The more she played with the Hydro that shaped itself in her hands, the more she felt herself remember.
Guyun Stone Forest was home. Once a set of sandy islands and ruins, but much like Destiny Island, basked in the warmth of the sun and the breeze of the sea.
A place of rest for him and his own, his presence whipped up crashing tides out at sea and chased away the sea monsters that wished to claim his territory.
But he was now a she.
Kairi never thought she'd have memories of Teyvat, never thought she had ties to this world, not as a Princess of Light as she was for Radiant Garden, not as a Keyblade Wielder as she was for Destiny Islands.
The power of what Teyvat considered gods.
But she grimaced. It was far too little, however. Whatever power that had been sealed by Morax had vanished between his soul passing on and her arrival.
Aether did say that Osial's seal had been lifted recently.
A mindless beast of power with nothing controlling it, Kairi sighed, because she understood that of course, throwing all that power around, most of it had probably been lost, to be reabsorbed into the world's leylines.
"You there Kairi?" Riku's voice came, a hand waving in front of her face and snapping her out of her thoughts. He was still soaked from the wave she had tossed at him earlier, but the concern on his face was visible.
She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine Riku… just processing this really."
"It doesn't look like any of the Water spells that Sora used, does it?" Riku mused. "You seem to be able to just shape it."
"That's because it's not really a spell, Riku," Kairi chuckled. "It's one of the elements of this world. You know how Aether has his tornados and rock pillars right?"
Riku looked at her contemplatively, "Kairi. Is this power from this world?"
Kairi blinked, not understanding what her friend was implying.
Riku sighed, "Ever since we arrived here in Guyun, you've relaxed almost completely. You walk around this place as if you are familiar with it. With the rest of the places on Teyvat we've been too so far, you haven't reacted the same. Furthermore, the moment we got here, you began, almost instinctively, using and manipulating that 'Hydro'. So, is this power because we came to Teyvat? Or is it something else?"
She didn't know how to respond to that.
Kairi wasn't even sure if she would be believed, that her Heart and soul had already been born once before. That she had once been a god who ruled the waters around Teyvat. She wasn't even sure if she should tell him of her growing uncertainty that when all was said and done she might not be able to leave easily.
She didn't know.
But before she could respond, a cough interrupted her thoughts.
Riku and Kairi immediately whirled around, Riku's Braveheart out, and Kairi extending the tendrils of Hydro in her hands, both of them wary of their potential eavesdropper.
Ocean blue met Cor Lapis gold.
Kairi's head hurt.
Those eyes looked too familiar.
And almost immediately, the associated name slipped from her mouth, even if her memories of him were a blur.
"Morax?"
A flinch. Gold eyes looked at her as if he recognized her too.
Kairi's heart sank.
He was aware that she was Osial.