It was almost laughable how fragile most mortals were. Almost.

Unblinking eyes watched a prime example of human weakness walk away. A vagrant, one that had thought she was vulnerable, lying in the sand, unresponsive. Lost.

They thought wrong, and Asmodeus ensured the wandering bandit knew it. Their sword was shattered into a dozen shards next to the man whose name she did not know as he desperately tried to crawl away. Incoherent babbles that sounded somewhat like pleas for mercy fled his mouth.

The Goddess wasn't in the mood for mercy today.

Having exerted herself well beyond what she'd thought possible, the migraine was starting to whip her into a frenzy, erratic thoughts slowly taking over.

She found herself laughing, putting the literal fear of god into the fleeing vagrant. What on Teyvat was Aether thinking, asking her to join the Watatsumi Resistance? Did he think she could hold herself back?

The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles razed entire nations to the ground, feeling nothing as people were crushed underneath their own ungodly creations. A glorified attack dog, Asmodeus was nothing more than a tool for Celestia to dispense its judgment.

With just a little more effort on her end, this man would join every other mortal that dared cross her path.

She was just a second away from it, too. Another step forward allowed her to focus enough to tear through space again, a rift hovering above the wandering vagrant, ready to snuff their life out at her whim.

That was when Asmodeus felt a sting coming from her foot. Looking down, she saw a piece of the man's sword, a trail of blood trailing down its reflective surface. She'd cut herself.

The Goddess was taken aback. Not by her forgetting about the sword she herself broke, but instead by the horrific visage looking back at her.

…I look like that?

A bruised face with eyes glowing a deep sea blue, disheveled hair, and a pristine white dress that was now torn all over. The parts of the fabric that clung to her appeared akin to bandages more than anything.

Asmodeus was surprised for only a moment, quickly squashing any emotion that tried to stir from within. With a hollow sigh, she got up and remembered her objective: setting a course for Watatsumi Island.

Right. There was no need to be concerned with her appearance right now. Nobody around knew her as Kaslana. Frankly, no one around this area knew her true name, either.

Five hundred years later, she hadn't changed at all.

When Kazuha encountered her again, she was by her lonesome, staring out into the sprightly waters of Watatsumi Island.

Kaslana appeared as though she were an entirely different person, and he had to do a retake on whether it was someone else when he'd first seen her. His gut feeling said it had something to do with the absence of someone he frequently saw with the woman.

Snap out of it, Kazuha. The Kaedehara shook those stray thoughts away and approached Kaslana.

"It's you." Something about her eyes glancing at him gave a feeling of impending danger. It appeared her irises had gained a deeper hue, like the unexpected shadow of a moon rising from behind.

"You've returned," Still, Kazuha wasn't about to pry until he was sure of how delicate his current predicament was, "Did something–"

"Teppei's dead." The words left her mouth before he could even ask the question in full. Kaslana's attention was focused on him now, an unspoken pressure building up in the air, akin to a prey staring intently at their would-be predator.

"...I see," Kazuha joined her on the sand, uttering a silent prayer for their fallen comrade, "My condolences."

She hadn't expected him to perch next to her like they were reading through books back at the library. It hadn't been much longer than a week since they were sifting through the pages, looking for clues on the forgotten sins of his ancestors.

The silver-haired girl shrunk into herself, eyes fixated on him with mild suspicion. It was here that he finally made the connection.

While Kaslana didn't possess one herself, her current disposition reminded him of those whose dreams were ripped away from them by the Vision Hunt Decree.

"Nothing to be sorry about," Gaining some self-awareness of her odd behavior, she looked away, "He wanted to come. He knew the risks."

"Did you want it?"

"What?" Her gaze sharpened as she quizzically looked at him with her jaw hanging open. Had he not been the one to ask the question himself, he was sure that his reaction would have been the same. It was because Kazuha knew he would have once responded similarly that gave him the resolve to speak up.

"Teppei accompanied you, knowing full well of the risks. Did you want him to do so?"

"...I didn't want him to go, obviously." Kaslana wasn't sure where he was going with this, but she decided to humor him, for which he was thankful. When people fully receded into themselves and minimized interaction with the outside world, a moderate amount of force was needed to get anywhere.

He couldn't help but smile a little as his thoughts briefly wandered to a Captain who had done the same for him.

"Did Teppei have any last words?"

