//------------------------------// // What Does Reality Matter? // Story: Balance // by BioQuillFiction //------------------------------// Will he wake up soon? It’s too early to tell. Whatever shot him was infused with a darkness the likes I’ve never seen before. So then, all we can do is wait?! ____ please! Zeke needs his rest. He’s in a coma and the one responsible is out there! Why can’t we go after them?! Because if they can beat Zeke and nearly kill him what hope do we have? They clearly possess a great darkness the likes are unholy to put it into words. … ___ is right ____, we need to be here for Zeke. ___ how’s the darkness reacting to him? Strange to say the least. It seems to have gone right to his brain, I would have thought it would have gone after his heart, but it’s like it’s trying to avoid it at all cost. Maybe because he’s now a human Keyblade? You may be right ___, but all we can hope for now is that Zeke beats whatever has infected his mind and is keeping him comatose. Sleep. Am I asleep? I can’t tell. My eyes feel open, but I can’t see a thing. Zeke. Who’s there?! Zeke! “Who are you?!” I shouted. I opened my eyes and somehow found myself in what looked like… Traverse Town? Why does it look so different? “Been a while Zeke.” I recognize that voice! I looked around, and saw the old man from the white void. “God?” “Yeah, it’s me. Ws keeping an eye on yo-” I rushed in, and slugged the Almighty himself square in the jaw and he flew into a nearby wall. “I thought you were joking when you said that!” He said as he got himself back up. “Have you no shame for punching an old man?” “The only shame I have now is the fact that I’m seeing you again mean I must be dead.” “You aren't dead Zeke, just comatose.” “Coma? How?” “The bullet Josh shot you with was dipped in liquid darkness, it’s also known as The Blood of The Heartless. It was supposed to go after your heart and grow your darkness, but since Kingdom Hearts turned you into a human Keyblade, it went after what it could. Your mind.” “So, I’m in… my mind?” “Not just yours, the X-blade’s as well. Right now he is lost in here, you two got separated when the darkness entered your mind. He is in this memory of your mind, I know this, but I am not sure where.” “God, why all of this? Choosing people to go to other worlds? All the chaos just to see who didn’t give in? What is going wrong with earth?” God sighed. “I’m old Zeke. Your earth, and all it’s reflective parallels are on the same time limit as I.” “Y… you’re dying?” “Not for a good forty centillion years, but yes. Do you know why earth will go when I do? It’s because unlike the worlds you’ve been to, the one’s you will see… earth is the only one that is not truly real.” “What?” “I made it up. The world you call earth is nothing more than a thought that exists in an old man’s imagination. The whole reason your world exists, is because I thought… what would humanity be like… without all this? Without the monsters, magic, and space travel. Your whole world only exists in my mind, but everything you have seen so far… this is true reality. These worlds and stars have existed long before I was born, and will continue to exist long after.” “T, then why not make earth a place here. Huxley, Devin, even me, everyone you brought here to True Reality! Why can’t you do the same for everyone on earth?!” “Because there is something I hid within my mind, something that, when earth and your reality appeared, got infused with it.” “Being?” “True power. Total control over anything and everything, and the power to make whatever you think appear into true reality.” “But Core has been to earth! He brought Josh, you know this!” “Yes, but he is limited in his ability to control a gateway into my mind. He took advantage of the Mayan test I put you all through and used the excess darkness and guilt in my mind to gain access. Even as we speak he is taking those with dark hearts to build his own army.” “You can’t keep him out?” God shook his head. “... What is Core, exactly?” “Once, we were reflections of each other. Twin brothers that lived back when all the worlds were one. An age nobody can truly remember.” “You and Core… are brothers… That’s a bomb drop if I ever heard one. This whole info drop feels like a lot to take in.” I was holding my head. Finding out the truth about your whole existence really gives you a headache. “There is more.” “Of course there is.” I shook my head. “First off, what do you think my TRUE name is?” “... God.” “Maybe that was too easy. Do you know what God means, or meant back when all the worlds were one?” “No clue.” “It means, Creator. Simple as that. Core’s name would have translated to Heart. Words had many meanings back then.” “Was that all?” “No. This quest I have you on to find X and escape the darkness keeping you asleep in the awake world is also your Mark of Mastery Exam. You will have no allies, no access to