“Oh thank the Gods I reached you. We need your help.”

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“You know me, you have always known me. Just as I have always known you.” And as she spoke those words in his mind, a vision of blue eyes flashed in his mind. He instantly knew that what ever it was that she asked, he would do.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

“Come to us. You must find a way to come to this world.”

“But how, where are you”?

“In the world that you have created for us. The world you have yet to name.”

Joe did not know what to make of that. That world was only in his head, the people made up. “That’s not possible.” He thought to her. He did not know if he had finally lost his mind or if he was still at home asleep in his bed.

“I assure you, it is quite possible, and you must come or all hope is lost.”

He could hear the urgency in her voice. He wanted so bad to believe, but at the same time he was really beginning to be frightened for his own mental health. He sat back and thought about his life, realizing that he had nothing to lose. He realized then that he already had made up his mind to go. After all, on one hand, if it were real, he would only be giving up a life he loathed. On the other hand, if this were not real, he would just be giving up his mind. Really the choice was simple, and either way he would be leaving the life he hated.

“I will help you.” He thought. “How do I get there?”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” She answered with relief in her voice. “To come, you must first prepare a potion. You will need to get some things first.”

He got out some paper and a pen from the glove box and thought “Okay, what do I need?”

Quickly he wrote down the short list of things she said he would need, there were herbs, berries and some essential oils as well.

“Where can I find these things? I have never even heard of most of them.”

“They are quite common here, I have no idea where they would be there. Check with an herb woman or a hedge witch.”

“I think I can find something,” he thought back.

“Okay, next is the mixture. You will need one ounce of each of the herbs, and crumble them up into small pieces. After that, smash up one ounce of the berries. Next, you need one ounce each of the oils. Put the crumble herbs and mix them into the oils. They must steep for on full day. Drink it all and go to sleep.”

“What happens when I go to sleep,” he asked writing on the old receipt he had found in the glove box.

“You will journey to the astral plain. I will send a guide to meet you there, and he will bring you to me.”

“Who is the guide? How will I know him?”

“His name is Anzu. He will take the form of a half man, half bird.. I must go now, my link is getting to weak.”

“Okay, I will get these things and make the potion. How will you know when I am in the astral plain?”

“Do not worry. Look for Anzu.” And with that, he felt her connection break.

The ingredients weren’t as hard to find as he had thought they would be. After the connection had broken, it didn’t take long for Joe to rush home and do a quick internet search. He quickly found a local herb shop just a few blocks away.

Joe ran out and jumped in his car and sped over to the herb shop.

As he entered the shop, a mix of herbal smells assaulted his nose as a soft chiming of bells announced his arrival. All the herbs were along the left wall, and he started a quick search for the ones he needed.

He easily located the most of them, but was having trouble locating a couple. Just as he was going to look for someone to help him, the proprietress appeared at his side startling him.

“May I help you find something?” She asked.

“Yes, I am looking for a few things.” He said, handing her the list. “These here.”

She took the list and looked over it. “What are you trying to make with these?” She asked him with a look of deep suspicion on her face. “Some of these, I have not seen in a long time.”

Joe didn’t know what to say, he didn’t think he should tell anyone what he was up to, so he lied. “I am just here to pick these up for a friend. She didn’t say why she wanted them.”

“Well, it’s not everyday that I see a list like this. Some of these are going to be expensive, as they are rare. And I don’t even know if I have this one.” She said, pointing to one of the herbs.

“I’ll take an ounce of each of whatever you have, and do you know where I might find the other one?”

The woman started moving around the store collecting the different ingredients, “Let me think for a moment while I go in back to get some of these.” And she went through the back curtain, the beads clacking together as she passed. Joe could hear her talking to someone, her voice rising slightly and becoming agitated.

He moved closer to hear.

“We can’t sell that, we could get in trouble just for having it.” Said an old raspy mans voice.

“But it’s him. His aura betrays him. If we don’t give it to him he will never make it. You know this is the last of it in existence. There is no way for him to get it.”

“But what if they find out? What happens then?”

“This is more important than what would happen to us. This is about everything, he is the only chance.”

There was silence for a minute, and then the mans voice spoke again, “Very well, but just give it to him, and don’t make any record of it.”

“Thank you.” She sighed. Her footsteps sound like they were going down stairs, so he moved quietly back towards the counter to wait, and wondered about the exchange between the two behind the curtain.

After a few minutes the woman came out from behind the curtain. “Here you go,” she said, handing him a brown paper bag, “looks like we had everything after all.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” Then seeing the worried look in her eye, he asked, “You know what this is for don’t you?”

She nodded.

“And you know who I am?”

Again she nodded.

“Can you tell me what’s going on, or who you don’t want to know what I have?”

She looked around worriedly, and motioned him closer, pointing towards the back curtain. “I can’t say much,“ she whispered, “but if you do not succeed, more than just your world be subjugated. It will be an eternity of darkness and suffering.”