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Burgie : Yes indeed! Kepa's now due to holding it with her fist, unfortunately for her and Gideon... I'm not ready for the drama this story has to offer, truly. I'm scared.


Song Listened To :

Far Less Alone by Ben Prunty


*Chapter 104*

A pierce of white sunlight, the pinks of Gideon's eyelids were strangely tinted cold. Through a flutter of confusion, he grunted to a sit and got a squinted look about his surroundings. As if sat frozen in time, he was on Vanilla Lake's shores. The water, what would typically be churning, frozen vanilla delight with an underlying promise of liquid death, was painted frozen and still. The massive pink cherry trees, that hugged the shoreline and then some, held suspended in the cool breeze that typically rippled through this area. Little flits of pink leaves hung suspended in the air, proving to Gideon that this strange realm he was plopped in was definitely frozen in time, a metaphor for the lake, seemingly on theme for the destination his sleeping body was resting; Honeydew Ridge. Although perturbed, he grunted to a stand and long-blinked in the delight that he had the ability to lucid his way out of this strange predicament, though as he exhaled a long, fogged and readied exhale, so to begin manifesting a different lucid dream for himself, his coding wiggled in the weird push of attempting to lucid dream but now being stuck and unable to do so, even though he was well aware that he was dreaming.

Gideon sharply furrowed his eyebrows and now nervously looked about his frozen surroundings, though upon the swing, he only just barely caught a black figure duck its head back behind the thick trunk of a nearby cherry tree. Gideon snapped his jaw shut, tried to cue his coding and failed. With a show of rising panic he concealed, he kept his sharp, intuitive gaze tight to the tree said black figure had ducked behind. With silent footwork, he snuck up to the tree, jumped about in with a grunt of a growl and clenched his teeth in preparation for a fight, though there was no one. Gideon sagged his shoulders, sharply peered about his surroundings and now felt a wiggle of fear crawl over him. With clumsy footsteps that tripped in the snow and down to the lake's bank, once more, he scuffed into the sharp, rough sand that sunk into the oddly still shoreline. Although his breath fogged, although the snow crunched, his skin didn't detect temperature. He seemingly hovered in a limbo, no way in, no way out. No matter how many times he tried to cue his coding, so to manifest himself a new, lovely scenery, he failed.

"You and I both know 'outlier' isn't the right term for it," Came a deep voice from behind, and though Gideon wanted to whirl around and show fear, he stiffened and peered hard out to the lake; a strange, deep voice he had never heard before, though in the same swing, he long-blinked in hot confusion and felt as if he was now being revisited from an old friend. In the slow turn, he faced the being a dozen feet off, his heart squeezed in a show of fear, a vanta-black bipedal creature with the outlined head of a fox, and the tail to go with it, his once colorful, warm, beloved friend.

"Finch," Gideon hissed in surprise; Finch, although light beamed down into the place, seemingly couldn't obtain any shred of light to bounce off of his figure. A moving void with two scary, piercing white eyes in the dead center of his face, simply a shadow figure.

"Been awhile," Finch mumbled with a weird show of gentle warmth, though due to simply being a void, there were no facial features or expressions on him, no way to see his mouth, as if he was simply a sentient shadow.

"No kidding," Gideon scoffed, he tried not to be too sarcastic about it, though somehow, in this realm, he felt his emotions heightened and the urge to weep, due to Finch's absence, brimmed at the back of his throat, "C-Coulda... Used you, as a growing kid. Where'd you lay off to?"

"What do you mean? I've been with you all along," Finch stated sorrowfully, "Truly. You just... Stopped trying to see me. One day, I just stopped being noticed."

Gideon narrowed his gaze, looked down and now began to piece this being together. Finch wasn't just an imaginary friend, nor was he simply just a figment of Gideon's musing. Gideon fingered the looser fabric on his grey sweats, looked down in a nod of brewing contemplation and finally stabbed his golden eyes tight to the two glowing, piercing white orbs dead in the center of Finch's face, a tall creature easily the same height as Gideon.

"You're not just an imaginary friend, are you," Gideon mumbled in confusion, Finch stood still and proud.

"No, I'm much more," Finch announced, his unflinching words and disposition rattled the frozen leaves about, and it was in Finch's continuation did Gideon hear his own voice laced beautifully into this creature's every fiber, "I'm your inner child, your shadow, your hopes, your dreams, your regrets... Your best friend, your worst enemy."

"You're me," Gideon quickly added with a scoff of a sarcastic chuckle, to which the piercing eyes on Finch's face finally lulled closed and open, once more, in an intelligent slow-blink of robotical pondering.

"More or less," Finch's voice whispered in a gentle sigh of cute defeat, though Gideon huffed a cute chuckle and shrugged.

"So... Does EVERYONE just have this inner shadow fox man that used to be this adorable little fluffy thing that they could see?" Gideon joked, though he felt safe to banter with Finch, somehow Gideon felt Finch knew worlds more than he did, the wisdom and throttled refraining of harbored rage somehow felt apparent, so much so it made Gideon's arm hair raise.

