Honestly, I hadn't written anything FF for a really long time. My writing is nothing special. I'm just here trying to rant a bit about how unsatisfied I was with Inazuma's archon quest, or rather the later parts of it. That said, this is going to be a very, very and I mean very short story. Maybe about 10-15k words?

I can't write anything action related. I can't create anything dramatic. All I can do is write a bit of dialogue and hope that's it can give an idea of a direction. Who knows, maybe someone might try their hand at a novelization of their idea of a better story.

I owe absolutely nothing except for the ideas this story has.

"Repeat after me, one, two, three, three two one."

Lumine grunted, she wasn't that out of it. She had a headache, but it wasn't that bad. She could easily make out the figure in front of her. The girl wondered how she ended up back at the Grand Narukami shrine. She certainly had no plans of ever visiting such a difficult location again unless there was good reason.

"Yae? Why am I here? And how did I get here?" She asked her, ignoring everything else. The blonde closed her eyes and did some thinking. "I remember that I was in the factory and...oh damn it!"

She shot back up only to stumble. The girl would have fallen had Paimon not assisted her.

"It seems that you remember what happened. Good, I would dislike having to waste time refreshing your memory." Yae smirked. The head priestess gestured for the two to follow her, and so they did.

Yae led them to a living room in the shrine where they took a seat.

"From the looks you are giving me, you have questions. Why not ask them? Or do you just wish to stare at me?"

Her smugness really rubbed her the wrong way, but Lumine ignored it in favor of the more important questions. "So what happened? The last thing I remember was being the delusion factory destroying the place, and then Scaramouche appeared. We had a conversation, but then just as I was about to fight him, my vision started to go blurry and that was it."

"Yeah! Paimon was so afraid back then. You suddenly feinted without warning. If Yae hadn't appeared, you would have died back then."

"You saved me?" The blonde girl raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Do I need a reason to?" There was a brief pause as she giggled. "But yes, I did save you for a reason. You are most useful to me alive."

"Great, at least you are being honest about using me." Lumine crossed her arms as she spoke bitterly. "Better than some people here."

"You speak of Kamisato Ayaka do you not?"

"That and Sangomiya Kokomi. I'm not stupid. Ever since I arrived in Inazuma, a good portion of the events I went through was related to Ayaka. Her retainer was there to greet me when I first arrive. He then tested me. When I still refused, Ayaka agreed to help me, but only if I were to visit three people who had their visions taken from them. Everything was clearly meant to guilt trip me into helping her."

"Oh? That's surprising. If you knew that, why did you still help her?"

"Because I have questions that I believed that the Raiden Shogun has the answers to. If I helped her, I would get what I want as well. So it wasn't like there was anything to lose. That said, I am still a little bitter that she didn't even apologize for trying to manipulate me. I know that she's not evil, and I understand her motivations, but I'm still a bit bitter about it. That said, I still find her a lot better than Kokomi."

"You sound like you really dislike her."

"Dislike is a strong word, but I suppose I don't have too high of an opinion of her. When I entered the resistance, I noticed that there were a lot of things people were constantly praising her off. Making her come off as this omniscent individual who knew everything and could do absolutely nothing wrong at all. Yet my time in the resistance made me think otherwise. She's smart and capable, but nowhere near the level that everyone makes her out to be. If she were as smart as they claimed her to be, the resistance wouldn't have been dancing in the palms of the Fatui the whole time, and a friend of mine wouldn't have died."

Teppei was dead, and a part of her knew it was unfair to pin all the blame on her. Lumine knew it wasn't entirely her fault, but she held some responsibility as the leader. Ignorance was no excuse for what was allowed to happen.

Yae let out a playful laugh in response to her words. "You still have more to say, don't you?"

"Off course I do. Things like cultist infiltrating her ranks and doing horrible things behind her back. Soldiers telling her and Gorou to get lost when they ask for their delusions made me think that she is either unaware of what's going on in her army, or that she has no real control over them."

"Well, since you are going to be so critical of her, tell me then. Do you think the resistance under her leadership has any chance of succeeding?"

"Not a snowball's chance in hell. While raiding the factory, I found evidence that the Fatui had been playing both sides. This whole war is being used to test their mass-produced delusions. The Fatui been working behind the scenes to extend the war so that Inazuma will be weakened over a long period of time, and the second reason is to obtain more data for their weapons. Kokomi is good, but nowhere near good enough to last this long without help."

"Yes, and now that the resistance has chased the Fatui out from their side, it won't be long before the resistance gets crushed. Without a shadowy helper, there is no longer anything stopping the Shogun's forces from crushing them."

