Summary: Don't you hate it when some random guy from the future spoils your entire death for you? 

Cahaya wished he had some sort of explanation for this.

Behind him, screams erupted from the living room, followed by the sound of a glass vase shattering on the ground, and the profuse apology from an unfamiliar-familiar voice.

He buried his face into his hands, slouched over in his chair.

"So that's where that vase went," Adult Daun realized.

He had no explanation for this.

For the first time, it wasn't anyone's fault.

It wasn't Cahaya messing up a singular digit in a 100-line code that would alter the course of reality itself, because he was in the kitchen savoring his daily cup of coffee.

It wasn't Daun himself knocking over some ancient artifact that Petir, Tanah and Angin collected over their younger years that would turn their intestines inside out, because he was in Angin's room playing video games with Angin and Api.

It wasn't Angin or Api pissing off some random villain on the streets who decided that they and their loved ones needed to die, because they were with Daun bashing fictional video game characters on a screen somewhere in the house.

So when Duri—who was apparently the adult version of Daun—showed up in their living room, appearing from a hole in the sky and collapsing onto Tanah and Petir, everyone was truly taken aback.

As a matter of fact, the shock was so great that Cahaya would've rather reopened another black hole in his bedroom instead. Gone was the Api they hated and loved, and in his place was some random guy who claimed to be 7 years in the future.

They caused such a commotion that Air willingly stepped foot outside his room, and joined the general public out of his own volition to witness the sheer chaos that was taking place in their already unstable household.

Nobody spoke a word after Duri introduced himself, making himself right at home on their main couch. The six—minus Daun—surrounded him, all watching the man with varying levels of skepticism; some less than others.

Finally, Api took a deep breath, pressing his palms together to gather the courage to break the ice. "Who's your favorite character in Genshin?" he asked.

Everyone stared at him with thinly veiled frustration.

Duri clicked his tongue, eyes rolling in thought.

"It's been years since I played," he admitted. "But I think it's Yaoyao?"

Angin blinked. "Has she been released yet?"

Duri grimaced. "No. Her model's been repurposed for a generic NPC in Liyue."

Api fell to his knees in despair. Angin patted his shoulder in attempt of comfort.

Wisely, Petir ignored the clowns. "What are you doing here, in our time period?" he demanded, arms crossed in disbelief. "Where's the Daun we know?"

Duri waved his hand dismissively. The dumb, happy-go-lucky smile was still a major part of his character, but anyone could tell that it'd matured over time, hiding a hint of wariness beyond the bubbliness.

"He's fine; don't get your panties in a twist. I remember this happening the first time around." He shrugged. "It was quite a fright, too."

"You didn't answer the first question," Angin noticed. "Is it the classical 'can't spoil the future or you'd change it' type of scenario?"

Duri scoffed. "That's not how time works," he confessed. "Ais would know, but he's not here." His eyes drifted over to Air, who was standing between Api and Cahaya. "Gist is, he was once in a time loop of 3 days for 532 times. No matter what he did, the outcome was the same. He only escaped because the perpetrator made the mistake to reveal himself, thinking that Ais was too broken to fight back."

He locked eyes with Air. "He killed him on the spot. Strangled him to death with his bare hands." He turned away, closing his eyes. "Didn't even use his powers."

Air gulped, clutching his whale plushie a little tighter.

The atmosphere noticeably drooped; however Tanah didn't let himself dwell in the broodiness for long. While Api put a hand on Air's shoulder, Tanah asked: "Why are you really here?"

Duri hardly spared a glance at the earth elemental. "Do I need a reason to be here?" He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees, back slouched forward and shoulders sagging in resignation. "Do you need a reason for everything that's gone wrong?"

Tanah frowned. "I—"

"How about that time you tried to kill us all?" Duri cut him off. He looked up, the smile still plastered on his face. Although this time around, it was visibly more disturbed. "You get those urges, don't you? Even now, you're dealing with the devil inside your head, ignoring his voice when he tells you to grab that pair of kitchen scissors to cut our throats open."

Cahaya expected Tanah to refute him, to choke on air from the absurdity then tell him off for spouting off nonsense—but to their morbid surprise, Tanah had turned sheet white, trembling in place as he grabbed his own wrist, bottom lip turning bloodless as he chewed on it.

Cahaya was a detail-oriented person, and he could confidently say that he knew his friends well enough to recognize their minor quirks. This however—this was a first. Never had their leader lost composure as quickly as he had just now.

