Klee woke to the sound of someone chopping vegetables with aggressive efficiency.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Her eyes opened slowly, focusing on an unfamiliar ceiling—wooden beams, hanging herbs, a cleaver embedded in a cutting board with the kind of precision that spoke of years of practice.
She was lying on something hard and uncomfortable. Her neck hurt. Her whole body hurt, actually, a deep ache that suggested she'd slept in a very wrong position for a very long time.
Where am I?
Klee sat up slowly, realizing she was on the floor of a kitchen. A professional kitchen, judging by the massive wok, the organized spice racks, and the man standing at the counter who was now staring at her with a mixture of surprise and irritation.
He was tall, wearing a chef's apron and hat, with a stern face that suggested he did not appreciate finding children sleeping on his kitchen floor.
"How long have you been there?" His voice was gruff but not unkind.
Klee's brain struggled to catch up. Kitchen. Inn. She'd come to Wangshu Inn last night, gotten a room, and then... had she come down for dinner? She couldn't remember. She'd been so tired...
"I... I don't know?" Klee said honestly. "I'm sorry! I must have fallen asleep! I didn't mean to sleep in your kitchen!"
The chef—his name was Smiley Yanxiao, she remembered now from a sign she'd seen—sighed heavily and returned to his chopping. "You look like you haven't eaten in days. When did you last have a proper meal?"
Klee tried to remember. Yesterday morning? No, wait—the dried fruit and jerky at Stone Gate, and before that... dinner the night before she left Mondstadt?
"Um. A while?"
"Thought so." Smiley Yanxiao moved to his wok, added oil that sizzled immediately, then began the practiced dance of professional cooking—ingredients flying from bowls into the heated pan, flames leaping up on command, the smell of garlic and ginger filling the air. "Sit at the counter. I'll make you something."
"I can pay!" Klee scrambled to her feet, legs protesting. "I have Mora!"
"I didn't ask if you could pay. I said sit."
It wasn't a request. Klee sat.
Within minutes, a plate appeared in front of her: fried rice with eggs and vegetables, still steaming, smelling like the most wonderful thing in the entire world. Her stomach made an embarrassingly loud noise.
"Eat," Smiley Yanxiao commanded. "Slowly. Don't make yourself sick."
Klee didn't need to be told twice. She dove into the food, trying to pace herself but failing completely. It was delicious—perfectly seasoned, the rice fluffy and not clumpy, the eggs just the right texture. She'd forgotten what real food tasted like after two days of dried fruit and jerky.
Smiley Yanxiao watched her eat with the critical eye of someone evaluating whether his cooking was being properly appreciated. When her plate was clean, he grunted approval and refilled it without being asked.
"Where are your parents?" he asked while she ate the second helping.
"My mom's traveling," Klee said around a mouthful of rice. "My brother's in Mondstadt. But I'm on a mission! A very important mission!"
"Mm-hmm. A mission that involves sleeping on kitchen floors and looking half-starved."
"I was really tired from walking all day! And I forgot to eat dinner because I fell asleep!"
"Clearly." He crossed his arms, studying her. "Where are you headed?"
"Liyue Harbor," Klee said, then hesitated. Should she be telling strangers her plans? Probably not. But he'd fed her, and he seemed trustworthy in the way grumpy-but-kind adults often were. "I need to get to Inazuma."
"Inazuma." Smiley Yanxiao's eyebrows rose. "That's a long way for someone your size. Dangerous, too. The Guili Plains between here and the harbor aren't exactly safe. Treasure hoarders, monsters, worse things."
"I can handle it!" Klee said with more confidence than she felt. "I'm the Spark Knight of the Knights of Favonius! I have bombs!"
"Bombs." He looked at her small pack, then back at her determined face. "Of course you do. Well, Spark Knight, if you're going to Guili Plains, you'll want to leave early. The ruins there provide good cover for ambushes—better to pass through in daylight."
"How far is it to Liyue Harbor from here?"
"A full day if you keep a good pace. Faster if you catch a merchant caravan willing to let you ride with them, but that's unlikely for a child traveling alone." He turned back to his prep work. "The main road goes south through Guili Plains, past Luhua Pool, then through Chihu Rock into the harbor proper. Can't miss it—biggest port city in Teyvat."
"Thank you!" Klee finished her second plate, feeling significantly more human. "And thank you for breakfast! How much do I owe you?"
