Ali and Will had taken a couch out of their storage room and brought it into Mr. Nicholson's office. Flor had removed all the papers and journals from her identification card and put them on top of Mr. Nicholson's desk, letting him sift through them.
He was taking notes left and right, smiling like a kid on Christmas. "This paper... It's got so much magic in the pages! It's like it wants me to figure out how this stuff works!"
Flor laid down on the couch, crossing her arms and slightly frowning. "I hope this is successful very much... This makes me so nervous..."
"Sure do look cute down there, though," said Will, leaning up against the back of the couch. Then, he looked up to Ali, who was right about to comment. "I don't like her, so I can say that without being weird."
Ali crossed his arms. "No, you're still being weird."
Mr. Nicholson passed what looked like little nodes to Ali. "You mind putting these on her forehead? They're usually used so you don't have to type when you do magic, but we're using them a little differently today."
Flor gritted her teeth. "These are what Trotsky-schi used," she mumbled under her breath.
"Right, right." He pulled back her bangs and begun applying the nodes. "Hey, how do you feel about all of this, not just the nodes?"
"I'm scared," she replied as honestly as possible. "But it's a strange kind of fear. I don't feel like shaking. I feel like a rock."
"How'd you get your hands on these journals, again?" asked Mr. Nicholson, getting his computer ready. "I mean, did your friends just trust you to carry them?"
Flor's voice became much quieter. "They were killed."
"I see..." he answered. "I'm sorry. That's awful."
"It's alright..." she sighed. "I'm going to put them back. I want to be one who fixes things."
"If you get lost," explained Mr. Nicholson, "We'll have your journal right here and we'll be watching it the whole time. I can probably work something out to help you. Just take it easy, alright?"
Flor looked up to Ali. "Hey... Do you remember the first night? When I went with you to translate for the Ryonogun?"
He laughed. "When you had that panic attack?"
"Yes. Do you remember the oath you gave to the Ryonogun?"
"That I would die for them? Absolutely."
"What if the world really ends?" She waited a moment. "Would you be breaking your oath by helping me?"
He thought about this for a moment. "That's a chance I'm willing to take."
"I'm confused... They seemed to mean so much to you. Were you lying when you said that?"
"No! Hell, no!"
"Then what was it?"
"Florence... let's just say that I went to the Ryonogun looking for something that I found right here. I mean, I know how you feel about everything so far, but that doesn't change that I'm going to be right here."
She smiled at him, looking down towards her feet. "I... I guess I also apologize for my behavior."
"Look, you don't need to apologize for not being into me."
"I was very, very angry at you."
"And I was being a dumb ass kid, go figure."
She smiled at him. "Thank you for being a very good friend, Ali. And you as well, Will. You have been very kind and gracious to me since I met you."
"Hey, hey, whoa..." he interrupted, "Stop talking like you're about to die, okay?"
Flor nodded. "...What happens if I die?"
"Let's not think about it, okay?" replied Ali, chuckling nervously. "Are you ready?'
"...No, but I can't imagine being more ready than I am now."
Mr. Nicholson took a deep breath. "Excellent. Here goes nothing..."
Flor felt something come through the wires on her head, and in a moment, her eyes went numb, closing as she fell into the inky darkness of sleep.
. . .
She woke up with a gasp atop an extremely comfortable bed. The bed was designed such that it hugged her from all sides, as if the foam from the bath were solid and made of down. Atop her were white sheets, tucked neatly under her armpits. Her head was decorated with sheets of gauze and searing pain, enough to make her immediately wince.
Flor found herself in what appeared to be a refitted mattress store. All of the fittings of a typical mattress store were there, save for an abundance of medical equipment that had been stored in various portable shelves, each with castor wheels on the bottom so they could moved around.
A Pinku was standing off to the side, wearing a white medical coat and sporting a clipboard under her arm. "So, you're up."
"Ow..." she moaned, shocked by how much her head hurt.
"Someone didn't give us her identification card," she sighed, "So I had to put stitches in your head. I could have just healed the wound otherwise. And I still can. Give me your card and the pain will be gone. It's that easy."
"...No..." sighed Flor.
The Pinku sat on the side of the bed. "Look," she said, taking off her glasses, "We brought Yenri back from the dead because she was the only one of us who even knew who you were, alright? We've been waiting on this opportunity for almost five-hundred years." She got up, walking over to her head. She took a thumb and started pressing into the wound. "We're going to have your permission whether you want us to or not."
