Second chapter of the double update! Like the other chapter, I gave up on editing so I'm unsure about the writing quality. This chapter is actually less plot, and more fluff and clues, heh. That said, I hope you enjoy.

ALSO, there is an important Author's Note at the end of this chapter! PLEASE READ IT

They finished the machine. The machine had an iron platform with one gold block in the center. Pistons were set to trap whoever stepped on that gold block. To the right of the platform, linked to the gold block by redstone, were two glass containers and a redstone block.

The plan was for Sabre to enter through the Illusion Tree and walk straight through the platform, which would lock him in place before he realized it was a trap. Alex and Reality would then enter the two containers to activate the machine and receive some power from Sabre. Then Memory would transfer his power through the redstone block to restore Sabre's memories while Reality provided a filter.

The group covered the trap with dirt, grass, and vines to blend it better into the swamp environment. Memory suggested that idea, bitterly recalling the disguised machine Sabre and Rainbow had built to trap and kill him. He considered it as semi-revenge that Sabre would fall into a similar trap.

Alex, Guardian, Reality, and Memory were tired after completing and double-checking the trap. And after returning to the Overworld and waiting until nightfall only for nothing to happen, they were especially exhausted. Sabre hadn't returned to Town. He was probably asleep somewhere in this world, so the group decided to call it a night as well. Memory provided Alex and Guardian wood, torches, wooden doors, and beds so they could make temporary shelters to sleep in.

Reality still had his cottage. But he admitted he was too afraid to go back without any powers, even though he was sure Sabre was asleep wherever he was. Memory had a guest house in the Memory Dimension, so he allowed Reality to stay with him.

Memory teleported back to the Illusion Town. He had returned from helping Alex and Guardian finding a safe location in the Overworld to build their shelter. Honestly, he believed they could find a safe location on their own, but Reality ordered him to help them, which surprised Memory and the two heroes. At least it's better than them sleeping in my dimension, he thought.

Memory winced and pressed a hand against his temple. The strong, magical presence of the Illusion Tree overwhelmed him. He couldn't feel, hear, or see. The only thing that mattered was this Tree and the illusion. He shuddered as his senses returned. He couldn't believe how powerful this Tree was now, with his, Alex's, and Illusion's combined powers.

Wait...if this Tree had both his power and Illusion's powers...then could it...

I'll just try, he thought. Since I'm not bringing him back from Galaxy Steve, it'll just be his personality. He won't have powers. I just want to see if it'll work...

He raised his hand and focused on one of the Illusion Tree's roots. The air shifted from the Tree's overwhelming sensation to a deceptively calm atmosphere. Red flowers sprouted from the root. They bloomed and puffed out star-like particles. Void's memories. Memory focused more, and the flowers started to glow. They morphed and grew into a humanoid entity.

Thunder.

Memory cringed from the flash of light. When he looked back at the Tree, he gasped.

Where the flowers used to be, an entity wearing a dark hoodie stood. The entity observed his surroundings before staring at his hands in disbelief.

This was real. This had to be real! This was no fake entity reenacting memories.

Memory choked, "F-father?"

Void spun around, revealing his familiar red eyes. "Memory Steve? But you were destroyed! How can this be – "

Memory ran forward and reached out his hand. But the moment he made contact with the entity, Void disappeared, reverting back to the red flowers.

"Damn it!" Memory fell to his knees and de-summoned the flowers. "...At least I tried." He turned around.

Then realized Reality Steve was behind him.

"AH!" He screamed and jumped back. Thank goodness the illusion powers was blocking his memory-erasing powers. "Reality! What brings you here? I thought you were asleep."

Reality stared at the grass, his silver hair concealing his eyes. "I was. But...what I saw outside of this server appeared in my nightmares and...anyways I can't sleep and came out here." He looked back up and narrowed his eyes. "What were you doing?" He was asking for an answer he already knew.

Memory sighed in defeat. "You saw that correctly. I was trying to test something without your permission. I'll accept any penalty you see fit for my wrongdoing."

"A punishment? Umm." Reality scratched his head before forming a stern expression. "Ok then: Memory, don't do that. That's my warning."

"Understood. It was wrong of me to abuse the Tree for my personal interest and – "

"Yeah, but I wasn't really talking about that." Reality rolled his eyes. "I was talking about you trying to create an illusion of your father. Look, we have a crazy player out there with the powers of two Steves and an Alex. We need to fix this mistake that I made. We need you to focus on reality right now, not illusions, because things are getting serious."

This time, Memory gave the stern expression. Even though his mask concealed it, it seemed like Reality got the message.

"Oh." He stepped back awkwardly, now realizing how hypocritical his warning was. "Uh, I meant to say that some solutions require illusions while others require looking at reality head on. I'm trying to say that this situation requires looking at reality instead of...ugh, never mind! Just don't do that again."