Smiley Yanxiao waved a hand dismissively. "Consider it payment for not reporting a trespassing child to Verr Goldet. She'd have questions I don't want to answer. Now get out of my kitchen before the morning rush starts."
But his gruff tone didn't match the small package he pressed into her hands as she left—more fried rice, wrapped in cloth, still warm.
"For the road," he said. "Don't say I never did anything for you."
Klee hugged the package to her chest, throat tight. "Thank you, Mr. Smiley Yanxiao. You're really nice even though you pretend not to be."
"Out." But he was almost smiling. Almost.
---
Guili Plains stretched before Klee like the floor of an ancient world.
The landscape was dominated by ruins—massive stone pillars, broken platforms, weathered statues of long-dead gods and heroes. According to the stories Albedo had told her, this had once been a thriving civilization, destroyed in the Archon War thousands of years ago. Now only the bones remained, picked over by treasure hoarders and reclaimed slowly by nature.
It was beautiful in a haunting way. Also terrifying.
Klee kept to the main road, following the worn path that countless merchants and travelers had used before her. The morning sun was still low, casting long shadows from the ruins.
Somewhere in the distance, she could hear hilichurls chanting their strange rhythmic songs.
She passed the remains of what might have been a temple—broken columns surrounding a dry fountain. A family of cranes waded in a nearby stream, unconcerned with human presence. The air smelled like stone dust and wild grass.
Her legs were already protesting from yesterday's journey, but she pushed forward. Liyue Harbor. She just had to get to Liyue Harbor. Then she could find a ship, and—
And that's where her plan got fuzzy.
How did one get to Inazuma? Did ships go there regularly now that the Sakoku Decree was lifted? Would they let an eight-year-old book passage alone? Did she have enough money left after paying for her room at the inn?
One problem at a time, Klee told herself firmly. First, get to the harbor. Then figure out the rest.
The day wore on. The sun climbed higher, beating down mercilessly. Klee stopped periodically to drink from her flask and eat small amounts of the rice Smiley Yanxiao had given her, rationing it carefully.
She encountered a merchant caravan heading north—they passed with barely a glance at the small girl walking alone. A wandering swordsman who nodded politely but didn't speak. A group of adventurers discussing which ruins might still have undiscovered treasure.
No one stopped her. No one asked questions.
In Mondstadt, everyone knew her. She couldn't walk ten steps without someone calling out "Klee!" or "Spark Knight!" or "Isn't that the girl who blew up the fish pond again?"
Here, she was anonymous. Just another traveler on a busy road.
It should have felt freeing.
Instead, it felt lonely.
By late afternoon, the ruins had given way to more open terrain. The road curved around Luhua Pool—a massive body of water that reflected the sky like polished glass. In the distance, Klee could see the mountains that marked Liyue Harbor's location.
Almost there. Just a little further.
The sun was beginning its descent toward evening when Klee realized she'd made a mistake.
She'd been so focused on reaching the harbor before dark that she'd missed the warning signs: the broken crates by the roadside, the scattered belongings suggesting a robbery, the footprints in the dust leading off into a cluster of ruins.
Treasure hoarders.
And they'd spotted her.
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
Three figures emerged from behind a broken pillar—two men and a woman, all wearing the mismatched armor and aggressive confidence of professional thieves. The leader, a scarred man with a crossbow, grinned unpleasantly.
"A little far from home, aren't you, kid?" He moved to block the road. His companions flanked him, cutting off escape routes. "Where are your parents?"
Klee's hand went to her bomb pouch. "I don't want trouble. Just let me pass."
"Oh, we'll let you pass. After you hand over your valuables. That's a nice pack you've got. And that necklace—" His eyes fixed on the chain visible at her collar. "That looks expensive. Real expensive."
"You can't have my necklace." Klee's voice was steady despite her hammering heart. "It doesn't come off. And you don't want to touch it."
"Is that so?" The female treasure hoarder laughed. "Doesn't come off. That's cute. Everything comes off if you pull hard enough."
They advanced.
Klee pulled out a bomb. "I'm warning you! I'm the Spark Knight of the Knights of Favonius! I'm trained in combat! I will defend myself!"
"Spark Knight." The leader's grin widened. "Never heard of her. Must not be very important."
He raised his crossbow.
Klee threw her bomb.
