The flying Spaghetti Monster looked at Liana’s ghostly body and shook his head again.
“What I was trying to say just now, little mortal and the friend of all kinds of creatures that people don't normally believe in, is that I don't think you're really dead.”
Liana stared at him in surprise.
"How? My real body lies there, in that hazy world that was mine. And I'm standing here with another body, a ghost body stuck in this world with too many dimensions, talking in person to one of the gods.”
She turned the images of the battle back on and showed in slow motion how Izabel was using the shield to protect the still body of the material version of Liana against everything that could harm her.
”Yes, and what did you see that your friend who summoned me was doing?”
She thought for a bit before she could answer.
"She felt my pulse and was relieved."
Luigi nodded again. "Indeed. Your body is still alive, and your mind is still alive too, because it is still here being very active. Wherever this place is. I'd say somewhere between nowhere and what your otherworldly friends call the side dimension. But not the realm of the dead. The dead are gone for me too. They don't really linger in this world for long. I'm not a psychopomp, and I can't guide the dead to where they go, I don't even have a clue where that is even. Maybe old Hades or the guy with the scythe could tell me if I can get them to talk to me, but I'd rather avoid that kind of company. But wherever the dead go, it’s not here. They move on, and you have been stuck here.”
Liana stopped in her movement.
"But I got hit by that weapon."
Luigi agreed. “That alien weapon did indeed hit you. A lot of people were hit by it it seems. But it's not designed for and by humans, let alone Lianas who seem to regularly fall outside of the laws of multiverse. But since you're alone here and none of the humans or non-humans that were hit have joined you, I think the reaction it had on you was quite unique. It has apparently split your body and soul, but you are not actually dead. You do have a problem now, which if you don't solve it, it might get more problematic than simply being dead."
Liana looked at him with astonishment. She didn't know much about what happened to the souls of the dead, but she sensed intuitively that he had been right. But what did he mean when he said there were things more problematic than "simply being dead"? That sounded pretty ominous.
She put the image of the material realm faster to look at the fight again. One of John's bodyguards fell, but on his other side lay a whole unit of fallen Drotnira already, hit by the same alien weapon. There were also a number of fallen Nummerfa around the almost lifeless Andira. Outside, humans seemed to be losing in many places, except where the lunatics with their machine guns sat. Meanwhile, Marah was back, discreetly placing the bag containing an unknown weapon next to the seemingly unconscious Andira. Izabel still kept watch by her body, and the shield proved very effective at warding off both bullets and the crippling rays emanating from the alien weapons.
She suddenly felt a very strong gratitude, although it was not in the normal way of feeling. But she also realised that she wasn't supposed to lie there like that. And if she had the Flying Spaghetti Monster as the only companion here between nowhere and the other side, then she'd have to make the best of that and not complain. She had been through more strange things before, and had been to more very strange places in her life. At least she had someone now, who seemed to know at least some things about the invisible dimensions?
"What should I do?" she asked her unusual astral companion.
“You can't do anything for the fighters out there, little mortals. That's the job of others now. You have been hit by a weapon that has shattered you across the dimensions, and now you are outside your body. You have to make sure you can stay in yourself, and get back into your body. That's all. And that's extremely important too. There may be worse things than death if you don’t succeed.”
That was the second time he'd said such a thing, but Liana had to think about those words.
”Shattered, splintered but still in the extended set of dimensions of the world of the living? And my job now is to get all versions of myself back together,” she said.
“If you want to put it that way. I've been trying to explain that to you all along, little creature. Just because you're a mortal doesn't mean you have to think you're dying all the time… Most people only die once, mortality is a potential, not a permanence.”
Liana sighed. “And if it doesn't work?”
She had never seen the Flying Spaghetti Monster so serious.
“Then your body remains there, and your soul remains here. You could call that a kind of coma. I can visit you from time to time against the loneliness then, but I don't know if there are many beings who can reach you here. And if they take your body with them, you might not be able to get back to it… Besides, you are very vulnerable and dependent on your body, you can't even eat and drink and go to the toilet and such…”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Those were not good prospects, she thought.
"Okay, I get it. But how do I get back into my body?"
The strange creature looked at her.
