Chapter 8

-At White Space-

The twins—Remon and Leo were back in the White Space. Last time, they had tried training their clock person, but it seemed they hadn’t quite reached the point where it could be called fully trained. Still, it was comforting to know they’d made progress. Training a clock person is a must for being a void traveler since they are the bridge between the real world and Void World. They also protect the twins inside the Void World, and also the one who possesses the power to make the deceased remember their past, that way they can leave without regret.

“Hello!!” Leo greeted the creature—the clock person, as they stepped into the White Space. Remon followed behind him. The creature looked at them with its usual blank eyes and stiff movements.

But this time, Remon felt less uncomfortable around it. She felt like she understood what to do now. The creature still occasionally summoned random objects only to destroy or change them into something else, but it seemed like it was learning to recognize and understand what things were.

“Okay! I command you to... picture a house with four windows, two giant doors, and a little garden in front of each window!” Leo said excitedly.

The creature looked at Leo and then created a house matching his exact description.

“Woohoo!! They’re ready! Now, now, what if we change their appearance?” Leo suggested.

“What? We can do that?” Remon asked.

“Of course! They’re basically our customized character!”

“I don’t know if you should say it like that...” Remon mumbled.

“Aaanywaayy, your hair is boring! I command you to have pink hair!” Leo declared.

The creature’s hair immediately shifted from black to pink.

“What? No! I command you to have blue hair!” Remon quickly countered.

The creature’s hair changed again—now split down the middle, one side pink, the other blue.

“Hah! See? Even though it has blue now, it didn’t remove the pink! It kept mine! They still prefer my style!” Leo said smugly.

“Okay... I command you to have cat ears,” Remon said with a small smirk.

“HEY NO! I command you to have goat ears!! They’re cooler!” Leo shouted.

Now the creature had four ears—two cat ears on top, and just beneath them, a pair of goat ears.

“Hah, look! Mine stayed too,” Remon teased, sticking out her tongue. “They liked my choice more, yours is just… tolerated.”

“Tch! Fine then! I command you to have blue eyes!” Leo fired back.

“Nope! Pink eyes!” Remon shot.

The result is heterochromia. One blue eye, one pink eye.

“Wait, never mind! I command you to have purple eyes!” Leo said. But this time, nothing changed.

“Huh?” Leo stared in confusion.

“Hmm... Now it feels weird for them to have animal ears with normal human skin... I wish it was a bit furry,” Remon said casually.

As soon as she spoke, the creature’s skin shifted into a dark greyish fur.

“WHAAT? NOT FAIR! I com—” Leo began, but Remon quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

“No, stop… look at what we’ve done...” she said quietly.

Both of them fell silent, staring at the creature they had transformed beyond recognition. Its body, now fluffy and mismatched, stood quietly in front of them.

They turned to each other and exchanged a look. It was the kind of look that silently screamed, uh oh.

“I command you to... undo every change we made,” Leo said hesitantly.

But nothing happened.

Silence.

They looked at each other again, both wearing the exact same expression—yep, this was definitely bad.

The creature suddenly began to move. This time more naturally, almost human-like. Its eyes, once empty and expressionless, now seemed to hold something... a soul. Remon and Leo stood frozen, watching in awe and confusion, overwhelmed by a rush of emotions they couldn’t quite put into words.

Then, the creature spoke.

“...Is that all?”

The twins stiffened, startled by the voice. They glanced at each other, still processing what just happened, before giving a small nod in response.

Leo was the first to break the silence. “Um… what do you want to be called?”

“Called?” the creature echoed.

“Yeah, like… your name. What do you want to name yourself? I believe you haven’t been given one yet, right?”

“...A name? Like Remon and Leo?”

“Exactly!” Leo nodded. “So… what would you like your name to be?”

There was a short pause before the creature replied, “Why don’t Remon and Leo pick it for me?”

Remon gently stepped in, shaking her head with a soft smile. “No… you should choose it yourself. Go ahead, we’ll wait.”

The creature thought for a moment. “...Ki… Kierra.”

The twins smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you, Kierra.”

As they spoke their name, Kierra began to glow faintly. The sound of ticking clocks echoed softly in the space. When the glow faded, something new hung around Kierra’s neck—a clock.

It was the final sign. Kierra was now fully trained, ready to become a Void Traveler alongside the twins.

-In School-

After school, Mallory and Remon walked together to Remon’s house. Once there, they continued their investigation.

Mallory noticed that Remon’s room was even messier than the last time she visited.

“Have you been struggling to sleep or something?”

No response. But as Mallory watched Remon work on her laptop, she noticed her hands trembling slightly.

“...Remon, you can take a break. You look exhausted.”

“Nah, I’m fine. Anyway, I found something.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Turns out the driver… was Malvine’s dad.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if this is useful information, but there you go.”

“But why? Does that mean Malvine isn’t the culprit?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, if the driver was his dad. There’s no way he’d sabotage his own dad’s car for a crime, right? So there must be someone else.”

“Hmm, that’s possible. But if anyone can sabotage his car, it must be his nearest person, his son. Since his car broke down on the same day the accident took place. I also found out that his family is abusive. If that’s the case, it kinda makes sense why he’d frame his own dad, no?”

“Oh… How bad does it have to be for him to go that far?”

“I don't know. But from his posts, it’s clear he hated Rein.”

“But why?”

“Hmm, who knows?” Remon’s hand trembled slightly, it was subtle but noticeable. She was clearly exhausted, yet still forcing herself to push through.

“I guess that’s all for today. Go home, Mallory,” Remon said as she climbed into bed and pulled her blanket over herself.

“Are you going to sleep?”

“Maybe.”

“Alright then. See you, Remon.”

Mallory looks at Remon, before she go. "She must be tired.. I should let her rest."