Howdy. I have finally completed a Lost Child Chapter. I am trying to get back into routine but holidays, birthdays and fallout 4 have screwed up my schedule. I am not going to promise that I will get back to regular releases but I will try.

I have other stuff on my website please feel free to check it out. https://yougots.wordpress.com/

Enjoy

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Dreams, Otis did not understand them, how they were made or what caused them. But he did know that dreams were important. Often times what happens in dreams can still touch you in reality in some way, shape or form. Being trapped in the mental space had taught him that. You cannot be just mentally and physically guarded it goes beyond that. He had to be internally guarded but Otis was not sure how he could even do that. His understanding of the mind or whatever his mental space is, was flawed, no maybe not flawed just significantly incomplete.

So when Otis stepped out of the doorway and into another dream he knew this was some part of some larger scheme. He had seen the Gray Man in the previous dream and figured he was currently manipulating Violam. But what he saw in the second dream convinced him that this was not some passing mental manipulation. No, what he was seeing now took a subtle hand, time, skill and patience. This was not merely a dream that drew on Violam’s knowledge, this was a crafted world. Otis was seeing things he had never seen before and could not but wonder where the hell he was and how long had Violam been having these dreams. And could Otis’s first mind still be saved? This was the Gray Man’s plan to get Violam on his side. Otis had to admit it was a good plan. Control Violam’s reality when he was awake and control his dream when he slept. Torture him but yet also give him a place to escape. Break him down in one and build him up in the other.

Otis looked down the street he stepped out of the doorway into. Bright neon signs littered the street and the sides of building. Some buildings stretched far past the clouds. It was nighttime and street was crowded in fact it looked like the street had been closed just for pedestrians. All the of street lighting had blanked out the stars. There were vehicles in the sky though they did not look like hovering cars more like fancy submarines. Maybe they were spacecraft or just futuristic semi-trucks. He had a feeling it was closer to the ladder. He felt a pull that tugged himself which he registered as Violam.

He was lucky he had a way to find Violam in this three dimensional where’s Waldo. A majority of the Farg ignored him and quickly walked past. Some did steal secret glances of him. Some were sad and some filled with disdain. It made him wonder what he looked like to earn that response. Otis noticed a group of men pushing through people and stomping towards him from Violam’s direction.

“Child! Good thing you stopped running before you really made me angry.” The fattest one yelled out of breath from the middle of the group. Otis assumed he must be the boss of their little group because it looked like he did the least amount of work.

What kind of event is this? Otis thought as he narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

The fat Farg snorted. “I want the necklace you stole and don’t bother denying it. I can see it in your hand.”

Otis glanced at his right hand. How’d that get there? He slipped it into his pocket before he spoke. “What necklace?” The necklace looked expensive especially the red jewel at the end. Even if he was to give the necklace back these men would not let him go.

“You still deny it!” The man gasped in disbelief. “I saw you just put it in your pocket!”

Otis watched the men secretly attempt to circle around him out of the corner of his eye. These guys aren’t stealthy at all! There were ten of them in total discounting the useless boss and by the way they moved only a few of them knew how to throw a real punch. The rest just relied on surprise and numbers to beat their opponent. It shouldn’t be much of a problem if I just handle them right now.

“Well even if I had your necklace I don’t think I would hand it over.” He pulled the necklace from his pocket and put it around his neck. The fat man boiled with rage. Otis could see the veins pulsing on his pulsing on the Farg’s forehead. “This is my mind and I do what I want. What are you going to do about it?”

The boss’s mouth twisted in anger. “The boy is crazy. Get him!” He roared. The men who had positioned themselves to block Otis’s escape stepped forward to grab the boy.

Otis had not even figured out how he was going to get Violam out of the dream and now he was already being attacked. His first thought was to evade and not draw too much attention to himself. But now he was doubting his first response. They had already hunted him down once.

“Screw it. Let’s see how strong you guys are.” Who knows maybe drawing attention to myself is the right thing to do.

“Little boy we aren’t here to play games.” The Farg closest reached out to grab Otis.

Otis stepped to the side dodging the first Farg. Otis’s sidekick landed on the knee of another approaching Farg. Otis had only put a little power behind it but still heard the crunch of bones breaking as the man fell to the ground. He screamed in pain so loud you would have thought that Otis had ripped off all of the man's limbs. This did not stop the rest from rushing Otis. Maybe it just happened too fast and they could not react to the fact that a child crippled a man. Otis casually stepped around their attacks and used less strength to incapacitate them. At least this time they did not cry out in pain.

