Chapter 46 – Remorsef -ERROR-
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Chapter 1: Who is that Steve?
CONTENT WARNING: abuse, manipulation, dissociation, depression, mental breakdowns, self-destructive behavior, emotional self-harm, semi-graphic violence, scary imagery, swearing
Imo, this is the darkest chapter in RRFF, so I really want to emphasize this content warning. You are not required to read. Feel free the message the writer for a quick summary of the chapter.
"Ah!" Memory fell from the sky and stumbled onto coarse grass. He hissed as his bruised leg and ankle cried from the landing. Fortunately, they were both ok.
After struggling take a breath, he wobbled back up and saw the Memory Dimension, with his house close by. The lava looked brighter than he remembered, and he was still adjusting to the new ill look of the trees. The most awful thing to see was the white flames that bordered the horizon, reminding him of what he did to Sabre.
Memory felt his face, knowing it was exposed but couldn't remember when or why he took of his mask. His hand met wet streaks beneath his eyes. The urge to cry – which had been lodged in his chest – renewed.
He was ok. The fall didn't hurt him. Then why did he want to cry?
He trudged back home and paused at the open door to his bedroom. The room was still dark because of the curtained windows, but he could see the hundreds of flowers on the ceiling, walls, and floors. It looked horrible. Didn't he promise to one day clean it? All at once, the weight of apathy, exhaustion, and despair weighed him down. Mentally, he tugged at the heavy chain, feeling the aches again.
He carefully approached his bed. Intuition told him to avoid stepping on the flowers. He collapsed, gravity feeling stronger the moment he sank into bed. When at home, he was supposed to feel at ease. But there was a new drowning aura in this room, triggering his urge to cry. It was exhausting to control his emotions, so he just curled up, letting the tears spill onto his pillow.
The pain lingered his chest. It was like tiny shards pierced through every section of his heart, and every heartbeat brought agony. Memory had felt this way before. He first experienced it on the day Time and Elemental left him. He experienced it again when he lost control of his powers, realizing he would be utterly alone.
He figured out why he had been crying: he was grieving for someone he loved.
It was a gritty feeling, spawning fears about the future where joy and hope used to be. He was familiar with loss, though the people he's lost had never shared that anguish with him. He didn't think it was possible to have another person to lose.
What reason did he have sad for? He had Time and Alex. They offered their friendship and treated him well, despite everything he did to them. Elemental would soon return. Memory didn't expect his forgiveness, but at least he could rest easy knowing Elemental would get a second chance in life. He could never look at Sabre and Galaxy again, but he knew they were willing to help him too. He had nothing to fear. He had everyone.
Then who was he mourning for?
Eventually, drowsiness hit him and he dozed off. He woke up moments later, dizziness hitting him before he recognized his surroundings. Suddenly, the current moment became a blur, indistinguishable from all the other nights Memory had stayed in bed.
Oh Colors, how much time had passed? What even happened? Everything that had happened recently felt like a daze. Like an alternate reality.
Wasn't he supposed to be rotting in the Spiritless World? How did he go from drifting aimlessly across the Overworld to once again hunting after Sabre's memories? How did he discover that Sabre was still alive and Void had been absorbed by Galaxy?
Then there was that whole plan with Sabre's account. That was recent. Recent. Merging the account with the Memory Dimension to transport his powers to a different reality. That fight with Alex and Time. He nearly brought back Void, but stopped in the end to save...who? How did he even come up with that plan?
Memory rubbed his temples and turned in bed. He knew it wasn't a dream. Bigger realities and invisible audiences did exist. The white fires in the horizon proved that. He knew it, but he didn't understand it. Without recalling the face of whoever unearthed these life-changers to him, he couldn't anchor himself and process this information without eventually spiraling away.
Through the blurry mist of the past few days, he did see one clear figure from it: Void. Void's echoing words. Void with Sabre's and Galaxy's features melted on him. Void denouncing him when he went against him and pierced the arrow into the crown.
