Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1092: Did You Really Cry?
Standing under the warm orange light, Themis from the Heaven couldn't help but start thinking about a question, that is, why she was standing here.

If my memory serves me right, Alice dragged her here without any explanation, and kept saying that this was a very important party and she must not be absent. If she didn't come, everyone would be disappointed... and so on. When Themis asked her, "This is a party of Whale Island, why should I attend?", she replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Because you have been a member of our Whale Island for a long time."

Is there such a thing?
I do not know how?
Celestial Themis suspected that she had implanted some non-existent memories into her, but Alice argued, "Aren't you the narrator of the game console? If you hadn't been secretly helping us along the way, we wouldn't have gotten here, so of course you can come to the party. Besides, this party was originally held to say goodbye to you. We're leaving here tomorrow, don't you have any reluctance, even just a little bit?"

She bent her thumb and index finger, making a very small gesture, and looked at the girl in front of her pitifully, trying to arouse her sympathy. But what kind of emotion is sympathy? Themis had never experienced it in her long life, so it was difficult for her to be moved by Alice's words. But she finally agreed. The key to her decision at that moment was some kind of emotion that she herself could not explain.

Some kind of strong and mysterious force impacted her heart, making her restless. When she was in a panic, she thought that she should accept their invitation. When she was hesitant, she thought that she should accept their invitation. Even when she was about to say no, she still thought that she should accept their invitation. So on this night, the girl who had been guarding the cold steel of the headquarters building of the game command company for a long 120 million years finally walked out of the cage she set up again, just like breaking a closed eggshell and gradually returning to this world, but she felt how familiar and strange everything was, and she couldn't have the slightest sense of touch.

She walked out of the building, at a loss in the pale sunlight, and saw a desolate and abandoned street in front of her, with broken buildings, vines and weeds growing everywhere, and the bodies of trees rotting, revealing their white bones. She looked at all this with a cold gaze, without any extra thoughts in her mind, as if she would not remember that many years ago this was the goddess' favorite game hall, and there were footprints left there when Alice took her to the movies secretly. All of this will eventually fade away, and it just happens to stay at a certain stop in time.

She walked out of the ancient streets and began a grand pilgrimage in the ruins of war. This time, no mortal from the mortal world would look at her with fear and jealousy, because everyone had died in the war. The difference was that some undead souls accepted their fate and did not struggle. They lay quietly under the cold dust, letting their blood gradually lose temperature, while some undead souls tried to escape from here. They all agreed that although they had rebelled against the brutal rule of the gods, they had also made this planet unsuitable for anyone to survive. So one after another, they gave up their obsessions and stepped on the corpses that had not yet cooled down and left. They never doubted whether they were right, because since mortals were allowed to have wisdom and power, they should not be bound or restrained by any will. Only Themis in the celestial world knew that this idea was in vain. Wisdom and power were never the symbols of eternity that they believed. They were just a solid cage. The only meaning of existence was to imprison a kind of loneliness that was enough to destroy mankind. They mistakenly thought that they could control the loneliness of power, but eventually died from the power of loneliness.

She regretted not understanding this truth earlier, not because the city left by the goddess had long lost its former glory, but because her stubbornness prevented her from learning to face the past. Memories are sometimes smaller than sand, and sometimes heavier than mountains.

After going through all this, she finally stood on the land of Yunjingkong Island, attending a banquet that was perhaps destined 120 million years ago, but she was not invited until today. She found herself suddenly lost, feeling lost in this strange world, unable to find a place to live.

Alice invited her here, but she never showed up. Themis was not sure whether she had forgotten about it or changed her mind, so she politely ordered her to leave. The difference was the difference between whether she should continue to move forward or turn around and leave.

The street, illuminated by warm orange light, meandered to the other side of the forest. From the end, the light of the bonfire and the sound of people's laughter could be vaguely heard. The atmosphere was lively and should not be disturbed by an unexpected visitor. The girl pursed her lips and slowly turned around.

She suddenly stopped.

A young man was standing in the light of another street lamp, looking at himself quietly.

His short silver-gray hair and golden eyes were stained with a warm hue in the light, attracting people's attention like amber solidified in ancient fossils for tens of thousands of years. He was holding a wooden box in his arms, which contained many long tubular objects with a fuse at the end. It looked like fireworks. This big box of fireworks would probably make this night shine for a long time.

After the two looked at each other for a while, the young man frowned slightly: "Why are you here, Miss Themis of the Celestial Realm?"

Alice asked me to come. She said you all welcome me… The girl felt aggrieved for no reason, but she tried her best to appear calm. Because she was so focused, she didn’t even notice the faint tremor in her voice: “I just came to see the situation… I’m leaving now.”

She lowered her head and walked past the young man without saying a word, looking as if she was running away. But by then the young man had realized that he seemed to have said something wrong, and he couldn't help but shake his head, somewhat helpless. This was not what he meant, but for some reason, sometimes the words that came out of his mouth, even if they were normal, always sounded sharp to others. He turned around and called out to the figure that was about to leave: "That's not what I meant."

Themis from the celestial world stopped again, but still did not look back. She waited for Ling's explanation without saying a word.

With the lesson learned just now, the young man chose his words more carefully, trying not to convey any meaning that might be misunderstood: "I mean, why are you standing here alone? Aren't you going to the party?"

The girl lowered her head even lower and said sullenly, "Alice, I can't find it."

So, was she waiting for Alice to take her there? What was that genius player doing? She had clearly invited him, but she had forgotten such a thing. It was really too much.

Ling Ge suddenly remembered something and asked again: "When she invited you, did she tell you to wait for her somewhere?"

