Yayaka

I have no idea if Hidaka was pleased to see me again or not, I know I wasn't took keen to meet him again, especially when pretty much the instant I stepped back into Flip Flap with Sayuri, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me off to the Thomasson.

"Hey, what the hell?!" I've literally just gotten back, can't I have a break in this building for five minutes?!

"Salt's orders, we're to test your new Pure Illusion gear immediately." He said, not even bothering to look back at me. "It has to be you that goes first, we can't risk the amorphous kids in their current state."

I was about to yell at him, my brain making me doubt that I was being sent off on Salt's orders, but the last part of his speech had my attention. "What do you mean, 'you can't risk the amorphous kids in their current state' did you work out what's wrong with them?"

"I have a theory, but now's not the time for that, we need you to get going as soon as possible."

I wanted to ask why, but I doubted I'd get an answer, much like at Asclepius. He's a scientist after all… I guess being at Sayuri's for a while had done me some good though, I didn't immediately want to punch him in his stupid face the moment I saw him.

We got to the thin shelf that went over the pit, I wondered if Hidaka would even be able to cross it. He did, and pretty damn easily, but not in the way that everyone else had to cross over. He managed to summon some kind of… personal hover car, that looked a little like a UFO, and flew over it with no problem. He didn't offer to help me. Wouldn't have taken the offer if he did give me one. He might need me to test out this new gear he's been working on, but after that, how did I know he wouldn't throw me over the edge? I'm not the lone precious key to Pure Illusion any more, I'm just… Yayaka.

I was pretty happy when we got there though, as I saw some familiar faces there waiting for me. Cocona, Papika, Toto, Nyunyu and Yuyu, all standing there waiting.

Well, everyone but Papika at least was standing there.

"Yayaka!" Pretty much the instant I stepped through the doorway, she tackled me in a hug. If I wasn't so startled, I probably would have found myself smiling a little. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to know that I was missed so much, even though Papika literally saw me the night before, but still, I tried to gently push her away, and she didn't budge.

You know, I think I was right when I said I'd need to pry Papika off when she hugged me. "Anyone got a crowbar?"

I was only joking, but Nyunyu grabbed one from nearby and held it out to me. Toto put his hand on her arm, getting her to lower the weapon. At least someone kept that kid under control while I was gone…

It was then that I noticed Toto's jaw was green. No, that's not right. He had some sort of green mask, sculpted to look like a skeletal jaw and nose that covered the lower half of his face, leaving his ears, eyes and hair exposed. I guess that's a part of the new armour… Oddly, he didn't have anything to protect his head where he was hit before, or an eyepiece over his left eye… Or not that I could see at least.

The rest of his gear was similar to how it was before, as his old set of armour covered his body and legs, and this new set was no different… Well, in coverage at least, it was a lot more padded than it used to be, to the point of looking a little over-stuffed. There were a few pale green lines across the middle, which looked like they were holding the whole thing together. At a guess, the puffiness of his outfit wasn't all padding, and that there were a number of gadgets, medical equipment or Hole devices in all of those pockets. Yuyu and Nyunyu's armour was almost identical to his, although the lines on Yuyu's armour were bright red, and Nyunyu's were orange. Colour coded? That seemed a bit odd to me, although I guess Toto and Yuyu were around the same height, so it might have been easy for the two to mistake their armour for the other's. Nyunyu's didn't need the colour at all, if that was the case, but she probably had the colour because she liked it.

Toto's armour though, was the only one that had the mask that covered his face. Probably some kind of permanent breathing mask to make up for his difficulty breathing in that other world… I could only hope it would somehow help him in the long run.

He wasn't the only one with a completely new or unique feature for his equipment. Nyunyu was wearing her metal ring around her middle, which made everyone else stand further away from her than they'd need to otherwise. Why did Asclepius have to give her such a cumbersome weapon? In a way, I was thankful they did, because the shield feature it had probably helped save Toto's life, but couldn't they have given her a smaller weapon?

As if Nyunyu could read minds, or she knew what I was thinking, I saw her slide the crowbar from earlier up along one of her forearms, and it clicked into place, alongside a number of thin tools. She has smaller weapons. Plenty of them… I wondered if it was such a good idea to give the person on the team who seemed most eager to attack things so many weapons, as it would only encourage her. Well, I guess at least she doesn't appear to have any guns…

Yuyu's armour more padded than Toto's and Nyunyu's, looking more like it was built for warmth rather than for defensive purposes, although being made for close combat, her armour probably provided decent protection too. She also had what looked like a battery pack peeking over her back. I wasn't entirely sure why, until I looked down.

"You have a new arm…"

Yuyu, not only looked away from me then, but angled her body slightly, as if to try and hide the metallic red and white limb. How long has she had that? Did she wear that when she went to the art room? I was about to ask why she seemed to want to hide away, when Hidaka started talking again.

"And this is yours, Yayaka." He said, holding out a folded set of armour that looked almost identical to the other sets, apart from the colour on mine was bright yellow. Papika let go of me at that point, and I swiped the armour from Hidaka, glaring at him as I did so. There wasn't really anywhere in the room I could change my clothes, so I left the room until I found a cupboard and got changed in there. The new gear was… quite comfortable actually. I put my hands over my rocket belt, which Hidaka had included as a part of my gear, and rummaged through the items in my pockets to make sure they were all there. Clone of jacket… Dead amorphous… Breathing mask… That one was a little odd, as it still felt like the breathing mask I'd had before, but it seemed… different somehow. Upgraded? Must've been. Maybe it'll last longer than ten minutes…

I didn't need to check the pockets for my transformation item. The silver chain from the copy of the necklace was wrapped on the outside of the belt, so I could see that just fine. Hidaka hadn't seemed to take away any of my things. Good. I got to one of the pockets that I knew was empty and was about to stuff my school uniform in it when I found that I couldn't.

"What the…" I threw my uniform to the floor, and rummaged around in the pocket. It's full… But what with? I reached in and my fingers touched many small plastic and metal capsules. Hole devices? I guess after last time we almost got trapped, it made sense to have some on me. Not that I knew how to work them, but still.

