Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Omori looked down at the crumpled form of his creator, crying atop the violin that lay on the floor in front of him, tears staining its worn out strings. The corruption of Omori’s form receded slowly while Sunny helplessly wiped his tears away.

You should just die.

Omori held his tongue, unable to utter such words at the moment. Instead he crouched down and pulled Sunny into a hug, giving him the warmth and comfort that he needed.

“You’ve done enough.“ He whispered. Omori was made for the sole purpose of protecting Sunny, of keeping him from the truth and the suffering that came with it. And yet regardless of how much Omori guards and represses it, the truth always comes back to haunt him, it was frustrating seeing Sunny go through the pain over and over again.

It would be better to just die.

That way, Sunny doesn’t have to suffer anymore, he doesn’t have to be reminded of the pain anymore, he can finally be safe. It was for the best.

“Goodnight.“

Sunny disappeared from Omori’s grasp, vanishing from his hold when Omori teleported him to a safer location, one he can peacefully sleep in as Omori takes hold of his body to finally put an ending to his suffering. It didn’t take long for Omori to find a suitable place to do so, the hospital’s roof. Climbing over the bars, he looked at the ground below.

It’s a long way down...

With a single step forward, Omori felt the wind blowing past his body as he plunged to his death. With this, he’ll fulfill his duty. He expected to hit the bottom by now, but it never came, almost as if time slowed. And then it happened, a sudden pulse of energy engulfing the air around him as the world becomes enveloped in a bright light. Before Omori could register anything, a painful tug forcefully pulled at his very being, he gritted his teeth and instinctively brought his hands to his chest, clutching at the thin fabric of the hospital gown while he curled in on himself as something continued to rip away at him.

He had died countless of times, been hurt in several occasions, not once had he felt this type of excruciating pain. He wants to let go, stop fighting it. But if he does, would Sunny have to experience it instead? He can’t let that happen. Even if it becomes unbearable, even if it becomes too much, Omori will endure it, he won’t succumb. Omori will not succumb. Even as the pain grew, Omori continued to endure it. Even as a blood curdling scream ripped out of his throat, Omori won’t succumb. Even as the blinding light changed to complete darkness, Omori will not succumb.

<>=<>=<>

Sunny stood at the top of the stairs, eyes lidded and glossy as his arms stayed raised above his head clutching the violin. A shrill cry snapped him out of his daze and before he could process anything, someone snatched something from his hands.

“SUNNY! What are you doing?!“

Sunny’s eyes widened at the sight before him, his breath hitched. Mari stood in front of him, eyes locked onto him as her face contorted in rage.

Why... Why am I here?

“Were you just about to throw the violin down the stairs?! Why would you? Everyone worked hard to get you this gift!“

No. Not this again. No. No. No. No.

Sunny took a step back as Mari continued to yell at him, tears forming in his eyes and breaths coming out shallow. He doesn’t understand what was happening, mind a whirlwind of thoughts. He shouldn’t be here, he’s supposed to be at Headspace, why is here he again?

I don’t want to be here. Mari would-- Mari would-- I would-- I-- No. No. No. No!

“--The recital is just a few hours away. Sunny, are you even listening to me?!“

She didn't understand me at all... She didn't understand that I just wasn't good enough.

Memories of that night flooded Sunny’s mind. Was this his punishment? Sunny could only stare in horror, eyes frantic and unfocused. Mari was yelling and he couldn’t understand what she was saying, static filled his already overwhelmed mind, words trying to form in the distortion of the static but he couldn’t understand anything.

The static was echoing in his head. Was it Mari?

Mari was yelling.

A distorted voice was trying to call him. Was it Mari?

Mari was yelling.

The distortion was getting louder, he couldn’t understand anything.

Mari was yelling, he couldn’t understand anything.

Sunny felt himself move forward, Mari grabbed his arm.

Mari blocked my path. Mari blocked my path. Mari blocked my path. Why was she yelling at me? Why was she yelling at me? I don’t understand. Mari-

He felt his vision darken as everything went by him in a blur while the ceiling spun and swirled.

-was yelling.

Chapter Text

Omori awakened with a groan, his entire body felt heavy and weak, still aching with pain that continued to spread through him. There was no time to dwell on his well being however as his main priority is Sunny, though it seemed that Sunny is back in control of his body again and strangely, Omori can linger within his mind now.

He wasn’t able to in the past, what Sunny does when awake wasn’t something Omori can know nor experience unless he’s the one in control of the body, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore now. Was it because of that weird event? It was the only explanation and whatever caused it even brought Sunny back to the very moment everything went wrong.

Mari stood in front of him, holding Sunny’s... violin?

No, that’s not right. Sunny should’ve already broken that violin by the time Mari came.

What changed? If this is merely a memory to torment Sunny then that violin should still be broken, but it isn’t. It’s completely safe and within Mari’s hold.

If this is a second chance then... This argument needs to end.

Just as Omori finished processing what little he could, he heard Sunny’s thoughts, fragments of the other past flashing through his mind. Omori called out to him, desperately trying to get a hold of Sunny, it seemed that he hadn’t even noticed the most vital change of the argument. He needs to get Sunny to calm down but he couldn’t, Sunny’s mind is far too panicked and muddled.

Then Sunny suddenly collapsed and Omori was brought back to White Space. He immediately stood up, hissing at the pain his body still hasn’t recovered from, he noticed the reddish hue from his right eye, taking note of it for now. He’ll worry about it later, right now he needs to find Sunny and luckily, it didn’t take him long to do so.

Omori rushed to Sunny’s side, checking him over for any injuries. Nothing. Omori sighed in relief and tried to lift him up to bring him towards the blanket, yet with his current condition, that proved to be difficult. Even with the help of the red hands, it still took a lot out of him, out of breath and panting by the time he had set Sunny down beside the laptop. Mewo walked over to them, snuggling at Sunny’s side.

He lightly shook Sunny, trying to wake him up. No response. He tried again, his shaking growing a little more aggressive as the minutes passed, still no response. Omori paused.

Why won’t he wake up? He should be awake by now.

Dread began to settle in the air as Omori became worried. He shook Sunny again and even began calling his name, Omori’s throat felt dry and scratchy, a stinging pain at the side that he ignored. “Sunny. Sunny. Sunny!“

He tried over and over and over again, yet still no response.

Why...?

“You...“

Omori turned to the source of the voice, already having an idea who it belongs to. Stranger stood in front of the White Space door. He looked different than before.

“What’s going on? Is that--Dreamer?“ He ran to Sunny’s other side and crouched down, “What happened?“

Omori fought the urge to click his tongue, the last thing he wanted was to see Stranger, a thorn on his side that always drags Sunny to the truth. But as much as he hated the other, Stranger was still someone that can help Sunny. Omori opened his mouth to give a concise explanation until he remembered that he can’t stay in White Space for long right now. Sunny had just collapsed in front of Mari, he needs to show them that Sunny is physically alright.

Omori shook his head, “no time. Watch him.“ Without waiting for Stranger’s response, he took control of Sunny’s body once again.

As soon as Omori opened his eyes, he was met with Mari’s worried face.

“Sunny!“ She hugged him closer to her chest, a few tears staining the back of his shirt. “Are you okay? I was so worried! I’m so sorry, Sunny. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I’m so sorry, little brother...“

Mari pulled away and wiped some of her tears with the back of her hand, “Are you in pain? Does anywhere hurt?“

“No.“ Omori spoke, slightly taken aback by Sunny’s voice sounding identical to his. Right, they’re the same age now.

“Really? You’re really alright? If... If you want...“ Her lip trembled as she mustered up the courage to speak the next words, Omori can guess what she wanted to say. “We could...“

“It’s fine.“ Omori interrupted, “You’ve been looking forward to it for so long.“

“But you just fainted... I don’t want...“

Omori placed a hand on Mari’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring pat, “just tired.“

Mari opened her mouth to speak again, seemingly unconvinced. But before she could say anything, Basil shouted from the doorway at the bottom, Hero and Kel following closely behind him as the three rushed up the stairs and sat at their side.

“Sunny! How are you feeling?“ Hero asked as he did a quick scan of him, glancing between him and Mari.

“Tired.“ Omori answered and attempted to stand. Mari, Hero, Basil, and Kel rushing to aid him up. It was a bit excessive... but it was reassuring to know how much they cared for Sunny.

“Are you sure?“ Hero asked again, brows furrowed as his lips formed into a small frown.

Omori nodded, “Just need rest. I’ll be fine.“

He looked to Mari, who hesitantly nodded. She gave them a small smile as she hugged Omori close, “We’ll rest until the recital.“

“We’ll watch over you!“ Kel raised his hand and turned to Hero, “Right?“

“Right!“

Kel turned to Basil who had picked up the violin on the floor, “You come too, Basil! We’ll be Sunny’s guardians!“

Basil smiled, “Yeah!“

Thanks to the others, Mari’s worries lessened, a wave of relief washing over her as she saw how eager their friends were to make sure that Sunny was alright. She chuckled, “Alright, alright. Let’s make a small fort to rest in! Come on, Sunny.“

They walked towards their bedroom. In this new past, no, in this current present, nothing went wrong. Mari is alive, the violin is safe, and the recital would go on as normal. Sunny would’ve liked it, wouldn’t he? To be given a second chance like this, it was something that no one ever thought possible but here they are. If only Sunny would wake up...

There’s the matter with the recital too, though Omori wanted to go through with it, there’s just a slight problem. He doesn’t know how to play the violin.

Omori was now back in White Space as soon as Sunny’s body slept in the mound of pillows that his sister and friends set up.

“You’re finally back.“ Stranger spoke, he was still sitting at Sunny’s side as he pet Mewo. “Care to explain everything now?“

Reluctantly, Omori explained what he knows towards Stranger, silence filling the room after he was done as the two were in deep thought. Omori began formulating a plan for the recital, he only has a few hours to think of one.

“Even Headspace appeared to have changed.“ Stranger was the one that broke the silence, “The Vast Forest is different now, the trees now bigger and the surrounding now filled with darkness. It is nothing like the area it once was.“

“Your presence here is evidence enough that Headspace is not what it once was.“

“That is fair.“ Stranger tilted his head, what an annoyance. “Your form also, are you not going to address those?“ He pointed to three parts of Omori’s body, eye, neck, and hand.

Omori already knew there was a problem with his right eye but it appears there’s more than just that. He brought a hand to his neck and felt a few short fragmented lines on it. He inspected his left hand next and saw what appeared to be static forming on the tips of his fingers. He shrugged. Changes on his form doesn’t concern him, his only concerns now are Sunny and how this change would affect his ability to fulfill his duty.

“What about you? Your form changed as well.“ Omori stared at him, he knows Stranger has the ability to change appearances but his default had always been Basil, specifically the younger version that the Dreamworld has. Now he looks just like the older Basil from the real world before the reversal of time.

“Mine, at the very least, is not as concerning as yours.“

“You’re concerned about me? Laughable.“

“That is not what I meant.“ He quickly retorted, “It just seemed to be that whatever has corrupted your body has the possibility of spreading. What sort of protector would you be when rendered useless?“

“I am deathless.“

“I doubt it.“

Omori glared at Stranger. Always a bother. If not for Sunny’s condition, he would’ve charged at him right now.

Stranger merely shrugged and waved it off, “Anyhow, with Sunny asleep. How do you think to achieve playing in the recital?“

Omori huffed and crossed his arms. He already thought about it. Though the argument had passed, there was still the matter with their performance. He doesn’t know how to play the violin but he can make use of Sunny’s muscle memory for it, that should be enough to get through the recital just fine but it doesn’t feel right. Relying on merely muscle memory means that Sunny would be making the same mistakes he had made during practice, the same mistakes that he got berated for.

Mari had been looking forward to the recital for so long and Sunny worked hard for it, so much so that the pressure got to him. Omori doesn’t want both of their efforts to be in vain. The recital needs to be perfect, for both Mari and Sunny’s sake. What else could Omori do?

He could access Sunny’s memories, find the parts he messed up in, use his instructor’s demonstration and correction while Sunny’s body plays using muscle memory, possibly copy and stimulate the instructor’s movements to Sunny’s body. Doing all of that on the spot would take a huge toll out of Omori, especially with his current condition, he doesn’t know whether he can successfully pull it off or not. But there was no other option he could think of. It was that or ruin the recital. He can’t ruin the recital.

“I’ll take care of it.“ He finally said after long contemplation. He’ll make it work, even if it kills him.

Omori stood in the backstage beside Mari, he wore a fancy suit that paired well with Mari’s dress. He held the violin firmly in his hands as he go over his plan once more, his body recovered a bit more thanks to the rest he got before the recital.

“How are you feeling, Sunny?“ Mari asked, gently fixing up the loose strands of hair on Omori’s forehead.

“Fine.“

She smiled, “I’m glad! It was a good thing we rested before!“

Omori nodded when a staff then called for them to be on standby before gesturing to them to go on stage. Mari led the way with Omori following behind. The lights of the stage were blinding as they entered, a grand piano stood at the center.

Omori saw a glimpse of Sunny’s friends and family in the audience as they took their positions. Mari sitting primly at the piano while Omori stood beside it, he took a deep breath as he brought the violin to his chin. He listened to Mari play and waited for his cue while readying to set his plan into motion. As soon as Omori heard his cue, Sunny’s muscle memory kicked in, putting his body into autopilot as he searched through Sunny’s memories.

The first mistake was small and easy to correct, just had to copy the instructor’s hand positioning. The second mistake was one that required a bit more power as he had to copy the instructor’s demonstration and the moment he replicated it, he felt a stabbing pain on his hand.

With each mistake he fixed, the pain continued to travel across his body, growing worse the longer he used his power to replicate and play. The pain became excruciating, a stabbing pain enveloping his entire right body, a tearing pain envelops his left, and a crushing pain envelops his head. Everything hurts. It was like that time when time reversed but twice as painful.

Omori gritted his teeth, ignore the pain, keep going, ignore the pain, keep going, ignore the pain, keep going. Until the recital ends, endure it, endure it, endure it. He poured all of his focus on the performance, his vision blurring as darkness crept up on the corners of his sight. He can’t lose consciousness now. Not now. Not now. Not now.

Eventually, Omori heard the loud applause of the audience. It’s over. He sucked in a shaky breath as he lowered the violin, he felt like falling apart, shaky and unsteady, black spots continue to hover in his vision. His only relief was that whatever he’s experiencing doesn’t show on Sunny’s body.

They did a curt bow as the curtains closed and made their way to the backstage again. Mari walked beside him, giving him the brightest smile he had ever seen her make. Did he do it perfectly? He could barely keep himself together.

He can feel the excitement radiating off of Mari, “That was amazing! You did so well, Sunny! It was perfect!“ She giggled, hopping about for a moment before wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace, “I’m so proud of you...“

Sunny... Sunny would be glad to hear those words...

Omori couldn’t keep himself awake anymore, his eyelids felt so heavy that his eyes just shut close. The last thing he heard was Mari’s worried voice as everything faded to black.

Chapter Text

Stranger continued to watch Sunny as he sat beside him, Mewo now lying on his lap. Omori ran off to take control of Sunny’s body again and though normally he wouldn’t allow the protector to freely do as he wished with the dreamer’s body, there was nothing else he could do with the dreamer still asleep. At least now Omori doesn’t seem to want any harm to come onto Sunny anymore unlike the stunt he pulled which got them dragged into this mess.

To be sent to the past. Both a blessing and a curse. Would the dreamer consider it a blessing had he been awake right now? Or would he consider it a cruel curse? It is a double-edged sword and in Stranger’s eyes find it to be both. He suppose that now at least Mari is alive, Sunny would’ve been happy to see her again had he not been sent back to that moment and panicked. It couldn’t be helped after all.

Stranger looked around White Space again, red disembodied hands floating around the area, weirdly enough, Stranger can see signs of restlessness on them. Is it because of Sunny’s condition or... Omori’s? Stranger doesn’t know exactly what he went through, the protector skimmed through it.

“There was a pulse of energy and blinding light.“

That was all he said about the event. But seeing the condition his body was in, it seemed that there was more to it. Stranger huffed out a sigh of annoyance, it’s always frustrating talking to Omori. Always secretive and closed off, the only one that could possibly understand him is the dreamer. He really lives up to being a vessel.

But he’s more than that now. They all are.

When Sunny broke the lightbulb and began piecing the truth together. Stranger’s duty as guide was meant to stop there. But instead, he found himself in that changed Vast Forest, looking up at the dark leaves of too tall trees, the sky wasn’t visible at all anymore. That was what he noticed first, the second was his powers. As a guide, his powers were always scattered, shared amongst the others of his kind, clones but at the same time, not. They all shared a collective consciousness, all shared the same mission of guiding the dreamer to the truth. Stranger was always aware of their presences, yet when he awakened then, there was only him, and him alone. His powers that were once scattered was now whole. He felt complete.

He couldn’t understand much then, wandering the dense forest to only come upon the ever familiar tree stump, a doorway between the Neighbor’s Room and Dreamworld. He was prohibited from entering the areas beyond it, courtesy of Omori, as usual. But with Vast Forest becoming different, it was likely that other areas changed as well, if he must confront Omori then so be it.

So Stranger went inside the tree stump, and found his way into White Space.

Which now leads to the present.

“Waiting for something to happen?“

Mewo’s voice echoed in his head, startling him a bit.

“Heh...“ Stranger poked at Mewo’s cheek. That’s right, pondering here won’t help at all, the more he thinks of the changes around them, the more questions forms with little to no answers. He carried Mewo off of him and placed her beside Sunny, “Watch over him for me.“

He walked out of White Space and into Neighbor’s Room, the favourite’s domain. They stayed in their usual position, behind the wall with their paws hanging off of it, eyes following each and every movement that Stranger makes.

He walked closer to him, “Big Yellow Cat...“ Well, that was a mouthful. “I’ll call you BYC for short.“

BYC, the favourite, they’re much like a watcher of the dreamer, always there to greet him as he walks out of White Space using Omori’s body, they’re in charge of another room, Neighbor’s Bedroom. Only accessible when it’s time to reset Headspace, now though, with no more Black Space to repress, there’s also no need for resets. Stranger plans to use the room as a safe place for the dreamer, they don’t know how long Sunny would be asleep for, leaving him in White Space isn’t ideal, he should at least rest somewhere he can comfortably stay in until he wakes. And the best place Stranger could think of is the Neighbor’s Bedroom.

“Are you perhaps aware of what has happened to the dreamer?“ He asked, not quite expecting a response but asking doesn’t hurt.

“... ...Yes“

BYC’s voice echoed in Stranger’s head. He nodded, that makes things easier for him.

“I’ll get straight to the point then. Allow me access to the Neighbor’s Bedroom. It’s safer to leave the dreamer there than White Space.“

BYC didn’t respond this time, instead they glanced to the left and Stranger followed their gaze. A white door with a border painted in different pastel colours slowly materialized on the wall. It silently opened outward, revealing long colorful stairs floating on the familiar purple sky on the other side. Stranger was certain that the bedroom was fixed in only one location, and it wasn’t at all meant to be near the Neighbor’s Room. Was there changes to BYC as well?

Perhaps a change to their powers too?

Stranger took note of it, bringing the thought at the back of their head for now. “Thank you.“

He made his way back to White Space, gently picking Sunny up in a princess carry. Mewo pawed at his leg as he lifted the dreamer up, softly meowing at him. “Want to come with us?“

Stranger knelt down, allowing Mewo to climb on his shoulders. They walked out of White Space and stood in front of the door to Neighbor’s Bedroom, the stairs went on endlessly. Stranger began their trek up it, expecting a long trip yet found themselves to be at the top after a few steps. Stranger smiled, continuing his way into the bedroom, a single large bed stood at the center. He carefully put Sunny on it, bringing the blanket up to his shoulders. Mewo jumped down onto the dreamer’s side, snuggling close to him.

