Esmeralda: Sumeru 2
A/N: This takes place after the previous chapter, Interlude Chapter Act 3.5: The Nature of Being, and Dehya's Story Quest Act 1: Lionblood.
"Alright, Aaru Village is just up ahead," Dehya said, reining her Sumpter Beast to a stop. Dunyazard was seated on the other and Esmeralda, as always, was on Daisy. The three could see the village in the distance, right next to a Statue of the Seven.
"Why'd you stop?" Esmeralda asked.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave Daisy out here. It seems friendly enough, but I'd rather not take any chances with that many people. Also, Candace is... not going to like it."
Esmeralda nodded. "Ah, I see. No problem, give me a moment," she said, getting off. She mentally told Daisy to find a place nearby to hide for the time being and it obeyed, disappearing into a crevice in the canyon walls.
"Thanks. Come on up," Dehya said, extending a hand. Esmeralda took it and Dehya pulled her onto the Sumpter Beast. They proceeded onward and soon, Aaru Village came into view.
Compared to the majestic Sumeru City and the Divine Tree, Esmeralda felt that Aaru Village was far less impressive. Given that it was located in a desert, it did make sense that it was difficult to build beautiful structures.
A woman was waiting at the entrance of the village. She was wearing an ornate headpiece, a purple crop top, and loincloth, all with gold trim. What drew Esmeralda's attention more were the weapons she was wielding. A spear and, more importantly, a shield that practically glimmering with ancient technology to her experienced eyes.
"Nice to see you, Dehya. Brought some new faces, too, I see," the woman said as they approached.
"Hey, Candace," Dehya replied, dismounting. "This is Dunyazard, my friend I told you about before. And Esmeralda, a student from the Academia."
Candace gave a small bow, dispersing her weapons. "Welcome to Aaru Village. I'm Candace, the guardian of this place. Come in."
The three of them and the two Sumpter Beasts followed their guide into the village. As they walked, Dehya asked, "Hey, Candace, why the weapons? Something happening around here?"
"Nothing major, just a little increased Eremite activity. It's just a precaution," Candace answered. "Anyway, how long are you guys staying?"
"Just a day or two," Dehya replied.
Candace nodded. "Alright, I'll handle accommodations. For now... want to get some food?"
"Sounds great. Thanks, Candace," Dehya agreed. "Come on, you two."
Soon, the four of them found themselves in Candace's house, at her insistence. She had managed to acquire a wide array of food that looked absolutely delicious.
Esmeralda dug into the food with the others. It was obvious that Candace, Dehya, and Dunyazard were good friends. They chatted about all manner of topics while they ate, leaving Esmeralda hanging around awkwardly and focusing in the food.
"So, Esmeralda. You're from the Academia, yes? What do you study?" Candace suddenly asked, drawing Esmeralda's attention.
"Ah, I - " Esmeralda fumbled for a moment before replying properly, "I study robotics."
"Robotics? Oh, is that why you're out here? You're looking for Scarlet King technology?" Candace asked.
Esmeralda nodded. "Yes, my previous research was mostly to do with Ruin Machines. I want to track down some different types of machines so that I can compare them."
"Well then, what do you think of this?" Candace asked, holding up her shield.
"King Deshret technology, definitely," Esmeralda said confidently. "But unless I start taking it apart, I can't tell anything more for certain."
Candace put the shield away. "I'm sure you understand that I can't allow that."
"Yeah, I know," Esmeralda said, "You need it for your work, right?"
"I am the guardian of Aaru Village. Unlike Sumeru City, the desert is a dangerous place. I'm sure Dehya's mentioned that before."
"She did, yes. So you need the shield to protect the village from attackers? It seems powerful enough," Esmeralda replied.
Candace nodded. "I protect Aaru Village from those who would disturb the peace. Of course, a shield is not enough to protect the most important things. That's why I must also wield a spear."
