Dreamer's Throne

DT4 - Chapter 8

A few of the shadows encountered one another, but to Garrett's surprise, instead of merging together, they began to rip and tear, each trying to consume the other. This just caused them to fall apart even faster, and after only a few minutes, the last of the shadows burned away, leaving the hallway bright and clean. The success of this method encouraged Garrett, and with a thought, he sent the dream flowers into the next hallway.

Had the shadow monsters possessed any real intelligence, they would have banded together to try and stop him. But as it was, their instinctive fear kept them in hiding until it was too late. Occasionally, Garrett would take control of his illusion that was still back in the room, talking to Princess Eloise to reassure her, even as he continued to clear the hallways one by one.

It took almost six hours before he was finished, mainly because he had begun opening the doors in the hallway as well, cleaning out the rooms of the shadows that lurked inside of them. In a couple of rooms, he found brittle bones that collapsed into dust as soon as he touched them. There were even a few items that looked like artifacts, but they had been sucked clean of energy as well, and followed the fate of the bones.

After those six long hours, Garrett, who was beginning to feel quite exhausted, returned to the room where the princess and his illusion were. By this time, the princess was sitting on the bed. Her knees were pulled up under her chin, and her arms were wrapped around her legs as she talked about her many experiences since she had fled the city six months ago.

Though he had heard everything that she had said to his illusion, Garrett paused outside the door, his forehead furrowing as he listened to her quiet voice. The enchanting quality her soul spark gave her was absent as she spoke, pouring out heartfelt words about how hard it had been. And as he listened, Garrett found his heart softening.

The truth was, he would have been happy if Princess Eloise had never appeared in front of him. He had too many things to worry about as he tried to help the Klein family navigate the dangers contained in both the dream and the waking world. He had been happy to support the princess's claim to the throne from afar, but then she had shown up, pulling him into yet another mess that would threaten both his safety and the safety of those he was responsible for.

So far, in Garrett's head, the princess was little more than an annoyance, and had the opportunity come to dump her in the river with no one the wiser, Garrett may have taken it. His every conversation with her had been one filled with verbal sparring, as she tried to get his undying support, and he tried to avoid making any commitments. Now, however, that seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind.

They were trapped in this shadowy world, a world with no exit. And though Garrett kept assuring her that the people outside were working on it, Princess Eloise clearly didn't believe him. As a way to fight her fears, she had begun to tell him about her escape, and after, about her life in Port Reverie. It had clearly been difficult, as she had been surrounded by people on all sides, each interested in using her to further their own aims, not caring that she had just passed through an incredibly traumatic experience.

In order to ensure her survival, the princess had no choice but to play along, hardening her heart and binding tight the still-bleeding wounds that covered it. That hadn't caused them to stop bleeding, however. And now, as words gushed out of her, tears did as well. Not the sobbing cry of someone looking for sympathy, but tears born from genuine pain.

It was a strange thing for Garrett to suddenly realize that the princess was only a scared young woman. Of course he had known that, and what actually caught him off guard was the realization that he had completely overlooked it as he engaged with her. Taking off his mask, Garrett ruefully rubbed his chin, ashamed to admit that he gave her as much consideration as he gave one of the monsters that inhabited the dream, and it wasn't just her, but rather seemed to be everyone who didn't bear one of the dream flowers.

Garrett had known that he had grown cold since awakening in this world, but it was only now that he was realizing the extent of it, and it carried frightening connotations. He already thought of himself as more monster than human. After all, the dream flowers that spread throughout the sleeping world were born of his mind, but now, Garrett was beginning to wonder what that would mean for his future. Deep sympathy began to creep into Garretts heart and for a moment he considered entering the room to comfort the crying princess, but just as he started to take a step forward he felt his soul spark thrum and the cloudy look that had shrouded his eyes cleared up.

A terrible coldness filled Garrett and for a long moment he remained absolutely still, his foot poised to move. After the moment passed, he put his foot back down and looked down at his hands, trying to figure out where these strange fluctuations of emotion were coming from. It was true that he had already stepped into a realm that normal humans had no way to touch, but his coldness wasnt borne of that. It had been with him from the beginning. It was true that the princess arrival had introduced a complication into his plans, but that would have never caused his emotions to fluctuate before.

