Chapter 214: Chapter 212: Dreams and Nightmares

‘Traiana’s tits!’ To say I was scared out of my wits - and damn glad I only cursed in my mind - was an understatement. I had seen Traiana before, her statue on the main platform in the Labyrinth Square and even her apparition down in the Labyrinth itself. They appeared life-like, too. Yet now, if I were to trust my senses, I was looking at a woman of flesh and blood. 

Was she real, then? Did the woman living thousands of years ago come back to life, or was she never actually dead? If so, where was she all these years? In the Labyrinth? With each question rushing through my mind, my unease grew.

“Quite a cautious one, aren’t you, little Guardian?” the woman spoke, seeing my reaction. Her voice was not the ethereal one I knew, but that of a real woman, softly spoken yet strong, resonant, and deep. “That’s a wonderful trait to have.”

“Who the f...” I stopped myself short, realizing that being rude wasn’t the best idea given the place and the one I may have been talking to. Instead, I stopped baring my teeth and growling. “Who are you, lady?” 

“I believe you know, both of you,” she said, her eyes traveling between my legs, falling on Stella lying there behind me. My squad leader was no less shocked than I was, with the same name on her lips as me, Traiana.

“Traiana,” I said her name as best I could and with all that went with it.

This time, she was the one taken aback and raised her eyebrows in amazement. “A current human knowing the power of names? Interesting. Albeit, your delivery speaks of ignorance of my name. In fact, quite offensive. Yet expected with the young. You still have a lot to learn, little Guardian.”

I was aware of that, not so much that she would find my best attempt to pronounce her name correctly offensive. ‘Good start Korra! Well done! You’re who knows where and you’ve already managed to insult the first person you came across.’

“I do, I know. I apologize. I didn’t mean to offend you, lady,” I said hastily, after finding the right words in my aching mind.

“It would be fairly stupid if you did, little Guardian,” the woman said with cadence and a sneer on her lips, then straightened up. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Traiana Harvine Jheidre Ronnu, and you two?”

‘Damn!’ I didn’t expect Traiana, the Traiana, to have more than one name and each of them with might behind them. In retrospect, it was dumb to think otherwise. A woman like her and the patrons of other dungeons alike could not be ordinary people, someone like me or Stella. That oversight was reason why it took me a while to get around to introducing myself - more rudeness on my part. “Korra’leigh Grey, Guardian of Idleaf, and this is....”

“Stella Palemoon,” said my squad leader herself, struggling not to break into a coughing fit again halfway through her introduction. She managed and only coughed after. Stella may have looked a little better than she had a moment ago, but even the best healing potion didn’t work instant miracles. Like my regeneration, it took the potion time to get her into top shape.

Traiana, the woman standing a few meters in front of us in the armor familiar to us, now in color and untouched by the battle, a helmet in her hand at her side, hearing us introduce ourselves, hummed. “Two young human females, bearing the names of their ancestors, unaware of their deeds. One happy to be alive, the other a Guardian of the World tree not long awakened...”

“How do you...”

“...know? You have much to learn, little Guardian,” the woman said again, without explaining further. Instead, she frowned. “This is no place for you to be. Why are you here?”

‘Why were we here? The fuck?’ Now I was truly confused. Wasn’t she the one who brought us here? “We did not come here of our own free will. We don’t even know where we are?”

The woman, Traiana, hummed again. “I suspected as much.”

An uncomfortable stillness fell between us as she just stared at us, silent, judging, perhaps. Nevertheless, never letting my guard down, I stared back, waiting to see what she would do, considering my options, which weren’t many. Not with Stella still on the ground behind me. I could either leave her there to her fate and run like a coward or face the woman if it came to that.

I mean, Traiana looked to me like she was wondering what to do with the two of us, intruders, to wherever this place was. 

On second thought, she appeared more like the Traiana I met in Fallen’s Cry, the apparition, where she said her part and vanished. This one didn’t, though, speaking of the fact that she was no mere apparition or record of her. And that brought to the fore two the two most pressing questions: what the hell was she, and where the fuck were we?

Channeling my inner lady, I gathered my courage and asked the most pressing question: “Would you be so kind as to tell us where we are, Miss Ronnu?”

Clarity immediately returned to her eyes, and she chuckled. “It’s Mrs. Ronnu, but I haven’t been called that in centuries. Don’t feel wrong calling me Traiana. And as for your question, it’s my past, hopefully not your future, little Guardian.”

I really had to hold back to keep the disgruntled growl from escaping my throat. Her answer could not have been more cryptic. It literally told me shit about where we were. Was this truly the past, an illusion, or some elaborate shared dream into which the Labyrinth had thrown us?

But even if she said so, did this being her past make sense? Why would she be here, so far from what seemed to be the battlefield she once fell, and have time to talk to us? This couldn’t have been some crazy shit where Stella and I shaped the course of history, that we were somehow responsible for her downfall and, with her, that of humanity, right?

Seeing me, my damn open body language, Traiana chuckled again. “You think too much of it, little Guardian. I don’t know why you’re here, but this isn’t what you fear.”

“This is not your past, then?” 

