In Dreams..

The SS Myrmidon was stranded in the air above the Fishy Fish sea with a downed engine.  Thankfully, due to the airship relying on it's inflatable balloons, it was left afloat; however, it's ability to propel itself forward came to an abrupt end.  Anastasia was busy working on the engines while Nao and Ashelia were doing other duties around the ship.  That only leaves the final member of Team Four Star - Almyra Bys.  What was Almyra doing? Creating puddles upon the War Room table which could easily swell to that of a lake.  Mathematical formulas that most people had no idea how to decipher (most of which haven't even been discovered yet) laid strewn about on the table with Almyra's face pressed against a very complex formula.  She was fast asleep.  However, our story doesn't take place within the real world, no it doesn't.  Our story takes place within the mindspace of Almyra Bys as she continued to cut logs.  The space within her dream. Almyra found herself in a strange and colorful place filled with cotton candy trees with candy cane trunks, artificially flavored fruit juices ran through the landscape like a babbling brook, and chocolate dotted the area imitating rocks.  Everything that one would expect from a nature scene was instantly replaced by colorful candies and other pleasant confectioneries.  Almyra found herself aware of her surroundings and that where she was was within a dream; being the avid lucid dreamer, herself, this wouldn't feel any different from any other night. To her left, butterflies made of butterscotch wrappers fluttered by, drawing her eye to a small bear standing on it's hind legs waving at her.  "Oh!  Is this your first time here, Almyra?  That's good to hear!  We've been expecting you, Sister Almyra!" the strange creature said as it grabbed a hold of Almyra's hand and began to drag Almyra with it.   As the little bear waddled with Almyra in tow, the little bear started to huff and puff as it kept pulling Almyra.  "Hey, you might wonder how I know your name right?  Well, my name is Momo and I know all~~~~ about you, Sister Almyra!  Oh boy, are the other bears back at the colony going to be happy to see you!"   After a brief walk, Almyra is brought to a well-lit cave that is just as bright and vivid as the world outside of it.  However, confetti began to shoot out from the cave and the sound of bells and whistles could be heard in celebration of Almyra's arrival.  With that, a flood of more of these bears came out to hug Almyra.  They all spoke out to Almyra, "Sister Almyra!" before they hugged her.  Even if what's happening to Almyra seemed cute and comfortable, something from within the cave seemed to tug at Almyra.  Something felt very familiar from within the cave; something warm and loving while at the same time cold and terrifying.

OOC: Okidoke, there's the setup.
I would like to see 1000 words from ya. If you would like to go in and inspect the cave, that is your call. But good luck!

Almyra hadn't been sleeping very well due to multiple factors. At first it was grief over her sister's death, but now she felt crushed with sadness after the events in her home, after her people were mercilessly slaughtered. The pain of her injuries was also still present, keeping her awake at night, of these, the phantom pain of her left hand was the worst. Still, these were only a part of the problem, the final factor leading to her insomnia was a sort of self loathing. She had killed someone, something she never planned nor wanted to do. Granted, it was probably for the best that such a wicked man be unable to harm others, but to her, his death seemed, unnecessary. All people had redeeming qualities within them, but she had blinded herself to whatever that raider may have had. The memories of the fight were still with her, the memories of her tearing apart the man's flesh and bone with her magic, forcing his body to decay while he was still alive. But she had done something far worse than kill him, she had come to realize after the fight. She had somehow doomed him to suffer the same fate she did. To hurt someone was one thing, something she disliked, and to kill them was a level above that, something she never wished to do, not even to her worst enemy. But what she did... words could not describe the horror she felt at her own actions towards the man.

She didn't actively think about all these thoughts, no, currently she was focused on her work, but her eyelids grew heavy. She found herself unable to concentrate any more and ended her trance-like meditations. The drop in mental activity left her feeling even more sluggish as she lie down on the table. Unable to keep her eyes open, she drifted to sleep.

