Chapter 179 – It’ll Be Okay

After figuring out what to do, Dream didn't hesitate to test the theory. He was now on a clock, so the faster things went, the better.

In the Arcana skill, there were thousands of strings. Many had different bits of data, enabling them to do different things. Dream needed to figure out which strings allowed him to control each energy.

With Sophia's help, he was able to activate one string at a time. When he did, he used his influence as the medium to exert the power of the string onto the conflicting energies within his soul

'Didn't work. Next.'

After trying one of the strings on both energies, he found that it did nothing. Accepting it, he moved on to the next.

1 string, 5 strings, 50 strings, 500 strings, 5,000 strings.

Dream went through each and every one, not leaving a single one unchecked. Some strings would work on Luna's energy, and some strings would work on Iris's energy. Sophia kept track of which did which as they went along.

<[Arcana] has leveled up!>

<[Arcana] has leveled up!>

<[Arcana] has leveled up!>

....

After several minutes and a few level ups, he had reached the last string. After testing it, he found it did nothing.

'That's it. I guess the level ups are nice considering the situation. What do we have?'

[Out of 8,319 strings, over 6,000 affected Luna's while only 244 affected Iris's.]

'...Seriously?'

[Seriously.]

'There really isn't anything related between them then... We'll have to take those 244 strings and combine their data with some of the other 6,000 strings. Can we do that?'

[I can try. I don't know how fast it's gonna go though, even with my speeds. It's not just logical data I have to work with. There's many abstract problems that I may not be able to solve.]

'I can help with that. Before we start though... Let's do the same thing except with the Particle Manipulation skill.'

[Why? That one handles matter.]

'Because there's a relationship between matter and magic. Iris showed me that when she sucked in fire and turned it into energy. I just want to work with everything we can.'

[Alright. Let's hurry.]

Saying that, the two went over and started testing the strings of the Particle Manipulation skill.

As expected, many of them did nothing. Despite that though, Dream actually received some levels.

<[Particle Manipulation] has leveled up!>

<[Particle Manipulation] has leveled up!>

....

Notifications streamed down his vision after every couple hundred strings. And while he was surprised about that, what shocked him most was the fact that there were some strings that worked on Iris's energy.

'No way. This stuff is supposed to work on matter. There really is a relationship between magic and matter.'

Dream's eyes were wide for the several minutes that he worked. He was also being struck with a bit of inspiration...

[Last one... Done. Out of 6,195 strings, twelve of which were created from level ups, 42 worked on Luna's energy while 177 worked on Iris's energy.]

'...'

[Dream?]

'I think I understand why...'

[Why what?]

'...Luna heals, so she would be aligned with building and creation. Iris destroys, so she's obviously aligned with destruction. Two opposites. However, Iris's and Riddick's energy, the destruction mana, has the peculiar property of scattering, dispersing. It creates a lack of control and lack of predictability. When you go to try and control the scattering mana, it seems to evade your grasp as if it's not even there.'

[Yes. We noticed that while enchanting Riddick's mana to his suit. Why would that mean your Particle skill can control destruction mana?]

'Because of the unpredictability. It's there, but it's not there. Just like subatomic particles.'

[...You're talking about quantum mechanics?]

'Yes. It's not an exact relation, but the concepts are kind of the same. Iris's destruction energy is more than just destroying things. It's about causing chaos, randomness. Quantum mechanics is kind of the same. It can be very random, leaving things up to probability. It's directly opposed to things that are predictable like classical physics. Luna's energy matches with that. It's very orderly, concentrated on building things according to a blueprint.'

[...]

'I'm just trying to find the relationship here! I don't know if I'm right, but it's something. And we need that something to find the similarities between the energies.'

[...But what you just said creates more of a difference between the two.]

'Maybe, but we at least have an idea of how the two are different. One is predictable and orderly, one is random and chaotic.'

[So we need to find the center of order and chaos. Isn't that the point of yin and yang?]

'...Am I gonna have to comprehend a great Chinese philosophical concept to survive?'

[Probably not. Look, let's just keep it simple and go through the string data like we were planning before. If you somehow become enlightened and fix the problem, great. If not, then hopefully we can brute force our way out of this mess.]

'Alright. Let's do it. Focus on the ones that interacted with Iris's energy first, and keep my mind accelerated.'

[I'll go as fast as your mind can take. Just worry about sifting through the data with me.]

'Ok.'

