Just as Hollis had predicted, no wake up ever came. Having focused on the dreams that ran through his room, he attempted to discern the most likely locations on Earth they had originated, but in the end failed. While doing this, he practiced controlling the aspects of this world that the strange boy Ambrose had discussed with him. He improved his pajama appearance, though did little to his actual form. If he truly was dead, would it matter if people find out he was doing something that was apparently illegal? It wasn't his own choice that he was stuck here.

"Y-yeah. That's my excuse..."

How much time had passed while he was doing all of this, he was wholly unsure. He had no clocks, no timers, no way to gauge the passage of time in any form.

At first, he hadn't minded it, but after a while, loneliness began to creep in.

When he had first woken up, after all of his worries had gone away, he had felt no real desire to seek out companionship. He didn't have any memories to miss and thus, was mostly fine being alone. But after having gotten a small taste of it, he missed being able to share his thoughts with others. He missed being able to have someone who had answers to his questions.

As long as it was anyone but that boy. For some reason, that one rubbed him the wrong way. He felt like he shouldn't trust him.

"Well, these thoughts are hopeless." With one, two taps against his head, he pushed himself up from his crouch.

Thinking these things was only going to dampen the mood.

He took a couple breaths, then walked along the rows of visuals—those dreams—with the least amount of interest in his gaze. He had begun to wonder, as he jumped from dream to dream, why he wasn't particularly interested in them. Some seemed so grounded in reality that they were boring and uneventful, while others were so nonsensical that they would give any sane person a headache. Yet Hollis found no true interest in any of them.

If none of these interest me, does that mean I'm looking for something specific? His curiosity was more or less his driving factor at this point. If he really was dead, he had no chance of getting out of here, and if he did get out, well...

Would my existence just...disappear?

His eyes dropped.

It was a depressing thought.

Returning his gaze to the dreams, one in specific caught his attention. Bright orange and red were the first things he saw, but upon a more careful inspection he recognized the litter of maple leaves and the large machiya buildings.

That one again?

With the amount of dreams that come through daily, he had few chances to ever visit the same dream more than once. This was interesting.

Curiosity piqued, he pushed his way into the dream once again.

The sounds of cheering and chattering immediately hit Hollis's senses as he woke up. Well, he was awake to begin with having landed in a crouch, but he wasn't fully aware for a moment of where he was.

Just as he had mastered in the weeks or however long before this, he changed into clothing much more fitting of this dream than his usual hood and jeans.

Pajamas, huh? He pondered to himself as he blended in with the crowd in front of him. Who came up with that? It sounds needlessly silly.

He followed the gaze of the crowd and saw they were watching some commotion on the rooftops. Just like the first time he visited, there were two men up there, though this time, their swords were still sheathed.

Is this what the beginning of the dream is like?

Hollis hummed to himself as he wondered, but he was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice in his ear. "I see the amazement on your face."

The brunette gasped, his breath catching in his throat. The voice next to him chuckled. Obviously, it could only be one person.

"You? What are you doing here?"

"Me? I should be asking you that question. I'm here every night."

"Hm?" Hollis rose a brow. His expression showcased his clear doubt.

The sandy-haired Ambrose sneered. "Oh, I'm not lying if that's what you're getting at, guy. You know, this guy here is a good friend of all of us on the Somnium forums." With his one arm inserted into his sleeve, Ambrose pointed to the rooves above with his free hand. He was pointing to the samurai on the right. "He made a bet with me who even knows how long ago." He let out a hearty laugh before continuing. "He had this recurring dream where he was fighting some samurai to try and protect his clan, but the clan always gets burned down in the end. We Somnium are all pro lucid dreamers, you know?"

Hollis simply shook his head, assuming the conversation would end faster if he just agreed.

"So, he told me he could beat this guy and save the clan. I told him he couldn't, so I drop by every night to see how it goes. I gotta tell you, I thought it'd be boring after a while, but it never gets old humiliating him about it." By the end he could barely contain his laughter, but he managed to do so and, instead, exhaled a dreamy sigh.

"Anyway, I see you've gotten the hang of things around here." He pointed to Hollis's clothing as he spoke.

"Oh, yeah. I guess."

"Aaalright. Good going there. So, that aside, how's your memory?"

The shorter boy was taken aback by this question. He didn't like how curious this guy seemed to be. Maybe he was just being a kind stranger, but he could also be a problem. To a guy with no memories, everyone was a potential hazard.

"Augh... They're not quite back yet."

"Really? That sucks. It's been weeks, maybe you should see a doctor or something, right?"

"Right..." Hollis turned his attention to the samurai, watching as they began fighting and the crowd around them grew even more lively. Suddenly, Hollis felt a tap on the back of his shoulder.

"C'mon."

As before, he grabbed Hollis by the wrist.

"What? What are you doing?"

"This place'll be burnt before you know it. I wanna introduce you to some of the other forum members. The ones I hang out with the most, anyway." Ambrose seemed to cackle as he pulled Hollis from the crowd.

