Dreamland

I yawned and started to read the newspaper. Nothing outstanding was there. Well, except for the mention of the stampede and the number of dead and wounded. However, there was no info about any magical or non-magical chemicals. There was also mentioned that gangs of fans have rampaged through the city. Gangs. They used the term gangs as if fans would spontaneously form gangs.

How could Mephi's fog possibly appear in this world? Mephi cannot manifest himself here, so what on earth happened? Who brought that thing here, and how? Who thought it was a good idea to spread it during a show with two thousand people and why?

I wondered what had happened to Joe. Did he lose me in the human mass? Did he look out for me, or did he leave me just like that and... and what?

I hesitated to heal myself or not and then decided to leave it as is. Cala has fast regeneration anyhow; I do not have to exaggerate with additional magic healing. I let Flo prepare the healing ring for Helen, and while she did that, we chatted.

“You did not tell me that you have a weakness against Mephi's fog?”

“We never talked about these things, and I did not expect to encounter it here. It is not my special weakness; Mephi's fog reacts badly with white magic; it is a known fact. All white magic casters – this includes mostly priests and paladins have this problem. The fog was designed in this way. It has an additional component to stimulate aggressive behaviour, confuse normal people and sap white magic. There are ways to fight it, but I do not possess that kind of magic. How can it be that we encountered Mephi's fog here, that's what I do not understand.”

“Me neither. Why was it released? Who did that?”

“I don't think it was Mephisto himself. It does not sound like him, he always does things with a purpose, and I cannot see what the purpose of this act was.”

“It may be a reason that we cannot understand yet, but it will be clearer with time.”

“Yes, that may be it.”

“What other weaknesses do you have?”

“Well, you discovered one already; it is alcohol. If you want to knock me out, you just have to drink a couple of glasses.”

“Lol. You did not tell me that either!”

“I almost forgot about it. I do not drink alcohol. Will you abuse it?”

“Me and abuse it? Why would I?”

“Well, what do I know? You want me not to be aware of something you do... you just take a couple of glasses, and you have your solitude.”

“Lol, good idea; unfortunately, that will not work, as Cala is certainly very much aware and can drink me under the table if she so wants.”

“Speaking of Cala, she wants to make her morning gym!”

“What? Are you crazy? I am traumatized and tired! I just lived through those horrible hours and...”

And... Cala prevailed, and her wish was fulfilled. I was sulking in my own body while Cala was doing her morning exercises outside in the park.

This is where Gonzo and Helen found me making pull-ups on a branch of an old tree. A sweating and grinning Cala. Pardon, Dolores. As soon as he saw me, Gonzo yelled:

“Hey, glad to see you're OK!”

Like a chimp, I held myself with one hand on the branch, put a foot on the tree trunk and waved and greeted them happily:

“Hi!”

Then continued my work.

As they came closer, Helen watched me doing my pull-ups and wondered:

“Gonzo sought that he recognized you in one of those photos from the Blue Cauldron disaster. Did you hear about it?”

“Yes, I did.”

I did not elaborate further, and they did not ask. They exchanged a look. Helen leaned against a tree and sighed:

“We have a problem.” - she said.

I raised a brow. Gonzo asked:

“Do you have your mobile with you?”

Interesting question. I raised my shoulders:

“No, do you need it?”

“No.” - said Helen, then took a deep breath and raised her eyes to look into mine - “Can you come with us? We found out that there are more injured gamers and...”

She has such beautiful black eyes you get lost looking into them. I may start to understand why Gonzo is so crazy about her. I sighed:

“Wait, what? Why should I come?”

Helen watched me askew for a moment as if surprised by my question.

“They need to get better. We cannot let them down and neither bring them to a hospital. They need you!”

She was trying to answer without saying the words, and then finally, she said it.

“They need healing urgently!”

Do I want to be 'the healer'? But even if I don't, can I avoid it? If one person knows about me and my healing, then they will certainly ask me to heal at least their family or close friends. Can I say no? Is it morally correct to refuse to heal? But if I do that, when can I draw a line and say no? Never?

I sighed. I knew about this, and I knew Helen would ask me later to heal somebody. That's why I prepared the ring. Do I now have second thoughts? Her eyes were imploring, and she was searching for words to convince me. How could I say no to those eyes? I gulped.

“No, I won't come, but...”

“But?”

