Chapter Text

Prologue – Live the Dream

Claudia Aran (née Ozman) was a woman who had been running, knowingly or otherwise, for her entire adult life. However, due to the specific circumstances under which she started running, she had no clear clue of why she was doing so. One thing was certain: Her parents had put strings on their love and support that drove, first her sister Tonya and then Claudia herself out of their lives and, really, all her parents’ effective disownment of her on her 18th birthday did was confirm that they were only interested in what they could get from a family relationship, not to  give anything in return.

So, she and her sister were effectively orphans and this impacted on them both in different ways. Unlike Tonya, Claudia was not so fortunate as to gain any alternate emotional support structures and she ended up in a downward spiral that threatened to lead to her suicide.

However, that was what she found out what she lost and, more importantly, regained it. In the process of discovering the strange, shared dream of Dreamlight Valley, she discovered abilities that she’d forgotten and a way of looking at the world that altered all the perceptions of her past. Most importantly, it enabled her to reconnect with the one true love of her life and find out just how it was that she lost this place and the terrible responsibility that this laid on her shoulders.

Now, all that matters is to determine what side of the divide between good and evil on which she will land.

Chapter 1 – Miracles Take Time

Kathryn Everett looked levelly at the woman her every instinct insisted was her mother’s sister, even though she was rendered in a weird combination of cell shading and CGI animation. Because Kathryn was like that too, as was her plush toy, Theodore Edward Bear. Honestly, he didn’t feel any different and nor did she. She deliberately breathed in and out hard, noting that the sensation of the air passing through her nose was completely normal, as was the pounding of her pulse in her ears. She nervously picked a couple of slices from the Fruit Salad she’d been served and noted that the food tasted real enough. She let herself relax. “So… uh… This is where you went after you quit your job?”

Claudia nodded absently. “That’s right,” she said. “You could say that I got a new job offer that was more ‘me’ than Financial Adviser ever was.”

Kathryn nodded thoughtfully. “Is it okay for me to tell mom about seeing you?”

“Sure; no secrets from your mom for me.”

Kathryn grinned at Elsa. “’Cept your sweet-looking GF! Never mentioned her to mom!” Katheryn took a sip of her glass of OJ and noticed that it tasted a lot sharper than the usual carton stuff. It only was this good in the high-end restaurant that mom took dad to on their last wedding anniversary.

Claudia rolled her eyes and it was left to Elsa to reply. “We only reconnected a couple of months ago and realized that we’d always wanted to be together,” she explained. She then waved her hand, showing her crystalline engagement ring. “We decided not to wait.”

“Wow! Quick moves!” Kathryn noted.

Claudia shrugged. “Well, we had a whole messed up history a couple of years before,” she announced. “We’ve got over it… and ourselves. We decided that we weren’t going to waste any more time!” This combined being factual and very misleading. Still, honestly, Claudia wasn’t sure if she ‘got’ the parallel flow of time between the Valley and the Waking World herself, so there was no point confusing her precocious 8-year-old niece with those open-ended musings.

“So, I’ve got a couple of more-or-less parallel jobs here in the Valley,” Claudia explained. “I’ve got a shift at one this morning, so you can hang out with me!”

Kathryn looked at her sleeping clothes. “Uh, my wardrobe is a bit thin at the moment!” she said.

Elsa smiled. “We’ll work something out.”

“Um…” Kathryn began. “About my PJs…”

“It’ll be safe enough in your clothes press,” Claudia assured her. “Consider the guest bedroom your crash spot for now.” Kathryn nodded nervously.

A half-hour later, Kathryn was wearing a navy vest top, red converse sneakers and a light grey denim short skirt and as feeling, frankly, rather grown up. That was a sensation that Claudia neatly swatted away by insisting that she wear a headband with Mickey Mouse ears. “Auntie…!” she protested.

“Just go with it, okay?” Claudia, now dressed in what looked hauntingly similar to a Space Ranger’s costume from the Buzz Lightyear franchise. She knelt before Kathryn before finally asking the question that she’d been half dreading having to confront since her niece’s surprise appearance this morning. “Katty, is everything okay? At home, with your mom, I mean?”

“It’s fine!” she squeaked in reply. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Claudia settled back on her haunches. “I was younger than you when I first came to the valley, you know. My home life was ‘fine’ in just the same way as I think it is for you. Apart from your grandparents complaining constantly about the cost of raising two girls and how they were worried that your mom wasn’t going to get a man rich enough for their needs.”

Kathryn couldn’t meet Claudia’s eyes for a long while. “Dad has been away most evenings,” she said at last. “Even when he’s home, he doesn’t talk to mom much and he sleeps in his own room. I hate it but they both blank me out when I ask questions. I hate it even more when I hear them arguing; they keep it quiet but I can still hear it!”

Claudia nodded and squeezed her niece’s shoulder comfortingly. “Okay,” she said. “Look, lots of times, adults have issues and they actually work it out after a while. So, you need to take this as a mini vacation. Relax, get to know the villagers and try not to worry too much about anything!” Claudia stood up. “Now, I should warn you that not everything in the Plaza is as ‘normal’ as the Townhouse. Don’t freak out and ask me if there is anything you don’t get.”

