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The entirety of Inazuma, for once in it's long and proud life, was silent.

Even with the Vision Hunt Decree in motion, there still used to be a broad display of livelihood within it's boundaries. But today, everything stood still.

Even the wind of the violent storms that once were, no longer moved. Though everything was in motion, the atmosphere itself felt as though time had stopped.

The streets were littered with Resistance soldiers pouring in with their assault while Gorou and his troops remain frozen in place... staring at the tall staircase where their once respected captain was, striking weapons with the Shogun. Now there was nothing left than a small steaming black trail and a burnt patch on the ground where they once were. More Shogunate soldiers began charging at whatever enemy they could find, now with no leader to point them they were forced to act on moral and instinct.

But their leader was closer than ever, deep within the heart of the nation itself as their essence fought on a completely different plain of existence that was hidden from mortal eyes.

From within the abode of Electro Archon, whom she refers to as the heart of perfect eternity, the two beings of destruction find themselves locked in a battle that was long awaited for a time coming.

For inside this chamber of 'peace', it's creator found herself in a pool of chaos as she struck blades with the man she once stood with.

"As expected of you...not to be cut down that easily." Ei said with a quick whip of her blade which on it's own sent a deafening wave of electro.

Hadeki's speed was of concern to her. It had been increasing over time as she observed him through the Shogun. By now it had become almost inhumane. He slipped past the strike as if we're nothing but a gust of wind that he avoided to prevent messing up his hair.

"Did those 10 years away give you new power? Your speed is...new."

So far Hadeki was giving in no response to her and only aiming for her throat, his hand alone moved so fast that it was the equivalent of a blade. The surge of electro that waved with his attacks was almost similar to the devastation Miko could cause with her powers, only his was more destructive and concrete.

The attacks aimed to kill....

For some reason, this manner was unpleasant to her. The reunion of a lifetime this was, unideal but a destined one, she couldn't expect this to be perfect. But in the end, she always hoped they'd never meet again.

But in the end...regrets were not helpful in what you aim to achieve. She should honor a battle and retaliate with the same force.

"Let me show you the golden future that awaits by my hand." Her voice commanded the entire land to bow to her wake as she now gripped her infamous sword with both hands.

It raised above her head with her eyes now meeting the theme of her violence. The tip of her long silky hair glowing the same. The sky's twisted and conducted to the tip of her blade which burned the air around her into resonance of energy itself. As the very ground began shaking from her sole existence, Hadeki simply began moving in place.

His hands curled and glided around himself, there was a strange swiftness in his movements, almost as if they were unique to a method and scarred with talent.

As the Shogun finally released her devastating attack, her eyes were always on him...and his movements, she saw them and something inside her mind ticked, though she had never actually seen something like this before....it felt familiar. And all that muttered from her lips because of it was.

"....Guhua..?"

Her strike unleashed, the release of power brightened up the landscape with such intensity that it even blinded Ei herself, was she to mourn in this matter? That she had to strike him down ag-

Ei was met with a knee to the chin. The hit was more devastating to her mind rather than her head. She shot back down the ground and landed with a heavy blow. Hadeki soon followed a short distance away with his back turned.

What had just transpired was truly an unbelievable moment for Ei, the way she was sitting up...she hasn't been in such a position in 500 years...the last time was when she held her dying sister in her arms. Her pupils were shaking, her fingers dug into the sand.

Still, she persistent to keep her crumbling composure.

"H-How fitting for you to use a foreign technique...So that's where you had ended up...Liyue." She gently rose to her feet. "Using the spear user stances, you evaded my strike before it even unleashed..."

Neither individuals were facing each other in this instant.

"I must ask however; Did you witness the death of Morax then? Did you finally see the result of what erosion can do? Eternity....is closest to the Heavenly Principles, and those who do not follow it will fall eventually. This is the only way for Inazuma to thrive, so long as I live, so will the land..."

"..."

The wind did not blow, the light did not sting and the sounds did not break. For once in all her days of longevity in this domain, the silence was becoming unbearable to her. She turned to him with pure frustration finally shattering through her emotions.

"Have you nothing to say?!" She whined. "All this time, you dare not even look at me in the eye! I had at least expected you to speak words of hatred or grief at my face! Yet to aimlessly try to fight a battle you cannot win!"

Hadeki finally dared to turn and face her. Only turning half way as Ei got a good look at his face. What she was nothing but pained and pitiful sadness...his eyes spoke a thousand stories that couldn't be heard.

"There are...countless things I want to say to you. So much..." He looked at his arm and soon recharged it with electro. "But I see no point in it...your stubbornness has cost too much for me to try and reason with you."

He resumed his stance, clenching an object he held hidden in his prosthetic arm.

"How can you not see...? Even after all this time?!" Ei stood back up.

"It was you who's been blind this entire time!"

Hadeki lunged forward and met her blade with his arm. The small crackles of spark singed their eyes but they remained locked in place.

"You remain ignorant of the very people you're trying to rule! Trying to preserve a past that no longer aligns with our nature!"

