Work Text:
It's a long way down...
Sunny jumps.
He wakes up in a dark hallway.
"Ah, there you are." A hauntingly familiar, yet forgotten voice calls. "So it is time."
Sunny finds himself unable to speak. Sunny is afraid.
"Do not be afraid," The Stranger says, a tiny bit more soothingly, though still monotonous. He offers a hand. Sunny takes it.
They walk for an eternity, hand in hand, down the dark path of life. Sunny doesn't look. He doesn't want to see what he knows will linger in the shadows. He continues forward in ignorant bliss. Well, not exactly bliss. He focuses on every step and pretends he cannot hear anything around him. That the sounds of screaming from everyone he had hurt didn't forever echo, reverberating through his entire body, haunting his ears, his mind, tormenting his very soul.
He squeezes Stranger's hand. Stranger stops. He turns to the left, and Sunny dares himself to look up.
It's dark. He doesn't see anything. Except… A black door.
Stranger doesn't hesitate to open it, and light pours in, giving the path behind them a sepia tone. Stranger pulls Sunny inside, and the magic dies as the door slams shut.
Light doesn't flow into the room anymore, not the way Sunny expected. There are dim lights to either side of them, though he can't quite see what's ahead. They appear to be walking through some sort of aisle, until Stranger takes another left. There are seats lined with crimson red cushions and cup holders. Every seat is taken around them, by shadows, sprout moles, and strangers. Except… The row they just approached.
Aubrey's eyes light up as she waves. “Omori! Basil! Over here!” She glows, lighting up the dim room. Omori is no longer afraid.
“Oh, hey guys! We saved you a seat each.” Hero grins sweetly from beside Aubrey as Omori and Basil squeeze past.
“Omori, tell Aubrey that Sweetheart movies are boring! You agree, right?” Kel says rapidly as Omori finally sits down. Basil sits beside Kel, and Omori beside Basil, with an empty seat on the other side. Omori says nothing.
“Shut up, Kel! Omori agrees with me. Right, Omori?” Aubrey grins, her eyes practically sparkling. Basil giggles apologetically as Aubrey and Kel glare at each other, though he doesn't intervene. Omori is still holding Basil's hand when the screen lights up.
“Shh, you two. It's starting.” Hero says.
The cinema grows silent with anticipation as the film begins.
There he is, right there on the screen. It's him as a baby. This isn't a Sweetheart movie. He turns to gauge Aubrey's reaction to this, expecting to see Kel celebrating, but every seat to his right is empty. Except… He was just holding Basil's hand, wasn't he?
Sunny looks down. Stranger never let go. He feels contact on his free hand. A warm touch he could never forget.
“Keep watching, little brother.” He faces Mari, her smile that doesn't quite meet her eyes. Like she knows better than this place. Like she already knows exactly how this will end. He turns back to the screen, and sees himself at the top of the staircase. He sees Mari scolding him. Her words echo in his mind like deja vu right before he hears them aloud.
“Sunny, I know it's hard. But that's no reason to destroy your violin! Don't you know how hard we all worked to get this for you? Yet you chose to break it? I can't believe you. After all I've done- No, stop it! I'm still talking to you!” Mari yells. Sunny tries to escape. He heads for the stairs. Maybe he can still fix it, he thinks. It was never about him, not really. He wanted to be perfect for Mari. It was all for Mari. The entire recital was for Mari. So he had to do something. But he looks down at the bottom of the stairs and sees the violin, completely shattered, every string broken. Mari pushes her way in front of him, blocking his vision. “Hey! You're not going anywhere.”
Sunny raises his hands to push her out of the way, a momentary lapse in judgement, forgetting where he is.
Then he freezes.
He doesn't push Mari. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her in. He knows what he should have done from the very start.
“Sunny…” She places a hand on his head as he sobs into her chest, clinging to the fabric of her white dress.
He suddenly feels cold, finding that Stranger's hand slipped from his own, and is now clapping slowly.
“Nice one, Dreamer. Better than I expected of you.”
He tries to ask what he means, but his throat goes dry when the words reach it. He closes his mouth and turns back to the screen.