They ran through the forest and leapt from the edge of the dream. Unlike before, though, Ambrose created a door mid-fall and just before they hit, it opened and they fell through.

"Wha—"

"The things you can do in dreams, right?" He chuckled playfully as they fell through a clear, nearly cloudless sky. Below them, approaching at high-speed, was a large gold temple with ornate features; gargoyles and women and ships all decorated the building. It was like a temple for a god!

"Where in the—Wait! We're gonna crash!"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Oh, c'mon, guy! Don't you know any better?"

In mere seconds, just as they were about to collide, it was as if they had been teleported inside and, instead of his face hitting gold, it hit marble.

Hollis groaned. Somehow, the landing wasn't as painful as it could have been. Maybe he was getting used to it?

"Well, my dear friend! Hollis, was it? Welcome to my mindspace!" With grand gestures, Ambrose took steps back, as if he was interrupting the sight of the room. Just like the outside, the inside was well-decorated. Pillars lined both sides of the room and the ceiling was painted and molded with fine imagery of beautiful women and fierce animals. The marble floor was cleaner than any Hollis thought imaginable, though he had no recollection of anything he could compare it to. Overall, his first impressions were that this was either the hall of a great king or god, or someone with a severe case of narcissism. It seemed to be the latter.

"Hollis. These are my friends."

Now that Ambrose had called out to him, he realized there were a handful of people standing next to the taller youth. There were four to be exact. On the farthest end was a large, incredibly burly man, and next to him was a young woman who could only be described as model-esque. A serious beauty. Next to her was a smaller girl wearing a large, dark, poofy robe of some kind, and behind her was a taller young man who seemed to have the most intense stare he had ever seen. Quite the bunch.

Hollis suddenly remembered that he was still lying on the floor and, with haste, picked himself back up. The model-looking girl seemed to smile brighter at this, but the others didn't respond.

"Ahem!" Ambrose pretended to clear his throat and everyone's attention fell on him all at once. "Alright! This!" He pointed to the big man in blue. "Is Tic! This is Terra! That one is Shyed! And that! He's Noodle!"

N-noodle?

They all gave some form of acknowledgement when Ambrose introduced them, and none of them seemed to think anything said was strange. Ambrose decided to clarify, "No one here uses their real names! We all use our screen names from the forum I told you about!"

Noodle?

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't tear his gaze away from the tall youth who stared equally hard at him.

Ambrose came up from behind and clamped his hand down on Hollis's shoulder. "Noodle doesn't talk much, but when he does, he usually has something really smart to say! He's like a genius."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

...Noodle?

"O-okay, look. I appreciate this...I guess. But I don't need any, uh...forum group or anything like that."

Simultaneously, they all looked disappointed.

"Aw? But Ammy told us that...you have amnesia, isn't that right?" The model-esque girl, Terra pouted her lips, her large green eyes sparkling with what looked akin to diamonds.

"We know we may look a little rough, but trust me," The large man called Tic stepped forward, his broad jaw making his grin appear awkward. "When you have a group to go to, it makes things a lot easier, 'specially when it comes to this whole Somnium thing!"

"Ignore the fact that...this is all a little questionable in the eyes of the law!" Terra giggled in a raspy manner as a bead of sweat dripped down her flawless, almost glittery cheek. In the background Noodle nodded along, his grayish hair bouncing in a soft, rhythmic manner.

Ambrose smirked at all of this positive feedback. "See?" He glanced down at Hollis. "Don't be afraid to ask any of us for anything!"

"It feels like you're just eager to add me to your roster."

"Well!" Ambrose laughed. "I won't disagree! It's always nice to increase your ranks, don't you think?"

The small girl in the giant robe had only watched in silence at first. Now, she decided to speak up. "He's only trying to help. Don't take his offer as a simple act of selfishness, even if it is on some level selfish. He's being nice."

"Kind acts are inherently selfish."

The group turned to Noodle and stared at him in awe.

What the hell is this?

Taking a step back, then a second, he turned to leave hoping no one would notice. Of course, Ambrose did. "You're leaving already?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, come on! You just got here!"

"Yeah."

Upon reaching the exit, Hollis hit a sprint and, in seconds, was back out in the fictional sunlight. In seconds, Ambrose was right at his side.

"I know we're a little weird," he smirked, "But that's just who we are." With a shrug, his head fell dramatically to the side.

"Alright. I don't care."

"You're being a lot harsher than I remember. Did something happen, Hollis?"

"Could you not talk to me like you know me? We're total strangers."

Not to mention, you're probably a fat, middle-aged man underneath that pretty face.

"Oh?" Ambrose's eyes widened and his arms slowly crossed over his chest. "Well, sure. But I figured we were a little beyond total strangers, you know?" Despite the evidently faux surprise, a flash of mischief beamed in his odd yellow-brown gaze. "Dreams are all pretend. So that's what we all are. All of us except you."

Hollis couldn't follow what this boy was saying. Regardless, he let him continue.

