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Best Of Dreams VI
🕑 Added 2022-07-01 13:42:14 +0000 UTC.................
Chapter 132: Best Of Dreams VI
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The door just stood there, closed, but Ian could clearly see nothing but the wall behind it. The door was dark, having several scratches, one of which was on its handle.
"Is this what I think it is?"
He first paid attention to Layla, making sure she was okay and in full control of herself. Only after a few more tests did his attention return to the door.
He started by scanning it with magic, making sure it was not a trap, and only after that did his hand land on the door handle, slowly twisting it around until the door opened.
Slowly but surely, it gave view to where it led, an odd place. Ian could see a graveyard with what appeared to be hundreds of graves. At the very center of the place was a medieval house.
It seemed to be an exquisite three stories house with a sign above its front door stating, House Of Mystery.
Ian observed everything he could from where he stood, not going in just yet. He eyed the faint mist, seeming to be released from the ground around the house, especially concentrated on the graves.
He also observed the variety of rocks floating around far above the area, gravity seeming nonexistent. In fact, he was pretty sure some of those rocks were far away Island, just like the house seemed to be built on a floating Island.
'The mist seems to travel into the house, and those shadows swimming about... What are they? And those are ghosts, right?' Ian noted several things before instructing, "Layla, wait for me here."
There is a level of loyalty that will drive someone to risk death for their leader, those who will volunteer for a death mission out of loyalty.
Layla wasn't such a person. She was someone who believed all of Ian's actions and words to be the right thing. Her loyalty was on an entirely different level. Perhaps it shouldn't even be considered loyalty anymore.
Ian however didn't go in just yet. Instead, he sent his Death force through the door, and even enveloped it with it, trying to see if he can communicate with the house.
As far as he remembers, the house has a tiny bit of sentience, granted, he was assuming this was the house he was thinking of. The circumstances at least say as much.
The House was, after all, the abode of Cain, and the appearance of the door couldn't possibly be a coincidence, not when it synchronized with the death of Cain.
Ian remembers quite a lot about the house, mainly because he knows a lot about the tale of Constantine, it was just that interesting.
The origins of the House of Mystery are unknown, but it appears to usually exist simultaneously in both the realm known as The Dreaming and on Earth, next to a graveyard.
The House appears to be sentient and to act as a repository for stories, normally quite horrific ones.
He also noted that it exists in the realm of dream, and he had just met Dream himself, Morpheus not long ago, so the possibility of this having something to do with him wasn't out of the question.
It also needs a caretaker for some reason. And as Ian's death force came in contact with the door, the reason became apparent to him, "Oh you're such a sweetheart. We'll probably become close friends."
Ian murmured as if talking to himself, and even he was surprised at how easy it was for the house to communicate with him through his death force.
Then again, it's part of the realm of dreaming, and such a thing is easy to dream into existence. The laws on which it works must be quite convoluted and different from the norm.
Well, calling it a house wasn't accurate because it was an entire dimension, a small mysterious dimension. The house of mystery was odd, to say the least, and Ian's strange look as he spoke to it says it all.
"Hmm, I'll accommodate your weirdness, but first, let me take a look at you..." Ian murmured strangely before going in, the door automatically closing behind him.
Ian took a deep breath once inside, feeling a fresh cold breeze against his skin. It was almost like the entire dimension started to adapt to him the moment he entered.
'The House of Mystery seems to know a lot about me, but nothing deep. It's safe to assume it collected my information through others' dreams of me... Quite the special thing.'
Ian was thoroughly satisfied with what he just acquired, especially after finding out its desire, "A wondrous thing you are, but you're restrained... All you need is company, and all you want are stories and dreams. Unfortunately, I can not dream..."
His death force was already spreading widely throughout the dimension, not just to communicate with it but also to activate the give and take process, to thoroughly corrupt the dimension with his Death force.
Only that will give him peace of mind to fully trust it because that will allow him to gain full control over it.
The House of Mystery, however, didn't seem to mind that as it instead enjoyed the rich Death force swimming about, seeming to be enjoying its presence, becoming vibrant. His death force has a way to strengthen some things it comes in contact with.
"Oh? You can actually build a connection with those who dream of me? That's useful."
All the house of mystery wanted was company and tales to enjoy, mostly horrific tales... It finds them cute.
"Really? Hahahha, yup, you're such a sweetheart." Ian laughed from time to time, even giggling at the house of Mystery's stories.
Hell, even the house seems to be giggling as the entire dimension vibrates from time to time, with a variety of colors twisting around in the sky.
Soon, Ian found himself lying before the house, comfortably resting on the soft heavenly grass, just enjoying its stories. He was even telling stories of his own, the ones that don't include the word charity in them couldn't be counted at all because they don't exist.
"Wait, really? Cain did that every ten years? What a dedication, or what a twisted mentality I should say... Poor Abel."
The most interesting of the house's stories was that of Cain. Apparently, Abel, after being killed by his brother, was brought into the Dreaming, the realm representing imagination, where he became a storyteller and was given the House of Secrets to live in by Morpheus.
The unfortunate thing was that Cain was also granted something, the House of mystery. In contrast to Abel though, Cain got to be the caretaker of the house under the house's wishes itself.
Of course, being next door to his brother reminded Cain of why he'd murdered him in the first place, and thus he killed Abel again, except this time Abel came back, and so this Cain resolved to kill him again and again, ad nauseum.
It became a twisted desire of Cain, an obsession, and so he took it upon himself to schedule Abel's death every ten years, killing him in different ways every time. The dedication that took was... There are no words to describe it.
"Ahh, poor Abel. I have to admire his mental fortitude though, not breaking down completely even after being killed again and again for what can be assumed to be thousands of years."
Ian then stood up, and took a look at the ever night sky of the dimension, its twisted form, and chaotic colors, finding satisfaction in the House Of Mystery's workings, "Anyway, let's do some experimenting now, shall we?"
And he did just that, starting with touring the house entirely, getting rid of all that he deemed useless, mostly Cain's stuff. Anything that was of no value was thrown out.
"Show me." At last, Ian found himself seated on the grass again, looking directly in front of him as space started twisting at his order.
Many of the chaotic colors in the sky flew down, forming into something akin to a delirious mirror. Soon, more of such mirrors formed, these are what the House Of Mystery refers to as the Reflection of Dreams.
Reflected in the mirror were all the dreams about Ian, all dreamt by other beings, "I'm the Worst Of Nightmares. I'm Also the Best Of Dreams... Huh?"
Comments
Thank you!
Jeremiah Eleko
Great chapter as always.
