Alistir watched Molly wake up from being Myllo.

It was a visceral experience. Myllo had talked wholly unlike how Molly did. While Molly always spoke with some sass and a little moody, she was still a kid.

That was definitely not a kid. That sounded almost like an overly-optimistic scholar or waiter, putting on a professional front, as if Myllo came into existence just for a job.

A job of taking care of Molly.

She opened her eyes.

[Molly]: “....Mr..Ali?”

Alistir started tearing up. This was her, right? This better be her! 

[Alistir]: “Molly?”

[Molly]: “Yessir? Where are we?”

[Alistir]: “That doesn't matter. What do you remember?”

[Molly]: “We were just training in the woods. What happened? Did I fall asleep?”

[Alistir]: “Y-yeah. Yeah. You fell asleep.”

[Molly]: “Hey, can we go read that cool book? You know, the Mecha-something?”

[Alistir]: “Not today.”

[Molly]: “I don't really feel good.”

[Alistir]: “You… had a rough day today.”

[Molly]: “I did?”

[Molly]: “Let's go home, Ali.”

[Alistir]: “Yeah. Let's do that.”

—-----------------------------

Something was off, Molly thought.

Alistir seemed really concerned. He's spent the last four hours since getting home with his nose deep in that Mecha-something book. Yeah, that book was interesting, but what else? That bum that had passed away a couple weeks ago literally died for it.

What dummy would do something like that?

Still, some of the ideas in there were interesting. It might be worth pursuing one day.

It wasn't her business. She went back to her room with some fruit to snack on. The day felt longer than usual, for some reason. Airen was worried about her in class today, and Alistir was very worried about her because she fell asleep.

Or maybe, she didn’t fall asleep. She collapsed.

What happened? Did she faint from exhaustion? Alistir did say that the training would be rough. That didn't explain why he didn't apologize whatsoever.

She must've hit her head.

That didn't line up that well, either. Why did hitting her head make her vomit and give her chills?

So many questions. For some reason, this felt familiar.

—----------------------------

Molly sat next to Airen and a few other kids at lunch.

Lunchtime was one of the best times of the day. The freedom to talk and relax was so nice. Not to mention the food. Why were so many kids complaining about the food? This is leagues better than the market food in town! Still not as good as the chefs in the Scholar house.

Still, why did she feel uneasy? As if something was missing?

[Airen]: “You seem way better than yesterday, Molly.”

[Molly]: “Yeah. It seems so. Apparently, I got sick yesterday.”

[Airen]: “Ok.”

[Airen]: “Want to talk more about that awesome book you always brag about?”

[Molly]: “Awesome book?”

‘I've never brought up the Mecha-something book at school’, she thought.

[Airen]: “Yeah, the Mecha book.”

[Molly]: “What? How do you know about that?”

[Airen]: “Umm…? You can stop playing with us, now.”

[Molly]: “I'm not playing!”

[Airen]: “Molly, you're not supposed to lie!”

[Molly]: “I…”

[Molly]: “I don't remember.”

[Airen]: “You don't? You talked about it every day since school started.”

[Molly]: “Something’s wrong.”

This is worrying. What else did she forget? What all did she tell other people? How much do they know? What's going-

Everything went dark.

—-----------------------------

Molly opened her eyes.

She was no longer in the school. At least, that's what it seems like. It had similar architecture to the school, but it was ethereal and dreamy. The wooden structure of the lunchroom was replaced by a massive wooden hall with strange energy pulsing all around. It was the very definition of a dream world.

It was… surreal. Everything was fuzzy past a few feet, and her view was dominated by glare.

A person stood before her. It was… her.

[Myllo]: “I believe this is our first time meeting formally, other half.”

[Molly]: “Where am I? Who are you?”

[Myllo]: “I’m Myllo. Your other half.”

[Myllo]: “We're in our inner world. Inside your head. We live together now.”

[Molly]: “I don't like it. Can you get out, please?”

[Myllo]: “Sadly, no. I am stuck with you until we become whole again.”

[Molly]: “Wha-when did this happen?”

[Myllo]: “Yesterday. Anyways…”

[Myllo]: “Your missing memories.”

[Myllo]: “I took them.”

[Molly]: “You did?! Give them back!”

[Myllo]: “Not a chance. Not until you earn them.”

This kid! She took her memories! Why would she do that?

There's no use in negotiating with this… entity.

[Molly]: “What is it you want?”

[Myllo]: “You catch on quick. You’re so smart for a five-almost-six-year-old.”

[Molly]: “Come on!”

[Myllo]: “Alright, geez.”

[Myllo]: “Here's what you gotta do. Complete my challenges for you.”

[Molly]: “Challenges? What do you think this is, a game?”

[Myllo]: “Just listen. You must fulfill these requirements: Work toward making the world within the Mechanomicon a reality, find your mother, and learn more about the author of that book.”

[Molly]: “That sounds like a lot. Why are you using me like this?”

[Myllo]: “Oh, I'm not using you. These are all things you wanted before we split. Also, the author of the Mechanomicon is your dad.”

[Molly]: “What! Hey! You can't just say something that important like that!”

[Myllo]: “It should be ok to tell you. I took your connection to your father, so you shouldn't break again.”

[Molly]: “Break…?”

[Myllo]: “That's besides the point. Doing my challenges should help heal the rift that broke us apart.”

[Myllo]: “Alright! Our time is up! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!”

[Molly]: “Wait wha-”

—-----------------------------------

Molly came back to her senses.

Surprisingly, it was still lunch, and she was still sitting at the table. She was expecting to be passed out, surrounded by doctors.

[Airen]: “That was weird. Please don't do that again.”

[Molly]: “What happened?”

[Airen]: “You just zoned out and started drooling. I was scared to touch you, but I tried my best to get all of the spit up.”

[Molly]: “Eeuughkkk.”

A pool of spit was in her lap, dangerously close to looking like a pee stain on her uniform.

So, Myllo’s demands, huh? Do those things, and she would get her memories back?

Wait, no. What was she thinking? That's totally a demon trying to use her!

Yep. This is definitely an Alistir situation. Gonna have to go to him about this for sure.

[Molly]: “I think I've been possessed.”

[Airen]: “Uhhhh…..”

[Molly]: “This crazy girl stole my memories.”

[Airen]: “Ummm…girl…?”

[Molly]: “Want to help me get them back?”

[Airen]: “Uhhhhhhh……sure.”