ACT III: SHIP OF FOOLS
17th of the 3rd Cycle
"Wake, starspawn!"
Aether's eyes shot open- and he shut them tight just as fast, feeling a stinging wetness assault his eyeballs. He sucked in a breath to calm himself down, only to swallow a tide of salty water- and coughing, desperately hacking to get the water out of the system. He floundered, hastily taking hold of the Anemo inside him and expelling the water from his body, before holding his breath.
Cautiously opening his eyes again, he saw nothing but inky blackness. He felt the distinct sensation of being listless, floating aimlessly in the dark abyssal waters. Aether waved his left hand in front of him, feeling the waters part before his limb - yet unable to see his hand even as he thought it was just before his face.
He craned his head to look up - or at least what he thought was up - and saw more blackness. All around him was darkness, infinite, impenetrable darkness. If it wasn't for the sensation of water pushing in on his skin, he would've thought he was in the Great Beyond. 2
Alas, he was not so fortunate - it seemed he was deep in the sea.
"Starspawn!?"
Aether flinched, arms flailing to swivel his suspended form around - only to realize he couldn't see anything.
"Behind you."
Aether spun around again, and this time his sights caught onto a flicker of light and honed in on it. No, it wasn't one, but two flickers of light - like candle flames burning deep under the sea.
His lungs started to burn as they began to empty of air, catching his attention. As he resisted the urge to suck in a breath, Aether numbly wondered how long he had been down here - and how had he survived so long unconscious.
Hazily, he scanned his systems to search for a way out - and noticed that there was a lack of blood in his systems.
…
It seems his body's survival instinct had acted to inhibit his mortal functions in order to stay 'alive,' and that once he regained consciousness, those efforts were reversed. Aether mentally patted himself on the back for the quality of corpus, before reversing his unintended actions. His blood heart stopped beating, and his second heart started.
Blood escaped from his pores as his body expelled his bodily fluids, replacing them with golden streams of starlight. His lungs shrivelled, and before long his body was nothing more than a container housing his consciousness, running purely on divine energy. Deep under the waves, there was sunlight for him to replenish himself - thus he would now be running on limited energy.
Feeling his brain slowly wake up from dormancy, Aether pushed starlight into his eyes - forcing his gaze to pierce the darkness and gloom - only to see more darkness and gloom.
However, he was able to finally see the person who was calling him all the while.
"Ah…" he murmured, bubbles escaping his lips, "I must assume we are in the Sea of Clouds, then?"
Jinpeng nodded, "It seems your faculties have returned to you, that is good."
Aether stared at the yaksha, blinking. He knew not the reason - perhaps it was his muddled state of mind, or the colours of the deep sea - but Jinpeng shone with a golden glimmer, like a star in the night. His amber eyes were shrouded by his hair, like streams of sunlights waving in the waves, and his tattoos held an aurous tinge.
It must be the hue of the dark waters affecting his judgement, Aether thought, for even the man's jade spear seemed to be made of gold.
Jinpeng breathed out, bubbles escaping his mouth, "Your arm, starwalker, it appears you are bleeding."
Aether jolted, abruptly realising he couldn't feel his right arm. His gaze snapped down to his right, and saw what remained of his side. His entire right arm was bleached bone, blackened by sunfire and cooled in the seawater - and the side of his torso was scorched through, revealing hints of his ribcage beneath the black flesh.
Golden streams of light were flowing out of the open wound, dyeing the black waters in amber hue.
He instinctively sucked in a breath, before expelling the water again. Aether pulled on the Geo inside him and sealed the wound, weaving strands of starlight into the Geo to reinforce it. He watched as his arm grew back, crudely crafted of rock and light. Except, he had an upper arm, a forearm, a palm, and five fingers. It would do for now, he could always refine it later - though truthfully, Aether didn't know if he would ever grow back a biological arm.
The constant strain on his body must have wrecked his internal workings somehow.
"I thank you," Aether murmured, experimentally flexing his new artificial limb.
"We are here now," he replied, bubbles leaving his lips, "A post left half-done is a post left undone. We must not falter now."
"We… I suppose so, huh?"
"You are in no position to gripe," Jinpeng swam closer, "Let us settle our debts here, once and for all."
"...How long has it been, anyway?"
