Dream Within a Dream: Garnet, the Pomegranate Princess
Dream-Within-Dream Divination. Garnet, the princess of pomegranates. Her ability, Dream Within a Dream, [rewinds what was believed to be a dream into a true dream, regressing back to the past].
That's why Garnet is insane. A madwoman who truly believes this world is a dream. More precisely, to meet the conditions of her ability, she's been relentlessly convincing herself of that for so long. It wasn't something a sane person could do.
The princess's mind grew increasingly unstable and delusional as time passed. One delusion led to another, swelling into something massive. In the end, she denied the entire world and brought about its destruction. That was the princess's doom.
This world is made up of doomsday buttons. So, to rehabilitate the princess, the first step was to heal her mind. That was the key to conquering her.
"But it looks like she's already been conquered."
"It seems the princess used Dream Within a Dream after being conquered, young master."
In the end, there was only one thing this situation could mean. In a timeline I didn't remember, she had already been conquered—I had succeeded. I couldn't know exactly what process led to that, but judging by the results alone, that's what happened.
"Congratulations. You've saved the world once again."
"Uh, yeah. Pretty much."
"Hm. Is something bothering you? Your expression doesn't look good."
The princess was no longer a doomsday button. I had succeeded in conquering her. From my perspective, that was a great outcome. A really great one, but...
"No fun."
"Pardon?"
"No, I mean, skipping the conquest process is too much...!"
I'm the type of gamer who rips out the skip button when playing games. Missing story bits makes me anxious. I can't stand not knowing every scrap of info. I devour every single line of dialogue. But for the most important main storyline to get force-skipped? I can't contain my rage...!
"Grrgh. How the hell did I conquer her? Why's there no flashback room? Damn you, Endless devs!"
"Young master. Have you lost your mind?"
"Huh?!"
If I compare it to an RPG, it's like grinding specs to hunt the final boss, entering the boss room, and then a bug teleports you straight to the reward room. Sure, getting the rewards feels good, but... it leaves you feeling so empty in every way.
"This won't do."
"Pardon?"
"Maybe I should use telepathy to show the princess nightmares and reset everything from the beginning—"
"Absolutely do not."
"Grrgh. Even you, Canaria, are going to stand in my way?!"
"You seem very tired."
"Sigh. Yeah. Not like it's possible anyway. At best, it'd just loop back to this morning."
Yeah, just kidding. A bit disappointing, sure... but no conquest is perfectly satisfying every time. Given the princess's nature, I'd half-expected something like this.
"Alright. I've already saved the world four times now."
"Impressive record."
"We're probably not even halfway there yet..."
"They say a good start is half the battle."
The Imperial Palace houses the Pantheon, a temple where one can offer sacrifices to the gods.
"Your Highness. You've arrived."
"Yeees. What is it?"
The princess visited the Pantheon. More precisely, the shaman of wisdom and dreams had summoned her.
"Permission to use the Dreamcatcher has been granted."
"Ah."
Dreamcatcher. A divine relic that turns nightmares into good dreams. Combined with the princess's ability to turn reality into dreams, it becomes no different from an item that alters reality itself. She often used it when her sleep was troubled. The gods of wisdom and dreams were so finicky that permission was rarely given easily, though.
"Then I'll take it."
"Yes."
"And the return deadline?"
"It hasn't been set yet. I'll inform you directly when the time comes."
"Guess I'll have to dodge it..."
"Can you avoid sleep forever?"
The shaman retrieved the relic from the Pantheon's storehouse. An ornament in the shape of a spiderweb adorned with feathers and jewels. Using it was simple—just hang it near the bed.
"Then, sweet dreams."
"Yes. You stay wide awake and sleep soundly."
As the princess left the Pantheon with the relic in hand, the shaman flashed a mischievous smile—but the princess never noticed.
...
That night, the princess dreamed. Not Dream Within a Dream. Just an ordinary dream while she slept.
"Oh dear."
"Sister Priscilla! What's wrong?"
