"First it was auditory hallucinations, and now visual hallucinations. Great. Am I supposed to get promoted to a Harmony Emanator next?"
Watching the figure that claimed to be his future self, identical to himself, disappear, Aventurine muttered under his breath.
Aventurine walked toward the interior of the film and television city. There wasn't a single passenger in sight, except for a child.
The child stood beneath the statue of Clockie. He had golden hair and a face that brought back memories.
"Why are you here all by yourself?" Aventurine asked.
The boy turned around. His eyes, spreading out like halos, looked toward him, and countless overlapping voices mixed with some obscure static and rushed into Aventurine's mind.
"What happened, sir... You don't look very well?"
There were a few scratches on the boy's face. Aventurine stared at those eyes for a long time.
"They're beautiful, aren't they? Big Sister says they're a gift from Mother Gaiathra (the Earth Mother Goddess). Colorful eyes can bring people good luck. Ah... Sir, you have a pair of beautiful eyes too. They're really pretty!"
'Mother Gaiathra. What a familiar name.'
'The curse of Harmony is quite interesting. Is it making me talk to myself? First turning me into a schizophrenic, then picking the one most suitable for you from countless fragmented pieces of my mind?'
Many words surged into Aventurine's mind all at once, but looking at the boy in front of him, he couldn't bring himself to say any of them as he had when facing that other "self" just now.
After hesitating for a moment longer, Aventurine's tone softened. "You... are you all alone? Where are your parents?"
"They're both inside this amusement park. Daddy and Mommy went in first. I was just about to go find them. So I have to go now. Goodbye, sir. I hope you have fun too."
The boy left, quickly running into the film and television city. Aventurine stood where he was. Only after being dazed for a long while did he take another step forward.
He followed the bridge covered with a red carpet, crossed the circular platforms and a few dream memes, and stopped in front of the red curtain.
He heard the boy's echo coming from deep within the Harmony. The child kept running after his family, yet it was as if he were rushing toward an unfathomable abyss.
His back remained forever before his eyes, impossible to abandon, yet impossible to approach in the slightest.
"Bottomless, just like Penacony, right?" Another self appeared again.
"Why are you still here?"
"Adventurine" raised an eyebrow. He didn't care in the slightest about his attitude and simply continued, "You knew long ago that if the Family really showed tolerance toward every family member who came to ask for help, why would they have built such high walls and deep trenches?"
"But people don't think that way. After all, the taste of dream syrup is truly tempting. You were isolated and helpless in Penacony, and could only bring down the high wall through your own efforts... How could that possibly happen?"
"So the moment you stepped into the hotel, you took off your high hat and started begging everyone for help, looking just like a hyena scavenging in the desert. Because you knew that opportunities disappear in the blink of an eye."
"Compared with your description, Ratio's Attini peacock sounds positively pleasant." Aventurine wasn't flustered, but when facing Kakavasha, he clearly had a different attitude.
Of course he could become gentle and considerate, but he clearly wasn't going to give any of that to the "self" standing before him.
"You know I rarely speak sincerely, so I advise you to listen carefully. As it happens, you mentioned that professor. I especially like the thing you two have in common, schemes and calculations... especially the ending. A magnificent betrayal!"
"...When everyone thinks that's what happened, who would suspect that it was actually a trap you carefully designed?"
Aventurine remained silent.
"Am I right? You're that kind of person. Cautious to the point of timidity and yet always putting yourself down. You've won so many times, yet you're more afraid of losing than anyone else."
"People only see you throwing away huge sums of money at the gambling table, but they don't know that beneath the table, another hand is gripping the chips, trembling all the while... Impressive."
"No wonder the Tavern sent you an invitation. You were born to be a good actor... Not only are you good at deceiving others, you're even better at deceiving yourself."
"The best way to keep yourself from being exposed in front of others is to deceive yourself first."
"Haha, of course. I know you too well... But it's strange. Why did you reject that invitation? You clearly had a chance to embrace pleasure. Wasn't that what you wanted most?"
