Chapter VIII

Lilly spent most of her Sunday trying to process everything she had learned from Rista Pine, as well as the details she had been given by The Angel. There was so much for her to take in, not only regarding her own situation, but also about Ijiria. Rista had told her quite a deal about the group known as the Children of Reiner, as well as their assault on the Ijirian Citadel and the theft of what they called a relic. Ever since the Magic Club came across the gem, Lilly had wondered what might have brought such an item to that cave where Eric found it, and now, Rista had been able to tell her everything he knew. He also talked quite extensively about the few years he and the other Children spent under Abigail Reiner’s care. The way he spoke about his adoptive mother was enough to tell her just how much Abigail was loved and respected by her people. At the same time, never once did it seem like Rista was making anything up or lying, nor did The Angel react negatively to him during their conversation. What that told her was that she truly could trust Rista Pine, and with the help of an Ijirian mage, breaking out of the erased realm had become just a tad easier.

Though, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. First and foremost, I need to get my bearings in here.

With her memories finally returned, she now found her mind feeling quite hazy as two versions of the past year began swirling in her head—the one where she met Eric and the one where he never existed. Every time she thought about her false memories, she couldn’t help but feel sick. She’d never given much thought to what her life might have been without Eric and the club, but now she had her answer. She was a depressed, isolated person who wanted companionship but was too stubborn and prideful to admit it. The junior year without the club was boring and uneventful, and all she did was go through life on autopilot, never really caring about anything or anyone. It terrified her to realize just how close she had been to rock bottom before she met the others.

Even after I became friends with them, I never realized just how much they saved me by bringing me into their club and accepting me as their friend. I owe Eric and the others so much…and that’s never been more clear to me than right now.

Lilly grit her teeth and took a deep breath as she continued down the street, heading in the direction of the school. It was finally Monday morning, which meant that the time had come for her to truly take a look at this twisted version of West Wilham High. She had planned to meet up with Rista on the way so she was keeping an eye out for the man. Naturally, he couldn’t go into the school, so she had hoped to speak to him before class, but as she glanced around, the only people she could see were the few other students also walking to school.

I wonder where he is. There was something I needed to ask him…

She sighed, deciding that if she couldn’t find him then she could just send him a text and meet him after school. Despite being Ijirian, it seemed that the time he spent in the erased realm had given him a basic knowledge of technology, so they had exchanged numbers before she left his apartment back on Saturday. He had told her that before he regained his memories, he was living as an average Wilham citizen, with no recollection of magic or Ijiria and now, his mind was in a similar state to hers, with two versions of his life meshing inside of him.

Hey, Angel? Is this something that’s going to fade or will I always have two versions of my junior year in my head?

Despite having not heard from either of the voices since Saturday night, the reply was instantaneous.

“While I can’t say for certain seeing as I do not know of any other erased victims regaining their memory, I would imagine that the fake memories should fade eventually. After all, they didn’t really happen, whereas your real memories have experience and emotions behind them that cannot be replicated.”

Lilly smiled with relief. Good. Thank you.

She hated the thought that her junior year could be overwritten at all despite how terrifying and hopeless the end of it had become, and so she found comfort in The Angel’s answer. Lilly turned a corner and was continuing on her way when, without warning, her body tensed up, as if the mana inside of her was alerting her to something’s presence. She instinctively knew it was Rista, recalling what his mana felt like, and so she wasn’t surprised when she suddenly heard his voice.

“I’m here, Harper.”

Lilly glanced over her shoulder only to find nobody there, but having experienced Eric’s distortion spells before, she knew he must be concealing himself so as not to be seen by anybody nearby. She faced forward and spoke softly, not wanting to appear as if she were talking to herself.

“I was wondering where you were,” she said. “There was something I needed to ask you before I get to school.”

She felt his presence move up to stand beside her as he responded. “I still don’t understand why you’re so insistent on going. It’s not like this is your real school.”

“I know that, obviously,” she muttered. “But I need to get a better understanding of what’s happening in this damn world. Like I said, there should be eight others that got erased and seven of them are at West Wilham. I want to know what’s going on with them and the only way to do that is to go to school and act natural.”

She heard Rista sigh. “You know I could just find them for you. If there really are seven of them at that school then it shouldn't be hard to track them down.”

“Really?” she replied curiously. “How so?”

