Barring any residual hangover creeping in, you all go to the new theater to see a movie and, in general, have a good time.  This is the first time you have ever seen a movie.  Since you grew up in a fairly rural environment with no technology to speak of around, you didn't have any of the niceties you find yourself encountering lately.  Xanthera and Thylonia grew up in the middle of a forest in a small town like you, so they weren't familiar with this either.  Malcolm is the only one of you that had been to a theater before.  The classes you take at school cover most of the stuff you would encounter outside the castle, but seeing in real life is different then reading about it.  The next several hours fly by as you and your friends hang out, until mid-afternoon when you all decide to check on William to make sure he is ok.

You return to your room to find the door locked from the inside and you hear a commotion.

"William!!!  William!!!  Are you ok?"  Malcolm shouts as he pounds on the door.

"Vasheer!!  Big V!!! You alright?" you shout, also pounding on the door.

"Watch out.  I'll get the door."  Thylonia says while reaching for her knife.  "You should always carry a knife with you.  You never know when it might come in handy."

Thylonia then uses the knife to jimmy the lock and get the door open.  Everyone piles into the room to make sure everything is ok.  You find Vasheer growling at something in the corner.  As you get closer, you find out that it is a goblin.

"How the deuce did a goblin get in here?"  Xanthera asks as she reaches for her own knife.

"I don't know.  William woke up a few hours ago and said he was hungry, so I showed him where the mess hall was and came back here.  Then I went back to my nap and a few minutes after that, I heard the door lock and there was this goblin standing over me with a frying pan."  Vasheer responds, still keeping the goblin at bay.

"Ok.  First we have to get the goblin out.  Ladies.  He's all yours." you say, knowing from your past exploits with them that they love this stuff.  They then proceed to pounce on the goblin and take care of him quite swiftly, one of the reasons you are so attracted to Xanthera.  She is so pretty when she pounces.  Anyway, after dealing with the goblin, you and Vasheer go looking for William and find that he didn't make it to mess hall.  He barely made it down THIS hall.  You end up finding him in the bathroom passed out, snoring like a lumberjack.  You have Vasheer give him a gentle nip on the leg to wake him, knowing that merely shaking him won't work.  The bite works perfectly.  He awakes with a jump that rivals Vasheer's and the three of you go back to your room.  Which, to your surprise, is immaculate.

"Wow.  You Elvin are machines at cleaning up after a kill." Vasheer says, appearing pleasantly surprised. "I'm impressed."

You look around and you, too, are impressed.

"Thanks.  But we should thank you.  We couldn't get the blood off the walls.  What did you do to clean that off?"  Thylonia asks, still holding a handful of books that need reshelving.

"We didn't do that.  We just got back after finding William down the hall." you say, puzzled.  "If you didn't do it, and we didn't do it.  Who did?"

After what seems like an eternity of staring at one another, curious as to what happened, you finally speak up and suggest that everyone have dinner.  Xanthera and Thylonia quickly chime in and recommend goblin patties, a delicacy in their hometown.

"That sounds fantastic!" Vasheer exclaims, salivating already.

"Goblin-burgers it is." Xanthera says, searching for the main ingredient.  "Only one problem.  No Goblin."

"Now I'm doubly impressed.  You obliterated the carcass.  Awesome." Vasheer shouts, now salivating more than before despite the change of menu to something less, exotic.

"No.  I know a piece flew over here.  It was an arm.  Yeah, definitely an arm." Thylonia remarks, looking under the couch.  "Come to think of it, there seems to be no evidence that the goblin itself was even here, only the resulting mess."

"Not again." Malcolm and William remark under their breath, again in unison, and again it seems as though a pattern is forming.

Four hours later, after explaining what had happened in the dorm to Lazarius, and finding that night had fallen, you and your friends return to your room to get some sleep, but night goes by at a snails pace.  Thoughts of where the goblin's carcass went are going through everyone's heads, keeping them awake.  The only one that seems to be sleeping is Vasheer.  He keeps mumbling something in his sleep about 'I'm gonna get you' and keeps kicking the side of your bed with his back leg.  He's drooling, too.  You realize everyone else is up also and ask if they want to go down to the tavern to get something to eat.  They agree and, after putting a towel under Vasheer's mouth, everyone tiptoes out of the dorm and proceeds down to the tavern.

