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https://taoyundao.blogspot.com/2026/09/pelagias-vessel.html
回程的路上，光從東邊慢慢滲過來。路燈在他們身後一盞一盞熄掉，像有人沿路把昨夜收進口袋。他回頭看了一眼。整條街的顏色變了，從路燈的橘黃，變成清晨那種很淡的、還沒決定要藍還是灰的白。
她飄在他前方兩三步的位置，幻體在天光下淡了一層，像被早晨稀釋過。路上開始有人了。晨跑的、遛狗的、推早餐車的。沒有人多看他們一眼。
「欸，」她忽然說，「該怎麼稱呼你？總不能一直你呀你的。」
On the way back, light slowly seeped in from the east. Streetlights went out one by one behind them, as if someone were collecting the night into a pocket along the road. He glanced back. The color of the entire street had changed, from the orange-yellow of the streetlamps to that faint early-morning white that hadn't yet decided whether to be blue or gray.
She floated two or three paces ahead of him, her phantom body thinning in the daylight, as if diluted by the morning. People were beginning to appear on the streets. Joggers, dog-walkers, someone pushing a breakfast cart. No one gave them a second glance.
"Hey," she said suddenly. "What should I call you? I can't just keep saying 'you' all the time."
「我不是告訴過妳名字？妳還說記住了。」
「太長。」
「不用加姓，才兩個字。」
「不要，感覺——不對。像對不熟的人用暱稱。」她說得理直氣壯。「雖然我們有另一種熟，但不是親暱那種，不適合。」
「是喔。那妳想怎麼叫？我覺得……」
「阿豪。」她打斷他。「就這樣。豪哥也行，看我心情。」
豪哥。幾千歲的存在叫我豪哥。他覺得自己嘴角在抽搐。
"Didn't I tell you my name? You said you'd remember it."
"Too long."
"Without the surname, it's only two characters."
"I don't want to. It feels—wrong. Like using a nickname for someone you're not close to." She said it as if it were perfectly reasonable. "We have a different kind of closeness, but it's not the affectionate kind. It doesn't fit."
"Oh. Then what do you want to call me? I think—"
"Hao." She cut him off. "That's it. Hao-ge (big brother Hao) is fine too, depending on my mood."
Hao-ge. A being thousands of years old calling me Hao-ge. He felt the corner of his mouth twitching.
「那妳呢？我叫妳……頭小姐？還是女神之首？」
她的光環轉快了一點。「你是不是想讓我把你的名字改成『笨蛋』？」
「好吧，那到底要怎麼稱呼？」
「佩姬。」她說得很快，像早就想好了。「外面就叫佩姬。」
佩姬。從「佩拉吉亞」裡截出來的暱稱，像把鑽石磨成了日常戴的小墜子。他在心裡念了一遍。還行。
他忽然想到某個跨國企業創辦人好像也叫這個名字，但想了想，決定不要說出來。
"And you? Should I call you... Miss Head? Or Chief Goddess?"
Her halo spun a little faster. "Do you want me to change your name to 'Idiot'?"
"Fine, then what should I call you?"
"Peggy." She said it quickly, as if she'd already decided. "To the outside world, I'm Peggy."
Peggy. A nickname cut from "Pelagia," like grinding a diamond down into a small pendant for everyday wear. He repeated it in his mind. Not bad.
It suddenly occurred to him that some multinational corporation founder seemed to have that name too, but after thinking about it, he decided not to mention it.
「在那咕咕噥噥什麼？」她飛著，眼神斜過來。
「沒什麼，佩姬。」他順口叫了一次。
「嗯？」她的反應很輕，不如他預期。
「沒什麼。確認一下。」
「確認什麼？」
「確認這樣叫不會被咒殺之類的。」
她哼了一聲，眼神像在看笨蛋——不討厭的那種。
"What are you muttering about?" She flew alongside him, slanting a glance his way.
"Nothing, Peggy." He said it casually.
"Hm?" Her reaction was mild, not what he'd expected.
"Nothing. Just checking."
"Checking what?"
"Checking that calling you that won't get me cursed or something."
She snorted, her eyes looking at him like he was an idiot—but not the kind she disliked.
他調整了一下抱「容器」的姿勢，低頭看了一眼臂彎裡的東西。「那……這個呢？」
海藍色的光在晨曦中變得柔和，渦流緩緩轉著，像還沒睡醒。
「容器。」她隨口說。
「對，容器——」
「不對。」她轉過來，表情悶悶的。「你別這麼叫，我只是……順著你之前的說法而已，不是真的要這麼叫它。」
「……為什麼？」
「容器、容器，」她把這兩個字含在嘴裡又吐出來，像嚐到了不新鮮的東西，「你的身體也是容器嗎？裝心裝肺裝腸子的容器？」
He adjusted his hold on the "vessel" and glanced down at what was in his arms. "Then... what about this?"
The sea-blue light had softened in the dawn, the vortex turning slowly, as if not yet awake.
"The vessel," she said offhandedly.
"Right, the vessel—"
"No." She turned toward him, her expression sullen. "Don't call it that. I was just... going along with what you said before. I don't actually want to call it that."
"...Why?"
"Vessel, vessel," she rolled the word around in her mouth and spat it out, as if tasting something stale. "Is your body a vessel too? A vessel for holding your heart and lungs and intestines?"
他沒想到這會觸到什麼。「那叫什麼好？」
「身體？」她自己搖了頭。
「軀幹？」他試探。
瞪。
「真佩拉吉亞？」
「那誰是假的？你說！」聲量拉高了半度。
他舉手投降，想了想。
「……核心？」
她沉默了幾秒。臂彎裡的海藍色光忽然亮了一拍，像有人在意識深處同意了什麼。
「算了。就核心吧。」她嘆了口氣。
難伺候，他想。
He hadn't expected that to hit a nerve. "Then what should we call it?"
"Body?" She shook her head herself.
"Torso?" he tried.
A glare.
"The real Pelagia?"
"Then who's the fake one? You tell me!" Her voice rose half a pitch.
He raised his hands in surrender and thought about it.
"...Core?"
She was silent for a few seconds. The sea-blue light in his arms suddenly pulsed brighter, as if something deep in her consciousness had agreed.
"Fine. Core, then." She sighed.
High-maintenance, he thought.
---
到了他的住處。
推開門，光從窗戶照進來。不大，但一個人住很夠了。起居室兼餐廳，木桌佔了大半空間，角落有簡易廚房——流理台、電磁爐、微波爐，一個人夠用。再進去是臥室，門半開著，單人床上被子沒折，書桌上的筆電沒闔上，像裡面的人突然離開。衣櫃和鞋櫃都還空著大半。
她飛進來，掃了一圈，什麼都沒說。
他一手環著核心，一手解下聖杖和神劍。離開神殿後，只要他「想」，把聖杖和神劍往地上一立，就會變回那雙石雕般的腿，自己站著。杖頭散發著微弱的金色流光，劍柄流竄著細小的銀藍電流，裂縫裡透出隱隱的溫熱。
就像他們本來就住這呢，他想。嘴角有了弧度，鬆鬆的。
They arrived at his place.
He pushed the door open, and light came in through the window. Not large, but more than enough for one person. Living room doubling as dining room, a wooden table taking up most of the space, a simple kitchen in the corner—counter, induction cooktop, microwave. Enough for one. Further in was the bedroom, door half-open, unmade single bed, laptop still open on the desk, as if its owner had suddenly left. The wardrobe and shoe cabinet were still mostly empty.
