Yayaka
I grabbed onto Yuyu's hand the instant I realised we were falling. I've been separated from others in Pure Illusion before, and it was bad enough having to deal with that once. I didn't want to risk that happening all over again.
Especially when Yuyu didn't have her gauntlet and couldn't defend herself.
Hell, I don't have my rocket belt or my armour or anything…
...We don't have any weapons at all.
Shit.
I could only pray the world we ended up in wasn't hostile…
The landing was soft, but cold. Not snow though, the ground was pretty solid, we were just lucky that the Hole only made us fall two inches, so I'd consider it a soft landing. Softer than landing in my room at Asclepius at least.
I got to my feet (my legs don't quite seem to hurt as much anymore, not sure how, but not complaining) and quickly took a note of our surroundings. The others weren't here, so maybe they were warped somewhere else in this place. There didn't seem to be any immediate danger, which I was glad about. It looked a little like we were standing inside an old factory or a temple or something, but entirely underground. The walls were metal, shades of gleaming bronze, brass and copper. Solid, round pillars held up the ceiling, which had circular patterns cut into it, a little like those diagrams you'd see of the orbit of the planets around the sun. There were a few blocky statues that stood in the corners of the area, including some upside-down on the ceiling, shaped a little like animals... And I mean, only a little like animals. They looked blocky, as if rather than whatever made them taking the time to carve them into smooth shapes, that they had the metal bars ready, and instead melded them together until they vaguely resembled a creature with four legs. Everything in this area could well have been natural occurrences, (It's Pure Illusion, so who friggin' knows?) but the fact there seemed to be things that were purposefully constructed suggested we might not be alone in this world.
Despite the warm colours of the surroundings, there was a chill in the air. I wrapped my arms around myself to try and keep warm. I wish I had my Asclepius armour... I don't think it'd do too much good in this situation, as Yuyu managed to punch out the temperature regulator on it, so I'd probably be just as cold, but still, it'd probably be better for handling the cold than my school uniform... And that made me think, the twins haven't been bothered by hot or cold weather before, but now I think about it, almost every time we've been to Pure Illusion, they've been wearing their armour... And now Yuyu's here, without it, and without her arm, for probably the first time...
"Hey, Yuyu, how're you holding up?" I asked, spinning around to face her. She was still flopped on the ground, not having gotten up since landing here. Even though we only fell a short distance, the impact was enough to shatter some of the plaster on Yuyu's cast (which I noticed was a little damaged before we even arrived here) leaving powdery shards on the ground, and exposing some of her bad arm.
"Alive," she responded, her face expressionless, before a little shudder ran through her body "...Cold," she added. I guess the twins do get hot and cold after all. The cast could actually have been useful here, and helped keep her arm warm... damn. Well, it was still in the cloth sling at least, that held the arm in place, but still, I doubted it did too much against this chill. I didn't have my jacket so I couldn't offer her anything either (although honestly, even if I had it, I probably would have kept it for myself. Yuyu's school uniform included a longer skirt and long sleeves, mine had no such luxury. Fine if I needed to run, I guess, but right now I'd prefer 'warm' over 'ability to run'.)
"Right... We need to see if we can work a way... out of... here..." my voice tapered off as another thought struck me. "Yuyu... Do you have a Hole device?"
"No." She replied, her breath a little white cloud as it left her body.
"Tch." I thought that'd be the case. Toto was always the one who used them after all, but I was hopeful that this time that might not have been the case. Well, even then it was hard to be certain we could get one working... "That means we're stuck here unless we work out how Papika and Cocona could leave Pure Illusion without technology..."
"Impedance synchronisation?"
Yuyu's suggestion was probably a legitimate one, but I knew those were words Hidaka had used and thinking about the magenta-haired man made me mad. I shouldn't be though; he might have helped save Toto's life. He made me a flower pot when Cocona and Papika carried me back to Flip Flap after I got hurt. He's not a bad guy. But the fact he was a lab technician and made me think of the so-called 'humans' at Asclepius' base who forced me into another dimension, which almost resulted in my death multiple times, and basically treated me like a human pin cushion with the amount of damn blood samples they'd taken from me...
It's probably a good thing this place is cold, thinking about the 'people' at Asclepius made my blood boil, to the point of it wouldn't surprise me if I started to steam up just standing here...
