Episode 25: The Journey's End
Teyvat's last night fell peacefully, quiet and crisp. Night birds sang across the waters of Mond, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Winter was almost here, but if Dain's words were true, it would forever remain out of reach.
Inside the warm safety of their homes, citizens of the land slept peacefully, without a hint of what was to come. Only a select few were still awake at this hour: those who would never sleep again.
Jean had contemplated the idea of announcing what was to come to the whole country, but eventually settled on keeping silent about it. Nothing would change if they knew, and perhaps it was better this way. The world would end in an instant, leaving little time for fear or regrets. At least, that was her interpretation, and Diluc and Kaeya both agreed. Only time would tell if that was the right choice.
And so, the night slowly drifted on, bringing the end ever closer.
By the time dawn started to show its colors, the group was so nervous that they could hardly stand it any longer. With trembling hands, Diluc pushed open the door of the Knights' headquarters, feeling a chilly, invigorating breeze hit him. This was it.
Now, they would challenge fate.
Opening Theme: My First Story - Home
The first orange rays of the sun lit up the landscape in nostalgic, gentle colors. It was still too early for most to be awake, and the new day was cold and fresh.
Jean suppressed a shiver as they left the city of Mondstadt behind, crossing the bridge leading to their destination.
Diluc noticed as she wrapped her arms around herself, and couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. But, it was too late for regrets like those; he had made his decision, and now he would never be the one to offer his warmth to her again.
No one spoke at all. They felt the heavy weight of uncertainty lingering over them, and in light of that, any small talk would have been borderline offensive in that moment. Because of that, they made great time, arriving at the Statue of the Seven in almost no time at all.
Standing underneath that great tree was the figure of a familiar blond man. He gazed off into the distance as they approached, but spotted them when they were still at a distance.
"Greetings. It seems you're a bit early, that Traveler has yet to arrive."
The group shared nervous glances, then joined Dainsleif under the boughs of the great oak tree.
"Did he even promise he'd come today?" Kaeya said with concern in his voice.
"I haven't spoken to him since Angel's Share. But he will come."
"I see."
"More importantly, I hope you are all prepared yourselves."
"Ready as we'll ever be," Diluc spoke gruffly.
Dain sighed, pushing back his long blond hair. He looked over the hills of Mond, and spotted a distant figure walking down the path from Starsnatch Cliff. The final piece was about to arrive.
When he did, he was greeted by the small group warmly.
"Did you manage to settle things, Traveler?" Dain asked significantly.
"Yeah, we did."
"I see…"
A faraway look came across Dain's face as he recalled days long gone, days when he could call Lumine an ally.
"You okay with this?" Traveler asked him, not bothering to specify further.
"I have no choice. She didn't come to me, she came to you. The time we spent is long gone, I suppose it no longer matters."
Contradicting his words, his visage showed conflicted feelings, a rare sight from that unflappable man. But he quickly recovered his usual stern expression.
"Now, let us go. We must make it to the portal at Cape Oath. Beyond that portal awaits our destiny."
"Wait, so we're going to the Spiral Abyss?" Kaeya said with concern.
"Yes. I don't have time to fully explain, but at the bottom of the Abyss lies a door. That is where we must go at all costs."
"So Scaramouche was right after all…" Aether mumbled, as he started to connect the dots in his mind.
"I don't know what you mean, but that door is our only hope now. You will understand when we get there. Let us go, with haste."
And so, they made their way up that dusty old path, past the looming cliffs and through Dadaupa Gorge.
All the while, Diluc just couldn't shake the feeling of dissociation that was overwhelming him. It felt like he was watching someone else move his body. Occasionally, for a few seconds, he even questioned why he was in this situation in the first place. It just didn't make sense.
He had gone with the flow until now, led along by a vague sense of déjà vu and foreknowledge that simultaneously reassured and disturbed him. Now, though, he was getting cold feet. Was that strange man telling the truth after all, or was this some sort of plot against them? Just what the hell was going on?
As they started the final ascent to the Cape, Diluc glanced to his side where Jean was. Her face was drawn tight, and when she noticed his gaze, she gave a small, nervous smile. Perhaps she was feeling the same way, but Diluc elected not to ask.
The group topped the hill, bringing an ominous-looking purple portal into sight just ahead. It was then that it happened.
