I suggest Wizard101's Ravenwood theme... the classic one, the new one is... ill-fitting the tone of the passage.


Chapter Five: The Mindscape, and a Name
After a minute, the pain in my head eased enough for me to open my eyes. Did… did I just teleport? I was alone in what would have been my dream living room, if a few minutes of my not even two hours of total consciousness weren't filled with panic and explosions. For one thing, everything was to scale. The walls were red with a black trim, with cyan curtains closed over the windows. I saw what seemed to be a half-dozen wands mounted on the far wall, each with a book underneath them. Dozens of maps and diagrams were tacked onto the walls, and a bookshelf filled with dark gray books barricaded the stairs. In its top row, I saw a bright red book, standing out among its drab shelf-mates. On an impulse, I rose until I was around eye level and read the spine: "Howdy!" With nothing better to do, and with no way to find out where I was or how to leave, I took the book off the shelf and sat down on an armchair in the corner of the room. Getting comfortable, I opened the book and began to read:

Howdy! I'm you! Rather, your Mindscape! I'm the guide to your own mind. I bet you're confused about what's going on in your life (so far as you can remember it!), so let me put it as clearly as I can: you're damaged. Badly. Whatever happened to you managed to break you into pieces too small to fit together. At least, not without help. … I'm making a real mess of this, aren't I? Let me explain… again.

You see, I didn't exist before now. You created me in your moment of need, because you couldn't handle the strain of that name bringing back a memory fragment. You created me an instant before you either went crazy, burst an artery, or… worse. …Oh, man, I'm really mucking this up. All I'm doing is making you feel bad about things you couldn't control…

At least until I came along! You see, what happened to you just now was SUPER not normal. The name "Nick" had to be extremely important for this to happen. Most things that would trigger a memory to come back would, you know, cause a memory to come back. It had to be the name of someone you knew. Heck, "Nick" could actually be YOU. Do you think you're a Nicole? Nikki? Please say the first one; I always really liked that name. Moving on, the important thing right now is seeing your memory. Anytime a memory gets triggered, it gets filed away into one of the books there on that bookshelf. You can live through the memory again by opening the one you want. I should warn you, though, that the few memories you have are hugely incomplete. Hopefully, as you keep on living your life and searching for clues, you'll find enough to make a more complete picture of each.

I had to close the book then. For some time I stared at the wall closest to me, counting the stripes. I felt so weird all of a sudden, not necessarily because of what I just read, though that did play a part. No, the real reason was that I didn't doubt any of it. I could feel the truth in the words I read, and recognized the energy thrumming throughout the room as my own. I rubbed at my eyes, tired and annoyed, and looked the book again… and did a quick double take. I could've sworn the cover of the book was blank, but now it had a thick black arrow pointing to my right. I took a second to collect myself, and looked right. On an end table that didn't exist before sat a cup of tea, steam gently rising from its surface, and a ring of glazed knot bread. Okay, I can get used to this. I pulled off a piece and popped it into my mouth. Perfect. Taking a sip of tea, I opened the book and picked up where I left off:

And the best part is, you can come back here anytime, for as long as you want! The time you already spent in here was barely a minute in real time. Well, that's the general idea, so now you can take a look at that 'Nick' memory of yours first (the blue book on the top shelf), and then read the black book on the bottom shelf. Then you can come back to this book, and we can wrap this up.

I put the book down, finished my snack, and drifted back to the bookshelf. The book that was next to the red book now on my end table (Is it weird that I'm calling it my end table?) had turned from its former gray to a somber blue color. I plucked it from the shelf and opened it without hesitation. The pages began to glow, and a high wind picked up, ruffling the papers on the wall. I covered my eyes as the glow turned to a brilliant shine, and with a final flash…


From an inky black void, a passing conversation drifts…

"…I don't know Nicky… this might be too dangerous."

"What, are you s-scared? 'C-cause I'm n-n-not. And y-you shouldn't be either."

"I can see you shaking, Nicky…"

"It's because it's c-cold out here! Look, if you don't wanna do this, then fine! I'll do it by myself!"

"Wait, no! Nicky, STOP!"

After a tension-filled moment, a metallic shriek serrates the silence. It stops, and the air is alive with dozens of sharp cracks.

"No! NOOO! Oh god, oh my god! Nicky!? NICKY!


