Interlude 6 - The fire and the storm and the snow and the mist
Rosalyne dropped a tarp covered corpse before the God of Eternity.
She grabbed the tarp and unveiled the contents below, a broken and wretched body. What could've been a once handsome young man beaten bloody, limbs twisted in unnatural angles, burns and wounds, charred skin adorned his pale flesh.
The fine handiwork of the greatest mage of the era.
The Raiden Shogun descended from her uplifted seat, kneeling before the corpse, and caressed its broken face.
"Nothing that couldn't be fixed." She murmured to herself.
Rosalyne cleared her throat, "Ahem, we had a deal, Your Excellency?"
"...Of course. What truth is it you seek? The cause, the consequences?"
"The cause."
"It was all very different for every realm. First came the Cataclysm, beasts and monsters poured out of the Dark Sea, most from Khaenri'ah."
"Inazuma and Natlan were hit the hardest, we border the Dark Sea. My sister and I were the greatest of the youkai, just as Morax was the greatest of illuminated beasts. While Inazuma's mortal armies protected this land, we marshalled the youkai to wage war. The God of War brought her prized Muratans, the greatest mortal warriors of these lands and beyond."
"So it is true Khaenri'ah attacked first?"
"Why wouldn't you think so?"
"The Tsaritsa told me they were all lies, that Celestia commanded you to invade Khaenri'ah because they were a threat." The mage told the god. She recalled the day she met the Cryo Archon, grieving and naive she soaked up all the god told her. For she wanted a reason to hate the divine, and the Cryo Archon fed it to her.
The God of Eternity gave her a look of pity, as if she felt sorry for her. Indeed, Rosalyne felt embarrassed, if it weren't for her total control of her body, she would've blushed. After all, the Cataclysm was written in just about every history book and archive.
"My sister, the Electro Archon, and the Pyro Archon demanded a Council of Seven. The Geo Archon hosted it, as he always did. The Archons of Electro, Pyro and Geo voted for war. The Archons of Hydro, Dendro, and Cryo voted against."
"...That means-"
"Yes, the Anemo Archon voted for war. To our surprise he was one of the most vocal supporters of it."
"Why?" Rosalyne was confused, the Wind God never struck her as the martial type.
"Because Mondstadt was attacked by Khaenri'ah earlier than the rest. The Dragon of the East was fatally injured by the Dragon of Undeath, Durin. The Grand Master Arundolyn counterattacked with a mighty army, with men from every corner of the land of winds. Yet they were defeated and destroyed. The Anemo Archon pined for vengeance."
Rosalyne was still. She saw the heart of it, now. She saw just how deep the Cryo Archon's lies went, and just how stupid she was.
"And what about Celestia?"
"Celestia… is another matter entirely. I will not speak of it, but if you do wish to find out, then you should accompany that Traveller."
"Traveller?"
"Aether, his name was. He should be at Ritou."
"..."
"Learning, are you? But you need not trust me, follow him, and you will learn it yourself."
Rosalyne bowed, and left, leaving a god alone with her creation.
Beelzebub watched as Kujou Sara left the audience chamber with her orders.
So Inazuma will go to war again, she mused. For in a moon, a great fleet of ships will traverse the Sea of Fog, and wage war in Tsurumi.
She thought about the Lord of Void and her pet mortal, who had destroyed her plans so easily. Not that it would be of any matter now, for the secrets the Lord of Void holds pleases her greatly. After all, why work alone when you have allies?
Indeed, now that her plan was in ruins, there was no point in continuing to keep enforcing the Sakoku Decree. As such, she had ordered Kujou Sara to repeal the Decree as well.
The Sakoku Decree, self-enforced stagnation, more like. Beelzebub would've preferred not to have needed it, but it was a necessity for her plan. With it gone, she could strengthen ties with Morax and Barbatos, and her people's lives would only continue to improve.
As for the Vision Hunt Decree… it will continue, it must. Of course, certain people will get to keep their Visions, such as those in the military, but she needed as many as possible to be inlaid in the Statue.
Because this was 500 years in the making. A plan greater than any rebellion against Celestia, because there has never, never, been a case where a god was brought back to life. For all of them, the Devouring Chaos was the end of the road. There was no coming back from it, a god faded is a god dead, and you couldn't unfade a god.
But what if she wasn't trying to unfade a god, simply create a new possibility where the god lived? There was no precedent, of course there wouldn't, for it was madness. But Beelzebub could live with madness if it meant her sister was returned to her.
She had all the ingredients but one. A god had no physical form, they were immaterial creatures, a concept rather than an actuality. So she created one, the Raiden Shogun. She was modelled after her sister, perfect in form. When Baal returned, the Shogun would be her host. That was, if it weren't for a little issue.
The Raiden Shogun became sentient.
Which was why she told the Crimson Witch to bring back Kunikuzushi.
In the heart of Tenshukaku, the God of Eternity stared at the broken form of the demigod. His body strung up by hundreds of wires, Electro humming. Being irreparably broken was of no issue to her, she could just craft a new body, but what she truly needed from Kunikuzushi was his soul.
