands over her ears, as the water sped up.

The pair rushed through the waves until the river turned to waterfall. They exited a giant pen writing into a MASSIVE newspapier. Armina grappled onto Amara with a wire while she held on against the outside of the pen.

“Listen, sis. We need to get ya to {distorted sound},”

“...No, I can’t…,” she responded, wildly shaking her head.

“It's the only way to-,”

“NO NO NO!” she responded, shaking rapidly and breaking free of the wire.

“AMARA!” she called out, jumping after her.

The pair fell into the newspapier.

---

Lyn turned, dodging a vehicle and bumping it into the others.

“This is bloody easier than an airship,” she remarked.

She snapped her fingers and quick shot two vehicles. She looked ahead to see a blockade.

She jumped onto the back of her automobile as it barely remained steady. Her’s began to slow down.

“Sorry morons, but those aren’t the rules of the road,”

She grabbed one of the vehicles chasing her with her wire and FLUNG it into the blockade, landing several vehicles at the same time. 

Dreschers leapt at her automobile. She spun her papier stars, stunning a few before dodging under a kick.

With four clean shots, she took them out. She dropped back down to the driver’s seat and kept going forwards.

There was an explosion, no, multiple explosions, in the distance.

“(Sounds like some eejit walked into traffic),” she remarked, looking left and right for an escape route.

Up ahead was an entire page of a newspapier in the walls. She made a sharp turn.

Drescher vehicles up ahead did the same, trying to head her off. However, she had a smashing good plan.

She crashed her vehicle into them. She was sent flying out of the front. She laid back, crossing her legs and placing her hands behind her hood. The Dreschers reached for her to no avail as she flew through the newspapier.

She flew back out, into a familiar office building. Without hesitation, she cut up the newspapier from whence she came. 

Scrolling over to the newspapiers in the building, she looked for clues. The year was ‘2999 PVL’. She groaned.

“Your papier on the riots was quite the endeavor Ms. Auer,” Donna exclaimed.

The iron door again. Lyn narrowed her eyes.

“It wasn’t that hard,”

“Of course it was,” Adolpha exclaimed. “After all, those Sludge Rats are so violent,”

“I mean, not…,”

“Which reminds us, before we can publish your work, we’ll have to trim it down for the papier,”

“I understand-,”

“Good, we’re gonna have to remove your interviews with the rioters themselves, and keep the interviews with Drescher authorities(though remove some of those more unpleasant questions) and focus more on the violence of it all-,”

“That’s….that’s over half of the papier,”

“Yes, but there’s a lot of news to cover, and we don’t have the space. Understand Ms. Auer,”

“I don’t,” Lyn responded, shooting the door.

It went flying. Lyn rushed over only for the wall to only be there. She groaned.

“My child…,”

Eyes widened, Lyn turned around and pointed her fingers.

Nothing. She checked the time. The time was 7:12.

She leapt into the nearest newspapier.

---

Amara and Armina flew out into the streets, the sounds of people yelling in the background. Ink silhouettes stood in a massive group, carrying signs with newspapiers on them. These newspapiers were titled things like ‘Recession Harmless’, ‘Poor Population Down’, ‘Military Budget Increased’, and more. The protestors covered these headlines with words like ‘lies’, ‘fraud’, and ‘genocide’.

“HEY!” one of the Ink people called out, pointing at Amara. “Yer that missy who interviewed us!”

“Ya demonized us in the papier!”

“Ya didn’t show ‘r side of the story at all!”

Amara placed her hands on her head as the crowd surrounded them. Armina held her.

“It's okay, it's okay, ya have to face-,” she urged, her voice getting covered by the ringing.

The skies became distorted. Nightmare Dreschers climbed out of newspapiers, the floor, and fell from the sky. Armina readied her pistol.

“Attention rioters: return to your homes!” Donna called out over the radio.

“We don’t have any homes!” one of them called out.

“Donna, what do we do, they’re not cooperating?!”  Adolpha exclaimed.

“We’ll just have to clean up the place then!”

Amara’s eyes widened. She stood up.

“Wait! Please don’t!”

