ARC 4 - ESCALATION


Chapter 22: The Purple Dream

Perspective: The Lady of Dreams


Nexus was a big world with many, many people, many dreamers. More than I was used to. Back home there had been a few million in the most populated times. I still sometimes wonder why I decided to follow Fire here, worry perhaps.

I was currently floating through Nexus' dreamscape, a near-infinite space of vibrant colors. Some areas were crowded with dreams, others only had singular dreamers with nothing surrounding them. I usually picked out particularly troubled dreams to visit; people are thankful for being taken out of a nightmare and having someone to talk. Occasionally I also visit regular dreams, just because someone is having a good dream doesn't mean they can't have problems.

Beneath me was one of the biggest accumulation of dreams in Nexus, the shelter Fire had started. Thousands of dreams, packed into an impossibly tight space. I had already visited many of them in nights before.

Before looking at the dreamers below me I looked straight ahead. In the distance was the only accumulation of dreams that trumped the shelter in numbers: The Tower. The dreamers were spread out far, like branches of a tree, both beautiful and imposing. I smiled. My recent conversation with Fire had brought up something important. I really have changed a lot from when we first met. I contemplated while floating towards the Tower, there was a specific dream there that I wanted to try getting into.

I thought back to when it all began. Fire had been the first dreamer I visited. Possibly because he… created me in a way. Phantoms like me don't just appear out of thin air, a particularly strong emotion has to bring us into existence. When a phantom is created it is a blank slate, the only thing it knows is something related to its creation. Back then all I knew was that someone needed help, badly. So, I helped him, then went on to help others.

I was right in front of the tower now, the giant tree-like structure looked even more beautiful up close, the only thing that marred it were the grey, dead dreams. There weren't many now, their numbers fluctuated as days passed. Whatever they were, they felt wrong.

However, grey was not the color I wanted to pay attention to now. I was looking for a very distinct shade of purple. There, fairly high up in the branches. That's where it was. I floated ever closer to the dream, more carefully as I got near. The last times I tried to get in I had been forcefully, almost painfully, repelled, even more so than when Kay had thrown me out.

Today was different. The walls of the dream were resistant but still permeable. I pressed on into the dream. A wave of emotions washed over me, there was great excitement but also anxiety and a small hint of longing. The dream felt odd, I had only encountered a few like it. This was the dream of someone hailing from the End. I had never seen an enderman dream back in Fire's world, I wasn't even sure if they slept at all. The ones here were different, allowing me to build some familiarity with how their dreams worked.

It took a bit for the dreamer to drift out of their previous dream and into our shared dream space. The shared dreams always manifested as places the dreamers were comfortable with, usually things like a home or a spot in the wilderness they liked. In this case it had manifested as the edge of a small End island. My feet were dangling over the Void when I materialized. Next to me sat a creature of the End: Tall, thin, purple eyed. This particular one was wearing obsidian armor with a purple gem right below the neck. Evidently this was the Ender, I had seen her in Fire's memories and in those of other people. The lightning-shaped scars on her face were new. A slight tension filled me.

The Ender seemed to sense that something was different about this particular dream. She looked down at me.

She hissed: "What is this?"

"Hello," I said. "I am a phantom people have taken to calling 'the Lady of Dreams'. You seem troubled, is there anything I can do to help?"

The Ender looked at me with suspicious eyes. "If there's one thing, I know about phantoms that is that they always consume some aspect of us. Some eat joy, others eat anger, ones like Freak eat fear. What do you eat?"

Freak. Yes. He was under the employ of the Entity as well. I never interacted with other phantoms, most of them existed in the material world while I existed in the dreamscape. I never found another like me.

I replied: "I eat dreams. I eat whatever dream you would be having if I weren't here. It's secondary to me, I just like helping people."

The Ender asked: "Aren't you an odd one? How do you help people?" There was still an ample amount of distrust in her, I could practically feel it radiating off of her.

I started a very careful search of her mind, just skimming her thoughts, it usually helped with not upsetting dreamers I visited for the first time.

"I listen, I talk. Quite simple. That's really what a lot of people need."

The Ender nodded and was quiet for a few seconds. "So, you're a dream therapist?"

I shifted into a more comfortable position on the endstone. "In a way, yes. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

More contemplation. Nothing from her conscious thoughts stood out. I saw something like this occasionally, most recently in Kay. She had some sort of passive defense. I decided not to pry.

