Chapter 6

Truths of the Enemy

One month after the Stormterror Crisis

Vilhelm led Will and Yoimiya deeper into the ruins, explaining to them various facts about the Abyss. One such fact was that those members of their order were not only survivors of the Cataclysm five hundred years prior, but that they were fleeing the ruins of Khaenri'ah, or at least the portion of it which had sunk into the Abyss during said cataclysm.

"Wait… so the Abyss Order… is fleeing into Teyvat, from the Abyss?" Will asked as they walked past another set of engraved double doors made of blackened stone. On the other side was a civilization, not unlike the ones in their home realm of Teyvat. But whereas the ones Will and Yoimiya were accustomed to, had lived in for their entire lives, were all dominated by the human race, this one was much smaller, and was made up of various denizens the pair recognized as members of the Abyss Order.

Immediately, almost every head turned to look at the two foreign humans, and then a taller humanoid wearing a helmet with horns, and with a crescent shaped circle behind him, floated up to them. His body was cloaked in white and bronze armor, and various purple symbols and shapes could be seen on their torso, legs, and arms.

"Mage Vilhelm… Why have you brought these… interlopers… into our sanctuary?" he asked, and Vilhelm bowed his head in response.

"Mighty Exegete, these two humans saved my life from the hands of the Ronin who captured me. As is decreed by the Law of the Abyss, such an act must be repaid," Vilhelm explained, and the Lector looked at the two humans with interest.

"Hmm… indeed, our law does state as such. But why would a pair of surface dwellers choose to save an Abyss Mage?" he said, asking Will and Yoimiya. Will took a step forward.

"Simply put, we don't like unfair fights. Vilhelm had no way to defend himself, chained to the ground and outnumbered as he was. Therefore, it seemed only right that we stepped in," Will replied. "Moreover, it has come to our attention that the Abyss Order is not currently in a position where they get along with the Ronin of Inazuma. And those Ronin have taken a good friend from us, one whom we came here with the intent to rescue."

The Lector considered this, before floating closer to Will. "You propose an alliance… is that it?"

Will nodded again. "That's right. We share a common foe at this time. Even if we should face each other on the battlefield in the future, does it not make sense for us to unite now, while our goals align?" he asked, and after a moment of thought, the Lector turned back to Vilhelm.

"You play a very dangerous game, Vilhelm…" he told the mage, who steadfastly refused to back down. "However, such a bold nature is why you have been selected to become a Lector yourself one day… you should return to your studies… I will take care of our guests from now on," he added, before turning back to Will and Yoimiya. "I cannot answer your questions… but I can take you to one who can. Please follow me… she already knows of the situation, and thus may be willing to see you."

With that, the Lector turned around and floated away, and Vilhelm shared a final glance of thankfulness with his saviors, before heading towards a building off to the side of the encampment. Will and Yoimiya nodded to each other, and followed the Abyss Lector further into the stronghold, passing by a massive gate guarded by a line of knights clad in jet black armor, accented with glowing lines and tips which corresponded to a different element. When Will paused out of curiosity, one of them turned and glared at him with glowing orange eyes. It hefted up a massive hammer, and Will took the hint to keep moving.

Still, he was curious about the gate. "Erm, Lector? What is behind that gate, if you don't mind my asking?"

The Lector turned his head to gaze back at Will. "A place that, if you're lucky, you shall never have to visit… those are the Black Serpents, powerful knights who serve the Abyss Order as, to use a human term, Paladins…" he replied, with a hint of fear in his voice when he mentioned the place beyond the gate. Had Will not been listening closely, he would've missed the brief tremor entirely.

Yoimiya glanced over at a Rifthound pup that had come up to her. She instinctively shied away, but to her surprise, the Lector chuckled. "That would be an appropriate reaction if that pup was further along in its maturation. However, you do not need to be frightened by this Rifthound. In fact, all of us who hail from the Abyssal realm know not to attack you. You can thank Vilhelm for that," he reassured her. The pup floated closer to her, before catching her off guard as it pressed its face into her leg and let out a soft, content rumble.

"Aww, I think you've made a new friend Yoimiya," Will said, with a slight grin on his face. But underneath that expression, he too was surprised by what had just happened. Even if the mage they'd saved had granted them a level of safety while within the Abyss Order's stronghold, he'd expected that most, if not all of the order's members would try to avoid himself and Yoimiya. After all, they were a pair of humans walking among a group of non-humans who had sworn to destroy the human race.

