I wake within my dream world. My consciousness is hazy, and I feel pain coursing throughout my entire body. I’m being pulled out of the crashed car by my arm. The hand pulling me isn’t gentle or careful at all, and I’m thrown into the ditch where the car had crashed.


    My vision is blurry, and I can’t remove the haze from my head. My consciousness withers as I’m picked up and carried down a short road leading to a large Japanese-style mansion. The name spelled out at the crest of the black stone archway leading to the front door stirs my memory.


    Shibutani: the name of the influential organization that took interest in my weakened heart, and stole my freedom from me. Dread wells within as I’m taken inside the mansion, the door slamming shut behind me.


    I can’t make out much other than the velvet carpet and blood red walls, and the black suits of the men carrying me. The sweet melody of a piano echoes throughout the mansion’s halls, a stark melancholy blooming from its slow and rhythmic key strokes. I’m beginning to feel numb to the wounds that continue to open throughout my body thanks in part to the serene soundwaves, and in my lethargy a pool of thoughts swirl.


    How many times must I repeat this cycle? Is there any point in continuing to struggle, only to end up at their mercy? If I’m going to be bound by these shackles forever, wouldn’t it be normal to give up on becoming free?


    How many times have I overcome and moved forward, only to have them relentlessly torment me and remind me of this unending dread? I can’t justify fighting anymore.


    My dreams have convinced me of something I was always afraid to admit to myself: I’ll never be free. No matter how important I become, they will come for me when the rest of my heart is needed.


    That’s what this is all about, after all. My heart has been held captive ever since they first took me. Even if they let me taste freedom, they never truly let me go. I’ve lived a farce of a life, trying to fit in with the normal people; though in reality, I’m just a doll pretending to be human for as long as I can, under their watchful eye.


    A doll that overstayed its welcome and revolted against my fate just to feel human for a little longer. Just a little longer, okay? You can have me once I’m satisfied with living a lie. That’s what this dream world is, isn’t it? Just a vehicle of sweet ecstasy I latched onto so that I can drag things out just a little longer.


    Really, just a little longer, okay? Long enough to see her one last time, or at least hear her voice. They can have me after that, I promise. I’ll let myself become nothingness if I can have that one pleasure. The fake me can have her way; just let me overcome this wavelength and talk to her for a bit longer- be with her for a bit longer.


    “Mary.”


    Is that a voice? It surely resembles a voice, carrying like a reverberation in the same dull soundwaves coming from the piano.


    “Mary, I’m so afraid of dying. There’s nothing I’m more afraid of.”Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The voice has a familiar ring to it, its tender tone cutting through the pool of dread filling my mind.


    “You’ve been fighting for so long, and here I am doing nothing more than praying that I might live, hiding from my demons.”


    The piano’s beautiful voice rouses me from my virtual brain-death, but the suits aren’t reacting to it at all.


    “Don’t worry about finding me anymore, okay? You’ve struggled more than you had to because of me, but you don’t have to do anything but find your heart now, right?”


    Her voice pierces my soul, a requiem of sweet encouragement made to heal all my ailments.


    “You’ve wanted to become whole and live freely, right? I want that for you, too. Then, perhaps I can be found where your heart is.”


    Once more, her light fills me with warmth that sooths me and relieves me of the cold, hollow dread that had consumed me. How many times has she saved me? I have a feeling it’s been more times than I can count.


    “So, go get your heart back, and I’ll see you after that, okay?”


    I feel the life returning to my limbs, as if a tide of energy has jolted through me; I look down at the suits carrying me, as if they’re ants who’ve stubbornly hauled off more than they can handle.


    “Fight just a little bit longer, okay?”


    How many times must I repeat this? This is the last time. I just need to fight a little longer. After that, I’ll be satisfied. I’ll accept my fate head-on. I won’t live in fear anymore.


    The suits dissipate around me as I land out of a spinning kick. The carpet feels snug on my bare feet, and the archaic hallway design comes into full focus. With it, the path of the piano’s melody opens to me, and I follow it to a door.


    As I open it, static swarms me, and I return to the backseat of the car JC is swerving around mercilessly.


    Only a light rain is falling now. Dark clouds swirl overhead, an orange glare reflecting off the opaque gray from the fire raging through the industrial district.


    I glance at my phone which lies face down on the floorboard. My hand mechanically moves toward it before I pull it back.


    “Hey! Were you in the deep dream world? Did you see Mirei? Do you know where she is?” JC’s impatient voice urges upon noticing my movement, but it just worsens my headache.


    “Give it a rest. I didn’t see her, but I know where I need to go.”


    “You do?” he asks, turning all the way around in his seat.


    “Hey, keep your bug eyes on the road, will you?” I chide with a glare.


    “Right- but you know where Mirei is, then?” he asks, turning reluctantly.


    “Listen, the other me has half of my heart,” I answer seriously. “The half that this Shibutani Group took from me. She wants me to meet her, and I think I should do it. I’ll get my heart back and have the strength to find Mirei and end all of this.”


    “What?” he shouts in a panic. “You want to rush into the enemy headquarters with just the two of us? That’s crazy! We should go back to the lab and try to find her with the dream manipulator! You’ve surely shortened your wavelength enough to find her more easily, so maybe you can bring her back from there!”


    “JC, this is the answer I’ve reached,” I respond calmly.


    “What answer?” he cries, turning back again with a desperate expression to match his pleas. “I told you the surest path to victory is to bring us all back to an even plane, right? I don’t know about this business with your heart, but you’re just running straight into the trap the dreamscape set for you!”


    “I think you know this is the only answer,” I respond firmly. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t still be in front of me here, would you? That’s what it means to be on the same wavelength, right?”


    He sees the determination in my stare and clicks his tongue while turning back to face the road. “Alright, I’ll bring you there, but it’s going to be up to you to make sure we don’t both get killed.”


    “Don’t worry, I have a plan,” I reply with a smirk. “It just so happens that risking my life is our best course of attack, so we’ll live because we’re willing to be risk our lives.”


    JC turns his face, having gone pale, and blinks at me with fearful skepticism. I only broaden my smirk in response.


    “It’s time for me to show Aku my victory.”