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Ess laid awake.
It was early in the morning, or at least as ‘early in the morning’ you could get while among the stars. They were back in the Constellation Zone. The worlds had been split back apart after the whole ordeal with Squares and their memories had been once again erased due to the boundaries between their worlds, which meant that no one would remember her sappy goodbye to Amitie.
Ess sighed. She did tell the truth to her, though: she honestly didn’t want to split apart again. Not just because something about the cheerful girl had captured her heart, of course; just that she’d miss all the people they’d met in the Puyo world. So many wacky people, and honestly they did bug some amount of heck out of her. But, they were something new and exciting in her life.
Now she was back to the same five knuckleheads she’d been calling her crewmates for most of her life, as well as her beloved Papa, Zed. Well, maybe O didn’t count as a knucklehead. Only Tee really understood him, but he was pretty nice. She thought. Maybe. She debated O’s knucklehead status to herself for a bit, ultimately placing him in ‘knucklehead’. He was basically an extension of Tee, and Tee was a knucklehead, so O probably counted by proxy.
In any case, she’d miss that zany cast. Especially that adorable red-hatted Amitie. Too bad their memories of their time together were all erased…
Wait a minute.
She sat up in her bed, eyes wide open.
Their memories hadn’t been erased at all!
She stood up and began to pace. Had it just not happened yet? No, they were completely in the Constellation Zone. Assumedly, their memories would have been erased when the worlds were separated, right? Opening the door with almost too much force, she decided to take a walk around the ship.
She began aimlessly wandering at speed-walk pace. If her memories hadn’t been erased, did that mean the rest of the crew also kept their memories? Did they remember her being all sappy?! Oh Tetrimidion, save her from such an idea! Hopefully she was the only one.
She stumbled over an elaborate prank of the twins’. Would it actually be better if she was the only one, though? She’d sound like a lunatic! Ignoring the crash behind her from the results of whatever Rube Goldberg machine she’d inadvertently set off, she made her way to the kitchen. A glass of water would be nice to sip on while she mused over which outcome she dreaded more.
As she poured her glass and sat at the table, she looked out into the void of space. She caught herself looking to see if she could make out any of the dots as the Puyo world. She wondered if Amitie was staring up into the sky, looking for her as well. She imagined the girl smiling ever-so-cheerfully as she strained her eyes to see any sort of dot zipping past out in the deepest reaches of her sky.
A pang of loneliness shot through her. She really did want to see Amitie again. She wanted to go on picnics, and gossip, and laugh, and even battle with her. She wanted to see that dorky smile, and feel their hands entwined, and gaze up at the stars together. She wanted to study all the star charts of the Puyo world, and pinpoint exactly whereabouts Amitie should gaze wistfully when she was out patrolling the Constellation Zone. She wanted to hear that sweet giggle of hers as she’d reassure Ess that they’d always see each other again soon. She wanted so desperately for that to be true. These thoughts swirled around her mind. She wanted and wanted and wanted. Amitie, Amitie, Amitie.
She cried softly to sleep, there in the kitchen amidst the eternal night of space.
“Ess, wake up!”
She was rustled awake by her idiot captain. Ouch, her back was not happy about her choice of sleeping posture. Her water was completely room-temperature by now, too. “Ugh…”
“Are you okay?” Tee looked concerned. Ordinarily she’d snap at him, but she instead gazed out the window.
“Yeah, I’m, uh…” Ess let out a breath from the side of her mouth. “Hey, do you remember the Puyo world too?”
“I do.” Tee stood there for a second, before his stupid stoic face gave way into confusion. “Wait, I do? Shouldn’t…”
“So it’s not just me. That’s… honestly more reassuring than I thought it’d be.” Ess chuckled. “Anyways, I’m okay, I guess. Don’t worry about it.”
“‘I guess?’ Are you sure?” Tee looked concerned again.
“Yes, I’m sure, Captain Worrywart. We should go ask Suspenders about our memories. Hate to admit it, but that geezer’s gotta know something about this.” Ess stood up and stretched.
“You’re right, Ex likely does know something. Let’s go, then!” The captain left the kitchen, his first mate not far behind.
As they walked, Ess plotted. After they met with that useless old man, she’d try and get him to send a letter through the edges of spacetime. She hadn’t really had anywhere to send letters before, but she did have a bunch of stationery tucked away, so it’d be a communication medium she could keep up for a while. Hopefully Amitie would write back…
Before any thought remotely approaching ‘why do I have a bunch of stationery lying around in the first place’ crossed her mind, they were on the bridge of the Tetra. O was here, Ess noted with mild bemusement. He must have been minding the controls while Tee came to check up on her. Maybe the yellow orb wasn’t a knucklehead after all…?
