Chapter Text
PHANES: FIRST DESCENDER
This is a reconnaissance mission.
Hidden by Trickery, Phanes drifts carelessly in Teyvat’s orbit—close enough to be caught in the planet’s gravity while far enough away not to be pulled in as a golden meteor. The world the Dragon King had made is truly beautiful. In all tens of thousands of years of searching, Phanes has never encountered Teyvat’s equal.
And Teyvat will only become more perfect once Phanes has merged it with Amphoreus.
“Teyvat.” Phanes says his new world’s name lovingly.
It is a good name, and Phanes has decided to keep Nibelung’s name for the planet. Amphoreus is better, of course, but Phanes hasn’t spoken his home-world’s name aloud since the War Among Aeons. It will be less painful this way.
Teyvat will never suffer as Amphoreus suffered.
Dawnmaker shifts into reality within Phanes’ grasp for the first time in three hundred and forty years. The weapon is in pristine condition, a masterpiece of Okheman and Mountain Dweller craftsmanship.
A gift that had outlasted the world it was made to protect.
This time, Phanes hasn’t summoned Dawnmaker for company—to pretend he isn’t alone in an uncaring universe and that the friends he loves so fiercely are still with him. He wants to show Teyvat to the weapon. Soon, Amphoreus’ people will bask in the light of the new dawn they would make.
Will Stelle, Dan Heng, and March be found in Amphoreus’ tomorrow?
They, heroic Nameless, who had died for and upon a world they did not belong to.
The hero of his heart.
Phanes’ Shades will need weapons—to conquer Teyvat for humanity and then to defend it evermore afterward. He has had his Shades hone their Authorities in mock-battles among themselves; however, providing proper combat instruction had not been a priority—with the Three Moons bound by golden thread, there is nothing on the moons the sisters cannot fend off with raw power.
His Shades are to be enforcers of Celestia’s will as well as its administrators.
While the claymore is Phanes’ preferred weapon, he is proficient in most others. In some of the earliest cycles of the Eternal Recurrence, back when Khaslana had still craved novelty, he had studied other weapon forms.
Mankind’s defenders cannot be lacking.
Phanes spends one-hundred twelve days—four sets of twenty-eight—crafting the four celestial weapons: a bow, a catalyst, a spear, and a sword. He engraves the divinity of Destruction into the mortal metals and quenches them in gold to forge vessels that will take on the Authorities of their wielders. The finest Celestial weapons there are and ever will be.
The four weapons are nameless.
There is no reason for Phanes to bestow names upon them. His Shades can name the weapons themselves if they so desire. Phanes leaves it to the sisters to decide how the weapons will be divided up among themselves.
He is not surprised when Naberius asserts her right to the first pick by virtue of her meager minutes of seniority. Ronova quickly agrees with Naberius to secure herself second choice over the weapons. Asmoday protests the unfairness of being last until Istaroth ends the bickering by agreeably offering to trade turns with her ‘younger’ sister.
It is a great deal of unnecessary fuss that Phanes normally wouldn’t have tolerated from his Shades, but he is willing to allow given the occasion. These weapons will become their Dawnmakers.
In the end:
Naberius chooses the sword.
Ronova chooses the spear.
Asmoday chooses the catalyst.
And Istaroth accepts the bow.
The Pyro Dragon Sovereign—Xiuhcoatl—comes to the Lunar Palace, seeking an audience with the Eternal, Frost, and Iridescent Moons. The Flamelord wants knowledge of the absent Dragon King Nibelung. Bound by golden thread, the Three Moons bar the doors of their palace to the great dragon of Pyro.
Xiuhcoatl leaves the moons unsatisfied, unaware of the lurking heavenly host.
Phanes is pleased Aria, Canon, and Sonnet have chosen correctly.
And with the Moon Sisters’ choice made, the alliance between the Three Moons and Celestia is formalized. The Dragon King had charged the Three Moons with ruling and protecting Teyvat in his absence, and of the two responsibilities, the sisters had determined the protection of the planet was their greater duty.
Protection, Phanes can and will provide.
Against the Abyss.
Against future star-born reavers.
Against any and all threats—from within and without—forever.
Phanes will permit the Three Moons’ abstinence in Celestia’s subjugation of the dragons in exchange for their full support for his Order and acceptance of mankind’s dominion over the world after Celestia’s victory. The Eternal, Frost, and Iridescent Moons will house the souls of humanity’s dearly departed—an afterlife for the dead to peacefully rest before reentering the cycle of Life. Naturally, the this nether realm—despite its lunar location—will be administered by Phanes’ Shade of Death.
As a symbol of their allegiance, Aria, Canon, and Sonnet shed their draconic appearances to assume the forms of humans. Sonnet’s reluctance in this is noted.