I was about to reply to Yuyu's suggestion, with what would probably have been a burst of fury, when I suddenly noticed a strange sound.
"Can you hear something?" I asked. My voice was probably still tight with the anger I felt, but trust me, it was a lot calmer than how it could have come out... Yuyu rolled onto her side, and tried to push herself up with her good arm, only managing to get into a kneeling position, and tilted her head to listen. Sure enough, I was certain I could hear a little trickle of water coming from somewhere... Along with hissing.
And then my shoes felt wet.
It wasn't too easy to see to start with, a look down revealed the room we were standing in was starting to fill with water. There was no real indication of where it could have been coming from, everything looked far too water-tight, there were no cracks or holes or anything.
This water could somehow get in... but it wouldn't get out again.
And it showed no signs of stopping either.
It's gonna flood.
"Move it!" I yelled to Yuyu, before I took off. At the rate this was going, we'd need to get to higher ground, and fast... Annoyingly, beyond the statues and the round pillars, there didn't seem to be any other structures in this place at all. I mean I could climb one of the pillars, sure... But there was no way in hell Yuyu could. Even if her cast smashed open completely and she had her other arm available, I doubted it'd be strong enough to support her weight if she tried to pull herself up. Damn it! I've worried about this sort of situation before, if Yuyu ever had to climb, if she had her gauntlet, she might be fine, but there was no way in hell we could take that with us today, not without raising a ton of questions or getting funny looks from people-
Why can I only hear one set of footsteps? I stopped running, and the sound stopped too. Yuyu hasn't moved. I spun around and dashed back to find the silver-haired girl staring down at the water. It was a little strange seeing her red eyes look so... blank, after seeing them full of light just a few minutes ago at the arcade when we were playing the keyboard together.
"Yuyu, we need to go!" I shouted, hoping a more direct order including her name would get her to shift, but no such luck. The water was up to our ankles already, making the chill of the place cut into me even more. Should've bought my damn jacket...
"Come on, Yuyu!" I was getting mad again. Why the hell isn't she moving?!
That was when I realised there seemed to be something else in her eyes, beyond the blankness. Yuyu looked... haunted. This place is flooding... She's almost drowned once before.
"I know you're scared" okay, I don't know, I'm only guessing here, "but if we stay here, we'll die for sure." I knelt down next to her, and reached out with a hand, wondering if maybe a reassuring touch would help, rather than me yelling my lungs out, and-
"Fffffffffraggin'- " I cursed, and withdrew my arm the second it touched her shoulder. I know she said she was cold, but that was an understatement. She was freezing. I thought my fingers would get frostbite just from that moment of contact. If it wasn't urgent that we got moving again as soon as possible, I would have checked to make sure my fingers weren't turning blue or anything.
"...c-can't" she said, her eyes slowly growing wider with fear, her breath becoming a white cloud as she spoke.
Wait a second, why hasn't that happened to me? I took a closer look at Yuyu's silver hair, and saw it flecked with lines of ice. Her school uniform seemed to be covered in a thin layer of frost, which seemed to grow thicker as the water met her clothes. This must be how this world effects people... by trying to freeze them to death... Then why the hell am I okay?
More importantly, how the hell can I save Yuyu?
((Switch with me…))
Oh, screw you!
Not even a second after the offer was made, there was a groan of metal, as the heads of the blocky metal statues turned towards us… And then a screech that sounded like a donkey's bray, or a metal gate opening, as they tried to wrench their melted paws from the ground. Thankfully their movements were pretty slow, but watching their legs jerk around as they tried to free themselves suggested they were very heavy, and that a nudge from one could break a bone. If they could charge and made impact, you'd be saying goodbye to your ribs, your organs, and your life.
A quick glance above revealed the ones on the ceiling were doing the same as the ones on the ground, pulling themselves away from the spaces they were confined… But they weren't dropping down. Not a clue if the ceiling was magnetic and keeping them up there, or if the top of this place had its own gravity, but they weren't coming down to attack, and that was fine with me.
