Chapter Text
Silver rose from the ground, clutching his head. He had transported him and Sebek out of the latter’s dream, but had no idea where they were now. Slot machines formed multiple rows in a large room, and against the back walls were massive capsule machines. The floor was a velvety sort of carpet, slightly sticky with drinks that had been spilled in a busy rush to the next machine.
Remembering his green-haired friend, Silver extended a hand, helping him up from the ground and taking another look around. The sounds coming from all the machines was disorienting, and the amount of people bustling by didn’t help either.
“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” Sebek shouted, spinning in a circle and placing a hand on his magic pen at his waist.
“Let’s not be too hasty.” Silver reached out to stop Sebek from drawing the pen, still not able to take his eyes off all the bright machines with flashing screens and multi-colored lights. It was all so disorienting. “I have transported us to another dream. We just need to find out whose it is. And to do so, it would be preferable not to draw too much attention to ourselves. I don’t know how, but Malleus hasn’t noticed our movement through the dreams yet, and it would be best to keep it that way.”
Silver glanced in every direction, trying to find a way out or something that he recognized. That attempt was futile. Everything was so new. Whoever owned this dream had a rather disoriented mind. It would be hard to make any progress in stopping Malleus if Sebek and Silver remained stuck in this place. Silver worried that the longer he stayed here, the more his brain would turn to mush.
“Confused on where to start?” A man with blonde hair flipped a coin in his hand. It caught rays of the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling and sparkled like a miniature star. “I know some good places.” He winked.
He doesn’t look familiar…
“Er- yes, we were just a little confused on what this place is.” Silver didn’t want to sound suspicious or draw attention to himself, but there was really no clear way to get answers unless he asked outright. Dreams could be confusing places where the mind took every opportunity to deceive every other sense, so he had to tread carefully. On top of that, he would never know when exactly Malleus would directly manipulate the dream.
For example, Malleus could very well be warping the dream around Silver and Sebek to confuse and disorient them before lulling them back into individual dreams and trapping them there for good this time. Of course, Silver wouldn’t know that their presence was currently undetected and would be for quite a while, but it was better to assume that they had already been seen, that way they could start countermeasures against Malleus.
“Travelers from another planet?” the man guessed.
Silver simply nodded, not sure what else to say. The dream kept getting stranger and stranger. He tried to think of a student at Night Raven College that was even mildly fascinated with space who could possibly be the owner of this dream, but he couldn’t think of anyone. Ortho was the only person who had been to space to carry all the wishing stars up that one time, but he wouldn’t have imagined whatever this place was. Ortho was a computer program; his mind was too organized to dream of this place. And besides that, did robots like him even dream?
Silver shook the thought away, focusing back on the blond man’s voice. He was dressed almost like a peacock with the dazzling blues and greens that painted his long coat and shirt. Even the white fluff around the collar of his coat made him look ten times fancier (and it reminded Silver of Crewel).
“What are your names, travelers?” The man seemed mildly intrigued now.
Silver thought that perhaps if he and Sebek stayed in the peacock-man’s company, they would get some answers about this place.
“I’m Silver and this is Sebek.” He pointed to his green-haired friend. Now that he looked, a few stray hairs floated free from Sebek’s usual slicked-back style. Falling from the sky into a dream did that kind of thing to people.
“Silver, huh? Named after a metal,” he chuckled, “I’m Aventurine. Not named after a metal, but it’s a precious stone, so close enough.” He extended his hand to receive a handshake from the two NRC students. “How about I give you both a tour. The Dreamscape can be a bit disorienting, and choosing a casino as your first stop certainly wasn’t the smartest idea.”
The Dreamscape?
Silver wanted to ask a barrage of new questions out loud, but he bit his tongue. The more he asked, the more he would bring attention to himself. He had to feed these questions to Aventurine slowly, getting the information out of him gradually. Silver wanted to keep the questions one-sided if he could as well. Dreams rarely ever made sense, but he still wasn’t sure if Malleus could monitor them. If that was true, anything that Silver spoke that was even moderately out of the ordinary could be picked up by the Heir to Briar Valley. He needed to avoid being caught no matter what.
