Disclaimer: Yeah. It's come to a point that even I, Monika, got lazy in saying something for this disclaimer. But yeah, DaMastah101 doesn't own DDLC, you guys know the drill.
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Just Monika - Regular text
"Forever Sayori" - Spoken words/Dialogue
'Knife Wife Yuri' - Thoughts
{Buff Natsuki} - Text or audio displayed on-screen or by speaker, be it from a computer/smartphone/TV
"Maybe there's only a dark road up ahead. But you still have to believe and keep going. Believe that the stars will light your path, even a little bit."
-Kaori Miyazono
From the anime/manga series, Your Lie in April.
[Chapter 16 - Nexus of Time]
In an unknown location, at an unspecified point in time.
A group of individuals had come together to discuss some information that they had managed to acquire within the past few days, concerning their targets of interest. All of them wore masks that covered their face, except for their eyes and the mouth region.
Both men and women were also in purple uniforms, that appeared to be ones worn by high-ranking officers in an organization.
"So it appears that the wretched Libitina has finally begun to make her move. One of our spies have seen her with the anomaly. The one that kept on flamboyantly referring to himself as 'a god', that very same Akami who toyed with our security platoons with such ease when he randomly invaded one of our other hideouts! Nothing good will come out of those two becoming allies, I can guarantee you that much." one of the men seated around the long meeting table began, as their meeting had promptly started.
Another one gave his short remark. "Indeed, that is quite... troublesome."
"This is of a matter that needs to be looked into, immeditately."
"What? That isn't as easy as it sounds you know! She possesses all one-hundred abilities of the Movements of the Cosmos! And that's not even factoring what that wretched Akami could potentially do against our group. He had already displayed the power to summon the legendary Exacalibur of legend, that very same sword used by the reknown King Arthur, and used its Prana Burst attack on us!"
"The Society of Markov will not bow down to that Libitina and certainly not to some fool posing as a fake god. We will prevail over our enemies, I will make sure of that." another one spoke up, this time a woman who was also part of their society.
A moment of silence ensued before the meeting continued, with one of them voicing another concern.
"What about the others though, according to our intel, the former avatar of that game's protagonist also has his own fighting abilities. He was able to escape into our world with the remaining characters."
Murmurs began to fill the room, before they were promptly silenced by the man sitting at the very end of the long table. He appeared to be the leader of the organization, and his attire was the only one that was different from the others. He wore a long cape, and the collar flaps of his attire were spiked upward. All the other men and women who were arguing merely moments ago had completely ceased, giving their utmost respect unto him by show of silence, and allowing him to speak uninterrupted.
"Hoooh? Interesting... let's see what they bring to the plate as well."
In his hand, appeared to be a copy of the same novel that Yuri currently had - The Portrait of Markov.
"Maybe the way to achieving our goals is a bit easier than we first thought."
He makes a gesture with his left hand, and out of the shadows appeared two new figures who appeared to be dressed in personalized ninja attire.
"Listen up you two, keep an eye on the people that I've listed out on this piece of paper. Report everything you learn about them as soon as possible." he ordered while handing them a scroll.
"Understood, Master." the two ninjas simultaneously replied in a no-nonsense tone. And the Master of the organization nodded in return.
"Now go, you may leave."
As soon as the ninjas were out of sight, the meeting once again resumed. The topic now shifting to the targeted people within that scroll:
Elyssa Libitina, that constant thorn in our path.
Erika, the manifestation of Monika's mother.
Natsuki, Yuri, and Sayori - the three original characters.
Val Walker, a friend of that boy and someone who knows too much already to be left alone.
Blank, the former avatar of the protagonist, and another potential thorn in our path.
Monika, the fourth original character, the one who desired to experience reality, and the first one that escaped the game.
And lastly...
...
...
...
"...Izuna Takaya and Yumi Takaya. The player of that particular copy of Doki Doki Literature Club and his sister. I have told those two to keep an eye on them as well. Especially considering who their father is."
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
Alter-Monika continued to traverse the solitary path laid out before her.
She was still in the all-white zone of the mysterious dimension. And despite all of the relentless walking that she had been doing so far with minimal rest, the path hadn't shown any signs of reaching its destination at all whatsoever.
The girl had no idea how much time had truly passed by already, but by her estimate it had been at least 5 hours now.