"It is your nature that brings about your demise! Every time humanity trudges into adapting or changing their fate...." Ei breaks their collision and strikes him away. "...it brings nothing but death!!"

Hadeki was back flipped as recoil from her charge but immediately stuck the landing and anticipated her next attack which he blocked. For unknown reasons, both weren't using their elemental powers...

"Humans lack the eternal life and longevity to understand what the sacrifices are needed to sustain what must be kept! As a ruler it is my duty to protect MY land and my people!"

"And yet even with this cruel pursuit of eternity, your once beloved land is nothing like it once was!" Hadeki retaliated in a way that made Ei falter. "There's no happiness amongst the people, they're living in constant fear and a need to escape because their God has LEFT them!"

"Left...? My actions are what's protecting them!"

"Then why do they need to be intimidated?! Why do they need to be severed from their visions if they're loyal to their GOD?!"

Hadeki slammed his head onto hers as he screamed, pushing her away and quickly charged at her with his elbow, now using his electro again.

"It is time to return to reality Dear Raiden! Even with your best efforts, Inazuma has changed. With every passage of time, your own people are losing their hope in YOU!"

Ei soon returned the favor by regaining her energy and began floating as the surge of power radiating off of her made Hadeki move away to avoid the lightning.

"They will learn with time!! And all I wanted was for you to understand the same!! IT NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN THIS EXTREME HAD YOU STAYED BY MY SIDE!"

There was now more emotion in her stance, Hadeki couldn't see any opening in this one. As she loomed over with new deadly power, he found himself helpless to even try out run or reflect the attack. His standing was lacking confidence.

'Is it finally time...? Shall I finally rest at the hands of her...? Of the one I...'

....

....

....

....

"Should you ever face your objective and begin to second think... look within yourself, and remember. Remember who you were to her, unified with who you are now...Only then, the purest of your ambition can shake her will."

Hadeki felt the small gem in his hands glow. He opened his eyes with new steadfast will as he gripped his hand shut and waved it towards Ei.

As she closed in to strike, another explosion followed but this time, through the smoke cloud, Ei was the one who was flung away by the impact. Her entire world was shattered right before her as she fell and dropped her sword on impact.

Groggily getting back up, she was still processing what had just transpired. The smoke of the explosion cleared out as if it was blown away and what was left behind truly left her in awe.

Hadeki walked out with a sword in hand that conducted her electro around it while he generated his own through his eyes and arm. He tightly gripped it with both hands and gyrated his leg in the sand to assume a new stance.

Titan's Wrath

"Now...let me show you the true nature of humanity..." He muttered before bursting forth.

Ei had to act quick, she reclaimed her sword and clashed with Hadeki. This time, she could actually feel the impact of his power. The Vision tied to his hair was glowing as bright as the long tail of her own hair, she could no longer ignore his power as it was infact a force that could rival her's.

"How- are you... doing this?" She was stuck in disbelief and this alone caused her a disadvantage as Hadeki did not relent in his attack and moved on.

He slashed her away mid air and released a barrage of electro slices that projectiled towards her. Ei was ready to strike them all but she was not prepared to see Hadeki using those slashing as platforms to jump along and match their speed.

He clang blades with her again, again and again. Her feet were being pushed back and leaving marks in the sand as she deflected his attacks. Though it was easy for her to match up and go beyond his speed, what couldn't get used to was the impact of his hits. It were a thousand more years since she had ever met an opponent to last longer than a single strike of hers, though she wasn't alien to a prolonged battle, she still held back in a few senses...

"Change. Is. Human. Nature." Hadeki announced his resolve as he struck her as much as his power could allow before stopping to switch moves.

"If the blessings of the Gods....your blessings to me can help me achieve this much then why must your people be subjected to being caged as animals and be robbed of their right to fight for themselves?!" His anger resurfaced again.

Once again the two found themselves to a voluntary stalemate only a few steps away from each other.

"I....NEVER wanted to leave your side, but how could the circumstances have been any different?! I was cast aside by you and your puppet! Had it been not for my own intervention, I would have died that day! What was I supposed to think?! What opinion was I to have about the one I cared for after she tried to kill me-?!"

"IT WAS NEVER LIKE THAT!!!"

Ei's scream followed a strike of lightning from the sky which was so powerful that it left a crater 8 ft deep into the sand at Hadeki's left.

For once in this entire conflict, he was finally awakened of his determination and finally saw... He saw her face and the anger she was expressing through her pressing teeth and the single tear that finally fell down her cheek.

"The Shogun acted on her own that day! She had never been activated on her own before so I had left her to function by herself to let her learn! She was not under my watch!" Ei whined. After many awaited moments, many years, she was breaking into tears that longed to be released.

"When she told me of what she had done...I nearly destroyed her-...I- Could you even know of the countless days I mourned you...? Cry out into nothingness for nights on end? I could no longer feel your vision on you but I never took it away from you....just hoping...that it might help you or save you if you were still alive...but-"

Her breakdown was reaching a point that she had to stop to compose herself and regain her breath.

