A/N: I've decided to give this fanfic a bit more attention, after playing MGR myself. And seeing reviews surprised that I decided to focus a plot into this mess, why not? I've already planned something out for it. I don't think this'll be as expansive as my other fic, but I wanted to give this one a shot anyway. To be fair, I didn't expect this to blow up the way it did.
Disclaimer: You already know.
[Lumine, the Cyborg Swordswoman]
The Abyssal Castle where she stayed was one that stood over a mountain in the Abyss, overlooking the realm and looming with an overbearing presence. It was as if the castle was not supposed to be there in this land, despite the castle being there for as long as the creatures of the Abyss walked the realm. And of course, being a castle there was plenty of space for a fighter such as the Princess to train herself.
She didn't expect to be more active, maneuvering through each of the Hydro attacks her sparring partner shot at her. They were currently sparring in the castle's courtyard with other Abyss Order members watching. They were impressed with her moves – however it was disappointing to Lumine. The Hydro slashes were too slow, she was moving too slow to her liking, and her chest still hurt from the absolute beating she received from that one automaton...LQ-84i, was it? Lumine grunted as she took a step back, feeling her chest spike in pain again from overexertion. They've been fighting for the past few hours now, so it was starting to take a toll on her.
"My liege, you are weak. Perhaps you require some rest before you continue training for your battle against the gods." The Abyss Herald said to the Princess, bowing with respect. She shakily stood up as she clutched her sword...this simple dress hampered her combat. To everyone's surprise, she slashed the bottom half of the skirt of the dress, showing off more of her legs and at the same time freeing up her feet for greater mobility.
"No...again." She grits her teeth as she stands up, ready for another round. This makes the audience she had made excited, truly a role model for the Order. The Abyss Herald says nothing as he readies the Hydro attacks once more, sending down slashes and Hydro waves at her. Compared to before, she dashed ahead moving much faster. The Abyss Herald was shocked, not expecting the Princess moving much faster on her feet. He only had some time to summon a blade to block the Princess' blade, the metal clashing against each other and creating sparks.
He could see fire in her eyes, one speaking of rage and spite. Whatever the reason, this made her deadlier than before.
Lumine soon found a rapid rhythm to follow her attacks against her sparring partner, slowly overwhelming the Herald in a flurry of steel. The Abyss Herald did its best to keep up with the Princess, but his attacks were being parried. Yes, even the ones made of pure water was being deflected by her sword. With an enraged cry, Lumine did one final kick upwards – sending the Abyss Herald towards the sky. As she launched herself up to take the final blow, her vision began to sharpen...as if time had slowed. She swung her sword wildly like hacking a dummy to bits, before she did one final slash and turned the Abyss Herald into a thousand pieces. Lumine landed on the ground, putting the blade away as the Herald dissipated – returning to the void to reform sometime later.
Little did she know, she had experienced Blade Mode for the first time in her life.
The Abyss Mages and other Heralds that were watching cheered on her victory, even if one of their own had been vanquished. It was a spectacle they didn't expect from the Princess, and it had given them more reason to fear and respect their leader. Once that battle has been done, they simply returned to their duties – conquering other individuals or harassing some poor adventurer in the overworld.
Lumine gasped as she went down on one knee, feeling her chest ache from the overexertion of the physical activity. How the pain managed to go beyond the dream is still a mystery to her. Despite this, she found enough energy to head back into the castle to rest. Roaming the Abyss castle hallways, lit by purple torches, Lumine passed by the smithy. Here, Abyss creatures made weapons and gadgets used by the Abyss Order, whether it be materials, tomes or armor. The Princess was here for the latter.
An Abyss creature approached her and bowed. "What brings you to our domain, Your Highness?"
She looked at her fingers before answering it. "I wish for armor to be made." The Abyss creature nodded as it showed some of its pieces that it had made.
"I have some armor that might suit you, my Princess. Do you wish to be invulnerable to physical attacks? Or perhaps become faster than the Four Winds?" The creature asked. Lumine inspected each piece, feeling the armor with her hands. All of these were high quality, no doubt...but none of them were the right set that she was looking for.
However, she did remember her dream. The strange black armor that she wore against her fight with LQ-84i. She had never felt so fast and powerful before...and this was without magical enhancements.
"Do you have parchment that I may use?" Lumine asked the creature. It simply gave a bow before getting a piece and offering it to her. "I will do whatever you may ask of me."
The Princess smiled as she began sketching, these Abyss creatures have their uses. Surprisingly she had remembered what it looked like, as upon finished her sketch it was near photographic. The creature inspected it before looking at her with barely hidden shock. "M-My liege! T-this is far more advanced than any of the creations I've made. Such a creation would require much sacrifice...!"
