Kellela finished her day at work, walking back home through the evening streets. If she was honest with herself, she wasn't quite sure where the time had gone. Normally, she wouldn't mind that; time seemed to draw out further the more boring the task, after all, so losing track of it during the day implied that she'd found something interesting to do. That wasn't the case today, though. The time just seemed to skip forward, so yes, it passed quickly, but she hadn't got anywhere near as much work done as she'd intended.

She sighed, not looking forward to playing catchup tomorrow.

She caught sight of the window display of a dressmaker as she walked past. Ostentatious things, here in the noble section of the capital, but the sight of a matching pair of mother and child outfits brought a smile to her face. Her hand caressed her tummy as she imagined one day...

She stopped walking, confused. For a moment there, she'd been looking forward to dressing up her child. That would be kinda difficult, given that she didn't have one.

"Getting broody in my old age," she muttered, continuing on her walk with a shake of her head. Before long, she was walking through her gate and up the path towards her house. Her large, lonely house.

She kicked off her shoes, trekked upstairs and flopped forward onto her bed.

The king-sized bed, made up for two.

"Did I think I was going to bump into someone in the street and bring them home?" she thought to herself. "I'm not that desperate."

She rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. She was a [Court Mage], having obtained the prestigious occupation at the impressively young age of twenty-four. She had a secure, if somewhat boring, job. She wasn't exactly supermodel material, but she didn't want to be. At least her looks were natural, unlike the girls who sought out skills to decrease their bodyweight or improve their features. So she ticked the money and looks boxes. Yet she'd yet to find herself a man. Was it a personality problem? She thought her personality was decent, but that was the sort of thing it was hard to be objective about.

She held a hand up in front of her face, closing her physical eyes, but continuing to look with her mystical senses.

And then she sat bolt upright, eyes wide.

"What?" she asked rhetorically, taking a second look. But yes, the translucent silvery glow was still there. "What the heck is that? It's not mana or vitality. Or if it is, I need a doctor, quick. Did I gain a new sub-skill without noticing?"

She brought up her status, staring straight at [Soul's Eye], and was horrified to find that she'd gained [Sense Soul]. That was not the sort of thing she should gain accidentally. It was not the sort of thing she should gain at all. A [Court Mage] had no business learning...

Her thoughts froze as her eyes unconsciously shifted upwards at the thought of her occupation, peering at the relevant line in her status, and then helpfully informing her brain that she wasn't a [Court Mage].

A panicked few minutes followed, in which she carefully examined her status, cast [Translate] and then examined her status again. [Translate] didn't help. Yes, it informed her of what the foreign language entries meant, but that didn't help explain what the hell was going on.

She'd partied with a [Hero]? When? More importantly, why? There was only one explanation that even remotely made sense.

She was still dressed, so she leapt out of bed, ran downstairs, rammed her shoes onto her feet and went flying straight out of the door. If only she'd learnt the relevant spell, the flying would have been literal, but instead she needed to employ her feet to run all the way back out of her residential neighbourhood and towards the business district that held Rumah Magika. She didn't return there, though, instead turning towards a building whose entrance was flanked by a pair of gleaming knights.

"So, I hear you have important information to share?" asked the [Royal Knight] who'd been on duty.

Kellela blinked, glancing down at the desk in front of her, on which a cup of tea was gently steaming, then back at the armoured investigator.

"How did I...?" she started, not remembering how she got into this interview room. Hadn't she just been outside?

No, that wasn't important.

"I believe I've been the target of temporal magic, that has sent me backward in time," declared Kellela.

Hidden within a gleaming helmet, an eyebrow raised quizzically. "That sounds... unlikely," pointed out the knight, glancing at the cup of tea and confirming that his relevant skills were indeed active. "What makes you think that, might I ask?"

"My status has changed significantly overnight, and I keep... remembering things that never happened. Just a little. Like, I keep expecting to see people who aren't there."

"Interesting. Would you care to elaborate on what has changed with your status?"

"I... Uh... It all sounds so stupid. Presumably you have an appraisal skill? Is it the type that requires permission? I permit you to use it."

