Extra Chapter 9: Sea of Memories

[Extra Chapter 9: Sea of Memories]

[This will be a little bit long for an extra chapter, so pardon me! Please “read allat”!]

Kazai Mizuganai was born in Ritsurin.

She was a part of the Mizuganai family, who mostly used fire magic, but were never capable of water magic.

As Kazai was born, she has shown a trace of water magic. Her parents and ancestors were surprised, finally seeing their legacy end as a no-water family.

As Kazai grew up, she had a good education, but was struggling in class. She wasn’t the bottom of the class, but every few months, she came back home with bad grades.

“Oh no! What part are you struggling at?” said her dad.

“It’s so hard, dad. How did you even get good grades?” said Kazai.

Her dad tutored her without any abuse, and Kazai slowly got good grades.

“Mom! Dad! Look at it! Straight A’s!” Kazai shouted as she was very proud of herself.

They all had a great time, and Kazai even got to showcase her water magic.

…

Well, until an incident happened. Kazai was hit by a car, driving at an insanely fast speed. The driver was then charged for reckless driving. Kazai was about 12 years old then.

“Oh no… Is our family doomed?” 

“No… This can’t be real.”

“She was the only waterbender in our family, and she had to die at such a young age?”

Those were the words from her family.

“I… Want to live…” Those were Kazai’s last words, as ambulance alarms were heard, and she was pronounced dead.

As Kazai went through a void of silence for a few hours, she woke up in a corridor with stained glass walls.

“You… were a good person… Choose… your afterlife… and you… will live…there.” A voice echoed throughout the room.

Clueless, Kazai went to the place full of flowers, which turned out to be the Sea of Memories, one of the afterlives in this place.

“Are you sure… You want… to be there?” 

Kazai nodded, and she entered the Sea of Memories. The door that led her here disappeared, and Kazai’s appearance turned out brighter.

"Where am I?" She wanders endlessly around the flower fields, hoping to find someone. Eventually, she finds a fishing village. Kazai had a lot of interest in this afterlife, and exploring it was relaxing because of the atmosphere, which was always dawn, night, and sunset. Kazai felt barely any exhaustion from running, which was great, because the Sea of Memories is very big. There were wooden cabins and fluorescent water. Kazai tried to scoop up the water on her hands and drank the water, and it was somewhat sweet and healthy. The fish were elegant and it looked, well, very tasty.

There were a few lightbulbs, and a few wagons for trading. It seems like people are trading fish for light bulbs and other resources, like phones. It was quite a simple and old life. Kazai was a bit disappointed, but later realized that simple lives make her happy, as complicated things make her sad and give her a headache.

Curious, Kazai ran and tried to talk to another memory. This one is using fisherman gear.

"Hello…?" She talked to the fisherman.

"Hey, young girl. Name’s Iago. Welcome to the land of fishes! It's quite a relaxing life, except when the fish struggles really hard…” A fisherman said, while fishing a small fish. “We sell fish, but we don’t sell water, since there’s a lot of 'em everywhere!”

“Woah… How much money do you get?” Kazai asked.

“Hahaha! There used to be such a thing, but we barely used it now. Our fish is our money.” Iago laughed and patted Kazai’s back. “You are amusing, young girl. Oh, the trader guys are coming. I have to give them some fish! Our fish are the tastiest.”

“Can I come with the traders?” She asked, wanting to explore the world a little bit more, now that she’s here forever.

“Haha. Do you want to get into the truck? You can sit on the driver’s lap, young girl! There’s not many seats here for ya. Or if you wanna sit in the big steel box right there, you gotta deal with the fish smell. Fish in the water all day, and they smell bad! We shower one time, and we don’t smell. What’s up with that?” Iago jokes, as a truck comes by. It seemed to be gas-powered, but there’s no fumes coming out of it.

“I’ll… I’ll sit on the driver’s lap, thanks.” Kazai felt slightly uneasy by the thought of the smell of fish, and she didn’t want to sit on a stranger’s lap, too, but she thought that the truckers are trustable since good people could choose to be here. As Kazai got up to the truck, she sat on the trucker’s lap, and went off. The rumbling of the car felt relaxing, as they drove on a field of grass. It felt wrong, as she’s never been in a car driving on somewhere other than the road.

