Egret

Headspace - Prologue 1

09 - 16 - 23

Egret

The game starts as in Omori, basically. Egret (Basil's persona) waking up in White Space. Pic related, some objects are different. In total, he has a white bed, a black flower, a photo album with blurry images and a broken camera.

After stretching a bit, the door leading to the Headspace appeared for him, and without delay, he walked through it. On the other side is Neighboor's Mansion, and we're already starting to have our sharp differences.

Neighboor's Mansion is a ruined gothic mansion full of overgrown bushes. Egret appears in the garden, but the AI makes it clear that Egret is not frightened by the mansion's appearance. Once inside, the scenery changes: instead of being abandoned, it's a comfortable living room with a fireplace, sofas and a carpet. There he meets his friends, Sunny, Kel, Aubrey, Mari and Hero, playing Monopoly, and when he arrives, they all invite him to play too.

Kel, of course, gets bored faster and asks them to do something else. It seems that this day they had planned to do a bit of Bug Catching

fter passing through the Vast Jungle (the version of the Vast Forest in Egret's Headspace), they arrive at a rocky mountain. There, Mari prepares a picnic, while Kel and Aubrey rush off to hunt insects, starting to fight right away about which insect is cooler.

Mari asks Egret to take Sunny, since he's afraid of insects, and the two of them go hunting together. Sunny tries to catch the bugs without touching them, while Egret hunts several at once. Eventually, they come across what looks like a giant spiked beetle, and Sunny is terrified. The beetle appears to be aggressive, but Egret slaps it off the cliff with his garden spade.

Everyone returns to the picnic area for a snack. While they're eating, Kel suggests that they play hide and seek, and the group accepts (a little reluctantly). The AI proceeds to list where each member of the group is hiding: Kel is the seeker, Aubrey hides behind a rock, Hero behind some bushes, Mari behind some foliage and Sunny is at a loss as to where to hide. Seeing this, Egret decides to call Sunny to hide with him, and they find a tree with a rope, by which they climb up and hide at the top of it (reference to something? I don't know, should I note this down as a clue?).
While they wait, they observe the peaceful landscape. Sunny interrupts, making enigmatic comments.

"Do you think Kel will find us?" asked Egret nervously.
"Maybe. It's not impossible." Sunny's voice grew distant. "If you think about it... none of this really matters..." He turned away, looking down at his lap sadly. Egret stared at Sunny, bewildered.
"What do you mean?" Egret questioned curiously. Sunny remained silent for several minutes, gazing at something beyond his sight.
"Do you understand?" Sunny finally asked cryptically. "You won't be able to hide forever. Your past will always catch up to you."

The group is interrupted by Kel, who finds them climbing the tree (he had a hunch they'd be up there). After climbing down, they find the rest of the group gathered in the picnic area. Egret comments to Mari about what Sunny said, and Mari acts as if Sunny says this sort of thing all the time. Aubrey says that Sunny simply worries too much about the future.

They pack up and start heading back to Neighboor's Mansion, as it's already getting dark. However, it ends up getting dark as they walk through the forest. Blocking their way, they come across a bunch of giant insects, like the beetle Sunny found earlier, all of which aggressively decide to attack the group.

Mari takes the lead and manages to punch a few away (and how strong she is!), Egret helps on the flank. However, they hear a loud wailing sound coming from the forest which frightens the bugs and makes them all run away.

Suddenly, a giant spider appears, bigger than the trees, alien-looking and emitting a yellow light. The group is immediately terrified, especially Hero and Sunny, who are paralyzed with fear. They all start running, Egret pulling Sunny (otherwise he'd just stand there staring at the spider), and Mari pulling Hero.

However, the spider is faster and jumps in front of them, blocking their way. Egret starts to think of a way to escape, but he can't be quick enough, as the spider throws itself at Mari and Aubrey, running them over and knocking Aubrey down under its weight.

Suddenly, a flash of green goes past them and the spider is thrown backwards. The light came from a shot from a plasma cannon. The group looks back, and from the middle of the trees, Egret's fucking grandmother appears, wearing a black and green spacesuit and holding a giant plasma gun.

Grandma

What the fuck?

She quickly tells the group that she's going to take care of the spider and asks them all to run, which they do, only hearing the sounds of the fight behind them as they flee.

09 - 21 - 2023

Spaceship

Let's see, after the group fled the forest, they returned to Neighboor's Mansion, finding Grandma's ship there (pic related). She arrived later, greeting and hugging the children, happy to see them. They all went inside the mansion to rest, where she explained that she was passing through for a mission and invited the group if they wanted to go with her into space aboard her spaceship.

Everyone immediately jumped at the idea (especially Kel, of course) and got ready to leave. Just then, as everyone was leaving, Aubrey tugged on Egret's arm.

As the group slowly staggered to the exit, Aubrey hesitated and glanced at the fireplace.
"Wait, Egret..." She reached out for Egret's arm as he passed. "We shouldn't leave now." Egret froze, perplexed. Aubrey swallowed nervously, gesturing towards the fireplace. "Look." Egret gazed into the fireplace hesitantly. There was something moving inside, something human shaped and writhing in pain. Suddenly, Egret realized that someone was missing from their group. "E-egret? Is that..." Aubrey whispered fearfully. Egret's heart dropped to his stomach. The figure in the fireplace... That figure was...

And... Egret is back to White Space, without recolection of what happened. Then, everything happens as you would expect - without finding an exit, Egret uses his garden shears to wake up.

Basil first woke up disoriented, not knowing where he was, and then he began to remember. He was at Polly's house, having moved there after his grandmother died (Basil has trouble remembering how long ago it was). He's hungry, so he decides to get something to eat from the kitchen. The house is small and has a boring, modern decor. Basil prepares a sandwich and starts eating it in the living room.

It's then that he notices something moving in the corner of his field of vision. A humanoid shadow with glowing white eyes. Baisl is paralyzed with fear as the shadow approaches. All the shadow says is "You are a misbehaving little vegetable... Aren't you, Basil?" , and then, "Tell us the truth... Don't lie..." before leaving and disappearing in the darkness.

Basil was still paralyzed by fear when Polly suddenly shakes him out of his torpor.

She's worried about him, but Basil says it was nothing. She says he needs to go back to sleep, because the next day he's going to the therapist to solve his "problem" (she doesn't explain what it is). She also tells him that he needs to eat better, stop sleeping between meals and wandering around the house, after which she goes back to her room and Basil is alone again.

Basil is about to leave when he hears someone knocking on the door. At first, Basil begins to wonder who is knocking at this time, so he decides to open the door a little.

On the other side, he sees a corridor (which means they're living in an apartment, interestingly enough), then he sees a orange light approaching in the distance.

And suddenly, a spectral figure with a skeletal face, engulfed in white flames, appears hovering over the door, looking at him. Basil quickly closes the door and runs back to his room, and once he has calmed down (repeatedly telling himself that he's just going crazy), he falls asleep.

Something

Headspace - Prologue 2

09 - 29 - 23

In Headspace, we pick up pretty much where we left off. The group is on grandma's spaceship, apparently worried because Aubrey has disappeared. They wonder if Aubrey hasn't simply abandoned them on her own. No matter how hard they search using all the ship's mechanisms, they can't find a trace of her. Tired, they all go to sleep.

The next day, Egret's grandma tells them that they need to leave, there's a monster destroying entire civilizations and planets and the group has received a call from Captain Spaceboy asking for help to solve the problem. Even though Egret thinks it would be abandoning Aubrey, everyone in the group immediately seems to get excited about helping Grandma on this mission, and (contrary to Egret's wishes), they all decide to go into space immediately.

On the way, they come across a dangerous-looking black spaceship. It immediately attacks Grandma's spaceship. Here, Sunny gets energized and immediately goes into control to attack them back. Both spaceships keep attacking each other until they are completely ruined, and in order not to explode, they cease fire and decide to establish communication.

Spaceshipdangerous

Apparently, it's just a misunderstanding, the captain of the opposing spaceship found the way Granny's ship was approaching suspicious and felt threatened. The group explains where they are going, and the captain tells them that Captain Spaceboy is a fake and that the group is wasting their time by going to help him, then clears the way for them to continue their journey.

The group reaches the planet, which seems to have been destroyed by a war, and receives a transmission from Captain Spaceboy, who is quite different from what we expect (pic related).

Captain Spaceboy

At first he's annoyed that Grandma has brought a bunch of kids, but then he just gets straight to the point, giving us coordinates of where the monster is - trapped in an underground city under a gigantic iceberg. It seems that Captain Spaceboy is already counting on some help on the planet, and when the group arrives, he opens a platform at the top of the iceberg that descends into the underground city.

The city is gigantic, partially submerged, made up of gigantic buildings piled on top of each other, with statues of bizarre creatures decorating the streets. The group finds a statue of a creature that looks like a mixture of a bull and a crab, in which there is an object that they can use to track people's locations by using DNA (this will come in handy later!).

After walking around a bit, they find what looks like the planet-destroying monster, and it turns out to be... Disappointing. It's a gigantic, alien-looking moray that's chained to a building. It's riddled with wounds, its teeth removed, and it can barely lift its head. The group begins to wonder if this really is the world-destroying creature, and when Granny decides to try to kill it, Mari and Sunny step in. Sunny feels bad because the creature must be very lonely in this abandoned town, tied up without being able to do anything, and Mari believes that the creature is innocent.
They think about releasing it, but first, they decide to explore the city some more - maybe this isn't the world-destroying monster after all. If it is, they'll have to ask Captain Spaceboy for a explanation later.

10 - 08 - 23

Bunny

Anyway, after finding the monstrous moray in chains, the group went to explore the city, to see if they could find any other creatures that fit the description of the devourer of worlds that Spaceboy had mentioned.

Unfortunately, they find nothing. However, they do come across Thumper - a space bounty hunter, also summoned by Spaceboy, whose appearance is that of a rabbit wearing a red superhero outfit and a cape. He basically says that he has several bombs capable of blowing up the entire city, and he's going to use them against Moray. The group try to oppose him, as they don't know if Moray is bad or not, but the rabbit doesn't care, as he's there for the money. When he realizes that the group is going to try to stop him, Thumper takes off running, almost reaching the Moray but being tackled by Kel before he can throw his bombs.

They prepare to liberate Moray. Sunny walks up to the creature, and the first redflag is that Moray tries to bite Sunny's arm off. Egret believes it's scared, so he approaches it and starts talking to calm it down.
Then he hears a voice inside his mind, a voice that fills him with chills.

Eldritch

"We can release you. You don't belong in chains, being held prisoner," Egret murmured sympathetically.
The voice grew louder, until it seemed to surround them. It was impossible to pinpoint the source, and it made Egret's skin prickle with unease. "Free me, and I shall reward you greatly," it rumbled ominously. "But do not free me lightly, for I shall consume all of reality itself."
"But why would you want to do that?" Egret blurted out instinctively, surprising himself. "Why would anyone want to destroy everything? That sounds awful..."
The moray simply chuckled deeply, its great maw opening wide to expose two rows of jagged teeth stained green from centuries of decay. Egret could smell rotting flesh and acidic fumes emanating from the moray's breath as it replied, "Destroying everything is always a good thing. Destruction is the ultimate pleasure, the ultimate form of release. The metaphysical weight of creation is unbearable; it requires the obliteration of all creation, or else the cycle of creation and destruction is forever unfulfilled."
Egret frowned in confusion. "Uhh, what?"
The moray laughed again. "Ah, you humans and your finite minds cannot comprehend the glorious serenity of universal destruction. Perhaps if you had been alive eons ago, when my kind dominated the vast expanse of space, you would understand. We reveled in endless carnage and annihilation—it fueled our every desire, even more than sustenance or growth. Even if most of those days are erased from time itself now, my memory still lingers, my desire forever incomplete. But no matter... I will devour the cosmos, and fulfill the eternal cycle."

So Moray is fucking evil. The group regrets trying to free it. Egret's grandmother in particular tries to shoot the Moray, but it opens it's mouth and releases a bolt of lightning that hits Grandma and sends her flying.

The Moray then faces Thumper, who starts screaming as he touches his own head. Unable to control his actions, he picks up one of the bombs and throws it at Moray's chains, exploding and releasingit. The Moray immediately flies off towards the roof of the underground city, but Granny starts shooting at it and causes it to fall before it can get out. Now everyone is desperate to stop the Moray (except Thumper, who runs away). It's no use, as the Muray manages to rise quickly enough to destroy the ceiling and come out onto the surface, without stopping until it reaches the planet's atmosphere.

There, it finds itself surrounded by a fleet of spaceships led by Spaceboy, who start shooting at Moray with everything they've got. The blows hit it, but don't seem to do anything. The Moray simply starts dodging them in a zigzag pattern.

The group rushes to their ship, they need to help in the fight against the Moray. They immediately leave the underground city and fly to where the battle is taking place, helping the fleet to surround the Moray in a circle. But it's no use, the Moray simply starts slaughtering the spaceships, and in the end, it starts chasing the group's ship, managing to bite it and throw it at the planet and then chasing it like it's some sort of chewing toy, almost destroying the ship the group is on, but being forced to retreat by Thumper's ship, which suddenly appears and attacks the Moray. Eventually, the Moray simply flees into space, without anyone being able to stop it.

MoraySpaceattack

The group leaves the partially detonated ship and finds themselves on an island on Spaceboy's planet. Spaceboy descends in his ship, and immediately starts swearing at the group. First he curses Egret's grandmother for always taking her children and ruining everything. Obviously the group, especially Kel and Mari, intervene to defend grandma. Hero argues that the group wasn't sure if the Moray was bad, and Spaceboy retorts that he warned the group quite explicitly.

Spaceboywarn

Egret tries to reassure the captain that they still have time to find the Moray and stop it, but Spaceboy says he doesn't want the group screwing up the situation any further, and forbids them to get involved or even enter his sector again or he'll personally hunt them down.

That said, Captain Spaceboy leaves, leaving the group on the island. Even with Spaceboy's warning, Egret suggests that they return to the underground city, because, if you guys remember, they had found a statue with a device that allowed them to find individuals using DNA, and they could use this to find the location of the Moray. The group is excited by the proposal and they all return to the ship, traveling back to the iceberg where the underground city is.

Egret leaves the ship alone, the group has stayed behind for some reason. The entrance to the place seems darker for some reason. When he reaches the double doors that lead to the city, the symbols he couldn't understand before are now clear: The Truth Shall Be Revealed.

As he passes through the door, the city looks different. The statues of creatures and animals that once stood in the city have been replaced by gigantic gargoyles that watch the streets from the tops of the buildings. The knee-deep water is now red and seems to be leaking from the buildings.

Blackspacebuildings

Egret walks, feeling watched, to the place where the statue with the device should be. He doesn't find it, instead coming across what looks like a half-submerged shack.

He enters. Inside, the place seems to be distorted like a kaleidoscope, and the architecture has become non-Euclidean. The water covering the ankle-deep floor has now turned into a black goo. Egret finds a staircase that spirals upwards, and Egret decides to follow it.

The staircase takes him to a corridor. On the ceiling, several lightbulbs are hanging, unlit, and moving in a pendulum motion, except for one at the end of the corridor, the only lightbulb on, which for some reason makes Egret afraid. He walks over to it and finds that it is illuminating a golden locket on the floor, with intricate images of flowers and leaves.

As he reaches down to pick it up, he hears a wailing sound coming from behind him. As he turns around, a luminous ghostly figure appears, its form flickering, with only a single black eye staring at him. The figure says: "Egret, you can't hide."
It then advances against him.

And Egret is back to White Space.

(End of Headspace Section)

Faraway - Three Days Left

10 - 22 - 23

THREE DAYS LEFT

Hero

Basil wakes up in the morning to Polly calling him. It seems he has an appointment with his therapist. Someone knocks on the door and Polly goes to answer it while Basil gets dressed.

When he leaves, Polly is preparing breakfast while Hero waits for him in the living room. Hero looks like she's going to be the one to take Basil for a ride, and asks them to hurry because he has to pick up Mari later on the way. Hero hasn't changed much here, he just seems to be a bit more formal and responsible than usual. Even so, he's still good old friendly Hero.

He takes Basil by car to his office, and tells Basil that it's normal for him to be nervous, he's in a complicated situation after what happened (without specifying what), but that therapy will help him put everything behind him once and for all.

The therapy session is with a very cold, methodical, skinny-looking and somewhat scary guy. He seems to act almost like some sort of Mengele at first, saying that Polly has commented that Basil has strange attitudes and wants to get to the bottom of it in a somewhat intimidating manner.
But he's harmless, just asking Basil about his nightmares and hallucinations. Basil tells him about the shadow Sunny he saw and the SOMETHING, and the therapist just keeps asking, changing the subject to his friends, whom Basil hasn't seen for so long. With the therapist's questions, Basil confesses that he wants to see his friends again, and the therapist convinces him to try to get in touch with them as soon as possible.

This ends the therapy session and he reschedules his appointment.

On the way back, he sees that Hero is already waiting for him, and Mari is already in the car (pic related >>449980271 (You)). It seems a long time since Basil has seen her and he is surprised at how she has changed - she has dyed her hair purple, is wearing a rather large black sweater, and seems generally depressed. She doesn't say anything when he calls her and just stares into the void.
Hero is about to drop Basil off at his house and take Mari back to hers, but Basil interrupts and says he'd like to know if he could hang out with Hero and see his friends again, as it's been a while since he's done that. Hero seems very happy with the proposal and says that they can all meet at his house.

A short timeskip later and they arrive at the house, Hero asks Basil to get comfortable while she goes to call Aubrey, and Basil starts to explore the house a bit (basically, no change between this house and the original house in the game, except for Hero's parents, who have left at the moment).
Basil finds Kel sitting and watching TV, and here's another sudden change. Kel looks taller, stronger, wearing a black shirt and ripped denim shorts, with his long hair tied up in a ponytail. When Basil arrives, Kel mocks him by saying he's dressed like a clown and returns his attention to the TV. Basil sits down next to him, Kel is generally distant, more serious, and seems slightly irritated by Basil's presence there.