"You're the only one here who's trying desperately to be your true self, and that makes you feel left out, doesn't it? You can't play pretend because you have nothing to get away from." Leaning forward, he set himself at eye level with the brunette. "If you want to play pretend, we can help you out." With a tilt of his head, the smirk returned. "Wanna play?"

"..."

Having left Ambrose's mindspace, the two youths decided to enter Hollis's. After Hollis explained the emptiness of it, the taller boy seemed legitimately confused. With no other way to explain it, they decided to investigate it from the inside.

"I mean, sure, your door looked a little strange, but...I've never so much as heard of anything like this."

Ambrose stood in utter shock as he watched the dreams floating by, the voices echoing softly into the empty void around them. Hollis decided he would stop asking questions about things Ambrose seemed to assume he knew.

With a finger on his chin, Ambrose continued. "So, is there anything at all you remember? And...well..." Before he finished, his gaze trailed off and his mouth fell shut. It was as if he felt he shouldn't ask.

"What is it?"

"Well...do you ever dream? I mean...I get being a lucid dreamer, but there should be something here. Not all this emptiness."

Hollis crossed his arms, his eyes falling to the blackness below them. There were no words exchanged between them for a few, long moments before Hollis decided to say it. "I...I think I might be...dead."

"Huh?" The sound came out harsh, like he had choked on it. Ambrose couldn't believe his ears! "Dead? You think you're..."

"I don't know. I mean...I can't remember a thing. I don't even know if Hollis is my name or not and, well..." He turned the thoughts around in his head before finally spitting them out. "I haven't woken up...ever."

"What?" It was soft, barely audible. This was very much unlike Ambrose so far. He looked at Hollis for a moment, then turned his attention to the room surrounding them. He couldn't really rebuke it. It made sense.

"Dead... Hold on. Come here." Ambrose made a motion with his hand as he turned and a door popped up behind him. Hollis was confused but followed along anyway. The door opened up to that familiar white space leaving the two free falling.

"I know I said I'm probably dead, but—"

"Oh, come on! You should know by now that this won't hurt you!"

"But the landing hurts!"

Within seconds, they found themselves in a forest, both managing to nail perfect landings (much to Hollis's surprise). It was a serene forest, beams of gold light broke through the trees and, in the distance they could hear what sounded like rushing water.

Such a serene, peaceful place. Hollis wished a place like this could be his so-called mindspace and not that empty void.

Hearing the snapping of twigs and leaves, Hollis turned to see Ambrose, once again, wandering off. Thus, he followed after.

Ambrose began to speak then. "So, you think you're dead? Any memories around that?"

"No, not really. Well, not at all." Hollis shrugged, but Ambrose wasn't watching.

When they reached a large, thick tree, Ambrose turned to face Hollis and sneered before jumping up to one of the branches. "C'mon. Up here!" Again, he jumped and went higher and higher into the tree. Hollis was hesitant. He wasn't afraid of heights despite the massive amount of falling he had been doing lately, but jumping up into a tree? If he misses, he'll be hurt bad!

Gah! Why am I doing this?

With a couple of breaths, he followed after, making magnificent leaps into the air and scaling the tree with surprising ease. He stopped just below the taller boy who grinned down at him with a look that said, "I told you so!"

"So," Ambrose started, stretching out his arm to highlight the scene. "What d'you think?"

The sky was a blend of orange and blue, the sun setting off in the horizon. Before them was a spread of thick trees that gave way to rocky hillsides with thin slivers of grass running down into a river. And somewhere out there was the one who dreamt all of this up.

"If you're really dead," Ambrose began casually, "then you can visit this stuff all the time. Isn't that pretty cool? You don't have to deal with reality, you can spend all your time in dreams and, well...I guess this makes you immortal, right?"

"Immortal?" He hadn't thought of that. If he is dead, he's also still alive. If his true body is gone, his mind is still living here.

He scrunched up the corner of his mouth, his eyes fixated on the scenery. "I don't know about that... I mean, immortality, that's just a myth. Nothing is immortal."

"Haah?" The taller boy made a sound similar to a groan and a sigh, his head falling to the side. "This sounds a lot like it to me though, you know?"

"Sure. But there's no way I'll really be here forever. If I'm dead out there, something's going to happen that will put an end to this me too. I'm sure of it."

Ambrose put his chin in his hand, his eyes fixated on the scenery now. Things went quiet and neither spoke. After a while, Ambrose said, "There's a lot of 'mights', 'ifs' and 'I don't knows'." Peering to Hollis, who was paying him little mind, he said, "What all do you remember about yourself?"

"What now?"

"If you're stuck here, I'll go out there and see if I can find anything about you." A slight smirk started to appear, but he turned away before Hollis could really see it. "I'll see if I can find any news reports about you. If you could at least tell me where you're from, that'd be a little more helpful."

The brunette kept his mouth shut, but recalling the words of this boy's companions, he gave in.

"...Well...I'm sure I'm from the US..."

"Could you narrow it down?"