Day: 716 (Food Drop-Off)
Days Left: 4764
Lives Saved: 3
Along the way back to the village, Harmony tried to remain calm but occasionally stopped to catch her breath. Her mind continued to rake through what she had just read on the pieces of paper, seeing her name, and Ivette's, and this unknown person called Emerald.
Harmony knew for sure that she wanted to talk to Corinna about it, about everything. She wanted to know if she was indeed going crazy or not. First things first, however, was to take back the paper to Sumit, hopefully being one more step towards Rin recovering back into her human form.
Once she reached the village, Harmony entered the water nymph building, which had recently been dubbed as the infirmary due to not only housing the nymphs recovering but also Jessica the marionette and Rin, who was currently an incomplete stack of paper.
Harmony froze upon seeing Salim already inside, giving a maintenance check on Jessica's legs to see if there were any faults. The old man gave Harmony a gentle smile and a hello, before returning to asking Jessica questions.
"Ah, I see you've found more pages," said Sumit, pausing in ordering the stack of paper by number.
"Yeah." Harmony handed over the paper.
"Thank you." Sumit rifled through them and sorted them amongst the others. "We're slowly getting there."
Harmony nodded, her attention taken away by Salim as she thought about why he would have so many drawings of her. It was creepy the more she processed it. Finally, she glanced away and noticed Salim's stack of books neatly against the wall.; the vibrancy of the green book stuck out.
Whilst everyone else in the room was distracted, Harmony retrieved the green book from the stack and placed it in her satchel.
"I'm gonna head off," said Harmony, leaving the building as Sumit and Salim returned her a goodbye.
With quick strides, Harmony glanced around, searching for Corinna, but it appeared that the construction had finished and packed up already.
Corinna's probably back at the house, Harmony thought, heading there. She clutched the strap of her satchel tightly, her heart racing as she thought about its contents: the green book.
She had to know.
Once Harmony arrived at the house, she found that Corinna was not there. Sitting down on the floor, Harmony tentatively retrieved the green book from her satchel, her fingers caressing the blank cover and spine.
Perhaps she should wait for Corinna before opening it, Harmony told herself, yet the temptation and curiosity were fighting against that. So why did she even take the book? She could have just asked Salim about the book's contents and maybe even Ivette as she was also in a few of the drawings, but Harmony couldn't help but feel drawn to the book. Whilst a voice in her mind beckoned her to open and read it, another told her not to, a pang of pain spreading in her stomach, telling her that she would not like what was in there.
No. She had to know.
Harmony flicked through the pages to the drawing of Reggie and herself, the name underneath not hers. She sighed in relief that she wasn't just crazy before seeing the numerous other drawings and pictures again, though they each had a different name underneath.
Wanting to uncover this mystery, Harmony started from the beginning, opening to the very first page.
Sky's Autobiography
'Salim suggested that I write some of my memories down in case I ever lose them. I don't know what to write. Honestly, I think it's a bit too late for that as I've already lost my memories to the curse. However, Salim believes that I might actually make some good moments that I want to remember. How he thinks I'll find any sort of happiness in the Eternal Abyss is beyond me...'
Harmony froze, her heart catching a beat.
But that wasn't possible.
That was handwriting, and yet she did not remember writing any of this. Not only that, but the name above it was 'Sky' not 'Harmony'. So perhaps she and Sky just had similar handwriting; yes, that must be it.
On the second page was someone else's handwriting:
4: Sky
'Sky found out about the truth, and yet she continues to believe that she can escape from here. I promised Sky that I would keep her memories safe for her, and I shall stick to that promise. Though I failed her before, I wish to make this one thing right. Below this, I shall record our time together when she was Sky and the people she was before.
-Salim.
Salim...
So, this Sky seemed to be an acquaintance of his. But what did he mean by 'the people she was before'?
Harmony continued to read, discovering that Sky and Salim worked together to try and escape from the Eternal Abyss but always failed. Salim had given up, yet Sky was too stubborn and continued her attempts, leaving him behind.
Turning the next page, there was a new chapter titled: 5: Rowan.
Again, it was Salim's handwriting. It was like he was writing about the same person before, only with a different name. This Sky and Rowan were both dancers and desired to escape, ultimately leaving Salim alone when they learned about 'the truth'.
Harmony flicked through the pages, seeing that all of the chapters had a different name next to them but with the same person in the drawings and paintings, a person that looked exactly like her.
Some sections were not written by Salim but by names that Harmony did not recognise. They wrote about their time together with this person and then left behind for various reasons whilst the other tried to escape the Abyss.
Chapters 26 to 28 were written by Ivette, though again supposedly about different people due to the other names, yet they sounded like the same person. Ivette wrote about growing the first successful cutting of the Abyss Plant with Maria, establishing the trading post with Emerald, and finally, the short section of her days with Flora. All three of them left Ivette to escape.
Afterwards, the two sections were with Reggie, written by Salim; one about a girl called Willow and the other about Viola.
Harmony turned the next page and found it blank save for the heading at the top:
31: Harmony.