“Well, erased victims all have memory spells plaguing their minds, so if I’m within a few yards of one, I’ll be able to sense the faint mana residue it gives off,” the man explained. “That’s how I knew there was something off about you. When you walked into that convenience store, I could sense the power radiating off of you.”

“Interesting,” she murmured. “So then…I guess that brings me to what I wanted to ask you. You were able to return both your own memories and mine, so would you be able to bring everybody else back?”

She expected an immediate answer, so she was surprised when she didn’t hear his voice until a few moments later. “I think you’re misunderstanding, Harper,” he said. “I didn’t actually bring either of our memories back.”

She exhaled sharply. “W-what? But then…? How did we regain our memories?”

“I’m not sure, honestly,” Rista admitted. “I mean, I didn’t actually do anything. It was just an average day back in April. I was going about my business when suddenly, I was hit with a wave of nausea before passing out. When I came to, I remembered everything. As for you, I just took you to my apartment and waited for you to wake up. I didn’t do anything to bring your memories back.”

Lilly’s eyes went wide as she tried to understand what that meant, but before she could question him further, the female voice in her mind spoke.

“Oh, that’s probably because of us, actually!”

Her head snapped up. What? What do you mean?

The voice giggled to herself before responding. “You remember how we told you that our powers greatly resemble Nigreos and Album’s? Well, this entire realm is built and controlled by Album’s mana, so putting you inside of it probably caused a few discrepancies. If I had to guess, your entrance into the erased realm probably caused Album’s mana within you to interact with the only other magical person in the world, being Rista Pine. As for yourself, our overuse of The Angel’s power probably returned your own memories after our battle with the kid.”

Lilly furrowed her brow, struggling to take in everything she was hearing both from Rista and the Voice of Light within her. So then…if it’s Album’s mana that brought Rista’s and my memory back, then could I use it to bring back the memories of everybody else in here?

“That’s a tricky question,” came the reply of the other voice in her head. “If you were a stronger mage, I imagine you could do it, but as it is now, your body has not yet adjusted to The Angel’s power, which is obvious by your passing out the other day. If you tried to use Album’s abilities to put their memories back, you would run the risk of both overexerting yourself, and potentially frying the brain of whoever you’re trying to help.”

A chill went up her spine at the voice’s words. Then that’s absolutely not an option. I am not about to run the risk of frying anybody!

“Uh, Harper?”

At Rista’s hesitant words, Lilly snapped back to reality and glanced sidelong at the empty spot she knew him to be. “Er, sorry,” she stuttered. “Just thinking, is all. The voices, they… They’re saying that it might have been my entrance into the erased realm that caused your memories to come back since I have Album’s mana inside of me.”

She decided to be honest with him, knowing that was the only way to keep his trust. Back when they first met, she had decided against her better judgment to tell him everything she knew about The Angel inside her, from their voices in her head to their similarities to the Masters of Light and Darkness. Not only had she hoped it would be a way to prove to him that she was trustworthy, but at the same time, she had wanted an Ijirian’s opinion on the situation. Unfortunately, Rista didn’t seem to have the slightest clue as to what could be happening to her. He was clearly skeptical of her words, though that didn’t mean he didn’t try to understand what was going on. Even now, he narrowed his eyes in suspicion as she brought the subject of the voices up.

“Is that so?” he grumbled. “Well, that’s certainly interesting. At the very least, it’s an answer.”

She nodded in agreement. “But the problem is, I can’t use that power to bring anybody else’s memories back and…I want to help my friends.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Rista grunted. “I do know a counter spell to mind magic like that. If I can find the victims, I should be able to bring them back to normal.”

Lilly let out a sigh of relief, having finally received the answer to the question she’d wanted to ask. Perfect. Then that means I can get the others back and from there, we can find some way to break out of this damned place. Abigail told me there was a way to bust out from within, so I just need to find it.

She smiled. “Thank you, Rista.”

“Don’t mention it,” he said softly. “In that case, I’ll keep my distortion up and head into the school with you so I can get a visual on everybody who needs help.”

“Okay then. In that case, I’ll just go about my day and see what I can figure out.”

With their plan settled, Lilly and Rista continued until they came to the gates of West Wilham High. She didn’t know what she should feel at that moment as she passed through and walked into the courtyard. It looked the exact same as the real West Wilham, but she knew that it was just fake. The students and teachers here were not real, save for those who were erased. It was just a farce to make them believe that nothing had ever changed, but Lilly knew that the school had one major difference from the real one. In this world, Eric Reiner never existed, so the Magic Club never came into being and Liz, Damien, Vinny, and herself didn’t become friends. Now that she knew that this world was fake, she was more aware of just how terrible of a place it was. She continued across the courtyard and then headed into the building, recalling that her senior year first period was now on the third floor, in none other than Mr. Lowe’s room.

