After I returned from my little escapade with the pirates, I kept seeing flashes of red every time I closed my eyes, and my heart would seize up with joy. The woman on the yacht’s eyes bewitched me. I’d shut off my heart after that bullshit with Tiffany, but the astral woman’s persistent gaze was the blazing red spring sun, and it was thawing out the winter of my frozen heart.

  We’d hardly even exchanged words, but still…

  Lucy claimed journaling was an important part of the occult process, so I created a shared private LiveJournal with her to track our adventures. Today, I’ve probably gone overboard writing about the encounter after my little fight.

  I close my Apple PowerBook and am halfway through changing into pajamas when my cellphone chimes a text alert.

  Should i B jealous

  Lucy, of course.

  OMG, I dunno what UR talkin bout

  I responded.

  Jealous? Lucy? If she’s hiding feelings for me, she’s kept them on the DL for a long, long time. Probably just goofing around. I’ll deal with whatever that means later; I’ve gotta get enough sleep to prepare me for the long day of study and work I’ve got ahead of me. Plus, Rich is returning from college, and we’re hosting a big dinner for him tomorrow night. Damn, that means there won’t be much JayMay time.

  Those red eyes will have to wait.

  ***

  I finish with statistics class early. I do my schooling solely with tutors via teleconference. Dad likes keeping me close, so he’s wrangled private lessons from some of the greatest teachers in the world. There are benefits to having a rich dad.

  I wasn’t into learning back in High School, but these days I can make almost anything into something interesting these days. All those days trapped in bed, post-recovery, really helped. Take statistics. Using raw data to discern patterns, it’s a predictive form of psychology, or tarot, and Dad would pay for me to learn tarot!

  Yeah, since opening up to the whole astral travel thing, I’ve become a lot more open about tarot, astrology, and all that new age stuff.

  I roll back into my room. I’ve got to dress up nice for family dinner, but I’ve got an hour or so to get my JayMay on!

  I close the curtains, grab the bar on the ceiling, pull myself from the chair into bed, and get comfortable. Once my body’s calm, I press play on my astral travel mood music. Coil ‘Time Machines’, droning ambient stuff, that I’d never listen to for fun, but it came recommended by the English guy from Magus Books (I’ve never met him, but Lucy’s told me all about the bookstore crew) and does the job. I close my physical eyes and open my third eye.

  First, I envision my temple. I build up the same room every time I do this. It’s a small space made of stone, with an altar in the center, and tattwas marking the four quarters. Those are ancient symbols representing the five elements. I fill in every little detail until this astral temple is as real to me as anything.

  Then I rush through my banishing ritual, followed by an invoking ritual, and with those done, I envision the fifth tattwa, a black oval, looming in front of me like a doorway. I draw my attention inward and focus energy in that space four finger-widths above my navel. From there, I imagine a silver cord attached to my body.

  After a few gestures, I tear open the ovoid image like a curtain and push my consciousness through to the other side.

  I’m buffeted by the familiar astral white-noise of random imagery. I pay it no attention and instead focus on that egglike oval I walked through. As I pour more and more intention into it, it transforms from a two-dimensional oval into a three-dimensional egg. Inside, I build up a cute little JayMay embryo. She grows until I can transfer my energy through the silver cord into the dragon’s body. It takes a second to re-adjust to the long, snaky body. Once acclimated, I break through the egg and fly out into space.

  My astral journeys always start in a realm of pure spirit. It’s like the opening ambience before the drums hit in, a world of all pure experience, with no ideas at all. The first time I entered here, I felt lost and alone without a beat to hold onto! Now it feels great. Like the womblike oneness of a clean and clear dancefloor right before the DJ presses play on the first track of the night.

  I’m in a hurry, so I rush into the next world. Here, everything is binary. It can be jarring, but its core is as primal as a heartbeat. It’s not a dance yet, but there’s a filtered mounting pulse of a kick drum, cutting through the euphoric ambience.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  The last of the Three Primal Worlds is First Form. Here, point and counterpoint build towards a conclusion, and endings are introduced to the infinite. Endings can be scary, but without a third point, there’s no form, just endless lines. Here, the bass begins the throb, the drums kick, and the synths - here the three merge into one dance, and I propel myself forward, in search of my dream girl.

  All this talk of music and dance has got me fiending. I blink twice and pull up a mental image of my 40g iPod, scroll the click-wheel through my artists list until I land on Paul Van Dyke. I drill down until I find “Tell Me Why.” Oh yeah, that’s what I’m craving!

  Red Eyes! Come out, come out, wherever you are!

  I’ve spent most of my astral time in these three worlds. They are so close to essential nature that they’re the best escapism. Only recently did Lucy finally put her foot down that we cross over the Great Yawning Void and into the Six Worlds. She’s the sort who, when she starts a book, has to finish it, and the astral worlds represented a puzzle that she needed to see through to its end.

