1. Prologue
Raios appeared out of nowhere, in a damp flooded cavern somewhere in the ocean. He had some good news for his friend, and the surprise couldn't wait until morning.
"Raios!" greeted Lugia as soon as he noticed Raios there in the cave with him. He swam up to his friend, neck-deep in cool seawater. "I have underestimated your mental prowess, if you can teleport from there to here so effortlessly."
"I can't," said Raios. "I'm actually sleeping right now. But instead of dreaming normally, I reached out and found your mind. I'm dreaming in your head in a way."
The big guy tilted his head. "Your presence here is just my hallucination, then?"
"Right."
Lugia seemed impressed. "That's a novel technique. I hardly sleep at all, so I have never explored the capabilities of a mind freed from its body."
"I guess I could teach it to you sometime," Raios said. "Anyway, I have some news."
"Oh. Good news, I hope—"
"I found him, Lugia! I checked their news, and they've got him somewhere."
Raios felt Lugia's mind open up suddenly, and strong feelings poured out—bright glimmers of joy, warm beams of love, and most of all an immense wave of relief. And then some embarrassment. "You felt all of that," Lugia said quietly.
"Sorry," said Raios. "I should've distanced—"
"No, it is my fault. I let my guard down in my excitement." Lugia gave off a faint heaviness. "I'm only ever that close with my son."
"Don't worry," said Raios quickly. "All we have to do now is get him back from the humans. They can't be that bad if they rescued him, right?"
Lugia went still. "That is a wishful thought if I ever have heard one, Raios. Never blindly entrust them with anything, especially my son."
"There are as many good guys as baddies, Lugia. You're being too hard on them."
"I have given them plenty of chances."
Raios figured Lugia would never budge from that viewpoint. "…So, for tomorrow. I'm going to see how they're keeping him, and we'll come up with a plan to get him released into the sea. I'll see you again tomorrow night like this if you want."
"I must tell you, Raios, that I can hardly wait idly in my cave while my son languishes in captivity. I wish to disguise as a human and come with you soon."
Raios imagined walking around town with a human the size of a ship. "Well, you have to consider your size. Even if you can transform, you can't just delete mass. You'll be a giant."
"I considered exactly that problem, and I believe I know how to address it," said Lugia. "There is a process by which I can miniaturize significantly in a day or two. I'm willing to do it—excited, even! I have never ventured over land ever since… long ago."
"Well, okay," said Raios. "You get a head start on the… shrinking, and I'll see you again tomorrow night."
"Many thanks," said Lugia, bowing his head and yawning at the same time. "Maybe now I can rest. I don't know how to repay you."
"We'd be even, actually," said Raios. "I'm going to leave now. Good night!"
"Farewell, friend."
And then Raios disappeared—his mind drifted back to sleep, into a dream where he breathed underwater but couldn't remember how to swim. Despite his experience with dream control, he couldn't figure out how to move himself through the water. He seemed formless in the current, so he drifted along with it, letting his mind relax. Soon his dream lost its lucidity, becoming a jumble of random illogical scenes.