The conversation shifted after that, with Candace insisting that "such talk about fighting is not appropriate for dinner conversations". Dehya took control, teaching Esmeralda and Dunyazard the basics of surviving in the desert, while Candace occasionally chipped in.
The group finished their food and retired into the houses that, despite protests that it was unnecessary. Alone in her room, Esmeralda mentally checked up on Daisy, which still quietly looked over the village from afar. She could feel that it was safe and that all was well.
The next day, as they rode away from Aaru Village, Dehya insisted that her two charges accompany her on the Sumpter Beasts. Daisy joined them soon after, and the reason for Dehya's decision soon became apparent.
"Alright, you two. Listen up," Dehya began. "Esmeralda, I have a few hours to teach you how not to die before you leave, so we're starting now. First, sandstorms..."
As agreed, Esmeralda bade farewell to Dehya and Dunyazard soon after. Her head was spinning with the new information about the many, many dangers that the desert posed, but at least Dehya seemed pleased at her progress, and confident enough that she would be fine. While the two of them headed south, Esmeralda headed north toward the Dune of Carouses.
She kind of liked them, Esmeralda thought, as Daisy carried her onward. Dehya was knowledgeable about the desert in which she had lived and much of that information was now recorded in both her mind and Daisy's. Dunyazard seemed greatly enthusiastic, making Esmeralda wonder if it was her first time leaving the city. They were nice people.
Esmeralda's thoughts turned back to her own research. King Deshret, who had once ruled the great ancient civilization in the desert, had left behind significantly advanced technology, which she was all too eager to explore for years, although the dangers of the desert meant that Esmeralda has never had a chance to do so; that was why she had gone to Mondstadt all those years ago, despite the reduced mechanical activity there - it was much safer. Now, with Daisy's help, Esmeralda could finally brave the sands and hopefully lay her hands on King Deshret's technology, which promised to be significantly different from the Khaenri'ah machines that she was used to.
The rest of the journey to the Dune of Carouses was relatively straightforward. There were a couple of roaming Eremites to avoid, but none of them seemed interested in attacking the floating robot.
Soon enough, Esmeralda and Daisy arrived at their destination. The Dune of Carouses was a miniature version of the Mausoleum of King Deshret, which dominated the Hypostyle Desert. As much as she wanted to, Esmeralda did not think that she was ready for that particular adventure yet. The great sandstorm that it caused alone convinced her not to meddle with it yet, although the skies did seem much clearer than she had remembered. Perhaps the sandstorm had been tamed. Esmeralda wondered in Aether had anything to do with it.
Cautiously, Esmeralda entered the ruins through the massive front door. A scan from Daisy ensured that the main room was clear of threats. There was a passageway leading deeper and lower into the pyramid, which it would keep an eye on, in case something hostile decided to approach.
Esmeralda found a corner to deposit the equipment that Daisy was carrying for her and took a look around. The main chamber was some kind of reception area, open and decorated. The actual mechanisms that she was interested in were mostly absent.
There was something that piqued her interest - a strange glowing light above the main entrance into the Dune. Esmeralda stepped back onto Daisy's palm and it hovered into the air, allowing her to inspect the mechanism. Based on her first guess, it looked to be a button of sorts.
She looked at it. After a lack of consideration and careful deliberation, she pushed it.
With a rumble, the main entrance to the Dune of Caurouses was sealed shut by a hidden door. The room was plunged into darkness, sparsely lit by forgotten lights.
"Huh," Esmeralda noted, and pushed the button again. The light poured back in, blindingly bright.
With the mystery of that button solved, Esmeralda directed Daisy to bring her around the rest of the area, allowing her to examine the mechanisms within the walls. In her focus, she became unaware of the passage of time until a voice broke her concentration.
"Hey! You big chunk of metal! Let her go!" someone shouted. It was a man with medium-length blond hair in a braid. He was wearing a white shirt with a high collar and triangular chest window and a colorful cape. A Dendro Vision hung at his waist.