the X-blade, and you will face memories of your past the darkness will use against you.” “I guess that makes sense. So not even a weapon?” “I am sure you can find something. So I am guessing that you figured out that everything you thought was fiction on earth is true, right?” “Yeah. I figured after you pretty much picked me up. So you’re not a real god then?” “To you, I was. God means Creator, and I did make your world, and you, all within my mind.” “I guess that’s true. So, then who made True Reality?” God smiled. “Who knows. For all I know True Reality is just another figment of my, your, or some other high being’s imagination.” “So True Reality is an impossibility. So long as we can think, and create worlds in our minds, we are all gods, and we may never know for sure until what we create in our minds can be brought into what we perceive to be reality.” God nodded, and faded into the air like a ghost. I smiled. So as long as we think it, nothing is impossible so long as we can bring it to us into our True Reality. I walked around the town, recognizing the layout as that of Traverse Town from Dream Drop Distance. “Where would I find a weapon?” I searched, finding nothing much other than 2x4s and small rocks. I went into another area and ran into, “Ashlin?” I saw my red haired, more freckles than face, green eyed cousin standing in front of me. “Hey Zeke. Miss me?” “Like you miss a sore throat.” “Don’t be like that, I wasn’t all that bad to you. So, can you guess why I am here?” I looked at her for a time. She wasn’t armed and honestly she was one of my more liked family members. “You’re… made from my memories of you to test me?” “Close, I’m here to give you some help actually.” She pointed towards a tower of sorts. “A sword is up there, not your Keyblade, but it’s something. The darkness in your mind is keeping you from having the ‘full dream experience’ but you still have something in your favor.” “Mountain climbing experience?” “No stupid! You know what! You’ve seen it in someone else's dreams before.” With that, she faded into the air like a ghost, just like God did. “Someone else’s… dreams? What does that mean?” I took a look at the top of the tower and felt uneasy. I jumped up to try and grab hold of the gutters on a roof, but ended up somehow jumping off that wall, onto the rooftop of the building behind me. “The hell?!” I stood back up, just barely seeing the purple aura around my feet and legs vanish. “... Oh! Flowmotion. I can't believe I forgot about that.” It took some trial and many errors, but I managed to get the hand of Flowmotion, and used a line of steamers to pretty much grind up to the top of the tower. What I saw at the top made me freeze. It was the katana my brother gave me when I was thirteen, before my parents took me to japan with them… “Guess it’s time I actually accepted one of his bloody gifts.” As I picked up the katana, I could hear the sound of a bell ringing in the distance. “Where is that?” I used Flowmotion to get back down, and as I was getting ready to leave the area I heard Someone speak. “Sup baby bra?” I turned around. “Kevin? Are… are you another helper?” “Sadly no.” He pulled out a small knife from behind him. Kevin always liked knives. “Darkness made me into something you gotta fight. Luckily my personality stayed, so I’m using it to hold back the order to fight you at the moment.” “I, I can’t fight you. You’re my brother! You’re the only one in the family I ever told my dream to!” “I am memories dumbass! Your memories of your brother! If you don’t fight me and win, the darkness will just keep you here longer. You really wanna put those people in the Real World waiting any longer than they have?!” I was speechless. “Th, they are waiting for me to wake up, aren’t they?” “That’s what I’m saying.” I stood there for a while, just… thinking. “Hey, do you remember, back when you were nine, and we were talking about all the names people have called our family?” “Yeah, from A to Z in terms of names.” “Remember the one, Human Monsters?” “Yeah, we talked about that one alot.” “Remember what I said, that a human can’t be a monster? They are two diffrent things. Humans have a conscious, and kill only to defend, while monsters kill without reason. Most of the family does fit into the monster category, even me. I’ve killed without reason more times than I can count. I’m not asking you to kill without reason like a monster Zeke, I’m asking you to kill to defend what you care about most, like a Human does.” I thought for a while… and I raised my sword. “Alright, brother.” We rushed at each other, while Kevin had years of skill over me, but this was my mind, and my katana had length over his knife. We both swiped at each other, and I cut a deep, bleeding cash into Kevin’s chest. “At a go, baby Bra.” As he collapsed, he faded into nothing, and I moved onward. Kill like a human, only to defend what I care about.