Vivid Dream Reality 1

by Savannah Maun

  “While we are in my rooms, you can call me Myra. What you need to heat the water are these heat spelled stones. She showed us a basket with these pebbles in them. “Usually I find 3 to be sufficient. If it starts cooling off, you can just add another. They are triggered when they are completely submerged, but be careful not to touch them after that. It helps if you stir the water.”

  “Thanks, Myra,” I said, putting 3 stones in the water.

  “You're welcome. What is the second question?”

  “Oh yes. You know your rule that no one can stay overnight. We don't have a problem with it, but we were wondering why?” I asked.

  “It is an elf thing. It might be better if I tell you privately.”

  “Is it something humans are not allowed to know?”

  “No, nothing like that. I suppose I had better explain. Any elf would have learnt from a very young age and since I am your surrogate mother, I guess it is down to me.”

  “Thanks, mum,” I said a bit cheekily. But she turned such a warm smile on me that I decided I would call her that more often.

  “There is a story that may or may not be true. We believe that Lagbit directs us to our soulmate. When that happens a bond forms and only after then can we have children and only with our soulmate. We can only form the bond once and it can only be broken by death. The story goes that Gore, the God of the Goblins, grew jealous of our happiness and tried to break the bond between our Royal couple. He failed, but ever since then, our bonding process can form with the wrong person, which is disastrous. If you are intimate with the same person repeatedly, it is thought the bond can form, regardless of whether you are each other's soulmate. It has become the custom that you are only intimate with someone once. If the bond forms, then you are soulmates, if it doesn't, then you must not be intimate with that person again. It is also why we are eager to try as many partners as possible. Who knows when Lagbit will determine that we will meet our soulmate.”

  “Does that mean, we were not supposed to be together today?” Vee asked hesitantly.

  “Technically, that is right. But no bond has ever formed between a human and an elf so you are unlikely to be censured. Still, if you stayed the night, you would be going against elf custom and Andi might be subject to ridicule.”

  “What does the bond feel like?” I asked curiously.

  She turned from us a bit and had this look of fond remembrance. “It is love, nothing more and nothing less. Sex is nice enough, but when you make love for the first time, nothing is ever the same again.”

  Despite being naked I went over and hugged her. I could tell she had been bonded and since she was now on her own, she must have lost him or her. It probably explained why she was so happy to take on a maternal role. The only question I didn't know was whether she had had any children because if she hadn't then she was now destined to be childless. “Do I have any brothers or sisters?”

  She blinked back tears. “No.”

  “I will be the best daughter I can be,” I said holding her tight. “Err.. just one question. I think I love Vee. Does that mean we have bonded? Is there some way to tell?”

  “What!” she said in startlement. She turned to Vee with a question in her eyes. Vee just nodded slowly. “Shit! This is terrible.”

  I felt upset by her attitude, she seemed so sorry for me. “It feels pretty good to me,” I said defensively.

  “Sorry, I am not saying this right. Vee is human. She will be gone in the blink of an eye.” She started pacing. “There must be a way to fix it. There must. Think, think, think.”

  “Before you worry too much, shouldn't we check it first?”

  “That is easy.” She made eye contact with me and then touched my forehead with her finger and said: “I ask for truth, by Lagbit's will, I ask for truth.” Then she did the same to Vee. She turned back to me. “Have you bonded?”

  “Yes.” It was weird. I didn't seem to have any control. I wanted to say yes and I wanted to say more, but I could only answer the question asked.

  “Who is your bonded?”

  “Veronica.”

  She turned to Vee. “Is that your name?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you bonded?”

  We waited but she didn't say anything. I was beginning to worry. Then Myra turned to me. “Sorry, I asked the wrong question. She is not an elf, she cannot bond as we can. Hang on a second, that gives me an idea. First things first.” She turned back to Vee. “Have you fallen in love?”

  “Yes.”

  I think she realised after I had said Veronica that asking for a name may not be the best course. “Can you point to who you love?”

  She pointed at me. I let out a breath I didn't realise I had been holding. She looked me in the eye and said “I release you.” and did the same to Vee.

  “So what was your idea?” Vee asked.

  “The transformation spell. It managed to turn Andi into an elf, maybe it could work on you. In theory, it should be a lot easier, we are only seeking to change your race, not your sex. I think if we only used elven priestesses, you would receive the right energy, the only question is whose essence we could use. We can't use mine, that would be ridiculous.”

  “How about Kara?” I asked Vee. I turned to Myra. “We have adventured with a few elves. Kara is a fire mage and could be mistaken for Vee's sister. The less there is to change, the easier it should be, right?”

  “Where would we find her?”

  “I don't know where she is now, but she should be in the staging area tomorrow morning after breakfast.”

