[BitPR2] Extra Episode 2: Just a dream?

[Frozen_Feet]

[On the border of Sleep and Death]

On the roof, the man tosses and turns, every muscle, every bone of his being aching. He drifts in and out of consciousness, only to see it is still night and trying to catch sleep again. His stolen blanket offers little comfort, and in distaste it is eventually cast aside. But even light of the coming dawn offers no solace for the bandaged figure huddling on cold concrete, for it only reminds him of how deeply tired he is, and paves way for a new cycle of sleep paralysis and nightmares.

Such a horrible feeling, to think for the tenth time that you have moved your hand, only to realize it has not budged an inch. To hear the sounds of the traffic below creep up the walls and surround you in a haunting cacophony, to hear the footsteps of foreign and hostile people circle you even when they are nowhere in sight.

But most frustrating through all the distorted noises, is the song. The song sung by nobody, echoing from nothingness and never ending. Many times, the man wishes to silence its voice, only to be reminded it does not exist in this world. He can not reach it from this side of the border.

Until he does. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dia6d6lX5I)

On one of his futile attempts to find the source of the music, he tears a wound in the air. It must've been his twelfth, at least, but who is counting? Surprised, his spirits soars from his body, and is engulfed by darkness.

Once more, the man finds himself on the long road to nowhere. Dazed, he starts walking on the shining path again, the stones forming from nothing before him, and collapsing back nothing behind him.

He feels strangely light. Like nothing but pure consciousness, unweighed by matter either earthly or not. Just a passing thought that could easily get lost in the music.

But as he forgets himself while listening to dissonant whispers of the spheres, his foothold begins slipping. The pathway crumbles below him, and he starts falling. His heart freezes as panic settles in. Will he be just another soul lost on this arching pathway? Will he just eternally fall, fall, fall, untill only his scream exists to join this cacophony echoing through this ageless darkness?

On his lips, the answer forms itself: No. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr_ORh39g7o)

He recalls the feel of lightness, the feel of soaring throught the skies. The feel of dreaming, of being in control of your body in a way you can not feel awake. And like that, his descent halts. The shining path forms under his feet again. And the song ceases to be a cacophony, becoming a beautiful tune guiding his steps towards the heaven.

But to take steps, one must have feet. So the man discards his weightlessness, to fashion a new body from the streams of dust roiling through the void. For it is not just empty - is is full of energy, sparking from nothing and collapsing back to nothing. But for a moment, the stream can be halted and made into something concrete. The man feels exalted by the currents of energy as they pass through him and give his naked soul a form once more.

In the distance, at the end of the arching pathway, he can see a glint of light, like Polaris shining high in the night sky. Gleaming molten-hot, for he has just been forged, the man sets his sights on it and begins walking.

---

Mikael blinks. Before him opens a scene, of valleys and forests and small villages, somehow familiar yet not. As if he'd been here once, long ago, as a child. Running fingers through his hair, he stares at this scenery in befuddlement while walking down the slope of a small, rocky hill.

Something is off. There is an ethereal quality to the world around. The sky is too blue, the sun too bright, the grass too green. It is all somehow unreal. Or maybe it is him who is unreal? It is hard to tell.

After some time of walking (How long?), Mikael stumbles upon a pond of rainwater. He looks down at his own reflection, puzzled at what he sees. There is no sign of his bandages. His uniform is likewise gone. Instead there is a young, sleepy man in black leather jacket, jeans and a blue shirt, like he maybe was a week or two ago. Mikael raises his hands to touch his face, surprised to feel the touch of his own skin.

He must be dreaming. There is no other way to explain any of this. His imagination is simply playing tricks on him again. Soon, he will return to his disheveled and miserable state on Earth, but why not enjoy it while it lasts? Delighted by his sense of freedom, he flies to the top of a nearby fir and looks around. Are there any other people in this strange dream-land, or is he alone? He lifts his hands to the sides of his mouth and shouts: "Hey! I'm here!"

[Terry576]

[The Edge of The World]

A woman emerges from the distance slowly, and waves at the man. Her clothing is barely discernible, but she's pale, intensely, incredibly pale, almost ghost-white instead of any real skin color.

A laugh bubbles, and he can hear it even from this far. It sounds like bells.

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael, delighted to see another person, jumps down from the tree and walks towards the ghostly woman. "Greetings. Might I ask where have I come to? I'm Rautiainen, Mikael, from a far Northern land. Pleasure to meet you."

