You know, it’s… strange, how things can change without ever changing.

Impossible, you say? Ha. And yet it happens all the time. Look at the Earth of today, at what it’s become: a little nest of rats, scurrying this way and that, scrounging up anything and everything they can while they feed their overfed and obese rat kings and rat queens who keep on asking for more more more more while giving nothing back, and all the while the little rats slowly begin losing weight and dying of hunger, and because of that the big ones keep asking for more and more out of the ones that remain, not understanding that, one day, there will be no one left to feed them and they’ll just die of hunger because they never learned how to scavenge for their own food.

That is, if the world these rats live in doesn’t die on them first, for the scavenged food must come from somewhere and, seeing how everyone’s being forced to work so fast, to keep them from thinking, nobody has the time to stop and truly look at the devastation that’s being caused. Or care, actually, because all that matters is the hunt for more food.

That’s why I love this world, for all it is nameless and, in many aspects, similar to Earth. There’s still plenty of rats scurrying around, but these ones have the chance to stop and look around, to think and decided, and if they don’t like what they see they can easily go to their little kings and queens, kill them and feast of the corpse, before starting the cycle anew. Some might say that such instability is bad, that a cycle repeating itself over and over again is the worst thing that could possibly happen to the rat nest, but I disagree. For a cycle, while unchanging, is still better than a fixed point in space, more complex for sure, with more chances for something to go horribly wrong and break it, for a deviation to be born and cut it in half. How can you cut a point in half? It’s simple, you can’t. That’s why things on Earth don’t change, or rather, steadily keep getting worse every year.

Change, even when violent, is always better than stagnation.

The Pillar of Change, sitting in the Web with the Spider and the Pillar of Creation, sipping coffee, understood this a very long time ago in her palace at the edge of Nothing.

But why are you going on such a tangent now, Author? you may be wondering. I can hear your questions, dear readers, do not deny it. Some of you can be so predictable at times. It is, at least, the good kind of predictable, unlike the actions of the rat queens and kings.

Now, let me answer your question: because right now, in a Mind Castle hidden somewhere in the depths of the Land of Dreams, three people are hugging each other and crying, and these three people… are Change. They are the deviation, the something that can go horribly wrong which breaks the cycle. They are the tidal wave that covers the coastal city and drowns everything in its way, unstoppable, impossible to deal with. The gears are in motion, they have been for a long time now, and nobody noticed… or rather, some did, but they decided to wait because they couldn’t understand, they couldn’t see the whole mechanism, the whole story, only the singular, disconnected, gears, floating alone in the air.

And so, while Shadows plot and scheme in the darkness and in nightmares, while a different kind of shadow walks on the surface for the first time in centuries during Winter, while the Game prepares for wars and hunts to come, while the College attempts to do the work it has done for millenia, now more and more hindered, while the Gods plot and while old powers lie in wait for a single man’s promised future to come, the three people who represent this promise hug and cry.

Alice had expected many things when she’d first come to this world, but meeting someone else from Earth? She’d thought she was the only one blessed with such a thing, and that had saddened her to no end.

Liam, on the other hand, had expected the opposite: that others had been called into this new world with him. There was no way in Airm that he had been the only one, the probability was just too low. He just hadn’t expected it would take so little time.

As for Isse? She had expected nothing. The moment she’d arrived in this world she’d had to deal with Siidi, and after that problem had been solved… she had stopped caring about Earth and matters related to it, just enjoying the second chance at life she’d been given, spending time with her sisters and, afterwards, with her soulmate. Everything else had stopped mattering and, truly, she would’ve been happy to remain in that forest all her life.

Then the [Soldiers] had come and taken it all away.

But this? This nobody could take from her.

Unless someone killed her, that is, but she was sure that now she was much harder to kill than she’d been in the forest. And if they succeeded still, well, in that case she would lose everything, so it didn’t matter.

“Could someone explain to me what’s happening?” asked an increasingly confused, and slightly moved if the tear in the corner of her left eye was a sign, Siidi.

