Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1023: An unexpected ending?
The sky was so gloomy that it looked like it was going to rain. Tiantis's sight moved upward, passing over the towering glass buildings, and finally stopped at the dark clouds that were gathering restlessly over the city. The gloomy clouds piled up together, as if they had weight. The heaviest part had even begun to fall, and was about to touch the tallest building.

The sound of the wind roaring in the clouds was like blowing through a thousand old trees at the same time. Tiantis looked quietly for a while, trying to find a trace of the coming rainy season in the gloomy sky, but unfortunately there was nothing to be found. Even the air was very dry. It seemed that it would take a long time for the rain to fall.

Where will it end up? The ancient forest of Gund? The Yamagada wetlands? Or the more distant Dragon's Roar Mountains? It is said that a group of dragons who disobeyed the Dragon King's rule built a new city-state there, but can they adapt to the temperature here? A region with long-term high temperatures and droughts, and only three months of rainy season each year, is probably not enough to cool down the surging heat in the hearts of dragons who are used to dancing with snowflakes.

At this moment, countless creatures enduring the pain of the drought are looking forward to smelling a hint of sweet scent of rain from the air, but all they get in response are the sticky smell at the tip of their noses, the endless surge of dark clouds, and the oppressive feeling brought by the wind - the stuffy and restless feeling before the rainy season is as unbearable as the darkness before dawn.

It wasn't until the Celestial called her name that Tentis came back to her senses.

"Tantis."

She turned her head and saw the silver-haired girl standing at the door of the control center, looking at her quietly. She spoke word by word, her voice was soft but clear, and was not drowned out by the howling wind outside the French window: "You have been in a daze outside, so I came to check on you."

"Ah, sorry." Tiantis realized that he seemed to have kept her waiting for a long time, so an apologetic expression appeared on his face: "I was just wondering if it would rain today. I was so absorbed in thinking that I didn't notice you."

Tianjie was a little surprised, because she thought this was a very simple question and she shouldn't need to think about it for so long: "It will always rain."

The girl said in a calm tone: "Even if it doesn't rain today, it will rain sooner or later, because the rainy season has arrived, Tiantis."

"You're right, but—" Tiantis glanced out the window again and sighed, "I think it would be best if it rained today."

"Why?" Tianjie was puzzled. Why did it have to be today? Could it be that Tiantis's personality had become as impatient as Alice's, and he couldn't even wait for a day?

"Maybe it's because... I'm not in a good mood today. I always feel uneasy." Tiantis smiled and said, "It would be nice if there was a heavy rain to cool down the impatience and anxiety in my heart."

Impatience? Anxiety? These words seemed difficult to associate with Tiantis, and Tianjie couldn't help asking: "What are you worried about?"

"Yes, I am also curious, what am I worried about?" Tiandis looked up, the gray and heavy clouds in the sky piled up in her eyes, making her eyes look like they were stained with a layer of gloom. She spoke softly, as if she was answering the question of the heaven, but also as if she was talking to herself: "Everything is obviously changing for the better, but I always have an uneasy premonition, as if I have overlooked something? But if even I am not sure, who can say that this is not a groundless omen?"

After that, she laughed at herself and said, "Maybe people like me just like to be suspicious."

Tianjie didn't know how to answer. She felt that Tiandis was in a bad mood today. She wanted to say a few words of comfort, but her mouth was too clumsy and she couldn't think of any effective comfort. Just when she was in a dilemma, suddenly there was a low thunder outside the window. It was the kind of muffled thunder, not loud, and usually not a sign of rain. It was useless except making people more irritated. But this muffled thunder was like the most shocking and powerful hammer, hitting Tianjie's mind heavily, making her body shake violently, her face turned pale, and finally found something wrong.

"Love..." She stammered and squeezed out a sentence: "Love, what about Alice?"

"Alice?" Tiantis was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hand, saying, "Are you saying that my anxiety is because of her? Don't worry, that guy is very comfortable. He must be hiding somewhere playing games now. It's impossible for him to get into trouble."

