There was an atmosphere that Lena couldn't describe.
"Are you ready?" Archer asked Genji, who sat cross legged in the middle of an intricate set of symbols on the floor. By their color, either they were drawn in some red paint, or, with everything else going on, they were more likely drawn in blood.
Lena and the others were standing off to the side, watching the proceedings carefully. Angela was looking on in worry, with Reinhardt standing by just in case she tried to do anything on impulse. Archer had warned about that specifically - that interfering would be dangerous.
Winston had not so subtly pulled out a camera and was already recording everything. Lena had asked Archer about that, and it seemed that he didn't care either way. He had reasoned that Morrison and Reyes were already recording on four or five separate hidden cameras anyway.
Speaking of which, the other two were like mirrors of one another, standing with their arms crossed as they stared. The only difference is that Reyes' scowl was much deeper than Morrison's.
"I am." Genji sounded calm. Lena doubted he was. He had his katana drawn and had placed it flat across from him.
It was glowing.
But it wasn't to do with anything that Lena knew of. She had seen the sword before, when they were fighting to get the EMP delivered. The blade had no mechanical components. Having any part within the actual blade be mechanical would be a recipe for disaster. The only exception was the hilt, and even then, it was only to lock the sword in the scabbard.
It shouldn't be glowing.
She hadn't questioned it before. It was just another quirk, a trick of the light, the stress that they were all going through, or something combining all three.
But now, in the middle of what Archer called the Department of Spiritual Evocation? She was beginning to think, maybe that was weird.
Archer nodded once and started chanting. It was in a language that she couldn't quite understand, and it seemed that none of the others did either. Regardless, his voice echoed across the room.
And Lena felt it.
Right down in her bones, she could feel every single one of the words. Any time Archer spoke, she could feel her skin crawl, like something unnatural was happening. She supposed that that wasn't wrong, per se.
As Archer's chanting reached a high, wind picked up from somewhere. Wisps of green started to flow from the blade. Beside her, Winston stepped forward just slightly, aiming the camera at the sword. Its glowing had reached the point of nearly blinding.
Archer stopped. They all looked towards him, only for the white-haired man to stare back at Genji. The cyborg seemed to know what to do, slowly grabbing the hilt of the katana.
The moment his hand fully grasped it, the wisps of green surged towards him. Angela made to sprint towards him, only for Reinhardt to stop her in her tracks. The doctor's protests died in her throat, as did her struggling, before they even had a chance to start.
Lena couldn't blame her.
Before them now was a giant, translucent dragon. Green in color, towering over Genji's comparatively tiny frame. The dragon coiled in the air, its ethereal form casting a strange light across the room. Silence fell over the group, a mix of awe and fear palpable in the air.
"You have summoned me, Shimada." It did not speak. Its mouth never opened. Its words had just spilled into her head, not dissimilar to how Archer and her would talk, "The first to do so in centuries. In the Tomb of the Great White, no less. I applaud your efforts, and thank you for the opportunity."
"The…opportunity?"
"Indeed."
With one swift movement, the dragon had uncoiled, and was now staring down at Genji, almost nose to nose. The cyborg barely flinched, whereas Reyes and Morrison were now pointing their gun at it.
'Like guns are going to do anything!' She thought almost hysterically, 'It's a bloody spirit dragon!'
Thankfully, no guns were shot. The dragon only snorted, an amused chuckle filtering through their heads, "Good. A Shimada need not fear us."
"You said it was an opportunity. An opportunity for what, exactly?" That Genji could speak without any hesitation was incredible to Lena's eyes.
"An opportunity to…apologize." The dragon sounded genuinely remorseful, a detail that surprised everyone, including Genji.
"We - my brother and I - have watched over the Shimada for as long as your family has existed. And from us, you've been granted our strength and protection." The green dragon stared at Genji, completely ignoring everyone else, "And the curse that came along with it."
"The curse?"
