Entry #b5 [Return]
Universe Visited: N/A
Universe Codename: N/A
Cyno Scale: N/A
Current Universe: CYN-113333-FR
Notes:
Hello everyone, N0V4 here! Again again again again! Buckle up, this is going to be a long one! The final stop to this Mod Saga: their return to Earth! Aino is resting again, I think she's recently been under a lot of stress. I’m not sure what it is, but she’ll be back to normal in the next post, hopefully!
Last time, we left off with the crew fully together and ready to continue their voyage! Except… they couldn’t quite do it.
The space is twinkling in its infinite darkness, a ship floating peacefully in the soundless world. We zoom into the window of the ship and see Luna, Rynoric, and Butter lounging in the common area. Their voices slowly emerge from the silence.
“... part star since I have her power.”
“Oh, then am I one with all the stars and planets that I’ve eaten?”
“Wait, you’ve eaten stars?”
“Who said that?”
“You just did.”
“Prove it.”
“... No, I don’t care. That’s not even what we’re talking about. I’m asking this: since Cyno imbued us with her powers, are we part star?”
“I think that it’s not that we’re part star, but more like we have her power running through our veins. Like if we transfused human blood into a bat, would the bat be part human?”
“Is that how Batman was made?”
“Who?”
“You know, from the comics Cyno has lying around?”
“You know how to read?”
Before Rynoric could respond, a frustrated groan emanated from the helm. Cyno was there, grumbling and smacking her fist on the table repeatedly. After a moment, the three boys whipped out their fists.
“Rock…”
“Paper…”
“SCISSORS, YES!”
Luna looked at the paper on Butter and Rynoric’s hand. Why did he have to choose rock… It reminded him of his moon, that was why. Sighing, he walked over to Cyno.
“Hey, why don’t we take a break?” He put his hand on her shoulder. Cyno lifted her head, eyes bloodshot.
“I… can’t… read it.”
“Read what? Maybe it’s because you haven’t slept for,” Luna looked at his pocket watch, “38 hours?”
“THAT’S NOT WHY!” Cyno yelled, pushing the maps onto the ground. Quietly, Luna walked over to see them. To his horror, he saw dozens of horribly drawn anime boys scribbled all over the margins and leaking into the map. It covered valuable numbers and names, rendering the map as useful as a 7th grader’s sketchbook. He quickly gathered them all and shoved them inside a drawer. He could already imagine Butter’s disapproving glare that didn’t match his cute puppy face, followed by Rynoric complaining about how Cyno was “inting” the group and that he was hungry. Luna wasn’t sure if Cyno could handle that.
“There, there, it’s fine. Just reach deep into your brain and remember. Believe in your guiding properties. You’re the North Star, right? Choose a direction and just go!”
Cyno looked up sniffling.
“You mean it?”
Luna nodded.
Cyno brightened up and chose a spot randomly, pushing the ship at full throttle and filled with hope!
Five hours later, a familiar shattered moon came up on the horizon. Nobody said a word as they drove past the fragments that they had seen multiple times before. Even Luna was getting tired of seeing his old home.
This time, Cyno kept going straight forward, past the past, past the present, and into the future. She was driving for so long that all three of the moderators decided to check up on her. When they finally drummed up the courage to talk to her, they found her, eyes closed, snoring on the dash.
“See, that’s what happens when you don’t sleep enough.”
“Can I eat her?”
“Are you a monster?!”
They gently woke her up. Tired from everything that had happened, they decided to land on a deserted planet. Finally, something had to give.
Cyno suggested that they go search for supplies, but none of the mods felt particularly inclined to listen to her. In fact, they wanted to speak with each other. Understanding the situation, Cyno sadly left the ship by herself to explore. The three mods were finally alone.
“Alright. I’m just going to say it. I think she’s insane.”
“Rynoric!”
“I mean come on, she clearly has no idea where she’s going, she’s just taking us in circles until we starve to death!”
“That’s not fair to say, she did save us…”
“Did she though? She burned 99% of my goop off! And let’s say she even did save us: shouldn’t we be living our lives instead of following her around like some play pretend ragtag group?”
“...”
“...”
“I don’t know what you guys are going to do. I don’t even know you guys that well. Hell, I don’t even know her that well. What is her dream, really, other than “shining bright” or something like that? All I know is that I’m hungry and there’s no food. I’m going to leave. I’m not staying here with this crazy star.”
Although Rynoric felt something gnawing at his stomach (not hunger for once), he turned to leave.
“You’re right.”
Rynoric turned back, surprised.