I grabbed my uniform from the floor, and carried it with me back to the Thomasson. No one in the room had moved, apart from Papika, who was sitting inside the top compartment of the Thomasson. I was a little surprised at the lack of Cocona with her, and turned to Hidaka. "Am I going with Papika this time?"

"I can confirm, that's the case."

I frowned, "But she doesn't even have any armour to test out"

"Yes, but you can't go to Pure Illusion alone, and Papika's the only one available for you to go with. As soon as you two return and report the effectiveness of the armour, like if the temperature regulator, new breathing masks, if you can move well enough in them, and also whether it allows for your ability to transform, I'll be sending Cocona and the amorphous children in together afterwards, to confirm their armour works too. They have to go with Cocona for safety's sake."

I was about to ask what he meant, when Yuyu explained, "Toto and I made from amorphous. Mimi's amorphous." She didn't look at me as she spoke, and still looked a bit like she wanted nothing more than to hide away from me. "Mimi took amorphous' power away in Pure Illusion. Effect must apply to all amorphous, regardless of location. Only takes effect in Pure Illusion, but while there… defective." She seemed to spit that final word out.

I stood there for a moment, taking this information in. When Yamimi took the amorphous' power and our ability to transform with it away when me, Papika and Cocona were fighting her before, I wondered then what would happen to the twins if they happened to be in Pure Illusion… and it turned out my worst fears would have been right. If they were with me back then… they wouldn't be standing here now…

"But what about Nyunyu?" I asked. "She seemed fine when she was with me and Toto."

"Nyunyu made from different amorphous" she said. Her flesh-and-blood arm picked at the necklace she was wearing. My old dragon-egg necklace… "Cocona's amorphous."

"Cocona's amorphous?!" I looked at Cocona, whose eyes went wide.

"Mine?!" She sounded just as surprised as I was. So, wait, would that mean Nyunyu was Cocona's kid in a way? ...Actually, I wasn't sure I Wanted to know the answer to that. Nyunyu's Cocona's, Toto's and Yuyu's little sister. Not her kid.

Yuyu nodded, turning to the brown-eyed girl. "Mimi's biological child. Power over Pure Illusion. Natural you can create amorphous too… Amorphous theorised to be Cocona's at least. Regardless of origin, influenced by Cocona. Nyunyu will be safe as long as Cocona wishes it."

"I would never hurt her!" Cocona said, shocked that such a suggestion would be made. The blue-haired girl knelt down to Nyunyu and hugged her gently, as if to calm and reassure Nyunyu of the fact, although whether Nyunyu was upset by any implications Yuyu mentioned or needed said reassurance from Cocona was impossible to tell. She then stepped away, and looked in the amorphous kid's and Papika's direction. "I might not know some of you very well, but you're my family and I love all of you!"

I couldn't see Toto's mouth, as it was hidden behind his half-mask, but his cheeks rose slightly, as if he was smiling underneath it. Yuyu didn't appear to show any emotion on her face, although she must have felt something, because her hand went to her chest slowly, and she looked down, as if hesitant to accept the words, and Nyunyu seemed neutral to the statement. When it came to Papika's reaction though, her smile was so bright, it looked like it could light up the entire planet if the sun ever went out.

My reaction was… well, like Yuyu, I stood there looking down. However, unlike Yuyu, my hands were curled into tight fists at my side, and I could feel my nails digging into my palms. Cocona wasn't looking at me when she said it, and she never turned her head in my direction. She wouldn't leave me out if she said something like that… I must've been included in that too… right?

I wanted to believe that thought. I really did.

((But why would she care? After all of your lies… Why would anyone love you?))

She bought me food because she thought I was hungry. She chose cream bread on purpose, and hugged me when I saw her after everything in Pure Illusion… My hands began to shake. Cocona forgave me!

((She said she was glad you were safe. Cocona never said anything about forgiveness.))

I grit my teeth, hard, trying not to yell out loud. I turned my head so I was facing Hidaka, who was speaking while I was having all of those thoughts, and tried my hardest to focus on that.

"…she was wearing the necklace, Yuyu said she was able to move and react, however, when she discarded it, Yuyu began to experience negative effects from being in Pure Illusion. Yet, when Cocona came over to her, Yuyu claims those negative effects lessened, if not reversed fully…"

I interrupted Hidaka, figuring trying to take part in conversation again would help try and take my mind off what I was thinking. "So, you're sending me and Papika into Pure Illusion to test my armour, but just in case my armour is fine, and something goes wrong with Yuyu's or Toto's, or something happens to Nyunyu, then they'll have Cocona?" I know that was pretty much established before, but I wanted confirmation. That and to try and ignore intrusive thoughts.

"Exactly!"

It made sense to me, but my bitter brain couldn't help thinking that this was some sort of plan to get rid of me. Hidaka wouldn't care if I came back from Pure Illusion… And my paranoia from earlier wasn't helping. Hell, would any of them care? ((Switch with me… I can make them care…))

I shook my head, to try and clear it. Didn't work. I wasn't sure I could keep my suspicions or my anger out of my voice, so I when I spoke out loud, I spoke about something else that made me mad, because I didn't want to direct my current feelings to people who were probably innocently unaware of any hurt I felt. "If Mimi took the power away from the amorphous…" does she know she could have killed Toto and Yuyu if they were in Pure Illusion? Does she care? It was a little hard to tell, but I think my nails were drawing blood from my hands now. Did she ever care about Cocona, or anyone besides herself?! "Would she be able to give the power back, or heal the twins?"

"We can ask her!" Papika said, cheerily. "We can try and visit her in Pure Illusion!"

"Is that even possible from Flip Flap, if you guys don't use coordinates?"

"I have no idea, but if we both think and feel the same, we might be able to find her," Papika said.

"So—"

"You're wasting time!" Hidaka yelled, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. "You can find the answer to your question if you two just hurry up and go already. We need to test this equipment!"

My anger was starting to boil over. My hands felt hot, and I could feel tenseness in my shoulders. ((Switch with me… You can have revenge…)) I growled and spun around, clambering into the lower compartment of the Thomasson. Not because Hidaka wanted me to, but because if I stayed out there any longer, he'd definitely get a punch in the face.

