We emerged into this clearing. The sky above was blue. The trees had that green tint consistent with trees of the dream world.
Falshion and the wagon were waiting for is topside.
"How did Falshion get here?" asked Hassan.
"I've no idea," I replied. "Let's see if anyone's around."
We all got into the wagon and Falshion pulled us.
As we traveled along, we were attacked by enemies such as jesters, horned horses, and animated lamps. Hassan used his Sweep Kick skill to trip the enemies and prevent them from attacking us, while I used the Death Dance skill to kill some of the enemies outright. We pulled through, and soon enough we saw a town ahead.
Reaching the town, we parked the wagon outside. We entered into this town square with a public fountain in the center. The town square was paved with brick.
"Hello there," said this little girl. "Welcome to Clear Vale, the town famous for its flying bed."
"Flying bed?" I asked.
"I think we better check this out," said Muriel.
And so we walked about town. We asked more about the flying bed. I learned that the flying bed was seen coming from an empty house at the northeast corner of town, and that it has not been out for a while. I wondered what had happened.
"I think that's it," said Chamoro. "We're not gonna make any progress staying here. Of course, a flying bed would be pretty cool. Imagine what one can do."
"You'd probably fall off," said Barbara.
Chamoro was right; we had to go. We first went to Dhama Shrine and Barbara changed her class to wizard, having maxed out her abilities as a priest. We next paid a visit to the Medal King to receive a Ruby of Power; we had collected twenty-five small medals. We then went back to Clear Vale to purchase weapons and armor. We bought a Sword of Slumber for me, a Holy Sword for Muriel, a giant hammer for Hassan, a steel whip for Barbara, suits of silver mail for me and Hassan, silver breastpaltes for Muriel and Barbara, and magic shields for me, Hassan, and Chamoro. We then set off from Clear Vale, hoping to find some more information about the flying bed.
After a coiple of hours of fighting off monsters, we came across this staircase leading to the real world. It was obvious what we had to do, so we guided Falshion to pulling us down the staircase. When we reacjhed the bottom, I looked at the Magic Map; we were somewhere we had never been before.
We headed east and corssed a river, fighting monsters along the way.
"Look," said Hassan. "weren't we there before?"
I could see buildings a few milkes ahead, that was clearly Clear Vale. My spirits went up. Perhaps the real world Clear Vale had more clues about this flying bed.
The town looks the same as its dream world counterpart. There was still the brick-paved town square with its public fountains.
"Excuse me, sir," I asked this man sitting at the fountain, "do you know anything about the flying bed."
"Flying bed?" he asked. "What have you been smoking? Or did you have some really bad mushrooms?"
We asked some other people about the flying bed, but all we got were blank stares. I did hear about this traveling actor named Panon, who was a hit with the children of Clear Vale.
"Maybe the priest would know something," said Muriel, directing us to the Clear Vale church.
It was a small church. The altar was in the back, and there were some pews facing towards the altar. I noticed a priest speaking to this couple who appeared to be in their early thirties.
"Father," said the woman. "Was my son, John, happy?"
"He's in a better place now," replied the priest.
"Why diod he have to leave us at such a young age?" asked the man.
Hearing those words made feelings in my heart stir. I felt as if I had experienced this sort of thing before.
After the couple left, I said, "We should talk to those people."
And so we did. We found their house at the northeast corner of town. In fact, it was the counterpart of the house in the dream world where the flying bed was said to have come out of.
The couple was sitting in the kitchen when I went inside.
"Who are you?" asked the man.
I introduced myself. "I'm a traveler," I said. "I saw you at the church."
"My name is Margot and this is my husband Harris," said the woman. "We recently buried our son John."
"I'm sorry," I said. I really did feel for them.
"A few weeks ago this traveling actor Panon was in town," said Harris. "He staged a one-man play for the children. John loved him. Panon promised to retrieve the badge of courage from the Wall of Destiny, but he never came back. I just wish that he could have gotten the badge for John before...before his passing."
"I'll get the badge for you," I said. "I..I can relate to how you feel. I don't know how, I just do."
"We can't ask for this," said Margot. "The Wall of Destiny is dangerous."
"Ma'am, I feel as if I have to do this."
"I wish you luck whatever you choose to do," said Harris.
I left the house.
"We're going to the Wall of Destiny," I said.
"What for?" asked Chamoro.
ooooooooooooooooo
"You know, you are very kind, doing this for that family," said Barbara as we were riding in the wagon.
"I can't remember what happened, but I feel as if I had gone through what they did," I replied.
"Maybe you had a parent or grandparent whom you loved very much who died," said Muriel.
"I guess so. What about your family?"
"I...I really don't want to talk about it," she answered.
"Okay then."
Soon enough, we reached the Wall of Destiny. It was a tall cliff face.
"Wow," said Hassan. "That is one steep cliff."
Inside a small cave was this priest. He stood near some graves.
"These are graves for people who fell off the cliff," he said. "You won't make it far without the golden pickaxe."
"This could be dangerous," said Chamoro.
"More dangerous than fighting the demon lord Mudo?" I asked. "We've a wall to climb."
And so we climbed the wall. Of course, in addition to gravity, there were other enemies. There were fairy dragons, big bloated dragons, giant hornets, and giant moths. I swung my Sword of Slumber and used goof-off tricks, Hassan used the Spin Kick skill to take out groups of enemies, while Muriel used the Flame Breath to burn enemies and the Stun Breath to stun enemie, and Chamoro cast spells like Firebane and Snowblast. It was a long climb up, and we all made sure we did not look down.