"Days," the yaksha rasped, "I have spent meaningless days searching for you. The crested waves above do not dime the great vastness beneath. I imagine we are halfway to the bottom."
Jinpeng stared craned his head upwards, into the impenetrable darkness. A great malevolence laid beyond the sable veil, Aether knew - he could sense it in his bones, even if he couldn't see it. An inexorable thrumming, the heartbeat of the ancients.
"Shall we make haste?"
The yaksha swam upwards, to the bottom of the sea. Aether took a moment to reorientate himself, before following his lead.
He felt oddly at home, in the dark expanse of nothing. Everything squeezed down on him, and with every moment he had to amplify his internal forces to push back out lest he be crushed like crumpled paper. It was a taxing effort, but one he was used to. For in the furthest reaches of the Great Beyond there was the same force, except it pulled out instead of push in. With time, it became a familiar sensation.
And the solar winds that would caress his form, much like the waters he was now swimming through.
To mortals, both were oceans of mystery - uncharted grounds where one could only dream of exploring - spaces to be feared as much as they were revered. In these depths, the brine that flowed past his limbs was like freedom. It was dark, unsettling, one could move in any direction in constant anxiety that there was something waiting for them.
It was freedom. Freedom beyond any gods or laws, or stars or constellations - it was freedom beyond fate. Swimming in a dark abyss not knowing which way was up, constantly drowning yet never dying. Aether daresay that was the true definition of freedom.
After a short eternity of blindness, Aether noticed that the golden light guiding him had stopped moving - and he swung his legs below him just in time to hit the seafloor. Sand and dust was kicked up, forcing him to blow it away with Anemo. He watched as the bubbles began to float upwards.
"This is…"
Jinpeng turned to wave him forward, "The bottom of the Guyun Stone Forest. We must head for the gate in the centre."
The yaksha did not wait for a reply, instead leaping forward - launching off into the inky void. Aether hastily followed suit, unwilling to lose his only guiding light in these depths. Every step he took was slow and sluggish, yet every leap forward he travelled miles.
There was no life here, no coral reefs or schools of fish. There was only black water, barren rock, and desolate sand.
Aether could make out the shapes of stone spires rising in the distance, sharp and wicked like spears lodged into the seafloor. They must have been thrown by Morax millennia ago, he thought, for they were clearly unnatural in this level wasteland.
Ahead of him, Jinpeng lightly landed on the seafloor - and Aether joined him.
"What is it?"
The yaksha pointed to their side, and Aether swivelled around to see a flowing river. It glowed a luminescent blue, completely out-of-place in the dark abyss. Aether cautiously knelt down and scooped up a handful of the river, revealing a luminous mist that flowed off his hand and back down.
"Miasma," Aether murmured, "Some sort of effluvium that is reminiscent of galactic neighbourhoods."
"Heavier than water," Jinpeng nodded, "We just have to follow it downhill."
They followed the river then, leaping along its banks as it lazily meandered downslope like a blue ribbon. With every step, Aether could feel them moving downwards, for the light pressure upon his skin began to feel like a crushing weight - as if he were holding the Sky above his head. And yet, Jinpeng did not look affected by any means.
"I must admit," Aether called, "I expected to see at least a few of those beasts down here."
"The Children of the Vortex?" the yaksha asked, "There were a few for some days, those returning from Liyue Harbour. But generally, they all fled back to the Vortex after you dropped your god-shattering star."
"I like the sound of that," Aether barked a laugh, "My god-shattering star, huh?"
"Now's not the time for japes, starwalker."
"Hey, you started it!"
Aether leaped forwards again and soared through the water, only to be caught by Jinpeng in front of him, who blocked him with an arm before throwing him to the ground. Aether landed in a crouch, before rising to see the yaksha standing before him.
"Best not be so hasty."
Aether choked on his saliva when he saw what he nearly fell into. There was a massive pit, a great gouge in the seabed as if someone carved out a mountain from the ground. The river of blue light poured into the pit in a waterfall, the miasma diffusing to create a cerulean hue in the depths. Several more rivers of miasma poured into the pit from all around the gateway, illuminating darkness.
In the distance, he could faintly make out the silhouettes of colossal stone obelisks rising from the ground to create the Guyun Stone Forest on the surface.