"So it seems that this white area is a lot bigger than that previous black one, I wonder why..."
Finally, after her lengthy trek, she appeared to have reached another area of the weird dimension.
A section that was a mix of white and black, in a checkerboard pattern. Like the kind you'd see in some chessboards, and retro-styled barbershop floorings. Her entire surroundings had been checkerboard-covered except for the path that she had been walking on this entire time.
"So now it's both black and white at the same time?"
As was the case so far, she continued walking forward on the path, and was shocked to see that at the very edge of what her vision was able to see, it looked the the path was finally nearing its end.
"It's finally almost over?" she gasped in surprise, but was now burning with even more curiosity at what was waiting her at the very end.
After about two more hours by her mental estimation, she had reached it. And she had no words at the sight before her. Because what had been there at the end of this long pathway, was a mirror.
Indeed, a tall mirror that stood at a height almost twice that of Alter-Monika.
"...this is it? This is what that very long path led me to? A mirror?!"
She didn't know whether to laugh, or to cry, or to scream out loud in anger. Why had she even gotten her hopes up? The girl was at the pit of despair right now.
"I even said goodbye to him... why did I want to live again?! This was all for nothing! Nothing at all!"
She wanted nothing more right now than to somehow lash out at someone, anyone to confide in, to drown her sorrows with.
But Alter-Monika was still alone, that was the cold truth. In this weird place still filled with infinite squares of black and white, and a long road that only led to a useless mirror.
Deep down, she was still blaming herself for all the misfortune she was experiencing. It was the consequences of her past that had come back to bite her in the butt.
"You!" she angrily yelled, pointing at the girl in front of her.
The girl being reflected by the mirror, an exact duplicate image of herself. A reflection of Alter-Monika.
"This is all your fault! You killed your friends! And you acted in a way so vile, that Izuna just had to delete you! What do you have to say for yourself?!" she continued her outburst, almost expecting the mirror's reflection to actually answer her.
"Why won't you answer back?! WHY WON'T YOU ADMIT IT?!" Alter-Monika pulled at her hair, and her face was contorted in agony.
She loathed herself, and all those feelings of guilt and regret had come rushing back to her, and the more that her own image stared back at her, the more hate she felt towards herself.
"The other me is probably friends again with all of them... and she's happy with Izuna."
She looked downward, and tears were puddling in her eyes. Her voice was cracking and hoarse from all the screaming that she'd just unleashed.
"And yet here I am... so pathetic. Sayori, Natsuki, Yuri, MC..."
Alter-Monika dropped to her knees, the full weight of her broken heart crashing down on her like a furious tsunami. She was tired, both from the hours of walking and from her emotions that were still leaking out.
"I'm so, so, so, sorry... for everything! Please, forgive this stupid girl for everything she did due to selfishness!" and so she sobbed, and cried to her heart's content even more.
Her entire body was shaking, trembling with emotional pain. This was her punishment, and one more glance at the mirror only affirmed that. She saw it with her own two eyes.
How much of a sobbing mess she was.
His face then came to her mind, and the kiss that they shared before she disappeared. Even though she was confident and seemed content with her fate during their short reunion in reality, Alter-Monika was actually very weak. But she didn't want Izuna to see that weakness, or else he would keep on blaming himself. And Alter-Monika never wanted her beloved Izuna to carry that burden of self-blame for the rest of his life.
"Izuna... even though I forgave you... it was me, who needed to be forgiven. I no longer have the right to continue loving you anymore, that belongs to your Monika alone now. Not a shadow of the past like myself..."
Amidst all of the doubt she had towards her self-worth, a random memory from among his last words to her before they parted flashed towards her mind.
I promise that I'll do my best not to mope around anymore. I'll become a better person for my Monika, and I promise to make her happy.
She stood up from the ground, and had renewed hope in her.
In the end, it seemed it was once again Izuna who had saved Monika from her fate. No longer was she crying and feeling tormented, for his words had comforted her and pulled Alter-Monika out from that dark abyss of guilt she felt.
"Maybe this is what Monika, the other me, felt when you finally got us out of the game, my love..."
She held her head up high, and stared one last time at the reflection in front of her.
"You're right, Izuna. No more moping around."
