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admiringlove · 3 years ago

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vii; frost, sparks, and flames.

summary. what do you do when someone whom you love the most in this world betrays you? hurt them back just as much, would be kaeya’s usual answer. but is that what he does, really?

pairing. kaeya alberich x gn! reader.

warnings. physical fighting; swearing; angst; injury; in-game spoilers.

word count. 3.5k.

navigation. previous, masterlist, next.

author’s note. watch me break people’s hearts and smile like a disney villain :D

When someone who cares for you deeply—or at least, you thought they did—tells you that it was all a facade from the very beginning, what do you do?

When you care about someone to the point where you would do anything for them; when everything leads up to betrayal, what do you do? Everything leading up to this moment; every choice, every sentence, every word, every action was thought out. Not one bit was done out of their own volition, but because they were ordered to. What do you do then?

Kaeya whimpers, almost, as he looks to you. His eye travels back and forth between yours, which only look at him in shame. Your lips are sealed, tightly in a straight line as your hands stay by your side, clenched as he waits for something.

Anything.

Your eyes blink at him slowly as the letter in his hand falls to the ground. He scoffs now, as he feels anger bubble in his veins. His eye is widened as he looks over at Diluc, "He knew? This whole time?"

You suck in a sharp breath, nodding lightly with your furrowed brows as you meet his gaze. Diluc steps up, an arm raised as a way of calming Kaeya down as he says, "Kaeya-"

Kaeya's mind takes him back to the time when Master Crepus died, and the way he'd come to Diluc in tears babbling out the truth before the guilt ate away at him. He remembers the way Diluc took out his weapon and pushed Kaeya away, telling him he wasn't his brother anymore. That he couldn't trust him anymore. Kaeya had unsheathed his sword, asking Diluc to stop. To not be angry and listen—but that's just it, isn't it? Diluc hadn’t listened. In his eyes, Kaeya was an enemy back then. Immediately, Diluc swung his claymore at Kaeya, who'd fallen down as his skin seared with blisters. Kaeya'd coughed as the rain pattered away at his body, reaching for his sword which had dropped only a few inches away from his palm. And as soon as he picked it up and stood, a glow followed from the hilt of his sword to his eyes—it was an ice blue, and then a Vision appeared in his other hand that he could only stare at with the utmost hatred. Diluc had sneered at him, telling him to get up and fight. Which he did, but before he could hurt his own brother anymore, he'd only frozen him as much as he could before mumbling out a broken apology and leaving.

Then, in the middle of the night, Kaeya had shown up at your door. He'd quite literally fallen onto your arms when you'd opened the door, completely wet from the rain as his consciousness almost faded away. The Vision fell from his palms and onto the floor and you could only stare at him in absolute horror as you patched up his wounds. He wouldn't tell you why they fought, and just simply sat there at the edge of your bathtub as you rolled bandages around his forearm, telling him to rest for a while and not move too much. You'd taken him to the Church the very next morning, making up a lie about a Pyro Abyss Mage attacking him as Barbara took over from there. Kaeya had given you a grateful smile as Barbara dragged him inside so she could treat his gashes. You’d mouthed him a “take care” in return.

That very afternoon, as you went into Jean's Office to hand her a report you'd been working on, you watched Diluc sign his resignation papers from the Ordo Favonius. You'd gasped as his eyes met yours, and you left abruptly, not wanting to create a scene. When Diluc came out of Jean's Office, you'd questioned him on why he would do such a thing, which only led to him telling you about how the Knights were going to give the credit of killing Ursa the Drake to Dottore, of the Fatui, to form a stronger alliance.

"Something about the citizens of Monstadt losing faith in the Ordo Favonius if they found out my father was the one who saved them," Diluc mumbled before nudging your arm off his and leaving. You could only watch as Diluc walked away.

Later that week, you'd told him about yourself during a visit to the tavern. It was almost empty, only one or two people were left, and they too, were completely inebriated. Diluc wasn't surprised at all, saying something like how you were always protective of Kaeya and that he could already guess. That was probably the only time you'd seen Diluc drunk, taking him to your place just before the break of dawn so nobody would see him. Kaeya came to know Diluc had cut off all ties with the Knights about a week later, after his injuries had healed, then would end up going to the tavern again and again. Sometimes, to see how Diluc was doing. And others, just to drown in alcohol to make himself feel better for the night.

"Kaeya, if you would just listen-"

"No," he says, his voice eerily quiet, "I won't."

You swallow a bit of air, and Kaeya can see your throat move. His own Adam's apple bobbed as his hand reaches for the hilt of his sword, quickly pulling it out and pointing it at you, "I won't. Because you betrayed me."

Your eyes widen as you try to muster out something to him. Anything—anything that will make him listen. You're desperate now, but all you can do is look into his eye and hope he understands. Your voice breaks as you step closer to him, hands held in front of you, palms up for him to hold, "Kaeya, just please. Put the sword down."

He's stubborn. He always has been. Kaeya even takes pride in that fact. He juts his lip, pointing the sword's tip to your neck as he almost whispers, "Don't take another step forward, [Y/N]."

He's reminded of the time when you'd dragged him out of the tavern in the mid-afternoon. It was sometime after the whole Diluc-left-the-Knights fiasco, and he would hole up in the tavern from time to time. He wasn't drunk this time around—no, he was only a few drinks in when you busted through the door and grabbed his arm. You threw a pouch of Mora for Charles to catch whilst you dragged Kaeya out the door(who persisted as if his life was ending), "Thanks, Charles, I'll take it from here!"

"Let go of my arm!" Kaeya glowered, shaking his arm out of your grip. You huffed, grabbing it again as he objected, "Hey, you can't do this-"

"Shush," you mumbled, walking him straight outside the gates of the city. He'd been bumbling out protests this whole time, some things along the lines of "Where are you taking me?", or "I have documents to file back at the Headquarters!", or, "Let me go!". You didn't let out a single word, simply letting go of his arm only when you were a little far away from the gates and near flat ground. Kaeya had asked you what you were doing. And just then, you'd pulled out your sword pointing it at his neck, "Kaeya, I challenge you to a duel."

He had told you to stop joking around like children until you said you weren't. He'd stepped away, turning his back on you as he began to walk towards the gates again until you yelled, "Scaredy-cat!", which obviously was a blow to his ego. Almost he uncovered his sword, kicking it up into the air as he took a stance, "Don't call me that."

He shakes himself out of his thoughts as he sees Diluc pull you back. And suddenly, all Kaeya can see is a claymore held out in front of him as you stand back, watching with teary eyes and sobs escaping your lips ever-so-often. He scoffs, "Of course you need my own brother to protect you, [Y/N]."

"If you would just listen to them then I wouldn't be in this position," Diluc says, his tone awfully calm. Kaeya's voice lowers now, directed to the red-haired man as he says, "Did you? Did you listen to me when I needed you to?"

Diluc's eyes widen now as Kaeya makes the first blow towards him, pushing with as much force as he can so he can get to you. You're telling them to stop, to not fight, but Kaeya can't hear you at the moment. You're white noise as he's faced with Diluc's grunts. Diluc missteps, falling onto the sofa as Kaeya stays put, pushing as much as he can. He uses his Vision to freeze Diluc's hands as he says, "Don't poke your nose into something that doesn't concern you."

"It does concern me. You're my brother and they're my best friend," Diluc mutters back. Kaeya's almost taken aback, but before his emotions can get the best of him, he recovers. He replies with a jeer, "You said I wasn't your brother anymore. You were right. I never was."

("Diluc, I'm your brother, if you would just listen-"

"No," comes a low voice from the claymore wielder as he closes the door to the manor behind him. Kaeya's eyes widen as he steps backward. Diluc pushes him now, with both arms and that too, harshly, "No, you're not. You're not my brother. You never were."

He then pulls his claymore out, as Kaeya splutters, “Diluc, what- put that back.”

Kaeya takes his sword out, only to protect himself just in case things get nasty when Diluc says, “I can’t trust you anymore.”

“Yes, you can, if you would stop assuming things and just listen to what I have to say-”

But he doesn’t. He does the absolute opposite and hits Kaeya as hard as he can with his weapon, blistering his skin. Kaeya trips, falling down the stairs with a thud as yelps. He drops onto the grass, his sword clattering beside him. Everything feels quiet against the pattering sound of the storm as he blinks. His cheek is pressed against the ground as he hears Diluc’s footsteps descend down the stairs. The rain becomes heavier now, falling against his body and soothing the burns on his skin, but harsh enough that it feels like a thousand needles poking his skin. The pain is unbearable, but he has to make Diluc understand. He has to let him know that no matter what happens, he's always going to be on his side. He has to, so even though there are wounds on his skin implemented by his own brother, he gets up. Grunting, Kaeya picks up his sword as he stands with his other hand in a guarding position. Before he can say anything, an icy blue glow now appears on his sword, followed by his eyes. Kaeya's hands are cold as he looks down, a Vision falling into his hands from the sky. And suddenly, he feels as if he couldn't possibly hate himself more. He looks up at Diluc, who only tsks and derides, "You're worse than scum, Kaeya. Did all those years really mean nothing to you?"

"That's what I'm trying to get through your thick skull-"

But Diluc doesn't give Kaeya any more time. All he sees is red, and he keeps swinging his claymore until he can't see anything but burns on Kaeya's body. He keeps swinging, and Kaeya keeps blocking and dodging. He doesn't jab at Diluc even once, the only moves he does are to protect himself from getting hurt or to stop Diluc from moving—which he does using his newfound Vision. Kaeya hates the fact that the Cryo Archon chose now of all times to give him his Vision, but he's also sort of thankful because he freezes Diluc just in time before he kills him.

"I-I'm sorry," he sputters out, placing the sword back in its sheath, "I'm so sorry, but I have to go."

And Kaeya leaves, buckling the Vision onto his belt. His mind has only one destination, and it's you.)

Diluc uses his Vision this time, burning through Kaeya's skin as his claymore comes into contact with his shoulder. Kaeya yelps, it's not too loud, but you hear it. Diluc gets enough time to stand up from the sofa as he kicks the coffee table to the slide, the contents of it falling onto the ground with a thud. You watch the two of them in panic, too scared to step in because your Vision hurt either of them really badly.

"Stop!" seems to be the only thing coming out of your mouth other than their names. The scene feels all too familiar; whenever the three of you fight like this, someone ends up getting hurt seriously—last time it was Kaeya, and this time it might be Diluc. Last time, it was Diluc who was blinded by rage and betrayal. Enough to bring his own brother to the brink of collapse. This time, it’s Kaeya. You keep telling Diluc to back away, but he wouldn't listen. Neither of them does.

(You're sipping on chamomile tea when two heavy knocks jolt you out of your trance. The weather was too stormy for anyone to be outside, really, which is why Jean had told everyone to go home and rest for the night. A few higher-ranked officers stayed back at the Headquarters, choosing to spend the night there working. You'd opted to take a few documents home with you before it had started to rain.

Your pupils dilate when you open the door, immediately met with someone heavier than you falling into your arms. Within a blink, you can tell it's Kaeya as you help him stand against the door steadily. There are burns scattered all across his body, many gashes and blood dripping from more places than you can count. He's shivering, and there's ice covering the more serious injuries. Your heart drops as you brush out the water and icicles from his face.

Something falls out of his hands, and you follow his line of sight until you're met with a Cryo Vision. It's staring back at you, along with Kaeya and his half-lidded eyes. Before you have time to process anything, you wrap his arm around you and lead him to the bathroom so you can get him cleaned up. However tired he is, he still watches you undress him. Every grimace, every furrow of the eyebrows, every pursing of your lips as you trace each wound carefully. You pull out the first-aid kit, taking out the alcohol and a bit of cotton as you gently dab it on his wounds. He winces almost immediately, but your words of affection seem to stop him from thinking about the pain. His mind was racing until he had gotten here, but he seemed to be at peace for some reason.

It was probably you that was causing it, anyway.

"Care to tell me what happened?" you ask softly, "Did you go on another nightly escapade?"

Kaeya swallows the lump in his throat as you look at him expectantly. You finish stitching his last wound as he mumbles something, but you don't quite hear him, "Pardon?"

"Diluc. It was Diluc," Kaeya manages to say it, processing his own words in his mind. His own brother did this to him; he couldn't believe it either. He was only trying to tell Diluc that he was never going to side with the Abyss or Khaen'riah, come what may, but Diluc didn't even take the time to hear what he had to say. He grunts in pain as you clean his wounds once again, "He hates me."

"I'm sure he doesn't. It's probably a misunderstanding, anyway. Diluc loved his father, and Master Crepus just passed away. The two of you need time to mourn the loss of your father in your own ways," you reach out to grab the bandages, but Kaeya stops you from doing so. His hands intertwine with yours as you say, "Kaeya-"

"Everything is going to change," he says, his voice laced with fear, "Diluc hates me. With good reason. Maybe one day, you will too, if you find out what I've done."

"Is that so?" you raise an eyebrow. You come closer to him now, and suddenly Kaeya can notice that sitting on your bathroom floor as you almost close the gap between the two of you feels almost sensual, until you let out a whisper, "Why don't you tell me what it is you have done? It could only be so bad."

"No," he grumbles, shifting to make his position more comfortable, "And I hope you never have to find out."

You chuckle as you finally take the bandages into your palms and start wrapping them around his torso first. He can only watch you—the faintest smile of your lips, the tiniest glint in your eye, the small hairs near your hairline falling perfectly without you even trying. You looked beautiful, and the dim yellow light fixating on your face didn't do you justice. The little hums you'd do pleasantly after completing even the smallest of tasks perfectly made his heart jump, and he'd always told himself you could only be his best friend. Nothing more, nothing less. You smile wider now as you look into his eyes, "Let's get you to bed. I'm gonna take you to Barbara tomorrow so she can properly heal you, okay?"

"I don't want people finding out that Dil-"

"They won't. Rest assured.")

Diluc uses his claymore to his advantage, pushing Kaeya up against the wall near the front door. Your eyes widen as you watch Kaeya use his Vision to get out of that position and point his sword at Diluc's neck. He lets out a "hmph!" in triumph before he turns to look at you. But before he can reach you, Diluc pulls him back using the fur coat, slamming Kaeya back against the wall. Kaeya lets out a short cry, and you can't take it anymore, so you pull Diluc off of him. But before you have the chance to say or do anything else, Kaeya's jabbing his sword towards you, and Diluc angles his claymore just in time. The sword inches away from your neck, and the claymore in between, stopping you from getting hurt, "Step. Aside."

"B-But-"

"You're only making it harder, step aside!" Diluc yells as Kaeya overthrows him. Diluc stumbles now, and they continue going at it again—you can only watch, until you see a similar pattern in Kaeya's moves.

(It had been a couple years since Master Crepus passed away. Kaeya had lost almost all hope to reconciling with Diluc, so he'd try to get back at the Abyss with all he's got. You'd come along this time after he had asked for your help.

"So... what did you need me for?" you ask, as the two of you finally stop walking. Kaeya halts before he turns to you and says, "I've been following the Abyss closely for the past few months. Some of their operations have been held here and I found out that an Abyss Herald is currently situated inside. I need you and your Vision so I can get rid of him quicker."

"W-what?" you gathered out, eyes wide as your head turns almost immediately to look at him. He doesn't look back, but only takes in a sharp breath before walking into the ruins. You follow him, as flabbergasted as you are, because you have no other choice.

The two of you encounter Abyss Mages first, along with some monsters here and there. Until you finally come across the Abyss Herald. Kaeya lets you go first, to pose as the distraction until he comes in for the elemental reactions every few seconds. You watch Kaeya as he uses his Vision to distract the Herald—before he misleads him with a swing of his sword upwards, and as the Herald moves upwards to block Kaeya's sword, Kaeya creates a long and sharp icicle using his Vision behind his back, stabbing the Herald right in the upper quadrant of the abdomen. The Abyss uses some sort of portal to slip away just before he dies, and Kaeya looks at you with a small smile planted on his face.

"We did it," he says with a sigh, and you let out a breathy laugh in return, "Drinks on me tonight.")

Kaeya first tries to freeze Diluc with his Vision, stepping back a little as Diluc blocks it. He then smirks, and with a raised eyebrow, Kaeya attacks Diluc near his shoulder with his sword, which is easily blocked too.

What happens next happens faster than Kaeya could blink. He does the same thing he did that day, but it's not Diluc he's stabbing—God, it's worse. It's you.

He can only watch as you make your way to where should've been Diluc bleeding out; Kaeya feels like an outsider, a third person watching the events unfold in front of his very eyes, and he can't do anything to stop it. Because it's too late, he's too late, he doesn't even comprehend that it's you he's hurting until it actually happens. Your eyes stare into his, and Diluc's are widened—everything seems slower as Kaeya immediately stops. His whole world comes to a halt, really.

"I'm sorry," is all you say.

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celestialarchon · 4 years ago

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The Celestial Archon

Chapter One: A Storm of Stars

Genshin Impact x F!reader

In the first chapter, you may find the mystery archon described in a way that doesn’t fit you. That’s okay, it will change to each individual’s own tastes with time. The archon is described a certain way for reasons regarding the story line!

WARNINGS: lots of genshin spoilers, mentions of blood/violence, & mentions of injury.

tag list! @pebblegwn @krexpe @rockinaflock @creation-magician @noythe @weightlessrose @kclremin @vievi @simpinforkirari @red-riots-crocs

Our story began when Mona, the esteemed astrologist made a bold declaration. The stars foretold the return of a mysterious eighth archon. With this information, the most influential people of Mondstat and Liyue set a plan into action. The beloved traveler and his sidekick were quickly dragged into the preparations for the Celestial Archon. Aether and Paimon were looking forward to resting after weeks of hard work but unfortunately were interrupted by a star falling from the heavens. And so, we continue onward with our adventure.

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Aether’s legs were sore, his knees began to buckle as he finally made it to the entrance of dawn winery. He yelped, falling forwards and closed his eyes preparing for the impact. It never came as two sets of hands grasped the boy and steadied him. Diluc, the esteemed owner of Dawn Winery sighed as his brother gently removed the mysterious young woman from Aether’s back. The red headed man scowled as the traveler’s knees buckled once more, catching the now unconscious boy.

The knights of favonious stood outside the winery, watching the two men carry the weakened traveler and mystery lady. With the stars still falling in the distance it was quite a sight to behold. Mona gasped as Kaeya approached, the woman in his arms still still sleeping. Her hair was long and wild, strange silvery tattoos danced on her skin, and her body was frail. Kaeya tried to be gentle with her, holding her bridal style but he could feel her losing strength and the warm blood from a wound staining his shirt.

Noelle rushed forward to remove Aether from Diluc, “My apologies Master Diluc, but this young lady needs a free room immediately.”

Diluc nodded, grimacing at the sight of the wounded woman in his brother’s arms. He pushed the doors to Dawn Winery open, making his way to the nearest guest room. Kaeya followed him and Jean yanked her younger sister along. The room was simple with a bed, night stand, and single chair. Kaeya set the woman down on the bed carefully, and rolled her over to see the back of her top soaked.

“Kaeya, go wash up.” Jean ordered, unsheathing her sword.

Diluc steered his brother out of the room while Jean got to work. With speed and precision, Jean’s sword cut the cloth away from the injury. Her eyes widened and she stepped back as the wound as freed. Barbara peeked around her sister and felt nausea building up. Noelle entered the room to see the two sisters in shock. Jean’s eyes were filled with a mixture of sadness and disgust.

“Did she have wings?” Barbara whispered, eyes never leaving the back of the woman.

“No, this isn’t a tear. Somebody or something did this to her,” Jean gritted her teeth, “they carved it into her.”

Noelle glanced over them to see something incredibly awful. There were two deep and wide gashes starting at her shoulder blades and meeting at her tailbone to make an upside down v symbol. Her breathing was shallow as the air hit the open wound. Barbara made her way to the bedside to infuse the wound with hydro energy and try to help the pain.

“Noelle!” Jean barked, “Find the Alchemists and tell Albedo to set up a direct teleport point here. Bring Sucrose here, we will need all the help we can get.”

Noelle nodded and dashed out the door, nearly colliding with the knight’s librarian. Lisa frowned but ignored the rushed girl and stepped into the room.

“Lisa,” Jean sighed as the woman walked in.

Lisa’s hand found its way to the dandelion knight’s shoulder, “Yes, acting grandmaster?”

“Please send word to Liyue Harbor that we need the aid of their best herbalist right now. This is urgent. You may also inform the adepti and Zhongli of the archon’s arrival but we need aid now.” Jean’s tone was serious, it struck a chord of anxiety in Lisa.

Without a word, Lisa strode out of the room and began to do as she was asked. Barbara continued to ease the pain of the sky goddess but grew more worried each second. The wound was infected. Sucrose burst in soon after, tears forming at the sight before her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Liyue Harbor’s esteemed top herbalist arrived with a small zombie girl. Together, the best healers from both countries began to work hard. They poured all their energy into their work and successfully removed the infection. By the time the sun began to come up, the wound was rapid healed but scarred terribly.

Though morning approached, the temporary residents of Dawn Winery found themselves crawling into bed to get some rest. Jean didn’t want to leave the eight archon’s side but was convinced to by her loving sister. The healers slept all day and all night long, missing the arrival of Liyue’s highest regarded people and adepti. Not a single soul dared to peak at the mysterious goddess as she slept, in fear of interrupting her much needed peace.