She flew in, scanned the room once, and said nothing.
He held the core with one arm and used the other to unfasten the holy staff and the divine sword. After leaving the temple, whenever he "willed" it, planting the holy staff and divine sword upright on the ground would turn them back into those two stone-carved legs, standing on their own. The staff's head gave off a faint golden glow, the sword's hilt crackled with tiny silver-blue currents, and a gentle warmth seeped from the cracks.
Like they've always lived here, he thought. A smile tugged at his lips, loose and easy.
接著他環顧屋內，目光落在餐桌旁一把有靠背的木椅上。大小剛好。他把核心往上一擱，讓它立在椅面上。
「呀啊——！」
Then he looked around the room, his gaze landing on a wooden chair with a backrest by the dining table. Just the right size. He set the core on it, letting it stand on the seat.
"Eek—!"
尖叫聲從身後炸開。他轉頭，看見佩姬從半空中墜了下去，在幾乎觸地的瞬間止住，又猛地彈起，光環飛速地轉了好幾圈。
「你幹了什麼好事！」她氣到聲音都在抖，臉漲得通紅。
「我……放核心啊？」
「你把那個尖——！」她眼神轉向核心的底部。最下方的、銳利的尖端，壓在木椅的座面上。
她飄過去，沒碰到核心，它自己浮了起來。懸在半空中，跟在神殿裡一樣。
A scream exploded from behind him. He turned to see Peggy plummeting from midair, stopping just before she hit the ground, then shooting back up, her halo spinning several rapid circles.
"What did you do?!" She was trembling with rage, her face bright red.
"I... put the core down?"
"You put that point—!" Her eyes went to the bottom of the core. The sharp, pointed tip at the very bottom, pressed against the wooden seat.
She floated over. She didn't touch the core; it rose on its own. It hovered in midair, just as it had in the temple.
「你想想看，」她努力讓語氣平穩下來，但耳根的紅暈出賣了她，「核心是什麼？」
「佩拉吉亞的……身體？」
「身體的——哪——裡？」
他看了看核心的形態。下半部寬闊，流暢的弧線，到最下方收成一個尖。往上再次變寬，逐漸收窄，在頂端收束成頸口大小的圓——
他低頭看了看自己，想了想。
「……對不起。」
"Think about it," she said, trying to keep her voice steady, but the red at the tips of her ears betrayed her. "What is the core?"
"Pelagia's... body?"
"The body's—what—part?"
He looked at the core's shape. Wide at the bottom, flowing curves, tapering to a point at the very bottom. Widening again as it rose, gradually narrowing, converging at the top into a neck-sized circle—
He looked down at himself, thought about it.
"...I'm sorry."
「你讓核心浮著就好！它本來就浮著的！別亂擱！」她光環轉得飛快，碎碎唸了好一陣子。
「從來沒出過這種事……喔，現在有了。要死了。竟然有人把『我』往椅子上放，眼睛長在那是做什麼的啊，真是……」
她愈說愈小聲，最後幾個字幾乎是含在嘴裡。
"Just let the core float! It floats on its own! Don't just put it down anywhere!" Her halo spun furiously, and she grumbled for a good while.
"Nothing like this has ever happened... well, now it has. I'm going to die. Someone actually put 'me' on a chair. What are your eyes even for, honestly..."
Her voice trailed off, the last few words almost mumbled into her mouth.
---
早上，他準備上班——即使經歷了那樣的一夜。
出門前，他回頭看了一眼。佩姬浮在餐桌上方，頭頂的環緩緩轉著，正在研究他昨晚沒洗的泡麵碗。
「怎麼？」她沒抬眼。
「沒什麼。」他說，手握在門把上，「就是……把妳一個人留在這，感覺有點奇怪。」
「什麼叫一個人？」她終於看向他，表情淡淡的，「我有一顆頭，還有一具身體在飄著，還有兩條站直直的腿。這叫一個人？」
他愣了一下，笑了。
「而且我有我要忙的。」她又轉頭，「快走，你會遲到。」
In the morning, he got ready for work—even after a night like that.
Before leaving, he glanced back. Peggy floated above the dining table, the ring above her head turning slowly as she studied the instant noodle bowl he hadn't washed last night.
"What?" She didn't look up.
"Nothing." He said, hand on the doorknob. "It's just... leaving you here alone feels a little strange."
"What do you mean, alone?" She finally looked at him, her expression bland. "I have a head, a body floating around, and two legs standing straight up. You call that alone?"
He blinked, then laughed.
"Besides, I have things to do." She turned away. "Go on, you'll be late."
下班回家時，他才知道她說的「忙」是什麼。
快到家時，雙腳自己放慢了。不是累，是某種被什麼勾住的感覺，像有根透明的線綁在腳踝上。他繞過那棵快把圍牆擠歪的老榕樹，在僻靜的轉角站定——
她果然在那。
只是幻體沒有乖乖待在脖子底下。它走在前面幾步的位置，穿著深色圓點T恤、牛仔短褲、涼拖，像社區裡某個剛下樓丟垃圾的住戶。
只是沒有頭。
佩姬本人懸在側後方，盯著幻體的背影看，像審視作品的雕刻家。
When he came home from work, he found out what she meant by "things to do."
As he neared home, his feet slowed on their own. Not from fatigue, but from a feeling of being hooked by something, like an invisible thread tied to his ankle. He rounded the old banyan tree that was about to push the wall crooked, and stopped at a quiet corner—
She was there, just as he'd thought.
Only the phantom body wasn't obediently staying under her neck. It was walking a few paces ahead, wearing a dark polka-dot T-shirt, denim shorts, and flip-flops, like some neighbor who'd just come downstairs to take out the trash.
Except it had no head.
Peggy herself hovered behind and to the side, staring at the phantom body's back like a sculptor appraising her work.
她察覺了他。「呦，回來啦。」
「妳……在幹嘛？」
「調整幻體。」她說，視線沒離開那個無頭的背影。「它平常長在我脖子下面，我自己看不到全貌。大致沒問題，但有些小地方——」她歪了歪頭，光環跟著偏了一下，「——得從外面看，才抓得準。」
他看了一眼那個無頭的身體。它正轉過身來，配合著佩姬的轉向。牛仔短褲的褲管隨著動作擺了一下，涼拖踩在磨石子地板上，發出輕輕的啪啪聲。佩姬點了點頭，似乎滿意。
「應該……還行吧。破綻不多了，再改一下……」她自言自語。接著幻體走向他，動作流暢，肩膀微微前傾，雙手自然擺動。
She noticed him. "Yo, you're back."
"You... what are you doing?"
"Adjusting the phantom body." She said, her gaze not leaving the headless figure. "It usually sits under my neck, so I can't see the whole thing myself. It's mostly fine, but some small details—" she tilted her head, the halo tilting with it, "—need to be seen from the outside to get right."
He looked at the headless body. It had turned around to match Peggy's turn. The cuffs of the denim shorts swung with the movement, and the flip-flops made soft slapping sounds against the terrazzo floor. Peggy nodded, seemingly satisfied.
"It should be... okay. Not many flaws left, just a bit more adjusting..." she murmured to herself. Then the phantom body walked toward him, movements fluid, shoulders leaning slightly forward, arms swinging naturally.
