#because it is a reality that in Khaenri'ah

[reginrokkr]

There is nothing better than to be wakened by drums and music galore on the same street I live. At least I got enough sleep :| On another note, going through fanarts of Dain again made me think about how he might've been somehow popular even among his knights in a comical way because... yes, he's a handsome man and there is no denying that.

[kaeyachi]

I'm seeing a lot of "Kaeya doesn't care for Khaenri'ah" for a while now in various socmed but like... this is the same dude that:

1. kept a portion of his father's notes about his clan when it was supposed to be burned

2. tested out the waters with Venti/Barbatos by putting a threat/warning in a letter

3. technically tried to run away from Dawn Winery to be able to go to Sumeru to learn more about Khaenri'ah when he was a kid

4. has his play performance imply that he is annoyed/mad about his birth father's actions BUT would like to keep both enemy and home nations safe and at peace

5. Avoids elaborating on Khaenri'ah but unafraid to say that that is his ancestry (in fact, he uses it to his benefit)

6. chose to keep using "Alberich" as a surname (he had his chances to change it, and no one could call him out, and yet he kept it? Again, what for?)

7. is torn with the idea of duty to his home nation and the love that Mond gave to him (character stories)

tbh I think Kaeya still cares for Khaenri'ah (whether it is because of his father's orders, or his own heart yearning for what could have been, or that he simply and genuinely loves his heritage). We still have Mona's voiceline saying that he has to make a choice someday, so clearly something is eating up his mind.

What I do theorize Kaeya is trying to do is to look for a different solution where he doesn't have to choose between Khaenri'ah and Mondstadt. That's what his Veluriyam Mirage vision is for- a mixture of the star of Khaenri'ah and the vision case of Mondstadt. In a realm where your dreams could be a reality, he decided to give himself both.

And honestly, could he possibly have both someday? Or does he need to realize that he can only have one?

[latenuitrambles]

Self-aware AU for Kaeya?

Note: Sorry this took time I had college stuff and I also wanted to complete Kaeya's hangout first? and I think that was the right move because it actually has a lot to do with fate and I think that inspired me a lot while writing this!!!!!

CW: nothing much?? a bit of yandere? minor spoilers for Kaeya's story. not proofread so might have spelling and grammar errors

As usual criticism and reblogs and highly appreciated ! please guys if you genuinely think some part can be a bit better i would love to know as i am trying to improve my writing!!

The day that kaeya realises that he was part of a video game, I think he would be very conflicted.

All his life he has tried to defy the ‘Fate’ of Teyvat and tried to overwrite his destiny and to suddenly discover that all his life is essentially planned from beginning to end for other people to ‘play’ and seek enjoyment?? Something about it infuriates him so much

But once he calms down and reorganizes his emotions, I think he would slowly start planning ways to break out of the prewritten story.

Subtly trying to get you to make certain choice in the story, trying to influence your actions.

If he cannot write his own destiny then he will make sure you will do so for him.

In his obsession to influence you I think he might slowly even start to get attached to you.

It feels wrong yes but slowly he realise you are essentially the only person in this ‘world’ who knows all about him, his conflicted family background, his relations with Khaenri'ah, the choice he would have to make, the sometimes questionable methods he uses to enact justice.

You and the only person who can see through his mask and maybe eventually when youre playing with just him he would slowly start letting his guard down.

However complicated the relation between you guys might be with him being trapped in a game and all, there is something so comforting about you knowing all parts of him and still loving his character or him being your favorite.

He doesn't want to admit it but kaeya actually do longs for genuine affection, especially after his father abandoned him, his adoptive father died and his falling out with diluc, the only person he was truly close to, you have one again ignited that warm feeling inside his chest.

Now depending on the scenario I can even see him becoming slightly obsessive, maybe if he sees you take his artifacts for some other character, or playing with someone else more.

Maybe he would try to force your game to choose him so that he gets to spend more time with you.

He might look for ways to reach you outside the game, after al he is slowly getting impatient having to wait everyday for you to log in. He thinks he he can become aware of you and of the game then there might be some way to escape the game reality??

He might also try to use your outsider knowledge of the games secrets to change the fate and basically use it to his advantage??

He might even add new voice lines in your game as if trying to talk to you, slowly changing his idles maybe even try to comfort you if you are sad. You would be confused at first, but Kaeya will not let you get away from him now.

You have given him a new purpose and advantage in his life and he will make sure you never leave him.

Self aware kaeya would both be angry at the predestined nature if the game and also grateful because now he can use it to his advantage to try to change the fate of Teyvat using knowledge from your archives. He is unsure about how to cope with the fact that he might be essentially just a fragment conjured by someone's imagination but at the same time meeting you was the best thing in his life and one day he will find a way to break out from the simulated reality of Teyvat and this game. After all Kaeya is nothing if not unrelenting and ambitious.

[airyravenmaid]

SAGAU: My Style

Back at it again with sharing my personal ideas with the Self-Aware Genshin AU. I don't see myself writing a full-on fanfic about it because I do NOT trust myself with characterizing everybody properly, and some of the ideas I have in mind wouldn't make for a good universal experience for all, if that makes sense. So, instead, I'll just stick to pitching like I'm at a silly ol' business meeting and providing a simple layout. Now, keep in mind, this is going to focus more on my rendition of an Imposter AU specifically, which means I'm also going to do a little nitpicking of some common tropes in it that I find could be done better or even differently. It won't be me saying that anybody who writes them in the traditional sense is bad or doing a bad job, just what I'd do differently. So, without further ado, check out my mish-mushed ideas below the cut:

It all starts with the Creator Themsleves, aka, us. Or, rather, us before we became us. Not making sense? That's fine, but lemme delve into that a little better. Game lore-wise for this AU, there actually was a fully existing, fully breathing Creator that's been around since even before the Archons (but not by too much; Zhongli's still no spring chicken in spite of this). Yes, they did create Teyvat and all that's good in it like the flora, the fauna, and the creatures, and they had a close bond with said Archons not just as people serving, advising, and worshipping their God/ruler, but also in a legitimate friendship (so, no, they're not 100% subservient or gutless ass-kissers-- it's more of an equal dynamic). Maybe one Archon of your choice (within reason) being close enough to the point of being (secret) lovers, if you'd like. Such explains the Archons' deep attachment to the Creator, and their eagerness to see them again after tragedy-- like, say, the Cataclysm that razed Khaenri'ah-- renders them comatose and not to awaken again until present day. Until then, the Creator's body lies safely in sleep like Princess Aurora within their main temple/palace, occasionally visited by their old companions (minus Ei, who's in her hidey-hole until the Inazuma AQ's, but that goes without saying).

But, just before they do wake up, here comes a little (presumably Celestia-sent) POS known as the Imposter, who worms their way into the temple where the Creator lies, steals their garbs and replaces them with normal, less divine attire before sending their body far away apparently never to be seen again and lying on that resting spot acting as the Creator on the verge of waking up. And since no one knows what really happened, it looks like the promised day has come without issues, and the Imposter is welcomed by nearly all back to a throne that never actually belonged to them. As for the actual Creator... they're in good hands, because Teyvat would never mistake another for the All-Parent that breathed life into it and acts to protect their body hidden amidst nature in whatever region they landed in (your choice) until they really do wake up.

And when our in-game body does wake up, our real-life consciousness is transferred into it and overwrites our old, godly memories with our normal ones. Since I can't stand isekais that require us dying an early death IRL (like, at all, actually), we're either magically transported to Teyvat the old-fashioned magic way, or part of our consciousness goes into our in-universe body and leaves our physical forms in reality alone, thereby creating two versions of us going around two separate worlds. For better wording, that is, but that's the gist of it. Either way, we're the real deal Creator, but one without our old memories (apart from short visions we get of our old divine life that come up every now and again) as far as everyone else in Teyvat is concerned. They're not totally wrong, anyway. I was thinking this could be justified to everyone by our "past self" saying pre-slumber that they will reawaken without the knowledge of this world (aka, the Genshin one), but it will still very much be them/us.

By the way, when we stumble into the main town or city of whatever region we wound up in, the locals don't just immediately attack us for looking like the Imposter. While sometimes, I do enjoy kicking back and enjoying pure angst, I otherwise found that aspect of Villain/Imposter!SAGAU to be, comment dit-on... absurd, especially with nobody in Mondstadt (outside of that one nun not buying it and simply scolding him) giving two honks about Venti despite him looking like (being) Barbatos, and nobody in Liyue even noticing the resemblance between Zhongli and Rex Lapis/Morax. And given how much those nations revere their god, the argument of us being a higher deity cannot be made. So, instead, at absolute worst, people are just really unnerved by the uncanny resemblance we have to the Creator, but otherwise don't get alarmed... until the Imposter catches wind of us and changes that. The reason people start attacking us at all is because the Imposter weaves a forewarning of the Creator's antithesis equal to them in power known as the "Destroyer" will descend on Teyvat, attempt to steal the throne using the Creator's face, and do worse to the world than the Abyss Order ever could try to if not stopped. And, this may sound like something they just made up to get us killed, but in a way... it's true, only issue is that the acolytes + citizens have the wrong idea of who's who, of course. Plus, the actual, all-powerful Creator, if pushed too far by say... an incredibly lengthy and traumatic manhunt after being mistaken for the Destroyer, is capable of tearing the world limb from limb, because those who create can as easily destroy, but those who destroy can never create.

Speaking of "all-powerful"... why are we always completely powerless in these SAGAU works apart from crying and/or getting really angry (which ARE realistic and valid reactions to the shit we're going through, but it's not mutually exclusive to getting cool abilities)? Because we're not actually from Teyvat? Even Aether and Lumine have the power to wield the elements despite coming from somewhere else, and for us to not get that same honor is frankly dull as dishwater. That's a lot of missed potential to dip into the fantasy aspect of a fantasy game like Genshin Impact. It's here I'd like to take some inspiration from a show I've enjoyed for years known as none other than "Avatar: The Last Airbender". Not to mention, the term "avatar" generally refers to a "divine incarnation in human form", hello??? Ahem! In other words, instead of being completely incapable of defending ourselves, we-- being the almighty Creator-- are able to wield all seven elements at once, but we have to gradually learn how to effectively use and master them. We do start with one element (any of your choice), then work our way up in order of the loading screen. IE: say your element is Cryo, you'd have to go Geo -> Pyro -> Hydro -> Anemo -> Electro -> Dendro. Such was the same in our past life, but we had the Archons to teach us and help us master those abilities through time.

Which means now, we need other people to help us do it again in our new "incarnation", and that's in the form of 5-star Vision holders since they fit the bill of "master" a bit better, being the rarer, stronger characters and junk. Of course, this is likely with discretion, because some might not be wise to learn from (such as Klee, funny as that'd be). I'm also discounting learning from the Archons because not only has our time with them from the previous life passed, but I don't find it fair to learn from a powerful god of that element, even if we're a god ourselves. It's more balanced learning from someone beneath that level (so, yes, an adeptus would still qualify). Also, important note here: not every single playable character is going to try and kill us for the Creator-Destroyer thing. NPCs are one thing because, let's be real, they're sheep, but it isn't realistic or in-character for everybody playable to want us dead. While a fair chunk would probably be on board for the sake of not letting the world blow to smithereens (and not because, you know, Same Face Syndrome, because that's completely insane), some might not outright believe the alleged prophecy for one reason or another, such as not being fond/trusting enough of the apparent "Creator" to just listen to them right off the bat, or getting to already find out who the real Creator is and knowing we're not the enemy. Whatever the reason is, we're going to have allies, including ones that join us in our quest to defeat the Imposter and take back the throne to restore balance to Teyvat. This can also include those who initially sided with the Imposter, but for one reason or another such as seeing our gold blood, they have a change of heart and tag along for the ride. For us to just go about Teyvat on the lam with nobody having our back is just... depressing, and not even in the fun way, either. I understand this faction of SAGAU tends to be purely angst-based, but come on, it doesn't have to all be a total bummer all the time. There's no rule that says we can't go through the angsty, heartwrenching stuff with traveling companions to call our own there for us through it all.

Now, of course, whoever those traveling companions are is really up to you because not all of us are gonna wanna tag up with and learn from the same bitches as the next guy. So, it's anybody's game with anybody's reasoning and circumstances (such as which region we wake up in, who our first companion(s) would be there, then which region we move onto, and even what element we have to learn next). Also, fitting the max. number of characters you can have on one team, it'd just be four actively traveling alongside us through Teyvat with other allies remaining where they are, whether they helped us master an element or not. But, no matter anybody's personal tastes and choices, I really wish there was more of a thrilling "fantastical group adventure" kind of element to this genre of SAGAU, because the potential is there, just-- seldom reached, from what I've seen, personally. I'd be more than happy adding onto this with anything I might have missed, but that's basically the gist of my view of this AU.

