Reunion

Inside a restaurant in the Court of Fontaine.

Furina held a glass of drink, looking at the pink-haired woman before her with some unease.

"The twenty-fourth cup..."

She muttered to herself.

It seemed that this Sister Shiju had an unusual fondness for iced drinks and slushies.

After tracking her down, Furina had offered to treat her to a meal—

But to her surprise, the woman had downed 24 cups of various sweet drinks and slushies and still looked unsatisfied.

"Shiju... Lady, you truly have a deep love for cold drinks."

"Mm."

"I like cold drinks… but I also enjoy alcohol. What do you think? Shall we drink to our heart's content?"

Shiju's voice was calm as her gaze lifted slightly, meeting Furina's eyes.

With the natural purification properties of water, coupled with her Hydro Archon physique, Furina had an exceptional tolerance for alcohol.

After all, last time she drank over two hundred bottles with Venti.

Yet now, faced with Shiju's invitation, Furina did not dare accept.

It was as if her instincts were warning her—telling her that drinking with Shiju was a terrible idea.

She quickly waved her hands in refusal.

"I'll pass—I'm not very good with alcohol. My apologies, Lady Shiju."

Hearing this, Shiju did not press further.

Seeing Furina's hesitant expression, she spoke first.

"You didn't seek me out just to buy me sweet drinks, did you?"

"In the endless worlds, the chance of meeting me is incredibly rare. If you don't say what's on your mind now, you might never get another chance."

At these words, Furina panicked instantly.

"No, no, no! I want to ask about Felina!"

"Felina…"

Shiju set down her drink and stared at Furina.

"She is very important to you?"

"Yes! Extremely important!"

"Is that so?"

"Then—what are you willing to sacrifice to save her?"

"Everything!"

"Even if it means losing all the power you now possess? Even if it means becoming a mere mortal, growing old, and dying in just a few decades?"

"Even so, I am willing!"

Furina nodded firmly, determination written all over her face.

"Because this ending—she deserves to be a part of it!"

"I see."

Shiju did not say anything more.

But the corners of her lips curved into a mysterious smile.

...

On a blue planet in another universe.

It was a quiet street, not particularly prosperous.

A small truck filled with goods was parked in front of a convenience store, likely for restocking shelves.

A girl with black hair, wearing a gray T-shirt, denim pants, and a baseball cap, her hair tied into a single ponytail, was pushing a cart of goods into the store.

Her appearance was ordinary, her expression emotionless, and she exuded an air of quiet stillness, like a motionless pool of water.

If no one pointed her out, no one would have guessed that this ordinary girl was once a god who had shaken entire nations.

Yes—this girl was Felina.

As for why she was still alive, or why she had returned to her original world—

Just as the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles had said, she had been chosen by the Mother Tree and sent to that world as a cure for its "plague."

As the chosen one, she had always been under the Mother Tree's watchful gaze.

On that day, she had burned her soul to unleash the ultimate power of the Law of Purification, saving the world.

Her soul should have perished in the flames—

But at the very last moment, the final safeguard left by the Mother Tree activated.

The system she wielded had originated from the Mother Tree—it was the final failsafe left upon her soul.

At the brink of her soul's destruction, the system's power activated, preserving a final sliver of her existence and returning her to her original world.

After her return, she had come face-to-face with the Mother Tree.

The Mother Tree healed her soul, restored it to her original body, and answered all her questions.

Yes, the Sister Shiju that Felina was familiar with was none other than the true form of the Mother Tree of Infinite Worlds.

And Aileen, Ruoling, and Qingmeng, the three sisters, were also chosen by Shiju and sent to one of the worlds by the Mother Tree—just like Felina.

"Sister Shiju, you've really hidden this well!"

"So… why did you choose me?"

Felina asked.

To this, Shiju provided an explanation:

As mentioned before, Shiju's true body bore countless worlds, each one an extension of the original Teyvat, a representation of Teyvat's infinite possibilities—or in other words, parallel worlds.