Isse tried to tell her, to answer the question, but all she managed was a blubber of random words that meant nothing. So instead she sent a series of images as an explanation and suddenly understanding dawned on Siidi’s features as she sat down, looking calm again, and smiled fondly at the trio.

It took an interminable amount of time for the three to go back to a semblance of calm, eyes red and noses still a bit runny, although Alice solved that problem by creating some tissues out of thin air. They were slightly green for some reason, and fresh, as if they were made from leaves, but it didn’t matter. Noses were blown, eyes dried, throats cleared, and suddenly there was an expectant silent all around them.

The three looked at each other, trying to decide who should start and unable to.

Then Alice reached up towards her face and removed her fox mask. The rose sprouting out of her left eye clung to it for a second, then, as flesh parted from flesh and turned to wood, it passed through the mask’s eye socket, again solidly anchored to her eye.

She looked at the padded insides and, after a moment, nodded.

“My name is Alice. I’m Italian but, when I was brought to this world, I was in England studying pharmaceutical sciences and chemistry. I don’t know how it was for you, but the… transition, yeah, let’s call it that, was sudden. One moment I was sitting in my apartment waiting for my tea to be made, the next I was falling on the grass in the middle of a forest.”

She put her hands down, a seed in her hands disappearing into the strange black, featureless, ground, as she recited a small prayer in the back of her mind: In Narcissus’ name, I call upon thy remembrance of all the sights of luck and death and beg of thee, show me their truths and lies.

A sapling sprouted under her hands, a small, yellow, daffodil that she cradled in her hands, hiding it and, at the same time, hugging it in a show of love. After all, daffodils were vain flowers.

After a moment more of silence Liam sighed and nodded: “My name is Liam and I was born and raised in England. Oxford, to be precise. I… was nobody important, didn’t even really go to uni, I just did half a year of psychology and retired, didn’t like it. I was beginning to learn carpentry from my grandpa before, well, all of this. As for my transition… by the way, I like that word Alice; anyways, I was walking down a street, then I blinked and, well…”

He seemed to hesitate, his face going slightly pale, before he took a shuddering breath and nodded: “I found myself in the middle of a battlefield. I - I… I had to kill a man to get out, and in the end a horse trampled me and, apparently, pulverized my ribcage. A [Necromancer] fixed me up though, so that’s lucky,” he chuckled, although there was no cheerfulness to the sound, a hand going to the back of his head.

Unnoticed by the two other girls he had turned one of the rings in his hand so that only he could see the stone embedded in it. It was the one enchanted with the [Detect Truth] Spell and, when Alice had spoken, he had seen it shine green all the way through. He didn’t know it but he was lucky this conversation was happening in Isse’s Mind Castle, because it was more anchored to reality than the Dream. In the Land his ring would’ve probably been useless.

As for Isse, she kept on casting [Detect Truth] Spells during both of their conversations, checking that the two were indeed telling the truth.

They were friends, the three of them, bound by the commonality of originating from the same dimension, but they’d been in this world long enough (actually, they’d also been on Earth long enough) to learn to ‘trust, but verify’.

Then Alice and Liam turned to look at Isse and she… smiled: “Ah, my name is Issekina Silksoul and, well, as you can see I’m no longer human. I and Alice already know each other, although I knew her by her nickname, Garda.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Unlike the two of you I came to this world after… after I died.

“I was ill for years before coming here, couldn’t leave my bed in the hospital, could barely move. The nurses had to help me with basically everything. And then… I died. It was painful, the coughing hurt like a bitch -”

“Language!” shouted Siidi from the side with a small smile on her face.

“Don’t you start with your half assed Grandmother imitations!” shouted back Isse, although when she turned around she seemed a lot less saddened.

“Anyway, point is, I died, then some words appeared in front of me saying that I was being given total immunity to diseases and poisons for some reason, before saying it there was some kind of error with my species. Then apparently the problem was solved and, well, here I am.

