Elysian Realm/Items

The central ring seems to have been made using some special material, such that even if a single twilight ray is reflected on it, it will seem like the badge is emitting a stream of flames.
There seems to be words carved on the back of this item, but they are now illegible. There are fine scratches all around it, which seems rather unusual.
Once upon a time, each new member of The MOTHs was given one such unique badge, taking their oath of duty under light akin to the driving rain.
After a "certain point", however, this practice was discontinued abruptly. As such, even some MANTIS did not have a badge of their own, even until the end.

Thanks to the advanced technology of the Previous Era, this cube does not merely allow people to see their blue planet, but to record "every moment" on earth at any given time.
By zooming this hologram in and out, every shifting cloud, every changing hue, every smile on every face... all these things can be seen clearly.
As the ancients used to say, "this is our home, and this is us". Everyone who has ever lived has lived upon this planet. It may be a small speck of dust amidst the vast universe, but similarly, our very lives would be but an infinitesimal sacrifice in its defense and in the defense of the civilizations that have thrived here across generations.

"1. Keep calm and don't lose hope."
"2. Look for an emergency call button nearby. Press and rotate it 45 degrees until you hear a clack."
"3. Wait for rescue in a sturdy sheltered area. Help will usually arrive in 10 minutes, after which you will be evacuated to a safe zone."
...
...
"Finally, good luck."

These are lies, Mobius. You shouldn't give them false hope.
—Well, what do you propose I tell them, then? That they should be good kids, stay where they are while the Honkai manifest, and wait to die?
—...
—Anyway, even if this is false hope... I believe that it will bring about the miracle we wish for far better than despair ever could...

While ancient, this canteen has been kept very clean. It also seems that someone often scrubbed its surface.
The liquids within have long dried up. Even breathing deeply of its contents elicits no alcoholic scent.
On the other hand, the faint smell of disinfectant constantly wafts off the outer surface of the canteen, no matter how hard one scrubs it.
Not that the two owners of this canteen ever realized this, of course — for them, the pungence of disinfectant was part of everyday life.

Despite the tight seal that the Previous Era's Honkai suppression device has laid over this container, you can still see the appalling purple Honkai lines through the transparent casing.
The concentration of Honkai within these soil samples is hard to imagine. But for those who collected them, the resentment, the hatred... Everything within these earthen clumps was worth their weight in gold. Compared to that, a little dangerous Honkai energy must have seemed almost insignificant by comparison...

Its origins are buried in the dust of the past.
Those who were lucky enough to see that place with their own eyes were unable to describe it.
Thousands of threads intersect here once more. The sinner of the past seeks to bind themself this way.
...
This is the Deep. Without guidance, one is either unable to enter or unable to return.

One day, you will lead her to this church...
You will bring her... to me.

This flame still smolders beneath the transparent layer of ice. For this is Shamash's undying fire, that burns without end.
This is a remnant of Kevin's first use of Shamash Assault. The Honkai Beasts running amok across the city were incinerated utterly, but the city itself also became a pyre. When the sun rose again over the horizon, as flames that had yet to burn the city ruins out flickered in the wind, he stood amidst the debris, repeating one line over and over. It was a memorial for the fallen, but more than that, it was a credo he repeated to himself.
"Humanity shall defeat the Honkai."

—That wasn't your fault, Kevin. Those people were lost to us from the beginning, but at least you prevented an even greater disaster.
—Even so, this is a burden I must shoulder. I must carry all these sins.

She was not drawn to the noble, dazzling light, nor was she drunk on the dreams that the delicacy brought.
It was just that this goblet of wine caused her to remember the past—
A golden, prosperous age, a time as sweet as ambrosia.

—Eden, you're drunk.
—Hah, maybe... But I like it this way.

Kalpas was unique among the MOTHs in his ability to stand firm amidst endless extermination.
Similarly, none knew why he wore the mask. Quite a few people worked up the courage to ask him why to his face, but not one of them ever received a reply.
Of course, this man, who slowly came to possess the heart of a beast, would not open his mouth to reply. Yet when he hears those questions, his mind would react instinctively.
If people had the power to read thoughts, they would have seen that endless darkness... and the Kalpas that yet existed as a "concept."

—Oh, I get it. This is the only thing that can remind you that you don't have to wreck everything in your path.
—Shut it.

In truth, this was but one of the withered worlds viewed through the 2nd Divine Key, Cosmic Juggernaut.
The leaf's veins tell the tale of that world's struggles and its final sigh of futility.

