"Okay...we're about to go into our friend's past...maybe it won't be so bad." Hope said, not really believing what he was saying as he opened the door.
The group found themselves in a run down house, on the first floor. In front of them, a set of rickety stairs leading up seemed to beckon them up.
"Guys, before we do this…" Eddy said. "Let's just agree to… prepare for the worst, okay?"
"I'm ready." Hope said.
The group started up the stairs, each step creaking as they ascended the stairs. Once up, they saw a long hallway leading to a single door, faint light coming from it. They heard the voice of a woman speaking to someone.
"Why did you leave, Mark? Am I not enough for you?" the voice seemed to echo across the hall. "It's a good thing I found you when I did. You know you could've died out there, right?"
Without a word, the group walked down the hall, getting closer to the door, their dread rising with each step.
"Look at me, Mark… LOOK AT ME!" the voice yelled, an aura of darkness radiating from the door.
"Th-that ain't you, is it P-Panty?" Gemini asked.
"H-Hell no, it's not." Panty shivered. "That's probably just p-part of the trauma. But… that isn't no voice that I know."
"Please don't be what I think it is, please don't be what I think it is…" ZS repeated to himself.
The group stood in front of the door, Hope taking point. With hesitation, he grabbed the handle and opened the door slightly, peering into the room.
Inside, a woman in her late 20's was standing over a younger Mark, the boy looking scared and despondate as the woman smiled with no warmth.
"Get the hell away from him you monster!" Ace yelled.
Neither of them reacted to Ace's declaration, as if it wasn't said at all.
"This isn't a mindscape like the others… this is a memory." Pearl said. "There's… nothing we can do."
"You know, this is the third time you've run away this month, isn't it Mark?" the woman smirked at the young boy. "Well, that's no good at all. Maybe I haven't given you enough. Maybe… I need to give you a bit more."
The woman leaned down to Mark's level, the boy flinching back as she forcefully grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him closer to her.
"Come on, don't be scared…" the woman said as she threw Mark onto a nearby cot. "You should be happy. After all, this is why I love you. I'm the only one who does. If you can't love me… then you're worthless."
The woman started to undress herself…
The group found themselves back in the void, only one door left, all of them horrified.
"Oh, Mark…" Ace said, with a hand over his mouth as tears poured down his cheeks.
"...FUCK!" Eddy yelled as he slammed the ground over and over. "...Fuck. That bitch… she… she did that to our big bro!" he cried.
"Mark….you carried all of that inside you and still carried on to this point…" Jexi growled as tears fell from his eyes. "You aren't worthless...you're incredible...to withstand that much trauma and still act like nothing has happened."
"Mark… you're incredible." Hope said, tears in his eyes.
"So you saw." a voice said as Ira appeared in front of them. "Now you know why Mark has paraphobia. Why he got so angry at those two nobles, and why seeing what Gabe was gonna do to Sinon broke me out. Let me just say… that's something I could never do; carry all that in me and still hold out as long as he did."
"So this last door...I can only guess it has all the trauma he's built up from that day to this day right?" Jexi asked.
"Yep." Ira said. "Listen… I know what you saw probably got you all pissed. So… let me offer you a warning. You can't destroy trauma. If you could, things would be a lot easier. No, the only way to defeat trauma… is to keep it locked away in your mind where it won't bother you all the time. And the only one who can lock this away… is the kid."
"Yeah...I understand." Jexi said as they headed towards the final door. "Ira...what will happen to you once all this is over?"
Ira only smiled. "...Now that would be telling, wouldn't it? Don't worry about it… just save the kid. He's got a happy life ahead of him, after all."
"We will, I think my other selves would say the same too." Ace said.
"Yeah. Now...hang on Mark...we're going to finish this." Jexi said.