"Why am I still alive…"
Hearing this question, the corner of Lora's mouth twitched. She knew Venti had already recognized her, so there was no reason to hide the truth. Moreover, whether in the main storyline or the various narrative texts within the game, the relationships among the original Seven had never been as severed as Celestia would have liked.
Facing Venti's shock and confusion, Lora explained calmly,
"To be precise, I was resurrected."
"Resurrected?"
Unconcealed astonishment filled Venti's eyes. He circled around Lora once, trying to steady his turbulent thoughts.
"That's incredible! In all my thousands of years, I've never heard of a god returning to life after death! Logically speaking, when a god dies, their authority should return to the Ley Line, giving rise to a new one. Even if they held the same authority, they wouldn't be considered the same god. But you…"
"Perhaps I'm just special," Lora said lightly.
She did not explain the truth about herself and Egeria to Venti. Regardless of whether she had come from beyond the skies, on the continent of Teyvat, she was the Hydro Sovereign—the heart of the primordial sea, the god Egeria, genuine beyond doubt.
"I suppose that's true…" Venti knew Egeria's true nature well. He gazed at Lora, then let out a sigh.
"It's a pity she's already gone. If she knew you were alive again, I think she'd be very happy. Now, among the original Seven, only you and I remain—along with the old man from Liyue, and that Miss Beelzebub from Inazuma."
Lora understood exactly whom Venti meant by "she"—that gentle and benevolent deity.
The bond between the Mistress of Amrita and the Lord of Verdure had always run deep. Back then, it had been the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata herself who placed Egeria's divine body, transformed into pure water, within the deserts of Sumeru. From it bloomed the Amrita Pool, nurturing the "Harvisptokhm" to resist the Abyss's encroachment.
"I know," Lora said with a slight nod. "My consciousness resided within the 'Harvisptokhm' for the past five hundred years. I've heard bits and pieces of what happened in Teyvat. The Cataclysm five hundred years ago had too great an impact on us."
"Then tell me this," Venti said, looking at her thoughtfully. "Since your consciousness was within the 'Harvisptokhm,' why did you come here after your revival? Don't tell me you came all this way just to catch up with me?"
Mondstadt was far from Sumeru. Making a special trip here as her very first act after revival hardly seemed realistic.
Lora shook her head.
"My name is Lora Chaya now. Unless absolutely necessary, it's better not to use the name Egeria. As for why I'm here—it's certainly not just to reminisce. I need your help."
"Help?" Venti agreed without hesitation. "Sure, what do you need me to do?"
He paused, then added quickly,
"But I'll say this upfront—if it's about Mora, there's nothing I can do."
Lora sighed helplessly.
"I'm not here to ask you for Mora."
As expected—gods never carried money.
"Oh? As long as it's not Mora, then we're good," Venti chuckled.
Looking at his carefree grin, Lora could only marvel that he was exactly as she remembered. She took a deep breath, fixed her gaze on him, and spoke seriously.
"I need your Gnosis."
The moment she said it, Venti's smile vanished. He frowned slightly, studying her intently.
"What do you need that for? If you want to return to the divine seat of the Hydro Archon, shouldn't you go to Fontaine and retrieve the Hydro Archon's Gnosis from Focalors instead?"
"Egeria died five hundred years ago, and I have no intention of returning to the divine seat," Lora said, shaking her head slowly. "But I do need the power of the Gnosis now."
She looked at Venti and continued,
"You know about that prophecy, don't you? The one concerning Fontaine."
"You mean the prophecy that says, 'All will dissolve in water, leaving only the Hydro Archon weeping upon the divine seat'?"
Venti recited it slowly. It was no secret—once the Heavenly Principles had delivered the prophecy, all Seven were made aware of it.
"Yes," Lora replied softly. "That is the 'original sin' imposed by the Heavenly Principles upon me and the people of Fontaine. If I want to save everyone when the prophecy comes to pass, I need the Gnosis. Its unique nature can give me a chance to overturn the Heavenly Principles."
"Well…"
Venti's expression turned troubled.
The moment Lora saw his face, she knew he was acting.
"To you and me, the Gnosis is nothing more than a symbol of the divine seat and a connector to Celestia," she said flatly. "Is this really worth hesitating over?"
When La Signora had taken it from him in the story, he'd handed it over without the slightest resistance—now he was suddenly acting all conflicted.
"Heh heh… It's not that I'm conflicted," Venti laughed. "The Gnosis is useless to me anyway, so giving it to you isn't a problem. But I do have a small favor I'd like you to help me with first."
"Let me make this clear upfront," Lora said immediately. "I don't have any Mora."
When it came to Mora, she truly lived up to her status as a god.
"It's not about Mora," Venti said, shaking his head.
He raised his hand, drawing something floating in the distance toward him.
"This is… Dvalin's Tear?"
Lora frowned slightly as she looked at the crystal hovering in his palm. The tear-shaped red crystal exuded a foul, polluted aura. As a being of pure water, she instinctively felt repulsion and disgust toward it.
When watching this scene in the game, the blood-red Dvalin's Tear had even looked somewhat beautiful. But in "reality," Lora felt nothing but aversion.
"Dvalin has been corrupted," Venti said quietly. "I want you to help save it. With your abilities, purifying the Abyss's corruption shouldn't be a problem, right?"
The smile was gone from his face, replaced by sorrow and a weary sigh for the suffering of his familiar—and his friend.
"I'll try," Lora replied. "But… I've been dead for five hundred years. I can't say how much of my former power remains."
She took the corrupted Dvalin's Tear from Venti's hand. Under her control, Hydro slowly enveloped the crystal. Threadlike strands of crimson Abyssal power were drawn out, one by one, and completely purified.
The tear shifted from scarlet to a clear sky-blue, radiating pure, luminous light.
"Mm. My power hasn't fully recovered," Lora said after gauging the strain. "But this should be enough for now."
Egeria's consciousness had resided within the "Harvisptokhm" for five hundred years. What remained of her power now was less than a tenth of what it once had been. To shatter the fate decreed by the Heavenly Principles, she would have to recover her strength as quickly as possible.
Seeing the purified Dvalin's Tear, Venti finally let out a long breath of relief.