Chapter Text
The nation of Khaenri'ah was shown in its prime, people walking everywhere as the common folk lived their usual lives, none of them aware of the terrible turn fate was planning. Though, what neither they nor the more highly ranked members of this Godless nation noticed was a single seed floating toward the center of their nation. It phased through the land above, and through any machine, building, or person that intersected with its path of descent.
Once this mere seedling sunk into the ground, a network of translucent roots spread across the land. Reaching in every possible direction until they latched onto the Leylines of every corner that made up Teyvat. Having successfully interlocked with every inch of the world, a single voice spoke with none to hear as if both it and the seed in question didn't truly exist.
"Link Successful, begin Simulation: No. 1"
The sounds of a clock ticking made itself known, starting slow before expediting in speed until the ticks were happening at a speed exceeding any named units of measurement. Terrified screams broke out across the nation as implosions of darkness surged out from all over. This was the terrible tragedy fate would soon bring to Khaenri'ah... the Cataclysm that would devour the whole nation and leave only its name to the annals of history.
Though, this disaster to be was not the focus of this simulation.
Years flew by until 500 had passed since the tragedy, and the scene stopped over Mondstadt. The peaceful nation of Freedom that showed no present worries... until suddenly, the frozen mountains of Dragonspine shattered, signaling a massive roar as a dark scaled Dragon rose from what was originally just a broken skeleton on the mountain. The Dragon spread its wings, taking flight as it flew toward the Land of Anemo, and unleashed a corrosive substance from its mouth.
In mere seconds, screams followed as the Abyss took root in the city, monstrous mimics forming from the corrupted masses as they solidified their strongholds. The Knights of Favonius quickly rose up and took arms against the sudden threat, but the world itself glitched as the ticking of the clock soon exceeded all the noise born from the chaos.
Only fire and ruin were left, not even corpses were seen.
"Failure... begin Simulation: No. 2"
Osial and Beisht, both emitting the dark mist of the Abyss from their scales, were seen standing below the stormy skies covering Liyue Harbor as they combined their power. Zhongli rose up, in spite of no longer having the power he once did, and unleashed a series of stone spikes not unlike those that became the Guyun Stone Forest towards the two.
In Spite of this, the volley of Osial's attack that once crippled the Jade Chamber's artillery of Guizhong Ballista was currently empowered by that of the Abyss and the tsunami his wife just created, leading to Zhongli's attack failing to overcome the watery assault.
Shortly after, all that was heard were screams as Liyue Harbor was drowned under the water, with even miles of the surrounding land above the mountains being soaked in the same despair.
"Failure... begin Simulation: No. 87"
The mass of land which made every island in what was Inazuma's archipelago suddenly broke without warning, causing the entire nation to sink as much of its land did when the Eternal Moon met its end. Ei's polearm was shown floating over the water as the sole remnant of its now completely silenced history.
In spite of this nation having chosen to take a path following the Eternity closest to the Heavenly Principles, it itself... failed to become eternal.
"Failure... begin Simulation: No. 385"
Sumeru's fauna started to tremble, wheezing out in various sickly manners before falling down, dead as the plant life that was being snuffed away as the Withering began to spread to the lands past the Nation of Dendro's borders. Even Apep's adaptable form laid lifeless against the land that surrounded the Eternal Oasis, which was no longer frozen in time.
"Failure... begin Simulation: No. 12,729"
Furina sat unmoving on her throne, showing no signs of life as she was surrounded by the water of her decaying nation, nor seeing the All-Devouring Narwhal as it swam by, bashing its tail into the sunken land in hopes of spreading more of the Primordial Sea onto the rest of the landmass its evolving hunger wished to devour.
"Failure... begin Simulation: No. 92,836"
All of Natlan's people, confused and unsure of what was happening because of the aftermath of Capitano's plan, did nothing as Gosoythoth's spread of the Abyss continued without any interruptions due to the sudden encroachment spreading in from the Nations that didn't have its unique protection.
"Failure... begin Simulation: No. 1,073,824"
Frigid winds began to smack the land of Nod Krai and Snezhnaya as the Frost Moon was pulled towards the surface and smashed through Teyvat's fake sky, slamming onto the ground and igniting a powerful explosion that mixed with the cold. The result was a huge and powerful Melt Reaction that would never be matched in its sheer destruction.
