Chspter 72: The Road of Dreams

For several moments after the cat’s talk, neither Gene nor Selene spoke.

The plump purple cat sat comfortably atop its oversized chair, lazily sipping tea from a porcelain cup that seemed to appear and disappear whenever it pleased. 

Sometimes the cup was there. 

Sometimes it wasn’t. 

They watched as the cat drank from an empty cup and somehow still produced a loud slurping noise.

He had decided that trying to understand the cat was a waste of energy.

The creature clearly operated on rules that belonged to an entirely different reality.

Eventually Selene broke the silence.

“So…”

The cat smiled.

“So.”

“How do we leave?”

The cat’s grin widened.

Its head slowly rotated one hundred and eighty degrees.

Then another one hundred and eighty.

Then continued spinning.

Gene watched for a few seconds before deciding not to question it.

The cat head floated upwards in a small tornado.

“Oh, that’s easy.”

The cat pointed a paw toward the back of the house.

A window appeared.

Then vanished.

Then appeared somewhere else.

Through it they could see an old mustard-colored road stretching into the distance.

The road vanished.

Then reappeared.

Then vanished again.

The cat nodded.

“Simply reach the end.”

Gene frowned.

“The end of what?”

“The road.”

“That sounds suspiciously simple.”

The cat head floated past them.

“Everything is simple if you know what makes it tick.”

Its body vanished.

Only its floating head remained.

Then the body walked back into the room carrying a wooden box between its paws.

The laws of physics were clearly dead here.

The creature placed the box carefully on the table.

Its grin stretched impossibly wide.

Wider than before.

Wide enough that Gene briefly wondered if the smile had detached from reality entirely.

“Oh, I cannot wait to see how this plays out.”

The cat chuckled to itself .

“I simply cannot wait to see how you two perform.”

Selene narrowed her eyes.

“Perform?”

The cat nodded.

“This place was once a test.”

Its eyes glimmered silver.

“A test of dreams.”

“A test of imagination.”

“A test of truth.”

The smile widened further.

“And perhaps most importantly…”

Its head floated upward.

“A test of what to do when fantasy becomes… well more than you can fathom.”

Gene wasn’t sure he liked that answer.

The cat seemed delighted by his discomfort.

Then the creatures eyes suddenly looked directly at him.

The amusement in its eyes softened slightly.

“You knew Her.”

Gene nodded.

“I knew the story.”

The cat tilted its head.

Its expression became strangely nostalgic.

“You know… Stories are such funny things.”

Its voice became quieter.

“Some stories can be a reminder of things we wish to forget!”

Before Gene could ask what that meant, the cat nudged the wooden box toward him.

“Consider this as a gift.”

“A gift?”

“A reward really.”

The cat’s body disappeared again.

Only the head remained.

Then cat’s fluffy tail had detached and floated upward.

The tail connected beneath the head.

The cat wiggled as it resembled an enormous purple cobra.

Gene sighed.

Of course it did.

The strange creature slithered toward the back door.

Halfway there it stopped.

The cat hacked and coughed violently.

Something metallic flew from its mouth.

A brass key landed on the floor.

The cat stared at it.

The key stared back.

At least Gene thought it did.

After spending time around horror summons, he wasn’t willing to assume normal objects couldn’t stare anymore.

The cat nudged the key toward them.

“You may need that.”

“For what?”

The grin returned.

“Oh.”

The creature laughed.

“You’ll know when you need it.”

Gene hated answers like that.

⸻

The cat’s eyes suddenly vanished.

Not closed.

Not hidden.

Vanished.

Its face remained.

Its smile remained.

Its head remained.

But its eyes simply ceased existing.

Dark void like holes stared back at them.

Then the tail began fading.

The head followed.

The body disappeared.

Until only the smile remained floating in midair.

A grin without a face.

Without eyes.

Without reason.

The sight sent a chill through Gene’s spine.

For the first time since arriving, he remembered that whimsical things could also be horrifying.

⸻

The floating smile spoke.

“Remember.”

