Chapter – 76 - A Dream Forgotten, A Dream Remembered

'You are finally back! Check to see if all is fine with your body and spirit. You have broken through the illusionary barrier in your mind, but your body is still drugged, isn't it?'

Phantasm went quiet for a while, probably checking her own stats.

'Hmmm.....I can now connect through our spiritual channel.....but I still don't have any control over my body. How dare they trap me inside this puny and stinky cell! I am a Supreme Grade Demonic Beast!'

'Yeah, yeah....calm down. You are currently only at mid-grade...nothing difficult in catching a mid-grade demonic beast. By the way....make sure there is no change in the illusion you have put up outside. I still need some time to figure out how to get you out of this place, so we can't let anyone know that you have already gained back your consciousness....By the way.....what is this boy doing??'

The young boy whom Rihanna had followed was currently sitting cross-legged in front of Phantasm's cage, and with the help of a long Red-metal pole, he was trying to push a bowl filled with dark green soup through the bars of the cage.

'That rod is made of Devil's Stone. It is a very rare material found in Void River, and helps in binding the soul, so the Black Night Jade cannot attach itself to the person holding it. It protects the soul from being absorbed.'

'This little group seems to have some big backing! They so many rare and expensive stuff here.....but what is he feeding Phantasm....And how will Phantasm eat anything if she is supposed to be unconscious?'

'I think that is some kind of spirit nourishing soup. Look....he is lighting a small fire underneath the bowl using the flaming mushrooms. As the liquid of the soup evaporates, it will be absorbed by the body of the beast, and will continue to nourish the body even if it is unconscious.'

'Hmph! They sure don't want Phantasm to die. Are they wanting to wring every last use from her body and mind before she actually gives in to their control?...Or are they keeping her alive till they can find me and forcefully break off the contract?!'

After lighting the fire, the little continued sitting in front of the cage.

"Little piggy....please don't die! Why don't you do as the Leader wants....you will be able to live with us and no one will bully you again! And I promise I will take care of you! I will never let anything happen to you.

I am the only boy of my age in this group. They say I am an orphan. I don't know where my parents are, or who they were. But I was born in this group...and I will probably die in this group too. None of the other kids want to play with me.....they say my cultivation is too low...that I am trash. But that's okay. They are not all bad. Some of the elders in the group take care of me.....they will always keep food and other good things away just for me. And if you too become my friend.....then I will share half of what I get with you. Really!

Just accept the Leader as your Master, and everything will be alright. You will no longer have to suffer from these drugs anymore. Anyway.....I don't think your master will be coming. This place is hidden and no one can come in. Moreover the Leader is very strong. Only a foolish person would want to go against her.

Little Piggy...i really don't want to see you suffer everyday! I want to be your friend and play with you and take care of you...i really wish you could hear me...."

'You are the little piggy! Your entire family is full of Little Piggy's!!'

Phantasm would have been hopping around in anger if her body so permitted.....she was a great Illusion Hog.....how dare this stupid, inconsequential thing call her a little piggy!! And what master! Her master was already here! Hmph!!

Rihanna pursed her lips tightly to stop the smile threatening to break through. Little Piggy...actually quite suited her! Not that she would ever tell her...she might just go crazy from anger!

'Little Purple!.....Wha...what's happening?'

Rihanna suddenly started feeling heavy, as if her entire spirit body was being weighed down by heavy rocks, and her mind was slowly diffusing, becoming more and more confused and blank.

'You have over used your spiritual consciousness. You have to return back into your body immediately, or it might affect your physical body as well as mental health.'

Rihanna hurriedly reminded Phantasm to keep acting and wait for her. But before she could finish, she suddenly felt like a huge suction force was pulling her very soul, and everything before her eyes warped before turning into a large blank screen.

Her eyes fluttered, and she let out a heavy gasp, feeling the heaviness tying down her body, unable to move, unable to even open her eyes.

'Little Purple.....am I back in my physical body?...why are my muscles aching so much?!'

'That's the side effect of being out of your body for so long. The second sun is about to rise. Don't worry, sleep for some time and you should be fine in a while.'

Rihanna breathed in deeply, still feeling muddle-headed and drowsy, and in a few breaths she was sound asleep, leaving Little Purple to keep a watch around.

