"I can hear ravens cawing in the distance... It seems the Dream Master will arrive soon."
At the Golden Hour, at the Reverie Hotel, Robin stops at the door as Sunday approaches.
"This is just right; let's wait here for the Dream Master to arrive."
"Mmm," the Robin responded softly, a gentle breeze ruffling a strand of hair by her ear. "Speaking of which, brother, I heard you never touch sweets anymore. You used to fight me for dessert when we were little..."
Her eyes were fixed on Sunday's serene profile. "I feel like a lot of things have changed since I left. What exactly happened?"
Sunday did not answer immediately; his gaze remained fixed on the exterior wall of the Reverie Hotel.
Even in the midst of a beautiful dream, someone must always remain awake.
"But that person shouldn't be you, nor should it be any specific individual. Brother, you're putting too much pressure on yourself."
" The Paradise we promised... shouldn't be like this."
The Robin stated her thoughts directly. " Penacony is just a dream. It can't eliminate the troubles and pains of reality, or bring true happiness... All it can do is provide people with a place to escape reality, but that's all."
Instead of refuting the claim on Sunday, he brought up a passerby he had met once:
"Do you remember that old man from earlier? If it weren't for this dream, he might have already fallen into an abyss of no return."
"Admittedly... but even without Penacony, he might have led a very different life. As far as I know, the Genius Society has been promoting relevant rehabilitation techniques for some time now."
"Although that kind of life would be much more ordinary and difficult, now, in his coma, he is receiving end-of-life care called 'Beautiful Dream,' and his fate... is already sealed."
The Robin of bewilderment. Had Penacony given these people a future, or had it taken it away from them?
"Before that, you need to know... not everyone can make it to the future."
"The future is to man what the sky is to birds. People mistakenly believe that flying is a bird's nature because they have never seen birds fall to their deaths."
Their eyes met in mid-air, and the gap in their ideologies was clearly visible.
Do you remember the Melodi-Dove we adopted when we were little? How did we treat it?
"We carefully raised it in its cage, feeding it, changing its water, and grooming its feathers every day. Later... when we decided to leave Penacony, I opened the cage door and let it return to the sky."
"Worrying will make you sad, and I didn't mention it in the letter."
On Sunday, looking into her younger sister's clear eyes, she recounted what had happened afterward:
"Shortly after you left, it fell down in front of your window."
"... I guessed it." The Robin's shoulders trembled almost imperceptibly, and she lowered her eyes. "Otherwise, my brother would never have kept its whereabouts a secret."
"Although the ending is regrettable, I still firmly believe that this choice was right. Birds don't hatch to spend their entire lives in cages... Even if they are unable to fly, the sky is their home."
"But that's the problem. If some fledglings in this world never learn to fly, how can we say that the sky is their destiny?"
The Robin fell silent, and the night seemed to freeze in that moment.
After a long silence, she raised her eyes and looked directly into Sunday's eyes. "You mean... humans are the same?"
"Think of the Astral Express; it's a perfect example," Sunday said calmly.
" The Nameless has made tremendous efforts to connect all realms, earning him worldwide acclaim... However, only a handful of people, and certainly no ordinary individuals, can persevere through such a arduous journey."
"Because the cause of [ Trailblaze ] is not something that ordinary people can undertake," Sunday said gently, drawing a conclusion.
"Otherwise, how could this Path have ended up with the silver tracks broken, the train abandoned, and the Aeon fallen?"
"Fallacy."
The Robin stepped forward, its voice clear and bright, refuting the absurd conclusion that Sunday was the day.
"If we follow this logic, wouldn't the future become the privilege of heroes?"
"Unfortunately, this is reality. The alias for the [future]... is [self-worth]."
Sunday recounts it, as if reciting a classic text.
"Heroes certainly exist in this world, and people admire and praise them, but the vast majority of ordinary people will never become heroes in their lifetime."
Some are born weak and helpless, some are trapped by misfortune, and some succumb to baseness and cowardice. In the face of survival, they are all equal, and can only watch as their value is constantly plundered by external forces.
"Therefore we should show care and concern for the weak, and provide them with ample assistance, as if they were our own... [ The Charmony Ode ] has always taught us this."
"While the ambition of [ Harmony ] is certainly lofty, even in this carefree dream, the strong remain strong, and the weak grow weaker..."
Sunday shook her head slightly, "... That's human nature. It certainly has a great side, but it also has a weakness that can never be eliminated."
Ultimately, if people cannot even guarantee their survival, let alone that Nihility future of equality. As long as the law of natural selection exists in the world... there will inevitably be fledglings falling to the ground.
"If people don't live for the future, are they just living for the sake of living?"
The Robin's voice rose slightly, a hint of doubt in its voice. "If Harmony cannot save the weak from their plight, then which Aeon can fulfill their ideals?"
In an instant, that eerie and mocking voice boomed like a ghost in the Robin's ears.
[ Aha! Of course, it's the omnipotent [ Eternity ]!]
People often forget that when the first bird took to the skies, the world's expectation of it was... that from then on, no fledgling would ever fall to its death.
On Sunday, he turned his head, his sharp gaze piercing the noisy crowd not far away, and then looking at the Robin.
" Robin, I know what you're trying to say... [ The Church of Eternity ], right?"
"Exactly." The Robin did not avoid his gaze, its eyes gleaming.
"At Dreamflux Reef, Mr. Blake revealed to me another possible path. He showed me..."
Sunday interrupted her, a complex smile playing on her lips. "A vision without aging, without disease, even without separation? These problems seem to be solved effortlessly thanks to the power of the [ Emanator ]?"
"However, even for that symbol Eternity Permanence, where are the boundaries of its power? Can that deity truly bear all? Can it weave a net to catch every falling leaf?"
"Or is it... that this so-called ' Eternity ' is nothing more than another, more magnificent, and more secretive prison?"