Shadow of the Beautiful World

Well

In the beautiful spring water in the forest, Merlin was lying naked in the icy water. Beside him was Zatana Zatara, who was also naked, and the lady magician who was in a cocoon was panting. Obviously, the two people Just finished some strenuous work.

This is not the first time she and Merlin have met in a dream.

But her and Merlin's dream story will progress to the same ending every time, which is an embarrassing skin-to-skin kiss.

The worst part is that this process is out of the control of both of them, and Dream Sand fixes it in a weird way, like a ritual.

This is roughly what the parchment said about the aftereffects of using a large amount of dream sand at once.

That is a treasure from the mysterious dream world, the treasure of the Sandman. Zatanna tried to use the dream sand to cheat and fulfill her agreement with the parchment, but the problem is that she has no idea about the dream sand and the mysterious Sandman. Apparently not enough is known.

And this not only made her situation awkward, but also made Merlin involved in this indescribable incident.

Why

Merlin rubbed his forehead, he said with a headache:

Miss Zatanna, can you explain to me what's going on? Why I always have the same dream for a while, and you are in every dream, and after we meet, we will always do it involuntarily. These things are like beasts in heat! Honestly, I really don't like that

It's hard for me to explain, Merlin.

Beside him, Zatanna, who was lying in the spring water, also looked desperate. She let her hair fall in the water, closed her eyes, and said:

In order to complete an agreement, I ended up doing even more stupid things. Before the power of Dream Sand dissipates, it is difficult for us to escape this embarrassing situation. It's a spring dream.

Dream sand? What is that?

Merlin looked at his body, then at Zatana's, and said:

Also, can you let the two of us put on clothes, although I admit that the scenery in front of me is pleasing to the eye, but this is really embarrassing.

You're rather shy, Mr. Merlin.

Zatana was still in the mood to joke. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers. The surrounding scene changed immediately. She and Merlin sat in a luxuriously decorated hall. The two had already changed their clothes and sat in a On both sides of the round table.

The surrounding candlelight shines with warm light, and the crystal candlelight above the head makes this luxurious hall look radiant.

Zatanna has been studying occult magic for a long time, and her understanding of dreams and these weird things is obviously deeper than that of Merlin. Because of this, she is very clear about the power of the dream sand remaining on the two of them.

She has resigned herself to her fate.

Dream sand is a treasure of the dream world, and it is kept by Sandman. In order to fulfill the agreement, I used some unjust methods to 'take' a large amount of dream sand from Sandman's sand bag. And then use it on you.

Wait, Sandman?

Merlin's fingers danced on the table, and he said:

If I remember correctly, there seemed to be a young man in Los Angeles who was doing justice under the name Sandman

No, not him.

Zatanna corrected:

That's just an ordinary person, not worth caring about. The Sandman I'm talking about is the Master of Dreams, one of the seven unique creatures in the legend. Their names are unknown, and their existence is difficult to understand. If you are interested in If the study of mysticism is deep enough, then you can probably understand the existence of the Sandman like me, he is the third son of the endless family, the incarnation of the dreams of creatures from all worlds.

Is it so big?

Merlin looked at Zatana in surprise, and said:

Then you stole his things? I was also implicated by you?

Don't be afraid, Merlin.

Zatanna took out a few weird things from her pocket and played with them on the table. She flicked her long black hair and said to Merlin:

Although the Sandman has a great background, he, uh, how should I put it, is not a narrow-minded person.

What happened to us may be just a small 'prank' by the Sandman, but since he punished us in this way, it means that we will not suffer more persecution.

The price you have to pay is nothing more than one night a week, come to this dream world, and me

Zatanna shrugged, and Miss Magician said in a sad tone:

You don't suffer anyway, it's me who suffers. It makes me feel like a call girl, and it's free.

I thought we were friends.

Merlin stretched out his finger, waved it in front of Zatana, and said:

Friends are not supposed to do these things, it will complicate our relationship IMHO, my love life is complicated enough.

It's just a dream! Merlin.

Zatanna explained seriously:

It doesn't happen in real life, actually, every time you wake up, you forget it very quickly. We are still friends in the real world, and our relationship will not become weird because of a few sexual dreams

Merlin shook his head, he didn't answer immediately, after a while, he looked at Zatana, he said:

Is there no way to remove this embarrassing influence? Didn't you just say that the power of Dream Sand will weaken?

It will weaken, but that will take time.

Zatanna's fingers flicked, and a black stone slab carved with the head of a hound jumped up on the table and spun in the air. Miss Magician recited a strange spell, and a ball of light burst out in front of their eyes.

According to the current decay rate, it may take about 7 years before we can get rid of the influence of Dream Sand.

7 years

Merlin frowned:

That's 364 weeks, once a week, 364 times, man

Stop talking about such embarrassing things!

Miss Magician's cheeks were flushed, and she stopped Merlin from saying that she was a young girl after all.

She promises:

In short, I will find a way, but you'd better be prepared, the influence exerted by the existence of this level of sleep is not so easy to remove. And more importantly, there is another point.

Zatana stood up and hooked her fingers to Merlin:

follow me.

In this Zatanna's dream world, Zatanna has full spellcasting ability, but Merlin does not, and even the demon power exerted on him by the Sangong disappeared completely.

