Far removed from reality and the Spirit World lay the Astral World, composed of all manner of symbolism and authorities.
It seemed similar to the starry expanse beyond Earth, boundless, dark, and deep, yet it was fundamentally different from that star-studded space with its hidden dangers.
For example, the concept of Earth was represented by a flat, circular continent, with concepts of land, water, and air flashing around its edges. It revolved around a sunlike star. But approaching that "sun" revealed that it was merely a bright spot and radiating lines daubed in oils upon the black backdrop of the Astral World. Each line connected to symbols and concepts representing light and heat.
Provided one was not burned to ashes by getting too close, one could even see that this hand-painted sun was rather poorly drawn. Even its circle was uneven, making it both comical and unsettling.
Apart from these abstract concepts, several illusory kingdoms lay within the barrier separating Earth's portion of the Astral World from the rest. Some were covered in colorful flowers beneath perpetually bright skies. Some consisted of libraries packed with books, figures moving through them and taking pleasure in reading. Some were divided between seas shrouded in raging storms and skies filled with incessant lightning and thunder. Others were eternally dark, dotted with starlight and planted with night-scented herbs and deep sleep flowers...
These kingdoms moved within the barrier according to a wondrous pattern, yet remained along its perimeter, as though patrolling a frontier. The barrier had protected Earth for thousands upon thousands of years, but successive catastrophes, internal changes, and the passage of time had made it increasingly fragile.
Outside the barrier, indescribably terrifying, enormous faces pressed against its now numerous cracks, silently observing the changes within. They ignored the illusory kingdoms drifting past