Chapter 194. A Choice to be Made
In the dark stairwell, Charles slightly stumbled as he charged downward with his crew trailing behind him. A look of anxiety with a trace of urgency was etched onto his face.
Click!
The sound of someone disengaging the safety of a firearm echoed, and a gun barrel peeked out from below the stairs. Charles immediately halted in his tracks.
The group below had their eyes on him, and their gazes were overflowing with potent hostility. If Charles took just one more step, they would pull the trigger.
The Charles with a vertical scar glared at his doppelganger and warned in a stern tone. "I don't care whether you are some derivative replica from 1344 or another Charles from a parallel timeline. This is my world; please return to yours."
Panting between breaths, Charles held up his hands as a sign of his non-aggression. "I only have one question. I'll leave immediately after."
Charles placed Lily on his palm and displayed her toward the Scarred Charles. "Have you ever seen a talking mouse like her?"
Scarred Charles slowly shook his head. "No."
"Okay. Audric, give me the paper and pen on you," Charles instructed.
Accepting the paper and pen from the vampire, Charles held the paper against the adjacent wall. But as soon as he placed the pen tip on the paper, his hand paused briefly. He cast a glance at Lily perched on his shoulder, and with newfound resolve, he swiftly started sketching.
Dipp cast wary gazes at Scarred Charles, who was on the lower flight of stairs and whispered to Charles, "Captain, if you want to draw, let's do it when we're back on the ship. It's dangerous here."
"Quiet!"
With a serious look, Charles quickly finished his drawing, crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it toward Scarred Charles.
Scarred Charles uncrumpled the paper, and a mix of confusion and surprise fleeted across his face when he looked at the sketch. It was a simple sketch of a cute little girl.
"Have you ever seen this girl at the Coral Archipelago?" Charles asked, his voice tainted with nervousness.
Scarred Charles studied the drawing for a brief moment before handing it to his crew members to have a look. Finally, it was James who managed to provide some information. However, his impaired intelligence had reduced his sentence phrasing to that of a child, but his words were still understandable.
"Seen her. A madman gave a photo of her at Mossica's shop. He said he was looking for his daughter. He stopped later. Someone said she fell into the sea."
Upon hearing James' words, Charles' pupils contracted ever so slightly. This was the crucial piece of the puzzle. Everything finally made sense.
Bringing Lily up to his eye level, he gazed into her large eyes and asked, "Do you want to go home?"
Lily tilted her tiny head to the side and responded, "Of course. But there's already a Lily in my home."
Charles shook his head. "That Lily is real, but you are the Lily from their world."
Lily turned around slowly, and her gaze settled on Scarred Charles on the lower flight of stairs.
With a trembling voice, she asked softly, "I'm the Lily from their world?"
Charles nodded affirmatively. This would explain why the Narwhale from Scarred Charles' world didn't have a Lily. Their Lily had come to his world and became the gunner for his Narwhale.
The Lily he had encountered on the Coral Archipelago was the real Lily in his world, while the mouse Lily had come from a parallel world.
A hint of skepticism glimmered in Scarred Charles' eyes. He had no idea about the intentions of the other him, and neither could he comprehend the words he was spouting.
Lily's tiny paws balled into fists, and hesitation and turmoil were evident on her face. "Mr. Charles, what... what should I do now?"
Charles took a deep breath and stared at her with a calm gaze. He then gently said, "It's your decision. I respect your choice. If you want to go home, then go with them. Your parents are waiting for you on the other side. Follow them, and you'll be able to go home."
As soon as the words left his lips, a shadow of envy roused in Charles' heart.
Lily lowered her head, and her face was etched with confusion. The sudden revelation was beyond her expectations and left her uncertain about her next move.
"Then... If I go back, will I still be able to see you, Mr. Charles?" Lily asked.
Charles shook his head. "If you really decide to go back, don't come back here anymore. DE1344 is very dangerous. Try to stay away."
"But Mr. Charles....I can't bear to leave you," Lily clutched Charles' finger as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.
"Don't cry. There's a Charles on the other side, too," Charles comforted her.
"That's not the same...."
"Hey! What exactly are you trying to pull?" Scarred Charles called out, his voice tainted with impatience.
Charles placed Lily in the middle of the flight of stairs and retreated to give her space.
In the dimly lit stairwell, two sets of people, mirror images of one another, positioned themselves above and below. Between them, a neon-green mouse took center stage. The scene seemed to echo those famous paintings that utilized symmetry.
Dozens of gazes bore into Lily. The weight of their stares felt like mountains pressing down on her toes. To choose one side meant to lose the other.
After what felt like an eternity of suffocating silence, Lily took a hesitant step before breaking out into a spring toward Scarred Charles.
Watching her, a pang of inexplicable loss tugged at Charles' heart. However, this was Lily's decision to make. He didn't want to interfere because she was a comrade, and he should be happy that she could now return home.
"Let's go," Charles said as he turned around and led his crew up the stairs.
"Captain, is it really okay to leave Lily with them?" Dipp voiced his concern.
"It's fine," Charles assured Dipp. "Because that's me, and I know myself. I might not trust another version of myself, but I would never harm a small mouse. If I had the heart to bring Lily out from Laboratory 3, then the other me would surely take her back to the Coral Archipelago."
Scattered footsteps echoed through the space as Charles and his crew made their way back to the eleventh floor. They passed through the vast and unsettling empty hallway and headed back toward their world.
Standing at the entrance of their world's stairwell, Charles cast a lingering glance at the doorway across from him. Memories of his times with Lily flashed through his mind.
"I'm Lily. What's your name?"
"Mr. Charles, you're back! Here, try this new dish I made!
"Mr. Charles, where have you been these past three years? I missed you so much!"
"Mr. Charles, can I sleep with you tonight?"
Gazing at the dark exit toward the other world, a sigh escaped Charles' lips. "Let's go."
A former comrade had left just like that, and a tinge of melancholy etched onto everyone's faces. Enveloped in a somber mood, the group silently made their way out of the mountain, passed through the island's buildings and arrived before their ship, the Narwhale.
A swarm of mice surrounded Charles, squeaking continuously. Their sounds conveyed a clear sense of anxiety.
Just as Charles was pondering how to explain Lily's absence, his sharp hearing picked up a faint sound—the pattering of mouse paws against the ground.
Charles turned around and saw a speck of neon green speeding toward them from the distance.
It was Lily, and her face was drenched in tears.
The neon green mouse dashed toward Charles and then leaped up into Charles' arms. Nestling herself in his embrace, she rubbed her face against his inner shirt. "Mr. Charles, I can't bear to leave you! I really can't!"
"Don't you miss your parents? Why did you return?"
"Because I'm a mouse now," Lily responded between sobs. "If I returned like this, Daddy and Mommy would be even sadder. I... I plan to go back after I can return to my human form," Lily forced out a slightly clumsy excuse.
Holding Lily tenderly in his hand, Charles' lips curved up into a gentle smile. He lovingly stroked her head and said, "Alright. Stay as my gunner for the time being, then. The Narwhale needs you, and I need you, too."
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