Turtle’s slightly raspy voice piped in, his hands fiddling with his glasses, “So of all us only six managed to escape? We were lucky enough to find a locus of power. It seems like that statue was working like a magnet. We were like lightning, trying to find the easiest route.”

“What do you mean Turtle?” Lion’s scowl deepened.

“This place attracted us. It could also attract other, more dangerous forces,” Turtle harrumphed.

“So let’s leave this place right now then. We can follow this road,” Dormouse’s masculine strong overtones did little to correspond with his delicate appearance.

“Let’s go. Don’t forget to take your bags, there should be something useful in there.” Hummingbird’s melodic voice was like a magnet, she was the only one who didn’t seem out of place. Well, I have yet to hear Cat though.

Were they like me? Able to find new hosts? They mentioned that the statue attracted them. Does it mean they are not from this place? Well, it will surely depend on how I define ‘place’ as I didn’t know myself where I was. Where did they come from though? The day that started relatively routine was becoming more and more abnormal.

With a relief, I realized that since my current body still belongs to me, I should be able to meet with Sheep once again. Before, without taking Henry into account, all creatures I had interactions with in the dreamworld were not sapient. The only creature that, for some reason, was able to evade my dreamworld, was the previous owner of my body in the mosaic town.

Road’s main purpose always was a connection. The route we chose wasn’t an exception. After some point we were able to reach a settlement. My new companions who possibly were similar to me in their nature were overall taciturn and looked exhausted, more worn out than a few hours of walking would imply. Perhaps their way of taking hosts was more taxing than mine.

I must commend their ability to stay vigilant. Even though they were much more exhausted than I was, they appeared to be very cautious about their surroundings, instantly reacting to the smallest change.

But their worries were excessive. We reached the settlement without anything major happening on the way. There was no living being in the road's proximity. No little animal, no sound of nature, nothing. The sun shone down on us and an occasional cloud would cross it but otherwise it would seem like the world wasn’t alive in its fullest. Though how can something be partially alive?

The settlement was empty as well. There were a dozen or two huts scattered around a big fountain that was apparently out of service. It seemed as if the settlement had been abandoned haphazardly: domestic items were strewn around. Strange human-like statues that were almost everywhere did little to relieve my anxiety.

I approached one of them. Like others, it was on its knees, its hands brought together as if in a prayer, stone tears frozen on its cheeks. Were they once alive or perhaps someone had a bizarre sense of art?

“Have you found anything worthy of attention?” a beautiful melodic voice interrupted my contemplation. I shook my head indicating the lack of my luck in finding clues. She continued, “Then I propose you come with me. Others agreed to meet in the center near the fountain in ten or so minutes.”

There was no reason for me to refuse I thought, while reexamining my opinion of Hummingbird. She seemed like an easygoing person, resourceful and convenient to interact with. As per agreement we gathered near the fountain. Lion started, “We need to make a decision. When we reached here, I thought that we had finally escaped, but perhaps we simply exchanged one prison for another. To me this place seems fishy. It reeks of being a trap. It’s just that unnatural.”

“We will resist,” Dormouse shrugged, seemingly being more concerned with his body being too feeble rather than himself being in mortal danger.

“You are full of empty words, Lion. Such conversation will have a meaning if we had a choice. But it’s not like we have a necessary power to move somewhere else right now. We’ll wait for an opportunity. As we always did,” Turtle didn’t seem to appreciate Lion’s warning. I looked at the Cat. She was as silent as ever. It didn’t seem like she had anything to say.

“As for the pressing matters, I propose we call it a day. All of us are exhausted. We should choose a house and take a break. We’ll move soon after.” I found myself fascinated with Hummingbird again. There was something unusual about her. Something I couldn’t quite name. The more I heard her talk, the less powerful others seemed. Even though she seemed exhausted, I was sure she’d be able to cope with danger if it came. Talents could bloom everywhere.

Conversation didn’t last long after that. I mostly listened to Hummingbird, catching the way she talked, the intonations, the overtone. When it was over, I chose a hut and flopped down on the bed. Ouch. Something was in between the sheets.

I took the item out of the slit in sheets, rubbing my side. It was a small, mesmerizing green stone. It didn’t seem to have any obvious purpose, so I simply shoved it down my pocket for now. Then, tired by a fruitful day, I was finally able to close my eyes.

