Chapter Text
“You received all of your elemental abilities back?” The Tsaritsa asked as the light swirling around Lumine faded back into a subtle glow. “But… how? Why?”
“Trust me, I’m as in the dark about them as you are. I guess resonating with that beheaded statue left a bigger mark on me than I knew.” For the first time in Archons-knows how long, his partner summoned a small burst of Pyro into her palm. The flames danced at her fingertips, her relieved smile growing with each passing heartbeat. “Getting Cryo seems to have forced everything back into alignment.”
“Seems so…”
Childe let out a steadying breath, trying to hide his relieved smile and failing. When she’d mentioned losing them the first time, he’d seriously wondered if they would have to traverse Teyvat again to regain her full strength. She truly looked like herself again, too; her round cheeks rosy with life in a way he hadn’t seen since before the volcanic eruptions in Natlan, a weight lifted from her tired frame as though the sludge of the Abyss had finally been scrubbed from her body, her golden eyes twinkling like the stars in the night sky.
He hadn’t expected her to take the news of everything so… well? After all, when he discovered the Tsaritsa’s plan to use her starry abilities as a sacrifice and his strength during Foul Legacy as a perfect weapon to pierce the Heavens, he’d nearly lost his mind. It didn’t matter that he’d known this was likely a possibility since the day Dainsleif had revealed the truth of the riddle. The idea that one of them could die just because a few words on a piece of paper had said so drove his disappointment and annoyance, festering like an open wound. Anger had possessed him for months, churning like waves caught in a riptide at the edge of shore. Perhaps that’s why he had spent so long by himself in the woods, taking out his disappointment on the Abyssal beasts that threatened Snezhnayan villages in the name of “training”.
Every time he thought he could move on from his anger and fear and grief, something would suck him right back in and he would begin the cycle anew. And yet, deep down, that foolish optimism refused to let him accept their deaths as reality. Surely there was another way. Surely he and Lumine could come up with something together that allowed her to live– even if he didn’t. He would be happy with that outcome if it meant the world was saved and she was alive.
“And you’re sure you weren’t the cause behind them disappearing?” Lumine asked, quenching the flame and letting her hand fall, that same determined crease in her brow returning.
His queen sighed. “While that would be the easiest answer, no. I’ve never known that to be one of my abilities.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s impossible–”
“Whatever the case, this is a good thing, right?” Childe interrupted, shooting his partner a quick look. Immediately, Lumine’s mouth twisted in a scowl, but she stopped talking. He had a feeling he’d get a well-deserved earful later. “Now you don’t have to go back to every nation and resonate with the statues in hopes that it would fix things.”
“I suppose. This whole situation is just… bizarre.”
He could agree to that, too. He’d never heard of someone losing their elemental abilities before, unless their Vision had been taken from them. But Lumine didn’t have a Vision– if anything, she was a conduit for power herself, able to shift through the abilities with a mere thought. How would that work, though, when the Tsaritsa hadn’t placed any sort of lock on that power? Perhaps when the beheaded statue Lumine had touched knocked her rhythm out of alignment, she’d simply been unable to recall them the way she normally had. Perhaps they hadn’t been gone at all and were simply dormant, waiting to be rediscovered.
Then again, if it wasn’t his queen’s fault that Lumine’s abilities had been knocked out of sorts, it could be the opposite. The Statues of the Seven had always been lifelines to Celestia, places of prayer for those eager to have their voices heard by the Archon and the gods themselves. If the Heavenly Principles had suspected Lumine was on her way to Snezhnaya, could she have been the one to curse all of the statues with the same lock that possessed his lover’s brilliant wings? If so, why had she gotten them back now, now that she accessed Cryo? Was the lock on her powers simply not that strong? Was Sustainer weaker than she had been when she had first taken his partner’s abilities?
One look at Lumine revealed her deep in thought as well, as though she were trying to solve the same questions he had. They could discuss it later when they relaxed in his chambers.
The Tsaritsa, however, didn’t seem bothered. A small smile twitched at the corner of her pretty red lips, brimming with an excitable energy he could not match as the pieces of her plot fell into place. “I concur with Tartaglia. No matter why they were originally gone, they’ve returned now. That puts our plans back on track and is a great sign for our future.”
