Arcturus

Ganymede's adaptive control was ready for testing. But before we could do so, there was an unexpected problem.

I got a strange dream. It felt very personal, yet it also made me feel everything at once. I did not know what to expect or even what to see other than I felt naked and exposed. Worse, I felt that when I was presented with a very disturbing sight.

It's both horrific and otherworldly at the same time. It was the image of one of the spectral apparitions held in place by chains and nails that made it bleed a rather fluorescent blood. Then it screamed, chilling me to the bones. It was a haunting scream that could only come out from a tortured soul. It then tried to say something. I did not understand what it said, but I somehow knew. It was screaming for help. It was screaming for freedom.

The dream ended just as it started. I woke up from the nightmare with Zarya still asleep beside me. The only one who woke up was Kyrand, who had this expression of sympathy and seriousness that I had never seen before.

"So, you saw it," it said with a solemn tone.

"Saw what?" I asked, still shocked by the nightmare. I think I was hyper-ventilating.

"The dragon in your dream. It was me," said Kyrand. "Or more specifically, my whole being."

"You? But you're here, and..."

"What I am now is but a fraction of my true essence, one that fit into the third dimension," it said. "As time goes on, our link gave you access to my memories, and that memory was the most traumatizing memory I've ever got. It was the moment when I realized I had fear...and pain. That was the first time I ever longed for freedom."

"The Trikelians did that to you?" I said, remembering his relationship with the Trikelians as their fallen 'god'.

"Pretty much."

"If that's what it is, then we have lost," I said. "If they can take down a being like you, then what hope do we have against them? I mean, we are still trying to grasp how they managed to ruin a space-faring empire. Now, I know they managed to do that to you."

"They only managed to defeat me out of my own carelessness. Then, they harnessed my power to create a stable link between their world and ours, taking you completely by surprise. The Trikelians are...not just any alien you are used to."

"So, they are from another galaxy."

"No. They are interdimensional. They travel through dimensions. I did tell you they're not just any alien you are used to. Even an alien from another galaxy are still three-dimensional beings. They are one of many denizens of the Void between Universes. I think your Earthling friend has a history dealing with one of those beings."

"You mean they narrowly avoided the Exodus, too?"

"I think for them, it's more like apocalypse. Good thing they got help from the Void. Unfortunately, you won't find any Trikelian willing to help you, not after they lost all sense of empathy after harnessing my powers."

"Wait. Are you telling me you're the reason the Exodus happened? Your powers gave them access to our realm and they..."

"Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, I guess I owe you an apology. Is it...to late for that?"

"Hey, you're the victim here. Why should you apologize? Well, unfortunately, dad might not think that way."

Kyrand looked dejected. I was surprised he felt guilty. I knew he wasn't at fault. In fact, how could he understand that concept?

But I still had questions about his origin and how he came into contact with me, so I asked him about it, and he gave me the answer to the whole mystery regarding my exile on Earth.

"When your ship went towards Earth, the sheer amount of Trikelians invading the sealed planet of Vyrn opened a dimensional tear in which you accidentally went through. You are a Visitor of my prison realm, and I seized the opportunity to let part of me escape. Then, I opened another tear, which happens to be Earth. There was a tear caused by a fairly recent invasion from the Void, which was the only one I could open and close without those Trikelians causing harm to a pre-space planet like Earth."

"But you're in Ijuri, and you possessed me. Does that mean...?"

"I chose to stay on that planet. As time went on, my presence became an anomaly for the Vyrnians. They soon found that your ship ended up on the human's planet. They made the facility and I chose to entertain myself with their theories and speculation, until..."

"The Trikelians made it into their base instead."

"Like the Vyrnians, they were drawn to my presence. Part of me knew that the Vyrnians did nothing wrong, but I hid myself and as a result...they were all massacred."

It explained a lot of things of what happened on Ijuri. In fact, that explained everything. Not sure if dad knew about this and deliberately programmed the navigation through the tear. The Ijuri facility was established to check on the tear and from it, they found its connection to the Trikelians. They never realized that it was Kyrand's escape attempt that drew the Trikelians to them.

But what did Kyrand meant by Visitor? Was it because my ship went past through his realm? There were so many questions from all those nightmarish visions that I could not sleep. No. I guess I was too scared to sleep after seeing that...thing, and the torture it was subjected to. Kyrand's true form was indescribable, but I could tell you one thing: It was horrific enough that forgetting it felt like a luxury.

I guess that's why Kyrand warned me not to pry too deeply or I'd lose it.

I woke up and brew myself some coffee as I tried to forget the visions. Kyrand sat near me like a dog, which seemed weird and terrifying due to his appearance. I was already okay with his presence, but I doubted anyone would be fine with it. Well, except George. He seemed alright with Kyrand.

As I calmed down, I slowly asked the dragon of Ossogoth the important questions, including the reason why that memory specifically.