"The resistance was already lacking supplies which was why Kokomi had to take up their offer despite knowing nothing about them. Also most of their man are suffering from the backlash of using the delusions last I saw them. Without the Fatui's help, they will likely be forced into a defensive position where they can do nothing but hold out until they run out of supplies and that will be the end of them."

"Very good. It would be as you said. The resistance no longer has any hope of victory now that the Fatui has no more need of them. They have little supplies and their men's morale, and health conditions are in a terrible state. In fact, I have received news that the Shogun's forces are gearing up for another attack."

The news was a bolt out of the blue. The fairy companion was the first to recover from the shock. "Oh no! Lumine! We have to head back!" She flew up to her face and stomped her feet.

"I would recommend against wasting your time on something so pointless. Even if you were to return, there would be little you could do. At most you would just be delaying the inevitable." Yae said as she poured herself a cup of tea. "That said, some good has come out of this. The resistance hasn't just served the Fatui well, it's also served me well."

"Served you well? Paimon doesn't get it. What are you saying?"

"You still haven't asked the question of why I saved you. Aren't you going to do that?"

"Wasn't it because you needed me for something?"

"Yes, but you didn't ask what I needed you for."

Lumine frowned, she was in mood to play games. Taking a breath to calm herself, she then asked. "Alright, so what do you need me for?"

"To deal with the root of the problem directly. Tell me Traveler, what do you think is the real cause of all the problems in Inazuma at present?"

"It's the Shogun isn't it? All this started because of her vision hunt and Sakoku degree." Paimon was the one to answer.

Yae grinned in mild amusement at her answer before turning to her other guest. "What about you? Do you feel the same way?"

"I acknowledge that it has made the Shogun's decision has made life difficult here, but…unlike Paimon, I don't think she is the cause of the real problems."

"Good. You are capable of thinking clearly unlike her." Yae nodded. Her jab at Paimon made the fairy angry, but she ignored her outburst and continued speaking. "But if she is not the real problem, then what is?"

"I would like to say that it's the Fatui, but I have a feeling it's more complicated than that."

"Oh…" Yae's eyes widen slightly. "And why is that?"

"I didn't just go along with everything Ayaka had told me. While it is true that she did tell me to visit some people who had lost their vision to guilt trip me, I also took the time to look around and talk to some of the locals. I heard from them their stories of how the Shogun was never like this a few years ago. People under her rule were happy and free. Though people talked about how emotionless she seemed, it didn't change the fact that they often talked about good life was back then. Yomiya mentioned how things were so different just a few years ago. The accounts I hear from them don't match up with I'm seeing in present day. Unless the Fatui were capable of brainwashing a god, I can't see how her attitude has changed so much Maybe the Fatui were the trigger, I don't really know. But I do think they are in some ways responsible for this."

"Ugh…" Paimon rubbed her forehead. "Well now that you mention it, some of the people we met like that merchant at the docks, or that woman from Liyue did say how things were much better back then before the Shogun initiated the vision hunt degree."

"I asked Ayaka what led to the vision hunt, and she admitted that she doesn't know anything. It's because of this lack of knowledge that I can't say that the Shogun is the real problem here." There was a brief pause as Lumine narrowed her eyes at Yae. "But I have a feeling that you do."

"And what led you to think that?"

"You saved me in the delusion factory. A place far away from the shrine. You arrived in the nick of time to save me from a Harbinger. And Ayaka had mentioned once how it's almost you can be in multiple places at the same time. Unless you are working with the Fatui, it just doesn't make sense unless you the ability to be all seeing or something like that."

Her response made Yae chuckle. "Is that what you think? Contrary to popular belief, I am neither omniscient nor am I some omnipresent being. That said, you are right in saying that I do have my ways of keeping track of things despite living here."

"Can you get on with it? Tell me what's really going on? And whose side are you on?"

"My loyalties lies with the Electro Archon."

"Then isn't saving me technically betraying her?"

"Not at all. After all, it wasn't the Electro Archon herself who ordered your arrest."

"Excuse me?" Lumine could have sworn she heard wrongly. "I'm pretty sure she was the one who ordered my arrest."

"It does seem that way doesn't it? But I assure you it isn't. Tell me, you surely must have heard of what a body double is?"

The Traveler's eyes widen slightly. "You aren't saying that…the Raiden Shogun that we met is an imposter?"

"The situation is much more complicated than that. However, you are not necessarily wrong. The true Raiden Shogun is currently unavailable. I'm sure upon studying some of the notes you acquired during your raid on the delusion factory, you must have noticed that the Fatui have sunk their claws into the top-ranking members of both sides. There are several people here who betrayed the Shogun. Just as there are those who are using Sangonomiya Kokomi for their own agenda."

