I was standing in a field of grass.

Except, this was unlike any other field of grass I've ever been in. For starters, not only was the grass black but there was nothing else accompanying it. No weeds, no flowers, no bugs, no wildlife. For as far as I could see, there was just black grass that grew up from the equally dark earth to tickle my ankles. Looking to the sky, I found a reflection of the grass—black. Only, a smattering of faint stars shed that barest of light over the dull landscape. Seemingly even higher than the stars was the moon. I wasn't sure if it was the same moon that I knew, for it seemed to be placed too far away—I could barely make out the shadows of its craters. Was the grass truly this color? Maybe because it was nighttime, maybe because the moon was so far away, its true color was muted. Yes, that must be it. In what sort of world was there black grass?

A wiry arm shot up from the earth just a few paces from where I stood, and I jumped back in shock.

An arm meant there was an attached body—I hoped—but how had I not noticed it before? Ah, right. I was distracted by the absurd darkness in this world. My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I recovered from the surprise, and I curiously stepped forward to get a closer look at the arm. The end of it—a hand—reached out to the sky in a closed fist. It was holding something tiny. Something white. Curiosity gripped me as I followed the length of the arm down and down to where the rest of the body was. Indeed, there was an accompanying body, but I almost wish there wasn't. The arm belonged to a hilichurl.

I shuddered with the realization that I'd never been this close to one of these monsters before, at least, not while being so still. Unease gripped me. If I saw the hilichurl, then the hilichurl could see me. Granted, its cracked mask would give anyone the assumption that its eyes were obscured, so maybe it couldn't see anything at all. Hilichurls always had their masks on, though.

My feet crunched in the grass as I took a cautionary step back from the monster, content to watch from afar. Watch what, exactly? The hilichurl wasn't doing anything except holding a…a Cecelia. My eyebrows picked up as I noticed the flower. Where had the hilichurl gotten it from? I swiveled my head around, scanning the sea of endless black grass for a patch of Cecelias, but only one Cecelia existed here—plucked and gripped by this monster so delicately.

I only had the chance to marvel at the sight for a brief moment before a sharp wind cut through the air. The hilichurl's arm disintegrated into dust along with the rest of its body, and the Cecelia's petals fluttered away.

"Depressing, isn't it?" a warped voice suddenly gargled from behind me, and I jumped a second time.

Standing next to me was a true monster of the Abyss Order. It looked just like the Abyss Herald and the Abyss Lector, except red. Pyro was the first thought that came to mind, and I looked at the grass with newfound insight. Instead of naturally growing this black, had this Abyss monster scorched the entire earth? Was this monster the cause of desolation in this area?

It was then that I came to my senses. This world was so odd because it wasn't a real world at all. I was dreaming again, and the Abyss' influence was back. I began to sweat as I thought of a way to break free, to wake up, but I couldn't remember how I'd done it the last time.

I pinched my arm.

No such luck.

"Oh, come on now," the Abyss thing laughed. Laughed. "That's not going to work."

I swallowed hard. "Who—What are you? And why do you insist on haunting my dreams?"

"Ah, how accusatory. I'm not haunting you at all. As a matter of fact, I believe this is the first time we've ever met. Have I really made such a bad impression already?"

"Don't act like you don't know what's going on." I kept my guard up. "I've seen things. I've heard the conversations that the Abyss Lector and the Abyss Herald had. I know the Abyss Order is up to something, and it isn't good."

The monster snapped its fingers. "So that's what you're talking about. You saw my colleagues before, hm? I think I remember them saying something about our little Source becoming self-aware. I also remember reprimanding them for being so careless. It seems I was right and they have scared you off, after all," it sighed. "Sorry about that."

"'Sorry about that'?" I echoed incredulously. "That's all you have to say for yourself? After attacking Celestia Academy and injuring innocents, an apology like that won't do."

"Eh," it said. "We gotta do what we gotta do, even if we don't really want to do it."

"What are you?" I asked again.

