Prologue

The young woman stared at the dragon seated opposite her on the intricate wooden floor of her stage room. Had she been a third party observer she probably would have laughed her ass off: her mouth was gaping open as she stared at a geezer who looked like Dumbledore from those stupid Harry Potter movies. He was older (probably centuries old, but she'd never asked) with an air of timelessness about his features with extremely long snow-white hair and beard that hung to below his waist.

"You have got to be joking," the woman said.

The man looked endlessly amused. "I'm not."

Clearly he wasn't, but that didn't stop the girl from turning pink in the face as he unintentionally rubbed salt in her metaphorical wound. "What do you mean that I'll only ever be good at this in bed?" she demanded.

The man sighed and took pity on the poor woman. She was, after all, his best (and currently only) pupil, surprisingly enough. It was hard to believe she was such a good listener who made certain to obey every time he made a correction on her technique or thought process when attending his lessons. Who would have guessed that she was self-taught, with only inept instructors up until now?

"You insignificant Ape," he said in his proudest tone, "do you know what your mind does as you sleep?"

True to her Self, the woman nodded her head and replied: "The conscious mind turns off while your subconscious mind filters and files what you have experienced during the day. The things it deems necessary for future use are stored in your long-term memory while the things that are unnecessary are lost. Then, once it finishes it reaches REM and… oh, I see."

It wasn't that Ag-Coern wasn't proud of his student for figuring it out, but the homely little girl could be glaringly obtuse sometimes, although he was loathed to admit that those times usually occurred when she was dealing with the love interests of her nearest and dearest. Either way, he demanded that she explain her thoughts for pity's sake, and quickly please. He was overbooked as it was.

"Since our souls walk the void between this reality and the others to bear witness to another's' moments," she said, "I will be able to learn to find this corridor during my waking hours if I keep my conscious mind partially awake while my soul makes the trek. Then, once I've mapped the path, I will be able to find my way out of my body and into another dimension at will and ad nausium."

Ag-Coern nodded the affirmative, proud that she had understood his intent so easily. She was, after all, a genius considering the stagnation in her lineage.

Then she opened her mouth, and made him grind his teeth at her insufferable knack at finding the flaw in his plans. "But Aggie, this is going to take forever! I only sleep for a couple of hours once every few days. I can't keep myself too far awake or else I would never reach REM and the exercise would be for nothing!"

Damn blasted fool. To think: he took the time out of his busy life to train her to use her unique ability of his own free will. He hadn't had to offer his tutelage! She hadn't had… well; he'd really left her no choice. He'd been afraid that she would refuse the lessons on principle, not having realized that she was actually hoping for someone to take her under his wing to truly train her. She hadn't refused, but now that he had gotten to know her he realized that she would have quickly accepted his offer had he truly made it an offer.

Unfortunately, this was one of her obtuse moments. Just because she always bent her busy schedule around her students did not mean he did. He had some important functions coming up back at the castle, and Y'Selle, his darling beautiful wife, refused to let him off the hook, even if it was to train her Bonded One's beloved.

"Well, then it's going to take a long time!" he snapped at the stupid human before him. "I will return periodically to check your progress."

The woman opened her mouth to argue, but before she had the chance to utter a single note he translocated himself back to his castle. She was more than he could deal with most days, and he knew the feeling was completely mutual. What had they chosen each other to bond with again? Oh, right. Their magic demanded it of them. Damn and Blast.

Tez, the woman, sat staring at the recently vacated spot in space for half a breath before heaving a sigh and standing up. Her legs were a little stiff from sitting in the meditation pose for so long, but a few quick stretches worked the kinks out quickly. Then she left the huge, subtly decorated room by the enormous double doors located opposite the intricate stage. Tiredly she turned toward the stairs and went to begin the four story climb to her room.

Oh, wait. She couldn't go there. That Man was still living there. So she translocated back to her apartment, straight into her bedroom, and collapsed on the bed.

"How the hell do you make yourself fall asleep?" she wondered aloud into her pillow. Sleeping wasn't something she was good at under the best circumstances (best circumstances being when she was completely overwrought and exhausted) let alone when she knew she was supposed to.

Well, this time it didn't matter. She hadn't slept for several long and trying days, so he was tired. Quickly, before she drifted off, she cast a quick spell on herself to keep herself partly awake. Normally this spell was used when a person wanted to keep a touch of alertness as they slept, like if they had a sick child and needed their rest but wanted to be roused the instant they were needed or if they thought their life was in danger but needed to sleep. She hoped it was enough that when her soul slipped away her consciousness would fully awaken on the other side of the void – in an alternate reality.