CHAPTER 8: FALLING
The following week was filled with a myriad of experiments within Kyoko's mind. Once they were back to their normal schedule, Kyoko was happy to have a set of helping hands where her own could not quite reach. As such, they went through a series of trials and gathered what data they could on the flickering wall phenomenon.
On the first day, she was finally able to get an accurately measured time span on how long the wall would disappear after she applied the memories to the door. Ren sat in their usual meeting room and consulted the clock on the wall while she spoke out loud to him about when the wall phased out and back in. They did it several times and got an average of about three-and-a-half seconds with a delay of one second after the application of the memories.
With one more detail nailed down, they moved on to attempting to pass objects through the wall when it disappeared. They were both surprised and elated to find that it was, in fact, possible. Starting with just a few stones, like Kyoko had the week before, they managed to get the timing right to throw them through the wall. They progressively tried to move larger objects through—though the juggling clown in her mind was somewhat perturbed at having to sacrifice one of his clubs—and found success with each one. By the time Kyoko resorted to pitching her own shoes through the wall, Ren had to stop and ask why she was testing this particular aspect so thoroughly.
"Because," she said, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other. "I couldn't find anything in the library that said whether or not it was possible for someone to get stuck in their own mind… or someone else's."
He made a sound of acknowledgement and nodded slowly. It suddenly made sense why she would constantly frown while they were running their experiments. She was battling with assessing the risk of who would be best to go through. And she was stalling for time so that she could postpone that decision for as long as possible. Ren was fairly certain what her decision should be, but he was not necessarily enthused about it.
"The answer to your problem is fairly obvious, is it not?" he asked cautiously.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded once, "I should be the one to go, shouldn't I?"
To Kyoko, she knew that the possibility of her getting somehow stuck in her own mind was less of an issue for all involved; her abilities never fully manifested and she would not be incapacitating the strongest telepath in the Academy. However, Ren considered that she was the better candidate as that still gave him the chance to try to help free her should anything go wrong. They both came to the right conclusion, albeit by very different paths.
"You know what this means, don't you?" she asked.
The look on his face said otherwise as he stood there.
"You'll have to push me through," she explained. "So that I clear the wall before it phases back in and traps me in it."
"Ah," he said at last, looking somewhat bewildered. "Then pressure is on us both."
Kyoko let out a small giggle and smiled up at the man before picking up one of the cupped leaves full of liquid from her memory archives that they prepared in advance. She held it out to him with a look that encouraged him to take it from her. He plucked it gingerly from her hands, watching the tiny, opalescent puddle contained within as it swirled and morphed and rested it in his palm. Standing alongside the door, she waited nervously for him to pour out the liquid.
Once the liquid was gone, Ren immediately side-stepped to stand in front of Kyoko and placed his hands on her shoulders. It was a comforting thought, at least, that her corporeal self would not be physically hurt by being pushed. Nonetheless, it felt horribly impolite. At the first sign of the wall beginning to flicker, his hands clenched and he leaned forward with a half step to push her as hard as he could through the wall.
In hindsight, they probably should have cleared the small pile of stones they had gathered near the wall from their earlier experiments. Unfortunately, neither of them had the forethought to consider that it would be a problem later on. But, a problem it suddenly became as Ren's shuffling feet caught on the rocks and he stumbled forward. His weight and the force of his push sent him falling through the wall with Kyoko before him. He tried to use his other foot to push forward so that he would also clear the wall and instinctively wrapped his arms around her small frame while bracing for impact as they plummeted towards the ground on the other side.
Were it not for the soft grass on the ground, they would have landed in a cloud of dust. Both of them let out an audible grunt when they crashed. Kyoko was thankful to only be a mental projection of herself as there was no pain or discomfort from the whole ordeal, but it was jarring to say the least. She did, however, feel the weight of the Inquisitor who was currently on top of her and still had his arms around her waist. Recognizing that he was probably both upset and embarrassed by this event, she remained still and silent so that he had a few moments to collect himself.