Dread settled in Cahaya's gut, pooling and piling until its eventual overflow. This was just the beginning, and he had a feeling that this was far from over.

"You're singing a different tune now," Duri continued, "but you'll be dancing with the devil soon enough."

Angin stepped forward, raising his arm to shield Tanah from whatever Duri may say next. However, his actions only painted him as the next target. Duri's eyes settled onto him, a humorless chuckle torn from his chapped lips.

"Always the boundless wind, uncaring of the circumstances or consequences." He sighed. "You were always the carefree one out of all of us."

"Please shut up," Angin whispered.

"You know you'll get bored of us. You know we'll change into people you don't find interesting, because you've known us all your life and there's nothing new to find."

"That's not true," Angin rasped, threading the lines of desperation.

"Was it fun, Angin? Were we fun while we lasted?"

"I'm not leaving anyone!" He screamed, shutting Duri up for a few moments.

He was only given a moment's reprieve, before Duri shook his head in disappointment. The silence was far more devastating.

This was Daun, wasn't it? Daun, just older. What had happened, for a kind and innocent boy to be so cruel?

"Angin, Tanah... From the original three, I'm missing someone, aren't I?" Duri took his attention off Angin, instead staring straight past his shoulder, and directly into Petir's eyes.

Petir, who'd been standing beside Tanah and behind Angin; who'd learned enough from the language of war and violence to know that this was not a fight he wanted to partake him. He was picked out anyway, despite his attempts to not draw attention to himself.

"I almost forgot about you," Duri said in a sing-song voice, tilting his head. "You haven't been around for so long that I forgot you ever existed."

Petir stilled in his place. To his credit, he hardly reacted to the news, but they all knew he was cracking from the inside. His shoulders were squared, prepared for a fight, but the only battle here on out would be a losing one. His eyes were darting around, looking for an exit, yet he remained in place. Whether he was paralyzed by fear or out of curiosity, the line between had blurred beyond recognition.

"Ah, I remember now." Duri struck his palm with a fist. "You never had a second chance to become Halilintar. You wanted to use that name again, didn't you?"

Cahaya felt his stomach drop.

Api covered his mouth with his hand, eyes widened in horror.

Tanah and Angin whipped to Petir, mouth agape.

Air clenched his plushie, forming indents in the fabric.

"What day is it?" Duri looked around, perhaps in search of a calendar. He found none. "March 10th?"

3 days before the three's shared birthday.

The look in Duri's eyes turned far away. "We mourned your death on the day where we should've celebrated your life." He shook his head. "All because he feared that he would return."

A myriad of expressions phased through Petir's face. Fear, disbelief, confusion—then came the realization, and collapse. He raised his shaky hands, fingers trembling as not gold, but red electricity sparked in his fingertips.

"Petir is going to die in three days?" Tanah demanded, having forgotten his own dilemma and choosing to focus on the life of the friend he knew since they were in diapers. "Why?"

Duri clicked his tongue. "He's right there, isn't he?" he asked lieu of an answer. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"And how would he know?" Angin argued. "How can we be sure that you're not a fake, some convoluted plot?"

Duri remained silent, but he wasn't backing down. His gaze remained glued on the pair, darting between them like a tennis ball bouncing between courts, observing their every move with something almost akin to amusement.

"You two." Petir finally found his voice, clamping his hand around their shoulders. His face had visibly darkened, and how he managed to keep his calm was a complete mystery. "Stop it."

They turned to him as if he'd grown two heads. "Stop?" Angin demanded. "He literally just said you're going to die in three fucking days!"

"He could be lying," Tanah salvaged. "Angin, you could be onto something. Maybe this is some ploy made to mess with our heads and divide us from the inside. We made a lot of enemies, right? It's not out of the question that one of them found a way to—"

Cahaya stepped forward. "If you're who you claimed to be," he said, "then tell us the truth. Why are you here? Why reveal us a future that has yet to happen?"

"I said it before," Duri rebutted, "not everything needs to have a reason. Why do you slave away in textbooks and science? Why did we become friends and move in together? Because we wanted to."

"So basically, you're telling us our inevitable fates because you felt like it," Petir snarled through grit teeth.

Duri shrugged, looking away. "When you put it that way, I suppose so."

He was lying.

Out of everyone here, Cahaya knew Daun the best. While Tanah, Petir and Angin could read each other like the back of their palms, he could do the same to Daun, and Api and Air to one another.

No matter how old he's gotten, Daun was still a shitty liar. He had a reason for being here, but...