In the dream, two girls walked a path. One seemed blind, tapping her way with a cane; the other was a small girl who inspired an instant wave of unease just by looking at her. Strangers, yet... they felt incredibly familiar and dear.
In response to the little girl's question, the blind one spoke.
"Our destination this time seems hard to enter. It's the Empire's Imperial Palace."
"Ah."
"But... hm?"
Mid-conversation with the little girl, the blind one suddenly looked up toward where the princess stood. The moment her eyes opened, ruined and clouded white, they were visible. Surely she couldn't see anything with eyes like that—but somehow, the princess felt stared at.
"Someone's watching us. From a bit far away..."
"Pardon?"
"Similar to that man... but different. Feels closer to us, somehow."
"I don't get it!"
"Hehe. It's my ability. If someone tries to understand me one-sidedly... I can try to understand them in turn."
"Weird ability."
The blind one—Priscilla—activated her power. This was the ability [to understand you to the degree you try to understand her]. Another name for it: the power to converse.
Misunderstanding stems from failed communication, after all. Thus, Priscilla never fails to connect.
"Zara."
"Yes!"
"Shall we walk and chat lightly?"
"Sounds good! Hehe."
Zara pondered briefly, then spoke as if struck by a topic.
"The weather's great today! Perfect for a nap."
"I see."
"But it's too nice a day to just nap. Makes me want a picnic. Though it always rained on my picnic days."
The two walked slowly, chatting. The dreaming princess's gaze followed them.
"Bad luck?"
"No."
"Hm?"
"Weather doesn't matter. What mattered was I didn't want to picnic in the rain. If I really wanted to, I'd have done it rain or shine. Hehe."
"True enough."
And then, watching their exchange, the princess spoke.
- "If you don't like the rain, just use a parasol..."
"Huh? Sister Priscilla, did you say something just now?"
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Nvm. Just my imagination?"
Zara tilted her head, then beamed and continued.
"We could've picnicked under a parasol, but they always tipped over. Got holes, or wind blew them away—rainy no-rain days always rained."
- "What rotten luck..."
"Still better than falling into filth cleaning sewers or into boiling pots cleaning chimneys. Hehe."
- "..."
Someone that unlucky existed in the world? The princess was stunned for a moment, but somehow knew it was true. She'd seen this girl countless times before. No—loved her, tried to understand her, rejoiced in some success with her.
- "Talking about that past... how are you so cheerful?"
"Bad weather's out of my control, and chimney falls are just one mistake. I'm not so weak yesterday's bad luck ruins today."
- "..."
"Bad luck's just a bad dream. Forget it once it's over."
Ever since meeting Gigachad, the princess no longer feared this world being a "dream." If it was a dream, she'd just do her best within it. Because right now, this was where she stood.
- "Doesn't the fear of messing up again scare you?"
But that bred unease. If this world wasn't a dream. If nothing could be undone, and she made an irreparable mistake right now—one beyond her control—then it would all be her fault. That terrified her a little. Dream or not, the world remained an anxious place.
"Mistakes aren't wasted."
But the little girl firmly denied it.
"You can give your all and still fail. But that doesn't mean nothing changed. A mistake means you learned from it. Failing despite your best means you learned to fail better. That's becoming a better person."
- "Ah..."
The princess sighed. Only then did she realize why this girl felt so familiar. This was the girl she loved. How could she not love someone so kind and bright? Though her soul recoiled in disgust at the little girl... even more than that, she felt profound love.
"Zara."
"Yes! Sister Priscilla!"
"Maybe more people like you than you think."
"Hehe. Really?"
"Of course."
"That's... happy news!"
...
The next day, the shaman of wisdom and dreams visited the princess's bedroom.
"Your Highness. It seems I accidentally gave you the 'divine relic that lets you observe the world through dreams' yesterday."
"Ah. Did I?"
"And it seems you liked the dream."
"Yeah. Had a good one last night."
The princess smiled. She'd dreamed well the night before.
"Then, I'll give you that instead of the Dreamcatcher. No return deadline—use it freely."
"Oh, nice."
"Sweet dreams."