I had no idea how much time had passed since Tara had hugged me, but when she released me from her embrace, I felt as if an overpowering numbness had enveloped me.

I looked at Tara and blushed. She was so damn beautiful in her demon form. Standing above me at about ~5.9’, a bit taller than she was outside this weird dream-like realm. Her platinum-blond hair, adorned with rainbow streaks, flowed down her back like a stream of magic, abruptly ceasing at one point akin to a magical fire, gently whipping and changing shape. And those magnificent horns of hers... they curved backward in an arc, becoming thinner and thinner until they ended sharply with another nearly vertical curve upward. The horns were composed of several short ridges and were almost completely ash gray, except for the tip, which shimmered obsidian.

Her face was sharp and strikingly beautiful, and the violet eyes with which she regarded me seemed to penetrate my soul. I shuddered as my heartbeat quickened.

Tara's snicker brought me back to reality, and only now did I realize that I had been staring at her for quite a while. Heat rose up my face, and I could clearly see how bemused Tara was.

"You're such a cutie that it's a shame to move on to another topic," said Tara, finally letting me off the hook.

"O-okay," I responded with a weak voice, not trusting myself to speak louder without revealing how captivated I was by her aura.

She bit her lip, and her tail whipped around. "Fuck, how can you be so adorable? Urg, but we need to talk about this right now," she said. The hot demoness took a deep breath. "Alright, this will be a lot of information in a very short time. Please try to remember it; it might save your life today."

I was about to say something, but she hushed me before continuing, "Yes, I said life. Just listen to me, please. We don't have much time. Why? I don't know exactly how you did that without knowing, but you pulled us into your dream-realm in the form of a daydream. Time passes differently in dreams. Depending on the form of the dream, its layer, the power behind it, and other characteristics, one second can be three or three hundred. Right now, one minute we talk in here is two minutes and twenty seconds outside. So we don't have much time to talk about the important stuff before we need to leave. It would be weird if we were kept frozen in place outside of our daydream for too long. People would notice, maybe the wrong ones."

I slowly nodded. This was basically something everyone knew—Interception wasn’t that wrong, huh—, so I would have had no problem remembering that... I hoped.

Tara explained further, "Another quite obvious fact: you and I are dream demons. I have no idea what kind you are, though; all I know is that you are unique, and others are looking for you. Because you wandered mindlessly into domains you weren't supposed to, and now you have kinda a bounty on your head. No idea who put it; I just know you have it. I belong to a more neutral faction, and well, it kinda is my fault I think that you wandered into other realms. You were mostly following me. I covered my tracks, so I have no idea how you found me so often. At one point, I observed you to protect you if needed and to figure out who you were so I-we could recruit you. I honestly didn't expect that outcome. I mean... you are Lia! How should I have—"

She stopped for some reason. Her expression looked pained. I tried to shift the topic, "You talked about dream demons. What kind of dream demons are there?"

I could see a hint of thankfulness in Tara's expression. "It depends; dream demon is a broad term. But the most well-known one is probably the succubus. But there are so many more, like Mares, Sandman, Melino, Alps, Fylgja, Mahrs, Mâert, Jinn, Drute, and even a Kitsune can be considered a dream demon. Counterparts would be Mesingw, Tutu, Oneiroi, Muma Pădurii, Baku, and Asibikaashi. But honestly, there are so many more, like spirits and stuff. And not all dream demons are evil, and not all of the good dream spirits are good. And then you have those so-called dream gods. Nothing more than whimsical domain overlords, if you ask me. Aaaand I can see in your face that I lost you already. I'm sorry for the info dump. But I must push as much into your brain as possible before our time runs out."

I tried to comprehend what she said, but it was hard. Especially all those weird-sounding names. Sure, I knew a few of them, but I had no idea what most of them even meant. The heck was a Tutu? And Kitsune is a dream demon?! I didn't know that for sure. Did that mean that there were also all kinds of spirits everywhere in the world? And gods?! I shuddered—what if my father is praying to something evil? Wait, no, that would make even more sense now… but what if— I stopped my chain of thoughts when Tara talked further.

