Dreamer's Throne

The process to remove a threatening mysterious artifact was easier than Garrett had originally anticipated. He knew that the Dreamer’s Throne had a pretty strong suppressive effect on anything related to the dream, so he sat Collette, Roy, and Julie down in his office one at a time, and unleashed his soul spark, using it to lock them in place. He had asked each of them to wear a blindfold, which they had been happy to do, and then, once the mysterious artifact cursing them was subdued by the energy of the Dreamer’s Throne, he had a large dream flower suck the curse out of them.

It went smoothly for both Roy and Julie, and after taking the plate and the needle, he tossed them into the Hollow Space in Isabelle’s mirror. There, they joined the strange skull, which had somehow been shrunk down into a small ornament that Isabelle had taken to wearing in her hair. Garrett wasn’t sure if he should be worried that the Dire Spirit was excited to collect mysterious artifacts, but there didn’t seem to be any ill effect on the guardian flower, so he just let it be.

Collette was a much more complicated issue, since she didn’t dislike her curse. She agreed that it would be convenient if she didn’t have to maintain contact with the teddy bear all the time, but at this point, Garrett’s only options were to strip it away or let it be, so he thought it best to leave it be. He sort of thought, if he had a giant murderous teddy bear, that he would make the same choice as Collette, so he didn’t blame her. Once the three exorcists were settled down, Garrett called Isabelle and stepped into the mansion inside the mirror.

He was curious about this Dire Spirit that had been transformed into his new guardian, and what she was capable of, but he had not been able to complete his investigation before the whole situation with Carraway started, so now he wanted to make sure that he knew how to best use her. The space she controlled was extensive, and Garrett could think of a lot of potential ways to use it, but right now, he was most interested in her powers. The last time that he had a conversation with her, she had answered his questions about linking mirrors to space, but he realized that it had sent him down an incorrect line of thinking.

He had asked if it was possible to add more mirrors to the space, and she had informed him that it would require him to possess a manifesting level power. What he had not asked about was whether Isabelle herself could leave the space, or if there were ways to access the space besides the main mirror or the small hand mirror. The fact that the necromancer had used the small mirror made him suspect that the necromancer was actually using part of the mansion, but upon further thought that didn’t make much sense. However, it did mean that she had some way to project her contagiousness through the small mirror.

“Master, you didn’t bring the teddy bear?” Isabelle asked, her hair drooping.

Somehow, Garrett, who was in his dream form, found himself feeling bad at the sight, despite reminding himself that Isabelle was a terrifying killing machine.

“No, not this time. But I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Thank you!”

“Sure. Now, can you tell me about your powers? Are you trapped here? Or if I wanted you to come out, can you do that?”

“Master, I am a Dire Spirit, meaning I can pass through any reflective material. I can leave this world without issue, though only at night as exposure to the sun would corrode my form.”

“What about your powers? How do they fare outside this Hollow Space?”

“They are weaker by a considerable margin.”

“What does that mean?”

Thinking for a moment, Isabelle held one of her hands near her head and the other near her waist.

“I am at half of myself.”

“That’s still pretty scary,” Garrett said, remembering how overwhelming she had been when he fought her.

“Thank you, master.”

“It will be night soon, so get ready. We’re going to go out.”

“Master, I am a ghost. I am always ready.”

Coughing into his hand, Garrett nodded.

“Good. Oh, I meant to ask, can you show your face? And can your appearance be changed?”

“Of course, master. I can appear as my target’s most loved person.”

As she spoke, Isabelle began to shift, her hair pulling in and dragging around her. With a whoosh, all the swirling hair vanished and Garrett found himself looking at himself. It was a perfect copy, from the snappy dress shirt and three-piece suit to the mask and hat. Even his shoes were perfectly matched, their delicate wingtip pattern naturally drawing the eye. Coughing again he nodded.

“Wonderful. Great. Alright, we’ll leave tonight.”

