Keith found himself in the same area he always appeared in.
Dried-up grass, a dried-up tree, dried-up fruits, etc.
"Oh, that is new" muttered Keith, who knew and expected Elea to appear soon, but something caught his attention.
A new orb, this one twisted in a sinisterly beautiful form, had appeared in the lowest branch of the tree, far too small to be as beautiful as it should be.
It was of a beautiful violet colour, a bright one that reminded Keith of a certain person's eyes, but was still too small to compare it properly.
"It's floating..." muttered Keith, who realized that what he thought were fruits were something different altogether, they were not fruits at all.
This new floating orb was even smaller than a marble, so small that he had only sensed it, not seeing it.
The moment he focused in the direction of this orb, something inside him told him there was something strange there, something that hadn't been there before.
He poked it, but his finger passed through it, revealing that indeed, it wasn't a fruit at all.
But it also told him that he couldn't take a sample of it for Ruan Mei to analyse, which he knew meant an unreasonable scolding from Ruan Mei, who would expect Keith to have tried every single method she could think of to take a sample.
But unfortunately, Keith was not as smart as Ruan Mei.
Had the crazy scientist been here, Keith was sure that every single question he had about this place would have been solved, but Ruan Mei was a genius without equal.
But every musing he might have been immersed in was stopped when another person appeared in this place.
"Hey, it's been a lon-"
But Keith's words stopped, because once again, Elea hugged his legs, while desperately sobbing.
-----------------------------------
"What happened?" asked Keith, after what seemed to be a few hours in which Elea had cried her heart out.
"....sob…" but this time, Elea was too affected to continue, which genuinely worried Keith.
So Keith decided to wait, wait until Elea was ready to talk.
Both people were resting with their backs against the tree, looking at the cloudy sky that didn't a lot of light pass through the thick canopy.
Keith patiently waited, and after a long while, Elea finally spoke.
"I met 2 people in my country" muttered Elea, looking at the ground and playing with her fingers.
"Hmm" Keith nodded, inviting Elea to continue.
"They knew my father, so I invited them to ice cream to hear what about him from new people" continued Elea with a thread of voice. "But one of them let escape the word Fatui."
"Who are these Fatui?" asked Keith, a picture starting to form in his mind.
"Bad people" replied Elea with a quiet voice. "The ones my mother warned me about, and the ones that got kicked out of Liyue and Inazuma, 2 countries of my world."
Keith nodded again, but suspected where was this going.
"I could feel the rest of the people's emotions to a certain point" said Elea. "And Yae was there. The moment that person said the word Fatui, I could feel her anger and sadness, carefully hidden so I wouldn't feel them. But one of these new people shouted an alarm, and I felt her guilt and alarm."
"I see..." mumbled Keith, now confirming his previous thoughts of where things seemed to be going towards.
"I thought my father had died of illness" explained Elea, looking at the ground. "But I learned recently that he was not ill. I still don't know how he died, but I think I have an idea."
"You think these Fatuis might have been involved?" asked Keith.
"I think it's pretty obvious" whispered Elea, too tired to keep crying.
"...." Keith had to admit that it was indeed a bit obvious. "Still, you can't make assumptions. I know it is distressing, but you still don't know everything. The role these Fatuis might have taken is still an enigma."
"The fact that they were involved is enough" replied Elea with a bit of heat in her voice.
"True" conceded Keith with a sigh. "Still, you need to talk with your mother or your teacher about this."
"They won't tell me anything" countered Elea with a frown. "They haven't told me anything until now."
"They will tell you this time, I have no doubts of that" replied Keith, making Elea look at him. "From what you have told me, your teacher Yae seems like a smart woman, she will realize that not telling you will hurt you more than knowing."
"..." Elea felt silent, once again contemplating the possibility that her father might have not died, but taken away from her side.
"And the one suffering the most here isn't you, but your mother and those other women" added Keith, making Elea look at him at them. "I understand you are young and this pain is too raw for you, but your mother was the one who knew him, and she has known the truth all this time. You told me she was powerful, right?"
"She is the strongest person I know" nodded Elea, confidence reappearing in her voice.
"With power comes responsibility, but also new doors open" continued Keith. "If these Fatuis had something to do, don't you think your mother would have gone on a rampage?"
"She... should have" muttered Elea, knowing how extremist her mother could be. Specially when she was involved, Ei would just tear Inazuma apart if she went missing just for an hour.
