𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧

20 - black dust

this is the final chapter of act 1 :D

oho...brace yourselves!

**********

Morax remained stone-faced, but his eyes softened ever so slightly as he looked upon her. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," Guizhong said, her voice now stronger. "I am. I trust you, and I know that this is for the greater good of our people."

Morax paused for a moment, then nodded once more. He signed the contract, and then handed it to Guizhong. She too signed it, and with a heavy heart, they both sealed the oath.

As Guizhong looked up at Morax, she could see the pain in his eyes, and she knew that he was taking on the burden as well. Without a word, she reached out and touched his arm, and he gave her a weak smile.

"I'll do my best to make sure this never has to be enforced," Guizhong said, her voice barely a whisper.

**********
(timeskip, ~70 years later)

Venti and Y/n stood in the graveyard, the air thick with grief. The weight of Carmen's absence hung heavy around them like a shroud, suffocating and overwhelming.

"It's so strange," Venti's voice broke through the silence, thick with emotion. "Carmen was like a little brother to us, yet he's gone and we're still here."

Y/n nodded, her heart feeling as though it had been carved out of her chest, leaving her hollow and numb.

"It's hard to believe he's really gone," Venti sighed, tears streaming down his face.

Y/n couldn't bring herself to cry. It was as if the floodgates of her emotions had been sealed shut, leaving her feeling as though she were floating in a sea of nothingness.

"Immortality is a funny thing," Y/n said in a quiet voice, her thoughts drifting. "It's a blessing, but also a curse. We live on while everyone we love fades away."

Venti looked at her, his eyes softening with understanding.

"It's like being trapped in a never-ending cycle of loss," Y/n continued, her voice growing stronger as she spoke. "Each goodbye feels like a knife to the heart, but we keep going, we keep living, because we have to."

Venti nodded, a sense of camaraderie passing between them. They were two beings bound by immortality, both cursed and blessed by their endless existence.

As they stood in the graveyard, surrounded by the ghosts of the past, Venti and Y/n found solace in each other's presence, their grief binding them together like an unbreakable chain.

***********
(a few hours later, on top of Venti's statue)

Venti blinked a few times, processing what Y/n had just said. "You live in a teapot?" he asked incredulously.

Y/n smiled as she pulled out a teapot from seemingly nowhere. "It's an adepti art! Ping gave it to me." She said, motioning for him to touch it.

Venti hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching out and touching the teapot.

Suddenly, the area around them had suddenly started to shimmer and fade away, replaced by a realm straight out of a cyberpunk dream. Everywhere they looked, towering buildings shone with neon brilliance, intricate designs and patterns adorning them. But the grandest spectacle of all was the building in the center - its regal walls seemed to be the very heartbeat of the realm, pulsating with an energy all its own.