Chapter 67 - Did You Regret It?

What the heck is going on?

That was the thought that was swirling in her mind when Ayami regained her consciousness. Standing in front of her, a person wearing a robe and a half-mask, making their identity unknown, was pointing a gun at her.

Ayami wanted to move but she found out that she could not do so. She could only stare and observe the person in front of her.

Her breathing was ragged and she could feel some pain in her abdomen, she wanted to look down but she couldn't.

From her view, behind the person pointing at her, there were countless dead bodies lying down on the ground. All of them were dressed like a bodyguard.

They were in an open area and the sun was almost setting. It was unknown where they were.

The person in front of her just stared at her without doing anything, as if time seemed to have stopped. If Ayami could move then she would get away from here as far away as possible. 

The person seemed to be void of any emotion as they stared at her. Their black obsidian eyes had a glint of loneliness and forlorn. It was as if they had experienced countless tragedies. And yet, those same void eyes were able to suck her in.

Suddenly, her mouth moved against her will. A single word came out of her mouth.

"…Why?" 'She' spoke, her voice filled with anguish and grief. And that was when Ayami realized that this body was not hers, but the voice was familiar.

Simply put, it was like she was watching a movie in first person. 

The person didn't speak but Ayami noticed the tight grip on the gun. After a while, the person let out a sigh. "It is needed for the world to be saved."

"I don't understand."

"Of course, you don't" The person shook their head. They looked at their watch and smiled. "Well then, it's time for you to die."

They pulled the trigger without warning creating a loud bang. Ayami watched as the bullet escaped from the gun and slowly spun, heading to her head in slow motion.

'She' closed her eyes and waited for the bullet to hit her. As 'she' closed her eyes, Ayami could only see darkness. But she felt like something was changing.

Before long, Ayami felt like she was being dragged down. She still couldn't move.

THUD.

Ayami fell to the ground and created a sound. The body she was occupying stood up and dusted off her body.

Ayami observed the surroundings. She was shocked to see that she was inside a library. This library looked familiar to her. No she saw this somewhere before in her dream, but this library was smaller and she could even see the center not far away.

Her body bent down and picked up a book that seemed to have fallen and beside it, was a step ladder toppled down. She fixed it and used it to place the book on the top-most part of the shelf.

The shelf had no books on the bottom, only the top-most part had books. Even so, there were still some empty spaces.

Her body hopped down and didn't bother returning the step-ladder back to its own place. She walked for a bit and reached the center.

There were books scattered around and a table which had papers and pens with some neatly placed and some scattered. There was also an umbrella lying on the ground. 

Her gaze landed on the floating woman with a peculiar outfit, with open books flipping itself at a rapid pace, surrounding her and a big round glass ball. The glass was still clear and you could see the inside, which was a world, although there were some cracks on it.

Somehow, it reminded her of the shattered sky she saw in her last moments.

What stunned Ayami was the fact that she knew this woman. This woman was the guide.

"…Soon… Just a bit more…" The guide muttered under her breath. Ayami could only hear bits of pieces of what she muttered.

Noticing the eyes that were staring at her, the guide stopped what she was doing and floated down. 

"Are you done?" The guide said as soon as she landed on the ground. 

"Yes."

"As expected of you, Ayami."

Ayami's brain almost stopped working as soon as she heard her name. What does this mean?

But before her thoughts ran wild, she felt nauseous. The world around her started to blur and slowly, it darkened.

***

When she opened her eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted her. Suddenly, she heard a groan beside her, making her turn her head.

Ayami almost screamed in surprise as she jolted up. She quickly backed away until her back hit the sofa.

What was I doing?

Ayami looked at Yanna who also did the same action as her. They both glared at each other.

On the inside, Ayami was confused. Her mind was a mess after seeing that dream or was it a memory?

Ayami immediately got up from the ground and sat back down on the sofa. The lights were on, so even if it was already night time, the surroundings were still bright.

"You…" Yanna let out a sigh before doing the same action as her. Yanna stared straight into her eyes, before speaking. "…My memories have returned."

"Okay." As she was still out of it, Ayami said 'okay' subconsciously. Then, as if realizing something, she looked at Yanna with wide-eyes. "What!?"

"My memories have returned." Yanna repeated again. Ayami looked like she couldn't believe it.

Just earlier, Yanna was looking at her like she was crazy because she was spouting nonsense like knowing the future, but now, she was saying that her future memories returned?

"Where did I die?" Ayami suddenly asked as she just wanted to be sure. Yanna knew her intention so she immediately replied. "Mt. Starlite."

Just as she thought it was over, Ayami suddenly threw her a question that made her tongue-tied.

"Did you regret it?"