Of course I’d have class there. It almost seems like this goddamn world was mocking me.

As she was walking up the stairs, she glanced up to see Matt Briggs making his way toward her. For a moment, the two made eye contact, and the boy managed to smile awkwardly as he passed her by and went downstairs without ever saying a word. She stopped for a moment and watched him turn left down the hall, her thoughts momentarily shifted back to his confession after the race.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I wonder…how much of what he said was real? Did the actual Matt have a crush on me, too? Or did this version of him only come to like me because of the different circumstances of this world? Is there any way to find out?

“Not without asking the real one,” came the reply of the Voice of Darkness.

With that answer, Lilly turned back and walked on. She supposed it didn't matter either way. If the actual Matt Briggs felt the same as the fake one, she still wouldn’t be able to reciprocate his feelings. Eric was the one she wanted to be with, and all she could do was wish Matt well.

“Did you know that guy?” Rista whispered as they arrived on the third floor. “I didn’t sense any mana from him so he’s not erased.”

Lilly shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. He’s just…a teammate of mine. Nothing more.”

“Alright then. Well, I’ll be off. I want to see what I can find before the classes start. We can meet again when you have a chance.”

“Okay. See you later, Rista.”

She felt his presence grow distant as he went in the opposite direction of Mr. Lowe’s classroom. As Lilly approached the familiar door, she couldn’t help but feel nostalgia for the days she spent in that room with the others. In this realm, it might not be the Magic Club’s room, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still special to her and, as she walked through the door, she felt as if she had properly come home. At the same time, she could almost immediately sense the mana residue Rista had been talking about, and it was only then that she realized there were four of the erased victims already there.

She stopped in place once again, feeling deja vu for the first day of school as she processed the scene before her. Vinny Mickelson was sitting at the front of class, tapping on his phone with a scowl on his face. She hadn’t seen Vinny since the first day of the school festival so the image of him just casually hanging out in the class was relieving, though she did note that he didn’t have the same cheerful grin she remembered so well.

When she turned to the left, she saw Liz sitting beside Charlotte Banks and Ashley Anderson as they talked and giggled with each other. Her appearance was jarring compared to the Liz Tao Lilly knew. The girl didn’t have her glasses or headphones on, and she was wearing heavy makeup with her hair curled and her nails long and painted.

That’s right…in this world, she’s taken Rina’s place. But…how would Eric being gone cause such a drastic shift in her personality. I can understand how Vinny reached this point after the Evan/Rina incident last Christmas, but Liz…?

Lilly shook the surprise off and hurried into the room before she drew anybody’s attention, but just as she reached her desk and dropped her bag off, somebody’s voice caused intense emotions to start welling up inside of her.

“Hey, Harper! Why’d you take off so suddenly after the race?! I wanted to congratulate you on your time!”

Lilly swallowed, realizing just how surreal it was to hear his voice, as she slowly turned around to see Jay Brooks standing just a few desks away, his hands tucked into his pants pockets and a dopey grin on his face. The last time she had seen him was in January, the day before he tried to kill himself. After that, she only ever got to be with him while he was in the hospital. And even that was taken from her when Nigreos and Album turned him into a monster, then erased him. For so many months, he was gone, but now, he was right in front of her.

He looked happy and it was then that she realized it was the first time she had ever seen him truly smile. Of course, there were plenty of times he had smiled during their junior year, but looking back, they were all forced as he concealed his true feelings behind a façade of joy. At that moment, there were no hidden emotions. He was just genuinely cheerful, like he didn’t have a worry in the world. When she looked over his shoulder, she could see Alice Mendez and another girl sitting at their desks, glancing over at her with similar smiles. For a moment, Lilly struggled to remember the girl’s name, but when she consulted her fake memories, she realized what had happened.

Audrey Moore…that’s her name.

“You…remind me of an old friend of mine… She was a lot like you, honestly. She was reserved and she didn’t like people but when she did open up, she was one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever known.”

