"Rosalyn, do you know the meaning of blue roses?" Rostam asked her out of the… blue.
"What's that supposed to mean? Is this another one of your lame attempts to impress me? You already have me." Rosalyn sighed, pressing a hand to her head, knowing she wasn't going to be reading anytime soon.
"Haha, just bare with it, dear. So do you know?" Her lover asked her again, causing her to roll her eyes.
"No, but i'm sure you'll tell me." She huffed, crossing her arms under her chest.
"Well, did you know you can't produce blue roses naturally because blue pigments don't exist?"
"I don't think that's entirely accurate, but sure."
"Florists cut white roses and dye them artificially to create blue roses. So with this as a fact, they say blue roses represent the impossible."
"Where are you going with this?"
"Hold on for a moment. These roses that once had such a negative meaning behind them eventually became able to be grown naturally without having to be colored, so the meaning of the flower has changed, too."
"Oh? To what then?"
"Miracle. True Love." He gave her a brilliant smile to which she couldn't help but blush, looking away.
"That's really lovely, but that was completely out of nowhere, you know?" She did her best to hide her embarrassment, but he then placed a white Flower of Life into her hair, the small ornamental piece taking on a shade of red, once it touched her.
"While blue roses are truly amazing with their rarity, i'll still choose my beautiful red rose any day of the week. It looks like you're already getting red like this flower, though." He grinned, getting her to get heated and push at him.
"Stop that! That's not clever at all!" She berated him, but he merely let her push him, reaching out to pull her with him.
The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon as the two lovers laid atop the field of flowers, enjoying the moment as she looked down at her lover, their faces inches apart in this tender moment of time.
"Rosalyn…" Rostam's voice suddenly became weaker as the sun hid itself from the encroaching darkness.
The flowers withered and the sky blackened. Suddenly, Rostam began to fade, disappearing before her eyes, leaving a puddle of blood with an ownerless sword who's blade had long since been shattered.
She shook her head, eyes widened as the echoes of the dead surrounded her, her blood setting ablaze as the field sparked to life into an inferno.
She could hear the echoes of the past calling out to her, forcing her to close her ears as it suddenly became harder to breathe.
The Flower of Life that Rostam had placed in her hair drifted slowly from her head, landing in the puddle, becoming drenched in the blood of the one she had chosen to give her all to before the flames finally reached her, consuming them both.
Rosalyn sat straight up in wide eyed terror, gasping for air as she breathed heavily, taking sharp intakes to try and calm her steady heart from the nightmare she had had.
Wait.
Nightmare? She was… asleep?
"Are you okay, Rosalyn? You've been gone for quite some time. I'm not sure if spirits needed rest like this, but with what had happened, I guess it shouldn't be too surprising." A familiar voice called out to her and soon a warm hand placed itself upon her shoulder.
"H-huh?" She asked in disbelief, finding it was the young man who she had met at the site of her execution before being forcefully taken with him to a crack in time.
His eyes were filled with worry and warmth, seeming genuinely concerned for her wellbeing, which left a dull feeling of emptiness within herself from a feeling she had long since given up.
"Rosalyn?" He asked once more, snapping her out from her daze before she realized they were in an unfamiliar place. She was currently laying in an actual bed in a room she had never seen before.
"Wh-what happened? Where are we?" She asked immediately.
"Calm down. We're safe now. We're currently at my new home, like I promised. A lot has happened since the incident…" He did his best to soothe her, moving back to give her space to her disappointment.
"I. I don't remember anything after you began to fight that Abyss Herald…" Her mind was fuzzy, recalling some semblances of blacking out and hazy recollections of anger.
"You don't remember? You saved us. After you killed the Abyss Herald, we were suddenly transported back to the Tenshuukaku with no time having been past." He explained, earning a confused look from her.
"I… I killed the Abyss Herald…?" She asked incredulously, before realization hit her at what could have potentially happened, but she shook her head, refusing to dwell on that. "No. What happened after that?"
