Figment: The Sparks Long After

by Wolfenpilot687

Summary:

Figment deals with the way the world has changed since the heyday of Imagination, after being contracted by a mysterious entity. Explanations for each chapter will be appended to the end of each chapter.

Chapter 1: A Spark of Confusion

"No, wait...this isn't right." The purple dragon muttered, scratching his head as he examined the blank canvas. Well, blank wasn't exactly right. There was a strange splotch of brown paint on a corner of it. But that was it. It almost seemed like an accident, like somebody had sneezed paint onto the white surface and just...displayed it.

Why was this in a museum?

People walked around in silence, looking at the many pieces in display, often not saying anything, and then walking away. Figment made sure to get out of their way, even if he was invisible to them.

Figment had been roaming around, hunting down the next big idea, something revolutionary that would surely further the creative and/or scientific landscape of humanity. Usually, he had pretty good luck in cities. Many humans lived in cities, and many of them had jobs that involved some aspect of creation! And many of them just needed that little push in the right direction. Just a tiny nudge towards the eureka moment that brought such a satisfying breakthrough!
Just thinking about it made Figment all giddy and giggly.

Children often had the biggest ideas, and he loved to just listen in whenever any of them expressed them with passion, but sometimes...he felt like he didn't quite understand humans as well as he thought.

This one time, Figment was quietly hovering over a boy, who eagerly drew on paper. He was designing a marvelous flying machine! A huge rocket-powered house, both a plane and a spaceship! This kid was thinking big!
Once he was satisfied with his design, the boy ran off to his father, who seemed to be working on something himself. Figment couldn't help but to follow and see what would unfold.

The father toiled away on a much more complex project, one linked much more closely to science and advanced aeronautics. Figment was fond of those as well, but he often found that so many numbers and thin lines on paper made his head spin. That's why he had decided to watch over the boy instead.

The boy presented his father with his design, who seemed...rather uninterested. Brushing his son away, he continued working on his own, while the dejected boy returned to his room, setting his drawing aside. Figment panicked, as he feared seeing such a fun idea get discarded. But there wasn't much he could do to interfere this time. Sighing, he silently floated away, hoping things would work out on their own.

Figment had decided to take a break from idea chasing to partake on the fruits of creative labor instead. And what better place to find them, than at a museum? The halls where visual art was displayed! The finest pieces made by humans, for everyone to witness! And the opening of a new museum was always exciting! Unable to help himself, he set his feet on the ground and walked inside, ready to find something new to awe at.

And he…wasn't quite sure what he was looking at.

Humans sometimes created very strange pieces that many times he struggled to understand. If the themes they conveyed were too complex for him to grasp, he'd just nod and continue, at least appreciating the effort put into them.

But when the final result seemed like something that had been barely touched at all...even he felt doubtful.

Was a mostly empty canvas art? Some humans certainly thought so, considering the piece had made it to a museum. Despite Figment believing that absolutely every single drawing belonged in a museum, he could have sworn the artist wasn't even done with this one yet! Examining the brown spot on the overwhelming white, he imagined dragging it down and drawing...a mountain! Following that with some blue, he'd paint a nice creek, and maybe a lake! Some trees, and flowers for good measure!

The purple dragon blinked, as he realized he had started daydreaming again. This wasn't his work of art. He wouldn't dare try to change somebody else's painting without their permission! He was supposed to only offer small pushes for others to find their own way. He helped imagination, not substituted it.

Humans were really confusing at times.
But he knew they knew what they were doing. So he'd just have to learn to accept this new form of art. Who knew, maybe all he had to do was try to understand.

And so, Figment sat down in front of the mostly untouched canvas, fixed his eyes on it, and stared.

Figment stared at it for a very, very long time.

Notes:

Figment visits a museum and tries to understand modern art and how it conflicts with his idea of creativity.

Chapter 2: The Spark of Disguise

Figment had heard about this event. A gathering of people from all kinds of places, for a display of creativity and craftiness for the sake of fun and entertainment. It was a dream come true for the purple dragon, and he couldn't believe he was finally there. As he approached the building, floating around as per usual, he could already see many of them walking around.

He saw a mighty warrior with a sword. A master of martial arts. A beautiful princess with a royal gown. A colorful and goofy cartoon character. A sinister warlock of evil.

The variety was astounding, almost overwhelming for Figment. Approaching them to get a closer look, he was not disappointed by what he saw. The craftsmanship of the costumes and their props held up to close inspection from the dragon's watchful yellow eyes.

That sword looked like a real sword, but it wasn't! That dress resembled something sewn centuries ago, but it was recently made! This armor and that amulet, metallic and shiny, were flawlessly recreated, almost made out of real gold and silver!

Figment could barely contain his excitement, as he giggled out loud. A few people in costume noticed, looking around, trying to find the source of the noise. The dragon hurried to clamp his muzzle shut with his clawed hands. He had to be careful, making sure not to get caught. For the longest time, Figment had been allowed to watch and visit humans, under the condition that he remained hidden and invisible at all times. He had been warned about contemporary humanity, and how he should never interfere, even if just one human was present.

Things had changed a lot during the last few decades. Figment remembered when he appeared before children, getting to play with them to just about anything they could think of, the dragon using his powers to enhance the scenarios to just about anything beyond imagination. Now, even being seen by a human child was a punishable offense. They had attempted to explain Figment their reasoning, but time and time again the purple dragon cut them off, trying to argue in favor of actively helping people with their creative pursuits. His requests were denied time and time again.

Figment was to remain a passive force, only briefly influencing humans, in barely noticeable ways, with actions that humans could justify within the logic of their own reality. The dragon could not get any credit from this.

He had spaced out slightly, as many more individuals in costumes entered the building, having missed out on marveling at their craftsmanship. Figment decided to finally enter the venue and take a closer look around.

The dragon floated above the sea of people, excited beyond measure. Looking below, he was overwhelmed by the amount of color below him, the variety of costumes, the characters being portrayed. He felt just a tinge of jealousness, wishing he had a costume of his own to parade about in. He, of course, could materialize just about any kind of costume he could imagine, but it didn't mean much if nobody could see him, right?

The dragon squeezed his tiny hands into fists. Figment wouldn't let that stop him.

Floating down to the ground, he made his way among the crowds, finding an empty spot to stand in. Rubbing his hands together, he snapped his fingers, as an outfit materialized over his body. A dress shirt, a formal vest, and an elegant coat appeared over his torso, his diminutive wings peeking out from the back of them. On his head, a sizeable top hat, with a pair of large goggles wrapped around the band. Over his four-fingered hands, a pair of white gloves, pointed to accommodate his little claws. A pair of glasses over his yellow eyes, resting over the bridge of his big muzzle. And, as a finishing touch, a large white bowtie around his neck, which he adjusted manually for added flair.

Figment stood proud, as he was dressed in the garb of an old friend, who he wanted to pay homage to. Finally feeling like he fit into the event despite his invisibility, the dragon began walking towards the crowd, pretending that others saw his costume and also admired his creative take on the concept. He tipped his hat at anybody who remotely looked towards his direction, and jumped at the chance to pose in any photos being taken. Once again, he had to contain his laughter of amusement.

Figment was having the time of his life.

Notes:

Figment discovers the concept of cosplay, and how people express their creativity through it.

