Chapter I : Reed's Memory Palace★

((A/N : I read it again and somehow this chap, seems to confused me a bit.

So, I edited it entirely. So, here it is. Wish Reed's memory palace was explained more concrete.

Enjoy!!))

The wide open waters of the ocean, looks so beautiful and magnificent under the rule of the fierce light of the sun. It glitters as it reflects light and sing a wonderful sound of waves and whispering splashes of water.

It looked spectacular and is also a sign of another peaceful day. However, unbeknownst to all the creatures living within the seas and the surface, in one the five darkest, secretive and dangerous mysteries of the ocean. A phenomenon which no one expected seems to be occuring.

Blop. Blop. Blop.

Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles.

...

Within the deepest depths of the ocean floor where the Illusionary Labyrinth– one of the five mysteries of the ocean. A mysterious labyrinth where no one have ever successfully conquer.

The most famous one amongst the five mysteries– the Illusionary Labyrinth. Aside from it being the most harmless of the five, many have sought this labyrinth before in order to die.

That's right, it was to die. This labyrinth carries the most death recorded all around the world, that people begins to call it 'Suicide Paradise of the Sea.'

People sought it to die while experiencing their most greatest desire. That's why it was called 'Suicide Paradise.'

Like the name suggest, the Labyrinth gave anyone who dares venture it illusions or dreams that they kept hidden within their hearts. The desire of which they never will achieve.

No one has ever reached the end of the labyrinth nor able to escape and get out of it. Because before they did, they will get trapped– not by force or accidents, but by choice.

However, a certain rumor that no one knew where it came from has been circulated among adventurers, treasure hunters, pirates and many others.

It was said that, at the end of the Illusionary Labyrinth is a cave of wonders. This labyrinth was just a defensive layer and beyond it, hidden from everyone is the most precious and rarest treasure the sea has ever created.

Blop. Blop. Blop.

Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles.

And right now, that rarest and precious treasure was swimming out of the notorious Illusionary Labyrinth, with black face and frown pasted on her face.

Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles.

...

Reed shrugged her shoulders and knitted her brows more as she glide her small body forward far way from the labyrinth. Where Reed never want to looked back into again, as her glimmering, glossy fins and tail dance with her movement.

Still carries a grumpy face, Reed stop and hover in place, she looked around. All she can see was blue and if she glance down it was all dark. Reed clicked her tongue, seeing that she does not know where she should start, or which direction she should go to. Her face grew worst and worst as time goes by. She took a glimpse at the direction where she came from and can't help but remembered what she experienced inside.

She shakes her head hard and rubbed her hair roughly that her ombre long hair gets tangled with each other, before immediately straighten up, as the water swept thought it. Reed throws all those thoughts aside and inhale deeply as she ponders what to do from now on.

Although her goal was to find her beloved Echo, but this was a vast and wide world where who knows how many different species of creatures live. And it was also a world different from where she came from, and most of all she does not know who or where Echo is now.

Thinking about who and what she is now, Reed can't stop herself from looking at her current body for the nth time. She raise her arms and she glimpse at her flowy sparkling fins. Then she slowly take her hands towards her two flexible well shaped melons.

Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeze.

'They are really soft.' Reed feel her plump melons once more and let out a helpless sigh.

She smile wry as she thought, 'I should probably face reality now.'

Shaking her head out of her thoughts, Reed stared at her glamorous fins and tail that keeps flowing at the corner of her eyes. Then proceed, swimming forward as she recalls the moment she just woke up in this strange new world.

...and found out that 'he' was already a girl.

Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles.

Blop. Blop. Blop.

Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles.

...

...

...

The world has infinite probably to achieve anything possible. It's just that no one has discovered and seen it before. The world is so vast and huge. It was basked in mysteries and secrets waiting to be found.

And Reed looks like he had found one of them.

...

...

...

Reed calmly and orderly organized his thoughts and memories which was in shuffle and was scattered everywhere inside his mind.

He was surprised at first when he found himself conscious and seemingly currently in case of Oblivion.

There was nothing to see except darkness. Reed felt no sensation, hear nothing, empty smell where he does not know whether he was still breathing or not.

Nonetheless, he knows that he was still alive and 'Reed' still exists somewhere in this world.

Why would he know?

Because right now, Reed was staring down with panoramic view of wide and large movie theater below.

With only a white wisps as a body, Reed hover above slowly descending down the center of the aisle of hundreds of red comfy chairs.

