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Dragon Fragment
Prologue - Meetings in the Dark

Prologue - Meetings in the Dark

-Undefined Location. Unknown Time. Unknown 3RD POV-

Sentient beings first naturally assume that 'nothingness' lies beyond their perceived dimensions and conceivable Logic. But even later, their concepts and imagination only ever approach comprehension of nothingness and the vastness of existence itself. One such attempt defines 'nothingness' as infinite existential forms of energy infinitely dense with infinite possibilities and infinitesimal 'Voids' with limited possibilities, and even 'conscious' aggregation of infinite possibilities.

Known with similar meanings as Celestials, Eternals, or Infiniternals by aware sentient beings, were 'Entities' beyond concepts, space, time, form, ego or logic...dictators of existence itself. But existence is such that even possibilities could elude something infinitely beyond what is imagined as Gods... In one such case, with a simple purpose yet incomprehensible goal, two Infinitesimal slivers of these consciousness manifested at an infinitesimal Void with certain restrictions.

Also known as 'Hyper-realities,' these Voids could harbor spatial structures and temporal phenomena forming diverse dimensions and realities with all the possibilities and logic that 'beings' within them could imagine. And at the unfathomable boundary where the highest third dimensions could still exist, materialized two Humanoid vessels of crystallized spacetime reaching ten relative kilometers tall while being carried by the endless time flow of Eternity.

Standing next to each other in the vast empty darkness of this primeval spacetime, the two Avatars perceived from the smallest particles in the past to eons in the future of countless realities. And after many Centillion years observing and interacting, the two Entities had changed. One came to embrace human nature and possessed animal features with a blueish skin displaying bright stars and galaxies slowly moving as if a young Universe took the shape of a Beastman.

"Ahh~ This is nice..." Rejoiced Blue, transmitting his intent in the form of a common language.

On his side, the other entity had remained pitch black, but by this particular juncture in time, it appeared more human with even short hair and nails. However, it wasn't as interested in behaving like a person.

"This...is uncomfortable..." Rebuked Dark monotonously through their mental connection. "Must we continue to restrict ourselves this much?"

"You know we must follow a certain logic or conditions for 'that' possibility..."

"But there is still no indication... New possibilities are too unlikely to appear here..."

"Our presence changes that. And it's becoming clearer for me..."

Dark crossed its arms, showing slight discontent. Feelings it did not even want to have.

"...Not for me. And it should."

"Because you left in the future. Or...became inert..."

"...Time..." Grumbled Dark in dislike. "And this manner of transmitting information...is too restrictive. Expressing just a fraction--I should just know what you know."

"Well...I am enjoying the restrictions. It's fun to be different and compete. To discover and dream. To feel emotions and wonder--"

"Inefficient." Dark interrupted another billionth rant. "That's just re-knowing everything in this tiny void...slowly... We need more, deeper observations..."

"No, we need more, deeper interactions... There is something in the experiences driving many beings... Something between Consciousness and Void..."

"Too involved. Our Existence does not belong here... There are other ways..."

The bluish Beastman stared at a particular time and place with a warm gaze and declared in a nostalgic tone.

"Well, it's the birthplace of my current Self already..."

"...An insignificant instance..."

"It matters!" Refuted Blue. "There are others like me here. Egos with similar origins. They don't know what they are yet. But they would agree with me... I shall wait for them to reach out first--"

"Hindrances..." Dark coldy disapproved and squinted its dark eyes. "I shall remove the binds then..."

The Dark entity outstretched an open palm ahead, then closed it into a fist. Immediately after, innumerable Realities and Sentient beings began dissolving into a sea of possibilities and energy.

Focused on his Present, Blue was startled at the sudden escalation. Sensing entire dimensional clusters disappear along many creatures, he snapped his head right.

"STOP!!" He shouted in mind with an intensity that shook Space itself around them.

But the Dark being remained unfazed and continued erasing realities from the vicinity.

"I shall stop you then!"