The relaxed nature of this monster was weirding me out. I'd never held a conversation with one before. Besides the Abyss Lector and Abyss Herald, I didn't even think any of the other Abyssal monsters could speak the language we used in Teyvat. I'd only ever heard them mumble incoherent jargon and give garbled shouts when in a fight.

"Who. We should stick with asking 'who'," it hummed. "How about you call me 'Enjou'?"

"Enjou?" I tested the name in my mouth with a confused frown. "You're lying."

Enjou scoffed. "Why would you ever say that? I'm not a liar."

"Your name should be Abyss…Abyss something. Enjou sounds like a human name."

"Ah, right," Enjou cleared its throat. "Give me a sec."

Its large form seemed to decompress, taught shoulders relaxing and head sagging. This whole time, the thing that called itself "Enjou" had been floating above the black grass just as the Lector and Herald had floated in the strange castle ruins. There's no doubt they were connected—Enjou had even said they were colleagues—but this one was strange. Enjou's armored feet touched the ground, and its firey aura began to fade away. Once the imposing figure shrunk down to my size, its armor dissolved to reveal a man.

A regular, human man.

He was so regular, in fact, that he wore glasses and a kimono, of all things.

My alarm heightened with his transformation. This wasn't normal.

"You can't trick me." I took another step back. "I saw your original form."

Enjou rolled his eyes at me. "I'm not trying to trick you. I just thought it might be easier to talk like this, y'know?"

"I don't want to talk to you."

"You can leave if you want. Do you know how?"

I stayed silent.

"Perfect," Enjou clapped his hands together. "We can do a little catch-up. Alrighty, you know my name, so what's yours?"

My eyes narrowed. "Is Enjou really your name, though?"

"Believe me. Don't believe me. It doesn't matter much." He crossed his arms with an unbothered smile. "I, for one, won't question your identity."

"What do you want from me?" I held my ground.

"So tense," he tutted. "It's fine, though. I totally get it. So, what we're actually after is world domination, world destruction, and world—uh—world desecration. Is that what you wanted to hear? It seemed like you've already made such an assumption. Well, don't worry because thatwas all a lie. I just want to chat with you."

"About?"

"About what you can do for us—for me. Once you introduce yourself, we'll be one step closer to becoming friends. Friends do favors for each other, right?"

I gritted my teeth at his ridiculous words. "I'd never become friends with you. You're a monster."

"Another colleague, then," Enjou sighed. "That's cool, that's cool. Colleagues still have to cooperate."

"I'd never cooperate with you, either."

"Ah, but you'll have to. Eventually, you won't have a choice, human."

My face twisted. "Don't call me that."

"Well, what else am I supposed to call you?" Enjou tilted his head. "I've only got your description to go off of. Should I call you 'Blondie' instead?"

"My name is Lumine." I gave in.

Enjou's thoughtful gaze snapped into a bright grin. "Lumine! Wonderful. I have a proposition for you, Lumine."

"I won't hear it."

"Are you gonna plug your ears like some kid?"

That wasn't a bad option.

"Don't be like that," Enjou wilted. "Just hear me out, okay?"

"I want to know why the Abyss Order attacked Celestia Academy."

Enjou stretched out his arms and legs. He craned his neck and twisted his back, cracking its joints. At last, he fell down into the grass, sitting with his legs crossed as though standing was too much effort. With a relaxed sigh, he patted the grass in front of him with an encouraging smile.

"I'm not sitting in the grass with you." I set my mouth in a firm line.

This guy was so off.

"It's a long story."

"I can stand."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. Okay, where do I begin? I guess the very beginning makes sense, doesn't it? Once upon a time—the time being five thousand years ago—your world was really going through it. War. I'm talking about war. And it wasn't even a very good war, either." Enjou scrunched up his nose. "Meanwhile, we—so-called monsters—lived with no war. Funny how the supposed civilized ones were fighting over trivial matters like territory and supernatural powers. You call 'em Visions, right? The Abyss had no need for the blessing of the gods. We had our livelihood sorted out just fine without the need to fight over anything. Our own power. Our own peace."

