The Runes Master [chapter 9]

Previously...
'You have to sincerely declare you have a dream, to pass this barrier'.
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"Bring your body t... b-body temperature, uhm, at least 3 degrees higher... What?"
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'Hug to be free'
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'You're trapped and... capsized... until you say a... word you... you have never pro... pronounced before.'
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'Genuinely enjoy yourself and you'll be free'.
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'Feel out of place? Empathize and you can go ahead.'
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'Any person who can stand on his hands for at least 62 seconds, can pass this barrier. No leaning against the magic walls.'
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'Say this sharply, say this sweetly; say this shortly, say this softly; say this sixteen times in succession.'
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'Only one body can go through this barrier.'
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'The next room is the Dream Room. You can open this door, once you have taken stock of the situation you're in.'

Chapter 9 - The Dream Room

It wasn't even a room. Such a big space couldn't possibly be called a simple 'room'. From the outside of the building, the two mages had seen that it was a huge one, but that room they were in now seemed to be even bigger than the building itself. But the stunning thing wasn't the size; that place contained... everything.
The walls were enormous, and a huge bookshelf covered entirely one of them. It was full of books, of any kind. Near the bookshelf, musical instruments were neatly placed; any kind of musical instrument. In a corner there was a kitchen, with no walls surrounding it but all the proper furniture. Near it there was something that looked like a refrigerator, but it was like ten times bigger than usual. It probably contained an incredible amount of food. Then there was a sport section, with balls, rackets, nets and lots of other equipments. An area of the room was devoted to weapons, like fire-arms, blades and other ones that the two mages had never even seen. White canvas and any possible tool to draw on them were placed in another corner of the room, in front of a big mirror. Sewing tools were also there, on a small table surrounded by armchairs. There was even a camping tent and a big double bed. Next to it, a huge wardrobe largely covered the wall, it must have been full of clothes, any possible kind of clothes.
Lots of other things were there; the two mages, astonished, just couldn't make out all of them.
“Where... Where are we?” Gray said, breathless. “There's anything you could think of, here.” Juvia stated, not able to say anything less obvious. “Juvia thinks we should... take a look around...” “That doesn't sound bad.” They were both like hypnotized, and started exploring the place.
Juvia opened a door of the wardrobe, and lost herself in the pile of clothes that she found. There were even wigs, hairpins and hair bands of any kind, and strange costumes. “Erza-san would love a wardrobe like this. Though she probably already has one.”
Meanwhile, Gray sneaked to the musical instruments. It had always been a curiosity of his to try a guitar, though he didn't really know how to play it. He picked up an acoustic, blue guitar, and held it as if he was to play. He smiled on his own, realizing that some of the books that were there probably taught how to use it; but that wasn't exactly the right occasion. I'm here for another reason...
“Aw, Gray-sama! That really suits you!” Juvia's excited voice behind him startled the black-haired boy. He turned round blushing and said: “Ah, uhm, though I really can't pl-What are you wearing?!” He gave the girl a surprised look as he saw her. “Uh, well, there was a changing room there, and all those clothes... Juvia wanted to try something on...”
She was wearing a tight and revealing pink shirt, with matching long gloves; on the bottom, a white miniskirt and white high-heeled boots, with coffee-colored tights. On top of that, she had replaced her usual Cossack hat with a tiny and merely esthetic top hat, like the one her Edolas counterpart wore. Gray couldn't deny that that outfit was quite sexy and alluring, but it looked kind of wrong on Juvia. That's why he was surprised when he saw her dressed like that.
“Does Gray-sama like this outfit on Juvia? Does it suit her?” she asked, trying to hide her embarrassment. Honestly, Juvia doesn't like this kind of clothes... it looks like Lucy's. But if this is what Gray-sama likes she'll change her mind... As a matter of fact, Juvia's intention was to 'test' Gray and see if her feeling of him liking the blonde mage was true.
She couldn't be happier about his answer. “Uhm, actually...” he began, kind of embarrassed. “You look... nice, but... Er, you're not yourself like this.” Did I just compliment her? Juvia blushed, happy and a bit confused at the same time. “Juvia is not... herself?” Gray approached her and quickly found her usual clothes, laid inside the changing room. He took her hat and put it back on her head, replacing the little top hat. “You look more natural like this. And with your own clothes.” He showed a shy smile, not knowing why he had done and said that. What's more, he still had the guitar hung on his shoulders, and he began feeling kind of stupid so he took it off. “I think I should also not 'wear' strange things which don't suit me...” he said with a nervous giggle. Juvia smiled back, extremely relieved. “Juvia will put her own clothes back on, then. But Gray-sama looked really good with a guitar. You should try and learn to play” the blue-haired girl said, closing the changing room curtain to change. “You think so? Maybe I'll think about it...” Gray replied, laying the guitar against the wardrobe and looking around.
He started rummaging around in a big box full of swords and other sharp weapons. “Gray-sama, you should put your clothes back on too!” she squealed as she got out of the changing room. “What?! Oh damn!” he swore as he realized all he'd got left on was his underwear. “And where the hell did I leave my clothes now?” Juvia giggled as she noticed his shirt near the musical instruments, his trousers not far from the weapons box and his shoes near the entrance. “It's normal to get distracted in here, isn't it?” she said, amused.
As they recollected his pieces of clothing, they continued exploring the room. They spent more than an hour leafing through the books, playing around with the several tools and equipments they found, taking bites at some of the food in the kitchen, trying on all the things that caught their attention. It felt like being in Pleasure Island.
Then Juvia popped out of a pile of cotton wool and colored fabric (with which she was sewing some Gray dolls to replace the ones she'd lost) and shouted out: “Gray-sama! We're not supposed to be doing this!!!” He dropped the bowling balls he was holding in both hands (trying to have two strikes at once), and they made a loud thud as they reached the floor. “Damn, you're right! We're wasting time, we should go and face the Runes Master!” he replied, upset. “But... where is he?”
He wasn't there. They hadn't realized it until now, but in that enormous room there was nobody but them. “We were sure he would be in here, but actually he's not... I got carried away too much, what an idiot.” Gray said, angry at himself. “It's not your fault, Gray-sama! Juvia was also distracted. But now we can go on with our mission. Look over there, it's a door.” She pointed at a door which was almost invisible, as it was the exact same color of the wall. “It must be our next, and hopefully our last, goal.”
Like the previous ones, that door had a sign on it. The most troubling of all.
'You're in the Dream Room. This is the way out. Make the dream you share come true and you'll be allowed to pass through this door.'
“What does he mean with 'the dream you share'?” Gray asked nervously, after reading the rule. Juvia's voice was trembling as she answered. “It means that... we should fulfill a dream that we both have...”