Phanes and his Shades know of Nibelung’s Seven Dragon Soveriegns—of the Thrones that Celestia must usurp from them to remake the world for humanity, and of what must be done with said Dragon Lords afterward.
Celestia must seal the Sovereigns away.
The absent Dragon King Nibelung is a scion of LONG the PERMANENCE and the Sovereigns are the greatest of the king’s children. Teyvat may have never witnessed the death of one of the seven Elemental Dragons, but Phanes expects them to reincarnate like their cousins across the cosmos.
His Shades are not to slay the Sovereigns.
What of the rest of dragonkind?
Istaroth wonders aloud, holding Asmoday’s catalyst. Or is it Istaroth’s catalyst now?
(Phanes has noticed his Shades of Time and Space have switched weapons—with Asmoday likewise now carrying what had been her sister’s bow. He does not ask and he does not comment on the change. As long as his Shades use the weapons Phanes has given them for their intended purpose, which weapon is in possession of any individual Shade is no matter to him.)
The Seven Sovereigns are doomed, but what Celestia will do with the rest of dragonkind will depend on the dragons themselves.
Phanes does not hate dragonkind. In fact, he feels rather nothing at all for Teyvat’s original inhabitants. He has seen countless species over his painfully long life—the dragons are only the latest addition to the long list of Phanes’ encounters. He holds no malice against dragonkind. That they reside on the planet Phanes needs for Amphoreus is dragonkind’s own misfortune.
Draconic resistance will be crushed.
Celestia cannot tolerate any threat to the to-be-established Order for humanity.
Beyond that, Phanes has no interest nor expectation of his Shades pursuing the total eradication of dragonkind. His Shade of Time need not concern herself with pointless slaughter. Not when there are better ways for his Shades to further the cause of mankind.
In any case, Phanes and Naberius’ predictions say the vast majority of the dragons will die off without Celestia’s direct intervention. The Human Realm will be as inhospitable to dragonkind as the Light Realm currently is to mankind.
And the few dragons that manage to cling to life in the world that no longer belonged to them? If those Draconic survivors threaten humanity, then they will die like their kin. Otherwise? Phanes does not care.
Istaroth understands the importance of mankind—how the rebirth and survival of mankind outweighs all else.
Though, Istaroth suggests, couldn’t Celestia have the dragons leave Teyvat? As the Dragon King already had. There are other worlds out there, are there not? Like humanity’s original home-world. Would there not be less risk to the treasure of Teyvat if dragonkind departed in willing peace?
Istaroth treaded on dangerous territory.
The air around Phanes wavers with warning.
Leave. Now.
He will indulge no further questions from his Shade of Time; this discussion is over. The sole reason Istaroth escapes further reprimand for touching upon topics forbidden to her is that she asked for Teyvat’s—mankind’s—sake. With a graceful bow, Istaroth swiftly and obediently flees her creator’s presence.
When Phanes’ simmering temper has cooled to numbness, he reflects on his Shade’s suggestion. Istaroth’s idea for a dragon exodus is kind—much kinder than the fate awaiting dragonkind under Celestia. It’s an option Phanes had considered during his long search, should Amphoreus’ new home-world already be occupied.
Circumstances have changed since then.
Phanes possesses the means to hide Teyvat from the Abyss—from all the unwanted dangers lurking among the stars.
Teyvat is unknown to the universe; it exists on no star maps and has had no contact with the intergalactic community. Phanes will not allow the dragons to leave the planet to carry the knowledge of its existence into the cosmos. Teyvat is safest in unknown obscurity.
Phanes does not hate dragonkind; he, damningly, cannot love them. Better the dragons take the secret of Teyvat with them to their graves than risk his beloved mankind’s paradise being known.
Amphoreus comes first.
When Naberius interrupts Phanes’ work on Project World Firmament, he expects her to have good reason for it—a breakthrough, the discovery of a catastrophic error, or something of the like. Instead Phanes is presented with a…fish-thing(?).
It is not any creature of Amphoreus that Phanes can recognize. Nor one based on a species whose data was among the lost twenty-eight percent. It’s not even a native Teyvat organism altered to be compatible with the impending Human Realm.
Naberius proudly claims it for her own wholly original creation. His Shade excitedly launches into a presentation on her creation. Phanes ignores her. Oh, it’s technically brilliant work, Phanes can see that at a glance, and utterly unrelated to any Amphorean or Teyvatian life. Naberius would have had to construct the creature from nothing.
His Shade of Life has wasted both of their time.
And Phanes tells her as much.
This side-project of hers was entirely unrelated to the mission. If Naberius wants to push her abilities then there are plenty of lost Amphorean life-forms for her to recreate—like octopus. A Shade shouldn’t be wasting her time with pleasure projects.
Everything they do is for mankind—for Amphoreus. Just because mankind has yet to be reborn on Teyvat doesn’t change that fact. Phanes lives for mankind, and so do his Shades.
