Fried was dreaming again. He was getting better at recognising when he was, though, this dream was entirely new. He wasn't standing in a field this time, but instead found himself in the middle of an expansive desert made of pink sand. Though the desert stretched as far as he could see, as he looked around he noticed that in the distance the sand seemed to be a vibrant blue instead.
He decided to head in the direction of the blue sand, though in this dream he didn't simply appeared where it was he wanted to be; so he walked. Despite how far it seemed at first, getting close enough to see where the blue and pink sand met happened rather quickly. He also noticed how despite the blue sand seeming like a vast and wide ocean from a distance, its width seemed to have shrunk to the proportions of a lake. In fact, the closer he continued to get to the edge where both colours met, the smaller the blue sand seemed to get, becoming a small circle; until eventually it shrunk out of existence. Surprised by its disappearance he froze for a moment, before awkwardly walking backwards. As soon as he did the blue circle started expanding back into existence some distance away from him. It became clear to him very quickly that he would not be able to get closer to the blue sand. In defeat he sat down and looked around him once more.
He ended up staring down the small circular patch of blue sand only a stone's throw away, watching as it taunted him. Suddenly, it began moving on its own, irrespective of his own movement. He attempted to stand up quickly but failed when his leg dug inside the sand. He watched as the blue circle moved slowly around him, in a wide circle. It continued to circle him slowly, threateningly. When it was behind him it froze in place before dashing right for him. He tried to flee, but was still stuck with his foot in the sand and couldn't seem to lift it out. He braced for impact, but the circle shrunk out of existence as soon as it got closer.
He looked all around him and there was only pink once more; once he realised his leg came out of the sand effortlessly. For a moment he wasn't sure what to think or do, though he didn't get a lot of time before he noticed that the horizon was all blue. Rather quickly he saw how overwhelmingly quickly the area of pink shrunk all around him, and this time both of his legs were dragged down into the sand. In a panic he tried to wrangle himself loose, but to no avail. The blue area surrounded him entirely, leaving only a pink circle that shrunk and shrunk, getting closer to him, his body slowly getting dragged down into the sand. The shrinking slowed down when only his upper body remained above the sand which gave him a moment to notice that in the distance there was a figure. The figure was too far away to tell anything about who or what they were, but Fried was sure that it was walking perpendicular to- nor hadn't noticed him. He also wasn't sure whether he should try to get their attention out of fear of things going from bad to worse. It seemed as though the figure had read his mind, however, as the very moment he finished his though the figure stopped moving sideways and turned to face him. As soon as he could confirm with his eyes that the figure started getting closer the sand slowly pulled him in a little further.
In a panic Fried started shouting at the figure to stay away but doing so only made the figure come closer faster.
Fried had now become swallowed into the sand up to his arms and the border between the blue and pink sand was now encroaching on his fingers.
He was firmly stuck within the sand now, unable to move anything but his head, continuously pleading at the figure, which he could now identify as a woman, to stay away.
Though he did not recognise the woman, something about her appearance seemed familiar. Something inside him felt that he should be asking her for help, but in his panic all he could do was tell her to get away. Just like before, every plea only hastened her approach.
With him dug into the sand up to his neck now, he could think of nothing more to do than to take a deep breath. As he felt the last few pulls at his legs and the sand trickle up along his cheeks he opened his eyes to see the woman rushing towards him. She had her arm stretched out towards him with a desperate look on her face telling him: that unlike him, she knew exactly who he was and she had been looking for him specifically.
Before she could reach him, though, he was pulled entirely into the pink sand, submerged into the crushing of the weight around him.
He held his breath as long as he could but eventually everything went black.
Fried awoke flailing with a loud gasp, drenched in sweat and still feeling crushed by the sand. It took a moment but he realised he was awake and relaxed, flopping backwards back into the bed. He closed his eyes for a little while, waiting for his heart to calm down. It wasn't right away but the heavy feeling all around him did fade, and he felt the sweat on his body lift.
He opened his eyes to find the Warden hovering over him at nose-length. Out of reflex Fried tried to swing at the Warden but hit only air. He instantly sat up in bed to see the Warden already standing at the door, holding it open suggestively.
Though he understood very well that this meant it was time to go somewhere, he had no clue on where that was supposed to be, but the Warden always gave the impression that asking was a pointless endeavour; he simply walked up to the Warden and awaited escorting. Together they seemed to start of going to the same set of spiral stairs, but the sparse decorations along the stairs were slightly different; clearly they would be going somewhere he hadn't been before.
Though it was difficult to judge distance and time going down these spiral staircases that seem to go on for ever, this one felt like the longest descent yet. Eventually they ended up arriving at the side of a large hall made entirely of different colours of marble. There were large pillars lining the edges of the hall, leading you towards a large double-sided curved set of stairs that gave way into a circular balcony. The empty space was large enough to produce a disturbing echo with every step Fried made as he followed the Warden towards the grand stairs.
The Warden stopped in front of the stairs and pointed up the stairs. Fried looked upwards towards the balcony where a light was clearly visible, though he could not see where the source was. He looked back down to question the Warden pointlessly, however, the Warden was not there; he had entirely disappeared, as had the stairs they had walked down.
Left with little other option, he went up the stairs and saw a series of five arches arranged in a semi-circle. The middle one was larger and contained an open glass door from which the light emanated, while the two on each side had thick dark curtains drawn. Fried suspected incorrectly, he discovered, that behind the curtains were doors or windows that led elsewhere in the castle. With only one way to go he walked into the light, into a well lit tea room softly decorated with plants along all the walls. The ceiling seemed to be made of glass though he could not see through it. In the middle of the room there was an elegant table with two thin metal chairs across from each other. Upon the glass table stood a tea pot and a cup in front of each chair, though no one visibly present.
He walked up to the table and noticed that steam was coming from the spout. A noise he was certain was a far away bird led him further into the room which into another chamber. This one was a wide veranda this with a balcony view, currently occupied by a tall strange and slender figure with its back turned to him.
The slender figure wore a dark slimming dress that was ripped at the bottom, betraying a long history of being dragged along the ground. Atop their head was a small but wide had covered with a thin veil through which only the silhouette of a person could be seen.
The figure was looking melancholically into the distance where the outlines of buildings could be seen through the thick mist.
Fried accidentally made a noise in his attempt to be quiet, which made the figure turn so smoothly one would have believed they were floating and greet him with a soft demeanour.
"Welcome to my castle, young Fried," A echoed voice that sounded like a man and a woman speaking simultaneously, "You may call me, Barb. You are safe here, I promise."