Side Story｜Kou（4）
4-1 "
An endless day could be dull. 白昼虽然美好，无尽持续下去却只会使人感到乏味。 Spending too long under an overeager sun—anyone would start to yearn for a moon. 无论是谁，凡是长时间待在日光之下，都会自然而然地渴望起一抹月色。 Even for her, that sentiment holds true. 即便对她而言，也不例外。 "Eighty days of light?" "这段日照至少持续了八十天吧？" "Seven months of light?" "还是说……七个月？" "A year... maybe..." "或许……说不定已经有一年了……" The white of the sky has once again broken through the cracks in the walls of this place she calls home, 天空明亮的光芒又一次掠过墙壁的缝隙，倾洒在这个被她称之为家的地方。 and it seems her sleeping body had found the rays while rolling over the floor. 睡眼惺忪的她，正在地板上懒散地翻滚着，忽然之间双眼就捕捉到了这束光线。 She grumbles, "Turn it off already..." "唔，真是的。是时候关灯了啦……"她鼓着小脸说道。 But still, she picks herself up. Still, she rubs her eyes and stretches her arms. 尽管嘴上不满，她依然坐起身来——依然是揉着眼睛，伸着懒腰。 She stands and finds the door, ready to face another "day" in the seemingly boundless world of Arcaea. 扶着地面缓缓站起，摸索着找到门，准备好迎接又一个"清晨"。面前，又会出现好似无边无际的Arcaea世界。 An adventure that hasn't always been a delight, and travels that haven't always led to discoveries. Despite that, ever since she'd first awakened a tabula rasa, two things have always remained consistent: 虽然是场寻找不到快乐的探险，虽然是段毫无任何新发现的旅途——但自从她于这片寂静之地苏醒过来后，有两件事物从未变化： both her heart and the sky have always been shining. 她那颗跃动的心脏，与面前那片广阔的天空：两者始终闪耀着光辉。 "Alright...!" she says under her breath. "Some exercise first!" "那么……！"她轻声念道，"现在是晨练时间！" She holds out her hand before her and a section of glass flies her way. 她将手朝前探去，跟着一小串玻璃飞舞而至。 Not memory glass— 并不是回忆的碎片—— Not "Arcaea"— 并不是"Arcaea"—— It is an ordinary, typical sheet, albeit a large one. 只是一片随处可见的，再普通不过的玻璃碎片。 When it spins close, she jumps onto it, and immediately calls another. 当那碎片旋转着靠近时，她扑向了碎片，脑海中立刻显现出又一段故事。 The home she found is an old beach house on a lonely island apart from the abandoned mélange-cities found everywhere else in the world. 她找到的这个"家"，坐落于一座远离尘世的孤寂海岛之上，是间有些老旧的沙滩小屋。 It's a beach without an ocean, houses scattered around its shores like abandoned shells; and deeper inland is a field of strange, gigantic poles of white wood. 不过严格来说，这片沙滩周围也没有实质意义上的海水。粉碎的残亘断瓦布满了沙滩的表面，乍一看倒的确像极了被遗弃的贝壳碎片；而这片好似被孤立的内陆中央，则矗立着一整片怪诞的巨型白色木柱。 The homes have been picked apart over time, from within and without, in her tampering. 由于她的干预，随着日子一天天过去，这些本就有些残旧的"家"更是由内而外地被逐渐分解： Now she whisks away their walls and windows to create a makeshift set of stairs—to make a racing track, and then a tunnel. She quickly leaps and runs through the gleaming passage, if only to give her legs feeling. 如今她已经拆走了小屋的窗户与墙壁，改造成几座临时的阶梯——用这些材料建造了赛道，甚至一节隧道，只为了能够在闪闪发亮的赛道上欢快地奔跑、蹦跳，给自己的双腿带来少许不同的体验感。 All this took was a little acceptance. 只需做出星点让步，便足以造就这一切劳动果实。 Days after awakening, it was a simple matter to make the world of Arcaea bend to her whimsy. 自她苏醒之刻，早已过了许多天，而Arcaea的世界也总是被她轻而易举地改造，仿佛整个世界都听令于她脑中的异想天开。 But far below her, just above the sands of the phantom sea, something glints: 但在向着一定距离以外的那片幻影海洋眺望时，她却留意到沙滩上有什么事物正闪烁着光芒。 something sparse and scattered throughout the water. 有一些稀疏的物体，分散于海水之中。 Throwing a glance that way, she huffs a breath from her nose, and sports a weak smirk. 她朝那儿瞥了一眼，略带不满地从鼻中吐出一口气，挤出一抹虚弱的假笑。
4-2 "
