Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1122 Isn’t it a game at all?

Yunjing Sky Island was accelerating, as if turning into a meteor and heading towards the distant and mysterious depths of the universe. That was the direction the travelers came from, and also where they must return to.

Hundreds of millions of stars dotted the dark blue curtain, and finally shone brightly after escaping the shadow of the Dyson Sphere. However, due to their high speed, they turned into rivers of light flowing silently in the eyes of everyone. A huge whale was leaping over the rivers and crossing the sea of ​​stars.

"you……"

Alice looked up at the Genesis mecha in front of her and asked blankly, "Aren't you going with us, Celestial Themis?"

"..." The girl didn't answer, but nodded silently. She floated in the cockpit of the Armed Goddess, her eyes seemed to deliberately take in the entire Cloud Whale Sky Island, and saw not only Aoweila and Metien and others in the Fairy Sleeping Inn, but also Ling Ge and Saint Xia Liya who were rushing here. She curled her lips and forced a smile: "I... I'm sorry, Alice, I may not be able to... go with you..."

"That's it..."

Alice heard a hint of sadness in her tone, and she couldn't help thinking, Themis must really want to leave with us, right? Otherwise, she wouldn't be so sad. If possible, she certainly hopes that she can stay, and they can travel together and find a way to fight against the Witch Society. It must be a happy ending, which is the plot of the game that Alice likes. But for some reason, the genius player suddenly felt that he shouldn't make such a request to Themis.

Because doing so would only make things difficult for her.

Themis must have her own reasons for not leaving; but at least, her heart is on our side, and that's enough, isn't it?

Thinking of this, Alice's mood was not so bad anymore. Although she still felt a little regretful, she felt that she could control herself and would not let it show in her expression and tone: "I understand. There is nothing we can do about it. Although the witches in the Witch Society are all hateful, they are also your sisters, especially Tiantis... Forget it, let's not talk about these unpleasant topics. Celestial Themis, when you return to the Holy Temple of Heaven, take good care of yourself and wait for us to teach those witches a lesson! Although I lost this time, it was because I drove a super robot for the first time. It won't be like this next time, and next time!"

She also did not forget to save face for her previous defeat, which made Themis in the celestial world couldn't help but burst out laughing. A hint of bright red finally appeared on her pale little face, but she looked particularly sick, just like a patient who had lost too much blood and was suddenly exposed to the sunlight. The bright light would penetrate every inch of thin and cold skin, and let the blue and red lifelines entangled with each other underneath flow to the end of fate.

"I won't go back to the Cathedral of Heaven either, Alice."

The girl interrupted her softly.

This made Alice stunned, not understanding what her answer meant. The genius player subconsciously asked back: "Then where do you want to go?"

She neither accompanied them on the journey nor returned to the Holy Temple of Heaven. Did she intend to wander alone?

That must be very hard, right?
The genius player thought that he must persuade Themis in the heaven to give up this idea. Even if she really didn't want to intervene in the struggle between the Witch Association and the Order Kingship, there was no need to force herself to this extent, right? How nice it would be to stay in the Heavenly Temple peacefully. She was lonely before, but now so many aliens and monsters have moved from the Cloud Whale Sky Island, and everyone will accompany her in the goddess's sanctuary. As for the chaos and wars in the world, they had nothing to do with the girl in the past, and they will not involve her in the future.

Because Celestial Themis is the goddess's favorite child, and has inherited her appearance, name... and ideals.

Alice is so convinced.

But her question made the girl with silver hair and golden eyes dazed for a moment, as if she also needed to think before she could get an accurate answer. She opened her mouth and said slowly: "I'm not going anywhere, Alice... I want to be with my mother..."

"Then you should stay in the Holy Temple of Heaven—"

The voice stopped abruptly, and Alice was stunned.

