"Every time I say goodbye, I think about the next time we meet."

In the snowy tower, Merlin and Elsa snuggle up by the fireplace in their room, and the snow drifts through the window.

In this lonely world, this tower is probably the only warm place.

As he stroked Elsa's cold, already conspicuous white blonde hair, he whispered:

"Every time I say goodbye, I don't really want to leave."

"I think so too, and a lot of times, I think it's good for the two of us to live in this world together, just the two of us."

Elsa rested her head on Merlin's shoulder, she closed her eyes, feeling the warmth coming from Merlin's body, and said:

"But you're going to go eventually, you can't leave behind your responsibilities, you can't leave behind your love for that world."

"You love it, you love everything about that world, including its flaws."

"Everyone has something they can't part with."

Merlin leaned back in his high-backed chair, and with a sigh, he said:

"Just like you go to your parents secretly and write to them to tell them that you're okay... I'm stuck in those things, Elsa, and I live for it, and maybe die for it. ”

"Shhh

Elsa held out her finger and put it on Merlin's lips, and she said:

"Don't say that, you won't die, you'll live a long time... Carol is coming back, right? ”

"Hmm."

Merlin nodded:

"Calculate the time, if she doesn't show up late, there may be more than a month."

"She's not going to be late."

Elsa whispered:

"There is a man in that world who has been waiting for her for more than ten years, she will not be late, and she must be like an arrow."

"We'll fix that."

Merlin kissed Elsa on the forehead, and he said:

"There must be a way, a way that doesn't hurt anyone."

"Do three people live together?"

Elsa let out a chuckle and said:

"It's like Ciriah said, three people share each other's world... Wow, Merlin, Merlin, you're such a happy fellow. ”

"I've never thought of it that way."

Merlin said calmly:

"This kind of good thing will not happen to me, I just pray that you two will not fight when you meet."

"Hmph."

Elsa let out a nasal voice of displeasure, she stood up, walked to the bedside, picked up her clothes, and flicked her long hair that exuded cold as she wore them.

She said:

"Do you really think that two of us excellent women would fight with a man like you? Does that make you feel honored? ”

"Merlin... Will this satisfy your inflated man's mind? ”

Merlin turned, quietly admiring Elsa's back, the perfect curve of her body, her skin like a crystal jewel.

Probably because of the hoarfrost link, in the past few years, Elsa's temperament has become more and more cold and dusty, more and more ethereal, just like a real iceberg beauty.

Only when he is alone with Merlin will his original personality be revealed.

Despite battling that cold will, there was no doubt that the hoarfrost was affecting her.

He stood up and hugged Elsa's waist from behind, and in that moment of cold with a hint of fragrance, Merlin buried his head in Elsa's long hair, and he whispered:

"I just don't want to see you get hurt, I don't mean anything else."

Elsa broke free from Merlin's embrace, and she turned around and looked at Merlin with a huff.

But the next moment, she stepped forward and put her hands on Merlin's head, and the lips kissed together.

"I'm just kidding, fool Merlin. How could I be mad at you... Do you still have potions? ”

"Hmm... There's another bottle, but the effect of this Frost Protection Potion is waning. ”

Merlin winked at Elsa, and he whispered:

"When you feel happy, the power of the hoarfrost will also swell, and I can't resist the 'ravage' of the Frost Queen."

"There's still time."

Elsa stuck out her tongue and licked Merlin's earlobe, and she said:

"Maybe I'm going to share you with another woman soon, so, before you leave, do it again."

Thirty minutes later, Merlin, who was frozen with a cold breath all over his body, walked down the tower while brushing the ice slag from his hair.

In the hall below the tower, Her Royal Highness Princess Siria was sitting by the fireplace with her legs crossed, drinking wine with a leisurely face.

After seeing Merlin come down, she winked her eyebrows and gave Merlin a thumbs up maliciously.

"Yo, that's amazing."

The occasional swordswoman, who was also full of lust, whispered:

"It must feel great to be naked in bed and holding a piece of ice, right?"

"Hush."

