This was certainly unexpected. 

Dahyun found herself in a freefall through the clouds and just when things seemed as though they couldn't get any worst, she realized she couldn't fly. Something was blocking her from doing so.

She couldn't even remember how this happened. One moment she was with the group and the next she was being pulled away by the fog. Somewhere along the path she was dragged down, she felt the ground disappear beneath her feet and the next second, her stomach felt weightless and her entire body felt weightless. Then a rush of air began to blow at her from all directions and when she finally got her bearings right, she found herself in this sticky situation. 

Dahyun screamed, she couldn't even move from the fear. Her mind was yelling at her to do something but she couldn't. She lost the ability to fly. She flipped over and spread her limbs out to stabilize herself and focused. It was times like this where she hated how there was nothing that helped her to fly. She has no idea how she does it. She just wills herself to and she would be off the ground, so much so that it's just another natural instinct to her. Oh how she wished there were wings on her back which she could control and at least glide to safety. 

She was baffled when she appeared from the clouds. Unlike the sight she would usually see from such height, all she could see was a completely different landscape; as far as the horizon, there were just nature. Waterfalls, rivers, mountains, rainforests but nothing was remotely familiar. She couldn't see the road where they came from, she couldn't see any buildings in the distance, there were completely no sign of any human activity. It was almost like she had fell onto the face of another planet where mankind has yet to get its hands on. 

Dahyun could see the trees below her clearly now. The closer they approached the faster her heart pounded in her ribcage. She was going to die if she didn't start flying right now. It would be too late when she was near the ground, the inertia would be too strong to overcome and she would crash regardless. That was it; she began to flail her arms around desperately and even trued flapping them but of course, to no avail. She was going to splatter on the ground. The impact would be so huge that she would literally be obliterated. 

She couldn't help but scream as she saw the trees approaching. 2000 feet. 1000 feet. 500 feet.

Dahyun crossed her arms in front of her face in a hopeless attempt to stop and let out a yell when she felt the hard ground hit her arms and a loud rumble resounded in her head. She had expected to blackout but instead she felt the same feeling as before. Timidly lifting an eyelid, she saw that yet again, she was falling. Through the clouds and down to the same place. 

She couldn't understand what was happening. Didn't she die already? Whatever it was, she was now even more afraid than before. She didn't have a fear of heights. How could she if she had the power of flight? No, she had a fear of falling. Dahyun had pretended that it was nothing when she taught Mina how to recover from a fall but inside, she was all jittery. Nervous that she would fail but she had to look strong. What would people say if they knew that she was afraid of falling? They'd laugh in her face. The absurdity of her to say that. 

Dahyun was screaming once again. She felt like she could end up screaming her lungs out and would go hoarse. Tears were slipping from her eyes but were being pushed back into her hair from the air resistance that was blowing in her face. Somehow she just couldn't seem to get the lift like all the other times. The feeling of being in zero gravity seemed impossible to achieve. She tried her hardest but it was almost like her power was taken away. 

She crashed through the earth's crust and was in freefall once again. It was like a never ending nightmare. This time as she neared the trees, she tried to grab hold of the branches as she fell, attempting to use them as a brake but it felt more like the ground was pulling her down. She grasped and grasped but even the thickest branch was torn off from the bark and it fell with her down to the ground.

'Stop stop! MAKE IT STOP!' She yelled with all her might as she fell again and again. It was in no way thrilling. It was downright terrifying. She could feel her insides hurt and she felt like she was going to throw up. 

Resigning to her fate, she stopped struggling and let her limbs go slack despite the fear that numbed her body. This time, her back collided with the ground but she didn't hear the deafening rumble from the cracking of the ground. Instead, she heard a strong thud and then.. Silence. She couldn't feel the wind anymore; she couldn't feel her insides floating. Everything felt grounded. Her eyes were still closed but she didn't need to open them to know she was dead. 

At least her nightmare was over. She relaxed in her position. She could feel her limbs spread out like a starfish. The serenity of nature sure was nice. Laying in silence she let her thought drift to her friends that would never see her again, her family that would be mourning her death, and the goodbyes that she never had the chance to say. Most importantly, Chaeyoung. She felt sorry for leaving the girl without a word. How hard it would be for her in the coming months and even years. Maybe her soul could somehow find her. 

That could wait. For now, she decided to rest. The fear and screaming had used up all of her energy. The afterlife could wait. She had eternity to spend here anyway. A few hours of sleep won't hurt.

'How long do you plan to lie there for?' 

Wait. That voice. The voice that she always heard in her bad dreams. The voice that would comfort and reassure her. If she could hear the voices from her dream, she really was dead. 

'I'm dead and tired. You could say I'm dead tired.' Dahyun chuckled at her own lame joke. 'Just let me rest, ten minutes.' 

'You don't have time for rest and you aren't dead, so get up. Your friends would get worried.' 