Memory tensed. The world felt more blurred, but he kept renewing that mental image of Void. He wanted to memorize the rage, the betrayal, and the words that came with that image. He wanted to know how many creases were on Void's face and what exact pitch were his words delivered. Memory's tears spilt more. He knew this hurt, but he had to know why he didn't follow through. It should had been simple: shut up, block his feelings, and just bring back Void, because only he mattered. But that didn't happen. He had to know why he messed up this time.
And now he was here, immobilized in bed, feeling like he should grieve for someone.
...Was Void the person he was morning for?
No, that can't be right, a voice in his head answered, surprising him and making his stomach twist.
How could he miss someone he fears? How did he go from doing everything in his power to bring back Void to wishing he would never hear his name again? Another clear image surfaced in his thoughts: the mountain. A night on a mountain where everything changed, because Void was there. They talked, and Memory had different priorities and dug into what Void truly felt about him. He couldn't recall what they said. Did he actually talk to Void, or was it actually an impersonator? But how could he forget a shapeshifter?
Memory huffed and sat up. He didn't want to obsess over the mountain without bringing forth more details. He was exhausted, but this was urgent.
Avoiding the flowers again, Memory arrived at the crafting room. It was refreshing to be in a clean room with only one flower. He glanced at the alien cyan flower in the corner. Its center still held the galaxy. It swirled as normal, an unchanged world, far unlike the journey Memory had gone through.
Memory looked through the window and lifted his hand. If his own mind couldn't find clarity, then other people's would. Red stars in the sky descended into the swamp as flowers. They phased through the window and entered the crafting room. They gathered and formed a body, which blackened and transformed into Void.
Memory gulped. He felt a chill, like he was back on that mountain, finding Void in that alley. But this was just another copy in his dimension, crafted by Void's memories. Something he could command.
So he ordered the entity, "Show me what we discussed on that mountain."
The entity did nothing.
Memory gritted his teeth. He hated to beg; it was always too risky or never worked with the real Void. But he was desperate. "You said something important on that mountain. I want to see it!" He focused on his power, channeling some memory rage into Void. "You finally told me you loved me, right? Please show me. And if you can't find that memory, show me all your rare moments of kindness so I can find it myself."
Void snapped his gaze at Memory, who held his breath. Void was a wild card when he decided to listen. Memory could never tell if he was doing the bare minimum of listening, or if he was seeking for the smallest faults to prove Memory needed another berating lesson.
Finally, Void perked up. "You get it!" He glided closer to Memory, smiling proudly. "You understand and think long-term. There are so many more important things in life than your feelings, which are only a problem anyway because you're so sensitive."
Memory flinched. He knew this conversation. Void had wanted to know what he learned after crawling out of the cave he spent days in, so Memory talked about how he learned humility. How he learned his emotions were not an excuse to speak out of turn, because he shouldn't be drawing attention to himself, and he was foolish for thinking his emotions were more important than Void.
"The universe is in distress, and I'm the only one doing something about it," Void continued. "I have to remind people of their place, especially Galaxy Steve. I can't stop and make things about you, because your problems are minimal compared to what I've been through. I'm glad you realized your problems are nothing."
Memory stiffened, feeling the tears renew. I thought I was doing everyone a favor by hating myself. He lived in shame of the problems he was too pathetic to handle. And by failing his destiny to become Time's evil counterpart, he accepted he was less valuable than everyone else. Forcing Void to pay attention to him would be disgraceful, so Memory did the honors of reviling himself on his father's behalf.
Void suddenly floated away, glaring at the wall. "Leave us alone!" He snarled, making Memory jump. "Know your place, and think of me the next time you encounter my son."
Memory relaxed when he remembered where this was from. A different memory of when Void scared off a group of Red Steves who had been bullying him. A rare moment where Void – instead of telling him to fight alone – actually stepped in to save him.
Void flared his nostril before turning to Memory. "Are you ok?"
Memory nearly said, "Thank you," recalling how grateful he felt at that time.
