illusionary ⇄ illusory

(World—EX) Maya found a strange place inside the library. What lies ahead should not have been her problem.

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  EX — 2

Rays of light cast shadows along the path, illuminating Maya's figure as she treaded down the silent residence. Her heels clacked on the lavish floors as she strolled across the hallway's dimly light path. Scents of old books lingered in the air, and the scenery was nothing short of extravagant and kept, always.

Countless familiar entrances and phantoms greeted her sight, and then she knew to take a turn to the left, then right, to the right again, and then...

Maya would've thought the manor was endless if she was blindly wandering without any knowledge of the vast expanse of the manor befitting for a so-called god. Anyone would easily get lost with how this building was almost designed like a labyrinth.

She continued to tread vigilantly, though relaxed in a sense of being home. It has been years since she accepted her life here, but she couldn't help stealing glances behind her as a small, imperceptible shiver ran down her spine from how vast and empty the residence is.

Outside the glass roof, the ridges of what looked like the remains of a massive creature, almost like a god's, towered over the entirety of the residence, embracing it protectively. Maya let her gaze linger for a while on it, one hand rested under her chin idly as she continued to move.

Her sense of smell picked on a faint scent of aged books, and that's how she knew she'd arrived. She stopped on her track to open the door with a gentle click, stepping inside before shutting it behind her.

This was her favorite sanctuary. A quiet, expansive library with floors of rows and columns filled with every literature known to mankind, stacked on top of each other neatly, preserved and timeless. Sunlight filtered from the glass-covered roof, making a cozy atmosphere. There were also comfortable tables and chairs for its visitors to sit, take a cup of tea, and most importantly read and calm down.

Those were exactly what Maya did in her free time. She always had a penchant for reading and writing, so it wasn't surprising at all if she prefers the quiet ambience here so much that she already knew the interior intricately like the back of her hand than in the other parts of the building. And the extra benefit of this place being located far on the opposite side of where Insight likes to wander adds to it. Maya values her peace very much, thank you.

Picking up a book from the pile on the desk that she'd prepared yesterday, she took a seat and began sifting through pages.

Time stretched out forward, only the sound of paper and Maya's own breaths were audible as she indulged in her mundane activities of being absorbed in fiction. She was accompanied with a rare sense of focus, her posture eventually slumping against the back of the chair.

Like anything other than this melted into nothing.

After a while, she found herself getting restless though, and that's the sign that she needed to pause her reading for the day.

Oh, Maya's mind spun from boredom and disinterest. There isn't really much to do here…

Closing the book and placing it down on the pile of to continue books, Maya stood up to navigate around the large library. It didn't take long to find the section on the shelves that she deemed interesting. Very interesting, even.

This wasn't any fiction this time— the secluded corner with dim, low lights was dedicated to one topic: Arcaea. Extensive resources of how it worked, the structure of the world, and all about it all written in the same script. Insight’s.

But Maya recalled there was one written in a completely different cursive. If Maya's not wrong, it was signed ‘Lagrange’– or something alike. Where and how on Arcaea did Insight manage to acquire it… Maya doesn't know either. She prefers to not know.

Lagrange was another soul of a girl pulled by Arcaea like her, just based on the few books she read here. And most of them still remain untouched by Maya.

It's both fascinating and unsettling to discover that she and the others originating from Arcaea were made from shards and a wish.

There was also another book that stood out amongst the others, though unnaturally.

It looked fairly normal, if not because of the exquisite leather the cover was made from. It has a striking but simple title enough to compel someone to pull it off from the shelf.

She has never opened that unfamiliar book before, but an inexplicable connection made her succumb to the curiosity, to take it—

A small, heavy sliding noise echoing in the silent library made her jolt, and she turned around to the source of the sound, only to find a bookshelf parted slightly to reveal a cleverly hidden hideout. Although, the interior wasn’t visible from where she stood right now. Maya's eyes zeroed on it nevertheless. Her face scrunched in bewilderment.

Huh…? That was absolutely not there before.

…never once did Insight fail to surprise her with something new.

It's a new room with the key being an inconspicuous book this time. Maya got to appreciate the creativity it takes.

Holding the book against her chest just in case, she approached the entrance with caution, prying it open so she could peek and look for any possible traps. Who knows what Insight could do.

It was a small room lit up by an antique overhead chandelier and candles. Two cozy velvet cushioned chairs and a table settled in the center of the room.

There were no signs of decrepitude anywhere like in every inch of the manor. The same rows of bookshelves surrounded half of the room, with plants helping to elevate the coziness. A large mirror resided in the middle of the wall, opposite from the entrance. It was certainly attention grabbing.

When she deemed it safe, she stepped inside.

The room is in a pristine condition, empty and kept like any other room except for one. It looked too perfect for a room that has not been entered recently. There sat a tea set with an already cold cup of tea on the table.

This makes Maya wince. Does this woman not know how to clean up after herself?

Right. Maya was the one that always took care of small things like this.

