The Story On The Board: What's A "Fourth Wall?" (Book One)

Intermission Six: (Flashback One Part Four): Learning The Truth

Silkress's followers surround me. I prepare to fight. I take the other sword. "Stay back!" I yell.

"Halt!" Silkress demands. Her followers clear a path to me. Silkress slowly walks forwards. She has six arms. All of which hold diffrent things. Including: two swords, a can of cola, and a phone. She hands the phone to one of her followers. "Hold my calls," she tells the follower.

She approaches me. Staring at me with her eight, beady eyes. A sense of fear looms over me. I can't bring myself to strike. She grows ever closer, her feet tapping on the wooden floor of the dark room. Finally, she stands right in front of me.

She draws her swords. I'm paralyzed with fear. She lifts he blades. I can't move. She begins to strike, but instead of hitting me, she sticks her swords into the floor.

"Don't be afraid," she pleads, "I'm not gonna hurt you. Want a soda?"

She hands me the cola. I take it.

"So, who are you?" Silkress asks.

"Name's Peter," I reply, the sword still in my hands, "and you're Silkress. Kidnapper of children for your twisted cult."

Silkress looks surprised at the accusation. Antagonist whispers somthing to her.

"Let me guese," Silkress gives a patient smile, "The Mind told you that, right? My sister?"

I nod.

"And she's been tormenting you?" Silkress asks.

I nod again.

"That heartless, unrelenting, psychopathic bitch!" Silkress yells, "nope, that's it, this is the last straw. My dear followers, as you know, you may leave The Web at your leisure. We're about to go to war. If any wish to survive to the end of the Asension, leave now."

A fair number of the followers leave.

"You let them go?" I ask.

"I'm not like my sister," Silkress replies, "my followers come and go as they wish. I am not building an army. The Web is used to spread knowledge and as a form of group therapy. I am the goddess of fears, but I don't feed of the paranoid suffering of others. I seek to help people get over their fears."

"Then what's up with the knife?" I ask.

A follower hands Silkress the sacrificial knife. "It only exsists on the astral plane," Silkress explains, "when someone enters The Web, it involves some soul bending magic. When someone enters The Web, they need to be able to leave. So, we sever the link between the conscious and unconscious. Thus, while in The Web, it only effects the subconscious. When they leave, The Mind is removed from their subconscious."

I let the explanation sink in. Finally, I ask, "so what's The Mind really like?"

"Well," Silkress explains, "she's the stereotypical evil hive mind. She wants to rule the world, she kidnaps, murders, and even torments innocent people such as you to get what she wants. Now, we just gotta summon her."

"How?" I ask.

"She can't stand it when someone says this, watch closely." Silkress smiles and takes a deep breath. She yells, "nine plus ten equals twenty-one!"

There's a massive gust of wind. Two wind mages in grey cloaks stand at the entrance of the room. The Mind walks in. Hiding her appearance under her cloak. I can feel her glaring at me. She draws her sword...