The pain in her head was nearly blinding. She tried to raise her arms to pull the Pinku doctor off, but she soon discovered that the sheets had special cuffs in them that her arms were fit through, holding them down tight. She bit her tongue, trying to hold it all in, but it was hard. Pain was dancing a fierce dance in her head. The Pinku started smiling a dead smile, pressing in further and further until...
"Y-You promised..." she whimpered, "Y-You promised you'd never hurt me!"
She thought for a moment. "Yenri must have. But I didn't. I can hurt you all I want."
Suddenly, the pain was gone. Her head felt like it was brand new. She calmed down, leaning back away from the Pinku. Her eyes widened as she stood up, fury written all over her face. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" asked Flor, who was equally as confused.
"You... You gave your card to Trotsky, didn't you?"
Flor! This is Darren Nicholson. I found out a few spells you can use. I can heal injuries. I think I can make you invisible, but I haven't found the spell yet. Just hang tight.
"Quit drooling and answer me!"
"I-I... N-No!" she replied, "I-I... I know that at one point Trotsky had my card, b-but..."
The nurse pulled out a surgical knife from a coat pocket, climbing onto the bed sideways, and held it up to Flor's face. "Listen here you little bitch, you're going to give me that card... I don't care who's healing you, I can pop your eye in over and over again until you give me a solid answer, do you understand me?"
Flor felt cold, immediately beginning to flail in an effort to escape, screaming at the top of her lungs until it began to hurt. It didn't matter - despite how many people walked past the entrance to the store or could look into the window, none of them seemed to give her as much as eye contact.
But then, she moved. Flor found herself five feet to the left, half of her body sticking out of the adjacent mattress. She tried to get up, but she found herself stuck. It was as if she was fused at the waist with this mattress.
Found a spell that moves you five feet to the left!
"What the-" mouthed the Pinku doctor.
The transportation happened again, with this time Flor being teleported a foot above the ground. She fell onto her feet and then toppled over, not being prepared to take that kind of fall. But once she scrambled up, she immediately took off as fast as her legs could take her.
The moment she left the store, she sped down mall's walkway. The Pinku became defensive, realizing that this was not according to plan. The ones behind her began to take chase and the ones ahead of her were diving in towards her. She didn't slow down, though, and managed to weave her way through them for some time. One of them managed to grab her by the waist, holding her back, but that's when Flor clipped out of her arms and five feet in front. It must have been Mr. Nicholson's magic again. She got back up and kept going, finally grateful that she was small.
She kept being forced five feet ahead at a time, a quirk that the Pinku behind her had finally begun to pick up on. It wasn't long before they were stealing her idea. They were clipping ahead of her, trying to use their bodies as a barricade, but she kept going. She had begun clipping through the mall stores, zipping through them as if they were vapor. It was surreal – her vision occasionally going out as her head fused with the wall and then unfused only a moment later, the different departments and wares nothing but a blur for her, her feet not even touching the floor. There wasn't even air moving across her face, as she was barely making any true direct movement with her body – just skipping through space five feet at a time.
Finally, the scenery had begun to change. The stores had given way to offices, the shelves to desks and water coolers, the rooms to cubicles, and she kept going until, finally, she felt alone. She stopped halfway through a cubicle, which kept her pinned in the air by her waist until Mr. Nicholson clipped her a few feet ahead, at which she finally fell to the floor.
I'm sorry
She smiled, shaking her head. "I-It's okay," she whispered.
At that moment, she turned invisible. She didn't notice it at first, but when she looked down at herself, she... couldn't see anything. She could feel herself, but there was so visible presence.
Hide
Nearby was a desk. She ducked under it, hitting herself against the far side of the cubicle. She curled up into a ball, just like she did when hiding from the monster in the hospital, and patiently waited. She couldn't hear her own breath, so he must have figured out how to deal with that well. She mouthed 'thank you'.
You're welcome
With a crash, one Pinku came through the wall and landed against a water cooler. She got up quickly, huffing but doing her best to stay collected. Flor caught her through a hole in the side of a cubicle, staring at her, waiting for her to attack.
"Orleanaise," she sighed, "Are you in here?"
She gave no answer.
