LUCEM
XLI Chapter

I sighed, hard. I rubbed my face down.

This afternoon felt like a strange dream.

Surrealist, like one of the melted clock paintings that was destroyed. And I was so tired, so tired, I didn't even have the energy to stand up. I just have enough energy to be sad. A sad feeling that spread out from nowhere.

This morning Marbella said that we were going on a trip to meet an old friend.

When Moonflower asked us for our readiness for the trip, Marbella just asked me to wait in my room until she came back to see me. It was the saturation that finally led me to fall asleep and then enter the strange dream and find this sad feeling.

The sound of knocking at the door forced me to get up. Previously Marbella asked me to lock this room from the inside before she came out leaving me alone. "Oh, come in."

A couple of mice came into the room: James, Jiso, Jimmy, Castle, Nouria, Sam, Superman and three other mice that I don't really remember. A sad roar was on the faces of the mice, making the curiosity push me to ask. "What's going on?"

The beginning of the story slides from the mouth of Jimmy's handsome mouse about his unusual dream. Followed by the story of another rat and ended by Jiso. The commander of the rat troop looked grim as he ended his story. I patted her little shoulder. I did not tell them that this strange dream had also come to me. Dreams during the day for everyone.

That little talk had made me slowly forget the sad feelings. We even analyzed our weird dreams, though we found no uniformity of stories from all but a little bit of Superman's dream, but we found that all those dreams had led us to the most humble emotions of our hearts. Desperation and sadness.

When some other army of rats came in with lethargic faces, Jiso decided to go back on his troops. He immediately told them to come out, for reasons he did not offer to reveal. He did not raise his voice. Not even looking at James. Just told him to turn around to follow her. I just nodded as he said goodbye and chose not to say anything more.

A curious little part of me wondered if perhaps Marbella knew the answer to all this, about the dreams that come and speak, leaving behind a bad feeling. I feel very anxious to see him now.

The hope that is granted! The sound of knocking came back and it was Marbella.

"The rats just got out of here?" Marbella glanced at the messy mattress.

"Yes, they stopped by for a while to chat" I replied.

"That's my smell, I haven't had a shower from last night and you're forbidding me from leaving this room" I said.

"You doubt my cat's nose?" Marbella looked at me annoyed.

"No, your nose is the best" I raised both my thumbs.

When Marbella decided to linger in my room, I started telling her my dreams and then I told her the dreams of the rats. Marbella's face looks bad, when I tell the dream mouse Superman, I feel something is not good, but Marbella assures me that everything will be fine. Then he took me to join him and Moonflower in their room. I know Marbella's up against something.

I don't know. It's just a theory. But clearly Marbella has finished playing the casual game. He was done with small steps. Which means the tension here, now begins. Even Moonflower looked a little nervous around Marbella.

Marbella doesn't leave me every time she moves from room to room. He kept asking me to follow him. We went to Jiso. An instruction is dropped. Marbella asks loudly that everyone is not negligent on the goal. And it managed to awaken the rat troop from the melancholy feeling that had been preserved

*******

For a few months we forgot that Marbella was scary. He smiled four and a half times and we decided to forget that he was basically a human as well as a cat with claws and magic. We think he's been reformed. It's tender. We forgot that he only tolerated us because of the relaxed situation that was needed.

And now, entering the dimensional space, the tension returns.

She doesn't seem to be Marbella anymore, she's back.

Without him, we crack in feelings that are easily provoked. The energy in this room had changed markedly. We really felt like warriors again, and it was scary how quickly it happened. How quickly this girl took over everyone's situation, she could always reverse it all. She's Marbella.

Some time ago, we had tried to comfort and strengthen each other but as impossible. Each of us has our reasons and complaints. Being weak after falling into a dream, it was as if everyone was still stuck there. Wake up in a puddle of sadness and doubt. As it was difficult to recover, until finally the cat girl spoke straightforwardly, loudly. Not to be left behind, Marbella's claw threat.

I'm not scared like the others, but I'm not stupid either. I know the threat of violence is not a bluff. The only undisturbed mouse was James He was not surprised by any version of Marbella. Jimmy, maybe the most important thing. The handsome rat always looked uneasy, as if he did not know who had turned into this Marbella and that Marbella he did not know how to process the change. But now? Doesn't matter. Very comfortable with the returning psycho Marbella. Old friend.