[Memory Crystal Two: Little Butterfly]

  Maya's Perspective

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  Not much at all. The answer was not much at all.

  Cupcake and I found a bustling marketplace within the Wanderers’ Enclave, not all that different from the one in Snowcrest. The munins, as I surmised, were a type of universal bartering token. And a weak one, at that.

  So far, the tavern allowed me to maintain most of my usual lifestyle, but that was only because Olayemi was so kind. If it were just me, Cupcake, and these five munins, we’d be destitute. Fruit and other foods usually cost one or two munins, but anything pretty, shiny, or otherwise attractive easily exceeded tens, dozens, even hundreds of these accursed coins. It only costs one to die…so why was everything so expensive!?

  My only saving grace was that most of the shopkeepers were Cosmaran, and they tended to give discounts and be open to haggling with other Cosmarans. They seemed to inflate prices when dealing with Reminiscents. And they usually paid.

  Seeing as I could only afford foodstuffs, I decided to approach a butcher and buy Cupcake a cut of meat.

  “How much for this one?” I pointed to a tenderloin.

  “Fifteen,” the gruff shopkeeper replied.

  Woof? Even Cupcake knew the price was ridiculous. But I knew the shopkeeper’s deepest secret, the very antithesis of his entire establishment: he wanted to sell more desperately than I wanted to buy. It was a universal truth among these types of markets, even bartering-based ones like in Snowcrest. Even the mere threat of fumbling a sale was acid to a Snowcrestian market keeper and it would probably be even worse in Reminisce.

  “I can do three,” I said, confidently lowballing him.

  “For this cut?” He raised his eyebrows. “Do you know what animal this is?”

  “No, but I don’t see any fat. No fat, no flavor. It’s worth three.”

  “This is venison.”

  “And so?” I countered. “I can go out into the bush and catch venison myself—”

  “Northern, white tail venison?”

  “You know, I need the exercise! I might take myself up on my own offer…” I turned and started away.

  “Wait!” he called. “I can do ten.” Checkmate.

  “‘Ten?’” I tilted my head. “That’s a weird way to pronounce ‘three.’”

  “I’m not doing three—are you well?”

  “I’m not doing ten. Look, brown spots. It’s an old cut.”

  “Seven!”

  “Eh hehn, now we can do business. Seven, with a two-munin discount.”

  “Discount?”

  “For a returning customer,” I smiled winningly. “A regular. Cupcake is a big girl. I’ll be back often.”

  Woof! Cupcake agreed. The shopkeeper furrowed his brow and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

  “Fine,” he conceded. I dropped the coins into his palm, and he handed me the cut. Cupcake could barely contain herself, salivating just at the sight of it.

  “Thank you,” I smiled. “Pleasure doing business.”

  ***

  “You fed Cupcake venison!?” Olayemi exclaimed, drawing the attention of the patrons who had gathered in my absence. “Are you mad!?”

  “Is it really that bad?” I asked innocently. Venison was a staple food in Snowcrest, we had it with every meal. I was personally sick of it.

  “Venison is a delicacy—a delicacy! She won’t eat anything else! Your pockets are finished!”

  “Food is food to Cupcake,” I assured him. She would eat anything, though ironically, she had a very small appetite. There were deer and elk in the Forest which she could hunt with ease, but I usually only saw her with rabbits. And sometimes mice. She never really ate that much, or that often.

  “Truly?” he started calming down. “I just would hate for you to be wasteful.”

  “Waste? I got the cut for five munins,” I said proudly.

  “For what!?” He got riled up again. “Who did you threaten?”

  “Me? I didn’t threaten anybody. I’m just very persuasive when I want to be.”

  “Blessed by Aphrodite and Hermes? I didn’t know you were the the negotiator.”

  “Something like that,” I smiled, then, changing the subject, “I wanted to ask you something.”

  He leaned in close, so as not to be overheard by the others.

  “I noticed a locked box underneath Marcel’s bed,” I whispered. “Do you have the key?”

  “Of course,” he whispered back. “I’ll open it for you; just wait.”

