The Cosy Calico

They say everyone dreams, whether in the waking world or during slumber. Some argue that our dreams are a direct connection to another dimension. The Dreamscape is an expansive land that lies as a gateway to another world, where your imagination is the only limit. At least, that is how the Dreamscape once existed, until an ill fate befell the Guardians who watched over the realm.

Have you ever had a dream so vivid it felt real, yet when you awoke from your slumber, you could not recall the details?Where do our forgotten dreams go?Do you know the secrets of the Moon?Of the Kingdom that once resided on the lunar surface?

To find the answers we seek, we must return to a time long forgotten.

There once lived a peaceful civilisation of Lunarmews, governed by the Celestia Kingdom royalty, Queen Diana and her daughter, Princess Artemisia. There existed Guardians of Dreams, whose role was to secure the dreams of Earth’s Humans. They returned the dreams to the Dream Wardens, where they’d weave them into wishes. The Guardians would later guide the wishes back to the Humans, allowing them to bloom into fruition.

Dreams were said to be star-shaped fragments of pure light and hope to the Humans and Lunarmews. A fountain of unlimited power.

One ill-fated day, a traitor amongst the Dream Wardens slips away from their sacred duty, sharing the secrets of the Celestia Kingdom and the Dreamscape gateway with the Infernal Queen, Solaria. Driven by her lust for absolute power to save her dying star, Queen Solaria rages War on the Celestia Kingdom with her Solarhound Corps. An eerie entity that threatens dreams, which the Guardians dubbed Nightmares. This hadn’t been the first time they’d encountered the beasts.

Despite their efforts, the Guardians lacked the power to stand against the Solarhounds. To protect Princess Artemisia and ensure the future of the Celestia Kingdom and the Lunarmews race, Queen Diana sealed her daughter’s memory inside a Dream Fragment. She placed the bell around her daughter’s neck and, using the last of her power, forced Artemisia into a deep slumber while her sister, Solaria, severed her life.**

Artemisia awoke almost a century later, in a new life on Earth with no memory of her past, except the fragments plaguing her dreams. She adopted the name, Kiki, after a character from her favourite children’s novel.To anyone she meets, she’s an ordinary-looking Calico Nekomini girl with a love for books, tea and a Chronic Illness that limits her daily abilities. Her kind are few and far between, but she loves meeting others like her. Something that led her to run her own Cafe Bookshop, the Calico Cafe, where she could work her chosen hours and earn a decent wage.But nothing out of the ordinary ever happened in Kiki’s life, until one fateful day she adopted a calico kitten, Athena, and the pair became inseparable, like long-lost friends from a previous life. A year later, Kiki took in another kitty, Bluebell to complete their family. But that’s when things took a turn for the worse.One night, Kiki suffered from a vivid nightmare that paralysised her in her slumber. All she could do was stare at the looming beast above her. A nightmare.She heard a voice shout. Kiki turned to see Athena and Bluebell rush to her defense. While Bluebell fended off against the beast, Athena dropped a compact into her hand and urged her to transform.

Confused but curious, Kiki accepted the Kitty-Paw Compact and called out ‘Lunarmew, Dream Guardian Awaken.’ Her pyjamas shifted into a beautiful costume, like something from her Magical Girl comics. She learned the beast is a Nightmare, an entity from the Infernal Kingdom and with her newfound power, she sealed away the evil before they captured her Dreams.

Athena and Bluebell explained they were once Lunarmew Guardians sent from the Celestia Kingdom in search of their Princess, Artemisia, after the civilisation fell into ruin.Kiki agreed to help the pair find the missing Princess, said to have been on Earth, unlikely to know of her true identity sealed until the Dream Fragment is found.A fragment of pure light said to have the power to restore Artemisia’s memory and vanquish the Infernal Queen Solaria, allowing the rebirth of the Celestia Kingdom.One night, Kiki suffered from a vivid nightmare that paralysised her in her slumber. All she could do was stare at the looming beast above her. A nightmare.

Kiki always felt like she never belonged, like a part of her was missing. When she learnt of her status as a Dream Guardian, it felt like that missing piece slotting into its rightful place and gifting her a new lease of life.The power of the Lunarmew Guardian that flows through her veins helps negate the struggles of her Chronic Illness, allowing her to live a somewhat normal life.Shortly after her ordeal with the Nightmare, a patron of the Calico Cafe shows Kiki a social media post about an eerie entity sighted and a mysterious girl fighting against the beast.Everyone who wanders into the Cafe speculates the identity of the “masked heroine”, referring to her as “Calico”. Kiki adopts the name for her Magical Girl activities in the Dreamscape.Now, with the power gifted to her by her Lunarmew companions, Kiki continues to transform into a Magical Guardian when she slips into a slumber, crossing into the realm that exists between worlds at twilight, protecting the Human from the Nightmares that lurk in the Dreamscape.Using the abilities given to her by the Kitty-Paw Compact, she can wield a variety of weapons suited for any situation or foe she may face.Once a lost Calico Nekomini girl struggling to find her place in the world, Kiki has found her calling.Under the guise of Calico, the Guardian of Dreams, keeping the Nightmares from stealing your hopes and wishes so one day they may find their way back to you, and bloom into fruition.