Kiyora opened her eyes. Please wait a minute; she always remembered waking up when she did. There was a flash, and she sat up in bed. This time, nothing of the sort happened. The world around her had merely faded, and she'd found herself staring at the ceiling.

She hoped William could handle those xenomorph things that had poured out of the meteor. It was like something out of an old sci-fi movie. Why was she so detached from all this? She knew for a fact by all the events that had taken place that her dreams were portals into the real world. Yet it seemed unreal, though.

She wasn't alone. When she got downstairs, she noticed that Mom looked in much brighter spirits. She was cooking breakfast, her hair tied behind her head. "Good morning, Kiyora," she said.

"Morning, Mom," said Kiyora, feeling even weirder. "What's for breakfast?"

"Bacon and eggs," said Mom. "And onions, too; I mixed some in."

"Can I just have the bacon?" asked Kiyora.

Mom smiled. "Sorry, no. Eat the whole plate. It's part of a balanced breakfast."

"Balance is overrated," said Kiyora.

Later, as they sat down and began to eat, Kiyora looked up at Dad, who was reading his newspaper. He, too, put everything that happened behind him, which was weird. Didn't he just say before that nothing was the same?

Apparently not.

"You know, I am not looking forward to redoing all the days of school I missed," said Kiyora. She forked some eggs into her mouth.

"I don't think anyone is," said Mom. "My whole schedule got messed up as well, you know."

"Still, at the very least, this affair has given me all kinds of new painting ideas," said Dad. "I feel a darker tinge here or there can add some life to things.

"Is that all you ever think about, Dad?" asked Kiyora with a smile. Why was she smiling? She was talking about an eldritch abomination from her darkest nightmares. It was a monster who had possessed one of her friends and manifested directly in her world.

"I express myself and life through my artwork," said Dad. "I may draw on my dreams, but new experiences help me grow. It makes me more open-minded and more able to comprehend what I see in those dreams. My paintings have been a bit darker; lately, it's true. But that isn't a bad thing.

"Never stop learning, Kiyora. That's the key to happiness."

"Wow, Dad, that's deep," said Kiyora, only half sarcastic.

"Less talking, more eating," said Mom. "You'll be late if you're not careful."

"Right, right," said Kiyora.

She finished quickly, dressed in her school uniform, and began walking to school. As she did, she met Reya at the crosswalk. The girl was looking down at her feet.

"Reya, are you okay?" asked Kiyora.

"Yeah, I just... I'm starting to forget what it was like to have him in my mind, Kiyora," said Reya. "But it's taking a while." She didn't need to say who 'he' was. Everyone in the city knew.

"You're starting to forget?" asked Kiyora. "Everyone is. It all seems like more of a bad dream than anything else."

"Do you think maybe Emperor Ictargo is making us forget?" asked Reya.

"I don't know," said Kiyora. "I'll probably credit him for making sure nobody died. How the hell did he manage that?"

"Well, um," Reya paused. "I was talking with Laurus last night. He seemed to think that Wraith had only tenuous control over people. He says that he was planning to give people several doses of medicine. But something interfered and forced him to speed up his plans.

"So he couldn't get people to do anything murderous. And actually, Laurus was holding him back. Preventing him from acting evil."

"You know it could be a lot worse," said Kiyora. "In my dreams, I've read about a demon that was even worse than Laughing Wraith?"

"Worse?" asked Reya with a shudder. "How could anything be worse?"

"I'm not sure; I've never met him," said Kiyora. "But his name was Melchious, and supposedly, he's the one who created Laughing Wraith in the first place."

"You don't think he'll show up here, do you?" asked Reya.

"Nah, don't worry, he's dead," said Kiyora. "He looked into a magic mirror and killed himself or something. I don't know; I wasn't paying attention. Even if he was alive, I'm sure he has better things to do than attack this backwater."

"This is the capital of the Dreamer Empire," said Reya. "It is both a cultural center and a center of trade. It isn't a backwater, Kiyora."

"I know," said Kiyora. "That was a joke."

"I don't see how any of this is supposed to cheer me up," said Reya.

"I'm making conversation, I guess," said Kiyora.

Come to think of it, hanging out with William and company had given her a morbid sense of humor. They thought differently from her, and Kiyora was beginning to think it was rubbing off on her. She didn't believe that was good and decided to change the subject.

They came within sight of the school, and it looked as though it had never been wrecked in the first place. Actovosh had taken the opportunity to put in some much-needed improvements. A new wing was on one side of the school, and Kiyora wondered what it was for.

"Wow, the school looks a lot better now, doesn't it?" she asked.

"Actovosh has been working hard," said Reya. "I thought it would take months to replace. Most of the damage was to the windows and doors and school supplies. The main building was fine, so all they had to do was replace the windows and stuff.

"But Actovosh added a new gymnasium."

"Seriously?" asked Kiyora. "He isn't usually this awake."

"I guess the whole mass possession thing woke him up a bit," said Reya. Then she looked at her thoughtfully. "Kiyora?"

'Yeah?" asked Kiyora.

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"What were you and Laurus doing in that factory?" asked Reya.