  ***

  Apparently, he wanted me to wait until I grew grey hairs. I knew he had a tavern to run, but that didn’t make the anticipation any less painful. Finally, seemingly in the middle of the night, when the last patron had left and the last dish was cleaned, Olayemi joined me upstairs.

  “Do you know what’s in the box?” I wondered.

  “Why should I know?” Olayemi led me down the hall to Marcel’s room. “It’s locked.”

  “But you have the key?”

  “I gave Marcel the box, why shouldn’t I have the key? And why should I pick through his belongings?”

  “But you’re letting me pick through his belongings,” I pointed out as we entered the room. I dragged the locked chest from under the bed; it was surprisingly heavy for its size.

  “You’re his sister, abi?” He clicked open the lock. Was that really a valid excuse? I got mad when Val snooped through my things; but at the same time, I didn’t think we were as important to each other as I was to Marcel. I didn’t think any two people could be. So maybe my worries were unfounded.

  Still, it had been locked. Hidden. What was I going to find?

  “I guess that makes sense,” I reasoned awkwardly. I lifted the lid of the chest, revealing even more memory crystals. I picked one up and peered into it

  And saw a Nemonik.

  “Is everything alright?” Olayemi noticed my sudden panic.

  “There’s a Dream-Eater in this crystal.”

  “Egbami,” he muttered.

  As terrifying as it was, I still had an intense feeling of morbid curiosity. The moment Marcel had regained consciousness back in Snowcrest, he’d told me that he’d not only seen a Nemonik, but killed one. This, then, must be the Dream-Eater he vanquished.

  “I want to view it,” I said. True, I probably didn’t hold as much hatred for the Dream-Eaters as other Cosmarans. I was too young to truly internalize the monsters’ impact, so most of my… displeasure towards them was second-hand. I hated them because Marcel hated them. My Cosmaran heritage wasn’t nearly as important to me as it probably should have been. I simply didn’t cling to it the way Marcel did. I was too focused on trying to fit in and belong in Snowcrest, Too focused on trying to earn my way into true acceptance. But maybe that was the monsters’ fault, too. They had uprooted my home, removing me from the one place where acceptance might have been a default, not something quantifiable, earnable, or deniable.

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  So if I was being totally, totally honest, I wanted to view Marcel’s crystal… because I wanted to see the monster killed. Maybe it would feel as though I we had finally taken something back after over a decade of loss.

  “I won’t stop you,” Olayemi shrugged. I laid on the bed, placing the crystal on my forehead.

  “How do you intend to cast it?” he wondered. “I usually use my ring, but I don’t see any runeiron on you.”

  I showed him my fingers.

  “Faux nails,” I explained.

  “Clever girl,” he smiled.

  DOOON!

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  DOOON!

  DOOON!

  DOOON!

  So, they’re in Lab One, I reasoned, leisurely walking behind the rushing Citadel soldiers. I’d been in Hillcrest for just under a month, but I’d only been in this bunker once. There was no reason for me to venture down here, and nothing of interest to me personally. I knew they had their research hidden down here, and I’d been uneasy about this type of mission to begin with; but the Hillcrestian faction happened to be among the quieter, more peaceful factions in the country.

  Even though they were picking fights with Reminisce itself.

  Why they wished so desperately to be annihilated wasn’t a question I bothered to answer. I was just here to collect my munins and return to Maya in Snowcrest; but, of course, trouble waited until my deployment was nearly over to show its ugly head.

  I prayed for these intruders to be amateurs. Then, I could easily dispatch them. But that was unlikely. Hillcrest didn’t bother warring with the other minor factions; their quarrel was solely with Reminisce. It meant they were largely left to their research, but it also meant that these intruders were definitely Reminiscent soldiers; all ranks of whom were substantially better trained than the typical minor faction grunt.

  Egbami…

  I prayed to Ares to grant me strength.

  I continued leisurely walking down the hall, accompanied by five other soldiers. We walked until we found the words ‘LAB ONE’ sloppily painted on the wall. The door to the lab was open. I didn’t get to peer inside before one of the soldiers charged in.

  “They’re ov—”

  DOOON!

  KRSH!