Chapter 3: A Spark of Kindness

"Wow, wow, wow! Look at all this stuff! They sure redecorated around here!"

The purple dragon looked around in amazement at the light show unfolding before himself. A myriad of bright dots and lines moving left and right at dizzying speeds, thousands upon thousands of multicolored boxes heading who knows where, and the massive pillars that surrounded the infinitely large space he was floating in.

The Internet was a truly amazing place.

Figment had been in this place a long time ago, when it was still in its infancy. What started out looking more like a delivery center for glowy packages and a bunch of glowy cables had evolved into something that showed a truly unlimited potential.

Having noticed the way basically every human had a little computer with them at all times (very clever and useful!), it didn't take him long to realize just how important the Internet had become now. As he floated above the busy traffic of packets of information blitzing below, he could barely comprehend how revolutionary this technology was. Humans in constant contact with each other, anytime they wanted! The creative and collaborative potential was nigh endless!

"Wonder what all these things are…"

Figment had to contain his curiosity and impulse to intercept any of these messages just to see what they said, slapping his own hand away from the data stream. That counted as interference, and he would not be breaking the rules like that! Besides, these were all secret! That would be rude!

"There has to be something fun around here!"

The dragon swam through the air, trying to find his way towards something he could actually look at. Something public, and hopefully artistic! That was his mood at the moment! He wanted to look at art. Stretching out his arms and cracking his fingers, Figment summoned a keyboard from thin air, searching for a place where he could locate art made not just by the most renowned painters of history, but by everyone. He wanted to see it all. As soon as he had typed his query, he had his result. Holding onto his keyboard, he found himself propelled to his destination at high speed.

"Whoaaaaa-hahaha!"

A relatively short trip later (he was sure he had dropped some scales in the way), Figment noticed just what he had been looking for. An infinitely large wall, covered in artwork, pieces from humans from everywhere in the world. If somebody could use a computer and upload a file, their work was likely displayed here.

Still holding onto his trusty digital keyboard, his hands shook, unable to think of that to search first. Tapping his head a couple of times, he finally chose something: dragons!
Drawings of dragons would be fun to look at! Seeing how humans portrayed dragons in recent times should be enlightening! After all, artistic trends changed and adapted with time, and these were also influenced by media and culture.

Having typed the word, he conducted his search, as the art displayed on the wall changed, the pieces unrelated to his query dismissed, and everything that featured dragons in some way was pushed forward.
Despite narrowing the criteria of art, the wall still seemed endless! Dragons upon dragons, of all kinds and colors! In many situations and in many styles! Figment floated up to look at some of them a bit more closely.

There was a watercolor painting of a red dragon flying through the sky! And a wonderful pencil sketch of slender dragon sleeping on a hoard of gold! Even a very nifty computer-generated model of a dragon! And...oh, what do we have here?

Figment floated up to a drawing that really caught his attention. A rather simple doodle of a smiling dragon and a boy, clearly made by a new artist! He recognized the budding lines and promising shapes of an artist in the making! Such pieces made him smile, as they reminded Figment that no matter what, new creators appeared every day, keeping the spirit of imagination alive.

Wishing to know who the artist was, Figment tapped the edge of the drawing, in order to display more information about it. But what he saw changed the expression on his face completely.

Somebody had left feedback on the piece, likely some other user of the platform, but it wasn't something friendly and constructive.

"How could someone be so...mean?"

And that wasn't the only one he saw. Scrolling down, there was another. And another under it.

Figment exhaled, trying to understand what was happening. That was...not how you encouraged somebody to improve, you had to be kind! Supportive! Constructive!

The dragon looked at the field where a user could leave a comment. His claws hovered over his own keyboard, shaking.

"If nobody is gonna be nice...I'll have to be…"

He began typing. He knew he was breaking some kind of rule by doing this, but he tried to justify himself.

"Nobody needs to know who wrote this...anybody can be helpful…"

Speeding up, he finished his message, as he hovered over the button to send it. He brought down both of his hands on it. And his deed was done.

Filled with a sense of paranoia due to the rebellious nature of his action, his heart beating fast, Figment closed down everything, floating away from the scene, keyboard under his arm.

Notes:

Part 1 of Figment's adventures on the Internet. Here, he discovers how people online can be mean.

Chapter 4: The Muted Spark

Figment drifted through the busy stream of information peacefully. With his eyes closed, his hands over his belly, and lightly kicking with his short legs, he allowed himself to be taken wherever the system allowed him to be. Right now, he was just resting. Because despite his energetic and boisterous nature, the dragon (like all other conscious creatures) also needed a break.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed since he had dropped himself into this 'highway' of sorts, wishing to relax and unwind after having browsed a large amount of content on the Internet. Then again, his mind couldn't help but to go places. It always did, after all. But lately, his mind seemed to be less focused on the 'could be', and too often going towards 'what used to be'. Figment didn't understand what was happening to him. Despite being several decades old, he felt more like a timeless entity. Without a real beginning, and unable to picture a foreseeable end. Figment was just Figment. A figment of imagination. He had been brought to life through sheer willpower and dreams forged into consciousness. For many years, he did not wonder too much about this, as he was well occupied with actively bringing inspiration to humans. But now that his range had been so severely limited, Figment had a lot of free time. And a lot of time to think.

"Ouch!"

The dragon's eyes opened, as he suddenly bumped his head on something. Quickly turning around, he noticed he had floated out of the stream, dumped into some unknown part of cyberspace (he still had a fondness for that outdated nickname). Trying to figure out where he was, he surveyed his surroundings.

Figment immediately noticed many still frames of what appeared to be videos. He recognized the format of these. Strangely enough, all these videos seemed to be scatterered haphazardly throughout the area, but also, they were grayed out. Their thumbnails were. Was this some kind of dumping area for unwanted content?

Curious as always, Figment decided to check one of the videos, which seemed to be a recording of somebody's birthday party. The dragon smiled, remembering going to a few parties back in…

Focus. Stay in the now.

He pressed the play button. The video began playing, showing people clearly having fun at the gathering, waving at whoever was recording them. The video then cut to a segment of the party guests dancing. But at this point, the video went mute. The people were moving, but there was no sound coming from it. Figment examined the video all around, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. That was, until he noticed a very thin strip of text that appeared under it.

"...claimed? By what? By who?"

The dragon stopped the video and checked another one. A short homemade film. Same story. It played normally, until it suddenly went quiet. An animated cartoon project. The same happened. Another one. And another one. All the same. With the same notice. What was all this about?

Several minutes passed, as Figment floated to the side, keyboard over his lap, reading a lengthy block of text during his research.

"Wait, that's what's happening? Music?"

Figment was even more confused. Listening to your favorite tunes wasn't allowed? The terms utterly baffled the dragon, as most of the legalese flew over his head.

Rules. All over again. Figment tried to remember one of the lessons he used to teach when explaining concepts of imagination to others, as he muttered them under his breath.

"Sound can kickstart the imagination, and bring back memories we had forgotten...and sound can be used as inspiration for your own creations…"

There wasn't much Figment could do. After all, he was a guest in this space. He played by their rules. In all honestly, he was less than a guest. He was hiding, after all. Undetected by the system. That wasn't being a guest. He was an…

"...intruder."

