Anemoia Echoes

The flower bed by the road (25)

The last parting words of Rigel left Dartz mute all alone in her thoughts as she too herself doesn't know what about her is missing. She feels like nothing is missing but it would be all too good to be true because everyone else lost something but it is just a fact now that she has lost a part of herself but not something easily recognizable. She had no choice but to just head back to her homeworld because there is nothing left for her to do for the time being as she headed back to the Garden Cage. Upon her arrival into her world, she saw that it was nighttime as she walked over to her flower bed and lay upon it. Her flower bed was not dirty like her previous life as she were ever to lay on the ground on the grass where dirt can stick to her clothes but the flower bed she was laying on was cleaned and it seemly gives an impression of a bed while laying on it. She was left all alone to her thoughts as she thinks about her situation. "Rigel seemed unsettled or something, Shaman acting like a female person, Tiger is less cheerful, and Consta barely wants any contact at all now. Is this our life had come to?" she sigh as she raise her hand to look upward into the sky past the tree that stood over her. "How many days or weeks has it been? Since we were in this reality, I never kept track of it after being so busy with everything." She continued to mumble into the night until she had passed out on the flower bed. While in her sleep, she began to dream of her real-life where she was spending time with her family but she found herself being unable to remember their face, but dreamy state she couldn't tell if she can't remember their face or she was just unable to recognize it but she talks them as she was back at home. "Mom, I had the weirdest dream. I had a dream that I was stuck in a game" She felt that her voice was masculine as she felt somewhat happy but weirded out as she didn't almost recognize it at first but she didn't care. "It was weird...mom and dad" Although her parent was speaking she did recognize that they had spoken to her but it was hard to understand or remember but yet she seemed to know what they said to her. "Right, it was amazing but it seems that the dream felt so long." She continued to dream, as she felt content in this dream as her soul was wanting more of this moment and for it to be everlasting. Her parent warn her about something as she looked at her watch but barely recognized what her hand looked like to her. "Oh, it is time for me to go to work now! See you later mom and dad!" She walked outside as she began to realize that she wearing man clothes. "Did I used to wear these types of clothes?" Her dream drifted her away as she was now at work near the end of her shifts. "Take care, everyone!" She walked outside of her workplace as she felt tired from working as she walked to her car and by her car was a flower bed. She sat down in her car then look at the flower bed. "These flowers are beautiful, I wonder if I should have one likes these at home for my parents" She began to slowly recognize where she was now heading back home, then soon her dream drifted into where she had a flower bed made outside their house near their driveway. "Looks amazing, but jeez they are dirty to work with when trying to make it proper." She began to think to herself. "When did I do all these things..." She began to think about her situation. "I never once did these activities for my parents..." She began to tear up as a single droplet of tears drip into her masculine hand as the droplets reveal a part of her new anime girl's hands but she didn't recognize it right away. "Mom and Dad..." She began to recognize this dream she was in but was attached to the dream of the past and without a second later she heard her parents calling out for her. She could hear them, she could tell who they were but no longer able to remember their face nor their name but calling them Mom and Dad. They came up to her, she felt comforted by their presence as they are congratulating their son for creating this beautiful flower bed that Dartz had created and were asking why their son is crying. Dartz was recognizing that the dream she having now is nothing but a dream that she wanted to happen as more tears drop from her face as each droplet slowly revealed the reality she was in. She was talking to herself in her mind as she cry into their arms in this fantasy dream she is experiencing which feels so much real than ever. "I wished I could have given them everything...but in reality, all I did was sit in my room and head to work and repeat the same cycle every day." She only cried more in her dream as the droplet falls upon the flower bed she had created in her dream for her parents. "I wished I had moved on but I want to go back home!" Her dream had begun collapsing as she held onto her parents graced as she or he now was holding tightly onto them as she collapsed onto flower bed. She was slowly beginning to wake up from her dream as warm touch was felt, and turn to look up and give Dartz a lap pillow. Dartz quickly jerked up from the sleeping position as she felt the cold dry tears on her face and wiped her face with flowers she grabbed the flower bed to wipe away the tears before turning around to see who it was who gave Dartz and lap pillow. She was shocked by the new face she had seen and tossed the flowers she had pulled up at them. Upon staring them down, they couldn't seem to recognize who they were as this situation had quickly taken her mind off her dream.

