The cave.

I’m still in the cave.

I knew I would still be here, but for some reason it comes as a shock nonetheless.

I regain my 360-degree vision, which is also a shock to me even if it is exactly the same thing I have experienced several times these past few nights. For this is a dream, and a dream of exactly the same variety of every dream I have had since I was reborn on Earth four nights ago.

I am still in the cave, in exactly the same place I was when Miss M left me last night. I have not moved even an inch. Though, with the way my ghostly form works, I am quite uncertain as to how exactly I appear when I am awake on Earth. Is there any evidence of my existence at all? Am I some faded wisp or marking on the ground or some shimmering static object? Or, perhaps, do I genuinely blink out of existence the moment my conscious mind returns?

I would have to ask someone who was around to pay attention so they could verify for me.

However...

There is nobody here.

There is nothing here.

I am deep within some cavern in some mountain, perhaps. Or I am high up in the air in some floating stone structure. It is nearly impossible to tell.

I begin to move my body, or the ghostly form of it, as best as I can, as slowly as I can, to see if I can get a better view. The cave here is much lighter than those I am used to, suggesting that there may be a source of natural light somewhere around.

My body does move, but more quickly than I would like. I wish it would more directly respond to my desires, but it is not so. It is just my ability to tug or pull or push or nudge, and that is it. I tug on the body to stop, and it slowly slides into a halt.

For some reason, the very moment I thought to try and move the body, it went in the exact direction as that man-made, stone hallway in front of me. I wanted to go in reverse, towards what could be the source of natural light I am looking for.

That hallway...

It calls to me.

I feel like I am supposed to go to it.

But... I know Miss M wants me to stay for now. For how hard she worked, for all the sacrifices she surely made, for all the awful things she did to me, she deserves to be there with me when I go through that hallway and find out what is at the end of it.

She said she would try to be back by tonight, you know...

But she has not shown up.

Still, she said she may not be able to reach me, so I understand completely that I will need to be patient. After all, what are ghosts if not patient?

I use more effort on my body to move it slightly backwards, away from the hallway and to the other end of the cave. It isn’t much, not far enough that the entrance to the hallway disappears from my sight, but it is far enough for me to find an opening in the rocks, and to peer deeply into what exactly is creating the light.

It’s...

Not the sun, that’s for sure.

It’s a glowing, shimmering... something.

Through the cracks in the rocks, I can see an opening, but even as I grow closer, it remains difficult to ascertain what exactly is on the other side, except that it is exceptionally bright.

It is only when I finally reach the cracks in the rocks up close, when I come close to phasing through the rock wall and into the outside that I finally figure out what it is.

It’s an aura.

A light magic aura that, I assume, completely surrounds the entire structure. That means this cave is encased in a thick, nearly impenetrable, nearly undetectable magical layer that will prevent all but the most seasoned magical warriors from passing through, or for even perceiving it from the outside world.

I’m... trapped inside a magical barrier.

I do not know how ghosts may react to touching the light aura energy emenating from such a barrier, but I do not feel like I have a desire to find out.

Instead, I turn around and go back to my original location.

And then...

I wait.

Miss M will be coming soon enough. Then I can get an explanation for all of this.

I just have to... wait. For... a very long time.

Hours pass.

Nobody comes.

And... I wake up.

***

When my eyes flicker open and my consciousness returns, there are two things I see immediately: one is the soft daylight of early morning seeps through the blinds over the balcony window; the other is a soft hand covering my face and obscuring my view.

There are two things I hear immediately as well: one is Francis snoring loudly; the other is Delta snoring loudly.

I believe that three people sleeping in a bed of this size has turned out to be a quite large mistake, because the three of us have now jumbled up into a mess of limbs that are nearly inescapable. My bladder is begging me to get up and use the restroom, and yet... these two snoring, sleeping oafs are tangled up in a mess and I am hopelessly trapped between them.

This... this is the greatest challenge I have faced since I came to Earth.

But I will conquer it nonetheless.

With a maneuever I shall not describe for fear of its techniques leaking into the public domain and being used for evil, I wiggle out of the grasp of this man and woman duo. Without disturbing either of them, I break free of their strangleholds over me and get off of the bed.

I look back at them, their arms and legs wiggling around in desperation now that they no longer have a body to snuggle up to. I shudder.

Soon, Francis and Delta move close to one another and begin snuggling up with each other. They still snore just as loudly as ever.

I pray I never have to encounter another situation like that ever again... But I already know we have another night at this very hotel.

May The Goddess grant me the strength I need to persevere in this situation once again. That, or may The Goddess remind me to take the side position and not the middle.