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Chapter 4: Requiem Dream, Please Don't Wake Me.

The next morning, Sorey went to the cafeteria like all the other days. But he was in no hurry or even that hungry. Sorey had barely slept. He didn't know how breakfast would go. They lost three of their friends the previous day. And Emil...what were they going to do about him? Or even what would Emil do.

Sorey knew that Emil didn't really intend to kill Lloyd. But he also didn't fully understand Emil and Ratatosk. It was hard to comprehend that there were two people in one person. Then there was the fact that Emil had thought Lloyd killed his parents. Sorey couldn't help but wonder if Monokuma had something to do with. Emil probably wouldn't have killed if he didn't think that. Lloyd and Emil could have become good friends.

He also couldn't get Luke and Veigue out of his mind. Just when was this going to end? He couldn't stand to see another friend die. Was this the despair Monokuma wanted so badly?

Sorey quickly slapped his cheeks. He wouldn't give in to this malevolence. He couldn't risk it.

As soon as Sorey entered the cafeteria, he came into Ludger and Jude holding Asbel back. And on the floor was Emil. He looked like he had been punched.

"Just calm down," Jude told Asbel. Out of instinct, Sorey hurried to Emil. But he flinched as he recalled the day before. It shouldn't have stopped him, and it did.

"He killed Lloyd," Asbel snapped. "He should be here. Monouma should have punished him like he did Veigue."

"Well he didn't," Yuri snapped. "We're still stuck here playing Monokuma's rules. So we're all going to sit down and talk this through."

Seeing that Asbel wasn't struggling anymore, Jude and Ludger let go of him.

Yuri walked over to Emil. "Get up Emil," Yuri said, but he didn't offer a hand or anything. Emil looked up at Yuri and shut his eyes tight before slowly getting back up. Like when they first got here, Emil wouldn't look at any of them. It was a shame because he had been making real progress.

"Asbel," Kanonno said that got all of their attention.

Asbel was walking out of the cafeteria and he was staying as far from them as he could.

"Hold up, we need to talk about this," Jude called out.

"I've lost my appetite," Asbel replied without stopping to look at them. And he was gone.

Sorey took a step as if to follow Asbel. Then he looked to Yuri who just shook his head. "One thing at a time," Yuri said to him. Then he motioned for them to sit down. "We've got some things to talk about."

There wasn't much food, but it was enough. Sorey wondered if Asbel and Emil had been the cause of that. Minus Velvet and Asbel, they were all able to fit on one table. Emil was even able to be a seat apart from everyone.

"When Yuri had asked if anyone else knew anyone, why didn't you speak up?" Jude asked.

"B-cause… I was still trying to figure it all out," Emil forced out. "The guy that killed my parents... I didn't understand the way he acted. Then when Ludger said he was from Jude's future, I made sense. Lloyd was the Lloyd that was on his journey that would make him a hero. He was the past Lloyd."

"I can understand keeping your cards close to you," Yuri said.

"I thought, if Lloyd were to die here, then maybe my parents and all the others would still be alive."

"But then Lloyd wouldn't have done whatever he needed to do to be a hero," Sorey point.

"I know that," Emil spat out and was trying to hold back tears. "It always made me sick to hear people praise Lloyd. I know that some people wouldn't be alive if not for him. I know that."

"Is that why you kept your distance from him?" Yuri asked.

"Yeah, it was easier to deal with. If someone else decided to kill Lloyd, great. If not, fine. But he kept trying to get near me. I just couldn't take it anymore."

"Explain this other personality of yours," Jude asked. "Why are we just learning about him?"

"Well, I'm a total wimp," Emil admitted. "I wanted to protect someone, but I don't have anything. So I made a pact with a spirit called Ratatosk. He gave me the power to fight. So whenever I fight, this new personality comes out. We've taken to calling him Ratatosk Mode."

"But why didn't he come out when Velvet attacked you?" Sorey asked.

Emil looked at the Monokuma Bracelet on his wrist. "I guess this had sealed him until now."

"The stress from Velvet and being forced to partner with Lloyd was probably enough to bring him out," Jude speculated.

"And you really don't remember killing Lloyd?" Yuri asked.

Emil shook his head. "I never remember what happens when I go into Ratatosk Mode."