"..." She flinched, her face cycling through various emotions until it settled on a melancholic appearance as she sighed deprecatingly. The sunlight caught an accessory around her neck, and upon closer inspection, he made it out to be a necklace. Two of them, and he could take a good guess of their origins.

Kazuha silently berated himself as he watched Kaslana begin to look out to sea again. Did he take it too far or too little? Perhaps…

A jolt ran through his skin as an item he kept with him at all times budged ever so slightly. His breath hitched slightly as the palm of his hand grasped the box. Was this it?

The Kaedehara grabbed her attention again by revealing the smooth wooden cube to her. With a tiny click, the lock was undone, and the box opened.

"Do you know what this is?" An invisible weight had been lifted off his chest as the contents of the container saw the light of day again. The only question he had now was why it made a move. Perhaps a worthy candidate was standing right in front of him.

"A Vision," She replied right away, "But…"

"Its owner has already passed away. It belonged to a dear friend of mine." Kazuha retracted his hand and took a peek at the Vision, shaking his head in disappointment when he saw that it was as lifeless as it had always been.

Then what…?

Kaslana scoffed, "The Vision Hunt Decree only seizes Visions. They try not to kill when it's unneeded."

"Indeed," He agreed, "But there will always be those who dare to brave the lightning's glow. He was one of them."

"My friend believed that the Raiden Shogun's famed Musou no Hitotachi could be withstood. When the Vision Hunt Decree was declared, he…" Kazuha trailed off, shuddering. The memories always came vividly, as though he'd been taken back to the past to relive a death each time.

She shook her head, sighing all the while, "I get the gist of it."

"To die with no regrets is a goal to strive for. It is alright to grieve, but I don't think he would have liked to see you like this."

It was a bit harsh of him to use Teppei like that to snap Kaslana out of her stupor, but it proved its effectiveness quickly. Her eyes returned to a lighter shade of blue, and she finally looked at him directly, "...I know."

Kaslana held her hand out, confusing him as she appeared to reach out for thin air. His doubts were quickly banished when the very space in front of her palm distorted and twisted, revealing a crack underneath the layer. She reached inside, pulling out several things of varying rarities, and threw them out to the ocean.

In the span of a minute, Kazuha had seen several seashells, stones, Mora, and even a Fatui Delusion of all things get chucked into the sea. With each toss, the tension in Kaslana's body visibly faded. He'd thrown a couple of stones or two back in his day to vent his frustrations, too.

Then she pulled out an item he'd never seen before.

"What's that?" He'd stopped her rampage by placing a hand on her shoulder, pointing to the ball-shaped item.

"This?" Kaslana held it out clearly for him to see, "I picked it up at Mondstadt. It's an explosive of some sort."

His first thought upon seeing it was that it had been a stuffed animal, the type that sleepless mothers would knit for their children so they could have a good night's rest. None of the toys he'd seen ever had a long stalk protruding from their head, however. The colors also didn't match any animal he'd seen from both Liyue and Inazuma. He was quite sure that red and white were colors one would see on an animal somewhere like Natlan or Sumeru.

"A bomb," Kazuha mused, trying to recall all the fauna he'd seen in Mondstadt, "It certainly has a unique design."

"Seeing as a kid made these, it's not that surprising."

"A child?"

Kaslana followed by regaling him with a tale that involved her, Aether, the acting Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius, and the Abyss Order itself. The absurdity of the story was not lost on him, and he wasn't sure whether it was something she'd just spun in the heat of the moment or an actual event that had happened.

"Ask Aether if you don't believe me." She deadpanned as he voiced his suspicions. With virtually all stress on her body alleviated, she simply tossed the bomb to an upcoming wave, anticipating that the waves would carry it out to sea.

It didn't reach the water.

Kaslana stared at it strangely, half-expecting the device to simply blow them to smithereens after it stopped moving, yet nothing happened.

In fact, the bomb didn't touch the water at all. It was suspended in animation and floating right above the water's surface.

"..." Kazuha and Kaslana were staring at the explosive dumbfoundedly, the tension so thick and fragile even a dull blade could have cut through it.

Then, the so-called bomb started to shrink, folding inwards on itself until it was no larger than the grains of sand directly below it. Upon seeing it, they slowly backed away from the phenomenon.