“Do you take me for a liar?! If I said this is my past, so it is,” Traiana said in a strong, raised voice before she calmed back down. “True, though, it’s not the past in the sense you think.”

I wasn’t quite sure whether to ask the obvious or keep my mouth shut and wait for her to spill the beans. In the end, I opted for the latter, not wanting to annoy her further needlessly.

Seemingly a good move as Traiana smiled. “Patience is not a virtue of many and yet such a wholesome trait. I wish I had it in my time too. Alas, it was a luxury I could not afford. Well, to appease your curiosity and the fears of both you and your comrade, you have found yourselves amidst the echoes of my past. This is the dream I dream, a nightmare, if you will.”

I have to say, hearing that lifted a massive load off my heart. If what she said was what I thought it was, just a kind of memory, I didn’t have to worry that if I accidentally stepped on a butterfly, I would be behind the extinction of an entire species. Nevertheless, it didn’t change our situation much.

“F-forgive me, Traiana,” Stella said from behind me. “How can...how can we be in your dreams?”

The woman frowned at the question; her gaze piercing Stella. “You tell me, little one? Although I must say, you’re not the first visitors to my dreams, and I suppose you won’t be the last. Strangely enough, none of the ones who came were able to answer the question.” Traiana then took two brisk, elegant steps closer to us. “Try it, though!”

Stella nudged me in the calf, letting me know that she trusted me to take it on. It might seem that she chickened out in the face of Traiana, but I knew that wasn’t the case, that her condition wasn’t exactly suited for lengthy explanations.

“You see, we were in the Labyrinth, Fallen’s Cry, and....”

“All the visitors to my dreams were, and we still are.”

“Wait, we are?”

Traiana nodded. “You were saying?”

That was quite a relief to hear. It ruled out the possibility that we had been sent to who knows where, across the world, perhaps to another of the labyrinths. “...on the tenth floor, we ran into...” I went on to describe our encounter with the maze and how we almost made it out.

“Maze of my nightmares,” Traiana said after listening to me. “You’re not the first to come across it, nor the last, I believe.”

“Are we really in your dreams? I mean, I don’t doubt you...I just find it hard to believe.”

Traiana nodded, an understanding smile on her lips. “Many truths are hard to swallow, yet no matter how we look at them, it doesn’t change their essence. This place, for example. We have lost the battle, and no matter what I do, it won’t change the regrettable truth.”

“So.... you fell here?” I asked carefully, hoping she would reveal what she was; how could she be here?

“In a sense, yes. This is where it ended for me. Here, along with my comrades, my friends, and my husband, my heart felt.”

“But...you didn’t?”

Her eyes locked on mine, deep as they were, knowing and amused. “I see what you’re trying to pry from my lips, little Guardian. It’s not your time to know, though.”

“Why?” I protested. “Wouldn’t it be better for me, for us, to know? To know what we’re dealing with? What’s coming?”

Traiana frowned, growing grave. “And knowing that, what would you do? Build armies that once failed, hide in fortresses that once withstood the wrath, or flee, hoping that the fate of your loved ones won’t catch up with you?”

Quite frankly, I was at a loss for what to say. No matter what came to my mind, it seemed like the wrong answer.

“You would be only repeating what once transpired.”

“Isn’t t-the reason for the lab-labyrinths to prepare us for what you faced?” Stella asked while coughing. “You k-know, building up the armies?”

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“Why make the same mistake twice?” Traiana wondered at our ignorance. “As I said, you have much to learn, both of you.”

“Then why not teach us...”

“Because that’s not my purpose. I’m not a teacher, but just a guide.”

“A guide?” I paused. Traiana always seemed more than that to me, more connected to the Labyrinth than being a mere guide. This place, her nightmare, was proof of that.

The woman smiled. “Your hunch is right, little Guardian. There is more to it than that, yet that’s all you’re meant to know.”

She obviously didn’t want to tell us more or simply couldn’t like the World Trees. Whatever the case, it was quite frustrating. We were so close to learning more about the events that led to the fall of human civilization and the creation of the labyrinths themselves. We spoke with Traiana, fucking Traiana herself, or at least some echo of her, and yet...the truth seeped through our fingers.

“Are we...too weak?” Stella asked. “You k-know, to know?”

“The weakness you speak of is only part of what makes one strong. I saw women and men bearing the attacks of massive beasts with ease while their wills crumbled at the sight of the darkness that stretched behind the beasts, driving them onwards. But to answer your question, you have neither the strength nor the will to bear the truth.”

In other words, she wasn’t going to tell us a damn thing. Stella was no less annoyed by the fact than I was, yet neither of us pressed Traiana any further for answers, as Sergeant Pinescar’s words were still alive in our minds. He insisted that we be aware of where we were, in this case, in an ancient structure, a magic tool that had definite functions and purposes. For all we knew, Traiana, as vivid as she may have appeared, could only be a complex recording of the woman herself, a reflection of her past persona, bound and limited in her answers by the Labyrinth itself.

With the dawning realization that we were still somewhere in the bowels of Fallen’s Cry, I sent mana into the rune on my side again, this time so much of it that it burned when it lit up.

