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The Celestia, that once caressed mere mortals and lifted up to heaven’s abode, comes crashing down from the sky and falls beneath the traveler’s feet. Its words knew no bounds; as the traveler lands their gaze on the dying remains, it promises them a lifetime of regret for meddling with what was once invincible as its dying breath. The ascended, now brought back to their feet on mortal land, flee from watchful eyes and fail to reach closure.
It was a pity.
The Tsaritsa withered away with her loyal subjects, and true to her word, with the fall of Celestia, she remained forever hidden in her raging snowstorm, where what little love of her people buried her deep beneath the cold.
Some of The Seven’s statues were brought down and melted. Its cement continues to have a purpose; even though it will never relive its glory as a statue, it will be used to serve its people, whether it becomes the land that the people walk on, or the shelter that people will reside in at the end of the day.
Some, however, were smashed during the Final War, from violent tornadoes to trembling earthquakes and to destructive thunder. Nature’s hazards brought the end of their statues, as they broke apart and were engulfed by ferocious waves.
Some were destroyed by their own people. Some were enraged by their God’s schemes, but most of their people simply wanted to symbolize a new era, one without the Gods or their immediate aid.
The traveler beams, their smile stretching from ear to ear. Their voice of finality commanded the entirety of Teyvat to bow at their feet, but the traveler wished not for a throne; they wished a place with the crowd, and to be treated as their name suggests; a wandering traveler with their goal fulfilled.
They sit on the rocky surface of Starsnatch Cliff, with their sibling sitting hand in hand with them. It seemed far too long since they held hands and bathed in each other’s presence. Mondstadt remained as lively as it could be, with the wind singing a new song now. Paimon’s probably eating Sticky Honey Roast with Amber.
“What should we do now?”
The sibling ponders. “We should leave, someday. We still have other worlds to explore, and plus… Mom must miss us.”
Their mother had died long ago, with her soul becoming one with the stars. But how the traveler wished to grace their fingertips against the blanket of the sky, with their wings flapping behind them as they take flight to a new world.
The traveler gazes at Mondstadt, and turns southwest. If they looked very, very closely, they could see the shadows of Qingyun Peak, nearly engulfed in its mist.
“Yes,” they say, their tone soft as the breeze caressing their face, “We should.”
。。。
Their departure reaches the news of the celestial beings, and they rush to beg for them to stay longer, in their own different ways.
When the traveler’s wings ache to be swept up into the night sky and to never return, the wind howls in dismay and gently tugs them back to land. When their feet attempt to escape the very corner of Teyvat, where an unnamed world lies one step ahead, the ground becomes more unbearable to walk on and refuses to flatten its uneven path. When they ride on a boat further from Teyvat’s waters, dark clouds and deep rumbles glide over blue skies, with a promise of a raging thunderstorm should they venture any further.
The former archons never verbally express their reluctance to let the traveler go, but the constant lingering of their elements when they attempt to leave says it all.
The traveler expresses this concern to their sibling.
The twin hums. “I don’t wish to stay here. I have suffered too much for five hundred years, and nothing I say or do will lead to reconciliation. I wish to continue forth, and I don’t want to leave you here; but if you wish to stay, I won’t force you to.”
Dread pools their gut. The thought of being separated from them again for a millennium is too much to bear.
Their twin pours two cups of osmanthus wine, and hands one over to the traveler.
They gaze warily at their sibling, and the ladder merely shrugs.
“We’re over a hundred years old. Cheers.”
They take a long sip, their mind already flooded with its familiar scent.
。。。
Archons have no home. Why should they? Their entire nation was built from their hands. They have anywhere they could choose from. Yet, after the Fall of Celestia, they have no royal palace or shrine to reside to. That is not saying that most archons haven’t already given up their status to go into hiding before this war; Barbatos follows wherever the wind may take him, and the Raiden Shogun now wanders aimlessly with a certain fox envoy.
But when their dear friend needs a reason to call for their aid, they appear as if they never left.
The traveler watches as rock pillars emerge from the ground and settle once Zhongli arrives. They watch as the wind tickles their hair as Venti floats down. They watch as Ei strikes thunder on the place she now stands to signal her own arrival.
The traveler has talked with all the other archons, and they all wished them farewell; but the three archons that refused to let go despite their words have yet to meet the traveler’s steady gaze.
“It’s been a while.”
And it has; the archons never settled to visit anyone on a timely basis, and so it never occurred to them to do so.
“How’s everyone?”
