I wasn't sure what exactly I was seeing, even though they were clear as day now.

Narlivs spoke, her words measured. "Unrestrained and malicious chaos--Imaginal Parasites."

The thing that was ahead of us, stuck like a leech to the ground, was some phantasmal snake or eel-looking white monster. It had many feelers protruding from it, feelers wavering in imaginary wind. Did I say eel? It started looking like a many-eyed thing with the head of a fish and the lower body of a seahorse. Wait, was it changing form again--

"I recommend not looking at it for too long," Narlivs whispered, holding my arm closer to her bosom. "They are creatures that ignore the laws of reality and dimensions. They can drive one mad."

"Seriously?"

"Those creatures... To call them a primordial evil would not be so farfetched."

"Are they... Were they released when Earth was destroyed?"

"No... They're something else. A plague that has ravaged the Imaginal Realms since their inception. They are creatures that traverse the underside of the Imaginal Realm--the same underside our Inverse exists within--and they feed on the Aether meant for the Topside. They exist to devour from the inside out." Narlivs let out an angry-sounding giggle. "It lives up to its name."

"This... sounds extremely scary. So it's draining the Hero Hub of energy?"

"Yes... Thankfully, this one is a small parasite. The rate at which it consumes is dwarfed by the rate at which the Hero Hub sucks in Aether from the surrounding reality. Still, accrue too many Parasites, and the Hero Hub will eventually die. This is why maintenance must occur. The Hero Hub can not afford to fall victim to parasites as all else in reality can." Narlivs pointed at three more spots. "Four are feasting on the Hero Hub at the moment."

"So. How do we get rid of them?"

"I don't know."

We exchanged stares.

"Really?" I asked.

"Earth, and the rest of the physical realm didn't have to deal with Imaginal Parasites, so Svilran never developed knowledge of countering them despite other gods giving lectures on the matter. We simply know of their existence..." Narlivs sighed and chuckled. "Svilran was never keen on learning the art of war. She preferred to avert her eyes from such truths."

"Okay, and no Divine Intuition or anything like that?"

"It's harder with the Parasites. They're an existence... equivalent to the primordial forces of the universe. What is to be known about the Parasites must be learned through observation of them. Let's see..." Narlivs placed her finger against her lip. "We are equivalent to humans gazing up at a starry sky, trying to derive as many rules of the cosmos as we can."

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"If I go over there right now and kick it, will there be repercussions?"

"More developed Parasites can attempt to devour a body like mine. These small ones may just ignore you. I do believe there is a way for us to conduct maintenance however. Why else would you and I be allowed to come here otherwise?"

"If I were to use +Nightmares ARE Fiction+ I could probably scare it away... Is a parasite like an animal, or does it have a rational mind?"

"Unsure. I would want to say they're animalistic, but I cannot begin to fathom the makeup of a possible mind. They could very well just be a force of nature."

"That would put them in the same bracket as the Imaginal Will."

"Yes. Again, they are equivalent—the parasites just being a more malicious analog to those forces."

"Hey, the Imaginal Will are described as forces of nature that can destroy stuff while being innocent. What separates them from the parasites?"

"The parasites can devour Imaginal Will. Some have gone on to take control of some of those entities and turn an Imaginal Will from an innocent force of nature to a malicious destroyer of reality. This is the account Svilran was told long ago... These entities throw reality out of balance and propagate destruction and evil when they gain power. The Gods of the Imaginal Realm, both Imaginal Will and World Gods--some of them have evolved to be able to see the parasites plaguing the Imaginal Realm and have taken up arms against them."

"Heavy... So there's a bigger conflict..."

"If we were to establish sides and describe the forces at the top of this new reality of ours... let's see... We would have the Imaginal Will on one side. The Hero Hub forces and our superior would be another. Then there would be the malicious force unleashed with Earth's destruction--let's call them the Evil Will for symmetry. Finally, the Imaginal Parasites. These four forces are the predominant forces shaping the fate of the Imaginal Realm. We can also describe the forces as thus: Creative Chaos for the Imaginal Will, Creative Order for the Hero Hub's forces, Destructive Order for the Evil Will, and Destructive Chaos for the Imaginal Parasites. Of course, there is nuance within each force but those would be their alignments in the grand scheme of things."

"Hmm, that's quite a lot." I looked at the parasite again. "Scary."

"Yes... as there are only four, we can take our time studying them. I would recommend staying your hand for now. I estimate that they would become a problem in 300 Hub Years. So we have more than enough time to prepare. If they ever become a detriment to the Hub, you will receive an alert through the Individualized Messages as well, so there is no worry of being caught unaware."

"Hold on; you know about them? The Message System?"

"Yes. I am technically a resident of the Inverse now, and the Individualized Message, along with the rest of our Hero Hub's systems, are designed to be used in conjunction with this realm as well. As I am the facilitator for this side, I was informed of everything regarding our operations and serve as a guide in many respects."

"How do I use the Hero Hub systems in conjunction with the Inverse?"

"Sometimes, there may be structures that can only be built here. You may also build certain structures down here should you want to keep them from Svilran or anyone else. To build things, you must accumulate Inverse Points--"

"Great. Another currency to track..."

"Please don't be annoyed, Fainn. There's so much work to be done and much to be managed."

I sighed and smiled. "Yeah. How do I get them?"

"By defeating the Parasites feasting on the Hub."

"... So I've got to earn them."

"Most things in life must be earned."

"By beating the things I still don't know how to beat."

"It is a goal that we can work towards."

"Fair enough. I under...stand... What the?"

Near what I identified as the Inverse-double of the fountain was Dorthaunzee flickering in and out. I ran toward her, and when I got there, I saw that she was running in place against a colorful backdrop. She kept on running, completely unaware that I was mere feet from her.