Its voice echoed throughout the room.

“There are many dangers hidden here.”

The smile stretched wider.

“And hidden dangers are always the most entertaining.”

The grin slowly faded.

Until nothing remained.

Silence followed for a few minutes…

⸻

Then:

“Why are you both still standing there?”

Gene jumped.

Selene jumped.

Both spun around.

The cat was sitting back in its chair.

Perfectly normal.

Sipping tea and fanning itself.

As though nothing had happened.

The creature looked annoyed.

“You both were supposed to leave by now.”

“What?”

The cat pointed toward the door.

“Go on.”

“But—”

“Go. Get going now. You don’t have all day.”

“We have questions.”

“Oh really! That’s Wonderful.”

The cat waved dismissively.

The cats tail grabbed a poker and shooed them out of the room. 

“Ask them to whomever you find on the road.”

Then it muttered something into its teacup.

Gene could have sworn it said:

“Young people never know when a chapter is supposed to end.”

⸻

Several moments later Gene and Selene found themselves outside of the house.

The cat tail waved goodbye before slamming the door shut.

The candy house began fading.

The walls dissolved first.

Then the roof.

Then the windows.

Soon only a faint outline remained.

Then even that vanished.

The house was gone.

As though it had never existed.

Only the mustard-colored road remained.

Stretching endlessly into the distance.

⸻

The yellow gem floated lazily around them.

Gene picked up the wooden box.

“Well… let’s open it.”

⸻

The box clicked.

Ancient hinges creaked.

The lid slowly lifted.

Inside rested a shattered mirror.

The frame appeared silver.

Beautiful.

Ancient.

Runes covered its surface.

Several large sections were missing.

Only fragments remained attached.

The mirror looked like something that should have been displayed in a royal treasury.

Not hidden inside a wooden box beneath a magical pond.

⸻

Athena immediately activated through Gene’s helmet.

SCANNING.

Blue light passed across the artifact.

Several seconds later a report appeared.

ITEM IDENTIFIED

Legendary Relic

Name: The Dreamer’s Mirror

Condition: Damaged

Current Completion: 12%

 Function:

• Reveals illusions.
• Reveals hidden disguises.
• Reveals false realities.

Additional Functions Locked

Recommendation: Recover Missing Shards

⸻

Gene whistled.

“This sounds useful.”

Selene nodded.

“Very useful.”

Considering how many illusion cultists they had encountered recently, the artifact might become one of their most valuable tools.

⸻

Folded beneath the mirror sat a note.

Gene carefully unfolded it.

The paper looked old.

Much older than the box.

Older than the road.

Perhaps older than this world itself.

The note contained only a few lines.

⸻

For those who walk the Dream Road.

The code for the next town is:

“Moonlight Falls Upon Sleeping Glass.”

Speak it only when asked.

And one final warning.

If you meet a rabbit…

Do not trust it.

⸻

Gene stared.

Selene stared.

Then both looked at each other.

⸻

“A rabbit?”

Gene folded the note.

“I somehow trust the warning a little less because it specifically mentions a rabbit.”

Selene laughed.

⸻

As Gene lifted the mirror from the box, something slipped loose.

A delicate silver chain fell into his hand.

Attached to it was an elegant bracelet.

The craftsmanship looked incredible.

Tiny silver vines wrapped around its surface.

Several empty gemstone sockets decorated the design.

One socket glowed faintly.

Waiting.

⸻

The yellow gem immediately reacted.

The gemstone flew upward.

Spun through the air.

Then merged directly into the empty slot.

Golden light exploded outward.

The bracelet pulsed.

The road around them shimmered.

The wind suddenly carried a distant voice.

⸻

Selene froze.

Her eyes widened.

“Gene.”

“What?”

“I hear someone.”

⸻

The bracelet flew over and wrapped gingerly around her wrist.

Golden light danced across her skin.

Then the voice became clearer.

Gentle.

Warm.

Familiar.

Selene’s eyes slowly filled with tears.

“Grandma.”