'I'm not?' Dahyun sat up and looked around. She wasn't in smithereens and there wasn't any blood anywhere. She patted her torso, her legs, her arms and slapped her own face. 'But how?'

'You're in another reality. An alternate reality. You are very much alive I can assure you of that.' She explained as Dahyun stood up and took a look of the owner of that voice she had been hearing all this while. 

A pale and tall lady that was at least a full head taller than the younger aerobatic with long, chestnut brown hair that flowed over her shoulders and reached to her waist. 

'I'm Nova, the first aerobatic. Also, the first person thought to be possessed because I started floating but that isn't important.'

'First? How did you end up in my dreams?'

'I'm your guardian.' Nova stated in a matter-of-fact way. 'It's my duty to guide my successors and make sure they do not stray from the righteous path. But it seems some don't seem to care about what I say and join the dark side anyway.' The lady frowned. 'That is the least of my concerns. This is about you now.'

'M-me?' Dahyun repeated and pointed at herself. 

'Yes you. You're the only one here isn't it? This time that you are spending here is time set aside for you to face up to your fears. You can soar high but you fear that one day you would fall. Trust me, it's not as irrational as you think it is. Think of it like a corporate ladder. If someone climbed all the way up to a high power position, they'll be scared that someone would pull them down. Same for this.'

'I have a question.'

'Yes?'

'What makes me able to fly? Or us. Our entire linage of aerobats.' 

'Gyroprohiberis, which is gravity negation or gravity defiance. In other words, rather than purely the power of flight, we have a closer power relation to gyrokinesis. In some way we are gyrokinetics for being able to defy the laws of gravity. Personally, I think we're like a hybrid because unlike gyrokinetics, we can only make ourselves float.' 

'So.. You don't know exactly how we do this either?' 

'Not a clue, but that's what makes us special as compared to those who have wings or use additional objects for flight. We have no burden to carry, making us in a way.. free.'

'Is this reality supposed to reflect us? I saw waterfalls and mountains earlier. Nature represents freedom?'

'Well, I suppose. Nature does relieve people of their problems. Temporarily.'

'How do I get back to the real world?'

'I will take you there, but first, let's have a little chat by the waterfall you saw earlier.' Nova said and levitated off the ground. 

'But I can't fly!' Dahyun said and ran after her.

'Have you even tried?' 

Dahyun shook her head and gave it a shot. To her surprise, she floated off the earth's surface as effortlessly as before. 

'Your nightmare is over. Now, come.' The lady zipped off and Dahyun quickly followed behind her. They flew over the treetops, cool wind rushing through their hair. The two landed on top of a boulder by the waterfall and sat down, crossing their legs in a yoga position.

'Relax, close your eyes and clear your thoughts. Focus on my voice.' Nova instructed and Dahyun took a deep breath before her vision plunged into darkness. She let the sound of the waterfall fill her senses as she waited for Nova to speak. 

'Falling is easy to overcome. Any fear is easy to overcome as long as you are able to detach your mind from harping on it. Just start by falling off a table. Then a high chair, then a ladder. So on and so forth. Letting yourself go into freefall is difficult. Like bungee jumping, if you're scared, you'll stall at the platform and the more you look down the scarier it feels and then you give up as a whole. But if you start small, gradually you will feel calm as you get used to it. Just like how you surrendered to your fate when you fall to the ground for the last time. All humans and mutants are born with the fear of falling so I'm not asking you to get over it, but rather accept it. Try, imagine it.'

'I can't!' Dahyun furrowed her eyebrows and her features scrunched up in discomfort. 

'Yes you can. Don't fear something that you have the power over.'

Dahyun had pictured standing at the top of the waterfall. Looking over, the height was nauseating. What is she couldn't get lift again? She'll become tofu pancake on the water's surface and that would be the end of her. But what has she got to lose? It's just her mind. 

She stepped closer and closer to the edge and closed her eyes. Bless her soul. 

Tipping over her body's centre of gravity, she began to fall with the water. It was still slightly traumatizing at first but at half the height she actually felt somewhat comfortable. Plummeting down to the water body below, she opened her eyes and pulled herself up just in time for only her feet to graze the water.

'I did it!' She shouted out loud and tried to open her eyes but she felt like she couldn't. 

'See? You did it.'

'Wait, did I just imagine that or..'

'You actually did it.'

'But I just closed my eyes?' Dahyun asked, perplexed.

'Imagination becomes a reality in this place. The fear will never go away because it is natural for humans and mutants but at least you are willing to accept it.'

'This is amazing! I feel like I can do more than I could before!'

'I'm proud of you.' Nova said with a kind smile, eyes twinkling. 'Now go, your friends need you. Fly north and you will see two lone trees in an empty field. Fly between them and they'll take you to your friends.'

'Thank you. For watching over me and helping me.'

'Anytime. My successors are my pride and joy.'

Dahyun beamed and raced off, looping around in the air and basked in her newfound confidence.