The horrified boss watched the child approach him. He wanted to run, he wanted to call for help but this child easily took out his men. He looked around for help but the crowd ignored him. He was here to bully a child but instead he became the victim. “Please don’t hurt me. Please I will do anything just leave me alone.” The Farg backed away until he tripped on his own feet and fell over.

Otis snort in response and walked past the crying Farg. He still had to find Violam and these gangster wannabe’s were not worth the time he used to beat them up.

The pull guided Otis through the streets towards Violam. This was a less hostile environment compared to the last dream so he could move freely. The only thing he really had to deal with were the crowds of people in the street but his footwork skill made the crowds just a minor inconvenience. He could tell that this was some kind of entertainment district. The street was filled with performers and musicians. He had passed many gambling houses and bars until Otis was led to a large red and gold building with a pointed roof. On it was a sign that read “Tea House”.

The Tea House was guarded by what looked like an army of security. The guard at the entrance checked identification and to see if the person’s name was on the list. He was tall and had a muscular build but it was nothing Otis could not handle. Though he figured it was not the best of ideas to strong arm his way in. That was mainly because the rest were heavily armed with rifles and weapons Otis had seen in the previous dream.

Otis stood on the opposite side of the street. He watched from within a shadow cast by a large building. Standing in the shadow gave him a better connection to the shadows in his surroundings. One of the men that Otis fought earlier ran up to a guard. He kept pointing down the street. The guard called a couple dozen men to follow him and they all ran back the way Otis had come from.

“It looks like getting into that fight may have been a good thing.” Otis closed his eyes and felt through the shadows connecting them to the Tea House. He was sure he would be able to make the connection because this was his mind they were already connected. If the people in the Tea House had paid attention they would have noticed the shadows unnaturally shift and cast at odd angles for a brief moment as Otis attached them to his mind.

He peered through the shadows starting at the private rooms of the Tea House. It was a good thing that he could not hear through the shadow. The Tea House was not for children. The lower floors were a restaurant and bar. The upper floors consisted of private rooms for those who selected a mistress for the night, day or hour. The top floor looked like a place for the big wigs to meet up. Looking through the shadow was a bit queer. Otis could see everything but it was dark like a cloud blocking the sun on an otherwise sunny day.

Soon enough Otis located Violam. He was on the third floor drinking what seems to be alcohol not tea. He was surrounded by the commanders that Otis had seen in the previous dream. Their table sat next to the balcony and overlooked the second floor of the Tea House. They were laughing and telling stories. “Is this some return home alive and victorious dream?”

Otis stepped through the shadow into the Tea House. The shadow clung to his body as he stepped out to remain unseen. He had picked a corner at the far side of the room. He did not want to risk being seen just yet. Covering himself in shadow is not a perfect skill after all. He had learned that the hard way time after time. It was really just one in a set of stealth skills. He could not rely on it completely just like he couldn’t rely completely on his physical strength during a fight. It should have been obvious to him.

He noticed another limitation of the shadow. The four commanders that Violam was sitting with had titles over their heads. Those had not appeared when he watched through the shadow from outside the Tea House.

[Commander Gargan - Level 47 Dream Illusion]

[Commander Andronkronc - Level 45 Dream Illusion]

[Commander Luaniton - Level 52 Dream Illusion]

[Commander Ward - Level 55 Dream Illusion]

“This smells like a trap. Violam doesn’t have a title. Does that mean he is useless?” Otis frowned as he whispered to himself. “Did the gray man set this up knowing that I am coming to save him?”

There were others with titles but none as high as those four. “No that can’t be right only the gray man had a level last time but those Farg soldiers were strong enough to take my attacks head on. Maybe it’s just that these guys have a connection to the real world. Damn, this is definitely a trap. But it’s not like I have a choice in the matter.” Otis sighed and shook his head. He knew this was not going to be easy. “Well I will only know for sure if I spring it.”

Otis continued to observe Violam’s table and waited for the right moment. It’s one thing to spring a trap and it’s another to spring it in the enemy’s favor. Hell he still thought there still may be a chance to leave it unsprung. Otis stalked in his shadow from table to table on the balls of his feet to silence his steps. He hadn’t noticed it before but even though people's mouths moved no sound came out. There was noise in the dining area, a clang of dishes, waiters taking orders and conversation but none of it had an origin at least none he could see. It was almost like it was piped in white noise and a majority of the people here were just mindless automatons made just to set the scene of the dream. Otis brushed those idle thoughts off to the side, he needed to focus. This was a dream it was best not to focus too much on those things at the moment. For all he knew it was all just in his head.

He was in close enough range to overhear the conversation at Violam’s table. He ducked behind an empty chair and focused himself on listening to their conversation.

