Chapter Text
The boat swayed gently as waves crashed against its sides. The Crux tore through the water, although not much effort was needed. The waters were calm, the crew of the ship talked amongst themselves quietly. The Traveler was overlooking the water, Paimon floating beside them.
The duo had set off to Inazuma, and the past 2 days have been spent anxiously theorizing what awaited them in the isolated nation. Zhongli’s warnings of Inazuma stayed fresh in the Traveler’s mind. Paimon, as per usual, tried to lighten the mood. Making jokes, fantasizing about food, and making fun of any noticeable features that they knew of Inazuma. But all conversation didn’t last long before descending into an uncomfortable silence. Now, the Traveler didn’t even try to speak with the rest of the crew- or Paimon for that matter. They just sat in silence and watched the calm waves.
“Don’t you think we should ask Kazuha about Inazuma? We’ve been on this ship for daaaaaaays, we must be getting close to Inazuma by now.” Paimon said, in her usual exaggerated manner.
“I’ll ask Kazuha later.” Only, the Traveler didn’t know when later was going to be. They had been avoiding speaking to Kazuha after watching his face turn a deadly shade of pale at the mention of going to Inazuma. After Beidou agreed to take the Traveler to the border of Inazuma’s mists, Kazuha looked like every second spent on the ship was hurting him.
Beidou had refused to take the Traveler all the way to Inazuman harbors, and only let the Traveler catch a ride to the edge of the mists. Even Beidou, who was usually cocky and confident, seemed to be at unease when dealing with Inazuma. In fact, the whole crew was ill at ease the entire trip. A calm before the storm was as fitting a phrase for Inazuma as any phrase that existed. The seas were calm, the crew was quiet, and… it seemed Beidou was making her way to the Traveler.
“Hey, kid! Just wanted to let ya know that we have about a day left ‘till we get to the mists. Should be there by tomorrow.” Beidou exclaimed as she made her way to the Traveler.
“Well, it's about time! Paimon was getting bored with only the sea to look at.”
“Also! We’ll be havin’ dinner after sunset so feel free to stop by and get some shlop to stuff in your face.” Beidou called over her shoulder as she walked to wherever she needed to be.
It seems the Traveler had to stop putting it off and talk to Kazuha. Dinner would be a good excuse to talk to the elusive wandering samurai. The Traveler turned back to watch the waves and wait till sunset.
As the sun started setting and the Crux was painted in various shades of red, gold, and orange- the crew gathered to eat. There were some hard crackers that looked like they were completely unpleasant to eat and some alcohol. Kazuha had swiftly gone to the table, grabbed a cracker, some water, before he disappeared up towards the crow's nest.
The Traveler made their way up to Kazuha, climbing the ropes and arriving at the top of the mast. Kazuha stood there alone, munching on a stale biscuit, his eyes stayed fixed on the Traveler, however. Perhaps it was shadows, the setting sun, or the Traveler’s eyes playing tricks on them- but at that moment where the two locked eyes, an indescribable emotion passed between the two. Kazuha looked so tired, sad, and afraid. His gaze was filled with worry- he was not worried for himself, he was worried for the Traveler.
Paimon interrupted the silent connection with her loud greeting, “ Hey, Kazuha! Hope we weren’t interrupting anything.” Kazuha seemed to snap out of his trance, jumping a bit before looking at Paimon with a sheepish smile.
“Of course, you didn’t interrupt Paimon. What can I do for you?” Kazuha- obviously- already knew what he could do for Paimon and the Traveler. But no one could blame him for stalling. The Traveler sympathized with his reluctance to talk about his old home.
“Can you tell us a bit about what to expect in Inazuma? Just some stuff that we should watch out for, or pay attention to.” The Traveler spoke in a low voice, it seemed appropriate. This was their last night before heading into Inazuma, and loud obnoxious interrogations didn’t feel like the best way to say goodbye to the ocean and everything beyond Inazuma’s mists.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t have said that.” Kazuha let out a sigh before he looked away. It seemed there was going to be no more eye contact. “ It’s going to seem perfectly normal, in the beginning, just like every other town, nation, or village. It's all illusions, deceptions made by an Archon who decided that she would force her preferred reality into existence.”
“I don’t know why you decided to venture to Inazuma, nor do I know why you want to meet with the Raiden Shogun herself- but you cannot negotiate with her. It would be foolish to try. She sees you as a puny mortal,” Kazuha let out a chuckle that seemed in its nature all too sad, “ She won't listen to anything you have to say, an Archon has no business living amongst its subjects, in her eyes.”
“Well, Paimon will force the Electro Archon to listen to us! The Traveler has beaten a whole DRAGON before, the Raiden Shogun must listen to us once she finds out who we are.” Kazuha only shook his head and laughed. A puff of breath vapor left his mouth. It was growing cold.
“I had a friend like you once. He also thought that regular people can measure up to the likes of a god. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. We are just people, regardless of visions, strengths, powers, or anything else- we all live and die. Those are the things that never change. The passage of time and all its changes- growing old, having dreams, goals, aspirations, before finally laying them to rest.”
Paimon frowned, Kazuha just jumped a lot of heavy subjects and made the whole conversation even heavier than it was before.
“There isn’t any way we can get the Shogun to listen to us? Maybe some high-ranking subjects? A scheduled meeting? Does she hold speeches or anything out in public? Anything you can think of can help.” The Traveler didn’t want to fight an Archon, especially one that has everyone so spooked.
Kazuha shook his head before he held out another biscuit to the Traveler. “You should eat as much as possible now, there’s no guarantee the citizens of Inazuma will be as hospitable as I remember.” A cold feeling had settled into the Traveler’s chest, anxiety at what was to come. They had no idea what to expect in Inazuma- except bad things if Kazuha and Zhongli were right.
“Get some rest for tomorrow, goodnight.” Kazuha leaped off the mast, shooting himself upwards a few feet before he hit the deck. He disappeared into the crew’s quarters.
“ I got a bad feeling about this….” Paimon spoke quietly, which is how the Traveler knew they didn’t have anything good happening up ahead.
“ Let’s go to sleep, we need to save our energy for tomorrow. Who knows, maybe Inazuma might have some awesome foods for you to eat.” The Traveler’s attempt at a joke failed to lighten the tension. The duo retreated below deck, in an attempt to get some rest.
But the Traveler knew they weren’t going to get a wink of sleep tonight.