The sound of someone making their way up a stone stair echoed over the pillars and stone bricks keeping the wall of the side of the great building up.

As Han made his way up the stairs to the only entrance visible, his hand reached out, hesitating for a moment before opening the door to the castle of motions.

A lukewarm breeze followed him through the entrance to the fortress and the white fire lit on the torches on the wall flickered a little before returning to steadily glowing with a warm color, casting its whiteness over the wall on which it was stuck.

“...”

He took a deep breath, finally deciding on what to do.

He had thought it over many times as he had walked over the gray, grassy plains, but his motives had not changed.

If what Cloud said was true, something that he normally would not doubt, then Sayora, the energetic, selfless, tomboyish girl was his true enemy.

But he could not accept this, for Sayora, just like he, was in some way attached to these children.

That was also something he had noticed pretty early on. The children, despite their memories being reset, remained like a big and happy family, like they knew each other without having to remember one another. It was a strange relationship that Han had a hard time understanding, and therefore, he respected them equally.

He respected Phil and Sayora the most though, for their selflessness and their willingness to protect and help save the children.

Sayora had thrown herself in front of Phil to try and protect him from Han the second time he had arrived at the castle. It was truly an act of selflessness and a confusing one at that. Who would ever try and save someone they did not remember?

Therefore, he had concluded that Sayora was not his enemy, but possibly a rival with a separate intention, with the same motive but with a different way of going about it.

Han figured that the best thing he could do was talk to her, for if he did not, he would truly never know what her true intention was or what her thoughts were. He could not ignore her role in all of this any longer, he had to act, and to do that he needed…

“Phil?!”

He had intruded upon the dormitory room, figuring that the gray children were elsewhere, something he had guessed correctly.

He had called out, hoping that Phil was not among them and had stayed in the dormitory, but as figured, the young genius was situated elsewhere for the moment, leaving the room empty, filled only with the beds of the gray children.

“Well then, I guess it can’t be helped, the guy is way ahead of me in this secret game of bluff.” He said as his hand fumbled with an item in his jacket pocket, a small piece of paper ripped from a page of the strange drawing book in which he had vented his emotions.

But this piece of ripped paper was clean and empty, a blank piece on which he would give his instructions.

“...”

The rasping from the black crayon in his hand echoed throughout the room as he licked his dry lips, pressing the piece of paper against the wall so that he could write more efficiently.

“–”

He sighed, turning around, his gaze turning toward the beds once more…

“Boo!”

“Wah-!”

Han jumped as a voice reached his ears from what seemed like out of nowhere.

And the source of that voice was…

“Took you long enough! He-he. You just wander around in your thoughts don’t you?”

“S-Sayora-?!” He exclaimed at the girl, sitting up in a bed beside Phil’s.

“Of course! Who else?! He-he. Phil told me not to worry about you, so I guess I’ll just brush off that you came in here to watch us children sleep.”

“What-?! That’s not-! Why are you here?!” He yelled, blinking several times as he stared at the girl.

“Cammon, is it that weird for a girl to rest? It is weird enough that you practically entered our bedroom without knocking, I mean, it is only the second day we’ve talked, and I don’t think I trust you enough to be around children…”

“What the hell?! What do you think I am? A monster?!” He yelled, his tone of voice changing as his brow furrowed as she told him her thoughts.

But the girl, Sayora, just brushed him off, giving him a smile that instantly threw him off, giving him the impression that this was not her way of apologizing and accepting him, but rather, some kind of test to see if she could trust him, after all, he had broken down in front of her yesterday, something he was kind of glad that she had forgotten.

“I’m kinda glad that you are lookin’ happier today and not bawlin’ your eyes out or some strange charade like that.”

“Say what now?!”

Except she had not forgotten it.

“Yeah, you were bawlin’ like a lost child or somethin’, ya feelin’ better now?” She said, blinking a few times before tilting her head to the side in a cute way.

What the heck was going on?

How did she remember? How could she possibly remember him? Had not she as well as everyone else lost their memories of him?

Sayora saw his confused look and immediately asked with a questioning look on her face.

“Your name is Han, right? What’s goin’ on? Yesterday you acted like a little child, and now you are acting like a lost old man!”

“No- I- How do you remember?” He asked, taking over the conversation.

“What was that?”

“How do you remember me?” He said, looking her up and down to see if she was just playing a prank on him or something stupid like that.