“Come on Ambassador Violam you need to cut loose. This is supposed to be a celebration!”

“I am cutting loose.” Violam said stiffly. “I came out tonight even though I have a big day tomorrow, didn’t I? And don’t call me Ambassador.”

“Whatever that’s just all but a formality now. After the ceremony tomorrow everyone knows they are going to promote you to Ambassador. What does one day matter?”

“Alright Gargan leave him alone. This is his party if he doesn’t want to choose one of the girls it fine besides he already has what’s her name.”

“Sonashi.” Violam corrected Ward’s mistake.

“Yeah that’s what I said. What’ her face. So you really are sweet on her, huh? That’s a shame. Whelp better you than me. I don’t know what you seen in the Soul Witch.”

“We’ve been through a lot together.” Violam stared into his beer.

“Alright girls that’s enough gossip. Let daddy show you how it’s done.” Said the Commander with the name Luaniton floating above his head. His hand rose up and waved at the hostess standing at the stairwell that led to the upper floors.

She gracefully made her way to their table. She had a small booklet in her hand that she presented to the large Commander with a bow.

“He…” The Commander pointed at Violam. “...is going to have this one. Oh and this one.” The man nodded to himself in satisfaction as he flipped through the booklet. “I like her so that one too.” He said after some consideration and handed the book back to the woman.

The beautiful hostess’s eyebrow rose. “Are you sure three is enough? Maybe you should make it an even four since it is a celebration.” She purred with a small amount of defiance in her voice.

Luaniton nodded in agreement and smiled at the beautiful woman. “How about you join them then?”

The woman smiled in return and with a hint of excitement she spoke. “Very well. I like the look of your friend so I will make an exception to the rules.”

“Lu is there going to be any left for us?

Luaniton shrugged. “Not my problem this is his party. The ladies will still be here tomorrow. There is plenty of time before we go back on mission.”

“I didn’t know you cared about me so much Lu.” Violam said with a straight face

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” He waved off Violam’s statement. “I knew you would keep refusing so I thought I would help you out. You know, take the decision out of your hands. Don’t worry you don’t owe me a thing.”

“Uh huh.”

The hostess glanced at Violam sweetly. “Sir, would you follow me? I will take you to your room.”

Violam sighed and stood trying to pretend to not see the other Commander’s smug faces.

Otis watched Violam and the beautiful woman walk to the stairs before he followed. In his mind he noted how staged it all had felt. This too was just setting the scene and if he had not known it was dream he would have assumed it was all real. He silently moved around the tables tailing to two. He kept plenty of distance between himself and the Farg Commanders at Violam’s table. He had one eye on them to make sure they were not alerted to his presence. He only relaxed his vigilance once he reached the stairs.

The beautiful woman led Violam to the fifth floor and down the hallway. It was silent in the hallway. Otis did not know if it was silent because it was a dream world, those rooms were unoccupied or because it was just really well made. But from what he saw when he was outside the Tea house the activities done in these rooms were often very loud. They passed three or four doors before the woman came to a halt. She opened the door to allow Violam inside.

“Honored guest, please make yourself at ease. I will return with the other girls.” The beautiful woman spoke before she closed the door and walked down the hall.

Once she was out of view Otis approached the door and turned the handle. “Tsk. Locked.” He said in annoyance. Otis examined the look. He raised his index finger up and a shadow formed at its tip. He pushed the shadow key into the lock, this was the first time he had used his shadows this way. He felt the pins fall into place as the key took shape. He turned the key until the bolt pulled away from the lock. He opened the door just enough to slide into the room. Violam wasn’t in the sitting room but Otis could hear running water.

“Is he brushing his teeth? What a nice guy.” Otis whispered to himself as he walked into the center of the sitting room. The room had a comfortable looking sofa as well as some questionable reading materials.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” Otis heard an angry voice from behind him. Apparently the questionable reading materials were too distracting and he had not heard Violam leave the bathroom.

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” Otis stupidly shot back in surprise.

Violam looked around with an expression that had equal bits of awkwardness and shame. “Never mind that I am an adult.” He said with a doubtful expression. “This is no place for children.” His doubtful expression grew even more. “Wait, no I remember you. Why are you here? Why aren’t you on Earth? I let you live. You shouldn’t be here you will get in trouble.”

“No I am not leaving without you. You are the one in trouble.” Otis said firmly.

“Do I look like I am in trouble to you?” Violam gestured to his soft white robe and freshly washed face. “Now you should go.”

“That’s not what I am talking about. We need to leave this whole place and get somewhere safe.”

Violam sighed. “Let me take you to my friends they will know what to do with you.”

“Those Farg downstairs are not your friends. They are part of the problem.”

