(Apology statement! If there are any character OCs, the author hereby apologizes)
The environment of Outer Ring Hollows is mostly a wilderness, and the dusk is like a layer of gauze spreading up from the distance.
Griseo and Aponia were walking on the road to find Zhe and Hoshimi Miyabi. The nun's blue skirt like butterfly wings swayed slightly in Hollows.
Ethereal passing by were like jellyfish stretching in the deep sea, passing away in love.
While walking, Griseo suddenly asked, "Mother Aponia, why do you always look into the distance?"
"Because Fate's silk thread always reaches far away."
Aponia's voice is still so gentle, making people feel Peace of Mind.
"Fate's silk thread?"
"Hmm. Unknowable and imperceptible."
Aponia raised his hand and moved it gently in the air. A purple silk thread stained with the manifestation of Ether Energy came into view.
Then Aponia pointed into the distance and said, "Griseo, the person on the far side of this line is the one you are looking for."
"Mother Aponia, then why can't I see it when I use [Discipline]Signets."
Griseo looked in the direction of Aponia's finger, and could vaguely see a faint purple light. It looked like there was nothing there, but it seemed like there was everything there.
"Because I don't want you to be me. I saw it, but I couldn't get rid of it."
Just as Aponia said, Fate tightly binds everyone's Fate.
It guides life to be born in crying, and gently pulls souls back in silence. When a person sees Fate, it also means that he will become a prisoner of Fate.
"So, Mother Aponia, you still think it's your fault because you can't save everyone?"
Aponia was startled for a moment, she did not expect Griseo to ask this question.
"I know my sin, and it is always before me..."
"Mother Aponia, you are wrong."
Griseo interrupted her.
Aponia lowered his eyes and said nothing.
She knew that Griseo was not only talking to her, but also to the 'self'.
Just like a grown-up child, telling his mother what he has experienced and the principles he has learned.
"Mother Aponia, I have met many people and learned many things."
Griseo's voice was very soft, but it was reflected in Aponia's eyes.
"Mother Aponia, your color is always gray, that color is so dim that you can't see the light, but you still hold the light for others, why do you blame yourself?"
The air was silent for a moment.
Yes!
She always helps others, but no one can help her.
The reason why her eyes are Despair is because there is darkness without any dawn... Who can "invite" her to walk towards the dawn?
Elysia was once her light, but that light illuminated the future.
"Yes! I have always been a light for others, but I can't even shine for myself."
The wind blew from the wilderness, and a few strands of Griseo's hair were blown away by the wind. Aponia looked at her for a long time before saying softly, "Griseo, you have grown up."
"Well, Mother Aponia. I've grown up."
Griseo nodded, looked at Aponia seriously, and asked a question.
"Mother Aponia, can you tell me, what is the color of the layer after [Discipline]? I know it is related to Little Sister Elysia!"
Aponia looked at Griseo and understood what she was thinking at a glance.
"Do you want to unlock the last two seals of Signets?"
"Yeah!"
"Griseo, why? You have [Discipline] and other Signets powers, isn't that enough?"
"I want to know, Mother Aponia."
Aponia is unwilling to do this because she knows Griseo.
Once this child truly understands [Salvation] and [True Self], he will definitely take the initiative to carry those heavy things.
When Griseo came to this world, he attracted the will of [Ether Sea] to lower his gaze, and the two parties reached a Pact.
(Refer to Zenless Zone Zero Luo Nan's video material, and make a second analogy to Honkai Impact 3rd in this book. Do not take it seriously.)
Signets of Thirteen Flame-Chasers accompanies Griseo in an existence similar to [Ether Sea], but 90% of its power is sealed in [Salvation], and 90% of Authority is sealed in [True Self].
At the same time, Griseo naturally also received "some privileges"... Of course, regardless of this, Aponia only hopes that Griseo is happy, like a star that shines freely, not bound by any shackles.
But she is her child, and she cannot refuse Griseo's question.
"Griseo, do you know?" Aponia spoke slowly.
"For me, maybe the inscription [Despair] is more suitable for me than [Discipline]. I always wanted to explore 'their' lives, but in the end I had to face 'their' death first."
She raised her hand and waved it gently in the air, and Ether Energy condensed, sketching one flowing picture after another.
The first is the orphanage of Twilight Alley, where she took care of the children for a short period of time. Under the blue sky and white clouds, the children ran and played on the grass and in the shade of the trees.
"Look, this is the new toy that sister Sister Nia gave me."
"I have one too! I have one too! Sister Sister Nia also gave me one."
"Sister Nia sister... she really looks like a beautiful butterfly."
The warm scene came to an abrupt end, the white clouds turned into dark clouds, the green trees turned into dead trees, the grassland turned into desert, and the children turned into the wounded in the ward...
"Sister Nia sister, when can I be discharged from the hospital?"
"Sister Nia sister is so amazing, the wound no longer hurts immediately."
"Thanks to you, Aponia, I can return to the battlefield again."
"Aponia, thank you for taking care of me for so long."
The picture flashed by frame by frame. Aponia walked alone one tombstone after another. Under each tombstone was the life she had embraced.
"Griseo, I couldn't change anything, I couldn't save anyone, this is my sin, this is my Fate, and I will never escape.
I first gained the ability to visually see Fate, and therefore lost the right to look forward to it.
But at the same time, I can in a sense heal the minds of others and change everything I want to change... except the ending that I care about most.
This cannot be excused from Fate's arrangement, it is the irony and contradiction of [Discipline]."
She paused for a moment and felt Griseo's little hand holding the corner of her clothes tremble slightly.
"Griseo, have you ever seen a truly free person?"
"Mother Aponia, you mean Little Sister Elysia?"
"Ely? Unfortunately, no."
"She tries to influence others according to her own wishes and guide them on the path, but the results always lead to destruction.
Because of this, she became a unique 'evil person' who frightened everyone who knew her."
Aponia lowered his head and met Griseo's eyes. Hollows The wind blew from a distance, blowing the broken hair on Griseo's forehead and also blowing the skirt of Aponia like butterfly wings.
As Aponia narrated softly, Griseo also gradually understood that Aponia was talking about himself.
"Griseo, the other side of [True Self]'s flawlessness is the layer of gray behind [Discipline].
This is also the reason why I don't want you to know, so, Griseo.
Do you really want to know the story of [Discipline] protecting [True Self]?"
Griseo was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"Mother Aponia, tell me!"