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

in jadeite do the characters still have the same eyes? like hutao with her flowery eyes and zhongli with his....serpent-like? ones

genuinely good question, i haven't really stopped to think about it? because in genshin as far as i know, the only eyes that really matter in terms of- what they look like? are the khaenri'ah star eyes. so like- we have people with wild-ass eyes but they never seem to factor in to the overarching lore of the game. with the exception of childe i guess? but his' are more like- they matter because he's an outlier (doesn't have the little anime shine), not because he has a particular shape in them.

also ngl i think you might be missremembering zhongli's eyes thanks in no small part i assume to fanon, bc i would not describe that man's eyes as serpent-like. neuvillette's? i can get behind. baizhu's and chongyun's? even more than neuvillette's. maybe even shinobu's but given her mask i guess hers are supposed to be more cat-like. but zhongli's...? like yes they're among the more non-normal eyes of the cast, but like- these:

next to these:

you see what i mean?

like not to get tinfoil hat on you but if i had to pick another character with eyes like zhongli's i would not pick the serpent men, but rather

you know? like they're the same shape, the colors are just inverted in the sense that her eyes are lighter with darker marks while zhongli's are darker with lighter marks, but other than that: rhombus in the middle with a ring around it. not sure there's any other character with eyes like those. xiao's look the most similar but on closer inspection he just has a semi-circle, not a full ring. so uh 🤷‍♂️

anyway- sorry about the tangent. i guess my answer to the actual question would be- maybe? i guess we can keep the eyes as they are, but just treat them the same way genshin seems to treat them. as in- most eye shapes are nothing more than a nod to the character's unique quirks rather than teyvat lore-relevant. again, teyvat lore-relevant i think is only the khaenri'ah star, maybe childe's eyes, and i guess baizhu's technically? and maybe neuvillette's. oh and arlecchino's of course. and i guess alhaitham can sit on the ?????? corner. but other than that hu tao having flowers isn't because of some long lost bloodline, but because she has plum (?) flower motifs. i think (inb4 it is about some long-lost bloodline lmao). you get what i mean? same goes for other characters with unique eyes. nahida has the four-leaf sigil bc she's connected to sumeru and the akasha and all that. kokomi has weird eyes because she's a fish. dori has an X in her eyes because money shines. like their eyes are unique but they don't have worldwide lore connotations the way the others seem to do. faruzan maybe has her eyes like that because she was stuck in some ruins for 100 years. i haven't read candace's lore but her golden eye can see stuff?? maybe she's lore-relevant too idk

so i guess bottom line is the people in this reality just have wild-ass eyes sometimes and it's no different than finding someone with albinism 🤷‍♂️ like you just go huh. neat. you're a genetic minority. anyway, and move on.

TL;DR: yeah the eyes are the same bc the only wacky eye-shapes that seem to REALLY matter in genshin's overarching lore are the khaenri'ah star ones, so i'm just not gonna bother w it.

if that bothers you we can also just say that they all have normal human-shaped eyes and keep the same color. like i guess what i'm trying to say is that only the khaenri'ah star will matter in the fic? and even then i'm unsure if it will matter all that much. so really whether hu tao has flowers in her eyes or not is irrelevant (using her as an example, but this applies to the others)

[windcarvedlyre]

I'm still catching up with world quests and finally finished Khvarena of good and evil yesterday and I'm still frothing at the mouth over it. Every other line in it has some double meaning relevant to the game's overarching lore, I swear to god.

Disorganised bullet points under the cut; I love how this game foreshadows things so thoroughly, if you're willing to look for it, that new details keep lining up with and elaborating on suspicions I already have. Some of this stuff is especially fun wrt the idea that Teyvat is an upside-down hell realm ruled by demons and human souls are trapped here for a reason.

Yet more links between the divine and destiny and songs and wind. 'Khvarenah' being a zoroastrian concept of divine power aiding 'the appointed'.

Zurvan offhandedly mentioning the rule of three (a storytelling concept) as if it's a fundamental law of this world.

Zurvan then saying the pari's god is 'rejected by the time flowing through this land' and can't move on to 'a purer plane' because of 'defilement' (which is abyssal; a character that became a lector is later described as 'embracing the defilement's blessings').

The general omnipresence of music as a theme yet again between the drums and the Great Songs and Sorush's obsession with hymns to glorify heroes.

The kory drums corresponding to every element except anemo and geo, highlighted in an academic text ignorant to why, further setting Venti and Zhongli/their respective elements apart from the others. The pari having associations with birds and plants like Venti, Sorush's crest kind of invoking the anemo symbol, especially if we look at the version on Venti's dish where he places a heart at its base, and the traveller gaining an anemo boost to help them plunge attack the drums that goes unexplained.

The Great Songs looking like green seelie- the normal ones and their podiums are anemo/barbatos-coded to me- and having a purpose of 'purifying' the land. Individual Great Songs being named after buddhist concepts like dukkha (the true nature of reality, cyclic suffering) and nirodha (cessation/renunciation of desire to escape dukkha).

The drums also being labelled with buddhist terms correspinding with each element (which I still need to look into but it seems like a rabbithole for theorists).

The pari having a philosophy of information loss being the natural order of things and for the best. Highlighted more than once.

Finally, yet another cecilia motif in the pari's seals:

And that's just the pari side of things! Meanwhile, in the Khaenri'ahn side of the quest:

The material they forged as an energy source, azosite, being named after azoth (a substance sought after in alchemy associated with spiritual enlightenment and purification of the soul and transforming human traits into the divine).

This goddamn text. Amrita means immortality.

This goddamn text as well. Assimilating energies it comes into contact with? Like, say, the traveller, who, like Khaenri'ah and the gods, is associated with stars in some way?

This structure on some terminals in the structure above Khaenri'ah's gate invokes the cross circle associated with Venti/Istaroth to me.

The name of the Schwanenritter is fascinating to me. Knights, white bird theme, in German/old Mondstadtian.

Nasejuna highlights Khaenri'ah as operating on scientific logic instead of fantastical stories, something the rest of Teyvat seems to revolve around and be confined by.

[glitch-karma]

hello! can i request the headcanons of bsd boys (ADA, port mafia, guild, DOA, and hunting dogs) playing genshin impact? i wanna know what is their fav characters/elemental/region hehehe~ thanks in advance!

I LOVED writing this one

Dazai

I can see him liking Pryo characters the most

Someone who plays for fighting and building, not for lore and quests

HIS TEAM IS SO CRACKED LIKE BRO GO OUTSIDE???

I can see him maining Klee/Diluc

Definitely, the type to brag all the time

Joins people's worlds to steal stuff then leave like an asshole

I can see his main team being Diluc, Xiao, Ganyu and Xingqiu

When playing with ANYONE he'll pull out Klee and burn the grass to annoy tf out of them

Kunikida

No.

Played it maybe once cause Dazai forced him

Did not understand the point in it

Ended up uninstalling it literally an hour later

Ranpo

Has been playing it even before Dazai

Has almost every character (and ALL of them are built)

Mains Heizou for Obvious reasons

Likes swirling electro the most

Likes to humble brag but in a mean way

"Yeah I mean, I only play it on occasion I guess I'm just good!"

He's lying

In reality, he spends way too much of his and Fukuzawas money

Definitely still not so patiently waiting for Dansleif to be playable

Atsushi

Dazai got him into the game

He plays it mostly for the story quests so his characters aren't very built

LOVES Anemo and Dendro

He was so excited when Baizhu was announced

He cried really hard when he did the Chasam quest

Mains Kazuha

He LOVES Collei so much

When he first started the game he was confused why Barbra wasn't doing any damage

Cyno reminds him of Akutagawa

Yosano

Got into it from random ads

Mains Beidou and Yelan

Has been pulling for Shenhe for so long but still doesn't have her

LOVES Inazuma

Fav vision is definitely Electro

She has played through all of Shonens quests

Poe

Ranpo forced him to play and he likes it

Ranpo helps him with domains and farming

Enjoys the lore and how it's written, specifically Khaenri'ah lore

Is also waiting for Dansleif to be playable

He's an Albedo main

Relates a lil too hard to Sucrose and Xingqiu

Chuuya

Played to try to surpass Dazai

He wants to out-damage Dazai so bad but..

Poor baby doesn't know how to build correctly.

like he gave a physical build to Yanfei

Chuuya LOVES Cryo

He definitely at one point was a Kaeya main

He freaked out the first time he did 2k damage

Joins Dazai's world and says "You suck" Then leaves

Akutagawa

Only plays it because Dazai plays it

Has tried to get good characters to earn Dazai's approval but he ALWAYS loses his 50/50's

Gets on calls with Dazai to try to show how good he is

"...Why did you put blizzard strayer on Diluc." "..."

Trys to get every character Dazai has

Honestly, he doesn't know what he's doing

Fyodor

Bought an acc from someone with insane stats

Bullys kids on the internet with it

Nikolai

He plays unironically (Unlike Fyodor)

Definitely does that ritual of throwing characters off cliffs before wishing

DEF a Hutao main

Has Fydor to actually play but always fails

That trend where you change the models of your characters? He's ALL about that

Changed Klee into a cursed model of a duck

Sigma

Mains Layla because he loves her

It's his comfort game after a long day at the casino

He plays for the lore and character design

Ango

He doesn't really have time for games

Jouno

Genshin, unfortunately, doesn't have accessible playing for him

I don't think he'd play either way but oh well

Tetchō

He saw a picture of Itto and Immediately installed it

Doesn't understand the cooking function

Is also confused about the look of the food

After meeting the Adepti he actually tried eating flowers

Jouno stopped him

Likes Xiao cause of the sticker of him eating snow

Tachihara

Thinks it's a stupid anime game

[justash02]

“Y/n...”

A/n: bro I started crying so badly, sorry for this.

Pairing; Al-haitham x Fem!Reader.

Plot; everyone thinks the traveler is always strong, boy are they wrong.

Warning⚠️; pure sadness, fluff at the end!

*^*^*

Alhaitham was sitting at his desk as his eyes followed her, does she even know what she does to him? Al-haitham hasn’t known her for a long time but they’ve worked on a mission together because she is the traveler after all. Something about her seemed… right.

Haitham has never felt this way before, the way his cheeks slightly burn as she smiles at him or when he doesn’t get annoyed or upset with her when she asks him something.

Is this what everyone is always talking about? Is this what love is? He started to question himself. Everything about her just seemed, good, perfect even.

“Hey there.” She spoke as she walked into his office, “Is everything okay? You seem somewhere else with your mind.” She asked genuinely, her footsteps echoed a bit through the room as she took a seat in front of him.

She placed her soft looking hands onto her lap and continued to look at the man. He quickly snapped out of his gaze and looked up at her, her beautiful eyes already staring in his. “Yes, I’m fine.” He mumbled before gazing back at his work in front of him.

She seemed to struggle it off and just let him work for a bit, she grabbed one of the books that were on his desk and flipped through it.

Alhaitham looked up at the book, “The fall of Khaenri'ah” Alhaitham knew she wasn’t from this world, She told him briefly about her brother when she was with him on the mission but didn’t tell much. Paimon on the other hand? She unloaded info Al-haitham couldn’t be more interested in her story then he already was.

“You’re studying it because of my brother, no?” Her voice rang through his ears. He suddenly felt a pinch of embarrassment, “You don’t have to lie, I know Paimon told you most of the story.” She said closing the book, she avoided his eyes as she felt tears building up in her eyes.

Her chest felt like it was getting tight, “Do you ever feel so lonely, but have a lot of people around you?” She asked fighting back the tears, she knew that if she looked in his eyes she would break down.

Alhaitham was stunned, he has only seen her at her best, never sad, never discouraged. But this? This he has never seen before. Not from her. Everyone thinks “The almighty traveler” can resist any obstacle.

Al-haitham felt as if it were better to not answer that question, because in fact, he doesn’t care about anyone opinion.

Except for hers, she’s all he thinks about. After Paimon told him about her brother being the abyss prince he couldn’t help but wanting to learn more about their story.

“Who am I even kidding, I’m so fucking sick and tired of everyone using me for their own fucking problems, I do fucking everything for them! What do they do? They fuck me over. You know what they did to help me find my brother? put small flyers around the city thinking that’s going to help. Well, reality check, im this close to just giving up,” at this point she was balling her eyes out, she gestured with her fingers how close she was to just leaving it all behind and it shot worry through alhaitham.

Haitham quickly shoved his chair back and walked over to her, quickly dropping to his knees as he takes her hands into his.

His hands were enveloping hers making her feel warm inside but she didn’t notice it. The sorrow she was feeling was overpowering everything that went well.

“I’ve met the archons.” She sobbed, “they all promised me that they would help me, they all screwed me over, Haitham.” She whimpered. “Nahida’s the only one who would help me.” He didn’t know what to say. He felt his chest tighten really badly as he stared at the clearly done girl.

“Y/n…” he whispered, she started crying really badly as he just wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her into his chest, he decided that saying nothing was probably better and softly ran his hand over his back sending goosebumps over her body.

She continued to sob for a while longer but alhaitham didn’t care, nothing was more important than she was. Work? What’s that? Time? Never heard of that one before. Y/n? The one.

After a while she seemed to have calmed down in his arms, the sobs had stopped and his whole shirt was wet but he didn’t care. The girl in his arms were more important. He carefully gazed down at the girl and saw she was asleep, he couldn’t help but smile a little as he carefully stood up.

He picked her up bride style and walked over to the couch, he gently laid her down and put a soft blanket over her. After a few seconds of observing her features he gently placed a hand on to her cheek and glazed over it.

She snuggled into his hand, alhaitham couldn’t help but move closer to the girl and gently pressed his lips to her forehead for a gently peck.

“I don’t care what’s to come, I’ll always be by your side, Y/n. Never will you feel alone again. I’ll always protect you. I love you.” He whispered but he knew she couldn’t hear him.

Or could she?

[shephar]

Saw a Genshin x Persona 5 post and thought of what Joe Ker would be like as a Genshin character.

Can be read as related to my Yusuke post or standalone, or even related to my Cyno post :3

Under the cut, as usual, duh.

About: Introduction.

"Oh! They call me Joker, sometimes, but my friends call me Akira, and I think we'll be great friends."

He's an Anemo character, surprising or unsurprisingly. I chose this because of how the Anemo Traveler and other Anemo characters can use the swirl mechanic to semi-manipulate other elements.

About: Vision.

"Mondstat's the city of Freedom, under the Anemo Archon of Freedom... Hmm. I suppose it's not too surprising I got an Anemo vision, then..."

For a weapon he uses a catalyst, due to his affinity for magic, which is abnormally high for a regular citizen of Teyvat, at least to those not from Khaenri'ah. He is from Khaenri'ah, of course, because he's just That Guy.

Aside from that, his skill has a chance to add an element to his attacks, which most people assume comes from his magic affinity, when in reality he just uses matches, ice-cubes, bottled water, dirt, or leaves. It's unknown how he does Electro-swirl...

These can be seen if you pay attention to his skill activations, but not for the Electro.

About: Swirl.

"You wanna know how I add elements to my attacks? Don't you know, a magician never reveals his secrets. Maybe I'll tell you later?"

His burst is an AoE targeting skill, which works by having each subsequent attack from any party member (even co-op) gaining 30% of their damage per hit.

