Truth in the Illusion — Meilin

Celeste had kindly let us stay at the palace and prepared some rooms for each of us. Though it seemed to be out of kindness, I suspect she did that to keep an eye on me while I used the potion.

The illusion, as Celeste mentioned, was more of a distant memory reawakened. Perhaps that’s because Celeste had added some unknown ingredients to the mixture, causing it to be different from what I had initially expected.

It was a dream, similar to a vision. Except I was reliving the past again; the ending didn’t turn out to be much of a nightmare, but perhaps the sheer shock was enough to flip my brain upside down.

Jianyun had decided to tag along with us on our journey beyond Tian Cheng; the reason I do not know, but I do suspect it's the newfound friendship between him and Yulan. As we left Tian Cheng and headed for our next destination, Eikasia, on a boat, questions swarmed my mind like annoying flies.

My brain turned back to the original cause of these questions:

The night before we left, Celeste had shown me how to take the potion, which involved dabbing the mixture onto my forehead.

A wave of sleepiness spread over my body, and I squeezed my eyes tight, expecting to see an illusion of Haokei in my dreams.

Huh.

I was standing outside my grade four classroom. It was a somewhat nostalgic sight, but I would rather not be here right now.

Haokei, I needed to find Haokei.

I gently opened the classroom door and peeked inside. Strange. The door seemed rather tall.

Then I looked down at my feet. I was wearing the clean, ironed uniform. Finally, it hit me. When Celeste said that the illusion would be something generated from my memories of Haokei, I didn’t expect it actually to be a memory of mine.

Except my memories of primary school were faded, and only the nasty memories of secondary school remained.

I looked in the classroom and found Haokei surrounded by those scumbags—ahem, her friends. What were they doing? Are they bullying her? It seemed not, as they were all holding out tissues to Haokei. She was crying, as tears trickled down her face. She told a story, a made-up story, to the group. It seemed to earn the sympathetic looks on their faces. I was curious, so I stayed by the door and pressed my ear to the wall, eavesdropping.

“So Meilin had taken it all out on you as a sort of revenge?” Classmate 1 asked.

“Yes.” Haokei sobbed; it might not be apparent to a child’s eye, but to a slightly more mature Meilin, it was clear that this was all an act. “She would always stand at my parents’ house, begging for them to buy her candy, because she couldn’t afford one. Then, the visits became more frequent and more demanding. If my parents wouldn’t buy her stuff, she would bully me and tackle me down, just because I was richer than her.”

“What a jerk!” Classmate 2 exclaimed, and the rest of the students all agreed.

“She really is a weirdo.”

Those words shot like a dagger through my heart.

She is not the Haokei I knew.

“We should give her a lesson!” The classmates all cheered, waving punches in the air. “Don’t worry, Keikei, we’ll make sure Meilin never hurts you again.”

So that’s how it all started.

And I thought she was my sole supporter. I wanted to barge into the classroom and yell, “It’s all lies, it’s all lies! That’s the story from a TV show!” But my feet were glued to the ground, and my fists curled in rage.

But maybe it’s all an illusion? Maybe Celeste did this to prank me or force me to give up my wish.

Something in my guts told me this is the truth. Perhaps the memory had been so painful that my brain hid it away. But I’m sure this was my memory. It definitely is.

I woke up to find my blanket spread across the floor. Perhaps this memory had evoked such rage in me that I kicked the blanket off my bed in my sleep.

I pulled the covers over my shivering body and shut my eyes tight, hoping to get more sleep. Of course, it had to be interrupted by a certain witch with a smug grin on her face.

“So how was it?” Celeste trotted inside the room, holding a tray of breakfast in her hands.

“This is my memory, right?”

Celeste stared at me for a moment, staying silent, then said, “I think you already know the answer.”

“Why did you tell me it would be an illusion of her?”

“Originally, it would be.” She placed her finger on her chin, her smile smug, “But after seeing you talk so fondly about this person you wanted to meet, I knew something was not right about the person. You had to decide on a wish, and to do that, you would have to know the truth.” For a moment, I couldn’t tell if she pitied me…or if she was just satisfied her potion had worked.

I guessed learning someone’s memories was another perk of Celeste’s potion—the one that gave her the ability to access the knowledge of a person with just one look.

Later, as we prepared to set off, Celeste had approached me again to ask, “I know you would doubt the authenticity of that memory the potion had given you, but I hoped after this you would have decided on a wish. In the end, the choice is up to you, but I would suggest taking this seriously.” She went back to stirring her potions.

Celeste’s words lingered in my mind. The way she phrased it, only one wish would be the “right” one, and that would be to return to Earth.

Still, I had my doubts, and I spent all my time racking my brain on the way to Eikasia. We traveled on a boat, and the ride was quite bumpy. Poor Himari got seasick a few times, vomiting all over the ship, making Yulan quite worried.

Eikasia—the garden of pleasures, a town of music and joy, as well as skilled gardeners. It felt like stepping into the pages of a picture book. Eikasia is such a beautiful garden, with its flowers always in bloom, yet it attracts very few pests. Legend has it that generations of gardeners pass down a secret technique to grow such good plants. The same goes for Eikasia’s farmers; they claim the crops there are always the best. To keep the secret, they don’t trade their harvests with other nations, but keep them to themselves.

A drained Himari lit up at the sight of the enchantingly arranged field of gardens that greeted us at the port. It seemed her energy was immediately restored, and she bounced with delight as we approached the city. It’s reassuring to see her regain her energy.

Eikasia had a joyful atmosphere, similar to Kazemura, or perhaps even more lively. People danced and hummed on the streets; it was like a perfect town in a musical.

There were street performances around every corner, and it sounded like the background music of a video game to me. Soon, I found myself tapping my feet to the sound.

Himari was surrounded by people who claimed to be her fans. She seemed surprised, but in a pleasant way. She was beaming as the people tried to get her autograph.

Two young girls greeted Yulan, and when she saw them, she broke down in tears. I tried to comfort her, but had to keep an eye on Himari as well.

A man slightly older than Jianyun approached him, and he stared at the man in awe. They chatted for a while, then Jianyun waved to me, “I’m going to get a drink by that bar over there!”

I didn’t know Jianyun was a drinker.

Yulan seemed to calm herself as well and said to me, “I’m going with my daughters now. Keep an eye on Himari, please. We’ll meet up again here in the evening, alright?”

Her daughters…?

Without waiting for an answer, she left. I turned back to check on Himari, but realised she was gone. Only Haruki and I remained.

“Well, well.” Haruki meowed, “Look at them, leaving us the second we get here, nya!” I nodded, still confused about the situation. Everyone left in such a rush.

Soon, Haruki also left with another witch, a slightly older witch, who looked like she had some experience. Haruki bounced off without a word and left me stranded in the middle of the street. I reached out, but no one turned back. I used to be comfortable with being alone, but now my heart feels twisted within…

So I’m destined to be lonely in every world, huh.

I began to make my way to the bar Jianyun had gone to, but a girl around my age stood right in front of the door. She had hair dyed a lovely pinkish blonde and wore a perplexed expression on her face. Her eyes met mine, wide with recognition. My chest tightened.

It can’t be.

Did she also reincarnate in Elysium?