Stranger looked around the room, BYC was behind the wall right across them, paws hanging off of it like before. Just by the center of that wall, a small keyhole was etched onto it. He approached it, the keyhole was slightly higher up, but reachable, he ran a hand through it and the area around it, it doesn’t appear to just be a part of the room’s design. Stranger thought for a moment before stepping back, the protector most likely has the key for it. He'll ask about it once he’s back. He took one last look around the room before turning to leave, the trip back as short as it was.

Stranger sat patiently in White Space, quietly humming to himself as he put the laptop’s keys back in place. As a way of killing time, Stranger decided to pick apart the keys and form words with it, some of the floating red hands around the area also kept him company by playing rock papers scissors with him. It was rather bizarre to know that though they’re a product of the protector’s power, a mere tool to use, each one around White Space displays signs of individuality and personality. Some of them were friendly to approach Stranger, others were cautious and kept their distance, it was the first time he’d seen them act like that. Then again, whenever he sees the red hands, Omori was always commanding them.

As soon as Stranger put the last key back, he heard a loud thud at the distance. He turned to the sound and saw the protector, laying motionlessly on the floor, some of the red hands already circling around him. Stranger rushed to his side, stunned by the condition his body was in. Though he expected it, he didn’t expect for it to worsen that much in such a short time. The static that was merely on the tips of his fingers now cover his whole hand, the fragmented lines now cover half of his neck and spread towards the top of his shoulders, becoming apparent that it was cracks. Blood red tears run down his cheek from his right eye.

Stranger huffed out in frustration, he warned him about it and as expected, he didn’t listen. He never does. Stranger bent down and tried to lift Omori up, only to pause midway when the protector groaned and winced. More red hands huddled close to them, delicately holding Omori to help carry him. As frustrated as he is, it’s best for him to push it down for the time being as he tended to Omori.

With a small sigh, Stranger carefully and slowly carried Omori, aided by the red hands. The movement caused the side of Omori’s shirt to lift up a bit, revealing a small patch of static on his side, traveling towards his leg that was somewhat hidden by his shorts. Stranger clicked his tongue, “I’ll take care of it he said...“ He muttered as they brought him towards the blanket just beside the laptop, gently bringing him down, some of the red hands stayed to act as a pillow for him. Stranger thought for a moment before walking towards the door, “I’ll be right back.“

Stranger came back shortly after, carrying five pillows and two blankets. Some of the red hands floated to him, taking a couple pillows to carry. They carefully got to work, setting up a small mound of pillows in one side of the blanket and bringing Omori to lay on it, while Stranger put the blanket over him, he noticed only tear stains left on the protector’s cheek. The red hands must’ve wiped it away for him. He shook his head as he stood, putting a hand on his waist while he watched the protector, only now noticing how labored his breathing was. Whatever he just did in the recital terribly backfired on him.

So much for his warning...

Stranger patiently waited by the protector’s side, entertaining himself by playing cards that he found in Neighbor’s Room with the red hands. He felt a red hand tap him on his shoulder, turning to glance at it, he saw Omori’s hand twitched. Soon after, his eyes slowly opened, blinking for a few times.

“Look who’s awake.“

He crossed his arms as Omori glanced at him, it was then that Stranger saw what became of the protector’s right eye. Blood red iris with a white ‘X‘ in the middle. Stranger’s lips tightened into a thin line.

Omori glared at him, for someone in terrible condition, he sure still has the energy to be mad at Stranger. He slowly sat up, red hands rushing to help him. Stranger watched as he scanned the room, it’s quite obvious who he’s looking for.

“I brought the dreamer in the Neighbor’s Bedroom. He’s safer there, Mewo keeps him company.“ He answered the unspoken question.

“So you--“ Omori grimaced, his hand shot up to his neck as his body hunched over.

“Yes. I can access the bedroom too. I asked BYC for permission.“ Stranger answered again, it seems he’ll be the only one talking for the time being.

Though, that has always been what I do anyway...

The protector opened his mouth to speak again but before he could, Stranger gestured to the red hands to cover it. “It hasn’t even been 30 seconds since you hunched over in pain from your throat and yet you continue to try again? Are you seriously planning on further pushing your body until it breaks?“

Stranger’s frustration was resurfacing, he kept a stern gaze at Omori who merely glared at him again. Stranger took a deep breath, fully turning his body to face him, “You aren’t the only one displeased here, protector. I’d rather work with anyone else than you but I’ve no option in the matter and neither do you. As of now, only the both of us are around to help the dreamer. With the current state of Headspace, there’s less likely chances of anyone else.“

Omori tried to pry off the hand covering his mouth only to be stopped by two other red hands that now held both of his wrists together in front of him in a gentle yet firm grip.

Stranger sighed, “Tell me, with a nod or shake of your head. Do you want the dreamer’s body to be in the same coma that his consciousness is in?“

Omori finally stopped struggling and shook his head.

“Then, stop. Pushing. Yourself. Your body is slowly falling apart. Static on one side, cracks in the other. Your right eye has turned red with a white cross in the middle. And you continue to keep pushing even after being in pain? You winced and groaned when we picked you up, you hunched over after merely uttering two words.“

Omori looked unimpressed.

Stranger feels like he’s at his wit’s end. If it were up to him, he’d rather have Sunny’s body in a coma to focus on Headspace and finding ways to awaken the dreamer. But with the protector around and his stubborn desire in keeping the dreamer’s body awake, it just caused another set of problems in an already problematic situation. The dreamer indefinitely asleep, the protector’s body falling apart. If this keeps up then Sunny won’t be the only one in a coma soon.

Stranger let out an exasperated sigh. “Look. I could care less about the condition you’re in, but if we want to find a way to awaken the dreamer faster then it’ll be easier with the both of us around. I don’t want to play nurse and doctor towards two patients with the second who could’ve prevented being one had he been more careful!“

Omori slowly shifted his body to face Stranger now too, the red hands continuously helping him and though his wrists were still held in place, he gestured to Stranger to come closer by using his right hand's four front fingers.

Stranger groaned in annoyance before moving closer, “What now--“

Omori flicked Stranger’s forehead and now finds himself staring up at a dimly lit ceiling. He blinked several times, “Wha--“

“Sunny?“

Stranger quickly looked to his side, Mari sat beside the bed, she held a book in her hand, the light from the lamp barely reaching her face but from her voice alone, she sounded tired. Stranger slowly sat up as he thought of what to do.

That brat!

“You’re awake...“ Mari pulled Stranger in a warm embrace, her hand that grazed his shoulders felt cold however. “Are you... are you really okay?“

Stranger mentally took a deep breath. Right now, he’s the dreamer, he’s Sunny.

“Y-yeah...“

Mari pulled away, “Honest? Please...“

Stranger noticed tears forming in Mari’s eyes, he quickly nodded, “Honest. Sorry for worrying you...“

Mari shook her head, “No, it’s okay. You must’ve still been exhausted then...“

Right... The recital.

“Y-yeah...“

“Thank you... for still doing the performance. And I’m sorry... for pressuring you...“

“Uh... It’s alright. I know how much that performance meant for you, Mari. I’m just glad... I didn’t ruin it...“ This feels wrong somehow, for Mari, she’s talking to Sunny and yet in reality, she wasn’t. But then again, Sunny wasn’t also the one that played then too. Is this really okay to do?

Mari smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes, “You’ll never ruin anything for me, little brother! By the way, do you want anything? Here. I brought a snack and a glass of water for you.” Mari turned to the bedside table, taking a cookie from inside a jar and the glass of water. Stranger felt bad refusing her offer so he just decided to take both, slowly eating the cookie and emptying the glass after. Mari merely watched him, a relieved yet worried look on her face still. She took the glass from him and placed it back on the table.

“Uhhh... Mari?“

“Hm?“

Stranger stared, fiddling with his hands, what did he want to say to her again? He’s meant as a guide, he never quite knows how to handle using the dreamer’s body like this.

“You should probably go back to sleep again, you need a lot of rest after all.“

“Oh... O-okay...“

Mari tucked him in, fixing a few strands of hair on his face before placing a soft kiss on his forehead. “Good night, little brother.“

If I was the dreamer, what would I want to say to her?

“Night...“

Mari walked towards her bed.

“Mari?“

“Yes?“

If I was the dreamer...

“I love you.“

Mari brought the blanket to her knees, with the light finally reaching her face, Stranger sees her make a warm smile, “I love you too, Sunny.“

Chapter Text

Omori opened his eyes to the familiar brightness of White Space, though only one eye needed to adjust to it with his other now blind, his body felt lighter than when he first awoke, it felt like lead then, stiff and bruised. He raised his right hand, bringing it up to hover above his face and inspected the static that now reach his wrist, he merely used a small portion of his power to get that shadow to be in control of Sunny’s body. After all, Sunny fainted in front of Mari again and stayed unconscious for much longer, she’d most likely be worried about him.

“Are you proud of yourself?“

Omori brought his hand back down to rest on the soft pillows he laid on, unbothered to face the shadow, his voice was filled with annoyance.

“Did you even listen to a word I said?“

“Unfortunately... yes...“ His throat ached less this time, though it was still rather difficult to speak.

“Then why did you still use your power? That static didn’t reach your wrist last I checked.“ Stranger sounded closer.

Omori finally turned to Stranger who was now standing next to him, arms crossed and gaze lowered in a glare.

“Why do you insist in taking control of the dreamer’s body? What do you plan to gain from it?“

“Mari... saw her?“

Stranger faltered in his anger, gaze turning distant as he thought back to what he saw then, Omori watched him with that same neutral face. Seconds passed and the shadow let out a small sigh, anger fading, “I admit, it was fortunate that the dreamer awoke then, it allowed her a sense of relief to see Sunny doing okay. But must we continue this still? It doesn’t feel fair at all for them, in their eyes, they’re talking to Sunny but in truth, it’s someone else deep within.“

Always with the truth... How annoying.

“Better... that way...“

“How? We’re just weaving a new web of lies.“

Omori took a deep breath, he wanted to speak less this time but with the shadow being infuriating, he doesn’t know how else to get his point across without speaking more. “Then, would you rather they live in worry seeing Sunny... hooked into machines with only the loud beeping as a signal that he’s alive... or live in relief seeing Sunny physically awake as he continue to be with them--“ Omori hunched over, his hand shot up to cover his mouth as a coughing fit racked his body while his other hand clutched at a pillow, red hands rushing to his side with one carrying the tissue box. He grabbed a few when his cough ended, not at all surprised to see blood on his hand.

Stranger put his hands on his waist, letting out another sigh as his shoulders sagged. “Fine, fine. I relent. However, I’m still not fully convinced, but for the sake of your sickly condition, I won’t argue anymore.“

“I’d mock you in my deathbed...“

“Will you even have the energy for it?“

Omori glared at Stranger and telepathically commanded a red hand to smack the shadow at the back of his head.

Stranger returned Omori’s glare with one of his own and gave a quiet snarl, “Brat.“

“Bastard.“

Stranger groaned and rolled his eyes, he walked towards the door and spoke over his shoulder. “Whatever. The sooner we find a way to wake the dreamer, the sooner we can part. I’ll be searching the Vast Forest while you--” He turned around and pointed at Omori with a stern gaze, “Stay and recuperate.“

Omori opened his mouth to speak when a pair of red hands suddenly covered it, feeling the familiarity of the situation, he quickly swatted the hands away before another can restrain him. Omori glared daggers at them, both shrinking in on itself while floating a few feet away, before turning to face the shadow again. The red hands, though tools, always had a sliver of individuality to them, yet it wasn’t to the point of acting on its own unlike now. An annoying change, especially since they all seem to collectively agree in following Stranger, the bastard, than him, their master.

“Harsh. They’re only worried about you.“ Upon the shadow’s defense, the red hands that Omori glared at floated behind his legs.

Those little...

“Why... side with you?“

Finding an opportunity, Stranger immediately took it. He shrugged and looked down on Omori with a smirk, “Because I’m better than you.“

Omori wanted to stand and lunge at him, he really did. But the red hands were faster this time, they hurriedly latched onto him, restraining him from any more abrupt movements and keeping him in place on the safety of the pillows. He watched as the shadow opened the door, waving a hand with that condescending smirk still plastered on his face before walking out, the pair of red hands following behind.

Omori couldn’t do anything much but curse Stranger in his head as he controlled his breathing, he won’t use his power and worsen his condition just because of a mere insult, but it was close...

With no other option, Omori spent his time in White Space sleeping, only waking to check on the status of Sunny’s body. Time didn’t exist in Headspace, his only means on telling whether it’s time for Sunny’s body to wake is his connection with him and luckily, it remained unaffected despite his condition. Soon, he’d wake as Sunny again.

<>=<>=<>

Mari opened the door to the bedroom, having just finished setting the table up for breakfast, she wanted to fetch Sunny to eat with them. She saw him sitting on the bed and she beamed, hopefully he feels better today.

“Good morning, Sunny!“ She greeted with a smile as she walked to his side.

“Morning...“ Sunny yawned and stretched, stepping out of the bed and standing to Mari’s side. Mari stared at him, checking to see if he’s feeling better, he looks like his usual self, except his eyes appear rather dull, perhaps he’s still sleepy?

“How are you feeling?“

“Okay.“

Mari nodded, “I’m glad! Come on, let’s have breakfast!“

They made their way to the dining room, Mari walking closely by her little brother’s side, especially when they went down the stairs. Sunny was moving sluggishly which wouldn’t have been that worrying before, after all, he wasn’t much of a morning person and was always sleepy early in the day but after the events of yesterday, Mari can’t help but worry.

Their parents greeted them the moment as they took their seats, Mari sitting beside Sunny across from their parents.

“Good morning! Are you feeling much better now, Sunny?” Their mom asked.

Sunny nodded before taking a bite of the bacon. Mari ate silently beside him.

“That’s good! You worried us so much then! I even wanted to take you to the hospital...“ Their mom side-eyed their dad, “But your dad wouldn’t let me.“

He swallowed and merely continued to focus on his plate, “Hmph, I doubt it’s anything serious. In fact, it’s a good thing he didn’t faint mid-performance.“

Mari paused, taking a small glance between her parents and Sunny. Their dad continued to eat while their mom bit her lip, tightly clutching the fork on her hand as she huffed out, seemingly keeping her temper in check while in the dining table. Sunny merely focused on his plate with listless eyes, hopefully he wasn’t too affected by what their dad said. Mari mentally sighed, just once, she wanted their dad to show concern for them, for Sunny, just once. Her little brother fainted twice, she told them about it. But like always, he just brushed it off.

As Mari was about to take another bite of her food, her gaze wandered to Sunny, whose eyes closed and head nearly dropping onto the plate had Mari not rushed to catch him, her fork dropping onto the floor with a loud clunk. “Sunny!“

Their mom shot up from her seat with a loud gasp and rushed to Sunny’s side, “Sunny, honey?!“

Mari stood up, mind filling with worry and fear. Was Sunny still not doing better after all? Was that why he was moving so sluggishly today?

Was it because of me?

Mari bit her lip, the back of her eyes stung as her vision blurred. Thankfully, Sunny woke up not even a minute later. Mari blinked a few times to clear her vision again.

“Sunny!” Their mom shouted, crouching down to meet his gaze, “Sunny, honey... Are you really okay? Maybe you should keep resting for today...“

Sunny weakly nodded and moved to stand, aided by both Mari and their mom. Mari heard their dad loudly click his tongue and this time, their mom couldn’t keep her temper anymore as she turned to glare at him, “What was that for?“

Their dad merely continued to eat, as if his own son didn’t just promptly fainted in front of him, “It’s ridiculous how much you baby him so much.“

No, it’s ridiculous how little you care...

Mari held her tongue and kept her gaze focused on her little brother, “I’ll bring Sunny to his room.“

Their mom nodded before walking to their dad with a loud stomp, Mari quickly yet steadily went out the room, she doesn’t want to stay there any longer, doesn’t want Sunny to be caught up in an argument with their parents again. Sunny stopped at the pathway to the stairs, tugging at Mari’s sleeves and pointing to the sofa.

“Rest there... instead...“

“Are you sure? It’ll be more comfortable in your bed. I can just carry you up the stairs if you want!“

Sunny shook his head, “It’s fine...“

With a small smile, Mari nodded her head, “Okay then.“

As they walked to the sofa, Mari heard the muffled shouts of their parents from the dining room, luckily it wasn’t that loud so Sunny wouldn’t have to hear it as he rests. Sunny laid on his side, knees curled to his chest, Mewo silently walked up to them, jumping up to sit beside Sunny.

“Hey there, Mewo. You here to watch over him? Hehe.“ Mari petted her on the head, running her hand across Mewo’s body before Mewo snuggled closer to Sunny, crawling under his arm. Sunny gave a small smile as he patted her head before hugging her close. It was always adorable seeing them together. “Good kitty! I’ll go get blankets.”

With Mari all alone as she fetched a blanket for her little brother, her thoughts drifted back to last night, the argument they had, how Sunny fainted for the first time. Guilt plagued her mind, she never did listen to anything he wanted to say, did she? In fact, she didn’t even let him talk then. Sunny looked at her in terror and yet she continued to yell... and yell... and yell...

Was it her fault her little brother isn’t doing well?

Mari picked up a blanket and a pillow.

Was it because of the pressure?

Mari gently placed the pillow over Sunny’s head, he seemed to be asleep already.

Was it because of the recital?

Mari carefully put the blanket on Sunny and Mewo, she sat on the carpet beside the two, head hung low.

She just wanted the recital to be perfect... It has always been her dream to play on stage, in front of a large audience. She thought that dream would only have her, but when Sunny picked up the violin again, she was overjoyed. To fulfill her dream with her little brother... It was something she was excited to do. So she wanted it all to be perfect.

In the end, it was never about Sunny, was it?

The recital was perfect, but now... Sunny’s health took a turn for the worse. She should’ve tried harder to convince him to drop the performance. She shouldn’t have argued with him, she shouldn’t have yelled at him...

I shouldn’t have pushed for perfection... Please, Sunny... Please be okay soon.

Mari stayed sitting on the floor, playing with her hair or the fabric of the carpet. Their parents long finished their argument and already prepared to leave for work, their mom walked over to check up on them, “I called the school. You don’t have to attend classes for today...“

Mari nodded, “I’ll keep watch of Sunny.“

Their mom leaned down, pressing a soft kiss on both Sunny and Mari’s forehead, “Take care.“

She waved at them before leaving with their dad, and as usual, he remained indifferent, not even sparing them a single glance.

Mari entertained herself with books while keeping watch of Sunny, not wanting to drown in her guilt. She needs to focus on her little brother this time, needs to be there for him, she doesn’t need to be thinking about herself. She took some of her school books, studying a bit as she killed time. The clock struck 11, it won’t be until 3 before the others get home.

“Mari...?“

Mari quickly turned around, her little brother was awake now, sleepily rubbing his eyes with one hand while Mewo did a big stretch still under his arm. “How are you feeling?“

He nodded as he sat up, “better.“

Mari pursed her lips, not believing his words anymore. “Lay down still. It’ll be much better if you rest for today.“

Sunny shook his head, “Spend time with you.“

Mari stared at him, Sunny’s eyes were still dull and now that she can see it clearer with their positioning and the light of the living room, it was only then that Mari noticed how empty his eyes were, devoid of the usual warm light she’s familiar with. That made her worry came rushing back like a tidal wave.