  The toll of the rune ushered in a bone-chilling shriek from the soldier. I didn’t know what struck him, but as his screams were silenced, I knew he’d died a horrific death. I drew my swords as two more soldiers steeled themselves and filed into the lab

  Boof!

  I didn’t hear screaming, but I also didn’t hear any signs of struggle. Before the next soldier could file in, I grabbed his shoulder.

  “You just saw what happened to those three,” I seethed quietly. “And you want to meet their fate, too?” The soldier fearfully shook his head. “Then go up there, and close the door.” He nodded and obeyed.

  “What now?” he inquired.

  “I’m going to shatter it,” I told him and the remaining soldier.

  “Understood,” they said in unison.

  I approached the door and, though it was awkward, managed to send a spinning heel kick at it.

  THNK!

  DOOON!

  The door was reduced to high-velocity splinters, from which the enemies ducked for cover, just as I predicted. My soldiers filed in and moved to surround the intruders.

  The room itself…it disgusted me. Covered cages lined the wall, and papers were scattered about. Severely burnt and necrosed corpses lay on autopsy tables; the putrid stench was overwhelming. The fallen soldiers’ bodies were on the ground; one had his head scorched to oblivion, while the other two were covered in kaleidoscopic dust.

  As we filed in, I managed to catch a glimpse of the intruders. One of them was a brown-skinned, middle-aged man, wearing desert attire and armor. The other—

  “Arthen!” the brown-skinned man cried. “Hand me your sword!” He took Arthen’s sword and bashed open a lock on a nearby cage, and

  S?????????C?????R???????????E??????E?????????????E??????????E?????????E??????????E?????????????!!!

  A Dobermann-sized creature, metal-clad and arachnid, burst out of the cage, unleashing an ear-piercing, triumphant shriek.

  A Dream-Eater.

  Time slowed to a crawl as adrenaline surged through my body.

  The monster dove toward one of the soldiers, slamming him to the ground in a clash of metal, stone, and flesh. Its mandibles tore through his runeiron helmet and crunched into his skull. Blue-white dream essence flooded from his brain into the Dream-Eater’s maw as it violently ravaged the rest of his body.

  I froze in place.

  The second soldier tried in vain to pierce the monster’s exoskeleton, but his sword clanked uselessly against the Dream-Eater’s runeiron carapace. In a single motion, the creature whirled and thrashed his abdomen with serrated claws, cleaving through his armor and tearing out his entrails. He whimpered and fell to his knees, clutching exposed organs in a futile attempt to contain them.

  The monster disregarded him as he gurgled to death on his own blood. No life, no memories to consume.

  It turned toward me, its eight twisted eyes studying me. Its metal-clad legs clinked against the stone floor as it stalked forward. Taunting me, because it knew what its kind had done to my people. To my homeland.

  To my sister.

  I steeled myself, preparing to send this creature to Tartaros where it belonged—

  Preparing to be sent there myself.

  Then, it spoke.

  W????e?????? ?????r???e?????m??????e????????m???b??????e???????r????? ?????y?????o??????u?????????.????..

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  I gasped to consciousness, the spike of terror ripping me free from the dream walk. I was hyperventilating. I couldn’t feel my own body.

  “You’re alright,” Olayemi assured me, taking my hand. I said nothing. It wasn’t helping. I thought I knew fear; I thought I knew hate. But nothing I’d ever felt had amounted to the sheer volume of animus Marcel felt in that crystal. It was disorienting. I didn’t know how it was possible to even survive feeling that way.

  “What happened?” Olayemi asked. “That wasn’t normal. The stone just dropped.”

  “I… don’t know,” I clutched my head. “He felt… I don’t think there’s even a word for it. He was just… scared. So intensely scared that I felt his fear as my own. It tore me out of the crystal.”

  “àyàà,” Olayemi pulled me into a hug. I don’t know how long I stayed there. Weeping. I’d never seen such gore in my life. Not even Vek had looked so… massacred when Cupcake was finished with him. It was horrifying.

  “He didn’t want me to see this…” I whimpered. “I don’t want to watch the rest of it.”

  “If there’s more, then you must see,” he said, stroking my hair.

