Finding those whom he could be kind to and having the willpower to accomplish it was a challenge for Kiku. With the memory of his life, he had also lost all memory of his interests while alive. He'd had to develop new ones as a spirit, and spirits naturally didn't find the things of the living to be interesting. The inhabitants of the spirit world overlapping the world of the living were far more fascinating and easier to relate to. It was already quite strange when Feliciano called him by the name of a flower.

At the moment, Kiku was trying to understand how the living valued decent clothing.

"It doesn't matter, Feliciano. As soon as we reach a town, we are getting you a good set of traveling clothes."

"But why, Doggie?"

"Because you can't just wear a toga around in the forest no matter what kind of creature you are. Look, it's dirty and frayed on the bottom and it's constantly slipping too far down on your chest. It's as if you're walking around with no clothes at all. That's not proper."

"But they don't make clothes for fairies in Amotoile. How will my wings fit in something like what you're wearing? It won't be comfortable."

"Sure it will. We'll just cut holes in it."

"That just sounds like a pain. Why can't we just get some nice fabric and I'll make a new toga?"

"I can only assume togas are traditional in Allegria."

"Yes, they are!"

"So you shouldn't be wearing one anyway in this day and age!"

Along with this conversation, Kiku had heard other interesting things that day. On the trail, Feliciano occasionally complained that he had a rock in his sandal or that he saw a snake in the grass. Kiku did not entirely understand fear.

Then the fairy began complaining that he was hungry, and despite the fresh produce they had brought along, he begged the human (Doggie? Ludwig?) to return to the town so they could have something substantial to eat. Hunger was something else Kiku did not understand, though he retained some sort of instinct for it.

The human was experiencing something he had seen many of the living feel. It was a thing they called frustration. Where it came from or why it existed, he expected to never learn as a spirit. It was a powerful emotion. Sometimes it caused people to lock themselves up in their rooms and stew in solitude. For others, it caused a turmoil so great that they lashed out at those they loved. And for others, it made them leave their homes and not return for a very long time.

Ludwig was experiencing a subtle form of frustration. A source must have been the fairy's use of the nickname for him. Currently, the only thing it was making him do was contort his face into a scowl and huff his rebuttals to the fairy's complaints. He never said anything to Kiku. The spirit was nearly transparent in the bright sunlight anyway.

"If you had proper clothes," the human continued, "you wouldn't be constantly tripping over that thing. You could wear boots, and you wouldn't get rocks under your feet. It would make you run faster."

"More running? I already ran so far this morning. Do I really have to run more? I wasn't built for it. I was built for the air. Otherwise my wings wouldn't be quite so big." Feliciano lifted his wings and fluttered them in and out a few times. A sparkling substance spilled from them to leave a shiny glaze of dust on the trail.

The human just sighed. "I just don't want you to almost fall on your face because you're tripping on that when we do run. Trust me, it will be a lot more comfortable for you to wear something like this."

"I suppose I could," Feliciano said slowly and defeated, "I do think I need to wear something other than this. It is only traditional."

They traveled along the trail just the same as the Mercs had. Feliciano occasionally took food out of the bag on Ludwig's back and munched on it happily. When he was happy, Kiku noticed that he had a bit more bounce in his step. The peculiar curl of hair on the side of his head bounced too. Sometimes he would bounce high enough that his wings popped up reflexively and he'd float in midair for a few seconds. It was not too long before Feliciano was doing this periodically, and eventually, his wings bore his weight a foot above the ground so his sore feet wouldn't have to.

In the early afternoon, they came upon the same cabin that the Mercs later settled in for the night. Feliciano did in fact see the cabin, and he cried out jubilantly when he found it contained soft, plush beds and thick wood for safety from the dangers of the night.

"It's so beautiful! We could stay here for the night and sleep in something comfortable for once!" He exclaimed.

