Chapter 3: [A Trip Down Memorylane]

Huh?

Where am I?

Why is it so dark?

What time is it?

I have to get up early or I'll be late for class. Didn't Risa and I plan to see the fireworks display tonight at the end of their village's festival?

Wait... Risa? Risa!

She waved at Risa when she saw her bestfriend approach her but Risa just went through Lee's body as if she were a mere hologram. It didn't even look like Risa saw her at all.

What?

Confused, she turned around to look for Risa but, when she did, she didn't see her. She didn't see anyone. She didn't see anything. All that there was was the darkness surrounding her like an everlasting blanket of a moonless and starless night sky.

Hello?

Can anybody hear me?

Risa?

Mom?

Dad?

A feeling of unease fell at the pit of her stomach. It was as if she had swallowed a whole ship's anchor that weighed more than she did. It was uncomfortable. It was weird. It was suffocating. It was scary. She felt panic take over her.

Anyone?!

Please!

She felt hopeless. She wanted to cry but no tears fell. She couldn't think of anything else but the pain she felt; the pain of being isolated from everyone she knew and loved. But in the space, there was no one. She was all alone. Falling in a state of despair, she curled herself up in a ball hugging herself tighter and tighter as if that action would ease the hollow, emptiness she felt at her core.

Then in the blackness, a pinpoint light opened under her. Startled, she straighten herself in an erected position. She wasn't standing though. She couldn't even if she wanted to. She couldn't feel the ground. It was like standing in the darkest part of a trench with nothing but water around her. The light grew bigger and bigger until it was big enough to swallow her. And it did. The light suddenly gave way beneath her, and the portal welcomed her to another space similar to the one she was on before. But there was something different. Instead of the endless darkness that was blank and suffocating, this space was bright white— warm and comfy.

She tried to look around and the feel of being suspended in the air was still there. It may well be due to the calming warmth but the space was making her sleepy. Her eyes closed slowly, already drifting into slumber, when she heard a giggle.

It was faint at first, no more than an echo from a dream, but as seconds passed, it got louder and louder. Annoyed, she opened her eyes slightly to take a peek at what disturbed her. What she saw made her eyes grow wide.

There was one rectangular 'thing' floating in front of her. It doesn't look solid but somewhat hazy. Like a dream. Then a face showed up! And then another!

Hello, my little angel~

Ahh~ My daughter is the most beautiful baby in the world!

The two people's faces were blurred but when they came closer, she saw the familiar faces of the two people she loved the most, but only their younger version.

Mom! Dad!

Is this thing showing me my early memories? Then this should be when I was a newborn baby. How amazing!

Then another rectangle appeared beside the first one. This one showed a wobbly view of her father. He was coming closer— no, wait! She was the one coming closer to her father!

This must be the time when I finally learned how to walk!

Then another rectangle popped above the second one and this showed the faces of her mother and father. Her mother was closer to her than her father. In fact, her father was behind her mother and not looking so good. He was green in the face.

Ah-ah. This won't do, darling. You have to learn how to do these kinds of things. What would happen if I'm not around and this happens, hm? And you call yourself a man!

You can't even properly change her diaper!

She felt her face grow hot. Ah! So embarrassing! If anyone from my school would see this...

She squirmed, dreading the thought.

How could I?! Her poop was all over the place!

Her father pouted.

Geez! When was the last time you changed her diaper?

Uh, maybe fou— three! Three hours ago...?

She could see how desperately her father tried to cover his slip-of-the-tongue but her mother already heard it. It was almost funny.

Argh... How ever did I foolishly fall in love with this moron.

He mother spoke dramatically. Her mother held up her poop-filled diaper up to her father's face and his face went greener! He looked like he was about to puke any time!

Then she heard a giggle and her parents looked at her direction and smiled at her.

Then another rectangle popped up. Then another. And another. And another. Soon, her whole view was filled with rectangles with moving images like how advertisement pop-ups covered her computer screen that one time.

All of the images looked familiar and gave her a nostalgic feel in her heart. That was when she finally realized what was going on. These images are parts of her memories! Her most cherished memories!

She looked at one and saw that it was the time when she had her first loose tooth removed by her mother using only a sewing thread. That was the only time that happened since there were no dentists around.

Another showed her the time when she fished with her father. That was the time when she almost caught a big fish but since she was so small the fish pulled her in instead of the other way around! Good thing her father dove in immediately after her or she would have drowned. She may have known how to swim but the shock made her panic instead.

A memory showed her the time when she first had a puppy. She really loved him but he passed away after being hit by a car which was shown in another rectangle.

There were all sorts of memories that flashed in front of her: happy memories, sad memories, memories that made her stomach grumble, memories that made her roll her eyes, made her cringe, giggle and laugh, cry. It felt as though she had a walkthrough of her life.

Then a large rectangle popped in front of her, almost covering the other small rectangles. And this one showed her her final moments. That was when she remembered it all: her "lucky" day, the walk, Risa's betrayal, her death.

The view she saw made her heart ache. Not because she hated Risa for what she had done to her but because she still couldn't understand why Risa would do that to her. She saw for the first time the pain in Risa's eyes.

Risa, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't realize this sooner. I should've been more considerate. You didn't want this to happen too, right?

She reached out to touch Risa but the screen blacked out the moment the rock slammed on the screen. On her face.

The rectangles then shuddered in static, blinked, then everything was plunged into darkness once again.

Scratch... Scratch...

Huh?

Scratch... Scratch...

Turning around, she saw a line moving around. The line created a circle. Then another circle was drawn inside. A star. A pentagram. Characters she didn't understand were being drawn onto the image.

Then another circle, like the first one, appeared. Then more and more created themselves. A warm glow emitted from those circles and she could feel the warmth embrace her.

Then, a masculine voice resounded out of nowhere and spoke to her.

"You poor, unfortunate soul. Your time has not come yet. As a token of apology for my carelessness and a reward for your goodness, I'll reward you with the ability to harness whatever elemental spirit accepts you. I will not interfere."

What? Who's there?

Lee asked but the voice didn't answer. Instead, a smaller-than-most circle appeared under her feet but it didn't hold out for long. A crack appeared. Then another. Soon, the circle was full of cracks and it gave way from under her; breaking the circle altogether.

"Oh ho?"

She screamed as she suddenly fell in great speed. She tumbled and turned then another circle formed below. But she only went through it, breaking it in the process.

"Humu."

Another circle came, and another, and another but she broke through all of them!

"Eh—Haaa!!???"

Lee could hear the voice cry in disbelief but she was more focused on her situation. She was falling, for goodness's sake! If she were to land, with this speed, she'd be reduced to cinders!

"What— What in the—"

Then a very big circle, bigger than the others she broke through, appeared way below her. And this one was different. If the others were only glowing in one color, this was shining in a multi-colored array! It looked so beautiful almost hypnotizing!

"W—wait! That's—"

The voice sounded urgent— almost panicked. Lee felt as though the voice is trying to stop her from going through the circle.

But this time, she didn't break through the circle. She almost did, as the circle did bend inwards but it bounced back, and, weirdly, her feet stuck to it like a gooey glue.

She tried to lift one foot but her other foot sank instead!

Suddenly, a hand appeared above her and the voice spoke again, in a strangely urgent manner.

"Hurry! Grab my hand! You can't go through there! That's—"

Unsure with what was happening, and clueless as f*ck, she reached out to the hand only to be sucked in completely by the colorful array of circles, stars, and foreign characters before she could even touch the hand.

"Ah..." the voice sighed in disbelief. This clearly wasn't what he had expected to happen.