Esmeralda, deep in thought and taken by surprise, did not respond. Daisy, expecting trouble, returned to ground level, dropped her off, and turned to face the man and opened up its frontal armor, revealing an 'eye' glowing with energy.
"Oh no," the unknown man muttered, visibly torn between standing his ground and fleeing immediately.
"Daisy, no," Esmeralda sternly said, and Daisy returned to its normal state. She approached the confused man. "Don't worry," she said, "She won't hurt you. It's a long story."
"Woah... You can control it?"
Esmeralda grinned. People's reactions to that never got old. "Yep. I'm Esmeralda."
"I'm Kaveh," the man replied, "So, what brings you out here?"
"Just doing some research. You?"
"Hey, me too," Kaveh replied. "I'm from
Kshahrewar, with a specialization in architecture."
Esmeralda thought about it. "I'm Kshahrewar too... I think? It was a few years ago."
Kaveh gasped, coming to precisely the wrong conclusion, "You graduated already? At your age?"
"What? Oh, no. I, uh, left. The last time I was in the Academia was years ago."
"Oh, I see. Well, Esmeralda, would you like to explore this place together?" Kaveh offered.
"Sure, let's go," Esmeralda agreed. The two of them entered the ruins, heading down a flight of stairs. Daisy shot forward, clearing the rooms before them. As they did, Kaveh continued asking questions.
"So, let me guess: your specialization is robotics? Did you make that thing?"
"Yeah, robotics," Esmeralda replied, "As for Daisy... She's a modified Ruin Guard, although that was some time ago. She's gotten a lot of upgrades since then."
They entered a large chamber, where a dormant Primal Construct lay near a corner. It had not activated yet, but would doubtlessly do so once they got close. Daisy was staring at it, the shield on its left arm activated.
"Oh, it's one of those," Kaveh said, summoning his claymore.
"Let me handle it," Esmeralda said.
"What? No way I'm letting you handle that by yourself."
Esmeralda shook her head, "No, I didn't mean that. I need this one intact for my research."
Kaveh paused. "Huh? Alright, but be careful."
Daisy approached the dormant Construct. It whirred to life as it detected movement, pulling its parts together and floating in the air. Esmeralda identified it as a Repulsor by the pair of cone-shaped drills it wielded. Daisy went for those first, striking hard with its fists.
The Repulsor darted back to avoid the blow and countered by merging its two drills and firing it at Daisy, who simply raised its own shield, blocking the projectile. Pushing it aside, Daisy opened fire, sending a barrage of missiles. Taking heavy damage from the attack, the Repulsor entered the invisible state to recover.
"Now, Daisy!" Esmeralda commanded. Daisy opened fire again, using special Electro-tipped missiles. They flew out in an arc, striking the hiding Repulsor and causing the Catalyze reaction, paralyzing it.
"Yes!" Esmeralda cheered, while Daisy rapidly approached the disabled Reuplsor. It tore into the armor of the tetrahedron core of the Reuplsor, ripping a plate off to expose the wires within. Esmeralda ran up after, reaching into the inner workings of the ancient machine.
"Wow, that's impressive," Kaveh commented, causing Esmeralda to frown.
"I'm sorry," she said, focused on the Construct and having more or less forgotten about him. "Can you leave me for a bit? I need to concentrate."
"Ah, no problem. I'll be nearby if you need anything," Kaveh said, walking away to analyze the designs of the ruins.
Esmeralda barely heard him, focused on her work. She had until the Reuplsor recovered to disable its abilities without causing permanent damage. Impossible for anyone else... merely different for her.
By doing that, Esmeralda had ensured that the Reuplsor would not be able to attack again. Although she had studied the inner workings of Primal Constructs, such materials were rare due to their aggressive nature. To see through her plan, she ensure that things went smoothly. Slowly, carefully, she began to disassemble its core.
Several hours later, Esmeralda had managed to isolate the stealth system from the intelligence that controlled the Reuplsor. Normally, she would study that as well, to see how an ancient civilization under King Deshret made such ingenious machines, but she had promised, to the Dendro Archon no less, that she would not. Instead, she would focus on integrating the two distinct technologies. Esmeralda was very interested in combining Khaenri'ah and King Deshret technology.