Her eyes opened once more, though this time not in the real world. She was in a dream, and well aware of that fact. Still, this was a rather unusual one. She was in some sort of world filled with candy and candy-related things. Various fruity drinks took the place of water, trees consisted of candy canes with cotton candy on top, or were lollipops. Almy enjoyed sweets, but rarely were they so prevalent within her dreams. She caught movement in her eye as some butterscotch wrapper butterflies fluttered about. She turned to look to them and spotted a cute little bear standing on its hind legs, waving to her. She blinked, having never dreamed of cute little bears before. It spoke, asking if it was her first time here. She nodded, and it seemed happy with her response. It took hold of her hand and she smiled, curious as to where this dream figure would lead her, she followed along. It introduced itself as Momo, and said that she might be wondering as to how it knew her name. She shook her head, it made sense that the little bear knew her name. It was part of her dream after all, though she didn't say so, since telling dream characters that they were such generally had some rather strange consequences. "I would expect you to know about me, Momo." She said, with a smile on her face. She gave the bear's paw a gentle squeeze as they walked along. Evidently there were more of the creatures for her to meet.

Little Momo guided her along through the wonderous candy land. This was quite the cheerful dream indeed, likely her mind trying to cope with the recent horrendous things that had happened to her. They passed under a short tree. Almy decided to try out the cotton candy, reaching up to grasp the soft, fibrous sugar, tearing off a small piece from the greater mass. It was then that she noted that she had her left hand once more. Then again, this was not entirely surprising in a dream. She sniffed the cotton candy, enjoying its sweet scent before popping it into her mouth, letting the pure sugar melt away deliciously. She yawned. The ever sleepy Almy was even sleepy in her dreams, though given how often she felt sleepy, it was a bit of an identifying trait of her personality. Sleepiness wasn't something she simply felt. It was a part of who she was.

The two reached the entrance to a cave. It was well lit, and looked cozy. There was a sudden poof! as confetti fired out of the cave, shortly followed by the ringing of bells and a multitude of bears like Momo. They happily greeted her and gave her their names as she hugged each of them. So many hugs, and so much cuteness. This was such a wonderful dream. She enjoyed her time with the bears for a while, but there soon developed a strange nagging feeling. There was something tugging her towards the cave, not physically, but mentally. She felt that she needed to go inside and explore, but she wasn't sure why. She looked towards the cave entrance as she hugged one of the bears.

Almy finished hugging the last of the cute critters before standing up, looking towards the cave again. Something felt familiar about it, love and warmth emanating from it that she knew well, but along with it came something different. There was a bit of cold terror leaking from the cave as well, something she had never really felt until recently. She stepped closer to the entrance, befuddled by this feeling. This may only be a dream, but dreams could have important meanings behind them. As she drew closer, a shiver went up her spine. She closed her eyes and took a breath. Whatever was in there was no doubt important. She pressed onward, gently nudging any bears out of her way as she did so. She didn't bother to ask any of them about it, but simply went in. She stepped straight through the entrance and pressed onward. She would press through the cave until she encountered something or hit an obstacle.

Almyra waded through all of the little bears as she made it towards the mouth of the cave.  The bears went to chase after Almyra only to stop at the edge of the cave; as if stopped by some kind of barrier.  They had a sad look in their eyes as Almyra proceeded through the cave.  "So, Sister Almyra's going to go so Her?" Momo asked before there was clamoring among the rest of the tiny bears. "Does that mean Sister Almyra's going to die?"  Momo asked out loud, loud enough for Almyra to hear.   "We'll miss you, Sister Almyra!  We were happy to see you at least once!" Momo shouted once more before a the mouth of the cave was sealed by a strange magical spell.  This barrier was stronger than the densest metals and wasn't affected by Almyra's decaying Chaos Theory magic.  Within the cave, lights began to ignite around the edge of the cavern to reveal a strange building in the center.   The building, itself, lit up with vivid colors and confetti exploding off of it. The door of the building opened up and a cold, unfeeling wind came from within. It was as if the building was beckoning her forward. The Scenario: As you enter the fun-house, the door will close behind you. A very well-lit room could be seen with a mirror maze within. What you see in the mirrors can vary between things you like, things you don't like, things you love, things you hate, things you fear, things you miss, etc etc. I'll leave the emotional attachment of what shows in each mirror up to you. Your job is to get through this fun-house and reach the end. upon reaching the end, a trap-door will open, causing you to fall into what feels like eternity.

