Chapter 216 Mebius, I'm Sorry

When Mebius came to the door of Mikael's dormitory empty-handed, he saw a pile of medicine thrown randomly in front of the cold iron door, and the pills fell one by one, scattered on the withered petals that were equally messy on the ground.

Alicia leaned against the wall, hugged her knees, stared blankly at the retro mosaic floor tiles in front of her, and did not reach out to tidy up the pills on the ground.

The dark blue circle of her eyes showed the pain of the owner who had not extinguished her eyes for a long time, but even so, she still stared blankly at the floor in front of her, as if she could get the answer from the pile of mosaics that were randomly pasted on.

But Mebius just glanced at it and felt his eyes sore.

"He still doesn't come out?"

Aili's eyelashes trembled slightly.

After half a minute, Mebius's question seemed to float into her ears belatedly.

She raised her head listlessly, so Mebius could clearly see her haggard face. Her cheeks, which had previously looked a little chubby because of her sweet tooth, now looked like they had been cut with a knife, deeply sunken, and her cheekbones, which were not prominent to begin with, were now raised high.

Of course, her chin had also become a little sharper, and there were still a few strands of hair at the corners of her lips.

Mebius had to admit that in this state, Alicia was completely pitiful. If Alicia asked her for something at this time, even if she hated this woman, it would be difficult for her to refuse.

But unfortunately, the person who was least likely to refuse her refused her.

"No... He won't let me in."

"Tsk!"

Mebius snorted coldly.

"Then you're just waiting here? Why don't you just break the door open!"

"It's useless... He used the power of space, and there's already a complete barrier inside. No one can open it, even if Vivi used the Second God Key... Unless he himself..."

Before Ellie could finish her words, Mebius waved his hand, and a short spear made of black mud with green lightning arcs "banged" against the alloy door, and then "popped" and exploded, stirring up a golden ripple.

Looking at the black mud that slowly slid down the imaginary barrier, Mebius let out a long breath.

"What did he say? Why didn't he let you in?"

Alicia shook her head, and the answer was obvious.

He, Mebius, bit his lip until the tip of his tongue felt a hint of iron. She knew that the man inside the door had fallen into the so-called dead loop.

It's not that he didn't want to see Alicia. With her understanding of him, he should have wanted to bury himself in Alicia's arms and cry for a while.

But he didn't dare to face Alicia, he had no face to face Alicia.

He was afraid that Alicia would question him: "What did you do when you hid Xi'er? Did you turn her into a Herrscher?"

He was afraid that Alicia would question him: "Why did you kill Xi'er directly? Isn't it possible that she would fight for humanity like you?"

And so on and so forth...

Perhaps he also understood that the above questions were unlikely to be asked of Ai Li.

But even that little possibility, he couldn't bear it anymore, he didn't dare to bear it anymore.

Not to mention the others?

So he escaped, he locked himself in that small room, anyway, he didn't need to eat, drink, defecate, or even sleep.

He had plenty of time to waste in this meaningless regret.

In this way, he was really selfish.

But was it really so?

Mobius folded his arms across his chest.

She could imagine that his behavior would make others more worried about him.

Especially Ai Li.

People who have done selfish things are not necessarily out of pure selfishness. On the contrary, such behavior will increase their sense of guilt, making them even more confused about how to face Alicia outside the door.

This forms a vicious circle - the more guilty they are, the more they have to escape, and the more they escape, the heavier their sense of guilt.

One can only hope that a third party will break it all violently.

So, Mei and Kevin came to send flowers, Su Lai sent medicine, and Vivi also came with the Second God Key. But they all returned empty-handed.

The reason is also very simple. Their intimacy as third parties has not yet reached the point where Mikael thinks they can intervene in this matter.

So, Ying, Hua and Paduo also came, but it still didn't work.

Because they have nothing to do with this matter.

There are only two left... There are only two characters who have to explain something about this matter.

"Really... Aponia..."

Mobius gritted his teeth. When things developed like this, she was also holding back a ball of fire in her heart.

That ball of fire was not just from irritability - it was also from guilt and fear.

She and Aponia deceived Mikael.

Did he know about this?

Mobius couldn't tell.

She gently grasped the door handle, but she couldn't turn it.

She began to feel scared - she was not afraid of death, or to put it another way, who in this world could be less afraid of death than her who had the Shesha factor and possessed an "immortal body"?

So she was not afraid of death.

Mobius suddenly withdrew his hand, took a half step back, lowered his head slightly and looked at Ellie, and said in an unprecedented "gentle" tone:

"Okay, leave the rest here to me. You should go back to your room and rest..."

