Genshin Impact: Mondstadt Alter
Act 1 Chapter 5.6:
The Facade Ends Here
I feel weak. Slowly opening my eyes, I'm surrounded by darkness. No, that's not right. I get a notification from my sonar and my senses are rebooting as soon as I regain my consciousness. I'm still somewhere in Mondstadt, but quite far from the city. After waiting a little while, I let out a groan as my eyes adjusted to the lighting around me.
"Oh, you're awake?"
Hearing a familiar voice caught me off guard.
I try to get myself together and get up, only to realize I cannot move freely. My hands are bound together. Something tied both of my wrists and thumbs, but that didn't stop me from getting up.
"Where… am I?"
"Somewhere remote from the city. But, is it really what you should be asking right now?"
"What…?"
I thought I was alone with someone else, but that question made me aware of my surroundings. Glancing around, I observed a group of men surrounding me, their unfriendly stares indicating questionable intentions. I'm not familiar with most of them, and neither do they dress like they're from Mond.
What happened? How did this happen? Did I mess up?
Shit, my head feels hazy as hell.
One of them approached me and kneeled to my level before speaking in an amiable tone,
"How are you feeling? Do you remember anything?"
"... Who are you guys?" I completely disregard his inquiries.
Afterward, I couldn't identify a few of them because they were wearing masks, but it's reasonable to assume that most of them are not from around here and are certainly the ones accountable for what occurred. I'm clueless about their origin as well.
"I don't think who we are matters at this point, Morgan. You know, abducting you wasn't even supposed to be this hard and tricky, but here we are, managed to execute a plan we crafted together after involving many people." The man spoke as his hands insinuated the men gathering here, and maybe even more.
"Either lady luck was on your side this whole time, or you were being very cautious and vigilant. Although there was a slight hiccup in the way, we finally captured you at the end. I didn't expect you could still put on a fight after being poisoned."
I click my tongue, "... The fuck do you want?"
I knew my question didn't have much purpose, but I hoped it would give me a moment to gather evidence and maybe even prompt someone to come to my aid.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Language, Morgan…" He shook his head, "None of us has anything personal against you, to be honest. But, the fact you said you SOMEHOW know there are spies around the city, especially among the Knight of Favonius, we have to get rid of you." The man finished his sentence by pointing at me.
I remain silent as I can feel my eye twitches.
"Don't you think you spill too much?" Suddenly, a muscular man spoke.
I glance in his direction and recognize him immediately. That man was the one who ambushed and abducted me in my home. Since he's topless, I can see he's wearing bandages that weren't there when we first met. The damage he suffers is by any means nothing major, so it seems like my attack was barely effective.
"Perhaps you're right, but I need it to get off my chest. After all, it's a mystery how a lone person can figure out something while the whole city is in the dark." He stood up, looking down at me.
Other than the person in front of me, everybody barely moved a muscle and rooted in their spot. Judging from my visual and sonar, I'm certain they are pretty strong for me to handle on my own, and not to mention they're armed too. Being pessimistic, nobody would come for me.
"Speak on how you did it, Morgan. How did you figure it out?"
Now I also notice my left arm feels limp due to the sudden usage of Convergence. I'm skeptical, but it's worth a shot at it the second time. What's the use of all my preparation if I can't even rescue myself in this situation?
"Agh!" He kicked my abdomen.
"Say something, will you?!" The man grew impatient.
I feel the pain as I try to take a breath.
Shit, that's sting. I was too focused on finding a way to get my ass out of here when he interrogated me, although, it's not that I care nor would I answer it.
Alright, it should be any time soon.
[Order. Stay put.]
COUGH* *GAG* *COUGH*
"Hey, hey! Careful! We don't want him to die just yet!"
"I- I didn't even put that much strength…!"
cough*
Are you serious?! That was more painful than I expected…!
I felt a shock from top to bottom inside me. The pain was intense, but brief. Suffering from sensory and cognitive overload made my whole body numb soon after. However, when they saw I let out a small puddle of blood, they quickly entered into alert mode. And unfortunately, I don't think I can recover in time.
"Anyway, I don't know what just happened to him, but we should wrap things up soon." A woman with dark blue hair suggested.
"Yeah…"
A different individual approaches from behind and helps me rise to my feet. Despite the situation, I can't stifle a chuckle before it all wraps up, much to the bewilderment of everyone present.
"Do you really think the Knight of Favonius will remain quiet about my disappearance?"
The one who was talking with me snorts, "It seems our worries were pointless to see you're still kicking and giving me such a hateful glare."
"Rest assured, Morgan. We've planned for everything about this. The Knight obviously wouldn't stay put, but there wouldn't be a single thing they can do about this." The man added.
"Funny for you to say that when you are parts of the Knights of Favonius too."
"What the-" He was too shocked to continue his sentences.
Those who conceal their identities with masks are also surprised, even though I only singled out the person in front of me. Did they truly believe that covering their face would suffice? Quite naive. Yet, I must concede that I wouldn't have identified them as a member of the Knight if I hadn't paid attention to their voice and presence value.
I doubt anyone would recognize them, especially when they're covered in dark robes and masks. The figure approaches me, reaching up to remove the mask, unveiling themselves as the Inspector.
