Métisse shook her head. "The woman in your nightmares...is Lenora's sister? San...that sounds insane."

"Yes. As well as the woman from my nightmares. All of these years." She looked straight at Lenora. "She was her sister. You three were sisters. And you killed them."

The air in the room grew thick with tension as a deep sense of unease took hold.

"Wait, so both K8 and the...woman in your dreams, are Lenora's sister?" Samaira asked slowly. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Sanaa. Dear. You are awake, yes?" Lenora asked, her tone steady and unreactive to the startling accusations.

"Stop it. Yes...yes I am. Of course I am..." Sanaa wavered. Her Sisters exchanged worried glances.

"I'm sorry but... can you even confirm that? What is reality, and what is fantasy? Do you even know?" Lenora persisted, filled with implication. "We've talked about the difference between psychosis and neurosis, haven't we?"

Sanaa stared at her, wicked knots brewing in her gut.

"Psychosis," Lenora continued, voice almost clinical, "is when someone loses touch with reality completely - hallucinations, delusions... that feeling you've had recently, like things are warped, conversations changing without explanation? That sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

She smiled softly, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Then there's neurosis. It's more subtle, more manageable, but still distressing. Constant worry, irrational fears, all those wailing weepies in your head. People with neurosis are at least aware of their anxiety, even if they can't control it."

The wailing what?

Lenora's gaze locked onto Sanaa. "So, tell me, which are you dealing with? Are you seeing things? Or are you just anxious? Confused?"

"Shut up!" Sanaa's voice cracked with frustration as she squeezed her eyes shut against the pain.

Métisse sighed deeply, feeling overwhelmed, "I'm now confused! Can everyone just..." she approached Sanaa and gently rubbed her arms, trying to soothe her.

Too much was happening...

Asher addressed Sanaa firmly, "You're making serious accusations against a higher-up. Are you seriously basing this on another one of your daydreams!? You're claiming Lenora is some kind of what...? An evil author who killed her sisters, including an AI robot?"

"Yes," Sanaa replied flatly, her tone carrying a defiant edge, "Apart from the evil author part," she paused, rethinking. "Well...actually..."

"Oh my gosh Sanaa!" Asher huffed.

Lenora stepped closer, causing the girls to instinctively move back. Everyone was on edge.

"The book does belong to me," she said. "It's not evil. I wrote it and developed its content. It covers my past work on human creation and evolution. But I have no siblings, so I don't know where these allegations of murder are coming from."

"Liar!" Sanaa spat. Métisse had to hold her back.

Asher's voice rose, dismissing Sanaa while keenly zeroing in on her long standing personal struggles as well.

"Okay, so, Lenora did write Le Parangon. See? How does that prove that she killed anyone? We also have no proof of your...'shadow lady' imaginary friend person that you've had since you were ten! And now you're rambling on about it being her sister too? Like, since when? How long have you had these wacky theories? Are you even hearing yourself?"

Sanaa was already heated and unstable, so she marched up to her, her anger palpable. "Look who's talking," she let out a mocking laugh. "Don't pretend you're perfect. Or normal! I mean, you, of all people! Those meds Lenora's been giving you are probably making you crazier than you already are!"

"At least I'm taking them! You're letting yourself spiral, letting your sickness consume you!" she shouted back. "I will never!"

Now Samaira had to pull Asher back. Everything was going to hell...whilst Jingwei was growing more and more lightheaded by the second.

Sanaa's irritation flared as she literally screamed, each word emphasised, "I. Am. Not. Sick!"

Asher shrugged Samaira off. "Okay. Prove it. Prove everything you've just said! And as Lenora said, you might as well also prove that you're awake right now. Do you even know where you are?"

She spoke in a harsher tone than intended. So she quickly composed herself, stiffly straightening her dress.

"Ash! Enough!" Métisse interjected as she stepped between them. Regardless, they continued.

"You're an unreliable narrator. You've always been! You're biased. Or better yet, you're a prisoner to your own... ridiculous delusions."

Sanaa's anger began boiling over. "Look who's talking! Are you serious? Miss 'Shadows are following me' all the time?"

"No, you lack credibility in general. We all know that. And we can't afford to repeat history! It would actually be irresponsible of us as your Sisters not to get you help again."

She didn't even have time to respond because Samaira's voice cut through:

"Whoa! Jingwei... Jingwei! Please, not you too... We need to all get it together! What is happening? Get up!"

Samaira struggled to make sense of the chaos and why Jingwei was slumping over, heaving.