—I don't get why you waste the effort gathering those leaves — won't they just wither by themselves anyway, even if you just leave them be?
—That may be so. But to me, the act of watching over them and witnessing their ends itself has meaning.

When Sakura still walked the earth as an assassin, people often failed to notice her presence altogether. As for tales concerning her, they never seemed as much like the deeds of a person than some inevitable natural phenomenon.
For example, if a person became her target, the last thing they saw on this earth would be the scene of just such a flower slowly falling to the earth before their eyes.
The flower would already appear dead and gloomy when they first saw it.
And when the bloom hit the ground, so too would blood spray upon it without a moment's delay.

—This isn't your best habit, Sakura.
—Mm. Still, they ought to know what they died for.

Evolution is innate to all beings. For personal survival and to ensure the continuation of the race, living creatures must continue to evolve to steal another breath in their struggle against the world.
But the organism within this vessel is not something you could place anywhere in evolutionary history. Indeed, it might not even be called a living creature, for nothing living could be this hideous. It does not belong to this world... Even if it could keep a certain race's flame of hope alive a little while longer.

—You shouldn't have crossed that line, Mobius[sic][sic]Expected: .
—Ahahah... Haven't you noticed, Su?
—We all crossed over to the other side long ago.

Hua is standing in this photograph next to a red-haired woman. The background is draped in fog and rain, making it hard to see their expressions. Most of the photo has become blurred and faded other than Hua, as though it was left in a far-too-moist space for too long.
Given the technology available then, fixing this photo wouldn't have been hard. Yet Hua never did. Or perhaps it might be better to say that she could never find a way to convince herself that this had any meaning.
She no longer remembered what happened the day this photo was taken, what the redhead had said, or how she had replied.
Yet, even so, she kept it by her side, and it became a source of strength for her on many an occasion.

—Hua, don't you ever smile, even in photos? I mean, just look at ▇▇▇. She's smiling so happily!
—...Um, did you just... say someone's name?

She loved humanity.
But she did not love them for the one, but instead for the whole.
Indeed, this maiden always loved humanity: whether beautiful or ugly, good or evil, right or wrong, her love had never changed — and it never would.
It would remain as lovely as this rose, and as timeless as this crystal.

—Elysia... How did you manage to use Honkai in this way?
—Hehe, it's a secret~ Still, if you really want to know, Doctor, it's not as if I can't tell you~

Why does life begin with crying?
Perhaps it's the knowledge that this life will come to an end.
That end called death, waiting for us all.
Eventually and without exception, we must all die.

May you know peace and tranquility.
May you be free from suffering and sin.
May this... bear my blood in your place.

Such magic is simply tricks and illusions.
Performers do everything they can to distract the audience from the truth hidden in plain sight.
This is known as misdirection.
But magic is and has always been a popular form of performance.
The audience knows that is a lie created by words and sleight of hand, yet they are still hopelessly attracted to it.
That is because... what they want is but an instantaneous miracle.
Yes, a miracle woven out of lies, and nothing more.

... that's your cue, Vill-V.
... Alright. I'm... no, we're gonna give the world a miracle to remember!

The boy was no musician, but like his peers, he thought he should pick up an instrument.
Maybe guitar or harmonica... something cool to play.
Only... he had difficulty speaking his mind, and he feared being caught practicing clumsily.
And so, he put off practicing an instrument.
That is until a girl found out his secret.
Until she gave him the last gift between them.
A harmonica.

Dystopia...

The girl painting the world was once confined.
There, all things withered and only darkness thrived.
However... the girl's brush never stopped.
No one knows what colors she saw in the utter darkness...
To make that prison a paradise on the canvas.

You can ask me for anything in return... Griseo. I... will do my best for you.
... MEI, can you come a bit closer? I want to see... your color.

Pardofelis loves cats.
But after the Meta-Morph surgery, cats no longer welcomed her.
Animals are hard-wired to ostracize outliers; It is the same for people as it is for cats.
Silver vine, wheatgrass, catnip... She used every trick in the book and still no cat would even come close.
"The more I love something, the more it slips away."
She told herself she was not the only one, and that was how she comforted herself.
The more we want it, care about it, and want to hold on to it...
Ironically, it is often those very things that end up slipping through our fingers.

Huh... Can? Pardo, are you hungry?
Not really. Can... how should I put it... it's more like my dream... or my wish.