The explosion was perfectly aimed—it detonated between the three treasure hoarders, sending them stumbling backward. Klee used the confusion to run, sprinting off the road toward a cluster of ruins that might provide cover.
"GET HER!"
Footsteps pounded behind her. A crossbow bolt whistled past her ear. Klee ducked behind a pillar, fumbling for another bomb.
"There's nowhere to run, kid!" The leader's voice echoed through the ruins. "Just give us the necklace and we'll let you go!"
Liar, Klee thought. She'd heard enough stories from Amber about treasure hoarders. They didn't let witnesses go. Especially witnesses who'd already attacked them.
She threw her second bomb blind around the pillar. The explosion bought her another few seconds. She ran deeper into the ruins, looking for a defensible position, a hiding spot, anything—
A hand grabbed her pack.
Klee spun, throwing an elbow like Eula had taught her. It connected with someone's face. The hand released her pack but caught her arm instead.
"Feisty little thing." The female treasure hoarder had blood streaming from her nose. "Hold still!"
Klee kicked her in the shin. The woman yelped but didn't let go. The other two were closing in now, weapons drawn.
"Last chance," the leader said. "The necklace. Now."
"NO!"
Klee pulled out her third bomb with her free hand, but the female treasure hoarder saw it coming. She grabbed Klee's wrist, twisting until the bomb fell. Then her other hand reached for Klee's throat—
And touched the crystal necklace.
The world exploded in red lightning.
It was worse than last time. So much worse.
The electricity erupted from the crystal like a living thing, a massive surge of power that tore through Klee's body with teeth of fire and ice simultaneously. She screamed—couldn't help it, couldn't stop it—as every nerve lit up in agony.
The female treasure hoarder screamed too, her hand locked around the necklace, unable to let go. The red lightning crawled up her arm, into her chest, and her eyes went wide with terror and pain.
The leader tried to pull her away. The lightning jumped to him. Then to the third treasure hoarder. All four of them locked together in a circuit of pure agony, the crystal at the center pulsing like a malevolent heart.
Somewhere distant—impossibly distant, in another nation entirely—Yoimiya was screaming too. Klee could feel it, could sense the echo of shared pain across all the miles. The curse connected them, bound them, made them one person suffering in two bodies.
The ruins around them began to shake.
Not an earthquake. Something worse. The ancient stone cracked and groaned. One pillar toppled with a sound like thunder. Then another. The ground beneath them rippled like water.
The female treasure hoarder's scream cut off. Her body went rigid. The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
Let go, Klee thought desperately. Please let go please let go please—
The lightning stopped.
The treasure hoarder's hand released the necklace. She collapsed backward, smoke rising from her armor. The leader and the third thief stumbled away, their bodies convulsing.
And Klee fell.
She hit the ground hard, her vision swimming with red and black spots. Every muscle felt like it had been shredded. Her heart was beating too fast, skipping irregularly, struggling to maintain rhythm. The necklace against her chest was burning hot, the crystal glowing angry crimson.
Through the haze of pain, she heard voices. New voices.
"—over here! I see—oh, Archons."
"Is that a child? Who would—"
"Check the others. See if any of them are alive."
Footsteps. Someone kneeling beside her. A hand—careful, not touching the necklace—checking her pulse.
"She's alive. Barely. Heart rate is dangerous. We need to stabilize her. Now."
"What about them?"
A pause. "Two unconscious. One dead. The woman. Her heart gave out."
Dead.
Someone was dead.
Because they'd touched her necklace.
Klee tried to speak, to explain, to apologize, but her mouth wouldn't work. The darkness was closing in, pulling her down, and she was too tired to fight it.
The last thing she heard before consciousness left her was a young woman's voice, calm and professional despite the horror:
"Get Yanfei. Now. And prepare for the worst. Whatever this was, it's not over."
Then nothing.
---
Yanfei had been having a perfectly normal evening, all things considered.
She'd been reviewing contract law with her junior colleague Kuki Shinobu—the remarkably competent young woman who'd recently started interning despite her questionable association with the Arataki Gang. They'd found a quiet spot on the outskirts of Guili Plains to discuss a complex case involving merchant dispute resolution.
"So if party A claims force majeure based on hilichurl interference," Shinobu was saying, her mask hiding most of her expression but her voice sharp with focus, "but party B has evidence that party A failed to take reasonable precautions—"
The red lightning lit up the evening sky like a second sun.
