Oops! We made a mistake…

ㅤ The Astral Express crew set foot on Penacony, eager to relax after another world-saving mission. Besides, according to Welt, there was another reason: Christmas was just being celebrated on his home planet, a particularly warm holiday that unites all the people of his world, unsullied by any adversity. March 7th took a particular interest in it, becoming even more enthusiastic than usual, pestering Welt with questions. Dan Heng would also have been glad to listen more carefully in order to double-check and supplement his archive in case of discrepancies, but Caelus distracted him "professionally", rejoicing at every little detail like a child. After all, for them… literally an eternity had passed since they visited the Planet of Festivities. Dan Heng understood him, so he indulged his joyful intemperance. And the story? He will still have time to hear everything in the quiet, cozy atmosphere of the Express, taking notes and not just relying on memory. After the gala dinner for shareholders, the senior comrades chose to linger at the bar, while the inseparable trio with their unique gift for attracting trouble went for a stroll through the Golden Hour. "Let's summon the spirit of Christmas!" March 7th suddenly exclaimed, emerging from her subconscious, where she'd already made up her mind. "Who?" Caelus was confused. He hadn't really been paying attention to Welt's nostalgic conversation, preoccupied with more interesting matters. "Well, you know, maybe gnomes, I guess," March 7th hesitated. "They were those little pointy-eared creatures who helped the cheerful bearded man with the presents!" Dan Heng tried to remember if the creatures' names had been mentioned in the snippets of conversation he had managed to catch. He definitely didn't remember anything about gnomes. "I assure you, it'll be fun!" March 7th smiled broadly, practically beaming with happiness. Fun… Dan Heng was sure he didn't want to join in on this "fun": a premonition urged him to dissuade his companion from any foolishness, knowing for certain that nothing good would come of it. His intuition rarely failed him. But in his mind, Dan Heng knew perfectly well: he wouldn't succeed, so all he could do was make sure everyone remained safe. "I'm in!" Dan Heng had no doubt about Caelus's answer. He himself inquired: "And how are you going to summon… the spirit of Christmas? Did Welt tell you that, too?" March 7th laughed awkwardly before answering hesitantly: "We're in a dream, right? And in a dream, anything is possible! We'll manage somehow! And even though Welt didn't tell us about summoning the spirit, he did talk about fortune-telling rituals! Let's use that as a basis. We'll need a mirror!" After a moment's thought, March 7th added: "Preferably a large one." Obtaining a mirror wasn't a problem. And how diligently March 7th and Caelus concentrated, trying to summon something imaginary with their desires and prayers alone… All you could hear from them was: "Gnome! We summon you!" Dan Heng sighed quietly, standing slightly behind. If only this pair would approach truly important things with such seriousness. Suddenly, everything shook, the asphalt cracked, and a bright flash bathed the space in light. And it wasn't coming from the mirror, but somewhere beyond it. Gradually, the light took on shape and color. And it wasn't something small… And something large instead. Both in height and in breadth. In its hands it held a shovel. Something red was visible behind its smooth head. "Are those the pointed ears?" Caelus asked March 7th quietly. "It looks more like a bow," March 7th admitted. "Then where are its ears?" "Khm," Dan Heng said, interrupting his companions' conversation. "Excuse me, are you a gnome?" he asked the creature. "Gnome! Where's home?! Where am I?" The ground shook from the creature's stamping and panic; miraculously, the mirror remained standing. Out of fear, the creature dove straight down, digging up both the earth and the asphalt with a shovel. "Stop!" came an unfamiliar female voice from behind the mirror, followed soon by a shriek. "The mirror has come to life!" March 7th and Caelus understood instantly. "There's a girl behind him," Dan Heng added, bringing some sense to the matter. "And she could use our help." Helping not only with words but also with deeds, Dan Heng extended his hand to the stranger, who had fallen into a fresh hole but managed to grab hold of a surviving ledge. "Are you okay?" he asked tactfully. "Yes. I think so." The girl examined herself — she didn't notice any fresh bruises or abrasions. "My name is Dan Heng, and my two companions are March 7th and Caelus. May I hear your name?" "Sheena," she said, enchanted. If only Zelos could learn some tact from him! "What happened? Do any of you know? Maybe you saw us appear here? All I remember is a sudden flash of light. I can't even tell where it came from underground. We were just about to make a pact with Gnome…" "Well, we wanted to summon gnome… The Christmas spirit and all that…" March 7th didn't have much conscience, but enough to feel a slight sense of shame. She hadn't thought it would turn out like this. "Okay, summoning Gnome — that I understand…" Sheena resigned herself. She might be one of the few capable of summoning, but that didn't mean she was the only one. "But why summon a summoner!?" March 7th laughed awkwardly, not really understanding anything herself. Neither about spirits nor about summoners. Caelus scratched his head silently, too. Dan Heng had to take up the matter again. "Whatever the case, first we need to find that dwarf. And then we'll figure out how to get you back." "Yes," Sheena agreed, "that's what we'll do!" Nodding decisively, she turned around just as decisively and stepped... into the abyss. Her scream showed how deep the pit was. "Why not?" Caelus spread his arms. "The surest way!" he jumped after her. "Wait for me!" - March 7th was indignant that she was left behind. Dan Heng sighed resignedly, but didn't lag behind. Sheena fell for a long time. At some point, she grew tired of screaming and opened her tightly shut eyes, looking around. Bubbles floated around, in which scenes from her past could be discerned: thejourney to the Gnome, the meeting with the gnomelets, her friends supporting her, the Gnome himself. "Is my life flashing before my eyes?" fear stabbed at her heart. Although not as strongly as when she began to fall. To her surprise, Sheena landed softly on her feet, rather than hitting her tailbone painfully on the ground. "H-how?" she asked. Sheena had almost thought the end had come for her — the curse of spontaneously falling into the pits had taken its toll. "It's okay," March 7th smiled. "It's just a dream after all." "A dream?" Sheena mused. 