Alice’s eyes flew open, and she sucked in a breath. Lying in a bed of grass she stared in shock at the clear blue sky. She felt like she’d leapt down a staircase and she let out a noise halfway between a groan and a gasp. After a minute she caught her breath and soon felt a sense of achy calm.

“Eughhh,” she rasped, and wincing she sat up slowly. She looked around blankly, taking in the grass, trees, and the great pillar of limestone next to her. Where am I and why does my body hurt so much? She looked at her hands in confusion, the mind twisting ache was much less than it had been. She did a double take. THESE AREN’T MY HANDS! A hand flew to her mouth, then she threw it away from her. She looked at them in shock, though her gaze shifted to a morbid curiosity. The hands were smaller than hers, the fingers longer and thicker, and her skin a darker shade of beige. They were muscled and worn with use. She looked at her rumpled dress with a frown, she was wearing a white inner robe and black accented green outer robe. The green fabric shimmered in the light.

A bone in her hip cracked back into place and she gasped in pain and keeled over. Resting her head in a hand she slowly recovered from the burst of sensation.

“Oh my actual god,” she gasped, staring back up at the sky. She didn’t know why but she shivered when she saw the cliff and looked away. “Okay this has to be the strangest dream I’ve ever had,” she almost chuckled as the words left her mouth. Of course this is a dream, ohh. The tension left her, and she got to her feet, the aches had disappeared. She stretched languidly.

Looking around her she shrugged and started walking. She circled the stone pillar breathing in the scents of the forest. The green smells always calmed her, and she marveled at her senses. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a vivid dream. She twirled as she walked, flowing from step to step until she stumbled. She could hear sobbing in the distance.

Frowning slightly, she stalked forward, hugging the stone face. There was a boy with one hand sobbing at the bottom of a staircase that faded up the mountain.

“Umm, dude, are you alright?” she asked cautiously

His head jerked up and he stared at her stricken. She was about to glance behind her when the teenager launched himself at her.

She stood impassively while the kid mumble-rambled into her. He was going on and on about a cliff, how he was so sorry, and how she looked so cool on a cliff. She felt fondness bubbling up inside of her.

“Strange dream,” she said with warmth, wrapping her arms around the kid. Carefully pulled him down to the first stair and sat next to him. “Deep breaths, in and out, like me.”

The kid gasped as he tried to breathe, the air catching in the air as he tried to draw in a breath.

“That’s it,” she said softly, rubbing circles into his back.

“Never scare me like that again,” he laughed shakily and blew his nose into his sleeve.

Alice furrowed her brow “What do you mean scare you?”

“I thought you were dead. I-I- I thought I’d killed you,” he sobbed, bringing a fresh wave of tears. The fat droplets streaming down his face.

“Oh, you didn’t kill me, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, resting her head on the boy’s. They sat together until the boy ran out of tears and his gasping breaths steadied.

He looked at her in confusion “What do you mean? It was because of me that you lost your balance and fell,”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, concern and confusion in his red rimmed eyes.

“What are you talking about?” she asked leaning away

“You don’t remember the fall?”

“What fall?”

His hand flew to his mouth and his eyes widened.

Alice thought back to towering pillar of limestone and the clear sky she’d seen when she’d first opened her eyes, she hadn’t fallen, had she?

“What’s my name?” the boy asked

“How would I know?” shrugged Alice

His eyes seemed widen even further “Wha- what’s your name?”

“Alice, who wants to know?”

He gaped at her

After a couple of moments, she started to feel a little self-conscious, but what was he even talking about? “Okay, what’s your name?”

“It’s me, Lai Jianjun,” he stared at her, searching for a glimmer of recognition, “you really don’t remember me?”

“I can’t say that I do,” what was she even saying, of course she didn’t, he was just some kid in her dream.

He stood up “Okay, umm why don’t you come with me, maybe some hot food and a night’s rest might set you right,” he grabbed her hand and started up the steps.

Alice let the kid drag her up the staircase, she had to admit hot food actually sounded pretty good. Wait if this is a dream can I just conjure stuff? Concentrating on a whole fried fish she snapped her fingers.

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Lai Jianjun stopped and looked back at her “Everything okay?” he asked

She waved him off “I was just trying something,” she said, “Where are we headed anyway?”

He gave her a bereaved glance “We’re headed to the Golden Beetle Sect of Jin, we’ve been guests here for the past half a year," he paused and mumbled something she couldn’t make out.

“Sorry I didn’t catch the last bit.”

“Oh, I was just thinking to myself. Maybe the healers can help, I’ve definitely heard of memory loss before.”

She frowned “Just take me to the food, seriously don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

As Lai Jianjun led her up the mountain she took in the steps. They were carved into the rock, but the soft limestone showed little sign of wear, where they new? Bah dream logic was weird. She remembered one time she’d basically played dungeons and dragons but ended up getting seduced by scantily clad man inside a dragon’s intestine. She rubbed her forehead in self-admonition. It’d been such an obvious ploy and she’d fallen for it, she put the encounter out of her mind.

A breeze brushed her face, and she focused on the thin air that caressed her skin. She noticed her straining calves and the sweat beading on her forehead. She’d never felt so alive in a dream before. This would be terrible for a nightmare. What if just thinking about nightmares would turn the dream into a nightmare. She pushed the thought down, but it only bubbled up with more strength. What if Lai Jianjun turned into a monster and turned into a vicious beast or what if he drew a knife.

“So, umm what don’t I remember?” she asked Lai Jianjun.

