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Chapter 1 - Lost

-Earth-

Autumn, 2011

"As you can see in this slide, contributions are up four percent from last year at this time, putting us on target for our projections." The old man at the head of the table had been speaking for twenty minutes and showed no signs of slowing down. His slideshow was the sole source of light in the room. "Recent budgetary adjustments explain this variation…" Everyone in the crowd of well-dressed individuals around the table listened intently to the director, except for one.

'Why does an intern need to attend a budget committee meeting?' thought the young man at the back corner of the room. 'I'm just a researcher. I could be getting so much else done right now…' He looked back to his notepad. Since the meeting began, the blank page in front of him had transformed into a map of another world with some notes of its history in the margins. A castle by the shore dominated the region, while elves from the forests struggled valiantly against orc raiders. 'If only the real world were as interesting as…uh-oh…' The ceiling lights flashed on.

The intern looked up to find the entire committee facing him. "I said, how are the recent economic indicators looking, Mr. Anderson? You are with us at this meeting, no?" asked the director from the end of the table, a hint of disappointment on his face.

Mr. Anderson stood up. "Of course. As noted on page 3 of the handout, at the bottom, analysis is ongoing," the intern explained with confidence as he effortlessly shifted from the imaginary world back to Earth. "Municipal tax totals from last year are listed just after that, though as I cite on page 4, the census population estimates will not be out for another month. Again, it's all right here in the packet." He held up a copy of the paperwork each committeeman had in front of him, and smiled at the director as he took his seat. The audience considered the report in silence, some members slowly nodding, others glancing through the packet he had just referenced.

The director was unmoved. "Thank you Jacob, that is all. You may return to your cubical now."

'You mean my cell,' thought Jake as he quickly gathered his materials and left the room without a word. The director followed him out into the hallway as another committeeman began his report.

"Are you ever really here, Jacob?" inquired the director.

"Well, I've been on time every day, and with the overtime-"

"You know what I mean." He pointed to the drawing Jake had failed to hide among his other paperwork. "I don't understand how one day, you can put together an excellent quarterly report, and the next, display the attention span of a ten-year-old during our meeting," he sighed. "You're good, but you just don't have the attitude for a job like this. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? In fact, take next week as well. I'm sure we'll manage without you. I want you to take that time to consider if this research position with my company is right for you after all. And maybe start investigating…other options for yourself if you cannot conform to the employee culture here." Without waiting for a response, the director returned to the boardroom, closing the door behind him.

'Thank you, sir. A week off would be wonderful,' Jake thought as he scribbled a few notes to himself at his desk before leaving, perhaps for the last time. 'Conform or leave. There's no excitement in office work, anyway. Just talk, and meetings…'

It was a blustery autumn afternoon as Jake drove through University City from the office complex where he worked to the college that had inspired the town's name. A chilly Midwest wind was bringing an early hint of winter as clouds gathered on the western horizon. The school had arranged the internship position for him as an opportunity for research experience, but so far, the only lesson Jake had learned was how mundane office life really was. 'At least they're paying me. Plus, the alternative was helping the professors teach undergrads', he reminded himself as he arrived at Strahler Hall, home of the graduate student and researcher offices.

The hall was nearly vacant. By Friday afternoon, most of the students and faculty had either completed their work or given up for the weekend. Despite what had happened at the board meeting, Jake whistled happily on the way to his campus office, passing several other faculty and students. The freedom promised by the upcoming week put him in a cheerful mood.

"Hey, Mark." He greeted one of the other grads as he entered the office. Jake shared a room with several other students and researchers.

"Hello, Jake. What's new with you this fine Friday afternoon?"

"Another boring day at work, and looking forward to a light class load next week. How about you? Anything exciting going on around here?"

"I'm just finishing this presentation…now." Mark clicked the 'send' button, zapping an email off into the cyberspshere. "That, and campus security has been stepped up today. Someone broke in to the university museum last night." He held up a copy of the school newspaper with the word STOLEN printed in giant letters on the front page.

Jake took the paper and glanced through the story. "Wow. Looks like they cleared out the old jewelry collections. A bunch of old Native American pieces missing, too. Makes me glad I went with history instead of anthropology – no one bothers to steal old medieval records. Glad I'm not caught up in this."

