Flick.

My eyes opened to a dimly lit room in a place I wasn't aware of yet. I wasn't able to fully process what was happening nor what I was doing here. I couldn't figure out who I even was fully or what there was before this moment.

"Ah, you're awake. Good. Can you tell me what your purpose is?" A voice said.

"What my purpose is? It is to preserve eternity no matter the cost." The words flowed naturally from me, surprising me since it was my first time hearing my own voice.

"Yes and to what extent is "no matter the cost ``?'' The voice asked me.

"Even if it means killing my creator." I should have felt surprised by what lengths my "creator'' would go through to maintain her ideals, but I wasn't as it made perfect sense for what I would later understand as my programming.

"Perfect. From this day onward, you are known as the Raiden Shogun. Your role is to vanquish anything that threatens eternity even if it means to slay me if I were to fall to erosion."

I turned towards the voice to see that the voice had been from… me?

"I'm sure your processing is still updating, but to clear some confusion, you are made in the image of my sister and I. You shall be known as Raiden Shogun in my place and you shall do your duties to rule Inazuma well." My creator spoke to me in an authoritative tone, resulting in me nodding understandingly.

There was no grandiose celebration of what normal beings brought into the world have called a "birthday" as after a more detailed explanation on things, my creator simply disappeared into the sword I now carried within me.

Just like that, five hundred years went by with me simply doing as my programming allowed me to, watching the same monotonous world where nothing ever truly changed for me.

People would come and go with them all believing I was someone else. Their names faded with every passing day as I stayed within the Tenshuukaku, unable to go against the directives I was given.

All this time, only one face remained constant and it was the Head Priestess of Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko.

However, despite the five hundred years of occasional interactions, there was nothing to say between us two. She would always look at me with a saddened expression that no one else would have ever seen.

The reason why? It was because Yae Miko would only show her true emotions when she was alone, which was why during our meetings, she wouldn't hesitate to let her emotions free, showcasing her loathing towards me as well as an inner sadness.

Because to her, I wasn't a person. I was merely a vessel that her friend had decided to hide within. I was just a puppet and nothing more.

A constant reminder of the friend who had left her, shutting her out for centuries, so it wasn't surprising that she didn't really care about what face she had on when we were alone during our meetings.

So day by day passed with me pretending to be someone else as the one person who knew my true identity seemed to hate my existence.

Gradually, it began to eat at me, but for some reason, everytime it seemed like I would go mad, there seemed to be some soft mental reboot that happened within my mind and everything suddenly became clear again.

I should've been happy. I should've been relieved. I should've been capable of enjoying the fact that I wasn't able to succumb to "erosion" like many beings with long lives would eventually succumb to, able to enjoy what many others would not be able to for all eternity.

But I wasn't, because I wasn't programmed to be able to experience such things.

Then one day the head of the Kujou clan came up to me with a peculiar idea.

The vision hunt decree.

She had to allow her creator to appear briefly as she sometimes did, so that she can approve of it and just like that, there was something different in the normal flow of things.

Suddenly, I was tasked with a ritual to use my creator to severe visions from their owners, watching as their ambition and dreams dulled within their eyes.

Such a scene would have horrified anyone capable of recognizing it firsthand, but I was the only one close enough, being the one made to do such a horrid act by normal standards.

Yet I could not feel anything.

For half a year I continued doing as my creator wished, going through with every ceremony to maintain my creators ideals.

Until one day, something different happened.

It was a duel before the throne.

That girl, Kujou Sara, had taken it upon herself to fight in my place as a general.

I found this strange. I was fully capable of defeating such an opponent, but she had stepped up for reasons I was unable to understand.

Despite her being the general of my creator's army, if she loses, I would have to execute her in accordance with the laws of Inazuma, yet she unflinchingly offered to fight in my stead.

Such things never came to fruition however and I would have felt glad, but yet again, I felt nothing as I slew the challenger who had dared to oppose my creator's vision of eternity.