“My Commanders? I have known them forever. They are good men.”

“Are you sure about that? Violam, those men are monsters. How long do you think you have known them?”

Violam frowned at the question when he couldn’t formulate an exact answer. “Forever!”

“Give me a time frame. 10 years? 5 years? 1? A couple of months? Days? Violam you don’t know them.” Otis pressed his other mind for answers.

“What?” Violam said confused and exasperated. “I don’t know specifics. I am a guy I don’t care about the details.”

“See you can’t even tell me how long. You don’t even know them.” Otis pleaded.

“I have known them longer than some child I met on the battlefield.”

Otis snorted. He was about to respond when the door opened interrupting them. His mind screamed at him as beautiful woman entered the room. The three looked at each other in shock.

A sad disgusted expression covered the woman’s face. “If that is your taste it could have been arranged. But I am sorry the street child cannot join us.” She spat the words out.

“T-this is not what it looks like he just showed up.” Violam stammered and backed away as if struck.

The second woman entered the room. She was not an exact copy of Sonashi but only two or three degrees from original. The same could be said for the third woman who was almost an exact copy of a woman that Violam would recognize as Captain Umaiko. Both of their eyes were blank, devoid of like. Otis had seen it on a few of the faces in the dining room as well.

“That’s not what you told me when you bought me.” Otis tried his luck at getting them both thrown out. But at this point the fourth woman entered the room and it all went wrong.

[Commander Dina - Level 48 Dream Illusion]

“Tsk!” The sound escaped Otis’s mouth before he could think.

Her eyes rose in recognition. She took a solid step forward. Her robe fell from her shoulders revealing her beautiful form. A sword shimmered into existence in her hand. Her speed and grace were incredible. Before Otis could react to the sword the tip of the blade was already aimed and speeding towards his throat. He shifted to the side just dodging the point. She turned the blade flat slashing at his throat. Otis ducked summoning a curved shadow blade to his hand. He brought his blade up to meet hers. She had already been slashing downwards when their blades met.

The swordswoman’s eyes rose once again as Otis blocked her attack. Without retracting her blade she spoke. “I am Dina and whom would you be?”

Otis smirked as he looked at the swordswoman’s near nude form. “I would be turned on if I wasn’t being attacked. Though I do approve of your color choice. Purple lace. Quite exotic.”

“I aim to please.” She said as she pulled her sword back and unleashed a roundhouse kick to Otis’s weak side. Otis jumped back to dodge but the kick stopped and she stepped forward to press the advantage. She was much taller than Otis in his child form so she had a major advantage over him in a sword fight. He needed to get past her guard if he was going to be able to attack at all.

Otis stepped off her line of attack and stabbed with the tip of his sword aimed at the center of her chest. If she continued her attack she would impale herself on his sword. Unfortunately she was too good for that. She stopped mid attack preventing any injury. Now that she was paused Otis stepped in slashing his blade in hopes to cut open her flat stomach. The woman adjusted her attack and stepped to the side. She did not dodge. She only bought some time so she could take off Otis’s head.

Mutually assured destruction. That was a game he was not willing to play. Otis aborted his attack and jumped back mid slash. The woman did the same. In just a few moments they had engaged in several attacks. Otis cursed himself for falling into her rhythm and being dragged into a sword fight. It was tough for him to admit it out loud but he was no match for her with the sword.

The woman smirked. “Sorry boy even though you are pretty good I like my men with some more guts.”

“You’re crazy!” Otis looked at everyone else in the room. “She’s crazy!”

“What the hell is going on?” Violam shouted once he recovered from the shock.

“This is a dream.” Otis pointed at the nearly nude swordswoman. “They are trying to break your mind or at least corrupt it.”

The hostess gasped and stepped backwards until she met the wall. The other two women were lying lifeless on the ground. Otis surmised that they were automatons or mental constructs maintained by either the swordswoman or the hostess. Most evidence pointed to the swordswoman as they had dropped when the fight started.

“And Swordswoman Dina no clothes here is a part of it. Would you put on some clothes already?”

The swordswoman winked at Otis as some substance formed in the air. It was the same thing that had formed her sword. The gas flowed to her bare skin to make a black and purple tight fitting leathers. It still left a generous amount of skin exposed. “Is this better? Can I go ahead and kill you now that I am properly dressed. We need to get this show on the road. A modern swordsgirl has got places to be.”

“You mean he’s telling the truth?” Violam sputtered. He edged his way towards the boy who was apparently here to save him. He had felt something nagging him this whole time that something was not right. Which was why he had not wanted to come upstairs to begin with.

