Bright and soft white light passes through the curtains and gauze and falls on the bedside, just like every spring. However, the life outside the window cannot cross the window lattice. There seems to be a clear dividing line there. The room is empty, quiet, and the incense is curling up. .
It leaves the room with a hint of medicinal fragrance.
A familiar voice came from outside the door, "... Your Highness, Princess, may not have much time left. This cannot be cured by medicine or stone. Your Majesty, you should make preparations in advance..."
"Go down, I understand, don't worry, it's not your fault. Mortals' lifespan is limited, but it's a pity that the elves are unwilling to lend a helping hand. Let's wait for the reply from the Avenquin elves..."
The sound on the other side of the wall sounded gloomy.
The bronze carvings attached to the corners of the low cabinet on one side were rusty and dark, as if they had aged. There was only a vase with a bouquet of purple daffodils on it.
In Aitaria, the flowers are endowed with magic by the god of joy and wine, Annefas. The language of flowers is loneliness and beauty, but the owner here prefers to be ordinary but healthy.
I don’t know how long it took, but the door was pushed open.
A figure sneaked into the room, and the moonlight passed through the window lattice and shone on the bedside gauze.
The young man knelt down beside the bed and looked at her affectionately.
She looked at him with some anger, her distant cousin, who should not come to her room at this time. Although she had experienced a lot with them, this was her bedroom after all.
But the next moment, that anger disappeared -
The young man held her hand tremblingly and whispered: "I'm sorry, but I won't ask you to forgive me. I'm going to take you away. They want to give you up, but I won't. Are you still willing to believe us? Jeldham, Hellinwell and others, we will definitely rescue you."
"Where are you taking me?"
"A far away place, but you will definitely wake up, I swear," the man held her hand tightly. "Everything will just be like a dream. When you wake up, everything will go back to the past. appearance."
She does not believe that time can be turned back and that mortals should obey the destiny.
But she is willing to believe her lover.
She nodded slightly.
He lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead.
After that, it was as long as a dream, and the time was silent in the dark underground. She didn't know when she started to feel herself, watching them perfect their bodies little by little.
She stared at the small space, the firelight in the fireplace, they were communicating with each other, talking loudly, the empire was changing in their mouths, and she thought of her elderly father.
But everyone got together less and less, and the time they could get together became less and less, and there were more and more disputes. Then one person was missing, and two were missing. The most talented student of Hain was the first to leave, followed by that one The gloomy wizard.
The Elkins dynasty fell, and everything she knew in the past had collapsed and turned into ashes, but there was no ripple in her heart. Even her father and mother only had a vague image left.
Memories from the past seem strange.
But the machine cannot speak, and there is only silence underground. She often thinks about everyone she leaves behind. Has the student of the great alchemist achieved his ideals and become famous?
The young man from the Draka family had already obtained the position of head of the family as he wished, and explained his great discovery to the magicians.
The world on the ground may have spent spring after spring, year after year, until the person it was familiar with returned to her again. He seemed older and more mature.
He placed his hand on its metal body and looked at it with a melancholy look.
There was still a buzzing sound outside the door, but it became a little younger: "I'm afraid we won't be able to complete it. Hellinwell is missing, and the warlocks are unwilling not to lend a helping hand to us."
"We need our own strength," he said. "Friston is right. We cannot be bound to an old world. We must use our own strength to build a new world. In that world, we can not only save her, but also A lot of people can be saved.”
"But the Green Star—"
"Jerdem, don't argue with me. Hellinwell has left. As for that person, I don't trust him. Only you can help me. Stay and help me, okay?"
There was a long silence.
The door was shut, the fire in the fireplace was extinguished, and it was not lit again for a long time.
That was the last time it saw any of them.
Jeldham stood in front of it, staring at the huge mechanical body for a long time, with an expression that made it feel strange, and said: "I know you are not her, and I can't tell who you should be." . We are not your creators, but you should remember her."
"Your name is Aona, Aona Lesvina. You were once a princess of a ruined dynasty. Your father and mother devoted all their love to you, and the people around you are also willing to treat you well."
"Of course, those may not mean anything to you, but I hope you can at least remember the time when you were a human -"
"I'm leaving." He stretched out his hand and took the key from it. "Maybe we won't see you again in the future. We will leave Ota here with you. One day you can see it with your own eyes. In this world, I hope you can be kind to everything."
The time underground was silent for a long time.
Many people came and many left.
Under Otta's gaze, Hellingwell's students completed the last part of the projector, and a shadow of a girl was born:
"I am Aona, Aona Lesvina, the princess of the empire. Hellinwell and Jeldham should have told you about me. In this place, you should take me as your leader."
The craftsmen looked at each other.
But she could still remember every face at that time, including those who had been used and deceived by it.
Because they had promised to wake her up from that long and cold dream, but they lied to her and abandoned her in this dark and deep underground.
The new empire betrayed her.
Then a city was built underground and turned into ruins over the long years.
Until she saw the young man again, the shadows in her memory overlapped with his, gradually merged into one, and came to her again today, seven hundred years later.
