Episode 14: Where Time Doth Not Corrupt
Days passed unremarkably after Childe's mortifying encounter with the inhuman. At HQ, things were quiet - almost too quiet. It was the calm before the storm, perhaps, as the Harbingers prepared for the mission that would likely bring an end to their centuries-long war against the gods.
Despite their hardened nature, there was an air of anxiety among some of their ranks. Some thought it too soon to attack Celestia head-on, while others rared at the chance like rabid dogs straining at the end of their leash. Such was the nature of the Eleven.
Their newest member continued to pass his time quietly for a few days after the meeting, waiting for a chance to go back home. His heart dreaded this mission, but he refused to contemplate anything other than victory. What the consequences of that victory would be, he couldn't say. Either way, there was absolutely nothing he could do to stand against the machinations of the Harbingers.
The whole time he had been gone, one thought had never left his mind: his wife. He still hadn't had a chance to apologize to her, and it was starting to have a clear negative effect on his mental state. So, when Pierrot announced that they had no meetings for several days to come, Diluc jumped at the opportunity.
His bag packed, he made his was out of the grand entrance of Harbinger HQ. He aimed towards the city gate, and began his journey home. Just as he was on the verge of making his escape, though, he heard a voice resound in his mind, and stopped in his tracks.
Don't leave yet. There's something I have to show you.
Opening Theme: Unlucky Morpheus - 夢幻
In a dingy alley several blocks from Harbinger HQ, two figures met in secret. No words were spoken between them; nevertheless, they conferred intently as the unsuspecting crowds passed by outside.
What? Why would you take me there?
You seemed so interested in it, so I worked something out for you.
Bullshit. Stop trying to manipulate me.
Ah, you two really are alike. Fine. What must I do for you to trust me?
There's nothing you can do.
Not even if I allow you to go in there and do what you want?
Diluc stared at the short woman, his eyes sharp.
I'm sure you already know what I'd like to do to that place. Why would you let me have my way?
I know. I know about your father, too. That's why I'll allow this. Our time is very short, Gianduja - no, Diluc. If The Jester fails, the gods certainly will not stand for it. That would be the end of your little dream, now, wouldn't it?
Diluc's eyes grew a bit wider at her dangerous insinuation. Did she already know everything?
So you'll stand against your leader?
I only stand for myself, and only ever have.
Diluc's jaw hung slightly open, astounded at her open admission of treasonous intent.
I don't understand you at all, Columbina. But… I can't pass up a chance like this… so I'll go.
You certainly won't regret it.
With a toothy grin, she cocked her head to the side, then gestured with her hand as if to say "follow me".
Down the modern streets of Snezhnaya's capital, the odd pair walked as if on a mission… Through upscale neighborhoods filled with futuristic homes, past sooty factories nestled against the high wall surrounding the city, and eventually through a large gate.
Ahead, a sprawling, low building hugged the small river that ran past the city. Painted black, and surrounded by fences and walls, it looked anything but inviting.
This is it. Follow me, we shouldn't be seen near the entrance.
No shit, traitor.
How humorous coming from someone like you.
Diluc frowned and followed the woman as she took shelter behind a concrete wall with barbed wire on top of it.
"So? What's the plan here? You leading me to my death?" he whispered aloud as he crouched among a collection of rusted-out barrels.
"Certainly not. You still have many uses. The plan is simple: I'll fly us above and in through a skylight."
"That's comforting. Couldn't we have just flown here, then?"
"Now now, we can't be making a scene among the public, you know?"
"Fine. So what about once we're inside?"
"There is little security inside, and the project is on hold while the man you were supposed to protect heals from his wounds."
"Got it." Diluc glared.
Alright then, take my hand.
She reached out, beckoning Diluc once again. And just like last time, he took it. Whether driven by necessity or his own selfish desire for closure, he had once again accepted a deal with the devil.
He felt a tremendous force stretching his joints to the limit of what they could take, and a terrific rush of wind that attempted to rip him apart. In a matter of seconds, he was looking down from above as the entire capital plain stretched out below him. He could only think one thing:
Incredible.
No need for flattery. We're going down, hold on.
The world rushed closer at an alarming rate before rearranging itself in the shape of the roof below them. Nearby was a skylight, with a prominent latch on the outside.
Nice security.
We're the security. Who would be insane enough to attack a place down the street from our Headquarters?
Seems like that idea has a critical flaw, Diluc retorted, eying the source of said flaw.
Ever heard the saying "Don't bite the hand that feeds"?
Without responding, Diluc took it upon himself to unlatch the skylight. It swung back without a sound, leaving a nicely-sized hole to slip through.
Need a hand? Columbina smiled.
"No thanks," Diluc muttered.