Aether cautiously leaned over the edge, staring down into the void under. Currents burst forth, a great force that came and went in a moment - continuously, cyclically, as if the gateway was the maw of a great beast breathing. He could feel the thrumming in the waters, the swirling of brine, salt and sand.
"There was a seal here," Jinpeng muttered, "It covered the entire gate, pinned down by the stone spears."
Aether craned his head upwards, looking to the surface in vain hopes of sighting sunlight - to no avail.
There was an earth-rumbling growl that overwhelmed his senses. The waters vibrated as the earth shook, and the pit belched hot air and miasma - creating bubbles that soon raced upwards.
Jinpeng took a shuddering breath.
"You alright?"
"Just…" he breathed, "Just never thought I'd be back here."
"Bad memories?"
"No…" the yaksha shook his head, "Just… well, I suppose this is destiny."
The Guardian Yaksha kissed his fingers with closed eyes, before bowing his head and touching his forehead. Then, without another word, he leapt off the cliff and descended into the pit. Aether watched as the man broke through the cloud of miasma and disappeared into the depths, before sighing and following him.
He instinctively closed his eyes as he cut through the dark blue miasma, feeling the odd tingling sensation wash over him. Even as he opened his eyes again, he could tell everything was getting hazier and dimmer the more he fell - as if someone was forcefully pulling a blindfold over him. Far below him, Jinpeng's golden light was fading away, and Aether twisted around into a more streamlined position to descend faster.
Aether felt himself hitting a barrier - like a thin paper screen - before tearing through it and falling under.
The first thing he noticed when he entered the Vortex was just how bright the place was. Unlike the dark, murky waters above, the Vortex possessed a silver-blue sheen. Aether impulsively swivelled around, searching for the illusive sunlight only to find none.
But he did find the source of light; hundreds of thousands - countless - of luminescent jellyfish enlightening the sea-skies. The gateway from which they had passed through was gone, by some miracle or sorcery it was as if it was never there - instead replaced by a carpet of florid blue jellyfish floating gently in the currents. They released their effulgent spores which fell downwards like raindrops, giving the waters an azure hue.
And beneath them, a great expanse of blue. From the sightless bottom, great mountains of seastone rose - and from them he beheld the ruins of a once-mighty undersea kingdom. Even under the waves, where all colours were faded and bleached - he couldn't fully descry the bounds of the Vortex.
Cities hewn into the sides of undersea mountains like great verandas, coral spires and towers like grasping hands reaching for the surface. Aether swam closer to one mountain peak, finding those Children of the Vortex aimlessly wandering about the streets - some clearly noticing him but never reacting. The place was once teeming with life, he could tell - a single large, living, breathing structure consisting of a plethora of unimaginable organisms that perhaps once coexisted in harmony.
And how unimaginable they were, those Children. Whereas on the surface they were malformed creatures only to be viewed in nightmares - below they were graceful, beautiful beings. They soared upon the currents like undersea angels, their scaled bodies glittering in effusion.
Grown into coral and kelp, a colossal palace of seastone and coral rose over the depths, bejewelled by barnacle crowns. The rock in the brine sat in eternal patience as around it sea creatures performed their freeform dances. The base seemed to be built from a huge porous rock, a lurid cornucopia of sea-life riveted to it.
Giant red anemones swayed from side to side as waves of currents surged across the undersea valleys - home to a deluge of sea creatures, from the smallest of fish to the greatest of singing whales. A massive sea serpent meandered in the distance, faint and far - and from the depths below a great turtle surged upwards.
Aether hastily swam out of the way, viewing its scarred green shell covered with barnacles and seagrass.
"It would do well for you to not lose yourself here," Jinpeng called from below him, catching his attention, "Follow closely."
They dodged the free floating sea-beasts, and down into the streets of the city - weaving between the aimless crowds of Children. From above, the undersea kingdom looked to be paradise, but on the ground it was anything but.
Indescribable corpses drift through muddy gutters and canals, unremoved or uneaten. From above, a great fall of blue miasma from the peak runs through the city. It seems that the preferred choice of transport was once the canals - filled with miasma fed from the falls - but they have long since been clogged with rubble and the dead. The buildings extend above the narrow streets and you can imagine it was once a great capital of the sea. But now all that's left is ruins.
They paused in front of the palace, its massive coral doors rising over them - large enough for a legion of whales to pass through fittingly. Before it, the eerie silence of an empty marketplace surrounds them. Abandoned shops, broken wares and missing merchants were all that was left.
