Decmber 28th 2013, about two weeks after Shen had encountered Hellfire in a dream, they finally get to meet. Oddly, he seems to be the only one to recall these nightmares of solitude. It likely has something to do with him willingly partaking in them. However, instead of asking for answers, they’re asking for a tour. Sending them on a happy little journey to nowhere seems appropiate. Visiting some of his favorite places and treating him to them sounds like a perfect day to a child as lonely as him. If only they could invite Bell or Calypso.


    “So you two are dating? Two men?” he curiously asks like a child in preschool would. For his supposed age of 14, he’s quite different from peers his age. Shen can’t help but wonder whether or not he has hit puberty.


    “Something wrong with that?” Nikolay asks slightly disgruntled.


    Shen squeezes his partner’s hand. “We are? Not a lot of that around, huh?”


    Hellfire shakes his head. Out in the freezing cold, they’re walking along one of the city’s rivers. Atop a busy stretch of street leading out of town, they finally get to the viewing spot Hellfire had promised them. These sights are surprisingly lackluster. If they had come at sunset, it would have been a beautiful sight to lay your eyes on. For now, it’s just an oddly blinding river with a few quacking ducks and a deadly bed of rocks. They can barely spot the bridge parallel to the street they’re standing on.


    “Wrong time of the day…” Hellfire tells them dejected. He wanted a solid reason to stick around them.


    “Maybe we should just check it out later?” Shen doesn’t want to deflate Hellfire’s motivation for meeting them. “Anything else we can see now?”


    “I don’t know…” He seems hesitant, “Maybe there’s another place but you have to keep it a secret.”


    His eyes are relit with passion. There’s something strange about them. Their orange glow speak of might. Before they could nod, he starts speedwalking to his secret. They keep walking along the river towards the bridge in the distance till they stop by a worn down boat.


    “You can swim, right?” he asks expectantly. It sounds like he can. “Don’t worry! I can’t swim either!”


    “What?” Nikolay is concerned. Shen shrugs as the three of them get aboard. Getting atop a sketchy ride to nowhere sounds like the fun kind of mystery they were yearning for when they met.


    Shen is gripping anything with any sort of traction as he begins to regret partaking in this journey. Though, for the most part, this ride is nothing but pleasant, the occasional large rock and the mist reducing visibility down to only the members of this adventure bring uneasiness to Shen. Before long, a few lights begin to form along the river.


    “What are these lights?” Shen grows even more concerned. He’s starting to spot faint figures holding onto torches.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    “Don’t worry! They’re kind people!” Hellfire is waving at them as a few lights wave back.


    The mist begins to disperse revealing a small pier. The lights that had travelled alongside them have vanished. Their arrival is as pleasant as the ride itself as Shen’s uncertainty begins to falter. Now that they’re at their destination, they look back onto the large lake behind them. The german river that had carried them to this snowborne sensation ends in a lake detached from the real world. Normally, travelling on this river would merge with another river and reach the sea after a long journey. The three of them somehow were propelled upriver as if the river’s flow had reversed. They never reached the bridge their boat pointed to nor did they reach any other landmarks that could have determined their position in Germany.


    Atop the new land of mystery is a large lodge blocking their pathway. They look onto the lake one final time spotting lights wandering about or departing on their own vessels into the unknown. Whether they do or do not belong to the hooded figures they had spotted just a few minutes ago cannot be determined. Their route back home is likely the same river that had lead them here.


    “Let’s head inside!” Hellfire pushes his way inside along with Nikolay and Shen. This large lodge is a homely one tended to with care. Illuminated by lanterns hanging from ceilings and torches fixed onto walls, they are met with many people of many different builds.


    “Are those… Dream Catchers?” Nikolay already knows the answer to his question. They’re located somewhere which is neither earth nor a domain. It’s another world hosting otherworldly beings out of fiction and fantasy. The first person to talk to them is a young woman certainly above six feet with long white hair. Along with her hair portrude two almost ribbon-like strands of red.


    “Finn? What are you doing here?” she asks in english. Patting him on the head, they seem quite familiar.


    “An aquaitance?” Nikolay looks unimpressed.


    “Kiana! So you’re trustworthy? Interested in exploring the Otherworld?” Otherworld? They’ve never heard of such a thing. To be met with a vast world that is easily accessible to theirs sounds inconceivable. “Or are they just trying to wander into some ruined homeworlds?”


    “Otherworld? Ruined? What are you-”


    A slug-like beast lays a hand on Kiana’s shoulder as if to tell her that she’s said enough. Wearing only a vest, a tanktop, and a plaid skirt, it slithers along like an obese snake with four arms. Its two antennae along with the snakey eyes make for an interesting visual. With teeth sharp enough to cut and sever and a slithery tongue mobile enough to pull off all kinds of tricks, it seems likely that it can do a lot of damage to the average person.


    “Even Finn isn’t tattling about ruining the surprise! Contain yourself!” His words are relayed by use of telepathy. The slight glow of his antennae indicate when they can converse with each other by mind.


    “You two! Venture out enjoy yourselves!” He gifts Nikolay and Shen each a pouch full of strange coins clinking and clanking with his webbed hands. Without introducing himself he slithers away to a counter serving about a dozen customers.


    Only now do the two of them truly digest the atmosphere. Many humanoids are seated dining and wining among many different species. What brings them here and how they even got here is a mystery the two of them have yet to uncover.


    “Finn?” Nikolay asks as Shen is still marvelling at the lodge.


    “You can be anyone here. It’s not our world! Kiana and Finn are just our identities here.” Hellfire begins to run off. “When the third bell tolls you have to get back here, alright? Until then!”


    The round tables of otherworldy guests offer plenty of noise. The other end of the lodge bears two shelves located right next to the door. Since they’re entirely clueless, they’ll have to start off by asking around.