Fortunately and unfortunately, Kiku immediately saw a flaw in Feliciano's wishes. A strange creature peeked around the back of the cabin. Its body was composed of black shadows that swayed between intangible mist and tangible cloth. The shape of its body was constantly changing, but it had two skinny arms with humanlike hands and a single round, white eye on a stalk emerging from the top of its head. A drooping snout protruded from its face.

"We cannot stay here with that dream-eater," he said. The suddenness of his voice startled the fairy, who had not heard him speak a word all day.

"Aww, why not, Kiku?"

"Yes, why isn't this a good place? What is this 'dream-eater'?" The human asked.

Kiku wondered why the two of them were looking at him so strangely. Could they not obviously see the creature? He stood still for a little bit before realizing. The creature was concealing itself from the living. Kiku could only see it because he was a fellow spirit.

"You cannot see him, can you?" Kiku said.

"See who? Who's watching?" Feliciano whipped around and try to see what the spirit could see, but it was all a useless endeavor. The creature remained invisible to the eyes of living folk.

"There is a spirit who lives here. A spirit who likes to deceive travelers and devour good dreams. It may look like a warm cabin with comfortable beds, but it is really all an illusion created by the spirit. You could sleep in the cabin and have the most restful and dream-filled sleep of your life, but when you leave the environs of the cabin, you will feel as if you have tossed and turned all night on a bed of sharp rocks with no memory of dreams. The spirit will eat them when you leave."

Feliciano looked at Kiku with an expression of horror. "That's not true, is it? I don't want to stay here if I'm going to feel terrible in the morning!"

"Is that really what you see, Kiku?" The human asked. His voice was threaded loosely with annoyance. His eyes narrowed, and Kiku realized that sleep was yet another vital key to a living man's happiness.

"Yes. The dream-eater is right over there behind the cabin. He is shy after being seen by another spirit. I do not wish to harm him. He is merely doing what he is meant to do. We must move on now."

Ludwig grunted in a way that said he wanted to forget the disappointing news as soon as possible. Immediately, he turned on his heel and continued walking down the trail. Feliciano, on the other hand, sighed and hung his head low. His wings drooped and he yelped as another pointy rock wedged itself in between his sole and the sandal. Kiku looked behind him. The dream-eater peered around the other side of the cabin and shrank back when making eye-contact with him. The image of the cabin faltered for a few seconds before solidifying.

"I really don't like sleeping on the ground," the fairy murmured softly so only Kiku could hear. "Do you think maybe you could make an illusion like that?"

"Burdened spirits do not have such powers. "Kiku replied. "And if I did, my illusion would be the same as the dream-eater's. As soon as you left, you would feel as if you slept on the ground."

"Do you have any powers at all?"

"I probably have some. I have just not learned what they are yet. It took me a long time to learn how to make myself visible to the living. It was only then when I could do good deeds."

"It's like a whole other secret world of magic that no one knows about!" The fairy chortled.

"The spirit world is a strange place. I can see many things that you cannot. There are legion peculiarities and incomprehensible creatures, and I have yet to understand them all. Some of them are entertained by my impossible quest and say I will never complete it. Others are more helpful and assist me. No two spirits are the same."

"Wow, and spirits like this are everywhere?"

"Everywhere," Kiku said. "There is one flying above our heads right now." He pointed to a creature that looked like a crane. Its feathers were bright yellow and spiny like a pineapple's skin. It had a long green beak and four spindly legs that swam through the air as it flew. A hat fashioned out of pond grass was perched on its head. "Ah, hello," Kiku said to it and waved.

The crane spirit stopped. Its legs whipped this way and that to keep it airborne. "Hello there, sir! What are you doing with the living? Trying to give 'em a good scare?" Its voice was chirpy and amiable.

"No, I am trying to fulfill the quest of ten thousand deeds."

The spirit let out a whoop of laughter that sounded like splashing. "Good luck with that one, my friend. I've never heard of anyone complete that one before. They always end up wanting to stay here with us. Have a good day." The legs began moving in unison again, and the crane swam away.