"Hmm… A lot actually…" Kazuha held a hand to his chin in thought on where to begin, before another voice was heard.
"Fuuaahhh~! Why are you talking so early in the morning? I'm still so tired from going through documents…"
Rosalyn couldn't believe her eyes when she turned to see a miniature Yae Miko stretching atop the desk of where Kazuha had presumably come from, seeing as how it looked like he was in the midst of paper work before she woke up.
"W-wha?" She stammered.
"Kazuha! Are you awake? I got papers for you to sign!" A voice called out from behind a curtain that had split the room they were in into two.
A pink haired lady with horns she was unfamiliar with pulled the curtains aside with a curious look.
"Ah, of course, Yanfei, just leave them right there. I'll get right to it." Kazuha responded before whispering down to the mini Miko. "Sorry, Lady Miko, please go back to sleep. We'll try to be quieter."
Rosalyn did not feel like she wanted to ask anymore, simply turning to look at the young man who was seemingly taking care of her now, not even surprised that a small girl was curled up on his lap.
"Haha… I guess I should start with what happened right after we returned." He gave an awkward smile before explaining in detail what she had missed.
"After we returned from that place, we were left in a compromising position…" He began.
A week ago
"How dare you, Kaedehara Kazuha! To think you would show your true colors! Was this your plan all along? To sully Her Excellency?!" Sara reprimanded him as he prostrated himself in front of her once she had regained consciousness.
"N-no, you have it all wrong, Miss Kujou…!" Kazuha pleaded in front of her as she looked down at him like he was garbage.
"General Kujou, there's more to the story than this… Please, just let us explain." Ei tried to calm her general down, but she was having none of it.
"So was this entire day meant to be for you and Kaedehara to elope? Was that bounty meant to capture him for a different reason?" She asked with a sharp glare to her boss.
She was normally rather stoic and calm, especially around the one she idolized, but the idea that she had been led around just to help with her boss's love life did not sit well with her.
"No, of course not!" Ei tried to argue, but Sara was already connecting her own dots.
"He's the only one who'll be meeting you today. You cleared all of your schedule just for him and even decorated the normally barren Tenshuukaku lavishly…" She couldn't believe she had been so blind.
Ei only really had three choices here.
Lie badly, tell Sara the truth about her puppet or go along with whatever train of thoughts she was thinking.
Needless to say, she now had an eye on Kazuha at all times.
"It didn't help that the puppet had gained the memories of the Raiden Shogun from that world who for some reason had knowledge that I had gotten married in that world." Kazuha sighed, recalling how much of a hassle it was to get away from the Electro Archon's puppet, especially after her attempts to assault him the moment they had returned from the other world. "Now she's been trying to find a way to reach me again.
"I-is it safe to be around you as a lady?" Rosalyn asked, inching back a bit from the samurai.
"Well, she did try to permanently send you off to the great beyond, but thankfully, I was able to escape." Kazuha scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"So Ei and her still share a body?"
"Yeah… She ended up returning to sharing the body with the Raiden Shogun. She was rather deeply affected by the event, I heard. So she has shut herself in to improve on herself a little while after letting Sara think I was a secret lover, realizing she was severely lacking…" Kazuha answered solemnly, a frown marring his normally gentle face.
"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't believe it was her fault. Being unable to use elements in that sort of situation would have anyone at a disadvantage…"
"Wait. That's not what I meant when I said she was working on improving herself." He held his hand up to dissuade her train of thought.
"...huh?" She asked
A few days prior
"Kazuha! ¡Te extrañé mucho! (Kazuha I missed you so much!)" The puppet had greeted him in a language he didn't quite understand once she had managed to find him again.
"Huh?" Kazuha gave a confused look, before the wind was able to translate for him.
"Oh, hello, Raiden Shogun…? Are you trying to practice a new language…?"
