Shana stepped out into a dimly lit, spacious hub room that she’d seen a million times before in the Library of Solitude.
But it was different here. Here, in…
“The Library of Solitude’s… Dream?” Shana asked, turning back to stare at Heart.
“Yes,” Heart said in a hushed, awed voice. In her glittering golden eyes, Shana saw that this was as surprising to Heart as it was to the rest of them.
“But what does that mean?” Kathryn asked. “Are we in some different part of Dreamworld?”
“It doesn’t feel like Dreamworld,” Shana said, and experimentally tried to fly.
Her feet wouldn’t even leave the ground.
“This is not Dreamworld,” Heart said. “Normally… this is not a place that the Dreamer, or even I, can access. Something very strange is going on here.”
“But this isn’t the Library of Solitude, either,” Annabelle said, gazing all around with a wistful look in her eyes. “Is it?”
“It is not,” Heart said. “I thought… well, I was trying to bring us to the Library of Solitude itself. It seems… things went very differently. But I don’t understand how.”
“That’s all right,” Shias said, his steadying calm grounding Shana. “Tell us what you know, and let’s work from there. We can solve this mystery if we take it one thing at a time.”
“Right,” Rae said with a confident nod.
Heart smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “Let’s see… I suppose the best way to describe this Dream of the Library of Solitude is as… a place between. Between the Waking World and Dreamworld. Dreamworld is not, after all, where everyone goes when they dream.”
“Really?” Shana asked. “I thought they did, just in a subconscious kind of way.”
“Parts of one’s subconscious interacts with Dreamworld while dreaming, but that is not the same as actually going there,” Heart said. “It’s a meaningful distinction. And it is not only people who dream. The Enchanted Dominion — all worlds, in fact, including your planet Earth — are alive. And they, too, dream, albeit in a very different fashion to that of Humans or Enchanted.”
“Every Location Dreams?” Rae asked.
“Earth Dreams?” Ben asked at the same time.
“Yes,” Heart said. “And this place, where we are right now, is the Library of Solitude’s Dream. It lies outside of either Dreamworld or the Waking World, though it does interact in slight, subtle ways with Dreamworld.”
“Maybe that was our in,” Ben said. “If it interacts with Dreamworld, then —”
“But neither I nor the Dreamer is supposed to be able to enter the Dreams of others, people or Locations,” Heart said, “outside of specific tests, like what Nocta had you undergo with your Nightmares.”
“It’s because this is the Library of Solitude, isn’t it?” Annabelle asked. “You said you had a special connection to this place. And you were trying to bring us here in one way, but you spoke of it as if it was something you couldn’t quite remember, so you didn’t know the details. Perhaps this is what was always going to happen — us coming to the Library of Solitude’s Dream, rather than its physical form in the Waking World.”
Heart considered that for a moment. “Perhaps,” she said. “I don’t want to leap to such a conclusion just yet.”
“So we’re in the Library of Solitude’s Dream,” Shana said. She bounced on the balls of her feet, and Altair mimicked the action beside her, both testing whether they could fly and failing. “What does that mean, though? Aside from me not having my Dreamer powers… and this not being the physical Library… what’s different? What’s significant about being here?” She turned in a slow circle, taking everything in. “It all feels… even quieter than the Library itself. And darker — but not in a big-D Darkness kind of way, just like…”
“Like it’s sleeping,” Annabelle murmured.
“Dreams happen in sleep,” Heart said with a nod. “But Locations and worlds cannot sleep the way people do. They don’t slip between waking and sleeping, conscious and subconscious. Instead, they occupy both waking and sleeping at the same time, but in a different way than mortals. It is more subtle, less overt. A Location’s Dream is like this — a sleeping manifestation of that Location itself.”
“So it’s just the Library of Solitude, but more… solitudinous?” Shana asked.
“But it feels different,” Annabelle said.
“Indeed it does,” Heart said. “The Library of Solitude’s Dream lets us see its subconscious, its… its deeper thoughts, and its own perception of itself. Deeper truths, hidden truths, are revealed only in dreams. This is true of people, and also of Locations.”