Traiana responded immediately. “It seems my words didn’t get through your thick skull, little Guardian. You’re wasting your time and mana.”

“I promised her...”

“Yet no matter what you do, it won’t change the truth.”

“W-which is?” asked Stella, grabbing my leg to reassure me - and herself - I wasn’t alone.

“That you are caught in my nightmare. This is a place where space and time don’t matter, a place where you can’t easily get in and it's even harder to get out of.”

“But you said we were still in the Labyrinth,” I said and paused. “You know this is a labyrinth, right?”

Traiana frowned. “I am aware of what I have sacrificed, are you?”

“I am not. How could I be if you don’t tell us?” 

“Korra!” Stella whispered sharply, cautioning me not to go too far.

“Don’t worry, little one. I’m not so vain as to get mad at someone who is as frank as your comrade. Nevertheless, some courtesy is quite deserved, I think.”

“I apologize. I didn’t mean to disrespect you, ma’am, your sacrifice. It’s just...”

“You are appalled at where you find yourselves. The fear is oozing out of you both, and rightly so, I might add. In the end, I’m not aware of any visitors ever leaving.”

‘Shit!’ That wasn’t something I wanted to hear, although I had a feeling. After all, if someone met Traiana as we did, or any other patron...guide...whatever, and got out, it would be known. “So, there’s no way out of here, Mrs. Ronnu?” Her family name rolled strangely off my tongue, yet I found it a small evil, an innocent courtesy that could have saved our lives here.

Traiana remained uncomfortably silent for too long, though.

“If you had asked me if there was a way in, I would have told you there was not, yet you found yourself here. I might as well tell you there’s no way out, and I’d be lying unaware of it myself.”

“S-so, you don’t know?” asked Stella.

“I do not, little one.”

“But isn’t this...your place?”

“How much control do you have over your dreams, little Guardian? I have none. Dreams will be dreamed regardless of whether you wish and nightmares the same.”

Dreams and nightmares, again. Was that an analogy, her way of trying to deal with this place? Cause I had a hard time accepting that this would actually be a nightmare. After all, if this was one, all it would take to get away should be...

“Isn’t it enough to wake up?” As silly as it sounded, I had to ask.

“When did I say you were dreaming?”

‘What the f...!" Well, technically, she never said that, just that we were in her nightmare. “But then how...?” How were we supposed to get out?

“From what you’ve told me, my nightmares seem to be seeping into my dreams more and more often, causing hardships for the awake like you two.”

“Are you referring to the maze appearing on the tenth floor?”

“That and dozens of other incidents you described,” Traiana nodded. “Haven’t you ever had a dream that turned into a nightmare?”

“T-then it has to go...the other way a-around too,” Stella said between her coughs, trying, like me, and despite her poor condition, to figure out where we were and how to get out of here.

Traiana nodded. “Not impossible, but turning a nightmare into a dream isn’t as easy as it might seem. Believe me! I’ve been trying for thousands of years.” And she obviously didn’t succeed.

“W-wait. If... if this is your nightmare,” Stella said, looking behind her down the cliff. “Shouldn’t you be d-down there s-somewhere fighting? How...how can you be here wi-with us?”

“Looks like not just one, but two dull-witted dolts found their way here,” Traiana sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. “Didn’t I say what you see is an echo of the past, my nightmare? How much plainer do I have to make it to you for you to understand? I’m down there, fighting as you said, doing my duty, battling for my dear, my friends, my companions, my comrades in arms, for all mankind and races united under one flag. And I do it over and over again, failing every time. Do you understand now, little one?”

Stella and I both nodded, unable to utter a word under the pressure of her presence, which grew stronger with every syllable she spoke. It was suffocating, as if the whole world was weighing on my shoulders. Worse, I was quite sure it was far from her full strength. Admittedly, neither Stella nor I were in the best shape to resist such a thing, but this made one thing clear. The woman standing a few steps away from us deserved her names and earned that power. Deckard wouldn’t be able to stand up to her, as I dared say she could rival Esudein in strength.

Though whether it was truly her own or the power of the labyrinth, I had no idea.

“T-that’s your past s-s-self down there,” Stella said as the pressure eased and broke into a coughing fit. 

“An echo of your past self, but then what are you?” I finished for Stella, who was unable to.

“The dreamer, the watcher, the nightmare owner, the jailer and the jailed. I am many things. Take your pick, little Guardian!”

Taken aback by her outburst, I racked my brain. “I’d like you to be the guide.”

Traiana actually laughed. And it was a beautiful, melodic laugh. “Maybe you’re not the dolt I thought you were. Alas, I can’t guide you to where you wish to go as I do not know myself where that destination lies. What I can give you, though, is a piece of advice I was once given myself.”

“I would really appreciate that, ma’am.” Of course, it would be way more useful if she told us what to do and where to go, but every little detail, any advice, could help.

“Then listen well, both of you. Whenever you see yourself lost, whether in the world, your heart, or your thoughts, finding the steps you once trod, whether they pass through water, mud, or frost, might take you to the path you seek the most, whether you like what you find there or it was all for naught.”

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