"Right? So even despite being this powerful, she kept it bottle inside instead of going on a murder spree, that can hurt more than any wound. It's one thing to be pwoerless and have to... well, suck it up, and a very differnet one be able to annihilate the culprits and willingly take it lying low" explained Keith with a sigh. "So wait a bit, and talk to them. But now, there is something we need to do."
"What?" asked Elea, a bit better thinking that she might have missed something, and that her mother and Yae might have some answers for her.
"Oh, have you forgotten about our duel?" asked Keith, standing up.
"I didn't, I even trained extra hard" said Elea, standing up but still feeling down.
"Then lets fight, nothing like a good training session to take your mind off those gloomy thoughts" said Keith, who knew first-hand how much it helped.
"We have no swords" argued Elea. "I kept looking for a way to bring swords here, but Yae got suspicious when I asked for books about strange places like this one."
"Thankfully, your world is an underdeveloped one, while mine is far better" declared Keith, making Elea frown. "Someone told me that this place is connected to our power, as it is calling us here. So we should be able to do something special here, or we have a purpose to fulfil here."
So Keith concentrated.
It was strange, hard and stupid, because there was nothing to concentrate himself on, but he still tried under Elea's confused gaze.
But Keith had a clue.
In his 'deadly' battle against Blade, he had felt a 'muscle' he lacked, and considering he had no other clues, it was the best place to start.
He remembered the fight, and tried to remember the situation he had been in.
The blade coming down, and a pair of...purple eyes looking at him.
"Oh!"
And based on Elea's surprised shout, something had happened.
Keith opened his eyes, only to see a faint purple mist in front of him, that quickly dissipated when he lost concentration.
"How did you do it?!" asked a surprised Elea.
"No clue" replied Keith, but concentrated again.
And just like a muscle you had contracted once, it was way easier once you knew how to work with it.
The purple-ish fog appeared once again, but under Keith's efforts, it slowly, VERY slowly, changed forms.
The fog turned into a ball, then into an oval figure, and then into something vaguely resembling stick.
"This...is all I can do" said a sweaty Keith, who was exhausted just by doing it.
"It's amazing" said Elea with admiration in her voice, looking at the purple construct. "Can I do it too?"
"Just try while I recover a bit" muttered Keith, wondering if this was the first time he had been exhausted to this degree. "But I'm afraid there is little I can to do guide you. If you know, you do, my advice won't make sense if you can't feel it."
And Elea tried, and tried hard, but nothing happened.
No matter how much or how many times she concentrated, she still had no clue of how to control that purple fog, but Keith spoke to her before she could get even more frustrated.
"Leave it for now" said Keith, giving Elea something that appeared to be a slim stick. "We don't have much time, we still need to decide the winner."
"Aren't you a bit calmer this time?" asked Elea taking the 'sword' that felt cold to the touch. "I remember how you were practically mocking me the last time."
"Well, I grew a little" commented Keith, holding his sword in the stance Blade had taught him.
And Elea, knowing that a fight was about to ensue, and this would be the first fight she had against someone that wasn't her mother, also got serious.
Of course, she knew that beating Keith was impossible, but winning was within her reach.
Because her goal wasn't to beat Keith to a pulp, as much as she desired it, it was to prove that her mother's swordsmanship was the better one, and she trusted her mother's teachings.
So she also stood in the stance her mother had taught her.
And like her mother had taught her, the first one to attack will have the initiative.
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'Dammit' Elea inwardly shouted in frustration when her attack was once again effortlessly blocked.
Keith calmly received Elea's 'sword', and despite being able to block it with his bare hands, made an effort to block using the correct posture.
The battle was, in a single word, a disaster.
Keith was too strong and fast, so everything Elea tried was parried, blocked or deflected without any trouble.
In the end, Keith's body was too high-spec for a normal human, even more when said human was just a child, and he had been training with someone far too strong and merciless, who used his 'student's' resilience to deal attacks far too violent for anyone else to receive.
So this battle wasn't serving its purpose, to make the both of them show what they had learned from their teachers, because the battle was too uneven even for that.
Which made Elea want to cry, as she had trained a lot, but she was being defeated without her opponent even trying.
So Keith, realizing the situation they were in, moved.
CLANG
For the first time, Keith attacked, while Elea found herself blocking the attack sent her way, not expecting it.
And yet, Keith found in this block a way to proceed.
CLANG
Once again, the 'swords' collided emitting a crisp and clear sound that couldn't have come from metal, but Elea successfully blocked again.
Keith controlled his strength to be slightly superior to that of Elea's and his speed to be the same as the child's.