——活生生的。明明沒有頭，身體的每個動作裡卻都有「人」。
佩姬在後面飛著，表情專注得像在飛無人機。幻體在他面前站定後，她嘴角鬆了。
「如何？」她看向他。
他又看了一眼幻體。站在那裡，手自然地垂著，涼拖踩在地面上，腳趾微微張開又合攏——像在適應新的地面。
「就像每天經過你眼前千百回、卻留不下印象的人們吧。」她自己接上了答案。
—Alive. Despite having no head, every movement of the body was full of "person."
Peggy floated behind it, her expression focused, like she was piloting a drone. When the phantom body came to a stop in front of him, the corners of her mouth relaxed.
"How is it?" She looked at him.
He looked at the phantom body again. Standing there, arms hanging naturally, flip-flops on the ground, toes slightly spreading and closing—as if adjusting to new ground.
"Like the people who pass by your eyes a thousand times a day but leave no impression," she answered herself.
他點頭，眼睛卻移向幻體的衣著。
「樓下那個推嬰兒車的，」她說，像看穿了他的疑問，「我學她穿的，看起來很舒服，而且不會有人多看一眼。我需要一個『普通人版』的自己。這可費工夫了。」
「費工夫？不是咻一下就變出來了？」
她愣了一下。表情轉為嫌棄——力圖保持優雅的那種。
「唉……你不是很聰明呢。」她嘆氣。「神力能造幻體，但幻體要像人——」她說。「每一寸皮膚的質感、每一個動作的銜接——腰怎麼轉，肩膀怎麼跟上，衣服的皺褶怎麼變化——全部都要交代清楚。差一點，就會被人看出來。」
He nodded, but his eyes moved to the phantom body's clothes.
"The one downstairs pushing the stroller," she said, as if reading his question, "I copied her outfit. Looks comfortable, and no one gives her a second glance. I need a 'normal person' version of myself. That took some work."
"Work? Doesn't it just poof into existence?"
She blinked. Her expression turned to disdain—the kind that tried to remain elegant.
"Ah... you're not very smart, are you." She sighed. "Divine power can create a phantom body, but for it to look human—" she said, "every inch of skin texture, every movement transition—how the waist turns, how the shoulders follow, how the clothes wrinkle—all of it has to be accounted for. Miss one thing, and people will notice."
她讓幻體往前走幾步。涼拖的後鞋面離開腳跟，又在下一步合攏。
「你看。後腳的鞋子後半部，得離開腳跟。不然像黏在腳上。」
幻體停下腳步，她繼續說。「你以為『看起來像人』很簡單嗎？光雕出有生命感的人像，就足以被稱為大師了。何況這人像還得動起來。」
幻體的手舉了起來，比劃了幾下，像在解說。
「所以，」她說，像在做結論，「法術不只需要力量，還需要資訊，才能把『流動』塑造成『形狀』。沒有形狀的力量，只是一團亂。」
他點點頭。大概理解了。大概。
She made the phantom body walk a few steps. The back of the flip-flop left the heel, then met it again on the next step.
"See. The back half of the shoe has to leave the heel. Otherwise it looks glued to the foot."
The phantom body stopped, and she continued. "You think 'looking human' is easy? Just sculpting a lifelike figure is enough to be called a master. And this figure has to move."
The phantom body's hand rose, gesturing a few times, as if explaining.
"So," she said, as if concluding, "spells need not just power, but information, to shape 'flow' into 'form.' Power without form is just a mess."
He nodded. He roughly understood. Roughly.
她說這些，像在說一件她做過千百遍的事。但對凡人來說，讓幻體動起來、讓它像人、讓它不被發現——這根本難翻天。
那當年佩拉吉亞施展神力、創造神蹟的時候，這顆頭，到底轉過多少念頭？
當女神的頭，也不簡單啊。
腦中突然閃過某句話。「Knowledge is power.」他脫口而出。
她的光環頓了一下。「幹嘛？沒頭沒腦來這一句。你找培根老兄有事？」
他輕輕搖頭。「沒事。只是……」他看她，「我有點尊敬妳了。」
「什……什麼意思？」她抿起嘴，飛回幻體的頸部上方。「而且什麼叫『有點』？你解釋解釋。」
幻體的手伸過來。這次比上次痛。不知道是她真的用力了，還是他太得意忘形了。
他邊打哈哈邊往樓上走。
She said all this like it was something she'd done a thousand times. But for a mortal, making a phantom body move, making it look human, making it undetectable—that was impossibly hard.
So when Pelagia had wielded divine power and performed miracles back then, how many thoughts had this head turned over?
Being a goddess's head wasn't easy either.
A phrase suddenly flashed through his mind. "Knowledge is power." He blurted it out.
Her halo paused. "What? Out of nowhere? You got something to say to old Bacon?"
He shook his head slightly. "Nothing. Just..." he looked at her, "I kind of respect you."
"Wha... what do you mean?" She pursed her lips and flew back above the phantom body's neck. "And what do you mean, 'kind of'? Explain yourself."
The phantom body's hand reached over. This time it hurt more than before. He didn't know if she'd actually put force into it, or if he'd just gotten too smug.
He laughed it off and headed upstairs.
---
他們進了屋子。他下班時繞去買了晚餐，袋子往桌上一放，炒飯、爌肉、滷蛋、臭豆腐。小小的空間裡，氣味一下子擠了進來，油煙、醬香、發酵的豆味，各自佔據一角。
她從飄浮的高度降下來，目光掃過那些塑膠袋和紙盒，像在清點戰利品。
「好吃的都買回來了？」她問。語氣平淡，但光環轉得比平常快了一點。
「不知道妳想吃什麼，就都買了。」
「嗯。」她走到桌邊，突然停下來，低頭看自己的腳。
原本還掛在腳上的涼拖，在她目光觸及的瞬間消失了，像從未存在過。
「進屋要脫鞋。」她喃喃地說，像在向誰解釋。
他嘴角抽了一下。
They entered the apartment. On his way home from work, he'd stopped to buy dinner. He set the bag on the table: fried rice, braised pork, braised egg, stinky tofu. The small space was suddenly crowded with smells—oil smoke, soy sauce, fermented bean—each claiming its own corner.
She descended from her floating height, her gaze sweeping over the plastic bags and paper boxes like she was taking inventory of spoils.
"You bought all the good stuff?" she asked. Her tone was flat, but her halo was spinning a little faster than usual.
"I didn't know what you wanted, so I got everything."
"Mm." She walked to the table, then suddenly stopped and looked down at her feet.
The flip-flops that had been on her feet vanished the moment her gaze touched them, as if they'd never existed.
"You take off your shoes indoors," she murmured, as if explaining to someone.
His mouth twitched.
食物一樣一樣被取出，擺好。她沒有身體可以坐，但幻體坐在他對面，頭顱飄在幻體的頸口上方，像準備一起吃飯的伙伴。
這畫面，他恐怕一輩子也習慣不了。
開動了。她拿起筷子和湯匙。有一瞬，湯匙柄穿過幻體的手掌，筷子的末端陷進手指裡。她皺了一下眉，微調了什麼，然後繼續。
她細細品嚐每一種食物。不是很興奮，但看得出極其專注。觀看色澤，湊近嗅聞，然後放進嘴裡咀嚼。每一步都不馬虎，色香味一項不落。被嚼碎的食物滑入喉嚨——幻體的喉嚨——她稍微仰頭，眯起眼，嘴角掛著淺淺的弧。
「好吃。」她說。語氣不複雜、不修飾。
好吃，就夠了。
The food was taken out one item at a time and laid out. She had no body to sit with, but the phantom body sat across from him, her head floating above the phantom's neck, like a companion ready to eat together.