  I hate the sensation of crossing the void. It feels like something ancient and taboo, and smells like too much frankincense burnt in too small a room - both cloying and suffocating. The first time I’d tried the crossing, I had to come back to Earth, just to catch my breath. It’s not really comfortable now, but I’m used to the discomfort.

  Bursting through the Void into the First of Six Worlds is such a relief! I drink in the fresh air of this glorious world of Expansion! Here, form gains artistry, and there’s more than enough for everyone. My iPod transitions from “Tell Me Why” to “Together We Will Conquer” and the cool breezy tones perfectly complement this realm.

  In the past month, I’ve explored this place, but it’s a whole universe in itself, so I’ve only seen a small fraction of what’s here. Early on, I had my astral first contact with real live “people”. They were jerks, though, doused in so much of that negative Kapaala energy. Fortunately for me, I’m a dragon, and they were just randoms. I fed on that nasty-ass Kapaala and grew in size and power! A few more dance battles got me to my current perfect size and shape.

  Lucy encourages me to grow more and more powerful here. She claims I can grow my astral body strong enough and pass through the Six Worlds, then I’ll be able to manifest my astral body on Earth. She thinks I’m doing this because I want a “normal” body, but that’s pure misunderstanding. I love my wheelchaired body! It’s given me clarity and purpose I never had as a party girl. If some people find me less beautiful without my legs, fuck ‘em! I do this astral thing, to play around and dance - no other reason.

  As I soar through the vast neon comos and put out feelers for the red-eyed girl. Anyone who’s gone out dancing and has gotten a little obsessed over a special someone on the dancefloor will understand what I’m feeling. A stupid, wonderful, enrapturing crush.

  So, I’m soaring through the stars, looking for a trace of the purple girl. It’s hard; the cosmos is laid out in an endless stream. After the first forms of that previous world, things start growing in abandon here in Bhuman, the first of the Six Worlds. Like a garden left untended in a tropical climate, everything here exists in absolute abundance.

  Of course, when there’s so much of everything, it becomes almost impossible to find anything!

  Before leaving for my astral voyage, I set an alarm on my clock radio. That will signal when I need to return, and I suspect my time is already drawing to a close once I finally see the familiar lilac-colored world of my crush.

  I close my dragon’s eyes and tune in to the memory of her. My pineal gland throbs, and the world’s image transforms. No longer does it look like a planet; it’s now a vast orb filled with billions of glittering jewels of every color. At first, it’s too much, but once I tune out the noise and listen, I can focus on that one unique vibration.

  There she is! Like MapQuest, I’ve locked onto her aura! My eyes snap open, and I fire up my all-time favorite song, the Tiesto remix of Delerium’s ‘Silence’. Those beguiling eyes have me caught in their gravity, and I soar towards their epicenter.

  The planet is primarily water; in fact, outside of islands, it’s all water. I pass some spaceships, a few boats, and occasionally an island inhabitant, but overall, for the enormous size of this world, there isn’t much habitable land. I suppose most of those glittering gems of consciousness I’d felt had been ocean life.

  Right as the song winds down, I see it: a storybook castle - tall, built entirely of blue brick, with long spires. Like the Magic Kingdom times 1000! She’s in there?! Woah!

  On a parapet, castle guards spot me and train their guns on my descending form, but their captain cues them to lower their weapons.

  “Don’t shoot! That dragon’s the one who saved the princess,” the handsome purple man orders in a grizzled voice. He wears an ornate, rich blue and gold uniform that wouldn’t look out of place guarding the Queen of England.

  Wait a second, princess?! Of course, she’s a princess, I’ve got the best taste!

  I press pause on the tunes and land directly in front of the captain of the guards. I smile inwardly at their apprehension before reverting to my more benign human form. Of course, I’m decked out in glow sticks and the hottest raver clothes my astral mind could conjure, so I stand out a bit against the formality of the guards.

  “Hey, dude, I came to say hi to the princess. She here?” I ask casually, ignoring the shock my transformation’s given the guard.

  “Ma’am. Ah, yes, she is here,” he coughs to cover up his surprise. “She mentioned that she wanted to thank you personally. Please, just one moment,” he presses a little button on his collar, and a brief walkie-talkie squelch fills the humid air. “The, erm, dragon is here for Princess Tanza,” he listens to a response that’s audible only to him, then cuts off the call with a “Got it.”

  “She’ll be up shortly, ma’am. Do you prefer to have a seat, or wait here?” the man asks respectfully.

  “Here’s fine,” I say, trying to keep cool despite my mounting excitement. Tanza. I repeat the name over and over in my mind, relishing its taste and feel.