“What is the Dreamscape, human?” Sebek barked, putting a stop to all of Silver’s meticulous planning and careful thinking.
He immediately shoved an elbow into Sebek’s side, making him grunt and double over in pain. “Apologies, Mister Aventurine, my friend isn’t feeling well. I’m afraid the Dreamscape has confused him.”
“Penacony does that to people. Come on, it’s best we get you two out of this nose. The machines will draw you in after a while.” Aventurine led them off, gliding through the machines as if he owned the place. “Most people lose all their credits after a while. But why worry about money when you’re in the perfect dream.”
He led them to the exit with ease, holding open the door for them. The sky was painted in evening hues, providing a contrast for the buildings that rose into the sky with bright windows and flashing signs. Strange-shaped vehicles whirred past on the road, reminding Silver a little of blastcycles. People rushed by on the streets, always with somewhere to go and never with time to stop. There were golden robots, tiny children with pom-poms on their heads, people with wings sprouting from behind their ears, and a whole other slew of strange features. Silver even saw somebody throwing up rainbows on the side of the road, which drove him to wonder who he knew that had a mind as crazy as this.
Penacony…
The word wasn’t familiar to him at all, and with the way Aventurine brought it up, he could only assume it was the name of whatever Dreamscape he and Sebek had fallen into.
“Fudge me, are you alright kiddo?”
Ortho’s systems came flaring on at the sound of the voice, whizzing powerfully as he found himself awakening from a strange full-system shut down. Only Idia could shut him down like that. Did Idia do something?
“Kiddo? Did some muddle-fudging shirtbag harm you?”
These words registered as foreign to Ortho. Idia used quite a lot of slang, which meant Ortho had to update his language module frequently to add in the definitions for the new words, but he had never heard whatever this stranger was saying before.
Ortho wanted to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was:“Rebooting.”
Ah, right, my external systems haven’t turned on yet.
“Woah.” The man stepped a couple feet back, allowing Ortho to get a better look at him. He had a cowboy hat on, covering the roots of his split black and white hair. His teeth were as sharp as Floyd’s and Jade’s, and most of his body was made out of metal. “Are you some sorta intellitron?”
Once again, Ortho searched his data banks, trying to find the definition of the word. Nothing came up in his search results. He had gone through every database S.T.Y.X. had access to, but there was not a single hint of information. Wherever Ortho was now had likely never found its way into any database. This idea was strange. S.T.Y.X. had information on anything that anyone could ever want. The fact that it didn’t provide him with any useful information now was worrying.
He did another search, but all that came up was the word ‘fudge’. He knew what fudge was. It was a noun. It was a kind of candy. It, however, was most certainly not an adjective.
His systems roared to life, his body suddenly filling with more energy than before. “Full system reboot complete. Name: Ortho Shroud. Model Number: 001. Date of Birth: 08/14. How may I help you?”
“Well I’ll be, ya really are an intellitron.”
Ortho rose from where he was laying, finally regaining his movement. He stretched and turned his arms and legs in every possible direction, making sure there were no issues with his body’s range of movement. The man in front of him just stared as Ortho’s limbs moved in ways that shouldn’t have been humanly possible.
“Can you define what an intellitron is?”
“How d’ya not know what you are? Got some sorta amnesia? Bump yer head too hard, pardner?”
He has a strange language module, Ortho thought.
Finally, he took a moment to take in his surroundings. He was in the lobby of what appeared to be an insanely large hotel. So large in fact, that it faded into the distance. Idia would probably make a joke about how the render distance wasn’t large enough to load in the entire hotel. Ortho debated running a quick scan of the building to see just how many rooms there were, but with the gaps that were already in his database from the language alone, he figured that scan would come back inconclusive as well.
