Blaze a New Path
Sometimes, all it takes to change ones fate is to make a single choice. Taking ones fate into their own hands can be the hardest thing to do, so some help is always nice, even if it does come from superpowers. All you need to do is make sure you make the choice you won't regret.
And we are back. Nothing much to say here, other than enjoy!
Chapter 7
Taylor settled back on her bench and stretched. She had quickly come to love spending time in the Luofu just as much as the Astral Express. The express was amazing and she loved all of the crew, but it was also small and often noisy. The Luofu on the other hand felt far more open and relaxing. Here, she could sit on a bench and watch the endless, fascinating procession of Humanity going about their day while enjoying the warm sun.
Plus, the architecture was amazing.
All told, it was the perfect place to just sit and think, without interruptions from the Express crew doing something chaotic.
As if on cue, a purple blur suddenly came vaulting over her bench, skidded to a stop and dove under Taylors seat, taking cover behind her legs as a trio of men in green robes sprinted past and vanished around a corner that led towards the Exalting Sanctum.
"Phew, finally lost them!"
The purple blur crawled out from under the bench and scrambled up to sit next to Taylor, revealing it to actually be a small girl dressed in purple with matching hair, a purple tail and a pair of small horns sticking out of her forehead.
"What was that all about?" asked Taylor, "Do you need help?"
"Nah, I can manage," said the girl with a grin, "Slipping my minders is easy these days!"
"I…see," said Taylor, not entirely sure what to make of that.
The girl cleared her throat.
"Anyway, I'm Bailu, a doctor from the Alchemy Commission," she said, "Come here, let me have a look at you."
Before Taylor could protest, the tiny doctor grabbed her face and pulled her in to take a close look at the bandaged scrape on her face, then quickly checked her over, somehow managing to poke every bruise Taylor had received from her fall with unerring accuracy.
"Hmm, I'd say you took a fall down some stairs," said Bailu, "I'd say that you'll be fine, theres no damage more serious than a bit of bruising."
Taylor stared at Bailu.
"How in the world could you tell all of that with a glance?" she asked.
"Like I said, I'm a doctor," said Bailu as she hopped off the bench, "Now come on, lets get the other thing treated."
Taylor frowned.
"Other thing?" she asked.
"Yep, you're clearly in a bad mood and that needs treatment," said Bailu, "I tend to find that good food and company is the best medicine for those and I know where we can get both! Come on!"
She seized Taylors hand and pulled her to her feet, forcing Taylor to stumble after the much smaller girl as Bailu dragged Taylor away from her brooding bench.
It didn't take them long to reach their destination, a smaller district that was surprisingly full for its small size and out of the way area. However, what caught Taylors attention the most was the sheer amount of delicious smells that dominated the area. It was more than enough to make her stomach growl loudly, getting a grin from Bailu.
"Welcome to Aurum Alley, the best place on the Luofu for good food and people who won't rat you out!" said Bailu with a grand gesture, "Come on, I'll show you around!"
She sprinted off, leaving Taylor to hurry after her little guide. The next couple of hours was spent being introduced to the various vendors that called the alley home, especially the food vendors, all of whom seemed to know Bailu well and were quite fond of the little doctor.
They were just talking to a woman, who was apparently called Tall Aunty for…some reason Taylor decided not to ask, when the low buzz of bustle that filled the alley was interrupted by a loud crash. Taylor nearly jumped out of her skin and looked around wildly for the source, only to quickly find it in the form of a young, redheaded woman in a revealing, red dress stood on a makeshift stage with a gong in one hand and a smouldering brazier at her feet.
"Hey everyone, listen up!" she called, "We got some brands, bright as the sun, so pay attention, its time for some fun!"
Beside Taylor, Bailu perked up and grinned.
"Oh hey, I didn't know Lil Gui was going to be performing today!" she said, hopping off her stool and grabbing Taylors hand, "Come on Taylor!"
She pulled Taylor over to join the crowd that had begun to gather around the girl as she dropped her gong and seized the metal rods sticking out of her brazier, yanking them out in a shower of sparks as music began to play from somewhere, striking up a swift beat. With a slightly manic grin, the girl struck up a fast dance with the burning brands, sending sparks flying and painting short lived pictures in the air with her movements. The crowd clearly loved it if the noise they were making was anything to go by and Taylor couldn't help but notice that many of them pulled out phones to record the performance. Apparently all sentient creatures had the same inclination, even semi-immortal aliens.
For some reason, that idea struck Taylor was rather funny.
