Content warning: body horror*, implied character death, a brief flashback of Chapter 32 that includes verbal abuse
* Read the author's note in Chapter 30 for more information
Memory had enough instinct to cry, "Reverse!" and pull back the colliding puzzle pieces by a few seconds. His golden clock mask whirled as the rest of the world slowed. He grabbed both Illusion and the grayscale Sabre. It took all his might to teleport back to the Memory Dimension while still keeping this scene in reverse. Once the Memory Dimension and the island with the obsidian platform replaced the office, Memory released a breath and the world accelerated back to normal.
Boom! Illusion again smashed Sabre with the puzzle pieces and there was a pink burst of energy.
Memory quickly teleported himself and Illusion behind a tree. He pressed himself and his cousin into the tree, making sure every part of Illusion was shielded. Illusion held tight and trembled as the surroundings went ablaze with pink flashes and lilac dust clouds. The entire world was quaking and Memory's vision was disoriented, but he refused to fall.
The dust settled. Memory coughed and stepped back. Illusion still shuddered but looked at Memory, giving a nod to affirm that he was ok. Memory helped Illusion stand up and they both stepped into the open.
Since it was an explosion caused by Illusion, the island was still in one piece. No shifted dirt or any gashes or craters were seen. Sprawled on the ground were two people instead of one.
Sabre and Galaxy laid unconscious on the ground. Sabre's body flickered between grayscale and color, the red and yellow accents of his onesie returning. The last of the Shadow Stone was wearing off, as seen by the gray particles evaporating from Sabre. Between the two, a golden clock hovered on the ground. It was the clock that Alex gave to Galaxy, which was how Time Steve reversed Sabre even when he was out of the server. Illusion cautiously approached the two unconscious entities and snatched the hovering clock.
What the hell happened? Memory trudged as he followed Illusion, his legs trembling and the air feeling like gravel. Was it really over now? How in the world did they went from an grayscale abomination with submerging faces, to Sabre and Galaxy Steve unconscious on the floor, with no sight of –
"You...You...you little indecisive fool! How could you?! I thought you wouldn't be dumb enough to make the wrong decision and side with that child! You promised me that – "
Memory stumbled back to the tree. "Oh my Colors...what have I done?" He leaned against the tree to rebalance himself. His stomach felt ill. He scratched his gloves along the rough bark as the uneasy feeling in his heart swelled.
Footsteps approached him. "Memory?" Illusion asked.
Memory glimpsed at him. "What in the world just happened?"
"You helped me stop Void Steve!"
Memory flinched at Illusion's cheer. It was making him feel worse. "Oh Colors...I actually did..."
Illusion gave a worried look and reached out a hand. Memory jumped out of the way and ran a hand over his covered head as his breath accelerated. "Oh Colors, why did I do that? Why did I do that?" The world rumbled, but he barely noticed. Was it because this dimension had been torn so much already, or had this dread become one with normalcy? "Why did I – ?"
Illusion teleported in front of Memory and tackled him with a hug, causing Memory to flinch. "Memory, you saved me out there. I risked everything to stop Void and...you chose to save me."
Memory gawked at him, his breath still choppy.
Illusion embraced him harder. "You had the chance to bring back Void and allow him to destroy thousands of lives, like how my father used to enable him. But you didn't...Thank you."
Memory's heart warmed. All of his distress and unease began to wane, and he hugged Illusion back. He rested his head on Illusion's light blue hair, needing extra confirmation that he was actually there. That this truly was the decision he didn't regret. "I had to. You knew I had to save you."
They withdrew from the hug. Memory tapped his holographic clock mask, causing it to dissolve.
Illusion groaned and pinched his nose. "You kidnapped Sabre and Galaxy, endangered their lives, and shot an arrow at me. Yet, out of all the things that happened today, why am I the most upset that you never told me you had time powers?!"
Memory fidgeted his hands and awkwardly looked away. "It's been forever since I last used those powers...I didn't even know if it could work." Luck truly was a strange force. An unexpected, but perfectly timed event that helped you when you needed it most. Memory tested and pushed luck throughout his mission, probably even more than he pushed Sabre and Galaxy. He still couldn't comprehend how it pulled it all off.
Illusion perked up. "Can you teach me how to manipulate time?"
"Umm, maybe ask your brother to teach you?"
Illusion pouted, "I'd rather learn from you."
Memory was taken aback by the sudden warm wave of honor. He double facepalmed and grumbled, "You have to give your brother another reason to hate me, hmm?"
