—Where despair turns to hope, and memories become wings.
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The sky bled rose-gold fire.
Elysia stood in a broken battlefield, the remnants of Project MOTH crumbling beneath her heels. Names were etched into the walls, into the ground, into her heart. Names of people she loved. Names of those who had fallen.
The sky above cracked like glass. The flames burned like regret.
Around her—Kevin's silence, Mobius's scream, Aponia's last prayer.
Griseo's trembling hands.
Her knees quivered.
"I was the last one…" she whispered, a breath lost in smoke. "The last to shine."
Everywhere she looked, there was loss.
A voice responded—not foreign, but her own, reflected in empty eyes.
"And what did it matter, Elysia? You died anyway."
Her own face stared back, hollow and pale. A ghost in a mirror of memory.
"You shined for others. But in the end… you were just a pretty flame that flickered out."
Aponia crumbled to her knees beneath a falling column. Kevin stood alone, frozen in the flames. Mobius screamed in agony as the Herrscher of the End's light tore through her. Even Griseo, little Griseo, stood quietly as everything around her turned to dust.
"No," Elysia whispered. Her voice trembled. "Not again…"
The world didn't stop. The air burned. The light faded. The silence pressed on.
"You gave everything," a cold voice spoke. "But in the end… you died alone."
Elysia smiled faintly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Is that what you think I am? A failure?"
Her heart ached. She lowered her head.
"…Maybe I was."
Then—
A pulse. Like a trembling light in the dark.
Noah.
She felt it.
A pulse of sorrow so familiar it could only be one person.
Despair poured into her chest like freezing water. It wasn't her pain—but his.
She gasped. "Noah…?"
She clutched at the bond glowing faintly within her—warm even in his sorrow.
Despair. Crippling helplessness. Like he had fallen to his knees, unable to breathe.
Her eyes widened. "Noah…"
"I'm still here, silly boy. Don't fall now… we're all still here.
She reached out, lips curling into a soft smile.
And then—he answered.
A presence. Steady, strong, quiet—like the night sky watching over her.
"I know."
A rush of warmth. A steady heartbeat. Like a hand reaching out in the dark.
"I'm still here, Elysia."
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"You stubborn, precious man…" she murmured, brushing her hair behind her ear. "But that's why I like him."
The world shifted.
She was beneath a cherry tree, its blossoms drifting in the air. The stars of Teyvat sparkled above. Noah sat beside her, not saying a word—but listening, always listening.
"You really saw me, didn't you…" she whispered. "Not as a symbol. Not as the 'Origin'... just me."
He didn't answer. But his silence was comforting.
The scene changed.
Kiana chasing ducks in Liyue.
Lumine screaming when a slime exploded behind her.
Elysia laughing, dancing, teasing them all.
She smiled at the memory.
Then came the laughter. The chaos. Kiana shoving a bowl of spicy noodles in her face. Lumine chasing pigeons. All of them dancing in Mondstadt's plaza like they were kids again.
The bond between them wasn't forged in fire.
It was made in joy.
Then—Eden appeared, stepping from soft starlight, as elegant as ever.
"Ellie," she said, her voice music. "How are you?"
Elysia laughed quietly. "Singed. Sparkly. Still too beautiful for my own good."
Elysia giggled through her tears. "I've had better days. But also… the best ones."
Eden smiled, serene. "And have you found it?"
Elysia's voice softened. "Found what?"
Eden stepped forward. "The beauty you were searching for."
The pink-haired girl's breath caught.
She thought of Noah's smile, Kiana's reckless courage, Lumine's quiet warmth. The bond they all shared.
"…Yes," Elysia said softly. "I have."
Elysia looked skyward, her voice trembling with joy.
"I did. In their laughter. In his eyes. In every step we've taken. I've seen it."
Light erupted around her. Her form shimmered, crystalline and graceful.
"I always knew you would, Ellie," Eden said softly, stepping closer. "Even when your voice trembled, even when your eyes hid your sorrow—I saw the strength in your heart. I never stopped believing in you."
The world shattered—pink frost blooming across the flames. Her hair lifted in a gentle breeze as her form began to glow, crystalline and elegant.
She became something more.
The Herrscher of Origin stood in full bloom—her bow gleaming, her hair flowing in a wind of memory and magic.
Wings of radiant fractal light spread behind her as her bow reformed in her hands.
"I'm not the last light anymore," she said, not to the illusion—but to the world. "I'm part of something far brighter."
She raised her bow—and with one radiant arrow, shattered the illusion in a burst of rose petals and frost.
She fired.
And the world of ash was swept away in a blizzard of cherry blossoms and stardust.
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Khaenri'ah was burning.
The ruins of Khaenri'ah stood tall and broken, frozen in time.
Lumine wandered through the crumbled streets, eyes wide with sorrow. The city was falling. Screams echoed from every corner. Above, Celestia's wrath rained from the sky like divine punishment.
