Chapter Text
He awakes by suffocating himself.
Hands clamped tightly cover his mouth and nose, so desperate to not make a single noise that the black spots in his vision can be ignored with ease. Lightheaded, he flails in his hammock, drowning in the makeshift bed. Finally, after far too much roughhousing with fabric, he tumbles out into a heap on the sand below, sharply inhaling as his back hits the ground. His hands are still clasped over his mouth. He fears that if he were to remove them then the screams clogged in his voice box would come loose from his throat and wake his companions from their dreamy slumbers.
He allows himself a stuttering breath before staggering to his feet.
He had barely slept a wink since they arrived at the Golden Apple Archipelago. His sleep schedule was fucked beyond repair even before that, but at least when he was jolted awake, he’d be screaming into the wild, where no one but him had walked for months. Alone, he’d wrestle with his contracting lungs, forcing oxygen into his body all while choking on the carbon dioxide that he breathed back out. Paimon was his lifesaver during those moments. She’d hug his head, count the breathing exercise Yae Miko taught them both out loud, and float up and down in time with his failed breathing until his head no longer swam with exhaustion.
If it wasn't evident yet, the almighty Traveler suffered horrifying night terrors the moment he closed his eyes. And, of course, they wouldn't stop their assault on his psyche simply because he was on vacation.
Presently, Traveler was falling over his feet trying to flee their encampment. Away. He needed to get away. Somewhere private, where he could spill the sobs in his throat and the tears in his eyes without anyone to hear. Sand was already filling his boots, and he longed for the ever-constant presence of his cape on his back, yet he had left it and the rest of his armor by his hammock, and he was far too cowardly to go back and retrieve them. His loose hair was getting in his mouth and sticking to the back of his neck with sweat. Disgusting.
With panic soon to overcome him, he closed his eyes and picked a random Teleport Waypoint, bracing himself for the nauseating feeling that would soon follow.
He just hoped none of his companions had picked up on his turmoil.
The Waypoint had brought him to the little island where the Fatui he befriended had set up camp. From what they had told him, they were going to explore the rest of the islands before their higher-ups picked them up, so currently it was completely deserted.
Completely deserted, save for an oddly familiar glowing mirror near the sea.
Inner panic somewhat forgotten, and the nightmare still fresh in his mind, Traveler cautiously approached the object. It was an item from his old home, the one he and his sister had raised themselves in at a young age. The Imperial Mirror was a magical device, one that could see into other worlds.
In fact, the Mirror was how he had met his twin sister. Although, it was not a very pleasant experience.
Shaking his head, the Traveler rid himself of that memory. It was a thing of the past, not to be dwelled on. A faint, tired smile tugged at his lips as he laid his hand on its reflective surface. What would his sister think, if she had stumbled upon the device here?
If only he could travel with her again, share all the wonders and horrors of the world with someone who oftentimes knew his own mind better than himself.
What he would give, to see her smiling face again.
At that wish, a hand snaked out of the mirror, seizing his wrist. The Traveler cried out in surprise, attempting to escape the hand, but its iron grip held strong.
Before he knew it, he was being pulled into an inescapable nightmare.