"If it means sacrificing my own body, then so be it." Lumine answered without hesitation. "There's a greater opponent that I must face...my own body can do so much..." This seemed to shock the creature even more as it did a double take between the design and the Princess.
"I... It will be done, my liege." The creature bowed before taking the schematics. "This will take more than a moon's cycle because of its design..."
Lumine nodded, turning for the door. "I can wait." She said before she left the smithy – leaving the creature bewildered as to why the Princess would have such disregard for her own body.
Back with the twin sister, she simply stripped off her dress and went to bed. Too exhausted to even put on a nightgown as she let slumber take over, feeling the tiredness of the sparring match earlier take over...
[…]
[[Welcome back, cyborg.]] LQ-84i greets Lumine as they meet once again in the same street in the same city (from what she learned before she took on the UG again: Abkhazia). Lumine, now as the person she replaced: Raiden; took a fighting stance. [[Ready to die?]]
"Round 2." She answered back, narrowing her eyes, as LQ-84i jumped off into the rooftop once more and howled, signaling their second battle.
The UG leapt off the rooftop like before. Unlike before, he started with a different attack – throwing the heat knives at her. Like before, Lumine blocked the knives thrown at her before using this slight opening to attack – slashing at the UG. His health was slowly going down with each slash. When the UG's body glowed orange, she backed away and readied to dodge. However, she didn't expect him to attack a split second after – forcing her to block the tackle. To her surprise, it blocked the tackle as the robotic canine leapt away to recover. She went after him, jumping up and doing a strike downwards, letting gravity aid in her attack. This forced LQ's health down to 64%. The UG's tail glowed orange as it readied its next attack. Lumine raised her sword to parry the first two strikes (a horizontal slash and a horizontal circular slash), however she didn't react fast enough to the third strike which the UG leapt upwards, spinning midair before slashing vertically downwards. Lumine cried out in pain as her body was cut open by the chainsaw, coughing out blood as she hit the ground. 2.6% left in health...not good.
[[Disappointing.]] The UG taunted before delivering a final blow. However, Lumine still had enough energy left to parry the strike in the last few seconds, enabling her to deliver a counterattack swiftly – sending the UG's health down to 49%. That did something to him somehow as he leapt away from her and landed on the wall.
[[A savvy warrior uses his resources to his advantage. Backup required.]] He spoke before howling. Suddenly three men in strange armor and wearing battle masks leapt out from the other side of the wall and encircled the beaten cyborg, machetes drawn. Lumine wiped the blood from her lips as she blocked a strike from one of the grunts, slashing him open. She didn't expect to suddenly see a bright blue spinal stick out from his cut-up body. Instinctively, she reached for it and suddenly squeezed, crushing the spinal cord in her hands.
Almost immediately, her health shot back up to one hundred percent. She had never felt more energized after partaking that...spinal thing. Her body was like brand new. Lumine sliced up the other two cyborgs, taking their spines before going back to face the UG. "Come here, you mutt!" She cried out.
The UG howled once again before leaping off the wall to face her once more. Suddenly music kicked off in the background. Lumine had no idea where that came from...then again this is a dream after all.
TIME TO LEAVE THEM ALL BEHIIIIND, BREAKING OUT OF MY PAIN!
LQ's attacks came more frequent as he threw heat knives at her before following it up with the pounce attack. [[I will obliterate your consciousness!]] He cried out before lunging at her.
NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAIINED!
Lumine deflected the knives away before she took the tackle head on, blocking the chainsaw with her sword and leaving them in a lock. The chainsaw rattled her blade, sending sparks everywhere. The Princess gave out a battle cry before pushing the chainsaw away and performing a combo, slashing at his body with the same flurry of attacks she did with the Abyss Herald before delivering a kick that sent the UG staggered.
I'M MY OWN MASTER NOW!
Lumine felt Blade Mode activate once more as she cut LQ-84i to bits, screaming with energy as she finally did one last slash – cutting the canine to pieces and returning back to normal time.
She panted hard, her breast rising up and down rapidly as she caught her breath. The fight was intense and nothing like any other fight Teyvat has to offer. Mainly because she didn't rely on elements or any special gadgets – just her and her sword. She sheathed her blade, finding the sheath behind her back as she suddenly heard ringing in her ear. Lumine pressed two fingers against her ear to try and stop the ringing, only to answer the call. It was LQ-84i, despite him being cut up to pieces.
[[Congratulations. You are now able to progress with the training program.]] He said, which Lumine raised an eyebrow and looked at the chopped-up bits of his body.
"How are you able to still speak when you're dead?" She looked at the body, confused.
[[In this world, artificial intelligence is able to save unless you directly delete the AI. Should my body be dismembered, I will still live on.]] The UG responded. [[Ending simulation...]]
The street began to fall away as her dream shifted back to the void, returning her back to her regular clothes. Lumine looked around, slightly confused. What did the UG mean by simulation? Was her dream an actual simulation all this time?
