As soon as the idea occurred to him, Soral began to rummage through his pockets for any suspicious mushrooms or anything else that might be poisonous. Of course, just any poisonous thing wouldn’t do. Soral still had standards. If he had to eat it, it should taste good.

“What are you doing?” Howler asked.

“Looking for poison,” Soral answered honestly.

Howler visibly tensed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he quickly disagreed.

“It’s fine. I’ve had loads of poison before and nothing did anything like that alcohol.”

“Then at least stick to the ones you know,” Howler bargained. He did not want another incident under his watch, especially so close to the Gray Tower. The Black Wolf was practically watching over them.

“Fine,” Soral agreed.

That would guarantee taste as well. Finding his pockets lacking, Soral got up and took to the forests to gather what he needed fresh. Howler followed him closely, not willing to let him go on his own. Jazz was there as well, of course. It had been a while since he had mushroom stew, so Soral decided to go all out.

He found his favorite purple mushrooms, some nice yellow and red spotted ones he had sampled, some vibrant leaves he thought had a nice spicy flavor, and a few confirmed ‘normal’ ingredients as well. With his ingredients gathered, he went back to the castle to test the newly restored and furnished kitchen.

It took him a few hours to finish the perfect mushroom stew, but it was all worth it when he took his first bite. It truly was a shame that no one else could enjoy this with him. Jazz licked the sauce off the spoon before Soral could stop him and seemed to like it. He was magical, so maybe poison didn’t affect him either?

Howler shook his head as he watched them eat. He had seen everything that went in there, and knew far more about what the ingredients were than he wanted to. Both cat and boy happily ran out to the tree to test the idea.

Just as Soral had hoped, his magic was brimming again. He fed the tree and watched it grow larger again. More leaves sprouted, and a few tiny blooms began to appear. Soral chowed down more soup and tried again. And again. And again.

The soup now finished, Soral gave the tree one last push of magic, the trunk now about as thick as his wrist and the blossoms spread nicely throughout. He thought he spotted the tiniest little fruit beginning to grow.

“I did it!” he exclaimed, relief and fulfillment washing over him. Something else washed over him too. Dizziness. His excited jump had upset his balance and the sudden crash of tiredness did not allow him to regain it.

Soral collapsed, almost immediately losing consciousness on the hard cracked cobble. As had become routine, he opened his eyes in the dream realm. This time it was the dream realm again, not the nightmare.

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This time the path looked to be made of mushroom cap stepping stones in many vivid colors. When Soral moved his foot he discovered they were springy too. This was a realm, but he was still dreaming, right? He was perfectly free to bounce in mushrooms in his dream.

And he did. As he did so, he heard a voice in his mind, stronger than usual. ‘Visit me, my child,’ Insanity beckoned.

“How?” Soral asked back, pausing in his jumping surprisingly easily.

‘Fall through the gaps of the path into the nightmare realm. I live deep in the abyss of darkness.’

“Why are you there?’ Soral asked, confused, “Aren’t you their mother too?”

‘You will understand,’ she replied, a bit of regret in her tone.

Soral had wanted to meet her, so he willingly took the dive off of the bouncy mushroom path. As he fell, the bright pastels of the dream realm sank into muted grayish versions, turning darker and darker with occasional streaks of black or deep red.

She had said the abyss, so Soral leaned towards the darkest area beneath him, and it wasn’t long before he couldn’t see anything at all. He felt his feet land, but it had no more pressure than his earlier jumps despite the long fall. The abyss was silent. Not only could he see nothing, but he heard nothing as well. As he moved forward, he began to doubt he even felt the ground beneath his feet.

“Insanity?” he called, feeling the nerves kick in. His voice echoed slightly, then vanished as if swallowed by the void surrounding him.

‘There is no need to move,’ Insanity assured him, ‘I am here. I dwell in darkness and shadows.’

“Oh,” Soral replied. There was certainly no darkness thicker than this.

‘This is a place I created for myself, deep within the realms of my beloved twins. I cannot bear the light anymore. In the words of those in reality, I have fallen to darkness.’

“What does that mean?” Soral asked.

‘Do not fear. It does not mean I am evil,’ Insanity assured, ‘One day, I may be able to find my way back again, but I need your help.’

“Mine?” Soral asked.

‘The dream kings and I are easily tainted by the evils of reality,’ Insanity explained, ‘You were born in a place of evil, in a vessel far more resistant than our own. My only wish is for you to prosper in reality. Do this and I can be at peace.’

“Why do you care so much for me?” Soral asked, “I am not really your son.”

‘You are not,’ Insanity agreed, ‘Not in the way you are thinking now. You are far closer than that. A part of me. A beloved being of hope.’

This was just as confusing as prophecies. It probably was prophecy since she was speaking of the future. “I’ll try my best,” he offered, before suddenly feeling a strong pull.

The next thing he knew he stood before the throne of a furious nightmare king. “What were you thinking?!” Chaos demanded, “Were you trying to lose yourself in the Dream Realm?!”

“Of course not,” Soral told him, “I just ended up here and went to visit Insanity.”

“Insanity lives in the deepest depths of dream. If I hadn’t grabbed you, there is no telling if you could have escaped the abyss on your own.”

Soral felt a chill as he remembered the darkness. “Thanks for saving me.”

Chaos froze mid angry rant, unsure of what to do now. “I… well… You… You’re welcome,” he finally managed, “You should go wake up now.” There was a tinge of red to his ears as he looked away and waved Soral to awaken in reality.

==========

Densooth scowled as he listened to Howler finish his report on exactly why Soral had fainted in the courtyard. That stupid brat. He had given him the benefit of the doubt just once. Despite their earlier argument he had yet to actually publicize a ban anywhere but the Oasis. However, this experimentation with poison meant that he couldn’t leave things to Soral’s discretion. How long before he decided to do some little tests with alcohol as well?

If it were anyone else, Densooth wouldn’t care. Let their magic go rogue, and watch them destroy themselves. But he had felt the very fabric of the world quake when Soral lost control, and for the first time in centuries, was taken by fear. Whatever that was could not be allowed to happen again.

“Zarius,” Densooth called, and the phoenix appeared next to him, “I will release the decree. Be sure it is added to every license to sell and brew. Oh, and just in case, let’s be sure he isn’t able to get a hold of any poisons with similar effects.”

“It will be done,” Zarius promised, “You’ve grown quite bold to order me around like this.”

“Would you rather take my task instead?” Densooth questioned as he rose.

“No. I will leave the squabbling children to you,” Zarius replied, quickly vanishing before Densooth could offer again.

Howler, overwhelmed by the presence of the phoenix, trembled slightly as the full force of Densooth turned to him instead.

“Take me to him,” the Black Wolf ordered, “It seems the two of us have much to discuss.”