The Fairgrounds

    "A reminder to all citizens of Fairyland; all humans must be indoors after sunset."

     They've been playing that announcement on repeat for hours. Given that I'm in the Dreamworld, I'm not sure why their playing that announcement, unless the Fairyland has as many homeless humans as the human lands do. I don't know how I would tell, though. Humans don't sleep, so none of them ever has to enter a Dreamworld. 

   I've been wandering through the Fairylands for a few hours now. I think it must be at around midnight, though it's hard to tell in a Dreamworld, and the temple doesn't connect to Estellia time wise. I liked that about it at first, it meant that I could leave and not be missed, but now it feels like my life is twice as long as it would otherwise be, for no real reward. I keep trying to make time move in my mind, but every time I return, I find that time hasn't passed at all. 

    "A reminder to all citizens of Fairyland; all humans must be indoors after sunset."

    "Why do they keep saying that?" I ask no one in particular.

    "To get rid of the Druggies, dumbass!"

    I turn to see a vendor glaring at me. He seems to be running a basic carnival game, based on throwing a ball into a hoop. It's one of the most common games in the Fairylands. "You're a human?" I ask.

    "Do you see a nightmare form, idiot." the vendor says.

    "No." I tell him, "I can't see nightmare forms."

     He looks at me, his face scrunched up in an expression of what I can only assume is doubt. "You're not a Midnight Nightmare, are you?"

    "No!" I say, "I'm a human. I'm visiting from the Human lands." 

    "Really? Have you ever met a person from the human lands who sleeps? They leave all the hard work to us." 

    I don't want to go into the details. Most people don't understand why I need to sleep so much. 

    "A reminder to all citizens of Fairyland; all humans must be indoors after sunset."

    "I don't think they were making that announcement the last time I was here. What happened?"

    The vendor looks at me. "You've been here before?" He asks.

    I sigh. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I need to sleep. I can't remember a time when that hasn't been true."

    "That's ridiculous. Only Nightmares and people who will become Nightmares need to sleep."

    "Why are they telling people to stay indoors in the Dreamworld?" I snap. "Surely if people are in the Dreamworld then they're already inside? Doesn't the Fairyland have an Economy? I've read that most humans come here to make money."

    He looks down and sighs. "They do, but they never find a way to do it. You hunt and you hunt, but no one wants to pay you for anything around here. The only way to make money is to sell drugs, and in order to do that you have to buy drugs, and if you buy drugs they do everything they can to get you to use them. Once you use them, you're hooked. You'll do everything you can to get more drugs, be it stealing or killing. It's not too long before you're nothing more than husk of what used to be a person. I've talked to some people who've lost relatives this way, and they say that it's like watching someone dig a hole so deep, it'll never be filled up again."

   I don't know what to say. "That's awful. I'm glad we don't have that problem in the Human Lands." 

   "Don't be too proud." The vendor says. "I know the folks who live in the Human lands talk it up like they don't have issues, but I hear they send their kids out to work when they're as young as ten or eleven, and then when they can't find work they won't let them come back home."

   "They don't do that here?" I ask. I can't remember anyone in the village who didn't send their kids to the city. Not that I ever managed to find them.

   "No. It's barbaric. Five years ago the humans finally got tired of so many homeless teenagers and passed a law that said any human who couldn't find work in two years would get banished to a Nightmare World according to their alignment. I hate that law so much. It makes it that much harder to find work, and everyone is too stupid to know anything." 

   He stops for a bit, seeming realizing he's discussing politics with me, a person who doesn’t know anything. "Are you actually planning on playing?" He asks.

    I don't know. But it seems wrong to leave him after having taken so much of his time. I summon some money out of my back pocket and say, "No, but thank you anyway."

    "For what?" He asks.

     "For telling me everything you did." I say. I hand him the money, and then leave before he can ask any more questions.

     "You did hear what he said, didn't you?" A voice whispers in my mind, "If you don't find a job soon, they'll kick you out of the Human lands."

    "I've had a bunch of small jobs." I reassure her. 

    "Did you ever see a boss record your work?" The voice says. 

    Come to think of it, I don't think I did. 

    "A reminder to all citizens of Fairyland; all humans must be indoors after sunset."

    Okay, I've officially had enough of announcements. I'm going to one of the stage areas. There won't be any intercoms there at least.

