Innocence's heart pounded like a jackhammer as they sprinted down the narrow alley. Sirens wailed in the distance, getting closer by the second.
"Crap, crap, crap!" Innocence muttered, their androgynous features twisted in a mix of excitement and panic.
The Morpheus Stone felt impossibly heavy in their pocket, like it was trying to drag them down.
Just two weeks ago, Innocence had been stuck in a psych ward, labeled as crazy.
Now?
Now they were the most wanted thief in two worlds, with both dream police and real-world cops on their tail.
Talk about a career change!
A police car screeched to a halt at the end of the alley.
Innocence skidded to a stop, their mind racing.
*Think, think! What would Phantasm do?*
But Innocence wasn't Phantasm right now.
In the real world, they couldn't bend reality or fly or do any of the cool stuff they could do in dreams.
Here, they were just... well, Innocence.
A skinny teenager with a stolen rock in their pocket and a whole lot of trouble on their hands.
"Freeze!" A cop's voice boomed from behind. "We know you have the stone!"
*How? How do they know?* Innocence wondered, their eyes darting around for an escape route.
Then they saw it – a rusty fire escape leading up to the rooftops.
Without hesitation, Innocence leaped, their fingers just catching the bottom rung. They scrambled up, sneakers clanging against metal.
"Stop or we'll shoot!" the cop yelled.
*Yeah, right,* Innocence thought with a smirk. *Like you'd risk hitting your precious stone.*
Heart racing, lungs burning, Innocence climbed higher and higher.
Below, they could hear the cops arguing about how to get up the fire escape without making it collapse.
Finally, Innocence reached the roof.
The cool night air hit their face, and for a second, they felt that same rush of freedom they'd experienced in the dream world. But reality came crashing back as more sirens approached.
*Gotta keep moving,* Innocence thought, sprinting across the rooftop.
They jumped to the next building, then the next, their body moving on pure adrenaline.
But they couldn't run forever. Already, Innocence could feel their legs turning to jelly, their breath coming in ragged gasps.
They needed a plan, and fast.
That's when they spotted it – an old water tower, its metal sides rusted and worn.
Without slowing down, Innocence made a beeline for it. They shimmied up the ladder and squeezed through a gap in the side, finding themselves in a damp, dark space that smelled like mold and old pennies.
For a long moment, Innocence just sat there, trying to catch their breath. The Morpheus Stone pulsed gently in their pocket, almost like it had a heartbeat of its own.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Innocence whispered, leaning back against the curved metal wall. Their hand dipped into their pocket, fingers wrapping around the stone. It felt warm, alive somehow.
As the sound of sirens faded into the distance, Innocence's mind drifted back. Back to where this whole crazy adventure had started, just two short weeks ago...
---
The psych ward was boring.
Like, watching-paint-dry, counting-ceiling-tiles boring. Innocence lay on their too-hard bed, staring at the white ceiling, trying to make shapes out of the water stains.
*That one looks like a rabbit,* they thought. *Or maybe a deformed duck.
Who knows?
Maybe it's a rabbit-duck hybrid from one of those dreams...*
The dreams.
That's why Innocence was here, wasn't it?
Because they couldn't tell what was real anymore.
Because they kept having these vivid, impossible dreams that felt more like memories.
Innocence closed their eyes, and immediately, the images came flooding back:
A shadowy figure, tall and imposing, watching as a toddler version of Innocence made toys float in the air with just a thought.
The figure's face was blurry, but Innocence could feel the pride radiating from him.
Then the scene shifted, and Innocence was four years old, holding what looked like a tiny star in their hands.
It pulsed and swirled, beautiful and terrifying.
But the shadowy figure was angry now, scared even.
Innocence could hear his voice, distorted and far away: "No, no! You mustn't!"
Innocence's eyes snapped open, their heart racing.
These dreams, these... memories? They felt so real.
But that was crazy, right?
People couldn't make things float or hold stars in their hands. That's why Innocence was here, in this too-white room with its too-hard bed.
Because they were crazy.
*But what if I'm not?* The thought crept in, unbidden. *What if it's all real, and everyone else is crazy for not seeing it?*
Innocence sat up, running a hand through their long messy hair. They'd been in this place for a week now, and it felt like their brain was slowly turning to mush.
The meds they kept giving Innocence made everything fuzzy, like the world was wrapped in cotton.
That's when Innocence saw it – a flash of red in the corner of their eye. They turned, blinking in confusion.
There, floating just outside the small window of their room, was a red balloon.
Innocence rubbed their eyes, sure it was just another hallucination. But the balloon was still there when they looked again, bobbing gently in a breeze Innocence couldn't feel.
*Okay, that's weird,* Innocence thought, standing up slowly.
They approached the window, half-expecting the balloon to vanish. But it didn't. In fact, as Innocence got closer, the balloon started to move, drifting down the hallway outside.
And then, impossibly, Innocence's door clicked open.
For a moment, Innocence just stood there, frozen in disbelief.
