Islands and Dreamers

“Thank you so much young man!” the mouseman says, handing me a few silver coins, “ever since my wife died, I’ve been having nightmares of her every few days. They usually never get this bad though, and I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t around.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, bidding farewell to him as he closed the door.

“Ooh, baby Dreamweaver’s first coins,” Sylvia teased me as we began walking towards the city center, “what’re you planning to spend it on?”

“I don’t know actually. The thought of money existing in this world hadn’t even occurred to me until now.”

“Really? Why’s that?”

“Well… this world is supposed to be the realm of dreams right? I might not have been here for very long, but I noticed that there’s a lot of things I don’t need to do anymore that would’ve bothered me in my past life. For example, I don’t feel hungry despite having not eaten in a few days, and I don't feel the need to sleep or use the restroom. I thought worrying about money would be one of the pains that would go away with all of these things, but I guess it’s still here…”

Sorrowful memories slowly blink into my mind. Money was the root of my despair in my past life, and seeing it in this world made me begin to distrust Izan’s words that I would get to live the life I always wanted.

Suddenly, something bonked me on the head, and when I looked up, I saw Sylvia holding a piece of wrapped-up paper she pulled from under her coat.

“Stop worrying,” she said, “you’re going to summon another Nightmare.”

I realized she was right and immediately tried to cease my gloomy thoughts.

We both stand there awkwardly in the middle of the snow covered streets. The clouds in the sky slowly began to change into a vibrant orange color, dyed by the morning sunlight. A silence had dawned on us.

“I get how you feel about the existence of money in this world…” Sylvia finally said, her sudden change in personality surprising me, “it caused me a lot of pain back then too. After all, money really only exists as a way to force people to do something, and it’s no different here. The residents of the Aurum Reve don’t really need money like we do. They don’t need to eat, homes are completely free to them, and quite frankly, their only problems come from the existence of Nightmares. So in order to solve that problem, they invented this whole Dreamweaver system. The realm removes our need to sleep, charges us for housing, and locks away any items we may want behind a currency. For example, food. Although we don’t need to eat, some people find joy in tasting things. It encourages us to fight Nightmares instead of wasting our ten years here waiting it out.”

I looked down at the coins in my hands. It seemed that the concept of money being a limiting factor was something that transcended worlds.

“Plus, some citizens of the realm find it fun to sell things,” she added, “and since every citizen gets to do what they want here, that includes a profession in trades.”

“So you’re saying there’s a market where we can buy things?”

“Yup, that’s how I restock my potion bottles.”

I think for a moment, imagining the few things I wished I had on me.

A new sketchbook to draw out the cityscape would be nice. I wonder if they sell one of those around here.

Suddenly, Sylvia tilted her head in front of me, seemingly returning back to her previous strange personality.

“Come to think of it,” she said, “you don’t know many things about this realm do you?”

“That would be the case… I am pretty new here after all.”

“Hmm, that’s no good. I suppose since we’re a team now, it would be helpful if you knew a little more. For example, let’s start off with some geography. It would be helpful if you knew a bit about the islands.”

“Geography?”

“Yup! And I guess a little bit of history too. All you need to know is that there are eight islands in this world including this one. You don’t have to memorize all of them, but as listed, they are: The Lumifall Hearth, Cogspire, Yuugen Mori, Hiraeth, Fernweh, Almalath, Mangata, and Aurelight.”

My mind spun with all these weird names. Who the hell was coming up with them?

“Each of these islands were created by who the citizens of this realm call the ‘Nine Original Dreamers’. Along with the islands, they also created the citizens that currently reside there. You can think of them as the gods that created this world, but rumors have it they’re basically just superpowered Dreamweavers that act as the rulers of each island.”

I think for a moment to count the number of islands and Dreamers.

“Wait, but there’s nine Dreamers and only eight islands. What happened to the ninth?”

She shrugged.

“Not too sure exactly. No one knows what the Ninth Dreamer did and where they are now, but to be honest, that kind of applies to most of the Dreamers at the moment. Most of them are either missing or died somehow, but not only that, out of the eight islands in this realm, only seven of them are currently accessible. Mangata is the one that disappeared and no one seems to know where it went. It’s all kind of scary to be honest.”

I shuddered at the thought of an entire island going missing. I wasn’t much of a ghost story enjoyer—I had too much empathy for those who disappeared in them.

“What? You scared~?” Sylvia teased with a smug grin.

“N-no… I just… feel bad for the residents of that island that’s all. Plus, it makes me wonder: if the rulers of each of these islands are effectively out of commission, who’s in charge of keeping order around here?”

“I suppose it would be the Conductors,” she answered, “I heard some of them have been around since all the Dreamers were alive. Maybe they’re carrying on their will as a way to honor them. But to be honest, they don’t really manage the islands, only the Dreamweaver system. I suppose the real answer is that since the residents and islands are basically the extension of the Original Dreamers’ dreams and ideals, they’re created without the ability to rebel against them. But… well, what do I know? I’ve only been here a little over a year.”

I look at her in surprise.

“Only a year?”

“Yup, and I haven’t traveled anywhere beyond this island either so I can’t tell you much about them, but you hear about a lot of things when talking to both the residents and visiting Dreamweavers who stop by.”

“Oh… I see.”

“What? Does it bother you?”

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t. It just feels weird that everything works together just because it does. It all feels way too fragile.”

“Haha, I get what you mean, but… well, I don’t worry myself with these things too much. All of it’s bigger than me, and I just think it’s better to worry about what’s in front of us and the problems we already have.”

She gives me a curved grin.

“For example, we should be focusing on getting you used to your powers. You still don’t understand how they work do you?”