"This is my child, Webster," Lady Isolt introduced warmly, her smile radiating vitality.
"Mr. Webster," the Wampus Cat acknowledged.
The wizard named Webster nodded in return.
"Do you know how long you have lingered in the Borderlands, my dear Green?" Lady Isolt asked, her tone laden with meaning.
"Twenty minutes," the Wampus Cat stated, citing a recorded figure.
"It has been twenty-nine minutes," Lady Isolt smiled.
"Is there an issue with that?"
The Wampus Cat sharply sensed something amiss.
"You are about to enter a deeper dream, child," Lady Isolt replied.
"Thirty minutes?" the Wampus Cat asked.
"Isn't it obvious?
But what I seek, and what you seek, both lie within the deeper dreams.
You must have noticed that there are no ghosts wandering in the dreamscape where you currently reside.
They all exist in the deeper dreams; they dwell in a far more wondrous place," Lady Isolt explained.
"Your time is running short," Webster spoke up then. He seemed to know the Borderlands well.
"I still have a little left," the Wampus Cat responded thoughtfully.
The mist around his body hadn't fully risen yet, indicating he had gained more "threads" recently.
But where had these threads come from?
"I have already seen Lady Ravenclaw. She has no intention of embarking on a great adventure with me.
Therefore, I can guide you in the right direction one last time, my dear.
I am about to merge into the unknown world. This may be the last time I see you. Unless... if you possess the fortune of Merlin, perhaps our paths will cross again," Lady Isolt said with a kindly smile.
"Please guide me," the Wampus Cat said, revealing a hint of reluctance.
"Forgetting a friend is never easy, and not everyone is lucky enough to have friends," Isolt said with a free-spirited air. "So, run south, my dear Green. I wish you all the best."
"Goodbye, dear Lady Isolt."
The Wampus Cat's whiskers stilled, and it lowered its head slightly.
With a few bounds, it vanished from sight.
"Is saying goodbye always this hard?" Lady Isolt asked Webster beside her.
"Not always, Mother. Sometimes, 'goodbye' is a beautiful word.
Before seeing you, it gave me an increasingly intense sense of happiness, so that you would know three hundred years isn't that long," Webster said.
---
Elsewhere, thirty minutes in, the dreamscape became even more bizarre.
If Sean wasn't careful, he could get entangled in the clumps of mist.
At the same time, Sean knew he must be getting closer, because the sky was growing darker.
In another six and a half hours, it would be completely dark—midnight.
In The Tales of Dreams, midnight brings bright stars and is the best time to observe the night sky and receive revelations.
And six hours after that, the world behind the veil would reach the pre-dawn hours, the only time one could see wandering souls.
As for Sean, he wasn't following those rules.
He was following love.
It brings souls closer together, which was how Sean had found Lady Isolt.
As for finding Ravenclaw...
It wasn't hard to deduce.
Lady Isolt had once been in a place with Lady Ravenclaw, and now they had separated.
But Sean figured she wouldn't be too far.
Following the guidance, the Wampus Cat ran like the wind.
As one of the most agile magical beasts, the Wampus Cat sped past many places along the way.
Many places shrouded in mist.
Sometimes it was a grassland, sometimes a mountain stream. Now, the Wampus Cat was running through a forest.
This reminded him of something, specifically a passage in The Tales of Dreams:
[He (Note: Merlin) dreamed many dreams. At first, he was an eagle, preying on hares in the grassland. Occasionally, when a hunt failed, he would go hungry. Later, he became a hare, and his heart ached for the terrified, struggling creature.
He trekked across grasslands, mountain streams, and deserts. Finally, he found that the forest suited him best, for it held the most animals.
He was their kin, and the eldest son of the forest. Thus, he found he could stay longer and longer.
In the beginning, the beautiful dream would shatter within a dozen seconds. Later, he stayed for seven hours. By then, the sky had darkened, and stars filled the night. The priest told him the stars here were the brightest... and from them, he learned the ability to divine the future...]
Sean thought, Everything I've experienced in the Borderlands seems to have some correspondence in 'The Tales of Dreams'?
So, who wrote this book?
While thinking this, the mist rose higher.
Sean told himself not to stop. If he missed this chance, he might never find Lady Ravenclaw again.
It was another long trek.
What appeared before Sean now was a tranquil lakeside. A babbling brook extended from the lake's edge, flowing into the distance.
By the stream stood a beautiful woman with a stern, perhaps even slightly imposing, face.
She wore robes woven of green and blue, and in her hands was a very old, worn book.
"A strange Druid..."
She put down the book.
"I am an Animagus, Lady Ravenclaw," the Wampus Cat responded.
Immediately, he saw Ravenclaw chuckle softly.
"You came to find me. What for?" Ravenclaw asked.
"I came for..."
The Wampus Cat stood by a large rock near the stream, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted.
Lady Ravenclaw extended a finger, and an invisible force pulled the Wampus Cat toward her.
From this close distance, he could see Ravenclaw's blue pupils.
"Your soul carries familiar scents. Hogwarts, Ilvermorny, and..."
Ravenclaw placed the book by the stream and held the Wampus Cat's paw.
"Can you tell something from a paw?" the Wampus Cat asked curiously.
"No... I just haven't held one before," Ravenclaw said.
She watched as the Wampus Cat pulled its paw back.
"I have something to ask, Lady Ravenclaw," the Wampus Cat said.
"How interesting. You are still alive," Ravenclaw suddenly remarked.
"Didn't you say... you couldn't tell anything?" The Wampus Cat showed a very human expression of confusion.
"Simple Druid," Ravenclaw's lips curled up slightly.
"Yes, I am still alive. So, I came to find you to..."
Seeing the mist getting thicker, the Wampus Cat spoke much faster.
"The secrets buried within Hogwarts Castle? A workshop where thoughts become reality? Or perhaps transcendent wisdom and creativity?
Countless souls here attempt to pester me, but for you, my heir...
You may ask me many questions, but please choose the most important one," Ravenclaw said indifferently.
The Wampus Cat paused. It seemed to think of many things in an instant, but finally, it asked:
"Helena Ravenclaw. Are you... waiting for her?"