In some worlds, Neuvillette never set foot in Fontaine.

In some worlds, Azhdaha was never worn down by Erosion.

In some worlds, Venti was an overworked, strictly disciplined god who managed Mondstadt daily and despised alcohol.

The worlds on the Mother Tree were like fruits on its branches, each one growing in its own unique way—changes were inevitable.

And in the Teyvat that Felina was sent to, Furina herself was one such change.

Shiju explained patiently.

People's experiences shape their burdens, and different burdens lead to different futures.

For example, in World #3, Furina had a few friends who kept her company throughout the five hundred years—so her stress was relatively lower.

In World #10349, Furina somehow managed to grab a limited-edition cake every day—so she was in a better mood and experienced less stress.

But where there was good, there was also bad.

In the world that Felina was sent to, Furina had spent 496 years without a single friend, without any joyful experiences, and even suffered from constant misfortune.

"From my observations, the Furina of that world endured far more misfortune than any other version of her. Her stress and negative emotions were beyond what the others carried."

"You know that Furina plays a crucial role in the Prophecy Crisis. If she collapsed under the pressure, Fontaine would be doomed."

"At the time, based on my analysis, that world's Furina had only about a month left before she would be completely consumed by her overwhelming despair and pressure—she would have lost her sanity and fallen into madness."

That was what Shiju said.

As the Mother Tree, Shiju cherished every single 'fruit' growing on her branches.

And because of that, when Felina had shouted,

"If I could travel to Teyvat, I would make sure Furina lives happily! I will protect Fontaine, and I won't let Focalors die!"

It caught Shiju's attention.

And the rest was history.

Felina crossed into Teyvat, becoming Furina's second personality, the light that saved her, and the one who led that world to victory against its calamity.

...

"I see..."

"So if I had been just one month late, Furina wouldn't have made it?"

"It looks like I arrived just in time, then."

"I'm really glad... that I reached her before she broke."

Upon learning the truth, Felina simply smiled.

Yet, she did not ask whether she could return to reunite with Furina.

Many people might wonder—as the Mother Tree of Infinite Worlds, Shiju possesses power capable of overturning entire universes.

She holds unimaginable strength, far surpassing even the most formidable beings in any of the worlds on her branches.

By all logic, resolving a single world's disaster should have been as simple as a mere thought.

Since she had already foreseen the anomaly in that world, why did she not intervene directly?

Why go through such trouble to send Felina instead, allowing things to unfold as they did?

This question puzzled not only many others—but also Felina herself.

One of the reasons she did not ask Shiju to send her back to Teyvat, to return to Furina's side, was precisely this uncertainty.

By nature, Felina was someone who liked to analyze and think things through.

She did not know much about Shiju or the other sisters.

Although Shiju, Aileen, Ruoling, and Qingmeng had all treated her with great care, they had also kept many secrets.

And now that she understood the truth about her journey, she found herself in a state of confusion.

"Sister Shiju could have easily solved the crisis, yet she went through all this effort to send me instead…"

"If she is a creator god, then what am I in her eyes?"

"Am I merely an insect, my fate to be shifted at her whim? Or am I just an actor, thrown onto a stage to perform for her amusement?"

This feeling of being manipulated from behind the scenes left Felina uneasy.

And yet—Shiju, Aileen, Ruoling, and Qingmeng had genuinely treated her with kindness and care.

This contradiction between discomfort and gratitude—

The clash between these two opposing emotions left her lost.

Added to this was the emotional turmoil of having saved Teyvat—

Now, she felt utterly exhausted.

That was why she chose not to ask to return to Teyvat.

Instead—she chose to stay in this world.

Before crossing into Teyvat, Shiju had been the owner of a convenience store.

Now that Felina had returned, she simply helped out in Shiju's store, living an ordinary life.

She seemed no different from any other working girl in the city.

No one would ever associate this young girl with a god who had once shaken entire nations.