"Well maybe he just has to get over it."
Memory sighed and dragged his hands off his spiral mask. "Remind me next week. We can start with accelerating time on a furnace to make it smelt iron ore faster."
Illusion gave a fist pump. "Yessss."
The older Steve chuckled. "It won't be as exciting as you think it will. We'll mostly be staring at a furnace all day."
"Staring at a furnace all day with you is a hundred times better than everything I've been through today."
Memory smiled. The last of his unease evaporated, and his body suddenly felt droopy. "Gh!" He clenched his head which suddenly felt as heavy as an anvil. He fell face-first to the ground.
"Memory!" Illusion kneeled down and panicked.
Memory lifted his head up slightly to slip off his spiral mask and balaclava. He tucked his arms under his head like a pillow to rest on. His red eyes peeked through the arms that shielded his face. "...I'm tired."
Illusion gave a relieved, but irritated, sigh and sat crossed-legged next to Memory. "I'm surprised you haven't passed out sooner. How do you have so much energy?!"
"Maybe it's because I don't waste my energy flying around and making myself vulnerable in the sky like a moron."
Illusion scoffed and playfully punched Memory. He scanned the horizon of the Memory Dimension. The white fire still severed where the void sky and lava sea should meet, but its glow had dimmed from the damage Alex caused. Illusion then dropped his gaze and began to laugh.
Memory laughed with him. A slow, exhausted laugh, but equally as joyous.
Illusion teared up, but for a joyous reason. "We're both so stupid! It's a miracle that we both survived!"
"Even if we died, it's possible the Spiritless World will spit us back into the Overworld. It happened to me once."
"At least it's over. It's finally over and..." Illusion nervously eyed Memory. "You're not planning to revive Void again, right?"
Memory closed his eyes for a moment. "I can't endanger you ever again. I'm done."
Illusion narrowed his eyes. He summoned his inventory and withdrew the red flower crown. "Just in case, I'll let you know that I'm keeping this."
Memory tensed. He opened his mouth to argue but Illusion interrupted him.
"You know I'm doing this for your own safety. I know you always push yourself, and I'm worried that if you have these memories, you'll be tempted to try it again and endanger yourself. And well..." Illusion softened his gaze. "I refuse to put you into a cycle of pain."
Memory looked conflicted but eventually sighed in defeat. "Fine. Take it."
Illusion gave an approving nod and placed the crown back in his inventory. He released a sigh, as if he had been pressed down all his life and was finally given his first gulp of fresh air. He laid down, also resting his head on his arms like a pillow. "Ugh, while Galaxy Steve's in dreamland, I'm gonna catch up on sleep." His eyes got heavy, and he soon passed out.
Memory fixed his gaze on the grass. The image of Illusion putting away the crown kept replaying in his mind. In each replay, more of his distress returned and his stomach twisted. And the louder Void's voice became in his mind. "I...I feel like I've made a mistake." He shifted his resting position. "I truly am incompetent."
Illusion shot his eyes wide open and gave a super intense scowl that bore into Memory. "You-you erased the memories of thousands, fought Time across multiple worlds, and gave me more stress in this one day than all of my life, and you have the nerve to say you are the worst?!"
Memory jolted into a sitting position. "I'm sorry!"
Illusion sat up with him. "You better be! You gave me hell, so don't you dare tell me that was incompetent." He took a deep breath to calm himself.
An electric buzz of glitches broke the silence.
Memory and Illusion snapped their gazes back to Sabre and Galaxy. They gasped when Sabre grunted and got up on his own accord. The gray matter that coated his body melted away, but what was left wasn't Sabre's natural colors. When the gray coating fell off, parts of Sabre's onesie and his own flesh peeled off with it. Sabre's bear arms shuddered. With no more shape, they had become black goop with a few green 1s and 0s in them.
Illusion stumbled up. "Oh no!"
Memory cursed. He knew that merging Sabre with Galaxy was a risk, but he never expected Sabre would come out of this mess looking like that.
Sabre finally regained his balance and looked around the dimension, his back against Memory and Illusion.
"Oh God..." Illusion could only say.
Sabre flinched and whirled around. His bandana slipped off, so his pure white eyes blazed with shock. Then he relaxed and his eyes dimmed. "Oh! Oh it's you. You're scaring me." Half of his face began to chip away, transforming into 1s and 0s before fading into oblivion.
"What's happening?!" Illusion gave Memory a panicked plea. "Can you fix it?!"
