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Destiny was a concept the Shogun's first puppet struggled to wrap his head around. A notion so abstract, something which no living being could ever truly grasp — and yet, it united Gods, mortals and fiends alike under the same veil of mystery. Did something such as fate even exist? They would argue so. Everything and everyone had their set place in Teyvat, a role to fulfill recorded Eons ago in the warmth of the stars up above. Perhaps a love letter from higher powers towards their very own creations. Or a cruel reminder that autonomy was nothing more than a foolish ideal.
For the puppet, fate had not been sealed up above, but in ink brushed upon utmost confidential records kept in the possession of none other but Her Eternal Excellency. He had no stars to overlook his journey. Even if the Electro Gnosis burnt just as bright, it scorched his chest. It cracked his delicate skin. It hurt. Tears would gather in the corners of his eyes night after night, smudging the carefully painted on red make-up. When he awoke again, he found himself away from his Creator and the promised heart to complete him.
Yet, as tears ran down the poor puppet's face once more, he was met with Teyvat's vast skies for the first time. Blue and purples hues colored the silent nights, speckled with millions of stars. But none of them shone for him. His fate, the purpose for which he was allowed to breathe in the same air humans and animals and monsters, was but words on paper. Even then, the gentle Moonlight graced his imperfect body and soothed his sorrows.
It was in that moment that a sparkle of curiosity ignited in his chest. Surely, out there in the sky, there must be a place for him too. His story could not be limited to scrolls, already crossed out and discarded.
And through the curious puppet's travels he came across a human settlement on one of Inazuma's many islands. Two wooden houses, filled to the brim with hard working men, from ones with gray hairs and long beards to ones with lanky frames and boyish, round faces such as himself. There, life began to spring and bloom in the chest of the discarded puppet, whom they named Kabukimono. They did not care for his golden joints or unusual markings. Instead, they invited him to eat fragrant dishes, all cooped up around an old wooden table; they taught him to wield a hammer, then a sword, then a pen. The hole in his chest, longing for a Gnosis, filled with a different kind of warmth. A newly-born star shyly cast its first rays upon the world.
To satisfy his thirst for knowledge, Kabukimono took to diligently reading every book gifted to him by his human friends, particularly his closest two, Katsugari and Niwa. While they worked, Kabukimono would often find himself captivated by the elaborate drawings and texts on all matters of subjects, from herbs, rocks and history to Inazuman customs and, of course, his beloved sky. He could not wait for dinner to come faster, when they would all gather in front of a Steaming Dry-Braised Salted Fish or a bowl of Unagi Chazuke, so he could tell them all about his new discoveries.
When night inevitably fell again, swallowing up their camp in darkness, Kabukimono retreated outside so as to not disturb the resting men and boys. With his trusty lamp, he sat on his favorite bench near the water and admired the hidden side of nature bathed in shadows until the sun rose from behind the mountains.
Nights seemed to grow longer and colder, not that he minded. He could barely feel the snow crunching beneath his bare feet on the beach. Though he prided himself in the care he took to not extinguish the flame or wet the spread pages of his latest favorite book on accident.
As the evening rolled on, the lights from the houses began to dim and chatter died down. With only the biting breeze to keep him company, he cast upon Teyvat a piece of his own soul: his outstretched finger traced invisible lines among the stars in the direction of Narumaki Island in the shape of the hearts he had seen Niwa draw. Cor Pupae, he chose to name it. His destiny might not be for grand power, to rule an entire nation, as the papers told, but he was content living as a simple human.
Or, well, as much of a human as he can be.
A soft fabric was draped over Kabukimono's shoulders, shielding his body from the winter chill. He lowered his gaze, first looking at the still dark houses before meeting Niwa's frost-kissed face.
"You are going to get sick, Kabukimono," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the thick woolen scarf around his neck. A puff of condensed air slowly rose from his lips with each word spoken.
None formed before Kabukimono's face when he chuckled. "I don't feel cold, Niwa. Have you forgotten?"
"Still," Niwa began as he took a seat on the frozen bench next to Kabukimono. His hands reached deep into the pockets of his jacket to seek warmth. "Even the toughest of metals crack when faced against enough cold. We don't want you to break on us now, do we?"
