A Fleeting Utopia

Chapter 3

"Apparently, this is harder than I thought."
"Now you want to say that?" Nova snapped. She turned to Tsumi with accusing eyes.
"I just want my memory back! Don't act like you guys didn't go along with it!" Tsumi scuffled her feet against the floor, sunlight streaming through the leaves of the trees.
"Maybe if we stay a little longer we'll find something. We've gone past the area we fought that spider in, correct? I don't think I've ever even been in this area of the forest before." Juno commented.
"Bye! I'm not staying here. It's already starting to get dark, and we're going to miss those Aloi beasts."
Tsumi peered up at the sky. She thought maybe Nova was just being dramatic, but the sky was darkening to a navy blue. The air suddenly felt heavy. Well, heavy wasn't exactly the word to describe it, but Tsumi had no other words to.
"Already starting to get dark...Ikuu, what time is it?" Tsumi asked fervently.
"It's only three o clock...It shouldn't be dark yet."
"Maybe it's a raincloud, only over the area we're in?" Juno added hopefully.
"No...something's going to happen. Soon." Tsumi was just going with her gut on this one. "We should stick together." Tsumi rushed up to Nova, who was about to leave the area. Nova yelped as Tsumi yanked her backwards.
"What? Let me leave if I want to. I doubt any of you guys even care."
"Nova! Don't say self-deprecating things like that." Juno cried.
"Just leave it be, she's just looking for attention." Ikuu said sharply. "Now, why is the sky all dark like that? Do you guys think it has anything to do with Roka?" Ikuu caught a glimpse of Juno's expression. At once her eyes were wide open, her pupils dilating in fear. "What?"
The patch of grass near where Juno was standing was disappearing, leaving a void of darkness. It was rapidly getting larger and larger. "Let's leave here. NOW."
Juno's voice was shaky and she sounded terrified. It was unsettling to see her so genuinely frightened, opposed to her usual half-kidding fear. Even if she was going to speak, Nova looked too shocked to say anything. But before anyone could attempt to get another word out, the void pulled all four of them inside itself.
Tsumi expected to faint again but she was completely aware of herself as she plunged through darkness. The air around her felt comforting as well as it felt unpredictable and unsafe. It was so dark that once she tried to open her eyes she wasn't aware of when her eyes were closed or open anymore.
She tried to call for her friends but when Tsumi opened her mouth, nothing came out. Her words were lost from the suffocating infinite shadow cast upon her.
Based on the basic knowledge that she still had retained in her brain, she did not think this could be anything normal. Not here, in this place she probably didn't belong in, not in anywhere where things were righted.
With a thud Tsumi's head hid a cold, hard, almost ice-like floor. The breath had been knocked out of her chest. She put her right hand to her forehead to find blood streaming from the broken skin, her eyes still closed.
If what we're dealing with here is so supernatural, why couldn't I have just teleported home from that void thing?
Tsumi's body was seized with fear when she heard a few large thumps and felt a warm presence next to her. Gathering her courage, she blinked one eye open to see Juno, who was already sitting up, next to her. Nova and Ikuu, not too far away, were still lying down, but she could tell they weren't unconscious.
            Tsumi sat up and took a second to take in her surroundings. The floor was frosted in dark blue, rock hard ice. The walls too, were made of this material. There was a chandelier above them and Tsumi couldn't decide if it was made from glass or ice. There was a long, royal blue carpet near her hand and she felt relief stream through her body when she touched it and found there was one thing that wasn't made of ice here. There was no visible exit, but a huge, frosted door at the end of the carpet that probably led deeper into this unknown location.
             A Frostbite spider's lair? A stupid voice in the back of her head went on.
            No, no-of course it wasn't that. But Tsumi had a feeling it had to do with Roka, the arctic fox spirit.
But then where was she? Was the spirit really powerful enough to pull them straight through the floor like that? And did she really live in a freezing, lonely, place like this?
"No, I do not, but it is quite nice here, isn't it?" A sing-song voice called. A small, white arctic fox was on the floor a few feet away from her. The second the fox's presence was made, the air around her felt strangely warmer opposed to the freezing cold. But surely that voice couldn't have come from the fox, and how did it hear what she was thinking?
The fox laughed. "No, I didn't read your mind, though I'm sure I could with ease if I desired so."
Tsumi stared at the talking animal in shock. What had she gotten herself into?
"Oh! I'm sure you'd prefer if I appeared like this." A woman around seven feet tall with a pleased expression on her face appeared right where the fox formerly was. She looked identical to the image that they had seen in Umber's information, apart from her mischievous composure.
"Who even are you? I haven't heard of legends about you in this city, nor have I ever heard them, even online. So why are you here now?" Ikuu sputtered, now up and alert.
"I never said I originated from this city, hmm? Or even this dimension."
"Where are we? Ooh, is this the fox spirit that you guys saw from that picture? She's even prettier in real life!" Juno said as she sat up, oblivious to the situation.
"Why thank you!" Roka beamed.
Ikuu frowned. "Please, just give us the information. To be honest, I never wanted to be involved in all of this stuff. I just want to find out why Tsumi lost her memory and then go back to my normal life."
"Are you saying you're going to abandon me once I get my memory back?" Tsumi made a big deal of looking sad.
"Stop making that face! And possibly! If you ever get your memory back and find out you have family and friends somewhere else, we aren't exactly going to leave Kuavera with you!"
"I wasn't serious! Can we just-"
"Children! Stop arguing at once. Didn't you see what the image said? I'm not just going to give you the information."
