The Center of Estellia

     "Why didn't you run the law by me before you made that stupid declaration?" I scream at James.

     He looks a little peeved. "I didn't know that you were interested in law. Isn't it outside your domain?"

     "Not when it could impact the economy." I yell back, "Don't you know the entire economy of Fairyland is built off of humans coming in search of opportunity and then wiling it away on games, shows, and drugs. If they had to be inside at night, we'd lose everything. Not to mention just how crowded the city would get."

   "The law doesn't apply to Fairyland, or any of the Nightmare Realms. It only applies to the human city, and they don't worry about opportunity. They just lay around all day and hope that they authorities don't notice them."

     "Do you honestly expect me to believe that? I know how you Shadows work. First you say something only applies to humans in the human realm, then it applies to humans in general, then it applies to Nightmares who don't have a Nightmare form, and finally it applies to Nightmares who are unwilling to vote to have the Shadow god killed. I refuse to let anything happen that could danger my countries economy, and if I have to put you in the center of a clown show, I'll do so in an instant."

    "Emily, the humans are getting more aggressive. Just last night a human entered the Shadow Dreamworld."

      I can't hide my disbelief, "Are you serious? No human, no matter how desperate, would ever enter the Shadow Dreamworld. I don't know any who sleep, personally, and the ones I see in Dreamworlds are too terrified out of their minds to be a threat. If this is the best attempt you have at propaganda, it's a poor effort."

     "This human was different. She sought me out and then obliterated me. I don't know how else to describe it. One minute I was channeling all of my ancestors arts at her, the next I was awake in a cold sweat and I couldn't get my body to relax enough to go back to sleep.

    "I've been hearing about other humans attacking Nightmares as well, within and without the Dreamworlds. The worst thing is that I've heard there's an unregistered Dreamworld somewhere. Nobody on my team can find it, and we haven't heard about anyone going there, but people keep reporting it. I don't put much stock into these reports, but people are talking about the possibility that a human without a bloodline may have mastered lucidity, and maybe even awakened. The most extreme thing I've heard is that a human has become a Dreamer, and is planning on destroying Estellia if the gods don't give her what they want. I don't want anyone to be scared. The humans have to remember what's at stake if they decide to cross us."

    I laugh, "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I haven't heard anything about a human fighting other Nightmares, and my parents work with Midnight Nightmares. And why would a human have anything to do with an unregistered Dreamworld? That old myth about humans being able to build Dreamworlds on their own is just that, a myth. No human has ever been able to do that, and no human ever will."

    "Are you saying that I'm a liar?"

     "I'm saying that people are misleading you. Think about it, what do they have to gain from telling you about a human with lucidity, when they could just find them and take them on as an apprentice without telling anyone? Doesn't it seem a bit more likely that they're tricking you into clamping down on humanity so hard that the other Nightmare's turn against you and replace you with someone who's more likely to do what they want? My advice is to ignore them, unless they have some amazing evidence that proves that a human is truly a threat to us. Repeal this law. Let us go back to a state of peace. The humans know by now that trying to hurt us will only hurt them ten times more in the long run."