But it doesn't stop a pinch of irritation from running through her mind. Begrudgingly, she found a napkin somewhere in the room, then began to clean the table up, pushing the used ceramics aside for her to bring along to the kitchen later.

Taking an unused cup, Maya curiously poured some for herself too, bracing for the taste as she took a sip out of Insight’s tea while starting to open the book in her hands. It's bitter… and it's not up to her taste.

Though when she gazed up at the used ceramics again after she utters this, they were already gone from the table.

Right. Phantoms can render themselves unseen after all.

Shifting her gaze slightly, she found a quill and a worn book. Her usual journal wasn't here before. Uneasiness churned inside her when she abandoned the book in favor of the journal. 

Is Insight aware…?

Snatching it, she began to write.

“Maya, 443.

While I was wandering through the library, I found this inconspicuously hidden entrance and stepped inside.

It was in a spur of the moment. I had never known this place could hide so much— even being in a spot I frequented, away from Insight.”

Maya paused her strokes, her eyes roving over the special book, then to the same, blaring and large mirror on the wall that reflected herself. It looked normal enough.

“I will continue digging more about the place, with the aim of finding something at the end of this.”

“She knows too much–”

She shook her head lightly, striking through the sentence. That would be too obvious.

“–Knowing her routine, she will not take any suspicions about my actions as long as I put consideration into my movements to not alert her.”

“I'll write again when I've found the end of the mystery.”

The sound of Maya's journal shutting echoed in the silent room, putting back the quill in its former place.

If this room’s lock was opened by a single book, then it wouldn't be possible to exit from the inside once the entrance was shut.

This was a one way entrance, wasn't it?

Silence stretched out. She pondered over that detail again, again, and again. There is surely a way out.

Can the same method she used to open the entrance work vice versa?

She shuffled left and right inside the room to find any abnormality in the bookshelves that she could point out. They were tidy, perfectly filled with books, and she couldn't find anything behind the books as well.

Maya’s eyes drifted again to her reflection again absentmindedly, the mirror practically towering over her as she compared her height with it. The mirror is even taller than an average door, let alone her.

What was the purpose of making it even this tall that even Insight could pass through easily?

She took a tentative step closer to her reflection. Her clean, pure white garment with hints of red softly rustled with each step she took, until she could clearly see her own mismatched eyes stare back with curiosity equal to her own.

Oh—

Centering her body’s weight on the single touch, Maya's hand reached out to meet the tip of her finger together with the reflection’s—

—and then unfortunately, the surface rippled like water on her fingertips, breaking through the translucent surface.

“Ah–!”

Maya yelped, closing her eyes to brace for the impact of her fall as she promptly stumbled and fell forward, landing on her own hands with a silent thud of the ground beneath her. The ground felt rough against her palms.

The sound of a gentle blow graced her hearing with a hum. Plants and flowers rustled alongside the wind current, swaying where the wind blows.

Faint, unusual clinking sounds of multiple shards unsuitable for such a calm greenery made Maya open her eyes to the bright but beautiful scenery, making her mouth open slightly in awe.

She has never seen a garden this beautiful before… not even in her memories and imagination. They pale in comparison to these colorful, vibrant colors presented before her eyes. Shards reflecting memories— Arcaea, as she learned, adorned the beauty with contrast.

It's like a hidden paradise.

Maya turned her head around to confirm that the entrance was still present, then gave a small but relieved smile when she saw that it was still there. Standing up, she dusted her clothes free from any dirt.

Shoo–

A shard instantly flew and hurled itself to linger in front of Maya, as if it's excited to see her and drawn to her presence. Wordlessly, she extended her fingers to cradle the floating shard in her hand.

There was something she couldn't put her finger on, it feels odd—

She vividly remembers the same shards that were drawn to her in Arcaea was always awful— filled with terrible, corrupted, and twisted things that she'd wince at even in the smallest recall ever.

But this time, it's different— these are oddly comforting and… calm. When she glimpsed beneath the surface, it was finally filled with a wonderful memory that she never envisioned witnessing before. It makes her own heart gleeful as well, her gaze softening.

“I'm taking you with me,” Maya said with an elated upturn of her lips, poking it slightly to coax the shard to follow her as she strolled to another one, then another, gathering all of them in one place only to replay the memories contained inside them and to study more about them curiously.

This was the first time for her, after all, to feel like she deserves happiness. In the past, she even considered pieces of Arcaea as a curse, choosing to seclude herself in a dark, quiet place devoid of those.

With every enticing shard she chose to observe, her senses had told her to cease this instantly. It ended in an instant just as it started, however, making Maya lift an eyebrow in acknowledgement.

Then it returned again, the swirling but pulling sensation ringing inside her head with every glance she spares on the shards. She decided to cease checking more of Arcaea.

…

Time seems to never plunge into midnight here. After what she thought had been an hour or more, Maya plucked one from each kind of flora here with slightly shaky hands, holding a bunch of fresh looking flowers in her hands. She brings them close to her nose. It smells as fragrant as it looks.

Maybe she could keep this in the vase in her room. The shards pulsed faintly, visibly lighting up.