With the last transmission, which was ignored, Blue spun his body as if having a foothold on spacetime itself, dashed behind Dark and sent a kick with enough momentum that contracted space in front and stretch it behind. *PAAANNG!* The extreme impact crushed spacetime and energy into a brief black hole before violently exploding. *BOOM!* High energy and gravitational waves rang out as if it were sound of metal collision while the two Humanoids were flung in opposite directions for billions of kilometers per second. A fraction of the speed of causality here.

As Space gradually returned to normal, the Dark being, with its body slightly bent, streaked across the vast expanse for an unimaginable distance, not bothered by what was happening and only briefly interrupted.

Blue noticed and immediately acted to stop his momentum. He gripped the fabric of reality itself and slowed to a halt before pulling his hands and launched himself forward at speeds incalculable in lower realities. As if teleporting, he reached his target and threw a punch powerful enough to wrap space itself around it and enveloped in unpredictable energy potentiality.

Although they didn't really feel any pain, it was uncomfortable being tossed around against their will with hostility. So, the Dark being finally felt like stopping Blue and pushed out with an open palm to counter.

*KA-BOOMM!* A bigger singularity exploded outwards between their hands, causing even multi-dimensional quakes spontaneously creating strange phenomena, and flung their bodies apart an even greater distance than before. Waves of radiation similar to Light expanded through this primordial spacetime since eons ago.

Dark finally stopped its destruction. However, this time, it was thrown farther, and quickly approached an incredibly ancient and large multi-dimensional structure--a Cosmorial, that harbored billions of Kosmoses which in turn contained a myriad of inhabited Universes. In this Hyper-Reality, these were the most common structures with rules governing the creation of complex dimensions.

Wanting to stop further destruction, Blue ignored the constraints of spacetime a little to catch up. At a certain distance, the claws on his right hand sharpened up to the smallest possible quantum unit and swung at the distant humanoid.

*Krrriiiekkk!* With a screech, the Spacetime ripped open where the four claws passed and simultaneously near Dark in the distance. And from the Rifts, thin bright blue energy blades shoot out leaving trails. *BOOOM!!* The kilometers-long blades sliced at the Dark body, breaking off many pieces of different sizes and sending most flying across the expanse. After the blade constructs vanished, space repaired itself, and Dark's trajectory had changed. But not enough.

Without even flinching, the Dark being was thrown against the smaller part of the Cosmorial's boundary and pierced through many dimensional membranes, exposing the insides to higher density energy. Unable to withstand, all spatial-temporal structures around Dark's path dissolved for an immeasurable distance, but providing just enough resistance to slow down within a Kosmos. Eventually, Dark stopped at an inferior third-dimension of a fairly high-density energy Universe where it measured a smaller relative size, and floated about between the stars of a Galaxy, contemplating the surroundings uncaringly while waiting.

In the wake of such cosmic devastation, countless horrified screams and wails resound into the void. Many could only watch in despair the collapsing dimensions that sustained their lives. Many could easily escape, but many had to flee for even years the crumbling Space before it stopped. The dimensions gradually reformed, yet countless lives and Timelines had ceased to be. Many Souls vanished without ever knowing what happened. A massive tragedy that would be remembered for eons.

In contrast, to Infiniternals, that were beyond Godly concepts, living creatures and souls were mere energy filaments woven predictably within the fabric of spacetime. And with cyclical deaths, their Essence would reform somewhere in this hyper-reality as long as the possibility existed.

Blue, on the other hand, experienced many Lifetimes already, evident by his current form. Albeit briefly, he did lament the lives fated to be lost. And while chasing after Dark through the chaotic dimensional mess, he halted the collapse of the inhabited Spaces and influenced the region to minimize further destruction.

After entering the same Universe, Blue glared at the troublemaker, gripped his right fist, and dashed over like a blue streak of light. About to reach Dark, and with intentions to throw him out, he swung a punch with a momentum surpassing the dimension and even affecting higher dimensions. *Kriiiish!* Space screeched in high vibrations as the blue fist forcefully skipped nanoseconds into the future.