The glass beneath her feet bends so easily, 位于少女脚底下的那些玻璃总是那么乖巧听话。 but the peculiar glass—the Arcaea—has always been somewhat... 而那些名为"Arcaea"的特异碎片，在她面前却始终展现出几分桀骜不驯。 no, absurdly recalcitrant with her. In this world of memories, hardly any recollections will follow her, 在这饱含回忆的世界之中，几乎没有多少记忆碎片愿意主动跟随她。 and most can only be viewed or visited. 往往都是她自行靠近，并试着观赏这些顽固不化的独特存在。 In an almost childish huff, the girl jumps from a crystal platform. 少女此刻心中的怒气，却更像是孩子的抱怨。她自那面由水晶组成的平台一跃而下。 Behind her, the structures she's made all collapse, piece by piece. 身后，那被她亲手组建的结构立刻坍塌成了无用的碎块。 Before gravity fully takes her, she holds out her right hand, calling for the blanket from her bed and swirling into it joyously. 在重力完全掌控她的身体前，她举起右手，将远处自己床上的毯子召唤过来，兴奋地蜷缩了进去。 Then, she calls for something heavy, something soft. 随后，她又将某件十分笨重，却无比柔软的事物招引了过来。 In a few moments after falling, she is caught by a throne of indolence: a hefty, colorless armchair. 仅是片刻过后，她的身子便跌进了这象征怠情的王位——或者说，是一张巨大而无色的沙发椅。 Thus, she sits, hanging in the skies above her home, half-gazing at tombstone horizons. 紧接着，她从座椅中坐起身，左摇右晃地飘浮在自己家上方的半空中，半凝视着眼前好比墓园的大地万物。 She exhales again; she's pleased, satisfied. 她再次深呼吸；愉快，但更多的是心满意足。 Another successful lovely "morning" run. 这次的"晨跑"如同往常一样使她感到十分幸福。 Still looking out to the distance, her thoughts drift to less pleasant places: 但当视线又一次落在遥远的天际时，她的心情不可避免地再次低落起来： to questions about the size of this world, and what else it might contain. 直到目前，她都无法获悉自己所在的这个世界的大致面积，更是对另一边天涯所存的事物一无所知。 Has she even seen a third of it? Even a sixteenth? 也许她甚至未曾探索完这世界的三分之一……硬说是十六分之一也不为过。 It's a too-big place, and there are too many assorted memories. 这世界宽广无比，其中五花八门的回忆更是无穷无尽。 As she rocks along the windless air, she lets her eyelids drop and she considers that fact. 她飘游于无风的空气中，合上双眼，一阵沉思。 It's some immense place; it's some old and mish-mash, jumbled place. 这个古老而巨大的场所，简直就像一锅大杂烩。 She feels it probably can't just be a world of wonders and oddities exclusively meant for her. 她认为，如此充满不确定性与怪诞事物的世界，不可能只是为她而存在着。 She opens her eyes to the bright sky again. 她再次张开双眼，面对着这片耀眼的天空。 Somewhere, perhaps on the other side of the world, that sky is full of stars. 或许世界的另一端，此刻正是满天星斗。 Under that sky, perhaps other girls are gazing upward and wishing for daylight. 或许在那片天空之下，正有着其他的少女仰望着天空，期盼着白昼的到来。 The girl in red grips the front of the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. 身着红衣的少女沉默着，手指紧紧攥住了披在肩上的毛毯。 Days without end mean it's always a new beginning, and no telling what a journey will hold. 没有尽头的日子，其实正是一场永不消逝的崭新序章。而即将于今日发生的一切，也仍是个未知数。
4-3 "
"Hm, but you know..." "唔姆，我一直在思考着……" She mutters to herself, eased into her flying seat. 她自言自语道，懒洋洋地陷入自己的飞行座椅之中。 "Is there a sun up there, I wonder...?" "那上面……真的会有太阳吗？" She squints at the heavens above, and quietly contemplates. 面对那圣洁的苍穹，她不禁眯起眼睛，苦思冥想。 What makes the light so evenly spread throughout this place? 到底是什么原因，使得光线如此均匀地倾洒在这个地方？ Until now, her travels have always been forward, so... Why not try upward? 直至如今，她一直致力于笔直朝前走。那么……何不尝试朝正上方前进？ A mischievous smile flashes across her face. 想到这儿，她的脸上闪过顽皮的笑容。 She stands in her chair and drops off the blanket, letting it fall toward the ground. 下一秒，她已经站在了座椅之上，将毛毯抛向半空，任其自由飘落。 As it drifts drown, a wooden column launches up past it. She jumps from her chair and grabs hold of the new arrival by a short, metal bar. 正当毛毯飘荡之际，一根从某处腾空而起的木质柱状物与其擦身而过，被她用一跟细长的金属棒拦截在了空中。 With her feet planted against the column's side for security, she gives it a longer glance. 为了保险起见，她探出一只脚抵在木柱边沿，并久久凝视着木柱。 It is a pillar, she knows, used in other worlds to convey power and communications. 