With a heavy sigh she said: "You know what, why not. Ancestors know I don't have anyone else to talk to, you'll do."

Something changed, that longing I had felt earlier returned, if only for a brief moment. The emotion resonated with me, more than it should have.

The Ender said: "So, I knew these people a long time ago, they said I was too ambitious, I should take the victories I have instead of finding new battles. I may have been younger when I made those decisions, but I am still convinced they were the correct ones."

I replied: "I have heard of you from other dreamers, you're a warrior, a leader, correct?"

I tried to keep it neutral, the Ender had done quite a few things that hurt many people all over Nexus, but I still wanted to help her, it was just what I did, who I was.

"You could say that. We defeated the humans and while the elders insisted on taking on the Nether, I went to another frontier. A bigger one, the biggest frontier imaginable."

I nodded. "Alright. How has this frontier been working out for you?"

She said: "Good until recently. There were some dissenters within the ranks, a few defectors to Glibby, some criticism from home, but I had a near-spotless record until, out of the blue, this group of people shows up and makes things difficult. First the prison break, the biggest one we've ever had. Granted, that's mostly on Glibby, incompetent as he is." she hesitated, then continued. "Then we start picking up weird dimensional readings, apparently some magical anomaly girl did something our scientists don't understand. Then the raid goes south…"

She stops, reaching up to her face, slowly tracing the scars. A mixture of anger and sorrow filled the dream. Emotions bottled up and stowed away, now surfacing. Something about the situation started feeling familiar, this was just like how Fire had been early on. Very early on I hadn't been able to see other dreamers, just him, back when he still was just human and went by the name of Peter.

I very carefully reached out with my arm. A small comfort. The Ender didn't push it away.

She continued, more agitated by the second. "First, they somehow catch wind that we are coming and defeat the soldiers, then that general has the audacity to attack me directly. You know the worst part? He won. A human defeated me. It wasn't an honest victory either, he had something that helped him, a crutch. I only realized what happened when I woke up in the medical ward."

She really didn't have anyone to talk, it was all competition, rank difference or facades of professionalism. This was years of emotions, suddenly uncorked.

A pained smile crept up on her face. "At least I am not the only one affected. Glibby just had to prove his supposed superiority by personally accompanying a patrol. You know what happened?"

I did in fact know what happened, but it would not be wise to let it show. I asked: "No, what happened?"

The Ender's smile had opened into some sort of half-laugh as she spoke. "They got ambushed, beaten by enemies they outnumbered five-to-one. He got his gauntlets shattered as humiliation. Anyone who is capable of doing that could have killed him too. He's living on mercy." she breathed in, then out. "But sadly, it's only of little solace to me, apparently some kind of resistance has formed, getting people together somewhere, that damned prophet is probably responsible."

I didn't say anything, something big was about to come up, I felt it. It was usually better to not interrupt in those situations.

"You know what I told you? My ambition for a bigger frontier? It's about to come true, I'll show those fossils back home what true conquest is." She said with pride.

Her mental barrier was gone, just for a moment, thoughts flowed freely. That's when I saw it. Or rather, I heard it. It wasn't intentional, it just happened. A voice from the Ender's thoughts, not hers, not a voice that could be considered human by any stretch.

"The-machine is… close to com-pletion. Dr. Mercury has assured-it will function… as intended. Once there-are enough crystals all-worlds-shall become one."

An involuntary shudder went through me, that must have been the Entity speaking. I suddenly wanted nothing more than to leave. The Ender seemed to have calmed herself, her barrier was back, more impenetrable than ever. She took another breath.

"I feel better now." She simply said, there was surprise in her voice. I could imagine that she did, I on the other hand did not.

I did my best to remain calm. "No problem, that's what I'm here for."

The Ender didn't seem as distrustful as before, she asked: "How does this end?"

I replied: "If there is nothing else to talk about, I will leave, and you will begin dreaming a new dream."

"I'd like that." She said.

I felt the same, for a different reason. The shared dream collapsed around me, suddenly I was back in the open dreamscape near the Tower. If I had a mouth here, I'd have screamed, this was bad. Panic welled up inside of me. I had my principles about not telling things I found in others' dreams, but this went beyond mere confidentiality. Entire worlds were at risk. I had to tell someone and fast.

I navigated the dreamscape back to the shelter, quickly looking through the dreamers there. Fire was not among them, neither were Tyron or Astro. The second time I looked I finally found someone: Kay was dreaming.

I gathered up my willpower, he wouldn't throw me out this time.