OOC:  
Alrighty! My post is a little short, but it set up a scenario that you need to get through.
Again, another 1000 words of getting through the scenario would work.

Almyra heard Momo's voice through the clamor and speech of the other little bears that followed closely behind her feet. She wondered who it was she was going to see. She could guess it would probably be her sister, given the nature of the dream. She looked forward to whatever awaited her, if that was the case. She missed Timara, and it would be nice to see her again, even if it was only in a dream. Perhaps it would give her the chance she needed to say goodbye properly, something she was unable to do. Momo then asked if that meant Almyra was going to die. She stopped a moment and turned back, giving her little friends a comforting smile.

"Of course it doesn't, Momo. I'll be back to play with you all soon." She said, waving to them as the mouth of the cave began to close. She had no fear of the dream, and only grew more curious as she spent more time in it. Her eyes fell upon the fun house. She looked it over, with its spewing confetti and bright colors. She never really cared for fun houses. She had been to one or two. There were things that were a lot more fun to her at least.

As Almyra approached, a the door opened with a cold gust of wind. Almy didn't feel like dealing with the cold and made the wind warm. It was a simple change, really. In reality, if she so chose, she could remake this entire world as she pleased, but doing so would prevent her from seeing whatever important information there may be within. The wind though, that could easily be changed without having a dramatic effect on the outcome, as it would be too immediate for there to be any significant ripple effect.

She stepped into the building and found that it was a house of mirrors. These were actually rather fun. The first few mirrors she passed through were normal, and simply showed her herself. She smiled at her reflection before continuing on, putting her left hand on one of the mirrors and starting to walk, guaranteeing she would eventually find her way through the place. The mirrors as she got a bit deeper began to show different images of her, some amusingly thin or large, some distorted to give her a giant head. The usual fun house mirrors. She stopped a moment when one did not show her, but instead showed her Momo and the other bears.

"Sister Almyra!"
"Hello, Momo! I told you I would see you again. I'm doing just fine, but I have to keep going on. I'll see you again soon, I promise." She said and smiled at the little bear. He smiled back, believing in her "Alright, Sister Almyra! We'll see you soon, then." All the little bears hopped and waved and smiled with joy over seeing Almy once more, and the promise that she would be back. The woman waved back before moving on. Other mirrors showed her other things. A pleasant spot she had found in the wilds once, a table all laid out with her favorite foods. As she grew near the end, the things shown in the mirror became more significant. The temple in which she had discovered the Followers of Eris and learned of Chaos Theory, but then, they took a turn for the worse. She continued on to see a scene of her home burning, giving her pause. The smile faded from her face and she blinked, stopping and looking at the mirror a moment before going onwards. Next came the pile of the corpses of those killed by the Red Sand Bandits, then the girls that were captured, then some of the bandits themselves. She was moving slowly now, wary of the mirrors, but still touching them. She rounded a corner and was able to see the reflection of the mirror showing her she was only one more turn from the exit. She took a step forward, but as she did so, the leader of the bandits appeared in the mirror, kilij in hand. She froze, staring at the man who had maimed her, the man who she had destroyed, in horror. With a flick of the wrist, he swung the blade, the curved sword coming out of the mirror and severing her hand once more. She yelped, despite the fact that there was little pain, and fell to the floor, gripping the stump of her hand. There was no blood, but now it seemed that she was left back in the state she had fallen asleep in, with a dull pain and bandaged stump taking the place of what once was her hand.

She sat there, whimpering a bit before she turned her head to see the next mirror. In it, she saw her sister on one knee, reaching towards Almy. "You're okay, Almy. You're strong, just come to me." She said, the sight of her and sound of her voice soothing Almyra. She crawled over to her sister and knelt in front of the mirror, reaching out with her remaining hand to try to touch her, her hand only to meet cold glass. "I'm not really here, Almy... I'm elsewhere, but always with you." She said. She moved forward towards Almyra, but her hand seemed to meet glass, as though they were separated by a window, rather than Almyra looking into a mirror. "You just have to find me." Timara gave her sister a loving smile as her image faded from sight, leaving only the reflection of Almyra's face, now marked with streams of tears. The girl remained for a few moments, her hand still on the glass. "Don't go..." She murmered.