“Violam you don’t understand. You are already one of the Farg there is nothing you can do about it but accept your fate. Consider yourself lucky you could be a slave like this woman here but instead the Ambassador marked you for the Farg Legion. This is just a part of your initiation. You will still be yourself when we are finished with you. In fact you will be better than yourself. You will be stronger and smarter. You will shed the bindings that make you human. You will be greater than human.” She spoke with a strange reverence.

“And the boy? What happens to him if I go along with this?”

“If he gives himself up and tells me how he entered your mind. I am sure the Ambassador will bring him into the Legion. I am also quite interested in his skills.”

Violam was considering his option but before he could respond Otis made the decision for him. Otis had backed his way to the window during their conversation. At the lull in the conversation a two handed shadow hammer formed in his hand. Before anyone could register what was happening he slammed the hammer into the window overlooking the street. The hostess screamed at the boy’s action.

To Otis’s dismay the only sound from the hammer connecting to the window was a dull thud. It was useless the window remained.

Dina’s laugh was the opposite of intoxicating and her icy voice sobered him ever further. “Stupid boy. You will not be destroying any buildings this time. There is only one way out of this place and you will never make it.”

That is why the hallway was so silent, Otis realized. We are not actually inside the Tea House. The door connected each room to a place outside the dream or at least to some sealed space within the dream.

Otis recovered from his failure quickly and stood firm. “I guess we'll just have to see won’t we? I do like destroying buildings if it kills Farg.”

The swordswoman stepped forward to attack. Otis was not going to make the same mistake twice. The shadows in the room shifted and strangely fell beneath Otis and the swordswoman’s feet. A slim black line connected the two of them. The shadow grew upwards along the swordswoman’s legs until it reached her thighs. Without her noticing it pulled the swordswoman in. The room fell silent.

Violam was the first to recover. W-where did she go? She vanished.” He turned to Otis who was panting and retching on all fours.

“I used the shadows to send her to the penthouse.” He coughed and tried to push away the weakness that invaded his mind and body. He had never sent someone else through the shadows. It drained so much of his mental energy to do so he felt like he was going to fade away. It had not occurred to him that since they were not merged with the shadow. They could not go as they pleased within them like he could. He had to sacrifice something to provide the energy to move them. The shadow syphoned his mental energy like an endless void. It drained him until he felt his mentally constructed body flickering in and out of existence. He was lucky he had enough mental energy or else he would have unraveled. He was lucky he was not surrounded by enemies when he attempted this for the first time.

“Hopefully that will buy us some time to get out of here. I didn’t think it was a good idea to fight her at close range. Something about that gas she uses disturbs me.” Otis spoke as he pushed himself off the floor. He was already starting to regain his energy but it was going to take some time to be full once again.

“Shadows? No you are supposed to be safe and away from the Farg.” Violam’s voice grew in alarm as he realized that the boy in front of him was none other than the portion of his mind that he had sealed away.

“Don’t worry I am still safe. Don’t say any more about it while we are in dreams and don’t use my name. It is you who is in danger right now.” Otis turned his attention to the woman who had pressed her back against the wall as if in attempt to escape their notice. “Excuse me is what nudist said correct? Is there only one way out of this place?”

Her eyes went wide in alarm still afraid to speak only hoping to be forgotten. Now that the room calmed down this was the first time Otis had really looked at her. Or possibly his mind was still exhausted and could only process simple information. Her appearance was close to human. The only difference that Otis had noticed was that her skin was a shade off the human palette but what shade was hard to tell. Maybe that was part of the allure which Otis found so beautiful.

“What’s your name?” He spoke to her again in a calm reassuring voice.

“Felasine.” She whispered as she stared at the ground. Tears were forming at the corners of her eyes.

“Felasine, will you please help us? I know you are not a part of this. You just got caught up in it somehow.” Otis’s words hung in silence.

When he was sure she would not answer he spoke again. “I know you are a good person. We need your help to escape. There is not much time will you help us?”

“I am not a good person.” She whispered. “I have done terrible things. Please don’t hurt me just leave.” Her whisper turned into a plea.

“Don’t worry I am not going to hurt you. You’re a good person forced to do bad things. It is understandable you are only trying to survive. You are a fighter just like us.”

She snorted a hollow laugh. “I am no fighter. If I was do you think I would be trapped here and slave to a mad man?”

“Now’s your chance. We can all escape together. What do you need me to do? I will accomplish it no matter what it takes.”

She closed her eyes hard and tears ran down her cheeks. “Okay I will help you. But you will have to kill me. You will have to kill all of us. It is the only way we can be free.”

After a moment Otis slowly nodded in acceptance. “Tell me what I have to do.”