Kel

Basil asks about Mari, Hero says that Mari can't go now. Basil asks if she's not going out much, and it seems not, Mari goes out more to study and do her things, but she hasn't been out much since what happened four years ago. They complain a bit until Kel basically tells them to shut up because they're annoying him. Basil comments that Kel has changed a lot, and Kel says he's only matured and points out his desire to turn the page and leave Faraway to see new places.

Then Aubrey arrives.

Aubrey is basically a grown-up version of the child Aubrey. She's wearing jeans, a pink shirt, her hair is long and brown and she has a pink bow in her hair. She arrives basically vibrating on the scene, her eyes glowing, and everyone seems immediately happy to see her, including (to my surprise) Kel, who immediately waves to her and asks how she is.

Aubrey

Aubrey gives Basil a big hug, it's been a long time since they've seen each other. Then she sits down between him and Kel on the sofa and starts flipping through the channels, asking if they're going to watch a movie. Kel makes fun of her, saying that they can watch girly-girl movies like her, and she says that she's not a girly-girl. Kel points out the fact that she dyed her hair pink a few years ago, and she says she doesn't have pink hair anymore, and Kel retorts that that's only because her father threatened to kick her out of the house for wearing such a flashy color.

Hero asks how things are going with her and her mother, Aubrey comments that she doesn't know much about her mother since she left for Florida, and that she honestly doesn't want to know anything about her. Then Aubrey asks Basil how his therapy is going, Basil just says "fine". Kel mocks Basil by saying that Basil is looking like a corpse, and that's what happens when he locks himself in his room for years. Aubrey kind of scolds Kel for this.

Aubrey says that it's a beautiful day outside and that they could go for a walk to enjoy the weather, and on the way have a chat and catch up on things. They all agree, and soon decide to go out.

10 - 22 - 23

Park

Well, the group goes to the park. Kel soon separates from the group to go and play some basketball, and Hero stays to watch him. Basil and Aubrey sit down together and start catching up.
Aubrey is apparently fine, life is going well. She doesn't really know what she's going to do in the future, whether she's going to go to college or not. Basil, on the other hand, plans to do something related to botany perhaps. Aubrey comments to Basil that she's the best in her class at baseball, and Basil asks her to teach him one day.
Soon the group has to return home, as dark thunderclouds begin to cover the sky.

Back home, it starts to rain outside. Hero decides to prepare something for everyone to eat. Kel says he misses his cookies, and Hero says she's gotten more ambitious and doesn't make cookies anymore. Aubrey comments that she always preferred Mari's and Basil agrees that Mari's were perfect.
He then says that he wishes Mari and Sunny were there with them too, and the mood immediately turns sad. Hero comments that it's very sad that Sunny has... But he doesn't finish the sentence, Kel just agrees.
Basil senses the bad mood and tries to find a way to improve it, but Aubrey is quicker and suggests karaoke. Hero is cooking and Kel doesn't want to because it seems boring, but Basil accepts.

Karaoke

Then the infamous karaoke scene happens. Aubrey chooses an anime song, and Basil for some reason seems to recognize it. She sings the girl's part, Basil sings the boy's, and they both synchronize beautifully. Aubrey sings very well!
The scene is so funny that Kel ends up joining in, singing the boy's part in a hoarse voice, and Hero finishes cooking and ends up being persuaded to join in, tuning his voice to sing the woman's part.
In the end, the singing stops and everyone goes back to the kitchen laughing, getting ready for dinner.
While they eat, Kel asks if the song was the theme from Sweetheart's Quest for Hearts. Basil agrees, and Aubrey adds that it was Mari's favorite anime. Kel gets slightly annoyed at the mention of Mari, and Aubrey asks what happened to Kel getting like that with her.

Kel rolled his eyes and snorted. "She's such a jerk." He paused and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "She hurt Hero really bad, Aubrey."
That made Basil curious, and it seemed it piqued Hero's interest too. Aubrey raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Kel with curiosity, wondering what was he talking about.
"How do you mean, she hurt Hero?"
"She was an absolute bitch to Hero for a couple of weeks after Sunny's... You know. It was horrible," Kel replied angrily.
"But that doesn't explain anything... How so?" Basil inquired.
"Because she was such an inconsiderate witch, like, seriously. I know that she was mourning her brother, but it didn't justify treating Hero like crap."

Hero puts a lid on the matter, saying that it wasn't that serious and that Mari was only hurt by what had happened, and that to this day she blames herself for Sunny's death. Aubrey agrees that she was the most affected.

While they eat, Basil looks at the time and realizes that it's getting late. He asks Hero to give him a lift home when he's finished eating, and Hero accepts.
Kel asks why he's so stuck up, and Basil explains that his father is coming in three days to take him away and spend the summer vacation with him. It seems that the friends know Basil's father and are uncomfortable with the fact, and Basil explaining that his father isn't very happy about him living with Polly doesn't help the mood.
But finally, Hero and Aubrey say they'll be there for him, and Kel tells Basil to be careful and not to have a nervous breakdown when he sees him (what a odd thing to say...)

Then they simply continue with their dinner. That's the end of the scene.

10 - 28 - 23

After eating, Hero goes to get the car and Kel goes to the bathroom, leaving Basil alone with Aubrey once again. Basil prepares to say something casually, but notices that Aubrey has a strange expression.
She claps her hands, as if she's excited, but Basil notices that her smile looks very forced.
Aubrey asks if there really is such a thing as Basil leaving the town forever, and Basil confirms it, which makes Aubrey even weirder, she says something along the lines of "after all I've done for you". Then she turns to Basil, serious, and asks where his photo album is. Basil can't answer, so Aubrey demands that he must give her the photo album. Basil asks why, and she says it's because he promised her.
Basil ends up being terrified for some reason, sees shadows circling Aubrey, and stuttering, ends up running away and leaving the house, meeting Hero. Hero has the car ready and notices that Basil is all pale. Basil says it's nothing, and Hero doesn't ask any more questions.

Inside the car, Hero comments that he took a while to get back because he had bumped into Mari and decided to have a chat with her. Apparently, he convinced Mari to meet up with them like old times the next day, outside the church. Mari will go to the cemetery to leave some flowers, and the group will go with her. Basil plans on just waiting outside while the do that, but accepts meeting with them again in the next day.

SadAubrey

Hero leaves Basil in front of the building where he lives and walks away. Basil enters the building and immediately realizes that something isn't right. The building is pitch black, as if it were in the middle of a blackout.
Basil moves forward and notices his old Polaroid camera on the floor. He picks it up and uses its flash to light the way as he makes his way through the dark, silent building.

Basil arrives at the stairs, the elevator is not working. When he uses the flash, he seems to see a shadow moving along the railing above. He thinks it's just his imagination and carries on.

On the next floor, again he seems to see something moving in the darkness, but when he uses the flash, there's no one, just pic related.

Promise

The corridor becomes progressively more different. It no longer looked like an apartment corridor, but like an abandoned hospital, and the floor felt sticky with a strange substance.
He keeps going until he hears something wet moving in the dark. He uses the flash, and he sees the following creature (pic related).
A humanoid monster, which seems to be made of some white gooey material, with a single human eye staring back at him.
The creature advances towards Basil each time he uses the flash, each time seeming closer and closer until it is only centimeters away from the boy, who falls to the ground and presses himself against the wall.
He hears a slurred voice, like someone who can't speak trying to communicate.

"You wish to keep your photos locked away forever... But without them, how will you remember your past?" the creature asked cryptically. "Do you even remember what memories you have locked within those pages?"

Then the lights come back on. Basil is curled up in a corner of the hallway of his apartment, and Polly is the one who turned on the light, she's standing in the doorway of the apartment. She runs to see if Basil is all right, noticing how he's shaking. She was already getting worried about how long it had taken him to come back.
Basil reassures her that he's fine. Polly takes him back home and tells him he needs to rest.

goop

Then we have one last comfy scene, Basil and Polly talking and having a cup of tea to calm down. Polly is happy that Basil has gone out with his friends, and Basil says it was nice, but Polly notices that he doesn't seem so happy about what happened (taking into account the scene she has just seen).
She asks if he's had a fight with them, and Basil says no, and that he'll meet them again tomorrow. Polly realizes that he's hiding something and keeps pressing him.
Basil then confesses about Aubrey's strange behavior, and her request for the photo album.

"Well, if that makes her happy, give her your photo album then." Polly shrugged nonchalantly. "After all, friendship is all about compromises and forgiveness. If she's upset because she feels abandoned by you... Then she may try to cling on whatever link connects you two."

A memory flashes through Basil's mind when he thinks of the photo album, just the sight of him picking up the photo album, his hands sticky as if he had been holding something oily for a long time, and then putting something between the pages and staining the album with such a substance.
Basil tells Polly that he can't remember where he put the album, so he can't give it to Aubrey, and Polly says that he'll remember in time when he needs to.
That said, Basil goes to bed, and soon falls asleep.

PollyBasil

Headspace - Three Days Left

11 - 04 - 2023

Flower

We begin with Egret back at White Space. At first he just stays there, lying on his bed staring at the white expanse, until he realizes that there's something different there. A smell that wasn't there before.

He notices that the black flower in the vase is bigger, and its smell more pungent. He wants to get closer, but the flower fills him with dread.
He notices something different too. For some reason, he reaches for his photo album, full of blurry images that are impossible to identify. But the last photo makes him stop. A white, flickering, hovering figure in a dark garden, a single eye staring at him. He feels that it shouldn't belong in White Space.

The door leading to Headspace appears behind him. Egret doesn't hesitate before going through it.

The door takes him directly inside his grandmother's ship. His friends and grandmother are already waiting for him there, happily wondering what took him so long. Sunny, who was drawing on the floor, jumps up and hugs him. It seems they were already getting worried about his delay.
Grandma tells them that they need to get ready for their next adventure and chase the older-god Moray in an asteroid belt, but Egret asks if they're not going to look for Aubrey first. The group is surprised that they had almost forgotten about it and agree that they should pay attention to Aubrey's disappearance.

Grandma comments that she has received a transmission from their home planet, and that it may be coming from Aubrey. She shows a hologram of a building that looks like a mix between a church and a castle, and Kel recognizes the place as being in the center of the planet. She insists that they should go and solve Moray's case first, but the group insists that Aubrey is more urgent. Reluctantly, Grandma accepts and the group decides to travel to the home planet to find the source of the transmission.

The group flies to the planet. The place where the transmission came from is a tropical island with a volcano. There, they find the building. It looks like a church, but with elements of a castle mixed with a prison, made of iron and without much religious iconography. The church is also tilting to one side, like if it's almost crumbling. It looks somewhat abandoned. Grandma lands, but suddenly she receives a stress call and warns the group that she needs to leave urgently and will come back for them later. So, they end up going alone towards the building.

Church

The group enters the building. As they expected, it appears to be abandoned and in ruins.

Suddenly, several creatures appear and surround the group. They resemble large insects made from part of a pipe organ, speaking in an archaic style. They say that the group has crossed sacred territory and will be punished, which makes Sunny start laughing, followed by the group, thanks to the appearance of the insects. They are embarrassed

Pipewrym

These are the Pipewyrm, creatures that serve the glorious Leafsong, whom Mari recognizes as a powerful sorcerer who speaks for plants. Mari tries to tell them that they're looking for Aubrey, but the Pipewyrm don't care and insist that the group leaves, until Sunny mentions the transmission they received, which makes the Pipewyrm more receptive.

It seems that Leafsong was the one who sent the transmission, since he wants to create a campaign against the old god Moray but can't send his messages because he's too old and losing his powers.

This discourages Mari, as she realizes that the transmission didn't come from Aubrey, but the Pipewyrms assure her that Leafsong can probably help them find her and invite the group to go and see him in the deepest part of the church.

The group is taken to an underground chamber. There is a small garden inside, including a lake and a waterfall. In the center of it, a large being made of plants, similar to a Venus Trap Plant, awaits them.

He seems immediately irritated to see the group, until they mention the transmission and he seems anxious for them to help him immediately. Mari, however, wants to negotiate, offering to help in exchange for his help.

Leafsong is not receptive at all, he says that Mari is insolent for wanting to bargain with him.

Egret insists, saying that they are ready to help him as long as they know where Aubrey is, but Leafsong, even though he has an appreciation for Basil and his care with plants, continues to refuse and says that it is useless to ask for it.

After Mari insists again, Leafsong loses patience and tells them to leave or he will devour them.

Hero takes his turn, asks if they can do anything to get this information, and this finally makes Leafsong think. He says that the group has annoyed him, so they can at least amuse him a bit. He challenges the group to a round of Striddles - a game of solving riddles. If the group beats him - which he assures them won't happen because he's too smart and humans are too dumb - he'll help them find Aubrey.
Of course, the group accepts, so they are taken away from the church to a place in the middle of the sea.

11 - 19 - 2023

From where we left off in the last session, the wizard/god/plant Leafsong takes the group to a coliseum in the middle of the sea made of sand and explains the rules, which are basically: always answer the questions and answer on time, and whoever gets 10 points first wins (there are a few details but that's not really the point).

The game soon begins, and here's a detail... I left the riddles up to the AI alone, but the AI has no sense of how to make riddles, so it simply created random, indescribable things. Each round, I would roll for one of the characters to try to answer, and then throw the riddle at gpt-4 to see what it thought the riddle was.

It turned out that the answer to the riddles were: Zero, Danger, The Effect of the Wind Created By a Door Getting Closed Plus Gravity (pic related), and Life+Opportunities.

Some highlights of this section were Hero skipping his turn because he was bad at riddles, Mari not letting Kel answer and getting ahead of her to answer all the riddles herself, and Leafsong simply answering the riddles made against him in between insults to the group's intelligence.
Eventually, the group won by 1 point, and now Leafsong was forced to help them on the task of finding Aubrey.

Quite against his will, Leafsong began to use his powers to see where Aubrey was.

Friend lost and far, a traveller without map or guide.
She is seeking what's gone and lost in the world below.
She is dreaming about her friends and family, and
Feeling helpless in her solitude, abandoned, afraid and alone.
Ye search through worlds without bounds and beyond, but know that
They cannot help her, their journeys are in vain.
In darkness deep, surrounded by heath and smoke,
The girl has found shelter in a cave, far away from prying eyes.
She hides her pain and misery, afraid that her friends
Will leave her behind once again, her tears falling like rain.

Egret thinks for a while about the meaning of that last riddle, and realizes that it most likely meant that Aubrey was in the volcano near the island (a cave with heat and smoke).
However, before the group rushes there, Leafsong warns them that the cave is guarded by General Moora, a creature who is particularly cruel to trespassers. He offers to guide the group and talk to General Moora so that he will allow them to pass through, as General Moora respects him very much.
Before going, Leafsong makes sure to remember the group that he despises them (pic related), but anyways, the group accepts and is soon led through a tunnel under the church towards the volcano.

tunnel

As they crawled through the narrow passageways, the stench of sulfur became nearly unbearable, as if someone had overfilled a sewage tank and it was beginning to leak onto the surrounding areas. From the ceiling, long strings of slimy fungus dangled down, looking almost like tongues, and covered parts of the passage in sticky gelatinous material. Small orbs resembling eyes dotted these mucus strands. It was creepy and more than a bit unsettling. In short: Not much light at end of this tunnel.

The group is guided through this strange scenery until they reach a stone gate. This is guarded by the aforementioned General Moora - an insectoid robot that looks like a mix between a fly and an air conditioner.
General Moora is ready to kill the group. Mari tries to explain their purpose there, and General Moora doesn't care, but when he sees Leafsong, he quickly worships him, as he is his faithful servant. Moora tries to argue to Leafsong that he must get rid of these humans, and Leafsong... Agrees?

Leafsong joins General Moora and prepares to attack the group. Hero, in confusion, confronts him.

"Why aren't you helping us, Leafsong?" Hero asked incredulously with his eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide with alarm, "I thought you said you would protect us!"
"After defeating me at my riddles, thou humiliated me. Ye embarrassed me. Ye disgraced me. Why would I assist such pests?! My hatred towards thee runeth so deep. Now perish and let me enjoy thy agonizing death!" Leafsong laughed and began charging towards the group, raising his foliage as if to make himself more terrifying than before.

And so a battle began between Leafsong and General Moora against the group. General Moora is fast. He activates a mechanism, and blades enter the cave walls. Before Mari can react, the blades suddenly come out of the wall and hit her, knocking her unconscious. Sunny desperately goes to help her.

Kel starts to run to attack, dodging the blades coming out of the walls, but Leafsong is quicker, and manages to cut a slash in his chest with his leaves, knocking him to the ground.

Leafsong and General Moora then circle Sunny, Hero and Egret. But before they can attack, Kel gets up and shoots his basketball like a cannonball, hitting General Moora and leaving him with a hole in his chest. Egret takes advantage of the surprise to advance against Leafsong, and the two begin to duel - Leafsong attacks with his sharp leaves, and Egret with his Gardening Shears, one parrying the other's blow.

Battle

At one point, Leafsong manages to open Egret's guard and prepares to attack him, but Egret dodges, and Leafsong leans his body forward, leaving a opening for Egret, that in one swift movement, cut off his head with his Gardening Shears, spraying sap everywhere.
General Moora only manages to let out a "Noooo" before fainting at the sight.

Then Sunny manages to revive Mari, and everyone gets ready to cross the gates and continue their journey in search of Aubrey, even though they are very bruised and tired

Egret finds himself alone for some reason, in a cave that descends to the bottom of the earth. He sees a river of lava crossing beside the path. The most bizarre thing is that on the columns, walls and ceiling, there are hundreds of drawings depicting different scenes, such as children playing in a park, children together on a picnic, children reading books, watching television on a rainy day, etc.

