Moonlight fell across Kaguya Otsutsuki's profile, illuminating her pale skin until it was almost translucent, like a piece of exquisite porcelain.
Yet her eyes held none of porcelain's emptiness. They brimmed instead with a thousand years of memories and the wear of time.
She had once eaten the God Tree Fruit to protect this world from being devoured by the Otsutsuki Clan, and given birth to two sons-Hagoromo and Hamura.
It had been the bravest decision of her life, and the loneliest.
When she ate the God Tree Fruit, no one stood beside her. When she gave birth to Hagoromo and Hamura, no one stood beside her. When she faced the threat of the entire Otsutsuki Clan alone, still no one stood beside her.
Yet in the end, her own children had betrayed her, sealing her within the moon's dark core, where she slept alone for a thousand years.
A thousand years of silence, a thousand years of bitter cold, a thousand years of solitude.
It was a wound deep in her heart that could never heal.
"I remembered a few things."
She slowly turned to face Yao and looked into his eyes.
Her movements were slow, as though turning around also meant turning to face those memories buried beneath a thousand years of dust. Moonlight shone from behind her, tracing her outline in silver, like someone stepping out of a painting.
For the first time, her white eyes revealed a complex clarity, with pain buried deep within it.
"I remembered them... Hagoromo and Hamura."
Her voice trembled slightly, as though something had caught in her throat.
"And I remembered why I created that Mirror World."
She drew a deep breath, as though gathering the courage to speak the truth.
"I created two Ninja Worlds and hid my true self