  “It’s too much…”

  “Yes,” he said softly. “A burden he should not bear alone.”

  I didn’t reply right away. I tried to build up courage but my hands were shaking. Even touching the crystal overwhelmed the nerves in my fingertips.

  “Take your time,” Olayemi said patiently. Eventually, I worked myself up and re-cast the crystal.

  DOOON!

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  W????e?????? ?????r???e?????m??????e????????m???b??????e???????r????? ?????y?????o??????u?????????.????..

  Its vocalizations were unbearable; it spoke within my own mind, its voice seeming to claw away at my very sanity.

  It was a distraction.

  CLANG!

  It leaped for me, but I managed to deflect its pincers with my swords.

  CLANG!

  It swiped at me, but I parried again. I was too used to killing humans. I struggled to find an opening against this beast.

  But it didn’t know how to fight me either.

  It made a mistake.

  It tried to tackle me and bring me to the ground, but its jagged claws bit into my swords, creating a bind. The creature lacked the finesse of a swordsman. It was simply trying to overwhelm me with brute strength and weight, rather than leverage an opening against me.

  I slid my sword down, hooked its leg, and twisted with all my might

  SPLURCH!

  S?????????C?????R???????????E??????E?????????????E??????????E?????????E??????????E?????????????!!! It cried. It tried to escape, but the serrations on its other leg caught on my second blade. I placed my foot on its exposed underside and pushed. Slowly. Painfully. Its other legs couldn’t bend far enough to reach me; it frantically lurched and twisted, but I was stronger.

  I would always be stronger.

  crk.

  Its limb was straining, pulling unnaturally far from the rest of its body, before—

  SPLURCH!

  The leg tore free, sending the monster sprawling backwards toward the cage it had emerged from. It struggled to balance itself, slipping on its own blood while purple ichor torrentially gushed from its two newfound orifices.

  A loathing scowl of disgust crept across my face as I stalked toward the monster. Before I moved to destroy it, it spoke again.

  W????e??????? ??????r???????e????????m??????e???????m?????b??????e????????r??????? ?????????y????o?????u????????, it rasped. W??????e???????????? ?????????l?????????o??????v???e?????????? ?????????????y??????????o????u????????.

  I bit down hard on my inner lip, drawing blood as I fought to keep my eyes in focus. My sword hilts whined as my grip tightened; I could feel my nails punching into my palms.

  W????e??????? ??????r???????e????????m??????e???????m?????b??????e????????r??????? ?????????y????o?????u????????.

  Hatred. So much flooding my brain, I couldn’t even see straight.

  Another distraction.

  CRASH!

  The creature used one of its remaining legs to hook the bars of its cage and rocket it toward me. I threw myself to the ground, narrowly avoiding the cage as it ripped through the air above my head.

  I stood, creeping towards the monster. It was still slipping on its own blood it couldn’t stand or walk.

  T????e?????l?????l????? ????m???e????, it scratched, as I lifted the Shatter rune over its head. H????o??????w???? ??????o?????????l???????d??????? ?????i????????s?????? ????????m?????y?????? ???????l???????i?????t???t?????l??????e???????? ??????b???????u??????t????t?????????e??????r????????f????????l????y????????????

  I hesitated for a second.

  “Yours?” I sneered.

  I brought the guillotine down.

  DOOON!

  The rune detonated the Dream-Eater’s head, staining my pants purple and scattering its exoskeleton’s fragments into a spray of shrapnel.

  The beast was dead.

  Now for the intruders. Perhaps the Dream-Eater was a convenience for them, but they had no idea the ire they had just brought upon themselves.

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  I was still in Olayemi’s arms when the crystal dropped.

  “He only shows me his happy memories, you know.” I murmured. “The ones where he’s on his adventures. I didn’t question it…”

  “It’s okay, my dear.”

  “He never shows me how he really feels… he just doesn’t want me to suffer the way he did. The way he does. But he hides from me—why!? I’m the only one who could possibly understand, yet I don’t…I can’t.”

  “When he comes, and he will, you’ll tell him everything. Better, he will tell you everything.”