A Deluge of the Inevitable

***A Deluge of the Inevitable*** is the fifth chapter in the audio-fiction series, *The Sounds of Nightmares*.

## Description

*After numerous sessions and medical exams, it's clear that Noone's brain is changing in unpredictable ways. Although she's weary from a harrowing visit to a fetid stinking sewer, The Counsellor is determined to find answers about the nightmare world.*

## Plot

The chapter begins with the Counsellor explaining historical findings of the Ferryman as a storm is heard in the background. He reveals that the Ferryman is more commonly known by Parapsychologists as “the guardian of the threshold” and has always been a mythical entity they have obsessed over for centuries as he is detailed in numerous stories throughout many different cultures, all of which describe him as a being who confronts anyone that dares cross into unseen worlds. The Counsellor recounts his recent session with Noone and the words the Ferryman spoke through her. Though he struggles to understand the Ferryman's recent riddle, he has repeated his words countless times as if it was a sickness, “Cross the seal. Sink in a twinkling. Cast aside the old sleep, to sleep again anew". The Counsellor is aware now that the findings of the Ferryman are true, he is guarding the entrance to the Nowhere. The Counsellor is determined to enter the Nowhere regardless of the lengths he believes the Ferryman will to in order to keep him out.

The story switches to the events of the recent session. The Counsellor continues to work on the same apparatus he worked on in previous chapters. As he works on the apparatus, he explains that Noone’s suspicions about something being inside her head was true. After noticing something odd in the E.E.G., electroencephalogram, he reluctantly sent her to radiology where they discovered a pea sized tumor in her brain, specifically on the right sided amygdala, the part of the brain which is associated with negative emotions such as fear and sadness. Although the Counsellor has been told the tumor is benign, he does not believe it is normal given its bizarre appearance. Although he understands the tumor's location could give a rational explanation to Noone's situation, as it alone can impact fear response, emotional salience, and especially dreams, he cannot deny the evidence he has seen and collected that go against it all. Although he has thought about telling Noone about the tumor in her head, he is unsure if she will take the news well as she is already so fearful of her body. He believes news of a tumor would send her into an emotional spiral that could jeopardize a revelation that will lead him to Cici. The Counsellor pauses for a moment and states that what he is about to say next will likely make him sound mad. Despite what radiology discovered, the Counsellor knows that Noone’s vanishings, her feeling and sensing things in the places she has traveled to, is proof that there is a realm beyond their senses. Although he now knows that Nowhere is outside the boundaries of what is normal, he also knows that it is accessible, and he knows Noone possesses the means to enter the domain.

The Counsellor reads some papers of his former professor who also believed in the world Noone saw. The professors' papers state there are two things necessary to enter the “quiddity of consciousness”, the Nowhere. First a gateway, places hidden amid their world, and second, a means to open these doors. His professor claims the keys to open the doors are primarily cut out of fear. Still unsure of how to find the gate and the key, he ponders whether he does not have his professor's knowledge to solve things or simply lacks the same madness as him. His only hope to uncover the answers he needs lays in the apparatus he has been tirelessly working on. The Counsellor ponders over his own condition as he has not slept in weeks, and if he cannot sleep, he cannot dream as Noone has in order to enter the Nowhere.

After Noone arrives for the session, the Counsellor points out the ugly Autumn weather outside, he recalls the broadcast calling the strange weather as a “swirling mist”, a unique weather phenomenon to the Counties, a heavy rain is not far off. To brighten the mood, the Counsellor reveals a gift to her, a new red chrysanthemum flower, similar to the one her parents left her weeks ago but had died to aphids. Noone is surprised to see the flower but is underwhelmed by the gift. The Counsellor explains that the flower is his apology to her and a reminder that he is still committed to her as he was when she first arrived at the C.P.I.

Noone tells the Counsellor she is ready to talk about her parents. He is surprised as she has never been willing to say anything about them before and asks why she wants to talk about them now and what changed that made her want to talk about them. Noone fears she is beginning to forget her parents and hopes talking about them will help her remember them. The Counsellor asks if she feels as if she is forgetting her parents because she has not seen them for so long or if she literally feels as if she is losing her memory. Noone tells him it's neither as she feels as if she is losing a part of herself, she is unsure if she is the girl in the room with him or the girl in the Nowhere. The Counsellor tells her that he is certain the two are one and the same given everything she has told him. Although he tries to go into more detail about how it is not her that is different, Noone cuts him off, upset that he is trying to steer the conversation away from what she originally wanted to talk about, her parents. Noone expresses how frustrated she is about her situation, while most kids will go to their parents to feel better after having a nightmare, she is left no other choice but to relive them while she is in the C.P.I with him, all because he believes he can find Cici, through her.