“Say what now? How do I remember you? Using my memories I’m guessing, I’m not that smart!” She smiled nervously.

“No- that should be an obvious thing, even for you, but I mean, how do you remember me?”

How could this be? He had to know.

If she had not forgotten him then what had happened? What were the rules of this world and how should Han find out about all of its secrets?

Maybe this was the answer to all his laments.

“Uh… come again?”

But she could not answer.

Han ultimately realized that something had changed.

Maybe it had something to do with the world and the people within it getting their minds wiped, or maybe it was something else, an external force that affected the world in some other way, a way that made everyone forget, and somehow, this had not worked on the girl before him, and maybe it had not happened to anyone else either. This could be a clue pointing to the true reason for their forgetfulness.

“-?”

Sayora looked at him as he cleared his dry throat.

“Sayora, where is Phil?”

The girl raised her eyebrows, surprised as he said her name.

“Oh, he got up before everyone else, grabbing his cute little book and rushing to the library with Finn, I believe. Strange since they both were completely exhausted after coming back yesterday.”

“The library huh…”

Han thought over these words.

From what she had told him, Phil had rushed to the library together with Finn, maybe this was because they both remembered, or maybe it was a separate reason that he did not yet know of. Either way, what caught his attention the most was how she had told him that the two of them had returned to the dormitory, exhausted.

But from Han’s memories, he knew that Finn did not know of him yet, something that saddened him a little since he did like the lad.

Something that Phil had made clear is that Han should not trust any of the gray children, something that added to reasons to be aware of Sayora, but at the same time brought up new questions.

Why had Phil and Finn both rushed to the library if Finn could not be trusted in Phil’s eyes?

Was it simply because Phil already knew that his real opponent was the girl whose bed was right next to his, or for some other reason?

But it would not be weird for Phil to have both of these as a reason. Han knew that Phil and Finn had a bond that could not easily be severed, whether they forgot each other or not, something that made him smile a little.

Sayora noticed this and smiled herself, but her smile was filled with pride as she put her hands on her hips and nodded proudly.

Han sighed again, but his smile remained as he raised another question toward her.

“Why are you still in bed? Shouldn’t you be hanging out with the other gray children?”

Sayora’s prideful smile vanished and she pouted as she crossed her arms.

“I’m sick.”

“Sick?”

“Yeah, sick! I’ve had a terrible pain in my left eye since yesterday!” She murmured, irritated at not being able to hang out with her friends.

But that was not what caught his attention, rather.

“Oh, so you have two eyes?”

“Why wouldn’t I have to eyes, damn it!” She exclaimed, finally snapping as her fingers flew out and poked Han’s eyes.

“Ouch-! Damn it, you son of a-!”

“A nice way to treat your host ain’t it?! Now leave me alone!” She muttered, frustrated, turning her closed eye, or rather, eyes away from the boy whose eyes she had just poked.

“...”

After a little while, the pair had calmed down, awkwardly looking away from each other, both of them offended and irritated by the other’s actions.

“–”

“S-Sayora? A-a…”

Han looked up, staring at the entrance door to the dormitory.

The door had suddenly been opened, and in the doorway stood another girl. A girl with a plate with some gray, old cookies. This was someone that he recognized, Ava.

“Oh! Ava! You got me breakfast, right? Ah yes! My favorite! Gray cookies!”

“‘Gray cookies’?”

“O-oh yes, h-here, p-please have some…” The other girl, Ava said as she walked into the room, her gaze quickly switching from Han’s to Sayora’s face.

“Thank you!! You’re the best, Ave!” Sayora exclaimed happily, patting Ava on her head as she took the plate of cookies into her other hand.

“What’s with that look of yours? It looks like you’re too nervous again! Like you’re on your guard!” Sayora said, still with a happy grin on her face as she started munching on the ray cookies given to her by Ava.

“O-h, eh- I-I just d-don’t r-recognize the m-man beside y-you…” Ava said nervously, her voice shaking like it was a bubble about to burst.

“What do you mean? You met him yesterday! It’s the crybaby, remember?! He has changed now! He had gained the courage to talk to people before venting his emotions to them!”

“Don’t call me a crybaby, you bast- ah? Ava, what’s wrong?”

