(Published it on accident)

(Whoops)

Y/n stared at the little lion plush.

The lion plush stared back.

Y/n didn't know whether she was really going insane, but she swore that thing was talking to her.

Or... not?

All of a sudden, a juice box was shoved in her face and she damn near screamed at the sight of it. She recognized the hand holding it and immediately relaxed, giving March a miserable look.

"Geez... you nearly gave me a heartattack..." she mumbled to which the taser wielding photographer raised a brow.

"What's got you so jumpy, huh?" she questioned, "Wait, no, let me guess! You're nervous about Phantylia!"

"...mhm."

"Knew it!"

March gave y/n the juice box which she accepted with a quiet word of thanks before beginning to drink.

"You don't have to worry, you've got all of us here! Mr. Yang is super strong, Caelus is unusually lucky, Dan Heng got a little power up, and we've even got a General with us!" March chimed before winking, "Best of all, you have me here too!"

Y/n managed a small smile, "Heh, very reassuring."

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"No, I'm being genuine."

The young woman's e/c eyes trailed down to the juice box she held, "It's... nice to know that everyone will still be safe."

Before March 7th could inquire about what she meant, Caelus' "not this vecna 💩 again" drew their attention to him, then to Dan Heng as they followed the hydrogen bomb's gaze.

(Before I 🚚 it up, can we just take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous this cutscene was?)

(...)

(Okay, appreciation time is over)

Y/n made the mistake of looking right at Dan Heng and got 🚚ing blinded AGAIN. She slapped her hands over her eyes, momentarily unable to see, but she knew this feeling, this sound.

The surge of power was something she felt before, and she could hear the sea splitting apart. She couldn't quite see since she just got flash banged, but she knew what the parted sea would reveal.

"Y/n... y/n, look!" March gasped, eagerly shaking y/n as she groaned and moved her hands from her eyes.

She blinked open one eye, then the other.

Yes, just as she'd envisioned it.

For a moment, y/n felt at ease.

Just for a moment, though. She was right back to clenching her 🍑 cheeks by the time Fu Xuan began speaking.

"The annals mention that Scalegorge Waterscape was once the location of Dragon Palace. Small wonder — look at all these submerged structures." the Diviner murmured.

"I was fortunate enough to be here during The Shuhu Upheaval Period — I witnessed this place in its prime." Jing Yuan hummed, "An age past — the palace was left in ruins, and the Vidyadhara used their sacred homeland to imprison the Arbor. The Luofu and the Xianzhou are greatly indebted to them."

Caelus looked at the man, then counted in his fingers.
"Damn. He old, old."

March raised a brow, "Huh?"

"That was years ago, and I mean YEARS." Caelus insisted and his pink haired companion frowned.

"How do you know that?"

"I read about it. People on the Luofu have an odd habit of leaving stuff lying around where I can grab it."

"Since when did you start reading???"

"I've been reading, and I'm telling you, this dude is OLD." Caelus retorted with a shake of his head.

March 7th gave him a warning look, but Jing Yuan only chuckled, "No older than your e/c eyed companion."

Y/n gasped, "I'm not—!" she stopped, paused, then counted anxiously on her fingers, "Wait, then how old am I?!"

The General merely smiled.

Y/n gave him a look of despair.
"Don't give me that look. Tell me."

The man let out a small bout of laughter to which y/n turned away to think for a minute. As y/n was having a bit of a crisis, Jing Yuan glanced back at the Master Diviner, "Lady Fu."

The petite woman stepped forward, "Here, general."

"Remain here. Lead the Cloud Knights in defense of this passage. We must prevent further incidents." Jing Yuan instructed as he went right back into work mode.

"Jing Yuan... General, are you planning to face Phantylia alone?" Fu Xuan questioned.

Jing Yuan shook his head with a small, "hm"

"I wouldn't say so. I'll be counting on a few friends for support." Jing Yuan turned to the Astral Express Crew next.

"General!" it was a Cloud Knight who spoke, stepping forward, "Don't cast us aside! We're willing to go with you!"

"Yes, General!" the other agreed, "We may not be the mightiest force, but it's our duty as Cloud Knights to protect the Xianzhou. How can we let outworlders face the danger while we stay behind the lines?! With your permission, sir, allow me to lead the way."

"Excuse me—?" y/n damn near pulled a Tingyun with how fast she turned her head to look at the one who said that.