The dreamworld materialized almost immediately as it always did. I saw Sheep staring at me cautiously. It seems that after all I’ll manage to gather some information.

I found myself in a predicament. How to go around him being in the dreamworld. How do I explain to him that I took over the body? Multiple ideas and schemes tried to cultivate in my mind but I decided to refuse all of them. I never was the one to make a long term elaborate plan. I would just follow what seems right. And so I said, “Welcome to the dreamland.”

Sheep blinked a few times. “What do you mean? What’s happening to me? The last thing that I remember was me fishing...”

I was able to cut the chase at once. “You caught my former body that was, in a way, a fish. So a condition triggered and I took over a new body.”

“So I didn’t manage to run away after all,” Sheep smiled bitterly. wasn’t Sheep going to join the group? Something seemed off. “Run away?” I prompted him to elaborate. It seems like he wasn’t in the right condition. Instead of being wary of a stranger and someone who took over his body, the youth started to talk in a quick and erratic manner, finally able to vent.

“It’s about a friend of mine... One day she suddenly changed. Before she was a bit reticent and somewhat reserved. It’s not just a matter of becoming more open, no, she became an absolute stranger to her former self. Others change, there’s nothing wrong with changing, but they do so gradually. Step by step. She, however, changed the way she looked at others, manner of speech, intonations. I tried to warn another friend of mine, but he just shrugged my warnings off. But the main problem was not that she changed, but that she had started to change others. Initially it didn’t occur to me, but while doing a certain important task, I met her and she asked me to do a trifle. I immediately agreed to switch to the task she asked of me. Only after I was done, no, maybe even later, I felt that something was not right. I forced myself to be attentive and then realized that it wasn’t just me. Wherever she went, she would become the center of everyone’s attention, everyone catering to her whim without any care for anything else. I know it was a cowardly act to run away, but it was the only choice. Others were already deaf to my words.”

“By any chance, the person you are talking about, did she have a badge, similar to the one you are wearing?” I interrupted his long-winded story. This wasn’t the first case of body hijacking?

“Oh, that she did. She had a little bird, a hermit hummingbird on her badge…”

Some people are easy to interact with. Some people are better to steer clear off, unless you want an empty argument. There’s a certain flair about some people. You want to be with them. It doesn’t have to do something with their appearance, knowledge or power. Sometimes you can’t pinpoint yourself what exactly draws you in. And maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t their evil scheme to charm you, they don’t practice witchcraft and didn’t hex you. So how do you detect evil intent?

I didn’t talk to Hummingbird before the statue body hijacking incident. Was she really replaced by someone else? She should probably be replaced again by now. Probably. I avoided hijacking. If she was as powerful as Sheep claims maybe she could evade it as well?

That’s the problem. I have spent a lot of time. First in the labyrinth, then in the mosaics’ town, with some time spent in the deep waters and finally in the statues’ village. There’s a pattern to it. Old questions remain unanswered while the new ones only continue to add up. I walk in blindly, taking in only crumbs of the truth while the main events evade my sight.

Maddening as it was, I could only accept it for now. I would wait for an opportunity to come, while doing my preparations. Dream world had yet to dissolve, so I acted, asking another question which had tormented me ever since I met the group with badges, “Say, where are you from, what is that place where you and your group stayed and how did you live before meeting me?”

Sheep thought for a bit, his brow creasing, “I’m from the manor, of course. I was on the road I was meant to take. Before I spent all my time in the manor, before going outside. I don’t know much of what happens outside of the manor but hopefully you will tell me?”

At least this somewhat explained why Sheep didn’t seem to mind what was happening that much. If a person lived a sheltered life, never going out, everything will be equally new, be it a road, a huge body of water and a void with a talkative stranger in it.

I hoped that I would find a trove of knowledge but instead found someone with knowledge more limited than mine.

I asked a few more questions about the manor and things that youth, no matter how restricted his movements were, should have known. Results were disappointing. Apparently, he didn’t even contact any other people beside his group and some hooded person he called Eighth. He didn’t know much of the manor itself, only a few rooms and the garden he spent his time in. He didn’t even know why he should follow the road and what awaits him at the end of it, only that there’s ‘something really good and important’.

A disturbing thought appeared that perhaps he and his companions were never meant to reach the settlement. Instead a giant statue sitting on the throne was their final destination and the body hijacking incident wasn’t an accident but someone’s meticulous plan.

