Chapter Text
A knock at the door. Not Pardo, Vill-V, or Mobius then. Those three would make a little more noise than that.
“I’m coming. Let me finish reading this one bit.” Alhaitham did not look up.
There was no sound of closing doors. Not Su or Kevin either. They knew to leave him alone in a writing mood.
Alhaitham turned around to Elysia grinning a few inches from his face. In a panic he almost threw the mythology book at her.
“Good morning, Haitham~” Elysia sing-songed. “I was looking for you.”
Alhaitham screwed the open inkwell tight and set it aside on the table. “Well, you’ve found me.”
“You know, it makes a girl really sad to know that you would rather go eat dust in Elysian Realm’s trials than to come to me.” Elysia sat on the desk easily. “Alhaitham, you know I wouldn’t deny you my signet. I’ve said so since you first began trying out the challenges.”
“I’ve been working on other projects,” Alhaitham replied smoothly, “Almost forgot about the whole signet business until Kevin gave me his. There’s plenty of data to go around, so I’m not that urgent for more primary sources.”
Elysia wasn’t convinced. “Does the wonderful, creative mind of a Flame-Chaser only mean primary sources to you? Alhaitham, how will you get girls out there in the world, when not all of them are as kind and considerate as I am?”
“I’ll get by.” Alhaitham looked away awkwardly. “If it makes you feel better, you can think that I’m saving the best for last.”
“Are you though?” Elysia curled the end of her hair with a finger.
Alhaitham cleared his throat and changed the topic. “You were looking for me? It’s not just to remind me that I don’t have your signet, right?”
“Of course not, but it does also have to do with the other 12 great people who live here.” Elysia waved at the door, and as if on command, it drew closed.
The pink-haired MANTIS took out a stack of envelopes.
“As you know, the once-in-a-decade, official Flame-Chaser hangout is coming up. The one that even our dear Mobius has to show up for. And this year I’m hosting.” Elysia said with a devious smile. “Of course, I’m not going to be boring and have everyone eat ramen or duel to first blood.”
“You want me to address your invitations.” Alhaitham deduced quickly.
“Ding-ding-ding. That’s correct!” Elysia leaned even closer to ruffle Alhaitham’s hair. “I was going to write letters to everyone, and just needed someone to make them look wonderful. I would be delighted if you could put your calligraphy to use.”
Alhaitham grabbed a pad of sticky notes from a drawer. Invitations for Elysia, he wrote as a title. “When do you want them by?”
“I won’t rush you. The meeting is exactly 3 weeks from today.” Elysia hopped down from her seat on the desk. “However, I would very much love it if you can bring them to me before the day of.”
Alhaitham noted the date a week before the meeting on a corner. “Okay, I need constraints. Specifications.”
“Name and title, for everyone.” Elysia paced around the room excitedly. “colors, I want colored ink that matches the Flame-Chaser. And little art in the corners.”
“I can’t draw.” Alhaitham interjected. “I can try to like, make geometric shapes with a compass and rulers, but no drawing.”
“Huh.” Elysia considered. “Nevermind then. I’ll figure something out.”
“Do you want wax seals? For the envelopes.” Alhaitham spun his pen. It’s a bad habit: he’s chipped several nibs when they flew from his deft fingers. “I have wax and some generic stamps that Hua and I carved. Flowers, Initials, and so forth.”
“Ohhh, good idea.” Elysia fluttered back to Alhaitham’s seat. “That should be good? I’m leaving you with plenty of creative space.”
“One last question.” Alhaitham pointed at a small legend of colors beside his map on the wall. “You said names and signets, right? I don’t know what your signet name is.”
Elysia looked at the little labels. In matching colored string and pins, Alhaitham had traced their battles across the world. Other notes referred to MOTH events and major honkai eruptions. A small diagram of the losing war against the apocalypse.
She turned back to the boy, smiling deviously.
“Make your best guess. I believe in you, Alhaitham.”
When Alhaitham found Elysia again, she was resting in the main lobby area, surprisingly without Eden around.
“Hey, I haven’t see you in a while,” the archer began, “how do you feel?”
“I got your envelopes.” Alhaitham took them out from his bag. “here, sorted in descending order.”