“Right, our future,” Lumine grumbled, her words dripping with venom. Childe almost snorted– what future, he almost asked aloud, then shrugged off the pessimism on his chest. Surely there was still time left to figure this all out. “Speaking of, what comes next in this grand scheme of yours?”
“I’ll need to recall the other Harbingers right away so that I can fill them in with all of our plans. Luckily, they are stationed just outside the city center.”
One auburn brow rose. “You summoned them?”
“I had a feeling you two would be on the way relatively soon. It’s not like you to ignore my orders,” His queen hummed, her icy gaze settling on him for the first time since she’d seen right through their fake battle and attempt to prove his loyalty. “Until they arrive, I implore both of you to rest. Especially you, Tartaglia.”
“I’m fine,” He mumbled, shaking his head. Why did everyone insist he take a break? Did he really look that worn down or was it just the fact that he didn’t have his usual lively persona consistently feeding that battle-hungry nature of his? It wasn’t his fault that his love of battle had been taken, too, by the beast possessing him. Another heartbeat passed before he noticed the subtle crease in her silver brow, his stomach sinking in revelation. Unlike his mother— or even his partner— he couldn’t get away with defying her. Not without a great deal of mental and physical difficulty. “...Yes, your Majesty.”
“Trust me, you’ll thank me when things are finally on the move.”
“I still have questions,” Lumine said, crossing her arms.
The Tsaritsa raised her chin, that same sad smile gracing her features. “If you didn’t, I would be disappointed. During these next few weeks, I hope to be able to give you all the answers you desire.”
That would have to do for now. As overwhelmed and wiped as she was, even with the rejuvenation flowing through her body from all of the elements returning to her, she didn’t want to end this conversation forever. She wanted to know more– more about how they’d been chosen, more about her brother and what he was up to, more about the Tsaritsa’s long term plans. She doubted she’d ever be fully satisfied with the truth, but she wanted to try.
“Oh! I nearly forgot– I have your companion.”
Lumine jumped with a start. “Paimon?”
Bronya nodded, twinkling a small bell beside her intricate ice throne. “From what I recall, she was captured in the base camp, correct?” Yes, yes, oh gods, yes! Thank the Archons she was okay– “She has quite the mouth on her. She doesn’t shut up and she does not stop eating.”
“Sounds about right,” Her partner snorted.
She shot him a cold glare, knowing he’d found Paimon annoying at best. “Where is she?”
The throne room doors opened again, revealing that same attendant from before. This time, she looked less than pleased, heels hurriedly clacking across the cool marble floor. She struggled to maintain a loaf in her slender arms, her scowl deepening the more the creature struggled. Lumine’s heart skipped a beat when she spotted ice white hair and an oddly-shaped crown, as well as a starry cape fluttering with each movement. At one point, the woman yelped and recoiled, yanking her hand away from Paimon’s mouth as the pixie bared her sharp teeth.
That was all it took to unleash the torrent. “Paimon swears you’ll pay for this!” Her friend furiously squealed, her high-pitched voice bouncing off the high ceilings. “Paimon has friends– powerful friends! They’ll make sure you never see the light of the sun again!” Even this far away, Lumine could see that same glint in her mischievous eyes that had gotten them in trouble countless times before. “Unless you still have some of that moloko cake, and then Paimon might find it in her to forgive you…”
Beside her, Childe groaned and ran a hand over his face. “Glad to see some things never change.”
“Paimon!” Lumine squeaked, ignoring her partner in favor for the companion who had been through it all. She pushed past him with a grunt, hustling over to the annoyed attendant who eagerly handed her over.
The minute her arms wrapped around her fairy friend, Paimon realized what was happening. “Traveler! Oh, Archons, you’re okay! Paimon was so worried!”
Guilt threatened to swallow her whole, tears speckling the corner of her eyes as she hugged her companion closer to her chest. Ugh, she’d been such a fool to begin with. It had been her reckless decision that had gotten them in trouble in the first place, her choice to come to Snezhnaya despite Childe’s warning not to come out of some desperate longing to explore again, her ignorance that had gotten her swept up in the Fatui’s dealings during the recall. And then she’d simply left her behind when Yelena had pressured her, abandoning her friend instead of fighting for her. How could the fairy ever forgive her for something like that? If she had just listened to Paimon, perhaps they wouldn’t have ever been separated.