"What did it say? What did that one look like?" Feliciano asked.

Kiku explained what had transpired.

"I wish I could see something like that," the fairy said.

"There are very few that reveal themselves. Most prefer to stay hidden, so only other spirits can see them."

"How could I see you last night when you were invisible, then?"

"That was my flaw. I was being very indecisive, and I did not know whether I wanted to show myself to you or not. I was between the worlds, so you were partly able to see me before I made myself visible to you."

"Ah. Well, I feel a little better now about being with a spirit like you. You can tell us when something isn't right. I'd say warning us about the dream-eater was a good deed to cross off your list."

"It was," Kiku said. Then the strange feeling came upon him of something being lifted off his shoulders. He felt more weightless than usual. One thousand, A tiny voice whispered.

"Really? One thousand already? I only have nine thousand deeds now!" Kiku exclaimed, but it was more in shock than in relief.

"Kinna sucks, doesn't it? You know, at the Academy, it worked like this. If you didn't get up, you'd miss your first class. If you were me, you'd really be in trouble because my first hour teacher punished tardy students by making vines grow around their wrists and ankles so they'd be late to their next class."

"This is not your bloody school! This is courtesy when you have companions! Did Francis tell you you could eat another man's food?" Arthur raged. His stomach protested loudly.

"He didn't say I couldn't." Alfred smiled brightly and patted Arthur on the shoulder.

"Did you know it was my food?"

"It wasn't anyone's food. You didn't want to eat it, so I did. It wasn't labeled as yours."

"And this is how they teach behavior in Scintillatia."

Alfred sighed and put his hands on his hips. "You snooze, you lose," He said haughtily. "We told you to get up, anyway, didn't we, Francy?"

"Indeed, we did, my dear Alfred. I remember it well. It was Arthur's choice to not rise with the sun."

"I was having a very good dream, if you must know. If you had known that, would you have waited and perhaps reserved those crêpes for me?"

Alfred ignored the question. "I had a pretty good dream too, actually. Best one I've had in a long time."

"What was it about?" Yao asked.

"Aw, just the good ol' days when my brother and I were kids. We used to play-fight for an extra slice of pie in the summer. 'Course, I always won when we did. He'd just whine about it and call me names and try to hit me, but I said it wasn't fair because the little fight was already over. That was the best pie ever. Actually, a lot of the stuff I got to eat as a kid was heavenly. There was this blueberry tart with lots of cream piled high on top and roast bear. Have you ever eaten roast bear? It's to die for."

"Ah, so you dreamed about food. How predictable," Arthur scoffed.

"What was your dream about?" Alfred asked innocently.

"It's none of your business," Arthur retorted.

Francis turned to the snow demon. "Do you know what he dreamed about?"

"Not the content. Only that part of his dream concerned some questionable past actions," Ivan said amicably.

"Woah! Right, I forgot you're a demon! So you can see what other people are hiding!" Alfred exclaimed.

"Right," Ivan said. He smiled at Alfred almost creepily. Alfred seemed to shrink and turned to look at the humans. "Did you guys have good dreams too?"

"I had one," Francis said, "I had taken care of a dragon attacking a village, and the king of Amotoile said my prize was any of the beautiful young women set before me. But I could not choose. They were all so beautiful. I would look at one lady, and another would smile and grow more beautiful right before my eyes."

"How could a pretty woman get more pretty?" Alfred asked.

"Ah, you are young and innocent, Alfred, but I can tell you they all grew more beautiful in different ways. Some grew in the front..." He was massaging his chest when Yao interrupted.

"You are all fools. My dream was much more mature. I was in my shop at home, and a dragon walked through the door and bought everything I had to sell," Yao said. "And he brought many cute pandas with him to share what he had bought. I served them my specialty tea and dumplings."

"The bed may have been a bit small for me, but I remember dreaming that… oh no, I can't tell you. It must be secret. It is good dream for myself," Ivan said. Arthur decided his smile was masking a good dream and not a questionable one.