It was visible even from a distance—a massive column of crimson electricity erupting from somewhere in the ruins, accompanied by a sound like reality tearing. The light pulsed once, twice, three times, each flash brighter than the last.
Then screaming.
Yanfei was moving before she consciously decided to, her Pyro vision already igniting. Shinobu kept pace beside her, hand on her sword.
They sprinted toward the source, dodging around ruins, following the sounds of distress. The red lightning faded, but the afterimage remained burned into Yanfei's vision.
They found the scene quickly: three treasure hoarders in various states of injury, and a small child lying motionless on the ground.
A child.
"You handle the hoarders," Yanfei snapped. "I'll check the kid."
Shinobu moved immediately, assessing threats. The two male treasure hoarders were conscious but disoriented, no immediate danger. The female was—
Dead. Definitely dead. Smoke still rising from her body, strange burn marks across her skin in branching patterns. Like lightning scars.
Yanfei knelt beside the child—a little girl, maybe eight or nine, wearing clothes that marked her as Mondstadt origin. She was unconscious, breathing shallow and irregular. Her heart rate was visible in the rapid pulse at her throat.
And around that throat: a necklace with a red crystal heart, still glowing faintly, still warm to the touch.
Don't touch it, Yanfei's instincts screamed. Whatever had happened here, that necklace was the epicenter.
"She's alive," Yanfei called out. "But she needs medical attention. Fast."
"The hoarders are claiming they just tried to rob her," Shinobu reported. "One of them touched her necklace and—according to them—it exploded with red lightning. Killed their companion instantly."
"That's..." Yanfei looked at the necklace, at the dead woman, at the branching scorch marks on the ground. "That's not possible. Jewelry doesn't generate that kind of power. Not without—"
A curse. Or an artifact. Or both.
"We need to get her to Liyue Harbor," Yanfei decided. "Baizhu can treat her better than we can. And we need to report this to the Millelith. A death occurred, even if it was during an attempted robbery."
"What about them?" Shinobu gestured at the two surviving treasure hoarders.
"Arrested for attempted assault on a minor. The death of their companion is... complicated. Self-defense via cursed artifact isn't exactly covered in standard legal precedent." Yanfei carefully scooped the unconscious child into her arms, being extremely careful to avoid the necklace. "Help me carry her. And someone needs to stay with the bodies until the Millelith arrive."
"I'll send a signal flare," Shinobu said. She pulled out a firework—probably borrowed from the Arataki Gang's questionable inventory—and launched it into the air. It exploded in purple sparks. "Millelith patrol should see that and investigate."
Together, they carried the child away from the scene of death and lightning, toward Liyue Harbor and whatever answers waited there.
The necklace pulsed against the girl's chest, steady and ominous, a reminder that this story was far from over.
---
Half a world away, in the elegant gardens of the Kamisato Estate, Yoimiya was trying to explain the unexplainable.
"So you're saying," Ayaka said carefully, her voice maintaining perfect composure despite the worry in her eyes, "that twice now, you've experienced sudden, agonizing pain accompanied by red lightning. And this pain coincides with someone touching your necklace. The necklace that Lady Yae Miko gave you."
"Yes." Yoimiya sat on the engawa—the traditional veranda—with her hands wrapped around a cup of tea she wasn't drinking. She'd come here because the Kamisato Estate was the only place she felt safe explaining what had happened. "The first time was weeks ago. On the beach with the kids. it—" She shuddered. "It was like being electrocuted and torn apart at the same time. And it hurt Klee too. I know it did. I could feel her pain somehow, like we were connected."
Ayato stood near the garden's edge, hands behind his back, his expression thoughtful in the dangerous way that meant he was already calculating political implications. "And the second incident?"
"This evening. I was at the workshop, and it just—happened. No warning. Stronger than before." Yoimiya's hands were shaking. "I collapsed. Couldn't breathe. Thought I was dying. The kids from the neighborhood—Matsuzaka found me. Got help. By the time I could move again—"
"The estate was shaking," Thoma finished quietly. He stood nearby, ready to serve but clearly troubled. "We felt it from here. Thought it was an earthquake. But it was centered on Hanamizaka. On you."
"Lady Yae Miko," Ayaka said softly. There was something cold in her usually warm voice. "She gave you cursed artifacts. Linked you and Klee together. Made you vulnerable to—"
The world exploded in red lightning.
---
It happened without warning, without mercy.