Sunny tipped his head to the side, “Mari?“

She snapped out of it, blinking a few times and shaking her head, perhaps he’s still tired, her little brother just woke up after all, “Sorry. I’m still worried about you.“ She offered him the widest smile she can muster, trying to reassure him, “But if you really wanna spend time with your big sister then who am I to refuse?“

Mari moved to sit beside Sunny, picking Mewo up to lay her on her lap before opening the book she was reading, giggling a bit when she saw Sunny pout.

“Come on! It isn’t so bad!“

Sunny leaned on her shoulder, “But why?“

“Ehehe, fine! I’ll go get a comic book then.“

They spent the next few hours reading comics, eating snacks and chatting away. Though Sunny’s eyes haven’t regained its usual light, it was still comforting to see him more awake now, it has been a long time since they last spent time like this. Mari was always busy with her studies and piano practice that the only time they ever got to spend time together was during the recital practices. She never realized how much she missed just relaxing with Sunny until today. Time flew by them, only noticing it when a loud knock came on their door.

“MARI! SUNNY! WE’RE HERE!“ Kel shouted.

“Oh!“ Mari was greeted by the beaming faces of their friends when she opened the door, Kel running inside and dragging Basil along, Aubrey following behind them while she told Kel to slow down, Hero was the only one that stayed by Mari, chuckling at the others already crowding Sunny.

“How is he?“ He asked.

“Still not doing that good... He nearly fainted again this morning.“

Hero furrowed his eyebrows, “I really think we should bring him to the hospital...“

“I think so too but...“ Mari lowered her gaze as she bit her lip, her mind clouded with the thoughts that continued to plague her.

Hero wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back as he whispered comforting words to her ear. “Shh... Sunny will be okay... It’ll all be okay... I’m here...“

Mari hugged back, burying her face on the crook of his neck as she matched her breathing with his. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Mari pulled away, smiling warmly at Hero, “Thanks! I feel better now.“

Hero smiled back, just as brightly as he always does, “Anytime! I’ll always be here for you, Mari.“

Their little moment however were broken when they heard gagging sounds on the side, followed by a loud frustrated groan.

“KEL! Seriously! Let them have their moment!“ Aubrey protested.

“But it’s so sickeningly sweet!“

“No it isn’t! It’s romantic!“

Hero chuckled as he approached them, “Now now, break it off you two, didn’t you already have your fair share of arguments today?“

“That was Aubrey’s fault!“

“How was it my fault?!“

“You insulted my orange joe!“

“Oh come on, you two...“ Hero sighed while Mari laughed. Then a soft click sounded, accompanied by a flash of light. They all turned to the source, Basil smiled back at them as the photo came out of his camera. Kel and Aubrey running to Basil to look at the photo, Kel’s arm slung across Sunny’s shoulders, Hero holding Mari’s hand while they walked closer to everyone, viewing the newly developed picture together.

It was comforting.

Chapter Text

As a guide, exploring a dark and dense forest was something Stranger can easily do given the type of powers he has, having a pair of floating red hands follow him about and help in picking up items to bring to him for inspection was especially helpful. Though it was still odd to think that such products of the protector’s power gained a semblance of sentience in a way, but with the current state of Headspace, anything could happen even more so now. Stranger had visited the dreamer before he set off to map out the altered Vast Forest, checking to see any changes on his condition, unfortunately nothing, though relieving to know he didn’t worsen.

Stranger stopped to mark out new pathways on the sketchbook he found within one of the drawers of Neighbor’s Bedroom, along with the pencil he uses to draw, taking up two pages for the path to be seen clearly. So far he had used four pages during his trip, completely mapping out the north and east. Now he’s currently mapping out the south, the pathways of it were more maze-like than the previous directions. An eerie silence fills the forest, only the occasional noise of twigs snapping under Stranger’s weight or the rustling of leaves as he pushes it away from his path can be heard. There were no enemies in sight, which is fortunate in its own way, but the lack of life paints a disturbing atmosphere.

Perhaps the current state of Headspace is a reflection of the dreamer’s well being, or perhaps it is a result of unresolved feelings. In the end, Sunny never did came to terms with the truth, did he? The protector taking hold of his body and jumping to his presumed death was proof of that. Though Stranger’s duty was done then, he still sensed the act of it, sensed the feelings behind it as it seeps through the void, the hopelessness, sorrow, and regret...

Images flashed across Stranger’s mind then, blurring scenes of movement slithering across an endless darkness. He stumbled forward, the red hands hurriedly grabbing his shoulders to keep him from falling.

“Thanks.“ He straightened himself, bringing a hand to his head as he tried to recall what he just saw, unfortunately the images were too foggy now, too unclear to make heads or tails of it, even when Stranger focused, there was nothing but faded memories and a sense of familiarity.

With a sigh, Stranger shook his head, keeping the incoming headache at bay and continued onward. The trees grew thin as the path widened, he saw a faint light flickering in the distance, barely piercing through the leaves in front of him. Stranger reached out to push the branches away when the red hands suddenly grabbed his wrist.

“What’s wrong?“

They gestured frantically, pointing back towards the direction of the tree stump, restless and worried about something. Stranger frowned, there’s only one thing that the red hands were worried about. The brat, who most likely made his condition worse, again. Stranger clicked his tongue and groaned, turning on his heel to White Space, bringing out his sketchbook and pencil to mark the path, he’ll come back there later.

It didn’t take long for him to make his way back, going through the White Space door and just about ready to give Omori another piece of his mind. The protector stood just outside the blanket, several red hands latched onto him to steady his footing, Omori’s head hung low as he clutched his side, the static grew for at least two inches and the static that was once barely hidden by his shorts was now reaching just past the hem of it, cracks on his neck spreading an inch more below his shoulders and even reached his collar bone.

Stranger fought the urge to loudly groan as he walked closer, the pair of red hands following closely behind him, “What did you do now?“

“Couldn’t... worry them... again...“ Omori whispered, slowly lifting his head to meet Stranger’s stern gaze.

So, even just controlling the dreamer’s body is too much for him now...

“Don’t... bother...“

“I haven’t even said anything yet.“

“You’re just... going to suggest... for me to stop... aren’t you?“

Stranger scoffed, “It did cross my mind, but I already know you’re not going to listen.“

He watched as Omori huffed out a sigh, attempting to stand on his own only to stumble and be caught by the red hands. With the protector’s condition like this and his stubbornness to continue, it won’t be long until he joins the dreamer in the Neighbor’s Bedroom. Frankly, it didn’t matter to Stranger what became of him, but as he said before, it’ll be faster should there be two of them around to find ways of waking the dreamer up. And as much as Stranger doesn’t want to admit it, it’s best to have Omori when exploring Headspace in case any unexpected dangers pop up. Stranger is meant as a guide, though his powers are more complete than it once was, he still isn’t that well suited for battle, unlike Omori who’s specifically made for combat.

Stranger thought about it and arrived at a single solution.

“Stay still.“ He placed a hand on Omori’s chest and a swirl of energy gathered at his palm before forcefully surging through the protector’s body causing the other to cough and double over, the red hands frantically gathering around him.

A black string materialized around the protector’s neck, a white flower pendant dangling around his chest. It was a moonflower.

“...You...“ Omori hissed through his teeth, glaring up at Stranger who merely sighed in exasperation.

“Is that really how you should be treating me after I helped you?“

“How was that... helping... me...“ Omori trailed off and blinked a few times before standing up straighter, gesturing to the red hands to let go of him. The protector flexed his hands and tested his body with some small abrupt movements, he briefly inspected the pendant before looking at Stranger again, “What did you do?“

Stranger crossed his arms, “I shared my power with you. That should be enough to finally stabilize your condition.”

It was one of the skills Stranger learned when the protector was forced to rest before. He spent his time relearning his powers, finding out which he can and can’t do, discovering new abilities. That was one he found out, the ability to share his power. Perhaps it was because of the previous state his powers were in before becoming whole, a state in which it was shared. During then, Stranger didn’t think much of that ability, only taking note of it in case it became useful in the future. Though he didn’t quite think it’ll be of use so soon.

And truth be told, the process of establishing the connection wasn’t meant to be painful.

I just wanted to pay back all the times the brat gave me trouble.

“It’s somewhat irritating that I have to rely on your power to be stable.“

Stranger glared at him, “That’s not how you say thank you.“

Omori’s eyebrow twitched, his mouth forming a small frown.

“You should be glad I’m not asking much in return despite what I did for you. Just say thank you.“

Omori’s eyebrows furrowed, looking away for a bit as his mouth slightly opened before closing again. He sighed and walked past Stranger, “Stop wasting time.“

...Brat.

“And where do you think you’re going?“ Stranger followed behind him. The red hands around the protector dispersed, floating about White Space like they used to yet still on high alert in case something happens to him again.

“Out.“

“Already? I don’t think your body is completely stable yet.“

Omori grabbed the doorknob and turned to him, “I’ve had enough of resting.“

The two walked in silence with the protector a few feet ahead Stranger who was mapping out the paths they took, the pair of red hands continue to help him with checking certain areas, albeit a little less than before, they seem to be far more cautious and careful with their actions now. Perhaps it was because of the protector being close by and considering how they’ve taken a liking to Stranger, they might not want to draw too much attention to them lest they anger Omori.

Stranger sketched absentmindedly, his strokes are a lot more unsteady now what with walking and drawing at the same time. Slight annoyance bubbling inside him, they were supposed to head South once out of the Neighbor’s Room, but the protector wanted to go West, he sensed an irregular energy from the direction he said. So Stranger reluctantly agreed but they’ve been walking for awhile now and yet there wasn’t anything amiss, he’s nearly finished mapping out the entire area at this point.

“Are you certain that you felt something from here?“ Stranger glanced at Omori who stood just a few feet in front of him.

Omori nodded.

Stranger let out a small sigh and went back to drawing, polishing up some messy lines now that he’s standing still. It was then that he noticed something in his drawing, just by the side of a path they passed by. That part of the road wasn’t out of the ordinary, whatever can be called ordinary in their situation, it just appeared to be a spot where trees didn’t grow, creating an irregular pattern on the ground. At their current angle, it didn’t look at all suspicious but with Stranger’s ability to be able to view it at a different angle, did he saw what the pattern was actually forming. It became clearer after polishing the sketch around it, the pattern was shaped into letters forming two words.

Look up

So Stranger did.

Numerous pairs of eyes peaked through the leaves, staring straight at Stranger. The leaves shook violently as the monster shifted.

Stranger’s eyes widened, “Brat, get away from there!“

The monster jumped down with a loud shriek, the protector jumping back just in time to dodge it. He immediately summoned his knife and fell into a fighting stance while Stranger went to stand beside him.

“What is that thing?“ Stranger stared at the monster towering over them, it was big and long with sharp pointed and spiky legs and teeth. Its body is made of a melted and incomplete amalgamation of lifeless sprout moles and bunnies.

“It’ll be dead soon whatever it is.“

“Wait--“

Omori used STAB

The monster screeched and lunged at him, Omori barely dodged its teeth but got hit and thrown by its body. Stranger luckily managed to catch him before he slammed onto a tree.

Stranger used RESTRAIN

Several black tendrils shot up from the ground, tightly wrapping around the monster, it thrashed and struggled to break free, to no avail.

The enemy is immobilized for one turn

The protector prepared to use another of his skills again when Stranger grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

“Can you just listen to me for once?!“

“What now?“

“Just leave it be. That monster is far too strong for us to deal with right now!“

Stranger never quite expected to encounter a monster like that, most of the skills he has right now isn’t suitable for damaging enemies. The better course of action to take at the moment is to just flee than risk it. But the protector merely stared at him, unimpressed. He took back his arm and charged at the monster, completely ignoring Stranger’s shouts.

Omori used HACK AWAY

The monster screeched and thrashed around again, breaking some of the appendages.

Stranger clicked his tongue.

This brat!!! Annoying! Always so stubborn! Never listens at all! Infuriating! Pain in the neck!

Omori used RED HANDS

The monster broke free with a bellow and rushed to strike at the both of them with its legs.

Stranger used SHADOW PULL

Black tendrils appeared behind the monster, grabbing its tail and back legs, throwing it off balance. Its strike barely reaching them.

Omori glanced at him, “Are you ever going to attack?“

Stranger frowned, “Do I look like I have a weapon to you?”

Omori huffed, “Useless.“

Stranger clenched his fist, taking a deep breath, he began counting in his head.

Omori used RED HANDS

The monster lunged at the protector, opening its mouth wide as it attempted to bite him, he jumped out of the way in time.

The monster became ENRAGED

It violently moved around, legs and teeth gaining a metallic sheen, the dirt flew everywhere as the trees surrounding them got cut and torn. It let out a loud ear-piercing screech, causing the protector and Stranger to quickly cover their ears. The monster burrowed underground.

Omori and Stranger looked around, vigilant and wary as they try to anticipate its next move. It was entirely silent in the forest until...

The monster emerged from Omori’s right. His blindside. The protector noticing a little too late, couldn’t fully dodge its attack in time, his cheek and forearm got slashed while the monster went underground again. Omori stumbled back, the pair of red hands hurriedly went behind him, pressing onto his back to steady him, blood dripping from his face and arm.

“Now seems like the perfect time to escape.“

Omori side-eyed him.

Stranger let out a sigh of exasperation, what was that about having the protector around in case something unexpected happen? Stranger was beginning to think he’s better off just working alone and fleeing from battles than working with a headache like him.

A red hand tapped on Stranger’s shoulder.

“Hm?“

It pointed to the other red hand that was pressed onto the ground, seemingly concentrating on something. Perhaps it could sense the monster’s movement? The red hand suddenly floated up again and made a gesture of closing and opening itself as it floated higher then harshly closing again. Stranger brought a hand to his chin, the gesture reminded him of a shark jumping out of the water.

Shark...?

He whipped around towards the protector, it was subtle, but the dirt below him raised slightly. With no hesitation, Stranger summoned a black tendril and wrapped it around the protector’s torso, lifting him up and away from the spot just in time as the monster emerged from below him, jaws closing on air with a sharp sound. It didn’t burrow underground again, instead towered over them as it seemingly readied another attack.

Stranger stared at it, watching closely as he moved back and as if sensing what he planned to do, Omori threw a rock at him.

“Ow! What was that for?!“

“Put me down.“ The protector glared at him, tapping the tendril around his torso.

“And get yourself killed? We’re leaving.“

“You weakling.“

“That’s rich coming from you.“

“Say that again when you’ve actually done damage to it.“

“Look--“ The monster lunged at him, Stranger jumped back before it could reach him. “Just because your condition is stable doesn’t mean you’re completely fine now! Our powers are vastly different! A stable condition doesn’t mean a full recovery!“

“So? It’s still enough for me to kill it.“

“You’re practically bleeding!“

“It’s just a scratch. Now let me down.“

“Wh- It’s just a scratch, he says as blood drips down from it.“ Stranger scoffed.

The monster pulled back its body, readying another attack. It seems to be targetting the protector this time.

“Just shut it.“ Omori raised his knife and stabbed at the tendril.

Stranger groaned, “Fine. You want down? Then sure. Get down!“

His annoyance getting the better of him, without thinking, he raised the protector higher then threw him at the monster that was now charging towards him.

Crap--

Realizing what he had done, Stranger tried to catch him again. However, he saw Omori maneuver in mid-air, twisting his body so that his feet is facing the ground, he held his knife with both hands and pointed it to the side. He kicked the monster’s teeth away from him, his blade connected with its side, shoving it deep within as he plunged to the ground.

Omori landed on his feet, kneeling. Black substance seeped out of the monster’s gaping side as it fell with a loud crash, legs twitching while the last of its life drained from it.

Stranger couldn’t help but be amazed by what he just witnessed.

Impressive...

The protector stood, his outline glowing a faint red. He turned around, walking back to Stranger with a frown.

“Seriously?“

Stranger shrugged, “You got what you want, didn’t you?“

Omori scoffed, the outline fading away. He walked towards the corpse of the monster, inspecting it for a bit. He cut off its head along with a part of its neck, summoning red hands to pick it up and carry it some place. Stranger guessed it would either be to White Space or the protector’s domain, Red Space.

Stranger knelt down and inspected the black substance on the ground, it was thick, cold, and gooey. It was similar to the substance that made up some of the creatures in Black Space. Does that mean Headspace became like this because of Black Space leaking into it? The situation was a lot dire than he initially thought.

Stranger turned to the protector, “Now are you willing to finally follow my lead?“

Omori huffed out a sigh and nodded.

Chapter Text

Mari awakened with a jolt, panting and sitting up abruptly that her vision spun. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, taking a few deep breaths before opening her eyes. Her entire surrounding was dark, a lone lantern at the center of the picnic blanket was her only light source. She blinked a few times, confused and disoriented, her mind was foggy, memories fragmented and blurred. What was she doing before?

She brought a hand to her chin and focused, clearing the fog of her brain as she recollected moments from before she woke up in this strange place. She remembered standing by Sunny’s side as he stood at the edge of the hospital’s rooftop, or was she just sitting by the picnic waiting for Omori and his friends to come by again?

No, that can’t be right.

She held onto her little brother when he stepped off, providing a sense of comfort despite the inability for her touch to be felt. Or wait, she was just watching the others go about their usual playtime at the playground.

No, no... That doesn’t sound right.

Mari brought her hands to her head, clutching at her hair with eyebrows furrowed as she tried to make sense of her memories. She seemed to be in two places at once, was she just at the hospital or was she just at the picnic blanket? She remembered reaching for Sunny as he fell...

That’s it!

She let out a small gasp, the bridge between the difference of her memories forming, connecting the two sets in a seamless manner that allowed for both to make sense. Something strange happened to the world when Sunny fell, in Mari’s panic, she reached out to him, entering his mind as she had done before but it was unstable. Static was filling his headspace, the entire place crumbled before her eyes, it was forcing her out. She held onto her only connection with him in her desperation to be there for her little brother in whatever destruction was unfolding.

Dreamworld Mari.

It seemed that she fused with that Mari because of the event, causing her memories to clash with the other’s, forming two sets of it. Mari stood up, walking closer to the light to inspect herself. Her form was in the same colour as her dreamworld counterpart, except her hair’s inner strands were black. Her outfit is completely different from her dreamworld and spirit outfits. She wore a light purple long sleeved blouse with a white ribbon resembling the shape of a butterfly, and a white belt fastened at her waist. She had a black uneven skirt with a white decoration that appeared to resemble piano keys and her right side from which the skirt was shorter has a white ribbon stretching from the back, it resembles a wing.

It was quite the outfit change but she didn’t mind it much, Mari found it a rather endearing look. She turned to her surroundings after inspecting herself, picking up the lantern and shining it in front of her to see better, the forest was empty and the sky that was once a bright purple from her dreamworld’s memories was now black, not even the scribbles that slowly move about it can be seen.

Mari gulped and gripped the lantern’s handle tighter. She walked closer to the edge of the picnic blanket, too nervous to step out of it, it was like a safe zone for her, unsure of whatever she might find should she step out of it. Everything was eerily quiet, as if the buzzing life that the playground had from her memories was but a distant dream. Well, in the case of her situation, it might as well have been one. She’s in Sunny’s mind right now, wasn’t she?

Mari bit her lip and clenched her fist, she wants to know how her little brother was doing, Headspace wasn’t supposed to be like this from the memories, it was meant to be lively, colourful, and bright. Did something happen to Sunny? Is he okay? Where is he right now? Several questions filled Mari’s mind with not even a single answer to any. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the blanket only to withdraw her foot again, letting out a sigh of defeat. She wants to find Sunny and make sure he’s okay but she doesn’t even know where to start. Taking the step out of the picnic blanket is definitely the first thing she needs to do but then what? She knows what Headspace is like and the different areas of it because of the memories from her dreamworld counterpart but that was Headspace then, the Headspace now was completely different from her memories.