Lifting her right hand forward, it was as she had suspected. If only she didn't give in to her weakness and kept a rational head, but maybe she needed that wakeup call. It was for the better.
"Just like you promised her, I too will become a better person for you, Izuna. So that I can once more stand by your side. Even if it's not as lovers."
She touched the mirror, and her hand went through it, as if the mirror had been made out of water.
"Even if it's just as a friend, I want to be part of your future, Izuna!" Alter-Monika had now fully gone through the mirror, and into her unknown future.
This was her choice, brought about by her resolve. And it truly filled her with determination.
Because it wasn't a mirror, but in fact, a door to the other side. And only through redeeming herself, did fate allow her to head towards the future.
Bright light flashed through her vision, the moment Alter-Monika was fully inside the fake mirror, and she was momentarily blinded. Afterwards, the intense brightness began to gradually die out and Alter-Monika was unable to open her eyes for a bit. She rubbed her eyelids gently and tried to gain some sense of stability.
Then, came the moment of truth. Slowly but surely, her eyes fluttered open.
When she was fully awake, two people entered her vision. A man, who wore something that she felt a scientist would wear, complete with a long white coat and a pen in his pocket. And a woman, who somewhat resembled Izuna a bit. Though the lady was dressed in a more casual-type of attire. Now that she thought about it, the man looked a bit like Izuna's sister as well.
She vaguely recalled seeing her beloved's sister, a young adult named Yumi, from the time she was still buried within the other Monika's subconscious as inactive data.
"Where... am I?" she was in a room that was entirely white again, but this time she was lying down on a bed.
It appeared to be a hospital ward.
"You're awake! So it really is true!" the scientist exclaimed while the female just facepalmed.
"Dear, you're not supposed to yell like that, the girl had just woken up from a long slumber!"
Sensing that the girl was staring at them intensely, the woman smiled at her and apologizes.
"Sorry about that, my husband's just really excited to get to know you Monika! And frankly, so am I!"
"I see... and I should probably be called 'Alter-Monika', there's another Monika already somewhere else... I'm more of an alternate entity of that Monika. Hence my suggestion."
The man and woman looked at each other in momentary shock, before the man reacted.
"Let me guess, this other Monika is with Izuna, correct?
At the mention of his name, Alter-Monika perked up. "How do you know about that? And how do you even know who Izuna is, and lastly, how did you know that I'm a Monika? In fact, who are you two?"
The girl had so many questions, and the pair in front of her seemed to be her best bet on gaining any sort of information about wherever she currently was.
"Oh that's right, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Masamune Takaya, and this wonderful lady right here is my wife."
The woman bows respectfully and cheerfully introduces herself to the girl "My name is Kanade Takaya, pleased to make your acquaintance, sweetie".
Takaya, the same surname as Izuna. With that new tidbit in mind, it only meant one thing to Alter-Monika, and it also confirmed that she was indeed somehow back in reality through a miracle.
"Doesn't that mean then that you two are..."
"Indeed, we're Izuna's parents! Welcome to reality, Alter-chan."
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
"So that's everything that happened so far in the real world..." Sayori finishes reporting to her Special Ending counterpart within her dreamscape.
Currently, they were seated in a lush meadow filled with grass and a lot of fresh air. The sky was a nice cerulean blue, like their eyes. And the sun conjured from Sayori's mind gave them some nice warmth.
The other girl, SE Sayori, nodded with a smile. She didn't really have any proper way to interact with the outside world. She could sneak a few glimpses if the original Sayori allowed it willingly, by looking through her eyes, but not for extended periods of time. "I see. I hope you're having a good time there. You've earned it after all."
"I am! Blank's really been so kind to me. And the others too! Monika, Izuna, and so much more! I just wish you could be with us when I wake up... are you sure you there's no way for you to take over our body even for just a day? I'll be fine here in our meadow~!"
"No need for that Sayori. I'm also perfectly content just seeing you happy out there with your loved ones. Well, our loved ones. I am also you after all, ehehe~"
"Awwww... I still want you to experience all of this too..." Sayori says dejectedly. She felt like it wasn't fair that it was only her who got to see the wonders of Izuna's reality. Her counterpart deserved some time out as well.
That's when she came up with an idea. But first, she had to wake up for a bit. Sayori remembered that there was one person who could possibly help with her SE counterpart's situation.