To merely say that Ren was upset or embarrassed was grievous understatement. There was a veritable plethora of emotions running through him and they were changing by the second. He was angry at himself for not noticing the stones in his way, worried that he had somehow hurt Kyoko in the process, concerned that they were both stuck in this place together with no way out and afraid to look behind him in the event that his long legs had not made it through the wall. Underneath all of that confusion was the oddest sense of exhilaration at the feeling of holding this young woman.
That sent him reeling with a whole new flurry of emotions; disgust, shame, remorse. He had his fill of meaningless encounters with women over the years spanning his mid to late teens. As a listless teenager with little motivation, distractions often took various forms and he indulged in as many as he could to keep his depression at bay. However, that lifestyle was not conducive to his current identity and he did not want it to be. That part of his life was long past. Still, this was wholly different; where those times served to muffle the overactive thoughts in his mind, this occasion was causing the exact opposite.
Noticing that he still had not moved or said anything, Kyoko became concerned. Had something happened to him when they passed through the wall? She shifted slightly beneath him to relieve the pressure where the sharp angles of his body dug into hers.
"Hey, Ren, are you okay?"
His body tensed at the sound of her calling his name. With an affirmative groan, he braced one forearm on the ground and lifted his head from where it laid against her shoulder, making sure to pull back far enough from her face to avoid the awkwardness of being too close. He was still close enough to notice her eyes darting back and forth as she tried to decide which eye to focus on before splitting the difference and stopping on his nose.
"I am fine, thank you," he said
"Uh, are you able to get up?" she asked as politely as possible without betraying her unease at still being trapped beneath him.
"I… actually have been a bit hesitant to confirm whether or not my legs made it through the wall," he admitted sheepishly.
"Afraid you got stuck, huh?" an impish smile flashed across Kyoko's face. "Well, that would compound our problem since you're not even supposed to be on this side of the wall anyway."
Before he could respond, she craned her neck and lifted her upper body as much as she could. Her bangs fluttered past his cheek as she slid her face beside his to look over his shoulder. For only being a projection, it felt soft as it whisked past. The sensation sent a jolt through is body and the arm he still had around her waist tightened its grasp slightly. The movement did not go unnoticed and Kyoko turned her head slightly.
"There's no need to panic," she said softly, as her mouth was right by his ear. "Both of your legs are fine."
"Ah, so they are," Ren said, turning his head away from hers to look over his other shoulder. He was thankful his sudden reaction did not startle her as he wondered why he even did it in the first place.
He pushed up until he could get his feet under him and stand. Once he was up, he bent over with an outstretched hand towards Kyoko. They both took a moment to look around before they moved any further. The whole area appeared to be nothing more than a continuation of the forest from which they came. However, the young woman beside him seemed to be looking at everything with a bit more interest.
"Well, if we're both going to be stuck in here, we might as well take a look around," she said before wandering off in one direction.
Ren followed her silently as she walked, maintaining a slower pace to stay just behind her. The forest seemed reminiscent of the time he spent in Keypointe as a child. He remembered how much he loved to wander among the gnarled trees that grew wild along the hillside, each one stretching eagerly towards the sun to get the light while covering the ground below in mottled shade. There was a peacefulness to this scenery that saddened him to realize he had completely forgotten about it.
"It reminds me of the woods by my house back home," she added softly while picking her way through the undergrowth. "I suppose it would. This is my mind, after all."
Winding their way through a particularly dense thicket of trees, they came upon a small clearing. To be more accurate, they literally stumbled upon it as Kyoko tripped and narrowly avoided falling head-first into a large divot in the ground. Regaining her footing, she skirted around the edge of it. Ren went around it in the other direction to give her as much room as she needed to maneuver. They met on the other end beside a small shrub that came up to their knees.
"Is this a secondary memory archive?" she asked aloud, echoing the same question Ren was currently pondering in his head.
"It certainly looks like one," he said with a nod. "Or, at least, it used to be. I assume that was a pond like the one on the other side of the wall."
He pointed towards the dent in the ground where Kyoko previously tripped and she looked at it with a frown.