"So I have one more question, but it's probably more for Ratatosk. Is there a way we can ask him?" Yuri asked.

"He only comes out when I'm fighting and it's automatic. I don't know how to switch," Emil told him.

"When you're fighting, huh?" Stahn mumbled.

"But you have to believe me, I don't want to hurt anyone. I do want to work with you all," Emil pleaded.

"I believe you Emil," Sorey said.

"It's Ratatosk we have a concern with," Yuri quickly added. "It was Ratatosk that decided to kill Lloyd. So can we be sure he won't want to do the same to us?"

"I…" Emil started to say.

Sorey then saw that Stahn had gotten up and had a plate in his hands. But he wasn't getting more food. Before anyone could really process anything, Stahn slammed the plate on top of Emil's head. It broke.

"Stahn," Kanonno exclaimed.

But Emil instantly stood up and grabbed Stahn's collar. He somehow grabbed a broken piece and held it up to Stahn's throat. They could now see the red eyes. "Do you want to die, you bastard?" Ratatosk threatened.

"I got Ratatosk out," Stahn seemed to tell Yuri and he gave a weak, nervous laugh.

"Stahn's just being a idiot," Yuri said to Ratatosk. And he released Stahn and dropped the broken piece of plate.

Ratatosk folded his arms and said, "What did you all want to ask me?"

"So you share memories with Emil but not the other way around," Jude speculated.

"It'd be a pain if I was suddenly thrown into a fight and didn't have a clue what was going on," Ratatosk explained. "So I remember everything that goes on."

"That's good that we don't have to introduce ourselves to you," Sorey said.

"It's not like I cared to know them before," Ratatosk muttered.

"What I was going to ask," Yuri quickly said to get back on track, "was if you plan on committing any more murders. You killed Lloyd for a personal reason and no regards to the motive."

"You fools are really planning on working together to overthrow that bear," Ratatosk said. "Look how well that worked for you so far."

It did feel like a punch to the gut. They had tried working together, but the motives were too much for some of them.

"Are you saying you're our enemy?" Yuri asked. He stood up and he was slightly taller than Emil/Ratatosk. But he wasn't shaken by that at all.

Ratatosk looked at Yuri with those cold red eyes and said, "Who knows, I could be interested to see how strong I am without my powers."

There was so much tension that Sorey really thought the two of them would start fighting. Sorey was quickly trying to come up with a way to stop them.

But then out of nowhere, "All of you all need to maintain social distancing," Monokuma interrupted and had even jumped in between them. He even wore a mask covering his face.

It would be the only time Sorey would be glad to see Monokuma because it dissipated the tension. "What are you talking about Jude asked.

"Haven't you all been keeping up?" Monokuma snapped and even revealed his claws. "I'll end you all right now if you say this pandemic isn't serious or is fake news, you damn bastards."

"A pandemic?" Jude said in disbelief. Hearing Jude's worried made everyone else start to panic

"You mean you've released some virus as a motive?" Ludger asked.

Monokuma seemed to have just realized something and looked nervous. "Oh yeah," he started to say. "You all have been locked up. You all are safe. No pandemic in here."

"How about you go back to this whole pandemic thing and explain," Yuri told him.

The bear scratched the back of his head. "Just some topical humor, don't read too much into this. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you've unlocked the third floor of the school. Go check it out."

"I still want to know what you were talking about," Jude demanded.

But Monokuma ran out of the cafeteria as fast as his stubby legs could take him, which was surprisingly fast.

Everyone gave a frustrated sigh. "We should probably explore the new area," Kanonno suggested.

"Maybe we'll finally find some more clues," Jude offered.

"Whatever," Ratatosk muttered before there seemed to be a shift. When he opened his eyes again, they were green again. "Huh?" Emil was a bit startled. It confirmed that he really didn't remember what Ratatosk did or said in his place. Sorey couldn't imagine how that felt to be so confused.

As everyone started walking out and Yuri then shouted, "Is everyone really going to just forget about this whole virus thing?"

The answer was yes.

/~/~/

Like the other times the third-floor stairs were now available to them. Sorey was sure that they hadn't been there before. The group that had been in the cafeteria together went up to the third floor of the school and split up to search more of the rooms.

There were a lot of classrooms with nothing unique in them. But the first door right off the stairs was labeled the Principal's Office.

