บท 70: Chapter 70: Brother is Dead! Otto, You Deserve to Die! (5k)
"Is there anything Sirin wants?"
"I want to eat the snacks my brother made again."
......
Chase often pondered inconsequential questions. Rare insomnia, eyes open until four in the morning, he thought about many things.
The night seduces insomnia as a crime, and the awake cannot catch the solace of sleep.
The pitch-black night, for Chase, was just daytime with a different hue. He stared at the ceiling, turning time into a sealed cocoon, wrapping himself inside, like amber preserving.
The current situation had exceeded his expectations, and he had underestimated his significance in Sirin's heart.
Recalling the scene of Sirin crying in his arms, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Death, the most taboo topic for mankind, Chase once firmly believed that he was not afraid of death and had planned his final act. But now, the stage was set, the audience was in place, and the protagonist hesitated.
He didn't want to die, but he had to.
The side effects of the golden talent were incurable, whether he chose genetic ascension or mechanical ascension. His short-lived fate couldn't be stopped.
Born with desires, the ability to fulfill them never caught up with the capacity for desire. It meant pain.
He couldn't help but wonder, what would Sirin do if he died?
But he didn't find an answer, just silently stared at the dark ceiling, silent.
Speechless. Chase turned his head and glanced at the flowers Sirin brought, the lilies still blooming at four in the morning.
For some reason, Chase remembered an article he had read:
[Staring at the peony flowers at four in the morning, I find them exceptionally beautiful. They bloom, containing a kind of sorrowful beauty.]
[The peony flowers at four in the morning are also precious. If a flower is beautiful, sometimes I can't help but say to myself: Live on!]
Flowers bloom, signifying death, withering and rebirth.
It was November 12th now, less than two months from the doctor's most optimistic prognosis.
Live on... Chase murmured in his heart.
A dull and vague pain spread throughout his body. Although Chase had lost his sense of pain, he could still feel every organ and tissue in his body, each one groaning in agony.
Chase had always been a healthy person. When he got sick, it was just a minor ailment like a cold or fever that could be cured with medicine and a few days of rest. So, at that time, it was challenging for him to truly understand what it meant to be a patient, to understand their pain and struggles.
To understand, one must experience.
And now, on the verge of death, he could empathize with them.
He wanted to live, to continue accompanying Sirin.
Chase turned his head to look at Sirin sleeping on the other bed. The girl slept peacefully, breathing evenly, a faint smile on her lips, as if experiencing a sweet dream.
Chase suddenly felt a bit relaxed, remembering Sirin's words after the birthday celebration.
"Sirin wants to sleep with her brother tonight."
Looking at the girl's peaceful sleep, Chase suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling. But this feeling was only suitable for hiding in his heart. It couldn't be said, couldn't be thought, but also couldn't be forgotten. They couldn't turn into words; once they did, they wouldn't be the same. They were a hazy warmth and loneliness, mature hopes and despair, confined to two territories: the heart and the grave.
Chase's heart suddenly throbbed, and the discordant heartbeat made his breathing quicken. Suddenly, like a string breaking, Chase's consciousness was pulled into the abyss... he completely sank into the bottomless abyss.
.......................
Sirin sat blankly in Chase's hospital room, which had been familiar to her for three years. She stared into space with hollow eyes, as if gazing at a void in the emptiness.
In the warm-toned hospital room, traces of Sirin's care were everywhere—green plants on the windowsill, a bookshelf against the wall, and a vase on the bedside table with wilted lilies.
Sirin didn't have the mood to replace the flowers; the person who wanted to see them was no longer here.
She looked around and felt that she wasn't decorating a room belonging to Chase but more like a room belonging to him—a coffin.
Chase's condition was deteriorating, and Sirin's mood was getting worse.
Cecilia walked in from the door, seeing Sirin sitting alone in the hospital room, staring into an empty space. She felt a bit sorry for her.
Cecilia walked to Sirin's side and said softly, "Sirin, do you want to go see your brother?"
Sirin turned her head, her eyes subconsciously avoiding, wanting to evade, but then her gaze became firm, nodding, "Sirin wants to go."
......
Chase was urgently transferred to the intensive care unit, and Sirin, wearing a thick isolation suit, stood still at the door of the ICU, looking through the small glass window at the scene inside.
Through the window, she saw Chase surrounded by doctors and equipment.
Doctors rushed around, instruments flickering with images, and the continuous injection of unidentified drugs through soft tubes...
The shouts of the doctors, the humming of the ventilator, the ticking of the electrocardiograph, the beeping of the infusion pump—all stimulated Sirin's nerves step by step. Finally, the situation developed to the worst, as if a dam had collapsed due to ant nests, and from then on, everything was out of control.