Several reactions occurred at once, including;
Nova: "Children? I am 16 years old, thank you very much."
Ikuu: "Of course it couldn't be easy! Nothing ever is for me."
Juno: "Hey lady, how did you even know we looked up information about you? Are you some sort of fortune teller? Or, no, that's not the word...A psychic? Nah, not that..."
"Guys. Just listen to her. Maybe there's a way to earn the information about my memory. And she does have a point, the image caption said we would have to catch her to get knowledge. And us falling here doesn't exactly qualify." Tsumi proclaimed, as the other three went silent. Tsumi instantly felt proud of herself for reasoning things out aloud. At least that would help stop the cluttering in her mind.
"Hmm, this one right here is smart." Roka said. Her eyes went glassy for a small moment, then she said, "Tsumi."
"Yes...?" Tsumi replied. She wasn't even going to ask how she knew that. It was pretty obvious she had some sort of all-seeing power at this point, and Tsumi wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of getting asked how she did it.
"What'd you do, look that up in your infinite dictionary you store in your mind?" Nova said scornfully.
"That doesn't even make sense!" Ikuu scowled.
"Oh, like you didn't know what I was trying to get across." Nova scooted over to Ikuu and flicked his nose. Roka gave them both a frightening look and they scrambled back in place.
"Now that we have silence, I'll kindly explain how your information can be earned. But be warned, there is only so much I can tell you before she finds out."
"Who's 'she'? Stop trying to sound all ominous!" Nova pouted.
"I'm afraid telling you would draw more unwanted attention to the situation. But I'll tell you this. This is my library. Through that door is where you enter. I had to bring you here because this place is made of purely my divine energy, so 'she' should not be able to sense you here. And as I said earlier, this is not where I live. I am a spirit that can travel through multiple dimensions. I have created this frosted library for my own novelty-but it'll also give us a nice opportunity for a little game of catch the fox spirit, don't you think?"
"Multiple dimensions? Does that mean you've met aliens, and stuff like that!" Juno asked breathlessly, her eyes shining in wonder.
"Aliens..." Ikuu made an irritated face.
Roka's ears turned up in amusement. "Here's how our game will work. I can control this library. It is indeed a library, but it is also a maze. So, if you find me in under an hour, you win! Simple."
"No catch?" Tsumi looked Roka in the eyes as she said this, hoping she would see it in her eyes if she was lying.
"No catch." Roka confirmed.
"Okay, good. Then let's start." Ikuu started standing up, and the others followed his actions as he did so.
"Oh, I just remembered something... I take back what I said about there being no catch."
Tsumi, Ikuu and Nova groaned.
"I can only tell Tsumi what you four have been asking about at the end." Roka looked a tinge sheepish as she said this.
"Seriously?! But we're all going to be working to find you, we all deserve to find out why she's lost her memory after all this time. You must know how much trouble this has been, since you're a magic spirit or something, and you probably SPIED ON US, didn't you!" Nova said fervidly.
"Call it spying if you'd like, I like to think of it as just keeping a watchful eye," Roka chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand as she did so. "And there is a good reason I can't tell you three what I'll tell Tsumi, if you can win, that is."
"And what would that be?" Ikuu asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"Only Tsumi would believe it. There would be no point in telling all of you." Roka said, dramatically turning away. Her white fur robes swished as she turned her back.
"Please excuse us for a second." Tsumi jerked Juno up off the ground and pulled Nova and Ikuu into a huddle.
Ikuu didn't pull away, but Tsumi could tell he wanted to. "What are you doing?"
Tsumi slapped her hands together and pleaded, "Don't leave me now! I promise I'll tell you guys what Roka says-even if she says you won't believe it! But we've made it so far, it would be such a waste to just go back now."
"Of course we aren't going to leave! Are you crazy? Even if you didn't agree to tell us after, I would still come along with you." Juno grinned sweetly.
            "Juno's right. Though I'm not sure I agree with that last part."
"Yeah, I guess I would still..." Nova looked down. "Don't make me say it, okay?"
            "Aw, our little Nova is so cute when she struggles to express any emotions." Juno cooed, squishing her finger into Nova's cheek. Nova pushed her off.
            "Okay, I'm going to hit you if you keep talking!"
            Tsumi sighed as she broke out of the huddle. "Thanks, guys. Now let us return to Roka and tell her we're in."
             "Yeah!" Juno exclaimed, her curly space buns bouncing as she pumped her fist up in the air.
              "I see someone is enthusiastic." Roka commented, striding over to them.
   Ikuu shook his head, covering a small smile. "Let's just get on with this and help Tsumi. Where do we start?"
"Well, if you don't mind, the way to the library will be right through this door." Roka began walking towards the huge ice door. Steps before she was even in arms length of the door, she flicked her hand at it and it opened at once.
"Show off." No.va jeered under her breath.
Roka's tail twitched, but she didn't say anything. Beyond the door was a high-ceilinged, moderately large room with nearly 8 foot bookshelves. The edges of the white wood shelves had icy blue-white glowing orbs on them. Tsumi wondered if they did anything, or if they were just for decoration.
There were small tables in the middle of the room, with two small chairs on each side of both tables. A soft looking white couch lay to the left of the tables. The room was pretty large in itself, but there seemed to be more. There were two doors on each side of the room.
"Now, I suppose I called this a library, didn't I?" Roka yawned as she took a seat on the couch.
"Yes? And it...is?" Ikuu said, looking confused.
