Happy New Year! 2021! I hope we all have a better year!
This week, I got a double update for RRFF. Here's the first out of the two updates. Enjoy!
Heads up: these two chapters were really difficult to edit that I just gave up, asdfjkl. So these chapters may be lower quality with the plot advancement, themes, and descriptions. Sorry about that. But I hope they're still enjoyable.
Memory Steve kept to the wall, hiding in the cloak he snatched from the village (while silently complaining how awful the blue looked on him). When two Elders Steves exited their temple without noticing him, he slipped through the closing door. In the temple, he snuck past seven Elder Blue Steves chatting about their plans. He then arrived at the end of the hallway and saw his target: the curtains that served as the entrance to the council room.
As he inspected the curtain's colors – a gradient of glorious blues that shimmered like a still waterfall – he sighed. He wished the Elders used something basic like double doors. He knew it wasn't a big obstacle since his powers could enchant any entrance to become a portal, but unconventional entrances costed more energy. Oh well.
After making sure no one was looking, he set his hands on the curtain and channeled his energy into it. Then he tossed the drape aside and entered through, which didn't take him to the grand council room. Instead, he found himself overlooking the Memory Dimension on a 10 block high cliff, the curtain one block behind the cliff's end.
He teleported to the ground. A premade, redstone-empowered enclosure waited right below the cliff. Memory slipped off the blue cloak and readjusted his suit and tie. He placed his hand on a redstone block linked to the enclosure.
And waited.
"Alright, let us commence our meeting and – WAAAAHHHHHH!"
Down went the seven Elder Blue Steves, who walked over the cliff and fell straight into the enclosure, one by one.
"WHAT?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"THIS ISN'T THE COUNCIL ROOM!"
"MY POWERS ARE DISABLED. WE'RE TRAPPED."
Now.
Memory Steve transferred his power to the redstone block, which amplified his power and shot it at the trapped Elders. Thunder roared as the Elders twitched in pain, clawed at their heads, and screamed in agony.
Down went the seven Elders into unconsciousness, one by one.
Memory Steve returned the Elders to the Overworld and teleported to the main hallway of the In-Between. The quartz pillars and arches and their ever-present, yellow glow greeted him, more kindly than the sun ever did.
The most detailed pillars and arches led to the main room of the dimension. The room's enormous screen replayed current events in the Overworld. Elemental Steve watched the panel, his back against Memory Steve and his posture confident and purposeful.
The screen displayed the seven Elder Blue Steves entering their council room. They took their seats, all mumbling about feeling dazed. No mention of Memory Steve nor his dimension, just as planned.
After a moment, a Blue Steve drew open the formerly-enchanted curtains and entered the room. He wore a few orchids in his hair and a golden badge on his coat, signifying that he was close to becoming an Elder himself. He held the curtain open. "After you, honey."
A Yellow Steve entered and approached the center of the council room.
One Elder wrinkled his nose. "A Blue Steve holding an entrance for a Yellow Steve? How untraditional."
The floral Blue Steve joined the Yellow Steve. "Thank you all again for gathering here today. I promise that you will be pleased to hear what we have to say!"
"First, my apprentice, how are your abilities developing?" One council member asked. "Have you been working vigorously on your thesis on combining ice and floral powers?"
The apprentice waved his hand and generated a frozen blue orchid. "I've made process, though I'm not here to discuss that. I want to introduce you to my companion, Yellow Steve, a leader of his village and – "
"We never agreed to talk about Yellow Steves in this meeting."
The apprentice stumbled back. "But we did? I wrote to you that I wanted to talk about Yellow Steves. They can bring so much leadership and growth to our realm if you give them the chance! My friend here can – "
The council members all chuckled, causing the student to shut his mouth. Yellow Steve shifted his weight uncomfortably.
"You never wrote such thing in your letter!"
"Are you blind?!" The apprentice snarled. The orchids in his hair developed frost. "I remember what I wrote! Show me the letter!"
Memory Steve glimpsed at the letter he had confiscated after erasing the Elders' memories of why they were meeting in the first place. When he looked back at the screen, the Elders continued laughing at the Yellow Steve.
Yellow Steve balled his hands into fists and snarled. "Fine! Only care about yourselves and keeping the Blue Steves in power!" There was a blink, and he sprinted out of the room, causing the curtain and nearby stacks of paper to leap into the air and a nearby torch to distinguish.
The floral Blue Steve ran after him. "Babe, wait! I'm sorry! There must had been a mistake!"