"Well, surely in their own form, but... Your eloquent way of describing yourself as different, as an outlier, makes it so we're in touch," Finch chuckled, he began to gently step closer to Gideon, though more so as if to make clear he was headed straight for the frozen lake, something Gideon was keen to stay clear from, "C'mon. Step in."

"I'm... Good," Gideon grunted a nervous laugh, he rubbed the back of his head and took a step away from the frozen lake's shoreline, though he flinched as Finch daringly took a step in; certain the lake would grip to his and Finch's vivid, purple coding, it remained the same, though somehow Finch managed to sink below the level of it all with ease.

"What have you done to make you worry the lake will take you?" Finch mumbled cheekily, though Gideon frowned and peered to the back of Finch's head. Knowing the two shared a mental space, Gideon was aware this question was rhetorical, "Nothing, yet, surely. C'mon, I want to show you something."

Gideon swallowed and cautiously stepped up to the shoreline, eased one foot in and felt his skin crawl with the sight that appeared. As he began to wade deeper out into the water, the lake ever so slowly began to grip onto Gideon's coding in a snaking crawl of slow motion, though it wasn't the vivid purple color of his coding that he was anticipating. Certain he'd start swimming at some point, he was surprised to feel as if his feet had weights attached to it, and before he knew it, him and Finch were slowly walking underneath the water, of which now began to sprawl in a very creepy kiss of translucent black and grey. A stark difference from the atmosphere on the surface, Gideon stepped closer to Finch and felt his heart begin to race at the sheer fact that they were now underwater, able to breathe, the only light source being Finch's eyes. The haunting, scary image of the lake bed now engulfed both beings, and though Gideon now felt real fear, Finch was a monolith of confidence, as if this wasn't something to be wary of. Gideon gripped to his disposition like a lifeline, and before they knew it, the two came to the deepest part of the lake, easily thirty feet under. Something to Gideon's left caught his eye, and with a nervous turn to look into the murky, haunting black, he could see the beautiful glisten of his Uncle Felix's golden hammer.

"You were right to question Callum's brain coding, Gideon," Finch mumbled, "Unfortunately, viruses aren't made in the general way people think they're made. It's definitely an esoteric topic well suited for the few heads, or whom you're involved with, to truly develop better and understand."

"So, it's true, Callum is turning into a virus, then?" Gideon prod, almost hopeful for this to be truth, strictly so he could now further alienate Callum and have deeper reason to go to war against him.

"I wouldn't say that, Gideon, that's a huge stretch. Susceptible? Sure. Actually a full-blown virus? No," Finch chuckled, Gideon nervously glanced back to the golden hammer that warbled in the distortion of the dark water about them.

"Susceptible," Gideon repeated nervously.

"Absolutely anyone has the ability to make themselves susceptible to becoming a virus. You can't manufacture a virus into a pre-existing gamer, you can't breed it," Finch wisely explained, "You and I both know the cultivating of your own brain coding, the preservation of your own sanity... Starts with you."

"So... You're saying Callum is the one doing this to himself?" Gideon prod, Finch now outwardly began to show signs of rising annoyance.

"Gideon, who do you trust? Whose the ONE person you trust the most?" Finch volleyed, Gideon's eyes dart about the void of Finch's face and eyes.

"Kepa," Gideon stated with full confidence.

"Who do you trust the least?" Finch returned.

"Callum," Gideon answered, still certain.

"Who do you think Callum trusts the most?" Finch pressed, Gideon furrowed his eyebrows and hesitated.

"... I don't know, maybe Uncle Rancis? Zed?" Gideon deduced, Finch lulled his eyes closed in a slow blink of returning patience.

"...Who do you think Callum trusts the least?" Finch's deep voice laid over Gideon's heart like a cold front.

Gideon huffed a stagger of a breath and felt realization hit him between the eyes, he sagged his shoulders, looked off in a mean-mug of hot irritation and now felt his coding wiggle with scared understanding.

"You," Finch concluded.

"I'm NOT the problem," Gideon barked, he could feel the upset of heightened emotions, in this realm, now feel as if he was due to running away with it all, he clenched his fists and glowered Finch down.

"No, and Callum would say the same thing about himself," Finch dared, unwavering and unbothered by Gideon's outward show of rising frustration, "What do you have to teach him? What does he have to teach you?"

"Nothing, that asshole can rot in hell, for all I care," Gideon stabbed.

"Gideon, look around," Finch hissed as he dared to take a step closer to Gideon; surrounded by black, murky nothingness, Gideon sagged his shoulders and held his breath, "You're the one rotting from this. You're the one due to holding this with your fist. You're set to avoiding him at all costs, or worse... Gideon, I'm you. I'm your inner child, your shadow, your hopes, your dreams, your regrets... Your best friend, your worst enemy."

"You and I both know I'd be banished if I killed Callum," Gideon muttered; the deepest, darkest most sacred and horrid secret he had to his name, the desire to cut Callum's life right at the quick, a selfish, unreasonable act of passionate violence Gideon was very well aware he would not be able to get away with or even live with, though somehow, it was the guilty pleasure of a daydream that frequented his brain, a notion he knew he couldn't keep from Finch no matter what, "It's just... A sick idea. It gets me by, okay? It's dark and not right and I'd NEVER do it, I just..."

