2 April 2018

  Light successfully entered Lily's heart using the restoration method of the sword of purification after she succumbed to the Berserker state.

  ". . ."

  "It's pitch black everywhere I see, yet somehow I can see shapes and things like I normally would under daylight."

  Light is standing inside a perpetual darkness that is just pitch black as far as the eyes can see in all directions. He takes a few steps forward, and the black 'ground' underneath makes ripples as if it were the surface of water, yet it feels solid enough that he can walk properly on it. The black 'ground' also makes a noise that implies it has a sticky surface, yet Light has no problem walking on it.

  "This feels weird. . ."

  This is actually Light's first time using the Restoration method of the Sword of Purification. For the entire two years he has been a Judge, he has never come across someone who's in a Berserker state directly. He only knows about this phenomenon from the videos on the internet. This state has also become public knowledge, yet it stays at the back of everyone's mind because this incident very rarely happens.

  Light has been walking for quite some time by now, and yet he still can't find Lily.

  "LILY-SAN! WHERE ARE YOUUUUU?!"

  He screams in hopes that Lily would hear him, yet his voice echoes in the distance, and nobody answers.

  "This is my first time, I have no idea the inside of someone's heart can be a vast emptiness like this."

  Light starts running forward. He has now realized that he is running across a very narrow straight path with perpetual pitfalls on the left and right.

  "Where on earth is she?"

  Light blackens his feet; he starts doing his explosive jumps to gain as much distance as little time as possible.

  *!*

  After jumping forward for about 20 seconds, he finally sees something in the distance. He saw a place that looked like a throne. There are two giant black swords positioned in an X shape, with their sharp tips on the bottom and their handles at the top. The giant black swords have the same design as Lily's clock-sword.

  Under the two giant swords, there's a throne surrounded by smaller black clock-swords in a large circle, and they are all positioned, stabbing the ground. On the throne itself, there was Lily. Light finally saw her.

  "LILY-SAN!!"

  Light quickly reached her in no time, and he landed just a bit outside of the surrounding swords.

  "Lily-san. . ."

  Upon closer look, Lily wasn't sitting on the throne, she was bound to it. There are chains coiling around all over her body, preventing her from moving at all. Light jumps over the surrounding swords, and he walks forward and finally stands in front of the throne.

  "Lily-san. . ."

  Lily looks towards Light.

  "Ah. It's you. What are you doing here?"

  "I've come to rescue you, Lily-san."

  "Rescue me? Why? What happened to me?"

  Lily's voice sounded so weak and unenthusiastic. Her face looks terrible, where her eyes look lifeless, and her expression looks like she's about to cry empty tears.

  "You've lost yourself. You entered Berserker state."

  ". . . What is that?"

  "Basically, you went on a rampage without being in control of yourself."

  *CRING CRING*

  Lily tried to get up from her spot, but the chains and sword held her back.

  "What. . . is this?"

  "I. . . don't know."

  "MI-CHAN!!"

  *!?*

  All of a sudden, Lily's mood shifts entirely.

  "YOU!!! YOU MURDERED MI-CHAN!!!"

  "Lily-san. . ."

  *!!!*

  All of a sudden, Lily stands up from the throne. The chains in her body disappear, but now Light can see that there are multiple of her black clock-swords stabbing her from the back that pierce through her front. She also summons the same black sword in her right hand.

  "DIE, LUNEHART-SAN!!"

  Lily points her black sword towards Light.

  *!!!*

  All of a sudden, Light was stabbed by Lily's black clock-sword coming from all directions.

  "This. . . doesn't hurt?"

  But then Light feels a different kind of pain, a heartache.

  "UGH!!"

  The swords, although they don't physically hurt Light, still physically bounds and restrict his movement.

  "(I can't move. . .)"

  *STABS*

  All of a sudden, Lily pierces Light in the chest with the black sword in her hand.

  "URGGHH!!"

  The pain in his heart amplifies significantly.

  "W-What is this?"

  And then all of a sudden, Light's consciousness was taken away and was sent into memories that belonged to Lily.