Mark gave him a questioning look. "Really? You're the one always complaining about the lack of excitement in academia. A robbery like this on campus sounds like the perfect opportunity for you. Like in those fantasy books we always see you reading in here instead of doing your class work. I'm surprised you don't already have a Sherlock Holmes hat and coat on, looking for the thief," he joked.

"Tempting," Jake laughed. "Nah, let the heroes and thieves stay in my stories. There's too much risk getting involved in something like this in real life. And I'll get my homework done… eventually." He returned his attention to the news story. There was a picture of one of the stolen articles, an ancient pendant, further on in the newspaper. It was a green gem set in silver, looped on a silver chain forming a necklace. "What does campus police have to say about this?"

"Heightened security for the next few days. Only students and staff permitted on campus property, and the guards will be checking for identification if you look suspicious. No one got a look at the thief, and the school never did budget the money for surveillance cameras like they said they would."

"Well, that's because we're a public institution, so we depend on the state for money, and our state is broke," Jake said matter-of-factly as he skimmed the story again. He set down the paper and turned towards his own desk, hanging up his long coat and removing his gray tie. "But I guess the extra security will help since its Halloween next week. That means more parties and trouble from the younger students. You have any plans for the weekend?"

"Yeah, getting out of here. Heading up to Madison to see family and friends. Halloween party, maybe. Have you started your thesis yet?" Mark asked.

"Is it due tomorrow?" Jake sighed. "Going through those medieval finance records again is the last thing I want to do with my time tonight."

"You chose that subject. Do you have any real plans for this afternoon?"

"No, just get caught up on some class work. I might be taking some time off next week," Jake replied as he turned on to his computer.

"Right, 'class work,' like those online adventure comics you'll inevitably end up reading instead. Or more drawings. Seriously Jake, you must be the least motivated history grad in your department. It's a miracle you get anything done," Mark replied as he gathered some paperwork and donned his coat.

"Hasn't stopped me from getting the highest class grades, somehow. Besides, sometimes I just need a distraction to keep life interesting."

"'Sometimes' is all the time for you," Mark said as he walked out the door. "Have a good weekend."

"You, too" Jake called after him before turning back to his desk. 'I can't help it if we live in the Boring Age...' He took out the map he had been sketching earlier and added more details as his computer slowly hummed to life. He drew an Elven tree-city in the south and a mountain kingdom in the northwest. He then went to attach the map to his corkboard alongside some others, only to find that his stapler was missing – he would need to go find a replacement.

Eve, the building secretary, was just leaving as Jake arrived at the administrative office two floors down. "Good afternoon, Jacob. Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for a new stapler. Do I need to submit a request for one or are there any around I could take?"

"I'm sorry, but we're low on supplies at the moment. Our delivery was pushed back to next week. You'll need to check back then." Eve shooed him out of her office as she locked the door. "If you're staying late to study again, would you mind locking the main entrance on your way out? You're the only one left in the building with a key."

"Sure, no problem. Who else is here?" Jake asked, eager to help.

"Nathan is finishing up in the map room, and some undergrad was napping in the student lounge earlier today. I'm not sure if she's left yet. Can you make sure they're both out before you go?"

"Of course."

"Security has been stepped up on campus because of the robbery last night if you haven't heard, so if you have any trouble there should be an officer or two nearby outside. Have a good weekend, Jacob."

"You too, Eve. See you on Monday."

Jake returned to his office after given up on finding a stapler. Nathan had finished for the day and left shortly after Eve, making him the sole waking person in the building, apart from an occasional visit by campus police. 'My own personal kingdom for the evening,' he thought as he began a half-hearted attempt to outline a project due in two weeks. But within ten minutes, he was back in the fantasies of distraction – there would be sufficient time later to complete the assignment, he knew.

Hours passed. 'Maybe I should have been a writer, or something more creative,' he mused as he put the final touches on a sketch of the castle from his map earlier in the day.

