God of Discovery [high fantasy, slow build, mlm]

Arc 3 - 30. God of Illusions

With D'Argen's entire being hurting when he opened his mahee to run, he was unable to get them too far away. Not that he could tell. Lilian, however, kept pushing him and telling him to go further and further. That they were catching up.

D'Argen did not see anything but white space.

After one such run that ended so abruptly even D'Argen stumbled and fell, he refused to get up. He rolled over and sat up, but refused to do more than that. It felt like he was sitting on rocks and in shallow water and among pine needles.

"How big is this place anyway?" D'Argen gasped out from between his knees as he tried to level out his breathing. He also tried not to think about what, exactly, he was breathing in.

"It is Trace," Lilian responded from beside him. They were not winded at all. There was a tension in their small frame that D'Argen only recognized due to the many times they fought side by side.

"What do you mean, Trace?"

"Exactly as it sounds. You came to me in Evadia, and we are now almost—"

"Wait, wait, wait." D'Argen lifted a hand in the air to stall them. He took a deep breath and then focused on Lilian fully. "We are in Trace?"

Lilian nodded slowly. "The realms are not separate. Think of them as layers."

"Even the gods' realm?"

Lilian scowled at him. "You are not ready to know. Not yet. Your mind... it may not be able to handle it."

"Handle what?" D'Argen snapped out in anger. "The fact that Darania was the one to cast us out?"

"How did you know?"

"I heard her voice. I remember hearing her voice." D'Argen watched Lilian carefully as he spoke. Their face played with a lot of different emotions and though he did not recognize most of them, he did recognize the anger it settled into.

"We have to keep moving. Until we can get you back," they said.

"I don't want to go back. Not to that place. I want to return to—"

"You are not ready yet."

"What does that even mean?!"

"It means that your mind is broken!" Lilian snapped back. D'Argen recoiled at the anger in their voice but even more so from their words. So, it was true. There really was something wrong with him.

"Look, it will get better, it will fix itself, but you need to give it time," Lilian added quietly.

"How much?" he asked, just as quiet and faint.

"What?"

"How much time?" he repeated, firming his resolve. Delcaus had taken centuries.

"A few more years."

"More?" D'Argen gasped out. "How long have I been here? Has it been the millennia I—"

"Not even a decade. Trust me. Everything is... well... it is not fine out in the real world, but it can make do without you for a bit longer."

"You can see it all?"

"Some. Look, leave this for now. Your mind is most important."

"Not my mahee?"

Lilian quickly shook their head then said, "Your mahee is protecting your body and trying to heal the container. It will take time. Be glad you are the only one here and that you did not also bring Thar with you. Be glad the chains around Thar's mahee kept him safe."

There was too much information coming at him.

"But if the mahee wants me dead, to be here, then why would it heal me?"