The Dream Quest

     Still electrified with her victory, Solanza savored one last glance at the screen and saw something she hadn’t noticed before. In smaller text, it read: You may now start a new game on the Evil! difficulty level!

     “The Evil difficulty level?” Solanza said aloud. Subconsciously, her fingers twitched.

     An Usul behind her groaned loudly. “Lady, some of us have been waiting all day to try out this game! Please let someone else take a turn.”

     “Oh! Of course, sorry,” she said, backing away. Several Neopets immediately began squabbling about who had been waiting the longest, and Solanza quickly fled from the scene.

     As she left the arcade and stepped, blinking, into the sunlight, she heard a voice call her name. When her eyes adjusted, she saw it was none other than her sister, a Faerie Draik named Domria. Domria’s delicate wings were beating furiously to keep her airborne, laden as her arms were with shopping bags. “Hey, Solanza! Did you win?”

     “I actually did!” Solanza said, beaming.

     “Oh wow, that’s great! Congratulations!” Domria fluttered over to her, and Solanza took a few of the shopping bags from her arms. “Ugh, thank you. I bought way too much stuff today. You playing your game for so long was the perfect excuse for me to get all of my holiday gifts.”

     “Don’t tell me that! I haven’t bought any of mine yet,” Solanza said, biting her lip.

     Domria nudged her. “Hey, don’t worry about it! Let’s go shopping together next weekend and I’ll help you find things. I’ll even pretend to be surprised when you give me my gift.”

     Solanza sighed in relief. “You’re the best. What would I do without you?”

     “Apparently make a living playing NeoQuest!” The two sisters laughed as they started their stroll through Neopia Central.

     It was a beautiful autumn day. A few colourful leaves whirled in front of them before being carried away by the breeze. All around them, other Neopians were chatting, laughing, playing in the piles of dried leaves. The shops all had their doors thrown open to the fresh air, and Solanza could smell the delicious scent of fresh-baked bread as they passed by. It was as if the world was smiling down on them.

     They arrived at their snug little home and started to cook dinner. Solanza kept them both entertained as they chopped vegetables by chattering on about her victory, the stunning strategy she had wielded, and the shocking discovery that there was an even harder version of NeoQuest just waiting to be conquered. Domria, whose idea of a fun game was Usuki Frenzy, piped in good-naturedly with questions and praise.

     “So, do you think you’ll go back to the arcade tomorrow and play again?” Domria asked as they sat down at the dinner table.

     Solanza spooned some roasted vegetables onto her plate and considered it. “I’m not sure,” she said. “I really want to, but I feel like I should maybe take a few days off, let other people take a turn, you know?”

     Domria beamed at her. “You’re always so thoughtful, Solanza.”

     That was a little hard for Solanza to swallow, remembering the way the people had waited for hours for her to finish playing her game. Domria was the thoughtful one, the kind one, the one who would give the shirt off her back and the food from her table to anyone who needed it more than her. Solanza was a little too honest about her own shortcomings to compare herself to that.

     That comment was still on her mind that night as she got ready for bed, but she pushed it to the back of her mind and filled her thoughts instead with her musings about what the next difficulty level might mean. Tougher enemies? New areas? Deeper lore? She thought her racing thoughts would make it difficult for her to doze off, but within moments of curling up under the covers, Solanza fell asleep.

     …And fell, and fell, and fell. She was plummeting from the sky! The earth rushed up to meet her, and she flailed her arms madly, but to no avail. A heartbeat away from impact, she squeezed her eyes shut, and…

     She sank into what felt like a giant bubble. She squinted through one half-closed eye and saw the dirt just inches away from her face. Just as she adjusted to the fact that she had been somehow spared from becoming a Xweetok-shaped pancake, the invisible bubble popped, and she fell the mercifully short distance to the ground.

     The face of a visibly concerned White Lupe crowded her field of vision. “Excuse me, miss, are you harmed? Do I need to get you a healer?” he asked.