In front, at the stage was a large white screen, currently not playing anything.

This was Reed's memory palace.

Thinking about this place inside his mind, a cassette suddenly emerge from the big wooden door at his back. As if the door spit the cassette out, it flew at the air and stop in the center of amphitheater.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

The gears inside slowly rotated, getting faster and faster. A long film strip came out of it, and it went towards the huge screen and it lite up bright lights.

If Reed had eyes, he already squinted his eyes from the sudden brightness. But he was just a small wisps right now, so, he can looked how hard he can.

A video played as the bright light vanishes. Reed watched the scene where his classmate in the university compared his mind with 'Sherlock Holmes' concepts of memory palace, like Sherlock's and Magnussen Appledore's vaults. In which Reed affirmed that his mind somehow works like that too, except that it was in a form of a movie theater that have a huge library that was full of rows of movie shelves arranged by many categories.

As he watched this scene, Reed slowly starting to remember. All the scenes were viewed from his point of view and he knew it was impossible for him to recall anyone's face because of his old illness.

That's why, he did not noticed. Everytime the video seems to shows the scene where there was a mirror, it was suddenly cut off and the scene will continue without revealing his figure.

Skipping something important, Reed ignore the video in the screen and walked towards the large wooden door.

This door was the entrance to his library and the exist from the movie theater.

As he went closer, the door automatically opened. He did not need to stop and he directly flew over.

The white wisps jolted back, and shivers as Reed saw what his library has become. He knew his memories was in disarray. He tried to arranged and put it in order earlier, but it seems that it was not enough.

This was supposed to be a neat and organized library, but seeing it now, Reed can't help but feel a little irritated.

Many cassette, CDs, video casings, disks were flying over everywhere. The shelves were everywhere too, there were some in the ceiling, in the wall, others were hanging up side down in the air and few were even broken as if, it collided with something hard.

A person with OCD will surely go mad after seeing this place, thankfully it was not Reed who has it but someone else.

A large question mark appeared beside the clueless wisps, but with his memories this chaotic, there were no answers coming out of his mind. Unlike earlier where he easily pull out some bits of his memories, this time there was trully nothing.

Breathing imaginary air, in and out– a surge of energy exploded from the wisps. And with a large wave of pressure, forming a circle from the small wisps spreading throughout the library.

Swoosh~

The library immediately move by themselves to get themselves in order.

Loud chaotic sounds of moving objects echoes everywhere, as a shot of severe pain drill over the wisps.

It trembled like a fire going out, waving like a candle being blown away.

Reed does not have any human features right now, if he have, with how much pain he was receiving he will surely cry and scream so much. Truly, this is the most torturous pain he every felt.

After a while, the pain disappeared. The library was neat and orderly again, like a true library.

Reed with his floating wisps body, explore around and see everything.

Then he paused.

If he remembered correctly, his library were divided into four section. And it was unequally allocated.

With 10% of place reserved for others, 30% for his theoretical and practical knowledge, 20% for himself, and a large space occupying a huge amount of memories about someone.

But Reed does not know who that someone is, but he will find out about it later.

He hover around the section [Self]. This section was filled with things he knew about himself. Rows of shelves with a black metal sign board hang to the side. What's written on it was the category in which the memories belong to.

Reed went to the shelves where [Appearance] was written beautifully in cursives at the sign board. Although he did not expect anything from it, he was still stunned to see nothing.

There was no CDs, cassette, video tapes, or disks in the shelves. The shelves were clean, like a newly brought one waiting to be filled by something.

So, that's why he was a wisps. Because he does not know what he looked like, he appeared like this. A soul without a body...

Shocked, Reed quickly went and checked out other shelves. It was not only the [Appearance], his [Voice] too was emptied and many others.

Because Reed was a singer, he always make sure to make a thorough analysis of his voice. That's why there was a separate category there. But it was gone too.

Nevertheless, with this thoughts, he knew that not everything about himself was gone. Because he knew he was a singer, an artist, a composer, a musician, a genius and a wholeheartedly submissive boyfriend...

'What the f*ck! What's with the last one...am I really...but I'm a guy. A proud man with big ego and...'

Then he recall about the largest section of his memories that he still yet to explore.

He was hesitating. He felt like of he go there, all his shameful sides would be revealed in just one swoop. More so, deep inside, there's a feeling that if he go there...

There's something that will make him go crazy if he saw an empty shelves like what he saw from his section.

So, after going around a few times at his section, he slowly direct his wisps body towards the largest section of the library.

