Good bye Alice

They sat along the white floor as they exchanged conversation in order to pass the time and get to know each other.

Claire has no information regarding the identity of Toste and Zane but all she knows is that their origins came from someone.

They might know each other in the past but who knows, what she can do is to tell stories about her past life.

"I see, so you have 21 lives before, am I right?" Toste understands her situation.

"Can you believe it? I am just an ordinary girl with extra lives.

My abilities have no offensive factor, while unlike you two are stronger than it looks."

"Well, I don't know about that. There might be something useful from your abilities, we wouldn't know."

Zane replies to Claire's conversation.

"By the way, may I ask? Do you know a thing about the existence of protagonists?"

Claire interrogates both of them.

"Protagonists?"

Toste wondered about Claire's question.

But at that moment, something sparked from within Zane's mind.

He faintly remembers when a girl calls Zane the protagonist.

"Wait you are a protagonist, Claire?"

"Yes I am. What's wrong?"

"I'm maybe a protagonist."

"What do you mean?"

"Our eyes, it determines our roles in this forsaken reality.

We have both yellow eyes. Can't you tell?"

Claire just nodded to support Zane's claims.

"I'm very sorry if I startled you. You can forget about it."

After talking for a while, taking each pathway that might lead them to the exit.

For some reason, this place known as the White Room is too large for some people to build it.

It has mysteries that question its existence, who made this place and why...

Claire pondered while spacing out.

"Claire are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Well let's have a session.

The three of us will ask three questions and then answer whether it can be answered or not.

Who's up first?"

"How about me?"

Toste steps up to take the lead.

"Claire, do you have parents or relatives from somewhere?"

"..." Claire paused for a while.

"Come to think of it, I don't remember..."

"I see, second question.

When is the last time you remembered at your origin place?"

"Well... It's from the Ignis Fatuus.

The world is so quiet and monochromatic that it foretells the ruins of the world.

I met someone..."

"And who is that?" Toste elaborates.

"I think... she is already dead.

She once is my friend but I remember less of our meeting.

It's been a long time..."

"That's such a waste of a question.

Well that concluded our situation.

Somewhere our origins are linked to someone special which supports Big brother's claims."

"Her name is Dale."

"I see, so the girl from before is your friend?"

Zane clarifies his understanding of Claire's utter truth.

"I had forgotten about her. It's this something that keeps me from remembering."

"We have the same symptoms, Claire. But first we need to find a way out."

---

As they marched on, they see a large doorway at the left and it leads to god knows where.

Filled with courage and determination, they insisted on going.

After knowing behind the doors, sees a 15 meter female giant chained up unconscious.

They have no clue what to do with the mysterious giant.

Zane faintly remembers her.

"I know you..."

Zane watches closely as trying to wake the female giant.

Slowly, her eyes started to peel to witness three intruders of the White Room.

"Alice... is that you?"

Zane remembers her now. She is the girl appearing in a dream she created. They once met and talked for a while.

"Where am I?"

"We need to release you."

"Brother, is it really a good idea to release her?

She might be a threat."

"I know but that's the chance I'm willing to take."

Zane destroys the chains as freeing the female giant.

"Zane? Why are you so small?"

"Alice... Are you alright?"

"Yes... But where are we?"

"We are in the White Room. For some reason I was here along with my associates, my brother and a friend."

"Hi." Claire waves by to Alice.

"Hello. So how can we escape?"

Alice wonders as both Zane and Toste haven't discovered it yet.

"That's the problem."

"We can't, Big brother. We don't even have any clue where we headed towards the exit."

"Can you make yourself small?"

Claire asks Alice.

"I don't think I can."

"Alice, do you want to escape with us?"

"Yes."

Without them knowing, it was all just a cruel ploy for the founder to separate realities by breaking the source of the darkness.

Suddenly, the doors is gone, vanished into thin air as the room expands into a battlefield.

Without knowing, Zane got a bad feeling about it so he is so worried about Alice's well being.