Of his Shades, Asmoday is by far the most impressive warrior.
Where her sisters’ combat prowess sit firmly within Phanes’ expectations (a little lower, in Istaroth’s case) for his Shades, Asmoday regularly exceeds them. Her mastery of her bow is only second to her mastery over Space—and she makes judicious use of her spatial cubes in combat. Phanes doesn’t believe his Shade of Space has lost a bout with her sisters since the Three Moons turned away the Pyro Sovereign.
The training grounds are among Phanes’ least favorite places on Teyvat’s moons. The flattened areas of lunar dust could not be more different from Okhema’s training yards. There is no stink of sweaty bodies, the sound of barked Kremnoan orders, or any of the other countless details Phanes refuses to think about: Mydeimos.
Nevertheless, each month, Phanes will summon Asmoday to a training ground to test her martial prowess. She is a blade whose edge he will sharpen—Phanes does not extend this effort towards his other Shades.
Phanes tests Asmoday with his eyes closed, tuning out all his senses except for his sense of Space. He doesn’t need to see his Shade to follow the spatial distortions left behind as she frantically twists and bends Space to escape his fire. If Asmoday is still for longer than a heartbeat, Phanes sets the air around her on fire.
Out here, it’s hard for Phanes’ mind not to drift towards Mydei.
How their clashes made Phainon’s heart race and blood sing.
Phanes wants to go back to the research station on the Frost Moon or Eternal Moon. He hates being here, being reminded of what he will never again have when he could be putting the finishing touches on Project World Firmament or recreating the blueprints for lost Amphorean life.
But Phanes’ wants are secondary.
Asmoday has the potential to be more than the sustainer of the world’s borders—an enforcer of Celestia’s will and a protector of mankind. Phanes will forge this world’s armor by sun-fire if that is what is required to keep Teyvat from sharing Amphoreus’ fate.
He will not permit Asmoday (or himself) to leave until she lands a scratch on him. It’s a challenge that pushes her to the limits of her combat prowess and command over Space. It's a dull, if productive affair.
His Shade of Space had tried to escape, once. Darting through Space to a different moon entirely. Phanes would acknowledge it was a move that would allow her to successfully retreat from nearly any fight; however, escape is never the point of these exercises. Phanes had dragged her back to the Eternal Moon with a thought.
To Asmoday’s credit, she never cowers in combat. Fear is for when she is off the battlefield. She’ll keep fighting even when Phanes applies pressure and she knows she can’t win.
She has Khaslana’s determination.
What would Mydei have made of Phanes’ warrior Shade?
On the eve of the Conquest, Ronova approaches Phanes.
When humans die, their mortal souls will go into the yet-created lunar afterlife within Teyvat’s moons. Though Ronova has yet to experience death, Phanes’ Shade of Death understands Endings. But, what will happen when a Shade dies? If we are slain by a Sovereign? What will become of our souls?
Ronova asks—with Cyrene’s voice.
The gold that pooled around Cyrene’s thirty-three million corpses. How Castorice had lain in a bed of purple flowers splattered with gold. The way Dawnmaker’s darkened steel had glittered gold as Khaslana stepped over Mydei’s body. The final golden bath of Aglaea.
Phanes deliberately does not think of the spilled blood of dead Chrysos Heirs. Because his Shades are not Chrysos Heirs. Their deaths will not add to the mountain of corpses made of those Phainon loved.
In any case, the only way one of Phanes’ Shades will die in the Conquest is if they do something foolish. He tells Ronova as much. His Shades are made from him, and they are stronger than any individual Dragon Sovereign.
None of Phanes’ Shades will die so easily.
And, when Ronova and her sisters do—one day, in the far far future—reach the end of their existence, there will be no afterlife awaiting them. Their consciousness may linger for a time in the divinity left behind with their death, but even that will even fade and become one with the world.
As for the eventual fates of their souls…Phanes isn’t entirely sure. His Shades weren’t born with souls of their own, each instead possessing a small part of the soul they were made from. Phanes expects the disparate fragment of his soul will die with his Shade—as Tribios died the thousand deaths of her segments.
Trianne opening her last Century Gate, sacrificing herself to save her friends from the Flame Reaver.
However, unlike with Tribios who split herself into a thousand equal pieces, Phanes continues to exist—and with the majority of his being intact. So would his fragment simply die as Tribios’ segments had or might it be drawn back to reunite with the ‘greater Phanes existence?’ Phanes knows he can reclaim himself from a living Shade, but a dead Shade…
The souls of dead Shades will rejoin that of their Creator.
Who will give their lives to create new Shades.
It’s not a lie.
Because Phanes doesn’t make a habit of lying to his Shades. There are matters his Shades do not need to know about and he plainly refuses to ever speak of again unless the world itself is at stake, but he never lies to them. It would rather defeat Phanes’ purpose for creating Shades from himself if he didn’t trust them implicitly.