Before them were the remnants of a lost civilisation, Aether detachedly thought, a great kingdom hewn from stone to protect once-glamorous palaces and now-dead streets.
They swam out of the city, and Aether sighted the silhouettes of more mountain redoubts in the distance. They ignored them, instead diving downwards passed the edges of the city - down the mountainside, following the falls of miasma.
"Can't say I expected this of the Vortex," Aether called, to fill the silence, "Isn't Osial an evil god?"
"What makes him evil?" Jinpeng returned.
"Don't know," he admitted, "I suppose I took those humans at their word - he certainly looks the part, though. Wait… shouldn't you be agreeing anyway?"
The yaksha glanced at him, before closing his eyes.
"North of the Sea of Clouds there was a great city of stone built into a hillside, overlooking the Yaoguang Shoal. This city was not rich, or powerful, but the people were peaceful. Observing the sea flats, they primarily sustained themselves by fishing."
Aether kept quiet.
"They worshipped a great fish named Kun who could turn into a magnificent golden bird named Peng," Jinpeng continued, "Kun would bless them with bountiful catches, and Peng would clear the skies if it ever gets stormy. Then, the Lord of Waves came, seeking to conquer, but Kun-Peng submitted peacefully - swearing an oath as a vassal to a liege."
"I suppose this Kun-Peng was you?"
"When Morax freed me of my oath, there was no more need for me to rule the sea. Thus, I took the form of Peng more often than not, and that became the name the people called me; the Golden Peng - Jin Peng."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because that city overlooking the sea flats is gone now, reduced to ruins," he answered, "Just like that small fishing village that sat on what was once Chihu Rock, back when it wasn't a rock but a flat coastline. No more than a few thousand people, they lived in wooden houses built on stilts - worshipping a great three-headed hydra they called the Beisht Khione."
"Then Osial came," Aether guessed, "And the Beisht Khione submitted peacefully?"
"Correct," he nodded, "Beisht would drive schools of fishes to their shores, so they would never go hungry. And when the storms come rolling in, she would howl to the skies, expelling the clouds. The three of us ruled these waters, once."
"And why are you telling me this?"
"Because that village is gone now, crushed underneath Chihu Rock, and Liyue Harbour was built upon their tomb," he answered, "Those two settlements share the same fate as the mighty walled city built atop the salt flats at Sal Terrae, ruled by a peaceful goddess named Havria. Such was also the fate of a kingdom raised around Mount Wuwang, ruled by a mountain dragon named Qingce who shared the bounties of the earth with his people, enriching them."
A long silence passed as they swam quietly, retreating out of the lighter waters above and diving into the murky depths below.
"Read the scriptures of Liyue," Jinpeng finally said, "And find that they were all evil kingdoms ruled by evil gods - them, and dozens more. And yet, somehow, they all met the exact same fate - at the hands of a numberless army hailing from the Guili Assembly."
Aether got his point, and decided not to push any further. Soon enough, they reached the edge of a cliff - overlooking a great gouge in the earth, a vast canyon that extended as far as the eye could see. The water was somehow thicker down here, and each action he took was laborious, as if he was in syrup.
But finally, in the canyon he saw what they were looking for - the corpse of Osial. On the surface, only the five heads of the god could be seen, but down here he fully beheld the colossal being. From heads to tails the rotting corpse stretched for a league, laid out across the seabed.
Swarming around the body like flies were countless Children, and Aether couldn't help but twistedly think that they were eating their progenitor.
"They're killing each other," Jinpeng noted.
"What…?" Aether peered through the brine, and found that he was correct.
The Children were brawling, ripping each other apart and letting their entrails fall onto the corpse of Osial. Suddenly, Jinpeng pushed him down until they were lying flat on the rock - just in time for a massive creature to pass over them, encompassing them in its shadow. Cautiously looking up, Aether saw the three-headed beast named Beisht glide down the canyon.
The great sea-beast tore into her children with her three teeth-filled maws, intensifying the amount of bloodshed.
"They're trying to revive the Lord of Waves with their own lifeforce," the yaksha muttered, "That's why the Children above were so mindless, they're being controlled by a central consciousness."
"Beisht?"
"No, Osial. His physical body is dead, or near dead, but he is still alive - and desperately trying to heal himself."