Despite what had just happened, the screen now shows Mari’s mangled corpse at the bottom of the stairs, pieces of smashed violin pressing hard against her neck and the back of her head, though not sharp enough to pierce her skin, it would have been a hard landing. She's laying in a heap as Sunny rushes down the stairs. It's not real, it can't be real.
He looks around for a solution. He meets Basil's terrified eyes.
“S-Sunny… What… What is this? Mari…” Basil stutters out in disbelief. Sunny feels his body shaking. It's not real. It's not real. She was just holding him. He felt her warm embrace, her hand on his head, her fingers laced through his hair moving rhythmically, soothingly. Like things could still be okay. But all of his hopes lay crushed at his feet.
“It's okay,” Basil said. “It- She fell. She f-fell, right? It wasn't your fault. You… You, you, you j-just found her here, right, Sunny?”
With the knowledge he had now, reliving this moment, it was almost ironic that Basil was actually right about that part. Somewhat. This time, he really did only just find her.
“Y-You didn't push her… I saw it. It was… There was s-something else that did it… You wouldn't do that to Mari, Sunny… It was something behind you…”
Sunny stares at his sister's body wordlessly.
“I-Is she… Maybe she's just sleeping?” Basil whimpers. Sunny already knows that isn't the case. It's not worth entertaining the idea again. It's just a waste of time.
Basil looks increasingly terrified. He's shaking.
“Sunny, p-please…”
“Basil… Go and find an adult.”
“Wait… You're going to get in- in trouble if I do that! I… I can't.” Basil squeezes his eyes shut, and Sunny watches as a tear makes its way down Basil's cheek. “I don't want you to go to jail… Please, Sunny, don't leave me… My best friend…” Basil's eyes open, and Sunny shudders at the look in his blue, blue eyes. “...I have another idea.”
Sunny looks at Basil. He has to look down. This is Basil as a child, after all. But Sunny sees that he isn't still a child. He's his present self. At least, he believes so; this is the body of a sixteen year old. He knows better. He has to calm down. He has to control this situation. Maybe then… He won't have to see her like that again. He takes a deep breath. He holds Basil by the shoulders and looks into his eyes solemnly.
“Basil. I… I accidentally pushed her. It wasn't anything behind me.”
“Th-Then you just made a mistake… But what if- if they don't b-believe you?” Basil's tears were pouring even faster, now.
Sunny tries to focus.
“I need you to trust me,” Sunny says. “We have to do the right thing.”
“But… I can't let you get hurt. I know how we c-can stop them from taking you away.
Sunny shakes his head sadly. “A lie will hurt everyone a lot more. Think of our friends. And… You would be hurt by it, too.” Sunny persists. Basil deflates.
“...O-Okay… If you promise you won't leave.”
“I promise.” Sunny said, hoping the empty words meant at least something.
Stranger squeezes his hand and looks at him. Sunny meets his glowing eyes and swears he catches a glint of emotion in them. He feels lost. Is he doing this right? He's just been doing what he wished he could have done. It helps, having the knowledge of what happened. But it's still scary not knowing what could have happened if he had done the right thing in the first place. Basil could have been right all along, maybe Sunny would have been locked away in jail and left to rot. Maybe he wouldn't have seen anyone ever again. Maybe his parents would have hated him or put him up for adoption for being a useless failure and killing the child who actually mattered. Maybe-
“Dreamer,” Stranger murmurs. Omori faces him. He feels separate, again. Sunny is just the boy in the movie again. “How are you feeling?”
Omori doesn't reply. He never does. It's hard to speak when he regresses to this state. He finds the armrest between them and pushes it with some effort until it's out of the way. Omori slides a little closer to Stranger and leans his head on Stranger's shoulder. Stranger was always taller than him, which made sense. Omori was supposed to be twelve forever, but Stranger was the truth. Stranger was reality. Stranger was…
The film cuts to a new scene. It's Basil’s bedroom door, and Sunny is standing outside. Omori doesn't connect to the moment. He searches in the dark for Stranger's hand until he finds it. Stranger squeezes his in return.