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24 Hours had passed since the arrival of the eighth archon. The herbalists and knights began to wake finally as morning approached. Unfortunately, when they went to check on the strange woman and her injuries, the room was empty. Dread set over Dawn Winery with the goddess of the stars missing once more.

Noon soon came to pass but there was no sign of the Celestial Archon. Everyone had split up to search for her but had no luck. Aether was frustrated and panicked as he fell onto the grass. Suddenly a large gust of wind blew him over, Paimon clutched to his hair as a winged blue beast shot across their line of vision.

“Dvalin?” Venti stood abruptly, “Could it be..”

Realization hit Aether, “Let’s go! We need to follow him!”

Aether, Venti, Kaeya, and Lisa trailed behind the dragon. Paimon screamed at them to slow down but they were too focused to care. Finally, out of breath, they stopped. Dvalin had landed on the edge of a cliff, his head leaned down to press his snout against the cheek of a beautiful woman. Her hair was still long and wild but not unkempt. Her eyes shone bright like stars and her skin seemed to glow under the sunlight. Aether was awestruck. Was that really the same person he rescued only a day before?

The wind carried her laughter as the majestic beast snuggled up to her. Her hands came up to stroke his scales as her feet left the ground. She truly was floating. Starstruck, Aether and the knights of favonious could only stare. Venti, however, burst forward with a gleeful giggle. The celestial archon turned as the bard crashed into her. Dvalin rested his head atop of hers as her arms wrapped around the childlike god.

“Don’t worry, Barbatos,” She reassured, “I missed you, too.”

“You scared me, you stupid supernova!” Venti nuzzled his face into her chest.

Aether shivered as a growl tore through the air. The noise startled him enough, he fell right on his ass. Xiao shot forwards, ripping the anemo archon off of the celestial archon.

“You bastard drunk,” Xiao’s face was dark, “Don’t touch her as you please.”

“Ehe,” Venti giggled as the adeptus held him by the collar.

Aether stood and sighed, gazing at the shocked woman. He turned, hearing footsteps behind him. Zhongli had found them and the remaining adepti trailed behind him. The eighth archon’s mouth was agape. She flung herself at Xiao, tackling him. Venti escaped the yaksha as the goddess fell ontop of him.

“Oi,” She grinned clutching onto him, “I think I even missed your shitty attitude, pretty boy.”

Xiao’s face was red as he grumbled, “Just shut up, space case.”

Zhongli clicked his tongue, impatient. He pulled the goddess off of the yaksha and embraced her. His sudden affection made her cheeks flush but she returned the hug. Zhongli’s arms tightened around her, fearful that he would wake up from a dream. After a few moments he released her only for the poor bright eyed goddess to be swarmed by the adepti.

She giggled as they each took turns showing her how much she was missed. Even as Cloud Retainer scolded her, the smile never left her face.

“What exactly happened to you anyways?” The female crane adepti grilled the goddess.

A nervous laugh escaped the young woman, “Well, I kept thinking about how my heart was restless. So I guess I kept walking. Eventually this strange darkness consumed me and I couldn’t go anywhere. It was as if all the evil gods I struck down were exacting their revenge. Some time ago, the void I was stuck in opened up a bit and I escaped but was forced into something even worse. There were terrible monsters and powerful beings who sought my abilities I guess. They mistook me as a new goddess and attacked me.”

Aether’s ears perked up. She was talking about the Abyss, he was sure of it. His heart hurt at the way she tried to mask the pain of the endeavor. She reminded him of Lumine a bit.

“So anyways,” She continued, “I ran again and got caught in this space. It wasn’t bad, but nothing happened. I mean nothing, I was actually stuck for real that time and the space seemed to shift around me even though I couldn’t move. Time didn’t pass and my thoughts came to a stop, too. Then I was forced out and I think I was falling? That blonde kid picked me up but I was weakened. Sorry I don’t remember much but that.”

“Forced out, hm..” Cloud Retainer seemed stuck in her thoughts.

“That’s not quite right,” The goddess sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “It’s more like it shattered? I think I fell with the pieces of it.”

“How strange,” Kaeya started, “It almost sounds like a domain.”

Zhongli nodded, “It does. Let’s not discuss this any further for now, it seems to be a painful topic.”

The celestial archon smiled gently at the geo archon, embracing him again. Zhongli stiffened but wrapped his arms around her again. Aether felt Xiao shift next to him, he glanced at the adeptus and had to restrain his laughter. He didn’t think the rough adeptus could ever pour, but there he was pouting.

After exchanging greetings and parting with Dvalin, the group headed back to Dawn Winery. Paimon had already taken a liking to the goddess of stars. Aether couldn’t blame the chubby fairy, the archon seemed oddly mortal to him. The other Archons carried themselves with grace and authority. The Celestial Archon was strangely human. Her appearance was godly and she did have a sort of divine aura to her but she was far more down to earth then even Venti.

“So why did you leave so suddenly?” Aether’s curious eyes met hers as they hiked back to the winery.

“I, uh, well the sun was calling to me.” A bashful smile formed on her lips.

Aether raised his eyebrows, “Calling to you?”

“Yeah,” her eyes were a bit distant, “It’s as if it was reminding me that the sun is a star, too. It willed me to bask in it I suppose.”

Paimon giggled at the archon’s clumsy wording. Aether pondered over what she said, thinking it was unique. Dawn Winery came into view and the traveler noticed that everybody else had returned. Chaos ensued at their arrival.

“Ahem,” Venti cleared his throat, “This is the eighth archon. The Celestial Archon, Seraphim. I call her supernova though cause she’s beautiful and destructive.”

“Hello! Let’s skip formalities, feel free to call me by my chosen name!” She introduced herself cheerfully.

Everybody chose to ignore Venti’s comment on the goddess being destructive. She was far too kind and gracious to be anything of that sort. Aether was the only one among them who noticed Venti’s words. They filled him with curiosity.

“I’m so hungry,” Paimon groaned.

“Oh, I missed food!” The bubbly goddess yelled, “Let’s eat! Can we eat?”

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The dining room was filled with chatter as they celebrated the arrival of the long lost archon. Paimon was stuffing her face as Venti chugged another bottle of dandelion wine, hiccuping. Diluc sighed as Kaeya poured another glass for himself with rosy cheeks. The scarlet haired man found himself looking for the celestial archon again. No matter how heard he tried to distract himself, his thoughts and eyes always found their way to her.

She was levitating above her seat, giggling as people brought her food to try. Xiao was uncharacteristically calm and looked happy even, as he fed her bits of almond tofu. Zhongli was smiling at her as she took sips of tea. The goddess picked up the small zombie girl and sat her in her lap, letting the child introduce “coco goat” milk to her. Things were going well overall.

Diluc watched as the kind hearted goddess set the child down and excused herself. She glided towards the terrace with a lingering sadness in her eyes. The esteemed Ragnvindr swiped the unopened bottle of dandelion his brother was reaching for and uncorked it. For a moment, the man was hesitant but his legs carried him to the open terrace anyways.

“Hello, Mister Diluc,” The goddess greeted him without turning to look at him.

“Pardon me,” He stopped at her side, “I don’t mean to intrude. This is a gift for you, Dawn Winery’s special.”

She glanced at him through her peripheral vision and held out her hand. He sighed and placed the bottle in her slender hand, watching her take a sip. She returned to staring at the stars above, sipping on the wine. The tycoon couldn’t help but stay by her side, seeing the look of longing she had. He felt that if he left her, she might just disappear again.

“It’s good,” She murmured, closing her eyes.

“Thank you,” Diluc tried to hold back the smile growing on his face, “I appreciate that you’re savoring it and not gulping it down like certain alcoholics.”

A snort escaped from the girl, “Barbatos the esteemed anemo archon and local alcoholic.”

Diluc snickered at her comment. She was so surreal. Everything about her felt dreamy, it was truly enchanting.

“I can leave you alone with your thoughts, I am deeply sorry if I disturbed you.” The man sighed and turned, but was stopped by her fingertips grazing his wrist.

“Diluc Ragnvindr, you are not a bother,” She sighed, “I am just a fool who would rather look for answers in constellations than face the reality before me. For me, not much time has passed since the Archon War. So you’ll have to forgive me if I seem cold, I simply am frustrated and depressed by the changes in Teyvat. I missed thousands of years and it will haunt me for a long while.”

Diluc’s jaw nearly hit the floor at the bluntness of the woman in front of him. He was empathetic to her situation, after distancing himself from everyone around him he had moments of sadness as well. He was also fascinated by her adoration for the stars.

“Do the stars give you answers?” He asked quietly.

She laughed, “Not always, but i’m able to read the constellations of an individual, even you Darknight Hero.”

“Oh, fucks sake that’s mortifying!” He groaned and then leaned in, “Wait. I have a constellation? How much do you know?”

“Your constellation is Noctua, and it’s fairly easy to read. I know that you pretend like everybody is bothering you at all times, because you don’t want to be disappointed again as your brother disappointed you after the loss of your father. You feel the need to be strong and never seen as weak, somewhere between inferiority complex and social anxiety.” Her words made his heart pound.

“But,” She continued smiling, “I understand. I also have daddy issues of sorts. And it often feels easier to put up those walls.”

Diluc was speechless. Their conversation was interrupted by clapping, as Kaeya made his way out of the shadows. Any vulnerability left Diluc at his brother’s entrance. He quickly exited the balcony seeing Kaeya’s smug expression.

“You are interesting,” his voice was almost sultry, “Tell me, what do you see from my constellation.”

The goddess gave him a sour look. She was quiet for a minute, eyes narrowed at the man. He waited, expectantly.

“Pavo Ocellus,” She sighed, “A complicated constellation. You do carry a heavy burden savior of Khaenri'ah. So much of you is shrouded in mystery, although that’s fitting isn’t it? I don’t know enough to see you as a threat, however your dishonest habits and constant tests you put people through seems irritating.”

“Oh, you’re bold,” He grinned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “Bold, beautiful, and busty. Just my type.”

“And you say things like that so casually,” She pushed his hand away, making her way back to the dining hall.

“Sir Kaeya, you should be careful saying such things. If you aren’t, somebody might fall for you. It’s like a honey trap. Give the wrong person the wrong idea and you’ll find yourself in a pinch.”

With that, she left the calvary captain alone with his thoughts. He was pulled in by her, but knew she was dangerous. His mind shifted back to Venti’s word earlier and he clicked his tongue. The bard may have been onto something.

When Kaeya returned to the banquet, the Celestial Archon was back to eating and being doted on. Xiao’s glare was locked in and targeted as Kaeya sat a short distance from the goddess. Kaeya merely winked at him, sticking his tongue out slightly. The yaksha’s hand flew to the spear by his side as he snarled at the cryo wielder. The goddess noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere and moved to the adepti’s lap. He blushed and scowled, but set his head on her shoulder.

The young woman’s affection towards Xiao didn’t go unnoticed and soon Zhongli was offering her tea while Venti offered her booze. Even Jean was attempting to seek some attention from the goddess. For once, Diluc and Kaeya had the same thought. That woman is troublesome.

#genshin impact #genshin impact xiao #genshin x reader #albedo x reader #genshin impact albedo #xiao x reader #genshin impact imagines #kaeya x reader #genshin kaeya #genshin khaenri'ah #genshin liyue #genshin mondstadt #genshin aether #genshin alatus #genshin jean #genshin impact zhongli #zhongli x reader #Celestial Archon Series

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starfinss · 3 years ago

Text

Shelter From The Storm — Razor 1/2

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Summary: You get lost in Wolvendom when searching for berries. Razor helps you out, leading to a new friendship.

Pairing: Razor x Reader

Rating: Fluff (SFW)

Word Count: 2,677

For future reference, all characters are depicted as 18+

You'd somehow managed to get yourself hopelessly lost on your quest to find enough berries to fill your basket. You wanted to bake a pie for Sara's birthday, and while she worked at Good Hunter and more than likely had access to the best pies in Mondstadt, you wanted her taste your grandmother's recipe. Her occupation and access to delicious pies would not stop you. But this was more than you bargained for.

You'd ventured along the path outside of Mondstadt, attempting to take an alternate route to the Dawn Winery before doubling back and making your way back Springvale where you'd get a room at the inn and then head back to Mondstadt in the morning. It was supposed to be simple. But you'd ended up in the Archons only knew, which was far from simple.

And it was getting dark.

You'd dressed warm, it was mid autumn and winter was coming soon, and while Mondstadt didn't get nearly as cold as somewhere like Snezhnaya, the snowfall was still rather intense. It was the very end of berry season and you were making the most of it. Your outfit consisted of a cotton dress layered with a wool over skirt and a long wool cloak. You wore a pair of brown leather boots as well, gloves on your hands. You tugged the cloak more tightly around your body as the wind picked up. There was forest up ahead, dense and full of restless shadows so thick you could barely see past them. You had no idea where you were.

You turned in a full circle to try and regain your bearings, and after a moment or two, you realized you could see Mondstadt across the lake. There was the cathedral, backlit by the sinking sun, and all at once, you realized just where you were.

Wolvendom.

Oh. Lovely. I'm going to be eaten by wolves.

You felt a raindrop splatter against your cheek and you looked up, face falling as you watched menacing clouds roll in, obscuring the stars that had just begun to freckle the sky. The God of Anemo was not on your side tonight. Your eyes scanned the area in front of you. The last thing you wanted was to be caught in one of Mondstadt's thunderstorms without shelter.

"Thanks, Lord Barbatos," you muttered sarcastically.

The wind didn't calm.

You heard a twig snap behind you and you turned, tucking your basket against your chest almost like a shield.

There was a hilichurl standing in front of you. It said something in that weird language they all spoke, something that didn't sound particularly friendly.

"Um," you stammered, "please don't hurt me."

It said something again, waving its club in front of it. You struggled to unsheathe your sword from its scabbard, the vision pendant hanging from the cord attached to your belt glowing softly in response.

"Hey, can you just��"

The hilichurl lunged and you dropped your basket, blocking the club with your sword, swinging a leg out to hit the backs of the hilichurl's knees, making its legs buckle beneath it. You sent a blade of water sailing through the air as the hilichurl struggled to its feet, causing it to stagger back, knocking its head on the side of the ledge behind it. You scooped your basket up and made a run for it, only stopping once you were safely behind a tree.

The lone hilichurl was joined by a mitachurl, and you were suddenly in over your head. You had a vision, sure. You could fight, yes, of course. But you were no Knight of Favonius. And your longsword was no match for a massive axe. You couldn't make it work like Cavalry Captain Kaeya. All your combat training had come from your father, who was a knight and from your mother who knew more than a few tricks of her own.

Of course you could fight. But this was a bit much.

You slid your sword back into its scabbard, but the rasp of metal against leather alerted the monsters, and your eyes went wide.

Uh oh.

You tried to scramble up the tree you were hiding behind, but managed to twist your ankle, making you yelp in pain. Nevertheless, you persisted, hauling your body into the branches.

A scream left your mouth when the hilichurl began shaking the tree. You wrapped your arms and legs around the trunk, hanging on with all your might, but the rain was beginning to fall, and the sudden slickness wasn't helping with keeping your hold on the tree. Your world shuddered as something struck the tree, making you scream again, and you didn't have to look to know that the mitachurl had struck with its axe. A few more swings and the tree would be down.

You grunted with effort as you attempted to pull yourself farther up the tree, hopefully to where the branches thinned enough so when the tree fell you wouldn't end up being trapped. You would not die here, damn it. You refused to. Your hair was now sticking to your cheeks and forehead as rain water streaked your face, the freezing kind of rain that even hydro vision users like yourself weren't all that fond of.

You had no choice but to cry for help, not knowing if anyone would hear you and seriously doubting that they would.

"Help me! Help me!"

Your voice sounded desperate, but at this point, you were desperate.

You heard a shout after the tree shook with another strike, then the crackle of thunder. There was the sound of exchanging blows, something that sounded like a snarl, something animalistic. The ground shook, jostling you free, and you lost your grip, falling down to the next branch, crying out in pain.

The ground shook again and you fell, straight to the ground, into a heap of limbs and messy hair, your basket flying from your hand.

You saw a figure crackling with violet energy before everything went dark.

————————————

You awoke to a loud bang, followed by rumbling. Thunder.

Where... am I?

Your head hurt. Hell, your everything hurt. There was something laying beside you, something warm and furry and soft. An animal? You didn't move to touch it. Your mind was muddled with confusion, but your eyes finally snapped open when a hand lifted one of your own hands.

There was a young man hovering above you. He was wearing a brown hooded coat and a light brown poncho sort of top with tribal markings. The rest of his toned torso was left exposed. A necklace with what looked like fangs hung around his neck.

His hair was long and messy and silver in color, and he had a handsome face, his eyes a shocking shade of scarlet. There was a scar on his left cheek. He looked to be around your age, maybe a little older.

Who...?

He blinked in surprise when he noticed your eyes were open.

"You wake," he said. His voice was a rough sound, low and almost raspy. He sounded like he didn't speak much.

You took note of your surroundings.

You were in a cave. There was a fire crackling a few yards from your feet, and from what you could see through the mouth of the cave, it had begun to pour outside. Thunder was growling overhead, lightning flashing, the brief light making it look like daytime. You were laying on a collection of pelts and a few pillows. The cave was otherwise empty except for the silver haired boy and you. You turned your head to look at whatever was beside you.

You were met with a wall of grey fur, and it took you a moment to realize you were staring at a wolf's back. There was a wolf beside you. You tried to jerk into a sitting position, but the young man pushed you back down.

"No," he simply said, "rest."

He made a good call. Your head was spinning.

"What... Happened?"

He glanced at you. You noticed a bowl of what you recognized after a few moments as wolf hook berries, as well as a bowl full of what looked to be crushed up ones beside it. There was a rock stained with the juice sitting beside this bowl.

"You fall from tree. I save you from monsters."

"...Oh."

"How long was I out?"

"Hours."

The young man turned to the bowls behind him, then looked back at you.

"Your name?"

It took you a moment to realize what he was asking.

"Oh. It's (Y/N). My name is (Y/N). What's yours?"

A beat of silence as he studied you.

"I am Razor."

Razor reached into the bowl of paste, smearing some of it onto your palm, which you didn't notice had been scraped up. It stung.

"Medicine. Will help you heal."

You'd heard about the medicinal properties of wolf hook berries from Barbara at the cathedral before, so you didn't doubt that Razor was doing this to help.

"Thank you," you said, shifting, "for helping me. I should go, though—"

"No!"

You started at the sudden volume of his shout. "No?"

Razor looked sheepish, his voice quieting. "You rest. You are hurt."

You relaxed back into the pelts, sighing. "Okay. I'll rest. But I have to go when the rain stops."

Razor shook his head. "Your ankle is hurt."

You moved both your ankles, met with a painful stiffness in your left one. Razor was right. It was most likely sprained. It would be hard to get back to Mondstadt like that, and it was a beyond stupid idea to try and get anywhere in this rain, let alone on an injury.

A massive grey wolf suddenly entered the cave, startling you. It was carrying something in its mouth. You recognized it.

"My basket!"

The wolf walked over to you, setting the basket down beside you, then promptly turned and left. Another smaller wolf entered a few minutes later carrying what looked to be the leg of a small animal.

Razor took the leg from the wolf, and then turned so his back was to you, working with his hands. He then dropped the meat into a pot you hadn't noticed was over the fire.

"You don't eat it raw?" You asked, and Razor shook his head.

"No. Makes me sick. Heat helps."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," you said, "humans can digest raw meat, but we can also get sick from it. Cooking it makes it easier to eat and gives more nutrients."

Razor stared at you for a moment, something almost like awe sparkling in his eyes. It was a little endearing. You smiled.

Was this guy... raised by wolves?

He certainly looked the part.

His body was toned and covered in scars. He looked wild.

"Sleep," he said, "I will wake you to eat."

You were tired. You rolled onto your side, realizing for the first time that you'd been stripped down to your underclothes, left in your blouse and the cotton skirt you'd been wearing underneath the woolen one. Your shoes were gone, so were your socks. You spotted said articles of clothing on a rock, presumably drying.

"I shouldn't," you said, "I might have a concussion."

He tilted his head curiously.

You tried to think of a way to explain what that was. You didn't think that Razor was dumb, far from it. He'd successfully treated your wounds and figured out how to cook without much outside interference it seemed. If anything, Razor was very intelligent.

You sighed. "It's something that can occur if you hit your head really hard."

Recognition dawned on his face. "Oh. I think I know."

"Know?"

Razor nodded. "Yes. Has happened to me. I fall into hole. A red man helped me."

You furrowed your eyebrows. Red man?

"Someone from Mondstadt?"

"Do not know."

You ran through a mental list of any men that fit the description of 'red,' but Diluc was the only one who came to mind, so you settled on him.

"I need to stay awake, just until the dizziness passes," you said.

Razor simply nodded, turning back to the fire, and you relaxed against the pelts beneath your body.

You tried propping yourself up a few times to check and see if the dizziness had gone, and when it did, you fell asleep fast.

You faded in and out of consciousness for the next few hours, waking only when Razor shook you in order to feed you. You ate greedily, not realizing how hungry you were until the tender meat was gone. After eating, you fell asleep again.