Francis had just enough to make one small strawberry crêpe for Arthur, and he ate it halfheartedly while the rest watched. He was the first one to step out onto the trail when they had packed up their things for the day.

Immediately, something was odd.

Arthur's vision grew bleary. His eyes itched and burned with sleepiness. He gave a groan as every muscle in his back began to grow tight and knot up until it was sore inside and out. His shoulders and arms seized up and grew stiff. His legs felt raw with fresh scratches and bruises. Arthur's mind went blank. What was it they had just been discussing? Dreams, but what dreams? What was his dream about? He saw the image of a rabbit, but it quickly faded from his memory.

"What just happened?" He muttered softly. He looked around for the others. Francis stepped onto the trail after him. He watched as the human's face grew solemn and dark circles rapidly appeared under his eyes. He slouched down. His countenance showed pain as if his back and shoulders were also growing sore and stiff. Then he gave Arthur the same look of confusion.

It was repeated with the three others who walked on the trail. Out of the rest of them, it seemed Yao was the most affected. He complained aloud that his back was so sore, he could not walk anywhere. He sat on the ground and begged for someone to rub his knotted shoulders.

"I — what, how?" Arthur said under his breath. "I feel like I've had the worst sleep of my life."

"I feel the same," Francis yawned. "Why did we decide to sleep here? Those beds were horribly lumpy."

"Beds? I feel like I've slept on a mound of rocks," Arthur groaned.

"I will not walk because of this," Yao pouted.

"It was your idea to stay there," Arthur retorted. He pointed to the cabin, but it was no longer there. It had vanished.

"I'm not really sore, just super hungry," Alfred said.

"You just ate for two! How can you possibly be hungry?" Arthur snapped.

"I don't know. It just wasn't that filling."

"Perhaps it was not the most filling," Francis said, confusedly. "I-I really don't think it was my best work."

"Yes, I remember eating, but I can't remember the flavor," Arthur said. "How weird."

"Do you think it was magic, Arthur?" Ivan asked.

"The cabin's disappeared. I'd say it was some kind of powerful illusion if even you couldn't see through it, Ivan." He turned to Alfred. "You said you were talented with illusions. If this was your prank, I'll slay you."

"It wasn't me! Why would it be me?"

"We must keep going. Ludwig and Feliciano probably had a much better night then us. They'll be getting on their way, too," Francis said weakly. He walked onward, but his hands frequently traveled back behind his shoulders to massage the knots. His countenance was distraught, and he caught himself in fits of yawning when the bright morning sun hit his eyes.

Unbeknownst to them, the dream-eater was stretching its long arms to take scoopfuls of their dreams right out of their heads. It sucked them up greedily through its dark snout, and its shadowy eyelids crinkled with delight around the milky eye. When the travelers had completely disappeared into the greenery, it waved goodbye and wished them good luck with a shivery voice as cold and distant as the moon.

Alfred carried Yao on his shoulders like he told Arthur he would. The shorter human was so grateful that he shut himself up and didn't complain except when Alfred jostled him around in a fit of excitement. Yao was nearly thrown off when Alfred caught sight of a large, dark bird encircling the trees. Yao jabbed Alfred in the chest with his heel. The fairy gave a surprised, screechy yelp and apologized softly for his susceptibility to distraction, (after a callow string of curses.)

Still on the Mercs trod after the others. Still they caught no sight of them. Ivan assured them they were on the right track, and every now and then Arthur spotted a patch of fairy dust on the trail from where Feliciano flew, (though his back crackled like lightning and shot pain up through his shoulders when he bent down to inspect it.)

By midday, they finally reached a town, and Ivan told them that the fairy's scent was very strong. Surely he was here. Surely they could put the issue to rest and not run into any more illusory cabins. Surely the matter would settle itself and Arthur could finally go back to Kirkland Manor and forget about everything he'd been through in the span of three days.

Surely…