At that moment, Sirin realized.
Life is so fragile?
She stood there dumbfounded, like a kite with a broken string, losing direction, losing traction, and eventually falling to the ground, breaking her own skeleton, shattering her body...
The catastrophic breakdown Chase suffered was different from ordinary breakdowns; it was more like a meme, an infectious meme that once contaminated, couldn't be rid of or cured, only watched as the body deteriorated, health fading away. Now, Chase had moved to the intensive care unit, and there was no possibility of moving back after improvement.
In fact, whether it was Chase, his family, or even Sirin herself, they all knew that only the cruelest outcome awaited Chase—
He would die.
Sirin remembered her birthday wish from yesterday. At that time, with hands clasped and eyes closed, in front of Chase and the Kiana family, she made a wish—
Hope that her brother would survive.
But now it seemed that birthday wishes were just tricks to fool children.
Wishes never came true!
...
Chase returned to that silent whiteness. In the ICU, there were no extra colors, no colorful flowers, no cushions decorating the cabinets. There were only doctors in green surgical gowns and green patterns on the instruments.
Sirin spent months decorating Chase's room warmly, but now it had all returned to the starting point.
"How's the situation?" Cecilia asked the doctor beside Sirin.
The doctor, also wrapped tightly, sounded a bit muffled. He whispered, "Still the same. If things go well, he might make it to Christmas this year."
Sirin's heart sank.
"The patient's condition is stable now. Do you want to go in and see?" the doctor continued.
Sirin turned her head, looking at Cecilia with hopeful eyes. Cecilia smiled, nodding, "Please."
.....
Through the heavy protective suit, Sirin stood in front of Chase. She saw that he was motionless on the hospital bed, a breathing tube inserted into his mouth, with tubes going straight into his lungs, accompanied by the rhythmic rise and fall of his breathing.
At this point, Chase couldn't speak anymore; he could only look at Sirin with slightly red eyes, smiling faintly. He reached out his right hand, motioning her to come closer.
Sirin walked over, and Chase grabbed her hand.
Her brother's hand was very cold, feeling like touching a piece of iron. Sirin felt the temperature emanating from Chase's hand, and a chill surged to her heart.
She trembled all over, half-opened her mouth, and tears unconsciously flowed from the corners of her eyes, streaming down her cheeks. Sirin was in fear, afraid of death, afraid of losing...
Suddenly, she felt that the hand holding hers seemed to tighten a bit more. She raised her head, looking at her brother in the hospital bed, and found him smiling at her. Although he couldn't speak due to the ventilator, his deep blue lake-like eyes seemed to say everything.
The ultimate of all arts is the eyes at the moment of death.
"Brother, don't die, don't die!"
Sirin couldn't help it anymore, crying and holding Chase's hand with both hands, pleading with the most humble tone for her wish. At that moment, all the vulnerability, unwillingness, and sadness hidden in Sirin's heart were released without reservation.
The doctor walked in from outside, reminding, "Time is up."
Cecilia's eyes were a bit red too, being a sensitive person. Looking at the siblings, she sighed and said, "Let them stay a little longer..."
Perhaps other people are your hell, where scars of the soul form armor, where defensive glances become swords forged, where language arranges itself into a maze, and where smiles conceal traps. Behind all of that, there is still a lonely heart trembling, a persistent longing for communication.
.................
It was mid-November now, and Chase had been sentenced to death in a coma, with a one-month reprieve.
Sirin wished time could slow down, but time was stubborn, ruthless, and unreasonable. It wouldn't stop for the will of an individual; the clock on the wall continued to tick.
As if trying to desperately grasp onto something, the more she grasped, the tighter, time slipped away silently like sand through clenched fingers.
November, December...
December 25th.
Christmas.
Snowflakes fell gently, covering the earth with a soft touch. People joyfully selected holiday decorations, hurriedly traversing busy streets, holding bags filled with gifts, their faces filled with joyful smiles. Every household decorated a beautiful Christmas tree with shiny lights and colorful ornaments. The sound of carols echoed from unknown places, seemingly singing praises for the festival.
Books say that Christmas is the happiest moment of the year, where people exchange gifts, expressing friendship and love. But why couldn't Sirin be happy?
While children were still looking forward to Christmas gifts from Santa Claus, Sirin had already started preparing a Christmas gift for her brother.
Sirin had accepted reality; she no longer complained about the unfairness of fate, nor did she hope for miracles. Now, all she wanted was to spend every day well with her brother.
This was enough for Sirin; she wasn't greedy.
She had learned to make snacks earlier, originally intending to make them for her brother because he used to make them for her. But now, her brother's mouth was filled with a breathing tube, and his meals were pulverized by the machine into almost fluid-like food.