  “As soon as you meet up with her, bring her to me here.” Then she realised we were still in the bathroom. “Not quite here. To my room.” She said with a chuckle. “At breakfast, I will call a meeting to all Elven priestesses for a meeting and see if they are willing. For a bonding, there is almost no question. So we don't start any rumours, it would probably still be best if you slept in your room tonight. Hopefully, it will be the last time you do.”

  We lay in the bath cuddling. “Do you want to be an elf?” I asked her.

  “We don't know if it will be just in this game or spill over to the physical world. Nor do we know if it is even possible to stop ageing.”

  “Did you know lobsters don't age?” I answered with a question.

  “Huh?”

  “It's true. They get bigger as time goes by, but they don't age. If lobsters can do it, why can't it be possible that we can do it.”

  “Do you want to live forever?” Vee asked me.

  “Not really. But if I did, I wouldn't want you ageing while I didn't.”

  “Well, there is that. I've never really given it much thought. Have you worked out how we are supposed to have children? I mean we are bonded and we can only have children with our bonded and we are both women. How does that work?”

  “No idea. I am not going to ask her though. Are you?” Vee does ask some interesting questions.

  “Hell no. I have had my birds and bees conversation. Once was enough. It is awkward as hell.”

  The evening passed quickly. We had dinner, went back to my room and cuddled some more. We didn't engage in any more intimacy, our minds were too busy with other thoughts. I did give her a detailed description of everything I could remember from the transformation ceremony. Trying to go over what I did wrong and what worked, hoping to make it easier for her. I mentioned the pain after, but she didn't seem too concerned. When we started getting tired she went back to her room and I drifted off to sleep quickly.

  The next morning I was awoken again by Myra. I grabbed my white loose PJ's and joined her in the courtyard. We spent about half an hour going through the form, then washed up and headed to breakfast. Before breakfast started the high priestess, made an announcement. She said it in Elvish. It was a fluid, musical language which I could understand. I had no idea how to speak it, but at least I understood it. She just asked for all female priestesses to gather in meeting room A just after lunch.

  We met u
p with Kara, Ash and Holly. When we asked for Kara's help, she gracefully accepted and we led her to Myra in her room. Myra indicated for us to leave so we wandered around the place, searching for meeting room A and having found it headed back. Both the high priestess and Kara were gone when we returned so we spent the time in the sacred baths. Vee had discovered them previously. It was a great place to relax and both give and receive massages. We had to stop a few wandering hands. Unlike when the men were pestering me when the women did it, I just felt complimented and able to decline without offending anyone.

  Really, we were playing a waiting game. I questioned whether I should have said anything to Myra or not. The reason why I did was quite simple. After what she had told me, it didn't sound like Lagbit's World was going to be the sanctuary that we had been hoping for. Random sex with strangers, no problem, but an elf having a committed relationship without saying you were bonded, not possible. My simple answer, what if we were already bonded? Well, that threw up a heap of complications that were completely unexpected.

  If I didn't have such a good relationship with Myra, none of this would have been possible. It also threw up other questions in my mind. They say the reality you create is a combination of what the computer generates and then how it adapts to your responses. I was brought up by a series of au pairs that never stayed long enough for me to form real attachments followed by a British boarding school from the tender age of 8. I believed my mother loved me, but only as an intellectual exercise. She had shown me no signs. So I was probably desperate for a mother figure in my life, couple that with a high priestess who has a tragic backstory of a love lost and no possibility of children.

  Vee had worked out another solution if they didn't go for it. We could start fresh each visit and only stay one day. That way the characters in the game would never know that we had been together more than for one day. I would lose my relationship with Myra though. I pointed out that this meant Vee didn't have to go through with the transformation if she didn't want to, but she has already decided. She liked the idea of us growing old or not growing old together. If that meant she needed to be transformed, so be it. I don't think either of us really believes that we will become elves for real. After my eyes started giving hints of changing, we both hope that I will end up looking like I do now. Yes, I have accepted my female form and if I could snap my fingers and just change in the physical world then I would. Even if that happened and I ended up with these mildly pointing ears, that doesn't mean I will stop ageing.

  They say that with mind over matter, anything is possible. If my mind says I am a certain shape, maybe that is what I will become. I think my mind would be very confused about the ageing issue. I mean, in the physical world, that is not possible, but in the virtual world, it is possible and I see evidence all around me. I don't think my mind can distinguish which is the true reality. Both seem completely real when I am in them. Only time will tell.

  I had another theory that would be very difficult to test. If how I looked re-enforced my body image, then the more time I spent in the game the more my mind would be convinced that I was this shape and vice versa. The add on to that was, if my mind was more strongly indicating this shape, would my physical body change quicker? There were no controls in this experiment, so we would never know.

