Sell you a bridge chapter 154

January 5th 2011 New Genesis 7:00 PM EDT

Dreamer  had settled in with her illusions, clearly trying to get into story  telling mode. She seemed to really enjoy regaling people with her  adventures. From her aura she was usually pushed to the back by her more  outgoing teammates for things like this, and Dreamer really loved  telling stories. "The first thing to understand is that the Magiclands  aren't really 'lands' technically speaking. They're more 'A land" just  in seven parts. That's important because it means that the dimension the  occupy is partially in and partially out of the Sphere of the Gods,  which explains some of the unusual things that happen there."

That  tracked with what Del told us I was pretty sure. I knew the Magiclands  were all connected and that there was some sort of hub that allowed  travel between them. It sounded like there might even be direct portals  between one land and the next, which could be useful since we had no  idea where the hub accesses were. We'd probably need to work with the  Forever People to find out about any odd places they might have seen  that would qualify. I didn't fancy the idea of spending years in a  random world trying to find a secret escape tunnel.

Dreamer  shifted her hands, the illusion changing from space to wild forests.  "The closest to the Earthlands in terms of functionality is probably the  Wildlands. Granted, the whole place is run by humanoid beasts, but the  way the laws of reality function are the most stable there. I personally  suspect the Wildlands are partially outside the Sphere. They most  likely represent the portion of the dimension situated right on the edge  at the very least." The image showed hordes of animals walking around  dressed as people. It was kind of weird to see.

Dreamers soft smile fell. "The Wildlands is beautiful, and can be  visited with a bit of subterfuge, but an illusionary veil is necessary  to traverse it safely. The beasts who rule the Wildlands have eliminated  all the humans there, and they consider any new humans who show up to  be a danger. When we visited I cloaked us in animal skin with my  abilities. As long as you look as a beast would they are a welcoming and  pleasant people." The smile came back a bit as the illusion flashed  across a great distance, showing off hills and valleys and forests  galore.

She  shifted her hands again and the scene changed, green, lush landscape  replaced with dark foreboding wilderness. The trees were mostly dead and  the ground was pitted and cracked. "The Darklands are connected to the  Earthlands in the exact opposite fashion. Where the Wildlands are  physically similar, the Darklands are where the spirits of dead reside.  All who die in the Earthlands make the journey, but the Darklands are  inhospitable to the living. There are tales that the spirits of the dead  can trade places with living visitors, returning to life at the expense  of the trapped mortal they leave behind. Among the Magiclands it is the  second most dangerous."

The  image changed again. This new world was equally dark and foreboding but  much less bleak. Rather than dead trees and cracked rocks, there were  twisted trunks and sharp brutal looking grass. It kind of looked like  someone used the Darigan paintbrush from the old neopets games on a  normal forest, making it way edgier and more evil looking. Dreamer's  face was serious. "If that Darklands are the second most dangerous of  the magiclands, this would be the first on the list."

The  image zoomed across the land like it had with the Wildlands. "The  Monsterlands are a prison for the worst of the worst. We've never  actually been inside, but we were able to observe through the veil of  one of the nearby worlds, and I admit to being a bit curious. In terms  of pure danger, the Monsterlands approach even our sister planet of  Apokalips and I advise you to leave them far behind if you plan to  attempt a journey. I doubt the exit you seek is through there, given the  nature of the entities contained within. If there were a way out they  would have long since fled."

I  could see her point. Honestly this was a lot to process, but the  information would be invaluable for us. If we could pick which of these  places to travel through it would save us a ton of time and danger. So  far none of them sounded like a party to me, but I was pretty sure she  was warning us of the worst of them first. She had mentioned that there  were a few that it was a bad idea to enter, so I was hopeful for the  others to be a little more pleasant. If not we would have to decide  which kind of unpleasant would the most bearable, but we would cross  that bridge when we came to it.

The  next image was...weird. Sort of pixelated and strange. Dreamer smiled.  "These are the Gamelands. The Gamelands are unique in that the laws  there are based on competitions. From what we saw on Earth they seem to  resemble your video games, and you gain prestige and power there by  accruing points. Once you gain enough points you can leave the Gamelands  through the CPU as they call it. In all honestly I suspect that to be  your best chance to reach this hub you seek. The Gamelands are the only  one of Magiclands with a built in method to leave."

That  sounded useful. I was pretty good at games, plus my power was basically  pure cheat, so I could get better if needed. I put a mental pin in that  as Dreamer crafted a new illusion. "The Funlands are a bit of mystery  to us, we only saw a small portion of them through the veil. Those over  the age of majority can't enter the Funlands on pain of death. King Kid  is a jealous ruler who despises adults. Any who reach eighteen years in  the Funlands are remanded to the slave mines. It is a harsh place for  some, and a place of joy for others."