"I wanted freedom," said Kyrand. "The Trikelians took everything from me, including my powers. I could not free myself, and the Trikelians had clearly found a way to imprison me in a dimensional prison and harnessed my powers for their own, which they used to spread chaos throughout this galaxy."

"But how? If you're so powerful, then how did they...?"

"Carelessness on my part, and cruel ambition on their part. They regarded me as their living god, but even a living god will fall when they are disillusioned. So, let's just say I broke something akin to your non-interference policy."

"Did you do something to make them turn on you?"

"Nothing except fueling their ambitions. The Void was stagnant, and for the long duration of this reality, they sat dormant. That is until one of them, who they called Leader, rose among the Trikelians and changed them into the grotesque form you are familiar with. The Leader had more ambition than I thought. It literally became a god, essentially becoming a higher level of being that equals me, even for a moment. That small moment is the moment it and its grotesque creations subdued me."

"How?"

"In the realm of dreaming and memories, otherwise known as the Concept Dimension. It is where ideas, imaginations, concepts, and fiction are real, and where reality cannot be bend as easily as their realm or our own. It is the only place where imagination triumphs. Every story known to every three-dimensionals will become real there."

"So, fight them with imagination," I said. "How hard can it be?"

Kyrand chuckled. "We dragons of Ossogoths aren't exactly imaginative. Also, that realm is limited in a sense that you cannot imagine anything within it. However, a Visitor like you can cross into that realm, provided you know a way."

"How am I different from any other storytellers out there? I don't really grow up with an imaginary friend, you know."

"You don't need imagination in the Concept Dimension. You simply need to know you exist, and your brain will do the rest to try and keep you sane. Like I said, the Concept Dimension is where imaginations are real, and you don't want to know how dangerous some imaginations can be."

Considering there were a lot of movies out there with the sickest, most god-awful horror ideas ever put on screen, I wouldn't be surprised if I found my phobias as soon as I stepped into the Concept Dimension or whatever. I think it's better to call it the land of fiction, but given that it's extra-dimensional, I think 'land' would be an understatement.

But I know Kyrand's the type who explain things one at a time, slowly exposing me to details and facts that I may or may not need to know. It's pretty much like brewing a coffee: timing is everything. Kyrand knew that timing. Like a good storyteller, it simply explained everything until he gave me the reason for all those explanations.

It wanted my help to free its body in the Concept Dimension, and to do so, I needed to get in there with its help. The catch? It would be one of those lucid dreaming experiences where everything I sensed in the dream would be real. Kyrand warned me, though, that this was a very dangerous task. Whoever died within a dream would be left wandering inside the Concept Dimension, never to return to their own reality. It was made hard by the fact that some ideas were dangerous and life-threatening, so he told me to think about this through before I agreed to his help. Kyrand wasn't in a rush, though it did the 'it's for your own benefit' card since freeing it would greatly help our efforts against the Trikelians. You can call it 'psychological manipulation'.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Well, it did say its powers were used by the Trikelians and the main cause of the Exodus, so it was willing to help rectify its mistakes. It benefitted me too. I know I should've been angry, but it was as much a victim as we Vyrnians were, though Kyrand surely did not care about the Vyrnians as much as it cared about crippling the Trikelian efforts. All it cared about was freedom, with the side of helping our efforts.

That revelation of what Kyrand said clearly soured my mood for the rest of the day. The worse thing? Even if anyone understood my plight, they could not help me since the only other who could see and interact with Kyrand was George. George did point out that anyone with a decent relationship might be able to help me, especially since he was already contacted by Kyrand. It did not matter whether he was fit or not. In the Concept Dimension, he would be in perfect health.

However, I was rather conflicted with putting him at risk, knowing that he was almost killed several times before, all because he was inadvertently involved in my problems. I was also aware that George, a human, would be risking his life not for himself, but for others. As far as I knew, Trikelians were not an Earth problem. Well, near problem. His contribution in all these was because he wanted to travel in space and return home someday. I did not want him to die before he returned home.

I would say all that to his face, but I realized that I had no heart to do so. George had been a good friend and he clearly regarded the dangers as risks in his own adventure. He did not claim to be deluded, either, knowing that losing his hand was because he was careless. However, he genuinely cared for my own well-being and wanted to help, especially after pointing out that Kyrand had no power in the Concept Dimension and working on it alone would be too risky.

Kyrand told George the same stories. He simply agreed, surprising me. Did he really think George was up to it, even while bed-ridden and his hand was hooked up to a machine in preparation of the operation? That's when he pointed out that he was an extra-dimensional being who happened to have known humans from different realities.

"Humans are very curious and imaginative," said Kyrand. "Many realities only have them as Earthlings. Some don't even have humans. Yet, humans or not, they are always so curious. Too curious, even. Sometimes, the pursue of knowledge is not worth losing your mind for."