She didn't know how long she sat there, hand pressed against the mirror before she decided she had to move on, to find her sister within this dream. She couldn't cheat on it either. She had to find her fair and square. Why, she wasn't sure, but she knew she had to do it. She pressed on to the end, where the floor opened beneath her, revealing only blackness. She allowed herself to fall, a look of determination on her tear-stained face.

There was darkness in the hole that Almyra fell into with creepy laughter accompanying her near endless fall.  Below her, she noticed a strange table below her and nothing else.  As she grew closer to the table, her speed of descent slowed and her body strategically positioned for her rump to sit gently upon one of the chairs at the table.  Looking to her left, she noticed the man that took her hand sipping on a cup of tea. Upon the table, a lavishing tea set was displayed with several bite-sized treats to accompany the set.  Sitting right next to the tea set was the man's kilij; the blade was cracked eluding to the fact that Almyra broke the sword in the real world.  Clearing his throat, the man took another sip of his tea and smiled at Almyra.  "Well, look what the cat dragged in.  Fell into the rabbit hole, did we?" the man asked in a rather uncharacteristic manner.  "Fancy some tea?"  This was certainly not the man that she fought against when her home was ravaged. "Oh?  The hostess?  Don't worry, she'll be around shortly," he said before a woman came into view.  "Speaking of," he said with a smile and raising his glass to Almyra before setting the cup down and standing for the hostess.  This was the one that the bears referred to.  A smile came from the dark-haired woman as she smiled and nodded to the Leader of the Redsand Bandits before turning to Almyra. "Good, you arrived just on time," she said before taking a seat at the same time as the leader of the Redsand Bandits.  "Now that you are here, we can get started," she said before turning her eyes towards the Leader of the Redsand Bandits.  "Please put your hat back on," she said with a glare before the man quickly and fearfully put a top-hat back onto his head with a card that read "11/3" on it.  Replying to his action with a smile, she took a sip of tea before turning to look back towards Almyra. "I'm sure that my esteemed follower, Momo has told you that I was expecting you?  That's good.  I will answer your questions later.  You're the right person for this job.  A woman in the castle south of here has taken something from me.  I want you to get it back for me," she said before taking another sip of her tea.  "Oh?  I forgot," she said as she took the teapot that she got the tea from and poured it onto the table.  The tea formed into the shape of a doll before transforming into the doll that Almyra carried around; the one housing the soul of Timara.   "Get it back for me, hm?  It's of the -utmost importance-" the woman stated in a faux-serious manner.  The woman placed the teapot down next to the imitation doll and stood up, pointing in the direction of 'south'.  There, a strange castle appeared, glowing like the table she sat at now.  "Now, hop to it, alright?" the woman asked. Scenario: The strange woman told you to get back your Timara doll.  Now you can go to the castle and retrieve it from the Throne Room, sitting on the Queen's throne.  You can use whatever method you want to retrieve this doll.  You won't be able to manipulate this part of the dream in any manner when you come within 500 feet of the castle.  Once you get to the doll, you will be discovered by The Red Queen (pictured) along with 3 guards wearing red/black smock with spears with a heart-shaped tip.   The Red Queen will identify you as "The Witch's" subordinate and demand your death.  You may allow yourself to get captured or you can escape with the Timara doll back to "The Witch"

OOC: I require 1000 words and you to state whether your escape or get caught.

Almyra fell into the abyss for what seemed like quite some time now. As she fell, she got over the images of her sister and the man who had maimed her, and was now relaxed, despite the laughter. Nearing the end of her descent, she caught sight of a table all laid out for what seemed to be a tea party. Her descent slowed and she was placed in a chair. She looked around, spotting the leader of the Red Sand Bandits again, though this time he was impeccably dressed, and his sword was in bits. Seeing him in such a nice suit made quite a bit of difference in regards to her emotional state. It didn't bring the memories back nearly as strongly, and piqued her interest in the dream. She declined the offer for tea.