她心中明白，这根看似平平的木柱，在某些世界中却作为传递力量的象征存在着。 She puts one foot down on another bar below, and like that—with one leg and one arm free, far above the ground— 她将一只脚放置于下方的另一条长棒上——于千米高空之上，将一条腿与一条手臂腾空高举—— she stands boldly on a broken piece of an old world. 天不怕地不怕的她，就这样单脚站立于这片来自旧世界的碎块之上。 She gazes to the urban and suburban sprawl on the horizon one more time, and then turns her gazing upward. 好似最后的告别一般，凝望着一路蔓延至地平线的城镇与郊野，而后终于将视野转向高空…… She can't be sure how far flight will carry her: she knows she'll need a ladder to be safe. 她心里对这段航程的飞行距离完全没底；倒不如说，手边没架梯子的确显得有些不太安全。 The houses below, hers excepted, start breaking down even more. 坐落于地面上的房屋又进一步崩塌起来，唯独她自己的小屋幸免于难。 Panels, bed frames, armoires and windows glide upward, and the debris she used and let collapse before is torn out of the sand. 门板、床架、衣橱、窗户……无数毁坏的事物接连不断地飞腾至高空，而她曾用作手工的残羹断瓦也被抽离了沙滩。 Everything begins to amass, surely and steadily, into a defined structure. 所有的碎屑与零件都开始以一种确切而稳定的形式汇聚起来，逐渐组成某种特定的结构。 But the girl is not an architect. Her tower is ramshackle, slowly building toward the heavens at odd, sharp, and often sudden angles. 但女孩算不上一个合格的建筑师：她搭建出来的这座塔楼显得摇摇欲坠，以一系列无法形容，好似突发奇想的诡异角度七歪八扭地朝着穹顶缓慢延伸着。 Unfortunately, her island is not replete with usable material. 不幸的是，她的小岛上根本没有足够的原材料。 After running out, she frowns halfway at her design, feeling annoyed that it cannot even reach a kilometer into the sky. 当有限的资源用尽后，她只能对着自己面前的半成品干瞪眼，埋怨这座塔的高度甚至没有到达一千米。 Grumbling, she turns her eyes on the horizon again and lifts her palm toward it. 一边发出不满的嘟哝身，她将目光转移至前方的地平线，朝着那方向抬起了手掌。 She concentrates, pulls... and nothing happens. 屏气凝神，试图将更多的物体吸引而来……只是过了好半天都没有发生任何事。 But that's only natural. That is of course. 但这也是母庸质疑的——原本就不该有任何事情发生。 As powerful and masterful as she may be, she is no god. 虽然身怀神通广大的力量，但她毕竟不是真正的神。
4-4 "
She drops her hand in defeat and decides it's time to renovate. 她气馁地放下了手掌，心中决定亲自进行一番改造。 Instead of a tower, a spiral set of stairs. 比起建造一整座高塔，还不如搭建一道通向天空的螺旋阶梯。 After an hour, and another hour, and another hour, and two more, her work is finally done and she is impressed with the result. 于是一个小时后——又一个小时后、又一个小时后、又两个小时……她终于完成了手头的新任务，甚至连自己都不禁佩服起自己的杰作。 It still looks ridiculous, and more than a little haphazard, but this amalgamation, she is certain, is much more sensible. 这不明所以的无规律结构看上去仍旧十分滑稽，但她坚信这种形式的结构绝对比上一次的要合理一万倍。 She figures she deserves a pat on the back. 她确信自己应该被人拍着后背，好好表扬一番。 With the new formation complete, she wastes no time in beginning her ascent. 新的路径已经完工，她自然刻不容缓地登上了阶梯。 One by one, step by step, she rises with her armchair floating close by, ready to catch her should she fall. 那把浮空座椅近距离陪伴在她身旁，随时准备接住也许会不慎失足的她。 As the girl makes her way, she pulls from the bottom of the stairs and sends those steps to the top. 当女孩往上迈进时，她更是抽走了位于最下端的梯级，接续在整体结构的最上方。 Soon after, she finds herself climbing an ever-building, ever-breaking staircase. 没过多久，她便意识到自己是在攀爬一段永无止境地延伸的螺旋长梯。 Through layers of fog, to the highest point. 穿过层层云雾，直到抵达最高点。 The trip becomes a long one, during which she sometimes must have a seat or even sleep through the "night". 这次旅行意外地演变为长途跋涉，以至于她好几次需要躺在沙发椅上一觉睡到"天亮"。 And, maybe after what would be four days, heaven comes within her sight. And she learns this: 终于，在大约四天后，天堂映入了她的眼帘，而她也随之学到一个新的知识点： "heaven" is an immense and impenetrable wall of clouds. 所谓"天堂"，根本就是一片厚厚的云层，不论什么事物都无法穿透。 