Instead, though their initial reception had been rocky and distant, now that news had spread throughout the stronghold of their arrival, there were some who had approached them kindly, or with curiosity. Even some of the Abyss Heralds, infamous in Teyvat due to them displaying a hatred for humanity that rivaled the legends of the evil gods cast into the ocean during the Archon War, granted them some measure of respect due to the pair having earned the favor of one of their own.

After a few minutes of laughter with the rifthound, they had to keep moving, however, and so Yoimiya stood up from where the pup had been snuggling against her, curled up in a small ball against her leg. With one last rub on its head, they followed the Lector to a large building at the back of the stronghold.

"Inside here is the one who may be able to answer your questions… the Princess of the Abyss Order…" the Lector told Will and Yoimiya. They both nodded, and the trio entered the temple. As soon as they stepped foot inside the temple, they both felt the presence of a dark aura permeating the building, and it caused the pair a considerable amount of unease.

"Is this what it feels like to be inside the Abyss…?" Will wondered as the aura seemed to literally darken the room. But then, the shadowy aura was pulled to the center of the room, forming a swirling nexus of violet-blue and black clouds.

A lone figure stepped out of the clouds, bathed in white and gold garments. Blonde hair fell down to around their shoulders, and pinned in their hair were two light blue flowers. Floating behind their back was a golden sword with a crescent shaped guard, and their eyes matched the color of the blade, being a deep and reflective gold color.

The Lector knelt on the ground in silent respect, and the newcomer nodded to him. The Lector rose to his feet, then turned around and floated away, leaving Will and Yoimiya alone in the room with the stranger. Many odd, but tense seconds ticked by, until Yoimiya had had enough, and broke the silence.

"So… are you going to tell us who you are?"

The stranger giggled slightly. "My name is Lumine, and I am the Abyss Princess. I've been told you have quite a few questions, and as thanks for saving the life of one of my mages, I will answer what I can."

Will and Yoimiya were stunned, both at the shocking revelation and at how simple she made it sound. "I'm sorry, what? The Abyss Order, a group of individuals bent on the destruction of all humankind… has a human as their Princess? You'll have to forgive us for being a bit skeptical," Will replied after a moment, and Yoimiya nodded in agreement.

Lumine giggled once again for a moment. "Yes, I suppose it would appear to be rather ironic. But you're both wrong. Believe it or not, we actually have no quarrel with humanity."

Yoimiya raised an eyebrow. "You don't, huh? Well, that makes a lot of sense," she replied with a semi-sarcastic tone.

Lumine sighed. "Maybe not with what you've been told, but the truth is that humanity is not our enemy. Celestia is, and regrettably, the only way to force Celestia to come down and face us is to destroy all that it holds dear, which is humanity…"

Yoimiya tilted her head to the side. "And why does the Abyss Order want to destroy Celestia in the first place?"

Lumine looked at them both. "I'll tell you, but first I have a question of my own. How much do either of you really know about what happened five hundred years ago, in Khaenri'ah?"

"Khaenri'ah?" Will replied. "What the heck does Khaenri'ah have to do with the Abyss Order or anything we're talking about?"

"Khaenri'ah is the origin of the Abyss Order. The truth is that every Abyss mage you see now, every Herald, every Lector, they are all the very humans who lived in Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago," Lumine told him. Yoimiya's jaw dropped, and Will narrowed his eyes.

"Then riddle me this. If every single member of the Abyss Order was once a human, then why are you so determined to bring about the end of the human race? And for that matter, why do you appear to be human still, while everyone else was turned into various forms of humanoid-like creatures?" he asked.

Lumine motioned upward with her left hand. In response, the emblem on her midriff glowed with golden light for a moment, and then three small, rocky shapes protruded up from the ground. "Geo power?" Yoimiya wondered, and Lumine nodded.

"Yes… it's a long story. To summarize, both myself, and my brother… we're not from Teyvat. We're not from anywhere in this world, or either of its parallel planes, being the Abyss, or Celestia. Presumably, it is for that reason that we can wield any of the seven elements of this world as we wish, and as many as we want to at a time. As I have already traveled throughout Teyvat many years ago… I have become attuned to all of the elements. But that is a story for another time," she replied, as the three sat down on the rocky chairs.

"To answer your other questions… it's like I said before. We do not wish for the destruction of the human race, but that appears to be the only way for the so-called gods of Teyvat, who reside out of reach in Celestia, to even bother to acknowledge our existence," She added, and Yoimiya frowned.

"Hold on… why do you hate Celestia so much? You mentioned Khaenri'ah… does it have to do with that?" the firework master asked.