The truck went on and on, and Kazai looked through the window gleefully, as she saw a lot of flowers, villages of many traditions, and they drove past some cities. None of them were in destruction, and she didn’t see any fires, except torches, lanterns, furnaces, and whatever that uses fire. It’s quite a relaxing afterlife, where people live a simple life. Heaven is a good afterlife, too, but if she could choose her afterlife again, it would be the Sea of Memories.

Finally, they reached their destination, and it was at another village. It was a village of artisanship, containing pottery, baskets, and many things made by hand. Kazai was amazed by the simplicity of those villages, and wanted to stay there. 

“Kid, we’re at the destination. Give them the fish, and load whatever they give us in the truck. You can stay here, or come back to the fish village.” The driver instructed. They gave the fish, which was a lot of fish, and traded them for a lot of valuable things. Kazai chose to stay here, and explore the artisanship village.

The first person she met was a woman with a hijab. Her appearance seems a bit dark. Not because of her clothes, not because of her skin color, but there seems to be darkness looming around. “Hello, child! Where do you come from?” The woman asked. 

“Uhhh… I’m new here, but I came from the fishing village. Why do you look like there’s darkness powers… thingy near you?”

“Oh… I’m a Darkest Memory. You’re a Radiant Memory. Radiant Memories like you have good memories, but Darkest Memories like me… Well, I had bad memories.” The hijab woman sighed. 

“Oh no… What happened?”

“I lived my life being harassed and called a terrorist, just because of something I didn’t even do. I didn’t even know about it, and those Americans threw rocks at me, saying that I’m a terrorist. I just want to believe in Allah.” The woman looked disappointed in her past life. “At least I’m here now, and people support me.”

“Allah? Is it an Islam thing?” Kazai asked.

“Yes, I’m a Muslim. Many people mistake us for Indians, when Indians follow Hinduism. I come from Saudi Arabia. How about you?”

“I’m from Mokkato. I don’t really have a religion, although I’ve seen mosques and churches around here.” 

“Oh, that place with the spirit guardians? Everyone’s afraid of Mokkato, so we pray hoping Mokkato doesn’t try to attack us…” The woman panicked after hearing about it.

“No worries, Mokkato promotes peace. The only war they have is with Reqrania… Anyways, my name is Kazai Mizuganai!”

“My name is Tehmina, nice to meet you, Kazai… I help people do pottery and other things. I don’t come to the city often, but it’s more comfortable than the mortal world.” Tehmina said. “We also have some magic in Saudi Arabia, over there, we focus on the beauty of the magic, and we use it for good.” 

“Mokkato is great in technology and magic… Uhhh… They’re very cool!” Kazai made a thumb’s up. 

“We’re done trading, by the way…” Tehmina usually sounds tired while someone talks to her. It seems like the artisanship village works hard here. “There is a metro nearby. You can go back to the fishing village there.”

“Then why don’t we use metros for trading?” Kazai was dumbfounded.

“It’s public transportation, not cargo transportation, Kazai.” Tehmina found a dumb.

“Okay… I’ll go now.” Kazai was embarrassed, and decided to visit the metro.

[The metro has arrived. Next station - The Memory Orchestra. Mind the gap.]

Kazai entered the metro for free, and it wasn’t crowded. The metro started going at a fast speed, and finally, it reached another part of the metro.

[The metro has arrived. Next station - Flower Garden. Mind the gap.]

Kazai exited the metro, and walked out to a giant orchestra. It was awesome, and it’s about to start. She had a nice seat, and had a conversation with the old man next to her.

“Aha… Young girl, this is your first time here?” The old man seems to be a Darkest Memory. 

“Yes… This is my first day here.” Kazai nervously answered.

“Young girl, the Memory Orchestra consists of the most skilled and talented musicians in all worlds! You’re about to experience the best music that’s gonna come to your ear! I’ve been a fan for a lot of years now, hehe.” The old man seemed very excited for the orchestra to play their new song.

“You’re definitely making me more nervous than excited…” Kazai feels weirded out.

“No worries! Stay with ‘em for a bit, and the music will make you stay for sure.” The man patted Kazai’s shoulder.

As the orchestra started playing, Kazai was nervous about the outcome, but it ended up being a very epic orchestra.

The music describes an adventure of life. Through sadness and sorrow, through happiness and joy, through rage and anger, through the world they'll go. There won't be a complete life without any feelings, and that's how people came here in the first place. Their story came to an end, and they have decided to go there. As the orchestra played their last ritardando and fermatas, they ended the music in a peaceful way. There were no vocals involved, but it managed to describe feelings in the best way possible. The old man didn't lie, the musicians are the best!

