I can't shake the feeling that something will go horribly wrong. A tiny voice rings in my ears, asking me what choice I should make. Stay here and live the rest of my life in fear of the world, or try to gather myself for some triumphant victory? Either way, no choice sounds very enduring. One will lead me down a path of sorrow, offering the illusion that maybe everything will be okay, only for the light to slowly fade away while the darkness creeps in to consume what is left of me. The path to salvation will ultimately harm me more—and maybe others as well—if I don’t follow through.

Each path is a challenge in its own way. I try to stray from the one that leads me into eternal darkness. But honestly, I already feel as if that's the case. Darkness is only a feeling in the mind, I tell myself, but it keeps creeping ever closer. I can’t explain it clearly—it’s something you would have to experience yourself to truly understand. I just feel like I need someone to talk to, someone to help rid my mind of this overwhelming stress. It’s consuming all the happiness and optimism I once had, leaving a hollow, empty space where nothing can get in or out.

I don’t know if Melody would understand or even be able to help. I feel guilty, as if I’m just indulging in self-pity, but I can’t deal with this on my own. So, I decided to go to her house and try to talk to her. I knock on her door, and she opens it without hesitation.

One very upsetting thing was that her costume looked increasingly ragged and frayed these days. It was disheartening to see her like that. I immediately dropped what I had planned to discuss and focused on her condition instead. Taking it slow, we both sat down on her couch.

“So, what did you come to talk about today?” Melody asked, her tone as cheerful as usual.

“Well, I was going to bring up some personal shit... but then I noticed how worn down your costume looks. Can’t help but wonder—how are your living conditions lately?”

“Oh, me?” She touched a finger to her lip, looking surprised that I would even bring up such a thing. “I’m fine. These are just costumes I wear when I’m by myself. Don’t have to look nice when I’m not out in public, you know?”

“That’s a bit weird, don’t you think? Wearing worn-out clothes when you have fresh ones to wear?”

“C’mon, it’s not that big a deal.”

“Yes, but—”

She interrupted me before I could finish my thought.

“Trust me, it’s fine. Now, what was it you really wanted to talk to me about?”

I sighed and said, “I feel trapped in my head. My thoughts are scrambled, all over the place. I can’t control them anymore. They’re consuming my mind, leaving darkness to fester like a bird’s nest.”

“That’s, uh... pretty explicit. Why do you think you feel that way?”

“It’s because I’m going up against a being of power. The weight of the world is driving me mad. Nothing is helping me think about the positives. Sure, ending this would be nice, but let’s be real—I’m gonna die. I’m sure of it.”

She tilted her head down, unsure of how to respond.

“Maybe you don’t have to do it alone.”

“Huh?” I was confused.

“We should go together.”

“Together? No, that would only put you in harm’s way. I’m not risking that. You could get injured or killed.”

“You know, given the circumstances, it would be impossible to do this alone. If there was an opportunity, I know you would take it. You can trust me. We’ll go through hell and back together.”

“I still don’t know. I have no clue what I’m up against. We’re talking about demons or even gods controlling things at will. It’s just not logical at all. Sorry, but I can’t fathom that idea. That’s why it’s better if I keep one less person out of harm’s way.”

“I know it worries you. I won’t spout some cliché crap like ‘I know how you’re feeling,’ but I do know that if we work together, we can do something. You have to give it a chance.”

“I suppose that might be the right choice. Even if I somehow managed to do it alone, it wouldn’t have the same impact as doing it with someone else. I guess we should start mapping and planning. I’ve done some small sketches for maps before, but hopefully, our plan will be efficient... hopefully.”

“I won’t deny your doubt. We have no experience with this type of thing. I mean, we’re just teenagers, after all.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s not impossible, but right now, it doesn’t seem like it’ll work. I mean, I’ll try, but I won’t believe it until I see it.”

I was pretty glad we were having this conversation and that she had the courage to ask to come along, even if I hadn’t thought of the idea too fondly. We were still talking when she brought up something interesting.

“Bit of a tangent, but I had this thought in the back of my mind—have you ever heard of imaginary friends?”

“Imaginary friends?”

“Yeah, like the ones you thought up when you were little and used to draw.”

Some people had them, and others didn’t. They were quite popular, but then, for some reason, they all disappeared.

She was kind of talking crazy. I didn’t recall ever having an imaginary friend. Maybe she was just making things up to spin the conversation in a different direction.

“Yeah, I really don’t know what they are. Don’t remember them either.”

“Oh well. Surprised you never had one.”

“Nope. Can’t recall. Maybe in my mind, but that’s it.”

“Yeah, but they weren’t just in the mind, you know? They were real.”

“Oh right... now I remember. A waste of time. Those scoundrels leeched off kids in their childhood, feeding them false ideologies about the real world. People would hear whispers about the truth outside. Eventually, people started selling them in special markets or killing them. They didn’t amount to much and ruined the innocence of others. They became grotesque at large, killing masses of people. We thought we had killed all of them, but now it seems like they’re still out there.”

