Chapter 4

Into the Storm

One month after the Stormterror crisis

Will stared at the silver shortsword that had come with him from Snezhnaya. The metal blade showed a clean reflection of his face, including the scar above his eye from where he'd been slashed during his escape. Suddenly, a series of memories resurfaced in his mind.

The full moon hung in the sky, slightly obscured by the multicolored aurora in the night sky. Loud bells rang out behind him, and he swore under his breath. Hidden under his buckskin tunic was the Prototype Cryo Delusion, the very same one wielded by the Tsaritsa during the Cataclysm five hundred years prior. Or so he'd been told, at least.

After the fall of Khaenri'ah, the Cryo Archon had ceased to use the Delusion any longer, despite all the power it gave her, and resigned to simply drawing on the element of Cryo, abandoning the focusing crystal in the process. Instead, she turned to researching the gift given to her by Celestia. As a result, the ancient relic had become an object of study, which in turn led to the mass production of the modern day Delusions which were given to every high ranking member of the Fatui.

Following the mass production of the Delusions, the original Delusion had been kept in the Zapolyarny Palace for many decades. That was, until a mere five minutes ago. He hadn't known why he thought to take the device, but he had done so regardless, but he was starting to regret that decision. He'd been completely undetected before picking up the device, but in his haste, he'd forgotten to check for security alarms. The moment he'd lifted the Delusion from it's pedestal, a loud alarm had sounded, and he'd barely escaped the Palace before the security gates slammed shut.

An arrow whizzed past his ear, snapping him back to reality as he felt the wind behind it flow through his hair. In an attempt to prevent any further projectiles from hitting him, he thrust his hands out at each of the two mountain peaks to his left and right. Two powerful gusts of wind shot from his palms, and moments later, there was a massive roar behind him as the windy blasts dislodged the snow, creating two equally terrifying avalanches which flooded the ravine.

"Think I might've been a bit too overzealous with that! I gotta move!" he said, as the billowing clouds of snow quickly chased after him. He lengthened his stride, but it still wasn't enough. The avalanche was gaining on him, and worse, a glance behind him alerted the boy to the presence of a Cryo Lawachurl he'd accidentally awoken in the escape.

"Crap!" he exclaimed, as the Lawachurl hurled a massive chuck of ice at him before being enveloped by the avalanche. Time seemed to slow down as he had another idea, and he launched himself into the air with a burst of wind. The icy projectile and the escapee met in the air, and then moments later, the ice shattered as Will used the projectile as a springboard, sending himself careening through the air. Unfortunately, he barely had enough time to generate a shockwave of air to slow his speed before he crashed into a large snowdrift a great distance away from the palace.

"Urgh… Ow…" he groaned, shaking his head to get rid of the snow caught in his hair and face. He looked behind him, and to his relief, the pursuing Fatui Skirmishers had been left far behind. "Can't stop now though… Gotta keep moving." He pushed himself out of the snowdrift and ran for the frozen ocean.

"Hey, Will! Are you up?" Yoimiya called from downstairs, pulling Will out of his memory and back to the present time. The sun had risen well into the sky, and before long he and Yoimiya would be headed to the Kamisato estate to work with Ayaka, Thoma, and Masakatsu on the fake visions.

"Er, yeah, I'm up!" he called back. The sword vanished into a cloud of golden embers with a wave of his hand, and he stood up and walked downstairs. "At this rate… she'll show up in that memory sooner than later," he thought to himself.

Yoimiya and he ate breakfast, which consisted of a glass of water and a stew they'd bought from Konda Village the previous day, and then left, headed for the Yashiro headquarters.

"So… who is she?" Yoimiya asked suddenly as they walked up the stairs, confusing Will.

"Who's who?"

Yoimiya nodded towards the small picture peeking out of the top of his bag. "That girl standing next to you in the photo. You carry it around everywhere, so it's clearly special to you."

Will sighed, pulling the picture out of his bag. It was a small photo, worn at the edges, but he'd made sure to bring it with him before he left Snezhnaya. In the photo, he was standing next to a childhood friend, their faces smiling against the backdrop of a clear night sky, illuminated with torchlight. The two of them had grown up together in Snezhnaya, and leaving her behind had been the most agonizing thing he'd ever had to do.

"Her name is Emily… and she is… or was… a very close friend of mine…" he said solemnly.

Yoimiya paused. "Was? Did you two stop being friends because of something?"

"Well, yeah… I left Snezhnaya. Even though I trust she understood why… I doubt she forgave me… I only hope the Archon didn't punish her by taking her family…" Will replied, and then muttered under his breath "as she took mine…"

Yoimiya tilted her head. "Ok, level with me. You grew up in Snezhnaya, right?" she asked. After Will nodded, she went on, "So does everyone in Snezhnaya hate the Fatui as much as you do?"