Kathryn didn’t understand what that meant and didn’t until she left the porch and saw the two cartoon characters working in the garden occupying the centre of the road. “Mickey! Minnie! Hello!” Auntie C called.

The male-presenting big-eared creature made a high-pitched whistling sound. “Hey, Claudia! How ya doin’ pal?”

“It’s good to see you, Claudia,” added the female. “Oh! And who is your friend?”

Claudia squeezed Kathryn’s shoulders comfortingly. “This is my niece, Kathryn. She’s going to be staying for a day or so; home drama or something. Katty, these is my neighbours, Mickey and Minnie Mouse!”

Minnie, being Minnie, rushed over and gave Kathryn a deep, warm hug that made the girl smile uncertainly. “Um… Pleased to meet you?” Kathryn said quietly.

“Likewise, pal!” Mickey responded. “If you ever need directions and pointers, feel free to talk to us!”

Claudia steered Kathryn away from the Mouses. Then, to maximise the steep learning curve, a full-grown red-maned African Lion appeared in front of her. “Simba, how’s the new seedling?” Claudia asked.

Simba chuckled. “Would you believe that Uncle Scar is tending to  it in the Plateau? He said that I can have a free rein in the biome today while he’s at school!” He huge animal nodded respectfully to Kathryn before loping off towards the ramp to the Plateau.

“That was… Simba?” Kathryn said, sounding like she was experiencing the very acme of culture shock. “From The Lion King franchise?!?”

Claudia nodded. “He looks after some of the trees here. So, next up is a stop in the town diner. It’s very high end and it’s owned by a brilliant chef… Who happens to be a rat. Don’t freak out; he’s cleaner than most humans!”

Kathryn’s face was frozen in disbelief as she was manoeuvred into the café marked ‘Chez Remy’ on its awning. Inside, the first thing she saw was a heavily-tattoed Hawai’ian man who looked as broad across the shoulders as he was tall. He was talking to a black-haired women who was practically shedding ‘Stranger Danger’ signs to Kathryn. “Ah, Mademoiselle Claudia,” a rat said from the floor just in front of her. Kathryn OUGHT to have screamed and WANTED to scream but she was so thoroughly culture-shocked that all she could do at his point was squeak inarticulately.

“Remy, good morning,” Claudia said. “We’ll do with two servings of Bunuelos and two sparkling root beers. And don’t forget that we expect you at class today!” As they headed off along a road of sorts leading from an ornamental staircase past a sign that identified the area as ‘Pleasant Meadow’, Kathryn chewed on the savoury donuts thoughtfully. “They’re from another friend of mine,” Claudia said. “Truth told, I have more friends, more history and more happiness here than I ever did in New York, Katty. I won’t be going back.”

Kat nodded. “I couldn’t blame you I mean… This is like being in a real-life Disney show. What could ‘reality’ offer you compared with this?”

Claudia smiled. “Just to let you know, you’re going to know everyone at this school I help run. Some of them personally. Don’t over-react and let them lead the conversation!”

Kathyrn frowned and wasn’t sure what that meant. Then Claudia led her into what looked like an RV trailer hooked up behind an RV van, parked on a road leading to stairs by a beach. “Instructor on Deck!” yelled a familiar male American voice.

Claudia nodded. “Thank you, Commander,” she said. “Has the roll been taken?”

A shoe-sized figure in a stylised space suit nodded in agreement. “Yes, Captain Aran, it has.”

“Good,” Claudia said. “Okay, kiddies, everyone take your seats and get ready for today’s lecture on the subject of ‘Know Your Enemy’.”

Kathryn looked around herself to see the Rat, a pretty Hawai’ian woman and another lion all dropped their salutes and settled behind their desks. Kathryn’s eyes were locked onto the first speaker though. She recognised it immediately: It was her Buzz Lightyear action figure. Alive, animated and apparently supporting her aunt at giving her lecture to Star Command cadets. Kathryn was glad she was sitting down as otherwise she would have fallen over and she could not concentrate as she was using all of her mind’s resources on not bursting out laughing and just not being able to stop!

~*~*~

“So,” the pretty Hawai’ian said after her aunt wrapped up her actually quite interesting lecture and was now talking to the lion in a hushed, confidential tone. “You’re new. Where are you from?”

Kathryn looked at her, snapping back to subjective reality. “Uh… From the real world, I guess?”

The woman laughed in a way that disturbed Kathryn for no reason she could easily interpret. “Define ‘real’. We’re all from different worlds, you know, and they’re all pretty real to us!”

Kathryn stamped down her urge to reply with heat. “I’m… I’m from my Auntie Claudia’s world,” she said at last.

“Cadet Everett!” Buzz barked. “Ten-HUT!” Kathryn snapped fully awake to stand at attention, flashing back to the leader of her Girl Guide troop. Buzz walked up to her. “If you’re signing up, Kathryn, you’ve left it late!”

“I…” Kathryn said the only thing her screaming mind could focus on. “You… can talk?!?”

“Buzz, this is her first day,” Claudia said. “She’s not fully up to speed on the Valley and certainly not a full cadet, even though I think she knows more than most already! Actually, I’ll put her with the others so Woody can keep an eye on her!”

Just to emphasize that she was in a strange world that was growing stranger all the time, there was a sudden explosion and everyone piled out of the hastily thrown-together lecture hall to stare towards the western hills of the valley. “Look at that!” the rat, Remy, said. “An explosion! At least I think that what the blue light I just saw was! Is that the Sunlit Plateau?”

