Chapter 121 :

Episode 26 : What One Yearns For (3)

Within a field of fully bloomed flowers, Mya was there with someone by her side.

"Mama! Look! I made you this flower tiara!" Mya, running toward her mother, held out the tiara to her mother.

A tiara that was created to look like Mya's mother, was made out of the reddish poppies Mya could find.

When Mya's mother, Annabelle put on the flower tiara, it became clear that it was flawlessly perfect for her reddish hair.

"Do you like it, mama?" Mya exclaimed with joy to her beautiful mother.

The moment Annabelle looked in Mya's eyes, she smiled before changing her grin to a creepy one.

"Mom..?" Mya mumbled as she was getting scared little by little.

Without a warning, Annabelle's hands creeped on Mya's arms, grabbing them tight to cause unsettling pain for Mya.

"Mom..! It hurts..! Stop..!" Afraid, Mya groaned.

What Mya was witnessing now with her scared and tearful eyes, was a sight where her once beautiful mother was now a rotten corpse staring deeply into her eyes.

..By then, Mya's expression became undescribable from this gruesome scene.

As if it was engraving itself into her head forever, Mya let out a scream of terror with a mix of grief in it.

"Ahhhh!!!"

The higher and more expressive her scream was, the more the scenery around her switched to a petrifying place.

With flowers slowly dying and withering in every place she laid her eyes on, Mya was truly experiencing a nightmarish time in this inescapable moment.

———

Waking up with a gasp for air and sweat on her forehead, Mya sprang up from her resting area as she began to breathe heavily, seeming like she was completely out of breath.

"Mya! Slow down, everything is fine." Alaine by her side, embraced Mya wholly to give her warmth and comfort.

"Here, have some water." Also a tiny bit worried, Mirai had handed a glass of water to Alaine.

Mya who was grasping tightly onto Alaine, slowed down her breathing pace little by little as she exhaled and inhaled.

Until a short moment of time had passed, Mya was finally able to barely drink the water Alaine had given to her.

".. thank you.." Mya spoke after swallowing the water.

Afterwards, Alaine pat Mya's head before smiling. "Don't mention it."

Of course, the hand in which Alaine was using to pet Mya, was the silk one. It was obviously noticeable when Mya realized the hand's touch felt different than a normal human's hand.

So Mya took her time and dazed at Alaine's arm replacement. "That.. Ahh.... Your arm..!"

Despite knowing her arm was replaced, Alaine had forgotten about that one scene where Mya saw Alaine with her missing arm, which was why Alaine had removed her hand away from Mya's head and hid it behind her back.

"Ah, uh.. Don't worry about it, Mya. I'll get my arm back later." Alaine responded.

"..."

..Upon hearing Alaine's fine words, Mya, herself couldn't take it anymore and let her tears do all the work by breaking down into countless teardrops.

Until Alaine noticed her, Mya was already bursting her heart out with her shaking hands over her despondent eyes.

Shocked, Alaine gasped. "Eh..? Eeehhhh?! Don't cry! Ah, jeez."

Alaine holding onto Mya's hands to stop her from rubbing her eyes, was quickly baffled by this moment.

As to swiftly wipe her tears, Alaine stopped hiding her silk arm and used it to wipe away Mya's crestfallen tears.

..Alaine knew that this was too much for a child. Involving such a kid in cruel and risky situations like this, wasn't at all right for Mya. But right now, Alaine couldn't do anything to stop Mya from experiencing this, because this child is a player.

So at least, Alaine wanted to comfort Mya a little bit..

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" Alaine apologized with all her sincerity.

"Hm mhm..!" Mya shaking her head as to mean no, kept sobbing.

She then told Alaine. "I-It's my.. fault.. for n-not b-being strong..! I.. should h-have help..!"

‘Strong.. She said..’ Alaine frowned.

Without a doubt, Alaine couldn't bear the whimpering child trying her best to speak while having a momentary hyperventilation.

And the fact that Mya was saying things that Alaine could somewhat relate with, made Alaine unable to figure out a way to ease Mya's pain.

‘Urm..! I don't know what to do to comfort a child! I need help with this!!!’ Alaine thought.

‘Ah ha! Mirai!’

So naturally, Alaine was glancing at Mirai to seek for her help, but instead, Mirai just looked at Mya and turned around to move to another couch to sit.

Alaine, who was angered by Mirai not giving her a hand, had to solve this by herself now.

Mya sniffled. "If.. If I were quick e-enough, y-you wouldn't h-have t-to lose your arm..!"

Afterwards, Alaine bit her lower lip for a second while she was thinking. ‘Now what?! Oh my god… I wish Louis was here instead!’

"Mya.. It was my idea and my own actions. So please don't blame yourself for it, alright?" Alaine spoke with a comforting voice, along with an affectionate hug for Mya.

Tapping her back with gentle pat, Alaine had managed to calm Mya down a bit. As Alaine was doing so, she felt somewhat of a resemblance of someone when she saw Mya blaming herself.

‘Why do I feel like I have another person who blamed themselves for others?’ Alaine thought, clearly thinking of HwanGi and not realizing it.

‘Meh, Mya is important right now.’