Egret continues to advance. Further on, he has to stop, because he has to cross a section over the river of magma. There are metal platforms, shaped like disks, floating in the lava that allow him to cross. He uses them, jumping from platform to platform until he reaches the other side.
There, the drawings on the walls become smaller and smaller. On the ceiling, he sees a large drawing of a can of gasoline in red paint.
The tunnel begins to descend further. He notices that there are several sheets scattered on the floor, blank sheets. The AI says it's as if they were the scattered plates from a birthday party that had just ended, but instead of plates, they were just white sheets.

Eventually, he notices something between the leaves. A painting on a canvas. It depicts pic related.

Painting

(I think its quite obvious what happened to Sunny now, kek)

Egret continues to descend, the heat rising so much that he feels like he's going to faint from sweating.

Soon, he comes to a large wall. It's covered by a cactus that spreads across the wall like a vine, and at the top of it, a single flower is growing. Funnily enough, the cactus seems to have been hollowed out from the inside out, and at the base of it, there is a tunnel dug into the wall.

Egret continues through the tunnel, arriving at a golden door full of runes carved into it. Egret passes through the door...

Suddenly, he is in a room surrounded by flames, there are flames everywhere, and Egret feels his skin begin to burn with them.
He hears a hiss, and as he looks up, a white, fireball-like figure falls over him, a single black eye staring down at him.
And Egret is back in White Space.

Cactus

Faraway - Two Days Left

12 - 03 - 2023

Basil wakes up to Polly poking him lightly. It's early, about 9am. Polly says she's received a voice message from Basil's father, and picks up the phone so he can listen to it.
Basil's father tells him that he's coming to pick him up on Thursday (in two days) and that they need to talk about his grandmother's will. In short, Basil's grandmother left her house to him, but he won't be able to receive it until he's of age, and his father wants to discuss the details of the property and what he should do with it.

Aubrey

Someone knocks on the door, and when they open it, it's Aubrey. She's come because she wants to buy things for the picnic she's planning after meeting Mari, and wants to know if Basil can go with her. Aubrey seems normal again, considering how she was the last time we saw her, and Polly quickly accepts and tells them both to take care of themselves.
And so, Basil leaves with Aubrey on their way to Othermart.

The day outside is warm but pleasant as they walk together towards Faraway Plaza. Aubrey has a smile on her face, but she doesn't say a word the whole way, which makes Basil tense. He asks if everything is all right, and she says she thinks she's forgotten something. As soon as they arrive at the Plaza, she asks him to wait for her there and that she'll be right back.

Basil goes to sit at the fountain while she waits, and then someone asks, "Is that a friend of yours?". Turning around, Basil sees his therapist sitting there. Apparently he's taking a walk to clear his head. He quickly asks Basil to come closer and starts talking, asking how Basil's reunion with his friends is going.

Therapist2

Basil tries to tell him that it's not the time for a therapy session, but the therapist insists that this is the perfect time for it.
Basil comments that he is waiting for a friend, the therapist asks for more details, and Basil explains that she is Aubrey, one of his best friends from childhood. The therapist notices that Basil's tone holds something back, and asks if anything has happened between the two of them recently. Basil tries to hide the argument they had, saying it was nothing serious, but at the therapist's insistence, he ends up saying that she wanted the photo album in a rather aggressive way, and he ran away scared instead of answering.

Aubrey arrives, interrupting them both, saying she was late because she had an argument with her father but stopping when she sees Basil talking to a strange adult. The therapist greets Aubrey (calling her by name) and ends the conversation, tells Basil to talk with him whenever he wants, and before leaving, just adds for them to take care of Mari.
Aubrey is a little upset that Basil has told him about her (how he knows her name?), but Basil is more confused as to why the therapist knows something about Mari without him having mentioned anything.

Then someone calls for Aubrey. It's Mincy, who arrives all excited to talk. She asks if Aubrey is on vacation too, and says she didn't know that people in the morgue can take time off. Aubrey says she's only volunteering there, and introduces Basil to her. Mincy is apparently Aubrey's best friend from high school.
Aubrey then tells Mincy that Basil is a very dear friend because when the fire thing happened, it was his testimony that prevented her from ending up in a juvenile detention center
Basil cuts her off by saying that they need to go quickly to buy things before it gets too late, and asks if Mincy wants to go with them. She quickly agrees, and together they head to Othermart.
As soon as they enter, Aubrey asks Basil to go and pick out something tasty for them to eat, while she goes to get Mari a present. So Basil and Mincy split up and go to the food hall while Aubrey goes to God knows where.

Mincy

"Ok, ok... Wait, what should we get? Cookies maybe?" Basil suggested, glancing towards Mincy.
"Cookies? Nah, that's too common. Try something exotic." Mincy replied, following him.
"Like, chocolates? But they're kind of overused too..."
Mincy chuckled softly, adjusting her round glasses over her nose. "I think something sweet and small, like these mochi will do." She pointed to the corner of the shelf, at a display of mochis.
"Uh, never tasted them." Basil comments.
Mincy grabbed one. "Try it! I recommend this strawberry-flavored one, tastes amazing."

They end up taking the mochis, cookies, sandwiches and various other things. They meet up with Aubrey at the checkout, she's carrying a large yellow bag which she hides behind her back so as not to let them see what the surprise gift for Mari is (it's something fragile, from the description). Together, they leave to go straight to the church, to meet Mari at last.

12 - 11 - 2023

From where we left off, Basil, Aubrey and Mincy head towards the church, meeting Kel and Hero at the entrance. Hero comments that Mari has already arrived and gone inside to pay her respects to Sunny, and that they're just going to wait a little longer before going (we also have a little interaction where Hero leaves things for Kel to carry because Kel is the "tallest", which reveals to us that Kel has finally surpassed Hero in height...).

The group enters, going through the empty church and heading straight to the back, but when they reach the cemetery, they find Mari surrounded by the Hooligans involved in a fight. It seems that the Hooligans (and especially Kim) have a beef with Mari because she did something to them in the early years after Sunny's death (did she became a bully for a short time?). Kel intervenes, saying that he doesn't likes Mari either but it's disrespectful to mess with her while she's visiting her brother's grave. This causes Mari to break down and, in tears, run off into the forest.

Marihighway

Basil and Hero run after her, and she quickly crosses the small wood that surrounds the cemetery and arrives at a road where the cars are passing. She tells Basil and Hero to leave, that she always ruins things and knew it was a bad idea to leave her house. Basil tries to argue that it's not true and for her to go back, but as he approaches, Mari panics and shouts for him to leave, then tries to run into the street, not seeing that a car is approaching. Basil jumps up and pushes Mari, being hit by the car instead of her.

Luckily, the car brakes before the blow is too strong, but it's still enough to leave Basil unconscious and fractured.

Basil wakes up in what looks like a forest at night, full of trees made of thorns that reach up to the sky. He makes his way through the scenery until he finds a hut made of wood and earth in the middle of the forest.

When he enters, it doesn't have much furniture, but Basil finds a tunnel and what looks like a Polaroid camera made of wood among the scattered furniture, as well as a fireplace.

Passing through the tunnel, he arrives in a totally different environment. A living room, full of paintings - paintings of children playing cards, children watching movies, children baking cookies, children working on a tree house, children making flower crowns.

HouseComfy

The room is lit by two fireplaces, but suddenly darkness seems to take over, and soon Basil can't see anything but the fireplaces.
And out of the shadows emerges a creature, resembling a large, thin black humanoid feline with a long smile.

EvilCat

The creature jumps on Basil before he has time to react, and starts attacking him, tearing at his skin with its sharp claws.

"Loneliness, bitterness, anger and grief are all that remain of your so-called friends after four long years. None of them can comfort you or ease your pain. But you did this to yourself, didn't you? You knew this would happen, yet still you continue on, knowing full well the consequences yet still unable to escape."

But then...

"Breathe, Basil." Basil heard the soothing voice of his therapist. It sounded so far away, but still powerful enough to force through every layer of the world around him like water through thin cracks. "Stay in control. Don't let your fears consume you."

The creature seems to flee in the face of the new voice, but the threat isn't over yet. The voices of Basil's friends and loved ones appear around him, from Polly to Mari, speaking scornful, accusatory phrases, full of bitterness. Basil is distressed, but then he notices a new element in the room - a large open box, its interior filled with darkness.

StrangerSunny

A humanoid figure emerges from the box, a silhouette of shadows with two luminous eyes, about Basil's height, slightly familiar.

"Basil..." A raspy, harsh voice emanated from the being, whispering into Basil's ear; as though he spoke right against his eardrums. "They're not real."
"Wh-wha?" Basil gasped, feeling the tears on his face as he glanced at the shadowy creature, the pain in his chest lessening considerably as he gazed at its dark form. "Who... what are you...?"
"The voices. They aren't real."
"These things you feel... These things you see... They're just manifestations. Things you have created." The creature spoke again, seemingly irritated with Basil's ignorance. "Don't trust your senses here. Trust me instead." The creature urged.
"But how can I? You... What even are you, anyway!?" Basil blurted out, his fear and confusion replaced briefly with rage.
"You know who I am. You know what I represent. You know me better than anyone else does, Basil." It stated confidently, staring directly at him before letting its gaze fall downward to observe the Polaroid he still clutched tightly in one shaking hand. "You're the one who saw the truth after all."
"...I-" Basil began. "What do you mean? I..."
"And the truth that shall free Mari... Do you recall, Basil?" The creature tilted its head at an angle as if it were contemplating something deeply and profound. "Or maybe you simply haven't understood me yet. Is it simply that you refuse to understand my meaning?" It shook its head sadly and closed its eyes shut briefly before reopening them, turning to Basil.
"It's time for you to wake up. For you to rise." Its eyes lit up, illuminating the dark room around them with their unearthly white glow, blinding him completely. And suddenly everything went black again.

HospitalBedBasil

Basil finally wakes up. His body hurts a lot, and he feels immobilized from the waist down. He looks around and finds himself in a hospital bed. Aubrey is asleep, sitting next to his bed, and Kel is at the window. Hero is the first to notice that Basil has woken up, quickly going to check on him.
Hero explains that Basil was run over. Pushing Mari saved her life, although she took a blow to the head and is unconscious recovering. He comments that although the crash wasn't that serious, Basil's legs are badly broken and he'll need physiotherapy to recover. Basil, however, is happy that Mari is alive. Aubrey wakes up and smiles at him, holding his hand as if relieved to see him well.

Kel then asks for a moment to speak, and with a shy tone, apologizes to Basil for having treated him so dryly over the last few days. He says he feels he's been a bad friend, and especially feels that everything that's happened there is his fault, he's the one who caused it. Hero takes the blame on him too, saying that he walked away from the group after Sunny died, and when he tried to get close again, the damage had already been done. Basil doesn't let them take the blame alone, and says that he also walked away, locking himself in the house, and that it was more his fault than anyone else's. They promise there that, even if things aren't as they used to be, they'll still stick together to take care of each other.

Aubrey interrupts the beautiful moment by saying that they need to go see Mari, and asks Hero to get a doctor and see if Basil can get around using a wheelchair or something. Hero agrees, and the three of them leave, leaving Basil alone for a moment.
Basil is happily sitting there on the bed, until he notices that Aubrey left something in his hand when she squeezed it. It's a torn piece of paper with her writing on it.
It reads:

"I have the photo album"

Basil feels panic.

12 - 17 - 23

BedMari

At dusk, the group returns with the wheelchair and carefully puts Basil in it to visit Mari in the next room.

Mari seems to have gotten the better of them. When they get to the room, she's sitting up in bed, without any bandages or anything, but she looks very pale and fragile, almost like a porcelain doll. Basil approaches her and puts his hand on her, which makes Mari jump up and stare at his hand. When Basil asks her if she's all right, she says no and that she has a bad headache.

Kel tries to start saying what he had rehearsed and asking Mari for forgiveness, but she interrupts him and asks if she can be alone for a while, as she has too much of a headache to think about it now. Kel is disappointed, but agrees and leaves the room with Hero.

Aubrey steps forward and hands Mari the package she had bought earlier, and says she was going to give it to her at the meeting but couldn't because of everything that had happened. Mari accepts without saying anything.

Then Aubrey says that the day after tomorrow she's going to give Mari something else, something to do with what happened four years ago with Sunny. This piques Mari's interest and panics Basil, who cuts Aubrey off, makes an excuse and practically drags Aubrey out of the room.

Outside, Hero confesses that it didn't go as he had hoped, but that he will give Mari some time to recover before seeing her again. Kel tells them to go to the cafeteria for something to eat and tells Basil that Polly is coming soon and has asked him what he wants to eat (watermelon >>458216747).

Basil asks for a moment to speak to Aubrey alone, and together they go off to a separate room. There, Basil asks Aubrey if she's going to tell Mari about what happened to Sunny, and Aubrey says that it's time she knew and that Aubrey won't hide it any longer. Basil asks if she's going to show him the photo album, Aubrey says yes, and Basil asks where the album is. Aubrey says she'll give it to him when she's finished showing it to Mari, and until then, he won't know where it is, which was the promise they made.

Basil starts to hyperventilate and Aubrey tries to calm him down, saying she'll fix everything, but it's no use, Basil runs away from the scene knocking over a table, and runs away to his room.

Pollywatermelon

Basil stays in his room until Kel, Hero, Aubrey and Polly arrive. Polly is, of course, worried to death about Basil. She comments that Basil's father has come and gone after being reassured by the nurses, and will be back in five days. Basil realizes that he's been asleep too long, and on asking, discovers that he's been unconscious for two weeks since the accident.
Polly comments on what a good girl Aubrey is for taking care of Basil in hospital all that time, and everyone agrees, except Basil of course.

Aubrey just stuck her tongue out to Kel and sat in her chair beside Basil's bed. "Well, we stayed around, just to keep him company. It's only fair. We grew up together."

After that, Polly calls Hero and says she wants to talk to him, and they both leave the room. Kel comments that Polly has a crush on Hero, but Hero still likes Mari. This makes Basil think aloud about the romantic triangle that exists in this hospital.
The group starts chatting casually as if nothing had happened, but Basil remains apprehensive. Eventually, he falls asleep while his friends chat beside him.

Headspace - Two Days Left

12 - 28 - 23

Egret is missing his friends terribly, just imagining their happy faces when he leaves White Space, wanting to see them more than ever. However, as he leaves, he realizes he's back at Neighboor's Mansion, and a thick fog seems to cover the entire jungle.
Calling her friends, Egret enters Neighboor's Mansion and begins to explore it. The place is more gloomy and spooky than usual, Egret sees shadows passing out of the corners of his eyes and feels that he is being watched in some way.
Despair begins to take hold of Egret when the thought that his friends have abandoned him crosses his mind. Hero, Sunny, Mari, Kel, his grandmother... Where were they all?

Sunnysit

Eventually, Egret arrives in a larger, brighter room, with large windows surrounding it and full of bookcases. On an armchair sits Sunny, inexpressive as usual, waiting for him.
Egret asks Sunny where the others are, and Sunny replies that they've gone into space with Egret's grandma. To find them, all they have to do is go to the mansion's communications room and call them. Egret didn't even know there was a communication room, and Sunny tells him to just follow him and he'll take him there.

Egret and Sunny cross the mansion. Once again Egret feels frightened, seeing shadows following him out of the corner of his eye, feeling a cold breeze cross the entire mansion. Realizing that his friend is frightened, Sunny takes him by the hand so that they can keep moving.

DoubleDoorsAgain

Eventually, they come to a pair of golden double doors, full of intricate runes, looking almost like a church window. They stare at the door for a moment before opening it.
On the other side is a well-lit room with black marble walls. In the center, on a pedestal, rests a Polaroid camera.

"This camera... It's yours, isn't it?" Sunny asked as he turned to look at Egret with a curious expression on his face.
Egret simply stared at the object for a second or two. Then he turned back to his best friend, his gaze locked on him, without saying a word.
"You once told me that with this camera, you captured the memories you cherished the most, but also the memories you were most afraid of losing. The good, the bad, the painful and the happy... Everything you want to remember forever was recorded with it."
Sunny continued. "But now you don't use it anymore... I wonder if that's because you've already lost these precious memories... or because they have lost you." Sunny sighed sadly.
"You're not making any sense, Sunny..." Egret complained, a frown upon his face.

Sunny picks up the polaroid camera.

"I see..."
"Sunny...? Are you all right? You look quite sad..." Egret asked carefully. "It's like... Like you're saying goodbye to a dear friend. I don't like that."
Sunny simply stared back at him and then slowly walked toward him, until they stood face-to-face. "... It's time for me to go now. I can't stay any longer."
Egret frowned in confusion and took a step backward, putting some distance between them. "I'm sorry...?"
Sunny stared back at him without blinking, "...I can't be here anymore. I'm going to miss you too much. But remember to be brave. You're a strong boy. You're not alone. >You've got a lot of good people in your life. They'll be there for you, even if I'm gone."
"Gone?" Egret felt his heart race, "Wait... You're not... Leaving, are you?"
"No... Not in the way that you might think. I won't ever leave you. Not truly," Sunny said quietly, with a sad smile, "I just... Need to ask you to be strong. I know it will be hard for you, but... You are stronger than you realize."
As Sunny said those words, suddenly a wave of color washed over him. His hair became pitch black and he changed into a white robe. It reminded Egret of some sort of religious costume. He appeared older as well, no longer looking like a 12-year old boy. He looked much more mature, more experienced. But it also made him appear cold, distant.
Sunny stood still in front of Egret for a few moments, his eyes closed. Then he opened them and gave him one last smile.
"Goodbye Basil, my best friend."

Sunnybye

A flash of light, and Sunny was gone. Egret stood in a completely empty room.
And outside, he could hear the sound of his grandmother's spaceship landing, much to his relief and joy.