You awoke fully in the morning, and you rolled over to find Razor sound asleep beside you. The wolf that had been beside you before was now gone. The rain had stopped, leaving behind that musty smell that rain left behind.

"(Y/N)!"

You started. That sounded familiar, even if the voice was far away. You propped yourself up on your hands, wincing at the remaining tenderness of the scrapes. They could have gotten infected if not for Razor, and you were thankful for his help.

The voice called out again, and you realized with a start who it belonged to. Amber.

Was there a search party?

You put a hand on Razor's shoulder, about to shake him awake, but when you looked down, his eyes were already open.

"Who is it?"

You smiled. "Amber. She's an Outrider for the Knights of Favonius. Someone must have come to the knights to tell them I was missing."

"You were... missing?"

"Yeah," you said, "I got lost."

You cupped your hands around your mouth. "Amber! In here!"

A beat of silence, then the sound of distant running footsteps getting closer. Amber appeared at the mouth of the cave, relief washing over her face as she hesitated before entering the cave.

"Razor," she said, "can I come in?"

Razor nodded. "Red girl is friend."

Amber walked towards you at a hurried clip. "What happened?"

You smiled. "I got attacked by hilichurls as the storm started and Razor rescued me. Wait, you two know each other?"

"Yep!" Amber said, "as an outrider, I know everyone in the Mondstadt region, including those in Wolvendom. You were in good hands."

"Razor helps friends," Razor said, matter-of-factly.

"Thank you for helping her, Razor. I'll take her home."

Amber helped you get redressed, and it felt good to have the comforting weight of your sword on your back again.

As you began to walk, supported by Amber's shoulder, you turned back to Razor.

"I'll come back to visit. I'll bake you a pie."

Razor seemed to like the prospect of you coming back.

"Visit again, friend!"

You smiled.

After getting back onto the main path, Amber spoke.

"You really need to be more careful, (Y/N)," she said, "we were all so worried! What were you thinking?"

You chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, sorry. I wanted to find an alternate path to find more berries. I got lost. I couldn't have predicted that a storm would roll in. The Anemo Archon was not on my side."

"Yeah," Amber said with a note of bitterness, "he's finicky like that."

You snickered. "You say that like you know him."

Amber simply laughed.

You looked down at the basket in your free hand, noticing that not all of the berries inside had been lost. It looked to be just enough for one pie.

You watched as the first few buildings of Springvale came into view, making a mental map of the area in your head. You'd have to write down the location of the cave when you got home. You'd be seeing Razor again soon, this time bearing gifts instead of injury. Sara's pie would have to wait. After all, she did have access to the most delicious pies in Mondstadt, what with working at Good Hunter and all.

You had a feeling this was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

You just hoped he liked berry pie.

#razor #razor x reader #razor genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact #fluff #My writing #cross posted from wattpad #fanfiction #I have some Xiao fics #so stay tuned

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earthstellar · 3 years ago

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Transformers Analysis: Folklore and Folk Magic in the Mines of Kaon

thinking about Miner Megatron again, as always. here we goooo

So I've been doing some folk magic, as I usually do, and it got me thinking:

Surely, the lower class/caste bots wouldn’t feel welcomed into the more organised Cybertronian temples etc., or might even be outright banned from joining in shared spiritual spaces or rituals.

So it’s time to teach y’all some working class magic history and how we can apply that to Cybertronian spirituality:

Working Class History: Casting Spells on the Job (Just Call it Prayer so the Boss Doesn't Find Out)

Here's a quick history of rural Appalachian folk magic, for some context:

1) The Christian Bible has been used for spellcasting all up and down the rural East Coast in the USA from day one of colonisation.

In Pennsylvania you have Hexenmeisters and the Pennsylvania Dutch practices, for a well-documented example.

2) The working class has done spellcasting with the Bible from the very first day shitty bosses started

This is for several reasons, but primarily because Bibles were common and cheap, you didn't have to know how to read in order to follow along with or change the lyrics of popular hymns and prayers to fit your own needs, and it was very easy to sneak what is essentially localised witchcraft under the radar when it just looks like you're reading the Bible to everyone else.

Catholic materials were used a lot for this, because they were often provided for free by any local churches, and a lot of working class people in Appalachia were Italian (Roman Catholic) or Eastern European (Eastern Orthodox Catholic), which meant there was no shortage of all sorts of votive candles and the like to utilise for what we would now identify as spellcasting.

It's important to note that it wasn't called spellcasting outright by anybody; Sometimes it was called "hexing" or "sweet talking", among other terms, but if you called it spellcasting it was heavily frowned upon.

A lot of people were uncomfortable (and are still uncomfortable) with verbalising it or identifying it as such due to stigma from the more mainstream religious communities or their own religious backgrounds, and of course, historically if the boss found out that all the workers hated their jobs so much they were doing fucking witchcraft about it, it would not have ended well for the workers.

So, stealth it is. And that's why there are so many specific folk practices in a lot of historically working class rural regions/communities-- Not just in Appalachia, but similar things happen in similar communities around the world.

What does this have to do with Megatron?

Everything we know about the lower classes on Cybertron, the lower caste members, and the mines/industrial regions in Tarn and Kaon suggest that a similar folklore likely existed within these working communities.

And any local folk practices likely developed for the exact same reasons that this type of folk practice developed in the real world:

Workers are fucking miserable, "mainstream" religion isn't satisfying their spiritual/emotional/social/material needs or concerns, and close-knit people in small communities spending most of their time together naturally start to sort of do their own thing based on their collective situation.

People get desperate, there's nowhere to turn and nothing to do, so spirituality becomes a lifeline in that it builds solidarity and creates a more appropriate sort of support system.

For example: If we aren't allowed time off work to mourn our friend who was killed by heavy machinery, and we aren't allowed any time to process that or deal with it or take care of each other, then we will invent a ritual that allows us to grieve on the job.

This was, and still is, a common thing.

Which brings us to...

St. Barbara and the Mines + Solus Prime

St. Barbara's backstory can be summarised, roughly, as such (based on the version of this story that I know; keep in mind the details can vary):

She was kept isolated from others by her father, who became furious that she refused an arranged marriage. When she fled, he chased her; She ran into two people working in a field, the first who helped her, and the second who gave her path away to her father.

She was captured, and brought to a prominent local figure (the title varies based on different versions of this story), who had her tortured for escaping and disobeying her father.

However, when imprisoned, they tried to kill her again and again, and every morning she was healed. Fire intended to be used to burn her would cool the second it got near her skin, and daggers used to cut her would go dull when brought near her.

Snakes thrown into her room intended to bite her would then die the instant they went to approach her, and ropes intended to be used to bind and choke her would spontaneously fray and snap before they could be tied.

Eventually, she was condemned to beheading, and a special sword was used to cut her head off, which finally killed her.

Her father is the one who beheaded her, and as divine punishment, he was hit by lightning-- A single bolt that lasted so long that his entire body went up into flames, and his ashes disappeared.

Her gravesite became a place of veneration, where people prayed for protection and safety.

She became known as the patron saint of all people with dangerous jobs or jobs where the bosses don't care about the worker's wellbeing or safety, for obvious reasons: Nothing but the hands of her own father could ever harm her.

(The imagery of St. Barbara being slain only by a special sword is very reminiscent of Solus Prime being slain only by a special sword...)

Workers, especially those with particularly dangerous or shitty jobs but also just anyone working class in general, can interpret this story in several ways which can make it additionally relatable:

Her father = A controlling and aggressive boss who abuses or neglects their workers to death.

The field workers = A pro-union worker (a helper) and an anti-union worker or scab (a betrayer).

So you can see how St. Barbara became immediately adopted as a common worker's saint, and was used in a lot of regional working class folk magic practices (where such folk magic developed within local working communities).

And this is still going strong as a tradition; Crossrail tunnel borers in London consecrated the drilling site in the name of St. Barbara in 2013:

"Several hundred contractors and senior management attended the St Barbara's Day ceremony at the Thames Tunnel (pictured) which will link Plumstead and North Woolwich when completed. The site was so large, that sound engineers put in place an amplification system for the ceremony." - Article here.

"As a long-standing tradition, one of the first tasks for each new tunnelling projects is to establish a small shrine to Santa Barbara at the tunnel portal or at the underground junction into long tunnel headings. This is often followed with a dedication and an invocation to Santa Barbara for protection of all who work on the project during the construction period." - Article here.

And here's a related example of a worker's prayer for St. Barbara, from here:

So this is very much a tradition that is still going strong, and it isn't just Catholic workers who engage with these types of things!

To accommodate more diverse groups and communities of workers, folk practices (including what eventually becomes folk magic) increasingly develop even further away from any one specific religious origin, in order to become more inclusive for the majority of people who can be from all kinds of different spiritual or cultural backgrounds.

Hence, more folk magic is made-- And I believe something like this could absolutely have evolved in a similar way in working communities on Cybertron.

Cybertronian Spirituality: The Primes, The Knights, The Titans

My personal theory/headcanon, and there is not much in canon to support this particularly so please keep that in mind, is that given the average type of manual labour working environment in Tarn and Kaon (dangerous, dark, and deep), it would make sense for the legendary Titans to become worked into some kind of folk practice.

We have this concept of the Titans as these giant and very particular beings, which reminds me somewhat of the Jewish Golem of Prague, in that the Titans are made from raw materials in some kind of mystical or cosmically spiritual manner, then eventually ally themselves to at least one respective Prime who then acts as a director of their actions to achieve victory over cosmic evil(s).

The Titans then go forward and act as guardians of Cybertronian life by combating the origins of these cosmic evil(s) as protectors of their respective polities and regions and eventually colony worlds, called into action by what is essentially a metaphysical and possibly outright spiritual pull of the need of their Prime(s) and later on the needs of the Cybertronian and colony world populations in times of threat or desperation.

These details are peppered throughout canon and vary based on media/franchise, but most recently Titan lore was covered again in IDW’s Optimus Prime series, issue 10, literally titled Origin Myths.

What is interesting is that while the Golem association could be reasonably made, you could also reasonably say that the Three Original Titans (Metroplex, Chela, and Metrotitan) could be associated just as easily with the Catholic concept of the Holy Trinity.

Lots of different interpretations could be applied to this stuff!

Class Stratification Within Cybertronian Religious Institutions

No matter how you may interpret it, we know that the Titans have a similar mystical presence in Cybertronian history and cultural lore to that of the Primes and Knights, and it would make sense for those spurned and disparaged by "mainstream" spiritual practices (which were likely just as stratified by class and caste as everything else was on Cybertron during Megatron's youth) to go ahead and create a folk practice based more around Titans.

This is because the Primes would like be associated directly with their oppressive rulers and upper classes, and the Knights, who are said to be the first Cybertronians to come from the Well, thusly represent a very high class onto their own which may have repelled working class bots who were very likely sick of essentially worshipping those venerated in their class stratified society solely due to the conditions of their creation; The Knights were "born with silver spoons", essentially, and it's hard to sell that to people who suffered due to the conditions of their own creation.

Therefore, the Titans are the other most likely Cybertronian figures of historical lore that could reasonably be adapted into a sort of folk religion for the working classes and lower social caste bots.

The imagery is strong, and relatable: In Megatron's case, the manual labourers and miners all have large frames compared to the average Cybertronian, they all toil invisibly and in relative silence, and they are kept away from the end products of their labour and yet without them, Cybertron planet wide would instantly struggle to sustain their raw material demands.

They are critical workers, yet many of them have no names/designations; It is noted at least once in canon that some Titans are so old or so little known that their designations are not recorded. Yet without these unseen/unknown Titans, it could be the case that cosmic evil could have achieved victory.

While the Titans are critical, they are largely a mystery and unknown in any real detail. They do not normally engage with average Cybertronians, and when they do, it is usually indirectly-- Even though their actions actively impact the lives of nearly everyone.

And though the Primes and Knights are generally never physically present, at least not within living memory, there is real and physical proof of Titans. I feel like that aspect alone may well appeal more to people who are very physically oriented; We also see a stark realist mentality from many of the lower class/caste bots, who are sometimes realistic to the point of nihilism (which is part of why Megatron's writings were so revolutionary, in that they re-introduced hope to people who had previously concluded that there was no realistic possibility of ever rising up).

The Titans being a known, tangible physical reality may well have endeared them as a more interesting folkloric or spiritual focus to this particular cohort of bots.

Just like with St. Barbara in real life, you can see how the Titans may have been interpreted in certain ways by the lower class/caste working bots which may have made them more appealing or more easy to structure into a framework of sorts for their own practices within their local cultures.

A Little Meta: There's a Lot of Various Religious Imagery in Transformers

Like with all media, especially Western media, inevitably some Jesus sneaks in there.

Which usually sucks, because it can be alienating for literally anyone who isn't familiar with Christianity in some way (as some references or parallels are inevitably not going to be as obvious or even detectable at all to people who didn't grow up with all this sometimes very specific shit, resulting in missed thematic elements and so on due to no fault of the viewers but rather the tendency for Western shows to overwhelmingly be written and designed by primarily Western white middle aged cis straight men who tend to throw some Jesus in there when there should not necessarily be any Jesus in there, but I could yell about this all night).

Transformers as a franchise altogether is not immune to this; As with all media, it is made by people, and people are influenced by their social/cultural upbringing, and that includes religious influences.

We could read some of this into the TFP/Aligned Continuity, in regards to the idea of the Thirteen Primes and how that concept is interpreted in TFP.

Transformers Prime: Alpha Trion is Essentially Paul the Apostle

The TFP Primes resemble both the Apostles as well as various Saints, and especially the Fourteen Holy Helpers; These fourteen Saints in particular are elevated above the others in many cases and contexts-- Similar to how the Primes are held up as elevated over other Cybertronians and other figures in Cybertronian history and presumably within certain Cybertronian spiritual practices as well.

For example, Alpha Trion is strongly reminiscent of the Christian figure Paul the Apostle, who was a writer/scribe known for documenting early Christian concerns of faith in his letters, which became extremely important to theological historians in regards to determining early Christian discourse and attempting to create a timeline of early Christianity.

His letters are included the New Testament in thirteen (!) sections called epistles, which are archived forever in various iterations within the Christian Bible.

Now, let’s take a look at the symbolism, using the TFP main illustration of Alpha Trion as featured in the Covenant, and a popular Icon image of Paul the Apostle:

Beard, cloak, book-- Even the pose they are in here is very similar, look at the feet and the way they are both standing. Even the halo of Cybertronian glyphs around Alpha Trion’s head resembles the gold filament of Paul’s halo.

And much like Alpha Trion's questionable ability to write/re-write history and determine events through some kind of cosmically divine power of foresight, the timeline of Paul's letters will likely never be fully verifiable, and of course, there are so many translations and interpretations of these letters along with the rest of the New Testament that while key points remain fairly consistent, there is still no "true" version or exact outline of events or discussions as recorded by Paul-- Primarily because in at least a few cases, Paul's letters are the only allusion to certain events or conversations.

This is extremely similar to how Alpha Trion states outright in the Covenant that he himself doesn't know if what he writes is actually factual anymore, or if he has changed things so many times to try to construct a more favourable narrative of actions and events that reality itself may have been warped by his Quill, either forwards or backwards in time...

You could also argue that Alpha Trion is presented as a God-like figure in TFP (especially when he appears to Optimus in the form of an echoing voice and shimmering spectral figure in a vision caused by what is essentially the equivalent of a holy relic), and Orion Pax would then be comparable to Jesus pre-Crucifixion, with his reformatting into Optimus Prime post-Matrix heavily resembling Jesus in the eyes of his followers post-Resurrection.

The main cast of Autobots in this comparison would then roughly correspond to the Apostles, of whom there were twelve, with Optimus then making Thirteen... And of course, canonically, Optimus is the resurrection of the Thirteenth Prime.

You can also see visual similarities in the depiction of Thirteen in the Covenant; It reminds me heavily of the Divine Mercy image of Jesus:

Both have their right hands raised, their chests emitting a holy/cosmic light.

I'm just saying, it is totally possible to make connections between fictional lore/spiritual figures and real world ones, and TF is loaded with content that can be re-contextualised in this way.

(I also want to point out at this time that it is not my intention to offend anyone with any of this analysis; I am writing from the point of view of someone who grew up with folk spirituality, and I am also a Quaker Attender, just so you are aware of my own personal background. I would love to hear any other interpretations of any spiritual imagery in Transformers media, because there’s a ton of possible ways to read into this stuff!)

In Conclusion: Cast a Hex on Your Boss by Calling Upon the Titans

Just for fun, as someone who has actually done folk magic for my entire life, I've adapted a hex against bad bosses to fit this headcanon. I think this is something that lower class/caste bots would absolutely engage in; It's common in real life as well.

The original I'm basing this off of was actually something I found in one of our old family Bibles before I moved out, and was written in Girard, Pennsylvania sometime between 1920-1930. I believe it was written by a relative of mine who worked either on the farm or on the railways.

Remember that folk magic like this is for and by working class people, so there are no fancy supplies needed; Don't ever buy shit to do magic, you can do it with anything laying around you. No need to spend money.

If you have a shitty boss, please let me know if you hex your boss with this. I always encourage witchcraft, fictional or otherwise.

Here's what you do, if you want to actually try this:

1) Using any old paper that you have lying around, cut it roughly into a square (doesn't need to be perfect.) It doesn't matter what type of paper it is.

2) Grab any pen you like, it can be any type of pen, any type of ink.

3) Draw a square outline on the paper, making a border on the page. This can be big or small as you like, and you can decorate it if you want; Just leave enough space to write inside the square.

4) Fold this paper into a square, any way you'd like as long as it's a square, and take this paper while it's still blank to work in your pocket.

Carry the paper with you for at least one full day at work. If you can, place it in a chest pocket or a pocket where the paper will be fairly close to your body.

It doesn't matter if the paper gets dirty or smudged or torn; In fact, that's even better.

(Some people who do variations of this spell in real life even use the paper to wipe dirt off their hands etc. throughout the day, to really get the energy of a work day settled into the paper. As long as it can still be written on, you can do this if you'd like.)

5) At the end of the work day, take the paper out, and write the following:

Where I have put [X], the word "Lord" was in the original version of this hex which was in my family Bible, but to contextualise it within the fictional headcanon lore here, you can replace this with the word "Titan". (Or you can replace it with anything else that may be appropriate as well, if you would like to actually use this hex!)

"Give us pay for our work, or the poor will plea to the [X] against you, and you will be struck down, cast down.

If you do not give to those who give to you, you will be cursed coming in, and going out.

Just as the [X] can raise you up and lead you to prosper, so too can the [X] turn away from you, and you will be left to have your walls destroyed, your fortress ruined.

Us servants will rejoice, but you will cry out in anguish, you will be put to shame.

Without the toilers, the land is made desolate, the haunt of jackals.

[X], turn your gaze to us, we labourers of all kinds, see our tears and our sweat.

Lay curses upon those who use their hands to hold us down; Kept below water, our tears lost in the flood.

Raise the waters, and surge the shores of their ill-owned kingdom; Bring forth to their memory that the [X] stewards the land, and that all among the land are equal in spirit.

The [X] will cast fury upon the unrighteous and conniving, cast rage and stand among us mightily, each motion casting winds against the oppressor who weakens like fractured stone under the onslaught of rain.

The [X] will make a storm from our anguish, which brings us higher, raises us from desolation. Our tears, become the rain that withers the false tower looming high above us.

Our hands will raise from our tools and duties, and offer high praise to the [X], who guards the disparaged and lowly, who enacts justice against those who have done wrong against us.

Let us be brought high, and those who revel in our struggle, may they be cast down."

6) You may flip the paper over once the ink is dry, and on the back, put three Xs in the upper corners of the paper. You may also add three more XXXs to the centre of the paper, where the crease in the paper is from folding it.

7) Re-fold the paper, and put it in the bottom of your right shoe. If this is too uncomfortable, carry it in any pocket on your right side.

You can also place it in your wallet for safe keeping, as your wallet contains money and possibly a work ID or something similar, which are all tied to work and working.

And there you have it! Fuck shitty bosses, both fictional ones and real ones. Join a union, do some witchcraft.

This post was long as always, but I hope it's interesting to someone out there! <3 Thank you to anyone who actually reads through all of this! <3

#megatron #transformers #tfp #transformers prime #alpha trion #transformers meta #transformers analysis #long post #idw transformers #idw 1 #miner megatron #young megatron #maccadam #tw religion #working class history #witchcraft #spellcasting #hexing #solus prime

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razorblade180 · 3 years ago

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Outriders

Mondstadt, the city of freedom. The city of wind. It went by many names but none were quite as flattering as one, home. Mondstadt was home; Amber’s home, and today the sun shined down with more radiance than ever as she woke up. Ah yes, no better way to start a birthday.

Amber:*hops up* Time to get the day started! Maybe if I finish early enough I can get the picnic ready and convince Eula or Aeth-

Her eyes lit up. That’s right, Aether. He’s been giving people birthday presents without fail. Now it was her turn! Amber rushed to get her outfit and wash up. At this point all other thoughts left her mind. She’s seen the cakes Aether has made. At this point he must be a pro at making them. She wondered what flavor he’d bring. A knock on the door caught here hear. Typical Aether, he always tried surprising people but she was prepared for anything!Amber ran downstairs and took a breath before stepping outside to greet the day. She wasn’t prepared to be greeted by familiar knights standing guard at her door in standard uniform.

