Part 5: Kyoto Shopping Mall

I started to see a lot more about what Wata had said earlier.

Maybe, even if I did screw up a lot before, I still knew things that would be important to finding them. That foresight I saw must have been from Wata’s perspective.

“It sounds like you two found out a lot more about what happened than you yourselves knew could be possible. Alternate versions of the same you aren’t impossible to find here in The Oddzones. It is important you don’t touch one though either. The last time I saw that happen, they both ended up disappearing. To where you may ask? I have no clue,” said The Flower Man.

My mind was getting blown away at every single new piece of information being unveiled. If this wasn’t enough to convince me to finally help them, I didn’t know what else could have at that moment.

“Alright. Let’s find those guardians,” I told them.

The Flower Man nodded in agreement as we waved goodbye to Polyhina. Later after traversing through the bright playplace, he led us toward a red playmat with the number 11 on it.

“Say, one more thing, how many rooms will it be before we reach that place?” I asked.

“Well I can’t say for sure since each exit leads to another random chaotic space. The only exception is that you cannot revisit a location you previously entered. Not by going backwards or anything like that. Keeping track of the number per door in that regard is very important. Just keep an eye out for it is all I ask in case you get lost.”

Understanding everything on his terms, he removed the playmat with the number on it before carefully peeking his head into what seemed to be a dark vent of some sort. Closing it back, his face showed extreme concern for us.

“Remember, stay quiet and only whisper if necessary. Where we are about to enter is known as the Kyoto Shopping Mall. There is an inky oddity there named Inkiiro who stalks lonely Outsiders that enter the underground part of the mall. That is where the next exit is, but this should be easy if we stay together. Simply follow my lead. Do not get distracted by any noises or wander off. Got it?”

Both Wata and I said yes as he finally fully removed the playmat and entered into the vent carefully. He began to crawl slowly before we followed in after him and closed the playmat over the head of the vent.

Making our way through the creepy darkness of these compact tunnels, I began to get claustrophobic over how tight everything felt. Wata was crawling behind me so I didn’t feel as terrified, but I was worried about him as well.

Still, we were far from feeling safe in this nightmare of a mall.

We ended up making quite a few turns and twists before I began to question whether or not Inkiiro could be right behind us. I really had to hope that wasn’t the case because I could hear icky dripping noises getting closer. That and this strange ‘90s music that I could recall hearing back as a child whenever I went into the convenience store with my dad. Currently however, the soundtrack we heard had more of a nostalgic synth sound to it too.

By the time we found a floor level exit for the vent we were in, the three of us stood up and walked from the balcony level to the ink-drenched escalator. We walked down them like flights of stairs since its normal functions were broken. Glancing around at the place in its entirety though gave it this retro-futuristic feeling that I couldn’t describe.

There were no windows that I could make out anywhere. That alongside viewing the floor’s main attraction from a distance that showcased dark exotic plants, colorful electronic billboards with ads that seemed to be glitching a bit, and a large coffee cup statue. From around the rims of it, gushing ink that coupled with a rotting corpse scent was pouring out at all sides into a fountain.

I felt like gagging at that point when I saw lots of it spread out on the floor.

“Do not under any circumstances touch the inkblots on the ground. These will drag you in like quicksand and turn you into ink if you’re not watching yourself. Follow my steps to the lower level because we are getting closer,” instructed The Flower Man.

Doing as he said, we stepped around each puddle as The Flower Man did. It was even more impressive seeing that although he had smaller legs than us, he could navigate across the messy tile floors with ease.

He had to have done this a million times over already.

Once we passed through, we reached the basement level which looked even more darker and seemed to connect to a large underground coffee shop.

Indefinitely abandoned.

The further we pushed into the depths, a voice was singing to us that sounded unnaturally scary.

“That must be Inkiiro. It sounds like he is saying we will play with him forever,” pointed out Wata in a quiet manner.

“Focus on me Wata. You too Ararima. If either one of you focuses too much on the surrounding darkness and what he’s saying, it will paralyze you and I won’t be able to snap you out of it,” warned The Flower Man.

Continuing on towards the light emanating behind a door in the distance, we heard something that was calling out to us.

It sounded like a boy and a girl that needed help.

Although I knew for a fact that staring off for too long would risk me getting caught, I instinctively figured that they could be survivors. I wasn’t going to let what happened to that Imagi in Candiere’s Cafe affect them either.

“Inkiiro isn’t capable of mimicry, is he?” I asked The Flower Man softly.

“No… But we can’t just trust any other Outsiders that chose to go their own path in The Oddzones. They are likely to betray you as a means to an end,” he whispered.

Suddenly, out of the shadows, we could hear multiple footsteps running toward us intensely.

“Hey!” shouted the two voices I heard previously.

The boy seemed to have wavy magenta-colored hair, a plain white uniform with their sleeves rolled up, and dark blue pants. The girl holding his hand had similar matching clothes worn on like the boy, but she had blonde hair in a voluminous ponytail.

“What is going on?” asked Wata.

Observing our surroundings, we noticed a dark humanoid with horns wearing some sort of yellow patched jacket that matched the beret on top of its head. It wore a light pair of blue jeans, had sharp white teeth, frazzled dark long hair, and also held this coffee cup in its hand.

I started to assume that this was Inkiiro who was just standing hidden inside the coffee shop, watching its prey from afar until one seemed vulnerable enough to kidnap.

Wait…

If Inkiiro wasn’t chasing them, then who was?