socalfunplaces Page 228
Page 228
She didn't say anything, she just watched all of this unfold.
Snowflakes fell, brushing past the tip of her nose.
Without warning, tears rolled down her cheeks.
The white-haired guardian gazed at the scene before him with almost lingering affection, holding his breath as large tears streamed down his face, soaking his clothes. Despite wearing only a single layer of clothing, he felt no cold.
Her heart was crying, but she was very quiet.
Mayumi Haga rarely sheds tears. She even feels that her tear ducts are damaged, or perhaps she is naturally separated from surging emotions by a thin film.
But as she stood there, in the last corner of this lonely, false world, with only her own breathing remaining in the vastness of the world, she realized that her longing for her hometown was now irrepressible.
She had been here before.
She really couldn't bear to part with it.
Turning her head, Mayumi Haga's eyes were slightly red, as if she had made up her mind.
She lowered her eyes and whispered to Hitomi Tono, who was looking at her worriedly from under the tree, "Let's go, Hitomi."
"As Mayumi Haga finished speaking, the illusion in front of them suddenly collapsed."
White light
The world suddenly collapsed in Mayumi Haga's lucid moment.
A magnificent band of light appeared on the horizon, tearing apart the original dark blue sky. A rumbling sound began to emanate from beneath their feet, and cracks began to spread from the ground, swallowing up many of the beautiful scenes that the two had walked side by side with.
When Hitomi Tono saw Mayumi Haga extend her hand to her, she did not panic.
She was pulled up a tree by Mayumi Haga, and the violent jolt seemed to stop abruptly after she stepped onto a branch.
Hitomi Tono didn't know why Mayumi Haga was still standing there, instead of leaving the eye of the storm immediately.
Until she heard Mayumi Haga sigh: "I can't get enough of looking at her..." As Mayumi Haga spoke, the collapse of the illusionary world accelerated visibly. Amidst the enormous sound that could drown out any other sound, Hitomi Tono subconsciously grabbed Mayumi Haga's sleeve.
She saw Mayumi Haga turn around and give her a bright, proud, and slightly sad smile: "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Mayumi Haga was referring to the scenery that she and Hitomi Tono had witnessed together. The latter nodded sharply, for it was indeed a world completely different from her own.
Although similar terrain exists in the children's world, it feels completely different.
Upon hearing this, Mayumi Haga's smile brightened even more, and Hitomi Tono could see her joy and a hint of pride in it.
That's why I don't want these things to disappear.
"As a new life born from a race that has disappeared, Mayumi Haga is not a continuation of the bloodline of any specific life."
She is a new life born from this land called Alamo, and every flower, leaf, blade of grass, tree, sand, and stone is her blood relative.
Shimha's decision was tantamount to completely abandoning the original world, and in the new world, there was no place for Mayumi Haga to stand.
After realizing that Mayumi Haga was harboring rebellious thoughts, Shimha decided to imprison Mayumi Haga in this illusion until his plan succeeded.
Himha didn't think this illusion could hold onto Mayumi Haga for long, but as long as it could hold her for a little longer, it would be enough for her to transfer the rest of her soul.
The temporary extraction of memories and the arrangement of a reversed life within this illusion are also intended to slow down Mayumi Haga's retrieval of everything, thus buying time.
Therefore, after arriving in this illusion, Mayumi Haga never saw her nominal mother, Shimha, and was instead cared for by guards.
But the cage could not imprison Mayumi Haga's soul, and the time that the illusion could buy was only pathetic.
The only thing that could hold off Mayumi Haga was probably the scenery in this small world that Shimha had created using his past memories.
In fact, in Mayumi Haga's view, while Shimha's memories overlapped with her own, they were also quite different.
Over this long period of time, both the climate and the landform will change.
This change takes a long time, so you won't notice it if you just glance at it casually.
Mayumi Haga would meticulously remember every detail.
Therefore, she had already noticed the problem when she was on the grassland.
However, for some reason, she did not immediately expose Shimha's lie, but instead explored the place inch by inch with Hitomi Tono.
Although it was just an illusion, Mayumi Haga still liked it very much and was even willing to waste more of her time there.
After all, if things went according to her plan, she might never see such a view again.
In the very end, being able to see this scene one last time, and even allowing Hitomi Tono, a tourist, to witness such beauty, makes me feel no regrets.
At least in this world, or rather, in the world of children, there will be someone who remembers what this land called the Alamo looks like.
Amidst the deafening roar of the world collapsing, Hitomi Tono saw Mayumi Haga reveal an unprecedented smile.
It was a pure joy, as if everything was nearing its end and all wishes had been fulfilled.
That face was so striking that it completely drew Hitomi Tono's attention.
The next second, Mayumi Haga opened her hand and gently pressed it on Hitomi Tono's collarbone.
"...?" Hitomi Tono was taken aback.
With a slight push, Hitomi Tono was gently pushed off the treetop. When she tried to fly back, she found herself unable to move and could only continue to fall.
"...Mayumi....!
Tono Hitomi shouted with all her might, but Haga Mayumi turned away without hesitation.
The white-haired, golden-eyed guardian began to burn.
The flames began to spread from her heart, licking her clothes, and in an instant became fierce and raging, engulfing the large tree where the two of them had just stood in just a few breaths.
In the distance, the collapsed mountain ridge is being reassembled from its shattered state, and a pair of huge, blood-red vertical pupils emerge from the mountain.
The jet-black dragon roared, struggling to raise its upper body, which was beginning to turn to bone. Tears of blood, tinged with golden light, rolled down its cheeks, scattering like fireworks at the end of the world.
The black dragon we saw earlier was enormous, blotting out the sky.