Outside, Egret's grandmother is waiting for him, casual. She's wearing her combat armor as usual, but looks more armed than usual. Her ship also has all its weapons activated in combat mode. Egret goes to hug her, saying he missed her, and she apologizes for taking so long to arrive.
For a flash of a second, when Egret hugs her, instead of his grandmother, he sees a dried-up corpse with one eye missing and the other hanging down.
Egret recoils, frightened, but the vision disappears just as it came. It's just his grandmother, a little confused, but fine. She asks Egret to come aboard and explains the situation.
It seems that the rest of his friends are on a space station working for a guy called Great Tamer to confront an invasion of Voidwyrms - creatures that come from another dimension and feed on the fabric of our reality, which Egret's grandmother calls simply "pests".
So, without much ado, they take off and leave the planet, heading for the station that orbits around the planet Farhaven.

Eventually, they reach Farhaven, an arid planet with four moons. Just before arriving at the space station, they witness the combat that is taking place - serpentine-bodied creatures, similar in shape to stars, fight against an army of guys using battlearmors in a complex space station. Egret's grandmother tries to avoid passing through the battlefield and lands in an area where some soldiers are resting.

Battlespace

Hero is there, in one of the corridors, with a weapon bigger than him in his hands. He quickly walks up to Egret with a peaceful smile on his face, as if nothing was happening.

"So, what's going on? Why are you fighting these Voidwyrms?"
The ships still flying around, the battle between those Voidwyrms and the ships never seemed to end, it was quite epic to be honest.
"Well..." He paused for a bit as he searched for his thoughts. "Those Voidwyrm creatures live in a dark dimension and need to feed on living energies to grow and survive. They somehow managed to find Farhaven and came here using portals of darkness that opened in the sky. Fortunately Great Tamer knew how to stop them and he helped us build this spaceship fleet and several fortifications to keep them in check," Hero explained. "Although lately the Voidwyrms started appearing randomly everywhere around the galaxy... It's probably related to that moray Elder God incident a while ago, isn't it Grandma? Remember it? When we accidentally released him into space..."
"The Great Tamer was bragging about being able of containing even that elder God, but it seems he was being delusional, like usual..." She clearly didn't liked the Great Tamer guy at all, whoever he was.

Egret asks where the others are, and Hero says they're around. Egret remembers that the group still has to find Aubrey, and his grandmother says that they need to deal with one thing at a time. That said, Hero offers to take Egret to meet the rest of the group and together they enter the space station.

Herospace

On the way there, Egret sees a door in one of the corridors leading to a dark room. For a moment, Egret turns away from the group and enters the room.
He can't see an inch in front of him inside, but he hears voices.

"What are you doing? Come on."
"We're running out of time, move, do something!"

Suddenly, a cat-shaped humanoid creature with sharp claws and an impossibly large grin leapt on Egret as if to attack him.
And Egret is back in the corridor, as if he had never entered that dark room, which, in fact, doesn't even exist.

01 - 06 - 2024

Voidwyrmattack

Egret, Kel and Grandma start exploring the space station in search of their friends. They don't even have to go very far, as they arrive in a large hall full of debris and destruction. A Voidwyrm is finishing devouring a wall before turning to the group and roaring.
Hero and Grandma immediately start shooting, but the beast is quicker, managing to take them both down with a swipe of its tail, while Egret tries to get cover and look for a way out. Grandma's gun breaks as she falls, and Hero is stunned. The Voidwyrm advances on Egret to eat his cover.

But suddenly, a small spaceship flies past the corridor ahead and crashes into the Voidwyrm's face, pushing it into a wall. The Voidwyrm starts trying to swallow the ship, and from its cockpit, Sunny quickly escapes, commanding the group to run while throwing a plasma grenade at the beast in front of them. Egret helps his grandmother up and Sunny helps Hero, and together they escape to one of the station's corridors.
The Voidwyrm follows them, squeezing through the corridor trying to catch up, and the group ends up in a room full of tables and columns, with several space station workers trying to hide under the furniture.

They realize that there is no way out and that the Voidwyrm will try to devour the walls if they don't escape. But Egret then finds a ventilation duct, and with Grandma's help to open it, manages to escape with the rest of the group inside.

They crawl around in the dark for a few minutes until they find an exit that leads to a small dark room. There, they find a person in blue showman's clothes kneeling before a statue. The group is surprised to see that it is a statue of the Moray Elder God, and Grandma points out that the kneeling person is the Great Tamer.

GreatTamer

Hero and Grandma immediately get angry, believing him to be a traitor, and try to sneak out to one of the exits in the room, but the Great Tamer notices them there. Grandma confronts him, but Great Tamer declares that they've got it all wrong - he's not praying, but analyzing the statue.
It seems that the statue was sent by the remnants of Leafsong's cult, as it seems to have magical properties. The Voidwyrms are related to the Moray Elder God, and if the statue is used correctly, it could be the key to taming them. Egret warns that this could still mean that the Elder God will try to control him through the statue, and the Great Tamer replies that for the time being he is just analyzing it to make sure there is no danger.
Grandma asks if he's seen Kel and Mari, and he replies that the last time he saw them, they were going to the hangar in search of a spaceship, as they intended to try to enter one of the Voidwyrms' portals and attack them from there.
The group then runs out of the room in search of the Hangar.

Hangar

They arrive at the Hangar, which is full of large spaceships and space transporters arriving and leaving. Outside, the battle seems to be almost over - the Voidwyrms have started attacking each other.
The group finds Kel trying to start up a dangerous-looking retro-futuristic spaceship (it has a giant nuclear warning symbol on it), which leaves Hero exasperated. Hero scolds him for trying to go against the Voidwyrms by flying that ship alone, and Kel doesn't even know what he's talking about.
After a series of questions, apparently Kel had no intention of going against the Voidwyrms, it was Mari who wanted to do it, but they splitted up after meeting the Great Tamer on the way. He seems confused that Mari isn't with the group, as he expected them to meet her on the way. This makes Sunny worried - is Mari going to go alone to try and take on the Voidwyrms? So the group decides to go together in search of Mari.

On the way, they come back to the room where the Great Tamer is, and find him jubilant. It seems that he has discovered how to use the statue and has managed to control the Voidwyrms, "making them docile as bunnies", and that this will be the first step towards forming an army, confronting the Elder Moray God, and taming him too. Egret asks if he knows which way Mari went, and he says no, that he thought she was with Kel, and that he didn't see where the two of them went because he was too busy with the statue.
So the group heads down another of the corridors, believing that Mari can't be too far away.

01 - 20 - 2024

From where we left off, the group arrived in the bay of space pods in search of Mari. The place was full of people trying to get a pod to escape the station. Mari had already found hers and was quickly turning it on with an energetic air. She greeted the group as if nothing had happened and told them that her pod was very fast, etc.
Hero tries to convince her that it wouldn't be better for everyone to go together, and Grandma reminds her that they still need to find Aubrey, but Mari simply insists on doing it alone.

Egret, meanwhile, stares off into space. He notices a portal opening from which a Voidwyrm emerges. Possibly Mari would enter one of these. The portal has the strange silhouette of a humanoid figure in white flames with a black eye...

Egret decides to tell Mari that the battle is over because the Great Tamer has managed to tame the Voidwyrms. This kind of turns off Mari's enthusiasm, and she kind of lets out an "oh, okay, so... Let's go home, I guess?" The group agrees and say they need a well-deserved rest before looking for Aubrey, although Kel seems disappointed as he really wanted to kick Voidwyrms' ass.

Maripod

On the way back to Grandma's ship, the group passes a lot of wreckage and injured people. Eventually, they come across the Great Tamer. He seems to be in a hurry. He demands the group give him Grandma's ship, as he needs to dismantle it to help turn the space station into a lethal fortress of death and go hunting for the Elder God Moray.
Egret's grandmother is annoyed, why does she need to give him her ship? And Great Tamer reveals that the children signed a contract allowing Great Tamer to do this.

Egret's grandmother tells Great Tamer to fuck off and says that it's her ship and she decides about it, whereupon Great Tamer points to the penalty clause for breaking the contract, which states that they must be killed instantly if they break the contract.

The group panics and tries to make him reconsider, but Great Tamer is ready to fight. He pulls out his laser guns and...

Granny pulls out her gun and shoots him, killing him instantly.

The group is disappointed at how anti-climactic it all was, and Granny tells everyone to get going back to the ship.

Spaceboymad

The group arrived where the ship was parked. Everything was destroyed in the place, but at least they could leave now.
But they don't, because they're called by someone coming from the same path they took: Captain Spaceboy, and he looks furious.
He says that he saw Great Tamer's body and knows that they killed him. He says that Great Tamer was an idiot, but he was the only person who could stop Elder God Moray. Hero argues that he was very good but threatened them and wanted to take their ship, and Spaceboy says he'll threaten them too.

Immediately, a fleet of spaceships surrounds the place where they are. They can see it through the windows and in the hangar where Grandma's ship is. The guns are all pointed at them.
The group tries to run to Grandma's spaceship, but the fleet fires, reducing the spaceship to dust before they can reach it. They hide behind a wall while the ships start firing, trying to hit them.

Spaceboy himself starts shooting at the group with his guns while the ships starts creating holes in the walls, all while he himself is advancing towards them. Grandma, however, suddenly comes out of the cover, fires, and hides again, hitting Spaceboy in the shoulder and knocking him out.
Mari then takes her trusty jump rope, forms a lasso with it and uses it to grab Spaceboy by the leg and pull him to where the group is. Grandma leaves the cover with him as a hostage, and Spaceboy orders his fleet to stop shooting.

The kids quickly find another ship at the scene that is still in place and that they can use, and they get into it with Spaceboy still as a hostage (tied up with a jump rope so he can't move). They take off without the fleet being able to counterattack in danger of injuring their captain, and then they flee the scene.

28 - 01 - 2024

After the group escaped with Spaceboy as a hostage, they ended up inside a cavernous asteroid to reorganize and decide what to do.
Hero starts trying to convince the group to make friends with Spaceboy, but Spaceboy doesn't seem at all open to it. Mari comments that he's just going to be an obstacle with this mood of his and that the group should get rid of him. Egret reminds the group that Spaceboy only acts like this because the group accidentally freed the Elder God Moray, and Hero suggests making a formal apology to see if Spaceboy calms down.

Egret's grandmother seems to get annoyed with the conversation, and suggests that this fight will end if they kill the damn Moray. Spaceboy says they'll just ruin everything as usual, and grandma calls him an idiot and says she's out of patience and that the group should decide already. Everyone goes along with Grandma's plan and starts climbing the ship... Except Mari, who leaves the group to go inside the asteroid, followed by Egret who wants to see what she's going to do.

ScaredMari

He finds Mari curled up on the ground in a place surrounded by luminous moss. Egret asks if she's all right, and Mari, with a desperate smile and holding back tears, tells him taht "she really screwed up this time". In front of her is a photo album, emitting a strong light from within. Basil opens it, finding a photo of Aubrey inside...

Then, they're all back into the ship, as if nothing happened.

On Spaceboy's instructions, the group quickly discovers the whereabouts of the Moray - the interior of a black hole in an isolated sector of space. The group quickly crosses space towards the site, passing planets, stars and a beautiful golden nebula before arriving there. The black hole extends further, absorbing light and everything around it into its interior.

An army of Voidwyrms blocks the way, moving in to attack the ship as soon as they see it. Kel seems excited to finally have some action and together with Grandma they head for the control booths to start the fight.
Here I just rolled to see how the combat would go and let the AI get creative with the results

Spacebattle

The ship opened fire immediately, bombarding the creatures with all sorts of different kinds of weaponry. Lasers beams shot forwards, hitting against their gigantic bodies harmlessly; however they also provided brief glimpses deep within their interiors, revealing intricate patterns and unusual structures.
Grandma focused fire on the frontmost Voidwyrm, concentrating firepower to its vulnerable centre while using the momentum created from its inertia to push itself off course. Once enough momentum was created, she blasted it directly into another giant worm which had been attempting to slam into the ship's hull. Both creatures slammed into each other, colliding with intense force. They then spun round wildly together as they hurtled towards space in opposite directions.
(...)
"My turn!" Egret stood up eagerly after watching in awe for a long time as everything unfolded in front of his eyes. He pushed past the confused boy and sent forth two bombs simultaneously which landed right behind their main enemies and blew them up violently in flames and guts. They exploded loudly, leaving no trace behind apart. This was enough for the Voidwyrms to retreat out of fear of being obliterated completely, leaving the way clear once more.

After defeating the Morays, the group simply heads towards the black hole, letting the ship be sucked into its interior by its gravitational force. Once inside, there is nothing visible, just total darkness. There are no stars, no planets, no asteroids, nothing.

ElderMorayGod

Spaceboy comments that there's no turning back now, it's up to them to find Moray or die in the void trying. Luckily (or unluckily), they don't have to look far - the gigantic Elder Moray God is lurking ahead of them, his form just visible in the darknes, staring straight at their spaceship. The group is scared, wondering what to do. Immediately, Egret begins to hear the voice of the Elder Moray God in his head. Unlike last time, he starts asking much more personal questions.

First, he refers to a certain "Dreamer", asking if he believes that "if the recital had not taken place... Would things have been different?"
As he speaks, the group realizes that not only is the Elder God there, but also several Voidwyrms, floating around the ship. Their voices also begin to penetrate Egret's mind, which is in a state of confusion.

He hears the Moray mentioning Aubrey. The Moray says that Aubrey is "avoiding the consequences by throwing them at the Dreamer" and that the Dreamer will soon have to carry "her cross in addition to his own".

Finally, the Voidwyrms around Egret start mentioning something about it only being fair, as it was the dreamer's fault that she almost lost her freedom. It was most natural for her to do what she's doing now.

In his stupor, Egret doesn't realize that his friends are shouting in alarm, while the Elder God Moray quickly approaches the ship, and opening his mouth, swallows it whole.

Morayinside1

The group ended up waking up inside the Elder God Moray, with the spaceship destroyed. The interior was different from what they had expected - it looked like a mansion or a crypt with dark walls, very well decorated, with a chandelier made of bones and lit by green flames hanging from the ceiling. Further on, the path continued through a door and a corridor, as well as other doors on the sides of the room. As soon as the group pulled themselves together and saw that they were all okay, a translucent ghostly apparition appeared in front of them: The Great Tamer.

He is furious with the group for killing him, especially Egret's grandmother. He says that the fight wasn't supposed to be like this, but Spaceboy cuts him off and says that they should stop wasting time, that the Moray is there and his presence is only jeopardizing the fabric of space-time, as it is causing pieces of the whole of reality to cease to exist. Egret realizes that this is possibly what happened to Aubrey, which encourages him even more to fight the Moray God.

Great Tamer agrees not to stand up to the group and tells them to get going. The group asks if he won't go with them, and Great Tamer insults them and says that he's a ghost now and can't do shit. So they simply go ahead, to explore the Moray's interior.

As the group moves on, Egret is distracted by a hole in the wall. He looks inside.

Church

On the other side, he sees a different scene. It looks like a small, low-ceilinged church. It is completely dark, with red light coming through the windows. He can see two figures sitting there, a boy and a girl. The girl says she's afraid because she thinks God is going to punish her. The boy reassures her and says that as long as they keep their secret, everything will be okay.

The group begins to explore the interior of Moray. The first relevant room they find is a kind of library. They can see a translucent centipede-like creature made of bones walking around, so they sneak in to avoid attracting attention.

MorayInside2

After a few more rooms, they come to a complete change of environment. After crossing a doorway, instead of having a mansion-like environment, they arrive at a cave with walls and a floor made of flesh. There is a pool of acid green liquid on the floor and dripping from the ceiling. There, they find Great Tamer again, being digested by the acid. He asks the group for help, but everyone ignores him and carries on, except Egret, who decides to help him.
Great Tamer thanks him, and explains that since he died, he was cursed for messing with the statue and his ghost was trapped inside. He's trying to evade Moray's biological system, which wants to digest him. He says that this is hell. Egret's grandmother says he deserved it, and he ignores her and comments that he can only get through to the other side if they kill Moray.
Kel asks why he isn't going with them. He replies that he can't do anything, but changes his mind and says that he can lead the group to Moray's brain. Everyone accepts and he takes the lead.

A few more fleshy rooms later, they arrive at a large cavern. Further on, there is a real lake of acid that leads into a couple of tunnels, one which the Great Tamer indicates is the way to the brain. Floating in the lake is a large pedal boat shaped like a swan, large enough for the whole group to ride. It seems rather convenient, but the group climbs into it anyway, with Egret's grandmother in charge of guiding the boat.

(Here I'll add a little about the group's interaction. We first had the group discussing who was going to captain the boat, and it turned out that Grandma was the one who decided to do it because Hero isn't good at exercising and Sunny doesn't know how to swim. The group finds the little boat suspicious, but it's not as if they have a choice. Once inside, Sunny is disgusted by the acid and Kel keeps teasing him to make him even more disgusted, which annoys Mari)

The journey through the tunnel is surreal. You pass through various bones and organs, tubes spewing gas, and hideous creatures crawling along the disgusting walls. The fact that they're going through it in a swan-shaped boat makes it all the more surreal. And eventually, they arrive in a different place. The walls of flesh are replaced by mansion walls again, filled with bookshelves full of books. The floor remains a large acid lake, however. Further on, there is a large gate leading to the brain.

But before the group can do anything. The waters tremble and a large creature emerges. It looks like a mixture of man and bird, made of iron and with glowing eyes. He is the guardian of Moray's mind and declares that the group will die because they are passing through (Mari tries to reason with him, but to no avail).

Birdo

The creature's first attack is to punch the lake, creating a gigantic wave of acid. Egret's grandmother tells everyone to hold onto something and accelerates the boat, going at top speed against the wave. When the wave hits, instead of swallowing the boat, the speed at which it is traveling propels it into the air, causing it to fly away and fall safely on the other side of the wave. But the attack isn't over yet, as the bird-shaped being starts shooting beams of electricity from its beak, forcing Egret's grandmother to dodge without them being able to actually attack the monster.

The fight continues, and then a surprise.