The other eyebrow raised to join the first. People did not volunteer their status.

The [Royal Knight] appraised Kellela.

Both eyebrows made a break for freedom, only prevented from escaping into the sky thanks to the helmet in the way.

"And you are not currently faking or disguising your status in any way?"

"No."

"And you are human, and twenty-five years old?"

"Yes!"

[Interrogation Over A Cup Of Tea] continued to insist that Kellela was being nothing other than one hundred precent truthful.

"So, you believe that in the future, you joined the hero's party? Given your skill list, why do you think that is? I see nothing combat orientated."

"I honestly have no idea! If I were to be honest, I'd have to admit I'm not happy in my current job, but it's better than fighting demons!"

The [Royal Knight] frowned, once again picking up no signs of deceit from the woman before him. She really believed she was telling the truth. He could see the achievements with his own eyes, which seemed to rule out madness on her part. He touched the charm he always wore, his defence against mental manipulation, and confirmed it was still intact. Someone would have needed to bypass it and hit him badly enough to overwrite the output of his skills, all without his notice. It seemed unlikely.

If someone had the ability to pull that off, what would they have to gain by convincing him this woman had met a [Hero]?

"Okay, you mentioned remembering things that never happened. What sort of things?"

"I think I was married. I kept looking forward to getting home from work to get back to my husband, but I don't have a husband. And... I think we had a child together. I found myself thinking about dressing her up."

"Her?"

"Uh... Did I say 'her'? Yes... Yes, that feels right. I think my child was a girl."

"But you don't remember anything about the [Hero]?"

"No. Not at all."

The [Royal Knight] tapped his fingers on the table. "This is all very interesting, but there is one small detail that bothers me. Time travel is impossible."

"Uh... I know that's the theory, but it's never been proven conclusively, and I don't have any better suggestions."

"I can think of several. For example, you could be under the effects of mental manipulation, making you believe that your status has changed, or even erasing a part of your memories. I might even describe that as more likely than time travel, given the symptoms you describe. If time travel was involved, why would you maintain your status but lose your memories?"

"If I'd been manipulated, how could you see my status?"

"In any scenario in which you are mentally compromised, what I tell you I can see is immaterial. My words could be altered. Worse, I may not be here at all. You could be having this discussion with a stone wall, locked up in a kidnapper's prison cell."

Kellela frowned. "By that logic, how could I ever believe anything? Everything could be a lie."

"Indeed. How can you prove you are real, and not just the daydream of a god?"

Kellela pondered. As questions went, that one was pretty intractable. There had once been a research group at Rumah Magika that set out to prove they were real, but she couldn't remember the results. Maybe there weren't any, the entire subject dropped when the alcohol ran out.

Or worse, maybe they discovered they weren't real, and didn't want to tell anyone lest they accidentally create some sort of suicide cult. How terrible would it be to discover she was nothing more than the character from a story, with no agency of her own? That she'd simply cease to exist at the point her reader closed the pages?

Her thought was interrupted by the buzzing of a faint memory. Stories. That was what Rose had called them, when she...

"Rose..." muttered Kellela.

"Sorry?"

"I think she was someone from... the future? Something I've forgotten. She told me I was a story? No, that doesn't sound right. Oh! My new spell. The one in a foreign language. That was it! Part of the image was a story. Something that wasn't real."

"Go on," encouraged the [Royal Knight].

"I... I can't. I can't remember!" exclaimed Kellela, growing progressively more frustrated. "Isn't there a skill or something you can use to recover my memories?"

"I'm afraid not. Perhaps if you visited the temples, a priest or healer would be able to help."

"Hmm... I don't know any priests, and the only healer I know is Grace, and she... Dammit. Again! I don't know anyone called Grace. Who is Grace?"

"The [First Princess] Grace specialises in healing magic," pointed out the [Royal Knight]. "Of course, she's unlikely to be the only healer by that name. She is simply the most famous."

"No..." said Kellela.

"Well, like I said, she..."

"No! She's not the [First Princess]. She sacrificed that occupation. She... She... Damn! Every time I almost remember something, it's like there's something in my head, snatching it away!"