Slipping on a right-handed black leather glove, he glanced down at the gleaming red stone inlaid in the back of it. Then, he leaped into the hole in the roof without flinching. Aiming his hand above, he chained himself to the ceiling, slowing his descent enough to land without injury. He rolled across the ground, then hastily took note of his surroundings.
The room was somewhat large and open, with several desks scattered around. Along one wall, there were several tube-like structures, each one surrounded by wires. A blue screen cast a small glow on the concrete floor of the otherwise dimly-lit room, showing complicated terminology that Diluc couldn't waste time trying to understand.
Suddenly, he felt a breeze by his ear.
"Don't be so reckless," Columbina whispered.
"This isn't my first time," Diluc muttered back.
It was clear by now that no one was in the room. In fact, there was a thin layer of dust covering one of the nearby tables, hinting that this place had been put on the back burner for a while now.
I'm guessing those are the Delusions? Diluc mentally queried, surveying the dozen or so glass tubes by the wall.
Some of them. Why don't you take a look?
Diluc silently strolled across the room to the wall, noticing each glass tube contained an object of some kind. One looked to be some sort of knife, while another was a pair of boots. Over half looked similar to his own Evil Eye - gem-like objects that resembled fake Eyes of God.
"I never knew that Delusions could take on so many forms," Diluc whispered.
"A Delusion is simply an amalgamation of raw 'soul' imbued into an object. The host is irrelevant," Columbina answered quietly.
"What did you just say?" Diluc turned to her, looking frustrated.
"Ah, sorry, did you not know?" she apologetically smiled.
"I heard something similar, but damn…" Diluc said, clenching his fist.
"Artificial Delusions require a source of power, and the energy released by tortured souls that cannot move on from this world just happens to be very potent."
Columbina's soft tone never changed, but the horrific words she was spewing certainly didn't match her demeanor any more.
"Damn it. Why would you show me this?"
"Hmm, perhaps I wanted to see you suffer," Columbina calmly answered.
"Huh?" Diluc's mouth hung open.
"Don't worry about it."
Diluc clenched his fist even tighter, soothing his anger before he lost control of himself. He couldn't allow himself to fall into her flow. If he did, nothing but insanity awaited him in those depths.
"Whatever," he mumbled.
Stepping away from the annoying woman next to him, he took a closer look at the Delusion containers along the wall. As he drew near, he felt his body cross an almost-physical barrier, and an awful maelstrom of emotions struck him. It felt like thousands of tiny fingers were trying to pry into his brain.
"Damn, these are terrible," he grimaced, holding his head.
"These are some of the most troublesome Delusions. Most are too unstable to be properly used, and that one… well, you'll know when you see it."
Diluc glanced at Columbina, who was facing the last container in the row. Her expression was strangely morose.
In that container was something resembling a scrap of cloth, or a torn sheet. As he drew closer, though, he could tell it was no normal cloth, for several reasons.
First: it shined and glimmered with thousands of colors, like the most beautiful night sky imaginable. No, it was like space itself.
Second: once he got close enough to it, he felt an unbelievably warm, nostalgic sensation hit his chest. It was like the memory of a long-forgotten dream that returned unexpectedly, filling him with a sense of longing for a place he had never even been before.
"What… is this?" he whispered.
"That is the Shade of Evernight. I'm sure you've heard that name before."
Ignoring her unsurprising intrusion of privacy, Diluc moved closer to the tube. Despite its pitiful circumstances, the scrap of fabric seemed almost alive. The stars and galaxies within it moved constantly, never in the same place twice. It brought back tangible memories of a certain blonde man and his cape. They were extremely similar, but had completely different vibes.
Don't give up. I'm still fighting for you. I believe in you.
"What?" Diluc whirled around towards Columbina, who raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Something wrong?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"I didn't say anything."
With eyes wide, he whirled around again, looking for anyone else in the room. But unsurprisingly, he found none.
"I heard a voice. It wasn't you?" Diluc sternly asked Columbina.
"No, I didn't do anything," she replied softly.
Diluc frowned as chills ran down his spine. All of a sudden, reality didn't feel so real, and he couldn't pinpoint why. But this feeling was far from alien; he had felt it several times before.
Dissociation.
Something drew his eyes back to the Shade, and a bolt of fear hit him.
It was floating.
The Shade of Evernight rose from its crumpled position, flapping as if a light breeze was ruffling it.
"What… the hell…?"
His voice came out hoarse through his tightened vocal chords. Suddenly, it felt as if the walls of the room were closing in on him. A dreadful sense of déjà vu almost overwhelmed him. As he stared into the endless void within the Shade, history itself seemed to smooth out, until it was nothing but a single linear line. There was no past, and no future. Those concepts were meaningless within that world. All that existed there was the eternal, never-ending moment.