And he did not even arrived there, when a twinge of pain pierced him directly.

It was a pain that came from the soul.

Very different from the torturous pain he experienced just a while ago.

Reed was right.

When he saw the blank banner signifying the division of the section, he almost went crazy.

'There should be a title there... Why is it blank?!'

Without thinking, the small wisps flickered then rush all over that section.

Unlike the others, this section was trully solely for one person. The category was not just written in whole subject like [Appearance] in Reed's [Self] section. It was very detailed, there was [Eyes], [Hair], [Nose], [Hands], [Voice], [Personality]...

It was thoroughly designated. Every part of the body has there own shelves. Even abstract thoughts, events, everyday scenes, expressions, reactions...

Every bits were here. All screaming at Reed who this person is and how important this person was.

But it was all empty.

Empty...it was empty.

Reed knows it was useless to remember someone's face as he failed at it and was useless about it for his entire lifetime. Even he does not know what he looked like.

But this is worst than not recognising faces. Even to his side, only some of the shelves were emptied and not everything.

Reed did not know what was happening right now, he did not care about his own circumstances. But seeing all this shelves empty...

That means that he totally forgotten this person.

And if he didn't have his theater and library. Then he will unknowingly forgot someone important and it occupied half of his memories.

'What is this!! This is madness! How can it be!! How can I forgot!!'

At least this person!

Forget everything else, but not this person!!

Reed went on rampage, he looked everywhere inside his mind. Every shelves inside his library he check it out meticulously, looking for a hint that might make him remember.

The library that he painstakingly organized was turned upside down by the white wisps again.

Reed head hurts but the sufferings of his soul hurts much more, but he endure it.

Until he saw a large wooden door at the corner being covered by few shelves he threw. Reed eye it intensely and unblinking. He knows for sure that door never existed before.

His mind only has one theater and one huge and wide hall with many organized and categorized video tapes and movie cases placed neatly inside the shelves.

Reed forcefully tidied and arranged his library once more, in order to opened that large door. While ignoring all the pain stabbing him from within.

After a while, Reed float with his wisps body that was wavering, gleaming then dimming in continues cycle.

The door opened automatically, and what he saw gave him another shock. Reed stood rooted in place, still digesting everything he saw.

Beyond the large wooden door was another huge hall that very much different from his own. It was much larger than the one he has. Upon it was like a huge library with billions of movie and video collection. Even the walls of the room were all filled.

And unlike the library before, this one has countless section.

But what hooked Reed's attention is, within this library. There was a largest section too, that occupied almost half of the space within the hall.

He went there and looked up to see the banner. Written in an elegant cursives his knew was his hand writing, was a name.

[Echo]

The moment he read the name, all the pain vanished.

He knew that name...

And he knew for sure, that was the person he was looking for.

His important, beloved and childhood sweetheart.

Reed greedily gazed at that name. His obsession and possessiveness that he did not revealed before was now showing.

He repeatedly called the name, wanting to embedded this name in his mind, never to be forgotten again.

He went around the section, and like his library. It was more detailed and full. But it was blank. The shelves were all full with the things that should be there but it was blank.

The film strip were white instead of black, the CD were filled with sealed content, even the casing was blank. The title and sypnosis that was supposed to be written there was gone.

Its like an encrypted folder from his classmate's phone full of porns. Reed recall it, he can't access any of the folders place in there.

Seems like he was in that kind of situation now. He does not have any authority to access any information in this library.

'Why? And whose memories is this? Why is it in my head?'.

Reed thought it was weird.

Especially the section where the banner with Echo's name.

Fortunately, there's still some that can give him information. Upon exploring this huge hall, he saw it within this certain weird section.

[Inherited Memories]

That was a weird title. Reed never once have that kind of section in his brain before.

But Reed does not have a choice but to proceed. His guts was telling him this shelves can answer some of his questions.

Although some of the shelves were sealed, he can still gain information from this few he can view.

And so, Reed picked up the first movie and watched it.

...

...

...

Finishing watching everything that can be watch in the shelves. Reed was dumbfounded at the same time feeling exhilarated.

'Echo. That person is here too! I'm sure.' Reed excitedly proclaimed while he was still analyzing all information he received from the [Inherited Memory].

'Hahaha. This is wonderful! Interesting! I never thought that kind of phenomenon was true!'

Transmigration.

Reed was now in a whole different world.

And was now in a very different body and species.

He was now a mermaid.

...