Having already decided to retaliate, Dark twisted its body and swung back with the opposite arm explosively to match the incoming force.

*KAANG!!* The two giant fists collided in a brilliant explosion outshining the Galaxy for a moment like a supernova and even creating highly energized matter that blew away past their bodies as they got flung apart a few hundred kilometers. Space was unable to endure the tension and ripped apart, allowing energy to escape into other dimensions and make many adjacent Spaces tremble and quake like from an unseen force out of nowhere.

After space repaired, leaving the region gravitationally lensing, Blue readjusted his suppression and rushed in again, aiming for a chance to throw Dark off the Cosmorial. But Dark had no intention of letting that happen easily, therefore ensued a melee combat with kicks and punches that nullified, counter or parry each other while blasting waves of superheated plasma into space. And then, Temporal moves were increasingly being used. For several hours, they would explore different attack patterns and outcomes from the past or future. Sometimes, their bodies traced mirage paths or even appear in multiple places at once, and other actions within the limits of this universe...

Meanwhile, information of the Kosmic event traveled between realities at inconceivable speeds. And it didn't take long before dozens of curious Godly beings approached from nearby inhabited Star Systems to observe the fight. They clustered a few Light-Hours away and created a combined transparent Spatial barrier to withstand the turbulence. They thought it was enough, thinking that the two were just beings of higher divinity than themselves.

However, the longer they observed the fast-paced cosmic brawl, the more they realized the immeasurable power gap, making them increasingly nervous. They were beings revered as Gods that could create spaces and Worlds and rule over conceptual aspects of nature in this Kosmos. But even they could not sense the existence of the two distant humanoids much less begin to measure the energy near.

The first to break the heavy telepathic silence was a human looking like in his twenties with golden hair and eyes like the sun wearing ornate golden armors and a red cape.

"S-so, what are those things?!"

A living cloud within four 2-meter size rotating metallic rings retracted its distant senses and replied with certainty.

"Avatars of Infiniternals."

""Huh!!?""

"Those ancient Myths?!"

"...Eternals?!"

"Infinitels...!"

The group blurted in astonishment. Darting their widened gazes around nervously or curiously.

"What else could erase our probes?" The amorphous entity affirmed. "Not even Higher Gods..."

""Mhm.""

"Certainly."

"Hhmm..." An elderly-looking human in all white contemplated while stroking his long beard with a slight trembling hand. "The inter-dimensional chatter mostly agrees as well. The destruction out there is too great..."

A stoic beast person with tiger nose, tail and ears dressed in fluffed animal skins ceased watching the battle in silence and crossed his arms on a bare brown chest before exclaiming.

"Of course! Only such beings could tear reality like nothing!"

"Yet many still say it's impossible to see one Eternal. And we are watching two of them hohoho~"

All the while, a grey-skinned teenage boy with green hair and green shining lights for eyes dressed in a tidy green uniform was getting bored and voiced his doubts.

"Then...why are such entities having such...Basic Fight...here?"

"Hah?! Obviously having fun! It's a Game!" The beast person asserted clenching his fists excitedly.

"Presumptuous, Beast God!"

"Ah, shut it, you old Fossil. Are they not holding back? They are obviously playing!"

"...Rude and ridiculous..."

"But right!"

"Hhmm..."

A slender woman with long black hair standing on a long and thin flying sword, dressed in elegant black and white robes, snapped open her eyes in annoyance and rebuked.

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"Listen here, you stereotypical battle junkie animal--!"

"That's too reductive! I won't fall for your taunt."

"It's not a taunt!"

"Because you suck at it!"

"..."

The slender woman trembled for a moment, pinched the bridge of her nose and forced herself to calm down. She looked into the distance and elaborated patiently.

"The cognition of those things is literally infinitely beyond us. Even if that's really a reason, there's gotta be a deeper meaning."

"...Uh, sure?"

"Point is, we are probably already involved in something..."

"Hohhh! Bring it!"

""...""