Elea put her left foot behind her right one, lowered her hips to lower her centre of gravity, and slightly leaned forward to use her whole body to block.
'A beautiful defence' thought Keith, who saw the fruits of Elea's efforts.
So he attacked again, this time with an overhead attack, carrying a bit more strength.
But Elea proved to be quite fast, as she had started moving even before the sword had started to fall down.
She had seen Keith raise his sword, and her gruelling training allowed her to understand what was about to happen, she prepared for it.
Her left foot moved forward while the right moved back, she grabbed the sword with both hands, and steeled her body to receive the blow.
But mid-way, she realized that the strength behind Keith's swing would be too much for her to block, so she swiftly changed her plans.
Her sword, which had been raised above her head parallel to the floor, instantly turned, and hit Keith's sword in the 'flat' part, deflecting the blow.
Keith's sword passed through the space to the left of Elea, and the girl swift counterattack came.
But her sword only touched air, because Keith had stepped back the moment he felt his sword being thrown to one side.
And now, it was time for Keith to attack.
A sharp stab from outside of Elea's reach was released, and the young girl had barely enough time to make her sword return.
CLANG
But she successfully deflected the attack, and with a side-step she was able to completely dodge the attack.
And now, it was Elea's time to counterattack again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Swords flew through the air, colliding with each other, and both fighters gradually got tired.
At least one did.
CLANG
Thud
Elea's sword flew from her hands, and landed in the dead grass on the ground.
"That was a nice fight" said Keith, while Elea fell to the floor, exhausted and sweating.
"Haa...haa…." Elea, who had never been more tired, had to agree.
Despite her initial frustration, she had to admit she had enjoyed herself fighting with this man, who despite fighting for so long, was still as fresh as he had been.
"Don't look at me like that" said Keith, deducing Elea's feelings. "My body is really strong, and I train with a person who at some point tried to bisect me. If I get tired in the middle, I lose an arm that will eventually regrow."
"That's....terrifying..." muttered Elea, still panting.
"But you fought pretty well" admitted Keith, sitting next to the exhausted child. "The way you blocked was beautiful."
"Of course....my mother taught me" nodded a proud Elea, the demanding exercise not leaving any space for her gloominess at the latest revelation.
"So she is beautiful too?" asked Keith, receiving a glare in response. "Well, never mind. What happened with your mother? I remember you were quite worried about that last time."
But Elea didn't reply, she wanted to talk fluently about this, and panting was not going to do her any favours.
And Keith patiently waited a few minutes, until Elea spoke again.
"My mother is 2 people" said Elea, who frowned. "I don't think that is grammatically correct."
"Don't think there is any way of saying that which can be considered grammatically correct" pointed out Keith. "So there were 2 people, that is why you felt 2 different emotions from them."
"Yes" nodded Elea. "I still don't know why, but there is some reason why one of them shouldn't be alive, so they need to share the same body."
"Waaait a minute" said Keith all of a sudden with a frown, and Elea looked curiously at him. "And you say they both loved your father."
"I'm pretty sure they still do" replied Elea with a small frown. "Why does it matter?"
"Oh, nothing" said Keith with a blank expression. "Continue."
But despite that, a single word appeared in his mind.
Shimaidon.
And this mysterious and dead father of Elea was a lot more hateful all of a sudden.
Elea looked at Keith with suspicion sensing his....she didn't know what she was sensing from Keith, so she continued.
"There is nothing more to say" she admitted. "But everything was okay, they both love me, and I love them. That is all I needed."
"Good for you then" nodded Keith, genuinely happy for the family.
"I wanted to ask your opinion on something" said Elea, making Keith hum in curiosity. "They are always pretty worried when I wake up after leaving this place, and I feel bad for them. Do you think I could tell them about you?"
"Absolutely not" replied Keith without hesitation, surprising Elea a bit. "You trust me to a certain point because you can sense my honesty, and I helped you quite a bit. But your mother is not here, doesn't know me, and can't trust your word because I might be fooling you."
"But-"
"You will do what you think is correct" interrupted Keith with a firm voice. "But hearing that her daughter is visiting a pretty suspicious place, and is meeting an even more suspicious man alone, is something that will make her go crazy, because there is nothing she can do to avoid this, and you are defenceless here."
And Elea now understood how much she needed to keep this a secret, because indeed, her mother would go crazy, with Yae and Sara following soon after.
No matter how much she had looked for any information about this place, she hadn't found anything in the Shrine or the big library in her house, and not even the most explicit questions she had seen Yae start to get suspicious about had revealed anything.