“She’s incorrigible. She can’t find the way back to her home, she breaks everything she touches, and she’s hopelessly obsessed with fictional men. She’s forgetful and clumsy and forgives too easily. She can’t control her powers, she’s not even that funny, and she is too self-obsessed for her own good.”
“I didn’t know you felt that way…”
“BUT. She saved my life. She saved yours, Luna. She saved yours as well Rynoric. Don’t tell me you prefer being a monster that nobody could ever talk to, eating alone in space.”
Rynoric looked away.
“More than that, she needs us. Look at her. She’s the North Star, meant to lead others to their paths. If we leave her, who’s going to lead her? Who’s going to be there for her? She’s stable, unshakable, constant. But the downside of being fixed in place is that everything else moves. Towards you, sure, but away from you too. You can do what you want, Rynoric, I can’t choose for you. But I’m staying here with her, to the end. It’s my choice.”
After the speech, Butter stood there, staring at Rynoric. He didn’t know what kind of reaction he was expecting, but he could not in a million years predict what came next.
Rynoric punched him.
“STOP MAKING ME FEEL LIKE CRAP FOR WANTING TO LEAVE!” Rynoric screamed as he threw a right hook. Butter wasn’t the physically confrontational type, but who’s just going to stand there and be wilded on?
So he threw a punch back. Then Luna stood between the two, trying to stop the situation, and he got hit a few times. The struggle turned into a scuffle, which turned into a tussle, which ended up as a free-for-all. Fists flying everywhere, punching not to kill but to make a point with pain that words couldn’t seem to match up.
The fight might have lasted forever if Butter hadn’t aimed a left hook to Rynoric’s shoulder, which caused him to tumble into Luna who was, bless his soul, still trying to stop the fight despite it escalating beyond what anyone could stop. Pushed by the force of Rynoric’s body, Luna hit the command panel that Cyno was often sitting on, and the whole ship went dark.
For dramatic measures, we now cut to Cyno.
Picture this: the female lead, Cyno, heartbroken, crying by the side of a purple waterfall (that’s just the colour of water on this planet I suppose). Her delicate features tinged with pink as she blows her nose on a soft leaf she found on the ground.
Then suddenly, stage left, a figure emerges from the brush. Handsome. 6 ft. Long white hair, stunning blue eyes. A figure that’s not too bulky, yet not too slim. He hears the melodic sniffles of the maiden laying by the waterfall and falls in love!
That’s probably what was going through the mind of Cyno as she ugly cried next to a stagnant greenish-purple pond. There was, in fact, the same figure as above, but his face was more contorted in some sympathetic disgust than love. Regardless, through the thick globs that were running down Cyno’s face, I don’t fault her for mistaking it for love. After all, it was quite a vulnerable moment for her.
Up until this point, most of the planets Cyno and her crew had visited were vacant. The ones that weren’t would usually have quite primitive life. Of course, they had found a couple that housed intelligent beings, but even they had mostly been nice. At least, they never stuck long enough to know otherwise.
Although none of them knew it, they had been extremely lucky. This time? Not so much.
The citizens of this world were neither the strongest nor the smartest. They were, however, quite alluring. They had evolved to have the ability to shapeshift into different forms. More specifically, a highly attractive form that the victim would be attracted to. Once the victim falls in love with the creature, they will then cast them into an infinite dream, living in a collective paradise. Their real body, however, will be feasted upon until their life force inevitably runs dry, ultimately killing them.
The white haired beauty that Cyno ran into was one of these monsters.
He sat next to her, patting her hair while she told him about all her problems, about her inability to lead the way, about her shortcomings and her fears. Truth be told, he pitied her a bit. However, their species also evolved to have an “emotion switch”, as emotions are not as important as survival.
He probably turned his switch off when Cyno, doe eyed and vulnerable, turned to him and reached out to his face, asking him if he was an angel sent to free her. Any point after that and he would’ve been toast. Even the strongest of wills find it’s easy to crumble when a star bares her core to see.
But he played his part well, and eventually, thanks to Cyno’s fickle heart and partially because of the magic exuding from the creature, she fell in love with him. He then lured her to his lair and promptly placed her in the dream. Since she was a star, he had obtained a truly five star feast for himself. It would also take a while before Cyno fully died. That was truly convenient, as while all this was happening…
The three mods stood in the absolute darkness, the throbbing in their body subsiding as adrenaline kicked in. A moment of silence descended on the three. Was it an intruder? Malfunction? Or maybe… Did they break something?
“Well that’s it, I’m leaving.”
“You can’t leave after that, we broke something!”
“I didn’t touch anything.”
“But you punched me, which arguably started the whole thing.”
“Okay, and you punched back??”
“Well I didn’t punch at all! I just got pushed back and fell on the buttons!”