She sat quietly as the woman said she had a job for Almyra, saying that she needed to go and retrieve something. Upon seeing that it was her doll that the woman needed, she blinked, a bit confused. "Before I go, I do have one question that I want answered. Why do you need this doll?" She asked.

The woman wearing all black raised her right hand to move some of her hair over her ear.  Her frilly sleeves tickling her face as she did this.  A little smile came across her face before darting her eyes towards the leader of the Red Sand Bandits to explain.  The Leader of the Red Sand Bandits cleared his throat and downed the rest of his scalding hot tea.   "Well, Almyra," the man said as he re-adjusted the card in his hat.  "As you probably know, this isn't just your dream.  This dream also belongs to someone else.  And that someone else also resides in that doll.  Tut tut!" the man said as if to stop Almyra if she decided to chime in.  "But know that the doll has a lot of emotional significance for not only you, but for our mistress here," he said as he displayed his hand towards the dark-haired maiden. "That is correct," spoke out the woman in gothic lolita clothing.  "The doll is very important to me and since I'm just a part of this dream, I cannot go and retrieve the doll from where I am as that 'fortress' you see there isn't part of mine or your dream."  The woman said before waving her hand from 1 side to the next.  "Everything else here, however, is part of your dream.  And since this is part of -YOUR- dream, you can manipulate what is out here.  However, in there," she said as she pointed back at the castle, once again, "you have no control over as that isn't part of your dream." "But, since you share this dreamspace with the person who owns that castle, you are capable of moving around in it freely.  Complicated, I know.  Though, I'm sure you have the brain-power to comprehend what I'm talking about.  Probably one of the only ones that could comprehend such a complicated matter," she said before taking her seat once again and sipping her tea. There was something that the woman wasn't telling Almyra.  While she did explain that the doll had great significance to herself and Almyra, she didn't divulge WHY it had great significance.  Then again, it wasn't something she would explain either.  She took yet another sip from her tea.  "Do you have any other questions?" Scenario: The strange woman told you to get back your Timara doll.  Now you can go to the castle and retrieve it from the Throne Room, sitting on the Queen's throne.  You can use whatever method you want to retrieve this doll.  You won't be able to manipulate this part of the dream in any manner when you come within 500 feet of the castle.  Once you get to the doll, you will be discovered by The Red Queen (pictured) along with 3 guards wearing red/black smock with spears with a heart-shaped tip.   The Red Queen will identify you as "The Witch's" subordinate and demand your death.  You may allow yourself to get captured or you can escape with the Timara doll back to "The Witch"

OOC:  I require 1000 words and you to state whether your escape or get caught.

Almyra listened carefully to what the woman had to say about the task. She nodded in acknowledgement and, with a thought, disappeared, wishing herself to a location around 1000 feet from the castle. As she appeared, she stood there, looking at it for a bit, wondering what her best course of action would be. If she got too much closer, she wouldn't be able to affect the dream. She decided the first order of business was to make sure she would be able to find the doll. What better way to do this than to use the power of her imagination? She held out her hand, and, with a poof, compass appeared in it that would lead her to the doll. How convenient the dream world was. Now she'd need something else. Something to get in and out quickly. What better for that than a pair of all terrain roller skates. How does one make all terrain roller skates? By thinking of of them, of course!

With a mere thought, Almyra's shoes had now sprouted wheels with off road tires. With a push of her feet, she was sent rolling down the hill to the castle. Luckily the gate was open. All she had to do was slip in, find her doll, and then skate on home. A rather easy task, in her mind. There were no steps up to the castle, thankfully, otherwise Almy would have had to stop and walk up them carefully if she couldn't jump up them. She was in the courtyard now, confusing the guards with her mere presence. It seemed that the sight of a girl on all terrain roller skates was something they were not used to. She stopped at a door and opened it, slipping inside. She skated her way to the throne room, where she saw the doll, her doll, sitting on the throne. With surprising agility, she skated up to the stairs leading up to the throne and jumped them, continuing on forward until she reached the throne, where she stopped. Smiling, she picked up her doll and hugged it to her chest.