"There's something I can't get out of my head." you say, addressing everyone and no one at the same time, as you make your way to the tavern.  "Where did the goblin, well I should say pieces, go?"

"It couldn't have disappeared, could it?  It wasn't like it just got up and walked out of the room.  It was dead, d-e-a-d, dead."  Malcolm says in his freaked out voice.  A voice you hear more often than his calm one.  "There was no blood, no nothing.  Vacant.  Thylonia.  You're the bookworm of this operation.  Any ideas?"

"I read somewhere that some species of goblin can regenerate limbs, even organs.  Never have I come across one that can pull itself back together after such a violent evisceration." Thylonia remarks, giving her sister a low five.

"It WAS a good one." Xanthera says with a grin on her face, proud of herself.  "But I'm more concerned with something else.  Where did it come from?  There aren't any forests for miles.  Besides, I'm sure we all remember the security measures Lazarius showed us when we started here.  There's no way a Wyvern could get in here from outside, let alone a lowly goblin."

The conversation continues once you get to the tavern.  Where did the body go?  How did the blood disappear?  I think I pulled something during the dual knifed triple lutz that sent it's arm flying.  You know, normal conversation.  The next few hours go by only slightly quicker than those in the dorm.  When no answers could be found, and before the Rathmore brothers could start another fight, you all return to your dorm to get some last minute shut eye before classes, which start in four hours.  The first of which is a new class you are taking this term, Computer Operations.

The next morning everyone still seems uneasy.  You can feel the tension in the air as you walk the halls.  You get pelted with questions of what happened the previous day and of the strange occurrences from students in the hall.  You pick up your pace to avoid any further questions.  It's something you'd rather forget.  But you can't.  As much as Xanthera tries to comfort your mind, you can't get the thoughts out of your head.  The questions that the students ask start to replace the ones you already have.  It consumes you. You have to find answers.

Computer Operations class goes by like the rest of your classes the rest of the day, slowly.  You can't shake the thoughts that have entered your mind and it makes it hard to concentrate in class.  Every time you get called on or someone says your name, you snap out of it, but not for long.  It won't leave your mind.  

"Hello.  Helloooooo.  Anyone home?" Vasheer says as he waves his big paws in front of your face. "You ok?  You've been like this all day."

"Huh? What?" you say as you snap out of your trance and find yourself back in your room with Vasheer.  "Sorry, buddy.  It's just that I can't get my head clear of the goblin.  It doesn't add up.  Where did all the parts go?  Xanthera and Thylonia were both right there in the room.  Yet neither of them saw what happened."

"It was probably just a practical joke.  One of the other summoners might have done this to mess with you.  A joke, that's all." Vasheer says, purring.  "Isn't that how it usually works?  If you dismiss a summoned creature, it disappears?"

"Yeah, but the blood is always left behind.  Always.  It's no longer part of the beast." you say as you scratch your head.  "There has to be some other explanation.  Something.  Anything."

"In any case, we better get some sleep.  While you were 'out', we got a request from Lazarius to meet him in his office tomorrow morning.  It sounded important.  He even let us skip all our classes."  Vasheer says as he curls up at the foot of your bed.

The only thing that gets you through the night is the thought that hopefully Lazarius has some answers for you.  He always seems to have the answers you want to hear, though not always the truth.  Regardless, it seems to always help.

The next morning you and Vasheer report to Lazarius' office chambers in the upper floors of Rathmore, eagerly awaiting the answer you have been seeking.  

"Do you know why I called you here?" Lazarius says as you enter his chambers.  You have never seen the inside of his chambers before.  The walls are adorned with thousands of books, shelf after shelf, some of which aren't titled in any language you have ever seen.  His desk, carved out of a single diamondafur tree, a tree said to only reside at the very top of Mt. Ryshu, the tallest mountain in the solar system, sits at the center of the back wall.  Behind it, Lazarius, awaiting your answer.

"No, sir.  We don't." you respond, still looking around.  "Is it about the incident two days ago?"