  .

  .

  .

  Year 2008

  "Mi-chan."

  ". . ."

  "Mi-chan."

  ". . ."

  "Mi-chan!"

  "Urgh. . ."

  Michelle opened her right eye, and I was the first thing that she saw.

  "Lily. . . chan. . ."

  "Ah, thank goodness, you're finally awake."

  "What happened?"

  "Well, look around!"

  ". . ."

  Michelle sits up on a bed. She looks to her left and right and finds out that she is inside a bedroom that she has never seen before. But the bedroom has a giant open hole on the side leading to the outside, and the entire house has already broken down, with only a little bit of the roof still intact above this bedroom.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Where are we?"

  "Hehehehe!"

  Lily stood up and raised both of her arms upwards.

  "WE ARE OUTSIDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

  Lily screams her excitement with a big smile on her face. The moment Michelle sees Lily's smile, her right eye lights up.

  "F-FOR REAL? YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

  "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!"

  "HAHAHAHAH!! WE'RE FINALLYYYYY---"

  *!!*

  "AAARRRGGHHH!!"

  "MI-CHAN?!"

  Michelle immediately places her hands on top of her left eye, which is covered by bandages.

  *pant pant pant*

  "I forgot that this happened."

  "I'm sorry, Mi-chan! I can't heal you yet. My Rewind ability is still awful, and I'm afraid to test it on your eyes."

  "It's okay, Lily-chan. At least we're free from that awful place."

  "Yes, yes, yes!!! So, what are we gonna do first, Mi-chan?"

  "Hm? Well. . . First of all, I wanna know where we are right now."

  "So, I've already run around the city near us, and we're in Paris right now! This house is just a bit outside of the city "

  "P-PARIS? That is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, if I'm not mistaken!"

  "Eh? Really?"

  "LET'S EXPLORE NOW!!"

  Michelle immediately gets out of bed. Lily quickly stands in front of her and stops her.

  "Wait, wait, wait! Are you even in a condition to move around?"

  "Hehehe, I am! Don't worry about me!!"

  "*Sigh* Alright, alright, but I'm still worried. So, what should we do first?"

  "We should go look for cute clothes! I'm tired of these ugly outfits."

  "You're right! Where should we go?"

  "Okay, first of all, we're gonna steal them from a fancy store in the city!"

  "Steal? Is that okay?"

  "Why not? We are no longer under the rules of the facility! Outside, we can do anything we please!"

  "Um. . . The very notion of taking something that doesn't belong to us already bugs me. . . BUT HEY!! THIS IS NOT THE FACILITY!! YEAAAYY!!"

  "YEEEAAYY!! LET'S GOOOOO!!!"

  Michelle and I immediately jumped out of the open wall to the side and landed outside.

  "HERE WE GOOOO!!!"

  We both scream our lungs out in excitement. We are about to taste the freedom that we never had previously. We immediately run towards the city with smiles on our faces.

  "FREEEEEEEDOOOOOMM!!!!"

  .

  .

  .

  15 minutes later. . .

  "Woooowwwww!!"

  "WOOOOOOO!!"

  I and Michelle are currently outside a very fancy clothing store. We are pressing our faces against the window of the store.

  "Everything I see is so pretty!!"

  "They all glimmer like stars in the sky!"

  "I don't know which one to choose. . ."

  "Eh, wait, Lily-chan! These are for adults! We can't wear these. . ."

  "WHAT? AWWWW!! But I've found multiple that I'm interested in!!"

  "Well, let's come again when we're grown-ups!!"

  "Urgh, okay. . ."

  I and Michelle proceed to stroll in the city to find another clothing store. We are in awe of everything we see in the city. This is because for both of us, this is our first time seeing the world outside the facility.

  And then we finally find a clothing store that also sells stuff for children.

  "LILY-CHAN! THIS LOOKS PROMISING!!"

  "I KNOW!! LET'S GO INSIDE!!!"

  When we entered the store, we immediately looked for the children's aisle. After a few minutes of searching, we finally found it.

