"Let us go outside now. Before we have to break more things," Jiant suggested.
Everyone went outside, Varun and the others were just standing around few fallen people. Varun saw the four come out of the house and approached them.
"What's wrong? A lot of commotion inside, than outside," Varun said.
"I broke your TV," Adam said.
"Well, there were Psycho-blades and we didn't have weapons," Aria explained.
"Well, it's not like you tore my bag or something," Varun scoffed.
"That went down before the TV," Jiant said.
"Please say psyche," Varun said.
"All of our bags are a mess now probably," Fara said.
"Doesn't really matter," Flint said.
"Yeah, nothing special in it," Jay added.
"My bag…" Varun said in a sad tone.
"He cares a lot for that bag, huh?" Adam asked Jiant.
"Only if you knew the horrors present inside it. It is good that it went down," Jiant said.
"No one knows the horrors inside it," Maaz added.
"But it still was a great companion on my back," Varun said.
"RIP bag," Flint said.
Jay burst out laughing and Varun just glared at Jay and Flint. Varun went ahead and pushed Flint to the ground. He unsheathed his sword quickly and slashed down a Psycho-blade who was behind Flint, into two halves.
Flint looked at that and then at Varun.
"Well, didn't think it'd be so situational. I was just being nice bro. I'm sorry," Flint said.
"Well, happened is happened, I'll spare you. We must go to the playground and stop this soon. Psycho… even knows our location now," Varun said and put his sword back into its sheath.
"What about armours and weapons?" Aria asked.
"How about weapons…?" Varun asked.
"No luck, huh? Well, something or the other," Fara said.
"Still not good enough to impress me," Varun said.
"Seriously, what isn't worthy about me?" Fara asked.
"You," Varun said.
"Who are these zombie people?" Aria asked pointing at the fallen people.
"Oh right, they are common folks, mind controlled by their nightmares. Care to say who gave that idea to Phobetor, all of a sudden?" Varun asked.
"A fool, who is long gone now," Aria said nodding her head.
"Well, we need to look out for more on our way," Varun said.
"More… really?" Fara asked.
"A possibility. But honestly, they are a better option than Psycho-blades," Varun scoffed.
***
"Thanks for having me team," Varun said raising a glass.
Varun was wearing his helm (as usual to protect his identity) as everyone (Team Anti-Christmas) stood around the stone and listened to the people on the other side (Team Knell) through 'The Mirror'. Only Kara and Manasie were visible on the other side and from this side, Jay and Varun.
"Are you going to remove your helm and drink something?" Manasie asked.
"It was very situation-nary. Are you planning on seeing my face?" Varun asked.
"She'd die if she did," Kara said.
"But…" Varun said and realised that Manasie didn't tell them. "Wow, well, any news on this brother of the nightmare?"
"If it were official, there would have been an easier way to tell it," Kara said.
"So, there is a way you found?" Varun asked.
"Well, very much of a possibility," Alias said.
"There was a guy who always wanted to open the gates to something called as dream realm," Manasie said.
"Dream realm is an imaginary dimension or place where everything is just imaginary. No death, no life, no time. But in imaginary sense, it all exists and so does the dream realm… imaginarily," Nemesis said.
"Wow… he talks," Varun said in a fake-crying tone.
"The whole theory seemed like a stupid plot. Which it is basically," Kara said.
"Until…" Magpie added.
"Morpheus proved everyone wrong as a tight slap to their faces for not believing him," Nightrale said.
"Group story-telling, go," Varun said.
"Morpheus is a Linguist from Leishank. And was mocked by everyone and he took it seriously and did a great job proving himself as right. But to a wrong cost," Manasie said.
"Why are all the villains from this Leishank place?" Varun asked.
"You just might see another one rise, if you don't shut it with the in-between mockery," Manasie said.
"Bold," Aria laughed.
"So, you think this Morpheus guy is surely the one? Because of him having claimed and proved it? How did he prove it?" Jay asked.
"Well, he started a plutonian-terrain condition in a whole town on Leishank," Manasie said.
"That is what the current condition of Bengaluru is," Magpie added.
"He used the aura produced and that connected those people to the dream realm. The survivors of that incident said that they saw impossible crazy things which are beyond one person's imagination," Nightrale said.
"Since it wasn't just one, it happened," Manasie added.
"I'm sorry, did you just say survivors?" Varun asked.
"You heard right," Nightrale said.
"People went crazy and one of the side effects included parasitism. Seemingly that which was worse than of a ghost*," Alias said.
"In case you didn't understand. They got possessed and attacked sane people who were closest to that place," Manasie said.
"Nothing so much weird about it by now, is there? But, the closest one there was Morpheus. The possessed people decided to spare him and went on attacking everyone else, whoever at a reasonable far distance, but Morpheus," Kara said.
"That… is very weird but why?" Varun said.
