“AHH!” The shrill scream pierced the suddenly bright sky. “Not fair! You always get stuff first!”

  A dark green bike was sitting on the sidewalk. A dog raced around it, barking happily as a man took a step away after he had set it down. Another little girl was pulling on her dress, SarthDarah was more worried she’d tear the fabric than anything else. She could scream at her and whine, but her little sister would always be precious.

  “Whaddya think?” Her father asked.

  SarthDarah looked at the bike from a few different angles. She liked how the green had glints of glitter in it that made it sparkle in the light. It had big silver wheels that were almost as tall as she was now. She looked at her father, the man towered over her. Would she grow that big someday too?

  “It doesn’t have side wheels…”

  “You don’t need those anymore. You ride just fine without them.”

  She paused for a few moments before taking the handlebars. They were warm, the black material soaking up the heat of the day. She looked back at her sister who was pouting. The moment they made eye contact the younger girl ran to hide behind her fathers leg. Then began demanding one of her own.

  SarthDarah let them argue, her dog had come up to see the bike with her. The fluffy fur of his soft brown coat pressed into her legs. She instantly felt calmer with Layort around. He had been around her entire life and never let her play outside alone.

  SarthDarah decided to try out the bike. She swung her right leg over the seat. It too was warm as she sat. Her heart thudded as she felt her father begin to ignore her younger sister and instead focus on her. With a helpful bark from Layort, SarthDarah pushed off and put her feet up on the pedals.

  Three thoughts occurred to her in the few seconds after she started riding. One; she was thrilled to have a new bike. This one was way better than the smaller one she had been riding. Two; pedaling without training wheels was no different. This bike seemed to balance itself without issue. Third; SarthDarah had never ridden without a helmet before, nor had she ever just taken off without asking permission before.

  She was already at the end of the block before this third thought made her panic. She left without saying anything. She had just taken off, and… and, and it was fine.

  So far she was just fine without having to need permission first. She turned around like she knew she was supposed to do before leaving the long block they lived on. As she rode back towards her house, she saw her father helping her younger sister onto the training bike SarthDarah had just decided wasn’t as good as this one.

  She smiled knowing her sister would be riding with her soon. Her father waved and yelled for her to be careful but to have fun. SarthDarah took that as even more proof that she could do what she wanted without having to worry. She rode for hours on that bike that day.

  The months and years later that that bike was still around saw more use than her old bike had ever seen. SarthDarah explored not only her own community, but even started to ride farther out and around other communities. She made friends with kids playing outside as she came across them. Eventually meeting the people she would grow up with and remain friends all the way through school.

  SarthDarah rode that bike until she started to drive, then that bike sat in the garage until she moved out. SarthDarah didn’t know what happened to that bike after she left. She was saddened, but grateful to be able to remember.

  “It’s not always nightmares from me ya know. I do help the good people remember the good things when I can.” Kuru was there now.

  SarthDarah stood on the sidewalk, watching herself and her family as it was when she was ten. The memory had been real enough that she had been living as the little girl she had used to be. That was Kuru’s real power. She could swap your soul into something or someone else. SarthDarah knew Kuru was the head of an artificers guild, meaning she built and tinkered and crafted with all sorts of things. The thought of her being able to build a prison for souls was terrifying.

  SarthDarah also knew that the body she was in wasn’t a normal mortal shell. The bloodless injuries to her and the bloodless death of Eldrin proved that.

  “The Pirate Captain, was she like us?”

  “Us? What do you mean by us?”

  “Is she still a mortal person, or whatever body we are all in? Jorn, Duerlin, the others, ME?” SarthDarah didn’t know why, but she needed an answer to this.

  “It appears so. How she managed to gain access to her vessel is unknown to me. However, it would seem only she is living in one and not her whole crew. Which is thankful, otherwise we never would have managed to hold them at a stalemate.”

  So she was more than mortal, just like herself. That helped ease some of the worry. At least that adversary was someone who they could somewhat reason with. The Minotaurs though… What was she supposed to do about them?

  “Worry about that later. Right now, you need to focus on not dying. You pushed past your energy generator output. You fired off so many high energy skills in such a short time. When someone spends more energy than they are producing, it’s only a matter of how much reserve energy they have until they start burning away their life energy to sustain themselves. Your body won’t turn off just because you don’t have enough energy. It will eat you and consume everything you are until all that is left is a you shaped doll.” Kuru was being serious, her tone was clear about how close she had just come to death.

