Chapter Text
The last thing you see before you die are bright lights and the loud ringing of a train horn.
Then, nothing.
It seems like you float in space forever, conscious of everything and nothing all at once.
Then, you awake.
Immediately, you sit up straight from your sleeping position and dry heave over the side of the bed. The soft humming you heard for a split second when you woke up stops all at once, replaced by the sound of hurried footsteps.
A man walks in, but you can only make out his blurry form grabbing a bucket from who-knows-where and placing it in front of you. The man takes a seat on the bed beside you, rubbing your back reassuringly as your body tries to expel whatever intruded upon it.
Finally, you start to feel a little calmer. Wiping the tears from your eyes, you turn to look at the man. Your vision is starting to clear, but what you see doesn't make sense in your mind.
In front of you is a man that shouldn't exist- no- doesn't exist. Yet, here he is right in front of you, smiling politely.
"How are you feeling? That was quite the tumble you took," Baizhu says.
His voice. It's really Baizhu. You must be dreaming. This can't be real. There's no way you fell asleep and woke up in Teyvat.
Or is there?
You scooch away from the green-haired man, "tumble? Baizhu? Where am I? Am I dreaming? That's it, right? This is all a dream? I'm going to wake up any minute now in my boring dorm room- I have to feed my cat!" You're bordering on hysterical as Baizhu places a reassuring hand on your knee, grounding you for a second.
"It's alright, everything is okay now. You're in Bubu Pharmacy, in Liyue harbor. You recognized me, have you been here before? I'm afraid I can't quite place your face…" Baizhu looks away, seemingly in thought for a moment, before looking back at you.
You attempt to slow your breathing. This is real. Baizhu is real. Bubu Pharmacy is real. If they're real, does that mean everything else is? Teyvat? Liyue? Mondstadt? You need to leave this place and see for yourself. You push Baizhu's hand away, swinging your legs over the side of the bed and attempting to stand up.
Your legs immediately give way. Luckily, Baizhu swiftly stands up and catches you before your face meets the floor, holding you steady and helping you sit back down on the bed.
"Whoa there, you're definitely not ready to walk yet."
You stare at him, still in shock, "I… what happened?"
"A couple of people found you passed out at the base of Wuwang Hill. They alerted me immediately and I picked you up and brought you here, where you've been asleep for 2 days," he explains calmly.
"I've been out for 2 days?" You question, and with the realization you can feel the stiffness in your body that comes with not moving for too long.
"Yes. Do you remember what you were doing at Wuwang Hill? You didn't have any external injuries other than a few bumps and bruises, but you were in a very deep sleep. If I were to make an educated guess, it seems you have a slight concussion from falling- perhaps while climbing?"
You grab your head, feeling it throb, "I… I don't remember anything."
Baizhu nods in understanding, "that's quite all right. Temporary amnesia is common with head injuries, I'm sure your memory will return to you in the coming days." Baizhu stands up, smoothing out his clothes. "For now, you will rest until you can walk, then we'll see about your bill."
Right, mora. You look around the bed area, spotting a cloth bag about the size and shape of a briefcase, with a single strap on it. Baizhu notices your glance and walks over, grabbing the bag and handing it to you.
"This was found with you, I'm assuming it belongs to you?"
You nod, though you're not sure if it's the truth. But the need to search for answers about what's going on wins over being truthful.
Inside the bag is a satchel full of mora-you estimate at least a few thousand- and many things you assume are key for surviving in the wilderness. The thing that piques your interest most, however, is a glint of light coming from a strange object.
You pick the object up, inspecting it in the light. It's a vision, but it doesn't seem normal. Instead of just a single vision with a symbol of the nation around it, it was a circular anemo vision with 6 small circles surrounding it. The smaller circles were all grayed out, except for one displaying the geo symbol. Out of curiosity, you touched the geo symbol and let out a gasp when the geo and anemo symbols seemed to trade places. Now, it was a geo vision.
The flash caught Baizhus eyes from the edge of the room, and he walked over curiously. "My word, I don't think I've ever seen a vision quite like that before."
"Neither have I," you mumble.
"Well, it's clearly yours, seeing as it reacted to your touch. You must be very lucky to receive and vision like that," Baizhu supplies, looking very interested in it.
You place the vision back in the bag for safekeeping, deciding to further explore the contents of the bag. You spot a rolled-up piece of paper, picking it up.
As you unroll the paper a map of Teyvat starts to unfold before your eyes. It's just like the in-game map, with Mondstadt and Liyue being the only regions currently visible. You feel a sense of relief at the familiarity of it and tuck it away in the bag for now.
You look up from rummaging around the bag and see Baizhu turning to leave.
"Wait!" You call out, and he turns back to you.
"Is there anything you need, ….?"
You think for a second. He's asking for your name. You don't know if you should tell him your real name or a fake one. Deciding 'fuck it', you tell him your name.
"I wanted to know if you've seen any travelers? Blond, strange clothing? Tendency to help out while searching for their missing sibling?"
Baizhu smiles, "ah, you must be talking about Aether! He was in town, but I'm afraid you seem to have just missed him. Last I heard he was braving the seas to Inazuma."
You mentally curse. The traveler could be the key to finding out what's going on. After all, they were from another world, too. Well, at least you have a goal to strive toward now.
You were going to Inazuma.