The logout screen blinked out, and I was immediately swallowed by the silence of my fancy ass giant room in the Sonder's mansion. No HUD, no glowing red bark veins, no screaming tanks, no boss stomping me flat. Just me, just my stupidly soft mattress. I need to finish my homework of writing "I will not put Hailie in danger" like 90 more times… Fucking 'ell.

I didn't even bother brushing my teeth or washing my face to get a grasp of reality after all that virtual reality. I belly-flopped onto the bed face-first, my cheek squishing into the pillow, my butt sticking up like some sacrificial offering to Zeus, a groan leaked out of me, muffled into the pillow.

"Ughhh… dead… I'm so tired. Is this how fishes feel to move from their pond to a fishtank with insufficient oxygen?"

I had only played for, what, an hour? Or two? My throat was raw from giving orders, my brain scrambled, my eyesbag darkened (it actually had been like this since 1851) and it was only eight in the morning.

The birds outside were still singing, cheerful little bastards, while I was already wrecked.

Did you know there is a bird species called Blue-footed Booby? And Woodcock? Yeah, whoever naming these, you're doing great, thank you for serving the community.

I wriggled deeper into the bed, letting the pillow eat my words. The room tilted a bit like I was in Inception… Okay, maybe that was my body giving up, and I just let myself sink.

The sky was white… Or is it the lightbulb of the marble roof above? I yawned and stretched like a cat, and everything just got heavy… gooey…

And then I wasn't in my room anymore.

I was reminded of a theory where every dream you had is an alternate universe, in the vast multiverse theory.

So maybe in one of these worlds, the dream came true.

I was back in the forest of Wroeg's Hollow, but it wasn't gloomy or dangerous. The trees were sugar glass, translucent and glowing, humming like soda fizz. Each leaf sparkled pink, and the ground was covered in pillows.

Literal pillows, fluffy white ones that swallowed my feet, like that one episode of Adventure Time, that one really left an impact in me about how passing a life is.

And sitting there on one of the bullets them, with hair bright ginger red, freckles dancing across pale skin, was… Oh god, Anshur! The maid… Except not in her usual uniform, she was in some ridiculous maid-dress combo of frills and thigh-highs, balancing a silver tray stacked with… marshmallows?

"Milady," she said, except her voice came out all honey-smooth, nothing like the aristocratic bite I was used to, "I prepared your… snack."

She leaned down to offer me one, and wow, the angle… her neckline just, like- hot, my brain went fuzzy.

"Snacks," I mumbled.

My dream self reached, fingers brushing hers, but then her tray tipped and marshmallows rained down. They bounced, each one booping me on the forehead like soft little punches.

I laughed, she laughed. Her eyes glowed like tiny stars. Then out of the blue, the dream became evil as she leaned closer, so close I could smell sugar and flesh, and whispered:

"You're mine, Cory."

Her hand slid around my neck, gentle at first, then tighter, like the memory of the day she once nearly strangled me on my bed.

My body shivered in some embarrassing mix of panic and thrill. The pillows underneath started to sink, and…

Something tickled my side.

"Mmhh… stop it," I groaned into my pillow.

Except the tickle didn't stop, it grew sharper, crawling along my ribs, and I remembered my dream fog cracked.

I jolted up from fright, forehead first, straight into something solid.

"AHH-!"

"KHH!"

The impact reverberated through my skull. I blinked, dazed, the dream popping like a soap bubble.

I got a good look with one eye open, and sitting there on the floor, clutching her own forehead and wobbling backward onto her rear, was indeed, the Anshur.

Her hair was a tangled halo, freckles scattered like spilled paint, and tears were already glassing her eyes.

"What the… What are you doing here?!" My voice came out hoarse, groggy. "What are you… Uh- sneaking into my room?! Are you trying to kill me again?!"

Not that I would mind, just… Maybe consent? Safeword?

I expected her to spit back something sharp, rude and condescending, maybe even grab me by the throat like old times.

But instead, she rubbed her forehead, lowered her gaze, and to my horror, her lips quivered.

She started tearing up.

"Oh… oh crap. Wait. No no no, don't cry! I didn't even hit you that hard! Hey, my forehead's fucked, too, see this bump? It's Newton law, same reaction, blah blah, we both got hurt, now I feel bad, geez."

I scrambled upright on the bed, hair sticking everywhere, heart thumping faster than it had during the raid. Anshur never cried cried before, she may scowl, she hissed, she threatened, maybe act like a K-Drama sly bitch… But tears? Tears belonged in another universe.

The silence stretched until a familiar click of heels tapped against the floor.

"What's going on here? Didn't I tell you to wake her up already?"

Eirlys walked in, her presence filling the room like sunlight cutting through storm clouds. Regal, precise, every gesture screamed of a higher society, making my messy posture on the bed suddenly felt criminal.

She blinked at the sight: Cory Jay Smith, yours truly, was half-sitting on bed, hair wild, pillow crease on my cheek, and Anshur on the floor sniffling with a head bump.

"Explain," Eirlys said simply.

Anshur didn't miss a beat. She bent lower, pressing her forehead against the ground like some pitiful knight in disgrace. Her voice shook with just the right amount of trembling guilt, like she was performing sorrow.

"It was my fault, milady," she whispered, dripping martyrdom. "I tried to wake Miss Cory when I should not have. She startled and struck me... I deserve the pain. Please, do not blame her… only me."

Her tears dotted the floorboards. She looked small, fragile, even though I knew better.

"It's not your fault, now stand up." Eirlys said with her arms crossed, before glaring at me, "While you…"

Alright, I'm fucked aren't I.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.