Deep Sea Embers

In the middle of the glade, the mental entity of Taran Ayir, previously frozen in a state of "protective sinking," blinked suddenly—as if his self-awareness had eroded away as the creeping sun disk Finally returned to this shallower dreamland.

Duncan and Lucrezia noticed this immediately, and walked towards the elf scholar at the same time. The latter woke up after just two or three seconds, and looked at the scene in front of him in astonishment.

Everything was different from what he remembered—the forest illuminated by the sun fell into a weird dusk at some point, the sky was mixed with blurry shadows, and many new figures appeared in the field of vision, none of which he could see. Get to know each other (including Morris, whom I haven't seen for decades).

After looking around blankly like this, Taran Al finally got excited, and hesitantly opened his mouth to break the silence: "Why is my situation so serious?"

Lucrezia who just walked over was taken aback when she heard the words: "What are you talking about?"

Taran Al pointed to himself, and then pointed to Heidi, Vanna and Morris who had already noticed the movement not far away, and they were walking towards here, with disbelief on their faces: "It's just a short time, no matter what Has it developed to so many people for consultation?"

Lucrezia's expression trembled for a moment, and she almost froze.

Taran Ayer continued: "If you really can't wake me up, let me try my own method. The 'sudden death method' is actually very effective..."

When Lucrezia heard this, she immediately interrupted the university student: "Don't worry about your 'sudden death method', do you know what happened just now?"

"Just now?" Taran Ayer looked blank, "What happened just now? I was just stunned..."

"The minions of the black sun have invaded your dreams, and even brought a projection of a child of the sun," Lucrecia said with a serious face, while observing the changes in Taran Ayer's expression, "You have no perception at all. To? If my father hadn't appeared in time, the mental entity you left here may have been destroyed by the aftermath of the battle."

Taran Al's expression became serious when he heard the first half of Lucrezia's words, but he was startled suddenly when he heard the last sentence of the other party, and then gradually came to his senses, hesitantly and horrified while slowly moving towards Duncan turned his head and said, "Your... father?"

Lucrecia nodded silently, while Duncan showed a kind smile as much as possible, and stretched out his hand to the venerable university student: "You can directly call me Captain Duncan."

Taran Al didn't reach out his hand to respond, he seemed to be stiff all over, he only stared at the tall figure in front of him with wide eyes, then suddenly took a deep breath, his whole body seemed to "shake" violently, and then The figure disappeared into the forest.

Duncan looked at this scene in bewilderment, turned his head and asked, "What's going on?"

The astonishment on Lucrezia's face was not too light. After hearing Duncan's words, she was stunned for two or three seconds before finally realizing what happened. She said with a strange expression, "...the 'sudden death method' worked."

Duncan: "...?"

At this moment, Heidi, Vanna, and Morris just came over. They wanted to say hello to the awakened master Talan El, but they only saw the scene where the latter disappeared out of thin air, and heard Lucrecia After the last muttering, the expression suddenly changed.

Heidi's face was full of exclamation that "this is really possible", Morris's eyes showed a little regret, and only Fan Na's expression was blank - she is a sports student, and she doesn't know much about the operations of these psychologists .

When encountering nightmares, she cut through them and ran out.

"I wanted to say hello to Master Taran Ayer," Morris said regretfully, "We haven't seen each other for many years."

"He wouldn't recognize you when he saw you," Heidi shook her head. "He remembered that you were still a young man studying abroad, and he couldn't even imagine that you have a daughter now."

Morris thought for a while and sighed softly: "That's how you deal with elves."

"It seems that you have explained the situation clearly?" Duncan looked at the atmosphere among the three before him, and asked curiously.

"To make it clear," Fan Na nodded, and then spread her hands helplessly, "I've been scolded for a long time."

Heidi didn't say a word, but couldn't help but carefully looked at the "famous" captain in front of her, her eyes swept back and forth among the several people present, and she didn't know how many frantic turns she had made in the past few seconds idea.

Lucrezia did not pay attention to the situation here. She had been carefully observing the changes in this "forest" since just now, and at this moment she suddenly broke the silence: "As I guessed, Taran Ai Er wakes up, but this 'dream' itself still exists... There are other 'dreamers' who are maintaining this place."

Hearing her words, Duncan just nodded slightly.

Because it is temporarily impossible to determine what the "dreamer" behind this dream is, and this dream seems to be connected to many ordinary people, so he did not "set fire" here, but since just now, he has been carefully perceiving this place.