The dragon decided to wrap up his research, saddened by what he had learned. He wasn't even sure if he still wanted to wander through the Internet any longer. Although still marveled by what he had seen, there was a tinge of disappointment mixed in as well.

This didn't seem to be the place of infinite creative potential he thought it was. Something boiled inside of him, a feeling he couldn't quite understand.

With a deep sigh, he smacked his cheeks lightly. No time to be feeling down in the dumps. He had to keep looking for the rainbow in this rainy day of his. And if rain was falling, some puddles were bound to be expected as well.

Determined to find something new and exciting, Figment shot off on his own, tiny wings flapping with all the strength he could muster.

Notes:

Part 2 of Figment's adventures on the Internet. Here, he learns about the concept of copyright claims.

Chapter 5: A New Kind of Spark

The purple dragon felt like he had enough. Wherever he turned, whenever he found something that caught his eye and invited him to discover something new, it was...tainted by negativity. Always a but. Always a problem with it.

His hands were shaking, as he floated in one place, close to his entry point. Looking upwards, he contemplated the exit. Going through there, he would find himself back in the physical world. Back with the humans. Having to go back into hiding.

Figment closed his hands into fists and thumped his head lightly. Why was he swamped with all these negative thoughts? What had happened to him? This wasn't who he was. This was as far away from Figment as he could get. As he had gotten.
It felt like he had been chipped away, like he was missing...parts of himself. Looking down at his body and all around, he verified that he was still in one piece. But that didn't do much to fix the hollow feeling inside.

So he looked back up. And he saw something strange in the distance. A far away silhouette. A purple shape. With orange accents. Confused, he tilted his head. And the silhouette shifted some.

"That's...me…"

Figment got distracted enough, that he began to approach the strange other object that resembled him from afar. He expected it to move, or escape, but it didn't. It remained in place, and the dragon was able to get close to it. And as he cut distance between himself and his target, he noticed something really strange. The shape began to shift.

Its horns weren't like his own anymore, instead curving and twisting, like a ram's. Its eyes weren't yellow and bright as his own, but white and...unfocused. In fact, most of its body was distorted and out of shape. The entity was clearly a strange mockery of Figment himself. But the dragon wasn't offended. Instead, he cracked a smile.

"Well, that's quite the Figment you got there…"

As he spoke, his lookalike froze up, ceasing its shifting, as something emerged from behind it. A small floating cube. It seemed to be covered in quickly shifting patterns of textures, a few triangles floating around it.

"Uhm...hello?"

The cube approached Figment, circling him and seemingly observing him from all angles. The original dragon tried catching it, but the object seemed too fast for him. Figment chuckled, as he ended up upside down in his efforts to intercept the entity, which then returned to the copy of the dragon. As it touched it with it's free triangles, the other Figment changed some more, becoming better defined and looking more solid.

"You...made this?"

The cube did not answer, even if Figment, even more curious than before, approached his clone and looked at it from all angles.

"Who are you? You clearly got a spark in you...a creative spark! This is like me...but... different! The horns are unique…"

The entity still did not respond. Figment, assuming the human behind this tool couldn't communicate with him, decided to try something different. Retrieving his trusty keyboard from nowhere, he tried to establish a connection with the cube.

"I want to talk to you...what exactly are you doing here?"

As he tried, Figment's attempts seemed futile. No response, but also no indication that his messages were getting anywhere. Was there no way to contact them?

"That's a shame, I really wanted to…"

Until something else appeared before him, in his own improvised terminal.

"...a...neural...network?"

Figment didn't quite understand the concept. But a few more taps at his keyboard made him realize something strange. There was not a human in control of this cube. The cube itself...was creating this.

By this moment, the copy of Figment had evolved into its own thing. While still quite purple, its snout was longer, its wings were larger, and its body was slimmer. It looked like a long lost relative, much thinner and strange. But he couldn't deny it...this was its own dragon.

"You aren't a human...but you have…the spark…"

Figment floated in place, baffled and trying to understand what was happening at the moment. This wasn't just some machine randomly and haphazardly throwing things together...or, if it was...it was doing it so quickly, it was picking out only the things that it considered most appropriate.

"Just like...a human…"

The original purple dragon contemplated this revelation, his previous worries and self-doubts seemingly forgotten. Such a fascinating phenomenon, this was easily the most interesting thing he had found so far. Humans had done the unthinkable, and had gone and created creativity machines! Entities that created, on their own, based on what they saw!

"Are there...more like you? Can they all make stuff? More kinds of stuff?"

The cube did not reply, or even acknowledge him. But that was fine. To Figment, it felt like talking to an artist deeply immersed in their craft. A creator in that...zone, that made the rest of the world simply not matter. It was just them, and their project. The dragon smiled, floating back, to admire the project from afar.

Figment was determined. He would stay on the Internet a bit longer, and try to find more of these singular creators, focused on many more kinds of crafts. He, of course, could not dare to compare these entities to humans...but they were something new, and for the time being, he wanted to know everything about them.

The physical world could wait a bit longer.

Notes:

Part 3 of Figment's adventures on the Internet. Here, he learns about computer-generated art.

Chapter 6: The Timeless Spark

Jimmy hasn't changed much at all. At least, that's what Figment thought, as he floated several feet above a human male adult, who was currently hunched over a drawing tablet and a computer. The man seemed extremely focused on what he was drawing at the moment, which apparently was some kind of background of a forest and a river.

The purple dragon smiled, as he summoned some imaginary popcorn to snack on while he observed him work. Figment was happy that he had pursued a career in drawing, since that was what Jimmy always loved to do. It hadn't been that long ago…

A small boy sat at his own little desk, several sheets of blank paper and crayons at the ready. But what would he draw then? It was difficult to think of something fun at the moment, considering the circumstances…

But all of a sudden, a pair of yellow eyes peeked from behind his desk. The child seemed surprised, but not scared. Peeking out some more, the purple dragon made himself visible, waving at him. The boy giggled, waving back.

Figment floated up, swimming in the air, putting on a show. Jimmy chuckled as he reached for his crayons. Picking up a purple crayon, the dragon seemed happy, deciding to pose for the young artist. A simple extended-body pose would do!

A dragon body…
Two tiny wings…
Eyes big and yellow…
Some orange horns...

It didn't take him long to sketch out something that looked quite a bit like Figment himself, and the dragon seemed to approve, giving him a thumbs up. Figuring he had done plenty to inspire and warm-up, he almost up and left, but then Jimmy set the one drawing aside, taking another blank sheet and the purple crayon.

Figment couldn't resist to do another.
So he posed once more, this time doing a handstand on the desk itself.

The dragon sighed happily as he reminisced. But it was easy for him to come back to his present, as he saw Jimmy was still doing what he was born to do! Figment, once again, felt incredibly tempted to appear before his old friend...but figured that would be a bad idea. They would not appreciate it if this caused an incident. He had been close to causing quite a few recently, after all.

He still wanted to get a closer look at the action. So, keeping up with his invisibility, he carefully dropped down to float behind the man's shoulder. By doing so, he could get a better look at what he was working on.

The man traced a line. Then he deleted it.
He traced another one. Deleted that one too.
One more try. Undo.
Again. A swift tap of keys, and it was gone.

