We made it through the trio of dark chapters (Chapters 20-22)!

For a content warning, this chapter will have a brief discussion about abuse and a flashback that suggests toxic behavior and trauma.

But overall, I'm pretty sure this chapter is tame, compared to the previous three chapters. The content is basically the content one should expect from an average RRFF chapter by now. So...yeah! Enjoy the new chapter!

:)

Eventually, the burn on Memory's arm healed, and the illusion went away with it, proving Guardian's hypothesis correct. With a scheduled intake of golden apples and potions, Memory's injuries fully healed two days later. While it seemed like he took a week to recover, not a minute passed in the Overworld, where Sabre was still unconscious from his memory loss.

Able to move without pain again, Memory unwrapped the bandages and took a shower. He dried his hair and changed into a suit. After putting on his gloves and placing a clean balaclava around his neck, he realized he left his spiral mask in the crafting room, where it had been drying after being cleaned "last week." He entered the crafting room and paused when he saw Reality, inspecting the corner of the room.

In the corner was the alien, cyan flower holding a galaxy in its center.

Reality seemed awed that he didn't noticed the flower before, which didn't surprise Memory. After all, the young Steve had worked hard to take care him, only taking breaks to read books or that pamphlet about aromanticism Memory had gifted him.

Reality asked, "Ok, my curiosity is getting the better of me: what is this flower?"

Memory joined his cousin and waved a hand over the flower. The flower just dimmed its glow. He frowned. "It always had a mind of its own. It never self-activates, but it doesn't always do what I ask. Of course, it decides to not show the memory when you're here."

"It's a memory? I figured that much." Reality kneeled closer to the flower, more intrigued. "But why's it different from what they usually look like?"

"It's unlike the others because it's the only memory here that isn't collected by me. Someone else took this memory and gave it to me."

"So who gave it to you? And whose memory is this?"

Memory brushed his hand along the wall, searching for the button that blended into the wood. After finding it, he clicked it. A block in the floor shifted, revealing a hidden chest. He took out the chest's only item before the floor sealed up again.

He handed the item – an old photo – to Reality. "This is the person."

Reality studied the photo. The photo showed a man affectionately hugging two teenagers and one child. "Is this you when you were younger?!"

Ugh. Memory cringed and tore his eyes away. "Yes, that was me when I was 12."

"And Time and Elemental too? Elemental looked a lot different back then."

"He was going through a wizard phase."

"Who's the fourth guy?" The adult in the picture. He wore a dark gray hoodie and track pants. His fluffy, gravity-defying hair had a cyan galaxy pattern. His yellow, pupil-less eyes complemented his dark complexion and added to his otherworldly look. His entire body emitted a pale yellow light. Although the hug seemed genuine, his pose was as rigid as a robot's.

"Wait..." Reality lowered the photo, stunned. "Is that...?"

Memory nodded. "That's our grandfather, Origin Galaxy."

The first Galaxy Steve. The one who split himself into two, creating his sons: Galaxy Steve 2.0, who inherited his father's consciousness and kind heart to become a mediator in his place; and Void Steve, who inherited most of his father's power and memories to become the one who carried out hard decisions.

"I met him once, a long time ago," Memory explained. "There was a dangerous threat against the universe that the family couldn't defeat. Void Steve and Galaxy Steve set their differences aside and fused, bringing Origin Galaxy back to defeat the threat."

Fusing with a Steve was different from absorbing. Both involved two or more Steves becoming one entity. However, fusing was when all involved Steves agreed to have equal control or create a brand new consciousness. Absorbing was when one Steve took control and forced the others to become powerless in their mind.

"The flower holds his memory of when he first met your brothers and me. He couldn't stay long, so he gave his own memory and that photograph as a gift."

"What was he like?" Reality asked.

Memory shrugged. "He was strange. He may be family, but he was still a stranger. He was unsure of what to say, but he tried his best to answer my questions and your brothers' questions. He was also kind." He fondly recalled how Origin Galaxy complemented his powers and his sense of fashion ("Stay classy, you funky little prince of darkness," he had said with his echoey voice and finger guns). "I had a feeling he wanted to end the conversation and unfuse as soon as possible, without being rude."