Ignoring her, Jingwei begged desperately, "Everyone needs to calm down! Fighting won't solve anything, and honestly, I'm just getting more and more..."

Samaira groaned and faced Sanaa, her voice soft as she pleaded, "Okay, San, please. Cracking a code and having a dream just isn't enough right now. What more proof do you have? Could we call your professor to vouch for you? How do you know they're even sisters?"

"Exactly," Asher whispered.

"You know something, Ashera?" Métisse's eyes blazed as she jabbed a finger toward her. "You can be incredibly nasty! For once, can you be receptive and leave her alone? You're such a big 'know-it-all' when you don't even know anything at all!"

Asher's response was icy, and her tone carried an edge that made everyone flinch. "You're not one to talk. Just stay out of it and go look for The Jarl, please."

Métisse's eyes narrowed further, her voice trembling with barely contained fury. "I am your leader, Ash. And it's time you listened to me for once."

"What? Are you insane?" Asher's lips curled into a dismissive sneer. "Who cares about who's in charge right now!? Definitely not you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you barely act like one or do anything of actual worth," Asher mumbled.

Métisse's breath came out ragged. "And who's at the top of our academic roster again, Ashera? Me! You're second best and always will be!" She glared at her. "You hold yourself so highly and put yourself on such a pedestal, but in reality, you're just distasteful, insecure, and desperate."

Everyone was taken aback by their Sister's outburst; both of them. They were both usually the voices of reason, but it seemed they had finally snapped. Métisse, despite her usually positive and gentle disposition, appeared to be carrying a heavy burden within her and looked angrier than ever. Her usually smooth and friendly face, often so welcoming, was now contorted, deepening into frown lines.

Asher's face flushed pink. In a sudden, intense burst of emotion, she jolted forward, her voice sharp and taunting. "Ranks and classroom grades don't mean a thing when you are completely useless, Mei! I'm not even sure why they made you the leader at this point! I thought I did...but do you even know?"

"Asher!" Jingwei hissed.

She laughed, a hollow sound. "I mean, what special abilities do you have again? Oh right, nothing! While the four of us are busy growing, you're doing quite the opposite."

For the first time since they had known her, Métisse completely shattered. She screeched, her voice echoing through the room like a wounded animal. "Oh my gosh shut up!"

Asher's eyes widened. "I will not shut up just because you can't admit you're weak! What do you have, huh? Just brains? Well then use it. Sanaa's over here going on about K8-LYN! So why don't you give us an answer, then?"

Samaira left Jingwei's side and stepped between them. "No! Enough, both of you! This isn't helping us at all!"

"Whatever. This doesn't change anything. I'm not going to pretend like Métisse suddenly has a clue about anything just because she's 'in charge'. By all means, offer us an explanation now that you're suddenly trying to contribute. Or should I say, finally trying?"

Métisse's face fell. "You just think you're so superior, hm? That your power, bravado, and unhealthy perfectionism make you somehow better?"

Lenora spoke up, authority in her tone at the sudden turn of events. "Ladies! Stop. We'll discuss this upstairs in my office, this is highly inappropriate and is not a healthy way to resolve conflict..!"

The conversation grew increasingly chaotic as everyone began talking over each other, creating an overwhelming cacophony.

"Everyone just...keep it down!" Sanaa grabbed her throbbing head in affliction. "Please..."

At that moment, Jingwei suddenly collapsed to the ground with a piercing shriek. Rays of white light burst from her body, shattering glass and cracking statues.

Everyone shielded themselves instinctively, but the intense brightness seemed to affect Sanaa alone.

She fell to her knees as the light zeroed in on her, feeling as if it were searing through her skin. It felt as if Jingwei was unleashing a surge of pale electricity at full power. Both girls cried out in agony as their bodies began to blaze - resembling a brutal form of purification, intensely scintillating with radiant energy.

Finally, the light gradually diminished, pulsing softly as it faded away.

Sanaa was left slumped forward in exhaustion, still on her knees. Her face was hidden as she remained motionless and rigid, only looking downwards. Even Lenora backed away from the scene while the other girls cautiously approached, hesitating at first before realising it was safe when all the light was gone.

Asher gently touched her shoulder. "S...Sanaa?" she coaxed while everyone stared at her motionless form, stunned.

Sanaa's head slowly rose - unnervingly so - as she stood up with a ghostly stiffness, as though resembling a zombie or a possessed phantom. Asher staggered backward in terror, his breath hitching as he took in her face - pale and withered, her eyes a haunting expanse of white, utterly devoid of pupils.

