CONTENT WARNING: depictions of violence, bloodshed, some written mentions of gore, reference to potential child death and death in general. please be advised when reading this chapter. skip to about a third of the way down if any of that makes you uncomfortable.
In-Between Happiness Part 1
"Keep your heads down!" Lala commanded, bordering on breathless.
The children whimpered and clung to each other. Their little bodies tucked into themselves. They shivered and cried, tears and snot dripping down their faces. Their tunics were caked in dirt and blood, rich colors of the earth. One girl shrieked until another shushed her, pulling her hand and dragging her face into her shoulder, muffling her sobs.
Lala panted and threw out her arm. She stood in front of the last remaining class of kindergartners, the final students of the magic school. Surrounding them was the rubble of the prestigious academy she had loved since she was their age. Walls had been destroyed. The ceiling had been decimated long ago, allowing her to see the bloody red streaks once known as the sky. Stony debris had smashed oak bookshelves and desks. Hints of bones caught her eye in the wobbling floorboards, and she quickly averted her gaze. If the ageless fires hadn't burned it all to a charred crisp, then Lala would have remembered if this had been her classroom.
Incense filled the air, then came the smoke. Lala whipped her head around and fired an icy spell from her fingertips. It crashed into the diving beast, an unholy abomination of tendrils and leathery flesh. The monster's fiery blast choked in its throat, hints of smog wafting from between its gnarled fangs. Its bat-like wings broke off as it smashed into the ground. Frozen in a block of ice, the beast could hardly twitch, but Lala refused to give mercy. She raised her foot, sucked in a breath, and stomped with all her might, shattering the monster into melting cubes.
Lala wiped sweat and ash from her brow. She caught her breath, wondering how many of these monsters she had killed over the past few weeks. Pressing her hand to her heart, she wished the throbbing in her brow would cease. It panged in tune with her heartbeat. She groaned and rubbed her hands together, their chill as discomforting as the clothes sagging from her body. She had learned to ignore the hunger pains from her gaunt stomach, but her mind drummed on with agony from every spell she summoned.
Her eyes flicked from side to side. The classroom, what remained of it, was secured. Despite the raging fire in the distance and the ever present scent of decay, this neck of the woods still prevailed. She licked her chapped lips, running over the deep indents which had formed in them. She leaned into the crumbling, splintery remains of a cupboard, catching her breath.
"Miss Lala, are you okay?" one child asked, poking his head out from behind the debris.
She managed a smile and nodded. "Don't worry about me. Got it?"
The children, only five of them, smiled at her. She struggled to control the twitching of her mouth. Losing her composure would only make them panic. They were fledglings, easy pickings for the vultures. They were nowhere near the heroine's level when she was their age, her mind conjuring their mangled bodies making her stomach twist as she surveyed the sky.
Thunder rumbled, swiftly followed by lightning and rain. Flashes of white light nearly blinded them. Droplets suddenly pounded on the planet, chilling them to the bone, but she knew it would not quell the flames. No, the Creator had made sure of it. This world would burn in His fires and start anew.
"This way," she said, gesturing for them to follow.
The kindergartners' little legs pounded on the dirt and stones as she guided them to safety. The caves were the only havens left for humanity. Hiding in the darkness until their time came sickened Lala, but she refused to let the children suffer in the elements. She had known other unfortunate souls who had remained in the rain long enough for welts and boils to form on their skin, the acidic quality melting through their flesh and liquidizing their bones.
"Heads down, hoods up," Lala ordered, the children obeying. They kept their chins tucked to the chests, looking at the world at an awkward angle. The trees seemed elongated, their wispy branches threatening to break off with a tap on the bark. Not a single leaf remained. Only the color of charcoal and the scent of smoke remained in the forest, which had once been rich with moss, pine, and animals.
Lala trudged through the hollow forest with the children in tow. Heat pulsed around her fingers. If any beast tried attacking them, then they would meet a fiery demise. She internally dared any of them to step forth, but to her fortune, they managed to reach a cave before a monster had the privilege of facing her.
"It hurts," a boy moaned, gripping his face. Red marks cascaded down his cheeks. The rain had struck him.
"Don't rub. That makes it set in," Lala warned, kneeling by him. She tore off a piece of her dress and dabbed it to his face. "Here. Gently. Do it yourself."