This seemingly incomparably real forest is essentially a dream, and what is connected behind it should be the subconscious of the dreamer, and he intervenes here by "walking in the spirit world", theoretically, he can touch and even perceive this " Subconscious", just like the emotions and rough thinking fragments he felt when he touched those "starlights" during his walk in the spirit world.

Here, however, no matter how much he stretched his perception, no matter how carefully he "listened", he could only feel a huge... emptiness.

There is nothing, no fear, no thoughts, the forest is still outside the forest, the earth is still the earth deep in the earth, the personality part of the dreamer is completely gone, it is not so much a "barrier" created by the subconscious to protect the deep dream, The feeling of this forest to Duncan... is more like a chaotic fog.

The barrier is purposeful, but the mist, it is just chaotic and spontaneously condensed here, without purpose or consciousness, it only operates according to some ancient rules.

Duncan was thinking about what was behind this empty and huge dream, but at this moment, a disorderly wind suddenly blew from the depths of the forest, and the cold that came with it interrupted his thinking.

"...This forest doesn't welcome us anymore," Heidi frowned suddenly, but her tone was a little puzzled, "But why didn't they respond before?"

"Maybe it's because Taran Ayer woke up," Lucrezia said thoughtfully, "his waking up didn't lead to the disintegration of the dream, but it closed an 'entrance' for those of us who broke in Uninvited guests will naturally be repelled."

"It seems that it is time to leave." Duncan sighed regretfully. He instinctively felt that there were still many secrets hidden in this dream, but he also knew that he had to continue when the dream had already begun to produce rejection reactions. Forcibly staying here, the harm caused may not be much less than the "deformed sun" in the sky before.

"Alright, I have to return to the real world as soon as possible to confirm the current situation of Taran Ayer," Lucrecia said, she seemed a little relieved, "Don't really die on my boat."

"Well, go ahead," Duncan nodded to her, "I'll talk about more things when we meet in the real world—I'll find you soon."

The expression on Lucrezia's face seemed tense for a moment, but she quickly recovered and showed a smile: "Okay, but don't worry, it doesn't matter if you slow down, from the Lenglie Sea to the southern sea area It's been a long journey, be careful..."

"I mean, I'll be looking for you soon—about this afternoon," Duncan waved his hand, "The Lost Home is already near Lightwind Harbor."

The smile on Lucrezia's face froze instantly: "...Huh?"

Duncan looked calm: "Perhaps it was some kind of influence after the sun went out, the Lost Homeland crossed a long distance in an instant, and now I have arrived."

Lucrezia was stunned, and then the figure "flickered" twice in an instant, and just disappeared in front of everyone out of thin air.

Leaving Duncan, Heidi and others staring at each other.

This awkward silence lasted for a while, and finally Fan Na spoke first: "Did she wake up from fright?"

No one answered her.

"It's time to leave." Duncan shook his head, alleviating the sudden embarrassment. "If you have anything else to say, please contact me later."

It was time to say goodbye after this brief reunion, and Heidi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She looked at her father and friends standing beside Captain Duncan with complicated emotions, and suddenly thought of something: "Wait, how can I contact you?" You?! You are on the Lost Home..."

"Just write a letter," Morris said with a smile, "you can send it directly to the antique shop in the downtown area, and the captain will deliver it in person."

"Huh? Just write a letter?"

Heidi froze for a moment, but before she had time to react, she heard Fan Na say: "If it's just a simple message, you can go to the cathedral. Bishop Valentine can help deliver the message."

Heidi continued to be confused: "You mean the cathedral!?"

"Or you can wait for the holiday on the ship," Duncan added immediately. "It has been very busy during this period, but there should be a holiday later, and I can send them back to Prand."

"There's even a holiday on the Lost Home?!"

However, none of Heidi's questions were answered.

The wind blowing from the forest has gradually brought obvious coldness and hostility, and the rejection of the dream is gradually reaching its peak. In her eyes, the figures of Captain Duncan, her father, and Fanna are gradually becoming blurred.

Finally, even her own consciousness became hazy, and she sank into darkness amid a sudden sense of weightlessness.

In the next second, the darkness faded, and she woke up from the dream.

Heidi opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on a bed in a ward of a medical facility, and her original "patient" had gone somewhere.

It seems that after I fell into a dream, someone noticed the abnormality and sent me here.

Miss Psychiatrist took a deep breath.

This long and tortuous dream finally came to an end.