The door was shut, and I suddenly had a thought. If Yuyu's amorphous-made body is failing because of Mimi's power, and I used her so I could transform… Did I accidentally shorten her lifespan? If she struggles to stay alive in Pure Illusion as it is… What if I'd killed her? Even though it was a while ago now, I felt bad for using her power for my own gain. And Toto and Nyunyu too… I used Nyunyu to help Toto recover… He's okay for now, but did I shorten Nyunyu's lifespan? She's only made from a little amorphous, would she even live as long as a normal person? What about the Twins?

There was a little twitch in the bond between me and Papika, breaking my train of thought. "Are you okay, Yayaka?" She asked. Friggin' bond… I cursed the fact I had a connection to her, as I didn't really want to talk right now. It was a while before I replied.

"I'm fine…" I grumbled. Please, take the hint… She reached her hand down from the upper level, ready for me to grasp. Taking her hand in mine, I was surprised to find it warm to touch. It was probably silly for me expect otherwise, I mean, she's not amorphous-made, like most of the people I was used to having physical contact with, but it was… comforting. I know Toto, Yuyu, and Nyunyu were alive, but they never really felt it because they never seemed to give off any body heat. Papika though… I mean, she was a bundle of energy anyway, but holding her hand now…

"You're not alone, Yayaka," Papika said, softly. "Please, try not to feel that way. We all care about you—"

"I said I'm fine!" I snapped, raising my voice, hoping she'd pick up on the fact I didn't want to talk about it, and immediately felt bad. She's only telling me what I wanted to hear from Cocona… I shouldn't get mad at her. I couldn't help wishing it was Cocona who'd said that to me in the first place, but still, the fact Papika seemed to know how I was feeling, and the fact she wanted to reassure me and tell me I was cared about… Her saying that, the hug she gave me on my return helped me believe that was the case. Or that Papika cared about me, if no one else in the world. "I'm sorry," I said, regretting acting like a jerk to her.

"It's okay. I'm sorry if I hurt you by talking."

"You didn't hurt me by talking…" I said. "My brain just… Makes things bad."

Papika gave my hand a gentle squeeze, an action I felt all the way in my heart. "I'm here, Yayaka. If you ever need to talk, or you need someone around, you can come to me." I couldn't see her, but I could hear the comfort and support she was trying to give me.

"Thank you, Papika," I said, sincerely, squeezing her hand in return. "It means a lot."

Like I said, I couldn't see her face, but a flare in the bond between us told me, she was trying to give me a warm smile.

We sat in companionable silence for a little while after talking, giving me some time to take some deep breaths and calm myself. Much to my annoyance, though, I knew we couldn't sit like this forever. Hidaka wants you two to get moving… "So… You were saying you think we can see Mimi in Pure Illusion?"

"Yep!" Papika sounded pretty eager to get going. I couldn't hear her moving, but it wouldn't have surprised me if in her compartment, she was wiggling on the spot with excitement. "If we both think and feel the same—"

"I know how it works, you…" pink-haired idiot. I held back from saying that out loud. Instead, I tried to turn it into a question, "…got anyideas?"

"Last time I went to see her, she had lots of sweets!" Papika said, "Like cakes, candy…" I was about to scold her for getting distracted until she finished that sentence, "and cream bread, too!"

"Cream bread?"

"Uh huh!" I could hear the smile in her voice. "I know you like cream bread, so maybe if we both think about Mimi's cream bread, we can find her in Pure Illusion!"

I wanted to say that I had no idea what Mimi's cream bread tasted or looked like, so I couldn't really think about it, but I could feel the atmosphere in the Thomasson had already changed. She's actually trying this…

Well, I guess I didn't have anything to lose by thinking about cream bread. If we meet Mimi, I can ask her and see if she can fix the amorphous kids somehow… And if not, then maybe I can try some home-made cream bread of hers'.

There was a moment of calm, before I felt myself being tugged into a Hole…


You can get to Pure Illusion a few different ways, but all of then required some form of synchronisation with another person. Whether it was stepping through a portal at the same time, feeling the same way about something, or just having some kind of connection with them.

It just seemed ridiculous to me, that you could get there by thinking about my favourite food. So naturally, the instant me and Papika landed, I couldn't help it.

"We actually made it," I laughed, in disbelief. Normally I would have taken in the details about our new surroundings right away, but I was too focused on the fact that such an insignificant thing actually got us there, that I wasn't paying attention.

Papika didn't seem to take too much notice of me. The pink-haired girl had wandered away a few steps and began to sniff the air. She did that a few times, sniffing in one spot, before changing direction. Eventually she suddenly perked up.

"I can smell Mimi!" She exclaimed.

The fact that her idea actually worked, only seemed to make me laugh harder.

"Yayaka, this isn't funny!" She said, annoyed. I couldn't help myself, I was in such a weird damn mood earlier, having that stupid voice bothering me again, and now here I was, in another dimension, thanks to the power of food.

It's times like this when it hits me, just how friggin' weird my life can be.

Eventually, I calmed down, and saw Papika glaring at me, her hands on her hips, and her cheeks puffed out with annoyance. "Are you done?"

"Yeah… sorry," I said.

Papika seemed pretty quick to forgive me though, and began to lead the way. "Come on! It's this way!"


I had no idea how Papika could catch the scent of Mimi in this place. All I could smell was earth and plant-life.

We'd landed in a place that looked like a rainforest, or a tropical jungle. Crowds of trees were splashed all over the area, with curtains of vines dripping between them. Walking through it felt like we were trying to push our way through layers and layers of leafy circus tents. The ground was soft, a little marshy, and squelched every time we took a step. The air was heavy and humid, which made it a bit difficult to breathe.

Just as I had that thought though, something in my armour kicked in. I heard a beep and looked down to see a little screen on one of the shoulders, which I hadn't noticed before, open up to reveal a breathing mask. I didn't take it, I didn't think I'd need it yet, but it was good to know there was something there, in case I couldn't reach the one in my weapon belt in time. I wondered for a second why I had two, but I glanced back at Papika, and that answered my question. Never hurts to have a spare, especially if someone else needs it.