The color scheme and pattern of this cufflink are very similar to the emblem of a certain famous educational institution. Though its edges have been burned black, it still largely remains in good condition, and it remains evident that this is one of Kevin's mementos from his school-days.
Many of Kevin's personal effects were either lost to the fires of war or turned to ash by his use of Shamash, though he did not particularly mourn their loss.
But when he discovered this cufflink in a corner of his clothes cupboard, he did not immediately throw it in the trash. Instead, he looked at it for a good long while, before returning it to the place where he'd found it. Perhaps even he did not realize it, but those days in school, now gone and never to return, had a far larger place in his heart than he imagined.

—I didn't think that you'd keep this. When we first entered school, you mentioned that you liked this particular design. You said it went well with the uniform.
—I don't remember I ever said that.

That passage was taken from a folk song in her hometown, with the lyrics largely meaning "may time remain here forever". The distant curtain call and the audience's enthusiastic cheers can still be heard in the background.
There was once when the audience could not bear to disperse even after the concert was over and the curtain had fallen, shouting her name passionately. Listening to the hue and cry outside, Eden recorded this song with a simple device from behind the curtain.

—Eden, that performance ended long ago. That... era ended long ago.
—No. I'm still here. Those memories, the remnants of that light... They are all still here.

Those restraints were put on that man by his comrades.
Even though the chains had long since broken, the restraints remained.
Bearing them, he had stepped onto countless battlefields.
Yet it was not nearly enough.
He craved for endless war, thirsted for a chance to vent his endless rage.
The man knew that this inner fire would one day consume him.
But even so, he would break all the chains that bound him.
He would step onto the final battlefield, he would burn the end of all things.

—Hmph, woman... you really think you can control me with your make-believe nonsense?
—The restraints are not meant to control you. They are merely a yoke to deter deeper lunacies before new sins are committed.
—...Speak like a normal person or shut up.

This folder records Su's countless medical records of people who suffered from Honkai-related ailments. Although electronic records were far more convenient and common, he preferred to use paper. To him, these papers did not just represent data and information concerning the patients, but it also represented the weight of lives once lived.
Even after having entered a Sanctuary, he would keep these records close at hand, and he would also put the letter that Dr. MEI had given him in there.
He was never willing to open that letter — "Project: Regulator."

—Why... are you giving this to me?
—Because you're the only one who has kept those... things that the rest of us have discarded.

Only under specific circumstances might people see this flower on Sakura's tsuba. Much like her swift swordsmanship, such flowers are ever so transient.
When Sakura draws her sword, the cherry blossom is sent flying into the air by the speed of her blade, and it will not suffer a single blemish till Frozen Naraka is re-sheathed, and it lands on its former perch — save only for a new coat of scarlet red it wears.
This is indeed a sight of wonder. It is just a shame that apart from that glorious deputy, few who saw this flower would ever see the next dawn.

—D-Don't come any closer... Put that thing down! Wh-What do you do in the MOTHs, anyway!?
—I "clean up". I clean up all sins.

Her old life had passed away.
She regretted nothing, for this was the path she chose. She was not saddened, for this was the fruit she had sought.
New life had been born.
It had opened its eyes, its five senses groping about this ancient world.
It had shed its juvenile scales, feeling the rapture of this new life once more.
At this moment, the her of old was dead. In her place, it had obtained new life.

—Ah... How hideous, yet so beautiful...
—This is me... This is... the new humanity...

To many who know what truly went on, the hilt of this weapon was far more dangerous than facing the edge of its blade. Even so, this could still have been considered one of the more merciful ways in which the MOTHs dealt with the Honkai.
Countless warriors had their wings clipped here, and this broken blade was their regret and tragic desire.
But a cruel test is also the beginning of a new life. A young maiden would derive from it the will to go on living — to grasp the answers that she never had before.
Her fighting spirit and defiance would become primordial wings, allowing her to soar through the skies.

—How curious. Why did it become a pair of gauntlets? If you ask me, you would've looked cooler wielding a sword.
—Um... I'm sorry?

One that does good should be recorded herein.
Should they fall into distress, you should give them a handful of water to drink.
One that sins be recorded herein.
But you should deny them a drink of water.
Unto them should this be said: What you suffer now, you have done unto others.
And only then can you deliver the punishment... and salvation they deserve.

Whoa, Aponia, you really keep a diary?
Hmm... it is not a diary per se. Only things trifles I do not want to forget.

People, from the moment they were born, are trapped in a cage named conventionality.
There will always be someone older telling the younger the whats and hows.
The majority spend their short, mundane lives within the confines of conventionality.
Only few dare to question, defy, or even mock such conventionality.
And only they are able to break free from this cage and truly brave and change the world.
These few... are sometimes hailed as geniuses.
But more often than not, called crazies... or fools.