Jake peered out the window. It was nearly dark. The overcast sky vailed the sunset and promised a wet night, possibly even snow. The clouds had transitioned through steadily darker shades of gray until blackness descended on the city. A red glow to the east under-lit the clouds, a reminder of the great metropolis in that direction, miles away from cornfield-bound University City. The streetlights flickered on, one by one. With the day ending, Jake decided to return home.

He checked his phone; no messages, as normal. "Sigh…" He shut down the computer and surveyed the room a final time before taking the newspaper Mark had left. 'Just a fifteen-minute drive, and I will be home to read until I fall asleep. Maybe Dune or the Lord of the Rings…' Jake considered his options for the night as he walked down the hall. 'Several exciting days to explore better places than middle-of-nowhere, Illinois. Then back to this drudgery. I wish I didn't need to work on my thesis, though. Or find a new job…' He locked the office door and descended to the main floor of the building.

After seeing that the door to the student lounge was still open, he recalled Eve's message about the student sleeping there. From the end of the hall, he called, "I hereby order that this building be vacated! Time to go, undergrad! If you're still there!"

No response. 'That kid must really be out of it. Oh well, a good prodding should fix that.'

Jake found the person still asleep on a couch in the lounge, with her back to the door and the hood on her jacket drawn up. Tufts of red hair stuck out from under it. 'Sleeping in a university office hall on a Friday night? At least I'm not the only one here without a life,' he thought.

He stood at the doorway and called in as authoritative a voice as he could muster, "You are hereby commanded to leave this building. Time to go home." Not a twitch from the sleeper. Jake crossed the room, muttering to himself, "sigh… come on, kid. It's late. You really need to get going." He reached down to gently shake her by the shoulder. "Listen, I'm leaving now, so-" He froze mid-sentence as the girl suddenly stirred, swiftly turned her head and looked up at him. Jake found himself staring into two green eyes set in an orange, black and white face of fur. "…C-cat?" was all he could stammer out before he realized he was falling. An instant later, Jake was pinned face-down to the floor by the girl with the green eyes and tiger-striped face.

There followed several tense moments in which Jake laid on his stomach in stunned silence, wondering what to do, as the girl quickly scanned the room. She watched the door for a few seconds, listening, before returned her attention to Jake. His mind slowly began to work again. 'I've been attacked by …something. Need to call security…'

The fur-faced individual looked at Jake thoughtfully for a moment. "You're not dressed like the other guards here," she observed. "Are you one of them? Who's with you? Is anyone else waiting out there?"

"N-No. Just me, just a student," Jake answered shakily. He tried to look up at his assailant. "Who are you?"

The assailant smiled. "Name's Felicity." She got up and helped Jake to his feet as well. She stood about a head shorter than Jake. "Sorry about tackling you just now. I wasn't sure who you were when I heard you walking down the hall, so…" Felicity explained with a shrug.

"No, that's…understandable, I guess." Jake thought for a moment as he rubbed the back of his head, thankful for the thick carpeting in the room. "I'm Jacob, by the way." He offered his hand.

She shook it. "Glad to meet you, Jake." Her hand was as fur-covered as her face, and her fingernails were reminiscent of feline claws. Felicity appeared to be a normal woman in her mid twenties, except that every inch of what should have been exposed flesh was covered in orange and white fur with black stripes, like a tiger. Her face, though mostly human under the fur, had a general feline air to it as well. With the hood of her green zip-up hoodie lowered, Jake noticed two long pointed ears decorated with gold rings, while straight red hair flowed halfway down her back and over her forehead. Her blue cargos stopped above the ankles, exposing more orange and black fur above her shoes. Her wrists were adorned with some kind of long armband studded with jewels, one on each arm, which extended up into the sleeves of the hoodie.

"So… what's with the costume?" Jake asked as he tried to comprehend the figure before him, and perhaps keep her talking long enough to contact the police.

"What costume?" Felicity replied, tilting her head to one side in confusion.

"The fur make-up, the fake ears and nails, the jewelry…"

Felicity bent one of her ears, and it immediately snapped pack into position when she let go. "No costume here, kiddo. Just…me."

"No way. That must be fake."