[Terry576]

The woman has dark hair tied back and dark eyes, and she wears dark clothes with a white, white smock. She laughs and laughs and grins, with too many teeth for such a mouth and her eyes are black, black and deep and dark, and its terrifyingly brilliant when she smiles, and her laugh is like bells.

"The Edge, the End, the Beginning, Alpha and Omega of course!"

She twirls, and her clothes whirl with her, revealing a flash of pale, pale skin beneath them.

"End of the World, my friend, end of the line, end of space, all of it! If you'd like, I can take you a bit further up and further in, away from the Edge, into the Woods!"

She winks, and she's like one of the fae, tricky and traipsy and nothing good in her eyes but mischief and mayhem.

[Frozen_Feet]

"Uh..."

Well. That was hardly the expected reply. Mikael stares at the woman as he would at someone who is off her rocker.

"Are you claiming you are God? Because you're hardly as I would imagine it."

[Terry576]

She pouts, and her pale face flashes through a series of emotions so fast he can't even begin to understand what they say.

"God? Of a sorts, I suppose. Thought you would know, considering this is where your Soul usually ends up! But no, no no no, you see..."

She points, and far far off in the distance the man may be able to see a sort of shining blue, that flickers in and out of existence.

"That's the Edge! The End of Soul Society, forever encroaching upon our territory! Believe the last count was... two meters, every ten years? Such a shame. I hear its like being drowned in nothing, if it touches you."

She turns towards the woods, and begins waltzing into them, before turning back, and beckoning to the man,

"Come on then! Nothing much of interest out here, I live further up and farther in!"

[Frozen_Feet]

"Oh, so you're not the God", Mikael says with a mix of relief and disappointment. He gives a puzzled look at the shining blue wall at the distance. Shrugging, he starts walking.

"But if you're not God, then you have no real business saying you're the end and beginning and all that stuff. So who are you, really?"

[Terry576]

The ghostlike girl laughs and twirls, winking at the man as she spins.

"Ahhhh, never said I was, did I? You asked where we were. The Edge of Soul Society, End of the Line, Edge of the World! Terrible, terrible place."

She sighs, wistfully and continues walking through the woods.

[Frozen_Feet]

Only now the dazed psyche of the man realizes how he tripped in his thoughts. The woman's words reminded him so much of an answer to another question, he forgot his own. "Ah, yes. You're right. Sorry, I'm feeling a little sleepy." That is something of an understatement from someone who probably is asleep.

The man walks next to the woman, not really sharing her enthusiasm. "So the world ends in nothing ahead? What's so terrible in that? I think I already passed through nothing on my way here, and it wasn't that scary."

[Terry576]

And she smiles at him, a pitying, wonderful smile, and its drowning, a smile to get lost in, not through the look of her but the feeling it has.

"Someday, you'll know. Someday, you'll know everything. But Nothing... can you imagine it? Nothing covering and enveloping you and parts of you just vanish. Because you weren't strong enough. Because you weren't good enough. Think about that, and how that would feel. That's what Nothing is. A concept, that exists in Reality. It's terrible and wonderful, and someday it will destroy us all."

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael considers thinking about it, but some intuition stops him. Despite trying to empty his mind from everything, something always returns. An image, of a snake (or lizard? Dragon?) gnawing at its tail.

"I have no need to think of that", the answer comes automatically, as if instinct instead of reason. "It is an useless concept. Nothing is merely prelude to something. From the void, comes energy. And from destruction, comes creation. I have already become nothing. Now, I'm on my way to become something else."

The man shifts his feet. "Besides, if I were to imagine it, it would mean the end of this dream. I do not wish to wake up just yet. I'm enjoying this dream."

[Terry576]

She laughs and laughs, grabbing him by the hand as they walk further and further into the forest.

"Oh will it? But just because it's in your head, doesn't mean it's not real! Did you think that soul devouring monsters existed? Did you think that ancient and powerful spirits fought with them to protect humanity? Did you think that magic and monsters and swords and spirits were the only barricade between humanity and the monsters beyond the grave?"

She smiles at him, as she stops in front of a massive house, with spires that touch the sky and an enormous set of doors. It was more castle-like then house-like, and she bows shortly before the man.

"This is where I live!"

She waltzes towards the doors, opening one and shutting it behind her for a second, before her head pops out again.

"Well? Do you want to come in?"