"Is there?"

"Is there what?"

"Something in your head?"

"How am I supposed to know?! That's your job!"

The [Royal Knight] drummed his fingers again as he pondered. "Well, I would suggest you think carefully about any other strange happenings. Any clues you might have missed. You have additions to your status you have no memory of, but is there anything else you've noticed? Anything odd, or out of place?"

Kellela thought carefully. "I'm... missing time?" she suggested.

"That sounds suspicious. Do go on."

"I'm in one place, I think about what I'm doing next, and suddenly I'm there. Like on my way here. I was outside, and then I was here."

"Yes, very suspicious. And that has happened multiple times, but you didn't think it worthy of mention before now?"

"No... I suppose... it just didn't seem unnatural."

"Then anything else you've noticed? Even if you think it natural or perfectly explicable?"

"You want to hear anything I've noticed that I think is normal? How about the blue sky or yellow sun?"

"No. Things that have crossed your mind as being strange, but that you didn't consider important, like your missing time."

"Hmm... I suppose... there's my house?"

"What about it?"

"It's too big for just me. The bed is made for two. Half the bedroom drawers are empty..."

"I see. That would seem to suggest that your 'husband' is not in the future, but rather the past. I have to say, based on your descriptions, my first suspect would not be time travel, but something rather more innocuous. Do the symptoms you describe not remind you of anything?"

"Remind me of anything? Like what?! You think I've been through this before?!"

"Please calm down. I was merely thinking that you sound like you're dreaming."

Kellela frowned as yet another half-memory surfaced. "What's a dream eater?" she asked. "I feel dream eaters are important."

"I believe it's a type of monster that invades your dreams, traps you within them and feeds off your despair. Victims don't even normally realise they're dreaming."

"Am I... dreaming?" asked Kellela, pinching herself. "Ow!"

"Who knows, but if you are, you should probably wake up."

"Wake... up..." repeated Kellela slowly. She had to admit, being asleep would explain her symptoms. Why had she jumped straight to time travel when her skipped time was so obviously wrong?

It would imply that this [Royal Knight] was a character she'd dreamt up, though, which made his insight rather more impressive. Or maybe it was less impressive, given that his unreality would be sort of baked in. It was hard to reason logically about the behaviour of a dream.

"How do I wake up?" she asked.

"You're a mage. Isn't there a spell for that?"

Kellela pondered, said her thanks and goodbyes, then walked back to Rumah Magika. There probably was a spell for waking someone up, but it seemed unlikely it would work for waking herself up. Besides, Rumah Magika had its own method of keeping bored employees awake.

It had the legendary Staff Kitchen, in the centre of which, installed upon a decorated and warded plinth, was what was affectionately known as the Machine. Not quite an Artefact, but it came pretty close. By holding a mug beneath a spout at its base and feeding mana into a panel at the top, it would deposit a viscous, bitter, brown magic potion that had the same relationship to coffee that [Meteor Storm] had to [Fireball]. A small sip was sufficient to cause excitability and twitching, while a full cup was just asking for a day full of fevers, headaches and palpitations.

It would, however, most assuredly be a day that did not contain any sleep.

Kellela normally refused to touch it—not so much on account of the acute symptoms of caffeine poisoning than on the rather more drawn out symptoms of withdrawal—but this was an emergency. As such, she didn't hold a mug underneath, but took the dish bowl from the sink and used that instead, casting a quick cantrip for heat resistance and plunging her head into it the moment it was full.

"Kellela!" exclaimed Rose happily, sounding surprisingly comprehensible given that Kellela's ears should have been full of magical coffee. "That just leaves Hayedalf."

"If you will excuse my curiosity, might I ask how you managed to destroy your dream world?" asked Rrillandral. "Grace's solution was most interesting, and like her, you lack the required destructive abilities to do it yourself, so you must have come up with something equally unique."

"Destroy?" asked Kellela, wondering who was talking to her, where she was, and why her head wasn't wet. "I didn't destroy anything. I just drowned myself in coffee."