The Counsellor tries to reason with her, telling her the only way to find answers is by figuring out where she goes when she sleeps. As a result, talking about her parents would only be a waste of time. Noone questions if the sessions are truly meant to be about her, and although the Counsellor tells her they always are, she is unconvinced as she has no say or control in how she feels or what she does, she does not belong to herself. Fed up with everything that is happening, but knowing it needs to be over and done with, she agrees to do as he asks, but on the condition he promises to not attach wires into her head and that there be no machines used on her for tonight. The Counsellor promises not to use any machines on her and proceeds with the session, informing her she will enjoy what he has planned for today. The Counsellor takes her to a room he would originally use to sleep in on occasion during shifts, but has now spent more days.

The Counsellor explains that the session will focus on a role reversal, where he will lay on the bed blindfolded as a way of depriving his senses to enter a state of self induced hypnagogia,  a transitional state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep, so he may focus on her words. He asks that as she recounts her latest visit to the Nowhere, to try as hard as she can to project her dream into his head. Although she is unsure that the process will work, she is willing to try.

As the Counsellor lays down on the bed to prepare himself, Noone looks around the room and spots a picture of a young girl, asking if that is his daughter Cici. The Counsellor reveals that Cici is actually his sister. Noone is surprised as they do not look much alike. As the Counsellor settles himself, Noone begins recounting her latest visit to the Nowhere. Though she initially speaks quickly, he advises her it is vital that she speak slower, as if she is trying to pull him in.

Noone proceeds. She recounts floating through the darkness with nothing at her feet. As the darkness faded, she found herself somewhere new, an underground brick tunnel, with a steam of thick sludge passing through a canal at the center. As she talks, she realizes she can still hear the jangling keys and scretching metal. She asks the Counsellor if he can hear the same. Although he cannot hear the same things, he asks her to keep trying to pull him in. Noone realizes the sound was coming from a child who was trying to close a big iron door, the last thing she heard before the door shut was laughter. Noone saw sludge pouring in from the pipes that ran along the tunnel walls. With no other options, she followed the stream until she reached a section where she saw storm drains above. As she looked up through one, she saw a boy’s dirty boots and an orange light shining from a lantern on his waist. The boy locked eyes with Noone and announced that critters were already appearing in the tunnels. Lights shined down from every drain above, from numerous children who wanted to take a look at her.

Suddenly, all the children quiet down as a rumbling is heard through the tunnels, all of them whispering, “It’s here, finally here”. Noone questions the Counsellor, asking if he felt what she felt. The Counsellor questions if the children she saw were waiting for her, however, Noone explains it was not necessarily her they were waiting for, they gathered for a special event that only arrived once per year, like a holiday. As the children left, she turned down a tunnel, walking down it until she arrived at a junction with numerous tunnels. Not knowing which tunnel to go into, she closes her eyes to listen and hears a strange sound coming from the path to her left. As she waited for the sound, she saw from a distance someone crossing by the dark tunnel's mouth. She saw a large man holding a strange gadget that buzzed, it would beep every now and again, detecting hidden things in the waters. She could barely see the rest of him but got a look before he crossed out of view. She noted the heavy sack he carried over his shoulder, with things moving inside it. The man was gone as quick as he appeared. As Noone looks around, she sees the sludge rising quickly up to her ankles, the stink becoming unbearable to take in. Noone tells the Counsellor to imagine waste filling his nose in order to better understand the environment she was in.

Across from her, she notices a pipe become clogged by a gray mass that was stopping the sewing from flowing. The gray mass wiggles through and falls into the sludge, revealing itself to be a living tiny thing that stood up and swayed about, curious about her. Noone notes its odd cone shaped head that reminded her of the cone mushrooms that grow out in a part of the Counties, called the Hate field. Noone decided to call the small creature a “mushroom fairy” and proceeded to approach it, as she inched closer, the creature mimicked her as if they were old friends. The Counsellor is surprised to learn Noone has encountered her first non-hostile being, one that was not another child. Noone understood the small being belongs in the world of Nowhere, but only part of it, just like her.