[Frozen_Feet]

"Of course I thought of such things. They have always existed as concepts. I did not think they were true of the world I lived in, though. Still don't know how much is actually true. I have yet to see much with my own eyes."

As they arrive at the castle/house, Mikael is already about to step in, but the woman closes the door before his nose. He frowns in irritation at this childish behaviour. "Isn't that what you expect me to do?", the man retorts. Honestly, wouldn't turning away at this point be rather rude? Then again, this dream-ghost seems to not have very strict manners herself.

[Terry576]

Spinning and spinning, she stops, before a frown covers her face and she turns to the man, looking rather cross.

"Shhhhh! You have to keep it down, you don't want to wake Reene up!"

She looks sternly at him, waggling a finger.

"If Reene gets up before noon, she gets reaaaally cross, and Cross Reene is sooooo boooringggg!"

[Frozen_Feet]

Having this name of some third person feels somewhat awkward to the man. Afterall, neither he or the dream-ghost have introduced each other by names. Clumsily, he walks after the woman, his steps echoing heavily inside this house/castle. "Who is this Reene person? What do you suppose we will do here if we have to stay silent?"

[Draken]

As Mikael's heavy footsteps echo through the castle, they ring exceedingly loudly on the ears of a sleeping woman.

And Reene's eyes shoot open at the noise, followed by the most infuriated surge of heart-crushing reiatsu known to man.

Kind of weak and short-lived however, because she is starved.

[Frozen_Feet]

For his part, the man appears oblivious to this sensation. Or rather, his head instinctively turns to the right, as for a second the whole castle/house creaks as if under great wind. But it passes so quick the man continues walking without giving it a second thought.

[Terry576]

The girl sighs (for that was what she was, tiny and impossible and pale as the snow), and turns with a frown.

"Ooooooooh you've done it now! Now she's awake and she's going to be so madddd and boring and unfun! Ughhhh, you ruined everything!"

She pouts and turns around again with a huff before looking behind her.

"We are ex-friends now. Forever."

[Frozen_Feet]

The man gives the girl a blasé look. "I didn't know we were friends. We just met. I don't even know your name", he remarks dryly. Is it just him or did this dream-ghost just get smaller? In fact, thinking back to it, her whole behaviour seems to have regressed the closer they got to this place. This whole process doesn't really make much sense. Then again, dreams rarely do (or do they?).

"Let me go and apologize to this friend of yours. Maybe she will forgive me for being noisy."

[Terry576]

The girl shakes her head rapidly and looks worried. "Mmmm, Reene isn't really known for forgiveness. "

Haunts and ghosts and shades and memory echoed in her eyes and she sighs with longing for a time long gone.

"She's known for being great and terrible and all the awful things in between. She'll never forgive you for waking her up, because she doesn't really remember ever forgiving anyone for anything."

She looks sad and lonely and afraid before she smiles softly. "You and me... we're alike in that. She'll never forgive either of us for things we didn't mean to do."

[Draken]

Grumble.

Where is this.

Well, certainly it is better than the cage.

Izanami probably took her here, damnation.

Hungry, what is that smell.

Oh, it is food.

Reene looks around the room, pretty good. By her table is... A lot of food, she recalls most of it. And she is starving.

Chair, cutlery, food. Everything else can wait.

[Frozen_Feet]

"Uh..." The man stares at the girl, nonplussed. "That doesn't sound very... healthy. Are you sure you want this person as your friend? Maybe she should get therapy?" Not sure which way to continue walking, the man aimlessly gazes around to see what paths are available. "Where is she anyway?"

[Terry576]

She giggles and tosses her long, long black hair over her shoulders with a smile.

"It's fine, being friends is about accepting each other's faults, isn't it? She accepted me, so I'll... accept her as she is now. Don't judge things you don't understand by words, mister."

She points up, with both hands. "Top floor, way way up there! It's got a perfect view of the sunrise and sunset, which Reene always really liked!"

She stops, and they are in a circular room, with thirteen mirrors placed between thirteen doorways. Thirteen pillars are placed haphazardly throughout the room, and thirteen candles lie in a star shaped formation in the center.

"Well mister? What's your path? Which Door will you Open? Will you lead them to destruction? Or salvation?"