Merlin pursed his lips, and he said to Ciria:

"You can't imagine my happiness at all..."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be reuniting with your family? Didn't Master Geralt prepare a sumptuous lunch for you and Lady Yennefer today? ”

"Uh, no."

Cillia scratched her long white bangs a little irritably, and she complained:

"Mom and Dad quarreled again, and Dad seemed to secretly meet with another old friend without telling her..."

Saying this, Ciria glared at Merlin, whose beautiful green cat's eyes were full of disgust, and she took a sip of wine fiercely, and said:

"You stinky men, you are all the same, the most obscene!"

"Hey, don't throw fire on me."

Merlin took a step back, he raised his arms, and made a gesture of surrender, saying:

"It's your family affair, I'm not involved."

"Open the door, I'm going back."

"Wait."

Ciria waved her hand, and she said:

"There's another person who wants to go back with you."

"Who?"

Merlin asked rhetorically, and the next moment, Ciria snapped her fingers, and a cold-winded dimensional rift opened between the two.

In Merlin's gaze, a scorching aura soon shone through the crack, like a flame that could not be ignited, and the red light shone in the hall of the lighthouse.

Moments later, a piano dressed in a medieval-style long hood and hunting suit. Grey, staggering out of the spatial rift.

She looked like she was frozen badly, her eyebrows and hair covered in frozen ice chips.

But in fact, the power derived from the Phoenix Fragment has been protecting her, allowing her to maintain normal human physiological activities in the coldest abyss of this world completely occupied by hoarfrost.

Of course, despite the power of fire bursting from the body, the feeling of the collision between the outer cold ice and the inner fire is definitely not good.

This can be seen from Jean's bad face.

She looked as if she was sick, her face was sallow, her lips were blue, and her eyes flashed a little chaotic from time to time.

"What's going on?"

Merlin hurriedly reached out to hold Jean and let her sit on the chair next to her, Jean looked up and gave Merlin a difficult smile.

"It looks so miserable..."

Merlin looked at Ciria, who picked up a silver coin and tossed it to Jean.

The latter used his psychic power to levitate the coin in his hand, and then in the light and shadow of the flames, the coin was quickly melted into silver juice, but it returned to its original state in an instant.

After repeating this several times, the fingers of the piano flicked lightly.

The silver coin, still scorching with its scorching breath, flipped back into Ciria's hand.

"Well, it's fine."

Ciria looked at the silver coin, which was still warm in her hand, but had recovered to its original state, and said:

"Your fusion with the Phoenix Fragment has already begun, and the process will be very difficult, but if you still want to return to normal life, you must persevere."

"Hmm."

Jean closed her eyes, and the expression on her face was very painful just by looking at it.

"Take her back."

Ciriah turned to Merlin and said:

"Find a quiet place, preferably one that is rich in magic and secluded, and let her stay there... Although that fragment was only a trace of the power of the phoenix, its energy level was still too high, and it was difficult for the intervention of external forces to play a role. ”

"It's up to her to do the process on her own."

Merlin didn't say anything, but the piano beside him whispered:

"Thank you."

"Nothing."

Ciria waved her hand, and she reached out to open the dimensional rift for Merlin and Jean, looking unconcerned.

But the white-clothed swordsman is actually a good girl inside, although she is always fierce and likes to play pranks, but she has a kind heart.

Merlin helped the piano over the crack and returned to the mystery house, Xuanlan brought hot tea at the right time, and lit the fireplace in the hall, and the warm fire was lit in the next moment, making the whole dim hall warm.

Jean sat quietly on the edge of the couch, teacup in both hands, she seemed to be cold, wanting to get closer to the burning fireplace.

This girl with long maroon hair must not have had a good time this time.

Merlin could see the dark circles around her eyes, and her emaciated face.

Her eyes were no longer as bright as they had been, as if there was a haze in them, and shadows burning like flames.

Especially in times of silence.

Merlin looked at Jean, and he could see a broken soul being consumed by the raging flames.

She must be helpless...

Face the ancient, barbaric, and extremely mysterious cosmic forces in the body of a mortal.

It's like a lost child encountering a hungry tiger.

"It's painful, isn't it?"