This scene, he suspected, he would never get used to.
They began eating. She picked up chopsticks and a spoon. For a moment, the spoon handle passed through the phantom's palm, and the ends of the chopsticks sank into its fingers. She frowned, made a small adjustment, and continued.
She tasted each dish carefully. Not excited, but visibly focused. She examined the color, leaned in to smell, then put it in her mouth and chewed. Every step was meticulous—appearance, aroma, taste, nothing skipped. The chewed food slid down her throat—the phantom's throat—and she tilted her head back slightly, narrowed her eyes, a faint curve at the corners of her mouth.
"Delicious," she said. Her tone was uncomplicated, unadorned.
Delicious was enough.
他看著她吃了幾分鐘，忽然想到一個問題。
「那個……佩姬。」
「嗯？」
「妳吃的東西……去哪裡了？」
她停下筷子，看了他一眼，拍了拍幻體的腹部。「在這。被我用力量暫時懸著——跟讓頭飄著的一樣。」
「然後呢？」
她沒有直接回答。手伸進虛幻的身軀裡，出來時掌上多了一團東西。
被細細咀嚼過的食物糜。爌肉的纖維、米飯的顆粒、臭豆腐的碎屑，混雜在一起，被一層薄薄的膜包裹著。各種顏色纏在一起，帶著油光。
「喏。」她攤開掌，展示著。
He watched her eat for a few minutes, then a question occurred to him.
"Um... Peggy."
"Hm?"
"The food you eat... where does it go?"
She stopped her chopsticks, glanced at him, and patted the phantom's abdomen. "Here. I hold it temporarily with power—same as keeping my head floating."
"And then?"
She didn't answer directly. Her hand reached into the illusory torso, and when it came out, there was something in her palm.
Finely chewed food paste. Fibers of braised pork, grains of rice, fragments of stinky tofu, all mixed together, wrapped in a thin membrane. The colors tangled together, glistening with oil.
"Here," she said, opening her palm to show him.
He stared at the lump, then gasped and leaned back against the chair. He wanted to look away but couldn't.
他盯著那團東西看，然後倒抽一口氣，整個人往後靠上椅背。他想移開視線，但做不到。
不是單純的不舒服。是更複雜的東西。那些「前爌肉」、「前臭豆腐」混在一起已經夠令人反胃了，但一個女神——前女神——從身體裡把它們掏出來，捧在手上，還展示給他看。
不可思議，不對，不可理喻。
她察覺他的異樣，皺起眉頭：「幹嘛，有什麼不對勁？好吧，這些也是要處理——」
她手一揮，那團食物糜消失了。
「不能浪費嘛。」她說。
「不能浪費？然後呢？」他脫口而出，聲音尖了，連他自己都嚇了一跳。
她指了指核心。他轉頭。
He stared at the lump, then gasped and leaned back against the chair. He wanted to look away but couldn't.
It wasn't simple disgust. It was something more complicated. The "former braised pork" and "former stinky tofu" mixed together was already nauseating enough, but a goddess—former goddess—pulling them out of her body, holding them in her hand, and showing them to him.
Unbelievable. No, unreasonable.
She noticed his reaction and frowned. "What? What's wrong? Fine, this also needs to be disposed of—"
She waved her hand, and the food paste vanished.
"Can't waste it," she said.
"Can't waste it? And then what?" He blurted out, his voice sharp, startling even himself.
She pointed at the core. He turned.
核心懸浮在客廳一角，像一片濃縮的海，內部的渦流緩緩轉動。半透明的表面如呼吸般膨脹、收縮。金色的光絲像脈絡一樣分支、交織，經過節點時凝聚、停駐，編織出像器官、又像建築的精密結構。莊嚴、神聖，美到讓人想跪下。
可是在渦流的中心，在神聖光芒最濃密的地方，出現了一團濁黃，嚼碎的、軟爛的、混著湯汁和油脂的殘渣。像不請自來的惡徒，闖進了一座完美的宮殿。
金色的光絲繞過它，像困惑的手指在猶豫要不要碰；海藍色的渦流倒是更直接，滲進那團汙濁。泥巴般的色澤在光流中被拉成細絲，緩慢地擴散、稀釋。
他睜大了眼，然後發現自己在乾嘔。
The core floated in a corner of the living room, like a concentrated sea, its internal vortex turning slowly. The semi-transparent surface expanded and contracted like breathing. Golden threads of light branched and interwove like veins, condensing and pausing at nodes, weaving precise structures like organs, like architecture. Solemn, sacred, beautiful enough to make you want to kneel.
But in the center of the vortex, where the sacred light was densest, a murky yellow lump appeared—chewed, soft, mixed with juices and oil. Like an uninvited villain barging into a perfect palace.
The golden threads of light skirted around it, like confused fingers hesitating to touch. The sea-blue vortex was more direct, seeping into the murk. The mud-like color was drawn into threads in the light stream, slowly spreading and diluting.
He widened his eyes, then realized he was dry-heaving.
「你還好嗎？」她問。一臉不解。
「那個……那個是——」
「哦。」她看了一眼核心，「剛剛吃的呀。幻體又沒有腸胃，只能送那邊。」她說得坦然，像在說一件極其普通的事。「核心會處理掉的，淨化、吸收，化成佩拉吉亞的一部分。」
她轉回目光，發現他還在乾嘔，歪了歪頭。
「你在意？你們人類肚子裡也是這樣啊。只是看不到而已。」
「不……不一樣……」他看著那團在核心內漫開的污濁，再看他剛剛還笑著看她吃下的食物，再看她——那張美麗的、從容的臉。「這不應該……」他的聲音在抖。還沒說完，眼淚就流了下來。
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking puzzled.
"That... that is—"
"Oh." She glanced at the core. "What I just ate. The phantom body doesn't have a stomach, so it can only go there." She said it calmly, as if stating something utterly ordinary. "The core will process it. Purify, absorb, turn it into part of Pelagia."
She turned back and saw he was still dry-heaving. She tilted her head.
"You mind? Your human stomachs are like this too. You just can't see it."
"No... it's different..." He looked at the murk spreading inside the core, then at the food he'd just smiled watching her eat, then at her—that beautiful, composed face. "This shouldn't..." His voice was shaking. Before he could finish, tears were already falling.
不是嚎啕。是安靜的、沒辦法控制的滲漏。他自己都沒反應過來，眼淚就那樣流出。他用手背擦了一下，又流出來。
她愣住了。光環停轉了一瞬。
他花了好一會兒才說得出話。
「妳讓我看過佩拉吉亞。」他說，聲音很輕。「祂的面容——我沒有真正看清，但我記得那個感覺。照見萬物。還有那個……不忍踩下去的姿態。」他停了一下。「祂純粹。神聖。不應該……」
他的目光移向核心。那團汙濁正在被渦流一點一點地分解。
「不應該有一絲汙穢在祂裡面。」
Not sobbing. Just a quiet, uncontrollable leak. He hadn't even registered it before the tears were flowing. He wiped them with the back of his hand, and they came again.
She was stunned. Her halo stopped turning for an instant.
It took him a while before he could speak.
