MEMELAND

The door closed.

Kai was gone.

The room fell silent.

For several moments, only the distant sounds of the city remained.

The glow of neon lights reflected across the glass walls of the chamber.

Far below, thousands of people continued their lives.

Unaware.

Alice stood beside the window.

Watching.

Thinking.

Behind her, Raj continued eating snacks.

The pile beside her had become concerning.

Alice didn't turn around.

"Raj."

Raj grabbed another snack.

"Hm?"

Alice's voice sounded different.

Not playful.

Not smug.

Serious.

Raj paused.

Then looked up.

"What?"

Alice remained silent for a moment.

Then asked,

"Do you remember how many years it's been?"

Raj blinked.

"Since what?"

"Since we arrived."

A pause.

Understanding crossed Raj's face.

"Oh."

She thought for a moment.

Then shrugged.

"One hundred fifty?"

"Two hundred?"

"I honestly forgot."

Alice laughed quietly.

"Yeah."

"Something around there."

Neither spoke for a while.

The city lights flickered below.

Eventually Alice spoke again.

"We weren't the first batch."

Raj nodded.

"I know."

"And we weren't the last."

"I know that too."

Alice rested both hands against the glass.

Her reflection stared back.

Older.

Tired.

Though her appearance never changed.

"When we first arrived..."

Her voice softened.

"I thought we'd all die within a year."

Raj laughed.

"So did I."

"Remember the forest?"

"The Forest of Summoning?"

Raj smiled.

"Hard to forget."

They both remembered.

A different time.

A different world.

A group of confused strangers appearing beneath unfamiliar skies.

People from different worlds.

Different cultures.

Different lives.

Forced together by fate.

Or something worse.

Alice continued.

"We were idiots."

Raj immediately nodded.

"We really were."

"No plan."

"No food."

"No idea how magic worked."

"No idea where we were."

"No idea why we were here."

Raj laughed.

"And somehow Akshay became king."

Alice groaned.

"Don't remind me."

Both girls laughed.

For a brief moment, the weight disappeared.

Then reality returned.

Alice's smile faded.

"Lee stayed."

Raj nodded.

The memory was clear.

Tchoco Lee.

The one who chose the forest.

The one who decided to help future Drifters.

The one who never stopped helping people.

Alice smiled.

"He always was too nice."

Raj smirked.

"Still is."

Silence returned.

Then Alice quietly said,

"We don't age."

Raj looked at her.

"We know."

"We don't get sick."

"I know."

"We only die if we're killed."

Raj sighed.

"I know, Alice."

"What's your point?"

Alice finally turned around.

For the first time, there was no smile.

No act.

No performance.

Just Alice.

The person beneath the Queen.

"The letter."

Raj's expression changed.

Immediately.

The letter.

Akshay's warning.

The Dark Organization.

Alice slowly walked back toward her desk.

"They're back."

Raj didn't answer.

Because she knew.

Alice continued.

"When we first arrived..."

"Cult sightings were rumors."

"Stories."

"Whispers."

"Nothing more."

She looked toward the city.

"Demons existed."

"Of course they did."

"But not like this."

"Not every day."

"Not everywhere."

Raj lowered her gaze.

Alice's voice became quieter.

"The organization disappeared."

"No trace."

"No clues."

"No survivors."

"For a hundred years."

"Then suddenly..."

She tapped the folded letter on her desk.

"...this."

Raj frowned.

"You think it's really them?"

Alice laughed bitterly.

"I hope not."

That answer worried Raj more.

Alice walked toward the glass once more.

Below them stretched Asphyxia.

Her city.

The city she had built.

Protected.

Watched over.

For generations.

"I wish I could tell them."

She looked down at the streets.

"The truth."

"The danger."

"The possibility of war."

"The possibility of another disaster."

Raj understood immediately.

But she also knew why Alice wouldn't.

Panic spread faster than fire.

Alice sighed.

"So instead..."

"I smile."

"I make speeches."

"I act like an idiot."

Raj snorted.

"That part comes naturally."

Alice ignored her.

"I let them hate me."

"I let them laugh at me."

"I let them admire me."

"Whatever keeps them calm."

Her eyes moved toward the distant walls.

Beyond them.

Beyond Asphyxia.

Toward the refugee camps.

Toward the suffering.

Toward the uncertainty.

"Every time I leave this city..."

"I wonder if I'm still capable of fixing things."

Her voice grew softer.

"I walk the streets."

"I talk to people."

"I look at refugees."

"And I wonder if I'm failing."

Raj didn't interrupt.

Because for once—

Alice wasn't talking as a Queen.

She was talking as herself.

"Oheyo."

The word alone changed the atmosphere.

"Brennan...".

Alice's hands tightened.

"I couldn't save Oheyo."

Neither could any of them.

The memory still hurt.

Even after all these years.

Alice closed her eyes.

"I don't want another Oheyo."

"I won't allow it."

The room became silent.

The city lights reflected in the glass.

For a long moment, neither spoke.

Then Alice turned around.

And looked directly at Raj.

No jokes.

No acting.

No masks.

Just honesty.

"Raj."

Raj blinked.

"What?"

Alice smiled.

A small smile.

A real one.

"Will you stay with me until the end?"

The question hung in the air.

Simple.

Yet heavier than any speech.

Raj stared at her.

Then sighed.

Reached into a snack bag.

Pulled out another piece.

And shoved it into her mouth.

"Obviously."

Alice laughed.

For the first time that night—

It sounded genuine.

Outside, Asphyxia continued to shine.

Unaware of the storm slowly approaching.