A flash of light forced him to shut his eyes, and when he opened them again, the strange device was replaced with a doorway of sorts, still hovering above the water, exuding supernatural energy.

If someone were to ask the Kaedehara what he would do if such a scenario were to occur, he would say that his first action would be to retreat and observe from a distance.

Yet there was something about this mystical passageway that drew him in like a magnet. He didn't even know he was standing right in front of it until Kaslana's concerned voice called out from behind him.

Still…

Without looking back, Kazuha closed his eyes and entered the unknown.

"Kazuha!" What in Teyvat is he thinking?

Her words fell on deaf ears as Kazuha sauntered straight into the gateway. She furrowed her brow in frustration before stepping forward and taking a closer look at the interdimensional door herself.

Its construction didn't betray the questionable origins of the original owner. Whoever devised the gateway was of this world and had left it in the arms of a literal child that carried explosives on their person at all times.

Even compared to the Goddess' own manipulation of the dimensions, the aura it gave off was nowhere near as sinister as hers or that of the Abyss'. There was a fairly decent chance that Kazuha made it through in one piece.

Cursing the gods she didn't believe in, Asmodeus walked through the door.

She noted that the principles on which the gateway functioned also differed from her own. One moment, she was still on Watatsumi Island, and the next, she was on an entirely different one.

Asmodeus didn't know what she was expecting to happen when going through a strange portal, but it likely wasn't to be greeted by the sight before them.

Perhaps it was the Goddess' own experience with interdimensional travel that fueled her suspicions. Aether's Teleport Waypoints were simplistic and got the job done, but they had zero flair and were prone to being destroyed, the latter being something he found out the hard way. She was glad those contraptions were gone from the continent, though. It felt like the Traveller would just teleport them at random without warning just to torment her.

Of course, Aether could always use the Abyss to travel. The memory of a certain duo of the Vortex stopped that train of thought.

Then, there was her own ability, a unique power tied to the soul that garnered the attention of the heavens themselves. She didn't quite remember how Celestia had inducted her as the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, but it was a moot point right now. An infinite and eternal pocket dimension for her personal use, limited only by her imagination. That was what it was, in essence.

The Goddess had been expecting something of similar horrors to be awaiting them on the other side, not… this.

She and Kazuha had set foot on a lush, vibrant island. She could practically feel the overwhelming amount of life here seeping into her. Judging from Kazuha, who was taking a deep breath beside her, he felt the same.

Still, Asmodeus' instincts told her something was off, so she decided to turn around and drag the Kaedehara back through the portal with her.

Only to be greeted with its sudden absence. She sighed.

Nothing really went right for her, did it?

After hearing a tirade of curses leave Kaslana's mouth, the two set out to find out what exactly they'd roped themselves into.

The island they'd found themselves on was truly wondrous, something that neither of them had expected to see when it was crammed into an object that fits snugly into the palm of their hand. While the lack of animals to be found was disconcerting, seeing the thriving flora alone more than made up for it.

To kill time, Kazuha conversed with Kaslana every now and then. She had been surprisingly responsive to his own icebreakers, no longer answering him with mere grunts and the occasional word or two like it had been whenever the two saw each other at the library.

"–And they can recreate a completely unique firework from a piece of paper alone?" Kaslana asked incredulously, unconvinced.

The topic had gotten to the Naganohara family and their long-lived tradition of preserving fireworks through simple strips of parchment. It seemed doable at a glance, but what would the successor of the business do when faced with a slip that had gone unused for generations? Fortunately for them, Yoimiya had a knack for that type of resourcefulness.

"Indeed," Kazuha calmly replied, "Yoimiya once told me that even the Raiden Shogun herself had witnessed her handiwork."

The finer details of her tale were lost on him, yet this was a story he could personally vouch for, as he'd witnessed that very same firework rise and explode in color.

"I find it difficult to believe that same Archon is hunting you all down. What was Inazuma like before the decree?" Kaslana asked.

"Honestly, for those without a Vision like you, it might as well have not changed at all." He admitted, flashing a bitter smile.

She averted her eyes, "Even before that, I doubt Vision bearers weren't treated differently. Maybe families like the Naganoharas and the Kamisato clan are well-received, but I wonder about the rest of you."

"You walk the same land, breathe the same air, and eat the same food, but you still have something they will never have. If it's used for their benefit, perhaps they tolerate it, but the heavens are unpredictable. Those who hold power may have never even asked for it in the first place."

