The clear sound of iron shattering stopped the whole world, returning it to the oppressive stillness once again. Only the sound of shards falling into the dark water echoed around.
At first, Acheron didn't react, but that ended the moment one of the shards fell into her view. Her eyes widened, and her face showed shock that was more intense than all the emotions I had seen her show previously together.
She looked at her sword, or rather, what was left of it. She still held the handle in her hand, but her whole arm started to bleed after being hit with the shrapnel from the blade. She continued to look at it as if she couldn't comprehend the truth.
Soon, the blood started dripping into the water, slowly turning the water red. Drop by drop, the time continued to pass as the reality began to sink in. Moments later, she sunk to her knees, her eyes only reflecting the broken blade.
But the stillness was broken by a single shard suddenly floating to the surface. The red color was washed by the dark water, only to reveal a clear blue 'Truth' hidden beneath.
Next, the gleam of gold appeared when another shard floated up, reflecting the 'Sky' on its surface.
Then, the silence was broken by the 'Howl' that jumped from the water.
The 'Mist' appeared in a green haze.
Water froze when the 'Frost' broke to the surface.
Life and Death intertwined and blossomed with the 'Fate'.
Fire erupted as the 'Flare' rose from the depths.
The soft ring of Suzu bells accompanied the arrival of the 'Thought'.
The 'Root' sprouted from the sea.
Emptiness gave way to the 'Form'.
With the cling of chains, the 'Bind' made its appearance.
From the monstrous abysm of dark water, the 'Maw' emerged.
Twelve shards surrounded the kneeling Acheron, who looked at them in disbelief. But soon, that disbelief morphed into pain, one from the depth of the Soul brought by regret.
Twelve silhouettes appeared from those shards. None of them possessed any characteristic that could distinguish them apart from others. Their names had been erased, faces forgotten, and even the blades they once wielded were reforged.
They did not speak, as their voices were silenced together with Izumo. They only stood there as a reminder that what those shards represented was greater than them. Their swords once carried the belief of the whole planet. The belief that confronted a Path.
Acheron's focus remained on the third shard, one that belonged to Howl that she once wielded. She looked at the featureless figure that represented her, but even she couldn't remember what that silhouette should look like.
What did she look like during her younger years? How much had she changed when she became an Oni, and how much more after becoming Acheron? How did others see her back then? What was she like?
-"Look what you have become, Mei."-A male voice sounded from underwater.
When Acheron heard this voice, she shook and started looking around for its source.
-"To think that my rival would fall so low. I'm almost ashamed of having lost to you."
-"Where are you?"
-"And 'Naught'? Is this what our fight amounted to in your eyes? Was our existence for naught?"
-"Show yourself!"
-"It's not I who is hiding. It's you who don't want to confront me."
Water started to stir as Acheron's state of mind became chaotic. Some emotions started to appear in her eyes. Anxiety, fear, but also slight happiness also was visible.
From the waves, a red figure emerged. It also lacked any distinctive characteristic, but his figure was made from the remaining shards and shrapnel of Acheron's blade mixed with her blood.
Acheron noticed its emergence and stood up, looking at it with warines. She held the handle of her sword as if the blade was still there, ready to slash at any moment.
-"Acheron, huh? Intresting choise of name. River of Lost Souls, of Pain and Woe. Tell me, are you one of those Souls or one who rows them to the other shore?"
-"..."
-"Well, you might even be the river itself, carrying those who lost themself in Nihility. But then, why didn't you follow the river's flow? Why do you still stand at the edge of existence rather than fall into oblivion?"
The red figure bent down and scooped some of the water into its hands.
-"This water offers peace to others, erasure of their worries, forgiveness of their mistakes. You also took its blessing, throwing burdens of the past into its depths."
The figure rose again and let the water drip from its hands.
-"Why do you hold to this sword? To desecrate what those whose blood it was forged from ment?"
-"No."
-"We fought for a beautiful lie. We might have been fools. But we fought. To the end. What about you?"
-"It's meaningless."
-"It indeed is. We will all meet our demise."
~"Yet you have not chosen the arrow.~"
Acheron and the reed figure turned to me, who interjected in their confrontation.
-"A guest?"
~"I greet you, fellow pathstrider of Finality."