"He meant nothing by it, y/n!" Caelus blurted.

"No, let him repeat that." y/n insisted, beginning to advance towards the duo only for Caelus to grab her and yank her back.

"Now is not the time!"

"No, no, I just wanna talk."

"Like hell you want to talk!"

"Y/n." one word from Welt and y/n immediately turned to him, suddenly all well behaved and calm.

"Yes, Mr. Yang?" she chimed.

He shook his head. No words, but the message was clear. She heaved a sigh, sulking a little, but backed off.

Caelus and y/n exchanged one last look, falling silent to listen to what Jing Yuan had to say instead.

"I understand your sentiment, soldiers, but the adversary ahead of us is not an Abomination of Abundance." Jing Yuan wasn't quite speaking to just the Cloud Knights who'd spoken up, but addressing everyone present, "They are a Lord Ravager of the Antimatter Legion. Crossing this line will bring you into the conflict between the Reignbow Arbiter and the Ruin Author."

Ooo, speech time.

"You have a more important duty. Cloud Knights, attention!" oh— sir yes sir, "After I enter the Ambrosial Arbor, and if the seawater returns to its original state, you must withdraw immediately and seal off the delve once more. The Master Diviner will lead you."

"Yes, General!" the Cloud Knights exclaimed.

Jing Yuan regarded them all in silence for a long moment before turning his attention to the vertically challenged diviner, "Lady Fu, if I am unable to return, I entrust you with the important task of relaying the full account to the other Xianzhou ships."

"I trust you will be here to re-issue the order in person... but whatever the outcome, I will do as you command and honor the mission." Fu Xuan replied with a nod.

"Ha... spoke like a true general." Jing Yuan hummed before nodding to the group of trailblazers who followed him down the flight of stairs leading to the ruins.

When they finally reached the bottom, they found two more of those mirage echoes. It was two individuals, both clearly Vidyadhara but only one having pointed ears.

"Use Scalegorge Waterscape to seal the Arbor? Treason! Blasphemy!" the one without horns spat, "You've lost your senses! You think this will gain the trust of the Xianzhou natives? Those who are not of our kind can never be of our mind!"

Caelus and March exchanged a wary look while y/n merely crossed her arms, closing her eyes in an attempt to ease an oncoming headache.

"I understand your misgivings, but my decision is made. That is the course we must take." the mirage with the horns replied in a firm tone.

"I... very well. In that case, I will report you to the Preceptors and have you stripped of the name and power of the high elder." the mirage without horns stated.

"This must be... the first high elder that accepted the mission to quell the Ambrosial Arbor..." Dan Heng realized as he gazed at the mirages, "According to tradition, from then on, successive high elders were obliged to return to the Dragonvista Rain Hall. They would guide the tides of the ancient sea to guard and strengthen the arbor seal."

It was a long moment of silence before Jing Yuan asked him, "Do you remember now?"

"Yes," Dan Heng confirmed with a nod, "Reveranxe to the three talons, the path to the great roots. It's the way to the root depths."

"Ahh, like a true Archivist." Caelus hummed.

"What he said, is that supposed to be some kind of riddle?" March 7th inquired, "What the heck does reverence to the three talons mean?"

"Don't worry about it, just follow me." Dan Heng instructed and they all got right back to moving.

As expected, there were plenty of enemies along the way. Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, Antimatter Legion pawns, Abominations of Abundance. Enemies that Caelus' gut told him not to let y/n engage in combat with.

"I'll handle it!" Caelus blurted each time they encountered an enemy, swapping to the necessary path before charging in headfirst before y/n could protest.

It wasn't long before they made it to one of the three talons, in between Caelus' fighting, looting and destruction of property.

It was suuuuper easy to break the seals.

Dan Heng did it himself, to which March and Caelus happily applauded him while cheering.

When he looked to y/n, he'd found that she'd put distance between herself and the others. He caught her eye, and she offered a weak smile and the thumbs up.

On to the next puzzle they went, ready to solve it and... WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING?

There, right smack dab in the middle of the stones, was a giant creature that was clearly an abomination of abundance.

"I've got it!" Caelus announced, running at it as Welt shouted after him. "Wait! Caelus! We don't know what that—!"

Caelus had already gone and stabbed the thing, only for the massive creature to PIMP SLAP HIS 🍑 into a pillar.

