Chapter 57. The Dream That Never Existed

The head rose above the shore. The missing parts of the body flew towards it and soon united.

A doll with long red hair and black pupils landed on the sand. The purple aura that surrounded the head spread to all parts of the body.

"Where... is... me..."

The head began to rotate around the neck to look at the area. Soon the doll's attention was drawn to a mountain that fell steeply above the shore.

The doll flew to the top of the cliff and saw an endless dark green forest of tree ferns, behind which mountains with flat tops appeared.

"I can look at the map," the doll remembered. "It seems that after I crashed, some of my data temporarily disappeared."

The doll sat down on the edge of the cliff, beyond which the endless forest began, and then waved her hand in front of her.

For some reason, Ikte remembered how to use the interface, so soon a map appeared in a separate window.

The blue dot was located near the seashore, near a dark green mountain range. The doll zoomed out with two fingers and then realized that she was on the shore of a large land mass.

"I flew here across the sea, and then I ran out of energy and crashed," Ikte remembered. "But why did I fly here?"

The doll zoomed in on a section of the map. The endless sea became much smaller, and a large piece of land appeared to the north.

"This is the Intercontinental Sea. I flew through it? But... it's impossible. For this, some intermediate points are needed, and in this sea there are almost no islands."

Ikte closed the map, and then rose above the forest to examine the area from a bird's eye view. Low mountains with rounded and sometimes flat peaks united into ridges that stretched one after another, and so on to the horizon.

"There are no cities here, not even railroads," the doll thought. "The Southern Continent is really like that. It's a good place to hide. No one will find you here."

Ikte felt that she couldn't stay in the air for long, so she almost landed on the shore. Meanwhile, thoughts continued to generate in her brain:

"Maybe I'm trying to hide from danger? But what can I run from? I'm a doll, nothing dangerous will happen to me. If I'm divided into parts, I'll unite, although it will take time."

Ikte flew along the seashore. The crabs that had been walking on the sand now ran away at her approach. Even the jellyfish that were washed ashore by the waves shuddered from the vibration.

"There are no civilized beings here. Even the animals don't want to come near me. But I'm just a doll. What can I do to them?"

Gradually the beach narrowed. The mountains came closer and closer to the water, and soon the sand gave way to rocks that came straight out of the sea.

Ikte flew back and happened to look at the sand. One of the crabs was trying to drag a rectangular piece of wood behind it.

"This is something civilized. It's strange that it's here."

The doll landed on the sand. The crab felt the vibration and tried to escape with its prey, but it didn't have time and was thrown into the water.

A piece of wood rose above the sand and then landed in Ikte's hands.

"This is something familiar. I should take it with me. Maybe I'll remember later."

Ikte opened the inventory and was about to put a piece of wood in a free cell, when suddenly she saw a window in front of her with the silhouette of a creature with animal ears and a tail.

The piece of wood fell onto the sand. The crab, which the waves had washed ashore, looked at its former prey, but did not dare to return it because of the vibration.

The silhouette in front of Ikte disappeared. The doll closed the inventory, and then its eyes. Her arms dropped, and its body flew up.

The crab no longer felt the vibration, so it ran to the piece of wood and dragged it somewhere again.

***

Yueret sat on the floor at a low table and looked at the cake.

"It's good that Unana has lessons. I was able to make this cake. Now I have to protect it from the dog. If Unana comes and sees the bitten cake, she'll be offended and draw me without a head."

Yueret didn't have to wait long. His younger sister, wearing a school uniform, came into the kitchen and looked down sadly.

"What happened?" Yueret asked. "They didn't take you to school because you're big?"

"No," Unana went to the refrigerator.

"You wrote all the words so quickly and they let you go?"

"No."

"Did you draw a squirrel without a tail?"

"No."

"Kimchan tried to steal your clothes?"

"No. Honestly, I would give that dog all my clothes just to make it choke."

"Unana is fine if she says that," Yueret thought.

"Actually..." Unana looked at her brother. "You won't laugh? I'm your little sister, and you can't laugh at little sisters."

"No. I only laughed at you when you were little. Now you're big."

"That's why Yueret sent me to school."

"I really won't laugh," Yueret promised. "I'm speaking as a big brother."

If you speak like a big brother, then fine.

Unana opened the refrigerator, took a bottle of green liquid from there, and then closed the door.

"I..." Unana pressed the bottle to her chest, causing it to move apart. "I got the day wrong. I don't have to go to school today, but tomorrow."

"It's not scary," Yueret answered. "I mean, it's not funny. Well, you get the idea."

"But you made the cake. It's sad."

"I thought we'd eat it together. I was happy that you went to school, and decided to make a cake."

