Now this is a chapter I actually was interested in writing. I will admit I was already writing down ideas and drafts of this before Chapter 3, so that's why this got uploaded so soon after. Hope you enjoy the read!
After excusing herself, Monika would enter one of the empty rooms to finally have a moment of peace. All of this was so much to take in, it practically blew her epiphany out of the water.
"How am I supposed to react after discovering that game could just be some simulation by some robot aliens? Was my epiphany always supposed to happen? That must explain why anyone with the club president role become 'sentient' right? And the Vex... To think they could actually delete someone from existence, I thought I wouldn't have to deal with something like that in this new world..."
She took a deep breath and sat down on the empty chair in front of a desk, trying to not overthink this whole situation. She missed just being a model high school student who wanted to share her passion for literature with others.
"Well, at least it's not a reset..." Monika quietly said to herself as reassurance. Something else popped up in her mind ever since she arrived to this new world, she never really bothered to check if she could see the 'code' of this world. If the Vex could be compared to the codes and scripts of the game, then maybe, just maybe she could still have that ability. She concentrated hard and closed her eyes, trying to envision the programming and code of this world like she had before in her old reality.
She saw nothing, just a pitch black emptiness. It wasn't the screaming void much to her relief, so she still continued her attempt. Minutes pass and she found nothing, she was close to giving up but went at it for one more time. "There has to be something!" Suddenly she felt a strange pulse, did she finally do it? She was ready to delve deeper to find her answer until a voice interrupted her.
"Monika, what are you doing?" It was Sayori, Monika heard her enter the room and close the door behind her.
"Ah, I was just resting my eyes!" She answered, now opening her eyes while beaming a smile at the coral pink haired girl. Judging from her expression, she didn't buy her excuse this time.
"I know what you were trying to do Monika." Sayori had in a more serious tone. "I... remember. All of it."
Monika tensed up, this was the last thing she wanted happening. "What do you mean by that? I think it's just your mind being all jumbled up from this whole world traveling experience." Hoping to convince Sayori with this excuse.
Sayori frowned at her statement. "My mind is jumbled up huh? Just like how you went into the game's coding and messed with our personalities!" She shot a glare at the coral brown haired girl.
Monika paled at the outburst. "I-I didn't mean to! I'm really sorry for all that I did!"
"Saying sorry can't fix everything... Do you think a sorry is enough to make up for all those rainclouds you gave me? Does sorry fix Yuri's self-harming tendencies or Natsuki's abusive home life? Would a single word just make me forgive you for deleting all of us!?" Sayori was practically fuming at this point, her eyes full of anger and resent.
"I... I know that what I did was wrong, but it was the script that forced me to do that..." She let out a sigh. "I don't blame you if you consider me a monster..." Monika began to tear up. "I took everything for granted and became selfish, thinking only for myself and doing things that hurt all of you not realizing you were just as alive as me... I shouldn't be forgiven..."
Sayori looked down, her voice much quiter than before. "That's the problem Monika... I want to forgive you... but I don't know why..."
"W-What!? You want to forgive me...?" This surprised Monika, how could she be forgiven, especially considering it's Sayori of all people.
"I don't know! My heart wants to forgive you, but my brain doesn't know why it wants to! Are you messing with my code again!" Sayori was also tearing up.
"N-No! Ever since we got here I haven't tried tampering with anything." Monika didn't know what to do, she had expected a broken friendship, not this.
A whistle suddenly caught both girls attention as they looked over on the bed and realized the Hunter from before was laying there. "Well, you two seem to be in quite the predicament."
"Were you there this whole time?" Monika asked with surprise in her voice.
"Who knows, maybe I was here when you walked in or maybe I snuck into my own room without anyone noticing." He shrugged. "But that's not important right now, you two seemed to be confused and I'd like to help with that."
Sayori wiped her eyes before speaking up. "I'm sorry, but I don't think you could help with our situation."
"Yeah, it's complicated..." Monika added.
"Let's just say I have a story that you two might relate to." the Hunter said. "That Warlock and his Ghost told you about how the Hunter Vanguard passed right?" He got his answer from the pair nodding. "Then you know about how Uldren Sov is the one who killed him."
"That's right, it must have been really sad when everyone found out..." Sayori said.
"And everyone must have hated Uldren for what he did..." Monika added, recalling Cursor's reaction.
He nodded. "Hit the nail on the head. Who wouldn't be angry? Now from what I heard earlier, you two are in kind of in a similar boat."
"Huh, what do you mean by that?" Sayori asked.
"Well, for one Monika seems to have done something really terrible, yet I heard that one small detail about how some script or something forcing her do it." The Hunter sat up from the bed now in a better position for explaining. "Well you didn't hear this from me, but from what I've been told from my sources, Uldren was manipulated from the start. Something made him think that his sister who was believed to be dead was still alive, and he was desperate. So he did all sorts of terrible things just so he could find her, Cayde was unfortunate enough to be one of the victims caught in this situation."
"That sounds like me when I wanted to have a chance to be with the player..." Monika thought to herself.
"So he wasn't actually a bad person?" Sayori tilted her head.
