There was something so deeply pathetic about escaping with their tail between their legs, but in the heat of true battle, Fischl had to swallow this bitterness as they got far enough from the cataclysm of pitted ultimate techniques. Nothing save a stray shot would get them now, and as they retreated further towards Sumeru, those odds dimmed.

They headed towards Sumeru, because with one threat more or less contained, the shadow that hung over all of Teyvet stretched from that land whose besieged city hid that fouling hand of destiny in action.

It took longer than Fischl dared admit to notice Xinyan trying to catch her attention, made more embarrassing when the musician had slung Fischl's arm over her shoulder in support.

"Uh, what is thy concern, esteemed subject? And again, the Prinzessin knows to express gratitude for a timely rescue like tales of old, at the fated hour and from certain doom!"

"Dunno," Xinyan's shrug shifted Fischl's weight around her and expressed her uncertainty in tandem, "you just seemed kind of out of it, Prinzessin. And yes, I know that look in your eyes, how'd me n' Kazuha know to find you? I heard 'eyepatched blondes' were popping up all across Teyvat, and knew you had to be at the center of it all somehow. Call it a hunch."

Kazuha leaned into her field of vision. "These are Xiao, Shenhe and Beidou. The Captain knew her way around Liyue better than I did, and enlisted these two adepti to help."

"These emanations from the land of Dendro, there are foul machinations afoot. The likes that awakened Osial, perhaps worse." Xiao was outwardly a waifish boy, though the way he carried himself spoke of anything but. A body, tensed ever-ready. Most striking of all were his eyes, despite their vivid hue, dulled from the countless horrors they bore witness to.

Beidou sipped from her gourd. "Can't be worse than the time I beat Haishan." Despite her glib words, her sharp eyes spoke of assent, scouring the land leading into Sumeru in an attempt to put a face on whatever had summoned this surge of instinctual fear within her.

The aloof beauty called Shenhe had nothing to add, though Fischl caught her occasional concerned glance towards Xiao.

Together, the team of Vision wielders and adepti would reassure anyone marching off to war, since a team like this like myths of old were enough to crush most battalions.

Yet Fischl, for all her human desire to be empowered by hope with every favorable upturn in their situation, felt something wrench inside of her at the thought that this might not be enough. The Kaiserin's visage flitted through her mind, driven with singular purpose that put her above the directionless whimsy of natural disasters to approach something close to a god. She wanted to rule and acted with purpose, and had upheaved the political landscape of Teyvat in ways that would ripple throughout generations.

Whatever the Kaiserin had planned in Sumeru, Fischl was inwardly glad she'd this much firepower gathered under her cause to face it.

And on a far darker level, one Fischl was not willing to admit to herself, she did not want to die alone confronting whatever blasphemy the Kaiserin concocted in Sumeru. Not if it warranted adepti, Vision bearers from several nations and doppelgangers bearing down on the doomed nation with their combined might, yet bristling with the unspoken fear it might not be enough.

Reuniting with the Outworlder's party was not an easy affair.

Neither team had accomplished their goals, and that set the team on edge. Learning of the angel's existence was not easy, less so when it was last spotted fighting this Herrscher. None of them were under any illusion that either could kill the other, and when the time came to fight the Kaiserin, whose side would the angel be on?

An icy fist closed around Fischl's heart at having to go up against more than one of those monsters. From the shadow over everyone's expressions, she wasn't alone in feeling this. Still, with greetings exchanged between nations, this unification of forces bolstered every man and woman's spirit in ways precious and empowering, an entire battalion of Vision bearers, warriors, adepti, pirates, exorcists, mecha pilot, legendary soldier, and the various Prinzessin.

Together, they marched toward Sumeru in such numbers as to resemble a conquering army, even if Fischl had not the heart to trample upon others with her own glo - oh.

Her lips pursed at the recollection that the Kaiserin did just that. Across the stars, no less. It was a painful lesson in humility to peel away this abject refusal, to accept that under the right circumstances, she could and did become a monster. And in the face of such an oppressive and undeniable truth that stood before Fischl in an unmoving wall, she could only -

"Fischl?"

