World Quest I - Memories lost among the Winds of Time
12th of the 9th Cycle
"There it is! 30° to starboard!"
"30° to starboard, got it!"
The hull creaked as the galleon shifted its axis. Letting the helm whirl back to its original position, Aether swept his hair from his eyes and looked over the quarterdeck.
Ahead of them was an island, with the ruins of an old temple built atop it. It wasn't marked on any map or sea chart, much less named. The only reason they knew of the island is because Mona had several Hexenzirkel records on the ancient god Istaroth, and they detailed how the god had an island temple off the coast of Starsnatch Cliff.
The Deicide anchored off-shore, and the three of them lowered smaller rowboats into the sea.
Clambering onto the sandy beach, Aether could feel the hum of nascent Anemo shivering across the island. They split up to look for clues.
The temple must have once been a magnificent thing. Its broken walls were long eroded by time and wind, but tall pillars still standing betrayed the temple's once size. On the eastern end of the island, Aether could see how the temple once jutted out into the Sea. Eroded pillars connected beautifully carved arches were all that were left of the platform, its wooden flooring long gone.
In the centre was an altar, for sacrifice or something else Aether did not know. The stone slab was intricately carved, some letterings looked vaguely Mondstadter, bu he wasn't knowledgeable enough to be certain. At the end of the island was a great sundial, likely the icon of the god worshipped here.
Rosalyn joined him near the altar after an hour.
"This place feels… restless." She told him.
He agreed. It felt as if the very air itself was agitated.
Mona joined them half an hour after that, carrying several ancient tomes. They looked worse for wear, their covers faded and pages brittle and yellow.
"I found these in the temple's archives. These books are the only readable ones left." She explained.
Using her magic, she telekinetically lifted some pieces of driftwood and fashioned them into a crude box to store the tomes until they returned to the ship.
Once she was done, Aether told her about the carvings on the altar. Mona inspected the slab with an experienced eye, tracing her fingers along the grooves formed by the carvings.
"These are runes, but I don't know what for. Each region has their own kind of runes, due to runecraft being based on language." She told them, "These inscriptions look vaguely Mondstader, but more ancient."
Rosalyne came forward and looked over Mona's shoulder.
"Aye, they're Mondstadter alright. It's written in Reitz, which I suppose is ancient Mondstadter."
Mona turned around to face the witch, a vaguely surprised look on her face, "You can read it?"
The tall woman scoffed, "I am 500 years old, of course I can read it. Reitz was widely used during the Aristocracy, and was considered the 'noble' language; common folk couldn't read or write Reitz. 500 years ago, it was already a dead tongue, but I learnt it in the Academia. Move aside."
Rosalyne knelt before the altar, and started skimming over it. She frowned.
"These are not one, but two sets of runes." She said after a moment, "Look here."
The witch pointed at a set of inscriptions. The runes were split into two parts, in the centre was a cluster, and another set was carved into the sides of the slab like a frame.
"The runes in the centre are sealing runes. The ones on the border are sealants."
Aether scrunched his face in confusion. The runes in the centre were sealing something, and the runes on the border were sealing the runes in the centre? Sealing-ception?
Mona must've noticed his confusion, because she took pity on him and explained.
"Runes need mana to work. The perfect rune would act like an airtight box, not letting any mana escape and thus working forever. But humans aren't perfect, and so neither are runes. Here the runes in the centre are leaking mana, but the runes on the border essentially act like another box around it."
She turned to Rosalyne, "How long is left until the runes are 'dry?'"
"If I were to make an educated guess, these runes were initially carved around 1600 years ago. It would be another 400 years before whatever is locked in by the seals breaks out."
Mona crossed her arms in thought, "1600 years ago…" She muttered to herself.
Did something happen at that time? Aether thought.
Rosalyne stared at Mona with an indescribable gaze, "Whatever you are thinking is correct."
"Is that so…?"
Aether looked back and forth between the two ladies, feeling completely out of his depth.
"Can someone explain, please?"
"Ahem, in the early years of the Aristocracy, both Barbatos and Istaroth were worshipped in equal measure in the region. Barbatos' main powerbase was Mondstadt, Istaroth's main powerbase was Veitstadt, a rival city that stood at the foothills of Starsnatch Cliff." Mona explained.
"Indeed," Rosalyne continued, "together they formed a powerful bloc that ruled the region for a thousand years. Until 1600 years ago, the Mondstadt Aristocracy lost their ways and became corrupted. First, they banned worship of Istaroth in Mondstadt.
Then, they waged war. Armies from Mondstadt, Dawnton, and Windrise razed Veitstadt to the ground. All of Istaroth's followers were killed, all of her teachings were burned. Now only the temple that stood at the heart of the city remains, albeit in ruins. I believe it is now known as the Thousand Winds Temple."