All of a sudden, the land changed. I can't really describe what happened exactly, we were walking and everything looked normal, then next thing I knew, Papika looked like she was a sketch on paper, rather than a living person. Taking a look down and holding my hands out, I saw that she wasn't the only one affected. I turned my hands over and over, watching as grey pencil scratches shifted and morphed with each movement I made. It looked a bit like something from a music video Cocona showed me once. The trees around us had changed too, form being thick brown trunks and draping vines to pretty much outlines of the objects. It was really hard to get a sense of distance.

Papika seemed to be struggling too. The change in the world didn't throw her off in the slightest, she kept moving, and seemed to still be following her nose, but she raised her arms, to try and get an idea of where everything was exactly.

I heard a fluttering in my ear, and turned around, hand to my rocket belt (I am so happy I have this thing again) ready to fire off at whatever had made the noise, only to see…

"What the hell is that?" I asked out. Papika had finally stopped moving and spun around to see what I was questioning the existence of.

It's been a while since I've seen a non-humanoid or plant-like life-form in Pure Illusion, I honestly sorta forgot that could even happen, so in a way, seeing… What I could only say was what looked like a hexagon outline, fluffy, as if it had fur or feathers, and hollow in the middle like a ring, with wings at two of the six points. I ended up watching it fly around for quite a while, wondering how something like that was even alive. If it had any natural colour to it, I couldn't tell right now, as it was a living sketch like everything else in this part of the forest. If the colour doesn't come back, we're gonna have a lot of trouble finding Mimi…

"There!" Papika called, pointing. She didn't seem as mesmerised by the hexagon-bird as I was, and appeared to have found a lead as to where in this world Mimi was.

If it wasn't for the fact everything seemed so oddly distorted, looking like a page out of a sketchbook, we probably would have noticed the wooden house earlier. It made sense to me that Mimi would be in a building, rather than just wandering around in a forest somewhere. I didn't think Mimi would be in a hostile world if she could help it, and even then, she might have had powers in Pure Illusion that practically made her a god, but I wouldn't wanna be out in the open, just in case something happened to me. Well, even then, we've both spent a long time in Pure Illusion, (if you take the time difference into account, probably years in my case, and maybe decades, or even centuries, for Mimi), and we'd both probably know as much as anyone: you don't want to live out here in the wild…

But Papika did though… She'd begun walking to the lone building in the forest, and I followed her (both of us with our arms still out, because although we had a proper destination now, it didn't make working out how far away anything was any easier). I found my mind wandering as my body went on auto-pilot, as I walked behind her. Sayuri told me that she grew up in Pure Illusion, and was pretty wild, when they found her… or did she find them? I couldn't remember if Sayuri had mentioned what happened there exactly. Either way, that kid's grown up all alone in here, until she found her way out and joined Flip Flap… What was that like for her?

The door to the building was facing the side we approached from, so at least we didn't have to circle around to get inside. Even though the amorphous weren't in Pure Illusion anymore, and even then, they were powered down, I couldn't help but feel suspicious as we approached.

"Hold it, Papika!" I barked, as the pink-haired girl was about to reach for the door handle. I rushed over and grabbed her hand, tugging her away from the building. "How do we know Mimi didn't leave some sort of trap on this place?

"Mimi wouldn't do that," Papika answered, simply.

"The Mimi you know might not, but after Asclepius trying to take her amorphous and use its power to take over the world, don't you think she might be a bit more careful?" Saying that out loud made me wonder actually, if any of the defensive traps in any of the world's we'd encountered have been created by Mimi on purpose, or if they all just sort of… 'Happened'. It was hard to say.

"But Mimi knows me," she said, smiling. "She won't hurt me."

"…Papika, she tried to kill you for becoming Cocona's..." girlfriend. My voice trailed off. That word… wasn't really one I wanted to use out loud, in reference to those two. It was a fact, but not one I really wanted to think about. (("She can be yours… Switch with me…"))

If Papika picked up on my hesitance to speak, she didn't show it. Instead, she'd continued talking while my thoughts had gotten a little carried away. "That was the bad Mimi, Yayaka. The good one would never do that." She turned around, so she was facing the door again. "And I can prove it to you!"

Her hand touched the door, and it creaked open…


The first thing that hit me when I stepped into the building was the smell. Sweet, but sickening, like someone had a thousand flowers, and shoved all of them into my face at once, so I could sniff them… And there wasn't a single plant in sight, not even any white clovers. None of the windows were open either, so it was definitely all coming from inside.

Beyond the smell, the rest of the building seemed pretty normal (for Pure Illusion at least). It was a large hut, the inside of which had little in the ways of decoration. There were windows in the room, which showed the living sketch rainforest outside… Yet if I had a look through the doorway to a window not far away, I saw, not the realistic rainforest, or the sketch, but… Geometric shapes?

I wanted to get a closer look, out of curiosity, but I was frozen in place by the stench. My mind began going into overdrive. It's stunned me. Poison. I'm breathing poison! Where's Papika? We have to get out of here! It felt like my nose went blind. The air was thick with… I don't even know, it's like it was humid. Warm and heavy. Hard to breathe.

I turned around in a panic and tried to open the door again so we could get back outside.

Locked.

That's when I started to hyperventilate.

This is a trap! We can't get out!

"Papika! The door's stuck!" I called for her, hoping she'd come and help me, but there was no response from her. Or no direct one at least.

"Mimi, why did you have to make it so smelly here…?" I could just about catch what she was saying beyond the blood rushing in my ears, as I still tried to wrestle the door open. HOW THE CRAP ARE YOU RELAXED ABOUT THIS?!

The handle clicked under my fingers, but no matter what I did, the door was jammed and didn't budge. I stepped away and began patting the pockets of my Flip Flap armour, wondering if there were any gadgets tucked away in there—

The breathing mask!

Cursing myself for not thinking of it earlier, especially when it friggin' beeped to remind me it was a thing earlier, I grabbed it and was about to pull it over my face when the smell began to fade, fast. Although the air felt cooler, and drier, and it quickly became easier to breathe, I was still trying not to explode from panic.