"Well, the way I said it implied that I would be turning the library itself into a maze, but it would still somewhat resemble a library. But what I really mean, is since this place is made out of malleable energy, I will turn this library into a completely new maze."
Nova put her hand to her head. "This was not part of the deal."
"It was, in a sense. Just because you didn't fully process what I actually meant when I said that doesn't mean I lied or violated the rules I set in any way."
"She has a point," Tsumi agreed.
"Do you really agree with her or are you just trying to oppose what I think?" Nova rolled her eyes.
"I really agree. Anyways, we aren't going back now."
Roka watched the two of them speak, looking quite regaled. "I'll be starting the game in a few minutes, once I finish formulating it inside my mind. You'll be transported to the maze. Keep in mind the time limit. And, a word of advice. Do not split up." She shut her eyes.
Juno started pacing back and forth, looking anxious. "I didn't bring my medical supplies or my bow and arrow..."
Nova snorted. "Oh yeah, I forgot you used to carry around that old thing when we first started fighting. It barely did anything."
"Don't be mean! It worked perfectly fine. But that's besides the point, I'm worried because we don't have anything to defend ourselves with, unless you guys are hiding your weapons up your shirts."
"I think whatever we need to fight will be something we at least have a chance to get through. Don't you think Roka wants to help us?" Tsumi said.
"Yes, indeed I do." Roka was up and next to them. "Are you ready?"
Tsumi nodded and glanced at her teammates for approval.
"I'm ready," Ikuu replied.
"Same here," Juno grinned.
"Yeah, sure," Nova said, acting aloof.
"All right. Then, I'll see you at the finish line." Roka smiled.
The world began fading around Tsumi, with a scintillating light beaming from all around her. Sharply, she fell on another freezing floor. I see Roka has kept the same theme, even if this is a separate entity. Tsumi thought scornfully. The fall had been shorter this time, so she didn't need to take the time to try to recover her energy.
"Tsumi! We need to start. We're on a time limit, remember?" Juno waved her hand over Tsumi's face. Nova and Ikuu stood a little behind her.
"Wait, you guys landed here before me? And you're already up? But I didn't even pass out or anything!"
Nova burst out laughing. "I bet this is what you're thinking-" Nova switched her voice to an imitation of Tsumi's, but several pitches too high- "'But I'm the main character, right? It's impossible that I don't land in a room before my mere side character friends!"
Abashed, Tsumi replied, "Hey, that is not true! I don't think of myself as the 'main character!''
"I'm sure Nova's just joking." Juno glared at Nova.
"Actually, there's not a thing wrong with thinking that, as long as it doesn't get to your head too much. Everyone is the main character of their own story, right?"
"A good point. Now Tsumi, please get out before we run out of time!" Juno exclaimed fretfully. Tsumi began to stand, taking in her surroundings. So far they were just on a thin strip of cold land with a black door a few feet ahead of them. The floor wasn't very solid, though-and from what Tsumi saw, an icy sea lay below the floating maze.
"We still have to fight the Aloi , probably right after this. This better not be too exhilarating." Nova grumbled. Tsumi kind of agreed with her on that. Hopefully they would have time to go back to the headquarters to at least get their weapons after they completed the maze.
"Should we go through the door?" Juno asked, examining the black door ahead.
"I mean, it's not like we really have any other choice." Ikuu said, moving Juno out of the way as he opened the door. To Tsumi's surprise, he seemed to be struggling a bit with getting it open.
"Need help?" Tsumi walked up to the door, pushing on it at the same time as Ikuu. Slowly, the door creaked open.
"I'm sure I could have opened that door all by myself!" Nova commented. Tsumi chose to ignore her, as did the others.
Behind the door was a small, long table with three buttons. Three more doors lay behind it. Each door had a number that corresponded with one of the buttons.
"Oh, no. Is this one of those game things?" Like one or more of the doors could lead to our deaths?" Juno hid behind Ikuu, making whimpering noises.
"Possibly."
"Ikuu, you're supposed to comfort me!"
Tsumi approached the table and read the slip of paper placed nearest to the middle buzzer. It read; One of the doors has a 50/50 chance of dropping you into the ice below. Another one of them has a 100% chance of dropping you. The last one is unknown. Press the first and the last button at the same time to cancel the guessing game and play a more risky game instead. But be warned, the price you will pay for answering incorrectly will be much higher than if you stay at the guessing game.
"You guys, look at what this says."
Ikuu took one look at the paper and shook his head. "Well, it's obvious what we should do here."
"Huh? What does it say?" Nova and Juno came over to the table, peering at the paper.
"Well, it isn't obvious to me. What should we do?" Juno asked, putting the paper down as she finished.
"We should play the other game."
"Are you an idiot? The paper clearly says the price will be higher. Imagine what price is higher than falling into an icy sea!" Nova said.
"It's pretty clear to me that we have no chance of surviving the doors. One of them has a 100 percent chance of dropping us, one is 'unknown,' which, even by only knowing Roka for a few minutes, I can tell it means it probably would drop us. And a 50 percent chance? Even if we knew which door was which, that meant we would only have a 50 percent chance of surviving. And since we don't, it would be much lower."
"What's stopping us from just opening the door and checking if there's solid ground below?" Tsumi asked. She knew it probably didn't work like that, but it was still worth asking.
"That's the thing. It would be stupid if it worked like that, right? It would be way too easy for us to get by. But then the probability is infinite. If we think, 'oh, Roka wouldn't create the game like that, it's too dumb. But maybe she did make it like that because she knows that we wouldn't ever expect that. But if she knows we would never expect that, she wouldn't make it like that because we would guess based on what we wouldn't expect. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Uhh..." Tsumi was beginning to regret asking.