Her comfort didn't seem to have much effect. Tianjie's face was still pale, and she looked out the window in fear. Tiantis rarely saw such a look of loss of composure on her face. It was the first time she saw it. She couldn't help but step forward and try to calm her down, but the girl suddenly stretched out her hand and pointed tremblingly out of the window. Her usually calm voice was now mixed with a trace of panic and endless confusion: "Love, Alice..."

Alice?
Tiantis was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously looked back.

She stayed where she was.

Under the dark sky, a lonely and thin figure, like a butterfly with broken wings, fell lightly and passed through her eyes. The long golden hair scattered in the sky was dancing in the wind like withered ginkgo leaves.

The girl who fell from the sky was covered in wounds, but she still managed to maintain a clear consciousness. When she passed by, she seemed to sense a familiar breath, so she opened her eyes reluctantly. When she reflected the figures of Tiandis and Tianjie, her dull eyes suddenly burst into a bright and joyful light. At this moment, time seemed to freeze. The space spanned a height difference of 300 meters and was fixed on the corridor on the 100th floor of the headquarters building of the Game Command Company. Through a whole transparent glass window, Tiandis, who had not yet realized what had happened, and Alice, who was covered in wounds, briefly looked at each other.

The latter opened his mouth, moved his lips up and down a few times, and uttered a word silently.

Tiantis guessed from her mouth shape that the meaning of that sentence should be... I'm sorry.

Then, time and space began to flow again, and the girl's figure fell rapidly, completely disappearing from Tiantis's sight.

There was nothing in front of her eyes, only the gray haze clouds were still rolling and the dry wind was roaring.

…“Crack——”

The sound of broken glass was like a harsh noise, sharply cutting through Tianjie's eardrums. She woke up suddenly, only to find that it was Tiantis who broke the glass window in front of her with a punch, and then jumped down without hesitation. The irregular glass fragments fell down with her long black hair, like stars surrounding a long river in the darkness.

She may not have understood what was happening, but her body was moving faster than her brain, which was a rare occurrence for the calm and composed Tiandis. The girl bit her lower lip lightly, and without hesitation stepped over the broken glass on the ground and jumped out. Against the backdrop of the gloomy sky, it was as if she had jumped into a cliff with no way back.

Six floating cannons quickly opened behind the girl, interweaving rays to form the shape of wings, lifting her body to the ground steadily. But perhaps because of her restless mind, Tianjie still staggered when she landed and almost fell. She had no time to calm her anxiety and uneasiness, but forced herself to suppress those emotions and hurried to Alice's side. At this time, Tiantis had already held the girl's thin body in his arms, not caring about the smell of blood so close, and anxiously called her name: "Alice! Hey, Alice? Are you okay!? Wake up... Damn it!"

She placed her palm on Alice's forehead and felt the magic in her body, which was like a candle that was about to go out, shaky and dying. This level of injury was no longer something she could heal. In the entire world of Eden, there was only one person who could heal this kind of injury - although that person was no longer in Eden.

Tiantis gritted his teeth, picked up Alice, and said to Tianjie: "Don't be in a daze, follow me!"

Then she hurried into the headquarters building. Tianjie already knew what she wanted to do, so she pursed her lips and followed in silence. The two of them walked all the way to the elevator. Tiantis did not choose from the existing floors, but directly said: "Authorize with the authority of the administrator of the Temple of Heaven and open the road to the basement."

There was silence in the elevator for a while, then the indicator light flashed three times, and a mechanical voice sounded: "Authentication permission, authorization has been passed."

Then, the elevator began to slowly descend, moving towards a secret room deep underground in the headquarters building of Game Command Company. There was hidden the greatest secret of the entire Eden world, and it could even be said to be the origin and destiny of its birth - the Bridge to Heaven.

Tiantis wants to open the bridge to heaven and send Alice to Earth, so that the goddess who is currently in another world can personally heal her injuries. This is the only way to save her.