She finally realized what the strange reaction of Celestial Themis meant, but the price was heavy. The genius player only felt like someone hit her head hard with a hammer, and she felt a kind of indescribable dizziness. Celestial Themis smiled at her, raised her hands in front of her eyes, and saw that they had gradually become transparent, with dots of light flowing out of her body and merging into a tiny sea of ​​stars. In the driving space of this Genesis Mech, all scenes are essentially reflections of the mind. Therefore, the embodiment of death as the dissipation of starlight may just coincide with a certain expectation that the girl has always had deep in her heart.

"I...heard...my mother's voice calling me..."

The girl spoke softly. Her voice was like a nightingale in an empty forest, floating and echoing, spreading a sad echo across the sky of the entire Whale Island, allowing everyone to feel her tranquility and relief at the moment: "Alice, did you... hear that? What a warm... what a gentle voice..."

Celestial Themis felt as if she had had a very long dream.

In the dream, I was called by a warm and gentle voice, opened my eyes, and then I had a great and kind mother, two sisters with different personalities but both loved her, and fourteen sisters who were born after her and grew up under her silent observation. They lived together in a beautiful world, which might not be so beautiful sometimes, full of deception, betrayal, greed and excessive desire, but most of the time it was beautiful, with flowers, dreams, aspirations and sincere emotions in full bloom.

Holding her mother's hand, she strolled slowly through the deserted city, getting to know various buildings, including the headquarters building of the Game Command Company, which was her mother's proudest building.

At Alice's instigation, she quietly slipped away and played games with her in the game hall for an entire afternoon. When she came to her senses, she felt empty yet inexplicably satisfied.

She was not serious enough at work and made mistakes, so she was severely reprimanded by Tiantis. After she fell asleep sadly, someone put a jar of her favorite star-shaped gummy candies next to her bed.

After her mother and two sisters left one after another, she mustered up the courage to continue facing life, but she did not dare to come out and face the new young royal power, so she could only observe their daily activities silently: when Saint Shalia told everyone stories, when Carabosse educated her disobedient sister, when Pereike and Olvera took care of potted flowers and plants together, when Rorona used homemade toys to tease Leticia and Lilisti... She was watching by the side, always there.

But that was a dream from long ago...

"Tianjie, when you don't know how to make a decision, just trust your feelings. Because true feelings will never hurt anyone."

"Tianjie, I will give you my name. From today on, you are called Tianjie Themis. You are the one who enforces the laws of the world in the name of the goddess of creation. You must believe that the choices you make are actually my choices."

“Celestial,” the voice in the dream was as warm and bright as ever, “are you tired?”

If you are tired... just take a rest.

……

At the end of the dream, she was still called by the same voice and woke up. But Themis was not afraid, because she knew that waking up was just the beginning of the next dream, and her mother would always be with her. In this way, she was actually very lucky. When others had to fight for their ideals or beliefs and risk their lives, she was the only one who could hide secretly, hiding in a safe place where no one could go, and stay with the person she loved most in her life. Lucky, but selfish.

But there is no way, who makes me have neither ideals nor beliefs? Therefore, there is no reason to fight or to live.

When she came to her senses, Themis could see the faint starlight through her palms and the heart that had gradually stopped beating through her body. Strangely, she was not upset. Death was not as scary to her as mortals imagined, because she was inhuman and could not learn all the emotional activities of humans, including crying, lying, and fear.

in case.

She couldn't help but think how nice it would be if she could die as a human being.

even though……

"I actually... don't regret it..."

A faint smile appeared on her face, as if she remembered something happy: "Because, I saw Alice again, and saw... Xiaoxia and the others, and also met a lot of new friends. Although the days I spent with you were... so short for me, they also seemed extraordinarily long..."

"Mr. Ling, thank you for taking me to the banquet that night and not letting me miss the best part of this memory."

The young man paused, then gently pursed his lips. For the first time, sadness and regret emerged in his pure golden eyes. He vaguely remembered that the last time he experienced a similar feeling was when the man left.

"Metien, thank you... for lending me the clothes. Although I know you are not happy about it, right? But I am sorry, I don't have that many clothes to wear. I left the clothes in the Cathedral of Heaven. If you have a chance in the future, you can go and get it back... By the way, don't forget... our agreement, okay?"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

On the first floor of the hotel, the pink-haired little girl who saw this scene through the window felt a sore nose. She wanted to say, "As long as you are willing to stay, I will give you as many clothes as you want." But her throat was choked with sobs, so she couldn't say a word.