Not wanting to embarrass himself any further, he turned and left, reappearing in front of the mirror. Reassuring himself that it was perfectly fine that she had transformed into a copy of him, he went to get dinner and then began to make his plan. That night, as soon as the sun set, he went to bed, lying down and entering the dream. Still standing in the center of the room was the Dreamer’s Throne and it was with considerable relief that he sat down on it, feeling its warmth.

It always left him feeling vaguely uneasy that he had no idea why the Dreamer’s Throne had appeared here, or even chosen him, but he knew without a doubt that if he had not found it, he would have been dead or worse. Running his hand over the armrest, he let his senses sink into his body, examining his soul spark. It was shaped like the Dreamer’s Throne, sitting on two ten-petal dream flowers that rotated in opposite directions. His soul spark was bright and full of energy, and more importantly, well shaped. The only areas that were still a bit vague had to do with himself and the throne, and every day he spent time trying to make them perfect.

Tonight’s task is simple. Find out who it was that got us arrested, before they can clean up all the traces.

Calling Isabelle, he wasn’t surprised when she materialized in the office, stepping out of the mirror on the wall and coming out into the hallway. The flowers, able to sense how powerful she was, trembled as she walked by, but it was more out of adoration for the guardian flower that she carried than anything else. To his surprise, however, she stopped outside the room without opening the door.

“Master, I cannot open the door.”

“Oh? Why not?” Garrett asked, speaking through the closed door.

“The light will destroy me.”

Remembering the fate of the Crimson Eye, Garrett nodded and closed his eyes, letting his body relax on the throne as he took control of Isabelle. It was strange being a ghost, and though this was not the first time, Garrett found he still didn’t feel at home like he did with Viper. Testing out her body, he found that she was unbelievably flexible, and because she floated, it was simple to cross a considerable distance. She was also strong enough to kill most low level awakened with a single slap, and her body was immune to physical weapons.

I sure picked up a treasure.

With Isabelle’s help, Garrett had soon gotten the hang of the reflection passing technique, and headed out of the dream, appearing briefly in the mirror before flitting to the silver cup he had left on the table. The rule was, someone had to be able to see their own reflection on the surface, otherwise, Isabelle couldn’t enter it. It was a strange feeling zipping along the surfaces of the glass windows, but Garrett made good time as the sun’s last light faded.

For a moment he was worried that the lack of light would create a problem for him, but it turned out that the moon was providing more than enough light, and it wasn’t long before he had arrived at the prison. Garrett’s first target was the jailer who had given him such a difficult time, and he found a way to slip into the prison, using a flask that one of the guards was taking a swig from, and then a thin puddle by the wall. The biggest challenge was that Garrett could only move to a reflection that he could see, which made it hard to get past closed doors, but he was able to hitch a ride on the brass pommel of an officer’s sword.

The inside of the prison was filled with darkness, but there were unlit lanterns hanging on the walls, and Garrett was able to slip along those as he searched for the jailer. At first, he searched the office area, but didn’t see the jailer anywhere. About to leave, however, he heard a whispered conversation and spotted two other jailers who worked under the head jailer. Seeing that one of them had a silver cuff button on his shirt, Garrett jumped to it, listening as the two men spoke in hushed tones.

“But I’m telling you, distance yourself from Olem as much as possible. The commander is on a witch hunt, and Olem was on the top of that list.”

“I heard that he killed an exorcist. Chopped him into pieces with an axe.”

“It wasn’t the exorcist, idiot. It was Olem’s cousin.”

“Willem? I always knew that guy was crazy. Was he the one dressing up in that sack and killing the prisoners? I thought that was a rumor.”

“How could it be a rumor? They found him in the exorcist’s cell. Chopped his own leg off, he did. Whack! Just like that. And then he hung himself on a chain.”

“Think that the exorcist used a curse? I heard that if they look at you, they can lay an evil curse on you that will drive you mad.”