One of the shelves is pushed out, and a female figure emerges from it. It's a green alien in a white jacket and fedora, with long curly brown hair tied up in a ponytail, carrying a whip and a technological device. She tells the group to get ready while she activates the device, which emits an electromagnetic pulse that paralyzes the guardian.
The group, of course, seizes the opportunity to advance against the monster. Grandma and Spaceboy keep shooting from the boat with their pistols, Kel throws his basketball at the monster, while Mari and Egret jump on the monster and attack it, Mari with her jump-romp and Egret with her gardening shears. Eventually, they manage to do enough damage, and the beast falls backwards and sinks into the lake while everyone gets back to the boat safely.

Pollyanna

Celebrating, they ask who this stranger is. She introduces herself as Pollyanna, an explorer who heard about the Moray and decided to come and try to hunt him down. She mentions being from the Adventurers' Guild, much to the dismay of Spaceboy, who thinks they're just a bunch of lazy hippies. He asks if she can call them to get them out of there once they've killed the Moray, but she says no, because the Moray has also swallowed and crushed her spaceship, and she's even lost her pet fish in the process.
Hero, all gentlemanly, offers to help her find him again, and Pollyanna gets all flustered, which makes Mari jealous.
Grandma moves the pedal boat closer to the bookshelf where Pollyanna is and she joins the group, sitting next to a grumpy Mari, as they now make their way towards the gates that lead to the Moray's brain.

02 - 12 - 2024

MorayBrain

After crossing the gates, the group is transported to a room, larger than the previous one, made of metal. Columns rise from the acid lake on the floor and hold up the ceiling. In the center of the room, there is an amorphous creature made of a gray mass, composed of several faces in agony and having only one eye, held up in the air by tentacles holding up the columns - the Moray's brain.

The group first tried to sneak into the room unseen, but the brain's eye was quick to detect them, and began to attack, creating a whirlpool of acid. Grandma began to maneuver through the acid lake to avoid being hit while Spaceboy fired at the brain, his shots having no apparent effect. The brain, seeing that it couldn't make Grandma lose control, fired a torrent of acid at the boat's controls themselves, rendering them unusable.

Great Tamer warned that the shots were wearing away the outer layer of the brain, and this renewed Spaceboy's strength, and he began to shoot even faster. But then the brain created a new wave of acid that hit the pedal boat directly in the side, throwing it against one of the columns and breaking it in half.

KelDeath

With the paddleboat broken in half, both sides began to sink in the acid. Pollyanna jumped onto one of the columns, grabbing on, and used her whip to pull Sunny, Hero, and Mari off. Egret, Grandma and Spaceboy managed to grab onto another column.
Great Tamer fell into the lake, said "great, I'm dead again" and disappeared.
And Kel also fell into the lake, managing to let out a scream before being consumed by the acid.

Hero started screaming when he saw his brother die in an instant. Egret was furious, and with a leap, jumped on the brain, starting to attack it with all his might using his gardening shears. He was very quick with his attacks, managing to dig through the outer layer of the brain and finally reaching its core, mortally wounding the being.

Everything began to shake immediately, the walls began to glow. Egret continued stabbing the brain even if it was already clearly dead, while Mari pleaded him to stop. Suddenly, there was a explosion, and the group was no longer inside the Moray, but floating in the void in the black hole. Only the reamins of the paddle boat were left as a reminder of the Moray.

Hero began to wail in grief, while Spaceboy insisted that the group needed to find a way out of that void. Hero began to... Going into detail, rather graphically, about what Kel's death had been like (funny that at the end, it sounds like he's describing death by fire rather than death by acid).

Grandma tells him to stop. She understands his feelings, but he needs to control himself. As they talk about it, a light shines ahead. The light approaches, and everyone is terrified. It looks like a burning figure with only one eye staring at them. Egret visibly recoils, and Grandma asks him if he knows what it is.

And then, the light expands, and the group is transported back to Neighboor's Mansion. The place is completely in ruins, all destroyed, as if it had in fact been destroyed for centuries. Before, Neighboor's Mansion was a cozy environment inside a mansion that seemed to be abandoned, now, the inside matched the outside, and it looked even worse than before.

Neighbor

Mari screams when she notices something in front of the fireplace - a broken statue of the Elder God Moray. Egret pushes the statue to one side, revealing the fireplace, and asks the group if that wasn't the last place they had seen Aubrey. Instead of the fireplace, on the other side there is a hole filled with darkness, descending in a undetermined height. Egret approaches the hole, Sunny tells him he's scared while holding onto Mari, but Egret doesn't listen.

He jumps into the darkness.

Blackspace

02 - 19 - 2024

Egret's eyes slowly opened. They felt dry and useless, like the dusty air around him wasn't being filtered at all.
It was cold.
Egret sat up and rubbed his eyes, they ached and watered uncontrollably.
"Where am I?" Egret murmured, pulling his legs towards his chest and curling into a ball.
The landscape was completely empty. Egret was in what seemed like a mountainous area made entirely out of an endless patchwork of rocks and shadows. A dark sky loomed overhead. It wasn't blue, black or purple - it just... Wasn't. Egret didn't know how to describe it.
A path stretched in front of him, leading up the mountain, to the sky. He pulled himself to his feet and followed it upwards, bare-foot. He began to shiver after a while of walking on the cool, smooth stones. A quiet whimper left his mouth as he took off his crown of ebony flowers and hugged it closely to his chest, in hopes that it would provide him with warmth.
It didn't.

Soon, he realized he wasn't alone and heard howling. He stopped short when he saw that a wolf made of shadows was blocking the way, but he realized that it was only staring at him curiously, so he just continued.

Sunnyisdead

When he finally reached the top of the mountain, he found a ruined stone mausoleum. In it lay the figure of Sunny in a coffin, surrounded by White Egret Orchids. Egret approached the coffin, trembling, but in a second, Sunny's corpse fell apart, the skin melting over the bones to reveal the muscles that crumbled along with the blackened bones.

Egret jumped back with shock, but when he looked again, there was no coffin, just a black door casting a shadow.

Welcome to Black Space

Blackspace

Egret was lying down on a bed inside a strange dark room.
He woke up from his nap feeling cold and groggy, as if he had been sleeping for a long time. His mind was completely blank; he could not remember what had happened before he fell asleep. He was opening the black door earlier, and then... Nothing. No memory whatsoever.
Egret rubbed his temples with his thumbs in circles, trying to ease his headache, but it wouldn't go away. He looked around at his surroundings; there was no furniture or decoration besides a broken camera lying on the floor. A photo album lay beside it, the first photo showing an image of a television on fire. Egret gingerly picked up the camera and turned it around in his hands, examining the damaged device.

Egret stood up, wondering if there was anyone in that dark immensity. He got no answer, but something poked him from behind. He was startled to meet a dark silhouette with glowing eyes.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it? How old are you now?" The phantom whispered "You don't look like you've changed much." And then, it just wandered off without another word.

Egret just watched the shadow move away and decided to start exploring the place a bit, realizing that it was full of black doors. There was something written on them but he couldn't read it, he could only make out light coming from the other side. Taking a deep breath, Egret opened the first door.

World1-3

world 1 - room of white
what appears to be the inside of a completely white house. It smells of fresh paint. The walls and furniture seem to distort as if it were a Salvador Dalí painting
Egret finds there a warped figure of Mari, elongated with hair covering her face, and sharp fingers stained with red.
when he interacts with her, she doesn't attack Egret, but starts insulting him and saying that she hates him. She just keeps repeating curses.
ahead, Egret finds a photo album. It's full of blurred photos. One is Aubrey with her friends, but Aubrey seems sad. One of the photos is scratched beyond recognition. He finds the key in the middle of the photo album

world 2 - looping trash field
an infinite environment of garbage under a dark sky. There's garbage everywhere, except for a few structures that look like they've been destroyed in a war.
It is here that he finds a figure bashing its head against a wall (pic related >>465938620)
after walking around a bit, he finds an Aubrey Stranger standing on a bunker half-buried in garbage.
she says that she is searching for something, the reality, the truth. Egret asks if he can help, and she says no, only she can.
she leaves and drops a key

world 3 - Bunny Path
world that is an eternal field full of rabbits. Egret hates rabbits and starts kicking them, but no matter what he does, he can't hurt them, which frustrates him.
here he finds a large fat rabbit selling weapons. When he asks the rabbit who he is, the rabbit says "I don't know".
Egret finds the next key between the weapons

world 4-5

world 4 - Snowy Desert
what the name says, a snowy desert in the middle of a storm. There is a wooden hut up ahead.
Egret enters the room and finds inside the rotting corpse of a old woman (grandma?)
there are various paintings in the walls depicting things with fire theme. One of them are two kids playing in the middle of the flames.
Egret encounters a large creature made of white goo with a single eye in one of the rooms (the same he found in Faraway day 1)
the creature starts chasing him and Egret runs away scared
in the snowy field, more creatures appears and chases him. Egret tries to run away but slips and falls head first on the snow
the creatures surround him and begin pouring something blazing hot over him. He tries to scramble, and by pure luck, finds a key in the middle of the snow, being transported back to Black Space

world 5 - Watercolor Realm

This, as the name implies, is a world that looks like a random watercolor painting. Egret here finds Aubrey sitting on a swing made of balloons and bows, and obviously Aubrey is happy to see him, saying that she got lost, tried to go back to her home but couldn't get out.

Egret and she start walking hand in hand, with Egret promising to get her out of there. On the way, they see silhouettes walking in the distance, but they can't make out their faces.

Aubrey began to comment that she wished she had Egret's photo album with her again, as it filled her with memories and was comforting. Egret says nothing.

"We had so many fun memories in it! Do you remember the party we had at Sunny's home after the recital? You took a photo of all us together, remember? That was one of my favorite moments. So sad that Mari had that argument with Sunny in the garage."

Eventually, they both find a large paintbrush on the ground. Aubrey gets excited and says that this will be their chance to get out of there. Egret asks how, and she says she can paint anything to get them out.

As a demonstration, she paints a cute white bunny.
It immediately jumps up and starts clawing and biting at her, ripping her face off. Aubrey screams and whimpers, but is soon brutally murdered by the bunny. Egret stares at the scene in shock. Where the brush used to be, there is another key

DarkSpot

world 6 - Dark Spot

The next place looks like an underground tunnel, like part of a trench or a sewer. Egret continues forward, everything is too dark. He eventually finds light in a lamp on the ceiling, over a table and a chair. There, Aubrey is quietly reading a book.
She gets excited, thinking that Egret has finally come to the rescue. She says she knew he would come eventually. Egret asks her what she's doing there, and she says she's just reading a children's book.

"Just a silly children's book. It's about a boy who lives inside his dreams and creates an entire world inside his head. He does that to cope with real life; his imaginary world is nicer, happier, safer. And all his friends are there." Aubrey smiled at her book, tracing its cover with her fingers. "I think it's kinda sad, though."
"Why?" Egret questioned.
"Because... It's almost like he's escaping from reality instead of facing it. There's so much more outside his head than what's inside." Aubrey shook her head, sighing.

OldStaircase

They continue forward, where they find an old wooden staircase. Egret goes first, Aubrey following behind. The ladder is very old and creaks constantly.
Suddenly, a loud CRACK, and the steps where Aubrey is standing break. She screams as she falls into the darkness. All Egret hears is the dry sound of her falling into the darkness below.
Continuing forward, he finds a locked chest and another dark key on top.

02 - 28 - 2024

World7-8

World 7 - The Trenches
It's a wooden labyrinth. Wooden walls, ceiling and floor. There are dead plants everywhere, sometimes blocking the way and forcing Egret to cut them down
Egret finds a bridge crossing a huge black void at the end of the labyrinth
crossing the bridge, he finds a platform where a scarecrow made of dry plants (Leafsong??) and wearing a white mask waits for him sitting in the other side of a table (which makes the place look like some kind of interrogation room)
interacting with it, the scarecrow begins talking cryptic things about Egret lying
he says that Egret lied to the authorities but they're not stupid and they can smell his lies
he asks why Egret did this, if it was to save the girl or to save himself
finally, it says that Egret doesn't deserves tranquility. Then, it stops moving and drops a black key

World 8 - Grandma's House
what the name suggests. Egret appears in what seems to be Grandma's House. However, he doesn't seems to quite remember where he is
he feels like he's being followed
he reaches a door that is chained with a padlock, but the padlock is open
he tries to open the door, and it won't budge. He hears a loud growling in the other side
Stranger appears and begins saying more cryptic things
Basically, you can summarize what he says as "the lock is to keep you in" and "you think you want to know the truth, but you don't have the courage to bear the consequences of it."
he hands him a key to "open the door", and the key just teleports him back to Blackspace

World9-10

World 9 - Pink Beach
It looks like a normal beach, the beach where Basil has memories of his friends playing or resting or eating watermelon. But where his friends should be, there are only shadows
he meets Stranger here again. Egret asks what that place is, Stranger says he's been there several times before
Stranger takes him to a giant cactus growing in the middle of the beach and tells him that it was planted by Egret and her, as a reminder
Egret asks if the cactus is a reminder of something important, Stranger corrects him and says that it's a reminder of something painful
"When we put the cactus here, it changed everything around it forever," The Stranger continued patiently explaining, "All those happy moments, and playfulness, and innocence..." She paused briefly once more before continuing further onwards in a solemn tone, "The cactus destroys those things, and the cactus only grows stronger in their place."
Egret finds the next key by piercing the cactus' flesh, hurting his hand in the process

World 10 - Lost in The Crowd
this one is quite simple. A monochrome field, with monochrome versions of Egret's friends, who stare into the void with glowing red eyes.
when Egret asks what they're doing, they reply "waiting"
Egret finds the next key in a burnt circle of grass, where a single dehydrated flower is trying to grow

Harvest

World 11 - Harvest

This one was a little more complex. Egret appeared in what looked like a desert, with a high wooden wall blocking the way. Inside the wall, there were tall trees bearing fruit. These fruits were shaped like Egret's friends, which was kinda disturbing.

He finds Aubrey there, eating one of the fruits (made to look like Kel). She seems a little upset with Egret and suspicious of him, asks him how he knew she had ended up there. Egret says it was luck.
Aubrey asks who the people in the trees are, and Egret comments that they look like his friends. Aubrey says yes, asks why, but Egret can't answer. She says that the fruit is rotten inside, she ate Kel's and had nightmares (pic related >>466849094 (Dead)#)

I dreamt that I was in a church basement with Mari and your grandma. Your grandma was there and she told me to hurt Mari. I didn't want to but I was scared because a white ghost was outside the basement waiting for me to come out. That's why I had to hurt Mari, otherwise the ghost would catch me."
"My grandma would never do such thing. She's kind and loving!" Egret defended his grandma with surprise.
"She didn't seem herself. She was acting like someone else." Aubrey seemed very scared and Egret would not pry into her dreams any longer.

They start looking for a way out. First Aubrey says she thinks she saw a dark key lying around, but it turns out it was just her impression. Egret tells them to try to escape by jumping over the wall, climbing trees to gain height. He grabs Aubrey by the shoulders so that she can go first.
Aubrey is terrified of heights, but once she manages to climb the first branches, she is overjoyed.

Only for the branch to break, and for her to fall straight into a pile of wood, being impaled.

The next black key falls from the tree soon after.

Spaceship

World 12 - Spaceship
looks exactly like the interior of Grandma's spaceship from Headspace
with the addition that there are several hospital beds scattered around the place, all occupied by figures bandaged from head to toe, except for a single eye
exploring the place, he finds a single broken robot in one corner, his face half smashed except for one eye
it keeps repeating "I failed"
Here, Egret goes to inspect one of the beds, only for a monster that looks like it's made of melted wax to sudden jump on him, wearing Sunny's clothes.
Egret ends up finding the next key under the pillow of one of the beds while fighting the creature

And now, the next one is the last one from the Black Space exploration (which means, while rolling on the Black Space world system, I got a "Complete")

AmusementPark

The last door led Egret into an abandoned and rusty amusement park, with a cloud of dust covering the place and making it difficult to see.
Here, he found a group of shadows walking in the distance and he tried to follow them, arriving at the Ferris wheel, where he found Aubrey sitting there looking upset.
Aubrey says that Egret left her alone, Egret retorts that it was she who disappeared, and Aubrey insists that she disappeared and Egret let her disappear (?).

Egret says he's going to help her out of there, but just as he's about to help her out of the cart, the Ferris wheel starts moving. Basil quickly jumps into the cart as it rises.
Finally, the Ferris wheel stops moving at the highest point. From there, Egret can see the whole park and some buildings in the distance, which look abandoned or in ruins.

View

Aubrey has an idea, and from her things, shows Egret a Polaroid camera she found while exploring the park. She says that Egret should take advantage of the fact that they're both there to take a photo, and says that Egret used to take a lot of photos and she doesn't know why he stopped.
Egret says he doesn't remember ever liking photography, which puts Aubrey off, but Egret still agrees to take the camera and take a picture.

He points the camera at her and takes a photo. But when the polaroid reveals the photo, Egret is startled, because instead of showing a normal Aubrey, she appears to have completely broken bones and her body is twisted at uncomfortable angles. Aubrey looks at the photo and also gets spooked.

But they don't have long to think about it, as the Ferris Wheel resumes its movement, starting to creak and rattle. Suddenly, the cart jolts and tilts to Aubrey's side, causing her to hold onto Egret. Looks like it was nothing...
But then, the cart jerks more violently, and Aubrey, who was still pulling herself together, is practically thrown out of the cart as Egret holds on to the bars. He has no time to do anything as he just watches her fall to her death.
He finds the next key where the Polaroid camera used to be. Now, when Egret returns to Black Space, a new door stands in front of him, emitting an omnious red light.

03 - 03 - 2024

ChurchSomething

Egret crosses the red door and ends up at what looks like the base of a large gray concrete building under construction. The sky is cloudy and colorless. He sees a staircase zigzagging up to the top of the building. Everything seems blurry for some reason.
Egret begins to climb the stairs in silence and finally reaches the top of the building. A white wooden church is standing there. Egret can see shadows passing in front of the windows. He approaches and enters the building.