  “Oh…” What could she say?

  “Not that I’d mind having you as a doll to keep in my playhouse.” Kuru’s voice turned playful again. “You pulled my trigger in such a spectacular way. Mmm, that memory is going to forever have its place in my personal theater.”

  Kuru winked before she started walking away. The warm day was still playing the old memory of her getting that dark green bike on repeat. SarthDarah wondered if she could just stay here and enjoy it until she woke up. Then realized there was probably more to look through and Kuru might be leading her somewhere. Then she finally put the last mental piece into place to unlock what Kuru had been talking about.

  SarthDarah blushed hard. That wasn’t what she had been expecting from Kuru. Did the guild master tease everyone like that? Most of it was done in this dream realm that Kuru kept pulling her into.

  “Your personal theater? What do you mean by playhouse?” SarthDarah’s mind raced to try and figure out what all of that meant and which she actually wanted answers to.

  “Hmm? Oh, yes of course! I have a personal library and theater that house all my favorite and most important memories.” Kuru seemed genuinely happy to be talking about her collection.

  “Can I see it? I mean…”SarthDarah had blurted it out without thinking.

  “HA! You are bold and presumptuous SarthDarah. I like that, and yes, I think I could give you a short guided tour.”

  Without so much as a blink, the open skies and homes dotting the long street disappeared. They were replaced by the towering walls and arching ceilings of Kuru’s Inner Sanctum. The massive building was etched with flowing symbols and patterns, the darkness of the decorations were black lines in the deep purple coloring. Before SarthDarah could make out what any of it might actually be, Kuru entangled their arms and began leading her towards the doorway.

  The twenty foot tall door opened up and away so they looked like butterfly wings as they walked under them. Inside, SarthDarah was slightly surprised to find it quiet and glowing in amber light. The walls inside were soft pink and had busts and portraits lining them as far as she could see. No matter which way she looked, as they walked straight down the corridor, halls seemed to branch off and stretch on forever. Each of them were decorated with different works of art.

  “This is impressive.”

  “This is just the Entrance Hall. Most of what you see is collected worlds. Each hallway represents another group of people that I was ordered to reclaim.”

  “Ordered to?”

  “By my Father or Grandmother, each has their reason and authority over me.” Kuru seemed a little irked having to say that last part.

  SarthDarah remembered their previous conversation about taking out people that deserved it. Was there really so many that she could decorate endless halls with looted treasures?

  “There are always more people turning to evil everyday. It is as simple as losing something that is the only thing keeping you from making a bad decision. Then my Father is called upon to keep that evil from spreading beyond that world. My Grandmother keeps tabs on all of it, she is the Mistress of Chaos, the maker of this universe. And in here, I am free from her. My Father taught me how to build this dimension, and only if he suspected me of treachery would he dare intrude.”

  They came to a stop at a hallway that was blocked by a single door. It wasn’t shiny, nor did it fit in with Kuru’s normal aesthetic. The white wall around the brown wood door reminded her more of a place that came from her own home rather than anywhere from Kuru’s. After Kuru took a few steps towards the door, SarthDarah followed. It didn’t open for them like the main entrance had. Kuru had to rest her palm against it for a few moments before SarthDarah realized that it had no handle to turn and no lock to open.

  However, as Kuru muttered to herself for a few moments longer, her hand started to glow. The door too began to glow, then change as it grew brighter.

  “This part sucks, don’t worry though, I’ll be fine in a moment.” Kuru said, then gave one last pulse of power.

  The door flashed so bright that SarthDarah had to close her eyes. She turned away, not wanting to be blinded. When the flash died down, she turned back. Kuru was lying on the floor, motionless.

  “What!? Kuru!” She knelt and put a hand on Kuru’s neck to check for a pulse instinctively.

  She felt nothing, just her skin on Kuru’s. It was warm, and being so close made her feel slightly anxious. Had Kuru just knocked herself out in her own mind? What had happened?