“No,” snapped the lion, who Kathryn now recognised as Scar, the villain of the first Lion King movie. “It is north and above the plateau. The Forgotten Lands?”

Claudia stepped over to Kathryn. “Katty, I’ve got to check this out but you need to trust me and stay here with the other cadets and your toys. Trust me on this, okay?”

Kathryn looked at her aunt and realised that this fantasy kingdom was a place of very real dangers and that, by some contrivance of chance, her aunt was in the forefront of combatting them. She threw her arms around her aunt’s neck. “B… Be careful, Auntie,” she blurted, suddenly near to tears.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can be,” she said. “I’ll get Elsa come to collect you if I’m too late.”

~*~*~

Claudia ran as fast as she could towards the entrance to the Forgotten Lands and passed the Townhouse, where Elsa was standing on the porch with Melody. “Elsa, I’ve got to check this out!” she said. “I need you to go to the academy and collect Katty and wait for her somewhere well away from… whatever that was.”

Elsa frowned. “Just make sure you come back safely, Claudia Jean Aran!”

Claudia exerted her will and changed her instructor’s uniform for her Wizard’s ensemble and summoned her Staff. “Okay, go time,” she told herself.

Claudia turned southwards near Scar’s lair and used her staff to open the Dreamlight gate in front of the entrance to The Forgotten Lands. She immediately saw the fading echoes of the blue light arcing around the Fairy Godmother’s Carriage and this made her pause. So, I guess this is the moment we get answers about you, huh? she realised.

The front door of the carriage was actually unlocked and, leading with her staff, she entered the passenger compartment. Naturally, like all buildings in the valley, the interior was disproportionate to the exterior. The interior was decorated with various magical paraphernalia, much like the interior of Gothel’s lair in the Great Willow but without the obvious evil air to it. No-one was immediately apparent until Claudia blinked and realised that a woman, wearing a head-to-toe hooded navy cloak was sitting in a grey easy chair and was inspecting a large magical tome of some kind.

“Uh… hello?” Claudia asked.

The woman spun around to face her a lot faster than her age (apparent from her white hair and time-weathered face) should allow. “Oh my!” she said. “My dear child! Is it… Can it be you?” The old woman stepped forwards and took a closer look at Claudia. “Let me look closer! It can’t be, can it? Oh my dear, it really is you!” she chuckled in a rich, friendly way. “Claudia! It really is you and free of the shadow at that!”

Claudia looked around herself. “That I am,” she said. “I… er… From what Master Merlin said, I have to assume that you’re the Fairy Godmother who owns this carriage?”

The Fairy Godmother smiled warmly and patted Claudia’s cheek. “Indeed I am, my dear. Please, the title is cumbersome and I reserve it most for those unversed in the Art. For you, my dear, I am Nana Verna; answering to just ‘Nana’.” She looked around herself. “Now, where on Earth has that wand gone!” The woman looked at the three-foot long glowing silvery rod in her hand. “Ah, yes. I see that I am actually still holding it! Well, that’s one problem solved and, now you’re here, we can take a solid step or ten on solving another!”

Claudia had to admit that Nana was so much like Merlin that she wondered how sane she would act in the event she became a Master Mage herself.

Verna took a step forwards. “Oh, but let me take a look at you, Claudia. My goodness, it has been a while hasn’t it? At least fifteen years, unless my senses are failing me! Yes, far, far too long.” Verna took Claudia’s forearm, her face creased suddenly with worry. “It is you, isn’t it, dear, not that perverted shadow of your own worst fears and most unstable desires?”

“Shadow,” Claudia said. “You’re talking about The Enemy, aren’t you? The thing that tried to destroy The Valley?”

Verna nodded and stepped towards her grey armchair. “Yes, but hearing you describe her, I am quite sure I am speaking to the real Claudia Ozman. I’m glad for your presence young woman, especially as I’m attempting to solve a magical puzzle left behind by The Enemy.” Nana Verna smiled and touched the head of Claudia’s Staff. “Fortunately, I see Myrddin has got around to training you to master more than the simplest magics?” Verna sat with a satisfied sigh. “Now, the simple version is that The Enemy stole the Orb of Remembrance from this Biome and hid it along with some memories in the Dreamscape.”

“The Dreamscape?” That one was new to Claudia.

“Oh, you may not know it by that name, but I can sense that you have been there before,” Nana Verna replied. “At least every time you closed your eyes, in fact. It is the formal name of the place between the waking world and the Realm of Dreams. It is a place of altered natural rules and often strange physical interactions…”

“Wait…?” Claudia asked. “Are you talking about Between?”

Nana Verna considered that thoughtfully. “That is certainly one apt name for it,” she said. “It is an ideal place to hide something like an Orb of Virtue or certain memories that someone might prefer to be lost!” She gestured. “Unfortunately, I have no idea what your poor, sickly little echo may have hidden there or why. This is why we needed you to find them as only you would really know them on sight!”

