novelraw Chapter 754: Cannot Leave Yet
Chapter 754: Cannot Leave Yet
"Which floor, Jasmine?"
"It should be... should be the eighteenth floor."
Fisher gently raised his hand and pressed the button for the 18th floor. The elevator swayed slightly, and the scarlet numbers on the display started jumping along with the changing floors.
And as they grew closer to a certain floor space on this tower apartment, the palm of Jasmine tightly gripping Fisher's sleeve applied even more force. The fine hairs on her body stood up, as if she invisibly sensed an instinctive dread.
"Hiss..."
"Ding~"
A bone-piercing chill permeated the surroundings, especially when the elevator doors slowly opened.
The eighteenth floor outside the doors was pitch black, as if the elevator doors had opened not to a residential building, but to a door leading to the abyss.
"Teacher Fisher... I-I'm a little scared..."
"Don't be afraid, Jasmine. Let's go."Fisher took a deep breath, gently holding Jasmine's palm as he walked in front. And just as they stepped inside, the originally tightly shut door of a room on the right "creaked" open, revealing the rather spacious interior.
In the darkness, Fisher raised his eyes and glanced at the room number. It seemed to be Room "1801".
He lifted his feet and carefully walked to the doorway to spy inside. But to his surprise, the environment inside seemed very normal. It was merely because the lights weren't on, making it look exceptionally gloomy set against the somber sky outside.
Fisher saw the several pairs of high heels scattered at the entryway, saw the several unorganized clothes scattered on the living room sofa. The floor seemingly bore a layer of dust, and the kitchen located on the other side near the entryway looked as if it hadn't been used for a very long time.
The entire living room was deathly silent. The only thing slightly brighter was a mirror hanging at the junction of the living room and the entryway. That mirror was wiped very clean, as if someone frequently lingered before it to examine and adjust their attire.
"..."
Is this the home where Asuka Karasawa once grew up?
Fisher looked around. Although he didn't discover anything anomalous for a moment, for some unknown reason, just standing at the doorway, a suppressing, near-despairing feeling silently fell upon his heart.
And Jasmine, who was hiding behind him and quietly peeking inside, felt even more sick to her stomach, having to constantly suppress the urge to vomit.
Fisher led her slowly walking inside. The door behind them hadn't closed, and a chilly draft howled past from behind, rustling a bit of the black hair on Jasmine's head.
"Teacher Fisher... I-I think I remember..."
"What?"
Fisher turned around, only to see Jasmine covering her mouth, staring fixedly at the location of that mirror.
In her eyes, Jasmine seemingly saw once again the figure of the young little girl being scolded by her mother. This time, she was still sallow and emaciated, sitting quietly and obediently in this deathly silent room, sitting before that brightly lit mirror.
She suddenly remembered why that little girl would always sit in front of that mirror.
Because in this lifeless, messy home, aside from her mother's wardrobe, only this mirror was a place that mother frequently visited.
Therefore, the young girl attempted to stay in front of that mirror all the time, trying to attract her mother's attention this way.
It was just that she was too young to distinguish that her mother only looked in the mirror before leaving the house in the morning, failing to understand why her mother returning late at night wouldn't linger before that mirror.
It was just that she was too young to distinguish why her mother invested all her money into the stock market in hopes of turning her life around and attaining wealth and glory, even though they couldn't even afford meals, even though the debt bills were mailed to the house every time...
Panting, Jasmine fell to her knees. Having returned here at this moment, she seemingly finally awoke a bit. The sky outside the window had completely turned scarlet, silently expressing the anger of the entire dreamscape.
Covering her face, Jasmine asked Fisher in a low voice with extreme incomprehension,
"Why... why did Teacher Fisher bring me here? Just staying... staying in Kyoto, staying together with Mom and Dad... wasn't that good?"
Fisher opened his mouth and fell silent for a moment. He still crouched down, looking at Jasmine as he said,
"While in Kyoto, I saw a smile you had never shown before. I know that you should be very happy there, be it with parents who love you, a normal school life, or our romance..."
"Then why... why..."
Trembling, Jasmine moved the hands covering her face slightly, revealing eyes that had already turned completely scarlet. She stared at Fisher before her, her tone growing even more puzzled,
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be good to just stay here forever, stay within the sweet dream? Everything is clearly on the verge of turning into reality... Is Teacher Fisher unhappy living here? Very soon, whether it's Raphaela or the others, they will all enter the dream... I won't hurt them either, Teacher Fisher, you clearly know I won't lay a hand on anyone..."
"I know. Deep in your subconscious, you clearly envy yet dislike Helaire, but you still arranged the identity of a teacher for her. How could you hurt others... Other than yourself, you are unwilling to let anyone down..."
"Then why..."
"Crack, crack, crack!"
At this moment, the entire room began to distort along with Jasmine's thoughts. The dusty walls all around seemingly turned into a cage in their distortion, trying to lock Fisher here forever.
