Chapter Text
Ren and Sophia do eventually return to Ganondorf and Dracula, but the two quickly form some form of wall as if trying to keep something out of view.
The smell hits him first, and he looks up at the two with dread.
Trying to swallow his fear, Ren asks, “What… are you hiding?”
Before either of them try to come up with an answer, they exchange glances. “Okay,” Dracula starts, his voice uncharacteristically shaky, “We’re going to show you what we found, but…”
“But what?”
Ganondorf is the next to speak. “You’re going to want to brace yourself. Emotionally.”
“I think I can handle it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Dracula sighs and folds his arms. “If you really think that… then go ahead and see for yourself. Just… don’t say we didn’t try to warn you.”
Ren’s stomach ties up into knots, and he takes a few deep breaths. He makes an effort not to gag on the stench of… whatever they’re hiding. After stepping past the two, he gets closer to the scene, which has been roped off. As if it’s a crime scene.
Dracula turns to the scene, then to Ren. “Just know that none of this is your fault. Nobody here did anything wrong to lead to this happening.”
He suddenly feels cold and nervous, yet he doesn’t know why. He feels himself looking down at the scene. Himself, Sophia, and the experienced adults that had found his friends in this state.
He feels almost disembodied as his reality starts to crumble before his eyes. Any hope of ever getting to see her again in pieces, with the flesh torn from her bones and her hair gone. Everything that made Makoto herself is gone. He only knows it's her because of the revolver a short distance from the body. Then to her left, Yusuke, who is in the same state as her. At least it seems like they put up a fight.
Ren hears himself scream until his voice turns raw, then into quiet and broken tears.
Sophia cries, too, but quieter.
“I… what… no, no, no… this isn’t real, is it?” Ren frantically holds Makoto’s skeletal hand, hoping to some uncaring god that this is all just a bad dream.
“I’m sorry,” Dracula admits, “I wish it was just a nightmare we can just wake up from. We think an infected cached them here to eat later.”
Ganondorf lightly swats Dracula’s arm and then turns his attention to Ren. Past the trees, he spots something and stands bolt upright. Trying to get a good look at his surroundings in spite of the trees in his way.
As he continues to observe, he isn’t sure what he’s even looking at. The two figures are moving so quickly it’s hard to pick up on. Once Dracula notices, however, he tracks them like a hawk.
Finally, the two approach-- a woman in a heavy kimono, and a nine-tailed fox. They look at Ren with what appears to be… pity? As if they can’t be sure if Ren can even see them or not. The woman starts to cry, hugging herself.
Ren looks up slightly when he hears her and jumps to his feet. Out of instinct, he hides behind Dracula. After taking a moment to compose himself, though, he approaches the figures. He recognizes them quickly and tries to hug them, only for the fox to deftly jump back. The woman, however, immediately hugs back.
“So it is you,” Ren whispers, his voice shaking.
Ganondorf leans over to Dracula and whispers, “[Shouldn’t ghosts be… you know, intangible?]”
“[Not exactly. But I also imagine the ghosts you’re used to generally are like that.]”
“[They are. My games aren’t that diverse with the supernatural.]”
“[You remember the yokai spirits from back before this started?]”
“[From that Yokai Watch thing? Not really. I remember seeing a couple, maybe.]”
“[Basically, it’s that. These ghosts here are tangible.]”
Ganondorf looks at the ghosts again and mutters, “Bizarre.”
Ren finally steps back and looks at the two again, and it quickly dawns on him that if their bodies are right there? But their ghosts are right there?
Wait.
Wait, no, no, no.
This?
This. It… what, wait, no.
Wake up. I just need to wake up and this will end. I’m going to wake up with a start in bed and none of this will have happened, right?
He quickly turns to Sophia and gestures towards his face. “Sophia, I want you to slap me in the face.”
“Why?” She asks.
“Just please do it, I need to wake up from this nightmare.”
With some hesitation, Sophia gently takes Ren’s glasses off and slaps him clean across the face. He’s immediately sent to the ground. After a few moments, he gets back up, visibly horrified.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
How is this hard to believe, there’s undeniable proof this is real.
This is essentially the end-all-be-all worst case scenario.
Ren slowly reaches for the gun in his holster without realizing it until he takes the weapon in his hand.
Dracula notices and calmly requests, “Ren, I understand that this is a lot to take in. I do not trust you with that pistol. Please give me the weapon.” He moves Ganondorf behind him for safety.
“Why? I’m responsible with it,” Ren answers, lazily pointing his gun at random.
“I’m concerned that you’re going to hurt yourself,” Dracula calmly approaches. “Please give me the weapon.”
“Why shouldn’t I just do it, anyway? The majority of the people I love most are dead, and they’ve been dead, so what’s the point?”
“The point is that going through with it isn’t going to make any of this easier to handle.”
“So how do you know that? How do you know that dying right now is going to make this worse? Why shouldn’t I just shoot myself right now and spare us all the trouble? I just want to be with Maki Roll again!”
Dracula suddenly loses his composure and shouts, “I've killed myself before! Going through with this won't solve anything, and I know that better than anyone! Are you sure you want to do this? I know that you don't actually want to die. You want the pain to stop, and this is permanent, don’t you get it?!”
The sudden yelling and what he said causes Ren to pause. His eyes go from devastation to confusion, and he slowly hands the weapon over. “...I don’t know what else to do…”
“I know, kid. You’re allowed to not know what to do.”
“I feel… lost. Like I don’t know what to do… What can I even do from here? I don’t want to leave either of them in the woods to rot.”
“I understand. With the right amount of care, we can move them to a proper resting place, if you’re okay with it.”
Ren barely answers, instead breaking down crying all over again, hugging Dracula as tightly as he can. Dracula encourages him to let go and nods.