In the palace at dusk, the corridors are deep and long, the halls are wide and empty, and whispers from unknown sources echo lowly behind each door, as if countless invisible guests are gathering in this ancient and illusory palace. In the palace, while they continued their never-ending banquet, they looked at the visitors who entered the palace with malice.
The footsteps of Rosetta Augustus sounded suddenly in the empty corridor.
The ruler of the Typhon Empire walked along the corridor that he had walked countless times, as if he did not hear the weird whispers coming from around him. His figure was there. The narrow windows that let out the dusk light cast shadows of varying lengths. After each shadow appeared, it trembled slightly as if coming to life, but gradually returned to calm despite the emperor's ignorance.
He came to the deepest room of the palace and came to the place where portraits of members of the Augustus family were hung.
A series of expressionless faces are embedded in the dark frames, staring at Rosetta Augustus with cold and cold eyes. Some of the images in the frames come alive, and The picture frames next to them were whispering to each other, emitting low mumbles that were not like human voices.
Without exception, those "alive" frames are all Augustus members in the past two hundred years. They were born and active Augustus members after the collapse of the old imperial capital and the curse. Stuers.
As for those who were active between seven hundred and two hundred years ago, they just stayed quietly in the frame, acting as cold portraits.
Rosetta is used to this.
The nightmare is the product of the curse, and it is also a reflection of the spiritual world of the cursed. It is based on the collapse of the old imperial capital two hundred years ago. Before the great collapse, the souls of the Augustus were free. Yes, nightmares can only project soulless illusions. After the Great Collapse, the Augustus were trapped in this dream world, becoming the source of many weirdnesses here, and making this nightmare world even more weird and dangerous.
Rosetta's eyes swept across the living portraits with a cold expression.
Those are his fathers and grandfathers, some of whom were the closest people to him in his childhood, and some of whom were the prototypes of the heroic stories he heard since childhood, but that was what happened during their lifetimes - now, they are just They are part of this weird dream palace and a part of this curse. For them, any expectation of family affection and humanity will lead to an early tragic ending. This is what generations of Augustus family members have summed up in their lives. lessons learned.
But as long as you maintain your own sanity and restrain your greedy and adventurous heart, the shadows in these nightmares will have another use.
In the paintings that come to life, Rosetta’s grandfather, the wise Emperor George Augustus, seems to have noticed something. His pale and withered face turns, and his eyes fall on Rosetta. On Tower Augustus, the low and strange grunt turned into a voice that humans could recognize: "Ah, look who is here...my dear grandson...you stillOkay? "
Another portrait next to him also became active and glanced at Rosetta: "He doesn't look very good. Look at how tired he is. It's not that easy to rule an empire. My child, you should learn to regulate your own state and not waste your life early. "
Several other portraits nearby immediately echoed.
Rosetta ignored these buzzing conversations and just said in an indifferent tone: "This palace appears. is becoming more frequent, what changes does it indicate? "
"So cold..." the portraits said one after another.
Rosetta just looked at them expressionlessly.
"You want to What changes? Is it closer to us? "Emperor George Augustus laughed hoarsely and lowly, "What a pity. Although we also want the day when our relatives can be reunited as soon as possible, you have always refused well. This nightmare is still far away from you... . "
"But other things are getting closer and closer to the real world you live in..." Another portrait next to it added.
"Other things? What? Rosetta frowned, "Any other 'divine heritage'?" "
"Then we don't know..." Marjorie Augustus, who was sitting next to George Augustus, muttered, "But it seems to be different from our situation... It is something similar in personality and power, but it is only similar. Perhaps it is precisely because of this 'similarity' that we are sensitive to it, and it also makes the curse on you more active. "
Listening to these vague words and thinking about the corresponding clues in the real world, Rosetta frowned tightly. At the same time, he also heard his father, Macho The voice of Augustus came again: "In short, you should be more careful recently. The real world you live in seems to be going through some changes. It may not be aimed at you, but its mere existence is enough to threaten you." you. ”
George Augustus also followed up and said: “We can’t provide you with real-world help here, but we will try our best to expand the induction and look for its clues, and at the same time, we will also help you in history.” Search for clues as deep as possible in your dreams and hallucinations, maybe... they can help you. ”
Rosetta raised her head and looked at her father and grandfather, at those older Augustus, watching them speak one after another, offering suggestions, and watching them fall into the excitement. During the discussion, he was making suggestions for himself, but he just maintained a cold expression and took two steps back.
Where he originally stood, the patterned stone bricks had already filled the air. There was a layer of ink, and countless tentacle-like wriggling things with little starlights squirmed and extended out of the ink, establishing connections with more shadows emerging from the surrounding air, dancing as if they wanted to catch something.
"I won't bother you to do more things," Rosetta said in a cold tone, "It's better to return to the dreamland.”
