Silhouette of a Wilted Flower

World's End Valentine

"What. The. Hell?!"

After a long day of vigorous battle in Vast Forest, Omori had hoped that when he returned home, he would return to a non-pink castle and eat the royal banquet in a non-pink dining room. But here he was, standing in front of a pink castle with pink decorations and pink Sweetheart banners hung up everywhere.

He was not pleased.

"Why has the castle not been fixed yet?" It took Omori all his energy to keep himself from snarling the words. "What has Mari been doing?"

"I'm... sure she's been working on it," Hero said, though his voice was uncertain.

Omori suppressed another snarl and marched through the doors. Mewo, who landed them at the base of the tree castle, flew off to perch herself back on the balcony.

"Why did we land here and not on the balcony?" Kel whined while Hero eyed the grand staircase in dread. "We gotta climb all the way up now."

"I want to see the damage done to my castle," Omori said.

"I'm sure it won't be too bad," Hero spoke. "I doubt Sweetheart was able to do much in the limited time she had. I mean...when all that redecoration took place, we were all in our rooms for only a bit after... wait, how did we get in our rooms again?"

Hero's eyes darkened as he searched for a memory that wasn't there.

"Oh, yeah... How did we end up in our rooms again? Weren't we out looking for Capt. Spaceboy? Did we...ever find him?" Kel asked.

"We did find him!" Aubrey jumped in. "On that mountain top! In...in all the snow and stuff? You...you guys remember that, right?"

"Yes...we did find Capt. Spaceboy." Hero's eyes squinted in concentration. "But, then, what happened after we found him?"

A dark silence followed that question.

"We... we went home... Yeah! We went home!" Kel said.

"We...went home?" Hero's voice grew firmer. More self-assured. "...No...No... We tried to go home-"

"Enough of all that nonsense!" Omori snapped. "We found Capt. Spaceboy on the mountain top, and then we returned to the castle and rested in our bedrooms. It's as simple as that."

Aubrey glanced at the dark tendrils that were creeping closer to their feet. "Are...are you sure, Omori? I... don't..."

"I am certain, Aubrey. We found Capt. Spaceboy and then went home," Omori asserted.

Why the hell was this happening? They weren't supposed to be remembering or questioning what had happened after defeating Capt. Spaceboy. It was unnecessary information that they didn't need to know. They were better off not remembering, he was sure. The unpleasant experience of being buried in snow and slowly losing consciousness had been a nightmarish experience. It would ruin the dream.

"We..." Aubrey's eyes fogged over, including Kel and Hero's. "We.... We found Capt. Spaceboy and then went home!" The fogginess in their eyes disappeared, as well as the tendrils.

"Enough of this pointless questioning," Omori growled. "Let's go."

That was a bullet dodged. Why the hell was there even a bullet in the first place, though? Is it Stranger tempering with my friends again?

It must be him. He's messing up everything...

As they climbed the grand staircase, Omori eyed the decorations that hung on the walls with displeasure. Why were there Sweetheart banners set up? Who the hell did they think this castle belonged to?