"Caelus!" March cried, "Are you okay?"

It was a moment before the dust cleared enough for them to see the hydrogen bomb coughing and waving at the dust, managing to give them all a thumbs up.

"Yep... I'm fine." he croaked.

The beast wasn't done yet, completely ignoring the five other people there and rushing at Caelus. He let out a squeal, an actual squeal, and braced himself only for y/n to dart right in front of him.

The creature roared and y/n waited until it got close before stomping a foot onto a dislodged stone, causing it to flip up and smack the thing in the throat.

The beast let out a strangled, wheezing snarl as it went completely off balance, allowing y/n the time to go in for the kill.

It was big, but bigger enemies tend to be easier to—

Searing pain interrupted y/n's train of thought as reality did that weird 💩 again and she started seeing 💩 that wasn't actually there.

Well— more like vividly remembering stuff.

"Stuff" as in a big 🍑 greatsword skewering her alive.

Her strength left her limbs slowly, agonizingly slow as she realized she was dying again. Y/n glanced at the greatsword, it was a nice one, she had to admit.

Then, she glanced up at the one holding it.

What a beastly thing, one of the only creatures that hadn't died when she destroyed the brain. It seemed to be surpassing its limits, how troublesome...

She didn't know what was more disturbing.

The fact that its head was growing back, or the fact that its head was growing back and it was talking.

"I'll... kill you..." the thing managed to say, it's voice raggedy and scratchy. Y/n gasped when it twisted the blade, unable to do anything but grab onto it as it tore through her slowly. Too slow, jut get it over with!

Her legs felt like they were going to give out...

"... kill you... thousand times... what you've done...!"

The big 🍑 abomination 🚚ing slammed its giant fist down on her, snapping her out of her little derailed train ride down not-so-good memory lane.

The fading echoes of pain were replaced by ACTUAL PAIN as y/n tried to hold up the giant thing's hand so it couldn't flatten her 🍑.

Thankfully, Caelus and March 7th had already jumped into action. March shot the thing in its eyes, causing it to screech and cover its eyes while Caelus 🚚ing stabbed it in its 🍑 with his lance.

The thing shrieked, teetering around blindly swatting before falling off the damn ruins and into the abyss below.

Team work!

They looked back to y/n who was kneeling on the ground, taking quick, sharp breaths as she just kept remembering. A thousand deaths indeed. One after another, one death following the other immediately after y/n came back. That thing just kept killing her over, and over, and—

Scarf.

Again?

Ah, who cares, it's comfy...

Y/n slowly became aware of everything again as Welt wrapped his scarf around her head. Her ears were sort of ringing, but she could see as he knelt in front of her and made sure she could breathe even with the scarf around her head.

She couldn't hear him as he turned his head and said something to the others, but she did see Dan Heng and Caelus working together to work on the deal while March 7th looked back at y/n and Welt with a worried expression.

Her eyes found Jing Yuan next.
He was looking at her.

"Y/n, can you hear me?"

She slowly tore her gaze away from the General, looking at Welt instead. Nice eyes, gentle eyes.

He was one of the first faces she saw when she was removed from the tree... that tree, it was... huh.

Y/n inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

Not now... NOT NOW.

"Ha... yes, I can hear you now." y/n murmured in a hushed tone, shakily lifting a hand to hold onto the scarf, "Although... I can't seem to find it in me to thank the goddamn annoying voices..."

An attempt at humor, but her voice was breaking.

"What did I tell you about pushing yourself?"

"A bit too late for that, don't you think?"

"It's not too late," Welt said with a shake of his head, "You can always go back. I'll look after March, Caelus, and Dan Heng, you can rest. You need to rest."

Rest? Rest wasn't going to do 💩.

Each second was another death y/n was forced to relive in silence, and each death brought her closer and closer to that darkness which constantly lurked, waiting for the moment she finally snapped.

Y/n sighed, "I'll be fine. I will be fine."

Seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Welt. She was trying, she really was.

"Let's be honest, the worry is more likely to drive me mad than actually tagging along will. And even if I stay here, I'll just run after you all." y/n added, "I can't stand the thought of you all getting hurt. So, even if it's damaging to me, I'm going to stick with you all. I can't lose anyone else..."

The young woman's eyes trail down and away from Welt while the man regarded her for a long moment, silently debating on what to do and what should be done.

