Episode 5:
Royalty? Living In A Dream World!
Niriko�s eyes snapped open. Where was she? Then she relaxed. Where should she be? In the inn, of course, just waking up!
Stretching, Niriko sat up, and then very nearly fell back down again.
�Okay, this is definitely not where I went to sleep,� she muttered.
She was in a round stone room of sorts, and the room was bare except for the bed she was sitting on. Getting up, Niriko found—to her ultimate displeasure—that she was clad in a silky lavender gown that reached the floor. Putting her hand up to her head with a dreading feeling, she found a tiara on top of her head. She ripped it off and chucked at the large wooden door at the opposite end of the room in anger. In her frustration, she missed the door and hit the wall instead, and the despised ornament hit the wall with a clang and clattered to the floor.
Suddenly, Niriko�s anger vanished. A door! Duh, what was she thinking?! She ran to the door, but nearly tripped on the skirt of her dress in the process. Frustrated, she lifted it up so that she could run, and yanked open a door.
�Oh, crap,� Niriko moaned. �Don�t tell me there�s supposed be some kind of rescue here!�
Leaning against the wall of some corridor was a knight. Well, he looked like a knight, all in armor, but his posture didn�t imply the title. Bending down, Niriko lifted the visor and saw a familiar face.
�Yamato?!� she shrieked. �Is this some kind of a joke?!�
The eyes behind the helmet opened suddenly.
�Niriko?� he asked. �Hey...where are we? And why are you wearing that dress?�
�Do you think I know?!� she raged. Yamato shrank back against the wall.
�Sorry...� he mumbled, pulling off his helmet. �Why the heck am I wearing this?!� He quickly discarded all of the armor, but underneath was not his normal attire. It was simply a beige tunic with brown pants and black boots.
�We�ve got to get out of here,� Yamato said.
�No, really?� Niriko replied dryly. Yamato gave her a distressed look.
�Look, Niriko, I�m not totally happy that we�re stuck here, but you don�t have to be all mean about it, okay?� he told her. �It�s not like it�s my fault.�
With some regret, Niriko knew he was right, but that didn�t improve her mood at all. �Let�s just go,� she muttered. �Maybe we can find the others or something.� And she walked off down the corridor, hoisting the skirt of the dress up, with Yamato trailing behind.
�What is with this crazy getup?!�
Lina was totally frantic. Where was she? And why the hell was she wearing this stupid dress?! She had half a mind to yank off the tacky, light orange thing, but she knew she had to wear something.
�I want out of here!� she wailed. �Somebody get me out of here!� Suddenly the door opened.
�Oh, hi, Lina!� It was Gourry! �You know, I�ve been lost in this tower thing for a while, looking for people, and I found you!�
�Great,� Lina said under her breath. �I ask for somebody to take me out of here, and here�s Gourry, who�s got no brains or any sense of direction. Just great.�
�Lina?� Gourry asked. �Um...why are you wearing that? I thought you didn�t like that sort of thing.�
�I don�t!� Lina exploded. �I hate it! Do you think I actually wanted to be in something this stupid?!�
�Oh. Right.�
�Gourry, let�s get out of here,� Lina sighed.
�Yeah, but...I don�t know how,� Gourry replied. �This is the highest part in the tower, and I can�t find an exit.�
�Have you tried going down, by any chance?� Lina hinted with that half-closed-eyes look.
�Um...no,� Gourry admitted.
�I didn�t think so,� Lina replied. �Come on, Gourry. Let�s just get out of here!� And they took off through the door, clambering down the stairs in the frantic search for an exit and, in Lina�s case, a new wardrobe.
Amelia peered out over the edge of her window. Sure, she liked heights, but this was just ridiculous! Here she was, on probably the twentieth story of some stone tower, and there was no one else around. And why was she wearing her ambassador dress? It didn�t make any sense! Suddenly, a creaking sound behind her made her jump.
�Amelia? Is that you?�
Amelia turned around. �Oh, Mr. Shunozike!� she cried.
And it was Shunozike. He was standing there in a light mail suit, but he looked thoroughly perplexed.
�Amelia, do you have any idea where we might be?� he asked.
The princess shook her head. �I just woke up here. I think we�d better leave, though. We might find some of the others!�
�Good idea,� Shunozike agreed. �Come on!� And the two of them started down the spiraling steps of the tower together.
Chame ran down the halls frantically. Crap, where was she?! She was wearing some long gown that made it nearly impossible to go at a quick pace, and there was no one else around. �Auugh!� she yelled in frustration. �Where the hell am I?!�
�Chame?!� It was Zelgadis!
�Zel! There you are!� Chame said breathlessly, coming to halt around the corner, and then stopped. It was Zel, but...
�Don�t stare at me like that,� Zel snapped, embarrassed. He was wearing some frilly prince�s outfit. �I hate this thing.�
�Yeah, well, I�m not jumping for joy wearing this, either,� Chame replied.