Memory tried to get up, but he gave a weak cry and fell back to his knees. He was low on energy.
Sabre's signature crooked smile remained plastered on his face despite his body unraveling into something so frail. "What are we going to do, man?" He asked before inspecting the dimension again. But he wasn't looking at anything in particular. Was he even aware of his surroundings?
Illusion withdrew two potions of strengths from his inventory and gave one to Memory. "Time gave these to me!"
Memory accepted the potion and drank it, while Illusion drank the other potion. Energy coursed through Memory, and he got up without any trouble. "Maybe the machine can help!" He grabbed Sabre, who barely protested and actually gave a soft laugh. Memory shot the player a concerned look. He teleported him onto the platform and locked him into the cobblestone machine.
"...Ok," Sabre said. "Ok um, that's not a good way of moving forward with the plan, man."
Illusion joined Memory on the platform. Sabre suddenly turned his head to Illusion, frightening the Steve. Half of his face was gone, but his grin was still as bold as ever despite how exhausted his eyes looked. "We gotta look for a Steve here."
Sabre glitched again. The glitches snagged onto the machine's redstone wiring and unlocked the pistons. The player wobbled and fell forward.
"NO!" Memory and Illusion rushed forward to catch him, but they were too late.
Sabre hit the obsidian floor and crash!, his entire body shattered. He transformed into a black puddle with a burst of green 1s and 0s.
Memory and Illusion collapsed in front on the puddle, which slowly faded away. They shot horrified, speechless expressions at each other.
"Oh my..." Memory brushed a hand across where Sabre's remains used to be. Bile formed in his gut and the rest of his body felt cold. "Under the Six Eyes..."
Thunder. Memory flinched as his vision glitched. Rectangle entities burst out of the lava and circled the island. They glitched madly before disappearing. Sabre's account and the Memory Dimension have unmerged.
Illusion screeched at the heavens. "WHAT?!" He grabbed Memory and shook him frantically. "DID WE JUST FREAKING KILL SABRE?! YOU HAVE TIME POWERS! CAN YOU REVERSE IT?!"
Memory flicked his hands. He tried to summon two arrows, but they kept blinking and fading away before they fully formed. "I-I can try and – "
Illusion suddenly hissed, "Shit, it won't work! Sabre's not a Steve! It only worked last time because he had the clock embedded in him, but it's not anymore!"
Memory dropped his hands and looked at them in horror. "What have I done..." He trembled as he began to tear up.
"No!" Illusion interrupted. "Sabre's too important! He can't be gone that easily! He died before but came back! He has his account!"
"But did he ever look like that before dying?"
Illusion looked away with uncertainty. "Well, no. When I analyzed his memories, I've never seen him look like that...Wait, that's it! My analysis of Sabre's memories doesn't give us the answer, but..." He looked ahead at the horizon. "Maybe I can find the answer from their memories."
"What do you mean?"
"Many of Sabre's fans are players like him. So if anyone knows what happens to a player when they're destroyed, even when they look like...that...it would be them. Can we at least try?"
Memory looked at the horizon with uncertainty. He knew most of the entities were too exhausted from dealing with Alex to be summoned again. Well, except a few...
He drew out his hand. Lightning struck the island, and a handful of flowers sprouted. But a few rogue lightning strikes hit the lava sea, causing small islands to rise from the lava. The small islands formed dimmer glowing, worn out flowers.
The flowers on the obsidian platform island morphed into humanoid shapes. The flowers on the smaller islands attempted to transform, but they failed.
Illusion's hopeful expression was suddenly replaced with fear and he jumped behind Memory. Memory assured, "These entities didn't attack you even when I commanded them to. So don't worry."
"Yeah," one of the entities agreed. "We're just vibing."
Illusion stepped back out to the open. "Hey, I recognize one of these people..." He climbed down the platform, with Memory following him. Illusion slowly approached the entities as if he were approaching a group of hostile mobs, eyeing one of the entities in particular. That certain entity perked up and gave a friendly wave. He wore a hat with a bill. The entity was pure white, but the gray outlines detailed his features, like his curly hair and the vest he wore.
Illusion shapeshifted into Rainbow Steve. He hesitated for a moment before speaking in Rainbow's voice, "Hey! I'm Rainbow Steve here and today I'm joined here by FavreMySabre and..."
"I'm gonna steal your eggs," the entity responded.
Illusion perked up and shed off his Rainbow disguise. "Lucas Spike! He was the second most active player on the server!"