I didn't say anything to that. So far, everything Enjou said checked out with what Kaeya and I had deduced from his research board. There was no way I could trust Enjou, a blatant member of the Abyss Order, but I could gather some sense of his honesty based on how closely his story lined up with our research. I felt no hostility or ill-intent coming from Enjou, so it wouldn't hurt to hear what he had to say.

"All good things must come to an end though, right?" he sighed. "The Abyss is darkness. The darkness is the Abyss. And yet, darkness cannot exist without light. You can see it for yourself up there."

Enjou pointed to the sky, where the dim stars and tiny moon were fixed.

"Are you saying that we—that I'm in the Abyss right now?" My eyes widened as his words registered.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. It's not like I pulled your subconscious here or anything. You did that all on your own."

All on my own? That couldn't be. Each time I'd dreamt of the Abyss, it had been involuntary. I still remember the first time when I was in that creepy castle full of shadows. There's no way I'd ever intentionally put myself in a place like that. This whole time, I thought it was the Abyss reaching out to me, polluting my dreams with its evil intent.

"I'm just sleeping." I shook my head. "I've been actively trying to avoid dreaming about the Abyss, even."

"Oh?" Enjou's mouth popped open slightly. "How does one even avoid a dream? I've never had a dream myself, so the concept is lost to me."

"You just—" How did I explain dreaming to a monster? "See things in your sleep."

"If you don't want to dream, then don't look," he grinned. "There. Problem solved."

I shook my head. "You can't control what you see in a dream."

"Then how did you stop from projecting to—er—dreaming about the Abyss? Clearly, your attempts failed. What changed?"

"Almond Tofu," I muttered.

"Huh?" Enjou cupped one of his ears with a hand. "What was that?"

"I ate a special food that stops nightmares," I explained. "I ran out, though. Things were actually going pretty good without it for a while. Obviously, my luck ran out."

Enjou laughed. "I may not know what dreaming is, but that sounds ridiculous. Special food? Though I don't need to eat, I certainly know what food is. No amount or quality of food can influence your subconscious."

"You don't know that."

"It must have been something else about your interiority," he hummed. "Something you attributed to the food. I think the Almond Tofu was a placebo. What gave you such an idea in the first place?"

"Instructor—" I bit my cheek. "You don't need to know who he is."

"Ah, someone you look up to?" Enjou nodded. "That makes sense. Confidence is a strong force to possess."

"So, are you saying it was my confidence in the Almond Tofu that kept the Abyss away for so long? What about the few days when I didn't eat it?"

"There must have been something else bringing you peace of mind. I don't know. Not my problem. Ahem," Enjou rolled his shoulders. "Back to the story. So, we need our light—ironic it may be. Unfortunately, our light was fading out—I mean, look at the size of our moon. Naturally, when a lightbulb goes out, you replace it with a new one. It's not easy finding another lightbulb, not for us. We needed to outsource one."

"The Source," I whispered. "You get your Source from Teyvat."

"Bingo," he nodded. "We made a deal. An excellent deal. The Abyss isn't just monsters, Lumine. You have to know that. We have an abundance of what you would call treasures. To us, they're the average stuff, but Celestia Academy was very interested in our average stuff. They were so interested, in fact, that they agreed to strike a deal. Once in a while, a thousand years give-or-take, the bridge between our worlds becomes most solid—perfect for doing business."

"A trade," I edged on.

"Precisely. You're a smart one, Lumine. I think I know why Lector and Herald saw so much potential in you. Anyway, a trade between worlds. A bit of our treasure for a bit of your light. It worked well until it didn't—not our fault. You guys flaked out on us during the last rotation. Rude."

"So, what?" I crossed my arms. "You want revenge?"

"We want to live," he sighed. "Who doesn't? We need Teyvat's light to do so, and there's no other option. Your world has plenty of energy to go around. Sparing us one bit couldn't hurt."

I shook my head. "No one would want to descend to a world full of monsters. It's suicidal."

"Who said anything about death?" Enjou reared back. "My, you make us sound so treacherous."

