Book 3 ~ The Puppet Master

7- The lost Memory

"What the fu-" Amber gaped, but Lily punched her arm to make her stop.

Half of me wanted to explain how and why they were still alive and what it cost me, but the pain was getting too unbearable.

Even shrugging hurt like hell.

I nodded to Blaze, and he sighed.

"Okay... this is gonna be confusing... so bare with me, people,"

He said.

I smiled.

"List, Song, Future! You can come out now," I said.

A portal appeared, and a boy who looked exactly like me minus my scar popped out, with a girl who looked just like Lily, except her hair was a teal color and pulled in two pigtails.The other girl, Song, had bright pink hair that reached her lower back and was wearing an outfit similar to Amber's, but different.

She looked like a copy of Rose.

Everyone stared at them, but they didn't notice.

List glared at me.

"We've been there for who knows how long and you called us out for THIS?! To introduce you to your human friends?!"

He looked ready to murder, but Future stopped him.

"Cut it out, you baka," She chided.

"Since we're here, we can always kill other people."

I sighed."No one's killing anybody just yet," I said.

Lily stared at Future.

"Okay now would be the time to explain, Trace," She said.

I grinned.

"Okay. So, these guys are you."

They looked at me like I was an idiot.

Song rolled her eyes.

"Let me take over, bro," She said.

"Yes, we are you, yet not you."

She took a deep breath.

"We come from a different world where, five hundred years ago, seven kids defeated the evil that ruled it."

I looked down at my shoes, knowing what would come next."

That thing was called Subcreo, and your ancestors defeated it."

Lily blinked.

"But that would mean-"

"You don't belong to this world. We know," List said.

He shot me a one sided look.

"And neither do they."

Blaze gave me a 'what can you do' type of look and pulled off his hoodie.

I sighed and did the same.

I pulled my shirt off to expose my chest, and once Blaze did the same, I undid my bonds.

Everyone stared as they looked into the mechanical gears, wiring and magic that was me.

I closed it up and gave them a dopey grin.

"You- you're..." Amber stared at me.

Future rolled her eyes.

"We prefer androids, not robots." She said.

Lily just stared at me.

I sighed.

"Alpha code 1267. Commence reboot," I said.

Seth's eyes glowed once, and they too exposed their wires.

Rose looked like she was going to cry.

"These are... clones of our friends," I said.

"They have every single memory the originals had..." I trailed off, then looked at the others.

"I, too, am a clone. A cybernetic lifeform created by Subcreo five hundred years ago." Blaze said.

List rolled his eyes.

"You two are just plain stupid," Future said, shaking her head.

"All of us are clones, including Soul Eater Evans and Advanta Black," Song added, ignoring Future's comment.

Lily took a deep breath."Why... why did you bring them back?" She asked.

I gave her a sad smile.

"I wanted to give them a second chance at life, like I did."

I traced my scar, an old habit of mine, but for the first time, I finally acknowledged why the original me, Taito Kurasawa, gave up his humanity.

"Don't wait until it's too late to tell someone how much you love, how much you care. Because when they're gone, no matter how much you shout and cry, they won't hear you anymore." He had once said.

"I know it feels like to want to die, I know you try to fit in, but you can't. I know you hurt yourself on the inside to hurt the monster on the inside."

I felt tears threaten to spill over, and for once, I let them.

She was gone. The girl I had loved, my best friend, my soul mate, was dead.

And I killed her.

Sora was dead, and there was no way she could come back.