Void chuckled, "Of course. I'm glad you're my friend instead of those assholes who always stab my back. Weaklings, who are too sentimental and sensitive, demanding things from their friends instead of just following along without question. Or even asking questions at all."
Memory tensed and he was on defense mode again. But I'm sentimental and sensitive too.
Void glided in front of Memory. "I hope you continue supporting me. You won't be weak, pathetic, or needy, like them. I'd hate to see you like them. I can't handle the idea of losing you too."
The tears streamed down. Memory turned, not wanting the lava outside to make his tears gleam. Every trait Void listed stung, because he could only think about how much he saw those traits in him. He had never spoken about it. Void couldn't know Memory thought he was too harsh. Void couldn't know Memory wished they could be the loving family they used to be. He let every word in the memory hit him, like how it did the first time, and the countless times after when his mind turned that echo into a self-disciplining weapon.
He had feared what Void would do if he saw the disloyal traits in him, so he muted and despised all the traits Void worried about, just to one day get his approval. To feel like he was doing the right thing.
Even now, he was digging for approval. When will the memory on the mountain return? Why wasn't Void talking about that time he manipulated Rainbow Steve after Memory's death? Wait, I destroyed that memory because I got upset, right? He couldn't reenact that.
Or maybe it never happened. Maybe Void never talked about Rainbow. I'm misremembering again.
Void knew what was best, and Memory couldn't trust his own judgements. He had no valid reason to worry about Void.
No, the voice in Memory's head asserted. I know what I heard that night.
"Of-of course I love you!" Void replied, his voice faltering. "I told you already: my mind snapped when I lost you. You being here is enough for me. I value you for just being here! That's proof enough that I love you. I'm so glad your back!"
Memory dropped his gaze, his entire body shaking. "You lied to me," he whispered, hoping that his actual father, in whatever hell he was burning in, was hearing this. "You didn't break down when I died. Overcoming my flaws and sacrificing everything were never enough to make you proud of me. After all these years, you finally cared when I had a convenient death that made it easier to manipulate someone into giving you what you wanted!"
Memory finally lifted his gaze. The line where the mountain and sky met warped as the glitches intensified. Despite the world becoming blurry, he was still clear. "That's all I was to you, wasn't I? Just a pawn you can use and break whenever you wanted, but never a child you planned to love..."
"No!" He shoved Void. The entity stumbled and crashed into a crafting table.
Memory gasped and pulled his arms back. He shouldn't have said that. He shouldn't have said that. Void needed him; he didn't need another backstabbing selfish family member.
No. Apologies and big promises were just what Void wanted, and Memory refused to give anymore.
Void got back up, and Memory held his ground, glaring at the entity. "I know the truth now. You would have never been satisfied with what I did, because you didn't want me to do better. You just wanted me as a servant and said anything to get things from me."
Light blasted in his peripheral vision, but he refused to flinch. Surrounding him, fifty, no hundreds, of arrows formed. "I've heard enough of your lies!" The arrows soared past him, swarming his vision with racing lights and sharp swipes.
The arrows pierced through Void, tearing his clothes and stabbing his eyes. Void formed a fiendish grin. The arrows in his eye sockets bounced as he cackled, flowers bleeding from the wounds. More light flashed and poof! He disappeared, exploding into red flowers.
Memory commanded the flowers to gather on the floor. He clenched his fist, radiating with fury. "And stay gone, you bastard!"
He struck the flowers. The pile burst with electricity and the flowers jolted up, sparks coursing through their petals.
Then immediately the sparks were snuffed out. The flowers glided back to the floor, their red glow still lively.
Memory gawked. Why didn't it work? He picked up a flower and projected the memory it held. He formed a small arrow. He focused, remembering how bitter he felt about Elemental's memories of Galaxy. Remembering the wrath he felt before he wiped out Void's memory with Rainbow, making it irretrievable. He slitted the flower with the arrow.
Nothing.