Kabukimono's hand wrapped tightly around where the two ends of the blanket met, right above his collarbone. He could feel the deep cracks in his synthetic body left from what felt like thousands of years ago. "I… guess not. But humans are fragile. Why are you here, not in bed?"
"White night," was the explanation Niwa gave. The snow surely reflected the Moon's light beautifully, sparkling under the lamp's flame. Compared to others, it was quite a white night.
Niwa leaned closer, his attention now on the book open in Kabukimono's lap. "I have never met someone who enjoyed stargazing as much as you do. Well, perhaps humans are constrained by their need for rest."
Kabukimono's finger traced the corner of the page. Despite his deep, burning desire to blend in with human society, he could not lie and say he did not enjoy the long lifespan he had been blessed with. If not for it, he would have been dead many, many years ago. His body would have become rotten and forgotten somewhere within the Raiden Shogun's residence, his eyes never to fall upon the beauty of this world.
His attention turned once more upon the sky. "Do you have a constellation, Niwa?"
"A constellation?" Niwa repeated, following Kabukimono's gaze upwards. The clouds had dissipated, unveiling the sparkling stars they had hidden for so long. Kabukimono had spent countless nights watching snowflakes float down from the Heavens, awaiting to be reunited with his adored sky.
"All human beings are bound by the fate bestowed upon them by the world. The stars record their fate."
"I have not thought about it. But, if you are right, I presume I do. Do you?"
Kabukimono thought back of that night, the first time the moonlight soothed his troubled soul. Her gentle gaze invited him into her arms, yet he did not have a place in them. Not yet, anyways.
"I found myself one," he explained. It would only be fitting for a synthetic being to have a synthetic constellation. Perhaps the Gods will take pity upon him and, too, accept him. "I named it Cor Pupae."
Niwa's eyes traced the clusters gathered up above them. "Where is it?"
Kabukimono found his constellation again. One star, two stars, three stars, four stars, and so on… his refuge for when the world down below the celestial globe would not cradle him. "There. Towards Narumaki Island, where… where I was made."
"Is it a heart?"
Kabukimono nodded, his cheeks gaining a delightful red hue at his own childishness. To build his own heart, such a stupidly simple thing to do. Perhaps that is why his Mother did not see him fit to be a God.
"Well, if being a human is still what you seek, you seem to have achieved your goal. A heart and constellation is what you believe makes one human, no? Now you have both," Niwa spoke. His shoulder hit Kabukimono's in a playful bump, a smile stretched across his face.
"But they are artificial…" Kabukimono whispered into the night's darkness.
"So? That doesn't matter. Look, I have no idea where my own constellation is. Why don't you choose its placement? You can give it a name too, if you wish."
"But that — that would mean —" Kabukimono retorted in vain. "Is it allowed to play with fate in such a manner?"
He was met with silence. Niwa cupped his ear, his body leaned forward. Only the subtle wind answered his foolish question.
"I hear no complaint," Niwa finally said with a grin. That earned a pitiful pout out of Kabukimono, which lasted mere seconds before he burst out into laughter.
"That was an unceremonious plea. Perhaps next time you should try praying beforehand."
Niwa could only shrug, his face getting even more buried in the soft fur around the collar of his jacket. "Next time."
Kabukimono had been made to be a God, after all. It would not be too blasphemous to take it upon himself to answer this poor mortal's plea. He studied the clusters in front of them, tracing patterns with his eyes. None seemed to satisfy him, as he had selfishly picked out the brightest, most beautiful stars for his own — maybe, this way, his future could be kinder to him than his past had been. The pain that had latched itself down every part of his being would hopefully be a one time occurrence.
He looked up, down, to the left and right. Unsatisfied still, Kabukimono then finally prompted himself on his arm, folding it on the back of the bench. There he found a star, bright, standing out like the prettiest Ganoderma through the ocean's waves. If it were a human, he had no doubt only Niwa could ever shine as beautifully. One, two, three, once again he drew lines around the star in the shape of a circle.
"That one. That is going to be your constellation."
"That's a pretty one," Niwa commented. He crossed his arms on the wooden panel as well, his head tilted to the side. "What are you going to name it?"
"Cupitae Pupae."
"Oh, you gave us matching names?"
Kabukimono nodded. Pride filled him knowing that, in a way, he had ensured Niwa's soul be carried long past the decline of his mortal body. He could only hope the name of such a kind boy would be remembered.
