seven :: seven gems

Hello, old friend. How are you? It's me, Zee Too. I'm fine. Hello. How are you. I'm fine. Hello. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. Hello. It's me, Zee Too. I'm fine. Hello, Zee Too. I'm fine. I'm fine.

I'M FINE!

I mean, I am hungry. And my petals hurt. And my feet hurt. And my eyes hurt. And my nose hurts. And my mouth hurts. And I'm hungry. But I'm fine.

Nothing's wrong. It's okay. I'm fine. I can't hear anything but my heart beating. And the hands screaming. And the blood exploding when I kill the Ghulibas. But I'm fine.

Hello, call me Zee Too.

At least I'm not wet. All the ponds are filled with mud. I get dirty in mud, not wet. At least it's not blood. I'm fine. I'm Zee Too. I'm fine.

I can't think very much or it hurts. But I'm fine. I'll explore. I'll find new eversion points. Maybe even a new layer. Gems have gotten scarce, but that's fine. I'm fine. I'll find the castle and rescue the princess. We'll be fine.

I can't die. But that means that I'm fine. Right? Right. If death is not the end of me, then it's not really death and I'm fine. I can throw myself into the pits with those plucking hands and die over and over and over and over and over and over and die and die and die and die and die and die and hello, call me Zee Too. I'm fine. How are you? I'm fine. I just died again. But I can't die. I'm fine.

It always hurts. Everything hurts. Everything has thorns or teeth but me. The Ghulibas chase right after me, and they move so very fast, grinning with all of their sharp wonderful teeth. But they bleed when I stomp them. Everything bleeds. I bleed too. But I don't die. I'm fine.

I wish eversion felt like it did before. It was so amazing at first. Now? Now it's like when I die. The pain ends, for a moment. Sometimes I even feel happy, especially when I evert here to the seventh layer. But stopping the pain is good enough for me. I should evert again soon. But don't worry, friend. I'm fine. I can stop as soon as I find the princess. I'm fine.

I'm fine... just, friend? Don't leave me again. Being alone is worse than being in pain. Because when I feel alone, it returns. The form of emptiness, the nothingness. It's bleeding as well. It consumes all so that I hear nothing, I see nothing, I smell nothing, I feel nothing, and for a brief time, I am nothing. But then I return, the emptiness is gone for a little while longer, and I'm fine again. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine.

I tried to read a goalpost monument, to remind myself that I was in the Flower Kingdom and I should be happy. It's hard to remember that right now. It's hard to remember anything when it hurts so much. But, I couldn't read the goalpost. Its messages were all scratched out, save for one thing: 'memory'. My memory is terrible again.

I am called Zee Too, and I am from the Flower Kingdom. Hello friend. How are you? I'm fine. I'm looking for Princess Nehema's castle. Do you know where it is? Why can't I die?

That... that question... that question! It's been haunting me, all along it seems like. Why can't I die? No matter what happens to me, I don't die and I'm fine again. Is it... is it finally time to learn the answer to that? Or the answer to any of these questions?

And the fact that I've finally come to that question can only mean... I'm running out of layers to explore. Good good, fine, I'm fine. When I find the end, it will all make sense. I know that, I feel it. I just need to continue a bit further... press on despite this pain... I'll be fine, we'll be fine. Right, friend?

Let's evert.