So, Vill-V... can you tell me what this is all about?
Huh? Tell you? About what? Isn't this what you wanted?
Can you please tell me why the 2nd Divine Key... looks like a train?

Scratches.
A common practice of comparing the hardness of materials.
If A leaves scratches on B, thanthanSic; Expected: then A is harder than B.
Emblem.
A common item issued to commend and memorize.
People often use emblems to commend past honors or to memorize former legends.
What was able to leave so many scratches and even nicks on this emblem...
Must be more solid than those honors and legends.

Even though you're rejoining, you don't want a new emblem?
... No. I can use it to... remind me of a few things.

She uses them to erase. They are her favorite ornaments.
There will always be mistakes when painting.
Maybe an extra stroke here, the wrong color there, or in the end, the painting did not come out right······Sic; Expected: ...
Either way, mistakes happen when painting.
And when it does, she uses the gray feathers to erase the mistakes from the canvas.
Of course, some traces will be left behind.
But for the girl, those traces... do not bother her too much.
They will either fade away, or... become part of her next panting.

If you don't like something... you can just erase it.
...
Hmm? What's wrong, Kosma? Did I... say something wrong?

What is it that luck refers to?
Is good luck simply a bad thing that should have happened but didn't?
If that's the case, what is a bad thing that should have happened?
In other words, before something really happens or results in a disaster, who knows...
What things count as the bad things that should have happened?

Don't sweat it, it's all good! Our luck is a-ok! And besides, this cat here······Sic; Expected: ... has nine lives!
Oh, is that right?
S-Snakey?! Y-Y-Y-You... why did you come here?

Humanity needs a leader.
To lead it forward by absolute will.
No amount of suffering or sacrifice could bend this will, nor will it ever allow change.
Yes, humanity... needs a leader.
A leader as proud and lonely as a hero.
But...

Elysia...

She knew well that one should take all things with them when they pass on to save others from mourning.
She also knew well that she could never do it.
What she left behind was too numerous... they were ubiquitous and perpetual.
So she decided to act willfully one last time.
All that she had seen, all that she had loved, and all that she had left behind...
She willfully compiled them into a book.
What she left behind is no more than a tale.
A story about a bygone era, about the thirteen who never became heroes...
It is a tale as simple as that.

I don't get it, Elysia. What does this mean to you?

This ring, or rather this band, is meant to bind.
Binding the finger, to remind the wearer of what must be done and must not be done.
Binding the mind, to tell the wearer what is right and what is wrong.
Binding fate, to lead the wearer away from the crowd, where attachments and sufferings lie.
And the sins they must bear are also bound within this ring.

*Please* take this ring. It... is part of the Discipline.

It is a piece Eden wrote long ago to bid farewell to a friend.
But by the time that friend parted, the piece was still unfinished.
Time passes too quickly, leaving friendships too short.
LooingLooingSic; Expected: Looking back, the moon and the wine remain, but the flowers and the music... have faded.
The era has already ended, save for a few bird calls.

... Farewell, my friend.

First the minute hand snapped in two without warning, but was soon replaced.
Then the casing broke, cracked as though it was struck by something. It was repaired and given a protective golden case.
Next the movement broke. Perhaps it sat near a magnet for too long, or slammed into things too often... Anyhow, it stopped telling the accurate time.
Even so, it was repaired with an accurate movement.
This pocket watch went on to break many more times, and was repaired many more times.
Until one day, the person repairing it suddenly had an idea.
"What was this watch like before I first repaired it?"
Then no one wanted to repair it again.

Who are you? Who... am I?

It was a murder weapon.
Held by a man to stab another man.
But this man failed.
He failed to kill that man, or rather that monster, he should have killed.
He watched as that monster walked towards him... watched as death intended for that monster came for him.
But he did not meet death.
That monster... no, that masked man only stopped in front of him, and stared at the man who wanted to take his life, like a beast would his prey.
That is all there was... it served as the beginning of a story.

What's your name?
... Emile.
Emile. I'll remember that. Next time, bring a sharper knife.

The tree represents loftiness.
The flowers, Nirvana.
The wise man had broken off the branch in a faraway place as a child, not knowing the moment that encapsulated his fate had come.
It was then he learned the legend told for millennia: When the body of the enlightened withers, the sacred white flowers will bloom.
Every withering and flourishing has been decided, just as the two eras he had experienced and would see. And still, the wise one pondered over the secret path.