"...Jer...Dem,...Hailin...Wei...er..., are...you..."
But can the mechanical soul also dream?
Dreaming about the distant past.
Fang Plover was looking at the huge machine buried in the rock. One side of the shell had been completely dented, and magic sparks were flashing inside. The metal arms and legs were completely hanging on the ground, scattered all over the place.
After he passed through the portal, he appeared in this underground cavity. It was unknown how deep underground it was, and it was unknown where it was located under the Nozpitz mining area. I didn't go very far on foot when I saw the girl buried under the rocks here.
The teleportation caused a huge collapse, and the alchemical masterpieces of three geniuses from seven centuries ago were no match for the power of nature.
The light emitted from the projector became very scattered, and the image of the girl appeared and disappeared sometimes. But she still raised her head and noticed Fang Plover's arrival, her voice becoming more and more intermittent.
"You...won, Mr. Ed..., Jim...Dem...is...right...you...treat this...world...with malice...and the world...reciprocates..." With...malice.”
"It's not as complicated as you think, Ms. Aona. It's just that this portal has been established for too long... and after we entered the portal, someone seemed to have forcibly disturbed it. The chain reaction caused a space shock, causing the rock formations below to naturally It collapsed, that’s all.”
Fang Yu shook his head.
"Are you... mocking me... Mr. Ed?"
"Not really." Fang Yu took a step forward. The girl looked at him warily and raised a metal claw in this direction, but another magic spark emerged from under the shell, causing the arm and foot to fall heavily.
"Don't move around. The magic circuit under your shell should be cut off. Let me see if I can find a way to get you out and check whether the central crystal is damaged." Fang Yu stopped her and said, "As long as the star device It’s still intact, I should be able to fix you.”
The girl was startled.
Shouldn't she and them be enemies?
She couldn't help but look at the other party with suspicion.
"Don't be nervous, Ms. Aona. I was just out of self-protection before. At the same time, I still have some questions I want to get answers from you," Fang Yu said while trying to open a rock pressed against the metal shell with his hand. . "Killing you will do us no good, not to mention that you no longer pose any threat to me and my companions at this moment."
He tried hard, but the rock didn't move at all, and the falling rocks seemed to fit tightly into each other. He can summon flexible structures to assist, but it is difficult to guarantee that the rock above will not loosen and cause a second collapse.
Fang Yu frowned, thinking about how to solve this dilemma.
His back was completely turned to the other person.
But the girl looked at him with a complicated expression, hesitated again and again, and gave up her plan to take action. Because she was not completely sure, not to mention that if she killed the other party, she would be trapped and die here.
"Why...you still call me...Aona, you know...I...am not...that...Her Highness the Princess..."
"Could it be that... in your opinion, I am not... just a wizard... a monster...?"
"The name is just a code name, Ms. Aona," Fang Plover replied without thinking, "If Jeldham, Helinwell and Friston think you are Aona, then you are."
"The magic guide...the construct also deserves...does it have a name?"
"Of course, everything can have a name, and constructs are naturally no different, just like knight-type annihilators, powerful angels, and dragon hunters," Fang Plover replied. He looked back at the girl, "Of course, if you It’s not impossible to have a name that is unique to you. Just like Mr. Horta, but that depends on you, not others.”
"Do you... view it this way..." The girl's voice was a little jumbled, as if the audio crystal had been damaged to a certain extent and full of noise, "It depends on... me?"
Fang Yu looked at the huge machine and found it difficult to connect it with the weak girl in front of him. He knew that she was not the real Aona Lesvina, not the princess of the last dynasty.
But part of her memory must indeed come from the original owner, and now he can roughly guess the beginning and end of the story. One of the six geniuses wanted to use alchemy to recreate the miracle of life.
But what they created was not a human being, but a mechanical soul. That half-assed feat could hardly be said to be an important step in the history of alchemy, because using human souls to conduct alchemical experiments has always been taboo in this field.
Today, seven hundred years later, it is difficult for him to judge whether the original intentions of those geniuses were right or wrong, but they may have such considerations in choosing to bury this technology here.
And what happened after that may be another story, at least he shouldn't get the answer from Aona.
It's just that at the end of the story, the half-finished mechanical soul was feverishly chasing a way to turn itself into a human being, and it turned itself into another phantom in its own dream.
That phantom comes from the deepest memory in its heart, the memory of the last princess. In that memory, it was Aona Lesvina, and the princess was also herself.
That memory did not arise out of nowhere.
But it once truly belonged to a certain weak girl.
"You can be her, but you don't have to be her," Fang Plover replied, "I think Jeldham and the others gave up on you in the end. It was also for this reason that they realized that they had created a life but violated a taboo. . This is unfair to both the princess and you, so they put the choice in your hands. They only took away the key, but they did not really destroy you."
"You... want to say that they... didn't... betray?"
Fang Yu shook his head. He also wanted to know what happened seven hundred years ago. After all, it is not only related to the Star Device and the Type Zero Magic Furnace, it may even be related to the secret of the Type Zero Crystal and the origin of Miss Tata.
It also involves many secrets.
The girl let out a sigh mixed with many noises.