"Whatever remains sealed here is the last remnants of Istaroth in Teyvat." Mona finished.
An incredible tale, Aether thought. And very mysterious, what could be sealed underneath? He made up his mind.
"Alright, let's break it."
"What!?" Mona swivelled her head around so fast she must've gotten whiplash.
"Let's break the seal." Aether repeated.
"Why would we do that!?"
He ignored her as stepped up to the altar. Interestingly, Rosalyn didn't stop him, and even stepped out of the way. Aether placed his palm against the stone slab, and began channelling in starlight. The moment it hit the runes, it turned into liquid. The now liquid starlight filled up the grooves and ran along the carvings.
Aether didn't know how to disable runes, so he decided to simply overload them with energy to break them.
It worked. The winds picked up around them, from a gale into a raging storm. They stood at the heart, at the eye of the storm. Around them, water was picked up by the winds and the whirlwind turned into a typhoon.
The altar cracked.
"K̵̻̪̈́̍̎͛̈́̓͑̊̏͠K̶̠͍͙̳̘̔̉̈́̇͆͂͆̔̀̈Y̵̢̛̮̟͇̙̲̑͂͂́̂Y̷̢̰͇͕̭̤͘A̸̠͍̳̾͑̽̐̀̚Ā̸̛̛͉͓̰̮͉̬̳̂̊͑Ả̵̙̥̘̈́̑͋͠A̴̾̃̓́ͅÄ̷̢̭̥̫͖͚͙̰̯̯́̇̋́̚À̸̢͉͓̟̞͠ͅẢ̸̰͕̫̞̜̤̫̽̆̾Ḁ̶̧͍̟̎̏̔̀͊͑̀̕͜Ŕ̴͍̬̲̜̱͎̝̟̺͜͠R̵̟̣͇̪̹͇̐̃͒̐͜Ṛ̷̬̞͕̲̪̣̎̄̀͛̆͝ͅR̷̡̮͎̤̞̣̘̍̏́̂̑́͜G̵̼̬̺̖̤̉̈́͂̑͛̈̈́G̴̹̖̙͖̭̤̳͙̽̓̆͐̆̀̍̾͘͠Ḩ̵̘̙̖̳͌͘̚H̵̘͔͍̝̠̤̭̼͛̎̓͑̾͋͜Ȟ̶̻̫͚̤̝̠̬̳̥̠̏"
A blood-curdling scream emanated from the cracks as Aether staggered back. Inhuman and eldritch, it was as if the winds themselves had gotten vocal chords. The incessant howling of the raging typhoon and the screams of whatever creature was let loose created an orchestra of pain.
"I think I made a mistake."
"You don't say."
Anemo poured out of the cracks, coalescing in front of them. It formed a ball, a perfect sphere of Anemo with halos and wings of irate gales.
"W̷̧̧̫͓͎̬̓ͅh̵̦̝̞͚̫̘͇̹͉͕̀͌̓̆̆̚͘͝o̸̹̩͇͎͕̍̈́̈.̸̨̮̝͉͛̿͐.̷͚̞̀͐̿̅̈́͝.̶̢̫̰̳̥̖̭͍̱̈́͆̏͊́͜ ̵̢̯̱̥̜̣̞̗̆̄̒͛à̵̧̧̲͙̯̄͑̇̐̄̔̈́̽̀r̸̠͙̼͎̞͍̈́͜ͅe̶͈̭͋̚͠ ̸̬̾͛͐̚ÿ̴̢̰̖̳̻̼́̃̈́̆̊͠ȍ̶͈͆ư̴̦͍͚͎̣͓̯̥̻̊̊̇̈́͌͐?̶̪̺̝̟̭͙͍̼̍̿̒̓͒̌͛̊͜"
Aether stepped up defiantly. As he moved closer to the creature, he could feel the winds grow more intense, his braid began to become undone.
"I am Aether! Starspawn, you know me as! Where is your mistress!?"
"S̵̨͙̻̝̬̞̝͐̀͜ͅͅt̷̪͕̰͖̤̙̟͂a̶̛̺͎̗̞͋̈́͗͛͝r̵̢̞̠̻̓͂̎́͊̇͜ş̸̼̖͍̼̝̱͂̂͐͋̾̀͗͆͜p̸̧̧͕̦̣̗̲̒̎͌̽͜͝ǎ̵̬̬̥̺͕̊͑̈͠w̶̨̧̜̮͎͎̮͊́̆͑̿̓̾̆̂̆͜ͅn̶͕̦͎͎͑̍̂̿̄̀͝.̴̡̡̧͍͕̝̟̞̫̜̇.̶̲̈́.̴̳͕̻̰̻̮̩͈̤͔͑̅͋̌̐͊ ̴̛̳͔̼͓͈̻̔͊͂̔́͐̇̚͝ă̷̢̨͇͔̣͈͈̙̱͂̽̾̐̈́͜͠ŕ̶̬͔r̷̯̻̬̝͐̽͐̈́̉̓͑̌̕͜ò̶̰̗̣̗̭̯̒́̄ģ̸̢̝͔̀͗̀́͌ä̸̘͕͚̗̣̬̹̘́̂̐n̴̨͔̣͖̼͍̒͆͆͒̂̿͂c̵̨̛̘̼̾̔̀̋̄̑̍͗̚ĕ̸̮̻̏!̸̞̌̓̽̉́̍͛"
Its screeching voice was painful to hear. Aether could feel his eardrums rupture just by listening to it.
