Living on Borealis-9: The Story Of A Reincarnated Human

Chapter 9, Part 4: Dream

I was dreaming...And yet I was awake. I could sort of hear the revelry, the cheers and happiness of everyone off in the remains of the keep, celebrating. But...I also heard some kind of sadness. I could see the sun high above us, and yet I could also see the stars and aurora. I was asleep, with Tyr notably absent from me, and my friends standing by the destroyed gate. Where was I?

I...I was tired. Even in my dream, I felt tired. Feeble. What was I doing out here?

"Hi there." A lady said next to me, sitting down.

"Hey. Let me guess, you're another Deity, aren't you?"

"Oh, I wish!" The lady said with a bark of laughter. "No, actually. I'm lost, and you seem like my type. So...I figured I'd come and say 'hi'."

"You're lost, huh?" I said. "You know you are in my dream, right?"

"Yes. That's...why I'm here. M'names Scarlet, in case you are wondering. I'm an...Uh...Well, I'm something." Scarlet said, extending her hand. She was veiled in darkness, so I couldn't make anything out about how she looked or similar.

"Well then, Scarlet 'Something'. Glad to meet you, despite the fact that you've intruded on my dream."

"Hey, the Dreamscape is hard to navigate!" She snapped at me. "Sorry. Look, I know that we literally just met, and that you have no reason to do this, but...can you hold my hand?" She asked, still holding onto my hand as we shook it.

"...Why?"

"No reason, I just...fuck it. I'm lost in the dreamscape, and I've been lost for...ages, I think. I'm going insane here. I don't remember where my vault is, so I need you to free me by taking ME into your world. One way is via physical contact. Alternatively, you could find my body in my vault, which I don't remember the location of or where I am hanging from, or you could kill me and free me that way. Your choice."

Wow, ok. That's one way to say hi to someone.

"Yeah, ok. Sure, crazy lady. I'll hold your hand."

"Yay!" She squealed in enthusiasm. "Thank you!"

Ok. I've read 'The Xanth Chronicles', and one of the things is this dreamworld where you can take things out as long as you are holding them in your hands. I had a bit of a premonition about Scarlet's intentions at that moment...

"You know, I do know that you're trying to get into the real world. If you try to hurt anyone though, I will personally hunt you down." I said, trying to sound tough.

"Oh. That's kinda rude." She said, retracting her hand slightly. "I'm not 'evil' like a lot of people say about my people. The Genesisi just...wanted to go home. I didn't succeed at that."

"No, no, sorry, I'm sorry." I said, shaking my other hand. "I just...Sorry."

Scarlet squinted at me a bit. "You're not from here, are you?"

"The...Uh, dreamscape? No, I'm not."

"No, here. You are not from Borealis. Interesting..." She said, looking me up and down.

"And...What about you? You said you were a Genesisi, or something? What did your people do? Are YOU from here?"

"Wow, ok, you are NOT from here. Boy oh boy, I've got a lot to teach you. Nah, the Genesisi came to the dreamscape to go home. Back then, during...I think, The Second Age, we ascended by locking ourselves into vaults, and uploading our souls and minds into 'The Genesis Simulation'. And it let us go home."

"Home?"

"That's what we called it. All of us, all of the Genesisi, we had dreams of a place that was perfect for us."

Scarlet extended her arms, revealing that they were covered in...what I guessed were feathers and scales, with sharp talons ending her charred-black looking hands. Which were connected to some kind of wings, all covered up by a sort of body shawl.

"Picture this: Lush forests, crystal clear waters, and skies filled with the most vibrant colours you've ever seen. Fields, filled to the brim with vibrant crystals that sing to us. A mountain towering over us, keeping us safe. In the distance, we can see the REAL sun. Fire, and cosmic love, and power. The moons, hovering around us, are so close that they seem like balls in the sky that we can grab and take and play with. A perfect paradise, a plateau that we may build a perfect village in. Home. Safe. Free."

"That sounds...nice." I said, trying to understand the situation. I never really had a concept of 'home' in my entire life, to be honest. Kinda weird hearing about it from someone.

"It is. But I never got to see it. Our dreams were our only gateway, the Genesis Simulation was meant to be our voyage, and I fell into the sea." Scarlet said, looking down. "And now...I do not know what to do."

"Well...Maybe you can chill out with me." I offered. "I've already got some friends. We recently saved a town...kinda. If you want, you can stay with me in the town and we can...I dunno, maybe you can join me on some adventures, alongside my friends."

"That sounds nice. It beats being stuck here, with no place to go but into the black nothingness...or over there, into the black nothingness. Or, my favourite place, the black nothingness."

"Ah, yes. Hello darkness, my old friend..." I muttered to myself. "Yeah. I'm going to try to wake up, can you pinch me or something?"

"Well...It's not quite a pinch, you see..." She said, taking out a club wrapped in various beads and pieces of crystal. "Don't let go of my hand, please."

It had just gotten through my head that Scarlet had three arms before she swung her club, hitting me right in the head and causing me to wake up near-instantly on impact.

"OW!" I yelled, feeling a horrible headache trace through my head.

"Yeah, not the best of solutions, but it works." Said Scarlet as she put away her club. "Thanks for freeing me, weird guy."

And that's the last thing I remembered before everything went white. Not because of any holy light, or the town blowing up. No, it was because I got a head-splitting migraine.