“We’ll start by going to the red continent,” the ten-year-old boy with short blond hair and blue eyes said. “We should be able to pass through to the red planet and locate the red jewel that way.”
“Planets are big,” the seven-year-old boy pointed out. His brown eyes looked up at the reddish afternoon sky, the wind blowing over his curly brown hair. “How can we find one little jewel on an entire planet?”
The two spoke the same language as the Alsike princesses, and Ceciliate.
“It’s been theorized that if one of the Rainbow Jewels is on a another planet, the holder of the jewel will dream about it. If we take hold of the red jewel in a dream, we can use its power to go to its real location on the planet, and take the real jewel. With that in our possession, we can return home. It’s as simple as that.”
“How do we find a dream with the red jewel in it, Master? There are Dream Zones all over the continent.”
“We just look until we find it.”
“What if it’s not on the red planet?”
“Then we just look for it, as if we’d find it. We look until Piñole calls us back.”
“Please, Master, you shouldn’t speak the Princess’s name so casually.”
“If she has a problem with it, let her come out her and tell me herself. And you may as well stop calling me ‘Master’. We’re out in the middle of nowhere. Call me ‘Burr’.”
“I don’t see how I can do that, Master.”
“Listen, Alfalfa, we’ve known each other your whole life. We’re practically friends.”
“But you are an attendant, and I am a lowly slave.”
“Fine. But I forbid you to follow me unless you will address me by name.”
“I must follow you, for it is the order of Lady Medic, and the elder Princess Alsike above her.”
“You’ve heard my conditions.”
The younger attendant, Bernard Medic, stepped across the red sands of the red continent, and the younger slave, Alfalfa Lucerne, followed after him. A vast red desert spread out before the two, as far as the eye could see, and beyond. Glowing lights appeared from nothing in some areas, and vanished from others, as dreams started and ended over the dirt plains.
The next five years of their lives took the attendant and slave through one dream after another, in search for the red jewel. They lived off of food they could find in dreams. Sleeping never went smoothly, as a dream would often engulf them, forcing them to wake and take part in it.
One day, the two stepped into a dream, and found themselves at the edge of a moss-covered temple in the middle of this forest. A man, likely in his late 30′s, joined the two.
“I see a couple of young backs have been sent in to help me relieve this temple of its treasures. You two take whatever you can carry, and it’s yours. All I’m after is the red stone.”
In most dreams, Burr didn’t concern himself with the dream world and its going-ons, but whenever anything possibly resembling the red jewel came to be mentioned, he put all his effort into finding it. His only desire now was to return home, and to see his sister again.
The man entered the temple, followed by the teenager and preteen. Inside, the three encountered many traps, but the man managed to find safety for the small group. At the end of the journey, the three found themselves in a room filled with glittering gold. In the center, upon a short stone column, rested a single, round red jewel.
While the older two entered the treasure room, Alfalfa stopped at the entrance. “Did you know the treasure room has more traps than any other room in a temple?” The other two stopped and looked back to hear Alfalfa out. “When these temples were built, the treasure rooms were always heavily protected. The treasure rooms were the first to be filled with traps.” Seeing the man listening carefully to Alfalfa’s words, Bernard took a few steps back. “They put so many traps in this room, it’s a miracle neither of you has set off four or five yet.” Bernard slowly turned around. He carefully tip-toed toward the red jewel. “Then, after they set these traps, they would move outward, setting traps around the room, and then further out. About halfway out of the temple, they’d find they were running low on traps, and they’d spread them out farther and farther apart.” Bernard rested a hand on the jewel. “You might wonder why they didn’t just buy more traps. See, they put all of their money into this room. Sure, they had diagrams showing the layout of the temple and the locations of the traps made up, but they ran out of funding not long before realizing they didn’t have enough traps. It costs a lot to chart out so many traps in such a small amount of space, after all.”
The older man simply nodded at everything Alfalfa told him. He failed to notice Bernard standing over the jewel, a flash of red light surrounding him for a moment. Bernard’s hair and eyes turned red. A silver necklace appeared around his neck, a small red jewel hanging from the end of it. With the weight of the jewel gone from the column, a spring pressed a switch in the column, and the whole temple started to shake.
“Now, this particular temple,” Alfalfa continued.
The older man looked around, and Bernard ran past him. He grabbed Alfalfa’s hand, and pulled the slave alongside. “Run now, talk later,” Bernard said.
As the ceiling caved in, the dream vanished, leaving the two running through red dirt. Bernard looked at the red jewel hanging at his chest. “Yes! Alfalfa, we’re going home!”
“Home… It will be good to return. Shall I resume calling you Master?”
“It can wait until we’re at the edge of the red continent.”
Five years of travel by foot took the boys across the red continent to reach this point. With the red jewel–and its power–in his hand, Bernard needed only will himself and his companion from one dream to another. In less than a week, the two reached the edge of the continent, and the start of grass and trees, a sign that they were almost home. Bernard removed the necklace, and returned the power complete to the jewel. He had been instructed to do so by his sister, so to not arouse chatter by anyone who would see him on his way back home.
