The disembodied voice of a woman echoed through my mind.  The enigmatic tone held a haunting quality to it, spiking my levels of dread.  I quickly twisted over onto my back, scrambling away from the lingering vocal sounds until I felt myself hit smooth bark. I glanced back to find myself against a tree that looked wrong. The thick trunk was bespeckled with purple blotches, the underlying ashen bark fruitlessly attempting to make itself known. As I grazed my body against it, the afflicted tree began trembling as one of the low branches, like a long tendrilled hand, made its descent towards me. Its fingers rooted into the loamy soil in front, enclosing my huddled form into its terrifying frame. I was now caged; a helpless bird with her wings clipped, dazed and confused.

“I’m very interested to know how you managed to get here. This place is quite… difficult to reach.”

The enrapturing sound enveloped my head again, somehow permeating my mind. Did I hear that? Or did my brain hear it? Wait, that doesn’t even make sense!

“Words, thoughts; actions, desires... It’s all relative within my humble dwelling.”

My eyes attempted to scan every recess and alcove around the altered landscape, desperately searching for the source of the entity. What I could see from my botanical prison was a lush grove, bursting forth with odd plants, and even odder insects.  Impossibly tall trees, similar to the one currently holding me captive, encircled the entire area. Braiding and interweaving into one another, their dappled blue and green leaves spread across their trunks like crawling ivy, preventing any insight into what lay beyond the sentries.

There was a constant buzzing radiating from the abundant life forms that were present. Large cicadas chirped while orange grasshoppers sang their reverberating tune. Butterflies the size of my hand flitted from flowers that sprouted from nearly every surface. Flowers even interspersed themselves through the empty air. A haze of pinks, purples, oranges, and blues seemed to generate the only sources of light inside the grove. It was a captivating sight, for one who wasn’t as petrified as I was.

I soon realized I had woken up on an outcrop that stood nearly thirty feet above the ground. My enclosure was a growth that derived from the circle of sentinels. Comprising the bottom of the enclosure were plants with giant fronds stemming from the ground. As I dared to peer over the dizzying ledge, I saw that the sheer number of leaves effectively created a second floor above the ground.

“What is this place? Who are you? What is it with all this crazy magic stuff lately?” Something seemed off when I spoke, but I was too frightened to think about it deeper.

“Ahhh...” Her voice was so melodic, so… enchanting. My skin prickled at the realization of how calm the voice was beginning to make me feel, a sharp contrast to the discomforting air it demonstrated a moment ago, “A fair maiden who has wandered into cruok-infested waters. Do you even know how to swim?”

What is going on?! What had I been thinking? A light in the middle of the woods? ‘Oh, surely it will be harmless!’ I huddled up into a fetal position, I closed my eyes hoping the strangeness would all just disappear. In the scrunched-up state, however, I finally realized how different my body felt.  A weight on my chest prevented me from squeezing as tight as I intended. Hair fell over the front of my face, curls brushing my nose and eyelashes; I could feel them trailing down my back as well. The differing sense of the lower half of my body was the starkest. My hips were bending in a slightly different manner, and I also felt rather exposed. Chill air was licking my legs, creating goosebumps that traveled all the way up to—

My eyes snapped open, revealing a body I didn’t dare imagine, with an oddly familiar olive dress concealing it. “WHAT!? WHAT THE HELL!?” The yell came out with a high-pitched resonance. My hands instinctively went to my throat. “How is this — how is this happening?” I whispered.  The sound of my voice and the feeling of my movements were so… so very right.  My vision was beginning to blur as numerous conflicting emotions from my current situation began to bubble up to the surface.  Relief, dread, liberation, anxiousness, euphoria, confusion, terror; they all descended onto my mind in one crashing tidal wave.

I tried to blink the tears away as I noticed the light seeping into my cage become obscured. The suddenness startled me. I desperately tried to move away, but the tree behind me prevented the movement. My hands and feet were frantically trying to scramble my way to somewhere else, anywhere else.  I quickly wiped my eyes to reveal the floating visage of a strange woman, hovering a foot or so from my face; the branched bars had parted so she could inspect me closer. I screamed. Pure, unadulterated fear overrode all the other emotions that had been there a moment ago.

