Act β, Scene 3

The smell of rot permeated the air inside the fortress.

She was trying hard to retch, and she could see her companions were in the same situation as her as they marched down the hallways.

Travelling through the castle, all of the Watchers they encountered knelt before Torsten. They were all in the same state of decay. It was clear to Lumine, that down here where reinforcements, food, and supplies do not exist, the Watchers were all cursed with undeath to survive.

Was it the Abyss? Or was it Horfa's legacy?

As for Torsten, it seems that without their admittedly intimidating helmets, he found them less terrifying. In fact, he doesn't even mind the grit and rot in the castle, and was looking around in wonder. It was his first time seeing undead knights, Lumine thought, she wished it were her first time as well.

The fortress was built, or carved, with efficiency in mind. There were no great empty spaces to lounge, there was no dining hall as undead did not need to eat, there was no audience chamber, there were no sleeping quarters either. If the rooms were not armouries, then they were no rooms at all.

They entered a room through a heavy oak door, somehow not rotting. A long trestle table dominated the centre of the room, and various Watchers surrounded it. As Torsten entered behind her, they knelt.

"Uhm, rise… please."

"Daemonsss… And ghostsss…"

Lumine let out a long suffering sigh, this was getting really old. Even with Torsten ordering them, the Watchers would not allow them to pass the fortress.

"Why won't you allow us to pass?" Lumine demanded to know, "Death awaits us above, below it the only direction we could travel!"

"We are undeathhh… You are nottt… A fate, worse than deathhh… Awaits youuu…"

Another Watcher added on, "Singing insanitiesss… Eyes, eyes, eyesss…"

They were getting nowhere.

When she repeated their words, Dainsleif seemed to understand something she didn't.

"They must mean that this fortress acts as a magical barrier as well, the influences of the Abyss would be too much to bear for any normal person past here."

So they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They were back at the camp, trying to figure out a way through, a way that didn't leave them all dead.

Lumine could only sit back and watch, as she was far out of her depth. But it seemed like all the other officers had no idea what to do either. It made sense, this is a pretty ridiculous situation.

Torsten came up with something again, "Maybe we could try bypassing the pit using the Light Realm?"

Lumine didn't know what that meant, but some of the knights looked at the boy like he was insane. Dainsleif adopted a more thoughtful look.

"Light Realm?" She queried.

Torsten looked up at her, eager to explain, "The world is like a layered cake! Bottom is the Abyss - the Void Realm. In the middle is Arcadia and Teyvat - the Light Realm and Human Realm. On top is Celestia - the Divine Realm!"

One of the magi spoke up, "In theory it makes sense. Unlike the Human Realm, the Light Realm is made of pure elemental forces, which will act as a counterbalance to the Abyss. But that's exactly the problem, it is unlikely humans can withstand so much pure element either."

"Unlikely?" Dainsleif asked, "Has it been proven?"

"Well, no. But-"

"Then we have no choice but to try. We have two options that lead to certain death, now we have a third option that leads to not-so certain death. We have no choice."

No one seemed satisfied with that, but none argued either. Because thinking logically, it made sense to choose the best option they had. Unless anyone has a fourth option, then the Light Realm will be their destination.

"What is the Light Realm, anyway? You said both it and Teyvat were in the middle."

"It's a perfect copy of Teyvat, a mirrored one, so to speak. Except where Teyvat is a land of the mundane, the Light Realm is a land of pure elements. Elemental beings live there - the seelies, the dragons, vishaps, the fair folk and such."

"How are we to cross into it, then?"

"Leylines are natural bridges that cross between the fabric of realms. We need to find one, and use it as a bridge."

The Abyss Watchers looked at each other.

"Leylineee… One day, downnn…"

Lumine's heart crept up her throat, "You will allow us, then?"

The female Watcher nodded stiffly, "We shall beee… Your vanguarddd…"

Act β, Scene 4

They should've listened to the Watchers, because they were dropping like flies.

Not even a few hours in, and many were already convulsing. Screams of agony tore through the crowd. The symptoms were only consistent in death. Some grew fur, teeth becoming fangs and fingers to claws. Others bled from every orifice until they were dried out husks.

The Abyss Watchers cut down every single one of the inflicted with brutal efficiency. As they descended, more and more Watchers joined them. Lumine estimated there were about 4,000 of them dispersed throughout the entire convoy now. They sniffed out any corrupted by the Abyss, even a single taint, and slew them where they stood.

One of the knights behind her began twitching, and a Watcher immediately cleaved open his head. To her horror, she saw hundreds of convulsing eyes lining the fallen knight's brain, they stared at her.

"Eyes on the insideee…" The Watcher said, "A little, and you see muchhh… To much, anddd…"

The undead knight gestured down, no other words needed to be said. Lumine gazed at the exodus behind her, tens of thousands of men, women and children. How many of them already grew eyes on the inside?

Twelve hours later, and they did not stop to rest. They were running out of food, and the empty carts were used as mobile beds for those too exhausted to walk. Some were also used to carry children.

She saw one of the Watchers ride up to them from in front, utop their skeletal horse.

"Singing insanitiesss…"

Dainsleif wasted no time in passing out the order. All of the knights immediately stuffed their ears with whatever they had - wax, cloth, anything. Word was passed down, and the refugees followed suit. It was haphazard, but hopefully it would mitigate losses.

The singing started soft, like a lullaby. Lumine swore she could make out some words, but soon realised that was just her mind playing tricks on her. As the singing grew, it was like a siren song, the language was eerie and oddly beautiful. Eldritch was the word.

The Abyss Watchers readied their blades.

And people started going insane. Crazed laughter broke out among the people, and insanity reigned supreme. As people turned on one another, fighting broke out, and earbuds began falling out of ears, and more people went insane. It was like a disease.

But the Abyss Watchers knew what they were doing. With every swing of their greatswords, dozens of people were bisected. They carved a bloody path through the crowd.

Magi hastily drew up soundproof barriers using mobile wards, and with the Watchers working in tandem, the killing died down.

The Leyline Blossom was a beautiful thing. It glowed eerie violet, standing out like a lighthouse in a storm. The Blossom grew from a crack in the bedrock, and was the size of an elephant. Lumine could believe it was seeded in the Light Realm, but didn't know how it could be used as a bridge.

The Abyss Watchers had gathered in front, and were building a palisade of rock in front of the Blossom. Magi were setting up wards and runes, behind them the knights were setting up camp.

Dainsleif and the head mage were talking, Lumine discreetly eavesdropped.

"How long would it take to turn the Blossom into a portal?"

"A few hours I believe, perhaps a little more."

"Make it quick."

"You don't need to tell me that, buckethead."

It took six hours.

Lumine stood before a door. About two metres tall, maybe a metre wide. It was a door, no two ways about it. Albeit it was a glowing, purple door. But still, how in seven hells were they supposed to get some 100,000 people through there in a timely manner?

The answer was that they couldn't. It will take weeks to get everyone through, but they had no choice but to keep moving. Lumine was to lead the vanguard, taking two score Abyss Watchers with her. Torsten would stay behind, in case the Light Realm was lethal.

The rest of the Watchers would man the makeshift wall. Already, Lumine could hear the growling and patter of Abyssal beasts making their way up to them.

Lumine sucked in a deep breath, and crossed the threshold.