"You're giving me a headache! Fine, whatever, we won't do the guessing game. But you better not make me regret trusting you!" Nova tolerated.
"Yeah, yeah." Ikuu furrowed his brow, beginning to call out to the skies, "Uh, Roka? May we play the other game instead?"
Roka chuckled. Sure, if that's what you want, The voice echoed loudly in Tsumi's mind. Her head throbbing, she put her hand to it.
"Oww! Did you guys hear that in your heads, too?" Juno's face scrunched up as she crouched on the floor. Ikuu sighed, pulling her back up.
"Yes, we did. Now, Roka should be changing this room soon, so we get a game." But no sooner than anyone could say anything else, the three doors disappeared out of the room in a flash, leaving the same smooth gray rock material as the floors. Tsumi realized there was no way out now, except for the door they had come from. The table stayed put, but the 3 buttons and the slip of paper were replaced with one strange looking pair of shaded over squared-lensed blue glasses.
"Only one? And what do those even do, anyways?" Nova stared at the glasses. As she said that, a piece of paper fell onto the table from the air. This time, Ikuu began reading it aloud.
"'Since you children disliked my voice-to-mind speech so much, I'll stick to giving you guiding notes. As you can see, there is only one pair of glasses. Tsumi will be the one wearing them. It will send her into a momentary coma-like state where she can relive an arrangement of her lost memories, almost like a preparation for when she really gets them back, considering you escape here. It may be very intense. If she isn't able to handle it, she can leave anytime, almost like a video game. But if so, you all lose the game and must play another."
Nova groaned. "You better not lose, Tsumi."
Tsumi wasn't sure she liked this. She found she wasn't too fond of always being the center of attention, even if she didn't mind it too much. "Can't one of you guys go instead?" The question was completely pointless, but she still felt an impulse to say it.
Ikuu sighed. "You know the answer to that. The note specifies it has to be you. I'm sure you'll do fine."
"I was about to make a snarky comment that you get to do everything, but I'm not really sure I want to relive someone else's traumatic memories for them." Nova said, turning to Tsumi with a sigh.
"I guess so. Hopefully this won't take too long." Tsumi tried to flash a cheery smile as she laid on the floor.
"Here, I'll get those for you." Juno slipped the glasses over her face, and Tsumi started to feel her consciousness fade. "Bye-bye!" Tsumi heard Juno's voice say as her mind fell quiet.
A large screen appeared in front of her, a loading bar and the words "beginning trial" were at about 40 percent, and gaining fast. She definitely wasn't asleep-that was for sure. She still had a faint recognition of where her body was, and what she was sent here to do. But the way she felt and saw things felt like she was dreaming.
"Loading: complete. Welcome, Tsumi." A calm voice sang into her mind. Tsumi couldn't tell if the voice was automated, a real voice, or a recording of one. The way she felt the words in her head was similar to the way Roka communicated with them when they were asking to do the alternate game, but immensely more pleasant.
"This game is programmed to show you a flash of your lost memories, or the feeling you got from them. It will prepare you overtime for the full return of your memories. This may make you feel strong unbidden emotions that may confuse you. Please note you are welcome to leave at any time. Just say, 'I would like to exit the game,' or something along those lines.
Tsumi felt this was all too strange. How did she even talk in this place? Her body seemed to be floating in an area of a dark void, with only the light of the screen to guide her. It wasn't like she really had the time or materials to figure that out here. "Okay," she replied, but her lips didn't even part as the words came out, but yet the sound still flowed out as swiftly and quickly as a waterfall.
"Goodbye." The voice began to fade out.
"Wait. Whatever I'm doing right now... the way I'm communicating, it doesn't feel like I'm speaking as I would normally. When you asked for me to 'say' those words, will the way I'm communicating right now suffice?"
The voice was silent for a second, then it replied, "I think so. That is not in my programming. Well, hope to see you when you're done."
The screen and everything around her faded, until her mind was in a vastly different place than before; a familiar one as well. But not in a good way. A feeling of dread settled over her body and she took in her surroundings of the scene. The floor, slippery with dark red blood, was hard and cold. From what she could tell, four other blurry figures lay near her. All of them seemed familiar in one way or another, but she couldn't tell who anyone was. Not their hair length or color, skin color, clothing, nothing. When she placed her gaze on any of the people, it was almost like they were blurred away from existence. The memory seemed to move in slow motion, almost like someone had taken a picture from the moment and allowed her to take it in. The closest person to her seemed the most unfamiliar. She had a feeling she had known them, sometime, but the memory was so far back in her mind that it was almost excruciating to try to reach it.
One of the people was leaned over someone, mid-sob. She couldn't see the face of the person on the floor, but she could clearly tell they were killed-and recently so. At this Tsumi recoiled, an overwhelming amount of intense emotion spiraling into her soul. She tried to move her hands to her heart with a gasp, but she physically couldn't.
"Cannot move while inside body. Would you like to release?" The voice from before chimed, snapping her back into reality. This was just a game. But then again, it was a game imitating something that actually happened some time in her life. That was what really terrified her so much. If this was only the preview of her life before she lost her memory, she couldn't imagine how much worse the full premiere would be.
She didn't have the slightest idea what the voice meant by release, or frankly, what inside body was, but she decided to submit anyway.
"Yes." The same weird talking within her mind thing happened, but Tsumi ignored it. This wasn't the time.