"Ḧ̴̥̠̼̦̏̆͘̚͠o̸̧̺̻͊w̵̡̤͚͈̲͍̅̄̇́̓̀̾̔̇̆͜ͅ ̵̨̮̜̭̭̏̓̂͗̓́͜͝l̵̟̀͗̽͊̅͑̑͘̚o̵̡̢̙̺̣̝̔̾̾ṉ̶̢̲̗̪̬̮̥̤̠̀̍͐̆͋͆̄͗̓̇g̸̥̠̙̻̥̔ ̴̰͉̙̻̱̅͌͑̓̎́͗̕has it been,̸̡͈͙͎̤̹̑̌̍̆͠ ̶̼͊̑̈́̄̌̒͒́̂͂i̴̭̤͇̗͓̦̾s̸̢̻̪̻͓̩̭̱̰͗̀̇̿͝ ̸͔̬̪͂̉͠i̵͎̯̝̩̎̓͑̕͘͝t̷͙̀̿͘͠ ̶̗̬̭̼̘̀͊̈́́̑t̷̛̬̠̘̳̩͆̐͊̆̏͋̈͐͝i̶̹̗̟̎̊̊͋̌͘m̸̰̬͓͉̦̱͍͎͔̌͛͜͝e̵͔̜̹͖̟̭̩̎̽̿́?̸̨̢̪̩͕̱̅̿͑̈́̔̃̈̽̅̑ͅ ̸͔̳̫̫͂̊͆͜Ń̶̯͔̬̉́̂͋͘͝͠o̸̦̓̅̓̚̕͠.̵̧͍̱̟͖͈͙͕̭̋̾̓͑͗͘͠.̷͉͎̖̮͖̼̑.̴̧̥̦͓̭́̑͘ ̵̧̨͈̯͈̙͗̉̀͐̕how could this be?̸̨̧̛̹͚̰͙͒̾̀͛͋̏͐̌ ̵̧͍̈́͐̈̒̿̎̀̌͌̔Ḯ̵̛̘̍͋̆̎ ̴̪͉̺̣̞̀̎͛̆́a̸̹̲̼̽́̃̄̑ͅm̴̝̚ͅ ̶̙̻͍͚̥͇̈́͗͐̀́̀̈́͝ͅo̸͔̩̬̖̭̹̬̩̎ṅ̶̥̖̱͓̖͋̓͗́͘͝l̷͙̏̀̈́̅̊̚y̸̧̢̬͓̠̘̮̞̅͒̋̽͜ ̴̢̠̒̇̍̿̉̇̃͆̔t̵̲̲͉̥̫͓̐̐͛̏͘ō̸͓̞̣̩ ̸̧̡͕̜̘̝̯̜̋̒̐̓̕̕a̷̧̳̜̜̘̭̭̿͊̎͗̇̇͝w̷̡̪̱̲̔ḁ̸̡̩͈̤̯͙͖̙̔́k̶̦̊͐̓̄̀͐͒͂͝e̴̫̜̩͓̼̝̞͒̿̂̒̾͜n̷̪̙͚̜̳̽̃̚ ̶̛̛͙͍̯̾͗́̔̂̆͠͠ͅŵ̸̢̻̺͈̦͠h̵̗̲͔̙͎̙̩̦̮͠ḛ̵͍̭̜͌̍̎͌͊̚n̷̢̡̪̭̣͖̻̣̮̪̔̃͒̈́̂̂͘͘ ̷̨̨̻͙͎̐̍M̴̥̰̜̞͙͉͓̪̣͙̐͑͗̅̚ö̵̡͓̜́n̷̡̨̢̢̽̉̄̒̊̕d̶̳̣͈̳̤̟̲̈͜s̶̙͈̱͎͂̎́̐t̶̛͔̫͕̻͖̿͂̀ä̶̧̲̝̘̫͚̟̼̦̟́d̴̛̝̬̯̃̾̿͊̏͗ț̶̭̤̦̪͒̆͛̇̋̿ has fallen!̵̪̖͎̲̙̱̖̘̹̆̈́̂̓͗̑̑͝"
Mona staggered forwards to him, fighting against torrents pushing her back.
