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Hector still had his doubts, quite frankly, but he wasn't about to argue with the Dry God over it. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, he felt like he needed to thank Rasalased before doing anything else. "Thank you for your guidance before," he said. "Again, I mean. I don't think I could have gotten through to Leo if you hadn't told me what you did."

"Ah, the sheep. Yes. You are welcome. And I must thank you for rescuing my successor."

"...You can just call him Asad, you know."

"Asad? Is that the new Lion's name?"

"What? How could you not know his name already? You know, like, everything."

"Names... are difficult for me to perceive from afar."

"They are? Why?"

"A name is not a soul, and a soul is not a name. A brain may regard itself by its name, but a soul does not. A soul's identity is something deeper. More piercing. Illustrative. And truthful. A brain may lie to itself and often does. A soul, however, has no capacity for deceit. It simply is. And names, in some sense, are a part of that deception."

"Huh... it kinda sounds like you just don't want to perceive their names."

"Hmm. That may also be true. It matters little."

Hector supposed he was right. There were plenty of other subjects he wanted to discuss. "...How much do you know about my current circumstances?"

"You encountered an entity of Chaos," said Rasalased.

"Yeah. Chortomo... something or other. Chort. Have you ever seen anything like that before?"

"Perhaps. Or perhaps not."

Hector wanted to frown. "Rasalased..."

"You speak of the unreal made real. Have I seen the unreal before? Everyone has. In their mind's eye, if nowhere else."

"...Okay, but have you ever seen a monster like that in the real world before?"

"I... am not certain. Chaos is, by its very nature, difficult to perceive. I feel as though I have, but the memories may be blended with dreams and nightmares."