'That could explain a lot!' "I've heard something about lucid dreaming, but I didn't think they were… like this." "I don't think," Dan Heng joined the conversation, "that the phenomenon of the Dreamscape can be classified as lucid dreaming, although the concept is quite appropriate. Rather, it's a transfer of consciousness during the body's resting period." "But that still means that in my world, I'm simply asleep, and I only need to wake up to return." Sheena felt relieved at this thought. Something frightening turned into something simple and understandable. An adventure in a dream. Absurd, but what other kind of dreams are there? It wasn't a nightmare — that was good enough. The guys found themselves in a nondescript place. Although Sheena didn't have time to properly look around before falling, she did remember being surrounded by a warm light, dominated by bright golden colors. She even thought she saw an ice cream cone floating near the corner of the building… "Why not? It's a dream." Now, a gray monotony prevailed. Gnome had dug a tunnel all the way into the Dreamflux Reef. From the locals' conversations and their surprised expressions, it was easy to guess where the fugitive was headed. The guys ran in that direction. And judging by the voice they could hear, Gnome was in no hurry, finding pleasure in song. It's hard to resist the opportunity to sing with Robin… She was able to calm him with her voice and ease his panic with the harmony. The guys also took their time, pausing in front of the stage with the unusual pair of performers. Ridiculous, evoking smiles. But at the same time, surprisingly… harmonious, bringing joy to hearts. Robin chose the perfect key so that Gnome would not be too out of step with their duet. Welt and Himeko were sipping coffee nearby at a guest table. Himeko smiled warmly at her friends, inviting them to join her. Hoping that Gnome wouldn't run away after the song, the group joined in. Fortunately, the coffee was from a local coffee shop, not made by Himeko's. "I assume you know what this is and where it came from," Welt began calmly. "We wanted to summon the Christmas spirit," March 7th admitted, hiding her eyes in her cup to avoid accidentally making eye contact with her older companions. Although there was no condemnation in Welt's voice, March 7th felt as if they were being scolded. Or about to be. "What does this have to do with…" Welt assessed the creature, trying to at least comprehend what it was before him, "this?" "But it's a gnome!" March 7th was surprised. So much so that she looked straight at Welt, immediately turning back to her cup, sipping. "Gnome? Why a gnome?" "You yourself told me they help the man with the red bag," March 7th said, doubting her memory. "Elves. Elves help Santa Claus with his presents." Sheena imagined beautiful and haughty elves, not exactly fond of humanity, expressing their dislike especially vehemently for those who shared only half of their blood. "How fortunate that March 7th made mistake…" At least Dan Heng received confirmation that his memory was working properly. But if he had been a little more confident in this earlier… He still wouldn’t have been able to fix anything — he could only accept that his friends didn’t let him get bored. The song ended, as did Robin's performance. The audience began to disperse, not forgetting to give her a loud, prolonged round of applause. Some continued to glance at Gnome as they left, furtively taking photos, for those who hadn't been satisfied with the ones they'd taken before and during the performance. Robin walked confidently toward her friends, leading the pleased Dwarf. "We apologize for the inconvenience," Welt said, taking responsibility for the entire group before Dan Heng could. "Oh, no," Robin smiled softly. "It was fun. A unique experience that not everyone gets to experience. But I'm afraid not everyone will welcome guests who have entered Penacony illegally. If you've done everything you wanted, allow me to escort you before The Family finds out," she offered to Sheena and Gnome. "I'm all for it!" Sheena rejoiced, not considering for a moment that she would only be shown the way out of this place, not returned to the point from which she had been picked up. "I ended up here completely by accident!" "Home! Home!" Gnome began to dance, and with him, the cups on the tables, which had to be caught before they reached the edge. The "bow" on his head began to spin from positive emotions. 'Is that a propeller!?' even Dan Heng was surprised, joining March 7th and Caelus. "Then," Robin spoke, calling on the power of harmony, "it's time to wake up." Sheena felt dizzy and closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them, she found herself in her own world. Her friends stood next to her, not at all worried. "Did I really sleep? As if I never disappeared…" For her friends, Sheena had merely faltered: that was how little time, by the standards of their world, she had spent in another world, the memories of which were gradually fading, as were those of all the dreams she had seen in her life, no matter how amazing they were. ㅤ