"Well, he did split himself into two...for whatever reason," Reality said. "I don't think he ever expected to become whole again, so returning to existence must had surprised him."

"Perhaps."

"Thank you for showing me this." Reality handed back the photo, which Memory placed back into the hidden chest. "So Time and Elemental were there too. This happened before Galaxy and Void parted ways, huh?"

Memory looked away.

"...Were you three friends before everything that happened?"

Memory approached the table where his spiral mask was. "...We made good memories before our roles in good and evil caused us to part ways. I'm at least grateful I can hold these memories." He put his mask on. "...Let's just leave it at that."

Thankfully, Reality didn't ask about what happened between them. Instead, he sighed and turned to a window. "I hope Time is alright, wherever he is..."

"I'm sure he's fine, and I'm certain you can make amends with him later." You're luckier than me, after all.

Memory teleported himself and Reality to the island with the trap for Sabre and the entrance from the Illusion Tree (the stone hut). Guardian approached them and greeted them. Memory raised a hand to the air and channeled his energy.

Guardian looked up nervously. "What are you doing?"

"I unfroze time in the Memory Dimension. It is now moving forward in time with the Overworld. Now we must wait for Sabre to wake up and to hopefully come to the Illusion Town."

Reality looked around. "Where's Alex?"

Suddenly, the stone hut's entrance was slammed open, startling everyone.

"I'M HERE!" Alex fiercely announced her arrival, carrying an unconscious Sabre. She set him in the machine and immediately flicked the lever, locking him into place.

Reality stared at her dumbfounded. "W-what?!"

Alex smiled triumphantly to the group. "Sabre fell unconscious when we erased his memories. Why should we wait for him to come to us when I can just carry him to the machine while he's passed out?!"

"So we turned my Illusion Tree into a huge lure for nothing?!" Reality snapped.

"At least Sabre's finally in the machine," Guardian said. "We don't have to wait on him anymore. Should we activate the machine now to transfer the power back to you?"

"Before that – " Reality walked up to Alex and glared at her. "Do you want evidence that Galaxy Steve is doing alright in my head?"

"Umm, sure?"

Without breaking eye contact, Reality dropped twenty wrapped sandwiches on her boots. "Here. Now get them out of my sight and never speak of this again." He stomped away, leaving Alex in pure confusion.

Guardian snickered. "I guess you don't even have your own head under control!"

"Shut up, Guardian!" Reality yelled before running away.

"Reality?" Memory chirped, confused that his cousin literally parkoured off the island to run away.

Alex rolled her eyes. "I dragged Sabre all the way here, just to wait on Reality who's running off to be salty?" She huffed before looking melancholically at the machine. "Hang on, Sabre. We'll fix this mess soon..."

"Where has he run off?" Memory questioned as he and Alex searched the dimension for Reality. "It's so uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning." Was Reality that upset about the sandwich breakdown? Why did he run off when they were so close to finishing this mission?

"Is he going through his 'villainous breakdown before defeat' phase?" Alex joked.

Memory gave her a perplexed look. "How many villains have you fought when you realized we all do that?"

"Besides you, Reality Steve, and the Steves who used to shun me, only one: Origin Steve." Alex shuddered. "After he broke my trust and I hurt him back, he just snapped. He lost his mind, and his arguments went in circles. The scariest part was...I actually pitied him. If Hypno Steve didn't come in to destroy him, he could had manipulated me back into a relationship with him."

"Umm..." Memory knew he should react. To give Alex proof that he understood her fear. But relating to romance horrors was as difficult as finding water in the Spiritless World. He was still wrapping his head around why Alex took so long to end the relationship in the first place. "Umm...that's awful how he treated you. I'm glad that you're free from him...Out of curiosity, did Origin Steve chant the word 'no' repeatedly in an echoey voice? Were his eyes blood red?"

Alex looked alarmed. "How did you know?!"

Memory gasped. "I think I met him in the Spiritless World! I mistook him for a Demon Steve."

"Oh my – " Alex burst out laughing. "The Spiritless World! Of course he's in there! What does he do there?!"

