Stuck In Paradise

Flashback

They proceeded to climb Dino Dig again and again.

Hero felt like all the bones in his body were going to break off as the enemies on higher floors managed to get stronger and stronger. Aubrey and Kel also looked like they were on the verge of passing out. Things only got worse as they hit the third floor and they had to fight unnerving-looking versions of chickens and rabbits.

Hero would have called them pure nightmare fuel if that thing on the train didn’t exist.

Omori seemed to be enjoying the battle experience, along with the money and items they were gaining each time they traveled up the pyramid so that’s great.

At least someone in this nightmare is having a good time.

At the top of the pyramid was a singular weird chicken that walked around. The moment Omori walked up to it a fight began. The chicken tried its best to defend itself but in the end, Omori and the others managed to overpower it, eventually defeating it. After it was defeated it proceeded to drop a weird ball on the ground.

“Wow…all of that for this?” Aubrey muttered under her breath, sounding pissed off at their reward.

“I think it’s neat!” Kel grinned as he bounced the ball a bit on the ground.

“Of course, you think that,” Aubrey rolled her eyes.

Hero let out a sigh, “Can we go now? I don’t want to be here anymore.”

Omori nodded and with those words, none of our heroes ever had to lay a foot in the pyramid again.

Hero was happy with that.

Nothing could get stranger than Dino Dig, right?

~~~

It can get stranger.

Omori and the others managed to find a trapdoor in the Oasis that ended up leading to a cave with a maze inside. The maze had arrows that needed to be followed to make it to the end but no one really knew if they could trust them or not. This ended up with them going in the opposite way and into a dead-end with a poster.

The poster had a frowny face on it and Hero felt a weird twinge of sadness at the poster's disappointment.

“Alright, guess we do have to follow the arrows,” Kel sighed.

As they turned around to head back their way was blocked off when they ended up going against Gingerbread Men and literal Ghost Toast of all things.

While fighting the monsters Aubrey tapped on Hero’s leg and motioned him to bend down.

“Psst, Hero,” Aubrey began, “Doesn’t that one look like Omori?”

Aubrey pointed to the Ghost Toast that was wearing a blank and bored expression despite being beaten up and Hero had to bite his lip to prevent laughing out loud. Instead, he nodded in response as Aubrey chuckled to herself. Omori must have overheard because the Ghost Toast was no longer in the mortal (dream?) realm the next time Hero looked over.

After that whole…can he even call it a battle? It was more like a minor inconvenience…. Oh well, still, after that whole thing the group managed to get back on track and make their way through the maze following the arrows.

At the end of it all? A poster with a smiley face with big bold letters on it.

You did it!

Though that poster wasn’t the first thing that caught Hero’s and the others' attention. What got their attention was the purple jump rope laying on the ground next to it.

~~~

Hero felt amazing. He had just woken up but the excitement he felt was coursing through his body like a riptide. He rushed to brush his teeth and made sure to get a quick shower. He also made himself some simple toast for breakfast. Today he wanted to make sure he could go over to Sunny and Mari’s house as soon as possible.

Today was the big day after all! It was the day of Sunny and Mari’s recital!

The morning sun felt warm on his skin as he went out and did his daily chores for the day.

Buy Groceries? Check. Get fancy-looking clothes? Check. Buy something for Mari and Sunny? Check. Buy something for Kel so he won’t give you the stink eye for buying something for Sunny and Mari? Check.

The moment he got home he quickly rushed to put on the clothes he bought and wrapped the three gifts. As he finished up the gift wrapping he put them away under his bed where Kel won’t be able to find them.

Satisfied with everything. Hero took a deep breath and began walking over to Sunny and Mari’s house.

It was mid-afternoon now. The recital was going to happen in a few hours. He stood outside Mari and Sunny’s house and took in another breath.

Alright. He can do this.

He knocked on the door only to be surprised when the door opened. Apparently, whoever got here before Hero must have left the door slightly open without realizing it.

Despite this, Hero still had manners and still knocked on the door before calling out, “Hey! Where is everyone?”

He got nothing but pure silence in response. That in itself should have been Hero’s first clue something was wrong. It was never this quiet unless Sunny and Mari were still sleeping or outside and he highly doubts that Sunny and Mari were sleeping. Mari and Sunny weren’t the types of people who sleep the day away. In fact, they were always the ones awake first, beating him by either minutes or seconds.

Despite this, Hero walked inside and closed the door behind him before calling out for both Sunny and Mari. Still, nothing but silence reached his ears.

‘Maybe they’re outside,’ Hero thought to himself.

He walked over to the sliding door and was shocked to see that it was also opened though it was just a tiny crack. He shrugged it off and opened the door fully, allowing himself to step into the warm air.

He regretted it immediately.

His eyes didn’t even process what was wrong first. His brain was more focused on the fact that Sunny was curled into himself on the ground with Basil next to him, rubbing his back in a comforting manner. He also appeared to be crying but Hero couldn’t mentally place why.

That was until he looked up and his eyes connected with Mari’s lifeless ones.

Her body hung from a tree that Hero distantly recalls being Sunny’s favorite one. A purple jump rope hung around her neck as tightly as it possibly could. Her arms were limp beside her and her white nightgown shined in the sunlight.

He screamed.

~~~

Hero broke free from his thoughts when a tight hand latched itself to his own. He looked down to see a concerned Kel looking right back at him.

He sighed as he watched Omori and Aubrey climb out of the room using a latter next to the poster.

“...Are you okay?” Kel asked.

“Yes,” Hero lied.

He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be okay.