Of course we’re in for another info dump! Yeah, I’m basically pulling Dan Brown here, but all I can do is tell you the events as they unfolded. And of course, there is more to it, but you will soon learn of that as we get along longer into the tale. Also, I’m going to be doing a whole lot of summing up, because if I tried to recall this conversation verbatim, it would go on for a really, really long time, and it would make me look more like an idiot than I already feel. And nobody likes that.

The Sphinx said in a grim voice, surveying the black horizon before us, “After the events in Memmelsruhe, I met with members of an organization that is nearly wiped out now. For simplicity's sake, we called ourselves Seekers. We went out into the world and into specific professions to find the truths we knew governments, the rich, and other intellectuals kept hidden. A way of monopolizing power and control. I shared with them everything that I learned and encountered in my three previous cases.

“They said I needed to take a break and make my way to Egypt. There I would assist with recovering some items that would be invaluable to our quest. It was apparent that others knew something of what was going on. There was a word that tipped us off: Tscheapwhetzar.”

I snorted. “Come on! That is such a stupid name! I don’t even know why I used it. It was just something that came to me and I ran with it.”

“It is a very important name,” the Sphinx corrected forcefully. “It means ‘collector and corrupter’, and a very, very important distinction from their early brethren.”

“Hmm?”

“The Tscheapwhetzars are one of eight orders known in the realms as simply the Accursed. Though most with this knowledge believed them to be extinct. However, our encounters with the realms implies that at least one, if not more are again active.” He sighed and then continued, “In any case, the presence of any of the Accursed, along with the Doors, means that they are trying to break the boundaries between the realms of Imagination and our Reality. If that should happen, it would be a violent clash of over seven billion people and all the worlds they have ever created.”

It was from here that I was schooled in the ways of the Realms.

See, the thoughts, dreams, daydreams, nightmares, idle thoughts, and more of every single person alive goes somewhere. They are not just the random burst of synopsis in your brains. They are the essence and force of creation. It is extreme power that flows with specific purpose into a kind of parallel universe where all that energy takes shape in the form of countless worlds.

All of these worlds, varied in type, size, function, and life are populated by the beings and individuals we come up with. And there are those of us here in reality who can cross over, and they are appropriately named Crossovers. These are people who when they sleep slip into this other universe.

No, they don’t disappear from Earth when they sleep; that would be super creepy and sketch! Instead, they take on an avatar that is exactly like them and they walk these different worlds. Some people end up on the worlds or in the places they have created, and others are thrown out at random into the Realms of Imagination. There is no rhyme or reason to any of it. It just is.

And it’s not just smart or imaginative people who go there either. Some people who are Crossovers have not a single imaginative bone in their body! Others are only mildly creative, and others are super into this kind of stuff. There are even power levels, for what I gathered. They are called Knights and Lords, which I found a little too archaic. I mean, I did write about them once, but again, that was just fantastical, creative whimsy doing its own thing.

I mean, I can’t be the only person who just lets my fingers fly when I write!

“Well, compared to Crossover, or the Accursed, we are next to nothing,” Conturbatio said, wrapping up that whole long spiel.

“That still tells me nothing about the Accursed,” I pointed out.

“My best, and easiest explanation for them, is that they are humans just like us who are cursed to walk between two lives: Reality and Imagination. I guess it takes some kind of toll on them, because they would not be called Accursed otherwise.”

“Sound logic.”

“But we Seekers knew that there was once a war between the Tscheapwhetzars and the Whetzarchets to bring Imagination into Reality. And before that, those two banded together to fight a third group of Accursed who took on the name Guardians. They came very close to breaching the boundaries then. It was during the Napoleonic Wars.”

“Sorry, I was never any good at history,” I admitted.

“History is the most important of the literary subarts,” Naomi spoke up.

“What?”

“It’s a quote from the Way of Kings” she said smugly. “You should read it sometime. And take notes from it. It might improve your writing.”

Thanks,” I huffed. “Very helpful!”

“You’re welcome.”

“Ruben, you have written our stories. You should know that you will not get the final word with Naomi,” Trick said with a wink.

“If we could get back to the matter at hand,” the Sphinx said sternly.

Once he got going again, the Sphinx began to explain how the Seekers feared that the Accursed might be working Crossovers, probably very powerful ones, to use Doors to merge the two universes. They wanted to head them off if it were possible. The Q Files were being closed down for an investigation after the debacle at Memmelsruhe and with the Mother Jed. And just after that, Seekers started going dark.

Conturbatio and his few contacts raced for Egypt to meet with some closed off associated who helped them raid some very deep tombs. These were catacombs that they believed stretched back to the very beginning of Egypt. With their knowledge they had discovered something about a kind of dark agreement, or covenant that had been made. It involved the Doors, and provided ways for those who could not cross over to do so.

And yeah, I know it sounds super cliche to say that all of this magical hocus pocus comes from a place like Egypt. I think the intellectuals have a name for that, but I’m too lazy to look it up right now.