As a round of applause was heard, the conductor bowed down, and walked off the stage. The crowd was really engaged, and some even took photos with them. Kazai also clapped, as it exceeded her expectations! She then left the stage last, and entered the metro once again, to the Flower Garden.

The flower garden had a sign that said "Picking flowers is allowed". The flowers here represent memories, and if you simply touch the petals of the flowers, no matter if you're blind, deaf, or anything else, the memories will flow into your mind. The pleasant memories are mixed with the unpleasant memories, but they are easily differentiated by their color and aura.

Kazai picks a flower, shining with light and glimmering beautifully.

She finds herself inside a room, with many people partying and drinking. They are happy, as it is someone’s birthday. 

Kazai was distracted and came back to her senses after hearing a young child say “Are you alright? Why are you standing here like that?”

“Kid, if you see a person standing still while holding a flower, they’re reading the memories in them flowers.” A man in a beanie told the child.

“Oh… Can I try one?” The child was curious.

The beanie man almost picked out a flower containing an unpleasant memory, but he did not want to hurt a child’s innocence, so he picked the one where a child traveled into a world full of ice creams. “Here you go, kid.”

“Yay!” The kid held the flower, and stood still, closing her eyes. She’s now stuck in her own trance.

“So that’s how it works…” Kazai whispered to herself. She picked up a dark flower, and recalled the memory… A memory that’s not even hers, that is.

“Geopelia!” A blonde-haired boy shouted, as the city was destroyed by a purple-blue destruction, as the fireworks blew up. It was total destruction, a thing that Kazai never wanted to happen to her.

She was pained by the memory, until the last firework blew up, and knocked her into her senses once again.

Kazai was terrified.

“Kid, there’s more terrifying stuff than this.” The man in the beanie approached her. “You gonna see a man die, you gonna see a man die in a car cash, you gonna see a man burn to death, you’re just lucky you picked this one, lil’ girl.”

“O-oh…” Kazai shyly replied.

“You gotta learn how messed up the world be. This stuff comes from different planets, yo. Cuz you a child, don’t pick up the dark flowers. Freaky stuff.”

“Uhh… Okay…?” Kazai walked away.

“Good luck in that garden!”

Kazai picked up a rainbow flower, still shaken by the things happening. The flower had recently grown, so it must be from this year.

“Karumi, you have twins!” The doctor said, “It’s a boy and a girl! Congratulations.”

“Oh! Those babies are precious…” Karumi said. “I’ll name the girl Kasuri, and the boy… Uhhh… Risuka.” The mother was relieved to have the twins finally get out of her belly. 

“They have your eyes, Karumi. They’ll grow to be successful people, just like you.”

“No, no, Aoikaze’s the one who’s successful.” Karumi denied. “But still, I have high hopes for them!”

The memory faded into black, and Kazai left her trance. “I hope that child will be well.” Kazai knew the value that memories have for everyone. Memories are there to cherish, to store knowledge, to know to succeed in life. All her life, she's only been happy, and only the slightest bit of sad, when her dad wouldn't get her ice cream because it rained. Still, the car crash on her was so sudden, so her reason of death was beyond her. Knowing this, she asked the staff for a flower regarding her death.

The staff found the memory flower, and she looked into it.

Kazai was walking peacefully, and the person drove and ran her over, leaving a scene full of crushed bones and blood wounds. The person was charged for driving under influence, but her family seemed sad. Justice was served, but she still felt bad for her bloodline. 

"My family was so proud of me." She picked the flower, and put it in her pocket. "W-why? Why does it have to be like this?" Kazai sobbed, and kneeled to the floor, looking down on the pathway. 

"Hey, young girl, Iago's here. Don't cry!" A man appeared and carried Kazai back to a car. It was Iago, the fisherman from the fishing village. "I came here to see my memory, when I catched a biiiiiiig fish!" 

Kazai did not respond while on the car's passenger seat. She was in the back seat, since she wanted to be there. 

"Oh… Why are you not talking?" Iago seems confused about her behavior, like he's never seen a sad person before.

"I don't wanna." Kazai said in a gloomy voice.

"Alright, alright. I get it." Iago shut his mouth, and for the entire trip, they were silent. Kazai slept in the car due to it always looking like nighttime. 

At the fishing village, Iago carried Kazai back to his hut, and placed her on a bed, then tucked her in. "Good night, young girl."