“I was reborn in this body with this dumbass,” she pointed behind herself at Siidi, who shouted ‘hey!’ and acted offended, “in my head and very angry about it. Now we’re friends though.”

Silence fell on the three for a moment more as they both felt awkward for no reason and, at the same time, checked their methods of telling if someone was lying and saw that nothing but the truth was being said.

That was when Alice piped up again: “So, you said your name’s Issekina, or rather, Isse as you like being called. But that’s, like, your name in this world. What were you called in the old one?”

Isse tilted her head to the side: “Does it matter? I’m not that girl anymore. She’s probably buried somewhere underground now.”

“While I do like the image and the whole ‘new self’ thing, it’s just curiosity. What was your name? And where are you from?”

Isse shrugged, opening her mouth to answer that… only to close it a moment later, an expression of pure confusion on her face. She frowned, a hand unconsciously going to her chin as she dredged up her memories from Earth… and failed to find the answer.

“I… can’t remember…?”

She herself wasn’t certain if it was a question or an affirmation.

Stars, she wasn’t even sure if she was just having trouble remembering - no, that was impossible, no matter how long she had spent in this world, she couldn’t just forget her old name. Right?

“What do you mean?” asked Liam with a raised eyebrow. His Truth Stone shone green though: she really couldn’t remember her name and where she was from.

“I just… c̵̖̭̞̫͍̱̗͋̽̅͌̔̑̀̚͜a̸̛͎̬̺̱͚͇͎̓͂͋͋͑̊̀̑ͅn̸̨͔͔̣̘̫̈́͂̌'̸͔̋̊̍̏͘̕͝t̵̗̣̙̘̍͝.”

“You don’t remember your name? What about your parents’ names?” asked Alice, clearly worrying. Ș̶̱̈́ö̷̠̖̱́́̊̏m̷̫̤̺̼͑̍e̵͍̙̹̳͛t̴̠̖̲̥́́͝h̴̪͊͝į̵̨̖͑̾͝n̷̢͉̎͋͘̕g̸̞̗̮̙̒̇̔ ̸͖̃̎̉͝w̴̳̪̐͗͘ã̷̱̞͒s̷̡̡̬̑ň̶̜͝'̸̻̳͙̀̿t̵̫̂͝ ̷̬͇͙͗̓ͅṙ̴̹͕̆̀î̶̮̻̠̄͆͘g̵̃̚͜h̷̛̠̣̤̀͒ṫ̶̳͂̃ ̴̱̘͔͔͒͆͠ḥ̴̢͛̈͂͝ě̵̻̖̭̓͛r̵̙̱̈ĕ̴̞̅̌̌.̴̡̹̌̕