Lucas added, "It's ok, Rainbow Steve. Fake Lucas and Fake Sabre will be waiting for us while we're out gathering materials." He was very calm.
Illusion rolled his eyes. "He is so much nicer than Sabre! Why can't he be the star of the series? Anyways, if there's anyone who knows the most about Sabre, it's Lucas. If we combine my memory analysis power and your memory viewing power, we can look through Lucas's memories, figure out more about Sabre, and confirm what happened to him."
Memory nodded in agreement. He gestured Lucas to walk away from the other entities. He and Illusion circled around Lucas and readied their powers. The Lucas entity began to unravel and transform into a bunch of tiny white flowers. Memory used his powers to hold the flowers in place. Illusion typed into the air and furrowed his brows. Some of the flowers turned pink and glowed fiercely, bringing the two cousins into a vision.
Lucas had finished work and wanted to unwind by playing some Minecraft. So he entered his office, logged onto Minecraft, joined a server, and found a minigame to play.
One hand tapped competitively on the keyboard. The other clicked strategically with the mouse. He was having a blast, playing a minigame that seemed to be about running a race and surviving booby traps. He was elated when he snuck past a bunch of players and made his way into second place. He was so close to the current first place runner. He just had to keep running and avoid falling to his death to keep his current distance, and hope that the first place runner would eventually make a mistake that would hand him victory!
Come on...come on, He focused. The race was almost over. He just had to –
Flash!
Lucas was engulfed by a pale yellow space.
He panicked. What's going on?! Lucas frantically looked around, but there was nothing else to see in this empty yellow space. He couldn't feel around for his desk or chair. "Hello?!" He called out. His voice echoed.
Then a ruffling of feathers broke the silence. Lucas gasped when he saw the surroundings shimmer, realizing that this yellow space was actually a wall of pale-yellow feathers that were now beating in a frenzy. Lucas was knocked back by the force of the billion wings. The pale wings shifted and revealed a dark figure.
The figure looked as distress as the wings connected to their back. They hissed in pain as they pressed their hands against their face. Wait, not hands. The figure had wings instead of arms attached to their shoulders.
Lucas gulped. "Hey, are you alright?!"
The mysterious figure turned to Lucas, who had to muffle down a scream when an alien face stared back at him. The figure had six eyes: three on the left side flared white with surprise and the three on the right side were bloodied gashes.
The figure shouted and covered their bloodied right half with a smaller wing.
Flash!
Lucas gasped. He felt the desk chair beneath him and his arms on his desk. He patted his face and chest multiple times. Once he confirmed he was still in one piece, he slumped into his desk chair and gave a huge sigh of relief.
What just happened? Who was that guy in that vision? He knew it was from Minecraft by the blocky shapes of that guy, but why did that guy look so different?
Lucas mulled over it more, and eventually, he connected the dots. "So, guess Elan finally defeated them. Heh, should I text him congratulations? Or will it be too complicated to explain how I knew about it?"
He heard jingles and fireworks from the computer. He sat back up and gawked when he saw that he ended up in last place in the racing minigame. He groaned. "Elan, I'm proud of you, but did you have to beat them while I was in the middle of my own game?"
Lucas was waiting in line in a café when he got a text from Sabre. He withdrew his phone and replied to the message.
Sabre: Do you still have access to your Minecraft account?
Lucas: Ye.
Sabre: Is it ok if I borrow your account for my channel?
Lucas: Why? You're not planning to use my account to troll someone and pin the blame on me, right?
Sabre: lol, no. It's actually for a more serious reason. There's a chance that I'll lose my FavreMySabre Minecraft account. I still have the WheezyCheesy account, but I'd like to have another backup account just to feel safe.
Lucas: Woah, how did you lose your account?!
Sabre: Steve Saga. I think THEY got involved again.
Lucas paled and stared fearfully at his phone. No freaking way! Yeah, those six had the ability to hurt the 7th emotionally and mentally. But to physically harm the actual account? That should be impossible!
Lucas: Oh God, what happened to your account?
Sabre: Basically, I died in-game from the current evil Steve (Void). But instead of respawning or being saved from something else, I think my character actually died and is now trapped in a Parallel World where I can't break blocks. I can't do anything to escape, not even disconnect or use cheats!
Lucas: They HIJACKED your ability to respawn?!
Sabre: I guess?!
The lady behind Lucas gave an irritated cough. Lucas looked up and realized that there was empty space ahead of him in the line. He embarrassingly moved forward. He was still horrified by what Sabre was implying. If they could alter an account's ability to respawn a player, could a player permanently lose their account? Lucas was thankful that it was just a game and no physical harm would happen in the real world (or, at least he didn't want to even think about that possibility).
