When she opened her eyes, it looked like she was outside. Only...it didn't. She definitely wasn't in Morgana's house anymore, but she wasn't anywhere else she could recognize. There was just the color blue surrounding her in every direction. No clouds, no pavement, or any ground to speak of. Looking down, she realized she was sitting on some giant version of the nightstand in her room. There was a sort of path of floating cobalt blue platforms in front of her.

"Hey," she said to herself. "It's like Whiffle Boy! Maybe I can see where I am from one of these things." She hopped onto one after the other, but still failed to get her bearings. From the highest platform, she saw an object floating in the distance with some kind of creature on top of it. She noticed the platform she was standing on had started to drift off from its location, and wondered if she could steer it somehow. Kneeling down, she stuck her arms out of the sides and pushed back against the air, propelling herself toward the other inhabitant of this place, whatever it was. As she got closer, she saw that it was a strange goblin-looking animal resting on a pillow. She stopped right in front of it and started to reach out to get its attention when someone grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back, shushing her before she could wake it. Before Gosalyn could even question what was happening, the platform zoomed back to where it had been before, then spread out to form an actual floor.

"What are you doing here?" came a familiar voice. Gosalyn whipped her head around and saw a long red dress, one she knew. She looked up further and saw a familiar face matching the voice she'd heard. For a moment, she forgot she was being scolded and became overjoyed.

"Morgana!" She leapt to her feet in excitement. "B-but how? And where the heck are we?"

Morgana couldn't help but smile. As much as she knew Gosalyn wasn't supposed to be there, she couldn't pretend not to be glad to see someone she knew.

"Our consciousnesses are in Dream World," she said. "We're both asleep, but you shouldn't have been able to reach this place. Not unless you had -" She looked down and saw Gos looking guilty as ever. "Were you snooping around my house?"

"Well, I was bringing the guys some food and they said I could look around and I found this door - wait. If this is a dream, then that can't actually be you…?"

"Anyone under the sleep sand's magic enters the same realm. I've managed to keep it secure, which is why it's so empty now." She furrowed her brow. "But I guess I forgot to Gosalyn-proof it. You didn't use too much, did you?"

Gosalyn waved her off. "It was just a little bit! But how do I know you actually used it? This could just be a really weird dream and I'm the only one seeing any of this!"

"Good, then you won't be out for long. And your father's been here before. If you don't believe me, you can ask him."

"Yeah, right, like I'm gonna tell him I got ahold a' that stuff."

"Then I guess you simply have to trust me," she replied, looking around them at the endless blue surrounding them and holding her fingers to her temples until it morphed into something resembling her sitting room. It looked about the same as it did in reality, only with some details of the upholstery patterns missing and some misplaced candelabra. There was also no ceiling, no doors, no hallways leading to her other rooms, and the walls seemed to stretch for as long as either of them could see.

"Hey, shouldn't I be controlling my own dream?" Gosalyn said.

"Of course," Morgana shrugged. "Go ahead."

Gosalyn didn't want to say it, even to someone who wasn't real, but she didn't hate the choice in setting. But, if only to deny that to this figment having taken Morgana's form, she squeezed her eyes shut until her chair was transformed into a huge throne made of swords. Yeah, she'd been sneaking in some age-inappropriate TV past her bedtime, but what else was new?

Morgana lifted her own chair to reach her level and furrowed her brow, "That can't possibly be comfortable." She pointed her index finger at Gosalyn's seat and conjured up some cushions for her.

"In a dream it can," said a smirking Gos, making the cushions vanish and falling right onto the metal. She sunk down in it as if it was memory foam. "So if that really is you, why'd you have the sleep sand? What, do you just carry around a sack of that stuff with you?"

"I was babysitting you the last time I was in St. Canard, remember?"

Gosalyn's eyes widened. "So you were gonna sedate me?!"

"Only as a last resort!" Morgana defended herself. "And considering what you ended up doing that night, frankly, I don't think you can blame me."

"I guess not," Gosalyn muttered reluctantly. "So why'dja do it to yourself?"

Morgana sighed, "It's nice to know where I am for a change. And as long as I don't wake Nodoff, this is familiar enough that it can suffice until I get back home."

"Nodoff? You mean that little goblin thing?" Gosalyn looked over her shoulder in his direction, although she could hardly see him anymore.

"He's incredibly dangerous," Morgana warned. "When I sensed you were here, I knew I had to get to you before you found him."

Sure, now you care about not getting into danger, Gos wanted to say. Instead, she asked, after a pause, "So do you have any idea where that giant squid thing took you?"

"I know my spell took care of him," she beamed. "As for where my body is, I'm afraid I've had some trouble figuring that out. Although I have been practicing a spell that could let me move between realities."

"Yeah, I thought so…and my dad's still trying to find you! We're gonna get you back soon enough, just you wait!" She sat down cross-legged and looked down at her sneakers. "He really misses you."

Morgana's face fell. "I miss him, too. I miss all of you. But it's like you said, I'll be back soon!"

"Are you sure?" She tried not to sound frightened, but Morgana could sense it in her.

"Absolutely, Gos," she said. "And until then, it's good to know my efforts weren't in vain." Smiling softly, she reached out and tilted Gosalyn's head up to face her.

"But -" Gosalyn had to stop when she saw the room around her start to deteriorate. "Hey, w-what's happening?"

"You must be waking up," said Morgana matter-of-factly.

Gosalyn's throne started to disappear and she was left back on a floating square. Soon, the only things that remained in front of her were Morgana and the red armchair. Smiling, Gos threw her arms around her to say goodbye. Morgana was startled for a split second, but gently returned the hug.

"See ya soon," Gosalyn said, wiping her eyes with her arm.

"Do me a favor," Morgana tried to speak fast before Gosalyn was gone. "Don't make too much trouble for your father, alright?"

In a few seconds, she had drifted far enough away that Morgana looked roughly the same size as Archie, but still near enough to hear her shout, "Just enough to keep him alert!"


The bats were hovering above her when she opened her eyes, and looked relieved when she started to sit up.

"Oh, hi guys," she said flatly, pushing herself up to her feet. When she didn't see the sack anywhere around, she guessed someone had locked it back up or thrown it away while she'd been out. "I'm really sorry about before. I thought it was the safest thing I could take, but I guess I oughta just quit messing with magic, huh?"

Before either of them could respond, a string of spiderweb extended from the top of the stairwell. Archie, of course, was at the end of it, clutching something with all eight legs. He landed on the floor by the others and Gosalyn crouched down to see what he was doing. Smiling up at her, he unfolded his legs and presented her with a black bat-shaped pendant on a long chain. He knew she wasn't much for jewelry, so he pushed the tiny button on the side, and it opened up to reveal, on the left side, a photo of Morgana from a couple of years back, and an empty space on the right side. He held the rather big locket up toward her and nodded for her to take it. A smile formed slowly on her face as she picked it up and clicked it shut.

"Thanks, Archie," she said, and turned toward Eek and Squeak. "I'll give it back to her when she comes home. It won't be too long." As confident as she was, it didn't quite rub off on her friends. "Hey, what's the matter? You trust her, don'tcha?" With no pockets, she put the necklace on and hid it under her tee shirt, waving goodbye to them.

Outside, she took her skates back out of the bush and strapped her helmet back on, racing home to find a decent family photo.