It was night.
Under the soft red light of the moon filtering through the curtains of the balcony, Jace lay on the bed wearing casual clothes, asleep.
Beside him was Catherine wearing a simple cream-colored gown; she too was asleep.
As Jace was in his thoughtless slumber, something changed; his eyebrows knit as his intuition stirred, though he was still asleep.
Something—someone—was entering his mind... or rather, his dream!
After having a 'Dream Walker' as a marionette and his own cat being one, Jace was well-versed in how dream walking worked and also how to prevent it or be resistant to it.
And right now, someone was entering his dream while he was still asleep; he could wake up at any given moment, rendering the dream walking useless.
But he played along, as he knew it would most likely be his cat... There was also a small chance of it being Sarah, as she herself had become a Dream Walker a few weeks ago.
Rather than resisting, he opened up his mind, which was still in darkness.
Now, without much resistance from Jace, the entity that was trying to enter his dream walked onto his dream island.
Jace's mind was still hazy, unable to make sense of anything. The person who had entered his dream could likely see his dreamscape, but Jace himself was not able to, as he was not a Dream Walker who could stay lucid in a dream.
Of course, he had enough control to know when something was wrong and just wake up, but he was still waiting for the intruder to introduce themselves.
If the intruder was indeed one of Jace's friends, they would make him lucid; if it was a stranger, Jace would instinctively know and wake up.
In the next moment, everything became clear to Jace as he gained lucidity in his dream.
When he opened his eyes, Jace found himself in his dreamscape, but it was... rather different.
'Oh....'
Jace found himself sitting in a room that seemed like his bungalow's living room, but it had a different, modern air to it.
Rather than steam lights, there were soft LED bulbs; the gray couch he was sitting on was soft and comfortable.
Moreover, he himself was wearing a black... hoodie and track pants? And there was a... controller?... in his hand.
Jace looked up, only to see a large screen with an image of a man standing by a highway.
Looking at the screen, Jace raised his eyebrow. He instinctively moved the left joystick of the controller in his hand, and the man on the screen moved.
'Whoa! Is that GTA 5?' Jace was amazed. He had seen his friends play this game and had played with them a few times, but he wasn't really a gamer, even though he liked the idea of being one.
He started playing the game without much thought; the man on the screen beat some people on the walkway and stole their money, then he stopped a car and pulled the driver out of the seat...
'It's a shame I transmigrated before the release of GTA 6...' Jace thought as he continued playing. Of course, this was just a figment of his imagination—it was not the real game.
His subconscious dream made quite a bit of sense to him, as he would indeed just laze around relaxing and playing games to pass the time.
"Mm... this is perhaps the most unique dreamscape I've walked into..." a soft, melodic voice said gently.
Jace almost jumped off the couch as he heard the voice coming from beside him. He instantly turned his head, only to see Sarah sitting beside him wearing a green lacy dress, looking pretty as ever. She had a glint of curiosity in her eyes as she looked at him.
"..."
A frown appeared on Jace's face. "Sarah?" he asked calmly.
"Mm?"
"What did I tell you after I helped you become a Dream Walker?" Jace asked as he looked at Sarah seriously.
Seeing that Jace was serious and a bit angry, Sarah immediately put on an innocent face and brought a finger to her chin.
"Mm... something about... never entering your dream?" she said in an innocent voice.
"And where are you right now?" Jace asked.
Sarah was quiet for a moment. "...In your dream?" she said meekly.
"But you entered mine before! It's only fair that I enter yours!" Sarah immediately explained.
Jace looked at her for a few moments and then sighed.
He had told her not to enter his dream because he was afraid she would see something she wasn't meant to, like things related to gods, and get corrupted.
But she did it anyway... Thankfully, Jace had some control over his dreams, as he knew the 'dream walking' power well.
Even now, he was at the complete mercy of Sarah, as she could read his mind, hypnotize him, or whatever, being the Dream Walker here.
But Jace could manage all that since he was lucid and could resist it to a certain extent. He would feel it if she tried to read his thoughts, and he could then just kick her out of the dream.
Since he was lucid, he could also control his dreamscape.
He immediately altered his dream, making all the modern things disappear, and the room turned into a plain living room as it was in reality.
Seeing that Jace had changed the interesting dreamscape and was not allowing her to glimpse into his thoughts, Sarah pouted slightly and said to him as she crossed her arms, "Aren't you being too secretive?!"
Jace shrugged, and by now even his clothes had changed to a casual shirt and pants. "Trust me, it's for your own safety," he said.
Then he casually turned sideways on the couch and laid down with his head on Sarah's lap.
"There are many things in my head that you would rather not know..." he said in a heavy tone.
As Sarah could sense Jace's mind due to being in his dream, she knew that he was telling the truth, but she sighed disappointedly nonetheless.
On the other hand, she didn't seem to mind Jace using her lap as a pillow, and even started playing with his hair with her fingers...
"Now, tell me... why are you here?" Jace asked as he made himself comfortable on Sarah's lap.
Sarah looked down at Jace and answered thoughtfully, "Well... nothing really. Things have just been quite boring lately. Natalie is often home these days—not that I mind, I actually love being with her when she is home, but still..."
Sarah stopped abruptly and looked down, only to see Jace groping her breasts through her dress.
"Mm, they are rather smaller than Catherine's and Natalie's..." Jace said thoughtfully, as he continued squeezing them. "...but I suppose they are handful enough..."
Sarah almost felt offended, but then she remembered she was being groped by Jace.
Slap.
She immediately swatted his hands away, but did not make him get off her lap. "Don't be indecent, Jace."
"Speaking of Madam Catherine, what's up with her? Her dream island seems rather different; the thought of entering it gave me chills," Sarah said.
"Is it because she is a demigod now?" she asked with excited eyes while looking down at Jace.
"Mm," Jace replied. "How is Nyx?" he asked.
"Oh, she is fine. Doesn't seem to miss you much, though," Sarah replied with a smirk.
Jace could only smile at that.
While helping Sarah complete her ritual, he had to reveal Nyx's particular nature of existence (a cat being a Sequence 5 Beyonder) to Sarah and Natalie; Catherine knew way before, of course.
While leaving for Intis, Nyx refused to come with him, so he left her with Natalie and Sarah.
"And how is Nat doing?" he asked.
"Well, taking it easy and relaxing," Sarah replied.
They continued talking about things...
"Are they really small?" Sarah asked with some insecurity, while touching her own chest.
Jace immediately got up from her lap and sat up beside her.
'An opportunity!'
Jace looked at Sarah with sincerity. He shifted closer toward her, outstretched his hand toward her chest, and groped her breast softly.
"Why don't you let me take a closer look, and I'll tell you..." he said softly.