For a moment, Kazuha was stunned, Kaslana's words hitting a little too close to home. And she spoke with an earnestness he'd never expected to come from her as if she had once been much the same.

He had to quickly recover his wits lest the silence reign supreme, "You're sharper than you let on, Kaslana."

She huffed, "Just experience."

He gave her a questioning look, "What do you–"

A growl cut through the silence, spurring Kazuha into action as he swiftly drew his Fillet Blade, trying to discern where the sound originated. Why did it sound so close?

A tap on his shoulder prompted him to look at his companion, and the deadpan stare that looked right at his soul made him start sweating bullets. He might not have known Teppei for long, but that man always made Kaslana's temperament clear.

"..."

Kazuha chuckled nervously as he sheathed his sword, "...Would you like to eat?"

"Sure, lead the way."

And so he did. The odd force that pulled him to the unknown parts of the island was ignored to ensure they didn't starve to death before they got there. The swift winds under his command, in conjunction with the Wind Glider he'd borrowed from Kaslana, made reaching for the fruits situated high up a cinch.

Carrying as much as they could, the two sat near the shore, watching the waves crash under the shade of a palm tree, "There's not much here, but it's better than nothing."

Without so much as an announcement, Kaslana dug into their newly acquired pile of sustenance, as did he. She was quite ravenous when table manners weren't a concern, her stomach comparable to a bottomless pit, stopped only by the coconut she now held but couldn't open.

Her first attempts at cracking it open were through sheer strength, trying to rip the coconut open by gripping the pores. Her poor physical abilities prevented that, after which she gave up and threw the persistent fruit into a boulder.

He erupted into a poorly muffled fit of laughter, earning him a glare from her, "Don't laugh."

"Do forgive me." Kazuha raised his arms in mock surrender. Kaslana grumbled and returned to her futile attempts at cracking the tough shell.

Even he had a limit, and after another minute of watching the same song and dance, he gave up and reached a hand out to her, "Here, if you'd allow me."

She stared at his outstretched hand dumbly for a second before acquiescing and handing the coconut over, her eyes silently challenging him. It must've been his imagination, but he could've sworn there was a glint of playfulness in them.

Kaslana's defiance was quashed as he carefully bashed the coconut into a sharp rock, revealing the fleshy interior of the fruit as it split neatly into two halves.

"Oh…" She mumbled in defeat as he handed her half of the coconut.

With some reluctance, Kaslana accepted it, "...Thanks."

"You're welcome." His words likely went unheard as she returned to slaughtering the newly acquired food.

Kazuha was much the same, peacefully munching away at the literal fruits of their labor. The waves had begun to calm, and pure silence began to wash over the island as if the land was holding its breath. For what, he'd find out later.

The pull at his conscience to look for something out there grew in intensity. Whatever was pulling the strings behind the curtain, it wanted him to get going now.

The last of the berries they had gathered had finally been consumed, and a full Kaslana laid down on the sand, messy white hair entangling itself in the sand.

One look at Kaslana was enough to push down that urge. She looked like an entirely different person compared to when he'd first found her after Teppei's death, and he didn't want to ruin that.

"Teppei always insisted on making my food himself." Kaslana dully said, closing her eyes.

"It sounds as though he pampered you." Kazuha slowly replied.

"He did," She turned on her side, away from him, "He really did."

The unmistakable sound of a thunderclap interrupted them. Squinting his eyes, Kazuha could see storm clouds start to roll in from afar.

"Looks like it's time to go." He stood, stretching his limbs. The waves were starting to stir once more.

Kaslana sat up, muttering something under her breath before she extended her hand up to him. Without hesitation, he took it and pulled her up.

The rain washed away the footsteps on the sandy coast that proved their existence here, returning the land to a blank slate. Picking up the pace, they hurried to the island's center, where the tug at his soul was strongest.

Just what would he find there?

Did he see it?

Asmodeus lagged slightly behind Kazuha, watching him intently for any movements that she could call suspicious. If he did witness her moment of weakness, she already had a form of retribution in mind.

The Goddess quietly groaned. What am I doing?

While she wasn't exactly welcoming of him initially, the Kaedehara had been kind and understanding of her turmoil. While she'd made a point of hiding her godhood from most people, that didn't change the fact that he had endured a tragedy similar to hers and had even coaxed her out of the paper-thin shell she surrounded herself in.