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael's expression darkens. "Maybe friendship is about that, yes. But is it worth it? I lived with a person unable to forgive for most of my life. She was not very nice." The man feels a sting in his chest as saying this brings up memories he'd strived to bury. On one hand, his words are very much a cautionary tale born from experience of his mother. He hardly wishes such venomous relationship for anyone. But at the same time, it sounds like justification of how his friend denied him - or perhaps, justification for why he abandoned her.

He doesn't know which. Why is he even thinking of it? Perish the thought!

Mikael glances up as the girl explains Reene's location, then looks around. Seeing his reflection causes chills to run down his spine. Now that the initial surprise has worn off, wonderment gets set aside and self-examination takes its place. In them, he is just the young man in a leather jacket. In them, he looks much the same as years ago, before an out-of-control truck smashed into his life and set it veering wildy off-course.

How naive he was back then.

But the man in the mirrors has ceased to exist. The bandaged monster in fatigues can not be seen in any of them. None of them reflect what Mikael is now. Does he even know himself?

The girl's words, irritatingly, pester him for attention. The man gives her another blasé look. "Them? Last I checked, I'm here just on my own. I'm not here for anyone's benefit, or blight for that matter. It is not my job." He looks at the doors. "And since I have no idea where any of these paths lead and I'm not trying to go anywhere in particular... I suppose it's all the same to me." It's too bad the man doesn't have a 36-sided-die with him.

"So... you pick."

[Terry576]

"Me? Pick?"

She sounds surprised and baffled, and looks at him with confusion.

"Mister, I can't Choose your Path. That's You, Mister. I just Guide you along. I am Dread and this is Death, y'know? If I open a Door, it's my Path. It's my Decision, my Choice, my Way."

She shrugs helpessly and winks at the man as she walks towards a door, her body twisting in an unnatural position as she looks at him while grasping the handle.

"But Mister... if it'll make you feel better, I never Choose twice."

The Door Opens.

And fire bursts out, fire and blood, bone and shadow, and WRATH explode from the door, breaking the room into pieces shatters and shards and blackened ABYSS stretches out underneath him as the girl smiles in the Wasteland that was once a Room.

"This Door Mister, was my Choice. Destruction and hunger, for all of eternity. A pitiable existence, wouldn't you agree?"

And below, deep deep down, he can hear a beast rumble, the sound of a sleeping wolf, and he feels a thousand hairs and a thousand worlds stir in the Room, and the eye opens and it can SEE and he can SEE and its EVERYTHING and ANYTHING and the WORLD CRASHES AND BURNS devouring hunger BREAKING the fabric of reality for a mere MEAL and that MEAL is a WORLD and

the Door closes, and the Room returns. The girl leans against the Door she opened, and smiles sadly, dreamlike and ethereal in every way as she waves her sleeves (too big, far far too big), and the white and black is a paradox that makes so so much sense, far too much sense for someone so small and unassuming.

The Impossible Girl grins and its all teeth and all of them are sharp. "You are what you Eat, that's the saying, right? I Devoured worlds, Mister. I created species and killed millions in my Hunger. That was the causation of my Choice. You get one now, Mister. I represented a faction that has... ceased to exist. You represent one that is the most important faction of all."

She sighs and her eyes flash with some impossible emotion.

"Humanity. Humanity is strong. Humanity has no limits that exist, because you all consider limits just another obstacle in the road, right? And no matter what you think of yourself - you are the Representative for these people. And what you say, what you do, what you think; it all matters, in the end. When the Apocalypse rains down once more, like it did all those eons ago, will you be the Last Bastion of Hope for humanity?"

She stands slowly, and a sword appears in her hand, a piece of metal with nothing on it, just sleek black and her head tilts to the side as she holds it in her hands.

"Or will you open the Door and let the Apocalypse through?"

[Frozen_Feet]

The man recoils in horror as the fire bursts through, stumbling on his feet and falling on his rear. He stares wide-eyed to the raging inferno as the spectral woman babbles on about something. After the door closes, he remains sitting for a while, just staring at the closed door, before cautiously standing back up. He gives a puzzled look around as he sees the room has returned to its normal state.

Then he casts an angry look at the woman.

"You are a moron. All you needed to do was point me a door that does not lead straight to Hell!", he mocks. "All your talk about how it is 'my path' is just pseudo-philosophical garbage. Even a child can point the way to a stranger. If you can't, you must be the most pathetic godly being in existence."

The man looks back the way they came. "Besides, you are wrong. I'm not a representative of anyone but myself. No-one chose me to be a thing. I left them - I cast down any right or responsibility to speak for them. You might as well be asking a snake. Or a rock."