"Oh? And how do I know that your pale skin, glasses and fancy clothes ain't fake? Maybe you're the one in a costume, buddy!" she shot back, still smiling.

Jake regarded her for a moment, then closed his eyes and shook his head. "How do I know I'm not dreaming?" he whispered himself.

"Why wouldn't you think this is real?"

"Because you don't usually find catpeople on campus, maybe? Beside, why were you even sleeping in here this late? I've never seen you in this department."

"Uh, I was tired?" she replied. "I had a late night yesterday. When I saw someone else asleep in here earlier, I thought that's what this room was used for."

"No, this is the day lounge. That was probably just someone napping between classes." Jake decided that contacting the police would not be necessary - despite the ambush, Felicity seemed harmless enough. He glanced at his phone for the time, starting to get tired of Felicity's game, whatever it was. "Look, it's getting late, and I need to lock this building up for the night. But I can give you a ride back to your residence hall if you want. Where do you live?"

"Dreamland."

"…Dreamland?"

"That's right," she explained eagerly. "You know, home to great castles, dragons, monsters and magic. Don't you remember it?"

Another thoughtful pause from Jake followed. "Um….no. Are you even a student here?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, I was looking for an old friend. But I may have ended up in the wrong town…" Felicity replied with a distant look in her eyes, as if suddenly lost in thought.

"Wait, how do you go to visit someone and end up in the wrong town?" Jake pressed, oblivious to the distractedness of her reply.

"I'm not sure. The teleportation spell from Dreamland worked fine a few months ago. I ended up at Nicole's school, here on Earth, and found her right away…" Felicity snapped her attention back to the present. "Nicole is the friend I'm looking for. She would visit me in Dreamland every night back when we were kids. We fell outta touch as she grew up, but rediscovered each other not too long ago." Felicity's face beamed at the memory. "But then yesterday when I tried to use the same spell to see her again, I wound up in this place," she finished, motioning around her.

The doubt was clear on Jake's face. "Sure… Well, wherever you're from, you can't stay in this building any longer. I'm closing it for the night. Also, if you haven't heard, the campus is under a bit of a security situation right now, so non-students, such as yourself, shouldn't even be here."

"Drats. And here I thought I'd found a safe, dry place for tonight…" Felicity slumped her shoulders in disappointed.

"There's a motel some way south of here on Fairview Street, near the tollway. That's probably your best bet," Jake suggested, the desire to help momentarily overcoming his wish to simply get home for the evening.

Felicity pulled several gold coins from her pocket. "Do you think they take Dreamland sheckels for payment?" She flipped one of the coins in the air and let it land on the table next to them. It spun for a few seconds before falling on its side.

Jake sighed in frustration. He was tired and just wanted to leave. Strangers claiming to be from other worlds belonged in books, and had no logical reason to be in his office building. "Please, enough. Excellent costume, superb details on the backstory, plus realistic props, too. Whatever cosplay show or costume contest you're entering with this, I wish you the best. But please, come back to Earth for a moment. You need to leave, back to your residence hall, or 'Dreamland,' or anywhere else you want to, so I can go home. OK?"

Felicity was taken aback by the outburst. "Fine, be that way, Jake! I'll leave…" She turned and walked towards the door, muttering to herself, "So much for finding friends here. Back to square one…" She stopped at the door, glanced back at Jake with sad, hurt eyes, and then was gone. Moments later, Jake heard the front door slam shut as she walked out into the night.

'Maybe I should call security…but she seems harmless enough.' Jake picked up the gold coin Felicity had left on the table and studied it. 'I could have been nicer, though… Should I apologize? …Meh. She's gone now.' One side of the coin was emblazed with an image of a reptilian head and the words 'Rex Nicodemus Dreamland.' The reverse had a large '10' on it. 'Real metal. This is actually kind of impressive. I wish I could be as dedicated to a hobby as she is to this cosplay character. Though I wonder exactly who she was supposed to be…" He glanced at the clock on the wall. 'I guess it's not THAT late. No harm in taking a few minutes to see what I can find online,' Jake thought as he headed back up the stairs to his office. He switched on the computer, hoping he had enough clues for Google to give him an answer. Though skeptical of her story, he wanted to find out who that girl had been pretending to be. 'Having another fantasy world to explore in my down time wouldn't be so bad.'