The next morning, Kazai woke up to see that her pillow was full of tears. Iago was too nervous to talk to Kazai as he thought it would make things worse. Kazai searched inside her clothes. To no avail, there was no family photo in her pockets. She woke up crying, as she should. She wants to see her parents again.

But she’s in the afterlife. The only way to see her parents again is to have her parents die and come to the same afterlife as her. She can’t return back to the mortal world unless someone revives her. 

Kazai sobbed. She wanted a way to just get back to her parents. Iago looked at Kazai. “Why are you sad?”

“I want to see my parents again.”

“Oh, eventually, when your parents die, they’re gonna come here.” Iago said, optimistically. “You’re here forever most of the time.”

“I don’t want my parents to die. I want to protect my parents…” Kazai said in quite a sad tone. “I want to go back to the human world.”

“Well, I hope you can!” Iago’s optimism conquered all, as always. “But right now, I feel like you need to do something, like finding treasure, helping others, playing games, and stuff.”

“I guess…” Kazai walked away. 

“Wait, heyheyheyheyhey! Have a phone.” Iago gave Kazai a phone. It seemed to be an old phone, but it is still a mobile phone with a proper touch screen and 32GB of storage. “I bought this for you! What’s your name…?”

“My name… My name is Kazai Mizuganai. I come from Mokkato.”

“Whoa! That’s a very beautiful name for a pure girl like you.” Iago patted Kazai’s head. “Well, save my number, we’ll contact each other!”

“Sure… I’ll call you later.” And then Kazai set off on a journey.

She waved goodbye to Iago, even though she’s only stayed here for one night. Kazai felt like it was home. Every place she’s slept in, she’ll remember it as home.

As Kazai walks around the endless fields of flowers, she decides to pick one up, and it sticks her in a trance, just like the flowers in the garden.

It was the day Kazai first got into school. She easily got friends, and was the smartest in the class. She had a friend that had good jokes, and a friend that supported her wherever she was.

Kazai smiled, and tried to make a flower headband out of one singular flower. Of course, it didn’t work. It isn’t complete. Her life ended abruptly. Of course, she doesn’t have enough flowers to complete a nice flower crown.

But as Kazai thought about it, she realized that it wasn't the end. As she knew this, she ran around, tried to find some people, and found somebody. 

She was not dark, she was not bright. She looked quite corrupted, and glitched.

She was sitting on a tree stump, but somehow, she was not crying.

Kazai goes to check on her. "Are you okay, Miss?"

To no surprise, the woman sat still, and did not respond. 

"I have all the time in this place. I can bother you all you want."

"Don't bother." The woman said in a monotonous tone.

"At least you have some company, and you can't deny that."

"Haha." The woman smiled. "At least I have some company, but I don't want anyone to bother me."

"Why do you look like that?" Kazai points out.

"My appearance is none of your concern." The woman sighed. "You look like a curious child, so let me clue you in. I am a Forgotten Memory, which means that I am either a person no one remembers, or a person with dementia. I am the former."

"Why didn't you cry, then? Being forgotten is sad…" Kazai felt bad for her.

"I've cried for several years, and I got tired of crying. I want to forget everything about myself, and turn myself into null. I no longer want anyone to remember me."

Kazai was terrified of how insane those Forgotten Memories can be. "Do you want me out of here?"

"No. I do not want to make a young, innocent child like you suffer even a fraction of my sorrow." The woman used her fingers on Kazai's mouth to give her a fake smile.. "Don't be sad. Be happy." 

"I… That doesn't make me any happier…" Kazai started crying.

"..." The woman patted Kazai's head. "There, there…"

"I wanna see my parents again…" 

"I know a way. You need to become a species known as a Memory Spirit, then, you can traverse through the mortal world again."

"How do you become one?"

"Simply make merits, help people, and make people appreciate their lives." 

"Then… How can I help you?" Kazai gets the assignment immediately. 

"There's nothing you can help me with." The woman said, disappointed. "I wish I had something you could help me with…"

"Aw…" Kazai walked away, as the Forgotten Memory sits at her usual place.

She walked for a lot of hours, until eventually, she found someone stuck in a hole. She helped him up, and was thanked for it.

She walked for a lot of hours, until eventually, she found a farmer trying to collect crops. It was a tiring job, but she managed to handle the crops properly.

She walked for a lot of hours, until eventually, she found a gangster wanting to redeem himself.