"The point of all this is that you need to be wary of whose domain you are in. Everyone has different abilities, and some are stronger than others. If you, for whatever reason, land in a domain or dream that isn't yours or the one you wanted to be in, try to flee back into your own and hide. You are strongest in your own dream, your own domain. So when you are in trouble, go there and wait. I will find you, no matter what! Now that I know who you are in the waking world, we will meet more often and train. And gosh, you are in dire need of training. And we are nearly out of time. Find me at the lunch break behind the old oak tree. We can talk there more. Shit, Kaya comes."

Kaya was coming? The dream crumbled before I could process it, and I was back in the real world... back in this body. My heart stung. I was him again. A sad boy who was controlled by her father in every aspect of his life. I hated it. But there was nothing I could do against it. This was the waking world. Not a dream. A dream could never become reality. I could never be—

"Tara! Why would you run after him like that?" shouted a voice coming from behind me

Tara gave me my journal and said with a sad look, "Hide it, and I'm sorry for what I say next."

I gave her a puzzled look, not knowing what she meant.

"Give it a rest, Kaya. He is innocent. Shit, I would even go so far and say Henry is a real good guy. You saw what he did to that bigot," defended Tara me.

"That still doesn't justify his shitty behavior till now," argued Kaya.

I secretly stashed the journal away and turned around to face Kaya and her group. They were glaring at me with obvious disapproval, clearly unhappy that Tara had stood up for me.

"No, but what he told me about his shithead father did. He is an evil, manipulative bastard that would do anything to force his bigotry belief on their kids!"

"And you believe this sob story of his? It could be a plan to—" Kaya began, but her sentence was cut short by Tara.

"Oh, shut it. Do you think I'm so naive? You could say I dreamt about what would happen today."

Kaya scrutinized me carefully. "Alright. I trust what you say, for now. We will talk later about it. Now let's go before we come too late."

Tara stood up and gave me a quick reassuring nod before following Kaya and her group, who were already leaving.

All the tension in my body suddenly vanished. So much had happened that I still couldn't fully comprehend everything in such a short time. It was just... too much.

My dreams weren't apparently just dreams. Demons were real, and my father would definitely kill me once I got home. I was a dream demoness, after all. I rolled the word on my tongue. De-mo-ness. I smiled.

Then my mood turned into something bitter, something dark. It was only in a dream world, Henry! You could never be Lia in the real world! That would be laughable! A boy being a girl! I mean, yes, there are Trans-Girls, but I was not trans! I could never be a girl; just look at me. I'm just so...

I shook my head, forcing myself to stop thinking about useless things. Yes, useless. That described me perfectly.

 

---

 

The school bell echoed through the strangely empty hallways, an eerie silence replacing the usual bustle of students. It was odd; normally, at least some people lingered outside. Was I this late? That was a first. Typically, I was a model student, at least from an academic standpoint.

I slowly made my way to my first class, biology. My desk partner? Joe, of course. Surprisingly, I hadn't been summoned to the principal's office yet, but given Joe's overall actions, it seemed nobody cared.

I opened the door. Silence. Everyone looked at me. Some were annoyed, some in shock, and others weren't even bothered.

"Ah, Mr. Morgana, gracing us with your presence at last? Please, take your seat. We'll discuss your... outburst after class," the teacher remarked.

I hurried to my desk, trying to ignore Joe, who had a focused ray of death beaming my way. He must have been a nurse; his nose was taped with things from a first aid kit. I probably didn't break it, probably. 

As the course went by, I got bored with the topic of plant physiology. So I did what I always do once I get bored, thinking of other stuff.