"Betrayal. Do you remember the Shimada line of ancestry?"
"I'm afraid not."
The dragon chuckled once more, "You always did prefer the arcade over history books. Very well. All you have to know is that, for the entire history of the Shimada, there has only ever been one heir at any point in time. There have been no branch families, nothing of the sort. Until you two, Genji and Hanzo. Do you know why?"
The dragon was sounding less and less intimidating. In fact, if Lena were to put it into words, it felt more like it was a parent teaching their child about a topic for the first time.
"The heads order that any non-heirs are purged." Genji scoffed. There was a bitterness there that Lena could practically taste.
"No." The dragon shook its head, "Your ancestors knew of our curse. The stories that your father told you, of how my brother and I fought, they are more than just stories. My brother truly struck me down, casting me to the earth. A curse of betrayal, from one's own blood. It is what has been passed down when we took it upon ourselves to be your guardians.
"We had told your ancestors of this, and they had vowed to never let it happen again. There would only be one Shimada head at any time, not because it would split the power of the dragons, but because it would inevitably trigger the curse. All the Shimada followed this, yet, when the modern era came, the words were twisted."
The dragon coiled once more, staring up into the ceiling.
"You know what the words became. You were a victim of such a thing. And as the modern era progressed, we lost our ability to speak to you in order to correct it. For that, my brother and I owe you the greatest of apologies."
The spirit bowed its head low. Genji remained seated, still as a board.
In the weighted silence that followed the dragon's words, Genji's expression was unreadable. Lena, along with the others, could only watch in a mixture of shock and curiosity.
Finally, Genji spoke, his voice steady but filled with emotion. "You apologize, but it is not you who wronged me. The actions of my brother, the expectations and the decisions made...they were not yours to control. However, I understand the burden you've carried, the regret that comes with unintended consequences. Your apology, while appreciated, is not necessary for me."
"Then, I would ask of you one thing: break this curse."
"How?"
"The curse relies on the fact that there has only ever been one lineage of the Shimada. WIthout that condition, then the curse will be nullified."
"You want me to reconcile with my brother, is that it?" The emotion that had been building up in Genji was let out in simmering anger, "Wh-"
"No." The room rumbled as the weight of the unspoken word settled. The dragon glared at Genji, before seemingly sighing, "No. While it would bring my brother and I no greater joy to see you two truly become brothers, I understand the anger that comes with betrayal. I will not force you to do anything. Instead, I ask you: live. Live your life beyond the name of the Shimada. And know that, whatever your choice, I will always be your blade."
The cyborg seemed to deflate as the dragon continued to speak. All the fight had left his body, and it looked like Angela had finally gotten her bearings. Apparently taking the opportunity with Reinhardt distracted, she had sprinted to Genji, checking for anything wrong.
The dragon nodded in what looked to be approval.
"Now then, I suppose that it's high time I answered your questions, Counter Guardian?"
"I suppose so."
Archer, having been quietly watching everything going on, stepped forward.
The air was thick with anticipation as Archer prepared to speak. The dragon, still coiled majestically in the room, turned its attention towards him, its presence dominating yet somehow comforting.
Archer's gaze was fixed on the dragon, his expression unreadable. The rest of Overwatch, along with Lena, watched with bated breath, sensing the gravity of the moment. Genji, now with Angela by his side, looked towards Archer, his own curiosity mirrored in the faces of those around him.
"2020. What happened?"
That was a curveball that Lena didn't expect. For everything that Archer had been talking about, knowing about the year 2020 was not one of them. It seemed that everyone had the same thought, as furrowed brows was by far, the most common expression they wore.
The dragon only hummed.
"Hmph. You speak of the Grand Order, yes?"
"You know of Chaldea, then?"
"I knew of them, yes. When Akihiko, Genji's grandfather, was still the head of the clan, he was approached by a man named Marisbury. He wanted permission to move some equipment through the Shimada's territory, and to pass it into Fuyuki."