Memory groaned and rubbed his temple. Just remembering Origin Steve was giving him a headache. "He spends his days crying. Ranting about being entitled to love and other things I don't comprehend. I could hear him for miles and days on end whenever he was near. I wish could put his memories out of their misery to make him shut up, but he was immune to my powers. Oh Colors, I hope he found a new hobby besides being disturbing and annoying."

Alex shook her head exaggerated pity. "So that's what makes the Spiritless World a literal hell. Honestly, when you're not being evil, you're entertaining, Memory Steve. I can't believe we have hating Origin Steve in common."

"...Thank you?"

"No, thank you for listening to my rant. I'm sorry, but what Origin Steve did to me still haunts me. Sabre jokes that Illusion Steve is just like Origin Steve, but honestly, it's a stretch. Compared to Origin Steve, Reality Steve isn't that bad. He can actually negotiate and make things right. We work well as temporary allies."

"You indeed work well with him, even though you secretly worked against him in the past. On a related note, may I ask about that potion you found for the special mission Illusion Steve entrusted you with?"

"Oh..." Alex bit her lip and looked away. "Well, you see, I..."

"I already know that Illusion Steve tasked you with finding a way to defeat me. He wanted you to give up the potion because he changed his mind about the plan and apologized to me. You don't need to dodge the truth."

She sighed and admitted, "Sabre helped me create this potion. It was a Potion of Weakness that got fused with an illusion block. Whoever holds it gets immunity to Illusion Steve's illusions. Whoever gets hit by it will be weakened, unable to use their powers."

"I see. May I ask another question?"

"Sure."

"If you've had this potion all this time, why didn't you used it on Sabre to render him harmless? You've clearly shown your proactivity by bringing Sabre to the machine while he's unconscious, yet you've done nothing when he threatened fireballs at me and Reality." Memory felt a snarl forming in his throat. "And you saw how I suffered..."

"Oh yeah! That! I'm really sorry about that! But umm..." Alex forced a nervous laugh. "Well, umm, Sabre has my powers! I didn't want to use the potion on him because I want my powers back. I didn't want to risk permanently weakening that power. Yeah, that's why I didn't use the potion on Sabre! I'm really sorry about that, Memory!"

Again grateful that he wore the mask, Memory gave a bow. "I accept your apology. I understand why you want your powers safe. You need them as the protector of the realm. Anyway, let's continue finding Reality."

"Yeah! Good idea!" Alex gave an expression that Memory had seen countless of times before. The expression worn by the most loyal, compassionate, and goodhearted people who dared to challenge powerful villains. The expression that always held a hidden message: a stubborn, fearful will to keep loved ones alive.

The real reason why Alex refused to use that potion on her friend: that potion could kill whoever it hit.

That was how the potion would defeat Memory.

A moment later, Guardian soared through the sky, telling Memory and Alex to come back to the island. Reality had returned to the machine.

"Where were you?!" Memory called out when they returned. "What were you doing?!"

Reality was by the machine, focusing on the several gray rectangles levitating in his hands. "Well, I'm still studying how this account works."

"Yeah, but what were you doing?!" Alex hissed. "You ran off when we were so close to finishing this plan!"

Reality rolled his eyes and desummoned the rectangles. He brushed his hands, causing some dirt and redstone particles between his fingers to fall off. "Well, I'm here now. Sorry I ran off, but I'm back. Let's just get in the machine and get this over with!"

Memory and Alex quickly looked at each other, confused. Memory gave her a bow and said, "It was a pleasure to talk to you." He approached the redstone block connected to the trap, grateful he wasn't confined to a chamber. He pressed his hand on the block, ready to activate his powers.

Then an orchestra of thunder.

Memory gasped awake, greeted by the void sky with its flower stars, alone on an island.

He remembered Sabre and all of his encounters with that player.

He also clearly remembered that memory.

35,096 views.

35,096 views.

He shuddered and brushed the number away. He then thought of a recent memory: of him and Illusion trying to convince Sabre to join them, bribing him with Time's freedom. The details were...fuzzy. He groaned and rubbed his covered head, trying to remember the words Illusion said or Time's despairing reactions. But all he recalled were buzzed out words and a blur of a face.