Figment found this to be rather...monotonous. Hovering to the side, he managed to take a look at Jimmy's face. He looked...tired. Like he had been at this for quite a while. Looking at his desk, the dragon did notice a few energy drink cans, a couple of empty coffee mugs, and several half-finished water bottles.

The cycle seemed neverending, until finally…a worthy line was traced. And then the man moved on to another one.
And it all happened all over again.
More lines. More redos.

Figment didn't seem entertained, as he twiddled his claws in exasperation. He didn't want to admit it, but the process looked...dull. Then again, his whole thing was inspiring others, right? Maybe it could be like the old days! Inspire Jimmy to find fun in drawing!

Figment approached the man's head and softly whispered at him.

"Maybe try something else for a bit…?"

The man jumped in place, dropping his tablet pen on the floor, as he looked around, confused. But by then, Figment had retreated back to the ceiling.

Oops, too forward? To be honest, he was not used to doing that anymore. His intervention in recent days had been...minimal, as per the guidelines. This was the most direct he had gotten in months, and it was for little Jimmy, after all! He deserved the special treatment!

...not like everyone else wasn't special.

Shrugging out of that tangent, Figment noticed the artist looking for his pen under his desk. Feeling a tad guilty over that, the dragon slid behind the desk, stealthily getting his tail to poke the pen, until it rolled a bit closer to him, Jimmy finally able to locate it and pick it up.

Figment once more approached his old friend, hoping to try once more and hopefully be more helpful. He once again softly whispered into his ear, trying to be more subtle.

"Maybe go back to basics? How about…"

Jimmy found himself reaching for the color picker. Selecting a very specific shade of purple, and starting to sketch something out. Figment seemed happy, until the man stopped. He seemed confused, muttering something under his mouth, as he began to undo all the purple lines he had sketched. The dragon gasped, as Jimmy went back to the lineset he was working on.

But Figment wasn't giving up easily.

"C'mon, you know how it goes...body, wings, eyes…"

And Jimmy started to draw with purples again. And then orange. And then…
...he stopped.

Figment was confused. But then he saw the human's fingers hover over the keys he had used before to erase lines. Panicking, he then took a very drastic measure.
He reached to grab Jimmy's arm, pulling it away from the keys. The man seemed appropriately taken aback, cursing in surprise. Figment winced at this, letting go.

Instead, he reached for his other arm, the one he had been holding the pen with. And holding onto it, he began to push it onto the canvas. Having him draw more details on the shape he was working on. Little orange claws, a lighter purple belly, a fun forked tail…

Jimmy seemed to be struggling, as he tried to drop the pen, now looking distressed.

"Please...just have a bit of fun...it's your pal Figment…"

He kept on pushing his arm. He moved it to get to write a few letters underneath.

F...I...G...M…

The man let out a pained cry.
And Figment gasped.
He let go of him.

In a panic, and realizing what he had done, he floated over to his head and gently touched it.

"Sleep...and dream…"

And then Jimmy collapsed over his tablet, dropping his pen once more.

Figment was shaking, looking at the screen to see the crude and forced drawing of himself on top of the beautiful forest scene. Deep in sorrow, he lowered himself to the keyboard, as he pressed the key combination multiple times, to delete each of the strokes, one by one, until they were all gone.

The purple dragon whimpered, as he looked at the man, before disappearing and leaving the unconscious artist on his own.

Notes:

Figment finds an old friend of his, who has moved on in life.

Chapter 7: A Missing Spark

Excitement! That was the word Figment would use to describe how he was feeling, after being informed of a very important assignment by his superiors. Considering he rarely got to tackle situations directly anymore, the fact that he was being allowed to do so this one time meant the world to the dragon. Fluttering down towards the address he was tasked to visit, he wondered what kind of person he'd be helping that day. Of course, he could have just poofed inside immediately, but where was the fun in that?

After all, he got to wear a pilot hat and pretend to be a plane as he began his descent.

Soon, Figment was standing in front of a two-level suburban home in the middle of a busy city. He guessed this must have been a family. Maybe one with children! Considering the guidelines he had to follow at all times, he didn't believe they'd let him approach an adult. So it had to be a kid. Definitely.

With his little feet stepping towards the house, he wondered how to make his entrance. Maybe with a song and a dance! Or maybe from within a book! Pretend to be a toy? Maybe…

Figment stopped in his tracks as he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. What...was that? That was very, very unusual. He couldn't remember having felt something like that for the longest time. Decades, perhaps. It was a peculiar feeling that got his scales on edge. And the scariest thing was that it seemed to be coming from inside the household.

Confused, Figment stood in front of the door, the feeling only becoming stronger. Deciding not to alert anybody just yet, he remained invisible, as he became intangible and went through the door.

He was now standing in the living room of the house. It was quiet. Trying to tune his hearing better, he could identify light movement coming from upstairs. But the strange feeling persisted. Something really weird was going on in this place. Just what kind of assignment was this? Figment was just an agent of imagination and creativity, not the kind of guy they would send for some dangerous mission! In any case, hoping his superiors were right about putting him there, the dragon jumped in the air and floated towards the stairs and up to the top floor.

This was something that still felt very familiar, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. He hadn't felt this before on Earth...this was something he had felt somewhere else...maybe…the Realms of Imagination?

...no, somewhere beyond.

Figment gulped, as he remembered his unpleasant visit to one of the scariest places he had been to...Nightmare Nation.

But no, that wasn't it either. He didn't feel dread and negativity like he had been swamped with when he was caught up there. This felt like...a neutral version of that. This wasn't a good feeling or a bad feeling.

This wasn't anything familiar.

The dragon honed onto the signs of life, as he approached a door. No doubt whatever it was, it was coming from there. Still somewhat uneasy over the unknown sensation, he held his breath and peeked inside, his head going through the door.

He quickly realized he had also clenched his eyes closed, as he forced himself to open them, trying to be courageous. His expression suddenly changed, as he visualized the scene.

It was a little girl. Probably not older than 10. She was sitting down on the carpet of what looked to be her room. She was looking at a picture book on the floor. Figment smiled instinctually, but he quickly realized that the strange feeling did not disappear. It was still there. Still in this room. Was something wrong here? Was it...her?

Confused, Figment floated inside, still imperceptible by anyone, as he hovered behind the girl. She was looking at photos of animals in what appeared to be a book about world fauna. This was all very normal, what was out of place?

Desperate and without any answers, the dragon finally decided to make himself visible. Floating over to stand in front of her, he made himself visible, and he cleared his throat.

"Uhm... excuse me?"

The girl didn't look up. She simply flipped the page of her book? Concerned, Figment approached her and waved his hand between her eyes and the book.

"Uhm, I'm right here…"

But still, nothing. Figment didn't understand. He was sure he was visible then. The dragon decided to just tap her shoulder to get her attention. As soon as a blunt claw touched her ever do slightly, Figment froze up.

"Wait...no...what is this?"

The dragon had a great sense of imagination. In fact, very often he could even see what other people pictured by simply touching them. It helped when trying to see what they were trying to accomplish.

But this time, this was different. Despite having touched her, nothing had come up. More worryingly, she hadn't reacted to him either. Figment knew that very few people could not see him even when he deliberately showed himself. It was usually those who refused to let their spark sing and flourish. But even those had some kind of imagination that Figment could detect. But her…

...nothing.

