#mys7ery

It’s upsetting.

It’s upsetting, because Mitsuba had been so sure that things were going to be okay, for the first time in a while. He was comfortable with himself, he was comfortable with how things were with Kou. He was, for all intents and purposes, happy. And he would have been fine with things staying that way! He really would have.

Mitsuba, of course, doesn’t remember everything that happened in the before until he wakes up in the Grove. Birds are chirping; the sun is warm, beating down on him through the leaves of the trees. Mitsuba is outside, decidedly not in Kamome, but it feels... hollow. It feels hollow because he can feel himself being torn apart by whatever was happening, lost and overwhelmed, and he can feel all the memories flooding back of that place. Of Kou, of Nene, of Hanako, of Kohimasu and –

– Mitsuba is angry.

He’s so, so angry, and he has no one to turn to, because none of his support system is here. The rage boils and brews in his chest as he makes himself move the only direction he can, to the cabins, key clutched tightly in his hand. Too tightly. It hurts.

It hurts, but what hurts more than the indent of a key in his palm is spotting him once he reaches the cabins, out and about like nothing happened at all. And maybe nothing did happen, to him. Mitsuba’s well aware of timelines not syncing up, if here is anything like there. It makes him feel so helpless, at a time when he was just getting used to what he’s capable of.

So Mitsuba freezes, and tries to hide how much he’s shaking. Tries to hide how confrontational, how accusatory, his voice sounds when he speaks up.

“Do you know what happened to me?”

   “ oh!!  are you using a mirror mantle to look like that?? ”   coco can practically see right though him!  how extraordinary!  to be more accurate, it would have to be a modified mirror mantle in some way or another,  surely it’s possible to tweak the glyphs to create a translucent effect when worn.  surely!  why, she’s seeing it right now--  she’s seeing right through it!

coco is giddy by the sight alone, no explanation required.  her hands flap in excitement and she’s bouncing enough to send loose pieces of her hair awry.  awe isn’t strong enough a word to define her reaction.

LOCATION: UNSPECIFIED.

SHE CAN SEE THROUGH HIM.   She’s seen a lot of strange people. Of course, to Chell, everyone is strange, but there are some that are more strange than others. And now, now that she’s just a lot less stressed out than she has been, she’s curious. 

Nearly all of the spirits that Sal had previously encountered were decrepit in some form or fashion. Sunken eyes, mummified skin, exposed bones-- you get the idea. So when this kid admitted to be a ghost, well, Sal found himself a little taken aback; although it was only for a moment. “Hah...you being dead is the least surprising thing I’ve heard so far actually.” 

He knew it wasn’t polite to ask ‘So how’d you die?’ even if that question was on his mind, so he figured the more pressing matter at hand was Spirale. This dimension. “I’m used to weird, but this place...it’s something else.” Maybe this kid could give him some more details on the whole...state of things.

“It’s weird how...normal things seem here. It’s a different dimension but nothing's...too out of place. ...Besides the huge hole in the middle of the island. That’s suspicious.”

He hates this. He hates this, he hates this, he hates this!

Of all the – every time something’s happened recently, it’s just been a nuisance. And maybe some part of Mitsuba gets it, now? Gets that it isn’t just as easy as going “people can see you here, you’re real here, live a life here”, and understands it now, kinda? Why Hanako was – ugh, that Hanako was right. And Mitsuba still thinks part of him was right, too. That he’s allowed to have this chance. But it’s just... annoying.

Sure, there’s no Tsukasa. But there’s no Kou, no Nene, every now and then he gets tossed into some shit–

For instance, he can’t get in his house. There are weird crystal-creatures everywhere. And the snow is diamonds. These are not exactly ideal things. The piling up of diamonds sort of, um, fell onto the monsters and onto each other from time to time, though? And it seemed like that was all there was that could cut the diamonds.

He’s in the process of trying to sneak close enough to grab a hunk of diamond with his scarf – in the midst of a hulking diamond monstrosity’s patrol zone – when something draws his attention over. And it’s not the threat of a crystallized yeti charging at him from some distance away. Oh. Right there, behind a hunk of diamond –

“Are you just hidin' back there, or what?”

“I don’t think that’s gonna really do much for you, Number Seven.”

Ah... it’s really cold. The wind has a really bad, biting chill to it today, and even as Mitsuba draws his scarf more tightly around his neck, it isn’t like it does anything to stop it. Ghosts don’t have any sort of body heat, after all.

The new year’s been kinda... weird? Mitsuba’s figured out a lot about himself in the past several months, sure, but at the end of the day he’s really coming to realize that he thinks he’d actually be happier in Kamome. Following in the footsteps of the other Mitsuba in order to feel less... out of his element (what does a ghost confined to mirrors know about living?) only got him so far, and while he’s managed to find his own flow, it never feels quite right.

The weight of the camera around his neck feels too heavy.

And he’s lonely.

Figuring out how to live here (it’s really almost been a year now, huh?) had been one thing. But anyone Mitsuba cared for kept coming and going again like some cruel trick, and –

“–a...ah.”

There’s a moment where the fear rages too hard in his chest because Tsukasa’s been here before and he might be here again, but the pounding of his heart calms down a little (just a little) when Mitsuba realizes, no, it isn’t Tsukasa. It’s still just Hanako. Barely better, but not Tsukasa. He stops in his tracks, more a fear response than anything.

“H... Happy New Year.” He sounds more terrified than polite. Something about Hanako seems kinda – weird? Not like, bad weird, and Mitsuba doesn’t know him enough at all, but... sort of like... like the same energy everyone’d had cleaning the pool, back in the fake world. Mitsuba fidgets.

It’s dark, when Rui wakes in the Grove.

Of course it is, he thinks at first; wouldn’t it be silly for him to wake up in the day? Would he even? What a joke, if he woke up just to crumble to ash. He almost wouldn’t doubt that that could happen, though, because isn’t this what he had always expected? This is decidedly – not where he’d expected to wake up. This isn’t his bed, this isn’t even the right season; the reddening of the leaves implies autumn, not the spring he’d been expecting.

But he’d always known his happiness wasn’t meant to last, hadn’t he?

The key to the cabin, marked “01”, works. Of course it does. It’s a miracle, really, that he manages to find his way there in the state he’s in – lost, almost delirious. The ring Hanako gave him is still on his finger, but it won’t matter. Rui’d finally pushed his luck too far, and –

Hanako is in the cabin, curled up on the sofa in the living room.

It’s decidedly Hanako; Rui would recognize him anywhere. He opens his mouth as if to say his name, but doesn’t – this has happened before. Rui retained his memories while Hanako forgot, so why would it not happen again? He remembers, even if he doesn’t know where he is now outside of a name (Eversanctum; that doesn’t tell him anything), so maybe as part of his punishment, Hanako’s forgotten too.

Maybe he should try anyway? Rui raises a hand, hesitantly; his fingers are curled, less a wave and more like he wants to reach out to Hanako and grab hold but is too scared to try. “... I–”

The sound falls dead as he spots the ring on Hanako’s finger. The matching ring.

“... A...–” Rui’s voice falters and breaks, but he swallows past the nerves and tries again.