Seducing the Guideverse With My System — Raising an Anomaly [BL]

"Orion? Buddy." Viktor crouched to the boy’s level, teasingly pinching his cheek. "Now’s not the time to make such jokes, okay? Of course you can wake up. I mean... it’s like having a lucid dream, right?"

Orion blinked blankly at him.

Ambrose face-palmed while Devon quietly pulled Viktor away from his son.

This was really happening.

’Aura, tell me you can figure something out.’

[I wish I could, sweetheart.] Aura sighed. [Even scanning his consciousness isn’t bringing much luck. His powers keep blocking every attempt.]

’Crap.’

[Let me try something...]

Before Ambrose could ask ’what’, a physical manifestation notification popped up in his head; the next second, there was a flash of silver light to his right.

Aura’s physical form materialised soon after, all smiles as she waved at everyone. "Hi." She was on the verge of giggling when she saw the way they jumped back, stunned. "Oops. I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself to you boys yet."

Her eyes swayed to Ambrose. "Or rather, a certain blockhead didn’t bother introducing us."

Gabriel squinted. "Wait a minute." His gaze flitted between Ambrose and Aura. "Is... is this the—"

"Aura." She answered before he could finish. "Yeah, I got the ability to appear out of Ambrose’s body like a week ago. Technically speaking, I’m not exactly out of his body right now since... this is his consciousness..." she drifted. "Never mind, I’m just here to help."

Aura crossed to Orion’s side.

Surprisingly, he didn’t seem startled at all by her sudden appearance. Rather, he gawked at her like he was standing before a shooting star up close.

"Whoa." He murmured, lips curving. "Aunty Aura?"

That made Aura freeze.

Her head tilted while Ambrose came to a realization.

’Aura, you must’ve been popping out with the future Ambrose too.’

[Fascinating. So he calls me aunty in the future?] She wondered in his mind.

’I mean—’

"You are so freaking cute." Whatever artificial restraint she had shattered as she fell to her knees, reaching for Orion’s face. "Why don’t you tell Aunty all about what we do in the future? I bet we were like two peas in a pod."

Orion giggled while everyone stared, torn between finding the moment adorable... and wanting to drag her off the kid and get him to end the literal apocalypse outside.

"Aura," Ambrose cleared his throat. "Can we just... skip to the part where you tell us what you’ve got? There has to be a way to figure out how to wake Orion up."

Aura angled her head to him, rolling her eyes. "Right." Rising back to her feet, she placed an inquisitive finger on her jaw while keeping her other hand on Orion’s cheek.

She stayed scrutinising him for a few more seconds. Then, "What if he can’t wake up because the dream won’t let him?"

Valentine arched his brow. "Care to elaborate?"

Her cheeks flushed as she turned to face the Necromancer. "Okay, from what we know, Orion’s dreams and imagination can change reality, yes?"

’Girl, I know you aren’t blushing at my man right now.’

[Hush stingy ass. Let me have my moment.]

"And to protect him and make him feel safe, his mind created... well, this." Aura gestured at a school of candy jellyfish swimming past them. "In doing so, his nightmare made its way to the physical world."

"Hm." Valentine nodded. "So in conclusion...?"

"What if his subconscious mind still thinks there’s a threat? I mean we’re telling the kid to wake up to a world with the same zombie apocalypse he was trying to escape in his dreams. What if deep down he doesn’t want to? And that’s holding him back."

Ambrose blinked.

Devon’s mouth opened and closed, trying to find something to talk about from all she said.

He couldn’t think of anything.

"That," Viktor blew raspberries, "okay, that sounds very possible." His head swerved to Ambrose. "You should be bringing her out more, Rory."

Aura grinned. "Aw, thanks. That’s why you’re my fourth favourite. Most times."

Viktor’s eyes narrowed. "... Wait, what?"

"Alright!" Ambrose clapped before the conversation could derail any further. "Guys, we’ve got to hurry up here."

Aura scoffed. "Did you listen to anything I just said? There’s no ’hurrying’ needed." Her neck swivelled to Orion. "It’s really all left to the little guy."

Orion’s shoulders fell. "B-But I do want to wake up." His voice was soft. "I-I don’t want anyone else to get hurt."

"Yes, sweetie. We know." Aura smiled wryly. "But a part of you wants to remain here. Away from the noise. The monsters. That annoying teacher always giving you math homework on Fridays."

Orion chuckled at that last part.

Ambrose dropped to one knee. Grabbing one of the boy’s shoulders, his fingers tightened ever so lightly.

"This world you’ve created is beautiful," he muttered. "And I know life outside can be a nightmare most times."

His lips curved. "But reality can also be beautiful, y’know? Like... like remember when we went to Vatican City? All those pretty buildings. The castles we still haven’t visited?"

Orion’s eyes brightened almost instantly. "I still wanna go there."

"And we will." Ambrose smiled, brushing a strand of golden blonde hair away from the little boy’s forehead. "Every castle. Every museum. Every country you keep pestering me about. But to do that, buddy... you’ve got to embrace reality."

The little boy frowned.

"Life gets hard sometimes," Ambrose continued gently. "It gets scary too. But that’s okay, because you don’t have to face it alone." He gestured toward everyone standing around them. "You’ve got me. You’ve got Uncle Devon, Uncle Viktor, Uncle Gabriel, Uncle Valentine... and apparently Aunty Aura too."

Aura beamed proudly.

"So even when life hurts," Ambrose whispered, "we’ll get through it together."

Orion stared at him for a long moment before slowly nodding.

"O-Okay." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I... I wanna wake up." His little face scrunched with effort. "I really... really wanna wake up..."

Seconds crawled by as everyone watched with crossed fingers.

Then Orion opened his eyes again.

The colourful dreamscape trembled.

The pineapple houses melted into streams of golden light. Bikini Bottom dissolved like wet paint, the candy islands shattering into glittering stars as the ocean around them vanished entirely.

A deafening roar echoed across the heavens, forcing the group to look up.

... Dragons.

Actual massive winged beasts soared across an endless sapphire sky while towering castles pierced the clouds. Knights clad in gleaming armour galloped across emerald fields below, banners fluttering from a sprawling magical kingdom stretching farther than the eye could see.

Devon slowly blinked. "I don’t think we woke up."

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