He's not lying about anything else.

"I don't believe you," Api snapped. "None of that is going to happen. Air's going to be free from any time-voodoo; Tanah's not going to go berserk; Angin's not abandoning anyone; and Petir's not going to end up six feet under before this week even ends!"

Cahaya glanced at Api. Did he know Daun well, or was this plain denial at play?

"Of course," Duri agreed, much to their disbelief. "None of that is going to happen—not yet, at least."

Air frowned. "What?"

Duri pointed at Petir. "Unless he dies." He clicked his tongue, then raised both fingers to Tanah and Angin. "Unless these two betray each other." He gestured towards the rest of them with a palm. "Unless you all become collateral, swept up and split into two opposing sides."

He turned to Api. "Do you know who trapped Ais in that hell? Do you know who was the one that drove him to madness?" he asked him, accusatory. "Look inside the mirror, Api. Stare into your eyes and recognize the abyss that is your soul."

Air whirled to his twin, all the blood draining from his face. When Api spun to face him, trying to tell him that it's all a lie, I'd never do that to you—he froze in place, paralyzed by the reality that Air had stepped away from him in fear.

Please, was left unsaid, melting away from his lips before he even had the chance to apologize for a sin that has yet to pass. That's not me, but it is. How do I right a wrong I haven't done?

"Those are some bold claims," Tanah defended them despite his shaky voice. "If you really are Daun, then you should know that they would never hurt each other."

"Times change," was all Duri had to say, "and so do people."

The scariest thing was that Cahaya found himself agreeing with the maniacal adult.

There has to be a way to fix all this. What was the first domino that fell? Petir's death. If they could prevent it from happening, if Petir could live past his own birthday—then...

Would it fix it? Would it even work? Time was a tricky thing. Even if Petir survived a day, who's to say their reality wouldn't rectify its own negligence? Would he have to live in fear for the rest of his life after? If he was really destined to a mortal end, then there's no use even trying. Was that fate? Were their fates already predetermined? Were they mere pawns in the face of time?

"There's no use overthinking, Cahaya. We all will meet our ends."

Cahaya looked up to see Duri staring straight at him. Duri's body was covered in a white glow, but he could care less about the light show as his attention was hooked onto his own fate.

"For you, you had one final chance to see the sun. Your final seconds in complete silence and darkness, lit up by a star as your mind fails you when you need it most.

"Compared to the others, that's a rather peaceful end, don't you think?"

Duri burst into a beacon of bright light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. Heat emanated from the sofa in waves, washing over them like an overheated weighted blanket.

When the light died down, all that was left of Duri was a charred spot in the couch, and the Daun they knew, looking between a mixture of mortified and confused.

"Guys?" Daun peeped up, scared. "Is that you—?"

He was cut off when a familiar-looking sword impaled the cushion beside him, mere inches away from his heart. Cotton and soot flew everywhere, coating the room in a dark fog.

Daun flinched away from the sword, glancing helplessly at Petir. "Petir?" he squeaked, trembling. "Why—"

"Shut up!" Petir screamed, pushing past Tanah and Angin. "I'm not dealing with you right now!"

He stormed out of the living room and up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door resonated through the house.

Paralyzed with confusion, Daun turned to the others for help, but all he got were awkward shuffles and terrified glances snuck towards him.

Angin dismissed himself, waving away Daun's questions in a careless manner, before leaving the house and taking off in a gust of wind.

Tanah tried to remain polite, nodding and forcing a stiff smile on his face, but he dodged all of the questions and locked himself in his room straight after.

Api and Air didn't even look at Daun. They were threading awkwardly, unsure of their standing with each other, before they parted ways and left each the other to their own devices.

That left Daun alone in the living room, with only Cahaya as his company.

Daun was reduced to tears, a sobbing mess as the friends he grew to love all left him one by one.

"Cahaya?" he whimpered, trying to wipe the tears away but they kept flowing. "Please—what... happened...? The future... it's all so..."

Cahaya chewed on his lower lip.

Daun sniffled and choked.

Cahaya opened his mouth for an answer—

"I don't want to die—not like this..."

"Leaving my friends? Would I? Would I really...?"

"I—I gave in? I lost? I... lost...?"

"Api wouldn't... he wouldn't do that to me. I can't... I can't kill him, can I?"

"I'll become a monster...? I... is that really me?"

Cahaya shut his mouth.

Daun sobbed harder.

Cahaya walked away.

Daun's lone sobs echoed in the empty room.