Chapter Text
Ei stands atop of a tall building, looking down at the amenities beneath her. Unknown entities and moving machines mixed up together, it was like a flowing river, she thought.
Before finding herself in a strange land, the goddess of thunder had been resting in her plane of Euthymia, treating herself to some sweet snacks and dango milk. On her way to get a new batch, the transfer of consciousness had led her to a place elsewhere, and from her puppet body. Meaning that her body was not the Raiden Shogun, but the form she once had before placing her consciousness into her sword technique. Weakness .
Quite concerning, though she chopped it to be a trick laid out by her close companion, Miko, for missing out on her birthdays for 500 years. She shifts her heels to glance at the glowing vision behind her, laying 20 feet away from her (at the center of the platform). It glowed a gentle green—anemo vision—as if its wielder was alive and nearby, yet they were nowhere to be seen as of this moment.
It has been over ten minutes as she counted, but still, she waits on top of the roof for answers, answers that maybe that glowing vision could give her. She could wait, she was a God of Eternity after all. Unbothered, she turned to look at the sun rising high above the clear sky.
Fwoosh. Perfect timing.
The vision continued to make sounds of blowing winds, as Ei sensed a sudden surge of energy, though she found the sun a bit more interesting than the event that was happening right behind her back. After a few minutes, it became quiet, and she heard the little jingles of bells. Intrigued, she turned to look at the newly arrived stranger.
-
What in the irminsul?
Wanderer doesn’t need sleep. But he does have to do the regular check ups with the Dendro Archon due to hitting his head from the fall; which means that he must be put to “sleep”. Buer (Nahida) is the only one capable of this, and he trusts her, but why the hell is his vision missing after waking up? It’s not a good look, where the vision used to be is now a gaping gold loop by his chest. It irks him very much, but still chooses to rationalize, if it’s the dendro archon she must have an idea of where it went.
Nahida would stay until the process was complete, but it is not it untypical that the archon of dreams would leave for other businesses as he rests in her Sanctuary or Sarusthana, and such is that time now. Though it was unusual that he’d have headaches, unless this was planned to get back at him, Wanderer could secretly tell that she was always trying to make everything for him comfortable.
He didn’t have to wait for her to come to him to move, so he pulled on his precious hat and strove towards the exit. Strange. He felt unsettled. The sanctuary was completely quiet—the tiny dings of bouncing dendro energy were nonexistent, and so was the vibrating energy of life.
He slowed his steps, everything looked fine, but everything felt off .
Finally, he stopped. The main gate in front of him, he was preparing his mind to see some unpleasant sights and- or whatever, he forced himself to get it over with and push the doors open and—
Whoosh!
What the f-
He was then again hit by a strong gust of wind, the doors he pushed had disappeared, forcing him to face the winds head on. There was…nothing behind the gates, nothing but whiteness. Nothing but white clouds and winds that were shoving themselves high speeds past the puppet and into the Dendo Archon’s sanctuary. Soon, everything around him would be enveloped.
And pretty soon, he also started to feel like he was falling. Again. Shit—he said that out loud.
Without his vision, it was impossible he could fly. “Why the hell is this happening,” he grumbled. He’s not in a dream, is he? It doesn’t feel like it. He quickly realizes that he may be dropping quickly to a ground and that thought did not please him at all, he’s going to fucking crash again. Again, yes, he’s done this before, it should be nothing to him. Is it better if he lands on his feet, or his head?
“Ah, hahah,” he is so annoyed that he laughs at his ‘joke’. He feels like he’s falling, faster and faster every passing second, like the winds are resisting him less and less. He only sighs at this and closes his eyes to brace for impact except…he doesn’t hit the ground.
A floats a few meters above a surface, his vision right below his feet. That’s where it is.
Adjusting his hat, he plops down to reach vision, it’s agitated and excited for some reason. He doesn’t ask many questions as he snatches it with his free hand. A low hum escapes his chest, now where was he-
What did Buer do to him.
He was in shock, as he made eye contact with THE Raiden Shogun—his creator. She was looking at him, analyzing him, processing him. He too did the same when he broke out of his shock that did last a minute or two. It was definitely her, her appearance did not change one bit from the last time he happened to catch a glimpse at her. Long braided deep purple hair, her purple kimono, those bangs that resembled his, and those piercing cold eyes. His hands clench instinctively, right, she doesn’t know who he is. Shouldn’t, he corrected.
She hummed, and her eyes softened. “You are not Barbatos,’ she said. He has never heard her voice ever, the softness of it sent tingles through nerves he didn’t know he had. He averts his gaze and settles on the thought that he was going to give that Dendro Archon an earful after this. Never mind that, he needs to find a way out of this stupid dream. He needs to get back (not that he has a lot to do since his schedule has been cleared for his maintenance today).
He fixes his eyes on the image of the goddess standing in front of him, and attempts to formulate an answer, but assuming he was still within a dream, there were no words he could seriously speak.
“Why are you here,” he groaned, “I can’t believe that Buer can mess up like this.” He scoffed. For someone as observant and caring as her, she should’ve known that the Raiden Shogun was a prickly subject to the puppet. He can accept this as a mistake as if he could just get out of here as soon as he can be.
His little quips made the Shogun raise an eyebrow. “You have relations with the Dendro Archon of Sumeru?”
Right—despite him being locked in his own consciousness, that doesn’t mean that any apparitions he meets can’t form coherent responses. It’s weird for him though. He could pretend that she wasn’t there, and it wouldn’t matter at all. But it’s hard to. It’s crazy to think that 400 years ago, he desired to see her, to be gazed upon, to be acknowledged and spoken to. After obtaining his vision, he had believed himself to feel nothing for her no more, but the stirred feelings evoked just from seeing her form made that belief less tangible than he’d wanted.
“Either way, it appears that we’ve both fallen into a different plane of existence,” she announced.
What?
Was she not just an apparition of the Shogun from his memories?
“‘Another plane of existence?’ Explain,” he demanded.
“Don’t you see, look around you?”
So he did. No Nation in all of Teyvat had infrastructure like this. It was like the imaginary fog had disappeared, and he was faced by the wide planes of blue from above. The colors in the sky of Teyvat were also not like that .
‘Who are you,” he blurts.
Her eyelids fluttered, seemingly conflicted as she tried to find the right answer.
‘I am–no,” her eyes averted quickly and back. “You may call me Ei.”
What the fuck again. Maybe this wasn’t a dream at all. Those ‘maybes’ quickly turn into curses against Celestia when Wanderer realizes that it’s not completely impossible for his current predicament to be reality .
Blup-beep.
A holographic screen appears before him. [We welcome you to play this game. Your name is…]
Dear
fake
stars above, what is it this time?