The door was locked.
It was always locked.
But now it was open, and that red balloon was floating away, like it was inviting Innocence to follow.
*This is crazy,* Innocence thought. *I'm crazy. This isn't real.*
But their feet were moving anyway, carrying them out into the empty hallway. The lights were dimmed for the night, casting long shadows on the walls.
The balloon floated ahead, always just out of reach.
Innocence followed it down one hall, then another.
Their heart was pounding so hard they were sure someone would hear it. But the ward was quiet, eerily so.
Where were the night nurses?
The orderlies?
The balloon led Innocence to a door they'd never seen before. It was old, made of dark wood with intricate carvings swirling across its surface.
It looked like it belonged in a fairy tale castle, not a psych ward.
Innocence reached for the handle, then hesitated. *This is it,* they thought. *This is where I find out if I'm really, truly crazy.*
The balloon bumped gently against the door, as if encouraging Innocence to open it.
Taking a deep breath, Innocence turned the handle and stepped through.
And found themselves... nowhere.
The room beyond the door wasn't a room at all.
It was a space between spaces, a place that shouldn't exist.
The floor beneath Innocence's feet was solid but looked like swirling mist.
The walls, if you could call them that, shifted and changed colors like an oil slick in the sun.
And there, in the center of this impossible room, stood the strangest person Innocence had ever seen.
He was dressed like a jester from a children's storybook, but one that had stumbled into a paint factory.
His motley was a riot of clashing colors – one leg striped red and white like a candy cane, the other polka-dotted in neon green and purple. His tunic was a patchwork of fabrics, each piece a different shade and texture.
Bells jingled from the points of his hat with every slight movement.
But it was his face that really caught Innocence's attention.
It was painted white, with exaggerated red lips curved in a permanent smile. His eyes were hidden behind swirling, colorful masks that seemed to change shape as Innocence watched.
"Well, well, well," the Jester said, his voice high and sing-song. "Look what the dream dragged in!"
Innocence blinked, trying to process what they were seeing. "Who... who are you?" they managed to ask.
The Jester did a little pirouette, bells jingling. "Me? Oh, I'm just a humble dream-weaver, a spinner of fantasies, a—"
"Cut the crap," Innocence interrupted, surprising themselves with their boldness. "I know I'm different. I know I have... powers or something. And I want out of this boring world."
The Jester's painted eyebrows shot up. "My, my, aren't we direct? But I'm afraid I can't help you, little dreamer. The world of logic and reason is where you belong."
Innocence felt a surge of anger.
After all the confusion, all the doubt, to be dismissed so easily? "You don't understand," they said, their voice rising. "I'd do anything to leave this place. Anything!"
The Jester's smile widened, showing too many teeth. "Anything? Oh, how delightfully dramatic!
Tell me, little one, how badly do you want to leave your boring, logical world behind?"
Something in the Jester's tone made Innocence pause.
There was a challenge there, a taunt.
And suddenly, Innocence felt a wild, reckless urge rising within them.
A laugh bubbled up from Innocence's throat, starting low and growing until it echoed around the strange room.
It was the laugh of someone who had nothing left to lose, who was teetering on the edge of a great precipice.
"I'd kill to do it," Innocence said, the words coming out in a breathless rush.
And then, before they could second-guess themselves, Innocence lunged forward. Their hands wrapped around the Jester's throat, squeezing with all their might.
For a moment, the Jester's eyes widened in what looked like genuine surprise.
Then, just as suddenly, he burst.
But not into blood or gore.
No, the Jester exploded into a cloud of colorful balloons.
They filled the room, bouncing off the shifting walls as Innocence stood there, hands still outstretched, mouth hanging open in shock.
A door appeared in front of Innocence, ornate and inviting.
As it swung open, Innocence heard a whisper, like the echo of the Jester's laugh:
"Well played, little dreamer.
The game begins!"
Heart pounding, adrenaline coursing through their veins, Innocence stepped through the door...
... and found themselves falling through an orange sky.
The ground rushed up to meet them, a patchwork of impossible colors and shapes.
Innocence's mind reeled, trying to make sense of what they were seeing.
This wasn't the psych ward.
This wasn't anywhere in the real world.
As the ground got closer and closer, a small part of Innocence's brain screamed that they should be terrified.
But instead, they felt... exhilarated.
Free.
Innocence spread their arms wide, laughing into the wind that whipped past their face.
This was it.
This was real.
All those dreams, all those so-called hallucinations – they had been glimpses of this world, this wonderful, impossible place.
Just before impact, a thought flashed through Innocence's mind: *I refuse to hit the ground.*
And just like that, they didn't.
Instead, the ground beneath them turned soft and bouncy, like the world's biggest trampoline.
Innocence bounced once, twice, three times, each bounce sending them soaring back into the orange sky.
As they floated back down for a final, gentle landing, Innocence knew their life had changed forever.
The boring world of logic and reason was behind them.
A new adventure was just beginning.