It was a stroke of luck that saved a precious life, but the worst is that she remains an integral part of us. I wish I could forget the truth, but it must remain, under all of our eyes.

******

"Why is all this happening to me? Why am I… the one who bears the responsibility? Why do I feel guilty? Why haven't you accepted me in this world? … Never mind…. I don't need you…. I can stay alone."

"Despite everything that is happening to me… I started to forget what happened… all those memories have been distorted... they no longer have any effect on me… but you are the only one… who can tell me about them…. How? How do you know everything that happened to me? This.. is impossible! You… you are just an illusion… a demon… just a cursed Rêve… How… how?"

A small soul, spinning in the same loop, trying to find a way out of its torment, and a struggle with despair pushes the subconscious to make a decisive decision, ignoring everything around it to preserve its goal, repeatedly pleading with itself, to find the only way, as a guide illuminating that surrounding darkness, inside a locked room of ethereal red color, sitting looking around lost, regretful, confused, shocked, afraid, hateful, vowing revenge, a deep feeling, creeping inside the heart of Lost Zero, to open his eyes, to find a part of him, extending his hand to it, calling him, to follow him in every movement, small or large.

.

Screaming, Moan, crying, pain, a voice inside me, forces me to restrain the hatred in my heart….

A memory from the painful past, which left an indelible mark on my soul, that red color around me has driven me to madness and screaming, with a sweet taste, craved by my vengeful self.

*****

Zero woke up with difficulty, slowly turning her head to find herself on a bed of normal size. The room was normal, of normal size, despite the peeling paint on the walls and the wooden floor and the stuffy atmosphere, but the dim sunlight seeping into the room made it a quiet place, planting in Zero's soul a feeling of short-lived comfort and tranquility, to realize herself in a new place.

Zero raised her head, looking around, saying: "What brought me… here?"

Zero turned towards her limbs, to find them in place, and she was moving them normally.

"Ah… Was… all that a nightmare? … Hah… This place… brings back some… cursed memories… Ha.. I remembered… that guard… Ah… my head…' At that time.. I lost control of myself… I don't remember how the fight started… but all I remember… is… the words… of that demon.. ..

*******

'… Stop deceiving me…. You disrupted the only thing that guides me towards Regret… disappear… you cursed Geist….'

...'."

*****

"Damn it…. He deceived me…. His hidden eyes… behind that silky golden hair… make my soul…. lead to madness." Zero with muffled annoyance inside her.

'If I thought for a moment…. How can an illusion deceive me… am I deceiving myself…. Is that Geist… not just an illusion…. ? …. He controls me…. Just as a puppet master controls his puppets… I think… that is my soul in the End…. That desire for madness…. (Zero gently slaps herself to wake up)... Strange… (deep sigh)…. Never mind…. As long as I'm okay.'

Zero looked around, examining the room well, it was a normal room, not as huge as before, to find in front of her a set of shelves with transparent glass doors, to glimpse a different set of first aid medicines, and to her right a window of normal size, she headed towards it to look through it, the place was very high, and the sunlight was hindering the view of the cloudy sky, hiding behind it the sun, to seep its rays penetrating that pale yellow cloud.

"Perhaps I'm on the third floor." Zero said this as she looked down.

*****

"Ah… you woke up then .." At that moment, Zero quickly turned to the source of the voice behind her, she did not find anyone in the room except her, and the shock stunned her heart beating fast for a moment.

"…'Is this the voice of that Geist… No… this is someone else's voice'…. Who are you? …. (She turns around) … Was I hallucinating-" Suddenly, something fell from above onto the bed, and Zero fell to the ground from the intensity of the fright, her breath cut off for only a second.

'For goodness sake… what was that?', Zero in fright.

Zero stood on her feet, advancing towards the bed slowly and cautiously, to find a girl her size, unconscious, with rosy cheeks, silky dark blue hair, and a dirty white dress, decorated with dark red lines and spots.

"It's… just a girl…. How didn't I see her above me (looks upwards, turning to the girl, to suddenly examine her right arm) … This arm… is artificial… it looks like it's real… the color is like her skin… and the joints… as if they are… doll joints and her legs too… Is she? -"

Suddenly, that girl jumped off the bed, to stand on her bare artificial feet, Zero retreated barefoot, and worry was evident on her.

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"Ha… did I doze off? … Ah.. you can walk… that's reassuring.", the girl.

"Who… who are you?" Zero cautiously holding her necklace.

"Ummm… what's wrong with you….? Maybe… you're just nervous… don't worry… Geist didn't use all his strength… so… I was able to heal you… Ha… why are you so nervous like this ..?.. Don't tell me you're… afraid of me."

"Eeeh…. You suddenly fell from above…. You jumped from the bed at me…. In addition to that I haven't seen you before….", Zero annoyed.

"Logical reason… but… you don't have to hold the necklace… like that…."

"Ha… what do you mean?" Zero in confusion and surprise.

"I mean… I really don't want to be hit by that light… you understand me… right?"

