Ado didn't know if she was dreaming or not. Outside her house, she had the feeling that something was waiting for her inside. When she entered, she found two people sitting comfortably in her living room. The unexpected nature of it left her speechless.
Ado wondered if all of this was a dream. A voice resonated in her mind: "It's just a matter of perspective."
At that moment, she understood that the entity behind her was still present. She wasn't crazy, and the scene before her was undeniably strange.
Katharsis, who seemed like some kind of guide, was not who she had thought. He had rather invited himself into the process, and since the entity behind her wasn't explaining anything, she had no choice but to follow the flow.
The most surprising part was hearing Katharsis confirm that this wasn't a dream. Katharsis was clearly reading her thoughts. "That's correct!" he affirmed in a mental whisper. "Wow, this is definitely a weird sensation."
"Take a seat," Katharsis continued.
"It's strange that I'm asked to sit as if I'm the guest when this is my house," she muttered as she sat down.
"I'll answer your questions in order. I'm sorry for reading your thoughts, it's an intrinsic quality. I'll put your wandering thoughts aside and only respond to the questions you ask."
Ado felt relieved by this consideration, even though the embarrassment stemming from her wild imagination remained.
At least, there was a tacit agreement not to talk about it, it was a black box.
Although Ado had just experienced an expansion of consciousness, she didn't have complete control over certain things, and her thoughts sometimes escaped her.
"Oh, thank you."
She wondered if omnipresent or omniscient entities really needed clothes.
After all, it wouldn't matter to them, since they could see everything. But she let that thought pass, adding just another question into the black box.
Ado looked at the girl sitting next to Katharsis. The girl seemed to sense Ado's gaze.
"My name is Mu, nice to meet you."
Ado immediately felt refreshed. "I'm Ado."
Suddenly, a young boy appeared out of nowhere, as impassive as Katharsis. His entry was marked by a remark directed at Ado:
"You seem to be mistaken, we're not the guests here, you are the guest."
Ado was confused. Strange people seemed to be appearing one after the other, and now she was the guest in her own home. She glanced at Katharsis, who appeared to be the oldest. Normally, she would have a lot to say, but the presence of this being who looked like her father, appearing out of nowhere, gave her chills. She remembered she was in the middle of an experiment.
Katharsis remained stoic. In fact, the presence of the new one seemed more legitimate than that of Mu.
Once his will had been set, destiny had fallen into place. But it would be a lie to say that all of this had been planned by Katharsis himself, because time and destiny were not supposed to develop consciousness and incarnate of their own will, thus depriving Katharsis of the possibility of entrusting these authorities to chosen beings.
"The name I was given is Cruel, the fate."
"???"
As if no more characters were going to appear, Katharsis spoke up to clarify Cruel's words and move the conversation forward.
"To simplify, this isn't really your home. It's a reconstruction based on your memories, the place where you feel most at ease. I thought you would feel better this way. You appeared here on your own; I simply saved you by preventing you from jumping into the void."
Ado felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Jumping into the void? She didn't quite understand what that meant, but it didn't seem good at all. She now felt a dissonance between what she had experienced when she left her consciousness and what Katharsis was saying.
"I almost died!"
"Yes! According to your understanding, you almost died!"
"Oh Lord, a journey that ends at the first step isn't the saddest thing, is it?"
"Don't worry, I promised to protect you until you learn to walk."
That was reassuring, she thought. Katharsis noticed the change on Ado's face; she seemed calmer. Of course, he didn't know what was really happening inside her, and even this conversation was hidden from him, despite his ability to read thoughts.
He knew there was something in Ado that could be useful to him.
Feeling Katharsis' gaze on her, Ado hurried to apologize and thank him, even though he didn't really know what had happened when the other entity had saved her.
Unlike Cruel, who remained relatively inactive, Mu radiated joy. She was rummaging through Ado's library, pulling out mangas.
It was a strange feeling to see someone exploring her space without being able to say much. After all, this wasn't really her home.
"A reconstruction? This isn't reality?" Ado asked, perplexed.
"A space like this cannot yet exist in a tangible way. It can be perceived as a dream or a reality. We are currently in the void, more precisely in my domain, and we do not have physical bodies here," explained Katharsis.
Ado pondered these words. All the sensations she was experiencing felt real; she could feel her body. To put it simply, if someone told her she was in her world, she would have no choice but to believe it.
"It feels so real," she said, pinching her cheek to check the sensation. She even felt pain. Her nerves were functioning, but according to Katharsis, she was in the void. Although surprised, after experiencing an expansion of consciousness and acquiring a certain amount of information, her way of thinking had slightly altered, and her mind was more tempered.
She recalled the purpose of her journey and the teachings of the entity that accompanied her.
She didn't dwell on the nature of the place she was in; it seemed too complex for now. It felt more like a fantasy, even though none of it was really tangible.
"So, you saved me, and I thank you, but I don't feel like things are that simple. What are your intentions? And is the appearance of my father also linked to this familiarity?" she asked.