"But how will I eat it now? Maybe we should give it to Kimchan?"

"You can eat. I'll make more tomorrow."

"I don't even know if I can..."

"You always ate cake when you wanted before."

"But it's different now. You made the cake because I went to school. But my classes haven't even started yet."

"They start tomorrow. So let's eat it before the dog does."

"Well, okay."

Unana dropped to the floor next to her brother, placed the bottle on the table, and then took two spoons out of her inventory.

"Here," Unana handed her brother one of the spoons. "It's with a teddy bear."

There really was an image of a teddy bear carved into the handle of the spoon.

"Where did you get them?" Yueret asked.

"I don't remember," Unana answered. "But they're cute. Bears like sweet things. These spoons would be good for eating cake."

Yueret took the spoon in his hand and looked at it. The next moment, he remembered what he wanted to say to his sister.

"Unana, I remembered something," Yueret said. "Do you remember we had dad and mom?"

"Uh..." Unana put a spoon with a piece of cake in her mouth. "Uh..."

"I'm at the wrong time."

Unana quickly finished the piece of cake, and then licked her lips.

"No, you're on time," the sister answered. "I've been thinking about my dad and mom lately. I barely remember them, but I know from games that people have parents."

"Do you want them to come back?"

"That would be interesting. I don't understand what it's like to live with parents. They're probably like you, only there are two of them."

"I don't think I can replace your mom and dad. I'm just a big brother."

"A big brother is enough for me. I don't want you to leave, or you'll be gone and I'll be alone."

Unana put the spoon down on the table. Yueret moved closer to his sister and then hugged her.

"I had a dream in which a man who looked like you said he was my uncle," Unana said. "He said that my dad had gone somewhere and left him to look after us. I met him in an abandoned village. Can you imagine how strange that dream was?"

"Uh..." Yueret looked at the ceiling. "What was the name of this man?"

"I don't remember. But he looked a lot like you. I even hugged him, even though it was the first time I met him. It's good that it was a dream."

Yueret looked at the cake, put the spoon on the table, and then answered:

"I also dreamed about something similar. I had an uncle there and he told me what he told you. Only it was in some other place."

"What?"

Unana staggered in surprise, and her chest "jumped" with her.

"Yueret..." the archer looked out the window, where a snow-covered tree branch could be seen. "I don't think it was a dream."

"Why? It could have been accidental."

"Yueret, you are stupid."

Unana crawled away from her brother, but she couldn't get far. A strange feeling, similar to anxiety, "kept" the girl in place.

"No. It's too suspicious. Better to believe it. What if mom and dad are alive and we don't believe it, and because of that they can..."

"Do you want to find them?"

"I..."

Unana looked at her brother, and he did not recognize her. The face of the lazy but cheerful girl became like a doll's. Unana stared at one point, and her mouth barely moved.

"Yup..." the sister finally answered. "Yueret, let's look for mom and dad."

"First we need to find this uncle," Yueret suggested. "He definitely knows more than we do."

"But we... We don't even know his name."

"We must have old photos, and maybe some notes. Maybe it says his name and where to find him."

"Really?"

Yueret nodded. Unana's face became "alive" again. The girl threw herself at her brother and knocked him to the floor.

"Unana, you're not a dog," Yueret said. "Get off me."

Unana changed again. She almost instantly got off her brother, turned to the cake, and then found herself next to it.

"I made it," the girl whispered.

A quiet dog moan was heard under the table. Soon its source appeared on the surface. Fortunately, Unana noticed the pet and grabbed him by the scruff.

"If you eat so much, you'll become like a bearry, and then Yueret will be afraid of you," Unana told the puppy.

Yueret remembered how he had imagined a bear, and then remembered the girl with dog ears and a tail he had seen today.

"I hope Kimchan doesn't turn into a dog girl. Better yet, into a bear."

***

Noru led Itinit, Etinnei and Tuot to the top of the mountain next to the "airfield". Here the forest gave way to ruins.

"I found something here," the dog girl admitted. "But I have to crawl through a hole."

"I hope it's not a snake hole," Itinit said.

"No," Noru answered. "My head fits in there." There's a lot of space. Only it is dark there, so I will shine for you."

Noru grabbed Etinnei's hand and pulled her somewhere. Itinit turned to Tuot and stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"Do you see anything strange?" Itinit asked.

"Everything here is strange," Tuot answered.

"Someone cleared these ruins of vegetation. The mountains here are not so high that these tree substitutes do not grow on them."

"Yeah, I did not notice. If there is forest everywhere, it will be strange if there is none somewhere."