“So we can learn more about the Library of Solitude here,” Shana said. “Oh! And you’re deeply connected to the Library of Solitude — there’s only one Dream Forge, and it’s here. Maybe we can learn more about you, about Dreamworld, about… all of it.”
“Perhaps we can,” Heart said.
“Do you have any thoughts on where to start?” Shias asked.
Heart stepped out into the hub room, gazing up at the domed ceiling. “I think… perhaps we should simply… walk,” she said. “Let us explore this Dream together. I do not know how long we will remain here, or even… well, in truth, I am not entirely certain on how to get us back.” Worry flickered in her eyes, then vanished.
“We might be trapped here?” Ben asked, eyes wide.
“We got in, so we can get out,” Kathryn said, starting down into the hub room. “Come on, let’s explore while we can. Anything we can learn is useful.” She stopped at a bookshelf, staring at the books for a moment, seeming perplexed. She cocked her head to the side, then, slowly, pulled a book off of the shelf. Opening it, she stared for a moment, then replaced the book. “That’s…”
“What is it?” Rae asked, joining her. She opened a different book, then very slowly put it back on the shelf. She turned back to the others, confusion filling her expression. “The books are fake.”
“All of them?” Shana asked, hurrying to join them. But even before she pulled a book off of the shelf, she noticed something very peculiar.
None of the books had titles. Not on their spines, nor their covers. No cover art, either. All of the books came in the same size and the same colors. And when she did finally pull a book off of the shelf and open it…
“Not a single page,” she murmured, slowly, carefully, staring. The book was filled between the front and back cover as if it were a hollow box, opening to have no pages, nor words, of any kind.
“Perhaps… the books’ contents are distinctly a part of the Waking World?” Annabelle asked hopefully. “They’re not… well, maybe they’re not… part of the Library of Solitude, as a Location, I mean…” She trailed off, then slowly shook her head. “This is frightening.”
A library with nothing but fake books. Not only that, the biggest Library in the universe…
Full of blank, empty books.
Shana could understand Annabelle’s fear. And she knew Annabelle must feel it far more acutely than the book-loving, library-loving Shana. The Library of Solitude wasn’t just the biggest library in the universe.
It was Annabelle’s home. And this Dream… for it to be devoid of one of the defining aspects of that home…
“Let’s just try a different room,” Kathryn said, shrugging. “There’s gotta be some actual books some—”
“No,” Annabelle said, shaking her head. “They’ll all… be the same.” She turned, starting up to the hub room’s high perimeter walkway. “Whatever there is for us to find, it won’t be on a bookshelf. Not here.”
And so they all followed Annabelle. While she took the lead, and Shana walked close behind her, Altair trotted right up beside her. His company seemed to help Annabelle’s spirits, and more than once Shana noticed her glance down at the glowing blue pup and manage a small smile.
“It doesn’t even smell like books,” Kathryn said softly. “The Library of Solitude had such a wonderful scent to it, in every single room, like… it didn’t just feel like a library, it smelled like one.”
“It’s such a wonderful scent,” Rae said. “Not having it here…”
“It’s extremely solitudinous,” Shana said, lowering her gaze.
“Is that even a word?” Ben asked.
“It is now!” Shana said.
“So what’s it mean?” Kathryn asked, eager for an explanation.
Shana sighed. “I thought it pretty much described itself. It’s just…” She looked around the empty, lonely space with a wistful sadness in her heart. “It feels so… lonely. Is this how the Library of Solitude feels? Even now that it’s restored, that it’s full of people again? Did everything I did in the Dream Forge… only save its Waking World form? I didn’t do anything for its subconscious?”
“We don’t know that yet,” Shias said. “The Library of Solitude is gigantic. We’ve barely seen a single room. Let’s keep searching.”
Onward they went, down a long, massive corridor. Frames that bore blank canvas lined the walls, and featureless, vaguely humanoid statues stood here and there.
This didn’t feel like a dream. It felt like a hollowed out shell of the Location that was doing the dreaming. “Is this how all Location’s Dreams are?” Shana asked.
