Reverie [The Distortionist x reader]

Chapter 13

(Art by lolitaoftheundead on Tumblr, probably)

Now take the time to realize

Despite what you may see

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"Breathe in..."

Your chest expands as fresh air fills your nose, throat, lungs. Energy that clings to your skin tenses as your muscles subtly flex.

"...Breathe out."

That energy cascades off you in a rolling sense of satisfaction. Your breath is released, lightly warming your lips as it passes through.

"Open your mouth and swallow this."

You obey and something is placed on your tongue. It tastes savory, like a Thanksgiving turkey. It's hard like a rock, you notice, as it rolls around your mouth before you swallow it completely.

"Now, you can open your eyes."

The world fills your senses as you open up to it. Light bouncing off colors is psychedelic for a moment, before everything settles and things become normal. No more hallucinations.

Right in front of you, Stia's red eyes stare directly into yours. You two are sitting on the floor, practicing this little ritual to expel the bothersome and frankly terrifying visions only available to you.

You stare back into her calm face. "Has this ever happened to you?" you ask.

"Many times. But I've learned to control it," she says. She lifts a little pouch with many small bulges at the bottom, probably full of more of what you swallowed. She tosses it to you. "Have this. If it gets worse, do every step of what I've told you to do."

"..." You have much to think about. Stia being someone that experiences the same thing as Christopher and you... That's quite the revelation. And it makes it so you can amend the gap between her and what seemed like her arch-enemy. "Does anyone that looks like you and Adres know of and frequent other worlds?"

"Well, yes," she confirms with a bit of hesitation. "It's... complicated. But I feel like you deserve answers. Not everyone that frequents other worlds is like us, as you know, but anyone that does look like us is, in fact, a world-hopper."

"And why do I deserve answers?"

"You'll have to make a decision. A hard one. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually. Also, you need to know how to protect yourself from the side-effects, like the hallucinations."

"...What decision do you speak of?"

"Whether you want to stay... or go." She exhales. "This is the law you broke. I know Charon told you of it, at least a bit. It's illegal to have one foot in each world. That's the simplification of this. Do you want to stay in this world, or do you want to go to Mr Pierre's permanently?"

This shocks you a bit, considering the ease of your response. "Well, that's not a hard one," you start. "I obviously want to stay."

"..." It's her turn to pause. She's looking at you with a gaze that was one of [S/N] seeing Esther oversimplifying a complicated, multi-faceted topic. "This decision is permanent, you know. You won't be able to use your dreams or visits to other worlds as a strategy."

You think of the consequences of this. Your mind goes to Bella and your investigation of her. "Regarding Adres and Bella, Christopher's sister, you didn't actually meet them in a coffee shop, did you...?"

She smiles sadly. "No. Bella's... situation... is one I was interested because of my duties with the resources of world-hopping. I doubt Adres would be that dumb to speak of something like that in public."