"I'll be careful," said George. "The Vyrnians said the operation will be painless. In fact, I might even be bored out of my wits, so why don't I have an adventure while at it?"

"You can't miss a chance for a trip, do you?" I said with a chuckle.

"There is a reason why I'm not asking to be taken home."

Kyrand, in turn, chuckled. "He has that drive as a human, Arcturus. You cannot stop him. Not without force. Well, it doesn't matter since we're diving into the Concept Dimension anyway, so you might as well get yourself comfortable."

"How long is it gonna take?"

"Who knows? The Concept Dimension is a different dimension with no concept of time and space. A blank canvas, so to speak. Well, in a different part of the Dimension, this is true. Where we're going is far from being a blank."

"Wait. I haven't agreed on going yet," I said.

"Then take your time. I'm not in a rush and your partner's certainly not, either."

Normally, this operation, if it could be called one, would need to be approved by dad or even the others. Given that dad's still my commanding officer, all decisions must come through him. However, for some reason, I decided to skip the whole chain of command and do it myself, since no one other than me and George could understand what Kyrand was proposing. In fact, I was ninety percent sure they would dismiss it as something delusional and might even asking if I'm alright or not. Even if they believed it, would they allow me to do this? No, of course not. In fact, I'm not sure if this was something I should do at all. I had not known Kyrand that long, and I still had trouble trusting it.

Except I did not know what I was doing then. After a whole day of deliberation, I decided to do this with George, who by this point was preparing for the prosthetics operation and was ready to go to sleep. It was hard for me to go to sleep knowing that we were going in a mission that could mean our deaths or worse, losing our sanity. Even Kyrand wasn't sure if it could help us in the Concept Dimension, so close to its body. But, one thing was sure.

It still had enough power to pull us into a state of lucid dreaming.

***

I was confused at first when I 'woke' up in Zarya's room until I noticed that everything seemed...off. Some things in the room I slept in had subtle differences compared to the one I knew. Ever heard of a story where someone thought their home was invaded and their things substituted? It's like that. While Zarya not being there beside me did not really trigger anything, a lot of other things were. Well, that's a dream for you.

Then the next thing I noticed was that I was in different clothes altogether. Somehow, I slept while wearing body armor and clothes you typically wore while on guard duty. It was also interesting to note that the armor was a pre-Exodus design and was something I used to wore during my early days as a guard to the Empire's president. As I wondered how this reality could produce everything, I opened the door to exit the bedroom. That's where everything I know suddenly got thrown out of the window.

It was not Zarya's living room. In fact, it was a trippy, otherworldly landscape that you might witness after taking a lot of psychotropic drugs strong enough for a Vyrnian. As I contemplated what's wrong, I saw Kyrand and George floating around. I admitted that I expected something strange after we entered the Concept Dimension, but I never thought it would be this weird. I swear I'm not experimenting with drugs, but I had seen a lot of holo-pics about the 'trip' that I knew it was tripping, or so I thought.

"Actually," said George when I asked what happened to the landscape. "It's...apparently my fault. The anesthetic they used to numb the pain during the operation messed with my head. They don't really have anything suited for a human. The drug's not fatal, though."

"Is this safe?" I asked Kyrand.

"It's the safest place you will find yourself, for nothing else but the scenery changes," said Kyrand. "The Concept Dimension, however, is different in many ways. You will be safe near me, but don't wander off. You two are Visitors to the Concept Dimension and you have limited privilege. This is very important."

"We got it," said George. "So, how about if we get on with it?"

Kyrand nodded and opened a tear out of the wall, where the three of us went through. Before long, I found myself floating in the air. I quickly opened my wing-arms thinking that I was falling, though I soon found out that I did not need to.

While we traveled a trippy, colorful tunnel, George talked to Kyrand as I listened.

"I was thinking about the tear you mentioned," said George. "I read about the Pillar of Light Incident and heard stories from dragons that witnessed it. However, that did not happen before Arcturus arrived on Earth. So, how did you open a tear that was not made yet?"

"The dragons of light had an internal strife that happened throughout time and space, but beyond your linear progression of time. Earth is only involved after they arrived, but the tear extended to the past. That is how I managed to use the wound to escape."

"I heard about that Visitor thing, but I don't remember ever visiting the Concept Dimension. Well, unless you consider dreams."

"You haven't, but due to your ceremony as a wyvern rider, you and Arcturus are bound in blood and mind. Also, your Earth's magic is a form of manipulating the nature of objects using the energy from the Concept Dimension, something you Earthlings called 'mana'."

"But mana is in the air we breathe. You mean there's a tear leaking out somewhere out there?"

"Millions of years ago when your Earth is still not fit for life. Your evolution was tied with that energy and now, every living being on Earth live and breathe mana. Then, the humans, with their limitless wisdom and imagination, learned to harness the mana and made it practical. That is what you call magic spells."