Even with a lantern, she can’t possibly know where to go, the trees around her were huge, it wasn’t what it looked like before. With another sigh, Mari sat down and placed the lantern beside her. Her shoulders slumped, she wants to see Sunny but she can‘t, not with Headspace like this and more importantly...

Mari rubbed at her left knee, her bad knee. Even in a dreamworld, she still had it. Her mouth formed into a frown, left with no other option but to wait, she brought her knees close to her chest and hugged her legs. In her memories, there was a monochrome boy called Omori that is always leading the dreamworld counterparts of their friends. Omori is surely Sunny taking on a different identity. Dependable and strong, everything he wanted to be.

Perhaps, her little brother would come by soon. Mari can only hope he’s alright.

Mari hummed as she finished her fifth flower crown, setting it aside along with the others and starting her sixth one, it was harder to kill time without any means of telling it. She had been keeping herself entertained by going through the contents of the picnic basket, eating the candies in it and taking the flowers out to make flower crowns. Luckily there was enough flowers to make several of it without her needing to go out and pick some on her own. She was taking things slow, letting her mind wander to memories of both her own and her dreamworld counterpart, it helps keep her company in the silence of the playground.

As she works in a rhythm, a loud shriek in the distance broke her trance. It made her jump and turn to the direction of it, somewhere deep in the forest. She took a deep breath and went back to tying the stems of the flowers, hoping that whatever creature made that sound stays wherever it is. She hummed a little louder to keep her mind off it, allowing herself to be lost as she focused on her hands.

It worked until she heard the rustling of leaves by her side. Mari’s breath hitched, putting away the half-finished flower crown and picking up the lantern and basket before standing, her shoulders tensed as she tentatively looked at the trees. If it comes down to it, she can use the basket to hit whatever creature is making its way to her and try to run. Emphasis on try... Running wasn’t something she can easily do with a bad knee.

Mari held her breath and waited. She can make out the silhouettes of two figures and something floating. When the figures stopped moving, she gathered up the courage to hold out the lantern further in front of her to see clearly, her eyes widened and mouth agape at what she saw. Omori stood in front of her accompanied by what seemed to be a shadow version of Basil and two disembodied floating hands.

“S-sunny?“ She gasped, relief briefly washed over her at the sight, unfortunately, that relief was quickly replaced with worry by seeing the state of his body.

Mari took a cautious step forward, “Are... are you alright, Sunny? What... happened?“ Was it because of the monster she heard before? Did he encounter it?

Her little brother shook his head and pointed at himself, “Not Sunny. Omori.“

What?

Mari furrowed her eyebrows, “What do you mean?“

Wasn’t Omori just a different identity he took on as a means of hiding from the truth?

“I’m not Sunny.“

“But you’re--“

“Wait.“ Basil? stood between them, holding up a hand. “Let’s start from the beginning.“

Stranger, what shadow Basil was called, explained the situation to Mari while they sat at the picnic blanket. Omori took a few candies and ate them, healing the injury he sustained from the battle with the monster, though it didn’t get rid of the static and cracks, nor did it heal his eye. Mari sat in silence beside Stranger and the floating hands who was now working on the half-finished flower crown she left behind. She was in deep thought, contemplating the information she just learned. Worry and fear filling her chest, time reversed, Sunny is in a coma, Omori and Sunny are two different people, there’s something wrong happening to Omori’s body, Headspace changing, a monster appearing... It was all too much to process.

“Take your time.“ Stranger lightly patted her back.

Mari gave him a small smile, “Thanks.”

“In the meantime, can you tell us what happened to you? Which Mari are you?“

“Hmm... I guess you can say... I’m both.“

Mari explained to them her situation, from where she found herself in the forest and what transpired before that from the memories she can recall. Stranger listened attentively, putting a hand at his chin to process it after Mari finished, he then turned to look at Omori with a slightly serious expression.

“Is that why your body is like that?“

Mari tilted her head as looked between Stranger and Omori. The monochrome boy only stared back at Stranger with an unreadable expression, he sat by the picnic basket, hugging his knees close to his chest. Mari told Stranger how pained Sunny looked during then which made her panic, what did that have to do with Omori?

Well, Stranger did say that Omori can control... Sunny’s... body...

Realization dawns on her.

Was... was it Omori that made Sunny jump off the roof?

Mari turned to Omori, Stranger had walked closer to him and was telling him something. She stood and approached the two with furrowed eyebrows, Stranger stopped to look at her, “Omori... did you... Were you controlling Sunny’s body when he stepped off the edge?“

Omori nodded.

Mari couldn’t believe it. Stranger called Omori “protector,“ didn’t he? Omori was meant to protect her little brother, wasn’t he? Then why would he do that?

“Why?” She breathed out, voice small and quiet.

“It was my duty.“

“But your duty was to protect Sunny... Why would you do something like that?“ Mari’s chest felt heavy.

Omori merely looked up at her with that same cliff-faced expression, “Protect him and keep him from harm. He was hurting.”

“What do you mean...?“

“Sunny gave up.“

“But there was still many ways to help him than... than... than doing that! Why didn’t you encourage him to continue on? Why didn’t you convince him to forgive himself? Why--“ Why am I lashing out at Omori...?

Mari bit her lip and lowered her gaze, bringing a hand to rub her arm. Silence fell upon them once more, Omori rested his chin on his knees while Stranger stood beside Mari, unsure of what to do. The red hands floated awkwardly towards them, they carefully placed the finished flower crown on Mari’s head and lightly patted her shoulder. It’s still quite odd to think that disembodied hands had a mind of its own to act in such way but it was a comforting gesture, despite the tension in the air.

“Sorry...“ Her voice was soft and meek. She shouldn’t have lashed out at Omori. If anything, it was her fault. Even before the accident, she should’ve been there for Sunny more, she should’ve paid closer attention to him, she shouldn’t have pushed him so much, she shouldn’t have yelled at him like that.

She shouldn’t have yelled at Omori too. What he did was wrong but... In the end, everything was her fault, wasn’t it?

They sat in silence for some time. Mari disassembled a flower crown to create bracelets for the red hands, taking a liking to them. She gave the left hand a red rose bracelet while the right hand has a pink rose bracelet.

“Those two sure likes you a lot.“ Stranger said, breaking the silence.

Mari nodded, “They’re adorable for a pair of floating hands, aren’t they?“

Stranger nodded then scoffed, earning a head tilt from Mari. Though Stranger only waved it off with a small smile, “It’s nothing.“

Though still confused, Mari decided to let it go and turn back to the red hands. “Hmm... I wanna give them a name.“

“What are you gonna name them?“

“What about...” She pointed to the left hand, “Lili.“ Then she pointed to the right hand, “Riri.“

The red hands gave them a thumbs up, going up and down, even floating in a circle to show how happy they were. Mari smiled at them, just as happy that they liked the names she gave them.

“Hey.“ Omori called out from behind them, Mari and Stranger turned to him. He was standing just outside the picnic blanket and pointed towards the forest, “It’s about time to wake up.“

Wake up? Oh, did he mean Sunny’s body?

Stranger stood up with Mari following suit, Lili and Riri floated beside her. Omori stared at Stranger who nodded and took the lead.

“Where are we going?“ Mari asked, grabbing the picnic basket and lantern. The basket looked important and they might need the lantern to see their path, though she had a feeling there was no need for it.

“Neighbor’s Room. Just beyond it is an area called White Space. Though we can go to Neighbor’s Bedroom while the protector goes to White Space.“ Stranger explained as they walked. “The dreamer is sleeping inside Neighbor’s Bedroom.“

Sunny!

Mari nodded. She’ll be able to finally see her little brother.

Chapter Text

Omori sat beside his friends in the cafeteria, eating quietly while Kel did the opposite and as expected, annoyed Aubrey enough to start another argument between the two while Basil tried to stop them. This was the first time that Omori had experienced school as from the very beginning of his creation, Sunny stayed isolated in his house. It was a tiring experience to say the least, he had to look into Sunny’s memories each time the class started to figure out where they had left off and even though he missed school yesterday, Sunny’s friends helped fill him in on what he missed.

He spent the start of each class studying, reading books and the copy of notes Basil lent him, luckily he did because they had a surprise quiz in Science. Frankly, there was no need for Omori to put in so much effort into Sunny’s school life. It would’ve just been enough for him to just get by but from Sunny’s memories, he worked hard to achieve good grades, Omori didn’t want to just throw all of that effort away by doing the bare minimum. Though his duty is to protect Sunny from harm, he can expand on that by maintaining all his hard work as another means of protection.

“Seriously, Kel! Stop throwing your pickles at me!“ Aubrey complained as she stabbed a pickle from her lunchbox and angrily threw it at Kel’s face. It hit his cheek with a splat.

“Eww!!! GROSS!“ The piece of pickle fell on the floor as Kel wiped it off with the back of his hand, “What’d you do that for?!“

“You started it!“

“Not my fault you’re blocking the trashcan!“

“Just put the pickles in my lunchbox if you don’t want to eat it, Kel.“ Basil let out a small laugh, “Also remember to wash your hand later!“

“Goath ith!“

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!“ Aubrey huffed out in annoyance.

As Omori was about to take another bite of his food, a familiar voice cooed in his head.

Aww! How cute! I miss seeing moments like that!

...Mari?

How?

Mari: Stranger helped me!

Stranger: It was easy to do now that I have a connection with you.

Omori quietly clicked his tongue.

...Remove it.

Stranger: We both know you don’t want to.

He suppressed the urge to groan, instead tightly gripping his fork. As much as he hated the very thought of admitting it, what Stranger did was a huge help to him. With his condition finally stable, he awoke easily today, his body felt lighter and it wasn’t a struggle to keep his eyes open. Though Mari and Sunny’s mom still wanted him to stay and rest for another day, Omori was able to convince them. As ideal as it was to just stay at home, he didn’t want anyone to worry about Sunny anymore when he can maintain his control better now.

He heard Stranger scoff, irritating him even more.

Leave.

Stranger: Make me.

Omori bit his lip and placed a hand on his forehead, he began to count from 10. This is the worst, absolutely terrible. He already had a mountain of problems to deal with and the fact that his mind just got crowded is not helping in the slightest especially when one of them is the most aggravating creature to ever exist.

Stranger’s chuckle annoyingly echoed in his mind.

Stranger: This is quite fun. I get to annoy you while you can do nothing about it.

Just wait when I get back there.

Mari: Now, now... No need to get so worked up you two!

“Sunny?“ Basil called out to him, “You okay?“

“Does your head hurt?“ Aubrey asked with a worried pout on her face.

“Are ya feeling sleepy again? Need to lay down?“ Kel piped in with an equally concerned expression.

Omori blinked and straightened himself before shaking his head, “I’m fine. Just... thinking about the math homework.“

“Oh! Do you need help with it, Sunny? We can work on it after we eat!“ Aubrey suggested.

“I’m not the best with math but... I can try to help out too.“ Basil added.

“Wait guys...“ Kel tilted his head, “We have homework?“

“Haah?! You only knew that now?! Mrs. Johnson gave it to us 3 days ago, Kel!“ Aubrey slammed her hands on the table as she propped herself up to lean forward. Basil could only chuckle at him.

Omori heard Mari giggling in his head and Stranger sighing.

Mari: That’s Kel for you!

“Really? When is it due?”

“Today--“ Basil answered and was immediately interrupted by Kel.

“WHAT?! Wait we gotta hurry then! I need to do it before lunch ends! I don’t wanna be punished!“ Kel hurriedly took spoonful after spoonful of his food with barely any break in between as he chewed quickly and swallowed.

“Ah- Be careful! Don’t eat so quickly!“ Basil tried to stop him.

Omori was about to look into Sunny’s memories to know what kind of person their math teacher was when he heard Kel choking, he was pounding a hand on his chest while Basil and Aubrey panicked. Omori heard Mari gasp for a moment before he rushed to get his water bottle and immediately brought it through Kel’s lips who drank it all as soon as he did. Luckily that was enough to get rid of the food blocking his throat.

Kel let out a loud exhale while the others sighed in relief, including the two within Omori’s mind. He can feel the stares of other students on them, perhaps wondering what the commotion was.

“I’ll help you with that damn homework so eat slowly will you?!“ Aubrey slammed her fist on the table, not too loudly but just enough to show her anger.

“We’ve still got enough time for it so no need to rush so much!“ Basil added.

“Mmm!“ Kel nodded, giving a thumbs up as he finished the last of his lunch in a slower pace.

Though Omori had only gone to school just today, he was already not looking forward for the upcoming days. It was beyond exhausting. Activity after activity, they even had a group work during English class, and even with classes done, they still have homeworks to finish because it’s all due tomorrow.

Omori quietly tapped his finger onto the page of his Science book, Sunny’s friends sat with him on the floor with their books and notebooks laid across the table in front of them. Kel and Basil sat together by Omori’s left, Basil was helping Kel out with his homework while Aubrey sat across from them, humming softly as she writes on her notebook while Omori held his chin on his hand propped onto the table just beside the book. He had been reading the same paragraph at least 5 times now and he still couldn’t comprehend anything.

Stranger: It’s 7. You’ve read that exact same paragraph 7 times now.

...Shut up.

Mari: How are you feeling, Omori? You seem tired.

...

...I hate school...

Omori sighed. He heard Mari softly giggling.

“Sunny?“ Aubrey tilted her head, “Are you tired?“

He tried to shake his head and say no, unfortunately he yawned before he could, instinctively bringing his free hand to cover his mouth.

Aubrey giggled, “You should rest up, Sunny!”

“We can work on your homework later.“ Basil agreed.

Omori nodded and made his way onto the couch, leaning back as he sat. He propped his arm up on the armrest, leaning his cheek on the knuckles of his closed fist while his other hand rested on his lap. He looked over to the others with half-lidded eyes as he tried to keep himself awake a bit more.

“Hey, I’m tired too! Can I--“

“NO!“ Aubrey quickly interrupted Kel, resulting in the other to immediately frown.

“WHY NOT?“

“You finish your homework! Otherwise you’re going to forget about it again!“

“BUT I’M TIIIIIRREEEDD!“

“You got this, Kel! There’s only two more questions left!“ Basil cheered him on while patting his back.

Kel pouted, grumbling as he looked down on his notebook, “Maaan! School sucks! So many homeworks! When will winter break cooooommmeee!”

Aubrey rolled her eyes, “Ugh! You’re such a baby!“

Their argument slowly faded out as Omori’s eyes finally close shut and when he opened them again, he was greeted by the brightness of White Space and the sounds of Mari and Stranger’s voices. He sat up, yawning again as he did.

“Hey there, Omori!” Mari waved at him with a smile.

Stranger opened his mouth to speak though before he could utter a word, he was suddenly smacked on the back of his head by a red hand.

He growled, “You brat!“

“Did you honestly think I’d forget?“

“I should’ve left you to suffer.“ Stranger stood up, clenching his fist as he glared daggers at the monochrome boy a few feet in front of him.

“What’s stopping you then, coward?“ Omori rose as well, staring back at the shadow with an unimpressed expression.

Mari loudly clapped as she stood between them, Lili went to grab Omori by the shoulder while Riri grabbed Stranger, “Alright! That’s enough you two!“

Stranger huffed out in exasperation, bringing his hands onto his hips while still maintaining his glare. “...Fine.“

Omori crossed his arms and huffed out a short sigh.

“Geez. You two are like Kel and Aubrey!“

“A vital difference however... Kel and Aubrey are friends.“

“I’d rather die than be your friend.“ Omori deadpanned.

“Glad we’re on the same page.“ Stranger frowned at him.

Mari chuckled at them, seemingly unconvinced. “Whatever you say then!“

Omori walked a bit farther from Stranger as he sat back down, glancing at the door. Tempted as he is to go out and explore more of Headspace, he would have to put it off for now as he can’t stay in White Space for long. He looked at the knife on the floor just a few inches away from him. Ever since the time reversal, Omori didn’t have to stab himself to wake up. It felt out of place somehow.

“Are you guys going to explore Headspace again later?“ Mari asked, she sat by the center of the blanket, a little closer to Omori.

Omori nodded.

“Hmm... ” Mari fiddled with the fabric of the wing ribbon for a bit before speaking again, “Can I come?“

“No.“ Omori answered without missing a beat, “you have a bad knee.“

“That’s true but... I don’t want to just sit around and do nothing.“ Mari frowned.

“That’s understandable.“ Stranger was the one that spoke this time, “But Headspace had changed. It’s far more dangerous and unpredictable. I told you about the creature that attacked us in the forest, right? Who knows what other monstrosities are there just lurking in the dark.“ He shook his head, “It’s too dangerous.“

Mari gripped her skirt, “I know! I know... I know how dangerous it would be... That’s exactly why I don’t want to just leave it to the both of you. I want to at least be able to support you.“ She paused, lowering her eyes, “I want to help Sunny too...“

Silence fell in the room as neither of them knew of what to say next. Omori thought deeply about it, it’s safer for Mari to stay here. She can help Sunny by watching over him in Neighbor’s Bedroom but is that truly helping when Big Yellow Cat is already doing just that? He wants to find reasons to convince and dissuade her from coming along but Omori knows what kind of person Mari was, of course he does. Mari was his sister.

She’s stubborn and when she puts her mind into something, she’d see it through until the end. Even if Omori tells her to stay, she’d still find a way to leave. That would be even more troublesome. He can order the red hands to keep her from leaving but would that be the right choice? Mari would certainly get upset by that.

Ahh... But why does that matter to me? She isn’t my sister.

Omori doesn’t have a sister anymore. The moment Headspace changed was the moment his friends ceased to exist. Though Mari stayed, she wasn’t Omori’s sister, she’s Sunny’s sister. So why does it matter if she gets upset at him? It doesn’t.

It doesn’t...

But, she is Sunny’s sister. It’s expected that she wants to do something to help as well, she cares about Sunny a lot. Omori doesn't mind if she does go with them, he would make sure to keep her safe, prevent anything from bringing her harm no matter what happens. Though with her bad knee, it could slow their progress down. Unless... there’s something that can help with it.

Is there?

Omori opened his eyes, blinking blearily as he woke up from his short nap, when his eyes adjusted, he noticed that he was now laying down on the couch with a pillow under his head and a blanket over him.

“Oh, Sunny!” Basil greeted him. He was picking up the crayons littered across the floor. “Did you rest well?“

Omori nodded.

Mari: That surprised me! You just suddenly disappeared!

Stranger: He always leaves without warning.

Omori sat up, looking around the room. Though their stuff was still on the table, papers and markers littered the floor but thanks to Basil’s cleaning up, it didn’t look all that messy.

“Are you looking for Kel and Aubrey? They’re in the bathroom washing the markers off.“ Basil laughed a bit, “They got into an argument while we were drawing.“

Omori walked over to Basil to help him gather the last of the markers, picking up some torn papers along the way too.

“Thanks!“ Basil turned to put the markers in its box when he suddenly stopped. “Umm... Sunny...“

Omori tilted his head.

“If there’s anything troubling you, don’t hesitate to tell us, okay?“ Basil’s eyebrows furrowed, “It’s just that, you’re always listening to our troubles but we rarely get to hear yours. I wanna help you out too! We’re friends after all!“

“YEAH!“ Kel suddenly shouted as he jumped through the doorway.

“What are you guys talking about?“ Aubrey asked, looking at Kel.

