Narrative Beats

Yumi crossed her arms keeping a control on her emotions. The overseer appeared in the same vague fog-like appearance as previously, though it did surprise her. “You’re being more direct this time rather than trying to give me a break. You almost seem ready to push me off.”

“You don’t appear to be in a rush this time. It’s rather refreshing not to be yelled at.”

“What can I say, living out a whole life for thirty plus years will do that. Isn’t that right, Aya?”

Yuki and the others behind her all looked up at the vague figure that had remained mysterious this whole time. They looked closely, not seeing anything that indicated a person. But now that they had spent so long with Aya, there was an air about the voice that made it pretty clear. “That does make sense,” Yuki noted.

“Yeah, now that you say I can see it.”

“Figured that out, huh?” The formless woman shifted into something tangible taking on the appearance of the Aya that they knew, though for whatever reason in modern attire rather than her kimono or battle gear from the world that they just left. It was a fitted suit as though she was a businesswoman, head of some big corporation, which when Yumi thought about it would have been what she would do. So it made sense.

“I figured it out a while ago. I’ve had a long time to think in the last world thanks to what you did. It made a lot of sense. You’ve been the one behind almost everything. Being the leader, the one in charge, of course you’d be the one controlling everything.” Aya finally stepping out of the shadows did nothing to surprise her at this point. No, there was something more bothersome for Yumi. “What’s this about you not being the last test?”

“I was pretty clear. Though I can’t blame you for being surprised. She’s a shy one.”

Poring over the information, Yumi tried to put things together. She couldn’t even remember their first meeting when this all started. “That was almost fifty-five years ago, Aya. I might have a fair enough memory, but you can’t really expect me to recall details that far back, especially if it’s not going to be obvious. I don’t have an eidetic memory.”

“Yeah, that seems a little unfair to expect us to recall things clearly like that. We don’t have protagonist level memory.”

Seiji glanced over at Yuki when he said that. “Why do you look so smug?”

“I haven’t gotten to be meta in a while. It’s like putting on an old pair of shoes, it felt good.”

“Banter aside, is this the last one then? There’s only four personalities.” Given that they had already missed one, Yumi wanted to make certain of no more surprises.

Aya nodded, keeping things simple. “If you look to yourself, then you’ll know what to expect. You may continue when you wish. Or take your break here.”

Chapter 553 - Narrative Beats

Yumi turned back to her friends, which were thankfully back to their original bodies. Seeing them as their real selves was a little off putting, having gotten used to their feudal era bodies. “Hopefully we stay like this and Aya’s world was just a unique case. Still not really sure what the reason for that was.”

Seiji scratched his chin thinking about it as well. It was something that they had questioned early on, but then just accepted because they had to at the time. “Yeah, it’s an odd move. We were made children again, but we could have just been ourselves as children rather than someone else.”

“We were put into families, Seiji,” added Nerine, “But that hardly seems like enough of a cause.”

“It might be something more simple than that,” suggested Yuki. He got everyone’s attention waiting a moment before continuing. “Aya said each test is harder than the last. Us being able to recognize each other does make collaborating easier, especially in that world where one of the reasons we could beat Aya was because she didn’t know we were all friends. So maybe it was done to make things harder.”

It was a possibility, Yumi thought. Though part of her didn’t find it to add up as cleanly as she would have liked. It just didn’t make sense as a means to make it difficult. “I’m not so sure...I think there’s another reason for it. Something that fits better.”

“Got an idea,” Seiji asked. Everyone had started to put out suggestions. Seiji wondered if it really mattered to know the answer to something like this, but could understand the nagging lack of answers. Everything was driven by Yumi’s mind so for everyone it all was very mysterious.

Putting the facts together that she knew, Yumi tried to see what lined up. A fantasy world with demons, a sci-fi world with the extinction of humanity and a feudal era world, they were all different elements. Everything that connected them was herself, she knew. They were all aspects of her personalities, it was their lives. “Perhaps that’s it,” she said aloud.

They all looked back at her when she came to an idea. “These are all the worlds of my personalities that we’re visiting. While they’re designed to teach me something about what I want, they also are a personal story. These aren’t just vague ideas or surface level identities within me. They’ve been given full lives that define who they are and how they act. And the trials, we’re going through their story.

“In Masa and Sumiko’s story we were outsiders. Their stories were already in progress and we were joined. We weren’t players in the story, but just witnesses and it’s just about me interacting with them to solve them. But Aya was different. We were part of her story. Yori over there was part of the family that betrayed her. Seiji and Nerine, you were there when she was young and needed to help Yori. Yuki and Saki you got picked up by her. We were characters in her story rather than just outsiders, so we were changed to fit that difference.”

“Hm, that does sound reasonable and fits.” Everyone agreed with Yumi. Though Aya that hovered behind them said nothing to confirm Yumi’s theory, they accepted it as the truth and moved on. Which still brought up a new question for the group.

Seiji glanced over at Aya, who continued her silent watch over them. He looked back to Yumi then. “Any ideas on the fourth personality and what we’ll be facing next? Each world’s been different. So I don’t think we can make any assumptions from it.”

“I agree, about all I can do immediately is rule out that we’re probably not going to see a fantasy, sci-fi or feudal era world like we’ve have so far. But that still leaves a lot of options.”

