The Previous Era.
"What a familiar feeling…" Elysia spread her slender arms and let out an involuntary sigh.
Even though the architectural style of the Elysian Realm came from the Previous Era, that feeling itself could never truly be recreated, no matter how realistic everything was made to look.
"Wait, that's…"
Elysia suddenly noticed a little pink-haired girl wearing a cloak, and couldn't help rubbing her eyes.
"Koji, what point in time did we come to?" Elysia asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.
Wasn't that her younger self, just after she had started traveling the world on her own?
There was no way she wouldn't recognize what she had looked like as a child.
This really was… complicated.
"Hehe, isn't this exactly your past self?" Koji said, pretending not to know.
Elysia was speechless. "That's not what I meant… Forget it. Seeing myself as a child actually feels pretty nice."
"Come on, let's go say hello. I wonder if little me can recognize the grown-up Elysia."
Teasing her younger self sounded pretty fun too.
Koji shook his head with a smile. He had known this would happen. Elysia wouldn't even spare her own childhood self.
…
"Big Sister, did you need something?"
Little Elysia had only just left home not long ago, so she didn't have much experience dealing with people. She was reserved and timid.
If this big sister weren't so pretty, she probably would have run away already. What if they were human traffickers?
Elysia revealed a bright, radiant smile. How had she never noticed it before? Her younger self was really adorable, with a kind of soft, childlike cuteness that her current self no longer had.
She was completely charmed.
If little Elysia hadn't looked a bit unfamiliar, she would have rushed over, hugged her tightly, and refused to let go.
"Hello there, my name is Pink Fairy," Elysia introduced herself like that.
"Wow~ You really do have ears just like a fairy! Big Sister, are you a fairy?" little Elysia cried out in surprise when she saw Elysia's ears.
"That's right. Of course I'm a fairy lady," Elysia nodded, touching her pointed ears.
Honestly, the Fusion Warrior surgery really had been excellent. Those ears made her look even prettier.
"Fairy Big Sister, we look a little alike. Are we relatives?"
Little Elysia blinked her bright, watery eyes. Elysia's appearance gave her a strange sense of familiarity, but she never once considered that this might actually be herself.
"Perhaps… this is a kind of fate," Elysia said with a mysterious smile.
Once little Elysia grew up and looked at herself in a mirror, she would understand exactly what this meeting had been.
Just imagining it was funny. Teasing her younger self was so entertaining.
Koji, however, didn't think the same way. If he ever met his younger self, he'd probably just beat him up on the spot. Boys and girls clearly handled this kind of thing very differently.
"Fate… Oh, right, sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Elysia. Isn't it a very cute name?" little Elysia said, introducing herself.
"Mm, it is a very cute name. Who gave it to you?"
Koji glanced at the Elysia beside him, who was openly praising herself. As expected of you. Not even a little embarrassed.
"I named myself. I saw it in a fairy tale, and that's where the name came from."
"A flawless paradise… an eternal Elysium…"
Little Elysia showed no wariness toward Elysia at all. For some reason, Elysia gave her an extremely warm, familiar feeling.
A nostalgic expression appeared on Elysia's face. Her younger self really had been innocent and tender.
But she didn't dislike that version of herself.
That self was something the current her could no longer attain, no matter how much she wanted to.
At this point, little Elysia had not yet experienced Honkai or disaster, so she still retained that innocence and brilliance.
Even Koji had to admit it—little Elysia was unbelievably cute. She was full of curiosity toward everything in the world, and overflowing with energy.
"Fairy Big Sister, are you from the paradise in the legends?" little Elysia asked expectantly.
"Paradise, huh…"
How could Elysia not know what little Elysia was really asking?
But that had always only been a fairy tale, not something that truly existed in reality.
Little Elysia was only just beginning, while she herself had already searched for it across the entire world.
She wanted to know—if little Elysia knew from the very start that paradise did not exist, what choice would she make?
"There is no paradise…"
Little Elysia froze slightly. For her, that answer was undeniably a heavy blow.
A few seconds later, little Elysia revealed a firm yet adorable smile.
"If there's no paradise, then I'll create one myself. That's the decision the protagonist in the fairy tale made… and I'll do the same."
She wasn't discouraged by it at all. Instead, her resolve only grew firmer.
Elysia nodded, exactly as expected.
Yes. That was who she was.
"Little one, what if you can't create it?" Koji asked with interest.
"Even if I can't, I still won't regret it," little Elysia said, shaking her head.
No matter what the final outcome might be, as long as she had done it, then that was proof that she had been here. Proof of the traces she had left behind.
"Then go forward bravely. The world is very big. Along the journey, you'll meet many interesting people, and you'll see things you never knew before," Elysia said.
Most of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers were people she had met during that journey. Even if they hadn't been close at the time, in the end they still gathered together because of fate and destiny.
"Mm, I understand, Fairy Big Sister. If I successfully create a paradise in the future, would you like to come to my paradise?" little Elysia invited her.
"Hm?" Elysia paused, a little surprised, then asked in return, "Why would you think that?"
"It's nothing really. Fairies live in paradise, right? So if I create a paradise, Fairy Big Sister can treat it as your home," little Elysia said innocently, hands on her waist.
Elysia didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her younger self was truly refreshing her understanding of herself.
Koji looked at Elysia with a strange expression. Little Elysia was genuinely adorable. Unlike the grown-up Elysia, who was already a full-fledged queen of the Elysian Realm.
Elysia understood the look in Koji's eyes and glared at him.
Even if her younger self really was a bit cuter, her current self wasn't lacking either.
Still, she had to answer.
"All right. If you really do create a paradise in the future, then I'll come live in your paradise."
"No problem. Pinky promise." Little Elysia held out her hand.
Elysia smiled warmly and hooked pinkies with little Elysia.
"Pinky promise. A hundred years, no changing it."
Little Elysia gave a sweet smile. Even Elysia herself felt her heart tremble.
She was about to be completely won over by little Elysia.
As expected of me.
I'm in love all over again.
(End of Chapter)
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