He nodded, hiccuping and crying. Lala pursed her lips and let the children congregate. She took her position near the entrance, the wind beginning to whip up a frenzy. The hem of her dress blew around her ankles, and she wished she still had her cloak, but that had been scorched to a smoldering scrap of fabric by a stray meteoric blast from the west days ago.
Screaming echoed in the gust. It always did. Even with the crackling fire, she listened to their death throes. Begging for clemency, cursing the Creator, final words and unloved wishes, she heard them all. Then, it was followed by the crunching of bones, the squelching of organs, and the beast's feast, human entrails always a delicacies.
She should have become accustomed to the sounds. The duel had started months ago with no end in sight. Humanity was dying. Hordes of humans perished by the minute. The Creator's angels took no prisoners, and those left alive faced the prospect of death tomorrow. It was an endless cycle of bloodshed, one which should have numbed Lala.
But with her back to the children, she cried as silently as she could. She gnawed on her lower lip and wrinkled her nose. Her brow creased, and her hands clenched. The hollowness of her chest and belly ached, pulsing throughout her entire body. She sucked in short, shallow breaths, her lungs feeling smothered by an invisible weight as her heart forced itself to beat.
Memories of better times haunted her. The heroine laughed and grinned. Her beloved's reassuring smile was imprinted on her eyelids whenever she blinked. She saw them standing outside the tower with their classmates. They cheered for the heroine, who had just passed her exam despite the harsh tribulations. Their kindergarten teacher congratulated her as well, patting her auburn hair like a doting mother.
The words she had spoken to Lala that day were last to time. She remembered her teacher's lips moving, but she failed to recall the sounds. She supposed there had been a lesson to learn, but whatever it should have been, no one was left alive to remind her.
Lala swallowed and massaged her throat. Calloused fingers attacked a tender lymph node. She touched her jaw, the redness around it matching the shade of her dress. It was a spot she had hoped her beloved would kiss someday.
"Lala, we're hungry," one girl said, pulling on her dress.
Her mouth twitched. She had gone three days without food. Couldn't they last another hour more without sustenance?
Lala brushed her fingers through her matted blonde hair. "We'll have to wait until the rain eases up," she snapped, leering in the distance. Bright orange and vermilion flares crossed over the horizon. "Or until the fire reaches us."
The girl whimpered. She dragged her feet back to the others. Lala shook her head and dug her fingers into the sharp rocks. They pricked her fingertips, blood pooling in the wounds. Anyone would have winced, but she tightened her grip, the pain almost pleasant compared to the throbbing behind her eyes.
She glared at the sky. Pitch black clouds rolled across from the east. Lightning flashed and gouged the bellies of thick clouds. They were briefly illuminated snow white, allowing Lala to see the shapes of the devils and angels scouring miles above her head. The rain continued pelting the ground, beating down on dead grass, dirt, and scraps of cloth and shards of bone.
An ogre bellowed somewhere and slashed her ax through a human's flesh. Guttural roars filled the world as the war drums played and mages summoned spell after spell. Through the sparse trees, the Creator's subjects clashed in the distance. Mountaintops, which should have been topped with snow, had corpses of both monsters and men scattered among their ridges. Dragons spat fire, incinerating armies racing towards them, but brave souls still carved through their flesh. Man turned on man, lost in the despair of insanity and screamed bloody murder, driving their weapons into each other.
And through the chaos, Lala breathed in smoke like it was her salvation.
Hell. This was Hell.
(Schezo, Rulue, and Camus would have made short work of the monsters if they were still alive. She cowered in a cave while the rest of the world fought for survival.)
Lala pressed her palm to her brow and breathed out a sigh. There was no use in reminiscing. She had the remaining students from the magic school to protect. Losing herself in memories and pain would only disappoint everyone (if they were alive).
"Ah! Miss Lala, look!" a girl cried, rushing to her side.
The kindergartners hurried around her. She followed the girl's finger to the clouds and snorted on her gasp. The heroine hovered in mid-air. Her torn cape swayed in the gale. The rain seemed to focus on her, hailing down on her and her alone. Thunder and lightning ruptured across the world, the battle briefly halting, as all eyes turned to her.
Lala's heart fluttered. She pressed her fingers to her lips, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. How long had it been since she was in her glory?
"Arle," she whispered, and the children cheered.