Claudia knelt down beside Nana Verna and realised that she reminded her of Grandpa Pete’s late wife, Nana Rosie. “Now, I don’t need magic to forget things,” Verna said conversationally. “Actually, I can do quite well about that myself!” The woman gestured to her cape. “This is why I always wear this, of course. I’d never know where I put it if I ever took it off!” The woman chuckled. “Ah, one millennium really starts to blur into another after a while!”

How long?!? a part of Claudia shrieked. “Uh, so the Orb and the memories. How are we going to get them?”

Nana Verna raised a hand. “Well, that’s a question I’ve been trying to answer,” she said. “Unfortunately, whatever she did has disrupted magical flow in this biome and I can’t get any spell to work properly!”

Claudia forced herself to relax. “So, basically, you have been stuck here for years, just trying to make spells work to get the Orb back?” She knew that Merlin had been trying to remove the Night Thorns for years on his own, so this didn’t entirely surprise her.

“Yes,” Nana Verna sighed. “Worse, I think I’ve made it worse. Your Enemy hid the doors to the Dreamscape behind a powerful illusion. That has to be lifted first but I can’t seem to even get a hold of it! However, you and Your Enemy have exactly the same kind of power! Perhaps if you and I tried to cast a spell together…?”

Claudia’s mind focussed on a book on dispelling illusions that she’d recently studied. “I’m up!” she said. “One illusion-dispelling enchantment as soon as you need it!”

“Ah, Claudia,” Verna said after a moment. “You have no idea how I love people who embrace their duties rather than see them as a tiresome chore!” She gestured to the book-cluttered spells. “Now, before I was trapped here by the Night Thorns, I was able to acquire these books from Merlin’s library, including some on dispelling illusions. All I will need from you, dear, is some purified Night Shard to provide sufficient force for the enchantment to work!”

Nana Verna seemed to trace an elaborate magical shape in the air. “What is lost must be found again,” she incanted. “And on you, I know we can depend! Now, hurry along and don’t be slow! To the Dreamscape we must go!” the old woman chuckled. “The thing to remember, dear, that the only dangers in the Dreamscape are those already carried in your mind! Oh, and whatever traps and tricks The Enemy left there!”

~*~*~

Meanwhile, Kathryn was swimming off the beach. Seeing Woody, Jessie and Goldilocks as fully animated and sapient creatures had been a shock but, not as much as it could have been. Frankly. She’s always seen them that way. They had allowed her to go down to the beach to swim whilst Auntie Claudia was off doing what the trio of toys called her ‘saving the world thing’.

Normally, she would be nervous about swimming in an ocean but, in this case, there were several buildings and islets just off the shore that acted as an indicator of the maximum safe swimming distance.

That is when Kathryn saw something swimming through the water below her. Holding her breath and looking down, she was almost mind-blown to see a black-haired actual mermaid! The otherworldly being waved happily and with a flash of her scarlet fins rapidly rose up to surface in front of the floating human girl. “Hey!” she said as her gill flaps closed up. “You’re new. Are you a friend of Claudia and Elsa’s?”

“Um… relative, not friend,” Kathryn said. “I’m Kathryn Everett, Claudia’s niece.”

“Melody, daughter of Arial,” the mermaid said, extending her hand for a shake, which was gentle but firm. “Really, only your aunt, Anna, Elsa and Moana swim for the sheer pleasure of it, so I’m kind of not used to seeing humans in the water!”

Kathryn looked up and down the teenager, who had a white cotton vest top on that really didn’t leave much up to the imagination. “It’s good to meet you Melody,” she said quietly, sure she was blushing lightly.

“Likewise,” she said politely. “Okay, so I’m the heir to my dad’s kingdom. Mom is kinda a princess there, so, as Elsa always tells me, I’ve got to represent us and make sure that no-one is left alone and ignorant!” Kathryn nodded again. “So, here is your quick introduction to Dreamlight Valley…”

More than realising just what role her aunt played here, Melody’s introduction to this world was the beginning of a major life-changing realisation for Kathryn.

~*~*~

Outside the Pumpkin Carriage, Nana Verna led Claudia to a large boulder that rather stood out with no surrounding geology to make it fit in. “Here we are!” the old woman breathed. “The gateway between Dreamlight Valley and the Dreamscape!”

Claudia hefted her Pickaxe uncertainly. “Okay, where is it so I can break through the rock?”

The Fairy Godmother laughed. “Oh, child, this is not a barrier requiring force to penetrate. You must look at this with more than just your physical eyes! Focus your magic on what you seek and all will shortly be unveiled!”

Claudia dismissed the tool and instead, did as the old woman said. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Verna flourish her silvery wand. “Enemy’s illusion itself! Dreamscape… Reval Yourself!” she incanted. Drawing her Staff, she mentally cast the same command. Reality seemed to briefly flex, reshape and then turn itself inside-out, revealing a tall if dilapidated tree house, apparently in the branches of a large Night Thorn tree.

Claudia was quite impressed. “Okay, that was completely unexpected!”

The Fairy Godmother chuckled. “The art of illusion is to make people not realise that what they’re looking for is actually even in the general area,” she said. “It’s frightfully clever, insightful and dreadfully effective, in its own way!” She gestured to the wooden ladder up to the hut’s main door, from which dull red light glowed. “Up you go, dear!” she chivvied gently.

