Chapter Text
Their small group found themselves running forwards, tensions high as they looked towards the center of the vast city that was once Fontaine. Even as their heads turned to make sure their new enemy-turned-friend followed behind, her ring of radiant spears floating high above her, their minds drifted on one thing.
One thing they were about to encounter.
Clank, clank, clank. The rhythmic beat of organized, disciplined footsteps and metallic clanking was one Lumine had heard before. Zhongli grit his teeth, sending a large Seele to smash against the force in front of them in an unusually hasty move. "No time for this."
"Stop! Don't act so quick, Zhongli!" She shouted. With those words, the group ground to a halt as Lumine bit her lip in frustration. Great. Just what she needed to fight so soon. Her eyes narrowed, her body tensing, an action not unnoticed by any. Yae's head turned, surprise on her face.
"What's with you? You look upset. We've taken on more armies like this before, Lumine. Surely they should be easy to fight for you." Lumine clicked her teeth together. Frustration began setting in. The appearance of these soldiers were far different from the ones they had fought before. Well-organized, disciplined. Boasting heavy armor. Powerful, steel shields. The orange and red sashes that adorned their arms.
Their ranks were highly mixed between horned humans that stood taller, toting heavier blades and claws and staves, other armored humans boasting technology she has seen before, and other wielding various weapons from other worlds. But that insignia. It was an insignia she burned into her mind, to remind her of her brother even if they were separated.
These were his troops. It didn't make sense, but these were his troops. And judging from their appearance, they had only grown stronger since she had last seen them, thousands of years ago.
"To you, Lumine. Thousands of years, passed. For them, only five." At their head, stood their resistance.
"Brother."
Even without his helm on, she could see barely see his serious face, ready to clash against her once more. By his side stood his most loyal troops, his Captains, his shieldguards, his demon warriors. All of them stood to oppose them, and only them.
Lumine knew immediately there was no way they were getting past this point. Not unless a miracle happened. But what really made her blood boil was the audacity he had to dare stand in front of them, as if his betrayal meant nothing to him.
"How dare you." She growled out lowly. Aether tilted his head, empty, crimson eyes glaring into her brilliantly shining golden.
"And I could say, the same to you, sister. How dare you." His voice was calm, broken as usual, but calm. There was no anger, rage. Only simplistic conversation was made between them.
"How could you betray us, Aether? After all we've done for you?" Yae grit her teeth, raising her voice slowly as she let her frustrations out. There was no use being teasing here. Not on such a battlefield.
Aether's eyes closed, the general taking his time to think. When he opened them again, his voice was raised. "They gave me, my army back. The men I fought with. My troops, my warriors. My brothers and sisters in arms. They said, they could bring my army back."
Zhongli raised his voice, crossing his arms as 2 Stone Seeles hovered around him. "And look where that got you, Aether! Now, you betray us, you stand on the opposite side of the battlefield! You're fighting for the wrong reasons! You should be helping us stop the Tsaritsa, not joining her army! She's going to destroy Teyvat at this rate!"
Their continued barrage of verbal assault did not stop, even as he gave his men the order to retreat deeper within the city. "Stand down. I will have the Blades deal with this. To see if they should, go against us."
From the depths of his ranks, crimson glowed from underneath the slits of a mask, multiple tubes aligning into the helmet.
"For the dominion of the General."
Lumine bared her teeth when she saw his men retreating, never letting their guard down. She warned her new-found allies to do the same, readying her spears at her brother. "Tell me brother, was it all worth it?"
Yae bared her teeth. "Yes, Aether, was it worth working under a madwoman and her hopelessly-devout soldiers? Betraying me, regaining your army? She's mad, Aether. And you let her seduce you."
The clanking of the soldiers echoed away, their armor fading from sight. Aether did not bother with a response, only readying his halberd and shield up, the bloody-red sign of the Fatui emblazoned onto his shield.
"...I know this."