Arle Nadja clenched her fists. Magic swirled around her arms and formed violet flames on her wrists. She reeled her head back, her dear, precious Carbuncle still sitting on her broad, cracked shoulder pad.
The clouds parted, and no mere human could gaze upon Him. Lala shielded her eyes, and the children hid within their hoods. She dared not even squint.
"Jugem!" Arle roared, and the battle began once again.
The earth cracked and spat magma as Arle and the Creator battled. The intensity of their duel submerged the world in frenetic chaos. Fires started and stopped. Tornadoes divided nations and seas alike. The air crackled with electricity and hail, silencing the victims' screams. Thousands died in an instant, their corpses burned with the Creator's righteous fury and left nothing behind. His power was too grand for anyone to comprehend. No one knew how they were killed. They simply were.
Lala fell to her knees. The cave quaked. Stalagmites fell from the ceiling and impaled the ground. She grabbed the children and held them close, the outside world's dying breath too loud for her to hear them crying.
Something sharp smashed her head. She rolled forward, blood filling her ears. Blinking slowly, she stared at the heavy torch which had been in place for eons to help strangers find their way.
Lala saw Arle one last time when she launched a secondary wave of her mightiest spell. She reached for her, but her body went limp as the cave collapsed.
(The young maiden dreamed of her childhood. She chased her prince to the ends of the earth. She remembered the cool touch of his pudgy hand on her brow when she injured herself as a little girl. They were so young, but so capable in their own right.)
(Camus held her in his arms. She remembered his sweet scent. Strawberries, his favorite fruit, the kind his mother would bake into pies that would sit on the window for all good children to eat, was an aroma which stayed with him.)
("Don't fall asleep," the little boy who could have been a hero urged. "If you sleep, it's over. Promise me you'll wake up, Lala.")
A mole raced across her face and alerted her to reality. Lala screeched and slapped it away, jerking herself upright. She moaned, the pounding pain returning immediately. She clutched her skull, the bump heavy against her palms. Rocky and metallic debris tumbled off her shoulders when she hunched forward, and she blinked the blurriness out of her eyes.
Her dress was torn, scraps of fabric brushing against her legs. Her bow threatened to slide down her face, and she tied it in place with shaky hands. She drew her body into the wall, wincing. Leering over her shoulder, she lurched away, knees skidding on the ground. Broken phalanges pressed out from the loose soil. Maggots crawled along both human and monstrous appendages. They writhed, the phantom sensation tickling Lala's skin. She shrieked, slapping her limbs and flapping her dress, kicking the air to propel herself to the opposite wall, dirt caking her hair upon impact.
Lala choked on nothing. She tried gulping down a lump in her throat. Her lungs swelled into her rib cage. Pressing her palms to her eyes, she gnawed on her lower lip and groaned, the invisible sledgehammer slamming into her head again and again.
Her lips parted, suddenly parched. Slowly, she looked within the cave illuminated by frail torch lights.
The children were gone. They either escaped or they were dead under ten tons of rock.
Lala collapsed without a word. Her body splayed across the ground, and she spread her arms out. Her chest heaved, and she swallowed a sharp, shrill breath. She pursed her lips, jaw trembling, and she curled into herself like a mouse willing away the leering cat.
Explosions rang out in the distance. Smoke and gas slowly filled the cave, her lungs starting again. Rain soaked the earth and stole life.
Why?
She heard Arle scream, and she could hardly lift her eyes to look.
Why is this happening to us?
"Heaven Ray!"
Why won't this stop?
Light flashed outside. The air crackled, the roars of demons and angels blending together. Her eyes and eardrums threatened to burst.
Why won't anyone help us?
"Oooh! That's a mighty blow!"
Lala's eyes snapped open. She lurched to her feet, head woozy. Her legs wobbled, and she sunk her fist into the wall for support. Ragged breaths escaped her. She found the strength to look up, marveling the one who found amusement in chaos.
They were the strangest being she ever saw. She could only describe them as roundly angular. Skin as black as night was tipped in strikingly bright blue accents atop their head and paws. Something electrical levitated in front of their chest, surging every few seconds. But what mystified Lala were floating orbs of goo next to their body, seemingly taking on a life of their own, bobbing up and down, Lala following them like a sideways metronome.
Peering over their shoulder, they uttered a confused grunt. Their lips, if Lala could call them that, twisted into a smile. "Well, aren't you something! I thought you were another corpse," they said, their levity painful.