“...I was so afraid,” Stranger chuckles darkly, though his voice is no longer hollow. Omori looks up. It's no longer Stranger he's leaning on, nor is it his usual Basil with teal hair and overalls and a colourful flower crown.
It's just Basil.
Regular, blonde Basil with a single pink flower in his hair. Real, flawed Basil. He was never the perfect angel Omori created him to be for Sunny. That didn't seem to matter. Sunny was never the perfect angel Basil saw him as, either.
“I really never meant to hurt you. I made things worse. The road to hell was paved with good intentions. I know that, now.” Basil gives him a watery smile. “Hi, Sunny. Are we…?”
Sunny shakes his head and shrugs. “Don't know.” Somehow, it's easier to talk again. “...Was it you, this whole time?”
Basil scratches at his neck awkwardly. “I think so… It's blurry. But I think I saw everything that mattered.”
Sunny doesn't reply. Basil continues.
“We really messed up, huh?” He says softly. But his smile doesn't falter. He seems content with everything. Is this acceptance? Sunny didn't know it would be this easy for Basil. “I hope… I hope they all find peace without us. I think the nicest thing we could do for them was leaving them. And maybe… Maybe it was the same for you and I.”
Sunny had wondered about that, though he certainly felt guilty for leaving Basil to navigate those four years alone. He wasn't sure he'd really done Basil any favours there.
“No,” Sunny says. “Basil… They deserve to know the truth.”
“...You're right,” Basil admits. “I think you've always been a little bit better with morals than me.”
“Good job, little brother.” Mari says, appearing once more on his other side.
“Mari…? Is it really you?” Basil asks. Sunny supposes that this isn't exactly a regular occurrence for Basil.
“Who knows?” Mari smiles, revealing nothing.
Basil looks at Sunny again. “I'm sorry about your eye.” He turns to the screen and grimaces. Sunny shakes his head, then follows Basil's gaze. He sees himself laying in a pool of blood on Basil's floor.
“You've done well, Sunny.” Mari murmurs softly. Her voice is a little more mature than Sunny remembers. It's like she has aged, even. “I think you've proven yourself. I know that you… You feel lost. And sometimes it's easier to hide. But… You've shown that if you had the chance to re-do your bad choices, you would do the right thing.”
“So… What happens now?” Basil asks.
Mari falters, if only for a moment. There is something she knows and will not say, Sunny thinks. He knows better than to question where he is and what he has been through since jumping off the roof.
“Unfortunately… That's not quite enough.” Mari sighs.
“Enough?”
She allows a small, sympathetic frown. “Sunny, Basil… Neither of you are evil. Your hearts aren't completely dark. That much is clear. But you made a lot of choices that landed you here, and it isn't for me to decide what happens next, even if I forgive you both. Which… I believe I do.”
Basil clenches his fists. “What… What exactly is this place?”
“The middle ground,” Mari explains, “between life and death, between good and bad, between heaven and hell. This is the place of judgement.”
“Like… P-Purgatory?”
“You could say that.” Mari replies calmly, folding her hands neatly in her lap. “The problem is that you didn't atone for your sins until the end of your lives. Thus, you will remain here until… Until your fates are decided.”
Basil and Sunny exchange a concerned glance. Sunny feels small. He feels out of control again. He feels like Omori.
Mari is gone. He's no longer in the theatre. Stranger looms over him, arms crossed. They are standing on the dark path where they began.
“So,” Stanger says, “did you find the answers you sought?”
Omori ignores the question and walks straight past him. Something is wrong here. There is no way he and Sunny can both live on, even in the afterlife. Omori had made his choice. If Sunny wanted to undo it…
“There is one more choice, Omori, that you have forgotten.” Stranger hisses, back by his side as though Omori had never walked away. When that doesn't cause a reaction, Basil blocks his path. It's strange to him, the way this place is such a blur. He finds it unusual that Basil’s variants keep changing, and is just as intrigued by the way he continues to switch between Omori and Sunny. He can feel his control slipping.
“Sunny… Don't you get it? There's a reason why we're both here… To be shown our mistakes and be tormented by them until we learn.”