At once she felt her soul being ripped from her body in this memory. It was an unpleasant experience, but at least she understood what the voice meant now. Now she stood beside her own frozen body, watching the stationary pain induced look on her own face.
"Now you may walk around and explore what happened in this exact moment of loss in your life."
I'm pretty sure I could have figured that out on my own, thanks voice. Tsumi thought-and this time, it was a real thought, not some odd, uncomfortable mind speaking. Incapable of feeling homesick due to not remembering having one, Tsumi felt a sensation of longing for comfort and a guarantee of safety.
She still couldn't make out any of the faces of any of the people, yet Tsumi still peered over the bloody body. A huge, spiky metal part pierced through the skin of the person. Tsumi wondered if she knew that person once. Well, she must've known them, or else it wouldn't be important for her to investigate this memory. But she still had wandering thoughts about who this person was, and what they meant to her.
Now that she was detached from her body in the memory, she walked over to the front of the scene. They seemed to be near the edge of a large cliff, leading to thick jungle ahead. Behind the gorey scene were more trees and plants, just like ahead of them. But the difference was, there were many strange metal parts laid on the group, and a thick, goopy substance splattered around them. Could it have been some monster or demon that attacked these people, and killed one of them? Where had they gone after the death?
The flurry of thoughts began to hurt her mind, but she couldn't give up now. Tsumi tried to step onto the grass of the jungle area, but there seemed to be some invisible wall preventing her from going any further. Oh well. What did I expect anyways? If all of the people from the memory are out here, it wouldn't make much sense for me to just walk away from them. Not that any of this particularly makes any sense, either.
"Time up. Loading next memory." The voice said, jarring Tsumi out of her thoughts. She didn't bother to reply as she shut her eyes. Seconds later, she was sitting on a soft checkered blanket. A small basket of food laid beside her, but she didn't take the time to paw through its contents. Blinking, she looked up. She was still "inside" her body this time, but it felt she wasn't controlling herself...like memory was. She guessed this time it was a snippet of a memory instead of more a single second of frozen time.
The sky was a milky purple orange, the sun blinking away in the background. Someone- a girl, she could tell this time-was sitting next to her, her legs crossed. She was wearing a flowy black dress. Tsumi tried to look at her face, but it was a blur again, she couldn't even begin to guess who this was. This moment definitely had a mellow, soft feel to it, but she could feel some disturbing undertones that were far from comforting. This was probably after the events of whatever had happened in that last memory.
"A checkered blanket for a picnic on a hill near a beautiful sunset. How cliché." Tsumi heard herself say, but she could feel her body radiating happiness through the sarcastic words of the moment.
"Come on, you know you like it." A light-hearted voice replied. Tsumi's mind began to wonder about whose voice that could be, but the second she had the thought it was almost blocked from her mind in a sense, she physically could not think of it. How was this any helpful if she wasn't even allowed to try to guess who people were? It wasn't like she would even remember knowing them, anyways.
And how much time had passed since she had put the headset back in the real world? She hoped this thing had some sort of time-extending effect on the mind, because it had felt like way more than an hour that she had been experiencing these memories.
The girl spoke again, but this time she sounded somber. Tsumi's hands gripped the blanket as she began speaking, almost like her memory-self was expecting something bad.
"Tsumi...I'm sorry, but I came here to tell you I'm leaving. I can't lose anyone else."
Tsumi's heart felt like it was shattering. It was confusing to the mind really. She was having trouble separating her real emotions from the ones she once felt. It was very unpleasant, almost like she was split in half.
Tsumi began to call out to the voice that had led her here but she refrained. It would pull her out of here in a second, surely.
"Last and final memory." Tsumi felt her body transfer to another place as the voice reminded her that this was just a simulation. Who knew if these were her actual memories, anyways? Roka could have messed with the device with her weird powers, or whatever they were.
This time, Tsumi was sitting on a ragged but comfortable couch in a dark room. Empty soda bottles and other assorted trash laid all around her on the couch. She felt sickly and dirty. She didn't even try to begin to figure out where she was this time. The doorbell rang, and Tsumi's body got up to answer it. She could put 2 and 2 together to figure out this was another moving memory.
Another blurry face stared back at her. This time, she couldn't tell the person's gender, much like the first memory. From what she could tell by their body, the person looked terrible. They were hunched over on the floor and breathing hard. Though Tsumi couldn't see the color of it, she could see the hair was messed up and ratted. Tsumi couldn't see anything in the background, though.
Tsumi didn't understand why the memories picked certain things out for her to be able to remember and see. Maybe it only shows me what's important. Though if that were the case, you'd think I'd be able to see their faces.
"Tsumi," the person gasped, their voice ragged. "could you drive me home?"
"Were you drinking again? You know you're not old enough for that. I know things are tough, but you need to stop. And I'm only 15, remember? I don't have my license yet." Tsumi heard her own voice say. Finally, some useful information. She remembered Nova saying her own age earlier, so she had guessed she was around the same age. Well, I guess that's confirmed now.
"I know. I'm a terrible person. I don't deserve to have a life. This is all my fault." The person broke down crying, practically at Tsumi's feet.
Memory-Tsumi sighed. "No need to say all that. Come in, you can crash here."
Why didn't Tsumi seem more worried about this person in the moment? Maybe this happened often between her and this person. But before she could ponder what had just happened, the memory faded. She was now floating in a dark space again, with the same screen in front of her. Except now, it said "Trials completed. Good job."
"You have completed a review of some of your more crucial lost memories. How do you feel?" The voice asked.