Everyone froze. Lumine blinked. "What?"
"I said, I know this. I know this, better than you think. Lumine, I know, what it is like, working under a madman."
The comment only made her angrier, letting her spears sunder the ground in front of Aether. "Then explain, goddamn you! Tell me why you would willingly work under such a fucking insane bitch! If you were on our side, we would have won this damn war by now! But then you go and defect! You tore Yae apart for months, Aether! You slaughtered her heart, all of ours! And now you come back like this! What happened to the brother who-"
"I've had enough." The chilling words silenced all. His eyes narrowed, but not with hatred in them. All that she saw was exhaustion, and suffering.
"I know this, Lumine. I know this, Yae. But, explain to me one thing." Yae rolled her eyes.
"Explain what?"
He planted his shield firmly into the ground, slamming his halberd right next to it. He folded his arms under the broken, mechanical cooler on his chest. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
"Again. This happens, again. Even with their, enhancements. It is like, the infection from our older worlds." His eyes opened slightly, regret in the red orbs of sorrow as he sighed.
"They will suffer, and die, for their leader. They are fanatical, to such a fault."
He watched as his sister recalled her spears, letting them hover around her again. "I know, this. But what, can I do for them? How do I tell these innocent souls, their beloved Tsaritsa, the Cryo Archon, empowered with all the Gnosis... How do I tell them, such a woman is mad, raw with power? She is a traitor? How do I tell them she is wrong now, but once right? How do I say, that the Archon you love and worship, who you follow, must now die?"
"I was, given a choice. Have my army returned to me, the one thing I truly missed over anything except, you, Lumine. Or abandon them, watch as she slaughtered them."
Yae flinched. If he chose her over his army... all of them would die? Yae internally cringed at the prospect of such a cruel choice. "Il Dottore is such, a madman. But his inventions, they work wonderfully."
"The only reason, I fight with the Fatui, is to fight with my men. I owe, the Tsaritsa that much. But now, I feel regret. But, my men swore loyalty, to her, in exchange to sparing her lives. Now, I fight with them. I will not, abandon them. Like I did before." Zhongli bit his lip. In the end, it was merely a contract. He vaguely wondered if this is what Aether felt back when he made the contract with the Tsaritsa.
"I understand, Aether. You are merely fulfilling your obligations in your contract." Aether nodded his head.
"Correct."
"But is your army bound to it?"
"To an extent. The contract, specifically states, my army is loyal to me. I am merely, repaying a debt to the Tsaritsa." Zhongli grunted, an unnatural action for someone like him.
"You valued loyalty, yet here you are, betraying people."
"It is hypocrisy. I know this. But I will do what I must, for my men's safety."
Zhongli knew him. He was planning something. "You're going to break your contract, aren't you?"
Aether did not reply yet. He hesitated. A rarity for someone like him. "...I will do what I must, to survive with my men."
Zhongli did not abide to those who broke contracts. But what the Wendigo was planning did pique his curiosity. "Explain."
Aether grunted. "Her people, they are divided between me, and her. Dissenters amongst, her ranks. Some only follow her, out of respect for me. They follow me instead. But again, I fight, for my men. I have, my own ideals to fight for. I tire, of killing. The Tsaritsa, wants to destroy Teyvat. She has changed. She wanted to challenge Celestia. I agreed with her there. I will pursue that ideal."
Aether's gaze narrowed. "I will, challenge Celestia. I will bring, Celestia, to its knees. I will slaughter, those who stand in my way. I will let, Fate decide for once, who shall continue."
He pointed his halberd at them, challenging them. "If you kill me, then Fate favors you. You go ahead. You kill the Tsaritsa. If Fate chooses me, then I kill you all. I will slaughter, the Tsaritsa, and her troops. I will hunt down every god of Celestia. I will bring them to their knees."
There was no mercy in his eyes. But he did not advance, not yet.
"But we must see, if you are strong enough to reach me. Take them down. If fate fortunes you, then you will win."