If he's on a solo-run, however, his skill changes to a Hermanubis/Persona-like phantasm attacking enemies while Joker does as well. This is because, unlike Yusuke, where it's up to choice if he's from the Persona-verse, Joker definitely is.

About: Family/Home.

"My family? Hmm, well, it's just me and my sister, really, but it's been a while since I've been back to Fontaine. I wonder how she is, being called Father must be strange, huh..."

Akira is, much like Arlecchino, from Khaenri'ah and then lived in the House of the Hearth as a child. Their childhoods are this similar because they are twins. However, Akira chose to explore Teyvat after the Mother was defeated, wanting to see what the world has to offer.

He earned his Vision in an unknown way, when asking, Arlecchino only has this to say:

"My brother's Vision? Hmm, I suppose he's always had it, even when we were younger."

About: Archons.

"They're just... Regular people, or people adjacent. I don't really care all that much about them. I feel bad, really."

He's a five star character, of course, but his splash art is unnaturally bland for a five star, instead seeming more like a four star.

Of course, this is because of his affinity for not trying to stand out in Persona 5, which carried over to Genshin Impact.

About: Furina.

"I know people are readily accepting Neuvilette to be our new Archon, he's the hydro sovereign. But, I don't know, I think Furina, or Foccalors, was more... Relatable, I suppose is the term."

As with most other five stars, he also has a Character Story. It's the shortest one, really, should barely even count as a Story, it's a simple conversation with the Traveler. It changes based on friendship rankings.

After the Hangout, he just gives the Traveler a gun. A fake one, albeit a lot more advanced and realistic.

About: Stars (Unlocks at friendship rank 8)

"These stars... Oh, didn't see you there. What was I saying? Oh, it's just... These stars don't seem quite right, as if a painting. They reminded me of a friend, don't worry."

Akira's friendship rankings actually affect his combat potential. At Friendship 8, he has a chance to restore an ally's HP when lower than 10% when he's switched with them.

At Friendship 10, there's a chance he has to revive a downed ally, but this can only happen once per battle and it has only a small chance.

About: Origin (Friendship 10)

"Hmm, my origins? I guess you've ascertained that I'm not from Teyvat... Truth be told, I died. Then, I came back. It wasn't back to where I was from, sadly, but. What can you do? I've made the most of my life here. I do miss my friends, though."

And extras that may or may not be part of this AU, depending on your thoughts. Both unlock after Friendship 10.

About: Yusuke.

"I don't know how he got to Teyvat, but it's nice to know it's not just me in this world, I don't know if he has Gorokichi, but I can still hear my Personal. I hope he wasn't alone until we met again."

About: The General Mahamatra.

"He's a lot more... Intense than from when we were teammates, but it seems he remembers me, at least. He's still got Hermanubis with him. He's even the General Mahamatra."

About: You.

"Why do you want to hear my opinion? You're... you, it doesn't matter what I think, or that's how it should be. You help people, despite them leading to dead ends about your sibling, and that's a lot more selfless than I could act."

About: Relationships.

"I could never bring myself to date back in my world, and it would feel weird now. Arlecchino and I's bloodline is going to end with us, it seems, unless she finds someone. Unlikely, though."

About: Furina.

"She's cool, I can relate to pretending to be someone else to please others. *Uncomfortable laugh*. Except she was faking God, I was faking being a good friend."

That's it. Thanks for reading this garbage.

[fatuismooches]

Hello!!

Idea from 🥀 anon about Pantalone having nightmares is such a yes. I think some of harbingers are prone ot nightmares. They try not to disturb you when this happens, but you wake up anyway and a lot of comfort awaits

Such as Pierro. You can't convince me he doesn't get nightmares about his homeland's downfall. Everyone and everything, lost in a mere second. It took him so long to open his soul for you.. So he's scared he'll lose you as well

Or Signora. She already lost one lover, of course he's scared of losing another. Including situation, where he loses control of her pyro magic and hurts you :(

Scaramouche, as much he doesn't want to admit it, is scared you'll leave him. That you'll be the next person to betray him.

Dottore can be among them too, if we're taking about fragile!reader. He'll never ever admit this, but he occasionally wakes up (when he actually sleeps, because this happens once in a blue moon) in cold sweat, dreaming about you dying and immediately checks your vitals. If reader is in coma, he sleeps even less, looking for ways to save you, but when exhaustion finally gets to him - Dottore dreams about you never waking up, your body slowly withering and how with each passing second the chance of saving you slowly drops to zero

But of course you're always here to reassure and calm down your lover♥️

-👾

(I'm not sure when this one will get answered, but anyway - good luck to all Neuvillette and Hu Tao wanters!! May you win all of your 50/50s!!💘)

Real, i think all of the Harbingers have nightmares to some extent!! Just some more than others 💔 Pierro is a yes. Besides the amount of work he has to do, another reason why he skips out on sleep is because of the nightmares. He sees no point in trying to sleep since he'll always end up waking up soon from the nightmares anyway. Rarely does he get restful sleep, but it's a bit better when you're in his arms. Yes, a bit better, though he's still prone to them. Pierro still thinks back to the peaceful days in Khaenri'ah, before everything was lost, his beloved homeland, his people, his memories. He still hasn't gotten over it, and now there's the added worry of something happening to you as well... it's a lot for him to deal with but he never shows you and only becomes vulnerable in the middle of the night when you finally catch him sneaking out of bed. Pierro probably won't be verbal about it but you can still guess what he dreamt about... Of course, the best thing you can do is hold him and whisper how you're here, how you'll always be here, you love him and you know that he won't let anything happen to you anyway.

Signora's confident nature never seems to reveal any weakness. She always holds herself to the highest standards and refuses to show any vulnerability. So while she doesn't frequently have nightmares, when they do come around, they hit hard and really make her sit and think. It's been a long time since Rostam's death, and she's mostly moved on... but that only leaves Rosalyne with another issue. Losing you. The nightmares have never been this bad until she got together with you. She's made an oath to protect you, to keep you away from harm unlike her previous lover, but what if she can't? Even worse, what if she ends up being your demise? She couldn't bear that. When you happen to wake up during the night after her nightmare, she gently chides you to go back to sleep. Of course, you comfort her in this rare vulnerable moment and whisper sweet nothings and reassuring words in her ear. The next day, she acts like nothing happened but she greatly appreciates your love.

It's quite laughable to think that a puppet could dream. Every time Scaramouche has a dream, he wakes up in tears and then grits his teeth as he digs his nails into his skin, a mixture of sobs and mad laughter. His dreams always start off happy. Peaceful. A reminder of good times. But they always end horribly. They always end with reality. Reality was pain. Suffering. Betrayal, from everyone he's ever cared about. His mother and his friends. And now you have been added to that collection. Betraying him, leaving him all alone in the end. The possibility can't seem to leave him alone. Though, it's not too big of a problem since he is a puppet. Puppets don't need sleep. But sometimes he falls asleep accidentally without realizing it, or when you usher him to bed with you, pleading and begging to the point where he can't refuse. It's really jarring to see him cry because you know how he usually is, but overtime you get used to it because you know how hurt he was in the past. In the beginning, he'll snap at you to leave him alone but some persistence will allow him to soften and cling to you as you hold him and stroke him gently until he falls asleep again.

Despite his sins, the only nightmares Dottore has ever had were either about his childhood or you, mostly the latter recently with your current state. He's modified his body to the point where he doesn't need as much sleep as the average person, but he still does need some, much to his dismay. As much as he tries to fight it, he does end up crashing for a bit. Sometimes it goes fine. Sometimes it does not. He dreams that you will never wake up. Another century will go by, and another, and another, and nothing ever happens. He continues to change, and change, yet you remain stagnant. No matter how hard he tries, nothing works. You disappear. And he never speaks to you again, never hears your smile or laugh, never feels your touch, never again. These dreams, they are so irrational he thinks. They are nothing more than a figment of his imagination. They aren't real, and reality is the basis of everything. So there's no reason why he should be so worked up over a dream, he thinks as his body is already moving to where you lie. He places your cold, unmoving hand on his cheek, only wishing you were actually here to comfort him like during the Akademiya days.

[berryblooo]

How Kaeya and Kokomi's mysterious pasts can come back to haunt them

Cross-posting from HoYoLab. If you enjoyed this post, please give me a like there!

Disclaimer: Spoilers for the 3.8 flagship event, Secret Summer Paradise.

Just An Ordinary Human

In an exchange between Klee and Kokomi, the young girl asks her new friend a funny question.

To which Kokomi has a perfectly reasonable answer.

So that sets the record straight, right? Kokomi is nothing but a normal human. Nothing special about her!

Not quite!

Foreshadowing is defined as "an indication of what is to come" in works of literature and media. Foreshadowing doesn't have to be a positive assertion to a plot line coming up later - it can also pose a question that will be addressed down the road.

Klee pointing at Kokomi's mermaid-like design elements and asking her if she's a fish isn't meant to make the player ask this same question literally. What it is meant to do is have us question, "Is Kokomi just an ordinary human?" She may not be a fish or mermaid, but there are other forces at play from Enkanomiya, her ancestral home, that we can look into.

Just A Calvary Captain

The characters in Genshin Impact aren't always upfront about who they are or their origins. A prime example of this is the Traveler themselves - they are not forthcoming to Paimon, their closest traveling companion, about how and why they came to Teyvat, their origins, and the powers they have.

This means we can't always take what a character says at face value. The uncertainty and subsequent questioning is meant to heighten suspicion and excitement for later reveals.

One such character who has had much of this foreshadowing about their origins and motivations is Kaeya Alberich, who conveniently also happened to be featured in this event. As one of the four starter characters, we've known about Kaeya's mysterious foreshadowing since the beginning of the game. This is in reference to his origins in Khaenri'ah and Mona's voiceline, About Kaeya.

Kaeya Alberich? He's a Pavo Ocellus. Destined for greatness and grandeur... and to hide ugly realities behind a layer of charm and elegance. He believes he has made a clean break with his past, but one day fate will catch up with him. When it does, he will have a major decision to make.

This led to fans speculating that he is Khaenri'an royalty, a lost prince because of his dad's line "You are our last hope" though we eventually found out in the 2.8 Hidden Strife event that the Alberich clan were more like retainers to King Irmin.

"Remember always that it was the Alberich Clan, who did not have royal blood, who stepped in as regents when the strength of the one-eyed king Irmin failed. Though we could not restore Khaenri'ah to life, we of the Alberich Clan should lead lives as those who blaze like fire, rather than those who wallow in the embers."

And despite fan theories speculating that Kaeya may betray Mondstadt due to his allegiance with Khaenri'ah, the game seems to point toward the opposite. If the remnants of Khaeri'ah are the Abyss Order, led by the Abyss Princess/Prince, then Kaeya is likely to side with his immediate home and family.

We see yet another hint of this in the ongoing event in his exchange with Collei.

Her hesitance is echoing that of the players' who wonder if Kaeya is a double agent working against Mondstadt's interests. But Kaeya's response foreshadows his choice in that prophesized choice he will have to make, mentioned by Mona.

We already know from Kaeya's character stories that he will drink and mingle with Treasure Hoarders to get intel for the Knights of Favonius, and it's hinted in Part 9, Crash Course, of the Archon Quest Prologue: Act I - The Outlander Who Caught The Wind that he can speak the Abyssal language to communicate with Abyss Mages.

This, and his exchange with Zosimos after the performance of his play, teases his possible double agent status.

The implication here is that Kaeya is putting up a front and acting out a part in our interactions with him. However, as has already been established, it seems less and less likely that Kaeya would betray his friends and home. Rather, he may be able to leverage his status as inheritor of the Khaeri'an royalty to put up a resistance to the Abyss Order alongside the Traveler. He gets to reclaim his homeland, while the Traveler can get their twin back.

Sleeping Dragon

Kokomi, much like Kaeya, is a descendant and heir of an ancient fallen kingdom, Enkanomiya. But is she a double agent? Is Enkanomiya foreshadowed to come back, like Khaenri'ah?

Not quite.

While Khaenri'ah was defined by being a godless nation ruled by human might alone, Enkanomiya has ties to before the creation of Teyvat as we know it and the Primordial One.

Before the Primordial One arrived to what would become Teyvat, it was ruled by the Seven Sovereigns, or dragons-lords. We've met one of the sovereigns, Apep, in Sumeru. Another of the seven dragon-lords was the Dragon of Water, who perished in its fight against the Primordial One.

Before it became known as Enkanomiya, the realm was called Byakuyakoku and was terrorized by Dragonheirs of the Depths or the creatures now called Bathysmal Vishaps. You're likely familiar with them.

Their name was changed once the people learned that the Dragonheirs feared light and could drive them away with their lanterns and artificial sun. From there they studied and experimented on the Vishaps and found that they are not only intelligent, but can communicate with each other and evolve.

It is in these experimental records that we learn of a prophecy.

Prophecy holds that the Dragon Sovereign of Water will be born in a human form. We must not let this thing happen in Enkanomiya.

The Byakuyakoku Collection, Vol 4

Following the fading of the Seven Sovereigns' power, a new generation of Sovereigns is presently being born. But now that the Bathysmal Vishaps have evolved in this manner, they have lost their purity. As such, the Dragon of Water will no longer be born from among their ranks. Prophecy holds that the new Dragon of Water will definitely descend in the form of a human.

Bolteater Bathysmal Vishap Hatchling description

This is where the theory that Kokomi is the prophesized Dragon of Water reborn stems from.

It does not matter that she says she is "just an ordinary human" because the prophecy states that the sovereign will be reborn as a human.

Her constellation also points to this.

The Latin name, Dracaena Somnolenta, translates to "sleeping dragon". Seems pretty straightforward.

What does it mean for Kokomi, Enkanomiya, and the story if she is indeed revealed to be the Dragon of Water? Will it have a resurgence like Khaenri'ah?

I don't believe so. The descendants of Enkanomiya now occupy Watatsumi Island in Inazuma. They no longer worship their dead god, Orobashi, who was slain by the Raiden Shogun, but live a somewhat independent existence on their island.