Tsumi sighed. What was this mysterious voice, her new therapist? "I don't really want to talk, to be honest. Can I just go back to finish this 'maze?'"
"Very well. You should be waking up in 3, 2, 1..."
Tsumi jolted away, her body snapping up from her lying position. A drop of cold sweat trickled down her forehead. She felt sharp pressure on her left hand, and turned to see Nova squeezing her fingers with an odd expression on her face.
"What exactly are you doing?" Tsumi breathed, getting up. Nova also stood up, and replied,
"I was trying to wake you up! Half of our time is gone already!"
"I thought I said don't touch me!"
"I bet  it would be fine if Juno did the same thing to wake you up, but of course you get mad at me!"
"Actually,  you're right! I wouldn't get mad if it was Juno! You know why? Because she probably doesn't have any weird ill intentions-" Tsumi let out a long breath. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get upset for no reason. I'm just so confused about the memories I saw while I had those glasses on," Tsumi said, gazing at the glasses strewn on the floor a few feet away.
Nova also let out a sigh. "Yeah, fine. I guess I hope you figure things out soon."
Ikuu and Juno quietly watched, then Ikuu spoke up with a smirk, "Seems like I'm off the hook now that you found a new person to argue with."
Nova gritted her teeth. "Well, you certainly can't be saying embarrassing things like that anymore. I do hope you remember about the time when I found your diary from when you were 12, so I just want to let everyone here know all of Ikuu's deep, dark secre-"
Ikuu chuckled nervously, cutting her off. "Okayyy, let's just move on to the next part of the maze. I really do hope it's quick because that took half our time, not to mention it was really boring."
"Hey, I offered my playing cards, but no one wanted to play with me! I bring them around in my pocket everywhere I go, just in case." Juno said indignantly.
Ikuu, and for once, Nova, both did not reply to that comment.
Tsumi noticed there was another door in addition to the one they had come in from, a way to advance in the maze.
"When did that get there?" Tsumi asked as Ikuu turned the round handle.
Ikuu shrugged as he stepped into the next room. The room was bare with 2 doors, the one they had come from, and one that was probably an exit. It looked essentially  the same as the one from before. Another piece of paper with writing on it laid in the middle of another table. A small pen with a clear exterior and blue colored ink laid next to it. This time, the paper had no instructions, but simply a riddle written on paper.
"Guys, look. It says, "'I'm everywhere and a part of everyone. I am at the end of space and time and existence itself. What am I?' Below that it says we only have ONE chance to get it right guys. So we better be careful."
"Hah! A riddle? I'm amazing at these! I think it's...hmm...a soul!"
Ikuu smirked. "Ooh, Nova's getting all deep. I personally think it's math."
"Math? How stupid!"
"It's technically true, though! No, it is true!"
While Ikuu and Nova debated the riddle's answer, Tsumi went to check if the door leading forward was even locked. She tried pulling it open, but it didn't budge. Figures. She really did not want to sit through or possibly partake in useless arguing over a riddle. As she walked back to the center of the room, she noticed Nova trying to take the pen and paper from Ikuu.
"I'm writing down the correct answer, the one I thought of! We'll never get out of here if we write yours."
"Nova! You're going to get us trapped! Please, just give me it back!"
Juno started laughing as she snatched the pen and paper from both of them. Ikuu and Nova looked up at her, shocked.
"Haven't you guys ever clicked on those 'Only .0001 percent can solve this riddle!' websites? The answer is always very technical. Neither of those are right."
"But math is technical!" Ikuu complained, pushing Nova off him.
Nova scowled and added, "Anyway, who even actually clicks on those websites?"
Juno sighed. "The answer is E. I can't believe you guys couldn't get that. You probably could have even looked that up on your phone this whole time."
"E? How could the answer be a single letter?" Ikuu questioned.
"E is everywhere, because it's in a lot of words. The letter E is also in 'everyone,' and at the end of the words 'space, time and existence' as well!"
Ikuu scoffed. "E is a common letter. Coincidence, I say."
Tsumi wasn't sure who she agreed with, but she surely wasn't going to stop Juno from writing her answer. It seemed reasonable for a riddle of that sort, anyways.
"Well, I'm writing it." Juno scrawled the words-or letter, to be precise- onto the page and dropped it like she was dropping a mic after performing a ravishing song and dance.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Nova dramatically slung her body on the floor in defeat, her face facing the floor. "We're really screwed now." She said, her voice muffled.
Juno chuckled. "I don't think so." She pointed to the door.
Nova, Ikuu and Tsumi all glanced in that direction. The door was now wide open. Tsumi could see the tips of shiny, black tiles leading up to the door.
Ikuu looked flustered. "Oh...I'm sorry I doubted you, Juno."
Nova laughed. "This is his first time ever being wrong, so he's a little embarrassed." She pushed her fingers together in mock nervousness.
Ikuu sighed. "Let's just go through that door. Let's hope there isn't much more of this so-called maze."
Tsumi stepped through the door after Ikuu, the others following behind.
The room was covered in the same smooth black tiles, the ceilings, the walls, the floors, everything. The room was completely empty except for a giant bed in the middle of the room. It had a frosty blue duvet cover-and not to mention, a wolf spirit sleeping in it.
Roka yawned, taking off her sleeping mask at their arrival. "Oh, have you finally made it? You did indeed do a good job, but it took longer than I anticipated."
Nova gritted her teeth and muttered, "Did she really have to pretend to sleep to make a big deal of how long we took?"
Ikuu put a finger to his mouth, shushing her.
"Oh, uh, thank you. I think." Tsumi stammered.