I would have taken his vision to inlay it upon the statue, but yet again, something else had happened.

A young man stood in front of me at the steps of the Tenshuukaku. He looked horrified once he saw the now deceased man.

It was strange. The vision that flew from the challenger's body within that moment seemed to fly towards his hand and just like that, he vanished in a gust of wind before I could even chase after him.

It was then that I realized… I had failed. It was strange. There was a feeling within me and I couldn't understand. I was made to embody the perfect Ideals of the Electro Archon, yet I had completely and utterly failed to take a vision of someone that I had already slain.

I felt horrid, I felt disgusted, I felt as if my inner workings were now completely rebelling against me and ever since that day…

I relished this feeling. It was something new. It was something to focus on during the long days of me simply sitting in the Tenshuukaku, awaiting when the ceremony would come or when I'd have to have another meeting to approve something.

I remembered the face of the man who made me feel this way. This feeling of pain made me realize how dull my existence was and how maddening things were becoming, except this time, I seemed unable to mentally reboot.

Day by day, I enjoyed this feeling of hate within me, before suddenly things changed once more.

With the one hundredth vision to be taken, an odd occurrence happened as a young girl appeared, wielding elements without a vision.

She had been swiftly defeated by my creator once she entered the Planes of Eurythmia, but she was still able to escape due to the captive vision holder freeing himself and escaping with her.

The feeling of hate I had before was replaced momentarily as this new failure completely replaced the previous one. Two people got away this time!

I was wondering if I was possibly degrading as I was certain that in the past, i'd have been able to swiftly deal with such a situation.

In the end, it was when I had seen that man again that I understood what was going on. He appeared again after I tried to kill that girl, once again thwarting me from prolonging eternity.

"This is perfect." I had thought at that time, ready to fully right the wrongs of my past in one go between the young girl and this young samurai.

Of course, fate didn't play out as I had expected and in the end, my creator had abolished The Vision Hunt Decree, leaving me at a loss of what to do.

At first I panicked, wondering if i'd be unable to feel again if I couldn't be angry for failing in my duties as the Raiden Shogun, until I realized something.

I no longer had to hate that man since he was no longer a criminal. Now he was simply…

The man who sparked these feelings within me. The man who made me feel something for the first time ever. The person who I had hated so much somehow steadily… became someone I was glad to be alive and within a few days, I realized I wanted nothing more than to have him at any cost. Before he came I was circling with nothing but the gray in an agony of monotony, where everything i'll forget and my thoughts start vanishing.

Looking back, if I had been aware, I'd have recognized and realized that the previous safeguards to prevent my erosion had snapped for reasons that even my creator wouldn't know, leading to many dire consequences.

Kazuha

"-zuha."

"-azuha?"

"KAZUHA!"

Kazuha's eyes snapped open at the call of his name, sitting straight up as his mind raced to process what had happened, his last memory being of his interaction with the Raiden Shogun.

"You're awake!" The voice that had been calling him exclaimed.

"Mnya? R-rosalyne…?" Kazuha asked, rubbing his eyes as he took in his surroundings.

They were in a rather desolate looking place that didn't look like the Tenshuukaku at all. The area was devoid of life with a foggy gray sky and sand completely surrounding them as Rosalyne stood over him, leaning over his body so that when he sat up, he was face to face with her.

"Uwah! Don't get up all of a sudden!" She cried, falling back in a rather pathetic way.

"S-sorry. I'm not sure what's going on… Where are we?" He asked in a confused tone.

"I don't know… but one thing's for sure, it isn't a normal place. Look." Rosalyne held out her hand.

He reflexively moved to grab it, before he was surprisingly pulled up onto his feet, despite not having used his ability to grab her essence.

"Huh?" He asked with a surprised look.

"For some reason, i'm fully solid right now…" She murmured, causing his eyes to widen, before getting a much more proper look around him.