-"It's indeed an honor to meet a brother in a foreign land."
I returned my attention to Acheron, who looked at me angrily.
~"You see all as meaningless, stand covered by Shadow of Nihility. Then why do you fight? Why has your sword never left your hand?"
-"..."
-"We might have lost. Izumo turned into nothingness. But you carried our 'Origin', so it might not meet the 'End'. Why then it all turned into 'Naught'?"
-"It was a lie!"-Acheron finally couldn't stay silent anymore.-"We all fell for a lie that there was a chance. A failed promise of tomorrow."
~"Tomorrow is a hope, never a promise.~"
-"A hope. Yes, it was all but a hope. But what else had we had back then?"
All remaining shared flew to the red figure as the first twelve silhouettes disappeared.
-"We put all that we had in those blades. We might have forged those because of a lie. But this doesn't take from what they represent. Why did you have forged the 'Naught'?"
-"I..."-Acherno tried to speak, but no words came out. She looked at the sword handle that was in her hands with quivering eyes.-"I don't remember."
-"Yes, because it was a meaningless blade."
The red figure approached the Acheron and stopped a step before her.
-"We were mistaken twice when forging those swords, so be sure not to commit the same mistake for the third time."
All shards of the sword floated to Acheron. Even the smallest shrapnel from the red figure flowed to her.
-"I hope that one day this will be a place of healing, not a place of punishment, cleansing and purging the sins of humans. Mei, no matter what, the 'Origin' will always be in your hand. And you, please, take care of our sister."
~"I won't let her stray again."
Without the shards of the sword, the red figure couldn't keep his form, and it dissolved back into the dark water.
Acheon continued to look at the shards floating before her, tears slowly dripping from her eyes.
-"Yue, can you bring them back?"
~"You know best that it's impossible. They no longer exist. Nighinity has taken them."
-"But they were here!"
~"No. What you have seen were ideas they left in that blade."
-"Please, can't you save them like you did with Makoto?"
~"Impossible."~I shook my head.~"Even my Path can't save those consumed by Nihility."
She lowered her head and looked at the water beneath our feet. I approached her and stopped next to her. We stood in silence for a while before Acheron spoke slowly.
-"Tell me, what should I do?"
~"I don't know. As I said before, my Path is unsuited for you."
-"..."
~"But you can stay with me as long as you want. Maybe you can find what you are lacking along the way."
Acheron looked at me.
~"I know that I might be busy most of the time, but who knows, maybe you will see in those meaningless moments what gave twelve of you belief strong enough that even Nihility couldn't destroy it to this day."
I looked at the shards of the sword floating next to us.
~"Keep those. I will give you a blade that will be able to survive your power. When you find your reason, then use them to forge a new sword."
She nodded and left the sword handle with other shards here, in her inner world. After one last look, she turned around and looked at the still-raging fight between Kindred and Shadow of XI. The stalemate between End and Nihility has continued there up until now. None could defeat the other.
Deciding to stop the fight, I called the Wolf back. He tried to ignore my command, but after a few more moments, he distanced himself from the Shadow of XI and returned to me. Ignoring the Wolf's nagging in my head, I left the Achoron's inner world.
Finding myself back in the dojo, I waited for Acheron to wake up. She opened her eyes just a second later. Standing up, she walked to me before speaking.
-"I will follow you for now."
~"Sure, but it won't be interesting most of the time."
-"I don't mind."
~"Let's go then."
I started walking back to the palace, and Acheron followed me. Along the way, I tried to start a conversation with her. She also tried her best to keep it up, but it was still not enough to call our attempts a talk.
The battle in Acheron's inner world took a long time inside, but outside, not even an hour passed, so my avatar was still walking around with Keqing. We were already on our way back now, slowly heading to the Hyūga Clan. At the entrance to the village, we ran into Hinata, who was waiting for us to guide us to her house.
-"Mr. Yue!"
~"Little Hinata, you can drop the Mr., just call me Yue."
-"This..."-Hinata lowered her gaze, and her cheeks turned red.-"Yue."
-"Don't mind him, just call us what you prefer."
Hinata nodded but continued to avoid looking at me.
~"Lead the way, little Hinata."
-"Yes."
As we walked, we passed many destroyed buildings. Despite the reconstruction efforts starting some time ago, it will take weeks, if not months, for everything to return to the norm.