"What is it saying!?" She screamed in his ear, even then he could barely hear her.
"It says it's supposed to awaken only after Mondstadt has fallen!"
Which meant Mondstadt would fall in 400 years went unspoken, but both of them knew it.
The creature began to rise into the air.
"M̷̢̞̬̋̿o̷̠̟̲͍̲̟͗̈́̌̈́̔͑̓̚n̵̩̹͕͚͕̏̌̆̑d̴͕̒̅̎̍̍̃s̸̰̻̣̹̟̤̤̘̠͎̓̌̎̆͊͗̍̚t̴͎̞͓͖͈̹̘̳͊̌́̾a̷̧̧̭̼̗̱͖̲̎͋̄͊͘͘͝͝d̴̮͕̜͇̦̻͙̦̬́̓̇́̆̕̕ͅt̴͎͇͖͆͂̋̒̀͗̈́̈̽͠ͅ ̵̤̫̻̪̲̹̫̅̽͂̅̋̑̚will fall for their ̷̯̭̊̉͒͝b̶̡͕̺͖̬̯̙̝̅̅̅͂͑͋̅͠͝ͅé̷̛̗̲̗̮̙̗̻̩̆̓́̑ṯ̵͚͈̘͔̈́͐́͐͝͝r̶̟̼͖͊͊ͅȧ̷̢̯̭͉͚̜͉̹͚y̴̨̯̺͚̰͙̺̠̪̿͋̂͒̕ͅa̴͕̼͆͗̌̀͜͝l̷̨̳̜̠̥̾̋̇̉̀̓̔͘̚ͅ!̵͎͂̂̃̔̀̓̕ ̵̧̢͍̼̳̱̬̈́̾̊̇̾͐͘͝ͅNow that ̶͙͚̏̏̒͘I̶̪̜̩̍́ ̸̢̣͈̰̬̔̀̀̋͐͊̇̍͗̊h̶͍͎̽̿͝ͅa̷̢̲̹̜͖͕̞̲͂̈̚v̶̫̹͔̞͉͖̑e̷͓̦͓̳̋͑̃ ̵̨̢͎͕̘͓͈̜͕͐̈́̌́ḁ̷̳̳̱̅́̽w̷̢̳̱͓͙̦̦̥̩̫̍͌̿̄̑̆̄̾͠͝ō̶̞̦͔̇̐̑̉͊̔̈̓͠ķ̴͍͈̻̺͚̄̿̇̂̕ͅe̶̫͇͆͊̈́̑̍͑̈́͘̚͝n̶͔̬͓̹̪͑,̵̧̼̰͙̦̯͂͆͗ ̴̝̎͐͒̃͛̈́͝Ḯ̴̡̳̟̺̲̫̜̖͙͆͋̈́̔̚ ̵̛̻͈̹̬͖̺́͌͂̾͑w̸̱̩̟̞̉̚͘į̴̧̢̰̹̪̫̻̟͎̂͒l̷̡̰̱̻̗̒̽̃̈́̇̅̅͘̚͝l̶̨̢̛̞͇͉̯̱̰̬̀́͑̚ ̷̗͈͎̠̼̗̙̳͚̊̑̌̓͒̿͗ḑ̴͚͔͍͕̖̠͕̈́͂̾̀́͒̈́̐̍o̵̡̩̣̓̽͆ ̵̧̥̘̺̗̼͎̯̰̯͆̂̽̀̽͗̆͝į̸̨̨̗̼̼̳̹͇̩̏̂͘̚̕͝t̷̙̪͈̰̥̞̝̭̳̪̔̍̒̃̈́͠ ̸̢̲̬͎͍̗͇̞̭͐̒̎͂myself!"
That wasn't good. Aether whirled around and screamed,
"LASH IT DOWN!"
As if waiting for his command, Rosalyne acted without hesitation. A whip of scorching flames formed in her hands and she lashed it at the wind spirit. Mona followed suit with her own rope of Hydro.
The creature roared in defiance, rising higher into the sky. Mona began to be lifted up, only for her to create weights of Hydro and pull herself back to the ground. More and more whips and fire and Hydro were formed leashing onto the raging monster and pulling it down.
The two Elements and one element mixed together in a whirlwind of destruction. Anemo and fire reacted together to create a massive firestorm, so hot and powerful that the ancient stone pillars began to melt. Only for the Hydro to react with the firestorm into a hurricane of blazing steam.
Rosalyne began to slip, only to tug back harder than ever. Her red dress elongated and expanded, crimson silk turning into crimson flames. She grew in height, to over two metres tall, great wings of a moth erupted from her back, spewing molten fire with every thrash.
