Chapter Text
The boy wakes up.
He opened his eyes to the blinding light of an unfamiliar ceiling, unsure of where he was. It felt like his body could snap with too much force like a twig. His body has always been weak for the past 4 years, but not to this degree. It was the most frail he physically had been in his entire life.
Yet he didn't care, not at the moment. Why should he?
There was something that hurt far more. One that entirely overtook the physical pain he was in.
Something that he hadn't felt in so long. It felt so foreign, yet so familiar.
It was something he used to welcome, but has rejected for the past years. Not anymore, though. Not this time. And then,
...
‘I'm so sorry Mari. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.’
He repeated those words in his mind while crying out loud, for the first time in years. Apologizing again and again. The grief from her death, it was all coming back at this very moment. It was saddening, it hurt like nothing else, but... it was necessary.
He wasn't gonna force it to the back of his mind again this time. He let it all out.
‘I just wish you were here right now.’
.
.
.
Sunny stared into the ceiling. The ceiling light was slowly burning into his eyes, only interrupted by the occasional blink.
He remembered everything now.
His expression was almost not one at all, as if he was completely paralyzed. Perhaps he is. The shock he felt was comparable to that of when she died
It was silent, deafeningly. He was almost completely peaceful, nothing like when he was in WHITE SPACE. There was a clear difference.
WHITE SPACE filled his mind with a forced silence, shutting down any and all thoughts that goes too far.
But right now, what he felt was something like... natural silence. Maybe it was from the whiplash of what had just happened, but it was clear that this was something none of his dreams could emulate.
...
Eventually, he decided to move. His expression shifted.
‘I need to tell them.’
He attempts to stand up from his bed. It hurt, but he was insistent on what he thinks he should definitely do. But it wasn't a fiery resolve, it was a goal he had silently set up. The silence was still overwhelmingly deafening.
Yet again, fear attempted to creep up, but–
‘No. I have to.’
His mind was so foggy, yet so clear on one goal. Never had he attained resolve of this level in his life, nor will most people ever have.
He turns his head around to look for the exit, paying little attention to the get-well gifts the people in Faraway Town gifted him, except for one. There was a couple of lillies of the valley on the desk beside his hospital bed.
From Kel and Hero's family, and Aubrey,
‘Sending a little get-well sunshine your way. We miss you, Sunny.’
...
‘Please say that to me after this.’
Sunny walked towards the exit of the room steadily. His expression faltered for a moment when he read that note, becoming mixed, but it wasn't enough to put out his silent resolve.
The mirror looks at him, and he looks back, briefly.
‘Everything's gonna be okay,’ he assured himself.
And then, he opened the door. Exiting the room.
His fears were gone. Like a machine, he walked down the hallway with one goal in mind.
The hallway was completely empty. At least, that's what his vision told him. It was still slightly impaired.
Continuing down the hallway, his eyes widened. He then squinted his eyes. At the junction of the hallways in front of him, his... friends? No, they're the dream versions.
It seems like even after all of that, after letting go of his past, he continues to get hallucinations. He was worried if they would still appear even after years or decades, but that didn't stop his resolution.
Oddly enough, their voices were silenced, like he was completely deaf, but he could still instictively tell what they were saying.
They noticed him.
...
It seems like they wanted Sunny to follow them for some sort of occasion. Kel ran to the left hallway in front of sunny first, and then Aubrey chased after Kel. Hero followed them shortly after.
But before Hero left, he looked at Sunny one last time with a strange look.
Sunny couldn't put into words what he was saying, but he instictively felt what he said. And then, Hero left off.
...
He faltered yet again, but,
‘Get away from me.’ His expression turned slightly stern.
Then suddenly, a shadow of Basil appeared in the right hallway. Stranger. He didn't look back. He didn't look comforting. All he did was simply walk down the path. It only took that for Sunny to get his message.
He continued down the right hallway of the junction.
To his left, was Basil. Not a shadow, not his dream version, but a version identical to the true one he knew. He was standing in front of the room to Sunny's left, facing towards it.
He was completely clear from the fog of his mind.
This Basil, and Sunny's goal, they were one and the same.
He vanished.
...
Sunny walked towards the room. He stood in front of the door.
One last boundary. One last step.
His hand gripped the handle.
His fears crept up again.
And then, Sunny opened the door. A strange blinding light had completely dissipated his fears.
.
.
.
‘Aubrey, Hero, Kel.’
Stoic and firm.
Resolute.
.
.
.
“I have to tell you something.”
* * *
The boy's mouth moved on its own. Almost completely free from its owner.
He couldn't stop himself anymore.
Words that had been waiting to be spoken for the past 4 years were all let out.
SOMETHING couldn't distract him anymore.
Omori couldn't stand in his way.
Not even Mari could stop the words that were coming out.
Yet a part of him was... something that can only be described as truly relaxed, or enlightened.
...
Oddly enough he couldn't remember what he said a sentence ago... Now that he thought about it, he was feeling a little light-headed.
‘Does it matter?’ It didn't. The truth was more important than his health.
Aubrey was utterly shocked. Completely stunned. He wasn't sure if it would turn into pure rage but... Sunny continued to hope. He continued to speak. Maybe she'd understand. Maybe she could repay him for understanding her all this time.
Kel was dark. He looked gloomy. The most he had been in his life, at least from what Sunny had seen from him. Perhaps he would still be so bright after this, but he wasn't sure. Yet... he continued to hope. Words kept pouring out like a dam. He hopes that Kel could still be Kel after this.
Hero was... petrified. Shocked. Terrified, even. Sunny never saw an expression like this from him, but he knew he would be like this. The voice of reason... Sunny hoped firmly that he could still have that title. His words started becoming less comprehensible. Hopefully Hero could still be the Hero he looked up to.
No more was the Sunny that hesitated to speak. He had to do this, for himself, and for them.
He was completely resolute.
.
.
.
His balance was off. The light-headedness was really taking its toll on him.
For some reason the floor was coming closer to his face. And then suddenly, he felt a pair of arms holding him.
‘...Oh,’ it clicked.
His hearing was completely muffled, his eyes were blank, and his other senses were failing him.
His body fell towards the light, away from the darkness that was consuming him. Slowly, his eyes shut.
Through the heavy fog in his mind, he had one thought.
.
.
.
.
.
‘Good night everyone. Please... forgive me.’