"Hey lady, you said this was a maze, but it didn't really seem much like one. And it finished a lot quicker than I expected." Juno said.
Nova grabbed Juno's shoulder. "Just be glad it's over! If you say that she's just going to give us more stuff to do-" Nova caught Roka looking at her- "no offense."
"Well, you did take the more risky game. If the price is higher, often the reward is too." Roka said, nodding.
"So can you tell Tsumi about what happened to her memory now?" Juno asked.
"Actually, I have decided to tell you all what's going on with Tsumi." Tsumi noticed Roka put emphasis on Tsumi's name in the sentence. It wasn't very noticeable, yet she still wondered why Roka had said it like that.
Roka shook her head. "I'm still not sure you all will believe me. But alas, I promised. Here goes."
Juno grasped her hands together in excitement. "Ooh, I'm so happy she's going to tell all of us!"
Ikuu turned to her. "I still don't buy it that she's suddenly now deciding to tell us the full story, but at least it's better than nothing."
"Before I begin telling you, I must warn you this is not going to be a thorough telling. I am just going to give you-what's the expression-ah yes, a gist of what happened to her. In other words, this will be brief."
"I thought you were going to tell me why my memory is gone!" Tsumi said, dumbfounded.
"Well, the truth is, I can tell how you lost your memory, but I don't really know why."
"Okay, okay. Just tell us now." Nova said, sounding irritated. "This has been tiring, and we have beasts to take care of at the east border of the city."
"Tiring doing what? Sitting around and attempting to answer a riddle?" Tsumi snorted.
"You can't be talking when you didn't even try to help!"
Roka made a shushing sound, and Tsumi and Nova quickly shut up.
"I'll begin now. Really, all I really know about Tsumi's situation is that she isn't from this city. Or even, this universe. Someone-and don't ask me who- has placed her here, in this city. In the process, you lost your memory. The person who did this probably did this so you wouldn't remember your old life. If any strange things have been happening to you, Tsumi, then that might explain it. But now that your eyes have been opened to what is really going on, you shouldn't have any more weird experiences."
A wave of realization hit Tsumi hard. That explained why everything felt so weird here, and the thing with Nova's bunny. That could possibly be why the simulator was acting up towards her specifically. Odd, yes; but what other explanation would be more credible? Though the feelings she experienced here felt real, something about this place...didn't. This was still a lot to handle though. What did she mean, a different universe? How many universes were there? Or maybe she meant more of an alternative dimension kind of thing. Anyways, for now, she was going to believe Roka. After all, they were speaking to some kind of spirit creature herself, so it wasn't much less believable that Tsumi was from a different universe, though she didn't really get the concept.
Ikuu looked as if he was about to say something, but his expression clouded over, a milky look in his eyes. "You really expected me to believe that? I'm out of here."  His voice sounded odd, in a way it didn't even sound like him.
"So you can believe that we're speaking to a fox spirit here, but not that I'm from another universe? Haven't you noticed there was something strange going on with me all along? This isn't that far-fetched." Tsumi reasoned. Was he serious? Why did his mood change so suddenly?
"I don't care. I'm leaving. Roka, please escort us out, back to the real world." Ikuu's eyes now looked dark and cold.
He had to be joking. He didn't even give it a chance! "Nova, Juno? Do you guys agree with him?"
"Yeah. I can't believe I was stupid enough to help you, anyways." Nova glared at Tsumi. A shiver was sent down her spine. What was happening to them?
"Juno? Please?"
Juno shook her head. "I'm going with them. Sorry, Tsumi." She said frigidly.
"Roka, please, make them stay." Tsumi said, desperately turning to Roka.
Roka just shook her head. "I've already transported them away. It's for your own good. You don't want to be interacting with them while they're in that state."
Tsumi whipped her head around to find her friends were gone. "Where did you take them?"
"I just placed them right back in the forest you all were in while foolishly looking for me. They'll probably start wondering where you are and forget everything they said just now. It's not like they meant anything they just said." Roka sighed as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"I have a feeling you aren't telling me something here-and what you said about me wasn't true, either."
"Oh, it was true. It just wasn't the full story. Your friends also do not belong here. You aren't the only one who is an outsider. And just then, the things they said were not their own opinions, but those of someone else controlling them."
"Do we all come from the same place?" Tsumi asked. She felt confused, but a little relieved. But if what Roka was saying was true, why were her friends here before her? If they really were from the same place as her, those memories...could have been about her friends? But which person was in which memory? I don't know for sure, anyways, Tsumi reminded herself. The memories could be about people I don't remember, too.
"Yes, you all have. If you ever felt like you've met Ikuu, Nova, and Juno before, it's because you have. But the person who has put you in here made a risk putting you in this false universe. You are the one most likely to find out that it's fake. And you also-" Roka cut off abruptly, looking like she remembered something.
"I also what?"
"I must not tell you. The little memory simulation you did earlier should also help you get your memories back when it's right. I'm afraid it will be much too painful."
Tsumi sighed. "So, I suppose that means you can't tell me who it is that put me in this place, and why?"
"I know who, but I'm afraid if I speak of her she might notice my existence in her created world. My theory is that maybe an employee of hers, somewhere in the galaxies of her universe where she may stay, accidentally let me into this world. I know the creator of this place wouldn't put me here on purpose-it would be too risky to add a spirit, because I might help you, just like I currently am. And in regards to why, I really have no clue."
"Let you into this world?"