Unlike the Shogun, who had stayed in her control for the most part, Kunikuzushi forged his own path, just as she had planned. He had his own ambitions, his 21 grams was brimming with willpower. He had the strength to host a god.
Next, she would return Baal's Authority and Godhead to her. Khaenri'ah was a land without gods, if Baal's physical body died there, her consciousness and spirit wouldn't return to Celestia, as a god normally would. So Baal was forced to die.
As her physical body drew its last breaths, Baal gave her her Authority and her Godhead. As Beelzebub usurped her sister, Baal was forced to fade into the Devouring Chaos.
Even now, she could feel her two Godheads humming within her. Two flowers, the Amaranth of Eternity, and the Daffodil of Transience. Beelzebub was two gods in one, both the God of Eternity and the God of Transience.
When her sister returned, she would return the daffodil.
So now, she was missing the last ingredient. She had to bring her sister back. And only an elder god could do such a thing, a certain elder god. The Omnipresent God, Istaroth.
Istaroth was, no, is the God of Time. With her Authority, she could change the past, and create a new branch where Baal survived the Sack of Khaenri'ah. Except, Istaroth left Teyvat several millennia ago.
So Beelzebub constructed the Statue of the Omnipresent God, and inlaid it with a hundred Visions in an attempt to summon her. No matter where God of Time was, sooner or later, the Statue will shine brightly enough that it would catch her attention, and it would.
Because Eternity and Transience was inherently linked with Time. Because Istaroth had helped Inazuma once before, when the Sacred Sakura was planted.
A thousand, Beelzebub told herself. Istaroth was the Thousand Eyed God. A thousand Visions will be enough to summon her. If Inazuma did not have that many Visions, then she would invade Sumeru, or Natlan.
Because there was nothing, nothing, she wouldn't do to bring her sister back. If it meant invading Teyvat, if it meant bringing down Celestia, if it meant giving her life.
She felt the 227th Vision be inlaid within the Statue.
She felt the god-made-ship depart Ritou, with a witch onboard.
It was all coming together, everything she had planned for five centuries. There was no line she wouldn't cross, no distance too far, no bridge too many, no price she wouldn't pay.
Because her sister was worth it all.
Notes on Act 3:
1) Nation of Inazuma
Nothing much to say about this, Inazuma is naturally based on the Shogunates of Japan. Inazuma has the most fleshed-out of all the governments so far and boy am I glad for that.
2) Civil War
The Civil War in-game was ridiculous, I think we can all agree on that. One battle, less than one hundred people in all, bruh moment. And somehow the rebels managed to get to Inazuma City at the end, like how? What happened to the Shogunate Navy? Shouldn't there be defenders in the city?
So I expanded on all of it. I added arquebuses into the story, because if Snezhnaya has guns why couldn't Inazuma? The Japanese loved guns, and guns were used widely during the Sengoku Jidai, so Inazuma is much the same. I also tried to balance the battles as much as possible, Japan invaded Korea with 300,000 men during the Imjin War, and that was after the Sengoku Jidai. So Inazuma, including Watatsumi and Seirai, has the same amount of total manpower.
3) Traitors
The justice system in Inazuma in-game was ridiculous. Hiiragi and Kujou were scheming with foreign agents for personal gain, if they were scheming with local authorities, that's an abuse of power, which could mean imprisonment. But they were working with the Fatui, foreigners, and that's fucking high treason, the only punishment for that is death. So while in-game they were imprisoned, here they died painfully.
Also, can I just mention how fucking stupid Ayaka's and Thoma's plan was? Actually ridiculous. Here, they managed to talk their way out of it because it was all circumstantial evidence. Unless of course, we get some revelations in 2.6, I'm sure Ayato has some shady business somewhere.
4) Kujou Sara
Oh man, Sara is one of my favourite characters, if not my favourite. Because for once in the game, her personality matches perfectly with who she is supposed to be. Sara is a ruthless and efficient general. But also fair, and her soldiers loved her for it. I saw no point in changing anything about her because there was nothing to change, she was already perfect. Yes, I'm biased.
5) Beelzebub
The biggest change I've made. The reason for this is because Ei is fucking stupid in-game. She acts like a child and the community loves her for it. Of course, that isn't the case here. In fact, I find that the Raiden Shogun is much more god-like compared to Ei. So I gave Beelzebub the Raiden Shogun's personality, if her personality wasn't coded.
Also, I hope you all understood what Beelzebub's plan was. I tried to explain it in this chapter the best I could. And yes, I was inspired by a certain Apocalypse.
6) Quotes
"The heart of warfare is deception. Therefore, the generals who can deceive even themselves are invincible."
- Isabella the Mad. (Erraticerrata, A Practical Guide to Evil.)
Was there another quote? I can't remember.
Author's Note:
From here on out is uncharted territory. We have reached the end of the main storyline in-game. But I'm not going to stop writing until Sumeru is released because that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Did you know when I started writing this I was like oh if I make it to 100k words I'll be happy - but we are already at 60k, damn. By the time we reach Snezhnaya maybe 300k? That'd be really cool.
Review, please! Thoughts would be appreciated, and I need that constant dopamine hit to feel motivated. Anyway, thanks for reading!