The archons lose themselves from the rambling about their beloved nation. Mondstadt has stayed relatively the same, and Zhongli’s Kamera invention has slowly started to spread popularity across Liyue, as well as other nations. Ei has also popularized dango milk, and is slowly, very slowly , getting better at cooking with the help of Lady Guuji and Tomoki.
The traveler loses themselves in their rambles as well, and thinks of the beautiful flourished nations.
It occurs to them they rarely speak with the absence of Paimon, and they should probably do so before they lose track of their goal of coming here.
As the archons quiet down, the traveler smiles. “I’ve found my twin, so… I have no more purpose here in Teyvat.”
The archons are shocked into heavier silence.
The traveler’s smile was oh so bittersweet.
“I understand if you don’t want to see me go. I don’t want to, either. Revisiting Mondstadt a few months back, reawakened an ache I haven’t felt in a long time ever since I traveled to Fontaine. I… forgot what it was like to come back here. But I am 500 years old, after all, so I’m not exactly the youngster you all expect me to be.” A harsh laugh rips from their throat.
“Who knows? Maybe the immortality seal that God cast upon me when banishing me here in the outskirts of Mondstadt won’t stay. Maybe I’ll age and die of old age the moment I step out of Teyvat. Maybe once I leave, I’ll never come back. I have had many fears that have plagued my dreams ever since I finally found my twin.
“ Every journey has it’s end. Don’t rush. That’s what you said to me, right Zhongli? Well… I tried. I tried to stretch this journey as long as possible, meeting so many new people and helping with so many new things. But it’s all over now… so what do I do?”
This has been the most words the traveler ever spoke.
A gloved hand startles them.
Zhongli looks at them earnestly. “The entirety of Teyvat owes you a favor for stepping into this world and fixing every nation’s problems. I will forever be indebted to you for what you did for Liyue Harbor. I’m sure many other archons are as well. So… if you are not in a rush to leave… please, stay, and watch the fruit of your labor come to life.”
“The wind has changed.” Venti says, plucking a few strings of his lyre. “And so has Teyvat. The breeze tells me of the great deeds you have done. Let the people cherish you and what you did, and relax as the savior of Teyvat itself.”
The traveler scrambles for an answer. “But I was doing all of this just to find my s-”
“Don’t be so modest.” Ei cuts through. “To do what you’ve done for every nation and not accept your reward? Completely unacceptable. You say you wish not to depart so soon, so be it. Enjoy the little things in life, and don’t waste them.”
The traveler shuts their mouth. They giggle, but regain composure when they meet the archon’s eyes again.
“So, one day… when I leave, will you stop me?”
The archons sit in silence, before Ei speaks up first.
“Eternity is a bubble that cannot be kept forever. There are things that will remain forever, but there are things that have to be accepted. Your departure will be… an ache one will have to learn to deal with. But to keep you is to keep a forever unchanging empty shell of what was once glory. It’s extremely selfish of me, and I’m sure your twin wouldn’t like it either.”
Zhongli removes his hand from the traveler’s shoulder. “Even the sturdiest of rocks will crumble due to erosion. I’ve learnt that myself when I watched Guizhong slip away from my arms. But there is beauty in learning to let go. Its process is painful to even mention, but a wound will always heal with time.”
Venti laughed. “You all are so melodramatic. I’m going to miss you, and I don’t want you to leave, I won’t lie. But… it’s okay if you move on and never come back. It’s going to be downright painful to bear at first, sure, but we’ll be okay. After all, we have nothing but time now.”
The traveler’s smile wavers, and he throws himself onto Venti. Venti blinks, but wraps his arms around the traveler’s waist like second nature.
When the traveler pulls away, Venti claps his hands together.
“Alright! Now who’s ready for a picnic?”
。。。
The traveler walks silently through Liyue Harbor, drinking in its sounds and scent of chop suey.
“You’re walking particularly slow.” Their twin comments, with Paimon trailing behind them, immersed in the food.
The traveler smiles. “Let me enjoy this last walk.” They say.
“Technically, this won’t be the last walk; we still have that place up in Qingyun Peaks to go to.”
“Shut up and let me enjoy my wallowing.”
。。。
When Xiangling tries to wake up the traveler in her home, she finds them missing, and Paimon sleeping soundly with tear tracks on her little face. She whimpers the traveler’s name in her sleep.
Some say the earthquakes rumbled twice as hard, the wind blew more fiercely, and the thunder surrounding Inazuma was thrown into a frenzy that day.
No one sees the traveler ever again.