Keep dreaming!

I find myself in a forest. It is dark and foggy.

"Lionel, Sisli, Knox, Caspian? Are you there?" I shout. But my voice only echoes through the forest without any answer.

Am I dreaming again? But I am sure that I am awake. The moon above me is shining more brightly, and I see my reflection in a lake in front of me.

The red hair and my poison green eyes! Where is my disguise spell? I try to reactivate it, but I am not able to. Then Lionel, Sisli, Knox, and Caspian suddenly appear in front of me.

"You are a witch!" Caspian shouts, shocked.

"You are a traitor!" Knox says.

"What is your plan? Do you wanted to wait until we meet the mage to betray us? Or are you secretly sabotaging us?" Lionel asks.

"That's not true! I am on your side. Didn't I help you all the time?!" I shout.

It is a disaster. The timing is really the worst!

"Save your excuses! It was all your plan." Lionel says angrily.

"You just wanted to gain our trust and exploit it," Caspian says.

"Sisli, please. You know that I have a good heart," I say pleadingly.

"You have no heart! Every witch is evil!" she shouts.

Everyone grabs for their weapons.

Something is wrong. I don't want to believe that anyone will really abandon me if they learn about my true identity. But I know that Sisli wouldn't act like that. She knew my secret all along. And she encouraged me to take my destiny into my own hands and to be more than the antagonist of this story.

"No! This cannot be true!" I shout.

The illusion around me breaks like a reflecting mirror, and a shadow image of the mage appears in the fog.

"You noticed it so quickly. What was the reason? Did I exaggerate too much? No, that's probably not it. Their reaction could be more aggressive!" the mage says, grinning.

"Stop playing games!" I shout.

"I myself wanted to show you a glimpse into your reality. But your friends are currently in places they certainly don't want to leave voluntarily," he says, smiling.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"They see what they want to see until the "dreamwalker" has absorbed all of their life energy. And then you are alone. You should stop resisting. What you saw wasn't unreasonable. You'll lose everything, and then you'll have no choice but to join me," he says and disappears in the smoke.

"Keep dreaming," I say. There is absolutely no way that I will join him.

As the mage disappears, I find myself in a hall. The others sit on the ground. Their eyes are open, but they just look in the air and do nothing. It is like they are in a kind of coma.

Right now they probably see illusions created by the dreamwalker, a dark creature without physical form that traps its prey in illusions until it has absorbed all of their life energy. I can do nothing for them, as I am unable to enter their minds. It is up to them to free themselves from the illusions and defeat the dreamwalker.

I sit down next to Lionel and grab his hand. Please don't be fooled, and use your determination to save everyone in the end.

In Knox's illusion at the same time

I am Knox. After we went through the portal, I woke up in a peaceful village. The sun was shining, and children were running around playing. Where are the others?

"One of the heroes!" a child shouts.

"Thanks for saving us all!"

"You are so cool!"

"I have?" I ask, irritated.

"Yes, you defeated the mage and saved us all!" a child says.

"Do you know where the others are?" I ask one of the children.

"Well, in your house. You all settled here after the battle, remember?" the child says.

"Oh, ok! And where was that?" I say.

"There!" the child says and points to a big house on the marketplace.

"Thank you!" I say.

While I walk through the marketplace, everyone smiles at me and greets me. It's a nice feeling. But also strange.

I open the door of the house with the sign "The Heroes Guild". We founded a guild? Nice! The others sit on a table and turn around quickly when I enter the room.

"There you are!" Sisli shouts and jumps on my shoulder as always.

"Hey Knox!" Aria shouts.

Caspian comes over to me and pats me on the shoulder. His punch is as weak as a breath of air. I should really train with him sometime.

"We have a new assignment!" Caspian says.

"Assignment?"

"We help people in the villages with all kinds of problems! Did you forget?"

"Ah, no!" I say nervously.

Everything feels familiar and right. Why do I have the feeling that something is wrong at the same time? I feel like I'm not quite myself.

"The village wants to build a new orphanage, and we promised to help. So let's go!" Lionel says.

While we walk to the place where the orphanage should be built, everyone is in an exceptionally good mood.

I carry the heavy joists for the basic structure and position them. Caspian carries the smaller ones. Poor weak guy.

"Good job, guys!" Aria says, smiling.

"Thank you!" Caspian says, also smiling.

No stinging comment from them? Then Caspian stumbles and nearly steps on Sisi. She won't like that at all. Given her temperament.

"Sorry, little one!" Caspian says.

Little one? Oh, he is as good as dead.

"No problem, Caspian!" she says with a smile and goes on with her work.

They all have their flaws, and that's what I like about them. What's happening here may be an ideal. But these aren't the team members I like.

That's wrong. I don't want it like that.

Now it seems like my surroundings crumble. Then a dark voice appears.

"Wasn't that your dream vision of the future?"

"I want a future with my real friends. Not this fake illusion!"

"If you don't want a happy ending, then do you want everything to be the way it was in your past? Weren't you a mercenary who did all sorts of jobs, regardless of the consequences?"

"Stop it. I have left this life behind me!"

"Really? I thought you couldn't forget. Isn't that the reason that you always smile and want to do good? Do you think you can repent for what you have done? "Bloody devil!"

Bloody devil. That was my nickname as a mercenary. A name and life I wanted to forget. Then everything around me changes. Now I find myself in a mansion, with a dark figure next to me. The figure of the gloomy voice.

"Do you remember?" the voice says, visibly pleased.

The hall we're standing in is covered in blood. The bodies of servants and guards lie on the floor. In front of me lies the lifeless body of the wealthy owner Frederic Greed.

We are in the Greed Mansion. Frederic Greed was a wealthy man. He was skilled with words and worked his way up politically. But there was talk that he would commit treason. There weren't enough grounds to denounce him publicly, so mercenaries were hired. I always carried out every assignment, even if it meant killing someone. I thought there was always a good reason. But who really cared? He and his followers were supposed to be killed. But this time something was different. He had two children. A boy and a girl. When both saw what had happened, they threw themselves at their father, crying.

There were supposed to be no survivors. But I couldn't. For the first time, I realized the magnitude of my actions. And I realized how wrong what I did was.

The other mercenaries hadn't had a change of heart like I had and wanted to finish the job. But I couldn't. I betrayed the mercenaries and turned my sword against them.

I left only burning ashes behind and took the children with me. I brought them to an orphanage. But I knew I could never make the hatred they felt towards me disappear. After that, I was determined to do good and be a better person. But behind the smile of my new self lies the burden of my past.

"These and my previous deeds weigh on my shoulders. But I have changed. My sins drive me to do my best. And I will defeat you and the magician so that everyone can have a happy future!" I shout and shatter the illusion into pieces.

But where are the others now?