Chapter Text
It’s quiet here. The gentle hum of the lightbulb dangling above is the only noise here in this space. What is that lightbulb actually connected to ? I wondered to myself, looking up as far as I could. The cord just seems to extend upwards into infinity. Is there even a ceiling here in White Space? Trying to see where it goes makes me dizzy.
It’s strange here. Sitting on a small table in front of me is a pot with some tulips in it. They don’t have any color here in White Space, but they look healthy. Perhaps I’ll water them. I pick up the watering can next to the table, and gently pour some water into the pot.
It’s safe here. I don’t feel anxious when I’m here. It’s as if all the negative emotions have left my body, and nothing can hurt me. The only other things here are a soft-looking pillow, a cozy blanket lying messily next to it, and an empty photo album. “My Memories” it says on the cover. Why is it empty? The question makes me feel a little uneasy, so I look away from the album, close my eyes, and take a deep breath.
That’s better.
I don’t think I can stay here forever. I know my friends are waiting for me. A few steps away is a white door. I can feel a warmth coming from the door. My friends must be on the other side. I begin to move towards it, and with each step, I feel a strange sense of déjà vu. Like I’ve done this before...
The door opens with a creak. I peek through slowly.
***
“There you are, Ikari!”
Aubrey gets up from the coffee table the gang is sitting around, she moves towards me with a huge smile and grabs my hand, yanking me forward. My other hand slips off the door to White Space, and I get one last glimpse at the strange endless void before the door shuts, and vanishes completely, melting into the wall. A floral print wallpaper decorates the entire room we’re in. The plush green carpeting completes the room, making it really feel like a garden. Compared to the emptiness of White Space, this room is bursting with life.
Toys litter the floor around the coffee table, I have to be careful not to trip on anything as Aubrey drags me over to the table where Kel and Hero are seated. They both glance up from the card game they are playing with warm smiles. Everyone is wearing cozy looking Christmas sweaters. Hero’s has a big ‘H’ on the front, while Kel and Aubrey’s feature wilder designs, with zigzagging bands of red and green.
“Yo dude! Where have you been? We’ve been waiting allllll day for you!” Kel whines.
“Lay off, Kel!” Aubrey snaps as she sits down, “Ikari’s here now, that’s all that matters.”
“Glad you’re here, Ikari” Hero starts “we were just about done here and wondered what we might do next.”
The faint smell of chocolate chip cookies wafts by my nose, a warmth comes over me as my senses take in the sweet smell. It feels nostalgic. I must have made it quite obvious I was enraptured by the smell, because Hero was looking right at me with a smirk on his face.
“Ikari, I can see you’ve caught a whiff of the cookies I baked. They're on the counter over there. Mari’s recipe. I think I’m pretty close to being a baking master! Have one, and tell me what you think!” Hero motions to the nearby counter where the plate of freshly baked cookies is sitting.
I move over to the cookies and take one.
“Oh, while you’re over there,” Kel tilts his head way back to look at me, “grab me an Orange Joe out of the fridge, plea~~se.”
Opening the fridge next to the counter, I see that it is stocked to the brim with Orange Joes. I reach for one, and close the fridge.
Why does this room have a full kitchen in it ?
I take a seat at the coffee table, plopping down on a stack of pillows, and hand Kel his Orange Joe.
“Thaaaaaanks, dude!”
I smile awkwardly back at Kel.
I take a bite out of the cookie, it’s a little underdone, but I think I prefer a cookie that’s underdone rather than an extra crispy cookie. It’s chewy and the chocolate is still a little melted, it begins to ooze out just a bit.
“So, what d’ya think? Pretty good, right?” Hero asks.
I want to respond, but I took a bigger bite than I thought, so can only manage to nod my approval as I chomp away.
Aubrey stands up with a start, “Right, finish that cookie Ikari. Kel, chug that Orange Joe. We’ve got to get going.”
“Where... glug ... are we... glug ... going?” Kel asks somehow through massive swigs of his Orange Joe.
“Did you guys forget already? We’re meeting Mari and Sunny for a picnic.”
