Incubus Awakening: The More I Lust, The Stronger I Become

"Come on, Pixel, you can't be serious," Logan said, laughing. "If I'm dead, then how am I talking to you? Are you going to tell me that this is the afterlife?"

"Be serious, Logan!" she retorted, cutting away at the infinite null with her hand. "Right now, you and I are speaking inside your mindscape—your mental world. The only reason we're even able to do that is because you have a mind to escape to."

Logan squinted one eye. "What? But you were just talking about how I died. If my soul is gone, then shouldn't my mind be as well?"

"Well, I suppose I was being a bit misleading." Pixel thumped her chest. "To be more specific, your heart stopped. I was able to dive into your subconscious at just the nick of time and pull you in. If I hadn't done so, then we both would've been finished."

"Y-you what!?!" Like a scared little girl, Logan squeezed both side of his ribcage with his arms. Without having meant to, his face turned into one of disgust. "Pixel, what did I tell you about going into my mind without permission? I don't feel comfortable with you going and just—"

"Well, I don't feel comfortable dying!" she screamed—the void echoing back her voice like a cavern. "And I wouldn't have had to if you'd dialed in and used your Gift! I don't know what was up with you, but you recklessly endangered both me and yourself!"

His eyes fell to the ground—if this place even had one. "It's not like I meant to... it's just that ever since the night that you and I met, the mana won't react to me."

"Won't react to you? What are you talking about!? If you have a Gift, then mana can't just disobey you! That's nonsensical!"

"It's the truth. Believe me."

Pixel took note of the way her limbs were shaking, allowing herself a few deep breaths to quell the anger seething from within. "Fine, but you're going to have to tell me more."

Logan nodded his head. "Hm, I don't know exactly where to start. I guess I should begin by stating that even when I'd first awakened, my control over mana was terrible at best. It was like I was playing with a flamethrower—ready to ignite at a single mistake.

Then came the time Selene entered my room. At that instant, the power was banging against my core, sort of... begging to release. And I think, deep down, I was scared of what would happen if I didn't listen.

But as you know, that led to Selene getting hurt. When I saw the way she struggled for air, her pain transferred to me. It was unbearable, and a sight that I couldn't forget no matter how much I tried.

Thankfully, you were there to save her, but now when I think of releasing that same power that harmed her, it fights back. The mana doesn't accept my orders, and even brings me back to that same night of a bloodied Selene, making me remember what my lack of control caused."

Pixel listened quietly to the whole thing, loosely bobbing her head. Once Logan was finished talking, she hummed just once. "I believe I know what the root cause is. Do you think that maybe you don't want the mana to listen?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you say that you recall how you harmed Selene each time you call for the mana. Perhaps that's a psychosomatic effect of the trauma you've built up."

Deep in thought, Logan referred back to each time he felt for the mana—and even now, inside his mind, how he could still feel the mana on the outside waiting for his beckon.

"Maybe, but just knowing that won't fix the problem. And even if it could, I'm already on the brink of death, what more can I do?"

Pixel smiled. "For one, you can activate that power of yours that regenerates your body."

"My power...? Are you talking about the cafeteria? I thought it was you who rewound time to save me?"

"No, Logan. That was your own power. Though I still don't understand how it works, I know that lying inside you is a great gift."

"I thought you said I don't have a Gift, but an Aspect like a spiritual being?"

Although Logan didn't know what an Aspect was, he could at least discern just where his power came from. After all, he could never sense the type of abilities that other students possessed inside of him. The only thing he retained was the ability to manipulate mana, which, as far as he was concerned, was enough.

"Oh, Logan, how naive you are." Smiling, Pixel flung through the void like a wisp, advancing skyward. Space tugged on Logan, dragging him along. "Come with me. Let's explore together."

Even though Logan knew his body moving through space, there was no sense of wind pushing back, nor other objects to relate his motion to.

If not for Pixel's massive acceleration, he would've thought himself to be motionless. And yet, this issue was quickly resolved.

"Woaaahh!" he yelled, turning his body to the right. A huge rectangular prism shot down, interrupting their flight. Pixel pulled him to the side, narrowly avoiding it. "Ahhhh!" he yelled again, this time, reacting to a chair. Again, Pixel saved him.

"What is this?" Logan asked, looking on in shock as a sea of objects approached: masks, mirror, caves, snakes, and any number of other basic shapes and places with some symbolic meaning.

"This is the unconscious—the place in your mind most inaccessible to you!"

"But then why are all these things in our way!"

"Because this is an archetypal space! Everything most intrinsic to you is hidden somewhere in here!"

"An archetypal what now!?"

"Don't worry about that, just follow me!"

While they continued their ascent, the bland realm would illuminate inch by inch, getting to the point that its light begun to dig into the retinas.

Logan squinted his eyes instinctively, then released—realizing that he didn't feel pain in this realm.

Still, its light made it impossible to see. It got to the point that Pixel, who was just feet away from him, grew invisible behind the immeasurable luminosity.

Then, even his body went bright. "Pixel, are you there!" he called out. His hairs rose against the isolation, begging him to turn back.

And so he listened, turning his body the opposite direction. But no, that wasn't enough.

Something was dragging him, forcing him to ascend.

He clawed at the air, kicked his feet, and even knocked on his noggin to listen. But it was all futile.

Everything was light, then immediately dark.

Not only that, but there was hard floor beneath him.

Despite not having told his body to do it, his ears rung. Even his eyes, which could withstand the star-like light, burned from the deliria.

"Where am I..." he groaned, scratching his scalp.

Across from him was an endless corridor, boringly homogenous with a single color of brown.

Distanced about ten feet from each other were doors, equidistant and never-ending. They each had metal plates engrained a couple feet above their centers, but they didn't say anything.

The floor was a crisp blue, covered with nice rug.

"Pixel?" he called out again. This time, he got a response:

"Logan..." she called. She came not from behind or in front, but below.

Confusedly, Logan tilted his head down. It was Pixel, except, in her small form. She was nuzzled in his front pocket, covered with the same clothes from the real world.

"What is this?" he asked, struggling to get up off the ground.

Pixel shuffled herself free, letting out a huge gasp of air. "I think this is your preconscious."

"Hm, then that means that this space contains all my most important memories," he said. She nodded. Logan took that as a sign to open the door nearest him to his left. "What's behind here?"

Without warning, he saw himself getting beat on by a bunch of classmates in a school restroom. They each yelled their curses, then spat on him.

He closed the door and turned away without lingering on it.

"Hey, we saw some of them in the cafeteria earlier," Pixel said.

Logan ignored her.

"What should I do now?" Logan asked, making his way across the hallway to another random door. This time, it was another group of students doing the exact same thing: beating on him.

He slammed the door this time. Pixel tried best to hold back her smile. "You're cute when you get upset like that."

"Answer my question."

Pixel jumped out from her pocket, using the small wings on her back as a lift to his head level. "Fine, fine. If you really want to beat whatever ailment you have right now, my best bet would be to delve into your past and find out why you are the way you are."

"You don't mean..."

"Yes. Go and find the door to your trauma, and remove it from your mind."