It took another few hours for her to integrate the Primal Core into Daisy, although it was still very basic. The force field creation and, more importantly, the stealth systems, were still unusable, but Esmeralda had managed to activate the levitation systems, resulting in the triangular frame floating along behind Daisy. For now, it was merely decorative, but she would eventually activate the systems within, giving Daisy access to the abilities of the Primal Constructs.
Esmeralda decided to take a break then. As she took out some of the food she had packed and began to eat, Kaveh took a seat on the ground beside her.
"All done?" he asked.
Esmeralda shook her head. "No, I've just got the basics down. Full integration would take a few more hours. I think I'll continue tomorrow."
"Oh, you're staying here overnight?"
"Yup," Esmeralda replied. She then noticed that Kaveh's briefcase, which she had assumed was an ordinary one, was glowing. It appeared to be projecting an image of the ruin that they were in. "Wait, your briefcase," she said, "The technology..."
Kaveh answered the unasked question, "Mehrak? King Deshret technology, yes. I'm afraid I don't know the specifics."
"Can I take a look?"
"Yeah, go ahead," Kaveh replied, handing the briefcase over.
Esmeralda took it carefully, examining the three-dimensional projection that it was displaying. It took her a few minutes to understand how to use it properly, but she soon got the hang of it. A few minutes later and she had created a simplified representation of Daisy.
Kaveh look at the new image, impressed. "Wow, you sure know your way around this technology, huh? It took me days to figure out how it worked."
"Hehe, thanks. Um, can I..." Esmeralda hesitated, before just going for it, "Can I open it up?"
"No! No offense, Esmeralda, but I'd rather you didn't. I need Mehrak."
Esmeralda nodded. "I understand," she replied, handing it back to Kaveh.
"Thanks," Kaveh said, reclaiming it. "You know, you seem a lot more reasonable than other researchers. Some of them..."
"Yeah, I know. I wouldn't let anyone dismantle Daisy either."
"Ah, I see. Well, Esmeralda, "It was nice meeting you, but it's getting late and I need to head back. Are you sure about staying?"
Esmeralda nodded. "Yes, I'll stay here for a while longer."
"You sure? It's dangerous out here alone," Kaveh asked, concerned.
"It's fine. Daisy will protect me."
"Alright then. See you around, Esmeralda," Kaveh said, waving as he left the Dune of Carouses.
"Bye," Esmeralda responded, and went to sleep.
She was woken up sometime later, in blinding light, by the sound of howling winds and the feeling of being blasted by sand. The latter quickly stopped when Daisy sheltered her with its bulk, but the former did not abate for a few seconds more - until the darkness returned.
It took a few more seconds for Esmeralda to focus and figure things out. She was still in the main chamber of the Dune of Caurouses, except that there was a large door blocking off the main entrance now, which was not closed before. The winds and sand must have meant that there was a sandstorm raging outside, and the temporary opening of the door was to let someone in.
Daisy moved. Esmeralda saw the person that had entered, whom her robot guardian was approaching. The scarred woman, with royal blue hair and wearing eremite garb, reacted to Daisy's movements, drawing a pair of blades and readying herself for battle.
"Stay back, Benben... this one looks different," she said.
Something moved nearby, retreating from the upcoming battle.
Esmeralda wanted to tell Daisy to stand down, as usual, but something about this woman seemed more dangerous than the people she usually met - both her own intuition and Daisy's senses said so. Instead, she told it, "Stay close, Daisy."
Daisy obeyed, taking a defensive position near its creator. The two sides cautiously waited, keeping an eye on each other.
"That's a Primal Construct..." Esmeralda blurted out. She could feel a thread of silent digital communication between the odd machine and Daisy's recently integrated Primal Core. She listened to Daisy, who began to translate.
