Narrator's Pov
Ryan frowned a bit as he looked around, finding himself again in March's room, but it looked a bit more plain, less plushies or decorations around, he looked to his right and saw a wall that had less than ten pictures in it.
"Uwa~ I'm so tired~"
Looking back, he saw March fall on her own bed, Dan Heng standing behind her.
"You're tired because you made us do community work"
"I already said I was sorry!" She rose her voice looking at him.
"These must be March's first days as a trailblazer? She doesn't seem to have taken that many pictures yet..." He sighed softly. "I have to go even deeper"
"You should stop"
Ryan immediately created an ethereal katana in his hand and turned around, seeing a woman dressed in white, her face covered by a blue mask, he frowned lightly as he pointed the weapon at her.
"You...are a member of the Garden of Recollection, aren't you?"
"You should leave this place, you have no right to explore these memories"
"I could say the same to you, but unlike you, I have March's consent, now tell me, why are you here?" He approached the woman slowly.
The woman instead of replying simply dissapeared, Ryan clicked his tongue and made the weapon disaapear, looking around, he saw the many pictures in March's wall, but none of them seemed to link to a memory, there was also no other photo around the room.
"Is that person really trying to stop me? Who is March? To have followers of Fuli avoiding her memories to be taken back..." He narrowed his eyes before he widened them. "Could it be that Fuli themselves sealed March's memories? But why...why seal this random girl's memories?..."
There were no more links to March's memories, but that didn't mean he had ran out of options, he slowly kneeled down and put both hands on the floor.
"Sorry March...I'll try to not hurt you"
A magic circle appeared under him, the atmosphere seemed to start warping and bending around him, it shifted into a stadium, then back into the Express, all memories around him started to warp from one to another, a small cut appeared on the wall of a memory and Ryan immediately stopped.
"...sorry March, I Hope that didn't hurt" he sighed and looked around. "I'm here..."
He was in March's room again, but unlike before, it was completely plain, no pink, no plushies, no pictures, only Himeko, Welt, Dan Heng, in a chunk of ice in the middle of the room where a Frozen March was completely unconscious.
"To think even while unconscious her soul was already experiencing all of this..."
"What you are doing is very dangerous" the Messenger of the Garden of Recollection spoke from behind Ryan.
"Why are you putting effort into this? Is March someone close to you? Is she dangerous? Or did you just pick a random person with memory issues to annoy?"
"And why do you care so much? March 7th is who she is now, why try and find out who she was before that?"
"I'm not here for myself, I'm here for March, she wants to know about her past and I'll help her" Ryan turned around looking at the Messenger. "And you're in the middle"
The Messenger lifted up a hand and the memory immediately started to shift, Ryan now found himself into Herta's Space Station, specifically on the bridge where the Express normally stopped.
"You might have come here, but memories are not your realm" the Messenger's voice echoed across the place.
"...."
"Leave this place at once, if not, I'll have to force you out"
Ryan looked around, seeing the memories of monsters from the Fragmentum, of members of the Antimatter Legion and even of some Silvermane guards appear all around him, Ryan then sighed softly.
"March is a good girl, she's kind, optimistic, reliable and looks out for everyone, I don't think she deserves something like this" he closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm going to give her the truth behind her past"
"Even if that truth hurts her?"
"Everyone will be hurt at some point, but how they get hurt doesn't matter, it matters how they handle that pain." Ryan opened his eyes and created an ethereal katana in his left hand. "And I'm sure March will still hold her smile at the end."
Ryan smiled and tightly held the handle of his weapon, looking at the monsters around him he also opened his right hand creating a flame on his palm.
"Yes, I've decided" Ryan started. "March is my friend, if she wants her memories back, I'll find a way to give them to her, even if I have to go through every single member of the Garden or Recollection to get them"
As soon as he finished speaking, the various memories launched themselves directly at him, ready to stop him.
...
"Maybe this was a mistake..."
March looked nervously at the memory of Ryan, who was apparently talking with Bronya, she found herself in the Supreme Guardian's office, as soon as she grabbed the weapon she found herself taken there.
March looked at the two of them and she recoiled slightly as she saw Bronya hug Ryan, she quickly turned around to not look at the scene.
"I think my curiosity is satiated for now! I need to find a way out of here"
March looked around the room and soon found another katana buried on the ground, she walked and in a bit of a hurry she grabbed the handle, jumping slightly as the atmosphere around her changed, she now found herself in a room of Goethe's Hotel, specifically, on Ryan's.
