Beneath the full moon, the black sea silently surged with tides shimmering with silver moonlight. The seawater touching the soles of her feet was cool, neither cold nor warm, but felt comfortable... The gentle sea breeze still carried the unique salty tang of the ocean...
"Seele..." Bronya, her silver hair tied into two spiral twintails, remained expressionless, but her eyes were slightly red as she looked at the short-haired girl within arm's reach and spoke softly.
"...That time, when you disappeared along with the Illusory Sea laboratory, I thought... you were already..." Bronya's voice trembled slightly.
"...." The girl named Seele gently shook her head and said with a smile, "Sister Bronya, do you still remember the promise we made back then?"
"Back then, we would look at fairy tale books together in the toy box in our room. The stories from all over the world were as beautiful as a kaleidoscope. Those were truly happy times~"
"...I still remember we would always yearn for the stories in the books and then fall asleep in each other's arms..." Bronya seemed to recall the past, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved into a slight smile as she spoke.
"Mhm~ Once, while we were reading the story of the Little Mermaid, we imagined what the sea looked like, and then you told me you would take Seele to see the sea..." Seele's violet-blue eyes gazed at Bronya as she spoke.
"But in the end, they took you away, and that promise was never fulfilled..." Bronya bit her lip, her eyes filled with apology.
"...No," Seele shook her head gently, her slightly bluish, shoulder-length hair swaying... "But, I did see the sea. However, the sea I saw through the laboratory's glass window was completely different from the one in the fairy tales. There was only endless darkness and desolation..."
"Now, thanks to Sister Bronya's thoughts giving me strength, I am able to meet you again!" Seele's fair face broke into a heartfelt smile.
Seele, with her bare, tender feet, walked through the cool seawater to stand before Bronya. She reached out her small hand, took Bronya's, and added, "Sister Bronya... can you accompany me to fulfill that dream we promised back then? I want to recall that fairy-tale-like ocean with you by my side..."
As Seele's voice fell, the beach beneath their feet gradually disappeared, and the sea sank into darkness... or rather, it turned into nothingness.
"Seele..." Bronya was slightly taken aback. She looked at the girl before her and said earnestly, "I understand. Let's find those memories together..."
"Mhm! Sister Bronya! I like you the most~" Seele suddenly lunged at Bronya, wrapping her arms tightly around Bronya's small body with a happy smile.
"Mhm..." Bronya responded with an almost inaudible sound, a slight curve gracing her lips as she buried her face in Seele's faintly fragrant hair.
.....................
"Seriously! Where on earth did that girl Bronya run off to?!" Kiana said, both helpless and annoyed, as she looked at the deserted festival path. She had been searching for so long that she was starting to feel hungry!
"I feel like we've gone in a circle and ended up back where we started..." Mei looked around, frowning at the familiar shops on both sides of the path.
"No, it's not a feeling... Mei." Standing beside the two, Li Xuan squatted down, picked up a small stone from the ground, and said helplessly, "We *are* back where we started..." This was the stone he had thrown here as a marker earlier... and now they had come across it again... they were indeed back where they started.
"Well~ Sister Mei! Why don't we just forget about Bronya~ There are so many fun things at this festival! Let's go have some fun!" Kiana said, looking at the various things in the shops on both sides, like the steaming fried noodles in the food stall window, and the candied apples stuck in a bundle of straw...
"..." Stunned by Kiana's words, Li Xuan looked speechlessly at the white-haired furball whose eyes were shining... A companion was missing, and she was still thinking about having fun... Should he call her scatterbrained or just carefree?
"Kiana, stop talking nonsense. We have to find Bronya and leave this place together," Mei sighed at Kiana, her eyes firm. In her eyes, Bronya was like a little sister; how could she possibly abandon her!
"Mei-senpai, look~ There's takoyaki over there! And shaved ice and tanghulu! Let's go! Let's try some!" Kiana shouted as she trotted towards a nearby stall displaying various foods.
"Sigh... what a carefree person." Mei walked helplessly in Kiana's direction.
"The three of us sticking together should be fine..." Li Xuan said with a small smile. This place seemed like a maze... but it didn't feel dangerous.
[Hehehehe...] A creepy laugh suddenly reached Li Xuan's and Mei's ears.
"What was that?!"... The quickest to react, Li Xuan sharply looked in the direction of the sound. A faint shadow had appeared in the darkness behind Kiana, approaching her...
"Mei-senpai~ Look! There's a claw machine here~ Let's play..." Kiana stood in front of a claw machine, waving her fair, jade-like arms and shouting.
"Kiana, run!!" Following Li Xuan's gaze and Kiana's voice, Mei also saw the figure. She shouted at Kiana with almost all her strength.
"Swish!!" The sharp, snow-white blade of a scythe cut through the air, making a faint whistling sound as it swung unreservedly towards Kiana's neck...
"Whoa!!" Feeling a chill down her spine, Kiana turned around a beat too late. Reflected in her azure eyes was the cold, approaching scythe...
"..." A golden gleam flashed in Li Xuan's right eye. The power in his muscles erupted in an instant, and his figure suddenly vanished from Mei's side...
"Clang!~" A golden longsword appeared as if from thin air in the path of the falling scythe, blocking the almost fatal blow. The scythe's snow-white blade met the longsword, producing a crisp metallic sound...
"Hey, hey... long time no see. Why all the killing intent the moment we meet?..." Li Xuan panted slightly, looking at the figure before him and said teasingly, "Seele..."
"..." The figure hidden in the darkness raised its head. A pair of violet-blue pupils silently stared at Li Xuan's face... In those eyes, which seemed as cold as a beast's, there was a trace of surprise.
(End of Chapter)