For a moment, it looked like they were winning. The creature was pinned to the stone floor, lashed down by so many ropes it looked more like a net. It struggled to no avail.
Until the storm surrounding the island suddenly stopped, and the latent Anemo onced used the maintain it began flowing into the creature. They tried desperately to stop the flow, Rosalyne and Mona created walls of their respective elements to react the Anemo in the air before it could be absorbed by the chained creature.
But it was no use. There was too much Anemo, and too little of them. The chains of fire and Hydro holding the creature down steamed and bubbled, before snapping entirely. The monster rose into the air, empowered more than ever.
It began to morph into a more definitive shape. From an indistinct spherical mass of Anemo into a more humanoid form, not unlike how Rosalyne was fire made flesh.
A vaguely male body, but without any of the defining features of one. It's most prominent features were its six wings. One pair flapped, beating great gusts of wind that kicked stone and dirt into the air. The other two pairs covered its nude body, one pair for the upper body another for the lower.
I̴̯̺̪̳̟̽̅͑̾͆̋̀͜ am a god! Kairos,̴̧͎̼̤̼̭̦̝̂̀͑, the ̸̞͈̓̃U̶̧̞̣̬̪̽̒̅̎̃́͛̇̿̕ͅṋ̸̡̧̡̡̭̱̒̌̐͘d̴̟͒̒̏͂́̿͠ẏ̷̢̩͓̳͍̤͈̤̑͌i̴̦̐̽̄́́͘͘͝n̷͍̩̝̙̲̘͊͐̊̋̊̆̎́̄͠g̷̯̤̗̲̿̿̆̏̅͗͂͘ ̸̗̥͚̱̣̙̲̣̯̝̒͛̅W̸̡̧̭͇̠͍̽ȉ̷̼͕̙̑̾͑̊͗n̵̯̪̦̙͔̰̤͍̟͂̇͋͌͐̈́̄̋̕͝d̷̤̹͋̋̌̚! Servant of T̸̆̑̎͌̀̇̈͊̀ͅì̷̡̙͗͆͐̌̒̚̚m̸̘͈̉͐͋́̈́͛̓̚͝ē̸̢͔͇͜͜! Seek my name, witness my power, and d̷̫̥̻̄́̍́̾͑͆͘͘ë̷̦́̄̀̄̎͝s̴̨̯͕͍̪̦̬̜̟̊p̴̘̾ä̴͔̜̟̹̓̂ĩ̶̜͈̫̬̗͙̩̫̀̊̈͐̍̌͑͛͜ͅr̴̭͈̊̽̅͠͠!̷̧͈͎̺̮̦̊̾̊̑͘"
With a mighty beat, the god took off into the air, making his way southwest. Aether eye's followed his path, which went in the direction of the Thousand Winds Temple, and Mondstadt beyond that.
Rosalyne let go of her humanoid form, adopted one of a flaming falcon - not dissimilar to a phoenix, and took off after the god. Mona leapt onto the falcon's back, using Hydro to coat herself so as to not get burned. Rosalyne released a screech of annoyance.
Aether scooped up the books Mona had found and made his way back to the Deicide with help of his starfire wings.
He would catch up. Nothing travels faster than light, after all.
Mona didn't quite understand why the Thousand Winds Temple was called a temple, because it was very clearly an amphitheatre.
A very large amphitheatre. Absolutely colossal, even. Mona wouldn't be surprised if it could seat 200,000 people in its heydays. But it wasn't anymore, it was ruined and crumbling, the last vestiges of a once-powerful city-state.
And it would be even more ruined after this, Mona thought as she ducked under a fireball. It hit an arch and set it crumbling to the floor.
They were in the centre of the amphitheatre, as if gladiators battling a beast to entertain an audience. That is if the audience were a bunch of ghosts and the beast was a god.
Kairos sent another blade of Anemo at her, which she blocked with a wall of Hydro. Rosalyne counterattacked, weaving a great plume of fire and sending it hurtling at the god. The Undying Wind met the firestorm without hesitation, punching through and dispersing it with nary a wound.
Mona retreated back to her comrade's side.
"I doubt we could win this."
"We don't have to. We just have to keep it here until Barbatos notices." The witch replied.
It was as good a plan as any, Mona thought.
Kairos sent a whirlwind at them, it ripped up the ancient stone foundations of the amphitheatre as it came down on them. Mona entered the Illusory Torrent to get out of the way, as she emerged, she created a chain of Hydro and whipped it down on the god.
The god grabbed the chain and tugged it towards him, sending her off her feet. Just as she let go, a lance of fire crashed into the god's body, piercing and leaving a great gaping hole where his chest once was.
The cavity closed up and Anemo refilled the hole. What a shitty gimmick.
As Kairos turned to deal with Rosalyne, another lance - this time one of starlight - tore through him from up above. It ripped through his left arm, sending it falling to the ground. This time, the wound didn't heal.