In any case, the action began for Conturbatio there. Strange people from clearly two different organizations came to attack him and his colleagues. It was then that he learned for a surety that the Seekers were being hunted and disposed of. One group he was certain were linked with the Accursed, but the second was something much more like a government organization. And that second one was the one the Seekers had started calling the Syndicate. The Sphinx had heard that there might be a more official name for it, but the lady who was doing that investigating was found brutally murdered after he came back from Egypt.

But then, the Q Files had been brought back online, fully functioning. Rumor had it that a powerful group outside of the government had sponsored its return. Conturbation had been unable to confirm who they were exactly, but he rightly guessed that they had something to do with the people who came and hunted him in Egypt. He knew that the safest thing to do was to play along with their games while scheming with the remaining Seekers for a way to strike back at them, or to escape should he become their target again.

It was through this forward thinking that we had been able to survive for so long. And now, we were on the run for one of the last known safe houses, so that we could use an artifact that had been recovered to allow us to cross over to the realms and continue their investigations as to what was really going on.

“I had my suspicions that we would be targeted next,” the Sphinx continued hoarsely after his already lengthy explanation. I was surprised that Stacy Miles, nor anyone else leaped in to help him; it seemed that they were content to let him do all the talking.

I glanced and saw Trick’s mother snoring against the shuddering cabin wall of the plane, as the Sphinx’s voice reached me again. “It all came about when I checked up the survivors of our previous cases. Trick and Naomi said they had lost contact with some people, and when I followed up, I found out that someone was erasing them from the books and from memories.”

“But hold on,” I protested. “I know that the Men in Black franchise have this whole thing about erasing minds, but even then we see that it isn’t so easy. People are usually connected in a multitude of ways! There’s no way that you can just erase somebody from existence!”

“Exactly, and these attempts have not been entirely thorough. Evidence still remains,” the Sphinx replied. “However, it is effective enough. The Q Files have good enough records stored away that we can validate our claims when the time comes, but for right now we are on the run. I believe that Syndicate is linked with the United States government in some kind of way, and they are the ones responsible for the erasures.”

“And how will going to realms help us out? Unless we’re going to pull some Inception crap and mess around with their minds,” I grumbled, before yawning.

“That is a possibility that we must look into,” Conturbatio said with a wry smile. “But for now, we must focus on reconnaissance. We cannot act until we know more!”

“Alright, that makes sound sense. If these people are using the Realms to help them further their aims, then we should not go in blind. Especially if they have any special powers in that place.”

“Now you’re thinking,” he congratulated me.

“Still, why am I being dragged along? I can say with certainty that I have never cross over to the Realms. I’ve just been writing your stories without realizing it!” I threw up my hands for emphasis.

“Naomi came across them while doing some research for me. She sped read through them, shared them with Trick, and then they shared what they had discovered with the rest of us. Before my last remaining contacts with the Seekers went dark, I found out about the possibilities of individuals gifted with the ability to peer into the Realms, or even interact with them, without having to cross over in their sleep!”

“Like a Dreamer, or a Wisher,” I said with sudden realization.

Yes, it takes me that long to connect those dots. I was under duress!

“Yes, very good,” the Sphinx said with a nod.

“Wait, but back up a moment. If the Seekers are all gone, except for you, who have you been in contact with?”

“We had a network of people who were sympathetic to truth seekers, or those who owed us favors. Nutcases, conspiracy theorists, convicts, people like that,” he answered. “I think that the Syndicate has been busy mopping up the last of the Seekers. They don’t want anyone else to possess the same knowledge that they do, or have anyone in a position to foil their plans. Whatever they might be.”

I could tell by the bitterness in his voice, that he was unsure of their endgame then.

“Ah, now it all comes together. So with everything happening to the Seekers, and suddenly finding out that there was a random kid out in Colorado who could see what you guys were doing, you wanted to see if I could be helpful in some kind of way.”

“Correct, again.”

“So, if I am a Dreamer, which means that I can see what you guys are doing-”

“I believe that when you sleep you do not persey cross over, but you glimpse how the realms affect our reality, and you are then able to write about it,” Conturbatio said, cutting me off.

“And I was going to follow up with saying, it looks like Wishers are able to pull over things from the realms here,” I finished stubbornly.

“Yes, or something close to it. We’re not really sure what they can do, but we once patched into the coms and we heard them use that word. It was easy to make the connection once they started chasing us.”

“How long have you been on the run,” I asked, finally getting a sense of empathy for what these five had been going through before finding me.

“Not including finding you, we’ve been on the run for four days. It was only when they were able to dig up Naomi’s past searches that they realized there was someone out there like you. Which is a very, very lucky break for us.”

“I don’t feel very lucky…”

“Hey! You’re alive, aren’t you,” Stacy asked with a snap to her voice. “Then you should be grateful!”

I shouted, “Do you know my life? And what has it become?”

“Stop this,” Trick said, sounding very serious suddenly. “We don’t need any unnecessary teenage angst, and we certainly don’t need to compare who has had the worst life. This is pointless and will only divide u when we need to work together to stay alive!”

“He’s right,” Conturbatio said. “We need to work together and keep our wits about us. Besides, we are almost there. We’ll be descending soon. Let’s just be grateful that we haven’t been shot out of the sky.”