Kel shrugged, “Dunno! I just heard Basil say we’re friends so I agreed!“

“Ugh... Really, Kel?“

Basil laughed, “It was nothing. I was just telling Sunny that we’d always be there to help him!“

“Of course!“ Aubrey immediately agreed.

Kel raised an eyebrow, “See? You too!“

Omori stood up and made his way past the two.

“Where are you headed?“ Aubrey tilted her head.

Omori looked up the stairs, staying silent for a bit before finally answering, “Bedroom. Want to search something.“

“I’ll help! I’m good at searching for things!“ Kel proudly puffed out his chest.

Omori tilted his head, “on the internet?“

Mari: Hm? What are you going to search?

Kel wavered, “U-uhh... Maybe?“

Aubrey nudged Kel’s stomach with her elbow, “We’ll join you!“

The four of them went up to the bedroom, Omori booted up the PC and waited for it to load, clicking the web browser and inputting what he wanted to find, ‘support for a bad knee.‘

The differences between Headspace and the real world became more apparent after today. Or perhaps it was just because of Omori’s current condition? Either way, as soon as he finished changing into his pajamas, he plopped down face first onto his bed, bouncing a bit from the impact.

Mari called earlier, apologizing as she says that she would be coming home later than usual, she seemed to be busy making up for the day she missed, despite it only being one, her activities piled up. Sunny would normally stay up to wait for her but Omori prefers to rest right now. There’s still something else that he needed to do.

After searching through the internet and with the suggestions from the others, Omori decided to get a knee brace for Mari. Looking at different designs to memorize and even finding exercises that can help with Mari’s knee, she and Stranger were quiet during then, which was good, it allowed him to fully focus on it. Everyone thought Omori was doing it for the Mari in the real world, he’d have to find the right timing to bring it up to her then because of it. And even when he was finished browsing in the PC, there was still the matter of finishing his homeworks. Needless to say, he was dead tired.

He awakened in White Space the second time that day and was wrapped into a tight hug before he can fully sit up.

“Thank you...“ Mari whispered.

“I’m surprised that you’d allow Mari to go along, even going so far as to find a workaround for her bad knee.“ Stranger walked closer to them.

Mari pulled away, a warm smile decorating her lips.

Omori sighed, “Just stick close to us.“

She eagerly nodded, “Okay!“

“And so? How do you plan on getting the knee brace?“ Stranger crossed his arms, gaze turning stern. It was a look Omori came to be familiar with, a look that the shadow would always give him when it involves his condition.

It did cross Omori’s mind. Despite what had become of Headspace, he can still feel his control over it, though the link is weaker. He can use his powers to create the knee brace, but he isn’t entirely sure how big of a toll it would be for him. He’s done being holed up in White Space, done being left with no other option but to rest, he’d have to only use his powers when absolutely necessary.

Omori stood up, “Big Yellow Cat... BYC as you call him, he’ll create it.“

Stranger’s eyes widened momentarily as Mari stood beside him, her head tilted slightly.

“That yellow cat... can create stuff?“ She asked.

Omori nodded and made his way out White Space while the others followed behind him. There were only two capable of creation in Headspace aside from Sunny, Omori and BYC, though the latter doesn’t use it as frequently as Omori does. BYC came first before Omori and in that time, he was both Sunny’s guardian and playmate. Conjuring up toys and objects for Sunny to play whenever he felt down, it was another reason why BYC was needed whenever Headspace is resetted. Omori’s power alone isn’t enough to reform Headspace.

It feels as though I'm missing something...

When they reached the Neighbor’s Bedroom, Omori took out a pencil and sketchbook from the drawers, laying onto the floor on his stomach as he drew the knee brace. BYC’s only limitation was that he can only create what he knows and sees, so for Omori to get him to create the brace, he first has to draw several sketches that shows its details for BYC to properly replicate.

Mari bent over and watched Omori sketch while hugging Mewo close to her chest. Stranger stood just beside her, the red hands floated about near them. It wasn’t long until Omori finished, holding the sketches up for BYC to see, they then heard a small noise in the distance.

Mari turned around to its source and saw the knee brace lying on the ground just behind them. She walked to it and though she tried to keep her steps steady, the light bounce and urgency to it was still evident. They can tell she’s excited.

She placed Mewo down as she held the knee brace, turning back to them, “Umm...“

“I’ll help put it on.“ Omori approached her, taking the brace from her hands, inspecting it for a bit before he buckled it on just tight enough to put the right amount of pressure on her knee, as expected of BYC, he created it perfectly. “How is it?“

Mari moved her leg about, bending it a few times and jogging in place a bit, “It feels weird, not in a bad way though!“

Omori nodded, “You should try some of the exercises a bit. Before we head out.“

Mari’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, “Got it!“

Omori picked up the sketchbook and began listing out the exercises for Mari to do at the last page.

Chapter Text

Within this altered Headspace, anything could happen. Its entities and objects are now outside of the protector’s jurisdiction, none of them knew of what to expect but of all possibilities, Stranger wasn’t ever prepared to see Mari again. Not of a warped form in the similar sense as the monster resembling King Crawler, but as she had always been except for the clear difference.

“Hmm... I guess you can say... I’m both.“ 

He should’ve expected that, Mari’s spirit was always by Sunny’s side, she was always watching over him, always there to send her love in a way that a spirit can. Of course when that phenomena occurred, she would be there as well. And yet there came the mystery, how can that Mari be both when time was meant to have been reversed? Her spirit that was lingering on the earth should’ve just gone back to her body by the time time rewound. And yet she’s here and there at the same time.

Was it the instance of memories merging instead? Because of Mari’s spirit coming into contact with her other counterpart, their memories merged and overlapped, creating the illusion that they became one and the same. If that was the case then there is also the possibility of the real world Mari to have retained certain memories as well.

“Stranger?“

He turned around to look at Mari, she sat on the bed just beside the dreamer, Mewo laid on her lap as she pet her with her head lowered, Mari's hair hides a part of her face making it hard to see her expression though just by her voice, she seemed down.

“Will... Sunny be alright?“

Stranger glanced towards the dreamer, he slept peacefully as if there were none to be worried for, “He will be.“

The protector’s connection with the dreamer’s body is still intact, the fact that he can still tell when to wake up is a hopeful sign of Sunny’s body remaining well despite his mind being in a coma. Or perhaps it’s his spirit?

Omori alerted them of the time so they all went back, Mari wanted to see her little brother again thus they went to Neighbor’s Bedroom while the protector went to White Space. Stranger have yet to think of a convincing argument in regards to their situation of Omori living as if he was Sunny.

Silence blanketed the room with only Mewo’s loud purrs the only sound to be heard. Stranger took out the sketchbook he had and inspected the mapped out areas, they’ve finished exploring the north, east, south, and some of the west. It seemed they’re just about to finish with the forest. Before, Headspace had three vital areas in it, the tall ladder, the pier, and the path extending deeper within.

Upon his exploration, Stranger only found the tall ladder on the east, he couldn’t find the pier at all, what was once a vast sea on the north was replaced by a never ending darkness that not even any of his skills can help with navigating it. When he knelt down and extended his hand towards it, he can feel the water. It seemed that the pier was still there but currently inaccessible.

Stranger sensed Mari approaching him, she looked over his shoulder and stared at the map.

“Did you draw all that?“

“Yes.“

“That’s so impressive...” She gasped, “So that’s what the forest looked like now.”

“It became more complex...“ He sighed, he preferred the simple paths the forest once had.

“Mhm.“

Stranger stared back at the map again, then a thought crossed his mind. He turned around to fully face Mari, “It’s a bit boring, isn’t it?”

Mari nodded, an awkward smile on her face, “Yeah. There isn’t much to do...“

The corners of Stranger’s lips curled upward, forming a smirk that showed a bit of his sharp teeth. A smile froze on Mari’s face as she tilted her head, unsure whether to feel worried or not.

Regardless of the connection that Stranger and the protector now have, their powers are two vastly different things, much like what oil is to water, it cannot mix with one another. It was merely a small experiment he thought of doing. There wasn’t much for them to do anyway so a try wouldn’t hurt, Stranger then went with Mari to White Space to test it out.

And it worked.

By following the flow of power Omori had made before, he was able to bring both him and Mari to linger within the mind of the dreamer's body. It was entertaining how the protector could do nothing but whine and groan while Stranger messed with him. Though seeing the concern of Sunny’s friends towards what they believed was Sunny, reminded him once again how wrong their situation was. Aubrey, Kel, and Basil... They care a lot for the dreamer. It felt wrong seeing their care be directed at the wrong person.

I need to figure out how to convince Omori to tell them... Perhaps I should ask Mari for help...

Stranger turned to Mari, they were back in White Space again waiting for when the protector gets here as he seemingly reached his limit. It was a good thing that he didn’t push it through again.

“Mari, can I ask you something?“

They sat by the white blanket, Mari had just finished playing a round of cards with the red hands. She smiled and tilted her head, “What is it?“

“Help me convince the protector.“

“With what?“

“With...“ Stranger gestured around them, “Our current situation. The protector acting as if he was Sunny felt wrong and unfair for the dreamer’s friends.“

Mari thought for a moment, “That’s true... but... What are we supposed to tell them?“

Stranger blinked.

Don’t tell me...

“The truth, what else is there to say?“

“We can’t just blurt that out though.“ Mari shook her head, “No matter which part of the truth we leave out, there’s still the question of ‘Why?’ Telling them that Sunny is currently asleep deep within his mind and that Omori is in control would worry them a lot more.“

she’s on the protector’s side...

“So... Are we just going to continue this facade?“

“Until Sunny wakes up at least.“

“Mari, you should know better than anyone that a small thread of lies can turn into a web that will trap anyone caught in it. We’ve been there before.“

Mari furrowed her eyebrows and groaned, “You’re right... still though...“

They then heard someone quietly yawned near them. It was the protector.

After the warmup with Mari’s leg, they set out to explore the rest of the forest. Stranger stopped to sketch the last of the west, he stood in front of what was supposed to be the path for Pyrefly Forest, much like with the pier, it was engulfed in a sea of darkness. Riri held the lantern closer to it in an attempt to see through, yet its light seemed to be sucked within instead. Omori walked to his side and stared at it for a moment before red hands emerged from his back to reach into it.

“So?“ Stranger tilted his head.

“The forest is still there.“ He shrugged, withdrawing the red hands again, “...seems different though.“

“Was that a new skill?“ Mari spoke from behind them, she brought with her the basket from the picnic area in Vast Forest and in her other hand, she held what appeared to be an old axe.

“Where did you get that?“ Stranger pointed at it.

“I found it stuck to a tree trunk.“ She gave it to him, “Lili helped me pull it out, I figured we might need it.“

Stranger nodded, “It’s certainly much needed.“

“Finally you have a weapon.“ Omori deadpanned causing Stranger to roll his eyes at him.

Mari giggled a bit, “Anyway, where to next?“

“I suppose... the forest past the playground.“

“No need. I had a red hand check there before.“ Omori shrugged again then glanced at the darkness beside them, “Same situation.“

When did he send out a red hand there?

“Well, no other way but up then.“

“Up...?“ Mari placed a hand under her chin as she thought, “Hmm... Oh! Otherworld?“

Stranger nodded, “Unlike the other areas, the ladder is still in tact. Though...“ He looked towards Mari’s bad knee, “Will you be okay? It’s a long climb.“

Speaking of... How did her dreamworld counterpart manage to get up there before?

“It should be fine! I got up there before anyway!“ She furrowed her eyebrows for a bit, “Though I can’t remember how...“

“I can just carry you up.“

Stranger raised an eyebrow at the protector, “How?“

Omori didn’t answer, instead he summoned the red hands again.

Ah. That’s how.

The two of them climbed the ladder towards Otherworld with Stranger ahead of both Mari and the protector. Mari sat securely upon several red hands protruding from Omori’s back, including Lili and Riri though those two aren’t connected to the other red hands. Stranger prefers teleporting to and fro the different areas of Headspace but that isn’t possible anymore without the others of his kind, their ability only allows teleportation when there is a link between places.

Stranger looked around, the sky was completely dark, and though this was the perfect opportunity to see a complete view of the forest, a thick black fog blanketed everything. Finally, they’ve reached the top. From what Stranger can see so far, not much has changed in it, the area is darker than usual yet still lighter than Vast Forest, though the colours have now became dull and muted.

“You okay, Omori?“

Stranger turned to them, the protector’s shoulders were slumped forward as beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead. The red hands on his back were gone, only the pair was left floating anxiously near him, Omori let out a long exhale before straightening himself.

Stranger scoffed, “Weakling.“

“Shut it, Shadow...“

Mari searched inside the basket and gave the protector a piece of candy, “Maybe this could help?“

Omori promptly placed it in his mouth and chewed slowly.

“So you took some candy with you too?“

Mari nodded, “It’s very helpful! Though it seemed that I can’t bring a lot of it.“

“How many are still left?“

“The limit was ten, so nine left.“

Stranger raised an eyebrow, “Limit?“

“I tried stuffing as many as I could before, but whenever I check, everything but ten gets teleported out.“

“Huh... I didn’t think that basket had such properties...“

Mari giggled, her lips curling to form a proud smirk, “That’s not the only thing it can do...“ She pulled out a banana, “Eternal banana!“

“...Okay...?“

“And also!“ Mari pulled out fruit after fruit, Stranger and Omori watched as a small pile formed beside her feet with an assortment of it. Apple, grapes, banana, orange, lemon... The sheer number of it should’ve been impossible considering the small container it came from.

“Wh-- Why is there so many of it?“ Stranger finally spoke after a small hill of fruits formed.

Mari shrugged, then chuckled, “It’s like a little pocket dimension, isn’t it? Oh, and look at this too!“ She picked up an apple from the pile and dropped it inside the basket. Then she picked another apple, dropping it in the same manner as the one before but as soon as it fell in, all the other fruits disappeared, almost as if there was never a small hill of them. “Pretty cool, isn’t it?“

“How...???” Stranger blinked a few times.

“I was bored before we met up so I went through the contents of the basket!“

“Uh-huh...“ Stranger turned to the protector, “Has that basket always been like that?“

Omori shrugged, though he seemed just as equally surprised by it. “At least Mari has a weapon now too...“

“The apples are especially harder than normal! It’s like a rock!“

“You tested that too?“ Stranger tilted his head.

Was that why one of the trees back in the playground had a small dent to it...?

Mari nodded, “Luckily my aim is still pretty good!”

Upon walking forward, they were greeted by a desolate campsite, devoid of life with colours fading away. They went further in, Stranger made his way towards a monochromatic vending machine, pressing a button on it to check if it still worked. A can then fell out of the bottom, its labels were completely blacked out.

"Well, this certainly is safe to consume." He spoke with a sarcastic tone.

"Let's just take it with us, it might be useful in the future!" Mari extended the basket towards Stranger. He dropped the can inside it.

"Piano..." The protector muttered.

"You feeling at home, piano boy?"

Omori glared at him, ordering a red hand to smack him again though Stranger was prepared to dodge this time. The protector let out an annoyed huff and rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and listen."

Stranger raised an eyebrow. They stood in silence for a moment, and paid close attention to the sounds of their surroundings, there was nothing that can be heard.

"Oh, you're right. There's a piano playing in the distance."

"There is?"

"You can't hear it?"

Stranger shook his head. "Where is it coming from?"

Mari pointed towards what was once Captain Spaceboy's house. "Over there, right?" She turned to Omori who nodded.

They made their way to the house, Mari remarking on the piano getting louder though when they've reached the bedroom, it apparently stopped in an abrupt manner. They looked around the room and it seemed they didn't have to search long to find the reason they were led there. Placed on top of the bed was a photo, Stranger picked it up and images flashed across his mind.

It was the same as before, fragmented images and though it appeared clearer now, he still couldn't see what each image was supposed to be. Stranger clutched his head and stumbled forward a bit, Mari quickly grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Thanks."

He looked back on the photo, the image was completely black, the letter E was written in the middle with the number 4 at the bottom.

"I wonder what that means..."

Stranger had a good idea what it could mean. After all, it was something he had done before when leading the dreamer to the truth. Was there something else they had to uncover for Sunny to wake up?

The protector hummed from behind them, his back facing them as he stared at the black footprints leading them to their next destination.

They followed it out of the house, of the campsite. As expected, it was leading them to a place Stranger had once led the dreamer to, the barn from which the truth was once kept in. They stood in front of its door, much like before, it was kept slightly ajar, though instead of a red light, there was nothing but darkness. However it didn't seem to be the same one that blocked the other areas.

"Would a lantern help this time?"

Stranger watched as Mari pulled out the lantern from inside the basket. "...So that's where you put it?"

She smiled as Riri took it from her hand, "As long as it fits!"

Stranger glanced at the protector who seemed to have gotten the same idea, annoyingly enough. Even more so annoying when they glared in sync to each other, Stranger groaned and turned back towards the barn's door, Riri floated near to shine the lantern through. It worked this time, revealing the large picture of the ocean that stood in the center of the barn.

"Is that... the beach we used to go to?"

"I assume so."

The protector stepped inside the picture first, Stranger followed closely behind, reaching a hand out for Mari to take as they both walked in. He expected to arrive at that same dark hall with a seemingly endless flight of stairs. Instead, they arrived at a pitch black place, one that he wasn't capable of visiting before. A prison to one person, the Abyss.

Though they had a lantern, its light wasn't much help when they're surrounded by nothing but darkness. Stranger sensed something shuffling in the dark, he saw a bit of its outline, something tall and large seemingly surrounded them. Omori walked closer to Mari, standing protectively in front of her as he readied his knife. Stranger fell into a fighting stance too and readied his axe, they stared at the abyss.

And the abyss stared back at them.

Chapter Text

So that’s what I was missing...

That was what Omori thought the moment he stepped inside the picture and found himself in the Abyss. The three great creatures consisted of Big Yellow Cat, Humphrey, and Abbi. The favourite stayed whilst the oldest was affected by age and the wisest, was banished into the Abyss by Omori’s hands. It happened after the first reset, she talked through Omori in an attempt to reach Sunny and suggested wise advice as per her duty. It was then that he locked her away, she was a threat to Sunny’s perfect paradise, Omori couldn’t allow her to ruin everything. So he imprisoned her within the abyss, an area that should’ve only been reachable through a black taxi found in Deep Well.

But instead, that picture brought them straight to it. Stranger and Mari appeared beside him, the pair of red hands floating about as one of them tried to shine the lantern through the dark. It wasn’t much help. As the name suggests, the Abyss is meant to be pitch black, however, it wasn’t meant to be as dark as it is now. Static covered the walls and the ceiling, it was enough to light up the area to be able to make out any creatures lurking within. Now, he can’t even make out Abbi’s form. They heard something shuffling around them, Omori quickly went to Mari’s side and fell into a fighting stance as Stranger did the same. Abbi’s eye opened, she stared down at them, though her gaze was locked onto Omori.

“Abbi!“ Stranger exclaimed, “You’re--“

Before he could finish, Abbi swung a gigantic tentacle at them. Omori summoned the red hands and picked Mari up as he jumped back to avoid it. Stranger jumped forward, separating them as the tentacle lay between.

Omori readied his blade.

“WAIT! Don’t attack her!“ Stranger shouted as the tentacle slowly rose.

Stranger used RESTRAIN

It thrashed and wriggled side to side, Stranger had a harder time keeping it bound due to its size. Another tentacle swung at them from behind, Omori tightly gripped his knife.

Omori used STAB

A loud groan echoed in the air as the tentacle flinched back and flailed about, Omori and Mari ran a few feet from it to keep themselves from being hit. Another groan came, though this time it was from an annoyed shadow.