"Failure... begin Simulation: No. 55,033,633"
Teyvat, as it appeared from beyond the fake sky was seen for just a moment, and then... the planet suddenly exploded without warning.
"Failure... begin Simulation: No-"
Various scenes were shown over and over, only revealing different shots of Teyvat being harmed, ruined, or destroyed in some manner with the only changing constant in them being who, what, and why the scene shown ended the way it did.
"Failure..."
Asmoday was shown having betrayed her sisters, siding with a newer, non-Heavenly Principle affiliated master she had grown to love more than her own self.
"Failure...!"
Rhinedottir placed the Heart of Naberius in her mouth, making a smile as she swallowed it, merging with the Shade of Life as she took the new body's agency.
"FAILURE...!"
Two blonde-haired warriors, one female with short hair in a white dress and one male with a long braid in black, both froze in place as they stabbed through the other with their swords as the unending field of white flowers suddenly turned red with their blood...
"Simulated Future terminated, Simulation No. 999,999,999..."
"FAILURE!"
Glitching overlapped this scene, shaking all visual perceptions of it until everything shifted to a seemingly infinite field of grass and a single dying tree that stood under a lifeless sky. Such a sight caused pure rage and annoyance to fill the face of Asmoday as she witnessed the reality within the cube she was holding become the failure just one shy of a billionth.
"Taking that route this time? Almost feels like this result was just mocking us..." She stated as she lazily tossed it towards the ground. "Ronova!"
A heeled shoe struck the cube and the entire space within, with the sky above turning red as a sign of her arrival. A mass of souls surged out as a disappointed, yet expected Ronova descended in front of her sister.
"Once again... a day without these timeline simulations yielding any results." Ronova said in an almost tired tone. "Naberius, I'm almost afraid to expect otherwise, but-"
"Hold your disappointment back for a little longer, I may have...
Naberius' eyes squinted for a moment, making her generate her glasses with a snap of her fingers to try and get a good look at the odd simulated soul... before snapping again and dispelling them as a look of betrayal filled her face.
"Scratch that, take double the disappointment. Data mutation..." She said, throwing the mutated soul onto the ground.
Asmoday clicked her teeth in reply, turning her head to look the other way as Ronova let out a sigh and held up her hand.
"Then it seems... this sub-space is no longer needed."
Her hand glowed with her authority as the space was consumed, culled into nothingness before the trio made their reappearance in their meeting room somewhere in Celestia's white walls. Though, as they arrived, all of them noticed the absence of the usual fourth face in the room.
"Still nothing... I see."
All three briefly turned their heads at the sound of Istaroth's bare feet falling against her set of stairs.
"Remind me again, all I added in this timeline was Lumine's missing history, was it not?" Istaroth asked.
"You ask all that with a smile..." Asmoday scowled.
"With a smile, you say?" Istaroth mellowly repeated.
As she finally had her face revealed by the light of the room's central pillar, the tired and fatigued look on the Shade of Time's face indeed showed a smile, however...
"Is it truly smiling if even I can't recall when I began trying to keep a face, and hope to see this to a success?" She inquired, "I might have given up long ago had I not."
Letting out a sigh, Asmoday turned her head.
"Maybe make it less convincing then. Even I'm starting to forget it's just a mask." She stated, a slight seething mixed in.
"Hey, all of us are stressed out." Naberius warned, "Though I guess seeing that timeline messed with you."
"Like the one that ended with you getting devoured?" Asmoday retorted, near intentionally choosing such poor phrasing.
"Will all of you stop squabbling like children?"
All three tensed up as they heard Ronova's response, who barely shifted her expression even an inch while making it.
"At least all of your problems are merely hypotheticals, we all know exactly why..." She continued, pausing to hug herself. "We have such inflexible results, when the rules are in the way."
Her sisters went silent, still unable to forget how Ronova was punished for her deal with Xbalanque and the invisible scars it left on them.
"My apologies, as painful as it was to weaponize that, time is running out." She continued as she closed her eyes. "Their arrival is nearing."
Aether and Lumine, the twins who were called to this world through a summon by Khaenri'ah. Every simulation they had gone through took place with them in mind because their arrival marked the Era of the 4th Descender influencing Teyvat's future. For some reason they couldn't explain, each of them could hold this title with equal chance, and yet the moment one was summoned? They somehow became incapable of retaining this status, and temporarily lost their memories in the process.