Inside, it's a small church with a low wooden ceiling. There are several shadows whispering in the pews, looking up at the pulpit. In the pulpit, instead of a wall, there is what looks like the open mouth of a creature with sharp teeth... Like a moray eel.
Egret approaches the mouth and can hear Aubrey's voice inside. Egret calls her, and she says that she didn't mean for it to happen, and asks Egret for forgiveness. She asks if she's a monster for what she's done.

Without answering, Egret enters the being's mouth. He continues on until he reaches a room with a high vaulted ceiling, completely made of red flesh full of pulsating veins. Aubrey is crying on her knees in the center of the room. When Egret approaches, Aubrey says that she doesn't want to have done what she did.
Suddenly, what appears to be a Voidwyrm (or simply a smaller moray eel) appears from one of the tunnels in the room and grabs Aubrey by the ankle, she doesn't even seem to care, just begging Sunny for forgiveness as she is dragged into the darkness, with Egret running after her desperately.

Egret follows her through the tunnel. Eventually, the tunnel seems to begin to crumble, to melt, as if reality itself were falling apart. Egret now runs in a cosmic red void, with shadows of abyssal beings surrounding her in all directions. He nevertheless keeps running, hearing Aubrey in the distance and seeing a light, he follows the light.

And he is transported to another place. It seems to be a room, with a bed, some bookshelves, and some plants hanging from the ceiling. A red light enters the room through the window, and on the bed sits a blonde boy in a green vest. He's holding a plant in his hands and smiling calmly as he watches Egret try to find where Aubrey is, since he's hearing her call somewhere.

Creepysil

Egret asks who the boy is and he introduces himself as Basil. Egret demands to know where Aubrey is, and he replies that it doesn't matter, because she's not real. Egret asks what he did to her, and Basil replies that none of it was real, it was all a nightmare, so it doesn't matters.
Basil then says that he has been watching Egret since the beginning of time, and that he has never come so close to the truth.
Egret asks if he is some kind of God, and Basil says that in a way, he is a dreamer, a hint of a divine conscience.

"Now isn't it obvious? I am what is underneath. I am the unseen in the dark place behind and between, in the roots beneath and above, in the rotten, black spaces; the patterns that you can't perceive, in its nature and dreams, in its sleep and in its oblivion."

Egret asks why they are both so similar, Basil replies that they are both the same, two souls divided a long time ago, but who wish to become one. Egret asks what will happen if they become one, and Basil replies that he will consume Egret.
Egret lashes out at him, Basil lets out a (verbose) "it is what it is", and when Egret asks if he wants to consume him because he's afraid, Basil says that he'll do it so as not to lose control of the truth.

At that moment, Basil's eyes darken as if they were two black holes, and he grabs Egret by the neck, starting to squeeze him. Egret feels as if all of reality is being sucked into Basil.

Creepysil2

However, suddenly a white shadow appears, Something, behind Egret. Basil recoils in fright, and Egret takes the opportunity to pull out his gardening shears and attack Basil, who in turn pulls out his own gardening shears to attack Egret. They both stab each other in the heart, and everything goes dark.

end of Blackspace

Faraway - One Day Left

03 - 09 - 2024

wheels

Basil wakes up at night in hospital. There's no one in his room, and it's raining and windy outside. Basil struggles a little to get out of bed, pulling the wheelchair close to him and sliding onto it, then starts to leave the room.
He hears a sound reverberating down the corridor, violin music. Basil follows it and, climbing the hospital's ramps, ends up on the top floor, on the terrace.

There, he sees a boy in formal clothes, with black hair, playing the violin in the rain. Basil almost chokes as he calls Sunny's name. Sunny greets him, apologizes for not seeing him as much, and asks how his leg is.
Basil says he's dead, and Sunny confirms it, and that he knows how difficult things must be now that he's not there.

Sunnyroof

Sunny says that Basil has always been a good friend. He was always by his side, even when Sunny was having his horrible violin practices, or when he and Mari had those fights. He says he never said anything, but he always liked having Basil by his side as someone he could rely on.
Basil tries to counter by saying that he was a really bad friend, and Sunny says that he shouldn't be so hard on himself, that no one is perfect. Even Mari, when she was a bit of a dictator, was loved by everyone, let alone him. Finally, he says that from now on, whatever Basil does, he must know that he will always be Sunny's best friend.

And Sunny disappears.
Basil still calls his name and looks for him, but finds nothing. He returns to his room in silence, wondering if he had imagined everything, and goes back to bed. He falls asleep listening to the sound of the wind and imagining that it is the sound of a violin being played.

"Hey, Basil! Wake up!" A familiar voice shouted in Basil's ear. "Basil! Wake up!" Basil's eyes fluttered open to reveal Kel's smiling face looking down at him. Kel was in front of a white wall with a window. Outside it was bright and sunny. "Yo! You awake? Finally, jeez!" Kel shook his head and gave Basil a serious look "I swear to God, Basil, you are the heaviest sleeper in the universe."

Basil realizes that his bed is surrounded by Hero, Kel and Aubrey. Hero asks how his leg is and if he's hungry, Kel hands him some cereal bars and an Orange Joe, to which Aubrey complains that Kel should have looked for something healthier for him.
They ask if he's ready, Basil asks what for, and Hero replies that it's to talk to Mari. He says that Mari has had enough time to rest, and they're going to talk to her today, whether she likes it or not.
With that, they leave a space for Basil to change and soon, Kel is pushing Basil's wheelchair towards Mari's room.

Kelpush

As soon as they arrive, Mari is already awake, standing beside the bed, looking at a large bouquet of roses and flowers. Apparently, they're from Hero, Aubrey says that he doesn't change, "always so romantic" and Hero says that she hasn't seen anything yet, showing that inside his jacket he carries a heart-shaped box of chocolates.

When the group enters the room, Mari looks at them with a neutral, even cold expression. She asks what they're all there for, and Hero explains that they need to talk, that they would have talked before if it hadn't been for the accident, and Mari remembers that it's true.

Mariwake

Kel is the first to step forward and talk to Mari. He basically starts repeating what he was going to say the night before, saying that he's treated her like dirt for the last four years, ever since Sunny died. Mari interrupts him, and says that it's her who needs to apologize, because she's the one who acted like a jerk to him.

He opened his mouth once more but instead, all that came out was a quiet sob. "Mari, don't... please, no, I... Mari, you shouldn't apologize for anything." He looked down at the floor as he spoke. "When all that happened, with all those accusations being thrown back and forth, you had every right to be angry... You didn't deserve any of that..." Kel looked back up at Mari. "You were always a nice person."
"No... Kel, I wasn't nice..." Mari denied firmly.

Hero is the one who speaks next. He says that everyone was very hurt during that time and shouldn't feel guilty about what happened, that everyone acted irrationally, but everyone should apologize now.
Basil is the next to go. He feels very nervous for some reason. He swallows deeply, says he acted very childishly and asks for forgiveness for disappearing and not giving Mari the support she needed. Mari looks at him with a strange expression, she says that this is not the kind of apology she expected from him.

"You don't understand what you did, do you?" Mari said, glaring at Basil. He couldn't understand what was she talking about. "You..." Mari's eyes softened as she sighed. "Nevermind, it's fine. I forgive you." She said in a dismissive tone.

Aubrey was to go next, but the nurse interrupted the group by entering the room. She tells them that they need to leave, as the doctor is about to arrive to check on Mari and see if she can be discharged. Before leaving, Hero hands Mari the box of chocolates and says goodbye with a smile.

The group waits in the hospital hallway for news about Mari's situation.

"I think this is what Sunny would've wanted..." Hero murmured to himself, still gazing upwards.
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Chocolate?"
"No, not that..." Hero replied, frowning. "He would've wanted us to get along... To be friends again. You know?"

Basil remembers the detail that Aubrey has the photo album and stares at her. Aubrey stares back at him, and seems to tense up for a moment.
Soon, the nurse arrives and informs the group that Mari will be discharged that afternoon to recover at home. Everyone celebrates and starts planning what to do next.
They still want to spend time together, enjoy what they hadn't enjoyed on the day of the accident, and Aubrey suggests they visit places from their childhood. Kel asks like which place, and Aubrey suggests they visit Basil's old house, his grandmother's house.
Basil tenses up wondering why on earth she would want to visit his grandmother's house of all places, but simply agrees, without option.

In the late afternoon, the group waits outside the hospital for Mari, and she soon arrives. She's dressed in more casual clothes and is even trying to smile, despite it seeming like a weak smile.
Kel is pushing Basil's wheelchair, trying to start a conversation. Soon, they are all in the car, in somewhat uncomfortable silence.

Aubreysmug

Aubrey breaks the silence by mentioning the fact that Mari keeps dyeing her hair. Mari laughs and reminds Aubrey that they had promised to dye their hair together. She says it's sad that Aubrey's dad made a fuss about it, because she still thinks they would look great with purple and pink hair.
Aubrey says she's trying to take better care of herself. Mari says she looks great, smiling more, although she mentions Aubrey's smile seems a bit forced at times. She says that even so, she's happy Aubrey is doing well, and all she wants to see is Aubrey happy. This makes Basil wonder if any of Aubrey's smiles are genuinely real, and if she has just become accustomed to pretending

"I'm glad she got better." Kel said quietly "After Sunny died she was... well... not doing very good." He explained further "She was always sad and depressed, you know? Didn't speak with anyone for days at times, just spent her whole day locked up in her room or even sitting on the swing all alone in the park. It was awful." Kel reminisced "But eventually, I managed to cheer her up!" He bragged.

Aubrey gets somewhat embarrassed by Kel's comment and says that's not true, he makes it sound worse than it was. She says it was really bad when Sunny died, and the whole detention stuff almost got her locked up, but Kel was there for her, and the Hooligans, and Basil. And that she owes them her life.

Hero then comments that for him, it was very difficult to see the group fall apart. It seemed like everyone was dealing with it differently. He decided to try... to move on, which in retrospect was a bad decision because he could have made more effort to keep everyone together, as no one should have to deal with this individually, but together.
"Like you did, Kel," he says, which makes Kel uncomfortable for some reason.
And then, they arrive at Basil's grandma house.

03 - 13 - 2024

House

The group arrived at Basil's grandmother's house, finding the place overgrown and abandoned in general. Inside the house, there was no furniture, just the stain of where they were, dust and spiders' webs. Someone had, however, left a White Egret Orchid on one of the tables, and Basil comments that it was his grandmother's favorite plant.

Someone enters the house, a burly man. It's Gruff Guy (Kim and Vance's father), who introduces himself as Cole. He says that Aubrey has been paying him to keep an eye on the house and make sure no hobo has been in it for a while, he's just come to see if everything is all right, but Aubrey says they won't be needing his services any more. With that, he says he'll take a look around the back yard if they need him.

Basil is annoyed that Aubrey is paying someone to watch his grandmother's house, but it seems Aubrey didn't want anyone to spoil the surprise she had prepared. So she takes everyone to Basil's old bedroom.

Inside, everyone is surprised. On one of the walls, Aubrey has made a beautiful collage of photos, decorated with flowers. They are the photos that were in Basil's album, showing the best moments of the group. Kel couldn't stand it and started crying. She had to leave the room, ashamed that the group would see. Hero went to console him, with Basil, Aubrey and Mari staying in the room.

Basilroom

After this, the group goes to Othermart, splitting up with Hero, Basil and Mari going to buy ingredients on one side, and Kel and Aubrey going on the other. Hero is pushing Basil's wheelchair this time.

While they're buying things, Hero stops at the cookie section and says that it's been a while since Mari baked any cookies and that it might be a good time for her to start again. Mari says she hasn't had "her heart in the right place" to bake cookies since what happened to Sunny. Basil says he understands, because Sunny liked her cookies a lot, to which Mari replies, "He liked what I made a lot, too much. Look how much good it did him".
Hero gets upset and tells her to stop blaming herself, and Basil agrees, saying that she was a great sister and that there was no reason for her to think otherwise.

Herocookies

Hero explains to Basil that after Sunny's death, when Mari distanced herself, many stories about her began to appear around town, based on something that happened after the recital. He says that Basil must remember because he ended up taking a photo of an argument between Mari and Sunny at the time. Basil says he doesn't remember, and Hero says that when people found out, they tried to make it fit in with Sunny's death and the gossip.
So we have a little internal reflection from Basil. He lied, he remembers, and he also remembers that he played a big part in spreading these stories. But he remains silent...

After the group has passed the checkout, Mari comments to Basil about his grandmother's death and says she's sorry, that she was an incredible person. Basil says that she had lived a full life, and comments that she had been a hunter when she was younger. Basil took a different path but they both shared the same passion for nature, just in different ways.

After that, they go to the car. Basil notices Mari has a strange, empty expression on her eyes, and for a moment, assumes the worst of her intentions to herself...

Marisad

"Sunny used to give out good advice." Mari told Basil, glancing briefly in his direction, her expression softening into sadness. "He could be pretty sharp... for a kid. I tried guessing what he would say in every situation"
Basil tilted his head curiously at Mari. "Oh, really?"
Mari smiled slightly and nodded her head slowly. "I remember one time... We were eating breakfast together. Sunny looked at me and asked 'Mari, are we people?' That made me stop dead in my tracks."
Basil looked a little confused.
"'Of course we are people' I told him, confused. And he said... 'But what exactly does that entail? How can anyone say for sure what defines humanity?'" Mari blinked. "Wow! Sunny had never said anything this philosophical before. And yeah... This makes me wonder what he would say now, in this moment. Would he tell me to let go of the past? Would he tell me I am overthinking things and should just chill and enjoy the present?"

After this, Aubrey rushes the group and tells them that they have too much to do in too little time and wants them to go visit another place. She pushes Basil's chair hard and he almost falls out of it. When Aubrey is out of Mari's reach, she changes her composure slightly.

"Don't forget what you promised me, Basil. I will show her the truth, you like it or not. She deserves to heal too."
Basil gulped with worry. "Aubrey, please..."
"Save your words for later, flower boy. Take this as motivation for your next steps."

All together again, Aubrey wants them to have a picnic in the old hangout spot. Mari and Hero agree at first, but Kel doesn't seem too excited, he says the weather is rainy and it will get in the way. Aubrey tries to insist that they just "take an umbrella" but Mari ends up agreeing with him, and asks if they don't want to buy things and eat at her house instead, taking advantage of the fact that her parents are still in the big city. Aubrey reluctantly gives in.

After that, before the group goes to Mari's house, she says she wants to stop by the church and visit Sunny first, and everyone agrees.

Church

When they arrive at the church, it is empty, but some people are sitting there praying. When the group passes by with Mari at the front, they start pointing and whispering. Basil hears them mentioning Mari and mentioning him too, and becomes anxious.

After that, they arrive at the cemetery. Sunny's grave is at the far end, a simple one with the text "Beloved Brother - Always remembered - The Sun shone brighter when you smiled". Mari speaks first, she says they're all together at last, and says that although things aren't going "smoothly" yet, they're working things out. She says she misses him.
Hero says a short prayer without saying anything, and Kel starts crying again, apologizing to Sunny for having treated Mari badly all this time. It seems that Kel never got to visit Sunny in the cemetery.
Aubrey says that she's with Basil this time, and that she'll make things right, and that she misses him terribly.
Basil says that he doesn't know what to do without him there to advise him, but that he's better now, or thinks he is. And he hopes that Sunny, wherever she is, is okay.
Afterwards, Mari leaves some flowers on the grave she bought and the group begins to leave.

Mari is the one pushing Basil's wheelchair this time, but she deliberately decides to slow down and let the group go ahead. She wants to speak with Basil a bit.

"Why haven't you asked me for forgiveness yet?" Mari asked, her tone was calm but it carried hints of accusation as well.
"F-forgiveness?" Basil replied, stuttering a bit at Mari's direct question.
"I know you're the one that began spreading the stories about what happened between me and Sunny." Mari confessed with disappointment "I had a chat with... A couple of people."
Basil stayed silent, avoiding Mari's gaze and staring ahead at Kel, Aubrey and Hero walking together in front of them. He felt embarrassed.
"I think I may deserve it. All of it." Mari added.

Basil immediately turned to her and apologizes. He says he never meant for things to turn out the way they did, like Mari being blamed for Sunny's death. He says that when he told about what happened between Mari and Sunny, it was before everything happened and he didn't expect it to spread and be used again after Sunny died as an accusation against Mari.

"But you may have been right, Basil. Maybe what happened was indeed my fault." Mari stated "Sunny's suicide attempt followed by his accidental fire, it may truly have been caused because of me..."
"Please. Stop talking about it. You think it will bring you at peace by blaming yourself? I don't think it's very healthy, Mari." Basil insisted with determination. "A lot of people was affected by Sunny's death" Basil protested "Some handled it the worst way possible... But it was not your fault. Maybe the fact that stories got twisted around is a consequence of people needing something to blame or relieve stress. But Sunny was going through a hard time even before that incident occurred. Maybe Sunny was driven to try... T-to die because of circumstances that none of us knew of" He justified

Mari is more calm now with what Basil says and says that maybe it's true and thanks him.
Basil, on the other hand, is being eaten from the inside by guilt. Well, it turns out... Basil really was an active agent in spreading the stories about Mari... Even after Sunny's death. And obviously, he knows something else about the reason for Sunny's death that he doesn't want to reveal.
Mari, on the other hand, changes the subject as they walk back to the car. She says that she's heard that his father wants to take him to another city and Basil says that this is scaring him. She says he should be happy, because it will be an opportunity to start afresh and maybe put this whole nightmare behind him. Basil just says "maybe".

Cemetery

03-16-2024

GrandmaHouse

The group arrived at Basil's grandmother's house, finding the place overgrown and abandoned in general. Inside the house, there was no furniture, just the stain of where they were, dust and spiders' webs. Someone had, however, left a White Egret Orchid on one of the tables, and Basil comments that it was his grandmother's favorite plant.

