Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Chapter 296: Zach

I See Through Your Lies

The fight was brutal, the ground shook and the air trembled. Everyone charged, unleashing all of their power in an instant, filling the massive square with light and sound. A giant wolf was running across the sky, an undead griffin flew above them. Undead knights blurred across the stone and a thousand silver spears came into existence and flew at their targets. A woman grew to a giant size, and started picking buildings up and throwing them. Pillars made out of the darkest of black fell from the heavens. Naha was nowhere to be seen, skulking in the shadows.

Zach didnt move. He stood at the entrance of the square, just looking, listening.

The battle kept moving, changing, and he never moved.

Naha walked out of a shadow, her expression panicked.

Zach! What are you doing? She asked, confused, her eyes darting behind her to see the carnage unfolding. Zach could feel her through their True Link. Her presence inside his head, he could see her there standing in front of him in her unique form. The clawed hands and scales running up her forearms, horns, almost glowing eyes, the tail that curled behind her.

He took a step closer, then placed one hand against her cheek. He felt the heat of her body on his palm, the smooth skin, the texture. He looked into her eyes, seeing that she didnt understand.

The battle behind her raged still, another impact made the ground quake, the building next to him shook and dust fell. He turned away from Naha, and walked over to the wall of the building. He touched it, feeling the rough stone beneath his fingertips. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the smell of the city, the warm air of the desert that carried the scent of stone. He licked his lips, tasting the dust on his lips. He placed his blade on his other palm, then drew it across drawing blood. It flowed down his skin, the pain stung him, he raised it up and looked at it as red lines dropped from his palm.

It feels real, he whispered.

What are you talking about, Zach? Naha said from behind him. Please, snap out of it, we need to fight.

Zach turned around and looked at her. It was her, every twitch of her face, the dimple on her cheek, the tiny indent on her right eyebrow. All her, everything around him felt like it was real.

But in the back of his head, he knew, with total certainty, he knew. None of this was real. He closed his eyes, focused on his skill, the focus that relied on willpower the most. His |Focused Mind| sharpened his mind, made him think clearly. But it told him that reality around him was real. His power, his skill, it lied to him. He knew that it did.

Only his Enlightened perk let him see through this, and the fact that he had been in this same situation before. He was trapped in a dream, an illusion, or something similar. The yetis prison had been like this too, he had lived through Earth again, he had experienced it all. In his mind he was older for the years that he had spent there. But there he didnt know it, it was as if he was remembering a second life, one that he had forgotten.

This he didnt know when it started. Things had started feeling wrong gradually from the moment they stepped foot into the city, but he didnt know when this happened. When was reality swapped with this illusion that felt just as real? They had walked through an empty city. Perhaps that should have been his first clue, but even that had felt real. He wasnt even sure how he could see through it, only that he could because of his perk. It was like realizing that you were in a dream, only a hundred, a thousand, times more real.

He closed his eyes and focused, tried to push his willpower against the world around him. None of this was real, his powers, everything around him was crafted. He was trapped inside of his mind, or a mind of something else. He wondered if he could even reach his real skills, but he had no idea about how to do it now. So he just focused, tried to push the illusion away, to shake his mind awake and into his real body.

But the moment he felt his willpower building, he felt it hit a wall made out of something grand. A will that was greater than his own. It was as if he was trying to punch through a solid concrete wall with a strength of a child. Impossible.

He opened his eyes and looked at Naha. He saw her studying him in turn without blinking. The sounds in the distance slowed, and Zach knew that he made a mistake. He had tipped his hand early, he was trapped without a way out and he had alerted whoever trapped him that he wasnt fooled.

There was nothing to do to hide it now. A moment later, Naha, the world around him, everything, fell away and suddenly he was standing on a grassy hill, surrounded by a forest and mountains all around him. A lush valley that he had never seen before.

I see through your lies, Zach said, and no one answered.

Zach looked around, but saw nothing but nature.

Who are you? Zach spoke to the empty air, though he already suspected the answer.

Irritating, a voice spoke from everywhere around him. You will not be fooled. Inconsequential in the end.

That last part came from behind him, so Zach turned.

He saw a being wearing a yellow robe, with a wooden mask covering a hooded head. Hastur, the King in Yellow.

He was stunned, his mind trying to figure out what to do. And what even was there to do? He was trapped, completely ensnared in Hasturs spell. He saw through it, but couldnt get out. What point would there be for him to attack Hastur? He assumed that he couldnt injure him here even if he was capable. He needed to get out of this place, the only problem was that he didnt know how exactly.

Your clarity, Hastur started. It defeats the purpose of this. I should crush your mind and take you. Your power will not add much compared to others. No reason to break you fully.

Zach felt his heart beat faster, a part of him wondered how that was possible. Was it this world that allowed him to feel this way? Or did he have some small agency in what happened. It didnt matter, if he was understanding right, Hastur wanted something from him, and others. Were they all in their own mind prisons? Did they realize what was happening to them? Zach had no way of knowing. He had to do something though, and only one thing came to his mind.