She recalled what Jay had said to her all those months ago when he stole the stone and fled to the diner. There was an old friend of his that had passed away, a girl that had been close with him, Rina, and Alice. She should have been dead, but there she was, alive and happy. She remembered Alice saying that, in paradise, Audrey Moore was okay and that nothing bad had ever happened. Shockingly, Album hadn’t lied. This world had actually become that paradise for Alice and Jay. Their old friend was alive.

“Uh, Harper?” Jay stuttered, suddenly looking worried. “Wait, what’s wrong?! Why are you crying?! What did I say?!”

“Lilly? What happened?” Alice said as she and Audrey jumped to their feet.

Lilly frowned just as she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks, and she realized that she was crying. She hadn’t been ready to face Jay like that. In fact, he didn’t even have first period with them, so he must have only been hanging out with Audrey and Alice before school started.

She wasn’t ready.

“Sorry, Jay,” she whispered. “I just… It’s not your fault, I… Excuse me.”

Not having the strength to stay there in front of him, she turned and hurried from the room, ignoring the worried calls of those she was leaving behind. She kept her head down so nobody would see her cry, and it was only once she was safely in a bathroom stall that she let her tears flow.

“Damn it,” she uttered with frustration. “I need to…keep myself together. How could I break so easily?”

But at least he’s safe. He never tried to kill himself here. He’s happy…but…he doesn’t remember me anymore. Our friendship…everything we’ve been through, is all gone. He and Alice…don’t know me. They just know the private and harsh version of me that I was stuck as in that stupid realm. Lilly clenched her teeth. This world…is wrong. It’s a twisted version of reality…but can I really call it twisted when Jay is that happy? He smiled…

He smiled for real that time…

***

When lunch arrived, Vinny Mickelson went to his normal spot in an isolated corner of the second floor where he pulled out a cold ham sandwich and began to absentmindedly eat it. Part of him wanted to just ditch class, but he had a test in his government class in sixth period and he knew his parents would give him hell if he didn’t attend.

And I’m really not in the mood to deal with shit like that right now.

Vinny grimaced and quickly finished his food before leaning against the wall and pulling out his phone. His plan was to mindlessly scroll through random message boards until lunch ended, but as always, life never went his way. As often happened whenever Vinny wanted to be left alone, two unfortunately familiar members of the football team called out to him from down the hall.

“What’re you up to, Mickelson?” Evan Wright asked with a cold grin as he and Brad Fischer approached him.

Right on time, the blonde boy thought as he slowly rose to his feet, ready to throw a punch if either of the two boys forced him to. He knew there was no shot of winning a fight against either of them individually, let alone together, but on the few occasions where he went toe-to-toe with them, he was able to get enough hits in to mess their faces up a bit. In fact, Evan’s face seemed to already be a bit bruised up, and Vinny could easily guess who caused such damage.

“Same as always,” Vinny replied with a challenging smirk. “Just minding my own business, enjoying my lunch. What’s up with you, Wright? Specifically, what’s wrong with your face? You look like you had a bucket of bricks tossed over your head.”

Brad narrowed his eyes and took a threatening step forward. Despite being bigger than Evan, Vinny knew the boy could be talked down with the right words, so he wasn’t too intimidated. Though, that wasn’t to say that Brad and Vinny hadn’t almost thrown a few punches in the past.

“Don’t act like you don’t know why we’d be here,” Brad hissed. “Was it you, Mickelson? Were you the one who tipped him off?”

Vinny chuckled mirthlessly. “Tipped who off? You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific. I don’t think I know what you’re talking about.”

He knew antagonizing them wasn’t going to help him much, yet he couldn’t help but wanting to piss them off. Vinny took some pleasure in the irritated and impatient expressions on the faces of the two football players. He then tensed up as Brad lunged forward and grabbed him by his collar, then pressed his body up against the wall. Some of the nearby students looked over in surprise, but upon seeing who was involved, they all pretended not to notice.

And why would they care? Vinny thought bitterly. Nobody’s gonna risk getting on their bad side and especially not for somebody like me.

“Cut it with the fucking games,” Brad growled. “Did you tell Clark that we were behind what happened to his locker?”

Vinny winced as the much bigger boy tightened his grip. The truth of the matter was that Vinny had been the one to tell Damien Clark what the football team had done. If there was anybody more infamous than Brad and Evan in West Wilham High, it was Damien Clark. The boy had been an unstable nutcase since they were in middle school and he’d only grown worse in high school. He took offense at even the most minor slight against him and was never opposed to starting fights if he thought his opponent deserved it. What made things worse was that Damien won almost every single fight he ever got into. He was quick on his feet and more strategic than most other boys at school, so that only bolstered his confidence and his willingness to antagonize people. This earned him a hellish reputation as somebody that should be avoided.