Something is wrong with me.

The knowledge hit Garrett like a heavy slap and sent his mind whirring as scenes flashed past his eyes. Something had changed in the last week, something that made him more susceptible to changes in emotion, especially anger and annoyance. Taking a deep breath, Garrett calmed his heart, working to untangle his thoughts from the feelings that surged through him. It wasnt that Garrett was or had any desire to be emotionless, but rather, he wanted to keep his thinking clear and unencumbered by the waves of feeling that had been battering him recently.

Inside the room, Princess Eloise came to the end of her tale and slowly fell silent. Taking one final deep breath and replacing his mask on his face, Garrett took that as his cue to enter and stepped into the doorway, greeting his own illusion with a nod. Princess Eloise was staring at him, her eyes wide, so he executed a bow.

"Greetings, Princess. I am one of the Klein family's associates. You may call me Geller. I've come to get you out of this place."

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He could see hope blooming in the princess's eyes, and so he stepped forward and offered a hand to help her off the bed. Once she was standing next to him, he gestured to the painting of the young boy on the wall above the bed.

"It turns out that the exit has been close to us this entire time," he said, directing the princess's attention to the frightened-looking boy.

This was the first time she had realized there was a change in the picture's expression, and as she gasped, Garrett took a small step backward. Since her attention was elsewhere, it was simple for him to exchange positions with his illusion, taking his seat in the wheelchair and reforming his masked figure.

He controlled his illusion to point at the picture, causing the face of the young boy to grow panicked as it stared pleadingly at him. It wasn't hard for Garrett to communicate his desires to the painting, and after a few moments of silence, the boy suddenly nodded, his eyes flashing with relief. A shapeless force surrounded the three of them, and a moment later, Garrett and the princess found themselves standing in front of Ryn, who held Kabod's maze in her hand.

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"You're back!" Ryn yelled, rushing forward to hug Garrett.

At the last moment, he caught her hand, which was still holding the mysterious artifact, preventing the spike it bore from stabbing into his shoulder. With a silly laugh, she dropped it into his lap and put both arms around him, hugging him tightly. The princess, who was quite disoriented from the sudden shift of surroundings, looked around, blinking for a moment before she recognized the office.

"Yes, we're back, Garrett said, his voice muffled as Ryn nearly strangled him. Thank you for your help."

After a long minute, Ryn let him go and Garrett reached down to pick up the mysterious artifact, staring at it with curiosity. According to the information the exorcist had brought over, this mysterious artifact shouldn't have existed anymore, and he found himself quite curious as to where Gero and the Ebony Alliance had gotten their hands on it. The thought of the rival gang caused Garrett to frown slightly, which in turn caused Ryn to ask if there was anything wrong.

"Nothing we need to worry about right now," Garrett replied. "Please send word to the other seats that I'm back. They can come and visit if they're interested in confirming it. Also, let the exorcist know that I've managed to find my way out of the maze."

Princess Eloise had been waiting quietly next to Garrett, and after Ryn dashed out of the room, she took a deep breath and bowed her head towards Garrett.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" Garrett asked, his eyebrows rising.

"You're the one who saved us from that shadow monster, but it was your associate who helped us escape from that strange place," the princess countered. "And thank you for listening to me. For a person in my position, it's hard to find someone willing to listen."

Garrett almost retorted that he hadn't had a choice, but decided better of it, and instead just smiled and nodded.

"It's my pleasure, princess. I'm perfectly willing to lend you an ear whenever you need it."

By this time, Morris had learned that the princess was back, and just as Garrett finished talking, he burst into the room before rushing over, looking almost as if he was going to hug her. At the last minute, he got a hold of himself, and instead knelt swiftly.

"Your highness, I'm glad you're safe. I have failed in my duty. Please punish me."

"There's little anyone can do against mysterious artifacts. And besides, Garrett ensured my safety," the princess said, giving Garrett all of the credit.

The look Morris gave Garrett was complicated, as if he was both thankful and frustrated that Garrett had been the one to save the princess. Princess Eloise was exhausted, and soon retired to her room, leaving Garrett to carefully consider everything that had happened. His eyes kept returning to the mysterious artifact, partly because of what he could sense going on inside of it. Closing his eyes, he reached out a finger to touch the silver spike, channeling his mental energy into it, as he formed a connection with the dream flowers who had remained inside.