This memory was partially given back to Sabre. Sabre would remember his negotiation with Illusion Steve and seeing Time Steve alive; but he would not remember Memory Steve being part of it.

Just what Memory wanted.

"Finally." He exhaled before laughing. "It worked! He no longer remembers me!"

Reality gained some power back. Alex gained some power back. Sabre's memories were restored, but Memory kept the encounter memories. Sabre would know nothing about him.

"But sadly, he's only one of them. There's still thousands from his world who remember." Memory looked across the lava to see the island where the machine and heroes were. "Time to begin the next stage of my plan."

Memory teleported behind the stone hut. He heard Alex and Guardian nearby, trying to get Sabre to wake up.

Then an unexpected voice. "Memory?"

"AH!" Memory jumped back and seized his heart, spotting Reality right next to him. Thank this illusion power for blocking my memory erasing abilities.

Reality peered at the heroes before jumping back behind the safety of the stone hut. "I'm hiding until I know for sure Sabre won't instantly destroy me. Before that, I saw you disappear after everything worked. Alex and Guardian haven't noticed yet because they rushed to get Sabre out."

Memory breathed heavily several times to calm down before he and Reality watched the heroes together. Sabre woke up with a groan.

"Sabre!" Guardian cheered. "It's good to have you back!"

"Guardian? Guardian! Alex!" Sabre stood up with sudden energy. "What's up?! Was...was I hibernating or something?"

"It's a long story," Alex said. "By the way..." She pointed at her own eyes.

Sabre felt his face and paled when he realized his bandana slipped off. It must had loosen during the machine's summoning of lightning. "AH!" He panicked and secured the bandana over his white eyes. His face became bright red.

"Hey, no judgement," Alex laughed. "You know my eyes become solid too. It's cool to have a friend who relates, kinda."

Sabre nervously laughed. "Hahahahaaaa, yeah! Two best friends with glowing eyes of powers! We are so in sync, Alex! Just two best friends learning how much they have in common! ...anyways, umm, WHY IS THERE LAVA?!" He did a double take of his surroundings and freaked out. He didn't remember what happened to him in the past four Overworld days as a power-crazy clueless man, since that was irrelevant to his memory restoration.

"Uuuummm," Alex hummed awkwardly as Guardian coughed. "That's another long story."

If those two are smart, they won't dare mention me, Memory thought sinisterly.

He took off his mask and lowered his balaclava. He gave Reality a serious, assuring expression. "What I'm about to do may seem extreme, but I promise it will not interfere with your plans. So don't fret about it. Is that ok with you?"

"Oh...kaaaay. I trust you, but what are you planning to do?"

"To escort those heroes out, without showing my face to them." Memory closed his eyes and concentrated. There were several past occasions when the Memory Dimension broke apart because of his emotions, and he desperately tried to patch it together. But this time, he wanted the dimension to break. Sickeningly, that was easy to do.

35,096 views. 35,096 views.

He remembered all the thoughts that flooded him when he first saw those numbers. He remembered Sabre witnessing his breakdown and demanding answers.

How vulnerable and violated he felt.

Crack! The island shook violently. Reality screamed and wrapped his arms around Memory to keep steady.

Then the sounds of three people screaming were cut short.

When the dimension stilled, Memory collapsed, wheezing in and out. Breathe, just breathe. He dried the small tears away, now realizing how shaken up he felt. At least it was easier to calm down than before. Why does taking a deep breath help so much?

"Did you just make yourself anxious on purpose?" Reality asked. "Why?!"

"Again, to escort them out."

"Don't you dare make that a habit!" Reality scolded.

The cousins stepped back into the open, seeing that the island had split into two and the machine had broken.

Reality stayed away from the lava chasm. "You broke this island so they could fall in. Where in the Overworld will they respawn?"

"Near the Illusion Town. I also froze the Memory Dimension in time. Use the hut to return to your Town, though you may take your time to leave." Memory gave a smile. "Best of luck. I'm sure with Alex and Guardian promising to vouch for you, you will be able to negotiate with Sabre. Just focus on your goals, don't complicate steps, and ask for help."

