Tia opened her eyes, and the dark underground palace was no longer in front of her.
The chaotic light, the terrifying flames on the dome, the ferocious-faced Elder Issyk... these have all disappeared without a trace.
She sat above the eaves, the setting sun slowly flowing in the sky, and the smelly sea breeze blowing up the colorful tents and decorative strips below.
Silvermist City is still operating as usual. People don't even know what happened nearly 100 meters underground, talking, cursing, and bargaining in a boring and boring way.
The sunset reflected on everyone's face, and everything was as usual, as if the fierce battle just now had never happened.
"Someone told me this: When you look at this city from above, it will become quiet and beautiful." Ed's voice sounded from behind.
"Well, it is indeed much prettier." She wrapped her arms around her knees and put her cheek on her knees.
The two of them were silent for a moment, letting their figures gradually become longer and longer under the sunset. In the end, it was Ed who broke the silence first:
"You don't actually have to stand still, you know that, right?"
When he said this, he looked sideways into the gatehouse on the rooftop with meaning. Derek was leaning behind the door, silently monitoring their every move.
"I know... maybe Isek is right."
Tia carefully peeked at the setting sun from the gap in the hair on her forehead:
"To humans, I will always be labeled as an 'elf'; but to elves, I am too much like a human. Where do I belong?"
Ed sat down next to her, staring at the crowd below, his mouth that wanted to open closed again gently.
In the end, he could only hang his head in frustration:
"I'm afraid... only you can find the answer yourself."
Of course he could make a decision for her, it wouldn't be difficult. But Tia may regret this for the rest of her life, and regret not making another choice for the rest of her life.
"If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to leave this city." The sky full of sunset appeared and disappeared in her eyes. "It has left too many memories - the old house, the old wicker chairs, the canned pickled olives, Mr. Waikolo, our home...and you, Ed, you are the vessel for it all.”
Ludvik Waikolo... Ed knew very little about his adoptive father. This was a rare opportunity, and he had to talk to Tia about it:
"I can't remember clearly, Tia, what kind of person was our adoptive father, Ludvik Waikolo?"
"He, how should I put it... sword-shaped eyebrows, a hooked nose, thin cheeks, and a pair of thin lips with white stubble."
Tia's eyebrows were lowered, and from time to time there was a slight reflection in the dusk:
"In my impression, he always looks old and tired. He rarely gets angry or laughs, and he doesn't like to talk much, but his frustration is obvious when he speaks."
"... His most common appearance is lying on a wicker chair with his eyes closed and a pickled olive in his mouth. Every time I worry that he will die, but in the end he always opens his eyes again. "
Pickled olives... For some reason, just hearing this word, Ed can recall the sour, bitter, and salty taste.
"The other thing is, he doesn't know how to take care of a child. Can you imagine? For three years, we both wore clothes from the same wardrobe."
Tia suddenly laughed, and the dusk wind blew across her cheeks, shaking down a shower of flowers in the distance:
"Until one day, you suddenly took him to the tailor shop, and then I got my first little dress and my first wardrobe. I was already nine years old at that time, God..."
"Even now, I'm still not used to having long hair." Her tone gradually slowed down. "Can you still remember the color of that dress, Ed?"
Flame-like crimson? Or is it as bright yellow as sunset? Dai Qing? Moss green? He couldn't remember anything and could only shake his head in embarrassment.
"Why don't you go back to the old house and take a look, Ed? Maybe it can help you recover your memory. You should have the key in your hand, right?" Tia suggested.
"key?"
Ed recalled the memory of the subway massacre: neither in that dream nor after waking up, he found no keys on his body. It was also missing from the luggage taken back from the repair shop.
If I did have the key to my old house, where did it go?
Did I find a place to hide it and forget about it, or someone took it away...
"It's okay, you can use mine."
Tia noticed something strange about Ed and took out a copper key from her pocket. There are still traces of oil on the warm surface. It’s hard to imagine that someone would specialize in maintaining an old key:
"Go back and take a look. After all, it was our home."
He reached out and took the key, with a faint residual warmth still remaining on it.
"Okay, I will go back and take a look when I have time."
Time passed violently in the sky, and the sun that was looking hastily to the west had already fallen to the end, leaving only the blue champagne-colored dusk, painfully reminding Ed that the time to say goodbye had come.
"Can you leave me something as a souvenir? I can take it out and look at it when I miss you." Tia requested.
"Of course." Ed thought again and again and put the Eye of Mentilosa into her palm.
Since this is a sacred object of the elves, it is only natural that it should be given to Tia.
The ability to project between dreams and reality is certainly helpful to him, but Tia's safety is equally important. In a vicious environment like the Woodcutter and Fishing Gang, having multiple trump cards is always a good thing.
"I don't want this." Tia pulled her palm back.
"Take it, it belongs to you. You don't know how..."
"I can feel its mark. This is not your thing. I want an item as a souvenir, something that truly belongs to you." Her voice was calm and firm.
Items that belong to me?
This made Ed a little embarrassed. After waking up from death, he didn't have many things on his body:
He has to wear the hat himself. The white crow cane is a relic of his adoptive father, Mr. Ludwik Waikolo. It is also one of the main weapons and cannot be given away. The clothes were given by Arthur, the pistol was picked up, and the other equipment was from the Divine Bureau...
Don't mention this, even the personality crystal in his head is simulated from the character card.
What else really belongs to me - Edgar Waikolo?
With an idea flashing in his mind, Ed took out a copper-colored coin from his pocket, flipped it around on his fingertips, and threw it into Tia's hand flexibly and lightly, still spinning.
"This is?" Tia looked at the coin spinning like a sphere in her palm.
"My lucky coin is the only one in the world. I hope it brings you good luck."
After making the accessories for the one-eyed spider's abdominal tool set, he casually made a coin from the leftover scraps of the copper pocket watch. He also replaced the portrait of Richard II on the back with his own face, and kept it in his pocket as a coin. Play with toys.
"Thank you, Ed, that's enough for me."
The coin stopped and landed on the reverse side. Tia closed her palms and smiled knowingly.