“I’m fine,” She finally managed, the knot in her throat making it hard to speak. “Are you? You’re the one they captured.”
Her friend bemoaned, dramatically placing a small hand over her eyes. “Paimon hated it! They kept Paimon trapped like an animal!”
Behind her, the Tsaritsa snorted. “She had her own private quarters and staff here in the palace.”
“Paimon didn’t have a decent meal this whole time!”
“You ate this place out of its entire reserve pantry!”
“Y-yeah, well, you wouldn’t let Paimon leave!” The fairy bemoaned, her cheeks pink at the callout. She waved her arm around in front of Lumine, revealing a dull tungsten bracelet littered with iolite gemstones, the deep purple color glinting in the pale light from the torches on the wall. “They even put this weird chain on to prevent Paimon from using her pocket dimension.”
“Sandrone’s technology,” Bronya explained with a roll of her eyes, “To prevent her from going into the snowstorms to look for you.”
Oh, that definitely made sense. Paimon may have had a big heart, but she didn’t have the brightest wit. The minute she was freed, Lumine figured she would have likely gone right out into the foul weather without a hint of knowing where she was, only to freeze in place like a Paimon-popsicle and end up in far worse trouble than she already was in the Tsaritsa’s control.
After all, Paimon hadn’t been able to sense her when she and Childe had fallen into the Abyss. It had taken Bennett and Kaeya returning to Mondstadt after the failure in the fourth domain to actually reunite with her fairy companion. When she’d asked– after Paimon had stopped crying in relief at their reconnection– the fairy had said it was as though their connection severed like the string of a balloon drifting off into the heavens above. If anything, it was like the fairy only had a hazy understanding of where she was when she was physically inside the pocket dimension, instead relying on the last known location to reconnect them. Paimon had once tried to explain it, saying she had always been able to locate her through the shadows, but even she didn’t know how. Lumine had figured it was something like her sword— except if that was the case, then she shouldn’t have been able to summon it in the Abyss.
Whatever Paimon’s deal was, it seemed her companion wasn’t directly tied to Lumine herself like her weapon was. It didn’t matter, because now they were back together as they should have been. “But are you safe?” She pressed, needing to hear it from her friend’s mouth.
“Yes!” She let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, shaking her head and working on removing the bracelet from her friend’s wrist. Now that they were back together, there was no reason for her to need it. “Paimon was so worried about you, Traveler. It was so scary not knowing where you were.”
“I know. I’ll tell you all about what I’ve been up to when we have the chance.” The stupid bracelet wouldn’t come off, its latch difficult to pry open. What kind of accessory was this? Perhaps this Sandrone woman didn’t actually know how to make fashionable jewelry. “You wouldn’t have liked it much anyways. I had to spend weeks in the snow without my powers while you enjoyed a warm, well-stocked palace–”
“Your powers?” Paimon breathed, starkly different from her usual high-pitched voice. “What happened to your powers?”
“I don’t know, but they’re all back now and that’s all that matters.” The latch finally opened and the bracelet fell off her friend’s wrist with ease. Lumine gave it a careful once-over, then handed it to Childe’s extended hand. “I even managed to resonate with Cryo today thanks to the Tsaritsa, which means I’ve finally completed that part of my journey!”
Paimon’s features dropped, the relieved smile on her face vanishing in the blink of an eye. Her usual deep blue gaze suddenly went glassy, her small mouth parted in a tiny O. The stars that usually twinkled around her at all times disappeared too, like chalk washing away in an afternoon thunderstorm. Around her, the torch lights flickered and dimmed, the room darkening with unsettled energy.
Lumine did not notice, too focused on her companion. “Paimon?”
She did not respond.
Her stomach twisted and tightened into knots, unable to understand what to make of Paimon’s reaction. The sour scent of wine emanated from the pixie’s frozen form, almost like rotting fruit left out in the hot summer sun.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw both Childe and the Tsaritsa stiffen. “Tartaglia–”
“I feel it, too.”
“Feel what?” Lumine asked, briefly turning from her companion to her partner, only to find him flexing his hands around the invisible hilt of a blade. She knew that tic of his; he wanted to summon his swords, but without his Vision, it would be impossible. At the same time, he hurriedly scanned around the room, as if desperately looking for an enemy he could not see. What was going on with him? What could he feel? She felt nothing, only the concern eating away at her belly the longer Paimon didn’t respond. “Pai, come on, what’s the matter?”