Isse tried to think but she couldn’t remember her parents’ names either. She remembered their faces, her home, the tree she’d climbed up so many times as a child, her old room and the clothes in it, her favorite food, everything, but the moment she tried to concentrate on her parents’ names h̵̨͇̮̫͗͂̈e̷͈̖̘̹͋r̶̹͍̙̤̓̆ ̸̦̹̈̄̿m̴̤̼̑̇͂̓ï̸͔͜͠n̷̯̈́d̵̲̺̠̱̂̈́̽ ̵̧̭̌t̷̤̪͝u̵̼͚͓͛̋r̸̝͉̯͋̇͜n̶̠̳̄̓̑͠ẻ̶̝̲͖̫̽̚͝d̷̳̦͍́̂̒̌ ̷͈̤͈̫͘u̸̩͛̍͛p̴̧̘̙̈́̈ ̶̨̔̎̽à̸̜̪ ̸̮̟̩͔̀̽̉͠ḇ̴̛̳̀̉͌l̷͈̓͒̃ã̴͈́n̷̪̰̪̎ḱ̷̞̳̎.̸̩̥̫̈̊ͅ. As if someone had simply f̴̜̬͍̔͌̀̀o̸̺̪̙͒́͋r̵̡̛̘͖̪̎͂g̷̹̀o̷͚̬̮͌t̵̝̄̆ͅṫ̸̳̹ë̸̼̓̈́̕n̸̨̖͙̲̕͘ ̶̪͕̇̅t̸̜̼̎̑̕ô̸̯͂̔ ̷̼̖̟͆w̵̟̄͌̌r̵̲̐̒̂i̸͍̗̎͗t̷̛̲͔͙̅̍̕ę̷̀̆ ̶̨̰̺̠̇̑̃í̷̜̞́͘͜ͅt̴͚̃̐̀͐ ̵̢̲̟̰̉̈́̾d̶̖́̀͌o̴̢̱̼͆w̶̧̗̥̃̂̇̚ń̶̨̲̠̱̆.̵̼̫͆̌ ̶̡̊̏ͅO̸̩̭̻͋̽̈́r̵̳̰͑̈́͆̈́ ̷̘̮͙́̽n̶͇̺̪̻̑o̵̩̠̎͆̏̏t̵͉͙͓͆͊͛̕ ̷̳̟̱́̀̓c̴͉̼̑a̸͎͖̓̈́r̶̮̹̦̻̈͝ē̴̮̫̪̭̓͘d̷͚̈̋ ̶̭͙̻͇̅̾͒̎ẻ̵̥̼͚̈́͜ǹ̸̝̭̩ò̴̟̖͙͂̉̌͜ǘ̴̳͎̐̋g̵̡̡̠͐h̷̡̙̻͉̑̒͒͠.̷̛͖̘̈́̅͝

“What about your disease? What killed you?”

B̵̤̿u̶̩̻͗̍t̴̞̼͉͐,̶̦͍̳̞̀̅͌̚ ̷̫͉̍̓ḁ̷̂̔̅̚g̶̻̺̭̱͐̀̾ȧ̵͈̈́̎̓i̸͚̾n̷̡̮̼̽,̵̢͚͙̣̈ ̵̺͕̀t̵͖͔̃h̸̠̥̥̿ḙ̵̙̲͛̀͑r̴̨͐̌̌̍ȩ̷̞͐͋̾ ̸͍̻̼͊͑̎w̶͈̓a̶͕͓͌̽͗͐s̷̲̓͊ ̴̺́͗̍n̶̻̪͇͊͌̉ó̵̧͙͊̆ţ̵̟̭̣̽̒ḧ̷͇̮̤́͠ĭ̸̝͗̈́͂ṅ̵͖̹ͅģ̷̬̲̽̋ ̷̨̻͑͜m̸̰̎͘͜o̶̹̳̎̽ȓ̸̠͝e̴̢̯͓̪͛̈́̅̐ ̸͕̘͕͝ṱ̴͋̈́h̵̡͗͑̉͝ạ̸̧̹̟́̈́̎n̵̥̒ ̴̢͑͑͒ą̴̥̟͆̄́͠ ̵̰͕̍̊̾b̶̨̻̻͓̀̎l̷̹̫̮͉̈́̃à̵͙͉̃͑͝n̶̹͒̋̕k̵̪͎̋̈́̾́.̶̨̹̖͍͐

She opened her mouth to talk, tears in her eyes, because she didn’t understand. What was wrong? What had happened? Why? Why couldn’t she remember ȁ̵̞̘̯̽̈̊͜n̸̗̝͗ẙ̸̘͗̈͂ț̵̓̍h̷̯̃ȉ̶̠͔͎̍n̴̨͚̙̥͊̎̃̕g̸̹̦̫͖̋̽?̵̤͎̐̍̕

“Isse, wha -” began Siidi.

[Sta⯀⯀ze Nar⯀ti⯀]

The three of them had been talking for nearly half an hour now. The first had been Alice, who’d explained her arrival to the city of Gunsee (she’d decided to reveal the place she lived in, saying that if they somehow managed to get there she’d gladly meet them), how she’d found a good paying job through which she’d obtained a Potion of Greater Sleep to help with her insomnia and how that had helped her become a [Dreamer]. She even went as far as telling them about her first encounter with a Nightmare, although she decided to keep secret the fact that she had saved the life of a member of the College of Memoirs, even though he was a traitor. After all, who knew what Isse would do if she knew that one of the people who was part of the group that caused the end of her clan had been helped by her.