"¿Eres capaz de entenderme? ¿E-es esto... amor verdadero? (You're able to understand me? Is this true love?)" She blushed heavily in a way that didn't befit her age as she began playing with her hair.
"I just have my ways of being able to understand you…" Kazuha didn't want to put more fuel over the fire.
The Raiden Shogun was truly a beautiful lady, even if it was kind of cheating that she was modeled after a god, and it was flattering for someone to be so infatuated with him, but in this case, he was rather put off by the amount of enthusiasm and how much she relished binding him to her.
"Puedes entender mi corazón y cómo te anhela. (You can understand my heart and how it yearns for you.)" She held a hand to her chest, having become much more emotional as of late for reasons he couldn't fathom, before suddenly looking like all energy was drained from her.
"Ah, Kaedahara, es tan bueno verte... Espera. ¿Qué? ¿Mi voz está siendo traducida? ¡¿Cómo es que aún tiene sentido?! (Ah, Kaedehara, it's so good to see you… What? My voice is being translated too? How does that even make sense?!)" The Electro Archon began to stamp her feet in frustration before seemingly going back within her psyche to fix things.
"She has dedicated her time to learn how to properly program The Puppet. It seemed she's rather shaken up by how she was affecting her creations." Kazuha explained. "However, she is currently staying silent as she somehow turned on the auto translate for her Puppet, without even knowing that she had the function to begin with."
If he was able to enter the Planes of Eurythmia that Miko had explained to him about, he'd have been able to see her sulking face.
"... oh okay…?" She was at a loss for words, but decided not to dwell on it, looking down at the small Yae Miko curled up on Kazuha's desk. "And how did the Priestess of Narukami Shrine end up like this…?"
"Well… the best way to explain this is that this isn't The Grand Priestess of Narukami Shrine from here…"
"... huh?"
The day after the incident
Kazuha had awoken early in his new home that he was tasked with maintaining and using as the base of operations over his new territory.
It had been a rather tiring night after the events of the day before, especially with the Puppet insisting that she go with them, but thankfully, Ei took over and assured him that he would be able to rest as needed as she properly managed her vessel.
He held up the vision he had obtained from that place, proof that it had all been real, as it glimmered in his hand like his original one.
He now held to activated Visions tied to him and he wasn't sure if he wanted to divulge that to too many people with what that could possibly entail.
He thought about his close friends, but decided that there was no need to bring it up unless they ask, finding it easier to deal with things in that regard.
"You have a really introverted way of dealing with things." A voice commented, causing him to widen his eyes in shock as he turned to…
Rosalyn who was still sleeping beside hi-
"W-w-w-wha?! You slept in the same bed as me?!" Rosalyn stammered, becoming incredibly flushed as he clamped his hand over her mouth.
"Shhhh!" He hissed. "We don't know when the Raiden Shogun is listening in!"
Her eyes widened before she calmed down, still looking flustered, but still wanting to know the answer.
"To answer your question, yes. It seems whatever happened has had you become quite literally attached to me. I had left you in my bedroom of this manor, but you simply appeared right beside me after five minutes." He explained, looking somewhat perturbed about the circumstances.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Exactly how it sounds. If you stay too far away from me for too long now, you'll just suddenly appear back right beside me, which is why I've been sleeping sitting in this chair or on the floor."
"O-oh… i'm sorry…" She bowed apologetically, but he waved it off.
"Don't worry about it, i'm sure we'll find a way to resolve this, but continuing the story…"
"Where is that voice coming from?" Kazuha thought as he looked around his room, on edge since his senses hadn't picked up on their presence.
"I'm over here! Below you!" The voice called out, prompting Kazuha to look down on his lap.
"I was a bit shocked that my seal was unintentionally released, but if it's the will of the Archons, I accept it." A foxy smile graced the regal face of a kitsune priestess that stood on his lap.
"Y-Yae Miko?" He asked incredulously.