Noone asks the Counsellor if the process is working and if he can see the creatures small mushroom head. The Counsellor believes he can, but is unsure, so he asks Noone to continue. With a low voice, Noone tells the Counsellor to drift away.

Noone sees a crooked net lowering down from a drain grate above her and the mushroom fairy. While she ducts, the fairy doesn't, and although she tried to point upward to help it notice the net, it simply copied her gesture. Noone quickly realizes there is a girl laughing with ugly delight from the drain grate, reaching her arm out in an attempt to capture the fairy. Feeling unsettled by the girl’s attempts to capture the fairy, Noone grabs a loose brick and throws it at the girl. As the brick hit the girl's arm, the girl cries out, giving Noone the chance to grab the mushroom fairy and run. After running far enough, she puts the fairy down and watches it run off immediately.

However, Noone watches it stop and look back at her, suggesting she follow it. Noone becomes fascinated by the fairy’s small clicking body and its ungraceful walk. Although she did not know where they were going, she could tell the fairy somehow knew exactly where it was taking her. Eventually, the fairy stops in front of a rusty door that led to a maintenance room. Upon entering the room, she saw endless piles spread  all around the room. While some were piles of pure junk, others were piles of gold jewelry. If it could be collected, there was a place for it in the room. Noone feels mesmerized as she  looks at each pile around the room. Eventually, she comes across a pile of keys, making her realize that everything she saw in the room was dropped down from the world above the sewer over the years.

Out of everything in the room, Noone notices a child's propeller cap as the only thing that was out of place. The cap had been left on a chair, tucked away as if forgotten. Noone wonders if the cap was what the fairy wanted her to see. Noone suddenly hears the man approaching, causing the fairy to run and hide in a pile of mismatched mittens. Not knowing where to hide, Noone follows the fairy and hides in the pile of mittens along with it. Noone peers out from the pile to see the man entering the room. As he empties his pockets, she sees they are filled with coins, rings and trinkets. Noone watches on as he removes his plastic suit covered in gunk, revealing his body to be boney, with his spine bending horribly. Noone watches on in horror, realizing the sack she believed the man carried over his shoulder was actually the back of his head, comparing it to a balloon filled with water, throbbing and swollen.

As Noone looks at the man, she could tell he was not always the way he looked now, he changed and somehow became one with the sewer. The Counsellor is confused, wondering if she believed the place the balloon headed man resided in had transformed him. Noone, annoyed by his repeated questioning, questions why he is speaking instead of trying to drift into hypnagogia, so he can see, hear and smell just as she has. Despite how much he wants to drift, he struggles to let go. Noone mocks him, telling him to “try”, just as he would always tell her. If she is trying her hardest, then he should be doing the same. Noone continues her retelling.

As she continued to hide in the pile of mismatched mittens, she could see from the corner of her eye,  the small cone sneaked away. As Noone notices the balloon headed man stand inches away from the small cone, she thinks back to all the children she met before, who she could not save, and feels determined to save the little cone. Fortunately, the rumbling from earlier had returned, stronger than before. As the rumbling destroys the man's piles, he is thrown into an odd anger. Realizing the man is distracted, she runs out of the pile, grabs the mushroom fairy and runs out the room, the man noticing her as she leaves the room. As she continued to run, the man pursued her, though he was not very fast.

Noone understood the man's speed would not stop his pursuit of her as she realized the gadget he possessed was able to find her. With the buzzing sound of the gadget behind her, she tries to find another way away from him, but is unsure of where to go as her sense of direction is quickly lost the more she realizes the sludge has now reached her knees. After turning into numerous tunnels, she stops running, hoping it was enough to lose him. Suddenly, she sees lantern lights from above, the naughty kids from before had once again appeared and spotted her. All the naughty kids begin to chant, “snatch a gift, snatch a gift, before they're all sent adrift". As their chanting grew, she looked at the tunnel's far end and saw the shadow of the balloon headed man, cutting her off. Knowing now that the man was too proficient in the tunnels, she tries to retrace her steps but finds herself in a dead end. As she looks on at the wall of bricks, the mushroom fairy squirms hard, as if begging to be freed from her arms. Noone lets go of the small gray cone and watches it climb up a pile of rubble and slip through a crack on the wall without hesitation to abandon her, despite her having saved its life. Noone notices that the crack the fairy squeezed through began spouting water from the other side.