Tee turned on the intercom. “Attention crew. Please make your way to the bridge. We’ve got something to discuss urgently.”
After a little while, Ai poked his head in first. Satisfied that the twins weren’t around to immediately prank him, he strode in and stood by O. “Good morning, Captain and Ess.”
“‘Morning, Ai.” Ordinarily, Ess would snip at him for not calling her ‘First Mate’ or something, if he was going to call Tee ‘Captain’, but the circumstances felt too much like they’d require at least a little coordination between them all.
Speaking of, the twins came in next. They’d been racing each other, it seems, because Elle triumphantly cheered as she entered. Jay looked a little sulky, but he quickly cheered up as he noticed their favorite target. “Oh, hey.”
Elle had the same idea, judging by the mischievous glint in her eyes. “Oh, hi there!”
“Don’t get any ideas.” Ess shot them a little glare. “This is important.”
The twins dramatically huffed, but took their places all the same.
Finally, her beloved Papa entered the room. “Apologies for my tardiness. There was a mess in the hallway I had to clean up.”
Ess dimly remembered something going on behind her on her trek to the kitchen. Whoops. She was still happy to see her Papa! “No worries, Papa! Now that you’re here, we’re ready to start this meeting!”
As Zed took his place. Tee began talking. “So. We all remember the Puyo world, right?”
Ess nodded as she watched her fellow crew members.
“Yes, I do recall that world.” Ai nodded, before shock took him over. “…Which is troubling. I thought…”
Papa nodded as well. “Strangely, I do indeed have memories of that world in my database.”
Jay looked troubled. “I remember it too!”
Elle mirrored her brother’s expression. “I also remember it!”
They held hands, and began speaking in unison. “But when we looked, we didn’t find it!”
“You looked?” Ess was honestly a bit surprised. She guessed that even they missed the Puyo world, in their own way.
“Yeah! We looked really hard!” Elle affirmed.
“Yep! We looked super hard!” Jay nodded.
“I see.” Tee looked lost in thought. “O?”
“Pi-pi! Pi-pi-pi-pi!” O looked like he was agreeing.
“So you remember, too.” Tee looked lost for a moment, but then sharpened back up. “Alright. So, the worlds are separate again, but we all still remember them. In that case, I’d like to follow a suggestion from Ess and ask Ex what he knows. I think you all should be present, in case it’s another incident.”
Everyone nodded, and as Tee and O began the process of actually contacting the far-out Keeper, the rest of the crew almost converged on Ess.
“You suggested asking Ex?” Ai looked like he contained a normal amount of surprise. “I thought your opinion of him was less than favorable.”
“Well, he’s the only one who would know, y’know? I’m not so stubborn I’d toss out our only lead.” Ess huffed.
“Ess, you are still in your pajamas. Did you sleep well last night?” Papa’s kind eyes looked over her with worry.
“I’m okay, Papa, don’t worry! I just needed to get some water, and fell asleep at the kitchen table, eheh. Tee dragged me here as soon as he woke me up.” She decided to gloss over the part where she cried over the thought of missing Amitie.
However, nothing seemed to get past the twins. Their eyes seemed fixed on her face, and their hands were clasped tight.
“You were crying.” Jay looked forlorn.
“You were sad.” Elle looked almost heartbroken.
“If you need cheering up, just say the word, okay?” Jay held out his free hand.
“We’ll put on a show for you, so just tell us when you feel sad, alright?” Elle held out her free hand.
“You guys… Thanks.” Ess took their hands and felt her eyes water slightly, before she remembered just who she was dealing with. “But only as long as your show doesn’t involve pranking anyone! That wouldn’t cheer me up at all.”
“Aww… fine.”
“Aww… okay.” They both grinned.
Ess smiled. She was really lucky to have these knuckleheads for a crew, huh?
Almost as if intentionally trying to spoil the mood, Tee called over to them. “I’ve contacted Ex. He should be over any minute now.”
“Oh. Yeah, right.” Ess sighed, and they all got back into position. Remember the plan, she thought!
The bridge door opened, and Ex walked in. “Hey, everyone.”
“Ex! Thank you for coming!” Tee sucked up to him, of course he did. Ess, however, stomped over to him.
“So what’s the big idea? I thought our memories were gonna get erased?”
He gave her a strange look, one completely unfit for getting yelled at. But, before she could call him on it, he chuckled. “Relax. Marle and Squares saw how sad you guys were at the thought of forgetting each other, and they figured out how to separate the worlds without erasing your memories.”
Ess pouted. “And they didn’t have the nerve to tell us that was gonna happen?”
