Era of Madness

Denial

Smiling as a tear rolled down his cheek, Mavarel extended his arm toward the now 'undead' Jack, which quickly ended up getting puppetized. He then moved his lips and, even if Tyler couldn't hear what he said in this dream, he could perfectly guess what were the words coming out of his mouth: we can finally do it, become one to reach salvation.

"Pretty smart idea, huh? By turning him into a puppet with his Blessing, Mavarel had made Jack an untiring and unaging tool of destruction, or salvation as they said, that he could control at will" Saginus said. "But one problem remained: even as an apostle, he, on the other side, kept aging. And here the solution the smartest of the 'New Jack The Ripper' duo found"

Mavarel took the knife back from his inert friend's wooden hand, and plunged it in his own stomach, and at the same time he started puppeterizing himself. Spores, death and the power of the blessing affected him all at the same time, and that was the moment Mavarel became the heart of the mist puppets' hivemind. Right after, the mist expanded throughout the entire city, eventually provoking its demise, and the birth of Ghost London.

That's where the dream stopped, leaving Tyler's mind blank.

'No... no... there's still many questions... I have to answer them... to get answer, to think about it...' Tyler thought

Yes... like... like...

"Tssk Tssk, you should really stop it Tyler, I know I said denial is your choice, but you're only going to hurt yourself more, and that'd look kinda pitiful" Saginus sighed.

Tyler showed a surprised expression:

"What... what do you mean?" he asked, looking genuinly confused.

"If you don't even realize it, it's that it really is worse than what I thought" Saginus sighed again. "Tyler, it's obvious you try to overthink so that your mind will be fully occupied and won't have any space left to think about the fact you became an apostle"

Tyler froze:

"I... I don't..."

"Tssk, stop it, when I see you even overthink your answers... well, it truly piss me off to be honest" Saginus interrupted. "Didn't I say you how much I despise half-measures? If you want not to think about it, then just don't think about it, throw it at the border of your mind and that's it. Or at least, occupy your mind with useful thinking, like for instance trying to come up with a solution to get out alive when you wake up"

"And how the fuck do you know I'm not thinking about it?"

"We're in your dreams genius, I can't read your mind but I can at least get some glimpse, don't you think?"

Tyler was quite surprised. Indeed, he was... probably in denial. And to be honest with himself, even when knowing it, he still was in denial. It was a weird sensation, as if he was drunk... but without being drunk at the same time. Somehow, it felt even worse, but he had to maintain this state for a time, at least until they came out of Ghost London. He couldn't allow himself to breakdown now.

"There, there, your face already looks better" Saginus said. "Though at this point, I wonder if alcohol wasn't a better solution for you to occupy your mind. Heh, maybe it's because you stopped drinking as much that you started dreaming of past traumas, who knows?"

"Past trauma? What do you mean, past trauma?" Tyler asked.

"What, why are you surprised? Three times the same dream in a row, all perfectly detaile, what could it be if not buried memories trying to come out above the surface?"

Past trauma? So... it meant that this dream, it was true. The two bodies... the blood... the house on fire and those delirious words he heard himself saying...