The name I call you by

Memories of a false god (4)

A starlit sky met my eyes, fog set over my mind. Where am I..? Something about this place seemed almost... familiar, but I couldn't place exactly what it was.
The cold floor sent a chill down my spine, I pushed myself up and surveyed the dimly lit room. I was able to make out a piano sitting in the middle of the room, washed in the pale red light emanating from the floor. A clock pattern marked itself in the floor, roman numerals marked from 1 to 12, and 3 unmoving clock hands. The time was stopped at 12:30 and 45 seconds; my eyes followed the third hand to the 9, the number reflecting the stars, and the only one appearing to be liquid.
Upon closer inspection, the liquid 9 was red, and reflecting the stars in the sky, as well as my reflection. My-? Who am I again..?
I reached out, my fingers brushing the surface, and the image before me became distorted from the interruption. It took a moment to clear up, a hand slamming up against the surface and sending me back from the shock of it. Someone was on the other side, they were trying to get out. I reached out to them, my hand passing through the surface- something this other person couldn't do, for some reason. Their hand wrapped around my wrist and dragged me in with them, golden eyes staring back at me. Water seemed to flood out my senses, air bubbles left from my sudden entrance.
The stranger was holding on to me, as if letting go would leave them to lose me. Their eyes stared into mine, the intensity of it burning to the very core of my being. Something seemed so familiar about them, too, but what?
It was in that moment, captivated by this stranger, that I could feel a burning sensation in my chest from lack of air. I tried to pull my hand away from them, tear my gaze away, but couldn't. My body refused to move, refused to breath, refused to do anything but stare. That flame began to consume me; burning from the inside out, too hot but too cold at the same time.
"If this is the way of which you shall die, Ill be more than happy to grant you such peaceful a death."
A voice echoed in my head, coming from everywhere and nowhere. Something feels like its missing. Who's voice is that? What are they talking about? None of my questions forged themselves into words, I was left wondering aimlessly.
The lightheaded sensation began to set in, I could feel myself sinking deeper with this golden eyed figure as my only guide. Their hand around my wrist was warm, the rest of me was horribly cold. They led me on, going deeper into the red-tinted water as my vision began to blur around the edges. I couldn't focus enough to think, couldn't shift my attention to the strange blue light that seemed to be getting closer to me, getting brighter and calling out something I couldn't quite understand. It felt almost... warm, like the hand around my wrist, like...
"Akechi!" A girls voice rang in my mind, loud and clear.
"Akechi!" And she was calling out to someone... calling out to me.
"Wake up!" The shock of hearing it was enough to clear the fog from my mind, and at the moment I didn't care to see who was trying to drown me; I pulled my wrist away from them and swam up in the opposite direction, fighting against unconsciousness.
"To run from such things, from yourself..." It was the same voice as before, whispering against the edge of my quickly fading consciousness. "Is a death sentence in itself."
The water seemed to grab at me, forcing me back down and trying to keep me below the surface.
"You have to wake up!" I heard the girls voice in my head again, telling me the same thing again. How was I even suppose to do that, huh? I'm drowning, in the case you haven't realized; a bit of help would be nice.
"There's no need to rush, its so uncivilized out there... why not stay for a while longer? Let yourself sink into sleep, finally able to relax." My strength was lacking, my escape becoming less and less probable by the minute, drowning is exhausting. Damn it.. stupid water is weighing me down!
Let go, damn it! I reached out my hand towards the surface, towards the blue light, right as my consciousness faded out.
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I could feel water dripping down my face as I gasped for air, the cold floor against my skin replacing the uncomfortable feeling of the water pulling at me. Soft piano music played in the background, it sounds almost like jazz. The sound is comforting at the very least, between the voice that accompanied it and each note hit...
"Where have you been? Been searching all along, came facing twilight on and on, without a clue. Without a sign, without grasping yet. The real question to be asked, where have I been?"
I took a moment to simply listen as I gathered my bearings; there wasn't any injury on me, as far as I could tell, and I was freezing. The cold floor wasn't helping, or the soaked clothes on my back.
