Epilogue: Life Belongs to You.
I awoke in a white room, with wires and machines surrounding me.
At first, I had no idea where - or who - I was.
However, I soon remembered everything as the haze burned away from my mind.
I remembered my friends standing strong by my side as we faced the end, and that incredibly wonderful world I had left behind.
And I quickly discovered that her loving, amethyst eyes were still burned into my mind. The warmth of her embrace still lingered, even though there was no way that could be possible. Right then, I knew one thing with absolute certainty: I would never forget the love we had shared in that world, no matter what this new life held. I felt a pang of regret, though, as I realized I might not ever see her again. That thought alone was enough to make my heart sink, making me question whether I had made the right choice after all.
At some point, while that thing was speaking, I had deduced the truth. Something about that place loosed my memories, bringing back images of a life that I hadn't remembered even once while I existed in that world.
It seemed that feature had worked perfectly.
I sighed and stretched, feeling my weakened muscles screaming their disagreement. Then, I stood to my feet for the first time in who knows how long.
The room surrounding me was full of high-tech equipment. This had been the place I had last seen before I entered that world. Now, though, the equipment lay limply beside the bed.
Before I agreed to go to that world, I knew exactly what was going on in this place, and now, I knew it all once again. The veil had been lifted, and I was myself again - the man who had thrown his real life away for the chance to live out another one.
I recalled the words of that kind, friendly man who had helped hook me up to that machinery so long (?) ago.
"Most of the people who signed up for this had nothing to lose. Some were terminally ill, and the life support feature of the Project provided a way for them to have some sort of future. Some were suicidal, and didn't want to exist in a world like ours any longer. Can't honestly blame them. Not much left, after all."
You see, this place was the home of an experimental project designed to create a completely immersive fake world: the Synthetic Afterlife Project. I was only one of many who participated in it.
That man had been one of the founders of the project. It was meant to provide hope and a future for those who had neither to speak of. As for the reason I signed up for it… I'll leave that up to the imagination.
This building housed countless artificial worlds, some old, and some new. Thousands of people populated those worlds, living out lives that could never be possible in reality. And one of those worlds was Teyvat, the place that Diluc Ragnvindr… no, that I called home.
Just then, as I started to leave the room, that same man opened the door.
"Ah, hello again… Diluc," he said, with a kind smile.
"Ha, that was my name, wasn't it?"
"Indeed. And it still can be, if you wish."
"Maybe. I'm pretty fond of it now, after all," I said with a wry grin.
"Well then, how was your experience in the incredible world of Teyvat?"
"Didn't know there was an exit survey."
The man laughed good-naturedly at my stupid joke, then continued.
"I simply want to make sure you don't have any lingering regrets."
"What if I did?"
"Then I would appreciate your input. This is an ongoing project, after all. Teyvat was far from the only world within the Project."
I sighed, thinking back to my last moments with her. Of course I would have some regrets. I desperately missed her, even that very second.
"I just miss my soul mate. That's all."
"Ah, I see. About that… well, I imagine you'll see when you leave."
I raised an eyebrow, but the man offered nothing more.
"You are free to go now. Your payment is in your account. It should be more than enough to start over again, should you wish to do so. I wish you happiness, my friend."
With a nod, he turned to work on the device that I had been hooked up to all this time. I started to leave, but a strange thought crossed my mind, and I stopped.
"Hey, you couldn't have been a part of the Project too, right? Like, as a character in that world."
The man turned to look at me, surprised.
"Quite an astute observation, there."
"So you were! What was your name?" I asked him, suddenly desperate to know.
However, he merely shook his head and smiled.
"I'll let you figure that out on your own. I'm certain you can accomplish that. Now go, someone is waiting for you."
For some reason, my eyes were burning as I nodded to him and left the room. I wandered down a long, dimly-lit hallway, with small rooms lined up on both sides. Most of them read [OCCUPIED], but some were open. I peeked into one, and found a room identical to mine, empty, with the exception of a black hat decorated with red flowers that sat alone on the bed.
Wandering back into the hall, I followed it to the end, where an elevator stood. I pushed the "up" button, and stepped inside once it arrived. The numbers went all the way down to B50, which made me realize the real extent of this place. It must have been truly massive. My floor was B13, by the way.