Her cup was shattering on the polished wood, her hands clawing at her throat as the crystal erupted.
"Yoimiya!" Ayaka's voice seemed to come from underwater, distant and distorted.
The electricity didn't just hurt—it consumed. Red-hot threads of agony shot through every nerve, every muscle, turning her body into a lightning rod for someone else's torture. Her back arched involuntarily, teeth clenched so hard she tasted blood, a scream tearing from her throat that she couldn't stop, couldn't control.
But this time it was worse. So much worse.
The pain had always been temporary—five seconds, ten at most. Sharp and terrible but brief. This time it kept going. And going. Building in intensity like a wave that refused to crest.
"What's happening to her?" Thoma's boots thundered across the veranda. "My Lord, she's—"
"Don't touch her!" Ayato's command cut through the chaos. "The crystal—it could conduct to you as well."
The curse wasn't just pain anymore. It was connection.
Through the haze of electricity and agony, Yoimiya could feel Klee—actually feel her, sense her presence like a second heartbeat overlaid on her own. Could feel the little girl's terror, sharp and metallic in the back of her throat. Could feel Klee's pain, a mirror of her own but worse, so much worse because Klee was small and scared and didn't understand why this was happening.
Could feel Klee's desperate attempt to stay conscious, to keep her eyes open, to breathe through the pain.
Stay with me, Yoimiya thought desperately, though she didn't know if Klee could hear her. Please stay with me.
Then she felt it—the moment someone touched Klee's necklace.
The sensation was immediate and visceral. Rough fingers closing around crystal. The circuit completing with a surge that made Yoimiya's vision white out. She could feel the treasure hoarder's hand locked around the necklace, feel the electricity racing up his arm, could feel his muscles seizing, his inability to let go no matter how much he wanted to, how much his survival instincts screamed at him to release it.
"Someone's with her," Yoimiya gasped between screams, her voice barely recognizable. "Someone's—touching—Klee's—"
Could feel someone dying.
The sensation was like nothing she'd ever experienced, nothing she'd been prepared for. The treasure hoarder's panic transformed into something else—a creeping cold that spread from his extremities inward. His heartbeat, erratic and thundering, beginning to stutter. Skip. Falter.
"No, no, no—" Yoimiya choked on the words.
She could feel the exact moment when life became death. Sharp and terrible and final. Like a candle being snuffed out, consciousness simply ceasing to exist, leaving only an empty shell where a person had been seconds before.
The horror of it crashed over her in waves. She'd felt someone die. Been connected to the moment of death itself.
"Yoimiya, look at me!" Ayaka's face swam into view, her normally composed features twisted with concern. "Stay with us, please—"
But Yoimiya couldn't respond because she felt Klee's consciousness slipping away, falling into darkness like a stone dropping into deep water, and Yoimiya wanted to scream no, stay awake, please stay awake, don't leave me alone in this—
The Kamisato Estate shook like the earth itself was trying to tear apart.
"Earthquake!" Thoma shouted, but his voice was drowned out by the deep, resonant groaning of the earth.
The garden's carefully cultivated trees swayed violently, their branches whipping back and forth as if caught in a typhoon. Decorative stones tumbled from their artfully arranged positions. The koi ponds sloshed wildly, sending waves of water cascading over the edges, flooding across the carefully raked gravel.
Inside the main building, Yoimiya could hear shouts of alarm, panicked voices calling out instructions. Ceramics breaking in staccato crashes. Structural beams groaning under the strain, wood creaking in protest.
Ayato stumbled, his usual grace deserting him as he caught himself against a pillar, knuckles white with the force of his grip. "Everyone, brace yourselves!"
Ayaka's tea cup shattered on the wooden floor, green tea spreading across the boards in a widening puddle. She dropped to her knees beside Yoimiya, one hand hovering uselessly over her friend's convulsing form. "What do we do? Ayato, what do we—"
Thoma dropped to one knee, hands braced against the veranda railing, his face pale. "I've never felt a quake this strong. My Lord, the estate—"
"Will hold," Ayato said firmly, though his eyes never left Yoimiya's thrashing form. "It's weathered worse."
And through it all, Yoimiya convulsed, her body locked in the grip of the curse, unable to do anything but suffer. Unable to explain that this wasn't natural, that somewhere Klee was being hurt, that someone had already died and more might follow.