A Shade’s death has two possibilities and Phanes is choosing the outcome he prefers—reunification. Phanes does not want to lose pieces of himself and he will reclaim his Shades before he allows them to die a final death. A new Shade would need to be made to replace the fallen, and if Phanes is able, he will use the same fragment of his soul.
It’s not the cycle of reincarnation humanity will be blessed with.
It is more than Phanes will receive.
Having given his Shade of Death her answers, Phanes dismisses Ronova. She has no responsibilities other than monitoring the dragon researchers—she should be training. He expects her to either be honing her spear-work or assisting with Naberius’ flight practice.
Preparations were complete.
At long last, the time for conquest came.
The First Descender and his Shining Shades descended upon Teyvat as a heavenly host. For forty years, Celestia waged war upon the dragonkind. One by one, the Seven Dragon Sovereigns met defeat by the Usurper-King and the Four Great Rulers—their Thrones stolen and their consciousnesses sealed away.
Henceforth, Teyvat belonged to Celestia.
The Throne of Anemo
The Anemo Dragon and his lesser kin welcomed not the invaders from beyond the skies and were the first to rise to the defense of their world. The ruler of Teyvat’s skies was by far mightier than Sky Tyrant Aquila, but Phanes and his Shades were too greater than Titans.
First to rise.
First to fall.
Istaroth subjugated the Lord of Anemo at Phanes’ side. The Anemo Dragon was imprisoned in the highest cloud, sentenced to drift with the winds in an eternal slumber. Over the following decades, the other six Sovereigns would meet similar fates at the hands of Celestia.
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The Throne of Geo
The largest dragon civilization was ruled by the mighty Geo Dragon—Azhdaha. Celestia was always going to make subduing the Sovereign with the potential to field the greatest army a priority, and thus the Lord of Geo was the second sealed away—buried deep beneath a mountain by Asmoday.
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The Throne of Electro
The Electro Dragon learned from the lessons of her fallen brethren and refused to meet Celestia in open battle, setting aside her draconic pride to deny the invaders. The Lord of Electro struck and vanished like the very lightning she commanded.
However, the Sovereign was only able to delay Celestia’s inevitable victory for a time before she too buckled to heaven’s might. The purple crystal enveloped the Electro Dragon’s body, leaving the Electro visharps to flee into the Primordial Sea.
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The Throne of Dendro
The Dendro Dragon—Apep—was of special interest to Phanes, as she guarded Teyvat’s silver world-tree. The primordial tree of Irminsul and its Ley Lines would be the cornerstones of Celestia’s new world—the anchor of Fate, the shield against the Abyss, and veins through which memory would flow.
Wrestling Irminsul from the Lord of Dendro’s clutches was a delicate affair.
The Dendro Sovereign was a spiteful vicious beast, a colossal land-serpent that made the Geo Dragon seem a mere hatchling by comparison. Her size was of no consequence to Celestia and Phanes caged the Sovereign in the roots of the very same tree she’d once protected.
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The Throne of Hydro
The Hydro Dragon Sovereign was a vexingly cunning foe.
The great sea serpent would not be baited out of the Primordial Sea. His draconic followers existed as a collective within his waters. The dragons of Hydro operated as a colony organism without the separation of individuality.
Victory was owed to clever Naberius trapping the Lord of Hydro with coral. Phanes chained the Sovereign’s bones to the ocean floor.
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The Throne of Pyro
The dragon civilization ruled by the Pyro Dragon—Xiuhcoatl—was the most resiliently stubborn and technologically advanced of Celestia’s draconic enemies. Ronova had brought Death to the dragons of Pyro’s inventors and phlogiston engravers.
Ronova had flown beside Phanes in what should have been Celestia's final confrontation with the Lord of Pyro in the heart of a volcano. Xiuhcoatl was frozen inside liquid phlogiston by Phanes.
Even with their Sovereign's gone, the Pyro Dragon’s people continued the war in his name; however, without the Authority of Pyro, the dragons of Pyro were unable to offer meaningful resistance to Celestia’s encroachment.
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The Throne of Cryo
The fate of the Cryo Dragon was a mar on an otherwise flawless campaign. A fact with which Phanes had made his displeasure known. Instead of being sealed deep within a prison of ice, the Lord of Cryo had been slain by his Shades.
The Sovereign would reincarnate—unknowing scion of The PERMANENCE that he was.
Phanes left the Lord of Cryo’s corpse where his Shades had felled him. Celestia had imprisoned the other six Dragon Sovereigns. When the new Cryo Dragon was born, Celestia would imprison him as well.
The New Dawn of Amphoreus.
Delivered Upon a New World.
For the first time in forever, Phanes feels an emotion other than love or hate—joy.