But if we could jump up there… would we stick to it too? Could we escape the water that way? Maybe, it would buy us some time at least, however that wouldn't stop Yuyu being frozen…
The water was up to our waists now, which was pretty far considering we were both still kneeling. At the rate this was going, Yuyu was gonna be completely encased in ice in just a few more seconds. Heavy steps made the ground vibrate and the air ring with noise, as the four-legged statues made their way towards us, cutting through the water like it wasn't even there. If I could get a part of one of them, maybe a metal toe or tooth, I could use it to try and chip away at Yuyu's ice… Not that I was sure I could make my hands carry that out, the one that touched Yuyu's shoulder was numb with cold, to the point of it I couldn't see it, I wouldn't have believed it was there, and my other hand was barely any warmer than that. Same for my legs, by some miracle, not frozen like Yuyu's, but I got the feeling if I tried to get up and run again that I'd just trip and pretty much be asking to be… Crushed? Eaten? …Whatever those things would do to intruders. But we have to get out of here somehow. I'm gonna need to force myself to move, and I can't leave Yuyu here alone. Am I gonna have to try and pick her up and drag her?
Annoyingly, that was the only idea I had. With the hand I'd used before, I tried tugging at her shoulder (my other hand might not be in much better condition, but I'd rather not risk crapping that one up too somehow), to see if I could get her to move. Momentum forced her upper body towards me, but that was about it. This is getting annoying... I tried to stand up again, which was kinda difficult to do when my legs felt like they were chilled to the bone, and tried to kick the ice around her, as if I had a chance of breaking it.
My legs. My legs didn't hurt any more when I landed here, and I'm holding up okay, whereas Yuyu's immobilised and becoming an ice statue... I'm stronger than her right now. More powerful...
Wait, 'powerful'? That word stuck out to me. The last time I remember feeling 'powerful' was when I had an amorphous on me…
But that was impossible, the amorphous in my weapons belt was... well, in my weapons belt, way back in Flip Flap's base... And I don't think I felt like this because Yuyu was here, despite the fact she was made of the stuff... If that was the case, she shouldn't be having any problems here at all… Even then, being around the twins all those times in Pure Illusion has never affected me. So why do I feel like this?
That was when I looked down and saw myself wearing the dragon egg necklace Cocona gave me, glowing very faintly around my neck…
"You're kidding me..." I said, lightly touching the cut-in-half gem with my fingers. Sure enough, I felt a little stronger just holding it. This thing's an amorphous?! Does Cocona know it's an amorphous? I mean I know she said it would protect me but-
"Warm..." Yuyu's voice was quiet. Her head was pretty close to the little orange stone, and her breath wasn't misting up any more, which added evidence to my theory.
If this is an amorphous… I can make a wish…
The statues seemed to be gathering speed now, as they were closing in. Maybe the rising water was what activated them and gave them the strength to move, like some weird security system. Even if you could swim and made it to the top, it wouldn't stop the statues from drowning you. Can the statues swim? I didn't want to find out. What I did want to find out though was a way to get back to the arcade. For now, though?
I wish I had the power to keep me and Yuyu safe.
I didn't need to yell out 'Flip Flapping' to power myself up, the water around me became washed in an aura of warm green light, and my reflection revealed my hair had grown longer and become lime-coloured. My eyes had changed too, becoming a bright orange… a shade closer to red than I'd like. I thought my reflection sneered at me, as if trying to say 'it won't be long before we switch.' I growled, and turned my attention back to Yuyu, whose body was bathed in the aura I was giving off. Ice and frost dissolved, and she stood as quickly as she was able, to get further away from the water that could envelop her any second. I don't think she even noticed the monsters. The way she spun around, staring down at the water with wide eyes, made me think of a security camera that was trying to watch everything at once, and would explode if it didn't succeed. She's really terrified…
But I can help with that. I didn't feel as powerful as I did the last time I transformed, and I wondered why, when I remembered back in the Yuri-hell-school's clock tower, when Cocona drew a magic wand and called out her transformation phrase. A full transformation must be bound to an item… Which for me is probably the copy of this' necklace's chain that came from Pure Illusion… I was annoyed I didn't have that on me, but it's just a chain, it's pretty useless otherwise, I'd have no reason to bring it with me, or even keep it at all-
Focus, Yayaka!
I stood up beside her, and put a hand on her head, turning her to face me, frightened red eyes meeting my flaming orange. If I could feel her pulse, I imagine it'd be thrumming wildly.