“Oh… kayyy… so I was going for mysterious and intimidating as a scare tactic, seeing as you trespassed into my home, but clearly I’m doing too good of a job at that.”  Her hovering face conveyed the frankness of her words, but her lips had yet to move. She was still invading my mind, but I was now able to get a good look at my captor.

Silver hair floated around a face with an indigo complexion; a set of grey, ridged horns protruded out the top of her head in the shape of lightning bolts.  Jet black, almond-shaped eyes bored into mine with what I could gather was an intense curiosity.  The mouth that she had yet to utilize flashed a pair of canines that pushed out over her bottom lip. One of her hands held onto the wooded bar; her nails resembled claws more than anything else.

 “I — I didn’t mean to! I swear! I saw a light, then it put me to sleep or something and I woke up here!” I began to press myself further against the tree, pretending that it wasn’t what had initially taken me hostage. Idiot! Why did you do something so stupid! Look what you got yourself into! You’re going to get yourself killed! You abandoned Maya, and for what? To look at a strange light?

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you,” her voice said in an off-handed manner. She backed off, pushing herself off of the outcrop, slowly drifting towards the center of the radius of trees. “Though I won’t comment on the stupidity of walking into a tear in reality. That was very stupid. You could have easily gotten yourself killed, if it went to the wrong place.” She paused, wearing a pensive look. “I guess I did end up commenting on it. Silly me.”

Her presence was naturally beguiling. She looked rather young, now that I thought about it. She appeared to be around the same age I was. Of course, she was a completely different… species?  So maybe looks weren’t an accurate estimate. She was still gliding around the unnaturally lit grove. She wore a long emerald gown that came down to her ankles, splitting near her knees; the sleeves descended past her hands, hiding her clawed nails from sight.

She resembled the pictures I had seen of East Asian forest spirits. The ones that were beautiful beyond compare, luring in unsuspecting souls until they had them in their arms. Which, of course, was when they would turn around and consume your life essence or something. I desperately tried to think of not envisioning those scenarios.

“A… t-tear in r-reality?” I managed to stammer. I began to nervously finger my hair. I was still an adrenaline-fueled ball of emotions right now, but playing with my new hair elicited an aspect of calmness within me. I was the most terrified I ever had been in my life, while at the same time also feeling, for the very first time, that everything was right in the world. They were rather conflicting emotions to parse through, to say the least.

Yet the terror was hard to hold onto as I watched this strange creature flip completely upside down, turning to stare into me again with those pitch-black eyes. “Yup! I exude a pretty strong aura here in my home; sometimes it ends up leaking into the material plane.” She frowned as she floated a little closer to me. “The leaks usually appear in remote locations deep in forests, though, and they happen pretty infrequently.  I have no idea how you managed to come across one.”

“My friends and I… we teleported, or something, I think… I-I’m not quite sure what happened. I saw a glowing light…”

“And the fact that you saw the tear as well!” She was twirling in place now; she was very excited. “Not many people are able to visualize tears into Oniralm when they appear.  You must be very attuned to your astral projection.”

Astral projection? Oniralm? What was she talking about?

“The form you take here is your astral projection. It’s a version of your soul that is able to travel into Oniralm, or the dream world, if you prefer.” She continued her twirling while rising higher and higher into the twisting trees. It was disorienting to have her voice remain at the same volume while she was rising up and away from me. “You really are a newborn when it comes to this, aren’t you?”

“Stop reading my thoughts! How are you doing that?” I covered my head with my hands, as if that would help somehow. I couldn’t help but notice how my hair cushioned my head.

She gave a soft laugh, “I’d like to, but you’re practically yelling them at me. I can’t not hear them, really.”

“Oh… sorry.” Wait, dream world? A thought suddenly occurred. The dream that I had last night... I was dressed similar and I saw plants that were just as strange. That giant forest and the city nearby…. was that… this place?

