Floating Life Like a Dream

Part 3

When she suddenly looked back, she found that all she had left were her memories with him. She had been able to embrace the world once more, yet she could never return to the past and embrace the young man he had once been.

Elysia looked at Kevin, who seemed even colder and lonelier than he had been fifty thousand years ago. Even a millennium of imprisonment in the Sea of Quantum seemed to have left no trace upon him.

Kevin crossed his arms and looked at Elysia. "Welcome back, Elysia."

Elysia merely looked at him. Only after a long while did she speak. "I heard from Eden that, on the final stretch of the road, it was you and Feng who walked it together... Kevin, you were his closest friend. Tell me, in the end... did he say anything?"

Kevin looked at Elysia. After a moment of silence, he said, "No."

"Kevin, you're lying. You've never been good at lying. I heard from them... before he left, he conducted one final experiment with Mobius, took part in Vill-V's magic one last time, counted the stars with Griseo, listened to Kosma tell the story of the Heroes he admired, had a serious fight with Qianjie, ate noodles with you for the last time, listened to Eden perform one last time, accepted Aponia's prayer for him, visited Ling's grave with Sakura, took one final lazy afternoon nap with Phyllis, entrusted his words for the future to Su, encouraged Hua to forge her own path..." Elysia said softly. "If he truly gave up everything just so I could see this era, then... he surely must have left something for me."

Kevin remained silent.

"Come to think of it, I was clearly the first to know him... So why, in the end, am I the only one who has nothing?" Elysia's gaze passed beyond Kevin, seeming to settle on a figure that had long since remained in the past.

Kevin finally spoke. "Elysia, if you want to know why he did this, then I can tell you. He said that you were a girl afraid of loneliness, someone who had cast aside the world and close friends she cherished to return to Honkai alone. The world you opened up, the world you hoped for, was one you could never see. That was too cruel for you. Your ending should not have been like this. Your future should have continued onward... The end of one tragedy is the beginning of another hope. He was not afraid of loneliness; he had grown accustomed to it. Nor did he love the world. So he loaded his life into the chamber to buy you a second life. His story began with you writing its opening, so it should also end for you. He was tired too. He needed to rest..."

Elysia froze.

"Despair and darkness would be taken by him to the other shore. Light and hope would extend into the future because of you." Kevin lowered his gaze. "He did leave something for you. But I do not believe that, as you are now, you have the ability to receive it."

"Kevin!" Elysia stared into Kevin's eyes. "That's what he gave me!"

"But he entrusted it to me." Kevin spoke calmly. "Elysia, he placed every choice in my hands. If I believe it is not suitable to give it to you, then I also have the right to let it remain forever in the era of the past."

Elysia looked at Kevin and saw how resolute he was. She could only ask quietly, "...Why?"

Kevin did not answer.

Elysia turned and left. Kevin watched as she vanished from his sight. Kosma, who had remained silent in the background all this time, spoke. "...If I'm not mistaken, what Feng left for Elysia was a voice recorder, right?"

Kevin glanced at Kosma without confirming or denying it.

"Why not give it to Elysia?"

"I do not know what Feng said in it. But if Elysia remains fixated on searching for the him of the past, then no matter what Feng said inside, she may not be able to sort out her feelings and accept... this world where she can never see him again except through memories," Kevin said.

"She isn't the type to linger in the past," Kosma said. "I believe she will treasure everything as memories, then continue living with Feng's hopes in her heart."

Kevin looked at Kosma and said, "If it were the Elysia of the past, then of course I would be willing to believe that. But have you considered that Elysia may hold other, special feelings for Feng?"

Kosma was stunned.

Kevin said nothing more, choosing instead to continue his slumber in the depths of the Sea of Quantum.

After returning to World Serpent, Elysia went straight to the Elysian Realm. She knew that Feng had left behind a memory in the Realm, but when she arrived before its entrance, she hesitated.

Even if it was only his memory, even if fifty thousand years had already passed...

"If you're wondering whether he'll see you, then I can tell you that the you inside the Realm met him a long time ago." Mobius spoke from behind her. "If there's something you want to say to him, I've already told the him in there. You will see him."

Elysia fell silent, then put on the connection device and entered the Elysian Realm.