"Of course, this means that these ruins are not abandoned, and the hole that Noru is talking about is most likely an entrance to a dungeon. It could have been the basement of a building before, and now it is used as a warehouse or something else."

Itinit's story was interrupted by a scream and a dog's howl. The creator of the animal girls ran to the source of the sounds and saw Nora and Etinnei, who were standing at the entrance to the dungeon with frightened expressions on their faces and breathing heavily.

"Is there something there?" Itinit asked. "Is it scary?"

"Yup!" the animal girls answered at the same time. "There… there…"

"What? Robots, dolls, statues?"

"No," Noru breathed out. "Hair..."

Itinit turned away so the animal girls wouldn't see his laughter and found Tuot slowly walking through the ruins.

"You better not go there," Itinit could barely contain his laughter enough to say that.

"Why?" Tuot tilted his head to the side to see what was hidden behind his friend.

"There's hair," Itinit fell to his knees and looked like he was about to crawl with laughter.

"Hair is inedible," Tuot answered. "But what does it do?"

Itinit couldn't answer. He was lying on the surface of the stone block, twitching with laughter, which made him look more like his feathered friend than himself.

The dinosaur approached the animal girls who were sitting at the entrance to the dungeon. They were still scared, but no longer gasping for breath.

"Did the hair attack you?" Tuot asked.

"No," Etinnei looked thoughtfully at the feathered creature. "They were lying on the floor. Someone left them and took the head."

"Yup," Noru confirmed. "The head left without the hair."

Now Tuot was laughing. Unlike his more intelligent friend, he couldn't hide his laughter, so he was soon lying on the rocks with his mouth open and his limbs twitching.

"If you find it funny, chicken, and then go into the hole yourself," Noru made an angry face.

"No, don't go there!" Etinnei shouted. "It's very scary there. It's dark there, although it's not hot."

"I'd better not go there," Tuot looked at Itinit, who was still under the spell of laughter. "I'd better wait."

He didn't have to wait long. Of course, Itinit didn't just laugh. He just saw a centipede the length of a small snake next to him. It resembled a monster from the games: a multitude of yellow limbs stuck out from a brown shell made of plates. The creature's head had antennae similar to the antennas of that very electric penguin.

Itinit almost instantly activated an energy barrier in the form of a sphere. The centipede felt the vibration and hid behind the nearest stone.

"Who's there?" Tuot took a step back. "Is it a doll?"

"No, just a local species of animal," Itinit answered. "If it were a doll, I would have summoned something more serious."

"It's good that I didn't activate the aura."

"No. The vibration scares away wild animals. But there are too many of them on this continent, so you'll need that new lizard that restores energy."

"I can't."

"Haven't you studied it yet?"

"I just received a skill card. The conditions there are kind of unreal."

"Let me take a look."

Tuot took a blue-green translucent memory card with a lizard image from his inventory and placed it on the stone in front of him. Itinit crouched down and touched it with his finger, causing a text window to appear.

"The conditions, of course, are not the same as those of the yellow lizard," Itinit noted. "But that does not mean that you will not be able to fulfill them."

"You overestimate me," Tuot looked at the bush with large oval leaves. "I'm just a dinosaur without any special skills."

"You can summon a yellow lizard. No one else in the world can do that."

"What?"

"Yeah, it is in one copy."

Tuot opened his mouth in surprise, but was unable to close it. He had to do it literally by hand.

"There are several conditions," Itinit continued. "Some of them, as I understand it, are standard for all lizards: having a shield and summoning an aura."

"I've only caught two lizards, and you're already talking as if I've done this many times."

"But then there are differences. You need to use all your energy. Since you have little energy, using it all will be easy. True, then the aura will disappear, and without it you will not be able to stand."

"Do you believe me now?"

"You can be made to stand if you can't. Tie to something, for example. The main thing is that you don't hit your head too hard and don't start liking the dolls. But then something very strange begins. You need to fight an opponent who uses energy skills in battle. This is bad for you. If an energy skill hits the shield, it will charge it a little. Of course, energy is not transmitted directly to the creature, but it can be transmitted to the aura."

"Can I put it more simply?"

"You can't..."

Itinit couldn't answer. A flash of fire flew over his head and turned into a dog girl on the edge of the ruins.

"Sorry, I..." Itinit didn't even have time to finish his sentence.

"Master!" Noru pointed to the hole in the stones. "There's something there!"

Itinit turned to the entrance to the dungeon and saw two blue lights in the dark opening, which then disappeared.

"Master, it took Etinnei," Noru fell to her knees and stopped burning.

Tuot looked around, but instead of the arctic fox girl, he saw a large metal tree cone that was "held" in the air above his head.