At that moment, the Dark being missed an energized punch that became a brilliant jet traveling faster than light, ripping spacetime on its path and destroying planets and stars for several lightyears.

""...!!!""

Watching the black rifts slowly vanish, a fair-skinned handsome human with semi-transparent feathered wings, clothes and crown, lost his composure.

"H-hey, who cares who's right! We are in danger here!"

The shaky words pushed another blond human in the group over the edge who began moving back through the others.

"W-we need to get out of here!"

As the panicking being was about to bolt away, the beast person whipped his thick muscular right arm at supersonic speeds, grabbed the retreating armored hand and yanked it back to the group's front.

"It's dangerous outside the barrier, you dimwit!"

"B-but the Universe will be destroyed at this rate!"

"And go where? No dimension near is safe until they leave." The shapeless being admonished from the other side.

"Chill... If the Chopstick Sword Chick is right, it's probably gonna be fine."

"Hey!"

"Either way, those that want to leave should wait for the next shift in the battle."

""...""

And so, the group waited.

As the cosmic fight raged on, slowly escalating. Punches or kicks that didn't rip space, warped it to the extreme and created extremely energized matter for this dimension that accumulated as gravitation abnormally increased. Within hours, an ionized cloud Light-hours wide formed and compressed before becoming a brilliant disk outwards.

At some point, the Dark being finally connected a heavy punch on Blue's abdomen. *BOOM!*

With his body bent, Blue was thrown outside of the Protostar at an abnormally high speed that made space screech. But he gripped space, and like an elastic sheet, stretched for thousands of Kilometers, gradually slowing down to a stop.

*Zroom~!* Dark dashed out of the swirling plasma sphere while ignoring physical restrictions. As if teleporting, it appeared in front of Blue and swung the right arm like wanting to punch a hole in the Universe.

Knowing the incoming force, Blue crossed his arms to defend. *BANNG!* His body was was once again thrown for tens of thousands of kilometers before being able to stop. And seeing Dark rush in again, Blue dodged to the side and dashed in increasing momentum to throw a punch.

The Dark entity moved the left palm to block the incoming fist and prepared to counter.

However, with several levels of foresight ahead, Blue shifted his large body at an incredible speed and changed his attack into a massive kick at the perfect moment. *TWOOMM!* The blue foot landed on the dark entity's chest with far more force than spacetime could handle. *KRIASH!!* With high-pitch vibrations, the two entities pierced the fabric of this lower reality with the right force and angle to slip shortly into the past. Briefly, they appeared in two locations simultaneously as powerful gravitational waves sprung out from their newest position.

The unusual undulations reached the unaware group of onlookers and affected them.

"Chill... If the Chopstick Sword Chick is right, it's probably gonna be fine...!!?" Repeated the burly Tigerman with a sense of confusion.

"Hey! Huh...!?"

"Either way, those that want to leave should...wait for the next shift...in the battle...?!!" Followed the ring entity confusedly. Then a second later, sought confirmation. "...Was that a Temporal Shift?"

""Yes..."" The group acknowledged the sense of Deja-vu.

"They are breaking Time now?!?!"

"Mhm. Reality here is just too frail to restrict their existence..." Commented the Senior as the sense of dread increased.

"Please leave! Please leave...!" Pleaded fearfully the human, losing control of his emotions.

"Perhaps we should move the barrier away slowly." Suggested the energy being innocently.

""..."" The group stared judgingly in response.

Moments later, the dark being managed to grab Blue's wrist and sent an absurdly powerful kick to his chest. *TWOOOM!!* With an implosion, the two slipped millions of years into the future and appeared a few Light-minutes away from a dark red Planet orbiting a newly formed yet unusually dim yellow Star.

In this Solar System, smaller than normal due to the exotic and dense matter, the only Planet orbiting had nearly the gravity of a neutron Star its size and contained the Ethereal energy of an entire Galaxy. This young and partially molten World, now called 'Eternal Star,' was populated by God-like beings with numerous Cities and Villages as well as powerful hierarchal creatures that could endure these impossible extremes.