A terrific, haunting sound rang out from the sky above: an overwhelming aural attack, resembling the loudest trumpet ever heard mixed with a warning siren, wavering in pitch just enough to send chills up the spine.
That sound was wrong.
"Get down!" Dainsleif yelled at the top of his lungs.
Even as he reacted quickly to the ominous sound, his voice was almost drowned out completely by the herald's call. Diluc crouched down, putting himself in front of Jean, and Kaeya joined him hurriedly without a word between them.
At that very moment, as the two brothers crouched side by side, the sun went dark, and the sky above turned red.
With wide, disbelieving eyes, they watched as the familiar sky was erased, overwritten by a hellish scene that was almost impossible to describe. The heavens opened up, twisting and inverting, and a figure appeared above them. Its eyes burned orange, gazing down upon them like a predator gazing at its pathetic prey. The moment they saw it, they withered before that gaze.
As that heavenly figure began to descend towards them, the stars fell from the sky. In disbelief, the group watched as huge fireballs rained down on the world around them. An uncanny fear filled Diluc's mind as the first one reached the ground somewhere to the south in Liyue. With a blinding flash, it struck, setting off a huge explosion that lit up the darkened sky like the sunrise.
They all just stared in shock, until they were reminded that this was indeed reality. The shock wave from that terrific impact reached them, with gale-force winds nearly pushing them over. They braced themselves against the hot wind, but that still wasn't their primary concern. Not while that being was still coming closer.
When she was all but upon them, she began to speak, with an otherworldly voice that chilled them to the bone.
"Mortals, you have trespassed against the Heavenly Principles. This world cannot continue."
In a matter-of-fact, emotionless monotone, she announced the end of everything, her eyes piercing Dainsleif through like a fiery lance.
Behind her, as if to emphasize her deathly words, another great heavenly body struck the ocean in the distance. Like a nuclear bomb had gone off, a mushroom cloud slowly grew, soon accompanied by a tidal wave that struck the Cape with a loud roar. It was all so horrific that Diluc's mind struggled to comprehend it.
The sky was now filled with other human-like figures that moved at frenzied speeds, like a cloud of hornets that had been greatly angered. The Sustainer seemed to be their leader, directing them as they began going about their sacred task. Innumerable red cubes appeared out of nowhere, and began to coagulate around various parts of the scenery surrounding them.
Somehow, Diluc knew that the world he had always known - his home - was about to be rewritten… and everything he had ever done would be erased without a trace.
"Why are you doing this?!"
Jean fell to her knees and screamed at the white-haired figure still floating above them.
Jean's face was red, and tears were streaming down it. Perhaps the reality of it was finally setting in for her. Regardless, Diluc looked on as she stood bravely before the one who would destroy everything. He couldn't bring himself to interject, no matter what.
And surprisingly, The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles responded to that lowly woman.
"The people of this world have found the forbidden knowledge. This world cannot continue as long as someone knows."
"I don't get it! What the hell is this?!" Jean screamed, starting to lose her cool.
But The Sustainer merely looked away from her.
"Come on, we don't have time for this! Get to the portal, now!" Dain shouted as another massive meteor landed in the distance.
He grabbed Jean's arm and pulled her up, then started running toward the portal, with the three others hot on their trail. Diluc's heart sank as they passed underneath the hovering white-haired goddess, but to his shock, she didn't move to stop them. He couldn't take the time to ponder why, though.
At full sprint, the group reached the portal, and threw themselves into it. Almost instantly, they were lying on the ground at Musk Reef. The small island had been battered by the tidal wave from earlier, but it had mostly receded now, leaving a few feet of muddy water behind.
Wasting no time, the group forced themselves through the knee-deep water towards the Spiral Abyss portal. Behind them, a massive meteor bore down on the country of Mond, which had been miraculously spared destruction up until then. Jean paused when she spotted it, but Diluc pushed her ahead.
They couldn't turn back now. There was nothing to go back to any longer.
"Get in! Hurry!" Kaeya yelled, his voice hoarse.
He stood by the portal as Dain and Aether jumped in first. Jean was next, and once Kaeya and Diluc were the only ones left, Diluc nodded, and they slipped inside, leaving behind their home for the final time.
The first thing Diluc noticed was the absolute silence. Coming from the maelstrom of noise outside, it was incredibly uncanny, driving home the fact that this place was far removed from the world above.