Following her lead, Dream went on to tackle the data of the strings.

.........

......

6 days later, Dream was still going through the strings with Sophia. 

Well, it wasn't really 6 days. On the outside, only 10 minutes actually passed. Dream wasn't worried about that though. While it felt like he had a headache, he didn't let anything faze him as he processed string data with Sophia. 

It wasn't simply processing the data though. Dream had to find similarities on how bits of data controlled energies. If he could combine the functions of the strings that controlled Luna's energy and the ones that controlled Iris's, then he would be able to find a way to combine the two without them conflicting.

'Things would be a lot easier if the energies didn't seek each other out.'

Dream grumbled as he sifted through more data. He had spent tons of time, only taking very occasional breaks. Even during those breaks he would be trying to catalog and compare data. 

'They react negatively... Negative and positive... the same positive and negative numbers cancel each other out. Can we cancel out these energies... No, that would just destroy them. It would drain the girls of all their energy as they constantly sent it to get destroyed... We need to mix it. Harmony between opposites.'

[You're pondering philosophy again.]

'...*sigh* Alright. Give me another batch.'

..........

Another 6 days later...

'...What about their connection? Can't we just divide them? That way they wouldn't attack each other.'

[Even after breaking the bond they still target each other. They were even able to target across your soul. There's nothing else I can detect that would indicate a connection between them. As far as I know, their true connection is somewhere we can't see. For all intents and purposes, it doesn't exist.]

'...Great. So they have an invisible connection. Guess we have to write that off...'

..........

Another 6 days...

'Ugh. I have a headache.'

[I know. I'm sorry. It's only been thirty minutes though. Their energies are moving toward your nucleus too. I estimate another 40 minutes or so before things get lethal for you.]

'...Let's just keep going. We'll find it. We'll figure it out...'

...........

.......

12 days later...

'I...I can't find it.'

[...We've gone through all the strings.]

'The data's all different. I'm... I'm trying to find zero. Positive and negative cancel out and turn to zero. All our tests didn't give us zero!'

[...I know.]

'All it does is explode! It just disperses! How are you supposed to mix creation and destruction?!'

[...]

'Am I just not creative enough?! Am I not smart enough?! I...'

[Dream...]

'No! I... Random. Let's just try random mixtures. Or maybe we can directly merge the data. What if we combine the strings?'

[I... don't know.]

'That's fine. We'll try it. Maybe it'll work. Maybe...'

.........

.....

6 days later...

'...Sophia...my head hurts.'

[I know...]

'I... Can I save them? I don't know if I can...'

[We... Maybe we should take a break. I can decelerate your mind for a bit.]

'But... we're running out of time...It'll only be 10 more minutes...'

[I... I know. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.]

'It's...not your fault. I'm supposed to figure this out. I'm the one who's supposed to be in the middle. I'm supposed to be able to work with anything... Because my mana is supposed to be neutral...'

[Should we... consider the worst?]

'I'm not leaving. I can't lose them. I can't do that again... Maybe you can go. We can offload you onto Aegis...'

[No! If you're going down, then I'm going with you.]

'Then...I guess I really need to figure this out soon then huh? I can't end up killing three people...'

.........

......

Over the span of over a month, Dream did his best to absorb information and figure out how to fix the problem. He went through all the data of all the strings, but no matter what he tried or what tests he did, the results were never as he wished.

Like this, he brought himself to the last 5 minutes. After those 5 minutes the clashing powers would reach his nucleus. From there, his very being would be destroyed. It would be unbelievably painful, and also permanently harmful. He would lose memories, power, and cognitive ability. And if he didn't stop it, it would simply destroy him. Then the powers would go back to their host souls and continue their battle where their hosts would die as well. Nobody would come out alive. 

Nobody outside the dome had any idea what was going on. It had only been 15 hours since they started the advancement and things had devolved into such a bad situation. Unless anybody from the inside said anything, nobody on the outside would attempt to interfere. 

Maybe that was for the best though. Luna and Iris understood that things had become irreversible. With Dream creating the contract, their powers were forcefully funneled to him. There weren't any bonds to break, and the connection was invisible. Only Dream himself would be able to break the connection, and he clearly wasn't going to do that. Calling their parents in would also only make things worse. 

They also understood how little time was left. The two had been overcome with despair for the past hour as they could only watch Dream's soul get eaten by their own powers. They both hated themselves. How could they kill the one closest to them? Why did the situation have to go down such a horrible road?