Her progress is halted when a step she sends from the bottom refuses to become the top, stuck on the fluff of the air and unable to move any further up. 当位于最底端的阶梯忽然开始拒绝被转移至阶梯最上方时，她的旅途也随之停滞了；面前的阶梯卡在云团之中寸步不前，无论用何种方式指引都纹丝不动。 She withdraws it and leaves it to hang beside her. 她只得放弃尝试，任梯级悬挂在她的身旁。 And, with a determined gaze, she rushes her way up the final flight. 下一刻，她的眼中闪出坚决的光，径直冲向了这段阶梯的终点。 At the top, the girl fans the pieces, panes, and pillars out underneath her for more of a platform, 此刻，位于阶梯顶端的少女已经将建筑碎石、窗户玻璃与断柱呈扇形展开于脚下，创造出一个安全的平台。 and she lifts her hands over her head—into the clouds. 紧接着，她将手臂高举过头——探入了云团之中。 Here she finds that the white resists her touch, 而今，她察觉到那片纯白居然正对着自己的手臂反向发力。 but still she pushes on, standing on the toes of her boots to see through if she can. 但她还是不想半途而废，踮起脚尖，直到只剩鞋尖着地，不依不饶地尝试着穿透云层。 And here, she finds, she cannot. 然而，她发现自己的办法终究是完全行不通。 "Really...?" she wonders aloud. "不会吧……？"她诧异地惊呼出声。 But in her moment of despondence, something catches her eye. 只不过，还没等她沮丧多久，余光中就有什么事物吸引了她的注意力。 Out the corner of her right: a glint. 那是位于她右侧的某处角落之中的一道反光。 In fact, a bevy of glints, dropping from the clouds after she's gone and disturbed them. 离开天堂边界时，她似乎惊动了一整团闪着光的物体，使得它们从云层之中落了下来。 She looks, to find a small crowd of perhaps twenty Arcaea—perhaps even more—coming toward her. 她凝神一看，发现那是一整群Arcaea——二十枚，或者更多——它们正朝着她徐徐飘来。 And the girl in red realizes. 而一袭红衣的少女也意识到了这件事。 In these sunless skies of Arcaea, standing on an invented ground, 静静地站在自己亲手修建的地面之上，在Arcaea那片不见太阳的纯白色天空下—— she has found the first group of memories in this world which are inextricably attuned to her. 她的面前，第一次出现了会与自己产生了共鸣的回忆。
4-5 "
On the air, the fragrance of incense. 一股温柔的香味，正弥漫于空气之中。 Resounding, the voices of townsfolk and children. 四周回荡着小镇居民与孩子们的嬉闹声。 The atmosphere, light and fresh. 天朗气清，令人心旷神怡。 Someone's cooking—baking—and she can taste the savory scents drifting outside and along the streets. 视野中满是炊烟袅袅——在街道上漫步，嗅着让人垂涎欲滴的浓郁香气，她确信有谁正在做饭，或许还烘焙着甜点。 Looking up, she finds a sun hanging bright in an empty and blue sky. 仰首一望，耀眼夺目的太阳高挂在万里无云的蓝天之上。 This is a new world of memory, and she basks in the sensations of it, remaining still to take it all in. 这是一个崭新的回忆世界。她默默地伫立在原地，正全神贯注地吸收着所有新鲜的体验感。 It's the memory of an artisan's helper: of a girl in the middle of an errand. 这段回忆属于一名少女——她是一位工匠的助手，而此时的她正值差事途中。 What sort of artisan was the helper an aide to? 不过话说回来，这名助手正在给怎样的工匠干活？ The girl with the rose-colored hair hasn't grasped those details yet. But she isn't very interested in them. 拥有一头玫瑰色长发的女孩尚不知晓存于这段回忆的细节，却也对此满不在乎。 This world— 眼前的这里—— "Just look at it...!" "这个地方，实在是太……！" —it's some sort of fantasy. ——也许，只有用"奇幻"才能勉强形容眼前的这个世界。 Mouth agape, eyes glittering, she looks absolutely everywhere. 张大了嘴，却完全发不出任何惊呼声——而她那正环视着一切的双眼则是熠熠生辉。 Overhead, colored paper and fabric ties rooftop to rooftop, evoking the image of frilled power lines. 头顶上分的各个屋顶上挂满了彩纸与彩带，乍一眼看，却像被细心装点过的电缆。 But they give the impression of a festival, as power lines they are most definitely not. 唯独的区别在于花花绿绿的彩带装饰可以带来节日庆典的欢喜气氛。毫无疑问，冷冰冰的电缆当然做不到这一点。 The flagstone streets, red-stone houses, and chimneys spouting black smoke tell her this is an old-day town, or perhaps city, she stands in now. 石板铺成的街道路面、红砖瓦搭建的独栋房屋、房顶炊烟袅袅的烟囱……一切迹象都在告诉她，自己正位于一座旧时代的小镇（对于居住于此的居民而言，或许算是座城市）。 