Firiona Vie Everquest

Seeing the Goblin Queen clear of the danger ahead, Sineliniel returned to the vessel.

"Come closer, M'Lady." P`Nala's prejected into her mind. "I need your balance as an anchor while I pull Master Stormfollower back to the real world."

Sineliniel set her steed down on the deck next to her husband's mount and dismounted. The Arch Mage sat beside P`Nala and concentrated...

P`Nala excercised her will and took a firm grasp on Sineliniel's mind as she pushed herself further into Stormfollower's.

In the dream, the Teir`Dal child walked up to the Great Shaman and pushed into his mind a scenario of the wind suddenly stopping and the sea becoming smooth as glass. With no wind to fill the sails, the vessel slowly came to a stop. The child looked up at Stormfollower innocently.

"Greetings Master Stormfollower, Do you know where we are heading?"

As the seas calmed beneath them he likewise surveyed the scene. Smiling gently at the child he lied "Of course I do. Yet we will not be going anywhere in these becalmed conditions little lady," He tickled P`Nala under her chin then lashed the tiller to the rail. "Not to worry though! I`ll have us underway soon enough!" Undaunted he turned towards the bow.

Strangely Stormfollower had not been surprised by the childs appearance and carried on as if she had been there all along. Nor had he questioned the sudden appearance of his wife or friends, nor the sudden change of scenery as they fell from the boiling sky into the contrary sea below. Not even the stopping of the winds has stirred his curiosity. In a dream many things are taken for granted as the mind grasps for normalcy in even the most unusual of circumstances.

He lithely leapt passed the group that had gathered in the cockpit and threw open a long hatch on the Goblin Queens starboard side deck, a small deck-way that reached around the small cabins raised roof. From within the hold he began to extract a single great oar. It was at least twenty feet in length and curved slightly over the top of its length. It had been fashioned of some strange white stone and seamed to be of a tremendous weight. As he struggled to pull the last bit of it out from the hold they could see the oars blade was a full six foot in length and some 10 inches across. He headed back to the stern with it being careful not to hit anyone.

All the while Remis stared at his mother, his usual cold composure melting away as his eyes flashed madly between his natural love and his insane hate. A hate that had been instilled by his grim ordeal beneath the streets of Qeynos. He knew now there was no arguing with his mother. She knew Storm to well to believe the events told of in the note Remis had made him scribe. Now his control over this dream had been partially usurped by the far greater power of this Teir`Dal child. Yet he still held the germ of the vision in his fathers mind, if he could just hold on to that perhaps there was still a way to complete his mission. "Surely you would not bring back upon him the turmoil of those events, here now he is at peace as we go to fish."

"Thats right! Fishing!" Stormfollower exclaimed catching only the end of that part of the conversation between Jetamio and her son. As he hefted the heavy oar into place in the oarlock off the stern Its blade dipped down into the water with a splash. He tied a rope from the handle down by about a four foot length to a fixture on the deck infront of him. Pressing the hadle back and forth the curve of the great stone oar directed its blade in a falling leaf pattern in the water behind them. The rope acted as a brace to keep the great power of the motion from lifting the handle too high

The dreamworld Goblin Queen started slowly underway as the first signs of morning began to glow behind the bluffs off her starboard stern. The still water of the shamans phantasmal guarding sea slipping smoothly around her sides and he breathed deeply of the briney air. "This is the life." He commented absently as he sculled the ship forwards. That and his smile bespoke his grasp on the reality of the situation.

The child now emboldended by the slipping of the younger man's control decided to take matters futher.

"Master Stormfollower, I know of an excellent fishing place if you would like me to show you where it is. My adopted father used to take me there all the time and we caught quite a few good sized fish there."

The child smiled sweetly.

P`Nala in the real world checked her hold on Lady Sineliniel's balanced mind and then sent a thought into Remis' mind...

"Relinquish what little hold you have left, or I will rip it from you without harming your father. You, on the other hand, will probably need to relearn what you know now. I am only using a small portion of my power at this point.

"I am only using a small portion of my power."

These words echoed in the now occupied mind of Remis.

"I am only using a small portion of my power."

