Chapter 55: Episode 014: An Ill Hero Part 04

I looked over my shoulder at Narlivs. “What are you trying to say?” I asked.

“I couldn’t peer into that dome perfectly, but I witnessed many things I couldn’t imagine were possible... Let me ask you, Fainn--what do you believe happened in there, under your power?”

I looked at my hands. “I’m not too sure...”

“Then let me make sense of it for you. +Nightmares ARE Fiction+ is a power that lets you blur the line between reality and dreams, correct?”

I nodded. “Well, reality and nightmares, anyway.”

“Then, what happens when that power is used in a place where the falsehood of the subconscious is more real? What exactly is blurred when one is in a reality that is so near a dream that one can observe dreams as easily as they would paintings on a wall?”

“The difference between what’s real and what’s imaginary--it’s not as pronounced here—then that means—“

“You pulled an imaginary concept out of a creature that, relative to the waking world--the Topside--is an imaginary creature.”

“I used imaginary against imaginary.”

“And because you attacked the creature with something close to its nature—“

“It was real to the creature.”

“Same as me. I’m something internal—inverted so that I am made external. Were you to pull something out of me, an internal being made external, it would be the same as if you pulled a bone out of Svilran and struck her with it.”

That was a horrifying visual. But somehow, it felt right.

“Looking at your power, I believe I have a way of modeling it.” Narlivs held out her hand and created a diagram with two circles spread apart. “This is how your power would work on the topside. These two circles represent reality and fiction. Let’s apply an arbitrary number and say there are 100 units between the centers of the circles. That is the distance between reality and fiction. Then, you use +Nightmares ARE Fiction+.”

The two circles came together until they were intersecting, with both circles reaching a little into each other.

“That power forces the realms of reality and fiction closer. The more they intersect, the more real the fears—a fiction pulled out from a mind—become. In this case, we will say the power forced each circle to move thirty units toward the other.”

Narlivs created another diagram with two circles whose edges were already touching.

“This is the separation between the space the Inverse inhabits and fiction. As you can see, they’re already touching. This reality is reflected in the dreamer’s fog. Now, the problem here is +Nightmares ARE Fiction+. That power is tyrannical and absolute. It does not adjust itself relative to the space it occupies. When it is used, it AGAIN forces the circles to each move thirty units toward the other. What happens when these two circles, that were already close, move again?”

The two circles moved. They were almost completely over each other.

“The more they overlap... The more real it becomes,” I muttered.

“I believe that +Nightmares ARE Fiction+ does not have a goal. It does not aim to make it so that the separation between reality and fiction is always, for example, 40 instead of 100. No, it always aims to bring them closer by the same set amount. This interpretation explains the peculiarities that we witnessed. The fiction became so real that the Parasite died and you felt pain transforming. But it wasn’t real enough, such that you could still revert to your original form.”

“Wow... And when it affected the dreamer’s fog, it made the fog more real...“

“There is no way to know all the interactions your power will have with this realm, but we might just be able to sum everything up with this notion. When in the Inverse, your power is inverted as well. Here, it would be called +Nightmares ARE Real+ because this is a realm where the subconscious is made reality, and is one step removed from the subconscious’s playground—that is to say—the dream space. When you blur that final line and bring them together, that’s all it takes for subconscious and dream to no longer recognize their boundaries.”

I was getting it...

“I can look at it from the perspective of this body too... This body isn’t a physical body,” I said. “It’s a special one made for this realm... So that was why it hurt to transform. The transformation was real to this body...” I was rendered silent as I tried to make sense of the reality-bending shenanigans I had caused.

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“Truly, I didn’t know you had such a power before you revealed it,” Narlivs said. “Nor did I know it could interact with the Inverse in this way. I do not know anything like this.”

“Did you see what happened with Elma?”

“I did. Yes. You further blurred the lines between dream and subconscious realm and let the two meld better. You could cross between them as if they were naturally next to each other. That idea is consistent with what we’ve spoken of.” Narlivs raised a finger. “In summation, in the world above, your power still maintains the separation between real and fiction to a reasonable degree. Not here.”

“Whew.” I shook my head and got up with a pep in my step. “Okay. Good to know!” I wanted to reclaim a good mood. I had to keep positive. “Elma’s stirring up top, but she’s still in the same condition. Meanwhile, I’ve got to do some good here--“

Narlivs grabbed my hand. “Hold, Fainn. I need to speak with you.”

“About what?”

“I saw you attack a door... I also felt distress from you... May I ask what that door was?”

“I...” I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them again. “I really don’t know.”

“But then, why did you attack it?”

“Because it’s something that slipped out of my head.” I shrugged. “My powers revolve around nightmares. I feel that door might lead to more, so I just don’t want to open it when I see it.”

There... were some falsehoods in that explanation, but I wasn’t going to talk about them. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to see what was behind that door, either. It was enough to know that I felt and knew that door should never be opened. And it was enough to know that I didn’t want to think about it.

Some doors are best left closed...

Narlivs snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Are you... Do you fear that door?”

“I just know I don’t want to open it.”

“I see...”

“Anyway, this is good,” I said, trying to sound chipper so that Narlivs wouldn’t pursue the topic any further. I walked toward the other Parasites I could see.

“Fainn?”

I looked over my shoulder at her and grinned. “We have a way of taking out those parasites now. That’s pretty great, isn’t it? We can get an early start.”

She wore a serene smile and nodded. “Yes. An unexpected boon.”

“It hurts, but I’ll get used to the pain. I’ll take the Parasites down and get points for it just in case I need to build something down here. Topside, we’ll keep caring for Elma.”

“I am right behind you, Fainn.”

With that said, I prepared to become a swirling hole of death again.

 

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