According to their local legends, Enkanomiya attempts to absorb the spirit of Watatsumi, which slowly bleaches and erodes the island's soil, turning it into an uninhabitable desert. This is why the Sangonomiya Shrine conducts the Watatsumi Mitama Omatsuri ritual that purifies the waters and soil. If this fails, the phenomena could disturb the Vishaps that lurk deep in the depths below.

If, for whatever reason, these rituals fail and the ancient Vishaps invade the surface, who better to stop them, even command them, than the reborn Dragon of Water?

The power of water is its ability to take any shape...

It's no coincidence that Kaeya and Kokomi are two of the characters featured in Secret Summer Paradise. Not only are they both heirs of fallen nations, but the event itself touches on the theme of hidden/secret identities.

This is exemplified by the main NPC, Idyia.

While she first appears as "just a normal human" we learn in Act III - Dreams and First Encounters! that her human appearance hides her true form, that of an Oceanid.

Idyia's reveal reflects what fans expect for Kaeya and Kokomi.

She is exiled from her homeland, Fontaine. While the nation still exists, it can be said that it is not the same as when the former Hydro Archon, Lord Amrita, ruled and thus has fallen in that sense. Idyia now resides in a foreign nation and hides her true origins and form.

The extra connection between Idyia and Kokomi is the affinity for the Hydro element, which is associated with transformation, illusions, and dreams.

In Conclusion

What can we take away from all this?

The characters aren't always reliable narrators. They can lie to us, just like the Traveler can withhold information.

Things are not always as they seem, so believe only that which your eyes show you... these themes will undoubtedly be expanded upon in Fontaine, the nation of Justice and the courtroom.

Heads may roll.

[isshua]

Messianic Aureation

Chapter 13: Battle with the Wind-Borne Champion of the Archon War

Summary: Cara arrives at the Thousand Winds Temple, ready to put her life on the line and steal the Anemo gnosis from Venti. The wind screams as a god's true might is displayed.

Scuttles out of my cave to throw this chapter at anyone who sees it THIS TOOK ME OVER A MONTH TO WRITE AGH I am such a perfectionist when it comes to writing and I REALLY wanted this chapter to be the best version of itself because it's the finale to the Monstadt Arc of this fic. In the end there are some parts that I feel a little iffy about but I'm happy with it overall and I hope readers will be happy with it too! Enjoy! :D

Chapter 14 is here

Up the rough road with large bushes and tall trees growing among the long grass, great stone walls and pillars rose up from a time long lost in Monstadt’s history. They were old, Cara observed as she rode past them. Vines crept over their cracked surfaces and there were many portions that were broken away. When she passed between two of them, she reached out a hand and brushed her fingers against their surface. If these stones could talk, what would they tell her about those ancient times of the Archon War?

  Everything was eerily silent as Epona and her continued. There were no animals scampering about. No squirrels, no foxes, no birds…the only sounds she could hear were the horse’s steady hooves thumping along the dirt path and her own nervous heartbeat pounding in her ears. She remembered there being a large amount of hilichurls inhabiting this area in Genshin Impact, but those too seemed to have vanished without a trace along with the wildlife.

  What worried her the most wasn’t the absence of Khaenri'ah’s lost souls, however. It was the fact that there was no wind. The leaves of the trees were dead calm; not a single one rustled even slightly. In the wilds of Monstadt, the wind was always present. It reached every corner of the nation, and held so much power you could practically feel it in your bones. Even when it was nothing more than the softest of whispering breezes, you knew the spirit of Anemo was always watching over the nation of freedom…or maybe that was just for her, due to her unique connection with the seven elements. But here, now, Cara felt like she was traveling through a windless land. The air was heavy and still, unnaturally so. It was as if Teyvat were holding its breath…or maybe, it was quietly watching her with seething hatred, judging her not worthy to feel its presence swirling around her body and soul. If the second option were true…then she wasn’t dealing with Teyvat.

  Up the crumbling steps of an ancient staircase, Epona’s hooves clopped on a portion of stone road, the sound echoing out into the area. When they ascended a second staircase, Cara saw they were near the large monument of the strange celestial arrow which pointed directly at Monstadt City. The inscription etched into its base arose in her mind: “Seeds of stories, brought by the wind and cultivated by time.” How poetic, she thought. Was that what her story was in this world? She was a traveler from another reality, thought to be the highest of all gods by some and an imposter by others, an outsider and a native at the same time. Her tale began with the wind, and time could only tell how it would end. That seemed to ultimately be up to Teyvat’s people. Or maybe she could write the conclusion to her story with her own hand.

  She could not shake the chilling feeling that the point of the massive stone arrow was no longer pointing at Monstadt, but at her.

  The road became less and less pronounced as they kept going. Soon Epona was walking over less dirt and more grass. The Thousand Winds Temple had been forgotten by many of Monstadt’s modern citizens, it seemed. No one had traveled this path in quite a while. Cara honestly couldn’t blame them. This amphitheater had been used as a gladiator arena back in the Aristocratic Period, where slaves had been forced to fight and kill each other for the amusement of cruel nobles. This whole area was probably stained with blood. It made her sigh with sympathy, then shudder with paranoia. She could not help but let her eyes wander between the trees, half expecting to see the pale phantoms of the dead silently watching her go by.

  When the ruins of the temple were only a few steps away, Cara stopped Epona and hopped off of her. The mare snorted questioningly. She held the reins and stroked her nose. “You can’t come with me there,” she whispered. “I don’t want you getting hurt. Wait at the edge of the ruins and only come back when you hear me whistle. That’ll be the signal to show everything is safe.”

  Epona’s eyes were deeply intelligent, and subconsciously, Cara knew she understood. The horse pushed her head into her hands and snorted again softly, then turned and cantered back down the way they came. Cara watched her go, her smile falling as the animal disappeared from sight. Now, she was truly alone.

  Ignoring her own screaming instincts that were telling her to go back, she forced her legs to move and take those final steps up the last flight of stairs and into the temple.

  It was huge. Larger than she anticipated and definitely bigger than how it was in the game, she had to turn around in a circle to fully perceive the absolutely massive arena she was standing in. When she looked at the weathered seats and rusting metal cage doors that closed off the temple’s lower areas, she could practically hear the cheering screams of an audience and hear the clashing swords of fighters battling for their lives. What a fascinating, yet disturbing place to be in. In the back of her mind, she wondered what might have happened if she had been here during the temple’s prime. With the power she held within her, could she have helped put an end to the tyranny of the aristocrats? Could she have saved the lives that were lost on these very grounds? If she had been sucked into the Teyvat of 1,000 years ago, would she have still been deemed as an imposter by Monstadt’s people?

  The sound of music made her whirl around. Her heart dropped when she saw Venti sitting on the base of a fallen pillar, nimble fingers plucking the strings of his lyre and creating a lovely song. His eyes were closed, and he was smiling gently.

  “1,000 years ago, the Falcon of the West was a noble lion,” he said in a storytelling voice. “With a mighty roar, she fought for the freedom of Monstadt’s oppressed and helped break the chains of tyranny that constricted this nation. After that, she gained her wings, and flew onward to godhood. Her story began here, in a place filled with heartbreak and death. It’s quite the tale, isn’t it? Don’t you think it’s a wonderful example of how humanity’s worst evils can give birth to its greatest goods?”

  Cara didn’t answer. She stayed absolutely still, watching Venti’s every move.

  The bard sighed. “Humans are incredible creatures. There are so many paths they can go down, and they can create so many things within the spans of their short lives. But because they are mortal, the gods underestimate them. They think humans are easy to manipulate and control simply because they think they’re weaker. But you want to know what I think? I think this shows just how weak the gods really are. After all, when you're obsessed with controlling the lives of humans, doesn’t that prove which is greater? If all it takes is for humans to stop believing in you for you to lose your power, just how omnipotent can you, as a god, really be?”

  He opened his eyes and finally looked at her. That smile was so deceiving. “Humans and gods alike worship the Creator. It’s practically one of the only things we all see eye-to-eye about! So how do you think we feel when someone pretends to be the Creator and tries to convince others to worship them? Do you think Teyvat is any place for a false god?”

  “Is that what you see me as?” Cara asked him. “A false god? Nothing more?”

  He giggled and ignored her question. “Did you hear my song?”

  “It would’ve been impossible for me not to.”

  “I knew that. A bard’s talent lies in his ability to capture attention! What sort of performer would I be if you hadn’t heard it?” He put his lyre away, stood up, and stretched. “Where’s the holy lyre?”

  Cara took out her backpack and pulled out the Holy Lyre der Himmel. Venti observed her with the lazy air of an uninterest. “Guess you went through all that trouble of stealing it for nothing, huh? Sorry about that. I could have let you have your great moment of ‘summoning’ me, but, well, I just didn’t feel like going through all of the theatrics of pretending such a trick actually works.” He nonchalantly shrugged.

  “Wait. It…it doesn’t?”

  He grinned cheekily. “Best not to get pivotal information from little kids from now on, okay?”

   Bastard. Cara gritted her teeth. “You’ve been watching me ever since I arrived in Teyvat, haven’t you? You’ve seen all that’s happened, from the moment I was first arrested until now. You know everything.”

  His smile widened. “Just because you can’t feel the wind blowing doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”

  “I swear, if you even think about hurting my friends-”

  “Oh, relax. I’m not going to hurt anyone. Well, not anyone except for you, of course.” He chuckled at that. “You would think me so low that I would harm my own people? Shame on you, little imposter! I’m no monster!”

  “I don’t have time for this.” She raised the holy lyre over her head. “Give me your gnosis, or I’ll break the lyre. Don’t think I won’t do it.”

  Venti stared at her for a moment, then burst out into laughter. Cara did not feel the least bit enlivened as she watched him nearly topple off of the pillar. “You won’t break it!” he chortled.

  “Try me,” she countered.

  He continued to laugh. He wasn’t taking this seriously. He wasn’t taking her seriously. She wasn’t a threat to him. Knowing that made this whole situation ever the more terrifying.

  “You won’t break it,” he repeated after finally composing himself. “You care far too much to ever go through with such an action.”

  The hand holding the lyre started to shake. She squeezed its frame and raised it even higher, bracing her arm to throw it down with all of her strength. She only got so far before she stopped herself. Drawing in a breath, she tried again; her hand refused to let it go.

  Venti watched on in amusement. “See? You can’t do it. Your mind is telling you to, but your heart won’t let you go through with the deed.” His voice was sweet and light, singsongy and haunting, a siren call pulling her out to sea so she could be drowned. “You won’t break it because you love me.”

  Her eyes widened and her heart broke. She staggered a little, rocked by what he had just said.

  He laughed again, though this time, he sounded so much crueler. “Poor little imposter, she loves the bard who will bring about her end! So silly, so stupid, to think the enemy could be her friend!”

  “If you know I love you,” she said quietly, “then why don’t you recognize me? Why don’t you remember?” Of course, she already knew the answer to this. It was because of the Madness. Whatever it was doing to him prevented the memories they had made together from making it through. The adventures they had went on when she possessed either him or the avatar of the Traveler…pulling for him, ascending him, fighting domains and bosses with him on her team…any recollection of her, and thus any love for her he had, was locked deep away by the threads of the Abyss.

  His laughter died and he pursed his lips. For a moment, his devious smile softened into a troubled frown.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t know why you love me. For some time, I thought it was fake. Just a big manipulation to deceive me and use me against Her Grace. But now I can feel it. Your love is real.” His smile returned. “And it’s going to be your downfall. If you can’t find it within yourself to hurt me, then you’ll be making my job a whole lot easier.”

  Through the temple, the wind began to blow. Violent gusts whipped painfully at her skin and caused her to nearly lose her balance due to how powerful they were. Around the entire temple, to her utter shock and horror, a cyclone began to form, cutting the amphitheater off from the rest of the world. Roiling, screaming, wailing, the wind grew and grew, rising up from all sides in a mighty column of teal and dark gray. Cara looked back at Venti and saw he was no longer smiling. A dark expression took over his face as his eyes and braids glowed a bright blue. His cape flapped madly behind him as he glared at her with enough hatred to make her want to cry. A shadow was cast over him-and then it was over her, and the entire temple as a whole. The tornado containing them was so strong, so fervent, all light from the sun was blotted out and it was as if they were trapped in a perceptual state of developing storms.

  “Venti, please, stop!” Cara’s cry was nearly lost in the wind. “It doesn’t have to be this way!”

  “You knew it was going to come down to this from the very start.” Venti prowled towards her predatorily. Each step he took made Cara take equal steps back. “I’ll admit, it’s been fun watching you run around like a chicken without its head. But now I think it’s time for the hunt to end, and for you to end up dead.”

  Cara looked behind her. The massive tornado encircling the temple was so violently thick, she couldn’t even see past it anymore. The howling of the wind was like the shrieking of the souls of the dead. A foreshadowing to her own possible fate. There was no way out of this. She had bitten off more than she could chew. Albedo had been wrong-she wasn’t ready to take on an Archon. She had never seen Venti display this amount of power before. Terror had her in its grip, and she soon found that she couldn’t move, her legs rooted in place as her chest tightened and panic spread its infectious tendrils throughout her body and mind.

  “Aw, what’s the matter?” Venti regarded her with a tilt of his head, large eyes filled with taunting amusement as he smiled mockingly. “Gonna cry? Is your life flashing before your eyes? Are you afraid?”

  Albedo. Kaeya. Razor and Bennett. Klee and Sucrose. Noelle. Fischl and Oz. Diona. Nick and Casey. Her family. Her own world. Their faces flashed through her mind and fizzled away when she desperately tried to reach out and grab them. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

  She was not immortal. She was not the original Caratrice. She was not a god of limitless power who could take on an Archon and win.

  But she was going to have to try to be. Because there was no turning back.

  “Little imposter.” Venti’s voice boomed, loud, threatening. When she looked into his eyes, she saw flashes of dead gods with giant arrows sticking out of their mangled bodies. Battlefields doused in the blood of the Archon War’s losers while the champion hovered above them all, white wings so large they could overtake the entire sky, eyes blazing, wind rising, a primal force of total destruction. Barbatos.

  People back in her world always doubted Venti’s true potential.

  If only they could see the glimpses of the past she was perceiving right now.