Sunny is shaking. Sunny is afraid. It's dark here, and he doesn't understand. He already knows his mistakes. He already spent the rest of his lifetime regretting them. Basil's presence doesn't bring him any comfort. But he realises something. A key word from before. Something Mari mentioned.
Atonement.
It's not about regret.
Basil slowly nods in understanding. “That's what we missed in our lives. You were right. We never told the truth. So… We never overcame our demons.”
“It's too late now.” Sunny whispers, and Basil frowns and takes his hand.
“Yeah,” Basil responds softly. “At least we're together.”
Sunny feels glad that he isn't alone. Omori wants to roll his eyes.
“There could still be a way to make things better. I know we can't bring her back, but-”
“I'm dead, Basil.” Sunny says monotonously. He watches as Basil flinches, his feelings plain on his face. Basil was never good at hiding his emotions. Sunny lets out a sigh, slumping against a wall of pitch black. He's amazed he can even see Basil in this darkness. He closes his eyes, and continues.
“There's no going back now. I jumped. I'm dead.”
“You… jumped?”
He nods. “From the hospital roof.” It briefly occurs to Sunny that if Basil is here, he may have reached the same fate. Though, it wasn't unusual for Sunny's dreams to contain people who had passed. “Basil, are you… I didn't kill you, did I?” He asks calmly, recalling their fight. He feels a small sense of relief when Basil shakes his head.
“No… I don't think so.” The blonde hesitates, then sits down beside Sunny, mirroring his pose by hugging his knees. “Well… I'm really glad I got to see you again, Sunny. Even if this is just some dream.”
“I'm glad too.” Sunny agrees. He thinks back to the cinema, to Mari beside him, to leaning on Stranger's shoulder, to seeing Aubrey and Kel and Hero. He finds himself recalling Omori’s memories, too.
Why did he give up?
He knew he did. He knew he couldn't fight the trauma anymore. The only way to fix the truth was to end it. To save the world from whatever other suffering his pitiful existence would bring. But if that were the case… Would Basil really be glad to see him? Maybe Basil was just as evil as Sunny was. But… Looking over at Basil, absent-mindedly picking at his clothes, he could only sense peace. Maybe Basil had just made some bad decisions. In which case, why should Sunny hate him? He had tried and tried and yet he couldn't bring himself to hate him. Basil was his best friend, and had gone so far to protect him.
So if Basil wasn't truly an evil person… Was Sunny? He thinks back to the conversation with Mari. He thinks back to what she said, and how he had proven he would do the right thing. He knew better. Yet she was still dead.
Stranger's words echoed in his thoughts next; “There is one more choice, Omori, that you have forgotten.”
Basil speaks again. “If what you said is true… And I'm not dead, and this is a dream for me… I'll really miss you, Sunny.”
He feels a chill through his entire body and shivers.
“W-What happened? Are you alright?” Basil frowns.
“Do you understand now, little brother?” Mari materialises on his other side, crouching and offering a sympathetic smile. She takes Sunny's hand and squeezes it. Slowly, he nods.
“The last choice that I got wrong… Was it the last choice I ever made?”
He catches Basil frowning as the realisation hits him too. Mari doesn't respond. She wraps him in a hug. It's warm. She pulls away.
Then, she's gone. He's not in the darkness anymore, but back in Whitespace. A place he didn't expect to see again. Omori stands above him, staring down with stoic eyes. Sunny stands up.
Omori is holding a knife. Sunny finds that he has his violin once more. Is it time to try again, to finally overcome Omori? He isn't sure he can do it.
Then, Omori drops the knife. So, Sunny gently places the violin and bow down. Omori says nothing, but approaches Sunny, who doesn't flinch.
Omori embraces him. It feels like nothing and everything all at once. Sunny blinks and Omori is gone.
Whitespace is gone, too.
He can feel the wind blowing as his eye adjusts to the bright light. Sunny can hear birds singing, and he sees the sky is blue and the sun is shining.
He pauses.
It's a long way down.
Sunny turns around, and walks back inside.