That left the summoned twin to become the nation's new heir and eventually become leader of the Abyss Order once Chlothar silenced the Curse of Immortality that Ronova would be ordered to place on all the nation's people, even if they were innocent of any crimes. Making it worse was that Istaroth would have to project a memory of the future so they wouldn't be in Khaenri'ah when the Cataclysm began, then repeat it for their sibling when they arrive at the Natlan 500 years in the future.
Asmoday also had to intercept the two when they were trying to escape, earning their ire because she had no way to explain what she was doing. She could only get away with what she could there as there was a vague enough loophole for them to exploit that the current throne of the Heavens wouldn't suspect with everything that was going on and would when the Fatui began to get their attention not long before they fell into their current slumber... which would end right as things went awry.
"Hmm?" Asmoday shuddered as she saw Istaroth's face. "That... was not what I meant when I said to make it less convincing."
Istaroth gave a look of silent confusion, catching the implication a later as suddenly brushed her fingers across her mouth.
"Ah..."
She had dropped the false smile she had been wearing, with full awareness of why it finally fell as Ronova felt a knot in her throat.
"Istaroth... how many more simulations can we make before they arrive?" Ronova asked after forcing the knot down her stomach.
Istaroth tried to say it, but her voice faltered, so instead?
She slowly raised the hand that confirmed her false smile had vanished, clenching her fingers as only one stayed outstretched before her sisters.
"Just one!?" Naberius said as panic snuck into her voice.
"So, unless this simulation actually achieves what all the ones before it couldn't..." Asmoday realized as her eyes squinted a little.
Istaroth closed her eyes and nodded.
"It will only tell us another outcome that won't change anything, and at this point?" She replied as she sat down, draping her arms around her knees. "Maybe fate itself has already won and only let us do this to laugh at our desperation."
"We are Shades, shadows of the Heavenly Principles..." Ronova said as she lowered her head. "And yet we failed to protect anything, all because we couldn't fight against the second throne's shackles."
Asmoday clenched her left hand, hating she had no way to retort against her despairing sisters' words. The fact a timeline had her betray them was enough to prove just how strong fate seemed to be in preserving the set outcome it set.
"What else can we try? What could exceed the potential of a will that can rival a world!?" Asmoday asked herself.
Naberius suddenly felt her eyes widen as she heard that.
"Asmoday... Istaroth... Ronova..." She asked moments after. "Remind me again, I never had any direct influence on the Traveler twins like you all have, correct?"
That caught their attention for a moment.
"Asmoday separates the two... Ronova plays an indirect influence with the twin who ends up joining the Abyss Order... and I manifest that memory that masquerades as a time loop..." Istaroth said as she recalled everything. "No, you don't. I hadn't even considered that before now."
"Not like some big ideas didn't show up until later." Asmoday remarked. "The most recent simulation being one such example."
"Then I may have an idea, if you don't mind using up that last simulation on it." Naberius offered with a hopeful smile on her face.
Istaroth could tell that Naberius looked confident about this one.
"No one else has any ideas, do they?" She inquired, already knowing she didn't.
Ronova shook her head, while Asmoday paused before shrugging her hand.
"Alright then, what is it?" Istaroth asked.
"Well, what Asmoday just said made me wonder... what if we sabotage the summoning so that while the twins still arrive in Khaenri'ah?" She began. "We take a page from Focalors' book. Even if they don't actually get summoned directly, do you think anyone will consider otherwise if they happen to conveniently arrive at the same time they attempt one?"
Each of the Shades felt their expressions widen in response, Ronova's being the most surprising due to how emotionally stifled her punishment had left her.
"Did I just hear you suggest that the change this time is..." Ronova questioned. "For us to have two Descenders influence everything, that it won't just be the twin who becomes the Traveler that affects the overall outcome?"
"That definitely still falls under the rules, but... isn't that idea a little too much?" Asmoday said as she tripped over her words. "I already thought that Istaroth preserving Lumine's memories in the last simulation was stretching things, to a point how it ended still makes me feel that's the case. We have no idea how that will affect the twin who becomes the Abyss Order's leader!"
"Unless..." Istaroth paused as she put a finger near her mouth. "They were never separated?"