A strong shaking sensation brought him back to his senses, and he realized that Columbina was nearly ripping his shoulder off.
"Diluc! What are you doing?" she implored him, her voice strained.
"I see. So that's how it is," he whispered reverently.
"What are you talking about? Did you see something?"
He had never seen this woman act like this. She was persistent, desperate, and hyper-focused on him.
"Yeah, I think I did," he continued in a low voice.
"We should leave. That thing is dangerous."
"No, it's too late for that."
"What?!" she raised her voice.
Truly, this was a rare sight. Columbina was at her wits' end. If one didn't know better, they might even suspect that she was afraid. Diluc might have found this immensely humorous, if not for the sheer breadth of the revelation that had filled his mind.
He reached a hand towards the glass, slowly stretching his fingers out towards that kind voice that beckoned to him…
And suddenly, the Shade of Evernight was gone.
Columbina watched on in utter amazement as it materialized around Diluc's neck, hanging down like a small cloak that housed the entire universe within.
"Wha-?!" Columbina took a step back, almost as if she had been physically struck.
"I understand. I'll do my best."
Those simple words spilled from the young man's lips, then he was gone.
In a world where time did not exist, a single man floated within an endless void of blackness. He couldn't see ahead of him, nor behind. Yet somehow, he could feel the location of everything. Like tiny pinpoints of light in utter darkness, their auras called out to him from afar.
"Keqing…"
She was there. Kaeya wasn't at the same place, but he was there too. Hell, even that insane angel was there. He could feel them all; they were all easily within his reach.
"Alright, then. Let's see what you can do," he muttered.
Like an absurd, physics-defying rocket kicking on its afterburners, he accelerated at impossible speeds. He wasn't moving, though. The world was.
Arriving at his destination at nearly the same instant he decided upon it, he emerged from the sea of eternity into a bright, sunlit world once again.
From the top of the church's bell tower, he surveyed the bustling city of Mondstadt as its residents started to wind down for the day. The windmills lazily turned in the mid-summer breeze, and beyond, the distant sharp peaks were aglow under the late-day sun. It was an incredibly typical, utterly impossible scene.
Arriving at his conclusion, he slipped effortlessly back under the blankets of infinity.
"Ah?!" a tiny yelp sounded out like a tinkling bell in his ear the moment he returned. "Y-You?! Where did you go?!"
Diluc smirked.
"Feels nice to have the shoe on the other foot for once."
"What? You aren't making any sense!"
"It's this Delusion that doesn't make any sense. Why was something like this kept here?"
"They couldn't do a thing with it. It refused everyone who tried to link with it… including me. It was pretty much worthless."
"I see. This thing has a will of its own… and it chose me."
Columbina didn't answer. Her mouth was drawn in a tight, straight line. She reached for her blindfold, carefully lifting it higher and higher. Before Diluc knew it, he was staring into two beautiful, glowing, violet eyes filled with anger.
"You've gone too far, Gianduja."
But as soon as those words had left her mouth, those glowing orbs of light widened considerably, and her pink lips hung open limply.
"No… no…! I knew it…!"
Diluc's rock-steady demeanor was finally interrupted when he saw her make that face. Even though he had just experienced something akin to ego-death, the shock of this sight was great enough to shake him.
Columbina was crying.
Her eyes overflowed with a relentless stream of sparkling tears.
Diluc couldn't understand it, but he felt his arms moving of their own accord, as if someone else was pulling his strings. He reached out as if to embrace Columbina, who suddenly looked very small and fragile.
But before he could, she disappeared in a flash of shining feathers.
Coming to his senses, he realized the insanity of what had just happened, and what he had almost done. Glancing down at his hands, he counted his fingers.
Ten.
This was indeed reality. But what of it? After experiencing such an event, even reality itself was questionable at best.
No, he had already known that long ago. From the moment he made his decision to turn his back on the ultimate truth, he had known. To step away from the edge after gazing into the void… it simply wasn't possible. He had tried. Oh, how he had tried. Like a valiant warrior, he had fought against the truth, desperate to replace it with his own selfish vision of 'happiness'.
"It was for her sake," he had told himself over and over. And just like that, he had allowed himself to forget the transience of this world.
But that would no longer be possible.
Ending Theme: ゆよゆっぺ - Melody
In that world outside of time, he had truly understood something for the first time: the chains of reality that bound them down were incredibly slipshod.
And those chains were on the verge of bursting already.
Next:
Episode 15: The Countdown
A/N:
Things have really reached a turning point now. Only 10 chapters remain to bring this story to a close. What will become of this world?
As always, thank you for reading.