Rika opened her eyes, exhaustion and pain flooding into her body. Yet, after a few minutes, such feelings were small compared to other matters.
She stood up and looked around in confusion. The place she was in was not her house. It didn't even feel like she was in Hinamizawa. The world Rika was in now, it was dark with some hints of purple and blue color arrangements. There was also some white and black mixed in.
And floating around were shiny glistening semi-transparent glass. They looked somewhat like how stars did in the night sky, but when Rika took a closer look, she could see this so called glass piece was in fact three dimensional. It had volume and mass, yet its weight seemed to be very light; not at all heavy. Rika knew that because they were floating, and she could hold them with no issues.
Although she didn't know what they were exactly, she felt even more confused when she could see what looked like Hinamizawa reflecting off of them. And she recognized her friends, but noticed herself... with her stomach ripped open!?
Rika gasped as she let the object go, now feeling sick to her stomach. She hadn't needed to see such an image and especially herself. She could now visibly see some more gruesome deaths of her own friends and some other people.
Rika looked away and tried calming herself with deep slow breaths.
She could obviously breath just fine in this bizarre place, yet it almost felt like she was surrounded by water; as though being inside a vast ocean. However, at the same time, she could move in a way that swimming was unnecessary, but possible. It was easy to move here as though she was just swimming in air.
…..Wait... What...?
...This really was a strange place. Where... was she exactly? And why?
"Hanyuu?" She called, looking around for a familiar face. "Hanyuu!"
"I am here, Rika."
The blue haired girl looked to where the voice had come from, and relief enshrouded her as her childhood friend appeared only a few feet away. Hanyuu wasn't transparent as she was in Hinamizawa. It was almost as if Rika could actually touch her if given the option.
Hanyuu looked meek as always, but she seemed more serious and saddened. To Rika, that definitely meant she knew what was going on. And there was no way she wouldn't allow the god to tell her.
"Where am I?" Rika asked, her childly voice made her seem less serious and more fearful. And she was frightened, to tell the truth. "Why aren't we in Hinamizawa? What happened?"
"Rika..." Hanyuu looked uncertain to tell her, but she felt it was necessary. For a girl so young her age, it was such a cruel truth she'd have to face. "We are in the Sea of Kakera. This is because you died, and to save you, I sent you here."
Rika stared, her eyes widened with shock and disbelief when Hanyuu meantioned her being... dead... Just like with what that fragment showed. "H-how?"
"Hau... I- I don't know..." Hanyuu admitted. "But, if we are to find out, then let us restart our world. Let's enter a new world together and stop your incoming death."
"N-no... This... Th-this can't be real, it can't...!" Rika backed away, her eyes filled with disbelief. She was in shock, surprise, disappointment, sadness, and so many other feelings overwhelmed her. "H-Hanyuu, isn't this a dream?" She teared up.
Hanyuu looked away for a second, but returned her gaze and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rika, this is reality. The last few times that this happened, I couldn't bring about the courage to tell you. I had hoped that it was a simple one world occurrence, but it seems this is more set in stone than first thought out to be."
"S-so, this isn't... the first time...?" Rika felt tears leaving her eyes, they flowed endlessly as she fell to her knees and tried to wipe them away. Hanyuu had shooken her head again, and that increased Rika's tears all the more.
"...Rika..." Hanyuu began. "These crystallized fragments are various possible worlds one may enter. Few, you have already lived." She pointed to the many fragments that populated the place. "They show what appears to be absolute and they continue to repeat themselves. Many are in the same time frame, while others are in different time frames. For example, one could be in Showa 57 while another is in Showa 58."
And Showa 58 was the last year Rika remembered. The last year she lived, and she could remember nothing further from Watanagashi night or just a few days after it.
"I myself can help restart time and learn of that world. However, no one realizes this. No one will remember nor realize restarts, repeats, and continuations. Not that I know of. The only reason you and I are able to is because we come here, even when I didn't explain any of it to you until now." It was just her speculation though with that explanation.
It was terrible either way.
Rika had a feeling, now that she thought about it, that this experience had happened before. But, she regarded it as a dream- not remembering most of it, and not being told by anyone otherwise. But now...
No, it had to be a dream! Hanyuu was just messing with her, or maybe her mind itself. Perhaps Rika hadn't been serious enough on her duties of being the next Furude Head. Maybe it was time she grew up a little, so that was why this dream was here! "It- it has to be a dream! It must be! Who would kill me? No one has anything against me, so why would anyone want to kill me? I-it's all a dream..."
Hanyuu knew she could prove to her it wasn't, but perhaps it'd be better to let her believe it was... for now. If she didn't tell her again, Rika herself may come to realize it. Hanyuu didn't want to keep keeping it from her though. Sooner or later, she would have to accept it.
The god went over to hug the saddened child. This cruel fate that she'd have to face, it was just too much and for someone so young.
Rika hugged back and cried into Hanyuu's bosom repeating to her: "This is a dream... It has to be... It's a dream, Hanyuu..."
If that is what she wanted to believe for now, Hanyuu would allow it. It was a cruel truth that Rika didn't need to accept right away. At her age, how could she accept it so soon? Though eventually she would. There wasn't much of a choice.
The things that Rika may soon realize to accept was: the Hinamizawa Syndrome would take control of someone, by random, and ends up doing cruel even murderous things; Takano and Tomitake killed on the Watanagashi night of Showa 58; the suspicions of the Sonozakis' relating to the continual deaths and disappearances on the nights of each Watanagashi; and Rika's continual deaths.
"Let's go, Rika." Hanyuu stated as she took the girl further into the abyss. That was when things would start. The mystery, the horror, the laughter, the fun, the sadness, and the pain.