Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1034. Do You Still Believe It?
The air in the summer afternoon was filled with a dry breath. Transparent cloud shadows were slowly moving northward, crossing the city's skyline, casting clear reflections on the leaves of the glass trees. The appearance of the Heavenly Temple has never changed in the past billions of years. The war only left a shallow scar, but the essence remained the same. Celestial Themis couldn't help but wonder, many years later, she met another person like her in this city. Was it also a kind of destiny?

But she didn't dare to imagine that happening, nor did she want to replace another person's shadow with one in her heart, so she slightly shifted her gaze, avoiding Saint Xia Liya's gaze, and whispered: "You, what do you want from me?"

Saint Xia Liya exclaimed, with a puzzled expression: "Don't you have something to ask me?"

"But just now... you were the one who asked me to come out..."

"Because I know you have something to talk to me about." Saint Xia Liya's tone was still so matter-of-fact, as if she had anticipated everything. She was not a character in a script, but an objective and cautious audience, possessing a certain talent for foresight and even the ability to see through people's hearts.

Themis was surprised and somewhat surprised. No wonder she didn't turn around and leave without getting a response as usual, but insisted until she finally showed up. In other words, was she thinking about herself? The girl suddenly felt extremely complicated.

Too sensitive, yet too gentle.

Isn't this sensitivity and gentleness exactly the same as that person?

I know that I have tried very hard to separate you, so why do I have to put your figures together at certain times? This is not a good thing, because that person is still sleeping in the ground of Mirror Star. I don't want you to end up with the same fate one day.

Will people with the same characteristics inevitably go the same way? When she thought of this question, she couldn't help but feel sad. This sour feeling was like the green apples hanging on the branches, which had not yet reached the ripe season.

However, reality is far more profound than philosophical questions. In order to avoid getting stuck in a field she is not good at, Themis quickly put all those bad premonitions behind her. After considering her tone, she slowly said, "I... do have something I want to tell you."

"Yeah." Saint Xia Liya asked, "What's the matter?"

"I might...might have to be away for a while."

"Leave?" Saint Shalia was a little puzzled: "Are you going to leave the Holy Temple of Heaven? But before Mother fell asleep, she once told us not to come to the mortal world without permission and interfere with the civilization of mortals. Heavenly Themis, I think it is better not to disobey Mother's words, right?"

Saint Shallia looked at her seriously, her eyes were clear and full of sincerity and concern. This unreserved gaze, without any sense of oppression, suddenly made the girl breathless. She was such an obedient girl. As long as her mother said something, she would remember it in her heart and abide by it seriously... Unlike me.

If I had been more obedient at that time...

The girl looked away with difficulty, and her nose suddenly felt sour. But she resisted the urge to cry, and squeezed the dry air into her lungs, trying to make her tone seem calm, but still with some indistinguishable tremors: "No, not to Mirror Star, but to Earth. Do you know Earth?"

"Earth?" Saint Shallia blinked. "I seem to have heard Mother mention that there is a device called the Bridge of Heaven hidden in the basement of the Game Command Company, through which one can travel to another world. However, I have never seen what it looks like."

No, in fact you have already seen it, you have always seen it.

Just look up at the buildings around you, the broken streets, the collapsed and broken high-rise buildings, and the books full of fairy tales and incredible stories... including the city under your feet, they all come from that distant world. However, sometimes it is also close at hand, such as the relationship between the inside and outside of the mirror, which can be touched by reaching out your hand.

Do you feel a deep yearning for it? Wanting to know more and indulge in fantasies that violate reason and the laws of nature. There was once a person who was like this. For her, the world was never a thin illusion, but an amusement park full of surprises and expectations, a dreamland, and the destination of her wishes.

But now she was also sleeping, in that faraway place far away from her hometown, alone and helpless. The girl often heard her crying in her dreams, heard her questioning with a desperate voice, and muttering in her tired dreams. She woke up from her sleep with a fright, standing in the empty and deserted corridor and looking out, but she only saw a deep and dark night, and under the glass canopy shaped like an umbrella, it was shrouded by the tide of a lightless sea.