Elemental shut down the screen and laughed. "Perfect. Now that the Yellow Steve is questioning the rule of the Elders, I can persuade him." He eyed a wall that framed a deactivated, red portal. He sighed. "Hopefully, I don't fail this time, like with my first servant. It's tragic that I had to let him go and make his brother..." He shook his head. "No, this Yellow Steve will succeed! This one will become the Elders' nightmare. I'll have to thank Void for sending that minion to hijack the Elders' memories, whoever he is."
Memory Steve then teleported to the Void Dimension's throne room. He bowed to his father, who sat at his bedrock throne. "The mission was successful."
"Perfect! Now Elemental Steve can manipulate that Yellow Steve and his Blue Steve boyfriend to work for us now. I've taught him well; he'll easily corrupt them."
Memory stood up, his mask hiding his soft, selfish frown.
"Oh, and Memory Steve."
The masked Steve perked up. "Yes?" Was Void actually going to congratulate him this time?
"Thank you for helping Elemental Steve. It's a shame that you two will never actually work together. You have amazing powers, but that doesn't excuse the fact that you can't control it."
Memory flinched, his hidden expression faltering. Why did Void bring that up again? He didn't mean to erase Elemental's memories again when they broke eye contact weeks ago. Void quickly discovered what happened after noticing his two servants avoiding each other. He didn't seem upset that Elemental forgot about Memory, as it was irrelevant to his growth as a villain. However, he did see it as a glaring sign of his son's incompetence, and he was right.
Void glared at his son. "Work on it! Get your powers under control. Seriously, Time Steve was able to work with Elemental Steve despite his annoying, overly heroic nature. Why can't you?"
Memory looked away. It was a battle to maintain his composure. For once, he wished he was buried in suffocating blocks; at least they would hold him in place. He already felt the air disappearing, replaced by his growing sense of shame. He hadn't told Void yet, but every day he was losing more control. Yesterday, he had accidentally erased the memories of a merchant he was trading with, which had ended with a messy confrontation from guards accusing him of thievery. He was still shaken up from that.
Once Void left, Memory headed to the nearest crafting table, took out a leaf block, and immediately started crafting a crown. He tried to focus on the twisting of the leaves and the weaving of the wires. But then he drew out a bitter hiss and ripped the crown apart.
Because why should he work so hard to get control of his powers back?
He partially blamed his own father on why he lost control in the first place. Though his powers were getting worse every day, there were some days when he could interact with others without erasing their memories! But Void never noticed or praised those small victories, despite how obsessed he was with observing Memory's failures.
If he just noticed the great things I can do, maybe I can control my powers better, he thought. He hissed again. No, it's not his fault. I'm not entitled to his attention. If I wanted to make him proud, I should be able to control my powers without relying on praises and letting his words get to me.
Besides...I'm already hopeless. I've already failed him...
Sadness stabbed his heart. Memory set down the ruined crown. He took of his mask and let the tears fall.
"...and after I say that, we head back to Town. Sounds like a good plan to trap Sabre, right?" Reality asked for clarity.
"Correct." Memory stood up and peered ahead, spotting Alex and Guardian from the distance. "They have returned."
Reality tensed. Once Memory gave him a reassuring glance, he relaxed and got up too.
Alex and Guardian approached the two Steves. Alex said, "We got redstone, pistons, levers, and iron blocks from the Red Steve village. What now?"
Reality cleared his throat. "Ok, firstly, Sabre is energetic and distrustful. He has the power to defeat all of us if we mess up. So we need to build a trap that is hidden. Something he won't expect until it's too late. Secondly, Sabre's exploring the world and heading to locations with a high presence of my family's power. So the best place to trap him is anyplace with high energy, since he'll go there anyways."
Alex nodded. "That makes sense. Do you know a place where we can build?"
Reality seemed pleased that Alex was intrigued rather than dismissive about his ideas for once. "Yes. To guarantee that Sabre will walk straight into our trap, we'll build it in the place with the highest concentration of my power – the Illusion Tree."
The four returned to the Illusion Town with all of their supplies. Guardian looked at the Illusion Tree skeptically. "But Sabre's already been here. He was here when he lost his memories. How can we lure him back?"
"And this tree's made with my power." Alex shot a glare at Reality. "It's only a small concentration of your actual powers. Why do you think it's powerful enough to make Sabre come back?"
Reality groaned. "Yes, although this tree is powerful, it doesn't have the highest concentration of my powers...yet. We can make it so by giving it more power. The power of another family member. Memory Steve, if you would?"
Memory nodded and approached the door to the Illusion Core. He took a deep breath and set both hands on it. He concentrated. His powers surged and fused into the iron door and the surrounding wood of the Illusion Tree.