Lala coughed into her palm. She wiped her nose, wincing at the crusted blood seeping on to her upper lip. She hadn't realized she sustained an injury to her face until she dragged her hand down her chin, feeling faint wetness stain her skin and sink into her pores.
"You have a little something on your nose," they said, pointing at the smooth section of their face where a nose should have been on a human.
She smudged her thumb across her nostrils. Rasping in a breath, she demanded, "Who are you?"
"I'm Ecolo! Space-time traveler at your service." They shot out their hand. "Nice to meet'cha...?"
She hesitated. It felt like an eternity since she had introduced herself to someone. She struggled to step forward, her feet aching as gravel and stones dug into the broken soles of her boots. Reaching them, she slipped her hand into theirs, surprised at their softness against her calloused palm. "Lala," she muttered, her tongue carrying the word like an anchor being tossed overboard.
"What a name! Sounds like something a baby would say." Ecolo laughed. They released her hand and flew past her. Nudging the rocks cutting off the rest of the cave, they whistled. "Boy, oh, boy, this world is full of misfortune." They sighed and slumped their shoulders, distant volcanoes rupturing loud enough to make Lala's eardrums ache. "Too bad this place is going to be devoid of life soon. I was hoping to have a little fun with the locals."
Blood rushed between her ears. She choked on a breath, asking, "Did you see what happened to them?"
"Hm? Was someone else here with you?" Ecolo kneed the rock. Sandy debris trickled down over limestones to the ground. "Well, nothing's moving under there, sooo..." They wrapped their arms behind their head and tucked in their legs. "I dunno! You tell me what it means."
Lala tensed. She drew in slow, shaky breaths. She meandered for a response, but Ecolo took the initiative away from her.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Nothing like an apocalypse to make things really exciting," they remarked, floating towards her. Their movements, which Lala deemed deliberately slow, agitated her already palpitating heart. She trembled, her thoughts in chaotic disarray, and she could only observe Ecolo moving around her as if she was part of the crumbling cave.
Clearing her throat, Lala jerked her head over her shoulder. Ecolo reached the entrance and looked at the sky. Her lips broke apart, words ready to jumble out, but no sound emerged. Instead, she ambled after them, the bones in her toes feeling splintered, not that Ecolo spared her a second glance when she yelped.
They stared at the sky. There, breaking between the clouds was the heroine, falling. Her body careened to the earth. Her cape whipped in the wind, but she never reached the ground. Instead, a massive, monstrous hand plunged through the sky and snatched her, each finger curling around her like a viper to its prey. The hand squeezed, dark blue veins popping against colorless skin. Arle screamed, her eyes bulging in her skull, tossing her head back as her jaw distended, her teeth stained with blood.
Lala roared her name and tried to move forward, but she stumbled. Ecolo caught her shoulder and steadied her. Their eyes remained on the battle. Lala leaned into them, Ecolo making no move to offer further assistance.
Tears bubbled along her eyelids. They flicked off her lashes when she blinked. She hiccuped and covered her face with both hands. Sobs wracked her entire body.
"I can't watch anymore," Lala moaned through Arle's wailing. "I just can't."
"Wow. How long have they been duking it out?" Ecolo wondered.
Lala's knees buckled. Bones cracked above her head. Arle's shriek pierced her heart, and she whipped her head up in time to see the hand dragging Arle into the clouds. Arle struggled to escape, summoning fireballs and ice gales to slash at the hand, but her fate was in the hand of God, who stole her away, just like He had done to everyone Lala loved.
"Arle!" Lala screamed, throwing her hand out. "No, no, no! Not her, too!"
"Your friend is powerful," Ecolo mused, rocking from side to side. "So, like I asked, how long have-?"
"Months!" she snapped, whirling around to glare at them. "Months, you stupid abomination! How dare you find enjoyment in all this? Everyone's dead!"
"Whoa-ho-ho!" Ecolo chortled and raised their hands. "Let's not get testy. I'm merely an observer in all this. I mean, I could cause a cataclysm this widespread, too, if that was my intention, but I don't do that anymore, not after my friend Ringie set me straight."
"'Ringie?' Ugh, nevermind!" She shook her head and dug her fingers into her palms. "You said you were a space-time traveler, right? Do something! Distort space and time and stop that monster from killing Arle!"