“Are you questioning the authority of the great Mondgreif?” the pair asked.

“N-no-,”

“Good. Then it's about time we returned you to where you belonged? Right Adolpha?”

“Right-e-o,”

Armina reached into her pocket as the Dreschers swarmed them.

………

Amara looked up. They were in a dusty, wooden bar. It smelled of thick, aged liquor. Its chairs were just barrels full of aging wine, and its square tables appeared to be made from floor boards. The floor however, was made up of shiny, dark wood. There was a bright stage, a jukebox, and a piano. The counter was made up of the same dark wood as the floor, but with some extra polish to make it look nice.

“Ya found ‘er!?” Arturia exclaimed.

Behind the dusty wooden counter was Arturia, dressed in an emerald cocktail dress out of the 1930s with a ruby necklace and a verdant fleece hat of a similar style. Next to her was Arnold, now with his beard, a monocle, and entirely dressed like a butler. Bar was filled with the wooden soldiers of the past, drinking and merry. The giant from before was still around as well, but he was significantly more frail and restrained in the corner.

“By Omnes, it's a miracle!” Arnold exclaimed.

“Wh-where ‘re we?” Amara questioned, taking a hug from Arturia.

Armina held her hand, “Welcome to the resistance,”

“Ya brought Arturia an’ Arnold into this” she responded.

“Ya saw it right?” Arturia questioned, crouching down. “The Realm ain’t well, an’ ya can return it to balance,”

“I jus’ wanna go home,” she responded, turning away.

“Ya can’t keep runnin’ Amara,” Armina urged, placing a hand on her cheek. “You was there. We need to bring ya to *her*, an’ you’ll be able to fix the Realm,”

“Please Amara,” Arnold urged, getting down on his hands and knees. “Jus’ a little more an’ you’ll be out,”

“I…jus’ leave me alone,” She responded, turning away and curling up.

The trio gathered together.

“(What do we do)?” Arturia asked.

“(What if we just bring ‘er there an’ things’ll work out)?” Arnold shrugged.

“(Arnold, that’s an Omnes darned terrible idea),”

“(No, he’s right. Now that we have ‘er, the Dreschers’ll be on ‘r backs like Nigrum Cavea),” Armina interjected.

“(That’s too much of a gamble, if this fails, we’d doom the entire-),”

“Did someone say ‘gamble’?!” Lyn called out, smoking a cig near the jukebox.

“YOU!” Armina exclaimed, eyes sharpened.

“Gimme a sec guardian, I’m tryin’ to pick some tunes,” she responded, looking through the records.

“H-how didn’t we smell ya?” Arnold asked, cleaning his monocle.

“Old Twilight recipe,”

“Twilight?” Amara asked, eyes widened, head turned.

“That’s right Patridiot,” Lyn stated, pulling out a record. “Anyone else here like violin dubstep?”

“We have violin rock,” Arturia stated, pulling Arnold to the side.

“Close enough,”

“Yer the Reaper!?” Amara exclaimed, standing up and pointing her finger.

“I resent that nickname Patridiot,” she responded, letting out some smoke.

Amara smirked. Lyn groaned and slouched.

“ugh…here’s the deal. I’m lookin’ fur information in yer dream ahn then I’ll get ya out of here. Nice ahn simple, dontcha think,” she explained, putting a record in and getting on stage.

The music started quiet.

“Why didn’t ya explain earlier?!” she responded, flailing her arms in the air.

“Not the safest bet, dontcha think moron,” she answered, placing her hands in her imaginary pockets. “Now, we can play things me way, ahn you’ll be out of this place quick ahn easy. Or I guess, ya can choose between the mechs wantin’ to take ya away or this lot here,”

“She’s not goin’ with ya, ya hear,” Armina interjected, stepping forwards.

The music amped up.

“Darn that's crazy, I don’t recall askin’ ya, guardian,” Lyn responded, snapping her fingers.

“She’s my responsibility,” she responded, readying one pistol.

“That’s what all older siblings say. That's why they need to get off their sisters’ backs,” she argued, pacing around the stage.

“Then draw,” she responded, taking a spare pistol from Arturia.