"I was supposed to protect them…"
Her footsteps halted before a mirror-like shadow. A figure stepped forward—her, yet not.
Eyes glowing violet. Dress of abyssal flame.
Her Abyss Princess form.
"You chose the stars," the shadow spat. "You chose to leave. And so your brother fell."
Lumine walked its broken streets in silence, her footsteps echoing in the city's hollow death. The sky had split. The stars had turned away.
Above—Celestia's wrath.
Below—her people, screaming.
And in the middle of it all—her twin, fading into the Abyss.
"You left me," his voice echoed, as distant as it was sharp.
Her hands trembled.
"I… didn't mean to…"
"You did."
The other Lumine.
Eyes glowing violet. Abyssal dress wrapping her like smoke.
"Isn't this who you truly are? You turned your back. And now... it's too late."
Darkness crawled up her legs, her back, her heart.
"You were never enough."
Her sword slipped from her fingers.
Maybe they were right.
Maybe—
Noah.
She felt him.
Not his voice or presence—she felt his pain. Deep, aching sorrow crashed into her like a wave, the bond between them flaring with raw emotion. It wasn't her grief, but his—sharp and suffocating. A silence filled with too much weight. It was as if he had fallen, alone, somewhere just out of reach.
His sorrow—raw and unfiltered—washed over her like a storm surge. Not just pain, but the soundless scream of someone shouldering too much, of someone breaking where no one could see. Helplessness poured through their bond like thunder behind her ribs. It hit like lightning—sudden, blinding, and real.
She gasped. Her heart clenched.
"Noah…?"
She felt his despair—crushing, deep—but also… the flicker of a flame still burning.
"You always found me… even when I didn't want to be found."
Her hand trembled. Then clenched into a fist.
"So now… I'll be your light too."
And even in the abyss—I will never be alone again.
Her words echoed through the bond—and Noah responded.
Calm. Firm. Hopeful.
The same calm warmth she'd come to know.
The same presence that stood quietly at her side.
"Always."
Her eyes widened as the illusion cracked.
Images surged forward. Her memories with Elysia and Kiana. The misadventures. The dancing. The teasing. Their journey through Teyvat.
She saw memories.
Kiana throwing her into a lake "accidentally."
Elysia dragging her into a dance in Mondstadt.
Villagers she helped. Children she saved. Friends she made.
And then—the people they saved.
Smiles. Thank-yous. Laughter.
She wasn't a weapon.
She was hope, walking.
The Abyss Princess lunged.
But Lumine stood still.
"You are me. But you are not my end."
Her sword lit with a divine gleam—its true form restored.
Golden veins raced across the blade. Her back burst with wings of light.
Around her danced the five elements—Anemo, Geo, Hydro, Dendro, and Electro—each resonating with her heartbeat, responding to her light like petals drawn to the sun.
She radiated.
Not like a weapon. But like a star.
"I will be his light," she said. "I will shine for the people I couldn't save… and the ones I can."
And she moved.
A single slash carved through the illusion, through her Abyss self, through the guilt.
The darkness vanished in a burst of starlight.
---------------
Watatsumi's winds were soft, its skies painted gold.
Elysia stirred, blinking up at a cloudless sky. Beside her, Lumine sat quietly, her hair glowing softly, wings slowly retracting into her back.
They turned to each other, and shared a look—soft, knowing.
"We're back," Lumine whispered.
They looked at each other—and smiled.
"I had a dream," Elysia whispered.
Lumine nodded. "Me too."
Ahead of them stood Kiana and Noah, waiting with faint smiles.
They didn't say anything at first. They didn't have to.
Across the hill—Noah and Kiana waited.
Kiana waved first, eyes sparkling with relief. Noah simply gave a small smile—but they could both feel it through the bond.
Warmth. Pride. Love.
As the girls stood, Elysia rushed toward them and flung her arms around Noah's neck.
Elysia threw herself dramatically into Noah's arms. "You were so dramatic in my head, you know."
Lumine walked over and gave Kiana a firm nod. Kiana, naturally, pulled her into a bear hug.
Noah just gave a small, quiet laugh. "You saw that too, huh?"
Lumine stepped beside him, brushing her hand along his arm. "We all did."
"You should have seen me," Elysia grinned. "I was radiant."
"You always are," Noah replied, barely managing a smirk before she squeezed tighter.
"You didn't give up on us," Lumine said quietly.
"I never will," he answered.
Kiana pulled all three into a tight hug, ignoring Lumine's awkward protest and Elysia's delighted squeal.
And for that moment—just one beautiful, fleeting moment—
they were whole.
They weren't just traveling together anymore.
They were bound—by memories, by trust, by something deeper than any trial could shatter.
And above them, unseen, the stars burned brighter than ever.