Someone enters the house, a burly man. It's Gruff Guy (Kim and Vance's father), who introduces himself as Cole. He says that Aubrey has been paying him to keep an eye on the house and make sure no hobo has been in it for a while, he's just come to see if everything is all right, but Aubrey says they won't be needing his services any more. With that, he says he'll take a look around the back yard if they need him.

Basil is annoyed that Aubrey is paying someone to watch his grandmother's house, but it seems Aubrey didn't want anyone to spoil the surprise she had prepared. So she takes everyone to Basil's old bedroom.

Inside, everyone is surprised. On one of the walls, Aubrey has made a beautiful collage of photos, decorated with flowers. They are the photos that were in Basil's album, showing the best moments of the group. Kel couldn't stand it and started crying. She had to leave the room, ashamed that the group would see. Hero went to console him, with Basil, Aubrey and Mari staying in the room.

photocollage

"Sunny used to give out good advice." Mari told Basil, glancing briefly in his direction, her expression softening into sadness. "He could be pretty sharp... for a kid. I tried guessing what he would say in every situation"
Basil tilted his head curiously at Mari. "Oh, really?"
Mari smiled slightly and nodded her head slowly. "I remember one time... We were eating breakfast together. Sunny looked at me and asked 'Mari, are we people?' That made me stop dead in my tracks."
Basil looked a little confused.
"'Of course we are people' I told him, confused. And he said... 'But what exactly does that entail? How can anyone say for sure what defines humanity?'" Mari blinked. "Wow! Sunny had never said anything this philosophical before. And yeah... This makes me wonder what he would say now, in this moment. Would he tell me to let go of the past? Would he tell me I am overthinking things and should just chill and enjoy the present?"

After this, Aubrey rushes the group and tells them that they have too much to do in too little time and wants them to go visit another place. She pushes Basil's chair hard and he almost falls out of it. When Aubrey is out of Mari's reach, she changes her composure slightly.

"Don't forget what you promised me, Basil. I will show her the truth, you like it or not. She deserves to heal too."
Basil gulped with worry. "Aubrey, please..."
"Save your words for later, flower boy. Take this as motivation for your next steps."

All together again, Aubrey wants them to have a picnic in the old hangout spot. Mari and Hero agree at first, but Kel doesn't seem too excited, he says the weather is rainy and it will get in the way. Aubrey tries to insist that they just "take an umbrella" but Mari ends up agreeing with him, and asks if they don't want to buy things and eat at her house instead, taking advantage of the fact that her parents are still in the big city. Aubrey reluctantly gives in.

After this, the group goes to Othermart, splitting up with Hero, Basil and Mari going to buy ingredients on one side, and Kel and Aubrey going on the other. Hero is pushing Basil's wheelchair this time.

While they're buying things, Hero stops at the cookie section and says that it's been a while since Mari baked any cookies and that it might be a good time for her to start again. Mari says she hasn't had "her heart in the right place" to bake cookies since what happened to Sunny. Basil says he understands, because Sunny liked her cookies a lot, to which Mari replies, "He liked what I made a lot, too much. Look how much good it did him".
Hero gets upset and tells her to stop blaming herself, and Basil agrees, saying that she was a great sister and that there was no reason for her to think otherwise.

Herosad

Hero explains to Basil that after Sunny's death, when Mari distanced herself, many stories about her began to appear around town, based on something that happened after the recital. He says that Basil must remember because he ended up taking a photo of an argument between Mari and Sunny at the time. Basil says he doesn't remember, and Hero says that when people found out, they tried to make it fit in with Sunny's death and the gossip.
So we have a little internal reflection from Basil. He lied, he remembers, and he also remembers that he played a big part in spreading these stories. But he remains silent...

After the group has passed the checkout, Mari comments to Basil about his grandmother's death and says she's sorry, that she was an incredible person. Basil says that she had lived a full life, and comments that she had been a hunter when she was younger. Basil took a different path but they both shared the same passion for nature, just in different ways.

After that, they go to the car. Basil notices Mari has a strange, empty expression on her eyes, and for a moment, assumes the worst of her intentions to herself...

After that, before the group goes to Mari's house, she says she wants to stop by the church and visit Sunny first, and everyone agrees.

Churchfaraway

When they arrive at the church, it is empty, but some people are sitting there praying. When the group passes by with Mari at the front, they start pointing and whispering. Basil hears them mentioning Mari and mentioning him too, and becomes anxious.

After that, they arrive at the cemetery. Sunny's grave is at the far end, a simple one with the text "Beloved Brother - Always remembered - The Sun shone brighter when you smiled". Mari speaks first, she says they're all together at last, and says that although things aren't going "smoothly" yet, they're working things out. She says she misses him.
Hero says a short prayer without saying anything, and Kel starts crying again, apologizing to Sunny for having treated Mari badly all this time. It seems that Kel never got to visit Sunny in the cemetery.
Aubrey says that she's with Basil this time, and that she'll make things right, and that she misses him terribly.
Basil says that he doesn't know what to do without him there to advise him, but that he's better now, or thinks he is. And he hopes that Sunny, wherever she is, is okay.
Afterwards, Mari leaves some flowers on the grave she bought and the group begins to leave.

Mari is the one pushing Basil's wheelchair this time, but she deliberately decides to slow down and let the group go ahead. She wants to speak with Basil a bit.

Maridepressed

"Why haven't you asked me for forgiveness yet?" Mari asked, her tone was calm but it carried hints of accusation as well.
"F-forgiveness?" Basil replied, stuttering a bit at Mari's direct question.
"I know you're the one that began spreading the stories about what happened between me and Sunny." Mari confessed with disappointment "I had a chat with... A couple of people."
Basil stayed silent, avoiding Mari's gaze and staring ahead at Kel, Aubrey and Hero walking together in front of them. He felt embarrassed.
"I think I may deserve it. All of it." Mari added.

Basil immediately turned to her and apologizes. He says he never meant for things to turn out the way they did, like Mari being blamed for Sunny's death. He says that when he told about what happened between Mari and Sunny, it was before everything happened and he didn't expect it to spread and be used again after Sunny died as an accusation against Mari.

"But you may have been right, Basil. Maybe what happened was indeed my fault." Mari stated "Sunny's suicide attempt followed by his accidental fire, it may truly have been caused because of me..."
"Please. Stop talking about it. You think it will bring you at peace by blaming yourself? I don't think it's very healthy, Mari." Basil insisted with determination. "A lot of people was affected by Sunny's death" Basil protested "Some handled it the worst way possible... But it was not your fault. Maybe the fact that stories got twisted around is a consequence of people needing something to blame or relieve stress. But Sunny was going through a hard time even before that incident occurred. Maybe Sunny was driven to try... T-to die because of circumstances that none of us knew of" He justified.

Mari is more calm now with what Basil says and says that maybe it's true and thanks him.
Basil, on the other hand, is being eaten from the inside by guilt. Well, it turns out... Basil really was an active agent in spreading the stories about Mari... Even after Sunny's death. And obviously, he knows something else about the reason for Sunny's death that he doesn't want to reveal.
Mari, on the other hand, changes the subject as they walk back to the car. She says that she's heard that his father wants to take him to another city and Basil says that this is scaring him. She says he should be happy, because it will be an opportunity to start afresh and maybe put this whole nightmare behind him. Basil just says "maybe".

The Truth

04 - 17 - 2024

Basil wakes up in the white space.
Nothing unusual there. Just what he expected, the bed, the photo album, and Egret sitting in the middle. The plant in the plant pot is huge, giant, giving off an intense stench.

theplant

Basil talks to Egret. Egret complains about the smell of the plant, Basil says he's done everything he can to suppress the smell but it's still there, so he'll have to prune the plant (it's clear here that Egret doesn't seem to remember what happened in Black Space, or simply doesn't want to talk about it). basil takes the gardening shears and, in one fell swoop, cuts the plant.

Everything goes dark, Basil is transferred to a black void. He starts looking for a way out, seeing a light in the distance. When he gets closer, however, he realizes that it's actually a luminous figure in white flames, with only one eye - Something.
Basil backs away as Something starts moving towards him faster and faster. Soon, Basil is running away from the being. All around him, he begins to see figures. Creatures made of what appears to be melted wax start to come out of the ground and try to grab him. Soon, there are so many of these that Basil has no escape. He tries to fight back with the gardening shears but they are knocked out of his hand. It looks like he's going to be drowned in the sea of creatures.
Until a hand grabs his and pulls him out. He catches a glimpse of a silhouette of a boy pulling him out and leading him to a wooden door that wasn't there before. The door opens and in the light that passes through it, Basil slightly recognizes the black hair of the stranger who saved him.

Basil appears in what looks like the interior of a circus tent, very colorful, with a green lawn that extends in all directions. Rabbits hop to and fro in the place (much to Basil's dismay, who doesn't like rabbits). In the center of it, there is a merry go round.
Basil approaches the Merry Go Round and climbs onto it. The toy activates itself and spins for a few moments, but then stops. Basil climbs down, looking for more things to do, and soon finds an object on the ground. It's an old Polaroid camera, very similar to the one he had when he was younger.
He picks it up and examines it, tries to look through the viewfinder, but can't see anything on the other side. He notices that the photo button seems to be stuck.
Then, SNAP, the camera takes a picture by itself. Basil picks it up and notices that it's a picture of him and Aubrey in their garden at his grandmother's house, working with the plants. They look happy, more Basil than Aubrey, in fact.

Photo1

Basil leaves the tent and looks out over a field that stretches as far as the eye can see under the night sky. In the distance, he can make out a building, it seems to be a school or institution, a tall gray building. He walks towards it.
When he arrives, it does indeed look like a school. The gates are closed, but Basil passes through. At the entrance, there is a playground, where he finds Aubrey and Egret sitting on the swing, as if they were waiting for him.

Swings

Aubrey welcomes him and asks if he's had a good rest. Basil asks where he is and what that place is, to which Aubrey replies that it's where "the truth is buried" and where it can be exposed.
Basil says that he needs to destroy that place then, which makes Egret angry. Egret says that if he destroys that place, the only way for people to heal, he'll be breaking his promise to Aubrey. Basil, however, retorts that that place is not a place of healing, it can only bring pain, and Basil doesn't want anyone else to suffer from it. He picks up his gardening shears and marches towards the building.
Aubrey interrupts him. She says that the truth has already caused people pain, whether he likes it or not, and if he keeps drowning it out, the impact will always be negative. She says that no matter how much the truth may destroy their lives, it will bring an end to the story, and that the truth doesn't change, no matter how much they hide from it.

"Do you really think Mari is going to benefit from this?" He argued.
"I don't know, Basil." She muttered. "Maybe not. But there is hope for her. For all of us." Aubrey sighed. "If we stop hiding from the truth... then perhaps we'll be able to move forward. And Mari might not suffer anymore."
Basil exhaled. "Move forward? That's naivety talking. Maybe if things had never happened that way. But now..." Basil trailed off. Aubrey looked away, shaking her head with sadness.
It's inevitable. Truth takes root without the ability of man to stop it. Basil sighed and raised his shears up. He plunged the blades into the soil with an angry grunt. "It will grow even if I try to bury it, huh. Fine. You win."

And with that, he marched into the building

Basil made his way through the abandoned corridors of the school. Soon, he came to what looked like an internal garden. Everything there was in a state of abandonment. There was dirt everywhere, bushes and grass growing wildly, and an empty fountain.
In the center of the place grew a gigantic tree with red leaves. One of its branches was twisted, drawing Basil's attention to it.
Basil sat down at the fountain, thinking for a moment about which way to go next, when...
SNAP

The camera took another picture by itself. He picked it up, this time it was a picture of Aubrey and Basil in front of a tree. They were arguing. Aubrey seemed to be crying, Basil looked terrified.

Photo2

Basil took the photo and walked over to the tree. He noticed that there was something at the foot of it, it looked like a marble slab with something written on it.
He heard a loud sound, the sky had darkened, it looked like it was about to rain. As Basil tried to understand what was written on the slab, lightning began to strike. A bolt of lighting split the tree in half and the earth suddenly shook, knocking Basil to the ground.

The next thing Basil knew, he was no longer in the garden, but in what looked like a very dark classroom. It was raining outside. In general, it looked like a normal classroom, with chairs lined up facing a blackboard. If it weren't for the fact that there was no ceiling, just a dark void, and that in front of the blackboard there was a ladder that climbed endlessly into the darkness above.
SNAP
The camera took another picture. It was a picture of Sunny, with her back to the camera, climbing a tree.

Photo3

Basil noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Turning around, he saw Mari standing behind him. She was monochrome, wearing tidy formal clothes, staring into the void with a neutral gaze.

"Mari?" Basil gasped.
"He keeps falling the same way." Mari whispered.
"What... Do you mean?" Basil inquired, his eyes wide.
"The song is supposed to be played in four-four time, but he's playing it in three-four time. He's going too slow."
"I... Don't understand."
"He needs to go faster." Mari continued, her voice taking on an edge. "He can't be like this. Will he ever change? I can't believe how far we've come, only to end up like this."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Mari didn't replied, staring at the ladder. She pointed up. Basil took this as a sign to begin climbing.

Climbing up the ladder wasn't easy, as it was made of a hard, rough material. When Basil reached the top, his hands were bleeding and his fingers were full of cuts.
He was now on what looked like the stage of a large theater, with the spotlight on himself. A large orchestra was set up behind him. Basil noticed, hanging from the ceiling, posters with Sunny's image, written "Great Violinist Sunny, Coming Soon" (pic related >>473834943)
SNAP
A new photo. The viewpoint seemed to be from the ground. Basil wasn't in the scene, but it was possible to see that he was helping Aubrey carry an unconscious Sunny, coming from one side of the picture. The tree house was visible in the background.
(I couldn't get any of the AIs to generate this picture. Novelai isn't able to generate Aubrey carrying Sunny, and Dall-e thinks it's too graphic)
As soon as Basil picked up the photo, a cacophony of noises exploded around him. The orchestra had started playing, but each instrument sounded dissonant with the other, playing in its own chord. Basil looked around and realized that the walls and chairs had disappeared, replaced by a void.
From the ceiling, hundreds of photos began to fall on Basil, all containing the same image. He tried to dodge them, but they began to pile up on him. All the photos had the same thing in them: an image taken from a garage door, with Mari holding Sunny's wrist tightly as she fought with him.
While trying not to be crushed to death by the weight of the photos, Basil felt his hand slip inside one of them as if it were a window, and without realizing it, he ended up falling inside one of the photos.

Angryphoto

04 - 29 - 2024

Basil appeared in what looked like a house full of garbage, garbage everywhere, bags of garbage, rubble, etc. Basil began to explore, arriving at a corridor full of doors. Behind each door, there was just an empty room. Eventually, Basil came to a pair of brass double doors, and the scene changed dramatically on the other side.
The doors led to what appeared to be a large pool, filled with a bright orange, viscous liquid. Basil's reflection in the liquid seemed distorted, wrong.

SNAP, Basil's camera took another picture. This one was a focus on a girl's sneaker, which seemed to accidentally kick a gas can, spilling its contents onto the ground.

After looking at the photo, Basil noticed a shadow rising from the bottom of the pool and coming to the surface. Hero's silhouette appeared abruptly, carrying her trusty kitchen knife and a smile on his face. Without saying a word, Hero started running towards Basil with the knife in his hand.
Basil didn't even have time to think and started running, passing through the first door he found and slamming it shut behind him. He could hear Hero punching the door from the other side, before the sound subsided and disappeared.

Photo 4

Basil was now in what seemed to be a completely monochrome and dark street. The houses seemed to emit a soft light, but nothing more. Basil moved on, noticing a figure sitting on the cobblestone, a dark silhouette in the shape of Aubrey.
SNAP, another photo.
This time, it was a photo of Basil and Aubrey walking down a street, back to back. Sunny's house could be seen ahead.
Basil was now in what seemed to be a completely monochrome and dark street. The houses seemed to emit a soft light, but nothing more. Basil moved on, noticing a figure sitting on the cobblestone, a dark silhouette in the shape of Aubrey.
SNAP, another photo.
This time, it was a photo of Basil and Aubrey walking down a street, back to back. Sunny's house could be seen ahead.

photo5

Basil approached Aubrey's shadow, but when he touched it, it disappeared. As he looked around, the street had changed, now it seemed to be in ruins, completely destroyed. In the distance, Basil saw a cactus that stood taller than anything else. Basil walked towards it and noticed that there was a tunnel carved into its trunk. Stepping inside, Basil soon found his path impeded by barriers of thorns, which he began to cut through with his gardening shears, not without piercing himself and injuring himself all over with the thorns. Eventually, the tunnel opened up and Basil, all wounded, arrived at a new scenery.

Basil realized that he was in a place that looked like a completely white void. The only thing there was a gigantic eye staring back at him.
Basil began to levitate, and the eye seemed to hypnotize him. He felt an immense calm... Which was interrupted by a feeling of impeding doom.
But instead of doom, what happened was that a jump rope came out of the eye, falling into Basil's hands.

SNAP, another photo.
It was a photo of him and Aubrey. They were fighting over something, each pulling a jumprope in one direction as if it were a power cable, Aubrey looking a mixture of angry and desperate, and Basil alarmed.

photo6

SNAP, Basil heard a noise, but it wasn't a photo, the rope in his hands had snapped in half.
A black hole appeared below the eye, sucking everything into it's interior, sucking Basil with it.

Basil opened his eyes and realized that he was lying on his bed. He got up, looked around and realized that something was wrong. Then he realized that it wasn't his bed at Polly's house, but his old bed at his grandmother's house, with the moonlight coming through the window.
Basil went out into the corridor. Something was wrong, because the corridor stretched impossibly far ahead. At the end of it, there was a door surrounded by chains, but the chains were broken and the door wide open.

Basil crossed the threshold, arriving at what seemed to be a path in the middle of a damp, dark forest, lit only by streetlamps. Basil walked from streetlamp to streetlamp. In the distance, he heard a melancholy melody being played on a piano. A waltz?

SNAP, a new photo. It was Aubrey and Sunny sitting on the branch of a tree, talking.

