The luxurious car glided silently along the elevated road, its engine barely more than a muted vibration beneath the leather seats. Beyond the tinted windows, the Dreamscape unfolded in every direction, vast and brilliant enough to make even the stars themselves seem dull by comparison.
Robin rested her cheek against one hand and gazed outside, turquoise eyes shimmering with the reflected lights.
Penacony stretched beneath an artificial night sky.
Towering buildings rose from the streets like gilded monuments, their facades covered in enormous signs and luminous advertisements. Neon lights painted the avenues in every imaginable color, while enormous holographic displays floated between skyscrapers, selling dreams, pleasures, adventures, and experiences that could never exist in the waking world. Golden bridges connected distant towers. Floating platforms drifted lazily through the air. Countless windows glittered like constellations beneath them.
And everywhere she looked, there were people.
Or rather, dreams of people.
They wandered through the streets in elegant clothing, laughing beneath enormous chandeliers and dazzling signs. Some entered casinos whose doors were shaped like the mouths of fantastic beasts. Others disappeared into luxurious hotels, theaters, restaurants, amusement parks, nightclubs, and countless other establishments whose purposes Robin could only guess at.
There was no poverty here. No hunger, no fear, no war, and no tomorrow.
An endless sunset where the troubled could drown themselves in hedonism, forgetting the dreadful reality of the thing they called the Waking World. No more death or Destruction, no more Nightmare Gates or Domain Wars...
It was hard to believe that soon, this place would become a warzone.
"Something on your mind?"
Hearing the voice of her brother, Robin turned her head to the driver's seat, pastel blue hair shifting across her shoulders as her headwings fluttered in response to the sudden noise.
Robin paused for a moment, before sending a trickle of Essence to the ornate, star-adorned choker around her neck.
Her mouth remained shut, and yet, her voice resounded.
"Nothing!"
Sunday flinched at the sound, but quickly settled down. His golden eyes, tinged with dark blue pupils rolled her way for a moment — focusing on the cloth wrapped around her neck — before dutifully returning to the road.
Being both her self-proclaimed personal driver and an avid rule follower, Robin had to mournfully accept that these drives would forever be uneventful. She had tried to convince him to pull some kind of stunt.
Which he stubbornly refused, something that deeply bothered her. It wasn't as if anyone would get hurt even if he were to mess up. It was just a Dreamscape, after all.
...Honestly, he probably just didn't want to ruffle his feathers.
As they turned a corner, Sunday spoke with that soft, reserved voice of his, one hand swiftly moving to tuck a strand of grayish-blue hair back in place.
"As if I would believe that. If... If it's about the Charmony Festival, then don't concern yourself. As long as you stay home, you'll be safe. And I..."
He lingered for a moment, a flash of something indecipherable in his eyes. Then, he suddenly chuckled.
"Well, nothing will happen to me, I am sure."
Robin stared at him for a few moments, faintly unimpressed, then tilted her head in a practiced way that was most definitely intentional. Her choker projected her voice:
"That... isn't it, but thank you for reminding me? I will now remain concerned for the rest of the ride. Congratulations."
She almost laughed — which would be really bad — as she saw the look of abject horror on his face, though, he quickly schooled his expression when he realized that he wasn't actually going to get nagged at. Sinking into the luxurious leather seat, she elaborated.
"Just been thinking about something from my dreams. Probably nothing."
Except it couldn't be nothing, even as Sunday reluctantly accepted her explanation. A recurring dream... for her, that was practically a warning of calamity. Of something that would destroy Harmony, leaving nothing but disorder and chaos behind.
But... was that so bad?
Robin wouldn't tell Sunday.
Instead, her thoughts lingered on the fallen angel of five dark wings....
...Just to be interrupted as her purse vibrated by her side. Turning her attention towards it, she slipped her phone in and pulled out her phone, checking her most recent notifications.
Her expression twitched as she stifled a giggle.
"Brother?"
"Yes?"
"At what point does employment become unemployment?"
"...What?"
"Supposedly, it loops back around. The only question is when."
Sunday's eyes darted to the side for a moment, seeing that she was looking at her phone with a bemused expression. He sighed.
"No, it doesn't loop around! Whoever is telling you that simply has an agenda against the hard-working!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! Why wouldn't I be?"
"You don't sound very sure."
"Ridiculous!"
"Ad hominem."
"...That's not how you use that. And I know I'm not wrong."
"Well, you seem decently unemployed to me, dear brother."
"W-What? No, that's impossible! All I do is work—"
"Which means—"
"It doesn't loop!"
Something cracked. Sunday looked down. Robin looked down.
The steering wheel had been torn off.
The two siblings stared at each other for a moment. Sunday coughed.
"I'll just brake..."
"Oh, he just told me that everyone's unemployed at heart. How does that work, Sunday?"
The brakes snapped. Along with one other thing.
Sunday's sanity. His gaze darkened deeply.
"'He?!'"
Robin froze, even as they harmlessly ran over a pedestrian. Eventually, she used her choker to happily chirp out:
"If you have time to worry about that, then I'd say you aren't employed enough!"
There was a lot of property damage.