*
With the repairs finally finished, everyone involved packed everything up before leaving to their own devices, mainly to rest. Corinna, on the other hand, did not want to relax and wanted to keep working. She had spent so many days recently just cooped up inside doing nothing practical or valuable to the community, so she decided to make up for all that time.
As a homebody, Corinna had plotted through several new projects and designs, one of them being a slight adjustment to the irrigation system for the Abyss Plants that should improve the potency by two per cent.
Searching around the village, Corinna eventually found Ivette hanging outside of the food caravan with Oscar.
Ivette and Oscar paused in their discussion on the food rationing and gave Corinna a warm welcome.
The door to the caravan opened, and out walked Clarence.
"And that's where Oscar cooks the food," said Clarence as he stepped down and offered his hand to someone who was inside the caravan. "The imps used to live here, I think. And then we moved it here since it's got a stove."
The figure inside the caravan took Clarence's hand and was guided down the steps out into the light.
Corinna froze, seeing Jessica appear but in her human form.
With assistance from Clarence and her walking cane, Jessica exited the caravan, still adjusting to her human body.
"Oh, hi, Corinna!" Clarence smiled. "Did you hear the news? Jessica's human again."
Corinna averted her gaze as she saw Jessica staring at her with cold eyes. She scribbled on her whiteboard, glad for the first time that she had lost her voice that would betray her current emotions, then showed it to Jessica. 'I'm glad that you have gotten better'. Forcing herself some confidence, Corinna raised her head and attempted to look at Jessica for as long as she possibly could.
Jessica was unresponsive for a long moment, continuing to stare at Corinna rather than the whiteboard, studying her, before finally nodding, supposedly as thanks. But, unfortunately, it was likely that after her long transformation as the marionette doll, Jessica had also lost her voice.
"I was just giving her a proper tour," explained Clarence. "Since she can kind of walk more now." He turned back to Jessica. "Right, let's move on, shall we?" He offered his arm to Jessica, which she took, and they both walked away.
"I'm so happy that the dear girl has recovered," said Ivette. "Hopefully, Rin and Klei will too." A mischievous smile spread across the old trader's lips as she lowered her voice. "But my, that Clarence appears to have taken a shine to Jessica. I heard that he's been accompanying her twenty-four-seven. Perhaps he's rather smitten?" She looked to Oscar and Corinna for input into the gossip.
"Maybe." Oscar shrugged. "But Kai says that there's nothing between them, and he's usually right about these things."
Ivette scoffed. "He can't always be right! Why else would Clarence be with Jessica all the time?" Then, giving up as Oscar proved not to be a worthy gossip partner, Ivette turned to Corinna. "Was there something you needed, my dear?"
Corinna nodded and showed Ivette her notes on the improvements to the irrigation system. Ivette was respectful and patient as Corinna wrote her whiteboard, explaining it in further detail.
A few minutes into her explanation, Corinna heard someone shouting out her name.
Corinna, Ivette, and Oscar turned to see Salim running up to them.
The old storykeeper stopped to catch his breath.
"What's wrong, my dear?" asked Ivette. "Is someone..." Ahe glanced at Corinna. "Has someone lost control?"
Salim shook his head and looked to both Ivette and Corinna. "Where is Harmony?"
Corinna shrugged.
"I have not seen her of late," answered Ivette. "Why, is she in danger?"
Salim hesitated, glancing to the ground. "I believe she may have taken the book."
Ivette fell silent, her face growing cold and detached. "Well, I suppose it was bound to happen again eventually," she said flatly, though her voice slightly cracked.
"Ivette..." Salim hushed. "Please. This is the longest she has ever stayed. Maybe if we just-"
"We can never stop her, Salim!" Ivette snapped. Her anger simmered into a long sigh. "You know that more than anyone."
Salim looked to Corinna. "Please."
*
Rushing over to the house, Corinna and Salim burst open the front door and found Harmony sitting on the floor, the green book in her lap.
Harmony raised her head and looked to Corinna and Salim, her eyes tearing up.
Salim glanced away, biting his lower lip. "How much did you read?"
"I read enough." Harmony stood up clumsily, her body trembling as she slammed the green book shut. "They're... they're all me, aren't they?"
"Yes," mumbled Salim. "Yes, they are all you."
Harmony sucked in a quick breath through her nose, attempting to push back the tears. "How long have I been down here?" her voice quivered.
Salim hesitated.
"How long?" Harmony pressed.
"Over a hundred years now."
Harmony nodded and was silent for a moment, her fists clenching around the green book. "They keep extending my sentence, don't they?"
"Yes, they do."
"Right." Harmony looked down at the green book. "They'll never let me leave this place after over a hundred years." She looked back up. "Then I get out of here myself; I need to keep on trying."
"Harmony..."
Corinna reached for Harmony's hand and shook her head.
"I have to, Corinna," hushed Harmony. "I can't just wait out until my sentence ends because they're always extending it. And this peace treaty isn't working! We can't keep this going! How is this even going to defeat them at their game? The only way to defeat them is to get out of here ourselves!"