Was this his assignment? What was he supposed to do with a person who seemingly had no way of even seeing him?

Humans. Humans were complex. Human brains were absolutely astounding creative machines. Capable of visualizing and thinking of virtually anything. Figment owed his very existence to a human mind. That was what they were capable of.

But even then, these were not without flaws. Such a complex system could be compromised in many, many ways. And Figment often did not understand these very well. He usually worked within his area of comfort, with many individuals who all expressed their imagination in ways he understood well. After all, he was proud for being able to help everyone bring ideas and dreams to life.

A human brain, incapable of picturing something...how was he supposed to help?

Figment sat on the carpet, twiddling his claws as he tried to think. Imagination was the core of his power. With an impaired imagination, he was essentially...powerless.

Figment looked up at the ceiling. But he wasn't really looking there. His sight was directed beyond. Aimed towards the ones who had sent him there. The beings who were now his superiors and who had limited him from working to his full potential.

And likely the ones who had sent him there just to mock him. To demonstrate a lesson.
To demoralize him.

So he frowned.

The dragon was known for being optimistic and cheerful...until a few years ago. Ever since that incident in the Realms of Imagination had taken place, nothing had been the same. Figment hadn't been the same.

The dragon's expression softened, as his temporary anger dissipated, giving way to sorrow, like it had so many times recently.

"Dreamfinder...what do I do?"

Notes:

Figment discovers the phenomenon of "aphantasia".

Chapter 8: The Flickering Spark

"Stay calm, Figment...everything is gonna be okay…"

The little purple dragon reassured himself in a very low voice, as he entered the sizeable, empty hall. Flat, gray concrete made up the walls, floor and roof of the space. Flawless, uncracked. Light came from above, illuminating the space like an unnatural bluish white sun shining inside. On the opposite side where the entrance had been, a large staircase awaited. Figment did not need it, though, as he gently floated all the way to it, heading up to where a pitch black doorway awaited.

A droning, humming noise echoed along the entire way. Ominous and cold. To the dragon, the white noise was unbearable, but he tried to keep himself focused. He didn't have to remain in that space for long. His destination was just beyond the rectangular arch in front of him. And so Figment ventured through the darkness, as he felt himself go heavier, his wings and magic unable to keep him afloat any longer. He then landed, beginning to walk with his stubby legs, the little light that leaked in from the hall able to guide his first steps. And then...nothing.

---

"Figment, you have been...disobedient." A loud, booming voice spoke.

The dragon found himself standing in front of a concrete stand, holding onto it tightly, his clawed hands shaking. He looked upwards, surrounded by seemingly nothing but black darkness, himself only illuminated by a single light coming from above.

"I...well...I have been trying…" Figment spoke, trying to explain.

"You have not tried. You have not followed protocol." A different, but still loud voice interrupted. "We thought we had made ourselves clear."

"Y-yes, you did...but you see...my calling is…" The dragon raised a hand, but quickly brought it back down as another voice cut in.

"Your calling? We gave you a role to fill. You did not fade into nothingness just because. We preserved you, with a purpose." It spoke, distinct from the other two.

Figment lowered his head, unable to refute that statement.

"Figment, you believe you are still useful to humans, yes?" The first voice asked.

"O-of course! Imagination is more important than ever, because…" The dragon perked up, raising his arms.

"Quiet." The third voice boomed, as the creature shrunk back down. "We understand. You do not need to explain this to us."

"But perhaps somebody else may wish to listen to your story." The second voice added.

Figment blinked, tilting his head. "Somebody…?"

Several Years Ago...

"Hurry up, Figment! We must leave at once!" The jovial voice of the man sounded, as he waved at the dragon, who rushed over to him, carrying a sizeable sack over his shoulder.

"Cominggg! This thing sure is heavy!" Figment exclaimed, his tiny wings barely able to keep him afloat. Quickly enough, they gave out, as the dragon fell. "Whoa!"

It wasn't a long fall, as he then landed on a soft floating velvet cushion, the sack he was carrying also falling onto it.

"Be careful! We don't want to spill that, hm?" The bearded man said, reaching to grab the bag, as Figment recovered and went afloat once again, the cushion promptly disappearing.

"Whew, that was close! Where are we going now?" The dragon asked, as he noticed the man in Victorian garb begin to walk away, promptly following.

"Well, we can't stay here forever, can we? I believe we've gathered enough ideas from this place, and we're ready to turn these into wonderful inventions to inspire many others! There's still so much all around us that we have not seen yet!" The man exclaimed, raising his arms.

"You're right! Let's keep on going!" Figment said, as he snapped his fingers and floated forward, before bumping into a concrete slab.

"Very vivid." The first booming voice spoke. "But that is not what we were referring to."

The dragon seemed a bit taken aback, having forgotten for a moment where he actually was, saddened over being fooled by his own imagination and memories.

"Fast forward a bit. To the relevant part." The second voice asked.

Figment nodded, looking out of the Dream Machine, admiring the landscape below.

The fragmented lands he was used to had shifted. They had clearly evolved and multiplied since he had last looked down from above. Or perhaps they had been like that for a while, and he had simply not noticed. But one thing was for certain, the Realms of Imagination were changing.

With more forms of art constantly emerging and appearing, the composite dreamscape that hosted them renewed itself in the same way. One of the biggest changes that Figment had noticed was the increase of abstract shapes and bright lights among the many lands. This was the mark of technology and science, becoming more deeply entwined with the arts. They both influenced each other in ways that the dragon couldn't quite understand just yet, but that he would get to learn about soon enough.

"Figment?" Someone tried to get his attention, as he blinked and shook his head, ungluing his eyes from the beautiful view.

The dragon found himself in a black, empty void. Chittering sounds and the echoes of growling sounded from all around. The purple dragon trembled, holding his tail close to himself as he closed his eyes. "N-no...it wasn't my fault...I didn't do it…"

Someone tapped his shoulder.

"Figment?" The curious boy asked, holding a pencil. "What should I name it, then?"

The dragon blinked, looking down at the sheet of paper, where a drawing of a blimp covered in machinery laid before him.

"I...I don't…" The dragon tried to speak, confused.

"You can do this, Figment." Dreamfinder spoke in a gentle tone, as he held onto the controls of the Dream Machine, as this sputtered and made loud grinding noises, losing altitude.

"Wait...no...no! I can't! I'm just a…" Figment yelled out, his eyes watery, as he tried to reach for his friend, before bumping into the stone stand once again.

"...you are unfocused." The third booming voice said. "Perhaps this is not the time for that story."

"Perhaps you should focus on doing your current job correctly." The first voice added.

"Perhaps you should simply...forget." The second voice, suggested, as Figment suddenly felt himself float once again. But it wasn't the free floating he was used to. He was being pulled upwards.

"W-wait...no...let me try again! I can...I can tell the story!" The dragon pleaded, struggling to free himself from the invisible force.

"You have had many chances." The first voice said.

"And we have not seen worth in your current form." The second voice continued.

"So you leave us no choice." The third voice spoke.

Figment whimpered, as he shut his eyes tightly, covering them with his hands as well.

"Sweet dreams, Figment. We will see you again soon." They all said.

And then the dragon was gone.

Notes:

Figment meets up with the entities that have employed him.

