The Sermon

A hooded figure moves around the alleyways, quickly and carefully avoiding anyone passing through. He reaches the back of a dimly lit, decrepit building. He calmly looks around and silently enters. The figure sneaks in and inaudibly joins a group of other hooded individuals who do not react to his presence, some of who are still entering the building.

The air is thick with the scent of incense and the faint murmur of whispered prayers.

The priest enters the room which silences all prayers and other sounds. He looks around noticing the increase in population then smirks. He then begins the sermon, saying in a deep voice, "Welcome, all of you our first gathering of this month." The priest is a tall imposing figure, his hood is pulled low over his face, but his piercing eyes can still be seen glinting in the candlelight.

He goes on to tell all present about the church's latest expedition to a town they visited two weeks prior.

"We recently visited a land of sand whose belief was centered on a God of Time. In fact as soon as we arrived there, they almost attacked us, but we managed to convince them we were not a threat, despite not even speaking the same lane. We were protected by the Lord, and we learned many much from these people. Of course before we were chased out for staying too long."

He continued going on about other lands they visited, praising their Lord every single time he finished a sentence.

To the hooded man he found it incredibly annoying, but he was intrigued nonetheless, especially about the wonders of the outside world so he listened on. At the end of the sermon the priest asked everyone to kneel and bow as they wanted to pray to Death. Everyone old and new recited, "Oh Sweet Death,

Lord of the Afterlife,

God of all who sleep and all who wake,

Please be patient with us, for we will be with you in the next life."

The hooded man however stayed silent, fearing he could fully become part of this "cult" if he recited any of their prayers.

After the sermon had ended, and other trades were finished, the man went out from where he came, while others used the front and back doors.

The hooded man manages to navigate back to his home undetected. He climbs a ladder he had previously prepared and enters his attic. He sighs in relief and takes off his hood. "Phew, that was way more creepy than last time." A female voice then sounds from the other side of the room, "And where are you coming from?"

The man jumps in alarm, "Ah! I didn't do anything!" Covering his head with his arms.

The voice then laughs, "Haha, really Kael." Then lights up a candle to reveal both herself and her associate. Kael is relieved to see it's just his two best friends Layla and Rio, "Oh it's just you guys."

The two of them burst into laughter, but he quickly shushes them. "Hey keep it down, my dad doesn't exactly sleep anymore, he could hear us." They both apologize, "sorry." Giggling to themselves.

Kael then says, "Anyway, did you get her?" But Layla asks, "Couldn't you at least tell us what was so creepy about today's sermon first?" But Kael insisted, telling her with a firm voice, "Layla this is serious." "Alright scaredy pants." She and Rio then pull over a cloth revealed to be covering a homemade coffin. Kael reaches and opens it, revealing his sister who is - as Kael puts it- asleep. Though she looks extremely pale, on the verge of starting to rot. Kael notices this, filling him with dread after his initial relief. Rio pats his shoulder and worriedly asks, "Are you sure you know what you're doing? Grave robbing is a serious crime you know, we could all get in serious trouble." "I know, but I'm sure of it." Kael says with resolve. Layla then says, "You keep telling us to trust you in this, and we do, but isn't this a bit too crazy?" Kael smiles, "maybe. But I've gotten so much better at navigating in the Dreamscape." "Right." Layla replied suspiciously. Kael asks, "What's wrong?" "Hey it's not that I don't believe you, but you said yourself, there's something out -or well in there, that keeps you from having nightmares and also keeps you away from the dangers of the Dreamscape. Are you just better at listening to it, or ignoring it? Besides, that doesn't mean you can bring her back to life." Layla lays out her thoughts, but Kael is unfazed, taunting her, "Hmm, is pessimism what they teach in schools now?" Layla snarks, "We don't go to school." Kael laughs and then says seriously, "I just know, if I go to 'that' place, maybe tonight I'll be able to find something, anything... I have to." He says looking at his sister's 'corpse'.

His friends understanding his plight choose not to express any other doubts, instead choosing to support him. Rio asks, "So what do you need?" Kael breaks out of his riverie and says with a smile, "A good night's rest." Getting on the ground and quickly goes to sleep, leaving his friends shocked, standing there unmoving, but they look out for him, making sure no one comes in and discovers them, while Kael makes his way into his dreams.

As Kael falls asleep, he feels a descending sensation. He 'descends' into an imagery, looking like an exact replica of his village.

He had previously confirmed this to be the safest area in the Dreamscape, it is a dream that replays everything that happened earlier in the day.

He 'wakes up' and gets out of his bed, leaves his room and heads downstairs where he sees his father, Garren, starring at nothing seated by the window. His mother attempts to cook, but her hands constantly shaking, accidentally cutting herself, groaning in pain. But her husband doesn't respond to anything.

This was becoming a regular sight for Kael, but he simply leaves the house without saying anything to either of them.

Going into the town, he spots some elders hurriedly rushing to an unknown location; at least unknown to him.

They look at him, giving a disapproved look as though responding to him. In reality he greeted them earlier in the morning. He ignores them and keeps walking.

He doesn't rush as he walks through the village. The people of the village would either ignore, scorn at him, yell or throw things at him. But the items phase through his body.

He keeps walking until he reaches the far edges of the outside of the village, as far as he has ever seen which is enshrouded by fog. The landscape stops there but he still sees a painting like imagery of the mountains in front of him.

He reaches out his hand, as though hoping to grab onto something. With that hand outstretched, he closes his eyes and begins focusing. He pulls back his arm, in a motion of opening a door. This in fact opens an illusory door leading to another world beyond the village dream.

He walks through the door, entering a realm seemingly without a force to hold him down as he floats aimlessly and tries to find his bearings.

Taking note of his surroundings, he sees that there are irregularly shaped floating houses, a multicolored atmosphere, oceans in the sky, and other bizarre, unidentifiable objects.

The landscape is constantly shifting, creating a sense of disorientation and wonder, with pretty amazing views and a giant faceless Eel monster, "Wait, What?!"