I  found it kind of discordant that the place with fun in the name was a  dystopian slave state where members of the population over a certain age  were sentenced to forced labor, but then we were all a few years off  from eighteen so in the worst case where we had to head through there we  would be fine as long as we left the Forever People behind. I raised an  eyebrow at Dreamer. "That's six so far. So there's one more right. You  called it the Wonderlands?" I'd been a bit distracted during her initial  speech by the idea of my girlfriend making her squeal, though I was  polite enough not to say it.

She  shook her head, her soft smile returning as the image shifted to bright  green fields and lush forests. Through the entire thing ran a road made  of golden cobblestones, or rather, as I realized upon seeing the  towering city of green stone, yellow bricks. I was looking at fucking  Oz. Her voice was happy as she stared down at the place. "The  Wozenderlands. A wonderful place full of amazing creatures and fantastic  lands. The Cheshire Cat, The White Rabbit, The Tin Man, so many friends  there I have not seen in such a long time. It is by far my favorite of  all the Magiclands."

Her  eyes were bright and cheerful as she filled us in on the last of the  Magiclands. "The Land of Oz and The Wonderland were originally two  separate planes, but they were brought together by their rules, Dorothy  and Alice, to resist and invasion from the Monsterlands. The  Wozenderlands are at the border of the Monsterlands and they act as  their guardian. It's why I assume there is no other way out. If the  Monsterlands had an escape to a different place they would have never  waged war on the Wozenderlands and been beaten back."

Ok,  well that gave us another potential entry point then at least. The  question here was how that worked. "Can we enter any of the Magiclands  at will? You make it sound like they connect in specific ways. Which one  did you enter from last time, and can you get us back there?" They  seemed to have been to or seen most of them but the connections wouldn't  matter if we could just jump in anywhere.

She  shook her head. "There are multiple entrances, but they're spread out  enough to make using more than one in quick succession unfeasible. My  suggestion would undoubtedly be to enter through the Wozenderlands. They  do border the Monsterlands, but apart from the Monsterlands that are  the deepest into the Sphere of the Gods the other planes naturally have  two borders. The Wozenderlands connect to the Gamelands, which from what  I can tell is where you wish to go."

That  sounded like a decent route to take. Honestly the idea of getting to  see Oz and Wonderland was kind of cool. I'd always liked Alice in  Wonderland as a kid, and the Cheshire Cat was fucking awesome. As for Oz  it would be cool to see the Emerald City and maybe some flying monkeys.  As long as we avoided the Green Meanie we should be fine, and even if  she did come across us (assuming she was even still around) I was pretty  sure I could kick her ass anyway, especially with my team to back me  up.

That only  left one major question. "So...where is the entrance? Can you take us  there?" I honestly wanted to set off as quick as possible, I had a  feeling the trip through the different planes would not be fast so I  wanted to get our journey started. It was a shame to waste the time  setting up the shop but hanging around here to play convenience store  when we could be leaving just seemed like a stupid waste of time. The  others mostly seemed to agree, though Artemis looked really bummed to  have to bail on her new forge.

Unfortunately  Dreamer shook her head. "I don't know. It requires the Mother Box to  reach, and she usually stays with Vykin. My companions are still on  their most recent exploration. I returned early because of some family  issues I had to work out. My sister Playful Dancer was recently injured,  though she has since recovered. Dancer and I were close as children so I  returned to see if I could help." She shrugged apologetically. "I am  sorry but travel will have to wait until the others return." She looked  sad about that, and I got the feeling she liked being out and about.

Knowing  we were stuck same as before I decided to help my girlfriend out with  her potential seduction. I smiled at Dreamer. "Well fair enough. But  just because you can't help us get where we're headed doesn't mean we  should be strangers. You're a wonderful storyteller Dreamer. Maybe you  could tell us a few more about yourself." I smiled at Zee. "I know I for  one would love to learn more about you, and I don't think I'm alone in  that." The pretty goddess flushed, glancing sideways at Zatanna.

She  bit her lip. "Well Dancer has been doing much better, and I suppose I  do not have much to do until the others get back." She gave a warm  smile. "I would love to get to know you all better. You seem like  fascinating people. Superboy spoke highly of his companions back on  Earth, and any who travel with them must be mighty warriors." Zee  reached over and laid her hand on Dreamers and the goddess blushed a bit  harder. "So, what do you wish to know about me? I'm happy to share any  information about myself. I am as you Earthlings say, an open book." I  grinned internally, I was pretty sure my girlfriend would be doing lots  of reading in the near future.