Climbing the wall also meant going inside these tunnels. One of the tunnels was blocked by a pile of rocks.
"Let me handle this," said Hassan, flexing his muscles. He tried and tried to move the rocks, but he could not. "They're stuck together."
"We need that gold pickaxe," said Muriel.
We tried to find a way to ascend the wall using the ledges jutting from the side. But despite our search, we could not find an alternate route upwards. The priest was right; we needed that pickaxe.
"This is pointless," said Barbara. "Where is this pickaxe?"
"It is getting dark," said Chamoro.
"Maybe it's somewhere so obvious that we overlooked it," I said. "I mean..."
We were then attacked by the bloated dragons. I swung my sword at one of them, and miussed. My footing was loose, and the dragon slammed into me.
I felt weightless, and realized I had fallen off.
I had to think quick or else I would be dead.
I saw a ledge, so I extended my arms and then grabbed hold of it. It hurt my hands a lot. But I guess I would be hurt much more terribly if I hit the ground.
I noticed there was a cave entrance, so I went in. Ther air inside was cool, and I sat down to rest.
I noticed a treausre chest. I opened it and saw this shiny pointed object.
It was the golden pickaxe!
I headed out and climbed my way back up. I soon joined up wityh the others.
"I did it!" I said. "I found the pickaxe!"
"Thank God," said Hassan. "We thought you died."
After scaling the cliff, we found that cave where the pile of rocks was.
"Here goes nothing," I said, swining the golden pickaxe at the rocks. The rocks came loose, and soon an opening was established. We all squeezed through the opening, even Hassan.
We continued our ascent up the Wall of Destiny, occasionally knocking down rocks with the golden pickaxe. After what seemed to be an hour of heavy climbing, we reached the top. There were some grass and trees and this huge rock.
"I wonder where this badge of courage is?" asked Muriel.
"Maybe we should chip that huge rock," suggested Chamoro.
And so I did, chipping away a piece of rock with the golden pickaxe. I looked at the rock shard.
We then returned to Clear Vale.
oooooooooooooooooo
We arrived in Clear Vale just as the sun was setting. I immediately went to the home of Harris and Margot.
"You've come back," said Harris.
"I've climbed the Wall of Destiny and retrieved the Badge of Courage," I said, presenting the rock shard.
"Thank you," said Harris.
"We really appreciate it," said Margot. "Do you have a place to stay tonight?"
"Not really," I replied.
"You can sleep in John's room," said Margot. "No one's using it."
Harris and Margot led me to this bedroom on the upper floor. It was a little messy with children's toys layout about.
I was very exhasuted after climbing that Wall of Destiny. I was soon asleep.
ooooooooooo
When I woke up, I noticed the bed was levitating.
"What the hell?" I asked.
Then this ghostly image of a boy appeared.
"My name is John," said the ghost. "I don't need this bed anymore. You can have it. Thank you for what you did for my parents."
The bed then flew out the window. I looked down at the town of Clear Vale. Some of its residents waved at me.
The flying bed flew again!
And so I headed off to the east.
ooooooooooooooo
I saw a cave just east of Clear Vale, across the lake, so I landed the bed and went inside.
The cave had one chamber, and there was this man dressed in armor.
"I'm looking for the Shield of Sufida," he said. "Butr it may be impossible. "First go north. At the T-intersection, go East. Turn north at the first intersection, take the next intersection to the west, and then continue south. It is an old saying, but it's a very clouded story and I'm thinking of giving up already."
I decided to write it on a notepad.
oooooooooooo
I picked up the others from the real world. For somwe reason, the flying bed can not fly in the real world, so I could only explore the dream world with this bed.
"This is so awesome," said Chamoro. "Pretty cool way to pick up a date."
we paid a quick visit to Dhama Shrine, with Muriel becoming a thief and Chamoro becoming a priest. After that, we all hopped onto the bed, which was big ebnough to carry the wagon, and we flew over the open ocean. We recognized landmarks, like the island where the stairs to Holstock was located, and the island that served as Mudo's dream world headquarters.
At one time, we found something unusual.
There was a hole in the ocean! The water was draining out.
"The oceans will be drained away if something isn't done about that hole," said Muriel. "I wonder what was there."
"It looks familiar," said Barbara, looking at the world map.
After flying around, we spotted a hut nestled in the valley. I landed the bed and entered the hut.
Inside the hut wad this woman in a robe; she was a fortune teller.
"Would you like your fortune told, young man?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied.
"Far north of here, beyond the sea, lies a well," said the fortune teller.
I immedaitely climbed back onto the bed and flew north, over the ocean.
"There's the well," I said, looking down at this well located not far from the coastline just soutn of Amoru. "I wonder what is down there."
I landed the bed and we got out and climbed down the well. to our surprise, there was a house at the bottom. This man lived inside the house.
"Ah, travelers," he said.
"What are you doing down here?" I asked.
"Nice place to live and its cheap."
"Must be very lonely out in the middle of nowhere," said Hassan.
"Below here is Foan Castle," said the man. "It's well known for its princess in the mirror."
"Princess in the mirror?" asked Muriel.
"It's worth checking out," I said.
We left the house and there was a well next to it. Imagine that, a well inside a well. As we looked into it, this beast came out and we quickly dispatched it with our weapons.
"Let's find out more about this princess in the mirror," I said.
I looked into the well, and was transported to the real world.