"Wait, no, I wanted to get out not go backwards..." She scratched her head a bit nervous.
March looked at Ryan and widened her eyes slightly, seeing him facing a woman dressed in black, with a dark veil covering her head and some of her face.
"Uh? Who's that?..."
"...would you have preferred that those new friends of yours entered here and saw me? How would they react I wonder...to what I am and to what you are and what you've done~" the woman's voice echoed dimly around the room.
"Leave...I have no more questions for you" the memory of Ryan replied, glaring directly at the woman.
March saw the woman in black dissapear suddenly, she then looked at Ryan, who looked clearly tired, March burrowed her brows slightly as she looked at him lying down on the bed.
"What he is..." She murmured.
"Are you curious?"
A cold hand covered March's mouth from behind, while another just as cold hand went directly around her neck, not choking her, but firmly holding her, March panicked and tried to move her head slightly, seeing the woman in black behind her.
"To think I'd find a little girl wandering around my dear Ace's soul~" the grip around March's neck tightened slightly. "Should I tear you apart right now?"
"I thought I would be the only one here! Is she a memory that got conscience or something?!" March's thoughts started to try and make sense of the situation. "Who is this woman?!"
"Hmmm~ no, I can use this, listen, girl" the grip on March's neck loosened a bit and the woman leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Be sure to watch everything, don't close your eyes"
The woman let March's neck go and instead grabbed her by her hair, hardly yanking on it she threw March to the side, dark smoke engulfed the girl and then she found herself slowly floating under water, she tried to not breathe or open her mouth and instead started to swim upwards, she didn't know if she could die while in Ryan's soul, but right now she didn't want to find out.
Getting her head out of the water she breathed otut loudly. "Gah! What was that?! Where did that woman bring me?!"
March looked around, seeing how she was now in a lake, looking up she saw the rock ceiling covered by some crystals that glowed lightly giving the impression of them being stars, a light made her left eye close slightly, she looked to her left and saw a wooden boat getting close alongside a blue light.
"A boat? Could I go on top of it? Better than staying in the water..."
She swam a bit towards the boat, and as soon as it got close enough to her she climbed on top, seeing someone sitting on it, with a blue lantern lying on his side, March looked at the person who was wearing a dark cloak around him alongisde a hood, but she was able to see the few white strands of hair.
"Is this Ryan?"
The boat suddenly stopped and the person stood up and removed the hood with his right hand, showing that it was actually Ryan, he let out a soft sigh and grabbed the lantern, rising it up in front of him.
"Fallen God! I've come to purify myself and erase this curse put on me!"
"Fallen God? Curse?" March looked at him a bit confused.
All the crystals on the ceiling of the cave started to glow brighter, March looked up at the crystals and then down at Ryan, who slowly unclipped the cloak letting it fall on the boat.
"If you wish to erase your curse, throw my lantern into the water, and face your trial" a distorted voice echoed across the cave.
March looked as Ryan slowly put the lantern on top of the water, he then let out a soft sigh before letting go of it allowing it to fall into the water, almost immediately, the water started to glow and turn into a more light colour, then, the distorted voice echoed again.
"You, who wish to erase your curse, step forward, your trial shall be combat..."
Ryan stepped out of the boat, his foot pressed against the water, as if it was common ground, walking slightly away from the boat, he slowly took off the upper half of his coat and kimono shirt, slowly folding both around his waist, letting March see the Ice growing from the shoulder down his arm almost reaching his elbow.
"You will face..."
From under the water, a huge amount of people started to come out, of different ages and even species, animals, monsters, men, women and even children and elderly.
"All those who died by your hands."
March widened her eyes hearing the words of that voice echoing through the cave, she tried to count all of the persons who appeared, but simply by looking she could estimate the amount of people to be in the hundreds or probably around a thousand.
"Ryan...what did you do...?
"None of you are real..." The memory of Ryan let out a short sigh. "You're just projections...fakes"
Ryan slowly drove a hand to his left hip, grabbing the handle of a katana and he quickly unsheathed it pointing the weapon towards all the projections.
"If I have to go through every single one of you again...so be it"
March looked in silence as the memory of Ryan launched himself directly at the people, starting to slash through then without a second thought, March, slowly tried to reach out and call out to him but again, the cold hand of the woman in black went around her neck from behind.