“You’ve certainly been busy.” Elysia ran her fingers along the golden Pardofelis – Reverie heading. “I saw your fights in the main Elysian Realm areas earlier.”
“Thanks.” Alhaitham walked towards the tables and poured himself some water. “I assume you saw my catastrophic fail when I picked the wrong signet path.”
“You fought well. It was a sight to see.” Elysia flipped through the envelopes quickly. “I like the blue-pink mix for Sakura.”
“Took me days to figure out how to get them in those colors separate and distinct in ink.” Alhaitham walked over and began to pull things out of his backpack. “There’s still a week left to go, so if you don’t like them, I can rewrite some.”
“They’re perfect.” Elysia replied as the pile in her hand decreased in size. Aponia’s name was in a stunning lavender purple, mixed with white glittery particles.
She let out a surprised laugh when the next envelope bore Kevin’s name in deep blue ink. Yet as the letters tilted in the light, from a slightly different angle, they seemed blazing orange instead.
“What happened to descending order?” Elysia asked with a smile.
Alhaitham shrugged. “Kevin had a memory of the first Flame-Chaser meeting, where you were the first of the thirteen for a few hours.”
With a laugh she revealed the last envelope in the stack.
Elysia – Truth. In a bright, shimmering pink.
Alhaitham watched her reaction with focus. “I hope I got it close, if I have it wrong.”
“You’ve got it quite close indeed.” Elysia brushed her fingers over the words. “I love it. It’s perfect in the way that it’s just slightly off.”
“Okay, then check this out.” Alhaitham wasn't discouraged as he took out a little storage box. “Wax seals can’t go on until you’ve put the letters inside, so I got you the materials. I knew that I was probably going to guess your signet wrong, so instead…”
He laid out thirteen different sealing stamps.
“I got the pictures from the main database, so they should all be correct.” Alhaitham motioned at the other little chunks of wax. “And the colors should be here. Mixing the wax gives it a marbled look. A lot easier than the ink colors.”
Elysia swooped in for a hug. She smelled like orchids and orange blossoms.
“This is wonderful. I am so happy that you did this, Haitham. Even if you got my code name wrong, you must’ve put in a lot of work.”
“Thanks.” Alhaitham played with the Band-Aid on his ring finger. “I’m secretly glad there’s only 13 of you, cause if I nick my fingers one more time with the carving knife, Su is really going to have questions.”
They both laughed. Perhaps this was why Eden loved giving gifts, Alhaitham thought, when you make someone else really happy, there’s also warmth to be found in your own heart.
Alhaitham gently tore the label “Truth” from beside Elysia’s name on the map. From his pocket, he took out a memento from the signet of Deliverance. A crystal flower, frozen in ice.
Slowly he uncapped his pen and reached up towards the timeline. When Su and Kevin put it up in his bedroom, after officially moving in, it was slightly out-of-reach for the young boy. Now nearing adulthood, he could reach it easily.
With a steady hand, Alhaitham filled in the blank on the second-to-last notecard.
The 13th Herrscher, Elysia.
That’s how it happened. That must be how it happened.
Alhaitham set down the file in his hand, and walked towards the timeline. Slowly, he pried Elysia’s name from the strings, and reclipped it further in the past. She was not the second to last herrscher, no, she was here before that.
“You’re leaving early.” Su said from the living room as he sorted out some seeds for the plant garden.
Alhaitham pulled on his hearing aids. “I’ve got to pay a visit to someone… deep in Elysian Realm.”
Su looked at the boy, almost a man. Alhaitham had a flowing green half-cape on today, combined with those boots and trinkets that he favored. The clothing was clearly a mix of Eden’s taste, Su’s style, and the utilitarian perspective that Alhaitham often threw onto his belongings.
The sage intuited what was to come ahead.
“It’s been almost a decade since you appeared in the Deep End,” Su noted softly, “Alhaitham, you’ve grown. From sapling, to great tree.”
“Thank you.” The boy responded. He wasn't sure how to continue the conversation. “I’ll be—I’ll try be back for...... Don’t wait for me for dinner.”
“I know.” Su replied with a smile. “I’m sure Kevin knows too. And everyone else. They just haven’t seen it yet.”