"You showed me Pelagia," he said, his voice very soft. "Her face—I didn't really see it clearly, but I remember the feeling. Seeing all things. And that... posture of reluctance to step down." He paused. "She was pure. Sacred. There shouldn't be..."
His gaze moved to the core. The murk was being broken down bit by bit by the vortex.
"There shouldn't be a trace of filth in her."
他知道這話不講理。但見到佩拉吉亞那次，他連自己的存在都覺得多餘。現在，祂裡面卻漂浮著嚼碎的臭豆腐。
像有人把最無瑕的白瓷拿去當菸灰缸。
沉默了一陣。
然後她的手——虛幻的、半透明的手——輕輕放在他的頭頂。拍了拍。又拍了拍。動作有些笨拙，像不常做這種事。
「女神後遺症。」她說。語氣很輕。
他抬起頭。
He knew the words were unreasonable. But when he'd seen Pelagia, he'd felt his own existence was superfluous. Now, inside her, floated chewed stinky tofu.
Like someone using the most flawless white porcelain as an ashtray.
Silence fell for a while.
Then her hand—the illusory, semi-transparent hand—rested gently on top of his head. Patted. Patted again. The motion was a little clumsy, like someone who didn't do this often.
"Goddess aftereffects," she said. Her voice was very light.
He looked up.
「佩拉吉亞——」她用了全名，「——可不是與萬物隔離的。」她的眼神移向核心。「祂遠到難以觸及，也大到世間放不下。可是——」她聲音變得很柔，「祂的存在，一直與世界交流著、互動著。」
她指了指核心上方——頸口的位置。進進出出的光芒，像潮汐。
「你瞧。祂從來不是封閉的。不是自己一個去完美、去崇高。神性接納萬物，不是棄絕萬物。像海接受一條死去的魚，也接受一顆墜入深海的流星。海不會因此變髒。海還是海。」
"Pelagia—" she used the full name, "—was not isolated from all things." Her gaze moved to the core. "She was too distant to reach, too vast for the world to contain. But—" her voice became very soft, "her existence was always communicating and interacting with the world."
She pointed above the core—the neck opening. Light flowed in and out like the tide.
"See. She was never closed off. She didn't go off alone to be perfect, to be sublime. Divinity accepts all things; it doesn't reject them. Like the sea accepts a dead fish, and also a meteor that falls into the deep. The sea doesn't become dirty because of it. The sea is still the sea."
她停了一下，像在翻一本很舊的書。
「那個年代，也有這麼一句話——『入口的不能污穢人，出口的乃能污穢人。』」她瞇眼笑了。「說這話的人，後來可有名了。」
他也笑了。眼淚還掛在臉上，但已經止住了。
「我……可以碰碰核心嗎？」他問。聲音很小，像怕被拒絕。
她輕輕點頭。
She paused, like turning a page in a very old book.
"Back then, there was also this saying—'It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles them.'" She narrowed her eyes and smiled. "The one who said that became quite famous later."
He laughed too. Tears were still on his face, but they'd stopped.
"Can I... touch the core?" he asked. His voice was small, as if afraid of being refused.
She nodded slightly.
他走到核心旁邊，手掌貼上去。溫的。表面輕微地起伏，像呼吸。
他看著那團散開的濁黃。金色的光絲正將它一縷一縷地拆解，送至核心各處。
它正在被吸收，正在成為佩拉吉亞的一部分。
他心裡還是有些抵觸。那是他對女神的想像。但他開始明白，那個想像可能太窄了。
就像佩姬說的。海就是海。
He walked over to the core and placed his palm on it. Warm. The surface rose and fell slightly, like breathing.
He looked at the dispersing murky yellow. The golden threads of light were breaking it apart strand by strand, sending it throughout the core.
It was being absorbed, becoming part of Pelagia.
He still felt some resistance in his heart. That was his image of the goddess. But he was beginning to understand that that image might have been too narrow.
Like Peggy said. The sea is the sea.
然後他也不知道為什麼，嘴自己動了：
「那……核心會不會——嗯——大便？」
空氣凝固了一拍。核心的光似乎也頓了一下。
「你問什麼鬼！」她伸手在他腦袋上「啪」地拍了一下。他頭暈目眩。
「吃了……就要排啊！」他辯解。
「排你個頭！」她深吸了一口氣，像在壓制什麼。「我……活了幾千年，見過帝王、見過祭司、見過各種自以為聰明的人——從來沒有人問過我這個問題。」
她放棄似地回到桌邊，坐下，用筷子指了指那盒已經半涼的炒飯。「炒飯都冷了。」她悶悶地說。「不好吃。都是你講傻話講太久。去加熱。」
Then, without knowing why, his mouth moved on its own:
"So... does the core—um—poop?"
The air froze for a beat. The core's light seemed to pause too.
"What the hell are you asking?!" She reached out and smacked him on the head. His head spun.
"Eat... then excrete!" he argued.
"Excrete my foot!" She took a deep breath, as if suppressing something. "I... have lived thousands of years, seen emperors, priests, all kinds of people who thought they were clever—no one has ever asked me that."
She returned to the table as if giving up, sat down, and pointed her chopsticks at the half-cold fried rice. "The fried rice is cold," she said sullenly. "Not good anymore. All because you talked nonsense for too long. Go heat it up."
他捂著頭，忍不住笑了出來。
「遵命，偉大的佩姬，女神至高至上之首，超越一切的存在。」
「……閉嘴。」
他把炒飯送進微波爐。按下加熱鍵，嗡嗡聲響起。他從門上的倒影看她。
她正盯著核心，眼神是他無法歸類的。
He clutched his head and couldn't help laughing.
"As you command, great Peggy, supreme head of the goddess, existence beyond all others."
"...Shut up."
He put the fried rice in the microwave. Pressed the button, and the hum started. He watched her reflection in the door.
She was staring at the core, with an expression he couldn't categorize.
---
之後的日子裡，她的「功課」多了一項。
不只是練習幻體的動作。她開始讓虛幻的手練習拿東西——筆、杯子、遙控器。幻體的手做出抓握的姿勢，同時物體被神力隔空移動，兩者的軌跡必須完全重合，否則就會出現「手在杯子旁邊，杯子卻自己飄起來」的畫面。
她還拿他的鞋來練習穿脫——一隻幻影的腳套進一隻真實的鞋裡，鞋帶在無形的力量下被繫好。
「妳練這個做什麼？」
「出門啊。」她說。「總不能一直窩在你這。外面的世界，我遠遠地望了這麼多年，該去看看了。」
In the days that followed, she added a new item to her "homework."
Not just practicing the phantom body's movements. She began having the illusory hands practice holding things—a pen, a cup, a remote control. The phantom hand would make a gripping motion while the object was moved telekinetically, and the two trajectories had to match exactly, or else you'd get "hand next to the cup while the cup floats up on its own."
She also used his shoes to practice putting on and taking off—a phantom foot slipping into a real shoe, laces tying themselves under invisible force.
"Why are you practicing that?"
"Going out," she said. "I can't stay cooped up here forever. The outside world—I've watched it from afar for so many years. It's time to go see it."
到了週六。她說她準備好了。
「第一件事——買鞋。」她的光環轉得快了一點。「先去鞋店吧！」
「所以妳那時不是說笑的？」
她看了他一眼。那種「你是不是真的這麼笨」的眼神。「認真的，你看不出來？」她比了比站在屋內的雙腿，「我真的想換下它們的鞋。」
他注意到她的幻體今天穿得特別整齊，看來她調整了很久。
Saturday came. She said she was ready.