Jude was the first one to reach the door, but didn't open it. "It's locked," Jude announced.

"Locked?" Sorey repeated. Other than the exit, they hadn't been blocked before. "Why would it be locked?"

"It would be obvious that it would be to keep everyone out?" Yuri pointed out and seemed to also be hinting to Sorey to keep his own door locked.

"This room is also not for students," Monokuma interrupted and appeared out of nowhere. "This is the principal's office, so only the principle, which is me, and any students I call to the office. So unless I call you to the office, you can't enter."

"Sorry, but it looks like this door would be easy to break," Yuri said.

Monokuma looked irritated at that. "Do that and you'll face punishment. Don't you remember that the school rule about destroying school property?"

It was Yuri's turn to look irritated. "What's the point in showing us a room we can't get into?"

"You mean little old me can't have my own space?" Monokuma seemed to say in a defeated tone. "Aren't I allowed some privacy?"

"I guess that's fair," Sorey said.

"Don't Sorey," Yuri commented.

"Come on, we've got other things to check," Jude said and began to walk onward down the hall. Sorey and Yuri joined him.

"You all are incredibly rude, you know," Monokuma shouted.

/~/~/

There were several more classrooms on this floor that looked just like all the other rooms. Jude and Ludger offered to examine those rooms to make sure there wasn't anything in them.

The next room Sorey went to he could guess was called an art room. It was a room stained with paint on the floor and tables. There were also so many tools to be used for various projects hanging on the walls. There was even a storage room with all kinds of art supplies. It was well equipped to make whatever project they wanted.

There was another door and Sorey went to look. There was a window in the door and some buttons on the side. When he opened it only to see a small room with shelves. "Weird that this storage room is empty," Sorey commented.

"That's a kiln," Kanonno spoke up. "It's firing pottery."

"Oh, I've never seen a one in a closet like this," Sorey said.

"Lloyd would have liked this room," Stahn said. "He talked about how art was one of the classes he was good at school." Stahn was fighting the sadness from his tone.

Sorey felt the same way. "I hadn't heard that," Sorey told him. In fact he hadn't really known how many of them had actually gone to school. The ones that were gone, Sorey didn't know much about.

"Well, why don't we make something in remembrance for everyone," Kanonno suggested.

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea," Sorey said.

"Kanonno and I will search for things to use and search for anything else," Stahn said as he quickly went into the supply room.

"I'm going to check the rest of the floor," Sorey said. "I'll come back to help out once I see what else is here."

"Alright," Kanonno said as she went to join Stahn.

/~/~/

The last door was a set of double doors. When he opened it, he saw that it was a large performance hall. There were hundreds of chairs and a stage with a podium with red curtains around it.

Sorey couldn't believe a room like this would be on the third floor.

"Just what kind of school is this supposed to be?" Yuri then commented.

"Do you really think this was ever really used as a school?" Sorey asked. He had only seen a few schools, but it was hard to imagine that this had been one.

"If it isn't, this mastermind is a real sick person," Yuri said and he started walking up the rows of chairs. "If this school wasn't locked up and Monokuma wasn't around, the kids were probably given every possibility to succeed."

"I always wanted to go to school," Sorey said. "I would be glad to even go to a one room school."

"I never went to a school either," Yuri said, which surprised Sorey. He would have thought differently. "I was able to earn all I needed to from my neighbors. If I had gone to a school like this, I probably would have gone mad."

Sorey fought back a chuckle. The students at this school probably would have had to be proper. So it was hard to imagine Yuri like that.

"Y-Yuri," Emil suddenly called out and came into view on the stage. He seemed startled to see Sorey had joined them. "Um, well...I," He started to say. He may also have struggled to get the words out since there was a literal spotlight on him on stage.

"Emil, what did we talk about," Yuri said with a sigh.

"R-right," Emil said with a nod. "There's a door backstage, but it's locked."

"Another locked door?" Sorey exclaimed.

"That's right," Monokuma suddenly appeared sitting in one of the charis near them, which startled all of them.

"Why would the backstage be locked?" Sorey asked.

"Upohoh, you'll just have to wait for tomorrow," Monokuma said with his laugh and seemed to be hardly containing himself. "It's for some big surprises."