Amber:Kaeya and Albedo? What’s-

Kaeya:I would love to play twenty questions with you…

Albedo:But it’s better to show rather than tell.

They both unsheathed their swords and stood at attention as she came out. To see not only them, but what appeared all the knights standing proudly on each side of the walk way with plenty of citizens; celica petals flowed on the gentle breeze through Mondstadt. Amber’s face began to feel warm. This was not a cake. Amber looked at Albedo and Kaeya to see them smiling. Clearly she wasn’t going to get an answer so she started walking, the two of them following close behind. Each set of soldiers she passed joined to form a line in step with their colleagues.

Shop owners smiled, Timeaus waved, the likes of Sucrose and Noelle joined the line silently as Amber went up stairs where more soldiers soldiers stood at attention until it was time to fall in line. Diluc and Eula stood up in the standard uniform as well like everyone else. Amber grinned ear to ear and almost spoke until a look from a frustrated Diluc kept her snickering quietly. The two, joined by Klee, walked beside her as they headed towards the statue. The Spark Knight hummed happily to the tune of lyre played by everyone’s favorite bard. Amber quickly recognized it as the Favonius theme. Then it suddenly clicked. This wasn’t just some birthday idea. This routine is a ceremony!

Amber finally reached the top and gasped. Under the statue, Jean and Lisa stood proudly on each side behind Aether; all three clad in armor. Aether’s signature braid was replaced with a high ponytail and his Favonius sword gently piercing the ground. All the nuns, lead by Barbara, started to hum along with Venti’s lyre. Even Rosaria was at attendance. Amber felt her own heart start to flutter. A lump in her throat formed while she got a little misty eyed at Aether’s bright smile. Even his eyes expressed nothing but deep joy.

Amber:H-Hey…

Aether:Hey Amber. Happy Birthday.

Amber:Hehe, this uhhh this not a cake. *wipes eyes* what’s going on here?

Aether:From the start of my journey into Mondstadt, you have been by my side. Besides a certain floating guide, you were the first actual person to welcome me. You’ve been my companion, friend, teammate, my windblume…

Amber turned bright red as several people swooned and fawned instinctively. Her eyes were already watering again. She was not emotionally prepared for any of this!

Aether:You have been so many things to me. More than what I could’ve ever dreamed of and I’d like to continue to keep discovering all this land has to hold with you, but I want to do it right. I want to truly be your partner; your fellow Outrider. *kneels*

Amber:Y-You…Aether, that’s….

Jean:As you know, it’s customary for knights that lead any given branch to officially accept their new members personally.

Lisa:Though technically an Honorary Knight, Aether has officially requested to join the ranks of the Outriders. Which means only one person is fit to carry out such request, you.

The heat Amber felt in her face rose. She couldn’t remember the last time her heart raced this fast or throat ran dry. Amber knew this ceremony well. Growing up she’s seen it performed numerous times. She could still remember her own, the words of grandpa’s speech resonating till this day. Amber somehow managed to keep composure. She took a deep breath and walked forward to grab Aether’s sword.

Amber:To be an Outrider…is to be Mondstadt’s wings; to soar high and scout over all. Barbatos‘a winds grant us freedom not only to defend said freedom, but to let us know there is always more across the horizon. Distant but never out of reach; for the wind and sky connects us all. To be an Outrider is to fly. Honorary Knight, you wish to fly for Mondstadt and it’s people by my side?

Aether:In any weather over any land or sea, I’ll spread my wings and fly by your side.

Amber:*smiling*……Then let the wind lead.

Amber raised the sword high before gently tapping each side of shoulders. The sounds of joyful cheering and clapping erupted from knights and townspeople alike. Aether stood up a proudly and ran his thumb over the tears Amber couldn’t contain.

Aether:Outrider Aether, reporting for duty! Permission to kiss!

Amber:Granted!

He pulled her close and Amber didn’t waste any more time, pressing her lips against his while the crowd cheered even louder.

Venti:Woho! Way to go you two.

Barbara:*sniffling*

Rosaria:Are you crying?

Barbara:They’re just…so happy! Imagine if this was a wedding!!!? *crying*

Rosaria:Pull yourself together. *rubs nose*…. It’s just another ceremony.

Lisa:It’s funny. This doesn’t change anything actually, and yet it changes everything. I couldn’t think of a more perfect reason to where this stuffy thing.

Jean:I agree. Though I do feel rather nostalgic wearing it. *raises sword* Everyone! Let’s give another warm welcome to our new Outrider, and a Happy Birthday to its leader!

Paimon:*flying high* C…can…can Paimon stop spreading petals now please!?

#genshin impact #aether x amber #aether genshin impact #gi amber #venti the bard #kaeya ragnvindr #jean gunnhildr #albedo kreideprinz #gi lisa #paimon #gi aether

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iv-aur-y · 3 years ago

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Jean Gunnhildr !

jean ;; quicksand

synopsis ;; the lawrence clan revolts in hopes of beheading the grand master of the knights of favonius ++ gn!reader

Her azure eyes were wide in shock, but she couldn’t move. It was like she was stuck in quicksand, the more she struggled the more she sank. She couldn’t help but stay still as she watched [Name]’s body fall limp on their stomach from protecting her. The abyss mage staggered to the floor, in unison to them.

It was inevitable, really. But Jean had no idea that the Lawrence clan’s plans would go as far as aiming their negativity to the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. And that in the midst of their quarrel, her lover, who had nothing to do with the knights, would fall face forward after protecting her from a mortal wound.

But to protect didn’t mean cast away, and so [Name] themselves would harbor it for her. Crimson red ichor pooling underneath their burning wound. Beads of sweat dotted their body, and blood stained their clothes an oddly disgusting color.

Jean snapped back to reality as she heard them grunt and call out her name, ever-so-quietly. They meekly ushered her over as she cradled them in an embrace.

“Don’t worry, Barbara will be here in no time. Just keep your eyes open for a while. Just this once...” she paused, sniffling. “I won’t ask anymore of you, please...”

And even during a near death situation it was [Name] who was whispering words of reassurance into her ears. They softly hummed a tune of a song they used to sing to her when she couldn’t sleep.

It was a song about two people who followed an angel to the lands of heaven. It sang about living life in a paradise, having everything you want at the tip of your fingertips. It was a song about loving, being loved. And when they left the cloudy plains, they shared a kiss. An oath, promising each other they’d find each other again.

[Name] squeezed Jean’s arm, and she peered at them, anxious. “Kiss me hard before you go.” they said, but ironically it wasn’t her who was leaving, but them. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes but she denied all emotion. Softly kissing her partner, slowly and passionate just like how it always was.

Jean could feel them smile against her lips, but she refused to acknowledge it. Her eyes remained closed even as she pulled away, the blonde female did not want to see another mistake she’d made.

Loving [Name], and not being able to protect them.

Jean couldn’t feel their breath brushing past her skin any longer and she averted her eyes. A group of rushed footsteps resonated from behind her, abruptly stopping as they neared the two figures.

The Acting Grand Master brushed their lover’s eyelids close, taking one last look at their smiling face. Pressing her forehead against their’s, she whispered her love to them. Before setting them down, and standing up, the grip on her sword handle was menacingly strong, quite literally deadly.

She turned to meet the solemn gaze of Kaeya, and Eula who averted her gaze, “I apologize, it’s my family’s fault that...” she couldn’t even come to say it. Jean shook her head, walking up to her and patting her shoulder.

“It’s naive to swallow the sins of someone else’s. We’ve ought to get moving, what’s the situation, and how is Grand Master Varka fairing?” her tone was as soft and smooth as ever. But what amazed the two knights was how she fought back her emotions, and completely abandoned any sort of vulnerability.

“Teyvat grieved a loss,” Kaeya murmured, “And another one is drowning herself in quicksand.”

#jean x gn!reader #genshin impact angst #genshin x reader #gender neutral reader #jean angst #jean gunnhildr #genshin impact

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sebgender · 3 years ago

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this is a diluc and kaeya angst fic! i would like to point out that their bond is 100% familial and platonic! (i Do Not support kae!uc whatsoever)

i posted this on wattpad and ao3 (@sebgender) and if you would like, you can follow me on twitter (@sebgender) as well!

i did not have anyone read this over so i apologize if there are any spelling or grammatical errors. i hope you enjoy!

—————————

gods.

kaeya has never had a strong belief in the gods. despite growing up in mondstadt, where they worshipped barbatos, he couldn't help but feel out of place. but who could he blame? born in khaenri'ah, a place without any deities who watched over the people, of course he would be skeptical of these so-called seven archons.

.................

it was the day aether and all the acquaintances he made while traveling teyvat would confront his sister and the rest of the abyss order. it had been gloomy since the morning, dark clouds looming in the sky.

aether had gone off to confront lumine personally, while the rest of them stayed back to fend off the mages and its subordinates. the knights of favonius were present as well. the acting grandmaster and captains leading groups out to fight, barbara and the other sisters on the side, healing and tending to the injured.

rain started to fall and things quickly became chaotic. the stream of enemies seemed never ending. more and more knights running out of energy and getting injured. kaeya's ears rang as he fought, becoming less and less aware of his surroundings. kneeling by one of the trees, a voice called out to him.

"big brother kaeya!! kaeyaaa!!!"

he whipped his head around to see klee sprinting towards him. even klee, the effervescent spark knight, seemed to lack her usual upbeat smile. her small legs carried her as fast as they could. his breath hitched. this was the first time he'd ever seen the girl so...shaken up? he couldn't tell if it was tears or rain that streamed down her face.

"klee? what's wrong? are you alright?"

she was crying. as she got closer, her sobs became more audible.

"we have to go!! he needs help!! he's hurt!"

she tugged at him, urging him to get up quickly. grabbing hold of his hands, she ran, pulling him back towards the direction she came from.

"klee, who's hurt? you have to tell me so i know"

she started crying harder, her grip on his hand tightening.

"aether's sister hurt him."

his eye widened before taking klee into his arms and taking off.

"klee, where is he?!"

"he's near the winery! master jean told me to go look for you."

"is jean with him?"

"master jean had to go get healed by barbara."

kaeya's patience was running thin. he was about to question her again but was cut off by a loud clap of thunder. running as fast as he could, he could make out three standing figures in front of the winery. there were knights scattered around. kaeya couldn't tell whether they were injured or dead. klee started to squirm in his arms as she tried to release herself.

klee let out a blood curdling scream and kaeya watched as the blonde figure sunk her blade straight through the shoulder of a read head.

"DON'T HURT HIM!!!!!"

klee sprinted towards them. aether limped, almost falling, and grabbed the girl and pushed her head into the crook of his neck. klee has been assigned to fend off hilichurls but now has witnessed diluc being injured. she should have never been put on the field today.

"KLEE YOU HAVE TO CALM DOWN!!" aether yelled.

"THAT LADY IS HURTING HIM!! MAMA SAID I HAVE TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE I LOVE. I HAVE TO HELP LIKE MAMA SAID!!"

klee was having a full on breakdown now; she sobbed and screamed while lashing around in aether's hold trying to get him to let go. diluc didn't as much as let out a wince before trying to raise his claymore again. it seemed that diluc had gotten to aether before kaeya and klee did. lumine was quick to pull out her sword, blood splattering on the ground. kaeya was stuck in his place.

move.

move!

WHY AREN'T YOU MOVING?! HELP HIM!!

his mind cleared as he saw klee rip from aether's grasp and run towards lumine.

"KLEE NO!!! LUMINE DON'T HURT HER!!!!" screamed aether.

kaeya sprinted after her and managed to grab her before she was in range of lumine's blade.

"klee, let big brother kaeya take care of this, okay? i need you to take aether to barbara. can you do that for me?"

she sniffled before nodding and running back towards the traveler. turning back towards lumine, his face dropped, not an ounce of emotion could be seen.

"kaeya. i'm surprised that you'd go to such lengths to protect the ones against you. have you forgotten who you are?"

"i could ask you the same. who do you think you are swinging your blade at a child?!"

"i wasn't going to hurt her. i was going to use the butt of my blade to knock her out at most. i still have morals."

"it sure doesn't seem like it. i told you that i no longer associate myself with the likes of you or khaenri'ah, for a mater of fact. i grew up here and i will protect it."

"kaeya, i thought we could work this out. we could have gotten revenge together. don't you want that? or would you rather stay stuck in a place, surrounded by the people who worship the same gods who never cared about you!?"

"if they didn't care about me, they wouldn't have saved me!! this is not a matter of my faith in the gods but me wanting to protect the place and people i love!"

"fine. then i'll just end you now."

lumine charged at him, kaeya quick to dodge. the two went at it for sometime, diluc long forgotten about by lumine. the pyro wielder kneeled, holding his wound as he watched the two fight. it was obvious that both were running out of stamina. at some point, kaeya's eyepatch has fallen off as well. his eyes were unfocused as he tried to play offense, but it wasn't enough.

time had suddenly slowed as kaeya watched her blade come closer and closer towards his heart. had he been quicker on his feet, maybe he could've helped more people. but of course, it no longer mattered. he was about to die. his eyes subconsciously closed, his body inviting the blade to end him — yet it never came.

seconds passed before he opened his eyes. diluc stood in front of him and as kaeya looked down, he saw the sword come out the other end.

"di...luc?"

as if on que, the man fell to his knees. his hands still firmly held the blade where he grabbed as lumine changed directions and stabbed him through his abdomen. the rain poured harder and lumine started making her retreat.

it was all making sense as he gripped his sword and started to charge towards the girl but a hand wrapped around his ankle, preventing him from going further.

"...it's not worth it. you'll get hurt."

"diluc, lay down, quick. we have to stop the bleeding. you'll be fine."

kaeya stumbled over his words as he layed diluc down on the wet grass. he took off his cape and pressed it against his wound.

"i'm sorry."

kaeya eyes snapped up to diluc's face.

"what are you apologizing for, you idiot...?just....shut up and save your breath. i don't know what nonsense you're spewing but now is not the time."

"there's no need for all the effort. i won't make it."

kaeya ignored the redhead and continued applying pressure to the wound while looking around for anyone who could possibly heal diluc. both his shoulder and abdomen were causing him to loose blood at a rapid pace. the grass he laid on was dyed a dark crimson.

diluc shook his head. it was futile, his efforts would be in vain. in around 5 to 10 minutes, he would die from blood loss. no words were exchanged, both men too scared to break the seemingly fragile silence.

"......why would you do that?"

diluc grunted in response rather than replying with words. kaeya gripped the fabric he held to diluc's abdomen even harder.

"...you fucking saved me. why?"

"because."

"because what?! what are doing protecting the same person who betrayed you, diluc?!"

"kaeya, i don't care about that anymore!! i haven't cared for years. i saved you because you are worthy of being saved!!"

silence again. it was deafening.

"you can't."

"huh?"

"you're not allowed to leave again. he said you have to stay with me, no matter what.."

at that moment, the red head laughed a genuine laugh. kaeya looked at him like he was crazy.

"you know, i never left in the first place. i've always been here. whether you wanted to take advantage of that, was up to you."

"don't give me that bullshit!! you left mondstadt for 3 years without your goddamned vision and we had no contact! i had no idea if you would even come back."

"but i did, didn't i?"

"it doesn't matter! you were surviving off the same delusion that killed your father! you could've been next!"

"our."

kaeya was dumbfounded. was diluc listening to a word he said? his answers were short, not making any sort of sense to blue haired man.

"he was our father, not just mine."

"is this really our biggest problem at hand?!"

"yes. you know how much he loved you. he cared for you as much as he cared for me. he is our father, it doesn't matter if you acknowledge it or not."

before kaeya could retort, diluc spoke again.

"he loved when you referred to him as your father. i remember the first day you showed up at the winery, looking confused as ever. he crouched down in front of me and asked me if i wanted a brother. he was willing to take you in from the very start."

kaeya had nothing to say as diluc's breathing became increasingly labored. yet, instead of taking it easy, he insisted on continuing his story.

"even when he saw you standing there, watching as he took his last breath, he didn't hate you. he never could. he told me to stay with you. selfishly, i left for three years but i came back....because i knew that's what he would have wanted."

"....why are you telling me this now?"

diluc's face had gone even more pale, sweat dripping down his face despite the cold rain. he wheezed and coughed as he spoke.

"to remind you that even though you're witnessing this exact scene again, you are not to blame. dad doesn't blame you, and neither do i."

"blame me for what? what scene? diluc, you're gonna make it. you aren't gonna die in the same place as crepus." kaeya laughed nervously.

surely it wasn't happening right? surely barbara would come running down here any second and heal diluc and they would go back to their daily bantering at the tavern. everything would go back to normal!

"no matter what you decide to do, please don't sell the winery."

"stop...stop! what are you saying right now?!"

kaeya became frantic once again, shouting out for help, only halting as he felt a hand fall on top of his own. kaeya's body temperature is always lower than others due to his cryo vision, but even with his pyro vision, diluc's hand felt colder than kaeya's.

"you have to keep going, alright?"

kaeya looked down at diluc, eyes filling with tears that he has not shed in quite a few years.

"kae......"

diluc's eyes conveyed everything single thing he could've possibly wanted to say in his last moments. so even with his limited words, he wanted to at least say something. so, with a smile and his last breath, he repeated the same words he told kaeya all those years ago.

"even if you don't think so, you were — and always will be — the best older brother i could have ever wished for."

as diluc's eyes closed, kaeya could hear the footsteps of knights behind him and his name being called out.

kaeya!

"KAEYA!!"

kaeya shook his head and rapidly blinked as he finally came back to reality.

"you were spacing out again and i still have some paperwork to do. i'm not trying to rush you but...."

"ah, so sorry jean. i...uh. i came to ask if i could change some of my info that is currently in the files?"

"oh? what would you like changed?"

kaeya's eyes dropped down to the now unlit pyro vision hanging next to his own.

"i think i want to change my last name... back to ragnvindr."

.................

but even with his little belief in the gods, kaeya found himself praying to them everyday — begging them to give him his little brother back. whispering apologies to the wind that he hoped barbatos would carry to diluc.

#genshin impact #diluc ragnvindr #kaeya alberich #jean gunnhildr #genshin klee #aether #lumine #angst with a sad ending #angst #genshin angst #genshin fic

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starcookiechu · 3 years ago

Text

ROTT Review

SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE. You have been warned.

FYI: I just finished the movie. So my opinions may change a bit but here I am writing a full review.

Before I talk about the movie, I have to say this movie has fantastic animation. The music is as good as usual.

Ok now the story. Let’s start with the our Trollhunters.

Fair Lady Claire. My girlie Claire really brought her all into this. I’m really proud of the young woman she has grown up into. However for the sake of the plot and story they make her run out of magic juice quite a bit. But my girl is still the best and gives it her all.

Wingman Domzalski. I will be perfectly honest. Toby is kind of the annoying best friend at times and bothers me as a plus size person. (They really push the over eating thing to the point that it’s his biggest factor.) Toby is a very eager kid who is ready to get in the action. Never being negative to his friend but the best emotional support who will always be at his side. Sure Toby was used a bit as comedic relief in the movie but when push comes to shove, Toby will always be there to do the right thing.

Blinky is amazing as always. One of the best father figures out there.

Aarrrgh was there. Was great for the scenes he was in, but all together didn’t do much that altered the story.

Our Trollhunter, Jim Lake Jr. Someone I admire and basically see as my little brother/child. Kiddo really did it. I know everyone is upset that Jim’s arc was redone when we had the “Unbecoming” episode. If I could come to a peaceful middle ground, I saw we all need to blame Merlin. He really rocked Jim’s world and self worth. When the creator of the object you need to save the world with tells you “You’re not enough”, it really can be a great setback. But once we past that, Jim really pulled through. Amulet or not, he is our Trollhunter.

Mommy Dr. Lake was there. Barbara was mostly there for our emotions.

Dilf Strickler. I felt that he was changed a bit since we last saw him, but he had a new purpose. He was more cautious and happy because he had a chance at a happy life with Barbara. Which makes what happens to him more upsetting.

Nomura my sweet. This movie did not deserve you. At least she was with Draal.

And Not-Enrique (seriously why didn’t they ever give him an actual name) just wasn’t in the movie.

How about some CreepSlayers?

BABY ELI PEPPERJACK CAME BACK LOOKING SO CUTE. So proud.

Bumbling knight oaf Steve the Palchuckian was great as usual.

I will say though. The whole pregnancy plot was just a way to get Eli and Steve out of the way. I could feel that the writers maybe didn’t like Steve so much since Wizards. But Steve was once again someone to laugh at. Pregnant and out of the way.

How about some Akiridions?

Aja my darling girl, oh how you’ve grown. I understand some think she has changed. However I must say that her preparing a plan B on the side was smart. She isn’t just a princess on earth anymore. She is a queen on a distant planet. So if she thought evacuation was best, it would ensure that everyone would live. And avoid losing more valuable people from her life. So no, I can’t blame her.

DJ Kleb was there. He was kinda doin his own thing and messing with Steve. Brother-in-law stuff.

It was good to see Varvatos Vex.