"Yet you still chose the company's gambling table... For Preservation? Hmph, I don't think so. What do you and Preservation have to do with each other?"
"I thought you knew... Aren't you very familiar with me?" Aventurine looked at "himself" with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.
"How could there be no connection? It's just like how I clearly had a safer option, yet still chose this plan."
"Hmph... Those attachments are more important than your life?"
"Of course. Only the dead have nothing left to be attached to." Aventurine answered without hesitation. "You were born in this curse. Have you ever truly lived?"
"...Hehe. I will soon."
"Then I hope you find yourself a good body. This place is already full."
The other "self" disappeared. Aventurine took a deep breath and continued forward, chasing after the young Kakavasha.
"Hide-and-seek... Such sweet childhood memories. On the day you said goodbye to Mother, how many Katicans were chasing after you like jackals?"
"I bet you'll never forget their shrill laughter. To disappear beneath the noses of those savages, you and your sister could only roll around in blood and water, ruining the only piece of clothing Father left behind..."
When Aventurine followed Kakavasha to a filming set surrounded by high walls on all sides, "his" voice once again mixed with layers of static and fell into his mind.
"It wasn't destroyed. I've kept it all this time." Aventurine gritted his teeth as he retorted.
"It was just a scrap of cloth. You can never wear it again. Now you don't need to hide anymore. You even have the leisure to complain about your delicate clothes being soaked by the rain... Your status really has changed."
"...I've never changed."
"No, you have... Now you're the one doing the chasing. The last game of hide-and-seek... Enjoy it."
As he searched for Kakavasha, the voice of another "self" kept echoing. He laid out his plan piece by piece, how to create suspicion, how to set the bait, how to leak information, and how to make the third cornerstone, Aventurine Stone, pass under everyone's eyes.
Aventurine rebuked "him." "Stop rummaging around in my head, bastard."
But "he" only laughed. "...It's our head..."
Most of the time, Aventurine was used as Jade's substitute, but this time, Aventurine had reversed the situation.
Of the two cornerstones discovered by Sunday, one belonged to Topaz and the other belonged to Jade. Jade had been used to replace Aventurine, and that Oak Family Head hadn't noticed.
These were Aventurine's three chips...
A complete Topaz Stone, a complete Jade Stone, and a shattered Aventurine Stone.
The Family had taken the cornerstone, so how could they possibly be strict about the gift money he brought? The shattered Aventurine Stone was right here.
As always, even though the actions of the Ten Stonehearts seemed more harmonious than the Family itself, he was still walking the path alone.
The shattered Aventurine Stone was like a shattered world. Every fragment was a scar left deep in his memories. But this time, the Aventurine Stone had been shattered by his own hands.
"Hello. We've met again, beautiful-eyed sir."
Aventurine found Kakavasha.
"...Yeah, we've met again. Did you find your father and mother?"
"Of course. Big Sister is there too. The four of us just played hide-and-seek. It was so much fun. On the way here, Daddy even showed me a banana-peel film."
"You mean film."
"That's right, that. When you put lots and lots of cardboard drawings together, they become a moving mural. When you put me, Daddy, Mommy, and Big Sister together, we become a family. You should try it too, sir. You've been frowning the whole time. You should be happy at an amusement park."
"...Okay."
Aventurine played games with Kakavasha, but in the blink of an eye, the child was gone.
So he began searching again.
The influence of Harmony was still sinking deeper, so deep that blurry patches of color began to hang at the edges of his vision, so deep that every sound entering his ears became layers of static. His mind seemed to have fallen into a bucket of colorful paint. It was shaken from side to side, then stained with every color.
Aventurine stumbled into a maze. He heard Kakavasha's innocent cries.
"Wow, it's so high here, higher than the tallest stone in the desert..."
"And there are so many flowers. Big Sister, I'll give you this purple one..."
But besides Kakavasha's cries, there was something else.
"He" came again, carrying a pair of shackles.
"This is a pair of shackles, the ones put on you. The first job that man gave you, the first pot of gold you earned... I remember it all clearly. You wrapped this bundle of iron chains around your fists. It was the only tool (weapon) you could find. Then, in that maze, you..."