"I've been a bad person…" The gangster cried. He wanted to be redeemed for his actions.

"Hey… It's alright! I forgive you. You're here now, so let's enjoy your stay."

"Thank you…" The gangster felt a bit forgiven for his actions.

She walked until she found a city. Kazai was walking, until she saw a car. She was too scared, and hid behind a bench. Kazai suddenly bursted out in tears.

"Miss, are you okay?" A woman asked her.

"I'm scared…"

"Of what? There's nothing!"

"I don't wanna get hit by cars…" Kazai cried.

"..." The woman understood her. "Did you die like this?"

Kazai looked at the woman in the eyes, and slowly nodded. "Yes. Yes, I did."

"Darn. Your life isn't complete if it ends so abruptly… You need to come back to the mortal world."

"I'm trying! Do you need help?"

"Oh, yeah, what's the Pythagorean Theorem again? I'm trying to remember it for my test…"

"A squared plus B squared equals C squared!"

"That seems about right, but that was a random request… Thank you, though." The school student said. "If you're looking to be a Memory Spirit, you'll have to do a lot of help for others, no 1 year experience, you just gotta be sincere about it."

“I helped a lot of people!”

“Help a bit more people.” The student smiled. “People around you can be Memory Spirits, but they can still retain their form as a normal Memory. Memory Spirits are people that the Sea of Memories deems honorable in terms of helping people.”

“Honorable?”

“Imagine that you have to be one of the biggest helpers in the Sea of Memories. There’s barely any young Memory Spirits, there aren't any Memory Spirits your age, so you’ll be the youngest one ever!”

“Yay! Do you need any other help???”

“Thank you, but no. Wait… Can you help stay with me for a few days? I just moved in, and I need time to get used to stuff here. You can do housework, my homework, all the other stuff…"

"Uhhh… Sure! If I can go outside your house."

"That's cool. Let's go to our house." The student pulled Kazai to her house, while Kazai panics due to the sudden pulling and decides to move her legs to catch up with her. After they arrive at the student's house, it appears that the student is living alone, because she was the only family member who died. There were no family photos, only flower vases with memories that belonged to the student.

The house was small and humble, but it wasn't clean. As the student studied in her room, Kazai cleaned the house with a broom. In only 1 hour, the house was clean! The student was still studying, but Kazai came to help the student.

"Oh, exponentials don't work that way with negative numbers… Negative multiplied by a negative becomes a positive, but if you multiply it again, it becomes negative, and if you multiply again, it becomes a positive, and so on…" Kazai is the top of the class, and things like this are obvious for her. 

"Does it work like that? Wow, you're so smart."

"Uhh… Thanks! Why do you go to school anyway? You're in the afterlife, you're free to explore!"

"I like going to school."

"Well, I don't…" Kazai looked down.

“That sucks. I wish you could tutor me in school or something. I thought you liked school because you’re quite smart for your age… Twelve-year-olds just… Annoy me.”

“Wait… Am I annoying?” Kazai pointed at herself.

“Don’t worry about it. At least I have some company. Anyways, my name is Aqualace.”

“Aqualace? Do you have water magic or something?”

“I’d say… Yeah, I guess. Do you have it too?”

“Yes!” Kazai excitedly said.

“Nice. We can probably practice our magic together.”

“Yay!” Kazai jumps in excitement. For a long time, she’s helping Aqualace and other people too! A month passed, and then a letter was sent to her.

[Dear Aqualace Watertown, 

You have been nominated as one of the SOM Academy’s Best Students of the year! An awarding ceremony will be held tomorrow.]

[Dear Kazai, you will be given the status of a Memory Spirit! Please ride the metro to the Hall of Memory Spirits to achieve your status. Take your time!]

Both Aqualace and Kazai seem happy. They give themselves a high five, and thank each other.

“Thanks, uhhh… Red girl. Someday, I want to be a memory spirit like you, too, but I wanna stay here.”

“I’ll come visit you again someday. Bye for now!” Kazai runs to the metro to achieve her status as a Memory Spirit. She feels the energy surging into her, she’s now more powerful.

A power to control all the Mokkatoian elements, huh… It’s to protect us from any cataclysms again.

As Kazai knew this, she teleported back to the mortal plane. Surprisingly, her family was still alive and well.

They hugged each other, and it’s the end of this nice story.

Kazai still keeps herself in touch with Iago, Aqualace, Tehmina, and her family.

This was how Kazai got her powers.