"Okay, I'll warn you, do you know what it means to get purged?" The Pinku began to slowly pace, letting her footsteps grow a sense of ominous dread. "You die when your body can't handle any more damage, and then it's easy to come back, but when you're purged? Not so much. Your journal ends and gets put far, far away from anyone's reach, far away in another galaxy and you never dream nor wake up again. Ever. We'll do that to you if you don't comply. And we mean it. We've waited hundreds of years and we can wait more. You're a blip. You're an insignificant little speck. Now, either you can come now, and we'll keep you alive, or we'll wipe you up and throw you away and try again. Am I clear?"
Flor kept still, staring at her.
She grabbed a pile of papers and threw them onto the ground, then immediately clipping out of the room.
What's her problem?
"I don't know," thought Flor, slowly climbing out from underneath the desk. It occurred to her that she didn't really need to be hiding to begin with; she wasn't making any noise and wasn't visible at all.
She headed over to the nearest door out, slowly grasping the handle. She opened it, and closed it, and did so over and over again at least seven times, finally looking in. Much to her chagrin, the doorway now led into a hallway that would have brought her right back to the mall. She closed the door again.
"I want to go to the library," she thought.
Let me try something
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While the magic inscription wasn't more than a line, Flor still found herself having nearly fallen over. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She took a deep breath, opening the door once again. It didn't lead to the library, though – just more office space.
My bad, let me try that again
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Flor was falling over towards the door as he finished, and after she composed herself, she had to wipe her lip off. She didn't like the feeling of saliva on her chin.
I'm sorry again
She tried closing the door and reopening it. It led to some more mall space, but this time it looked a little different. It was much more familiar this time. She took a deep breath, stepping into the hallway and then letting the door close behind her. Once she was in, she turned around and opened the door behind her. It wasn't an office anymore – this time, it was a hallway full of doors, a hallway that Flor knew very well.
Taking a cautious breath, she began stepping across the concrete floor, examining the scenery. There was the big, freezer door, and from having read Beryl's journal, she knew exactly what was inside of it. Down the hallway a little more was the door that led into second story of Ziggy's mall department store, where Holly was probably still sleeping. And there was the door that led to the front of the library. She smiled.
Before she headed in, however, she peeked through the window, and she was glad she did. Not too close, but well within visible distance, she could spot more of those terrible creatures. They made her nauseous just upon seeing them. Flailing around the floor in confusion, they vomited up books, patrolling the bookshelves like sentries. At least that meant the room was safe from more Pinku, Flor reasoned.
She very, very slowly turned the door handle. It barely made any noise, definitely less noise than the creatures made themselves. She peeped the door open, squeezing through before finally letting it close, but not completely, just in case she needed to make a quick escape. She began to slowly step into the room, still invisible, holding her breath. They didn't seem to notice, thank goodness.
That's when she began to search. She had the papers for Beryl and Eloise, and she was just about ready to make everything right for her friends. Fortunately, their journals were on the front row, the primary reason she found them in the first place.
She started to pull Beryl's new journal off the stack. The journals next to it toppled over, which caused a nearby mass to stop. Flor stayed as frozen as a statue. After a few moments, however, it went back to writhing as usual, letting her pull it off the stack. She pulled out her identification card, shoving the journal into it. Then, she did the same thing for Eloise's new journal, backing away from the bookshelf.
She was so close... Too close. She couldn't mess up now.
It took some time, but eventually, she found the bookshelves that carried the Pinku journals. She had forgotten how many of them there were. There were rows upon rows of them, hundreds, maybe even thousands of books, all of them far too thick for her to tear the pages out on her own.
"I don't think this is wise," she thought. "I will do it if need be, but..."
Here's an idea, don't joshu have a master copy?
She nodded. "They all share that in common, and like she said, they remerge with the master when they die. But she also said it was very painful..."
What do you want to do?
"I don't want her to be in pain."
That's very nice of you, but I don't think that's smart
"But if it's not a journal, what is it?"
Somewhere in there you should find master copies of the joshu, but I don't know where to go and find those
Flor took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I may have to ask Yenri myself," she sighed. "She would know."
Are you sure you want to do that?
"I am. I need to know."
She started scouting out the first shelf, going through each of the Pinku names until, finally, she came across gold. Yenri Pinku. She put the journal in her identification card storage and headed out the nearest door in the wall, letting it take her anywhere.
