Onerea: The City of Dreams

The night was dark and rainy. There was no moon in the sky, and the stars were hidden by the gray clouds that fell undone over a mostly sleeping city.The Archer house stood tall at the end of the hill, showing its gloomy face to the peasants that dared to walk in the stormy night.Inside the house, all of the family members and sleep-in workers had retired for the night and were sleeping, or about to, all of them, except for one, the Archer's only daughter, Annabelle. She was definitely not a normal, society lady.Not that she had weird tastes, or was vicious in any way, her only addiction, as a matter of fact, were books, and more often than not, storytelling and writing, although she hadn't done in a while.She was a very creative girl, a feature mostly fueled by her mandatory seclusion. Since she was just a kid, she was forbidden to play outside, due to some severe crisis that she started having when she was near her sixth birthday, after

The wind blew the hair in her forehead. Waves danced around her as her eyes shone brightly without her being able to avoid it. Her parents didn't let their smiles out, knowing that she liked to keep it for herself, so they allowed her to seize the moment her way. The least they could do was at least grant her those small pleasures. Sitting in the window, and having it wide open as she rested her forearms on the windowsill and her head in her arms.  That was the freest she had felt in a very long time, and her parents rejoiced with the sight.  Doctor Marsh was right, she needed the change of air, and, even if the trip was a little tiring, her mood was lighter and less gloomy that day. Hours later, the carriage was expecting them on Exeter's station and would take them to the Villa. For once, Annabelle rejoiced in feeling the warmth of the sunlight and even let a shy smile on her lips.  Nobody

A very happy trio came into a clothing store. A young, handsome man with very bright eyes and smile, lightly tanned skin and almost six feet tall, dressed in black from top hat to toe, except for his dark green coat, walked first into the store. Following in the middle, a disarrayed girl in gray sleepwear, and last, but never least, a very beautiful lady with pink hair and all-black clothing.Her curvaceous body was hugged by a stylish corset dress that ended up in a skirt a couple of inches over the knee in the front, and almost ankle length in the back.She was about five feet and three inches, with two additional inches that her black, over-the-ankle boots gave her. She was also wearing a very tiny top hat, holding from a bunch of her hair on the right side of her head.To end her image, the same way as her energetic and charismatic husband, she wore a big, genuine smile.The store was almost directly in front of

In front of Abbie, there were all kinds of armor, including knives, swords, guns, and also gun holsters, belts, whips, and a series of gadgets she couldn't make out by just looking at them.On her right, a full rack of trench coats, long, and not so long, hooded, in colors or black, with a slit and without.Annabelle wondered at what kind of place she had arrived, while she watched R looking intently at the wall, and then moving to the rack. Was she just picking her something so she was not cold, but it happened to be close to this little armor shop inside her store?Raquel stood in front of the rack as it drew its circles until one of the coats called her attention. It was brown, matching Annabelle's outfit perfectly. R took it from the rack and handed it over to Abbie."Please try it on, Belle Cat. I want to see if it fits you well."Annabelle went to try it and found herself in the mirror, surprised at the

 The city rose before their eyes.The cobbled paths were decorated with colored smaller and bigger pieces of what seemed to be semiprecious stones, in pink, green, brown, and blue, mixed with polished river stones, giving a beautiful effect, especially where the sun touched the streets.The palace was a huge stone structure with four towers and several thin golden chimneys that let out white steam.The streets beamed with happy, relaxed people that came and went from one store to the next one.The most usual theme was motion and the large gears that moved the machinery which allowed that transit.What surprised Annabelle the most was the toy store.It was the biggest window in downtown. Framed in golden with red thin lines, the glass allowed the passersby a peek of a fantasy world within the fantasy world.Trains in their tracks, toy monkeys, little horses, and small walking teddy bears, all made of tin, and moving around, in met