I can feel sand crunch beneath my feet, the artful swirls carefully etched into the ground remaining flawless even as I stepped on them. The sky around me was unrecognizable, a strange, foreign vista that stretched to infinity, a heavenly body looming low and menacing before me, everything tainted a lurid red.

So, this is Euthymia, I think to myself. Not exactly the most welcoming landscape…

I don't have time to take in all the sights, because the reason I'm here stands in front of me, my opponent who wields immense power, who brooks no opposition, who stands above humans as a god

Who demands Eternity. By any means necessary.

"So, we meet again." Her voice is so controlled, her stance so calm, her face a cold, unwavering vision. She was so utterly in control, her confidence unbounded. She stood sure and unshakeable in the knowledge that she was in no danger, that she was right, that her plan was perfect. "Indulge my curiosity. What is the reason that I find you standing here before me once again? Do you hope your foolhardiness will shelter those people? Or…was it simply a means of seeking an audience with me?"

Such are the words of Ei, god of Eternity. And they fill me with overwhelming rage.

"Yes to both, actually," is my reply, breathless for reasons beyond the events bringing me to this other plane of existence. "Someone asked me to try and reason with you, to try and convince you to reconsider your decisions, but after all I've seen…what I'm seeing now, I'm convinced I'd be wasting my breath. But, foolish mortal that I am, I'll do my best anyway."

Her eyes narrow, only slightly, her control never permitted to slip. "And who made this request of you?"

I grin at her, but it's a savage, biting thing, no humor to be found in it. "Now that would be a waste of breath, as you wouldn't believe me even if I told you the truth. But why don't you tell me the truth? Why do you sit here, safe and meditating, while your people suffer, at the hands of the Fatui and even each other? Do you even know it's happening?"

This doesn't seem to phase her at all. "Of course I know. The Fatui desire to control me and take as they please, but they constitute no threat to eternity. If they did, they would have been extinguished long ago."

"What a relief that eternity is safe," I reply mockingly. "I just wish I could say the same for your people…and considering how many of them disagree with your Vision Hunt Decree to the point of violence, well, surely you can understand my confusion when it comes to your choices." My flippant attitude is no doubt dangerous. The power that this god wielded was already shown to wholly outmatch me, but I didn't care. Even if I was cut down, I needed to say these things. I needed to show her that her ideas and plans for perfection were so very far removed from reality. Even if it only ended up spiting her rather than convincing her, I wouldn't back down now.

She brushes my veiled accusation aside casually. "Individual ambition is inherently incompatible with eternity. What you might not realize is that all too often…people have far more to lose by chasing their dreams. Consider this – no one will lose their life on account of having their Vision taken away…"

I can see the point she's about to make, and even in my derision for her actions, I'm shocked by her callousness.

"Rather, those who have lost their lives are the ones who insisted on pursuing their own aspirations, are they not?"

Slowly, almost as much in a daze as when I stumbled out of her palace only a few moments ago, I step forward, my words uttered softly, but the spirit behind them roars with more ferocity than Azhdaha held at the height of his fury. "You see a mortal trying to take back what was wrongfully stolen from them, to return that which was freely given to them, snatched for purposes senseless in their eyes, and you would call that 'pursuing their own aspirations? As a means of justifying their deaths in your eyes? How little you understand us. You really are just a tyrant."

"You are so far removed from the concept of eternity that insisting you comprehend the meaning of my actions would be pointless." Of course she would say that. Easier to dismiss accusations rather than justify needless acts. "All that matters is that I tread the path of eternity on my people's behalf."

"You mean the people who butcher each other in a civil war that your decisions caused? A civil war that you know of, yet you do nothing to stop? Can you not even attempt to explain your reasons to them, even if it's only a small chance that they might understand? Or are you just going to drag them into Eternity whether they like it or not?"

Her face is stone, perfect and unyielding, her powerful, otherworldly violet eyes never leaving mine. I can see it. She cannot be moved. "So, you truly have come here to shake my will, have you?"

"I'm not convinced it's possible, Ei. But against my better judgment, I figure that maybe even a god can learn."

Now the impenetrable wall cracks a little, a single twitch in her cheek. She didn't anticipate that response. And she clearly didn't like it. "And what," she demanded, her voice quietly promising a storm, "can you teach the god of Eternity?"

"Considering your worrying lack of knowledge when it comes to humans, the very beings you were inexplicably tasked with ruling over, and protecting, and caring for? We could start there."

Her face Is carefully sculpted, rejecting any loss of control, but her voice suggests that her cool demeanor is starting to slip, if only a little. "You have nothing to teach me that I don't already know. I promised my people Eternity, to preserve Inazuma for all time. Unchanging and perfect. You, foolish Traveler, will not undo this."

I should be ready for a fight. I should be active and watching, but I'm stunned, my eyes wide and arms slack from such a startling revelation. In all my ranting about her inane decrees and decisions, I had neglected to demand an answer to the question that had consumed me since I had first heard of the concept: what did Eternity really mean? Now I knew, and that knowledge was not at all a comfort.