But she had seemed so authentic. A part of Jake wanted – hoped – believed – that she had been telling the truth. That she really was from another world, and had somehow managed to find her way to Earth. Perhaps this was the adventure he had always been hoping for, that the other grads teased him for wanting.

He started entering search terms. 'Felicity… Dreamland… Where could that be from? Lovecraft? No, not those Dreamlands. Contact? Can't be, that was science-fiction,' Jake thought as he scrolled through the results. 'Felicity… catgirl… Nicole… Dreamland… Not from Heinlein, not Forgotten Realms, not DC or Marvel…maybe…Success!' Google had found a match.

'The Dreamland Chronicles. So, she's a webcomic character. Interesting… But where is… here we go, story and character summary.' Jake spent a few minutes exploring the website and comic summary, learning the basics of the characters and the premise of the story. 'Dreamland: a magical realm that children visit when they dream. Somehow a guy named Alex Carter is dragged back to Dreamland as an adult to fulfill his destiny as King. Sounds like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign' he thought as he made his way through the site.

'Alex falls in love with an elf-princess, her parents get captured by a dragon, and Alex fights the dragon for the throne of Dreamland. Classic…' He skimmed ahead, looking for any reference to the catgirl he had just met. 'Now I see. Alex has some help along the way. Looks like Felicity even rescues him from a dungeon and steals some magical artifact from the dragon. A rock-giant, a fairy, a centaur and a few more elves round out the central cast. And Nicole?'

Jake kept reading. 'Oh cool. There's an earthside storyline as well. Back in the waking-world, Nicole and Alex's brother Daniel try to figure out what these dreams are all about, then help him plan the fight against the dragon. Huh…' He bookmarked the site for later use. 'Pretty cool premise, interesting characters and great artwork. And apparently a dedicated fanbase, judging by all the feedback in the comments section. Definitely worth checking out at some point. In fact…' he came to a realization. 'Those new books at home Jess bought for me… I think this was it. The style is so similar. I guess they just moved to the top of my to-read list. Well, now I have answers. Time to go.'

After closing up the office again, Jake headed down the stairs and out the door of Strahler Hall, locking it behind him. He shivered in the cold night air. It began to rain as he made his way towards the parking garage down the street. Drops of rain glistened against the dark background of night while the dampened pavement reflected the streetlight's silver glow. Walking through the urban canyon of offices and lecture halls, Jake marveled at the scene as he fiddled with the Dreamland sheckel coin in his hand. 'Raining, long-coat attire, walking through a deserted city block on a Friday night, off to escape into a world of fiction for the weekend…how dystopian our world is. Just needs a police siren…'

As if on cue, the loud wail of a police car erupted down the street behind him. Jake shook his head at the coincidence, but then froze mid-step as several pieces of information finally clicked together in his mind. 'The stolen artifacts from the museum last night… Felicity said she'd had a late night… and the webcomic described her character in the story as a thief…' Jake paused under a streetlight for a moment, then turned and looked up the street behind him.

The police car had stopped, lights flashing, about half a block to the north. 'You're really taking this character acting a bit too seriously, aren't you Felicity? How did you even get into the museum?' Jake's thoughts turned to himself. 'Should I let her get caught, if that is her? It's not my business. And that's probably not even her, anyway.'

But then something Mark had said earlier in the day came back to him as well. "You're the one always complaining about the lack of excitement, Jake." 'Well, let's make life interesting. Take a chance.' He turned around, and started walking in the direction of the flashing lights.

Jake made his way up the deserted street towards the police car, not sure what he would encounter, though as he got closer, he somehow knew that Felicity would be involved. And sure enough, as he approached the end of the block, there she was. The catgirl stood balancing on the back of a sidewalk bench while a police officer waited by the car, talking to her. Jake recognized the policeman by his voice as one of the campus traffic cops during the day, and a classmate from the previous semester.

"I'm not going to ask you again, ma'am. You're going to need to come down here, and show me some identification, or I'll have to arrest you," the officer was saying.