“Think it’ll just be a normal one,” suggested Nerine. It was difficult to make any good guesses, but after everything from the last one, she wanted something a little stressful as Aya’s world. Each world had its threats, but she felt like Aya’s was the worst. Even the thought of being consumed by demons seemed more preferable to Aya’s where betrayal was everywhere and they were just normal humans with little means to protect themselves.

In uncomfortable ways, it reminded her of her life in Atlantis, especially the academy. Pain was a constant and only the forgiveness of them having powers to heal could actually make the physical pain end. Both places were troubling and she would gladly try to keep that behind her.

Yumi couldn’t disagree with the thought. Probing her own mind and the reflection that she had while in Aya gave her a lot of insight, but there was a very clear problem that Aya illuminated for her now. “I was working from the reference point that there were only three personalities, so I never really tried to look beyond that as a what if scenario. Considering it now, I probably should have. Though it’s not like I have gone into any of these worlds with a plan. I just know now that our goal is to find the personality and figure out what the moral is and how it connects to my deep desires.”

“It’s not everyday that you get to do nothing but reflect on yourself. So I guess you can think of it as an advantage, you’re going to know yourself better than any of us will.”

“I don’t know about that, Seiji. You’ve all seemed to have grown while here too.”

“I can’t deny that. I’m not the same reckless teenager that followed you blindly into this chaos. Though I wonder if this will stay with us once we leave.”

It was something that had passed through all of their minds more than a few times. The longer that they remained in Yumi’s mind the more that thought became a real concern. They were no longer the same person and what would that mean on their real body. It wasn’t going to age, but their minds were different.

“If we’re to use stories as a basis.” Everyone gave him a cautious look at that suggestion. “I’m only saying that because as you’ve on more than one occasion put all of this on me. I’m the cause you’re going through this now Yumi. And if we accept that fact, we both know that when I did consume stories, specifically anime and manga that I found as my inspiration were at the heart of what drove the changes. It’s only fair to guess that it’s likely to follow that.”

“And what is your experience telling you?”

“We’re in a timeskip. An unconventional one at that, but this would amount to the same thing. Though only a mental one rather than a physical one.”

“So you think we’ll keep our memories of all of this.”

“I think it’s more likely than not. Though if we’re looking at all the options, it could just be Yumi that goes through it and we remain the same. This is all about Yumi afterall and we are in her mind. She wants control, so she will remember if none of us do. I think that is the minimum that we can be certain about.”

“I don’t like it.” Seiji crossed his arms looking over at Yumi. “I mean your latter suggestion, that only Yumi would remember. How much pain would that put on her having all the memories and none of us recalling any of it. She’d have to suffer alone.”

“Now that you put it into that light, Seiji, I’m a little more inclined to believe that’s how it will be.”

“Yuki…”

“Hey, I’m not trying to be trouble. I’m just saying, if we’re going off the logic that this is following a narrative logic because it came from me, the protagonist is often expected to go through tragedy and suffering. Many of the stories I read have them suffering alone because they can’t share with a world that can’t or won’t understand. It’s more common than you expect. People like drama.”

A grumble came from Seiji as he had trouble denying Yuki’s statement. It only made it more troubling that he couldn’t say what he wished he could. ‘I don’t like the idea of her suffering alone. And I can’t just say to her that I won’t forget no matter what. The old me would have said that without hesitation and never thinking it out. But I know if it happens I’m not going to have the choice in the matter. I can’t give her false hope, that’s no kindness as much as I wish I could give that to her.’

He looked around at everyone while he considered something to say. If Yuki was right and he forgot everything that happened, all of the connections that he developed with everyone would be gone. They would be reset to how they were. If he was being honest, most of it he could live with, but not with Nerine. He didn’t want to give up their time.

Sadness suddenly overcame him as his mind put together the possible outcome that Yuki described. He wondered if deep inside somewhere that he might have some of it still a part of him. Would it be like Yuki’s stories, where there was some lingering hint of something more than only the reader could see and he would remain oblivious.

Seiji didn’t want to focus on such dark thoughts, especially with how selfish they felt as Yumi was the one that this weighed on more. “No matter what happens Yumi, we’re still all friends. If we forget, then you can tell us the stories.”

She smiled at him feeling a little better given the current speculation. Though if she was being honest, she wasn’t sure which she preferred. ‘I sort of wish that they could forget, if only so that they could grow up naturally. All of this feels so weird and almost like a shortcut. This is my burden and not theirs. Like Yuki said, only I need to be the one that suffers.’ None of that could be said to them, she knew. They wouldn’t accept her thinking like that.

Privates thoughts they remained for her as she looked back to Aya. “I think we’ve had enough of a break at this point. We still got one last trial left. And if we’re being honest about it, there’s still the risk that they win in the end.”

“...Yumi…”

“I’m not giving up hope or anything guys. I still intend to be the one that remains in control. But I also have to acknowledge the risks. This’ll be the worst one yet and be the most difficult for me to clear. Even more so since I don’t know what desire this is going to embody. If we’re separated again, I’ll find you!”

“Damn right!”

“Trust in yourself, Yumi.”

“Thanks! Alright, Aya, send us to the final world.”

“Very well then, good luck!” She snapped her finger with some dramatic flair and the void went completely dark. No one could see the other and sound cut out almost immediately after that.

Yumi opened her eyes expecting to wake up in a bed or something a little more preparatory. But she didn’t expect to be standing in an office room with five other people staring at her and a meeting happening with no clue to what she was doing. ‘What am I doing?!’