Finally, as the brands began to burn down, the performer stomped on her stage with a heel and a second girl popped out from behind, drawing a massive sword that she slipped under her partners feet. A moment later, the red-head was sent skyward with a mighty heave. The redheaded performer flipped over and flung an arc of small balls she'd apparently had hidden in her dress, which promptly exploded into a riot of colourful fireworks as she brought her brands to her mouth and blew out a huge plume of fire, the entire thing somehow briefly creating the shape of a roaring lion-dog.
Taylor gladly joined in the applause as the girl landed and took a bow.
"Man, Lil Gui's performances are always great!" said the short girl stood beside Taylor, "Totally worth ditching work to see!"
With the show over, the crowd began to disperse, most of them pausing to exchange a few words with Gui and her assistant and drop a few Strale into a bucket that had been set up by the stage. Once it had cleared somewhat, Taylor followed Bailu as she skipped over to the two. As she approached, Taylor suddenly realised that the girl who had been helping the performer was Sushang, the Cloud Knight Jing Yuan had assigned to show her around last time she had been on the Luofu.
"Oh, hey Taytay!" said Sushang as the Cloud Knight spotted Taylor, "I didn't know you were back!"
Taylor twitched slightly at the nickname.
"Please don't call me that," she said, "I was in the area and ended up getting dragged along by Bailu here."
"Hey, I couldn't just leave you brooding like that!" said Bailu, "You might not be a Native, but spending your time brooding is bad for everyone!"
"Well said Dragon Lady!" said the redhead with a grin, "I entirely agree! Nice ta meet you Taytay, I'm Guinaifen, Streamer, entertainer and Shangshangs best friend!"
"I'm Taylor," said Taylor, "Please don't call me Taytay."
"Anyway, we're done here, so lets go get some lunch," said Guinaifen, "Come join us Taytay!"
Taylor opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, she was swept up in Guinaifen's blazing wake.
Despite herself, Taylor found herself greatly enjoying spending time with Guinaifen and Sushang. They refused to stop calling her Taytay and she eventually gave up asking them to stop, but despite her dislike of the nickname, she found that she didn't mind these two using it. It was almost impossible to actually dislike them, despite Taylor's lingering issues from the Trio.
After lunch, Bailu had left, citing a need to actually get back to work, leaving Taylor with Sushang and Guinaifen. Not that that changed much. The two girls had decided to take over from Bailu and Sushang had been told to act as Taylors guide, so they ended up giving her another tour, this time including some places that were more off the beaten path.
As they made their way through one of the residential Delves, Sushang paused and looked down an alley, frowning slightly.
"Something wrong Shangshang?" asked Guinaifen.
"Isn't that Huohuo?" said Sushang, pointing down the alley.
Guinaifen and Taylor followed the Cloud Knights finger to where a small, green haired Foxian was staring at a gloomy looking house with a nervous look on her face.
"I think so," said Guinaifen, "She looks like she needs help, come on!"
Without waiting for her companions, she marched down the alley towards the girl, leaving Taylor and Sushang to follow her.
"Another friend of yours?" asked Taylor.
"Yeah, we worked together on a project for the…actually, I probably shouldn't mention that," said Sushang, "But yes, we're friends. We try to help her out with her work when we can shes…not very good with scary things."
As if to prove her point, Guinaifen closed in on the girl and spoke up.
"Hey there!" she said.
"YEEK!"
The little Foxian leaped a foot in the air and scuttled back, pressing herself against the wall of the alley and shaking like a leaf.
"N-noooo, stay away!" she screamed, waving a flag she'd pulled from somewhere wildly in front of her.
"Oh for the love of…calm down brat, its just the fireworks girl," said a deep voice from somewhere behind the girl.
The girl stopped flailing and opened one eye. She let out a sigh of relief and got to her feet, still shaking slightly.
"H-hello Miss Guinaifen," she said, "Um, did you need something?"
"Nah, we just saw you and thought you might need some help," said Guinaifen.
"O-oh, thats nice of you, but I probably shouldn't…"
"If we leave it with you, we'll never get anywhere!" said the deep voice, "Tell the girl and lets get this over with! And whos the new girl?"
Taylor and Sushang had finally caught up.
"Oh, right, this is Taylor," said Guinaifen, "Taytay, this is Houhou and Tail."
Huohuo's tail seemed to erupt into ghostly green flames and separated from Huohuo, forming into the shape of a green fireball with an almost cartoony canine face.
"Hrumph, I thought something weird was going on," said Tail, "So, you're the anchor for this whole mess?"
Taylor frowned.
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked, "What are you talking about?"
Tail paused and turned back to her with a raised eyebrow.
"Wait, so you don't…oh, now that is rich!" he said with a bark of laughter, "You have no idea where we are, do you?"
"U-um, what are you talking about Mr Tail?" asked Houhou.
"And you didn't notice either," said Tail, "Can't say I'm surprised about these two morons, but I'd have thought a Judge, even one as useless as you, would be able to tell."