Stalls offering curious circle- and sun-shaped necklaces, talismans, and rings of charms dot the walkway, beside other stalls selling figures of creatures she's seen before in libraries of other memories. 散布于街道两旁，形形色色的摊位上有的陈列着雕刻成圆圈或太阳形状的奇特项链，有的整齐地摆放着护身符、魔法戒指一类的商品，甚至有些小商贩正在售卖她曾于各种回忆之中所见的不明生物雕塑。 The townsfolk dress, she thinks, a bit similar to her: as if a parade is on, but not one too bombastic. 虽然是初印象，但她总认为此处城镇居民的衣着打扮与她略有相像：就像是要参加庆典游行，却并不花俏浮夸。 It's a colorful world, favoring the warmer colors of the spectrum, though splashes of azure decoration arrest the eye here and there. 这是个五彩缤纷的世界，暖色调完美地渲染了城镇的外貌，再配上蓝天的点缀，绚丽风光使人目不暇接。 As the girl starts to wander, she finds performances too, 漫步于城镇之时，女孩更是碰巧遇上了许多场演出。 and troubadours teaching, warning, and entertaining whomever might listen. 吟游诗人周游于此，讲授着知识，传达着警醒，更是使每一个听众都感到乐此不疲。 She spends some time during her wandering on samples of confections. 她在甜点试吃区域停留了一小段时间。 More than some time, in fact: as much time as she can without drawing suspicion. 不过与其说是"一小段时间"，不如说她是在尚不被任何人怀疑身份的前提下一直徘徊于那片区域。 And as she wanders and samples, one brilliant red morsel strikes her eye, and her heart, very much in particular. 而就在她挨个品尝桌上的甜点样品时，忽然之间出现的一个红色存在让她瞬间感到眼花缭乱。 A strawberry tart, it's called. 这种食物叫做草莓馅饼。 She gets her hands on it with the apprentice's coin, takes a bite through its glaze, 她毫不犹豫地从口袋中掏出属于这名学徒的硬币，换取了一块蛋糕，迫不及待地一口咬上这闪闪发光的存在—— and with that she is certain of this shining truth: this place is very lovely. 霎时间，她的内心只残留下一个想法：能够来到这个世界，真的是太幸福了！ It's incredibly nice! A fantastical world, and one with a notable appreciation for the more sugary delights of life. 无法形容的美妙，充数幻想的空间……更重要的是，这里有着如此完美的甜蜜体验…… She finds herself particularly happy about this world of memory. 这段回忆之中的世界已经成为了她的最爱，就连她的脚步都溢出了大量热情。 Feeling zealous, she quickens the pace of her steps, leaping forward, gasping, and spinning on her toes or heel as she turns each and every corner. 一边蹦跳，一边兴奋地喘息着，一边脚趾着地翩翩起舞——城镇的每一个角落都出现了她幸福的身影。
4-6 "
She must be careful not to run. 千万不能忘乎所以地四处乱跑——她不断提醒着自己。 She thinks, she really must observe every little part of this town closely. 倒不是害怕什么，她只是想要仔细地观察这座小镇的每一个细节。 Reading signs posted outside of square buildings, she learns that this is a spiritual place. 广场楼房的侧墙上贴满了各种告示；她认真阅读着上面的文字，这才发觉此处原来是一片信仰之地。 It's a land that believes in fairies and spirits; in gods, daemons, and youkai. 这座小镇的人相信着圣灵与精灵，信奉着上帝……同时，也深信着恶魔与妖怪的存在。 The performers she sees are performing the "fantastic", the "strange", the "impossible". 她眼前的表演者们，演绎的尽是展现出"幻想"、"怪奇"与"超常"色彩的事物。 Indeed, every one of them is absolutely certain that what they are performing is magic: 事实上，他们之中的每一个人都清楚自己正在表演的正是所谓的魔法： "casting spells" by igniting vibrant powders in their hands to flame, smoke, and clouds; 点燃活力四射的火药粉末，制造火焰与烟雾以"吟唱魔咒"； "divining fates" by speaking toward still pools of water and interpreting the ripples within; 向着平静的水面说话，解析相随的波纹以"占卜命运"； "communing with other beings", they say, by manipulating lights before her eyes in a way she can't actually determine the mechanics of in a glance. 在她的面前以乍一看根本不知原理的方式玩弄着光线，被华丽地称作"与其他灵魂进行心灵交流"。 This world is rich and full of belief: it is marvelous, wondrous, and all an unmistakable act. 不容置疑，这个世界洋溢着完整浓厚的信仰氛围：一切都像是一场奇妙，纯粹而完美的戏剧。 While strolling down the quaint avenues, the memory itself slowly informs her that every part of this place is truly performance, artificial, untruth. 正漫步于古色古香的大道之际，回忆本身开始慢慢地提醒她，于此处发生的一切都是人为计划的演戏——一场弥天大谎。 