"Yes… that is the reason for my hatred of the divine. While there is another, more personal reason, that is the reason that I share with everyone in the Abyss Order," the princess responded, waving her hand in the air. The wall behind them glowed with brilliant radiance, and as they watched images began to form. "Khaenri'ah was built from nothing. They never were given the apparent blessing of a god's watchful eye. But because of that, the humans who founded it were forced to advance much faster than those in the nations ruled by the Archons.

"The ruin machines are such an example of that advancement. To this day, the rest of Teyvat has failed to match those creations, and they have existed for centuries. Khaenri'ah was a nation forged by the crucibles of nothing but human ingenuity, and we only wished to share the marvels we created with the rest of Teyvat… even those such as Rhinedottir, whom historians on the surface remember now as Gold, may have wished to give such gifts… for a time," Lumine told them. "But the gods of this world? They cared little for our achievements, and that assumes they cared at all. If anything, they felt insulted. For how dare a nation ruled by humans, and humans alone, thrive faster than those which are led by the divine?"

Yoimiya leaned forward. "You know an awful lot about Khaenri'ah, Lumine… how is that? The last I heard, there was barely any kind of civilization remaining there, and certainly not one containing such a detailed recording of their history."

"You want to know how it is that I know these things?" Lumine asked. "Well… I was there, during the twilight hours of Khaenri'ah's golden age… and during its destruction." Will and Yoimiya's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute… how were you there? I mean, the cataclysm was five hundred years ago!" Will exclaimed.

Lumine sighed. "In truth… I was kept in a form of static existence for much of the time since Khaenri'ah's destruction… following my and my brother's escape… we were confronted by a god that even now, I am still clueless about even its name. She spoke of Heavenly Principles, of the arrogation of mankind, and when my brother and I tried to peacefully leave, saying that we had no wish to stay in Teyvat… she attacked us, imprisoned me, and until barely a week ago, left me with no knowledge of my sibling's fate."

"I must then ask you, what kind of god not only abandons a civilization to die, but then personally strikes it down when it refuses to die on its own, and instead builds itself up using only what it has available to it?" Lumine went on. "And when a pair of outlanders who were caught up in the destruction of such a civilization merely by being in the wrong place at the wrong time are punished for what the gods see as crimes, despite them having nothing to do with them… Is such a god really worth worshiping?"

Tears began to well up in the Abyss Princess's eyes. She was extremely certain of her heretical beliefs, and that was no secret to Will or Yoimiya. "Celestia taught me something that day… me, the people of Khaenri'ah… and the rest of the world… That we should follow their will blindly, without any hesitation or self thought. In their eyes, surviving against all odds is a crime that demands punishment of the highest order… but what is life if you can't make any decision for yourself? Is it even life at all?"

Neither Will nor Yoimiya knew what to think. The Abyss Princess had a point, and even what little they knew about the events at Khaenri'ah five centuries earlier seemed to fit perfectly into her explanation. Not only that, but it explained quite a few things that they didn't know about the Abyss Order and Khaenri'ah's mysterious destruction. But something still didn't quite click with Will, and it bothered him.

"Lumine… you said you had a brother… what happened to him? If both of you were in Khaenri'ah during the Cataclysm… and you both were attacked by a strange god… why isn't he here, leading the Abyss alongside yourself?"

Lumine looked up suddenly, surprised by the question. She hadn't anticipated that someone would want to know about her brother. But then, she mentally laughed at the thought, for the whole reason she had decided to reveal herself and answer their questions was that she could tell by the way both Will and Yoimiya carried themselves, their personalities, the way they talked, and more, that they would listen to her. She knew right away that they were the kinds of people who would ask the bigger questions, who, like herself and her brother, were perceptive enough to the point that they wouldn't be satisfied with basic knowledge.

"My brother, Aether… hasn't experienced what I have in Teyvat. See, when we first arrived in Teyvat, I woke up before he did. While I was awake in Khaenri'ah when the attack came, he was not, and he was only stirring when I rushed back to our site of descension. And then when we escaped, it's as I said," Lumine replied. "Our path was blocked by an unknown god who imprisoned me for centuries, and likely did the same to Aether. It was only about a month or so ago when I found out that he too survived our encounter with that god… sadly… he is only now exploring Teyvat for the first time, as I did right before the Cataclysm," she said, pausing. "Because of that, he has not seen what I have seen. If he is feeling what I felt when I first traveled across this continent, he likely has made friends with many people, maybe even including some of the Archons… and to think our parents said I was the more naive one…"

The two explorers from Inazuma sat there in silence, pondering the information they'd just been given. It was a lot to take in all at once, but then Will remembered something. "Princess Lumine… I'm sorry to change the topic so abruptly…" he trailed off. Lumine shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I told you I would answer your questions, did I not?"