Merlin asked softly:

"Although Ciriah taught you to merge with the Phoenix... But I think it must be painful and desperate to open one's soul to become one with a monster and pray to live in an inhuman state, right? ”

"Hmm."

Jean held the teacup, she took a sip of tea tremblingly, and looked at the flames burning beside her, she said:

"Every second, you can feel the flames burning, as if you are going to die in this moment; But the next moment, the burned body was reshaped in the flames, but not because of mercy. ”

"It is forced to connect with me under the power of the hoarfrost, but it wants to overwhelm me and occupy this body all the time."

"What's even more unacceptable is that it's not because it needs to, it's just because it wants to..."

"I can't describe it, Mr. Merlin, I can't describe what I see, it's beyond my comprehension, it's indescribable. It wanted to share with me what it had learned, what it had seen, but the first step into the forbidden was enough to distort my sanity. ”

"It's like walking into deep water step by step, there is a dark shadow in that quiet water, and any normal person will instinctively stay away."

"And now the situation is that in order for me to live, I have to be a part of that darkness..."

Jean looked up and smiled palely and hard, and she said to Merlin:

"But I'm still grateful to you, and without your help, I wouldn't even be able to get this living... Although, in my opinion, maybe on that day, I should have actually died. ”

"But you don't want it all."

Merlin looked directly into Jean's eyes, and the sharp gaze made Jean can't help but look away.

"What you want is relief..."

"I've seen that light in the eyes of a lot of people, every minute and every second of your existence is torture for you, and you want to die to get rid of it completely, right?"

"I..."

Jean wanted to say something, but she remained silent as Merlin watched.

Xuanlan, who was standing beside Merlin, was holding a teapot, and this spirit, who rarely expressed his opinions, whispered at this moment:

"The phoenix is a spirit born in the ancient universe, and although it is diametrically opposed to other spirits in its form of existence, it still maintains some basic rules of spirits."

Xuanlan looked at Qin. Grey, she said:

"You're on the verge of chaos and madness, ma'am, if you don't have something inside of you that is enough to keep you going, then soon..."

"Soon you will be dragged into the abyss of the spirit, and all your sanity and spirit will collapse completely, and that will only be the beginning of your crucifixion."

"You need a pillar."

Merlin stood up, and he held out his hand to Jean:

"Follow me."

"Huh?"

Jean looked up at Merlin, her pale face full of doubt.

"I'll take you to the pillars you need."

Merlin took Lyre's burning hand, and through the door of the mystery house, they came to the edge of Utopia Island, on the top of a low mountain.

Merlin instructed Icarus to dial a number.

Soon, amid the hum of motorcycles, the leader of the X-Men, Cyclops, appears on the mountain road.

He was galloping, and his maiden was waiting for him at the top of the mountain.

"I know it's old-fashioned."

Merlin said to Jean beside him:

"I mean, maybe a sincere love can make you endure this pain until the end..."

"Maybe you are helpless, but I believe that when you know that there is still a man waiting for you in the world, then maybe you will have more courage when facing the monster within."

Jean clenched her fingers, and after a few minutes, Cyclops rushed up to the top of the hill panting, he looked at him, and Jean looked at him.

"Go ahead!"

Merlin gave Jean a push behind him, and Jean with his hood took a step forward.

With tears in her eyes, she quickened her pace and finally threw herself into her lover's arms.

She could finally cry heartily...

No one can ask a girl to be strong at a time like this.

In the evening, on this island in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, in the sunset above the sea, Merlin looked at his lovers embracing each other, his eyes full of tenderness.

"Will she be able to hold on? Merlin. ”

Icarus asked softly:

"I don't know much about magic, but listening to Xuanlan, what Qin has to face is going to be a terrifying challenge."

"She can."

Merlin pushed his glasses, and he whispered:

"Working with spirits is the domain of the occult, and I don't know much about it."

"But I know one thing, if her will is strong enough, then the more likely she is to persevere, and love... This is the most empowering thing, and it often works wonders. ”

"It sounds a bit self-consoling."

Icarus Says:

"Do you really believe this?"

"I believe, and I must believe."

Merlin turned his head and looked at the sea behind him, and he said:

"The end is coming..."

"I need a miracle too."