…!

Maya grunted, “Hhh,”

The ringing in her head has gotten more and more intense near the proximity of the viscous memories. It feels… demanding, strongly pulling her like a magnet that it almost hurts.

Was her body reacting because she was also made from those delicate shards, too?

Maya’s control was slipping with each moment. This is not good at all. Her eyes were hazy.

Caught in the moment of instability, she reached out to hold one of the pulsing Arcaea in an attempt to stabilize herself.

It was too late when she realized her actions. In this moment, it was entirely futile to keep trying.

A thrum resonated inside her soul. Maya covered her eyes as Arcaea turned into a blinding light, and in a sudden— 

Prismatic colors bursted inside her eyelid, enveloping her vision and her form. In a terrible way, her soul felt like it was tearing. She tried to scream, or at least tried with what's left of her vocal cords, being distorted in the grotesque mess.

There was no spurt of blood when her body parts split up, twisting in all sorts of ways. It's so overwhelming, so overwhelming as it subjects Maya deep into a vomit of colors, pulling her and yanking her form further into it with force into a particular direction.

Falling, falling with no end…

Drifting aimlessly, she closed her eyes, falling into stillness.

Unbeknownst to Maya, it catched her again as if she was a misbehaving child.

…

Hyperventilating, Maya woke up in a ruined realm in a daze.

What in the world just happened?

The horror, the phantom feeling of her limbs getting torn apart—

She tried to feel her hands, her legs, everything she had. Closing her own mouth, Maya refused to retch out of the sheer gore she'd felt with wide eyes.

Taking a few moments to orientate herself, she took a look at the surroundings, attempting to distract her own attention. Formation of shards weaved on the air, rifts of sheer destruction ran across the dark void. Maya's quick, short gasps were followed by a tremble of her figure.

Oh no.

Certainly, Maya’s presence has alerted her, hasn't it?

As Maya thought of this, a familiar, colorful entrance graced all of Arcaea for a split moment—

“Ahh… how many times shall I remind you to not act so recklessly, Maya…”

Maya was ultimately caught snooping around. Her body curled up slightly, before closing her eyes and trying not to gaze behind her. Long arms snaked around Maya's neck, and she could feel warmth whispering against her ear.

The tone of her voice was deceptionally gentle, “This is not a safe place for you, Maya. Have all,” gloved fingers brushed the black strands on her face, “those literatures you favored not teach you at all?”

Maya imperceptibly tensed up even more, her eyes still wide. Even though being in her presence wasn't even better than being alone, a sense of odd comfort washes over Maya’s tension. But it didn't calm the distress brewing inside. It was akin to being in the presence of a grim reaper.

Still affected by the previous horror that she'd just experienced, Maya felt her dread get even worse with every word she said, “What– what was that?”

Most importantly, Maya tried not to scream out loud.

She hummed at Maya's question, “You ought to refrain from succumbing to Arcaea's sweet promises, Maya,” those hands took Maya's chin, coaxing it to her direction to give her lips a light kiss.

Snapped back to reality by the feeling of something soft pressing her lips, Maya hesitated to meet Insight’s gaze. She doesn't even know what's real anymore. How has Insight been hiding this gateway from her so closely in plain sight and left her unaware of its existence for years? “Sorry…”

If only Insight didn't realize her. This was a failed attempt. She finally met Insight’s gaze, albeit with a pitiful expression. Instantly, Maya was pulled into an embrace by Insight.

Inhaling Maya’s scent that she missed deeply, Insight continued, “You're still in luck that Arcaea intended to welcome you from the start. Otherwise, ah…” Insight paused, not wanting to elaborate further on the horrible consequences that could’ve befall Maya, “Know that I do not wish for you to experience any harm, dear one…”

Maya mumbled, muffled by the way she buried her face on Insight’s shoulder, “It just gets boring at home sometimes,” her heart was conflicted in pushing away from Insight to run away to her freedom, or to accept as she let Insight in her heart again. Insight’s clothes crumpled in her hands.

Since when had she accepted calling that place “home”, again?

“Only I will accept and love you unconditionally, Maya. This place doesn't, and will never,” spite laced Insight's words, but of course, it still remained as soft as feather that'll coax out blood from the gashes it made.

Only, only for Maya.

“Now, then. Let's go back, shall we?”

It was useless to even try against Insight. Her heart was already in her hands anyway.

“Mhm,” Maya doesn't want to know what ways would Insight resort to if she refused, so she surrendered, hugging Insight even tighter as they faded into the rift. With the rift, a part of Maya’s memory also faded, crumbling into nothing.

...

“Maya, 444.

There was a place,

What was I supposed to write, again…?”

There were multiple ink blotches, each darker than the last one as if the writer was contemplating on what to pour into the paper.

Soon after, parts of the paper were soaked with tears of frustration.

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Ohhh their relationship is complicated asf. Maya clearly is in love with Insight but she just sorts of... denies? herself of that feeling, as it complicates her understanding of freedom.

Aw shucks im too lazy to upload this to ao3