Deeply valued tradition, but absolutely not truth. 这里的传统文化虽然深邃可贵，却终究不是真实存在的事物。 Yet when she reaches the city's outer limits (and the memory's, with any attempts to cross a small barrier met with resistant reality) 然而，就在她抵达城镇的边缘后（实际上，由于自己无法再往外踏出哪怕一步，她才意识到这里也是整个回忆世界的边缘） —when she gazes out to the verdant hills beyond the low and easy wood fence that has stopped her; to the few but imposing old oak trees, and the clear sparkle of some distant lake... ——当她自那低矮且简陋的木栅栏后朝远处郁郁葱葱的山丘眺望之时，映入眼帘的是高耸的老橡树林，以及遥远的湖泊那片波光粼粼的水面…… she understands, somehow, why one might believe in something even with sound evidence to the contrary. 不知何故，她逐渐开始理解为何有些人分明知晓一系列确凿的反证，却仍会对某些事情深信不疑。 She herself comes from a strange world of flying glass; why deny the belief that a world like this could be inhabited by trickster fairies? Why reject the idea of things surpassing nature and logic? 她自己便来自于那飞舞着玻璃碎片的古怪世界；既然如此，她又怎能一口咬定这世界中并不存在神秘的精灵——又怎能否认超越自然与逻辑定理的想法？ This is the memory of an artisan's helper, and the artisan is a so-called sorcerer who researches the existence of fantastical things. 这段回忆属于某位工匠的助手，而那位工匠便是名货真价实的巫师，没日没夜地研究着超幻想概念的存在性。 As the help, the girl she is living through has long known that all his research leads to dead ends. 作为助手的她，其实早已能够借助自己的认知判断出他的一切研究都终会遇到死胡同。 The purpose, she speculates, is not to really prove anything. 她揣摩着，也许研究这一切的目的根本不是为了证明任何事情—— It is to embolden one's beliefs and be better for it. 研究这些概念，仅仅是为了巩固且加深这些神秘的信仰，别无他意。 Now the girl in red puffs a joking breath and smiles wistfully. That's a funny idea. 此刻，少女忍不住憋笑出声——还算是个有点意思的猜想。 With her hand on a post and wind flowing through her hair, she spots what she knows to be an ancient forest west from here. 微风轻轻拂过她的长发，柔和地衬托着她那抹若有所思的微笑；她将手搭在一根柱子上，静静地远望着西方那显然是原始森林的地带。 This is the memory of completing a simple errand, and perhaps that's why she is unable to travel too far. 完成工匠拜托的差事，而不是无端地离开镇子……这段回忆似乎只允许这篇故事以固有的流程进行下去。 But she's sure she will be back in another memory. 但是她确信自己会从别的回忆之中再次到达此处。 She thinks this land of artifice, magic, and show very much suits her, 她认定这片遍布技艺、魔法与街头表演的世界与自己的内心不谋而合。 and that crowd of glass she'd come across at the top of the world of Arcaea reflected more facets of the world than this within its other fragments. 她感到于Arcaea世界的一切碎片之中，只有在穹顶与她相遇的那些玻璃碎片映照着这世界更美妙的一面。 With a giddy feeling, she grips at the front of her dress. 她抓紧了自己的裙摆，一时兴奋得头晕目眩。 It's truly incredible. The smile on her face starts to wriggle anxiously. 这一切都太不可思议了——！她上扬的嘴角迫切地颤抖着。 Somehow, she has never felt exhilaration quite like this before. 至今为止，她从未如此般欣喜若狂。
4-7 "
Twenty times? More? She's stopped keeping count. 已经二十次……或者更多？——她已经不再继续数下去。 "Al...right..." "还是……算了……" With that whisper under her breath, she crouches in front on a chest made of unfinished wood, swiping her palm across the top. 她的嘴中传出悄声细语，蹲在了一个半成品木材制成的箱子前，正轻轻地用手掌拂去顶端的灰尘。 A wave of dust rises off of it and falls to the floor. 一阵灰尘向上扬起，又飘落至地面。 She unclasps the front and opens it up. 她松开正面的箱扣，将箱盖揭了开来。 Today she is an archivist, exploring one of the old castles in the North, where they had lost land to flooding. 今日的她是一名档案员。或者说，她是在探索一座位于北方地带的古老城堡——北方其余的陆地，已被先前一场大洪水吞没。 Thankfully, the papers inside this chest were spared from moisture by the chest itself. 不过值得庆幸的是，尽管箱子几乎被浸湿，里面的文件却幸免于难。 Hearing the creak of ancient hinges, her partner calls from another room inquiring about her discovery. 