“Hey, cut them some slack.” Ex chuckled again, more nervously. Good, she was getting to him. “They just didn’t have time to tell you. Separating worlds is hard work!”
“I suppose you would know about that.” Ess nodded. She hated to admit it, but the old man’s logic was sound. “So, you can still go through dimensions and stuff, ‘cause you’re the Keeper or whatever, right?”
“Y-yes. Why?” Finally, it was time to spring it on him. Full power! No mercy!
“I wanna send letters to someone over there. You’re gonna deliver them.” She jabbed a finger into his chest for good measure.
“Ess!” Tee looked panicked, but Ex just nodded.
“Sure! Anything for you, Ess.” What? His tone was strange. And that’s in no way the proper response to her demand. Even she knew she was being selfish and rude! That was the point!
“Wh-what? Just like that? Why?” She sputtered, trying to find her verbal footing.
“Well, because I’m y—“ Wait. On second thought, she didn’t care. He was just weird in general. Probably because of the whole ‘Keeper of Dimensions’ thing. Why’d she expect anything different from him?
“Nevermind. I’m gonna go write my letter now! I’ll be back in a bit!” Skipping past him, she left Tee and the rest to deal with Suspenders McPantsGuy.
“Hmmm…” Now that she was actually sitting down to write it, she felt at a loss as to what to say to Amitie. Now that she knew their memories weren’t wiped, she couldn’t possibly bear being vulnerable, could she? Well, on the other hand, it WAS a letter. Probably, no one but Amitie would read it. Hopefully. But back to the original hand, the only reason she was that sappy was that she thought no one would remember it.
Dear Amitie, she started. That was good. The default address for the top of a letter. Nothing too personal. They were just friends, anyway. A couple of gal pen pals.
But, what did she want to actually tell her? The pang of wanting pulsed through her again before she quashed it down. No! No yearning in this letter! This is just to establish formal communication with a friend. Absolutely nothing yearning about it. At all.
I hope you’ve been well. Apparently, Marle and Squares figured out how to keep our memories intact, so we can remember each other even though our worlds are separate. Be polite and update her on the situation. Communicate as expected of a starship’s first mate.
I was surprised, I totally expected that everyone would forget what I said at the end there. It’s kind of embarrassing, you know? She could veer from professionalism a little, though. Amitie isn’t a sophisticated girl.
Anyways, I figure if we’re not gonna be able to meet each other in person, we could write letters back and forth instead. I’d send a picture or something, but truth be told I’m writing this kind of fast so I can have Mr. Keeper of Big Pants (Ex, I guess) take it to your world and hopefully to you. So no pictures this time! I hope you’ll be able to forgive the lack of my adorable face just this once. Pictures… There were printers aboard the Tetra, of course. Cameras as well. The thought of sending a picture to Amitie felt nice. She also wanted to receive pictures, as well, so it made sense to mention it now.
It’s a strange situation, but let’s make the most of it! Hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely, Ess
First Mate, S.S. Tetra
Putting her title on her signature felt a little too stuffy, but… it also felt fun! It reminded her of when they went into space and had a “ladylike” battle, fake posh accents and all. She reminisced for a few moments before snapping out of it. Folding the paper neatly, she slid it into an envelope and pressed a S-Tetrimino sticker onto the flap to seal it. On the front, she wrote;
To: Amitie
From: Ess
A simple address, which is all it had to be considering Ex was doing the dirty work for her. She didn’t recall Primp having a postal system, anyways, although it was entirely possible she didn’t notice it in all the commotion.
Satisfied with her handiwork, she got up from her desk and skipped back to the bridge, letter in hand.
When she got back to the bridge, she found her Papa and Ex having an intense Tetris battle. The Keeper of Dumb Suspenders seemed to be winning, sadly, but Zed valiantly fought back. Eventually, though, her Papa was defeated.
“What’s this about?” She walked over to Ex, holding out the letter.
“J-just blowing off steam, really.” The old man took the letter and scanned the front of the envelope with a suspicious amount of studiousness. “Amitie, huh?”
“What’s it to you?” This guy really knew how to get on her nerves, she thought.
“Nothing, it’s fine. Just thought it was interesting.” He pocketed the letter gently. “Anyways, is that everything?”
Ter looked around at everyone, and not seeing any responses to the contrary, nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Ex.”
“No problem. See you around, then!” And with that, he disappeared.
“He better deliver that fast.” Ess sort of pouted towards the space he occupied. “He’s such a weirdo.”
“Right.” Tee coughed. “Anyways, the meeting’s dismissed. Now that we know what’s going on, it should just be business as usual.”
With that, Ess went back to her room. She couldn’t wait to hear back from Amitie!
It only took a few days for Ex to return to the Tetra. Ess almost didn’t notice him at first, because she was busy trying to once again rescue Ai from Jay and Elle’s torment.
