Advent

"Alan? I can't... can't I hug Alan? I'm sorry, I don't want to do this, I just have some fear..."

After being pushed away by Alan, Raymond opened his eyes wide and looked at Alan innocently with a deceptively clear look.

If the previous abnormality can be ignored, Raymond can be described as very pitiful now.

Allen's breathing was short, and he stared blankly at Raymond, that feeling of confusion and daze swept over him again.

is real?Or hallucination?

Is the soft and moist touch I felt just now an illusion?Or is it that my delusions have become more serious again?

Allen kept asking himself in his heart.

But no matter how much I ask myself, the answer always seems illusory.

It took Alan longer than he had imagined to calm down.

"Feel sorry…….

He forcibly suppressed the strong uneasiness in his heart, and then said to Raymond dryly.

"I'm just nervous, I mean, I'm not hating you, I'm just—"

I just feel a little scared.

This sentence was forcibly swallowed back by Allen.

"I, I know."

After Raymond stared blankly at Allen for a while, he lowered his head sullenly, and responded somewhat dejectedly.

Obviously his kisses and desires were so mellow and strong a few minutes ago, with aggression and tyranny that cannot be ignored, but once Alan showed such a little resistance to him, he would become like a child in an instant So weak and pitiful.

If it was in the usual way, when Alan saw Raymond like this, he would have been unable to control his affection for him now.

But I don't know why Alan didn't have such tenderness tonight.

He always felt a little restless, and even secretly thanked Raymond for being so keenly aware of his emotions, and then consciously distanced himself from him

Is it an illusion——

He said to himself over and over again in his heart.

But Allen always felt numb and itchy on his back, as if he had really been tightly bound by the flexible tentacles of some huge and terrifying creature.

"..."

And the ambiguity and sweetness that lingered between Allen and Raymond not long ago seemed to be hallucinations. The relationship between Allen and Raymond was a bit strange throughout the next night.

Should it be tight?Or... estrangement?

Allen certainly didn't like this, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Probably because of this situation, when he fell asleep that night, he began to have nightmares after a long absence.

No, talking about nightmares doesn't seem too sure...

Because this dream has actually been done by Alan many, many times.

Void, pitch black, himself floating in mid-air, and the silver creature following his singing..."He".

But unlike usual, this time Allen's dream was not as smooth and comfortable as before.

This is not who I used to be.

Allen realized this the first moment he entered the dream.

He looked at himself with invisible eyes.

This night's dream began farther back, farther back.

Allen could feel the power flowing and filling in his body, and finally it turned into silver radiance and diffused around.

His singing voice was louder and clearer than any previous dream.

Nor does "He" appear to have been called upon after a long journey.

uh yes...

Swaying around him like a jellyfish or a cloud of smoke, the floating "He" also looks younger, more ferocious, and more ignorant than in the previous dream.

The only thing that remains constant is the love that flows from "Him" to Allen.

Allen was in a trance.

Human self-awareness always appears thin and ethereal in dreams.After feeling the love of "His", "Alan" could not help responding to "His" love and sang spontaneously.

Everything is so familiar, as if repeated thousands of times in the past.But soon Allen realized the change—I don't know when, those fine dust illuminated by the silver light, those small stones that gathered into clusters had an extremely small noisy sound.

That is life.

Allen could feel a surge of joy in his heart.

It's just that the consciousness and power possessed by this life born of brilliance are so fragile.

They are as small as fine meteorites, and they seem to be completely annihilated at any time.

Even if the dust of "His" brushes over those lives, they will die in large numbers.

For the first time in his life, instead of projecting all of his will on his partner, Allen cast a glimpse of himself on the tiny, strange beings.

They were so fragile, so fragile that "Alan" felt a moment of sadness.

But at the same time, such a fragile and small life is so cute.

Although they are as small as dust, "Alan" will not mistake the attachment and love they project to himself.

How long has it been since they appeared...?

The passage of time in the dream is always in a trance...

It seems that in the blink of an eye, the life that appeared because of the silver light became more and more prosperous.They want to get closer to "Alan" all the time, however, these sudden existences have aroused "His" dissatisfaction.

Oh, but if it's "He"...

Even this dissatisfaction is so joyous, so fascinating.

"Alan" finds it funny.

When he realized that his family members, those tiny lives, were constantly dying out because of the existence of "His", "Alan" changed his singing with a thought.

Because they were too weak, "Alan" gave them strength and wisdom through singing.

Because the existence of "His" itself would harm these tiny lives, "Allen" gave them poisonous powder that can prevent death and injury, and...