"Not bad for your second try." Samuel showed up again, the samurai standing in front of her. "I was half expecting the pup to slice you in two."
Lumine gave a glare, crossing her arms. "Are you always this snarky?"
Sam laughed, shaking his head. "Call it old habits." He suddenly holds a tablet in his hand. "I'll just look for the next session, you can head back if you want."
She shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm ready with whatever you throw at me." She answered, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Sam gave a shrug. "Alright then."
As the Brazilian scrolled, Lumine decided to take a seat – her mind suddenly crossing back to Aether...
What happened to him that could possibly urge him to do what Sam told her about? Where did this sudden power come from? And...overthrowing her as Abyss Princess? That was something she didn't expect at all from him...it honestly scared her to think Aether now sees his own sister as an obstacle rather than his final goal to complete the voyage, no...conquest, across Teyvat.
"Ah, there we go." Sam's voice cuts through her train of thought. The void shifts once more as her next battle prepares itself, forming a factory rooftop. The samurai looks around before he starts to leave. "Good luck~" He winks at her as he disappears. She gives an annoyed huff at him in return.
Lumine stands up, looking down to see the same black cyborg body before. She approaches the rooftop cautiously, holding the sword in her hand tightly as she looked for her next opponent.
"I was wondering who arrived." A seductive feminine voice came from the side, making Lumine turn to see a woman standing by the railing. She wore a large jacket that covered most of her torso with a weird hump on her back. Her salmon pink hair was swept to the left, covering the left side of her face. Below the jacket, she seemed to wear some type of clothing that was very tight on her – showing off the curvy hips and legs. "Princess of the Abyss...I've never met anyone like you before." She spoke, having an accent that reminded Lumine of Fontaine.
"Lumine." She introduced herself, taking a stance. "What is the name of my opponent before I take you down?"
She clicked her tongue. "Tsk, tsk. Temper, temper, mademoiselle~" She teased before her eyes locked unto hers. Something about this woman made the Princess blush for some reason, and that made her smirk. "I am Mistral – the cold wind of France."
"Are you some kind of wind deity?" Lumine asked, a bit confused. This world must still have its gods, right? The woman seemed to laugh as she slowly approached the twin.
"Oh, non, non~. I come from an elite group of killers called the Winds of Destruction." Mistral explained, her hands on her hips as she walked alluringly. "I understand the confusion, knowing that your world has its gods and goddesses."
The twin widened her eyes. "H-How did you know that?" She wasn't even in the same world as her!
Mistral gave a smile as she beckoned to something. A black metal ball with three arms approached the mercenary with its two arms acting as legs. "Technologies has its wonders, no? In any case, we are not here to simply mingle." She takes off the jacket, letting fall to the floor. Her torso had some kind of metal attached to her back, perhaps some kind of armor? The small spherical robot that came over was suddenly slammed to the ground, its arms ripped away by Mistral.
"You've come here to train your fighting skill – by fighting us." She chuckled, suddenly putting the two arms together – stiffening like a pole. "How amusing. No doubt it was Monsieur Samuel's idea." Suddenly more of those three-armed robots showed up, crawling up the walls and pillars of the factory. A group of them latched on to Mistral, suddenly detaching their arms and reattaching to Mistral. Each arm connecting to her, she felt it to her spine which gave her a jolt. She gasped, feeling the arms calibrate before they answered to her call – moving as if Mistral had suddenly grown 14 extra arms.
All the while Lumine watched with disturbed fascination. Never has she seen someone with this many arms before, nor has she seen someone use said arms to make a weapon – two knives on each end to make some type of spear-like polearm.
Mistral smirked. "Care to dance, mademoiselle~? I'll give you the time of your life~!"
Lumine took a battle stance and stared her down. She had a feeling this fight will take more than a few tries to beat...
[Aether Armstrong]
"Traveler...are you alright? You weren't yourself back there."
Paimon looks at the blonde adolescent standing by the pillar of the main house in the Serenitea Pot. They decided to stay here for the night to rest after helping out Zhongli. Apparently that one creature that he fought beforehand was Azhdaha, one of the oldest living beings in Liyue. Used to be a friend of Morax's, but now a shell of his former benevolent self and just angry at the Geo Archon.
Aether did not answer the fairy, instead contemplating on what he had in mind with his world. He looked at the small brown stick that he held in his hand – never in his life did he smoke...but he had this urge to do so. With a Flaming Flower Stamen, he used its fire properties to light the stick in his hand before he put it in his mouth, breathing in the smoke. It...oddly smelled good. Despite the fumes in his lungs, he felt at ease. After puffing out a few more puffs, he turned to Paimon.
"Me? I'm fine." He answered. "Just thinking." His statement did little to calm Paimon however, as she continued asking.