“You did say your name was Ortho Shroud,” the man thought. “So I guess it can’t be serious amnesia. But fork pardner, you scared me just layin’ there motionless like that. I was worried you wouldn’t wake up. You didn’t even respond when I shook ya.”
“My systems were rebooting.” Ortho spoke, barely paying attention to what the man was saying. He was suddenly overcome with fear. If Ortho was confused about what this place was, he couldn’t imagine how Idia would be doing. Idia would be rushing himself into a downward spiral of social anxiety if Ortho didn’t find him quick enough.
“Cowboy–” Ortho was proud of that analysis (he got it from the hat) “–can you tell me what this place is?”
“Uh, sure pardner, but I’d prefer if you called me by my name. I’m Boothill. It’s mighty nice to meetcha, Ortho Shroud.”
“Yes, nice to meet you too Boothill. Now, where are we?” Ortho would’ve tried to be nicer if he wasn’t overwhelmingly concerned about Idia. He didn’t have time to be nice; he just needed answers to find wherever his brother was as fast as he could.
“The Dreamscape Hotel.” Boothill gestured to the environment around them, adjusting his cowboy hat a couple centimeters to the right. “I can’t stick around long though, kiddo. Is there somewhere I can take you back to? D’ya have a room here by chance? I don’t just wanna leave a kid like you on his own in the lobby.”
Ortho’s fire-like blue hair flared in a brief flash of anger. He didn’t like to think of himself as a child. “I am not a child!”
Boothill took a step back, placing a hand on the gun at his waist. He didn’t fancy himself needing to use it, and he wouldn’t even think of pulling it on a child, but the fiery hair startled him. “Woah! Son of a nice lady! Your hair’s on fire!”
Ortho calmed a bit, letting out a sigh. “It’s not actual fire, it’s just made to act like it.”
Boothill dropped his hand, still staring in shock. “Yer spirit reminds me a bit of a friend.” He smiled ever so slightly, but that smile immediately disappeared.
“Boothill, I don’t have a room at this hotel or anything to return to. Do you know about Sage’s Island?”
“Sage’s… No, I’ve ne’er heard of it, sorry.”
A different island? But it seems so strange compared to Sage’s Island…
“Then I’m afraid I’ll have to go do my research. Goodbye, Boothil, and thank you.” Ortho was going to fly away and he began powering his thrusters, but he was quickly stopped by the cowboy.
“Wait, pardner, you can’t just leave like that. You’ve already admitted you have no forking clue where you are! If some muddle fudging shirt-for-brains does something to ya, I’ll feel responsible.” Boothill sighed. “Listen, I have some friends from another planet who could probably help you. If you tag along with me, I guarantee that you’ll find some answers. These are a fudging good group of people who know their stuff.”
Ortho considered the invite. People from another planet, he thought, which means I’m in space! His heart leapt, washing away the fear and uncertainty he was feeling before. He had been to space before, but only for a few seconds. But now he had the opportunity to go parading around some new land with a space robot cowboy! That was even better than a regular cowboy! This cowboy probably knew his stuff too. If Idia was here, Ortho could find him pretty fast with some help. And if it turned out that Idia wasn’t here, then Ortho would have some good stories to tell him.
“Alright, Boothill! Let’s go find these friends!”
The cowboy chucked a little, popping a bullet into his mouth to chew on. “Alrighty, kiddo. Hold yer horses!” He began to lead the way, wondering to himself how he found such an energetic little kid on his own in the Dreamscape. Boothill had a chance to protect a child again, and this time he wouldn’t mess up. He wouldn’t let another child die in his hands if he had something to say about it. And he would not let Ortho get anywhere near the IPC.
“He is allowed to enter, Hound.” Sunday’s arms were folded behind his back as Gallagher opened the doors to a guest.
The Dreamscape had seen a strange influx of people today alone, meaning Sunday had to work overtime to find out what exactly happened to his precious project and how over 100 people – there were much more than that, but Sunday didn’t have them all on record yet – entered Penacony undetected. They hadn’t come through any of the known entrances either.
