Tales Of Fantasia

Edward blinked.

Once again finding himself on the same operation table he always wakes up after his fight with the mannequin. But this time was different from the rest the room was silent without anyone else in the room.

He found himself in the dark room surrounded by the puppet parts and operation tools alone, it was creepy but he didn't care anymore. He was used to it here, the parts on the table nearby with the tools didn't creep him out anymore.

And somehow he understood he wasn't in the world of the story as he was supposed to be nor did he return to the library and the real world. He was somewhere, somewhere between all of this perhaps it was his mindscape. He got up from the table heading to the exit, every time he walked he felt this strange feeling of floating but he didn't care.

Once he opened the door what greeted him wasn't a familiar hallway but an endless white void before materializing a path for him made of marble tiles. Edward walked along the path searching for some clue about why he was there until the path came to an end in front of a door.

A familiar door, where he stayed the last few days maybe weeks, was the door of Pi's room. That was enough to tell him what he was going to face, with a deep breath he slowly opened the door.

The room was the same as usual but on the bed, another man sat, a familiar-looking man with his dark blue suit and raven black hair. 

"Took you long enough."

Edward walks in the room closing the door behind himself and drags a wooden chair from the workbench that was close by. He was silent for a few seconds before saying in a low tone.

"I guess."

Pi looked at him without much emotion in his eyes as if the fact Edward possessed his body was something he didn't care much about.

"I am surprised, I thought you would be smarter than this."

Pi then looks through the window and sees the white void slowly turning dark, he then looks at Edward silently for a few seconds as if examining him.

"Your body... use it better."

"Hm?"

He then pulled out the familiar golden-hilted sword from under the bed and said without even looking at him.

"I saw your battle against the puppet soldier. It was disgraceful is least to say."

Edward didn't refute his words he too felt like his fights against the mannequin were simply pathetic. It felt like every time they fought again he was making less and less progress in his improvement.

Outside the white void has long turned into a simple void of darkness only remaining thing is the room he and Pi are in. Soon there was an explosion of pure light as if the god said one of the most famous lines once again.

Let there be light.

Soon the scattered light dust starts fusing into many little stars as they make connections with themselves through thin string of shining dust. It was beautiful even Edward was astonished by its beauty as he observed it through the window of the room.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

Pi said as he stared at the forming stars with a longing in his eyes.

"It always happens just right before you wake."

He then looks at Edward again before saying in a serious tone.

"Pain you felt is an illusion, the heaviness you feel when you fight longer is a mere echo of your flesh body. The puppet body isn't the same as the one you had before it is tireless and painless. Don't treat it and use it like you would use a human one instead use it properly like how you should use a puppet."

Edward felt the feeling of floating slowly turning into one that's more similar to drowning, the feeling of his senses slowly fading away enveloped him. As his mind fades away from this place his avatar too starts disappearing into the light dust which Pi watched silently while holding his sword.

"I will be waiting for your next visit."

***

Edward opens his eyes once again finding himself in the operation room he first wakes up once again but this time beside him the old man is sitting.

'So I have returned.'

Edward gets up from the operation table and heads to the exit, the old man is about to get up, probably though he is going to the training room once again but Edward stops him.

"I'm going to my room for a little rest."

The old man stared at him for a second before nodding his head and sitting back in his seat, Edward after reaching Pi's room hesitated for a moment.

'Should I really stay in this room?'

But in the end, he opened the door entering the room silently, the room was empty and the moonlight fell upon the room through the window. Edward silently comes in front of the bed and checks underneath it and as expected he doesn't find the golden hilted sword Pi was holding.

'It wasn't here after all.'

He lays down on the bed, with this body he doesn't need to sleep, eat, or even breathe. He couldn't help but remember Pi's advice to him.

***

"Pain you felt is an illusion, the heaviness you feel when you fight longer is a mere echo of your flesh body. The puppet body isn't the same as the one you had before it is tireless and painless. Don't treat it and use it like you would use a human one instead use it properly like how you should use a puppet."

***

'Use it like a puppet huh? Do you mean like it wasn't mine without any care? Or do you mean similar to how the mannequin uses it?'

Twist your body to its physical limit if you do that as a human you might not only break your bones and dislocate your joints you will also tear your muscles doing irreversible damage to yourself. Then again he doesn't possess a human body but one that's made of unknown material, he might not have nerves, organs, and muscles altogether.

'If the pain I feel is an illusion and the heaviness I feel is my mind simply trying to recreate the fatigue then perhaps I should stop thinking this body like my original one.'

He lifted his hand staring at his fingers, he moved them a little feeling them moving through the air he knew it wasn't made of flesh but it felt like made of one. With it, he could feel the texture of things and the movement of his body, it was so similar to the feeling he felt when using a normal human body.

'Twist it huh.'

He then focuses his attention on his fingers trying to twist the joints of his finger towards different directions, slowly but surely, he tries to twist it. He felt a sharp pain as the joints of his fingers started bending.

'The pain is an illusion and this body isn't one made of flesh and blood simply one made for puppet. I have complete control over it.'

He kept going, the more it bent the more flaws he saw in the illusion of pain his mind had created to him. The intensity of the pain gets chaotic the more he tries to go further sometimes less sometimes more. When he stopped doing so the pain would stop and wouldn't return when he moved the joints to their original location.

'Yeah, this isn't my body after all but one made of simple materials.'

With that thought Edward held the upper joint of his pinky finger before bending it backward then bends the middle joint inward. He did the same with the rest of his fingers in that hand ignoring the flashing pain before forcing his fingers to their original position.

He succeeded.

And he bent them this time without using his other hand simply with his mind and did it without feeling much pain. Only then did he realize that he created a small hole in the illusion of pain his mind granted to him.

'Yeah, I am a puppet after all.'