Chapter 200: Total Recall 『 Part Three 』
「The anomaly in the great hall was a display screen salvaged from the Herta Space Station. The moment March 7th laid a finger upon it, the surrounding space rapidly disintegrated. When her vision finally cleared, Dan Heng's voice was ringing in her ears.
"March, stay sharp. We need to hurry."
March 7th was just wondering why Fu Xuan had fallen silent, yet there was Dan Heng beside her, urging her to pick up the pace and keep close to him.
March came to a sudden realization: this was a scene from before she had even met Stelle. Yet, eerily, the moment she passed through the gate ahead, the sprinting Dan Heng vanished into thin air. In the lobby stood only Arlan, Asta, Herta… and standing in the distance, watching her with a gaze of absolute frost, was Stelle.
"March 7th, even if you look back, you will only find a chaotic and mutable past." Arlan's tone was tranquil. "You are the sole survivor of the Diamond World, Adlivun—the final princess. The planet was burned to an obsidian hellscape the moment Nanook ascended."
"Filled with despair, your parents swaddled you in warm clothing and placed you into an ice ship. As they watched you sink into the turbulent waves of the starscape, they felt a newfound hope."
"You were found and raised by strangers. You are the only savior, the promise of rebirth." 」
「 .....」
〜DC Extended Universe, Earth-1〜
"This experience of March 7th…"
Inside the Daily Planet editorial building, Clark Kent lifted his head from a mountain of interview notes.
Hearing Arlan's narration, he felt a wave of uncanniness crawl up his spine, like a long centipede undulating countless spindly legs. Was Arlan's story true or false? Could March 7th's origin truly be so identical to his own?
"Kent! That special feature on the Star God of 『 Abundance 』 last time was good writing."
Editor-in-Chief Perry White poked his head out of his office, an unlit cigar clamped in his teeth.
"But next time, make sure you double-check the translation for the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus' Sutra of the Thousand-Handed Merciful Medicus' Salvation… Uh, Kent, what's wrong with you?"
White looked strangely at the clumsy giant of a man. Clark's eyes were half-squinted, his mouth slightly agape, his gaze locked onto Arlan and March 7th in the light screen, motionless… as if he had witnessed something completely beyond comprehension.
"What is it? Is it that Arlan's story is weird, or that he's dissuading March 7th from finding her memories?"
Lois tossed a mint from the adjacent cubicle; it landed precisely in front of Clark's keyboard.
"If you find something odd, you might as well write it down. After all, these guys in the light screen are headaches even for world leaders right now."
Clark felt a wave of vertigo and had to remove his black-rimmed glasses to rub his eye sockets vigorously. At this moment, his heart was pounding violently in his chest, the sound of rushing blood in his ears almost drowning out everything else.
…It appeared again, that sensation of being watched.
"Could it be the influence of the Star God of 『 Remembrance 』?"
Clark's thoughts began to scatter.
He recalled the lore regarding the Star God of 『 Remembrance 』, 「 Fuli 」. He possesses all memories in the universe. Then… He should reasonably possess Clark's memories as well, knowing his Kryptonian heritage like the back of His hand.
Regardless, Little March's experience was too similar to his. If it were a pure coincidence, that would be fine, but if it wasn't…
"Clark, you look really pale. Do you need a ride to the hospital?"
Lois noticed his abnormality.
"I… I'm fine,"
He answered with difficulty, yet his eyes could not tear away from Arlan.
"It's just… this story… I know it too well."
—
「 March 7th was awkwardly flipping through the scenes she had imagined, feeling the crushing weight of public social death.
Asta, standing to the side, was even more outrageous. In her version, March 7th was a Galaxy Ranger who had not only resisted the wars of the Swarm but had also saved a world swallowed by a black hole, and even crushed Dr. Primitive's conspiracy.
In Herta's telling, March 7th transformed into a Star God. Each story was more mystical than the last… it was a brand-new patch note Fu Xuan had never heard of.
But when she came before Stelle, the Trailblazer spoke with a solemn, cold tone.
"Little March, stop reminiscing. What is the necessity of recalling those past events? The moment a Nameless boards the Express, it signifies a rebirth. The path beneath our feet is one of no return."
"Go explore, go trailblaze. Do not stain the honor of the Nameless by looking back."
"Huh?" March 7th was stabbed in the heart by these baffling words about 'staining honor.' This was the first time she had gotten truly angry: "Stop talking! You aren't Stelle, you're nothing like her! She would never be so aggressive here, persuading me to give up on things that are important to me!"
"I don't care who you are; disappear right now and let me pass. And don't you ever pretend to be one of my friends again."
March 7th angrily purged the Stelle before her eyes. The passage behind the illusion revealed itself, within which stood a figure from the Garden of Recollection.
"I am a messenger of the Garden of Recollection. Miss March, please refrain from looking back upon your past." She, like the others, began to dissuade her, using rhetoric that was almost identical. 」
「 .....」
〜Genshin Impact World〜
Teyvat—
Inside the Grand Narukami Shrine on Mt. Yougou, the night breeze brushed gently, cherry blossoms drifting down in the dark.
"Things have reached this stage, and even I am starting to feel strange. What kind of memory is worth the Garden of Recollection being so secretive about?"
Yumemizuki Mizuki was puzzled.
Ei held a cup of Dango Milk, responding calmly:
"If they are merely memories that bring nothing but pain, then perhaps oblivion is a form of mercy."
"Oh my, oh my, Ei. That doesn't sound quite right at all~"
Beside her, Yae Miko chuckled softly, her fox eyes narrowing slightly:
"To forget even one's own past—isn't that 'mercy' a bit too cruel for Little March?"
She gently shook the omamori in her hand:
"Memory is like this knot. Untying it might leave a mess on the floor, but if you never dare to touch it for a lifetime, it remains a dead knot forever."
"Little March wants to untie this dead knot. Just that spirit of stubbornly defying the Garden's people… I think it's quite admirable."
"But there exists another possibility…"
Ei's gaze shifted slightly, looking at the face of the Messenger in the light screen, transparent as glass.
"Once March 7th retrieves her memories, the Garden may no longer be able to protect her, correct?"
"Protect?"
Miko leaned close to Ei's ear as if hearing a joke, her breath like an orchid, smiling radiantly:
"Ei, would you consider an insect trapped in amber to be protected by the resin?"
"…"
Ei's gaze trembled slightly.
"The March 7th of today… is that little insect trapped in the resin. She doesn't even have the freedom to seek her past, so what 'protection' is there to speak of?"
—