Her gaze snapped to the voice's source, Mona. Despite everything, the astrologist still kept an eye on her, in ways that came off as nosiness her souring temper flared up at.

"The Prinzessin is in the throes of ponderous contemplation - "

"You can't dismiss me like you do with Oz. And aren't I your Archmage, Megistus?" For all the attitude Fischl threw at her, Mona shrugged it off and kept coming with such steadfastness that threw her off.

Like a hurricane making land, the crux of Fischl's tantrum crumbled to leave her a pliable mess, everything within her spilling out to be colored in throes of emotion.

"This… This Prinzessin… It discomforts this Prinzessin that this funhouse of mirrors, reflections of the Prinzessin from the accurate to grotesque, should share thy imperial epithets, even this name of Fischl. To encapsulate the totality of this physiological phenomena tasks the Prinzessin, but… It borders on nausea, the thought that we are less than royalty, subhuman even, to share the scraps of this human identity once wholly belonging to the Prinzessin. A hubristic delusion in the multiverse's infinitude, perhaps, but even then…"

Words failed Fischl, for how could she describe this wordless, unprovoked oppression of those also calling themselves Fischl and were, for all intents and purposes, correct?

Mona folded her arms. "I'll be upfront, I can't empathize with your situation. My sympathy is the last thing you need, so I'll spare you and cut to the heart of this matter." Even when giving reassurance Mona did not hold back, though Fischl rolled with these blows knowing they came from a good place. "These doppelgangers may look like you, but I've read all their fates as best I could. Even if there are parallels and crossing points, even the Outworlder's fate has diverged from yours.

"All your doppelgangers did what they could in their circumstances. Even though you could have turned out like them, consider: in their shoes, there are countless Fischls who turned out differently, we just didn't receive doppelgangers from those branches."

"But, how…"

"Yes, you all call yourselves Fischl. That I can't help you with. I can only say: like how the whorls on every man's fingers are unique, even amongst twins, your fate is unique to yourself in every way that matters. Even if you should follow any of their travels now, you would come out the end as similar yet different Fischls. Trust me. Prinzessin, am I not the brilliant Megistus, who's earned her position as the Immernachtreich's Court Archmage?"

Taking all that into consideration, it did bring a measure of comfort to Fischl. It was akin to a dam built on a river in the midst of a flood, but it served as bulwark if nothing else against the darker thoughts that clawed on the fringe of her straining mind.

In a flight of fancy, Fischl leaned in close. She was always Fischl to everyone. including herself. But these incredible circumstances had dredged Amy back to the surface - nay, it was more appropriate to say from this forest named 'Fischl' Amy emerged, fleeting as a creature of myth to grace a flustered Mona with the utmost sincerity.

"Thank you."

The forest, contrary to all it should be as a teeming cradle of life, was naught but silence.

This fact, along with the lack of human contact, weighed upon the team in a curious and suffocating oppression in ways a forest should not. The gigantism of plants blotted out the sky, stretching across the land and even each other in such unabashed expansionism it seemed a miracle that mankind could stake any claim to this land. The exoticism factor lent Sumeru a vibe of otherworldliness, romanticism the champion of Fischl's imagination.

She'd usually find this a thrilling new adventure, but with the weight of regicide on their shoulders it soured the team's mood as they rested up. It wouldn't do well to meet their foe while short of breath and exhausted, after all. Fischl helped comb Oz's plumage, since it wouldn't do for her retainer to muss up his feathers upon meeting -

Someone wished her dead.

Fischl couldn't explain this sense that now screamed DANGER! in her mind, but it served her well in the past. Human beings had a sense for when they were about to be struck. And now, her scalp prickled at some faraway yet imminent threat to her life she failed to comprehend but was already moving to evade.

"Mein Fräulein!" Oz threw himself in harm's way, her blaring intuition picked up by him.

He might've been skewered, if not for Shenhe. Her blurring fist caught an arrow mid-air, yet the fired arrow was the impetus for their stalkers to jump Fischl.

Fischl meant no insult, but against their Vision-wielding army, the ambush of four Vision wielders was laughable. Still, it was their frenzied hurt which Fischl's heart bled for.