Corinna scribbled on her whiteboard: they'll just wipe your memory and send you back down again'.
Harmony retreated a step away from Corinna, her brow furrowed. "How did you know about- did you know about this?"
Corinna hesitated, then nodded.
"I told Corinna about the situation just before we got here," Salim lied.
'Salim told me when I first met him', Corinna wrote.
"But that was..." Harmony looked away from the whiteboard, not wanting to believe what was written on it. "You knew all this time?"
Corinna opened her mouth, wanting to say something, anything, but no words were able to escape. Her lip trembled, gasping for her voice to return. Finally, she erased the whiteboard and wrote: I did not want you to go through losing your memories again'.
"Corinna was only doing what I told her to," said Salim. "I told her that every time that you learn the truth, it makes you want to leave only more."
"Well," Harmony sniffed. "You were right about that." She slung her satchel over her shoulder then headed to the front door, shoving the green book into Salim's arms.
Corinna grasped hold of Harmony's sleeve, tugging at it, but Harmony brushed her off.
"I need to do this, Corinna," Harmony hushed. "They keep us down here for their entertainment. I'm going to stop them."
Harmony walked through the door and closed it behind her.
*
Corinna was sat on the floor in the house, her arms wrapped around her legs. She remained like this for such a length of time she could not tell for how many hours. Her mind constantly thought back to what had happened earlier, reliving it, wondering if everything would that turned out fine if she had done something different.
It was like Salim had said- Harmony would leave anyone to escape from the Eternal Abyss. So why did Corinna think she was different or special from anyone else that had known Harmony? Having been imprisoned in the Abyss for so long, Harmony likely had previous lovers, one that was perhaps closer, and yet she abandoned them to escape.
Maybe, Corinna thought, perhaps if she had just Harmony about the truth: that Harmony had been imprisoned down here for far longer than she had thought. But maybe it would have ended the same, just earlier and less painful to part. So Corinna had followed Salim's advice to keep it a secret; however, Corinna did not know whether it was for the best or not.
Perhaps it wasn't too late. She could go and find Harmony and persuade her to stay...
No. If Salim and Ivette had already tried so many times, how could Corinna? Not only that, but Corinna kept the truth from Harmony. Would Harmony even listen to her or want even to see her again?
An empty pit formed in Corinna's chest, and nausea clawed its way up through her throat.
Harmony must hate her now, keeping that from her all this time. They were partners; that meant being loyal and truthful to one another, yet Corinna broke that. If Corinna was in Harmony's position, would she forgive them? Would she ever want to see them ever again?
So consumed in her spiralling thoughts, Corinna finally heard the knocking on the front door.
Was it Harmony? No, she wouldn't need to knock, right?
Corinna wiped away her tears, her eyes swollen and pink and her forehead still with a throbbing migraine from all the crying. Then, finally, she got up and answered the door, finding Ivette to be on the other side.
There was no need to convey any words; the two of them pulled each other into a comforting embrace, then went to sit back inside.
Ivette was silent for a long moment, planning the words in her head. "Whatever you do, my dear, do not blame yourself."
Corinna glanced to the floor, hugging her legs to her chest, letting her long golden hair hide her blotchy face.
"No matter if or when you told Harmony about the truth, she will always leave," continued Ivette. She collapsed her hands together to stop them from trembling. "It has happened over thirty times already. I am afraid at this point it is inevitable that she will always do the same thing, over and over no matter how many times they wipe her memory away." Ivette placed a hand over Corinna's and squeezed it. "But, I am glad that there is still hope for Harmony to have moments of happiness."
Day: 730
It had been half a month since Harmony had left the village. Rumours had spread concerning the reason; however, only a few knew the truth.
With every waking hour, Corinna worked on instructional improvements to all the houses and the plant nursery, rarely stopping for a break. Some of the other prisoners attempted to initiate conversation and comfort it; however, Corinna dismissed them every single time. Calixte remained the only one not to give up and asked every day for Corinna to eat together or play a game and was rejected. Regardless, he preserved.
"Miss Corinna?" The amphibian approached Corinna as she was drawing out blueprints in her notebook. "Would you like to join me for some food?"
Corinna shook her head and quickly scribbled on her whiteboard: busy, thank you'.
Calixte cleared his throat. "Corinna, this is the fourth revision you have made to the irrigation system in the last fortnight."
The young woman continued to write in her notebook, not looking up at the amphibian.
Sighing, Calixte crouched down and gently took the notebook out of her hands. "I knew about Miss Harmony's circumstances too. I have been in the same sector as her for longer than her memories served her."
Corinna clutched at her whiteboard, her hands trembling.
"I know that you are working so hard to keep your mind occupied." Calixte placed a webbed hand over Corinna's. "And I know how it feels to lose someone that you loved. But please do not destroy yourself in the process. Please, Corinna, let's have dinner together."
No longer able to repress everything, Corinna wrapped her arms around Calixte, her cries silent as she clutched tightly onto him.