Ghost and the Writer

An Exorcist's work

August's smile passed like it had been an illusion as serious focus replaced it. "You'll be going inside one of those endless nightmare loops and find the person whose dream it is. The person who dreams is like the protagonist of the story, in some form the events will all link to them. However, that might not be easy to figure out considering that you will become one of the characters, thus - you will also need to deal with anything that dream's setting throws at you."

Mandy nodded with some hesitance. This all felt surreal. "Will I become something like a long lost cousin of someone and everyone will know me?"

"It's not that convenient. You will need to figure out your own setting, well - probably you will die once or twice before that."

Eh? "...die?" Mandy squinted at August. He was throwing out some scary stuff all too casually.

"It is a nightmare after all," He replied like it was the norm. "Or it might be something else. The dream reloops when something wake-up worthy happens to the protagonist."

Wake up worthy from a nightmare would be: "Like falling, or something catching you, or...?"

"Yes, what usually wakes one up from nightmares. Though I've been in one where the protagonist snapped out when a girl kissed him, so watch the timing when it ends."

Hey! HEY! "You've been in one?" How was that possible? August didn't mention he could do it himself... he never mentioned he could do anything like slipping into others dreams, Tia didn't mention anything like it either.

"If I travel astrally, I'm kind of like a ghost, but... since the only exorcist we have here is me, the only one who can dive in is you."

Mandy wouldn't have asked August to be the one to enter the nightmare really, she had just been curious. August would be doing something outside, something she could not do. Astral traveling could get dangerous as well, as she had heard previously. It's not like she would know what to do if something targets August's body while he is out.

"Okay, what do I do once I figure out who is the one dreaming?" Mandy asked.

"You cause a different wake up worthy experience yourself," August said.

"Like... push them out of a window?" Mandy asked.

"That's one option." August nodded.

That was a rather awful thing to do, but nightmares had elements like that and it's not like anyone would die for real, right? Mandy peered at August. "No one will be harmed, right?"

"You might have a trauma from the experience," August made a knowing look. A dark look. A look of 'hello darkness my old friend'.

August totally had a trauma... Mandy squinted. That didn't seem reassuring, but... Okay. No one other than her mind would be harmed. Mandy nodded. She didn't want a trauma, but seeing some nightmares voluntarily to free those souls seemed like something she could deal with. If not, then she would know better next time. If there is a next time... meaning, if she doesn't get stuck.

"What do I do to not get stuck?" Mandy asked.

"Don't give up. Some of those nightmares can also be very tempting to stay in, some are very hard to decipher, some seem like they are better not deciphered. As long as you are proactive and don't indulge into whatever there might be you wouldn't get stuck."

Mandy doubted she would indulge into... okay, unless the dream isn't like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory or a huge bakery with an endless selection of cakes. That might be dangerous.

"It didn't happen to me, but I've heard stories of one dream reviving the dead family of the ghost who went in, another team had to come to rescue, but in one way or another that said ghost ended up passing on together with those who were originally stuck," August lingered on the topic for a bit longer.