Worlds Beyond Materialism

I gazed upon the mirror in turmoil, it appeared fragmented and broken to pieces. The more I stared at it, the more my mind was driven into utter confusion, was I hallucinating, or was this real? I don't know, I don't know anything anymore. Have I gone insane, driven into complete madness from my lack of sleep?

"This is crazy… something like this can't be happening without an explanation!" I dropped my washcloth and soap and stepped out the shower to dry myself with a towel, it only took a few minutes, spending most of the time on my hair, "Is it… real?" Wrapping myself in the towel, I stretched my hand forward, inching my way towards the glitching mirror.

At first, I hesitated, my instincts were telling me to leave the bathroom, but my curiosity was telling me to proceed forward.

Bracing myself for an unknown possibility, I touched the mirror with my bare hand… but… nothing happened. I would lay my hand flat against its surface, and it felt like any normal mirror, despite its fragmented shapes resembling that of shards.

I laughed at myself… I couldn't help but only laugh, "Hahaha, Ahahahaha! I lost it, I lost it! I need to see a doctor, fast, or I'll be driven into insanity!" I wondered if I had some sort of rare mental illness, if that's the case, then it makes a lot of sense.

But I was only making up assumptions at this point. I decided to take a breather and clear my mind—placing my hand against my chest to feel a beating heart, it pounded against my palm and slowed itself down from the deep breaths I used to relax myself.

I could truthfully say that I was just experiencing a hallucination and not some supernatural phenomenon. Taking a sigh of relief, I picked up my clothes, and started getting ready for today; putting on my black coat, and black skirt, I wore long socks that went up to my knees, and a white undershirt with black boots.

Grabbing my hairbrush and comb from the sink drawer, I started brushing my hair backward and combing along the way. The tangles in my hair were being loosed enough to let it flow down my neck, smooth as ever.

The mirror in front of me was… scary to say the least, but I knew it was just my imagination. It's nothing to worry about. Now all that was left was brushing my teeth; I snatched my toothbrush and toothpaste, assembling them after washing off the bristles.

It took a few minutes of cleaning my teeth and rinsing out my mouth, but I was now ready. While I should've eaten something beforehand, I can just do that when I get to work. Sighing out loud, I tried staring at my reflection in the peculiar mirror, but as you may know, I couldn't see anything.

"It was scary at first, but now it's getting annoying," I muttered to myself, turning the doorknob, and walking outside the bathroom.

But… all of a sudden, "What… in the…?" I felt my heart nearly jump out of my chest as my body went into panic mode.

I was puzzled before my very eyes, staring out into a… library. A floating library to be exact.

Books, chairs, desks, and ladders were floating across the purplish void of this realm. Bookshelves stretched on for miles on end. There were endless floors that led down to the bottom of the purple void with walkways on the sides for librarians to safely walk along. Lanterns were attached to pillars that held up these walkways, and humanoid figures could be shown reading books on these floating chairs.

I'm imagining things again, I have to be! Closing the door shut, I widened my eyes, planting my palms against the doorframe. I looked down in complete dread, filled with tumult. I wanted to run… I wanted to hide, but where could I go?! There was nowhere for me.

If I open the door again, it'll still be there… like the glitching mirror next to me.

"Make it stop… someone please, make it stop!" I backed away from the door, tripping over my bathtub and falling to hit my head on its hard surface. It happened so fast that I couldn't catch myself in enough time.

I was knocked unconscious as everything faded to black… but… at the same time, I was self-aware. Oh god, was I dying? Did I hit my head too hard? Was I bleeding to death? I don't know. I had never been unconscious before, so how could I know anything right now?

If this is how I die, then I would've never survived in the real world. I'm pitiful. Why did God create someone like me? I'm just a waste of space.

"Emmeline."

Wait… did I hear someone call my name just now? It felt close… as if they were right next to me, speaking into my ear. It took me a while to realize that I was walking in my unconscious mind. It had motion.

I walked forward, glancing around me in the vast blackness of my mind. I could hear my footsteps swish-swash in the murky liquids underneath me, it felt eerie… yet calm at the same time.

It felt like I was at peace in my own mind. How funny. Was I going to have my life flash before my eyes soon?

"This isn't your mind, Emmeline."

There it was again, that voice. It spoke out to me, feminine in its tone. I looked around, seeing nothing but blackness, but it wouldn't stop me from asking the obvious question, "Who are you, and what is this place!?" My tone of voice was shaken up, a bit nervous once I asked that question, but they did respond.

"I have many names, but you may call me Absceline. I exist here, in the library you had witnessed. I am the Keeper of the Ethereal Library. Heed my words, young girl, the final element has chosen you for a specific purpose that you must complete."

"Final element? A specific purpose? Why me?! There are countless other people out there, and it chose someone like me? Or… maybe I'm talking to myself. Maybe I went mad, and I'm coping with death by making up some random scenario in my unconscious mind."

The voice went silent before snickering at my claims, "I can assure you that you aren't dead, your soul merely crossed over into the Abstract Domain."

"The Abstract Domain? I don't understand…"

"Tell me Emmeline, where do you think thoughts, ideas, and imagination come from? Abstract concepts have no physical or concrete existence, they exist intangible, and untouchable to those of the Material World."

"I-I know that much, but…" I didn't know what to say, everything was so confusing, it felt like a dream to me, "It doesn't make any sense."

"You're lost, and confused, it is only reasonable for your reaction, Emmeline. In this Domain, you cannot perceive abstract ideals since you have not awakened yet. Those of the awakened are humans who have been enlightened by the supernatural and Ether. You must first learn Ether from a Grand Wizard, and awaken yourself, Child."

Despite everything they said, my mind was racing with theories and ideas of this all-powerful entity, so I asked, "Are you… God?!"

They laughed at me again, "Hahaha, God is a vague title, but in your terms yes, I would be considered a God."

I guess God is a title after all now that I think about it.

It's nothing special, it's what we humans call entities beyond our understanding that could warp reality to their liking, or even create it however they want.

But my question still remained, "What exactly is choosing me to complete these tasks?"

"Have you noticed your dreams, Emmeline? Dreams of those… creatures."

Did she know of my dreams? Well, should I even be surprised that she knew? After all, she was God.

"You know of my dreams?" I asked, awaiting their obvious answer.

"Yes. For many years you've been having this same dream each week, and it won't go away, but there's a reason for it. You're special, Emmeline, you possess something that is known as Apotheosis, the final element of Ether that was lost in the Fabled age of mankind. With this Final Element, you can see into higher realms beyond the material world. You can gaze beyond materialism, and peer into the Abyssal domain."

"Why do I have this… Apotheosis? Is it some bloodline thing, or did it really choose me?" This reminded me a lot of the books I read over time, where the hero becomes the chosen one, or where someone awakens their clan's forbidden techniques. This seemed too unreal, I convinced myself that this was just a dream at this point.

"Apotheosis has a mind of its own, we don't know why it chooses certain hosts, but… it has picked you to defeat the Elder Ones, and stop them from unveiling the Drapery."

"The Elder Ones? Drapery? What does any of this mean?!"

"Return home, and follow my words. The world lies in your hands, nobody else can do it except you, Emmeline."

I looked around me in haste, questioning the entity. I didn't know the first thing I should do, or where I should start, were they gonna leave me like this? "Wait a second!" Before I could stop Absceline, my soul was transported back into my body in the material world.

I was lying… in a hospital bed, surrounded by my family who were crying.