“YOU NEVER LISTEN!“

“You want to just let her kill us?“

“No! I’ll talk to her!“

“Stop being such a weakling.“

“We just need to keep her from attacking, right?“ Mari took out a yellow apple from the basket and stepped forward, moving her arm back and throwing it as hard as she could towards an incoming tentacle ready to attack. The apple burst into pieces, yellow sparks of electricity came coursing through the tentacle and prevented it from moving. “I’m not sure how long that’ll last!“

“That’s fine! Just immobilize the other tentacles!“

Omori clicked his tongue, with Mari following the shadow’s lead, it’d be pointless to attack now. He doesn’t have any skills that can restrain her, or perhaps... He looked towards the red hands floating near Mari, telepathically ordering the one with a pink rose, Riri was it?

Omori used AMPLIFY

Riri turned into a deep red and grew in size as more hands branched out from its arm. It was enough to completely restrict the movement of two tentacles.

“So you do have a skill like that!“ Stranger glared at him.

Omori rolled his eyes and huffed out an irritated sigh. Frankly, he didn’t. Most of his skills are meant to hurt, it was when he remembered what that shadow had done that he thought of attempting it too. Following his flow of power and channeling it in a way that he can use. He didn’t expect to gain a useful skill from it however.

It didn’t take long for all the tentacles to be immobilized. Abbi continued to struggle free, they don’t have much time. Stranger hurriedly moved closer to her, he took a deep breath before he spoke.

“Abbi, stop! We aren’t here to hurt you!“

She continues to stare at Omori.

Stranger groaned, “I know that brat already did. But listen to me!“

She doesn’t appear to be listening. A tentacle is about to break free from Stranger’s hold.

“We’re here to help you!“

The paralysis was about to wear off, the red hands are slowly reverting to its normal form.

Stranger gritted his teeth and with a deep scowl, he yelled. “ABBI!“

The tentacles broke free and stood tall around them, Omori readied his blade again. But instead of attacking, the tentacles retreated. Abbi’s gaze finally shifted, she was looking at Stranger.

“Stra... nger...?”

He let out a huge sigh of relief. They watched as the tentacles moved to surround Abbi, covering her eye for a moment before shrinking in size. It slowly disappeared to reveal the new form she had taken. Her original form, one that Omori had casted away from her along with her wisdom.

“Stranger... M-ma... Mari...? Dreamer...? No... O-omori...?“ Her voice was unsteady and quiet, she held her wounded right arm.

Mari went to her side, offering her a candy with a warm smile, “Here. This should help!“

Abbi hesitantly took it, inspecting it for a bit before placing it in her mouth. The wound healed instantly.

Stranger glared at Omori who merely shrugged. He huffed, “Anyway, how are you feeling?“

“I am... confused. I am not sense... the dreamer...“

He sighed, “It’s a long story... We’ll explain it to you on the way, hmm...“

They looked around the area for any possible exits. There was supposedly a ladder leading up to a maze-like path. But they couldn’t see it at all anymore.

“Anyone know a way out of here?“ Mari asked.

“I am... not know...“ Abbi shook her head, “The ladder... vanished.“

“How long?“ Omori asked.

Abbi flinched a bit, “Uhm... Not long...“

“So we’re stuck here...“ Stranger frowned and placed his hands on his hips as he turned to Omori, “This is all your fault. If only you tried harder then you wouldn’t regret anything at all!“

“...What are you on about?“ He tilted his head with an unimpressed expression. There was something about those words that felt off, it didn’t seem to have been from the shadow despite him uttering it.

Stranger’s eyes widened, he blinked a few times before shaking his head “I don’t know... What was that...?“ He crossed his arms and lowered his head as he fell into deep thought.

Omori let out a small huff, he was about to search for an exit when Stranger abruptly raised his head and shouted for Mari. Omori immediately used AMPLIFY as he turned around, dark appendages resembling hair tried to reach for her from the shadows, but the red hands were quicker. It securely grabbed her and floated towards them, placing her a little behind Omori’s side. And though the red hands reverted to normal, it stayed close by.

The darkness enveloping the Abyss slowly subsided, revealing the static covered walls and ceiling, along with a piano in the distance. A girl sat in front of it, her back facing them, she had long black hair and wore a white dress.

“You know... Waltzes were always my favourite.“ The girl spoke, it was Mari’s voice. She pressed a key. “But you always hated it, didn’t you?“

Omori readied his knife as he kept his gaze on the girl, whoever or whatever she is.

“When you first picked up your violin,“ She pressed another key, “you were so eager to play with me.“ And another.

“All that practicing... Playing the same song over and over.“ The 4th key. “I just wanted it to be perfect.“ The 5th.

“But keeping up with something isn’t so easy.“ The 6th key. “We never did get to play at that last recital.“ The 7th.

“You...“ She stood up, "sHOuLd'vE TRieD hArDEr."

She slammed her fists on the piano, a couple of keys detached and flew off. Before any hit the ground, the girl twisted her body, the sound of bones cracking resounded in the air as she dashed towards Mari. Omori hurriedly moved in front of Mari, blocking the creature from reaching her.

It abruptly stopped just before it could reach him, its face far too close to his. The creature’s form was distorted, a bony head with merely hollow eye sockets and a gaping mouth with sharp pointed teeth circling its inside. Its body was horribly mangled, black liquid oozing from it as strands of hair were seemingly the only thing keeping everything together.

"if OnLY yOu dIDn'T tHRoW thAt ViOLiN."

Before Omori could attack it, the creature was suddenly pulled back towards the wall. Countless strands of hair covered it as more emerged from within the piano, blanketing the floor. It moved as smoothly as water, strands of hair flowed to their feet. Mari moved closer to Omori, tightly gripping his shoulder as she tried to shake some of the hair off her.

It was only then did he finally look away from the creature to glance around him, Mari had her other hand gripping some of her own hair as a deep frown decorated her face, her breaths came out shallow.

Stranger’s eyes scanned the area, seemingly searching for a way out while still keeping watch of his surroundings. Abbi had a pair of black tentacles emerge from the ground, it stood tall beside her, ready to attack when needed.

“Is that... a coffin?“ The shadow then spoke as he stared at something ahead.

They all followed his gaze. A white coffin dangles just above the piano, suspended by hairs connected to the walls and ceiling, its lid was adorned by a black egret orchid. A knocking can be heard inside it.

“Sunny? Sunny are you there?“ It was using Mari’s voice again. “Help me! It’s so dark here! I’m scared! Please help me, little brother!“ The knocking grew louder and frantic. “SUNNY! PLEASE! HELP ME!“

It continued to bang against the coffin’s lid until finally, it stopped. Silence filled the air and then...

“iF oNLy YoU liSTeNEd To mE.“

It forcefully pushed the lid open to reveal its twisted smile. A distorted laugh echoed around them before the lid was slammed shut by the hairs that surround the coffin. The key to the farthest left of the piano was held down by an invisible force. The out of tune note rang painfully in the air as the deafening screams of the monster mixed with it.

They all instinctively brought their hands to their ears, trying desperately to shut out as much of the ear-piercing noise. Mari’s knees buckled from under her. The pair of red hands moved to help cover her ears without any prompting from Omori, she lowered her head and tightly closed her eyes.

Mari feels AFRAID

“What! Is that thing?!“ Stranger shouted, his voice barely heard through all the noise.

“I am...! Use skill!“

Abbi used SCAN

“...Regret!“

So it was that thing...

Omori stared at the piano key being held down, foolishly hoping that whatever force is pressing on it would stop. It did, after what seemed like a minute. Though the silence only stayed for a few seconds before the next key was pressed, the coffin’s lid moved then.

“We have to find the other keys before that thing gets out!“

“...H-how?!“

The keys that flew to the ground was swept away through the waves of hair that covered the floor and with such ear-splitting noises booming around them, they can’t possibly use their hands to cut through it. Unless...

Omori summoned the red hands, he let go of his ears as a pair covered it securely instead, two other pairs appeared behind Stranger and Abbi to do the same. Though Abbi flinched a bit and tried to move away at first.

He turned to Mari, she was tightly gripping her skirt that her knuckles had became white. Omori summoned another pair to gently hold her hands. She jumped a little and looked up at him. He made sure to block out as much of the monster as he could. Omori gestured to his chest and moved a hand up, then down.

Mari nodded and took a few deep breaths, her breathing steadied as she slowly relaxed.

Omori nodded too, ‘Candy‘ he mouthed and held up three fingers.

Mari offered him a weak smile while she handed him three candies from the basket. Omori pocketed them and glanced at Abbi who seemed to want to come close.

He summoned red hands behind him before he moved away so that Mari’s view of the monster is still blocked out. Only withdrawing it once Abbi moved by her side and used one of the tentacles as a wall instead. Omori ran around the area, slashing as many hairs as possible in search for the keys. Stranger took the right side whilst Omori focused on the left. The 3rd key was being pressed on the piano, the lid was slightly ajar, more hair spilled from beneath it.

He gritted his teeth as he pushed past his limit, checking to see how long he can last without replenishing his energy. Using the red hands outside of White Space was a lot more draining now than before even when he isn’t using them as a battle skill. At least the pair that chose the shadow over him doesn’t seem to be affecting his energy unlike the rest. That’s two off his shoulder.

He huffed out, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his. Omori stopped to place a candy in his mouth and the 3rd key was lifted. Silence fell again but within it, was the soft sound of a piano. It seemed to be coming from nearby. Omori looked around for it, the 4th key was then held down, drowning out the music.

Omori closed his eyes and focused, weaving through as much of the noise to pinpoint the exact location of it. He walked slowly and...

SLASH

A piano key flew off from the hairs he cut, Omori caught it in his hand. A letter S was written on it. He glanced towards Stranger and took a deep breath.

“Can you hear music?!“

The shadow looked at him, he thought for a moment before shaking his head, “Do the keys emit one?!“

Omori nodded and returned to focus finding the music amongst the chaos.

“Stranger!“ Abbi called out then, she gestured to the tentacle that pointed at something in front of it, “There!“

Stranger nodded and slashed at the spot, he caught the key that flew out and held it up for them to see. It had the letter O on it.

Omori glanced at Mari, she had her eyes closed though she doesn’t appear to be tensed like before. She seemed to be concentrating. He turned back and focused again.

SLASH

As soon as he caught the 3rd key, R. The hairs grew violent, strands clamped together to create an appendage to attack him. Omori jumped back and retaliated, though it was useless as the cut hairs were easily replaced. It formed a pointed tip that grazed his cheek. More and more appendages rose from the sea of hair around them. He saw a glimpse of Stranger using his skills to fend them off with Abbi summoning more tentacles to shield Mari from any attacks while striking back.

How annoying...

Focusing on the faint music while dodging any incoming attacks was troublesome but not impossible. Omori bit his lip as he split his attention between searching and defending, he can feel a headache incoming.

He can hear music amongst a bundle of pointed appendages, with a deep breath, he charged toward it.

Omori used HACK AWAY

The 4th key, Y.

If it’s spelling what I think it is... There’s still 3 more left.

He glanced at the coffin, the farthest left key was being held down again. The gap grew even more, the monster’s eye was peeking through, it glowed a deep red as the corner of its lip glowed just the same. Part of its big bony finger was slowly getting out.

There’s not much time.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Stranger catch another key.

“How many?!“ He shouted.

Omori held out three fingers while Stranger held out two.

“Give it to me!“ Omori coughed a bit, summoning a red hand beside Stranger to pick it up. He summoned a few more to take the keys he had and placed it onto the piano while more fended off the appendages trying to stop it.

Omori huffed and ate another candy.

Two more.

He ran around again, weaving through appendages of hair and cutting any along the way, he picked up the 6th key by the wall away from the farther right. M.

One last...

A sinister laugh pierced through the noise. The monster’s fingers were on the lid, it stared down at them mockingly. Its grip trembled as it tried to forcefully open the lid, to no avail. For now.

The middle key by the right side of the piano was raised, the lid moved again, the last key was then held down and the monster laughed.

Where...

Omori looked around the area, searching for the music. He jumped back as appendages began to attack him again.

“BEHIND THE COFFIN!“ Mari suddenly shouted.

Omori dashed back towards the piano, more and more appendages tried to stop him, a few grabbed his arm though Stranger cut it. He continued to run, and slash as many as he can, using his normal attack and HACK AWAY alternately. His body felt heavy as his breathing became ragged. Finally he reached the piano, he jumped and slashed behind the coffin, grabbing the R key. He landed on his feet and without stopping, ran towards the piano. He slammed the two keys in place.

“OMORI!!!“ He heard Mari shout, her voice was filled with worry and fear.

He felt the rush of air directed at him, yet he paid it no mind as he pressed down on all 7 keys.

 I’☐ S☐☐R☐
☐’M ☐OR☐Y
I’M SORRY

Omori looked up, the monster’s hand was outstretched dangerously close to his head as its mouth opened wide. It was frozen in place, the noise was gone as nothing but complete silence fell in the room. The monster was engulfed with hair, it slowly disappeared as the hair fell away.

He took a step back when the same happened to the piano. The sea of hair dissolved into nothingness as the abyss reverted to its normal state. A doorway formed at the wall in front of him, glowing brightly. Omori crouched down, the monster seemed to have left something.

“It... It’s finally over...“ Mari gasped as she approached.

Stranger sighed, his shoulders slumped forward, “That was a nightmare to fight."

Abbi nodded, "I am... agree..."

Omori stood up with a huff, he held out the object towards them. It was a small purple figurine of Mari.

Mari blinked a bit and took it, tilting her head side to side as she inspected the item, "What is this?"

"Perhaps... A key to waking the dreamer..." Stranger grimaced, "Hopefully not all of them are contained within such monsters."

Omori took out the last candy he had in his pocket and threw it in his mouth. Though it replenished his energy and healed his injuries, it didn't quite get rid of his headache.

Great...

Upon walking through the doorway, they arrived back at the barn. When they exited it, they were greeted by the vibrant colours of Otherworld. Though some parts of it were dull and faded still, the area remained empty and quiet.

"This is a good sign at least..." Stranger sighed. "Let's head back, though... Is there any other way down but the ladder?" He turned to face Omori.

"Pluto's Spaceline."

"Well, Pluto isn't here."

"Then no."

Stranger groaned.

Abbi hesitantly raised her hand, "I am... know one..."

The shadow immediately perked up, "Really?"

Abbi pointed at the small pond just in front of them, it used to have a white tentacle poking out before. She approached it, crouching down and reaching her hand in. "I am... can reach one area."

Stranger tilted his head, "But how can we--"

Abbi moved away from the hole, it increased in size. "I am... can do that."

"Ohhh." Stranger walked towards it, Omori and Mari following behind, he dipped his foot in expecting it to be wet. It wasn't. "Oh?"

"That was water before... I am not know what happened to it."

With one last glance towards the field, they all jumped in and found themselves back in Neighbor's Room.

Chapter Text

Mari awakened with a jolt and a choked yelp that barely reached past her throat. She sat up abruptly, beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she tried to keep her breathing steady. Ever since the night of the recital, she had been having strange dreams. Each one she can vaguely remember yet the familiar and nostalgic feelings it brought was all she needed to know that the blurred and fragmented dreams she had were of moments in the past.

The memory during Christmas, during Basil’s birthday, the one at the hangout spot. For three nights, past memories kept resurfacing in her dreams. She didn’t mind it at all, perhaps she was just feeling nostalgic which is why she dreams of it. But what makes such dreams strange was the other feeling accompanied by it, there was nostalgia, and there was another. The feeling that such memories happened a long time ago.

That can’t be right however, it had only been months ago, not even a full year had passed. But to Mari, it felt as if it had been longer, 3 years? 4? It was the only thing that made such dreams so strange. She didn’t dwell on it though, there were more important matters to think of instead of dreams.

But tonight was different.

Mari took a few shaky breaths, looking around the dimly lit room, the sun had yet risen at all. The clock near the bed showed that it was 4 in the morning. Her little brother continued to sleep peacefully on his bed, thankfully she didn’t accidentally wake him. She expected to have another memory as her dream. Something recent as it seems that each night she slept and dreamed, the memories get closer and closer to her most recent one, the recital. And she did, but it was different than what she remembered.

An argument at the top of the stairs, she was yelling at Sunny. She couldn’t remember the words that left her mouth but the entire scene was much more vivid than her previous dreams. Sunny tried to move away, she grabbed his arm, and then... He pushed her away.

Mari fell to the bottom of the stairs.

She woke up during then. Everything felt so vivid, almost as if it had happened to her before. Maybe it was her guilt slowly eating away at her, that perhaps, if only she hadn’t yelled at him, he wouldn’t have fainted, he would still be okay. It had been three days and yet something is still off about Sunny.

Maybe I deserved that...

But if Sunny didn’t faint and push her away instead, then he would be the one to bear a guilt that he doesn’t deserve to have. In the end, it was all Mari’s fault.

If only...

She let out a quiet sigh and merely laid back down, it won’t do to dwell on that, she should find ways to make it up to her little brother, she should find ways to make herself better. For an older sister that strives for perfection, it seemed she still have far too many flaws.

I should work on that...

Mari couldn’t fall asleep well that night.

The next time she awoke, a bright light was seeping through the window by her bedside. Her head throbbed with a mild headache, she could barely sleep after that and the few minutes she had wasn’t quite enough for her to feel rested at all. With a sigh, Mari sat up and went about her usual morning routine, Sunny seemed to have woke up earlier than her as his bed was empty, he must be with their parents at the kitchen right now.

She stepped out of her room and was met by Sunny halfway through the stairs, his eyes were still dull and empty, though today, he seemed to be even more tired than before.

Mari mustered up the warmest smile she can make, “Good morning, little brother!“

“Morning.“ Sunny paused for a bit and turned around to start climbing back down, “...Mom and dad... they’ve been waiting for you.“

Why did he sound so hesitant there?

“Eheh, sorry to keep you waiting.“

Mari sped up her pace to walk side by side him, their parents greeted her as soon as they reached the kitchen.

“Good morning, Mari!“ Their mom greeted with a smile.

“It’s not like you to oversleep.“ Their dad remarked though it was obvious he was complaining.

“I was just studying a little. I must’ve lost track of time.“ A lie. She wasn’t one to lie much but she didn’t have the energy to deal with their dad’s pointed remarks and stares.

“You’ve always been so hardworking! Come on, sit down so we can eat.“ Their mom gestured for their seats.

Breakfast, for the most part, was quiet this time, there was only the lively chatter of their mom filling the silence every once in awhile, accompanied with some remarks from Mari. At times, she would glance towards her little brother to see how he’s been doing, worried that he might faint again. They finished eating peacefully, their mom standing up and taking the dishes to put in the sink and wash it, then their dad spoke.

“Sunny, remember to attend your violin lessons tomorrow.“

Mari tipped her head to the side slightly, “But there’s no more recital to perform in?“

“I was given an offer yesterday. Your last recital went perfectly, it was a matter of time for another opportunity to arise. The next recital is December next year.“

She can feel her frustration bubbling inside of her, their parents were there, they knew her little brother fainted right after the last recital. Sure, it went perfectly, but at the cost of Sunny’s health, Mari didn’t like it at all.

“You accepted it already without even asking us?“

Their dad frowned, “There’s no need to? I know what’s best for the both of you.“

Mari bit the inside of her cheek.

Watch your temper, Mari... watch your temper... This is exactly why Sunny isn’t doing so well, because I couldn’t keep my temper in check...

“Dear--“ Their mom tried to speak but was instead interrupted by Sunny.