After the brief dizziness passed, the entrance to the Elysian Realm from her memories appeared before Elysia. She walked in. In the virtual hall, the man from her memories stood beside the bar, polishing an expensive wineglass. Another glass sat by his hand, as though he had recently shared a drink here with someone.

"Feng..." she called.

The young man turned around and looked at her. After a long moment, he nodded. "Elysia."

Elysia walked over. She instinctively wanted to embrace him, but stopped herself. She came to a halt several steps away from the young man.

"How is the world outside?" the young man asked. "Although not much time has passed since Mobius told me the news, Eden and the others must have briefly told you about the current world, right?"

"Why... did you do this?" Elysia asked.

The young man lowered his head and continued polishing the glass. "I just felt that, compared to me, you deserved to see this world more... You and I are different. A few days before The Final Banquet, you were still preparing Kevin's birthday present, looking forward to the clothes Eden was making for you... You always held hopes for the future. But I had never thought about what I wanted from my own future, nor did I have the courage to face a future that was unfamiliar to me. So I decided to be selfish one last time. That is all the me within the Elysian Realm knows."

Elysia lowered her eyes, then said, "What did you leave for me at the end? You gave it to Kevin, but Kevin doesn't want to give it to me."

The young man paused, then set down the wineglass in his hand. Turning around, he faced Elysia directly. He looked into her eyes, and only after a long while did he say, "I did not synchronize those memories. At least, twelve hours before Finality awakened, I had not entrusted Kevin with anything for you. Perhaps that me acted on a sudden impulse."

"So from the beginning, you... really hadn't prepared anything for me?" Elysia asked again.

The young man studied Elysia's expression and said thoughtfully, "So... that's how it was? After all, at that time, I had never imagined that you... felt that way about me."

"I never imagined I would feel that way either... But when I understood everything, I could no longer see you again." Elysia spoke with sorrow. "I wanted to dance with you one last time, just like when we first met. I wanted to watch fireworks with you again. I still haven't received the gift you promised would be better than Eden's..."

"The me in the Elysian Realm is not the real me in the end, merely an echo left in this world by the person named Zhu Yufeng." The young man lowered his eyes. "So I cannot tell you what that me thought when the impending end arrived, nor can I answer all the questions you have now."

Elysia fell silent.

"Elysia, I have a question." The young man spoke. "What does the thing I left for you mean to you? In your heart now, has it become a shackle holding you back from moving toward the future? If so, then I cannot give you any more answers."

"I only wanted... only wanted... to reconcile with him, to return to yesterday. That was all I ever... wanted."

"But yesterday is called yesterday precisely because it has already passed and become the footprints we have already walked." The young man said, "Only by letting go of yesterday can we better welcome the future, isn't that right? Elysia can be sad and confused, but to her, those are only temporary setbacks. She will always put everything in order, then welcome every coming tomorrow with a smile, won't she?"

"Because she has never loved anyone this deeply..." Elysia said softly. "That person always indulged her, always believed in her, and gave up everything for her... Perhaps even earlier, before she realized it, she had grown used to his presence. Even when he no longer wished to see her in the end, at least he still existed in this world. She could still hear his stories from other people. But now, he has remained forever in the past. The stories she hears will never have another new side to them..."

"Elysia, I do not want you to be like this now," the young man said. "Everything in the past has already passed."

"I'm only... unwilling to accept it..." Elysia's gaze fell upon the badge on the young man's chest. "I remember this badge. When you first joined my squad and became an official soldier at Fire Moth headquarters, I personally pinned it on you, didn't I?"

The young man was silent.

"But where is this badge now, in reality?" Elysia murmured as if speaking to herself. "They all received your final gifts, while I have only memories of you left... I can embrace the world once more, yet I cannot embrace you again."

The young man looked at Elysia. After a long time, he said, "Perhaps the final gift I left you was that, in a brand-new era, you could still see your old friends and still have a home to return to."

Elysia gave a bitter laugh. "It truly... is a very romantic gift... But why is it that, even though it sounds so romantic, I want an object that belonged to you even more? Even just a bracelet, a necklace... Something to let me know that no one else took part in our meeting and getting to know each other... Something to let me know that I once had you..."

As she spoke, Elysia looked again at the wineglass by the young man's hand and said quietly, "Not afraid of loneliness, not in love with the world... He used to be that kind of person. He was clearly that kind of person, yet he chose to watch for dawn in the darkness. He once fought the entire world for me, gave up everything for me... Then at the end, he said he was tired, that he was leaving to rest... Until the very end, I never told him the answer I should have given him, never conveyed my feelings to him. Why did he do all this?"