What was inside the door was… Well, over the past few months she’d been residing in the Valley, Claudia had got used to houses whose interior was larger and more complex than the outside implied in any way but The Enemy’s Masterwork (for such it surely was) completely altered Claudia’s impression of was and was not ‘possible’, even with magic.

It was an open marble portico, essentially octagonal in outline with every corner blunted and marked with a Grecio-Roman stone arch, outlined with gold plating and golden-lettered carvings. Each of the other seven corners had a pedestal of some kind there, three with the glowing orbs of memory fragments and the Orb of Remembrance sitting dead geometrically centre of the central raised circular space.

Claudia stared around herself in slack-jawed amazement as Nana Verna bustled past her. “Ah, here we are,” the old woman said. “Peculiar sight, isn’t it?” She frowned and looked around herself. “It is as if we travelled a hundred miles when, in fact, all we did was close our eyes!”

“This place is… amazing!” Claudia admitted at last.

Verna chuckled indulgently. “It is, isn’t it?” she said cheerfully. “The Dreamscape formed this entire environment to help The Enemy protect her deepest and, I suspect, most shameful secret from the world!” She gestured with her wand. “And here is the Orb of Remembrance but I fear it’s power has grown dim. The secret to restore it is to recover all the memories The Enemy has hidden here, scattered around the chamber so that it can power and restore the Pillar! You know the first steps, child, so take them. Many are here to be found; just gather the Memories you see all around!”

Claudia turned and, brandishing her staff, she moved towards each of the memories. There were three and each helped her recall something that she felt she should immediately and intimately know but, frustratingly, remained vague. “That’s all of the visible fragments, Nana,” she informed Nana Verna. “There’s nothing else I can see and there is still a huge amount missing!”

Verna nodded seriously. “Hmm… Yes. A memory fragment, as you know, is only a part of something far larger that The Enemy seeks to hide.      “We will need to dig deeper if we are to uncover it all! I regret that it will not be as simple as your previous experience in recovering memories. These last fragments… You will need to encounter them and experience them directly.”

Claudia managed a brave smile. “Sounds fascinating!” she managed without a tremble in her voice.

“Ah, how good it is to encounter an eager mind,” Verna said with a proud smile.

“So, I’m going to have to literally live out the lost memories?” Claudia said. “How is that possible?”

“The Dreamscape will show us the way; follow me and don’t delay!”

A portal had materialised over one of the unoccupied plinths. Through it, Claudia could vaguely see the Western Plaza, distorted slightly like a memory that had faded somewhat due to its age and the emotional criticality of what was being recalled. “So, Claudia, when you pass through this portal, you will be inside her body, experiencing her own recollection of one of the oldest memories…” Verna paused. “Rather, one of the oldest memories of when she began to become The Enemy.”

“Shortly after Elsa rejected me and ran away,” Claudia said.

The Fairy Godmother nodded sadly. “You believe that you know what happened?” she asked with a compassionate look.

“Not in detail, Nana,” she said at last. “I’ve suspected for a while now that The Enemy’s fall began with the heartbreak she felt after that confrontation. Elsa ran away and there didn’t seem any way to repair the fracture in their relationship.”

Verna nodded. “A warning, child. Whist you are in the memory, you will BE the proto-Enemy You will experience the things she experienced and feel what she felt and nothing else.”

“So, the person I am now will be entirely subsumed?” Claudia swallowed nervously. “It… sounds dangerous.”

“Yes, it is,” Verna said. “However, you will have the opportunity to use the portal to return here at any time you feel yourself losing your outsider’s perspective. I will be waiting here for you.” She peered at the portal in concern. “Context is everything, child. Whatever these memories are, they must have been central to her transformation into what she is now.”

~*~*~

Claudia stepped through the portal and was standing by a pool at the base of the stairs from the Meadow to the Plaza, or really, a distorted dream version of that location. She leaned over the pool and breathed out in horror at the sight of her teenage face. Her skin was a pale, bloodless blue and her eyes were literally radiant poison green. She was wearing almost goth-themed clothing seemingly made out of some flowing purple magical cloth and around her head… She was wearing a crown made of Night Shards, crackling with dark magic. I have no memory of this, she insisted to herself and that is when it occurred to her that this was the point. Of course she would have no memory of any of this, just as she really had no continuous and coherent memories of her first time in the Valley at all!

She stood erect and flexed her raven-like wings before summoning a Dark Staff, topped entirely with Night Shards that were cracking with purple lightning. “H… okay,” she said. “On duty. Let’s see that the morning has to offer me!”

The buildings of the Plaza flowed past like dreams and the exits to the other biomes seemed cloudy and indistinct. She immediately recognised Mickey Mouse standing in his gardens towards the centre of the plaza and, curiously, her first instinct was to sneer at his good-natured wave and grin. “Ooh! Hey, Pal!” he called. “Over here!” She jogged over and posed in a nonchalant but rigidly uncommunicative way. “Hi, Claudia, I was just looking for you!

Oh, joy, she thought bitterly. “You were looking for me? May I ask why you would do that? I mean, who cares about boring, lovesick me who is always offending those she’s trying to impress!”

Mickey touched her forearm and seemed not to react to her inhuman looks in any way. “Well, gosh, Claudia. I care about you a ton!” he insisted. He frowned. “You haven’t seemed yourself for a while now, ever since you had that argument with Miss Elsa! Is there… anything you want to talk about?”