With no other options, Noone began to pull on the bricks in the crack as she heard the man step closer. As she removed the bricks one after another, she eventually created a hole large enough for her to crawl in, barely in time to stay out of the man's reach. Knowing she was in the hole, the man tried to grab her but she was too far gone. As Noone looked back, she could see its small milky eye peek through the hole to look at her, until suddenly, the rumbling from before returned, stronger than ever. The rumbling horrified the man, causing him to give up his pursuit of her. Even after the man left, the rumbling continued, and all throughout she could hear the cheers of the naughty kids grow louder and louder. Whatever it was the naughty kids were waiting for, Noone knew it was time for it to arrive.

As Noone looks at the Counsellor, she realizes he is still awake. Although the Counsellor is desperate to try and sense everything she has, he cannot as he doesn't have the same gift she has and she in turn cannot control that gift as well as he had hoped. Angered by the Counsellor claiming that what she has is a gift she is unable to control more, she yells out, telling him she would trade places with him in a heartbeat and wished she could give him everything that is in her head so she could finally be rid of everything. Noone asks if she should continue, to which he agrees.

In the tunnel, Noone felt as if someone picked up the sewer and shook it out of anger. As she saw water crash against the walls, she continued to run down the tunnel but continuously stumbled as the rumbling continued to shake everything around her. As she ran, she  noticed the tunnel getting wider and wider, the sound of clicks and murmurs could be heard nearby. In the darkness ahead of her, hundreds of little mushroom fairies scurried. Unable to react as they ran past her in a panic, she looked on into the tunnel and realized they were running away from a tidal wave running through the sewer. With the wave just a feet away, Noone is unable to run from it or find a place to escape it. Above her, she heard the naughty kids cheer, she understood they waited for the wave, and although they could not experience the wave's power for themselves, they loved watching it from afar, snatching things that ran from its path as part of their celebration. In an instant, the violent wave hit her, taking her back down the maze of tunnels. In the wave, she tried to swim upwards as hard as she could to reach the surface, the moment she did, the waves had stopped.

As the water carried her down, she spots the Candleman, floating on a broken door. The Counsellor instructs her to carefully detail her encounter with the Candleman. Although he nearly says that the Candleman holds the answers he needs, he quickly corrects himself and tells Noone the Candleman holds the answers they need.

The Counsellor tells Noone the Candleman was her tormentor, however, she begins to doubt whether he truly is. Unlike her previous encounters with the Candleman, she was now able to speak to him, she asks him why he brings her to the world of Nowhere and what it is that he wants. The Candleman replies and says, “Cross the seal. Sink in a twinkling. Cast aside the old sleep, to sleep again anew.” Noone yells out at him, asking why she should do as he says. Before she can finish speaking, the Candleman tells her, “Blight, not within, but without. Here, all banes be set free”.

The Counsellor becomes annoyed with the Candleman's responses as they continue to be riddles, riddles he believed the Candlman assumed he would not be able to solve. Although the Counsellor swears to solve the Candleman’s riddles, Noone stops him and tells him she already solved it. Noone believes that by giving herself to the Candlemans world, she will no longer be ill. Noone recalls that anytime she is in the Candleman's world, she does not suffer from headaches, parasites, or tests. Noticing she is believing the Candlemans words, the Counsellor tries to stop her and tell her what she believes is not true.

Angered by everything that has happened to her, Noone tells the Counsellor she would actually prefer to be with the Candleman rather than him, to be taken away from where she currently resides and from him as well. The Counsellor tries to tell her that she is giving the Candleman exactly what he wants by saying such things as his intention is to take her rather than save her.  As her frustrations grow, Noone looks at the Counsellor and states Cici likely felt the same, that she too felt relieved the moment she was taken away. The Counsellor, angered by Noone’s words in regards to Cici, stands up and prepares to storm out of the room, but not before saying, “I was only a boy”.