The girl thought for a moment, then shook her head blankly. She remembered that Alice only asked her if she wanted to attend the party, and after she couldn't resist her nagging and agreed, she ran away happily. She never said from beginning to end that she would take her to the party venue.

In other words...I misunderstood?
Maybe it was the wind that brought the warmth of the distant bonfire, but Themis could feel a wave of heat on her cheeks, which made her not dare to look back at the young man. In her long life, this might be the first time the girl experienced what "shame" was, but at this moment she still lacked self-awareness. The only thing she knew was that this feeling was not pleasant, and even a bit tormenting.

Fortunately, the young man seemed to see the girl's embarrassment and took the initiative to change the subject for her: "In that case, I'll take you there, Miss Themis of the Celestial Realm, do you mind?"

The forest was quiet for a while before he heard a faint voice: "Thank you, thank you."

"You're welcome. It's really our fault that you were ignored like this. Of course, that guy is also partly responsible." When mentioning that guy, Lingge couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, thinking that he should really teach Alice a lesson later. Although she didn't do anything wrong in this matter, she was the one who invited the girl, so naturally she was the one who should take responsibility.

"Alice, that's right." Celestial Themis whispered, "I heard it wrong."

She turned and walked in front of Lingge, still with her head down, waiting silently for the young man to lead the way for her. The two shadows, one large and one small, were stretched out under the light of the street lamp, almost overlapping. When the girl approached, Lingge's eyes naturally fell on her, and he observed some details that he had not paid attention to before. He said thoughtfully: "It seems that there is no rush to take you to the banquet venue now. There is something more important that must be done."

Upon hearing this, Celestial Themis looked up blankly: "What?"

"your clothes."

The young man patiently explained: "Can you change it? This outfit is not suitable for attending a happy party."

Themis was still wearing the mechanical armor with sky blue and pure white as the main colors, and the huge metal gauntlets like iron fists, which formed a strong contrast with her thin body. She only gathered the six floating light wings behind her to form the leaves of a battle skirt at her waist. This was her daily form outside of her work form. Even so, it was still far from the noisy and lively banquet.

The girl herself also noticed this. Strictly speaking, this armor was actually a sacred weapon given to her by the goddess, which gave her the authority to control and monitor the entire Heavenly Temple. In the past 120 million years, Themis had long been accustomed to this dress and had never thought of changing it. Moreover, she had never participated in a mortal banquet, and she didn't know how to change herself to make herself look sociable.

The girl was somewhat panicked and a little timid: "I, I don't have any other clothes..."

A bold idea suddenly occurred to her: could she use this excuse to escape from the party? Although it would be very unfair to Alice and those who were looking forward to her attending the party, she could not control this feeling. As long as the young man in front of her showed a little disapproval, she would immediately apologize to him and take the initiative to leave. But this urgent, anxious and worried feeling was not from fear or unfamiliarity, but a kind of emotion that the girl herself could not explain. It prompted her to be alert, reminded her to be careful, and warned her to leave here quickly, to leave this gentle trap that would make people fall into it. Only in this way could she, as before, firmly adhere to her position as a mediator and observer...

"That won't do."

Sure enough, the girl heard the words she wanted to hear the most from the young man. Now she had a suitable reason to leave here. Even if Alice asked her about it later, she could explain it with confidence. Should she feel happy? On the contrary, the girl felt lost and confused. After all the worries, she seemed to have really lost something. She thought about it and then gently opened her mouth.

"Come with me," the young man continued, interrupting Themis's words. He smiled at the girl, which was completely different from the cold attitude he had shown her in the control center a few days ago. "I'll take you to change your clothes."

Celestial Themis didn't remember what she heard.

She didn't remember how she followed the young man away.

She also didn't remember how he brought her to the second floor of the Fairy Sleep Inn, a room filled with all kinds of books, herb albums, dolls, and cute decorations. She stared blankly at the young man opening the closet, then turned around and said to her: "This is Metien's closet. She is about the same height as you, so these clothes should be suitable for you. Pick one to wear first, and I'll explain it to her later."

"But," the young man added, remembering something, "you can't wear that nun's uniform."

Because that was the most precious treasure her father left her, alongside her brother, Tianxin Church, and the pharmacist's dream.

……

When Themis came to her senses, she was already standing in the corridor on the second floor of the hotel. From her amber-clear eyes, she saw her current appearance: a silver-haired girl with an ignorant and timid look, wearing a light green short-sleeved shirt with mint edges, a beige waistcoat and a long skirt of the same color, and a pair of sandals with small bows on her small feet. Her arch of the foot was slightly curled, and her round toes were squeezed together restlessly.

Themis couldn't believe that the girl was herself, and she vaguely saw a familiar figure in the other person, so familiar that she had the urge to cry. She turned her eyes away with great willpower, not daring to look again, but there was always a force driving her, making her want to see more clearly, see more carefully, and it would be best if she could imprint her in the deepest part of her mind and never forget her.

The young man did not give her this opportunity, but retracted his gaze and said to her: "Wait a moment."

After that, he turned and walked towards another room with "Olvera" on the doorplate. When he came out a while later, he had a sun hat in his hand. He gently put the hat on the girl's head, looked her up and down for a while, and nodded with satisfaction: "That's it."

"Let's go."

He smiled and said to the girl, "Let's go to the party."

Themis felt a sore nose, and finally couldn't hold it in any longer. All the grievances and pains she had suffered in the past 120 million years and the past week seemed to have found a channel to vent at the same time, making her cry loudly like an ordinary girl: "Wow!!!"

"Wait, wait! Don't cry—"

"Wow wow wow!!!"

Give me some meow