"Besides, you are wrong. Inviduals are strong. But for every strong human invidual, there is a weak one. As a whole, humans are dull and plain, average in every respect, of trivial ambitions and weak thought. They are mere hairless apes, no more and no less valuable than any other animal."

"You say humanity has no limits, but I've yet to meet a single human to whom that would apply. Both alone and all as one, humans are sharply limited in their choices by natural laws, body and spirit. If humanity was to somehow break those limits, they would cease to be humans at all. They would become something else entirely."

"If an invidual has admirable qualities, it is those qualities that make him strong - his humanity means zilch. If a human becomes strong or overcomes some obstacle, it is often despite his humanity, not because of it; for to be truly strong, a human needs to abandon negative and weak aspects of humanity so only positive and strong remain."

Having finished his scoff, the man turns to leave. "Why should the fate of humanity even interest me? I am not human. And I am not strong."

[Terry576]

And the girl rises from her position on the ground, and she grows larger and taller and more terrible for it.

A woman stands in her place, with a sword and a smock and a cold look on her pale, pale face.

"You are Humanity's Representative for the worlds to watch, for all you deny it. If you do not wish the position, then pass it on, and the Worlds will sigh in relief and contempt for one who denied the chance to Choose."

She moves towards him, her eyes black and deep and lonely, and her presence slams into his, their powers intermingling and clashing with one another with all the fury and innate strength their wielders.

"There was another, who could have been. He would have been. But he has been wrecked beyond repair, destroyed and turned into something he was never meant to be, and his is a pitiable existence. But you - you who dares to spurn a Choice, you will live in agony, 'till you pass on your Choice. And then that person, whoever it may be - they will make the Choice in your stead."

She looks at him coolly, as her sword hangs loosely in her hands.

"Do not misunderstand me, Sir. I did not wish to frighten you with my Choice, but it was Mine and I will defend it for all time. Do not ask me to show you YOUR Choice, for that is the future, and those who meddle with time are doomed to repeat eternity forever. Your Choice, is Yours. Mine is Mine. We cannot trade them, and you cannot CHOOSE my Choice."

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael turns back to look at this mad goddess, inching back as the air itself seems to flee from her. He listens to her words in terror, but then he recovers his courage and stands straight. This is a dream, after all.

"You are being absurd! You brought me here, to your castle! You gave me no hints or directions where to go or why! I told you to pick, because I had every reason to think you would know better! I already passed on my choice - to you!"

"Though now I must rescind that, since you don't seem to be very wise. Didn't you tell me you would not make your choice a second time? Doesn't that imply you feel you chose wrong? Yet here you are, talking about defending such a choice? Excuse me? Didn't it lead straight to Hell?"

"It's no wonder they say gods and spirits are useless for salvation of men. The position apparently doesn't come with a sense of logic. Or basic courtesy, for that matter. Tell you what: if you like Hell that much, why don't you go and stay there?"

[Terry576]

"You cannot pass your Choice to me, for I have already CHOSEN! What is hard to understand about this, Sir!? You are given no hints, as I was not by my predecessor! You are told not what to do, but to think for yourself! That is how being a Representative works! That is how honor works! That is how we survive!"

She's a whirlwind of motion and her sword is pointing at his throat as she snarls with fury, thin beads of blood running down the edge of the blade as she speaks.

"Do NOT speak to me about my Choice! It was mine, it was wrong, but I will NEVER make another one! You get ONE CHANCE, to do the right thing Sir, and I did NOT do it! I chose my friend over what was right, and eternity punished me for it! Do not presume things that you can never prove, and NEVER speak ill of Choosing!"

She spins and her sword is different and she's mad and terrifying and wolf-like, and her face is a mask of mystery and serenity as her blade warps itself into a spear, with a white cloth splattered in blood floating in a non existent wind.

"I cannot Choose for you, only Humanity can Choose for Humanity! Hell - is Hell all you think of in that half-formed thing you call a MIND?! That was not Hell, that was a PRISON for the RESULTS of my Choice! You have one now, and I strongly urge you to TAKE IT, and not pass it on, lest something like that happens again, for woe betide the one who Chooses poorly, for they wi-"

She falls quiet. The spear turns into a sword once more and vanishes and she's silent for a time, before looking at him with haunted eyes.

