Feign: The Realm Between Life and Death

Feign is the equal and opposite force to the Nightmares, taking the form of an infinite realm with different rules from our own, normal reality. Feign is hyperbolic space and time does not flow there naturally, so you can’t die of old age, thirst, or hunger while you’re there. To those that know about it, it’s theorized to be an infinitely thin slice between the worlds of the living and the dead, a membrane of which souls pass through. Feign is a symbol of light, knowledge, and hope.
It used to be bright and sterile, mostly consisting of white and light grays, but when Tiranus was sealed in Feign, both Feign and Tiranus were weakened greatly, with Feign suffering from the corruptive forces of the Nightmares, turning black, purple, and gray. While inside Feign, the “sky” and “ground” are almost entirely black and purple, with glowing, crystal shards poking up from the ground and the occasional, randomly placed structures, like a white cube, or an orange wall. Excluding Tiranus, the Nightmares, and the Feign Guardians, which should hardly count, Feign is entirely devoid of living things.

Feignite Crystals are a mineral that comes from Feign that allows those intune with Feign to harness its power. They are incredibly powerful, but not as rare as one might imagine. Everytime an entrance to Feign opens up, Feignite appears within range of the opening. It takes 8 Feignite Crystals and someone intune with Feign to make an entrance to Feign, so there had to be at least 8 in Sonic’s dimension to start, but since then an entrance to Feign has been opened at least 4 times in the same spot, so there’s more than enough now. It’s just a matter of finding them. This also means that Feignite Crystals will always be found relatively nearby a possible entrance to Feign. Feignite Crystals are highly volatile. Though they aren’t that fragile, if someone manages to even crack one, they will be erased, engulfed in a bright ball of light before completely disappearing along with the Feignite Crystal.

Feign Gates are the epicenters of all Feign-related activity in realms outside of Feign, including Sonic’s dimension, and are currently the only known methods to enter Feign with the 8 Feignite Crystals, and all attempts to build one in the modern day have failed. The only currently known one on Mobius is on the man-made island of Helios, a floating island in the shape of an 8-pointed star. Feign Gates act as time wells as time only flows in Feign when a Feign Gate is open, so any attempts to time travel when near a Feign Gate or holding a Feignite Crystal will result in the time traveler missing their destination and appearing near an opened Feign Gate(usually the one closest to you) instead.
The last opening of the Heliosian Feign Gate was referred to in a prophecy now come true as “Daybreak”, which is effectively the inciting incident that will lead to “Nightfall” if it isn’t stopped...

Feignite Guardians are the Feign’s equivalent to Tiranus’ Nightmares, and are effectively the white blood cells or antivirus of the Feign, with the sole intention of killing any and all Nightmares that somehow manage to enter the Feign without dying. However, because of Tiranus’ presence in Feign, they’ve gone rogue and are now just another addition to Tiranus’ terrible army, fighting on his behalf. Feignite Guardians are emotionless, likely not even sentient, though it’s difficult to call them “machines” given that implies they are man-made and are “simple”. No, if they are machines, they are impossibly advanced, to the point no mortal thing could have developed them.
Feignite Guardians come in two flavors: the traditional Feignite Guardians, which are usually gunmetal or silver geometric shapes that can fold in on itself to fire homing lasers at its targets and are most well known for their otherworldly speed when hunting down intruders, and the Elemental Feignite Guardians, which is Feign’s equivalent to the Clockwork Nightmares. Elemental Feignite Guardians are freak accidents resulting from Feignite Crystals finding themselves inside things, and after a long time, just… suddenly animating what they are inside. Just like normal Feignite Guardians, they fire lasers, but only if they can open themselves up to reveal their Feignite Crystal on the inside. Instead, their main abilities come from what they are inside. For example, the only currently known Elemental Feignite Guardian was a Feignite Crystal buried in the sand, and thus it became a blob of sand that could kick up sandstorms, engulf its targets in sand, shapeshift, ect.

Feignite Temple is a surreal structure resembling a massive pyramid with four seemingly infinitely tall pillars surrounding it and a large, floating ring surrounding the top of the pyramid. At the very center of Feignite Temple is presumably an ancient treasure, but the Feignite Temple is a mind bending, impossibly large maze that is constantly changing. Walls appear and disappear out of thin air, rooms lengthen and shorten depending on when you look at them, gravity is an absolutely meaningless concept as you’ll begin walking on the walls as you try and navigate the impossible geometry.
It’s an Eldritch Minotaur’s Maze, and Tiranus is the Minotaur, hunting you down the entire time as you go through it, with Feignite Guardians around every corner to alert him or shoot you down. No living thing that has entered Feignite Temple has stayed a living thing for long…