Fang Yu pulled himself back from the complicated thoughts. He still had a clear sense of priorities. Thinking about things that were out of reach would not help solve the current troubles. He calmed down and looked carefully at the rocks that fit together.
Suddenly he found a way, and couldn't help but snap his fingers lightly, "I think I have found a way. I will project some constructs later, but I may need to use your own strength, Ao." Ms. Na, get you out from under this rock formation."
Aona looked at him quietly.
Her shadow shook her head slightly, "No need, Mr. Ed..." the girl said in a broken voice, "I have...the ability to self-examine...my...own...situation... I...know that the center...crystal...has actually...been damaged...but I just...didn't...tell...you."
Fang Plover was slightly startled.
In fact, he didn't get along with the other party for too long, and for quite a while they were in a mutually wary relationship. It was impossible to have any sympathy for a huge machine.
But looking at the girl like this, he couldn't help but feel a little silent.
She is a soul born from a construct, inheriting the memory of a dynasty princess from seven hundred years ago, but that is not its own will, it only looks at it with its own eyes in the long darkness. With this world.
It's hard to say whether that's right or wrong. She had expressed hostility towards them, but in Fang Yu's eyes, that was nothing.
That miracle born in alchemy, a newborn life, should at least have seen the blue sky, flying birds, the golden trees in her memory, autumn, and lakes.
Instead of being born anonymously, and dying here anonymously.
If he really had any other profession, he might not feel too much about this, but he happened to be an alchemist. It is believed that the miracle of alchemy that was unintentionally born here seven centuries ago may only be derived from an accident, but this accident itself should be valuable.
For those who made it.
For that princess.
"Perhaps we can think of a way," Fang Yu pondered for a moment, then hesitated, "I don't know much about the Star Device, but the damage to the central crystal is not completely irreversible. We may be able to find a way to save you and save you." Get back to you."
"Such... words... I have heard of it before," the girl suddenly said, "It's just... that wasn't... said to me..."
"But I'm... very happy... to... hear... again," her tone became more fragmented, "but... there's no need to waste... time, I... can feel... the memory... is passing... ..., I still have...a little time..., Mr. Ed...can you...answer...some...of my questions?"
Fang Yu put his hand on the information crystal and projected two Lancers. These tall and bulky structures were originally modified from the chassis of the port transport structure, and were suitable for such a bulky job.
While directing the structure to support the two fulcrums of the collapsed rock, he replied: "It's okay to ask, Ms. Aona."
The girl was a little quiet and watched his actions quietly. It took a while before she asked the question. In that attic, Fang Plover once said something to her.
'People don't lie only when they express an urgent desire. '
She asked Fang Yu quietly, "In your opinion, Mr. Ed, am I considered a human being?"
She thought that at that time, the other party should have realized her true identity.
This question didn't surprise Fang Plover. Of course he understood what the other party was chasing, but he couldn't tell what the mechanical soul was. Is Miss Tata an artificially created life?
But to him at least, Miss Tata was no different from any soul he had ever seen.
She is not a substitute for some illusory phantom, nor is she a ghost that exists outside reality. She is his Miss Dragon Soul, possessing and gradually recovering her own unique memories.
Then, the Aona in front of her was no different.
He is not Mirela's priest. Aitaria's life comes from the gift of the goddess, but even the most devout follower of the goddess cannot actually answer such a proposition.
Why people are human.
"... Survival, possession, desire, greed, Jeldham, or the three geniuses of Helinwell and Friston have given you all the instincts of life, but people are even higher than that. That is because of wisdom Creatures have richer emotional needs besides animal nature. As for you, Ms. Aona, can you feel the beauty from the past times you described?"
Fang Yuan replied quietly, "I think you already have the answer in your heart. The phantom you want to become is just because you long for all the good things that belong to that phantom. But when you are chasing those good things, The most beautiful things in this world already belong to you."
"That is a person's desire to pursue good things. It is not fundamentally different from all of us. You have the human heart, Ms. Aona."
He raised his magic glove, and at his command, the wind element nozzle behind the tall and bulky lancer simultaneously emitted cyan light particles, pushing up the rock and making a heart-wrenching sound.
"Ms. Aona, please try harder. Survival is also human instinct."
But Aona shook her head, "Mr. Ed... don't waste any effort, I... still have... the last bit of time, let me... tell... you... about... the empire , the... secret about... the green... star."
Fang Yu was slightly startled. Of course he wanted to know the secret of Green Star, but not now.
He was about to let the girl concentrate and mobilize her body to escape from the rock formation, but suddenly at this moment, Aona suddenly stopped talking.
The girl raised her head and looked ahead with some surprise.
A spatial ripple passed directly over Fang Plover and hit the girl in that direction, freezing the second half of her words into a stagnant time field.
The girl's shadow, the projector, and the huge machine, together with Fang Plover's two Lancers, were imprisoned in a stasis field.
Fang Plover turned around the moment he lost control of his construct, and then he saw the huge thing that suddenly appeared in this underground space.
Elemental Tyrant, Alphonse.
The tall rock creation was looking at him silently with its head lowered.
…