“I'm not an artist, I'm a gambler,” she responded, readying her fingers.

The song really got going.

Shots fired. The two darted back and forth. Their shots of yellow and purple lit up the place.

Six shots, Lyn snapped to reload. Armina reloaded one pistol while continuing with the other.

Lyn smirked and winked, weaving through two shots before returning the favour. Eyes sharpened, Armina kicked up a table while reloading both.

Lyn stopped and whipped out her wire, flinging a table from the side. Armina jumped off it and shot at Lyn with two.

Lyn spun her papier stars, making a little shield to take shots. She weaved through, firing back.

The stars fell down one after another. Lyn was vulnerable.

They had to reload. Armina darted forwards, double kicking at Lyn to stop her.

Lyn weaved away. Armina swept the leg with her other foot. Lyn danced around it.

Lyn reloaded. So had Armina.

She fired at her. Lyn dodged back to get away from one and forwards for the other, slipping between shots.

Lyn fired at her. She rolled out of the way and used her wire to pull a table over to block the next shot.

Yellow and purple reflected off of them as their shots clashed so close.

Lyn weaved back and around, dodging and firing as Arimina pushed her, trying to get close. Lyn fell off the stage.

As she fell, she pointed her fingers upwards, nearly shooting her in the head. Armina rolled back to dodge.

She aimed her pistols. Lyn was somewhere amongst the tables, carefully weaving around. Arturia, Arnold, and Amara looked around for her as well.

“(What do we do)?” Arnold asked.

“(This lady’s dangerous, let’s not interfere, not yet),” Arturia answered.

“(Good plan),” Lyn commented, taking a drink next to them. “ew! Is this really what liquor tastes like? I’ll stick to cigarettes,”

Glass exploded every as Armina fired at Lyn, careful to miss Arturia and Arnold. Lyn hopped amongst the tables and chairs, using her wire to throw them up as she kept firing away.

Eventually, Armina destroyed them all. Alcohol soaked up the floors.

Lyn shot her wire right through the mid-air wreckage, grabbing Armina’s right pistol.

“Stop!” Amara yelled as the pair pointed at each other.

The record abruptly stopped.

“Come on, Patridiot, it was just gettin’ good,” she sighed.

“That’s my sister!” she exclaimed.

“Amara…,” Armina exclaimed, eyes widened.

“My child…,”

It was 7:22. A crack was opening in the wall.

“Rrrrr-REVENGE!” The Giant called out, breaking off his bindings and setting fire to the liquor.

“AMARA!” Armina called out, reaching for her with the wire.

The alcohol exploded!

They all watched in aw. Armina shot down the Wickerman and searched the flames endlessly for signs of Amara.

“Up here, guardian!”

Lyn was hanging from the rafters, Amara held in her left arm. Amara was sweating like she was getting cooked over an open fire.

“Times up, my child,” a voice like a raccoon and a violin called out.

A silhouette walked out of the crack. Streams of purple and red flowed off of her, every movement leaving behind echoes of her body. Through all the lights, she looked like Taipan.

The flames all went out. The floor crashed, revealing a grey abyss below them.

“We gotta get outta here, Patridiot! In or out?!” Lyn insisted.

The wooden soldiers charged Taipan.

Amara looked at Armina, “...in,”

Lyn kicked off the ceiling like she had reached one end of the pool while swimming. The two shot downwards.

The soldiers were wiped out in a flash.

Armina and Taipan darted right towards them, their hands/claws reached out. They were just short before the pair fell into the abyss. Taipan extended her claw like a wire, while Armina extended her’s.

Lyn fired a new portal out of her right. Both Taipan and Armina leapt after them. Armina was stopped by the others.

Lyn and Amara fell through the portal. Lyn tried to close it, Taipan pried into it, trying to rip it open!

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Armina called out, shooting Taipan.

She turned upwards and sent a massive serpent up, destroying the bar.

“Sorry, but we don’t do hitchhikers here!” Lyn exclaimed, hitting the Taipan with a massive star and closing the portal.

The Taipan was left floating in the abyss, “My child…play your cards, but the house always wins,”

To Be Continued………