It took a long time for Ellie to raise her head again, looked at her, and said nothing.

"Tsk... they are all like this!"

Mebius stamped his feet in anger.

"Don't worry! Go back to your bed! Have a good sleep! When you wake up, I will have solved the problem and will send your man to you unharmed. That's all!"

Mebius clenched his hands tightly. Seeing that Ellie's eyes had regained some spirit, he boldly grabbed her sleeve under her shoulders and pulled her up.

Mebius grew very fast again. In just a few days, he grew from a 1.3-meter-tall bean to a 1.5-meter-tall bean. But he was still so small in front of Ellie, as if the latter could break free from her as long as she resisted a little.

But Alicia was also very obedient...

No, this attitude cannot be simply described as obedience.

She did not take the initiative or resist Mebius's actions.

She was just like a puppet, dragged to the door of her room by her, and then dragged all the way to the bed.

"Enough! Just wait here!"

Mebius rolled up a blanket, staggered back half a step, and threw it into the air.

The blanket stretched in the air, and finally covered Ellie lightly.

Ellie looked at the gray ceiling silently and listlessly. Mebius looked at her like this, clenched his fist, and said nothing more.

Soon, she returned to Mikael's door again.

This time, she did not choose to force her way in, but stretched out her five fingers and gently pressed them against the door for a while.

Until her cold-blooded palm became even colder, she withdrew her hand, clenched it stiffly, and then pounded on the door heavily.

At the same time, she listened attentively.

There was no footsteps behind the door, not even a trace of sound.

Did Mikael not hear it? Or did he hear it but did not respond?

If he didn't hear it, was it because the imaginary barrier blocked the sound? Or maybe he fell asleep or something else... In short, Mebius couldn't tell.

To be on the safe side, she pounded on the door again, more violently and louder.

But the sound seemed to have no effect on the door except that it echoed for a long time in the long and narrow corridor.

"Humph!"

Mebius was furious and raised his fist to hit it.

But the anger came quickly and went away even faster. When the fist was about to intersect with the door panel, the clenched hand suddenly loosened and finally pressed lightly on the door.

"Open the door."

Mebius said calmly.

"If you want to know what I did before you sent Xier away... open the door."

Her voice fell into a pool of dead water without causing any waves.

The world returned to silence, only the pine tree outside the corridor behind her was shaking gently, and "Shasha" became the only echo between heaven and earth for a while.

When Mebius came to her senses, she found that an invisible burden was pressing on her shoulders, making her unable to move at all.

At the same time, an invisible force like a ribbon climbed up her slender neck, and then gradually tightened.

"Hehe... Hehe..."

Her vocal cords also tightened, struggling to make desperate sounds.

Her eyes blurred for a moment, but when her vision refocused, the pressure around her dissipated instantly.

No, it didn't dissipate, it was as if it had never existed at all.

Mobius took a deep breath, and the air poured into his lungs with a cold temperature, deeply piercing every alveolus.

When she thought about it again, it was like drowning... Ah, that's right, now her whole body was soaked in cold sweat, it really looked like she was fished out of the water.

She was hesitating whether to knock on Mikael's door again...

With a "creak", the door opened.

There was no figure behind the door, and Mobius's eyes lit up first, and then he carefully stretched out his hand and reached forward, as if he wanted to catch the light that slipped into the room, and then he moved his feet little by little and moved into the room.

The door closed as expected.

Mikael was in unexpectedly good condition.

He had put his desk away somewhere, and in front of the window, there was a recliner that smelled of decay.

He was lying on the recliner, rocking gently, holding a yellowed parchment scroll in his hand.

The bloodstained white dress was neatly folded and placed horizontally on his knees, and the necklace was wrapped around his wrist.

Mebius still walked carefully, but Mikael seemed to have never paid attention to her from beginning to end, just looking at the parchment scroll with unknown words, wondering what he was thinking.

There was no self-harm, no self-abuse, no crying, and even no frowning.

Everything in the house was normal, with no signs of venting or destruction.

Judging from common sense, it did not look like she was particularly sad.

But the more he did this, the more frightened Mebius became.

It doesn't mean that you have to cry and make a fuss when you are sad, for fear that others don't know that you are sad.

People's personalities can be divided into surface personality and inner personality.

On the surface, Mikael is obviously a relatively stable boy.

But on the inner layer, he is actually a very fragile person. For him, the relatively "peaceful" sadness, Mobius can't imagine.

She just felt that more and more sadness accumulated with the passage of time. If it was triggered earlier, it would be fine. The longer it is delayed, the more painful the wound will be when it breaks out.

"Mi..."

"Mebius, I won't force you. You can state it yourself. What did you, Aponya, do to Seele?"