"Why is it all dried up? I thought there were supposed to be other memories here," she said with clear disappointment. "Even this plant is empty."
"Not entirely," Ren interjected. "Take a look on this side."
Walking over to where he stood, she stopped beside him and craned her neck to see where he was looking. Her eyes widened in surprise as she bent down to look closer at the single flower that bloomed on the shrub. If plants inside her mindscape followed the same biological rules as those in reality, there would be no doubt as to why this was the only flower as its size alone would mean that it required all of the nutrients this small plant could get via photosynthesis.
If all other roses were simply the common folk of their kingdom, then this rose would be their monarch. This was the largest rose Kyoko had ever seen. Granted, it was an imaginary rose in her own mind, but it was still impressively realistic despite its unbelievable size. It was easily the same width as her hand and rows upon rows of crimson petals flared out from the center creating a very full and velvety blossom. She reached out slowly with tentative fingers to touch it and drew back her hand with a frown.
"It's dry," she said in disappointment. "Not like we could've used it here anyway."
When she looked over at the indentation of dry, cracked earth, something caught the light just right that she could now see from her position near the ground. Kyoko crawled towards it on her hands and knees, afraid that if she lost her vantage point, she would be unable to spot the object. Once she reached the spot where it lay, she brushed a thin layer of dirt away to reveal a small, brass key. She could see the finish on the metal had an iridescent quality, causing it to change to various shades of blue in the light. However, when she tried to remove it from the dirt, her hand passed right through it.
"Why can't I pick it up?" she asked, dismayed.
Ren walked to where she was bent over the ground to look at the key, "It wouldn't be the first occurrence of being unable to control something in your mind."
"Don't remind me," she grumbled.
He kneeled down beside her and reached towards the key out of curiosity. To his surprise, the key lifted easily out of the dirt. Kyoko knitted her brow and tried again to touch the key now that he held it and growled in frustration when her fingers, again, failed to grasp it.
"Okay, that's just super unfair," she pouted.
"This has been quite the elaborate arrangement to keep you away from your memories," Ren mused, looking at the key he held. "I suppose my being here ended up being a good thing after all."
"Apparently," Kyoko groused, still irritated. "Do you think that'll open up the door to the wall?"
"Only one way to find out," he replied, standing up before he offered her a hand.
It was fairly easy to retrace their steps back to where they entered to find the door. With the key now in hand, they were eager to test it and see if they now had a way to freely move between both sides of the wall. Unfortunately, when they reached it, they were unsure as to how to proceed. There was no visible lock where a key could be inserted.
"Maybe we should just poke the door with it and see if a lock shows up," Kyoko suggested.
Ren's eyebrow arced questioningly at her.
"What?" she defended. "Not a whole lot makes much sense around here as it is. Unless you have a better idea."
He shrugged and pointed the narrow end of the key towards the door and moved it closer. As it approached the door, the once flat surface began to undulate like ripples on water until the relief of a keyhole began to take shape. Once the key was mere millimeters away, the shape solidified and Kyoko let a gasp escape her lips. With the key now firmly in the door, Ren twisted it to the right by ninety degrees and they heard the telltale clunk of a deadbolt sliding out of a door jamb. Pulling the key from the lock, he gave the door a light push and watched it slowly swing open.
"We're free!" Kyoko cheered ecstatically from behind him.
"It would appear so," he agreed and stepped forward to walk through the door.
He felt a tug on his jacket and turned to see the young woman looking at him plaintively.
"Wait, just a second," she said with a finger raised. "I'll be right back."
Ren watched her dash off into the trees at a full sprint. She returned moments later with the giant rose they found earlier in her hand and skipped through the door ahead of him. He dropped the key he still held into the pocket inside his jacket, out of pure habit, and walked through as well. The door automatically shut behind them with a loud bang.
"I figured we should take it with us just in case it works over on this side," she called over her shoulder.
