I found myself within a mansion of some kind. There was something off about the lighting, though I couldn’t place my finger on it. Seeing nothing interesting in my immediate area, I looked down at my clothing. I was wearing a strange yellow number with a plunging neckline that I knew Mama would freak out if she saw me in. A four pointed citrine star pendant partially enveloped by black steel tentacles rested upon my bosom, suspended by a silver chain.
I looked up into a nearby mirror. My hair – still lavender from the implants – was pulled up into an elaborate style I didn’t know the name of. On my face was a white mask with a purple galaxy continuously swirling on the front. It was a lot like the cyber tattoo on my lower back in how it moved, though it was a different image.
Discordant music was playing, though I couldn’t see the source. People were laughing, the sound forming a cacophony. I approached the closest pair of people and got their attention. They turned to me, dead eyes behind their incredibly ornate masquerade masks.
“Have you seen the Yellow Sign?” one asked me, his voice monotonous.
“Yes, have you?”
“I- what?” I responded. They turned away from me and resumed their laughter. Nothing I did would get their attention.
I wandered off and found an orgy in progress. I’d had a number of dreams that started like that. In fact, it was at that moment I realized it was a dream. Normally, I’d have joined in the festivities since it was just a dream, but I was curious what was going on. So I approached a pair of masked men and a woman wearing a mask only over the top half of her face. Describing what they were doing would take more space here than I want to waste. Besides, I would not likely forget that image.
“Have you seen the Yellow Sign?” one of the men asked me, his emotionless voice unstrained by his current efforts. I didn’t respond and he turned back to what he was doing.
Not finding what I was looking for, I wandered away from the orgy – not a statement I thought I’d ever make – and found myself in a hallway with three doors. I picked a door at random and went in, and found myself on a snowy hillside in a driving blizzard. It was actually cold enough that I felt it, at least a little.
I turned to try to open the door, but it was gone. So I wandered aimlessly for a bit before coming across a figure I recognized. Burin was wielding his axe and fighting some kind of foe, something I could not see. Whatever it was had claws, though. That much I could tell from the wounds I saw him take.
The weirdest part was that his voice sounded different. It was deep – booming, even – as he roared at his unseen foe. His blows were striking true, or at least they seemed that way based on the way his axe moved – as though it had struck something. But he was showing signs of fatigue. I couldn’t tell if he was winning or losing.
I tried unleashing a spell to help him, but no magic came. Instead, I felt something unseen wrap around my stomach and yank. I lurched backward through a door that hadn’t been there before. Once more, I was out in the hallway, with no sign of anyone or anything near me.
I tried another door. Once more, I stepped into another world. This time, I was in what looked like a monastery. There were corpses strewn about and blood everywhere. I moved quickly through the halls, stepping gingerly over bodies and through shattered doorways, eventually coming to a main hall, where I found Gregor, cradling the broken form of an older man.
“Gregor, is too late. You must run!” the old man managed to whisper.
“I must not leave you! I must help defend artifact!”
“Artifact is taken. All are dead but you. Escape. Become stronger. Only if you are strong enough can you defeat man who will not die.”
“Yes, Gregor,” a voice said beside me. “Run away! But know that you will never be able to defeat me!” I looked at the man, who looked back at me despite having no face. “And what do we have here? An interloper, here within this man’s dream? Interesting. I was created to torment him, but perhaps I could enjoy living within your mind as well!”
I could feel his massive will pressing down upon me. I did not know what to do, but I would fight. I gathered my own will around me like a shield and began to press back. Even then, I was not strong enough. I could fight, but it was only a matter of time before he would wear me down and destroy my shield.
Suddenly, a strange light glowed about me and the stone upon my breast ignited into a golden flame. Then I was back in the hallway, completely alone.
Or so I thought. “Excuse me. Have you seen my yellow sign?” a voice asked.
I looked around and eventually spotted a strange looking gnome. “I’m, um, sorry? I don’t know anything about your sign.”
“Unfortunate. It was the sign that told people not to touch my experiments. Agniray drew the best picture of Stanley on it, he was all ‘Rawr!’” He mimicked a menacing motion like a pouncing tiger.
“I… see.”
“Have you checked in these rooms? I’m certain my sign must be here somewhere.” I’d heard stories that gnomes were a bit strange, but I’d never encountered one like this. If this was a dream, could he be a product of my own mind?
“I didn’t see it in either of these two,” I said, indicating the doors I checked. “But there’s still one left.”
He opened the door. “Let’s go!” At this point, what could I do? I was too curious not to follow. So I went into the final room.
Everything was pitch black, so dark that even I couldn’t see anything within despite my mutant eyes. The only light seemed to be a quarter mile away. The gnome grabbed my hand and led me forward. At least, I hoped it was the gnome.
The light turned out to be some kind of source-less spotlight shining down upon a familiar figure. Terry was upon her knees, sobbing. “Please! Tell me, there must be a way! How can I save you?”
I tried to tell her that I was here to help, but in the light bleeding from the spotlight, I could see the gnome shake his head. “He won’t be able to hear or see you. It’s the nature of the dream.”
He? “I’m sorry, mister gnome, but that’s a girl.”
He turned back to Terry and regarded her for a moment. His head tilted as he tried to be sure. “I’ll take your word for it,” he finally said. “Sometimes humans all look the same to me.”
Terry continued sobbing. “Please! Don’t leave! What witch? And how will that save you? NO! Come back!”
The gnome pulled out a scythe and cut a door in the dream, then led me back out. “My sign wasn’t there either,” he said, disappointed.
“Why would you think your sign was in this weird dreamscape?”
He shrugged. “I listened, heard a bunch of people talking about a yellow sign and thought they would know where my sign was. I guess I was wrong.”
“Why not just make another one?”
Realization dawned on his face, as if he hadn’t even considered it. “I could even have Agniray draw another picture of Stanley!”
I couldn’t help but giggle at his child-like enthusiasm. “Glad I could help.”
His face became serious and he searched through his bag before pulling out a cloth-wrapped bundle. He handed it to me. “A storm is coming. Take this. You’ll need it more than I do. Take care of it. I faced grave dangers to get it.”
After I took the bundle from his hand, I heard a loud sound and awoke back in the chair where I had passed out. There was no longer a book in my hand. It had fallen to the floor by my feet, causing the sound that had woken me.
Instead, for some reason, I was holding a large bottle of IKEA lingonberry syrup.
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