  Before her thoughts could spiral any farther, Kuru’s eyes fluttered open. Inches away from her, the azure in her eyes seemed diluted and overrun by the silver streaks. SarthDarah’s breath stopped for a few heartbeats as they stared into each others eyes. Only when Kuru’s hand gently moved her own away, did SarthDarah realize she had still been holding her fingers on Kuru’s throat. Then she remembered not feeling anything that marked her as living.

  “Are you?” How did she ask if she was alive or not, she clearly was.

  “I am not mortal, and do not need a pulse such as what your mind remembers a living body should. I am still very much alive, SarthDarah.” Kuru’s voice was heavy.

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  “Sorry, I’m still getting used to this immortal thing.”

  “Don’t be sorry. Curiosity for the new and misunderstood is natural.”

  They were still only inches apart, their conversation might as well have been the only thing happening in the world to them.

  “Now, did you still want to see the theater?” Kuru’s charming laugh followed, almost as if she was trying to break the tension. “Or do you wish to see my playhouse?”

  SarthDarah tilted her head slightly. They had come because she had asked to see the library and theater; but Kuru had said something about wanting her as a doll in her playhouse. What did that mean? Kuru hadn’t answered that question. Which did she want to see?

  “I suppose it’s your house, I’ll let you lead.” SarthDarah didn’t want to answer one and miss out on the other and was left indecisive.

  “Hmm, if that is the case, then let us proceed as we were before you decided to climb on top of me.” Kuru winked and made to sit up.

  SarthDarah had to move out of the way, forgetting just how close they still were. There was still something that made her stomach twist when she got close to Kuru. She had crushes before, boys and girls, but this was different. This was…

  “Come, there is a memory I wish to share with you.” Kuru interrupted her thoughts and led SarthDarah down the previously closed off hall.

  After a few dozen paces, they came to an open chamber. The ceiling rose far out of sight. Only dim light shone around the edges of the trapezoidal room. A large central cushion was the only furniture in the room. It had a dark gray fabric that was soft to the touch. Kuru stood in front of it and motioned for SarthDarah to take a seat upon it.

  “Relax, the memory plays out in hologram. We are going to be in the center of a mental projection. You can not interact with the memory, nor will any of it hurt you.”

  SarthDarah fell back into the cushion, the soft but supportive seat was extremely comfortable. It was large enough that when Kuru lay down beside her, they still had room for another person on either side of them.

  The two women lay, Kuru humming softly as she waved a hand through the air. SarthDarah watched, still amazed at what she was getting to see. When Kuru looked over at her, they both smiled.

  “Ready?” Kuru whispered.

  “For what?”

  “The truth of where your vessel came from.”

  SarthDarah’s breath caught. Answers! This would be an answer about where she came from, and of how SarthDarah was born. She nodded vigorously and turned to look up at the distant ceiling.

  “The year was nine hundred and eighty. A talented young smith who goes by the name Theadora, was about to stumble upon a new process for smelting. I won’t bore you with details, they are unimportant for now. Now, the answer about your vessel is what you want.”

  Kuru stopped waving her arm and the room went pitch black. SarthDarah felt Kuru’s body press close to her own. So much all at once, and she wasn’t sure how to process it all. What was she about to see? Why did feeling Kuru make her mind go numb?

  The room they were suddenly floating inside of was extremely different than any in Kuru’s mindscape. SarthDarah knew it instantly as a forge house though. The tools, scattered weapons and pieces of armor, the sensation of intense heat and light coming from a blazing furnace. It was a familiar place from her adventuring days. When she would go and… she went adventuring? Wasn’t she a normal person before Kuru had brought her to this world? What adventuring did she know this place from?

  A woman was hunched over right next to the edge of the flames. She wore just an apron to protect her stomach and chest from the heat. Her arms were sweating and glistening in the flames bright orange light. She had short ash gray hair.

  The flames inside the furnace were a bright white. There was a bright blue-green spot in the center that was slowly starting to turn malleable. Her grip on the ingot was tight, and the tongs had started to depress into it slightly. She took her foot off of the bellows switch. The flames died down slightly, turning more yellow.

  The ingot remained glowing brightly, she took it out and quickly over to the anvil. Placing it down she dropped the tongs and picked up her hammer. With her first swing the ingot became a crescent shape. SarthDarah watched as a pulse of energy was released when the metal was struck.

  The second and third hits to either end of the ingot caused it to become flat. She placed her hammer back in its spot, grabbed her tongs and put the now flat and long ingot back into the flames.