But Brad, Evan, and the rest of the football meatheads refused to heed that warning. Their personalities didn’t clash well with Damien’s, so it wasn’t long into freshman year that problems started arising. Once Evan got wind of the boy’s middle school reputation, he was quick to try and take him down a peg, which only resulted in Evan getting humiliated. For the past three years, Evan had been waging his own personal war against Damien and in all that time, he rarely came out on top. At this point, Vinny found it to be absolutely pathetic.

As far as Vinny was concerned, he understood Damien. They were both people who were predominantly left alone and forcibly isolated from the rest of the school. The only difference was that people avoided Damien because they feared him, while they avoided Vinny because they pitied him. If anything, Vinny looked up to Damien and wished he could have been more like him. Where Vinny lost all of his fights, Damien always won. It was impressive, and so, he always rooted for him whenever Brad and Evan went after him. It was why, when he stumbled upon the two boys breaking open Damien’s locker, he decided to leave an anonymous note to the boy, telling him what happened.

“So what if I did tell him?” Vinny demanded after a moment. “What’s it to you, Fischer? He was gonna find out anyway? All I did was expedite the process.”

“You little motherfucker!” Brad snarled, yanking Vinny forward before shoving him onto the ground. He grunted in pain but was quick to scramble to his feet, wanting to retain some sense of dignity before them.

“You really do like getting your ass kicked, don’t you, Mickelson?” Evan sneered.

Vinny smirked bitterly. “I could say the same about you. It’s been three years and you still haven't learned not to fuck with Clark! I’m assuming that jacked-up face of yours is his handiwork?”

“Fuck you, you little—!”

But Evan’s threat was cut off by the sound of someone else’s voice.

“Uh, Vinny?”

All three boys turned to look down the hall and all three seemed equally surprised. Lilly Harper was walking toward them, eyeing them with apprehension. Immediately, Vinny could tell that there was something different about her. All he knew about her was that she was quiet, antisocial, and a damn good runner. He’d never spoken a word to her nor did he ever intend to. Yet, as he looked at her now, she seemed like a completely different person. She was holding herself with confidence and the look in her eyes was firm and determined.

Not to mention…did she just use my first name?

“Er, yeah?” he managed to reply. “What do you want?”

She glanced once more at Evan and Brad, as if sizing them up, then replied, “Just to talk for a moment. Do you mind?”

Despite how surprised he was, he knew this was a prime chance to get away from Evan and Brad, so he nodded almost instantly. “Alright, sure. Let’s go.”

Lilly smiled and began heading back down the hall with Vinny right behind her. He could tell that the two football players wanted to stop him, but they must have decided not to pursue the subject further with Lilly around.

Well, whatever she wants with me, at least it gave me a convenient excuse to get away.

Lilly led him to one of the water fountains between sets of lockers then turned and leaned against the wall.

“Alright, what did you want with me, Harper?” he demanded, anxious to deal with whatever she needed.

But the girl just shrugged. “Nothing much, honestly. I just thought it’d be better to give you an excuse to leave. What was up with all that?”

“None of your damn business,” he snapped. “Just tell me what you want or I’m leaving!”

Lilly looked him over and it almost felt like she was deep in thought about something. When she finally answered his question, her voice was soft. “I just want a favor from you. Can you meet me at the dumpsters behind the school when sixth period ends? There’s something really important I want to talk to you about?”

“The dumpsters?” he parroted, baffled. “Why can’t you just tell me now?”

She frowned. “It’s…complicated. Just…please, Vinny. I promise it won’t be a waste of time.”

What the hell is up with this girl? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was gonna ask me out with how nervous she’s getting. But she hardly knows me so that can’t be it. So…what else could she want to discuss with me, and in a place as private as the fuckin’ dumpsters?

“Just consider it,” she muttered, then pushed off the wall and hurried away without giving him a chance to say anything else.

He watched her depart, stunned, before running a hand through his hair and scowling.

Lilly Harper…

He recalled the way she reacted when she entered Mr. Lowe’s room on the first day of school, as if feeling the same sensation he had, and it only made him more suspicious.

It couldn’t possibly be…related to that, right?