“That’s right!” Hero says, hitting his hand against his forehead, “how could I forget that!” He pauses only momentarily before an anxious look comes over his usually calm and collected face, “should I bring the cookies? I wonder if Mari will like them...”
“I dunno... Mari’s pretty particular about how those cookies are made... if you messed up at all, she’d never let you hear the end of it.” Aubrey laughs haughtily.
“...That’s true, she’d tease me about it pretty bad...”
Hero shakes his head and decides to leave the cookies behind.
Kel and Aubrey also look ready to go. I stand up from the table to join them, but have one more look back at where the door to White Space was. On the wall, mixed in with the wallpaper, it looks like there is an actual flower poking out. I move over to the wall, and sure enough, a single violet is growing out of the wall. I heard somewhere that keeping violets with you could ward off evil spirits... so I pluck the flower from the wall and place it in my front pocket. It’s just now that I realize in the other pocket of my overalls are a small pair of pruning shears.
Where did those come from?
“C’mon Ikari, let’s go!” The group calls me over and I decide to keep the shears with me for now as I trot over to the door leading outside. We step out together into a beautiful meadow with wildflowers growing everywhere. It’s bright out, like the sun should be shining down on us, but looking up the sky is somewhat purple and filled with stars.
This place is weird.
Gentle hills roll out in all directions from where we stand. The flowers in full bloom make the hills look like rainbows arching towards the horizon. Our fort with its green roof, which looks much more ramshackle on the outside than it is the inside, is the lone structure in the meadow. A guidepost stands just outside the fort, at a point where a number of paths seem to come together.
< West – Jupiter's Cavern
^ North – Thunder Valley
> East – Dark Forest
v South – Clover Park
Besides the park, none of these sound like particularly fun places to go. I feel a bit anxious.
“They said they’d meet us at the park.” Aubrey informs the group, much to my relief. Not that it would make much sense to have a picnic in a cave or some dark, creepy forest anyways. We amble along the path, Kel skips on ahead, keen to be the first to reach the park. Hero walks behind Aubrey and I, whistling to himself and staring off across the meadow. Aubrey links her arm with mine, it’s a little awkward, she’s tugging me along a little bit, making me walk a little off kilter, but she’s been like this since I can remember—dragging me here, there, and everywhere—and she’s the one who introduced me to Kel, Hero, Sunny, and Mari after all, so I’m really glad to have her as a friend.
Sunny... I hope he’s doing OK. Feels like a while since I’ve seen him...
We arrive at Clover Park in no time, a group of friendly looking monsters are playing happily on the jungle gym nearby. I don’t think I recognize any of them .
Scanning the rest of the park, Kel pops out from behind a tall oak tree, “OVER HERE!” He waves frantically at us, grinning from ear to ear.
As we walk over, I start to feel anxious. I wonder what Sunny will say... Aubrey must notice that I’m a little nervous, she gives me another tug, our arms still linked, “feels like forever since we’ve seen Sunny and Mari, I’m sure they’ll be excited to see you.” Her words fill me with a bit of confidence that everything is fine.
We approach the picnic blanket and Sunny and Mari both turn to greet us.
“Ikari! It’s about time you got here, Sunny has been nagging me all day, asking where you were.” Mari stands and squeezes me tightly. It hurts a little, but I would never say no to a hug from Mari, she squeezes because she cares.
“Hi, Sunny.” I say... awkwardly.
“Hi, Ikari.” He responds quietly, but with a smile, which is just like him.
Sunny is without doubt my best friend. Though he may be quieter than the rest, he’s really good at listening. I feel like sometimes I may go on a bit, because I’m pretty nervous most of the time, but he never whines or looks bored when we talk. When Kel and Aubrey get all fired up, sometimes it’s a bit much for me to take, so just hanging out quietly next to Sunny is really comforting. We share books, CDs, and video games. Sunny comes out of his shell a bit when we get to talk about those things. I’m glad he likes talking to me, because I really like talking to him.