———

With 20 minutes to wait for Phase 2 to begin, Mya, Mirai and Alaine were waiting patiently for it while enjoying their spare time in the waiting room.

Needless to say, there was Mirai who had no joy in waiting nor had she felt any need to be comfortable in this room.

Even though she had a cute expression on her face, it was actually meant to be a serious one when she was figuring out a way with what Frostina had instructed her to do.

‘Big sis said I must convince Mya to change her mind. But I barely know Mya to begin with. How can I overcome this?’

Shifting her glances over to Mya who was with Alaine, Mirai observed the child closely while she was covering her face with her fan to avoid looking suspicious.

‘I know she wants her mother to be revived. Just like me..’

No matter how much Mirai was trying to prevent herself from remembering her past, she just couldn't help it.

‘Is it because of my past that big sis told me to convince her? Is it because I can somewhat relate to this child?’

Folding her fan together, Mirai softly tapped her lips with her fan while unknowingly getting deeper into her thoughts.

‘Isn't big sis being mean to me?’

Eventually, Mirai thought long and hard to come up with a solution. In spite of it taking her a bit long to the point of only having 10 minutes left until the next phase starts, Mirai finally decided on what to do.

Until then, Mirai called out to the child to begin what she had planned out in her head, even though Mirai knew she was going to look like a bad guy in Mya's eyes.

"Mya. Is it your mother's revival that you seek?" Mirai asked.

As might be expected, Mya who had been calmed down by Alaine, was now surprised by Mirai's question.

Even still, Mya swallowed down her saliva when she became aware of Mirai's solemn yet adorable appearance.

And for that reason, Mya answered the question while she was being slightly frightened. "Yes.. that's what I wish for."

"Gomen ne. I'll be straight with you, so don't get flustered."

* ( "Gomen ne" Informal Japanese apology for "I'm sorry." )

"Y..yes?" Startled as if her gut was right that Mirai was on to something, Mya held Alaine's hand firmly.

It went without saying that Alaine fully understood the situation after a while. In order to stop this conversation, Alaine bugged in.

"Hey, now. The phase will begin soon, so let's talk later, Shall w—"

In the end, Mirai cut off Alaine by saying.

"This is none of your business, Alaine. I need to have a chat with Mya right now."

Beyond a doubt, Alaine shut her mouth completely despite not liking Mirai's tone just now.

"Mya. Your mother died for how long?" Mirai asked.

Naturally, Mya got no choice but to answer honestly. "I don't know.. but I'm sure it was long ago..."

"Then your family must have moved on, right? Or possibly accepted that she is dead."

"..."

"I'll take your silence as a yes. Did you know that once you resurrect your mother, who will protect her in this ‘Arctic’ world?"

It was a lie on Mirai's part since she herself didn't know what came after the end of the event.

Yet, Mya didn't know. "I will! I'll do it!"

"You barely managed to protect yourself and now you're going to add your mother in?"

"..but I'll work hard!"

"Gomen, but once you choose your mother over the leader of the guild who overlooks his guild members' lives, you already have a ton of people who will not give you a helping hand with your struggle to protect your mother."

"...!" Mya as though she was undergoing a bombshell, dazed at Mirai with great shock.

"Mirai! Stop! She's just a child, you shouldn't be forcing her." Alaine intervened when she couldn't endure the way Mirai was talking to Mya.

Out of the blue, Mirai pointed her fan at Alaine's lips before shooting a web onto her lips to shut Alaine up for a few minutes.

Mirai watched as Alaine was trying to rip her web off her mouth. While time was decreasing, Mirai resumed on talking facts to Mya.

"JoonChul, the uncle who prepared you for the worlds players lived in, took care of you as if you were his daughter. And you're going to ignore my captain's kindness for your long gone mother?"

At this moment, If one were to look closely, Mirai's hands were shaking as she was talking to Mya.

Almost as if Mirai was crushing her confidence with her own words. While her words were directed to Mya, it mostly sounded like Mirai was in Mya's shoes where she wouldn't be able to save her own mother as well.

Mirai presumed on talking without offering the child a chance to speak a word.

"Who's going to watch after everyone when you let my captain rot to death? You who brought along another person to look after?"

"If you ask them to guard your mother, then face it. You'll only give another troublesome luggage for us to carry."

By now, Mirai absolutely appeared like a villain to herself and Mya from how harsh her words were. But Mirai knew she must do this to complete her task.

That was when the timer for the short break ended, hearing a voice echoing in the three participants' heads.

[Break over! Time for the next phase to start! So get ready!] It was of course Eve.

When everyone in the waiting room heard that, they swiftly got up from their seats, except Mya. Because Mya had received such relentless comments from Mirai that she couldn't endure it.

"But.."

Out of a sudden, Mya heard Mirai's voice again. As the former turned her gaze at the latter, she heard Mirai's following words.

"I'll help you bring back your mother, but not this time currently. Will that work?"

Accompanied with that statement, Mirai had an expression filled with despair hiding under the fake comforting expression.

Obviously, Mya could tell by looking at Mirai's expression, but what she was puzzled about was why Mirai was feeling that way.

‘Just why.. go so far to hurt me with those words earlier before giving me another hope now?’ Mya pondered, tearing up a little.