Suddenly, the classroom seemed to expand, the distance to the blackboard stretching before me. The atmosphere grew darker, more ominous. Classmates transformed into grotesque devils, their skin covered in scales of varying sizes, horns protruding from their heads in twisted formations—lacking the grace and beauty I like about Tara’s horns. My schoolmates appeared ugly, deformed, as if only the most hideous aspects of their beings were visible. Af if—

I stared over to Joe.  My God. His hair was white, his face unblemished. Heck, he even had wings and a halo. He also seemed to be surrounded by a radiant light denied to the rest of the class. Was this how he perceived the world? Did he see everything that didn't conform to his beliefs as inherently evil?

First, I realized that I had clearly fallen into his daydream. I don't know how nor why. My eyes flitted to my bag, and sure enough, I saw a pink glow coming out of it. Without hesitation, I pulled out my journal. It looked different, more mystical. I hadn't noticed it before, but it had changed. The front was covered in glyphs I had never seen before. They shifted and disappeared and came back again. Squiggles formed and little stars. The brightest star formed in the book's center, and the squiggles nestled around it. It felt so real. Not like a dream. It was just so-

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" yelled Joe, visibly shocked.

"Uhhhh," was my best response.

"Wait! Henry?"

"No, I'm Lia!" I answered angrily. Here, I'm not him; I'm her!

"And who is that supposed to be?"

"Your, uhh, consciousness, of course!" I tried to convince him.

"Oh Lord, my consciousness is a hot succubus? Lies! It's just another trial from God to prove my will and faith!" prayed that bigot asshole. (I felt disgusted to the core to get called ‘hot’ by him)

"Fuck off! I'm no succubi!" I said calmly. I dunno why, but getting called a succubus offended me. I guess I wasn't one. Lastly, I added, "And FYI, I would never want to sleep with you. Blurg."

For a moment, Joe seemed offended, but then his attitude returned, "Begone, you ugly creature of hell. God has faith in me, and like my brothers, I will purge this world from—"

Before he could utter another word, I slapped him so hard he fell from his chair. His halo crumbled like the fake it was. I went up and stood before him. I could feel how anger welled up in me. This was the dream world. I was a dream demon. I could hurt him, exacting retribution for all he has done to others. I grinned. Something weird inside of me started to stir. I liked this feeling. The power. The control.

"Oh, I will enjoy this," I murmured, my voice echoing through the room.

Joe was terrified. I could smell his fear. Step by step, he crawled backward.

Whatever he was radiating now, it tasted delicious. Wait, tasted? I could taste it! And it was so good. I could feel how my tail was swinging wildly. My claw-like fingers extended. My whole vision turned into a blurred red.

Then, as if I was losing control of myself, I dashed onto him, my claws rushing towards him. Before I could touch Joe, the dreamscape burst like a bubble.

And here I was, back in reality. My head exploded with pain. At the same time, Joe screamed in panic next to me.

Shocked, everyone turned to him. His face was pale, and he was sweating like crazy.

He stared at me and screamed again, "Go away, you monster, you demon!"

Joe practically fell off his chair while saying it, tears streaming down his face while crawling away from me like in his daydream. I couldn't suppress a smirk.

The teacher ran to him. "Mr. Jefferson, are you alright? What happened?"

"Henry!" he yelled. "Henry is a demoness that wants to kill me!"

That statement earned him a few raised eyebrows. Others whispered that the fanatic had now completely lost his mind. Mrs. Ranali gave me a puzzled look, not understanding what was happening. I only shrugged but inside my head, I was reveling in satisfaction.

Then I noticed that my journal was lying on my desk. But how? Did I subconsciously move it? If not, then... just how?

As Mrs. Ranali tried to touch Joe, he slapped her hand away in panic, "Demons! All of you!

Demons!"

Our teacher turned to our class president. "Katy, call the nurse and a guard. Joe seems to have a breakdown."

Katy nodded and ran out of the classroom. Not gonna lie; those were enjoyable fifteen minutes. Seeing him like this after all the shit he had done in the name of good felt superb.

When the nurse and the guard came, he had already calmed down but was still quite out of it. Sadly, they didn't have to force him out on his feet.

I stopped. Just what happened to me? Never before had I felt such Schadenfreude. Wasn't it wrong? Was I evil?