"Stop right there!" Almyra heard the shout of a woman behind her to see the queen of the castle, dressed in red, entering the throne room behind her. "Surrender now and I'll make your death quick and painless." Almyra just smiled at the woman as she approached. "I don't think I'll need to do that." She said. "Your guards don't look like they'll be fast. And they definitely won't be faster than me." The queen snarled at her before screaming to her guards. "Seize her!"

With their orders given, the guards leveled their spears and charged. Almyra skated around the raised section of the throne room, building up speed. As her opponents reached the stairs, she skated towards them and jumped, using her height advantage to vault straight over them. Landing behind the guards, she now sailed right past the queen, pushing herself along on the skates through the still open door. The queen was left sputtering and stammering, confused as to what shenaniganery she had just witnessed. Most would, as it was rare to see a thief break into one's castle armed only with a pair of all terrain roller skates.

The guards tried to close the gate, but Almyra was too fast, sailing right under it with a bit of action limbo. Almyra may not have the faintest idea on how to fight, but she was still agile, and knew how to skate... well she didn't really in real life, but real world physics and such didn't apply. Even when she couldn't affect the world around her in the castle, she herself, and her skates, were a part of her dream, and as such, they simply worked off of her own confidence with them. Thanks to her roller skates, she was easily able to get out of range of the castle once more, and wish herself back in front of the woman who had asked her to retrieve the doll.

Clapping came from both members at the table, celebrating Almyra's return with the doll. A new pot of tea was made and placed on the table. "Well done, Almyra," the hostess said with a mocking tone before sipping her tea. "You have thwarted the great Red Queen and retrieved the doll from her. Very good," she said taking another sip of her tea. A look was darted straight at the doll and a look of indignation crossed the woman's face. The look of disgust lingered for a moment before the woman stood up and pointed at the doll. "Now I want you to destroy that damn doll!" Her hand shook as she said that. "That thing is cursed and all it does is make things difficult for everyone! This thing also affects you in the real world! Why wouldn't you want to destroy it?!" the woman shouted hysterically. Something about this woman felt mad, that if Almyra wasn't going to destroy it, then that woman would.

OOC:  500 words about your decision.[/quote]

Almy smiled a bit shyly as she was met with applause of the two others. She hugged her doll to her chest tightly, closing her eyes for a moment, enjoying having the little ragdoll in her possession, even if it was just a dream. She remained standing, though, happily hugging her doll. The state of bliss that being reunited with the little thing was enough to wash away the memories of her injuries, causing her left hand to come back. But now she heard the woman who had told her to get the doll speak in a not very friendly tone. She opened her eyes again and looked at the woman quizzically. She saw the look on the woman's face and wondered what she was so unhappy about, considering Almyra had done as she asked.

The woman then rose to her feat and pointed to the doll, shouting for her to destroy it, that it was cursed and affected her in the real world. Almyra blinked, confused. "Of course she affects me in the real world. She's my doll in the real world. She makes me happy and gives me someone to hug when there isn't anyone around." She looked down at it and smiled. "Tammy only does good things and I love her. I would never hurt her, not even in a dream." She gave it another little squeeze. She and Timara had made the doll when they were little, and later on Timara had enchanted it to help her in her adventures. Her sister had one as well, in life. The poor thing was probably all alone in Timara's old house. She should go back sometime to take all of her things and move them onto George for safekeeping. For now, they should be safe at home, though.

Almy looked up at the woman who had told her to destroy her doll, her smile fading. "I won't hurt Tammy, and neither will you." She said. "This is my dream, now, and there's nothing you can do to get to her." She said. And it was true, there wasn't. Not anymore while Almyra was within her own dream, even if it was shared with someone else, she had power here, and while Almyra's body was weak compared to most, her mind held immense power naturally, which was only even further augmented by her magic. Anything this woman or her compatriot would try to do would simply be stopped by Almyra's force of will. Within her mind, Almyra was goddess and queen. Years of experience in manipulating her thoughts and dreams, focusing her mind to a perfect point or edge, hardening her will to gaze into the maelstrom of chaos, confusion, and sensory overload that was her Amor Fati were now only augmented by her emotional attachment to the thing which she now defended. Almyra's opponent would feel the sheer force of Almyra's will weighing her down like a bag of sand upon her shoulders, and Almyra was barely focusing her will on doing anything to the woman at the moment, this was simply her unfettering herself.