  Theadora once again put her foot on the bellows switch. The fire began to roar, yellow flames becoming the intense white again. The blue green disk was starting to turn into a liquid now, with one hand holding the disk steady, she reached for a crucible to contain the liquid. Just as the blue green disk started to bubble, she slipped the crucible under it. Expertly shifting the disk as it melted into a liquid so it was all caught by the crucible.

  As the two of them watched this play out, SarthDarah watched as Theadora put the crucible next to so many others inside of the furnace. It was obviously a large project, but what did it have to do with her vessel?

  With a blur, the image changed slightly. It was obviously sometime later. Theadora had a new hammer, one that not only gave off burst of energy when she struck something with it; but it also radiated a signal that SarthDarah was sure was a pulse of life. How she knew this was unclear, but seeing that hammer made her curious as to what it truly was.

  The smith seemed to be crafting dozens of trial pieces. Each a different shape of the same thing. It was unmistakably a humanoid body that Theadora was trying to create. Looking around the room, SarthDarah saw piles of scrapped items made of a metal she did not recognize. It was almost brightly colored enough to emit light.

  The image flashed again, now showing a warehouse full of bodies set neatly in rows along the walls. Hundreds if not thousands of them. SarthDarah gasped when she noticed that the bodies were all made of that same metal. Only this time they seemed cold and to suck in the light around them.

  Something in her brain was telling her that she sensed the absence of life energy. That she was seeing empty shells awaiting souls.

  “So that’s how you do it.” The voice came from within her own head, it was not Kuru’s and it was not her own.

  “What?” She started to turn and look for Kuru.

  “Time to end your dream and return to the nightmare.” It was the voice of the Minotaur Captain.

  “Where are you!”

  Laughter was all she got back. It was all in her head, it couldn’t be real if it was just in her head. It had to be a hallucination or something of the sort. Her brain wasn’t dealing with the trauma of losing, that had to be it.

  That’s what she believed until the memory she was watching turned into her falling from the top of the mountain. She hadn’t jumped this time, she had been pushed. The ground below was still so far away, SarthDarah didn’t panic. She put her arms and legs out wide to help slow herself and tried to angle her way over to the sheer cliff she had run down when she first got to this world.

  She had just about got herself situated to plant her feet and start running, when the wall exploded into a purple and black mass of sludge. It reached outwards for her with dozens of appendages. SarthDarah tried not to panic, but her eyes betrayed the fear that she was feeling.

  There was no way to dodge the attack in mid-air. SarthDarah tried to send fire at the first one to reach her, but the body she was in had no upgrades with which to harness the natural energies around her. This was like being in a mortal body again. She let out a grunt of pain as three ropes of thick sludge halted her momentum.

  No longer falling, but now trapped by an unknown entity shooting out of the side of a mountain. SarthDarah tried to remember this was supposed to all be a dream. Or a theater memory. It wasn’t working. The panic was rising again.

  Just as SarthDarah was about to scream out, she was pulled rapidly towards the cliff. The sludge was disappearing into itself, threatening to drag her into whatever hell that was inside of it. When she hit, it was like going through a pool of gelatin. The smell and feel of it just about made her sick.

  Once inside the darkness, she felt like she was trapped in a void of nothing but the thick sludge. She feared to scream out, if she opened her mouth what would happen then? It didn’t take long for a static charge to jolt her eyes open. Then she felt once again like she would be sick.

  It was like being in a cocoon, she was only a foot away from the edges of the sludge. She only needed to push out of it. She could be free.

  It gave way with ease, letting her go without holding back. SarthDarah fell to the floor, coughed, then spat up sludge. She was standing in a medical facility. The hospital beds and nurses running all over tending to bodies told her that much. Something was wrong though, this wasn’t the same as the memory’s Kuru had shared. It felt like she had forced her way into this one, where the others Kuru had slipped them in like invited guests.

  Now the image was showing static, then another wave of that sludge washed over the scene. This time it left her alone, but it changed the image of her surroundings. Now she stood outside of the medical room, behind a large glass window. This was an observation room.

  SarthDarah watched as large crystals were stuck into the metal bodies she had seen at Theadora’s warehouse. She sensed the life energy being attracted to the bodies just as all of the people on the hospital beds opposite them started to thrash. The monitors for the people started registering deaths, and the vessels started to stir moments after.