She shrugged. “That’s pretty much the gist of it. They weren’t liked much. Anyway, let’s not dwell on it too long. We have more important matters at hand, and besides, I don’t know much about it myself. Can barely remember.”

“Yeah. We need a foolproof plan. If not, we’ll end up in the shitter. The only issue is our lack of supplies—not to mention that I need the last piece for Skip at my house.”

“No luck finding it?”

“Nope. Still trying. I feel like I’m really close, though. To be completely honest, this piece is probably the biggest hurdle for us. The fact that it could be literally anywhere is the problem. I got lucky in the junkyard, but there’s no way another piece is there. And no way in hell am I going back there after what I experienced. It has to be in this area, but searching could take days or even weeks.”

“What do the pieces look like?”

“Well, they basically look like giant AA batteries, except more metallic, with a glowing green aura near the middle. Something like that doesn’t seem hard to find, but believe me, searching for days on end is exhausting. The only way I’ve been able to track them is by that green glow, which makes it a dead giveaway.”

“Green glowing aura, you say?”

She propelled herself off the couch and scurried up the stairs. I followed her to see if she had found what I thought it was. When we reached the second floor, she tugged down the attic door and climbed up, telling me to wait while she retrieved something.

I waited for a few minutes before she finally climbed down and handed me a metallic battery— the very last piece I needed.

"Where did you even get this from? It must’ve taken a while for you to find it. I never would’ve guessed it came from you."

"Well, to be completely honest, it sort of just fell into my hands. When I was walking in the neighborhood a while ago, I tripped on a curb and noticed something had fallen from one of the trees. Turns out, it was that green battery thing. I wasn’t sure how it got there or what it was. Since no one else saw it, I figured I’d keep it and maybe save it for later."

"Wait, so you just had this all this time?"

"What the hell was I supposed to do with it? It seemed like some piece of junk I could sell."

"Yeah, fair point. Guess I kind of overreacted." I took a deep breath. "Just give me some time to prepare, and I'll be outside."

I sprinted towards my front door, opened it, and paced eagerly towards Skip. Inserting the final battery, I watched as a loading screen popped up, displaying exact coordinates. However, it wouldn’t update until we kept moving forward. A small inbox labeled "Answers" was visible on the screen, but it was empty. It seemed like it would only update when we neared our point of interest. Given the circumstances, I had no choice but to bring it along for the ride.

I was just about ready to go. I assumed Melody had begun packing her belongings as well, though I imagined both of us were in a rush to get going. After a long while, I started feeling that sense of blind optimism again—hopeful that I could actually save humanity and restore this hellscape into something resembling normality. Of course, I couldn’t be fully confident, but I was willing to try anyway. If I didn’t, the world would only continue to decay as it already had.

"So, it would seem your time is almost up."

An ominous voice—one that was all too familiar—echoed around me.

"Come out, you metallic bastard."

"Ho-ho, why, we meet again. It's been quite a while since you and I have seen each other. It seems you've managed to find the final piece. It must’ve been 'v-ery e-easy' to obtain all of them that quickly, huh?"

That damn same gleeful smile. There was hardly a hint of malice, more a look of trickery.

"I’ll admit, I'm surprised I found them so quickly too, but it doesn't matter now. Are you finally going to give me some answers?"

"That little machine will. I’m not interested in giving you anything—I’d rather you find out for yourself. But I mean, you don’t find it suspicious?"

"What are you inferring—"

As I was about to finish my question, Melody knocked on the door, calling out to me.

"Listen, kid. You should’ve known by now that every story has a bigger picture. Every tale has something to tell. You’d be wise not to leave yourself unguarded. Fitting words and phrases within each other, winding down on a dime."

"What the hell are you—"

He vanished.

"Damn it," I scoffed.

I wasn’t even sure why I had expected him to tell me anything, but I had a feeling I was heading toward something that would come back to bite me later.

Ignoring his words for now, I opened the door to greet Melody.

"Hey, uh… look, there’s something I need to tell you."

Melody had a puzzled look on her face. "What is it?"

I considered telling her about the jester but quickly discarded the idea—I didn’t want to cause any more problems.

"No… never mind. It really wasn’t that important."

"Anyways…" she exhaled, shifting her bag on her shoulder. "I got stuff for the road trip—mainly food, water, clothes, some tools, and a few weapons in case anything comes our way. I’ve also been working on making custom-made guns in my spare time."

"But aren’t people who are good at blacksmithing usually skilled with handling weapons like spears and swords?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to expand my range of tools. I figured non-close combat weapons would be useful. Considering most of the fights are in close quarters, having guns means we won’t have to get as close. Also, don’t worry—I’ve got plenty of ammo to spare."

"Thank God. I've been sick of using a knife all the damn time. It’s nice to finally get some real firepower, though we should probably use it sparingly."

"I can’t guarantee we will, but just hope you actually know how to use them. You don’t want to have shitty aim, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Well, it seems like we’re all set. Let’s bring everything to the trunk, and then we’ll head out."