Suddenly, the Tree's aura felt more pronounced, drowning his senses. Memory couldn't feel his legs. He winced as a headache attacked him, and he nearly collapsed on the door.
"Are you ok?" Reality asked.
Memory nodded and stood back up. He almost stumbled down again, but managed to catch himself and straighten up. He flicked the lever on the Tree. The door opened, revealing a dark gateway to another world. "Please watch your step. There is lava in my dimension."
Alex and Guardian entered the Memory Dimension, eyes wide and jaws dropped.
"It's so dark in here!" Alex shouted, keeping near the entrance.
"So let me make this clear," Guardian began. "You merged the inside of the Illusion Tree and the Memory Dimension together? In that case, the Illusion Tree back in the Overworld will emit a lot of energy. That'll get Sabre's attention for sure."
Usually, the Memory Dimension would spawn a copy of the building that had the transformed gateway. However, this time, Memory used extra energy to customize this entrance. When the group entered through the door, they arrived in a flat, large terrain surrounded by the lava sea. The building they emerged from was not a copy of the Illusion Tree, but a small stone hut, functioning as the portal back to the Town.
Alex finally joined Reality and Guardian in the center of the terrain. "Wait, so will Sabre come soon if the power grabs his attention? Then we need to build this trap fast!"
"There is no need to rush!" Memory, who stayed near the door, called out. "Time doesn't pass here. We can spend hours building, and not a second will pass in the Overworld."
"Yes!" Reality agreed. "Let's take our time to build and make sure this trap is perfect. We should build it in front of the door."
"I've...I've also used my powers to grant you to the ability to break blocks in my dimension," Memory added, every word becoming a greater mental struggle to say. "Please don't abuse that privilege." Especially since I can't even break blocks in my own dimension...
"We can break blocks?" Alex quickly punched the ground and obtained a dirt block. "We can break blocks! Yes!" She gleefully embraced the dirt block.
Guardian also dug out a block. "That is unexpectedly nice of you, Memory Steve! This'll make building easier."
Memory couldn't register the compliment, because his mind was getting dizzier. He was drained of power, yet he continued to hide his exhaustion behind an attentive and calculated posture.
Reality explained the framework and shape of the machine before giving instructions. "Guardian, you dig out the grass and create the iron platform. Alex, build the framework of the machine. I'll set up the redstone. And Memory...since we can break blocks in this world, find iron pickaxes and shovels for us. While you're at it, get some extra blocks too. And don't you dare think about abandoning us in your dimension!"
"Of course, Reality Steve." Memory did his best to bow in gratitude without fainting. He knew that Reality tasked him to get more resources to cover for him and his growing fatigue. He teleported away, glad to be away from Alex, Guardian, and people in general. He was mentally, socially, and physically exhausted.
After Memory rested and the headache ceased, he returned to the terrain. The three were halfway done with the trap.
"What took you so long?" Alex looked down from the pillar she was building. "I need a pickaxe because I misplaced some blocks."
"I apologize for the delay." Memory placed down a black shulker box. From his inventory, he began filling the box with tools, redstone, and iron. "It was difficult to gather all these resources. I confiscated most of them from Galaxy Steve throughout the generations."
"Of course you stole from Galaxy," Alex muttered as she climbed down and took a pickaxe from the shulker box. "You know what, if stealing all those items makes your dimension a disorganized mess, then let it be a disorganized mess."
"I only took his items because Void Steve ordered me too." Memory played along with her bitterness. He was glad that she was criticizing his villainous actions and not questioning the real reason he took so long to return.
"Umm, Memory Steve?" Guardian asked while digging. "Can you hand me some more iron?"
As Memory grabbed a stack of iron from the shulker box, Alex asked, "Why do you hate Galaxy so much? I really don't understand why you've held a grudge against him for so long."
"He left his responsibilities to my father and I, then left and shunned us when I was young," Memory explained. "His actions were unforgivable and he had to pay. We may not agree on this matter, but I hope you understand how Galaxy Steve wronged my family."
"Well, I know that. I think he's still trying to pay for them everyday. He's changed a lot to become better."
Memory scoffed and glimpsed at Reality, who was working on the redstone. Galaxy ruined the family, took away Void, and ruined Illusion's life. How could Alex see redeeming qualities in him? However, could he really hate his uncle if he also created Illusion? A sudden weight of conflict formed on his heart, and he couldn't understand why.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Ok, if you think he had to pay the consequences of his action, then why are you above consequences?"