Why were they going that far? Were they catching on Sabre's ultimate plan and making his respawning ability more complicated to spite him?
Lucas: Is there a way you can fix your account?
Sabre: There's another...person in the Parallel World called the Overseer. I'm using my account to talk to him and try to persuade him to help my avatar escape the Parallel World. If it works, my account will hopefully be fine. If not, well, I'll have no choice but to use a backup account. Rainbow and Galaxy need me.
Lucas: Got it. I'll text you my account information when I get back home. Ttyl.
Sabre and Lucas never filmed when it was night in the Steve Saga. With the Rainbow Wings, they would now reach that place faster than ever before, which meant that they could visit them more often and get back to the Rainbow Town before Rainbow Steve noticed.
Sabre and Lucas flew until they arrived at the dark green plains biome where it all began. They landed and walked until they found the artificially made cape that extended into the ocean. At the end of the cape still stood the three machines made out of redstone, lapis, and emerald. The wall of water still bordered the cape, and when Sabre and Lucas approached the machines, it began to rain.
"Rain doesn't happen suddenly unless someone is controlling it," Lucas commented.
"That's a sign that they're listening." Sabre yanked off his blindfold. Lucas flinched, Sabre's bright white eyes nearly blinded him. He wasn't used to Sabre's new appearance yet.
Sabre scoped the area, his eyes emitting a beam of light on patches of rain, forming a reflection of a rainbow.
"Listen!" Sabre called out. "This series was always meant to show how to summon and make Steves! I know some Steves naturally don't get along with others, but I never wanted it to go as far as one of them killing a Steve! I changed my mind!"
Sabre turned around again. This time when the light bounced colors off the rain, the colors twisted into humanoid, animated figures. The figures moved and reenacted horrifying things. The figures taunted and struck lightning at each other, while one certain figure only watched in horror.
When the scene ended, the figures reverted back into a curved rainbow that only moved when Sabre's gaze moved. Sabre frowned in dismay. "Please, I just want a world where the Steves can live peacefully."
The rainbow flashed, and Sabre perked up. "Wait, you guys agree with me?! Oh, thank goodness!"
The rainbow flickered away and was replaced with a screen, which displayed a vibrant landscape carved by a river. One grassy area near the river held a hut made entirely out of white glass blocks. The hut was only made out of supporting beams, with no walls at all, and had a colorful garden next to it.
Lucas choked back a sob when the screen showed a bed in the hut's center, where Light Steve was sleeping blissfully. Sabre nearly whimpered.
The screen zoomed out of the landscape. Six white feathery wing sprouted out from the screen and wrapped around the display tenderly.
Sabre gasped. "Damn it, they found a loop hole in my request. You guys are really stubborn." He faced Lucas sadly. "I'm sorry, but he's not coming back."
"What?!" Lucas huffed and glared at the screen. "Listen, you've seen the Rainbow Town and all the potential it has! We don't need a different world as an afterlife where Steves can live peacefully when the Rainbow Town can be that world! I promise you that we can do some really interesting stuff with it once we populate it with a bunch of Steves and – "
The rain suddenly stopped, and the screen disappeared with it.
Lucas huffed and crossed his arms. He had a feeling this would happen, but he was still offended that they were ignoring him. He may not be the true 7th of this world, but he was still a player like Elan!
Sabre also huffed in frustration. That caused the rain to return. "Can you at least tell me why you refuse to change?! Why can't things go back to the way it was: back when it was all about curiosity and wonder, not all this panic and chasing around?"
The rainbow following Sabre's gaze flickered away, replaced by six circles: each a solid color. Magenta, blue, red, cyan, green, and yellow.
The yellow circle shuddered. Lucas flinched and held his breath. He's the one who's on our side...
Scratch! A cyan "X" slashed through the yellow circle, severing it into two. The yellow circle shattered into smaller pieces and poofed.
Sabre paled. "What?! ...How could you destroy one of your own?!" He turned to Lucas, his expression horrified. "They have their own plans now, and I don't like that."
Lucas looked down sadly. "And it had to be him..."
Sabre snarled and closed his eyes. "Fine! Have it your way!" He stormed away from the cape and back to the mainland. The rain slowed down and eventually ceased.
Lucas ran after him. "Sabre, wait!"