The voice continued speaking.

Not aloud.

Directly into her mind.

Gene watched quietly while she listened.

Several minutes passed.

The wind carried distant whispers.

He watched as golden butterflies appeared briefly around the bracelet.

Then vanished. 

⸻

Finally Selene smiled.

A sad smile.

A happy smile.

The kind that came from missing someone dearly.

“What did she say?”

Selene took a deep breath.

“That was not my grandmother.”

“What?”

“It was my great-great-grandmother.”

Gene blinked.

“Oh.”

⸻

Selene looked down at the bracelet.

“She created this place.”

“The test?”

She nodded.

“The entire mini-world.”

The revelation hung between them.

Selene continued.

“She said people misunderstand fantasy.”

“How?”

“Most people only remember heroes.”

Gene nodded.

“That’s true.”

“But fantasy includes villains too.”

The wind stirred around them.

“Monsters.”

“Nightmares.”

“Darkness.”

“Fear.”

“Every dream has shadows.”

Gene smiled slightly.

That sounded suspiciously similar to the philosophy behind his horror world.

Selene touched the bracelet.

“She said she completed this test too.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

A faint laugh escaped her.

“Apparently becoming a Dreamseer required passing through this world.”

Gene immediately focused on that.

“Dreamseer.”

The title sounded important.

Ancient.

Powerful.

Connected to the prophecy.

Connected to the necklace.

Connected to the gems.

Perhaps connected to his old worlds Alice.

Before he could ask more questions, the note suddenly folded itself.

The paper transformed.

Wings emerged.

A tiny butterfly formed.

The butterfly took flight.

Gene and Selene watched in stunned silence.

The paper creature drifted through the air.

Following the road.

Dancing through invisible currents.

Then it landed several yards away.

On absolutely nothing.

A shimmer appeared.

Reality distorted.

The butterfly dissolved into golden dust.

Something gleamed on the ground.

⸻

Gene approached.

Knelt.

Picked up a small object.

A mirror shard.

The fragment immediately flew toward the damaged mirror.

Silver light flashed.

The shard fused perfectly into place.

New runes illuminated.

Athena activated again.

DREAMER’S MIRROR UPDATED

Completion: 18%

New Function Unlocked

Area Mapping

Nearby Terrain Automatically Recorded

A small map appeared in Gene’s vision.

Roads.

Landmarks.

Nearby terrain.

Several symbols.

Most were unknown.

One particularly large symbol sat far ahead.

Exactly where the road appeared to lead.

“That’s incredibly useful.”

Selene nodded.

“Your grandmother’s grandmother was impressive.”

The bracelet glowed.

A warm voice whispered one final time.

Good luck, little dreamer.

Then the voice was gone. 

Selene stood quietly for several seconds.

Then smiled.

A genuine smile.

One filled with determination.

Gene gently squeezed her hand.

“You okay?”

She nodded.

“Yeah.”

The bracelet glimmered.

“It feels like she wanted us to be here.”

⸻

Gene looked down the road.

The mustard-colored path stretched endlessly forward.

Twisting between candy hills.

Disappearing into distant fog.

Waiting.

Adventure.

Danger.

Answers.

Perhaps even more gems.

For the first time since falling through the trap, Gene felt excited.

Not worried.

Not nervous.

Excited.

⸻

The map flickered.

Several nearby locations appeared.

One marked:

Town Ahead

Gene smiled.

“Looks like we have a destination.”

Selene smiled back.

“Then let’s go.”

Hand in hand, the two summoners continued down the ancient road.

Behind them, the vanished house remained unseen.

Yet somewhere beyond reality—

A giant purple cat watched.

Its grin stretched across impossible darkness.

Silver eyes glimmered.

Tea cup floating beside it.

The cat chuckled softly.

“Dreamers.”

It laughed.

“Things are definitely about to become very interesting.”

Far ahead, hidden beyond rolling hills and shimmering fields, the lights of a mysterious town slowly came into view.

And somewhere within those lights—

A rabbit waited.