The ringing bell stopped me from thinking further. Without much ado, I packed my things and stormed out of the classroom, ignoring what Mrs. Ranali yelled after me.

Next class was English. We were still reading Faust by Goethe. It's good, in a pure literary and philosophical sense, but gosh, this book was misogynistic as fuck. This one passage where Gretchen says:

"Dear God! That one man, by thinking,
Knows everything, oh, everything!
I stand in front of him, ashamed
And just say yes to all he says.
I’m such a poor, ignorant child, and he-
I can’t understand what he sees in me."

Come on, what does she even see in him? I sighed, and my thoughts drift away once again. And once again, the classroom changed, but very differently than before.

At first, it was foggy, but slowly, everything became clearer. The ground turned into old paving stones. The more the fog cleared, the more a townscape, with a charming late Middle Ages aesthetic, was revealed. It was night, and the moon shone brightly.

A young teenage girl was holding the hands of a boy. They were both dressed rather poorly. The gas lantern they stood beneath gave a dim flickering light that barely illuminated their faces.

"In the realm of love, where echoes softly brew,
Oh, my dove, in longing, how did I miss you?" spoke the girl.

The boy answered, "Beneath the moon's gentle hue,
My dearest, in yearning, I, too, missed you.
In love's embrace, where dreams accrue,
Oh, my dove, our souls forever imbued."

I rolled my eyes. But suddenly, a third voice full of emotions joins.

"My dearest, like stars in the night,
In your presence, my heart takes flight.
With passion pure, burning bright,
Oh, radiant one, be my guiding light.
In this symphony of hearts' sweet song,
Together, a journey is lifelong.
For your affection, I long,
Oh, enchanting soul, where you belong." 

It was cringy, and not very good either. 

Then boy A told boy B: "Her heart, I pursue!
With whispered promises and love anew,
Oh, dearest one, my devotion is true."

The other boy retorts,
"Your words may dance, but my love stays.
In every sunrise, in twilight's haze,
Oh, beloved, our connection sways."

Wasn't there a trash bin where I could throw up anywhere? This whole scenario felt like the daydream of a thirteen-year-old girl who read one too many Josei mangas. 

I stepped closer to see the face of the girl properly.

"Who goes there?" asked the girl suddenly.

She looked at me. Was that... Luise? The stone-cold bully Luise? SHE HAD A DAYDREAM LIKE THAT?

"Nope!" I exclaimed and turned around. I didn't want to have anything to do with this whole thing. How did I leave this place?

I tried to concentrate really hard, but nothing happened. Okay, maybe if I walked far enough, I could get out. My theory was that a daydream couldn't be that well thought through and only had a limited scope it worked with. So, if I walked further than the imagination went, I should be able to leave.

And, as I thought, this was indeed the case. The further I moved away from the dreamer, the more the world started to lose its coherence. It was as if someone steadily turned down the graphic settings of a game. It became distorted and twisted, and some things didn't even make sense anymore. Like the tree had stone bricks as leaves.

Then everything started to lose its form completely, breaking apart into white dust particles until I reached something that could only be described as a dense, foggy wall extending endlessly into the sky.

It appeared strange, and as I extended my hand, it seemed to attempt to envelop it. It was peculiar and felt warm, as if it wanted to welcome me and knew I could pass. So I did. I let myself be engulfed and stepped through.

"Mr. Morgana, are you with us?" asked the biology teacher standing before my desk.

"Uhhh," was my sophisticated response. Apparently, I had been sleeping with my head on the table. Way to go, Li— Henry.

"I might not have gotten enough sleep. Sorry, Mr. Jackson."

He smiled, "I expect a referral about this issue by next week."

Asshole, I muttered.

"What was that?"

"Yes, Mr. Jackson. I will have it ready by next week!" I responded.

"Good. Now, let's get back to class. Take Mr.White as an example of how not to be disruptive during class. Or you can join him in this discussion. And I don't think anyone wants that."

