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Sunny opens his eyes and finds himself in a white room that’s all too familiar. He hasn’t dreamt in this world since he confessed everything to his friends. Even if that wasn’t that long ago.
Sunny looks down staring at his palms, confirming that he’s himself. He defeated Omori. Everything is okay.
…But why is he here? Why now?
Sunny scans surroundings, the room is slightly more empty than he remembers. Omori’s laptop and sketchbook are gone, and so is Mewo. The only thing that remains is the black light bulb hanging from the endless ceiling, still shining bright.
He stands up and heads for the door, with a faint hope that something would be behind it to explain everything to him.
But when he opens it, there is almost nothing there.
Neighbor's room is vacant, and quieter than it ever was when he— Omori entered it before. The unfamiliarity of it gives Sunny an anxious feeling low in his stomach.
The big yellow cat that previously faced high above them is weak and small now, similar to the one in Faraway.
Sunny crosses his arms in an uncomfortable manner, he’s never liked being alone and all these changes aren't making it any better.
A thought in the back of his head urges him to leave the room, so he does.
Getting out the tree trump was slightly harder than it would’ve been as Omori. Sunny never noticed how tall he got.
Even when outside the tree stump, there is nothing around but him. Something about being alone in an almost endless world like this— one he created himself that was previously filled with vague memories and people that he loved, was both terrifying and utterly confusing.
It didn't make any sense why he would be here again in the first place. Not knowing things about a world he previously knew everything about frustrates him, but he keeps walking, hoping to find anything that could explain.
After a not so long walk, he finds himself going into the playground and stops in his tracks.
A trail of red footsteps was here before him, leading right into the swing sets. Sunny follows them to the swingsets, he needs to make sure he wasn’t just seeing things.
There he is.
Stranger. He’s sitting on one of the swings, staring at the rest of the playground with a blank expression. (Even if it wasn't blank, Sunny thinks it would be pretty hard to tell.) Stranger doesn’t seem to notice Sunny’s presence.
He cautiously sits on the swing next to Stranger, slightly afraid that Stranger will disappear if he gets too close.
He doesn’t.
Stranger’s eyes flash when he sits down , Sunny wonders if he startled him.
“Dreamer,” Stranger starts, but he seems hesitant. “To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you?”
Sunny wishes he could answer that, but he didn’t want to wake up here in the first place. He avoids the question with one of his own. “Where..Where is everyone?”
“Gone.” Stranger answers, as if it's a proper explanation. He opens his mouth to speak again, but promptly closes it, opening it again seconds later. “They… are no longer needed here, it seems.” Uncertainty is laced in his voice.
“And you are?”
That came off ruder than Sunny intended, but Stranger doesn't seem to take any offense.
He does stare at Sunny for a prolonged amount of time though, the gaze his piercing eyes has on Sunny is tense, but captivating.
“….I'm afraid I don't have a proper answer.” Stranger says finally.
That’s no help. Sunny still doesn’t understand why he’s here, and he had wrongfully assumed Stranger had all the answers. Why must his mind continuously trap him in situations like this?
“I don’t understand. I- I know the truth now, I told everyone. I shouldn’t…I shouldn’t be here.”
Stranger finally takes his eyes off him and stares back at the empty playground. Strangers' feelings have always been hard to read due to his… lack of features, but Sunny can tell the shadow is just as confused as him.
“Perhaps you and the flower boy have unfinished business..?” Stranger concludes.
Right. Sunny and Basil haven't spoken, not really spoken since Sunny revealed the truth.
“Then.” Sunny starts, “Why couldn’t my mind show him instead? Why…”
Sunny lets his voice trail off. In almost all aspects, Stranger was Basil.
“The version of him that lived here is not the one that needs you, Dreamer. You know that.”
That isn't what Sunny meant, but he doesn’t want to argue with Stranger right now.
Sunny looks down at his shoes, something Omori never wore.
After a few minutes spent in painful silence, Sunny sighs, it looks like there's nothing he can do but talk.
“I thought..I thought after revealing the truth, everything would be okay again. That we would be okay again. But sometimes it feels like it just made everything worse.”
Stranger is still silent for a moment,
but he stares back at Sunny intensely, as though he’s trying to read his thoughts.
“..Regardless of how you feel, they deserved to know the truth behind the suffering you…we caused. Keeping it hidden in this world for any longer would have only descended you farther into madness.”
It's clear that Stranger cares for him. Even if he still resents Sunny for abandoning him. For abandoning Basil.
…He wouldn’t like himself either.
“I know. I don't regret telling them. I just..I don't know. I'm sorry.” Sunny really hates his inability to properly express his feelings sometimes.
“Don't waste your breath on empty apologies.”
Stranger snaps back, however, it doesn’t sound like it was said to be malicious.
“I am sorry though...For everything. You didn’t deserve to go through all of that because of my own denial.” Guilt is bubbling up inside him again.
“Neither did you. The flower boy created a false truth in his head as well, as an attempt to ensure your protection against others, you’ve seen how that ended up. Regardless of intent, what's done is done.”
Sunny opens his mouth to speak, but Stranger interrupts.
“Please.” He says, “There's no need. I accepted what happened long ago.”
Sunny looks away from Stranger, and back down to his shoes. Guilt , anger , and a sense of longing for a certain blonde haired friend bubble up inside of him, and he’s afraid he won't be able to control which one comes out.
Stranger speaks up again.
“Your souls are intertwined by a string of fate. You two know eachother better than anyone, and it’s imperative that you are a part of each other's lives. You must see him, Dreamer.”
Maybe Stranger really can read his thoughts.
Sunny looked up at Stranger. He was right. After everything they went through, after confessing something he thought they’d take to their graves to everyone, the least they could do is have a conversation with each other, a proper one anyway.
And in fact, Sunny does miss Basil terribly.
Suddenly, the grass under Sunny’s shoes begins to decay before him, and when Sunny looks up he finds everything else is as well.
He quickly turns his head toward Stranger panicked, looking for answers, not caring how helpful they would be.
However, Stranger looks calm. Content even. As if his whole world dying in front of him was something completely normal.
“You’ve made your decision, haven’t you Sunny?”
He asks, though it sounds more like a statement than a question.
Sunny nods slowly.
“I believe I understand why I was here now.”
Sunny swears that beneath the shadows, he can see a faint smile from Stranger.
But, he doesn't say anything, and stares straight ahead.
As the world decomposes in front of them, Sunny and Stranger sit on the swings without a care at all.
Sunny thinks he understands now, too.