The Dreamers Exchange

Chapter 14: Friendly Folds

Jake started the shower. His memory fell to last night's dream.

Jake was in his mindscape. There was a dark skinned man across from him at a park. The spirit stood equals away from Jake. In his bag he pulled out an sphere. It had a coiled imprint on it's center in the shape of an eye. A triangle was protruding from around the coil near the center, almost carved. It had a dot indented it, making it resemble an eye of providence, like a sculpture of a golden eye.

"Jake Caloway no?"

"That is correct" Jake mumbled.

"You are not destined for the eye. You are destined for the ring" the man sat down his bag with Jake at the park. He pulled out a giant golden necklace. With several dangling tips protruding, and an ancient carved triangle in the center like the eye before it.

"These Century items. They were made with blood"

Century items. Something he had read about via novels and comics. Something of fabrication in fiction. Only this wasn't bleeding ink. He had been told by the Egyption gods they were real and merely channeled via that work of fiction.

The thing about magic is that, even fake portrayals can hold truth to them. You bark up the wrong tree and you might just find you're writing an accidental prophecy. It's unlikely- but it does occur. The Century items were old magic items fleshed out in gold carrying on them a dark possessed power. Astrally an Egyption goddess gave him the eye. The piece he wears spiritually where he's missing an eye, but in this dream the eye wasn't astral it was real as silk and in the man parallel's hand. True it was Jake who pointed the gods to the fiction belonging to this bleeding ink if it was bleeding ink, however he wasn't aware of their dark history which would now become real.

"Is it my fault?"

"No. They were always going to come true. You might have pointed the gods in the right direction for them, but you yourself are not responsible for the blood they hold" he took Jake's hand and put it to the ring.

"Are you sure you wish for the ring and not the pyramid?" it felt warm. There was supposed to be several different items. A bracelet, a necklace, an eye and so on so forth. Each item had a power. The eye allowed you to see into someone's mind by looking at them. Jake had tested it out. He could into any spirits mindscape and any persons. He had tested it out on Eridan before (with permission) and saw a guardian in Eridan's mind.

"I've just always been drawn to the ring" Jake managed to say, a little freaked out. This was something from his daydreams, something he had been studying in the real world. Now it was dead on in front of him.

"Then it has chosen you as well" the spirit held the ring for a slight moment then looked at Jake.

"I don't want you to think that you have to do this" the man assured.

"I want to do it"

"The ring corrupts impure hearts. Your heart is very pure. You will be able to resist it. However eventually your soul if you wield it, will also be infused within the ring" of course there was a price.

"May I ask why?"

"Because. This ring takes a part of you. Not just for fusion but all items take part of their wielders. The ring itself is very methodical and unique. It takes your soul and buries it with the foreign kings placed inside the ring. You want my advice? Accept the gift"

Jake fell hesitant. He looked at the ring pausing the interaction. For a moment Jake was transported. He was in a cloudy purple mist. The ground beneath him was of sand and pyramids were in the sky. He flashed back to present.