Chapter Text
The airs of Nod-Krai were an uncomfortable mix of chilly breezes and oppressive dry heat. It seemed that at once it was where the Snezhnayan cold and Natlan warmth met in the middle of the ocean, and rather than merging into one mediated, calming front, it was uncomfortable in a different way every minute.
“Currently, Nod-Krai has a travel blockade placed on it,” Ineffa said.
“Why's that?” Aether asked. Paimon snacked on some Cup O’ grain fruit in the background, so it was left to him to ask the necessary questions.
“The war.” Ineffa replied. The boat they were on rocked heavily as they hit another wave.
“So how is our boat going to get through?” Aether asked.
“We will have to fight through and defeat at least one Snezhnayan patrol ship. I calculate that doing so will have a 78% chance to buy us enough time to make it to Nasha Town's harbor, at which point the Voynich Guild will shelter us.” As if it was the most natural thing in the world. Which, it actually was. A little bit more violent than Inazuma, but not by much.
“So the Voynich Guild are the good guys, then?” Aether asked sarcastically.
Ineffa was never one to understand the nuances of human behavior. “No. Aino is the only one we can trust in Nod-Krai.”
An alarm blared across the frosty sea. “ATTENTION. VESSELS OF NATLANESE ORIGIN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER SNEZHNAYAN WATERS. ATTENTION. VESSELS OF NATLANESE ORIGIN-”
“Shut up, would you?” Aether raised his sword. Channeling the power of pyro, his prototype rancour glowed bright orange.
He closed his eyes and pictured his elemental energy leaving his body, rushing across the sea, into the Fatui patrol boat. He moved it left, then straight, right where he knew the fuel tank was. The spark didn't need to be big.
“There you are,” he said.
The Fatui ship blew up, sending its soldiers flying into the ocean. Ineffa waved her hand and sent Brigitta, her drone, across the waters. It floated over to the epicenter of the explosion and discharged a purple lightning bolt into the ocean. As it did, a small stormcloud swirled into being above it, sending out bolts of electricity which fried the surviving soldiers.
“Well, even if I don't know who my friends are, it's always comforting that I know exactly who I'm fighting,” Aether said.
“Paimon concurs!” Paimon said.
The ship sailed past the wreckage of what was once the Fatui patrol unit. Aether returned to his seat, while Ineffa recalled Brigitta. The Natlanese captain whistled a tune, no love lost for the Marionette’s soldiers, as they continued onwards to the harbor. Natlan may have been the nation of war, but Nod-Krai was looking to be just as much of a mess.
What would they find in the midst of these warring factions? Trouble would abound, of that, the Traveler had no doubt. Yet this seemed to be a necessary step along his journey. After all, he was drawn to where the biggest mess in Teyvat was.
“5 thousand drones already sent over to Hiisi island and ANOTHER 5 thousand on the way. They're blowing up Snezhnayans by the barrelful in the Paha Oblast, in Hiisi Oblast, they haven't even managed to establish a real military presence in Lempo…” One Fatui officer paced back and forth, hair nearly coming out of his scalp in tufts as he pulled on what little peeked out from beneath his officer’s cap.
“Hush! The Lady Harbinger is coming!” Another officer elbowed him, and he shut up swiftly as the pneumatic hisses and heavy stomps of Pulonia signaled Sandrone’s entrance into the war room.
“I’ve been in this room more times in the past month than I have for the past ten years prior to this execrable revolt!” Sandrone harumphed as she was carried in and placed gently upon the most prominent seat at the table. She glared at an array of figurines on maps marked up with red Xes and arrows. Its secrets remained hidden to her, so she snapped her fingers, sending Pulonia off to fetch tea as she crossed her arms and turned her attention over to the quivering Fatui officers.
“Well? Will no one inform me of the expected progression of this limited war?” Sandrone asked.
“Lady Harbinger! We have committed more troops to the assault on Hiisi island! We have also managed to retake almost all territory on Paha Oblast!” One Fatui Officer shouted.
“Oh? Committed? Pray tell, what happened to the troops you ALREADY TOOK THERE?” Sandrone screeched at him, throwing her freshly arrived tea at his face. By a small margin of error, it missed, splashing against the wall. She snapped her fingers for Pulonia to bring her another cup, which it dutifully lumbered off to do.
“L-Lady Harbinger…”
“Clean up that mess. Now… ahem. Can anyone else in this incompetence-ridden, feebleminded war room offer an explanation as to the complete and utter failure described by our comrade here?” Sandrone asked.
One officer, sensing that it was likely better to speak up while she had nothing in hand, decided to speak up quickly. “Lady Harbinger! The Klink-Klank Krumkake Workshop has joined the war offensive against Her Majesty’s forces in a limited capacity! They have pledged arms and drones to form a defensive line around Hiisi island! Our soldiers can’t approach the island, they fear the drone’s explosive capabilities!”
Sandrone turned to him. “How many drones do they have?”
“Currently 5 thousand, Lady Harbinger!”
“And how many troops do we have?” She asked.
“Currently fifty thousand, Lady Harbinger!”
“Then it’s simple, isn’t it? Have forty thousand threaten the other ten thousand, let a drone take each one out, and then storm. The fucking. Island. Do you hear me, officer?” Sandrone hissed at him. Pulonia set her new teacup down in front of her, and she grabbed ahold of it.
