The Other Infinite?

 I have no idea where I am.

   The Nightmares could be after me, or they could be ignoring me and hoping someone finds me on their own. I wouldn't know. I've been lost for who knows how long. It's getting colder, but other than that I don't know what time of year it is. I almost wish I lived in one of the Nightmare realms. Unlike us, they get seasons. It's a way to keep track of the time, and to keep humans from clogging up the streets. Or so I've heard. 

   I spend all day walking. I don't know what else to do. I haven't seen any towns. I don't know where to find anyone. I could spend the rest of my life walking in uninhabited wilderness. The more I walk, the less real things seem to get. I keep having moments where the world seems to blur if I'm not looking directly at it. Also I swear that the more I walk the less light there seems to be. I haven't even seen the sun for about a week now. 

   I don't feel tired, though it feels like I've been walking for hours. For the first time in my life I wish that I could become hungry. At least then I'd have a better idea of how much time has passed. I've been walking in this forest for a long time. I say forest because it seems to have a lot of trees, though trees aren't supposed to grow in the human realm. Like a lot of things, they're a luxury that only the Nightmares and their followers have access to. But there must be trees, because the further I get the harder it is to see, and I don't see any stars when I look up. If I even am looking up. I don't know, directions stopped making sense a while ago. If it wasn't for the fact that my necklace isn't glowing I'd swear I was in the Infinite, that's how empty this place feels. 

    "What are you doing here, human?!"

     I react before I can think. I throw my hand out to generate a shield instinctively. The Nightmare bounces away from it. That's when I notice my necklace. It's not glowing, but I swear I feel something odd about it. It's like the power I feel from Alex, strong and certain and like it could destroy you. I'm so distracted I almost miss the Nightmare charging at me. I throw my hand up, and this time he seems to go flying. 

    I look around, scared. I'm a human. The only power I have as a human is when I'm lucid, and I can only go lucid in the Infinite or in the Dreamworld. I concentrate on reality, on what Estellia would look like if I was awake, then I look down at my necklace.

  It's glowing. 

  That can only mean one thing, this is the Infinite. How though? I swear I was awake. I'm certain I'm awake right now. Maybe this is another Infinite, some other place the Nightmares keep from us because we can't be trusted. 

   There's only one way to find out. If this is the Infinite I know, my temple will be in here somewhere. I focus on the strongest image I have of it in my head, the realm of souls, and I start to fly using my necklace. 

   I saw a picture of people flying using special boards in Fairyland once when I was small. It was in one of the books we had at school. I decided I wanted one, so whenever I fly in the Infinite I enlarge my necklace and leap on it to fly around. It's a lot of fun and I wish that I could do it in the real world. As I start flying, I notice the stars emerging. They aren't Estellian stars, these stars don't twinkle and the light coming from them feels almost physical. That's because these stars are actually Dreamworlds, the bigger they are the more powerful the Nightmare that controls them. 

   I don't navigate the Infinite by anything other than instinct. If there's a better way of navigating I don't know it. But I think I know how long it should take me to get to the temple, so I keep flying in the direction I know it's in. I'm not expecting to see it, so I almost fly past it. 

   From afar it's nothing impressive. It's not the smallest of the Infinite's Dreamworlds, but it's small enough that no High Nightmare would notice it. I stand on the ground around two pillars, one leaning against the other. You can only get in if I let you. 

   How did I not know that you could enter the Infinite while awake? Why isn't it mentioned in any books? I know the Nightmare countries aren't like human country, but is that because they're actually part of the Infinite and we don't know that because most of us don't sleep? If they are, does that mean I can connect my temple to Estellia, and I could visit it even if I'm awake. 

   I have to try.

   I picture Estellia in my mind. I picture the Human country, little more than Grassy fields dotted with small towns. The Shadow and Sorcerer countries, filled with large cities and enormous structures, the places that aren't cities filled with large forests. The Fairyland, an island in a large ocean. The Monster country, mostly forests, dotted with temples, and a city filled with sin. At the center of all of them, at the center of everything in fact, is the Dream Tower, where at the top is said to be the arena where the strongest Nightmares test their skill. 

   I open my eyes.

   I'm still in the infinite. I don't know how to get back home, or if I even can. 

   I go inside the temple. One nice thing about it is that I can move the doorways from one room to another, so if I want to get to the library from my apartment I don't have to walk through the realm of souls. I find myself wishing I could connect the library here to the library I was using when I lived in the Human city. Then I open the door to the library and realize somethings wrong. My library is massive, and this one is small. Wait, are those posters on the wall?

    I walk through the door, and I realize I somehow connected the temple to one of the Human city's libraries. How? I don't know, and right now I don't care. I close the door, open it, and see the city streets outside. I think about the realm of souls and grab the door again. Sure enough, I open the door to the temple. 

    This changes everything. From now on, I'll never have to worry about being homeless. I'll always have a place to sleep. If the Nightmares attack me, I can run away. I'll never be in danger again. From now on, I'm safe.

   I reenter the Temple. I think it's time I take a nap, then I want to get some new clothes. If I can make money here the way I can in Fairyland's Dreamworld, I want a house to. I don't need it, but I want to be able to come and go to the temple when I please from now on.