"…and that's all I know," Ei said morosely, arms wrapped around knees tucked up to her chest as she soaked alongside her companion in the hot spring bath. "I found her soon enough. She's meditating in the Plane of Euthymia. She will not speak to me, and if she can hear my words, she shows no sign."
"No great loss, if you ask me," came Yae's ruthless response as she languidly sipped sake from a sakazuki. "I say dispose of her and be done with it."
"Yae!" Ei replied, aghast.
"You know that I've never liked her," Yae answered, the slightest hint of resentment creeping into her voice. "It was hard, you know. Knowing that you were gone. Knowing that I might not see you again in my lifetime… Even with a lifetime as long as mine, it is a drop in the sea when compared to Eternity. And if that was not enough, there she was, wearing your face with such coldness. Sharing only terse, aloof words with me on the rare occasions when she deigned to speak to me at all. A constant reminder of what our friendship had come to."
Ei had the grace to look guilty, "I'm sorry, Yae. It was never my intention to hurt you. On the contrary, I'd hoped to make Inazuma a place where no one would ever have to be hurt again…"
"Well, we have the Traveler to thank for shaking you out of that particular rut," Yae replied without much sympathy. "But to return to the issue at hand – is it really so much a problem for you to be without your double for a while? Personally, I'm pleased to see you out and about so often."
"It's irritating," Ei complained. "If I return to Euthymia to meditate, I leave the body vacant and dead, sure to alarm any who happen upon it. If I attempt to meditate within this body, I'm overwhelmed with sensations; air moving against my skin, footsteps outside my chambers, the change of lighting with the passage of the hours… Euthymia offers perfect stillness."
Yae chuckled, "Poor baby, having to slum it in the real world with we poor misbegotten physical beings."
"Oh, hush," Ei answered crossly. "These aren't the only problems. I've had to take on the burden of the Shogun's duties while she's indisposed. I had no idea she had to deal with so many reports and requests."
"In fairness, the nation has just emerged from a time of great turmoil," Yae reminded her. "In times of peace, the Shogun's workload is much lighter."
"Yes, I realize that," Ei said quietly. The reminder of the suffering her people had recently endured was sobering. "Even so, I must continue. I must find the path to Eternity. It is as vital to my being as breathing is to the mortals, and I cannot forestall it forever. I need her. I need the Shogun's support. I need my shadow."
"I do understand," Yae reassured her. "This was never a path you should have been required to walk alone." Her gaze hardened. "But the Shogun – you have no need of her, specifically, and you never have. There are many who would be willing to support you, myself certainly not least of all. And, given what you've told me – that the Harbinger might have tampered with her… She could be a danger, to yourself and to your pursuit of Eternity."
"We don't know that!" Ei said, sharply. "The Shogun has been my faithful and loyal servant since the day of her creation. To reward her service with termination… it would be heartless beyond measure."
"Sometimes, the heartless action is the correct one," Yae answered softly. "You've seen what your heart can do. It lead you to shut out the world, to allow it to nearly fall to ruin in your absence even while you searched for a way to keep it unchanged. Your heart urged you to release Kunikuzushi, and he in turn has caused untold suffering in his journey through life – even before the Fatui managed to do whatever they did to elevate him to the threat he is today. What if they provided him with a way to alter your shadow, as well?"
Ei was silent for some time. When she spoke again, it was with clear reluctance. "I will… consider it. But only as a last resort. Only once we know for certain that she has been corrupted."
"So stubborn," Yae sighed. Then she smiled affectionately. "But stubbornness suits you. It doesn't always work to your favor – or mine. But I wouldn't have you any other way."
Ei smiled back at her friend. Inwardly, she once again thanked the mercies of fate that Yae was still willing to be her friend. The Kitsune pup she'd known had changed much over five hundred years. The playful mischief was still there, but gone was the innocence. Her mischief had an edge, now, cold and cynical, and it pained Ei to know that she likely was part of the reason. Cynicism aside, though, it was clear from Yae's warm gaze that Ei was still precious to her. Just as she was precious to Ei.
Ei wondered what she would have done if her contemplations of Eternity had, indeed, taken her beyond the end of Yae's life… With her mindset as it had been, could she have accepted the loss of yet another precious companion with stoicism? Or would it have finally broken her? The loss of her final remaining friend triggering the last, merciless blow to her spirit… Erosion finally rendering her unsuitable to her duties… It was frighteningly easy to imagine such an outcome. And thus crippled, would the Shogun have defied her programming to show her mercy? Or would she have proceeded to bring her existence to an end, as Ei herself had instructed her to?
It was difficult to imagine the Shogun she knew choosing mercy. Perhaps Yae was right. Perhaps her sense of obligation to the construct was misplaced.
Ei rubbed the water of the bath over her bare arms, enjoying the warmth, and then slouched down to soak more completely. The body was a marvel. While wearing it, it was impossible for her to distinguish it from the true body she'd shed so many centuries before. It was a perfect copy, every hair, every pore – no test known, mundane or magical, would be able to differentiate it from the original.
But it was not hers. It belonged to the Shogun. Ei's true body was unbreakable metal, hard and sharp; the Musou Isshin: once her weapon, now the home of her very being. While within it, she could see nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing, only her godly senses allowing her to comprehend the world around her. It was an alien and harsh existence, but a sacrifice Ei had been willing to make in her pursuit of Eternity.
