Chapter 70

"This world is ending." 

Six's voice rang out in Lily's ears though it took her a moment to process this.

The world was ending? Well that was the plot of the game but Six clearly meant something much more than that, and if it was ending what would that mean for everyone trapped here? 

Would all the remaining players just die? 

Would all their effort be for naught? 

"There's no way to stop the ritual that's occurring here, its on too grand of a scale and it'll wipe out this fragile existence in not time at all." Six looks back out to the now frozen hole in the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly. "This isn't the work of someone seeking the throne of creation... this feels like something different, something much more malicious."

For a moment Lily can't even speak, it takes her a fair amount of time to even utter a single word and all the while Six is just muttering to himself while looking at the hole in the sky. 

"Six, what's going to happen? To us... to the people stuck here?" 

Six pauses now and looks back to Lily, a bit of concern and sorrow swirling in them before he speaks up once more.

"Its likely you all will die, I think such an outcome is almost unavoidable now..."

"It's unavoidable? but then what do we do?! why are we even having this conversation?!" 

Six lets out a tiny sigh now as he looks back to the hole in the sky. 

"Because there's a way out, but it's going to be a great burden on you both physically and mentally." 

"Why? What's the solution?"

Six pauses before looking back at Lily and walking over to her. "You are going to die, and in doing so you will regress back in time to before this dream began. You'll keep your memories and your skills, but no one else will remember... aside from one person, that outlier." 

"Wait wait wait!" Lily almost yells in a panic now as she takes a step back. "Die? Regress? Dream? What are you talking about?! You're acting like the magic and all that is real! This is just a game, nothing more!" 

"Oh, you still believe that? You still believed that this was merely some simulation you willingly put yourself in?" Six's voice is softer now, his eyes full of pity as he gazes down at Lily. "This was only a game in the loosest sense imaginable... in reality this world is so much more... a dream like enigma that likely can grant one single wish at the end of it... and the reason it exists? Well that's the big mystery now isn't it?" 

"...You know what it is, don't you?" fear clings onto every word Lily speaks as she backs up as far as she can from six now. "How long have you known? How many secrets have you been hiding from me?"

A bit of guilt seems to find its way into Six's eyes as he looks away now. "I don't know what created it for certain, all I know is what this reality is... and I have hidden things from you, things I hide from everyone... knowledge that must not be spoken carelessly." Six pauses now and looks down at the ground now, seeming to muse over something before speaking again. "This world, its a curious existence you know. It's like a dream within a dream, yet at the same time this dream is strong enough to affect the world moving forward." 

"How? How can a dream affect the world?" Lily barely inches towards Six now but curiosity is getting the best of her, a feeling of... loneliness... wraps around her body as she moves closer. 

"Because it's what we'd refer to as magic or the supernatural, something that bends and alters the rules of reality for one purpose or another. In this case when you regress this dream body and your physical one will sync up, you won't be fully healed but you'll be leagues better than you ever were before." 

"So, all of this is real then? Every last little thing?" Lily looks down at her hands now, her mind racing as she remembers all the times she'd been in danger and just shrugged it off because even if there was a "chance" of dying she was still in a game... there was no guarantee she'd actually die in real life if she'd died in the game right? It could've all been part of the game and no one realized. 

"Yes, everything is real, from my spells to the death you've bore witness to... every last thing is real in this world." Six motions around them now "this entire world may just be a dream but everyone and everything within it are real, every one of them will remember this when they wake up... though they'll only see it as a fading dream in their minds."

"But the world is ending right? how're they going to wake up-" 

"They won't... not in this timeline." Six cuts off Lily quickly while approaching her once more. "That's why regression is needed, the mystery of this dream must be unraveled and to do that you'll need the ability to ignore any potential pitfalls that could happen... namely unwinnable situations like The End." Six holds his hand out now, offering this deal to Lily fully. "Its not an easy task I'm asking of you but it is the only way to survive and see the future, will you accept it?" 

Initially Lily reaches out but pauses as a thought crosses her mind, sure she'll go back and everyone will be alive again but what about Six? Meeting him had been a complete accident, almost like a glitch. 

"What'll happen to you? Will you regress with me?" Lily looks him in the eyes now, a bit of concern and curiosity lingering in her words.

"No, I won't... and the chances of us meeting again are highly unlikely, even our initial meeting was a miracle in itself." 

"So I have to go back alone knowing everyone else just died and that I won't be able to see you again?" 

"Yes... if there was another way out I wouldn't be saying you had to do this... so please, let me help you out of this situation." 

A moment of hesitance stretches out into what feels like forever before Lily finally reaches out and takes his hand, albeit a bit hesitantly. "Tell me, what do I have to do?" 

"All you need to do is take a deep breath, I'll engrave the magic into your very soul... and then from there we do all we can until the end." 

With a nod and just a moment to calm herself Lily takes a deep breath "Do it." 

A glow begins to form around them now as Six moves his free hand towards her "please bear with this... it's going to be more painful than anything you've ever felt until now." 

Time seems to slow as the process begins. 

The feeling of having magic engraved onto her soul was indescribably painful, it felt like the very core of her being was being torn apart with a hot knife.

She held on though.

Through the pain of it all she pushed forward.

Just as she had always done.