Work Text:
When Nahida felt an anomaly within Irminsul, the day had started as any other. Rousing early in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, she had checked in on Hat Guy due to concern for his mental being, considerate of the fact that he had only recently regained memories of his past self. Afterwards, having been gently shooed away as he grew tired of company, she had wandered out into Sumeru City, happy to witness her people going about in their daily lives.
It had been then that she had felt it. Watching three children running after each other, a sudden spark had shot down her spine as her awareness had briefly connected to Irminsul. Alarm had risen through her people who had been there to witness her immediate freeze, and even before she had recovered her senses, a kind citizen had already called out to a member of the Corps of Thirty. Being whisked away back to the Sanctuary of Surasthana, she had been made to calm down some frantic Sages, though Alhaitham, having as of yet failed to heft his position as Acting Grand Sage unto another, had quieted them down with his usual manner of speech, and had left as quickly as he came, showing his clear disregard for troublesome matters involving socialising. Nahida chuckled sweetly to herself at the remembrance. Though he portrayed himself as cold and uninterested in most matters unless it had caught his fancy, he could not hide himself from his Archon, who recognised his care through his immediate arrival upon having been summoned to convene with his fellow Sages.
Left alone to her own devices, after quite a bit of detour, she was finally free to connect properly to Irminsul, preparing to study the anomalous energy she had been sensing, and which was still pulsating steadily, as if beckoning her to approach. Alit with boundless curiosity, as she could not recall ever having encountered anything remotely similar, she had dived deep into her connection with Irminsul, only stopping when the unfamiliar sensation was before her.
Curiously, Nahida studied what she could now identify as a new bud on Irminsul. It bore the same familiar colours of silver as everything around it, yet it was also different. As far as her knowledge spanned, and it spanned far and long, there had never been anything that had sparked what this unremarkable seed of growth did.
Weighing the pros and cons, her curiosity won the match, continuously tempting her to reach out and touch. Had it been as normal a day as it had first begun, she would’ve been able to resist the calling, but the day had veered off its normal path long ago, and thus she let it achieve victory in this first meeting.
Reaching out a small, careful hand, the bud’s glow increased the closer her hand got to touching it. Continuing despite the doubts that should be ringing in her mind, and warning her of the potential consequences, she was unable to stop her movement, eyes captured by the anomaly as if spellbound.
At last, after unmeasurable seconds, a dainty finger met the new growth of Irminsul, and light rapidly filled the Dendro Archon’s vision. Closing her eyes amidst the assault, she kept them there until the light behind her eyelids faded to tolerable degrees. Fluttering her lashes, eyes the same green as Avidya Forest’s foliage opened carefully, and thus Lesser Lord Kusanali found herself in what she could only deem a larger version of Irminsul’s core, complete with a silvery blue tree that gave light to her surroundings.
Seeing that there was still some distance between herself and the actual tree, she left small ripples on the ground as she started threading carefully towards the center. It was beautifully magnificent, and on a scale Nahida found difficult to put word to, as it was at least several times the size of Irminsul.
She lost time of how long she spent inching ever so closer towards the massive boughs reaching high into the boundary of the space, stretching taller than she could see from her vantage point, feeling smaller and more insignificant than she had ever felt before, even compared to her own self-doubts of her own role as an Archon who for a long time could do ever so little for her people.
By the time she reached the massive bole, she could not tell how long she had walked, nor how far, being only aware that she had not felt hunger or thirst during it. Having already come to this point, there was no reason not to go through with her investigation, and thus she decisively reached out her hand again towards the tree.
No sooner than the moment of contact, her consciousness faded again for a brief instant, and as it did, countless visions fought to burrow into her mind, leaving chaos and confusion in their wake, and creating a truly horrific headache that spanned unknown seconds, minutes, hours and more.
Horrible crying, screams and calls echoed in her ears, as worlds collapsed and caved in on themselves before rapidly expanding, repeating a continuous cycle without an end in sight. Only a few moments even made sense in her mind, but were chased away by yet more visions competing for her attention, and leaving her exhausted as she fought to release the tree’s grip on her mind.
When she finally managed to rip herself away, she fell backwards, and it was as if the ground disappeared, for she fell through it and continued falling, visions retreating as quickly as they had swarmed, leaving only a few images remaining clear in her mind. A train hurtling through the stars, leaving hope in its wake, gaping maws of black scarring cities, and a familiar sky that seemed, for but a fleeting instant, to fracture beneath the silent gaze of Celestia.
Suddenly hitting the ground, Nahida tried to calm her heaving breaths as she came out of the overwhelming visions. Climbing unsteadily to her feet, she realised she was back in the familiar safety of the Sanctuary of Surasthana, seeming to have been thrown out of Irminsul during the illogical fall.
Reconnecting immediately, she searched for the earlier anomaly, but no matter how and where she looked, all traces of it were gone except for the few remaining images implanted in her head. Furrowing her brows, she reluctantly retreated from Irminsul, resolved to spend the coming days in isolation as she pondered what she had witnessed and what it could possibly mean for Teyvat. Absentmindedly rubbing at her chest, where she could still feel her heart beat erratically, Nahida found that the images remained stubbornly in her mind, yet refused to yield any answers no matter how carefully she considered them.
