A primordial soup of concepts.
A jagged puzzle of stories.
“Where… am I..?” That was all she could mutter in that moment.
Julie’s mind raced with scenes of unknown origin. Scenes from a realm beyond the one she knew of. As if speeding through the cosmos, flickers of light passed by her in the thousands, each carrying strands of ideas and knowledge that she could never hope to grasp.
It was both a hopeless yet beautiful feeling. A feeling of being able to see that which should not be seen, and yet, not being able to understand it regardless. Confusion mixed with awe, and awe mixed with fear. Yet all of it was wrapped in a bundle of excitement.
Her emotions… She could feel them all playing and singing within her, as if they were alive.
The dazzling images sped past her, as the configuration of ink blobbed stars flashed their brilliance. Eventually, however, her sight froze. She had arrived once again here, as the memories of what had happened returned to her once again.
“Another lucid dream…”
This was not the first, nor will it be the last. Ever since her soul was branded with the Fairy Ring marking, frequent visits to this location became common-place at night. What started as a simple vision or repeated dream, has now turned into something far more real…
Julie glanced down at herself. Her clothing… A white blouse paired with a simple, loose black skirt that she had borrowed from Eve. Her left thigh was strapped with the same holster as before.
“Did… Did I pass out during my training?”
Julie frowned. This was the first time this had happened. She glanced around her—a field of flowers basked in the cold light of a crayon-painted night sky. Strange things could be seen up there too, from outlandish magical contraptions, to projections of strange creatures, all flying freely. No, if she had to be honest, Julie had no way of understanding what those things were… They were all foreign to her understanding.
Her dream realm was always a mystical place… Only upon entering it did she recall all her previous visits and their vivid, intricate details. Even now, Julie knew that once she awoke, most of what had transpired here would fade—the memories will be lost until her next return.
“Like it matters,” she shrugged.
For the most part, every one of her visits here tend to only last a few moments at best. And even her freedom was strangely restricted—trying to move elsewhere was impossible as reality itself seemed to warp all around her. If she ever tried to leave, she would simply return back to where she was initially…
All she could do was wait, sit around, and glance at the distant cosmic scenes beyond reach, until finally, the end of this dream arrives and takes her back to reality.
This was how it always came to pass… She had grown used to it by now.
And, it annoyed her to no end.
Not only was she being robbed of having to sleep normally, but whatever was dragging her here in the first place didn’t seem to even have a purpose for it…
“That god Solomon spoke to… Does He simply enjoy tormenting me? Is this just a game to HIm?”
She quickly erased those thoughts. Julie was already unlucky enough—being cursed by a god for blasphemy was the last thing she wanted…
And as if sensing her thoughts, that shallow voice once again returned, announcing His presence:
“Reality breaks where fiction is created,” the declaration echoed in her ear, like a church bell announcing the end of the world.
She flinched and stumbled back in fear. “Y-you! It’s you again! Who are you?! Where are you?!” Julie trembled as she glanced around the flower field.
Nothing. The only thing surrounding her was a field of flowers that would abruptly end with an edge that leads into an infinite abyss of incomprehensible things.
Suddenly, she heard the wind whistle from behind. Before she could even turn to see, a swarm of golden butterflies raced past her shoulders, startling her even more.
What is happening?! This doesn’t usually happen?! However, those butterflies were familiar to her. Scribe-of-Worlds also had a similar feature…
She watched in both awe and terror as the countless tiny insects crawled into each other, forming a shape. It took a moment but she finally realized what it was…
A golden staircase.
A staircase that seemed to lead her off the edge of this tiny flower field island floating in an endless sea of crayon-painted stars…
He wants me to come to him… The realization made her stomach drop. However, she still decided to go. Her curiosity had overcome her fear. Every dream before this one always ended the same—what exactly caused this one to be different?
She needed to know. She had to…
Standing up, she dusted her clothes and gulped down her hesitation, every step drawing her closer to the mysterious path forming before her.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Screw it…” She took her first step off the island she had grown familiar with and into the unknown. One step became two, and three became four. As Julie looked up, she could see just how much further she had to go.
For a while, it felt as if the staircase would go on forever. Even though she wasn’t burdened with exhaustion due to this being a dream, her patience was slowly running out. Step after step into an infinite void above had turned into a monotonous routine—one that caused even time itself to crawl to a snail’s pace…
However, much to her relief, she finally spotted a change.