This seemingly defenseless state made Merlin very uncomfortable, which was also an important reason why he wanted to get out of this encounter as soon as possible.

I am used to enough to protect myself, and falling into this terrible situation will definitely be difficult for people to accept and adapt to.

He followed Zatanna out of the shaped hall. On the balcony outside the hall, Zatanna pointed to the fog ahead and said to Merlin:

Dream sand shaped this dream, it was driven by the Sandman to trap us here, but I doubt it's just a prank, look there, Merlin

I can't see anything.

Merlin stared at the fog in front of him, there was only fog there, and nothing else.

No, you can see it!

Zatana's fingers gently brushed over Merlin's eyes, and the fog in the distance seemed to be opened. Merlin's vision passed through the fog at the edge of the dream, and he saw something deeper.

Light.

Dancing light.

Colorful, but chaotic, those lights are arranged together in a way that is difficult for ordinary people to understand, like countless eyes among the stars, looking directly at this small dreamland.

what is that?

Merlin looked back at Zatana. He didn't think those lights appeared naturally. The direction of those lights proved that they were eroding towards the dream created by Zatana, and they were driven by certain forces.

I don't know either.

Miss Magician was standing on the balcony, the wind of the dream was blowing her long hair and the hem of her clothes, she said to Merlin:

But I suspect that it is something else in the dream world. I have read from the classics left by my father that the dream world is not static. The Sandman is the master of this place, but the Sandman will also have nightmares born in his nightmares. Yes, it is the power that is opposed to gentleness, nightmares or dreams of fear.

Nobody's sure if it exists, but if it does.

Zatanna pointed to the fog in front of her eyes, and she said:

Then it has obviously noticed us and noticed this little dreamland shaped by the dream sand. I said I made a mistake, Merlin, and I don't just mean our entanglement, but also this.

If the nightmare invades us, then we will become its 'springboard' into the present world. It may pull an entire city into the nightmare, or worse, the whole world once the Sandman's nightmare is out of the dream world. It will lose control, feed on fear, and it will grow rapidly, just like those ancient spirits.

Miss Magician said softly:

You have also felt the power of those spirits, those chaotic beings under the sea of ​​darkness, they will devour everything, not because they hate everything, but because they want to do that.

Merlin didn't answer, he put his hands on the balcony, looked at the fog in front of him, and said:

So you've really gotten us into trouble. How much longer?

The power of the dream sand is maintaining this dream, and it can still resist the invasion of those nightmares, but as its power weakens, the penetration of those nightmares will become more intense until the dream sand completely loses its power. At the moment of our liberation , and those nightmares will come flooding in and overwhelm us.

Zatanna pursed her lips, she said:

The same time as before, 7 years to be honest, I now feel that I can steal the dream sand from the Sandman. Maybe it's not because I'm lucky, but because the Sandman needs two unlucky guys to help him solve his troubles.

Did you never go to him?

Merlin asked:

That Sandman, he dominates the dream world, so it's impossible for him to turn a blind eye to all of this, right?

I've looked for it, but the Sandman has disappeared.

Zatanna said:

And the nightmare is part of the Sandman's power, how should he fight against himself?

Okay, I have one last question.

Merlin turned around, looked at Zatana seriously, and said:

Why you? And why me?

That question got me thinking.

Zatanna reached out and scratched her hair. This action is very cute for the always eccentric lady magician. She winked at Merlin and said:

I have been trying to steal the dream sand from the Sandman for almost half a year. It is normal for him to notice me. After all, there are not many spellcasters who study occultism and have high talents in this world. But why he traps you here, I don't know. Maybe there is something about you that attracts him, and it is very important to solve the Sandman's nightmare problem.

Have it?

Merlin looked at himself, he said:

Apart from having the magic power of Sangongmo, knowing super-level magic, being connected with the god of the abyss, and having a contract with the big snake, I think I am just an ordinary person.

What an ordinary one.

Zatana complained blankly, then she raised her head, looked at the sky, and said to Merlin:

It's time to wake up from the dream. Let's continue talking next week.

The dream began to crumble.

Merlin looked at the illusory scene around him, and he said to Zatanna:

Next time you'd better change your bed and stay in the spring water all the time. It feels weird.

Shut up!

Zatana screamed with blushing cheeks, and she threw the object in her hand towards Merlin, hitting Merlin on the head.

Merlin, you dirty bastard with a white mind!

boom

Merlin rolled over from the sofa, and then lay on the ground in a state of embarrassment. He rubbed his forehead as if waking up from a dream, and then looked around. He was still at Mei's house, and the children hadn't come back yet.

He took out his pocket watch and checked the time.

Well, less than 10 minutes have passed since I fell asleep.

Merlin, what were you doing just now?

Icarus asked curiously:

After you fell asleep, I detected that the hormones in your body rose abnormally. I don't know much about human dreams, but based on the information I've seen, you should have had an unserious dream? Speaking of which, you've been dreaming quite frequently recently.

Ah, I know.

Merlin rubbed his forehead and stood up. He said to Icarus:

That's a stubborn illness in magic, you don't understand.

I think I have to go back now and maybe my old friends can explain it all to me before it gets worse.