Two archers, the male's nicked animal ears stretching skyward from his dark-green hair while the woman had light green mane and kind purple eyes. The other two were far more battered, a dark-skinned boy with ivory hair and a jackal's cap, his brandished polearm trembling from the exertion, while the gray-haired man's black tight top was utterly lacerated, his cape stained with blood Fischl was sure wasn't his.

Despite their conviction, being outnumbered by Vision wielders was enough to give them pause, and the dark-skinned boy's glare roamed over Fischl and Outworlder before relaxing.

"These aren't the targets we were looking for. They're too young and on closer inspection, do not fit the profile."

"Stand down. All of you."

All eyes turned to Zhongli, whose tone had changed from the gentlemanly musing from before. Something within Fischl flared up in suspicion as it did towards Venti, an inexplicable chill at what felt like some greater being hiding behind those powerful or playful eyes. It never stuck, not even now as Zhongli composed himself to where Fischl had to wonder if her instincts had been misled, but the thought refused to leave her mind.

He continued in a tone which brooked no interruption. "You are citizens of Sumeru? Rest easy. We're here to confront that flying ship. But let us introduce ourselves. Then, we require a report on the situation in Sumeru."

The four of them had introduced themselves as Tighnari, Collei, Cyno and Al-Haitham. And from the way the fight left their laxing bodies, heaving in fatigue, Fischl knew they'd seen some nasty things.

Collei began, "When they arrived, they demanded Maste - err, Tighnari be brought out before them. The rage in their voices convinced me to warn Master to run, and I followed."

Then came Cyno. "How'd I escape? The sewers. Do not underestimate what humans can do after forfeiting their dignity, and this former General Mahamatra will not let such petty obstacles stand in the way of duty."

Finally, Al-Haitham. "I coordinated an effort to throw everything we had at the bubble in vain. But when it came down, I was swarmed by a furious mob. I still don't know how I got away, but… I did…" This was a man of knowledge and experience, and that even a man like this could be at a loss for words struck a cord of discordant fear within Fischl.

Just how bad had things gotten in Sumeru that tore into Cyno and Al-Haitham with such viciousness, matched only by perhaps Mondstadt citizens revolting against the Aristocracy?

And if everyone was concerned before, the severity of the situation had escalated to where nobody dared make light of the situation anymore. This was war, and someone was going to end up dying at the end. Even Fischl read the mood enough to hold back on her flamboyant prose, not least since nothing she said seemed appropriate under the circumstances.

Cyno piped up, "I've gotten word out to the Eremites. They're on their way to the City's outskirts to bolster our forces."

"Uh, Paimon doesn't want to question your story, but didn't you say the Eremites near the Valley disliked the Greater Lord Rukkh… er…"

Al-Haitham cut in, "Rukkhadevata. Yes. They harbor enmity towards our late Archon. But this is an invasion by a foreign, even alien force, their ruthlessness is without equal. The matra has convinced me and the Eremites of that, this is not a fight they can sit out lest they be swallowed by the Kaiserin's inevitable expansion.

The cock of a rifle had Fischl swiveling towards OSF Fischl, the veteran stepping. "Then I'll clear the path for them. Whatever you're facing in Sumeru, the Kaiserin? I can feel it, like Fischl, Outworlder and 02 can. I won't be of much help on that front."

Cyno narrowed his eyes. "That weapon… those foreign soldiers wielded guns like those."

"Don't worry, I've dealt with bases full of gun-toting soldiers. I'll go on ahead and sabotage their supply and weapons lines to clear a path for the Eremites." She started towards the city in a jog, and Fischl's mind again weathered the brunt of suspicion the OSF was up to something. Not anything bad, for her interactions with Fischl, Outworlder and now 02 had been protective, even paternal. But what could it be, then?

To make things worse, Fischl chafed under this silent suspicion she was being watched. It was easy to miss, and Fischl had throughout the day. But now, in the forest's deafening silence at odds with now it should teem with life, enhanced her awareness to where this relentless stare upon Fischl refused to ease up, instead burning a hole through her back.

Was she going insane?

Was this the result of being surrounded by doppelgangers, their existence fracturing her mind bit by bit from trying to reconcile her shared identity?

