Pieces of Sonder

“Diviner Houkyu, can I ask you something?” Freya asked quietly.

The campfire crackled. They had spent the last day going over strategies for tackling the dungeon. During that time the events of the previous day still weighed on her mind. 

“Sure, ask away.”

On the other side of the campfire, Infamous Biscuit glanced over, curious. Heilong and K13 were logged out, taking a short break before they attempted the dungeon.

“When you’ve described your prophetic dreams, you mentioned someone telling you the future. Have you ever had a vision of watching a future scene play out in a dream?”

Diviner Houkyu nodded, “Actually, those types are more common. I often have dreams about watching something unfold that actually does happen the next day or a few days later. Why?”

“I think-” Freya fiddled with her hands, “I think I had a dream about what just happened, with the orcs coming out of the dungeon.”

“Really?” Diviner Houkyu said, his eyes shined with interest.

“Well, I’m not sure. It started the same, but the dream ended much worse. But the first few events that took place seemed identical.”

“You made different decisions than those in the vision right?”

“Yes,” Freya answered, hugging her knees close. “What I saw in the dream was terrible. I didn’t want that to happen.”

“That’s good then; your dream was useful.”

Freya gave him a puzzled look, “But wasn’t it not a prophetic dream then? The future it showed didn’t come true.”

Diviner Houkyu laughed, “Prophetic dreams show a possibility. Visions are not shown to dreamers to make them anxious about an unchanging fate. They show a future meant to be changed.”

Staring into the flames of the campfire, Freya recalled the events of her dream. First, a spear struck Heilong. She was saved by Infamous Biscuit’s healing, but then the orcs surrounded K13. They hacked him apart while Freya and the others tried in vain to kill them. Blood covered their campsite. Her dream ended with an orc smiling down at her body.

She shook her head, “I’ve never had any visions like this before. I wonder why I’m having diviner-like dreams.”

“You said diviners and shamans aren’t too different right?”

“But I’ve never heard of a shaman having a prophetic dream before. I thought they were just things of fiction.”

Diviner Houkyu shrugged, “Well, these do seem to be strange times. I thought living orcs were a thing of fiction.”

Freya laughed bitterly at that. They were indeed living in strange times. She’d seen more things in the last month than she expected to in her entire life. Prophetic dreams were a minor detail in the grander scheme of mysteries. Perhaps being in Naihei increased the chances of having visions, or more than likely, it was another machination of the game system. 

A few meters away, Heilong winked back into existence. Freya noticed Diviner Houkyu briefly blink in confusion, but he said nothing.

“Okay, I’m good for the dungeon raid,” Heilong said. She patted her hair into place and adjusted the collar of her shirt.

“Alright, we just have to wait for K13,” Infamous Biscuit said.

Right on cue, the young berserker showed up. He quickly glanced at all of them.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said with his head down.

“It’s fine. I just got here two seconds before,” Heilong reassured him.

Infamous Biscuit briefed them again on their strategies and asked each of them to list off any potions or useful materials they might have. Then they said goodbye to Diviner Houkyu and headed into the dungeon.

…

Beep!

[Ruins of Old Kai Nai]

[Major Dungeon] [Suggested Level: 18]

[Note: Meridian Manipulation based skills are highly recommended]

Two massive stone pillars greeted them as they entered the dungeon. 

Click-clack

K13’s hard sole shoes clattered against the hard white marble floor. Just beyond the entrance, two giant statues cast shadows down on them. Carved out of white stone, the statues depicted in surprising detail two orcs. Each figure held a spear and stood at attention. Freya could see some small chips missing out of the sculptures as they got closer, but they looked almost new with how clean they appeared. Similarly, the rest of the dungeon room was clean. Not a speck of dirt could be found.

The two statues guarded the entrance to a dark passageway. 

“I don’t like these statues,” Heilong said, her voice echoed in the large space.

Infamous Biscuit walked up to one of the stone figures, “They do seem creepy. Do you see anything odd about them Freya?”

“I don’t think so,” Freya said. They looked a little too realistic for her liking, but on closer inspection, she could see chisel marks and other imperfections. Their grim orc faces looked a little anatomically incorrect based on the real life orcs she’d seen. “I think they’re just meant to look scary. I can’t see any runic writing that would allow them to move.”

“Thanks, I didn’t even consider that,” Heilong grumbled. “The most recent trails I’ve found with my Tracking skill were made just a few hours ago. So, they can’t be from the orcs we fought yesterday.”

The back of Freya’s neck prickled hearing that. But, after a few more minutes of exploring the room, they decided there was nothing to do but move forward.

“I’ll go first,” K13 said. He sounded nervous, but Freya wasn’t sure if that was merely him being shy about speaking.

He held both of his axes at the ready as he walked between the statues. Freya carefully watched the blocks of stone, ready to spring forward to pull him back if anything happened. 

“It’s okay,” he called from the passageway. “It’s just dark.”

Freya crossed between the statues. She brought out her enchanted light stone from her inventory. Pouring a bit of her qi in, the stone showed a long narrow hallway.

Behind her, Heilong sighed, “First creepy statues and now a creepy corridor. I’d rather start with a straight fight than this anticipation.”

“It is odd,” Freya said. “Since they were escaping out of the dungeon, I thought we’d run into some immediately.”

Heilong looked down into the darkness, “Or maybe they know we’re here.”