     Solanza groaned and shook her head, though the motion made her feel dizzy. “I think… I think I’m okay. I must have sleepwalked… I haven’t done that since I was little, but I had the strangest dream…”

     The Lupe stepped back a bit to give her space as she struggled to her feet. “Are you certain? Really, it’s no trouble at all. There’s a healer in the city just ahead that I can bring here in no time at all. I’m headed that way myself.”

     There was something about the way he talked, or maybe the strange accent that curled his words almost beyond recognition, that made Solanza’s brain itch. Something she was missing, but was too confused to decipher. But she was pretty good at reading people, and despite the odd way he spoke, she could tell he was genuine.

     As Solanza took in her bearings, she realised that if she had been sleepwalking, she’d wandered a lot farther than she’d thought. She was standing on a dirt path, with sweeping plains on either side. Far in the distance rose some gentle hills. The only signs of settlement she could see were a cluster of low buildings farther down the trail. It must be the city the Lupe had mentioned, but she’d never seen a city so small before. “Is that Neopia Central?” she asked doubtfully.

     “Neopia City,” the Lupe corrected, not unkindly.

     “Huh, that’s weird. That’s the same name as…” Her voice trailed off as some of the pieces started falling into place. Neopia City, the starting place for her journey in NeoQuest. The Lupe’s old-fashioned, almost archaic accent. And the Lupe, his white fur, looking just like the protagonist of her game… “Actually, yes, I would like to go to the healer.” Either this was the weirdest and most lifelike dream of all time, in which case she wanted to see how much she could experience actually playing her favorite game before she woke up, or she was actively hallucinating and desperately needed to see a doctor.

     The Lupe looked relieved. “Excellent. If you’re able to walk, I’ll accompany you there.”

     “I think I’ll be fine to walk,” Solanza said, starting on the path toward the city the Lupe had indicated. Moving seemed to make her headache go away. “Thank you for saving my life, by the way. You were the one who stopped me from falling, right?”

     The Lupe nodded sheepishly as he joined her side. “I think so, although I’m not entirely certain how. I’ve never done something like that before.”

     “Magic?” Solanza probed.

     “Oh, no, I’ve done plenty of magic before,” the Lupe said. “I’m a wizard in training, after all. But usually the magic I do involves fireballs… and I’ve never done magic without my wand before.”

     “That’s interesting,” Solanza said, and meant it. “Does the wand amplify your power?”

     “Focuses and amplifies it, or so I’ve been taught. Even the greatest wizards use wands.” The Lupe looked at her sharply, like something had just occurred to him. “Pardon me, but I’ve been very rude talking on like this. I haven’t even asked you your name.”

     Solanza laughed. “I think manners go out the window in situations like this. I’m Solanza.”

     “Solanza,” the Lupe repeated, the vowels broader in his accent. “Sol, like the sun?”

     “I guess so,” she replied, a little startled. “I’ve never really thought about it like that before.”

     Before the Lupe could say anything else, a movement ahead caught both of their attention. Walking carefully across the path was an elderly-looking Kyrii with a cane. It almost looked like- “Eleus Batrin!” the Lupe called out.

     Eleus turned slowly to face them, and when he caught sight of them, his wrinkled face grew animated. “Oh! Xantan is back! I must tell everyone!”

     Xantan. Solanza remembered defeating that strange little mud creature at the start of her adventure, and learning afterwards how he had once been one of the most powerful wizards in the world. At the time, it had struck her as strange how easily he had been defeated by a new adventurer, but perhaps that had all been on purpose. He must have been tricking her by concealing his strength, only to emerge far stronger when she wasn’t expecting it. But what kind of new evil was Xantan bringing to the land? What horrors had Eleus seen?

     “Xantan is back?” Solanza asked, her heart sick with dread. “What will we do?”

     Eleus’s wizened face cracked in a grin. “Throw a celebration, I suppose!”

     Solanza shook her head to clear it, certain she couldn’t have heard him correctly. “But… what do you mean?”

     “Eleus means that I’ve finally come home, Solanza,” the Lupe said. Dazed, she turned to him, and he looked earnestly into her eyes. “I never had the chance to properly introduce myself. I’m Xantan.”

To be continued…