"Well, you know, saving the city takes you to strange places," said Kiyora.

"I was serious, Kiyora," said Reya.

"So was I," said Kiyora, refusing to lie.

Reya looked at her for a moment, then dropped the subject. They made their way through the halls and into their classroom. It had been completely rebuilt, and Kiyora found the lockers looked weird. They were different, and it put her off.

As she put in her bag, someone hugged her.

"Hey, Kiyora!" said Gisora. "Long time, no see!"

"Hey, Gisora, how is it going?" asked Kiyora.

"Great," said Gisora, breaking the embrace. "Can I talk to you to one side?"

"Sure," said Kiyora.

They went to the corner, and Gisora hesitated momentarily before going on. "Okay, so I asked my mom for information. She doesn't know the specifics, but she can tell me that someone has come to the attention of the Royal Family. Supposedly, they found a family member with unheard-of magical levels in their blood. There are all kinds of rumors going on around them."

"Why hasn't anyone heard them here?" asked Kiyora. Then again, if there were rumors, she wouldn't have heard them. Not while she was unconscious, anyway.

"I mean in the Royal Court," said Gisora. "It's is pretty insulated, so it takes a while for these things to get out into the streets. Oh, and another thing I remembered. Emperor Ictargo has decided on who is going to fill that vacancy."

"What vacancy?" asked Kiyora.

"You know, um, they were planning to find a fifth girl for Prince Tenius?' asked Gisora.

"Oh right, that guy," said Kiyora, uninterested. "Who is it?"

"I don't know," admitted Gisora. "They haven't announced anything yet, but at the same time, they aren't asking any more questions. This means they are either analyzing the data or have already decided."

"Great," said Kiyora, not interested. "Let's talk about it later."

School passed in a breeze. Soon Kiyora and the others were sitting down for their first club meeting. It seemed like forever since they had last sat around this table. Though technically, the table had been replaced. Gisora seemed very enthusiastic about it as well. "Okay, at long last, the Fantasy Club has been rejoined! So, um, what were we discussing last time?"

"I think it was something about an eldritch abomination in humanoid form," said Reya. "Wasn't he being fought by a knight in shining armor?"

"Can we talk about something else?" asked Laurus.

Kiyora considered what had recently happened in her dreams. "How about a horde of alien xenomorphs."

"That has been done to death, hasn't it?" asked Laurus.

"In a fantasy setting," said Kiyora.

Laurus gave her a look. "So you mean knights in shining armor fighting monstrous acid-spewing aliens? I like it."

"But what do the aliens want?" asked Reya.

"To eat everything, I guess," said Kiyora.

"Okay, so what is the plot?" asked Reya.

"Stopping the aliens," said Kiyora.

"That doesn't work, Kiyora," said Gisora. "'You can't have a main villain whose only goal is to devour everything. The story would be many pointless action scenes strung together by an excuse plot.

"Or a subpar horror movie."

"Okay, Laurus, you're our villain expert," said Kiyora. "What do you think we should do?"

Laurus considered it. "...The way I see it, we have two options. Either the aliens could have an agenda beyond merely devouring everything. Or the aliens could be used by another party to achieve their ends."

"Okay, so who is this other party?" asked Kiyora.

"Give me a minute to think," said Laurus.

"Well, the question we should ask ourselves is who would gain from all this?" said Gisora.

"A demon, maybe?" said Kiyora.

"Someone on that level of morality, sure," said Laurus. "But very few agendas wouldn't be foiled by everything in the world being devoured."

"So the person who brought the aliens to this world doesn't care what happens to it." guessed Gisora. "Or they don't want them to win."

"A distraction?" guessed Kiyora.

"That might be it," mused Gisora. "But if it were a distraction, they'd have to have some means of making sure things didn't get out of hand."

"Things could get out of hand," said Laurus. "That could be a story in itself."

"Maybe we could use my other character," said Laurus.

"You mean the one we came up with before?" said Gisora. "That might work. Okay, this monster thing is luring huge numbers of aliens to the setting so he can achieve something. They want everyone distracted. But what?"

"To get something which is too heavily guarded in ordinary circumstances," suggested Laurus.

"Right, that gives him some limits," mused Gisora. "Maybe he's after a magic sword!"

"An unholy sword which was taken from him long ago and sealed away by satyrs," said Kiyora. "It could contain much of his power; without it, he cannot act directly."

"Okay, so the heroes beat the alien xenomorphs-" said Gisora.

"No, they stop the alien xenomorphs," said Laurus. "We want them to be a threat still so we can bring them in later. Reya, are you writing this down?"

Reya looked up from where she was writing. "Sure, but shouldn't we talk about the details? Like what kind of society are we talking about? I'm guessing feudal, but who is the King? Does the King have most of the power, or are his nobles the real power? Does the army consist of professional soldiers or drafted peasants? Or hired mercenaries?

"You have to think about these things when developing a story."

"Let's say drafted peasants with a warrior elite leading the charge," said Laurus.

"Okay, so what do the peasants think of their overlords?" asked Reya.

