Several months ago…
Sakura petals floated up to the austere, pagoda roofs of Tenshukaku. Mirror Maiden expected she'd feel something seeing the place where she died. Rage, indignity, fear? Nothing came. Her memories had returned, but they like vicarious sensations from a novel than her own lived experiences.
One thing she did feel: regret. Mirror Maiden took out her journal. The names inside, like her memories, were strangers she could not recall. In this case, she hadn't met this one personally. That didn't diminish her guilt.
Every part of her wanted to turn around and leave. But she couldn't. She wouldn't run anymore. Summoning all her strength, Mirror Maiden passed beneath the gate and into the courtyard.
A guard approached her, hand near his blade. "You, state your business."
Mirror Maiden bowed, opening her palms to show she meant no harm. The guard relaxed his grip. She studied his expression. Gods, the family resemblance was undeniable. Her throat tensed, as she struggled to speak.
"Naoe Hisamasa," she began. The guard nodded in recognition of his own name. "I…you don't know me but…"
"If you have business with me, then say it."
She produced a locket. Naoe clicked it open, and his jaw dropped. Inside, an old photograph that showed him alongside his late brother.
"I ran into your brother Shiru on Watatsumi. In his last breath, he asked me to return this to you."
Naoe's eyes shimmered with tears.
"He kept this, even after the war split us up. Thank you."
She bowed and departed Tenshukaku, with a knot in her guts. As she crossed Naoe's name off her list, she tried to remember his brother. According to the notes, Shiru had uncovered Signora's plot to poison the Resistance with delusions. He didn't survive to tell anyone.
Hours of combing the place of his demise, she finally found something that hadn't been reduced to ashes.
Mirror Maiden studied the next name on her long list. An old, widowed carpenter named Takeshi. His son and daughter in law made the simple error of bumping into Signora when she was in a bad mood. It cost them their lives.
Mirror Maiden found the house and knocked on the door. An elderly man stepped out and regarded her coldly. She handed him the only trace of his son and daughter in law she could find: their wedding rings.
She spoke, "When the Fatui destroyed them, I managed to save these from the fires. I'm sorry it's not enough."
The old man snatched the rings. Tears in his eyes, he spat at her and slammed the door in her face. Inside, the howling sobs echoed. Mirror Maiden wiped the spit off her robes and departed.
Mirror Maiden headed down the road out of the city. Her last stop was down in Konda Village. She came to the cabin. Clothes hung across a laundry line by the fence. There, a woman with hair-streaked gray folded a drenched white sheet around the line. She had begun clipping it when Mirror Maiden came into view.
Mirror Maiden stood by the gate. "Miss Inoue?" She nodded, a cautious glint in her eyes. "This belonged to your husband. I'm sorry it took so long to return it." Mirror Maiden placed the wooden horse figurine upon the fence post.
Inoue staggered over. She accepted the horse with a bittersweet smile.
"I gave him this when we were kids. He told me he'd treasure it until he died."
Inoue ran her liver-spotted hand along the horse's flank. Her eyes glistened in fond remembrance of that day so long ago. She turned to Mirror Maiden.
"Thank you, dear."
Mirror Maiden bowed. With that, she headed to the cliffside. Afternoon sun shone over her weary shoulders. When had she last slept…she couldn't remember. Ever since her memories returned, she'd been visiting the families of all her victims across Teyvat. It was a very long list. She had visited fifty-six people in Inazuma alone. So many people, so many lives she utterly ruined.
She gazed at the vast sea, sparkling sapphires in the light. So beautiful. Last time she'd seen this kind of beautiful sea, Rostam had been beside her, promising he'd love her forever. His death set her down a lonely path of cruelty. If he could see what she had become, he'd be disgusted.
Once again, she asked that question she'd been asking since her memories returned. Why? Why did she get to come back? After all she had done, why had fate decided to bring her back?
She still didn't know.
Mirror Maiden took out her Realm Dispatch. The talisman's engravings shimmered, indicating the UHA had been called into Congress. It struck her how utterly unfair the universe was. Not only had she returned to life, she now enjoyed a new life and lover. All those lives she'd ruined and this was her fate?
Mirror Maiden chucked that dispatch away. It flipped, several times, before splooshing into the depths where it sunk. Good people deserved happy endings. Not her.
At that moment, a scream filled the air. She wheeled around. There were hillichurls attacking a Konda villager, just a child. In an instant she teleported between the child and those beasts. Her mirrors refracted beams that tore through the monsters. Then, there came a ferocious roar. An Electro Lawlichurl pounded towards her.
Mirror Maiden shoved the kid through a portal. The massive fist fell upon her and she didn't have the willpower to stop it. Maybe, this was right.
Scarcely had she thought this, then light exploded before her. The lawlichurl lay dead, cleaved in half by an Electro Blade. Ei stood before her. The Electro Archon sheathed her sword and faced Mirror Maiden.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded. Several soldiers came rushing up the road. The guards shifted through the village ensuring every person was accounted for. Ei then turned to the village. She started towards it, but then she stopped.
"You could have dodged that attack." Mirror Maiden did not speak. Ei folded her arms across her chest. She seemed lost in thought. At last, she spoke. "Did your memories return?"