Ecolo hummed, clearly amused. "So, that is Arle! I didn't know she had it in her to fight against something like that. I was told she was powerful but not this powerful. If I had known this sooner, then maybe I'd go bother her more instead of Ringie."
Lala's eyes brightened, her lips twitching upwards. She had no concept of what they were saying, but she understood that they were a friend. At least, if Arle could tolerate their presence, then they must have been friends.
Hope filled her chest. A pleasant warmth blossomed from within her, something she hadn't felt in months. She could have soared from euphoria alone as she gazed at Ecolo, wondering if they had been a savior in the form of a strange entity.
"So, you'll help," she breathed out, clasping her hands together. She stepped closer, a stray laugh escaping her. "You'll help! You'll do something against that monster, right?"
Ecolo paused. The round orbs for their eyes widened. They pointed at themself, a dollop of black goo dripping from their mouth onto Lala's ankle.
The silence roared louder than the battles. Volcanoes erupted, and people wailed with their last breath. Heat hissed, fire crackled, rain pelted the earth, but none of that was louder than her heart thundering in her ears. Her request whispered past her lips again and again, her pleading more shrill than the goblins laughing as they gnawed on humans bones. Static and sirens pulsed in her ears as thunder cracked a whip of lightning across the clouds pitching to near darkness, but her scream echoed throughout the world.
"Help me!" Lala shrieked, clutching Ecolo's shoulders. She heaved with sobs, her voice cracking. "Don't float there! Help me! You're a space-time traveler, right? Can't you warp the Creator away to another dimension? Do it for Arle!"
Ecolo snickered and tossed their head back. "That guy is pretty huge," they mused in a sing-song voice. "I don't think even someone like me can take on a freak like that."
"But you're powerful, right? You must be able to-! I mean, what you said you were-!"
Ecolo snapped their attention back to Lala. "Don't get ahead of yourself, missy. I don't do requests." They hovered above her head, their grin stretching further into their round cheeks. "But I do whims."
"'Whims?'" she murmured, balling her hands into fists. She grit down on her molars, her brow throbbing. "I don't need cryptic nonsense! Just tell me if you'll help me or if you don't, then I'll beat you to death!"
"Oooh, a threat! But that's really boring, y'know? Totally cliché," Ecolo jeered. "If you said something like, 'Help me and I won't asunder your limbs from your flesh,' then I'd be more inclined to lend a hand! Kind of like what that Rulue girl says when someone wants to take her darling away."
"You know Rulue, too?" she cried, gripping her chin.
"I know all of Arle's friends. Just not..." Ecolo flicked her nose. "...you. You're the outlier. You're someone who-" They frowned. "Actually, I better not say that. It might upset you even more, and Ringo told me to work on my people skills."
"I don't give a rat's ass about Ringo! You said you're Arle's friend." She jabbed her finger at the sky. "Help me help her! Now! Please! I-!" She sniffled, emotion suddenly taking control. She hugged herself, digging into old bruises. "I can't. I can't do this anymore."
She sank to her knees again and buried her face into her hands. Months of brutality had finally worn her down. She was a scab, picked and picked until she finally bled. All of her pent up sorrow released in a deep, keening wail. Lala wished she had been born elsewhere, in a world where no one would touch her or her friends.
Ecolo's features softened. They landed before her and furrowed their brows. They placed their hands on their knobby knees and offered Lala a smile, one she would not see with her eyes squeezed shut.
"You've fought hard," they said, patting her shoulder. "I can tell by looking at you. Don't you think you deserve a happy ending?"
"Don't we all," she bitterly mumbled, shaking her head. "Help me. Oh, please, help me."
"'Help me,'" Ecolo repeated, crossing their arms. "Well, sure! I'll help you. Just keep your eyes shut if you're sensitive to bright lights."
Before she could question them, light blue electricity speared off Ecolo's body. They threw their arms in the air, but Lala could not watch. She clenched her eyes shut and pressed her fists over them. Heat blistered her skin, and her clothes ruffled, but suddenly, the ground was no longer beneath them. Her legs kicked out below her, hitting nothing. Gravity pinned in the air and refused to let her fall. Before she could open her eyes, everything burned white like a star's final glory before blinking out, and Lala withheld her voice and thoughts, believing if she spoke, the magic would fade.