Reality gasped. "Wait, you're not coming with me?"

"I thought I made that obvious."

"You're right." Reality facepalmed. "You want Sabre to not remember you. We all agreed to that. That means you can't be around Sabre or any of us anymore if you want Sabre to stay clueless."

Memory nodded.

"Well, I respect your decision to leave the group. And thank you. I hope I'm able to work with Sabre to fix the mess I made." Reality gave a sad smile. Sabre could determine Reality's entire fate. Memory knew his cousin was uncertain about his future and had trouble making decisions. To see his cousin somewhat optimistic despite uncertainties warmed his heart.

Reality offered his hand. "Then I guess it's appropriate to end your agreement to be my henchman. Thank you for your loyalty and service, Memory. If I regain my powers, I'll come find you. Whether it be food or diamonds, I'll give you whatever you want to make sure you're paid for your exceptional work."

Memory accepted his cousin's hand. "It was a pleasure to serve you."

Reality sighed. "I know you still have the offer up, but I've made up my mind. I won't come back to work with Void Steve. Don't take this personally."

Memory smiled and shook his head. "I won't. It's your decision and I want you to be happy with whatever path you choose, even if it means we cannot work together."

Reality nervously looked away. "Yeah, but, without you...I don't know if I can succeed."

"Nonsense. You will do great without my assistance."

"No, I mean, I want to keep working with you because I enjoy your company, but I refuse to work with Void Steve. Can I offer you something else instead? Like you said before, there is no black and white solution. After I deal with Sabre and the infection, would you like to assist me with my new, possibly heroic work?"

Memory released Reality's hand. "I'm afraid that will not work. I was created to serve evil. My powers are designed to hurt people for the personal interests of those I serve."

"But with the illusion powers I gave you, you can control your powers better!" Reality pointed to himself in emphasis. "Your situation changed, so your work should change too! Aren't you getting tired of being just a servant? I think you'd like working not as my henchman, but as my equal, where we help each other reach a common goal."

Equals.

Memory flinched as he recalled that.

"Being the equal counterpart...what a joke..." Void shook his head and scoffed.

Memory lowered his head, shame overwhelming him as his heart cracked, realizing he utterly failed his father's expectations.

"Memory?"

"I, umm..." Memory's eyes darted to the side as his freckled face felt warm. "I don't believe the change in my situation is enough to make me fit a heroic role."

Reality facepalmed. "Are you kidding me, Memory?! You know how much I would kill for even a small change in my situation! I promise you, that one change is enough!"

Memory jumped back. "I-I apologize for dismissing your generous gift. Truly, I appreciate your help in controlling my powers! However, as someone who has served others all my life, I don't believe I can leave that work behind."

"What's holding you back?!" Reality demanded. "And why are you so stubborn to go back to Void Steve out of all people?! What...what did he offer that makes working for him better than working for me?" Reality's enraged expression shifted into a hurt one, pleading for an answer.

Memory's heart sank as he guiltily looked away. "...He's my father."

"I'm family too!"

"Well, he's also, umm..." His words were failing. Without his mask, he was betraying his hopeless confusion, barren of any well-thought explanation he could give.

Reality stepped back. His expression was pained, but his eyes were stern. "Well, I guess there's one explanation: all you know is a life of being evil. A life of harming others and getting away with it. Is that why you don't want to give up being evil? Because you know that if you will, you'll have to face the consequences of what you've done. To your family. To the Steves. To Sabre."

Memory grimaced and forced himself to look at Reality. "Well, I haven't thought of it that way..."

"Of course you don't think about that. You've never felt accountable for your crimes," Reality muttered, looking away furiously and crossing his arms.

Memory looked away again. "That's simply how a villain like me acts. You're a villain as well. You should know that."

"I do know," Reality sighed. "But then I realized how much I've hurt others and myself, and how unnecessary that was. I wish you can realize that too, so you can try being good with me. It saddens me that you don't realize the things I've discovered about you and Void Steve. Your circumstances changed, Memory. You don't need to work for him anymore. Your stubbornness to stay evil is stupid. Only a freak would willingly refuse to – "

Memory gaped at Reality, alarm and betrayal in his red eyes. He took a step back, as if Reality was a sudden stranger.