"It's no use, Lucas. The only thing we can do is do our best to save all the Steves. It'll be a constant challenge, because higher stakes will be inevitable." Sabre looked up. His eyes flared with vengeance before he covered them up with his blindfold. "If they want higher stakes, they'll have to bring in stronger villains, and they'll eventually make themselves vulnerable. Soon we'll eventually bite back to show them who's boss..."
The cloud-infested skies dimmed the entire town. Even the rainbow-colored trees looked dull and gloomy. And the air was lifeless, no leaves rustling or any wind chimes ringing. The only thing breaking the silence was Rainbow Steve, who was whimpering as he knelt down next to a white tombstone.
Lucas, who was watching from a distance, turned to his companion and whispered. "He really misses him."
Sabre looked down, conflicted. He had been conflicted ever since Light Steve's demise. He had also been stressed a lot too. He had been overthinking every block to place, how many trees to grow in the town, and how to divide the floors of the Rainbow House.
Lucas, for the fourth time this week, asked again, "Is there anything you need to get off your chest, man?"
Sabre winced. "What am I going to do? I started this series just hoping to discover more about the Steves. But then I got even more curious and wondered where they all came from, but I didn't want this to happen!"
Lucas sighed. He blamed Dark Steve for Light Steve's demise. But deep inside, he knew there was a greater force ultimately determining the fate of these characters, even the ones he had grown attached to.
"So do you change your mind about the direction your taking this world?" Lucas asked.
Sabre nodded. "But I already told you: this world is...different." He scanned the area before whispering the next few words. "They gained a mind of their own and know what's going on, and they refuse to back down on the orders I gave them. I can't control them."
Lucas patted his friend's shoulder. "Yeah, but there's two of us! And one of them are on our side and would agree with us. I can come with you tonight and help you try to undo this, if you want."
Sabre smiled. "Thanks, man..."
Memory and Illusion gasped and snapped out of the vision. They gave each other dumbfounded looks.
Memory asked, "What the hell were they talking about?"
Illusion threw his head up in frustration. "That answered nothing!" He glared at the flowers. "Lucas, I take it all back! I don't like you more than Sabre!"
Memory's hands shook as he reformed the flowers back to the Lucas entity. "So we don't know if Sabre's alright..."
"Look, we didn't get a definitive answer, but we learned that it's possible for the real player to be fine, even if their avatar or account gets severely damaged. Sabre was able to communicate with Lucas even when his avatar was destroyed and sent to the Parallel World!"
"But we didn't actually see Sabre in that memory. How can we be sure?"
Illusion muttered. "I know. But regardless of his fate, only the people from his world like Lucas can help Sabre now. But it's impossible for them to check on his wellbeing if they don't know who he is."
"So you're suggesting that..." Memory looked back at the islands with tattered flowers. When realization dawned on him, he entered a defensive stance. "You don't mean..."
"We have to return the memories of the Sky People."
"But there must be another way we can help Sabre!" Memory desperately glanced at Galaxy, who was still unconscious. "Maybe he has insight! Yes, I'm willing to work with your father if it means we can help Sabre without restoring the memories!"
Illusion shook his head. "There's no avoiding it. I was planning to restore their memories anyways, regardless of how we help Sabre."
Memory grew even more nervous. "I can never come across another opportunity like this. Please don't erase what I've already gained from this. I will never gain a peace of mind again if they know who I am!"
"You stole these memories from innocent people. Yes, they did know who you were, but was that really a crime? It's nothing compared to what you just did to them. Yes, I know you're afraid of what other people think about you. But if you spent the rest of your life not getting to know new people...you'd never get to befriend me..."
Memory paused. "But you're different. It's, umm..." He dipped his head, trying to hide how stupid he felt. He tried to tear apart Illusion's argument, but he only found more reasons on why Illusion was correct.
Illusion must had noticed, because he responded with, "I don't know how to fix this because my powers can't affect people who are outside of this world, but I know you can probably fix it. Please do the right thing and return the memories."
"But why should I? Why should we put so much effort to save Sabre and his kind? You remember how bitter you felt about Sabre holding back his player abilities and about players in general. So why are you putting so much effort to save them? Those people will eventually create new memories and won't miss what they've lost."
Illusion stumbled back, betrayal and hurt in his eyes. "So, despite everything, you're..."
Memory nodded. "Despite everything, I'm still a villain. That's all I've ever known."
Illusion shook his head furiously. "Yes, I used to be bitter about players, but I don't want to think like that anymore! Please, if you won't restore their memories for their sake or for Sabre's sake, at least restore them for me!"