A bird sung. Squirrels chattered. Honeysuckle filled her nostrils. She tasted sweetness on her tongue as she breathed through her mouth.
"Hey, you can look now," Ecolo chirped.
When she opened her eyes, she thought she was dreaming.
The forest was verdant. Lush, thick trees surrounded them. She was immersed in the scents of earth. The smell of rich moss and wildflowers wafted around her. She breathed in as deeply as she could. Purifying the toxins in her lungs with the scent of fresh soil, she watched dragonflies dance above her head. They swayed in the breeze, which chilled the sweat on her face, her clothes no longer sticking to her like a second skin.
No more monsters. No more battles. No more deaths. The world was exactly as it had been months ago before the reckoning.
"How do you like this place?" Ecolo asked, floating next to her. "Pretty nice, right? Lots of peace and quiet."
"It's over," she whispered, getting to her feet. She threw her arms out, laughing at the top of her lungs. She spun around, cheering in place and pumping her fists in the air. "It's over! He's gone! You did it, Ecolo!"
Ecolo grinned. "I sure did."
Lala spun around on her heels. She looked from left to right. Slowly, she brought her attention back to Ecolo, expression falling. She raised her hand to her chest, her smile uneven on her face. Lala smacked her lips together, the question right on the tip of her tongue.
"You told me to help you, so, I did!" Ecolo exclaimed, crossing their legs. "I teleported us to a new world far, far, faaar away from that nightmare." They jerked forward and clapped their hands on Lala's shoulders. "No need to thank me! Just your undying gratitude is all I want! Hahaha! Kidding, of course! Or maybe I'm not."
Air escaped her lungs. Her tongue twitched in the mouth. Unable to speak, Lala listened to the bluebirds sing in their nests.
"This is, hm, what's this place called at this point in time? Ta-Toon-Da?" Ecolo shrugged. "Eh, it doesn't matter. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends with the villagers. They can tell you everything. History isn't my specialty, you know?"
She worked her jaw, bones cracking in her ears. She pivoted on her heels and stared at the trees. Vines wrapped around them, leaves and flowers in full bloom. She sensed nothing but purity within the forest. Water bubbled in a nearby stream. A school of fresh silverfish freely swam. Frogs croaked and leaped across the tall grass, the squirrels dashing by with acorns stuffed in their mouth.
It was a perfect, harmonious world.
She dug her fingers into her scalp and screamed until she was raw.
Drool slipped from Ecolo's mouth when they cocked their head. "Huh? Is screaming like this normal in your world? Well, everyone was screaming when I was there, sooo..."
"Put me back!" she cried, lunging forward and clutching their hands. "I need to go home! Arle needs me! My friends-!"
"What friends?" Ecolo pulled their hands back as if she had dirtied them. "You told me they were all dead, and you begged me to help you. So, I did. I'm giving you the chance to make new friends." They gestured in all directions. "Go on, go on! Make lots of pals!" They chuckled. "No use in crying over cadavers. It's not like they were going to live forever." Ecolo paused and rubbed their chin, putting on their best contemplative mask. "Unless they were...? Was that the gimmick in your world?"
"But we were! My world-! It-! The headmaster, he-!"
She gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth. The headmaster! He hadn't crossed her mind in weeks. Where had he gone? Her concentration had been on protecting the magic students. In the chaos, the headmaster must have escaped, abandoning her and the rest of the student body to fend for themselves until only Lala and a handful of small children remained.
She hissed and raked her fingers through her scalp. "Something about an immortality spell? No one would think about growing old? And that's why the Creator wanted us all dead!" She bashed her fists into the ground. "I don't know! It wasn't our fault!"
Ecolo frowned and growled behind pursed lips. "Sheesh. You're kind of a handful." They shrugged. "Well, if that's the case, then you should have no problem waiting until the time comes. I mean, this place is loaded with cool people. I don't know them, but they'll come here eventually." They listed off their fingers. "There's that Amitie girl, the snooty girl with the pink hair, weird bug boy, and that teacher with the cat! You'll meet them all eventually. Stick around for a few hundred years until you get up to speed. Oh! Or learn to play Puyo and blast off to new worlds!
"What? Wait! No! 'A few hundred years?'" Lala bellowed, slamming her fists into the ground. "No! I don't care about any of them! I'd kill them if it means getting home! Now, take me back to Arle!"
