Part 2: Sunflower Daycare

“Ararima, about what you asked earlier… I’m surprised as you are that I ended up here.”

My thoughts started to dwindle on what exactly this person that somehow knew me was talking about. That was until I noticed one other part of this that lined up to solve my suspicions.

“Wait… Wata Nozori, is that you?”

He nodded his head and smiled which suggested that he had been waiting so long to reveal it.

“Yes. I’m so glad I found you because what happened to our group has been devastating me for awhile. You see, The Traveller split us all up. At least, that’s my theory anyway.”

In an instant, my heart shuddered into complete guilt.

Being so persistent to leave the cafe put everyone that already suffered enough into even more danger. If only I had waited, they wouldn’t have experienced this. Sure, finding and saving Cherry from staying inside The Candy Room made it a little less stressful, but it didn’t make me feel better.

The main problem still remained. What if they were sent somewhere we wouldn’t be able to find them? My choice left Candiere’s Cafe with no human staff employees. Really, Bibbly Bubbles were probably going to be the only other option Princess Candiere would choose to manage servicing her customers.

My lingering concerns wouldn’t be softened for too long though before Wata mentioned something outside of the ordinary.

“Ararima, do you feel as if your soul is gone?”

I looked at him in confusion.

“I’m not sure what you mean by that. I can feel it beating a bit, although it certainly has this hollow echoing. I cannot understand it.”

Then out of nowhere, a grudgy yet coarse voice spoke from next to one of the plastic sunflower props in the middle of the room.

“That’s because you are dead. Well in a much worse way than you can even imagine.”

We turned to see what looked to be a three-foot pudgy troll doll of some kind with an exotic flower for its face. The petals were all filled with dark yet vibrant colors. Its eyes were also disturbingly uncanny. Same could be said for that big nose and wide grin.

I did not feel safe around this strange monster already.

“What the hell are you?” asked Wata.

“I, good sir, am The Flower Man. My special role is to guide The Imprisoned out of this place they’ve found themselves in. Of course, that’s not to say anyone ever actually has escaped what we call The Oddzones,” it replied.

I immediately tugged on Wata’s hand.

“Wata, we should go. I don’t trust this weird little flower gremlin.”

The moment I said that, The Flower Man walked up to us in a way that made us uncomfortable. It seemed genuinely forceful about its entire ordeal.

“Well, that was a bit rude. Now are you going to let me help you or not? Unless you want to be stuck here forever…”

“No shit would anyone want to be trapped here!” yelled Wata.

That was the first time I’ve ever really heard him shouting like this.

“Suit yourselves,” said The Flower Man as he was beginning to walk away.

Deep down, even though I didn’t necessarily want to be tricked again after what YuYu did, he did seem more docile than her. I had to push aside my feelings if I wanted to get out of here. I could only wonder if Wata would think the same…

“Alright, wait a second. I don’t know about Wata but, I will try to listen to you. Just tell us exactly what all of this really is. I know some things about what I read in that book called The Oddzones, but I didn’t get too far into it because of The Traveller. That is, if you know him.”

“Of course. You see, I know every future nightmare that anyone here is about to have. Whether in the living or in the afterlife. The difference is, those nightmares are now the interactive environment you can fully experience.”

Hmm, okay we are getting somewhere for once. Maybe The Flower Man wasn’t as bad as he seemed.

I had to know for sure though.

“So that means you can predict what could happen to us in The Oddzones? If that’s true, why should we worry about anything here if we are already dead? Is there something worse that can happen?” I asked.

The Flower Man stared down at the fake grass and decorated smiling flowers which covered the entire daycare. He picked one and fiddled around with it before leading us toward an exit.

“I will show you what I’m talking about.”