"Ms. Shesta, thank you for hosting such a lively... banquet. This is the first time I realized... that mortals are such an optimistic race. Sometimes they can face a sad farewell with a smile... So please, you and everyone on Sky Island, send me off with a smile. Isn't that the original purpose of the banquet?"

Standing in the flourishing primrose field, the traveler fairy with three pairs of butterfly wings looked up in a daze, feeling very uncomfortable. Because a long time ago, someone said something similar to her. Although that person was the first and longest-staying guest of the inn, and the silver-haired girl in front of her only had a brief encounter with her at the banquet, the mood at that time and now should be similar, right?

"Ah, and... Lorena, thank you for making such beautiful fireworks. It reminds me of something... a long time ago. Although you didn't know me at that time, I have known you for many years. I hope you... can always remember me..."

Rorona stood in front of the hotel, staring at the almost translucent figure, as if she wanted to engrave her appearance in her memory and respond to the other party's expectations with her actions. But she suddenly thought that the girl's life was just like the fireworks blooming in the night sky, flying up for so long just for a moment of brilliance, but after the embers cooled down, would she regret her choice at that time?

Some people can accept it, while others refuse to accept it.

Ironically, the former are often the parties involved, while the latter are bystanders.

"What are you... talking about, Celestial Themis?"

Alice was dazed, as if she had lost her soul. She shook her head desperately, refusing to accept the sad message revealed in those farewell words: "I don't understand, I really don't understand... Haven't we won? Look, Carabosse didn't catch up, and neither did the Dyson Sphere... So, we will all be fine, please stop saying these incomprehensible words, okay, Celestial Themis?"

By the end, her tone was almost pleading.

but.

No one ever said that "winning" can be equated with "being alive".

"Don't be willful, Alice..." The girl smiled weakly. At this time, her body was almost completely transparent. Even the Armed Goddess became illusory. Countless blue energies flowed from the inside of the body to the Yunjing Sky Island, just like blood flowing from the dying to the new. One life was being accelerated by this force, while the other life was destined to die because of the loss of this power.

The girl reached out her hand and tried to touch Alice's cheek. This was just an instinctive action. She didn't realize that she seemed to be overlapping with a figure who was great enough to create the world long ago. In essence, they had the same characteristics. Many years ago, the goddess had already seen that among these seventeen children, she was the only one who could touch the loneliness in her heart in the end: "You promised me that you would make all stories... have a happy and perfect ending..."

"So, don't... treat this world as... a game anymore, Alice. It is a choice before you, a prophecy you see after waking up from a dream, and... a story of salvation. You are... the savior, please, please save Tiantis, save everyone, and then... save this world..."

The outstretched fingertips began to scatter like star sand. The wind blew the gentle sand across the girl's cheek, as if her outstretched hand still touched her face, and even the words and feelings were transmitted along with it.

My dear mother...

Have I become a little more human...

The wind blew through the primrose field in the distance, as if bringing a whimpering sound from afar. Although she had disappeared without a trace, the girl's last words seemed to linger clearly in her ears. Everyone was stunned at that moment, and time seemed to freeze, so the young man's footsteps seemed particularly harsh. In fact, he himself couldn't explain why he was desperately rushing here. Even if he caught up in time, it would be useless. He was not someone who could change the ending, or on the contrary, he indirectly contributed to this ending.

Linger slowly stopped and stood behind Alice, unable to say a word. The girl had her back to him, her shoulders trembling constantly, as if she was trying her best to endure something. He hesitated for a moment, and finally reached out his hand, wanting to touch the girl's shoulder, but suddenly she turned her head, her face filled with tears and full of helplessness and sadness: "You lied to me!"

"That's simply—"

She was shaking all over, crying out in pain, forcefully, and loudly, “This is not a game at all!!!”

Click.

Something in the dark broke.

Give me some meow