  SarthDarah was able to track the transfer. It was fast, and it seemed to be irreversible since the body the soul left died. Was that… is that… SarthDarah started to see through a dense fog in her mind that she didn’t even know was there.

  She had some answers, but she also had many many more questions. This was supposed to be a relaxing way to get information about who she was. About who Kuru was. It was supposed to give her direction.

  What was she supposed to do knowing how the vessels worked?

  “Sarth!” Kuru’s voice came through faint and echoing all around her.

  She spun around, the observation room fading away suddenly. The blank white space was quickly re-written to look like the street where they had first started this dream. Her family was there, but it was wrong. It looked like someone had smeared the colors when they forced their way into the memory. Her sister wasn’t speaking this time around, just following along.

  “Where are you?” Kuru sounded frantic but closer and clearer now.

  “I’m here!” SarthDarah tried to scream, it came out in a strangled and hoarse voice that didn’t sound like her own.

  “Begone!” Kuru’s furious command boomed throughout the entire world it seemed.

  The sloppy memory vanished with the echoes of Kuru’s voice. SarthDarah was back inside the theater. Still laying on the cushion next to Kuru. Kuru was wide eyed and searching her face. SarthDarah felt a hand move up her side and realized Kuru was leaning over her the same way she had a short time ago. What had happened?

  “It’s ok! You are safe now. I brought you back to my realm.” Kuru was fusing.

  “When did I leave?”

  “That brute of a cow hitched a ride inside your psyche. He laid a trap that allowed him to see through your thoughts. He must have been able to redirect your mind to other memories somehow.”

  “He’s in my head?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “What memories did he see?”

  “All of them that you saw. I only intended to show you a bare amount of the actual process, but he managed to force your mind into the memories without me. Only after I tried to ask you what you thought of Theadora’s work did I realize your body was being puppeted. You were staring blankly at nothing, yet your eyes were tracking things.”

  “So you were going to hide the whole truth, and just show me convenient parts of it?”

  “That was necessary for your protection. These vessels you and your friends are in are not supposed to be out of that warehouse yet. Only a select few batches were called by my Grandmother to test with.”

  SarthDarah would have stood and walked away, but Kuru was still above her, searching what seemed to be her entire body for any sort of injury. SarthDarah knew Kuru wasn’t the purest of beings. That shouldn’t matter, she did things for a higher purpose. SarthDarah was supposed to be following along with her orders.

  Yet here they lay, searching memories to show SarthDarah information she alone was being allowed a minimum access to. And she still questioned it all. Why was she following this person? Kuru had been the one to bring her here. She had been the one to lead SarthDarah and the entire group of others in trying to save the small villages of this planet when the Federation and Capital city had not.

  “Sometimes it takes being a bad guy, in order to do the best good.” Kuru whispered as she lay her head inches from SarthDarah’s.

  “Just don’t lie to me then. I am willing to do what it takes, whatever it takes, in order to help see justice prevail in the world.” SarthDarah felt like she was back in a video game.

  Her mind sparked, a video game? That line could be any cheesy anti-hero to any cut and paste antagonist. Kuru was looking at her, the soft cushion pushing her cheek up a little bit. SarthDarah couldn’t help but feel like it didn’t matter, whatever that spark had been.

  “Promise?” Kuru asked quietly.

  “Of course I do.”

  They both smiled. With a short pause, Kuru relaxed herself before rolling away onto her back. The theater was once again void of memories and dimly lit from the edges of the room. The quiet was peaceful.

  “You can stay here until your body is rested. If you wander, stay inside the castle. Leaving is not forbidden, but what you find may be more than you are ready to handle alone.”

  SarthDarah wanted to ask her to stay, but Kuru vanished a heartbeat later. The room suddenly felt thrice as big and ten times as empty. SarthDarah wasn’t sure what to do with herself. She could venture the halls and admire the collections from other worlds. It would be interesting to see what Kuru deemed important enough to collect.

  Then a thought occurred. She could use the memory theater to relive her past. Maybe that would help her remember why she was here. She got flashes when she saw herself get that bike, it had started to lead to more before Kuru interrupted and put it on loop. If it was her head the place was taking the memories from, then what else was up there?