"Yeah, a Doorman? Is that weird? I've never introduced myself like this."
Cain couldn't help but question the man.
"Are you insane or something? City of what? We're in a desert!"
"Well yeah, you have to take a pill to get to the city"
(A pill? Hey stop acting stupid and ask him about it. Maybe this territory is unique)
Gritting his teeth, Cain did what his other self asked him.
"So...this...City, was it? We have to eat a pill?"
"Well, yes. For you to enter at least. I don't have to though, I'm more of a mirage, I was born in the city so I don't have a physical body per se. Me and my twin brother act as the Doorman and Greeter."
'This is too strange?'
(Keep asking questions!)
'Damn it'
"So... can I enter the city?"
"Weren't you here for that anyway? To enter I just have to give you the dream pill, give me a second."
Davis turned and walked up to his kiosk. He rummaged around for a bit before taking out what looked like a pill tray and opening it up.
He took out a single pink-looking pill that Cain swore had a strange fog around it.
"Here's the pill, the first one's free. Make sure to get more in the city, if you don't you'll be thrown back into reality. Is that all?"
"No, I have one more question. Why can't you be here physically?"
"Oh, I'm a Dreamsman, or Dreamfolk as you people call it. I was born in the City so I never had a physical body, you don't have to worry though, as long as you don't exceed you're lifespan you won't die when exiting the dream realm."
"Ok...thanks Davis, I guess"
"Happy to help, welcome to the peace of the Dream."
Cain gave an awkward smile as he put the pill in his mouth. As it traveled down his throat he felt the world around him warping. As the pill touched his stomach a gaseous pink vapor spread out and covered his body from head to toe, even inside their mindscape.
(What the hell, hey why is their pink stuff in here! Hey!)
Like a dream, their vision shifted to black. Their consciousness was swept away by counting sheep.
...
A pink gas descended on a small floating island, it then hovered for a bit before it separated into two figures. The two figures both looked confused and a little drowsy.
"Hey! Welcome to the City of Dreams! I'm David."
A figure walked up to the two, away from a little hut made of everchanging...color?
"W-What...where are we?"
"Heh, I got the same question, ask the guy so we can get on with it"
David tilted his head "You can both ask me anything, did my brother Davis inform you about everything?"
The two figures spoke at the same time, one was horrified, the other with an impeccable look of excitement, "Both of us?"
They turned and stared at each other in utter shock.
The two looked the exact same, the only difference being they both had a half-moon on their forehead, both of different colors.
One had a red half moon while the other one had a green half moon.
The Green Moon was the first to speak.
"How is this possible! How are you here? Are you using the mist?!"
The other didn't answer, instead looking at his hands, a red vapor escaping from his palms.
"Haha, I can use my powers here!"
Cain snapped at his other half, "Hey, answer me!"
Yet again, the Red Moon didn't listen to his counterpart and instead turned his head to David.
"Hey, I'm gonna find stuff out myself. Instead how about you help my....yeah help my twin brother here. He's slow and needs a lot of explaining."
The Green Moon yelled out in anger, but his voice didn't reach his other half.
He could only continue to scream, "Cain you bastard!"
The Red Moon turned into crimson mist as he flew away entering the city. A devilish laugh escaped his lips as a grin as wide as the crescent moon appeared on his face.
Cain didn't even have time to stay angry, his eyes laid on the ever-present city before him.
The city....it was....immaculate. Like a great ravine, two sides split for...what looked like infinity, with bridges stretching across, all made of different things, concepts, and materials. The two sides seemed to reach up forever, the same going down into an infinite abyss.
This was the City of Dreams, a vast space apart from reality, a pleasant Dream for all who came here.
"Well, your brother seems to be fine on his own. I'll give you the rundown on everything you need, if you have any questions you can ask."
...
Cain with a green half moon walked on a rickety bridge into the city. David seemed to be situated on a separate island in the middle of the great expanse of the two sides.
From what he learned from David. Opposite of what most people think first coming here, the two sides are not different factions or anything, it was simply the design of the Dream Lord, the 'ruler' of the City of Dreams decided.
This 'ruler' wasn't really a Ruler, he was just the most powerful person and thus in power.
Almost all the inhabitants knew of Rulers and Gatherers, many of the populous were made up of Gatherers coming here for a long, peaceful life.
That is to say in the Dream realm where this city is situated, you're soul cannot die.
Only until you exit this place will your body age and die. But here, you're soul is eternal just like a pleasant dream. Or that's just what people like to say.
With this special property, the City has an evergrowing populous with an already near infinite number of people living here.
Another thing was the City of Dreams was the core of the Dream and thus its Realm. It was a place filled with all one could imagine.
Where Cain found himself was a truly special place. Other than the dream pills, imagination reigned here.
But he also remembered the words David first said to him, "You must remember this first and foremost. This is the world of imagination, and the curse of it."
Here, anyone had power really, though it only increased as one got 'closer' to imaginative infiniteness. Whatever that meant.
The Dream Realm had 3 stages of imagination, Dream Soldier, Dream Warden, and Dream Master. These ranks didn't mean much but as you advanced you could create more and more things on a deeper level.
People could create weapons that could slay Gods, give themselves powers that could split the sky, or bodies that broke reason....as long as they were imaginative enough to realize it.
Of course, none of those things was needed in such a place, this was the last stop people made in life, where they could live in paradise for eternity. Everyone here was practically immortal.
'That bastard left, no doubt he's aiming for the core.'
The Dream Realm indeed had a core, but no one knew where it was. People suspected the Dream Lord had it but if that was true he would long have been a Ruler.
'Now I got to worry about getting those pills..... David said I just have to do some work and I can get them right? Then slowly meditate and train my imagination?'
Cain passed by thousands of people, walking along a railing next to the infinite abyss below. They didn't care for him, and neither he did for them.
Ever since his other half revealed himself, Cain's state of mind was broken. Only now was he figuring things out, he had the time too.
Originally, he thought himself a martyr but only now realized how stupid and blinded he was.
Although it is good to be regretful and have compassion, one should not be drowned by it.
'Once I become a soldier I will need the pills less and less and if I make it to Dream Warden I won't need them for years at a time!'
Cain had his work cut out for him, he had to stop his other self while also not going to be exiled back to reality and end up dying.
If one of the two doesn't return to reality then their body and soul will collapse.
After all, both of them need to be present to exist.
Only in the Dream Realm did they seem to be able to live without the other. But the half moons on their foreheads only reinforced the fact they were both part of the same whole.