This is your Sumeru?
Yes. Remember it well, Kevin. May you... one day see its white flowers bloom.

People have long thought flowers to be beautiful things.
People will often use bouquets to remember the good times.
And use them to signify hope in times of sorrow.
Yes... for most people flowers are a beautiful thing.
But... people are also aware.
Flowers... must eventually wither.
Yes... people have known that from the beginning.

Sakura, why do you only smile when you're alone? Spying on you? Oh no, I was just curious.
Alone...

No one can really define an ideal, even if it's already been realized.
 The boy who once dreamed of traveling among the stars to spread the righteousness he believed in only came to his senses when he was about to choose to escape.
Yes, unlike most, he was full of ambition, no matter the price.
But when hopes become reality, they're no longer ideals, like something to be avoided.
No one can put it into words. For something to be called an ideal, it must remain a desire, unable to be reached.

This is the first time you didn't follow orders, and the first time... you failed to achieve your ideal, right?
It's also the first time... I didn't escape.

What does death really mean?
For an individual, it is the end of everything. Nothing can overcome it and continue to exist.
For a population, it is an ordinary process of life.
Death removes those unfit for the environment, allowing the population to continue evolving.
Extinction of the population is prevented by the death of the individual. Essentially, dying to survive.
On an individual level, this is certainly cruel.
But for the population, this is an insignificant event that occurs at every moment on this planet.
Indeed, death... is actually quite trivial.

So... that's how dying feels like.

Many people think of Griseo as a blank sheet.
She was constantly absorbing the colors of others. With them, she painted thousands of pictures... which would eventually fade away.
This was an everyday routine for Griseo.
So if one were to paint a picture of her, what colors would be used, and what would be painted?
Should the canvas be kept bare in its original form?
No, she knew... she was not a blank sheet. But... what was she then?
She thought about this question long and hard... Perhaps it was the first time she had ever thought about something that concerned herself so seriously.
And the answer to that question is the first of the three self-portraits.
Yes, the girl named Griseo... had been dyed countless colors, but none left its mark.
For she was not a blank sheet, but a starry sky.
Even with shooting stars streaking cross, the starry sky is boundless and pure.

Griseo... you said this is a self-portrait?
Yes.
But... I don't see you anywhere.
Pardo, you can't see me? I'm right... there.

That was Hua's first time away from home, her first time having friends, and her first time getting close to the world.
It was also her last.
She believed she was different from all her companions, in that she did not watch everything she had fade away, as she had little to begin with.
She always tried her hardest to gain something, only to lose it immediately after.
Over the years, whenever she began doing morning exercise, she would recall the faces in her hometown that greeted her.
Yet... home can be too faraway to reach in one life.

Oh? Hua... are you going somewhere?
... Maybe.

Every key has its lock.
Faithfully waiting for the one holding the key to retrieve what it protects... that is what a lock doessdoessSic; Expected: does.
Of course, not all good things come to those who wait.
This is true for people, and probably true for locks as well.

Well... see you later.

She knew that she was fated for that thorny path.
But she also saw the nameless flowers that bloomed among the bramble bushes.
Those flowers were ever so beautiful, to the point where she would often forget the prick of their thorns.
She had walked that road.
And the roads that she once walked were then transformed into vistas of paradise.

—Now, our story has come to an end.
—It is your turn to continue writing it.

A shining silver coin with something resembling a cat's paw printed on it.
Clearly, this is not some currency that once circulated somewhere in the world.
That in spite, it is being used as a sort of special currency here.
This is because it shines forever, and she just so happens to like all shiny things.

The insignia that the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era wore.
The traces that seem like burn marks on these badges are the very sign that these people sought the flame.
Each and every one of them once undertook that same journey.
As for their end, it is also plain to see.

A crystal key that looks like a work of art: beauteous, pure, and eternal.
But keys are not just for show — they each have a door to somewhere that they are fated to open.
This flawless crystal key exists for that same purpose.

A stone without any weight, as if it were a mere illusion.
The colors of such stones are not uniform. They constantly ebb, flow, and blend together.
But it is said that at certain times, the color of these stones will completely settle.
At such moments, one stone will become abnormally heavy, far too heavy to be held by an ordinary person.

Faint embers stored within a container akin to a Remembrance Vessel. Their contents are the shards of heroes' memories.
If you place more embers into the Vessel, the champions of the Previous Era may be willing to come forth and speak about their memories.
That era may have passed away long ago, but the embers left behind have yet to fade.
Those who chase the flame will continue to pursue it, and in the end, they will reach a future that no one has before.