Up above, hundreds of steps away, colossal bookshelves that each seemed to contain a library’s worth of knowledge came into view. There were hundreds of them, all scattered randomly across the skies…
She sped up, racing up the steps until all she could see around her was a grand labyrinth of scrolls and tomes. Books were scattered across the titanic shelves, some flying on their own back to their original places, while others were mysteriously flying off the shelves, as if they were being called upon by someone…
Jule suppressed her fear and continued moving up the steps, until finally, something strange came into view. The steps had ended in a large, circular platform that gave view to that same mysterious figure that kept whisking her away into this strange realm…
Indeed, He was the same no matter how many times she had seen Him, nailed upon a colossal cross floating freely above the array of bookshelves. His cloak was drenched in colors beyond anything the human eye could perceive. As for His face?
Incomprehensible.
His face… It looked to be pixelated, as if reality itself rejected her gaze. No, He was simply hidden behind countless layers of deception and lies.
Lies that could twist the fabric of nature itself…
And it was then that she realized what she had just done. She lowered her gaze swiftly.
“I… I apologize…” Beads of sweat rolled down her cheek.
A week earlier, Julie had sought out Solomon for guidance on the strange dreams that kept haunting her nights. Though most of the details slip away once she awakes, the fragments that linger always pointed to the same mysterious presence—the very being she had just laid her eyes upon.
Solomon had listened carefully, and although she had no way of verifying his reactions, it was obvious from his tone that the situation was not dangerous in the slightest.
The advice he offered was also something she herself had already suspected—that the Fairy Ring’s influence on her soul had been seeping into her Three Layers during her sleep, warping the Veil of Perception in the process and causing her dreams to shift unnaturally.
But he did warn her of one thing—the words were spoken softly and yet they had been entrenched deeply in her mind:
“Never uncover what the gods have concealed.”
If the being before her wished to remain veiled in the cold depths of lies and paradoxes, then so be it.
That was His prerogative.
In the next second, a shallow laugh rang across the mystical void. Then, Julie stood in silence as His fragmented voice entered her mind from all angles and sides…
“Abandoned… Story…
“A new path… Emerges…
“A new story…. Written…”
Julie’s lips twitched as she tried to interject, only to realize she no longer had any control over her own body… Her mouth… She could no longer move it…
“Seek… the past…
“Seek… the light…”
She watched in silence as the figure began to smile. It was a smile swarmed in madness and mischief.
“Lowly arachnid…
“May you… Ensnare the Whispers of History…”
“May you… Consume… it all…”
Surrounded by the endless void, the enigmatic being crumbled before her very eyes, transforming into overlapping forms, like a book folding into itself infinitely. A searing pain split through her skull. She turned away just in time—but the horror had only begun.
The golden platform beneath her feet shattered like glass. She felt her body turn weightless as the radiant stars above raced away…
Then, it was over. As quickly as it had begun.
“Wait!”
Julie awoke from her slumber, drenched head to toe in sweat. She frantically glanced around, eyes twitching for any sign of what had just happened.
“Calm down,” a soothing voice entered her mind.
“Solomon…” She never imagined His voice could ever be this comforting. Slowly, she took in her surroundings. Julie was perched on the flat concrete roof of an abandoned building—exactly where she remembered passing out during her training. After last year’s recession, scenes like this had become common across Europe.
The overhead clouds reflected her mood. Rain was bound to fall today…
Finally calming down, she huddled on the edge of the building, hugging her legs tightly. Seeing how meek she was acting, Solomon decided to ask:
“You saw something again, didn’t you?” His voice seemed certain. “Strange, from my previous observations, those dreams of yours should only happen around midnight.”
Julie buried her face deeper into her knees.
“He appeared again.
“That strange deity…”
There was a moment of silence until His voice echoed again:
“Did He say something to you?”
Julie nodded, “He mentioned something about the whispers of history…”
All of a sudden, Julie felt a jolt of anima. “Old man, what’s wrong?..”
“The prophecy’s guiding principle… It has finally shown its hand…”
Julie frowned, “And what exactly does that mean? Why does that have anything to do with me…”
“It means your training will have to be doubled now.”