“...”
“...”
“Oh so it’s my fault…” Luna reached for the panel, dragging his fingers across some buttons, “Don’t worry, I’ll fix it.”
He began pressing rapidly. A door opened here, an alarm rang in the other room, and suddenly there were flashing disco lights. None of which turned on the actual lights. Suddenly, he felt a bigger button. Bigger = more important, right? He smacked it, hoping the lights would finally turn back on.
It didn’t.
But instead, there was the sound of a projector being turned on, and all three heads turned to the wall when a picture was being broadcasted.
First it was blurry, then it slowly came into focus. It was Cyno. She was… playing video games? The sound came on. She was raging! No, she was laughing! No, she was talking in a suspiciously fake Australian accent.
The three found themselves enraptured by the content up on the screen. They sat there for a couple hours watching Cyno scream at the top of her lungs, sing sad slow songs, and try to tell chat why she couldn’t save them if they went to jail. She told them stories of how she accidentally ate ants, how she had written sappy love poems, how she had eaten green potatoes.
Finally, at last, they had come face to face with the dream she was telling them about. And they loved it. They had been converted to Cynovas.
When the VOD finally ended and the lights came on (guess they were off for plot purposes), they looked at each other, the previous fight all but forgotten, and for the first time they understood. They all rushed to speak at the same time.
“Look, Butter, I’m sor-”
“I’m sor-”
“I did nothing so…”
Rynoric and Butter looked at Luna.
“Way to ruin the moment.”
“... Sorry.”
“Anyway that’s besides the point. We have to go find Cyno now, tell her that we believe in her! She looked really sad when she ran out of the ship…”
“Where do we even begin? I mean… I could just eat the planet piece by piece-”
“That’d take too long. Here, let me do a scan with the ship.”
Luna quickly typed on the computer.
“When did he learn how to do that?”
Butter shrugged. Luna quickly read the screen, then his face paled.
“Oh god. This is like a trap specifically configured for Cyno.”
“What, is there a tribe of hot men that kills women who fall in love with them?”
“Not that far off…”
Luna quickly explained the situation to the two of them, explaining the type of danger that Cyno was in.
“WHAT?! SOMEONE’S GOING TO EAT CYNO?! AND IT’S NOT ME?!”
“Really Rynoric?”
“It’s a JOKE… ish…”
“Okay enough, I have an idea.”
Butter’s idea was pretty self-destructive. Despite this, all three of them agreed that it was probably the only shot they had to save Cyno. After all, if they barged in guns blazing, Cyno could just… not believe them. Especially after their awkward parting.
Their plan was simple: get lured, join the collective “dream”, and persuade Cyno to somehow give up her idyllic life with a super cute guy to return back to space where they’d probably wander around for another decade.
The three decided to split up to not look so conspicuous and blindly wander around the planet. Very soon, they were all caught by, respectively, a suspiciously beautiful dog woman, slime woman, and bunny woman.
They all had one thought in their head: we must stay focused, brothers.
And stay focused they did.
Very soon, all three of them found themselves in the Elysium paradise known only by those who were moments before death. Before they broke free to the interconnected network, they found themselves in a little paradise, all for them.
Butter woke up on a moon. A full moon. Made of butter!
Luna was, coincidentally, back in the core of the moon, his previous job restored.
Rynoric was, three for three, eating a huge moon, and there were planets and asteroids everywhere for him to eat!
Butter broke out first, as he started to get a little bit sick licking the moon. After he broke free of his dream, he wandered around the liminal space until he found Rynoric’s room. He slowly chipped a hole and stuck his head in.
“Come on, it’s time to go.”
“B-b-b-ut… I want to eat!”
“Really? Can’t you eat after?”
“I can’t, I’m hu- Wait… I’m not… Hungry?”
This was Elysium after all.
“Alright, I’m coming.”
Then they made their way to Luna’s room. This was slightly harder. Butter couldn’t seem to break past the giant barrier that Luna had made with his mind. It was probably due to Luna’s paradise: a world where the outside couldn’t get in, and the inside didn’t need to come out.
Rynoric, who wasn’t hungry but still loved to eat, simply repeated the real sequence of events and took a bite out of the moon. Luna tumbled out. A bit shaken, a bit distressed, but still alive.
“Well… That went shockingly well.”
“Wait… Why aren’t we awake even though we broke out the energy ball?”
“According to the… 2 survivors, you not only need to break out of the ball, but you need to somehow then find the actual exit.”
“Okay, let’s just find Cyno first.”
The three then escaped into the liminal space again and looked into every thought bubble there was. There were actually quite a lot of empty ones, as not a lot of people landed on the planet.