And a song that came from deep within his own core.

With the scattering of part of the melody, "Alan" can feel that his power is gradually dissipating, but those tiny creatures who are loved and merciful by him gradually become distorted and crazy because of that rhythm.

……

Allen watched helplessly as his beloved soul gradually transformed into a giant bird.

It was a giant pitch-black bird that could always cover the stars.And it spread its wings towards Allen.

That was the moment when "He" fell asleep, just a moment...

Inside the giant bird's wings is endless void and decay, and its pupils are burning with flames from the abyss and nothingness.

The wings covered Allen.

And from the black bird's throat, came the ancient melody that "Alan" bestowed on them.

The melody was originally "Alan" itself, but the existence of the giant bird made every note absurd and distorted.

Gradually... gradually...

Those ancient melodies turned into chains and fiery ropes, trapping Alan's invisible light and shape bit by bit.

……

"no no……"

Allen woke up in horror with a painful groan.

After opening his eyes, all Allen could see was a room of darkness.

The emptiness, despair and silence under the wings of the giant bird in the nightmare still remained in Alan's mind.

And the darkness after waking up made him sweat even more.For a moment, just the darkness itself made Allen feel his stomach twisted together.

The feeling of being swallowed up by nothingness and darkness is too bad.

But then Allen remembered that Calvin had already reminded them when he brought them here-unlike the circular area, the central axis area needs to save energy as much as possible. "Luxury" regional offices and living rooms will also be cut off from power.It is impossible to install lights that turn on when people wake up, let alone those seemingly ordinary automatic adjustment systems.

The darkness is just to save energy. When reason gradually returned to the body, Allen was relieved.

Only he could still hear the faint, distant call.

"Chirp..."

A low, gentle, small chirping sound...

It seems that some very fragile life is making small sounds deep in the trees.Just like in his nightmare, the cry of the little life born around the silver star in ancient times due to the light shining on it was exactly the same.

Allen's body tensed up again.

At the same time as hearing that voice, the dream remaining in my mind completely overlapped with reality.

No, no, just an illusion.

Must be just an illusion.

Allen said to himself in his heart.

He shivered, but his breathing became heavier.

"Choo Choo Choo……"

But the cry is still there, and it becomes more and more distinct, and it also affects people's hearts more and more.

Allen struggled for a long time before he had to admit that the mellow, bird-like cry that echoed in his ears did not seem to come from his nightmare.

That wasn't my hallucination either.

That voice was too real, as if...

It was as if the "thing" that made the sound was just outside his room.

"Ellen?"

Everything in Allen's consciousness is so heavy and slow, but in reality, it has only been a moment since he woke up from the nightmare.

Almost at the same time that Allen jumped up from the bed, Raymond also opened his eyes silently on the blanket beside the bed.

Raymond sat up quickly.And at the same moment, in addition to the eyes belonging to "Raymond", countless eyes hidden in the gaps and metal structures, as well as the receptors embedded in the tentacles, also looked straight at Allen at the same time.

Thanks to the darkness, Allen didn't notice Raymond's suddenly tense face at this moment.

"Raymond? I'm sorry, did I wake you up? I just thought, something was calling outside..."

Hearing the familiar voice sounding in the darkness, Alan breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously.

He turned his head and said to Raymond through the darkness.

Because of the nightmare, there was a hint of hoarseness in his tone, mixed with confusion and panic that had not yet faded away.

It makes him look a little vulnerable.

A naga emperor who hid his identity felt an indescribable rush in his chest.

It's just that, before he lost his composure, Allen had already stood up, and he found the switch with some difficulty.

The lights came on.

Allen turned his head, just in time to see Raymond who still seemed to be a little sleepy.

Although the light was not very bright, after the light came, Allen felt that his senses seemed to wake up all of a sudden.

In this case, the small voice from outside the door became more and more obvious, and now Allen could be sure anyway.

Yes, that is not an illusion.

Outside his door, there really was a "thing" that was making strange calls.

"I have to go check it out."

Allen frowned.He said decisively.

"Ellen, wait—"

Raymond jumped up, rubbing his eyes.

Compared with Alan, he seemed to be a little confused about the situation - well, this is a rare true expression of Emperor Bai.

Under normal circumstances, Emperor Bai should have woken up long ago.After all, he was born to be the kind of creature who controls everything around him within his core all the time.

But tonight turned out to be a rare exception.

He had a nightmare.

In the dream, he closed his eyes beside a young and bright silver star, and then fell into eternal despair and distortion, never to wake up again.

And what nailed him firmly in that illusory dream was a strange and terrifying cry.