"Yuyu, just concentrate on me, okay? I'm here," I said, trying to sound as commanding as I could. I wasn't sure how she'd react to reassurance in this situation, so I figured trying to play the leader, like I always did, would try and help her calm down. "It's just another mission. We might not have Toto's rocket pack, but we can still get out of here. I'm gonna need to get a good grip on you though. I know you're scared, but try not to freak out, okay?"
It was then that I wrapped my arms around her, tightly. She was still a little cold from freezing up before, but I can imagine she'd warm up pretty soon if I stayed close to her like this. I hope I can still fly in this form…
Yuyu tensed up as I held her, and when my feet rose a few inches from the ground, it wasn't long before she looped her good arm around me, and she buried her head in my shoulder, probably trying not to think about the water below. My guess, that her pulse was fast, ended up being right. I could feel Yuyu's heart thumping pretty quickly in her chest, as if it wanted to escape her body, if it meant getting away from the water sooner.
She has a heart…
For some reason, that thought made me pull her closer. I guess maybe, as much as I tried, I still found it a little odd to think of the twins as real, living, humans, when I'd pretty much grown up considering them nothing more than allies made from magic gemstones. I mean, they hadn't even aged in all the time I've known them. When I joined Asclepius and I saw them for the first time, they looked exactly like they did then as they do now, and Asclepius just kept transferring them from school to school so they didn't raise suspicion.
But Yuyu's just as alive as I am. She's holding me too, isn't she? And I can feel her heartbeat… The spark in my chest I felt back at the arcade, the bond between me and Yuyu, flared up as I took the both of us higher into the air. I can't have a bond like this with someone if they're not alive. She has feelings… and right now, she's frightened...
"You're safe Yuyu. You don't need to worry about the water any more. I've got you." I whispered words of reassurance to her, even if her heart was beating too hard to hear me properly. Maybe just the sound of my voice would help her calm down a little or something. Much like in the yuri-hell-school, when Yuyu held my hand as we walked through the corridors, I found myself rambling for a while about… well, anything that came to mind. I didn't really know how to handle someone who was scared… Hell, I could barely handle myself when I was scared, so I was just trying my best guess. Although saying that, before all these events today, Papika held me, just like I was holding Yuyu right now, when I was scared. Maybe I'm doing something right… Thinking about Toto reminded me of what I said to Yuyu, when she didn't come with us on that our first Flip Flap mission to the dusty world, resulted in me saying, "this isn't quite what I had in mind when I said we could go to Pure Illusion another time…"
And I was surprised to get a response.
"…glad." There was a hint of a smile in her voice.
So, she was listening… I'd noticed at that point too, that her heartbeat felt a lot fainter, as if its racing had slowed and she was calmer. I was relieved that she seemed to be feeling better. I should say sorry for earlier while I have the chance.
"Hey... I wanna apologise" I had to swallow then, as I suddenly felt nervous talking. Yuyu's head twitched against me, curious. "For saying you were acting weird earlier... I just think out loud sometimes, and I don't even realise I'm doing it. You're not weird, Yuyu. You're fine as you are."
If I got any kind of reaction, beyond Yuyu returning her head to its original position, or if she spoke, I wasn't aware of it. Metalic thuds echoed around us, as the statues on the ceiling had all gathered in one place: to the exact location we were flying up to. I'd honestly forgotten they were there. All of them were hanging upside-down, watching the two of us, with open mouths full of blunt, squared teeth. A couple of them looked ready to pounce, at us, and they did so...
VWOOOHB!
As a Hole opened up above us...
A distant memory... A red sky, and burning ash. Skeletons of kids that were supposed to be my companions here, all melting and searing in the harsh heat... Trying desperately to get a Hole device to take me back...
I catch the sight of something shine under my feet...
When my eyes opened again, I was in a heap on the floor, next to a table, which Yuyu was slumped over.
No... not a table. A keyboard...
It took a second for me to remember where the hell we were before we got to Pure Illusion. The spectrum of flashing lights and sounds from a ton of different games blared in my ears, as the arcade slowly seeped into focus. Everyone had abandoned their instruments and was standing over the two of us, looking worried. Well, Nyunyu stared blankly with those owl-like eyes, but she was with Cocona and Papika at least, so maybe she was worried too, hard to tell with that kid.
"Yayaka!" Cocona cried, "Are you okay? You both just collapsed! What happened?!"