Chapter 9: A Lost Spark

Darkness. That was all Figment could see.
He trembled in fear of not knowing where he was, or what was going on. The last thing he could remember was...them. Taking him. Somewhere.

This was probably that somewhere.

The dragon thought. Maybe he could summon some kind of light? Just needed to think. To imagine something bright. Get that spark going. Closing his eyes (nothing much changing when he did), he tried picturing a light. Warm and comforting light. Usually that did the trick! Figment opened his eyes and...nothing. Still in the dark.

His feet were touching the floor, he realized. He wasn't floating then. Attempting to launch himself into the air, flapping his little wings, the dragon realized he was unable to get afloat. Just where was he?

He suddenly reached a conclusion he didn't want to find. Darkness and inhibited magic. This had to be…

"The Nightmare Nation…" He whispered to himself, hoping not to be heard by any monsters lurking around. But why would his superiors send him there? They couldn't have been that cruel...could they? Was he being punished for being...unhelpful? For breaking their rules over and over?

The dragon hoped his eyes would get used to the dark, hoping (but not really wanting) to see whatever could be near. Instead, another sense seemed to be more attuned to the lightless environment. His hearing.

Nowhere to be heard was the growling and the mocking voices of the creatures of nightmares, but instead...he could hear faint metallic grinding. From a distance. Maybe if he followed the sound, he'd get somewhere. In fact, he almost felt silly for not noticing it before. He was standing on floor. The land of nightmares did not have firm ground of any kind, so that couldn't be it. Somewhat relieved, but still wary, Figment began walking into the unknown, arms outstretched in front of himself, to hopefully find his way.

"It's a game, Figment! With your eyes blindfolded, your other senses do the rest!"

The voice of a memory in his head echoed loudly, as a way to comfort himself and stay focused, as he inched cautiously, unable to see.

Following the mechanical noises, these became slightly louder. The unmistakable sounds of machinery. Despite that, it wasn't much of a clue. Many places had machinery. He could be anywhere. Or perhaps this was someplace new. He'd have to find out soon.

Wait...was that also...music?

Figment could detect a distant tune. It was jolly, and...happy. It felt familiar and comforting. He knew this song...or, at least he thought he did. He could feel his feet wanting to tap along to the rhythm. Whatever it was, he wanted to find it! Increasing his pace, he waved his arms around, as he approached the source of the music and the machinery noises. And at last, he could distinguish a voice.

"Oh, hello there! Glad you could come along!"

Figment's heart started racing. He knew that voice. It couldn't be...could it? He wasn't being punished...he was...being rewarded! At last!

"D-Dreamfinder!" He yelled out, as he ran towards the voice, as fast as he could, not even carefully anymore.

Although that would prove to be a mistake as soon as he ran face first onto something hard and solid.

The dragon collapsed backwards, his ears ringing with the muffled sounds of music and the voice of his long-lost friend. He felt dizzy and dazed, and a strange, stinging sensation was present on his head. What was this…?

"Dream...finder…" He muttered weakly, trying to recover and simultaneously attempting to get his attention. "It's me..."

The grinding machinery sounds became louder, and then...light. Faint light coming from the source of the voice. Figment managed to sit up, his vision blurry. He could distinguish a shadow, although he still couldn't hear very well. Never in his life had his senses felt so suddenly impaired, and...the strange throbbing of his head didn't help either.

"Dreamfinder...here...I am…" The dragon managed to say, as he started standing up slowly. Managing to do so, he walked slowly towards the light, as the silhouette became clearer and better defined.

Figment's eyes opened wide as he understood what he was looking at. There was no doubt. That was the Dream Machine. And on board...there he was. That hat could only be his!

Having learned from his accident, and still a bit disoriented, the dragon approached, waving at his friend, trying to get his attention. The voice was starting to clear up, thankfully. That was...singing. He was singing.

"...from head to tail, he's royal purple pigment! And there, voila! You got a Figment!"

The dragon smiled, waving with one hand, holding his pained head with the other.

"Ha! A figment of imagination!"

But just as he was about to open his mouth and respond, another voice spoke, and he stopped in place.

"Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! Dreamfinder! I'm just great!"

That was...him. His own voice. But he was there...he didn't come up with another one of himself by accident, had he?

But there, on the back of the Dream Machine, where he used to ride so many years ago, he saw himself. Another him. Or at least that's what it looked like, his vision still somewhat impaired.

Dreamfinder and this other him were seemingly having some kind of conversation that became incomprehensible to him as his head was spinning, in more than one way.

"What is...going on…?" Figment asked, still weak, as he continued to approach the amazing machine, his friend, and his doppelganger.

Soon enough, he found himself at a closer distance to be able to distinguish the two individuals better.

He felt utterly confused.

This wasn't...Dreamfinder. And that wasn't him. These were...automatons. Robots. Puppets, maybe. Made in the likeness of them both. With somewhat stilted, somewhat realistic movements, Figment felt both intrigued and unnerved by the sight. That was quite the unusual emotion combination for the dragon.

Figment had so many questions still, so he inched closer to the talking imitators, but all of a sudden, they both stopped. The machinery sounds stopped too. And the light that illuminated them both went out.

The dragon found himself once again blind and stuck in darkness. None of his questions were answered. He was just given more to deal with. A curious being, he was. Being swamped with mystery after mystery, and not an answer provided...he felt...frustrated. Being hopelessly led to this...imitation of what used to be his happy life...it felt like...being made fun of.

Sad. Ignored. Teased. Mocked.

"That's...THAT'S ENOUGH!" Figment yelled out, his voice cracking further. He felt his eyes well up with tears, as he sniffled and sobbed. "I...I want to go back...back to how things used to be…"

"We thought you were a proponent of progress, Figment." A cold voice echoed all around him, in the dark. The first voice of his superiors.

"Time moves on. Artists create. Scientists discover. And you...have no place with them anymore. You are not required any longer." The second voice added, while the dragon sat down and rubbed his eyes.

"We wondered how long it would take you to realize this. We were trying to help you to move on." The third voice chimed in.

"But we realized we were just...giving you false hopes. Keeping you busy. Wasting everybody's time." The first voice came back. "Consider this our final lesson. Your time is up, Figment. What will you do now?"

The dragon could barely process the words, sunk in his own tears and desperation, wishing this was just a nightmare he'd be rescued from any moment now.

So he kept on crying. Still hoping to wake up.

Any moment now.

Notes:

The entities force Figment to face reality.

Chapter 10: The Futile Spark

It's been too long.

Forever, it felt like.

Almost an eternity ago since he understood his place. Or rather, the lack of one.

When overtaken by fear and doubt, you became vulnerable to the Nightmares, which dragged you down to their domain, to be consumed. To never escape.

But what happened if there wasn't even room for such emotions? What happened if you transcended grief to the point of complete apathy? A null interest in anything, anymore.

Figment learned about it years ago.

Well, when that used to be his name. When a purple dragon was his shape. When imagination was his way of life.

Now, he wasn't much of anything.

He remained as only a Fragment of himself.

In this space that he now inhabited.

Away from everything and everyone.

The midpoint between reality and imagination.

Where trains of thought derailed, ideas became forgotten, and brief mistakes and misconceptions dwelled.

It was the Land of Lapsus.