  "Wooaaahh!"

  "Lily-chan, let's just begin!!"

  "KYAAAAHH!!"

  *!?*

  All of a sudden, we heard a woman scream behind us.

  "Y-You, what happened to your eye? Why are the bandages so red?"

  It was one of the staff members who worked here. She was asking Michelle about her wound.

  "I. . . uh. . . this is. . ."

  Michelle whispers to me in a very quiet voice.

  "Lily-chan, what should we do?"

  "Um, I don't think it's wise to tell her about the facility."

  "So, what then?"

  Lily raises her right arm, and a small blue clock appears on the back of her palm.

  "Time stop!"

  Lily has put the flow of time to a complete halt yet again. The staff in front of them suddenly stopped moving.

  "D-Did you just. . ."

  "Yup!"

  "WOW! This is my first time seeing it!!"

  "Yeah, I figured it would be a hassle if we kept running into people directly. This way we can try out any clothes for as long as we want to!"

  "OOOOOHHHHH!!!"

  "YAAAAAYY!!!"

  And so, I and Michelle try out different outfits that we see. We both picked out clothes, and then we went to the fitting room.

  "Mi-chan! How do I look?"

  I am wearing a cowboy outfit complete with the cowboy hat.

  "WOAAH!! THAT'S AWESOME!!"

  "Hehehe! Okay, your turn!!"

  "Alright!"

  Michelle entered the fitting room and got out wearing the clothing of her choice. She is wearing a pure white sundress complete with a straw hat.

  "WOOOWWW!! That screams holiday on a tropical island or a beach!! You're so pretty, Mi-chan!!"

  "Hehehe, thanks!"

  And then I and Michelle kept trying out different clothes. We went on for a long time until we finally found the one that perfectly suited our tastes.

  "How does this look, Lily-chan?"

  Michelle is wearing a long-sleeved shirt with green and white flower patterns all over it, with an overlay of a dark brown overall skirt and a pair of white socks, and a pair of dark brown short heel shoes.

  "PERFECT!! That really suits you, Mi-chan! It's like it's tailor-made just for you!"

  "I-Is that so? Then, I'll wear this from now on!"

  Michelle smiled as she heard my compliment. Next is my turn.

  I change my clothes quickly and exit the changing room. I am wearing a black short-sleeved hoodie with black short pants, a pair of black long socks, and a pair of black shoes.

  "LILY-CHAN TOO COOOOOOLL!!!!"

  "I guess I'm wearing this forever then hahaha!"

  We both let out our loudest laughter without restraint. This is what freedom feels like. We are finally free from the shackles of the facility.

  "Let's get out, Mi-chan!"

  "Yahoo!"

  We both waltzed out of the store as fast as we could. Our running is now more energetic than ever.

  "What should we do next?" asks Lily.

  "Let's go eat!"

  "Great idea! I'm quite hungry right now!"

  We proceed to find the closest fancy restaurant. As time still doesn't flow, we can access any places as we wish. We enter a very expensive-looking restaurant.

  "WOOOAAAHHHH!!"

  Both of us are in awe of how everything is so shiny, glittery, and glamorous. The food looks delicious and high-class. It's also a bit weird seeing how crowded the restaurant was and not a single person is moving. This is my first time using time stop outside the facility after all.

  We find an empty table and sit down. We waited for a while until we realized something really crucial.

  "Um, if time is stopped, who's gonna prepare our food?" asks Michelle.

  "Y-You're right, haha. . ."

  "Let's do this then!"

  Michelle presents her idea. We went to whichever food caught our attention from the other customer's table.

  "What's this food?"

  I grabbed a roasted chicken that had been smeared with brown sauce. I tore a bit of the meat and gulped it down my throat.

  "MMMHHHHH!!!!!"

  I was surprised by how good it tastes. This tastes nothing like anything I've ever eaten inside that accursed facility.

  Michelle took a bite of a big lobster.

  "MMMMMMMMMMMHHHHH!! TASTE SO GOOOOOOOOOD!!!" Michelle was also surprised by the lobster she ate.