"Hooh, fascinating. I didn't expect you to recognize us with all the disguises we wore." He smiled, ominously.
"S- sir!? Why did you expose yourself?!" One of them behind him bewildered by his action of revealing his identity.
"It's fine. There's no point hiding who we are anymore from him, it's not like he can do anything about it."
"But…"
The others who are wearing masks must be affiliated with the Knights because I need to familiarize myself with each one individually. It seems like there's a limited number of insiders involved, so I suspect the rest either choose not to participate directly or don't see the need to show up here.
Did they anticipate me resisting against such a large group? I admit I just blew up my own house with my power, but that was the first time I did it.
"So, what were you trying to do by pointing out who we are, Morgan? Hmm?"
I keep quiet, simply staring at him blankly. Then he takes something out of his pocket and dangles the object in front of my face. It's my vision.
"Did you believe you could escape from here without the sole salvation you have?"
Well, that's not surprising. You don't want your hostage to have any option to escape or even resist.
"Who would expect we had to resort to such a grand plan just to deal with you? You've been dodging our previous attempts without fail despite not working with anybody." He disclosed their plan this past week, "No, the main problem was that you managed to run away from the person who tried to kill you. I didn't expect you to find an alternative to get the Alder Knight to save you, even though we did our best to keep anyone away from you that day." He continued as he gazed at my vision before putting it back in his pocket.
"Well, aren't you a generous man for uncovering your scheme?" I replied.
"You should thank me for this." The Inspector snickered, "Anyway, I'm not really interested in that. Do you know why we captured you, Morgan?" He changed the subject.
"Don't you just hate me to excuse your own incompetence?"
Some of them burst out laughing upon hearing my comment while the people ahead of me don't appreciate my opinion. The person behind me let me go when the Inspector pulled my collar.
"Daring today, are we?"
"I wouldn't say that hadn't you included this many men. Couldn't you think of an alternative smaller-scale plan yet effective to do this?"
By the time I finished, he sent his fist to my face.
"I admire your courage for speaking up in this circumstance. Are you aware of the predicament you're in?"
I spat out the leftover blood in my mouth to the ground.
"In any case, rest assured that Mondstadt would see significant advantages from your absence. We would not only acquire a substantial amount of mora, but it would also alleviate our workload concerning your matters."
I give him a cold stare, "It disgusts me to think you've stooped so low. Have you got no shame?"
"Why, you spoken like we are the bad guys here." He shook his head, "Does it not make you raise a question why people are targeting you?"
"Why would someone put a bounty on your head? Not to mention such a large sum of mora." The Inspector produced the identical document provided by Ms. Alice, which happened to be a notice offering a reward.
"Who are you? What did you do to make someone put a bounty on you? As far as I know, you are nothing but a harmless kid. However, this notice definitely holds more meaning about you than that as they prefer you to be alive than dead."
He keeps yapping while the only thing I can do is to look around and listen.
Dawn approaches, and I find myself pondering how much longer they intend to detain me. The Inspector's words hinted at a fate of disappearance from Mond, likely indicating a transfer to another location. His seriousness suggests a significant scheme at play, leading me to believe this is only the beginning.
I shouldn't overlook their capabilities given his assurance in these revelations. Now that they've apprehended me, the only remaining step is transferring me to the mastermind behind all these unfortunate occurrences. Regarding the aftermath, I believe they have it under control, and I'd rather not dwell on what kind of nasty tricks up their sleeves.
This is it, huh?
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can we get this over with already?" I groaned.
The man widens his eyes, "That's surprising. Who would've thought you were so eager to leave Mondstadt? I'll keep-"
Locking my gaze at him, I inhale a small amount of air before blowing it in his direction.
I unleash a powerful anemo force that propels him backward until he collides with the tree, causing tremors in the surroundings. The dramatic impact prompts everyone to heighten their defenses, brandishing their weapons and fixing intense stares on me. Meanwhile, a nearby individual swiftly grasps my hand and forcefully encircles my neck from behind, exhibiting extreme aggression.
Those in robes approach the Inspector to see his condition, but he seems to suffer minor damage.
"Stay away from him, sir. There's a case where a vision bearer is separated from the vision and can still wield element unless they're separated far enough." The person who ambushed me warned as he stood between me and the Knights crew.
"So he still can bite back, huh…" The Inspector hissed.
"Let's end it here. We've spent too much time on this matter, and it's time to transition to the next step on our agenda promptly. We wouldn't want anything to disrupt our plan at this stage, would we?"
"... I guess you're right."
The large man signals to the person behind me with a nod.
"Farewell, Morgan. Hope you enjoy your miserable fate this onward."
The last thing I see, before everything fades to pitch-black, is the faces of the Knights and everyone involved in this operation. Slowly but surely, I can feel the hatred in me flourish.
ACT 1 - COMPLETED
A/N: Whew, that's the end of Act 1! What do you think? I would love to hear your opinion!
I took too much break than I intended, but I can't believe I'm still writing, and it's not even completed yet. I'm thankful that you've read this fic this far, and please look forward to Act 2! I'm not sure when I'll upload it because it's still in progress but until then,
Thank you so much for reading Act 1, and may we meet again in Act 2!