"GRRAAAAAGHHH!"
The god screamed in pain and outrage. Mona looked up to see Aether aiming another bolt of golden light at Kairos. Before the god could recover, Rosalyne conjured another whirlwind of flames and sent it at him. Mona followed her lead, raising a great wave of Hydro from thin air and sending it crashing down on the god.
Together, the three of them kept up the pressure, attacking the god from every angle. Slowly - ever so slowly - chipping away at him.
Kairos snarled in frustration and covered himself with his wings. All three pairs, wrapped around his body like a cocoon. It was an impenetrable shield that none of them could penetrate. Their rate of fire slowed down as they realised they could no longer hurt him.
Aether descended, his golden wings shimmering as he closed the distance between him and the floating god.
Mona watched him touch the god's wings cautiously, but there was no reaction.
Aether gripped the pair of wings covering the god's face with both hands and began to pry it open. Mona readied another spell, but before Aether could get anywhere, the six wings burst open. A hurricane gale erupted forth by the strength of the blast, Mona fell to the ground in a desperate attempt to not get blown away. The winds stung at her eyes and ripped at her clothes.
When the winds died, Mona could see Aether lying limp against a stone pillar, unmoving, having taken the full force of the explosion at point-blank range. Rosalyne was staggering to her feet, hand gripping arm. Mona herself wasn't in a much better position.
The god on the other hand, showed no signs of any of the wounds they had inflicted on him prior, and looked more resplendent than ever. He wore a long cloth wrapped around him, with gold lining. And a crown of leaves adorned his head, and in his right hand was a scale, balanced on a razor edge, tipping precariously in each direction despite holding nothing.
"I am Kairos!" He roared, "The Undying Wind, Firstborn of Astaroth! The Mad God of Fleeting Moments! I see the present with a thousand eyes, rage and simmer, for vengeance will be mine!"
Rosalyne conjured a fireball in her hand, only for Kairos to snap onto her. The scale in his hands dropped on one side, and the moment was gone. The flames sputtered out, and the witch was thrown to the ground by an invisible force.
She heard a boyish giggle behind her, and turned around to see a bard dressed in green, holding onto a lyre. He smiled at her.
"Looks like you all have gotten yourself in a bit of trouble, haven't ya?"
The smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Mona wasn't an idiot.
She bowed, "Lord Barbatos."
The bard's eyes widened dramatically, his head swivelled from side to side, as if looking for something.
"Lord Barbatos, where? I don't see any Lord Barbatos!" The bard suddenly stopped, before leaning forward, "Oh, were you referring to me? I am flattered, my music is good, but surely it cannot be compared to one of a god's! My name is Venti, nice to meet ya!"
"Of course… Venti."
"That's much better! Here let me help you out, Kairos is an old one, older than that Morax even. You best think of something quick, I doubt even I can lull him with my tunes."
The bard strode forwards with confidence, and began playing a jaunty tune on his lyre. The music seeped into her bones, giving her strength. She could see Rosalyne rising as well, but Aether remained downed. The God of Fleeting Moments, turned to the bard, and his scale leaned to one side again.
But the music didn't stop.
The mad god snarled, "Barbatos, traitor god! Have you come to die at my hand?"
"The only traitor here is you, old man! And I still don't see any Barbatos anywhere, why do people like calling him out like that?"
Mona had to give credit, Venti was dead set at playing his role. Still, she had to think of something to stop the rampant god. She would have asked why Barbatos wouldn't do it himself, but she wasn't one to question a deity.
First she had to think of a way to stop the errant god. Resealing him was unlikely, they did not have the magical technology and know-how of a millennia ago. Destroying his mortal body was equally unlikely, Kairos was the God of Moments, anything in the present was under his Authority - thus the moment they got an opportunity to destroy his body he could just make the moment disappear.
The only other way she could think of is killing him. Which is just about as impossible as destroying his mortal form, if not more so.
Which all stems down to his Authority as the God of Moments. If they wanted to stop him by any means, they couldn't do it in the present. And there was no mortal in Teyvat more accustomed to the future than Mona Megistus. She spied the fallen arm of Kairos that was cut off by Aether, it was on the ground, disintegrating, but it would.
She rushed over to it, raising a mild illusion to keep herself hidden. It was unlikely the illusion would work against a god, but there was no harm in trying.
As she neared, she lowered herself and slid the last few feet, scooping up the dismembered arm. Giving herself some time to breathe, she could see Rosalyne duelling Kairos, with Venti using his music to disrupt Kairos' attempts at destroying opportunities to attack him.
Mona pulled up a star chart, and got to work. Using the arm as a catalyst, she began searching for Kairos' constellation. She came across the Dei Nebula, but it was unlikely Kairos was a Lord of Celestia, so she moved on. The Volucer Nebula, the Ales Nebula, the Pennatus Nebula. She contemplated each, and moved on.