There was no need to worry.

With her doubts cleared, Asmodeus quickened her steps to catch up to the Kaedehara, taking the briefest of glances behind her to watch the approaching storm. It would cover the entire island soon enough.

Fortunately, Kazuha had found the destination he'd told her of. A pool of water was right before them, resembling a giant mirror reflecting the darkening skies, unimaginably deep and exuding an alien yet homely sensation.

A quick look at each other's eyes was enough to communicate his intent to her. The choice between being bombarded by the endless rain or taking a leap of faith into the unknown was easy.

The actual act of stepping into the mysterious starlit waters was unbelievably confusing. One second, Asmodeus had been cautiously dipping her feet into the pool, and the next, she found herself knee-deep in a different one.

Quelling her surprise, the Goddess stepped back out and put her hand on an unlit stone lantern, catching her breath and taking stock of her new environment.

Wait. Stone lantern?

Asmodeus had to do a double take to ensure she was seeing things properly, and indeed she was. She found herself back in a courtyard that no doubt was in Inazuma, with Kazuha nowhere to be found.

Outside of the Goddess finding herself back in the clutches of Celestia or the Abyss, this was the worst scenario she could've found herself in. She had half a mind to use her ability to make a quick getaway, but locating Kazuha was the priority right now.

"–hey!"

A high-pitched voice cut through the air as a pair of children barreled through the entrance, the sunlight reflecting off their flaxen hair. Lost in their little game, they were too caught up in their chase to notice, giving her a chance to slip past them. The sooner she got out of here, the better.

Eventually, they had gotten too into their heads and tripped, kicking up the tiny stones neatly placed throughout the courtyard. One had gone soaring straight into Asmodeus' face, and she shut her eyes out of reflex.

When no pain came, Asmodeus confusingly opened her eyes again, turning around to look oddly at the stone that was supposed to hit her. The Goddess attempted to pick it up, only for her hands to pass right through the pebble.

Interesting. Attempts with other objects and even the now-crying children had the same result. She was nothing more than a mere spectator in this strange, dreamlike world.

A worried man rushed into the scene, quickly getting the kids back on their feet and chastising them for being so reckless. From their similar appearances, her mind could only assume they were related in some way or another.

The two children and their guardians left the scene with their heads down. The boy with a shorter stature caught her eye in particular. He looked familiar.

As they turned a corner and vanished from Asmodeus' sight, a familiar Kaedehara appeared.

The Goddess had quickly dismissed the Kazuha she was seeing as another apparition, but that notion was quickly dismissed when he made eye contact and greeted her.

"You too, huh?" Asmodeus monotonously remarked as the Kaedehara approached her. Having seen those children earlier, she was starting to get an idea of what exactly was going on.

Kazuha quickly recapped his own side of the story and confirmed it. As of right now, the past was unfolding before their very eyes. As she'd suspected, the two kids she had seen playing earlier were Kazuha and his friend.

"Any idea what the point of this is?" She asked him. The island that brought them here held some sapience, twisting and molding itself to suit its inhabitants. She just hoped it wasn't malicious.

"How many things have you seen up until now, Kaslana?" Kazuha questioned, his eyes shut in thought.

Her eyes darted back to the corner from where that child disappeared, "Only you as a kid. Why?"

"Before I found you, I saw myself leaving Inazuma on the Alcor for the first time." He explained.

So that's how it is. Time wasn't moving forward. It was moving backward.

Presumably, the scene around them began to shift to confirm their suspicions. The rugged stone walls began to crumble, the individual stones that formed them sinking back into the earth and covered up by greenery.

The grandiose courtyard into which Asmodeus had been transported was reduced to grassy plains. A structure that still remained was the mansion it was connected to, a symbol she didn't recognize emblazoned into a flag that was the same color as the wind that carried it with pride.

Kazuha wore an expression she hadn't seen up until this point. Curiosity, fear, and joy all in one, like a wandering traveller venturing into the familiar unknown. Seeing it soured her mood a bit as she realized what he was feeling.

Kazuha Kaedehara had returned home. And so did time move onward again.

With bated breath, Kazuha entered the home of his ancestors. This was the Kaedehara clan at their highest point in Inazuma's history as a part of the Raiden Gokaden, before their mysterious fall, before he himself was born.