"Sooorry, but things have changed for you. Hey, you should be thanking me." Ecolo grinned as kindly as they could, but to Lala, it was the sneer of a monster worse than the Creator who slaughtered millions with a snap of His fingers. "Without me, you'd be dead. Can't you look at it that way?"
"No, no, no! This isn't right! I didn't ask for this!"
"You said 'help me,' and I did."
"You-you-you-! You didn't-!" she sputtered and arched her back, her stomach churning. "You didn't help me!"
"I did!" Ecolo huffed. "I got you out of that nightmare. That's helping in a nutshell."
Dread filled Lala like the sands in the hourglass flowing into the bottom. Her vision swam and glassed over. She wanted to vomit and scream and kill them, rip their guts out from their round body and spread them across the grass.
"See you in about five hundred years for, but for me, I'll see you very soon. You gotta wait until time catches up with space," Ecolo suddenly said, dragging Lala out of her stupor.
"What? No, no, you can't leave me! You can't leave me like Camus did!" she wailed, reaching out for them.
"Anyway, try and get some sleep, okay? Have a nice dream tonight and for all the coming nights, too!"
Eyes widening, Lala thrust her hands out and lost her balance. She collapsed, eating the dirt. She spat out a wad of fresh soil and grass, her scream silenced in her throat. She watched, voice stripped from her as stardust twinkled around Ecolo's form. Electricity crackled around their hands, and they clapped them together, stars and lightning blinding her.
Their laughter echoed in her head. When she willed her eyelids to peel apart, Lala was all alone and broken to the core. She slumped to the ground, the sunlight falling on her pale face smeared with smog and blood.
And she laughed. She laughed and laughed and laughed even as tears dribbled down her gaunt cheeks.
"Sleep. Go to sleep. Wake up. Wake up." She slapped her face. "Sleep. Wake up. Sleep. Wake up. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Wake up, wake up! Wake up!" She dragged her cracked nails down her cheeks and neck, turning them raw and red. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
She laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed because she escaped the nightmare and entered a new one. She woke up when all she wanted to do was sleep. Go to sleep and wake up in the world she lived in and strove to save.
But she couldn't. Not anymore. No more dreams, no more sleep, no more waking up in Hell.
So she laughed at the absurdity of her own cowardice. She breathed fresh air while Arle's ribs cracked and gouged into her lungs. She rested in the sunlight while millions perished under violent elements.
This world had never known suffering. This world could never be hers, not this soft, pure, untouched world.
This was her happy ending, and the girl who would become the Witch of Nahe would sleep in her bed of roses, thorns and all.
In the stars, Ecolo laughed, too.
Because for them, the future played out in their head so perfectly that it was like making a new puzzle only for themself.
Sure, Lala would have to wait five hundred years, but they were assured she would make friends in the meantime. They had made friends throughout the eons of their existence, but people's lives were so short. They had to ensure they popped in at the right time, but even then, they were already forgotten. She should have been grateful to have the chance to make lots and lots of friends who wouldn't neglect her memory. She would recover.
Her world had its own peculiar rules and regulations. The Satan of that world must have been even stronger than the one living in the dimension they preferred. If he was able to grant everyone immortality through the guise of no one contemplating growing older, then Ecolo knew that more fun would be had with immortals from another similar dimension.
Certainly, they would make sure Lala was rewarded for her efforts. She seemed like a good girl, if rather ungrateful. They knew they stood no chance against someone with the power to decimate an entire world, something that girl should have realized the moment they met. Drowning a monster like that in Puyos? Their head would have been crushed like a grape before they could even summon the board.
They set out for the other Arle, but to their surprise, it was rather difficult. They could not go back the way they came. It was as if that dimension had been wiped clean off the galactic map. They searched through star systems and weaved past universes, hoping to find a clue to where she might have resided. They twisted through time and hopped through dimensions, annoying the so-called Keeper with their shenanigans, but a few Tetris battles kept him and his gang of intergalactic cronies at bay long enough for them to succeed.
When they found the Arle Nadja who defeated God nestled alone in the void that wasn't, a plan formed in their head while she spoke of the past they already knew.
It was going to be a happy ending for everyone involved.
But in that crevice of the universe, in a place lost to time and space with no color, they failed to realize the evils within loneliness.