"...My duties... overpowered me. In my worst of positions I prioritized the well being of the nation first as a God should...I didn't- I just wanted to drown myself in it as to numb the pain in any way possible...It was more dreadful from the point on when the Shogun was fixed...and she told me your last words..."

Ei looked up at Hadeki with eyes sparkling due to the rush of tears. She looked upon him as if to see if he recalled.

How could he ever forget? He's only ever been thinking of that day alone his entire life after. Every event, every word spoken and every emotion set forth was memorized, etched into his mind.

"I believe that's why the amount of pain I felt was far more dreadful than it could have been...because what you said that day was the last thing I ever wanted to hear...had it been any different circumstances, I would stopped you,...said something but...

She stopped again. So confused and spiritually defeated that her blade disappeared from her grasp. She was so lost that she couldn't even tell what or who was right anymore, what her resolve meant to her.

After all this....wreck of an experience. Hadeki wanted to actually say something but was only met with another bash to his skull through her words.

"Would anything have changed if I told you earlier...? Before that day...? Would our situation had been different if I told you....That I loved you?"

Hadeki's heart drummed in his ears as his eyes widened. The sword he proudly held in his hand now slipped from his grip, disappearing before it could hit the sand. Now he stood before her with his mouth agape while she fell to her knees and curled in defeat as if a lost child.

"I...."

Hadeki was trying to shake his brain back into action. He needed to say something while she's finally opening up if it were to make any difference now. But deep within himself, his heart always waited for this moment...if only had it been better placing.

"I never intended to speak when I began this operation...with the resistance." He started. "Once I entered this plain I only aimed to strike you down or...have you kill me so I'd put an end to this one more than one way..."

What he said made Ei look up at him with those same eyes of disbelief.

"But the true reason on why I didn't want to speak to you was because...I didn't trust myself anymore. 10 years, 10 whole years of the effects of my own life eating me, the boiling anger and anguish I endured. The built up goal of me wanting to exact vengeance upon you..."

Hearing his words made her whimper some more as she tried to calmly close her eyes and accept what was coming to her.

"...all of it could have been ruined if I spoke to you... because I was terrified... terrified of the fact that I still love you..."

She gasped under her breath, snapping her gaze back onto Hadeki who suddenly joined her on the floor when he slumped and fell to his knees before her.

"I wanted to prioritize the people and my mission and worried that...my selfish heart would betray me when I'd finally lay eyes upon you...Have I gone mad, Ei? The one who I believed tried to kill me, the one who brought my home into ruin and exiled me...still had a place in my heart. I just....I thought of it a fantasy to try and reason with you, save you from your own actions so I could...-"

Ei heard something from within his words that sparked something different.
It was now Hadeki's turn to shed a few tears as he stared at his hands. The mechanical appendage only marked the time and position that's been brought upon him. The amount of madness that him and his body endured to get to this point. The burden of every decision he's ever made had finally caught up to him and broke him.

As his teary eyes looked at his bent knees and hands upon it. He saw Ei's finger tips creeping into view as they slipped under his then pushed them up until their hands met and fingers intertwined.

He looked up to meet those eyes he once and always found so beautiful, now broken and slightly red. She yearned for something, something that only he could provide in this Barron land she had trapped herself in. There was a slight noticable light in the plain they were in by now.

"...Hadeki..." Her bottom lip quivered. "...please...Say it again..."

"What...?"

"Say my name...please."

The words she drilled into his head made his eyes soften instead of fill them with shock. It was about time he made the decision of fixing an old mistake of his....to simply accept that he is in love with a God, to just accept these circumstances and approach it as any normal man of honor would.

It has been so long since he was this close to her, but never, even back then, had he touched her. The slender yet soft skin of her fingertips was making contact with his, yet he couldn't feel any of it, but now...she was open to more. Reluctantly, he lifted his free hand and brought it up to her face, where he wiped away the stream that allowed her tears to slide down to her chin. It was then that he could truly feel her, touch her in all her beauty as their eyes remained locked to each other to the best of their ability.

He matched her slow and tired breathing, to deliver what the Raiden had requested of the Serpent Hand.

"Ei..." His voice boomed in her ears, a powerful impact left on her by a simple term which was her own name.

The relief of having him near her gave her an overwhelming feeling of solace and warmth but all this only caused her to cry out more as she reached up to hold his hand caressing her cheek and lean forward.

She came to touch her forehead with Hadeki's as she poured her heart out with wails of pain that had been bottled in for years longer than the man before her's entire family generation existed.

"What do I do...? What have I done, Hadeki...?"

She spoke with such a pleading tone it was as if he was far away from her and so to heighten the comfort he could provide. Letting go of her hand, he brought it up to hold her face, although this one was more cold and rough.

Ei noticed this and opened her eyes to see it. She broke the embrace to take a hold of his mechanical arm and examine it. The more she looked the more broken she felt, this item before her would always be a symbol of her fault.

"I'm....I'm so sorry...not for this alone