伴随着古旧房门忽然的嘎吱声响，她听到自己的搭档正于另一个房间询问她有什么新发现。 "Scrolls from the fourth era," she answers over her shoulder. She takes one of them and unfurls it, "第四时代的卷轴。"她转头答道，接着回头自箱内取出一卷卷轴，将其展开在眼前。 revealing the history of her people's dealings with the Unseelie. 上面密密麻麻地写满了她的同胞与邪恶精灵之间的纷争史。 Stories like these amuse her, especially as she tries to guess at what the previous generations might have confused for fairies and the like in the past. 这种类型的故事总是能使她开心，特别是当她于脑中想象前一代人类因精灵而困扰的场景。 Yesterday, while working as a storyteller, she had the pleasure of recounting an old passed-down yarn of the teller's ancestors. 在昨天，身为故事叙述者的她有幸向他人讲述一段由叙述者的祖先代代相传下来的轶事。 Some forefather had once gathered a vast treasure on a faraway shore. 曾经，一代家父在某片遥远的海岸上寻获了大量的宝藏。 On the return across the lake a sylph rocked his boat with wind, and a passing naiad capsized it with waves. 但在扬帆返航之际，一只空之精灵毫无预兆地出现于湖面之上，轻而易举便掀翻了他的小船，而恰好路过的水中精灵则用浪花顺走了家父的所有战利品。 Afterward, the two shared his fallen wealth. 之后，那两只精灵平分了本该归他所有的财富。 It was quite an excuse for a bout of clumsiness. 虽然不知是不是在胡编乱造，但对于如此愚蠢的意外而言，这倒算作合情合理的借口。 But still, she knows it proves nice to think these creatures are around, malevolent and benevolent both. 但就算如此，她清楚这也证明了周遭这些生物皆存在善良与邪恶的两面。 When her day as an archivist is done and she's returned to the world of Arcaea to rest on the platform which is now her temporary base camp, 档案研究完毕后，她回到了Arcaea的世界，仰卧于自己临时修建的平台上休憩。 she visits the memory of a school instructor and teaches lessons and rules that would keep any child or adult safe in a world replete with chaotic nature, sudden perils, and careless people. 与此同时，她拜访了一位学校指导老师的回忆——她教授的课程是关于小孩子与成年人如何在这种充满混沌与飞来横祸，且粗心之人满地跑的世界中保重自身的安全。 The context of magic makes these lessons very interesting to impart and to hear. 穿插于课程内容中的魔法相关话题，简直让正在讲授课程的她倍感心花怒放。 It really is just a joyous and fascinating place, and she cannot stop visiting. 这里真的纯粹是个充满了幸福与迷人事物的世界，早已使她感到难舍难分。 Its people, whose faces become increasingly familiar between each shard of Arcaea; 此处居民的面庞，逐渐在每一片Arcaea的映像中变得愈发亲切； its places which become engraved in her own memory throughout others; 这里早已不仅是属于这些居民的记忆，更是塑造她自我的深刻回忆。 the sounds and the sights, everything— 每一道声响、每一幕画面，所有的一切—— It's marvelous, and nostalgic. 所有的一切，都是那么奇妙，那么让人难以忘怀。 When she's been to every other memory she could find in Heaven, when she's explored (as far as she knows) every part of the land, she at last comes to a bustling, rambunctious festival day— 当她已经游历完自己在天堂穹顶发现的所有其他回忆，并探索完（她的认知里）这片大陆的每一个角落后，她最终来到这个繁忙喧嚣的节日—— or rather, a night celebration. It is to give thanks to the gods of birth and harvest, and to dissuade darker spirits. 或者说，这是一场隆重的夜间庆典，象征着对丰收与生育之神的感恩，也使人们得以驱逐邪恶的神灵。 She spots the townsfolk named Lancaster and Howard, two gentlemen architects, and they've gotten on in years from the last memory she met them. 在此，她遇见了名为兰开斯特与锡亚的两位居民——上次在回忆的世界中与这两位考古学家绅士相遇的时候，好像已经是几年前的事了。 But they greet her with vigor and treat her to a candied apple, which makes her happier than anything else. 但此时此刻，他们还是和蔼可亲地向她打招呼，还送给了她一个蜜饯苹果，不禁使她成为了这场庆典中最愉快的女孩子。 They point to the sky. It lights up in a show of a thousand brilliant colors. To those gods. To life, and living it. 他们昂首望向夜空。放眼望去，漫天华彩，绚烂缤纷——这是献给众神，献给一切生灵的盛大庆祝仪式。 However, seeing such a wonderful thing... it doesn't strike her. 只是，如此美好的景象倒映于她的眼中……却再也无法激起她的满腔热情。 Her heart does not swell; not with wistfulness, nor the joy of new experience. 心中没有一丝喜悦；没有丝毫渴求，更失去了这段崭新体验所带给她的激悦。 She remembers this. She knows why everyone is here. 她牢记着一切。她明白为什么所有人都会出现于此处。 So, on this final night in these familiar memories, she witnesses the firework sky entirely satisfied. 在这最为熟悉的世界里，她欣赏着美丽的烟花绽放于夜空，心满意足地享受着自己在这里的最后一个夜晚。 With tears in her eyes, and a spot of pain in her heart, she finds herself entirely content. 不知何时，已经泪水盈眶。伴随着心中的刺痛，就这样静待着与这个世界最后的告别。直到这一刻，她才终于发现，自己早已是这个世界上最幸福的人。