Almost exactly what his master had said seven years ago that night beneath the streets of a slumbering Qeynos. He threw up the scene and replayed it in his mind for P`Nala to see.

The old Necromancer stood before a prostrate Remis and gestured with his hand, forcing the young man to move in a macabre imitation of dance as his lay there, his mind asleep. Within his dream they communicated on another level. Which Remis also revealed to P`nala.

"You see how similar death is to sleeping?" The old man spoke slowly, and arrogantly, with great drama and gesticulation. " With my powers over the bones of the once alive I can reanimation that life which is ingrained in them. And so it is I have discovered with those who sleep very deeply" He gloated evilly at this revelation to his pupil.

"And all this is with but a small portion of my power."

Remis had feared his master up until that point. He had suffered many torments in the name of learning because of this fear, but now, with those words, he had realized what a fool the old man really was. Dreaming was not like death in the way this man understood it. The only way in which it was similar was that there was a relinquishing of control over ones body in the "real world" Dreaming was much closer to life than death and yet more real in that the control of ones environment was greater... if one had the power ...and understood it. Remis had the power, and understood it more deeply than anyone knew, perhaps even deeper than he knew himself.

"You are wrong old man" He spoke loudly within the confines of their heads. "You may have used only a small portion of your power, but all the power in the world can do little good when focused in the wrong place." Stunned at the sudden rebellion from the heretofore meek youth the old necromancer dropped his puppetry over Remis causing the young mans body to slump to the floor in the "real world"

The scene that followed though much more graphic in the "dream world" mimicked it in every movement the old man made. He drew his ceremonial dagger in the same flamboyant way. He smiled with the same self satisfied expression, even as he began to carve away parts of his own chest on his slow exploration towards his vital organs. One by one in both realms he slowly and methodically injured several of his own major body systems until his life ebbed out onto the floor of his secret chambers and around Remis. P`nala saw both scenes play out simotaniously.

Remis puffed out the scene in his head leaving them both floating in an infinite void that was now his mind. Black and cold as sidereal space.

"Have you ever had a dream P`nala, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain "

With that the scene in the minds of the two dream controllers changed. Walls flew in from all sides of the void in which they floated and a floor covered in bamboo mats fell into place beneath their feet. Remis now wore the robes of a master monk, P`Nala those of a disciple.

"Do you believe that your mastery of enchantments in the waking world has anything to do with your mind in this place?... Do you think that's air your breathing now?"

"Actually young one... it has everything to do with this dream world... Dreams and Illusions are very much alike. Do you really think that is a robe you are wearing?"

P`Nala pushes her will a little and Remis' robe turns into a giant python coiled around the young man.

In Stormfollower's mind the child points in the North Northwest direction...

"Master Stormfollower, the fishing place I mentioned is in that direction and is not too far away."

Remis smiled and the python fell away as it turned into autumn leaves. He snarled at P`Nala as his now naked body bulged with new muscle. "Yet Illusions shouldn`t hurt like this!" He punched at her with both palms forward.

In Stormfollowers mind he turned the boat in the direction she had pointed with a slight variation in his sculling. "Let us be to it then" He spoke with a smile.

P`Nala deftly dodged the young man's strike as easily as anyone trained in physical combat would and silently thanked her sister.

"You will have to do much better than that young man." P`Nala countered with a with a quick strike toward the young man's solar plexus

Meanwhile the child in Stormfollower's mind guided him toward their new destination, slowly leading him out of the dreamworld.

P`Nala pushed a quick message to Jetamio.

"I do not wish to harm him... Just to keep him occupied while I lead your husband back to the Real World. If you can help it would make matters easier."

P`Nala pushed more of her presence into Stormfollower's mind, blocking more of Remis' control.

Fluffy and Gilliadson stood watch over Sineliniel and P`Nala. P`Nala was still not completely immersed into the dream and was quite conscious of what was going on around her.

"Very well then."

An evil grin crept across the young mans face as he thrust her blow to one side following through with a side step and a chop towards the back of her neck at superhuman speed. Flames now burst from his body, while P`Nalas sister let out a shrill shriek from behind her.