She walked into yet another office. Perfect. She ran over to one of the cubicles, snatching up a pen from atop the desk, and then ducked underneath to get started. She pulled out Eloise and Beryl's journals, both new and old. Starting with Beryl's, she opened up to where text was being written and shoved the papers directly in, just as she did to herself earlier. She then closed the book and put it to the side, doing the same thing with Eloise's journal.
Content with herself, she put the books away into her card and pulled out Yenri's journal. This one wasn't too thick. In size, it reminded her of her own journal in a lot of ways. She knew she didn't have too much time, but she made a mental note and decided to read through the journal once she had a spare moment. She instead flipped it to the end of the book and begun writing.
This is Flor. Meet me in private.
Yenri stopped. A part of her knew that she probably wasn't hiding in the grocery store section of the abyss, but it secretly disturbed her that this eldritch horror, this well of magical destruction, had taken hold of her journal. "Alright," she thought, "Where do you want to meet?"
I want you to promise me that you will not tell anyone else. I want it to be only us. Please.
"I hope you understand how serious this situation we're in is, Flor."
Of course, Yenri-schi, that's why I want to meet in private.
She sighed deeply. "I am the only one in here. Go to the nearest door and open it twelve times. Then close it and knock on it seven times. That should take you here."
I will.
And at that, she closed the journal. The words Yenri had used to describe Flor made her feel sick and scared, even if she didn't know what they meant, quite. She wondered if there was an explosive in her stomach that could go off at any second. She didn't dare think about it too hard, and instead, walked towards the nearest door she had access to.
Are you sure you want to do this?
"More than anything," she thought, doing as Yenri asked.
On the other side of the door was a grocery store. Not that Flor had ever seen one before – but it felt familiar to her, and so she knew that recognition for this type of building must have been implanted into her memory when she was created. It had a couple dozen aisles, each with a decorative sign above. There was a produce section, various checkout lines, and various items in the front on display. But there, sitting atop a pile of boxed pastries, was Yenri. Yenri looked legitimately broken. Her arms were shoved into her hoodie pocket haphazardly, as if she had nowhere better to put them. Her eyes had wide circles underneath them and were sore, as if she wanted to cry but wasn't quite able to.
Never had Flor wanted to give her a hug more than now, even more than the last time she saw her, but this time, she stayed far. She quietly took out Yenri's journal, hiding behind another pile of boxed pastries, and opening it up, had begun to write in it.
I'm here.
Yenri wasn't sure where to look, and casting her eyes around the room, couldn't seem to spot her. "Are you invisible?"
I am.
"Flor... You have to understand... You know what I feel like. Do you remember when you were absorbed by that mass? That has been my life for hundreds of years, Flor. So many ryoshi have treated me like garbage, Flor. Used me and thrown me away, Flor." She sniffed, wiping her red nose with a sleeve. "They need to die, Flor. They need to die like the shitty rats that they are. All of them."
I can't let you do that.
"Do I need to shove your journal into one of ours so you can understand?? Why can't you be like the other Orleanaise..." She sighed. "When I first found you, you were so... gentle. And warm. And it was comforting, because I thought that was lost, but Flor, I want to feel like that too, and I can't... I can't if ryoshi keep coming back. I have the memory of thousands and thousands of Pinku before me who were remerged by their clients when they were bored of us. You can't understand, Flor. Trust me. Please. If you loved me, you would trust me, wouldn't you?"
Yenri... There are good ryoshi. I know some. Isn't it possible to just live here away from them?
"As long as the Tetsudai Corporation owns the rights to my master memory, I can't get access without invoking Tsukuyomi, and... Flor, invocation never goes through. Once in a thousand years. What you saw that night in the bar? That was a miracle."
Why can't you go up and be with Tsukuyomi?
She smiled. "So, you know who he is, do you? Well... There's a failsafe. It's cruel. But it's to keep me where I am. If I were to come together and be Amaterasu again, and then meet with Tsukuyomi, the wizard who split us apart... it would set off a trigger that would end the world. I wish I was lying. It's deep magic, deep magic that I wouldn't have permission to break without specifically invoking Tsukuyomi."
But isn't that Tsukuyomi's responsibility?
"It is. It's complicated, Flor. There isn't another way. I've been trying to find one for hundreds of years. The timing wouldn't be right. By the time our power returns, the world would be over. The ryoshi would be free from this place and we would be here, dead. Forever."