This went beyond what he'd originally been searching for. This wasn't simply a means of getting closure anymore. There lay a possibility even beyond that.

His body naturally followed the forge's heat, the shrieking of metal as the cold, precise metal of a blacksmith's trusty tools molded lumps of red-hot steel into tools with a purpose, one in perfect harmony with the intended user.

Kazuha was not disappointed with what he saw. While the sight he beheld was nothing more than that of a bygone era, it surpassed any other he had borne witness to.

Faceless ghosts that he could confidently recognize as predecessors of the Kaedehara clan were toiling away at the forge. Blades in different stages of the forging process were each treated with the utmost respect, like a treasure unlike any other.

It was then that another man walked in, presenting a rectangular box to the forgemasters. As someone who was essentially nothing more than a ghost in the current situation, he could fearlessly glance at what had gotten their attention.

A blueprint. One for a blade he had never seen before. It's name–

"Time has stopped again." Kaslana's statement had snapped him back to reality.

"It has?" The space around them was already warping as he spoke. Gone were the lively flames of the forge, the harmonious works of the Isshin art that were displayed in all of their glory.

All that remained was a single, misshapen blade. An obvious failure, even to those with no first-hand experience in the forge.

The proud smiths of the Kaedehara clan had already fled the present scene out of fear of their Archon's retaliation for being unable to forge a blade that was, for all intents and purposes, perfect.

Kazuha could not suppress the gasp that left his lips as a man who was undoubtedly a member of the Kamisato clan came with his great grandfather, whose face he could vividly remember from one of the portraits on display in the house back when he was a mere child.

Kaslana had also caught on to the resemblance Kazuha bore with his late family member, inspecting the two men closely with stagnant eyes that held the weight of the skies themselves.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly as the abode around them crumbled away, the two men now having their swords drawn towards an individual at a beach. Around that certain individual, the dead bodies of the Kaedehara clan's famed blacksmiths were disrespected, their lives nothing more than a grain of sand to them.

"It's him." Kaslana growled, the venom in her voice unlike anything Kazuha had heard from her before.

An emotion he rarely saw in others, and one his mind had never expected to see on a woman such as her.

Hatred, in the truest sense of the word.

"You recognize that man?" Kazuha asked, his eyes never leaving the man who he now knew had singlehandedly crippled his clan.

"That's the Fatui Harbinger I ran into while investigating their Delusion factory." Without hesitation, Kaslana stomped up to the man and threw a punch that didn't connect whilst speaking. Dissatisfied with her limited capabilities in the present, she huffed and walked away.

"In other words…" He was directly responsible for Teppei's death.

"Still, this moment in time had occurred long ago. Might he be a God?"

"He isn't." Her reply was immediate.

"How can you be so sure?"

"A God wouldn't bend their knee to anyone, not even an Archon."

"I see," Kazuha closed his eyes in thought, "I understand it now. What this island is trying to tell me."

As he'd expected, once his eyes were open again, the Kaedehara found himself alone. Kaslana wasn't around, and neither were the ghosts of a past unearthed. Kazuha was back home, truly.

In front of him was a forge he'd seldom seen used. Embers within still flickered in anticipation, goading him into taking the next step forward.

So he did, the pristine, untampered blueprint of what was considered the pinnacle of an era in his mind's eye as Kazuha gripped onto the familiar groove of his old hammer. Within minutes, the lone forge in this spatial recreation of the Kaedehara household was burning with passion for the first time in years.

Kazuha's body moved like a well-oiled machine, following the rediscovered instructions from the forgotten past down to the letter. He'd seldom crafted any blades or weapons even before his exile, usually only the odd knife or two.

Looking at him now, it was like he'd never left. The Kaedehara might even say that his skills have improved since his escape from Inazuma.

Such a thing was preposterous, and Kazuha's mind also thought so. His blood, his heart, pumping through him as hot as the flames of the forge, believed otherwise. He need not heed his own doubt; he merely follows the heart. Believe in the future it envisioned and the past it now carried, all hammered together to bring forth a forgotten art to the present.

A blade once shrouded in mystery, reforged to help break through the haze that enveloped the nation.

Still…

For whom would this blade be? While the prospect of bringing the past's truth to the present's light was fuel to swing his hammer, he didn't intend to abandon his current blade. That simply wasn't how the art of Isshin was taught.