Stu was the man in the background working on the busy important things like working on the amulet. Personally I feel like the series REALLY underutilizes Stu A LOT so I was so happy to see him being a part of something huge.

And finally some Wizards.

Douxie my love, you were amazing as usual. His powers have grown greatly and have contributed to the adventure. But god the writers really do love to take everything away from him don’t they. It’s unfair.

Archie was kinda just there and just... I understand leaving Douxie but that doesn’t mean I like it.

Nari the sweetest. I can only imagine the guilt she felt to end Nomura. Her self sacrifice was probably the one in the movie most called for.

Alright now I’ll talk about the movie.

I can whole heartedly say this movie was rushed. To be honest I feel like the original writers weren’t completely in this. At least it felt kind of not so much Trollhunters or 3Below vibes but more Wizards, if that makes sense whatsoever. Something is off.

I just want to blame Merlin for everything. To hell with that guy.

The beginning sequence was great. A car chase to a moving train. Which ends up with Toby of course screwing up and breaking the brakes. Of course. The train falling off the tracks which ultimately ends up with Nari gone. Oh yeah, and video recordings of Magic, trolls and being taken in by the police. Great.

WHY TF WAS TOBY TELLING THEIR STORY TO THE POLICE. YOU DON’T MIX THE POLICE IN STORIES UNLESS YOU KNOW THE COP PERSONALLY. CUZ IT’S A MESS AND THE POLICE GET IN THE WAY. GDI TOBY.

Our heroes go back to base on the new and improved Camelot. Where we discover that Barbara and Strickler are now engaged. Happy news and would secure that Jim has another Father figure in his life and his mother’s happiness. Which explains Strickler’s “stay behind” advice. Now he has a family to watch over. He must be careful and warns that Jim’s actions could cost so much that he might not be able to afford.

Enters our Majesty Aja and the new stud on the block, Eli. Dang I wish puberty hit me like that.Truck-kun strikes again. And also enters... the pregnancy thing. I will say, I didn’t mind it too much... at first. But there are complications. Steve is too young to be a father and dang 7 kisses?? I can’t help but feel like Aja should have mentioned that or it was a last minute plan to write out Steve and Eli. (Which it was.) It was funny sure cuz omegaverse and ALIENS but all together it’s really iffy.

They really had Douxie preform a body-swap spell only so it would be undone. And undoing the spell only hurt them both?? C’mon. C’mon.

And they mention the Krohnisfere. We’ll get back to it. Jim gets a brand new amulet infused with Akaridion tech. However theres an issue. It was created by Merlin right? Who is a wizard right? Who uses MAGIC. Shame Douxie wasn’t there to help make it. Ya know. 1/2 of the original creator of the AMULET. So it’s missing a huge part and for the sake of the plot, Jim doesn’t test the Amulet which is out of character personally.

Toby makes a silly big deal over a penny. I was actually hoping they would make it a silly Chekhov's gun later on. But no, it’s just Toby being loud and comedic relief.

The titans are released and we visit a very pregnant Steve. Ok so it’s a rushed kind of thing. ok.

Aja suggests evacuation. You can say it’s out of character but we need context. When Aja helped in the Doomsday Battle, she was ensured a way out but if she let the people of Arcadia perish. She decided to stay and help. But now the Trollhunter himself can’t help. So to ensure the survival of everyone, evacuation. A best chance for everyone to survive. Plus she is now a Queen. She rules over a whole planet which must change her thinking.

Now our characters are split into 3 teams:

Blinky, Archie, Archie’s dad and Claire for the Krohnisfere.

Jim, Aja, Toby, Strickler and Barbara for the Glacial Titan.

Nomura, Douxie and Aarrgh for the Earth Titan.

Now here is where I have problems. WHY. DID. THEY. SEND. TROLLS. TO. BRAZIL. IN. THE. DAY. Nomura dying was just so out of pocket. Unnecessary. I couldn’t even grieve properly I didn’t have a chance to process. The best thought I could think was “At least she’s with Draal now.” 10 seconds later, Strickler makes the choice to sacrifice himself. Because of Jim’s heroic’s, Strickler decided to try to save the most important people in his life. The person who was always dishonest finally had a chance to live a happy life with his family. The one who played it safe now had to make the final impulsive move. And unfortunately, his death was in vain. These deaths were just so forced. It wasn’t in any way good. And Strickler being one of the best written characters just going in such a way was just off. He died for nothing. He could have turned back and fought another battle but... no.

(BTW Barbara was just there... for Strickler’s death.)

We move to Babara and Jim having a heart to heart. I’m glad she didn’t blame Jim but a small moment of anger. Something a little more real for me but no I guess. Barbara will always just be Jim’s mom. She mention’s Jim’s father and it passed so quickly I missed it on my initial viewing. I’m happy that Jim’s father is never revealed or made a bigger part in his story. This is good representation for those of us who did have our fathers walk out on us. That we can grow despite our parents failing us.

And finally team Krohnisfere. Archie just leaves. He’s gone. Poor Douxie. A mentor and now his closest companion.

Our heroes meet up to go against the Volcanic Titan. In comes Varvatos Vex on a Gun Robot. Nice to see some good ol Gundam with a character mentioned throughout the entire trilogy. However it doesn’t last. BTW for the sake of survival, Aja leaves Jim and Toby. Iffy.

Douxie pulls a “Jason stop. This isn’t you.” thing with Nari and is reunited with his friend.(+ points for the shippers. It’s kinda winning me over?) Also, Claire now has the power to teleport a Titan. I know she’s much stronger than she was for the Trollhunters Sn 2 finale, but cmon. You can’t just say she’s out of magic juice and then pull this. C’mon.

(btw did the titan make a War of the Worlds tripod sound? No? Just me?)

Nari sacrifices herself and takes the other god with her. Which takes away Douxie’s other companion. Mr. Stark I don’t feel so good. Why does this movie hate Douxie so much. (I am so sorry shippers. Angst.)

BLINKY DIDN’T SEE A PAGE? ADDRESSING IT IN THE SHOW DOESN’T GIVE YOU A PASS. I forgot the word but this irony isn’t greatttt.

Jim now has to pull out the legendary sword Excalibur. But he can’t cuz he hasn’t harnessed the power of friendship.

And Steve is giving birth. At the worst time. What is this a zombie movie??? C’mon.

Jim says “Magic is friendship” And Stu is finally being used for one grand act. Seriously Stu is just so unappreciated. So he fixes the amulet with magic.

Basically everyone who went on top of the Volcanic titan falls off at some point. Except Jim cuz of course some 1v1.

ONCE AGAIN Claire is out of magic juice. Because... reasons.

Toby makes the choice to race to Jim’s side with the technology to cancel out magic. (Wait how does science stop magic again)

BTW, For the Good of all doesn’t hit as well BUT it’s not mentioning any glory towards stinky Merlin so I am happy with the change.

JIM HAS A NEW TRANSFORMATION. MY BOY. MY SON. I’M SO PROUD.

Toby races to Jim and his helmet falls off the taco truck. That honestly should have been a huge warning sign. I was worried he didn’t have armor but we know how this goes.

Jim defeats the final titan and everyone is happy. The fight is finally over.

STEVE HAS 7 KIDS. OUCH.

Seeing Jim run to Toby was heartbreaking. Now this is the one scene where the movie really let out actually process a character’s death. How on earth can you process your best friend, your most faithful companion dying. Jim goes through too much I swear to god.

Now let’s discuss the time travel plot. I honestly feel like they pulled some kind of Attack on Titan ending. The main character burdened with knowing the future and what could have been. And if everything is meant to be how it will be, destiny will reconnect them again. (Jlaire reincarnation AU???)

I’m actually ok with this ending. I understand people would want the time stone to return only a few minutes. But even then, the kiddos still have police records, so many people dead at the titan’s hands (or feet) and now the world knows about the existence of trolls thanks to the internet. In New York no less. And people are still dead.

We return the the beginning of everything, reflecting the “Unbecoming” episode.

(NGL I’m bothered that they didn’t do anything to stop Steve from bullying Eli, but Jim can’t do it. He’s saving it for Toby.)

And now finally, let’s discuss Toby becoming the Trollhunter. From the beginning, Toby never considered himself good enough to be the main star. Always the wingman, the 2nd best. Support. Now it was Toby’s turn to climb the ranks and be the Hero he’s always wanted to be. It’s Jim’s turn to live an easier high school life. I don’t doubt that he won’t follow Toby. But now he knows what to avoid and how to make the story process more smoothly.

I understand some are unsatisfied with this ending, which is kinda trademarked with Dreamwork’s shows. I get it. But honestly as of right now, I think I like the ending.

The amulet didn’t choose Jim because this Jim is not the same Jim as in Sn 1 Ep 1. He is a new man. And I think we all can agree that it’s his turn to be happy.

---

I still love this series so much. It is my favorite cartoon. Of course it has it’s flaws, but this ending is at least satisfactory and not heartbreaking. Now it’s up to us to either continue the story or contribute our ideas in fanfiction. I look forward to everyone’s creations.

Don’t think. Become.

#rise of the titans #rott spoilers #trollhunters rott #wizards rott #3below rott #Trollhunters #3below #wizards #tales of arcadia #toa trollhunters #toa 3below #toa wizards #toa

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sohotthateveryonedied · 4 years ago

Text

Softer Than Silence

Read here on AO3!

(Takes place right after this fic which I wrote like a year ago and only now got to making a sequel for whoops.)

Summary:

“Your larynx was severed. It was a pretty nasty injury and Leslie did everything she could, but your vocal cords...they weren’t salvageable. I’m...I’m so sorry, Tim.”

Tim lets that sink in. Severed larynx. Unsalvageable vocal cords.

Oh, god.

Tim doesn’t know how much time has passed when he wakes up. He’s not even sure how he’s waking up. A slit throat in any universe should be a certain one-way ticket to the afterlife—don’t pass go, don’t collect two hundred dollars. Dead. Maybe Tim is dreaming. Or maybe he’s dying right now and this is just his brain flashing forward to the future he could have had, “Owl Creek Bridge”-style. His ears feel like they’re packed with pillows, but voices make their way through his warped awareness like pencils poking through aluminum foil. “I say we should draw straws.” “Really, Jay? That’s your suggestion?” “You got a better idea, Dickface?” Someone clicks their tongue. “You’re both cowards. Let me be the one to tell him and I’ll have it done in less than a minute.” “I can’t even tell you all of the reasons I’m not letting you do that.” “Yeah, kid, your bedside manner fucking sucks.” “It’s better than yours!” “Will you both shut up?” Tim would feign sleep and listen longer, but the drug-induced haze is fading faster than he can keep up with. His throat burns with a fiery vengeance, flames creeping up his windpipe. He shifts, a hand instinctively grappling for his throat. Someone stops him. “Tim? You awake?” He opens his eyes. Dick is beside him, lowering Tim’s wrist back to the bed. They’re in the medical area of the Batcave; he can tell by the dank air and a sliver of rock peeking through the gap in the curtain surrounding them. Jason and Damian stand off to the side, their expressions unreadable. Tim opens his mouth to ask them what happened, but before he can utter a vowel, Dick is squeezing his hand. “Don’t try to talk,” he says. Tim obediently settles back, wariness rising in his gut. He reaches up with the hand not in Dick’s grasp and discovers a thick bandage plastered over his neck. That can’t be good. “Do you remember what happened?” The man flicks Tim’s blood off of his sword. “I would love to continue this riveting visit of ours, but it seems like my mission is complete. Have a pleasant night, Mr. Drake.” Tim nods with a wince. “You were lucky,” Dick says. “Conner found you and brought you here just in time. You lost a lot of blood and Leslie had you in surgery for a while, but she was able to fix most of the damage.” Tim doesn’t miss the most, and Dick grimaces when he catches it as well. Tim arches one eyebrow—a clear, What aren’t you telling me? “Looks like that’s our cue to duck out,” Jason says. He grabs Damian by the shoulder and ignores the raccoon-like hands smacking him away. “Glad you didn’t die, Tim.” He ushers Damian out and they disappear, leaving Tim’s stomach curdling. He looks to Dick for an explanation. “There...there was a lot of damage, Tim. You’re lucky to be breathing right now.” That should be good, right? Tim is alive. There’s no tube in his neck so he can breathe on his own, and aside from some residual soreness under the buzz of the drugs, he feels fine. This is a monumental victory. So why does Dick look like he’s delivering a death sentence? Tim wants to ask, but he physically can’t do that. Dick doesn’t seem to be able to either. “Your larynx was severed. It was a pretty nasty injury and Leslie did everything she could, but your vocal cords...they weren’t salvageable. I’m...I’m so sorry, Tim.” Tim lets that sink in. Severed larynx. Unsalvageable vocal cords. Oh, god. The utter horror on Tim’s face must be unmistakable because Dick is rushing to comfort him. “It’s okay, Tim. You’re going to get through this.” But Dick’s voice is muffled by the ringing in Tim’s ears. He can’t lose his voice. He can’t. This isn’t happening. Tim scrambles to sit up, his breathing becoming ragged. He sucks in a deep breath, opens his mouth, and tries, tries to make a noise. Tries to make a single sound, but all that comes out is a rush of air. He’s shaking. He tries to speak, to yell, to scream, and there are tears running down his cheeks and his gasps are empty and his throat hurts but he doesn’t stop. Dick’s hand is on his back. “Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.” Tim hates that he doesn’t even have the ability to argue, to tell Dick that there’s nothing to figure out. Tim can’t speak and meaningless encouragement isn’t going to change that. Nothing will change it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s an adjustment, to say the least. The first day, Tim holds out a flicker of hope that this is all some dream and any minute he’ll wake up again in the med bay, throat repaired and vocal cords intact. He can’t believe this is happening to him. In his entire life Tim never once considered what it would be like to lose his voice, never prepared himself for the possibility. He’s watched Cass trudge through reading assignments from Barbara and struggle to find the right words in a conversation, but it never occurred to him just how much Tim relied on his ability to speak. He took it for granted. His first day out of the med bay he finds himself slipping up again and again, opening his mouth in response to a question only to remember that that’s no longer an option. He doesn’t know enough sign language to partake in a conversation, so he avoids them altogether. He hears Alfred humming along to an opera album down the hall and is filled with a vicious, panging envy. Never again will Tim hum, sing, laugh. It’s all gone. Everyone keeps giving him the same droll sermons. He’ll get through this. It could have been worse; he could be dead. Cass manages just fine with sign language, and Tim can too. He should count himself lucky that the damage wasn’t more severe. But is he lucky? Is he really? Tim has already lost so much: his parents, his friends, his Robin career, Bruce. And now his voice. Life just doesn’t know when to stop taking from him. Maybe it will never stop taking, not until he’s an empty husk. Conner left for Smallville just a few days after Tim awoke. He never said why, but Tim knows it’s because he feels guilty. Tim wants to reassure him that this isn’t his fault, that Tim would be dead if Conner hadn’t saved him, but it would take too long to write down. Bruce taught Tim basic ASL shortly after he began his Robin training, sticking to the most rudimentary of phrases that one would need for crime-fighting. Yes. No. Please. Thank you. Help. Safe. Danger. Steph offered to learn sign language with him and Alfred left a sneaky pile of ASL books on Tim’s desk, but he hasn’t touched them. He instead relies on a whiteboard and marker to communicate, rarely as he does. His search for Bruce has been put on hold, not of his own volition. He supposes it’s fair. After all, Tim can’t even order a hamburger anymore without the help of his whiteboard. Not that he leaves the manor much, anyway. The bandage on his neck draws too much unwanted attention. He’d hate to see what Gotham’s press would conspirize about a Wayne son with a mysteriously slit throat. Tim’s days are spent in his room, working on cases out of the action. That’s what he does now, sitting on his bed with his laptop, music blasting through his headphones. Dick pokes his head in without knocking. They still haven’t devised a system for that yet. “Hey, you got a second?” Tim flicks his fingers in Dick’s direction: his way of acknowledging people these days. He pauses his music. “Damian and I are heading out on patrol now.” Tim says nothing. Obviously. “Alfred told me you didn’t eat dinner. Or lunch. Or breakfast.” Tim rifles through the papers sprawled around his knees and holds up a crumpled pink post-it. Throat hurts. “That excuse again?” Tim shrugs. “Look, I know you’re frustrated, but what you’re doing isn’t healthy. You know that, right?” Tim twirls a finger in the air. Whoop-dee-doo. “That’s real mature.” Of all the things I have to worry about right now, I’d say maturity is pretty low on the list. Not that Tim says any of that. He doesn’t know the signs and he let his whiteboard fall off the bed somewhere to his left hours ago. He doesn’t bother reaching for it. Dick comes closer to the bed and stops. “Can I sit?” Tim shrugs and goes back to his laptop. Dick sits on the edge by Tim’s knee and reaches over to close the computer. Tim flips him one of the few ASL signs he does know. “You have a right to be angry about this, but you can’t project that anger onto us. Me, Damian, Alfred—we’re not the ones you’re mad at. And we all want to help you, but we can’t do that if you don’t let us. So start letting us.” Easy for him to say. But Tim knows he’s right, as infuriating as it is, which is the only reason he doesn’t turn his music back on and shut down for another week. Sighing, Tim opens the laptop. He pulls up a blank word document and types for a moment. He turns the computer around to show Dick. Speech for Neon Knights foundation in a couple days. Already written. Just need someone to deliver it. Dick nods, smiling. “Sure. I can take care of that. And it’s okay if you need more time to work through this, but I want you to remember that I’m here if you ever want to talk. Or, well—you know what I mean. Just remember you’re not alone in this.” Tim wishes he could tell Dick the truth. That Tim does appreciate everything he’s trying to do—really, he does. Tim doesn’t know where he’d even be if he didn’t have Dick by his side, making the world a brighter place just by existing in it with his endless patience and unfaltering optimism. If only he had the voice to tell him. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason wouldn’t call himself a particularly caring individual. That sort of legacy is better left to the real heroes, like Bruce and Roy and Dick-fucking-Grayson. It’s for this reason that Jason didn’t stick around for a hot second when Tim got hurt, nor did he return for the aftermath. Tim is dealing with enough shit right now. He doesn’t need his asshole older brother getting involved and making him feel worse. Jason can’t imagine what it would be like to be in Tim’s situation. For starters, it would utterly butcher his knack for smartass remarks. Plus, there’s no finer euphoria than screaming obscenities at a blubbering criminal right before he puts a bullet through their skull. Losing his voice would be losing half of what makes him the Red Hood. Red Robin, on the other hand...he’s always been quiet. Not like Cass, but getting there. He relies on shadows and ninja-like swiftness to get the point across that this is goddamn Red Robin and you should be wetting your pants in his wake. But Jason’s smart enough to know that the silent schtick is done by choice. It’s a maneuver and a learned behavior rolled into one. He can only imagine how torturous it must be to be silenced by force—to be muzzled by something completely out of his control. (Fine, so Jason cares about the kid a little. Sue him.) He goes into the Batburger restaurant (Jesus shit, whoever came up with the idea of a Batman-themed restaurant should be shot in the head. Or maybe thrown a parade. He can’t decide) and scouts for black hair and pale skin. He spots Tim in a booth all the way at the back and heads over, sliding into the seat across from him. “Hey, kid.” Tim picks his head up from where he was engrossed in a game of Solitaire on his phone and gives a two-fingered salute. A notepad and Superman pen sit on the table in front of him. “Did you order yet?” Tim points to the scar on his neck and Jason mentally slaps himself in the forehead. “Right.” Tim picks up the pen and scribbles for a minute. “What,” Jason says, “no whiteboard today?” Tim turns the pad around to show Jason. Too bulky. People notice. Below that: Nuggets, fries & grape zesti. “Magic words?” Tim rolls his eyes. He tears out the page and bounces it off Jason’s forehead. However, he does lift his right hand and rotate it in front of his chest, palm flat: the ASL sign for “please.” Jason recognizes it from his minimal knowledge accumulated from Robin training and conversations with Cass. “Attaboy. For a minute there I was worried Alf failed in making a decent person out of you.” Tim sticks his tongue out, which makes Jason chuckle. He goes to the counter and relays Tim’s order, along with his own. While he waits he dares a look back and finds Tim back to staring down at his phone, shirt collar pulled as high as it’ll go. What must it be like, going from Gotham’s favorite billionaire playboy-in-training to a silent teenager who can’t go to a restaurant without people staring at the killer scar across his throat? Jason’s seen the gossip magazines. Some speculate a failed assassination, while others are sure it was a suicide attempt gone wrong. At least Jason’s scars can be covered by a t-shirt. Tim can’t hide his without a turtleneck, but it’s summer now. He’s forced to endure the speculated theories and pitiful glances, meanwhile Jason has the benefit of being legally dead on his side. He doesn’t have to worry about people remembering him. Losing one’s voice only months after losing his second father figure is tough shit for a seventeen-year-old. For anyone. He doesn’t know how Tim does it. Jason goes back to the table and finds Tim doodling a stick figure on the notepad. It’s got thick, narrowed eyebrows and pointed teeth. “That supposed to be me?” Tim’s mouth quirks. He fingerspells, Damian. His sleeve falls down an inch, exposing a med-alert bracelet. Alfred must have made him start wearing it. What with his asplenia and nasty habit of fainting in places when he forgets to eat, it makes sense that Tim would need it. If something were to happen, it’s not like he can inform paramedics of the deal. “You really captured the evil in his eyes.” Jason takes a bite of his cheeseburger while Tim busies himself with arranging his fries in size order, the little weirdo. “So how are things at home?” Good, Tim signs, his movements clunky and unpracticed. Dick… He frowns and scribbles on the pad. Helicopter parenting. “Same old, same old, right?” Tim levels an unimpressed look. “What? It can’t be that bad.” Benched indefinitely. It sucks. “Can you blame him? I wouldn’t want you in the field like this yet either.” Cass, Tim writes, and leaves it at that. “But she’s been functioning without speech for her whole life. She doesn’t need it to be understood. You’ve only been doing it for two weeks.” And a half, Tim writes. “You know what I mean. ‘s not like you can call for help if you get gutted in an alley.” Never thought I’d see the day when you’d take Dick’s side. “Yeah, well, sometimes the fucker has a point.” He takes a sip of his soda. “You know, I talked to Babs yesterday. Said she’s working on tech that’ll let you use morse code over the comms. If she finishes it on schedule, you can be back out there in less than a month.” Tim just nods, eyes dimmed. It’s weird seeing the kid so quiet. The real trick used to be getting Tim to shut up. He used to spend hours rambling on and on about whatever science kick he was on at the moment. For as quiet as Red Robin could be, Tim Drake never ran out of things to say. Jason misses it. He throws a sesame seed at Tim. “Hey. I’m trying to have a conversation here.” Tim makes a gesture that Jason doesn’t recognize. At Jay’s confused look, Tim writes on the notepad, Fuck off. “Cassie teach you that one?” Steph. Wanted to learn curse words first. “Of course you did. You know, you should hit up Jericho. He knows exactly what you’re going through, and I’m pretty sure he was able to teach Dick sign language in less than a year.” You’re the fifth person to say that. “I’m a fucking genius, we know this. But seriously. It might be useful to have someone in your corner who knows how to cope with this kind of thing.” I’m coping fine. “By listening to shitty emo music all day in your room? Yeah, because that’s super healthy.” Tim twiddles the pen between his fingers, glaring at Jason. Finally, he puts it to paper. I keep calling my cell phone to listen to the voicemail. Jason blinks. “Why?” Don’t want to forget what my voice sounds like. “You won’t.” Forgot my mom’s after a year. Starting to forget my dad’s. Tim pauses before adding, He yelled a lot though, so I think he’s got a lead. Jason has no fucking idea what to say to that, thanks for asking. He gives it a shot anyway. “Then...then I’ll remember it enough for the both of us. It's kind of hard to forget that annoying-ass nasally voice babbling about Star Wars for hours anyway.” Wow, thanks, Tim signs with an eye roll. No problem, Jason signs back. That makes Tim smile for the first time since Jason sat down. Maybe this kid will be all right, after all.

