...Huh?
Where...Where is this?
I must have fallen asleep or something...
I found myself in an extraordinary landscape; There was no sky, or ground, or much of anything. Only a massive expanse of colours that seemed to twist and shift as I looked at it, and a massive castle in front of me, seemingly made of crystal. As I looked at it, I got the impression of...a dragon? It did'nt make sense.
Two figures came from the inside of this castle. They were both dressed in identical whate armour, with red visors over where the eyes should be, and swords with red blades at thier sides. Perhaps they were twins or something, for they had the same height and build; indeed, there was nothing to tell them apart.
The one on the left spoke up, "Excuse me, could you please come with us?". He sounded businesslike, and slightly stern.
"Uh...Could you tell me where I am, and how I got here?", I asked, slightly nervous at the sight of these soldier-types.
"Our Lord will explain. We are here to take you to him. Please, follow us." This was said by the one on the right, in the same tone of voice as the other. Strange...No-one speaks EXACTLY the same, like that...
"Well...O.K, if that's what you want." I replied.
With that, the two took up positions beside me, and we walked into the castle.
We walked through many passageways; It seemed that the place really WAS made of pure crystal. I saw more of those soldiers as we walked; every last one of them looked identical. After a while, I said, "Uh, I'm not dangerous, you know."
"Our Lord will decide that." Was the reply; I could'nt tell which of the two it came from.
Finally, we came to a large hall, with only two major features; a large throne, and a person sitting in it. Whether the figure was male or female, I could'nt tell, as he was dressed from head to toe in some sort of golden armour, with a red cloak across the back. In the eyeholes, two red flames seemed to glow-it's eyes, perhaps? The figure seemed to have a...a Presence about it; I felt more than slightly awed by him, even though he had'nt moved, or spoken, or done anything yet.
Suddenly, it...He, he had a male voice, spoke, "Little human dreamer, what are you doing here? This is not where you are meant to be, and this place is quite hard to access for any length of time: I should know." His voice was quite deep, and slightly masked by the armour he wore; also, the large room made the sound echo for a few seconds.
I felt a...it's a strange feeling to describe-it felt like something, or someone, was rustling through my head.
The feeling passed, and the figure spoke again, "Hmmm...the capacity for humans to interpret facts into fiction is astounding at times. Little dreamer, it seems your reading of 'fiction'-your viewing of other realities- attuned your mind with this place, and brought you here when you fell asleep."
"Huh? Wh-what do you mean 'viewing of other realities'? And where is 'here'?!" I shouted, with a slight shudder in the words.
"All things exist somewhere, child. What one person in one reality calls fiction, another person in another calls fact, or history. And here...it has no name, but I call it 'The Between', because it is not a place, as such, but between places. You can access anywhere and anywhen in the multiverse from here, provided you have the power."
"WHAT! Then...th-then..." My mind was near paralyzed. There were other UNIVERSES out there? and fiction would be fact somewhere out there?
"Indeed, child. All the things you've read...All the little worlds created for your lesiure time, all your 'games' and 'fiction'; they ALL exist somewhere in the near-infinite space of the Multiverse." I thought I heard a snatch of happiness in his tone, like a teacher who manages to get their point across to their students.
"Now," The figure continued, "as you are so fond of viewing worlds...why don't you watch some with me. People rarely come here, as I said, and it would be...good...to have some...company, I suppose. I doubt you'll remember any of this when you awaken, though."
"...But, why ME? And who are YOU?" I said, snapping out of my half-dazed stupor.
"I believe this was totally random chance...or the fates have a sense of humor, sending one 'world-watcher' to another." The flames seemed to glow brighter for a second-the eqivalent to a small grin?-before he continued, "And as for myself, I am known as The Golden. The soldiers who brought you here, and who you saw as you came here are called White Lords, and they are my personal army." As he said this, he drew himself up to his feet. He looked even more aweing when stood-his build seemed powerful, and you got a sense of controlled strength.
He seemed to concentrate for a second, and then I got a sense of being in TWO places at once, which passed in less than a second. Nethertheless, I felt quite sick.
Looking around, I saw we were on a balcony looking out onto the psychadelic landscape.
"The sick feeling will pass," The Golden said, "It is a side effect of teleporting. With time, one would usually get used to it, and the periods of sickness would grow less and less, eventually to the point of not feeling sick at all."
"So, you do this often?" I asked him, feeling like my stomach wanted to exit my body through my mouth.
"Indeed. One moment. PURGE!" The instant he said "Purge", my body seemed to glow for a second, and I instantly felt better.
"Wh-what...H-How..." I was very confused.
"Something that I have learned during my lifetime." He replied, putting that line of conversation to a close.
"Now, little one, are there any worlds in particular you want to look at?"
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(Posted Fri, 13 Jun 2003 13:49)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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