I snapped back into the Mindscape, falling flat on my ass. Shaken and more than a little queasy, I wobbled over to the armchair and sank into it, rubbing my temples. That was… intense, I thought to myself; I didn't have quite the right words for what I just experienced. I got up and started pacing, needing to do something with myself. What the hell wasthat? I couldn't even see anything. I can't even begin to remember those voices, either. I'm not even sure if I was one of the speakers. I faced the bookshelf, noticing that the memory book was back in its place (of course it was). I stooped to view the bottom shelf, and saw a black book in the center. I pulled it out, went back to the armchair, moved all the hard or sharp objects away from it. With that done I sat down and opened the book.

There was no real point for the safety measures, though, because there was nothing to read. The book was hollow, as if someone cut away the center of the pages, while leaving the edges intact. Inside the gap was a small wooden box, which I took out. Inside was a pack of what looked like playing cards. "Why is this even…" I trailed off as I touched the top card to turn it over. The moment I did, a wave of emotions crashed over me: pride, anger, joy, excitement, fear, and grief filled me to the brim instantly, and left as quickly as they came, leaving only a feeling of longing and familiarity. I jerked my hand away as if the deck gave me a shock. Tentatively, I touched the deck again. Nothing happened, so I turned the top card over. It had a picture of a Sunbird on it. I took out the deck and looked through it. There were about twenty cards, mostly Fire and Death School cards, with the exception of a sole Lightning Bats card and three Pixie cards. Overall, it looked like an Initiate wizard's deck. I put the cards back in their box, fitted the lid back on, and slipped it into my pocket. Then, I picked up the red book and continued reading:

Well that was normal, at least. Hopefully, you'll find the missing pieces, or even find new memories. That'd be cool. As it is, though, you don't really know much more than you already did. There's a Nicky, there's someone else, and there's what I can only guess was a bad time. Oh, you need to leave now? Sorry, almost forgot about that. All you need to do is open that door over there.

Hm? You're wondering about the deck? How should I know? I'm just a simulacrum created by your subconscious; I only know what you know. Now get out there, and let your friends know you're all right. And, you know, win that duel! See ya next time, Nicky! Or, you know, the other one…

I couldn't be more confused. "I only know what you know," I mocked when I got to the door. "What is this crap." My main problem, though, was the name. Should I call myself Nicky? Nicole? Hell, was I the other speaker?Was I either of them? I knew nothing about the memory snippet or the voices, other than the fact that they sounded young. I was going to go stir crazy if I stayed for much longer, so I shunted it to the back of my mind and opened the door. Everything went black, and I felt like I was being squeezed through a narrow tube. This lasted for nearly a minute before I suddenly found myself lying on my back in front of the Hedge Maze, with Chrome standing over me in a panic, Will, Dean, and Abraxus standing further off, none of them realizing my awakening.

"I've tried everything! She's still not awake!" Chrome seemed to be equal parts scared and livid, and she was making sure everyone knew it. To Will's credit, he was handling the tiny spitfire with an easygoing professionalism I envied. "Look, in cases like this, people sometimes don't react unless they're goaded. Maybe she'll react if we call her name."

Chrome stamped her foot. "I don't know her name! She doesn't know her name! She can't remember anything from before she woke up here! Oh, god, this is hopeless…"

I closed my eyes as she sunk to her knees next to me. I felt her hand against my forehead. Just then, it occurred to me that something with sharp corners was jabbing into my leg. "There's no fever," she said absently, "so what's wrong? It's like you…"

"…Just took a nap?" I offered.

Chrome let out a small shriek and jumped away from me. "I-I-I-I-I-I, u-um, y-you, you're up!" she stammered. She paused, and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Wait… how long were you awake?" I got up and stretched for a bit. "About a minute or two ago. Why do you ask?"

"What in the name of Jegus H. Dick do you mean, 'why do I ask'?! You saw us worrying over you, and you just sat back and watched us flail around like idiots, jackass!"

"Language, girl scout."

Chrome looked about ready to breathe fire. Luckily, Dean headed off the impending explosion by asking a very pertinent question: "Anyways, miss, you gave your friend a bit of a scare there. So we want to know: why did you collapse?"

Everyone was focused on me; even Chrome put a lid on it to hear my answer. I gave a bare-bones explanation of the Mindscape and the bookshelf, leaving out the contents of the memory, as well as any mention of the deck I realized I still had in my pocket.

"A mental space you can go into at will for hours on the minute," Will said, rubbing his chin, "that's pretty cool, lady." The rest of our little gathering had similar sentiments. I smiled and nodded at this, and paused for a second. I thought about it a little more, and decided to go through with it. "Also, for future reference," I said, "you can all just call me Nicole."