With those words, he walked away, leaving only 5 figures in his wake. Each one looked the same, with a terrifying gas mask over their entire head, six slits for eye holes, and countless tubes protruded from each one. A bloodied sword swung at their hip.
"...Surrender. Your deaths will be swift and painless if you leave." Horrific hissing emanated between sentences, as if amplifying their assault.
Zhongli did not want to run a risk of defeat. Withdrawing his Seeles, he brought his famed spear, the Vortex Vanquisher in a heartbeat. His eyes narrowed. Lumine held up a hand.
"Be careful. These are elites on par with his Captains. Each one is strong enough to take on entire companies and survive victorious." She readied her spears, the bright light shining over the battlefield. Yae readied her Gohei, the catalyst by her side shining brightly as it begged to release the Electro energy building up.
They were some of the most terrifying forces in his army, on par with his Captains, answering directly to him and him alone. In his army, they were known only as horrifying liches with no mercy, only the act of spreading his domain. Each one alone slaughtered entire companies of even some of the most well-trained men.
They ravaged the monsters of crystal, the golden light warriors of empires far gone. Their blades did not shy from peasant, royals, nobles, kings, gods. They safeguarded glory from the dusts of rebellion. Each is like an army, every Blade as a dominion.
Defeat was never a possibility for them. And here, they outnumbered their team.
Or they would have, had the Raiden Shogun and Barbatos himself arrived, ready to fight. "We've received your request, Yae. We have more on their way, but it's a small force of the Knights and two members of the Qixing. It should be enough."
Ei's voice was kind towards her friend, but she swapped personalities in a heartbeat upon seeing hostiles. "Who are they?"
Lumine bit her lip. Even these men would give her trouble. Aether trained them well. "They're the General's Blades. Fearsome spectres, monsters on the battlefield, trained directly by Aether himself. They don't fear anything."
Venti glared at them. "Well, we'll give them a reason to fear us, then." In a heartbeat, he was cheerful again.
"Yoohoo! You all should run~! We're three Archons and a powerful Goddess! You should run back to your General! You'll be stronger there, with him, right?"
The Blades did not speak. All that happened was the slow hissing, until the middle one stepped forward. The eyes in the mask glowed brightly.
"We do not need to be by the General to take you on."
Venti laughed. "Sure, sure! But you really should be careful of who you're fighting, right?"
Hissing. Ei slapped the back of the Anemo Archon's head. Zhongli did the same.
"Idiot. Lumine already said they're dangerous enough. We shouldn't underestimate them."
Venti's face hardened up. Lumine growled. "They could give me a lot of trouble. This isn't good. There's five of them here, too..."
She readied her spears, razing the earth beneath their feet, even as she noticed black snow falling around them. "This snow...?"
Hissing broke their trains of thoughts as the Blades moved closer. The black snow that snuffed the life out of the plantlife and animals around them, even made them feel a little weak.
"What is this snow?" Zhongli whispered towards Lumine. She growled.
"This is the snow that tells you that they're around. The black snow that consumes life and brings death." Lumine snarled, hurtling her spears around and smashing them in front of the Guards. None of them flinched, continuing their approach, calmly.
"Leave now. You are outnumbered, you are not on your territory, you are without your general's guidance, you are merely humans to a god, to the Archons. Your lives will die meaningless here if you continue this. Leave now, or let my sundering light rip you apart." Her voice was steely, deep, and powerful. It was commanding. Commanding must run in the family, Venti thought.
The hissing continued, but the Blades stopped. Lumine smirked, but it was quickly wiped off by their next words.
"The General's presence is not required. Our lives will never die meaningless so long as we serve the General. We do not fear death. You are nothing to us. Your threat is weak and empty. Wherever we stand, the earth beneath us belongs to the dominion of our General."
The lights of their masks grew bright, bright, brighter. It was the last sight many armies saw.
"Come unto your deaths."