The class chuckled. I hated this guy as much as he hated me. Probably because his daughter was Luise. I couldn't imagine what she told him behind my back. Even before my father did all that, she bullied me. Because I was "too weird for a boy." Whatever this meant.

When it was finally time for the lunch break, I tried to flee the classroom like before. Only this time, a certain someone and her goons blocked my way.

"And where do you think you're going, huh?"

"Luise. What do you want from me?" I said, gritting my teeth.

"Feisty today, aren't we? I don't really like how you acted during my dad's class. Do you think you're better than the rest of us? That your god gives you the right to do stuff like that?" Luise sneered.

"You mean sleeping? As if you're one to talk," I responded flatly.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, my dove, in longing, how did I miss you?" I replied as greasily as possible.

Her friends gave me puzzled looks, while Luise turned red as a beet.

"H-How do you know that!?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

Only then did I realize I'd fucked up. Seizing the moment of her being distracted, I pushed my way through the small group and ran as fast as I could. They clearly weren't happy with what I did, but I ignored it. I didn't have time for that, not today.

As I ran through the halls — some teacher yelled at me not to run, of course — I heard snickering from the students about what I did to Joe and what had happened in class. For some reason, they seemed less hostile than before and gave me looks I couldn't quite decipher.

Yet the more I ran, the longer the halls got. They went on and on, stretching endlessly. I stopped.

“This ain’t right,” I murmured.

Only now did I realize that I was, once again, in my dreamer form. Instinctively, I reached for my journal and instantly felt a strange warmth filling my soul.

Then I noticed something else—a smell. It was somehow salty and… fishy? But… what was that sound? Waves crashing on stone? My curiosity got the better of me, and I tried to follow the sounds to their source. As I proceeded up the endless hall, everything slowly became more ocean-like. The squawking of seagulls, the strong sea breeze, and the distant sound of a ship. Finally, I reached the end of the hallway, facing a heavy red door. I pushed against it, and it opened slowly, engulfing me in white light as I stepped through.

And then, silence. Gone was the sound of the ocean and the song of the birds. All that remained was the rotten smell of fish and the pungent odor of salt. I looked around, and my mouth fell agape.

Before me, behind thick glass, was the underwater vista of the ocean. I had no idea how deep this place was, but light could barely penetrate its depths. There were no plants outside, just endless water and a looming abyss below. I started to feel claustrophobic, so I tried to focus my mind on something else and turned my gaze away from the observatory site.

The room was made of metal, slowly starting to erode. It was lit by a dirty bulb hanging loosely from the ceiling. Beneath it, on a wooden table, were countless scattered pieces of paper with several notes on them. There also seemed to be a few diaries among them. I walked over and began to read.

“The Earl was happy to fund my research further after serving him some rare shark meat. I spared no expense to even get its babies. They are raw in taste when they are young. Killing the babies first enrages their mother and makes her taste even better when you swiftly kill her afterwards. The cruelty of the hunt, you can taste it in every fiber of their flesh. Of course, those foolish and greedy aristocrats would love to eat this. Not that I should complain about that; their idiocy is funding this project, after all. Eric, my dearest son, also managed to entertain this man with his crude attempts to play the fiddle correctly for once. It helped, at least. With his assistance, I may finally be able to capture one of those whales…”

I tried to read further, but the rest of the page was covered in ink, probably from a spilled bottle. I looked at the scattered information.

“March 20/%(=/"
Eric didn’t take the last procedure well. I submerged him for now in a special tank. He can’t breathe through the gills like intended, but thanks to the whale-nature of the serum, he could at least stay underwater for days. Sadly, air is like fire to his skin. So unless he needs to breathe, he never comes out. I have no idea why it worked on me and not on him. Maybe because I used a different whale breed?”

 

I stopped reading. What the hell was this dream? Who inside the school was dreaming THIS?! That was just sick. Human experimentation to create a weird whale-human hybrid? I knew I shouldn’t, but I read another note.

 

“July 21)/(“=)”
Oh, Jasmine, Oh Jasmine!

