Act 0, Scene 1
In the vaunted halls of Celestia, ruled the House of Lords. They gazed down upon the mortal realm, unfeeling of mortal joys and woes. The greatest of the divine, Lords of all that were and will be. And they feared change.
For change meant that their immortality was not absolute. Change meant that one day, they will wither and die and that is the fear of all gods. So they gazed down upon the mortal realm, and stifled change where they could.
But to their surprise, what they feared came not from below, but from above. The False Sky was torn open as two travellers fleeing their dead home entered the corpse of Phanes. When they saw that Teyvat was a cursed land, they fled as fast as they could.
And the Lords could not allow that. For the travellers were an affront to the Laws of Istaroth, and they trespassed where no one once stood.
A kingdom in the heavens, great stone towers grasping into the sky like fingers, connected by endless pathways and bridges. The abode of the Divine. In the middle of it all, two starry travellers gazed around them, looking in awe.
One of them spotted something in the corner of their eye,
"There! Aether, an exit! Come on, we have no time to lose!"
Arrogance. The House of Lords decreed, and the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles was sent to punish them.
And the gods watched, and some did not like what they saw. For they saw weakness - weakness in Heavenly Principles that the foundations of Celestia was built upon. Something was stirring under the old order of Celestia, the end of an era. And they didn't want to end with it.
So the Lord of Void made pact with the Lord of Law. An oath, for they offered their intent to Fate, trusted the punishment to Time, and called upon the Night as their witness.
"Night, parent goddess, source of sweet repose, from whom at first both gods and men arose, hear us, and know. Time, ethereal father, forever blessed and ever sublime, these sacred rites regard with conscious rays, hear us, and judge. Fate, great nurse of all, propitious listen to these rites inclined, hark;
act we shall, break we shall not, bend if we must. When heavens are torn asunder and seas split with the times of end, this ark will not sink, but ride atop stormy waves - damn all who seek to stop us."
Asmodeus judged the starborne travellers, damning them to be pieces on a board. For hers was the word of Law, order embodied - and none defy it.
Paimon pulled the strings of the starborne travellers, damning them to be puppets on a stage. For hers was the infinite Void, chaos wrought form - and all fear it.
The lights were dimmed, the stage was set. The curtains were drawn, the first act had begun. Hear the tale of two travellers, one in heaven the other in hell, as they seek to reunite. It shall be one of tragedy and comedy, of the most real and fantasy.
The playwright leaned back, script in hand. The puppeteer leaned over, strings in hand.
And the fool strums his lyre, ready to sing a song as the heavens fall.