Now, though, she was considering stealing the Shogun's body for her own. Even if doing so was not her intent, were she to destroy her double, it would be the end result. Ei found the prospect to be ghoulish in a way that offended her sensibilities to the core of her being. While wearing this body, its original owner slain, would she truly be able to enjoy any future baths? Could the sweets she loved taste like anything but bitter ash?
The Shogun was no mere construct. She was alive, and while the soul was a thing not even the Archons themselves could quantify or understand to any meaningful degree, Ei was certain that her former puppet possessed one. As did Kunikuzushi, twisted and foul as his might be. To deliberately bring life into the world came hand-in-hand with a kind of responsibility toward that life.
A responsibility toward life… In the days when her twin still lived, it had been Makoto's role to nurture the lives that inhabited Inazuma. She had often spoken with her of the difficulty and responsibility involved, and Ei had been secretly relieved that her sister was willing to shoulder the burden. She found her own role to be much more straightforward and easy to understand: to take the lives that must be taken, those that caused suffering and disharmony, those that imperiled the Eternity she and her sister sought.
After her sister's passing, Ei was lost. She had no idea how to govern a nation effectively – and worse, she would need to do so while maintaining the illusion that nothing had changed. It was absurd to imagine that the Archon of Eternity had come to an end, even if that was, indeed, the bitter reality of the situation. It was nothing short of a miracle that her sister had established the Tri-commission to assist with her governance; a few edicts was all it took to off-load most of the decisions she was expected to handle onto them.
It was not enough, however. The death of her sister had been the final straw. Eternity was of the utmost importance and it could no longer be delayed. Too many precious lives had been claimed by the passage of time, by the relentless grind of the teeth of erosion. She needed to pull herself from between its jaws, but she could not do so while the duties that lay with leading a nation remained hers. No distractions could be tolerated – and that meant that she, once her sister's shadow, would now need a shadow of her own.
In the end, Ei had needed to delve into secret arts forbidden by Celestia itself, but with research, experimentation, and diligence her double had at last opened her eyes. There had been no need for explanations; the puppet had been constructed with all the necessary knowledge already in place. Her cooperation was a given – and yet, curiously, the first words her copy uttered questioned her resolve, asked her if this was truly the path she desired. While Ei's affirmation had been immediate, the question should not have even been necessary. The puppet's mind should have mirrored her own; the puppet should already have known her resolve.
Over time, she became aware of the fact that her puppet was not, in fact, a flawless replica. Her personality was colder and her tolerance for frivolous things was much reduced. She was, however, adequate to her needs, and Inazuma enjoyed centuries of tranquility under her shadow's governance while Ei herself was able to contemplate Eternity with very few interruptions.
Five hundred years of loyal service… It would take more than a few days' disobedience before Ei would consider punishing her shadow as severely as Yae was suggesting.
Ei's lengthy contemplations must have outpaced Yae's patience, as the latter sighed in irritation. "Hmph. You're so boring when you brood. I believe I've tired of soaking." The Kitsune stood, rivulets of water spilling down her bare body as she stepped out of the bath.
"I do apologize, my friend," Ei attempted to soothe her. "I'm simply out of sorts today. I promise to make it up to you."
"See that you do," the High Priestess replied archly. "My time is very valuable, after all, and if I'm going to spend it with my dearest friend, I want to be able to enjoy it." While her back was turned and her words were harsh, Ei could see the upturned corner of her mouth. Familiarity assured her that the glimpse she'd caught of Yae's smile was no accident. She wanted to assure Ei that her feelings were not as hurt as she pretended.
It was not long after that Ei, too, pulled herself from the steaming waters. Enjoyable as they were, without a friend to share them with it was not long before the draw of duty overcame the draw of luxury.
Author's Notes
I consider Yae to be an interesting character in the Genshin Impact game. She's one of the few female characters that's NOT sweet and lovable. More than any other character, she's driven by self-interest. Much like the Kitsune of legend, Yae is primarily interested in keeping herself amused (often at the expense of others). Given that Ei is one of the few people Yae actually cares for, it makes sense to me that Yae would not be very fond of the Raiden Shogun – a shoddy, unfriendly copy of her best friend who is additionally guilty of the most unforgivable of crimes: being boring. So much sense, in fact, that I'm a bit surprised it never comes up in-game.
I've seen some debate as to the nature of the Raiden Shogun's body. She's frequently referred to by fans as a robot, though no such claim is ever made in-game. When fought as a boss, she transitions to a form in which puppet-like ball-joints are clearly visible – but given that that encounter takes place in a metaphysical plane where both the Shogun and Ei can exist simultaneously, it's questionable how literally we can take that – it may simply reflect the Shogun's own self-image.
I prefer to think that the body of the Raiden Shogun, while artificially created, is exactly the same as Ei's former body. Cut it open, and you will not find gears and circuitry within. Neither will you find the wood of a puppet. You would find blood and bone (at least, if blood and bone is what the original Ei possessed – who knows: she might have literally been made of lightning or something, for all we know). The goal was to create a double that would fool the world – even other gods. It seems to me unlikely that such individuals would be fooled by a deception only skin deep.
(Incidentally, I consider Albedo to likely be similar. While created from chalk, I doubt that he's some kind of literal animated chalk statue. I'm guessing he's flesh-and-blood, as well, transformed from chalk to a living human being by the magic that brought him to life.)