"Because... you were worth it," the young man said.

"But no one would think everything he did was only natural."

The young man looked at Elysia for a long time, then turned and walked toward the entrance leading deeper into the Elysian Realm. Before leaving, he turned back and said softly, "Elysia, Kevin may have his reasons for not giving you that final gift. But we Flame-Chasers in the Elysian Realm are not unable to help you. Before that, however, you, who have fallen into an obsession with the past, must, like every other visitor, undergo the trials of the Fourteen Schicksal and earn our recognition. I will grant you my acknowledgment as well. Then take it to Kevin. At that time, he will surely give it to you."

Before vanishing, the young man added, "As for your birthday gift, I had actually prepared it... What it is, though, you can find out after you pass every trial."

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead. It may simply have been renamed!

Part 4

"We will meet again someday, on the other side of the Imaginary, in the dwelling place of souls... Even if you have long forgotten everything, even if fifty thousand years erase all that once existed between us, I will take your hand once more and embrace you again..."

"Elysia, a new game is coming out today. Mei, Bronya, and I are planning to line up together. Want to come too?" Kiana waved to the pink-haired girl. "Afterward, you can watch me show off my skills. This time, I definitely won't lose to Bronya!"

"Idiot Kiana, the only one who can compete with Bronya is Sister Elysia." Bronya spoke expressionlessly. "So far, idiot Kiana has lost to Bronya 137 times."

"Oh my, it's always hard to refuse an invitation from beautiful girls~" Elysia said with a smile. "But I already have plans today, so it will have to be next time~"

"Wow, plans?" Kiana thought for a moment, then glanced at Mei beside her and struck her fist into her palm. "Could it be you met a girl as pretty as Mei? Or did Teacher Eden prepare something nice for you again? I want to—"

"Kiana..." Mei placed a hand on Kiana's shoulder, her expression gentle. "Elysia has her own matters. We can't interfere, understand?"

"Y-Yes..."

Elysia watched the three girls leave amid their playful bickering. The smile on her face gradually faded. She sighed softly and returned to her residence.

She came before her dressing table and took a voice recorder from a drawer. In the end, Kevin had still given this to her.

"He... may not necessarily have disappeared." Vill-V's voice echoed in her mind. "But if he really did what you once did in your place, then he has now... returned to Honkai in your place. Even if he still exists, he may no longer retain an independent personality. And fifty thousand years would be enough to wear away all his memories... In other words, we may still be able to see him, but the him we remember may never return."

Elysia pressed the button on the voice recorder. From within came that voice from fifty thousand years ago:

"Mm... Looks like it's working properly. Then... let's begin. Elysia... When it comes down to it, I still don't know how to talk to you. After The Tragedy of Binding, we never saw each other again. I don't hate you, because that truly was the choice you would make. You were prepared to die, and you fought the Herrscher of Binding alongside the others. No one could blame you... I couldn't either. But I still can't forget what they looked like when they died. No one's life should be sacrificed. Lilith and the others... were they supposed to be sacrificed?

"I believe in the fate Aponia speaks of, but I do not submit to fate. Don't misunderstand, I'm not blaming you. I simply cannot let it go... I don't know what I would say if I saw you again, and I don't want to see that guilty expression on your face because of it... Perhaps after the Sixth Herrscher incident, the two of us truly went our separate ways... But I truly don't regret meeting you. You let me see this world. I have always remembered that light shining upon the ruins, and the hand you extended to me then. I was fortunate that, when I was lost and confused, you appeared by my side.

"There is something I have never told anyone. I... am not actually from this world. I am only an outsider, someone who was never bound by anything... I'm sorry. In the end, I still did not come to love this world as you did. The only one I came to love was you. Even before we met, I already knew every story. I knew the resolve that you had never changed across countless worlds. You loved everyone, loved everything in this world. Yet in the end, when everything was reborn, when flowers, birds, and love blossomed upon the withered earth, when the era from your dreams arrived, you, who laid its foundation, could no longer see it... It should not have been this way. It must not have been this way...

"I tried. For that, I did not hesitate to fall into eternal calamity, all so that you could live well in the end. But I still failed. You still made that choice... Yet I also proved that fate was not invincible. I protected every Flame-Chaser. When you return to this world once more, there will still be people who love you and say: 'Welcome back, Elysia.'