The Dark Claudia’s grimace grew even worse. Gee, I don’t know? Maybe it’s because everything in my life here is becoming awful? “I… I just…” she attempted, then decided that it wasn’t worth making it the imbecilic mouse’s business. “No, seriously, Mickey, nothing is wrong; I’m moving on and everything is fine!” Wow! I can really lie well! Maybe I’ve never really cared what he really thinks of me at all! Ugh! I wish I could trust someone with how I really feel!

Mickey nodded but he didn’t seem convinced. “I dunno, pal. Are you sure everything is okay?”

Dark Claudia felt an urge to shout or to hit him for his presumption or to scream at him about how painful everything about life in the Valley had become since babacığım had given his ultimatum about her ‘growing up’.  “No, I’m fine,” she said with an unconvincing smile. “I’m great. Everything is simply amazing here!” What would the point of trying to explain myself to a hallucination of a cartoon character be anyway? He doesn’t have the freedom of thought and responses to get my problems!

“Welp, okay, if you insist,” Mickey said with his usual cheerfulness. “Just remember that I’m always here if you need to talk!”

Dark Claudia flared her black-purple wings and her pale skin briefly boiled with indigo-shaded magical power. She grimaced and desperately tried to get her voice under control. “What…? What did you want anyway, Mickey?”

“Oh yeah! Ha-ha! I almost forgot! I noticed that there are a whole lot of new flowers growing around the valley and I wanted to make a big bouquet out of them to show Minnie how special she is to me!  I thought that you could help because… welp… everyone knows that you’re the best at picking out the nicest flowers.”

Dark Claudia managed a cheerful enough smile. “Okay, Mickey, I’ll pick out nice flowers for you and make them into a gift for Minnie!” A sour thought niggled at her mind: I’ll probably mess that up too… UGH!

Dark Claudia scoured the Meadow and Plaza, seemingly only able to find wilting indigo tulip like plants that noticeably failed to lift her mood. She actually made a mild effort and somehow combined the flowers into a ‘bouquet’ that communicated only grief, depression and the desire to leave the Valley. She then went over to where she’d seen Minnie, in a trellis-enclosed garden of… something (near the site of the Pillar of Friendship); the teenager couldn’t really perceive what the anthro-mouse was growing there. From her perspective of a detached observer, Claudia noted her past self’s sense of insecurity when she presented her gift to Minnie.

“Oh, goodness, what is this?” she blurted, surprised and not on a good way.

“It’s a gift,” Dark Claudia responded dryly, wanting to emphasise that the female anthro-mouse’s reaction didn’t matter to her. “From Mickey, originally.”

“A bouquet?” Minnie squeaked. “Oh Claudia it’s… so original!”

Oh, wow, Minnie! That’s pretty much the definition of ‘damned with faint praise’! Dark Claudia groaned deep in her head

“Did Mickey make it?” Minnie asked.

Some tiny hint of better nature inspired Dark Claudia to reply, in a toneless and indifferent voice: “No, I did.”

Minnie reached out to the dark magic-infected girl “Oh, how kind of you!” she said honestly. “I’m very grateful, Claudia!” Dark Claudia actually smiled genuinely at the praise. “Before you go, I wanted to make sure everything is all right. Ever since Elsa left the Village, you haven’t seemed quite yourself!”

Why the hell does everyone keep asking me that? Dark Claudia hissed internally. Am I really THAT transparent?!? “I’m fine, Minnie,” she replied aloud. Claudia, many years in the future, wondered at her past self not understanding the dark clothing and seething dark magic was sort of a warning sign.

“Okay then,” Minnie said. Then, unexpectedly, she reached out and took Dark Claudia’s wrist. “Thank you for the flowers,” she said. “It really was a lovely gesture to make! I’m just going to find a vase to keep them in right away. They look like that they just need a little love and care.” Minnie shot the teenager a significant look. “Like all of us do sometimes!”

Yeah, Dark Claudia silently responded. I really don’t think that’s going to be much help! Dark Claudia unhurriedly walked away until she ran into Mickey again. “Oh, hiya pal!” he called cheerfully, grating on the Ruler’s battered psyche. “Didya have any luck finding some nice flowers?”

Dark Claudia nodded indifferently. “Yeah, found some flowers… guess you could say that they were nice. Made a bouquet and gave them to Minnie.”

Mickey laughed nervously. Give him credit, he knew something was up with his long-term neighbour. “You did! Thanks pal, but… uh… you didn’t have to that all on your own. You coulda given them to me and I woulda taken care of the rest. Or, even better, we could have made the bouquet together!”

Dark Claudia blinked in genuine surprise. Oh. That makes sense! Guess I’ve gotten too used to doing everything myself! “Well, it’s done, Mickey,” she said. “So… whatever, I guess?”

Mickey gestured easily. “That’s okay, pal,” he said. “I’ll just go and see how Minnie liked ‘em. Thanks again!” He seemed to be chewing on something. Dark Claudia gestured impatiently. “Uh… yeah. Say, I think Goofy’s looking for ya. Maybe you can go find him?”

Goofy was standing by his fishing pond. “Howdy, Claudia!” he said cheerfully, making Dark Claudia think bitter thoughts about neuroatypical behaviour traits. “You know, I was just thinking; I can’t remember the last time that we shared a yummy meal together!”