"Desperate is the right word for it," Aether murmured, "Because I have never seen anything like this."
"You must get to the corpse and find a way inside," Jinpeng told him, "They revere the Lord of Waves too much, and wouldn't dare to follow you."
"But first I must reach it," he replied, "...Will you be alright?"
"Likely not," the yaksha admitted, "But there is no way around this. I find that it was about time for a reunion, nonetheless."
"I will be hasty."
"Good, keep this safe for me."
After handing Aether his spear, Jinpeng leapt off the cliff - golden light seeping from cracks in his skin. Halfway down the cliff, he exploded in a cloud of golden dust, drawing the attention of Beisht.
Then, Jinpeng's true form was revealed as he charged out of the cloud - in the form of a massive half-shark, half-whale beast the size of a castle. Kun released a silent yet deafening roar, before ramming into one of Beisht's necks and biting down.
As the two sea gods warred with each other, Aether made a mad dash for the corpse with a great burst of Anemo. A swarm of Children quickly gathered in front of him, and Aether hastily formed a lance of starlight in his hands before hurling it forwards - blasting open an opening for him to rush through.
Suddenly, a great force pushed him off-course - and he soon realised he was caught in the wake of one of Beisht's tails. Aether cursed, forming another explosive spear and hurling it at the mass of Children chasing him, staving them off for another moment. He desperately continued to swim downwards, glancing once or twice at the two mightiest gods of the sea wrestling in a divine bloodbath.
Golden ichor poured downwards in plumes, washing everything in amber and gold - sprinkling over Osial's skin. Aether silently cursed again, Jinpeng was unwittingly speeding up Osial's resurrection.
Reaching the corpse, he grabbed one of the armour-like scales and pulled himself forward, gliding over the body. Aether began searching for a place more rotted through, so he could access the insides.
Abruptly, he swivelled around and speared a snarling Child in the chest - before conjuring another golden lance and hurling it into his pursuers. As the spear exploded and their entrails washed over him, Aether finally found a patch of flesh where the ribs were showing through.
Jinpeng's edgeless jade spear carved through the meat as if it was paper, swiftly gouging open a hole large enough for him to enter. After a final glance at the battle above - where Kun had nearly ripped off one of Beisht's heads, yet Beisht's other two heads were biting into Kun's fins - Aether crawled into the crevice and sealed the wound behind him with Geo.
As the yaksha had predicted, the Children did not follow him.
Aether instinctively took a deep breath, before realising he was inhaling divine fluids. Hastily hacking it out with Anemo, he turned around to behold Osial's cavernous insides.
"Alright," he muttered to himself, "If I were a god, where would I keep my godhead?"
In his heart, perhaps. But before he could think far, he was knocked off his feet by a mighty tremor which ran through the body. He paused, and after a moment another tremor ran through the fleshy walls. It appears that Osial was still alive, if only barely.
Aether began searching for Osial's heart, pushing his way through flesh and organs and cutting his way through if necessary. From time to time, he would impulsively duck when he heard the booming sounds from overhead as Kun and Beisht continued to battle. The tremors continued cyclically, one every few moments - and each time Aether would reorientate himself to find its source.
Until finally, he carved his way into a large chamber, and in the centre was the still-beating heart of the Lord of Waves. It was a vast thing, the size of Mondstadt's Favonian Cathedral at least - a biological wonder powerful enough to support a mountain-sized beast such as this. This close, every beat of the heart felt like thunder in his ears, waves of energy washing across his skin, pushing him back.
Aether waited for another pulse to pass - then leapt at the first opportunity, Jinpeng's peerless jade spear brandished.
"Hyah!" he stabbed deep into the heart, pushing the stake in with both hands before wrenching the spear downwards.
Golden ichor poured out of the wound, pooling around his feet. Aether grimaced, before letting go with one hand and summoning Aphelion to it. He began carving through the heart bit by bit, chamber by chamber, tearing through flesh and muscle.
An indescribable shriek reverberated through the cavern - followed by a great impact and tossed him off his feet. Wiping blood from his face, Aether stared at the ceiling, where something - someone - had crashed into, before the roar was returned with another.
That's right, two old comrades were tearing each other apart.
And Aether had to put an end to it.