Using a wisp of mental energy, he reformed his body as an illusion, appearing once more in front of the painting of the little boy. "Come out," he said, beckoning with his finger. Almost immediately, the young boy sprang out of the image, causing the dog to bark soundlessly. Quite curious, the boy looked around, and it wasn't long before a few other images began to appear in the painting he had just left, including the woman with the red parasol who had been walking in the garden. They came in from the edges of the image, almost as if they were real people, crowding together and peering out at Garrett. The young boy floated in the air in front of him, his eyes bright, as he quickly bowed over and over again.

"Stop that," Garrett said. His gaze narrowed as he stared at the young boy, who immediately froze, mid-bow. "Straighten up and explain what's going on."

Lifting his head, the boy hesitated for just a moment before speaking, his voice crisp. "I am the warden," he said, "guard of this prison."

Hearing the boy describe the mysterious artifacts as a prison, Garrett's expression eased.

"You said you're the warden, so you're in charge of guarding the prisoners who have entered."

"Yes," the boy said, bowing again, before catching himself. "And I have to thank you for your timely assistance. If not for you, the prison would have eventually failed, allowing the shadows to escape into the outside world, but thanks to you, that threat has been eliminated."

Glancing at all of the people in the picture above the bed, Garrett gestured to the hall outside of the room.

"And what of them? Are each of the paintings a spirit, like you?"

Immediately, every single one of the people in the image shook their head, all perfectly matched with the young boy.

"We're all one," he said, "the same spirit. We are the warden."

Even as the young boy spoke, all of the figures in the image, including the dog, mouthed the words. It was quite a creepy scene, but Garrett took a deep breath and stabilized the disquiet in his heart. Despite having encountered all sorts of terrifying things, he found he still wasn't immune when he saw something new.

"When I came in here," Garrett said, "it seemed that the shadows were the ones in charge, rather than you."

A chagrined expression flashed across the warden's face, and he nodded unhappily.

"Yes, while the prison is powerful, it takes us time to deal with the prisoners, and we require energy from outside in order to brighten the lights. For a long time, ever since I remember, energy was provided. But then one day, it ceased, and slowly the lights burned through their fuel, casting much of the hall into darkness. Little by little, the shadows realized that they could take refuge in the paintings, protecting themselves from what remained of the light. More than one of my selves was devoured by the shadows as the halls fell into darkness. Only a few of the rooms, including this one, had been able to remain free from the shadows."

"Now that the shadows are gone, what will you do next?" Garrett asked, and was amused when the warden's eyes lit up.

"We'll wait for more prisoners," he said. "Thanks to these flowers that you brought, we should have plenty of energy, and so long as they continue to provide us energy, we can return to our original goal."

Garrett continued to press the warden with questions, mostly interested if the spirit understood how the liminal space had been created in the first place. When it quickly became apparent that the warden had no awareness of anything outside of the prison or his specific roles, Garrett sent him back to the painting and then left.

As he idly turned the box over in his hand, he mused that this world was full of secrets and mysteries. While many mysterious artifacts appeared to have been created when the dream world bled over into reality, this device was no accident. Kabod's Maze had clearly been engineered for a purpose, which meant that someone, somewhere, at some time, had known how to create mysterious artifacts. The design was rather gruesome, as it required the blood of the wielder in order to activate. It was the same blood that fed the artifact, providing energy for it, though Garrett had figured out a way to bypass that with his dream flowers.

He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with it, and so for the moment, he simply put it aside, leaving it on his desk. It looked rather out of place, however, and so after a moment, he picked up one of the receipts that had been placed on his desk and stuck it down on the spike, covering the ornate box underneath. Happy with that, he began to slowly make his way out of the office, heading for the large dining room where he hoped to get some food.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully at the inn, though from what Garrett gathered through the dream flower network, the rest of the city was not nearly so quiet. The other gangs were in an uproar, unable to believe that Garrett had simply reappeared in the inn. A few members of the Ebony Alliance even snuck into the Klein family's territory to try and see if they could catch sight of Garrett.