"Why does that matter?" asked Laurus. "It's not like they will come into the story much."

"They might," said Reya. "And we need to know about them if they do."

"They don't like them much," said Laurus. "But simultaneously, they can't imagine a world without them."

"I think we should have the King be benevolent," said Kiyora. "But ruthless, too."

It felt good to be back coming up with ideas for stories again. When she talked like this with her friends, Kiyora could distract herself. She thought for a moment that the dreams she had were just that. Dreams. As time ticked by, the events she saw while asleep seemed more and more distant.

Of course, that was suspicious in itself.

When Kiyora got home that day, she saw a strange car outside. It had the symbol of their world, a tree branching outwards with many plateaus upon it. Each one had a different land upon it. It was the symbol of the Dreamer Empire.

Kiyora made her way up to the house and knocked. After a moment, the door opened, and Mom looked out. "Mom, what's with the car?"

"Kiyora," said Mom, "there is a representative of the Royal Family here to speak with you. "Kiyora felt her blood run cold at that. "What about?"

"She'll explain," said Mom.

Mom led her into the living room. There within it was a wonderful woman whose hair was dyed violet. She was dressed in flowing green robes. She stood up from her seat with all-encompassing benevolence. It struck Kiyora as a bit phony.

Then again, calling people phonies based on their appearances was the sort of thing jerks did. Kiyora couldn't imagine wanting to read a book about someone like that. So, she resolved not to jump to any conclusions.

"Ah, and here she is, my darling granddaughter!" said the woman.

"Granddaughter?" said Kiyora. So this woman was her grandmother?

"Hasn't Mayora told you about me?" asked the woman. "Your grandmother, Hanora Dreamer?"

"I have not told her about her heritage until recently," said Mom. "I didn't think it was important."

There was an edge in her tone, and Kiyora expected a harsh or hurt response.

She was surprised at how easily the woman took it. "Well, that makes today all the more special, doesn't it?" asked the woman. "It isn't every day that one finds out one is part of the Dreamer Royal Family with the grand destiny that entails."

"What destiny?" asked Kiyora, moving into the room.

'You should sit down." said the woman. "Mayora, could you get us some more tea? I'd like to speak with her alone?"

Mom said nothing and just stood there. The benevolence gave way for a moment as the woman looked at Mom. "Now, Mayora, don't keep us waiting."

Yeah, she was a phony.

"Of course, Mother," said Mom.

And she left. Kiyora sat down, liking Hanora less but not wanting to be rude. Now that they were alone, Hanora took a moment to look at the paintings on the walls. The ones Dad had made. "These paintings are truly beautiful, you know. I never agreed with her choice, but she could have done far worse."

"You wanted to talk with me?" said Kiyora.

"Yes," said Hanora. "We are aware of what you've done, Kiyora. You averted what could have been a truly catastrophic fiasco. And the royal family is very grateful. The Department of Bloodlines has more good news. They tell us that your connection to the spirit world is strong. Stronger than any other girl of this generation.

"Alchara has blessed you."

"Mmmhmm," said Kiyora, wanting to speed things along. "Well, that is nice to know."

"There is something else," said Hanora. "The Department of Bloodlines has arranged a good match for you. You are to be betrothed to Prince Tenius Dreamer."

Kiyora stared at her. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"It's all been arranged already," said Hanora. "You'll be able to drop out of school and live in his mansion. It's a splendid little place in the countryside made from the roots of one of our most powerful strains of trees."

"I don't want to drop out of school," said Kiyora.

"Why ever not?" asked Hanora in surprise.

"Because people who don't finish school are-" Kiyora paused. Why did she have to explain this to an adult? "I want to have a future. Have a career, and I can't do that if I don't finish school."

"Oh, but you will have a future," said Hanora. "Prince Tenius has some of the best blood in the entire royal family. Combined with your own, your children will be compelling."

"That wasn't what I meant by future," said Kiyora, amazed at how out of touch this woman was.

"Well, what other future is there but our children?" asked Hanora.

"Well," Kiyora considered the question, "there is the legacy we leave behind. Our good and bad deeds and our effect on the world around us. And anyway, I don't want to leave my school friends."

Hanora looked at her strangely. She needed help with the concept that Kiyora might not be interested in. "I'm sure you can keep in touch with them if you want to," said Hanora. "And you'll make plenty of friends with the other wives."

"I'm not doing it," said Kiyora flatly.

"But you must," said Hanora. "Emperor Ictargo himself approved the engagement."

At those words, Kiyora felt something. A soothing voice deep inside her told her to give in. Just go with the flow. Why not marry Tenius? He was only ten years older than her and might be nice. This could be a nice new beginning...

Wait, that didn't sound like her at all. She shoved the voice aside. She had the feeling she was being manipulated, and she didn't like it. "Emperor Ictargo can get out of my life," snapped Kiyora. "I'm my person! I'm not breeding stock!"

"I didn't mean to upset you-" began Hanora.

"Well, you succeeded!" snapped Kiyora.

At that moment, she wished more than anything to be anywhere but here. And she got her wish. She disappeared in a flash. And it was a dream.