He limped slowly toward the pool, standing on one leg as he sluggishly swung his iron hammer at the building's exterior wall. Raven was about to cast a spell to stop him when he saw the Troll lose his balance and fall backward, struggling to crawl back up from the ground.
"What is wrong with him? There are so many buildings he could destroy, why this one?" Raven asked, puzzled. "Is there something special about this pool?"
"This is the last system in Nokstella still running," Xingmei said. "If this place is destroyed, it means the city's systems have completely ended, and the worker can finally be released from his mission."
"Released?"
"The mission of the Tears is to serve the Nox people. There are no Nox people left now; they died long ago. But as long as the city systems are running, the worker cannot stop. Maintaining empty houses, sweeping streets that no one walks on... forever doing these meaningless things. He is too tired; he wants to end it all."
Xingmei looked at the Troll sadly. "I can't convince him. He won't listen to anything anymore."
"I could kill him and save the aquarium." Raven raised his staff, the blue light of a Comet spell glowing at the tip. "Is that what you want me to do?"
Xingmei bit her lower lip and didn't answer.
Sensing the magic, the Troll slowly turned his head. He didn't dodge or attempt a preemptive attack. Instead, he stopped all movement and stared fixedly at the blue light, then closed his eyes. An expression of peace actually appeared on his rugged, bearded face.
"Don't!" Xingmei finally screamed.
But Raven did not terminate the spell; the Comet whistled through the air. Xingmei rushed to the edge of the roof, blinded by the dazzling blue light of the explosion. When the light faded, she saw the Troll's iron hammer flying high into the air, crashing down at the far end of the street.
The spell hadn't hit the Troll; Raven had aimed for the hammer.
Xingmei seemed to lose all her strength at once, sliding down from the rooftop railing to kneel on the ground.
The Troll looked at his empty hands, let out a frustrated growl, and turned to crawl toward his hammer.
"For countless years, only Xingmei and he have kept watch here. He wants release, but suicide is forbidden. Only when the city systems completely terminate can he rest," Xingmei said by the water. "I don't want to lose him, but I can't let him destroy the pool."
"You must make a choice," Raven said.
After a long silence, Xingmei finally spoke: "Xingmei will shut down the system."
She walked toward the pool's control console, Raven following close behind. Lilith remained where she was, seemingly indifferent to everything.
The control room was dimly lit by a red emergency glintstone lamp. Xingmei walked to the center of the console and used two keys to open a metal cabinet, revealing a silver hand-lever inside.
"Pull this, and the entire pool will undergo an emergency shutdown. All the tanks will drain their contents into the Ainsel River, and then the facility will be sealed."
Raven found it a bit strange. This kind of self-destruct system sounded like something prepared for a laboratory researching dangerous organisms; what was a pool doing with one? Come to think of it, the entire city system had collapsed, yet only a pool in the dock area remained partially operational—that in itself was quite abnormal.
However, whatever secrets were hidden beneath the water had likely been buried by time. Seeing that Xingmei seemed to know nothing about it, Raven didn't press further.
"The only thing still alive is that silver-glow fish." Raven patted her shoulder. "I think it would be happy to leave the tank. Set it free."
"It will die." Xingmei looked at the crystal screen on the wall. Each point of light represented a different numbered tank, most of them already dark. She pressed one of the lights, and the image of the silver-glow fish in its tank immediately appeared.
"The Eternal City sank underground. These animals that lived under the sun cannot adapt to the outside. If it stays here, it could live for hundreds of years more."
"A lonely few hundred years?" Raven asked softly, not rushing her decision. There was only one armchair in the control room. He sat in it, imagining the Mimic girl staying here, watching the crystal screen for centuries with only aquatic animals for company. And even those silent friends had left one by one, until only that silver-glow fish remained.
Feeling something odd beneath him, he stood up and found a metal book lying on the seat cushion. The cover was engraved with the words "Visitor's Guestbook." He opened it, but the metal pages were smooth and blank. Just as he was about to put it down, the pages flowed like water, and lines of text began to emerge.
"Next time I'll bring my friends along. Take care of yourself, Xingmei."
"On this day next year, you must still be here, Xingmei."
"An amazing half-day holiday! I've regained enough energy from you, Xingmei, to survive another week with my annoying boss."
"When our wedding anniversary comes, I'll bring my wife and children to meet you, Miss Xingmei."
Raven pursed his lips and flipped through a few more pages before gently closing the book. He watched as Xingmei pressed a button.
Five dark pellets of fish food dropped into the water. The silver-glow fish swam over unhurriedly, swallowing them one by one and lazily flicking its tail, seemingly satisfied with this thousand-year-old food.
Turning away without a word, Xingmei pulled down the silver lever.
On the side of the crystal, a hole opened at the bottom of the tank, and the water level began to drop. The silver-glow fish stopped flicking its tail, its glowing eyes fixed on the opening, before it darted in like a silver arrow.
Snap.
The sound was like a circuit breaker tripping, and all the lights went out instantly. A rumbling echo came from the darkness as if all the tanks were draining simultaneously. The entire facility was like a dying man exhaling his final breath.
"It's over," Xingmei whispered, feeling for the edge of the table.
"An end is a new beginning." A brilliant starlight lit up in the darkness. Raven stood by the door, raising his staff to provide light for her. "Is there anything you need to take with you?"
"Um, there's a book..."
"If you're looking for this, I've already picked it up for you." Raven shook the guestbook with his left hand.
"That... those are for the visitors to write in—" Xingmei reached out to snatch it, clutching it tightly to her chest. "Did you read it?"
"There's no need to be so shy," Raven laughed. "Though some of the messages are quite... wild. It turns out the Nox people could fall in love with Mimic Tears too. Were those marriage proposals serious?"
Through the veil, her expression was hidden, but Raven felt as if steam was about to vent from her head.
"They... they thought Xingmei was a real Noxian Night Maiden. Those words were meant for my mistress. Mistress was the Director's daughter and served as the guide. People were always lazy, so they had Xingmei mimic her appearance to cover her shifts."
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring
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