The officer gulped. “Y-yes, Lady Harbinger!”
“Good. And the next time I report in, I expect good news, not whatever this moron over here was prattling about,” she sneered at the first officer who had spoken up. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal clear, Lady Harbinger!” The officers replied. Sandrone nodded, satisfied.
“Good,” she said. Pulonia picked her up by the waist and once again placed her on the palm of his hand before stomping off to bring her back to her research laboratory. As soon as she was out of earshot, the officers had a collective sigh. The war, by all rights, should have been won by now. In fact, if it had been against a conventional army the size of the Frostmoon Scions, it indeed would have been over by now. But the army was not the size of the Scions. It was the Scions, minus women and children, plus women and children in some capacity because apparently they were contributing to the war effort too, plus the entire wildlife of Nod-Krai (except the ones in Paha Oblast, which were sufficiently cowed by the Fatui’s presence). To make matters worse, after the incident in Natlan (news shouldn’t have made it back this quickly, but it did) the Klink-Klank Krumkake Workshop had pledged support in drones, weapons, and other mechanical and equipment support to the Scions.
Then there was the matter of having two factions in Nasha Town being against the Fatui. At first the Fatui and Adventurer’s Guild had moved in lockstep, and with only the Frostmoon Scions against them, they were able to move with impunity so long as the Lightkeepers didn’t intervene. Then the Krumkake workshop joined in, and seeing as they were the ones who made the giant anti-wild hunt cannon which protected the whole town, the Voynich guild was forced to listen to the grievances of the Scions. The Fatui presence of Nasha town was dropped by half when the Voynich Guild sold rations to the workshop instead of the Fatui, and the soldiers nearly revolted. It was dropped by another half when the Workshop pledged its drones to take the place of the soldiers which had previously patrolled Nasha, and the Voynich Guild was strong-armed into signing a new contract.
Within the span of a month, the Fatui were on the back foot in Nod-Krai, and prospects weren’t looking bright. The thing was, even if they could make it past the drones, the wildlife, the Scions, which could be anywhere, the traps, which were sure to be everywhere, and the natural defenses of the island, that still wouldn’t be enough to guarantee victory.
After all, the Damselette was there, and she was more than willing to feast on whatever unwilling sacrifices the Fatui tried to send her way.
“Kuutar,” Lauma said as she kneeled. “The war effort goes well. The Workshop is willing to provide up to 50 thousand drones, provided that we take out multiple Snezhnayans for each one that she's already given us. She also wishes for first dibs on the Marionette, should we capture her.”
“Agreeable. Keep doing what you're doing, Lauma. Sounds like things are going great.”
Lauma’s bow went deeper, to the point her antlers nearly scraped the dirt of silvermoon hall.
“We are so thankful you returned to us, Kuutar,” she murmured reverently.
“I am glad as well. Your worship and devotion grows stronger every day. It sustains me.” Columbina lifted a single hand daintily, observing the way light reflected off her eerily pale skin. Lit by the blue light of her cavern, she looked like a preserved body, like something that existed in the ancient past and was reanimated now, with nothing left but skin and bones, muscle already degenerated away. The barest minimum of flesh to move bone.
“Soon the whole of Nod-Krai will worship you, as soon as we remove the Tsaritsa’s forces,” Lauma said.
“Indeed they will. Ah, if only I had retained my full power, I could swiftly remove them from this plane with merely the lift of a finger… how lamentable it is that I no longer have the strength left to kill these mere insects.” Columbina sighed and returned to her position laying down on the massive moon statue in the center of the hall. “I tire now, Lauma. Please leave me to my recovery.”
“Yes, Kuutar.” Lauma got up from her bow, and dusted off her Moonchanter’s robe, which has picked up some silvery dust. It settled softly to the ground as she turned around and walked away.
The truth was that Columbina was not so interested in the outcome of the war itself. Yes, the war needed to happen to sustain her, and yes, it was even better if her forces were winning. However, her real aim was simply to hold out until Moon-Prayer Night.
“The moon awaits my arrival,” Columbina said, a small smile aimed at no one in particular.
Until then, she had to reserve her strength. She had to survive. That was the only way she would be able to survive that treacherous journey.
And after that, who knows? Revenge against the Tsaritsa, who had stolen some of her power, perhaps. The Doctor, who had wasted her time. Tartaglia, who breathed wrong in her general vicinity and rubbed her the wrong way. The targets she had were limitless. Signora had once told her to mind her manners, and she had listened out of respect, but Signora was dead now. Who killed her, again?
Ah, right. It was that Electro archon, wasn't it? Or was it the Geo archon? She could hardly remember things nowadays.
And why did that archon kill Signora? She lost a duel, or something… to who? Was it the owl? Or was it that refugee from another planet? No, neither of those sounded quite correct.
Suddenly, Lauma ran back into the Hall, dropping to a knee.
“Kuutar, we have just received word. The Traveler is headed to Nod-Krai with Ineffa in tow. We must take this opportunity to sway him to our side!”
Columbina's jaw melted off her face, leaving behind a toothy grin. Wings unfolded into darkness, sucking all the light from the room until all that remained was the faint glow from Lauma's horns and Columbina's teeth.
“Sounds good, Lauma,” Columbina said, a light, casual tone overlapping a distorted voice. “I simply must see him for myself.”