"Yes, it is." Lazarius says as he gets up from his desk and walks towards a bookshelf to your left.  "Have you ever heard of the great demon, Apocalypse?"  Knowing the answer to be no, he continues without glancing away from the shelf.  "I wouldn't expect you to, he is part of a legend that has died out over the generations.  Luckily, history, by definition, is written down."  He continues on until he comes to the bookshelf and pulls a rather large book with writing on it that seems familiar to you, but you don't know from where.  "This, my boy, is the only copy of 'The Gramorum Apocalyptica'.  This book has been passed down through my family for, let's just say, a very, very long time.  Longer than you can perceive."

"What does this book have to do with that goblin that showed up in our room?" you interrupt, thinking he was done.

"I was getting to that.  You youngsters, always rushing, sheesh.  As I was saying.  Ahem..  This book is very old and it contains the story of Apocalypse, a great demon that can only be summoned by the dreams of a 'cursed one'.  It also mentions that this 'cursed one' will come about every 12,035 years."

"How long ago was the last one?" you ask, interrupting again, more eagerly this time.

"Can't I get out anything, sheesh." Lazarius says

"Sorry.  That was the last time.  I promise." you say as you make a zipper across the mouth motion.

"Back to the topic at hand.  It was 9,000 years or so, give or take a century."

"We have plenty of time then, right?" you say, then quickly make the zipper motion again.

"That's what I thought, too.  Hey, wait a minute.  I'm telling you that we had a world ending event that you've never heard of and you're taking it in stride." Lazarius says, puzzled.

"Up until six months ago, I had no idea there were Elvin, I'd never seen the wonders of technology, and I didn't have a talking tiger for a best friend.  At this point, I'm pretty open to whatever you have to say.  Plus I'm still waiting for an explanation of how a goblin got into my dorm and why it disappeared.  I got plenty of time to process that later.  I need answers for the goblin fiasco now so I can sleep at night."

"Wow.  Ok then.  As mentioned earlier, the 'cursed one' brings about Apocalypse by dreaming about him.  This power has to slowly manifest itself in someone or the nightmare will be too much for the psyche to handle.  This goblin is a sign of that power slowly coming to the surface in one of the students here.  When the dreamer awakes, the nightmare is gone.  So whoever dreamt of that goblin, when they awoke, they erased the goblin from this world."

This newfound knowledge soothes the turmoil in your mind.  Then it slowly gets replaced with a different set of worries.  Lazarius explained why the goblin appeared, but now it's scope has just been significantly widened.  What started as a simple prank has turned into a possible coming apocalypse.  

"I'm guessing you are telling us this for more than just to explain the goblin's appearance." you say, showing signs of concern.

"You are right.  I need you to find out who it is.  You were the first to see the dream come true.  I was hoping you would have some insight as to who it came from."

"Lazarius.  I'll be honest with you.  This sounds like half the books I read.  The 'chosen one' is the only person that can save the world and he always has a best friend that goes with him.  Then, at the very end, you find out it was the guy who sent him on the quest that was pulling the strings.  Or the best friend is really their brother, or dad.  Or son from the future.  And it always starts with this very assignment." you say, sarcastically.

"Well, I appreciate that you think you can save the world single-handedly.  But I don't expect you to.  Just help me out and try to find some clues, please.  Beyond that, I expect nothing more."

"Oh.  Sorry, sir.  Guess I went off on a tangent." you say, apologetically.

"That's ok.  Just find out who it was and I'd appreciate it very much." Lazarius says as he gets up to let you and Vasheer out.  "You really need to find a new kind of book to read.  Oh yes, and please don't tell anyone about the 'cursed one' or Apocalypse.  We don't want to start a riot."

"Ok, no problem." you say as you leave the room, thoughts swelling in your brain, going over everyone you know in your head for signs of 'cursed one'-ness.  Though no one comes to mind.

Now, armed with the knowledge that somewhere in the school, someone can make their nightmares come true, you go back to your room with Vasheer to mull over what to do next.  

"Big V.  I have no idea where to begin this 'quest' that Lazarius gave me." you say as you pet Vasheer.

"You mean that he gave 'us'.  I'm in, too.  I wanna help." Vasheer says, purring as you scratch his cheeks.

"Ok.  I could certainly use the help.  But where to start looking."

"You could start with everyone that was sleeping at the time."

