[Comprehensive] Goodbye, Asuna

Chapter 10 If You Live Among the Tombstones

sicily.

Asuna got into the carriage and said to the coachman, "XX Manor."

As soon as she came back, Asuna went straight to Elena's manor. After several months of travelling, Asuna missed Elena very much.Some miss Elena's lake-like blue eyes.She wanted to tell Elena what she had seen and heard, and she wanted to share some interesting local products with her, and then try to cook for Elena—she had never cooked for Elena herself.

I also want to hear if anything interesting happened here with Elena.

"Where are you going?" The coachman was a young man with a mustache on his lips. He was a little restrained when facing the beautiful women from other places. "I mean, miss, are you sure you want to go there?"

Asuna smiled: "I have friends there. Please hurry up."

The coachman nodded and waved his whip. The whip cracked in the air, and the black horse neighed and ran with the carriage.

Asuna opened the curtains of the car, and the cool smell of Sicily blew in. Asuna took a deep breath and looked towards the city where Elena was.Familiar stone roads, familiar small shops, familiar flowers and plants.

"Is this your first time here, miss?" the coachman chatted.

"It's the second time." Asuna said, "Every time I look at it, I have a different mood."

The first time I opened my eyes and saw it, I was at a loss, even a little scared in my heart; but the second time, it was returning, where Elena was, where my friends were.

The coachman smiled: "I walk around the streets every day, but I don't feel any new changes."

"There will be big changes, soon." Asuna said, imagining Elena sitting on the throne with a golden crown on her head, "By then, I will live here for a long, long time."

With a long hiss, the horse raised its front hooves and was stopped by the driver, who yelled, "Stop!"

Asuna poked her head out of the car window and looked forward, a white daisy petals fell on her head, and another one flew over to kiss her cheek like a butterfly - all white horses without hair, pulling A gorgeous hearse decorated with a large number of white daisies came towards me, followed by a long line of mourners in black robes with solemn expressions.

The coachman stopped the carriage to the side of the road, gave way to the hearse, and said to Asuna, "Someone must have passed away. I heard that it was another young and beautiful noble woman."

"Again?" Asuna looked at the hearse in amazement, and sighed that even the nobleman's funeral was so gorgeous and extravagant.

"A few days ago it was a young lady who was said to have been stabbed to death. I heard," the coachman lowered his voice and moved his eyes from Asuna's chestnut-colored hair to her delicate oriental contoured cheeks, "Listen She said she was a beautiful woman from Japan. I wonder if you know her?"

Asuna shrugged and said, "It has nothing to do with me." She watched the hearse slowly pass by, black and white tones filled her field of vision for a while, and even the sky became bleak.Asuna simply closed her eyes, rested her eyes, and waited quietly for the carriage to continue driving.

After a while, the coachman stopped the carriage and called out to Asuna cautiously, "Miss, we are here."

"Here?" Asuna got out of the carriage, her feet finally stepped on the solid ground, she was slightly taken aback when she saw the scene outside, "Where is this? Where did you take me?" Asuna Frowning slightly, she remembered that some people in Sicily would do this kind of murder and robbery, dragging foreigners to inaccessible places, robbing their luggage, and destroying their bodies.Asuna looked at the coachman displeased.

A piece of ashes covered the ground, the land that had been licked by the ruthless fire, and the gray sky, pressed down heavily on her, making her feel as if she had climbed a high-altitude mountain.

The coachman had a strange smile on his face, and the curled mustache on his lips curled up strangely: "This is the manor of Princess Elena, do you want me to take you to see that princess?"

Asuna felt a chill in the back of her head, and immediately knew that it was the muzzle of a pistol.She slowly raised her hands, indicating that she would not resist, and asked, "Who are you!?"

"It's the one who ended up with you." Mustache grinned grimly and pulled the trigger.

There was a sound of "pound", and blood splattered everywhere.Not feeling the impact, Asuna turned her head and saw the mustache with blood spurting from the back of his head falling down with his eyes wide open, and then revealing Giotto holding a gun with one hand and squinting his eyes to aim.

"You're too careless." Giotto came over and kicked the corpse with the toe of his leather boots, making sure that he was dead. "Since you're back, maybe you should say hello to Pengo Lie. You know, on this land, We're still surrounded by wolves."

Asuna nodded to Giotto: "Even if I don't tell you, Giotto, you will know that I'm here." Asuna glanced at the white bouquet he was holding in his other hand, and smiled, "You still have flowers?"

Giotto's body stiffened, and he hid the bouquet behind his back: "It's not for you. But don't take your life seriously."

"I won't die so easily."

Giotto shook his head: "At least death is never caught off guard."