"Yayaka, it's okay." Papika had rushed over to my side quickly, and put a hand on my shoulder. I looked at her, into her concerned blue eyes, as she gently smiled and gave me a simple instruction. "Deep breaths. Take it slow."

She took one breath herself and exhaled slowly as an example. "Just copy me," she said. It took a while before I could manage to get myself to copy her, but eventually I did, and I settled back down, and tucked the breathing mask back into its shoulder compartment.

"Are you okay now?" she asked.

Now I could think again, what probably should have been my first thought came back to me, and I blurted it out. "You weren't affected by the smell."

"I've known Mimi for a long time. I'm used to it," Papika said. Then she stepped aside and pointed to an open teapot sitting on top of a chest of drawers. "If you take the lid off the teapot, it'll take the smell away. She made it strong so I could always find her, no matter how far away she is, but sometimes she makes it too strong." Her arm trailed down to the open bottom drawer, "and if you open that up, it'll light up the world outside…"

I thought about how the change in scenery hadn't thrown her off in the slightest. "…You've been to this world before."

Oddly, Papika shook her head. "No. I've been to this building before, but not this Pure Illusion." I was about to ask how that was possible, when Papika continued. "Mimi makes the same place whatever world she ends up in, when she finds it too overwhelming. When she first went to Pure Illusion on her own, she kept making the house because she found the big open spaces too much for her. When Asclepius had her, she only knew the one room the kept her in... That room was her whole life. They never let her out to play, or let her have a friend… Sometimes Asclepius brought a person to her in the hopes she would go to Pure Illusion with them, so Asclepius could work out how to go there themselves, but they didn't get any results for a long time…

"Not until me…"

Again, I wanted to ask her what she meant, and how she knew all of this, when I felt a twitch in the bond we had… In the connection between us that seemed so, so strong, despite how little we knew about each other, and how she seemed to understand me so well. I thought it was because we both loved Cocona more than anything in the world…

But that wasn't the case at all… Or not entirely, at least.

Papika faced me again, this time, with a sad smile on her face, as she said the words that explained so much:

"You're not the only one who worked for Asclepius, Yayaka."


I could only stand there in silence, trying to get what she said to register fully in my brain. It makes so much sense… But for some reason, I found it hard to believe. But… How could she have worked for Asclepius? Aren't we the same age? Could I have lived there all that time, and just never noticed her? No… that would have been impossible. Asclepius would have sent her out with me and all the other kids. Her pink hair would have stuck out like a rotting sore thumb amongst all the grey and silver in the building. Unless she was locked up in the music room all that time? I didn't know that room existed until I went to Pure Illusion… But that idea seemed crazy to me. It was possible but… Wait, Sayuri said she grew up in Pure Illusion, but Asclepius brought her to Mimi… Those two things don't match up...

"I don't get this…" I mumbled, putting a hand to my forehead, to try and ease the headache I could feel building. Papika twitched, as if she was about to move closer to me, to try and help, when a voice broke the silence.

"Papika? Is that you?"

I knew the voice, and it took me a second to work out who it belonged to, as I've only heard it a few times before. I turned around, and standing there, in a white dress, with long blue hair, and red eyes the colour of rose petals was-

"Mimiiiii!" Papika cried happily, barrelling into her in a hug. Mimi didn't seem too fazed or bewildered by it. She just chuckled, and wrapped her arms lightly around Papika in return.

"Hello, Papika" Mimi said, with a warm smile, that reminded me so much of her daughter. Looking at these two friends in front of me, I felt a pang of jealousy. Mimi wasn't Cocona, but the family resemblance was undeniable, and looking at these two, all I could think about was everything I wanted, and I could never have. ((Switch with me….))

After a little while, Papika pulled away from Mimi and hopped over to my side. "This is Yayaka," She said, introducing me. "She's Cocona's best friend, and kept her company until I could find her again."

'Until I could find her again?' What does she mean by that?

Mimi turned to look at me, her smile turning a little curious and pondering as she looked at me, as if she was trying to work out where she'd seen me before.

"Yayaka… Nice to meet you," Mimi said, "Thank you for looking after my daughter while I've been away."

Her saying that made me feel a little mad, and I started to regret coming here. 'While you were away?' Cocona thought you were friggin' dead! How could you abandon her like that?! I forced myself to take a deep breath and calm down. This isn't Yamimi anymore. This is regular Mimi. The good, nice Mimi. Papika took me here so—

"Yayaka wanted to try your cream bread!" Papika exclaimed, almost bouncing with excitement. The mention of cream bread helped me settle down a bit… well, helped my mind settle at least. My stomach however… normally I'd say it growled at that point, but going by the sheer volume of it, it sounded more like a roar. My hands went to my stomach, as if to quieten it, and I'm pretty sure my face went a little red, embarrassed such a thing had happened.

"Food would be good, please," I managed to mumble. Mimi blinked at me in surprise, before she chuckled, and lead the both of us to the kitchen of this place.

I sat down at the table, a few seats away from Papika, feeling out of place, and trying to work out what she meant by her earlier comment of 'finding Cocona again'. It sounds like they've met before... but Cocona never said anything to me about her... I tried to play back all the conversations we've had in my head, trying to pinpoint something that would give me a hint that they'd known each other before... Nothing stuck out to me, or not that I could think of...

But there was something in one of my memories that was bugging me, now I thought about it. When I met Cocona at the hospital, and we sat amongst the flowerbeds... It looked like some of the pink ones were bobbing and dancing, and something about them didn't seem right... I wanted to get a closer look, but Cocona asked me if I wanted to play a game with her... Could Papika have been there that day?

A light clang of a ceramic plate hitting the polished table we were sitting at, was enough to jolt me back to the world inside the old plank house. In the time I was distracted, Mimi had put out various cakes and treats out on the table in front of us, making sure to put a large plate of cream bread in front of me, before taking a seat next to Papika.

The instant I saw that plate, my hands flew to it, like they were being magnetised to the food.

I've eaten cream bread before, an awful lot of it, but I swear, none of it has been as delicious as the stuff in front of me right now. While Papika was slowly making her way through a slice of strawberry cake, and Mimi eating a scone, the two of them sharing a pleasant conversation, I was powering through the mini mountain of food in front of me. Oh man this was good!