She turned out so beautiful! As if she was the origin of those shanties, those sailors were yowling on the ship. A perfect orca-human hybrid. Her angelic voice even hearable underwater. A siren, a mermaid. Now, I only needed to give her magic, but how? Should I turn Eric into a blood crystal? He turned out to be a failure, so he wasn’t really needed anymore. Something majestic as whale-blood ending up as a blobfish overwater. Like this he could at least be useful in the end.”

 

“Fuck…” was all I could muster. Underneath the note, I noticed a picture. I pulled it up and—

“I didn’t expect a guest. How did you get inside here anyway? Did Eric let you in?”

Stunned, I slowly turned around. A man hiding behind a wooden jester mask walked into the room from a door that wasn’t there before. A long, fin-like tail dragged on the ground behind him. It was rotting, like his weird, leathery hand, which was swollen and puffy.

“A demon? How unexpected! How exciting! Yes, YOU! I can use you! Damn Eric and his uselessness! If I would take a demon’s blood, my Jasmine, oh, my beautiful Jasmine, could be immortal!”

Before I could process what was happening, he started sprinting towards me, shouting ‘Jasmine’ over and over again. Too shocked to react, I closed my eyes and hoped I would simply wake up.

A feeling, a gust of wind. Then nothing. Before—

“Can you please move? You are blocking the way!”

I opened my eyes and saw a boy in front of me whom I’d never seen. I was indeed blocking the way to the... uhh. Where was I? A throat clearing brought my attention back to the boy. My eyes shot up to him, and I apologized, feeling pretty embarrassed. Just where did I wander off to while I was in that weird nightmare? Someone here must have watched a horror movie and couldn’t get a wink of sleep after seeing it. Understandable, though.

I looked at my phone and cursed. I had to hurry.

I made my way through the building complex until I went outside. The old oak tree—a place students generally went to when looking for some private time alone. Be it so you can make out with your lover, chill, or whatever else people did there. Different than you might think, the old oak tree was actually a few trees surrounded by lush bushes. Over time, the students created some kind of cuddly picnic places inside of them where no one could see or hear them (at least everyone pretended that the last part was true). The school body didn't care about that; they considered this a nice idea and a place of retreat.

This day was pretty perfect for being there. It was sunny and somewhat too warm, but it was super comfortable under the tree's shadow.

My eyes wandered around to look for Tara, but I couldn't see her anywhere. A sudden hand on my shoulder made me flinch, and I turned around in fear.

"Calm down, cutie. It's me~" said Tara in a sweet voice.

I blushed, instantly forgetting my malaise. Being called a cutie was just adsafaasdsa!

"Adsafaasdsa," I answered, gracefully.

Tara giggled. "Let's go, follow me."

I did as I was told and stumbled after her. I could see a few curious gazes in the distance from the school building but ignored them.

After we walked to probably the deepest part of this area, Tara finally revealed our secret lair where we could talk about us being dream demons.

It was surprisingly cozy. Unlike I imagined, there were two garden swings that could hold three people each. There were no cushions on them, but I guessed those were in the big green storage box. As Tara moved there to open it, my theory was proven right. A ton of cushions, blankets, and even a big picnic blanket were in the box.

"This place is more popular than you might think, especially for small parties or movie nights. They even have some electric lamps and mosquito catchers. Kaya and her girlfriends often use this place," explained Tara.

"GirlfriendS? With an s? Like, multiple?" I asked.

Tara laughed, "Did you really think Marie was her only one? Nah, she has two more. Kaya is quite popular in our coven."

I looked at her, confused. "Coven?"

"Yeah. Did you forget? I told you I belong to a neutral faction. This includes all of Kaya's clique," explained Tara while putting oversized fluffy cushions on one of the swings. Then she sat down.

I was about to also get a cushion for the other swing, but Tara intervened. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Uh, getting a cushion?"

"Nuh-uh, you sit next to me," she smiled.

I could feel the heat on my face rising again. "O-okay."

Shyly, I sat beside her on the now tiny-feeling swing. Gosh, those cushions were so soft.