"If it's not for me, then who is it for? Could it be..." Her smile froze suddenly, and she took a deep look at Giotto, then looked around again.A flash of lightning struck her brain suddenly, and something became clear in an instant, as if the mist had been lifted, and the tornado of white daisies descended from the sky, wrapping her in it like a cocoon, unable to breathe, and like a white daisy. The razor blade cut on his body, and half of his body was numb.She said: "You didn't even know that I was here, what you came here to see..."

She turned around abruptly, and strode towards the ruins. The ruins were covered with ashes, and the original shape could not be seen at all, and it was impossible to tell whether this was a gorgeous palace or a low old private house.

Giotto's expression changed, and he yelled at Asuna, "Asuna, where are you going?"

He followed.

Asuna's white knight attire was dazzling against the black background, and she paced in the ashes with graceful dance-like steps.

"This is the garden, and there is a blue rosebud. Before I left, Elena showed it to me;" Asuna moved forward, her boots kicked a piece of black rubble, "This is her tea room, there are always flowers in the vase. There is a bouquet of white roses inserted;" Asuna turned her toes slightly, and turned her body slightly, facing another direction; "Over there is the stable, and there is Elena's favorite red filly..."

Asuna counted, Giotto was silent.

She raised her head, her eyes were sharp, and her voice was sharp: "Everything is here, so where is Elena?"

"Asuna..."

##

Death is never caught off guard.Asuna couldn't imagine the day when Elena would die, nor could she imagine herself standing in front of Elena's tombstone.

She stood in the cemetery, the fresh grave soil was still dark at night because of the humidity, emitting a faint earthy aroma.Even though she participated in chasing the hearse, attended Elena's funeral, and even put a handful of earth there herself, Asuna couldn't connect it with reality.

"Giotto, I wouldn't be surprised if Elena jumped out and hugged me and said it was a big lie she told. Elena always does this kind of thing, aren't you right?"

"Asuna, I know, this is hard to accept, but..." Giotto was sad.

"I can't believe it."

"It's cold here at night, remember to go back."

She could only feel that the Elena in the tombstone was not the same person as her own Elena. They might have the same appearance and the same name, but they were not the same person.This Elena turned into a tombstone, and her own Elena is still in her manor, with a white golden-eyed cat sleeping on her lap, who can turn the clouds and rain lightly, and when she sees herself coming, she will raise her head and show a soft smile, Casual and gentle: "Asuna, are you back?" It seemed that she had been waiting for her return.

But where do you want to go back?She wanted to go back to Elena's manor, but it was already in ruins. She wanted to go back to Elena's side, but she couldn't be found.She used to think that she could see her smile as long as she turned around, but now, there is nothing.Without Elena, she would have nowhere to go.

Giotto lowered his head, he looked a lot haggard: "We are too arrogant, we are facing a bigger monster than we imagined, we didn't see it, it's not that they don't exist, they are always hiding in the shadows Medium. It is my responsibility to fail to protect her."

Asuna hung her head, motionless, like a sleeping egret, or like a lily blown by the wind.

"I will let people guard this place so that no one will disturb you. You can stay as long as you want. Please don't be too sad, we still have tough battles to fight." Giotto sighed, turned and left.

After an unknown amount of time, Asuna woke up suddenly from her stupor, looked at the dark sky, and the gorgeous tombstone surrounded by white daisies, and found that everything was so strange, whether it was the sky, the land, or the flowers, Be it the words on the tombstone or the portraits on it, everything was distorted into unfamiliar points, lines, and planes, and they were stained with greasy, harsh colors, making them look disgusting.

"Over there... please help me..." The clear and pleasant Japanese sounded like a heavy hammer breaking ice, shattering all illusions.

Asuna turned around abruptly: "Eleena?" In this place, except for Elena, she didn't know anyone else who could speak Japanese.

"No, no, no, I'm not Elena." The woman's Japanese is fluent and comfortable, it is definitely the first language, and it is absolutely different from Elena's Japanese with a native accent. stretched out his hand towards Asuna.

Asuna took a step back, and suddenly found that the woman's lower body was in the slightly raised graveyard in the cemetery next to Elena's. Her left hand was propped on the ground, and her long blood-red nails were deeply gripping the outside of the tomb bag. The long, thick jet-black hair concealed her face.Asuna felt that it would not be surprising for her to raise her head at any time to reveal her rotten cheeks, blood-red eyes, and fangs embedded with shredded meat.

"Aren't you a zombie?" Asuna tried to ask.

Asuna, who never dared to watch horror movies, did not feel creepy in the cool and dark cemetery.Instead, an absurd hope subtly rose in her heart, and she couldn't help casting her gaze at Elena's grave, as if she couldn't help but expect that she would crawl out of it too.

"Hey! Give me a hand! I'm stuck!" the woman screamed, and began to urge her life, "It hurts! Hurry up, hurry up!!!!"