"First thing—buy shoes." Her halo spun a little faster. "Let's go to a shoe store first!"
"So you weren't joking back then?"
She glanced at him. That "are you really this stupid" look. "I'm serious. Can't you tell?" She gestured at the legs standing in the room. "I really want to change their shoes."
He noticed her phantom body was dressed especially neatly today. She must have adjusted it for a long time.
他又看了一眼那雙涼鞋。確實是好看的，帶有古典的莊重感——但配在佩拉吉亞身上，就像晚禮服底下穿了一雙登山靴。
他沉吟一會，斟酌著字眼。「確實，不是佩拉吉亞那種風格。那件海藍色神裝美到我不敢回想，鞋子卻像……亞馬遜女戰士？」他脫口而出。
她打了他後腦勺一下。「就會嘴碎。這可是被羅馬人穿上的。他們眼中的佩拉吉亞，腳上就該有一雙堅固、能走遠的鞋。」她頓了頓。「羅馬人以道路、橋樑、軍團為傲，能抵達、能行動。他們認為一位有大能的女神，也該是這樣。而佩拉吉亞不會拒絕這個形象。祂接受人們用自己的想法詮釋祂。」
他聽她說，忽然覺得眼前這顆頭，比他想像中更接近一個真正的神。雖然這麼說很怪。
He looked at the sandals again. They were indeed beautiful, with a classical dignity—but on Pelagia, they were like hiking boots under an evening gown.
He thought for a moment, choosing his words. "True, it's not really Pelagia's style. That sea-blue divine garment was too beautiful for me to even recall, but the shoes are like... an Amazon warrior?" The words slipped out.
She smacked the back of his head. "Always running your mouth. These were worn by the Romans. In their eyes, Pelagia should have sturdy shoes that could walk far." She paused. "The Romans took pride in roads, bridges, legions—reaching places, taking action. They believed a goddess of great power should be like that too. And Pelagia wouldn't reject that image. She accepted people interpreting her through their own ideas."
He listened and suddenly felt that this head was closer to a true god than he'd imagined. Strange as that was to say.
「那羅馬人之前呢？」他揉著頭問。
「沒穿鞋。」她說。「腳上有些裝飾品。小珍珠串成的細鏈，纏在腳踝上。」
她的語氣忽然輕了下來，帶著一點不好意思。
「佩拉吉亞本來——是如深海般純淨深邃的女神。美麗，是根源般的性質。」
她說完，立刻補了一句：「這不是我說的。是那個年代的詩人寫的。」
「聽妳這樣說，好想再看看她。」
「看你的頭啦！」她轉過身，幻體大步往門口走。「走了走了。」
"And before the Romans?" he asked, rubbing his head.
"No shoes." She said. "Some decorations on the feet. Delicate chains of small pearls wrapped around the ankles."
Her tone suddenly softened, with a hint of embarrassment.
"Pelagia was originally—a goddess as pure and deep as the sea. Beauty was an intrinsic quality, rooted in her nature."
She immediately added, "That's not me saying it. Poets from that era wrote it."
"Hearing you say that makes me want to see her again."
"See your head!" She turned, and the phantom body strode toward the door. "Let's go, let's go."
---
一路上走走停停。
千年未曾接觸的塵世太吸引她了。便利商店的自動門開了又關，她來回走了三次；路口的號誌燈從紅轉綠，她盯著看完整個循環；騎樓下的野狗搖尾巴，她蹲下去——然後被吠了，彈回半空中。她走得很慢，他跟在旁邊，看著她看東西的側臉。
她刻意讓幻體換上普通女裝——深色T恤、寬鬆的褲裙。涼鞋的款式沒換（「節省算力」——她的說法），反正這時代也有類似的。光環也隱蔽了。外表像個普通的年輕女性，走在街上不會引起任何注意。
但在他眼中的佩姬身影，還是重疊了神殿中的那個佩拉吉亞。不是這件T恤和褲裙，是那襲海藍色的、如水般流動的衣裳。
或許是因為他就想這麼看。跟佩拉吉亞一模一樣的女生，核心就在身上，興奮地走在現代世界，到處鑽來鑽去……
視線有點模糊。陽光太強了吧，他想著。
They walked slowly, stopping often along the way.
The mortal world, untouched for a thousand years, was too fascinating for her. The automatic doors of a convenience store opened and closed; she walked back and forth three times. The traffic light turned from red to green; she watched an entire cycle. A stray dog under the arcade wagged its tail; she crouched down—and got barked at, springing back into the air. She walked slowly, and he stayed beside her, watching the profile of her face as she looked at things.
She deliberately dressed the phantom body in ordinary women's clothes—a dark T-shirt, loose pants-skirt. The sandals stayed the same ("to save processing power"—her words), since similar ones existed in this era anyway. The halo was hidden too. On the outside, she looked like an ordinary young woman, attracting no attention on the street.
But in his eyes, Peggy's figure still overlapped with that Pelagia from the temple. Not this T-shirt and pants-skirt, but that sea-blue, water-flowing garment.
Maybe because that was how he wanted to see her. A girl identical to Pelagia, with the core on her person, excitedly walking through the modern world, poking around everywhere...
His vision blurred a little. The sun's too bright, he thought.
好不容易，到了鞋店。各式各樣的鞋——高跟鞋、涼鞋、靴子、運動鞋——整齊地排列在架子上。
她像走進寶庫的冒險者，一雙一雙拿起來看，有的翻來覆去研究半天，有的湊到腳邊比對。偶爾喃喃自語，像在跟鞋子說話。
他坐在試鞋區的長凳上，默默看著。
她開心。不是張揚的那種，是安靜的、專注的、眼睛裡有光的那種。她拿起一雙鞋的樣子，像在辨認一個老朋友的筆跡。
他眼眶有點酸。她拿起一雙鞋的樣子，太像一個普通女生了。
他摘下眼鏡擦了擦。
Eventually, they reached the shoe store. All kinds of shoes—heels, sandals, boots, sneakers—neatly arranged on the shelves.
She was like an adventurer entering a treasure vault, picking up pair after pair, some examined front and back for ages, some held up to her feet for comparison. Occasionally she murmured to herself, as if talking to the shoes.
He sat on the bench in the fitting area, watching quietly.
She was happy. Not the loud kind, but the quiet, focused kind, with light in her eyes. The way she picked up a shoe was like recognizing an old friend's handwriting.
His eyes stung a little. The way she picked up a shoe was so much like an ordinary girl.
He took off his glasses and wiped them.
「阿豪，這雙好看嗎？」她舉起一雙淺棕色的瑪麗珍鞋，拿到腳旁比了比。
「好看。」
「你連看都沒看。」
「看了。好看。」
她哼了一聲，繼續逛。
"Hao, do these look good?" She held up a pair of light brown Mary Janes and held them by her feet.
"They look good."
"You didn't even look."
"I looked. They look good."
She snorted and continued browsing.
逛了一陣子，她終於開始試穿。一手扶著櫃子，一手拿鞋子往幻體的腳上套。他注意到她的動作比在家練習時流暢了許多，鞋帶、扣環、腳掌的彎曲，幾乎看不出破綻。
幾乎。
他他悄悄靠近，壓低聲音。「佩姬。」
「怎樣？忙著。」
「看看妳脫下來的那雙。」
After a while, she finally started trying them on. One hand on the cabinet, the other slipping a shoe onto the phantom foot. He noticed her movements were much smoother than when she practiced at home—laces, buckles, the bending of the foot, almost flawless.