Finally my time to depart from the dreamworld was nigh. I woke up, stretched out and looked through the window. The sun was already high in the sky. I could see Hummingbird and Turtle bent over the fountain fiddling with something. Hummingbird, I remembered Sheep’s words, are you real or fake?

I left my house and waved to them. “Morning. Is there anything wrong with the fountain besides it being broken?”

Turtle smirked, “More than we thought.”

Hummingbird shook her head, “Initially, it looked like solving the fountain’s issue could help us, but right now I’m starting to have doubts. I guess it's time to take a break. Sheep, Turtle, let’s go past the settlement. The road ends here but it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing up ahead.”

There was nothing wrong with Hummingbird. Intonation, voice, expression, gestures – all felt natural. I started to have doubts about Sheep’s words. But just in case I decided to play it safe. I tried to refuse. But, I found out that I could not. I tried to resist – that’s when I realized that Hummingbird’s control was even more potent than I imagined.

Stolen novel; please report.

My face muscles moved against my will and instead of refusal I heard, “Alright, I’ll tag along,” coming out of my mouth. The scariest part was that some part of me craved to follow Hummingbird. I relented. I still had some will to resist but I would put it to use at a later date. For now it was the time to observe.

And so we left the settlement. Now that I think about it, the road's vicinity had a fairly abundant flora, with many trees and bushes. It seemed normal enough for me so I didn’t focus my attention on it. Here however trees were almost nonexistent, the grass was weak and limp, as if something was sucking all the life out of it.

In the distance there was an eerie river, its waters completely still and black. Not just dark, not simply murky, but of the ink’s color. It gave me a sense of danger and I knew that it would be better to steer clear off it. And of course Hummingbird decided that it would be a good idea to approach the black river.

She stood on the bank, looking curiously at the water. Me and Turtle stood beside her, silent. After watching the water for about half a minute, Hummingbird interrupted the silence, “Turtle, put your hand in the water.”

Turtle didn’t refuse nor he doubted whether it was a good decision to put his hand into the uncanny waters. He just followed the order. He put his hand and, well, nothing happened. But when he tried to pull it out, something yanked him in, water swallowing him whole. Waters quickly closed over his head, and the next second they were as still as before. The only difference was that only two people remained at the bank of the river.

Hummingbird was still watching the waters but I didn’t wait. I mustered my will, made a step closer to her, then another and pushed her into the waters. She screamed, voice full of disbelief and fury and for a moment I thought that everything was over, that she would follow the Turtle’s fate, but when she was about to fall into the waters, a portal appeared right in front of her. I didn’t mind her being gone with a portal, the further the better. The problem was that I, who was shoving her into it, was sucked in as well.

And then there was darkness. Not a cozy and comfortable darkness of the dreamland but rather a foreign darkness that seemed to bend my perception of time and sense. I thought that time was running faster, much much faster than I could perceive, that the darkness around me wasn’t just a void but something more material.

I came here together with Hummingbird but it didn’t seem like she was somewhere close. Were we intentionally separated, or was it a chaotic nature of the darkness that caused it?

After what seemed like eternity to me, as I was sure that a lot of time had passed, darkness dissipated. I felt a solid surface under my back.

I concentrated on sensations of my body. That, at this point, was something akin to a ritual for me. It’s better to take it slow as sometimes if you were to possess some weird lifeform, a nasty surprise would await you if you were to rush the things.

Olfactory senses, auditory, visual, tactile – everything necessary came in a bulk. I moved my hand over my body towards the heart region. It touched a familiar sheep badge. Seems like I didn’t change my body. It was a different kind of darkness after all.

What about my surroundings? I looked around. Sun shone down on me with its summer radiance, helping to brighten up my mood ever so slightly as I love warm sunny weather. A sound of waves falling on the shore, not the murky water from the black river, but crystal clear waters of the ocean. Golden sand was shimmering, giving the feeling that it was enchanted.

And there was no sign of Hummingbird being around. But she still could be lurking somewhere nearby. I stood up and looked towards the side opposite to the ocean. Massive trees covered with lush verdant leaves, overgrown grass. What triggered the portal and where did it send me?

And then a familiar sight, the one I didn’t see in a long while entered my eyes. A neon green slimy body whose glow wasn’t noticeable under the radiant sun, tentacles that were moving around the body in a somewhat erratic manner. I didn’t know many flying jellyfishes besides Dezire. Is it her? Why would she be here, no matter where ‘here’ is exactly. She didn’t seem to notice me as I was hidden in the verdure of the grove and she had another creature to watch.

