55 The Dream Team

Putting away her communicator, Noble summoned her armor. The room was effused with a myriad of sparks, ending with the Fraudulent Facade manifesting around the lower half of her face. 

'All set.'

Closing her Dreamscape pod, Noble immediately saw the familiar words. 

"Enter Dreamscape?" 

"Yes," the duelist focused on the appropriate answer. 

Noble's vision darkened as she found herself in a void of endless stars. 

"Welcome, Queen Bee!" The voice boomed proudly. "Please, choose the dream of your liking." 

Instead of navigating to the venues for individuals, Noble shifted her attention to the group dreams. Her heart skipped a beat as she left behind the familiar and saw new words shimmer before her vision.

"Form group or Join group?" 

"Form group." Noble took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Select teammates or allow others to join?" 

The Dreamscape allowed for random pairings, and opting for the second choice would open her group up to anyone in the Dreamscape looking for a virtual cohort. While some epic friendships in the real world had started by the luck of the draw in this virtual realm, that was not what Noble had in mind for today. 

"Number of Duelists?" 

"Two." Noble hurried through the options as fast as she could without making a mistake. 

The group arenas could house up to seven members per group, but few teams usually were. Except through random draw, it was very difficult to get so many Awakened coordinated enough to battle on a consistent basis. 

More people on a team did not mean more strength. Two or three Duelists working in unison were far more dangerous than seven disorganized Awakened. 

And that was what Noble was counting on. Fireshing's ability to fight at both long and short range paired with Queen Bee's fluid battle styles–if done correctly–should give them a fighting chance against whoever they went up against. 

'At least that is the hope.'

"Select cohort." The Dreamscape voice prodded the woman's consciousness. 

'Oh, sorry.' Noble almost spoke the words aloud. What a problem that might have been if there was actually a user by that name! 

She had seen some crazy user names from verbal slips of the tongue. Oh Sorry would have actually been on the tamer side. Fortunately, the duelist was not about to meet that unlucky soul.

"Fireshing." The floating Awakened placed her full concentration on the name. 

There was an extended pause. 'Did it work?'

"Fireshing has accepted your invitation." The voice startled Noble after the extended silence.

The stars around her shifted as if merging with another world. In a blink, another being was with her in the void. 

From nothing, an athletic young woman with broad shoulders flickered into existence. Her long auburn hair was gathered into a ponytail to protect it from what was to come. The duelist wore her signature red tunic with a leather cuirass to protect her torso. Her blue eyes shone with intensity in the darkness, ready to dispel it at a moment's notice. 

"Sarai, I mean…Fire!" 

"Bee?" Fireshing looked at her battle partner with astonishment. Her eyes searched the space around them. "This is…different. I've never been with someone else in the world of stars."

"Me neither. But it makes sense. We will both need to be ready before we enter, and we need to select the arena. I am glad you are here. I didn't want to have to pick on my own." 

"Well, I am ready. Are you?" Fire checked her garments but waited to summon her spear. 

"I am." Bee willed it to be true. 

One could never fully be ready for a battle. Those who truly believed they were prepared had already set up a stumbling block for themselves. The best thing to do was to acknowledge she had done what she could and anticipate that something would go wrong.

If it didn't, Bee could be pleasantly surprised. When it did…

"Do you have Fort's gift?" Fire interrupted the other's train of thought. 

"Oh, of course! Let me summon it."

As promised, Fort had given his wife a rather luxurious 'I love you' gift the morning after their dinner with Dimi. Bee had been floored by his thoughtfulness. He could not have gotten something more perfect. 

The small present appeared in her hand in two parts. Bee stared at the runes with a pensive expression.

[The Other's Voice]

[Three noble sisters ruled the land in their own way. When the first was called to a distant shore, the third noble girl reigned with logic while the other noble fought the voice in her head. When the sound became too much, the second noble separated herself from the voice yet found herself connected to it still.] 

'Three sisters, hm? Quite a noble group.' 

She looked down at her hand. Two small pieces of metal, which were shaped like crescent moons, gleamed. One was silver with gold filigree and the other was its inverse, like two sides of a coin. 

Bee passed one to Fire and kept the other for herself. Each tucked the ring around the back of one ear. 

'Can you hear me?' 

'Yes! It is working. Astonishing!'

These kinds of Utility Memories were rare. Fort had found it among the government inventory and was able to buy it from their storage. It was a little too flashy for most government Awakened, and its limited functionality and range made it illogical for long-range use. 

But for the purposes of Queen Bee and Fireshing–it was perfect. Bee would be able to maintain her silence, but the two ladies could communicate freely by intentional thought. 

"Please choose the dream of your liking." The voice of the Dreamscape called out to them, startling the ladies from their silent conversation. 

Had it been waiting for them? Was it listening for silence before continuing? 

Bee did not think so. There was likely a timer so that the combatants could converse before continuing. 

'Which one do you want?' 

As only one battle occurred at a time in this format, the dream chosen determined the competitor in the group battles. They could try to select or let the Dreamscape choose for them. 

'We should do that one. It is under the amateur category.' Although they were already categorized as professionals by the Dreamscape, Bee wanted to move methodically through the ranks. 

Fireshing had other ideas. 'That is too easy. We need a challenge. And the one you chose is gone anyway. Seems like we need to act quickly.'

The ladies missed two more opportunities before they grew anxious. The debate on whether to accept or not was costing them valuable time. 

'Fine,' Bee communicated with her partner. 'We will enter the next dream that becomes available.' 

This was a learning exercise, was it not? If they lost, they would learn just as much, if not more than if they won.

'Deal.' 

A new dream popped up as soon as they had agreed. Fireshing eagerly selected the choice. 

All at once, the starry void disappeared. 

"Challengers Queen Bee and Fireshing have entered the Floating Canopy."