When Emperor Bai woke up, he was surprised to realize that something very disgusting had come outside the door without his knowing.

During the conversation between Raymond and Allen, several ferocious tentacles slowly snaked down from the gap in the ceiling of the corridor outside the regional office door——

At the same time, Allen smiled reassuringly at Raymond, and then he drew a weapon and held it in his hand.

"Don't be afraid, I don't think... that thing is dangerous."

Allen murmured, his tone was a certainty that he himself hadn't realized.

"But, it's just too unsafe."

Raymond muttered, trying to keep Allen in the room.

"I need to see the situation."

Allen patted Raymond's head indifferently.

He didn't know that in his words, the tentacles outside the metal door were slowly falling... Then, they suddenly became soft and squishy in some kind of scale powder invisible to the naked eye, and finally turned into drops of viscous liquid.

"Ellen—uh—"

Raymond swallowed a muffled groan.

And at this moment, Allen had come to the door very cautiously.

The sound came from outside the door of the regional office.

"who is it?"

Allen took a deep breath and asked vigilantly towards the door.

No one answered him.

It's just that the continuous... sound like a bird has become more and more melodious and miserable.

Allen frowned even tighter.

Is it an illusion?

Why did he feel that this voice was somewhat familiar.

Allen clenched the weapon in his hand, and after taking a deep breath, he suddenly pushed open the metal door.

A weak, thin, pale boy just appeared in front of his eyes.

"……It's you?"

Alan looked at the little guy who appeared in the corridor in shock, his eyes widened.

He still remembered the child, the strange child who had hugged him in the hallway during the day, the child of the Outlanders.Although the opponent's hands and feet had sharp claws that were obviously different from ordinary people, they didn't look as harmless as ordinary human children.

But for some reason, he always looked very fragile and pitiful in front of Allen.

This is still a cub through and through.

And most importantly...

After opening the door, the child's eyes remained closed.It wasn't until Allen spoke that the boy seemed to be awakened by something.He opened his eyes in a daze, and at the same time, the strange cry that kept coming out of his throat stopped instantly, and changed into a panicked chirping sound.

He obviously didn't fully wake up until this time, and he was taken aback by himself.

"Chirp... chirp...??"

He called out hastily.

The young child looked around for a long time, and after noticing the unfamiliar environment around him, he stepped back several steps.

Out of intuition, Allen always felt that the little boy seemed to be calling his relatives, but no one around the boy would respond to his call except Allen.

"Chirp—"

The voice faded.

There was still no expression on the little boy's face.

But Allen could still feel that the boy was becoming more and more flustered.

"Did you sing at my door just now? Shouldn't you be with your parents... It's night time."

Allen looked at the child in front of him in bewilderment, and he looked at his bracelet again, making sure that he did not mistake the time.

According to common sense, it should be the middle of the night in human cognition.

But a skinny little boy with no clothes on appeared outside his room. .

Moreover, this little boy didn't understand his language, his mouth was full of chirping like a bird, and he couldn't even speak a word of human lingua franca.

Allen had never dealt with this kind of thing in his life, probably because of this, he was actually a little panicked.

"I think... Calvin seems to call you... Belian, right? Belian, this is your name..."

Allen racked his brains to recall how Calvin had called the little boy before.

Thank goodness he remembered correctly.

Because the moment he called out that name, the little boy's pure and dark, even somewhat frightening pupils slowly emerged thin tears.

Then he suddenly rushed towards Allen, his thin hands tightly hugging Allen's thigh.

The scene of deja vu made Allen froze in astonishment, but immediately after, his face gradually relaxed.

"...You must be sleepwalking. Poor child!"

Thinking of how the boy's eyes were closed before, Allen couldn't help guessing.

"Even you don't know how you got here, do you?"

The boy didn't say anything, he just looked at Alan blankly, then lowered his head shyly, and put his face against Alan's legs.

Allen didn't hate the boy. When the other party hugged him, he seemed a little stiff because he didn't adapt, but then Allen held the boy in his arms jerkyly, and walked into the house.

"I think we've got a little trouble..."

Allen said to Raymond with a hint of helplessness.

"..."

But Allen didn't get a timely response.

"Raymond?"

Looking up to the wall, Allen realized that Raymond's face was tense, and he was staring at him viciously with a particularly disgusting gaze—no, it should be staring at Belian in his arms.

"Calm down, it's just a kid."

Allen

Startled by the ferocity and hatred that flashed in Raymond's eyes, he couldn't help calling out to him.

The second after his voice fell, like an illusion, the hatred and viciousness on Raymond's face disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"Alan, what is this?"

