The Only Game In Town [Adventure]

Lillian did not like being in foreign situations. She liked her cushy life back in prince David's castle. She liked the monotony of it. Every day was simple. She would wake up and go to the mess hall, where food would be prepared by the angry chef. After that, she would train in the exercise room. Finally, she would go bother Theo for the rest of the day and maybe get up to some tomfoolery with Joy. It was cut and dry and, most importantly, simple.

The dream world was not a very cushy arrangement. Lillian had talked with the little man she had captured in her mother's dream and asked it every question she could think of about her situation.

She summarized her findings in a bullet point list in her head.

She was as close to dead as humanly possible.

Because she hadn't actually died her soul had been claimed by the god Dream.

She was incapable of leaving the dream realm because she was now a permanent resident.

Because Dream had done such a nice favor for her (keeping her from Death), she was now apparently in his service for the rest of her eternity.

Everything in dreams were made by people in a similar situation to herself or

were

people in a similar situation to herself.

Lillian wasn't quite sure what to make of the deluge of information that she had just received. It seemed improbable and frightening. But most of all, she wondered who would make a monster as frightening as Susan in the dream world.

Lillian had always assumed that Susan was just a resident of the dream world, but this new information told Lillian that Susan was someone's personal creation. Who would make this terror?

Alas, this was not too important. The information had given Lillian a goal to go towards. She now knew that she was in the realm of Dream and that she owed the god a debt. Hopefully, she could do something that would release her from this dream that she found herself trapped in.

But to do any of that, she would have to find Dream, the god themself.

She turned to her miniature companion, "what is your name?"

The little man looked at her skeptically. "You have been riddling me with questions forever and now you ask what my name is?"

Without even a hint of shame Lillian replied, "yes."

"Fine. I used to have a name, but I have been here for so long that I don't remember it. Just call me Gooble Flooble."

"Absolutely not, your name is now Goo."

The little man tried to look intimidating, but he failed because of his miniature size.

Suddenly, Lillian noticed that Goo's eyes sparked as if he had just come up with an amazing idea. With a ripping squelching sound hundreds of hands reached out of Goo's mouth and ripped his body to shreds.

Lillian jumped back and took a fighting stance against whatever fresh monster was being born here. From the blood and guts stepped out a much larger version of Goo, now he towered over Lillian, standing at twice her height.

He raised his hand threateningly. "Now you listen here, punk. My name is Gooble Flooble and I demand respect."

The name ruined the illusion for Lillian. The imposing man no longer seemed so imposing.

With an elegant spinning kick to the head, Lillian brought Goo down to the ground.

"If that could have saved you, you would have done it long before now. Now, Goo" she overenunciated the name wringing a cry of anguish from the downed man, "how did you do that?"

Goo looked up at her quizzically. "This is the realm of Dream. If you can imagine it and believe it, then it is possible." Goo nodded to himself like he was some wise sage.

Lillian scoffed, "I can imagine myself as some great goddess of the world with infinite power that can bring myself back to life and free me. Now, why has that all not happened?"

Lillian was skeptical. If course she understood that reality was more malleable in this world compared to the real world, but she had seen Goo do something amazing, so there had to be some truth to it.

Goo's smile only grew bigger as he digested Lillian's words. He seemed to really enjoy showing off his knowledge or talking down to Lillian. She couldn't decide which.

"But can you actually imagine it? Truly? And do you really believe you are the goddess you imagine. I think not, else you would be able to become her."

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It suddenly made sense to Lillian. "So, the reason you could look terrifying and large was because you could imagine the illusion of your size. But the reason it didn't actually make you stronger was because you do not actually believe in the illusion you created?"

"You're a natural…" Goo looked off into the distance dejectedly and an awkward silence filled the space between them.

Lillian broke the silence and asked, "do you know how to get to Dream?"

Goo was so small, but Lillian felt an odd sort of kinship with him. He was just someone stuck like her in a bad situation. He didn't torment people on purpose, he was a drone working for the overarching system.

He looked up at her with a sharp look in his eyes. "Dream is everywhere in this realm. They are the world. They feel every step someone takes in this world, and they are the ground beneath every person's foot. But they are so vast that they cannot think like a person. We are beneath their notice, and we are thankful for it."