Houhou visibly wilted.
"Hey now, no need to be harsh!" said Sushang, "Now, what are you talking about?"
"Tch, fine, I guess I should tell you," grumbled Tail, "Or, actually, I'll just show you. Hey brat, get the door open!"
Houhou perked up and glanced over at the door she had been standing in front of before the trios arrival.
"Um, OK?" she said, "But…why? It's a weird report, but it's probably just another Helobus…right?"
"Nah, not this time," said Tail, "In fact, I suspect that the thing we're after is because of HER."
He pointed at Taylor with a tongue of flame.
"Wait, how could whatever you're here for be my fault?" asked Taylor.
"Well, this is your dream, right?" said Tail, "You have more control than most, but your subconscious still reigns. That has an effect, especially when your mind is trying to figure something else. The result is…"
Houhou opened the door and the girls stared through with wide eyes.
"...that," said Tail, sounding smug.
Instead of the normal inside of a rundown house, the door led into a bizarre, twisted landscape that looked more like the rundown hallway of a school on Earth than anything on the Loufu. After a few moments, Taylor recognized that it was, in fact, just that. In fact, it was the main hallway of Winslow, albeit…off. Everything was a shade of dark blue and a number of orbs of light floated in various places, providing a remarkably eerie light.
"W-what is this place?" asked Taylor.
"This is the Dreamscape," said Tail, "Also known as the Memory Zone. You might consider it as the basic foundation of these dreams. I have no idea whats actually FORMING these dreams, or letting you connect us to them, but I do know how these sorts of things work."
"How did you manage that?" asked Sushang.
"You really think we can't tell when we are being screwed with?" said Tail, "We are masters of illusion and trickery, we can tell when something is screwy. Plus, we're energy beings, so we tend to be a bit more aware of when things…change. Anyway, enough standing around, lets go!"
"Whoa, wait a sec, are you sure its safe?'' asked Taylor.
Tail snorted.
"Its as safe as your subconscious can be," he said, "Sides, we can handle anything we might find in there and, perhaps more importantly, we wouldn't be able to access this unless it was something that you wanted. This IS your world after all."
Taylor frowned at that and glanced at her friends. Sushang shrugged.
"I don't really get whats going on, but this sounds like it could be fun," she said, summoning her oversized sword.
"Hell yeah, I'm always down for an adventure!" said Guinaifen with a wide grin, "Come on Taytay, lets see what your subconscious can come up with!"
"I feel like you two are taking this whole dream thing entirely too well," said Taylor.
Guinaifen shrugged.
"I don't really care to be honest," she said, "I've been around a few Heliobi and they tend to spout bullshit."
"HEY…fair point actually."
"Tail might be telling the truth, but I can deal with that later," continued Guinaifen, ignoring Tails protest, "If this is a dream, its a fun one, if not, I get a potentially fun adventure out of it and help a friend."
"What she said," said Sushang, pointing at the redhead.
"U-um, same," said Houhou, "B-but if this is a dream, can't you make me a bit braver?"
Taylor looked between her new friends and sighed.
"Well, I guess I can't really argue with that," she said, "Fine, whatever, lets get this over with. I don't want to spend any more time in Winslow than I absolutely have to, dreamscape or otherwise."
She summoned her bat and stepped up to the door with her friends. As she did, Houhou joined them.
"I-I'm coming to," she said, "This was my mission first, so I-I can't chicken out!"
"Thats the spirit brat," said Tail, "Just try not to piss yourself when we run into something scary."
He vanished and returned to Houhou's tail. Taylor made a mental note to have a word with the green flame creature once this was over, then took a fortifying breath and stepped through the door into the nightmare of her old school.
And with that, I'm done. Well, that certainly took a turn, no?
A meeting with the cutest doctor around, because she needs a healer, followed by some new friends. Because you can't go wrong with Gui and Sushang. Besides, I kinda want to do a scene where Vicky meets those two. I suspect they'll get along like a house on fire.
Well now, isn't that interesting? A look into how her power actually functions behind the scenes. And yes, this form of it has been largely inspired by Penacony. I have to say, the entire thing with the Dreamscape was remarkably handy in giving me something vaguely canonical to make this idea work.
As for why Tail can tell that they are in a dream and everyone else can't, well, he pretty much spelled it out for us. As it stands, those who are drawn into Taylors dream genuinely can't tell that they are dreaming and generally don't remember much when they wake up, with a few exceptions and basically view their experiences as normal dreams…right up until they get something that transfers back with them.
Anyway, next time a dungeon delve, make sure you bring some fire and physical characters along for the ride! I suspect this party is really badly constructed, but at least they have the best healer in the game! Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!