�At least you look good in that,� Zel pointed out, still blushing. �Have you seen anyone else?�
�No,� Chame answered, shaking her head. �You probably haven�t, either, right?�
�Nope. But you can bet that whoever�s behind this is going to be in a lot of trouble!�
�Ditto that,� Chame muttered. �Let�s just get out of here. This place is creeping me out.�
So Zel and Chame continued down through the stone tower to the exit.
As soon as Lina and Gourry emerged from the exit of the tall stone tower, they saw six other people—Chame, Zel, Niriko, Yamato, Shunozike, and Amelia!
They all spotted each other at the same time and hurried to the center of the meadow inside the square that four towers formed.
�Miss Lina! Miss Niriko!� Amelia cried. �Mr. Yamato! Oh, I�m so glad to see you all!�
�You have no idea how ticked I am!� Niriko shouted as she ran towards the others. �I�m wearing this stupid dress!�
�I hear you!� her cousin replied.
�Whoa!� Amelia tripped over something as she neared the center, and tumbled forward a few yards. She sat up, dazed.
�Amelia, are you all right?� Shunozike asked, hurrying over, and then he stopped and looked at the ground about where Amelia had tripped. The others came over to see what he was looked at.
�...Kadachi?� Lina said with that half-closed-eyes look.
�This is ridiculous,� Zel muttered.
And it was Kadachi, lying on the ground—sound asleep. What�s worse, she was wearing a dress, just like the other girls, except hers was faint green. Lina poked at her with her foot.
�Kadachi?� she said. �Kadaachiiiii...wake uuup...�
�That�s not how you do it,� Niriko snapped. She bent down and held Kadachi�s nose with her thumb and forefinger. Soon, Kadachi�s eyes snapped open&mddash;along with her mouth.
�Get off!� Kadachi shrieked, her voice nasalized since Niriko was pinching her nose. Niriko obligingly let go.
�All you had to do was ask, Kadachi,� she said with transparent innocence.
Kadachi glared at her and sat up. She realized just then that she was on the ground and jumped up.
�What was I doing, sleeping on the ground?!� she demanded, brushing herself off. Then she stopped. �And why am I wearing this?!�
�Haven�t you noticed that we�re all dressed like we just walked out of Amelia�s wardrobe?� Niriko asked coolly. Amelia sniffed a little.
�It�s not that bad,� she told her.
�Amelia, you�re used to these things,� Lina pointed out. �We�re not princesses, so naturally, we don�t wear this stuff!�
Kadachi slapped a hand to her forehead. �Oh, no,� she groaned. �Does this mean that we have to start calling everyone �Miss� and �Mr.�?!�
�I highly doubt it,� Chame replied. �Let�s get back to the main focus here. Where are we, and how did we get here?!�
�Let�s use logic,� Zel reasoned. �We�re obviously in some kind of illusional dream world, and that�s a magical work.�
�Are we still asleep?� Yamato wondered. Zel shrugged.
�It�s hard to tell,� he answered. �It�s possible that whoever did this did it to our unconscious minds, but that would mean that time passes normally in the dream world, which would mean that if someone were to wake us up, the spell would be broken. It�s also entirely possible that we could�ve been both physically and mentally transported to an illusional world, and so there�s no way we could break out.�
�Whoever is behind this, we�ve got to find them,� Niriko growled. �Come on!�
Any reply, however, was immediately cut short by a loud bawling sound. �Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!�
�The last thing we needed,� Kadachi muttered. �Filia!�
It was unmistakably Filia�s cry. Nobody, however, was in the mood to deal with her.
�Filia!� Lina shouted. �Where are you? What�s wrong?!�
�Miss Lina? Is that you?� Filia�s voice sobbed.
�Of course it�s me!� Lina yelled. �What�s wrong?�
�Whaaaahaah!� Filia wailed. �I-I-I�m stuck in my dragon form!!�
�So?!� Niriko snapped. �We�ve all seen you like that before!�
�But it�s embarrassing!� was the reply. �I-I�m naked!�
�Auugh!� Kadachi screamed, frustrated. �Listen, Filia, stop being such a baby! I would�ve thought a dragon priestess would be more mature! Just get over here, you prissy little crybaby!�
�WHAT?!� Filia shrieked. �Crybaby?! Ooohh!!�
And then, flying directly over them, came Filia the Golden Dragon. Kadachi�s impatient remarks had made her angry, and now she�d lost her temper.
Filia landed with thud, shaking the ground beneath them. �I am mature, Miss Kadachi! I am not a prissy little crybaby!�
�Oh, yes, you are!� Kadachi snapped. �You�re always whining or crying over something or the other! Can�t you get a grip, Filia?!�
�Will you two cut it out?!� Chame shouted. �Kadachi, Filia, SHUT UP!�
That put an end to the conversation. Kadachi and Filia, though still upset with each other, stopped immediately.
�Filia, do you know what�s going on?� Shunozike asked.
�Well...I heard you all talking about a dream world,� Filia admitted. �But that�s all.�
�Then let�s go,� Amelia declared. �Let�s find out what�s going on!�
�Filia, did you see Jillas, or Gravos, by any chance?� Chame asked.
�Nope,� Filia replied, shaking her head.
Episode 5: Royalty? Living In A Dream World! is not finished yet!