Almost.
He quietly moved closer and lowered his voice. "Peggy."
"What? I'm busy."
"Look at the pair you took off."
她轉頭。
被她脫在一旁的「幻鞋」還維持著虛影——為了在旁人眼中保持連貫。但問題出在鞋裡。鞋尖處出現了腳趾。五根，清清楚楚，在空蕩蕩的鞋裡輕輕動著。
難以形容的詭異，像鞋子化成了妖靈。
她倒吸一口氣，趕忙蹲下去，假裝在整理鞋子，實際上是在修正法術輸出。幻體的手指伸進鞋裡，腳趾隨著碰觸逐漸消失，像被修圖工具抹去。整個過程不過三秒，但她臉都紅了。
她清了清嗓子，站了起來，假裝什麼都沒發生。
She turned.
The "phantom shoe" she'd taken off still maintained its illusory form—to keep continuity in others' eyes. But the problem was inside the shoe. At the toe, toes had appeared. Five of them, clearly visible, wiggling slightly inside the empty shoe.
An indescribably eerie sight, like the shoe had turned into a demon.
She gasped and quickly crouched down, pretending to adjust the shoes, but actually correcting the spell output. The phantom body's fingers reached into the shoe, and the toes gradually disappeared under the touch, as if erased by a photo-editing tool. The whole process took only three seconds, but her face was red.
She cleared her throat, stood up, and pretended nothing had happened.
「走吧走吧，前面還有。」他忍住笑，推著她的「背」往前走。手碰到幻體的時候，觸感怪異，涼涼的，像碰到一層半凝固的水。她回頭瞪了他一眼。
這陣子看過的奇異景象很多了，但總還能有更多的「驚喜」。法術真的沒那麼簡單，他想。
最後，她選了一雙白色運動鞋。乾淨的鞋面，簡單的線條，鞋底帶著一層薄薄的氣墊。她換上一隻，另一隻捧在手裡，翻來覆去地看。
「就這雙。小白鞋嘛，聽說有氣質的女孩都穿這種。還有氣墊，穿著舒服。」語氣試圖平淡，但嘴角的弧度出賣了她。「阿豪，幫我買。謝啦。」
"Let's go, let's go, there's more up ahead." He held back his laugh and pushed her "back" forward. When his hand touched the phantom body, the texture was strange, cool, like touching a layer of half-congealed water. She turned and glared at him.
He'd seen many strange sights lately, but there were always more "surprises." Spells really weren't simple, he thought.
In the end, she chose a pair of white sneakers. Clean upper, simple lines, a thin layer of cushioning in the sole. She put one on, held the other in her hand, turning it over and over.
"This one. White sneakers—I heard girls with class wear these. And they have air cushions, comfortable." She tried to sound casual, but the curve of her lips betrayed her. "Hao, buy them for me. Thanks."
「只要一雙？」
「一雙就夠——」
「第一次買鞋，」他站起來，「一雙怎麼夠？」
他把架上的幾雙也拿下來。瑪麗珍、帆布鞋、一雙帶細跟的短靴。他在旁邊看了一整場，知道哪些她翻了很久才放回去。
她看了看他手裡的東西，嘴巴張了一下，又合上。
「……隨便你。」她偏過頭去。光環轉得比平常快了些。
結帳時店員問要不要袋子。
「要大的。」他說。
"Just one pair?"
"One pair is enough—"
"First time buying shoes," he stood up, "how can one pair be enough?"
He took a few more pairs off the shelf. Mary Janes, canvas shoes, a pair of short boots with thin heels. He'd watched the whole time and knew which ones she'd turned over for a long time before putting back.
She looked at what he was holding, opened her mouth, then closed it.
"...Suit yourself." She turned her head away. Her halo spun a little faster than usual.
At the register, the clerk asked if they wanted a bag.
"A big one," he said.
---
回家的路上，他拎著好幾個袋子。她飄在旁邊，幻體的左右手也各提了一袋。
「我拿就好。」
「不用。」她說。「我想拿。」
她的幻體手指扣在提袋的握把上，像在確認自己真的抓得住什麼。
On the way home, he carried several bags. She floated beside him, the phantom body carrying a bag in each hand as well.
"I can carry them."
"No need." She said. "I want to carry them."
Her phantom fingers curled around the bag handles, as if confirming she could really hold something.
進了門，她放下袋子，解除幻體，長長地吐了一口氣。第一次正式上街，消耗不小。
休息了一會兒，她飄到屋角，看著那兩條石腿。
它們安靜地站著。羅馬涼鞋妥帖地包覆著腳掌，像保護也像封印。石趾從鞋前端露出，整齊地併攏。
「阿豪。」她說。「幫我換上。」
語氣很隨意，但聲音很柔。光環轉得慢了，像在等什麼。
「我這樣……不方便。」她補了一句。
They entered the apartment. She set the bags down, dissolved the phantom body, and let out a long breath. Her first proper outing had taken a lot out of her.
After resting a while, she floated to the corner of the room and looked at the two stone legs.
They stood quietly. The Roman sandals fit snugly around the feet, like protection and seal. The stone toes peeked out from the front of the sandals, neatly aligned.
"Hao," she said. "Help me change them."
Her tone was casual, but her voice was soft. The halo turned slowly, as if waiting for something.
"It's... not convenient for me," she added.
他走到鞋盒邊，取出那雙白色運動鞋，然後走向那雙腿——曾是他手中的聖杖、神劍，被他揮動、舉起不知道多少回，打贏過多少魔靈的腿。
他蹲下來——單膝跪地，像在做一件需要鄭重對待的事。
他的手碰到了涼鞋的繫帶。皮革比看起來的更柔軟。他一層一層地解開，像拆一件古老的禮物。
繫帶鬆開了，腳掌從鞋裡緩緩脫出。他把涼鞋輕輕放在一旁。他的拇指輕輕按了一下石質的腳背，像拍了拍老朋友的肩膀。
不知道是不是錯覺，拇指好像微微翹起了一下。
He walked to the shoebox, took out the white sneakers, and went to the legs—once the holy staff and divine sword in his hands, swung and raised who knew how many times, legs that had defeated who knew how many demonic spirits.
He crouched down—one knee on the ground, as if doing something that required solemnity.
His hand touched the sandal straps. The leather was softer than it looked. He unfastened them layer by layer, like unwrapping an ancient gift.
The straps loosened, and the foot slowly slipped out of the shoe. He set the sandals gently aside. His thumb pressed lightly on the stone instep, like patting an old friend's shoulder.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the big toe seemed to twitch slightly.
「他們……跟你很熟悉了呢，」佩姬飄在後方，輕輕說著，「說不定他們很喜歡跟著你行動。」
石腿似乎輕了。那是某種氣質上的變化，像壓在上面很久的東西被放下。杖頭和劍柄變得模糊了，像兩個終於可以下班的守衛。
他拿起一隻白色運動鞋，輕輕套進石質的腳掌。石頭的觸感冰涼，但指尖貼上去之後，底下那條極細的血管——或者說，像血管一樣的東西——還在跳。很輕，很慢，像深海裡的脈動。
鞋帶穿過孔眼，他慢慢地繫好。石質的腳趾在鞋裡安靜地收攏。
另一隻。同樣的動作。繫好。
"They... are quite familiar with you now," Peggy floated behind him, speaking softly. "Maybe they like going into action with you."