"Easier said than done.  We only have one lead: William.  And Lazarius said it was a student that was the 'cursed one'."

After another hour of going over the entire ordeal with each other, looking for anything that might seem curious, you and Vasheer decide that it's best to just put this in the backs of your minds and take a more passive approach to finding the dreamer.  That way it will be easier to go about finding clues, rather than actively digging around and trying to explain your strange behavior.  So you and Vasheer go about your lives like nothing happened, hoping that another dream will come true and you will have better luck tracing it back to the source.

You and Vasheer spend the rest of the week as if nothing happened and come up empty in the clue department.  Either the "cursed one" you have been searching for is an insomniac, or it really was a prank.  As the weekend approaches, the questions other students have about the goblin have been replaced with the next "flavor of the week" gossip, the typical, "Did you hear that this guy was cheating on this girl, etc."  This is a welcome change from the tension the school was in. The weekend, too, proves to be uneventful in regards to finding a dreamer.  It does give you a chance to unwind and have some fun for once in several days, though.  You spend it relaxing with Xanthera on a romantic trip to the mountains behind the school.  It reminds both of you of your hometowns. You let Vasheer have free roam of the nearby forest so he can get some much-needed exercise.  Malcolm and Thylonia spend their weekend in the now deserted dorm room after seeing off William, as his stay is up for now.

The end of the weekend comes too quickly as far as you are concerned and you return to classes.  The usual talk around school, isn't.  It has changed to that of fear and chaos again.  This gossip, to your dismay and Lazarius', is still about the goblin.  Or should I say his family.  After William left from Rathmore by train to return to the Duchy of Trient, it was attacked mysteriously by a hoard of moblins, goblins more mischievous cousins.  This attack resulting in a complete lose of the train and all it's passengers, including William.  Like the attack on yourself, there is no evidence aside from the condition of the train that the moblins themselves were there. Before the last passengers dying breathe, he uttered, "It was as if they came from nowhere, out of thin air."  There is no doubt in your mind now.  The dreamer was William.

The next week is spent consoling Malcolm for his loss.  Surprisingly, Malcolm gets through the grieving process astonishingly quickly.  By weeks end, it's as if it never happened.  Lazarius believes Malcolm's mind snapped and locked this memory away as a way to grieve.  Deciding that it would be best not to break open new wounds, you get Vasheer, Xanthera, and Thylonia to agree to not talk about William unless Malcolm brings it up.  

Like the last incident, Lazarius calls you and Vasheer to his quarters to discuss the ramifications of what has happened.  "You called for us?" you say as you and Vasheer enter Lazarius' office.  Lazarius is sitting behind his desk, reading the Gramorum Apocalyptica.

"Yes.  Yes I did." Lazarius responds, almost happily.  "I have to tell you that you no longer have to try to find the dreamer.  After careful consideration and thought, I have found that William was, indeed, the 'cursed one' we were looking for.  Now that he is, regrettably, deceased, we no longer have to concern ourselves with an impending cataclysm.  You may continue your education here without any, 'extra-curricular activities', getting in the way.  Just thought I'd let you know personally.  That will be all."  Lazarius then gets up and starts walking towards the nearest bookshelf, the same one the Gramorum was on.  He then returns the book to it's shelf.

"But, sir.." you say.

"I see, you do deserve something for your troubles." he says, this time interrupting you.  "Let's see here, lad.  What would be a good reward?  Hmm..."  He starts scratching his chin, much like when he gave you the test before you started here.  "Ahh, I know." he says as he goes to one of the other massive bookshelves in the room.  "You grew up where there was no technology, correct?  I will give you a book that writes itself."

"What?  How can that be?" you say, losing the thought you were about to bring up before he started talking about reward.

"It's an ethereal journal and dictionary.  It contains everything you have ever learned and will keep track of select things that you wish to remember.  If you need to be at class at a certain time that is abnormal, it will write an entry in the journal part.  If you ever need to know what a certain piece of, say technology, is, just look it up.  It's very useful."

"I..wow, thanks Lazarius.  I can't...Wow." you say as you leave the room, dumbfounded.

"All this time I thought you would be the dreamer, (dramatic pause) Vash Typhoonus.  Enjoy your gift." Lazarius says to himself, right as the door clicks shut.