Trapped [Short Story]

[Kaj]

Praxton stepped carefully through the Cognitive realm. This was his first time. Of course, he had already read many of accounts of others crossing over, but they didn’t do it justice. Everything around him glowed. He had chosen a safe place to cross. It had been a small cave in the mountains near the monastery.  Here, on this side, he was surrounded by glowing, brown energy. When he reached out to touch it, it was slightly springy. Just like gelatin.

Suddenly, his mind flashed back through all the times his mother had made him flavored gelatin. It had been a favorite of his. Praxton pressed his hand into it.  It was a strange sensation. Mucus-like, yet thrumming with power. It gave him an impression of the cave wall in the Physical realm. Even more than that, he could feel the entire mountain. This was a tiny, insignificant pocket in a majestic, looming mountain. His home.

Pulling his hand out, Praxton shook off the overwhelming sensation and headed out of the cave. The sky was a twilight grey, the ground covered in vegetation. It wasn’t like in the Physical realm, this vegetation was made of energy as well, though when he touched it, it was more substantial and felt similar to normal vegetation. The normal vegetation was represented by all of the floating rhombohedron. Most were tiny and floating close to the ground. When he touched them, he was given distinct impressions of the physical realm as well as feelings. Plants have feelings? He was a bit surprised, but it made sense. Every soul had a purpose. These plants saw their purpose as growing, seeding, and being consumed. As long as they were doing this, they were happy. The ones who were dying of age, were the ones with negative feelings. They yearned to be consumed, to become part of the animal that did so. As several finally died, Praxton watched their souls implode. It looked like they were going to explode, but they collapsed and expanded in a direction that defied geometry.

Some larger souls, that hovered closer to the height of his chest, he discovered were trees. He knew this already, but it just didn’t connect until he actually felt it. There were some Cognitive trees, but they were sparse in comparison to in the physical realm. Suddenly reminded of how much trouble he could get in, he set off down the mountain. He reached out with his mind to feel for the antenna that marked the monastery. As he reached the foot of the mountain, Praxton located the strands of Psynergy that made up the Psynet. They connected all of the Psychic essence in the world together. Technically, there was one connected to him as well. As he came closer, the stand that connected him became visible. It was as thin as spider silk. Fajfo! He needed his ring. That would be dangerous as it made him easier to detect, but without it he could end up in quite the predicament.

Reaching the monastery, Praxton carefully made his way to his room. His ring sat on the windowsill in the real world. I hope this works. He thought. His ring was an Essential Ring. It had taken years to create it. Hours upon hours of meditating. Essences were attracted to themselves and what they represent. It had colaced and formed a puddle on the cognitive side of where he concentrated. With hours more, he was able to form it into a ring and bring it into the Physical realm where it had turned into a soft pink metal. A metal that no Metalisto could manipulate. It was pure Psiko Esenca. When he grabbed it, it crossed over easily. It would also make crossing back over easier. Fortunately, it stayed in it’s form though it was no longer metallic. He slipped it on. Suddenly, the Psynet burst to life in his mind. That was the dangerous part. Now, if any of his masters even gave him a passing thought, they might sense that he was in the cognitive realm. That was the drawback of the Psynet. So many connections. All with some sort of sentience. Many with full sapience. This made it fairly easy to find something if you knew what you were looking for, but it also revealed your mind to others. Just thinking about something made all the connections associated with it spring to the front of your mind and those connections would lead to to the source. Best not to think of his masters either.

He slowly worked his way through the monastery. One of his fellow akolitoj shifted in his sleep, a bubble of warped space appearing next to his soul. Curious. Praxton thought. He touched the warped space. The second he touched it, he was sucked in. It was a strange sensation. His soul made a popping sound, though sound wasn’t the right word. It was a feeling that strongly resembled when his friend would stick his finger in his cheek and pull it out with an audible pop. Everything was dark. Then he found himself in a strange world.  It was even stranger than the cognitive. It was a monastery, but it was glass. That, and it was underwater. Destin sat meditating. He seemed at home in this glass replica of the monastery. That’s right. Praxton thought. Destin was from the water kingdom originally. Destin was a fuse. He had both Psiko and Akvo. The interesting part was that just below Destin’s short, dark brown hair, on his forehead, was the glowing symbol of Akvo. It was colored Esenca Blua. The color that came with Akvo. It wasn’t really a surprise, but it definitely stood out.

“Destin.” Praxton finally said.

Destin’s eyes snapped open. “How are you here? I made certain to control this dream.”

“It was kind of an accident,” Praxton replied, shuffling nervously. He felt somewhat invasive.

Destin shrugged. “Well, you’re here, so you better explain.”

He knew that he could trust Destin, so he launched into a quick explanation. He explained what it was like in the Cognitive Realm. Much like, what they had read, but much more vibrant. He ended with his discovery of a warped bubble next to Destin’s soul. All through it, Destin didn’t say a word.

Finally, Destin spoke. “So this isn’t a dream version of you, you are actually here.” Praxton nodded. “That is definitely interesting. It also explains why I wasn’t able to dispose of you while you were rambling.”

Praxton cracked a smile. Of course, Destin would have been trying to get rid of him. “Well, what would you like me to do?” He asked.

“I guess we’ll have to figure something out. This is the only building down here. The rest is wild water.” Destin replied.

“The surface can’t be too far up. There is this much light down here.”

Destin scoffed. “That would be me. I am lighting this place with this.” He pointed at the symbol on his forehead. “This is what allows me to maintain the stability of this dream.”

Praxton felt a stabbing pain of jealousy. He had never mastered that one. Finding one’s center was difficult. It was often considered La Vera Domo, or True Home by the Monaĥoj. It didn’t necessarily correspond with your element or elements. The current theory was that your Vera Domo reflected what you were most comfortable with. That was likely the reason it didn’t help Praxton. He was never truly comfortable anywhere. Suddenly, everything lurched. He felt as if the world were being slurped. What was up with things that felt like sounds? Then the world was a kaleidoscope. Fragments of memories, fantasies, and scattered thought. Praxton was thrown through them. Everything was a jumble, and yet, at the same time, he knew what had happened. Destin had woken up. That meant that Praxton was trapped. It was strange. He could see, just like Destin could, but he was also an intruder in the mind.

“You’re still here?” Destin’s voice echoed from everywhere. It vibrated through Praxton down to the core.

“I guess,” Praxton shouted back. Everything went fuzzy, then came back into focus.

“No need to yell.” Destin’s disembodied voice responded. “It gives me a headache.”

So it’s just like telepathy. Praxton thought.

“Just like it.” The voice rumbled.

“Dude. Your head is a mess.” Praxton muttered. Destin’s thoughts were everywhere.

A shattering sensation cracked through the entire place. Praxton started to fragment as well. Everything expanded outwards, then shot inwards. The shards came together and a room formed. There were a meeting table and six inornate chairs. Perfect. I’m trapped in my best friend's mind.

“I heard that.”