He tried again, nearly stabbing his own trembling hand. The arrow wouldn't pierce the flower, as if it was striking obsidian instead of petals. The projected memory continued to play a clear and focused scene.
Memory looked at his hands. I...feel different. Like there's something...foreign about me. I don't feel my ability to erase memories. He breathed, trying to become one with this foreign power. He thought of a single command: deactivate the foreign power. Then a familiar power – his ability to erase memories – began coursing through him.
He pricked the flower again. It jolted. Its glimmering petals darkened and sagged, and its projected memory faded away.
He reactivated the foreign power. Why was it easy to channel this power he knew nothing about? He struggled to permanently erase another memory. After deactivating the power again, he was able to erase the memory permanently. "What is this power? Where did it come from?"
An evil laugh slithered across the room. The flowers on the ground rumbled, as if shaken by an earthquake, the laughter bouncing off of them. "What are you doing? Struggling with your powers again?"
Memory stiffened, his entire body going cold.
The red flowers levitated and formed the shape of a man.
Memory unblocked his powers and pelted arrows at the forming figure. He commanded the flowers to stop and tried permanently erasing them, but they dodged his arrows and kept gathering, faster than he could attack and separate them.
Thunder struck and the flowers morphed into Void, his back arched and eyes fixed on the floor. His breathing accelerated. He glitched, pink and blue effects surrounding him.
"Go away!" Memory commanded. Void flinched as parts of him dissolved into flowers. But after glitching again, he recovered, back in his complete form.
Memory paled. "Why isn't this..."
"Working?" Void finished the question and sneered. Memory shrank back. How was this copy responding to him? They should only reenact memories, not actually interact with people.
Void twisted his head, turning that sharp, white sneer into a crescent moon. "I'll finally show you how sinister I am."
The house rumbled and shook. The walls roared as cracks cleaved through the wooden blocks. The house shrieked as it began constricting, the splintered walls caving in.
"Shit!" Memory bolted to the window and teleported outside, tumbling across the course grass. He got up and stared helplessly as his house trembled and thrashed, each new creak squeezing the house closer to its core.
Crash! With the sound of thunder, the house fell, reduced to dust.
Memory teleported onto the platform that held the balcony, the only survivor of the mess. He entered the remains of his bedroom, stepping over the flower-invested shattered blocks. His home. The home his cousins helped him build. His safe place when living with Void became too suffocating. It was gone.
He barely made five steps before sinking to his knees, the weight of his despair becoming too much. He saw rips of what used to be the purple and green flags in the debris. At the foot of the pile was the thick decorative arrow, split into two. Memory grabbed the broken pieces, one in each hand. All he could do was stare.
Thunder. Flowers pulled themselves out of the debris, blazing like haunting eyes. They gathered and reformed Void, still wearing that grin.
Memory flinched when the debris rumbled, more flowers streaming out of the mess and into the air. Void snapped his fingers, and the flowers circled around him, growing long vines with thorns.
"Stop this!" Memory commanded, wanting the flowers to go back to the sky, but nothing happened again.
Void scoffed. "Unbelievable. I've just seized control of this dimension, but I've already mastered this power. How can you excuse your ineptitude now?"
Memory risked standing up and backing away, not taking his eyes off Void. His hands turned numb from pressing against the balcony's fence. How? He gulped, dreading for Void's next move. This should be impossible.
Where did this come from? Void had never taken control of the memories in the past. Void had never threatened him with those specific words. The answer shamed him, but it was the only explanation: this copy of Void had gone rogue and could now act on its own, adding another failure under Memory's incompetence.
Memory looked at the remains of his home behind Void. "...How could you?" He pried the words out, each word dripped with venom he never knew he had. He brought out the broken pieces of the arrow decoration, his tremoring hands barely holding them. "I thought you cared! I thought you actually wanted something from me and you would actually love me if I worked hard enough. But even now, after you are long dead, you continue to torment me and waste my time!"
"Waste your time?" Void repeated. "But what about the pathetic results you've given me? You used your entire life to waste my time."