"Damn it!" The elevator was moving down very fast, but for Tiantis and Tianjie, it felt like a day was a year. The former couldn't help but curse, venting his anxiety and uneasiness. In addition, he was more angry: "What on earth did Alice do? She disappeared for more than half a month, and when she came back, she was injured so badly. It's really, really-"

She thought for a long time, but couldn't think of a word to describe the current situation. Besides, even if she did, what would it matter? In Alice's current state, could she hear what she said? She was so seriously injured that it was uncertain when she would wake up. When she thought of this, Tiantis lost interest and didn't want to speak. She just waited silently in her heart for the moment when the elevator stopped.

Tianjie glanced at her absent-mindedly, and then looked at Alice who was unconscious in Tiantis's arms. Her face was so pale that it was a little scary. Her bangs were wet with blood and stuck to her forehead. Because of the strong wind, they were completely frozen. Her breathing was weak, and if it weren't for the dead silence in the elevator at this time, it would be almost inaudible. The girl had never seen such a weak and helpless look in her memory.

And I might be the culprit that caused all this.

Thinking of this, Tianjie couldn't help but purse her lips, and her body trembled imperceptibly, as if she had felt the dampness and coldness of the rainy season in advance. After lying and concealing, she seemed to have learned a new emotion, called fear. She was afraid that Alice would really fall asleep and never wake up, afraid that she would never see that silly but optimistic and cheerful smile again, and afraid that once she told the truth, Tiantis would completely hate her. After all, she was the youngest sister created before her mother left, and before that, Tiantis had lived with Alice for so long, and the feelings between them must be deeper than hers, right?

Then, should she continue to lie and conceal it? Just pretend that she never knew about it? After all, it was Alice who asked her to conceal it from the beginning, and it was not the first time she lied to Tiantis. If she had the experience of the first time, would it be easier the second time? When Tianjie thought of this, she was so frightened that her lips lost their color and her eyes lost their luster. She hugged her arms helplessly, feeling a chill to her bones, and was ashamed of herself for having such a despicable idea.

She slowly lowered her head, letting her bangs cover her helpless eyes. When she spoke, her throat was as dry as if it had been burned by fire, and her voice was so hoarse that even she was shocked: "Tantis..."

"Hmm?" Tiantis raised her head and saw Tianjie's trembling appearance. She was originally in a very irritable mood and couldn't muster the energy to talk to her, but when she thought that her irritability would also affect Tianjie, she forced a smile with difficulty and comforted her: "Are you scared, Tianjie? It's okay, Alice will be fine. You see, she just fell asleep, just like she always likes to sleep in. So I will send her to Earth and let Mother wake her up, and by the way, teach her a lesson, and see if she dares to sleep in again in the future..."

She seemed to really treat Tiandi as a sister who knew nothing and actually used such clumsy words to comfort her. This made Tiandi laugh and sad. She thought that Tiantis was always like this. She was always mature and steady, but she always lost her composure when it came to issues concerning her sister. She was really a very strict but clumsy sister.

Thinking of this, her nose felt a little sore again. She quietly reached out her hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes. After sniffing, she tried to speak in a calm tone: "I, Tiantis, I want to say... maybe I know the reason why Alice was injured."

Tiantis' smile froze on his face.

Tianjie didn't dare to look up at her. He took advantage of her astonishment and told her everything that had happened before, including the war that broke out between mortal civilizations, Alice's request for her to keep it secret, and finally, she excitedly told him that a joint meeting of all races would be held to completely resolve the outcome of this dispute.

Of course, the real ending only happened today.

The girl's thoughts were very confused, not as clear as when she was organizing information and data. She just said whatever came to her mind, and occasionally she would speak incoherently and stutter, which showed how flustered and anxious she was at the moment. After struggling to recount what happened, she lowered her head and waited anxiously for Tiandis's reaction.

Scold or...

"What... two idiots!" Tiantis's face was cold, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a word.

　Give me some meow
　　(End of this chapter)