If it had been the old Felina, she never would have accepted such a mundane existence.

But after her time in Teyvat, she had changed.

Wealth, power, authority…

Things she had once craved, now felt as fleeting as passing clouds.

She was tired.

Now, she just wanted to rest.

She thought—perhaps she would live an ordinary life, remaining just like this until the end of her days.

Lifting three boxes of drinks onto a cart, she was about to push them back into the store.

But at that moment—

A voice called out from behind her.

"Excuse me, could you grab a drink for me?"

Now just an ordinary person, and with the speaker's voice deliberately lowered, she couldn't recognize who it was.

"Sorry, please pick one inside and pay at the counter."

She was exhausted, and her mood wasn't great, so she didn't bother looking back.

After responding, she simply continued pushing the cart forward.

Yet the person behind her wasn't willing to let it go.

"No, that won't do. I want the one from your cart. And I want you to hand it to me personally!"

Hearing this, Felina felt a flicker of irritation.

She turned around, intending to see who was being so unreasonable.

But the moment she turned—

Her gaze froze.

And she could no longer look away.

...

Outside the convenience store.

The girl wearing a baseball cap turned around.

Behind her, standing in the shadow of the small truck, were two girls with strikingly similar appearances.

One wore blue clothing, short hair, and a top hat.

The other was dressed in white, with long flowing hair.

If they weren't Furina and Focalors, who else could they be?

Seeing the people she had longed for day and night standing before her, Felina's pupils trembled.

She instinctively glanced toward Shiju, who was walking in their direction.

As if understanding what Felina was thinking, Shiju spread her hands calmly and said—

"Don't look at me—it was they who sought me out and begged me to bring them here to find you."

Upon hearing this, Felina's emotions became even more complicated.

On one hand, she was overjoyed and surprised that Focalors and Furina had come looking for her.

But on the other hand, the fact that Shiju had brought them here only reinforced the unsettling feeling of being "orchestrated."

Standing in front of Focalors and Furina, she found herself unsure of what expression to make.

Seeing Felina's conflicted expression, Shiju couldn't help but smile gently.

She walked over to Felina's side, gently patted her shoulder, and spoke in a soft voice—

"I know that, given your nature, you probably have some misunderstandings about me."

"I understand your thoughts very well. But before anything else, why don't you listen to a story first?"

With a gentle gaze, Shiju began to tell Felina a story.

It was still the story of "Lin", but this time, it was told from the perspective of the four elder sisters rather than from Felina's own.

...

Before they crossed into another world, Ruoling and Qingmeng had once been orphans.

So after returning to their original world, they continued to care for the orphanage they had once lived in.

Shiju and Aileen, though not originally from the orphanage, were both kind-hearted people and close friends with Ruoling and Qingmeng.

Because of this, they, too, paid close attention to the orphanage's well-being.

They provided financial support and frequently visited to check on the children.

Then, one day—

A girl named "Lin" arrived at the orphanage.

Due to their troubled backgrounds, it was not uncommon for orphaned children to struggle with emotional and psychological issues.

Some children felt inferior because of their upbringing.

Some longed for wealth because they had grown up in poverty.

Some desperately yearned for familial love because they had never experienced it.

The orphanage primarily existed to provide survival and shelter.

As for mental and emotional support—while the director did her best, she simply couldn't care for every child's psychological wounds alone.

And Lin was no exception.

When she first arrived at the orphanage, she was nervous, anxious, and distant from others.

Since Ruoling and Qingmeng had once lived there themselves, they had returned as benefactors and now resided at the orphanage as investors.

Naturally, they quickly noticed Lin.

After learning about her past and experiences, they came to a conclusion—

Because she had spent so much of her life being mistreated and rejected by her relatives, she had developed severe insecurity when entering a new environment.

In her heart, everyone was a potential threat.

So—her way of protecting herself was keeping her distance from others.

As long as she never let anyone in, she would never be hurt—nor would she ever be rejected again.

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