"Now, there is only one final thing I must do. I will bring you back, and for that, I will give up everything. I have always remembered our promise. I said that I would become a hero like Kevin, but... I could not even protect you... I do not know what I will face next, but death is almost unavoidable. To say I am not afraid would be a lie. Death is feared because no one has ever returned from the other shore. But I am not afraid either, because I am about to do the one thing that everyone moved by you in the world I came from wished to do for you.

"I finally remembered that I am only one among countless people who were once moved by you... Perhaps it was all merely my own self-indulgence, but... as long as you can return, everything will have been worth it. Oh, right. I actually prepared your final birthday gift already. I simply never had the courage to give it to you. I put it into the time capsule with Pardo's treasures. If you don't mind, you can open it and take a look. Of course, that is assuming Finality did not reset it along with everything else. Also, Vill-V and I designed a new magic trick together. When the time comes, she will perform it for you alone. Oh, and Eden... Though it may sound presumptuous to say so, I also took part in writing the song she gave you. Thinking about it still makes me a little embarrassed...

"Ah, without realizing it, I said so many meaningless things... Sorry... Then this is the end. As a warrior upon whom you bestowed the name of Flame-Chaser, I still want to say this: 'Welcome back, Elysia.'"

Elysia set down the voice recorder and said softly, "We will meet again. We definitely will. When that time comes, it will be my turn to say those words... It's all right if you have forgotten me. We can get to know each other again, in a new world, once more..."

Part 5

"Now, we have enough time to witness humanity's future together, as well as our own future."

He was bound here.

As a mortal, he had sought to transcend fate. He had trampled upon the majesty of the gods and struck down the thrones of the gods. Thus, he paid the price.

This was a space without time. There was no one and no sound besides him. Even he himself had nearly forgotten his own existence. He did not know how long had passed, because time could neither be counted nor held meaning here. But he did not care, because he had accomplished what he set out to do.

She had finally been able to see the new world and witness humanity's endlessly expanding future.

That was enough.

Yet though he had already chosen to sink into oblivion, someone seemed to be reminding him, in the unseen depths, not to forget himself.

Thus, he awoke countless times, only to fall asleep countless times again.

Suddenly, something pierced this space and entered his mind directly.

"This is Kiana, the Flame Herrscher of the new era. I'll let you in on a little secret: she possesses both the powers of the Herrscher of the Void and the Herrscher of Flames. She's the strongest Herrscher of this era, and the first Herrscher of this era to ascend through human will. Isn't she adorable?"

...So the tuna finally became a firefly?

"This is Mei, the Herrscher of Thunder of the new era. She's truly so gentle. 'I will fall into darkness in exchange for your return to the light.' How romantic. Just like you~"

...I'm not like her.

"This is Bronya, the third Herrscher of Reason. A Herrscher born from the united will of three hundred thousand people. Welt Joyce, the first Herrscher of Reason, was the first Herrscher born in this era and the first to fight and strive for humanity until the very end. I'm still so envious of the Herrscher of Reason's power to create whatever they can imagine."

...Aside from constantly getting beaten up, the Herrscher of Reason really can do anything.

"And these too..."

"I've seen everything you wanted me to see~"

...How wonderful.

"Now, I have only one final wish. I want to witness this era's future with you."

"I want to tell you the answer to that question I never answered before."

"I love you."

*...???*

"I really, truly love you. I want to embrace you again, dance with you again, and do so many, many things with you."

...Elysia?

"You once gave up the world for me, so I am willing to give up the world for you once again. Even if there is only a one-in-a-hundred-million chance, I will not give up, because I love you."

...Huh?

"Elysia, in countless worlds, always loved everyone and never changed her resolve. But the Elysia who fell in love with you is one and only me."

*...*

Memories of the past began flashing through his mind. His once-chaotic vision gradually became hazy, and he saw a pink figure constantly running toward him.

She kept running, yet the distance between them never changed.

He struggled and extended his hand.

At that moment, the distance that should have been infinite suddenly shrank without end. Their outstretched hands clasped together, fingers interlocked, and then she pulled him into her embrace.

In a hoarse voice, he called her name. "...Elysia."

"Welcome back, Feng."

"...Mm. I... came back."