While chatting about flowers in the flower bed, the group suddenly heard 'Mary-Ann' speak with feeling from the story of dandelions.
As long as the wind blows, these tiny flowers will scatter everywhere with the wind, take root and sprout in other places, then bloom into new flowers again.
Such flowers are somewhat similar to the story she knows about water.
Once, in a certain place, there was a calm body of water. Later, with disturbance, ripples appeared. Droplets emerged in the ripples, and those droplets contained life.
These lives left the water and took on different forms. But even though they were all made of water, barriers arose because of their different shapes.
Each drop of life is very fragile, yet each has its own beauty.
[Is this talking about Al and the others?]
[Feels like it's talking about the origin of Pure Water Spirits]
[Why suddenly talk about Pure Water Spirits? The ones in the Fountain of Lucine were Pure Water Spirits too]
[Of course—because this is the nation of water]
"Every drop of water is very fragile and dries up easily. If they gather together, they become powerful. But every drop of water will no longer be itself. Dandelions are the same, right?"
After 'Mary-Ann' finished speaking, she asked everyone present.
"What do you think—is this good?"
Paimon scratched her head—this had already gone beyond her range of understanding.
Mu Yang also refused to answer such a meaningless question.
Lumine said, "Even if they merge together, they can still have their own consciousness."
She said this because she thought of the actions Al and the others had taken earlier.
But honestly, she herself couldn't guarantee it.
She just felt it would be pretty good that way.
Mary-Ann made no comment on Lumine's answer.
She simply recorded her answer.
Then she invited everyone to keep walking forward.
"I can also take you to see the doggy we're raising!"
"Mary-Ann, you raise a dog too?" Paimon asked curiously.
"Mm! It's a silly dog that has always stayed here with me, so it's my good friend too."
[Dog lovers strongly condemn!]
[This tone sounds familiar somehow]
[The Maurice from before kept saying he was a silly dog]
The group reached the doghouse.
Sure enough, what walked out was a Hydro-shaped wild boar.
"Esteemed lady, it is an honor to receive the food you bestow, and I am delighted to meet you again, Miss Mary-Ann."
"Mm! Good doggy."
Paimon inwardly complained—this person called it a silly dog earlier.
But she wasn't stupid right now. She copied Mary-Ann's motion and patted the Hydro creature. "Good doggy!"
The 'puppy' responded to her, "Hello, cute little lady."
"Even though you called me a cute little lady, still…" Paimon tossed the question to Ann. "What exactly is going on here?"
Ann didn't understand either, but she was certain the one in front of them was absolutely not Maurice.
At this moment, 'Mary-Ann' spoke the same words Al had said earlier:
Water has no fixed form. Life chooses the shape it needs, but that has nothing to do with its essence.
She continued, "I once heard a similar truth—the body is a cage that hinders evolution. That person used to be a child, just like the others."
"We and many people listened to him tell many stories—about how life was once shapeless like water, how souls once had no fences, and therefore stories were infinite."
"Many people abandoned their bodies, because if water can be drawn out of blood, then will can be drawn out of form."
— — — — — —
[Streamer streamer, I'm already dizzy]
Guinaifen had no idea what this long quest was trying to express. So far, all the clues were far too trivial.
What was the purpose of this plan?
Drawing people's will out of the water again—why do such a thing? Who wants to do it?
None of the current story mentioned it.
The only known information so far was Fontaine's prophecy.
[In the end everyone will dissolve into the water, only the Hydro Archon will sit alone on the throne and weep…]
"Could this person want to draw out the will of the Fontaine people who have dissolved into the water again?"
[??? That's some bold thinking]
[That would be so many people]
[Right—and look at those people Vacher dissolved; they've already fused together, gone mad. How could they be separated so easily?]
"Everyone just brainstorm and guess more! Isn't this exactly the experience you get from going through the plot?"
Guinaifen said, "And you have Mu Yang and this beautiful streamer with you—using your brain a little won't hurt."
[Your face is getting thicker too]
— — — — — —
Ann immediately refuted 'Mary-Ann's' view.
"…But even if you pour water onto dried black-brown dust, it can never become blood again."
Paimon was startled by her action. "Ann?"
"Mm. I remembered some things—though I really didn't want to remember them."
'Mary-Ann' asked how much she remembered.
"…I don't know. Just many emotions and scenes, happy words and angry words, suddenly surging up together. I don't know…"
At this point, Lumine had no intention of pretending anymore.
Mu Yang felt the same.
It was time to lay the cards on the table.
There was never any so-called Narcissus Cross Kingdom here.
What they had experienced was merely a woven story.
This story had no continuation.
That was why, after entering the high tower, Ann only felt lost.
Ann asked Lumine—were the things she remembered along the way actually stories that originally happened in these places? And was she herself just a character in the story?
"No. The reason you remember these things is because you…"
Before Mu Yang finished, his words were rudely interrupted by 'Mary-Ann.'
"Alright, Mr. Mu Yang, Lumine, Paimon, and dear Ann—time's about up. Though I enjoyed spending time with you, I must ask you to leave now."
At this moment, 'Mary-Ann' had dropped her smile.
She crossed her arms. "You knew it was fake—why say it out loud? At least consider Ann's feelings."
Hearing these words from her,
everyone instantly felt their vision blur, their bodies experience sudden weightlessness. The originally warm air temperature plummeted. It was as if they had fallen into ice water.
[Slight weightlessness detected]
[I wasn't even showing off—why am I flying?]
When everyone could see the scene in front of them clearly again,
they and 'Mary-Ann' had already been separated by a mirror.
Ann pounded on the glass—she seemed to need the truth.
But 'Mary-Ann' told her, "Before you arrived, I had a dream."
"I dreamed I was a tiny brave Pure Water Spirit. She and her friends were determined to save the princess."
"There may be princesses in the world, and there may be dragons, but I already understand. Things in the world are often not so convenient. Why would a dragon be interested in a princess?"
"After waking up, just thinking about it makes this dream feel extremely ridiculous. But also a little nostalgic."
"Ann, have you remembered?"