He pushed himself to his feet, scooping up his spear and sword, before returning to the divine heart. Golden blood matted his hands, making his grip slippery and unstable - yet he continued hewing apart the organ relentlessly - until he felt he was close, in his gut.
Dropping Aphelion, Aether gripped the jade spear with two hands and pushed deep - deep into the heart, before wrenching the haft to the side like a lever. Holding it there, he plunged one hand into the wound, up to his elbow, clawing at something that didn't exist, but was there.
"You have my apologies," he muttered through gritted teeth, "I have nothing against you."
Aether curled his fingers, clawing onto something hard and brittle - small enough to grab in its entirety - and he tensed. Wrenching it out, an unassuming conch shell was revealed in his palm. Covered in mucous and algae, it was diffident and unpretentious - yet Aether could feel the thousands of years of history it contained, memories of peace and of war, of gods and monsters.
Of how a god became a god.
A true god - a Lord - not any 'god' like Beisht or Jinpeng or Ganyu. A god that fought and fell in the Archon Wars. He held the beginning and end of the Lord of Waves in his hands.
Aether wasted no time in defacing it, invading the godhead with his consciousness in an attempt to usurp it. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his will into the artefact, wrestling with Osial's own - but the Lord of Waves was dormant, not dead, and in a direct fight for supremacy Aether held no candle to the ancient deity. Not a moment later, Aether was expelled from the godhead, a migraine splitting apart his head.
Tears of blood ran down his cheeks, and as if a candle was snuffed out, Aether could suddenly feel the weight of his actions crash down on him. The pressure of the Vortex crushed him in his place, all the indignance and fury of an ancient god balefully glaring down at him.
Aether stared down at the conch shell lying on the floor, and had half the mind to destroy it then and there. Yet, that was his own pride speaking to him - for nothing good will come of destroying such an artefact of great power and import.
"Paimon…" he rasped, unwilling to call for help yet sorely needing it.
"Paimon… our deal…" he coughed, "My third boon… I want- I need it now."
…
"Paimon…" Aether wiped the blood from his eyes and grabbed the godhead again.
"Incessant, aren't you?" Paimon's proud voice surrounded him, "Do you even know what you are doing?"
Aether didn't answer, instead cradling the conch shell in his hands and invading it again.
"You-! Again, do you not learn-!?"
"Celestia will not see you here," he murmured, "In the Vortex."
"Of course not!" she scoffed, "The Vortex lies at the edge of the world, on the border with the Void Realm. There is a reason why Furfur created this place, the House of Lords have no power here."
"Then…"
"But Furfur is still a Lord of the House!" she scorned, "And a Lord hasn't been removed since five centuries ago. Do you truly think Celestia will not notice?"
"He was still stuck here for millennia… I don't think Celestia cares."
"Yes…" Paimon hissed, "He was stuck here. Use your head once in a while, would you? Not every problem can be solved with force alone!"
Then, her voice softened.
"Learn from history, will you? How does one kill a god?"
Aether felt Paimon's presence depart soon after, leaving him alone with the conch shell in his hands. Kneeling down, he keeled over, holding the godhead to his chest with his eyes closed. Faintly, he could hear the thunderous crashes of the battle above him.
How does one kill a god?
You usurp their belief, their authority, their godhead - then you replace them with another one. But Aether couldn't even complete the first step, how could he? Osial has ruled the Vortex for millennia, his belief and authority were unmovable. Aether thought but he could at least capture his godhead - but it seems he had grown overconfident.
Aether pressed his lips together, a thousand thoughts flitting through his mind.
Paimon was older than him, more experienced than him - she must know all this when she asked him the question. So what was he doing wrong? What was the correct answer?
Osial was… stuck… here. Trapped - sealed - restrained. He was a god of the sea, and the sea does not like to be restrained. Just like the winds…
Barbatos usurped Decarabian's powers diadem - he knew this - but how?
Aether gripped Osial's godhead tightly, and pervaded it once more - not with force of will, no, but with intent. Barbatos convinced Decarabian's believers and authorities to join his side by giving them exactly what they wanted - freedom. Aether simply had to take it one step further, he simply had to give Osial what he wanted as well.
The best kind of victory was a bloodless one.
He pressed further into the subspace, feeling Osial's will resist him at first - before letting him through, intrigued by his offer. Yes, if he couldn't win here, then he would have to lose. And by losing, he would win in the end.