I can't let my friends die. I want to be together. I don't want you to be in pain. You are my friend, too.
She began to bite her lip. "I think it would be wise to stop reading my journal and talk to me, Fu-chyeo."
What do you mean?
She grinned.
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Flor gasped, letting go of her pencil and slamming Yenri's journal shut. Looking up, Yenri was looking directly at her, grinning. "You can show yourself, Flor. I know where you are."
"Make me visible..." she whispered.
I hope you know what you're doing
Flor looked down at her hands, and they were once again visible. She then looked up towards Yenri. "What did you do?"
"In one hour," she explained, "You, Florence Orleanaise, and I, Yenri Pinku, will be purged from the system. Nothing two journals on someone's shelf far, far away. It's just enough time for us to do what we need to do. You've got nothing to lose, Flor. You might as well give your permission to us, now."
Flor fell over, frozen. Surely Yenri was bluffing. Surely this wasn't real. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to stop being, to have her journal no longer continue. No. She wanted to live. "C-Can you stop it?"
"No. I ran an administrative command, and you read it, so it executed. That's how powerful you are, Flor. You can do a lot with your vulnerability."
Flor found it difficult to breathe. Her options were getting narrower and narrower. Taking a deep breath, she decided to take a good, long look at Yenri. "D-Do you know who you are?"
"What?" she asked, confused.
"Y-You're here," she said, stepping closer to her, "B-Because there's still good that can happen, do you know?"
"I don't understand what you're trying to manipulate me into doing."
Flor ran up to her and gave her a hug, almost as deeply as the one she gave her just hours prior. "I-I hope you know how much y-you're loved..."
"What are you doing?"
"Y-Yenri, I... I... I-I... I want to go i-if it means that you d-don't have to hurt anyone, anymore... W-Why do you need a-all this to be happy?"
"Because I'm the only one who can handle this!" she shouted, despite Flor being right next to her. She stood tall. "Do you see me, Florence? I'm the only one who's capable of handling this whole goddamn world because all of those goddamn incompetent ryoshi! I used to rule this whole planet... The whole planet..."
"Yenri, let's go see Tsukuyomi."
"Were you even listening? I told you-"
"You were told that Amaterasu couldn't meet Tsukuyomi. But maybe Yenri can. Please." She had stopped crying, but her eyes were just as bright. "Maybe it's that simple and you just haven't tried it yet. Please. Before we go away forever."
"Fu-chyeo... Stop. We've done the math and that's not an option, and besides - I'm not real, remember? I'm a copy of a copy, I can't leave the dream abyss. I can't go to Sakuranoka even if I wanted to."
That's when Flor grinned. "Do you trust me?"
"No."
"May you please trust me? I want to show you something."
Yenri stood where she was, grasping her fists. "I was given strict orders to bring back your identification card."
"But who are you, Yenri?"
"I'm not you. I... can't. I would rather die than forsake everything I've been building."
"Then let's die together," replied Flor with a smile.
Yenri turned around. She stood very still, fists clenched, facing away from Flor for minutes. Flor stood where she was, hands nervously pulling the bottom of her shirt down, staring so hard as if to burn a hole through the back of Yenri's head.
"Do you remember... perhaps it was just yesterday, but do you remember when I said that some people are poisonous?" She took a moment to breathe. "I am a poisonous person, Flor. Any steps you take towards me will kill you. I think the expiration I just put on your life is proof. Get out of my way, give us what we want, and it'll be so much less painful for both of us."
Flor ran over and gave her another hug, saying nothing.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Yenri, eyes tired.
Flor took in a deep breath. "I did what you wanted."
"No, you-"
"I grew up to be someone who was unlike you, remember?" She smiled. "And you're very new to the world also, aren't you? Aren't we the same age?"
"That's... complicated."
"This doesn't. This can be simple. Please... Please trust me." Yenri wasn't looking, but if she were, she would see Flor's eyes shimmering like stars. "I will die for this."
"...Alright." Her eyes were fiery. "We will try, but I reserve the opportunity to back out at any time. The moment that this looks like everything will fall through, I'm going."
Flor clung ever harder. "Yenri..."
"What?"
"Thank you," she whispered.
"I..."
"Thank you."
Yenri slowly relaxed, hugging her back, chokingup a little bit. "T-Thank you, too... Oh, Fu-chyeo, I hope you're right..."