'What happened?' The question confused me. Didn't you see the huge Hole? I guess they didn't if they were asking that. It's odd, I thought they'd all ended up coming with us, but I guess not, so I answered, "Pure Illusion..."
"Pure Illusion?" Cocona sounded as confused as I felt. "But I thought you disappeared from this world when you went there..."
So did I...
"Nyu guys went together?" Nyunyu asked.
"Apparently..." I said. It's odd, I would have thought that question would come from Papika rather than from Nyunyu, so I looked at the blue-eyed girl, wondering why she hadn't spoken to see a small smile on her face, which for some reason irked me. The hell are you looking at? I felt my face screw up in annoyance, and then shifted myself so I could stand up and I felt something solid under my hand, as I pressed against the floor. Curling my fingers around the object, I found it was a little hard to hold into, my fingers stung from the temperature of it. Cold as ice...
No... Cold as bronze.
A metallic brown sheen glinted from the gaps between my fingers, as I turned it over and looked down at a couple of partially-fused cuboids. It definitely wasn't a dream...
"...Returned?" I turned around to see Yuyu, who was still flopped over the keyboard, her red eyes as blank as ever, but looking at me. Her cast was pretty much useless now, all the plaster was gone, and what little remained was barely held together by loose bandages, just about contained in the cloth sling.
"Yeah, we're back," I answered. "You okay?"
Yuyu nodded. She pushed herself up from the keyboard, and her bad arm moved with the momentum of the action, causing her mouth to pull back in a small wince as it hit the keyboard. We should probably head back to Flip Flap soon. Yuyu can't go around like that, not if her arm can get hurt... As I was about to suggest that though, I saw a coppery shine from under the fingers on her good hand. She came back with some metal, too? I guess when the statues leapt for us, parts must've gotten caught in the Hole, and it managed to slice some of them up. Works for me though. Hidaka said he'd give my visor back if I had a sample from Pure Illusion, and I do now: parts of living metal creatures.
Suddenly, I felt a buzzing coming from my skirt pocket, and nearly jumped out of my skin. What the hell?! I reached a hand in, and pulled out the buzzing object: My phone. I'm always forgetting this thing exists... There wasn't a caller ID in the screen, just a phone number, which I was a little wary about. The only person who should have my number is Cocona... And according to those missed phone calls, Toto and Yuyu... I still needed to ask those two what was up with that. For now, I clicked the button to answer.
"Who is this?" I demanded, feeling antsy about a random number calling my phone.
"Yayaka, where are you?"
I breathed a sigh of relief, hearing that monotone male voice. I should have known it was just Toto. He's probably memorised my number and is using Ruri's phone to contact me.
"Still in the arcade, near the..." I turned around so I actually knew what the game we were just playing was called. "Rock Band machine." A look at the scoreboard on the music game's screen showed that everyone's scores completely tanked towards the end of the song. On mine and Yuyu's end, because both keyboard players were out of commission, having gone to Pure Illusion all of a sudden. On the other's end though- You're talking to Toto, Yayaka, don't get distracted. "It's pretty big, you can't miss it."
There was a pause before he spoke again, and I pictured him nodding, even though I couldn't see him, to confirm he'd heard. "Will see you there."
I was about to press the button to end the call when my phone screen went black. Confused, I pressed the button to try and turn it on again, and got no response. I guess the battery died at last. It's probably a miracle it lasted as long as it did. I stuffed it back into my pocket and relayed the information to the others. They seemed satisfied with that, but I thought Cocona looked a little confused. It was a second before I realised why. I told her Toto heard about a cool game here we could try out. If Toto was the one who supposedly told me about the game, why would I have to tell him it was 'pretty big' and that 'you couldn't miss it?'
I looked away, trying not to let the others see the anger on my face, as I got mad at myself for telling Cocona another lie, ((Switch with me…)) and decided to keep an eye out for Toto. It wasn't long before he appeared, with Ruri following a little way behind.
"We're here, Toto," I said, waving him over. He probably didn't need me to say anything, but if I spoke out loud, then maybe I could try not to think about lying to Cocona again. Toto turned to Ruri, probably to say goodbye, and it was a second before she smiled and waved at him, before heading off into the arcade on her own, leaving him alone to join us.
"Who was that?" Cocona asked as he approached.