Raymond asked word by word.

...Sure enough, he was still very angry.

Allen sighed secretly.

Then he shrugged.

"...It's the child of those people from outside the territory. If you guessed correctly, this child probably sleepwalked, and somehow came to our door."

Allen was a little confused as he spoke.

After all, the environment here is special. No matter how you think about it, a downright alien child came to the door of the new inspector's living room because of sleepwalking.

This is a bit too coincidental, so coincidental that it seems to be some kind of conspiracy.

"Contact Calvin and tell him to come, that guy must know where the child's parents are..."

Allen sighed, holding Belian while talking, and walked a few steps in Raymond's direction.

But what Allen didn't expect was that Belian had been quietly burying his head in his arms and looked cute, but when he raised his head and met Raymond's gaze, he was cute and cute at first. The child who was like a bird let out a terrible scream in an instant, and then began to cry loudly.

"Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo to-"

The chirp, which was quite nice before, turned into a scream that pierced the eardrum in an instant.

Allen was taken aback by Belrian's horrific reaction.He subconsciously hugged Belian tightly, and then took several steps back.

It wasn't until after a distance from Raymond that Bellian's crying gradually stopped.

But as long as he sees Raymond, this young child who doesn't understand the language, he will scream and cry again.

Allen was at a loss for a moment, and was at a loss.

And Alpha standing opposite him seemed to be similar to him.

"..."

Well, in reality, Raymond was even more dazed than he made it out to be.

After all, the main human experience has always come from the real "Raymond", and as a real stupid and arrogant Alpha, "Raymond" has no memory of human (or semi-human) cubs Behavior.

And now the cub sitting in Alan's arms is so perfect in crying and acting like a baby... so much so that Raymond, who had already planned how to deal with it in his heart, was also there. He froze in place amidst a piercing whimper.

He had to use all his strength to control himself, so as not to show his hideous original shape in front of Allen.

"Ellen..."

Raymond gritted his teeth and called his lover, but Allen focused all his attention on the child in his arms at this time.

"Raymond... well, I think he remembers the day, you strangled him earlier, remember? That's why he's so afraid of you."

Allen said to Raymond with a wry smile.

Raymond: "..."

"...Can you contact Calvin? I think he will help solve this trouble."

Although he said Belian was "troublesome", Allen's tone was unusually gentle.

"it is good--"

It took Raymond a long time before he said sullenly.

Of course, Allen never missed the unconcealable dissatisfaction and hatred on the Alpha's face.He couldn't help feeling guilty about Raymond.

Belian, however, was just a tiny cub.No matter what the reason is, it is impossible for Allen to ignore him.

After distanced himself from Raymond, Bellian's cries finally became quieter, but Alan could still feel the boy's uneasiness through that thin body.

How amazing, he couldn't help thinking.

He always felt that there was a wonderful connection between himself and this little boy... as if all the other party's emotions and thoughts could be completely conveyed to him

The little boy's low sobs like birdsong made him feel an uncontrollable love.

"Okay, okay, don't cry, we are already looking for your parents, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you..."

Allen reached out and patted Belian's back gently.

When he met him, Allen couldn't help being taken aback.

He had never imagined that he would meet such a scrawny little boy, like one of the never-fed migrant children on earth.Moreover, after hearing his instructions, Belian seemed to really understand Alan's human language.

He bit his lip, trying to suppress his sobs.

Still, the young children were clearly very frightened.

Alan didn't know if the day's events had caused him great irritation. Even though he bit his lips hard, small sobs kept gushing out of the boy's throat.

"Don't be afraid..."

Allen sighed.

For some reason, he suddenly thought of how his mother comforted him when he was young.

Let's sing a song - when this thought came up, Allen found a soft singing voice gushing from his throat.

That was a song my mother sang to herself a long time ago.

"In a little star... lived a beautiful little prince..."

"The little bird brought roses to the prince..."

"And the prince gave it his own crown."

……

Just as Allen expected, the moment he heard the singing, the little boy's body instantly relaxed. He raised his head, his dark eyes, and looked directly at Allen.

"Choo Choo Choo……"

In the middle of singing, Allen suddenly heard a soft and small voice.

It is the boy who is singing.

Although the language was completely different, Allen knew that it was Belian echoing his singing.

And the most amazing thing is that even with such a strange pronunciation and such a strange melody, the boy's singing voice is perfectly integrated with his singing voice.

The originally ordinary nursery rhymes also become extraordinarily beautiful and light at this moment.

It's as wonderful as a dream under the moon.