The stone legs seemed lighter. It was a change in their bearing, like something that had been pressing down on them for a long time was set down. The staff's head and the sword's hilt blurred, like two guards finally able to clock off.
He picked up one white sneaker and gently slipped it onto the stone foot. The stone was cool, but once his fingertips touched it, that extremely thin blood vessel—or something like a blood vessel—was still pulsing beneath. Very light, very slow, like a pulse in the deep sea.
The laces went through the eyelets, and he tied them slowly. The stone toes curled quietly inside the shoe.
The other one. The same motions. Tied.
他退後一步。
兩條石腿穿著白色運動鞋站在那裡。灰白的石質，乾淨的白色鞋面。
「……好舒服呀。」佩姬在他身後輕輕開口。聲音像是從很遠的地方傳來的。「我覺得……他們更喜歡被裹得好好的。被什麼支撐著。」她想了想。「他們就是——女生的腿。一雙女生的腿。」
他轉頭。她飄在那裡，看著石腿，光環很慢很慢地轉。
女生的腿。最早是女神的，曾經是女戰士的。但——就是女生的。
He stepped back.
The two stone legs stood there in white sneakers. Grayish-white stone, clean white uppers.
"...So comfortable." Peggy spoke softly behind him. Her voice seemed to come from very far away. "I think... they prefer being wrapped up properly. Supported by something." She thought about it. "They're just—a girl's legs. A pair of girl's legs."
He turned. She floated there, looking at the stone legs, her halo turning very, very slowly.
A girl's legs. Once a goddess's, once a warrior's. But—just a girl's.
石腿上的裂紋，似乎比剛才淺了一些。也許是光線的緣故。
沉默了一會兒。
「佩姬。」他說。
「嗯？」
「跳舞嗎？」
她愣了。光環往一邊傾了傾，像忘了轉。
「……什麼？」
「跳舞。」他掏出手機，隨手按了一首。旋律舒緩、溫柔。
The cracks on the stone legs seemed shallower than before. Maybe it was the light.
Silence for a moment.
"Peggy," he said.
"Hm?"
"Dance?"
She froze. The halo tilted to one side, as if it had forgotten to turn.
"...What?"
"Dance." He pulled out his phone and randomly pressed a song. The melody was soft, gentle.
幻體出現了。淡藍色的光暈勾勒出身形，穿著一襲簡約的連衣裙——和剛才上街的打扮不同，更像她自己想穿的。腳上是一模一樣的白色運動鞋。
虛幻的手搭上他真實的手。
The phantom body appeared. A pale blue glow outlined its form, wearing a simple dress—different from the outfit she'd worn out, more like what she herself wanted to wear. On its feet were identical white sneakers.
The illusory hand rested on his real hand.
「為什麼要跳舞？」她問。
「為什麼喔……就是……人類在這種時候會跳舞。」他有點心虛。
「這種時候？」她重複。「什麼時候？」
他支支吾吾了一陣。「就是……」他開口，聲音很輕，像怕踩碎什麼，「覺得活著，很不錯的時候。」
她沒有接話。但他看到她的眼裡，有什麼正在緩慢地浮上來。他形容不出那是什麼。
"Why dance?" she asked.
"Why... well... it's what humans do at times like this." He felt a little guilty.
"Times like this?" she repeated. "What times?"
He hemmed and hawed for a moment. "It's just..." he said, his voice very soft, as if afraid of stepping on something fragile, "when you feel that being alive is... quite nice."
She didn't answer. But he saw something slowly rising in her eyes. He couldn't describe what it was.
「對了，」他轉移話題。「妳那雙腿換上什麼鞋，幻體好像就會變出什麼鞋呢。」
她點了點頭。「不是必然如此，但這樣更簡單。」她頓了頓。「一方面，我也能感知到腿上穿的，反應在幻體上。另一方面——」她抬眼看他，「那些鞋，也參與了佩拉吉亞的定義。」
「定義？什麼意思？」他不太明白。
「你怎麼想佩拉吉亞，我又怎麼感覺你對佩拉吉亞的想法。」她指了指石腿上的白鞋。「隨著你替她換上新鞋，這些——想法、感受，也定義著佩拉吉亞，把她塑造成她在你心中的樣子。雖然只是極微小的一點。」她露出微笑。「我不是說過嗎？祂一直在跟這世界交流、互動。」
「那麼是——」他想了想，「我的定義是，祂是女神。但佩姬就是穿小白鞋的女生。」
「你早就這麼定義了。」她笑了。比之前任何一次都燦爛。
"By the way," he changed the subject. "Whatever shoes those legs wear, the phantom body seems to produce the same shoes."
She nodded. "Not necessarily, but it's simpler that way." She paused. "On one hand, I can sense what the legs are wearing, and it reflects on the phantom body. On the other—" she looked up at him, "those shoes also participate in defining Pelagia."
"Defining? What do you mean?" He didn't quite understand.
"How you think of Pelagia, and how I sense your thoughts about Pelagia." She pointed at the white shoes on the stone legs. "As you change her shoes, these—thoughts, feelings—also define Pelagia, shaping her into how she exists in your mind. Even if it's just a tiny bit." She smiled. "Didn't I say? She's always communicating and interacting with the world."
"So then—" he thought about it, "my definition is that she's a goddess. But Peggy is a girl in white sneakers."
"You already defined it that way." She smiled. Brighter than any smile before.
傍晚的陽光斜斜地照進屋內。光線落在核心上，海藍色的輪廓似乎柔軟了一些。有什麼輕輕的、細細的，從表面滲進去，又滲出來。
他們慢慢轉了幾圈。他的腳步不太穩，她的幻體偶爾輕微地閃爍一下。手機裡的曲子快結束了。旋律收得很輕，像怕打擾什麼。
然後停了。
他們站在原地。他的手還握著她的手。
「肚子餓了。」他說，腳步慢慢停下來。
「出去吃吧。」她笑著說。
The evening sunlight slanted into the room. The light fell on the core, and the sea-blue outline seemed to soften. Something light and fine seeped in and out of the surface.
They turned slowly a few times. His steps were unsteady, and her phantom body flickered slightly now and then. The song on the phone was ending. The melody closed very lightly, as if afraid to disturb something.
Then it stopped.
They stood in place. His hand was still holding hers.
"I'm hungry," he said, his steps slowly coming to a stop.
"Let's go out to eat," she said, smiling.
門打開。外面的天色已經暗了。路燈亮起來，便利店的招牌在不遠處發著白光。
他關上門，手裡沒拿聖杖，沒拿神劍，只拎了一袋順手拿去丟的垃圾。
她飄在旁邊，光環在路燈下淡淡地亮著。幻體穿著那件簡約的連衣裙和白色運動鞋，走在柏油路上，鞋底發出輕輕的聲音。
The door opened. The sky outside had already darkened. Streetlights were on, the convenience store sign glowing white not far away.
He closed the door. In his hands were no holy staff, no divine sword—just a bag of trash he'd grabbed to throw out.
She floated beside him, her halo glowing faintly under the streetlight. The phantom body wore that simple dress and white sneakers, walking on the asphalt, the soles making soft sounds.
像走在自家客廳裡。
Like walking through her own living room.
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