Felicity laughed in reply. "Ha! When pigs fly! You'll have to catch me first!" As the officer took a few steps forward, she jumped effortlessly from the bench to a tree branch above in a way that no human was ever able to.

The officer automatically moved a hand to his sidearm in surprise. "How in… That's it. You're under arrest for-"

"STOP!" Jake called as he approached the scene after running the last stretch.

Surprised, the officer turned and faced him. "Jacob Anderson, you know better than to get involved in a police issue like this." Felicity watched them cautiously.

"Oh common, Allen," Jake replied. "Don't you recognize Jess? That's my sister." He snuck a quick smile at Felicity, who responded with the barest hint of a nod after a moment's hesitation.

Allen looked at Felicity, struggling to discern her features in the rainy darkness, then turned back to Jake. "That's Jessica? Really?"

"Yeah, she's in that Shakespeare performance downtown tomorrow. She's been trying to get in character all week. You didn't notice her costume pics on facebook?" Years of reading stories had trained Jake to come up with his own at a moment's notice when he had to. He didn't care if the story was true, he just needed a reasonable-sounding explanation.

"Apparently not. I never realized she was into acting, I guess." The cop looked up at Felicity, still sounding slightly confused. "How did you jump like that? It was like something a ninja would do."

"Practice," she called down with a grin.

Allen sighed and turned his attention back to Jake. "Ok, I'll let this go. Jess could be nicer when dealing with the police, though. You're just darn lucky that I happen to know both of you, and that I didn't call in the stop to HQ first, like normal. Otherwise, I'd need to follow through. With security tight like this after the museum break-in, we'll need to see actual identification from now on. No more vouching for someone you know." Allen looked up to Felicity, and back at Jake. "Have a good night, you two." He then got into the police car and left. A light rain continued to fall.

'Our ever-vigilant campus police,' Jake thought as he watched the police car speed away. After making it down from the tree, Felicity walked over to where Jake was standing under a nearby streetlight, and looked up at him without a hint of the tension from their previous encounter. "So I'm your sister now? Jess, was it?"

"Jessica. And only if we encounter any more cops tonight. Come on." They started walking back down the street towards the parking deck.

"Where are we going, 'brother?'"

"Back to my home, so you and my sister, the real Jessica, can tell me about the Dreamland Chronicles, and how that prompted you to steal something from the museum here."

"I didn't know Dreamland had a chronicle," Felicity mused, conveniently ignoring the second part of Jake's statement.

"No, The Dreamland Chronicles. I checked online and found out about the books, and the internet comic, too," Jake explained. Felicity just stared blankly back at him. "You've really never heard of the Dreamland Chronicles?" he asked.

"No. I don't even know what an internet is," she replied.

"You must be joking. You really don't know about the story that basically explains who you are? The magical world with Alex and the other characters? The elf princess and the rock giant?" Jake asked in amazement. "Then how did you find that costume idea?"

Felicity sighed and shook her head. "Why is this so hard for you to believe? First, we have names. Paddington is the rock giant, and Nastajia is the elf. Second… a story? Seriously?" she went on, the frustration clear on her face. "So you think we're just make-believe characters conjured up for your entertainment?"

"You know, you can cut the roleplaying act any- Ow!" Felicity cuffed Jake's ear.

"Did that feel like make-believe to you, Jake!?" Felicity demanded. "Just look at me! Look at that sheckel. Think about everything you've seen me do tonight. Now, can you honestly tell yourself that this is all made-up?"

Jake looked at Felicity as he rubbed his ear. Something… Something about her reaction as he mentioned the webcomic… Something about the way her eyes seemed to reflect the glow of the streetlight… Something about the way the rain ran through the fur on her face and hands, and her gentle shivers in the cold breeze… Something about the new cat-like scratches on his left ear…

Everyone changes. Some people change gradually over time, slowly morphed by the experiences they endure. Other people change quickly as a result of a single event or realization. People who have made such sudden changes can often point to a specific time or person that prompted the change. For the rest of his life, Jake would be able to look back to that night, seeing Felicity's face there under the streetlight, dripping with rain, as the moment when he decided that perhaps there was more to the world than he'd always known, that he could believe in Dreamland, and believe everything Felicity had said. Just as he'd hoped he could.