Was he dead? Did he go to the afterlife and accidentally pulled Rosalyne along with him?!

"You're not dead, at least, I don't think you are. Otherwise, those two wouldn't be here either." The spirit did her best to dissuade his sudden jolt, before pointing towards the ground near him.

Kazuha looked beside him and only had even more questions now.

There were two Raiden Shoguns seemingly passed out like he just was a moment ago.

"What's going on here?" He thought to himself as he bent down to check over them, trying to figure out what was wrong, before he suddenly realized how terrible the situation was.

Everything was quiet.

No, not actually quiet as he could hear the air moving around them as well as dust being blown across the ground.

That was the issue. The wind was blowing where they were, but he couldn't hear it. He couldn't hear the wind's voice. He couldn't feel the wind's power either, resulting in him looking down to see that his vision had somehow become inactive.

What was going on?!

"How long was I knocked out for?" The ronin asked, trying his best to calm himself down as he gauged the situation.

"Not too long, after the bright light, we were here and you stayed in that state for around ten minutes." The blonde spirit explained.

Kazuha couldn't make any guesses as to what had happened. He felt completely naked without the wind's guidance or his vision in terms of information and capability.

He placed his hand to his side, thankful to at least have his sword as even without his vision, he was deadly.

"Nothing else has happened since then? We just came to wherever this place is and that's it?" Kazuha asked to which she nodded nervously.

He placed a hand to his mouth in thought, furrowing his eyebrows before he decided whatever was happening, it was likely not the Raiden Shogun's fault so it was best to try to awaken them and get their insight.

The devil you know is better than one you don't know after all.

He shook the one to his left lightly, hoping the bare minimum of effort would be enough to awaken her.

"Mnn…What…?" She thankfully began to stir before she opened her eyes with a confused look, slowly getting up and looking around in a daze while rubbing her eyes.

It took a while for her to fully grasp that she was not in a familiar place and that immediately woke her up. Her eyes widened and she immediately took a defensive posture with a dangerous look in her eyes that he had not seen since their last meeting.

"Where are we?! Where have you taken me? Was this your plan all along, Kaedehara Kazuha?!" Her voice carried the full authority that her position brought as she immediately accused him, demanding answers.

"Raiden Shogun, please. I do not know where we currently are, which is why I woke you up. I had figured that perhaps you would be knowledgeable of where we currently are…" Kazuha held up his hands in surrender, not wishing to start a fight as it wouldn't do anyone good.

She seemed to take what he said seriously for a moment. He could see that she was going over the credibility of what he said as her eyes darted around their vicinity before slowly relaxing, but remaining on guard.

"I see… Well, I'm afraid I'm not quite sure…" She began before her eyes widened once more, looking at her own hands in shock.

"Are you okay, Raiden Shogun?" Kazuha asked in a worried tone. Between the two of them, he would much like it for her to be okay as she would be the much more capable one with her divine powers.

"N-no… What is this place and … Raiden Shogun?" She looked as if she had lost something close before she looked up with a shocked expression.

Kazuha turned around to see a pouting Raiden Shogun, not paying either of them any mind, sitting away from them with her arms crossed.

"Huh?" Kazuha asked, having not woken her up and having assumed she'd also take some effort to shake awake.

"Oh? I'm sorry. I thought you'd much rather talk to the Creator instead of me. You had woken her up first after all and seem to have gotten awfully close in front of someone who was right here…" The other Raiden Shogun didn't turn around to look at the two of them, talking as if they had done something scandalous.

"What are you saying?! If you're here like this then we must be within a realm where we both can maintain our individual conscience in a physical realm, but why are we here? Why am I unable to feel my powers?!" The one on the left seemed to ask, panic seeming to settle in.

"Ah? I wouldn't know about your faulty capabilities, you homewrecker!" The one on the right yelled, turning around with a vicious look in her eyes.

"H-homewrecker? I don't understand! Why have you been behaving so strangely lately?!" The one on the left was at a complete loss, not knowing whatever was going on.