"Everyone who is in here, dead or alive, is just another person whose memory was wiped and was added to this world. As long as they live, or have once lived and existed somewhere, they may be added to this place. Though everyone else but you and your friends were probably just added to help keep the truth from you longer. If this world was empty, it would take much less time for you to realize something's off, wouldn't it? And from what I can tell, she or someone who may work for her, must manually approve who lies in this dimension. I'm not too sure how all of that works, though."
"And how exactly do you know all of this again?"
Roka laughed. "Let's just say it's spirit magic for now, shall we."
Tsumi didn't have the energy to question further on that topic. This was already so much. It had only been a few days of this mess of a new life, and Tsumi already wanted to give up. Maybe she could just pretend to live a normal life here and forget any of this happened. Though, that was probably what the person who put her here wanted. And it wasn't really like she could just ignore the beasts in this place, since she supposedly signed up for that. Tsumi realized that that might have not even happened, and the memory that Ikuu, Nova and Juno had of her joining was probably fake. But that didn't matter; it wasn't like she was going to leave. "Hmm. Well, how big is this place? Is it possible for me to leave the city?"
Roka stroked her chin as she thought. "Well, sometimes I like to think of it as her dollhouse, because for some reason, the person who put you here made this place incredibly small. This city, Kuavera, is on an island. You could try to take a boat off the island, but there's literally nothing after a few miles of sea. It's pure emptiness. No one here would even dream of leaving the city, anyways. They are all brainwashed into thinking it's some sort of utopia. But that's far from the truth. Kuavera was a real city in the dimension you first lived in though."
Tsumi nodded, her brain whirring as she tried to process what she was being told. She took a deep breath as she asked, "What about if I die here? What would happen to me? You said some people here are already dead, right? Could that...'' Tsumi avoided looking at Roka's face. She didn't want to know if she was dead or not, not now, not so soon. All she could hope is that she still had a chance of returning to her normal life.
"I really don't know what will happen, but I do recommend trying to stay alive, even if it's fake. If life was a simulation, you'd still have to try to survive the simulation, correct?" Roka attempted a warm smile. "I'm not sure how much longer I can stay here before she notices. Though I don't know her personally, I have watched over her before on the planet you and her originally came from-Earth. She would go to extreme manners to make everything perfect again, and to make sure no one here is aware of what's happening. But as you can see, that failed, as there are still Aloi beasts in the city. All I can do for you is to recommend some places you can go that might help some of you memory come back, or that might help prove some of what I'm saying if it's a little confusing." Roka handed her another sheet of paper with her scrawly handwriting all over it. Tsumi tucked it in the pocket of her hoodie, which was now dirty from the day's adventure. What did Roka mean by 'still beasts in the city?' Before she had been placed in this fake city, was she fighting the same machines before? Were they different from the ones here?
"Thanks." Tsumi's head felt heavy with thoughts. What would she do when she got her memory back? Try to escape? Should she try to convince the others about what she was told?
"I'll send you on your way now. You should catch up with your friends, they should be on their way to fight the Aloi by now. If you hustle, you'll make it there in time. But I would advise you to not say anything about any of this again until you're sure you've found a way to make them believe it. Farewell, Tsumi." Roka fluttered her fingers in a half hearted wave.
Tsumi braced herself and squeezed her eyes closed. She felt her body being lifted off the floor, and in panic opened her eyes. But when she did she was in the same area of the forest they had fallen in from, the grass restored. Her friends, though, were nowhere to be seen. As Tsumi jogged back into the city, she wondered what Roka meant by making her friends believe her. Surely after a while of being in this place they would feel that something was off, right? Yet they hadn't even realized what was going on yet. And what about her memories? Would they come back in her sleep, like visions? Or would everything just start to make sense over time? She still couldn't make any sense of any of the memories she had been shown. And then there was the fact that she, and maybe even her friends were already possibly dead. What was the point, then, of getting out of here? Was fighting monsters in a world that she knew that was fake better than being dead? Tsumi wasn't sure.
Suddenly, Tsumi tripped over someone's shoe. She looked up to see Juno. They were around the edge of the forest. How long had she been running? "Hey, Tsumi! So you're going to join us in the fighting? I think it's cool how you're from a different universe and all, but we can figure that out later. Though Nova said she wouldn't believe it if we hadn't seen the kind of stuff Roka was able to do, which doesn't make sense to me, because those are completely different things..."
So her friends did remember at least one part of it! That would at least make it a little bit easier to convince them later. Progress was being made, although Tsumi didn't know how. Maybe the person who put her here decided it was okay as long as they didn't know all of them weren't from here.
A horrible thought dawned on Tsumi. What if this person could reset this false universe as many times as they wanted, causing them to forget everything again, switching out the innocent background people in this world? No, that couldn't be. Tsumi remembered Roka had said something along the lines that inferred the person didn't mean to create the Aloi bots in this world in the first place, that it was meant to be a perfect place for everyone. But Tsumi still did not agree with what they were doing, and she was still going to be wary of it.
Nova shook her shoulders back and forth. "Hellooo, Tsumi. I know all this universe stuff is a lot to think about or whatever, but we kind of have some beasts to fight. Did you remember your weapon? We all picked ours up before coming into the forest. I guess you can use this old sword that I have if you want, not that it'll really do anything. Or Juno's ugly bow and arrow."
Juno clutched her bow and arrow protectively. "Sorry, I'm using this. And my precious bow and arrow are not ugly!"
"Uhh..." Tsumi thought about it. She had no memory of her friends picking up  weapons before coming here.  Nova shoved the old sword in her hand.
"Just take it. Come on, let's get over there and wipe out those beasts!