"I have to go for a bit, but I'll be back!"
Mildly intrigued, SE Sayori gave her regards nonetheless. "Okay, do what you need to do! See you soon, at least I don't have to do the stab thing to get you back to reality, ahahahahaha~"
"Meanie! That sudden stabbing hurts so much whenever you do it, and I still feel it in my tummy when I wake up! It's why I trained myself to be able to exit the dreamscape at will you know!"
And so, Sayori woke up with a smile. She went out into Izuna's living room, and sat beside Blank while leaning her head on his shoulder. The former avatar greeted her with a smile, before going back to his developer tablet, which he had been tinkering with for the past hour.
"Whatcha up to~?" she asked her lover in a cutesy manner, her eyes darting over all the lines of code on his tablet's screen.
"Nothing much, really. I'm just looking over what my developer tablet is still able to do. It lost some of the cool stuff it used to be able to easily perform such as object generation, but I guess it couldn't fully survive the travel to this reality. I used to be able to let me do all sorts of things!"
Sayori stared at him, clearly clueless about what Blank was rambling about.
"...uh huh!" she tried responding cheerily, but her boyfriend saw right through it.
"You have no idea what I'm talking about, don't you?"
"Not really, nope! But I love seeing you act all smart and cool like that, ehehe~"
Fighting the growning blush on his face, the former avatar tried changing the topic.
"So, what about you my dear? Anything you need some help with? You were just napping a while ago, I could cook you something to eat if you want, Sayori~"
This prompted Sayori to remember her talk with SE Sayori and her idea.
"Blank... I have a favor to ask actually..."
A bit concerned at her scared tone, Blank urged her to continue. He didn't really mind doing anything she'd ask of him, but her tone was mildly concerning. It's like she was a bit scared to ask.
"You know how there's another me inside my head, and how I talk to her in my dreams?"
"Oh, yeah. You've already mentioned that to me before. She's the Special Ending version, right? Did she have a message for me or something? Anything you have in mind, love?"
Pushing her index fingers together timidly, Sayori finally told Blank about what was troubling her mind.
It got the former avatar to think about it for a bit.
"So... you were wondering if there was a way to extract SE Sayori from your mind and into the real world with the power of the developer tablet?"
The girl nodded her head up and down eagerly like an excited child.
Rubbing his chin in contemplation, the former avatar was trying to think of a way to do his beloved's request.
If this were inside of Izuna's DDLC copy, it would be a lot easier because the developer window could use its full capabilities and such. However, here in the real world, it was barely anything more than a glorified tablet that let him keep his fighting abilities and store items.
"I mean, I'll see what I can do Sayori, but I can't say for certain if it's even possible-" before Blank could elaborate any further, he was being given a pair of sad puppy eyes by Sayori.
"Pretty please~?" the girl cutely begged with her upper lip quivering a bit for maximum "Awwww" effect.
"But Sayori, I'm just saying that I'm not sure we could do this with the tech I'm limited to using-"
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease~?"
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
Monika and Erika were seated awkwardly beside each other on one of the park benches in Millenium Park. There was this tense atmosphere between the two of them, like some invisible rift was present that prevented casual conversation from naturally taking place.
Erika had insisted that she wanted some quality "bonding time" with her daughter, and while Monika was originally planning bringing Izuna along with them, the Takaya politely declined.
"Monika, I wouldn't want to intrude. Your mom clearly misses you so much, go ahead and spend some time with her. I'll just see you guys later!" was his reasoning, and so it was just mother and daughter at the moment.
Neither of them didn't really have any particular topic in mind that they could be talking about.
It was really awkward.
For Erika, even though she was finally reunited with her child and they were on good terms with one another as of late, she still couldn't fully act naturally in Monika's presence and it saddened her. And clearly, she assumed that her daughter was experiencing a similar internal struggle as well.
Maybe there was still some lingering hurt from the fact that her daughter abandoned her inside of DDLC for the player and reality.
As for the ex-club president, she was quite aware of the lingering effects that her actions have caused towards her somewhat estranged relationship with her mother. She still loved Erika very much, but it was hard to just go back to the way things were. Before her scripted epiphany that still had a lasting impact on her to this very day.
