"No," Shadow replies immediately, but his eyes betray hesitation.

  I wave my hand in the air, bidding him to continue. Shadow does not get the non-verbal hint.

  "But?" I prompt.

  "Restraining him might be necessary. Can I ask a question?"

  "You just did."

  He pales. But really, that ought to be about the stupidest question one could ask. Did they teach him dreamer etiquette but not common sense?

  My silence must have frightened Shadow. As I muse on his education, he kneels down.

  "Get up."

  "Please forgive me," he says and continues to kneel.

  I raise an eyebrow at him. What happened to rule three? As for what rule three is, in my opinion, it should be rule one:

  If a dreamer gives you an order, just do it.

  Luckily, Shadow is not entirely brain dead. After a moment of confusion, realization hits him and he practically jumps to his feet.

  The whole episode was so bizarre that I decide to forget about it. Unlike earlier, it does not seem as if he needs to be reminded of his circumstances. If anything, he is too nervous.

  I sigh and decide to crify. Right now, I believe it will take at least another hour or two for my light-headedness to subside. Until then, he could be useful.

  "Do not ever ask me, no, anyone, if you can ask a question. And do not kneel unless you want me to turn you into a traffic pylon."

  Shadow stiffens but nods.

  "Now ask your question, the actual question."

  "What did you drug him with?"

  "What led you to conclude that I drugged him?"

  "He has not awoken despite the intense external stimulus."

  In other words, he thought that anyone should have awoken in such a noisy environment.

  "And how do you know he is not awake?"

  Shadow bnches. Looks like he simply assumed it. A basic mistake that makes me question his competency. He looks old enough to have a solid ten years of experience though. Incompetent individuals rarely st that long in Erebos.

  "May I check?" he asks.

  "Go ahead."

  I am curious how he will check.

  Shadow walks towards the corner where Candy-corn is still huddling, holding the duke. She shrieks.

  Shadow stops and turns to me. I can hear the question without him voicing it.

  "Ignore her for now."

  Shadow nods and turns back around.

  "He's naked!" Candy-corn shouts, looking at me.

  That's what she is concerned about? Did she not listen to the conversation?

  "And?"

  "Naked people should not touch clothed people!"

  Is that a cultural difference?

  "If you do not want him to touch you, move away."

  "Never!" she shrieks.

  It is grating and I rub the side of my head. A brief thought zaps through my cloudy mind like lightning: it would be better if her voice were lower.

  "Moo!"

  I blink. I slipped.

  "Mooo!"

  Fortunately, the changes are minor, and one is positive: Candy-corn lost her voice and is now mooing like a cow.

  She also has a bck and white flower growing out of her left ear. What is it with me and flowers recently? Am I close to an other where flowers are a dominant species?

  Her breasts seem to have changed a bit, too, but other than that, she is normal.

  One by one, I check the other souls in the room:

  Shadow? Unchanged.

  Jumpy? Looks fine.

  The duke? Still feigning sleep.

  Aside from the flower growing on Candy-corn, I do not spot any more flowers.

  All's well then.

  Remembering his original task, Shadow quickly strides forward and pulls the duke out of Candy-corns arms. The changes seem to have sapped her strength. Aside from mooing weakly, she does not protest.

  I watch interestedly as Shadow pces his hands on the duke's shoulders and pinches the trapezius muscles hard. When the duke does not react, he starts twisting, but that does not elicit a response either.

  He lets go and moves his hands to the duke's right eye. Using his left hand's thumb, he harshly presses down on the middle of the bony ridge above it, applying supraorbital pressure. The duke does not move at all.

  I chuckle. That fel certainly has nerves of steel.

  However, Shadow does not give up so easily. He grabs the duke's eyelids and lifts them. Keeping the duke's eyes open, Shadow then turns the fel's head side to side: first left and then right towards where his daughter is feebly mooing.

  When his unfocused eyes spot his daughter, the jig is up. His eyes sharpen and widen at the sight before he yanks his head free of Shadow's grasp and turns to me:

  "What did you do? Can it be reversed?"

  I chuckle. Is he pretending to care about her or does he genuinely care? After seeing her drugged up with his king, I doubt it. Then again, I know first hand that the world is not as rational as Hypnos would like it to be.

  "Yes."

  "Reverse it or I will never tell you anything!"

  Shadow responds for me. Did my earlier statement motivate him to take more of an initiative? He steps back from the duke, crosses the two step distance separating him from Candy-corn, and backhands her.

  "Moo!"

  "Leave her alone, she is innocent!"

  Aren't we all?

  "I doubt what she is experiencing now is worse than what your king did."

  The duke grimaces.

  "Besides, it will not matter. She will die soon."

  "What?"

  I sign at Shadow to continue. This spiel is standard, interrogations for dummies one-o-one.

  He immediately picks up on it and continues to recite the pybook:

  "How soon will depend on you Mr., err,..."

  He looks at me.

  "Duke."

  "Mr. Duke. If you tell us what we want to know, she will die quickly."

  The duke clenches his jaws and closes his eyes.

  Sp!

  "Moo!"

  "You bastard!"

  This is annoying and boring.

  I cross the room and walk over to the duke. Shadow immediately steps aside and makes space.

  Looking down at the duke, I try to appeal to his reason,

  "Who changed you?"

  He silently gres at me.

  "You are boring me to death. I will attempt to reverse some of your changes, specifically your reduced pain perception.

  "And it will work, but there will be side-effects. Since I am concentrating on you, you will be mostly fine, but her..."

  I point over at Candy-corn and grin.

  The duke looks constipated as he grinds his teeth. Since his limbs are paralyzed, there is not much else he can do.

  "Lee."

  Now it is my turn to grimace. Lee is troublesome.