Act 2, Scene 12
20th of the 2nd Cycle
Aether was always good at javelin throwing. It all started when his parents told his sister and him to try out archery. He wasn't very good, but his sister was prodigal at it. Not wanting to be one-upped by her, he took up the javelin, and found that his throwing arm was much better.
His sister always laughed at the useless skill he learned, but boy was he glad he learnt it now.
He threw another spear, and once again it struck true, punching a gaping hole in the right thigh of the Harbinger. Damn was he good.
Whatever foul magic the man used to maintain his transformation had long dissipated now, he fell on one knee, unable to hold his own weight due to the hole in his leg.
"You… you, what are you?" The man panted. He stood up shakily, using his spear as a crutch. "I haven't lost a fight this badly since… since the Abyss."
Aether blew a gust of Anemo towards him, and the Harbinger fell on his back helplessly. He moved forwards like a lion stalking its prey, unwilling to humour the man with a reply. Another spear materialised in his hand.
Once Aether stood over the fallen man, he stabbed downwards.
The Harbinger's body popped like a water balloon. The water ran along the floor like a torrent, and rose into the shape of a man on the other side of the Vault.
The Harbinger laughed at him, "Nice try, but it'll take more than that to kill me."
"What's your name, warrior? Mine's Ajax, or Tartaglia, whichever you prefer."
Aether decided that Tartaglia was his Harbinger code name.
"I'm Aether."
The man released several slips of paper thrumming with power. Aether stepped back with weariness.
"Well Aether, I would love another spar in the future… but I have to go now." The slips of paper began spinning faster and faster, glowing now.
Aether extended his senses. The man was… unlocking something, bypassing an ancient seal with the papers. Can't have that now, can he?
Another spear formed his hand, and he threw it at Tartaglia without hesitation.
"Too late, Aether!" His body popped like a balloon once again, water rushed through the Vault doors and up the stairwell on the other side. "You're welcome to stay here if you wish to drown with the rest of Liyue!"
"..."
He looked around him, staring at the mountains of Mora that surrounded him. Well, since he was already here, he might as well.
Paimon, how much do you like money?
Several black portals opened up on the floor.
He grinned, time to get rich.
Act α, Scene 1
The paths leading down to the catacombs were in a state of organised chaos. Soldiers were guiding the civilians down into the depths, telling them to stay calm and stay in a line.
At the bottom was a large chamber, people were milling around, sitting down on the cold stone. A pair of massive stone doors were set into the rockface on one side, carved with depictions of war, love and royalty. They must have been built for giants.
Dainsleif was pacing before the doors, a young boy watched him anxiously. This displeased Lumine, so she stood before the Royal Guard and stopped him in his tracks.
"Young children aren't oblivious of their surroundings, they naturally adopt the atmosphere of adults around them. Stop scaring the poor kid." She gestured to the boy.
Dainsleif relented.
The child stepped forward towards her and introduced himself, "Hello miss, I'm Torsten Alberich." He bowed, "It's nice to meet you."
Poor thing, he couldn't be any older than 7.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Lumine."
His face lit up with a smile. She returned it.
She swivelled around to Dainsleif. "Once everyone is in the catacombs, I'm returning to the surface."
"You can't, the gods will remember who you are. You will be hunted to the ends of Teyvat if you go back!"
He had a point, but she still had to find her brother. Call her selfish, but she was, and she wasn't going to switch her priorities now.
Perhaps predicting how she was going to reply, the Guard spoke preemptively.
"We are going into the Abyss, what's to say your brother isn't there? If he isn't, you can return afterwards, when the gods have forgotten about you. If you go up and he isn't there, you'll have to come back down anyway."
Damn him and his logic, damn her and her weak heart. He just gave her the perfect excuse to go down with them. She relented.
"I suppose I'll be in your care a little while longer, then."
"Don't take yourself lightly, I have a feeling we'll be in yours more than not."
Torsten ran up to her, "Are you coming with us, miss?"
How can someone be so cute? She ruffled his hair, "I guess I am, kid."
A knight of the Fourth Order ran up to them. Gasping for air.
"Everyone is here, Sir Dainsleif! Orders?"
The man in question nodded firmly, "Open the catacombs!"
The massive stone doors groaned, dust cascaded from their rock face. As they swung their way, a torrent of cold air rushed out, knocking some of their less steady footed people to the ground. On the other side, torches ignited on their own with eerie blue fire, illuminating the stone effigies of ancient kings and queens.
The Fourth Order led the way, regular soldiers lined the sides of the crowd, and the Second Order stayed at the back. They will close the doors once everyone is inside.
At first, everything was silent as they plodded down the corridor, but after some time the silence got unbearable and some of the people started talking, making small talk. Anything to get their minds off what is happening on the surface, and where they're walking into.
They passed by more kings and queens, blue flames illuminating their haunted faces. The light behind them was getting dimmer and dimmer.
"How many survivors are with us, Sir Dainsleif?" Lumine inquired.
"Over a hundred thousand."
Well stars be good, that's a lot of people. She could hear a child crying somewhere in the back, couldn't blame them.
A few hours into the march, she heard a mighty thud. The sound echoed down the hallway. All natural light was snuffed out. All that shone now was the blue fire of the torches, and the magelights leading their way.
She felt like she had just heard the lid of their coffin shut. There was truly no going back now.
A day later, the statues had finally run out. Smooth grey brick walls gave way to untouched earth, they will have no help from the torches from here on out. An order was passed down the column, from here they will use handheld torches which they had been saving. More liberal use of magelights was now allowed.
The forged onwards. The ground began to tilt downwards ever so slightly.
After a sennight of marching in near-absolute darkness, they beheld the Abyss in all of its cursed glory. She stood before a massive pit, shaped like a circle. A stairway was carved into its side, thankfully wide enough for two carriages to travel down side by side.
"Will our supply wagons be able to travel downwards?"
This was the only issue she saw. While the stairwell has no handrails, it was wide enough that the danger of falling is limited.
"We have prepared for this, don't worry."
Great.
A mage came forward. "Sir, it will take nine days and nine nights to reach the Abyss, and that's when you're falling. We estimate that our descent will take up to a fortnight to reach the bottom. As such we advise that we should rest here for a… night"
Lumine could understand, time was iffy down here. They didn't truly know if it was day or night, oh they had tried to keep track, but the constant darkness put immense pressure on them all.
Dainsleif replied after a bout of contemplation.
"Very well, I will trust in your judgement. Set up camp around the Pit, knights on the inside, soldiers on the outside."
The mage saluted, "By your orders, sir!"
That 'night,' horrible, ear-splitting screams resonated from the depths of the Abyss like a fucked up lullaby.
How refreshing.