  "And what is this?"

  I took the meat of a grilled fish that had been smeared with yellow seasonings and ate it.

  "OOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!! THIS IS SO GOOOOODDD!!"

  Michelle took a bite out of a fried duck leg.

  "MMMMMMMMMMM!!!!! HEAVENLY!!"

  We proceed to taste foods from all the other tables and enjoy ourselves.

  .

  .

  .

  10 minutes later. . .

  "I'm stuffed!" said Michelle while rubbing her tummy as a sign of satisfaction.

  "Me too, but aren't we too young for these kinds of food?"

  "Who cares, Lily-chan! This is our reward for escaping from that hell!"

  "Ah, I guess you're right!"

  "By the way, Lily-chan, how much left until your time stop is over?"

  "Oh, I actually can hold it as much as I want. So, let's have all the fun!"

  "For real!?"

  "For real!"

  "YEEEEAAAYYY!! LILY-CHAN, YOU'RE THE BEST!!!"

  "Hehehehe, thank you!!"

  Both of us proceed to do whatever we please. We went to a mall. We play hide and seek. We did role play where I was the customer and Michelle was the store clerk. We went to check some girls' shoes. We play dress-up wearing various uniforms. We play some badminton in the middle of the mall. We swim in the most expensive swimming pool in the city. We do almost everything we can think of that we normally couldn't back at the facility.

  Afterward, we decided to head towards the Eiffel Tower. I deactivated my time stop. Everything has moved normally again.

  "Why did you do that, Lily-chan?"

  "Well, you see, I read something a while back that something amazing is going to happen up there when the clock hits 6:00 p.m."

  We queued in line for an elevator that would take visitors to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We waited for 5 minutes until it was finally our turn to enter the elevator.

  The elevator door has closed, and we are ascending to the top of the tower. While going up, we can enjoy the view of Paris from high above. The walls of the elevator are made of glass to let visitors enjoy the beautiful view of the city.

  It was almost nighttime, the clock said 5:59 pm. Once the elevator reached the top of the tower, people inside the elevator rushed out of the elevator to reach the glass wall of the top floor area. Michelle was confused as to why people are so impatient about getting out of the elevator.

  "We should follow them, there must be a reason why most of the visitors are all crowding up the glass wall."

  "Well, that's what I just told you!!" pouts Lily as she feels like Michelle wasn't listening to her earlier.

  I grab Michelle's hand, and we both walk closer to the glass wall. As soon as we reach the glass wall, the clock turns to 6:00 pm. At the same time, the Eiffel Tower lights up along with the city itself. The city lights turn on as if they are spreading all over the area.

  After a few minutes, the city was illuminated by millions of lights. It was the most beautiful scene that both Michelle and I had ever witnessed in our lives. All the visitors shouted words of gratitude and praise. Everyone was so awed by the unrivaled beauty of what had just happened. Paris, the capital city of France, as Michelle said, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it certainly lived up to its reputation. Michelle and I were thrilled by the sight before us.

  "Lily-chan. I suddenly fell in love with this world."

  "What's with you all of a sudden?"

  "You see, ever since my own father gave me away to the facility, I lost any will to live. I feel betrayed. My own father would disown me and throw me away for no reason at all. And living in the facility was just hell. Every day is just pain. I see no reason to continue living. I even purposely messed with the experiments that I was put into so they would get rid of me. Was I born just to be tortured? To be a lab pig with no other options? I hated being alive!"

  "Mi-chan. . ."

  "But, all of that has started to fade away. Ever since I got someone who can relate to my misery."

  Michelle pauses for a second.

  "However, looking at this now. I am happy. I felt like I could get through life. This view. . . This world. . . is truly wonderful. Lily-chan, thank you for being a part of my life. You've changed me."

  Michelle gives out her brightest and most genuine smile. I put my hand on her shoulder.

  "No, I should be the one thanking you, best friend!"

  We continued to watch the amazing scenery after we let out our most personal thoughts.