On the peak of one of the tallest mountain and atop an open black tower, stood a blond human in dark golden armors half-asleep in his guard duty. Suddenly, he was fully awoken by the light burst in the skies penetrating the turbulent reddened clouds.

"Ah!"

He peered into the distance with [Far-sight] and quickly confirmed the unforgettable Cosmic figures. Widening his blue eyes even more, the Golden God immediately sent a mental transmission to the other Six world leaders.

"Eternals are back!"

From different parts of the Globe, the six allies from the original group that observed the Cosmic fight immediately rushed flying to the Tower in their newest battle gears.

=

They set up their usual Spatial Barrier and continued to observe the cosmic fight.

"Oh, my... They took a liking to our Universe hohoho~" Mused the elderly-looking human in now silver clothes.

"That was obvious with their influence on Spacetime..." Said the Swordswoman, surrounding herself with seven pitch-black swords of different sizes.

"And we still wonder the purpose of it all. Urgh! I don't like not knowing the Destiny of things..." Commented the grey teenage-looking human uncomfortably.

"The truth may evade us forever." Reminded the fairy-like human.

"Well, I can't wait for Lifeforms of this World to evolve... I'm gonna try going into the Future again..."

"Are you mad?! You'll be lucky if there IS a future." The blond human rebuked as cold sweat gleams on his face. "With all the efforts it took to claim this Solar System and now, Eternals come back and you want to leave..." He grumbled away, wishing for the two entities to leave instead.

"He's right, Beast God." Affirmed the living cloud from within a blue humanoid-looking heavy armor. "It's too risky to leave..."

"...Fine... It's not like there's no fights..."

Unexpectedly, however, the cosmic fight was reaching a juncture.

---

The Dark being appeared in front of his opponent again and swung another charged punch.

Blue crossed his arms to block as usual. *BANG!* He was thrown away predictably as well. But this time, he prepared a stronger foothold with many Spatial layers and dashed ahead faster than light. *Shrrrriiieeek!* Space ripped open noisily for several dimensions as Blue reached Dark and head-slammed into It. *KWAAMM!* The two entities pierced through many dimensions in an instant, disintegrating everything in their wake and leaving spaces disturbed behind them.

The two finally left the Cosmorial structure, with less destruction than the entrance, to the relief of its inhabitants. The Universe with the Eternal Star was left intact, as expected. But there was still many unfortunate casualties and destruction.

The two humanoids, holding each other in a deadlock, continued moving at high velocity for an immense distance in the 3rd dimension before the primordial space-time started contracting in front and slowing them down.

*Zrooom!* Suddenly stopping, the two separated a short distance.

Quick to retaliate, Dark took a superior position while joining hands and interlocking fingers then brought them down with little restriction. *KAANNG!!* The immense force of the strike descended on Blue's head and sent him shooting further away from the damaged Cosmorial before chasing after him.

Acknowledging the move, Blue kept a smile on his face, until Space began caving under his weight. Soon, he became a black hole, then pierced the veil of the 4th dimension, then the 5th, the 6th...

"Oh-oh!" He uttered with slight panic and more disappointment.

With Reality unable to support their existence, the two slipped through the dimensions. As they passed through eons, many different realities formed, changed, crumbled, vanished...viewed in shapes from high dimensional perspectives.

Willing their existence away in sync, the two humanoids reappeared back on the primal 3rd dimension, around the far future of the Cosmorial they had damaged. All repaired now, for such possibility existed and enough time had passed.

"And that's done..." Dark affirmed the result and looked to his left. "Did you have...fun?"

"...A little. It's not the same...without high Stakes."

"...My vessel was more damaged than yours. " The Dark being complained. "But you cheated. Time is unfair..."

"Sore loser!"

"Needlessly emotional." Dark chided, then conceded. "Your way shall be first..."

"As it should!"

...

As they waited on the spot for what would be years, the largest shards broken off Dark in the fight had been making their way ever since and finally reunited. With a different purpose than to reintegrate now, they morphed into different creature shapes and expressed their self-consciousness in front.