"How about Ternor, then? Why there is no mana particles on that continent before Main?"

"A tear siphoned out most of it. With it gone, the atmosphere repaired itself. The things you call magicites expedited that process."

"Wow," said George, fascinated. "Never thought about that before. No one could ever explain how magic particles are in the air and where they come from. My textbook assumed that it's manifesting naturally just like the atmosphere around the Earth. The scholars of the Academy will have a field day writing a thesis about this."

"And now you know. But, don't expect me to tell them about it. Knowledge is powerful, but it is a double-edged sword. Humans are brilliant on both ways. They are brilliant for their knowledge, but they are also notorious for the same reason."

"But it depends on who's using that knowledge."

"True, except who is not as important as why. Earthlings have ambitions, dreams...choices. They made the wrong ones as much as the right ones."

George contemplated on those words before he accepted it. Kyrand may be cryptic, but he was wiser than many of us. The perks of being far older than every living being, I guess.

"So, technically, everyone and everything on Earth are Visitors?"

"No, it's just you. As I recall from your memory, those who made a link to their partners lived a longer life and experience a deep, almost personal, connection with each other. It's not like love or anything, it's more like a kinship."

"Doesn't really work with Arcturus since he is a Vyrnian and not a proper wyvern."

"But the connection is still there and that makes you a pseudo-Visitor, enough to be able to see me and even visit the Concept Dimension," said Kyrand.

"Oh, man. No one's gonna believe what I heard today."

"And try to keep it to yourself or write it down somewhere. Earth people tend to get rather violent when something so uncanny and so strange grazed their lives. You can't deny it, George Atmell."

"Same goes for Vyrnians, too," I said. "Or any other alien races out there."

"Yes, but let's not talk about such grim subject. We're almost there."

'Almost there' meaning we got into a white landscape with nothing else. The place had gravity, but it felt weird walking on a white landscape. There was that uncanny feeling of us being here and also not being here at the same time.

In the distance I saw what looked like a dark blue-colored rectangular box with a roof and a light on top of it. I could not see what the writing on the box was, but I was nevertheless intrigued (George later said the writing spelled 'POLICE BOX'). That's when Kyrand noticed what I was doing and stopped me from going there.

"What did I tell you about wandering off?" said Kyrand. "Whatever you see out there is the product of an imagination. It is part of the background. You don't want to be involved with whatever they are doing, or you'll lose your own reality."

"How can a blue box do anything to you, anyway?"

"This is the Concept Dimension. That blue box could as well be bigger on the inside or maybe it invites trouble," said Kyrand. "Just stay focused and we'll get through this. I will lose all my powers when we are getting closer to my true body, so I am warning you. Don't wander off."

If an extra-dimensional being warning you not to wander off, you don't wander off. I was hoping that this would be an easy trip, but I guess a Vyrnian's curiosity could get the best of me if a blue box in the distance could do it.

So, we moved on. Slowly, but surely, the white landscape we got ourselves in became filled with all sorts of things that came out of someone's imagination. I could see a very neat looking ship with silvery color with engine nacelles behind and over the disk-shaped part, connected to the main dish where I assumed the crew operated it. It was much larger than Ganymede and was clearly intended for long-term exploration mission. I could also see another, much smaller ship that looked like a mishmash of components but looked very maneuverable, flying along what looked like a car with wings and with the word 'Eagle 5' clearly seen on its front door. I could also see humans, one in full black mechanical armor, battling a blonde human wearing black, with their swords glowing like glowsticks, one green and another red. Not sure why they fought with glowsticks, but the sword did remind me of George's plasma sword given how it cut through steel just like that.

I was apparently so engrossed with their fight that Kyrand and George needed to tell me to move on. Still, George was also fascinated by the 'glowstick fight' and watched how the fight unfold before we moved away, knowing that whoever imagined such battle had quite an imagination.

We moved through the area into something less space and more Earth. This time, Kyrand stopped and said, "We're close."

"Where are you?"

"Inside that place over there," it said and pointed towards what looked like a colosseum. "I was...imprisoned in one of the concepts in this dimension, so...you might see how miserable I am."

"Like the nightmare I saw?" I asked.

Kyrand shook its head. "No. Tamer. Much, much tamer. The good thing about the Concept Dimension is that it won't show you something too incomprehensible. Still...be ready for anything. See you inside."

And so Kyrand disappeared, pointing us towards where it was held. I gulped, feeling uneasy. I knew the nightmare and what Kyrand suffered was...far too much for me too handle. In fact, I could not imagine how.

George, however, did not see what I just saw, so he urged me to go with him and hoped it wasn't as bad as I thought. I tried to act strong, so I walked with the human and got through the colosseum where Kyrand was held in.

What awaited us was...well, tamer than what I saw, but still horrific.