The girl stared at him in even more fear than ever as he said her name, her eyes in a mix of fear and shockingly, disgust, an emotion Han never thought he would see from the girl.

“P-p-please! Do- don’t use my n-n-name-!” She exclaimed, looking like she would cover in fear at any second now.

Han was shocked by this unexpected, rebellious outburst, but he obliged, turning silent and only nodding as Ava quickly left the room.

“What’s up with her?”

“You expect me to know that?!”

“I was only asking…”

The pair was left alone in the dormitory.

Sayora, still pouting, looked down at the last cookie on her plate.

“Ya want one?” She asked, her cheeks reddening a little as her face was turned away from him.

“Uh- yeah sure…” Han answered honestly, accepting half of the cookie from the blushing girl in the eyepatch.

He quickly chewed it down in barely one bite, making Sayora stare.

“What are you doin’?!” She exclaimed in shock and horror.

“What?” Han asked, surprised as she shouted at him.

“Either you munch on it, or you swallow it whole! What was that halfhearted eating of yours?!”

“Wha-? There are rules on how to eat cookies now?”

“There have always been rules!” Sayora explained, her brow furrowing as her arms crossed over her chest once more.

“Wow, really..?”

Han, ignoring the irritated Sayora sitting on the bed beside him, focussed his thoughts on a major issue in his previous theories.

The error in this script was obvious, Ava.

Ava had not remembered Han but Sayora had. This was a critical issue and something he needed to find out the answer to because if he did not, a way to stop the children from forgetting him was impossible. This was a new goal he had put up, and he considered it as one of, if not the most important one besides freeing the children.

And as his mind wandered, it was interrupted and overpowered.

“So, who even are you anyways?!”

“Uh, excuse me?”

Han turned his head to the girl sitting on the bed beside him, Sayora, with her arms still crossed over her breast and steam coming out of her nostrils.

“What business do you have in this world?! You can’t possibly be one of us! You don’t have the mark, I can feel that.”

“The mark?” Han asked curiously, a little shaken by her sudden outburst.

“You’re missing tha point! What is your purpose here?!” Sayora yelled angrily, punching the mattress underneath her like an embarrassed child throwing a tantrum.

“Oh, he-he, so that’s what you mean…” Han said nervously, scratching his cheek as his face turned away from her once more and he zoned out, his eyes looking at something Sayora could not see, something that only irritated her further.

“You’re damn right that’s what I mean! Geez! You’ve lost your chance, no way I’m ever trusting you, punk!”

But Han ignored her childish acts and sank into deep thought.

What could he truly call himself?

His goal was to save them, all of them.

And together they would flee from this hell of a world with monsters roaming around it at night, monsters to suck one’s soul out.

Could he call himself their friend? No, a friend was mutual.

Perhaps he was an acquaintance of them? No, that did not quite fit…

Then maybe he was…

“Yeah…”

“Hm?” Sayora tilted her head, looking like she had been able to finally calm down.

“I am… Your Savior…”

“-!”

Sayora’s eyes went wide as she finally saw Han, a person who she thought was a threat, but now she could see, that he was truly something else…

That night, she had not been able to stay back.

Despite the constant pain in her eye, he had made her go even so, and she could do nothing.

Walking up to the cage, she turned her head to look back at the others, whose faces were just as nervous as hers.

Phil had offered to go before her, but she had rejected the offer, trying to look cooler somehow.

The darkness became even more compact as she opened the gate and stepped inside, setting foot in the place she hated the most.

She did not know why she hated it, but the feeling of déjà vu was so strong it felt like she was reliving the past.

But she could not turn back, and the gate was locked by the dark figure whose face she had never seen, but who she trusted.

She trusted that he would do her no harm, and that was why her resolve strengthened.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded, not knowing what would happen, only knowing that it was the price she had to pay.

And then, when the dark figure raised his staff once more, she felt the burning in her left eye grow stronger.

“-!!!”

She groaned loudly, yelping out as she felt like fainting as time itself was dragged down towards the bottom of the cage.

She wished to never set foot in that cage on that bridge again, for it was painful, just like all other times, it was painful.

Anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, and fear were mixed into one single emotion, an emotion that was drained from her body, taken from her.

She fell to the ground like an emotionless doll.

But soon, she got up, staring blankly into the dark sky as the cage door was opened once more and the dark figure escorted her out, and barely visible behind him followed, a small dark dog.