“I do not know,” Heart said. “All I have known, until entering this Dream with all of you, is that such a place exists. I have never been able to enter such Dreams, and I have always known that.”
“Hey, hold up, can we stop for a sec?” Ben asked.
“What’s up?” Kathryn asked.
“Just stop and be quiet for a sec,” Ben said. “I just… want to listen.”
They all came to a stop in the dimly-lit corridor, and went as silent and still as they could. Shana listened intently, because she thought that’s what Ben was up to. And as she listened… that sense of loneliness grew more palpable.
“Silent,” Ben said softly, breaking their quiet. “Not even the slightest ambient sound.”
“Let’s go to one of the gardens,” Kathryn said. “See if there’s a breeze or anything.”
“Annabelle?” Shana asked. “Where do you want to go?”
“I want to go…” Annabelle started, trailing off. Then she spun on her heel and raced down the corridor.
“Annabelle!” Shana cried, racing after her, and everyone else followed. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s calling for help!” Annabelle said, breathless as she sprinted onward.
“But I didn’t hear anything!” Ben protested.
“I didn’t hear it with my ears!” Annabelle replied. They all fell silent as they ran, no more debates to be had.
And Shana was suddenly excited — and tremendously proud. Of her team. When Annabelle heard a call for help, a call none of the others heard, and raced towards it… none of them hesitated. None of them mocked or questioned her.
The Dawn Riders. This is what I envisioned us as being from the start.
When someone calls for help, we come running.
The corridor led them to a lobby, one of several circular rooms that served as waypoints for lost or first-time visitors. Here were usually librarians ready to lend direction, and others with refreshments for the weary wanderers. There were numerous directories and maps that could be pulled up with ease.
At least, that was how this room would have operated in the Waking World. Here in the Dream, it was empty, except for…
“Hello?” Shana asked, stunned to see someone standing in the center of the lobby. It was a girl who looked about Fae’s age, but with an otherworldly beauty that, until now, Shana had only associated with Heart or Mineria, beings and people who didn’t fall into the usual human-like colorations and features. Yet while the girl had fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes — perfectly ordinary and common — all of these features were amplified in a way that made her seem like someone who belonged in a dream. Her golden hair glittered, gleamed, and shone with a light all its own, like a shining golden halo. Her pale blue eyes shimmered with their own light, too, and her skin was impossibly smooth, like she was formed of porcelain. And her dress… it was like it had been woven of sapphires, threaded through with silver, and yet shifted and moved like cloth.
The girl turned at the group’s arrival, staring at them in shock. And they stared back at her, just as astonished.
The girl spoke first. “Hello,” she said, cautiously. She bowed slightly to Annabelle. “Princess Annabelle. I… I am sorry. I am somewhat startled, I… did not expect to find anyone else here.”
She spoke with a very proper, regal sort of voice, yet without a trace of haughtiness or arrogance. She was clearly from a high-class upbringing, and yet she had a kindness, a tenderness, that made Shana immediately gravitate towards her.
“Princess Garnet?” Annabelle asked tentatively.
“Princess?” Shana asked.
“Ah, my apologies,” Garnet said, bowing to Shana and the others. “As I said, you’ve taken me somewhat off-guard. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Princess Garnet of the Crystal Family, eldest daughter of the Crystal King and Crystal Queen. It is an honor to meet you, even under these mysterious circumstances.”
“I’m… Shana Greyson,” Shana said. Awkwardly, but becoming easier with each person who did so, they all introduced themselves, and then Shana added, “Excuse me for asking, but how are you here? Heart was just — that’s the Dreamer’s Heart, sorry — telling us how even we’re not supposed to be here, so… well, was it an accident for you, too?”
“Oh, no, I did not come here by accident,” Garnet said. “So you’re the Dreamer… it is an honor. And I am glad you have come, even though… it should not be possible.”
“But you came here intentionally?” Shana asked.
“Yes,” Garnet said. “I… there are very few of us, but there are a few who can traverse the Dreams of Locations. I learned from Mineria, actually — I’m sure you’ve met, considering your brother…?” Shana nodded, and Garnet smiled, continuing. “She taught me how to use these powers that for so long I never understood. It requires that I sleep at the Location whose Dream I wish to traverse, and there are some dangers to it in unsafe Locations, but here at the Library of Solitude, I need fear nothing in the Waking World.”
