....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................A brother of three, alone in the labyrinth. Where do the others go? Perhaps in another time and place.

The darkness ever deepens. As you stumble your way through the shadows of the earth and stone, you enter a small, circular chamber with a strange figure in the center.

He seems to float a few inches above the floor, his black boots never touching the stone. His long black coat flows behind him the the trail of a dress, a little tattered but still fashionable. He has no visible arms, not any visible legs, as if his torso and feet are puppeted together. His head is similar, floating above the collar of his coat, a wide-brimmed hat covering all save his wide smile, and rising into a crooked black point. His all-black attire seems to somehow be darker than the darkness he resides in. As you enter the room, he speaks in a raspy voice.

"Well hello there, weary traveler. How goes your search?"

You ask how he knows you are searching.

He shakes his head. "I know many things, pal. Some clear, some not. I know you're lookin' for something because nobody enters the labyrinth here without a goal. I just don't have a clue what you're lookin' for."

You ask who he is.

"The name's Halibert, thank you for asking. Don't tell me your name, I don't care and I won't remember. What's important is that you met me, not the other way around."

You're not sure you understand.

"Don't need to. Dreams aren't meant to be understood, just experienced."

You ask if he's suggesting that this is a dream.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Dreams are funny things, ain't they? Hard to fall into, hard to wake up from, hard to tell if it's real or fake once you think you're awake."

You say that you have a pretty easy time waking up from dreams.

"Well of course you do. Nobody wants to stay in a nightmare; waking up from those are easy. Not so easy when you find yourself in an eternal night. Nothing makes a dream harder to escape than that."

You say you're confused again. He chuckles.

"That's fine. Dreams aren't meant to be understood."

You sigh. You ask if he knows how to find what you're looking for.

"I don't know what you're lookin' for, much less how to find it. However, I do know that a few things have to happen before you can find it, otherwise your journey is impossible to complete without waking up."

You ask him what must happen.

"For starters, there's a well. That's really all I know, but I'm sure you can figure out what to do with it when you find it. The other thing is a wizard. A purple wizard, real grey and old-like. Once you find them, you'll know you're on the right path. From there, victory should be all but assured, assuming you don't get lost immediately. Hahaha..."

You thank him, but complain about the ambiguity of both points.

"C'mon now, what did I tell you about dreams? They aren't meant to be understood, just experienced. If I laid out everything that was about to happen, then the experience would be ruined. And we can't have that."

You ask why that is. He chuckles again.

"Because the experience is the whole reason for the journey. If there was nothin' to experience, the journey would've been a montage, and we would've glossed over it to skip to the juicy bits."

You are lost again.

"That's alright. Not meant to be understood. Just experienced."

You're growing tired of his riddles and semantics. You thank him for his help and say that you will be going on your way.

"Happy to be of service, traveler. Perhaps we'll meet again, in another time and place. For now, ta-ta..."

And with that, he fades into shadow and is gone. You turn down the next hallway, and continue on your journey.