Memory grimaced. He wanted to say how sorry he was, but he raised a hand, and thunder roared in the distance. All of his careful consideration on Illusion's words vaporized. Adrenaline and fear hijacked his body, and he channeled his power into the forming lightning.
Illusion gasped and watched as lightning struck the neighboring small islands. When the lightning struck, the bright flowers shriveled up and morphed into regular, organic flowers. "No!" Illusion spawned and hurled a puzzle piece at Memory.
"Ah!" Memory grunted in pain and the lightning ceased. "Why are you doing this?!"
Illusion hovered into the air. His unbound hair swayed in the sudden wind. "I'm a hero now!" He announced, trying to keep his voice steady. "And yeah, that means I'm also a fool who'll try to save everyone! I wish it was easy for you to see why I do these things now!"
Memory recovered from the shock. He launched his hands up, but Illusion also threw his hands forward. Before he could resummon lightning, Memory cried and clenched his head, his mind suddenly surging with a flurry of thoughts. The flurry of unrelated thoughts paralyzed him from making a move, but soon all the forced thoughts united into one voice that begged him to back down.
Illusion winced. "I had to force Galaxy Steve to see happiness in his life because I didn't know what else to do...I'm sorry I have to do the same to you. But one day, I will figure out how to solve all my messes, and I want you to be around so you can see how far I'll go."
"Get out of my head!" Memory pried out the words.
Illusion trembled and lowered his hands. "I can't! I can't do this to you."
Memory fell to his knees, immediately gasping for breath. With his mind cleared, only one thought roared. I had one chance to get these memories. I only have one chance to keep them.
Only one chance to destroy them all and make them permanently inaccessible.
But it's impossible if he keeps interfering.
Memory pounced up and grabbed Illusion by the neck. Illusion shut his eyes and cried out as the Memory Dimension blinked away.
Memory teleported himself and Illusion out of the Memory Dimension and back into the blue-skied Illusion Town. Underneath the shade of the Illusion Tree, Memory raised Illusion higher. Illusion dangled as he tried to summon energy to teleport away, but Memory kept shaking him to break his focus. It was bizarre to think that the last time they were underneath the Tree, they were having a peaceful conversation and becoming close friends.
Illusion winced and kept his eyes shut as he continued trying to pry Memory's grip off. Memory waved his free hand to make sure any Overworld portals to the Memory Dimension were shut down. "You're going to stay here, and don't bother trying to get into my dimension this time. Without Alex to help you make your own way in, the memories are inaccessible."
Illusion glared at Memory. "Please don't do this! I don't want to – " His frantic expression vaporized and his eyes widened in fear. "Memory...your powers..."
Memory tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "What about them? Why do you – " He gasped, a horrible feeling dropping into his gut. "No..." He gently set down Illusion. He trembled as he slowly stepped back. He shook his head madly in denial, but refused to break eye-contact with Illusion. "No...Oh no no no..."
I'm only able to interact with others and still use my memory powers when I'm in the Memory Dimension. I've had my memory powers free and not held back by the illusion powers throughout my mission.
And I teleported myself and Illusion out of the dimension. Without first blocking my memory powers.
And we just made eye contact.
"Illusion!" He quickly cried out, desperate to prove his own thoughts wrong. "What do you remember?!"
"Everything, because I haven't looked away yet!" Illusion quickly answered. His eyes twitched in a desperate attempt to not blink. "Can you block your memory powers?!"
"I'm so sorry," Memory whimpered, still backing away. His eyes began to water from being open for so long. The fact that he badly wanted to cry wasn't helping at all. He tried to think about blocking his memory powers, but all of his mental energy was being used to keep his eyes open.
Illusion raised his hands up. "It's ok! Don't blink yet! I can block them for you using the Illusion Tree! Just stay calm and – "
Memory made a terrible mistake by taking another step back, walking into a certain area where some of the sun rays leaked through the Illusion Tree's colorful branches, and one of the rays hit his exposed eyes. He cried out in pain and tore his eyes away.
"Memory!" Illusion lost all of his focus and also blinked.
The world flashed white and Memory fell unconscious.
Memory woke up and pushed himself to a sitting position. He cringed from the bright sunlight. He put on his balaclava and spiral mask to dim his surroundings. He then realized he was in the plains biome outside of the Illusion Town.
Memory froze, realizing what had just happened. "No...NO!"
