Silva made her way in front of the doctor, Neige and Gwyn thought she was about to hug her or comfort her, but she instead slapped the woman with a disappointed expression on her face.
"You still don't understand? It's not the adventure, it's not the thrill that made you happy... It's your friend. No matter how hard you're trying, you'll never be at peace if you don't open your heart again."
Silva gave her hand to Gwyn with a bright and confident smile on her face. The doctor couldn't help but see her old friend in Silva, smiling cheerfully at life like they never were worried. She knew Silva was pretending to be alright until she actually felt better, but it was just now that Gwyn imagined her friend could have felt the same. When they traveled around the country during those three days, Silvia was worried, she was maybe even terrified, but she always acted like she was fine to not worry Gwyn.
"Come on Gwyn! I know you don't want to stay here, you have your friends waiting for you!"
"Friends..." Gwyn smiled softly before taking Silva's hand "I was supposed to keep a cold heart, I knew I would be heartbroken if I lost anyone again..."
"Then let's save everyone, Gwyn! If you stay here, then everyone you know will disappear, brainwashed by the leader. And weren't you the one who told me to rely on my friends when I needed them?"
Gwyn nodded and gestured at Neige to come near her. When he arrived, Neige and Silva were grabbed by Gwyn, tightly gripping them. Gwyn smiled, trying her best to hide her tears.
"I'm so scared, I'm terrified. I can't bear the thought of losing any of you... I'm sorry for running away all this time, I should have stopped Polyetta long ago... I suppose that deep inside, I could understand her."
Neige nodded at Gwyn's words and smiled softly at her.
"I can understand her too, but what she's doing isn't the right way."
"I agree... Neige, can you leave me alone with Silva for a moment?"
Neige looked at Silva a bit confused but the blind girl didn't seem to know why she wanted to talk with her either. Neige ultimately agreed and left the two women in the world. They both stayed silent for a moment until Gwyn finally spoke. She struggled to talk at first but still managed to say clearly enough what she wanted.
"Silva... When I first saw you, I hated you. You were a constant reminder of my deceased friend, and on top of that, I had to be your therapist. For a moment, you represented everything I hated the most."
"Weird way to say 'thanks for saving me'."
Gwyn chuckled a bit before continuing.
"When I talked to you, I felt like I understood my friend. It was like the roles were reversed, I was the one comforting her now. A lot of your other selves were crazy and brought a lot of bad, but to me, I'll always associate those red hair and these stupid-looking eyes with someone who always did their best to succeed... When I told you to trust your friends more, it was for you as much as it was for me. Silvia always said that to me, and somehow, you managed to understand her words before I did... Silva, thanks for saving me. Not just today, but all of my life. Along with the leader, you're the one I consider my friend."
"Now I feel embarrassed." Silva said while blushing a bit "Once everything is over, let's do a road trip all together! We're never going to be like your old friend, but I'm sure we can have fun all together!"
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"Yes, let's stop Polyetta now. I want to show her the same things you all showed me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gwyn and Silva returned to the ship, where everyone else was waiting for them. The only absents were Sepide, Cinnamon, and the leader. Silva already explained everything to the doctor, but she still felt saddened to see the state of the ship.
"Polyetta is ready to do everything... I can't believe I encouraged her in this."
Seeing Gwyn's regrets, Neige put his hand on Gwyn's shoulder and gave her a confident smile.
"Don't worry, it's not over yet. I'll go check on Sepide and we should all rest for the night."
"For the rest of the night?" Silva asked, a bit concerned "I'm not sure it's very wise, what if she finishes everything in the night?"
"Is it even night?" Ina asked while looking at the dark ship "It's hard to tell without the lights..."
"Don't worry, I know her. It looks like she'll need more time and she's not really the fastest, we still have time. If we don't rest, we have no chance of winning."
Gwyn nodded and stepped forward, supporting Neige's statement.
"I agree, we all need rest after what happened. A physical and mental rest is needed, we'll decide what to do once we're done with everything."
The group agreed and decided to split up for the time being. Everyone returned to their room while Neige went to check on Sepide, hoping she remembered a few things.
Sepide played for a bit with a shuriken that was inside the box. It was from when a ninja and a samurai fought against each other. They were both friends but had to fight for their beliefs, and in the end, they even remained friends. Sepide could only hope the same would happen with the leader. The next thing inside was a paint gun, it was empty now, she used it for fun when she was alone. It was in a world where children and adults were fighting each other, it was still hard for her to tell what happened exactly. All she could do was hope that everyone was alright. The only thing left in the box was a transparent ball, it was a treasure they found in a pyramid. Kairo kidnaped Emely and they had to team up with Silv to get her back. Sepide often wondered about the reason this was the treasure and decided to keep it in her pocket, just in case she found something that could help with the ball's mystery. The box was now fully empty. She put everything back in it, put the pirate hat she had on the box, and stood up, ready to leave. As she put the box back in its place, Sepide noticed the bracelet on her wrist. A mermaid gave it to her, she felt ashamed that she even forgot the promise she made. She probably didn't even exist anymore, since the old universe was erased. Sepide stared at the bracelet for a while and made another promise to herself.
"I'm going to bring back our old world, it's a promise."
Sepide opened the door of her room and bumped into Neige, who opened it at the same time. The man was surprised to see Sepide but couldn't even vocalize his surprise as she immediately answered.
"I want to stop the leader. I can't let her ruin all the precious memories I made."
"You managed to remember? I guess even if they're no longer in the book, your memories are in your heart."
Sepide nodded and smiled, ready to face anything.
"You should sleep, we'll leave in ten hours."
"I'll try, I hope everything will be fine."
"It will."
Neige closed the door after waving at Sepide. Silently, he walked toward his room and entered it. Polyetta was waiting there, sitting on the chair in the dark room. Neige walked toward her, not an ounce of surprise on his face. The two friends looked at each other for a while until the woman finally broke the heavy silence.
"Neige... You've seen how everyone was happy before you arrived. The problem is that they still retained memories from the past, but I found a new way now! I just need more time... Just for a day, send everyone to another world and say you thought I was here. If you gain enough time, I could create my perfect world! Neige... Will you help me?"
Neige stayed silent, looking at his friends with exhausted eyes.
~Neige... Don't tell me you're considering it. Everyone is so resolute and ready to do it! We can create a better world by our own hands, without forsaking who we are! Please, tell me you won't give up now...~
Neige took a deep inspiration and thought longly about the choice before him. What was better for his friends? For him? For the universe? Was suffering worth it? So many questions that couldn't be answered in a lifetime, and yet, he had to answer now.
It is now time to choose, there are two chapters 193, both leading toward a different ending.