""Main body!""

"Congratulations! You have ten children!" Mocked Blue with a smirk.

"...This method is less...destructive."

"Yes. It is, as it should be..."

After receiving Dark's will, the prominent Fragments scattered through Hyper-Reality to implement the instructions in their own ways.

"And so, it begins, again."

"Just meet them in the future and be done."

"No rush. Let's watch their journey..."

"Pointless. Too uncomfortable being incomplete..." The Dark being rebuked and crossed his arms impatiently.

"Hahh... Just go inert until then..."

"...As I did..." Dark acknowledged before closing its eyes.

The mere interactions between these two entities in primeval space and time had rippled throughout the all-encompassing Hyper-Reality, influencing and manifesting in a variety of ways and degrees. Aside the information, Fragments of their vessels attached themselves to numerous structures and processes such as Life. With unknown purpose, they would go on to cause even more changes, altering spaces and times of many entities, on their paths or even their stories...

Eons later, some of these Fragments had even made it to the lowest Realities. And from Planets like Earth, some of them would begin their long Ascension seeking their origins or Evolution.

---

-Planet Earth ???. North America. 3RD POV-

James Dawyer, an average 28-year old black-haired American living in Idaho went to work one chilly morning without his usual medications. He only felt a little more tired than usual, but in his hazy memory, he could not remember straining himself lately. He shrugged it off as the Coffee yet to take effect and began his workday, not expecting his sickly body to get worse than usual.

As the Day progressed, the weather worsened along James' health. But he thought it was the exertion of carrying materials and the occasional allergies that was making his day unbearable. However, by midday, his chest suddenly became painful with erratic heartbeats and his body became heavier as his vision blurred.

The black-haired man staggered and held onto a nearby shelf.

"Uuughh...!" He groaned and gripped his chest, fearing his heart was giving up. He shook his head and blinked uncomfortably. Finally realizing the grave situation, he turned his head to call out for help, but the remaining strength left his body, his eyes became unfocused, and darkness claimed his consciousness.

On a corner of a large warehouse, his body toppled forward and collapsed without anyone noticing.

...

After an unknown period of time for him, James regained consciousness and found himself in absolute darkness.

"Uhh... Huhhh!!?" He uttered in confusion, and tried blinking. But the blackness remained unchanged. "Am I blind?!" He wondered. But could not feel any bodily sensations either. Even his voice had no echo and didn't feel like sound. The volume of his speech even changed the more strength he put into his thoughts. Then he recalled his last moments at work. "W-what's going on...? Sleep paralysis? A Coma? A lucid dream again? Am I drugged? Abduction?..." James questioned the situation anxiously, trying to find a fitting explanation. But none felt right. He needed a clue and it started by testing the situation.

"HELLO?? HELLOOOO!!" James screamed into the void, hoping for a response or a change. But following what felt like minutes of silence, he shouted obscenities out, which helped vent some frustration, but had no effect. "There's no one..." He thought with disappointment and slight relief, but more terrified that nothing would change. He could only think and wait for something, alone. Just as the time when he got stuck in a cave by himself.

Considering crazier explanations, he mused. "Did the Matrix break? Is it Aliens? Maybe Experiments?"

But eventually, he had to consider being dead.

James was once a Christian, but he later found Science to be more interesting and convincing than Religion. Still, he tried to be an open-minded person that respected other opinions, freedoms, and beliefs to reasonable degrees. So, before long, a depressing thought popped into his mind.

"...Oh, God... I'm not in Oblivion or Purgatory, am I? Hell is better than this!"

For James, this situation was far more terrifying than getting punished for eternity. Although better than nothingness. He was highly aware of his own existence and could not accept not being anymore. But he at least, wanted to experience everything Life had to offer before passing away with the least regrets possible. Unfortunately, his body succumbed to diseases in his twenties, reducing this once adventurous youth to being a slave to pills and addicted to the internet.

