Chapter 1336 The Long Loneliness

At some point, the darkness in front of me disappeared, just like a piece of candy wrapper being peeled off, turning into starlight bit by bit and dissipating, revealing the fair skin beneath the darkness.

The starlight was like an ocean and a bright lamp. Bathed in this vast sea of ​​stars, Bai Mo lowered his eyebrows, but at some point, he heard a voice:

"Meow~"

I don't know when the surroundings became pitch black, and there seemed to be a pool of water under my feet. Every step I took caused ripples on the surface of the lake.

"you……"

In front of him, a familiar fat cat was squatting on the ground, tilting its cute head and looking at him.

"can?"

The soft call received no response.

"Meow~"

Wagging its tail, the fat cat turned around and walked slowly.

"and many more!"

Bai Mo chased after it, only to see it stop in front of a door.

"here……"

He stretched out his hand and brushed his palm across the door.

"Meow~"

The soft call seemed to be urging.

Bai Mo exerted unnatural force with his hands, and the door was gently pushed open.

Jingle bell bell~!

From somewhere, a bell rang.

The waves created by the ringing of the bell cleared away the fog.

In that dim world, a young girl was squatting in a corner alone with her hands clasped in her arms.

There was nothing around her, just emptiness, and even the space was colorless.

"that's me?"

"No, that's my memory." Bai Mo recognized her, or rather, his former self, his own memory.

She looked very lonely, and her empty eyes made her consciousness seem a little dull and numb.

In such a world, there is nothing and loneliness occupies a person's entire being.

Even sounds and consciousness will be swallowed up by the boundless gray.

But she can't leave here, she is a lock, a lock that locks up a monster.

So even if she is alone, even if she is imprisoned, even if... she will forget the past and memories, which are not much to begin with but are cherished by her as all.

Perhaps in the end, the girl who once followed Alicia will gradually forget who she is, but... she must also be here.

She knew that one day she would forget everything, forget the past events that made her smile, forget the people who accompanied her, until she forgot her own name.

But she would still tell herself to persevere.

She hoped that after losing herself, she could still remember why she came here and why she endured all this.

……

But... this is too long.

This loneliness was too long, so long that she forgot the time, so long that she lost herself, so long that she forgot what laughter, crying, sadness and sorrow were.

Until then, the bells that rang in her ears.

"who is it?"

Her eyes looked in front of her, and there was nothing there.

But after a few brief seconds, a passage suddenly appeared.

The timid yet cute little head poked out and looked over there furtively.

His ears twitched cutely as he met the girl's eyes.

"Hey~!"

Perhaps frightened by the numb and embarrassed gaze, the cat-eared girl shrank her head back.

"Um... we, we're in~!"

"... "

Without getting a response, the timid girl hesitated and finally stepped into the void and stood in front of her.

"Um...long time no see, hahaha..."

"Would you like me to introduce myself?"

Seeing the girl staring at her without blinking, as if she was recalling who was in front of her, the cat-eared girl became a little nervous.

The bell hanging on her neck would occasionally make soft sounds as her body swayed restlessly.

"... "

"You are... Paddo?"

"Huh? You still remember me?" Padu was surprised, but the worry on her face was much less.

She would appear with bells, in order to attract people with the sound of the bells. If someone went crazy after hearing the bells, the girl would not dare to set foot there.

Fortunately, when the girl heard the ringtone, she just raised her eyes, which gave her the courage to stand in front of her friend again.

"Um~ I remember, we were... friends?"

"Of course! After all, we are...all quite timid." Scratching her head, Pado went from confidently putting her hands on her hips to scratching her head embarrassedly in just one sentence.

"But do you remember? At that time we found a big treasure chest, which took us a lot of effort to open, but in the end..." Biting her lip, Padu puffed up her cheeks, looking lost.

"That turned out to be the weapon made by Sister Weiwei to fight Kevin, and it almost bit off my tail~!"

Perhaps recalling the thrill of that time, she shook subconsciously while holding the tail.

"... "

"Huh? What's wrong?" Padu, who was talking to herself, noticed that there was no movement in front of her. She looked carefully and found that the girl's eyes were full of confusion and doubt.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember. I forgot a lot of things." Perhaps she finally realized that she couldn't remember the interesting things that Padu had said, and the girl lowered her head in disappointment.

"I'm sorry to spoil your fun..."

But her reaction made Paddo's eyes light up.

"Woo..."

“Woooo ...!!!”

"Abai! You really haven't changed, I knew it!"

Crying tears of joy, this might be a little strange for a young girl.

She didn't know why the girl in front of her was crying or sobbing, but she just felt that the distance between her and her was shortened a lot.

This feeling is so special, but why... do I miss it?

"You are still the Abai who likes to apologize. That's great. I haven't lost you yet." Padu leaned forward and wiped away the tears that were about to overflow from the corners of her eyes, pursing her lips.

"It's okay. It doesn't matter if you forget. I remember them all. I will tell you one by one!"

Pulling the girl's hand, Padu came very close, smiling happily.

"Now that we've caught you, we won't let you get lost!"

"No matter what happens in the future, no matter what Abai becomes, we will extend a hand to you."

"... "

"Then... please sit down." She didn't know what this oath meant, and she didn't understand.

She only knew that the girl in front of her was kind, so she reached out her hand and showed her kindness, which was one of the few things she still remembered.

Be kind to those who are truly kind.

Without any hesitation, Padu sat down next to the girl and stretched lazily.

"Uh-! Ah~!"

Looking at the gray sky in the distance, she became curious again.

“Has the scenery here always been like this?”

"Yeah." Following her gaze, the girl stared into the distance without blinking.

"It's been thousands of years, right? I can't remember."

"But...it has never changed."

"For thousands of years……"

"Abai, have we been here for thousands of years?" Paduo sighed as he slowly climbed down with his cat ears erect.

Perhaps thinking of the weight of this thousand years of loneliness, her body couldn't help but shiver, and the hair on her tail stood up unconsciously.

"It's so dark here, and Bai is so timid, he must be very scared, right?"

"Are you scared?" After thinking for a while, the girl shook her head obediently.

"Once you get used to it, you won't be so scared anymore."

"Habit……?"

"I...actually I really want to experience that feeling, but...I can't seem to understand it."

"You don't have to force yourself." The girl didn't care. At least now, having someone to talk to her was a luxury she dared not think about too much.

She really hasn't felt companionship for too long... too long...