Blood splatters all around me, and on me. Flashes of light, smoke, open mouths. Footfalls.

The white walls and murals are now stained with sin that can never be scrubbed into oblivion.

I had run with my eyes closed to the sanctuary I've abandoned. I'm no longer worthy of its protection the moment I rejected it, so why did I choose to be the harbinger of catastrophe?

It had been a blur of rattles, of clicks, of expletives. My past still zigzags on this route, stringing together bits and pieces of information the way an amateurish video production is made, abrupt and disjointed.

I am only left with a few drips and drabs: my shadow at the threshold where boots rush inward, metallic shells piercing heads and chests, something about gods and beliefs. The short story is that the priest made some disrespectful remarks to another religion and it so seems the churchgoers are in on the gossip, sparking a heated conflict between both religious groups. To invalidate someone else's god and make mockery. The price: a church shooting.

Perhaps that's why I chose to leave. I, the unlikely witness; I, the sole survivor; I grew more disgusted with humanity.

Things still don't come as a full movie, like a film trailer teasing me with the details I've anticipated and chucked aside.

The only words I've spoken in the razed sanctuary were for the priest: "I've lost faith in everything and everyone. Goodbye."

Little did I know how much of a farewell it would soon turn out to be. Maybe faith is as malleable as we would have it be. There are the freethinkers, after all. Who is to say they are wrong? And those who believe in the stories of all religions to coexist in our world? What of them?

A marked controversy.

We let our actions slide and suffer for it. I chose to hide and now suffer for it. Yet this suffering, this rewound journey, will only be another cause for some other consequence.

It's a good attempt, at the very least. Yet, the end has not been fully unravelled.

With clean clothes and a confident smile (is this a mask I don, or a display of authenticity?) I leave the church for the gym. Why would I meet Fantina again? Rather, what purpose do I have now?

I soon get my answer as I sit on the chair opposite her, our gazes clashing softly.

"I understand. Thank you, Fantina," I say.

But I understand nothing.

"I'm here to help you. Do you understand me, Yan?"

What did you help me with? Where were you, besides that one freaky meeting, when I needed you? You have the power to help me.

"You're leaving me with this friend of yours then? You just don't have the time to help me."

Yes, because I've been so alone in this wreckage. You lied, Fantina, and I trusted your lie.

"He's a good friend of mine who will help you along the way." Fantina covers her mouth. "Adolf's a five-star hypnotherapist, so don't worry."

Adolf.

Did I hear her right? Adolf, the one who sends his Hypno to stalk me, is supposed to help me?

"I..."

She motions to a flat file, open for me to see. The particulars of her friend is there.

I flinch. Adolf is a Hypno. The Hypno.

This is insanity at its finest. My life is a cruel comedy. How can this be? I let him handle my phasmophobia?

The universe winks at me and I fall flat into Fantina's lap.

•

There are days you can't differentiate reality from dream on waking up, and this is one of those days.

I wake to the pleading eyes of Adolf. Not Dream Adolf or human Adolf.

Adolf the Hypno.

Not the most pleasant thing to see, really.

The conical roof and the graffiti informs me of my whereabouts as I avert my gaze. What does this even mean? Where did human Adolf go?

The ending of my journey feels so rushed, like I couldn't wait to just be done with everything and leave it all behind. But a part of me knows the aftertaste that lingers: a bitter cube melting on the tip of my tongue, charring it black.

"You've awoken," Adolf says.

"What have you done to the human Adolf?" I press my head against the floor.

"It was a more... comfortable image projected for your sake." Adolf gives me a hand that I accept with a pout, willing me to sit up with my back straight. "It must have been hard for you."

"Hold on," I hiss and cover an eye. No, not a dream. "What do you mean by image?"

Adolf sighs and circles me. My eyes trail him, an impatient predator hungry for answers, till he stops with his shadow towering over me, his neck craned as if I'm some specimen under observation.