Memory bowed. "You have my word. I apologize." He felt guilty that he gave Reality too much to worry about. He had to make it up to him.

...Perhaps he should actually think about the hypocrisy Alex accused him of, if Reality was also going to think about his own hypocrisy...

Reality yawned and his eyes drooped.

Memory shot a pitiful aura. "You're tired but can't sleep."

Reality sadly nodded.

Memory joined his side and squeezed his shoulder affectionately. "Hang on. I'm teleporting us somewhere that I believe will calm you."

The world flashed white and the Illusion Town vanished. Darkness emerged to replace the world. A moment later, transparent golden specks surrounded the cousins.

Reality gawked at the small particles, which were stretched into short lines and suspended in the air. They were scattered like a swarm of fireflies, except that their glow wasn't natural. They reflected golden light that came from above. Reality brought his gaze up, and Memory followed. Above them, more specks peered back down, closer than any star could reach. Overlooking them was a gray cloud blocking the sky. A golden glow swelled inside it, as if the cloud had imprisoned the sun.

Reality poked one of the specks, which immediately broke its linear form and spread around his finger, making it wet. He then looked at the ground, which was golden brown, wet sand. The specks were dotted across the ground, some still taking the form of stretched lines and others taking the form of small, splashing rings.

"This rainstorm is frozen in time," Reality commented, awestruck as he touched another raindrop suspended in the air. "What is this place? A new dimension?"

Memory shook his head. "We're actually in the Memory Dimension."

Reality looked even more baffled as he scoped the area. It was a sandy but smooth island. The lava sea gurgled in the distance. The cloud and the still rain stretched as far as the island's edges. If it weren't for the arrangement of shrubs and plants nearby, one would believe that this island was lifeless.

"Why is this place so different from the rest of the dimension?" Reality asked.

Memory tensed. "I just want to show you something. My one request is that you don't ask any questions about this place. Is that alright?"

Reality looked confused, but eventually nodded.

Calmer now, Memory approached the shrubs and plants. He studied how the greenery was arranged into a labyrinth that was one block tall.

He still remembered the path clearly.

He entered the maze of plants, signaling Reality to follow. He navigated through the passages, brushing his gloved hand over the shrub tops. Eventually, he and Reality arrived at a large, shallow pond. The center of the island.

The water in the pool rippled and lapped against the sand, occasionally dragging in a frozen rain splatter. Tracing the pond were shrubs with a few forget-me-nots sprouting on them. Lily pads and floating leaves divided the pond into several sections, arranged to make the pond look like a clock.

In the center of the pool stood a twisted tree. It barely held onto the last of its yellow leaves. Blue flowers were injected into the tree's exposed thin branches. Upon closer inspection, one would realize the branches and trigs looked like the hands of clocks.

Memory stepped through the bushes. He guided his cousin through a path of lily pads, approaching the tree. Reality opened his mouth but then clamped it shut, the curious glow in his eyes dimming.

"Lie next to the tree," Memory offered. If this tree is based on his energy, it should help Reality calm down.

Reality lay against the tree. He at first tensed, but then shifted to curl up against tree. He sighed as he rested his head against the trunk. "It...it feels like old times. I feel like he's right here with me, comforting me after a nightmare when I was a kid in Galaxy's head."

Memory pressed his hand against the tree, and he sensed it. The force that felt like a heartbeat under the dark brown bark, refusing to freeze like the rain had. He began counting the seconds silently. The beat of the tree counted with him. He smiled. He always loved the tree and how it seemed to adore his company and join his counting games with its ticktocks.

"I know you hate going out of your dimension, especially on the days we have to give presentations to our fathers and tutors. So...I want to gift you this island. Come on, try using your powers around it.

"Great job! I knew you can do it! Now you can make the dimension freeze in time.

"Take as much time as you need to prepare yourself and calm your nerves before you come to the Overworld. But Memory, this tree will sense how long you stay in this dimension in Overworld's time, even if time doesn't pass here.

"I'll let you control time in your dimension, but if the tree gets worried about how long you stay here, it'll send a signal to me and I'll come in to check on you. You can't hide from your responsibilities forever. Otherwise...we'd both end up like my dad."

Memory drew his hand back and scowled.

He...used to love this tree.

He teleported back to the sand and walked until he found an open space in the cloud. He looked at the void sky and commanded a memory to fly down.

A blue flower met his hand. It projected a memory of Sabre somewhere in the Overworld, inspecting an ink-like material spread across his arm.

"I'm definitely getting all covered up with this, thanks to Shadow Steve," Sabre said in disgust, even though no one was around to hear him. He must be talking to the recording. To the future audience. "I feel no powers. It's just spreading like a rash."

But where was that computer? That complex machine that Memory now knew the name of after studying Sabre's memories? Where was that desk?

The memory skipped ahead. Shadow Steve, a short Steve radiating dark particles, pounced at Sabre before disappearing.