Do you promise?
Aether does promise, he does not break his oaths.
You will not betray me?
Aether liked to think he was honourable, and besides, isn't this a partnership?
Then let this contract be forged in brine and stone, for freedom.
For freedom.
"Bound in brine and stone," Aether murmured, "I hearken your will, your will to shape. Shape is intent, and intent fractures."
There was a keen wail, a chorale of whale and wave as they mourned their god. Aether raised his head with wide eyes, watching as Osial's corpse unravelled before him. Skin and scale peeled off the flesh, and flesh off bone - revealing himself to the Vortex. Beisht and Kun had stopped fighting, instead staring down at the Lord of Wave's contorting body. The legion of Children hung in the sea like silent sentinels, watching.
Cracking filled his ears as the god's bones snapped apart and back together - a spine for a keel, a ribcage for a frame. Aether barked a dumbfounded laugh, glancing down at the conch shell in his hands - before hastily throwing it at the newborn god, through the gaps in the ribs and into the centre of the structure, where muscle and tissue bloomed from the shell, fashioning a new heart.
The Children of the Vortex surged forwards in a tide, like vultures they tore apart Osial's corpse, picking it apart piece by piece - and used the materials to construct the newborn god. Skin and scales attached to the frames by flesh and tissue to create a hull, seastone for a deck, shells for the castles, coralline spires for masts, and seagrass for sails.
Seven tails for a rudder, and a five-headed hydra for a figurehead - writhing and snapping as they accustomed themselves to their new body.
An ethereal galleon blossomed on the ocean floor, fashioned from the corpse of a god. Three masts of coral stood tall, piercing the sea-sky, adorned by sails of green foliage. It looked every inch at home under the waves as it should on the surface.
Aether leapt onto the deck, feeling the reassuring thumping of the heartbeat beneath his feet. Looking back, he saw the indent on the seabed where Osial once laid, now empty except for scraps of flesh and bone. Jinpeng landed beside him, and Aether wordlessly handed him his spear.
He turned around, meeting the three gazes of Beisht and thousands more of her children.
Aether's legs finally gave out from under him, and he collapsed to his knees, feeling exhaustion pervade his body. He offered a small smile, gazing upwards with half-lidded eyes.
"Just… let me borrow him for a bit?"
Beisht curled, and her three heads released a deafening howl, revealing rows of sword-like teeth that would tear them apart if she wanted.
That did not come to pass.
Instead the Children swarmed under the galleon, and the vessel shifted beneath their feet. Aether waved farewell to the sea goddess, joined by the figurehead's mournful wail. Water rushed past them, hammering against the deck as they rose - forcing Aether's strengthless body flat against the deck, facing skyward. Jinpeng collapsed to a knee, using his spear to keep himself upright - and Aether finally noticed the extent of the yaksha's injuries.
His left arm was a mangled mess, and his body bore dozens of deep lacerations. The yaksha's breath was laboured, but he managed to speak nonetheless.
"Is this your definition of freedom?"
Aether did not answer, could not answer - for the moment he opened his mouth water rushed in. Choking, he forced himself to swallow the seawater before coughing violently. Jinpeng shook his head - in amusement or exasperation he could not discern.
They were lifted up, out of the depths, out of the canyon. They rose higher than the tallest of the undersea mountains, passing by the grandest of palaces and highest of towers. The masts acted like knives cutting through the water, splitting the sea above them - and they punched through the sky of jellyfish, and broke through the firmament that separated worlds.
So far down in the ocean, sunlight was nothing more than diffused glow - and yet he was blinded by the brilliance nonetheless. Those golden rays from above were only a deep blue in these waters, but as they ascend more and more light reached his senses.
Then, the first columns of light made themselves known - great pillars of brilliance penetrating the depths, as if holding up the surface. The waters turned clear and azure, and Aether's heart pounded deafeningly in his chest. He consciously held his breath, despite having never breathed for the longest time.
Rays of sunlight hit his face, and now he could see the swirling waves of the surface above him.
Aether's ears popped, and he imagined that if his veins were filled with blood they would be bubbling violently.
The ship broke through the surface like a breaching whale, figurehead howling in delight. Aether closed his eyes through the great eruption of white foam and water, letting the droplets splash off his body.