"Shhh~ he can't hear you" the soft and cold voice of the woman made March's skin crawl. "You see him, don't you? I want you to keep looking"
The woman's other hand grabbed the front of her hair pulling on it to make her look directly at the scene, March could only see Ryan slashing through the people, through the monsters, demons, and regular humans around him.
"Think about it, if he has to fight them, that means he killed them at some point" behind March, the woman slowly smiled. "Look a the children, how many did he kill? How many innocent and common people do you see, can you even count them all? Seeing all the ones he killed, can you imagine him even caring about any lives at all?"
"W-who are you?" March asked but the woman immediately tightened the grab around her neck. "Ack!"
"I didn't bring you here to talk, I want you to see the kind of person Ace truly is"
"Ace?...does she mean Ryan?"
"He went through all those people out of selfishness, boredom, anger or simply because he was ordered to, I'm sure that if he was ordered to do it, he'd kill you"
"He wouldn't... we're friends."
"As he ever called you that way? He hasn't, the only reason he travels with all of you is because it's convenient for him, he'll get all the use he can from you and then he'll ditch you all, he's quite a bad person, wouldn't you agree?"
"No! Ryan is...a good person"
"Can you really say all that while looking at this?"
A few tears started to form on March's eyes. "I..."
The woman perked her head up slightly, she let out a soft sigh and let go of March's neck and hair, letting the girl fall on her knees on the boat, her cold stare looking down at her.
"Looks like our time is ending soon...if you tell Ace about any of this, I'll slit your throat and the ones of all those who are in your little group"
The woman dissapeared, letting March's alone on the boat, she sobbed slightly, putting a hand around her neck while she slowly looked forwards, seeing Ryan still taking down all the ones around him.
"Ryan...please stop..."
...
"Are you ready to end this?"
Ryan pulled the ethereal katana out of the memory of a Reaver, looking up at the member of the Garden of Recollection, who simply grunted.
"You...what are you?"
"If you can see memories, you should know" He replied while making his weapon disaapear.
The woman kept herself silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Aeon...of Guilt..."
"Leave, let me see March's past, and I won't have to kill you"
"...I can't do that, this girl's past must stay a mystery"
"...Fine"
Ryan jumped up towards the messenger, but she immediately rose a hand and the entire place changed, Ryan was now in March's room again, he clicked his tongue due to not seeing the messenger anywhere, he looked at the chunk of ice floating in the middle of the room, the unconscious March still frozen inside of it.
"March...who did this to you?" His voice came out soft as he gently put his hand against the ice. "I can't go further back, not while that woman is intervening..."
He closed his eyes trying to think of a way of continuing forwards, he could force himself again, but going into memories that could already be damaged due to their sealing or erasure could seriously Injure March's soul, and with that messenger he couldn't safely move around either...
"I'll have to end the spell...we can try again when the Garden of Recollection doesn't intervene..."
Ryan sighed softly and closed his eyes, after a few seconds he opened them again, finding himself in March's actual room, he looked forwards at March, seeing the girl's eyes slightly unfocused and dull.
"March, I finished the spell" he slowly grabbed her shoulder to shake her slightly.
The girl suddenly jumped and quickly stood up, freeing herself from his grab. "Y-yes! I noticed! Don't worry"
He slowly stood up and let out a sigh. "Sorry March, I couldn't find anything from before the express found you...the Garden of Recollection wouldn't let me"
"The...Garden of Recollection?" she looked at him before starting to laugh. "W-well it's what I expected hahaha, maybe I really am some sort of princess"
"...listen March, I-"
"Bah! Bah! You'll tell me later" she quickly got behind him and started to push him to the door of her room. "I have to take my beauty nap, and you can't stop a lady from taking one of those"
"I-if you say so" Ryan looked slightly puzzled at her as the door opened and March pushed him out of her room. "I'll come back later then"
"Okay~ bye-bye!"
March quickly closed the door, Ryan let out a soft sigh, he slowly walked away, but gave a small look towards the door before he simply continued.
From the other side of the door, March's hand still held the handle of her door, her fingers and hand trembling as she slowly let go of it, giving a few steps back she sat down on the floor and hugged her knees, a few tears starting to go down her face.
"Ryan...what are you?"
★ ★ ★
A/N: Man, I'm feeling sloppy again, I feel like I'm now writing more often but at the price of quality...but I don't know how any of you guys feel with these recent chapters so this might just be me feeling weird because I'm writing quickly.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!