The floating fey had been nodding along; it was going to be difficult to think with her commenting on my internal monologues. “Sounds like you were near the city of Lupoli. That’s where most of you tend to gather when you come here.”

“Most of… us?”

She stopped twirling and sighed, irritation beginning to show on her face as she made her descent, halting in front of my cage. “Yes! You! Lucids. You are a Lucid. People who can travel in Oniralm when they are asleep? Are you saying you didn’t go there intentionally?”

“I… I just thought it was a normal dream. And I certainly wasn’t lucid dreaming. I didn’t realize it was a dream until I woke up.”

Her irritated face quickly dropped. It was followed by a wicked grin that slowly crept onto her face. “Oh, you poor, unfortunate soul! You’ve just discovered your talent, and you obviously have no one to train you.” Her voice sounded motherly now, and just a little patronizing. “I could help you, you know…”

I stiffened as I thought about Maya, Katya and the others. I approached the edge of my cage, grabbing onto the wooden fingers of the tree. “Please, I just want to get back to my friends. They’ll be worried about where I went. I promise I won’t cause you any more trouble. Can you just send me back?”

As soon as I said that, a small part of my mind hesitated. If I went back, I would have to be in that dreadful body. After experiencing the correctness of this body again, and being so aware of it this time around… It was going to be hell to return to it. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to handle it.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, not so fast…” The woman said; the sinister grin was still on her face. “There are consequences to home invasion, little one, be it intentional or not.”

The underlying fear that had been slowing subsiding throughout the encounter reared its head back up with a vengeance. “Wha— What do you want from me? Who are you, anyway? What are you?”

She jolted backward, affronted by the stream of questions, “Have I not introduced myself?” She gave a flip and a dramatic flourish as the neighboring butterflies gathered to form a halo around her. “Why, I am Mari, Goddess of Dreams, Child of the Oneiroi!”

I just stared at her, bewildered. She was… a Goddess?

Her figure faltered a bit; she tapped her temple with a finger. One of the butterflies lethargically landed on one of her horns while the others started to drift, her makeshift halo was slowly becoming rather unkempt. “Well, one of them.” She waved her hand, breaking off her thought. “I won’t get into the deific politics; rather complex matters, they are.” Her presence shifted again, her eyes staring down towards me with a pressure I had yet to feel from the horned Goddess. The enclave grew several shades darker while the wandering butterflies immediately snapped back into place, they themselves shifting their patterns to a more sinister palette. “Kneel before the power of Mari, for you shall worship me as your new Goddess! Muahahaha!”

I had absolutely no idea how to react to this creature. The still terrified, anxious part of me wanted to grovel and beg for her mercy, while yet another part was becoming rather amused at her antics, and not quite taking this as seriously as I probably should be. I was starting to wonder if she got many visitors here. However, I simply remained glued to the trunk of the tree, the cage was slowly starting to become a safe comfort from the strangeness around me. My mind was overflowing from all the new knowledge and sensory information being presented to me.

“So… you’ll let me go if I pray to you or something? I’ll be honest, I really don’t have the best track record when it comes to religion…”

A wild laugh rang throughout the entirety of my mind. It was almost painful, yet the melody laced within it made it rather enjoyable. “Please, prayers?! Who do you think I am? Nomul?

“No, what I will be offering you, little one, is a deal.” That ominous smile was back on her face again. I instinctively tried to slink away as she steadily crept closer towards me, speaking in a hushed tone. “In exchange for returning you to your waking self, unharmed of course, you will be placed under my tutelage. I will put you through training that would make a Lucid weep. Your days of finding solace in your dreams will be over. You will be strained to your limits, and pushed beyond them. Only then, only after I deem you worthy, will you begin your unending service to me, your newfound Goddess.” Her face was now inches away from me; inhuman pools of black void stared down into my soul.

“Wait a minute! I just realized you never introduced yourself!” Her perky innocence had once again returned.  The constant emotional whiplash was really starting to wear me down. “Who asks for someone’s name, while never giving hers in return?!” She was pouting now. A Goddess, pouting. Was she really a Goddess?