After what felt like maybe a couple of minutes, my stomach felt full to bursting, and I kinda regretted eating so much as I felt a little uncomfortable.

When I was done, Mimi added me to hers' and Papika's conversation.

"So, Yayaka. You've been Cocona's friend for a long time. How did she grow up?" She looked a little… worried as she asked me. Her fingers were wrapped tightly around a cup of tea, to the point her knuckles were white. A part of me wondered if she was so desperate to hear the answer that she'd hold onto the cup, even if it was scalding to the point of burning her hands, until I answered her question.

"She…" I hesitated on that word for a while. Mimi knows about Asclepius and Pure Illusion. I can tell her everything… "Was raised by…" Again, I mentally stumbled as I spoke, trying to find the words, "an android, posing as her grandmother. The android was a part of Asclepius and kept an eye on her until Asclepius could find someone who could get to Pure Illusion…" So they could go there with her, and gather amorphous… So Asclepius could control, manipulate, and shape the world into whatever the hell they wanted, regardless of consequences… So they could have your power… "I met Cocona at a hospital, when we were around… nine years old, maybe?" I couldn't quite remember, it felt to me like I'd known her all my life. "She was shy, but she was kind." She was the first person to genuinely care about me, and I wanted to save her from the tests and examinations at the hospital, assuming they'd be like what Asclepius had put me through… I felt a little bloom of warmth in my chest though, as I began to talk about Cocona. A tiny smile formed on my face and began to grow as I thought about her.

"We got talking in the hospital gardens, and she told me all the fairy tales she knew, and about all the stories she'd read... She's got a way with words. She'd talk, and you could feel yourself there, riding on the backs of dragons, with the wind in your hair, and the dampness of the clouds, as if you could reach out and touch them. You could picture all of her stories perfectly, down to every last detail, from the wizard towers, made of flint, books scattered on every surface, to the alien space ships that'd float through the sky. Worlds, and words, you could lose yourself in…"

I realised that I was staring blankly into space, probably with a goofy grin on my face as I spoke about her. Suddenly embarrassed, I coughed, and changed the subject from Cocona's stories to other things we did growing up. "She was always good at school, eager to study and learn things. She had a few friends in the classes at school, but found it a little hard to talk to them in the first place, being shy and all. Sports were never really her thing, but that didn't stop her from trying. Playing wasn't her strong point, but tactics? She could do that, easy. We've won quite a few sports tournaments with her input... And then Papika came along and…"

I trailed off, and looked away. Took her away from me…

Thankfully before my brain could run with that bad thought, Papika piped up and added her own observations of Cocona. "She's super smart, Mimi! She can do anything she wants to when she leaves school! She's so good at everything, and she has so much to choose from, but she told me what she wants to do most! She's gonna be an author and write her own books!"

Mimi watched the two of us eagerly as we spoke, and when Papika had told us of Cocona's choice of job, she began to smile as much as I had earlier, when I was talking about her.

"That's great!" She said, sincerely "it sounds like she'd be good at that!" Then her voice weakened, and a tear rolled down her face. "She's grown up, so much… and I've missed all of it…"

Papika looked at Mimi with gentle worry in her eyes, and got up from the table, to give Mimi a comforting hug… But something about the action felt very… 'close', for want of words. I mean, from what little I knew, it was clear to me that Papika and Mimi were close, but it seemed like… there was a little more to it than that.

I sat there, feeling like an intruder. I'm not sure I should be here…

But I had to know. I probably shouldn't have interrupted the moment, but "I'm getting confused…" My headache from earlier had only grown, "Papika, Sayuri told me you grew up in Pure Illusion, and that you were alone until you came across Flip Flap, but you say you've worked for Asclepius, and being the same age as me, if that was the case, I'm pretty sure I would have seen you in all the time I've worked for them… but also, you and Mimi seem to have a history, or seem to know each other pretty damn well, but how is all of that possible when you're the same age as me? Mimi looking young I can understand, she's basically Queen of Pure Illusion and can do whatever she wants…" The more I think about this, the more my head's gonna hurt trying to figure everything out. "But all of that can't have happened to one person in all that time… What's the deal with you two?"

It was a little while before red and blue eyes met mine. Papika looked down, a little unsure. "Didn't Asclepius tell you?"

I scoffed. "Asclepius never told me anything."

There was a pause before Papika spoke again. "It's a long story…"

"We're in Pure Illusion, Papika. We have time. Plenty of it."

"Its okay, Papikana," Mimi said, giving the pink-haired girl a gentle smile. Papikana?

There was still a moment of hesitance before Papika finally spoke, giving me a quick rundown of her past. When she was done with her story, all I could do was stare, trying to take all of it in.

"So… Papika was part of Asclepius when they did the experiments on Mimi, and at some time during all of this, Mimi fell in love with Salt and had Cocona, and when Asclepius tried to take baby Cocona away, Mimi unleashed her power and tried to keep Cocona safe, by taking her into Pure Illusion, Papika fol- Papikana followed, ended up separated after being given baby Cocona… and then Papikana was reborn as Papika, and Cocona had found her way into Pure Illusion to visit Papika from time to time..."

I thought getting an answer would have cleared things up…

Well, it did in places, but in others, it made things more confusing. What happened to baby Cocona? How did Asclepius get a hold of Cocona as she was growing up? Can Mimi really revive people, or give them life again?

But amongst all those questions, one thought got stuck in my mind: Mimi switched to save Cocona. To protect her, and keep her safe... It was an act of love.

But if I switched, it'd be because I wanted her to fall in love with me instead of Papika.

It would be an act of jealousy and selfishness... and I hated myself for it.

I need a break... "I'm gonna head outside," I said.


I stepped outside, into the sketchy rainforest, shut the door behind me, and looked up into the shifting pencil-lines of the tree canopy above. With all the subtle movement of the leaves swaying, it looked a bit like I was seeing television static on an old CRT TV.

