novelraw Chapter 228 : Wherever You Are, That’s Where My Home Is
Chapter 228 : Wherever You Are, That’s Where My Home Is
Chapter 228: Wherever You Are, That’s Where My Home Is
“Canaan in my heart... does it mean something?”
Aimeith reached out and gently patted the seat cushion of the dining chair before sitting down across from Brother Rast.
This was a habit she had learned from Brother Rast when she was a child—one must pat the chair before sitting down...
Even to this day, some habits from before the transmigration had already faded from Brother Rast’s own memory, yet Aimeith had inherited them.
“Let me think... to me, Canaan should be a place like a ‘treehouse.’”
“Treehouse?”
“Mm.”
Aimeith nodded slightly and took a sip of the steaming papaya milk in her cup: “Many people probably had similar experiences in their childhood... wanting to build a ‘secret base’ of their own.”
“Using pillows and blankets to stack up their own little castle... or hammering nails, wooden planks, and rope ladders to construct a small hut between the treetops on a sturdy tree.”
“Then, hiding all the marbles, glass balls, bottle caps, coins, or uniquely shaped stones imbued with special meanings... inside that secret base, just like how the Pirate King buried all his treasures on the Final Island.”
“Brother Rast, you were also really into this kind of boyish hobby when you were young. I still remember it clearly, following behind you while we built a treehouse on a big tree...”
“Only, back then I was timid and didn’t dare stay in high places, so I could only stand under the tree and tiptoe to hand things up to you—nails, wooden planks, and branches for building the treehouse...”
The corners of Aimeith’s lips curved into a faint smile: “The expression on your face as you stood on the branches admiring your newly built treehouse—I still remember it very clearly...”
“Clearly so childish, and yet so proud, like a young lion who had just grown his mane, surveying his territory.”
Listening to Aimeith’s words, Brother Rast’s movements paused for a moment.
Although it was indeed a distant memory, buried deep in the attic of his mind...
When Aimeith spoke of it with her own mouth, Brother Rast still felt those fragmented memories begin to thaw like melting snow, trickling down and flowing gently into his heart.
A sunny noon. A half-grown Little Boy stood high on a tree branch, hands on his hips as he looked down at the finished treehouse, trying to lift his youthful face into a dignified expression.
“Little Ai, from now on, this will be our home.”
“Even if it’s still a bit rough, I promise you... one day, we’ll have a bigger, more spacious, more luxurious home. A home so grand that even with two king-sized beds in the bedroom, it still wouldn’t feel crowded.”
“Mm.”
Under the tree, a blonde-haired Little Girl nervously clutched the hem of her skirt. Her sky-blue eyes held both the excitement of the completed treehouse and the worry for Brother Rast, who stood so high up.
But upon hearing Brother Rast’s grand declaration, she still nodded seriously, gazing up at the youth in the treetop. A hint of longing and hope surfaced on her delicate little face.
“I’ll be waiting—”
“For the day you promised, the day we’ll have a new home of our own.”
It was clearly a story from who-knows-how-many years ago, yet as the memories resurfaced, they remained vivid, untouched by the passage of time.
……
“What the—”
Brother Rast chuckled and reached for his fork, sending a piece of tender, stewed lamb into his mouth.
“Didn’t expect you’d still remember something from so long ago so clearly, Little Ai.”
“Of course I remember...”
Aimeith simply gazed quietly at Brother Rast’s profile, the curve of her lips tinged with warmth.
“Everything I experienced with you in Canaan.”
“Every meal, every trip, every conversation, every journey, every image and detail of our shared memories...”
“I remember it all.”
She continued to watch in silence as Brother Rast ate, until he finished all the lamb dish she had prepared and finally sighed, “That was really delicious.” Only then did Aimeith nod in satisfaction.
“These memories... are the only things that little girl had after Canaan was destroyed...”
“After she was swept into the collapse of space-time, arriving in a completely unfamiliar Sixth Era world.”
Aimeith’s voice paused for a moment.
“It was by relying on these memories that I was able to endure the pain of the post-collapse syndrome... and the most excruciating period of being modified by the ‘Artificial Angel’ project.”
“It was also because of these treasured memories that I was able to overcome the violent World Will inside the ‘Judgement’ Grail, ascend to become an Angel, and survive through the turning of eras... through what might have been thousands or even tens of thousands of years of endless darkness.”
“All just to keep those memories from truly becoming ‘only memories’...”
“All just to meet you again at the end of time, Brother Rast, and continue that golden dream of our past...”
She gazed into the distance, where the evening sky blazed red with autumn leaves.
From Aimeith’s eyes, Brother Rast could see the setting sun.
“When I said that Canaan, to me, was like a ‘treehouse’—I wasn’t just speaking metaphorically.”
“Now that we’re grown, we no longer entertain childish thoughts of building a ‘secret base’ of our own.”
“But in our hearts, there still exists such a treehouse.”
“Perhaps we don’t notice it on ordinary days, but whenever we feel tired, exhausted, ready to give up or abandon ourselves... ready to forsake the long, almost lightless vigil, I always return to that treehouse.”
“As long as I’m in that simple little treehouse, I can calm down... forget all the worries, fatigue, resentment, and pain.”
“Everything feels like it’s returned to childhood—when building a secret base meant that just a single wall could block out the entire world... just like those mythical stories you used to tell me, Brother Rast, about utopias that existed beyond the world.”