However, even though it is just an illusion created by Shimha, it seems extremely insignificant in comparison to the black dragon who is fighting against the collapse of the world all by himself.
It's like trying to shake a tree.
Seeing all this, Hitomi Tono understood in that instant why Rania had given up on reconstructing the world for Mayumi Haga.
Because the witch knew better than anyone else that Mayumi Haga alone could not accomplish this.
Even a small patch of the mountain foot cannot be built; it will only increase the suffering.
No matter how hard Mayumi Haga tries, she can only manage to reclaim land the size of her own body amidst the excruciating pain of her flesh being constantly destroyed.
Can't do it.
impossible.
Haga Mayumi, who is usually the most cautious, vigilant, and self-aware, chose to fly like a moth to a flame at this moment.
...Why...? Tono Hitomi stared blankly as Haga Mayumi used the fire to ignite herself and construct a world.
The jet-black dragon, consumed by the flames of the world's origin, revealed its stark white bones. Scales and flesh were gradually peeled from its skeleton, transforming into the foundation of the new world.
However, what is visible to the naked eye is not enough.
The world is collapsing faster than Mayumi Haga is rebuilding.
First, the scales were peeled off piece by piece from its body, revealing a bloody and mangled torso, and the blood, muscles, and nerves gradually dissipated.
Even the bones began to disappear piece by piece, and the traces of [Haga Mayumi]'s existence in the world were rapidly erased, turning her into a dead object.
Finally, the Guardian Core, which had shone with a warm light and turned into fine sand, also disappeared before Hitomi Tono's eyes.
Only a faint white light remained, teetering precariously within the illusion.
Miracles for you
Just as Tono Hitomi was about to approach and grab the remaining soul of Haga Mayumi in her hand, the next second...
The white light flourishes.
Almost instantly, Hitomi Tono felt a strong sense of detachment.
Everything before my eyes was turned upside down at this moment. The flying fragments of the world and the dazzling bands of light lost all color.
Their outward expansion came to an abrupt halt, replaced by inward contraction.
As if being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, or as if being drawn to a void appearing at the center of the world, all the fragments that initially scattered and fled began to fold and collapse inward.
Hitomi Tono was an observer isolated from all of this. For a moment, she felt as if she were in a vacuum, surrounded by deathly silence.
She wanted to transform, but her voice couldn't be transmitted, and the magic seemed to have solidified in her blood vessels. The feeling of suffocation reached her brain. She should have sensed the danger, but all she could see was the faint white light in the center.
For some reason, she felt extremely at ease.
Even though Mayumi Haga had vanished before her eyes just moments before, she felt no worry about her now.
It's as if Mayumi Haga is actually right beside me right now.
In a daze, Tono Hitomi saw the figure of Haga Mayumi.
Before walking away, the other person turned back and gave her an apologetic smile.
When she opened her eyes again, Hitomi Tono was back in the studio backstage.
At this moment, all the lights outside were turned off, and only the emergency indicator light in the backstage area was emitting a faint green glow. In front of her were her worried friends.
Although Hitomi Tono felt that she had spent quite a while in the dream, in reality, less than half an hour had passed when she returned backstage.
"Tono".
"What did you see inside...?" Kagura Yu's expression was cautious and a little strange.
When Hitomi Tono opened her mouth to speak, she realized that the warm tears on her cheeks were gradually turning cold.
She smiled a little shyly, wiped her tears with her sleeve, but wasn't as dejected as she had expected.
Have you seen Yuhe?
"The others were a bit anxious, after all, judging from Hitomi Tono's appearance, it seemed that something terrible had happened inside."
Moreover, and most importantly, Mayumi Haga did not come out with Hitomi Tono.
What problem has she encountered? Perhaps a few more people can help, so let's all work together... Unexpectedly, Tono Hitomi did not turn back to look for Haga Mayumi.
She seemed to have a pretty good idea of what Mayumi was going to do.
That was a battle belonging to the true archer.
While both insist on taking responsibility alone, Hitomi Tono believes that Mayumi Haga is no longer back to the stage where she trusted no one and only her own abilities.
In the beginning of r8MIA, Mayumi Haga concealed her identity and refused help from others, which is why Hitomi Tono insisted on extending a helping hand to her even when she was strongly refusing.
Because at that moment, I heard a faint cry for help from the depths of Mayumi's heart.
But she didn't hear that sound just now.
Unbeknownst to her, Mayumi Haga had already grown accustomed to being helped in her life.
But sometimes, there are things you have to face alone.
The magical girl who is aimed at children is indeed used to the help of her friends, and is also very good at helping others and receiving help.
One plus one often produces a force greater than two.
However, the nature of Haga Mamiya is still different.
It took her a long time to go from stubbornly remaining alone to gradually opening her heart and accepting others.
Mayumi Haga has always been very reliable; she has a deeper sense of pride as a warrior and a protector.
Learning to open her heart and accept help from others doesn't mean completely giving up the way of fighting alone; rather, it gives her more options.
In many previous instances, Mayumi Haga did not have many other options.
Now, she chooses to face all of this alone, not out of bravado, but out of a deep sense of self-respect.
Therefore, Hitomi Tono respects her choice and believes that she can win this inner struggle.
Because Hitomi Tono saw it.
A ray of hope emanated from Mayumi Haga.
It was different from the previous lifeless feeling of despair, inferiority, introversion, and silence.
It is a desperate gamble, but also a rebuilding from the ashes.
Perhaps it's because I've spent so much time with the world of children that even a pessimist like Mayumi Haga is willing to place her bets on the "miracle" of "empty sand" at such a crucial moment.
And coincidentally...