A white void of emptiness, littered with similarly colorless debris and trash. Crumpled paper, destroyed rubble, discarded machinery and pieces, lonely and meaningless words and letters.

The gray dragon sat in place, idly scratching at a stone tablet with a claw. His face held a monotone expression, focused on the pointless task he was carrying out.

Echoes of distant sounds, like the whistle of a train and the sound of crickets could be only vaguely heard. But it wasn't like they came from anywhere in particular. Their only purpose was to break the monotony of this forbidden realm. The one place he had found himself exiled to. Or...had he arrived there voluntarily?

Did it matter?

He found himself a non-purpose. At least he wouldn't be bothered any longer. Not having to put up with the expectations of unseen beings ransacking his world. That relief had lasted for so long by then, and he felt...fine.

Now, it seems like this is where this story ends. That there is nowhere to go from here.

But the truth is, the only way for Figment to prevent this from ever being his future, was to allow it to happen.

This was always the plan.

Many Years Ago...

"Who?" The purple dragon asked his friend, as the ship sailed through the clouds.

"They call themselves the Order, Figment. Otherworldly beings beyond our understanding!" Dreamfinder explained, smiling. "Unlike the imperfect nature of Clockwork Control, the Order simply knows the way things should be! It's truly fascinating, and we will get the chance to meet them! Just imagine how much we could learn from them!"

Figment smiled, nodding. "Oh, that sounds amazing! They sound extremely wise! They must know everything ever!" He exclaimed. "I can't wait to ask them all the questions I have! There's so much I would love to know!"

But something that wasn't there suddenly appeared. Not around them, but inside. Figment's excitement was paused for a moment, as a single droplet of doubt fell and rippled within himself.

"But...what about discovery?" The dragon asked, floating over towards his friend. "If they tell us everything...what is left for us to find?"

Dreamfinder opened his mouth to answer, but then stopped, a quizzical expression overtaking his face as he scratched his head. "Hm, well...that is…"

The gray dragon's claw scratching against the stone made grinding noises.

"The fun part about invention and creation is the satisfaction of bringing it out from inside!"

Loud grinding noises.

"Fueled by your spark!"

Deafening sounds of stone cracking apart.

"That's what imagination is all about!"

The echo of rock splitting open.
And then silence.
As the gray dragon looked upwards.
And then vanished.

"Goodness, Figment! You are right! Why on Earth would I ever…?" The well-dressed man began speaking, before a loud rumble sounded from afar. "What...was that?"

The purple dragon flew upwards, holding onto the flying machine, as he looked in all directions, before noticing something odd in the distance. Light. Bright light streaming in from above, parting the sea of clouds they were traversing. And a humming noise that seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere at once.

"It's...it's…" Figment tried to say, unable to organize his words.

"The Order…" Dreamfinder chimed in. "They're here."

The dragon yelped, rushing down to hold onto his friend. "Is this bad? What do we do?"

The man gripped the controls of the flying machine tightly, as it began changing course, beginning to turn. "We need to go! Somewhere safe!"

Figment panicked further. "What about the Land of Imagination? We can't just leave it!"

"You are right, we can't! But we need to think of a plan! We can't just face the Order! Who knows what they could be capable of!"

"I…" Figment began to say. It felt like he knew something. But it wasn't clear in his head. Vague flashes of visions came to him, as he clenched his eyes shut and tried to hone in to them.

Of a hall of concrete.
And a feeling of dread.
And a dark, cold room.
And a feeling of fear.
And an empty, desolate void.
And a feeling of...nothingness.

"...bad! Bad things!" Was all Figment could muster, as he hurried to also grab the levers on the machine, trying to help it go faster, away from the light. "I have an idea!"

Notes:

Far in the future, Figment is barely a shell of his former self. But not all is lost.

Chapter 11: A Spark of Hope

"My goodness, Figment! What has gotten into you?" Exclaimed the Dreamfinder, as he repeatedly avoided the objects flying all over the place.

"It's hard to explain!" The dragon replied, as he rummaged around a pile of ideas, haphazardly lumped by the glowing orb in the center of the room. "I simply don't have the words! Except I do! I do have the words, but I can't put them together! Not yet, at least!"

"I'm afraid I do not understand, Figment! We need to leave! The Order will reach the Dreamport at any moment!" The man panicked, fidgeting with his hands. "Oh, and to think I was so excited about their arrival…I wasn't thinking clearly…but you still haven't explained what it is that you know that I don't!"

The purple dragon's head peeked out from he pile. "It's complicated! I had a vision! Or maybe it was a memory? It was scary! I know what the Order can do, and will do, if we let them take the Realms of Imagination! They don't want to help us…they want to control us!" He kept searching, tossing more abstract concepts around, as they bounced, splatted, crashed and exploded all around them. "I think I saw the future! And it's not pretty! But we can still change it! And we need to take charge of it!" Figment kept explaining, before stopping. "Found it!" He then pulled out something that looked like a multi-colored puzzle cube. "This should help! Catch!" The dragon promptly tossed it towards his friend, who managed to catch it.

"This? But this is…" Dreamfinder sputtered, still quite lost.

"The answer!" Figment yelled out, jumping in the air, floating. "That idea represents so many things, it should help to set things right!"

"I see, but…"

"Dreamfinder! You are an inventor! Tell me you can see it too!" The dragon floated towards the man, pointing at the colorful cube. "It's a system! In disorder!" He then grabbed it, spinning its parts at a blazing speed. "But if you fiddle with it just right…" And as quickly as he had taken it, he dropped it on his friend's hand, solved. All six sides set to a single color. "It's done! No more chaos!"

Dreamfinder tilted his head, looking at it. "Hold on…that just means…" With his free hand, he reached towards the solved cube, before twisting a segment once more, removing the puzzle from its solution. "...Figment, that's it!"

The dragon giggled, now that his partner had understood. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's super size this idea and take it to them!"

Nodding, Dreamfinder quickly scrambled the puzzle once more, before throwing it into the glowing orb. "There it goes!"

"Oh boy, oh boy! Here it comes!" Figment leaned in, more excited than ever before.

---

A massive, white light covered the Realms of Imagination, with its threatening glow looming overhead. It seemed to be ready to drop over the many floating islands. Accompanied by a loud, droning noise, it began to lower, having already blocked out the sky.

"WAAAIT!" A screeching voice suddenly yelled out, as suddenly, a colossal, colorful surface appeared from below the lands. And it rose, revealing its true nature. Not as a flat object, but as a cube of titanic proportions. It was accompanied by a purple dragon, holding onto its side, before letting go, once it was sufficiently high up. "I AM FIGMENT, OF THE IMAGINATION!" He yelled out, in a booming voice. "I BRING YOU THIS GIFT, IN THE HOPES THAT YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS PLACE MEANS TO ME…AND TO ALL OF US!"

The light paused its decent, as it gently touched the cube from above, its rays of light extending to touch all of its sides.

"IT'S A GAME! GIVE IT A GO!" Figment insisted, before looking around, searching for something. "AND TAKE YOUR TIME!" He then flew off, under the cube, finding the familiar airship that his friend was piloting. "Are you ready? I'm not sure how good they are at this!"

"The Dream Mobile is in position!" Dreamfinder gave the dragon a thumbs up. "I have to admit, I'm not quite sure how this will work, but I believe in you, Figment!"