This was…

Fischl's mind raced to describe such slaughter in Sumeru City, yet such an attempt felt so blase, so callous that she merely observed. It was all she, and the army, could do.

Defaced symbols of the Akademiya.

Lynched scholars, hanging from trees.

Mass graves, dumping grounds for dead scholars.

Streets running so red, it constituted a citywide slip hazard.

The corpse of Sumeru City was here, the soul was gone. The city's citizens had been let loose upon Sumeru to spread the fire of revolution, a deliberate and motivated effort to tear the Akademiya's influence out by the roots even if all of Sumeru should be defaced and uprooted in the process. Over this remnant of a city hung the HEV IMMERNACHTREICH, what seemed to be a reaper of sorts looming over its most recent victim. Even if this was her second time gazing upon the spacecraft, it was this field of culled scholars which sent another stab of cold terror through the heart, as visceral proof of how things worked in the Kaiserin's world.

Blacksuited soldiers, eyeing them, refused to engage. Their lineup led towards the floating ship, Fischl awash in another brutal chill at the knowledge it was her who did this. Not quite her, as Mona said, but crossing a field of a hundred dead at the hands of a culprit who wore her face blackened Fischl's own soul with second-hand guilt.

The Kaiserin sat on some kind of technological throne upon the ground under the ship's umbra, and where the noonday sun loomed the ship shifted to provide the Kaiserin shade. She wore a glowing green… thing by her ears, the Kaiserin's impassive mask never shifting despite their numbers. It had to be a bluff, because the alternative was too horrific to consider. Her throne of dark steel emanated wires as thick as Fischl's wrist, cascading down to snake across the floor in gunmetal whorls. Their ends connected to cupboard-sized stacks of winking lights, their functions wholly alien to them.

"Did you like what I've done with the place?" There was no love for the acts she'd done, but somehow Fischl teased out a silent satisfaction in taking the gloves off, a teacher finally able to take the kid-gloves off and show the brutal world of adults, in the Kaiserin's view.

"You… you're a monster." Fischl - Amy spoke from the heart, this wholehearted and virulent rejection of all her doppelganger stood for.

"'Monster' is a relative term. to a canary, a cat is a monster; you're just used to being the cat." Fischl's fists curled, a shot of righteous fury warming her chest. How dare she be so blase about all these executions?!

Oz chimed in. "If this is how the Kaiserin is exalted, through cruelty that is separate from the exercise of violence, then the empire you have built is nothing more than a farce."

"A farce," the Kaiserin nodded, "and yet, a farce that shall endure, and expand, and exalt man above these complacent gods. Is that not right, Doctor?" All eyes turned to the figure in the back, furiously clacking away at his counter with the occasional click of thrown switches.

Diluc glowered at the other man.

"You." In that tone, everything was revealed. Simmering vitriol now igniting into fury, the echo of unburied pain and the thirst of vengeance concentrating into an unfettered drive.

Venti's hand raised to point at her. "Hey, take a look at that necklace!"

"That's…" Zhongli stepped in, some wordless comprehension passing between the two, only understood by the Kaiserin.

And the Kaiserin smiled.

Fischl blinked away her shock, as though a portrait she'd stared at too long had begun to swim and morph before her eyes into shapes indescribable.

The Kaiserin's smile was directed at Venti and Zhongli, and again Fischl bristled at intuiting a higher truth only privy to those two along with Traveler and Paimon, one she had no time to decipher as the Kaiserin began to move.

Clasping her hand on the throne's handles, the Kaiserin shoved herself off the throne with such deliberation as to be theatrical, drinking in their anticipatory fear at what was to come.

"The Empress protects. But now, with no subjects to protect, the Empress of Mankind conquers. The Archons, Celestia, with these four Gnoses and more I shall tear them all down from their thrones and sit mankind most high among the stars, and me as their rightful and eternal ruler." A wave of air washed over their team, no more harmful than a whistle of wind past their ears yet carrying a promise of doom.

Everyone had drawn their weapons. It wasn't a conscious act, no more than how beasts would bare their fangs against a palpable threat. A 'threat' the Kaiserin was and so much more as she began to float, her body bristling with licks of ruinous, crackling power.