I felt an arm going behind my back, and then I got pulled closer out of nowhere.

I looked up to Tara, my face now unmistakably strawberry red. Her warm gaze made me feel tingly and small. I think I liked this feeling.

"You have no idea how happy I am that I finally can talk properly to you," started Tara. "Watching how curious you are during the dreams is so adorable."

Ahhhhhhh!!! I put my face into my hands to hide my embarrassed blushing. That made her chuckle.

"I would like to spend more time with you like that, but we also need to talk more about what happens next. For starters, you need a safe place. Here, as well as in the dream world. So, yeah, basically, I want you to join our coven, and I will vouch for you," she explained while slowly stroking my hair.

Could I trust her? She was really sweet, and I felt super comfortable around her and safe—aFhfajb, having my hair stroked felt freaking divine. Then there was also her dream form... the demoness I had admittedly a huge crush on. The one I followed and listened to her rants, jokes, and singing nearly every night. I think I knew what my heart wanted, and heck, it couldn't be worse than what my father would do to me. So I nodded.

Tara was beaming. "This makes me really happy!" I was about to ask something before she added, "Also, um, what do you want me to call you? Lia or... Henry?"

My heart stopped. I forgot about that. Who was I? Who did I want to be? Was I even allowed to be Lia in the Waking? I could feel how my breathing hastened. My mind was racing. I—

A hug pulled me back. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I'm here for you, no matter what!"

I couldn't quite understand what she meant; it was only a name, after all. No? But I felt my anxiety slowly vanishing. This hug was nice. Out of instinct, I nuzzled into her shoulder and mumbled, barely understandably, "I don't know."

She patted my head and whispered into my ear, "Then how about I call you in this world H and use they/them for now, and in the Dreaming Lia and she/her like always? Would that be okay for you?"

"Mhm," I responded weakly, not really understanding what she meant, focusing only on Tara's warmth.

Then I heard sudden steps and twigs rubbing on clothes. Then a female voice sounded, "For real? That was your super important meeting? Are you kidding us?"

Tara clicked her tongue, "And here I thought I would have more time explaining the thing to H before everything got too heated.”

"Why are you here with fucking Henry?" asked the voice that definitely belonged to Marie. She seemed more than pissed.

"Shut your mouth before I make you! And call them H!" answered Tara, quite angry.

It was quiet for a moment. Even the wildlife seemed to stop existing for a short period. In the end, a new arrival broke the silence.

"That's a rather unexpected view, not gonna lie. Care to explain, Tara?" I heard Kaya’s voice ask.

At this point, I tried to wiggle my way out of Tara's embrace, but she was rather keen to keep me in place.

"T-Tara," I whispered but only got hushed in return. I saw how her gaze shifted again.

"Sure, it is quite easy to explain. I invited H to the coven, and they said yes," she answered the question.

"You are vouching?" came the simple reply.

I felt Tara nodding.

"Then I guess—" started Kaya, her new sentence, but got interrupted by one of the other girls.

"You can't be for real? Just like that? Even after what his father did to you? Only because he slipped up this morning and punched this son of a goat?!" she argued.

"Ashley, this is hardly—" she started again but got interrupted yet again.

"I'm sorry, hon, but I have to agree with her. Even if it is Tara, I won't allow someone like him to join us!"

I felt how Tara's heart began to beat faster with anger, "Oh, and why should she listen to you, huh? You have no say in this matter! When I vouch for H, then you can't stop it!"

I stopped listening; it started to hurt. Was it so wrong for me to get accepted? To be happy. Could I ever be of worth to someone? Could I ever be free and loved? I wanted to be in my dream. The only place where I could be me and free without anyone judging. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be there. Please, someone, let me be there.

As thou wishest~ echoed a soft voice in my head barely noticeable.

"Lia! What did you do?!" yelped Tara. I looked up and saw her worried gaze. Her slit pupils stared directly into my soul. Wait, slit pupils?