Finally, they reached one final bubble, giant and radiating, floating in the distance. They rushed towards and peered into the bubble.
Cyno seemed to be happy at a carnival. She was holding a piece of cotton candy, arm in arm with the dream monster, laughing as they talked about a mundane topic that both would probably forget in a day. He told a joke and she pushed him in the way that girls push boys they really like when they don’t know how to respond to it. A piece of fluff fell into her hair and he picked it out for her, causing her to blush and look to the side. He threw a dart and missed, causing her to laugh and throw her own dart. She missed too. They only won the smallest prize, but Cyno gripped onto it really tight. She would put it next to her computer when she went home.
“Say… Don’t you feel like we’re intruding on something?”
“Oh thank the stars you said that, I was beginning to feel awkward.” They began to turn away.
“Wait, I think they’re about to kiss.”
Their heads whipped in unison. Cyno and the boy were still laughing about the darts.
“I was joking, you perverts.”
“... You’ll pay for this.”
“Forget it, what should we do? I mean… she looks really happy in there. Is it really better to wake her up?”
“Didn’t you say she’ll die if we leave her in there?”
“Yeah, but time passes differently in the dream. For her, it’ll feel like a whole lifetime. How long do you think we’ve been in here?”
“I dunno, like… Huh. I don’t know. How long was I licking that butter moon?”
“Wait, you were eating in your dream too?”
“See? For me I felt like I lived a couple of weeks in that moon again. But I’m sure barely a second has passed for me. And the thing is, she has more power than us. She’s sure to survive longer. She’ll live a couple hundred million years in here as well. A couple hundred million years of heaven vs. whatever real life is. I don’t know.”
“I guess I didn’t think about that… Does she even need saving?”
“Wait but regardless, this isn’t real! She’ll be dying in real life!”
“What does real even mean? If she perceives this, if she knows nothing more doesn’t it-”
“Shut up. You know what’s real.”
“Do I?”
“So you’re both suggesting we allow her to die in real life. How is that ethical?”
“I’m just listing out the options.”
“I’m not telling her to die in real life. I mean everyone dies in real life.”
The three could not determine what to do. They were at an impasse. Butter and Rynoric were butting heads, per usual, while Luna was unable to decide either option. Suddenly, before it could spiral into yet another fist fight, a hand slapped against the inner bubble. They froze, turning around.
Floating there was the boy that Cyno was laughing with just moments before. They blinked at him, confused. He pointed behind him. Cyno had her headset on playing video games.
“We don’t have much time,” he said. “You have to wake her up.” The group looked at each other.
“Aren’t you the dude like… trying to eat her?”
“Yeah, why should we trust you?”
“Yes, I am, and no, you can’t trust me, but I’m going to need you to. You’re the only people capable of waking her up. I sifted through her memories. You three must mean a lot to her.” He gestured for them to look closer. In a call with Cyno were three icons, all three of which mirrored Butter, Luna, and Rynoric. “You’re even in her dream. Listen closely. I can’t wake her up. This part of me belongs in the simulation. I can’t run against it until it breaks. But I can let you three in. Can you save her?”
“... Who are you?”
“A stupid idiot that couldn’t turn off his emotions in time. I’ve set this simulation up so that it’s missing something crucial. Something extremely important. Now can you three help?”
The three looked at each other and shrugged. Worse case, they all live a fake good long life. They jumped in.
After some disconcerting moments, they found themselves standing in Cyno’s room. She was surprised, of course, but overjoyed to see them.
“Oh! How are you all here! Weren’t we just playing Plate Up?” The three heard their fake counterparts say hello through the headset. Rynoric ate the computer.
“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?”
“It’s fake. All of this is fake. Wake up.”
“What?”
“Stop it, you’re confusing her.”
“Aren’t we trying to wake her up as fast as possible?”
“But this is made out of her mind. If she becomes unstable…” The world began shaking.
“Nice, Rynoric. You’ve done it again.”
“Wait, I don’t understand. What do you mean this is fake? Didn’t we make it home? After I found Aubio- After he found me… We fell in love… What do you mean?”
“You named him Aubio?”
“No??? He was born with that name. Right? Aubio?” The boy stood solemnly a few feet away, his eyes indescribably sad. “Tell them…” The boy looked away. “We’ve been dating… For almost 2 years… now.” The hours that the three moderators spent arguing had become years for Cyno.
“I…” the boy couldn’t seem to speak.
“He’s fake. We’re still on the planet. Don’t you remember? We couldn’t find the way home?”
Cyno’s eyes clouded over with confusion. She kept on looking at “Aubio” for help. He walked close to her but stopped half way.