"Oho~! I see you know me well! As expected, my eyes do not deceive me." She placed her hands on her hips, looking rather smug as Kazuha stared at her hard.
"..."
"...? What are you thinking so hard about?" She asked.
"SO SMALL!" His thoughts screamed.
It didn't take long before Kazuha was able to grasp the situation though.
"Fufufu… You're quite the rough fellow… You may not know, but i'm not the type that likes being tied up…" Mini Miko chided with a forced smile.
"I don't believe you're in the position to be joking with me…" Kazuha stated, holding up the now bound Miko he had successfully captured.
"Isn't it our first time meeting each other? There's no reason to be hostile either…~" She countered.
"Just explain what's going on." Kazuha sighed, wondering why one thing kept happening after the other.
"Well, with us tied to each other, I would have told you regardless anyways." She huffed, shooting him an annoyed glare.
"Tied to each other?"
"Mhm! It's been so long, but i'm sure you know my story somewhat." She chirped.
Indeed, he had gotten some of the details from the Puppet while Kujou Sara was still passed out. It seemed that the Yae Miko from that place had sacrificed herself to stave off Orobashi… Which reminded him that he needed to visit Kokomi.
"Well, after a century, it seemed my spirit began to rematerialize, having recovered from my self destruction so to speak, but instead of becoming a natural spirit, I became an elemental one tied to the leylines, at least that's what my best guess is."
"What difference does that make?"
"A huge one. A spirit would simply stick around til they move on, but one that's simply sentient elemental energy will last indefinitely, however, that just meant I had to stay in one place until someone capable of picking me up came by." She gave off the air of a teacher educating a student, despite her position.
"Ah, wait. That's why…" Kazuha's eyes lit up upon the realization.
"That's why only after so many years was I able to latch onto someone who just so happened to awaken a vision. Color me surprised when it's someone from another world and such close proximity to my dear friend, Ei."
"So you're a parasite who's latched onto me now… Exploring foreign lands always comes with such risks…" Kazuha lamented, causing Yae to shoot him another glare before she cooled herself, giving him a serene smile.
"Well, regardless, would you not untie me…?" She asked in a maiden like tone. "I'll tell you again that i'm not the type that likes to be tied up… and not in this vulgar position…"
There were sparkles coming off from her as tears seemed to well up in her eyes.
"It's a bit shameful for a priestess such as myself…" She looked away, feigning bashfulness.
"..." Kazuha deadpanned for a moment before releasing her bindings. "I've lost interest."
"Freeee~!" She cheered, stretching her arms up.
"Don't you have a better explanation than guess work though?" Kazuha asked, looking rather doubtful about the situation.
"If I did, I wouldn't be so frustrated." She responded with a huff, before taking a peek at him. "Besides, this happened because of your powers anyways, so don't you think you have to take responsibility for me?"
The Kitsune smiled suggestively as she grinned up towards him, a familiar smile he had already experienced the day before.
"Personally, I have an interest towards you. I don't believe i've ever met anyone able to have two visions like you while piquing Ei's interest like this."
"So far, i've done nothing that should warrant either. It feels like fate is just dragging me along…" He lamented, before the small Miko floated up to pat him on the head.
"There, there. There's no such thing as you can see, so why don't we work together for you to control your own story?" She asked in a soothing and calming tone.
And thus began the partnership between two people from separate realities.
"Hm… And who is that on your lap and who was that other girl?" Rosalyn finished up her questioning to which he looked down and gave a brief answer.
"Sayu. I'm currently helping her hone her vision mastery, but she seems to have gotten attached to me for having a "calming aura" and being very "in tune with nature". I also remind her of her previous teacher…" Kazuha answered with a wry smile, finding the recent attachments of many different individuals. "As for the other, that's Yanfei. I hired her to settle with the legalities of the many things that will crop up with the new land."
