Mary: "And this is news because...?"
Abigail: "He can't get out of it."
Mary: "Still not news…"

Emily shot Mary a pointed glare and then turned back to Abigail.

Emily: "What do you mean, he's stuck in the dream world?"
Abigail: "The world in which we consciously walk is but one world; one of many. Your soul resides within your body in the waking world, and for as long as your heart beats it will always be connected to that body. Once the connection with life is broken, the soul no longer has a connection to the body. From there, it moves on to a place no living person has seen - another world, the afterlife."

Abigail: "When you are dreaming, your soul is also in another world."

Abigail tapped her head lightly and continued.

Abigail: "It is our human brains, our perceptions, that form the reality of the waking world. Likewise, it is our brains that form the reality of the dreaming world; but the dreaming world knows no bounds and has no limits. Without your conscious senses and perceptions, you are unable to compare the dreaming world with the waking world and determine which is real. Thus, your senses and perceptions in the dreaming world make up its reality."

Mary: "So how can James be stuck in the dream world if it isn't even reality?"
Abigail: "That's not what I said, child. What I said is the waking world is no more real than the dreaming world."

Mary: "Oh. I guess that makes sense."

Emily raised an eyebrow and looked at Mary.

Mary: "Well, it does."
Emily: "Yes, I know it does, but how does that make sense to you?"
Mary: "Hey, I don't always have to be Scullyrific, you know."

Emily turned back to Abigail.

Emily: "So what do we do?"
Abigail: "We go into the dream world after him, find him, and bring him back."

Emily nodded solemnly. Mary turned to her with raised eyebrows.

Mary: "Stop the bus, Mulder, this is where I get off."
Emily: "Mary, shh! Go on, Abigail."
Abigail: "I have determined that he is bound to the dream world, and that he is not alone. Someone is keeping him there."

Tristan: "Who?"

Abigail shook her head and frowned.

Abigail: "This I do not know. I have heard of spells and meditations that will allow two dreamers to enter each others dream worlds, but only a person with great power is capable of this. There must also be close physical contact. In order to amass the power needed to bring someone in against their will, one would have to have spent a lot of time in the dream world - years, even."

Mary: "Considering you spend 1/3 of your life asleep, it really wouldn't take that long…"
Abigail: "Consecutively."
Mary: "Oh."

Abigail: "Only the most dedicated of mystics with great support from followers could achieve this. I have not heard of it being done for many, many decades."
Tristan: "So James would have had to come into physical contact with someone who's been asleep for years? I'm pretty sure he would've mentioned that."
Abigail: "Yes, physical contact would have been necessary for the dreamer to link him or herself to his soul."