"Hello?"
Xin Yu blinked, a bewildered expression on his face. Not long after the final exams had ended, Xin Yu had parted ways with Kiana and Raiden Mei, leaving the school to begin a new phase of his wandering life.
He decided to fulfill his promise: to see Mobius now that she had grown up, and to properly clarify the words he had left behind in his rush last time, offering another apology.
However, when he returned to a time tens of thousands of years in the past, he discovered his spatio-temporal coordinates seemed somewhat chaotic. It was hard to say if an unexpected situation had occurred, or if someone had deliberately interfered; in any case, there was a slight error in the timeline.
When Xin Yu regained his senses, he found himself lying on the ground. Beside him, a little girl with pink hair was poking him with a tree branch, her face etched with worry.
"Big brother, are you alright? I saw you fall straight down from the sky."
"Ugh, it's nothing serious. Just a minor accident. Let me lie here for a moment, and I'll be fine."
Xin Yu felt as if his non-existent internal organs were faintly aching and shifting. But the strange thing was, where did these internal organs come from? He didn't even have a brain or a heart; how could he possibly possess other organs? Where was this inexplicable sensation originating?
Sigh! Come to think of it, wasn't he, in the truest sense, a so-called heartless and brainless person! If someone cursed him for being brainless, he could righteously declare that he indeed had no brain! Even zombies prying open his skull would have to leave with a look of disappointment.
Xin Yu sat up from the ground and looked at the little girl sitting beside him, draped in a small black cloak. He tilted his head and asked with some curiosity, "What's your name?"
"My name is Elysia. And you, big brother?"
"My name is Xin Yu."
Xin Yu instantly recalled Elysia's identity. She was one of Kevin's companions from back then, and also someone Mobius held dear in her heart.
She was also a hero who fought against the Honkai for the sake of the Previous Era.
"Big brother, why did you fall from the sky? I just saw you suddenly appear up there, and then you came straight down!"
Elysia looked curiously at this strange big brother. For some reason, she felt that this big brother was a good person, like Mama Se Li Ya.
"I was originally planning to find someone to offer an apology. Due to some rash actions on my part before, I wasn't able to fulfill my promise to them, and I even caused them to worry. I encountered some accidents on the way, and the result is what you saw – I fell from the sky."
"I see! In that case, big brother, you must find that person and apologize properly. Your friend must care a lot about you, that's why they'd be especially worried."
"Yes, I will. So, Elysia, what are you doing all by yourself out here in the wilderness?"
"I want to see this world, to try and find the Elysian Realm."
"Elysian Realm?"
"Mhm! A place filled with blooming flowers, a place where everyone can live happily and joyfully together. Everyone is good friends, there's no suffering, no sorrow, no partings, no bad things at all. Everything is just wonderful things!"
Xin Yu stared blankly at the girl beside him, who was speaking with a smile. A place with no suffering, no sorrow, no partings...
In that instant, he seemed to recall a very distant past. There was an evolved priest who, looking at the white-haired youth he was back then, had spoken with gentle eyes, saying he didn't want to experience partings.
And at this very moment, a girl in front of him was saying she wanted to find that Elysian Realm.
From a rational perspective, such an Elysian Realm, such a perfect utopia, simply did not exist. In human society, it was fundamentally impossible, because humanity constantly wavered within the chaos of good and evil.
"Big brother, do you think such an Elysian Realm exists?" Little Elysia tilted her head, looking into Xin Yu's somewhat dazed eyes.
"It will. Such an Elysian Realm will definitely exist. Even if we can't find it, we can still create such a place with our own hands."
"I also hate partings, and I hate sorrow. I hope everyone can laugh with joy and happiness. I hope everyone can understand and tolerate each other. I hope everyone can be kind."
"But, along the way, many people have told me that such a world is fundamentally impossible, and that it cannot be created."
"Yes, for the real world, such a world is a pure fantasy and a miracle."
"Still, Elysia, are you willing to believe me?"
"Hmm?" The innocent girl looked up, her dazed eyes filled with pure bewilderment, at the youth who was smiling down at her.
"Even if such an Elysian Realm doesn't exist, I will definitely create it."
This sounded like the ravings of a madman, like the impractical, chuunibyou fantasy of a youth who had yet to experience the harsh realities of society.
Elysia looked at the youth smiling at her, at the expression on his face. The girl nodded heavily and said in a serious tone, "I believe you. You can definitely do it, Xin Yu."
At this moment, Xin Yu understood something. Sometimes, another person's trust can truly move one's heart. Especially when it comes to something that others deem utterly impossible, yet she, against all odds, is willing to believe.
Believing in you for no reason at all.
"Elysia, I will create the Elysian Realm you desire. No, I will create an Elysian Realm that everyone will love."
"A utopia."
"What kind of world will that be? It must, absolutely must be a world where everyone can smile, right?"
"Mhm, it will be a world where everyone is like a light, warming others."
Xin Yu raised his head and gazed towards the moon. He would use that thing to achieve his goal. He would fulfill his promise to Elysia, and he would also realize that dream he himself had long ago.
He had already found such a society within the fragmented pieces of his own memory.
And the missing conditions had also been found. Even the existence meant to sow love and hope had been found.
All that remained was himself. When he took that step, when he completed his final self-redemption, the Elysian Realm would rise from the mortal world. The strife and calamities of the world would, in that very instant, be purified.
"Elysia, I'm very happy to have met you."
A Child of God, possessing a pure soul.
"I'm very happy to have met you too! Xin Yu. Although I don't know why, I just feel that you're definitely a good person!"
A Son of Man, who found himself from within the void.
The two smiled and bid each other farewell, each embarking upon their own path.