“If you came here on purpose, then… you had a reason,” Shana said. “Is there something here you think can help you?”
“I… am not sure,” Garnet said, bowing her head. It was then, for the first time, that Shana noticed a deep sadness in her shining eyes. “At the Seat of the Seven, my family was taken from me. Shortly after, I came here, spoke with Lady Kodoka, and she and all Paladins pledged to aid me however they could. But while Maestro Siegfried found the Throne of Night, while he and Lady Kodoka found so many strongholds of Darkness… my family remains unfound. Not only do I still not know where they are, I do not know if my father yet lives.” She was startlingly composed for someone with such heavy burdens. “The last I saw of him, I saw…” her voice faltered, but only for a moment, “my little brother stabbed our father in the back. And then he dragged him through a dark portal, and… nothing since then. After all this time, I still haven’t even the slightest answer. I need to know the truth. Why? Why has this happened? And… will any of my family be left by the time I find them? I had trusted the Paladins, but now that they have continuously come up empty, this task falls to me. They are my family, and thus… my responsibility.”
“There’s been no sign of them at all?” Annabelle asked. “Not even the slightest hint has been turned up by all the Paladins and Sub-Paladins traveling all across the Dominion?”
“Nothing at all,” Garnet said. “I don’t hold any of them at fault. They have a great battle before them, a great threat in the Endless Night. I… that is also why I have taken this on for myself. It is clear that it is my task, not something I can entrust to others.”
“Why did you think you might find some clues in the Library of Solitude’s Dream?” Shias asked. “Anything you know will help us, too. We don’t really know a thing about this place or what we can possibly learn from it.”
“Part of why I came here is because I know I will be safe in the Waking World while I explore this Dream,” Garnet said. “I have not done this in a very long time, so I wanted to ensure I hadn’t lost my touch, so to speak. But also… the Library of Solitude is an old friend, and I wished to see what knowledge she had hidden in her subconscious. I hoped to speak with her, and use her knowledge and awareness as a starting point from which to eventually — I hope — finally find and rescue my family.”
“ ‘Her’?’ Kathryn asked, cocking her head to the side.
“I am sorry, I shouldn’t speak of the Library in such personal and imprecise terms,” Garnet said. “The Library of Solitude is not like the Orphan of the Dawn — there is no place like her, no Location or world other than her that is fully place and person in one — but… even Locations are still living beings. And living beings with a subconscious, with Dreams, no less. So I… I do not find it proper to call the Library of Solitude an ‘it.’ It’s just… a personal preference.”
Shana smiled. “I like it,” she said.
That seemed to give Garnet some more confidence, and she smiled, too. “Thank you. But what has brought all of you here?”
“Accident,” Shana said, and at Garnet’s quizzical expression, she explained the circumstances of how they’d arrived here — at least, as much as Shana, Heart, or any of the rest of them knew.
“Interesting,” Garnet murmured thoughtfully. “Well, we must find a way to get you back to Dreamworld, then —”
“Can’t we help you?” Shana asked.
Garnet was silent for a moment, staring at her, weighing that offer. Slowly, she bowed her head, closing her eyes. “If you truly offer, then I thank you with all my heart, and gratefully accept,” she said. “Please. I… as much as I would try, I… do not believe I can accomplish this task alone. And while the Dreamer is not supposed to be able to enter this space, you and the Dreamer’s Heart will likely have insights I could not have.” She looked at the pair of them, Shana and Heart, her eyes pleading. “Will you truly help me?”
“Yes,” Shana said right away, grinning. Altair barked once, wagging his tail. “It’s a yes from him, too.”
Garnet laughed at that, and she had such a pleasant, musical laugh. “Thank you, Dreamer,” she said.
“Shana’s just fine,” Shana said. “I’m not… really all that big on titles.”
“Ah,” Garnet said, and bowed her head. “Then I would be most grateful if you would call me Garnet, and forgo the formalities with me, as well.”