  We went to lunch. At the end of lunch all the female elven priestesses get up, I do as well but Myra catches my eye and shakes her head. Obviously, she didn't want me to go to the meeting. I'm not sure what would be worse. Being in the ceremony and watching Vee in pain, or not being there and waiting, not knowing what is going on. I would have to be guided by Myra. Vee and I returned to my room and waited for Myra to return.

  Chapter 9

  The meeting seemed to go on for a long time, so we went to my room and had a cuddle session. We were a bit too nervous for more than that. This whole bonding thing has put a real crimp in our sex life. It also made me wonder, I mean, as a guy, I don't think feeling in the mood was much of a factor.

  As soon as we heard the door open we jumped up. Myra was in the living area waiting for us. She was looking at us with a smile on her face, so I knew the news was good.

  “Kara has agreed and I have already created the potion. We have all agreed to do the ceremony tonight. I'm afraid that you can't be involved, Andi. There is the possibility that your bond may have unforeseen consequences, so the decision was for you to not be anywhere near.”

  “Thanks for helping us, mum.” She gave another big smile. I am so going to try and use that word as much as possible. I know theoretically that she is just a computer generated personality, but my mind can't tell the difference, so I was going to treat her as real.

  “You're welcome. There were some other things discussed. They are only relevant if the ceremony is successful, so, I am unsure whether to talk about it now.”

  “Considering the transformation worked on a much harder case, I have a knowing that everything is going to go well,” Vee said. I smiled at her and nodded agreement.

  “Please tell us,” I added.

  She sighed. “None of what I am going to tell you is a secret, but at the same time, no one really talks about it.” She motioned with her hand and we all sat down. “Since the last Goblin war, our population went below a critical level. To put it bluntly, more elves die than are born. There are still a lot of us, however, we can only have children after we have bonded and it is often centuries before we find our bonded. There are still dangers in this world and although we do not die of old age, accidents happen. What this means is that every bonding is considered sacred and celebrated with a ceremony at Amilyf.”

  “Does this mean we will have to travel there?”

  “Yes, it is in the heart of our forest and the safest place to be. A bonded pair is our most prized blessing. You will be protected and pampered in the hopes that you will help provide the next generation. The journey there will take about 3 weeks. Providing the ceremony tonight goes as planned, we will announce the bonding and ask for anyone who wishes to accompany us.”

  “You are coming as well, momma?” I asked, smiling at her.

  “Most certainly, also with your permission, I will formally adopt you.”

  “Yes please,” I said with enthusiasm.

  “So yes, I will be accompanying you. I suspect most, if not all of those elves who hear, will wish to go with us. This is an unfortunately rare event that engenders a fierce protectiveness in us and an opportunity to celebrate. Please be patient with us. We will have these instincts to keep you out of harm's way. You will constantly be surrounded by elves who are unlikely to even let a mouse get too close to you.”

  “If you have such a population issue, could the transformation ceremony, give you a chance to increase your numbers,” Vee asked sensibly.

  “That was the other thing we discussed. I think we were resigned to slowly decreasing numbers. The addition of 2 new elves through a magical means with the support of our God, Lagbit, has brought fresh hope to us all. I will be discussing this with the Royal couple. The ceremony was only a theory in a book until I performed it on you, Andi. I don't think it was intended to be used in the way that we did, but it obviously had Lagbit's blessing and if we can find people who also wish to be transformed, we may save our race.”

  “We may be able to find some people who would wish to be transformed,” I said, thinking of the transgender community. “I will need to speak to some people and see if they would like to join us.”

  “That can wait. You can send word to your friends to join you, but first, we need to get Vee through tonight and the both of you to Amilyf.”

  Vee had to skip dinner and I chose to do the same. Truthfully, I was so nervous, I wouldn't have been able to eat anything anyway. We had discussed that even if the ceremony was successful if she had anything like the pain that I had, we might find ourselves automatically logged off. Myra told me that she would be brought back to my room after so that we could sleep together for the first t
ime. She advised me to try and go to sleep and gave me what looked like a bottle of wine to help relax me. Apparently, my transformation took many hours, although I didn't remember it that way.

  Vee was led away by 3 priestesses and I was left to worry. I started sipping from the bottle that Myra had provided. I don't think it was wine, maybe mead. It had a sweet honey like taste and I am guessing was very potent. Either that or elves really can't take their alcohol. I had to lie down, the room had started spinning. I think I may have passed out. I awoke to arms hugging me as I was being spooned from behind. I was still in a confused state and just pulled the arm closer to me to hold it tight and drifted back to sleep.

  I awoke more clear-headed when the arm was moved. I turned in bed quickly to find Kara in bed with me, looking at me with her gorgeous green eyes. “Vee?”

  “Yes, darling.” I let out a sigh of relief.

  “Well, it worked then. It is so weird, for a moment there I thought Kara was in bed with me.”