"Wait!"
The moment Phainon's center of gravity shifted backward, Phaethon instinctively grabbed his arm and held on tight.
Logic told him that Phainon probably just wanted to lie down right now, that he wouldn't really collapse and never get up again.
But the traumatic fear left behind by countless losses and partings made him unable to control this overreaction he was still afraid, afraid that any tiny "accident" would take away this... reality he had just barely regained.
"Heh..." Phainon let out an extremely faint, slightly breathy laugh at his excessive reaction. There was no mockery in the laugh, only a bone-tired understanding that saw through everything.
"Little brother, how long has it been since you truly let yourself lie down and rest easy?"
Before his words faded, he was the first to relax all support in his body, letting himself fall slowly backward onto that hard, familiar scorched earth.
A dull thud sounded as his body met the ground, stirring up a small puff of ash.
Phaethon's arm froze mid-air.
He looked at Phainon, who was already lying calmly on the scorched earth, eyes closed as if wanting to merge with this land. A complex struggle flickered in his eyes.
That blackened earth was once golden wheat waves, bearing witness to carefree childhood and desperate cycles alike.
Lying down what did it mean? Rest from burdens laid down, or a farewell to everything past?
He hesitated, inner conflict raging. His gaze moved from Phainon's calm profile to the sky, then back to this land that was both homeland and graveyard beneath his feet.
Finally, his tense shoulders relaxed slightly.
He slowly lay down beside Phainon.
The sensation of his back touching the hard ground was uncomfortable, even a bit prickly, the cold seeping through his clothes thread by thread.
But strangely, when only the vast, dawn-gilded sky remained in his field of vision, a long-lost peace, as if returning to the origin, began to seep into his weary soul like a gentle stream.
He didn't speak, and neither did Phainon.
The two lay side by side like this, on the scorched earth that was once a wheat field, in the dawn after surviving disaster, sharing this silent moment that needed no words.
It was as if the whole world held only their faint breathing and the heartbeat of the silent earth beneath them.
On this ruin symbolizing "home" and "past," the two scarred deliverers could finally set everything aside for a moment, merely existing, breathing, enjoying this instant of silence and peace.
A weariness, rising like a warm tide, threatened to completely overwhelm Phaethon's consciousness.
The nerves stretched taut for so long, now confirming Phainon's breathing was steady and their surroundings safe, finally let out an overwhelmed groan.
Should he sleep?
This thought emerged with indescribable temptation.
Mm... could he... really allow himself to sleep now?
Since embarking on this long path of salvation, since being forced to bear the flood of memories exceeding individual limits, "peaceful sleep" had long become an unattainable luxury, even a danger to be wary of.
Every relaxation of consciousness could mean being invaded by the painful memories of countless others, meant cracks in the barrier of the "self" he steadfastly maintained.
But now, beneath him was his homeland's scorched earth, beside him was blood kin regained, above was the dawn after calamity... This seemed, in thousands of cycles, the closest moment to "being able to rest easy."
His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, the boundaries of consciousness beginning to blur. That dark and tranquil drowsiness was like a soft blanket, slowly covering him...
"Stars" quietly opened their eyes, greedily watching Phaethon about to close his.
However
Just as his will was about to be captured by fatigue, sinking into sleep!
"Hee hee hee hee"
A sudden, jarring laugh, full of joy and mischief, exploded directly in the deepest part of his mind!
"Congratulations, host, for awakening the system's hidden function~! The system store is now open for you~~!"
A voice with exaggerated inflection, yet brimming with human-like "emotion," announced enthusiastically like the shoddiest commercial advertisement.
Phaethon sat up abruptly from the ground!
All drowsiness was banished in that instant, replaced by a near-instinctive, hyper-vigilant alertness.
This voice, this tone, this style of forcibly intruding completely disregarding others...
He intuitively felt that the thing now abruptly floating before his eyes, partially blocking his vision that eerie panel glowing with merry red light, decorated with streamers and countless grinning masks...
Absolutely, absolutely had something to do with that Aeon who lived for finding fun Aha!
Phaethon's sudden movement caused Phainon, who had just relaxed beside him, to glance over with surprise and inquiry, seemingly not understanding why Phaethon was so alert at the moment they were about to rest.
Phaethon didn't explain. All his attention was focused on that floating, joyfully glowing red interface.
He took a deep breath and asked quietly:
"Aha?"
The panel covered in streamers and masks visibly trembled. The funny face patterns on it twisted for an instant, as if something inside was desperately suppressing an impending burst of laughter.
Then, a line of text with flashing multicolored lights and exaggerated, flashy fonts materialized in the center of the panel like a street neon sign:
"What Aha? Lovely Haa doesn't know anything~! Lovely Haa only knows that dear host has finally and luckily awakened this system's extra super value plugin the System Store is grandly open for business~~! Don't miss it while you're passing by!"
Phaethon stared at this line of text that tried too hard to cover up, especially the forcibly reversed name "Haa." He raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose hard, trying to ease the sudden headache.
God damn Haa! Just reversing the order of the name?
Did he really think this level of disguise could fool anyone? It was practically writing "I am Aha" across his face!
"Hee hee hee"
That familiar laugh sounded directly in his mind again, carrying undisguised, mischievous delight at a prank well executed.
"Don't just stand there, click and take a look! Don't worry, this is something I, Aha, poured my heart and soul into, modeled after that rigid and boring 'original system' inside you an exclusive enhancement plugin I carefully designed and created! Absolutely full of 'surprises,' and completely safe and 'harmless'!"