Yes, the Jasmine immersed within the sweet dream had finally realized at this moment: Fisher bringing her away from Kyoto, bringing her to Tokyo, wasn't for some trip at all, but to reawaken the pain of her past, to make her wake up from the bliss.
Therefore, Jasmine was so incomprehending.
She panted painfully, sitting tremblingly on the floor. Just like in the past, she sat fragile and helpless before that bright mirror, tightly hugging her knees.
And looking at the distorting room in all directions, as if standing here at this moment, Fisher could see this cage-like world through the perspective of the young Asuka Karasawa.
"..."
Fisher remained silent for a good while. He then looked at the paper box of the consumed taiyaki he was still holding in his hand. Letting out a long breath, he suddenly asked Jasmine,
"Jasmine, how did you feel when you ate the taiyaki?"
"...Eh?"
Jasmine raised her scarlet eyes, looking at Fisher before her who was looking down at the taiyaki box, not understanding why he suddenly asked this.
But Fisher merely lowered his head, looked at the taiyaki, and said softly,
"You know, when I ate this taiyaki, the first thing I felt was a sweet richness, but I couldn't clearly describe what kind of sweet richness it was. I just felt it was sweet, as if I had never tasted it before. Then, what welled up in my throat was a very, very bitter taste... the entire piece of food was just like something caught in the clouds, something that doesn't exist..."
"..."
"Jasmine, you had never eaten taiyaki in the past, so you can only use your imagination to pave its flavor. But no matter how you try to remedy it, it still cannot hide its bitter base. Even if you lie to yourself that this is the delicious taste you yearned for in your childhood, when you truly taste it, you've already lost your longing for it, only repeatedly reminiscing about the reason you couldn't get it... from your mother, right?"
"In the sweet dream, Xuan Can put on an apron your past mother never wore, and Gou Wen put down the Buddhist scriptures your father never put down. Their relationship is as perfect as you imagined... If you're truly fully satisfied, why did arriving here cause your dream to irresistibly collapse even without me saying anything?"
Fisher's gaze slowly departed from the taiyaki paper box, regretfully landing on the Jasmine trembling all over before him.
"Because the things you obtain now can never make up for the regrets of failing to obtain them back then, Jasmine."
"Just like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. Back in the past scenario, you kept waiting for your mother, your father, or rather, for destiny to bestow upon you a piece to complete the puzzle of your childhood. But it cruelly gave you nothing... Now you've finally arrived at the next puzzle piece. Destiny has bestowed upon you the fragments to complete this puzzle piece, be it Xuan Can or Gou Wen, they all are, yet you want to use the fragments of this puzzle piece to make up for the regrets of failing to complete the previous one..."
"Can it be made up for, Jasmine?"
Jasmine death-gripped her hair. Her scarlet eyes flashing, she indignantly questioned,
"What... what's wrong with doing this? Teacher Fisher, you know it too, right? Clearly as long as we continue like this, everything will turn into reality. No matter which puzzle piece it is, in the end, they will all merge into one. Everyone... everyone will forget this is a dream. Even I... I will also forget this is a dream, thoroughly sinking into it. What's wrong with that?"
"Yeah, if we walked to that step, if this lie was sufficient to deceive everyone, including yourself, perhaps there truly wouldn't be anything wrong with it. I would peacefully be a teacher, and you could grow up safely and happily as an ordinary person... but unfortunately, reality won't allow dreams to continue forever. Rather than having reality cruelly wake you up, perhaps it's better for me to act as this alarm clock..."
Jasmine froze slightly, seemingly having not yet understood what Fisher's words carrying a bitter smile meant. But at the doorway, a crisp round of applause had already rung out.
Fisher turned around expressionlessly. Dazedly, Jasmine also looked toward the doorway of the constantly distorting house, where the blonde-haired Helaire carrying a paper bag, along with extremely hyped Renee beside her, had appeared.
Covering her mouth, Helaire chuckled softly, speaking somewhat regretfully,
"Reality... Could that be referring to me? Renee, remember the words I said?"
Renee's face flushed red. Amidst Fisher's slightly stunned expression, she clenched her fists and shouted loudly at Fisher and Jasmine,
"Jasmine! I... I'm here to declare war on you!! Teacher Fisher is mine!!"
Helaire patted Renee's head satisfyingly, smiling as she said,
"Not bad, very spirited."
Jasmine widened her eyes, blankly looking at the Renee before her, then foolishly glanced at Fisher covering his face beside her. She didn't understand why in the short time they hadn't seen each other, Renee had almost been trained into an idiot by Helaire.
Fisher sighed, grinding his teeth as he looked at the smiling Helaire standing beside Renee,
"Staying by your side really brings nothing good, Helaire..."
"Aw, that's truly mean, darling..." Helaire smilingly stroked her chin, then lifted her paper bag and told Fisher, "But it doesn't matter anymore, it's all about to end, isn't it?"
She... has already converged with her other avatar?
Fisher felt a shock in his heart upon glancing at the paper bag she was holding, but quickly calmed down. Looking back at the already shaken Jasmine beside him, he was actually confident in his heart that Jasmine would subsequently release the dreamscape.