“How can you even know what’s best for us when you don’t even care about our own opinions?“

Mari and their mom stared wide-eyed at Sunny as he made his way to the door, their dad scowled and lightly hit the table with the bottom of his fist, just loud enough to get the attention of the people near him.

“What did you just say, young man?“ He spoke through gritted teeth.

Sunny didn’t answer him, merely shooting them with an ice cold glare before walking out.

That wasn’t like him, that wasn’t like him at all. Her little brother wouldn’t say such a thing, her little brother wouldn’t act like that.

It’s as if he’s an entirely different person...

“Sunny, wait!“ Mari followed after him, she can hear their dad groan in frustration behind her as she left the kitchen.

Sunny was just about to climb up the stairs by the time Mari reached him. He glanced down at her, and Mari couldn’t help but feel judged by his gaze. His entire demeanor is just so different, what happened?

It’s all my fault...

“Sunny... Why...“ why did you talk back to our dad...? She couldn’t seem to finish the question.

He merely shrugged and pointed upstairs, “I’m going to shower.“

“Oh... O-okay!“ Mari tried her best to smile though she doesn’t know what it would’ve looked like, awkward perhaps.

She watched as her little brother walked up the stairs, her chest filling with dread. Something happened to Sunny, and it was all her fault.

Mari sat by the bench at the courtyard, it was lunch break and yet she didn’t have much of an appetite. Eating a single apple with a bottle of water as her drink, she merely stared off into the distance, losing herself in her own thoughts. Normally, a library is the perfect place to think, but she prefers to be alone today. Going to the library means meeting other students, she didn’t mind chatting and helping any of the students that approach her but she doesn’t have much of an energy to deal with anyone right now.

The court was usually brimming with activity, from boys playing around to girls just hanging with their circle of friends and loudly chatting as they watched the boys. It was fortunate that everything is quieter today, with school getting busier now that the year is about to end, even the most mischievous student is forced to do some work.

“Mari...?“ It was Hero’s voice.

She turned to face him, Hero gave her a warm smile as he sat beside her.

“Something on your mind?“

“Well... It’s just... It’s Sunny...“

“Sunny? Did something happen to him again?“ His voice was immediately filled with worry.

Mari looked at the bottle in her hand and the apple's core, “Kinda... He talked back to our dad this morning.“

Hero blinked a few times and furrowed his eyebrow, “He did?“

“Dad accepted an offer for another recital.“ She sighed, “I had to control my temper then but Sunny just... snapped at him.“

“That’s really surprising, he’s usually quiet, isn’t he?“

She nodded, “He’s been acting so differently ever since that night. Like he’s a different person but that can’t be right at all...“

It’s all my fault.

Despite the others knowing of Sunny fainting by the stairs, and though Mari told their parents about it too, no one knew of the argument that happened then. She left that out and have yet talked about it at all, even to Hero.

I’m the one to blame...

Hero placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, bringing her closer to him and speaking in a low and soft voice, “I’m sure he’ll be fine, maybe he just needs some more rest? It’s only been 3 days after all, just give it some more time.“

Mari thought about it for a moment, it may be true that it had only been a few days but she still couldn’t help feeling worried about it. It was sudden, worryingly sudden how her little brother just fainted, at the end of the recital too and during breakfast two days ago. He had been doing fine physically before, they went to picnics and even played games, he was fine! But what if he wasn’t? What if all that time, something was already happening to his health and none of them ever knew?

What kind of condition is it? Is it life threatening? Is it curable? Will it get worse as time passes? None of them knows and it only worries her more.

“Mari... How about this!“ Hero lightly tapped her shoulder to get her attention, she looked up at him, “If nothing changes at all after this week ends, let’s take him to the hospital to get checked, yeah? I’ll ask my parents to accompany him if yours couldn't, I’m sure they’d be more than happy to help! He’s like a family to us too.“

Mari’s lips curled into a small smile, she can always rely on Hero, “Alright. I just hope it isn’t life threatening...“

“I’m sure it isn’t! Maybe it’s just fatigue, he had been working hard for that recital after all.“

She nodded with a small chuckle, “I hope so.“ Mari huffed a bit, “There’s also that matter with the recital Dad accepted... Sunny is still going to take violin lessons every Saturday.“

Hero sighed, “Man...“ He paused and averted his gaze, it seems he’s holding back his tongue, Mari knew just how much Hero dislikes their dad, it was understandable anyway. “Will he be starting tomorrow already?“

Mari frowned, “Yes, I’m going to be watching him though. I don’t want him to push himself too hard again.“

“I’ll be there with you too then!“

“Don’t you have a project to do?“ She playfully nudged his ribs.

He chuckled, “I’ll come by after I finished it!“

Mari giggled, “I’ll be waiting then!“

Hanging out with Hero had always put her at ease, as if all her worries are washed away. It helps clear her mind from the fog obstructing her thoughts. Right, she should take things one step at a time. She should stop focusing on herself and focus on her little brother, perhaps that’s where her flaws lie.

I need to be a better older sister for him... A perfect older sister...

The bell rang loudly throughout the school to announce that lunch break had ended. It was time to get back to class.

Mari hopped off the bench and smiled at Hero, “Let’s head back!“

Hero smiled a little awkwardly before standing up and walking to her side, “Oh right... If there’s anything bother you, you can always talk to me, okay?“

Mari nodded. “Okay!”

There shouldn’t be anything bothering her. Mari's concerns are only about her little brother.

Chapter Text

Stranger sat on the floor by the wall, leaning onto it as he rested. They were back in the Neighbor’s Bedroom, though the protector left after a moment to go to White Space as the dreamer was about to awaken. Mari was sitting on the floor by the dreamer’s bed, scribbling something on the sketchbook she took in one of the drawers. Ever since their encounter with that monster, Mari had been quieter than usual, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

It was understandable however.

The monster, Regret, bears a striking resemblance to her. It was to be expected, as that monster was held by the very emotion of its name, regret, specifically Sunny’s. Stranger still vividly remember how such emotions and thoughts suddenly flowed into his mind and spilled out of his mouth before he can even stop to process it all. Though it was for a brief moment, his chest felt heavy with overwhelming feelings of pain and regret, emotions of which the dreamer held onto ever since that accident. Mari must've feel responsible for it.

Stranger looked to the side, Abbi stood by the drawers, leaning her back onto it as she was seemingly in deep thought. He explained the situation to her while they rested and it seemed she’s still processing all of it. Despite getting her original form back, there’s still a vital part to Abbi that’s still missing, her wisdom. And though Stranger came to being much later than the protector and the 3 great creatures, there was something out of place about the question mark on Abbi’s face, perhaps it was a result of her wisdom getting taken away. Furthermore, it seemed that her body had sustained a seemingly permanent effect of that banishment, Abbi’s right arm and legs have a darker coloration to them, something akin to her other form.

If only that brat didn't take away her wisdom and banished her to that place... Always an unbearable annoyance.

Stranger sighed. There’s also the matter in regards to the real world too. He contemplated it thoroughly and suffice to say, Mari was right. No matter how well he phrased their situation, it would be far too confusing and even more so concerning for the dreamer’s friends, considering their ages as well, no matter the amount of trust Stranger puts to them, their reactions wouldn’t at all be ideal.

The faster we find a way to awaken the dreamer, the better.

He groaned, he finds himself repeating that phrase rather frequently lately. Stranger took a glance around the room, it had been some time since they’ve stayed in the Neighbor’s Bedroom, perhaps it’s about time for them to get going again. It won’t do well for them to just stand idly by whenever the protector isn’t around, although at the same time, it’s just as dangerous to traverse Headspace without him as he’s their best fighter.

It should be fine if it’s a location we’ve been to, perhaps?

The last location they’ve been to was Otherworld, before encountering Regret, its state was dull and lifeless, though it seemed to have been slowly recovering after defeating that monster so it should be safe to revisit it even without the protector.

Stranger straightened himself and called out to the two, “Mari, Abbi.“

They both turned their attention to him.

“We should check out Otherworld again, since we weren’t able to explore it last time.“

Mari cocked her head to the side, “Would that be alright? After all, Omori isn’t with us.“

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Better than just doing nothing.“ Stranger shrugged, “And if we do encounter another monster, we can just flee, although I doubt we would, judging by how Otherworld looked before we left.“

“Oh, that’s true.“

He raised an eyebrow as he watched Mari stood up, putting the sketchbook on top of a drawer nearby. She sounded less cheerful than usual.

The corners of her lips curled into a smile, though it didn’t reach her eyes, “Alright! Let’s go!“

Stranger simply nodded as he led the way with the two and the pair of red hands following closely behind. He’ll ask about it later.

Thanks to Abbi’s skill, they didn’t have to take the long ladder up to Otherworld anymore. Stranger looked around the area, its colours were livelier than before, vibrant and bright unlike how it was when they first stepped foot in Otherworld. Though there are still some parts that have yet recovered, especially the ever obvious state of the lack of enemies that was once present in the area. Walking out of the Cattail Field, a lone flag fluttered in the wind seemingly present only to its immediate area.

“...Flag?“ Abbi muttered.

“Hm?“ Mari followed her gaze, “That wasn’t there before.“

It wasn’t. Although, Stranger recalled seeing a glimpse of it when he guided the dreamer to that barn before, he never paid much attention to it.Thinking back, it seemingly disappeared upon Otherworld’s corruption and now it’s back again.

That’s a good sign, isn’t it?

Mari approached the flag, grabbing the other end to steady it in order to read what was written on it.

“A butt certificate...“ She said with a small smile and slight giggle, “It belongs to Aubrey.“

“What does that even mean...?“ Stranger stood beside her, looking up at the certificate, the corners of his lips curled upward from the drawings on the supposed flag, he has an idea what it means now.

Mari softly chuckled, “Headbutt. I remember watching the others talk with Berly in the playground before. She was teaching Aubrey how to use Headbutt with Van’s help.“

I knew it...

Stranger glanced at Mari, her smile fell as she seemingly gazed off into space. “What are you thinking about?“ He tapped her shoulder.

She blinked repeatedly before turning to look at him, “Huh? Oh... It’s just... I was thinking about what happened to Berly and the others that was in the playground before.“ She looked back to the flag, “Do you think they’re okay?“

“Ohh... I’m... not sure either.“

He never did stop to think about the wellbeing of each of the world’s residents. He didn’t want to, because for Stranger, they’d just cease to exist once he fulfilled his duty. That’s how he viewed Headspace. A means of escape for the dreamer from such an unfortunate event, to bury the truth deep within his own mind. Stranger’s duty to lead the dreamer to that very truth that was once forgotten, surely with the fulfillment of his duty, Headspace would disappear. But now, he doesn’t know anymore. From the time being rewound to the sentience they all gained, especially with the current state of Mari that seemingly has memories of her time as a ghost. Everything has now become unpredictable. He doesn’t know what to expect anymore.

“I am... suggest...“ Abbi spoke up this time. “...Campsite...“ She pointed to the path behind them. “I am... curious... campsite residents... back...?“

“You’re curious if the campsite residents are back?“

Abbi nodded.

“I’m curious about that as well now.“ Mari took the lead this time. “Let’s go!“

They didn’t need to look long in order to confirm the whereabouts of the residents. The moment they took the path and entered the vicinity of the campsite, they immediately found a resident nearby, a white creature with a green one nearby the vending machines. They walked toward them while Stranger looked around, if not for the small out of place spots, it was hard to believe that Otherworld was once corrupted and devoid of life that it now has.

“Hello.“ Mari greeted the white creature.

“Gumbo... Happy!“

Abbi waved at the green creature.

“So many humans today... You guys are always such big fans of space travel.“

“They seem to be doing alright. Almost as if nothing happened in the first place.“ Mari remarked.

Stranger nodded as he glanced towards the house at the very end of the path. Captain Spaceboy’s house. He recalled how the protector and the others helped him calm down after retrieving a special mixtape from the Junkyard. Captain Spaceboy should be somewhere else now.

He should be at Deeper Well after getting rejected by Sweetheart again...

“Let’s check out Captain Spaceboy’s house.“ Stranger suggested.

The pair nodded.

On their way up the stairs, Stranger noticed someone hiding behind a much too small tree to be in any way effective in concealing their bulky and muscular body.

“...Pluto?“ Abbi whispered.

“What?“ Stranger furrowed his eyebrows.

Shouldn’t Pluto be with Mr. Jawsum after getting roped in a contract to work as his bodyguard? Why is he...

Stranger used OMNISCIENT VIEW

There’s a Space Pirate standing in front of the stairs leading to Captain Spaceboy’s house. There shouldn’t be anyone standing there.

Did... Otherworld... got reset? If that’s the case then...

“...Stranger...?” Abbi called out to him. “I am... worried... You... okay?“

“Huh? Ah... Yeah. I’m alright. I was just thinking about something.“ His gaze landed on Mari, who was seemingly in deep thought.

Abbi must’ve noticed it too as she tapped on her shoulder, “Mari... okay... too?“

Mari nodded with a strained smile, “Yep. I’m a-okay! So uhm... What were we doing again?“

“Oh... Up.“ Abbi pointed towards the next set of stairs.

“Oh right, to Captain Spaceboy’s house right?“

“Hm... Actually, let’s head to somewhere else.“ Stranger began walking to the right. “I’m sure you’re familiar with a place called Frozen Lake. Let’s rest there.”

“Rest?“ Mari tilted her head. “But--“

“I am... agree! Rest... good!“ Abbi grabbed gently Mari’s wrist, dragging her along as they walked side by side Stranger.

The three sat on the picnic blanket already laid out in the area. They ate the shaved ice settled on the corner of it as silence blanketed the snow covered space. Just as Abbi finished eating her own shaved ice, she excitedly stood and walked about the area with the pair of red hands following her.

Right, it’s the first time in forever since she got out of the Abyss.

“I’m glad Abbi is taking everything well considering how everything is.” Mari was the one that broke the silence first.

Stranger nodded.

Just as Mari opened her mouth to speak, Stranger spoke before she could. “It’s not your fault.“

“Huh...?“ She blinked a few times.

“The past. And everything that’s happening right now. Don’t blame yourself for it. It was an accident.“

“...Oh...“ Mari hugged her legs close to her chest, leaning her head on her knees as she looked to the blanket, “But... If I had been paying attention to Sunny back then... No... In fact, if I had just stopped yelling and listened to him during that day... then... maybe... none of this would have happened.“

“And technically, that’s the case. We’re back in the past. Your death was prevented and the recital wasn’t cancelled as well, although it wasn’t the dreamer that performed in it.“

“Well, yeah... But that doesn’t change anything. That ‘past’ still happened, and even if the death of my real world counterpart was prevented. Sunny... Sunny is still...“

“He will wake up. So just stop shouldering everything on your own. It won’t do well if you continued to be dazed and distracted.“

“I don’t know...“

Stranger raised an eyebrow, “Are you unsure whether or not the dreamer would awaken?“

“What? No!” Mari immediately answered, “I meant... That I’m still partly to blame for it.“

“On what logic are you following to keep blaming yourself like that?“

“Hm? Well... I started everything...“

“Then Basil would be at fault too.“

“Why would he--“

“For suggesting to buy the violin in the first place.“ He cut her off with a hard tone and stern voice that doesn’t allow any room for arguments.

“Ah-- But...“ Mari seemed taken aback by the shift in Stranger’s demeanor. It was the first time she had seen him this serious before, it was different than when they last talked, “This and that are different. Basil was just trying to help after seeing Sunny play that small violin.”

Stranger wanted to take things slow too, merely wanting to ease Mari’s worries by reminding her that it was never anyone’s fault that such an accident happened. But somehow, he feels as though it’ll be better for him to be a bit harsher. Words of comfort can only go so far when one’s guilt runs deep, he should know, it was the same with the dreamer. So instead, he should help them rethink their thought process. Although, he isn’t quite sure how effective this will be.

“Then Sunny would be at fault too.“

“Why? He was just testing out the old violin after hearing me play the piano again.“

“Doesn’t that mean he wanted to try playing the violin again too?“

“Ah... That’s true but...“ Mari seemed to be struggling to find an answer, or more accurately, an excuse, “But that’s different as well... Like with Basil... Sunny must’ve just been curious, and Basil wanted to help. So as the eldest in the group, I should’ve paid more attention... especially as Sunny’s older sister.“

“Eldest of the group...? There’s Hero too. Shouldn’t he take the blame as well?“

“Oh... Well...“

Stranger let out a quiet sigh, “See? If we follow that train of thought, we will only just end up pointing fingers at everyone involved. Basil shouldn’t have suggested that idea, Hero should’ve tried harder as the other older figure in the group, Aubrey should’ve noticed something, Kel should’ve paid attention. ‘My parents’ should’ve done better. ‘I’ should’ve been a better older sister. You thought about all of those, didn’t you?“

He glanced at Mari, she stayed silent merely staring at her feet as she continued to hug her legs close, her lips was tightly pursed with her eyebrows furrowed. He was right.

Of course he was, he knew what regret was like, even though what he felt was the dreamer’s regret, regardless of the person, it was the same emotion. An emotion that causes someone anguish for something that had already been done. It may be true that ‘that‘ past will never be forgotten despite having been changed but...

They shouldn’t linger on it anymore.

“It was an accident. No one should take the blame for it because no one was at fault. If you continue with your thought process however, then everyone is to blame. But you don’t want to do that so you’d rather pin all of it on yourself. Is that really the right choice?“

“...”

“You should think about it some more.“ Stranger looked over to the distance, watching as Abbi made snowmen with Riri and Lili. They can explore Otherworld later, for now, a bit more rest wouldn’t hurt.

<>=<>=<>

Basil silently flipped the page of his textbook, there wasn’t much to do this class, simply to read and write a short analysis. It was an activity he is rather good at and though he makes sure to properly read it, he can’t help but worry about Sunny.

Ever since the day of the recital, Basil couldn’t stop worrying about him. Sunny fainted twice that day, it would’ve been better for him to be sent to the hospital but he never was. His parents said that he may have just been tired but Basil wasn’t convinced, he couldn’t quite place it, but ever since Sunny first fainted, it feels as if he became an entirely different person.

His eyes were dull and devoid of the usual light he came to be familiar with, the way he speaks is different too. Sure, Sunny has always been a quiet person, but now, even more so. Almost like... he was possessed...

Basil quietly chuckled as he softly shook his head.

That’s impossible... Ghosts aren’t real... They aren’t... right?

“What if... they are...?“ He whispered to himself. Ahaha! As if! I’m just scaring myself! “Lets just finish this activity and meet up with them at the cafeteria again.“

Just as Basil got out of the classroom, he heard Aubrey’s voice in the distance calling for him.

“Basil!!!“ She was running towards him while waving her hand.

He waved back with a smile on his face, “Aubrey! Hey there!“

Aubrey grabbed his wrist and started dragging him towards the cafeteria, “Come on! Let’s go, let’s go!“ She smiled wide and brightly, a small giggle leaving her lips as she took the lead.

Basil could only stare at her not even realizing that they had stopped running.

“Basil? What’s wrong?“ She waved a hand in front of his face.

He blinked a few times, “Huh? Oh! Uh... What is it?“

“That should be my question! You were spacing out! Look! We’re nearly at the cafeteria!“

“Oh! You’re... right...“ Basil deeply inhaled, it wasn’t until now that he noticed how out of breath he was.

“We were running after all!“ Aubrey laughed a bit. “What were you even thinking about?“

“Hm? Oh.“ He took another deep breath, “It’s just... somehow, it feels as if it’s been a long time since I last saw you smile and even laugh like that.”

She raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head, “Huh? What do you mean? I always smile and laugh everyday!“

Basil let out a small laugh, “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I’m just sleepy!“

“You gotta watch your sleep schedule! Don’t stay up so late reading books!“ Aubrey grabbed Basil’s wrist again, taking the lead once more as they walked towards the cafeteria.