Dain's sigh of relief brought a bit of calm to everyone as they caught their breath.
"It appears we were just in time," he muttered in a low voice.
"Yeah, looks like we're trapped here, though," Kaeya said carelessly.
Diluc raised an eyebrow at the blue-haired man's tone, but didn't comment on that. Dain was next to speak.
"We won't be leaving. That was the plan from the start."
"Eh?" Jean said concernedly.
"Don't worry, the way forward remains. We must make our way to the lowest level now. Come."
Dainsleif gestured widely with his arms, then began heading for the stairs leading downward.
"But aren't there tons of monsters down there?" Aether said, not moving yet.
Indeed, everyone present was familiar with the nature of this place. It was completely overrun with every sort of evil monstrosity known to Teyvat. That fact was cause for concern, since they weren't sure how long this place could hold out against the assault of the Heavenly Ones, or when they might arrive.
"Ah yes, there were," Dain said with a smirk. "But no longer."
"What the hell?" Diluc replied to the blond man's cryptic words.
"This place is empty. Come and you will see. It serves no other purpose now than to lead us to our escape."
"I don't understand what you're saying," Jean said.
"Follow me, and I'll explain. I suppose it's time you knew more."
Everyone followed Dain hesitantly as he made his way down the grand staircase surrounded by the stars.
"Our destination is a place that I have seen before in my endless repetitions: it is an escape route from this world."
"Wha-?"
"It is the door I spoke of. It awaits us at the lowest level of the Abyss: Floor Thirteen."
"But there are only twelve floors! Everyone knows that!" Jean said, starting to doubt the man's veracity.
"Normally, you would be correct. However, this floor only appears once certain "requirements" have been fulfilled… Once The Sustainer has descended…"
"What? What's the point of that?" Kaeya said.
"I don't intend to assign a motive to those who created this situation, but perhaps it is a karmic "way out" for the gods - the creators of this world. Perhaps they believed that the existence of an escape would relieve them of the debt of their inhuman judgment. Hell, what do I know, though?" Dain finished with a look of irritation.
"You know too much, clearly," Kaeya shot back.
"How ironic coming from you, prince."
"WHA-?!" Kaeya's face was painted with utter shock, and a dangerous look flashed in his eye.
But Dain didn't give them time to ponder his words.
"This door requires a key to open… a very special key that was sealed away for generations."
No one interjected, so Dainsleif's explanation continued on as the group descended further and further into the dark. It was as he said, there were no monsters here. In fact, the place was completely barren, silent, and lifeless.
"That key is with us even now."
"Where?" Diluc asked.
"Traveler, I believe you found it some time ago, deep within a forsaken corner of The Chasm in Liyue. Even back then when we met, I felt its presence on you."
"Huh? Wait, so that seed…"
"Yes, it is the final part of an equation that spans generations."
"I don't understand any of this, what's going on?" Diluc said, as the conversation left him behind.
"You will see soon. Look, we've almost arrived."
Ahead was a staircase that looked different from the rest. It wasn't lit up at all, and descended into utter darkness. Even the light of the looming abyssal moon wasn't enough to show where it led.
Diluc felt uneasy. This felt wrong, like they were about to pull back the curtain to see the inner workings that no one should ever see. But still, this was their only option, so he followed Dain as he forged ahead.
Traveler lit up the stairs with a portable lantern as they descended further and further into the unknown, to a place that no one had ever been.
And soon, the stairs ended in a large, open room. The moon and stars weren't visible here, but tiny particles of light seemed to float in the very air surrounding them, casting an almost unnoticeable blue glow.
"This place is… huge," muttered Diluc.
Dainsleif continued ahead, crossing the expansive floor of the room, and gestured for Aether to follow. Soon, they reached a wall, barely visible at the edge of the lantern's glow.
No, it wasn't a wall. It was a door.
Jean gasped as the lantern illuminated a vast, intricately-decorated door, inlaid in the wall of the room. On it was a large design resembling a tree, with so many branches it would have been impossible to count them all. The carving of the tree alone stood taller than ten men head to toe, and the door went even higher still, out of reach of the lantern's meager light.
"This is it. At last, we meet again," Dain said in a low voice.
He placed his hand on the door appreciatively, like he was greeting an old friend.