Her fingers scrabbled against the wooden planks, nails splintering. Her heels drummed an erratic rhythm against the floor. Every muscle in her body had turned to fire, electricity racing along pathways that weren't meant to carry it.
Thirty seconds. Forty-five. A minute.
"How long can she endure this?" Ayaka's voice cracked.
"I don't know," Ayato admitted, his composure finally showing cracks. "I've never seen anything like—"
A minute and a half. The earthquake intensified, tiles sliding from the roof with sharp cracks.
Two minutes. Two full minutes of hell.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.
The electricity cut off. The earthquake stilled. The world fell silent except for the drip of displaced water and the settling creaks of strained wood.
Yoimiya collapsed sideways onto the veranda, gasping for air like a drowning victim breaking the surface. Her entire body shook uncontrollably, muscles twitching with aftershocks, her lungs burning as she tried to remember how to breathe.
"Yoimiya!" Ayaka was there immediately, hands gentle on her shoulders. "Can you hear me?"
The necklace against her chest was scorching hot, hot enough that Yoimiya could smell her own skin burning. The crystal glowed angry red like a contained sun, pulsing with residual energy that made the air around it shimmer with heat.
"Don't—" Yoimiya croaked, her throat raw from screaming. "Don't touch the—the crystal—"
"We won't," Ayato assured her, kneeling on her other side, his composed mask back in place though his hands trembled slightly. "Thoma, fetch water. And medical supplies."
"Klee," Yoimiya whispered, tears streaming down her face—though whether from pain or grief or fear, she couldn't say. "She's—I think she's unconscious. There was a man, he touched her necklace and he—" She choked on a sob. "He died. I felt him die."
Ayaka's breath caught. "Someone died from touching the necklace?"
"His heart stopped. I felt it stop." Yoimiya's whole body shuddered. "And the earthquake—that happened when Klee lost consciousness. This is—it's so much worse."
"The necklaces are linked," Ayato said. His voice was remarkably calm for someone who'd just witnessed what might as well have been demonic possession. "Sympathy curse. Classic kitsune mischief, though significantly more dangerous than usual. When someone touches either necklace, both wearers experience the pain. Simultaneously."
"Someone died," Yoimiya whispered. "I felt them die. Their heart just... stopped."
The three members of the Yashiro Commission exchanged glances.
"We need to contact Mondstadt," Ayaka said quietly. "Immediately. If Klee experienced the same thing—"
"She did. I know she did. I felt her." Yoimiya tried to sit up, failed, settled for lying on the veranda with her head in Ayaka's lap.
"She's unconscious now. Or maybe worse. I can't tell. The connection is... fuzzy."
Ayato moved to the edge of the veranda and made a subtle gesture. Two Yashiro Commission guards appeared instantly.
"Send word to the Tenryou Commission," he instructed. "Inform them we have a diplomatic emergency involving Mondstadt. Request they contact the Knights of Favonius immediately regarding the welfare of—" He glanced at Yoimiya.
"Klee," she provided weakly. "Her name is Klee. She's eight years old. She's the Spark Knight of the Knights of Favonius. And she's probably dying because Lady Yae thought it would be fun to curse us."
The guards left at a run.
Thoma had disappeared into the house and now returned with blankets and water. "Can you drink?" he asked gently.
Yoimiya tried. Managed a few sips. The water tasted like metal and fear.
"We need to figure out how to break this curse," Ayaka said. "Before it kills you both. Ayato, is there anything in the Commission records about sympathy magic? Previous cases? Precedent?"
"I'll check." But Ayato's expression suggested he already knew the answer. "Though if this is Lady Yae's work, conventional solutions are unlikely to be effective. The Guuji doesn't play games she hasn't already won."
"Breaking a kitsune's curse without permission typically ends badly," he cautioned. "At best, the curse intensifies. At worst—"
"Worse than this?" Yoimiya gestured at herself—still shaking, still barely able to move, still connected to a child in another nation who was suffering for reasons neither of them understood. "What's worse than slowly dying every time someone accidentally touches a necklace?"
Ayato didn't answer.
Because they all knew the answer: the next trigger might be strong enough to kill them both instantly. And there was nothing any of them could do to prevent it.
Somewhere in Liyue, Klee lay unconscious in the arms of strangers.
Here in Inazuma, Yoimiya lay broken in the arms of friends.
And the red crystals at their throats pulsed in perfect synchronization, two cursed hearts beating as one.