Stelle followed Firefly, leaping all the way through the Dreamscape Border. The two of them moved swiftly through the area, broke through a few mechanisms, knocked out quite a few guards, and finally arrived at a rooftop.
Looking out from the rooftop, a ray of light shone on the horizon, illuminating the distant sky with dawn. Above them, in the frozen black night sky, countless glowing fireflies fell like rain, leaving trails behind them.
A faint song drifted over, the singing voice clear and pure.
"Have you heard this song, If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking? It's one of Robin's works. With the Charmony Festival approaching, her music sometimes plays in the dreamscape."
Standing beside Stelle, Firefly spoke softly, "This is the place closest to the sky in the dream, far from the noise of the city and free from the Dreamweavers' arguments. No one will disturb you here. You can simply experience the present, the scenery, the people, and the dream..."
"It's so beautiful. Time is forever frozen in this golden moment, a golden dream. Tavern Fools and Garden of Recollection Memokeepers, wandering Rangers and IPC envoys, the Nameless of the Astral Express... and me."
"Everyone falls asleep here as equals. No matter the reason, even though we all have our own goals..."
As she spoke, Firefly fell silent. She let out a long breath, then turned to look at Stelle, a trace of disappointment and apology between her brows.
"...I'm sorry, Stelle. I really am an illegal entrant."
"I know," Stelle looked at Firefly and replied.
Although the little Stellaron wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed from time to time, she wasn't the type to trust people without thinking.
Even March would be cautious about something like this. Blindly trusting others was something only Nero would do.
Firefly blinked at Stelle, clearly surprised, then smiled.
"I knew I couldn't hide it from you."
The girl turned and looked out beyond the rooftop.
"My home was destroyed a long time ago. Maybe the Legion did it, or maybe it was the Swarm... I'm an interstellar refugee, just like many of Penacony's locals."
"The Harmony embraces everyone, including wanderers who came from afar. The Family accepts them, but... in the end, they don't truly belong here."
"In this magnificent metropolis, for some people, Penacony is their dream. For others... their dream is no different from reality, even though every ordinary person who comes here shares the same purpose."
"I'm the same. In reality, I have a wish I can never fulfill. It became so overwhelming that I sought refuge in dreams..."
Firefly spoke slowly, her words a mixture of truth and falsehood.
Stelle stood behind her, quietly listening without saying a word.
Firefly took a deep breath. Looking at Stelle with a complicated expression, she asked softly, "...Entropy Loss Syndrome. Have you ever heard of it?"
Stelle shook her head.
"It's a strange condition," Firefly said.
"People who suffer from it experience irreversible, chronic disintegration of their physical structure. That means you're slowly disappearing, and that disappearance is almost impossible for others to notice."
"You can still run, jump, and talk to people. Everything seems perfectly normal, except you're always just a little slower than everyone else..."
"Then you become slower and slower, until both you and the world around you become blurred. You can no longer tell dreams from reality, because both have become equally fragmented."
The girl turned her head and looked up at the sky. Her beautiful, colorful eyes shimmered as she looked at the world's blurred outline.
The meteor shower, the glow on the distant horizon, the rows upon rows of towering buildings...
What she saw was almost an entirely different world from what Stelle saw.
She saw the sky changing from white to black, but not the stars scattered across the night.
She saw meteors streaking through the sky, but all that remained before her were a few pale scratches.
She saw clusters of buildings, yet those skyscrapers looked like random crayon scribbles made by a child.
"So... how could I refuse?" Firefly said. Endless longing was suppressed beneath her slightly trembling voice. "Can you imagine it? In this dream, I actually can... I don't have to stay inside that cold medical pod..."
Firefly pursed her lips before turning back around.
"I can ignore the doctors' instructions and use my own body to listen, to see, to touch, to think, to understand. Even though this world isn't real, these feelings are incredibly precious..."
After saying that, the girl fell silent for a moment. She seemed to gather herself again before smiling at the person before her.
"...Just like right now.
"I'm sorry. Because of certain reasons, there are things... I still can't tell you yet. But there are also things I should be honest with you about."
"The Watchmaker's Legacy is indeed what I'm after, but we don't necessarily have to part ways and become enemies. At least... I don't want that to happen."
Firefly looked at Stelle.
Stelle looked back at Firefly.
Then the little raccoon's expression turned serious.
"Compared to that, I think treating your illness is more important."
"I know two famous doctors. Later, I'll ask them to take a look at you."
"Eh?"
"Let me tell you, one of them is the Dragon Lady of Medicine from the Xianzhou Luofu. Her medical skills are incredible."
"As for the second one, he's even more amazing! It's Nero. Don't let the way he acts fool you, he's really good at treating people."
"They both came to Penacony. Once we're back in reality, let's go find them and have them examine you."
"Eh??"
Stelle's reaction was different from most people's.
Or rather, different from how the story was supposed to go.
Obviously, the little raccoon also preferred the most efficient solution. After all, she'd always believed in pulling out the baseball bat whenever words failed, and she'd spent so much time around Nero. It was perfectly normal.
If you're sick, then we'll take you to get treated.
If you're a Fragmentum creature, then we'll take you to get a job.
Although the targets and methods were different, they were clearly very similar ways of solving problems efficiently.
After a brief moment of surprise, Firefly revealed an exceptionally gentle smile. (The gentle smile of the Stellaron Hunters' number one fighter.)
She could feel Stelle's sincerity.
"...Thank you."
Firefly thanked Stelle, then murmured softly, "I dreamed of a scorched land, where a fresh bud broke through the soil. It bloomed toward the morning sun and whispered softly to me."
"Do you remember the question on the invitation?"
"Why does life slumber?"
"You see, in this land of dreams, everything is permitted. Anything is possible. A painful past dissolves like bubbles, and the tomorrow people don't want to face never arrives."
"Why do people choose to sleep?"
"I think... it's because they're afraid of waking up from the dream."
Stelle quietly listened until Firefly finished speaking.
Then she slowly said a single word.
"Wrong."
Because of the influence of a certain fish and a certain professor, Stelle had trained her debating skills extensively back at the Space Station. It had practically become a habit.
As soon as Firefly finished speaking, Stelle immediately began explaining her own viewpoint, even though Firefly had merely been sharing her thoughts.
"The tomorrow you don't want to face will arrive no matter what. Even in dreams, time still passes. Do you think the debt collector won't come just because you're asleep?"
"As for the question on the invitation, Nero and I already had a very intense discussion about it, and our conclusion was approved by Professor Veritas Ratio of the Intelligentsia Guild."
"Why does life slumber? Of course it's because of biological necessity. Whether organic or inorganic life, every body inevitably becomes fatigued. Sleep is life's instinctive way of relieving that fatigue and restoring the mind."
"To put it more simply, life slumbers because it's an unavoidable biological instinct. When you're tired, you should rest. When you're sleepy, you should sleep. The answer to this question is obvious."
"And if we broaden the definition of 'slumber' in this question, we can divide this biological need into material needs and spiritual needs. Sleeping when you're sleepy is a material need."
"Wanting to be praised in a dream is a spiritual need. The easiest way to satisfy a spiritual need is exaggerated self-fantasy, commonly known as wishful thinking or daydreaming."
"Also, if death is counted as slumber, then the concept of 'accidents' must also be included in the answer. Every system hour, countless people enter slumber because of accidents. Under the cold laws of the universe..."
As Firefly listened to Stelle's explanation, the light gradually faded from her eyes.
"Eh??"
[🎉 Shoutout to Mozart and Photobug for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]