Azul’s Dream

Malleus sends all of Sage’s Island to sleep in Book 7 so that they might enjoy “unending happiness,” and for Azul this seems to manifest as a dream world where he is a popular and successful spelldrive high school athlete without a past that he wishes to erase.

Jade explains, in reality, Azul has a cautious personality and unique magic that takes away the abilities of others, which were born from the negative emotion of loneliness, sadness, resentment, envy, etc. As bad experiences never happen in Malleus’ dream worlds Azul is now the popular captain of an undersea sports team.

Idia says that Azul has a strong imagination, and has recreated his environment to cover up any inconsistencies that conflict with reality.

Azul invites the group to a victory party to be hosted at his mother’s restaurant, where he insists that the non-mermaid visitors all wear anemones on their heads as a required attire for undersea parties.

Unseen mermaids encourage them to dance center stage, and when they fall all over each other everyone begins to laugh. It is revealed that Azul had set the group up to humiliate them, including lying to them about the anemones.

Azul then dismisses everyone except Jade and Floyd, saying that the remainder of the party is for mermaids only, and he expects the twins to stay under the sea and play coral rush for his team.

The twins acquiesce by beginning to play right where they are, tearing apart the party venue. Floyd calls Azul pathetic while Jade calls him dull, nearly reminding Azul of his overblot and nearly awakening him.

The mermaids of darkness populating the restaurant assure him that their friendship is forever, and if he went onto land he would be working all the time, and nothing is better than life under the sea. Azul responds that he would never go onto land and is dragged into darkness.

Jade and Floyd refuse to follow after Azul to save him, even after Ortho says that Azul may never be able to wake up, saying that he chose to sink into deeper sleep on his own. Silver says that this is not the case and he was lured in, but the twins still refuse, saying that personal responsibility is the rule on Octavinelle and immersing himself in pleasant dreams was Azul’s own decision.

Ortho says that they will be stranded in the dream forever if they do not follow, convincing them to go along. Ortho says, “They come across as cold, but maybe that’s just how they show faith in one another.”

The deeper level of the dream world seems to be an alternate timeline where Leona did not turn of Azul’s contracts to sand: he has successfully acquired the photo from the Atlantica Memorial Museum, which he burns, and taken Ramshackle Dorm and the unique magics belonging to Riddle and Leona.

The group decides to destroy Azul’s dream-contracts but they have been moved from their previous location of the safe in the VIP room.

In order to get the dream-version of Floyd away from Azul, Jamil calls him to basketball practice, leading it to the real Floyd, who gets rid of it.

In order to get the dream-version of Jade away from Azul, Jade raids a pantry of rare plants, taking several mushrooms that he supplies to Grim and the Prefect.

They successfully tempt dream-Jade into leaving the lounge and following them outside, where he is ambushed by Sebek, Silver and the real Jade, who uses his unique magic on the dream version of himself to learn where it is that Azul has moved his contracts, and then gets rid of his darkness doppleganger.

The group locates the contracts but they are being kept in an impenetrable case.

They bring the case to Azul, telling him that he lost them in reality months ago, but Azul refuses to listen and sends his army of anemone students to attack them, including Riddle, Leona, Kalim and Idia. 

Floyd deflects one of Azul’s attacks onto his contracts, turning them to sand as they were in reality, successfully awakening Azul.

The dream begins to collapse and Jade and Floyd this time try to save Azul, but Silver tells them they need to let him go, as there is no telling what may happen to them if they remain but Azul will be able to return on his own, as it is his dream.

In the abyss Azul is met with the overblotted version of himself vowing to take everything from everyone who bullied him. Azul observes that the darkness-Azul has become immobilized by the weight of the things he has stolen out of desperation to not return to how weak he used to be, but admits that they are the same: “I’m consumed with vanity and refuse to accept who I really am.”

The darkness Azul is delighted by his acquiescence, saying that he will make Azul his, growing large, and ordering Azul to bow down. Azul refuses, saying, “one-sided exploitation ultimately leads to massive liabilities. Unlike you, I learned that lesson. Proper compensation and fair terms are where the REAL profits are,” and voluntarily taking on his overblot form to beat back the dark.

Azul declares that he will keep granting wishes, but his own, and not anyone else’s. He returns to his previous dream, which has reset at the point of his post-game victory party, but now he is awake.

He distributes Golden Contracts for the mermaids of darkness to sign, with the fine print of, “I unconditionally surrender all my power to Azul and become his personal valet.”

Azul says, “All of you can be flowers decorating my garden” and comments on how pathetic they look clinging to coral.”

He follows with, “I’ll hardly be satisfied with this. I’ll lay claim to far more valuable things. Money. Social standing. Influence… And that’s not all. I’ll devise contracts to secure things of even greater value! And the one to set their price will be none other…than me!”