I pushed the "F1" button, and the elevator whirred to life, heading upwards.
In only seconds, the doors opened again, revealing something I hadn't seen in so long, it made my head spin.
Sunshine poured through the windows of the large open room I was in. It seemed to be an entrance chamber, with a desk nearby. However, no one was at the desk. In fact, the whole room looked completely empty.
Ahead of me was a pair of glass doors that led outside. And once I pushed them open, I saw a scene that felt so incredibly nostalgic, my chest started hurting.
The sun was rising over the shore of a dilapidated, decaying world. Old buildings dotted the landscape, rusting away, as if they hadn't been occupied in years. A paved road ran along the shore, dividing grassy fields from sandy beaches, and behind me, a wooded mountain rose from the earth in the distance.
Yes, this was the true nature of my reality. And even though it had been ages since I was here, somehow, I knew I had seen it recently, I just couldn't quite remember where.
Across the distant ocean, the sun hung low in the sky, casting an orange glow upon the world I called home. Each step I took felt fresh and new, and above all, real. And as I gazed into the distance, ahead on the path that led to the road and beyond, I saw something so beautiful it left me breathless.
On either side of the path, a sea of white flowers stretched as far as the eye could see. They danced in the warm sea breeze, expressing their joy at the beginning of a new day.
And standing between them, framed like the most beautiful work of art, there stood a figure.
She appeared to be a young woman around 20 years of age, with long, flowing black hair that drifted gently in the wind. I didn't recognize her at first, but as I drew closer, I stared at her face as she gazed quietly down at the flowers beneath her.
Her facial features looked strangely familiar. No, I already knew who this was, didn't I?
With bated breath, I stepped towards her, and she finally noticed my presence. She looked up, and her questioning eyes suddenly filled with recognition… and love.
"…Diluc? It's you, isn't it?"
That voice… it hadn't changed a bit, even though we had cast aside those false bodies. I knew then, without a single doubt, that it was her.
"Yeah, it's me… Keqing."
Her eyes widened with joy, and she jumped towards me immediately, with no hesitation at all.
As she wrapped me up with her slim, pale arms, I wanted nothing more than to hold her, to embrace her with every fiber of my being. And so I did.
I wrapped my arms around the girl I had only ever known as "Keqing", holding her tightly in a warm embrace that still conveyed only a fraction of our seemingly endless feelings for one another.
"I missed you so much," she whispered.
"We weren't even apart for that long," I chuckled in reply.
She pouted cutely, then buried her face in my chest.
"I love you… I was so scared that we wouldn't ever meet again."
"I love you too. I wasn't sure either, it was my only regret when I left that world. Guess fate smiled down on us one more time."
I flashed her a warm grin, and she returned it tenfold.
For a while, we just stood there holding one another as the sun rose higher in the sky. Amongst that Sea of Flowers, our fears and uncertainties melted away, replaced by a hope that outshined everything that came before.
Finally, after several minutes, she softly asked me a question.
"What are we going to do from now on?"
"…I don't know, to be honest. But whatever it is, I want you by my side. We'll face it together."
"Mm. I'd love that," she asserted in a small voice, with moist eyes.
My heart was filled with a love so deep it almost scared me. I didn't know what the future held in store for us. Clearly, this world is not a kind place, and I'm sure there will be plenty of challenges thrown our way. However, for the first time in my pathetic life, I could finally see a future. It stretched out endlessly ahead of us, like a bright, shining road leading to parts unknown. And I wanted nothing more than to follow that road until the very end.
I could see it all so clearly now. In my old life… in this world, I had lived in fear, afraid to even live at all. Now, I knew without a doubt that this life was still worth living. My fears were gone… erased by something bigger than me, or even the whole of humanity itself.
That "something" was love - and this love would never end. Through time and space, over the course of countless lives, and even beyond death, it had proven itself time and again.
Yet somehow, even after everything we had been through, I felt an incredible sense of anticipation rising in my chest. I was sure that this was only the beginning.
It only made sense, right?
Because now, this life is ours.