4-8 "
The memories were heartening; they were comforting. 多久以来，这些回忆都持续激励着她的内心，总是让她感到如此欣慰。 She'd spent months within them, and at times, she would think, "I never want to leave." 她已经与这些回忆共同渡过了无数个日月，也曾无数次下定决心，想着"自己永远不会离开这里"； Still, she knew they had an ending, and she didn't want to see it. 其实她比任何人都要清楚，这一切的结局终会到来——尽管她也比任何人都害怕承认这个事实。 Besides, the future cannot be found within memories. 而且她知晓，这些回忆之中不可能存在真正属于自己的未来。 She returned to the world of white knowing she may never visit those days again. 在清楚自己终要与那梦幻的世界分别后，她回到了那纯白色的世界。 Days gone are just that: stories told and over, lives and loves finished. 日子正是像这样一天天地流逝：再美好的故事也总会迎来终章，生命与爱情终将走向消逝的那一刻。 She doesn't regret it. 但她从来都不会后悔自己所做的一切。 As she slowly descends to the surface, looking up to the clouds that had once called her there, she knows every moment, every second spent in those memories was worth everything. 当缓缓降落在地面，抬头朝曾经呼唤着自己的云端仰望之时，她深深地感觉到，自己在那些回忆中度过的每一分、每一秒，都是无价的追忆。 It's like a question she never asked has been answered, and so her heart is full. 此刻心中的感情，好似自己从未提出的疑问得到了完美无瑕的答案。她的内心，已被那股幸福的满足感所填满。 The sky seems to be falling around her, all the pieces of her temporary home dropping faster or slower around her, 少女周身的整片苍穹都好似要崩塌一般。她临时建造的家开始解体，或快或慢地于她的身旁落下。 and in her chest, she feels a twinge of emotion. 她的胸腔之中浮现出一丝疼痛的情感。 Thus, the sky, the true sky above, begins to part. 因此，那片天空——那片仰首可见，货真价实的天空——逐渐开始四分五裂。 Standing on a window platform, her hair whipping up past her face, 她平静地伫立于窗台之上，于微风中飘逸的长发轻柔地掠过她的脸颊。 she sees the glittering glass above is standing still, 眼前那片闪闪发亮的玻璃，正悬挂于远处的半空中一动不动。 and behind the pieces, a new night sky is entering her sight. One she's never seen before. 而在那片碎片的后方，是一片她曾未见过的，全新全异的夜空。 The clouds scatter and drop, disappear and dash away, as a sparkling void of shadows takes their place. 远处天边的云层逐渐地散去，就像一片无形的虚空取代了它们的位置。 This velvet plane, reaching far and darkening, before a deep lavender wave of color spreads out over it, swaying, glowing. 仿佛丝绒编织的广阔天空，无边无际地延伸着。随后，一道薰衣草色的波浪在昏暗的夜空中扩散开来，摇曳着，散发着迷人的光晕。 The stars are out. 群星显现于天空。 The day is over. 白昼结束了。 Her heart aches. 她的心隐隐作痛。 She whispers a name, this name for the last time, 她低声道出一个名字……也是最后一次这么做。 and she wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. 接着，她抬起手背，轻轻揉着自己的双眼。 Her glass breaks through the final thin layer of clouds. 眼前的那片玻璃终于穿透了最后一层薄云。 The complex, graying landscape reveals itself, to its farthest reaches. 尘蒙的大地悉数展现于她的视野，错综而连绵不断地蔓延至天际。 She smiles... 她微笑了起来…… She smiles! 她微笑了起来！ This is her new life! 放眼望去，这便是她的新生！ She holds out her hand, knowing that someday, somewhere beyond that horizon, she will find others who will take it. 她将手朝前伸去——她知晓总有一天，在那遥远的地平线处，将会有愿意牵住这只手的人出现。 Someday, these hands will do something great. 总有一天，依靠这双手，她将能够办成大事。 Until then, she will look ahead. 直到那一刻到来，她都会义无反顾地前行。 Living in the present—in Arcaea. 活在当下——活在Arcaea的怀抱之中。