Reality gasped and froze. "Oh, I mean, umm – "

"Go on." Memory narrowed his eyes with contempt. "Elaborate for me. Tell mewhy my choice to remain evil despite my changed situation makes me a freak. Your situation changed too when you paused the infection, yet your choice to remain evil and force Steves into your illusion was necessary? Tell me why you're different. I'm listening, since you apparently know better."

Reality shrunk back. "Memory, I'm sorry. I messed up with my wording! I – "

Memory closed his eyes and laughed sinisterly. He gave his cousin a too friendly smile. "No, no, I forgive you! As a matter of fact, I should thank you, since you just confirmed my suspicions."

"What suspicions?" Reality nervously asked.

"That deep down, you are a good person. A heavily misguided good person, who goes astray from your calling because of personal troubles, enabling evil under your watch. But once you come to your senses, you're determined to make things right. And what's the first thing people like you do once they find their direction again?" Memory's bitter glare returned. "Shun the evil ones you've allowed to hurt others, even after all the work they've done for you. You're more like your father than you think."

Reality shuddered. "No, I'm not like that! I want to be better than Galaxy Steve!"

Memory stepped back and sadly looked away. "And I really hope you become better than him. But first, you need to learn how to be good." He gave his cousin a bittersweet smile. "I'm glad I helped you realize your potential to be a hero. Unfortunately, my role in this universe is to be a villain. And if being good is your calling...we can't be friends." He quickly pulled up his balaclava and put on his mask, concealing his face before he could betray an even sadder expression. "Until we meet again...goodbye, Reality Steve."

"Hey, wait – !"

Memory teleported away before he heard the rest.

Memory sat on a tree, gazing at the void sky while tears formed in his eyes. His heart was numb and his thoughts had slowed.

...Why?

The last time he felt this pain was when Time, Elemental, and Galaxy left him and Void. He knew what it was like to end a friendship with a cousin in this battle between good and evil. But why did saying goodbye to him feel worse than saying goodbye to Time and Elemental?

He shook his head, forcing himself to feel something else. Determination. Confidence. Something. Anything!

I have a mission. I can't go astray from it. I can't be a cowardly hero like his side of the family.

He brought his hand up. Descending from the sky, Void's shining red flower landed in his hand. A moment later, several white, glitching flowers and blue flowers approached him. He peered at the glitching flowers. Most of them where Sabre's encounter memories. The others were that horrifying memory of the video and the memories Sabre made when he was restarted as a blank slate.

Connected to the memory of the video were three certain memories. They were bound together by a thorny vine. Memory had studied those three in his spare time and found a way to connect them to the video memory, allowing him to keep them after Sabre's memory restoration.

These three memories were keys to his plan.

Memory returned his gaze to the red flower. For a moment, he felt sad that he could not have both Reality and Void in his life.

But then again, being a villain meant making sacrifices that heroes didn't have the strength to make.

"I'll bring you back, Father, so you can finish what you've started..."

Word count: 4664

Hello! I have an important Author's Note, because RRFF is gonna have two upcoming hiatuses, and I want to explain how those will affect the update schedule.

Firstly, I plan to post 3 more weekly chapters (Chapters 24, 25, and 26). And they're all actually less than 3k words, so sorry to those readers who wanted a longer read XD As usual, they'll be posted on Fridays.

On February 20, the day after Chapter 26 will be posted, RRFF will go on hiatus for 3-4 weeks! I'll be using that hiatus to polish up the next chapters as well as work on personal stuff.

After that hiatus, I'll post 5-6 chapters every Friday! So that'll be 5-6 weeks work of RRFF content. But after that, RRFF will go on the second hiatus. I'm unsure of how long the second hiatus will last (it'll most likely be longer than 3-4 weeks), but hopefully I'll have a new batch of chapters prepared by the end of the hiatus.

I'll post announcements on my Wattpad and DeviantArt accounts if you want more specific information about the hiatuses.

For now, I just want to give you a heads up. Thank you for reading!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Take care and stay safe. See you next week.