"Hm. Near the end of 2003, I'm guessing?"
"Yes. Akihiko did not pay mind to the man - he had paid the fees easily enough, and discretion was always a good thing in that line of work. Especially when it comes to a magus. It was only when 2004 rolled around that my brother and I realized what was going on."
"The Fuyuki Grail War." There was a grim certainty that lingered after Archer spoke.
"Seven Heroic Spirits. One of which was strong enough that we could feel their presence all the way from Hanamura. Whose influence on the very fabric of the world was staggering enough that we managed to gain enough of our old power in order to talk to Akihiko, to talk him into keeping an eye on the one person that we were sure was responsible. Even then, it had only been through his dreams, and he had thought nothing more of it than a bad feeling against Marisbury.
"It was in 2016 that we heard of his name once more. Heading a security organization sanctioned by the United Nations. After that, the years between 2016 and 2020 were…indistinct. The time anomalies that we could feel across history were the cause for that. After all that, nothing."
"I'm sorry?" Archer, whose anticipation Lena could feel through their bond, furrowed his brow, "What exactly do you mean?"
"That there was nothing of note in 2020."
"That's not possible. You know nothing of the Lostbelts? The Foreign God?"
"I know not of any 'Lostbelt' you speak of, nor of the 'Foreign God'."
"What of Chaldea then? What happened to them?" This was one of the very few times that Lena could hear frustration in Archer's voice.
"After the time anomalies were dealt with? Nothing. The updates from the United Nations implied that they had disappeared off the face of the earth. The entire operation was swept under the rug, and Akihiko would eventually pass away, never mentioning it to Sojiro."
"...I see." Lena couldn't tell what he was thinking, even as bursts of foreign anger and panic filtered into her, "Then I suppose you don't know what happened in here then?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Then I have nothing more to say."
"Remember my words, Genji."
The dragon's final words hung in the air, resonant with a gravitas that seemed to momentarily still the world around them. With a gentle nod of acknowledgment from Genji, the dragon began to dissolve into a myriad of ethereal green particles, its presence fading away like mist under the morning sun. The room, once filled with an almost tangible tension, slowly returned to a semblance of normalcy, albeit with the lingering feeling of having witnessed something beyond the ordinary.
Genji stood, his demeanor calm yet reflective, as Angela continued her attentive examination, ensuring his well-being. The rest of the Overwatch team, still processing the encounter, exchanged looks of mixed emotion—awe, confusion, relief. Archer, however, remained distant, his thoughts evidently churning with the implications of the dragon's words.
'Archer, you alright?' Lena probed at the link they shared.
"I'm fine, Oxton. Just…need to think some things over." Archer barked out a sardonic laugh, "Hah, guess the joke's on me. I wanted answers, and all I ended up with was a damn pep talk for Shimada. Serves me right, I suppose."
'Come on, you have to admit that was pretty bloody cool.' Internally, she winced. She was bloody terrible at trying to cheer people up.
"...Snrk."
'Shut it!' Her words didn't have that much heat in them. Lena was just glad that Archer didn't feel that bad. He was clearly looking for some answers, and none of them were answered in any meaningful way.
Archer's brief snort broke the tension, a signal that, despite the lack of answers, the camaraderie between them remained unshaken. As the group began to disperse, with Angela finally satisfied that Genji was unharmed and Winston eagerly discussing the footage he captured, Lena couldn't help but sigh in relief.
They'd get more answers eventually, but for now, she was just glad that everything had settled down.
A/N: I also want to say again that I post a chapter weekly, according to a schedule. It goes Chronal-Anomaly-Living Life. This will be the last time I say this, which I've only done to make sure each of the major stories I write have it in black and white. If you like what I do and want to support me, check out my P-atreon at P-atreon•com(slash)Almistyor.
And a special thanks to: FireRogueWolf25, brutalcrab and Tassimo.