#i had no fucking idea how to end this okay #tim drake #red robin #robin #idiot duckboy #jason todd #red hood #dick grayson #nightwing #batman #damian wayne #batfamily #batfam #dc comics #fanfiction #fanfic

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aporcelainphantom · 3 years ago

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An Unexpected Duo

Characters: Barbara and Kaeya of Genshin Impact

This is NOT a ship post. For many, many reasons. No smut, just friendship and bonding and such. The idea came into my head and I had to let it out. Concrit welcome, I don't do this often and always feel my tempo is off.

Not proofread, we die like men.

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“Oh, Mr. Kaeya needs my help? I...I mean who am I to refuse” Barbara laughed softly, trying to keep her discomfort with the idea tucked away.

She knew he wasn’t a bad man, she knew her sister would never have made him Calvary Captain nor let him request to bring her on a mission if he was. And he had never been anything other than kind to her. But boy, did his reputation precede him.

She had lost track of the amount of times she had run into him with Sister Rosaria, quickly fleeing in the opposite direction as she prayed to Barbados that they hadn’t noticed her. The last thing she wanted was to discuss it. Not to mention the many times she had to tend to him after he had far too many drinks or enraged the wrong person.

But at the end of it all, he never made any passes at her. I’m the small amount of time they spent together he was far more brotherly, buying her kind gifts for her birthday or when he had been brought to her in a drunken stupor.

She looked down at the paper in her hands, reading over what he had written. A gathering of pyro slimes and a few hilichurl camps had appeared a bit too close to the city. He wanted to take care of it that day, as quickly as possible, and hoped she could assist him with healing and to combine visions to avoid them wandering off. His cryo could easily defeat them, but without some hydro assistance, they could still wander off.

Adjusting her clothing and hair in the mirror, she sang softly. Checking herself over, she ensured she had everything she needed. Taking a deep breath she quickened her pace to leave the cathedral. She slowed a bit as she passed over the large stairs outside, making a right turn to arrive at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters.

Deep blue hair blowing around his face, Kaeya leaned against the building, fidgeting with a coin, seemingly lost in thought. Barbara stopped in front of him, a few steps lower than he stood, making his frame seem even taller than usual. He smiled softly as he saw her.

“Hey there Barbs, glad you could make it. Thanks for coming over so quickly, I wasn’t sure if you’d even be available” he spoke, slipping away the coin and moving closer to her. Offering up a nervous smile, she leaned back and forth on the tips of her toes, her hands clasped behind her back.

“Oh it’s no trouble! I just have some cleaning to do later, and I wouldn’t want those camps to move any closer! I’m sure they’ve already been a huge hinderance to merchants.” She assured him as they began walking to the main gate. They had barely passed the bridge when a burst of fire could be seen in the distance.

“Oh no!” Barbara exclaimed, glancing at Kaeya before they both took off running in that direction. She had pulled her catalyst only moments before Kaeya drew his sword, his long legs getting him there moments before she arrived. A merchant moaned and held their head, knocked to the ground by pyro slime. As Kaeya began to fight against some hilichurls, Barbara coated the area in water, making sure to extinguish the slimes. She ran to the merchant, dropping down to check them.

“Don’t worry, I can help! Do you know where you are?” She rushed, pulling out bandages before softly singing, dampening them with water as she began to heal and cleanse them before the bandages.

The man groaned, lowering his hands “Just outside of Mondstadt I hope” he said, opening his eyes a bit to see his saviors. A few hilichurls remained, though most were still frozen, unable to cause harm. Barbara offered up a warm smile, nodding at his answer.

“Yes, good! It seems you haven’t gotten hit too hard then. I’m going to bandage you up now” she assured him as she wrapped him. Everything began to quiet down, the air cooling as the sounds of Kaeya’s footsteps approaching. He crouched down next to her, his blade phasing to his back.

“They weren’t too bad, I must admit I probably got too aggressive with them” he reported, looking over the merchant. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Oh yes, he will be sore, and his burns will take a bit to fully heal, but he will be okay” Barbara informed him, smiling sweetly at the man while they helped him up.

“I can’t thank you two enough, truly!" he said, shaking both of their hands.

"We're glad you'll be okay, do you need an escort home?" Kaeya said softly, glancing around the area.

The man shook his head "No, I thankfully already dropped off my goods so I don't have anything to bring with me, and I don't live too far away. I would hate to take up any more of your time" he assured, already heading off.

They quickly said their goodbyes, watching him for a moment before Kaeya took a map out of his pocket. Barbara popped up on her tippy toes, attempting to see the map better. Kaeya laughed, lowering the map a bit for her.

"You can just ask me to lower it, you know? You're probably the least burdensome person I've ever met and you're doing me a huge favor, the least I can do is let you see the map clearly" he said, his voice slightly teasing. Barbara's face flushed, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh, thank you. I just, I didn't want to mess with your concentration or anything, Mr. Kaeya" she said quickly, twirling her hair nervously. Kaeya stopped and watched her, taking in her behavior. He shook his head, putting away the map.

"I know you're younger but you can just call me Kaeya, I promise I've been called worse and I'd rather you feel comfortable. And I know we haven't spent much time together, so me calling on you probably seems weird. But I promise, I just trust you and know your skills are what I needed today."

Barbara looked up at him, closing her eyes for a moment and nodding, mulling over his words for a moment. She popped her eyes back open, smiling brightly.

"I'm sorry Mr, I mean, Kaeya. I've been a bit harsh today, and you've never done me any wrong. I am honored you trust my skills." she spouted. Kaeya laughed, putting both of them more at ease.

"If that's harsh, I can't even imagine what you being nice is like" he teased, turning back to the path "No worries, I probably should have discussed you coming along earlier. Now, looks like just north of Springvale we have another camp. Let's get going, I'm hoping we can make it back before dark."

Hours later, they crossed the gates of Mondstadt, laughing together as the sun began to set. They had taken care of all the camps, thankfully able to avoid any other civilians getting involved.

"Thank you so much for bringing me along today, Kaeya! I truly had a wonderful time! I'm glad I got to get a few things from Springvale as well! They have the best mushrooms" Barbara gushed.

"Well I'll remember that, maybe next time I'm over there I'll grab some. I pass through often when I go to the winery" he responded stopping in front of the cathedral steps as they arrived.

Barbara stopped for a moment, thinking before she tossed her arms around him, giving him a hug. He laughed, shocked by the action but hugging back. When they let go, Barbara started the steps before turning back to look him in the eye.

"Now remember, this doesn't mean I won't scold you if you're not in mass!" she giggled, giving a final wave before bounding up the steps.

#genshin impact #genshin impact kaeya #genshin impact barbara #casual #friend fic

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drax-is-inthefandom · 3 years ago

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Divergence of Faith

Chapter 1: The Basement

By the time the clock struck 6 in the morning, the last light in the Lake house was finally turned off. Barbara Lake, a current medical student and recently divorced mother, had finally finished her theoretical career jobs, after a full day of housework and schoolwork, she could get a modest three hours sleep before having to wake up to make breakfast for the day .

Funny that Saturday morning, she would not sleep just a couple of hours as she was used to, but rather that a little one with disheveled hair and bright blue eyes had been in charge of sabotaging her alarm to make sure she slept as much as necessary. By the time the sky was turning to warm orange hues, Jim Lake Jr was already awake and active, ready to take on as much housework as a 6-year-old could do - all because Mommy could finally take a break!

Breakfast was the main thing, because a growing child just like his mother, a future doctor, had to eat well. From under his pillow he pulled out the magazine page he had ripped from his last visit to the dentist and as fast and quiet as he could go downstairs, he ran to the kitchen to collect all the ingredients that were in the magazine recipe.

It was an omelet, something he could easily do without causing a fire, lately he was helping his mom in the kitchen and taking on more and more chores in food preparation, so he was confident that there would be no problem at all with him taking care of breakfast for the day by himself.

Confident and with a smile on his lips, Jim turned on the coffee pot so that when his mother woke up he could receive her with a cup of hot coffee along with the omelet. He could already imagine his mom rested, eating without falling asleep at the table and without having to worry about having to clean or do any other chores. He could even take care of lunch if necessary! Today he just wanted her not to worry about a thing.

He was in the middle of whisking the eggs when he heard something that brought him out of his fantasies. A strange noise.

He leaned out to the stairs, his ears sharpening to make sure his mom hadn't got up. Nothing, absolute silence.

There was nothing in the living room either.

"It's nothing" He said to convince himself, it was still early and maybe his head was playing a trick on him for getting up early. Obviously the darkness that was still in the house and that did not allow him to see anything through the windows was not causing him any paranoia to be hearing noises, clearly not.

But then he heard the noise again, this time louder and accompanied by what sounded like falling boxes.

Now he was sure where the noise was coming from. The basement.

His first impulse upon hearing such noise from the place of his house that he was most afraid of was running towards the stairs to look for Mom, to seek her protection in her arms and between her sheets. But hearing her light snores through her door, just as he was about to turn the knob to enter, made him stop.

He was supposed to be doing this to get her to rest, it was supposed to be a surprise, if he ran with her because he was scared of a noise, his whole plan would be ruined. He released the knob and went back downstairs.

Again he heard noises coming from the basement.

He gulped.

“I am a big boy. I protect mom now. ” With shaky legs, Jim returned to the kitchen to take what he considered a good weapon against whatever was in the basement: the largest metal spoon in the drawer.

Armed with his spoon and accumulating as much courage as he could on his little chest, the boy slowly approached the door that led to the basement to turn the door handle with trembling hands, fearful that his movements would alert any monster behind it and get himself attacked the moment he opened it. He raised the spoon in front of him when the door was finally open, shrinking and closing his eyes to avoid seeing his enemy in the face, as if the metal utensil was enough to scare him.

A few seconds passed and nothing seemed to eat him, so he opened his eyes.

He only found the darkness of the steps. He breathed again, not realizing that he had stopped doing it, he sat on the first step with the spoon firmly against his chest, waiting again for something to happen.

Again, nothing.

"You can do this, Jim." He took a deep breath, inflating his chest with it in a gesture of pure determination, and began to descend slowly, one step at a time and without removing the spoon away from himself. He kept his eyes open, waiting for them to adapt to the darkness in order to find any sign of what that noise had been, his ears until now only caught the light grinding of the wood under its weight as he advanced.

He was already halfway up the stairs when he finally saw something. What he saw almost made him throw the spoon out of fear, but again, as if it were a sword worthy of a knight, he raised it in front of him, threatening whatever was staring back at him.

"W-Who's there?"

He could swear it, yellow eyes were staring at him as intently as he was staring at whoever was the owner of those eyes. But he was sure it wasn't remotely as scared as he was. The growl that answered his question could assure it to him.

"W-Whoever you are, I-I'm not afraid of you!"

It was a raccoon, it must be a raccoon, whenever a strange noise was accompanied by bright and threatening eyes that stared at him from the forest, his mother always showed him that it was just a raccoon. This could not be different.

"I'm not afraid of you either"

Only that raccoons didn't speak.

He wanted to scream but the words were drowned in his throat, it had closed as a maximum security vault, with all the fear he was feeling his head only managed to tell his body to do one thing. He threw the spoon directly at the owner of those yellow eyes.

"What is this?" But his strength as a 6-year-old boy was not enough to cross the entire basement space to where the invader seemed to be, the utensil was halfway, in a neutral point of both where the light of the corridor still entered but the absolute darkness of the rest of the room began.

Jim felt himself shaking as he saw a hand approaching from the darkness, a blue hand. If he was not paralyzed before, now he was fused with the steps.

After the hand, an arm appeared, then another hand and little by little the body of the owner of those yellow eyes was revealed. In just seconds, the invader was fully revealed, all in order to smell a spoon he used to serve the stews.

It was ... A strange creature, clearly it was not a raccoon. Its skin was blue, but it had no texture of fur or scales or ... or skin, it was too smooth and firm. What was it made of? Another thing that drew attention more than the color of its skin, were the horns on its head, it had two pairs, two small on the top and some larger that waved slightly to the sides, they were a color similar to ivory. On his shoulders it also seemed to have protuberances, but they were not horns, they were slightly more translucent, it was noted by how the light that entered the basement interacted with these. Crystals? And… did he have more on his back?

"What are you?" He thought he had thought about it, but seeing the invader raise his head from sniffing the spoon to focus on him, he gulped at his loose tongue.

"Something you shouldn't be seeing" From the tone in which the blue creature spoke, it showed that he wanted to sound intimidating, aggressive, but even a small child like Jim could notice the shame that the slight tremor in his tone betrayed him.

"Then why am I seeing you?" He wasn't attacking him and seemed more interested in the spoon than in him, curiosity overcame any fear he had been feeling until now. He was a boy with a nascent streak for adventure. Could you blame him?

"... Because I failed to go unnoticed to enter your house" Now yes, the shame was more obvious. The invader dropped to his butt on the ground, taking the spoon in his hands to continue sniffing it.

"Why did you come into my house?"

"Because the sun is already rising" And the question that Jim was going to ask, was swallowed by the surprise of seeing the invader taking a bite out of his spoon, making half of the utensil disappear from a bite as if it were a simple caramel.

"... Do you have more of that? It was delicious.” It took him to see how the entire spoon was devoured so Jim could even remember how to speak.

"Uh ... I don't think my mom would like to know that you ate a spoon, if I bring you something else she may worry that she has lost kitchen utensils" A pout from the blue invader was his answer and Jim couldn't avoid a giggling, he puffed out his cheeks in a similar way to Toby when he was throwing a tantrum and it was a funny sight for him.

"Why are you laughing? Do you want us to fight? ” And his laughter died as soon as he saw the invader putting himself into a position similar to that of a bull ready to charge a bullfighter, he even moved his foot as they do to signal that it will take the hit! Jim moved his hands in frenzy, he was not very excited about the idea of getting rammed with those horns that he had on his head.

"Nononono, sorry, sorry ... You reminded me of a friend, that's all"

"... Did I remind you of one of your fleshbag friends?"

"... Fleshbags? Uh ... Yes, Toby may be a little… stuffed, but it's not to call him that”

"... Stuffed? No, I meant that all of you humans are fleshbags, you are a fleshbag”

"I am not a fleshbag!"

"Yes you are!"

"Not!"

"Yes!"

Now it was Jim's turn to pout, forgetting that he was in the basement, forgetting that his only light was coming from the open door into the hallway, he got up from the step where he was sitting and with a firm step, doing his best imitation to how he saw his mom acted when someone made her mad, he walked over to the blue invader and stood in front of him.

"I'm not a fleshbag, don't call me that"

His challenge position was quickly captured but he did not receive the answer he expected, until now the invader had remained sitting or walking on all fours, but seeing him stand in front of him with such bearing, made him respond in the same way. With a push of his arms, he got up and planted in front of Jim, puffing out his chest with the intention of appearing bigger, that even without that, he was at least a head and a half taller than the 6-year-old boy, and that without counting the horns.

"Well, humans are fleshbags, so that's what you are, fleshbag"

The two little ones held their gaze, blue eyes against yellow eyes, neither wanting to give his arm to twist in that silent challenge.

Their staring war lasted long enough that they had to look away to blink, both leaving their eyes dry for not wanting to give up. Jim was annoyed, but oddly, the invader laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because I did not expect to see a child stand in front of the great Draal, fleshbag"

"My name is not fleshbag! My name is Jim! Jim Lake Jr!”

"Then we already know the other's name, Jim"

A snort came from Jim's lips while Draal only laughed.

Funny that this would not be their last fight, because what these little ones did not know is that their innocent interaction would be the key point for a radical change in the both of their worlds.

A change that only time would tell what kind of path will take. Positive? Or negative?

The divergence of fate had only just begun.

#Divergence of faith #tales of arcadia #fanfic #draal the deadly #jim lake #trollhunters #drax writes #I wrote this almost a year ago #And I DO PLAN IN FINISHING IT

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polandspringz · 3 years ago

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A collection of one-shot stories focused around the people of Teyvat trying to understand their new friend. Each chapter will be different, so check titles, summaries, and notes for each. I don't know how long this will be, but I've had a few ideas floating in my head for a while to write for Genshin, so for convenience sake I figured I would compile them all into one piece in the archive. Most of these stories will be focused on the relationships between the Traveler and one or two other characters, sometimes playing around with how game mechanics could fit into the world of Teyvat realistically. I hope you enjoy!

Story 1 Summary: Jean confronts the Traveler about some complaints they've been getting from the people of Mondstadt.

Tumblr version of the story under read-more as well!

“Honorary Knight,” Jean called out, “Do you have time to spare? I wanted to… talk to you about something?”

The Traveler paused and turned towards Jean, nodding silently. Paimon was with them; they had been stopped in the middle of the city’s market plaza, finishing up a supply run between updating commissions and handing in bounties. The Acting Grandmaster looked nervous, for the few months the Traveler had known her, she had always seemed awkward and insecure when it came to social interactions, but perhaps that was just with them. The Traveler wasn’t the most talkative, and Paimon reminded them constantly that their blank stare always messed up their first impressions (“Seriously, what would you do without Paimon?!”).

Jean walked up to them, one hand pressed against her chest as her boots clicked along the cobblestone. “Good. I’m sorry for this, but could you come to the Knights’ Headquarters with me? I think it’s best we speak about this alone.”

“Someone has filed a complaint against the Traveler?!” Paimon squeaked. They were seated in Jean’s office, and somehow her floating body jumped another foot in the air when she became angry, “Who would do such a thing? Geez, you would think the people of Mondstadt would be thankful after everything we’ve done for them!”

“Everything I’ve done, Paimon,” The Traveler quipped, their lips curving into the slightest smile that those who didn’t know them would blink and miss it, “You just tag along and eat my food.”

“That’s not true and you know it! Paimon has helped you out so much-”

“Ahem,” Jean cleared her throat, “I’m sorry, but I’d like to continue, if that’s alright. I wasn’t sure how to approach this with you, I was worried that you would be upset…”

The Traveler leaned forward, pressing their palms against their thighs as they did, the picture of calm as they spoke, “I’m not upset.”

“Well, Paimon is! How dare they?!”

They now understand why Jean had been so hesitant when she called out to them before. Even now, although she had a bit more confidence seated behind her desk, she averted her eyes and seemed to study the stack of books piled up on the corner of the wood, “I still am not well versed in the customs of this world. If I offended someone, I would like to know why in order to correct it.”