She stiffened. "Wait. You knew who I am? Why didn't you strike me down?"
"You can never undo your past wrongs, but you can decide to change who you are in the present. Frankly, I'm curious to see the person you can become."
With that, Ei went to Konda Village. She directed the soldiers. Mirror Maiden just stood there, lost in thought. Her eyes drifted back to the waters, back to that crystal clear surface. Suddenly, she knew what had to be done. She leapt into the waters and sunk to the bottom.
Tubby and Aether had been discussing some trivial matter when the mansion doors flew open. In came a sopping wet Mirror Maiden, holding her Realm Dispatch. She crossed over to them, trekking mud and water across a floor that Tubby had only recently polished. The adeptus opened her beak to berate this foolishness when Mirror Maiden spoke.
"I'm Signora," she said. Silence. "I remember everything."
She handed the Realm Dispatch to Aether. She then knelt, pressing her forehead to the floor. Shivering, cold, and scared, Rosalyne bowed before the man she loved.
"I've done so much evil, to the world and to you. But I want you to know, I am so sorry. I don't know if I can ever make it up to you but…"
Aether grabbed her arms and pulled her into an embrace. He guided her face to his shoulder. Her tears fell. He wiped each one away. Hand on her back, he massaged gentle circles around her back. In his face, there was only love. Seeing it, she melted.
"Aether, please…I know I don't deserve it, but can I still be with you?"
"Of course," he said. "To be honest, Tubby and I already knew who you were. Miko figured it out."
"O-oh. And it doesn't bother you?"
Tubby snorted. "Half the people Aether calls friends have tried to kill him at one point or another. If he can love Ei, he can love you. He's too thick headed to hold a grudge."
She laughed a bit hearing that. Scary how true that was now that she thought about it.
Suddenly, Tubby glowered. "That being said, you've made a mess. Aether, take her to the hot springs before she catches a cold. I'll clean your clothes and this mess."
Aether gallantly swept her into his arms and carried her away. Rosalyne stared up into his wonderful, sunny face. After Rostam, she never thought anyone would hold her like this. Here, she was.
Aether gently placed her on a stool outside the springs. There, they stripped down completely naked. Rosalyne admired his body, lithe and muscular. Catching her gaze, he flexed his biceps. The sight seemed so ridiculous she couldn't help laughing. Gods, he was too cute.
Her hand lingered upon her veil. Slowly, she removed that blue cloth revealing the scarred and burned tissue beneath. Aether kissed her right on her torn skin.
Once again, he picked her up. This close to him, her womanhood itched. Her thighs pinched together, rubbing at that itch. Aether gave her rump a playful squeeze. She yelped. He stepped into the warm, mineral-enhanced bath and placed her upon his lap.
"You did that on purpose," she said.
"Sure did."
He pinched her butt again. His hand traced the contour of her broad, pale thigh. Her body quivered with excitement as he stroked down her inner thigh with one hand, while the other glided down her belly towards her waist.
Seeing an opportunity, she brought her breasts to his lips. The effect was instantaneous. Instant arousal. Positioning his arousal between her milky thighs, she began stroking him. He moaned in approval. Encouraged, Rosalyne doubled her efforts. He twitched and squirmed beneath her, helpless to her touch.
"Aether? Could you keep calling me Mirror Maiden?"
"Only if you kiss me."
She cupped the sides of his face between her hands. Their kiss was openmouthed, brimming with utter lust. Mirror Maiden lapped up his sweet, buttery moans. Meanwhile, her thighs drove him closer and closer to the edge.
His teeth clenched. The stimulation had become unbearable.
"Mirror Maiden, I'm close…"
She stopped. Whines escaped his lips. Then, she grabbed his cock and guided it inside her. As his warm length filled her, she sighed in delight. No matter how many times they did this, it never stopped exciting her. But she wanted more.
"Aether, can I … dominate you?"
"My safe word is Sunsettia."
Mirror Maiden tossed Aether onto the grass. With a ravenous expression, she seized his ankles and yanked them into the air. She spread them apart, stepped over his waist, and mounted him.
Mirror Maiden woke up around the same time he did. They lay, naked on the mattress, his head using her breasts as a pillow. Once he stirred, Aether kissed both her nipples and then he kissed her lips. Sweet, tender kisses that made her heart purr.
She guided his lips to her neck. Her obedient little man sucked her skin just like she wanted. All the while, she dug her fingers through his gold hair.
"Aether?"
"Hm?"
"I want to apologize to all the people I hurt. When we have our date, would you…join me? I think having you with me would help."
"Of course. Where do we start?"
"I was hoping maybe, you could introduce me to Barbatos. I owe him an apology. You don't think he'll smite me, do you?"
"Bring him wine and he'll forgive you."
"Done."
As sleep fell over Rosalyne, she pondered that life she had once led. Bitter and full of regrets, leaving sorrow wherever she went. Nothing would ever absolve her.
She drifted to sleep, embraced by a man who loved her unconditionally. She would always ask why she got a second chance, and she'd never believe that she truly deserved this happy ending. But she would take it. The past no longer decided her future.