At the door to the Medic house, Bernard and Alfalfa were greeted by Princess Piñole. Now 14, she wore her hair in a ponytail on either side. She still dressed as fancy as a princess out of a fairytale.
“I heard reports of your return,” Piñole told the 15-year-old and 12-year-old boys. “You have the jewel, I trust.” Bernard handed the jewel to her waiting palm. “Thank you” she said in English. “Thanks. Head to the yellow continent next. You two will bring me the yellow jewel.”
Only grimace could describe the look on Bernard’s face. “We just returned. I haven’t even seen my sister yet. I haven’t even stepped into my house yet, with you standing in the doorway with that zillion-layered dressed blocking any path around you. If you want us to go out again, then fine. But don’t think we’re leaving without seeing our families. Alfalfa, you go on home. Say hi to your parents for me.”
“Ye–yes, Master.” Alfalfa hurried away.
“Are you testing me?” Piñole asked Bernard. “I know you aren’t defying me. Listen, Bernard Medic, there’s been no sign of the holders of the blue or green jewels. We have the red jewel now, so it’ll be easier for me to track them down. All I need is for you to go find the yellow jewel.”
“Is that really what you want, Princess? You want me and Alfalfa to travel through dreams across the yellow continent for another five years? Then what? Ten more years to look across the other continents?”
“We need to have at least as many jewels as those two Lucid Dreamers if we’re going to confront them.”
“That’s because you’re thinking of power versus power. Use the red jewel to find the Lucid Dreamers, then send me and Alfalfa in there. As long as they don’t know who we are, they won’t see us as a threat. We’ll find out as much information as we can about them. Where they live on the green planet, and everything. Then we need only enter their dreams when–if–they don’t have the jewels activated, and we take them.”
“Can you really take the jewels without them seeing you do it? All it takes is one failed attempted to lose their trust, and that’s only if you can gain their trust in the first place.”
“Gaining trust takes too long. Alfalfa has a special talent he’s long nurtured. It scored us the red jewel, and it’ll score use the green and blue jewels. Once you have three jewels, you should be able to locate the other jewels without their powers being activated.”
“Fair enough,” Piñole said, stepping up close to Bernard. She whispered into his ear, “You have until I find those jewels to spend with your family. Whether I find he jewel in five years or in five minutes, you will be ready to head out, and your slave will be at your side. No questions, no troubles.”
“Fair enough,” Bernard said into Piñole’s ear. He walked into the now-open doorway, and slammed the door shut behind him. He leaned against the door, his eyes closed, and gave a deep sigh.
“Why, Burr, look how you’ve grown.”
Years had passed, but Bernard knew that voice. He opened his eyes to see a person who unmistakably could only be his older sister. She had been only 12 years old when he had last seen her, and now she had grown into a young adult of 17.
“Five years away, and all you’re going to do is lean against the door?” She walked up to him and opened her arms. “Do I at least a hug from my favorite little brother.”
Bernard smiled. He put his arms out, and the two embraced one another tightly. “I’m your only little brother, Cecilia.”
“That doesn’t mean you aren’t my favorite.” The two lowered their arms, and stepped back from one another. “You found the red jewel?”
“Yes. It was there, just as he said it would be. When he said the green and blue jewels were both on the red planet, I figured he overheard something, but considering the red jewel’s location, maybe he really does know something.”
“Were you expecting him to lie?” Ceciliate asked.
“He’s a Lucerne,” Bernard replied without a thought.
Ceciliate smiled. “Not every Lucerne is an Alfalfa. Has his habit changed any?”
“I’ll say. He’s almost able to convince me from time to time. I have to constantly remind myself otherwise.”
“Lady Alsike has already consulted with him, and determined the yellow jewel on the yellow continent will be her next target. She plans to keep the red jewel for herself, and to give the yellow jewel to the younger princess.”
“Princess Arle. She’s almost Alfalfa’s age, right? She’s about 11 now, then. Has she changed any? I see Piñole hasn’t, save for a new hairstyle.”
“Burr! Please, you mustn’t refer to her so casually. If you’re overheard, that could very well demote our entire family to slave class.”
“Pft. That won’t happen. She needs us to do her labor. Without us, she wouldn’t even have that jewel. I could very well have kept it, and joined with those other two Lucid Dreamers, if I wanted to.”
“Burr, please…”
He looked at the sad look on his older sister’s face. “All right, Cecilia. For you, I’ll refrain from referring to Lady Alsike by her given name. I don’t want to cause trouble for you or for our family.”
The door pushed open, barely missing Bernard’s back. Bernard turned to see Piñole in the doorway. “Did you forget something?” he asked her.
“Family bonding time is almost over. I’ve already found one of the Lucid Dreamers. You and your slave will be on stand by until I’ve located the second Lucid Dreamer. To be fair, I’ll grant the two of you 24 hours. I will assign you your next duties no sooner than this time tomorrow. Be prepared by that time.”