That seemed to get Jean to smile. Albeit, it was still a nervous one, but a smile nonetheless. “Well, I’m glad to hear you’re not upset, but perhaps I phrased it wrong. It wasn’t necessarily a complaint but… several concerns were raised to me by Mondstadt citizens.”

“Several people complained?!”

“Paimon, calm down. Jean,” The Traveler nodded for her to continue, “What was it about?”

She scratched her cheek and laughed airly, “Well… I received word that you were caught scaling rooftops and collecting… mushrooms?”

“Honorary Knight, please wait!”

Jean shouted, her hand outstretched towards the tails of the Traveler’s scarf as they darted down the steps of the Knights’. They bolted out of the office suddenly, the only clue that her and Paimon had to go on was the way the Traveler’s eyes widened before they leapt out of their seat. Paimon was hurriedly flying behind them, the constellation-like fairy dust she shed buffeted Jean as it fell into the wind. Athos and Porthos stumbled as the doors flew open, taking a second before they started to move, asking in confusion if Jean needed help apprehending them.

“No! It’s alright! I’ll- I’ll handle it!” She placated, throwing a wave up as she continued to run after.

The Traveler circled the stone wall as they climbed the steps towards the Archon Statue, Paimon and Jean’s voices tuned out to their ears as they hurried ahead. They had been so busy with commissions they had forgotten… They had spent days collecting everything but they had gotten distracted… They needed to hurry-

“Paimon! Do you have any idea why they’re running away?” Jean said as she caught up to the pixie.

“Paimon doesn’t know! It might be about the mushrooms though!”

“Do you know why they were collecting them?”

“Not a clue! Paimon followed them when they were doing it a few times, but they never answered Paimon’s questions about why either!”

“That’s… strange,” Jean’s eyes narrowed as she watched the Traveler push through the crowds of the upper plaza, running straight towards the cathedral doors. Jean hadn’t expected things to end up like this at all. She had nothing but trust in the Honorary Knight, and while most of the questions raised to her about their activities had been just confusion, there were a few citizens- those who Jean normally categorized as easily paranoid or held biases towards outsiders and outlanders- who had voiced their concerns with suggestions of more dubious things. Jean had dismissed them, but as she watched the Cathedral doors fly open, thought of the way the Traveler had just fled when questioned, thoughts of her sister being just inside those doors, she pressed her lips into a thin line and steadied herself before she threw out her hand with an order-

“Aramis! Otto!” Both patrolling knights snapped to attention, “Catch the Honorary Knight!”

The heavy doors to the Cathedral were slammed open with a gust of Anemo power, and all eyes turned to the entrance. Hymns and the organ playing stopped, a melody of silence that made way for the Traveler’s footfalls as they pounded across the mosaic tile, racing up towards the Deaconess standing on the stairs to the mezzanine. Barbara’s hands jumped to the banister, ready to help in case of an emergency, but then she saw Aramis and Otto rushing in with weapons drawn, shouting for the Traveler to stop, and her sister right behind with her hand on the hilt of her own sword-

“H-honorary Knight!” Barbara regretted how her voice broke as she called out. As the Traveler got closer, she moved away from the base of the stairs, stopping at the top in front of the organ pipes with one of the columns acting as a defense should she need to jump behind it, “What’s the matter?”

The Traveler slowed to a stop in front of the door to the Basement. Barbara’s hands jumped to the catalyst book on her hip. They had returned the Holy Lyre der Himmel before and apologized for taking it, but was there a chance they would steal it again? Or something else? Why else were her sister and the Knights rushing in so desperately?

“Barbara,” The Traveler gasped as they looked up at the Deaconess. Their shoulders rose and fell as they breathed for just a moment before they froze when two swords crossed in front of them, stalling them back when they took a step towards the stairs.

“Stand down, Honorary Knight,” Aramis said, his voice stern, but the conflict evident as he said their title. What else was he supposed to call them in a moment like this? He looked to Otto who was just as lost. Paimon’s body did a somersault as she came to a sudden stop, her hands flailing when she saw the swords. Now only Jean’s heels could be heard clattering upon the floor as she ran to catch up with everyone, not having the time to throw reassurances at the startled church-goers standing in their pews.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Paimon put her hands on her hips, “We may have been a bit shady, but that’s no reason to draw swords on us!”

“No one is drawing a sword on you, Paimon,” Jean said, keeping her hand on her sheath as she rounded around the group, standing in front of the basement door and between Barbara and the Traveler, “It was just a precaution.”

“Sister, what’s going on?”

“Honorary Knight,” she raised her chin and looked down at them slightly, her eyes narrowed into an expression more befitting of the Acting Grandmaster, “I’m sorry, but you gave us quite a scare fleeing like that. I hope you know I don’t suspect you of any ill will, but you acted strangely and I was… concerned. Please, can we finish our questioning?”

The Traveler did not smile or frown, something that unnerved Jean even as she tried to keep her tone even and polite. Her facade slipped as they began to move, their expression neutral and their eyes hidden as they shut for a moment as they reached for their bag. Jean quickly drew her sword, Aramis and Otto flinched, theirs scraping against the other’s as they followed the Traveler’s movements. They did not appear to be drawing a sword, but…

From the satchel the Traveler withdrew several Philanemo Mushrooms- the items in question. Jean’s face fell in confusion when she saw them tied into bunches, and she became even more confused when the Traveler withdrew other items from the bag- and raised them up towards Barbara. There was a scroll, a set of vials filled with some swirling liquid- it almost looked like living water- and a small, sheer bag full of blue crystal shards.

“Are those… for me?” Barbara asked, stepping out from behind the column and towards the edge of the mezzanine. The Traveler nodded.

“What… what are they?” Jean faltered, slowly lowering her weapon, “Why did you answer my question before?”

“Hold on, Sister,” Jean could not see over her shoulder, but she heard Barbara’s heels moving back, then clicking together as her feet skipped past one another and moved to echo along the stairs, “Let me get a closer look.”

“Barbara, wait! It could be dangerous, the Honorary Knight fled when I asked and-”

Jean was forced into sheathing her sword when Barbara cut in front of her, and Aramis and Otto pulled their swords away as well when the Deaconess stepped closer. The Traveler lowered their arms as Barbara came down, handing the items off when the young woman whispered, “Let me see, please?”

She looked over the scroll before handing it back, and then poured out the gems in her hand and counted them alongside examining the vials. After a moment, her eyes lit up.

“Just as I thought! These are for an Ascension Ritual, aren’t they?”

The Traveler nodded.

“An Ascension Ritual? Then why didn’t you say so?” Jean sighed, motioning for Aramis and Otto to sheath their weapons finally. Jean pressed her face into one of her hands and shook her head, “You scared me for a minute when you ran out like that…”

“False alarm everyone!” Barbara sing-songed to the rest of the Cathedral, “Please return to your worship! We’ll get that hymn started up again in a few minutes.”

There was a murmur amongst the visitors who seemed unconvinced but relieved that it was nothing serious. Barbara’s eyes went to one of the children, Lily, who was sitting with her father near the back. She would have to make sure the girl wasn’t too frightened by what happened later, maybe she would sing a special song to help cheer the girl up if needed.

“Geez! Why didn’t you tell Paimon they were for an Ascension Ritual either?! This whole mess could have been avoided if you just talked more!”

“Honorary Knight, why did you run away when I asked you before? You made me worried that you might have been up to something nefarious.”

“Sister, how could the Honorary Knight ever do anything nefarious! They’re the Honorary Knight of Mondstadt for a reason,” Barbara said, the crystals clinking together in her hand, reminding her that she still had them, “Oh! I’m sorry, let me give these back to you-”

“No,” The Traveler pushed Barbara’s hand back towards her, handing off the rest of the materials to her as well, “For you.”

“W-what?”

“I… collected them for you. They’re what you need for your ascension ritual, right? Four vials of cleansing heart, sealed scrolls, Varunda Lazurite fragments and…”

“And Philanemo Mushrooms,” Jean finished.

“I was supposed to give them to you a few days ago, but forgot. When Jean asked me about them before… I suddenly remembered. That’s why I ran here as soon as possible.”

“Couldn’t you have waited until after you explained it all to Grandmaster Jean and avoided this whole mess?” Paimon complained. The Traveler shook their head.

“I didn’t want to forget again. And… I wanted Barbara to join us again as soon as possible.”

“Wait a moment! Honorary Knight, did you get all these things for me because you wanted me to get stronger?” Her hand fell to her side, “I’m sorry if last time I joined you, I was too weak…”

Seeing Barbara’s forlorn expression, the Traveler shook their head.

“You… got hurt last time you were with me. I felt bad so… It’s not that I want you to get stronger, but that I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Oh?” The Deaconess lifted her head and smiled a bit at that.

The Traveler continued, forcing the rest of the words out, “I know you are busy with your duties here, but I like having you travel with me. I might be going to Liyue soon, and was hoping that maybe you could accompany me for part of the journey there…?”

Barbara reached out, and placed a hand on their shoulder, the corners of her eyes smiling as well this time, “Of course, I would love to. Let me just put these in my office for now,” she said, lifting her hand full of the materials, “I will have to do the Ascension Ritual later tonight after worship hours are over. If you would like to join me for it, you are more than welcome to. When are you setting out for Liyue?”

“By next week.”

“Alright then. Thank you for this, Honorary Knight,” Barbara said, pulling them into a hug, “I’ll get everything in order so I can travel with you again.”

The Traveler reached up and fisted their hand in the fabric of Barbara’s dress, along the small of her back, returning the hug.

“Maybe you can help them work on their communication skills when you travel with them this time,” Paimon crossed her arms and sighed, meeting the eyes of Jean, who could only huff out a sigh of relief while her mind began to process of checking off the list of worries that would soon form when her sister got ready to set out on the road.

#genshin impact #barbara gunnhildr #jean gunnhildr #traveler #lumine #aether #paimon #my writing #writing

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lasignoramain · 3 years ago

Text

Tempus Fugit

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warning: Major Character Death

Relationship: Jean/Lisa

Summary: "Before demanding too many miracles from the gods, first consider if you are willing to pay the price they ask."

Sometimes, the sand of one's hourglass moves too quickly. What happens when Lisa's time runs out?

Word Count: 3088

Read under the bar, and/or on AO3!

Who knew that helping Barbara convince Jean to go on vacation would lead to Lisa Minci, the simple librarian of the Knights of Favonius, taking on the role of Acting Grand Master? Kaeya could have asked anyone— Amber, for instance. The young girl would be more than willing to take on the role and perform amicably. Even Eula would gladly take on the role of Acting Grand Master, and would most likely view it as a challenge. A test, to see if she's one the same level as Jean when it comes to taking on the tasks of Grand Master.

Even with those candidates, both of which would be ready and raring to assist while Kaeya shirks his duties, he chose Lisa.

Lisa, who chose the measly tasks of a librarian for a reason. Her job is rarely stressful, though she still takes it just as seriously. Jean entrusted the library to her, after all, so she wouldn't disappoint the woman she's severely indebted to.

Jean, as well as Grand Master Varka. Although Varka was adamant on Lisa being the Captain of the 8th Company. Absentmindedly, Lisa grasps at the Vision resting on her chest. The Knights of Favonius— they're all flawed people with ideals and goals independent of their occupations. They don't always act as one would expect.

Protect those who cannot protect themselves, even if it means that you might sacrifice yourself in the process.

Why?

A protector, a guardian, both a shield and a sword, dandelions floating in the Anemo-blessed breeze. A warm smile, gloved hands resting over Lisa's. Determination to work hard to fill the shoes that Grand Master Varka left her, stress building when one too many stacks of paper rest on her desk. Still, she presses on, a storm of productivity. Sacrificing herself for—

For what, exactly, does Jean sacrifice herself for? Or maybe the correct question is who?

The obvious answer would be the people of Mondstadt. They're all grateful for Acting Grand Master Jean— grateful to the point where they're too reliant on her. A lost cat that will inevitably return when it's hungry, advertising papers lost in the breeze that could easily be remade in a day or less. Freedom shackled by a doting Acting Grand Master who can't say no to the people she's meant to protect.

Lisa clears her throat, shaking the dizziness away. Just a few more papers to review and sign, then she'll return to the library to ensure that things are running smoothly.

Is Jean thinking of her while she's away with Barbara and Klee? With Kaeya, Diluc, Albedo, Razer, and Lumine? Hopefully, she's enjoying her vacation thoroughly, reconnecting with that relaxed, fun side that she once had when she was younger. Not that Lisa knows personally what Jean was like before she began shouldering the burdens of a Favonius Knight; she's only heard stories from Barbara, who's always more than willing to share the memories she holds so near and dear to her heart.

Her... heart. When did Lisa's chest start aching? Dull, but uncomfortable nonetheless. Nothing to worry about, it should go away in a few minutes.

Perhaps Kaeya and Diluc will have a small moment of bonding while they're on those islands together. While they're brothers, they've been so distant for so long. Not that Lisa knows why— the reasons of their tense relationship is a mystery even to her. Such a fragile thing the two of them have. Lisa hopes they eventually reconcile.

As for Klee, she's most likely ecstatic to have so many friends with her. Hopefully she'll be even more overjoyed when she realizes who's behind her summer getaway. Lisa played along for the young girl's sake, though she would know that handwriting anywhere, even if Alice tried to change it up. She still dotted her I's the same, and her A's had that exact flourish to them that made it obvious to Lisa.

The omnipotent mage. How much knowledge has she acquired in her travels, compared to what Lisa knows? Does Alice know the truth of why the Archons bestow Visions on mere mortals? Is Lisa paranoid for good reason, or is a fool to be terrified by whatever grand scheme the gods have in store for those "blessed" with obtaining a Vision?

"Before demanding too many miracles from the gods, first consider if you are willing to pay the price they ask."

Blessings will always hide their curses in the depths of the shadows, only rearing their heads when given the best opportunity to cause the most damage.

The dull ache in Lisa's chest turns into a sharp, stabbing pain. Gasping, she keels over, resting her forehead on the cool, polished wood of her desk. Her hat flops unceremoniously off of her head and onto the desk, knocking over a jar of ink and a few stacks of papers.

Always... they always come with a cost.

It wasn't even her Vision that did this to Lisa. Still, she's lived her life, hasn't she? Her hourglass just has less sand than most, and she accepted that a long time ago.

Still, why now? Of all the times, when she's alone. No one to be by her side when she goes. Can't she have this one thing? To have someone hold her close to them while her time finally runs out? Or will she be alone as she always has been, holding everyone at an arm's length, too afraid to grow attached and lose someone, grieve over a lost life?

"Jean..."

Help. She needs help. Her blood is rushing so loudly in her ears, but if she can just manage to get up and find someone, call for help, and she might be able to extend her life just for a little while longer, at least until she can see Jean—

A cough rises up Lisa's throat, and, through her delirious vision, she sees the blood more than tastes it. Is her sense of taste the first thing to go? What about her other senses? Can she still feel her hands, the wooden desk her forehead is resting on, the thrum of her Vision on her chest?

Numb. Numb is all she feels. Is that a feeling, or a lack thereof?

Fuck, she needs to move. If she can just find Eula, or- or Amber. Hell, if she can just get the attention of the guards stationed outside the door.

Power through it, Lisa. This is what you've been saving your energy for— to fight your fate for just one more day. Curse the Archons, curse this Vision, and curse that stupid. Magic. Book—

Lisa groans, slowly pushing herself up from her desk. The entire room is spinning— how is she going to get anywhere like this? It's laughable, really. How many people have referred to Lisa as elegant, refined, composed? This— her, right now— is the complete opposite of how many view her.

Oh, how embarrassed she would feel if she wasn't on the precipice of death, desperate for someone to save her. Where is her knight in shining armor? Any moment now, she should be bursting through that door, always prepared to play hero for everyone.

So, where is her hero?

Lisa's hand slips on the edge of her desk. She barely has the strength to catch herself, so she falls with a loud crash. She needs to get her act together— it would be so embarrassing for Jean to see her like this, wouldn't it? A sweating, shaking mess.

But Jean won't say anything about the state Lisa's in. She'll just give Lisa that warm smile before gathering her up in her strong arms, and then they could go to Windrise for a picnic, or— or even Starsnatch Cliff, so they could pick Cecilia flowers together. Then they could have some tea before they have to go back to work.

Jean. Jean, Jean, Jean.

The floor is so cold, Jean. It's dark, Jean. It was light outside just a moment ago, Jean, where did the sun go? Goodness, how the time flies. To think that you and I only met a short while ago, Jean. I'm so happy that I met you, and— and the rest of the Knights of Favonius, Jean.

A door slams open. Footsteps, but it all sounds so far away. So far, Jean, you're so far away. Can't you come back? Can't you come home, just for me?

"Her... is grave. We need... to the Church, and, while you're at it... the bard. He can send for Jean— don't ask questions, just do as you're told!"

Ah, Lisa can't feel a thing. Is this what death feels like? Nothingness? Her hearing is all she has left. What happens after she loses that, too?

They mentioned Jean. By the time they get a hold of her, it'll be much too late, and not even Barbatos can save Lisa. Perhaps he can keep her spirit here, just for a little longer? She wants to see everyone one more time.

Please. Just once more.

But that would be a bother— Jean is on vacation. Lisa can't be selfish, can't take her away, can't be selfish.

"Come on, Lisa... stay with us."

Who is that? Eu...la. Eula.

Eula.

Lisa wishes she could apologize.

"Until I enact my vengeance on all of the Knights of Favonius, no harm can come upon any of them! Including you, Lisa. I'll make sure that nothing happens to you, or Jean, or Amber—"

Eula's a good person. Strange, but she fits in perfectly with the rest of the Knights. Caring in her own way. She doesn't know about why Lisa has the condition that she does, and she has never asked a single question about it. Lisa's always appreciated that about Eula.

Eula, whose voice she can't hear anymore.

Has she finally died?

Lisa.

Aha, that's a familiar voice.

She opens her eyes to find that, yes, she is dead. How morbid— her soul is outside of her body, and thus she can see her deathly pale corpse resting on one of the cots in the church's infirmary. Her Vision is without its usual amethyst glow. Venti is by her side, though not looking at her physical body. He's looking right at her spirit.

"Well, this is a shame," Lisa sighs, crossing her arms. "Here to take me away with the winds before I can even see my friends, Barbatos? I'm hurt."

Venti shakes his head. "The least I can do is allow you to see them one last time, Lisa. Though it would be faster to take you to the archipelagos where they are now, I've sent Dvalin to gather them, per Eula's request." He smiles sympathetically, eyes full of mirth. "How do you feel?"

Lisa hums, tilting her head to the side. "Must I answer that, I wonder? Although I no longer feel the pain that I did while I was alive, which, I suppose, is a blessing. I expected death to give me much more time to do what I initially planned on doing before I ran out of time, but alas," she sighs, though it's not as if she's actually breathing. How strange. "How long until Jean arrives?"

"It shouldn't be long, now. Dvalin is a fast flier, after all," Venti chuckles, though that sad look never leaves his emerald eyes. "I see that your carefree nature has followed you even in death. If you'd received a Vision from me, you would fit in perfectly."

"Your Vision wouldn't match my outfit," Lisa retorts with a shrug. "I'm the Witch of Purple Rose, not Green. Though, thank you for the offer. Perhaps in my next life, I'll be granted an Anemo Vision."

Venti laughs loudly at that. "Perhaps you will," he agrees lightheartedly. He opens his mouth to add something else, but pauses when they both hear loud footsteps heading toward them. Just as quickly as the mourning left Venti's eyes, it returns. "The winds bring your companions to us quickly, it seems."

Jean bursts into the room, greedily gulping in whatever air she can into her lungs. Barbara, Lumine, and everyone else who had gone to the Golden Apple Archipelago are here.

"Barbatos—"

"Jean. Everyone," Venti solemnly greets the group with a nod. "Lisa asked me to hold her spirit here for a little while longer, at least until she could see the rest of you one last time." He turns toward Lisa's ghost, who stands there with crossed arms. The Anemo Archon summons his lyre, plucking at its strings to play a mellow tune.

A breeze flows through the room, and everyone's gaze moves to where Lisa is standing, next to her physical body. She watches them all intently— Diluc tries to keep his expression unreadable, but his knitted eyebrows, his tightly pressed together lips. Barbara is holding back her tears, to no avail. They all look so... sad.

"Now! Why are we all so mopey?" Lisa chides, shaking her head. She steps forward, placing her hands on her hips. "I certainly wouldn't want to remember my last moments with you lot having such sad faces, now, would I? So smile! It's the least you can do for me, isn't it?"

Klee whimpers next to Albedo, and Lisa's facade cracks. She kneels to Klee's height, smiling at the young girl. "Come now, Klee. You're a strong girl, aren't you? I know it might be hard right now, but you'll be alright."

"But... but I won't get anymore treats from Miss Lisa, will I?" Klee whines, shaking her head. "I don't want that! I want Miss Lisa to keep giving me treats! It's not fair!"

At Klee's tantrum, Barbara finally breaks with a loud sob. Lumine pulls her in for a hug, though Lisa sees the small tear that rolls down the traveler's cheek.

"Oh, Klee. I wish I could've taught you how to make those delicious treats I make you, but I have to leave soon." Pretending to lose herself in her thoughts for a moment, Lisa hums, tilting her head. Then she makes a small "Aha!" before smiling widely. "How about this: Let's make a pinky promise! I'll come back to Mondstadt and teach you how to make those treats, and you have to promise to smile for me."