  “Little imposter,” Venti rumbled. “I’ll ask again. Are you afraid?”

  “Venti,” she responded. Shakily, begging. “Please don’t make me do this.”

  He didn’t reply, only smiled. The Elegy for the End materialized in his hands. String pulled taut, bow nocked and ready. A pause wedged itself between them.

  She breathed in, and out.

   You love me. You care too much.

  “Forgive me,” she whispered to the Venti she knew was buried somewhere deep inside of the god standing against her. She took off her mask and slipped it carefully into her backpack, along with the Holy Lyre der Himmel.

  She gently pulled away the bandages covering the right side of her face. When they were all gone, she blinked her injured eye open. She could see out of it perfectly; it was fully healed, or at least healed enough for her to see now. For this battle, she was going to need her full vision.

  Venti laughed. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

  She pulled out her sword and charged.

  With lightning-quick reflexes, Venti raised his bow and released a flurry of arrows. Cara saw them coming and ducked, dropping to the ground and letting them sail over her before she was on her feet again and running. Venti’s hands moved with inhuman speed, conjuring one arrow after another. Cara dodged to the left when one came dangerously close to piercing her right arm, but unintentionally allowed another arrow to graze the skin of her cheek. A tiny streak of gold followed the arrow’s wake. She winced, but ignored the pain.

  “One score for me!” Venti cheered. “Let’s see how many more scars I can give you!”

  Cara raised her arm and without her even having to think about it, a golden shield was summoned from beneath her skin. Anemo-infused arrows bounced harmlessly against it as she ran forward. Venti laughed. “Oh, so you think your shield will be enough to stop me? Think again, little imposter! Remember that I’m the god of the wind!” He lifted his hand and made a swiping motion, and a gigantic gust of wind hit her and sent her careening backwards, leaving her right back where she started. Cara gasped as the air was knocked out of her. She barely had enough time to recollect herself and hold her shield in front of her so a fresh wave of arrows wouldn’t pierce her from every direction.

  She had to get to cover. There was no way she was going to make any sort of progress if she kept trying to simply run towards him. If she did, he would just continue to blow her away. He wanted to keep her back; on top of being mostly a ranged fighter, it was also integral for him to be as far away from her as possible so she couldn’t get the chance to fight back. Her skills lied within close combat, as did an opportunity to take his gnosis. If she was going to survive this battle, she was going to have to trick him into lowering his guard.

  She pushed herself up and ran behind a fallen column, blocking arrows with her shield as she did so. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, her back pressed against the rough stone as she listened to the howl of the wind and Venti’s maniacal laughter. “So you're choosing to hide?” he called out. “How cute! You think that’ll be enough to protect you? I can make this stone crumble into dust!” A blast of Anemo slammed into the column, rocking it violently. Cara lurched forward with a slight gasp. Little cracks splintered across its surface. A few more of those wind attacks, and it was going to completely fall apart.

  “Come out, come out!” Venti sang. Another blast of wind. “We’re not done playing yet!” And then another. “You know this fight can’t last forever! If I don’t kill you directly, then the tornado around us will! Aren’t you feeling a little lightheaded? Finding it hard to breathe, perhaps?”

   Oh god, he’s right. Cara clutched her chest. Being inside a tornado meant lower oxygen levels. She could feel it getting more and more difficult to take in a full gulp of air with each passing moment. How much longer before she passed out? If she did, she would be completely vulnerable, and then Venti would have the chance to…to…

   Stop thinking like this! She lightly hit the heel of her palm against her head. This is what he wants. He wants you to panic so you’ll act without thinking. You're giving him the advantage! She had to think this through, quickly and thoroughly. Her time was running out. All of the odds were against her, so if she wanted to change that, she was going to have to do something soon.

  “Aw, don’t be so worried!” Venti giggled. “I’ll make sure you don’t die immediately! Where’s the fun in that? I want to play around with you some more. Now, come out!” A final wind blast broke the column, sending bits of stone flying everywhere as he split it cleanly down the middle. The moment he did this, Cara took off running, sprinting parallel to where he was standing, staying close to the tornado wall. There was another fallen column nearby. She hid right behind it, waiting for him to react.

  Just as she anticipated, he released another wind slice. She ran forward just as it hit and destroyed the column. Another pillar sat in front of her, this one a little bit closer to Venti than the other had been. She hid behind it, waiting. Surely enough, another wind blast came, slicing the stone apart. With each pillar Venti destroyed, she inched closer, closer, gaining ground and using the columns as a distraction. It was obvious the bard was getting frustrated, because he was no longer laughing gleefully and was now frowning, displeased. “Will…you…stop… hiding?” he yelled, releasing yet another Anemo attack. This time, it hit a pillar that was still standing straight. It shuddered and slowly toppled forward, right for the column he was standing on. Venti swiftly dodged, easily flitting to the side and avoiding being crushed as swiftly as a bird flies through the air. This was what she wanted.

  She pushed forward and ran with all of her might, reaching out with the intention to tackle. She saw him turn towards her slightly, eyes widened in disbelief to see her so close.

  And then he smiled. And he was gone.

  It was like she was suddenly moving in slow motion. With no way to stop him, she watched him sidestep her, raise his hand, and conjure up a whirling ball of Anemo. With a crack ringing through the air, he hit her with the elemental ball and sent her propelling forward. She crashed into the pillar he had been standing on only moments before and slumped to the ground, her ears ringing as she felt nothing but pain.

  He was laughing again. “Oh, that was hilarious! You really thought you could outpace the god of the wind? Did you do any sort of research before you accepted this battle?”

  An arrow replaced the Elegy for the End in his right hand, and he sped forward with incredible speed. Cara raised the Prototype Rancour just in time. The Anemo-strengthened arrow clashed against it.

  “It’s a shame I have to kill you,” Venti sighed, feigning regret. “You're fun to play around with. You were being oh-so predictable, and then you sprung a trick like that upon me! And here I was thinking this was going to be boring!” He smiled menacingly. “You better keep impressing me, little imposter. You don’t want me to get bored too soon!” Too fast for her to react, he jabbed the arrow into her leg, right below her knee. She screamed out in agony and swung her sword wildly at him, but he jumped back and fluttered off with high laughter carrying over the cyclone’s raging winds.

  It was getting more and more difficult to breathe. Each inhale was desperate and shaky. On the precipice of her mind, she felt fuzzy numbness, the promise of unconsciousness growing closer. Gritting her teeth and letting out a strangled cry, she yanked the arrow out of her leg and threw it away. Golden ichor poured from the wound.

  “You better do something fast or I’m going to kiiiill yooou!” Venti sang. He started shooting arrows at her again. Ignoring the pain in her leg, Cara forced herself to run, this time going directly for him. Her time was limited. She had to end this now.

  This battle was unlike any fight she had ever been in before. Diluc, Jean, Rosaria, and the rest of the hunters had fought with the intention of getting up close and personal. Even Albedo, who had obviously been holding much of his true strength back during their practice fights, had done much of the same. She was used to facing opponents with swords. Venti’s attack style left her feeling clumsily unfit for any kind of fight. He released arrows so quickly, barely giving her time to knock them away with her sword. When she did get close to him, he would always unleash an Anemo attack to knock her away. It was difficult, frustrating, and anxiety-inducing. At any moment she could run out of oxygen, and then she’d be finished. This dance between her and him had to be over if she wanted to survive.

  “Your shield hasn’t appeared since we first began,” Venti idly chattered away. “Are you having a bit of trouble controlling those powers of yours? I see the way they react to your emotions. You were so determined before, and now you look like you're really down in the dumps. Are you starting to lose hope, perhaps? You have to have realized by now that there’s no way you can win this. A sword can do very little against a bow…c’mon, why don’t you just give up? There’s no shame in it, y’know. I promise I’ll give you a quick, painless death if you do.”

  Her frustration was rising. She did not reply.

  Venti released another arrow. “Or you can keep trying. I don’t mind it, really! More fun for me!”

  She was getting nowhere. This battle was entirely in his favor. Cara’s veins lit up gold as she roared and charged him. All of her exhaustion, caution, and fear was thrown to the wind, and she lifted her sword and swung it at him with the intention of knocking away his bow. Venti looked quite startled to see her gain so much ground. The Elegy for the End was recalled, and he crossed his arms in front of him while his braids and eyes began to glow. A sigil of the Anemo Archon appeared below him. An updraft of wind helped him float into the air.

  Cara let her sword dissolve away. She reached up and grabbed Venti’s ankle, then yanked him down with all of her strength. The bard was slammed into the ground, hard. She held him down and raised her fist, not even noticing how her entire hand was completely gold. All she could feel was anger, all she could sense within herself was desperation. She was done playing by his rules. Now, it was her turn to attack.

  Venti’s eyes widened. “Wait-!” he started to say, but his voice cut off into a strangled noise when she wrapped her hand around his neck. Cara’s blood was pumping. Her heart was pounding. Now is your chance, she thought she could hear her own voice whisper into her ear. Defeat him. Show him what you are capable of. This Archon is nothing compared to your power. You are above him. Take his gnosis. Win!

   She was about to. She really was. With her left hand still holding him down by his throat, she pressed her right hand against his chest, feeling his own heart beating frantically, and then along with it, an unnatural warmth. The area right above his heart began to glow.

  And then her eyes strayed to his. She saw the fear within him. She saw the pain. She blinked.

   Wait.

  I’m…I’m hurting him.

  Venti was indeed gasping in pain. As her hand sunk into the cavity of his heart and her fingers closed around the shape of his gnosis, she noticed him let out a cry. Her will faltered, and her face fell. The hand around his neck lightened. I’m hurting him. I’m hurting him. I don’t want to hurt him. I love him. I don’t want to cause him pain.

  Her own voice inside her head howled at her to continue. Her life depended on this! He wouldn’t be in pain forever! He was trying to kill her! She had to go through with this or she was going to die!

  But it was too late. Cara hesitated. That single fleeting moment was all the time Venti needed to release a powerful burst of Anemo that emanated from his entire body and send her careening back in a shockwave of wind. The gnosis was lost from her grasp. She crashed into the ground and rolled on to her side, her own breath lost within her.

  All of her anger and frustration with Venti vanished in her pain. She coughed and slowly pushed herself to her feet, clutching her side as she wheezed. Everything hurt. The leg wound Venti gave her had already healed, but now it was beginning to ache again. The light in her blood slowly ebbed away. Once again, her power was lost to her.

  The tornado’s intensity was elevated. Cara’s hair whipped around as she was battered by its winds. Bits of the Thousand Winds Temple were being cracked off and sucked into the cyclone. She heard a growl; she saw Venti slowly rise to his feet, wobbling a little as he panted. His hand was over his heart. He looked at her with hooded eyes, furious, terrifying.

  “You…just made…a very, very big mistake,” he said.

  And then a gust of wind carried him into the air. She watched, in fascinated horror, as white feathers began to sprout from his arms, out of his legs, and then his face and even his hair. The wind ripped them off and caused them to swirl around him until he was completely obscured by a whirling cocoon of feathers.

  Two gigantic white wings broke through and spread to an impressive length. The feathers were swept away with each beat. And out of them emerged a god shining with the essence of Anemo. He hovered in the air, as radiant as an angel. He was so absolutely beautiful, it physically hurt to look at him.

  When the god spoke, immense pressure slammed into her and made her nearly sink to her knees. The aura this being possessed was so incredibly raw and powerful, it made her mind go blank and her body go absolutely haywire. All she could hear was the roar of the wind. She felt like she was being pierced by a million arrows, her flesh being torn, her consciousness being ripped to shreds. She was going insane. Just being in his presence was driving her mad.

  “Imposter,” he announced, and his voice was amplified by the scream of the tornado, so that it sounded like it was coming from every direction and bombarding her. “Say my name. Say it, so that you may remember the Archon who damned your soul to the Abyss for sullying the name of Her Grace, the Almother.”

  Cara had no choice but to comply. The wind gripped her and forced the name to march out of her mouth. “Barbatos,” she breathed.

  The god smiled. “Good. Now die.”

  The Elegy for the End materialized, but this time, an absolutely massive arrow made out of pure Anemo energy was formed and released from it. Cara snapped out of whatever stupor Barbartos’ presence had inflicted on her and threw herself out of the way when the arrow slammed down into the ground and shattered the Thousand Winds Temple’s floor. More followed. She was running for her life as she dodged the elemental arrows with heads big enough to take off her entire arm if contact was made.

  “I told you what Her Grace wanted me to do to you,” Barbatos snarled from above. “And now I’m going to go through with it. Playtime is over. I’ve had my fun with you. Now I want you out of my sight.” He flapped his wings and lunged for her, swooping over the amphitheater like a bird of prey. Cara yelped and dodged. Where Barbatos flew, a trail of destruction followed in his wake. Whatever he swooped over was decimated by Anemo energy. If she hadn’t gotten out of the way in time, she would have ended up like that too.

   I can’t fight this, she realized. Not when he’s in this state. Venti she could just barely handle. But Barbatos? In no way was she equipped to beat him in battle. His power of flight gave him the ultimate advantage, and she could not reach him if he was constantly in the air. How was she going to do this?

   Use your power, the voice inside her head whispered. Take his wind and make it your own. Force him to remember you.

  Barbatos rose high into the air and held out his hand. A wind spear formed, and he hurled it at her with incredible speed and strength. Her first instinct was to run…but then something told her to do otherwise. She raised her hand and watched her palm light up gold. The spear shuddered and slowed. It started to glow gold, and then it exploded. Barbatos was hit by the force and fell back with a shriek.

  She stood there in utter disbelief. What…what had she just done?

  “Seizing control of my Anemo won’t do you any good!” Barbatos yelled at her. The Archon formed more wind spears, throwing one after another at her. Some of them she deflected with her sword. Others she used her own power to throw against him, the golden light blasting him in the face and causing him to screech in pain like a wounded eagle. It made her heart ache to hurt him like this, but she couldn’t hold back due to her feelings and empathy. She needed that gnosis. Whatever it took, she was going to get it.

  “Barbatos!” she yelled at him. “This fight is meaningless!” She dodged a giant wind arrow. “I’m not your enemy! Please, listen to me!”