The boy shook his head. "It's complicated. Most, if not all of the children don't know much of the world outside of Snezhnaya, and they're taught that our nation is the greatest in all of Teyvat. However, the Tsaritsa is similar to the Raiden Shogun, at least in so far as she rarely, if ever, makes appearances in public."

"But while the Shogun has the Tri-Commission to carry out her will," he explained as they approached the estate. "The Tsaritsa has the Fatui. Both groups have very different ways of ensuring the citizens' loyalty to their Archon. From what I've seen, the Tri-Commission was intended to allow the Shogun to rule through respect. But the Tsaritsa… she rules through fear."

Yoimiya opened her mouth to say something but then they heard the sound of hurried footsteps, along with a clamor of panic and hurrying. And then they saw the Commission headquarters.

Samurai were running about, more than they'd ever seen anywhere in one place. The seldom seen Shuumatsuban ninjas were discussing something over a map of what appeared to be the whole island. An elderly woman was crying, being comforted by Ayaka, who glanced around with her hand on her sword. Looking up from where he'd been talking with a tiny, hooded ninja, whom Will had come to know as Sayu, Thoma ran towards them, his spear in hand. "Will! Yoimiya! Thank the Shogun you're here!" He exclaimed. Will slid the photo back into his belt.

"Thoma?" he asked, looking around. "What's going on? Why is everybody in such a panic?" Two Yashiro samurai ran around them and started descending down the mountain in a hurry, weapons drawn. Meanwhile, a group of scouts blasted into the air with a gust of wind and flew away with their gliders, scanning the ground as they went.

"Master Masakatsu was kidnapped on his way here this morning. Witnesses claim that the assailants were unmarked Samurai, but they couldn't get a good look before they disappeared with smoke bombs," Thoma replied. "Our people are searching the whole island, starting from Hanamizaka, but by the time word reached the Yashiro Commission, more than an hour had passed. And I can't help lead the search like I normally would."

When Will tilted his head to signify he didn't understand, Thoma went on. "I have to stay here and protect Lady Ayaka, in case those Ronin, or whoever they are, come back and try to go after her as well," he added, and Will nodded.

"Don't worry. Tell us how we can help," he said, and Thoma let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. You two know the land outside the city better than anyone. The last place Masakatsu was seen was at the lower entrance of Hanamizaka. I'd start there," the red clad samurai replied.


The pair walked over to the lower entrance to Inazuma's Hanamizaka district. "Well, this is where Thoma said the witnesses saw Master Masakatsu get taken… but I don't see any sign of a struggle…" Will mused.

Yoimiya shook her head in thought. "Well, keep in mind Master Masakatsu isn't a spry fighter like either of us. If someone, especially skilled swordsmen like a group of rogue samurai wanted to abduct him, he probably wouldn't have been able to put up much of a fight. And that's if he even bothered," she pointed out, and Will nodded.

"Good point. He doesn't often resort to violence if his words can get him away safely… But what could they be after… Surely they didn't hear about the project, right?" he wondered.

Yoimiya shrugged. "Dunno. What do you say about asking them?" She looked around, checking all around her to make sure that there weren't any Tenryou commission samurai nearby. When she was convinced that there wasn't any, her eyes glowed a bright red. "Huh… I don't see anything out of the ordinary with my elemental sight either…"

Will did the same, his eyes glowing with a vivid teal light. "Me neither… could it be Master Masakatsu went with them willingly? He's definitely not senile, but maybe they asked for his help, and he didn't recognize them for what they were," he suggested as they looked around. "It would explain why there wasn't a struggle of any kind."

Yoimiya thought about it. "It's a good idea. Let's not rule it out now, but why don't we keep searching for signs of a struggle?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Hours passed while they scoured the area, but there was still no sign of Masakatsu or his captors, and Yoimiya was becoming increasingly frustrated. "I don't understand," she complained. "How do people just grab someone off the path and vanish without a trace?"

Will didn't have an answer. Very little about the situation made any sense, and worse, the sun had begun to set, which meant they were running out of time to find a trail. But then, Will activated elemental sight once last time. It was a last ditch effort, an unfounded hope that he might notice something they'd overlooked. Miraculously, he saw something that time, out of the corner of his eye.

It was a very brief sighting, only glimpsed as the sunlight reflected off of a discarded hand mirror and onto the path. There it was, right in plain sight. "Yoimiya, quick! Over here! I've got something!" He exclaimed, and his friend ran over. "Look, right there in the mirror. Do you see it?"

She gazed into the mirror and saw that there were misty purple footsteps in the dirt right behind them. "Yeah… but why are they only in the mirror…"

Will shook his head as he grabbed the mirror. "A mystery for another time. Let's move while we've still got light!"

They followed the trail into the Byakko plains, and then across the shore onto Amakane Island before the sun had set fully. "Well, they definitely took him overseas… and based on the reflection… They were headed south…" Will mused. Yoimiya tilted her head.