I take a seat next to Sunny, as the rest of the gang plunks down on the picnic blanket.
“Got any Orange Joe, Mari?!” Kel asks.
“Kel, you just had an Orange Joe.” Aubrey snorts.
“Well yeah, but I didn’t get to finish the one back at the hideout...”
Mari reaches into the picnic basket and pulls out an Orange Joe and hands it to Kel. “Don’t tell your mother I gave this to you. You have too many of these and she’ll be cross.” Kel sheepishly takes the Orange Joe from her, condensation drips down the bottle.
The basket is filled with all kinds of delicious things that Mari has brought for us. Sandwiches, fruit, cookies, and even some candy are pulled out of the seemingly magical basket.
“Wow Mari, you thought of everything.” Hero smiles as he cozies up next to her.
“Hey, Ikari. I just started reading this new book. It’s all about stars.” Sunny cracks a slight smile as he turns to look at me, he seems excited.
“That sounds really cool!” I respond, “what have you learned so far?”
“The coolest thing I’ve learned is that when a star dies, it explodes into something called a supernova. Then, what’s left becomes this thing called a black hole that starts sucking in everything around it.”
“Whoaa~ ...sounds kinda scary! But also kinda cool!” This black hole thing sounds really scary! Sometimes Sunny thinks strange things are cool, but that’s ok, he’s still pretty great.
“...Maybe one night we could go look at the stars..." I say, turning to Sunny who is staring right at me. It makes me blush.
"..."
"...with the whole gang of course.”
“Yeah, that would be really fun.”
While I’m talking to Sunny, I notice that Mari is rummaging through the picnic basket. Kel is poking Hero’s arm repeatedly, trying to get his big brother to react, but Hero is just ignoring him. Aubrey is too involved with chomping into some watermelon to care. This is nice.
“Ikari, I found this the other day, don’t know how I ended up with it, but thought you’d probably be missing it...” Mari says as she pulls what looks like a book out of the picnic basket. As she hands it to me, I realize that it’s a photo album. My photo album.
“Oh! Let’s see! Let’s see!” Aubrey chimes in, placing her finished watermelon slice down onto a napkin. “I really love Ikari’s photos!”
That makes me blush a little. I’ve only had a camera for a few months, but it’s really fun to use. I try and take as many photos as possible, so that I don’t ever forget the good times I’m having. Come to think of it, now would be a perfect time for a photo... but... where is my camera?
We all crowd around the book, and slowly open the purple, faux-leather cover. The first page is... blank. That’s strange. There’s some writing on the page describing the photos that should be there. But... where did they go? I feel a sharp pain in my chest. I don’t like this feeling.
“Hmmmm... I could swear this book had Ikari’s photos in it...” Kel flips the page, “See, see! Here, right here, the writing says something about me drinking milk. I remember this. I look so goofy in that photo. So where’d it go?” He frowns and looks up at the rest of us. We’re all just as confused.
“Well this won’t do at all.” Mari says with a kinda serious look on her face. “I bet that they fell out while we were on one of our adventures.” She then brightens with a smile, “I’m sure if we look hard enough, we’ll be able to find them. They can’t have gotten far!”
I sure hope so... this doesn’t feel right...
“We just have to retrace our steps.” Hero says, standing up from the blanket, “Does anyone remember where we went on our last adventure?” He scans the rest of us seated on the blanket, staring at our puzzled faces.
“Well, most of our adventures usually start at Sunny and Mari’s place.” Kel offers to the group, a surprising observation from Kel who is usually pretty clueless when it comes to remembering stuff.
“Bingo.” Hero points some finger guns at Kel, “we’ll start there and see what we can find.”
I collect the empty photo album, holding it tightly as I start to feel a tear run down my cheek. It’s not like losing the photos means these fun times didn’t happen... Or does it? The idea that we might forget our memories because we lose that physical proof is... is... terrifying. I don’t want to forget my friends.