"Ruri-chan," he said. He wasn't looking up as he spoke, I'd guess nervous about the situation, which was confirmed when his eyes turned to me with a look I'd probably interpret from anyone else as 'save me'. I found myself grinning, finding it kind of cute that he still appeared to be nervous.
"Just a friend of his from school," I answered, trying to cover for him, and save him any more embarrassment.
"Is she your girlfriend?!" Papika blurted out, with an excited smile that made me wonder if she didn't in fact grow up in Pure Illusion, but whether she was some old Asclepius experiment that had turned an overly enthusiastic dog into a person.
"What have nyu got there?" The question came from Nyunyu, whose gaze was locked to something in Toto's hand. I hadn't even noticed he was holding anything, until he lifted it up into plain view; a keyring with a small stuffed animal on the end, a little green bear. Not something I would have really thought Toto would carry around with him, so I'd guess Ruri gave it to him at some point. Nyunyu reached out to turn it over and get a better look at it from all sides.
"I want one too!" she declared, raising a hand in the air.
"Me too! It's super cute!" Papika chimed in, leaning in to get a closer look at the tiny plushie.
"I don't think we should," Cocona said, looking down at her watch, "It's getting late, we should head back to Flip Flap."
I took the opportunity to speak up, thinking about Yuyu's bad arm, "yeah, I'm getting tired," a yawn caught me by surprise as I was talking, but it helped get the point across. "We can always come here another day," I said.
Papika made a disappointed noise, but seemed to accept it. Nyunyu and Yuyu nodded, as did Toto, who quickly glanced up at me and nodded a thanks for not telling the others about his crush on Ruri.
And with that, we all left, and went back to base.
Man, compared to the arcade, Flip Flap was a lot less… well, everything. A lot less colourful, a lot less noisy. It was kinda nice to be back here actually, after having so many of my senses assaulted at the arcade. Don't get me wrong, it was fun as hell in there, and I'd be all for going again, but so much happened, including me and Yuyu getting warped to Pure Illusion by ourselves, and being back somewhere vaguely familiar was kind of relaxing…
Well, it was until I remembered I had to hand over my sample from Pure Illusion to Hidaka. The thought annoyed me. But if I want a place to stay, I'm gonna have to do it. Sooner rather than later, too.
"You guys go on ahead," I told the others. They all looked back at me, Papika and Cocona with a little confusion, and the amorphous kids all stared blankly. "There's something I've got to do," I said, my reluctance probably starting to show in my voice. My eyes met Yuyu's and I looked down at her good hand, to see the metal chunk still clutched in her grasp. At least I won't be alone with this. I signalled with my head for her to come with me, and she nodded, as we both set off for Hidaka's lab.
"Here's your stupid sample," I said, placing my small slab of metal on Hidaka's desk, which echoed with a loud metalic 'THUD'. Yuyu placed hers' down too, with about as much care, but the sound still almost drowned out everything else in the room.
Hidaka, who was facing away from us, examining something on the table in front of him, turned to meet us, before he looked down at the small pieces of metal, eyebrows raised. He took a step over, and carefully took one of the metal chunks.
"It's cold..." he mumbled, as he turned it over in his fingers, the object catching the lights from above, and casting golden reflections around the room. I was expecting him to start yelling at me, throw the metal at my face, and tell me to bring back something that actually came from Pure Illusion, rather than some cheap bronze part I found somewhere in the base, but he didn't. He grinned widely, to the point of I thought is face was going to split in half, and he picked up the other piece, looking over that one just as eagerly.
"Very nice... It looks identical to metal you'd find here on Earth, but you can tell just by feeling it, there's different properties to its regular counterpart... 'Illusion Bronze'..." He clacked the two pieces together, and I had to cover my ears to try and ignore the ring that echoed out. You want an idea how loud it was? Grab a few microphones, hook them up to amplifiers, and point them at a large church bell as it rings. To say the least, it hurt to hear. The noise wouldn't leave my head for like a solid minute, all I could hear was whistling, but Hidaka was still talking to us. I didn't have a clue what he was saying at all. Yuyu was watching him carefully though, probably lip reading. He sorta danced around on the spot, hopping happily, and I realised my hearing was coming back when I heard his wooden sandals clacking against the floor as he cackled.