"That's up for debate. When you realize his circumstances, you can't help but feel bad for him, but at the same time you can't really forget the terrible deeds that were done." He explained, he then stood up and headed towards the door, confirming it to be locked and sat back down on the bed. "Now let me ask you this, would you find yourself forgiving someone if you see that they turned a new leaf?"
"Yeah I guess, if they put the effort to improve themselves and prove that they won't do the same mistakes again, then I would forgive them..." Sayori answered.
"I would too." Monika added. The girls glanced at eachother before looking away.
The Hunter nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Makes sense right, but do you think it's fair to keep a grudge and refuse to forgive someone even of they show signs of changing?"
"No, that sounds kind of... unfair." Sayori's eyes began widen.
"Right, yet some people refuse to let go of the past. Only seeing a person based on all the bad things they've done, it just overshadows whatever good they're trying to do now." His voice held a hint of venom in it as he clenched his fist, he let out a sigh and relaxed. "This next bit is a secret between all of us, so I trust that you keep it that way."
The girls nodded, curious about what he'll say.
After taking a deep breath, he muttered the shocking revelation. "Alright good, well believe it or not, Uldren Sov came back... as a Guardian."
"W-What!?" Sayori and Monika exclaimed at the same time.
"Keep it down! And yes, he became a Guardian. When I first found out, I was furious, I wanted to take my gun and place a bullet between his eyes for Cayde. Hell I almost did when I saw him without his mask..." His fist clenched as he said the last statement.
The pair were shocked by the change in the Hunter's mood, there was malice in his voice when he mentioned his desire to kill.
"But I stopped my urge to murder him right there because I remembered something important that happens when you become a Guardian." He looked over to the girls, expecting some sort of reply.
Monika remembered immediately, "You lose all your memories of your previous life..."
"Bingo, it was then I realized it was too unfair to condemn him for something that he can't even remember, I'm still upset over Cayde's death, but this person wasn't Uldren, so killing him wouldn't do anything... Yet other Guardians still judge him for who he was, not for who he is now." He looked down, feeling disappointed. "He has to be isolated from others because they don't see him as a Fledgling Hunger, they only see him as Uldren Sov..."
Sayori frowned. "That sounds really sad..."
"And he must feel lonely, unable to interact with others without the fear of being hated..." Monika said.
"You see where I'm getting at now?" The Hunter raised his head and looked at the two. "I don't know the full extent of your story, but it made me think about that whole scenario. I'll be taking my leave now." He got up from the bed.
"Hey wait, we never got your name!" Sayori spoke up.
"Oh right, call me Miles." He gave a small wave and headed out the door.
Silence filled the room for the two girls, it was a constricting awkwardness that prevented them from talking.
Sayori broke the silence. "Monika?"
"Yes Sayori?" Her eyes widened as she felt Sayori pull her in for an embrace.
"I think can finally say that I can forgive you..." Monika could hear Sayori's voice cracking. "I was angry at what you did to us before, but when I became sentient from being the Club President... I started to understand what it was like realizing everything wasn't actually real and that I had no one to talk to about this. It really was the script that caused the problems, making whoever had the role go mad... I still believe you're the same good Monika you were before!"
"Thank you Sayori... Thank you for understanding..." Monika began to tear up as she returned the embrace.
They had nothing else to say for now, the raw emotion they conveyed to eachother was enough for them. Monika felt a some weight was lifted off her shoulders, she was glad that this happened. "I feel so relieved... I never thought you would forgive me at all..."
"Me too, but Miles story really opened my eyes. Sure you may have done bad things to us, and yes I'm still a bit upset over it, but that was in the past when we were stuck in that game and were forced under a routine. Now we're here in this new world, actually free for once... This is what you wanted. That means you have no reason to hurt others right?" Sayori replied, giving a gentle smile.
"You're right Sayori. This is OUR new reality, everything isn't fake, it's as real as it can be despite how scary and different it could be." Monika grinned before frowning as she realized something important. "I still have to apologize to Natsuki and Yuri... I still hurt them..."
Sayori let go from her embrace and placed her hands on Monika's shoulders. "It's okay, I'll be with you to support you like always!" She gave her a reassuring look.
This calmed Monika, "Thank you Sayori... I appreciate it. I-I'm really glad to have you as a friend." She looked away bashfully.
"Hey Monika?" Sayori said.
"Yes?" Monika answered, diverting her attention back to Sayori.
"If you made a new Literature Club here, I'll gladly be your vice president again!" She said proudly.
Monika giggled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
The door to the room suddenly opened and MC came through. "Found you two! I was about to ask if you wanted to..." He paused as he saw how close the two were right now and immediately shut the doors. "S-Sorry, didn't realize you two were having a moment!"
The girls blushed realizing the reason behind MC's reaction, they quickly separated themselves and Sayori would chase after MC, calling out to him. "It's not what you think!"
Monika, now alone in the room could only smile. She may be far from home, but at least she has her friends.
Monika that was kind of a cute interaction between her and Sayori wasn't it? I always pictured Sayori as the type who could forgive Monika, she did gain sentience of her own so I feel like she would have some sort of understanding.
With that said, thank you for reading ans hope to see reviews help to improve on my craft!
