The Princess of the Stars (Part 1)

Griseo: Kosma, Kosma, what is a hero?

Kosma: A hero is someone who can help everyone and lead them toward victory.

Griseo: Will a [Hero] die? If becoming a [Hero] means dying, then I don't want Kosma to become a hero.

Griseo: Mom and Dad, Sister Dystopia, they were all heroes, and none of them are here anymore. I don't want Kosma to end up like that either. I don't want to be protected by everyone, and I don't want to be left behind by myself. I want to have my own colors.

Griseo sensed Kosma's struggle and pain, so before that project called the 'Ark Project', she said to Vill-V, "The sky is very lonely, and Kosma is afraid of loneliness. I... want to go in his place."

Thus, Griseo raised her brush like a line of poetry, and the traveler set sail, rushing into the sea of stars.

The place she set off from—civilization rekindled flames upon the ruins, only to fade into silence once more within the newborn scroll.

Griseo stood before the porthole of the Ark, looking at that distant, receding blue planet, which had once been the boldest and most vibrant stroke in her paintings.

Now, she was going to a farther place, bearing the name of [The Stars].

The pure white girl lowered her head, a small badge resting in her palm. It was very light, as light as a feather; yet it was very heavy, so heavy that it held the hopes of an entire civilization.

She pressed it against her chest, and a faint light fell into the sea of stars, drifting toward the unknown shore.

She wanted to dip her brush in a touch of starlight to dye that unfinished scroll—a scroll that had once possessed the most brilliant colors, only to return to pure white one day.

Thus, the girl took a small step, and the world fell into her eyes.

The girl stepped into the universe, and the desolate cosmos unfolded before Griseo like a boundless canvas.

Of course, the desolation was not pure darkness and dead silence; stars twinkled, nebulae drifted, and those faint flecks of light dotted this boundless expanse.

This was [The Stars], the scenery she was most familiar with, and also the source of her creation.

The journey was lonely. Griseo walked very, very far, and she had seen many, many colors, but none of them were what she was looking for.

Her scroll remained pure white until that fellow who called himself 'Aha' appeared, and her scroll began to change.

"Hehe... ahahahahahaha!"

Accompanied by laughter, a clown's mask appeared before the Ark, with a few drops of tears almost bursting out.

"Oh my, what is Little Painter looking for?" That ever-changing face leaned in, smiling like a child whose prank had succeeded.

"Ahahaha, those people always say they don't believe Li Yangyang and Zhi Yangyang picked up Bingbing Yang in the universe!"

"But didn't Aha pick up a Little Painter here? Of course I don't believe it either! Isn't this more interesting than blowing up a train?"

Inside the Ark, watching the suddenly appearing, rambling Aha, Griseo blinked and then said, "Hello, Uncle Aha."

"Uncle?" Aha seemed to have found some fun, suddenly floating into the Ark and coming before Griseo. "Little Painter, aren't you afraid of me? And why call me uncle?"

"Well, because Uncle Qianjie wears a mask too, so I'm calling you uncle."

"Also, Uncle Aha has very pretty colors on him. Like fireworks, like the night sky after fireworks explode, and they have the color of blooming life."

"Ahahaha, Aha actually got seen through by a little girl..." Hearing Griseo's reply, Aha conjured hands on his hips. "This lord really has no face left!"

Resisting the void with absurdity, dissolving heaviness with laughter.

The meaning of life perhaps does not lie in pursuing grand goals, but in embracing every dramatic moment.

In the void of the universe, only Elation can make life bloom with unique radiance!

Laughter and joy fight against the void in the universe; the Master of Elation—Aha is just like this.

Laughing at all living beings, toying with the heavens!

Before he finished speaking, Aha suddenly paused, a strange expression flashing across his face.

"My dear Little Painter, would you like to become my Envoy?"

"Envoy? What is that?" Griseo tilted her head.

"My dear Little Painter, the paintbrush you hold in your hand—you hold the Authority of creation and spreading 'Elation'!"

As soon as the words fell, Aha's mask shattered abruptly, turning into countless colorful points of light that finally converged into a clown.

The clown began to dance in front of Griseo, with exaggerated steps.

"The [Elation] Envoy is crushing the blue of sadness, the black of despair—thump!—into pieces!"

Aha made a stirring motion, and a puff of blue-black smoke actually burst from his palm.

"And then—whoosh!—mixing in the reckless red!"

The red smoke burst open.

"And—poof!—the white of innocence!"

The white smoke burst open, swirling and mixing in Aha's palm, finally turning into a strange color.

The color burst into the air, turning into countless glowing fragments that drifted down in a flurry. The clown caught a fragment, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed with a crunchy sound.

"Ahahahaha—look, this is [Elation]!"

Griseo looked up, watching the falling color fragments, some landing on her hair, some on her shoulders, and some in her outstretched palm.

Bright and warm, like the taste of sunlight crushed to pieces.

"Little Painter, your paintings are capable of creating unexpected twists that catch even Fate itself off guard."

"Ahahaha! Isn't this the ultimate 'Elation'?"

Griseo did not speak, she only looked at those colors still drifting down—so, so many colors.

The jester stepped back, spreading his arms as if presenting an entire stage.

"Little Painter, don't you want to use your own brush to paint a golden edge on all the grey?"

Aha's seductive voice continued to ring in her ear: "Become my Emanator, Little Painter!"

"Let the dead, nihilistic universe witness that even at the end of the Honkai, the funniest, most elating miracles can be born!"

Griseo blinked, thinking of the corner sealed away by scars deep in her heart, and she thought of her companions in Fire Moth...

"I like the colors in Uncle Aha's hands, and I want to make them brighter too."

Griseo's voice rang out softly, like the wind blowing through a wind chime, and the jester's smile grew even wider.

"But!" Griseo tilted her head, looking at Aha, "that is not the color I want to pursue."

Aha the jester's smile froze, as if someone had pressed the pause button.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

And then—"Ahahahahaha----!!"

"Aha was rejected! Aha has no face! Ahahahahaha!!"

The jester suddenly threw his head back and laughed wildly, finally exploding with a bang into countless colorful spots of light that fluttered across the sky like a grand fireworks display.

Griseo stood in place, tilting her head up and watching those spots of light slowly drift down, landing within her body to arouse a subtle, warm glow.