MEMELAND

"I'm Chocomint"

The desert became quiet once more.

The wind gently carried grains of sand across the dunes.

Kai stared at the chocomint.

"Chocomint...?"

Choco looked up.

"Yeah?"

"That's me."

Kai hesitated.

Then Choco asked,

"Do you know about me?"

Choco tilted his head.

"You do?"

Kai nodded.

"Alice."

For a brief moment—

Choco froze.

Kai continued.

"She told us everything."

"Oheyo."

"Brennan."

"Vaan."

"The experiments."

"The escape."

"You."

"And Akari."

Silence.

The crackling of the campfire filled the space between them.

Finally—

Choco smiled weakly.

"So..."

"They really made it home."

Kai nodded.

"They did."

"They've been looking for both of you ever since."

Choco lowered his gaze.

"...I figured."

Kai looked toward him.

"What actually happened?"

"You disappeared."

"You and Akari."

Choco remained silent for a while.

Then slowly began speaking.

"That's all I remember doing."

"We just..."

"...ran."

"The laboratory was collapsing."

"The city was falling apart."

"There wasn't time to think."

"We just kept running."

His hands slowly tightened around the warm bowl.

"Akari was beside me."

"We never stopped."

"Then..."

He closed his eyes.

"...the explosion."

"I remember the ground shaking."

"I remember being thrown."

"And then..."

He shook his head.

"...Nothing."

"When I woke up..."

"I wasn't in Oheyo anymore."

Kai quietly listened.

"I woke up in a small cabin."

"My injuries had already been treated."

"The first person I saw..."

"...was Master."

"Zane."

Kai immediately remembered the woman from his dream.

"The first thing I asked..."

"...was where Akari was."

Choco smiled bitterly.

"Master only said..."

"'I couldn't find anyone else.'"

The words lingered in the air.

"I wanted to go back."

"I begged."

"But Master said..."

"...there was nothing left."

Kai remained silent.

Choco continued.

"Instead..."

"We traveled."

"Far."

"To the northeast."

"The Forest of Hailing."

Kai recognized the name.

"The place where some drifters appear?"

Choco nodded.

"We passed through it."

"Then beyond it."

"There are mountains."

"Hidden paths."

"Places almost impossible to reach."

"That's where the Order of Karma is."

Kai imagined the isolated mountains.

Far away from kingdoms.

Far away from wars.

Far away from everyone.

"I stayed there."

"I trained."

"I learned."

"Years passed before I realized it."

Kai looked at him.

"...Realized what?"

Choco smiled sadly.

"...That I was hiding."

Silence.

"I kept telling myself..."

"'I'm getting stronger.'"

"'I'll go back tomorrow.'"

"'Just one more month.'"

"'One more year.'"

His smile slowly disappeared.

"But..."

"I never went."

Kai quietly asked,

"You could've left?"

Choco nodded.

"Anytime."

"The Order never imprisoned me."

"Master never stopped me."

Kai frowned.

"Then..."

"Why didn't you?"

The question hung in the air.

Choco stared into the fire.

For a long time—

He didn't answer.

Then...

Very quietly—

"...I was afraid."

Kai remained still.

"I didn't know how to face them."

"Alice."

"Raj."

"Taai."

"They entrusted Akari to me."

His voice cracked slightly.

"And I came back alone."

He laughed.

A small.

Painful laugh.

"What was I supposed to say?"

"'Sorry.'"

"'I lost her.'"

"'I don't know where she is.'"

He slowly shook his head.

"I couldn't."

"I wasn't strong enough."

Kai looked at Choco.

Not as a member of the mysterious Order.

Not as someone sent by Zane.

Just...

A survivor.

Carrying the same guilt Alice had carried.

The same guilt Raj carried.

The same guilt Taai carried.

The guilt of surviving.

Choco suddenly stood.

He stretched.

Then looked toward Kai with a gentle smile.

"...You've had a long day."

Kai chuckled softly.

"...That's an understatement."

Choco picked up another log and placed it onto the fire.

"You should sleep."

"We'll leave tomorrow."

Kai nodded.

"...Thanks."

"For saving me."

Choco smiled.

"This time..."

"I managed to save someone."

The words lingered in Kai's mind.

He slowly lay back beneath the night sky.

The desert had become strangely peaceful.

As his eyes closed—

He couldn't help but think...

Perhaps Chocomint had never been running from Alice.

Or Raj.

Or Taai.

Perhaps...

He had simply been running from himself.