Stuck In Paradise

Vast Forest and Pinwheel Forest

The walk was quiet and enough to get Aubrey thinking. Mainly on how she treated Sunny and Basil without trying to understand them. She was going to get better. She wasn’t going to lash out anymore.

They walked into a dark section of the forest to find a tire swing and-

The shadow being.

It looked at them before quickly leaving. God, doesn’t that thing know privacy? What even is it? Every time she sees it, it feels like she saw something she shouldn’t have.

Next time she sees it she is going to punch it. Mark her words.

A little bit more exploration and they managed to stumble to a ladder. The ladder led high up, but nowhere near as high as the ladder to Otherworld.

At the top were mostly trees and pinwheels, though it was hard to tell if there was more because of the fog in the way. Omori moved forward and pointed at a platform and an unactivated pinwheel.

“Ah, I got it!” Kel jumped on the platform and chucked a rock at the pinwheel. It began to move and some of the fog cleared. Not all of it though, sadly.

Hero squinted his eyes and pointed at a black fuzz on the bench, “Hey Omori! I think that may be for you!”

Omori looked to where Hero was pointing and nodded, reaching out to the black fuzz and grabbing it. He seemed satisfied as another hole appeared where the fuzz once stood.

“Omori, don’t.” Hero noticed Omori staring at the hole.

Omori looked at Hero then proceeded to jump backwards into the hole. Aubrey would laugh if she wasn’t worried about where the hole might lead. The trio ran forward and jumped after Omori, jumping down after him and hitting the cold black ground with a thud. Omori stood before them, with two tapes by his side and two televisions behind him.

Everyone got up and Hero picked up one tape, “This one is labeled Omori….”

Kel picked up the other, “This one says Basil on it. Do you think it might show us where Basil is?”

“Maybe? Put it in one of the Tv’s and we’ll watch it.” Hero stated.

Kel nodded and put the tape into one of the televisions, causing it to light up immediately. Everyone gathered around to see what it might show.

Static flashed on the screen before revealing a shot of Basil, looking at the ground as if he was stunned and trying to process something, his eyes filled with worry and confusion. His face quickly became filled with horror as he seemed to shake in place. His breathing was heavy and his eyes began to water.

The screen once again showed static. A voice however came through, though too static to fully make out words.

“T̵̲͎͖̜̉̃͑͒͜h̶̳̬͘͝͝e̷̡̡̛͎͈̩̚͝r̴̡̪͇͙͕̍͑e̴̡̩̯̝̼͐̄̃ ̸̠̰̰̳̳̈́̄i̴̬̪̐̐͗͆s̵̨̢̩̥ ̵̀̿̓̚͜n̶͖͎̘͑̄̔͝ó̵̼̈́͂ ̸̠̦͖̞̓͋w̴̻̍̏͂a̴̼̺̗͋ỹ̵̟͌ ̵̢̹͍̞͊͛y̴̺̫̯̺̓̎́͒̈́o̸̰̠̚u̸̢̮̖͈̽̒͗̔͐ ̸̛̳͗d̴̛̯͖̓ī̸̯̭d̴͉̘̰̉̔́̃ ̵̹͑͆̽̽̒t̷̘̊͗̿h̵̢̞̉i̴̼̜̩̰̒̀͜s̵̹̹͛̾͐̉͒.̷̡̺̣͔̥̍̀͋̈́.̷̥̑̓̽͘̕.̴̻̰̄̀̿ǐ̷̱͈̲̗͋̓t̷̼̟̖̩͌̒͠ ̶̇̑͜͠h̴͕̼̞̳͊̏a̶̠̎̈d̸̛̓̀̿͠ͅ ̵̱͇̗̆̆͒̕͝ẗ̴͎̺̃̕͝o̸̰̽̂̊͑̈́ ̸̘̱̌͗̽̈́b̷̲͖̼͖̱̔̂̚e̴̘̔̍ ̷̺̟͆̎͠s̴̨̜̥͋̈́̈́͠o̴̢͍̰̟̜̕m̸̧̛̛̘̲̥͊̕ę̸͔̻̱̒t̴̗͍̮̃h̵̺͈̠͆̈́̎̚i̴̧͉̹̐͝͝n̵̛̮̜̺̆͗̃g̶͕̞̙̖̿̍ ̴̨̲͔̤̒̂̐̚b̷̠͕͈̞͚͑͘e̸̯̩͚̲̽̈́͂͌̽h̸̝̼͙͔͓̾̆i̴͕̤͖͓͋̋͑n̵̨͓̔̍d̸̩̍̿̈́̕ ̵̢̹̦̹̟̃ȳ̷͖̮̭̳̓͝ơ̷̳̥͙̼̔ụ̷̢̃̂̇,̸̜̑͜ ̸̝̲̝̖̗̅͊̒͝ṙ̷͋̓͝ͅḯ̶̜͍̚g̵̺̏h̴͚͍̬̜̥̊̔̒͠t̴̯̼̜͕̓̑̋?̶͕̃̔̄̽͝”

The only words Aubrey could catch were “you did, something behind, and right.” What does any of that mean? What did Basil see happen?

She could tell by the confused looks everyone else was wearing that they were thinking the same thing.

What was Basil hiding? How much does Sunny know about it? Why did no one else know? Did they not trust them?

No, she couldn’t think like that. Not again. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down her emotions as everyone else did the same, minus Omori of course.

The TV they were using disappeared and Hero clenched onto the Omori tape. He slowly walked forward and inserted it. Everyone watched silently as if they were to do anything they would be kicked out.

There was once again static before the picture showed.

Omori was- no, not Omori.

Sunny was sitting at a piano. His hands were on the keys, moving as if he was going to play the notes just like his sister used to. He didn’t. Only moving his hands similarly, as if he was pretending to be taught songs on it like his sister used to do. The camera perspective changed to show Sunny, his eyes filled with emotion but expression as blank as a paper, looking at the piano. Mainly the words engraved on it.

Omori.

That’s where he got the name from. From his sister’s piano.

Aubrey felt her heartache as she bashed herself for not being there for Sunny when Mari died.

Mari was an older sister to her but she was an actual one for Sunny. He grew up with her and he loved her the most. The only one who could rival him was Hero who had fallen for her headfirst.

She looked at the others to see that they felt the same way. Their faces were filled with disappointment but she could tell it was aimed at themselves.

They needed to talk to Sunny and Basil, though that would need to wake for them to wake up.

She blinked and the next thing she knew was that they were back in Pinwheel Forest.

She felt the wind brush against her hand as if it were to hold it.

Aubrey was going to make sure that everything was going to work out.

They continued exploring the land but the only thing they found was a mirror. The group walked to it and stood proudly, each determined on what they were going to do later.

That was until suddenly their faces in the mirror began to deteriorate and melt in front of them. All except Omori jumped backward in surprise as the same sound that plays whenever the shadow monster disappears rang out.

Aubrey had one word in mind.

Bitch.

Another thing was a black hole in the sky. It was far away but you can still see it if you squint. Though the moment she noticed it, it disappeared. She silently hopes that wasn’t important.

She swears once she disconnects from Sunny’s headspace she is going to have nightmares for weeks.

Hopefully, nothing else traumatizing happens.