"It's so far away from yours though…"
"Well..." Kabukimono began, shifting his legs beneath himself. In his late nights out alone, he would often ponder about the confusing swirl of emotions twirling in his head and chest. Hurt still reigned within him, rage bubbled up, threatening to spill over. Yet, despite this, the smiles offered by his friends and praise received after he helped make their strenuous work a little easier made it all the more bearable. This, to him, was more precious than even the Gnosis.
"It is… it is so they are facing each other. If they were side by side… they would not be able to see each other's brightness. They would get lonely."
Niwa pulled the jacket tighter over his body, his legs ducked beneath himself like Kabukimono. The ends of his pants had gotten wet from the snow surrounding them. "Alright, if you insist. Should there be a day when we are not together, then, we can gaze at each other through the sky."
His nose and cheeks had grown flushed from the biting cold. Humans were so frail.
"You should head back. You are the one who is going to get sick."
"And what about your star-gazing session?"
"It can wait another night. They aren't going anywhere."
They followed the path left by their footsteps previously in the snow down the beach towards the houses their friends were sleeping in. Kabukimono's eyes traveled to Niwa's hands, red and shaking as he held Kabukimono's lamp. Humans had the curious tendency to share body heat through colder weather. It wasn't entirely unusual for his friends to hold one another close during especially harsh winter nights. Kabukimono himself, however, was cold to the touch, despite his synthetic skin; he could not maintain heat. He could only watch from afar, when braiding his long hair after taking baths.
"Are you cold?" Niwa asked again, his unoccupied calloused hand finding Kabukimono's. The tips of his fingers had already gained a slightly redder color.
"Niwa, I do not feel cold —" Kabukimono began again before stopping himself at Niwa's wink. How infuriating this boy could be. All of this to indulge the puppet's fantasies about fitting in.
Kabukimono's fingers wrapped around Niwa's just a little tighter. Maybe he could, at the very least, attempt to bring him some comfort.
"I have read about zodiacs recently. I found out about them in a book," Kabukimono said, holding the book against his chest closer.
"Oh yeah? And what do you think about them?"
"They are… intriguing. To judge a person on something as out of their control as the moment of their birth."
"Humans are forever cursed to label every aspect of their lives. They must have a name based on their clan, their date of birth, their financial status, their nation… all things that, at the end of the day, none of us chose," Niwa said, a sigh leaving his lips. He looked ahead, raising the lamp higher. "I will not lie and say I don't participate every so often. I find myself looking at what traits I actually share with those predetermined by my birth year."
"And which one is that?"
"I was born in the year of the pig. I think… it means I must be confident and determined? It has been a while since I looked into it."
Kabukimono thought of his book again. Maybe one day he and Niwa can go through it again, together. His friend had hurt his arm recently and he heard Katsugari scolding for working too much when injured.
"I wish I knew my birth year…" Kabukimono found himself thinking aloud.
"You don't know?"
"My… Mother, she put me to sleep shortly after my creation. I… I don't know what year it was. Or how much time has passed since."
A frown etched itself onto Niwa's soft features. "That's cruel."
"That's just how Mother is."
The wood creaked under their weight as they made it to the porch of their dormitories. Niwa opened the lamp to put the candle out.
"Oh!" his face lit up. "How about we make it this year your birth year? I think… I think it's the year of the tiger."
"Tiger? I don't think of myself as a tiger… a cat, perhaps, but I'm surely nothing that fierce."
"Doesn't matter. Besides, the pig and tiger are good friends, you know. This way, we are bound to get along."
Kabukimono smiled Despite the cold, his body warmed up with an unfamiliar sense of comfort. Not quite like the one he had yearned from his Mother, but such an overwhelming happiness he felt his body tingle. What a childish side of him that Niwa brought out.
"I don't think I need to find out my zodiac to know that."
"Well, now you have confirmation from the Universe."
Even if his constellation was artificial and his year of birth made up, Niwa had taken the responsibility of building him a space. Kabukimono entered the quiet entryway, making sure to wipe his feet of any remaining snow or sand. If his place was not between the Gods, maybe it was the human world who could squeeze him in.
And, whatever may be the case, home was wherever Niwa Hisahide went.