It wasn't clear whether it was due to her intense spiritual exhaustion or because she had experienced entering someone else's spiritual space, especially a spiritual space bound by a nightmare illusion matrix, for the first time.....but for a long time after closing her eyes, Rihanna felt like she floating in a blank space.

No matter where she looked - up, down, left, right.....everything was a dark blank space. She felt like she had become just a pair of rolling eyes, and her own body had completely vanished. She tried to move....and immediately sensed the surrounding turning upside-downside-upside-downside....at an alarming speed! She was not moving.....she was rolling around!

After a long while her 'form' finally rolled to a slow halt. She turned to look around again and was met with more blackness. She tried to jump.....and felt herself bouncing in continuation, unable to stop!

What in the world was going on? What place was this? She tried but failed to make contact with Little Purple. Her spiritual link seemed to be blocked..........but why was she not feeling scared or anxious?!

At long last, her bouncing stopped, but unfortunately, she somehow started rolling again! And the speed kept increasing again and again, till she was so dizzy just seeing the blackness go round and round! And then...she open her eyes and sat up with a start.

Ummm...where was she? Why was she in a different place again? Was this a dream within a dream?!

The surrounding was filled with trees of all kinds, small and big, and kept going on and on till they merged into the darkness of the beyond. She was apparently in some kind of a forest, and it was night time. The shadows of the trees and ground shone with an eerie green light bouncing off the smooth surfaces of the bark and stems and leaves and roots and stones.......like a game of tag between the shadows and the light, moving up and down like waves.

But before Rihanna could think more on this, she suddenly stood up and started moving in a certain direction, as if she knew where to go! But why did she know where to go?.....And why did this forest seem so familiar.....like she had been here many times?!

Her body seemed to be moving on its own accord, refusing all logic and reasoning's coming from her brain. She walked on for a short while, till she stepped past the last tree and broke through the outer edges of the forest.

And stepped onto a vast expanse of sand and rocks...like the banks of a river.

Rihanna stopped. It was her body which stopped, as if it was used to stopping here.....and looked around. The wind was mildly chilly, feeling very refreshing on her skin. She looked down....and was startled.

The sight of her old and much worn clothes provoked a sense of nostalgia, making it hard to breathe! The same old and thread-bare black jeans shorts, the faded black tank-top, with a full sleeve white shirt thrown over it. The sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, with the straps locking them in place...just the way she liked it. And those old but surprisingly sturdy black and red sports shoes.....she couldn't remember how many runs they had accompanied her...on the streets, through the back alleys of the city, on the roof, in the classrooms and passages and labs.

Rihanna took a deep breath to suppress the choking teary feeling, and looked up again. The white sands spread out like a beautiful, untouched and pure painting, completely untainted by the garbage and plastic of modern world. Her body stooped, and soon the two shoes were tossed off to the sides, as pressing each feet into the sand, she started moving forward again.

She looked down at her feet.....the heel digging into each step, making a hole in the soft and clear sand, spreading out her toes to feel the sensation of each crystallized particle rubbing against her foot. Unknowingly, her lips were tugging upwards, and a feeling of calm bliss poured through her body.

Step by step, slow and carful, feeling the cold breeze swipe its fingers against her skin, she kept moving towards the waters. The large boulder standing alone on the path, the large tree in a corner with the mark of being stabbed by something sharp, the tiny little yellow flowers growing amidst the pebbles separating the beach from the forest....why was everything so familiar. Why did it feel like....she had come home?.....

The body stopped again...and before she could ponder on it, a soft and clear sound of flute permeated through the air. Rihanna felt her entire soul being shocked to the core, as each note of the flute washed over her self, crashing through her senses, jolting her awake in a new light!

This.....wasn't this the same music!....The music she had heard that day inside the tunnel leading to the Underworld Abyss!!

Panic, anxiety, and a strange, unbearable yearning arose, wanting to rush forward and find the person who was playing the flute...find out what was his relation with her...why did this music affect her soul so resoundingly?!

But her body did not listen to her mind.....and even as she wanted to break through and run, her body simply kept moving towards the river, slowly, one step at a time. And as she moved on, and as the music continued, each note floating gently on the waves of the breeze, her heart slowly settled down, becoming calm and blissful once again.