Towards her was plodding a teddy bear, not unfamiliar to me. When he crossed the distance at which it would be appropriate to stop, Dezire’s tentacles stopped their movement, probably surprised by the development. And then Richard took Dezire in a bear hug. Quite literally, which made Dezire change her color from neon green to a shocking pink.

“I…” seemingly Richard wanted to explain something.

“Don’t worry,” said Dezire patting Richard on his shoulder. “I understand.”

I didn’t move and I didn’t make a sound but the next moment I knew Dezire’s color suddenly reverted to her usual glowing neon as she mumbled loud enough for me to barely hear it, “Someone’s watching.”

I left my cover and strolled towards them unhurriedly. Richard’s brow scrunched up as he entered a defensive stance whereas Dezire laughed as she darted in my direction and lifted me up with her tentacles. After twirling with me still hanging from them, she turned me end over end so I wound up upside down.

“You sorta changed. You aren’t a big green oaf, at least not anymore.” Seeing my face she added, putting me back on the ground “Oh, right. I guess you’d like to get down.”

“Mhm. So you changed again. It’s good to see you back, my friend. But don’t misinterpret, what happened just now was one of those… Limitations, curses. I know, you can understand me,” I didn’t mind Richard hugging Dezire, so I didn’t require an explanation, though he gave me a quaint one.

“Alright, I understand,” I nodded. It’s better to solve this awkward situation as soon as possible and move onto pressing matters.

“No, you don’t,” Dezire refuted my statement and shrugged her tentacles.

“Dezire, he is not a fool,” Richard grumbled.

“Still, he doesn’t understand,” Dezire was unconvinced.

Richard exhaled, “Say, do you remember about those requirements, the entity gave to us?”

“Requirements? Entity?” It seems like a lot of things had taken place while I was gone.

“So,” Richard summed up, “You are late again, without an inkling of what is going on and that’s what happened after you left us for just an hour. Wait. Did you leave us for just an hour?”

Me becoming a large shadow ape. Mosaic town. Long time venturing through the deep waters, meeting the group and Hummingbird – all of those events couldn’t possibly happen in a span of a mere hour. I remembered the black portal. Did Dezire and Richard also experience it? In that case their perception of time would end up flawed. As did mine.

“Much more than an hour. What happened after we separated?” Was it finally time for me to get some answers?

“President managed to solve the mystery of the room without glowing stones, the altar below the helix stairway was actually a portal which could be activated with enough pure light. Sophie activated it subconsciously, while President managed to do it after some trial and error. We hoped it would let us leave for a better place, wherever it could be,” so angel Sophie is the reason the group that descended the stairway disappeared? I was down there, near the altar with pumpkin Jack. So does that mean he didn’t have ‘pure’ sort of light? His fiery smile could instill pure terror though if it were the only source of light in the darkness.

Richard didn’t wait for me to build more conjectures as he continued his story, “after the dazzling light of the portal dispersed, we found ourselves on this island,” so our portals were different as my portal was more similar to a barrel full of tar than to something holy. It seems like we are on an island, I noted, “then each of us received a mental warning which briefed us about the situation we are in”

At that time Dezire, who grew visibly tired while listening, interrupted Richard, her tentacles wriggling excitedly, “what we need to do now is to show him to our oh-so-punctual friend. Imagine how hilarious it would be. Come on, Richard! It’s the surprise everyone needs!” Dezire grew more and more agitated with each sentence. What kind of surprise were they talking about? A premonition rose. Do I need to be careful?

Richard thought for a bit, nodded and went off with a certainty in the depths of the island. While I was still hesitating, Dezire pulled my hand making the choice for me. It also made place for some thoughts. Are all flying jellies so strong?

Richard continued, “as I told before, we have certain... limitations. Mine you have already seen. I need to hug the first person I see each day. We still don’t know who or what’s watching us but right now one thing is known for sure – our actions are being controlled to an extent,” oh, so Richard didn’t hug Dezire just because? This seemed kinda wrong.

“Uhh, Richard, are you sure you know where to go? You said I was the first one you met, right?” Dezire asked him skeptically.

“Yes,” Richard answered without even a hint of doubt in his voice.