"Like to let that marinate in your brain coding, huh?" Finch muttered, Gideon huffed a hot sigh and angrily looked off.

"Look, it's just nice to pretend that vengeance would be mine, okay?" Gideon loudly argued, the water warbled with the heightened decibels of his deep voice. He gestured his arms out and gave Finch a cheeky, side-eyeing grin of dark delight, "You're my voice of reason, here, why don't YOU tell me what I should be doing."

"Who ever said I was YOUR voice of reason?" Finch staggered a gentle laugh, an incredulous long-blink of his white, glowing eyes, "What if YOU were MY voice of reason?"

Gideon swallowed hard and now began to feel as if his moral compass was spinning wildly out of control, and what he surely thought of Finch being the foundation was now quickly turning into falling quicksand in an hour glass. Gideon huffed a hard sigh through his nose, looked off and caught his eyes on Felix's glistening, distorted hammer through the black water.

"Y'wanna be an enemy, y'gotta think like an enemy. Same thing for being a friend," Finch muttered, "I think we should be making nice with the guy... You're well aware of what he's capable of. Every time you set foot into Arcadia, are you seriously not looking over your shoulder just in case Callum comes flying out of nowhere to attack you?"

"I never gave it a thought," Gideon mumbled nervously, he contemplated his life moving forward, "You're saying... I should keep my friends close and my enemies closer?"

"Am I telling you that, or are you telling me?" Finch stated in gentle curiosity, though it was here did Gideon grip his hair and now begin to feel as if he was going crazy.

"L-Look, I... I don't know what's going on here, I don't technically WANT to make nice with Callum," Gideon worried, "He and I don't really have anything in common, anymore."

"Or so you think," Finch dared, "You both, clearly, love to stand up for what you believe in."

"But we both believe in different things," Gideon rattled, Finch narrowed his white eyes in suspicion.

"How do you know that? Y'two might land on something and you'd have no idea cause you never asked," Finch whispered, Gideon sagged and felt guilt begin to creep into his heart.

"I REALLY don't want to be buddies with Callum, truly," Gideon complained, Finch shrugged.

"Well, whynot?" Finch wondered lightly, and though Gideon opened his mouth to retort with the obvious, beyond it, he truly didn't have an answer, "He was your best friend, once upon a time. Age screwed it all up, but... Maybe it's time to let bygones be bygones."

"Really?" Gideon pressed in a sting of curious though somehow willing confusion, though Finch sneakily looked off.

"Yeah, but... Your imaginings of justice served are nice to revisit, though," Finch cheekily muttered, to which Gideon heaved a hard sigh and looked up to the surface of the water high above him; warbled in speckles of light that barely peeked through, he realized the weight of the metaphor he was quite literally drowning in.

"Look... I'll just... Start with a civil conversation," Gideon grumbled, "Might be best to get to know him better... Figure out his routines, sniff out any potentials to harm me, once more."

"Get him on our side," Finch shrugged, "Make light of associating with someone from the dark web, Mr. Game-Over-Application-On-Your-Hot-Bar-At-All-Times."

Gideon raised his eyebrows and felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach; Finch blurt a hearty laugh, snapped his fingers and allowed all the water about the two to heavily swirl about in the swallow of an intense whirlpool, and though neither being moved, Gideon still felt his pulse begin to throb in his ears as Finch's happy, haunting laughter warbled through the madness, the chaos of the scene unfolding before Gideon. Before Gideon could somehow try and form a tangible argument with Finch, his surroundings suddenly brightened in the kiss of warmth that was his bedroom, snuggly set into the cliffside of Honeydew Ridge's gorgeous, snowy bank. Gideon sharply inhaled a sudden breath, jolted to a sit and un-boggled his scared eyes. In firm assessment of his bedroom, he heavily panted and messily touched his forehead. Drenched in sweat, hair matted to his scalp, Gideon heaved an exhausted, shaky sigh and sagged back into his bedding with a full show of the near-mental torture he had just endured.

Gideon's tired eyes reopened in a sticky peel, his sunny, lovely bedroom sung with crisp, morning goodness, and though no sound could be heard beyond his bedroom, due to sound proofing, he inhaled another revived breath and this time could smell the delicious scent of bacon, pancakes, eggs and cinnamon rolls being made. Although eager to escape the confines of his bedroom and immerse his brain with the loveliness that was his family's vacation, he grappled for his phone and wondered if he should reach out to Kepa and let her know of his strange dream, one of which he nearly wanted to call a nightmare. He thumbed to Kepa's messages and hesitated, somehow he knew she'd have the correct answers for him though they were answers that were rooted in love and light, something that currently didn't satiate the secretive bloodlust he had strangely developed within himself. In fervent promise that he'd never ever take that route, he lulled his eyes closed in a squeeze and swore these ideations would be his own little dirty secret, one of which he was happy to keep away from absolutely everyone, excluding Finch. He knew if anyone else got their hands on said ideals, they'd lift Gideon out of it, a wallowing mud pit he was quite happy to roll around in for the time being, no matter how scummy it made him feel.