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Mari looks around at the sight of her friends and little brother sitting on the picnic basket. She sees Basil next to her as well, teal green hair and flower crown looking as cute as ever. She sees Hero and the others decide to go to the lighthouse at the pier, hoping to help Omori with his fear of water somehow. She once again waves to the group as they go off, the beginning of yet another adventure.
As soon as they’re out of sight, Mari steps out of the body she borrowed, the dream version of her going slightly limp before she vanished, off to whatever other picnic basket Omori and the gang will see next. She sighs heavily. How long has it been, now? Three, maybe four years?
She floats off, the kids in the playground ignoring her completely, as she starts wandering once again. No matter how many times things reset, they remain the same. Oh sure, enemies and locations change, but nothing actually meaningful is different.
She eventually finds herself at a foggy bridge, setting herself down on one of the planks, slightly dipping her toes into the water. It’s gonna happen again. She can feel it in her bones. It’s almost like clockwork. Soon, this place is gonna rumble, and then all of a sudden, that white room will overtake everything. She never stays for long after that. She doesn’t like seeing her brother stab himself.
Almost on cue, she can feel the rumbling beneath her hands. Sunny almost remembers the truth again. And Sunny’s gonna hide from it again.
Mari closes her eyes and exits Sunny’s dream.
- - - - - - -
Omori! I’m so glad you’re okay!” She rushes up to hug him, feeling the fake warmth of her brother’s dream form. Omori takes a second to hug her back. A wave of guilt washes over her once more. She knows this isn’t really Sunny, just something that he’s hiding himself inside. But even then, it’s…the only time she’s ever gonna get.
She squeezes him tightly for a second before letting him go. She recited something about looking for Basil once again, and off the group went. She looks forlornly at the group, especially Hero. She sighs before unpossessing her dream self. She used to enjoy being with Hero too in this world, but as she felt the years go on, she felt herself feeling older and he just…wasn’t. It was getting weird.
She starts at her dream self with contempt and jealousy before she floats off again. Where is she gonna go this time? Maybe she’ll hang around the Lost Library again, lose herself in Sunny’s memories. The ones with him and Aubrey are always cute.
- - - - - - - -
your fault……your fault…….your fault……
Ugh, she remembers why she doesn’t go around floating in the sky like she used to. Sometimes these inky black voids pop up out of nowhere and say things. Things that are probably meant for Sunny. But…
your fault…..your fault…..your fault…..
She shivers as she tries to speed along, deciding to touch down at a random part of the forest instead of heading right for the library. Anything to get away. As she touches down, though, she is enveloped in fog, making it difficult to see where she is going. She squints her eyes and moves her arm around, trying to find something to hold onto. Eventually she manages to find something, it feels vaguely like wood. Probably a tree. She places both hands on it, feeling around and looking at it, it seeming to disappear into the fog even when right next to it, completely dark.
Actually, now she thinks on it, this tree is rather…slim.
She looks up and instead of finding more tree, she instead finds a face. Or rather, a shadow of a face. She then sees rather long arms come from seemingly nowhere and light a nearby lantern, that she now sees is on his hip. To her surprise, it speaks.
“You are not from here, child. What brings you to the lost woods?”
“I was…trying to get away from dark stuff. Kinda like you.” At this, Mari lets go of his leg as he lets out a low, whispery chuckle.
“There are many things like me, child. Sometimes that includes myself.”
“Rrrrright. Do you…happen to know how to get out without flying out?”
“I do. But first, if you wish, I would tell you a story.” He indicates with his lantern. “My campfire is nearby. It will not take long I assure you.”
Mari hesitates for a second, then nods. She’s perfectly capable of defending herself, especially here. And it’s not like she has anything better to do. She follows the tall shadow man into the clearing, the fog not quite as thick here as she spots a still lit campfire with some logs nearby. The tall man sits himself on one, then indicates towards the other, which Mari sits down on. “So, you have a story, huh? What kind of story?”
The man’s limbs creak as he places his lantern down, the sound of leaves rustling when he brings his dark fingers together. “It is a story of fear, and of tragedy.”
Oh lord. Mari figures she can see where this is going, but still waits for him to start.
”Once, there were two siblings. One somewhat older than the other. Alike in dignity. Alike in hopes. But not in talent.” At this, Mari felt herself tense up, suddenly feeling as though she wants to hang onto every word. “The younger would watch as the older would amaze and astound. The younger thought they would be jealous, but truthfully, they weren’t. Their sibling truly was great, and deserved the attention. The younger was content to be in the background, to be simple and plain. However.” The shadow mans’ pitch got lower. “Soon, that attention turned into work, more and more, until the younger realized too late that the older was not spending as much time with them. The younger became lonely. Though their friends were still there for them, both of them, it pained the younger to be alone while in their own house.” The man took a deep breath before he spoke again. “Though the younger had acquired a great number of fears, one that they had no way to escape from was their fear of being alone.”
Mari was catching herself not breathing while the man kept speaking. “Fear makes us do many kinds of things. Some that we regret. A fear borne out of love is not so easily dismissed. And so, the younger began to work as well. Work as hard as the older. Try to earn their attention back, by being alongside them. All they had to do was apply themselves, and there was every possibility they would enjoy it.” The tension is as thick as the fog when the man stops speaking. Mari surprised herself by being the one to speak again first. “But…he didn’t.”
The man shakes his head. “It seems you are familiar with this story.”
Mari looks up at the man, slight tears in her eyes. “Why…..?”
”As I said…you are not from here. I can only guess as to what you are. But I am very good at guessing.”
Mari shakes her head roughly. “That doesn’t answer my question!”
The man is silent for a moment as his body creaks, getting up from his log and picking up his lantern. “You and he are the same.” Mari’s frustration turns to confusion as he starts walking towards the campfire. “You are simply waiting for something to happen.”
The campfire turns blue as the man goes into it, Mari too stunned to stop him as the flames lick at him. He starts crumbling in front of her, turning to wood and soot and covering the whole campfire with it. His lantern falls, breaking with a loud shattering sound. The fire soon goes out, leaving Mari alone, with her thoughts. She slumps over, looking down at the ground for a long time.
What has she been doing? All this time, she’s been here with Sunny, but she hasn’t been there for Sunny. She’s just been using his dream the same way that he has; an escape from reality. She tightens her fist, slamming it into the ground with a loud yell. It hurts a lot, her arm shaking as she brings it back up. Her breathing gets erratic for a moment, before she manages to calm herself.
………
No more. She’s done waiting. She’s going to make something happen, someway, somehow.
She doesn’t know how long it will take. But she’ll do it for as long as she needs to.