"Rather diligent…" She murmured, before looking down at herself, her long beautiful golden hair cascading across her smooth, pale and unblemished skin.
Wait.
"Huh?" For the umpteenth time since she woke up, she found herself surprised at the sight of her once scarred body.
While there were still many marks showing of her past, she seemed much better than she had been before.
"Ah, right. It's still a gradual process, but Sayu here is also an anemo user as I told you. She's shown me a few things you can do with my vision to accelerate your recovery." Kazuha gave her a bright but tired smile, causing her to look away in embarrassment.
"Uuuu…" She avoided eye contact, not finding it easy to accept kindness so easily.
"Well, now that you're awake, I can finally get ready to go to Liyue."
"Huh? Liyue? Why are you going there? I thought you have to deal with things as an Inazuman clan head now." Rosalyn looked perplexed, unable to keep up with anything anymore.
"Ah, I've agreed to assist my captain with something. A good friend of hers requires assistance with an upcoming threat, so she has requested my assistance with some things. That's why I have Miss Yanfei here to help settle things here in my absence."
"Did you ask for something, Kaedehara?" The pink haired girl asked again from the curtained off section.
"Apologies, Miss Yanfei, I was merely talking to myself." He waved her off, before turning back towards the spirit.
"It appears that you're still unable to be seen by many others, unfortunately." He sighed.
"No, I believe this is the best outcome. That way there won't be too many questions as to why i'm around you." She shook her head, making a hand gesture to signal that this was fine.
With that, Kazuha had recapped the general things of what had happened thus far, but he had left out many details in regards to what she had missed.
The ronin let her relax in the bed as he returned to the papers he had gone through, recalling what had happened right after they had returned.
"Kujou Sara? Hello? Are you okay?" Kazuha was fanning the downed tengu frantically, worried.
"Kazuha, she'll be fine, she's rather tough being my general after all." The puppet consoled him, taking over as she had Sara propped against the wall in a safer position.
"Oh, okay. I was worried, since it isn't normal for people to just pass out like that." Kazuha breathed a sigh of relief, before the familiar voice of the wind warned him of danger, having him immediately turn to react just in time to the Raiden Shogun trying to catch him.
"Uuuu… You weren't supposed to dodge…" She pouted, but he wasn't going to easily succumb to just that.
He was aware of what he should do to avoid escalating this.
"Your Excellency, while I am flattered that you still harbor feelings for me, I believe we should take this slow. It wouldn't do so well to force anything on a first meeting, you know?" He tried to dissuade her with logic, but the incident with the other Raiden Shogun had scrambled her mind somewhat, leaving her with memories from two incredibly distorted and lonely minds fusing into a messy and hectic singular voice.
"But Kazuha… You can die at any moment and when you do, you'll leave me alone for all eternity… How can you make me a widow without leaving me with any children?" She asked.
He didn't think it was possible, but the wind was telling him there was more danger here than there was when he took on her most powerful attack.
While he wasn't sure if the Raiden Shogun would even be able to bear children or even have the necessary components for engaging in-
No.
He wasn't going to go through that line of thinking, but he did need to placate her somehow.
"Raiden Shogun…" He immediately took the initiative, surprising the puppet who's eyes widened as Kazuha closed the distance between them instead of widening the gap like she expected.
"It isn't right for the maiden to be the one pursuing. Instead, you should let me be the one to capture you for once…" He whispered suggestively to her, taking one hand to his, locking their fingers.
"W-w-wha?"
It was at this moment that it was clearly evident to see that despite how she may seem, The Raiden Shogun was merely a sub that fails to try to be a top.
Her face turned red, blushing immensely despite having been the one to suggest absurd things about the two of them before she seemed to have overheated.
It took a few seconds for this to all happen before her face turned to a neutral expression, looking up at him in a confused look.
"Kaedehara? What are you doing and why are you holding me so tightly? I also don't believe I even installed half the functions of what i'm feeling right now…"
Ei seemed to have been pushed to the front of their collective consciousness and was now checking over her own body despite the compromising position.
