Raizen didn't breathe for a moment.
Elin.
Sky Sovereign.
The words hung between them, heavier than the stone under his boots.
He searched her face, waiting for something else. A joke. A correction. Some sign that she was messing with him. Anything that could put him at ease.
Nothing came.
Her eyes stayed steady. A little amused. Very serious underneath.
His mind threw images at him.
The ruined plaque in the Sky Domain. Claw marks tearing through frame and wall. Atman's stories, his tone when he had said her name - half respect, half warning.
Do not attempt to reconstruct the pattern.
And now she was literally just standing here, hair and clothes still dripping from the waterfall, barefoot on a dragon platform, talking to him like they had met at a tea stall.
Words tried to line up.
None of them made it out of his mouth.
She watched him, head tilted slightly.
"You look like someone just threw up!" she joyfully said. "You alright there?"
Raizen blinked.