How many times has he seen this before, I wonder?
Diluc's mind was filled with so many tangents he could barely think straight, but Dain spoke up again with an authoritative voice, brushing aside Diluc's thoughts.
"This door is the exit of this world. Once the key is placed, it will open. What lies beyond, though, that is a mystery to even me. I can only speculate, but perhaps it is the true world.
"Wait, so you've never even gone through it?" Kaeya grumbled.
"No. At least, this me has not."
"Then how can we know it's safe?" Jean asked softly.
"We can't know for certain, but this is our final option. Perhaps you'd rather go back outside?"
Dain's words were cold and logical, leaving no room for argument. He strolled away from the door, towards a large circular stone container that sat in the middle of the massive room. The group followed. Once the light revealed more, they could see that it was filled with dirt, and covered with extravagant carvings.
"Dirt, all the way down here?" Diluc mused.
"This is the "key hole", and the container for the Tree of Eternity."
Dain gestured towards it, and Aether stepped forward. The others stared at the scene in confusion. With shaking hands, Aether pulled out the old, withered seed from his pack, only to find it completely different in appearance.
It glowed with a multi-colored light, illuminating the stern faces of the group of five. The light was so intense that it even obscured the seed's true appearance.
"Plant it, Traveler. Bring our journey to an end."
Aether climbed upon the planter, and carefully kneeled at the center, his knees sinking slightly into the soft, cool dirt. He pulled back some of that soil with one hand, and gently placed the shining seed into the little hole he had made. Then, he covered it with the soil, giving it a small pat. He stood, and stepped back down from the stone container.
Then, it happened.
The tiny blue lights floating in the air suddenly began to glow with the intensity of countless tiny stars, and the designs on the sides of the planter lit up in rainbow colors. They flowed from it like water, lighting the floor, and eventually the walls with every color that the eye could perceive.
The sudden illumination revealed more intricate designs covering every wall. The carvings told of unknowable stories from time immemorial, and the floating particles of light danced as if they were alive. Then, it began to grow.
"This is…"
The red-haired man didn't finish his thought.
At first, it was only a tiny sapling, weak and unremarkable. However, before their eyes, that tiny tree grew at an impossible speed, filling the base of the container perfectly. The tree spread, with countless branches reaching out in every direction as if to embrace everything.
The group watched on in awe as the tree assumed its true form.
Now a massive, perfectly-shaped tree, it towered over them, sparkling like it was made of some otherworldly substance. But it still wasn't finished, for now, it had to bear its fruit.
Something completely incomprehensible began as the five gazed upward: each branch grew a small, pulsating point of light. Those points grew into something roughly the size of a human head. But describing their true appearance was nearly impossible.
Each fruit looked something like a miniature portal, tiny windows to places unknown. Each one showed a different scene, some familiar, and some completely foreign and unknowable. Suddenly, with a reverent tone, Dainsleif began to speak.
"These fruits are the endless possibilities of this world given form. Each one has always existed, and always will. And I… am the Bough Keeper of this tree."
Diluc was too overwhelmed to speak. He stared at the man before him, the man that knew everything from the start. He felt a sense of awe and fear in the presence of that terrifying man.
"This… can't be possible…" he muttered.
"This is the truth, my friend. Every world you see before you is one that has already happened. There are no mistakes or accidents within this world, only combinations of preordained events repeating ad infinitum."
As Dain spoke those terrible words, he drew near to the massive door, now illuminated in all its intimidating glory. His hand reached for it, but before he could push it open, Diluc spoke up desperately, stalling for time. For some reason, he wasn't quite ready to see what was on the other side yet.
"Wait! So whatever is on the other side of that door is different?"
"Yes, that is certain. However… I'm sorry, my friend, I can tell you no more."
"What?! I don't understand! Why are you being so obtuse now of all times?!"
"I will not make your decision for you, my friend. Your will must remain intact… that was my promise."
Diluc was growing angry, and started to speak up again, but he was interrupted by something that no one had expected to hear.
"STOP! Don't open it yet!"
Every head whirled in unison towards the sound of that shrill, girlish voice, and saw a tiny figure floating towards them hurriedly.
"No fuckin' way…" Kaeya muttered.
"Paimon?!"
Next:
Episode 26: A Story, From the First Page