“I’m sorry.” With that, the boy transformed in front of their eyes. His hair turned black, cut to shoulder length, his eyes orange and narrow. In actuality, his normal form was quite good looking as well. It would have worked on Cyno either way. But at this moment, Cyno felt her heart shatter into a million pieces.
“MY LIFE IS A LIE!” She screamed. The world around them began to cave, certain parts giving way to an empty void.
“UHHH, WHAT HAPPENS IF WE FALL DOWN HERE?”
“YOU DIE!” The boy responded.
“ARE YOU- CYNO, LISTEN TO ME! THIS IS FAKE BUT IT CAN BE REAL! EXCEPT THE AUBIO PART. LOOK, LET’S ALL RETURN TO EARTH AND YOU CAN-”
Butter looked at the screen and realised something. She was playing video games with them, yes, but she wasn’t streaming. In fact, as he looked around, he didn’t see a single piece of merch from Cyno. She wasn’t streaming. Wasn’t that her dream?
“LOOK AROUND YOU! DON’T YOU WANT TO RETURN TO EARTH? DON’T YOU WANT TO STREAM AGAIN?”
At this, Cyno looked up at him.
“Streaming?”
“Y-yes,” Luna tagged along, “Remember that? Playing video games? For your Cynovas? Guiding them? You’re the North Star! Is this really the life you wanted? Just… A normal one?”
Cyno looked at them. The walls crumbled a bit more. She looked at the boy who she had dated for almost 2 years. He smiled, nodding, gesturing towards the three of them.
“I… I’m Cyno. I’m the North Star. You’re right. I guess a normal life was never in the cards for me.” She smiled, walking towards them, missing the chasm at her feet. Suddenly, screaming, she fell into the hole. The room crumbled.
When the dust settled, there was quite a beautiful scene to behold. The boy was holding on to the corner of the thought bubble, the little circle he had cut out for the three musketeers. Luna was holding onto the boy, Rynoric was holding onto Luna, Luna was holding onto Butter, and Butter was just barely holding Cyno up by the leg.
Slowly, they pulled themselves up, collapsing in a pile on the ground. Grinning so hard they were almost crying, they hugged each other.
Luna quickly explained the situation to Cyno, who was still reeling but fully understanding. Afterwards, “Aubio” led the way out of the maze of hallways. Before they left, Aubio and Cyno hugged one last time, knowing they would never see each other again. Before they could say anything, however, the other monsters were alerted to the betrayal of “Aubio” and sent soldiers to execute them all. He stayed behind to stop them as the four made their way back to the ship.
It is an understatement to say that Cyno cried buckets while they safely flew out of the planet. She never really got over him, seeing as she still sees his name in games that she plays. She did, however, know that they had to find the way home, and her maps were still filled with crude drawings of anime men.
Luckily for her, the three helpers knew exactly what to do. They would combine all their powers! Cyno was at the helm, steering the ship! She followed the instructions from Butter, who used his superb sense of smell to track the way back to Earth.
Meanwhile, Rynoric would eat anything and everything that got in their way, making it so that they wouldn’t have to take detours or unnecessary turns. Luna worked on charting the path so they wouldn’t double back on areas they had been in before, and also to replace the ones that Cyno scribbled all over.
Finally, after several months and destroyed planets, the crew returned home! Cyno introduced her three helpers, or moderators, to the rest of the Cynovas. They were welcomed with open arms and hearts, and they all became one big family!
Nowadays, you can see them in Cyno’s stream, slicing all the bad guys, keeping the Cynovas in check, and even playing games with her!
When Cyno finished telling me this story, she had tears in her eyes. Partially because of the memories, partially because of Aubio, but mostly because she was so thankful that her moderators would go to such lengths to help her.
I asked her what she would want to say to her mods if this post went live, and this is what she said:
“Dear mods, thank you so much for always being there for me. You not only help me with tangible things (e.g. editing videos, making schedules), but also with the harder, intangible things. Things such as ideas, thoughts, and random ramblings about an idea that seemed smart at the time but ultimately ended up being really, really stupid. You always remind me to believe in myself and be confident, and hearing that always makes me feel reassured. I hope you enjoyed our story that I told N0V4, I dedicate it to you guys. Thanks for being my royal advisors. Sincerely, the North Star, Cyno”
A bit cheesy if you ask me. REGARDLESS, we should be back to regular Aino posts after this one, so if you want to find me, check out the Cyno sections! Aino lets me write those! For the last time (in a while at least), bye bye!
- End of Post -
P.S. I went to check on “Aubio”. He’s alive and well! He tunes into Cyno’s stream every day, but he chooses to remain silent so that she can live her real life to her fullest.