The last thing he wanted was random people to come in and break the dream. There were so many people Sunday was protecting. So many people that needed a place to stay. So many broken-winged birds that needed to be cared for.
“Malleus Draconia, is that your name?”
“Yes.” Horns sprouted out of a head of black hair, and the man that entered had a sort of menacing aura about him, almost like something wasn’t quite right.
Sunday grimaced. “What are you doing in the Dreamscape?”
“Ah, is that what this place is?”
“Yes.”
“I will admit I didn’t intend to intrude.” There was a grin on Malleus’s face as he regarded Sunday. “I truly am more powerful than I thought. Very interesting. I wonder what else I can do.”
There was a sort of baton tucked at his waist and the gem on the top seemed to be dripping a strange sort of black goo onto Sunday’s floors. The goo pulsed as soon as it hit the floor, almost as if it had a mind of its own. Seeing this made Sunday shiver.
Just who is this man?
“Explain yourself.” He was beginning to grow tired of Malleus’s games.
“Asking the Heir of Briar Valley to explain himself? With so bold a tone for a human,” Malleus mused, raising a hand to his chin in thought. “I believe I never caught your name. Please, human, enlighten me.”
“I am Sunday, head of the Oak Family. And you have invaded my dreamscape. I demand to know why.”
“ Your dreamscape?” A hint of an angry frown tugged at the corner of Malleus’s lips. The fae was possessive, which Sunday did not yet know. Malleus thought this was still the dream he created for those on Sage’s Island. He didn’t even consider the fact that he made contact with another dreamscape.
“Yes. You are in Penacony.”
Malleus’s anger quickly turned to shock. “What?”
“Need I repeat myself?”
“No, human.” Malleus hummed. “Tell me, are you familiar with a place called Sage’s Island?”
“No.”
“Briar Valley?”
“No.”
Malleus seemed to grow more surprised with each answer Sunday gave. “Did my dream… Listen, human,” a fire lit in Malleus’s palm, “I created a dream for everyone on Sage’s Island. Do you mean to tell me I share that dream with another?”
Sunday grew more interested in this statement. This person had just admitted the existence of a second dreamscape, and it was one that had somehow connected itself to Penacony. Another dream would give the Order much more power, and it would open up much more room for people to find shelter in the sweet dream. Perhaps Sunday could strike a deal with the ‘Heir of Briar Valley’ as he called himself.
“Esteemed guest,” Sunday declared in a loud voice, turning his back on Malleus to walk back to his desk. Once he sat, he continued, “I propose that we come to an agreement. You have somehow connected your dreamscape to Penacony. If you exchange your power over dreams, I will extend to you the use of the Order. It will give you more of a control over your dream, and all you must do is keep your power flowing into the dream. Keep the dream afloat and the Order is yours.”
Malleus tilted his head, the slow drip drip of the goop on the floor filling the silence of the room. “The Order? Sounds rather interesting for a unique magic. But if you say it will keep control over my dreams, then I must agree. There are people who need their happy endings but are fighting me. It would be better for them if their struggle ended.”
Sunday smiled, knowing he had lured the Heir of Briar Valley in. “Yes, I understand, Mister Draconia. Sometimes caged birds fight against their cage because they don’t know how good they have it. I can help you stop them from fighting.”
Malleus stepped forward, and Sunday noticed that the shadowy goop had already run down his entire leg. He didn’t notice this from afar because Malleus was wearing black clothes with green accents. The closer Malleus got, the more sick Sunday felt. Whoever this guest was had power beyond what Sunday had ever seen before. Malleus had more power than the Stelleron certainly, and Sunday wondered if he had more power than the Order as well.
“Human, it seems like we have come to a deal.” Malleus reached out a hand to shake and Sunday grabbed it tentatively.
“Yes, Mister Draconia, I am delighted to work with you.
“Likewise.”
A drop of goop hit Sunday’s desk, thumping almost like it had a heartbeat.