“And the things left behind in that treehouse—marbles, glass balls, toy soldiers, oddly shaped stones, and the like... they may seem childish through adult eyes, but to me, they’re anchors.”
“Those toys we once treasured as children—seeing them again is like flipping through old, yellowed photographs. As long as I see them... I remember my starting point, my original intention.”
“As long as that treehouse still stands, the human named Aimeith will never lose herself in the endless night.”
Aimeith gently reached out and placed her hand over her frail chest.
“I believe, for you too, Brother Rast—”
“Canaan must be such a place as well?”
“Even though I couldn’t accompany you into the outside world before this... couldn’t go through the despair and pursuit within the time loop of Deep Blue Harbor with you, and couldn’t enter Star Cluster University with you to witness the sights of the real world two hundred years after we left...”
“But I guess... out there, in the world beyond Canaan, you must have been someone truly imposing and dazzling, Brother Rast.”
“Just like when you were young—clearly only so tall, yet always putting on this elusive, mysterious front.”
“Someone like me who knows you well can tell that you’re just acting tough, just showing off... but for those who met you for the first time, your back must have seemed deep, grand, and awe-inspiring.”
“Just like the ‘Brother Rast’ that Sister Grey always spoke of.”
The golden-haired girl leaned her head in, gazing into Brother Rast’s eyes from an extremely close distance.
Strands of pale gold hair slid from her forehead and brushed against the back of Brother Rast’s hand.
“But every time you returned to Canaan from the historical echoes of Deep Blue Harbor, I could feel it... Brother Rast, you let go of your burdens and took off that mask of persona you always wore to protect yourself.”
“Canaan, too, was your ‘treehouse’... a traveler who toiled all day could only take off their disguise and face their own weakness when returning to the treehouse.”
“They would rest there, recover, and lick their wounds.”
“Until the hatred faded and the wounds healed... they would then once again depart from the treehouse, gear up, and set out on a new journey.”
“And if one day it’s discovered that the treehouse was fake, or that a storm passed by and tore it apart until it vanished... that would be fine too.”
She stared into Brother Rast’s eyes and spoke each word clearly.
“Maybe the treehouse is false, but every bit of life we lived inside it, and the emotions we entrusted to it, were real.”
“Be it lies or dreams—whatever may come in the future.”
“These feelings are the proof that we once existed.”
“Something that neither gods nor fate can ever steal from our hearts or stain.”
“Yeah...”
“Little Ai, you’re right.”
Brother Rast gently closed his eyes, feeling the ticklish sensation as Aimeith’s hair brushed across the back of his hand.
“You’re always like this, Little Ai—so optimistic, so strong, so radiant... never regretting your choices, never doubting or denying the path you’ve taken.”
“Stronger than I ever was.”
He let out a self-deprecating laugh. “If I told you right now... that I actually want to just keep lying to myself and run away...”
“That I wanted to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich, ignoring everything outside, just continuing this dream woven of lies here in Canaan with you, Little Ai, until the end of time...”
“Even you, Little Ai, would probably laugh at my cowardice, wouldn’t you?”
“No.”
Without the slightest hesitation or pause, a firm denial rang in Brother Rast’s ears.
“I’ve said it before. ‘Aimeith’... will accept everything about ‘Brother Rast’.”
“If you want to be a messenger of justice, then I’ll be your most capable ally, your companion on the path of justice.”
“If one day you become a remorseless killer, a demon who destroys the world, then I’ll be the most wicked minion at your side... just like the Joker and Harley Quinn you once told me about from Gotham.”
Aimeith clamped Brother Rast’s cheeks with both hands, speaking each word with clarity.
“So, if you want to run away, to keep living in this soil of lies...”
“Then I’ll stay by your side too, carrying this delusional dream with you until the end of time... until death parts us.”
“As for the future of the present world, the ‘Gravekeeper’, the ‘Shoreguard’, the Night World, the Finality of the Seventh Era, the Twilight Calamity and all the rest... none of that matters. Even if my Angelic true body continues to sleep within the echoes of the Night World, it’s fine.”
“To me... wherever you are, Brother Rast, that is my ‘treehouse’. That is my ‘home’.”
To Aimeith, she never acted for herself—it was because Brother Rast had inherited the The Fool’s Library and desired to become a Shoreguard... that she strove to become an Angel, just to keep up with his footsteps.
And if one day Brother Rast chose to abandon that ideal, to forsake the mission of being a Shoreguard... then for Aimeith, whether it was her status as an Angel or the Judgement Grail, they were things she could cast away completely—utterly worthless.
“As long as...”
Her voice paused slightly:
“This truly is what you want from your heart, Brother Rast.”
Brother Rast closed his eyes, feeling the warmth and softness on his face brought by their skin-to-skin closeness.
He couldn’t even remember how many times he had been moved by Aimeith’s strength and straightforwardness.
Perhaps he himself was just too weak sometimes—but even that weakness didn’t matter... because in moments of confusion, doubt, and hesitation, to have someone he could rely on, someone who would support all his decisions unconditionally—right or wrong—
That was something so joyous, so blissful.
Within the warmth of that gentle contact, Brother Rast felt his heart truly and completely calm.
He cast aside all stray thoughts, all burdens and lingering attachments.
For the first time, Brother Rast began to reflect on his own heart.
Within the hollow shell that had been living like a machine, the only flame still burning—
The force that had driven the human named “Brother Rast” to walk all the way to today.
“My own...”
“True wish from the heart?”