Until she came across the Maier Nebula, and Kairos' arm resonated. That's it. She honed in, but the Maier Nebula was far, far away. She couldn't even view from Teyvat - the only reason she could scry it is because she found it when the Sky shattered after Aether pulled it down. It was as if she was travelling in a foggy forest, with a sheer blindfold over her eyes, searching for a certain tree.
Without Kairos' arm, it would have been impossible. It was a beacon that only shone when she was facing the correct direction.
She heard Rosalyne screaming in pain, and resisted the temptation to pry her eyes off the star chart. Any lapse in concentration now would be disastrous.
…
Fugaces Insania.
Mona couldn't help but release a pleased smile. Found you.
But the mad god noticed her presence, turning around with fury in his eyes.
"You… dare!?"
Rosalyne was lying face down on the ground, her body torn and broken. Embers and smoke wafted from her form, she laid silent and unmoving. As Mona braced herself for Kairos' wrath, golden chains erupted from behind the god and wrapped around him, to his ire.
"What- what is this?" He roared, squirming and struggling in the chains. "Unhand me, starspawn!"
Behind the god, Aether clambered up to feet, wiping blood from his eyes. More and more golden chains erupted from the ground around him, some impacted the god, punching into his skin and not letting go, others wrapped around him.
Aether spoke to her, and despite their distance she could hear him clearly.
"I'll hold him down, make it quick."
Mona nodded and went back to scrying his constellation, but despite that, she was at a loss. As an astrologer, she could only ever see the future in the stars. To defeat Kairos, she had to change his future so that it would advantage them. Changing the future is tantamount to changing fate, however, and that was impossible.
"Is it?"
Mona flinched and raised her head, to see Venti looking down at her. Did he read her mind…?
"Is changing fate really impossible?"
"Of- of course!" Mona told him, "That's why fate is called Fate."
Venti gave her a knowing smile, like one of a teacher to a child. It irked Mona, to be given that look, for she has seen it all too many times from the many elder witches of the Hexenzirkel. But they were mortals, and the man in front of her was a god. She listened.
"Didn't fate change once before? When you met a Traveller at the wrong time, going the wrong way?"
"That… isn't fate changing…" Mona struggled to argue, "The end result is the same, but the path changed. That's more like fate… bending a bit."
The bard's eyes lit up, "Yes, exactly! So don't change fate, but destroy it entirely. Because if Fate could bend, then it could break."
Mona flinched. Breaking Fate… that sounded as blasphemous as it was heresy. Fate was absolute, a one unchanging constant in an ocean of variables. So was Ananke's Law, what would the world be, if Fate was no longer absolute? Her entire reality was flipped upside down, she could feel her ambition change, and her Vision changed with it.
"That's it… that's it! Do you feel it now? The truth of the world?" Venti egged her on.
She ignored him, and refocused on her starmap. Fugaces Insania was the constellation, six stars formed it, which one did she have to break? She honed in on the fifth star, Cleos, a blue giant. It was an educated guess, she was too unfamiliar with the constellation to pick anything out specifically. But an educated guess will do.
Mona rose and screamed at Aether, "Maier Nebula, Fugaces Insania. The fifth star, Cleos! Kill it!"
Aether's eyes snapped onto hers and after a brief moment, he nodded. Mona activated her new Vision, and as the golden chains began to crumble, new chains of Hydro took their place. Kairos was screaming bloody murder, struggling more vigorously than ever.
"You… you! You don't understand what you are doing! You are going to draw her gaze! Stop this, stop it now!"
Just as the mad god tore one arm free, a whip of Anemo lashed around him, pinning his freed arm to his side once more.
"No… NOO!"
The god's eyes were wide and mad with fear. Suddenly, the god roared and broke free of all the chains, and lunged at her.
As she desperately backtracked, she felt a shiver. Like a wind blowing through her skin and caressing her bones. She shuddered down to her core.
"And so ends a god…" She could hear Venti mutter. Aether must've silenced the star Cleos.
Kairos fell limp midair, crashing onto the stone floor of the amphitheatre. He shakily stood, arms outstretched and reaching for her. His eyes were bloodshot with golden ichor, his scale laid broken on the stone.
"You… You, I pity… you." With those words, he fell to a knee.
Mona formed a rapier of Hydro in her hand, and shoved it through the mad god's skull.
Ripping it out, the god fell to the ground, dispersing into arid winds with contact. All that was left behind was a skull. Mona gingerly picked it up, inspecting it.
The skull wasn't quite bleached, but nearly there. There was no lower jaw bone, and its upper teeth had four elongated canines. In the frontal bone was a gaping hole, fractured around the edges. From there, Mona could see inside the brain cavity, and what languished there was no brain but an entire nebula. It poured out of the hole, stars and galaxies leaking out into the air.