  He didn’t answer. He dived to attack her again, and she had to run to avoid the destructive Anemo whirling behind him. She kept pleading to him. “I don’t know you as the god of the wind or Lord Barbatos! I know you as Venti! You're funny, you’re kind, and you are not meant to be a puppet of the Madness! You are greater than anything the Abyss can throw at you!”

  The tornado roared. Cara’s knees grew weak as she looked into the face of the god hovering before her. “You need to recognize me!” She dodged the wind strikes by a hair’s length as she ran. “I’m your warrior!” She leapt over a fallen pillar and blocked a series of wind spears. “Don’t you remember? We’ve been through so much together! We’re friends!”

  Barbatos screamed in frustration and sent forth a giant Anemo-infused arrow. It came zooming towards her, but she reacted in time and shot out her hand. Golden light shattered through her skin, and the arrow stuttered to a halt, its tip inches away from impaling her. She grimaced under the weight of the wind bearing down upon her; the will of the Anemo Archon was trying to crush her to bits. “Venti!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “You need to remember who I am!”

  Her power overtook the arrow and possessed it. Cara filled it with all of her feelings and memories, of the joy she felt when she had first gotten him during one of his banners, of the journeys they had been on together, of the events, the festivals, the songs and the love she felt for him deep within her heart. Come back to me. Listen to me. We know each other. Let me set you free. The arrow, having a new target, circled and barreled right back for Barbatos. The Archon faltered, his face falling into an expression of confused shock. He didn’t have enough time to move out of the way.

  The arrow, golden, pierced his heart. Where a wound should have formed, there was light. Barbatos’ eyes widened, and a gasp was flung from his lips. The red was chased out of his irises and was replaced with the healing elixir of aureation. He looked at Cara.

  “Windblume?” he murmured, as soft as a whispering breeze.

  And then his wings gave out and the god of the wind crumpled, his entire body going limp while he fell through the sky like an injured bird or a dying dragon. Barbatos crashed into the ruins of the Thousand Winds Temple with a rumbling boom. Dust and bits of stone sprayed everywhere. Some of the few remaining standing pillars finally fell, adding to the cacophony of noise.

  “Venti!” Cara cried. She ran to where he fell, fear and worry spurring on her actions.

  Within a crater of rubble the form of the defeated god laid, his wings curled around him as if they were attempting to shield him from the outside world. She dared not get too close, aware of just how powerful this form of his was. One wack from his wing, and she would be killed immediately. But was he alive? Was he okay? She couldn’t tell if he was breathing. What if she killed him?

  “Venti.” Her voice was desperate. She felt like she was about to burst into tears. “Venti, please, get up. Please!”

  The god did not move. Cara covered her mouth in horror and stumbled back. She dropped her sword and squeezed her eyes shut. I killed him. I killed him. Oh dear god, he’s dead. This can’t be happening. I’m a monster. I’m-

  A low groan made her eyes fly open. She watched, frozen in place, as Barbatos slowly dragged himself out of the hole. When he stood, he towered over her, much taller than he was in his mortal form. His wings flared as he struggled to keep his balance, giving him an even more intimidating appearance. However, the reality was anything but. Barbatos looked exhausted, his head bent as he wobbled. Cara held her breath, afraid to say anything. The relief she felt at seeing him alive fought bitterly with her fear of him. She wanted oh-so badly to run up to him and give him the biggest hug, but she was too afraid he would try to attack her if she did so. So she stayed put and waited.

  Barbatos looked at her. His eyes were filmed over with tears. And then he fell to his knees.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.”

  Cara didn’t say a word.

  Tears streamed down Venti’s cheeks as he sobbed out the same watery words over and over again. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m sorry!” His wings shuddered and fell to his sides, snowy feathers stained gray from dust and dirt. He descended into a blubbering mess, completely breaking down. Any menace, any fury, any hatred for her vanished in the wind.

  Cara, feeling the full effects of the injuries she had procured during their fight, now that her adrenaline was wearing away, drew in a deep, deep breath. She limped over to Venti and knelt down in front of him. He stared at her with an expression of pure regret and heartbreak, green eyes wide and guilty, little whimpers leaving his mouth as he continued to cry. He spoke no longer; he seemed to be awaiting a reaction from her, most likely a negative one.

  Cara didn’t say anything. She leaned forward and gathered him into a tight hug.

  He stiffened in shock for only a moment before he melted into the embrace and hugged her back, his soft sobs elevating to muffled wails when he buried his face into her shoulder. Warmth encompassed her when his wings wrapped around her, holding her close, soft feathers brushing against her cheeks and back. Cara squeezed him gently.

  “It’s okay,” she murmured to him. “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not,” Venti hiccuped. “It’s not okay at all. I-I hurt you. I hunted you. I hated you. I wanted to kill you. I-I didn’t even realize…how could I have not realized? How couldn’t I have known? The Madness…the false Creator…oh, gods, you can’t forgive me. I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

  Cara rubbed his back soothingly. “Do you remember me?”

  “I remember everything,” he replied. “My god, my warrior, my windblume, my muse. You came to me in the form of another all of those ages ago and I’ve been yours ever since. I’ve worshiped you for millennia, since before I was even an Archon. Your Grace…you’ve freed me from the corruption.”

  Cara’s cheeks blushed a slight red. She smiled a little and chuckled. “Just Cara is fine. No need to call me Your Grace. Though, even if I tell you that, I’m guessing you're just going to keep saying it regardless of what I tell you to call me.”

  “Cara.” Venti sighed, and a gentle wind blew. The cyclone was slowly dissolving away, and above them, the sun peeked through the clouds and cast its warmth upon them. “I like that name. I’ve never been a god that’s particularly fond of formal titles.”

  Cara chuckled again. There’s the Venti I know.

  “I’m sorry.” Venti sniffled. “I’m sorry. I-I’ve committed horrible acts against you. All of Monstadt has. We-we were cruel. Heartless. The Madness has fogged our minds for so long…”

  Cara gave him one last gentle squeeze before she pulled away. He unfurled his wings and stood up with her. His hand went to interlock with hers, and she accepted. “How long has this been going on?” she asked him.

  With his other hand, Venti wiped his tears away. “Years. The Creator-well, I guess I should say the false Creator now-descended to Teyvat…20 years ago? 50? I-I can’t remember. The exact number is foggy…I distinctly recall her arriving long before you chose me to be a Vessel. But when it happened, all of Teyvat rejoiced…except Teyvat itself. The wind hates the false Creator. It despises her. I should have taken it as a sign back then, I should have realized there was something wrong.” He shook his head sorrowfully. “But by then, I guess it was already too late.”

  “How does the Madness spread?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t remember when I was infected. I didn’t even know I was infected until you freed me. All I know is that it filled me with a deep anger, a hatred so red it tasted like blood on my tongue. It was a hatred for anyone who might speak or act against the false Creator.”

  Cara sighed. None of these answers helped solve the mystery of the Madness. “It’s so strange…all of Monstadt seems to be infected by it, even non-Vision-holders. And for the people that aren’t infected by it, their fear of the false Creator and her capabilities keeps them in line…just what sort of entity is this true imposter?”

  Venti was silent for a moment as he thought. Then he gasped and flapped his wings excitedly. “I think I’ve got it! The false Creator doesn’t just infect the Madness willy nilly! She targets specific people! National leaders like Jean, ruthless fighters like Diluc, Archons like me! The more positions of power she can indirectly control through the Madness-infected Vessels, the stronger she is!”

  “Holy shit Venti, you're right.” Now that she thought about it, such an idea certainly made a lot of sense. “But then why isn’t Kaeya infected? He’s the Cavalry captain, I’d consider that a position of power. Bennett and Razor know the land really well and would work as excellent trackers…why aren’t they infected, too?”

  “Probably because they’re three of the new Nine Choirs,” Venti answered matter-of-factly.

  Cara stared at him.

  “I’m sorry, what?” she said.

  “The Nine Choirs? You mean you haven’t heard of them? They were nine Vision-holders who were chosen to become Caratrice’s envoys and ascend to godhood. Each of them had a specific ideal they represented so that they could help protect Teyvat from Armageddon’s corruption. When Caratrice died, there was really no need for them, so they disappeared, and were eventually replaced with Celestia and the Seven. But now that you’ve returned, and there’s an obvious crisis happening in Teyvat right now, the Nine Choirs are needed again! Kaeya, Bennett, Razor…you’ve chosen them to ascend to godhood.”

  Another bout of silence from Cara. She felt slightly dizzy as she was fed this information. “H-Huh?”

  Venti looked at her with newfound concern. “Are you alright? Are you going to faint? Please, hold onto me, I won’t let you fall. I know this is, ah, quite a lot to take in after surviving a battle with an Archon.” He chuckled nervously.

  “D-Do Kaeya, Bennett, and Razor know about this?” she asked him.

  Venti scrunched his nose and hummed while he thought. “Mmm, I don’t think so. If they’ve ascended to godhood already, trust me, you’d know. A lot of…physical changes would happen. But don’t worry, it’ll happen soon enough! One of them will ascend eventually, and then the rest will follow! You just need to keep an eye out for the lucky Vessel who will be the first.”

  “I want you to be one of the new Nine,” Cara said without thinking. She blurted out the words with no hesitation. “I want you to come with us. Please. Don’t stay here. Now that you're free, the false Creator will know, and she’ll come for you. I can protect you if you're with me. Venti, please, come with us.”

  Venti’s mouth dropped. “You…want me to be one of the new Nine? After everything that just happened…after the things I’ve done to you…you’d choose me for such a high honor? Aren’t…aren’t you afraid of me? Don’t you hate me?”

  “Venti. Look at me.” She held his face in her hands. “I could never, ever hate you. I don’t hold any of this against you. You aren’t the person who has to be punished for this. I forgive you for what you’ve done. I forgive Monstadt, and everyone in it who hunted me. I couldn’t get myself to hate any of you even if I tried.”

  Tears started to well up in Venti’s eyes again. “You…you're so kind. So very, very kind. To forgive a sinner like me to the point where you even want me to stand by your side as one of your apostles…you truly are the Creator.” He hugged her again, his forehead resting against hers. “I love you.”

  Cara’s bottom lip quivered. Tears of her own slid off of her chin. “I love you too. I love you so very much, Venti.”

  Venti’s sigh was soft. Reserved. Final. “…But I can’t come with you.”

  She felt her heart sink. He seemed to sense it, because a soft noise that sounded oddly like the coo of a dove rumbled in his throat, and he held her with his wings. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I want nothing more than to accept your offer. But…I’m an Archon. And if I accept a seat with the Nine, I lose my position with the Seven. Then Monstadt will be without a god, and the false Creator will know I’ve been freed. She’ll go after the people in the city… everyone, not just the infected Vision-holders. Monstadt will be reduced to a pile of rubble. I-I can’t let that happen. I just can’t.”

  Thinking of Monstadt being completely destroyed made Cara feel sick. She quickly agreed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spring such an idea on you. I should have thought of the consequences-”

  “Don’t apologize,” he quickly reassured. “You have nothing to apologize for. As the Creator, you are allowed to invite anyone you deem as favorable to accept a seat in the Nine. If Monstadt weren’t in the circumstances of today, I would accept. I really, really would. But I can’t. I have to remain here to keep Monstadt safe. Please understand.”

  “I do. I do understand. You don’t have to worry.” Cara gave him a tearful smile. “This is why you're one of my favorites.”

  Venti squeaked and fluttered back. “I-I’m one of your favorites?”

  “What, is that so hard to believe?” Cara laughed when she saw his flustered reaction.

  “K-Kinda!” Venti replied, his hands flying to his face to hide the deep blush settling over his cheeks.

  She laughed again. “See? This is why you're one of my favorites. I don’t think I could get any of the other Archons to react this way.” She sighed and let her shoulders slump a little. “Speaking of the other Archons…”

  “You're heading to Liyue next.” Venti’s wings sagged sadly.

  She nodded. “Mhm.”

  “Going there…it won’t be easy for you. Liyue is the nation of contracts, the nation of law. Their god…is extremely faithful to the Creator. I guess that means he’s technically extremely faithful to you, but being the blundering buffoon he is, he was probably infected with the Madness long before I was, so…you can fill in the blanks from there. Your Grace…Cara…Liyue will be even more dangerous for you than Monstadt. There are beings there that don’t exist here, and if they see you, they will stop at nothing to kill you. Which is why…I’m going to give you this.”

  He held out his hand and closed his fist. From between his fingers filtered a bright light. Cara had to squint a little when she watched in wonder as he opened his palm and up floated the Anemo gnosis. It hovered in the air, Anemo energy floating around it as it shined.

  “Go on,” Venti softly encouraged. “Take it.”

  She reached out a trembling hand, not knowing what to expect. Her fingers brushed against the cool metal of the gnosis’ surface, and a short tingle shot through her hand. When nothing happened, she grasped it, cradling it in her palms like it was the most delicate thing in the world. The gnosis floated just a little bit above the surface of her hands. Both her and Venti stared down at it.

  “Huh.” Venti sounded disappointed. “I was sure something a little more dramatic might happen.”

  She opened her mouth, intending to say “Well, what am I supposed to do with it now?” when all of a sudden, the gnosis began to hum, and a blinding light exploded from it and overtook her entire vision.

  She felt her body lift off of the ground-how, she didn’t know, but it was definitely happening-and her back tipped until she was belly-up, facing what she assumed was the sky. She couldn’t see anything except pure teal-green light, and she couldn’t hear anything except for the humming of the gnosis. It was vaguely familiar to when she had traveled through the teleport waypoint subspace. However, unlike that time, she was not in any pain. She did not feel panicked. Instead, she felt oddly at peace, like this was meant to happen. The light soothed her, and the humming implored her to relax. Her eyes fluttered shut.

  Her arms moved on their own accord. They positioned over her chest, and she felt her heart jump. The gnosis, still in her hands, pulsed in tandem with the beating of her heart. She felt its base settle on her chest. An intense warmth seeped into her, winding through her body. Wind began to pick up all around her, swirling around her arms, her legs, and traveling all the way directly into her heart and soul. She accepted the power without even having to think about it. The wind was in her. It knew her.