"Thinking about what...?" Paimon's eyes were concerned, but there was also something else in her expression that confused Aether. It's like as if she was scared of him.
"Did you ever notice something about Teyvat's people?" He asked back, turning towards the fairy. She was a bit confused at that statement and tilted her head. "W-What do you mean? The only problem with Teyvat right now is the Fatui messing up things."
Aether shakes his head, puffing out more smoke. "True. But there is something I noticed." He looks towards the empty field on the floating rock they were on. "It's too dependent."
"What?" Paimon asked, her confusion growing.
"Do you remember what the Cataclysm was about, Paimon?" The Traveler asked. "It wasn't simply about a nation that was going too powerful for its own good, that the gods needed to snuff it out. It was Celestia, envious of its people that can run without a god, that started the whole tragedy." He stepped away from the pillar, standing in the porch of the main mansion.
"Heavenly principles? Hah! They fear change, Paimon." The fairy watched with fear as Aether continued his revelation. "Every single nation you go, it's always Barbatos this, Rex Lapis that, Shogun almighty..." He crushed the cigar in his hand. "It's all bullshit."
"A-Aether...what are you saying?" Paimon floated away slowly, scared at the determined look on his face. He wasn't here for his sister anymore, whatever gave him those...nanomachines, as he called it, was slowly corrupting his mind.
"You wouldn't understand." He sighed, letting the ashes fall down from his hand. "I've had a dream...a world where humans were the dominant species of the planet. No gods, no Abyss Order, no fucking Celestia. We thrived, using only our intellect, our skill and our might together as a race."
Aether recalled the dream he had when he first got the nanomachines. It was full of wonders, things grander than anything Teyvat had ever offered. Technology was more advanced than anything the Traveler could comprehend, and for once – death is no longer a final destination, now a mere setback to what the human mind and body can truly be capable of with the help of human inventions.
"I didn't get this power for free..." He takes off his gloves, showing the nanomachines form the black metallic armor on his skin. "It was given to me by a dreamer like myself. True power comes at a price – and Teyvat needs to change, whether they like it or not."
"B-But what about the innocent people who enjoy their lives that way?" Paimon questioned. "Aether, you don't necessarily have to fight the gods just to get your dreams."
He laughed, a low-pitched laugh filled with malice and ambition. That scared her even more. "You don't get it, do you? The gods always find a way to make sure they are in charge. When they see something they don't like; they deem it as something threatening their 'balance of life' and remove it. Everything that humanity needs to thrive on its own, the gods don't like it."
"As for the innocent who don't want change?" He scoffed. "They'll have to, one way or another. It's human nature to resist, but also to adapt to the situation at hand." He looks at Paimon with a grin. "Of course, from the looks of it, you don't want to change, don't you?"
"I don't want change that involves ruining Teyvat as a result!" She shouted back, her voice no longer the high-pitched immature childish tone. It held something else, like Paimon knew this was going to happen. "Are you even listening to yourself? You're going to start a war with Celestia with this stupid dream of yours, you're no better than the Abyss itself!"
"I know." His hand hardened with the nanomachines as he reared it behind him. "Which is why you need to go." His fist went towards the fairy like a freight train, ready to turn her into red paste.
"ENOUGH!" Paimon yelled as a bright light shimmered across her body, sending a shockwave across the whole area and suddenly sent Aether crashing towards the insides of the mansion. The adeptus Tubby who was supposed to keep the Serenitea Pot tidy and clean, yelped in terror and vanished, hoping that she can escape what was going to happen.
Aether grunted as he got himself out from the rubble from crashing through the front door of the mansion, furnishings now broken into bits. He gave an enraged huff – not at the broken mansion, but what was in front of her. "You..."
Paimon was no longer standing there, instead an older looking woman with similar clothes to Paimon with the same halo. Her eyes were no longer the innocent blue, now showing golden hues of sadness and determination. She shined with a soft aura – similar to that of a god's.
"I wanted to believe you were better than her. I wanted to believe you can do what your sister wanted you to do without harm. I wanted to believe you were my true friend. But I was wrong...my Master was right. You and your sister...are a threat to this world's balance – which is why you need to go." 'Paimon' spoke, using the words he used at her as building up some kind of energy attack in her hands.
Aether stood up and grinned evilly. "You chose wrong then." His eyes seemed to glow as he readied a stance. "I should've let you drown in that lake when I got the chance."
The apprentice god's fists clenched with pain as tears poured from her eyes. The audacity for him to say that... No, he was no longer her friend anymore. Her determination to defeat this madman grew stronger, as two swords sprouting from the energy she formed in her hands. "Damn you!" She cursed as they charged at each other, no longer two friends but two individuals with opposing ideals.
A/N: Le gasp, Paimon swears.