“It’ll be ok, Ikari. We’ll find the photos.” Aubrey leans in and puts her arm around my back, gently pulling me into her. Sunny puts a hand on my shoulder and smiles. Everything is going to be OK. Everything is going to be OK. The phrase repeats in my head, and I think I believe it. My friends are here, we’ll figure out what happened.
We pack up the picnic gear and make our way out of the park towards Sunny and Mari’s house. Thankfully my tears have dried up and I’m feeling better after the initial shock of losing the photos from my album. Sunny and Aubrey walk together chatting about what sounds like some kind of new chocolate bar they’ve tried... I can’t quite make it out, and I don’t want to eavesdrop... Just then Kel runs up behind me and gives me a smack on the back. It launches me forward, and I stumble to regain my footing, tightly clutching the album.
“Ah, sorry Ikari, I’m used to smacking Hero and he can usually take it. You alright?”
“Mmm” I nod back at him.
“Maaaan, such a bummer about your photos.” He starts, “but I just know we’ll track ‘em down. We’re pretty good at playing detective.” A wide grin grows across Kel’s face. His upbeat attitude really helps me feel better about this whole situation.
Sunny and Mari’s house peeks out from behind a row of trees, its gingerbread walls glittering with flecks of brown sugar, white frosting piped along the edges, and jelly beans dotting the roof. The windows are tinted green and red, with strings of lights draped around them. Alternating squares of dark and milk chocolate form a path leading to the front door, candy cane trees line the driveway, and the entire front yard is covered in powdered sugar. It looks like fresh snow!
Is it weird that Sunny lives in a gingerbread house? Sure, but everyone is used to it.
We all crowd the front door as Mari unlocks it and lets us all in. The house, unsurprisingly, smells like gingerbread, and it’s so intoxicating I almost want to nibble at the walls. Sunny’s house is always so cozy, the fire is always crackling, and you sink right into the sofas in the living room. They have so many cushions on them, I’ve fallen asleep on them too many times to count. We all sit around the big coffee table between the sofas and put together a plan to find the photos from the album.
“We should start by looking around the house.” Says Mari, “there’s got to be a clue here, maybe something that will remind us of where we’ve been recently. If we find something that could be our first big clue, bring it out here for everyone to see.”
And with that everyone starts looking around for any kind of hint. Kel starts flinging cushions around, one smacks Aubrey right in the face.
“Kel! You bozo!” Aubrey huffs.
Hero and Mari are checking out the kitchen and the dining room, and Sunny... Sunny’s already taken off.
Hmmm. Where did he go?
If he’s not here, then he must have gone upstairs. I head for the stairs, up to the second floor, and over towards Sunny’s room. The door is wide open, the light is on, so he’s probably in there.
I look in, but to my surprise, Sunny isn’t here. Just then I hear a creak from downstairs, it sounds like a door opening, but it was really loud, and I don’t remember Sunny and Mari having a door that made such an obvious creak.
I softly make my way back down the stairs, the loud creak has me a little on edge again, and as I reach the bottom of the stairs, I can see that the door to the hall closet is slightly ajar. I make my way over, and can see that the closet light is off, the sliver of darkness between the door and the frame makes my chest feel tight. I reach for the handle, and slowly open the door. I can’t see anything, it’s so dark, and my eyes haven’t adjusted, so I feel around for the light switch.
I know it’s here somewhere...
*click*
Sunny stands in the middle of the large walk-in closet, his back to me, looking down at an open trunk sitting on the floor.
“...Sunny?” I call out to him.
He doesn’t respond.
“...S-Sunny?” I try again, this time taking a few steps towards him.
Now I’m by his side, and can see that he is shaking.
“Ikari... it’s... it’s...” Sunny’s voice quivers as he looks straight down into the trunk, his eyes unblinking.
I look down, into the trunk, and see SoMeThInG.
It looks like Sunny’s vio------
***
It’s quiet here. The gentle hum of the lightbulb dangling above is the only noise here in this space. What is that lightbulb actually connected to ? I wondered to myself, looking up as far as I could. The cord just seems to extend upwards into infinity. Is there even a ceiling here in White Space? Trying to see where it goes makes me dizzy.