The Shades went quiet as Istaroth's extension to Naberius' idea dangled above them, tensions becoming so thick that one could slice it with a knife. Asmoday looked like she wanted to say something but failed to find the words. Naberius felt like she was a step away from her eyes shining over the idea. Ronova felt her usually closed mouth opening ever slightly, seemingly feeling a hope she dared not to dream of.
"I do not see any alternative suggestions..." Ronova almost struggled to say. "Istaroth, let us see this possibility."
Istaroth nodded at her permission, with Asmoday already making a cube and Naberius readying simulated souls.
"Link Successful... begin Simulation: No. 1,000,000,000"
Istaroth felt her eyes glow as she strung together the history Naberius and her had just created into the narrative that tomorrow would bring into reality and, after some time within the period 500 years after the Cataclysm... her eyes stopped glowing as they widened.
"What happened?" Asmoday nervously asked. "Did things actually get worse than they did before!?"
"The simulation... I didn't see the end." Istaroth suddenly revealed.
"You didn't see the results!?" Naberius asked in disbelief. "But you've always seen-"
She blanched and looked up.
"Did they notice!?" Naberius panicked as her body started shaking.
Ronova started to sweat, stiffening as her mind expected the pain.
"I told you we-!" Asmoday screamed.
"No, if they had noticed then they wouldn't give us such forewarning." Istaroth said as she narrowed her eyes at the cube in her hands, almost... excited. "This is something else."
She looked at her sisters, seeing them all still expecting a punishment to befall them at any moment.
"To me, this feels more like..." She continued. "My eyes just witnessed fate itself beginning to unravel!"
And with that, the other Shades' shaking ceased.
"Fate unravel-?" Naberius said before her eyes widened. "So, you can't see the end at all, and yet... maybe that's the proof this idea could do it!?"
"How can we say that for certain?" Asmoday said, showing doubt on her face. "That can mean things could still go bad, if not end up even worse."
Ronova stayed silent.
"I won't refute that worry, Asmoday, and yet... this may be the kind of change we need, gamble or not." Istaroth replied. "So, let's take it to a vote."
This was the moment.
"The idea did start from me, so I'm voting in favor of it." Naberius said with a confident look.
"There's no way I'm agreeing with this, I vote against it all the way." Asmoday said with certainty.
After her vote, everyone looked at Ronova.
"I vote..." Ronova began, looking uncertain.
She thought to when they last voted, and how her decision then had been to withdraw her vote since she felt it was both good yet bad to prevent Lumine's amnesia. While Naberius had been right that this influenced how strong her ties to Khaenri'ah were, Asmoday had felt they would still influence Lumine negatively once she learned of the truth among other things during her journey with Dainsleif, a worry that had been proven right.
Even so, something in her gut was stirring over this. Taking her punishment over aiding Natlan into account... she should vote against this. The gamble may be too risky, and it could lead to dooming all of Teyvat even more than in some of the timelines where the planet exploded as they at least had a few survivors who could hopefully find a new world despite Istaroth couldn't see that far ahead. Even so, she...
"I vote in favor of this idea."
Her sisters all stared at her with their own forms of shock, seemingly questioning if it was really her.
"Those reactions don't surprise me. Trust me, I know that this is something I'd normally reject, but..."
She closed her eyes.
"Once... for just once, I want to have faith!" Ronova confessed.
"Ronova..." Asmoday softly said to herself, looking at her eyes.
She let out a sigh.
"Well, we don't know who among us is gonna make it if things go south, so... I guess we all might as well take this gamble if you all feel this confident about it." She relented.
"I guess now we ask the important question." Naberius said, struggling not to smile at those words. "How do the twins end up on Teyvat without the actual summon involved?"
"I think that you'll like this, Naberius." Istaroth smiled. "Considering how unusually simple it will be."
Ronova and Asmoday watched Naberius' mouth curl up in a way it only did when she got... creative.
Unfortunately, right when Aether and Lumine landed... a trio of three reddish-black stars suddenly manifested, catching the two off-guard.
"Outlanders!" Asmoday exclaimed, "Your journey ends here!"
Manifesting through her authority over space, the twins immediately felt a sense of danger, knowing how dangerous such an ability had been from prior encounters on their journey across the stars.
"Who are you!?" Lumine demanded.
"The arrogation of mankind ends now!" She declared, ignoring Lumine and refusing to claim she was a Sustainer.
Seriously, why did her simulated selves always say that? Was that Istaroth's idea for some kind of tasteless joke?
