Dreamland

Hua'Lena took a step back and bowed respectfully as the queen approached, her face concealed by a veil. I couldn't help but appreciate the simplicity and refreshing nature of the Amazonian protocol, where the queen was first among equals. Two elderly Amazons trailed behind her, and a hush fell over the group.

As the moment stretched on, I glanced over at the forest.

"Lynx, you can come out. It's safe now," I called out, surprised when he actually listened. He poked his head out from behind a bush, still cautious.

Turning back to the queen, I saw her nod in approval.

"Don't be afraid, Lynx," I said, encouraging him to come out fully.

He protested but eventually emerged, looking around warily.

As we approached the queen, the Lynx timidly joined us, and the group surrounded us with a curious and admiring gaze. Not I, but the Lynx was the center of attention, and he slowly overcame his initial reticence, giving us a happy grin - displaying a lot of sharp teeth in the process - and even allowing the young girls to pet him. Behind him, Alice with the carriage and the rest of the group almost looked like trailing luggage carriers.

The queen stood several steps away, her movements mirroring those of the two old ladies at her side. Why was she doing that?

As I got closer, I saw a surprisingly aged face under her veil and became completely confused. She had the familiar features of the queen I remembered, but she was no longer the youthful woman I had met before. Was she the queen's grandmother? Despite her apparent age, she seemed to recognize me, but I couldn't recall ever meeting this old lady before. I couldn't help but wonder what was happening.

I was feeling uncertain about what to do or say. The queen comes out and greets me, and finally, everybody calms down and accepts us, for me to say: oops, she is not the queen I met?

Had the game reset the Amazons? Why would they... OK, they did it for whatever reason. We encountered warriors of lower levels with less discipline and now a different queen. It smells like some kind of reset, but it was such an unorthodox move! So probably, she is the mother or grandmother of the queen I learned, and the queen I met is just a promising young amazon! But somehow, the relationship is kept!

Something like this never happened before in the Mephisto game.

Oh, well, that must be it. Good that I did not cry foul the moment I saw her!

She gave me the honor of a personal magic handshake, and once our forehands touched, I felt that prickle that tells friend from foe. Once we shook hands and the blue light enveloped us briefly, all the others relaxed. I was now identified as a friend. As the queen already greeted me by name, I think this was only a formality, or maybe a demonstration to the crowd: see, this is how it is done.

The queen did not let me meditate further; she pulled me by the hand:

“Come, Cala, let's go inside the camp. Excuse me for the improper reception you've had, but it is difficult for me to walk; else, I would have come sooner.”

The etiquette was as I knew it: there is no 'lady' with the amazons; they address each other and everybody else directly by their names, except the queen, which is to be addressed with the simple title 'queen'.

Still confused by what I've seen, I could not abstain from asking:

“Excuse me, queen, are you In'Hetta's mother?”

OK, I did ask it. Let's see how she reacts. I did not say grandmother to be polite.

“No, Cala, it is still me, Hetta.” - This was the surprising answer I got, together with a burst of sour laughter from her.

The queen's words left me even more puzzled. If it was some kind of a reset, she wouldn't tell 'still me'; she would just wonder why I ask.

I remembered the queen I met as young, strong, and agile. But now, she appeared old and frail, and her voice was barely audible. Something strange was going on, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. As we walked towards the camp, the queen kept a slow pace, and her two attendants supported her on either side.

We entered the camp. Hidden under trees, on the banks of a small rivulet, the camp consisted of many improvised tents surrounded by a half-finished palisade. It did not have the order and discipline I was used to seeing in an amazons' commune but was bustling with activity, and we made our way through the crowds, the Lynx following us closely with Alice and the rest trailing behind.

Once we arrived at the queen's tent, she invited me to sit with her and offered me a cup of tea. I accepted gratefully, still trying to process everything that had happened. The queen's face was lined with wrinkles, but her eyes still shone with a fierce intelligence that I remembered well. Finally, I had the opportunity to ask: "Queen, forgive me for asking, but what has happened? You appear... different from the last time we met."

She gave a sad smile, sipped from her cup of tea, and raised her eyes to look at me.

“This is the harpies' curse, Cala. They have a new terrifying curse. Our witch doctors cannot cure it. We've been repeatedly attacked and cursed by them. After each attack, the wounded got older. Even those that were only spat on or touched by the harpies got older.

Our kids are grown-ups but not trained; our trained warriors are old or dead. Even our fruit trees and our animals got old. We had to leave our villages and our lands. We currently hide from them in this forest that is to become our new land.”

OK, this is a totally different situation from what I thought.

I sighed. So much for them helping me: a bunch of old ladies and kids with bows?

The queen's eyes flashed with determination as she continued, "But we have not given up, Cala. We may be old and weakened, but we are still amazons. We will fight back and find a way to break this curse. And we will not hesitate to ask for your help, as you have always been a friend to our people."

I couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion as I listened to her words. Yes, the queen might be older, but her spirit was still as strong as ever. I recognized that flash in her eyes.