“I mean, did you see him? That exorcist was so thin that even you could have beaten him.”

“Hey! What are you trying to say? Listen, if Olem is out, then someone’s going to have to fill his space. What do you say? I bet you could do it.”

“And end up in a cell like Olem? No way. You haven’t been around here long, but it seems like anyone who climbs the ranks ends up getting pulled down into the abyss. I’m fine right where I am, thank you.”

As the conversation tapered off into meaningless drivel, Garrett considered his next move. He wanted to find Olem the jailer, but he wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. After thinking for a moment, he decided to take a risk and activated Dream Seed, sending a spark of compressed mental energy into one of the men. Following it up with enough energy for four blooms, he watched cautiously as a rainbow sheen flickered across the man’s eyes.

Take me to where they are holding Olem without alerting anyone.

Slapping the table, the man stood up, startling his companion.

“Heh, look how jumpy you are. I’m going to the bathroom, but I’ll be back in a minute. If anyone comes in, tell ’em I’m running an errand for the boss.”

Grabbing a lantern from the table, the jailer strode out of the room, carrying Garrett with him. Once the door was shut, he carefully put out the lantern and then walked in the darkness, treading quietly through the twisting passages of the prison. Coming to the top of a staircase, he paused and listened before creeping down. There he opened a door and headed in, only to freeze when he heard some voices up ahead. There was a single cell at the end of the passage, and after walking forward a few steps, Garrett could see two men standing in the doorway, staring at something. In a flash, he appeared on a buckle holding a sword to one of the men’s belts.

Place your button on the ground and retreat, acting as you were. I’ll call you if I need you.

Inside the cell, Garrett was able to work his way around until he could see what the two men were looking at. There lay Olem, the jailer who had beaten and threatened Garrett, in a bloody heap, his body little more than strips of flesh. There were various torture tools around the room, all of which had been used recently, but there was no need for them anymore, as Olem was completely dead.

“He was a tough one, I’ll give you that. But we got the confession in the end.”

“Heh, always do. Though, what good a confession like this will do, I don’t know. Everyone knows that these confessions are planted.”

“It’s just a matter of playing the game. The exorcists complain we beat up their guy, we claim that Olem was possessed and that he confessed it was the necromancers that cursed him to do it.”

“Do you think that he was telling the truth?”

“About the necromancer? Hah, necromancer’s aren’t real.”

“No, I mean… you know…”

“I… I’m not sure. But if he was, then trouble is brewing.”

Garrett had to resist the urge to immediately plant another flower to try to dig out the secret that they were talking about, and instead, he decided to retreat to find Captain Fernek. He had assumed that someone would silence the jailer, but the thought that the city guard would do it themselves had not crossed his mind. It made him worry that he had made his move too late, so he hurried to retreat, using the silver button in the hall, and then a glass lantern outside, to jump out. Just as he was wondering how he was going to get up the stairs, he spotted a drop of water on the bars set up high in the wall, and heard the patter of rain outside.

Jackpot.

Skipping to the surface of the drop, Garrett sped through the rain, jumping from drop to drop. According to his research, the Captain worked at the guard office that was close to where Carraway lived, so Garrett flew across the city, using the opportunity to test how far Isabelle’s ability could take him. Once he hitched a ride on a drop of water clinging to a bird winging through the dark rain, jumping from it to a carriage down below, and finally coming to a stop in a puddle outside of the guard post. He could hear the sound of voices inside, but when he flitted to the window, he didn’t see the captain.

The guard post was a two story building with a large open area on the first floor that contained a bathroom and some shelves and cubby holes. Upstairs there were beds and the officer’s quarters, and it was here Garrett went next, appearing in the dark window and looking in. There he found the man he was looking for, sitting on his office chair, a dozen bottles of wine scattered around him and a half finished bottle in his loose grip. He stared blankly into the air as his left hand, which clenched a dagger, pointed at his throat.