Remis was now fully immersed in his battle of psyche with P`Nala and yet the germ of the story still held fast to Stormfollowers mind. He eagerly headed for the new fishing grounds, his will bent on it in fact. Both eyes gleamed with a fury of purpose that was to intense for the mere sport of fishing. There was much more to this fantasy Remis had presented to his father. More than even he knew himself.

P`Nala ducked the chop from Remis and rolled herself under him, lifting him into the air and letting him fall in front of her. P`Nala's mind stayed focused on the only "real" entities in this dream world, Stormfollower, Remis, Jetamio and herself.

P`Nala pushed the thought of her Sister with the tip of her katana poised over Remis' heart on the Real Deck of the Goblin Queen into the young man's mind.

"Hmm... no one in the Real World to protect you? What happens to you in here if my Sister strikes the real you while you are fully immersed?"

In Stormfollower's mind, the boat headed into a cove where the child pointed to a small pier.

"We can dock there and the lake is not far. It is a beautiful place and there are lots of fish to be caught."

Jetamio stood seemingly caught between seeing to Storm and watching the battle between P'Nala and her son. She knew Remis was in the wrong, but he was still her son. Entrusting Storm to the Child illusion, she jumped in between P'Nala and Remis, facing her son. A flicker of torment crossed her face before she placed a hand on his chest and sent a powerful electric shock through him. While not enough to kill him, it was enough to force him back into reality with a jerk. With him out of action for the moment, she turned her attention back to Storm, watching for any sign that he might have control over himself again. His recovery was key to her own survival, she needed him to awake before she could return to her mortal shell which lay motionless on the deck of the 'real world', not far from the dazed Remis.

With Remis now out of the Dream World, P`Nala thanked Jetamio.

"Gilliadson and Fluffy are guarding your body. I can now turn my attention to your husband and lead him out."

P`Nala pushed her will further into Stormfollower's mind and overpowered the last remnants of Remis' Dream.

The child in Stormfollower's mind reached her hand out to him as the vessel docked at the small pier.

"Please come with me, Master Stormfollower." The child radiated feelings of love and compassion much like her real world self.

Stormfollower took the hand of P`Nala.

"I know you don`t I? You seem very familiar to me. Yet I cannot place the face." They walked out onto the pier. The Goblin queens lines magically tied themselves to the piers low posts. He glanced back towards the cockpit and noticed Remis as if for the first time. "Remis my son, gather the fishing gear and come with us. A new hole is to be found where this child leads us.

Remis stood starring blankly back at his father, an anger seethed within him and he spoke into the minds of his mother and P`Nala."How dare you!" His mind spat venom towards them both.
"No one to protect me in your world?!...You have forgotten He is my father! And you have forgotten who he is. THIS IS MY WORLD!"
Remis` distress was clearly visible to Stormfollower and so he stopped where he was and let go of the hand of P`Nala.

"What is wrong Remis, why do you look as if you have suffered a wound?"

"It is him Father. He has learned our plan and he has come for you once more."
He gestured towards P`Nala with his beaten eyes

The words hit Stormfollower like a hand of broken nails. They tied his lead and pulled his chain and now his blood began to boil. Immediately his eyes flashed angrily to P`Nala at his side.

"YOU!"

"No Master Stormfollower, the only plan that was ruined was the plan for your demise... And I am not a him! The child shifted to her true form. Lady P`Nala stood before the great shaman. You know me. You know that I would not be here to cause you harm. Your son has deceived you and has been using you to kill. Your beloved wife is here as well to testify that what I say is true." P`Nala gestured toward the Great Druidess...

For a moment her heart soared, sure he was free. But that joy was short lived as she watched him turn on P'Nala. She ran to the side of the ship but dared go no further while her body lay there.

"Stormfollower! My love, my gentle giant..." she reached out an insubstantial hand towards him, knowing he could still see her Spirit form. "Help me...I love you, I need you...be strong, see what is real. Please love....take my hand, save us both..."

P`Nala projected the path out of the dream into Jetamio's mind.

"Gilliadson and Fluffy will protect your body. If he takes your hand then I too will join them in protecting you."
P`Nala pushed the message into Jetamio's mind...
"Do not be afraid."