It was warm - oh, so warm. Sunlight caressed his skin like a long lost lover - and the salty taste of the ocean breeze danced upon his tongue. Aether sucked in a deep breath, his lungs finally recieving air in an age. His heart started pumping blood through his systems again, and Aether relaxed himself at long last.
Seaweed sails unfurled like the wings of a sea angel, and caught the wind. The vessel lurched forwards, westbound for Liyue Harbour.
"My definition of freedom is something like the seas and skies," Aether finally answered, "Vast and mighty, to be worshipped and feared. Their emotions could flip on a dime, once calm and pleasant, next dark and furious."
Jinpeng looked down, and offered an arm to which Aether accepted - and he was pulled to his feet, stumbling. He took in the salty air, feeling the winds run through his locks, and looked up to the cloudless blue Sky.
"Without gods," the yaksha murmured, "Who could command the seas and skies?"
"Then you understand what it means to live without any authority over you."
"Like a ship," Jinpeng breathed, "Sailing on boundless tides."
Author's Note:
This is the last chapter taking place entirely in Liyue, so I want to get some stuff out of the way. Three things, actually, all about lore and worldbuilding. All of these are canon, by the way, or at the very least implied/semi-canon.
First, Yanfei. Yanfei is a half-illuminated beast, I'm sure you all know this. Note: she isn't half-adepti, adepti are special illuminated beasts that serve Morax, like Ganyu. In any case, the specific illuminated beast Yanfei is a descendant of is the xiezhi. Xiezhi are intelligent goat-lion-dragon hybrids that symbolise law and justice, and it is said that ancient Chinese emperors used to keep xiezhi as retainers so they could never be deceived. Xiezhi can inherently tell lies from truth, and right from wrong. This is why Yanfei instinctively knew Childe's real name, and also how she could punish using Divine Law.
Second, Xiao's true form, his 'true' name is Alatus in the EN translation, but in CN it's Jinpeng (I'm Chinese, I play with the Chinese translation, which is why Act 2 is so full of Chinese references, sorry). If you didn't know, Jin means Gold/Golden, and Peng is a legendary bird from East Asian mythos. While there are many story variations pertaining to Peng, they all start the same; there was once a great fish named Kun who was miles long from head to tail, who would transform into a great bird named Peng who had the wingspan and length of miles. Peng would then soar over the world, headed south in search of a Lake of Heaven.
There is another leading theory that Xiao is actually based on the Great Peng, Garuda, from Buddhist mythos. While this theory holds merit, for the purposes of this story I went with the first theory. And here's the kicker; in an official dev diary by Mihoyo (released on the Hoyolab forums), they mentioned that the tattoo on Xiao's arm is actually a depiction of his true form - a scaled bird.
Lastly, about Meng Jiang. In the game, her name is Ferrylady, and you can find her in front of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour at certain times. At first glance, she is obviously a reference to Charon, the ferryman of the dead in Greek mythos - but I have a different take. The Spanish translation calls her Meng Po (only the Spanish translation, I don't know why), and Meng Po is basically the Chinese equivalent of Charon, a goddess who would wait on the banks of the river separating the underworld (Diyu) from the living world. Meng Po would offer those who try to cross a special soup which would remove all their memories.
Now, the moment I saw Meng Po I immediately got the idea for the Ferrylady's name. Because Meng Po is actually based on an ancient Chinese legend, Lady Meng Jiang. Again, there have been many variations to the story, but the central theme remains the same. There was once a young couple, Meng Jiang and her husband. Then, her husband was drafted into labour to build the Great Wall of China. Months passed, winter came, and Meng Jiang heard nothing from her husband. So, she set off north to bring her husband winter clothes.
However, when she arrived, she found out her husband had died building the Great Wall. Distressed by the news, Meng Jiang collapsed to her knees at the foot of the Great Wall and wailed to the heavens and earth, moving everyone who passed by to tears. For ten days, she weeped, and on the tenth day the section of the Great Wall toppled down, revealing her husband's bones - along with the bones of countless more workers inlaid within the stone.
My favourite variation says that because no one could differentiate her husband's bones from the rest, Meng Jiang decided to spend the rest of her life there - and when she finally passed, her bones were buried in the Great Wall along with her husband's. I'm sure you can connect the Meng Jiang from this folktale to the Meng Jiang in the story, and how they relate to each other.
Rewritten on 22/7/2022