"...Shut up." Aventurine interrupted "him."
"Oh... You don't want to face that part of your past. You don't want to admit that your life was only worth sixty Tans? In my opinion, neither is the right answer... You refuse to face it simply because it proves your weakness."
"How could a weak person take such risks?"
"Exactly. You like taking risks... Yet you refuse to let go of certain unnecessary things. Even in this beautiful dream, you only dare to try death on yourself."
"The others could have become wild cards in your hand and served a greater purpose. The Family has plenty of stains to use. All it would take is a small sacrifice, exchanged for Opal, and it would have been easily resolved."
"Unfortunately, you're not as good as him. If only you had done it, you wouldn't have ended up like this... Why didn't you do it? Surely it wasn't because of some professional ethics?"
Under "his" questioning of himself, Aventurine remained silent for a long time.
"His sword sent back the information. He's safe."
Aventurine said this, and saw a startled expression appear on the "self" opposite him.
If he didn't try death himself, was he supposed to push another child, another child who was equally alone, into the storm?
Aventurine clenched his fist.
But "he" disappeared again.
"If I take these leaves back, will new little flowers bloom..."
Kakavasha's voice came again, falling into his wavering mind and sending a ripple across the spreading colors of paint.
But soon, "he" erased the ripple. This time, "he" brought a talisman.
"This talisman Mother left you is made of pure gold. Why have you never considered selling it? If you had, you and Big Sister could have lived like normal people for a while. Looking back, that would've been the better choice."
"Mother only left two pieces of jewelry for us: a necklace and a talisman. There won't be a third."
"That's what you've always said. But you regret it, don't you? Not selling them?"
Aventurine raised his head and looked at "him." "A creation of Harmony, something born within an organization that constantly calls other people 'family'. Don't you know what family is? Oh... Right. Of course you don't. How could a connection twisted into existence by the power of a Path move the heart the way a real family does?"
"He" fell silent.
There was no need to argue too much. When someone showed malice, you simply stabbed at their wound.
That child had taught him that.
Yes, he remembered all of this. He also remembered what his sister had once said: "You are a child blessed by the Mother Goddess. You can lead the clan toward happiness. So remember to always protect yourself, and never resent suffering and poverty."
'Protect yourself... Of course.'
But it didn't matter. Under Mother Gaiathra's gaze, there were other children now.
"That child is the same, just like me... He remembers everything.", Aventurine murmured to himself.
He couldn't forget his sister's words, nor could he forget how miserable the final moment of her life had been, or how the shrill laughter behind them had reached out its claws like a nightmare.
Dragging himself along, Aventurine staggered out of the maze. He still had to keep going, just as he had in the past.
Forward, forward... Never looking back.
Pain and memories chased relentlessly behind him, while the unknown and fear blocked the path ahead. Life dragged at people's footsteps like a swamp.
The endless shore was right before their eyes, and until the final second before they sank completely, they kept trudging onward.
"Sir, is that you... I heard the sound of leather shoes."
Aventurine found Kakavasha once again.
"Ah, it really is you. I don't know why, sir, but you always give me a very special feeling... It makes me curious, makes me want to try. It's a pity I couldn't get to know you better. We should say goodbye now. Did you have fun?"
"You... are you going home?"
"Mm, I should go home. The sky is starting to darken. It's going to rain. I can't make everyone worry."
"Where... is your home?"
"What a strange question. Home is where Daddy, Mommy, and Big Sister are..."
Thunder began to rumble...
"...It's right here in this dream."
Aventurine seemed to suddenly wake from his daze, then let out a sigh.
"This amusement park, this beautiful dream, is really peaceful. Everyone likes it," Kakavasha said. "But sir... why don't you like it?"
"...Because they're not here."
"Then where are they?" "He" stepped out and asked.
"I don't know."
"You clearly know. It's just that the answer has no meaning."
"No. I don't know... There's also one more thing I don't know. But I know he's safe."
"But we're all tired. Me, and him." As the future self spoke, he walked over to Kakavasha.