“Deluxe Spa Package!” Her mighty attack sent a giant amount of garbage to the twins’ board, and they were simply a little too late to make any meaningful reaction.
“Noooo!” They cried out in stereo. Swearing revenge, they skittered off from the playroom to who-knows-where. Sighing, she started to make sure Ai was relatively okay when she heard clapping from behind her. Whirling around, she finally noticed the suspenders inexplicably flowing in the non-existent breeze.
“Oh, it’s just you.” He better have come here because Amitie replied, she thought.
“‘Just’ me?” He looked slightly taken aback, before recomposing himself. “Nevermind. I’m here because I’ve got a package for you.” To corroborate his statement, he revealed a wrapped box.
“Really?!” Momentarily abandoning the Chief Engineer, she raced over and snatched the box from his hands… only to discover its surprising heft. “Woah!”
Ex swiftly helped her place it on a nearby table. “I was surprised, too. I wonder what’s in here.”
Ess sighed. “Not like I’m gonna tell you.” She looked back to Ai. He was still shaking. Right. She made her way back over. “Hey, are you gonna be alright?”
The dog engineer looked between Ess and Ex, before taking a deep breath. Immediately, his ruffled fur flattened back down. “Apologies, Ess, for losing my composure. Please, don’t let me stop you from reading Amitie’s message.” He got up off the floor, which afforded him a better look at the box. His eyes bugged out a little. “If that’s filled with just her letter, you’ll need all the time you can get to read it.”
“Don’t sweat it!” Ess immediately returned to the box. Now prepared for its weight, she had a much easier time lifting it. “I doubt it’s all her, though. She doesn’t seem like the type who can sit long enough to write all that. Anyways, see you guys later!” With that, she took off towards her room.
Her response was finally here! Setting the package down on her desk, Ess swiftly tore the wrapping off. The box was further secured with tape. The wrapping paper had been just slightly loose over the whole thing, which disguised the fact that this box looked fit to bursting. No wonder it was so heavy! Peeling away the tape, the top flaps of the box were pushed slightly apart as the contents were freed from the pressure of the rigid cardboard.
Finally opening the flaps, Ess revealed the contents to be… a large number of envelopes. On top, a pastel-red envelope emblazoned with TO: ESS and FROM: AMITIE . Gingerly removing it from the stack, she flipped it over to see a red Puyo sticker sealing it shut. Carefully unsticking it, so as not to ruin the cute sticker, Ess removed the letter and began to read.
Dear Ess,
I’m so happy you sent me a letter!!!! I wasn’t sure what was going on when I still remembered the really sweet things you said when we had to say goodbye. I’m glad Marle and Squares figured out a way for this to happen!
I would have written back right away, but when everyone here in Primp heard I’d gotten a letter from you, they also wanted to write to you guys! It started spiraling out from there, and it was almost a huge mess, but in the end we managed to get a letter from everyone in Primp and Suzuran, as well as all of Arle’s friends! So that’s why the box is super full! Unless it exploded while Ex was carrying it back to you, in which case that’s why there’s so many letters.
We also managed to get almost everyone to include a picture in their letters! I got really good at taking everyone’s pictures with Mrs. Accord’s camera. I got a lot of practice with Raffina, because she made me retake hers over and over until I got it perfect or something.
I still miss you so much! I know I’ve already said this, but there’s so much I wanted to do with you still! Like, the other day, I was poking around in a clothes shop, and I thought “Man, Ess would look so cute in these outfits!” Then I thought about how far away you are, and then I had to leave before I started crying all over the clothes… How embarrassing! Anyways, I’m gonna see if I can save up to buy you a cute outfit! If Ex can deliver this box, he could totally deliver clothes, right? If I do manage to do it, promise you’ll send me a bunch of pictures of you wearing it!
In the meantime, I’m asking Klug to help me study hard. I want to see you again super bad, so I want to try and use magic to get to you! I know popping Puyo can send you to different worlds (fun fact: that’s how Arle ended up in my world!) but it always seems random when it happens or where you’ll end up. Slowly but surely, we’re gonna figure out how to aim it!
No matter how long it takes, I’m gonna see you again for sure!! And when I get there, you’d better be prepared for the biggest hug of your life!!!!
Until next time!
Love,
Amitie
Tucked behind the last page of the letter was a picture of Amitie, clearly self-taken, flashing a big grin and a peace sign to the camera. Ess’s heart felt healed by the sight of her adorable face. Her sunny pen pal’s relentless optimism shone through every word in her letter, and Ess could feel her heart melting from its heat.
In that moment, she knew she would definitely see her beloved Amitie again.