I nodded my head in agreement and replied, "Of course, Queen. I will do whatever I can to help."

Well, so much for them helping me, but OK, I'll help; hopefully, that comes with a lot of money and experience! I already have a helping pledge with them. All their quests were rewarding!

At this moment Her’Thaya entered the tent and approached us, looked at the queen, and after a slight nod from the queen, she asked:

“Cala, can you heal our queen? If you took me back from death, you might be able to heal her?!”

I turned towards the queen:

“I can heal wounds but not remove curses. Will this help?”

The queen nodded.

"Oh, yes"

As she gave me permission, I touched her hand and spoke the words:

“I want to heal you.”

The fine silver dust touched her, but I was disappointed to see the same old woman in front of me. I don't know why I thought this would change.

“I am sorry, it does not seem to work!”

The queen did not answer immediately but took a deep breath.

“Don't be disappointed; I am not younger, but my wounds are healed. There were enough not properly healed wounds that plagued me. Your heal is powerful!”

She looked at me and added:

“Thank you, I do feel better. There is a lot of work for you if you can heal… will you and can you help us so much?”

Did White Flower not say that I can use unlimited healing?

I smiled and nodded:

“Sure!”

The queen gave a couple of orders, and then I left with Her'Thaya. I was left free to do what I wanted in the camp, but everybody expected me to set up a healing center first.

Cala, the healer! Lol! The idea of asking for a healing tax crossed my mind, but in the end, they would have bought healing potions if they had the money.

Her'Thaya helped me organize the healing center; basically, she provided a table and a chair for me in front of her tent that I was free to use, and almost instantly, a queue formed.

I healed and healed and healed and healed. I got some water and wine to drink and soon some fruit and cookies. I think the entire camp visited me. I was not sure if White Flower’s power would last, but it seemed she had almost unlimited resources, true to her word.

I sent the others to go visit the camp. You do not often have the opportunity to visit an Amazon village, so they should use it. Alice found the advanced archer's group and ended up chatting and exchanging tips with a group of what looked like ancient ladies.

The Lynx decided to stay with me and was soon submerged by a mass of very young girls who all wanted to climb the mass of fur, and Spartacius with Tina disappeared with a group of girls that looked older than them but were probably their age.

Meanwhile, the amazons prepared lunch for us. It was not as rich as I had some in memory, but still, it was good, and it ended with those delicious honey cookies that I had in memory. After that, whilst the others remained around the table and talked, I had the pleasure of visiting a sauna. The others did not seem interested in visiting it. OK, I could understand the Lynx but Alice and Tina? I think that Spartacius was too shy to try it. Maybe he'll regret his decision when I would tell him that massage is included in the sauna session.

Well, whatever. I remembered it well from last time, and a pleasant surprise was to see that they had it working. Improvised settlement and all, but the sauna was working!

I undressed, took a bath towel, and went slowly to the highest stairs inside the wooden cabin. There were only a couple of amazons there relaxing, throwing from time to time water over the hot stones.

You feel the sweat leaving you and, with it, all the impurities that gathered in your body. I think they treated the water in some special way; they must have a secret, as nowhere else did I feel this purifying feeling to this extent.

After copiously sweating, I took a cold shower, and then I enjoyed a massage, as only amazons can do. As they train all their lives, hunting, fighting, and sports, they have a deep knowledge of anatomy: muscles, bones, and joints. Three amazons were laboring on my body and members at the same time, with an older one explaining from time to time and putting her hand herself.

Oh dear, that was good!

Having nothing to do but relax on the massage table, I could let my brain free reign to think about my situation. Prisoner in a game. It was like a dream come true, or a nightmare, depending on how you looked at it, and suddenly I realized that 'dream' is the answer.

You can dream years in one dream!

When they did build up this world, it was at a higher speed. Years, even centuries, went through in only days. This is how the world was prepared for the story. Nations grew, kingdoms were conquered or lost, and empires were built, all in hours and minutes.

When the story achieved the required level, it was slowed down and then opened for users.

What if they lost control of the time function after that?

What if time here got disconnected from time in the real world? What if everything that I lived through happened in maybe ten or twenty minutes of real life? How much can you compress a dream?

I don't know. With their built-in feedback to our brains, as was explained by Ivar the ghost, it could have happened. What if that function overran the clock function of the system?

When I do say my speed spell, I can move and think at double or even triple speed. What if something like this happened to the whole system? This would explain why Ivar found no bodysuit players so far; they must have simply lost connection to the game. They could not play at increased speed.

This would explain why there was no shutdown and disconnection yet; it simply could not have happened yet! It would explain why a single error message in the clouds and no follow-up. I simply have a longer system-supported dream. This, combined with our logout problem being a small localized problem, explained all the happening neatly.

So let's keep it as a dream and not a nightmare. No dying here.

I stood up, energized and happy. Yeah, I can play further without worry! Everything will get fixed in time.

Hopefully, they do not fry my brain before.