Phil decided to relax first before he go and dive into the 'plains of sleep'; he was also preparing himself for what horrors he might see deep in the abyss.
Phil exhaled as he strengthens his resolve to dive deeper and know the truth about the meaning of his recurring nightmare.
He proceeded to lie on his bed and tuck his arms on his side, he slowed his breathing and closed his eyes, he thought about the green plains he had manifested before and made that a rest stop of sort for his future journey.
Phil felt a sinking feeling as he slowly drifted down fully asleep now. When he felt the wind blowing and heard the rustling of the grass, he was sure he had arrived at his destination.
Phil opened his eyes and saw the endless plain of grass, he checked his body first and looked if something was different he only stopped when he was sure that he was ready.
Concentrating once again, Phil dove deeper, now he felt the sinking feeling grow stronger at times he felt the pressure squeezing him. Phil felt he had stopped sinking and opened his eyes, he saw an adult size white figure floating in fetal position drifting near him while far away there were countless others.
Phil thought that he had arrived in the 'Deep' part of the plains of sleep. The contrast between the shallows and the deep was made apparent by Phil. The shallows contained people ranging from small babies to children while the deep contain mostly adults. Phil deduced that this may be due to the emotional baggage carried by the soul thus it sinks deeper in the plains of sleep just like what he read in the book of dreams.
Phil looked around him as he wanted to know what part of the deep he is currently located, he looked above him and saw how far the shallows was, numerous white figure doted his view just like jellyfishes under the ocean. He then looked down and saw the miasma pooling down on the twilight zone like a deep-sea brine pool. Although the plains of sleep do not produce waves on the surface, the billowing miasma underneath was more terrifying than a huge tidal wave threatening to engulf a coastal city.
Although terrifying it can also be mesmerizing, Phil could not help but stare at the dark blackish miasma as it billows around like clouds in the sky, he slowly sank as he kept on staring at it. But the more he stared at it, the stronger danger he felt.
Phil stopped in his tracks and glanced on his left side, he thought he saw something come out of the miasma, well a part of something that is.
Mustering his courage Phil exhaled and decided to head deeper, the closer he got to the miasma the more nervous he felt. Shrill screams of giant creatures can be heard the closer he got, the deep wails of people like they were tortured can be heard as well, but still, he continued to go deeper undeterred on the things he was hearing.
Maybe unsatiable curiosity, the hunger to know the truth or just pure foolishness. He stretched his arm and touched the miasma. The moment he made contact with the miasma all sounds disappeared. The miasma no longer billowed or moved erratically it was like the still surface of the shallows.
Phil did not care about this though because the moment he touched the miasma a strong calling is speaking directly to his brain, it wants him to go deeper and seek for it, and if it will be found it will reward him.
Phil decided to go deeper and embrace the dark miasma, inside the miasma the vision was terrible so much so that even Phil could not see his hand even though he put it mere inches in front of him.
No sound was heard and everything was eerily quiet, Phil extended his arms and used them to feel everything around him although this proved fruitless since he did not feel anything near him at all.
There was something on how quiet it was that it deeply unsettled Phil, his heart started to beat loudly and his breathing was getting quicker and the deeper he went the harder it was for him to breathe.
Phil decided to stop as he felt if he decided to go deeper he might not be able to return, but as soon as he stopped Phil swore that he could hear some whisper. At first, it was all incomprehensible but the longer he stayed in the abyss the stronger it got. The whispers turned into encouragement, affirming his bravery and motivating him to go deeper, but Phil had enough he was sure if this continues he cannot return and be lost in the abyss forever.
As he turned around the abyss to return, the whispers turned into mocks and jeers for his cowardice so much so that his head started to hurt.
Sensing the dangerous situation, Phil hurried and swam up away from the abyss. The deep billows of unknown giant creatures started to echo around him, he started to feel dizzy and felt something was wrong with his body, he looked down and even though the visibility was poor he was sure he saw numerous amounts of black shadow hands holding unto him trying to make him stay.
Phil swam as hard as he could, struggling with all his life, although he was really tired he persevered since he could see the exit from this hellhole. All around him different noises can be heard as creatures that resided in the miasma were awakened because of his struggle.
On his way, he saw blackened figures of those who were lost or stranded on the abyss, cancerous growth growing all over their bodies infesting them and slowly turning them into one of the numerous residents of the abyss.
Mere inches from the border of the twilight zone and the deep, the part where the miasma was the thinnest, Phil was about to exit when suddenly a thick black tentacle had gotten hold of him, it grasped his body and was slowly dragging him down. Phil tried to pry it loose and started punching it but nothing worked, he started to lose hope and was regretting on getting himself in this situation, thinking about his friends and his family and them crying near his body that had become brain dead due to the loss of the soul, Phil shed a tear and screamed arms outstretched towards the exit.
But at the moment he was about to give up a black shadowy hand plunged in the miasma and held his hand tightly, it yanked him so hard that even the black tentacle slipped and released Phil from its grasp a loud bellow can be heard from the abyss as Phil was successfully rescued.
Phil was catching his breath as he was really tired, the impending doom he had felt sent shivers to his spine, traces of tears were still visible from his face. Phil looked around him wanting to thank his savior but to his surprise, there was no one there. He looked more but strangely his savior just vanished in thin air.
Tired and scared from his endeavor Phil started to head home, first he got farther away from the abyss as sometimes the miasma could erupt and swallow him, next he relaxed and composed himself as he did not want to wake up tired like before, he needed to sleep and enter his dream.
Phil closed his eyes and imagined the eternal plain of grass and its gentle blowing wind, he felt himself slowly floating and when he stopped he opened his eyes and arrived in his dream. Phil laid down on the soft grass and tried to clear his mind. Although this journey made more questions than answers like how to travel safely on the abyss, where to find that imprisoned godlike being, and most importantly who was the one who saved him. But right now Phil felt the most important thing was to rest and recover. He slowly closed his eyes and let go of his control in the dream as he truly fell asleep.
A figure manifested near Phil as he fell asleep in the grassy field, a shadow figure with one eye and countless mouths all over its body loomed over him as it stared at him.
"How can he be so foolish?"
Said one mouth.
"Unprecedented curiosity."
Said another.
"A welcome new experience from the countless cycles before."
A different mouth chimed in.
"Let's just hope he won't expire before he sets us free."
"We need to protect him before then."
"Ugh, where's that child when you need him."
"It seems he's away fighting one of our spawns."
"Who?"
"The troublesome one."
The chatter ended when the figure raised its finger. The mouth nearest to the eye then spoke.
"For now we will keep him safe, the time will arrive when he will willingly call for us, but that time is not now."
The figure glanced at Phil one last time as it disappears from the grassy plains.