Those dark tentacles with a little starlight instantly accelerated their dancing speed, as if they were caught in a frenzy, while the portraits who had been talking to Rosetta gently a moment ago and enthusiastically provided help. They all stared at each other in an instant, their eyes turned red at the same time, their faces became ferocious at the same time, and each voice shouted loudly and with anger:
"Damn you! We want to help you so much! "
"We are full of good intentions, but you only have suspicion - you are destined to be an unkind and unjust tyrant, a fatuous king who has abandoned the teachings of his ancestors! "
"You will be spurned by your subjects. You will bring only corruption to this empire, and its path forward is only destruction! "
"Come back, go back to your family, go back to your father and grandfather, only we are your real family, see yourself clearly! ”
The scoldings became louder and louder, gradually mixed together, and gradually turned into muffled whispers and harsh screams that humans could not understand, but Rosetta Augustus just frowned and took a step Bu stepped back quickly, and more and more tentacles appeared in the air around him, seeming to be frantically trying to bind him to this place. However, those tentacles disintegrated on their own before they came into contact with Rosetta, turning into dissipated dust mist. , just like things in dreams cannot harm living people in the real world.
But Rosetta knew that as long as he had the slightest hesitation, the slightest weakness and the slightest compromise, all these would happen. The tentacles were not so "harmless"
He finally retreated to the door, out of reach of the portraits.
"I believe your help is sincere." But it would be better if you didn't want me to 'reunite' with you so much. ”
After leaving a sentence with a sarcastic face, he decisively left the room.
The door in the dream slammed shut, completely erasing the chaotic and crazy chatter in the room. Blocked on the other side of the door.
Rosetta walked along the corridor from which she came, towards the outer area of the palace.
There were pictures on the walls on both sides of the corridor. The hanging portraits also came to life, and the Augustus of the past two hundred years appeared on the portraits one by one, uttering various loud curses at Rosetta who passed through the corridor, or making drowsiness and irritation. The strange whispers, the dusk light coming from the window shook uneasily, as if the whole palace came to life and was full of anger.
But in the end, nothing could hurt Rosetta, who resolutely refused this nightmare. The Typhon ruler quickly left the most dangerous corridor and left the place where the portraits could be seen.
In the relatively "normal" long hall, those low and murmuring voices were everywhere at this moment. On the contrary, he seemed much more cordial and friendly.
In the depths of the palace, a vague sigh came into Rosetta's ears, and the sigh was filled with helplessness.
It is the sigh of the true owner of the palace that is the source of this curse.
For Rosetta, the best response to the owner of this voice is not to respond to him.
The dusk light from outside the palace shines into the long hall through the tall glass windows, casting light golden grilles in the hall. Compared with the previous moment, these lights are no longer shaking. .
Rosetta exhaled softly and prepared to leave the hall and return to the outer areas of the palace.
But suddenly, his footsteps stopped, and his eyes fell firmly on a certain door on the side of the long hall - the handle of that door turned once, and then was slowly pushed open. gap.
Rosetta's spirit became tense for a moment.
In this palace, every door represents varying degrees of danger, and those who take the initiative to open the door often have the most complete malice.
But this is not necessarily true. Sometimes the dreams of members of the Augustus family will be connected. At that time, what appears when the door is pushed open may be...
A person wearing a The figure wearing a complicated black palace dress, with her black hair hanging down smoothly and decorated with golden chains, opened the door and appeared in front of Rosetta Augustus.
The Typhonian ruler visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Father?" Matilda was obviously nervous for a moment when she saw the figure in the hall, but she breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that it was Rosetta's face - still alive. Members of the family will not become evil spirits in this palace. "You also... fell into a dream?"
"It seems that I fell into a dream at the same time as you," Rosetta said, although she relaxed a little , when facing his daughter, he still looked majestic, "It's already midnight here."
"I'm in the Cecil Imperial Capital, and I just fell asleep. It's still some time before midnight here," Mathil Da said, "Did you do something here? I just felt that this palace suddenly became... particularly restless."
"I went to the deepest part to ask some questions," Rosetta said briefly Said, "They should be very angry now."
"...Are you in danger?"
"Of course, there is no safety here."
Luo As soon as Seta finished speaking, a piercing scream suddenly came from the corridor leading to the deep area of the palace. The scream seemed to stir people's minds, making people feel dizzy for a moment, and also made the noise in the long hall... The whispers fell silent for a moment.
But soon, the screaming disappeared and everything returned to normal.
"...is your brother," after a few seconds of silence, Rosetta broke the silence and said, "He is the 'newest one' here, and his voice can occasionally penetrate the corridor. The barrier affects this side."
Matilda took a breath and couldn't help but whisper: "Brother..."
"He has left and become this palace. "Part of it," Rosetta said solemnly and earnestly, "Matilda, always remember, remember the boundaries between you and this palace, even if there is your brother, your grandfather, andYour uncle and aunt, you must also remember that they have left, they have become "them", they are malicious spirits here, and they are dangerous existences that always want to drag you into the deepest place.
"Only by keeping these in mind at all times can you be safe and live safely in some time in the future, after I also become a part of this palace."
Matilda lowered her head: "...I will remember it, Father."
The expression on Rosetta's face relaxed a little, and he nodded: "Since we met here, Then tell me about your experience.
“What kind of place does Cecil look like in your eyes? ”