His mind came up blank whenever he tried to think of someone to hold it, a void that was yet to be filled. The image didn't terrify him. As a matter of fact, Kazuha only moved faster.

He wouldn't reject this void. The sword would be made for it. Perfect harmony with nothingness, much like how the original blueprints for the weapon disappeared into the ether.

As the heat's glow died, something new emerged from the ashes.

"Yoshitsune Isshin."

"What?" Kaslana's voice asked in bewilderment. She must have been brought to the forge at some point, and he was just too entranced to notice.

"This sword's name."

Kazuha brought the blade up to the light, letting him see her puzzled face, "It appears we're finished here."

"Hm." Asmodeus unwittingly breathed a sigh of relief, staring at the portal Kazuha had just gone through.

He didn't notice.

This island, whatever it was supposed to be, didn't exist. At least, it wasn't supposed to.

Her eyes peered into the water, narrowing into slits.

Especially when that was there.

These isles of remembrance were capable of reconstructing Kazuha's past and bringing it to life. It even went as far as to allow the Kaedehara to forge the true version of a sword from a bygone era, free from the imperfections deliberately placed within.

If it could do all that for him, then it stood to reason she could not be made an exception.

There was a second island, still submerged in the depths. The Goddess had felt that something was off since they'd set foot on the first one, but that was just it, a feeling.

It was something else entirely to see a crack in space-time there, too. A perfect copy of those Asmodeus could create with her own abilities, to the point where she hesitated at labeling it as a mere imitation.

She knew at all times when her ability was in use, even without the headache it now gave her. That meant the odd magic surrounding the island was capable of copying even that, too.

Trepidation ran through her. She'd told Aether that her entire purpose of accompanying him across Teyvat would be to reclaim the past lost to her.

Asmodeus hadn't considered that she'd find a possible answer so quickly, just slightly out of reach. That tiny gap was enough to terrify her.

Some memories were better left forgotten, after all.

Not enough.

Aether came to that conclusion as he cautiously weaved between each and every attack Ei threw at him, the blessing of the stars given to the Traveller enough to close their earlier gap in speed.

Raiden Ei's face grew more agitated as the hours started to pass, the stalemate unable to be tipped in her favor. He wondered if she knew that he could tip the scales toward him at any time he so desired but simply did not for several reasons.

The current Electro Archon was someone he'd quickly grown to care for in his earlier years in Teyvat, in part due to Raiden Makoto's own insistence. Fighting Ei with the intent to kill was the only way he would be able to decisively pull out a victory, something that neither he nor she was willing to do.

Worry started to seep into Aether's mind. The slow, trickling sensation of Starlight gradually expending itself from his body did not go unnoticed. He'd gotten better at utilizing his regained abilities efficiently since fighting Osial and Beisht, yet his senses were telling him that it still wasn't enough.

The Traveller could only hope that Ei saw reason.

"Enough of this, Ei. You don't have to go through with the Vision Hunt Decree." He cautiously began to wade into the stormy waters again, Ei's previous outburst when he landed on a sensitive topic still fresh on his mind.

She paused, gazing at him forlornly, "Then who will?"

"I still see her at times when I sleep…" She gritted her teeth, the aching in her heart no doubt to be as hurtful as his own, maybe even greater. There was no need to say who that "her" was.

"I cannot let Celestia take anything from me again!"

For the first time in Aether's time with Ei, this was the first where she looked properly angry. The Electro Archon would go on the attack once more. The resentment she held for the divine served to fuel her strikes even more, almost knocking him off his feet as he intentionally blocked and held their blades in a clash.

Aether leveled a glare, one that Ei both saw and felt, "Yet what you're doing now is tearing our home apart."

Ei's focus waned for a split second. Aether pressed the advantage, channeling Pyro energy into his sword that met the Musou Isshin's Electro and reacted, overloading and causing an explosion that caught her off guard as she leaped back.

Seizing the opportunity, he continued to reach out to her, "I know what it's like to have the person you care for the most taken by them, but this isn't how to go about it."

A future built on broken ideals and ambitions could hardly be called such. As someone who once did the same to commandeer the ghosts of Khaenri'ah, he was sure that the outcome would not be pleasant.

"...Then how?"

…I wish I knew the answer to that myself.

"...So it hurts, how it lasts till I draw one more last final breath…"