  The light dimmed, and Cara gently floated down to the ground.

  “Cara? Your Grace?” Venti’s voice spoke frantically above her. “Are you alright? Can you hear me?”

  Her eyes opened and she breathed in and out deeply as she stared up at his familiar face. She sat up, searching for the gnosis, only to realize that it had disappeared.

  “The gnosis,” she said. “Where is it?”

  “Didn’t you feel it?” Venti answered. He pointed at her chest. “It’s right in there.”

  She looked down and saw nothing but her own body. But then the wind blew, and she was startled when she heard its voice. It was not Venti. It was not a physical, corporal voice she could hear, but rather something she could sense. It was all around her, flowing with the breeze, because it was the breeze itself.

  “The gnosis is part of you now,” Venti said. “It no longer has a physical form. You’ve gained control over Anemo. Nothing can hold you back from using it as I can.”

  As he said this, a small Anemo symbol pulsed directly over her heart once before disappearing. She was silent, comprehending everything that had just happened.

  “Are you alright?” Venti asked.

  She nodded, then shook her head, and then nodded again. How was she supposed to respond? “I…I really have Anemo powers now?”

  “Yup!” Venti puffed out his chest, obviously prideful. “The wind is at your service, Your Grace! How do you feel? You want to test your new abilities out?”

  Cara held out her hand. “What do I do? Do I just-"

  Anemo energy started to swirl between her fingertips. She shrieked when she felt the rush of the wind and snatched her hand back, shaking it a little. Venti let out a little shout of glee. “It works!”

  “Oh my god.” She started to laugh. “Oh my god. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod, I have Anemo powers! Holy shit!”

  Venti looked absolutely overjoyed with her reaction. “So, I’m guessing you're excited?”

  “Excited? Excited? This is more than just excitement! This is absolutely incredible!” She held out her hand again. Dutifully, the wind bent to her will, little swirls of Anemo weaving between her fingers. It looked distinctly like the tail of a dragon with a large tuft of fur on the end. She watched it with wonder and delight, her heart racing. She felt airy and light, floating on cloud nine, absolutely floored that this was happening right now.

  “I’m glad you're happy about it!” Venti’s laughter tapered off when he seemed to realize something. His expression fell into a look of sorrow. “I wish I could teach you how to truly control it. There’s so much I want to show you. There’s so much the two of us could do…but you can’t stay here.”

  Cara’s hand dropped. The dragon’s tail dissipated, its furry end waving forlornly to her before disappearing.

  “You have what you came here for,” Venti continued. “Now that you’ve restored a fraction of your power, the false Creator will sense it. The Anemo gnosis has been lost to her. When she finds out-and she will-the first person she’ll question will be me. You need to go. If you stay in Monstadt, she’ll find you.”

  Even though she knew it was a lost cause, she begged him again. “Venti, please, come with us.”

  “You know it’s impossible.”

  “I know. I know it is. But I want to try. I can’t leave you here to face her. She’ll know you’ve been freed from her control. She’ll try to infect you again.”

  Venti sighed softly. “I know. I want it to happen.”

  She blanched, horrified. “What?”

  “The false Creator will be too focused on me to worry about you while you flee Monstadt. By the time she’s done with me, you’ll be long gone. She doesn’t have control over the wind anymore. Once you're in Liyue, she won’t be able to track you as easily as she was able to before.”

  “Venti, I’m not going to let you sacrifice yourself for me-“

  “I’m not sacrificing myself.” Venti clutched her hands in his and pulled them to his chest. “I’m not, because I know you’ll come back for me. I know you’ll come back for all of us. You’ll destroy the Madness. This isn’t permanent. You and the Nine Choirs will save us all.”

  “How do you know?” Cara asked with a hint of desperation. “How can you be so sure? I’m not like you. I don’t have the experience of an original Archon. I’m not the god you think I am.”

  “No, you aren’t. You're someone entirely new. And that’s why I have so much faith in you. Because I’ve heard your voice, and I’ve felt your presence, and despite everything, no matter how many times we beat you and battered you down, you still got back up and fought again. You don’t fight to sacrifice. You fight to save. Trust me, there’s a huge difference.” He cupped her cheek, the cheek with her eye scar, and let his thumb trail against it, wiping away her rapidly forming tears. “You know, it’s strange to hold you like this. For so long, I’ve only ever known you as the god beyond the sky.”

  Cara couldn’t help it. She laughed softly and leaned into his touch, sniffling. “Do you not like what you see?”

  “I do. Because it’s still you. You're still Her Grace. You're still Cara.” He helped her up to her feet, supporting her while she trembled slightly and cried. “Go. Find Kaeya, Bennett, and Razor. The wind will guide you. Pass through the Stone Gate into Liyue. I’ll use my power to ensure you leave Monstadt safely. But after that, I won’t be able to do anything else.”

  He was crying. Tears dripped down his freckled cheeks. A god weeping for the departure of his creator. She was moved by the sight and pulled him in for one final hug. “I love you, Venti.”

  “I love you too.” He hugged her back. “Before you leave, I have something I want to give you. I see Albedo left you with a little keepsake to remember him by.” His wingtips tapped her Solar Isotoma keychain, making its light pulse.

  Cara’s cheeks burned red, and she quickly stepped away. “W-Wait, it’s not what you think-“

  He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I didn’t mean it like that. I only want to remind you that he’s not the only one who can give you heartfelt presents. Behold, a gift from the wind itself!”

  He raised his arms and spread his wings. Wind gathered around him, and forming directly out of the Anemo energy he was calling forth, a beautiful wind glider materialized in front of her. Bright blue feathers knitted themselves to a bronze frame, creating a glider that fluttered with the wine’s breeze and gave her a distinct sense of freedom when she looked at it. She held out her hands, and the glider settled over them, surprisingly light and easy to carry.

  “Tada!” Venti declared. “Your very own wind glider! You don’t seem to have one, and it’ll be a long time before you regain your own wings, so I thought, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I gave you a temporary pair?” It’s not true flight you’ll be doing with these, but they’re the next best thing!”

  Cara ran her hand over the soft feathers. She was in awe of the craftsmanship and how something so intricately beautiful could be produced from nothing more than the wind.

  “Do you like it?” Venti asked, a little shyly.

  She beamed at him. “Venti, I love it. Thank you so much!” The glider dissolved into little bits of light that traveled to her back and disappeared directly over her shoulder blades.

  He looked delighted. “I’m so glad! If you ever need to use it, rest assured that the wind will be there to catch you. I may not be able to truly protect you outside of Monstadt, but Teyvat can, and it will.” He was saddened again, and sighed. “It’s time for you to go.”

  She nodded, protesting no longer. The two of them stood in silence for a moment. Then, she hugged him one last time. “I’m going to come back for all of you. I promise. I won’t forget.”

  “I know you won’t.” Venti clung to her for a moment longer, then reluctantly pushed her away. “Now go. I’ll buy you guys some time. Be safe. Stay cautious. Your journey is only going to get harder from here.”

  Her legs were heavy as lead when she forced herself to walk away. She waved goodbye to Venti, who was making no effort to hide his tears. She felt his gaze linger on her while she picked her way through the destroyed Thousand Winds Temple. She could not allow herself to look back. If she did, she knew she might go running back to him. Her time with the Venti she knew had been too short, but she would treasure it until she found herself back to him again.

  She did not want to leave Monstadt. Not anymore. But she had no choice. Against all odds, she accomplished her first quest. She had the Anemo gnosis and kept her life. One down. Six more to go.

  Onward to Liyue.

  A few hours later, Venti still remained at the Thousand Winds Temple. He had reverted to his mortal disguise and had once again taken a seat on a fallen pillar to softly play his lyre. The sun was beginning to set, casting the world in its darkness. He could feel the wind whispering to him, telling him of Her Grace’s whereabouts. Southwest from here, towards the Stone Gate. When they pass through, you will be cut off. But we will always be watching over her.

  He smiled. Though the Anemo gnosis was no longer with him, he felt assured that its powers were in the right hands. He was aware of the prophecy speaking of Caratrice’s reincarnation. Now that he was freed from the Madness, he could remember everything he had learned. The Abysmal powers that had previously infected him were comparable to that of a mask: it clouded his senses, obscuring his judgment and confusing his mind. When he looked back on how he had felt before Cara’s light cleansed him, all he could recall was anger and hatred. It was an unnatural feeling. The memories did not feel like his own. Even back in the Archon War days, when he had been in his prime, he had refused to act out on raw emotion. He did not consider himself a vengeful god. The Madness had turned him into a twisted version of himself that made him feel sick to his stomach.

   If the Madness did that to someone like me, he thought, then what type of person has it turned Morax into?

  The wind trembled. He felt fear.

  Then, a foreign presence he knew, and now hated, entered his mind. His eyes opened and he smiled. The time has come. Just as he anticipated.

   “Barbatos,” the false Creator hissed. Her voice no longer sounded as sweet as the Madness had made it out to be. “Where is she?”

   He continued to gently strum his lyre. “I don’t know.”

   “She isn’t in the city. She isn’t in Springvale. The Abyss cannot find her anywhere in Monstadt. You told me she was heading for your location. You assured me you had this under control. So what happened?”

  Gods, her voice was sickening to listen to. Venti felt slightly ill. It felt like poison was slowly being injected into his bloodstream. “She never showed up. The winds don’t know where she is either. You better keep searching.”

  The false Creator snarled. “You dare talk to me with that tone?”

  “My apologies. I meant no offense by it.”

  She was silent. If not for the oppressive mental force bearing down upon him, he would have thought she left. He held his breath and closed his eyes. Though he knew what would come next, he still found himself bracing.

  Gigantic claws seized his brain. Venti’s eyes flew open and his mouth dropped in a silent scream as he was rendered immobile. His lyre dropped from his hands.

   “Did you think you could fool me?” the false Creator whispered dangerously into his ear. “Barbatos…you traitor. You despicable rodent.”

   “I am no traitor.” Venti struggled to speak, and yet he found it within himself to laugh. “I am freed. What sort of god of freedom would I be if not for that?”

   “Silence!” The false Creator roared. “You are in no position to speak right now! Is she in Liyue? If she is, you know she will not survive there long. You are delivering her right into death’s claws!”

  “You underestimate her. She won’t go down so easily. A dragon never loses its fire. She will fly again.”

  The weight of the false Creator’s consciousness was growing heavier and heavier. “You will be punished for this, Barbatos. For your disobedience, you will suffer. I cannot kill you. But I can break you, and I will take you back as my pawn. Caratrice will be found. I will capture her. And when I do, you will be the one to kill her. I will take your hands and force them to carve out her heart, and I will make you watch as you kill the one you adore with as much freedom and clarity I can give you. Do you understand me? You have angered me greatly.”

  “You…won’t find her.” Venti grimaced in pain. He could feel his entire body being squeezed, like he was being crushed, and it was excruciating. Barely able to speak, he managed to sputter out his final words. “I have seen the future. I know what will happen. The wind…will always be there to protect her. The wind…will forever love her like I do.”

  The false Creator let out an infuriated bellow. The great claws clamped down on Venti, and this time, he did scream. His shriek of pain caused the wind to roil, and a great gust swept over the Thousand Winds Temple with enough force to rattle the ruins and whips wounds into the earth. Something was being pumped into his mind…and then it was in his body, and finally infecting his heart. The image of Cara’s smiling face was lost. He completely passed out.

  When he awoke, all he could feel was anger, and all he could see was red.

[purveyoroftrash]

The Abyss Sibling and their curse.

This theory postulates that the Abyss sibling was/is cursed by Celestia and that their main goal is not to free Khaenri'ah, but rather, themselves from the fate forced upon them.

For this theory we have a few things we need to establish:

1. What is a Descender?

2. The Khaenri'ah curse(s)

3. The "Fate" of the Abyss sibling

To start, in the Archon quest 3.2 Nahida tells the Traveler that they are a descender while the Abyss sibling isn't.

For convenience sake, I will refer to the Abyss Sibling as: Lumine (because of the supplementary videos made by Hoyoverse) and the Traveler as: Aether.

This doesn't mean I believe either is the canon traveler, but rather, it's easier to refer to them as such.

As of the Narzissenkruez Ordo tower quest, it was stipulated by a member of the Ordo that a Descender is someone whose will can rival an entire world. Or rather, one who can "protect the world, sustain the world, destroy the world, and create the world."

If a Descender can defy the fate of the world, could it then be hypothesized that a defining trait of a Descender is that they could defy ANY aspect of the world's will?

For instance: Irminsul. Irminsul is the way the world records and stores everything that happens in Teyvat. It is the memory of Teyvat. 

When something within Irminsul changes, the world tries to "correct" the world's memory by replacing those memories with new ones. (Which is kind of hilarious, because it means that Childe and the other Harbingers must think some scholar got the jump on them and stole the Electro Gnosis) 

This is even demonstrated by the only character miscellancy not being voiced by Dainsleif being Wanderer's. We know that it merely rearranges memories instead of changing history because Irminsul does NOT change allegorical fairytales that should not exit, i.e., the fairytale about Scaramouche, which gives him his memories back despite the fact that those memories, by all accounts, should not exist anymore. Notably, the Traveler was not affected by these changes.

Aether appears to have an innate resistance to the mind-altering fuckery of Irminsul. What if the reason for such an immunity is BECAUSE he has a will to rival the world, therefore the world tree cannot influence him? If this is true, this would mean that Lumine, not being a Descender, does NOT have this immunity.

In Archon quest 2.6 Dainsleif says that the gods cursed ANYONE from Khaenri'ah regardless of bloodline, or background. So long as they were from Khaenri'ah, they were cursed.

Lumine was crowned Khaenri'ah ROYALTY and she goes as far as to call Khaenri'ah her "homeland." 

So it stands to reason that she SHOULD NOT be exempt from such a punishment. Dainsleif says that when a god curses you, "it takes effect at a higher level of reality than the person themselves." 

That this is Celestia's way of "branding them at the level of the fate of the world."