"Ummm… yes… neither of us wants to fight… I mean violence…. Okay… as long as you didn't intend to tear me apart in the End" Zero cautiously.

******

"I apologize about Doll…. She likes to joke around… to some extent."

The two girls heard this voice, it was more like the voice of a teenage girl, and the girl turned towards the door threshold, saying with joy: "Finally… you seem tired….."

Zero did not comprehend all of this, to shout saying: "For goodness sake… what exactly is going on?"

"Doll… let the children know she's awake…. I'll take care of it."

"Okay.", Doll leaving the room quickly.

The girl advanced towards Zero, she was a girl with short silky orange hair, and black eyes, wearing a gray dress stained with black spots, and a pale white jacket.

"Don't worry, Zero… you are in the shelter.", the girl patting her hair.

'She's human… a teenager…. This is reassuring.' Zero.

Zero was annoyed by this behavior, pushing the girl away from her, saying: "I'm not that young."

"(Muffled laughter) … That's strange… from a girl who is ten years old as I guess."

"(Sigh) … No need to ask me how you know my name…. Therefore… who exactly are you… and who is that girl.. Doll?".

"Oh… that girl… she's my little assistant… my puppet…. Doll.. As for me… the one in charge of this section… of the shelter… call me…. Mirage."

"Ah… Mirage." Zero in confusion.

"Your friends told me about you…" Mirage said this as she carried Zero to put her on the bed.

"Eh… my friends? ……. Are they okay? ...'You didn't have to carry me in the End..'..."

"Don't worry…. They are eagerly waiting to see you." Mirage arranging the equipment.

"Understood… where are they? -"

"Before that…. I don't know if my assistant has treated all your injuries…. I will conduct a comprehensive examination for you…. To make sure you are safe… I conducted this examination for your friends…. And treated all their injuries… I hope you don't mind… Zero."

"No problem… no objection."

********

Mirage began examining Zero, treating all her injuries and wounds, starting from her feet to the top of her head, focusing on her internal organs and nervous system, until she reached her head.

'Okay…. As for these wounds…. It's okay… they are not serious wounds at all like your chest wounds…. Nothing indicates a head injury…. That's reassuring…. Okay…. Her right eye is fine…. And no harm in it…. But… her other eye.' Mirage to herself.

"Zero…. What's wrong with your left eye?" Mirage asking.

"Ah…. My friend told me it was swollen…. So she put the bandage on me… I haven't taken it off yet… for fear that it might be too early." Zero.

"Okay… I will treat your eye…. So I hope that …. You don't mind that." Mirage said this as she extended her hand towards the bandage.

"No.... No problem." Zero.

Mirage grabbed the knot to open it, and began to remove the bandage little by little, and as if the bandage that was wrapped with it was longer than she thought, to create in her heart a desire to tear it all, making in herself more pressure than before, and the air entering her chest seemed heavier than before, to feel Zero with a strange feeling pressing on her chest, as if it was about to explode, to feel helpless as she exhaled that air, and her heart began to beat faster. She felt a slight paralysis in her left hand, and coldness on her small fingertips, and sweat began to appear on her forehead, to feel heat rising little by little, breathing became extremely difficult, and as if her lungs were no longer able to work, and her heart was beating faster than before, and as if everything was about to perish, for something to strike in Zero's soul, rejecting what was happening.

'Wait… what… just happened?' Zero said this, pushing Mirage's hands away, worry evident on her face, Mirage did not comprehend what was happening, so she approached her, asking her anxiously.

Zero was silent for a moment, to reply in a soft voice that suggests a deep feeling in Zero's disturbed, frightened soul: "Sorry…. But… I prefer to stay with this bandage…. It is… kind of… comfortable for me…. I hope you understand." Zero as she puts the bandage back on before Mirage removes it completely.

"No problem… if it comforts you." Mirage understandingly.

******

"…. Mirage… I told them to wait a bit - .. Ha… what's going on? …. Mirage .." Doll as she enters the room enthusiastically.

"Don't worry…. Zero is fine…. (Turning to Zero) … Zero …don't worry … welcome … with us." Mirage said this as she puts all her equipment in the closet.

"Doll…. Take her to the group…. I have to go.", Mirage said this to Doll

"Ha…. But… who will take care of the clinic?" Doll anxiously.

"It won't take long… Sunny will take over monitoring them…. I'm going" to suddenly turn into golden sands evaporating in the air, making Zero feel astonishment and confusion.

"… Hah… okay ….Zero … let's go." Doll as she leaves the room enthusiastically.

Zero got up from her place, and confusion fills her heart full of many questions.

"…'…. At that time ….' … What just happened." Zero set off behind Doll, to start from a place that is not unfamiliar in her view, and she sees, and her soul is a flame of hope behind her distant goal, and as if fate in front of her began to emerge more than before, leaving in her heart, a splinter of her small dreams, confronting what is coming.

******

"Hmmm… this will be… fun." A voice full of malice and hatred, coming from the heart of a person, waiting for the taste of freedom and pleasure, patiently, and with a disgusting smile.