Memory tensed. "Enough with your manipulation. I have no reason to trust and believe in a cruel man who only lives to terrorize!"
"Guess you and I have that in common then."
Memory pressed harder against the fence. "What do you mean?"
A new voice behind him spoke. "Ah, Memory, I've been wondering where you were."
Memory whirled around and met a pair of golden eyes. He jumped back with a gasp, dropping the pieces of the decoration. Elemental, Time, and Galaxy surrounded him, flying at the balcony's level.
"Oh Colors, no." He stepped back, nearly tripping over rubble, staring in deathly silence.
Pink and blue glitches flashed over the three. Galaxy and Elemental spun and glared at each other, hostility burning in their eyes.
"Can we hide the Tower's energy now?!" Galaxy pleaded. The smoke of hissing TNT danced in his eyes. Slowly, blood splatter materialized on his face to join the star freckles. "I know we can defend against Void and Memory if they show up, but the fact that they could easily come makes me nervous."
"You say this now?!" Elemental yelled. His leaf crown bloomed flowers. "If you're so worried, then help me find Memory and convince him to join us."
Memory covered his ears and keeled over, shutting his eyes tight. "No, not this!" He didn't want to hear Galaxy's response. He didn't want to be reminded that no matter whose side he was on, he would always be seen as a tool. He didn't want to be reminded of the day he lost his family for good. "No, back off!"
"Why do you want them back off?" Void asked, causing him to open his eyes. Void hovered near the entities, and Memory cursed many silent declarations of hatred at him. "Didn't you have the choice to back off and leave them in peace when this exact moment happened?"
Memory's mouth went dry. He knew the exact details of the event. He remembered that spark of hope he felt when he heard Elemental wanting to find him. The hope he could join his cousins and find a place where Void could never haunt them again. But overhearing one conversation was all it took to make him crush that spark and choose Void instead.
Void knew the mission was only feasible if Memory had the Shadow Stone, but he didn't force him to consume the it. Memory had to willingly take it.
"You had to chance to go against my orders and not erase the family's memories," Void said. "But in the end, you caved in. It was your choice to follow the orders I simply requested you to do, and you know that."
"You knew." "You knew." "You knew." The copies of the family chanted. "You knew what would happen to these Steves."
Time teleported into Memory's face. His clock mask split in half, revealing bloodshot, puffy eyes. "Yet you let it happen. You let us suffer."
"GET AWAY." Memory ignited TNT. He threw the hissing block at the trio and leapt off the balcony. He broke into a run, teleporting off the island after the TNT exploded. He jumped from island to another. His breathes were shortening, and he struggled to imagine the Overworld. He had to get out of this dimension. It was no longer his home.
Then something grabbed him, slithering across his left arm.
"Ah!" He tried to run, but pain squeezed his arm and yanked him back. He fell to his side, landing on his burning hot arm. Pushing himself back up, he saw a vine constricting his arm. Blue flowers wrapped around it like serpents, glowing with icy lack of mercy. The long vine raced along the ground, connecting to something else.
Elemental landed in front of him, holding the vine in both hands. A streak of alarm – a fake one – was on his face. "Memory, what happened to your hands?"
He wrenched the vine. Memory screeched as he was thrown forward, the tight thorny grasp piercing into his skin. Warm blood leaked out of the cuts. He was forced to kneel, his now bloodstained arm brought up Elemental's gaze.
"What happened to your hands?" Elemental repeated. "Did you try to break a block and you couldn't?"
A dark shadow peered over Elemental's shoulder. Void. "Oh, I know you don't like talking about him. How dramatic do you have to be to lose all your confidence because of one thing. You already knew you were useless. Why was me taking Elemental such a big deal?"
Memory fumed. "How dare you play with his memories and turn them against me."
"But you played with Elemental's memories too. Every time you were unhappy, you permanently erased one of his lost memories. You even gave him the dead memories as a gift. I didn't order you to bully him like that. You called that shot. How to you justify that?"