After using his illusion powers to block his memory powers, and making extra sure that they were blocked, Memory got up and teleported to the entrance of the Illusion Town. His heart thumped when he spotted Illusion, lying on the grass unconscious near the Tree.
"Illusion!" He sprinted to his cousin and shook him by the shoulder. "Oh, please, please! I'm begging you to surprise me again!"
How did it come to this? Moments ago, Memory was determined to wipe an entire world's memory of him. Now he was begging for one person to remember him. One person he had taken for granted. How could he let his anxiety and fears transform into an obsession that hurt his friend, like how he had hurt many others before?
"Ugh..." Illusion got and rubbed his head. Memory nervously stepped back, holding his breath.
Illusion first noticed the Illusion Tree and jumped back. "What the hell is that? That is not a welcoming sight."
Memory coughed to get his cousin's attention.
Illusion turned around with an irritated glare, which slowly morphed into confusion. "...And you are?"
Memory stumbled back. "No..." The pure confusion in Illusion's voice broke his heart in a way that no arrow, sword, or potion ever could.
Illusion's confused expression morphed into annoyance. "Ugh, don't waste my time." He hovered in the air. "I have no idea where I've spawned, but my instincts tell me I have a mission to fulfill. I need to figure everything out."
"Illusion, please wait!" Memory cried out but the young Steve flew past the Town's walls. Then Memory paused. He didn't recognize the Tree, and he acted like he...Wait, why did I pass out in that plains biome?!
Memory felt even sicker. I used a lot more energy to teleport myself and Illusion out of my dimension. My memory powers must had leeched some of that extra energy, making a more powerful memory erasure and...
He brought his hands up and summoned a flower. He winced when raw red light flared into existence above his hand. The light morphed and solidified into a flower. Instead of a blue forget-me-not, the flower was a red zinnia, its cluster of petals blooming in layers.
Memory trembled. "This can't be..." He scooted and backed away from the zinnia. But the zinnia snaked through the air to follow him until it forced itself into his hands. He felt the cold petals, and his guilt skyrocketed.
Illusion's a young Steve and doesn't have that many memories, so it didn't take as much energy to...
Memory fell to his knees. He bent down, pressing the zinnia to his face, and sobbed.
I've erased all of Illusion's memories.
"What have I done? What have I done?" He sobbed. "Why did I let myself become such a fool?!" He regretted his entire plan to erase the Sky People's memories. He hated himself for allowing his emotions to get the better of him. If he had resisted, none of this would had happened.
Thunder.
Memory jolted as he felt a familiar energy.
It's him. Did he finally reenergize? And unlike before, he was actually pleading to the Colors that he could fix this mess.
Memory dried his eyes, stored away the zinnia, and dashed after that sound. He reentered the plains biome and skidded to a halt when he saw Time Steve.
Time had caught Illusion midflight and was currently having a conversation with him. Illusion only gave him a confused expression and some hostile words before soaring away.
Time quickly flew in front of him and muttered, "Reverse!"
Illusion flinched and Time's clock mask spun. Illusion struggled a bit before slapping Time. "Get back! I don't have time for this!"
As Time recovered from the slap, Illusion soared away. Time's gaze followed the younger Steve until he disappeared from sight. Time slowly landed on the ground. His back was against Memory, his gaze still fixed on Illusion's last position in the sky.
Memory gulped down his nervousness. "T-Time, I'm – "
Time clenched his hands into fists. Thunder trampled and lightning zapped the ground, sending it ablaze with golden fire. "First Elemental. Then me. And now Illusion?" He whirled around. The clock mask gave ominous clicks that echoed like a gong, despite the space being open. "How much more pain will you give this family?"
Memory jumped back with pleading fear. "Time, I can explain!"
"There is no explaining for this! You're a monster. All you do is split my family apart!"
"Just remember, Memory Steve, you made me do this."
"Your incompetence is why I have no choice but to split this family further. But I suppose that's life: a disappointment I have to work around."
"I didn't mean to!" Memory cried.
Time stomped forward. "I don't care what Illusion used to see in you. You'll pay for this!"
"No!" Memory turned around and began to run. "NO!" He teleported away. This time, instead of his typical silence, he left behind a cacophony of thunder.
Word count: 7067
Guess what, guys?
RRFF is back on hiatus, wooooooooo!
Though the only reason RRFF's going on hiatus is because I failed to achieve my editing goals, so sorry about that :'D
I will try to post a status update about when RRFF will return in July or August (on Wattpad and DeviantArt).
Thank you for reading. Take care and stay safe.