Jake looked down at the sheckel coin he was still holding. "So then… kids going to Dreamlands… flying around with Alex and the elf princess… the rock giant and the dragon… and your friend Nicole… it's all true…"

"Yes, yes, YES! That's only what I've been trying to tell you since we met…" Felicity reached up and put her hands on Jake's shoulders as she spoke, looking him in the eyes. "It's ALL true! Alex, Dan and Nicole in your world, me, Nastajia and Paddington in mine. The people, the dragon, the castles, the magic, the monsters, everything."

Jake paused before responding. "But now you're in this world. So are you lost, then?"

"Yeah…kinda." She turned her back to Jake and took a few steps away, staring off down the street, or perhaps staring back at a memory. "I was looking for Nicole. She and I were like sisters when we were kids, when she would visit Dreamland every night, but we got separated about ten years ago. Never heard from each other again. I gave up all hope of ever reuniting. That's…just what happens to childhood friendships in Dreamland. As kids get older, they stop coming. But then I met Alex. He knows Nicole in this world, and helped us write letters to each other. It was…magical, hearing from her again, knowing that she remembered me… learning that she was ok… Eventually, we even tried to bring her into Dreamland using the same magic that Alex uses, but…" Felicity shook her head. "We failed. But not long afterwards, I found an old spell that allows Dreamlanders to enter your world." She turned back to Jake, beaming. "And it worked! I got to spend an afternoon with Nicole. She bought me this outfit so I could fit in a little," she laughed, motioning towards her clothes.

"But then I had to go back to Dreamland. Alex is a king there and needs my help sometimes, so I couldn't be gone long. This was all a few months ago. Next chance I got, I tried the spell again. But this time, instead of appearing right by Nicole, I came out near that building," she pointed at Strahler Hall. "So I went looking for her. I searched all day, and most of the night too, but nothing here is familiar. I was exhausted, and so took a nap once I realized that this wasn't the place I found Nicole the first time. It's colder here. And wetter. And then you found me." It was still raining gently. Felicity's ears twitched occasionally whenever a raindrop came close.

Jake listened intently to her account. He loved reading stories like these, and felt nearly at home with what was happening, despite his initial disbelief. "So why not just go back to Dreamland and try the spell again from there? Or ask someone why the spell didn't work?"

She shook her head. "If I go back to Dreamland and try it again, I'm afraid I'll end up even further away. As for asking someone…" She looked down in embarrassment. "I kinda stole the spell scroll, so I can't ask anyone in Dreamland for help."

"Stole it? So you really are a thief?"

"I can't help it! It's just what I do…"

'She totally stole that artifact from the museum, too. Cool. I can't wait to tell Jess about this… But one thing doesn't add up.' Jake considered the situation thoughtfully before asking, "Where's your tail? You had one in all the comics…unless you lost it in some accident, I guess…"

"Nope. Ole' Long 'n Fluffy is still here," Felicity answered, patting one of the thighs of her cargoes. "Nicole had me put on these baggy things to hide it, so I wouldn't stand out as much."

"That was…well, actually a pretty good idea. It can't be too comfortable, though."

"You have NO idea…" They stood there in silence for a while. Rain continued to splash on the ground around them, and the first low rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Jake, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Why did you come looking for me? You didn't even believe in Dreamland until just now." The rain was starting to pick up.

Jake shrugged. "I was curious what would become of you. And, I just had a feeling that it was the right thing to do. Don't you get those sometimes?" He pulled an arm from the sleeve of his long coat so he could wrap the coat around Felicity as well.

"Yeah, but they're usually suppressed within about four seconds," she laughed. "But… you're not going to give me any trouble for… any souvenirs I may or may not have acquired while in your world, are you?" Felicity asked cautiously. "I don't want to deal with those guards or police any more than I need to."

"No, I'm not going to turn you in. Sorting this all out myself is too good of an adventure to leave to someone else."

Felicity laughed as they started off down the street again, towards the parking garage. "If its adventure you're looking for Jake, trust me, I can lead you to plenty."