His speech was still muted, and I couldn't understand a single word he was saying, but he definitely pointed at me at one point, saying something, before turning his attention to Yuyu. I took the chance to peek behind him and see what he was examining on the table. I was expecting to see my visor, but instead, it was Yuyu's giant gauntlet, and a few other things, most of them were story books that didn't look like they belonged in a lab environment at all, and-
"My jacket?" I couldn't help saying that out loud. Apparently Yuyu's hearing must've come back too, and Hidaka (either wasn't affected somehow, or could sense people who were interested in things in his lab) as they both looked at me as I stepped around to get a better look at the items on the table. That jacket can't have been the copy of the one I had in my weapon belt pocket, or at least I seriously doubted it, because as I got closer, I realised something about the books.
"These are my books from Asclepius..." I said, tracing a finger along one of them. I picked the most worn of them up, and turned to the pages where I hid the necklace Cocona had given me, and sure enough, there was a faint indentation from having the chain pressed against the pages for all those years, confirming my thought. They were all in pristine condition, beyond that one, having hardly ever read them. I was never much of a reader, but Cocona bought them for me, because I enjoyed listening to her stories so much. They're not bad books, don't get me wrong, but it's just not the same, having the stories without her to tell them to me... "But how did they get here?"
"Said you wanted to keep rock and leaf." I turned to face Yuyu, whose monotone voice reached me from across the room. "Didn't take books or jacket."
Yuyu took them? I guess that explains how they got here... Suddenly, I caught sight of something else of mine on the desk. My visor! Before I knew it, my arm had lashed out to try and grab it, but Hidaka must have known what I was going to do, because as fast as I was, he was prepared enough to slap my hand away.
"Hey! What the hell?!" I snapped, angry, "You said I could take it if I gave you a sample from Pure Illusion!"
"Yes, I did say tha-"
"So, hand it over!"
"No way, I'm not finished with it yet!" He stood between me and the device. "You can have it back soon, but right now..." His voice melted away, as if he'd clanged the pieces of Illusion Bronze together again. I found myself getting madder the longer I stared at that damn white lab coat of his, and that stupid magenta hair. I was breathing heavily, trying to keep myself under control. I could feel my blood boiling again, and I wished I was back in that stupid metal temple, where it was cold. I don't care if it meant I'd drown. I looked down and clenched a shaking fist around amorphous necklace Cocona had given me. Drowning would be better than having to put up with all this stupid Pure Illusion crap again.
"You know what? FINE!" I practically tore the silver chain from my neck, as I threw the thing at him. "Take the damn amorphous too! It's all you scientists care about, right? You guys- You just take, and take and you never stop!" I screamed as everything just kept pouring out and my eyes flooded with tears. "I never asked to go to Pure Illusion! I never asked to be taken by Asclepius, and forced into a world where I nearly burnt to death on arrival! I had to watch ten other kids die! Their skin melted, and their bones charred before my eyes, and there was nothing I could do to save them! I'm still alive, by some... stupid ass miracle... and they didn't even have a chance! I was experimented on, because I was the only survivor. Every other damn day, I had another blood sample taken from me, and I was fed on tasteless rations, because although I was their important key to Pure Illusion, they didn't care! I could cry, and they'd tell me to suck it up. I'd come back hurt, but they'd only fix me, so I could find some damn amorphous for them. Scientists never care! And you're no different from them!"
If anyone attempted to call me back into the room, I didn't hear them. I'd already turned around and started running.
Yuyu
"Yayaka!" Called her name. No response. Worried. Wasn't aware of things before Toto and I were created. She's hurt. Been hurt for a long time.
Can't imagine how she's dealt with that. Likely hasn't.
Hurt. Want to help. Don't know how.
Can't help.
Hidaka stared down at amorphous. Picked it up. Looked at doorway, worried.
"I'm sorry... I didn't know," his voice a whisper. Feels guilt? Possible. Stood like that for a while, unsure. Turned to computer console. Pressed button, then spoke.
"TT-392, if you encounter Yayaka, take her to-" He cut off. Turned to me. Requesting help?
Cocona or Papika could make her think of Pure Illusion. Yayaka seems to dislike Salt. Saw Yayaka give rock and leaf to Sayuri. Seems to trust her. Sayuri best choice. "Sayuri-san," I answered.