"We tend to lean on the image we have of others and of ourselves, whatever makes us feel more at ease in liking and disliking them. You would rather receive help from a human than a Pokémon, thanks to your haughty pride, which is why I took on a human form. It makes me less disgusting." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Don't frown at me that way. You are the one who conceives the images. You are the one who chooses to see images rather than the original products."

I laugh. I have never been so humiliated in my life, to lay bare for a Pokémon to mock me with his observations on humans.

"I'm not afraid of you, Adolf." I steel my gaze. "Now, take me back before I kill you."

He closes in. "Are you pure?"

He's using the words on the wall against me. I can't fall for that. I won't.

With clenched teeth, I spit out my answer. "Purer than you can ever be."

He closes in. His breath preys upon my senses as he speaks. "Are you a sinner?"

Am I a sinner?

He intends for me to review my past. It's, simply put, a vengeance game with a twist on salvation. I've done nothing wrong. There's no need to redeem myself. The perpetrators had their karma. I became their karma. How is that a sin to repent for? They sought after me to off me, and I only defended myself. I'm not guilty as charged.

So what is this creeping feeling in my gut? Part of me wants to own up to this "mistake".

A successful failure.

My lips quiver. "Someone's saint is another's sinner. What will your verdict be?"

I smirk as Adolf swallows and pulls away his hideous face.

"Judgemental people know not true judgement," Adolf says. "You are the one who decides your verdict, Yan. The words on the wall is your promise to yourself. You whispered it in your sleep, so... What will your verdict be?"

Outside, a clock ticks down. The Drifblim from before appears and watches us. What an intense gaze.

Everyone's waiting for my answer.

I inhale sharply and say, "In my eyes, I am no sinner. In your eyes, I may be. But we're different. I have always been pure. There has never been anything to repent for. I will now return."

I push past the Hypno in my path and leap onto the Drifblim. I could feel her Unburden ability activating. I look back. The words fade. Then, Adolf clutches onto Driblim's flap, teeth battered by the wind.

Retrouvaille seeps into my being. The sky castle sink into the canopy of clouds.

I just know that I won't have to return here ever again. This forsaken place will soon be nothing more than a memory.

I have conquered my past and overcome myself. It's time to bury all this and leave it all behind, in the sky that's the limit of it all.

"Will you leave me alone when we touch down?" I glance at the struggling Hypno. What a sight.

"No." At that, I purse my lips. Then, Adolf adds, "I'll be here for you every step of the way. Just because it's your life doesn't mean you have to go through it alone. I know, a part of you is admitting me."

I smile. "Come at me, you freak."

But he's right. I've been alone all this while, so having him around may just be an antidote I'm willing to risk.

We soon reach Hearthome City, which looks exactly as I remember it to be. On the streets, a woman with a purple parasol meets my eyes. She dons an expression of surprise as I step onto tiled ground.

Silence transcends the space between us. Adolf pats my shoulder.

"You're back," she breathes.

I nod. It's a jerky motion.

"You're finally back," the woman says and drops her parasol before rushing to me. "I knew you had it in you. I trusted Loony so much for this. I'm glad it all turned out well in the end."

Loony? I blink. Could she mean the Drifblim?

Wait...

I flinch and shove her aside.

"You mean you orchestrated everything, Fantina?"

She simply shakes her head. "It was all you, Yan. Don't you remember it?"

There were... more things repressed than I could recall?

Everything clicks. The bizarre situations as I relived my past are all the works of my unconscious. The conversations with Adolf the Hypno never really happened, did they? They were all internal dialogue. I had woven a backstory for Adolf and used the image I had of him to heal.

"Right. There are no such things as coincidences. I said so myself." I pause. Is this right? It's the truth I've been evading. It's the consequence I've been wanting to see. "I was the one who told them to take action. I was the one who lost my mind. I was the one who smirked and watched them all die. I was the one..."

I was the one who came up with the elaborate plan with all my research, the way to conquer my fears, the way to break off the connection with my past beliefs, and the way to destroy myself.

I had completely believed in my own lie.