"Ah!" Sabre cried. "Woah, what's happening?!" The memory glitched and vanished.

Memory commanded the flower to continue. But to his surprise, it didn't project anything further. That was it? That was the end of the memory?

He had been struggling to understand Sabre's memories. Why were some of them blue like the typical ones? Why were some glitching and white? He also couldn't summon the white and glitching ones. He couldn't re-summon the memory of Sabre looking at the views of his videos.

35,096 views.

Memory tried not to shudder. The white memories held the answers he needed. But how could he summon them?

If only Reality can help me out. He's brilliant, he thought fondly. With that in mind, he returned to the tree to check up on his younger cousin. When he arrived, Reality was sleeping. No tosses and turns. No tense expression. Just sleeping.

Memory smiled, glad that the tree's energy lulled him to sleep. He gently picked up Reality, careful not to disturb him. Keeping his cousin close, he walked away from the pond and through the gallery of floating raindrops until he was out of the cloud's range.

Looking over his shoulder, Memory concentrated and commanded his dimension to move normally through time. The gold lights in the cloud gently rolled with the gray mist. Gradually, the raindrops began to descend. The pattering of the rain grew from a drizzle to a downpour as the drops accelerated to their natural speed. The rain shifted the sand and drummed the tree, causing it to sway as if waving farewell.

Memory set Reality in the guest house's bed. He placed the covers over him, set his glasses on the bedside table, and wished him good night. Then he teleported back to his own home, in the crafting room. The crafting room had several chests and colorful shulker boxes jammed into a corner, along with two crafting tables and a table with four chairs.

He drew out the blue flower from before. I have a feeling this is only half of the story of whatever happened between Sabre and Shadow Steve. But where's the other half?

Then he had an idea. Show me the memories of Sabre. Not the Sabre in the Overworld, but the Sabre with the account, he commanded as he held the flower in one hand and opened his other. As he looked out of the window, he saw the bright white star in the sky split into two. The new half morphed into a glitching white flower and descended from the sky, phased through the glass window, and met Memory's hand.

Memory headed to the balcony of his home and commanded the glitching flower to project its secrets. He set the flower on the fence and backed himself to the door as the flower morphed into a screen, which showed real Sabre using that computer to explore the Overworld. The computer monitor showed the white hand of Sabre in the Overworld, or the avatar. It showed Shadow Steve pouncing at Sabre's avatar before disappearing. "Ah! Woah, what's happening?!" Sabre released the computer's keyboard, watching in horror as his avatar moved without his input. "I've lost control! Shadow Steve is controlling my character!"

The Sabre in the Overworld turned grayscale, scurrying around as if only half-understanding how his body worked. He waddled to a nearby machine and sabotaged its redstone wiring before scuttling into the desert.

"I don't want to go to the desert!" The real Sabre panicked as he watched. "Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Once the memory ended, Memory grabbed the glitching flower. He looked at the sky and commanded, again thinking about the Sabre with his account. More glitching flowers descended from the sky. He inspected them all quickly before sending them back. He returned to his crafting room feeling accomplished.

I got it! He thought. I know how to access his memories properly now. There are two different sets of memories: one from the avatar and one from the real Sabre. They see different things, but I can access them both from the same person.

One person, two sets of memories. A double life. More than one lifetime. Double memories. A double past.

Memory looked at a certain corner of the crafting room. He's kind of like him.

In the corner was a potted flower. The flower was enormous, its spiral of petals arching over the pot like a parasol. Its petals and stems were cyan and turquoise, while they also emitted a yellow glow. Dancing in the center of the flower was a dark pool, with white, blue, purple, and yellow speckles slowly swirling inside. It was like the flower held a small galaxy.

Memory inspected that flower for another moment, not understanding what he was waiting for. Eventually, he left the room, ready to retire for the night.

Word count: 2751

IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE.

The next three chapters (20, 21, and 22) are gonna be pretty dark. Which is why I'm going to give you guys a content warning of what the next three chapters will contain right now:

Chapter 20, 21, and 22 will contain the following:

- Strong language (a new swear word)
- Claustrophobia
- Mental breakdowns or anxiety attacks
- Direct depiction of child abuse (physical and emotional)
- Self-injury in a fantasy context (a character will self-injure themself, but the situation/method of the act is unrealistic, meaning it'll be unlikely someone can recreate the act in real life. Nevertheless, the act is still clearly self-injury)
- Intense fantasy violence
- Explosions/TNT
- Brief morbid discussion about death/injury
- Medical/recovery-related scenes
- Arophobic and acephobic comments
- Argumentative, powerless, and stressful family environment

If you are uncomfortable with the content listed, please take care of yourself and stay safe. You are not required to read.

If you have any questions or concerns about the content of upcoming chapters, feel free to ask here or message me.

Thank you so much for listening.

Take care and stay safe.