He glanced back at her. “I don’t know,” he said thinking for a moment, “what do you remember?”

“Well, I mean, my exams were coming up, and oh! I was scrolling Pinterest, actually come to think of it I don’t remember anything after that,” she said, speaking to more to herself than Lai Jianjun.

He just gave her one of his concerned looks.

The rest of the walk passed in silence. Alice was lost in thought, she didn’t remember going to sleep, was it weirder that she didn’t remember going to sleep or weirder that she remembered everything else perfectly fine? She almost bumped into Lai Jianjun when he stopped in front of her.

She looked up to see a giant of a man looming over them, standing in front of an enormous Japanese-looking gate. He wore a shale-colored robe, trimmed with white.

“Ah I see what you… dropped,” he said to Lai Jianjun with something that sounded almost like humor and stepped aside.

Her steps stilled inside the gate, and she glanced around in wonder. People in gold robes trimmed with black bustled busily about. The scene reminded her almost of an anthill or beehive, there was an efficiency and order to the place; err the Golden Beetle Sect.

Lai Jianjun tugged on her arm. He led her through the sect and her calves were truly aching by the time they arrived at a two-story wooden building built into the rock. He pulled her inside, into a sort of antechamber, “Wait here for a moment, I’ll be right back,” he said, leaving her in room that reminded her suspiciously of a waiting room. The room felt light and airy, the paper windows let in plenty of light and the room was furnished with cushions and a couple beds.

Alice shrugged; she could wait before trying the food. But what if she couldn’t. What if she woke up, dreams happened in the later stages of sleep, what if. What if her chance was slipping through her fingers!

Alice was about to leave when Lai Jianjun returned with an old woman in a dark green robe “This is the patient?” she asked, and he nodded. “Alright come with me,” she said, beckoning for Alice to follow her.

“Thank you, Elder Chuanli,” Lai Jianjun said, bowing respectfully.

Alice gave him a weird look as she followed the elder.

Elder Chuanli poked and prodded her with a short stick and narrow eyes. “You don’t remember falling of the 7th peak?” she asked

“No,” Alice responded

The Elder walked forward, took Alice’s hand and poked the tip of a finger with a needle. She felt a pinch and Alice gasped in surprise. Brows drawn together, she watched a drop of blood well up. The Elder eyed the bead for a moment before dropping her hand.

“Hmm well everything seems normal, you seem to be in perfect health, and your meridians are absolutely pristine, if a little strained. I see no pressing issues,” a small vial appeared in the elder’s right hand, “if you take a dose of this every morning for the next five days your memories should return sooner or later. Now leave me to my business.”

The Elder handed Alice the tincture and escorted her out. There was something about the old woman that made the hair on Alice’s neck stand on end, a quiet thrum of power she could just barely hear.

“What did she say?” asked Lai Jianjun as they left the building.

“I have to drink something for the next couple days,” Alice said with a frown, the more she thought about the more she didn’t feel like she was dreaming. She thought of the needle’s pinch and the scarlet bead of blood.

“What a relief! I was so worried,” he let out a breath and his body sagged, “what do you say to an early dinner?”

“Oh, sure,” she said, staring at her finger, staring at the blood that had seeped into the fine lines of her fingerprint.

He gave her a concerned glance “alright.”

“Lai Jianjun! Didn’t expect to see you back so soon, ah, and Jo Meilin, it’s been awhile,” said a young man in the golden robes of the sect. His long black hair was tied up in topknot and he wore a stained white apron.

“Hey Cai Junjie, Jo Meilin had a pretty bad fall so she’s taking the rest of the day off,”

“I’m fine, I just want to try some food before I wake up,” said Alice, giving Lai Jianjun a disparaging wave.

After giving Alice a weird look Cai Junjie sent them off with two trays of fried rice, noodles, and a vegetable dish and Lai Jianjun led Alice to one of the tables. She only had eyes for the food. She inhaled the meaty scent of the noodles and the hot smell that drifted from the rice, saliva flowed wetly along the tip of her tongue.

Lai Jianjun looked on in astonishment as Alice shoveled food into her mouth “Oh my goodness, this is delicious!” she sprayed.

Lai Jianjun seemed split between feasting with her and hiding his head so others couldn’t see him. “You really ought to slow down.”

Alice slurped up a tangle of noodles, chewed for a moment, then swallowed. “Okay, so this Jo Meilin, who was she?”

He stared at her blankly “You’re my sister’s handmaid.”

Alice rooted around the noodle dish for piece of beef “And who’s your sister?”

“She’s the young master of the Lai clan.” Alice raised a questioning eyebrow “The Lai clan hold’s one of the bastions that make up Jin empire. A gift from the King in Yellow.”

Alice thumped her chest and coughed, “The King in Yellow?” she asked in a strained voice.

“Yes, the immortal emperor, though it’s bad luck to speak of such things.”

Alice nodded seriously, food forgotten. “So, I’m ready to wake up, care for a nap?”

It took him a moment to grasp her meaning, “Oh, sure.”

He led her up a path away from the main sect, up a steep hill to a scenic little pagoda-like house. The view took her breath away. She stared with wonder at the karst-topography that rolled away from her, the solitary mountains that rose from the earth as though a giant had placed them. Dense forests covered everything in sight except for a sprawling city in the far distance. She only moved when Lai Jianjun pulled her out of her revery and into the small home.

He led her to a room and pulled out a mat and some pillows from a closet. She noticed the care he took in laying it all out. When he left she fixed the haphazard arrangement as though it was second nature and pulled the covers over her head.