"I..." Memory couldn't defend himself. He purposefully wanted Elemental to go mad searching for his father. He led him to his demise; no other explanation.
"That's what I thought." Void snapped his fingers.
Elemental flinched, pink and blue glitches breaking his form. When he reformed, he donned a sinister grin and a thorny crown of flowers. "Let me give you a reason to feel hurt." He grabbed the crown – the thorns drawing blood from his hand – and slammed it onto Memory.
Memory screamed and fell back. Pain exploded in his head. Thorns dug into his temples and pulled his hair. He tried to claw off the crown that was compressing his skull. His head went warm from the ring of blood, until the piercing cold of sharp flowers flooded his senses.
"YOU SEPARATED US. ELEMENTAL BECAME A VILLAIN BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS. I LOST MY BROTHER. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HELL I'VE BEEN THROUGH. I HATE YOU. I HATE YOU AND YOUR POWERS. YOU SPLIT APART MY FAMILY."
"YOU MONSTER! I shouldn't had let Elemental be your friend; I knew this would happen!"
"Aah!" Memory ripped off the crown and threw it away. He panted, fighting back the tears, but it was fruitless. The tears already mixed with the blood that caked his hair and dripped down slowly. But the stinging cuts and clogged lungs were nothing compared to the screams still ringing in his head, still squeezing against his skull from the inside.
"Ah!" Pain jolted his ankle and he was thrown in to the air. A clasp on his ankle tightened and he was pulled back down with a slam! Memory trembled and struggled to sit up, seeing the vine wrapped around his leg and where the vine led to. Hovering over him wasn't Elemental, but Void, twisting the vine's end in his grip. The flowers continued circling around Void.
"I'm-I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Memory pleaded, his voice tremoring. The tears spilled heavier. "Please stop, and I'll do whatever you want! I promise not to defy you again."
Void laughed sinisterly. "You can't escape me, and you can't escape yourself. It doesn't matter that I broke down all your self-worth, destroyed your trust in yourself, and made you believe you deserved to be walked all over. You did all those crimes, and defying or obeying me won't erase that. You want justice? Then I'll deliver it."
The terrain underneath Memory rumbled and vanished. He screamed as he fell, stone and ore engulfing him. He hit the ground with a thud.
Void hovered over the pit, bedrock in his hand. Panic surged in Memory. "NO!" He aimed an arrow, but he barely saw his target. He had to fight to save his life, but he couldn't look at that haunting face.
Void brought the bedrock closer to the edge of the pit.
"PLEASE, DON'T!" Memory shut his eyes and shielded his face, hoping the darkness of his cowardice would consume him before the bedrock did.
Thunder. Memory opened his eyes and looked up. Void was nowhere in sight. Neither were the flowers or the vines he was commanding.
Memory's fists were tense, and he felt something inside of one. He eyed his hand. The lump felt soft at first, but then turned hot and sharp, forcing him to open his grip. Gray flowers were in his hand.
There was never Void. It was only him.
He was the one who commanded these flowers to torment him. Just like how he tormented everyone with his crimes.
He shook off the flowers and held himself, nervously looking up at the open space above. His heart hammered and every muscle tensed. The towering stone walls felt like they were closing in. He felt unsynchronized. His breathing. His panic. His emotions. All unaligned.
He tried to jump, but he yelped when he was yanked back. He stared at the vine chaining his ankle. It had fused into the ground. He tugged, but the vine refused to snap. "Please, please," he chanted, trying to claw the vine off. It still didn't budge. He tried to burn it with flint and steel, but the vine expanded, twisting its thorns like assassins twirling their knives.
The thorns dug into his skin. He bit back his screams, the wounds feeling like fire. He brought his teary eyes back to the pit's open mouth above.
Come on, come on... He studied the walls of the pit for dents and fissures he could grab onto, and teleported. He yelped as the vine wrenched him back down. He teleported again. Failure. Again. Failure.
Failure. Failure. Failure.
