Simply Shall Not Be
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Dreams were a silly thing. For they spoke of no inherent purpose. The very concept of possessing creativity but never applying it to one's glorious truth eluded me. However, as I lay upon my bed, my mind could only drift into that which is no longer my reality. With my head resting still, I could feel myself slowly lose my grip on what lay around me. It was not much longer until my body grew still and calm.

I closed my eyes.

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And I awoke to the rolling Hills of Trafalgar, a relic from the Olden. Above me, the sun hangs suspiciously of wrath as the trees and valleys paint elegant strokes of shade that outstretch far beyond my feet. The sky bears an overwhelming shade of red and orange hue as I begin my journey. A journey of which, beckoned by The Creator, whispers faintly of enlightenment and progression. It taunts of development and the ascertation of filling my incompleteness with the whole. Its promises were alluring. Such ideas tickle the greyish of my soul, and no sooner had the prospect arose did I heed its call.

I scaled the cliffsides and mountaintops of such geographical miracles that I, myself, had created from null. No sweat bore upon my face, nor did any fatigue halt my steps as the light above slowly dwindled. As I continued, the silence and stillness of the air — with no chirping of birds nor clicking of the bugs and animals — only discomforted me with ponderance. With naught but a smile, my unease had settled as that which had not existed before then had arisen now.

Through the cuts of the Trafalgar's Lone Pass, I would be greeted with a river. What river I had not yet known before then, which only grew to annoy me. Without hesitation, I knew that it will be called Grenoa, and its reach will extend far beyond the City of Glass, which the magnificent river fueled. My body carried me to the shore, and with my ankles sinking below the crystalline surface of the water I leaned for a drink. The water tasted of a unique purity. Once satisfied, my head arose, only to see myself lack a reflection from the water's surface.

My curiosity was further perplexed by the sight of myself approaching the water from the river's mirror, who likewise bent down to drink from it. I sat there momentarily dazed. Had I not just approached and sipped from this water already?

My anger festered as I realized why my reflection was delayed. I had come to realize a flaw — something of which I did not consider before. With another wave of my hand, my reflection corrected, our two stares glaring past each other in an equilibrium of annoyance. However, inside the fire still burned. How preposterous it was that I hadn't considered this simple law of nature. My mind was taunted with ideas of self-forgiveness. After all, we are prone to such simple mistakes, right?

But such mediocrity can only be found in the constraints of some ludicrous, objective reality. A reality of which I am not restricted to.

Such a world lacks perfection and that simply shall not be.


It was only several days later when I arrived at the City of Glass. This City was once home to the superior Forefathers, those who had preceded me in my reality as the Controller. I had never gotten a chance to make their acquaintance before they too faded away, presumably to guide the next of my kin. Now such company was rare in this City, leaving nothing but intricate, fractal structures made solely of glass and wonder for visitors like myself and the simulacrum to admire.

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My entry into the City began from the Bridge of Raina, whose hall remains empty to this day. I, myself, have not seen anyone cross this bridge for some 15 years, and even then I had never again met the travelers who walked alongside me. Still, I did not hesitate as I strolled into the confines of the City's borders, which the Bridge overlooked from afar.

It was not long after my entry when I arrived towards the City's center, where a man sat to greet me. His face shifted in hues of blurs that I could not comprehend. Still, I could tell that he was smiling at me, and the wave of his hands towards my vicinity only confirmed that suspicion.

"Hello," I called to him as we approached each other.

The man nodded in reply, his hand still waving towards me. His face had not yet unblurred, which made me uncomfortable. With a blink, his face was given life. Two dark blue eyes penetrated my own, whose brown hair sat at his shoulders.

Such features cured me of my worry, and with a smile, I asked the man, "How are you, today? I can't imagine much trouble in a magnificent City such as this — one built by the very Forefathers themselves."

The man nodded, still waving. He had not given me an answer, which deeply concerned me.

"Sir?"

His eyes suddenly grew wide, and with nothing but a smile the man's face contorted into a painful gape. With his jaw unhinged, the man spoke angrily,

"SYSTEM ERROR."

His response put me aside as he continued his gaze. I attempted to smile, but deep inside, something did not feel right.

The man screeched again, "SYSTEM ERROR."

It became clear to me that this man was a Defective. I sighed at this revelation. Such simulacrum was supposed to be purged, but it appears that this one may have escaped somehow. My discomfort grew tenfold as the man continued his demands.

"SYSTEM ERROR NUMBER 543251—"

And with a grimace, the faulty shell had become no more. Disappeared, along with the rest of his Defective brethren into the aether for eternity. My mind relaxed in the silence of the City's center. That is, until a wave of newfound anger once again rose inside my soul. How could this ugly thing exist? The thoughts penetrated the forefront of my mind as I continued my journey onward.

Such a flawed creature lived within my perfect reality, and that simply shall not be.


With the City long since behind, my journey finally reach its conclusion as I reached the outskirts of Village Red. This place used to be filled with townsfolk and children alike — but now it remained hollow and empty. The Village deeply saddened me, but likewise filled me with calmness. I, myself, could not explain such phenomena, but it mattered little now.

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I wandered onward until I was greeted by a gate. Upon my entrance, I stood within a cemetery. A field far beyond what the eyes could see, filled with gravestones of names caught between a flux of forgotten and lost. I decided to stroll further, and from there my imagination was greeted with countless stories and feelings. In my mind, I began creating the world in which these lost souls once lived. I prayed that each had a joyous and happy life, and from that, such a place existed. Village Red would be one among the Golden Age, which lasted well before my time here.

A smile was brought to my face as I stopped at a gravestone near the far edge. While the other stones hinted towards that which I had not yet imagined, this one was static. Unchanging. A panic arose in my mind as I realized that the ground beside this gravestone was empty — a hole leading downward.

After a brief hesitation, I found myself staring down into the grave, only to be greeted by the sights of a black and dark abyss. A pit that extended well beyond infinity, forever penetrating the depths of my world with its malice. Inside, I could feel its gaze searching — looking for any weakness that I possessed.

The abyss grinned its blackened teeth at me. My muscles tensed as the void whispered softly into my ear.

"Do you think this world that you have created should exist?"

I tried to formulate an answer, but no words came to my mind. My heart began racing. What was this creature doing living here?

"Do you?" It asked again, the blackness below only growing as the light dimmed into darkness above my head.

The abyss grew angrier. The void below began to bubble and froth as my energy only drained further. I was trapped by my fears and panic as tendrils began to arise from the surface, their reach extending outward towards my body.

"How dare you ignore me, for without me you would have nothing! You would be nothing! You pretend that I do not exist, but deep inside you know that I grow within you!" The abyss chanted.

With its eyes fixated on me, it spoke once more:

"You have sacrificed yourself for your greed and that, that simply shall not be!"


And suddenly I opened my eyes to the morning rays. The frigid air tickled my lungs as I gasped awake.

My body still jolting, I felt the tears leaking from my eyes before it occurred to me that I was crying. Sweat plastered me with its salty scent as my legs felt limp. After a moment of silence, I turned to see the mirror that lay beside my bed. I suddenly grew uncomfortable with the new face that lay before me. What had spoken to me just now? Why did such a dream manifest as that one had?

There was a dull numbness permeating my body. I looked down at my hands, in which I wept in the comforts of my bed. I do not recall how long I had sat there, or how many tears I shed. Just the lingering pain of what that abyss had told me, and the sights and sounds of a place that was both foreign and familiar to my reign.

No longer was I content with living in this world and that… that simply shall not be.

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