The city was so empty, it didn't seem more lively because of the addition of people, nor did it seem more lonely because of the removal of people. For billions of years, everything she had witnessed, laughter or joy, melancholy or sadness... those were all temporary and would not stay for long.

Saint Xia Liya looked at the girl in front of her strangely and cautiously. She had never seen such a special person before. She was extremely sensitive and delicate, and seemed to easily fall into a state of reminiscence and sentimentality. She must have a lot of stories hidden in her, perhaps all sad stories that made her unforgettable for a long time and often immersed in them, so that even though she was standing here, she felt more isolated from the whole world, with a kind of alienated and fragile temperament.

In the distance, there was a faint echo of surging tides. The sea of ​​fog and clouds hit the rocks on the edge of the city, and the noise collided with the tranquility of the summer afternoon.

"I……"

Amid the silent clamor, the silver-haired girl finally spoke. Her voice was very soft and thin, as if she was speaking to herself. Deep in her golden eyes were soft memories that could only be touched by the afternoon light: "I'm going to Earth to meet someone."

Saint Shallia nodded in understanding, and deliberately did not mention the girl's absent-minded behavior just now, but changed the subject sympathetically: "He must be an important person, right?"

"Yes." Celestial Themis said, "She is yours..."

sister?
The girl was stuck again. She still couldn't say this sentence. The reason was still the same as before. If she didn't fulfill her responsibilities as a sister, how could she have the nerve to call herself that?

After realizing this, she immediately changed the subject, but compared to Saint Shallia's conversation skills, it was obviously a bit awkward: "I need your help, Saint Shallia. It takes a huge amount of magic power to open the bridge to the sky, but, but I don't have that much magic power."

To be precise, there is not so much magic power that can be called upon - unlike the royal power of the young girl, the magic authority possessed by Themis in the heavens is to maintain the normal operation of the Temple of Heaven and the control center. If it is called upon without authorization, it may cause the two to fall into an abnormal state, so she has always been very cautious and never has any fluke mentality.

"I'd be happy to help you if I can." Saint Shalia agreed without hesitation and asked again, "How long will you be gone, Celestial Themis?"

"Not long... but for you, it should be a long time."

Seeing Saint Shallia's puzzled look, Themis explained to her the difference in the speed of time between Earth and Mirror Star. In fact, she had secretly gone to Earth several times before, but each time she only stayed for a short time before returning. In addition, she rarely appeared in front of Saint Shallia, so the girl probably didn't notice anything unusual.

But this time is different. According to the information fed back by the monitoring device she left on Earth, Alice, who had been sleeping for a long time, seemed to have signs of waking up, but the brain nerve fluctuations showed a very strange state, a bit like the plot often used in vulgar novels-amnesia. In order to confirm Alice's condition and to take preventive measures in advance, Themis of the Heavens decided to go to Earth and take care of her in person. In case Alice really lost her memory, perhaps her memory could be restored through some methods. But to be honest, will the young royal power also lose its memory? Their souls and spirits are far superior to ordinary people, and theoretically they should not encounter this situation. The possibility that Themis of the Heavens can think of is that after the heavy blow of that incident, Alice instinctively closed her mind and resisted recalling the past.

If this is the case, whether to help her recover her memory is still a bit hesitant. If we start from her hobbies, will it be easier for her to accept it? For example, games?
But these are things for the future, and there is no need to consider them for now. The only thing that is certain is that Themis will be gone for a long time. Judging from the speed of time on the Mirror Star, it may be so long that it can be calculated in thousands of years.

"So during this time, the Heavenly Temple will be handed over to you, Saint Xia Liya." The girl asked her seriously: "Please help me take good care of it, and..."

She pursed her lips: "Take care of yourself and others as well."

Although she had been hiding herself for such a long time and unwilling to show up because of some extremely complicated psychology mixed with guilt and fear, she had actually been silently taking care of them. She was familiar with everyone's personality, knew their respective preferences, and occasionally indirectly hinted at her existence in various secret ways. For example, when Olvera wanted to read a certain book but couldn't find it, she secretly found the book in the city library and put it on the bedside while Olvera was sleeping; or when Leticia and Lilithi were quarreling, she secretly gave them one or two star-shaped candies, making them mistakenly think that they were sent to each other, so they reconciled, and later found out that the person who sent the candy was not the other party...