But no matter what they did or how they struggled, they had no control. The powers from beyond were too much for them to handle.

So they watched. They watched and pleaded with Dream constantly to break the contract and save himself. They didn't want him to meet his end here, especially by their hand. They couldn't live with themselves should that happen. But he was only silent. Silently working. Silently experimenting.

........

In his accelerated world, Dream had 2 days before the powers reached his nucleus...

'Neutral...Neutral...Neutral...Neutral...'

He repeated these words. After all the thinking he had done, everything had come down to that concept. He could feel it. He knew that word was the key. Something was tugging at him, and he felt the tug every time he repeated the word.

'Neutral...Neutral...Territory...Neutral Territory.'

Opening his eyes, Dream looked up.

'Aegis.'

"My lord."

'I need some capillaries.'

"Of course."

Not hesitating to obey his commands, Aegis used his power to slice some veins and arteries, producing only their ends that combined. He then quickly passed it to Dream in the 4th dimension.

After Dream received the capillaries, he brought them over to his soul. Specifically, the location within his Nexus skill where the girls' contract resided.

After locating the white and black contracts held by Luna and Iris respectively, Dream targetted the strings that passed between them. He quickly cut them, disregarded the pain, and connected the strings to the ends of the capillaries.

*Whoosh*

Sensing a new path, the two powers streamed through the capillaries that were both soul and material. They quickly clashed once again, but not before Dream attempted to make adjustments. 

'I just need...a neutral territory. Insert my clear mana.'

Mumbling his actions, Dream sent over his clear mana and saturated the capillaries with them. This clear mana stood in between the opposite forces, and when the two powers flooded the clear mana, the mana sought to divide them and merge them.

*Psh*

Black and white flooded into the clear mana and spread out like dye in water. Dream's eyes went wide.

'It... didn't disperse.'

Accelerating his mind even faster than before, Dream used all his power to observe the interactions.

'Mediating... The clear mana mediates between two forces. They communicate over the clear mana. It's a mediary. A mediary... I don't need to mix them. I just need a neutral territory. I just need a mediary. Aegis! More capillaries!'

Not bothering to speak, Aegis immediately cut off and sent more capillaries. They grew back on him anyway, so he had no trouble.

Dream collected them all and did the same thing as before. He found areas where the two forces clashed and cut the strings, placing the capillaries between them. He then filled those capillaries with his clear mana. 

This occurred hundreds of times. Each cut caused waves of pain, but Dream was already too hopeful and too numb to notice. 

Eventually, all battlefields had been directed through the capillaries. The two powers dispersed and communicated through the clear mana. They communicated through the neutral territory. 

Unfortunately, after watching for a while, Dream found that the two forces still didn't get along. They attempted to overrun the clear mana and drive it out.

'Control. I need control. Sophia, connect the strings from my two skills that control each power to the capillaries. I don't care which ones they are. We'll use those strings to mediate the battleground. My nucleus too. We'll use it as sheer divisive power. Three strings per capillary.

[Got it.]

Sophia immediately carried out his plans. Going to his two skills and nucleus, she cut strings and brought them over to the capillaries, attaching them directly to it. Each capillary received three strings. One controlled Luna's energy, one controlled Iris's energy, and one that controlled the results of both.

This happened across all the capillaries, and after it was done, Dream noticed a vast improvement.

[The forces are being mediated. For some reason the Nexus skill is running in overdrive.]

'Nexus... The Nexus skill is a nexus. A place where things converge. Perfect. It's perfect! Capillaries converge! A nexus converges! I knew it was the thing to do... Neutral territory...Neutral...'

[Let's observe more. If the situation continues to devolve-]

'It won't. I won't let it. This...This is what we can do. We'll do it. Maybe once the girls get their powers under control, things will get better. We just need time...'

Saying that, Dream proceeded to decelerate his mind. 

...........

Upon deceleration, Dream was able to focus back on his body. Though when he did, he realized things had gone a little awry. 

His body was mangled. Blood was flowing incorrectly, his body was spewing out mana randomly, his bones were twisted in some places. he looked... weird. Not that it mattered.

"Ugh... I guess I messed up some of the mana pathways. Who knew they would mangle my body."

[That you did. But it's fine. It's a problem for later. Though you're running low on blood... nevermind. It's... It's gonna be okay.]

"...Yea. It'll be okay..."