-"Their spirit is impressive. Every civilian is helping around, even children and the elderly do what they can."
~"Indeed. It's impressive that people here are like that. If I were to think of a place with similar unity, only Lungmen's underground comes to my mind."
-"True, I was shocked when I heard of the evacuation that happened. I wished people in Liyue were as organized as them."
~"Luckily, as of yet, the people in Hold are also united. Let's hope it won't change."
-"You don't have to worry. Yae, Saiguu, and Kokomi are doing a great job of indoctrinating the people. Sometimes, even I find myself believing their messages, then I talk to you, and it all returns to normal."
~"Right, when I once listened to what they tell to people, I understood why partial truth may be more deceiving than a perfect lie."
-"I heard the story about your fight with that Saint race guy. I read the report from that fight before, but I must say that they painted you as someone who stood up against injustice and defended the Hold. Especially the issue of Mara, to turn it into punishment for those who are sinful and not a simple weapon of mass destruction. I was floored."
~"Mara indeed exploits what can be considered as sins. Greed and envy are the easiest to use, but yes, I thought this was some kind of Yae's fan fiction."
-"I wonder how many of your ardent followers would become disillusioned if they heard that you did all of that to chase a girl."
~"That's your interpretation of what had happened."
-"Miss Keqing, Y... Yue. We are here."
~"Thank you for guiding us, little Hinata, and sorry for boring you with our stories."
-"No. While I don't understand some things, I would like to hear more stories about you."
~"Sure. If we have time later, I don't mind sharing some of my journeys."
Ignoring the painful stare I was receiving from Keqing, I entered the Hyūga Clan mansion and, after passing a few doors, walked into the room where Hisashi and other elders from both main and branch families were waiting.
-"Your Excellency."
~"Clan Head Hiashi."
-"Please have a seat. I already informed others of our agreement, and there was no opposition."
~"I'm happy to hear that. I've looked a little more into the Three Great Dōjutsu and expanded upon my initial idea a little."
-"Would Your Excellency mind sharing the conclusions?"
~"I don't mind. First, the Sharingan. It's Dōjutsu that allows one to fully utilize their spirit. It shows by boosting the cognitive ability of the user, but also in illusions that are heavily affected by the strength of one's spirit. Mangekyō Sharingan solidifies this conclusion as it will change depending on the user's experience, which is closely tied to a person's spirit."
Seeing me talk about the eyes of their once rivals made some people present unsatisfied, but those who understood the value in my analysis listened and thought about my deductions.
~"Second, the Rinnegan. That Dōjutsu is special, as one would easily assume that it's the most powerful. I believe that those eyes are most closely tied to reality, the physical and body aspect of the Chakra. To be more exact, it focuses on the nature of Chakra as a Life Force."
-"Chakra as a Life Force?"
~"Yes. The abilities of the Rinnegan are tied to life and death, body, and physical force. It's their most distinctive characteristics and also why they appear more powerful. They affect elements that are much easier to see or feel for average people."
Many present don't possess much knowledge about the Rinnegan, but those old elders nodded solemnly at my words.
~"And finally, the Byakugan. It's a Dōjutsu that is closely tied to one's Soul. That is why it lacks almost any direct method of attack, as the Soul is rather fragile but allows one to see the truth of the world much more easily."
-"Then what about the eyes that Hinata now possesses?"
~"They possess similar characteristics to the Byakugan, but with one core difference: they allow to manifest the person's Soul. That's why the requirement for the evolution of the Byakugan is strict as, if one is not careful, they might injure their Soul in the fight."
-"How can one use his soul in combat?"-Asked one of the elders.
~"It depends on the person. The easiest form of it is the aura."~I revealed a small part of my aura in the room.~"But many different avenues require Soul to practice. Divination, for example."
I once again hid my aura, but after feeling it for those few seconds, some people present started gasping for air. What shocked the people present the most was that Hiata was fine, not even appearing shaken by that oppressive feeling.
-"Is Your Excellency knowledgeable on the matters of Soul?"
~"Yes, Soul can be considered a field I have experience in. I will explain more, but for now, allow me to teach you methods to train the Soul."
-"Please."
Thus, I started the first lesson about Soul Cultivation in that world.