bondsofsuffering | IC Contact; DESTINY STRINGS

"It might have already started, but you're a part of it, aren't you?"

Before he could say anything else, one of the black pieces flew into his hand, landing and turning into a facsimile of himself, as a cheap plastic toy from a dollar store. It might remind him of the various memorabilia of the Visitors around the city. Crude, not quite good, but still recognizable.

"I think it's only far!" the voice added.

...Suddenly, this game seems far less whimsical. His gaze sharpens, and although there's still that dreamy haze to it all, he's suddenly taking it far more seriously than before.

"...Is letting someone like me decide the outcome really such a good idea?"

There's a faint smile tugging at his lips. Not happy, nor sad, or even angry. Just an empty smile, as per the norm.

Moving to the black side's chair, he'll take a closer look at the pieces at his disposal, setting down his own piece in its original spot if he can place it.

He blinks, and the piece returns to its original look as normal. His side chosen, someone takes the other white seat, jumping up to hoist themselves, before placing both her tiny little hands on the table.

Now he can see her clearly; a girl no more than a few years old. She grins back at him, brown hair and piggy-tails swishing as she keeps looking from the table to him.

"What's your name, mister?"

According to dream logic, this is perfectly normal and he accepts it without comment.

"Hizumi. And who might you be?"

He keeps his voice gentle and warm; the type you use around kids her age without reaching too far into the falsetto baby talk zone.

Everything is awesome when you're in a dream!

"I'm..." she opens her mouth excitedly. "I'm....I...I forget" She sits back to her seat, pouting, but looking sad, her elbow scrapping the side of the chair a little too fast. "Owww!"

He actually stands up a little in his seat. She hasn't fallen off or anything, but it's hard not to be concerned when a little kid hurts herself, no matter how minor.

"Ah-- that's bad! Are you okay?"

"It stings..." she winces, pointing to the red part of her elbow. There's a tiny bit of blood, but nothing too damaging. "Don't worry I'll be fine. But for some reason...I'm more worried about you, mister."

Yeah, it's probably safe to say that she'll live. But those sure are curious words for a kid who's just bumped her elbow.

"And why would that be?"

She points to the chessboard, as the pieces begin to scatter, move by themselves again. While those on the black side seem to follow the rules, the white pieces don't appear to be very chess-like.

"You're all being pushed around. Maybe I know something, and that's why I can't remember my name..."

...Well that's curious.

"You aren't cheating, are you? Those moves aren't very fair."

His tone is, somehow, not at all accusatory. More... teasing, really. She's still a child after all.

She holds up her hands in defense. The teasing might have completely gone over her head.

"Oh no no mister! That's not me! I've just been watching them when they come here. Sometimes the pieces just move too...I've been stuck here for a while. You're the first Visitor I've seen here with my own eyes!"

Now that's an interesting thing to say.

"Stuck here? What do you mean?"

"In this place," she explains. "I dunno why. It's not bad, but it does get boring when I'm alone." She looks downwards sadly for a few seconds before perking up again.

"H-hey mister! Do you think...actually...do you mind giving me a name?"

"Ahh, that sounds pretty lonely... Especially if the only thing you get to do is watch a game play itself."

What a terrible fate, especially for someone so young. When she asks for a name, it gives him a short pause.

"...You're sure about that? You don't want to find your own name instead?"

"It's okay. There's still the water close by, and sometimes others come, like I mentioned...they talk to me a bit too."

She looks at him, hopeful.

"Oh yeah, I do want to find out! But...having a temporary name would at least give me something to call myself..."

"Well, if it's just for now..."

He scratches at his chin very theatrically before snapping his fingers, as if suddenly struck with an idea.

"How about 'Hikari'? We can spell the 'hi' part with the character for fire - just like my name. Ah, but the second one is the character for flower, and the third one for village. A cute name for a cute kid!"

...Oh goodness, it looks like she's about to cry--No wait, never mind. She's crying.

"Waaaaah! Mister, that's a beautiful name! You're too kind! Thank you! Thank you! I'll make sure to tell everyone else that comes in here to call me that, I promise!"

Oh no, he didn't mean to make her cry. Now he's definitely on his feet, moving to pat her comfortingly on the head.

"Hey, hey, hey! Now's not the time to be crying! Besides, it's just a placeholder. You have to make sure you find your real name, okay?"

"Okay!" She nods back at him, using her hands to dry away her tears, before she looks behind him, suddenly worried.

"Oh no, the board fell down!" Indeed, the entire chess set had fallen into the sand, half buried. "I'm gonna have to set it up before they show up again...but I'll make sure that they call me by Hikari this time!"

As she moved to stand up, there was a noise far off into the ocean, a creature howling.

"Ahhh...I guess you have to leave now."

Curiouser and curiouser. His eyes only glance fleetingly at the board before his gaze goes to the ocean in the distance.

"...Who do you mean by 'they'? And what was that sound...?"

"The others that come here like I said before!"

She turns towards the ocean.

"It's sad...I don't know it much, but even if it looks like a giant monster, it's actually really sweet! I think it's just is afraid that you'll try to harm me, but it doesn't know better. I'll talk to it so it understands, okay?"

She puts her tiny hands to one of his.

"Here, take this, meanwhile! It's a gift!"

> Obtained a small silver key.

"I don't know what it's for, but the man with the butterfly mask gave me to me a while ago, and said to give it to the first visitor that shows up. He said you'd be able to find what it unlocks..."

He automatically reaches out to accept the key, although his mind begins working away quickly. Man with the butterfly mask? But that would have to be--

"Wait-- You've met Philemon?" This time his words are hasty. Suddenly, this dream seems so much more important than before. Pity he only realized it once his time was nearly up.

"What was he doing here? Actually, where are we--?"

Damn it. He should have been more aware. Why hadn't he thought to ask these things earlier-?!

"We're---" Of course, dreams are fickle things. His mind is starting to become aware and he's waking up. The loud howling is growing strong at each second, making it harder for Hizumi to speak over it. "--and don't worry, We'll see each other again!" the newly named (for now!) Hikari says, waving.

The last thing he will remember before waking up is the figure getting closer. It was still too hard to make out its details but...it was huge.

When he wakes up, the key will be in his hand, but unlike everyone else who had dreams this week, a feeling of calmness will overwhelm him for a few seconds before leaving.

And as a result, he'll be decidedly sluggish in getting up, realizing only when he reaches to run a hand over his face that the key is, in fact, there.

...

Hikari, huh? Wonder if there's a way to get back to her.

A deserted place like that definitely isn't a good place for a kid, even if (no, especially if) decides to pop in every once in a while.

IC Contact; DESTINY STRINGS | CLOSED

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