"Kill them."

A faint voice of a female individual is heard in Alice's mind.

It was an unbearable pain that continues to torture Alice as she was forced or even controlled by someone.

"Zane... I'm sorry.. I can't control it. My mind keeps telling me to kill you but I can't..."

"So this is the voice that he was talking about."

Claire realizes as commenting the last moments of Alice, as it turns out the voice is similar to her side from the beginning.

A god from another world speaks, or so she was told.

"What do you mean?"

Toste tries to understand the situation.

"In this reality, there is a core in every world. And it appears that this world is controlling Alice.".

"So what should we do?"

Zane whimpers as trying to fix Alice better.

"The only way to get rid of that voice is to...

... Kill her."

Zane grips his hand towards Claire's white t-shirt as he angrily opposed to her idea.

Claire is a bit upset but there is no other way.

"Zane... I don't have much time but, after all the memories we shared together, it wasn't fabricated but a real thing. Our feelings spoke up, and I know you'll probably hate it or even hate me.

I want you to be the one who will kill me."

"I don't want to kill you!!!

I don't want to bear the responsibility of taking an innocent life, your life.

If you think our memories are precious why make a bad one?

I just want for us to know each other better, survive together and live together somewhere.

I want things to be just fair.

But now I see that this world is unjust.

Please, let me think a way out."

"Zane... I'LL KILL YOU!!"

Alice's controlled rage burst to Zane's position as Toste carries and dodges the attack.

"Big brother, she isn't Alice anymore. We need to regroup.

I know it's hard for you but you have to make a choice.

Either you kill her or she kills us."

"It's okay for me to die... but I don't want to drag you two with me... Fine I'll kill her."

With his strong resolve, he knows it has to be this way.

After dodging one from another. Alice's abilities have been released as randomly bursting all around the vast room.

Zane however easily evades every attack.

He even got sliced a little from his face, seeing Alice in so much pain.

He is responsible for ease her pain and make her death painless.

----

After the battle, the reality has been broken into three shards.

Three possibilities that make a lore of his own existence.

First is this.

As Alice's lifeless body is in Zane's arms, he is left with a vulnerability to accept this pain.

Forcing his aura to expand rapidly, turning him into a cataclysmic storm, darkness spreads all over the room as Toste was consumed in the process and Claire ended her session from Zane's dream and woke up.

It completely destroyed the reality known as the White Room.

The second one is this.

As his pain is impossible to imagine, Zane has to release this feeling as upon becoming a storm of darkness, consuming all life.

But Toste stopped him.

"Please Zane, don't let Alice's death be that meaningless to you.

I know you killed her but I know that she wouldn't like this if she was alive.

You know that right?"

"What's there to live? Tell me."

"How about I take care of this, big brother?

I'll try to find a way to restore or even save her.

I promise."

"I see..." As the storm of darkness brews, all of it is dissipating back to Toste as creating a new identity known as Toste.

Since Zane is the original entity, Toste claimed his existence into his.

"Bring Alice back."

That was the promise, and so the title known as Professor Cthulhu became the present of today's reality.

The third one is this.

Upon having this heavy burden weigh him down, he took that responsibility as his own as trying to repent his sins and find a way to live once again.

"That's what Alice would want right?'

Zane admittedly theorised Alice's thinking if that was the case.

As her death came, all her memories have lodged to Zane's mind.

Seeing all the wonderful memories she has with someone.

All her dreams with Zane was memorable.

As for Toste and Claire, they witness a great guy named Zane who accepted his life is like that despite how unfair life could be.

Claire hugs Zane as suddenly wakes up from her dream.

Seeing Claire teared up from that moment.

She sees Zane is awake.

"You went inside of me, didn't you?"

Zane probes Claire as his dream of seeing that scene again is as fresh as a glistening fruit.

"Yes..."

"Well now you know. That's my life."

"I'm very sorry for that, Zane."

"No worries."