“Yes ma’am!“

He couldn’t explain it, but the moment Aubrey smiled, Basil felt a sense of nostalgia wash over him along with it, was sadness. It was especially strange, the feeling that there was a rift between him and Aubrey. Although it disappeared as quickly as it came, it felt as though Aubrey grew distant from him and if it wasn’t for her hand on his wrist, Basil would’ve felt that she ran away from him.

But... why would she? What was that...

“GUYS! OVER HERE!“ Kel called out from the table near the wall, it was their favourite spot.

“What have you guys been doing?“ Aubrey asked as they took their seats. She sat beside Kel while Basil sat beside Sunny.

“I was telling Sunny a recap about the show tomorrow! Since we’ll finally be able to watch the last hour with him again!“

“Oh yeah! Now that the recital is done, there’s no need for the practice!“

“Man, I’m gonna miss telling you about the last hour of it. But at least now you can finally watch it yourself!“

Basil glanced at Sunny, his eyes were still dull.

Maybe he should really get checked out at a hospital...

“Not really.“ Sunny answered without looking at them, merely focusing on his food.

“Why not?“ Basil asked.

“Still need to practice.“ He paused, “...My dad accepted another recital.“

“WHAT?!“ Aubrey slammed her hands on the table, nearly knocking down the drinks that was placed on top. Luckily, the others managed to get hold of their drinks before that.

“Seriously?“ Kel furrowed his eyebrows.

“It hasn’t even been a full week after you fainted and he accepted another recital?“ Basil protested this time.

Sunny merely nodded.

“Sheesh! He could’ve at least asked you about it! Or you know! Waited until you’re fully alright!“ Aubrey huffed before sitting down with a frown.

“So, when will it be?“

“December. Next year.“

From the corner of Basil’s eye, he saw Aubrey tightly gripped at her fork from the small pause after 'December'. Kel let out a small sigh too and as relieved as they are that it’d be next year, it still didn’t seem right for Sunny to be practicing again when he should be resting and taking things easy.

“Will you be okay?“ Kel asked.

Sunny nodded.

“If you ever feel tired, take a break, alright? It’d be bad if you fainted again! You can even call us for help too!“  Aubrey quickly suggested.

“How are we even gonna help him with violin practice?“

“Morale support, dumbass!“

“I’m not a dumbass! Dumbass!“

Oh. They started arguing again.

Basil laughed a bit before turning to Sunny, “Right, Sunny, remember what I told you yesterday?“

Sunny nodded.

“Don’t hesitate to tell us anything, okay?“

“Okay.“

Sunny went back to eating silently while Basil calmed down the two so that they can all eat together. Despite everything, he still feels uneasy. Although Sunny seems and acts okay, something feels off about it. Somehow, his movements appear rather mechanically, like a ball-jointed doll.

Or a machine... huh...

Even though it had only been three days, it was odd in the way he moves but at the same time didn’t feel at all out of place. He was certain with his actions, every movement decisive with not even a hint of hesitation. Even in the way he talks, the only time he ever seemed hesitant was a few moments ago before talking about his dad.

Almost as if he didn’t want to say it...

It was completely different from how Sunny normally acts.

Maybe... I’m just overthinking things. Sunny is just Sunny of course, who else can he possibly be? I should really stop overthinking so much...

Basil focused on his meal while occasionally laughing along with the others.

Chapter Text

Omori opened his eyes to the usual plain sight of White Space. It wasn’t at all that eventful during the day this time, having caught up with school thanks to the dreamer’s past memories and even finding a balance between schoolwork and rest so that he didn’t need to take a nap. It was one of the things he excelled at, his quick adaptability.

He only needed a day or two to fall into rhythm. Living as Sunny shouldn’t be so hard, until his father decided to be meddlesome.

The only reason why I gave my all at that recital was because of Sunny and Mari.

Omori sighed.

Although he played perfectly then, unless he plans on making his condition worse, such a performance can’t be repeated anymore. The protector is only capable of playing the piano, he would have to completely rely on the dreamer’s muscle memory when playing the violin, he doesn’t have any intention of doing it seriously. It doesn’t matter if Sunny’s father becomes angry and scolds him, it’ll only fall on deaf ears.

Hm?

Omori sat up and briefly scanned his surroundings. It has been strangely quiet for some time now, it seems that neither the shadow nor Mari and even Abbi was around.

They might still be in Neighbour’s Bedroom.

Strangely, Omori seems unsure of that. It was oddly quiet today, he expected that shadow to bother him again especially with the addition of Abbi and yet for the entire day, it was completely quiet.

Hmm...

He stood up, moving away from the mound of pillows. White Space was once a plain area with merely a thin blanket and three other items atop it, along with Mewo. But now, Mewo moved to the Bedroom, thicker blankets was added and a makeshift bed was formed from a mound of pillows, Omori always seems to awaken ontop of it.

The protector moved far away from the area, telepathically commanding the red hands to retrieve an item and bring it in front of him. It didn’t take long for the order to be fulfilled, the red hands returned with the severed head of the monster in Vast Forest, though they placed it in front of Omori, they didn’t let go unless commanded otherwise.

The monster bearing the resemblance of King Crawler, when the protector and the guide fought it, Omori noticed a faint glint of light on its forehead. It wasn’t easily noticeable, had it not been for Stranger flinging Omori towards it from high up in the air, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

I wanted to inspect it right then and there but...

Omori’s outline glowed a faint red.

That bastard...

Memories of that fight flashed through his mind, along with it, the annoying nagging of Stranger.

He huffed out a breath as he summoned his knife, the outline slowly fading as he prepared to plunge the blade deep into the monster’s forehead. He slowly cut it open, careful to not have any of the black substance stain him. Within it was a small silver key giving off a faint glow, Omori commanded a red hand to grab the tissue box while ordering more to take the key and thoroughly clean it.

A silver key...

Omori thought back to possible locations that would require such a key, there were such instances during the past resets, but none with the current Headspace.

No, there was none before. But the same can’t be said now.

The current reset of Headspace didn’t have any need for a silver key. In a world that was under his control, the protector can easily predict the events set in stone, it was one he himself constructed for the dreamer after all. Despite being merely an avatar for Sunny in each adventure, Omori was the ruler in Headspace while Sunny was its god. However, everything is different now, Omori doesn’t hold the same power he once had, and Headspace has been altered beyond his predictability.

It’s annoying.

He huffed out a breath as a red hand gave him the key. Omori inspected it a bit before placing it inside his pocket, it was then that he sensed the presence of the shadow nearby. He glanced at his necklace and clicked his tongue, commanding the red hands to quickly remove the head and clean up.

I’ll have to ask BYC to refill the tissue box later...

Omori went back towards the blanket, standing nearby the laptop when the door to White Space opened. Mari walked in with Stranger and Abbi, she had a small smile on her face.

“You’re really back, Omori!“ Mari ran over and immediately wrapped her arms around him before pulling away after merely a few moments.

Omori cocked his head to the side and blinked a few times.

“Eheh, sorry. Just felt like hugging you is all...“

...Huh?

His gaze shifted to Stranger standing just a couple of steps behind them, it was quickly met with a glare.

“What? Nothing happened.”

Omori scoffed, “Where have you guys been?“

“If I said Neighbour’s Bedroom, would you believe that?“

“If you were there, you would’ve come to bother me just like yesterday.“

“I’m not as childish as you think.“

Omori raised an eyebrow.

“Whatever!” Stranger groaned before huffing out a breath, “We went to Otherworld.“

Omori stared at him, seemingly scanning Stranger’s appearance.

I guess it’s safe now, seeing how calm that shadow is.

“...You're seriously an eyesore.“

“And you’re a pain in the neck.“

“Alright! Alright! Before you two argue any further!” Mari grabbed Omori by his arm as she sat down with him, gesturing for Stranger and Abbi to sit beside them, “Why don’t we just talk about each other’s day first?“

Mari explained about their time in Otherworld, it was steadily recovering with merely a few corrupted spots although it continued to lack enemies during their exploration. Furthermore, according to Stranger, its supposed ‘adventure line‘ had been reset.

It wasn’t at all a big deal, Omori didn’t care about the progress that had now been lost because to him, it was just a scripted play. What does matter however is the fact that Headspace was reset amidst all this.

The only way to reset Headspace is through Neighbour’s Bedroom with the help of BYC, and the biggest requirement of that is ‘my friends.‘

The protector already accepted the fact that such a thing can’t be done considering that the four others needed are currently missing. It was a solution he once thought of that could possibly solve the corruption around Headspace, if it can even be called as such. But he seemed to have gained the answer.

And that’s a no.

“I am... wonder... what to do... next...“ Abbi asked.

“Do we explore Otherworld again?“ Mari suggested, “But more thoroughly this time now that Omori is here?“

“I don’t think there’s a need for that. Right, brat?“ Stranger side eyed the protector who moved to stand up.

Omori clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at him, “Just proceed to the next location.“

“And that would be...?“ Mari snapped her fingers as the answer came to her just as she wondered, “Ah! Pyrefly Forest!“

They made a quick stop to the playground for Mari to refill the candies in the basket and now the four of them stood in front of the path leading to the forest, she took out the lantern from her basket and gave it to Riri to hold. When they first visited the area, the light of the lantern was sucked into the endless sea of darkness instead of dispersing it, but now, it seemed to have worked as intended. Though a small light wasn’t all that helpful in a vast pitch black place.

“Hmm... Well. Despite being reset, it seemed to follow the formula of the adventure.“ Stranger crossed his arms, they’ve just took a few steps inside the forest, cautious of what they may encounter next, “although, why is this place still so dark?“

“Do you think that there are monsters hiding around...?“ Mari huddled close to Omori and Abbi while the pair of red hands were vigilantly floating near her.

Omori summoned a few other red hands to survey the darkness, though their faint glow isn’t enough to brighten their surroundings, it was enough for the others to keep track of their whereabouts. Stranger stared at one floating to his far right when he heard a quiet whoosh and in a blink of an eye, the red hand was gone.

“What...“ He muttered.

“Abbi.“ Omori spoke, as the master of the red hands, he didn’t need to monitor their movements with his eyes, he can just feel it. Stranger was startled by one red hand disappearing, however, to Omori, he felt all the ones he summoned disappeared once reaching the sides of the forest.

“Y... yes...?“ Abbi flinched as soon as her name was called by the protector. It was the same back then, perhaps she was still scared of him.

“Can you use SCAN on the monsters?“

Abbi slowly shook her head, “I am... can’t see... too dark...“

Omori remained silent and though that’s how he’s always been, it put Abbi on edge. Terrified that she may have done something wrong, that her answer was perhaps unsatisfactory. Mari noticed that and attempted to put her more at ease by giving her a dandelion she once picked up.

She smiled at her before turning to the two boys, “Even if we don’t know what kind of monster it is, the fact that it isn’t attacking us unless we get close means that it’s not as dangerous as the other ones, right?“

“True but...“

“I have an idea what the monsters are.“ Omori interrupted Stranger.

At that, Stranger frowned, “Don’t tell me...“

“Mari. Hide the lantern.“

Riri gave back the lantern to Mari who looked at it in confusion, “Wait, why?“

Stranger groaned, “What are those things doing out here...“

“Those?“

“Spider cats.“ He answered her, “It’s an indestructible enemy that’s attracted to light.“

“I-indestructible? Attracted to light?!“ Mari hurriedly placed the lantern back in the basket, blanketing the entire area in darkness once again, so much so that she doesn’t see where anyone is anymore.

“Blame this brat! He made those things after all.“

“What? Do you want Sunny to fight and kill an enemy that looks exactly like Mewo?“

“It looks exactly like Mewo?!“

“Well, first off. Why did you even make that enemy in the first place? There was no need at all!“ Stranger continued.

“It made the adventures a little exciting.“

“I think terrifying is a better term than exciting...“ Mari sighed.

“That’s just the very tip of the iceberg.“ Omori shrugged, though no one can see the action. “Anyway.“

Every since confirming the presence of monsters around, Omori had been summoning red hands to continue surveying the area, a pair had found two matchboxes around while a different pair found the large candles to be lit. The positioning of said candles were rather suspicious, they stood at the path in the middle, the monsters were on both sides of them and just in front is where the candles seemingly stood, symmetrically mirroring each other’s place, as if to create a path with candles lined on either side.

I don’t have a good feeling about this...

“What is it--“ Stranger tried to ask but was interrupted by the sound of something just in front, it was of a small object being shaken. “Matches?“

“Ready?“ Omori asked, raising his hand and summoning a group of red hands on standby to grab Mari as soon as he’s given the signal.

“What?“

With a snap of his finger, the red hands struck the match and lit the candles in front of them. The entire area burned brightly as the candles lining the sides of the rail tracks was simultaneously lit up, the eyes of numerous Spider Cats at the sides opened.

“Fuck.“ Was all Stranger could mutter as the group ran without any hesitation.

Mari was immediately grabbed by the red hands, flying in tandem with the group’s pace as Mari could only muffle a scream. Each pair of candle only stayed lit for 3 seconds, with each candle snuffed out, more and more Spider Cats pursued them. And due to the structure of Pyrefly Forest, it’s impossible for the enemies to get stuck anywhere and lose sight of them.

Some of the enemies managed to catch up and tried to pounce on them, it was thanks to Abbi hitting them away with her tentacles that none has yet to reach them.

“WHERE’S THE CART WHEN YOU NEEDED IT!“ Stranger shouted as he summoned black thorny vines from the ground to swat away a Spider Cat.

“You think... that cart... can help?“

“SHUT UP IF YOU’RE ALREADY OUT OF BREATH!“

Running isn’t difficulty for Omori, even with his condition, it shouldn’t be enough to tire him at all, it was the fact that he used too much JUICE with summoning the red hands that he’s now out of breath. Fortunately, Mari noticed it.

“Omori!“ She took out a candy from her pocket, giving it to Lili.

It floated towards the protector and fed him the candy, replenishing all of his JUICE. Omori huffed out a breath.

They continued running, each area's candle lit and extinguished, increasing the number of Spider Cats pursuing them as the darkness behind them seemingly chased the group along with the enemies. With the help of Stranger, Abbi, and the pair of rose decorated red hands, none of the enemies reached them until...

“The bridge is broken!“ Stranger exclaimed.

He must’ve been using that skill.

Just ahead of them was supposedly the bridge connecting the two sections of the forests. As they were running, Omori thought of throwing all the Spider Cats to the water as the others went ahead, but now, it didn’t seem like they could even reach the other side.

“What now?!“ Mari shouted.

Stopping even for just one moment would mean danger and they were already nearing it.

Omori clicked his tongue, half of his JUICE was already depleted due to the constant use of the red hands, it wouldn’t be enough for his next plan. Mari hurriedly grabbed another candy from her pocket and gave it to Lili again, she seemed to have been watching Omori closely.

“Here!“

The protector nodded and placed the candy in his mouth, neither biting nor swallowing it yet. He summoned more red hands to grab onto them and fly towards the other side of the bridge, it was then when he bit the candy. Some of the Spider Cats attempted to latch on the red hands, though Abbi and Stranger smacked them away.

The group landed safely on the other side, just in front of the path leading to the other section of the forest. They all sat on the grass, watching while they catch their breaths as the other side was once again engulfed in darkness with the Spider Cats reverting back to its dormant state before walking back into the shadows.

“That... was insane...“ Stranger breathed out.

“Why was there so many of them...?“ Mari sighed.

Omori shrugged as huffed out a breath.

“Another annoying change...“ Stranger let out a long sigh.

The group took a moment to catch their breaths before continuing. They stood and walked deeper into the forest.

“I didn’t think your skirt has a pocket.“ Stranger turned to Mari. “How many candies did you store in it?“

“I didn’t think it had one either! I only just found out about it earlier.“ She chuckled as she patted her left side, “It’s only at this side but I got to store 5 of them at least!“

A picnic blanket settled behind two black lampposts by the corner of the area and just nearby it was the place where Pluto was called to. It was supposed to have a large sign with ‘Pluto’s Spaceline‘ written on it, but now it merely looked like an out of place pitstop.

We don’t really need it anyway.

Upon walking closer, Omori noticed that the blue mailbox was missing, in its place was a pair of each item it was meant to sell lying atop a green towel placed above a ‘Welcome‘ mat.

“Ah, the mailbox is...“ Stranger asked as he inspected the items left behind.

Omori nodded.

Back in Otherworld...

He recalled the state of Otherworld when he last visited, it was still corrupted with not a single resident in sight, he remembered how the mailbox was missing then too, though they were too focused on the sudden change of the world and the sound of the piano to properly observe the entirety of it before its recovery.

And the mirror too...

It was easy to spot such things during then as it was just by the entrance. The mailbox gone, along with the mirror just across from its side.

“How was it, in Otherworld?“

“The mailbox was there.“

“Oh, but the mirror was missing.“ Mari walked over to them and crouched beside Stranger, humming as she placed the items in her basket.

They continued following the forest’s path. Mari was as talkative as ever, striking up a conversation with Abbi and Stranger while Omori merely listens. Though his focus moved elsewhere.

Why was the mirror still missing?

It wasn’t a particularly important item. It’s easy to understand the disappearance of the mailbox, it can be regarded as a ‘resident.‘ Though the same can’t be said with the floating mirror, it’s an object that one can simply regard as a decoration to the environment.

It helps with reassurance.

“A floating mirror. Your friends smile warmly behind you.” It was a phrase that provided a sense of comfort meant for the dreamer.

It was its sole purpose, supposedly...

Omori mentally grumbled. He didn’t like it, he didn't like it one bit, the unpredictability of Headspace annoys him. He has no control of its events anymore.

They soon reached the clearing, it was uncharacteristically empty, the corpses that once littered the floor was gone, leaving only the ladder at the top. Not a single monster appeared.

Must be since we already killed it.

“This is creepy...“ Mari muttered as they arrived at Sprout Mole Village.

Omori glanced at the ladder to their right, it was one that leads to Sweetheart’s Castle.

“Let’s--“ Omori and Stranger coincidentally spoke in unison which immediately resulted in both of them glaring at one another.

Mari let out a small laugh, “Let’s what?“

Stranger rolled his eyes while Omori turned away and clicked his tongue, “AHEM! Let’s take a quick look around.“

Omori was slightly taken aback although he didn’t show it. He was expecting the shadow to suggest going straight to the castle to get this over with quickly.

So I wanted to suggest that--

It was then when the protector grew rather irritated, it was an added annoyance to have thought of the same thing as that shadow after all.

Navigating through a small village wasn’t hard to do, with everything easily seen from the positioning of furniture and items, there wasn’t any need to linger at a single place after a quick look. And despite the eerie silence...

It’s peaceful.

Omori’s outline glowed a faint yellow as he walked ahead the others. Mari was a few steps behind him, standing beside a rather anxious Abbi and in front of a terrifyingly silent Stranger whose outline glowed red.

During their trip, each time they climbed up or down a ladder, Mari will always be either ahead or behind Omori. Abbi was too nervous to stay close to him and he deliberately puts a distance between him and the guide. But when it was time to head back to proceed towards Sweetheart’s Castle, Omori found himself above Stranger as they climbed up the ladder. The moment he neared the top, he pretended to slip and purposely stepped on the shadow’s hand.

“I will get you back for this, you irritating brat.“ Stranger threatened through gritted teeth.

Omori scoffed at him.

“Now, now! Let’s just head up to the castle!“ Mari grabbed Omori’s arm and dragged him to climb up first before gesturing for Abbi and Stranger to follow.