Sampo: Old Sampo watched the two of them converse, and suddenly realized that both of them seemed to be the sole survivors of their respective planets.
Qingque: "Sole" might not be entirely accurate... There might be other survivors, it's just...
Qingque: It's just that they might never be seen again.
Fu Xuan: Why does life fall into slumber? A philosophical question, fearing to awaken from a dream, not yet ready to embrace death. I think the Clockmaker might have another answer.
"Even if the outcome is already destined, it doesn't matter. There are too many things people cannot change," Himeko said. "But before that, on the path towards the outcome, there are also many things one can do."
"And the outcome will therefore take on a completely different meaning."
"Look in your pocket. Your friend has already given you the answer. Good luck."
After saying her last words, Himeko turned and disappeared into the darkness.
Aventurine, however, suddenly remembered something and took out the bottle Professor Ratio had given him earlier from his pocket.
Upon opening it, only a neatly folded slip of paper lay quietly inside. Aventurine unfolded the paper with a mix of curiosity and anticipation, his gaze falling upon the words.
[The impossible thing in a dream is not death, but slumber.]
[Live. Good luck.]
Himeko: Hehe, I told you this button worked!
Himeko: How did Himeko know he had this hidden in his clothes? Is there another expert?
Giovanni: It's a bit unsettling to think about. Nihility... Perhaps she only lifted one layer of the veil.
Pela: Wow! Professor Ratio seemed to be mocking him openly, but I didn't expect him to care so much about Aventurine in reality.
March 7th: He even guessed this with not much information. It's too terrifying. Is this 'Dr. Ratio'?
With a slight upturn of his lips, Aventurine revealed a relaxed smile. The mysteries that had long troubled his heart finally unraveled at this moment.
As the riddle was solved, the fear of the unknown that had suffocated him like a tide receded, and his mood became more comfortable than ever before.
"Then I should go too..."
Just as he whispered, a soft sound of footsteps reached his ears. Aventurine looked up in surprise, turning to see Kakavasha standing quietly before him.
"Are you leaving?" Kakavasha's voice was filled with confusion and reluctance. "Did you finally choose... to leave this dream?"
Aventurine gazed silently into Kakavasha's eyes, remaining quiet for a long time. After a moment, Aventurine took a deep breath and slowly spoke:
"...Yes. Because they are not here... Father, Mother, Sister."
"Then where are they?" Kakavasha asked.
Aventurine's tone was gentle and mild: "They are in a place everyone will go to, a very, very distant place."
Qingque: He's really gentle with his younger self.
"Are you going there too?" A hint of confusion appeared in Kakavasha's eyes.
"I will go there one day. But not now."
Aventurine smiled faintly, looking up at the deep black hole in the distance. His eyes shimmered with complex emotions, both longing for the future and nostalgia for the past.
"There will be a day when rain falls from the sky again. I will hear the call of the Mother, know that the fated moment has arrived, and I should reunite with my family."
Aventurine gently closed his eyes and placed his right hand over his chest: "So, before that moment arrives... I should prepare."
"Prepare for what?"
Aventurine smiled: "Prepare to face them, Kakavasha, to become their pride."
Himeko: People will always die. To live is also for those who have passed away.
Himeko: Yes... Perhaps we are born to live towards death, but we must keep moving forward. This is the spirit of Trailblaze.
Black Swan: His expression has relaxed a lot. At this moment, he has made peace with himself.
March 7th: You could say it's a happy ending, a happy ending~
Himeko: Oh? A happy ending... Hehe?
March 7th: Ah... Don't speak in such a roundabout way. Is there something we haven't thought of?
"I think you'll do it. Go for it." Kakavasha narrowed his eyes slightly, a bright smile on his face, encouraging Aventurine.
"Of course, because I am a child blessed by the Mother," his voice, however, trembled slightly.
Seeing this, Kakavasha couldn't help but laugh happily: "But you still look very nervous."
"I think so too. Maybe only you can help me with this." Aventurine nodded gently, then suggested: "One last time, let's do a palm-to-palm prayer."
As soon as he finished speaking, Aventurine squatted down, gently stroking Kakavasha's golden hair, his eyes filled with affection and reluctance. Kakavasha returned an equally warm smile, showing understanding and support.
"Are you leaving?" Kakavasha asked softly.
But the audience noticed something unusual—Kakavasha was no longer moving his mouth when he spoke; his voice seemed to emanate from his heart.
March 7th: What is this... He's speaking without using his mouth?
Welt: Kakavasha has become a 'person who cannot speak.'
"Yes." Aventurine nodded again, slowly extended his palm, and pressed it tightly against Kakavasha's small hand. Then, the two began to pray together:
"'May the Mother close her eyes for you thrice...'
"'May your bloodline forever surge...'
"'May your journey always be smooth...'
"'May the Trick never be exposed.'"
After the palm-to-palm prayer, Aventurine handed his hat to Kakavasha, then stepped forward into the distance.
Kakavasha held Aventurine's hat, silently watching his retreating figure and blessing him:
"We shall reunite under Kakava's aurora."
The person before him was waving, as if bidding farewell to his sorrow and past.
Accompanied by smiles and blessings, Kakavasha's figure gradually dissolved into specks of light. The hat in his hand, as if blown by a gust of wind, drifted into the darkness of the sky.
"Goodbye, Kakavasha."
With anticipation for tomorrow in his heart, he sinks into tonight's slumber; until the end of one tomorrow after another, welcoming peaceful death.
But this man is different; he lives in the present. Every night of indulgence, every desperate gamble, the appearance of tomorrow never appeared in his dreams.
His life was never destined for peace, and yet fate would teach him to win everything, to wade through one downpour after another, until the mud covered his nostrils.
And now, in the bottomless dream, that falling dice... finally landed.
Silently... peacefully... it landed.