“Oh, sorry… I’m Jac— I mean, Juniper! My name is Juniper.  Juniper Jade!” Despite the odd circumstances, I felt a unique thrill at being able to give my true name to Mari. Should I call a goddess by her name?  I realized that she was the first one to meet me as Juniper, it was such an amazing feeling to be seen as my true self, and not feel hidden to the world.

“Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! Unending service?!”

She looked at me like I was the crazy one requiring lifetime servitude, “Well of course! I don’t think many people see being a priestess to a Goddess as a temporary gig, do you?”

Priestess? Well, that certainly sounded a lot better than ‘unending service’. Still, all of this was way too much. But how else was I supposed to get back to Maya and everyone else? Mari seemed nice enough, even if she had been playing with my emotional state like a discordant fiddle.  As for her being a Goddess, well, I wasn’t sure what to think of it. I didn’t really know any other deities to compare her to. Well no, that wasn’t quite true… Okay, actually she seemed pretty amazing compared to the other God I knew.

Plus, I get to learn more about this lucid dreaming power I apparently have, and get to spend more time as myself! The fact that I was more psyched to be a girl than I was to have cool dream powers really struck a chord with me. Going back was going to suck, wasn’t it?

“Well you haven’t really given me a lot of choice here…” I murmured. I was hesitating to accept now, more so due to the realization of the impending return to my old body.

“You don’t really get much choice,” Mari said in a matter of fact tone. “You waltzed into my home uninvited, so you belong to me now. I feel like that’s only fair.” I was considering pressing her on that matter. It didn’t seem quite fair at all, but I’m sure her cultural customs about viewing people as property were drastically different from mine, and I was hardly in a position to argue...

“Alright… I — I accept.” I felt a chill as I uttered the words. I wasn’t sure if it was some magic signature I had made, but I definitely was aware of how my life was going to be forever changed by those words.  

With a wide grin, she began bouncing in the middle of the air, which I took to be a form of a jumping for joy, only in flight it looked rather ridiculous.

“Great!” She flew over to a corner of her grove about twenty or so feet below me. She appeared to be rummaging through the soil for something. Then she traveled over to one of the trees, plucking at the vines that nestled thickly on the trunk. Finally, she returned to my cage with an intricate necklace, corded with bright green vines that braided into one another. Pulling the cord to a point, was an elaborate pendant shaped into a beautiful curving teardrop. It faded from a pearly white at the top to a deep indigo at the base, not unlike Mari's skin.  She sat still in the air for a moment as a white light enveloped the hands that held the pendant. After a while, the light faded and she opened up the branches of my prison and tentatively placed the jeweled necklace over my head. I had to pull my thick, coppery hair all the way through so that it would settle on my neck properly. Long hair felt amazing, it tickled the small of my back in a very satisfying manner.

“Keep this on you. When you wake in this world again, I will be able to sense your return. Then we will begin your training.” Mari seemed to be filled with a sense of awe as she looked me over with my new accessory. A deep smile permeated her guise. She looked almost… proud?

As I felt the pendant’s weight settle between my breasts, a strange feeling came over me. I suddenly felt…connected to something. The sense was an overwhelming energy that seemed to pull me toward the direction Mari – no… the Goddess – was hovering. Looking at her now, I could now believe her claim. Her power, her divinity, was awesome. A great blue-white aura now radiated from her, like the sun glittering through a stained-glass window. It was… beautiful.

She was giddy with excitement; I felt like she could feel a similar connection to me now as well. “Alright, my future priestess, are you ready to go back?” 

That question almost started an all-out war in my brain. I desperately did not want to give up this wonderful body. I struggled to suppress the urge to stay, I needed to get back to my friends. I nodded, forcing out the words, my throat dry. “Y-Yes, please send me back.”

She giggled again. “I finally get my very own priestess! This is going to be so much fun! I’ll see you later, Juniper Jade! It was very nice to claim you!” She reached out and tapped me on the head.

And with that I instantly sensed a feeling similar to when I first entered the Goddess’s Grove. That semi-conscious state seeped into my hazy mind as everything shrank away from my vision, fading to blackness…