[June Rim Maldiver]

I watched as Yul touched the control ring of the ship and then my body failed me. I tried to scream, tried to vanish, tried to run, but couldn't do anything as I collapsed into oblivion.

I returned to awareness and noted that I was standing in the middle of a city. Standing upright, not lying down as one would expect to wake up. Concerning. I looked down at myself and saw that I was still wearing the sextant collar and a gray Rimmer novitiate robe. I touched the collar in fear and annoyance and it snapped open. I angrily threw it aside.

I knew this white-stone city with its enormous cathedral of Virtue. This was one of the southern citadels of Virtue - Amarillia. But, something was wrong. The city was eerily empty, devoid of noise and movement - devoid of life. It was the middle of the day, but there were no people on the streets, no clamor in the bazaars, no people sitting at the cafes.

I perked my ears to listen and discovered that there was barely any sound in the city. I sniffed the air tentatively, and as my fox senses parsed the scents, noticed that the smells were all wrong, weakened, barely perceptible. This was an incredibly complex illusion, exactly the sort of thing that I was terrified of.

I used my Shadowmancy and vanished. I ran down the empty street, freaking out more and more. Mentalist illusion mages were the worst kind. I had encountered one of them on the road, joined a gang of con artists and thieves for a week and had nearly gone insane due to the illusionist trickery of the gang's boss. His Illusion magic was perfect for gaslighting and manipulating others, it’s how the boss kept his gang under control.

There was a curvy girl confidently strutting down the street, heading towards me. I determined that this was Nox, due to the overtly imposing posture and the eyes shimmering with a brilliant, purple glow. She wore a strange dress woven of green ferns. There was a grumpy-looking, adorable, pure white kitten sitting in her cleavage. The sight of her walking down the empty street was so strange that I slowed down.

“Hey June!” Nox waved at me, as if she could see me. “Want to go out on a date with me?”

I checked if I was using my Shadowmancy. I was indeed. It wasn’t working properly. Damn it.

“June, stop hiding. I know you’re here. Talk to me.”

“W-what?” I stammered, covering my body with my hands. I felt violated somehow.

“Shadowmancy doesn’t work inside of a dream. I can see your data pattern prancing around.”

“Wait… Did you say ‘dream’? Is that what this is? I was wondering why the fuck there’s no people in the city.” I turned off the Shadowmancy. It clearly wasn’t working anyway, no point spending mana on it.

“Yeppers. It’s a top tier, high quality dream woven by a very talented Dreamancer monsterling!”

“Why?” I squinted at her suspiciously.

“So we can go on a date!”

“Huh?”

“One human date. I’d like one with you, please.”

I blinked, feeling quite confused. “What are you on about?”

She came over closer to me. “You probably don’t remember this, but when I first met you… you told me that I need to offer you a date before demanding kisses out of you.”

“You want kisses out of me?” I asked flatly.

“Not just kisses. I want everything from you. You’re my soulmate, June.”

“Uh-huh.” I squinted at her and crossed my arms, ignoring her ludicrous ‘soulmate’ comment. “Aren’t we needy?”

“I need your Shadow mana to weave Void spells. Kind of running on one Void over here. It’s not very comfortable to say the least. I am currently relying on random human believers, divinity of Virtue and my new Dreamancer minion to exist without too much suffering within this dream.”

“What if I don’t want to go on a date with you in a dream?” I countered and stepped back, finding comfort in the extra distance.

“Oh.” Nox instantly deflated, looking sullen. Even the purple sparks within her eyes dimmed. “May I ask why?”

“Because complex illusions just like this are freaking terrifying to me, okay?” I shot back, looking around nervously. “I don’t even know if you’re real or if you’re some damn illusion mage trying to trick me into revealing information. Not that I know much. Partial amnesia is a bitch. So, if you’re an illusion or a dream mage, kindly fuck off. I don’t know shit. My brain got scrambled in a near-death experience and I’m presently as dumb as a doorknob.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise.” Nox sat down onto a nearby white-stone bench. “I really keep screwing things up, don’t I?” Her white kitten glared at her. It looked even more animated than she did. What an adorable, grumpy cutie. I couldn't help but stare at it.

I looked back at her face. “Not always. The way you said ‘No’ to that murderous, crystal bitch and blew up her mountain was cool.”

“Thanks.” Nox muttered. “So... Can I have a date?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No. I believe that I’ve already explained myself. I am not cool with dream magic.” I waved my hand at the vacant city. “This place gives me the heebie jeebies. Nothing smells right. You want a date? Ask me out in real life.”

“But this dream is the only place I can talk to you freely, June. I couldn't tell you anything of value, couldn't confess how I feel about you on the Rimmer ship because the Baron of the Rim has an all-seeing eye. If the Rimmers find out that you’re of value to me they would torture you… to make me obey them.”

“It doesn't matter. I have no way to tell if you’re just an illusion designed to fuck with me.” I felt a small pang in my heart when I looked at her extremely forlorn face.

“June, I’m not an illusion, damn it! You need to become my Apostle again.” Nox pressed on.

“Why?” I inquired.

“I want to protect you! When you were my Void Apostle I knew exactly where you were.”

“That’s kind of creepy. Are you a creepy stalker or something?”

“No! Argh, this isn’t working out!” Nox buried her head in her hands. There were tears in her eyes. There was that pang again. I realised that I really didn’t like seeing her sad. Her blue-eyed, white kitten looked at me. I felt that it was judging me.