I felt weak, my body was heavy, and it was hard to get up. Nonetheless, I forced myself to sit down and look at my surroundings… I was in a vaguely familiar room, I believe I have seen it once, but it was definitely not the inn room I stayed at before. Maybe I was kicked out? It wouldn’t be surprising, considering how long I must have been asleep.

I slowly got off the bed while my whole body screamed in pain… It seems like I was weaker than I thought. I stepped into the ground and heard something crack. For a moment I was afraid I broke a bone, but the pain that would’ve accompanied this never came. Since that did not seem to be the case, I looked down to see what I broke, which was… A stick?

Rather, there were multiple sticks around the bed, forming a… Circle… Wait, am I in Thalia’s brother’s house? They kept me here for the whole time I slept!? But I stayed in the dream for years… Even if time does pass differently between that realm and reality, I believe it must have at least been a few weeks? It was very considerate of them to keep me here for this long.

It wouldn’t be good to impose on them any further, so I slowly tried to wobble towards the door, but just when I had finally started moving forward, I heard the door suddenly open. “Aria, are you awake!?”  Thalia entered while panting heavily, her shout startled me so much that I jumped backwards and fell on the bed again. She, however, seemed to completely ignore that as she asked, “Thank the gods! What happened there? Did you do it?”

I didn’t expect her to bombard me with questions like that, but I wouldn’t mind replying… Though first, I’d like to understand my current situation better. “Before I answer any of that… For how long did I sleep?” 

Thalia seemed a bit surprised at the question, but answered anyways, “Three days, how come you didn’t know?” Three days? That’s so little, my free stay at the inn isn’t even over yet.

But wait… This means Iris came after me immediately after I didn’t summon her at our usual time, there is no way that’s a coincidence… Dear gods, Iris, what’s wrong with you!? If you were this worried, if you cared this much for me, why did you never tell me!? Why say you ‘loved me’ in the dream, yet kept denying me in reality!

I really want to see her, I want to understand, I want to kiss her… I want to apologize for being such an idiot. If only I didn’t feel this weak at the moment, I’d immediately summon her. But with the way I am now, I’ll probably need to wait a whole day to recover... This sucks!

Thalia suddenly interrupted my thoughts. “Aria? Are you alright?” She was very close to me right now, to the point I have to wonder how she even got there. Or I wish I could wonder that, but the reality is that I had forgotten she was in the room in the first place. I’m sorry.

Nonetheless, her distance was a bit too close for comfort... I’m only fine with Iris getting this close to me! Hurriedly, I distanced myself by crawling away in the bed. “I-I’m fine. I was just a bit distracted, sorry! What did you want to know, again?” That stutter at the start was so embarrassing though! Why did she have to get this close!? Learn to respect people’s personal space!

My actions seemed to make her worry though, her gaze reminded me of the way Iris looked at me when I was feeling Mana Deficiency… Dear Gods, why aren’t you here yet, Iris!? I need to talk to you right now!

She was not here though, the only one was Thalia, who repeated her questions to me, “How come you didn’t know how much time you spent in the dream, what happened within the dream and if it was you that solved the whole issue with people being on unnatural slumber. Everyone woke up, you know? It’s why I rushed here to see if you had too.”

Oh, so it seems breaking the relic did solve the problem? Seems like at least one good thing came of that time in the dream realm. Though learning of Iris’ feelings is also a good thing I suppose? Maybe not when accompanied with how I pushed her away in favor of the dream Iris… Why couldn’t I realize who you were sooner? I’m so sorry…

Internally sighing at my idiocy, I quickly explained her the gist of what happened while skipping the whole thing with both Irises. Thalia got very annoyed that I broke a divine relic on my own and by consequence failed the request, but at the same time, I could see relief washed over her face. She seemed happy to know this incident wouldn’t harm anyone else.

When I asked why I was in her brother’s house, she explained I told them to not move me nor any of the sticks, so she kept everything as it was… I do remember saying that, though it was totally unnecessary to keep it in once I was taken in by the crystal. Well, she doesn’t need to know that, so all is good.