“Actually, I’m not hungry. I can’t remember the last time I ate; I’ve not felt the need since Elsa…” she cut off that line of speech before she said too much. “Anyway, I’ve been sustaining myself on my magic.” She did a little twirl, showing off the rippling dark magic patterns. “As you can see, I’m still managing.”

“Well, I just fished up  the juiciest shrimp I could find!” Goofy said, missing all the clues he’d been given. “Maybe I could give it to ya, you could round up th’ rest of the ingredients an’ maybe we’ll cook up some bouillabaisse!”

Dark Claudia rolled her eyes, something inviable through their green glow. She sighed and realised that she’d never dissuade Goofy. “Okay,” she said at last. As she did so, Claudia, in her role as omniscient observer, noted that all the ingredients were somehow rotten or spoiled. It was as if her past self was punishing herself somehow and it made her heart ache for the despair it revealed.

Dark Claudia tried to cook it up but her indifference and self-loathing created a dish that was literally the first time Future Claudia had seen something that would rate 0/5 stars, possibly into the negative ratings.

Goofy, bless him, tried to put a positive spin on it but Dark Claudia was not fooled and, if anything, got a malicious little delight from knowing how stomach-churning the dish was. “Gawsh! Y’cooked the whole dish y’self?” he blurted. “Well, thanks, Claudia. What say, next time we do it together?”

Dark Claudia scowled dangerously. “Have I failed to meet your standards, Mr Goof?” she spat coldly.

Goofy, bless him, didn’t notice the spike of hostility at all. “Aw, that’s okay,” he said. “At least we can share it together, right?” 

“I think that I told you that I’m not hungry,” she said coldly.

“Uh… Y’okay, pal?” Goofy finally looked genuinely worried.

Ugh! As if anyone in this cartoon parody of a world could understand, even if I had the words to explain my problems in a way that they’d understand! “I’m fine,” she said aloud, not even with a hint of emotion.

“Well, y’just talk to me if you need help with anythin’!” Goofy said with a nervous, false laugh. “Now, I’m gonna dig into this tasty-lookin’ dish you cooked up for me! Can’t wait to try it! The smell’s kinda… interesting!”

Free tip, Dark Claudia silently added. Stock up on antacid first.

“Maybe I’ll just save it for… later,” he added hastily. “Could be one of those things gets better if you let it sit for… uh… a couple’a days!” He suddenly seemed to remember something. “Say, I heard Minnie was lookin’ for ya!”

Dark Claudia span and started to stride away, not even bothering to say farewell. Ugh! What could she want this time?!? Maybe paint the Meadow in cheerful colours?!? When she caught up with Minnie, still in her garden, she rapped out: “You called for me, Miss Mouse?”

“Oh! So I did!” Minnie said nervously. “I just wanted to say something to you. You… You are loved, Claudia. I want you to know and believe that.” Dark Claudia’s posture showed surprise and incomprehension. “Of course! Everyone here cares so much about you!” Minnie added. “You mustn’t be afraid to tell your friends about how you feel, even if you feel it is something silly and you feel strange mentioning it!”

“To be honest, Minnia, I feel like I’m stuck in between, the realm that links here and there,” she said dryly. Minnie looked shocked and didn’t really understand. “I’m fine, Minnie. Really. Thanks for the talk.”

That was when Claudia saw the Orb of Friendship pop out of its pillar and get consumed by lightning-fast growth of Night Thorns. Dark Claudia actually smiled, bitterly, when she saw that happen. One down, she thought exultantly to herself.

~*~*~

Claudia was spat out of the gateway back onto the floor of the portico. She put her hands on the pedestal for balance and tried to get her legs underneath her. “You’ve returned! Splendid!” Nana Verna called out. “Now, tell me, child, what insights did you gain?”

Claudia looked her hands. “It was… disquieting, Nana. The Enemy seems to have lost her ability to interact with the valley properly. They could no longer enjoy life. It was such a beautiful day in the Valley but everything seemed a chore!” She blew out her breath. “She was still bitter about her breakup with Elsa but it went deeper than that. I… she could remember an argument she had with my father in the Waking World where he told her to give up on her imaginative fantasies and focus on ‘practical things’. It was affecting how she was seeing everything!”

“Oh dear,” the Fairy Godmother sighed. “It is sad indeed when something that once bought joy now only serves to vex and annoy.”

Claudia nodded. “Nana… I can’t face the other memories today! I need to go home and meditate on what I’ve seen, put them together with the memories and deductions that I already made.”

Verna nodded sadly. “Child, you have already done more than most would even dare to try,” she said. “I cannot ask you to continue to pass these risks by!”

Claudia touched the old woman’s arm. “I’ll return at dawn tomorrow and we’ll finish this then.”

Verna looked thoughtful. “Tell me, child, do you understand your poor echo better?”

Claudia nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. She was feeling resentment towards the Valley and its inhabitants for the strain it was putting on her family relationships and because her immediate desires weren’t being achieved. If I were in her position… at that age… I honestly could see myself doing the things she did!”