"Take her to Sayuri," Hidaka finished. Papika's robot responded. Hidaka pressed buttons and spoke again. "Hey, Sayuri? Yayaka seems stressed out. If you see her, do you think you could try and help her?"
"Yeah, no worries," Sayuri replied.
Communications over. Hidaka sat in chair, slumped over, upset. Felt the same.
Want to help. Can't help.
"Yayaka..."
Yayaka
I was blinded by tears, and deafened by the blood roaring in my ears. The only sensations I was aware of were my feet pounding the floor, and the thoughts in my head.
((Switch with me… You can have Cocona… You can have revenge on the scientists…))
I tried hard to focus on my feet. It was starting to get painful whenever they slapped the floor, but I was fine with that. I could focus on the pain, rather than that stupid voice. Cocona loves Papika. I shouldn't change that. Hidaka hasn't done anything wrong to me, it was Asclepius. Those were the rational thoughts in my head, but it was getting harder and harder each moment to listen to them, as they were being drowned out by that damn offer ((Switch with me…))
"I am Yayaka, and I will not switch" I felt my lips move, more than heard my own voice as I said that. It was getting more tempting, every time I heard those words, to say 'yes'. It was getting harder and harder to keep a grip on reality, and not to give in to the promises of my darker self. I've seen what a dark Mimi could do. She almost destroyed all of Pure Illusion because she couldn't have Cocona all to herself. There was probably more behind her actions than just that, but still, I didn't trust myself with that kind of power… Especially not a darker side of myself. Back when me and Papika fought Yamimi in Pure Illusion, Papika had said she wanted her 'dear Cocona and her gentle Mimi' back. If Mimi was gentle before, and switching made her do that… What could I do with that kind of power?
The thought terrified me.
I can't switch. I can never switch!
SMACK!
I cursed, as I managed to trip up. Shouldn't be surprised, I wasn't really paying attention to my surroundings. Man, that fraggin' hurt… My bangs had fallen loose from the ribbon at the top of my head, and were now in front of my eyes, making it harder to see.
"Yayaka-chan?"
I wiped a hand across my face, mostly trying to hide the fact I'd just been crying, rather than so I could see properly, to look up at the person who'd said my name. Concerned grey eyes, and shoulder-length brown hair, pressed to the back of her neck by a pair of white and red headphones revealed the speaker to be Sayuri.
"Are you okay?" She knelt down next to me, and tilted my head up, so she could see if there were any injuries. Although I was pissed off, and my emotions were kinda haywire otherwise because of Hidaka, I didn't have the energy to slap Sayuri's hand away. If anything, her question just made a few more stray tears escape, and I hiccupped as I tried to reply. I must look pathetic…
If Sayuri thought so, she didn't say anything. Or not along those lines at least. She turned away from me, and over to her desk. I'd guess she pressed a button for some sort of communicator, as I heard something 'click' as her hand went to it, and she started to speak. "Hey, Doctor Salt? I'm going to take a few days off, starting tomorrow. Yayaka seems to be struggling adjusting to Flip Flap, and she appears pretty tense, so I'm going to take her to stay with me for a little while."
It was a second before a weary sounding "fine" replied to her from speakers hidden somewhere in the base.
"It can't be easy going to Pure Illusion all the time, you guys probably deal with a lot in there…" she said, as she closed her laptop and tucked it into a bag. "It's probably about time I had a break from this place myself." She turned to me, with a relaxed smile on her face, as I tried to wipe more tears away from mine. Why won't they stop?
"It's okay to cry, Yayaka-chan," Sayuri said, gently. "I'll get my things together, and give you some time to calm down. When you're ready, I'll be at the elevator, and we'll go to my house. You can stay with me for as long as you need to."
Authors note: Okay, that wasn't how I wanted to reveal the necklace as an amorphous, or not quite that way, but I guess that's gone and happened now. I'm wondering if I foreshadowed that okay in the last fic, it's hard to tell because I'm the one coming up with all the ideas in the first place, so I know all that's going on and stuff, so I felt it may have been a bit obvious, even if it wasn't too clear at all...
Also I apologise if you guys wanted more of the metal monsters, I wanted to write more, but I wasn't really sure what I could do with them exactly when Yayaka and Yuyu didn't really have a way to fight back. Originally the chapter just had the place flooding, but I wanted to use the statues somehow to make it more interesting.
