The End of Infinity

Number Two once again was at the temple gates where the mountains and rivers reversed against their natural patterns.

He pleaded, "I wish for dreams to come true, but I am not allowed by life to stay forever. Well, not life. It is once again the doing of Mother Sky."

The real priest in the bird mask responded:

"We dream of the happiest of life and the saddest of life, brief realities of perfect relationships and lasting companionships which flourish into a profound satisfaction in life like that special feeling when warm rays of sunlight penetrate the gloomy sky to forever act as a guardian from coldness, from the wrath of Mother Sky.

Mother Sky makes sure that the one and only soulmate which all people possess is death. The mind can conjure a thousand different realities of kingly power, tremendous success, and flawless reputation. There is no perfect life that can be sought after intensely because no life exists without flaw. Navigating relationships in society are all part of the imperfect, infinitely minuscule chessboard which Mother Sky governs over. This is her second absolute rule."

Number Two questioned, "What is the first?"

The Priest chuckled, "Her first decree is that she too has flaws. This is why the world anchor is so needed and sought after by countless adventurers. Mother Sky rewards all people blindly and lavishly. She is constantly evolving with us."

Number Two paused for a few seconds, continuing, "I was wrong when I acted as king in the kingdom that Mother Sky created for me, wasn't I? I should have never dared to even think about the mere concept of initiating the forbidden ritual to turn my lucid dream into a solid reality. Tell me, Envoy of Mother Sky! Does my Queen and Princess not deserve to live, what sins have the eternally upright, virtuous citizens of my kingdom committed to be erased from the annals of time? Why is Mother Sky so cruel in tearing the family I so deeply loved with all of my soul?"

The bird-masked priest sighed, "What you felt was but a dream in your mind. Listen here, to the answer of your sorrows and resolution of your anguish. We all live in the body of Mother Sky, she is the very fabric of reality. She is the world, the universe. Do you think Mother Sky ever thought about your particular dream?

She allows people to dream so they can take a break from reality, so they can experience the impossible life they never can live. All desires and temptations can be fulfilled in dreams. That is the greatest mercy of Mother Sky. Oh! Praise the ingenuity and world-toppling compassion of Mother Sky."

We are always changing, one event can never be undone, therefore dreams are a reality too dangerous to allow in the main world which we inhabit governed by Mother Sky. Thus, these rogue worlds which people envision are collectively known as the Deep, worlds which we forget after dreaming, disconnected and fantastical like they almost never existed. Number Two made a grave mistake in trying to trick Mother Sky who makes up all reality by hiding his plots in the basement from his bed.

The bird-masked priest yanked him until they reached the temple which seemed so infinitely far away before and threw him into the temple grounds. The priest never crossed the entrance of the small temple and left in the fastest way possible.

Number Two slowly got up and dusted his robes, leaning on a round stone bump that protruded from the wall. As he was about to sit on it, the bump suddenly moved and transformed into a large yellow eye.

It was the eye of the flood dragon Yubaba. Yelping in shock, he asked, "What are you doing here? Why was I put here?"

Yubaba snorted and replied, "I have no choice but to be here."

When Number Two looked closer at the wall, he discovered it was an array of countless iron chains that imprisoned the dragon.

Yubaba continued, "You have been punished by Mother Sky. Well...more like exiled."

Number Two looked vacantly in confusion.

"Mother Sky has taken away your emotion of fear. You now have no concept of the future or past because you lack the anxious fear of contemplating the future and the fear of the soul from which the past haunts individuals with regrets of what could have been. You lack infinity", said the flood dragon.

Yubaba tried to rise from his chains to assume a more sedentary, talkative position but he failed in shifting the chains. He continued, "Listen here, you should not hopelessly struggle against the power of Mother Sky."

Number Two still did not respond. In fact, he walked in the opposite direction away from Yubaba. His body started glowing an abnormal crimson hue.

He looked back at Yubaba who had a look of fearful resignation and muttered, "I found it. I found the Deep."