I was about to wonder out loud why I'd ever come here in the first place, but I actually did have a reason, beyond stuffing my face with sweets, and learning about Papika's past: Hidaka wanted me to test this new Flip Flap armour. Despite thinking of the scientist again, I smirked. Maybe it was a good thing he'd given this to me, as it'd give me something else to focus on. Frag knows I needed that right now. And then I got annoyed again. I'd love to have started running, so I could see how this compared to the old Asclepius stuff when it came to movement, but it'd be impossible for me to do that here without m visor, as I'd have little/no sense of distance in the sketch-forest.

"Damn it, Hidaka, couldn't you at least give me that back?"

Okay, fine. I can't really test running around in this stuff, but Hidaka said to check the temperature regulation and breathing mask… Well, temperature-wise I felt fine. I didn't really know how to test it otherwise, it didn't look like Mimi's house had a fridge in it, so I couldn't just open it up and stand there and see if my suit adjusted. The breathing mask though I could try though… And now I think about it, I can see how running around in this suit works, as long as I can find my way back to the building I'll be fine.

For a second, I wasn't sure how I'd be able to find my way back, but my hand touched at the grappling wire on my weapon belt. I can leave a trail, or I can hook it to a tree near the building, and find my way back using that.

Decision made, I spent a while testing out the new armour, when I got back to the part of the rainforest that didn't look like an artist's sketch, so I could actually get a sense of distance.

Running in this new armour was about the same as it was in my old Asclepius gear, but you could argue this stuff was better, because although some of the plants scratched at my legs, I couldn't feel it pierce the clothing and make contact with my skin, whereas with Asclepius' gear I had bare legs. Now I think about it, it was probably lucky that we'd never run into any poisonous plants in Pure Illusion before. I don't know if the twins thought of this on purpose or not, but it was a good choice to make. The humidity became a little much the more I ran around, so I figured I'd grab the breathing mask too and check it out. I probably should have done this in the first place, I mean, considering this piece of equipment was pretty much mandatory for Toto's survival in Pure Illusion, I should make sure the damn thing would actually work for him, or that mine is at least functional. I opened up the shoulder compartment, pulled the new mask out, and put it over my face.

The air that came from the mask was cool and refreshing, a nice contrast to the heavy, warm humid air of the forest around me. It definitely works. Toto should be fine.

And that was when something suddenly popped up from the bottom of the mask. A dark glass screen rose, covering my eyes, and I felt a metal band wind itself around the top of my head. Wait a second… This is… I reached up a hand to a familiar position, and pressed the button I knew would be there…

Unfortunately, my speed booster was completely busted, or at least Hidaka couldn't get it to work again (I ran a couple of steps and only went forward as far as I normally would have, rather than rocketing a few yards away)… But he did give me my visor back after all, just as an attachment to my breathing mask. I stopped running and messed around with commands, watching all the information flash across the visor. Oh, man, I've missed this… It displayed the coordinates for the world, a few other lines of information otherwise…

I wonder…

"Yayaka calling Flip Flap, can you read me?"


Yuyu

"Hey, Yayaka, calling Flip Flap! Toto, Yuyu, Nyunyu, Cocona, you guys there?"

Startled. Yayaka's voice came from new arm. Hidaka must have transferred communications from old arm to new one. Was about to answer. Hidaka spoke before anyone else could.

"YAYAKA! WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? GIVE ME THE RESULTS!" He was loud, but could understand. Information required.

"All good so far. Not tested the weapons, but everything else works just fine. Yayaka out" Message was quick. Uncertain why, but would guess Yayaka's dislike of Hidaka. Tried to make inter-dimensional communication possible. Was possible. Relieved. If another situation where team gets stuck, can contact Flip Flap. Good.


Yayaka

After a while, running around and testing equipment I decided to head back to Mimi's house. I'd retracted my grappling wire the instant I got the wire-frame mode working on my visor again. I only used it a couple of times before, didn't even know it existed until I activated it by accident in a world that stunk of oil pastels. There were large spider-web like structures there which were hard to walk on, and the world was so colourful, it was disorienting to get a sense of where anything was and where you were putting your feet. Thankfully, the wire-frame mode sorted that out, by showing objects… well, like green wire frames.

I stepped back into the part of the world that was an animated pencil sketch, and I was able to navigate easily, without needing to walk around with my arms out. My visor showed the exact distances of all of the objects around, all of the heights of everything… Even when one of the weird hexagonal birds returned, it showed that as some weird flying ring as it weaved between the trees. I could walk through this area with no problems now.

I heard a sharp BEEP! Coming from my breathing mask then. So they've still got a time limit to them… I shouldn't be surprised by that, they tend to be for emergencies only... but Toto's would have to be able to hold a lot more air than just ten minute's worth… I started to get a little worried. What if he only has enough air for one day, but for some reason, he ended up in a world for longer than that? I'd hope that Toto's suit was equipped with some kind of backup method of breathing…

If their stuff even works as well as mine does in the first place…

I got to the entrance to Mimi's house in the rainforest, and found myself at the door, but I raised my hand to open it…

And froze.

If I see those two together again, it's just gonna make me think of Papika and Cocona... What I want and what I can't have.

Mimi switched out of love, to protect Cocona. If I switched... I wouldn't be doing it for reasons I'd be proud of. As much as I love Cocona and want to be with her, I can't. To take Cocona for myself when she's happy being with Papika would be wrong...

I turned my back to the front door and slumped on the ground, resting against it, and sighed. I thought about the alternative Pure Illusion, where I kept running into different Coconas. One of them, I never actually saw, I could only hear her voice, but she asked me what I wanted. The first time I'd ever been asked that... And I replied. I said that I wanted a companion. Someone to be by my side, and be there with me. Someone to explore Pure Illusion with... I also said that I wanted to be free from Asclepius at the time, because I felt stuck. I guess I got a part of my wish at least...

But I wanted the rest of my wish too... A companion... I mean, I have the twins, and Nyunyu, and Papika... I had lots of companions. Lots of people I could travel with and show Pure Illusion to... But... It didn't feel... right with them.

