Memory Lane

31. Standing still

31. Standing still

All was quiet in the Spatial Realm. The villainous minions of Superego had been defeated at the cost of an entire village of triangles. The smoky destruction left in the wake of the most recent attack created a scene that strikingly resembled the real world which had led Fred into his current situation, stuck in his own mind. He could see the smaller shape citizens of the village consoling each other, tending to their dead, and starting to repair the damage left behind, yet deep down Fred felt responsible, as if he was the one to blame and not Superego's lackies. In the center of town, Fred was accompanied by Silhouette, who slithered across the shopfronts that had not been destroyed.

"this is because of me" Fred mumbled on his knees, head down in shame.

"don't blame yourself, Fred. You didn't know what they were up to" Silhouette stretched a shadow hand over the gravel ground as moral support on the shoulder of his friend.

"if I had just played it safe, I would never have had to have done all this. Now look where we are. Look around you!. Anima is with Superego right now because of us" Fred raised his head up and objected.

"if she got out before, she could do it again" Silhouette gave a reassuring smile to Fred from a shadow on the ground.

"what if she doesn't get a second chance?" Fred worried some more.

"good point. What's your plan then?" Silhouette agreed but did not volunteer to come up with a course of action. He was not the type to lead and make orders.

"we need to stop Superego" Fred stated the obvious at that moment.

"how are we going to get to the Frontal Barrier in time. He might have broken through before we even know it. Not that I can make a magic portal or something like the other bloke did" Silhouette pointed out how dire the situation looked for the not-so-dynamic duo.

"there has to be a way to get there" Fred wondered.

"I'm not sure. The barrier is the final and highest layer of the Subconscious. It would take a miracle for us to get up there" the shadow head of Silhouette shook itself from a nearby wall.

"you said high, right?" Fred began to plot.

"yeah, why?" Silhouette remained sceptical.

"I have an idea. Shrink yourself down and walk onto my leg" Fred demanded.

"I'm not sure how that's going to help..." Silhouette did as Fred asked, shrinking down to a shadow that grasped onto the black leg of Fred's business suit, nearly making him invisible to the naked eye.

"just trust me" Fred told Silhouette before giving a small kick into the air, which let out a pulse of energy. Taking the initiative, Fred then leaped into the air and stamped down while still airborne, causing two jets of mental energy to burst out from his shoes and propel him through the air.

"what the hell are you doing?!!!" Silhouette's voice screamed over the Jetstream of air that blasted around him and Fred. Soon the two were reaching above the cloud cover, while the village of Triangles below was little more than a minute speck on the ground.

"going even higher!!" Fred shouted back. The further up the two went, the more the sky itself seemed to bend in a curved dome shape, meaning there was a limit to each layer of the mindscape.

"are you sure this will work?!!" Silhouette called up.

"probably!!" Fred screamed again. The curving sky grew darker and darker until it was a dark purple. Just to be sure of what may come ahead, Fred held out held out both his fists. For several seconds, he continued to fly through the air before finally crashing through the dark purple dome of the Spatial Realm.