He had many regrets. Regrets of not having a healthy body to explore the World, improve his life, and pursue dreams. Regrets of never getting close to finding the right woman to make a family. Regrets of not leaving behind anything to be remembered by. Regrets of not making much of a difference in society. Regrets of not using the brief time he knew he had left in the world correctly. And now, regrets that he didn't take enough care of himself.

Of course, as a fan of Fiction, James wished for Reincarnation almost every day. Games and other entertainments were good to pass the time but could not provide a real meaningful purpose in life. Another World with more freedom and possibilities would certainly have that. However, he was a realist. What was happening wasn't like Reincarnation. He couldn't even confirm if he was actually dead. And it could still be something outside his knowledge. So, he waited...

And he waited long enough to run out of ideas and get bored.

Suddenly, an elderly voice called out like a distant whisper.

"...Jaaames..."

"...!!" The bored human was startled into high alert. Briefly. He thought he imagined it.

However, the voice appeared again and became louder as if adjusting the intensity.

"...JAaames! How are you feeling?" The Senior asked in a warm tone, inspiring security within the uncomfortable darkness.

"TERRIBLE!" James shouted back and demanded with a distrusting tone. "Where am I? What do you want?"

"Pardon the poor reception. It was unavoidable..." The voice calmly spoke in a dignified tone and assured patiently. "You are resting in a Hospital bed, safe and sound. You collapsed at Work, remember?"

"Ah... Yes..." James affirmed, assuming he was talking to a Doctor and feeling relieved for a moment. But then he questioned the situation exasperatedly. "But why can't I feel anything?! Why is everything black?"

"You have nothing to worry about. Your mind is simply in a heightened state of awareness and isolated from your body, temporarily. You will return to normal in a few hours, and then, you can wake up."

"Huu..." The Man heaved a relieved mental sigh. He recalled the explanation a few times and realized an incongruity with the exchange. "Wait...!! I'm asleep? How are WE communicating then?!? Are you lying to me? I hate liars..."

"I can explain. But I will depend on your open-mindedness, knowledge, and imagination to understand."

"Uhhh...? Sure..."

"For starters, we are communicating inside your mind, James. Like Telepathy."

"Uh-huh... Nice Prank."

"I know it's hard to believe, but I can prove it. And we have plenty of time. Since your perception of time here is hundreds of times faster than outside."

"...Haahhh..." James sighed disappointedly and spoke in a reasonable tone. "Look... It's alright. Whatever happened to me, I can take the news. I just want to know my options."

The mysterious being was troubled by James' skepticism, but this was a normal reaction. He recalled the Mortal's Life and chose a personal secret of interest.

"Something only you know, is it?" ...Well, you are still wondering what compelled you to make that Game character, 'inuyami.'"

"...!! The Fox girl? I was mocked for that!"

"But she wasn't an attractive Avatar. She actually felt like a Daughter, right?"

"...Ugh! Y-yeah... That was... weird. Ugh! Sounds so pathetic in retrospect." James declared with slight shame.

"No need to feel bad. There is a reason for that. It's not your fault..." The Voice assured and thought to himself. It's hers...

"Huh?! You know something?"

"Nothing you can't find out by yourself."

"...Uh-huh..."

Feeling pressured by the skepticism, the Senior insisted. "I mustn't say anything... You should remember when you meet someone..."

"Whatever..." James uttered feeling irritated and recalled the missing Beer. "I was probably just Drunk that day...."

"Perhaps..."

"...I feel like you are misleading me like those fake Psychics..."

"Then, shall I reveal more shameful things you secretly regret?"

"...You're are bluffing..."

"Bluffing? Like the times you tried to bluff your way out Fights? Especially that time you tried to impress that Heidi girl--"

"AHH!! Stop! Damn... You really can read my mind!?!"

"Mostly superficial things..."

"This can't be real..."

"Don't be a Frog in a Well, James. There are many things Humans don't know."

"...True..." The mortal accepted the ridiculous situation and inquired respectfully. "What are you then? An Alien? What do you want from me?"

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