Fire for the Practical

To Lina Adams, who wanted to see more of this.

Fire rose around the figure. The Man watched in horror as the flames spilled from the figure, consuming the wooden floor boards of The Mansion. The Man took off running, the pure size of the mansion would prove a maze for the fiery figure, and burning through every closed door and wall would hopefully slow the figure down. To burn down the entire Mansion would be impossible. Though while The Mansion went to infinity, there came a point where The Man would have to comprehend new rooms to escape through, rooms existing only because he perceived them. 

The many complex rules of the Mansion often boggled The Man’s head, and he had to keep his mind focused on a single thing, or he would slip through the floor of The Mansion itself, and disappear into infinity. Even thinking about that, The boards under The Man’s feet felt less steady. He kept running, bursting in and out of elaborate rooms. He saw none of the others, best he could tell they were all in the Theater. He had to lead the fiery figure away. The Man struggled for an idea, then an idea finally popped into his head. 

This was not the first Fire they had had in The Mansion. How it had gotten here probably had to deal with Fire’s closeness to infinity, and developing consciousness, which wasn’t common but possible. It had then appeared in The Mansion as a byproduct of its conscious birth. Most Fires appeared outside The Mansion, and couldn’t find a way in, rarely did they appear directly into a Mansion room. In order for that to happen… someone on the inside would have to perceive it.

Someone had let the Fire in! The Man lurched to a stop as he entered a ballroom. He had almost forgotten of its existence, that should mean some of the others had forgotten about it to, decreasing the state of the room. Holes had appeared in the walls extending into the darkness, and the once shiny marble floor was frosted and cracked with age. Golden draperies lay at the base of the shattered windows that led to infinity. This room would have to do.

The Fire entered through the door The Man had come in. It was a dark black mannequin, with rough humanoid features, flames sparking off its body. The Man retreated further into the ballroom, the Fire quickly gaining on him. Then The Man stepped out of the room and closed his eyes. In his mind’s eye, he stopped perceiving the ballroom, he imagined a kitchen instead, forgetting the ballroom all together, taking it out of The Mansion. Heat grazed The Man’s face, and He snapped his eyes open. In front of him was an old fashioned medieval kitchen, not quite what he was imagining but close enough. The heat came from a normal fire in the hearth, and The Man relaxed. The ballroom had vanished into infinity taking the Fire with it.

Now to find who in The Mansion, was trying to destroy everything.