Alhaitham nodded and left. His boots clicked on the streets outside, walking further away.
In the darkness, a girl with pink hair and elf ears sit at the foot of a glowing staircase. She spun her bow in a smooth circle. 10 years ago, the meeting points between space-time and this imagined realm cracked open, throwing things astray between parallel worlds. Today, she waited, as the child whose journey began here walked towards her.
“Hi! How do you feel?”
Alhaitham sheathed his sword and walked forward. 12 different lights seemed to bounce off of him from the staircase. 12 different signets protected his journey to here, the deepest parts of Elysian Realm.
“Pretty good, actually,” the boy responded, “I’ve got dopamine rushing through my head from finally figuring out some things.”
“Really?” The fair archer questioned with a smile. “What did you find, child?”
Alhaitham stopped just ahead of the other’s shadow. The green-magenta in his eyes seemed to darken from determination.
“You are Elysia, the 13th and 0th Herrscher. The Herrscher of Origin.” He spoke softly but firmly. “And upon your ashes and these ruins, the final plan against honkai was made, and continues to lie in wait to this day.”
Elysia gasped in surprise. Then her expression quickly turned into a teary smile.
“I am,” she said, “but I am also the 2nd of the 13 Flame-Chasers, the signet of Ego.”
“This is why you’re not Truth.” Alhaitham sighed. “You were true to yourself, but hid just one thing from others.”
“It was the only lie I ever told.” Elysia set her bow down and stood up. “I am so sorry I had to do that.”
They stood in silence for a while.
“Do you want it, then? The signet of a herrscher?” Elysia said with a sad smile. “A harbinger of the apocalypse, blessing you with her power.”
“Of course. It’s the signet of a Flame-Chaser.” Alhaitham responded. “It’s the last piece of the story. Of the history.”
“The quest for the moth to chase the flames. The undone tale of the 13 who did not become heroes.” Elysia whispered. “Then let our past be seen.”
She seemed to blow a kiss, and what flimsy light this corner of the Deep End possessed rushed towards the two.
I will give you my shimmering blessing, so that your soul may shine brighter than before. May the stars light your journey, may the flowers bloom in your path. I will be with you, always, to respond to your dreams.
Elysia reached forward, her light wrapping around both of them in a glittering crystal dome.
Dear sparrows, she thought, bring my bow, my flowers, and my love, to every lonely traveler. This one included, wherever he goes.
The power of the Herrscher ricocheted within the dome. When all quieted down, the door above the staircase had opened up.
“There’s something even deeper?” Alhaitham asked incredulously.
“The Elysium Everlasting,” Elysia replied, “had you received all 13 signets, I would reveal to you my identity there, in a world entirely of my making, frozen in the golden past.”
“Guess I got a little ahead of myself.” Alhaitham laughed.
“Not at all. I think you’re wonderful.” Elysia picked up her bow again. “Now it’s time to make a choice, Alhaitham. I won’t rush you.”
Alhaitham nodded. He came prepared for this. “You know where I come from.”
“Another parallel universe from the one our civilization we had lived in.” Elysia was still smiling. “Completely different, very unique in its lack of honkai influences. Teyvat.”
The very word seemed to sink into Alhaitham’s mind. The ark. An origin. An island of hope.
“So, I can chose to there, or leave Elysian Realm the regular way, back into the honkai-possible current era.” Alhaitham said carefully.
“Or you could stay.” Elysia smiled. “Don’t ever forget that option, Haitham. We have plenty of time and space here.”
“I’d have to go somewhere else eventually.” Alhaitham brushed at his bangs. “How would I…. could I return?”
Elysia’s bow had turned into a long staff. She tapped the boy’s shoulder playfully. “Of course, silly. I’d miss you and make you never leave otherwise. Just think really hard, and no matter where you are, Elysia will always answer your call.”
Taking a deep breath, Alhaitham nodded. “Okay. I think I’m ready.”
Elysia motioned for him to step forward.
In an instant, Alhaitham felt as if he was flying, tunneling through a thousand rain and a thousand dreams, until his feet found solid ground again.
Alhaitham pulled his cape up slightly and brushed at the nonexistent dust on his belt. There’s plenty of things to do.