Eadem Omnia

The briny seawater is forced out of your airway under the impact. It catches you completely off guard, surging up your throat to dance a wild cancan at the back of your tongue.

The smell of seawater and blood fills your over-soaked nasal cavity. As you cough violently, coarse grit even sprays out from deep within your nose.

You slowly open your eyes, and an unfamiliar ceiling comes into view.

It's old, tidy, and utterly plain. Only a glass tank filled with water keeps this place from looking like an ordinary hotel room.

The girl gives you a huffy, innocent pout. You feel the sting in your lungs, and only after several deep breaths does clarity finally return to your mind.

Your will resonates with the memories, and you finally realize that, once again, you have entered the memories of the Awakener...

Chattering and clamoring around the bed, Aurita struggles to light the room's fireplace.

The room slowly warms up, with the girl coughing now and then from the fireplace ash. Wisps of steam rise from your damp clothes, and your frozen limbs gradually thaw.

Fragments of this body's memories surface, and you gradually understand the role you play in this dream...

A sailor who fell overboard in a storm, washed ashore by merciful waves, and finally dragged and pulled back home by the girl standing before you...

What an unremarkable role.

You've more or less grown accustomed to the surreal experience of "dreaming." Generally speaking, as long as you've witnessed the memories that constructed the dream, you'll wake up when the time is right.

The problem now is, you can't quite make sense of Aurita's "memories."

Aurita's "memories" are a total enigma. Dissolution has devoured her past from before she was Awakened, and her childlike speech offers too few details to piece together the whole picture.

Now might be the perfect time to fill in the blanks of Aurita's archive.

The girl waves her hands excitedly, and you finally take a proper look at the water-filled glass tank by the window...

It features a delicate little castle ornament, yet there's not a single ripple of life to be found. It looks like nothing more than a sunken fairy tale.

You're supposed to feel safe and warm in this soft, cozy bedding, but Aurita's words send an inexplicable chill down your spine.

Only now do you realize, everything's far too quiet.

No chirping insects, no howling wind, no rustling leaves... No chatter, no laughter, no scuffing shoes on the pavement...

The world is dead silent. Only Aurita, the master of this dream, remains vibrant.

At the mention of "Granny," Aurita's eyes light up. She bounces back to the bedside to pull you up, but then freezes mid-motion, as if suddenly remembering something.

Aurita skips cheerfully down the stairs. You hesitate no longer, patting your cheeks to wake yourself fully.

Aurita's voice drifts in from outside. Muffled by the wooden door, her bright, lively voice grows faint and indistinct.

You take a deep breath and push the door open, leaving the little house where Aurita lives.

The house tilts, slowly devoured by the earth beneath it. The distant mountains and the nearby stream are both drawn into a slow dissolution, oozing fine wisps of black mist.

Before your eyes lies a town ravaged by Dissolution...

Dead silence reigns; everything in sight is pitch black. Amidst the chaos, only Aurita's figure remains vivid.

Humming a cheerful little tune, Aurita walks beside you down the streets eroded by Dissolution.

The dark, unlit windows declare the place long abandoned. On both sides of the silent streets, only the broken outlines of houses remain.

Where are the residents? Did they leave their homes before the Dissolution broke out? Did they find new places to live, or...

Viscous black fluid flows silently around your feet. You take a deep breath, suppressing the nausea that threatens to spill from your throat.

Or... did they never leave the homeland they so dearly loved?

A low hum escapes you as you think, pulling you out of your gloomy thoughts. Aurita looks you up and down, then finally voices her confusion.

You look back at where you've walked: to avoid the D-Slime spilling all over the ground, your footprints have left a bizarre, winding trail across the mud.

Aurita skips back to let you through, almost stepping right into the D-Slime.

You yank her back just in time. She blinks, completely unaware of the danger, her face still beaming with the joy of the game.

You grab a pitchfork from the stable and stir the D-Slime puddle that was once "Poni." Sure enough, a particularly exquisite ceramic pony glints in the light.

You hesitate for a moment, then take off your coat and pick up the ceramic pony through the fabric.

Just as you've gotten used to Aurita's voice being the only sound in the emptiness, an old voice suddenly cuts in, catching you off guard.

A kind smile ripples across her wrinkled face. She lovingly pats Aurita on the head, then turns to you.

The old woman who calls herself Betty smiles as she sizes you up, as if subtly weighing your worth as "Aurita's friend".

After a long while, she finally withdraws her gaze and gently pats Aurita on the back.

With just a few words, Granny Betty cheers Aurita up. Watching the girl trot happily into the ruins on the other side, she then turns to you with a smile.

The change happened silently. Before anyone realized it, only women and children were left here.

Fishing boats left one after another, but only broken fragments of their keels drifted back to shore on the currents.

Black waters spilled over the seawalls, and the streets were eroded into shattered ruins.

By the time Aurita realized it, her playmates, her family, and even all the townsfolk had vanished without a trace...

She shakes her head and gestures for you to look at her lower body.

What flows out from beneath her linen skirt is unmistakably D-Slime. Her lower half is almost entirely submerged in decay and void.

The old woman lets out a soft, amused chuckle. She pats you on the shoulder, just like a real elder.

As she speaks, a wind from nowhere blows in a flyer. Most of the image on the paper has been blackened by D-Slime, but the slogan is still faintly visible.

"Betty's Bakery, Handmade Bread from the Hometown Granny"

Granny Betty looks toward the toppled, ruined building not far away, where Aurita is "treasure hunting," kicking up clouds of dust.

Granny Betty's tone is earnest, there's even a note of pleading in her voice.

Aurita's sulky voice makes you look over. She is standing atop the ruins with her back to you. And this time, you finally catch a clear glimpse of the black stain flashing across her back.

A void sprawls starkly across her small body, it is unmistakably a massive D-Mark.

You freeze, then turn to look at the spot where "Granny Betty" once stood. All that remains is a pool of viscous liquid, merging with the dark, stagnant water.

In the murky water, the ceramic figurine reflects a warm, gentle glow.

Unexpectedly, what "Granny Betty" left behind isn't an old woman figurine.

It has a smooth, rounded cap and thin, dense tentacles, decorated with a four-leaf blue glaze over a porcelain-white base.

You manage a strained smile, pulling "Poni" and "Snow White" from your pocket and handing them to Aurita along with the "Jellyfish" figurine.

Aurita hums a song, lost in the joy of her new toys. Werther, Poni, Snow White, and Granny Betty seem to have left not even the faintest trace on her heart.

Aurita blinks slowly, looking more and more drowsy. She lets out a long yawn, her gaze growing hazy.