A groaning could be heard from both the hostess and the leader of the Red Sands. His hat fell off of his head as the two of the people at the tea-set were simply held to the ground with Almyra's extreme pressure that she was exerting onto them. While this was part of Almyra's dream, these two were defenseless against Almyra's endless imagination and machinations. The two of them attempted, with all of their might, to push back against the pressure only to fail every single time. "Listen to the mistress," the leader of the Red Sands shouted out. "You have to let go!" the man shouted out before his clothing slowly began to change to something Almyra knew much better. The same outfit that he wore while he was alive with his bird perching on his body as he struggled to get back on his feet. The crow cawed as it stared at Almyra; making no offending move against her as it had no reason to counter Almyra's position. Clawing her way towards Almyra, she placed a hand upon her leg. "You need... to get rid of... that doll..." she insisted. Nothing that Almyra could say would ever change this woman's mind. "If you wish.... to change... destroy... that thing!" she continued to say, feeling movement being extremely difficult. Due to being constructs of Almyra's mind, she didn't stand much chance against Almyra's raw mental and emotional power. "If you won't... then I will," she said as she slowly started to make her way up Almyra's body, reaching for the doll.

OOC:  500 words for your next post.

"There is no need for me to let go." Almyra said. "There is more to Tammy than attachment. I have kept her with me nearly all my life to cope with loneliness. I have friends now, but she is still more than just a doll. She has uses beyond the emotional." She continued. These machinations of her dreams were of the emotions she did not want to listen to, did not want to feel. She didn't need to, though. She had others she could hear, and above that, she had the power of reason to defeat them. Tammy was indeed more than a doll. She was a tool, and a useful one at that. She would never destroy something she cared about and was so useful. Even if she did decide to rid herself of the doll, she wouldn't simply destroy it, she would give it to some child in need of one, and ensure that that child, when he or she no longer wanted it, would pass it on to another.

She watched the Red Sand bandit change his appearance to the man that killed those whom she loved. "I destroyed you once, but I refuse to do it again." She said, fighting back tears as the memories began to come back to her. With a blink of her eyes, she teleported the man away, far away, and made sure he would have to walk back normally, as would his bird. She turned now to the mistress crawling towards her and backed away, hugging her doll tighter.

"I do not need to change. Not in this way. Destroying the doll in my dreams will do nothing, nor will destroying it in real life. The decision is not yours to make. You only represent a small part of me." As she spoke, she lifted the mistress up off her feet, allowing her to stand, but restricting her movement so she couldn't continue approaching. "You're still important to me. I won't do as you ask, under any circumstances save the lives of myself or others being in direct danger. I don't need this change. I can, and will change in other ways, one object cannot stop that. Nothing can stop change." She closed her eyes and took a breath and reopened them.

"Now... I think I've been asleep for long enough. It's time to go back to the real world. I appreciate that you were trying to help, but there is no need. I'm sure I'll see you and Momo again in my dreams, but for now, good bye."

Almyra's eyelids fluttered open. She was lying on the war room table. She checked a clock nearby to see how long she had been asleep. It wasn't too long, but she should probably be getting back to bed, lest Ana, Ashe, or Nao catch her doing things other than resting and recovering. She picked up her papers and her doll, stopping a moment to look at the little ragdoll she had made so long ago, a smile forming on her face. She squeezed it against her chest with love, and though she didn't notice, the doll moved a bit of its own accord, doing its best to hug back. With her things cleaned up, she warily cracked open the door to the war room, checking to make sure no one was there to see her before sneaking back to her bed, trying to avoid admonishment from her friends for not getting enough rest.

Congratulations on obtaining B Rank!