~*~*~

That evening, Elsa Aren returned to the townhouse. As Claudia had left the Academy to address an unplanned crisis, she wasn’t surprised to see all the lights off as she and Kathryn Everett, Claudia’s sister’s daughter returned. She was genuinely surprised to find Claudia sitting in the main sitting room in the darkness, looking at the backs of her hands in a meditative way. Elsa turned on the interior lights. “Claudie” she asked, genuinely alarmed.

It had been a tough evening, there was no dancing around that. Claudia had returned to the Townhouse and had been sitting on her own, in a fast-descending spiral of guilt and anguish about how she’d treated Mickey, Minnie and Goofy that day in the distant past. Honestly, who can I blame? Certainly not Elsa for not feeling able or safe to give herself to a demanding teen who was in a bad emotional place. Maybe not even myself for having that crisis when I didn’t really have any emotional support at the time! As bitter as it was, she couldn’t blame anyone but her parents who, increasingly, had been placing greater and greater demand on her and Tonya to ‘keep’ them in the way they felt they had ‘earned’ but simply not putting both girls into the foster care system. “Oh! Elsa!” Claudia said, with a smile after recovering from her shock.

“Claudia… Why were you sitting in the dark?” Elsa asked outright.

Claudia blushed in embarrassment and paying no heed to Kathryn darting away to her room. “Well, when I first got home, it was still light; I got to thinking deeply and I guess I missed out the sunset?”

Elsa posed sceptically. “Must have been really deep thoughts, love!” she remarked dryly. “Anything I could help you with?” Claudia shook her head but without much certainty. Elsa decided to instead focus on what had happened whilst she was away. “Well, Kathryn made a friend in the form of
Melody and I suspect that it may have inspired some thoughts in her head that… Well, I’m not sure how to handle them!”

Claudia raised her eyebrows. “Ideas?”

Elsa chuckled. “That clothes are optional,” she explained. “It’s something that people apparently now call ‘naturism’?”

Claudia breathed out an ‘oh’ response. Well, it was a good thing that Katty had disappeared upstairs immediately upon returning home. Yes, Arial and Melody did often go around naked simply because clothes were not culturally customary amongst the Mer (a mental habit Mel had gained after her transformation and reinforced during their imprisonment on that desert island). Frankly, they no longer saw the reason why humans regarded nudism as a social taboo. She would have to make sure that Kathryn didn’t adopt the same philosophy or, if she did, she didn’t impose it on others. “Well, that’s a coincidence really as it reminds me of what I was thinking about so long for today: I realised that, in a lot of ways, Dreamlight Valley isn’t really compatible with human childhood.”

Elsa, who had moved to the kitchen, laughed about that before returning with two teas. She served Claudia before sitting next to her, her legs tucked underneath her. “What did you experience today that was so frightening?” she asked.

“Not really ‘frightening’ as much as ‘sobering’, Elsa. I actually experienced and lived through The Enemy’s memories of a morning a few days after you left the Valley to avoid me. She… I was a mess. I was going through a deep, dark depressive phase and taking it out on everyone.” Claudia sighed and reached out to steady Elsa’s hands. “I’m not blaming you, love. I don’t think I’m really blaming her either. I was having a hard time at that point in my life; pressure from my parents, not just on me but on Tonya too. They figured it was our jobs to keep them in the lifestyle to which they wished to be accustomed. Unfortunately, at thirteen, I was super-vulnerable to that entitlement from them. It was a heavy load on my shoulders and it was making me resentful and demanding towards everyone.” She reached out to stroke Elsa’s face. “Including you; especially you.”

Elsa nodded. “’Conceal, don’t feel’,” she said with a sigh. “My father taught me that phrase and made me repeat it constantly in an attempt to suppress my powers. He effectively was teaching me to hate the thing that had consistently brought me happiness.” She looked up. “I think it was the same poisoning of your perceptions with you, making you think that you needed ‘adult’ relationships to be acceptable to your family.”

Claudia was nodding. “There are two more of these memories awaiting me,” she said. “Elsa, I’m truly afraid of them. Afraid of what it will reveal about me in my earlier years, of the thoughts that I recognise as my own I will feel and see expressed!”

Elsa took her fiancée’s hands. “How will you feel?”

“I expect to feel only disgust, both at what I do and because there will be a tiny part of me that feels he same way at my darkest moments.”

Elsa nodded and drew Claudia’s hands to her lips. “Then let that be the lesson; that no matter how deeply empathise with a lost and terribly alienated young woman, you will never let yourself become her, nor lightly condemn her mistakes.” Then she kissed their joined hands.

“Um… guys?” Kathryn said. Both Claudia and Elsa looked up to see her standing there in a very basic bikini (at her age, revealing bathing costumes weren’t much to look at really). “Look… I’m not ready to go all the way on this but being as dressed as Mel or her mom usually are…? It just feels right to me.”

Elsa, to her credit, didn’t start laughing. Claudia smiled approvingly at her niece. “Katty, we’re willing to let you do what you feel comfortable with right now. You just have to promise me, faithfully, that you’ll talk to your mom about this before you do anything at home, okay? You’ll then abide by her decision especially in the open areas of the house. Got that?”

Kathryn collided with her aunt in an enthusiastic hug. “Oh, I promise, Autie C!”

Elsa shot her fiancée an odd look. “Remind me to tell you all about how Anna and I honestly wanted to go naturist when I was just five and she was three! Of course, that’s more of a toddler thing than a lifestyle thing…!”