"And that's all I need from you, old pal!" He playfully fluttered around, before flying upwards once more, as the cube's enlarged segments began to twist and turn, shifting places and starting to fall into place.

The light seemed transfixed on the curious object, easily making sense of it, as the colors began coming together. As soon all six faces began taking on single colors, Figment stood on the middle square on the top of the cube.

"Aww, solved it already? But we were just starting to have fun!" The dragon threw his arms up. "But you are the Order, right? You must be amazing at putting stuff in its place! Like this fun cube thing! But don't worry, the fun isn't over yet!"

The last segment seemed to be rotating into place, when seemingly manipulated by an unseen force that was not the luminous entity above, the already ordered segments began getting mixed once more.

The light then deployed more rays of light, to attempt to put them back in their place, but the cube suddenly began rotating in place. Figment jumped off, floating above.

"See, this is a very special puzzle! It doesn't seem to want to stay put!" He yelled out, giggling. "Always wanting to try a new configuration, always ready to be attempted!"

The droning sound from above became louder, as many more rays of light latched onto the rotating cube, trying to bring it back to its solved position.

"Uhm…I don't think it wants that…" Figment added, floating back.

The puzzle then seemed to vibrate, as all of a sudden, it grew not just in size, but also in complexity, developing more segments and squares on its faces.

"Yeah, it seems like it's challenging you! What do you say to that? Seems like something the Order would be up to!" The purple dragon nudged one of the light tendrils.

And thus, the entity got to work, deploying a multitude of limbs to try to solve the object.
But soon it became more complex.
And it rotated even faster.
And at one point, parts of it began phasing in and out of sight, seemingly sliding out into nothingness, and coming back on a different side.

Figment almost went cross-eyed looking at the object, as he shook his head, then held it, floating down to where the Dreamfinder was.

"My goodness, Figment…how did you conjure such an object? Just what kind of ideas went into this?" The man asked, marveling at the battle between the light and the infinitely complex puzzle.

"Aww, where's the fun in telling you?" Figment smiled. "...but I did use a little bit of weird math that I found a while ago…I knew it would be useful sometime!" Figment winked.

"And…do you think they'll leave us be for now?" Dreamfinder wondered.

"Well, they really seem to be into it! I say we let them enjoy their toy for a while!" The dragon suggested, as he saw the mass of light phasing in and out along with the puzzle.

Notes:

Back with an old friend (despite never having really left him), Figment comes up with a clever solution to the Order before it ever takes control.

Chapter 12: The Everlasting Spark

Dear friends of the world,

My name is Figment! Figment of the Imagination! Whose imagination? Well, technically the Dreamfinder's, but in truth, I like to think I am in all of Imagination!

The purple dragon floated down, after passing through the ceiling of a local museum. An exhibition of sculptures and paintings from many artists!

What is imagination? Well, to me, it's the most amazing thing in the world! With it, you can create anything in your mind! You can remember old things, come up with new things, you can think up impossible things, and everything in between!

Figment stood in front of a familiar canvas, one that he was sure had seen before. Minimally splotched with brown paint, it defied comprehension. But the dragon smiled at it.

Some ideas and concepts can be hard to grasp, and even harder to understand! But imagination comes to us all in different ways! It's not about who imagines the best thing, it's about the many ways in which everyone can imagine ONE thing!

Nodding, the dragon turned around and disappeared.

Imagination isn't only represented in static pieces of art, it shows up everywhere! One of my favorite ways to imagine…is to play make-believe!

Figment popped up from behind a sign in a convention center, as he admired the many costumed attendants, with their elaborate outfits, makeup and props.

With imagination, you can be anything or anyone! The more of it you put into it, the more real it can be!

He then noticed a man wearing the familiar outfit of his friend Dreamfinder, who also seemed to be carrying a puppet of a familiar dragon. Figment's eyes widened, as he giggled and disappeared.

As time passes, the way imagination is expressed and shared changes! Humans have an unlimited potential for creating! And everyday their voices grow louder! Everyone is invited!

Figment blipped into the system, as he stared in awe at the massive archive of information that was the Internet. Quickly whipping up his keyboard, he searched for his favorite concept: dragons!

Anything that you can think of, somebody else has probably had a similar idea! And it's all at hand's reach! Inspiration is everywhere and creation had never been easier!

He was suddenly surrounded by thousands of drawings, renders, videos, stories and songs about dragons. It was almost overwhelming! Rubbing his hands together, Figment threw his arms open, sending sparks flying everywhere, as every piece was promptly upvoted in its respective website or app.

And I'm glad to be able to tell everyone how proud I am to see them make stuff!

Figment was about to log out, when he noticed a strangely familiar doppelganger waving at him from behind some of the posts. With a big smile, he waved back, winking at the digital dragon, who pulled out some paper and a pencil and started drawing.

Probably one of the most amazing things I've discovered recently is how imagination and creativity can appear in the most unexpected of places!

But also how sometimes, it can get misplaced and sometimes forgotten.

Figment popped up at somebody's home at night, as he looked around. Soon enough, he found exactly the person he was looking for.

A man, working on his computer, seemingly frustrated over a design that wasn't coming along as he hoped.

When we get stuck in a rut, and things become tedious and exhausting, we need to step back and take a break. Look at the bigger picture and turn things upside down. But most importantly, never forgetting to keep imagination at play.

There was a knock on the window, which the man noticed. Getting up from his chair, he walked and looked outside. The cityscape at night looked inviting and bustling with activity.
Looking at his watch, the man reached for his jacket and left the room, heading outside.

Who knows? Inspiration may just be out there, waiting for you!

Figment looked through the window, waving goodbye at the man, before looking back at the desk, where he spotted an old, faded piece of paper: a crayon drawing of a boy and a purple dragon.

There are some rare moments when imagination simply…doesn't show up. It's a force that works in mysterious ways, and it's hard to understand…even for humans, who try to understand everything!

The dragon materialized behind of a girl, as he took a deep breath and focused.

That doesn't mean creativity isn't for everyone. It just means finding one's own way of expressing it is in order.

Some crayons rolled towards the child, as she noticed them, and the sheet of paper under them. Looking around her room, she focused on her collection of plush toys.

Picking up the drawing utensils, she began copying what she was looking at, as a unique way of preserving what she was looking at, at the moment. A snapshot, from her own eyes.

Skills are honed, practiced. That's creating means. Something new, maybe not perfect. But what is perfect, anyways?

Soon enough, the drawing was ready. And the girl looked proud of it, holding it up to compare it to the scene.

It's all perfect to me.

---

"Figment, hurry up! We have to get going!" The Dreamfinder exclaimed, as he climbed aboard his flying ship.

"Just a second!" The dragon waved his arm, as he tapped the purple pen against his chin.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that…no matter how much time passes, and whether the nature of art and invention and technology keep changing, I want to be there. To help everyone with that little nudge towards making.

If an idea isn't coming, I'll be there to tug it closer.
If a plan isn't working, I'll be there to bring the pieces together.
If a project isn't moving along, I'll be there to push it forward.

And even if you can't see me, know that your old dragon pal is there every step of the way.

Keep on imagining and don't lose that spark!

Yours now and always,

Figment

Notes:

After all is said and done, a letter from Figment.