Memory faced her, his mask concealing his flustered expression. "...Well, you can argue that I am the consequences of his actions, and I did pay for mine. I rotted away in the Spiritless World for many generations."
Guardian marched towards the two with a huff. "I'm the reason you went there."
Memory glared at him. "I'm aware."
"It was an easy choice. I especially don't regret it because of what happened afterwards to my brother."
Memory flinched at the mention of the brother. Why are you bringing it up again? No, he refused to look vulnerable. He quickly shot back a question to the Guardian. "May I inquire why you allowed Elemental Steve into the Spirit World, while you denied me? I believe there is a double standard if you let him in despite everything he did against the Steves." Elemental and I sometimes committed the same crime...
Guardian stumbled back, confused. "Wait, I thought he went to the Spiritless World."
Memory did a double take. "You never greeted him?"
"No. I assumed that my boss found his spirit first and banished him to the Spiritless World for enabling Nightmare Steve's reign."
"That's impossible. I would have known if he was in the Spiritless World. We're cousins, after all."
"Well, he's not in my dimension, Memory Steve. I know that for certain."
So if Elemental wasn't in the Spiritless World nor the Spirit World...where was he?
"Oh, and give me that!" Guardian snatched the iron from Memory's hands, startling him. "I was waiting forever for these and all you had to do was drop them! Seriously, were you raised by Endermen or something?!"
Memory had no response, so he just looked like an idiot as Guardian marched back to work, with Alex following him. Great, now the Guardian thinks I'm incompetent, he silently groaned. Well, not like it matters. I can erase his memories later.
Reality, who had grown more frustrated with testing a redstone circuit, threw down his supplies. He glared at the incomplete circuit before storming away. Once he spotted Memory, he calmed down a bit and approached. "How was your break, Memory?"
"Umm, it was nice." Memory nervously eyed Alex and Guardian. "Did they complain too much about my absence?"
Reality shook his head. "They were more focused on working on the machine and staying optimistic. They didn't even notice you were tired, so don't worry about them."
Memory relaxed. "Thank goodness. You saved me back there. You have my sincerest thanks."
"You're welcome." Reality smiled in return. It was the friendliest smile that this strange Steve had ever given. "I can tell that you get uncomfortable being seen as weak. That's why I covered for you when you drained all your energy. I hope that gave you time to breathe." Then he gave a more serious expression. "Also, are you ok?"
Memory tensed. "Why do you ask?"
"It seemed like they were interrogating you back there. Did they trigger your social anxiety or anything?"
Memory jumped. Who told you that?! His gaze darted back at Alex and Guardian, who were busy working. He then signaled Reality to follow him behind the stone hut. "How do you know that? Did absorbing Galaxy Steve give you that knowledge?"
"Yes," Reality confirmed. "I know the symptoms of social anxiety, and it's pretty obvious you have it. How long have you had it?"
Memory pondered. "I've always had this feeling of discomfort and fear lingering over me. It was only yesterday when I first learned its name from Sabre."
"Did your dad or friends help you with this anxiety?"
Memory looked away. He recalled all the lectures Void had given him. Void had many training courses to overcome physical weaknesses, but he grew frustrated as Memory's emotional ones hijacked his memory powers. He demanded him to discipline himself and get over his nervousness. Memory never gained the heart to report his failures on that.
And Memory used to have many friends he related to. Purple Steves, Green Steves, and Endermen who visited from other dimensions. They didn't offer help, but they offered support, and Memory felt at ease with them. But that all changed when his powers went out of control and erased their memories.
And then Time and Elemental...
Reality took Memory's silence as an answer. "Is it ok if I ask you a personal question? It's about what you did with Sabre's memories."
Memory looked back at him. "Well, you're a smart Steve. What do you think my answer will be?"
"Let me guess: you want Sabre to not remember you because you fear what he will think about you or say about you when he's back at his world. Is that why you erase the memories of anyone who sees you?"
Memory sighed, took off his mask, and lowered his balaclava. Reality stepped back, semi-startled and concerned. Did Memory really look that afraid? How did his anxious and dreadful thoughts translate into an expression? Did he look pitiful?
"He already told others about my existence. He...shares his adventures to hundreds of thousands of people in his world."
"What?!" Reality clenched his heart. "Oh-oh wow! That makes me more glad that I didn't make it to his world! If thousands of people adore him, they'll be after my head if they find out what I did. Guess I dodged another bullet!"