"Get out. You do not have time for Choosing, and so I do not care what you do. Get out of this place, this place of peace and choices and past mistakes. Go on with YOUR worthless life, and remember, that you will always always always wonder - what if I HAD chosen? Would it have been any different? What if I HAD listened?"

She laughs as she leaves the room, and its still like bells but the scorn and mockery is in it too, just below the surface.

"Goodbye, and may you never return to this place again."

[Draken]

Meal done, energies renewed, clothes found - however undignified they may be - and donned, her zanpakutou wrapped around her waist like a sash.

Reene leaves the room she was assigned as a very different woman from the filthy thing she was upon arrival. Her footsteps echo across the castle as she makes her way down.

[Frozen_Feet]

The man backs down against the wall, balking at the drawn sword. At this point, what the woman says is pretty much irrelevant - drawing a weapon on an unarmed guest has made her lose even the last stretch of respect the man had for her. Out of primal instinct, the man bares his fangs at her, his eyes becoming black with blood that is not blood, the droplets on the blade flowing and floating towards him in defiance of gravity. Not only is the woman wrong, she has now made herself a threat, and every muscle in the man's body is tensed to pounce at her.

But the attack never comes. When the woman turns, the man breaks his silence and shouts:

"Yeah right! You're just a bully who feels the need to pass on her own misery to others, because you can't bear to admit you were deceived to make a mistake! A choice made without understanding is not worth sticking to! You should correct your error, not 'defend' it! The only thing that's eternal is change, and you build your own 'prison' by failing to do just that!"

But the woman is gone, and he's shouting at the walls, so he stops.

As anger passes, a cold void takes its place. While the woman was a fool, something she said still resonates within the man.

What if? What if he had chosen differently in life? What if he had stayed? What if he had not burned his house down?

Why is he thinking of this now?

What if he had gone back the next day? Tried talking to her again?

No, that is an useless thought. The man starts walking back down the corridor, but before he leaves the room, he again catches his reflection from the mirror. He looks just the same as back then.

What if...?

No. The past is past!

The sound of shattering glass echoes through the house/castle as the man's fist smashes into the mirror, breaking it into little pieces. He stares at the wall behind it for while, then turns his back to it. "Bah!"

But as he walks, he soon realizes he doesn't know which way goes out. He isn't sure if he just forgot, or if this is one of those dreams where you can walk straight and still end up going in circles. After a while, he comes to cross roads, and is at loss where to go.

But in the distance, he can hear footsteps. Mikael presume it's where the woman is, and follows the sound - only to find they belong to another person entirely.

From the base of the stairs, the man looks up. "Uh, hello. You must be that Reene person. Sorry for waking you up."

[Draken]

Reene looks down on Mikael.

"Your apologies are needless. I was not sleeping so much as I was passed out. It was honestly much better to be awoken by your noise than it would have been to be awakened by her."

After another measured step down the stair, she releases a small pulse of pesquisa.

"You have a mortal's signature. What are you doing here in Soul Society?"

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael is puzzled by words of this lady. "Mortal's signature? I'm confused. What does that mean? And what is this Soul Society supposed to be? The fickle woman who lead me here also used that word. She implied this is where my should so come, but I don't think she was right."

[Draken]

Reene rolls her eyes.

"It obviously means that you have the spiritual power of a mortal. As for this place, I will try to be as cryptic as that demented cadaver most certainly was not."

That is scorn, right there.

"This is Soul Society. Home of the shinigami. We are in the outer edges of the Rukongai area, which is a slum for the chaff of humanity while they wait to return to their pointless little lives by having pointless little deaths. As far as I can see you are both alive and powerful in your own right, so there is honestly no reason why you should be here at all, kishin."

[Frozen_Feet]

Mikael frowns at the woman's words. What on Earth has made her so bitter? "Ah, so you mean my feel. Jehoel told me I feel like a human, or mortal like you said, when I'm not exercising my powers. It is not really indicative of what I am."

"As for how I am here... This is my dream. I suppose I could be anywhere. Though it is odd I dream of this place I have never been in. My subconscious must have crafted it based on all the odd things I have heard lately." It is really bizarre to explain this to a person who herself is a dream (what else could she be?). But after the inferno, it hardly bothers the man.

"You make me curious - what is a 'Kishin'? It feels you are saying 'one made of Earth'. Does it imply you are of something else? Would that hold true of the other woman who was here?"

[Draken]

Probably nothing all that awful or long lasting.