After talking for a big longer, I left the house. And while I did feel down with the way I treated Iris in the dream realm… I was still feeling the most joyous I have ever been in days I couldn’t see Iris. I mean, I have no money, I just failed my job, I probably earned the ire of the king too, and I’ll probably have to leave this city if I am to find any work… But who cares!? Iris said she loves me! She loves me!

Well, loved me, but it should hopefully be the same thing, I just need to summon her tomorrow and clarify everything. I can’t wait!

I was humming on the way back to the inn, it was only when I got there and asked Shaina for some food that I realized how hungry I was. I devoured everything so fast that it surprised even me.

“Dear gods, when was the last time you ate? You look starved.” She asked.

“Three days ago!” I answered, “Could you make me an exception and bring me another free portion, please?” I asked her while trying to abuse the rest of my free food week.

She was startled by my answer, and didn’t seem to mind bringing me extra, especially because I didn’t eat anything the last few days anyways, so it was not a big loss.

After I finished dinner, I went to my room, undressed and hopped unto the bed to have a good night’s sleep. Even if Iris was not here, I was sure today would be a peaceful night.

I don’t remember what I dreamt of this time, maybe I didn’t dream at all… It was a weird feeling. After living for so long within a dream, I had a hard time remembering how dreaming was supposed to feel like. I remember it wasn’t something I enjoyed though.

Regardless, I should get ready to meet Iris! Oh gods, I still can’t believe she loved me, this is so great! I put on some clothes, ate breakfast, got water in the well, bathed extra carefully and then put on my best clothes… Which sadly didn’t look as great as I wanted, but it would have to do.

I wonder if my hair looks nice, it was in need of some grooming… Wish I was still in Nyllia’s tower, I could ask for some concoction to make it look better.

Wait, what am I even thinking? I should never wish to go back to that dreaded place, no no no. I left for a good reason… But I do wish I had one of those potions right now, my hair never felt that glossy again ever since I left.

Enough, Aria, enough! Focus on Iris, she won’t look down on you even if your hair is a bit dehydrated, let’s make a nice summoning circle for her and then greet her with the best smile you can muster!

I got on my broom and flew around trying to look for ingredients. I wouldn’t be able to get much within a city, especially when I have no money, but I could at least try to make it a bit fancy.

The final result wasn’t among the best. I picked the prettiest sticks I could find, which were… Well, still sticks. They weren’t pretty. After organizing them in a circular fashion, I used the greenest leaves available in the nearby trees to accompany them, and then finished it by painting the leaves with an ink made from berries I gathered in the city’s outskirts.

… I really wished I could make a fancier summoning circle for her, it’s as if I was inviting her for a date with a bouquet of withered roses. Oh gods, what am I thinking, it isn’t a date, is it? But it could become one, maybe we’ll go on a date, we could fly out of the city and have a mushroom hunting date… Wow, Aria, three years in a dream with an Iris replica and the best date idea you can come up with is mushroom hunting? Come on, you can think of something better…

No! Stop getting ahead of yourself! First you summon Iris, then you try to gently probe her about all that happened, and then, if everything goes right, you can ask her out on a date… Yeah, this is not a date yet, not a date yet… Oh gods, I totally want to go in a date with her.

I slapped my cheeks and then took a deep breath… After finally calming down from my excitement, I got on my knees, put my hand on the circle, and then slowly let my mana flow into it. My body started aching as I did that though, which was very unusual… Is this a side effect of having so much life force sucked by the relic?

It doesn’t matter, I’ll have Iris with me, the rest can wait… I closed my eyes and started my chant, “God of Fire I ask for thy blessing, open the path for who heals my unresting. Let my plea be heard and thy will be made. With thy fiery might, may Iris answer my plight!” I hope this impressed her, it was my first time ever trying to make a fancy chant like this, did it come out as too preposterous? Was I too formal? Will she scold me for trying too hard?

I couldn’t wait to see her reaction, please be a good one.

And yet, when I opened my eyes… She wasn’t here.