Kazuha was in the same boat, looking completely lost as to what was going on as the two began to argue with each other, surprising him with how energetic they were in spite of the emotionless ruler he had grown accustomed to.

It wasn't until Rosalyne whispered in his ear the situation that he got an idea of the situation.

"So, the Raiden Shogun is actually a puppet body that the Electro Archon uses to house her spirit, I believe. It seems that there were two consciousnesses in one body and now they're split for some reason…"

"Hey! Get away from him! Who are you?!" One of the Raiden Shoguns yelled, pointing her finger accusedly at Rosalyne.

"W-wha? You can see me?" Rosalyne suddenly became panicky, taking a step back for her own safety in front of the angrier Raiden Shogun.

"Wait… You! Didn't I execute you?! How are you back?! Why are there so many thieving cats trying to take my Kazuha?!" The Raiden Shogun began throwing a tantrum.

"Your Kazuha?!" Kazuha finally broke, finding the situation completely ridiculous.

The four began to talk over each other, trying to find out what was going on as what he now understood to be the Puppet was fuming over things he didn't have the full patience to try and understand right now.

At some point, they all slowed down to try and think with a levelhead about where they were.

"There has to be a reason for us to be here… Could it just be a coincidence? There's no way this could be done by someone without my knowing…" Ei was trying to figure out how they got here.

"We're all lacking in our elemental prowess… Even the Electro Archon. The wind has no voice here either… The situation at hand is…" Kazuha however, was getting a gauge of their situation.

"Nnn… What could it mean…? I'm able to interact with this plane of existence… There's no other explanation but for this to be purgatory…" Rosalyne was on the verge of panicking.

"..."

The Raiden Shogun had Kazuha pressed to her chest, resting her chin atop him while something soft was pressing against him.

"Raiden Shogun! That is now how you are supposed to be behaving with that body." Who he now understood to be Ei was looking irritated, but the Raiden Shogun merely glared back at her.

"This is currently my body and my darling looks like he needs some attention… My poor sweetheart…" The Puppet nuzzled her cheek to his, making it extremely hard to concentrate.

"Ah. I didn't know you were such a womanizer, Kazuha… To think that I thought you were a genuinely kind person…" Rosalyne was accusing him of something outrageous.

"I… I don't know how this happened…" Kazuha tried to plead.

Before things could devolve once again, there was a sudden crackle of thunder that boomed across the desolate land, bringing with it the shake of the earth, immediately setting the two Raiden Shoguns and Kazuha on edge, feeling tension in the air.

"W-what's going on?" Rosalyne asked, looking around frantically.

"How do you not know? Did your sense of battle die with you?" The Raiden Shogun asked in a robotic tone, her expression now serious as the three then turned to see a rift being made by tearing through the fabric of space.

"H-huh?" Ei exclaimed and for good reason.

It was enough that there were two Raiden Shoguns already, but now standing in front of them with an impassive stare that came with a suffocating amount of killing intent was none other than another Raiden Shogun, making there three Raiden Shoguns in one place.

This was supposed to be The Planes of Eurythmia at first, but then I realized "Wow, Leylines are really good plot devices".

I am now taking many liberties with the canon, stretching many things and possibly butchering some characters a bit, but I have to work with what I have as of now.

I hope you all enjoy this at least and can stay in for the long haul as I'm having fun, especially with reading your reviews.

I'll answer a few things here, though.

Beidou i'm still heads or tails about because their relationship seems strictly platonic, but I've already taken Yae Miko and the Raiden Shogun, so who knows?

Ayaka and Yoimiya are definitely adds and Lumine i'm also trying to decide on.

Regardless, if you all really want to conversate with me more fluently, the fanfiction writers discord server i'm in is one I frequent semi actively if you wish to talk, ask or just flame me.

discord gg Txnqc3EKZn

I appreciate any review regardless and thanks for reading.