Giving up at the first sign of trouble? Zach asked, trying to sound mocking. He needed more time, he couldnt have Hastur just break into his mind and crush everything. He was pretty sure that he could. The wall around his mind that he felt was great enough to do anything.

Hastur didnt respond for a few moments, and then the light behind the holes in his mask flashed.

How quaint, you wish to rile me up, to manipulate me? Child, you are a speck of dust compared to me. Just to speak to you in a way that you may comprehend I have to limit myself to a tiny piece of what I am, lest I speak and turn you to dust. Even while I speak with you in this basic and primitive manner, I am in a hundred thousand dreams across the world, Hasturs voice grew louder, making Zach grimace in pain, forcing him to his knees and his hands over his ears, though it did not help.

You came here to kill me, you thought that you could fight me like any other monster. But I am not like anything else in this world. You think that all you have to do to win is kill me? You are a fool, you already lost. From the moment I was released, I whispered into the ears of countless. Every war that ravages your world is my doing. Every mistake of those that fight against me came from my whispers. Every good man that turned evil, did so by my will. And you wish to manipulate ME?

The word thundered, making Zachs entire being shake. He felt as if he was going to crack under pressure, but then, it was gone. He glanced up, seeing Hastur still there, looking down on me.

I could take you now, Hastur whispered. I will not. I might not be able to fool you, but I do not need to. I can trap you in this world until I know all that I want.

Zach tried to gather himself, but it was so damn hard. He was against a being that was a master of the mind. He felt despair, the understanding that there was nothing that he could do to escape this place. That if the others were in the same situation, they might not even realize it. He thought of Naha, of her broken mind. Hastur could show her exactly what she wanted to see, he could Somehow, from somewhere within, he managed to gather the last of his defiance. If he was going to die, at least he would spit in his killer's eye,

You can trap me wherever you want, but I will always know that it is a lie.

Hastur leaned down toward Zachs kneeling form, his glowing eyes capturing all of Zachs attention.

A lie, Hastur whispered. Such a small minded idea. What is reality, little speck? How do you know that the world outside of this is any more real than mine? You lived in two realities, two different sets of rules. And yet, it could all just be a figment of your imagination. You are a lie. In the world of our birth it was one lie. All that you knew was what your body told you. Light hit your eyes, and your mind interpreted it. You touched something, and the nerves in your body sent the information to your brain, creating the image in your mind. Nothing was real, without your mind to tell you what it was, you wouldnt have known. The Infinite Realm is the same. Essence interacting with other Essence. All of it could be a lie, all of it is a lie.

Zach closed his eyes, the Dome Leader was right of course. Everything that everyone experienced was given birth in that persons mind. But Zach did know that this world was not real, despite everything feeling like it was. There was one difference between Earth and the Infinite Realm, and that was their power. His perk was part of his soul, he felt that this world was a mental manipulation in the deepest part of himself. That was something that Hastur could not touch.

No matter what you do to me, Zach glared at Hastur. I will not break. He had lived through too much, had suffered, had regrets. He had survived all of it, such pain and agony, but never had he broken. No matter Hasturs power, he would not bend. You can keep me trapped here forever, I will never break.

Hastur looked at him calmly. Then he reached up and removed his wooden mask. Zach blinked at the nothingness revealed beneath, just two glowing orbs staring at him. It was His mind could grasp it, there was something inside that hood, but all he saw was darkness. His mind couldnt even wrap itself around the shape, the concepts. It was too much. He looked away, breathing quickly. There was no comprehending what lurked beneath that hood, behind that mask. It was an eldritch horror from the stories of humanity. Monsters given form by the minds of men, an invention of something beyond what we could grasp. Fear and madness.

Forever, Hastur whisper. Beings such as you think that they understand what that word means. You dont, of course. I dont need to fool you to learn who you are. It is just the fastest and easiest way. Time matters little to me, and it matters less here. A thousand years can pass in barely a moment of the waking world. Ive had my time with your friends while we spoke. I learned nothing from you, but I learned all from them.

Zach looked back, his eyes widening. Was that the truth? Or was even this just a manipulation, a different way to get to him? Was all of this just a trick? Did he truly know on his own that this world wasnt real? Or did Hastur let him think that?

So I will give you this attempt at manipulation, at saving yourself. I will let you see how futile it is, how insignificant you are. In the end, you will beg to serve me.

A small part of Zach was relieved, even if he was likely to lose, he would have more time to find a way out.

I know what you fear above all else, Hastur whispered to him. It was in the minds of those who knew you.

Zach kept his eyes focused on the eyes of the Dome Leader, ignoring everything else. Trying to find anything that could help him now.

What you fear above all else, is being left alone, Hastur whispered to him. So, I give you your forever. All alone. Lets see how long you will last.

Hastur flashed, and then he was gone. Zach looked around, but so no sign of him. There was only trees and green leaves, the clear blue sky and the dark mountains surrounding him. No wind, no sound, only peace and quiet of this false world.

And he was all alone.