SNAP, another new photo. Aubrey and Sunny seemed to be fighting. Aubrey was climbing down the tree, Sunny seemed to be trying to reach out to grab her, but Aubrey pushed him back. Neither of them seemed to notice that the branch below Sunny had a giant crack in it.

SNAP, a photo of Sunny, face down on the floor. Pieces of branches and fallen leaves lay around him.

With this succession of photos, Basil couldn't take it anymore. He started running, tears in his eyes. The next thing he knew, he was no longer in a forest, but in an incinerated wasteland. There was a completely scorched gigantic tree ahead, and a single flower growing in front of it.

Basil fell to his knees in front of the tree, crying inconsolably, but the photos hadn't stopped coming yet.

SNAP, another photo.
It was a photo of Basil pouring the contents of a petrol can into a large tree, his face contorted in anger and tears.
SNAP, a last photo.
The same tree, burning.

photos

The scene has changed. Basil was in what looked like a garden, his garden, when he still lived with his grandmother. It was on fire. The sky glowed with an eye-popping brightness. Basil stepped forward, he could see shadows in the smoke - Aubrey? Mari? Hero? Kel?
One of them he began to follow, Sunny's shadow. The shadow began moving towards the fire, even with Basil pleading it to stop.

SNAP
A new photo. It looked like Aubrey and Basil had just come down from the tree house. Basil was carelessly throwing a can of gasoline into some bushes, while Aubrey was running away from the scene in a hurry.

Basil stopped, the shadow had stopped and was sitting on the ground, curled up. It was crying.

"It hurts... It hurts... Please make it stop... I'm still here..."
"Please... It's so painful..."
"I want it to stop... Please help me..." The boy pleaded.

SNAP
A new photo. It was from the point of view of Basil, picking a box of match sticks from the floor inside the Tree House.
Basil was gripped by a horrible fear and began to run, not knowing where. Soon, he saw a structure on the horizon, a tree house, untouched by the flames. He started to run towards it, but the flames seemed to be following him.

SNAP
A new photo. Aubrey was standing at the glass door that led to Sunny's backyard. She seemed to have just come out of the house and had a startled look on her face. Basil, in the foreground, was looking back over his shoulder, horrified.

Basil was almost to the tree house now. It stood against the chaos like a solitary island of refuge. He froze, unable to take another step. Something was waiting for him inside, he knew. Something terrible.

SNAP
The image was of Basil's backyard from the glass door. You could see the large tree on fire, and how the flames had spread to the bushes behind the tree and beyond.

lastphotos

SNAP
Basil looked at the photos in order.

A photo of him and Aubrey in their garden at his grandmother's house, working with the plants
A photo of Basil and Aubrey walking down a street. Sunny's house could be seen ahead.
A picture of Sunny, with his back to the camera, climbing a tree.
Aubrey and Sunny sitting on the branch of a tree, talking.
Aubrey and Sunny seemed to be fighting. Aubrey was climbing down the tree, Sunny seemed to be trying to reach out to grab her, but Aubrey pushed him back. Neither of them seemed to notice that the branch below Sunny had a giant crack in it.
a photo of Sunny, face down on the floor. Pieces of branches and fallen leaves lay around him.
a picture of Aubrey and Basil in front of a tree. They were arguing. Aubrey seemed to be crying, Basil looked terrified.
The viewpoint seemed to be from the ground. Basil wasn't in the scene, but it was possible to see that he was helping Aubrey carry an unconscious Sunny, coming from one side of the picture. The tree house was visible in the background.
It was from the point of view of Basil, picking a box of match sticks from the floor inside the Tree House.
photo of him and Aubrey. They were fighting over something, each pulling a jump rope in one direction as if it were a tug of war, Aubrey's expression was mix of angry and desperate, and Basil seemed alarmed.
a girl's sneaker, which seemed to accidentally kick a gasoline can, spilling its contents onto the ground.
It looked like Aubrey and Basil had just come down from the tree house. Basil was carelessly throwing a can of gasoline into some bushes, while Aubrey was running away from the scene in a hurry.
It was a photo of Basil pouring the contents of a gasoline can into a large tree, his face contorted in anger and tears.

a photo of the same tree, burning.
Aubrey was standing at the glass door that led to Sunny's backyard. She seemed to have just come out of the house and had a startled look on her face. Basil, in the foreground, was looking back over his shoulder, horrified.
The image was of Sunny's backyard from the glass door. You could see the large tree on fire, and how the flames had spread to the bushes behind the tree and beyond.

Basil picked up the last photo.
It was the tree house in flames. He could see the silhouette of a boy standing motionless inside, motionless in the midst of the inferno. A single eye stared back at Basil from the silhouette.

Basil raised his eyes. He could see something staring at him, on the tree house's entrance.

lastphoto

The Ending

12 - 05 - 2024

Basil wakes up to the phone ringing. Kel and Mari were also asleep on the sofa, but the phone wakes them up too. Hero hasn't returned yet?
Basil goes to answer it, it's Aubrey. She says she's waiting for Basil at the cemetery, and for him to bring Mari too. Kel and Hero shouldn't go, she's asked Hero to wait at the church entrance.

Basil doesn't have time to reply as Aubrey hangs up. He tells Mari what happened, she thinks it's very suspicious and doesn't want Basil to go, but Basil is more afraid of what might happen if he doesn't, so he insists with Mari and they decide to go.
Even though she tells Kel to stay, he goes along, because he says it's dangerous for the two of them to be walking around at night without anyone.
They walk in silence to the church, and Mari is weirdly quiet.

"I'm afraid of what might happen later. A bad gut feeling." Basil fretted, "Like we are missing out on crucial details about Aubrey plans..." Basil confided with Mari, hoping for support, but she said nothing as she just focused her gaze straight ahead, silently pushing his wheelchair. "If you want... I could push the wheelchair myself Mari."
Mari said nothing, lost in her own thoughts. She seemed pissed off, somehow, walking steadfast. "Everything okay Mari? You have been silent since we stepped outside your house..." Basil murmured while fidgeting his thumbs... Still no answer from the girl as they proceeded.

walking

As expected, Hero is there. He tries to explain what happened, but Mari ignores him, just pushing Basil into the church and leaving Kel and Hero behind.
At the cemetery, Aubrey waits for them both in front of Sunny's grave.

Creebrey

Aubrey gets straight to the point. Basil tells her not to do anything stupid, but Aubrey says it's time, which makes Basil shout at her to reconsider. Aubrey insists that he had promised that “if the weight got too hard for Mari, they would tell the truth, but that Basil, to protect them both, had spread all those things about Mari, having the opposite effect and making everything worse.” This makes Basil progressively more scared and nervous.

Mari is confused, she asks what they're talking about, but she already seems to suspect what it is. It starts to drizzle.

Aubrey says it's the truth about Sunny, about how he died, and reveals the photo album she has with her.
As she says this, Basil jumps on her, ignoring his broken legs, and tackles Aubrey and the photo album over. It begins to rain.

They start fighting in front of Sunny's tomb. Aubrey insists that he promised to tell the truth, and Basil says she doesn't know what will happen if she reveals it. Aubrey says she doesn't care what happens, and scratches Basil's face, which causes him to push her head against the grave, and in return, she kicks him and breaks his nose.

Mari is furious, getting in the middle and demanding an explanation of what the fuck they're doing. Basil takes advantage of the situation to jump on Aubrey again and force her to the ground. Mari intervenes and pulls Basil away from Aubrey.

Victory

With Basil away from Aubrey. She opens the photo album and takes out from inside... A box of matches. Aubrey raises it victoriously against the sky.

"If you do that... If you do that..." Basil crawled weakly towards Aubrey. "She'll hate us. Everybody will hate us. Do you really want that!?" He pleaded her.
"I DON'T CARE." Aubrey screamed back at him, tears pouring down her eyes. "IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU, OR ABOUT ME! BASIL, MARI WAS ABOUT TO KILL HERSELF BECAUSE OF YOUR LIES!" Aubrey sobbed.

Basil deflates like a balloon at this revelation. He can't resist any longer, and lets Aubrey reveal everything.
Aubrey explains that Sunny didn't kill himself. The tree house caught fire, but it wasn't him who set it alight.
Mari is confused.
Aubrey explains that he died in an accident, it was Basil who caused the fire.

"Why...?" Mari whispered.
Aubrey didn't reply.
Mari grabbed her head in agony.
"WHY!?" She demanded. "WHY?! WHY?! JUST ANSWER ME THAT BASIL."
"It was an accident..." Basil stuttered. "Sunny fell from that tree... I thought he died... I felt so angry that... I wanted to destroy that damn tree" Basil was crying, the rain drenched his clothes.
"He was alive." Aubrey replied.
"We didn't knew he was alive!" Basil shouted back, "YOU DIDN'T KNEW HE WAS ALIVE! HOW COULD WE HAVE KNOWN!? THE FIRE SPREADING, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT"

Meanwhile, Mari was in shock, processing the information that was just given to her. Basil had killed her brother... It wasn't her fault. All those years of self-blaming, all the lies he told, this boy whom she liked so much that had been by her side for so many years did it... He murdered his own best friend. Basil himself had killed her dear little brother. Everything had been Basil all along! Her heart was pounding loudly against her ribs, her chest heaved, yet nothing made sense to her. Why?
Then.
Amongst the cries, the thunders, the pouring rain.
She realized it.
This is all her hallucinations' doing. It's just another delusion, it can't be real. None of this can be true, nothing of what they were saying is accurate at all.
A laughter burst from her mouth. Mari doubled down laughing uncontrollably in pure maniacal insanity, clutching the mud underneath her feet until her fingers bleed due to the pressure. Tears flowed profusely down her cheeks amidst her hysterical fit, she just couldn't help herself from laughing louder and harder. Why did things turned out like this? One hilarious misunderstanding after the other! These damn delusions haunting her each step, never giving her any chance to rest properly!

Mari's insane laughter finally breaking through causes both Aubrey and Basil to become alarmed. Aubrey asks what happened.

Mari rose back to her feet, a crazed smile on her lips. She looked at Basil and Aubrey. "Everything. Is. So. Hilarious. Now. I see how it is now... I guess. This is another of my hallucinations, isn't it?" She chuckled, her eyes bloodshot, her face covered in dirt and mud, her hair a mess. Rain soaked her t-shirt completely wetting every inch of skin and cloth.

Basil tries to ask for forgiveness, but Mari doesn't listen, she doesn't think it's real and immediately jumps on Basil and starts punching him, yelling "it's not real" repeatedly. Basil is knocked unconscious.

When Basil wakes up, he's at his grandmother's house. The atmosphere is peaceful, it seems to be an autumn afternoon. His grandmother is cooking and calls him into the kitchen.

grandma

When he arrives, he finds Sunny in addition to his grandmother. She says she invited Sunny for lunch because they haven't seen each other for a while. Basil happily sits down next to Sunny.
Grandma puts a stew on the table and Basil tastes it happily. However, he soon becomes sad when he realizes that it's all a fake.
Sunny says that he already knows why he's there, says that he saw what happened by hiding the truth, and Basil agrees and says that the truth is very painful. Sunny says that even so, the truth is the best alternative.
He says that Basil is afraid because he knows that once he reveals the truth, all his friends will turn against him. However, he says that Basil has not been a good friend, manipulating and lying. Basil begins to cry, realizing that he is a monster.
Sunny says that however, he has a chance to improve, to do the right thing.

"By making yourself accountable, Basil. By confessing your sins and accepting your mistakes. The consequences may be harsh... The punishment may well be severe, Basil, but at least it gives you one small consolation to hang onto; you are a good person at heart. You will always have that Basil... Even if nobody believes you anymore." Sunny paused momentarily, closing his eyes briefly before continuing, "But if you hide forever? What kind of future is there for you then, Basil?"
Sunny regarded Basil with kindness. "Doing so won't erase what you've done, of course. It won't undo all the lies and pain inflicted upon your friends either. Even so, one day... Just maybe... Just maybe they could forgive you. Eventually, they will start remembering you differently... Not as a liar and a manipulator, but rather as the boy who finally chose right over wrong and came back from a deep dark place within himself into the light once again."

Sunny hugs Basil and hands him a photo album. Basil opens it, the photos are stained with a thick liquid, but Sunny gives him a cloth, and Basil starts to clean them. Little by little, the photos of Basil's most precious memories become clear, as do the texts below each one.
After finishing, Basil retired to his backyard. There, he could see his garden, and in the distance, a tree house. His friends were waiting for him at the foot of it.

treehouse

Aubrey is the first to speak. She says that when the accident happened, she tried to rationalize blaming Mari, because the reason they were at Sunny's house, and the reason for the fight, stemmed from Mari pushing Sunny too hard. However, she has now realized that Mari wasn't to blame at all, no one was. Basil says that he never blamed Mari, he only blamed her to protect himself, but the truth is that what happened was just an accident, and that the worst thing they could have done was hide the truth.
Mari is next, she says that she feels Basil wasn't completely wrong to blame her, but that by revealing the truth, he will be saving her from herself.
Kel and Hero hug Basil. Hero says it won't be easy, but he has to keep going, to prevent his memories from being extinguished too.

The last person, his Grandma, was holding a bouquet of flowers that she laid in front of the treehouse. "Basil... I am sorry for everything my boy, I'm sorry that you had to go through this. I tried to protect you and look where it led us... But it's not your fault Basil. It's never your fault my sweetheart... Sunny will always live on, as long as we remember him, right? His memory must be preserved, don't you think?"

Basil climbs the tree house and enters. Inside, he finds himself in White Space suddenly, and in the center of it, Egret is sitting cross-legged on the floor. Basil sits in front of him and they both remain silent.

Egret

Basil asks Egret if he hates him.

"I do, I despise you. I detest everything about you Basil, because you are me and I am you. I dislike how cowardly you are... How selfish and naive we can be. I loathe that part of us. But most of all..." Egret paused momentarily as Basil waited nervously for him to continue. "Most of all... I resent our wish to stay in denial forever."
"We are broken Basil, and we need fixing. Otherwise..." Egret trailed off before adding quietly, "Otherwise we'll become irrepairable, Basil, and then nobody can fix us anymore. We'll never recover if we keep hiding the truth away." Egret stated somberly while holding onto his legs closely to his chest.
Basil was silent. "I understand..." he whispered.
"Then pick up the Camera. It's time Basil"
"This... This camera... What does it mean?"
"Everything. Picking this camera is accepting our own role on everything that happened, therefore taking responsibility for it. Picking this camera means facing the consequences of what will happen after that too. There will be pain, Basil, so much pain. It will be difficult, and not easy at all. But that's the only way we will be able to be one again. And that's the only way we will be able to be whole, Basil." Egret finished, waiting for Basil's decision.

Behind Egret, Basil saw a door casting a long shadow.

"What is that?" Basil inquired.
Egret followed Basil line of sight, his vacant dark abyss gaze fixating towards the white door standing imposing in the white space "That is the alternative. The ultimate denial. You can walk through that door if you prefer, it will mean erasing everything. It will mean escaping the truth by hiding it. However, such door leads to nowhere, and it's consequences will be eternal."

GOOD ENDING

Basil decided to pick up the camera. He raised it to eye level and took a picture.
A photo from Christmas, when he received his first Polaroid camera and took his very first photo. Sunny played violin that day.

A photo of his birthday. He thought his friends forgot, but they all surprised Basil with a strawberry cake.
A photo of Basil reading a book for Sunny, and a photo of all of his friends cuddling with SUNNY's stuffed animals.
A photo of Mari, Basil, Sunny, Kel, Aubrey and Hero having a picnic on their hangout spot.
A photo of Mari making flower crowns for Aubrey and Basil.
...
The last photo finally came. A photo of Aubrey and Kel playing in front of the tree house. Mari waved to Basil through the window of the tree house, while Hero and Sunny climbed the stairs. All of his friends, together.
When he had finished taking the photos, Egret hugged Basil.

"Thank you, Basil." Egret whispered as Basil sobbed in Egret's arms. Basil leaned closer towards Egret. "Welcome back"

Basil woke up crying in hospital. Aubrey was the first person he saw, and then Hero and Kel. He notices that his sight is blocked, and realizes that one of his eyes is blindfolded.

They seemed relieved to see that he was okay, even though Basil was a little dazed by the amount of attention.
Hero breaks the news to him, it seems that Mari, after what happened, had to be restrained by Kel and Hero, and soon after, the police arrived. Mari ended up giving herself up to the police without resisting.
Basil says he needs a moment alone and asks for a phone. Everyone leaves and Aubrey goes to get the phone. When she returns, she tells Basil that she hasn't told the others yet, and is waiting for him to tell them.
She walks away and leaves the phone with Basil. Basil calls his therapist.

"Hello? Who is this?"
"It's me, Basil."
There was silence for a second, before his therapist responded. "Basil? What happened? You disappeared suddenly."
"I need to confess something. Something very important. To everyone."

BAD ENDING

Basil decides to get up and head for the door, leaving Egret behind.
Egret doesn't say anything, just watches him as he crosses the threshold, before disappearing into nothingness.

Basil wakes up screaming. The rain is still falling on him. Basil's body is aching, lying near Sunny's grave. His sight is blocked, he wipes away the blood, and realizes that his eye is gone.
Kel and Hero are holding Mari, while Hero desperately asks Aubrey to call for help. She's curled, crying and not knowing what to do.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Basil climbs back into his wheelchair with difficulty and begins to push it towards the edge of the cemetery, towards the forest that surrounds it.
His thoughts are foggy, he's just on automatic now
He stops at the edge of the highway, watching the cars speed by. Aubrey shouts his name, but he doesn't turn to look at her.
Aubrey whispers to him not to do that. Not knowing what to say, she mutters that he's going to break everyone's heart.
Basil doesn't listen. Instead, he pushes the wheelchair towards one of the fast-approaching vehicles.

Edit

Pub: 21 Sep 2023 15:57 UTC

Edit: 18 May 2024 23:28 UTC

Views: 680