Hello, Cloudheads! And so, the mystery becomes clearer and deeper at the same time. (Is that even possible?) This chapter covers the introduction of Ledd's ace-in-the hole, Diego. But, who is this mysterious stranger? Why does he speak like that? Is his race somewhat related to Sachaphoyans? Will I ever learn my lesson and stop asking myself questions? Why the hell did I even start this post with questions? Did I leave the stove on?
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After running to the kitchen, I can safely say that I didn't leave the stove on. Whew! What a relief :D Anyway, he's a somewhat known fictional character that's not an original creation by yours truly. I peppered in a lot of clues regarding his identity, and I don't know if anyone would be able to guess who he was. Heck, I didn't even know who he was! I had to research all of the references that I wrote.
Any guesses?
I'll tell you what — I'll reveal his identity if this post gets 500 upvotes, 100 comments and at least 10 resteems. Sounds fair?
I know that'll only take a few minutes to accomplish, so before that requirement is met, I want to move on to a different discussion first. Diego's identity is, truthfully, beside the point. I mentioned that he's a fully fictional character, so even though he's in front of the giants, nobody else but Ledd could really see him. This was another hard decision for me to make when I was writing this.
Have you ever seen children (or adults) talking to themselves? Some find it strange, while others find it scary. Who they're talking to is simply not there, or maybe is something unseen. This has been commonly attributed to brain damage, or sometimes the supernatural. Most of the time, these hallucination are uncontrollable. The people who see them don't even know that they're not "real." This is quite an interesting discussion. Is it not "real" because we don't see it or have any proof of its existence? Is it easy to just pass it off as a figment of one's imagination?
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This hits close to home because growing up, I've lived in many fictional worlds. I see them and feel them as if they were a part of my reality. Others looked at me and thought that there must've been something wrong with me. Just to set the facts straight, I know that those were fictional worlds, and people, and events. But, was it really something "not real" just because no other person can see it? It's not for me to answer, but it was real to me.
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I didn't have imaginary friends that forced me to do unspeakable acts, but the events that transpired in the fictional worlds I lived in helped me to grow as a person. Fictional characters in those world "grew" along with me. It wasn't easy when it came time to let them go, and I only try to honor their memory by chronicling the events of the past through my writing.
Now, for people who do have imaginary friend that force them to commit horrendous actions, that's something that needs to be medically taken care of. Our brains are fantastic, and when they're wired differently from the norm, the neurons fire in a different way. That doesn't mean that people who suffer through that are any less than us. They're special, in the best possible way. And, that's what Zepp is.
With regard to the whole scenario, I've been keeping people guessing as to what the true nature of this chapter is. Good try @dreemit, @ryivhnn, @meesterboom and @kiwideb :D But, what really happened is something that I didn't mean to overly expand in the story mainly because I feel like it's beside the point. It's fun thinking of what really happened without stating it sometimes, right?
Because of Zepp's condition, he suffers through mild brain seizures, which is very scary considering that no one would really have a clue when it's happening. He just stops and stares blankly at a distance. Sometimes he faints, and that's what I portrayed in the tail end of the story. I don't want to include pictures because I haven't talked to my cousin about sharing them, but MRIs have shown that it has been occuring for quite some time now. It costs money, that's why I wanted this initiative to help out with these kinds of expenses. I really wish that I had the power to magically cure him, but sadly, this is the best I could do. If we could spread the word about raising awareness for this, it would really help a lot to help give a voice to the voiceless.
Woo! That went deep real quickly. Chasm deep. Anyway, on to lighter fare. Do you have any guesses on who this mysterious Diego is? I don't want to reveal too much yet as it might blow the lid regarding the deeper mystery of the series. Tune in next week for more revelations!
Thanks for reading! Follow me, @jedau, if you want to live.
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