He followed again with her leading the way until they reached her memory archive outside the wall. Kyoko knelt by the edge of the pond with the rose clutched firmly in one hand. Her face scrunched in concentration as she held the flower over the water's surface and tilted it until the bloom was fully inverted. She let out the breath she held in a forceful puff when nothing happened. Not a single drop came out. A frustrated groan followed and she began to vigorously shake the rose. On the verge of giving up, she shook it one last time and watched as something finally made its way out of the flower and into the pond.
However, what appeared was not liquid. Ren moved to crouched down beside her to see what fell into the water as well. Once the ripples subsided, they both saw a pink, crystallized teardrop resting at the bottom. Without a second thought, Kyoko's hand dove into the water to pick it up. Her hand resurfaced with the item resting in her opened palm so they could both get a good look at it. It was faceted like a precious gem stone that had been cut and polished and she marveled at the way it sparkled as it caught the light.
The shimmering suddenly brightened in intensity and the teardrop dissipated in a burst of bright light.
"What—," Kyoko began to say before ending her sentence with an annoyed sigh instead. "Every time we get closer to figuring this whole thing out, there's always one more thing that gets in our way!"
Ren remained silent. He was unsure as to what he could say or do at the moment that would be of any consolation to her. Instead he just watched her weave her hands through her hair to clutch angrily at her own head. She made a few more irritated grunts before dropping her hands into her lap.
"Well, at least those flowers always grow back," she said finally, sounding tired and defeated.
"They do?"
"Sure, you never noticed? Each time you pick one, a new one pops into it's place right afterwards. The same thing happened with this one," she held up the rose that dropped into the water during her brief tantrum.
"Ah," he said. Now that he thought about it, she was right. He remembered seeing that happen when he helped her collect memories for their tests on the wall.
"At least we still have the key, right?" she asked, as if trying desperately to find a silver lining.
Ren patted worriedly at his jacket for a moment before nodding.
"I guess you can hold on to it," she said with a shrug. "Will it still be in there the next time you come back?
"Quite honestly, I don't know," he admitted. "Should I leave it somewhere else just in case this does not reappear like your flowers?"
"Well, it won't do me any good here since I can't even touch it, much less use it," she said sadly. "Plus, we can't do anything with what we've found inside the wall anyway."
The chiming of the clock in the room where their real bodies were seated echoed against the walls and signaled the end of their appointment.
"I guess it's time for us to go," Kyoko sighed dejectedly.
Ren frowned, then placed his hand lightly on her shoulder.
"I know this has continued to be frustrating for you but, thanks to your quick thinking, we've made a lot of progress," he said gently. "For someone who has tackled this problem while learning as you go along, you're doing remarkably well. Don't let yourself get too discouraged, alright?"
Kyoko looked at his hand and was surprised to feel the warmth radiating from it but, somehow, it was calming to her. When she finally looked up at his face, there was a smile she had never seen him make before. It was as warm as his hand and she found herself smiling back despite her earlier mood. The warmth seemed to spread to her cheeks and she felt herself flushing. It caused her to panic for a moment and she quickly looked away from him before standing up. He pulled back his hand and also stood.
"Thanks," she said, not quite able to look him in the eye; easy enough to do as he was quite a bit taller than her. "I'll try my best not to."
"Good," she heard him reply, there was still a tenderness in his voice. "Then, let's get going, shall we?"
HEY, GUESS WHO USED AN OUTLINE THIS TIME (it was me): After finishing up the last chapter, I actually had a burst of ideas for the next couple chapters and set aside some time to write down the important parts for each one. As such, I totally have outlines now instead of writing by the seat of my pants with only a scant few notes on the general direction of the story. Hopefully, this means I can keep writing chapters on schedule, but I'm not making any solid promises. Springtime will have me traveling a bit for work and for weddings so I know that will already put a damper on things, but I'm going to use the time I have now to keep the story going!
Thanks to everyone for the reviews and comments. It really means so very much to me that you continue to give me feedback. It's like the lifeline that keeps me going until the next chapter is written. So, keep it coming, everyone and I'll see you next time!
AUTHOR OUT!