This time, I shifted successfully around, so I sat in her lap while facing the other girls. Or should I say demonesses instead.

They all looked stunned at me. The demoness, who looked suspiciously like Kaya, was the first to talk while the others' mouths were still agape.

"I guess I found the real reason. Hello, little troublemaker~" said Kaya seductively. Her sudden shift in demeanor surprised me.

Tara hissed behind me, "Back off, she's mine!"

H-Hers?!

Kaya threw her hands up innocently and a laugh filled the dreamscape, "Don't worry, I won't touch her. Even if it is such a shame. She is quite the cutie~!"

Me? A cutie?! Akjafkhnflwehd! My tail was whipping around furiously, trying to find something to latch onto to not die out of embarrassment. Tara's tail came to my rescue and curled itself around me. WOW! That felt so incredible! I would like— wait, no, this wasn't what was important right now.

"Why are you all in my dream!?" I yelped.

"She doesn't know," gasped the smallest demoness with silver hair and small elven ears resembling Maria.

"Lia, was it?" asked Kaya. I nodded. "How long have you been aware of you being a dream demon?"

"Since this morning after punching Joe," I answered honestly.

She sighed, "Yeah, that checks out. And well, we are in your dream because you forcefully pulled us in. Didn't think this was possible for someone who had only been aware of herself for a few hours. Any ideas, Tara?"

"Open that bag of hers, and you know why..." said the demoness, obviously too busy hugging me from behind and nuzzling in my shoulder. My feelings were all over the place, and I would have reacted differently in the real world, but she did this so often in the Dreaming that it became natural, like breathing to me.

Ashley, who looked like a mix of goth vampire and succubi, went to my backpack. When she opened it, she fell stunned to the ground. The pink shimmer was radiating the scape.

Kaya began to laugh menacingly, "Are you kidding me?! I never would have believed I would see something straight out of a legend!"

Then she turned to me, "Welcome to the coven, little goddess!"

“Wh-What?”

Kaya snickered and turned her attention to Ashley to help her up and study the journal afterward.

Before I could ask what she meant, Marie walked over to us.

“Hey, He—Lia. I know this must have been a weird day for you so far. First of all, I just wanted to tell you that you are safe here with us. This is a safe-space, and we protect each other. I know this sudden change in our behavior must be weird to you, but we have our reasons which we will explain later in the coven, I promise. Also, welcome!”

Ashley, who was back up, joined us and took over the conversation. “To clear your previous confusion: This kind of book, or journal, is a relic—a Dream Weaver. Or it looks at least like one. It is supposed to be a tool of creation and chaos, of life and destruction. But who knows what the truth is.”

This didn’t clear my confusion at all. “But why do you think it might be one of those?”

“That,” started Kaya, who finally joined us with my journal in her hands, “is easily answered. Just watch.”

As soon as she finished her sentence, she tried to open my journal and… failed. I even saw how some weird blue aura appeared around her hands only to be extinguished by the purple energy of the book.

“No normal magic grimoire, especially from someone who is aware of her powers for mere hours, could deflect my magic like this and even overtake it as if it has its own will. And just look around you. We are not in a mere dream. Badly explained, we are in a merged dimension. We move in real time, in both realms, or more like in all three. This is the otherworld, the hidden world that is normally concealed from mortal eyes. It is hard to explain to a newcomer like you. Urg, mom is way better at this than me. When we are at the coven, she will give you a proper introduction to everything!”

I only nodded, my mind slowly melting into a puddle from all of this… and probably Tara cuddling me non-stop from behind.

“Oh," I said, remembering the weird dream I had. “When I walked through the halls before I got here, I was drawn into a weird nightmare. There was a weird underwater laboratory managed by a freaky whale fanatic that did human experiments. And I—”

I stopped talking when I saw everyone's concerned faces. Even Tara had stopped moving.

“We need to go, now!” ordered Kaya.

“What is happening here?” I asked, afraid.

“The Professor, a member of the Circle,” growled Tara disdainfully.

 

I turned white as a sheet. Oh goddess, please not them.