"Someone help!" He clawed at the stone. His gloves frayed and his fingers bled as they searched for something to grip. He tried to climb out, but the vine dug deeper, reaching his bones. He wasn't getting closer to the top. "PLEASE. HELP! AH!" He slipped, landing on the vine snaking beneath him.
He sat up, his breath becoming wet and messy. He let the sobs run. He was exhausted and dizzy. And worst of all, he was more aware of this dark pit he couldn't climb out of. The thorns dug deeper into his ankle, but he didn't protest.
He couldn't get out of this, like how he couldn't escape the fact this was all his doing.
Void was the mastermind, but Memory hurt so much more. This was all his fault. If only he had been stronger and stopped Void from terrorizing everyone. If he hadn't separated and shattered his family, none of this would have happened.
He was the monster. The more he realized that, the more his heart sank. Of course everything he did was evil. Yet why did he do them? The fact that he couldn't find an answer grew his disgust at himself.
Let the vines stay. Let them keep me here.
I deserve it.
Then he heard the thunder. He looked up. Blue and purple lights danced in the sky.
A silhouette flew above the pit. Yellow radiance surrounding the figure, dimming the shining stars above. The figure raised a hand and snapped its fingers.
Memory yelped as a cold sensation drowned him, yanked his ankle free from the vine, and lifted him out of the pit. He landed on the edge of the pit and scrambled away, staring at the abyss with a heavy pant, sitting against a tree he didn't realize was there.
The yellow glow became brighter. Memory winced as he looked up at the entity. The entity's golden aura was bright and heavenly like his solid eyes. His mass of cyan, galaxy-like hair fluttered despite the lack of wind. His gray and black attire was a sharp contrast against the yellow aura.
The entity landed. Memory had seen the galaxy-holding flower project the memory it held all the time. It always started with Origin Galaxy inspecting himself, surprised to find himself existing, and hesitant to say hello to his grandsons. But this projection was looking straight at him, not with confusion or awkwardness, but with purpose.
Origin Galaxy approached, glitching blue and pink for every step he took. He knelt down once he got close. "Your powers called for help. No one came, so you got desperate and called me out of all people." Origin Galaxy reached out with an open hand, but Memory couldn't move, still giving a baffled stare.
Soon, Memory seethed and shoved Origin Galaxy away. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT."
Origin Galaxy fell back, stunned. His yellow aura morphed sickly pale.
"Why...why couldn't you fucking keep yourself together?" Memory hissed. "If you just kept it together, this universe wouldn't have dealt with Void Steve."
His grandfather looked away guiltily.
"I wouldn't had suffered because of him. This world wouldn't had suffered because of me." Memory's furious expression melted into dismay. He sobbed and curled into a ball, burying his face into his knees. "So why couldn't you keep yourself together? But I guess your answer means nothing, because I don't even want to hear your excuses. You're just like him, another person I foolishly believed was well-meaning, but all you did was play with this family, making it fragile. All I wanted was a loving family, and you robbed that from me before I even came to be."
"Memory, I – "
"I just said I didn't want your excuses." Memory turned away. He didn't want to acknowledge his grandfather's presence. If he looked at him, he would just see Void, and that made him angrier. He would just be reminded of how much Void got away with.
"Memory, please let me help."
Memory tensed, refusing to look. But eventually, his angry gaze gravitated back to Origin Galaxy. He hated the features of Void he could see in his grandfather. The colors. The power. The aloofness. The lack of vulnerability. Everything. At least hating Origin Galaxy didn't give him time to despise himself. If he ignored him, the agonizing numbness would start again, and the crying would follow. If he looked at Origin Galaxy, he at least had contempt to fill that emptiness.
"Here." Origin Galaxy waved his hand, summoning an item. The two pieces of the arrow decoration. The pieces mended back into one, and it floated back to Memory. Memory snatched the arrow and pressed it to his chest, not taking his eyes off Origin Galaxy.
Origin Galaxy reached for Memory's face. Memory inched away. Whatever Origin Galaxy was intending, it definitely wasn't good. Memory didn't understand what real kindness was. He didn't deserve to know real kindness.