    The Fairylands Dreamworld is filled with fairgrounds. Unlike the fairgrounds in the human world, these don't have a lot of places to buy things. You mostly just play games, which cost money to play. I don't know if they actually make money, since if you go lucid you can create all of the money you like, so long as you take it from somewhere like a pocket or a purse. At least, that's what I do.

    What I find odd about the fairgrounds is that they're always extremely crowded, and not with people. I don't mean that humans don't visit them, I mean that I think most of the crowds in the fairgrounds are fake. I can't put my finger on it, but they always look odd to me. I think the problem is that they're too complicated. If you had to ask me to imagine a human, I wouldn't imagine people like them. 

     This Fairground seems to be extremely popular. I haven't seen any fake people so far. I do see a lot of people hiding in between buildings counting money. I wonder if crime is a problem in the Fairylands.

    Inside each Fairground is at least one stage, where they have performances. From what I can tell, these all involve real people, and you don't have to pay for them. I always watch at least a few performances with each visit, even though most of them are a bit basic. Especially in the Fairgrounds people don't come to. Unlike the one I'm in right now. The crowd all seem eager to enter the door. I assume there's a free performance. 

   There's a guard in front of the entrance. There usually is, but this one seems especially unfriendly. He seems to be watching for trouble. As I'm about to enter the stage he says, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

     For a moment I panic, wondering if this is one of the guards that was in the truck. But I don't think it is. "No." I reply, not terribly convincingly. 

    He looks suspicious, but waves me in anyways. Once again my luck comes through.

     I enter to find there's no place to sit. That wouldn't be an issue, except that there's always someone blocking my view. Fortunately, this stage is high enough up off the ground that I can get a clear view. Unfortunately, there seems to be a man chained up in the center. 

    I've heard they have different standards for entertainment in the bigger fairgrounds, but I didn't know lots of people wanted to see a man chained up doing nothing. I can't help but feel sorry for him, and a little uneasy. I wish this were a juggling act instead.

   "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" A voice booms from off the stage. "WELCOME, ONE AND ALL, TO THE EXECUTION OF A CENTURY."

     The crowd murmurs. I get the impression none of them are that impressed so far. My ears hurt from the shouting. I look up to see the man shifting in place. I don't know what's going through his mind, but he doesn't seem happy to hear there's an execution.

     Wait, execution?

      I've read about these in books. Supposedly the Fairies and Monsters kill off those who do egregious crimes in the Shadow and Sorcerer lands. Neither Fairies nor Monsters have any laws, so they have to import those who do. I've never been to one before, but I hear they're a thing you never forget. 

    I feel excited and nervous. I'm told there's a lot of blood, and I've never seen blood before. 

    Suddenly, the lights go off. On the stage, a spotlight appears over the man, who I assume must be a criminal. Another spotlight appears over a woman. "Good night everyone," She says.

    "Good night your majesty." The crowd replies. 

     "So wonderful to see you, I didn't expect to see such a large crowd the day after my Coronation." 

      She hold out her hand off stage someone hands her a tiara. She puts it on top of her head. "I'm sure you'd all love to see a princess in all of her glory." She says. She starts spinning, and a silver dress materializes around her. It sparkles in the light. When she stops, she takes off the crown, and her dark brown hair spills cascades down her back. She smiles, the kind of smile that makes you think she could be your friend. 

    I have to admit, she looks the part of the princess. I know brown hair and brown eyes are normal, but the ability to win people over to you instantly is not. 

     Suddenly, the spotlight around her disappears, and the lights on the stage turn back on. She's back in the clothes she wore when she first stepped on stage, show clothes that all buskers wear, and her hair is now back in a bun. "I wish you could see my true self, but alas, we're about to get messy." 

    She walks to the center of the stage, and pulls a dagger from the inside of her shirt. "Tell me, do you know what crimes this man committed?"

    The crowd starts murmuring. I can't make out what anyone's saying.

     "Well, I can't tell you. What he did was so awful, the crime can't be spoken aloud. He came directly from the land of the Sorcerers, who tell me they caught this man doing heinous things. And do you know what we do to men who do heinous things?" She pauses and looks to the crowd.

     Out of the silence, I hear someone yell, "Kill them."

     She smiles, "Exactly."

     She stab the knife into the base of his neck, then carves it down the length of his body. I don’t hear him scream, but it could be because the crowd has started shrieking around me. I can't tell if they're excited or unsettled. I don't feel anything. 