Klee's face scrunches in confusion, but she extends her pinky to Lisa. "You have to come back! If you don't come back, then I'll be very angry!"

With a chuckle, Lisa wraps her pinky around Klee's. "I will come back, Klee. Then we can make all those delicious treats and eat them together."

The young girl's lips quirk, before she breaks out into a wavering smile. "Mhm! It's a promise!"

Good. Thank goodness. Lisa pushes herself up, only to be met with the one gaze that hurts the most to meet.

"Jean."

The Acting Grand Master squeezes her eyes shut, taking a deep, shaky breath. It pains Lisa so to see her like this— barely able to keep herself together.

That won't do. That won't do at all.

"Jean," Lisa tries again, hating how weak her voice sounds. "Look at me, please?"

Jean's bottom lip quivers, but she opens her eyes. "Lisa."

Kaeya takes the hint that the two of them needed some privacy, and quietly ushers the rest of the group out of the room. Lisa takes one last look at her friends— her family— before they're gone from her sight. Venti is the only one who stays.

"My sweet, sweet Dandelion Knight," Lisa sighs, stepping forward to cup Jean's face in her hands. "I'm going to come back to you, so don't mourn me, alright? I'll come back, no matter how long it takes."

Jean breathes out a puff of laughter, eyes downcast. "Please don't give me that kind of hope, Lisa—"

"You don't believe me?" Lisa interrupts with a pout. "I'm hurt. I may not be as powerful as Alice, but I can assure you that I have my ways. So, even when you do feel my absence, know that I will never leave your side. Call to me in the winds that flow through Mondstadt, and I will come to listen." Her voice cracks, and she knows that Jean is hiding all of her devastation, bottling it up until Lisa isn't there to see her break.

"Lisa, I—"

"I love you, Jean." Her voice trembles. It's embarrassing, how fragile Lisa sounds in that moment. "Every afternoon we've spent together, every time we've been in each other's company, every time I've made you tea and stolen you away from your work so you would give yourself some time to breathe," Lisa spills her words, desperate to get everything out before it's too late, "I've loved every single moment I've spent with you. Don't forget to give yourself time to relax, Jean; you need it more than anyone in the Knights."

"Lisa, it's almost time," Venti says softly. "I'll take you one last place before I send you off. Where would you like to go?"

"Starsnatch Cliff," Lisa says without hesitating. "Jean. Don't forget this little old librarian, alright? Or I'll—"

"How could I ever forget you, Lisa?" Jean sobs, tears finally spilling over. She manages to smile, though— a shaky, miserable smile through her grief. "How- how could I forget about the woman I fell in love with, knowing that her life was moving much faster than mine? If I could just find a way to return those years you lost," she rambles, wiping at her tears. "If I could just... save you—"

"Jean," Lisa chokes out, vision blurry. Can ghosts cry, she wonders? She certainly feels like she could cry, right about now. "My lovely Jean, it's alright. It was only a matter of time, so please don't... don't..."

Don't cry.

"Lisa."

Venti steps forward, placing a hand on Jean's shoulder. "We must be going, now. I won't be able to keep her spirit for much longer."

Jean nods, a sniffling mess. "Take... take care of her. Please."

"Of course," Venti responds, before gesturing for Lisa to step closer to him. "Are you ready?"

"That's a silly question," Lisa chuckles, taking Venti's extended hand. A green glow begins to envelop the two of them, and Lisa can't help but keep her gaze trained on Jean, who's watching them go. Jean meets her eyes, and she mouths three words to Lisa. One last time.

"Take care, Jean. I love you dearly."

And finally, the sands of Lisa's hourglass come to rest.

#genshin impact #genshin impact fanfic #genshin fanfic #lisa minci #jean gunnhildr #genshin lisa #genshin jean #jean x lisa #diluc ragnvindr #genshin diluc #genshin impact kaeya #genshin kaeya #genshin klee #genshin impact klee #genshin barbara #genshin lumine #genshin impact lumine

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jaskiersbeloved · 4 years ago

Text

The only sure thing about luck is that it will change

Summary: When Albedo decided to keep his promise and went with Bennett on an escapade, bad things happened. But was it really because of Bennett?

Author's note: So this is a little follow up to my previos story, I hope you’ll like it as well!

READ ON AO3

“Do you have a death wish, sir?” asked Timaeus, looking positively scandalized. Albedo just sighed, packing the last things necessary for his trip, before turning around.

“Timaeus,” he said, trying not to show he was already tired of this topic “we’ve been through this, haven’t we?”

His assistant crossed his arms defensively. Behind him, Sucrose timidly fixed her glasses and just came up to him with a small first aid kit. She handed it to him.

“Just in case. I... I added some extra bandaids and the syrup that w-we have tested” she said, without looking at him. At that, Albedo’s face softened. At least she didn’t act like he was putting himself in actual danger. Too bad that Timaeus wouldn’t get this through his head. As talented at alchemy the man was, he still apparently had a problem with grasping the basics of science rules.

“Thank you, Sucrose,” he said with a faint smile, which grew wider when he saw how red Sucrose’s cheeks got. He packed the kit, took a last look around, and said: “Okay, so you both know what to do. I will be back probably around evening.”

He acted like he didn’t hear Timaeus’ sarcastic “if you are still alive” and proceeded to go to the main gate of the city.

Near it he saw Bennett, talking about something with Fischl. At the sight of him, the boy started to wave frantically, effectively startling the girl. Albedo chuckled under his breath.

“Good morning, Bennett. Fischl” he said, coming closer. Bennett grinned while Fischl simply nodded.

“Good morning, Mr. Albedo!”

“I bid you good morning, Sir Albedo.”

“I’m glad you’re so punctual, Bennett. I was a little bit worried that I would have to wait for you” Albedo said, suspending the want for laughter when he saw Bennett almost growing three inches hearing his praise.

“Oh! No biggie, Mr. Albedo! I’m often wide awake at his hour, you know? Mostly because my painting would fall on me, but it is a good wake-up call!”

Both Albedo and Fischl furrowed their brows.

“Is your head in an unhurt state, Bennett?” asked Fischl, seemingly unconsciously reaching for his head, but the boy backed away, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

“Ahaha… Kind of? I mean it isn’t a heavy painting, dad said that’s something wrong with the screw, and I wasn’t even bleeding or anything, so you really don’t have to worry Fischl!”

Albedo internally sighed, once again thanking Sucrose for the first aid kid. No matter what may come, it seems like some bandaids might come in handy.

But he didn’t regret that he decided to take Bennett on his escapade. Quite the opposite. After the incident with the Cryo Mages, he started to keep closer tabs on the boy, and he really didn’t like what he had found.

The information about the new spell that the Mages could now perform, spread through the town like a wildfire, despite Albedo’s insistence that it was to be kept confidential. He didn’t hold the leak against Kaeya though. Knowing the Knights, one of them probably did get too drunk in Angel’s Share and slipped, unfortunately giving Master Diluc another reason to discredit them. No matter how tough, it got to the public, and when people found out that the person who got shot first was Bennett, well…

The boy started to get even more unfriendly stares than he usually did, and when he did go to some public gatherings, the talks would abruptly stop, immediately accompanied by nasty whispers, until someone level-headed, like Kaeya or Barbara would loudly ask Bennett about something, for which Albedo was thankful for.

But all of that seemed to weigh so much on the young adventurer, that he was rarely seen in town. Part of this was Albedo’s doing, as he tried to commission him under any excuse, just to save the boy some of those nasty reactions, the other was purely Bennett going out to “find new paths'', as he said it, but according to Razor and Klee he would just go to the Starsnatch Cliff and sit there for hours on end.

So when Albedo and Sucrose reached a point, where they simply couldn’t move forward with their research, naturally he decided to go and find the direct source of the spell. And with that, he also decided to keep his word of being an active Honorary Member of Benny’s Adventure Team and asked the boy to accompany him. The look on Bennett’s face when he proposed it, instantly reassured him that he made the right decision.

Albedo, try as he might, truly couldn’t understand people’s reactions. It wasn’t really Bennett’s fault that he got shot. If anything, they were lucky they found out about the spell this fast, so he and Sucrose could quickly come up with an antidote. But of course, some people just refused to think logically for more than half a second.

He sighed, pulling himself out of his dark thoughts.

“Anyway, we should get going. I would like to go back to the city before evening” he said, cutting through Fischl’s monologue about how Bennett should take better care of himself.

“Of, course, Mr. Albedo!” said Bennet, saluting him. Albedo raised his hand, motioning the boy to go first, and when he was sure Bennet wouldn’t hear him, he whispered to Fischl:

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep him safe.”

The girl nodded thoughtfully, her eyes stuck on Bennett before she said:

“You have my greatest gratitude, Sir Albedo. Farewell, may the roads be kind to you both.”

Albedo simply nodded and went after Bennett.

The roads weren’t very kind to them. Before they got to Windrise, Bennett managed to attract the attention of a few Dendro slimes while checking on his sword (which easily got scared away by the flames coating the sword), almost fell off the cliff, nearly giving Albedo a heart attack (upon further inspection it seemed like his gliders switch got damaged), and choked on a sandwich (but that’s because he was trying to eat and talk at the same time).

But Albedo didn’t really mind any of that. Well, maybe aside from the gliders’ failure. More often than not, the alchemist would get lost in thought, thinking ahead in his plans of upcoming experiments, so having Bennett causing some mishaps, made him more efficiently focused on the present.

But each of those misfortunes seemed to take a toll on Bennett. Every time he seemed to get less and less chattery, and more lost in thought. It got to a point, that when they reached Windrise, he barely spoke a word, which didn’t sit well with Albedo.

Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what yet.

Deciding to put that on hold, he stopped before Lady Vanessa’s Oak Tree. He put his backpack on the ground, stretching his hands, and releasing a deep sigh.

“Mr. Albedo? Are we going to rest?” he heard Bennet ask behind him. He turned around, and seeing his companion’s confused face, he shook his head.

“No. We are just going to leave most of our stuff here, aside from the swords of course. I don’t think we’re going to get too far from here, and the backpacks would slow us down” he explained, but then a sudden thought struck him. He looked at Bennet up and down, before adding: “Unless you feel like you need to rest, Bennett.”

The boy shook his head.

“No, no! I’m all right!” he assured vigorously. Having no reason to doubt him, Albedo simply nodded and kneeled on the ground.

He focused his energy on the earth, and feeling the pulsation of his Vision on his neck, he tried to look for elemental traces of other Cryo Abyss Mages. There must have been someone to get rid of the bodies, as the report stated that when the patrol was sent here, there was nothing to collect.

He sighed as the first attempt brought nothing. Feeling Bennett’s eyes on him, he turned around and said:

“Do you have any questions, Bennett?”

“No! I mean yes! I mean…” the boy looked down in a manner that reminded Albedo of Klee, whenever she was uncertain if she was doing something in the right way. “I don’t want to disturb you…”

“You aren’t. Now, out with it.” he calmly prompted.

“I… Um… What exactly are you doing?” Bennett asked, taking a step closer.

“Trying to use my Elemental Sight to see if there are any traces of the Abyss Mages left,” he said, putting a hand on his chin. Bennett looked at him, confused.

“Hasn’t it been two weeks, though? Wouldn’t the traces get covered by the new ones already?”

Albedo’s eyebrows shot up.

“You are very insightful, Bennett,” he said, not without some sense of curiosity. The young adventurer sheepishly scratched on his neck.

“Um… Thank you, Mr. Albedo, but… It just seemed logical, you know? I have tried it before, and if the traces weren’t fresh, I would get lost.”

Albedo decided to swallow up the revelation about Bennett being one of those rare cases or having the Elemental Sight, to add in:

“It is true, but you are forgetting that I’m a Geo user. Some time ago I developed a technique that helped me find older traces as well.”

Bennett bowed, clearly lost in thought. He scrunched his nose and said:

“I understand but… Having a more direct thing would be more helpful, right?’

Not knowing where this is going, Albedo nodded.

“So why didn’t you start with the hoarfrost on that branch?” the boy said, pointing in that direction. Albedo, surprised, looked up and of course, the hoarfrost was there, clear as day.

He cleared his throat, trying to hide his embarrassment, and said:

“Oh! I guess I didn’t notice that. Thank you, Bennett.”

Seemingly unaware of his companion’s uneasiness, Bennett simply grinned.

“No problem, Mr. Albedo! Fischl also doesn’t always notice the obvious, so I kind of learned to do that for her!”

Notice the obvious, huh? thought Albedo, chuckling under his breath but said nothing out loud. He simply walked to the branch, put his hand just above the hoarfrost, and repeated the process. This time he saw it. The traces were going from the tree up until the same column where Bennett and Klee had been attacked. Albedo furrowed his brows. This did remind him of something, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He moved his hand back.

“Bennett, keep your sword near you,” he said with a serious tone, glancing back at his companion. The boy nodded and wordlessly summoned his sword and they both walked in that direction.

Albedo activated his Elemental Sight once again, focusing to walk in the direction of the traces. They carefully moved past the spring of the small river, going straight to the bottom of the small cliff right behind the column.

With each step, the feeling of forgetting something important kept nagging Albedo, making him worried. He did trust his instincts, and they were telling him that this something he forgot about was a bad thing. Subconsciously he moved closer to Bennett, just in case.

The traces stopped abruptly near a wide crack in the base of the cliff. Albedo looked at it and his brows furrowed when he noticed glowing, purple letters that he saw only when the Abyss Mages sang while alone.

He subconsciously moved his hand up to lightly touch the inscriptions, when suddenly a bright light blinded him, and the next thing he knew, he was trapped inside of something akin to a glowing frost cage.

“Mr. Albedo!” Bennett yelled.

“Well. It appears that I have been traped” murmured Albedo, amused, which clearly couldn’t have been said about Bennett. The boy looked at him, distressed.

“Don’t joke about that!” he said, with a panicking note in his voice. “Are you all right?!”

“Yes, I am” he assured him. The cage wasn’t unpleasant. He did feel a bit chilly, but nothing aside from that.

“Can you try and melt it?” he asked Bennett, who quickly charged his sword with flames and swiped it through the icy railing… only for the ice to turn into flames. Bennett jumped back, horrified, while Albedo merely nodded his head.

“Interesting” he murmured, and completely ignoring Bennett’s confused face, placed his Solar Isotoma near the railing, which at that turned into a rock and back into ice. “Hm…”

“What is that thing?” he heard Bennet asking. He shrugged.

“A fun little surprise from our Abyss friends, I’m afraid.”

The boy looked at him.

“I don’t think this is fun! I can’t melt it!” he said. His lips began the tremble, which quickly brought Albedo out of his scientific mood.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to get me out of this” he reassured him. He fished out a small vial from the pocket of his coat, and poured two drops from the vial, right at the railing. The whole cage started to shake and after a moment Albedo and Bennet were looking at tight icy crystals.

“What happened?” Bennet asked, brought out of his distress for a moment. A faint smirk appeared on Albedo’s face.

“The tonic that I used shows the flaws and strengths of spells'' he explained. “The closer the crystals are to each other, the harder it is to dispel them, using an opposite element. This one here seems to be masterfully crafted, I gotta admit, but…” he pointed out a small crack in between the crystals “...no spell is perfect. I think if you point your sword into exactly this place, the cage would melt.”

Bennett looked at him, clearly anxious.

“Are you sure? It’s not like I don’t believe you!” he quickly added. “I just… Don’t want to hurt you” he said in an uncertain voice. Albedo forced himself not to sigh, not wanting to add up to the boy’s distress.

“I don’t think you’ll hurt me,” he said. “To be honest. I think it would be very hard for you, even if you tried. All you need to do is to strike on this crack, and this crack only, okay? I do believe in you.”

The small praise seemed to help Bennet to regain his composure because he nodded.

“O-okay,” he said, and charged his sword once more. He furrowed his brows, seemingly focusing on the crack, and struck once more.

The cage disappeared with a hiss, and Albedo calmly stepped out of the water puddle around him.

“Well, at least we know that we are definitely on the right track. This one looks like a hideout for a lab of sorts to the Abyss Order'' he said, taking a look back at the glowing letters. “A team should be sent here…”

“Mhm.”

He looked at Bennett, and immediately felt his heart split in two. The boy curled inside himself looking down, as if he wanted to hide his face. Albedo also didn't miss the death grip that his companion had on his sword. He walked closer to the boy, and carefully gave him a one-arm hug.

“Let’s go back to the tree, okay? I think we have to rest” he said, and Bennett nodded, letting Albedo walk him in that direction.

They sat down, took their sandwiches out, and started eating in silence.

Albedo’s gaze never left Bennett. The boy kept his head bowed low and he barely even took a bite out of his sandwich. He seemed to be lost in thought.

After a while, when Albedo started to really think that Bennett may be going into shock, the boy meekly called:

“Mr. Albedo?”

“Hm?” he hummed, fully turning to the boy’s direction, yet Bennett kept his eyes trained on the ground.

“You are a scientist so… Can you tell me if… If my bad luck is um… Treatable?”

Albedo sighed, but before he got to say something, Bennett continued.

“Because like… I mean you probably know how unlucky I am. Everything goes bad when I’m involved, and I… I feel like I’m putting people in danger, because of that, you know? Like Klee almost got hurt when those mages jumped out, and her bombs always go off when I’m with her, Razor once got freaking bitten by a snake because I accidentally scared it, Fischl was chased by a whole beehive when a branch on which I was sitting on broke, and now you got trapped in a cage and I…”

“Bennett” Albedo softly interjected. “Stop. You’re going to hyperventilate. Breathe for a moment.”

The boy looked up at him, and Albedo wasn’t surprised when he saw unshed tears in his eyes. He smiled, reassuringly.

“Come on, slowly now. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.” he encouraged, taking a breath himself, Bennet quickly following him through. Once the boy seemed to calm down enough, Albedo continued. “It’s a hard question. But before I answer that, let’s walk through some of the things you have said. How could you know that Klee would jump at you, followed by the Mages?’

“I couldn’t but…”

“No buts. Let’s just look at this like scientists, through sheer logic, okay? Next, did you know that Klee’s bombs would go off regardless if you were near her?”

“I did…” he murmured, looking like he wanted to add a “but”, yet thought better of it. Albedo chuckled softly under his breath.

“How did the snake get scared?”

“I was trying to reach Razor before the Dendro slimes could and I stomped on it…”

“Did you see the snake earlier?”

“No!”

“Okay,” Albedo patted Bennett’s arm, seeing that he got upset. “Now Fischl. What exactly happened?”

“Master Diluc commissioned us to get some honey, so we went to the Whispering Woods, and Fischl pointed out that the branch that the beehive was under seemed stable, so I climbed on it…”

“Didn’t you say that Fischl has a habit of sometimes missing the obvious?” Albedo pointed out. Bennett flustered.

“Y-yeah, I guess I did.”

“And now with me. The only thing that you could have done was to tell me not to touch those letters, and it still isn’t guaranteed that I would have listened, since I get sometimes lost to the world.”

Bennett nodded, furrowing his brows.

“So tell me, Bennett, what all of those mishappenings have in common, aside from you?”

“That… That there’s a logical explanation to each of them?” he said, uncertain. Albedo ruffled his hair, nodding.

“Exactly. I think that most of them would have happened regardless if you were or weren’t there.”

Bennett pulled his knees closer to his chest.

“So why do people always say it was my fault?” he asked with a sad voice. Albedo sighed.

“Have you ever heard of a placebo, Bennett?” Seeing as the young adventurer shook his head, Albedo continued. “It’s an effect that happens when people firmly believe in something. For example, if certain medicine doesn’t work, but a person believes it works, it may appear like it's working.”

“And when people believe that I will bring misfortune it will happen?” Bennett asked, catching on. Albedo tilted his head to the side, thinking.

“More like if you believe it will happen, then it will. The problem with other people is that they will believe what they want to believe. There is another effect, which proves that if you assign a certain characteristic to someone, you will only see this characteristic, no matter what the person does.”

“It isn’t fair!” Bennett shouted, annoyed. Albedo smiled, sympathetically.

“It’s not,” he agreed. “But you know, screw what other people think.”

At the sight of Bennett’s shocked face, Albedo reminded himself that he had a reputation of a guy who never swore. He huffed a laugh. “But you need to start from yourself, Bennett. And I know, I know” he added, seeing as Bennett was about to open his mouth “it isn’t easy, especially with people being as they are. But you have people who would support you, right? Razor, Klee, Fischl, I would go as far as to say that even Kaeya or Barbara.”

“And… And you?” Bennett asked, looking at him doubtfully. Albedo gently smiled.

“Me, of course, as well. It’s up to you though, if and how you want to change it.”

“Oh… All right then! I will, just… I don’t have to start from today, right?”

“No, you don’t. Do it at your own pace, Bennett” Albedo said. He smiled briefly, seeing that the boy started to act cheerful again. He moved to bring his sketchbook out of his backpack and said: “Now rest for a while. We have a long way ahead of us.”

Bennett nodded, and Albedo let himself get lost in the strokes of his pencil. He only briefly came back, feeling the boy’s head on his arm, clearly asleep. He smiled to himself, adjusted his posture a little, so Bennett wouldn’t have a stiff neck, and got back to drawing.

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