I force my trembling legs to move, and face the girls from a distance. They remain silent, turning their grief-stricken faces toward me.

“You understand why I asked you to remain strong, now, don’t you?”

“Shut up…” Mary whispers, as if all the fight had left her. “Just shut up and let us be for a minute…”

I close my mouth and watch as Mary directs a complicated look at Mirei, before averting her gaze. Mirei seems frozen with shock and despair, her lips quivering as if she’s trying her best not to cry. Finally, the tears fall down her cheek, and she loses control.

“Mary…” she sobs while clutching her chest. “It’s all true… every bit of it… it’s so real… everything makes so much sense… everything we went through… it hurts.”

“Yeah…” Mary mutters, refusing to look at her. “Even though it all adds up, it hurts. It hurts knowing that there’s nothing we can do about it… that all we have left is this dream…”

Mirei continues sobbing, her hands shaking. “Even if we do overcome this, our bodies aren’t strong enough. Of course, Aku wouldn’t want to use such weak bodies…”

“Beyond that, we were probably just being fed that lie for the sake of the experiment,” Mary replies in a shaky voice. “In reality, Aku already knew who he would inhabit. It’s more likely that this was only ever meant to be a fleeting dream for us, a last chance to live our dreams. A chance given to us by a man who simply pitied our fate… isn’t that right?”

As she shifts her gaze to me, her expression turns to something dark, as if she’s become ill in her despair.

“You’re as adept as ever, Mary,” I respond in a soft voice. “I cannot deny what you’re saying.”

“But I don’t understand,” Mirei cuts in, fighting back her tears. “If all of that is the truth, then you wanted to help us all along, right? Then… why? Why are you making us suffer even in here? You’re the only thing about this that doesn’t make any sense at all. What do you want, JC?”

“Let’s get some fresh air,” I respond, making for the door. “Can you both stand?”

After some effort, the girls rise to their feet, and hesitantly follow me. The inside of the building operates as normally as it had when we arrived, as if nothing changed. With Mathais trailing behind, we walk outside, following the park trail lined with multicolored cherry trees. The girls remain silent, following several paces behind me.

“Well, you did see into my heart,” I remark with a light sigh. “It’s all true, everything. The fact that you saved me with your music, Mirei. That I chose to move my stagnant life forward with the purpose of protecting your melody. At the time, I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but it was my reason for living.”

I glance back to see Mirei following me with an intent look, while Mary hangs her head several steps back from her.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I became a hired hand for the Shibutani Group and erased enemies of your father. But when your music stopped, the Shibutani Group stopped contacting me, so I struggled to find meaning elsewhere. Something else I could protect until I found out what happened to you. So, I searched for Mary, though I had no idea it would bring me to Japan- to Shibuya, where Shiburei was from. But that all left me empty-handed as well. Through my utter failure I became lost in a fleeting daydream of my own, one that taught me just how abnormal and irrational humans are. Eventually, I woke, and the vague dream I had dreamt before, my true purpose, became clear. The reason I knew I had to protect your melody, that is.”

“What was that?” Mary asks, her interest piqued.

“Something bigger than us,” I reply, keeping my gaze ahead and my hands in my pockets. “Much bigger than the fickle issues of my life, and even bigger than the heavy circumstances you two have lived through. I’ve been both enlightened and humbled in realizing my small purpose, as well as my miniscule reach, and overwhelming lack of power.”

“Lack of power…” Mirei mutters, barely audible.

“I can reach this godlike entity, yet even with its power I cannot save the one who saved me.” Halting, I turn my gaze to Mirei, before shifting it to Mary.

“Nor can I protect the one who helped me protect my dream even through years of losing myself.”

“What…” Mary mutters, looking me down with a gloomy scowl.

“Both indirectly in the real world, and directly while in this dream world, you two have given me everything. So, I hope you’ll believe that everything I’ve told you in this dreamworld is the truth.”

I take a deep breath, before turning away from them once more. All around, the multicolored grass and trees transform to a sharp, solid green.

“What is this…” Mirei remarks with a gasp.

“You… you’re changing the world,” Mary follows in an accusatory voice.

“Unfortunately, it’s because of everything you’ve given me… that I have to forsake you, the very ones I wanted to save… the ones I wanted to protect.”

“Why?” Mary demands, taking a step toward me.

“Because…”

Something drowns out the sound of her footsteps. A crack like thunder resounds from the sky as it turns gray. Far in the distant atmosphere, something vast and boisterous, like a great burning star, comes into view amidst the bleak sky. The ground underneath us trembles furiously, while the grass suddenly grows longer and the trees taller.

“The dream I saw long ago… the entity that threatens your melody, is coming. Aku’s power is needed to stop it. That’s why he came here, after all- why I called him here. If I don’t use Aku’s power to stop it, your melody and the songs you created, your hearts, the memories and impact both of you left on this earth… will be gone along with everything else. That’s why, whatever the cost, this dreamscape must end with my absolute victory.”

“You keep on selfishly spouting that nonsense!” Mirei shouts, to my surprise. I take another step forward, refusing to look back.

“I thought you were so dignified all this time,” she continues, voice trembling. “Now I see you’re even more of hopeless wreck than either of us!”

“She’s right,” Mary adds in a passionate voice. “What nonsense, saying you’re overwhelmingly normal compared to us. You’re twice the head-case either of us are… which is exactly why you’re going to lose.”

“Oh, really?” I respond, chuckling through my nose as I walk ahead. “I think I’m the most normal person in the world, by far. And that’s what this world needs, as well as the real one. Try to make me lose… and you’ll see that I’m right.”

I reach for the tall grass growing at my sides, and the ground underneath me begins to shift.

“Wait…” Mary mutters hurriedly. “Mirei, he’s changing wave-”

Tall grass and vines snap ahold of me and pull me down. As I descend, I catch a glimpse of the girls in my peripheral, lunging desperately to try and reach me. However, before their hands can close onto mine, the grassy earth swallows me as everything goes dark.