'What she said was true, though. She'll come back anyways. March may be able to help keep her safe, even if y/n decides to throw all caution out the window and dive headfirst into a deadly situation. And, if needed, I can always step in...'

From where the others were, March gave Caelus a curious look to see if he was fuming with jealousy as he usually would... except he wasn't.

That was a red flag.

"Okay, on to the third seal." Dan Heng announced after he finished handling the second. Caelus immediately charged ahead with a, "I'll handle enemies!" with March hot on his heels shouting for them to slow down.

Y/n waved Welt off, quietly encouraging him to go make sure they stayed safe since she couldn't, so she was left to walk with Jing Yuan and Dan Heng instead.

The silence was... painfully awkward.

The atmosphere tense, uncertain, all of them having things to say but unsure if they should say it.

Jing Yuan, with his memories of being there alongside y/n and the person Dan Heng used to be years ago. Y/n, snacking on something or clinging to either Jing Yuan or Dan Feng's backs, and sometimes just being present in a rare, far more composed manner.

Dan Heng, witnessing faint echoes of a y/n beaming with liveliness taking naps amongst the ruins or clinging to a pillar while protesting at the mention of returning home while still injured from battle.

Y/n was merely suffering in silence, itching to grab those warm, comforting memories beginning to surface within her mind alongside the remnants of her past deaths which had been replaying over and over.

It was when Mimi slipped from y/n's bag again and she immediately lunged to grab it that the silence was broken.

"💩..!" y/n fumbled for the plush before securing it close to her chest, careful not to let it touch the gash across her chest that had long stopped bleeding but had begun to sprout little leaves which she'd hidden amongst her clothing.

She glanced at the two men and scowled.
"Don't laugh."

"I wasn't laughing." they replied in unison, though Dan Heng quickly looked away while Jing Yuan was the one to speak again. "You've really grown attached to that plush, haven't you?"

Y/n exhaled through her nose, "Mimi has witnessed my suffering and I appreciate it for sticking with me through it." she stated at the little lion for a moment longer before quietly asking, "You gave it to me, didn't you?"

Jing Yuan nodded, "It was gift for your birthday, one of many you'd forgotten for over a decade. I'm... surprised you remember."

"I didn't, it was just a guess. It reminds me of you." y/n hummed, raising the plush and squeezing an eye shut to compare the little lion to the general walking alongside her, "Mimi, did I name it after someone?"

The General let out a small sigh, a sad smile finding its way onto his face, "A dear companion of ours."

Y/n blinked, then smiled to herself.
'I... I want to remember...'

Burns, it burns—

'NOT THAT!!!'

Y/n irritably knocked a fist against the side of her head, mumbling curses before glancing at Dan Heng, "Hey, Fish, let's get these seals taken care of. I want to go home, back to my mother and— JING YUAN!"

The General already knew what was coming.
"It's not what you think—"

"My Mother is off limits."

"Is it so wrong to want to home cooked meal from time to time?" the general reasoned and y/n seethed.

"Get it somewhere else! Quit flirting with her!" she snapped to which Jing Yuan shook his head with a sigh.

"Flirting? How could you accuse me of such a thing?"

"Don't even try it, my Mother told me everything!"

As y/n and Jing Yuan went back and forth, y/n demanding that Jing Yuan stay away from her mother while the man tried to defend himself, Dan Heng watched the two in silence.

This bickering, he'd seen it many times before.

No... that wasn't him.

Still...

A small chuckle from Dan Heng caused both y/n and the General to fall silent, glancing at him curiously.

They caught a glimpse of a smile as he quickly turned his head away, that quick glimpse lingering in their minds for a moment before they glanced at each other.

No words were exchanged.

Only a little satisfied look.

. 　。　　⋆　　•　 　ﾟ　　。 .　.　.　。 .　。
⋆　　　。　　 ⋆。　 ඞ 。　 . • .  .   ⁎ 。　. 　。　.　　⋆. 　　。 .　 .　　 .  ⋆.   。.   ⁎ 。•　 　ﾟ　　。

The last seal was a breeze to finish, mostly.

March used her excellent detective skills, Caelus used his unlimited stamina, and Dan Heng used his preexisting knowledge of the images to solve it.

There was a loud rumble, a sign that the roots of the Arbor were now accessible to them.