'I... might need to tell them' thought Elea, but the notion that they would surely go crazy when they learned she was alone with a man this strong would make their lives turn into a living hell.
And well, even if both Yae and her mother would worry without end, she couldn't help but think that harming her was the last thing on Keith's mind.
"You will reach your own decision" insisted Keith. "But I would recommend you to keep this inside you until you grow up. Of course, I say this because I know I have no ill will, and no harm to you will come from me. If you think I'm not trustworthy, you should speak with your mother and ask her for instructions about what to do. If you find yourself in this situation with another person in the outside world, you NEED to tell your mother about it."
"O-Okay" nodded Elea, a bit surprised about Keith's vehemence.
"Well, if you got it, that's enough for now" Keith had seen some truly horrifying things with Kafka in those missions Elio sent them in, and didn't want those things to happen to anyone.
Even less this bright child that had a family that loved her and lead a happy life.
"Something else?" asked Keith, to which Elea nodded.
"What are rules?" asked Elea, who continued receiving a questioning look. "My mother told me that there are a few rules in our world."
"Hmm, I think you are talking about Laws" muttered Keith. "I don't think that is something you need to know. All I can see is that they are rules that affect everything inside a world and determine how everything works."
Elea only nodded, realizing that indeed, she hadn't understood anything.
Maybe when she is older she will learn it.
"Oh, I think we are about to leave" said Elea, feeling faint again.
"Seems like it" nodded Keith, standing up. "I enjoyed our fight, but I think that we will enjoy it a lot more if you keep training."
"I will" nodded Elea, who also wanted to be the one attacking.
"I will try to bring more recipes next time" said Keith with a smile.
And the both of them disappeared, leaving the lonely tree with a few leaves in it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Urgh" Elea let out a graceless grunt after opening her eyes.
The fight had exhausted her, and it seemed that it had somehow transferred to her real body.
Not the physical exhaustion, she felt that her body was rested, but her whole body felt as sluggish as it had been in that place.
"Elea, are you okay?" a firm voice reached Elea, who looked to the side and saw a woman she didn't expect to see here.
"Sara?" muttered Elea, but then felt 'something' in the air. Something that made her hair stand on end. "What is happening?"
"You have been asleep for a whole day" said Sara, with a stony face Elea hadn't seen in her whole life.
"What is happening?" asked again Elea, because everything she could feel from Sara was an eerie calmness she knew was only a cover for more tumultuous emotions.
Sara had been the only one able to learn how to somewhat dampen her emotions, and seeing the normally busy woman here with her told Elea that something was wrong.
"There is a bit of trouble" replied Sara, still sitting by Elea's side in the seiza position. "Nothing you need to worry about."
"That's a lie" said Elea without hesitation. "There is something in the air making my skin tingle."
But Sara didn't reply.
"Why is it that dark here?" asked Elea, seeing that all windows in the room she was in were closed. "Why is everything closed?"
But Sara didn't reply, and kept her posture.
So Elea, with a suspicious glance, stood up.
"Please, don't open that window" said Sara, but made no gesture to stop the child, who was starting to feel scared.
"What is happening?" asked Elea once again, with a whisper this time.
"There is a bit of trouble" repeated Sara, her expression unchanging.
But then, the air itself seemed to shake, and a flash of white briefly blinded Elea.
And then....
The deafening roar of thunder reached her ears, making her grimace while covering it.
"Please, don't open that window" repeated Sara for the third time., but Elea didn't listen, not when the thunder carried so much... hatred.
Things were too ominous, and the feeling in her skin was intensifying, so she opened the window.
Only to see a dark sky covered with clouds, dark and purple clouds full of lightning, ready to be called.
And ready to obliterate everything in its path.
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"Ugh" Keith also grumbled, standing up and feeling her body a bit sore.
But unlike what he expected, there was no Ruan Mei in front of him ready to ask what had happened.
So he stood up, and left the infirmary.
"Keith, come to my room."
Elio's discombobulated voice reached Keith, who instantly knew something bad had happened.
He ran towards the room where he would hopefully find some answers.
And the moment he entered, he saw everyone else.
Blade, Kafka, Silverwolf, Ruan Mei and Firefly.
"Keith" Kafka looked at the man who just arrived, with eyes trembling like Keith had never seen before.
Which alarmed the purple-haired man more than any wound he might have received.
"What's wrong?" asked Keith, looking around with growing alarm. "Where is Stelle?"
"Keith" it was Elio the one who spoke. "Stelle is dead."