Come to think about it, Richard always was good with directions. But the level he showed after I woke up in the labyrinth was simply astounding. He was able to navigate those small tunnels even despite their visual similarity. And even now his gait wasn’t fast, but it was self-confident. What have you become, Richard?

The greenery became more verdant in color, much more lush and plentiful. The colors were so bright, they seemed to be straight out of a fairy tale. I heard a low hum, coming from the heart of the verdure.

As Richard moved branches aside I caught a glimpse of something familiar, something that I had thought I will never see again. The grass was speckled with charming blue flowers and amidst the youthful bloom was placed an old trunk covered by moss.

No, not placed. It was standing there, a trunk with a pair of legs and a pair of arms. With bright blue eyes that opened once Richard and I came close. And with a smile that formed on its wooden face when it saw us, “Good day to you,” the trunk said in missing student Henry’s voice.

On its head the trunk was wearing a black wreath, adorned with spikes that, for some reason, seemed familiar to me. The wreath that immediately started to move on its own once the trunk talked. The creature uncoiled, letting me see it in a somewhat better perspective. Its black wings straightened and the creature stretched, still not fully woken up. It had an uncanny semblance to dragon Isabella albeit much, much smaller.

The little dragon looked at us, tilted its head and then snuggled against the trunk's head seemingly unconcerned with intruders.

“Are you Henry? What happened to you, after you escaped the dreamland?” It made much more sense that Henry was the tree, not me. But how was he alive? Of course, I was definitely relieved to see him alive, but I couldn’t understand how he could survive after all that happened. Deep inside, I accepted his death, even though I never wanted to talk about this.

“It definitely surprised me when the first thing I saw after waking up was you leaping at me,” Henry made a pause, his expression clouded as if he was recalling events that took place long ago.

“Luckily, my instincts kicked in and I managed to escape the danger by saving part of my consciousness in a sprout. Later on the sprout was picked up by Richard, for which I’m grateful. It seems like he looked after me until we were transported by the portal, my body healing in the meantime.”

“Richard, is that true? I never saw you carrying a sprout?” This part confused me. Also, leaping at him? I never came to see the process of making a new host. Was I so… Savage?

“I never left him. I always carried him within, protected from the outside,” Richard pointed at his zipper. So was Richard hollow after all? I’m really unsure here whether asking people if they are empty is appropriate.

“Henry, you told me that I leaped at you, right? So how did I look before I became a tree?” There never was anyone to tell me what happens during the process. All I could see was an outcome each time.

The trunk blinked, opened its mouth and then closed it again, seeming unsure of what to say. Its brow scrunched and its eyes closed. I waited. A tapping could be heard from my side. As I turned my head I could see that jellyfish Dezire was as eager as I was to hear the answer. Well, maybe even more eager. Some of her tentacles were twisting in all kinds of forms while others were rapping at a tree that was unlucky enough to cross Dezire’s line of sight.

Finally Henry opened his mouth again, “You looked like a white see-through substance. No certain form. No eyes, no arms, no mouth. Nothing. You were a blank with no mind and no feelings. You didn’t hesitate, stop or waited. Just leaped and if it wasn’t for my reaction, I most likely would be a goner. Right now you seem to be reasonable enough. So stay this way. It would be better for everyone if you were to never become that thing again.”

So did I turn in that substance each time my body was destroyed? Sounds scary. Still, one more detail haunted me, “Say, Henry. Do you realize that you changed? The way you talk, the way you act is completely different.”

Henry smiled. It was a big, sincere smile that would very rarely form on his face before and with a booming clear voice Henry said, “I came to a peace with myself. Less excessive thoughts to free your mind. Less desires to free your heart. Less weaknesses to free your body. That’s the meaning of treehood.”

There was however someone who wasn’t so happy for Henry’s thundering declaration of liberation. The crown on Henry’s head moved once again as it mumbled in annoyance, “It was such a great nap. Why would you be so loud?”

To my surprise the voice was that of Isabella though now it had some childishness in it. Little Isabella looked at me, now completely awake, its lizard’s snout making a semblance of a smile, “And who might you be? Could it be that I finally caught the traitor?”

Little Isabella’s and my eyes met. I saw a dangerous shimmer in them, but it was too late. Two thin columns of smoke rose up from her nostrils as she opened her mouth again. This time, however, her intention wasn’t to talk. What came out was a dense stream of dragonfire directed towards me.