I had a little more to that wish I never quite said out loud. When I said I wanted a companion, I meant someone that I could share a sunset with... That might not make much sense, honestly I'm not sure I entirely get it myself, but... I can just picture, sitting on a grassy hill with someone. Maybe we'd just finished laughing at a joke or something, but we'd both be there, sitting side-by-side. Smiling and content. I'd be with one special person I loved more than anyone else in the world...

Thinking about that now kinda hurt, and I winced. The only person I felt fit that description at the moment was Cocona. I thought a little bit about going back to that alternative Pure Illusion, with the nameless Cocona who asked me the question in the first place, so I could try and hang out with all the other Cocona's there again. Cocohi seemed pretty friendly, and I had a lot of fun with Coco-chan at that street festival... And Coconi, even though she never said a word, seemed very sweet...

But they weren't my Cocona...

(("Switch with me… and she can be yours..."))

I grit my teeth together hard. Screw you!

I was about to get up, go for another run in the rainforest, to try and wowk these stupid thoughts out of my head, when the breathing mask gave another sharp BEEP! As it died. I took all the head gear off and… the humidity was starting to get to me. Something about the warm heavy air made me feel tired…

Before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep.


I opened my eyes and found myself in a room.

Everything was enclosed, no doors or windows, no furniture, beyond a single mirror in the middle of the room. The sight of it pissed me off and I groaned.

For craps sake, "Can't you just leave me alone?" I shouted, stamping a foot on the ground, trying to vent some of my anger somehow. Maybe it was my own fault though for thinking about all those other Cocona's earlier, maybe I'd unintentionally summoned the mirror. Hell, I should just take it out while I have the chance. I charged for the mirror and-

"That's the welcome I get?"

I stopped dead in my tracks, my arms flailing a little at my side as I tried to keep my balance. I knew that voice...

"Cocoro?" I tentatively asked. The mirror, instead of reflecting myself, shifted, like static on an old TV before my form became that of a purple-eyed Cocona. Her arms were folded, and she flicked her head, to try and get a stray piece of hair out of her face. Much like before as well, I felt odd as I watched her move, it was at normal speed, but every other 'frame' of animation seemed to be missing. Seeing Cocoro there, instead of my red-eyed self had made me happier than I'd ever been to see a reflective surface.

"You need to move on," Cocoro said, just as harsh as I remember her being.

"Move on?"

"You're seeing me, aren't you?" she asked, "You called me 'Cocoro' in your head. You basically called me 'Heart'. You made a choice to return to the real world, all that time ago, and you chose to help Cocona and Papika. Cocona's made a choice too, and she's chosen Papika. Not. You."

I took a step backwards, as if the words she was lashing out with had physically struck me.

"I know it hurts to hear, but you need to move on," I was surprised that Cocoro put her hand over her heart as she said that, and her look went from one of anger to... sorrow. "Please, Yayaka, you have to move on. You have to-"

"((SWITCH WITH ME!))"

Cocoro's eyes blazed red, blue hair turned violent yellow, and although her demeanour wasn't the most pleasant, it became almost demonic, as her form shifted and became that of the red-eyed Yayaka, whose piercing gaze felt like it was trying to tear the soul from my body. The hand that was to her chest, thrust forward to touch her side of the glass, and began to push its way through.

I backed up against the wall, trying to get away from the dark version of myself that was trying to force its way through the mirror-


I jolted awake. The sketchy sky was shades of heavy shaded black, and the rest of the world appeared to be inverted, with white outlines to the objects and the ground. Night time…

A scream tore through the air, before I could think about anything else.

"Papika!" I leapt to my feet as I cried her name. What the hell is going on? I would have thought Mimi would only pick safe worlds to stay in, or that she'd have some kind of powers to keep anything hostile out… That may well have been the case, but whatever had happened could get past all of that… And I had a bad feeling it was related to the dream I just had...

I kicked the door down, and spun around in all directions. Where did that scream come from?! Even though the building was small, it could have come from any room, and if Papika was under attack, seconds mattered. If I ended up going to the wrong place…

Thankfully, I felt a little tug in the bond between me and Papika at that point, and I let it guide me to where she was.

The sound of shattering glass came from the room I was being guided to, and I put a hand to my rocket belt, ready to shoot, but it turned out whatever it was had just escaped, leaving scraps of broken glass all over the floor. Papika was huddled on a bed, her eyes huge with terror, a hand to her chest, and hyperventilating. Mimi was standing guard by the window the attacker had escaped through, making sure it didn't come back.

I went over to Papika, who barely registered the fact either of us were there. I waved a hand in front of her face, and her blank gaze turned to mine for an instant, before she screamed again. Mimi twitched, alert at the sound, but didn't move from the window. I, however, slammed a hand over Papika's mouth.

'You idiot! What if you call it back here? What if it has friends?!' I wanted to yell at her, my old instincts of being in Pure Illusion coming back to me. Instead, I turned her head to face me, and stared into her eyes, taking a deep breath to try and clam myself down. Papika's scared. She doesn't need to be shouted at right now. What would Cocona do?

"You're safe, Papika. Me and Mimi are here. If anything comes back, we can handle it." My voice wavered a little, not quite used to reassuring people, but I tried to put as much as I could into it. "Take deep breaths now, Papika, slowly. Calm down, and tell us what's going on here."

"You… You…" she stammered. She kept repeating that word over and over. It was enough to make my heart drop. Eventually, Papika blinked, and some of the life came back to her eyes. They were locked onto mine, and filled with fear. What Papika said after only confirmed what I suspected. "Shadowy… and red eyes... Angry red eyes..."

A spike of horror stabbed through me, as I turned to the broken window.

My dark reflection.

It's escaped.


Authors note: I was planning to have this chapter, or the main events of this chapter happen a lot earlier in the fic, but things happened, and I ended up saving it for later. I'm sorry it took so long for this to get going, but hey, think of it this way, I'd consider this about half-way through or so, so if you're enjoying the story, you can expect more of it to come! (although like this chapter it may be a while before more is posted, but still, something to look forward to!)

Also, for anyone curious, the new Flip Flap armour I described, I picture to look like this: (colon slash slash) (slash) a (slash) uYEeOq6 remove spaces and add the correct symbols to see the sketch I drew for Toto's armour