"Ahem!"
The two then turned to see Sara who was looking furious at the two of them, leading to the interaction he had told Rosalyn before.
Snippets of the Past
Kokomi was breathing heavily as she tried to steady herself.
The Leader of Watatsumi Island was struggling to even make it outside where she could get some fresh air to clear her thoughts and better cope with the news she had just heard.
"General Gorou has fallen in battle. The army is doing its best to retreat, but the Shogunate is relentless in pursuing them. There's no way to turn the battle anymore, Your Excellency…"
The news she had heard had sent her into shock. She knew this would eventually happen, but she couldn't do anything about it without having her entire army get a delusion each to just blaze through the entirety of the Raiden Shoguns army, but that would be a needless waste of life for a losing battle, not to mention she'd just be doing it out of spite by this time.
Her vision was blurry as she couldn't even tell where the exit was.
It was then that she realized it wasn't simply just the shock sending her mind spiraling, but the fact that tears were cascading from her eyes.
Why? Why was this happening? Were the gods truly in the right here? Was the Raiden Shoguns Vision Hunt Decree truly the way things should be? Was it wrong to believe that people were allowed to keep their hopes and dreams?
She leaned against the wall, unable to contain herself as she began to break down crying.
She wasn't a good person. A good person wouldn't sacrifice so many lives, after all, but was it wrong for her to believe that she could at least try and help those who were genuinely good?
In the end, she was alone now, waiting for the guillotine of the Electro Archons blade. The same one that had killed her own god.
"Would you like to get back at her…~?" An unfamiliar voice whispered into her mind, but she didn't bother to look around her, knowing what it was.
It was a voice that had been whispering into her ear ever since she decided to go against The Vision Hunt Decree.
"Your closest friend is dead. The boy you like has fled. Our precious island, soon to be nothing but red." The voice mocked in a sing songy voice, agitating her, but it was right.
"Gorou… Kazuha…" She thought, wondering what they would think if they could see what choice she was about to make.
Kokomi was nothing but a simple girl who was given a mind able to outmatch most others in regards to battle tactics and strategies, but in the end, even the greatest minds can succumb to despair and temptation.
"Good girl… Just go to sleep… Go into the world of your dreams, my dear child… I have always done my best to protect my children in the past and now it is time to do that again…" The voice was momentarily tender before it darkened and a dark energy began to swirl around The Watatsumi Priestess' body.
She didn't know what would happen from here on, but she didn't care.
"Y-your excellency! I've bought those light novels you've asked for again! I even managed to look Yae Miko directly in the eye this time to ask for them!" Gorou saluted in front of her excitedly, happy to have been able to overcome another small hurdle in becoming the ideal fearless general he wanted to be for her.
"Good afternoon, dear. I hope your day wasn't too tiring. I've got dinner ready for us and don't worry, there's no fish." Kazuha smiled warmly, giving her his same casual wave, but with the loving adoring smile she had always read about in books.
The two stood on the other side of a shining door with many others she had lost in one way or another cheering for her to come over.
She didn't even look back, reaching out to take her favorite ronins hand as he pulled her through.
Ey, another chapter and one that sort of speedruns one week before we have some progress finally with getting into the Liyue festival arc.
I'm glad you're all enjoying the story thus far and I love the reviews.
Yeah, Snippets of the Past is just my way of writing a much more sadder look into what could have been for fun, while the main story can completely ignore and go past that, sort of.
It gives some hints of what will happen to the main story here, but otherwise is just something you can ignore without losing /too/ much.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter too, because now Kazuha needs to run to Liyue for a bit so Ei can hopefully get some things fixed.
If you wish to talk more, leave a review for me to sort of answer in the next chapter or join the discord using the link from the previous chapters. If you do join, just find my name in the channels list and hit me with a message.
Ad Astra Abyssosque!