"Unchanging…" I mumble, too distracted in my own head to infuse any vitriol or contempt into the word. "You have only revealed your complete and total ignorance, Ei. You have no understanding of the outside world and the people who inhabit it. If you did, you would know that a humanity forbidden to change is no humanity at all. You are a god by virtue of might alone. Wisdom is entirely absent from every one of your actions."

Now, finally, the control is gone, and the storm is unleashed, baleful, crackling lightning skittering and spiking around her, casting an eerie, flickering purple glow that clashed with the crimson light of this lifeless, infernal place. Her blade whips into her hand, and her voice is the sound of thunder and retribution when she says, "If you came here in the hopes of talking me to death, you will be sorely disappointed, impudent mortal."

"I am here because of the last remaining being in this world who believed you could change," I retorted. "But you won't listen. You were never going to." Resolutely, I summon my sword, a simple, unadorned thing compared to Ei's immaculate and beautifully detailed long-bladed spear. "When you kill me, and you achieve this precious perfection, know that by the time you bring it about, there won't be an Inazuma. Everyone will have killed one another in the war you refuse to stop, or slain by the Fatui, who you claim are no threat even as your people fall by their hand or fled the conflict altogether for a better life. You will share in the glory of your Eternity with dust and ghosts, alone until all the stars burn out, and my only regret is that I won't get to see your face as despair crushes your spirit."

The attack was so fast as to be instantaneous, her movement so sudden it was as if she had teleported from one spot to another rather than dash the distance between us. She poured her strength into the sprint and the thrust, the power, anger, and sheer will of a god roiling behind the singular strike. It was death, in a pure, distilled form.

And it was exactly what I had been hoping for, the reaction I had been trying to goad her into from the very beginning. Even then, with my preparation and expectation, it was a very near thing.

I pulled my own power, all the energy of my abilities that I had gained since coming to this world, and focused it into a single action, a counter that I desperately hoped Ei wasn't anticipating. Rather than blocking the strike, or meeting it with an attack of my own, I channeled everything I had into slipping past it with speed that dared to rival hers, attempting the near-suicidal move of dashing into and past the thrust, letting her momentum carry her away from me, her own speed barring her from any retaliation.

It was barely a fraction of a second, but now we stood opposite from where we started, my blade held point forward in one hand as an after image of my thrust, her pose identical to mine. As we turned to face each other, I brought my sword around to cover half my face as I gazed at the god of Eternity.

To look in her eyes as she beheld a single drop of golden ichor trailing down the edge of my blade.

Ei looked for all the world as if she had just entered an entirely different plane of existence as she slowly brought a hand to her cheek, feeling the thin, clean slice upon her pale skin.

"So, you can bleed. Good to know." I try to sound confident, but my voice trembles uncontrollably. I just spent all my reserves simply for that single move, and now I had to truly fight her, this uncompromising, implacable god. I don't hesitate, taking up a fighting stance even as my body shakes from exertion, the now heavy feeling in my pocket reminding me that I still had a last resort. And there I stood, a witness to the unrelenting power and fury of a deity intent on my destruction, with only two words on my lips.

"Round two."

Author's note: Hello all. This is my first fanfic about Genshin Impact, although I have written a number of original pieces (they're not posted anywhere, still unsure about doing that).

To explain, I know very little about the community of this game or the feelings it has towards certain characters. I am a relatively new player, and I admittedly play the game far more than anything else as far as interaction with it goes. So, I don't know how you all will feel about this piece or its depictions. This was, to me, something I wanted very much to write, as I felt limited in my responses to Raiden and others during the Inazuma arc.

Without doubt, that arc was excellent. I enjoyed it greatly, the only issue I had involved me angrily arguing at my PC screen whenever Ei was making points or saying things that I found especially controversial. I won't rant, I feel this story itself has more than enough of that. Suffice to say that, at the end of the primary Inazuma story, I loved Raiden from a gameplay perspective, and utterly despised her from a story perspective.

The argument can be made that she was influenced by her past with her sister, I won't deny that, and I also recently finished the first of her story quests, in which I particularly enjoyed seeing her ideas challenged (and in a much gentler way than I have done here, I will not deny), I just kept getting stuck on lines spoken by Ei, and sometimes even Yae, that left me wanting to debate the both of them. I tend to want to debate and contest ideas when it comes to humanity, the ideas surrounding society, and the like. My ability to respond being so restricted by my character's very limited, and often to me, insufficient, comments was irrationally maddening.

And I'm rambling. Apologies. If you like the story for its writing, or you find fault in it, whether minor or significant, please don't hesitate to tell me. So long as it's not hateful, I find criticism to be quite practical. And if you're someone who loves Raiden, and doesn't appreciate this story as a result, I'm not being facetious when I say that I apologize. This is simply a difference in opinion, and just like the character of Raiden shows, differing opinions are so very difficult to tackle, despite being so integral to our consciousness as living, thinking beings.

In any event, I'm not sure about writing more fanfiction, Genshin or otherwise, in any considerable amount, mostly because I am both occupied with original works I like to toy with more, and because I am otherwise a lazy, frustratingly unmotivated individual. Not to say I have no ideas for fanfics, they just tend to take a back seat in most cases related to writing.

If any of you get this far through all this madness, I hope your today is wonderful, and your tomorrow only improves upon it. Until next time.