'Work now, think later.' She reminded herself.
Raising her hand, the ground underneath the twins rose up and they manifested their wings and sword, shooting towards her as they prepared to fight. Though to call it a fight meant little when she simply sent a string of cubes to restrict their movement until she had them in position, and when they moved to take a simultaneous strike against her...
She raised her hands, blocking both of their swords before her cubes suddenly swallowed them up, prompting both of them to immediately fly away from her. That would have normally been smart as one the twins always did this in Istaroth's nearly billion simulations, since the sibling who failed to do so was captured by her as a result, but because the intention was different this time... both twins ended up backing into another set of cubes which did the same to their wings.
"Huh?" Both said in realization.
Unlike their swords? Said wings were completely attached, dealing the finishing blow to their fight as they were immediately swallowed up by prisons made from said cubes expanding.
"Aether!" Lumine screamed as she reached out to him in vain.
"Lumine!" He screamed back, being fully swallowed right after.
Having completed her task, Asmoday pulled both of their cubes towards her and took a moment to confirm if their gamble had worked.
"No doubts about it." She stated as she glanced behind her. "Both of the twins are still Descenders this time, the only question now is..."
"They fell asleep, as has happened in every simulation."
She turned around to see the sight of Istaroth in her hourglass form, floating in place to see and hear everything.
"Awful as it is for the Cataclysm to occur at all? The fact it puts them to sleep makes this a necessary tragedy..."
Asmoday closed her eyes as her answer.
"Is Naberius ready on her end?" She asked after opening her eyes a moment later.
"She is, it's time." Istaroth confirmed. "Aether, Lumine... we're counting on you."
She opened up a portal.
"You two better prove that this choice was the right one, or I'll make you regret it." Asmoday whispered to the cubes.
She tossed both into the portal, making the world glitch around them as a mere moment became 500 years to them.
Good luck, Travelers." She whispered again.
"AaaaAaah...!!!" A distorted voice screamed.
A Khaenri'ah citizen who was on the surface stumbled as the Curse of the Wilderness took hold, hair already forming on them as their transformation into a Hilichurl began. Their voice, so distorted by the change that their gender was currently unclear, continued to release their now feral sounding screams as it seemed like their fate was sealed... only for the pain to cease as they felt something being placed on their finger, fighting against the Hilichurl transformation to some degree.
They took a moment to breathe, barfing out some spit that had collected in their mouth before looking up to see someone as they gave a look of worry, wondering if the object they placed on them had done what they hoped it would. They didn't recognize their form, but they looked to be a young man with short blonde hair and currently wearing armor the same black and blue shades as the source linked to the horrible disasters which were plaguing the entirety of Teyvat right now.
"Are you OK?" He asked.
"I... think so... it is... still a struggle..." They said, showing no recovery of their prior voice.
They looked at their hand, horrified to see their half-mutated form was still stuck as it was.
"My... my body is... it's-!" They cried.
"Try to calm yourself, you may look like this now, but the ring I've given you has the power to restore your form. It just needs time to settle in completely." He reassured her. "I had mine on before this all started, and I was left incapacitated from my own curse."
"What... what's going... on?" They asked the blonde man.
Said blonde didn't respond at first, merely closing their eyes as if hoping he could understand if he stopped to think about it.
"I don't know, but... maybe we can find out together." He answered, offering a hand to them. "Dainsleif, what is your name?"
"My name is... Direidyth."
He definitely didn't know of anyone with a similar level of importance as his brother or the other four who had just recently, at least in his eyes if any other potential survivors hadn't caught word of it by now, become the greatest Sinners of Khaenri'ah with such a name. That was a good thing. With the fall of King Irmin and no sign of the nation's should have been savior, such a lack of fame meant that the person before him would be all the more trustworthy as a partner and ally.
"So... how do we learn... what happened?" Direidyth asked, a feminine sound slowly forming in their voice and revealing they were a girl.
"The Gods are responsible for this tragedy, so we must find the answers among the shadows of the nations they watch." Dainsleif stated.
Direidyth paused for a moment, thinking about-
"Then... I guess I'll let you... lead the way, if you... know where we should... start." She decided, doubting her own ability to decide as a result of that recent thought.
As the two began to plan their journey? An eye gazed at them from an unknown location.
"Fate has a different plan in mind for you... dear younger brother." A masculine voice said.