At that moment, Aventurine's eyes widened slightly. His beautiful eyes trembled, and a bad thought surfaced in his mind.
'An illusion?'
But it didn't matter anymore.
For an instant, he wanted to rush forward and question his future "self" about what exactly he had seen in the future.
He should be safe... Ratio had told him that himself.
That professor didn't look like someone who would casually deceive others.
But Aventurine soon calmed down. The future was uncertain. That child was always so certain. The future was determined by the people of the present.
Whether what he was seeing was an illusion or reality, the so-called future had already begun to change.
On this matter, scholars throughout the universe had always wavered between the two views that the future was predetermined and that it was undetermined.
Madam Herta had obtained a constant solution in the Solitary Wave Algorithm problem. It was a threshold. If the universe's instability index exceeded it, then the future was unknowable. If the universe's instability index fell below it, then the future was determined.
The child said, "But the constant Madam Herta obtained keeps changing because of various influences. That itself is proof that the future is undetermined."
Aventurine took a deep breath and looked across at his own "past and future."
He asked, "How long are you staying here?"
"Forever. We will stay in this dreamscape with you forever," his future "self" answered.
Aventurine fell silent and looked at Kakavasha. He crouched down and gently stroked the top of his head, asking in a soft voice, "Kakavasha, if one day you became a big brother, what would you do?"
"Then I'd treat my little brother the way Daddy, Mommy, and Big Sister treated me!" Kakavasha answered without hesitation.
"That is enough." Aventurine stood up again.
"You'll always keep winning. You've never lost... But why you? Why... does it have to be you?" the future "self" said.
"If the miracle of one lucky person is built entirely upon the misfortune of everyone he loves, and even more people... If every rain you bring never represents the Mother Goddess's forgiveness and blessing, but instead one meaningless death after another. Then how many mistakes did you and I make to deserve being born into this world?"
Aventurine fell silent. The air he suddenly sucked in scraped against his windpipe and lungs like a knife. Only after more than ten seconds did he raise his head. "None of this matters now."
"He's still here now. I have to treat him the way Daddy, Mommy, and Big Sister treated me," Aventurine said.
"The past cannot be changed, and the future is still unknown. He taught me this. He always says it, 'What is past cannot be undone, but what is yet to come can still be pursued'."
"On the vast scale of the universe, individuals are simply too small. My world is small, so small that it can only contain me. So when I ask myself what I should do, this is what I choose."
"When the paths of two solitary souls cross, they both find within each other a trace of hard-won comfort."
"Good... Then I'll wait for you ahead." "He" left.
Aventurine looked at Kakavasha again. There was still some road ahead, and his past self would always remain by his side.
So Aventurine stood up. At Kakavasha's request, he stood beside a wall panel and took a photo by himself, then crouched down and held out both hands...
"Come on, Nero. Let's do palm-to-palm. I'll teach you your big brother's hometown blessing."
"...Okay."
"Come on, repeat after me."
"May the Mother Goddess thrice close her eyes for you, keeping your blood eternally pulsing."
"May your journey be forever peaceful and your schemes forever concealed."
"Brother Aventurine, is putting our palms together like this a tradition from your hometown?"
"Yes."
"This is a prayer recited to Mother Gaiathra, a blessing for one's family."
"We use these joined palms to touch every member of our family."
"Goodbye... Kakavasha. Goodbye... Nero... I wish I could say farewell to you, but perhaps this is the better outcome. No matter what, I don't want to cross swords with my family."
Aventurine murmured, then reached out and lifted the red curtain in front of him. The stage lights brightened before his eyes, casting his shadow into the corridor, long, very long.
He stood at the entrance and moved forward without a word, and so his shadow was stretched even longer.
His body was only one-third the height of the wall, yet his shadow was so enormous that it far exceeded the length of the corridor.
"Right, before you leave, I still have a more personal question.
"You... do you really want to destroy this world with your own hands?"
"Suppose, just suppose, that every time I rolled the dice, there was a chance of rolling this result... Then I would definitely be very willing to take the gamble."
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