【He really knows! 】

Mebius's snake eyes narrowed slightly. Although she had been prepared for it, she still naturally took a defensive posture at this moment.

But she didn't feel any pressure. Hostility and murderous intent were completely non-existent.

There was only the squeaking sound of the recliner.

After Mikael finished speaking, he stopped asking questions. He put down the parchment and leaned all his weight on the recliner, looking extremely lazy.

Mebius also took this opportunity to glance at the parchment—it was actually empty, with nothing written on it.

She took two deep breaths quickly, leaned gently against the wall on her right, and said:

"Do you want to listen to what I do first, or what Aponia does first?"

Mikael shook his head in disbelief.

"Aponya copied Xi'er's consciousness, that's all. This is why she can still retain a sense of self after the arrival of the Herrscher."

"Oh--"

Mikael snorted coldly. Could it be that Aponya's repeated operations were to imitate his method of escaping from Honkai control, hoping that Xi'er could also use this to become a Herrscher like him...

Mikael folded his hands on his knees and closed his eyes silently.

It's always like this...always like this!

Everyone seems to be starting from the right point.

But it led to the most dramatic and worst result.

He suddenly interrupted the previous topic and started talking about something else.

"Mebius...I'm thinking about something."

"What?"

Seeing his soft tone, Mebius became bolder.

"I was thinking, if I had told Xi'er all the ins and outs with the utmost honesty, would she have been able to stay in the world bubble safely and wait until another person in the original world became the sixth person? After the Herrscher, I will take her back and everything will go according to plan. She can still play with Ling and Pado, right?"

Mebius pursed his lips and was about to say a few words of relief, but Mikael continued speaking on his own:

"But...I'm afraid. I was afraid at the time. I was afraid that Xi'er would have a psychological burden in that world bubble after knowing the [future]. I was also afraid that she would know that I had killed 'her'. I was even more afraid that I would do anything to her. She made a promise that she would be fine, and then a strange combination of circumstances led to such a result. Rather than this, I would rather that once something happened to her, her consciousness would be erased by the Herrscher as soon as possible, so that she would not know how to kill her. I was the one who killed her... In fact, the cause of all tragedies is my own selfishness, right?"

Mebius tilted her head slightly. She knew that what Mikael said did make sense, but it didn't seem to make sense.

From a normal human perspective, he does have to bear half of the responsibility for this matter, but not to mention that it is only half of the responsibility——

"According to Aponya's prediction, it is a predetermined fate. If you can easily change the fate of such an important individual as [The Herrscher], it will be a miracle."

"Oh, so this means that on the one hand, she showed her trust in me, but on the other hand, she came to you and made plans for the worst?"

Mikael opened his eyes blankly, blinked slightly, and stared at Mebius. Of course he knew that the original intention of Apponia and Mebius was just to prevent the worst case scenario from happening, but such "good intentions" caused Seele to die in the most unacceptable manner for Mikael.

She fell conscious into Mikael's arms, used her power to save more than three thousand people, and then killed herself.

Mebius swallowed and said:

"Yes, considering that Xi'er originally had symptoms of schizophrenia, Aponya believes that copying Xi'er's consciousness and temporarily sleeping it in the depths of the mind can temporarily blind Honkai's perception and replicate your success at that time - —Hmm... Although I don't know how she knew your method of evading Honkai control... It's a pity that she couldn't become the second you."

Mikael tapped the back of his left hand with his right index finger. He suddenly thought that he was able to take back his body before the Herrscher's core was formed because Ellie arrived in time and awakened his consciousness that was temporarily asleep due to the impact. of control. As for Xi'er, when her consciousness copied by Aponia awakened, the core of the Herrscher without a ring structure had already been formed. She could no longer regain control of her body, so she took advantage of that brief opportunity... Exerting the power of [life]...

But if I could show up earlier...if I could stay with her all the time, would I be able to wake up Xie'er from the beginning just like Ellie woke up myself?

Mikael sighed.

This may be time and destiny.

Looking from the back to the front, it seems that there are always countless ways and countless paths, but the one chosen at that time is always the worst and most incompetent one.

After a long silence, he suddenly smiled:

"Mebius, I'm still a bit confused. At that time, at the place where the Herrscher's consciousness met, all of Xi'er's memories so far were poured into my mind... No, it should be said that [the story] is more Accurate. I don’t think the power of the Sixth Herrscher can reach this point. Besides, you have said too much about what Aponia has done. Isn’t it time to talk about yourself? You are in me and Xier. What did you do?”

When he heard "all the memories of Xi'er so far", Mebius was agitated - no wonder, no wonder he knew the little moves between himself and Aponya An.