A year gradually passed. Nahida heard word of the Traveler’s journey through Fontaine, watched the seasons move through Sumeru, and welcomed Hat Guy home alongside a tiny dragon he had given new life. Happy on his behalf, she had been content and felt an unusual sense of pride in his progress, one she usually only felt when watching over her people. She had also heard word that the Traveler was now making his way back to Sumeru, and would rest for a short while before heading onwards to Natlan. Waiting somewhat impatiently for him, she began to hum under her breath, a quiet tune from the forest she had once overheard a mother sing to her young child.
Trailing off once she reached the end, her vision turned faint for a moment, and she reached up to clutch at her chest. Pressing downwards, she could feel the rapid thumping of her heart, though there was also something else. Something foreign.
Nahida stumbled to her feet. When had she fallen to the ground? Tears escaped tightly-shut eyelids. When had she closed them? Dizziness stole what little breath remained. Why couldn’t she breathe?. Her heart pressed against her ribcage. It hurts…
Thump.
Why…
Thump.
W-what’s…
Thump.
So painful…
Thump.
Please…
Thud.
S-stop…
…
Silvery threads spread through the air of the Sanctuary of Surasthana, all weaving a tapestry of delicate roots. Delicate stems quivered as they reached far beyond the heart from which they had sprouted. Strands reached out carefully, coalescing into a single shoot as they strove to touch the silvery boughs from which they had been scattered as though drawn to them.
- – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – -
Far away from Teyvat, a train was making its way through the countless stars of the universe. Inside it, the proud Conductor of the Astral Express was making his cleaning round through the Parlor Car. Welt, or Mr. Yang, as the younger members of the Express tended to call him, was sitting calmly in one of the couches, eyes closed and head tilted back as he enjoyed the peace and quiet. Himeko, bless her heart, had gone to check the navigation system a while back, and had yet to return. As for the children, they had disappeared into Caelus’ room to have a sleepover after getting a reluctant Dan Heng to admit that he’d never experienced one before, leaving Welt to enjoy the pleasant company of Pom-Pom. Releasing a deep sigh, he sank even further into his own thoughts, content to enjoy the moment of reflection he had been given. Penacony had certainly been quite an experience for all of them, and though he was loath to admit it and still thought of himself as a rather spry, young man, he wasn’t quite vain enough to deny that the years had taken a toll on him.
Faint steps grew louder in his ears, and he could catch a whiff of a bitter coffee he knew was cradled in well-manicured hands. “Done already, Himeko?” He questioned lightly.
The couch sank down slightly beside him. Himeko took a sip of her concoction. “Yes.” She hummed in enjoyment at the warmth spreading through her body from the divine liquid. “There were no issues to be found.”
“That’s good.” Welt heard himself say, suddenly distracted by a faint sense of unease. He noted, with detached clarity, that Himeko had noticed the subtle tension settling into his shoulders, and had quietly readied herself in preparation of the unknown.
Still, that did not mean that she was impervious to the faint dizziness he could feel weighing his body down, and he watched her slump back into the red cushions, coffee cup slipping through her fingers and falling down, down, down, until it landed heavily on the floor with a crash, scaring Pom-Pom to jump and turn around in time to witness Welt join Himeko in the darkness.
His last thought before he sank into obliviousness was that the cup was Himeko’s favorite.
- – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – - – — – -
In yet another world, within the video store known as Random Play, two siblings were engaged in a familiar debate over what movie to watch that day.
Making full use of the few extra inches he had over his younger sister, Wise held the horror movie high above her head.
“Wise!” Belle huffed indignantly, blowing a strand of hair away from her eyes. “It was my turn to pick a movie today.”
“You know I can’t stand horror movies.” Wise reminded her with a playful smile, presenting another movie from behind his back with his free hand. “Tada! What about this?”
Belle snatched the documentary from his hand and shoved it back onto the shelf before he could protest. “You only ever suggest documentaries. Can’t we watch something else, pretty pleeeease?” She begged with her hands together, putting on her best puppy dog eyes. Watching his resolve crumble in real time, and his guilt for denying his little sister grow stronger, she knew with certainty that today would be her victory.
Wise pinched the bridge of his nose with an exasperated sigh. “Fine, you win.”
“Whoo!” Belle grinned victoriously. Take that, bro!
Making her way to the TV with horror movie in hand and a skip in her step, Belle was sure that nothing could ruin her day.
A dull thud came from behind her.
Belle froze.
“...Wise?”
No reply.
She turned.
“Wise?!” Her eyes widened in shock. Wise lay collapsed on the ground.
She scrambled to his side, the movie suddenly insignificant and thrown aside in her haste to reach her brother.
A sudden stumble into the table corner sent her to the floor in a mess of limbs, and she rubbed at her thigh where the impact had hit.
Belle reached for the table to help her rise, but black spread rapidly across her vision as she fell forward again.
This time there was nothing to stop her head from taking the impact instead.
[Connection unstable]
The HDD flickered.
“Warning.”
Fairy’s voice cut through the silence.
“Proxies disconnected from HDD interface.”
“Attempting reconnection…”
“...failed.”