Memory nervously laughed. "Yes, but thousands of people know who I am and I can't stop that...They know who I am. They – they've seen me. They know what I look like." He brought a hand to his cold face as he started to shake. "They've seen me fail my mission, over and over again. They've seen how out of control my powers are. And they – they've seen me die. They know how I can be killed. They can – "
"Memory!"
The racing thoughts froze. He turned his attention back to Reality.
"Memory, take a deep breath for me. Like what Rainbow Steve does."
He gulped the air with a high-pitched wheeze. And exhaled. Immediately, his chest felt less tight and the thoughts disappeared. "Wow." He straighten his posture, impressed and baffled. "That actually works..."
"Yeah, it surprised me too." Reality said. "Look, I get why you want to take away Sabre's memories. It's the only way you know how to cope with your social anxiety. I'm sorry that I can do nothing about the thousands of people who know who you are. But listen to the little words of comfort I can give.
"You're dealing with a fear that feels overwhelming, but you're not alone. There are others like you, but they don't have the power to erase memories to cope, so they have other ways that doesn't hurt them or anyone else. I just want to let you know that there are better ways to cope that work for other people. I hope one day you can find something better. Again, you're not alone. You don't need to fix this problem by yourself. I know Void probably told you the opposite, but it's ok to have help! I promise! If you ever want to talk, my door is open for you."
Memory felt warmth return to his face. He was in awe, unsure of what to do with this sudden kindness.
Reality's words went against everything Void had taught him. Yet, he was right. After all, he was the one who gave him that illusion block to block his memory powers. Memory now had a chance to find better ways to cope thanks to Illusion's help. And realizing that made him feel something he hadn't experienced in a long time: hope for himself.
Reality scowled and looked away. "Ok, it pains me to say this, but do you need a hug?"
"I suppose..." Memory's expression gave it away. "Actually yes, I would very much appreciate that."
Reality gave him a side hug, which he returned back. A second later, Reality backed off and huffed. "Let us never speak of this to anyone."
Memory bowed, muffling down his urge to laugh. "Of course. And thank you."
Reality, despite looking annoyed, asked, "Can I tell you something personal?"
"Of course. What is on your mind?"
"Most of those things I just said? I got that because I think..." Reality cringed as he spat out the next words. "I think I have anxiety too. There, I said it! Maybe that's the real reason why Galaxy Steve's influence really hurt me. Maybe that's why I'm so obsessed with creating the perfect illusion, because my anxiety tells me that getting rid of the infection isn't enough."
Memory's red eyes widened. He set a hand on the younger Steve's shoulder. "I know less than you, so I cannot confirm if you have anxiety or not. But I'm glad you're taking the first step to recognize this."
Reality shook his head. "It's not enough to just recognize it. I've been secretly using my anxiety to hurt others, which is not cool. Why am I doing this? Why am I letting this messed-up brain control me? It's almost like the infection itself has gotten me. Why should I be a control freak when I should be doing something to get rid of this madness in my head? Well, not like I had the chance to work on my own mental health while I was bound to Galaxy Steve's need!"
"Oh, umm." Memory scratched his head and looked away. "Well, what do you think about me using my social anxiety to harm others?" To harm my friends? To harm my own life?
"You lost control of your powers. It's not your fault that you need boundaries and time to recover. But...Alex is right about you. You should actually think about the consequences of your actions, especially if you think Galaxy Steve should pay. He had personal troubles too, you know."
Memory looked perplexed. Reality's new way of thinking was...strange. He was glad that Reality discovered a source behind his problems. This entire family had problems. Galaxy, Elemental, Void, and ugh, Time. But he never saw a family member this determined to overcome it.
Perhaps Time was right. Reality's determination to confront his personal issues and stop them from hurting others was proof that he was better than Galaxy and Time. That he was a good person. Although he was told to evaluate his past actions, Memory felt comfort that Reality didn't judge him as harshly as the rest of the family. But he wished he had his cousin's strong will.
Reality looked back to the machine. "Anyways, do me a favor and think hard about why Alex and the others say these things about you." He shot a soft smile. "I'll be doing a lot of thinking as well, so if you need any help with the self-reflection, let me know. I hope this is a path we can follow together...Anyways, can you help me with the redstone for the machine? I'm struggling to get it right. Maybe you can see what I'm doing wrong."
Word count: 4521
I'd like to hear your thoughts on this chapter! Alex, Memory, and Reality had some Hot Takes here. Do you guys think they have a point? What do you think about what they believe/say in this chapter? I'm also kinda worried that I wrote something that's dismissive of real people's mental health issues; if I did say something wrong, please tell me so I can recognize my mistakes.
Anyways, thank you for reading. Take care and stay safe.