"We experienced zombie people a while ago. Who came to attack us too," Jay said.
"Possibly, they are just normal people who couldn't face being directly into dream realm. When we are asleep, we just barely peek into the possibilities of the dream realm and that is why everything we see is not really clear," Manasie said.
"But in this case, their mind gets trapped inside the dream realm and becomes a play toy to whatever is inside," Alias said.
"But, whatever it is, doesn't want Morpheus to get hurt," Magpie said.
"Why only him…?" Varun asked.
"Whatever is in there, must respect him for letting people in its grasp. Or has feelings for him… parental feelings," Manasie said.
"Yes, he did say his parents are in there. I mean Phobetor did," Fara said.
"He used to claim that his parents are in there to the people. And he wanted them to let him go there too. Since he was a kid even," Manasie said.
"The people did want to believe him and used all their knowledge. But the only person close to theorize about it… no evidence of her," Nemesis said.
"People think she might have reached dream realm. But, after Morpheus did what he did. She must have become a total beast if she were to have reached into the dream realm and still exist there, because she disappeared a long time before Morpheus," Alias said.
"Only two people connected to being all about dream realm?" Varun asked.
"Except the assistants who were spies for people, to make sure nothing bad happens. And people who wanted to learn something new. These were the only two crazy about it," Manasie said.
"Then they both are without a doubt related. Like mother, son," Varun said.
"We and everyone thought about that of course. But, after she disappeared, and around ten to fifteen years passed, they found Morpheus," Manasie said.
"Found… they found him?" Varun asked.
"Yes, that is why people believed he thought how his parents could be. Saw them in dreams and made a chase on them in real life," Manasie said.
"Kid needed a reality check," Varun said.
"It all connects to both equally. But, people don't want to believe what they are not fully sure and evident of," Kara said.
"Can't blame them, but, this is so huge," Varun said.
"So huge that no one could easily believe it. If you told people about our existence without proof, do you think they'd easily believe?" Manasie asked.
"But I'd be in a meme," Varun said.
"Still, his parents being there is not possible, in-spite of all this," Manasie said.
"A possibility… it still is a possibility," Varun said.
"Yes, fine it is. But, he must be stopped," Manasie said.
"Well, we do understand the most part of it, so we can do something out of it," Varun said.
"Anything else on dream realm…?" Jay asked.
"The lady said that there are people or things or whatever you might imagine them as, over there. Not one but almost infinite," Harun said.
"Almost infinite…? Wow," Varun said.
"Last warning," Manasie said.
"They are called as HIRY, the abbreviation being 'How I remember you as'. And they do what they do, she said," Harun said.
"People said her imagination was way off charts and that she was special. Just had a mental disorder of over-confidence however, that she believes it to be surely true," Manasie said.
"That must have hurt her," Varun said.
"She did not revert to them, she always stayed calm as per records," Harun said.
"She would barely talk to people and all she would do is keep-on asking them questions. Mostly regarding their dreams and would be the greatest of listeners," Manasie said. "The guy I know is crazy about her. I inherited that, it seems."
"Well, we all are about some or the other thing," Varun said.
"So… that's that? That's all you know about this?" Jay asked.
"Give or take, it seems we covered it," Kara said.
"Together," Manasie said and gave Kara a fist bump and everyone behind did to each other.
"Aren't your higher authorities aware of this? Aren't they taking action on this?" Harun asked.
"We are unknown to that part. Maybe they might soon or never," Varun sighed.
"Well, it is in your hands then Varun," Harun said.
"Thanks Harun," Varun said.
"So, if you are done with your questions. We will check on where Psycho could be," Kara said.
"Yeah, bye," Varun said and put away the stone.
"Well, long road ahead to go then," Adam said.
"This guy sounds to be good. Actually bad, but good," Jiant said.
"We'll be prepared. We must be prepared," Varun said.
"Still no weapons though," Aria sighed.
"That… can be arranged on the long road," Varun said.
"Good ideas, we need good ideas on the way people," Jiant said.
"Oh I might have a few," Varun said.
"I meant good ideas, not Varun ideas," Jiant said.
"Too soon to judge," Varun said.
"Too lame to exist," Jiant said.
***
Chapter footnotes:-
1. Ghosts:- Ghostly parasites/ creatures, roaming the Altar of Rahambose. They are basically gaseous, so cannot harm you physically. But they live by absorbing other beings' temperature, so are dangerous beings, whom you can't harm physically, but only escape.
These parasites have a speculation to form a Ghast*, a symbiosis, when they meet a perfect host.
2. Ghast:- When a ghost possesses a Primevel or other being (a possible theory) and work collectively, a new creature is formed through this bond, called ghast. This process usually ends in the death of the host being. The host who has gone through the process is termed to have 'ghasted', whether dead or successful bonded, which has never happened.