    Then she rips the corpse open in a shower of blood. 

     I'm in the very back of the crowd, but I still get dribbled on. 

     I want to throw up, but throwing up while you're asleep is a bad idea. I did that once when I was small, and my bed got soaked. The doctor told me that I shouldn't do that again, because I might get vomit in my lungs.

    I run. I can't stand being here. The guard tries to stop me. I hear the crowd cheering behind me. 

    Suddenly the crowd begins to thicken around me, or maybe I'm just too scared. In my mind I see that man being ripped apart, and I swear I hear him screaming in agony. Or maybe not screaming, maybe it's just my mind pleading to be free of him. 

   I push through the crowd as fast as I can, not sure of where I want to go. I can't catch my breath. I have to sit down someplace. I make my way to a wall, then collapse against it, willing my body to calm down. Every thought in my mind is pressing against my temple. My lungs won't draw any air. I cry, not out of sadness, but because my body needs to release its emotions.

    The crowd doesn't notice. People collapse all the time. It's not a matter of concern. Not when there are games to play. 

     I should wake up. I don't want to, though. The temple, with its empty rooms, won't help. I need distraction. So I watch the crowd go by, some stopping to play games, most walking to get where they want to go as fast as possible. I'm entranced by it, so much so I don't see her until she's right on top of me. 

   "Well, who'd have thought? The human that James has been complaining about, right at my door step." 

    I look up. It's the woman who was on stage, killing that man. When I think that, I get angry suddenly. I don't know why. If he was up there, he did something to deserve it. But I can still feel the blood that dripped on me. 

    "What do you want?" I say.

     "I want to put you in prison." She replies.

    A smart human would run. A human with any life skills would know they can't beat a Nightmare. But I have no life skills, and I've fought dozens of Nightmares in my time sleeping. And I know that, within every Nightmare, there's a human who's weak to every attack. Including my necklace, my main form of attack. I yank it off and throw it at her.

    She just bats it away, "Why did you think that would do anything?"

     She lifts up her hand, and a wand materializes in it. At least, I think it's a wand. It's longer and thicker than you'd expect a wand to be, and it doesn’t have any markings on it. Too late, I realize she's about to hit me. I only just get the shield up. 

   "Ow!" She yelps.

   That would be my necklace. It starts to float next to me. It suddenly occurs to me that she said she was a princess. I don't know much about Nightmares, but I know that you have to be extremely powerful to become a princess. There's no way that a human has a chance against one. 

    I run as fast as I can. I feel what must be a spell come after me, so I put my shield back up. I turn to run, and I notice that she's right behind me. "You aren't getting away this time." She says, sounding annoyed. 

    "I've run away from Nightmares ever since I was little." I say. "I'm not letting you capture me." I send my necklace back at her. She tries to swat it away, but it gets her anyway. I keep going at her, and before long she realizes that it really doesn't do much damage. Before long she starts walking towards me with her wand held high.

   I back away. In a low tone of voice she says, "How are you planning on escaping me? I know that you must live in the Fairylands. Why would you be here otherwise? Do you somehow think you'll impress me enough to rise up in this world, you worthless child?"

     Okay, now I'm mad. I'm not saying that I'm not worthless, but I will never admit that too a Nightmare. All humans in the Human lands live there because we're proud of our humanness. We never, ever, demand power or respect from Nightmares, because we all know that we're better than them, it's just that the Nightmares are too low to admit that. I imagine myself stomping on her, tearing this Dreamworld to pieces. Beneath me, I can feel the Infinite begin to squirm.

    "I am not worthless. I was born in the Human lands and I'll die in the human lands, and I don't need your help to do either. I will fight you until I win, because I don't need Nightmare powers to destroy you. I am Cassandra Lumis, the one who Dreams Estellia into existence, and I will banish you like the bad dream you are."

    I really need to work on my taunts. Fortunately, for a princess she's extremely weak. She goes, then vanishes, right as I finish taunting her. I feel proud and happy.

     Then I wake up in my bed.

      "Oh, come on!" I say, to an empty room. "I just wanted to gloat for a bit." 

      I sit up. It occurs to me that I just beat a princess, and it wasn't even that hard. Fighting Alex's "demon", as she calls it, was harder. 

     I don't think it's a serious possibility, but I wonder if anyone would consider me a candidate for a Nightmare. Hey, what's a dreamer for if not to dream of the impossible?