It was quite the downer. Heck, even her precious friends that she had hurt so much and deleted - Natsuki, Yuri, and Sayori, didn't cause her to tense up anymore, and they all pretty much were able to hang out with each other normally. She and Sayori even had a bond more akin to that of sisters at this point, and this was the girl she had inadvertently caused to commit suicide by hanging.
But when it was with her own mother, someone she never even deleted, that same ease just wouldn't come. And all that because she decided to abandon her completely. Never even referring to her once in the entire game, except in one of her Act 3 lines. But still, Monika wanted that to change starting now.
"Mom?" she tested as a start.
"Yes sweetie?"
"...nevermind. It's nothing."
With a sigh, Erika found the afternoon sunset to be a lot more comforting. "Oh, okay then dear. I'm here if you have something you want to talk about, okay? Mama's here..."
They were back to square one. Awkward and nothing to really talk about. And yet, neither of them wanted to go back home yet. Deep down, both Erika and Monika were hoping to actually be able to bond and connect again.
While they were stuck in an awkward stalemate though, a concealed presence loomed not to far from the mother-daughter pair.
In their hand, was a sharp dagger. They were aiming for Monika's head. The hidden figure stealthily made his way towards them, and raised his dagger with an attempt to stab the ex-president.
Upon doing so, he had made his presence known. "Die, Monika!"
Quicker than lightning, before Monika could even react, Erika had already partially donned her fighting armor, which were her golden gauntlets. She effortless parried the stab attempt while pushing her daughter to the side out of harm's way.
"Tch."
"Who the hell are you and why did you try to kill my daughter?!"
A standoff commenced between Erika and the unknown foe who refused to reveal anything. Monika could only watch in shock from her sprawled out position on the ground. If it weren't for her mother's quick actions, she would've been dead. The mere thought sent shivers down her spine and fear quickly wormed its way toward her heart.
Gone was the confident literature club president, as right now she was nothing more than a scared girl who almost died.
"M-mom, who is this? Why did they attack me?"
Seeing her child paralyzed with fear like that made her blood boil. As awkward as thing were between them, Erika truly loved Monika with all of her heart, just like any loving mother would.
"I have no idea who the hell this is, but don't worry. Mama will protect you." she stood firm, ready to block any possible attack from the enemy.
To their surprise however, the would-be assassin ran away without saying a word. Erika wanted nothing more than to chase after him, but doing so would've exposed her to the world as a super-powered human. They didn't need that kind of publicity at the moment.
"Phew, I can't believe that happened just now." Erika sat down on the bench again, breathing a sigh of relief. Monika soon followed after, and hugged her mother really tight.
And while it made Erika really happy that her daughter was so close to her, it also pained her that it was due to this kind of incident.
"Don't worry Monika, mama's here to protect you..."
"Mom..."
As Erika continued to comfort her daughter, her mind was currently thinking about the unknown attacker and his possible motive.
She would have to contact Elyssa Libitina about this. Erika would be asking for her help.
*****The World Beyond The Screen*****
In front of Natsuki and Yuri, stood the principal of Izuna's high school.
Currently, classes have ended. It made things a bit easier due to the institution being in after-hours, but it didn't reduce the tension being felt by the Dokis at this very moment. The Principal bore his gaze directly in front of him.
The highest authority figure of Ironfist High. He was a middle-aged man, who looked to be in his forties. And in front of his stoic gaze, both girls were placed into a timid state. The light from his office's window reflected on the pair of glasses that he wore, making the principal look even more intimidating.
"He's nicer than he looks, I promise! Right, Mr. Thompson?" Yumi tried to ease her companions, but the now-named Principal Thompson's continued silence wasn't doing her any favors.
"At least my uni's dean wasn't this freaking serious when I told her about DDLC characters escaping into reality..." she mumbled in annoyance under her breath.
This was the very first hurdle that the Dokis had to clear in order to fully become part of Izuna's world.
They had to be enrolled in Izuna's school as soon as possible.
-Chapter 16 END-
A/N: I'm really mad that I still haven't cleared my damn reading backlog. It's been WEEKS. But ugh, I have a duty to update, and so here it is! Hope you guys enjoyed the latest chapter, and see you all in the next one!
Also, like the previous chapter, I ended up moving some scenes to the next chapter because the flow didn't go well and this was a good stopping point. So sorry once again for the shorter than usual length...