"Are you alright?" The girl spoke to me again, this time it was a lot clearer that it was coming from directly in front of me. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, meeting her golden eyes.
"I'm freezing." My tone came off harsher than I intended, sharper, but I didn't have the will to care about that at the moment. "Where am I?" Was that all a dream? It didn't feel like it...
"You're back at the velvet room." The girl in blue draped a warm towel over my shoulders, and for the life of me I cant remember her name.
"Your memory may still be a bit fuzzy, but there's no need to worry; nothing you saw just now was real." For some reason, I didn't believe her.
"I'm drenched head to toe after having just been drowning, and you tell me that it wasn't real? Sure..." My sarcasm was intentional this time, which earned me nothing more than a neutral stare.
"I'm quite sorry you had to undergo that experience; the reason you're in such a state now is your cognition of that believes it to be real."
Cognition... I've heard more than enough of that term as of late, "Are you going to answer my questions this time without sending me back?" And I don't appreciate the having's of last time, either.
"Not this time, but surely the next. Your summons here where not intentional, though we will meet again in the coming days." Frustration welled up in me from that, sharpening my bad more further than it already was.
"Then there was no point-" I was cut off by the waking world, a low growl making its way from my throat. Stupid elf grandpa...
"Bad dream?" Makoto-? Whys she still here?
"Why are you still here?" Is that coffee?" I let the blanket fall off of me, getting up slightly to face her.
"Because you where asleep and I was taking care of Akira. Want some?" Her offering of coffee lifted my mood a bit, at the very least.
"..yes please." As much as I hated it, its far better to be nice than not in this situation. She poured some of the warm liquid into a cup and brought it over, standing by the wall after.
"He's doing better, kept saying your name in his sleep, though. Did something happen between the two of you?" My cheeks heated up a bit hearing that, which I brushed off as the coffees doing.
"And what, per say, does that entail?" She tried to cover her laugh, failing horribly.
"Nothing, nothing at all." Another thing she hid horribly was the mischievous tone her voice took on, that one felt more intentional.
I took to sipping my coffee quietly, not wanting to humor this topic any further. Instead, I thought about the weird "dream" I just had. The blond shadow said it wasn't real, but far too many things didn't add up about that; one being the expression on Lavenza's face. She looked far to concerned for that to be a dream, given she also has no reason to be worried about me. That being said... was she worried about Akira-?
"How many times did Akira..?" I refused to finish the sentence, but knew Makoto would understand what I was asking. Why does it feel so awkward to ask that-?
"Twice, he sounded a bit panicky when he did, too." She paused, took a sip of coffee, then continued. "I've been meaning to ask you as well, what happened?"
My confused look prompted her to continue. "Your cheek."
Oh, that. "Akira." I kept my answer short and simple, though her expression asked for a better explanation.
"He hit me in the middle of a fever dream last night." That seemed to register and make more sense to her, and she dropped it. The room fell silent again, given the ticking of the clock above the doorway, and the sound of rain on the windows. The song that the pianist was playing before echoed in my mind, Ill have to ask next time for the name of it.
"How did he end up here? From what I saw, he wasn't in a very good state, either." Her voice held a bit of suspicion, and I didn't blame her.
The next 20 minutes was filled by my explanation of the events of the palace, the fight between Joker and myself, up until what had happened the night before.
"And now, we're here." I left out the details about the velvet room; that would be better to ask Akira when he comes to.
"Ah... I see. It's been quiet the-"
A sudden sound went off, scaring both myself and Makoto (though Ill never admit to it) and interrupting Makoto mid-sentence. A phone alarm, two of them actually, going off at the same time. Makoto met my gaze and I met hers, she went to grab her phone and I got mine, meaning I had to actually get up.
"Are... are you seeing this too?" A red eye with a black star as its pupil stared back at me, a mix of frustration, annoyance, and anger boiling up inside of me.
"Damn it, Yaldaboath was defeated, what's this doing back on my phone?" The words where spoken at a low growl; the MetaNav is nothing but a bad memory, nothing more than a reminder of lies.
But somehow, it was back. And suddenly, a lot of things about the past 2 days began to make a lot of sense.
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Words: 1827