It captivated Mona, but Venti's words shook her from her reverie.
"Would you look at that, old Kairos gave up his Godhead so easily."
What? She was holding a Godhead? Mona looked at the Skull in a new light, for she held the fate of a god in her hands.
"What are you going to do with it?" The bard asked her, "You could become a god right here, you know?"
Why was he telling her that? Something struck at her, and suddenly all the pieces came together. Why Barbatos didn't reveal himself, why he only helped them off-handedly, why he egged her into breaking fate, it all culminated into this moment. She should have known, she should have known that a trickster god like Barbatos had an end goal. So what did he want her to do with Kairos' Godhead?
She blanked her expression, looking at the Skull with a poker face. Did he want her to usurp it, to become a god? And why did Kairos' surrender his Godhead just like that, shouldn't he have kept it hidden, so he could revive himself? And what did he mean by pitying her?
Mona heard the crunching of gravel, and she looked up to see Aether limping towards them. He stared at the Madman's Skull, and gave her a shit-eating grin.
"I always knew you were insane, what kind of sane soul would look at the stars all day?"
Mona kept quiet, and Aether fell to the ground cross legged. He looked up at her with one of pity - there it was again, did he know something she didn't?
"Your ambition changed the moment you found out Fate isn't absolute anymore, even I can tell. Do you know what your ambition is now?"
"..."
"You hold a choice in your hands," He told her, and Mona was more inclined to listen to Aether than to Venti, "you could become a god, or you can fulfil your ambition. You could learn the Eldritch Truth."
The Eldritch Truth, huh? Mona looked at the Skull in her hands. Venti gave her an expectant gaze, Aether had already moved on, and has started to heal Rosalyne. The amount of trust he had in her was appreciated, but she didn't even trust herself now.
Mona stared at the Madman's Skull, and crushed it.
She couldn't see anything. She couldn't breathe.
But she didn't panic, she all felt very strangely calm.
"So that's what happened, hm?"
The voice came from all around her, it sounded vaguely female. She couldn't see them, despite turning around and looking everywhere. It was all black.
"Who are you?" She asked them.
"Astaroth, Istaroth. It's all the same."
"You aren't angry? That I killed your son?"
"Son? Hehe… that's such a mortal way of thinking."
"What is to happen to me? Why can't I see?"
"Because mortal minds aren't meant to comprehend what's beyond them. You're lucky you didn't lose your mind, but your eyes had already burnt out of their sockets."
So she was blind. Is that the price, blindness?
"Blind? No no… you see more than ever, child. You traded two eyes for a thousand. You just have yet to open them."
Mona went silent. Was 'eyes' in a literal sense, or was it more figurative? Did it mean she had more senses, or did she actually have a thousand eyes? She looked for it, and felt something wriggling in her mind, as if there was something alive in her brain.
She opened her eyes, and saw.
A myriad of colours painted across an inky black canvas. Of every colour was and yet was, reds and blues and purples and those she had never seen before and yet couldn't describe. The twisting and turning shapes of shapeless beasts and beings unknown. A Forest of Tendrils, a City of Stars, a Mansion of Night, an Egg of Chaos. Indescribable and unfathomable, grotesque mockeries of reality beyond comprehension whose disturbing otherness could not be encompassed in any mortal tongue. She could feel her mind splinter under the sight of the inconceivable.
"You are the Usher of Mysteries, the Vivisector of Miracles. Divinity is now nothing more than another experiment, and the gods are just frogs yet to be dissected. Fate and Providence are no longer laws but suggestions."
"Welcome to the Great Beyond, and now begone. Wake, child, see the world with your own eyes, not ones given to you by the gods. For you are still mortal yet, but something more than human."
Mona woke up.
She felt something covering her face, and lifted an arm to touch it. A cloth across her eyes, a blindfold.
"You have woken?" Mona heard a voice, Aether's voice.
She felt the wriggling again, the writhing and squirming of something in her head. They begged to be used, to be opened. And so she opened them, and saw Teyvat for what it was.
The corpse of a god. She saw all around, no longer limited by vision in one direction. She turned her head to look at Aether, despite not needing to, and recoiled.
For she saw a monster in human skin. Starspawn, she took that word lightly because she could only see a human, but now she could not. Aether was a starspawn, an eldritch beast of the Great Beyond masquerading as a man. She saw Rosalyne as what she was, the Crimson Witch, formless flames given form by sheer force of will.
She saw herself, a blind mortal with a thousand eyes. Something not quite human.
Aether looked at her, offering her a relaxed smile with an incomprehensible undertone.
"So you see, then?" He asked her, "Welcome back to the Waking World, Hierophant."