NOCTURN BRIDE • genshin Impact | ✓

CHAPTER TWELVE.

the apostle's breath slowly purified the pungent and repulsive stench — the arrogation of mankind.

a fragile existence. a flower, ever so brittle, wilted. petals slowly falling after its brightest days of bloom. all good things comes to an end — especially if they were ambiguous.

too ambiguous, with the absurd thoughts of overthrowing heavenly deities.

now, listen to a folktale! perhaps; a variation of a fairytale, twisted, cruel — but real. a silent story that was yet to be told to the rest of the world, hidden remains the protected the weak from the cruel and harsh reality.

"why would you choose to be a villain in a world you formed?"

the apostle could still recall those bold words questioned. a villain — someone who does evil, cruel crimes that brings havoc and demise; defying the absolute law of good and justice.

"what classifies me as a villain?" her voice questioned, lips parting into a second sonata movement — calming and soft — a soothing tone that contradicted her personality and ideals. "or an antagonist, perhaps?"

indeed, she was curious. what made her the villain? was it the way her mentality was different from others? the way she would throw away all of mankind to save the world?

the undeniable truth that she would save herself, rather than others. that is human nature.

"the way you revolt against humans, mortals..." a hoarse-like voice dragged across the atmosphere. a lento tempo; similarly to an adagio pace. "planning to overthrow alongside the tsarista, are you planning to defy your own master?"

to her, he was a master in name, but not by respect.

"of course." the apostle's tongue naturally spewed out her uncovered thoughts accompanied by lingering falsities of demise and reformation. "the meek aspirations of mankind overthrowing us? the heavenly ought to teach their places."

teyvat, a once beautiful place draped in the most exquisite silk and golden silk linen. but now, like a black swan — embraced in an ugly and deceitful manner by mortals that were filled with thorns of desire.

she wanted to set a new life by killing the current.

"i see no difference between you and evil."

the apostle couldn't deny the fact; indeed, this hypocritical statement of her and the concept of evil itself were frighteningly similar, then again, different at the same time.

she was evil in the eyes of the good. but good in the eyes of the evil. then again, everyone had a sort of evil within them.

"and what makes me evil?" the apostle's callused fingertips grazed over the tall man's chin, gnawing onto his face as she pulled it closer towards her. "how does that classify me as the uncivilised one compared to you?"

her brash and aggressive action didn't phase rex lapis. he stood there, lips tugging at the corner of each end as a tiny smile was seen.

"there is a right way." he shoved her aside, dusting off the creases made on his clothes. "a moral, and ethical way. and there is a wrong."

"is that so? then what makes you decide what's right and wrong?" her playful demeanour further provoked the male. a challenge of authority, a defiance in power. "what makes you think that you as the god of contracts, make the rules?"

"because i hood the belief and worship of people." the man replied, as his yellow eyes squinted at the playful female. was it fear, or a foreign emotion of overwhelming power. " you, on the other hand... hold nothing."

it seemed that the pathetic archon ought to learn his place.

"i chose this path, rex lapis." it was like a knight's oath, a sworn statement that she deemed to fulfil till death do her apart. "a path that i rule my world. i don't need judgements from mere mortals or the likes of you."

"but what you're doing is unforgivable."

how so? the way her views somewhat deferred from others? the way she wanted to act selfishly in order to save the realm she had crafted by soul and heart.

was it wrong for her to rid her villains that ruined her masterpiece?

"then? i'll be the villain in your world. so what about it?" the apostle lowered her voice. a gentle yet threatening wind arose, accompanied by solidified geo-particles that violently clashed. "it doesn't justify as my method being the bad."

she lifted her hand — as if requesting for a waltz with the devil itself — underneath the moonlight; before a cryo breeze further embraced her.

"as a living deity who once supported the system of monarch within teyvat, don't you feel a single ounce of pity towards them?" rex lapis continued on, visibly pondering on the fact how the apostle was able to wield three visions at once. a plausible explanation — was a delusion.

"living?" her eyes widened in amusement, radial muscles around her iris contracts as the circular muscles relaxed. "what makes you think i'm alive?"

what a bold statement indeed.

the concept of living — is a faint subject. what exactly does it mean to be alive? where ones consciousness is active, reacting to a stimuli, the sense of memories of living — do they become alive?

to be alive physically, or mentally?

"the fact that you, remain alive. breathing in this world." the geo archon placed his hands by his chest, positioned towards the left. "heart pulsating. the sound of your pulse, is a proof that you are alive."

the apostle-adepti couldn't help but stifle a laugh. her, alive? what an absurd nonsensical statement. her heart wouldn't even circulate once through her body no matter how hard she tried.

"i am war, i am death."

life just didn't seem to want her. alas! the beauty of silence, is inevitable. and that when she decided, she would tell her story, to live on by legacy.

because why should she rescue others when she has yet to be saved?

"and i'll let my heart beat a little longer."

━━━━━

( CHAPTER XII )