Lumine frowned as she digested the information. It made sense. No matter how powerful the Fatui were, there should have been limits to how much they could move around or do while in another country. It only made sense that they couldn't have been working alone.

Almost as if reading her thoughts, Yae spoke up. "I thought you should know that they are working alongside members of a cult dedicated to the revival of Orobashi, but then again I think you are aware of that."

"If you know all of this, then why haven't you done anything yet?"

Yae just shrugged in response as a shrine maiden came walking in with a tray of snacks. She placed it on the table in front of them before leaving. The head priestess took a stick of dango and ate it first before answering. "Because there was nothing I could have done. By the time I realized what had happened, it was too late. I could not tell anyone because there was no point. I had no way of securing the evidence to prove my point, that and I was also practically a prisoner in my own home."

"What do you mean by that?" Lumine asked.

"The Fatui had been doing a stake out at the shrine for quite a long time. Sometimes they posed as tourists, other times they were more opened. They suspected that I was on to them for some time now but wanting to avoid a diplomatic scandal they did nothing. The second reason was that I couldn't just tell anyone, as they likely wouldn't have been to do anything. The Fatui has their hands on even the highest ranking members. Who could I trust with this information?" The way Yae sighed as she said it was so exaggerated that Lumine couldn't help but feel annoyed, nevertheless she listened on. "I wanted to avoid doing things to draw their attention. Had they decided that keeping me alive wasn't worth the effort, they would have just gone through with killing me to keep their dirty secret."

"Yet you risked it all by saving me."

"A price I hoped was worth it." She shrugged in response. "With the jig up, the Fatui no longer needs the resistance, and will now devote its power to helping the Shogun's forces from the shadows. If their goal is what I think, they stand to gain more with helping them crush the resistance."

Lumine took a moment to digest all this information. She needed to remain calm and sort out her thoughts. The first was that the Fatui were the ones behind everything. The Fatui had been playing both sides to extend the war for their own purposes. The resistance would be defeated eventually even with her help. So, what was the best thing to do?

She racked her brains but couldn't come up with a solution. In the end there was only one thing to do. Letting out a sigh, she opened her mouth and asked. "So, what's your plan?"

Upon hearing her question, the head priestess gave a teasing smile. "A very simple plan. To put an end to this pointless war, you must save the real Shogun, and for that you need help."

Looking up from the war table, Sangonomiya Kokomi had to do everything she could to stop herself from sighing. The men around her were weary and tired. She could not bring herself to look weak, least it further dragged morale down. Several days had passed since the raid on the delusion factory. She wished she could have gone with the Traveler, but her position wouldn't allow it.

"Looking back on things, maybe I should have gone with her." She shook her head, trying to clear out unnecessary thoughts. But it wasn't so easy. She was concerned with the whereabouts of the Traveler. When she arrived to secure the location, it was already over. The factory and its contents had mostly been destroyed, and whatever else that wasn't was seized. Yet everyone had already vanished without a trace. Even worse was that all contact with Lumine had ceased after that.

If that wasn't bad enough, their enemies suddenly launched another vicious attack. As if they had been waiting for this opportunity. The momentum had changed drastically. Now instead of constant victories, they were suffering on a loss after loss.

It had gotten bad enough that her own soldiers were requesting the usage of the delusions despite knowing the risk. Morale had fallen so much that if nothing was done soon, a mutiny might occur.

She had to do something to do something soon. After much planning, she had finally decided on a new strategy. A big victory was needed if she was to raise the morale of the resistance.

However, fate was not on her side.

"Your excellency!" A man came barging into the tent. "We bring dire news!"

"What is it?" She was dreading to hear the contents, but there was no other choice. What she heard however was a lot worse than she imagined.

"It's terrible! Fort Fujitou has fallen, and with it we have lost Yashiori Island."

Yeah, after playing both the archon quest and Kokomi's story quest, I'm sorry to say but I don't exactly like it. They keep trying to make Kokomi come off as some omniscient strategist who is perfect at everything, but it feels like the whole world just bends over in order to make her look smart. All her so called brilliant achievements were done off screen. The only brilliant war strategy she did was during her debut at the end of the first half of the quest and even that wasn't exactly mind blowing. The only other smart thing she did was handling laws to deal with corrupted merchants, but that didn't have anything to do with the war, so it's not counted.

I feel like that without the Fatui playing both sides and sabotaging the war efforts, the resistance would have soon collapse.