Then Liam’s turn had come,, where he’d told them about Rodar and Pemos, the capital city of the Kingdom of Nagid, where he lived now and was training to become a better [Mage Crafter]. He explained in depth the matter of his Condition, [Dreams Painted Red], then proceeded very fast to change subject and talk about his project for a gun that could shoot forever.

“So, you created gunpowder and now you want to make a gun? Do you want this world to become a sort of Earth 2, Electric Boogaloo or some shit like that?”

“Nothing of the sort. Apparently the dwarves already knew about gunpowder anyway. And as for my gun, I’d dare anyone to try and replicate it… whenever I succeed at making it. If I succeed.”

Alice shrugged: “I don’t know jackshit about the technicalities of magic. I’m an [Occultist] and I work with plants after all. You know anything Isse?”

“Nope. I do Spells at most, and even then not that many for now.”

That ended that conversation.

Then it was Isse’s turn and she told them about how she’d arrived in this world, of the initial struggle with Siidi and the Trials they’d gone through.

“Woah, that Grandmother was a piece of shit. I would’ve loved to know her. Doing what has to be done to help someone else no matter what sounds like a cool thing.”

“Yes, well, she was indeed a piece of shit about it, but… it helped, am I right Siidi?”

The other arachne, who’d mostly stayed silent, letting them talk among each other, nodded: “It helped, yes, although it hurt like Airm.”

Then she went on, talking about the magic lessons, about her soulmate and, in the end, about the fatidic night that had brought an end to her life of happiness.

“Now I live in -”

“Don’t say it.”

“...What? Why?”

“Just don’t. It’s safer if we don’t know where you are Isse, since apparently anyone who finds out would want to see you dead.”

“Well, not everyone, but close enough.”

“Yes. So, don’t. You know where we are, and you know we could help. Each of us can help the other if it comes down to it. That’s all we need to know. Alright?”

“Alright!” said both Liam and Isse in chorus.

Then they talked about other things, mostly memories from Earth, things they missed from their old world and things they absolutely did not.

Then Alice stood still for a moment and looked around: “Guys, I can feel heat on my face. The sun’s rising, we’ll be waking up soon. Liam, take off that amulet around your neck, it’ll let your necklace work its magic on your brain again. But… I suggest you find a solution to that problem, and fast. That… thing, the Headless Knight. It’s not your typical Nightmare. It wants things, it has desires. I fear it’ll be able to do something about this trick of yours sooner or later.”

Liam nodded, a bead of sweat traveling down his back. He hadn’t told them about his latest Skill: [Bound Item:The Knight’s Bag of Holding].

Then Alice turned towards Isse and, after a moment of them looking each other in the eyes, hugged her: “Take care of yourself, you little spider girl knockoff.”

Isse hugged her back and chuckled in her shoulder: “You do that too, you Mad Hatter knockoff.”

Then they disentangled and Alice took out a needle from a pocket in her nightgown, pricking Liam (after receiving her flowery charm back), whose eyes were already beginning to go blank, and then herself when he disappeared.

Then Isse, too, woke up.

----------------------------------------

As Liam opened his eyes he could hear words resounding in the back of his mind.

[Condition: Dreams Painted Red]

He didn’t know what the fuck was happening, but he wasn’t against it.

----------------------------------------

When she opened her eyes Isse immediately felt that something was off.

She felt hot all over, as if she had a small fever, but the heat concentrated mainly deep inside… her lady bits.

She groaned, face planting in her cushion.

I’m in heat. Fuck!

Fuck indeed, tried to joke Siidi, with little success if the grumble she got back as response was anything to go by.

Weren’t arachne supposed to go in heat, like, once a year?

Normally, yes, but I’d wager your [Improved Breeding] Skill is playing a trick on you.

Isse groaned even louder in her cushion.

This would be a complex one to explain to Albert.