Stelle opened her eyes, feeling a bit disoriented. She rubbed her temples, trying to recall what had happened.
"The red person... Ugh... Where... is this place?"
Stelle clutched her head in pain, swaying as she stood up from the Dreamscape Pool. She looked around and found herself in an unfamiliar room. Everything here seemed so strange and unreal, as if she were in a dream.
"Am I back at the hotel? No... The feeling... The atmosphere is a bit like the scenery when I first entered the dream..."
Stelle frowned. The room's layout indeed resembled the one she first saw when she entered the dream. Twisted clocks hung on the walls, their hands seemingly spinning wildly out of control, making a ticking sound. And that eerie music continued to echo in her ears, sending shivers down her spine.
[Mikhail, where did you go]
A child's questioning voice faintly emerged from the air, and Stelle's heart skipped a beat. Floating text also appeared in the air.
[It's so quiet, only the ticking of the clock]
"Oh my god... This is too creepy," Stelle swallowed and walked towards the door.
[Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock]
[The studio door is unlocked...]
Stelle pushed open the door and saw a familiar figure looking at a fallen Memory Zone Meme.
"Firefly?" Stelle asked.
Firefly's body trembled, seemingly startled, then she turned around and said, somewhat happily, "...Stelle! You're here too, as expected."
["Qingque: She's feeling guilty, huh."]
["March 7th: Aren't you concerned at all about the Memory Zone Meme on the ground? How could a little girl take down a Memory Zone Meme with her bare hands?"]
["HuoHuo: Exactly, exactly! The Memory Zone Meme Protection Association is highly concerned about this!"]
"Are we... already dead...?" Stelle frowned, looking around.
"I... don't know." Firefly shook her head, then explained.
"Regardless, we must still be in a dream, not somewhere else, and certainly not reality... The air has the unique tactile sensation of remembrance; I can't be mistaken."
"But this place is so different from the beautiful dream I'm familiar with. It's confined... secluded... unsettling... And these floating texts, you can see them too, right? Penacony, under the Family's governance, couldn't possibly have a place like this. So, is it a dream bubble...?"
"No, that's not right—think carefully, before we lost consciousness, didn't your 'friend' say something like this—this is the true dream..." Firefly frowned, trying hard to recall what had happened earlier.
["Himeko: Multiple dreams. Is this the secret hidden within the Family, the true dream, the true... Penacony?"]
["Gallagher: It looks like many things are about to be revealed."]
["Misha: This place... I think I've seen it... Strange... Why can't I remember?"]
"I should have been suspicious of him... I'm sorry. Anyway, the Family must have hidden some important information from us, especially about the truth of the dream..."
"And, didn't you notice when you woke up? The surroundings are filled with clocks and ticking sounds... My intuition tells me that the secret hidden here is very likely related to that mysterious 'Clockmaker'," Firefly said, looking around.
"If this secret points to the Clockmaker's legacy, then it will directly affect everyone currently in the dream of Penacony."
"Let's go, Stelle... To find out the truth, and to be able to leave this place, we must act." Firefly looked at Stelle with a serious expression and firm eyes.
Stelle nodded in agreement: "I understand... Anyway, let's follow this path first and see."
After walking for a while in the corridor, text floated up again before their eyes.
[I understand, we're playing hide-and-seek, right?]
"Who's speaking?"
"I'm not sure... But I don't feel good about this." Stelle tightened her grip on her baseball bat.
Stelle and Firefly continued to move forward, but the path in this dream was unusual. The road was filled with numerous breaks and distortions, forcing them to proceed cautiously and slowly. Sometimes, they had to rely on remembrance to repair the broken sections of the road before they could continue.
As time passed, the sounds and texts in the air became more numerous.
[Mikhail]
[Can't find him, can't find him anywhere]
[Where is he] [Where is he] [Where is he!]
The sounds and texts in the air became increasingly chaotic. Stelle mused to herself, it seemed she was indeed on the right path.
As the two stepped onto the wall to look out, the distant fountain, from this unique perspective, resembled a magnificent waterfall, complementing the deep blue remembrance void like a colossal Hole, creating a breathtaking sight. And within the void, countless small fish floated leisurely, making for a spectacular scene.
Firefly gazed intently at the dreamlike scenery before her, murmuring involuntarily, "It's so magical... This kind of beauty should only appear in dreams..."
Her gaze was drawn to the constantly appearing and disappearing texts, and she couldn't help but wonder, "Since just now, these texts have been appearing and vanishing endlessly. Are they the voice from someone's deepest thoughts? Who exactly is 'Mikhail'...?"
"Mikhail... That name sounds so familiar; I seem to have heard it somewhere before." Stelle pondered, trying hard to search for clues about this name in the depths of her Memory.
["Misha: Mikhail... Mikhail..."]
["Yanqing: Is Misha thinking of something? If there are any clues, please don't hesitate to share."]
["Misha: ...I... I can't remember... But I... feel very familiar."]
["Himeko: This is getting more and more interesting. Little Misha has actually heard this name."]
["Misha: I feel a bit... uncomfortable... I'll rest for a bit, sorry."]
Firefly, beside her, murmured to herself, "I seem to be able to feel the... emotions contained within these texts. There's confusion... fear... sadness... and that faint, almost imperceptible..."
"Determination to face death." Firefly said the last sentence very softly, but with a kind of firm strength.
[Mikhail, you look troubled]
[Is it something important?]
[Tell me, Mikhail!]
[It's so dark... so dark here]
[Mikhail... Please don't go, okay?]
[At least take me with you... please... I beg you]
Stelle and Firefly arrived at a large door at the end of the corridor, and what appeared before them was an incomplete puzzle. The deeper door ahead was tightly shut, and as the two puzzle pieces were seen, they began to fly towards the small rooms on either side.
"There's only... one puzzle here?" Firefly mused. "The pieces seem to have flown into the small rooms."