"I promise I won't hurt you." Origin Galaxy gave a tender but guilty expression.
With a sigh, Memory closed his eyes, letting Origin Galaxy dry the lingering tears and brush his face with his cold hand. "...It's remorse, isn't it? I've destroyed so many villages, planets, and dimensions because I was following orders. I thought I was doing the right thing, but the guilt consumed me and...well, you know the rest. I made your father and your uncle take my place. I'm sorry, Memory. I never wanted my regrets to become yours. Can you ever forgive me?"
Memory swallowed back a forming sob, and his pity. "No, I can't. But my answer doesn't matter either. You're long gone, just like Void."
Blue and purple glitches surrounded Origin Galaxy. The glitches morphed into bloody red as the entity disappeared, leaving the cyan flower in his place. The galaxy in the flower seemed to spin slower, its cyan colors dimming as red speckles began populating the tiny system.
Snap! Memory looked down, seeing the arrow in its broken form. He tried pressing the pieces back together, but the parts didn't reattach. He pushed harder, then tried connecting them at a different angle. He wanted to see it full one more time. But it couldn't. Memory sighed and lowered his arms in defeat. The pieces rolled out of his hands and fell into the lava bordering the island.
Memory curled back into a ball, sniffling. Sometime inside of him broke: the smallest, weightless bits of hope he had left. Nothing could chase away the shadows casted in his mind. The shadows only he saw when he mulled over the past, present, and future. His mind, which was supposed to rationalize and point him to a direction, felt as suffocating and hopeless as the pit, where he couldn't do anything but break himself trying to climb out.
He was scared to admit it, but not even kindness could save him. Nothing could restore any semblance of peace in his mind.
All he knew was Void was gone, and he regretted that he wasn't the one who struck him down. Void was untouchable now. He and his crimes only lived on through his son, and Memory hated that fact more than anything else in the universe.
He didn't want to move on. He wasn't worthy of that right.
But he wanted closure.
He wanted bloodshed.
Then, what was once a source of desperation, then a source of fear, became a compass. The only direction he could follow.
He wanted to see Void one more time. This time for a different purpose.
Memory balled his fists, feeling flowers form in his grip. He stared ahead at the white fiery horizon and the dark void sky.
"One last mission..." He murmured, another tear dripping down. "Just one last mission...One final act. The one that'll finally bring him to an end..."
...
He drew his mouth back into a snarl that could pierce veins. He sharply inhaled and threw his head up at the sky.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Lightning pelted down, thrashing the world. Spiderwebs of light bled across the dark sky and refused to blink away. More lightning struck lava, and the magma burst into geysers that reached the sky. Thunderbolts speared through the geysers and splattered lava across the land.
CRASH! The divided sky shattered like glass. Darkness swallowed the dimension and –
-ERROR-
Remorseful Recollections of the Forgotten Family:
Act 2: END
Chapter 1 Word count: 3254
ERROR. Conflicting versions of Chapter 1 found. Recalculating...
Chapter 1 Word count: 6238
Act 2 Word count: 164,031 (approx.)
Issue resolved by the narrator.
Wow...It took 2 years – 2 whole damn years – but finally, Act 2 is done.
From the bottom of my heart, I give my biggest thanks to everyone who has read this far. As an aromantic dealing with mental illness, I've put my heart and soul into this fic. Act 2 was definitely a challenging project, but I am so happy to finally share it in its entirety.
But RRFF is far from over! Act 3 is currently in the works. It sadly won't be out for a while, so I have to put RRFF on another indefinite hiatus. I'm really looking forward to showing you what I have in store once Act 3 is ready!
Honestly, if I keep this Author's Note going, I'm just going to say "thank you" in a million different ways. So just – I just really appreciate all the support RRFF has received throughout the years. I couldn't ask for better readers. You guys are awesome.
Again, thank you so much!
See you guys in Act 3. Take care and stay safe.