"You have met that old snake? Intriguing. And that is exactly what kishin means. Mortals and their world are made of kishi. Whereas spirits and our worlds are made of reishi. Some other spirit beings will call you 'human' like we are something else, but we are all human souls in the end. Dead or alive, it means scant little."

"And if you dare to think I or this place are constructs of your mind, I suggest that you think no more. We are very real, you must be projecting your conscience across worlds. I have known of mediums who have done so in the past. However rare it might be."

Her tone is warming up a bit. It would appear this woman enjoys teaching others.

[Frozen_Feet]

A curious smile appears on the man's face. "This is very interesting. Though you confuse me by saying we are human souls. I would say soul is just a soul."

The thought of astral projection makes the man ponderous. "That is a possibility I have not considered. I suppose it could be true. On the other hand, this would not be the first time a dream has convinced me its real, only for it to turn out otherwise. Though is it really such a rare ability? I would think such would be part of the very basics of being a medium. In the past, my people used to call them 'shamans' and 'witches'. They would fall into a trance and let their spirit wander to other worlds. It is a very common concept, throughout the world."

As he talks, she might notice something odd. His shadow is growing longer and moving, but there is no light source around that could cause it. How quaint.

"But maybe you have just not wandered in the right parts of the world. I must note I did not do this intentionally, however. If my spirit has indeed left my body, it must be because I've been grievously wounded. I do not recall ever doing this before." Hmmm. Saying it aloud makes the man doubtful. He might not recall it, but how often does he recall any of his dreams? This castle might be odd, but the countryside outside the forest did seem oddly familiar. Thinking of this strains his mind, and he feels every step he takes to thinking of the solution causes his hold of this world to slip.

[Draken]

"My husband told me, long ago, that the difference between a human and a monkey is so diminute that it is only dwarfed by the mediocrity of the designs of both such beings. So I suppose you are right when you say that we are all just souls, and there is nothing special about it. But most are so dreadfully touchy about these things, 'I am a human', 'you are a monster', 'you are a beast', 'we are more than them', 'we are better than them', those who hold these thoughts built this wonderful place, you know? And so too did they build the one beneath, and the one further down. And everything else they left empty and all but decreed that empty it should remain."

Reene manages to smile and let out the slightest giggle.

"But enough of an old woman's prattling. If a horse were to trample you and you managed to survive it, would that mean that you have the ability to survive being trampled by horses?"

"An ability is something you understand, something you can use and control. Otherwise it is nothing more than happenstance. Any medium could potentially project himself if his power is sufficient, but most are simply not that strong. It is by no means basic."

"As for your proof, I suppose I can humor you on that front."

Reene raises her hand, and a gust of argent dust blows from nowhere to her fingers, assembling into a silver ring bearing a distinctive motif, like three eyes fused together.

She throws it towards Mikael.

"Have a token of my esteem. I doubt many remain who will recognize this signet, but at least Jehoel will. Tell him that lady Lucaster sends her regards, if you could."

[Frozen_Feet]

"Hmmm." As Mikael listens, a sensation invades his mind. His left eye is burning, as if looking into a bright light, but there is no such light here. He lifts his left hand to cover it, but it doesn't help. With his right, he catches the ring. "If this ring persists, I will show it to him when I next see him. Though maybe him remembering it is expecting too much. I have a feeling your paths have not crossed in a... long... while..."

The burning sensation grows, and the man has to squint to observe the ring. Mysteriously, everything around him is becoming lighter and somehow transparent. Beneath his feet, the shadows continue to grow. Then the realization hits him.

"It is noon." That are his last words. His body, gathered together from dust of the void, collapses back to nothing, and the ring falls down. For a brief moment, the shadows engulf the whole room below Reene, and then they vanish just like the body that cast them.

---

On some roof in Tokyo, Mikael wakes up to the sun shining into his uncovered eye. It seems his hand slipped away from shielding it while he was tossing and turning in his sleep. His blanket is crumpled into a ball and meters away from him.

Annoyed, he wrenches up to a sitting position. It doesn't really feel like sleep did any good for him. He's still tired and numb and sleepy.

But it's getting way too hot in midday sun, so he fetches his blanket and moves to a spot shadowed by a chimney of sorts. There, he lays down to sleep some more, and soon his consciousness fades. But this time, he sees no dreams.

[Draken]

Reene shrugs as Mikael vanishes, and then heads off towards one of the castle's terraces, to take a good look at Soul Society, the first in a long time.