Although there was a discrepancy from the original plan, once detached from the dreamscape, Ramastia and the others standing by in full battle array outside should be able to handle Helaire and her other avatar very easily...
"Jasmine, listen to me, no matter what, we must break free from the dreamscape first, otherwise..."
Wait, that's not right...
According to her previous statement, she wanted to destabilize the dreamscape so she could converge with her avatar. And currently, the dreamscape was already unstable, highly likely to dissolve in the very next second. Yet she still confidently walked over to his face, unless she was certain that Ramastia and the others couldn't interfere with her next move?
Is this possible?
In a fleeting flash of lightning speed, Fisher's brain suddenly understood everything like being empowered with wisdom.
Helaire was lying?
No, not exactly. But Fisher quickly realized that what she did was even more terrifying than lying.
She told a half-truth!
It was true that Jasmine governed the dreamscape...
But what if Jasmine wasn't the only one completely mastering this dreamscape alone?
If, besides Jasmine, there was another individual capable of establishing a connection with the dreamscape, then if Jasmine logged out of the dreamscape at this moment, the dreamscape wouldn't be thoroughly destroyed, but merely totter on the brink of collapse.
This would ensure the dreamscape's existence, preventing Ramastia outside from interfering with her plan, while simultaneously ensuring the dreamscape's strength wouldn't be sufficient to suppress her avatar's intensity of separating the property within his body...
Then, besides Jasmine, who else governed this dreamscape?
Within a fleeting second, Fisher's mind resembled an intense and explosive encounter. He almost instantly comprehended everything. In the next second, he hurriedly turned back to look at Jasmine, who was struggling to choose to believe him.
But he saw Jasmine raise her hand in tears, wanting to reach out to Fisher,
"Teacher Fisher... I... with you..."
The smile on Helaire's face grew increasingly mocking, as if as long as Jasmine uttered the word "leave", her plan would be achieved.
But in the very next second, an abrupt change occurred!
"No... you... cannot leave yet!!"
The moment Jasmine raised her hand, from within the mirror she was leaning against, a young girl with long black hair, wearing a magic robe, and with her head lowered, stood up with a crash.
She fiercely reached her arm with long fingernails out of the mirror toward Jasmine, who was about to reach out. The sky full of blood-red began to roar intensely, acting as if to utterly annihilate both heaven and earth.
She forcefully grabbed hold of Jasmine leaning outside the mirror. In the next second, a scene that left Fisher staring dumbfounded unfolded.
He saw the figure of the blood-stained black-haired woman in the mirror transform bit by bit into a JK uniform, her face becoming Jasmine's. Meanwhile, outside the mirror surface, the Jasmine who had originally reached out to Fisher started growing her black hair and fingernails longer, her uniform starting to change into a set of archaic magic clothing...
The identities of the person in the mirror and the person outside the mirror reversed in an instant. In the distance, Renee's eyes contracted, stunned mute.
Beneath her long black hair, a hysterical yet extremely beautiful face was revealed.
She was still exactly identical to ten thousand years ago, identical young, bearing the unchanging years of a Transferred Person...
Only that archaic and powerful magic fluctuation felt as if it would annihilate the entire dreamscape, the entire Spirit World.
That was... the progenitor of magic, the true President of the Creation Society...
Asuka Karasawa.
Fisher drew a sharp breath of cold air. Before he could speak, he saw Asuka Karasawa with her head down, the scarlet light in her eyes shifting toward Helaire and Renee beside them. She used a hoarse and terrifying voice to ask,
"Who are you... declaring war on?"
Helaire said nothing, hiding behind Renee.
Renee opened her mouth wide, just about to defend herself, when Asuka Karasawa with her head down gently curled a finger, and the entire tower apartment crashed down wildly.
The walls in all directions directly shattered, followed by hanging upside down and floating into the sky.
"Rumble!!"
And in mid-air, the cement and steel were twisted by Countless forces, reassembling instantly until they miraculously transformed from building materials into chain-like ropes that fiercely wrapped around Renee and Helaire. Illuminated by Renee's panic-stricken pale expression and Helaire's smiling face, they were instantly pulled into mid-air...
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Renee's screams echoed in mid-air, yet Asuka acted as if she were a statue, motionless, coldly watching Helaire and Renee fly higher and farther into the sky.
Subsequently, all the buildings in Tokyo acted as if devoid of gravitational restraint. Like spears, like cannonballs, they launched toward Helaire and Renee in the sky amidst terrifying booming sounds, surprisingly intending to smash them directly into powder mid-air.
"Rumble!!"
"Waaahh! Save me, Teacher Fisher, wuwu!"
In the sky above, Renee's screams reached him, prompting Fisher to hurriedly turn his head to look at the blood-stained woman with lowered head beside him.
"Asuka!"
This seemed to be their first meeting after ten thousand years.
As her black hair fluttered in the gale, what was revealed were her pair of scarlet eyes containing the true essence of all magic in the world.