Meanwhile, Jingwei clutched at her chest, finally feeling relief as her nausea subsided. The expulsion felt like a much needed catharsis.

The figure spoke in an oddly light, very elegant voice. "Tsk, tsk. Look who's preaching about inappropriate behaviour. Did you also believe that killing me was the 'healthiest' resolution to our issues, Lenny?"

In that moment, a myriad of emotions played out vividly on Lenora's face - ones she rarely displayed. Astonishment, fear, anger, relief, and shock - all at once.

The girls hurriedly gathered around Jingwei and helped her to her feet. From the sidelines, they observed with intense mystification.

Struggling to comprehend, Samaira asked, "Are you... K8-LYN? Or a...a ghost? Demon?"

The woman who had taken over Sanaa's body turned towards them, her smile tinged with amusement. "Oh, heavens no... certainly not the latter, I assure you. My name...I am...Dolora...Yes. I am their sister."

They all stared at her in stunned disbelief, their movements slowing as they instinctively began to retreat.

Dolora gestured towards herself - or to Sanaa's body. "This young lady was correct. And I have been paying her visits from my own personal hell that she confined me to." 

Her gaze then bore into Lenora's with intense malice and resentment.

"Impossible..." Lenora sucked in a sharp breath, her voice barely audible over the uneasy silence that had enveloped the room.

"Mm. Au contraire, I discovered a loophole in your little... curse." Dolora curled her lip.

Turning her attention to the girls, she explained, "She banished me to an oblivion, an endless, dark prison. But I found a way to communicate with Miss Sanaa from there. It's rare... I never thought any other Dreamwalkers existed apart from me. Once a myth, then extinct. Gone from existence. Only to fade back into myth once more. Until you." Her eyes sparkled.

They noted the unfamiliar cadence of her speech, the accent distinctly foreign. But it was also peculiar, with a lilting, sing-song quality. It felt as if she were plucking each word from the very air, weaving them together like a melody spun from a riddle. Like a wise yet wandering shaman.

Lenora began to retreat slowly, her eyes fixed on Dolora, who advanced with the grace and intent of a predator stalking its prey.

"...I finally managed to connect with her mind, a fellow Walker like me." Dolora's gaze fell upon her reflection in a shard of broken glass on the ground. She spoke as though speaking directly to Sanaa.

"Oh, dear child. Do you even realise that you are constantly walking in a dream-wake state? It must be terribly maddening."

The other four stood as still as the statues around them, absorbing every bit of the bizarre scene before them.

Jingwei realised it was no wonder she had struggled to decipher Sanaa's exact aura - it was tied to Sanaa's complex abilities and her connection to other consciousnesses like Dolora.

"Dolora, sœur. I am warning you," Lenora began dangerously, "Get out of that child's body, otherwise I will send you back. Permanently this time."

"Oh, dear...I'm quaking in my deceased boots." Dolora's accent carried a slight foreign drawl, dripping with sarcasm.

Jingwei simply accepted the events unfolding before their eyes without question. Still weary, she looked directly at Dolora and asked, "You mentioned you are... their sister. So, what happened to K8-LYN?"

"My sister here did not banish her like she did me, but something far worse...in my opinion." Dolora's eyes fixed on Lenora with a look of pure disgust. "She mechanised our sweet Kataline into your K8-LYN bot. As you are well aware."

The look of horror was evident on everyone's faces.

"This whole time..."

"...Eléanore put her under the knife and rebuilt her from the ground up, defiling Cora's body, and transforming her into metal and scrap. Each nerve, each organ...I still don't know how she did it so intricately. So carefully."

Now, it was Lenora who raised her voice, "Lies! You've always been a mad...jealous woman! And now, you haunt me once again from the grave!"

"Fermez-la, Eléanore! Sorcière!" Dolora changed from offended to a deadly poise and fury. 

Her expression also carried a hint of pity for her sister. "I will gladly torment you for what you have done. Not just to me but to these poor young women as well."

Asher became unsteady on her feet due to the mind-boggling reveal. "Wh-what do you mean...to us?"

"I will show you," Dolora calmly stated, extending her arm toward them, her palm open, "I will show you everything."

From her hand, she released a swirling grey mist that enveloped the girls, invading their senses as they involuntarily breathed it in. Panic gripped them, fearing an attack or deception.

Yet, each girl soon found herself immersed in the same vision that Sanaa had experienced in Dr. Leroy's office. They witnessed the memory unfold before them, as if they were spectating a vivid play from an audience's perspective.