"South? As in, straight south? Or southwest?" She said, and Will pulled out a small compass.

Examining it, he came to a conclusion. "Straight south. Why?"

"In that direction is Seirai island… No one goes there," she said, and when Will raised an eyebrow in confusion, she elaborated. "It's far too dangerous. The legends tell of a powerful beast made of the electro element itself which resides there, constantly razing the land with Balethunder.

Will sighed. "Nothing is ever easy, is it? Well, if that's where they took Master Masakatsu, then we have to go there too, agreed?"

Yoimiya nodded without hesitation. "Absolutely. Even if we didn't need his help, there's no way can we leave him in their clutches."


Will and Yoimiya stepped off of the waverider, provisions for a whole month in their bags and weapons drawn. "Stay alert, Will. I've never been to this island before, but from what I've heard, everything that moves on this island is either a tiny morsel of prey or a ravenous predator. There's no middle ground, not on Seirai Island," Yoimiya warned her friend, who nodded as he gripped his shortsword.

"Really wish I had my other longsword right about now…" he muttered as they slowly made their way to the first place marked on Ayaka's map: Koseki village, the largest abandoned settlement on the island. As they walked, they took in the jaw dropping scenery with wide eyes.

"Wow… those stories weren't kidding… this place really has been razed…" Yoimiya breathed as they came to the top of a cliff. The grass below had literally turned purple because of the massive amounts of Electro coursing through them for countless years, and from their new vantage point, they could see a massive spiral of storm clouds in the center of the island. Huge bolts of lightning frequently arced from the storm to the glowing purple lake beneath it, and floating in the sky were chunks of land which had been uprooted by the storm.

Then, they saw a group of unmarked, purple samurai headed into a large set of stone doors. "Yoimiya, did you see them?" Will asked, and his partner nodded.

"I did. Looks like they headed into a domain, but it's not on Ayaka's map. Must be an uncharted one."

"Well, let's go ahead and drink those potions Ayaka gave us," Will replied, pulling a pair of glass bottles out of his bag and handing one to Yoimiya. On each of the caps was a small tag signed with the name 'Lisa'. "Huh… I wonder who this Lisa is…" he mused as he pulled off the cap and drank the purple fluid within the flask.

Yoimiya swallowed her potion and then grinned. "Well, whoever she is, she's got a knack for making medicine taste really good," she said, and Will couldn't help but agree. The potions, although thick like honey, were very sweet, and filled their bodies with a slight tingling feeling, like there was an electrical current running through their nerves to protect them from the effects of the Balethunder.

"You've got that right," Will replied. "Well, we should be protected from the effects of Balethunder for a while now. Shall we head into the storm?"

Yoimiya gulped and then nodded. "Yeah… let's do this and get it over with already…" she answered, showing a rare nervousness.

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing that'll keep me from heading in. It's just that… y'know, Pyro and Electro don't tend to mix well."

Will nodded. "Don't worry, I can take point if it helps. Besides, you're the one with the ranged weapon, so it makes sense from a combative perspective too," he said, shrugging with one arm and materializing his sword once again. The pair descended down the cliff face, taking care to watch out for the ground beginning to glow and tingle underneath them, just one of many telltale signs of imminent lightning strikes as they went, before rushing into the stormy gale, frantically dashing from one piece of cover to the next as they headed for the unmarked domain.

When they arrived, they quickly rushed in, just barely closing the doors behind them in time to avoid being struck by a flurry of lightning bolts. But when they turned around, they saw something just as terrifying, if not even more so.

The entire domain was comprised of numerous small, floating islands, with large bolts of purple lightning arcing between them at random. "Woah… talk about a light show…" Will breathed, his eyes stretched wide at the sight. The sky around them was pitch black, like the night sky, and the only illumination came from the arcs of lightning, and from various electro lamps which dotted each island.

"How much do you want to bet Master Masakatsu is at the far end of this domain?" Yoimiya asked, trying to lighten the mood. Before Will could respond, however, there was an earsplitting shriek, and a purple figure darted overhead.

"Holy heck… what in Celestia was that…'' Will muttered, and Yoimiya's face paled.

"I'm not sure I want to stick around long enough to find out… Let's grab Master Masakatsu and get out while our ears are still intact," she replied, and Will nodded in agreement.

"Whenever you're ready."


A/N: Not much to say here fellas, but I'm really sorry for the wait this time. I mentioned previously that I was working on training myself to pace my uploads better, and I think that might've worked almost too well for the moment, however in the future this might be the pace I stick with most of the time, or maybe slower, as I'm double majoring, or planning on it, so I'll have a metric crap ton of work in college.

In other news, the next chapter of the 25th knight is coming along slowly but surely. I hope to have it out by the end of the month, so fingers crossed!

Edit: Whoops, I guess I didn't proofread this one as well as I thought. It should be fixed now!