Lillian thought about this for a moment. They were so small in comparison to this god. They were weak and finite while the god was endless. How could she get the attention of something so cosmically vast?

The answer came to her in a moment of genius. A wicked smile split her face.

"Well, the only way to get the attention of a god who is everything in the world will be to wreak havoc. I am going to destroy this world and force Dream to let me out. And you are going to help me, Goo."

Evil plans started forming in Lillian's mind, but she pushed them down for now. Before she could begin scheming and planning, she would need to practice. She would master the art that Goo had used the surface level of moments before. And with that power, she would break the foundations of this world.

Lillian was starting to like the dream world just a little bit.

___

As much as people wanted Theo to be a teacher, he found that he did not have the aptitude for it. From his experience growing up in a privileged household, a teacher actually taught something. Theo spent most of his days wandering around the schoolyard while kids came up to him and kicked him in the shins. Then, after a few minutes, the chastised child would be forced to come over by Terry and make a half-assed apology.

He didn't teach the kids their letters, nor did he teach them any skills that would be useful in their lives as adults. He felt like a footnote in a story rather than a main actor.

Terry was unfortunately perceptive and seemed to notice Theo's general malaise. The old woman seemed to know the inner workings of his mind. She could tell that he didn't particularly want to teach at this school of hers, and yet it griped him that he wasn't even able to teach when he was forced to show up.

So, a deal had been struck. A new class had been drafted up, one that Theo could teach and actually help the students with the content. And Theo was kind of excited about it.

He felt a purpose that had been lacking after the loss of his sight and his friends. He felt isolated in this new town where he knew no one except Lillian. But she wasn't a stunning conversationalist these days.

The new class was about teaching the children how to tell stories. Every child had fantastic dreams locked inside their head, and the class was hopefully going to teach them how to express themselves without all the umming and ahhing.

Theo had never thought of himself as an adept storyteller, but in a foolish attempt to gain the children's favor he had tried to tell them stories of his misadventures throughout the Frozen Continent and the Knight Games. He told them about duels in the ice and the power that exploded through his eyes, and yet the children had not been impressed.

The prominent response to his stories had been, "the story was cool, but why can't you show us those icy eyes?" Apparently, getting his eyes cut nearly out of his head was not a good enough excuse for these children.

But his storytelling had been overheard by Terry, and she had said that he had a knack for it. He somehow found the rhythms of the story. His voice lilted in just the right way to keep his listeners entertained. He knew what details to include for flavor and which to remove for ease.

There was an art to telling a good story and Theo had started inching his way into it. He knew that his sculptures would never be the same; his gift and eyes being out of commission meant that his beautiful statues were a thing of the past. So, he threw himself into this new passion with fervor.

Tomorrow he would tell the story of a man called Craig and how he was shown humility by Rage and a clever scheme.

He was changing the names and a few of the less important details, but it would be a retelling of the events surrounding his fight with Ramses. He wanted the moral of this story to resonate with feelings of hubris and how rage was not the answer. There was something poetic about how he had been so blinded by rage that he had destroyed all of his wonderful art collection. And he hoped he could teach the children something.

But today was a play day. The children ran around the schoolyard that smelled of old wood and their little shoes made light squishing sounds as they frolicked through the grass and dirt.

Terry always made sure the children had these play days. Children should learn, but they are also only allowed to be children once, so they should enjoy it. The days of achy knees and endless exhaustion would come for them eventually. However, Terry had privately discussed with Theo that her personal opinion was that these children should be happy right now so that they would continue to make other children happy once they were adults. It was something about the karma of kindness.

It was nice…

Theo didn't want to be here. And he still didn't have the children's respect, but he felt better with the sun touching his face. The sounds of children playing were filling his life and he was not happy, but content with his new place.

Well, he was content into one of the little shits collided with his legs sending him sprawling to the ground in a heap.

He let out a groan of pain as he heard the little chittering laughs of children who knew they had done something wrong. Theo clenched his fists and prepared to yell, but he felt the frailty of it all. The children would never respect him, so he guessed the least he could do was let them walk all over him.

Theo lay on the ground and waited patiently for the day to be over. It would be just like yesterday and just like tomorrow. It will end just as everything does.