Chapter 26
In the void lies nothing. Only the remnants of what once used to be, and what will possibly become. In a strange paradox, in spite of feeling and sensation being non-existent in this plane, an inexorable sense of completeness is.
Bill sits in his own metallic foldable chair. Finding himself in a giant, dimly lit, vaguely recognizable office room formed from the strands of his previous perception of reality. The man-made room is empty and without any distinguishable features in sight. Only pale walls tinged in yellow and an emergency exit keep the canine company. Even still, clearly because of the chair's design being meant for humans, Bill is unaccustomed to being a quadruped.
Will light ever shine on his path?
Is there such a thing as light for him?
Well, as a psychologist, shouldn't the answer be obvious to him? In this path he had chosen for himself... in this bizarre tapestry of events that led him to where he was, he knows full well the trap that he had set up for himself. Does he know the answers?
Maybe his perspective of himself could shift anyway.
Lliam appears, the ceiling light directly above him proptly revealing his presence. Standing right next to the lone chair in the middle of nowhere, looking at the same direction the growlithe is looking at, he directs himself to Bill:
"If you hold onto that outlook, then the real world isn't such a bad place."
Bill does not even flinch at his sudden appearance. The melancholy in his tone resonates in the empty office room: "The real world may not be a bad place. But I still hate myself."
Kiyo's stoic visage appears, a light clicking above him a few meters away from Bill:
"It's your heart that perceives reality as being harsh and full of suffering. And your heart interprets reality as being only truth."
Cassie appears, likewise addressing him:
"How you've seen reality, how you interpret it... with those things changing slightly? What's inside your heart will change greatly."
Phanpy appears:
"There are as many truths as there are people."
Torchic appears:
"But there's only one truth for you. Focused through a narrow worldview, built using information that's been altered for your protection—it's an artificial truth."
Totodile appears:
"Yeah. A guy's view of the world is pretty small. You're just standing on a molehill!"
Cyndaquil appears:
"In the end, people can only gauge things around them with their own little yardstick..."
KFC appears:
"People tend to see the world using the truth that others have given them."
Lliam appears:
"Be happy on a sunny day."
Gill appears:
"Be melancholy on a rainy day."
KFC continues:
"You've been feeling that way because it's what others told you to feel."
Linoone appears:
"But fun things can happen on a rainy day as well!"
Kris appears:
"The truth embodied within a person is delicate and malleable. That truth can be changed depending on how you interpret the events in your life."
Togetic appears:
"Th-that's... b-basically all there is to one person's t-truth. A-And it's why you'd be... c-curious to find out w-what other deeper truths await you..."
Porygon appears:
YOU'RE SIMPLY NOT ACCUSTOMED TO RECEIVING AFFECTION FROM OTHER PEOPLE.
Lliam finishes:
"You can take comfort in knowing you have no need to worry about what others will think of you all the time."
...
Doubt still clouds Bill's heart. He does not know how to articulate a response to all this. Yet the burden upon his soul lessens.
"But..." Bill manages to say out loud. "...doesn't everybody hate me?"
"You're an idiot!" KFC crassly asserts. "You just assume in your own that everyone thinks that way about you!"
"But... I really do hate myself", Bill responds.
His twin approaches him:
"Someone who hates themselves will project that hate and will then be unable to trust others."
...
Caught in a peculiar contradiction, it's almost as if Bill does not want to let go of his negative emotions. He hunches himself over further, receding into his chair. "...I'm dishonest... a coward... a snake... and a weakling..."
Lliam intervenes:
"You can become kinder to yourself and learning about yourself."
...
...
"...I hate how I am..."
...
...
"...but still... maybe I could change and like myself..."
Reality cracks.
"...maybe it's really okay for me to be here after all..."
Crack
"...yeah. I'm only who I am."
Crack
"I am me. I want to be myself!"
CRACK
"I WANT to be here!
CRACK
Bill jumps out of his chair and onto the floor, tumbling it over in the process: "It's OKAY for me to be here in this world!"
Just like that, everything is dispelled.
The clear azure heavens surround the stunning blue ocean that Bill is standing on. Below is the greenish phantom of a beautiful coral reef, keeping him better company than the previous scene. White and celeste clouds mesh and produce patterns in sky as though they were careful brushtrokes on a painting. For a second, he is alone...
Then he is met with cheerful applause.
Everyone he personally met these past few months... all loudly cheering him on for what feels like an eternity. All surrouding him just as the blue skies do.
"Congratulations!", says Lliam, clapping.
"Congratulations!" says KFC, clapping.
"Congratulations!" says Phanpy.
"Congratulations!" says Torchic.
"Congrats, man!" says Totodile, clapping.
"Congratulations!" says Cyndaquil, clapping.
"AAaAaAAHH!!" yells Ronnie.
CONGRATULATIONS! says Porygon, outputting a clapping sample.
"C-Congratulations!" says Togetic, clapping.
"Congratulations!" says Linoone, clapping.
"Congratulations," says Kiyo.
"Congratulations!" says Cassie, clapping.
"Congratulations!" says Kris.
"Congratulations!" says Gus, clapping.
"Congratulations!" says Chespin, clapping.
"Congratulations!" says Ross, clapping.
"Congratulations!" finally says Gill.
Overwhelmed by the amount of support he's given, Bill can't help but close his eyes and smirk:
"Thank you all."
To my brother, thank you. To my mother, farewell. And to all guild members...
...congratulations.