But she was not panicked, and even felt proud, because all this was within her expectations, and it was also a sign of the initial success of her plan.

"Stigmata, right?"

"...Yes, that's right, it's the stigmata. How about it? In this way, Xi'er is not dead, but just continues to survive in a different way. At least according to my definition, she can still be considered a person..."

"Enough, Mobius!"

Time passed by minute by minute, silence can drag time very long and slow, and can also condense the long line into a point.

When Mikael stood up, the light outside the window had dimmed.

Mikael walked to Mobius step by step, and every step was loud and clear, knocking on Mobius' heart.

"I'm sorry."

He said.

"I'm sorry..."

The tears finally rushed out silently, and when they fell on the instep of Mobius, they were still warm.

Mobius finally understood what she was afraid of before.

Yes, their bodies are so close now... but their hearts are more distant than ever before.

"If you want to vent... hehe... hehe..."

Before she finished speaking, Mikael's hands had already tightened around her neck and pressed her against the wall.

She began to struggle involuntarily, punching and kicking, which was the natural reaction of the body to stress.

Mikael did not use any power, nor did he use any strength beyond the physical fitness of a normal person.

Then, somehow, the fight between the two of them changed from the wall to the colder ground.

In the end, the tall and strong Mikael still had the upper hand. He sat astride Mebius again, and his hands on her neck became tighter and tighter.

Strength and life were constantly fading away. Mebius stared and punched him softly twice, and then he could only gather the last bit of strength, stretched out his right hand, and slapped his cheek from time to time.

The shadow in the sight was getting bigger and bigger. Suddenly, a series of raindrops fell. One of them landed on the corner of Mebius' lips. She took a sip and felt warm and salty.

Then, her breathing suddenly became smooth for a moment. Mebius took a few deep breaths and became nervous again.

But it was not that Mikael strangled her throat again, but that he weakly pressed the weight of his whole body on her.

Their cheeks intertwined, he held the green hair by her ear, choked and said: "Mebius... I have lost Xier, I can't lose any of you again... I can't lose you again..."

Mebius' pupils trembled slightly-everything unfolded in the most dramatic form. She thought that their hearts would be farther and farther away, and the relationship between the two would never return to the past, but after a moment of distance that was almost irreversible, he chased her back again.

He forgave her, no, accepted her.

Not just accepting her bright side, but accepting her dark side together.

Because the so-called [Mobius] is not a single side, but a more complex and difficult to distinguish good from evil.

So the distance between the two was shortened again, so close that they could feel each other's heartbeat.

Mikael was still sobbing, soaking Mobius's hair on the ground, and after a brief hesitation, Mobius slowly raised his hand and gently patted his back.

It was like a mother comforting her child - although she had never taken care of a child, and she had never been comforted by her mother like this.

But she did a set of actions naturally, just as she had gently guided Mikael's head to rest on her knees.

Coincidentally, both times were because of Xier.

But this time, she looked a little funny when she comforted Mikael, who was much stronger than him, with her tiny posture.

The scene became cold again.

But Mobius felt a sense of heat gushing out from deep inside his body.

She naturally understood what that meant, and what was even more terrifying was that through the touching skin, she could feel that Mikael was also feeling the same.

She was completely unprepared for this, so she cursed a little panicked:

"Okay, have you cried enough? If you have, then..."

The words stopped abruptly because her earlobe was suddenly held.

This may not be accurate, because Mikael's movements were sometimes as rough as a beast biting its prey, and sometimes as gentle as a willow branch.

Mobius's hand on Mikael's back suddenly clenched, and a numb feeling quickly spread from her mind, chest, or lower abdomen to her whole body, and her limbs softened at once.

Her side face was scratched by a small stubble, and he began to tremble and caress her side face implicitly, but his movements were quite slow, so slow that Mobius, who came to his senses, felt a little anxious.

She suddenly grabbed Mikael's hair at the back of his head with her hand and turned his face right in front of her.

The latter's eyes suppressed madness and sadness, and also carried sadness, longing and an indelible confusion.

"Mebius, I'm sorry..." he said.

"Damn Mikael, you asked for this!"

She pressed his head hard and bit his lips.

Then, the petite Mebius rolled over and rode on Mikael.

They looked at each other for the last time:

"Don't you regret it?"

"No regrets."

In the reflection of the snake pupil, the template of the god that she once regarded as a god sent down from the gods now seems to be just a person like her, ordinary, weak, cowardly, mean, greedy, and lustful.

But this is the right match, right?

The Creator must have thought so too.

After a moment, two muffled groans mixed with pain and excitement sounded at the same time.