The girl laughed in a feminine voice as she watched Dartz throw flowers at their face then she stood up as the dawn's light fell upon them as they clean themselves. "That is the first time I see you do that before." She smiled happily "I have finally met people after such a long time of being stuck doing nothing all alone and do you probably don't know me by my avatar looks at the moment."  She looks at Dartz "I'm Deyla, you know the one who helps you in bullet hell... well I can't remember that bullet hell map name for some reason." In the light in which she stood, she had blackish hair color with a very small body which would not be considered normal by the regular standard.

Dartz quickly recognized the name right away and spoke for the first time to Deyla. "Oh right! you did." Dartz remembers a member of a raid party she was once with for difficult raids in bullet hell but Dartz too can't remember which bullet hell world it was but then also remember that Deyla looks absolutely nothing like her avatar by Dartz's memories. "Wait, is this your avatar? or your body?"

Deyla looked at herself and her body. "Nope, this isn't my avatar at all, it was an avatar that I took from somewhere and just used it but it is interesting to hear you talk since you're well known for not talking at all or just being mute." 

Dartz remembered that everyone she had met in VRC never heard her talk once and then she looked at Deyla. "So how did you manage to get into my world?" Dartz was surprised by the appearance of Deyla but more surprised that she wasn't in her own personal avatar. 

Deyla recalled her experience earlier that led her into the Garden Cage. "Well I was stuck in a puzzle world for a long time as each puzzled were absolutely confusing and it was driving me crazy ever since I woke up in VRC but even I can't recall how long I spend doing it." She sat down on the flower bed properly and look at Dartz. "All those math problems were giving me so much trouble that I literary sat there pressing every possible combination, but after completing that weird puzzle world I managed to find myself on top of a tower which was a puzzle tower." She looks at her skin. "It is surprising that I find myself as an anime girl now and not having man parts anymore which was surprising to me." She pulled on her skin and looked at Dartz. "How did you manage to keep yourself or find yourself in your avatar?"

Dartz simply replies. "Well, I just woke up in it and I assumed the same was with your body too?"

Deyla nodded "Yep, I don't have a clue how I was stuck in this body however I did use this avatar a lot but this avatar body isn't the personal one I have made for myself. I'm kinda jealous of you now Dartz for being in your avatar body while I don't."  She pats herself as she bloats her cheek out as she stared at Dartz. "Also to continue your question earlier, after I had completed the puzzle world, my menu seemly updated and your world was in my world list well the only world that appeared. 

Dartz thinks about it. "This reality is really strange" She stood up and look at Deyla "We need to introduce you to everyone else."

Deyla jump in joy. "Wait! there are others here!" She is seemly happy for some reason about the idea of meeting others. 

Dartz saw that Deyla was so happy but can't help but smile a bit. 

Deyla looks at Dartz and spoke about Dartz. "You're different from when we met a long time ago, and I feel like you are quite a different person now." Deyla walked up to Dartz. "Not that it matters that much but you need to show me the other people because I am done with not talking to anyone for a long time!" Deyla was excited as she waited for Dartz to lead the way.

Dartz was taken aback by Deyla's comment but inside her heart now she realized that she had changed now. She wasn't the same Dartz as back then, She realized that she had lost the former self that made her Dartz back then, the person who used to be more vulnerable and more passive but too she also realized that her old identity was slowly dying away and her rapid changed to become stronger was only a byproduct of her death caused by the bullet hell. This person she is now is reminiscent of the past but she will continue to cherish this past self to help grow her new one as she still is original mute Dartz on the inside. Like the flower bed of her dream, she could now turn those flower beds into reality for others like the passerby that she once was when she remember those flowers by the road. Then a single thought ran through her mind, why did Rigel have something to say about herself, did he know something that she had missed?

-End of Chapter-