The next few seconds passed in silence and unspoken communications. It was broken when the woman said, quietly, "Wait, what?", followed by a shout, "Hey, you there! Benben says your robot can talk to it. Truce?"
Esmeralda nodded. "Yes, please," she replied, telling Daisy to stand down. It responded by lowering its shield and retreating behind Esmeralda, floating quietly. The other woman lowered her weapons as well.
The two women approached each other, their respective robots following them. Daisy, an armored, floating war machine, was a far more threatening sight than the other, a small floating inverted pyramid. As it got closer, Esmeralda recognized it fully as the core of a Primal Construct, much like the one that she had recently added to Daisy.
"Hello, my name's Jeht. This is Benben. What's yours?" the Eremite spoke first, pointing at the Construct as she introduced it.
"I'm Esmeralda," she replied. "This is Daisy."
"Wanna sit down and talk? I've never seen anyone like you around here," Jeht offered, putting her weapons away.
"I'd like that."
They started with introductions. Esmeralda learned that Jeht was an outcast of the Tanit Tribes, who had lost her parents and was currently wandering the desert with Benben. She had met and adventured with Aether some time ago, finding both Benben and the legendary Eternal Oasis, hidden within the sandstorms of the Desert.
Esmeralda told her in turn of her own past, of studying in the Academia and researching artificial life. She spoke of finding Daisy and awakening it and her Geo Vision, followed by the upgrades it had since received - the Adepti, the Command Core, and the recently integrated King Deshret technology.
The conversation soon turned to more mundane things.
"Um... Are your ears real?" Jeht suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Esmeralda reached for the fox ears on her head. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry, I just... I've never seen anyone like you, out here in the desert," Jeht apologized.
Esmeralda nodded. "Ah. Well, they're real. It's hereditary."
Jeht reached out a hand before pulling it back. "Can I touch them?"
"Erm..." Esmeralda hesitated. That was a strange request.
"Oh, I'm sorry, that was kinda rude," Jeht apologized. "Forget I asked. How about you? Do you have any questions for me?"
Esmeralda choose to ignore Jeht's question as she asked. "Well... I do have a question, actually. How do you see?" she asked.
Jeht laughed. "Through these, you mean?" she said, running a hand over the cloth that covered her eyes. Most of the eremites wore something similar, so Jeht had never thought much of it. "I can see through it, especially when the sun's out. Helps with the brightness and prevents sand from getting to my eyes. Most Eremites wear something like it."
"Oh, interesting..."
"So, Esmeralda, what brings you to a place like this? We rarely get visitors from the Academia all the way out here."
Esmeralda motioned for Daisy to lower itself and turn around as she replied. "Research," she said. She continued, gesturing at the newest upgrade to Daisy, "I'm looking to combine Kind Deshret technology with Khaen- with Ruin technology. It's going quite well."
Jeht nodded in appreciation. "Nice," she commented. "I'm here because of the sandstorm outside."
The conversation ended soon after, with Jeht taking a break while Esmeralda returned to her work. She managed to stabilize the connection between the two different technologies, but priming the stealth system was proving much more difficult than she had expected. It would take much more time and energy to complete it. She decided to leave it be for a while and get something to eat.
As she finished her meal, Jeht called to her, "Yo, Esmeralda. The sandstorm's not going anywhere soon, so I thought about going deeper into the pyramid. Wanna come with?"
Esmeralda thought about it. There would be plenty of time to finish her work later. She might as well go exploring with Jeht in the meantime. "Sure, let's go," She agreed.
The first chamber they entered was nothing new. The remains of the Primal Construct that Esmeralda had dismantled were still in a corner.
Following the corridor led them to a flight of downward stairs. The room at the base was deep within the ground, where the previously metal walls and floor gave way to hard dirt.
There were several aggressive Fungi and scorpions in the area, but they were easily dispatched by Jeht. Soon, they came to a large cavern, where Electro crystals were dotted around an open space.