I don't know why, but I have the instinct to hide myself. I'm afraid they will discover the existence of this alien. It's such a contradictory mentality.

In a sense, the girl is already a qualified sister, although she herself does not think so.

Saint Xia Liya hesitated: "Give me the Holy Temple of Heaven... Can I really do it? I don't mean to refuse, but I have never been in contact with it before, so I am a little worried about betraying your trust."

Her unconfident tone was just like my past self. However, I was just a little girl facing the world for the first time, and Saint Chariya was already a qualified elder sister. Would she also have such worries?

Themis from the Celestial Realm couldn't help but sigh, and then comforted him: "It's okay, just like you maintain the balance of the laws of the universe, it's something that can be easily understood. Besides, you are not alone, there are others supporting you behind the scenes, right?"

Hearing her mention her sisters, Saint Chariah couldn't help but smile, but this smile was more of an instinctive reaction as a sister, and reason told her that it might not be so: "Lilisti, Leticia and Eve are still children, I'm afraid they can't help; Olvera, Lorena and Timeis are all focusing on their hobbies, I don't have the heart to disturb them; Fei'er, Gloria and Yieta are either naughty or slow, and are not suitable for doing this kind of thing; the only people who can help, perhaps Carabosse, Shino and Pereke. The latter two are okay, but Carabosse's personality is a bit... harsh."

Themis of the Celestial Realm keenly sensed her hidden meaning: "Do you have a conflict with Carabosse?"

"It's too serious to say that we have a conflict." Saint Shallia shook her head slowly: "It's just that her views on some things are different from mine. Most of the time she respects my opinions. But, I don't want her to always compromise, so..."

How similar.

The girl couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This scene gave her a sense of déjà vu. Those memories had clearly passed a long time ago, but standing here, she felt as if they had never left.

At that time, I seemed to be facing the same problem, and in the end, it was my mother who helped me make a decision. If my mother were still alive, she would definitely have a solution, right? However, she has fallen asleep, and I am not her after all, so I am powerless in the face of the same problem and don't know what kind of advice to give. You are so incompetent, Themis of the Heaven, you obviously have this name, but you are always so weak...

Um, name?
In the girl's mind, a memory from long ago suddenly emerged -

"I'll give you my name."

"From now on, you are Themis of the Celestial Realm, the one I left behind in this world. My emotions are your emotions, my memories are your memories, and so, all the decisions you make are decisions I approve of."

"No need to worry, no need to hesitate, no need to be confused, just be the person you want to be."

"My dearest child, Celestial Themis."

……

The girl seemed to understand something in her confusion.

Is it really appropriate to say this?

But if it were my mother, she would definitely say this, right?
That's right, she was no longer the celestial world, but Celestial Themis, the one who inherited the name of the great goddess. If at this moment, she represented not her own will, but the will of the goddess, then what she was going to say next would undoubtedly carry a sense of sacredness and destiny that was passed down from generation to generation.

Destiny is nothing but a cycle.

"emotion."

She spoke to Saint Shallia, who looked bewildered. Her serious expression did not sound like she was speaking. Rather, it was a familiar shadow from many years ago that was wandering in the narrow gap of light, going upstream against an invisible river, and became her shadow at this moment: "When you don't know how to make a decision, use your emotions to make a judgment. I believe that will not be wrong."

The girl's tone was so solemn that it seemed as if she was proclaiming the most insurmountable truth in the world: "Because true feelings will never hurt anyone."

That's right, recognize your emotions and then face them.

It'll be okay.

In the tragedy of the past, the fault lies with the person who betrayed the emotion, not the emotion itself. But you are in this holy temple far away from the world, destined not to have any intersection with mortals. In this case, why worry about emotions, betrayal, or even betrayal of emotions?
It must be... nothing will happen.

Somewhere in the dark, the girl heard her own voice.

　Give me some meow
　　(End of this chapter)