“I can't tell you that. You have to want that yourself. You have to come into yourself. To know why you want to live. And further it’s like stepping through the invisible gate, but then stepping into yourself. Taking a leap of faith, but this time stepping back into the familiar and grasping and collapsing the dimensions of yourself into each other until you are back in your ordinary body. But it starts with the will to live and to be Liana.”
She thought about those words and looked down at new projections that appeared. Scenes from her life in which she would rather not have existed reappeared. She thought about how she had sometimes been so alone in her life that she had even gladly welcomed ghostly presences and played with huge beasts from other worlds in her dreams. She saw an empty house without parents. She saw herself being bullied at school.
“Sometimes I don't know why.” she said.
Luigi shook his grotesque head shape again.
“But sometimes you do. Think about those moments. What makes life worth living? Why do you feel the need to protect your species from extinction by the hands of these creatures here? Why is it important to protect your own life?”
That had been a wrong question. The word 'extinction' triggered her.
“Why do we even deserve to stay, if we've killed other species? We destroy everything. Mammoths, Moas, dodos, warming ice sheets, pollution, ecosystem collapse. Isn't the world better off without us? Wasn't Andira right? Isn't humanity a virus, aren't we just hell demons that infect and poison all possible worlds?”
"Watch out!" said Luigi. “You are fading away now. If you don't want to live, you can really dissolve in this condition I’m afraid. And then your body is left there without a soul. Is that what you want? That your friend is there guarding an empty shell and taking bullets with her shield for a Liana who won’t come back? Did your little atheist friend summon the Flying Spaghetti Monster for that? Is that why I came here, to see the only human who ever offered me friendship annihilate because she couldn't muster the will to exist?"
He paused and changed the subject. “By the way, can't you see that you're giving yourself up to things that don't do you much good? You let yourself be drained in a way that I wouldn't expect from you anymore.”
Liana stopped the time again. He was right. There was a spiritual battle going on within herself that she was giving up on, mainly because she had had no awareness of it at all. But now that she was paying attention to it, she felt that something was indeed tugging at her, something that was still invisible even in this world, but that was clearly living on her life energy. Was there even in this invisible dimension an extra invisible side dimension that could house spiritual parasites trying to suck her dry? Existence had more dimensions and more complications than she ever thought possible, and that meant that there were more things to watch out for. Did it never stop? You’d think that if you were in this multidimensional version of the world that spiritual attacks would be more apparent than in the visible world, but no, not so…
She shut herself off from whatever sucked at her, and regained her focus.
"No! I have to live! If not for myself, then for friendship. I want to be able to thank Izabel. And Inaya. And Akina. And Marah. And Joris. And even you, Luigi. I don't want to lose their friendship. That's way too early. I know there are people who die prematurely, but if I don't have to, I really don't want to be one of them. It would be wrong, and an insult to life.”
“Hold that thought, little mortal. Don't let it go!” said the Flying Spaghetti Monster. “You are actually very lucky, little one. If you would have been one of my kind you would be a lot stronger than me now. You have your own believers, in two different worlds even, who strongly believe in you and who are willing to make sacrifices for you. I never had anything like that.” There was an overtone of regret in his voice.
Liana shook her head.
“I cannot be a goddess. Created beings are not to be worshipped. But you have my friendship. You, and Bronto, and Ikiki, and even that weird orc. You have all fought for me at one point or another. And I will fight for you. You deserve that I choose life too. I can't let go of myself, so away with you!”
She sent away both her thoughts and the invisible presence that had been trying to drain her energetically with great authority in her voice, which had no echo in this world.
"That's the spirit, girl!"
Liana thought of the dance of life again, of the connection with the Source, of the responsibility that existence entailed. Of the idea that maybe everything was a test.
“I owe it to life itself. To the Source. To Al-Elyehdinn.”
Now the Flying Spaghetti Monster himself was tongue-tied.
“You're beyond me here, little mortal, but I know you're right. Feel that Energy of Existence! Feel the Life! And then you can get back into your body. It's time. And if you’re back say hi to my little believer when you have the chance.”
In an instant he was gone.
Liana saw the multidimensional in-between world dissolve and opened her eyes. She instantly felt how heavy her body was, and how little energy it had.