"Electro Crystals..." Jeht noted. "Disturbed dirt... the scorpions... Esmeralda, a Consecrated Scorpion lives here."
"What's that?" Esmeralda asked.
Jeht had drawn her weapons once more, adopting a wary stance. She replied, "A massive scorpion that can use Electro energy. It's very dangerous and - look out below!"
The ground rumbled near Esmeralda. In synchrony with Daisy, she jumped into the air, landing on its outstretched right palm. At the same time, Daisy activated the shield on its left arm, aiming at the crumbling ground nearby.
A massive Consecrated Scorpion burst forth from below, striking out with Electro-infused claws. It crashed against Daisy's raised shield, pushing it back as lighting burst forth around them. Daisy retreated, dropping Esmeralda off at the side of the cave before turning back to the Scorpion.
Jeht had taken the opportunity to attack, activating the Hydro Infusion on her blades. She danced across its back, slashing rapidly and causing the Scorpion to screech in pain. It bucked, throwing her off.
Daisy attacked the moment she was clear of the Scorpion, firing a barrage of fully powered missiles. The proceeding explosions threw up a cloud of smoke and dust, obscuring the air. Both Daisy and Jeht held their ground, cautiously waiting to see the outcome of the attack.
The Consecrated Scorpion burst forth from the ground once more, sporting only minor damage from the explosives. It had managed to burrow in time to dodge most of the missiles and now began its counterattack, spinning in place and scattering lightning-infused stingers into the air. They hovered in place for a second, glinting menacingly, then flew out like a swarm of deadly beasts.
Jeht cartwheeled aside, dodging the stingers that targeted her. Daisy raised its shield once more, blocking the attack.
Daisy sent another flurry of missiles at the Scorpion. In the meantime, Jeht cautiously approached, planning on using the missiles as a distraction so that she could get in close. At the same time, Daisy opened up its core, preparing to unleash its powerful Power Surge attack.
The Scorpion burst forward, shrugging off the missiles and leaping straight for Daisy. Its claws slashed across the exposed Core, sending Daisy crashing to the ground, temporarily disabled.
Jeht attacked immediately, Hydro-infused blades lashing out at the base of the Scorpion's tail. They cut deeply, causing it to screech and spin around, intent on destroying her.
However, its legs seemed to be sinking into the ground, forcing it to tear through the earth in order to move. Esmeralda, watching from behind a rock, continued pulling down the soil around the Scorpion while hardening it as much as she could. She growled as she focused on her Vision, immobilizing her enemy, who had hurt Daisy.
Jeht continued attacking, focusing her efforts on the injury that she had created. With a final slash and a burst of corrupted blood, she tore the Scorpion's tail clean off. It screamed in pain, blood pouring from the wound. Its struggles slowed, allowing Jeht to climb onto it and plunge her blades into its brain.
Esmeralda cautiously approached the dead Consecrated Beast, Daisy, who was disabled, and Jeht, covered in blood.
"Yuck," the latter commented, putting her weapons away. She turned to Esmeralda and said, "Right, that was a mess. Your robot's... damaged, I think."
Esmeralda nodded, running her hands over Daisy. Nothing seemed particularly damaged; once it was reactivated, she would do a complete check, but all seemed well. Already, it seemed to be coming back online. "I can tell. Don't worry about it, she'll be fine."
"Nice. I'm going to myself cleaned up now. Try not to get into more trouble," Jeht said, leaving to find some water to wash away the blood.
Leaving Daisy's side once more, Esmeralda made to pick up the supplies that she had dropped while she was hiding behind that rock.
The ground rumbled again. This time, it was directly underneath Esmeralda. Daisy had just recovered and was too far away, while Jeht was nowhere in sight. As such, when the second one burst forth from the ground, Esmeralda had too little time to react. She threw herself to the side, but it was too late. She caught a glimpse of a claw, crackling with lightning and glinting with metal, streaking towards her.
Then pain and blood blossomed across her face, and the world went black.
A/N: RIP. The next chapter will be a minor chapter.