The Counsellor later returns, still upset by Noone’s words. No longer willing to continue the session, he tells Noone they are done for tonight and instructs her to leave and return to her room. Noone pulls out a sheet of paper she found in his desk, asking him what it is as it has her name on it. Noone knows the scan is of her and demands to know what it says. The Counsellor admits that she has a tumor growing on her brain. Noone is shocked to learn that her suspicions about something being inside her head were true. She quickly deduces that the cure she was administered for the water sickness was likely the cause of the mass growing on her brain. Noone asks how bad the tumor is, but the Counsellor tells her a mass on a brain is never good. Noone cries out, asking why he did not tell her about the tumor. However, the Counsellor unsympathetically tells her he did not want to tell her anything until it was necessary. No longer willing to speak to her, he demands that Noone leave and go to bed.

Before she leaves the room, Noone tells him that after the Candleman spoke, the wave carried her past the maintenance room the balloon headed man resided in. She saw him through a window with a terrified look on his face.  The man was opposite to the naughty kids above. Because he was living in the sewer, he had no reason to celebrate the waves, instead, he cherished what was dropped by accident from above. Noone explains that both sides wanted what the other had, but could never have themselves. With the session now finished in Noone’s eyes, she tearfully reaches for the jar of candy, telling the Counsellor she will be taking two sweets tonight. Still angered, he tells Noone to take as many as she wants and leave.

As the recording ends, the Counsellor is once again heard continuing to recount the events of the session at the beginning of the chapter. Having now calmed down, he thinks about how he told Noone about the tumor in a fit of anger, realizing it may have been cruel to tell her.

The Counsellor switches to talking about how he had been researching the requirements his old professor said are needed to enter the “quiddity of consciousness”, what he now knows is the Nowhere. The Counsellor concludes that his professor was only partly right. By analyzing everything the Ferryman has presented, he now understands that fear is an essential requirement to reach the Nowhere. The Counsellor states that he knows better than anyone that fear can push  people towards discovery.

In terms of the gateway to Nowhere and where it is located, he concludes it is not a place hidden in their world, but rather in one's mind. The Counsellor speculates that the tumor in Noones head may be the gateway he needs, referring to it as an organ of transcendence. The Counsellor talks about the apparatus he had been working on, and although it is not yet finished, it is functional. Knowing now that there is a chance Noone will not return once she travels to the Nowhere, he decides to do as she said, to try.

Moments later, the Counsellor is now in Noone’s room along with the apparatus. He explains Noone is so asleep, she did not react much to him entering the room along with the machine. The Counsellor concludes the apparatus is stable and should translate her neurosignals and broadcast what is currently in her head onto the screen. Noone, though still half asleep, notices him and asks what he's doing, but the Counsellor tells her to return to her sleep. Later, the Counsellor reveals it is now past midnight, and although Noone tried to wake up, she eventually fell sound asleep.

As the apparatus begins to function, the Counsellor looks on, waiting for Noone to show him the Nowhere. An image appears on the screen, but all he sees is black, an unnatural abyss. As Noone is heard struggling in the background, the Counsellor remains focused on what is being broadcasted to the screen. Suddenly, a shape appears on the screen, though it is difficult to see, as if he is looking at something through a mist. The Counsellor is shocked to see a silhouette suddenly appear. He notes the silhouette is ovular and splitting across the center. The ovular shape opens, releasing an intense light through the screen. As the Counsellor struggles to see the silhouette through the intense light, he notices a pupil made of light and realizes the silhouette is an eye. As the Counsellor struggles to look on, he realizes the eye itself is watching him. The apparatus inevitably explodes, all that is heard is the Counsellor struggling to collect himself after the explosion, only to quickly realize Noone has crossed into the Nowhere, disappearing from the room.

## Characters

* Noone
* The Counsellor
* Cici (mentioned)
* The Counsellor's Professor (mentioned)
* The Naughty Kids
* The Balloon-Headed Man
* Nomes
* The Candleman

## Trivia

* This episode was co-written by Youtube content creator ItsJustJord, who has played the *Little Nightmares* series and done some theories and deep dives into the monsters and characters of the world itself.
* As of this chapter, the Counsellor no longer asks Noone to tell of her recent nightmare, he now asks she recount her recent visit to the Nowhere.
* The apparatus the Counsellor used is one he had been working on since Chapter 3 as part of a final attempt to place himself in Noone's position and see what she has seen in the world of Nowhere.
* As of this chapter, the audio does not glitch when the Counsellor and Noone recite the Ferryman's words.
* This is the first chapter where the Ferryman's voice can be heard by the listener.

## Videos

The Sounds of Nightmares – Chapter 5- A Deluge of the Inevitable
## References

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqtEYF9gPtc