Now there was no hope, and Sirin walked the streets aimlessly.
"Miss, are you looking for a gift?"
Hearing the vendor's call, Sirin stopped, turning to look at him.
"Come and take a look at my stall. It's suitable for friends, family, or lovers," the vendor continued, sensing a potential customer.
Sirin walked to the stall, looking left and right, and picked a snow globe.
Inside the glass dome, snowflakes fell on a small house, outside was a green lawn with blooming flowers. In the yard, a boy held a girl's hand, pointing to the flowers with pride. The girl looked at the boy curiously, and time froze in that moment.
Sirin was moved, not saying much. She bought the snow globe and prepared to leave.
Suddenly, Welt appeared by her side, urgently saying, "Sirin, I finally found you."
"Welt uncle, what's wrong?" Sirin was puzzled. Why did Welt come to find her at the market?
"Your brother is deteriorating rapidly."
Sirin's pupils dilated, and the next second, she disappeared from the spot.
...
The tranquility of the snowy day was refreshing.
Sirin arrived at Chase's hospital room and happened to see a group of doctors bowing in front of the bed. Cecilia and the others were crying, even the tearless Siegfried was shedding tears.
Sirin was stunned. The snow globe she had just bought slipped from her hands and fell to the ground.
"Crack!"
The snow globe shattered on the floor, just like Sirin's heart at that moment.
Reality was never a fairy tale; there could always be an additional "bitterness" before any disaster.
...
In a daze, Sirin seemed like a piece was missing from her heart. She stood alone at the door of the ward, silently watching everything inside. Finally, it seemed like Uncle Welt quietly came over to take her back.
"Sirin." Welt called Sirin's name. Sirin lifted her head to look at him, her eyes empty, as if she had lost her soul.
Welt felt a twinge of pity, sighed, and handed her a gift box, saying, "This is from your brother."
Sirin's eyes seemed to regain some color as she slowly opened the gift box.
Rows of snacks were neatly arranged inside, all in flavors that Sirin loved.
["Is there anything you want, Sirin?"]
["I want to eat the snacks my brother used to make one more time."]
Brother, you still remember...
She could no longer restrain herself; sorrow surged like a tide, engulfing her, making her sink. Her consciousness gradually became scattered, and inexplicable negative emotions began to dominate her inner self.
["Will of Honkai"] finally seized the opportunity, using murmurs to impact Sirin's consciousness.
Welt's pupils contracted suddenly; he instinctively felt something was wrong, a sense of crisis rising in his heart.
He began trying to wake up Sirin.
"■Ri! Si■!"
But Sirin's consciousness had long been pulled by the ["Will of Honkai"], trying to influence her, making her awaken.
Sirin saw chaos before her. When she woke up, she found herself standing in front of a hospital bed. The person lying on the bed was her brother, that gentle, kind, good-cook brother who treated Sirin well.
Chase lay on the hospital bed, holding Sirin's hand, pleading:
"Sirin, help brother. Brother doesn't want to die! Doesn't want to die!"
Sirin could no longer distinguish between reality and chaos. Faced with her brother's request, she was already in a panic: "Brother, how can Sirin help you?"
["Chase"] frantically searched through the experiences of Chase and Sirin, realizing that this girl was too pure and kind; it was challenging to directly bring her to the opposite side of human civilization.
Suddenly, it found a useful piece of information.
["I'm going back to our hometown. The Archbishop there is seriously ill, might not make it. I need some time; can't accompany you for your birthday~"]
"It's Archbishop Otto! He tricked my brother back, experimented on him, and turned my brother into what he is now!" ["Chase"] looked terrified, grabbing Sirin's hand.
It changed its plan, preparing to redirect the hatred towards Otto. Guiding Sirin to oppose Otto would be akin to opposing human civilization.
Silently noting down the name, Sirin, oblivious to the chaos, didn't notice Chase's anomaly: "What should Sirin do?"
"Kill him!" ["Chase"] said.
Everything was Otto's fault!
Menacing, Menacing, Menacing...
Sirin nodded firmly, since it was her brother's wish...
["That's right."]
["God grants me access, comprehending the universe, creating something from nothing, the queen of void."]
The Herrscher awakens!
Welt suddenly took a big step back, subconsciously conjuring the Star of Eden. But he found that Sirin, after awakening, completely ignored him and disappeared in the next second.
At the same time, Otto, who was drinking red wine in the bishop's office, looked at the second Herrscher that suddenly appeared in front of him and directly froze.
What's going on?
Guided by the ["Will of Honkai"], Sirin came to Otto's front and said directly to him, "So, you're called Otto, huh?"
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