"Because you are," I insisted. "What was the point of the attack?"

"To remind Celestia Academy not to go back on our deal a second time, that's all. It seems we've gotten our message across. Even better, we were able to establish a bond with our next Source, too. Isn't that nice?"

"I'm not going to be your Source."

"Hm," Enjou tapped his chin thoughtfully. "It makes sense why you wouldn't want to, and it's not like we can just forcefully extract your power. The Sources before—they always looked surprised to find themselves in the Abyss as their corporeal selves. I don't think they knew what they agreed to when coming down here which really made the process easier. Since you decided to pop by early, I've made the executive decision to give you this orientation. Once you realize that we're not really bad guys, the adjustment should go smoothly."

"And if I refuse to go along?"

"I can be very convincing."

I scoffed. "Nothing you say or do could get me on your side. I belong on Teyvat. It's my home."

"I'm sure you have many loved ones that would miss you." Enjou nodded to himself. "I am also sure you would miss them, should anything unfortunate happen."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a nudge."

"A threat."

"A hypothetical situation," he amended. "Once that could very well become reality. Oh, don't give me that look. It's not so terrible over here."

Fear gripped me. The Abyss Order wanted me as their Source so badly that they were willing to use the people I care about as leverage. It was a clever tactic, and one I wasn't sure how to get around. Would I give myself up to save them? Against the Abyss Order, I had faith that some of my friends would be able to hold out on their own. Diluc, Thoma, Childe, Kaeya…they were strong. Stronger than me. However, my first-year friends…Madame Ping…there was a great risk.

"I see you're mulling it over." Enjou interrupted my thoughts. "That's good."

"Nothing about this is good," I grumbled.

"It can't be helped. The Abyss is specially pressed for finding a Source this time around after barely surviving the past millennium without one. I do feel kinda bad for you, but we all have to find a way to live somehow."

I nipped at the budding sympathy within me.

"Think about it," Enjou stood up from the ground, brushing blades of black grass from his kimono. "In the grand scheme of things, there's not much time. I do hope you can understand where I'm coming from. You're a student, right? Think of this less as a sacrifice and more as a…permanent exchange program. If you'll excuse me, I have an appointment to get to."

He snapped his fingers, instantly transforming back to his Abyssal form. Enjou's feet lifted from the ground once more, and a flicker of firelight danced on his shoulders. I'd nearly forgotten how intimidating he was in this form, and maybe he was right about it being easier to talk when he looked human. That was the only thing he could ever be right about.

"You're still here," he observed. "Do you want to hug goodbye or something? We'd need to be friends for that to happen, I'm afraid."

I recoiled. "I don't know how to leave."

Enjou reached out an arm, and I shifted away. Was he actually going for a hug? No. A ball of Pyro appeared in his hand.

"I can send you off."

"By setting me on fire?" I held my arms up defensively.

Enjou shrugged his massive shoulders. "It won't hurt. You're just a projection."

"I don't think—"

"Ah, well, I can't have you roaming around on your own."

With a flick of his wrist, the Pyro leaped at me. I swallowed a scream as a column of fire encased my body. Looking down at my hands, I found that my fingers were burning away, yet it wasn't hot at all. I felt no pain. Slowly, the rest of me burnt off in the flames.

"Told you so."

I still felt some warmth, though. It reminded me of…a hug? No way.

"Maybe we could still be friends," Enjou said as I faded away. "Once this is all over, of course."

"Never."

My awareness of the Abyss—of the black grass and weak night sky—melted away to nothing. Only the lingering echoes of Enjou's laugh remained.

almost every day i question my decision to make genshin items proper nouns. in game, they're proper nouns, right? troubled lianne will ask me for "2 Sunsettias"... but idk. example: capitalizing Onigiri feels wrong. capitalizing Cecelia is a bit better, but still a bit odd. i think it may be too late for me to go back and change the format for every food and every plant

i'm having an absolute blast with the new genshin ost that was released! enka, tsurumi, boss music 333 i really really love signora's second phase :)