If Celestia indiscriminately cursed the people of Khaenri'ah wouldn't it make sense that because Lumine is NOT a Descender and therefore UNABLE to "defy the fate of the world" that she may also be unable to defy a curse that takes place at the "level of the fate of the world?"

And IF she is cursed, perhaps she has been cursed in a completely different way because of her role in Khaenri'ah. I know Dainsleif says that everyone was indiscriminately cursed, but if that were true, why would some Khaenri'an citizens be cursed with the "Curse of the wilderness," (as Clothar coins it) and some be cursed to immortality? It seems to me that Khaenri'ans with a higher level of influence were cursed differently than those with little to no influence. Dainsleif was the head of the Royal Guards and even given a special title, Clothar was part of the Reagent family, as was Kaeya's father, Pierro was a Royal Advisor, Rhinedottir was the spearhead of the Royal Alchemists, and they were ALL cursed to immortality rather than being cursed with the Curse of the Wilderness. While we do not have a complete list of Khaenri'an people who were cursed to immortality, it stands to reason that based off this small subset that perhaps rank, or rather, importance does play a role in this curse.

Meanwhile, other members of the royal guard and the regular citizens were cursed to be hilichurls or shadowy husks. Why is this? If higher ranking members of Khaenri'an society are considered greater sinners, then Lumine must also be included in this. 

This may also be why after witnessing Caribert's near curse break that she decided to join forces with the Abyss. Clothar even managed to ACTUALLY die, which by all of Dainsleif's and Clothar's accounts, should not be possible. Dainsleif himself says that death is not the same when you're under said curse, that death is just the "death of the mind"

The fact that the Abyss can circumvent this suggests that the Abyss has a will that is able to rival the world (which is really strange because this suggests that the Abyss could possibly be a Descender/on par with one) In fact, the Abyss is referred to synonymously with the act of "Rebirth" several times by both Khaenri'ans and the Ordo.

The Abyssal entity gives Clothar abyssal energy and tells him to be reborn as a "Transcendant One," the Ordo's notes tell of a play involving an "Ajax" or "Aias" that fell into the Abyss to be reborn as a "holy infant." This play could be another allegorical fairytale meant to resist Irminsul's tampering.

Clothar also tells Lumine that Caribert became the Loom of Fate and was reborn. The Ordo's notes also suggest that if you do not go through this process of rebirth to "become a primordial human" (or rather a Descender as they conflate it to) that it is inevitable to avoid being tied to the fate of the world.

It has been established from nearly the very beginning of the game that the sky above Teyvat is fake. Scaramouche is the one who informs us, or rather, reminds his Fatui soldiers of such a truth.

Neuvillete's character stories help piece together that the constellations in this fake sky are Celestia's way of controlling the fates of the people/creatures that exist within Teyvat. In the Narzissenkruez Ordo, the notes previously mentioned also suggest that when recieving a vision, and therefore a constellation that you're "selling yourself to the fate of the world"

Celestia does this by either binding them at the same level as the fate of the world, or by other means that haven't been established. You could suggest that these "Thrones" are HOW Celestia seals people's fates. I will admit, I cannot speculate much on these, as all we have to go by is Lumine's mention of them, and Egeria supposedly destroying hers, but I do suggest watching Ashikai's theory video about the Gnosis, Descenders and Thrones from Archon Quest 4.2. I enjoy her content quite a bit (even if I don't always agree with her theories), and I will admit that I had been inspired to make a theory of my own because of her.

Lumine may not just be trying to fight fate for the sake of Khaenri'ah, but also for herself. Lumine's curse may have taken place when she became trapped by the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.

When encountering said Sustainer, they mention that it's the arrogation of mankind that has caused such an event to happen, inadvertedly including the twins in this sin of arrogation. Dainsleif says that he and Lumine "took part in a painful journey of searching for their fates," but that their journey didn't end at the same time.

In 3.2 Nahida said that Lumine's fate was obscured during this journey, and is continuously being done so. This could be because of the curse taking effect, or the Abyss' own doing.

In Archon quest 1.4 Lumine says that until she topples the divine thrones, her "war with destiny will see no end"

In fact, we may have already seen the toll this supposed curse has taken on Lumine. During the "We will be reunited" story teaser, when told that her brother is the one who was thwarting the abyss' plans for Dvalin, she appeared confused, and seemed as if she had even forgotten she even had a sibling in the first place before recalling the events of the opening.

If Lumine is cursed, she may also be subjected to the same errosion that Dainsleif and the other immortal Khaenri'ans are/were subject to.   

Lumine's goal to revive the homeland could indeed be a minor stepping stone on her path of war. The Loom of Fate must be the Abyss' way to circumvent the will of the world by either becoming these primordial humans, or by being reborn as something else entirely. While Dainsleif doesn't believe breaking the curse is possible without burning away an integral part of you, it might be entirely possible to become something new altogether, like how Caribert supposedly did.

Lumine tells Aether in 1.4 that once he realizes the true nature of the world, that he will side with her/understand her motives. 

It really begs the question on what this truth actually is. If I'm being honest, this is really where my theory ends. We don't have much more lore to speculate on what this curse truly is, but it's likely something that makes it impossible for Lumine to even leave Teyvat.

If Lumine is able to be branded at the same level as the fate of the world, I wonder what other fates Irminsul has tampered with that she cannot percieve. We'll just have to wait until more story content comes out, but I have been patiently (and excitedly) awaiting another Dainsleif lore dump!

So, what do you think? Do you think it's possible for Lumine to be cursed, and how badly do you think her curse affects her?

I actually have a theory about Dainsleif's true goal not being to stop the abyss, but that's on the backburner. I was debating combing these two theories, but realized it might be waaaay too long. If I do finish it, you'll likely see the theory of Lumine being cursed to be integral to it! I spent a good bit on this theory, and obviously, this is just that, a theory, so don't be too harsh with me 🙏

All of these screenshots are from my main and alt accounts. I only had this theory brewing for a few weeks, so I was not able to get to Sumeru on my alt Account for the 3.5 screenshots, and I didn't want to use someone else's screenshots for it, nor wait a few weeks to have enough story keys on my alt, so I apologize for the lack of those 😔

[sagau-my-beloved]

Where would Dainsleif place? Would he be at -1 or something?

That is a conundrum, I guess it really depends on a few things

If we're in a sagau universe where he actually likes and respects the creator, because they didn't have anything to do with the fall of Khaenri'ah, then he'd place at a pretty solid 3

Let's be fair, Dainsleif is kind of known for taking things into his own hands, and he also wouldn't be keen on ever losing the creator to some disaster like he lost his nation, so to say he would take on a bit more of a controlling role wouldn't be an understatement, especially when the creator is surrounded by other gods who he doesn't trust in the slightest

Now if we're in a sagau a universe where the creator is seen as just as associated with fall of Khaenri'ah as Celestia and the other Archons, Dainsleif would treat them very much the same as he does the other God's and wouldn't fit anywhere on the worshipper scale, he'd probably consider them even more dangerous because they are basically at the top of the pyramid in terms of divine hierarchy

I think you could make multiple arguments for either reality, it really just comes down to which one you prefer, you'd be able to justify it either way, but to go into the creator's relationship with the Cataclysm and Khaenri'ah would be an entirely separate post because that's a lot to cover

[reginrokkr]

Dáinsleif has never been one to let his knights do everything on their own, from doing simple tasks of guardianship within the kingdom's borders and recurrent training all of them are expected to perform in a regular basis down to being on the frontlines against the forces of the Abyss. As the captain of the Black Serpent Knights, he's expected to take more administrative duties personal affairs when someone from high social spheres require his presence in certain events as the maximum exponent within the royal guards.

Everyone agrees on the fact that he does more than he's expected, and he takes these susurrations with pride. For in his mind, nothing is too little or too much in the face of the undying struggle Khaenri'ah is bound to face against the Abyss.

Its increase of activity sufficed to make Twilight Sword suspicious that something is amiss, their efforts to keep it at bay from the populace nigh existent when so many outbreaks have been occurring in a brief time. Thunders roar in the distance to demand everyone's attention like a king marching in the middle of his people would, what would be otherwise harmless zephyrs now howling winds bringing the pestilence and illness of the Abyss. And an even more intimate sentience of his own warns him of a disturbance within the Ley Lines that permeate even these parts of this world in all their mercy.

Reason why he has made it a personal mission to oversee his knights' training for the past weeks in person, causing an uprise in their motivation to come more often than it's demanded of them in order to keep their position. The strict requirements are far from an unfair method to weed out from their numbers with unreachable expectations despite what some of them may believe. In reality, and the main reason why Dáinsleif is there is for the sole motif of perceiving those who aren't cut out from being on the frontlines against the Abyss as a result of any indisposition they may have as a result of its heightened influence.

Surely, Khaenri'ah counts with advanced medicine to palliate most of the signs and symptoms may bring as a means to combat the impeding corruption that people may experience if not treated properly or due to extended periods of time within abyssal clutches. But even so... as of lately, the lunarescent knight had felt a feeling of unrest hard to shake off that makes him doubt how genuine is the will to hold themselves far from the chaotic influence and not do the exact opposite.

◜I believe that many of you have been wondering why I'm spending more time overseeing your training regime than what's believed to be necessary.◞ As he wouldn't have it any other way, the necessity to be sincere with his knights has come. Strong arms cross over his chest as glacial sapphires look at each of them with an air of solemnity, the corners of his eyes soften minutely. ◜It is a reality that the Abyss has become more vicious lately, and with there has been a rise of illnesses that we cannot afford to ignore. For that reason, I took it a personal mission to study all your medical condition and how you fare under harsher extremes. Those who cannot be up to the challenge will no longer fight on the frontlines.◞ For everyone knows that the Abyss forgives no one.

His arms fall by his sides as he walks to one side, stellar gaze fixed on the unknown beyond the smoke of darkness. ◜Know that this is no punishment nor your title as Black Serpent Knights will be lost. It's merely for the sake of not risking the safety of those of you who needn't struggle more than the others, no matter your origins. In our endless fight against the Abyss, victory belongs to both the weak and the strong.◞ And it's precisely because they are the strongest within the army that they have to defend the weak, even if they're currently standing against them. Ultimately, Dáinsleif lifts his closed hand to the spot over his heart, the Black Serpent Knight salute. ◜May glory be with us.◞

The other knights' reciprocated salute marks the conclusion of the Twilight Sword's speech, punctuated by his leave from everyone else's spotlight. Nevertheless, he lingers in the usual spot from where he oversees his men's training until the end of today's course to be at the service of anyone who desires to ask him any questions or may need help.

@guhamun ✧

[pizzapasta23045]

The Dyson supercomputer theory.

So, a couple of people have asked so here it is.

So, first things first, this is my theory for how the world of Teyvat looks like. Some people say that the world of Teyvat is just a flat plane but I'm not sure since there are starts and planets in Teyvat as far as we can tell. Like actual places in the universe and stuff.

So it'd be weird for Teyvat to be flat imo...

Either way, if we assume it's a round planet.

Both Teyvat and Khaenri'ah have a sky and this is basically the only option for it working imo.

Honestly, this part matters to a point. The only way the Dyson supercomputer theory doesn't work is if the planet isn't round which I think is the least likely option.

So, taking for granted that Teyvat is round for this theory. And this is the only assumption I'm making I think

So, there's this concept in Physics. A thought experience actually. The Dyson Sphere.

It's based on a sci-fi book but it was explored in a couple scientific paper, one specifically by mister Dyson, hence the name.

It's imagining an interstellar civilization that needs immense amounts of energy every day, every second that it cannot get through traditional methods. They can travel through space and basically have conquered their entire solar system.

So, to get this amount of energy, Dyson imagines, they could just use the sun! Like an entire sun covered or almost covered in solar panels. That would, functionally, allow you to harness the energy of the entire star, instead of the much smaller quantity you get on earth.

There's a couple confirmation. One very unlikely that's basically like entirely covering the sky, but that would be inefficient and to easy to destroy. But others have a bunch of satellites that move around the sun and move when an asteroid/solar flare gets close.

Some graphs for reference:

There's others but I won't bore you with all that.

Whatever, this is a basic thing you've got to know for the theory. And like I said, just a thought experiment, we don't have the resources or the engineering abilities to build one.

Now, onto the actual supercumputer bit.

So, Teyvat, in multiple ways, works in a similar way to a giant supercomputer. Or a simulated reality, whatever.

One of the most glaring signs is the fact that Nahida has similar attack patterns to computer and electotronic objects.

These are the most glaring exemples. Respectively a select tool and a keybord button. Which to me is important because as the dendro archon she's the one that's most closely related to Irminsul and is one of the most "in the know" on the workings of the universe. Also she's directly created from Irminsul.

Also, Irminsul erasure works in a similar way to a search tool on a computer, in that it erases all tings with the correctly written name but does not look for references in a more intelligent way. It also erases parts of the game that technically don't exist in the game itself (like the lore part of the game), which is odd.

People's memories inside Teyvat work similarly to the way it works in a pc too. Plus there's the fobidden knowledge bugs the computer out part of the theory but i won't go there rn.

Safe to say, the theory that proves Irminsul has quite manyyy pieces of evidence and stuff. I could list more but I won't for the sake of brevity.

Now, this is where my speculation actually starts.

We know that Clestia is keeping people subjucated for an unknown reason and everything. So, my idea as to why that is is that Celestia or the first who came, whoever is in charge at the moment, is keeping people locked in Teyvat because they basically built a Dyson supercomputer.

So it'd be a computer with similar concept to the one of the Dyson sphere but instead of collecting energy, it collects data and harnesses computing power. Now, it could be for many reasons.

Two of them I could think of are aritficial intelligence and military purposes. Mostly the first.

The collective brain of Teyvat could be incredibly useful in training artificial intelligence for, well, litterrally anything. Also keep thousands of brains constalty processing information could be used for military puposes of a galactic scale, like to control multiple fleets of spaceships constantly operating. Something that otherwise would require millions of people.

The artificial intelligence being trained could be used for the second purpose as well.

But honestly with a computer so big you could functionally do everything with enough time. And they've had it for a longggggggggggg time....