Will nodded in thanks. "Have you been told of the reason we came here in the first place? To Seirai island, and to this domain?"

Lumine shook her head again. "I know you're searching for a friend, but beyond that, I don't know much," she replied. "If you think we have him, I can assure you that is not the case."

Will and Yoimiya both shook their heads quickly. "No, no, we know you don't have Master Masakatsu. We'd heard reports that he was taken by the Ronin, and we followed their trail to Seirai island, and then into this domain, but we lost them after that," Yoimiya reassured the princess, who leaned forward in interest.

"Go on…" she said, narrowing her eyes. "You believe your friend, Masakatsu, is being held by the Ronin in this domain?"

Will nodded. "It's the best lead we have, and we need his help as soon as possible. It's also become clear to us both that your Abyss Order and the Ronin are currently at odds with each other. Would I be correct in guessing that that's because this domain is in truth a gateway to the Abyss itself, and the Ronin have invaded here?"

Lumine was taken aback. "I- yes… that is true, but how did you know?"

Will grinned. "Don't worry, if I were a scout for the Ronin, I don't think I'd be any wiser. That said, you might want to conceal the massive stone gate outside this temple, and the golems defending it. Not everyone's going to be ignorant enough to mistake it for an armory," he joked, and to his relief, Lumine smiled back. It was the reaction he'd hoped for, because all his life, he'd always felt a sense of happiness when he saw that he made others feel happier, or more at ease, no matter who it was. And this Princess clearly didn't have enough reasons to smile, at least not enough that he could see.

"I'll tell you what I told that Lector from before," Will went on. "It is true that, at present, our kinds do not see eye to eye. For all I know, it may not be long before we must fight each other. But even if we should meet one day, maybe one day soon, or maybe not for many years, on the battlefield, that is no reason not to unite now, while our goals align. We have a common enemy in the Ronin. They've stolen from us a dear friend, and they threaten your home. Though I cannot speak for Yoimiya, if you're willing, I would like to aid you in your fight against the Ronin."

Yoimiya then stood up too, before Lumine could answer. "Count me in too!" she exclaimed, and when Will looked at her, she gave him a slight side eye. "What? You said it yourself, we came here to find Master Masakatsu, and I agree, allying with a group that knows both this place and our enemy better than we do is going to make our search a lot easier. Plus, now that I think about it, you're right. We can't walk away from people who need help, even if they are the Abyss Order."

Lumine's eyes began to water. They didn't know it, but hearing the pair from Inazuma offer their help was nothing short of a miracle. The Ronin had managed to push them back further than anyone expected, and if the situation didn't change, or even got worse, she didn't know how much longer they'd be able to hold out.

"Thank you both… Your assistance would be most greatly appreciated."


A/N: And so once again, the author shouted out to the page of text on the screen in front of him, "LET THERE BE LORE! CHESTS FULL OF IT!" and there was a whole chapter of lore on the document!

I gotta be honest, this was a chapter I was very excited to write, if only because it answers a question in the game that always bugged me. Why would the Abyss Order just attack humanity on a whim? I mean, I know it's stated multiple times in game that they attacked because they want to destroy Celestia, and because they want revenge on the Archons for what happened at Khaenri'ah, yadda yadda yadda. But that seemed too... I don't know, simple? Easy? I guess in my mind I always thought that there was more to the story than just "The Abyss order wants to bring about the destruction of humanity because they don't like Humanity." Also, I just couldn't wait to finally bring one of the siblings into this story.

But I'm gonna be honest, I cannot shake the feeling that this chapter is gonna come back and bite me in the butt at some point, because when Hoyoverse eventually gives us another bit of canon lore about the Abyss, odds are it's not going to be lore that plays nice with what I have here. The way I see it, I'm probably only going to have two options when that time comes. A: I keep writing as I was before, and just live with the fact that this fanfic doesn't stay as true to the canon storyline as I could've made it, or B: wrack my brain for ideas as I search for loopholes to explain how my plot still works with the canon one written by Hoyoverse. I think we all know that the logical choice is A, and if only because that's the logical choice, I'm probably going to end up going with the latter option lol.

Anyway, that's enough ranting out of me, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave me a review if you get a chance!