“I can give you the ring. You can use it as best you can.”

I shrugged. Was this fair? At least it would give me a respite.

I took the ring from my finger and handed it to her. She took it in her hand hesitatingly. I knew it would come out like this, but I did not expect it to happen so soon.

“This works? How does it work?” - she asked - “Would it not be better for you to come?”

I shook my head and breathed relief.

“If it worked for me, it will work for you too. You just need to rub the emerald and say the words: I want to heal you. Oh, your hand should be on the shoulder or some part of the person you want to heal, or else the spell may backfire. You can rub the emerald with your thumb or the other hand. That's all.”

“That's all?”

“Yes. It is a classic Mephisto ring, you know?”

“But how did you get it?” - Helen asked, taking a step back and looking at me as if wanting to measure my size.

I had my story prepared:

“Last time when I was in the zone, I played in one of those bunks that are there for visitors. Do you remember the incident when several people were thrown out of their sessions?”

“Oh yes, I do! And you found it on your finger?”

“No, it was inside the bunk when I got out.”

“Inside the bunk? So you stole it from us? How did you come to the idea to take it?

“Wow, wow, hey!” - Gonzo interjected, trying to temper her.

I shrugged.

“It's a tin ring. I recognized it as I had a similar ring in Mephisto. You know the seven wish ring?”

“But that's a valuable ring! I mean in Mephisto. And you stole it!”

“No, it was a drop!” - I answered with a grin.

“Yeah, it dropped into your bunk when you just happened to walk by." - she sighed - "You're not going to see it back!”

I shrugged:

“Keep it!”

She was visibly upset by my supposed burglary. I don't know if Gonzo bought it. Why did I tell that story? I wanted to remove any traces that would lead to me being the source of anything magical. I started to dislike Helen not so much for what she did but for what she represented: trouble. At least, that was the association my brain made.

“Are you jealous?” - asked White Flower

“Me? Jealous of her? Why should I be?”

"Hm? Why? Gonzo?"

“If it's really something like the ring of seven wishes, then it could be rechargeable.” - said Helen

I nodded.

“It would recharge with your mana...” - which must be null, but I did not say that.

“And it should do more than only heal. Did you try firebolt?”

I shook my head. She wondered:

“What did you try?”

“First time it was a heal. It was for a scratch, and I did it for fun. I was surprised that it worked. The second time I wished to fly like Katana, and I got wings and horns instead. You know that Katana has those. Then I wanted the wings and horns to disappear, what they did, becoming invisible. Then I wished to heal you. That's all.”

She harrumphed:

“Why fly like Katana? That was stupid!”

I shrugged. She watched me askew:

“How did you make the wings appear in Gonzo's workshop?”

I knew she would ask that.

“By removing the ring.”

“Oh, so it worked only when the ring was on. Hmm, maybe that spell did consume more mana from the ring. So, if I want to fly, I just have to rub the ring and would get wings?”

“I suppose? I don't know exactly how it works. It did not trigger from the first time, only when I specified like Katana, then it triggered. I'm sure Gonzo will be glad to remove any horns or other appendices that you might get.”

Gonzo threw me an alarmed look. True, I was a bit mean, but she seemed to have that effect on me.

I got a somewhat condescending smile from her.

I hope she does not wish herself the same. Anyhow, it would not work. She can wonder all the time why. I know Flo had packed a firebolt, a thunderbolt and three healings in the ring, I would have gladly packed some funny transformation spells, but unfortunately, Flo was a disappointment in this direction. She also didn't want to put any other more dangerous spells. I wonder how Helen would look as a succubus?

“Healing is too precious to waste the ring's power on anything else.” - she finally said, nodding.

For a second, I hesitated. Why do I do this? Why don't I tell her honestly that I did the healing? But then again, I thought how unwell I felt, knowing she might at any moment rat me out, even accidentally. Now with this excuse, I had at least redirect the suspicion to that ring. Will this hold in case of any inquiry? Maybe, maybe not. So, does it make sense? Well, I tried, at least.

“OK, thanks!” - she said, then turned to Gonzo - “Come, we should hurry up!”

At least she thanked me. He came and hugged me.

“Thanks, Dolores!”

Maybe he was not duped, but he accepted the version without comments.

I watched as they left, then turned towards my tree. Another round of pull-ups, then I should go for a good breakfast outside. I'm hungry!