Phlox

(Part of a Pair! Meet their best friendElderbeak!)

 Dream Mages are those borne with a most particular ability,  that of dream magic, a form of mana that only becomes nascent when the  user falls asleep and enters the world of dreams, though they are  charged with a most important task, their work is never acknowledged in  the waking world, much to the dismay of some.

Philia, as she was  known, was one of these dream mages, born to a family that was  relatively well off, she was never left wanting for much… and yet, she  never could quite make friends. For whatever reason, whenever she opened  her mouth, she picked the wrong subject, said the wrong thing, made the  wrong expression, wrong wrong wrong, she simply consistently failed to  connect to people

And every day, she would return home in a  frustrated mess, and retreat to the basement, for there was her source  of comfort… books for playing an “Ar Pee Gee” with pen and paper from a  time long before her birth, it was meant to be played with up to four  people, with one “master” setting the scene… every day, Philia would  come home and read every book hidden away in the basement, even asking  her parents about the adventures they must’ve had before putting these  Ar Pee Gees away! Their tales, as well as every book captivated her  imagination, planting a deep desire to play it herself one day, and the  fact her parents every so often got her new editions of the books she  read certainly didn’t help either…

… And that deep seated fantasy  certainly helped her when she learned that she had a sacred duty to  protect a realm of sleep only deep sleepers could ever enter, for if  balance were to shatter, the real world would suffer. Though she didn’t  want to, Philia obliged… if only because it was the closest thing to the  adventures she wished to partake in!

And yet, in the waking  world, every attempt to connect or even discuss her fantasy game  resulted in people mocking her or thinking that her interest in the game  was “faked”, whatver that meant. And once more, she retreated to her  second home of fantasies that were just out of reach. She wished with  all her heart she’d have a friend to play it with… or at the least,  something from the fantasy to experience herself… as her eyes turned to  the book, she saw something and smiled… a strange creature, the head of  an owl, the features of a bear… an owlbear! How could anyone not love  something like that? Well… if Philia couldn’t have a real world friend,  she’d just make one up!

Quickly thinking up the name  “Elderbeak”, she would pretend to have the burly creature nearby her  to  protect her and support her when she needed it. Even if she never got  to play this game, she’d at least carry a part of it with her.

…  And imagine her surprise that when one night, when falling into the  realm of sleep, she was greeted by an owlbear that matched her exact   vision of Elderbeak, down to the pattern of feathers…! It introduced  itself as Elderbeak, and knew instictively that they were her friend.  Philia’s heart swelled, she finally made a friend… literally and  figuratively, but Elderbeak was real, right there in front of her!  Happily, she hugged her new friend, and began taking them with her on  her adventures around the dream plane to protect it.

As the two  worked to do their duties together, Philia’s imagination and passion for  the “RPG” as it turned out continued to grow, why’d Elderbeak have to  just be an owlbear? They could also be a dragon… and with Philia’s  passion, Elderbeak too changed, becoming softer, warmer, and cuter (But  no less dependable), and gaining traits and features as Philia continued  brainstorming, eventually settling on an owlbear with the traits of a  gem dragon..

To match her dear friend, Philia had certain  traits of Elderbeak attached to her “Dream avatar” as a sign of  affection! Since Elderbeak was from the fantasy game, Philia decided she  would be too… she weaved an image of a kind but daring purple skinned  demoness in her head, and that image became her own… it was the  character she yearned to play, a half-demon adventurer named Phlox… and  so, that would be Philia’s identity in the dreamplanes!

Years  passed, and Philia continued (and failed) to get an adventure in the RPG  going, each attempt thwarted be it by time issues, people losing  interest, or again, simply thinking she was :faking” interest, and this  constant neglect was causing a negative effect on her personality,  making her more snippy to those who did show genuine interest, or were  simply approaching her, how could she know if they were just pretending  to be her friend just to betray her later?

She kept trying  when there was genuine effort though… and she came close once, very very  close… she begged the “Master’ to allow her to play her half-demon  character Phlox with her pet Owlbear… and the Master would allow Phlox…  but not the Owlbear. Philia didn’t take it well. She lashed out, yelling  about how it wasn’t fair to her best friend, only for the Master to  flatly say he wasn’t real.

Getting a black eye and a missing tooth  for their troubles, the Master prohibited Philia from ever playing with  his group. She did it again. She messed up a connection, and her  unhealthy obsession with this “fantasy” as well as an imaginary friend…  at age 14 was starting to give her teacher and parents some concern,  there were talks of taking away the books, doing a “regiment” to break  her dependence upon Elderbeak, Philia… didn’t take it well.

How  dare they! How dare they insist Elderbeak wasn’t real! He was real,  just not in a place they could see or reach, if she could show them,  they’d believe her if she just could…

The stress very quickly  became too much to bear as all manner of horrible outcomes stewed in  Philia’s  head, why was the waking world so cruel, so banal, so  horrible!? Nothing good ever happened there, and Elderbeak wasn’t there  was much as she liked… Then… a thought occurred…

“I need a break from all this!”

Philia  simply flopped onto her bed, closed her eyes, and decided to stay  asleep for as long as possible. She was going to stay in the Dreamplanes  for a week, no…a month… no, a year! A year away from all this stress  would make her parents forget about all this nonsense, and she’d miss a  year of school too, win win! … She could probably also use a break from  her Dream Mage duties!

So, packing up her imaginary things and  hopping onto the back of Elderbeak… Ph-… Phlox left, her waking body  falling into a comatose state as her dreamself went on an adventure  through the dreamplanes, going from place to place, not worrying about  any duties but the thrill of adventure.

… Though, lately, dream  mist has been coalescing onto Phlox’s cloak, making it appear longer,  get a tail, and even golden claws… somewhat concerning, but Phlox is  assured it’s probably nothing

For now, she simply wants to be away  from the horrific stress of the waking world, and if the dream realm  truly appears to be better than the waking world…

…

Then she’ll just decide to never wake up again, plain and simple!