The night was already coming to an end by the time Veronica fell asleep. With everything happening the day before, all the excitement and knowledge she learned, it didn't take long to fall asleep.
Her mind faded into blankness, and went into the land of dreams
...
The street was the same as always, with lampposts, walkways and a gigantic theater.
The theater was still as magnificent as ever, nothing normal about it and everything amazing.
Just like the last times she couldn't look away from it, but unlike past times she didn't want to. It felt way more inviting, like it wanted her to approach it and show something very important.
Slowly she took one step towards it, then another. The color scheme changed yet again, this time the front door had that beautiful pink coloring, the windows were orange and the whole building was every possible color.
With each step she grew more comfortable and tranquil, with no concern for her behavior what so ever.
When she reached the door her real emotions finally returned, and her fear grew. The power of this theater was larger than she could've possibly imagine, it just decided for her to approach it and she did it without a second thought.
Every part of her body suggested that this is not right and don't try to open the door, but she was a very curious person. The questions about this place were gradually driving her mad, and now was the time to learn more.
The door looked pretty much the same as before, but it was in all the shades of pink. There were no new embellishments on it, and the previous ones didn't give her any weird feelings.
With nothing else to do, her hands rose into the air and she tried pushing the double doors open. Her back muscles stretched and her arm ached, but the door didn't want to move...
It needed a key...
Veronica looked down to see if their was a lock, but she was surprised to find there weren't even handles for opening the door.
'How am I meant to open this door? There is no lock... or handle... How is it even closed?'
After trying again and again a few times, she began banging on the door but nothing seemed to work.
'Okay, if physical force won't work, then what do I do?'
With a thoughtful expression she sat down before the double door and just stared at it for a while. Her mind was burning up from thinking about ways to open it, but every time it always came back to one memory.
'"The key... You are the key, NO!... You have the key..." What did Madam stout mean by that?... I don't have a key, and what would said key even look like for a door that has no lock?!'
Running out of options she tried one last thing. She stood up and closed her eyes, then imagined a small golden key. It seemed like nothing happened at first, but a feeling appeared in her mind.
Following its suggestion, she held out her hand like she held said key in it. Slowly she moved it towards the door where she imagined a lock. Then she performed an action in her mind as well as within the dream and turned the key to the right.
*Click*
The lock has opened...
Not noticing any difference at first Veronica's eyes gradually opened, then she dropped the key that shouldn't have existed and looked at the lock on the door which wasn't there before.
Her breathing grew erratic with fear, and just as her face went pale the door began opening on some invisible wind.
The memories of that monster from her dreams resurfaced and she closed her eyes from the sheer terror of that nightmare. Frozen from her own emotions she just stood there and waited for her inevitable death...
Nothing happened...
All around her silence reined, and the serene atmosphere got hold of her yet again, calming her turbulent feelings. Her breathing slowed and her eyes gradually opened.
The door in front of Veronica was wide open, but unlike before there was no endless darkness behind it. Instead it showed a well lit hallway leading towards another set of double doors.
The coloring of the corridor followed a similar pattern as the outside. The walls were the color of rainbow, while the candles on the wall burned with orange flames, and the carpeted floor that led to the next double door was pink.
She stepped inside confidently as if her hand wasn't trembling from fear. There was a war being fought inside her mind. Fear against curiosity, the will of self preservation fighting against the will to know more.
After taking another step, then one more her curiosity ignited more than the terror could every affect her. She walked on more willingly and even with a bit of excitement.
This place... This place held so many secrets, possibly about the way she got here or how she could return. And there was only one thing stopping her from finding out more. Another doorway with no lock or handle.
Since last time she learned and with confidence held out her hand while imagining the same key. She performed the same turning action, and soon that previous sound could be heard again...
*Click*
The door was unlocked. With an exhilarated grin she raised her hands and pushed it open.
...
Unlike what she expected, the door didn't open into anything. Instead Veronica was teleported somewhere else.
All around her were empty seats shrouded in darkness. It looked very similar to a theater's auditorium. As this realization hit her there was a sound coming from in front of her.
Suddenly a bunch of lights came on, but they illuminated only one specific spot... A stage.
Somewhere or more like from everywhere music could be heard. She listened to it for a while, but couldn't identify the source. It was classical music, played by loads of instruments at once, but more importantly... It was a music people would dance to.
She soon found out why the music was playing. Down on the stage the lights illuminated one lone figure. The person's movements were unpredictable and strange, but mostly it was bewitching.
It inspired movement from the audience, it invited or more like begged from Veronica to join in its lonely dance. The person who danced was a man at first, but it was ever changing.
Just like those dancers on the door from her previous dream, this one seemed to constantly look different.
First a man, then it changed into a woman, then a child, an old person, then even some kind of animal, but then it became something very strange... Formless.
Veronica felt weird looking at it, she couldn't decide on its shape, dimensions, looks... nothing. It looked like everything she had, could, and will see in her life, but also something that never existed. Something old, something new, something temporary.
She stared at it for as long as possible, but a pain started to appear in her mind and she had to turn away.
Her hand slowly rose to her nose and it came away bloody. She began feeling weak, and only noticed herself falling when the ground greeted her face.
...
Veronica's eyes snapped open and she quickly jumped up from the floor of her room, then immediately fell onto her bed. She was still very disoriented and in pain, but it slowly passed.
In only about five minutes it was fully gone and she could finally examine herself more thoroughly. The first thing she had done is checking every orifice for bleeding, she needed to make sure that whatever damage she had suffered within her dream wasn't carried back.
To her relief she didn't have any blood on her, only sweat... A lot of sweat.
'How did I sweat so much in my sleep? And what was I doing on the floor? And why does my whole body feel like I have been moving all night...'
As the last thought came to her mind, a theory slowly began to formulate inside her head. Steadily she moved her vision and looked at the floor of her tiny room, what she saw confused for a second, then the realization hit.
The floor was covered by some kind of liquid, that looked like water. But it was broken up at many places by footprints. It was her sweat and her footsteps, because while she dreamt about dancing, she actually began doing it in real life.
'Well, this was a new one... Wait, if the dreams can actually effect my real body, could that mean I can die within dreams?... No, I don't think so, or at least it isn't that simple... Technically I already died in a dream once, but I'm still here.'
With her worry elevated, she realized that her body was really in need of a bath. Quickly she grabbed one of her dresses and began walking towards the bathroom downstairs.
The day had already begun a good while ago, so everyone was busy. After saying a quick hello to the members of the Miles family, she went to take a long relaxing bath.
In the tranquility her memories slowly returned to the inside of the theater, and the formless figure. Weirdly enough she couldn't recall the person's formlessness at all, like something was blocking her mind from remembering.
Veronica didn't really care though, instead her next thought was about what path should she choose. She examined every one of them again, but at some point the choice became very simple... How could she choose something other than the Dancer path.
After her bath she went to Suze and said she was going to tell Father Martin about her decision not to join the Unbroken. She just nodded with a small genuine smile and went back to work.
Veronica on the other hand went outside and got on a public carriage heading in the direction of the Cathedral of Time.