Again, silence.
Then suddenly, the Tsaritsa sucked in a sharp gasp. “Get her out of here, now!”
In a flash, Childe was at her side, trying to pry Paimon from Lumine’s hands. “It’s time to go.”
Panic coursed through her veins like lightning in the night sky. “What? Why?”
“There’s no time to explain–”
“Tartaglia!”
Childe wasted no time at his queen’s sudden unspoken demand, abruptly smacking Paimon out of her hands with one hard slice. The fairy floated backwards, her eerily-still form left unmoving in front of the dais. “Hey!” Lumine shrieked, trying to move towards her friend only for her partner to grab her arm with an iron grip and yank her away from the throne. His fingers dug into her skin, so hard she knew she’d find bruises there in the morning. “What are you– Ajax–”
He said nothing, his lips pressed into a thin line as he dragged her towards the door with no regard for how she struggled to keep up. What the fuck was his problem?! Why was he taking her away when she needed to figure out what was wrong with her companion? Paimon had been there since she’d first woken up and deserved her attention as much as she could give! After everything that had happened when they’d reached Snezhnaya, she would not abandon her like this in her moment of need. They were friends! She couldn’t just leave her behind–
All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention, the same warning bells ringing in her head that had gone off only minutes before the volcanoes had erupted in Natlan. What?! Was this what he’d been feeling earlier? Why had it taken so long to recognize?! Around them, the air crackled and wooshed, the same way the atmosphere might behave right before a devastating thunderstorm, supercharged, waiting for the perfect spark. She glanced over her shoulder, finding the Tsaritsa’s features first, devoid of emotion despite the panic in her voice earlier as she’d shouted for him to get her out–
She found Paimon quickly, though her previous concern was replaced by utter confusion. Her companion trembled and shook like a leaf in the wind, her eyes staring straight at the heavens. Whatever was going on with her was not normal, and she and Paimon had been through a lot to say that with complete confidence. It was as if she’d been possessed by something the moment the odd bracelet had been removed from her wrist– or was it Lumine’s announcement that one part of her journey had been completed? No matter how much she struggled against her partner’s grip, he refused to slow down, trying to get them to the door as quickly as possible until–
At the last second, Childe yanked both of them behind one of the towering columns supporting the domed roof. She struggled against his grip, desperate to understand what was happening, but he slapped his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. His grip tightened around her jaw, the pain radiating up her face as she scrambled to get a better look. She craned her neck just in time to see the rest of Paimon’s tiny frame crumple to the ground, a beam of light forming around a newly formed, lithe body.
Oh gods– oh gods–
Her long, platinum blonde hair swirled around her in the blast of wind she had created upon her arrival. The white gown she wore hid a darker underbelly of black and red fabric, identical to those blocky tendrils of unknown power that haunted Lumine’s dreams. And her eyes– a piercing yellow like molten gold, sharper than her own amber gaze. That knot that had been building in her belly threatened to unravel in horror, the warning bells in her head that screamed in the back of her mind swallowing every other thought.
The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles had made her appearance.
“Bronya,” The predator snarled, curling her fingers into fists.
“Well, this is a surprise.” To her credit, Bronya did not flinch or run or panic. If anything, she looked rather… bored at the Sustainer’s arrival. “I didn’t know you occasionally took the form of a floating fairy–”
“Where is she?”
“Who?”
“Don’t play coy with me, ice queen,” The Sustainer snapped, her voice dripping with the same vitriol that she’d slung towards Aether and Lumine in their desperate attempt to leave Teyvat after the fall. “You know exactly who I’m talking about.”
One icy brow rose. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“The Traveler.” Chills skittered down Lumine’s spine, tensing at the mere mention of her title. The only reason she hadn’t lunged into an escape or an attack was because Childe crushed her to his chest, refusing to let her flee like a spooked rabbit or start a war she could not win on her own right now. “I know she’s recovered all seven elements, the last of which is yours. I also know she couldn’t have done that without your help, thanks to your earlier decision to cut ties with the Heavens.”
“Perhaps I missed one.”
“Bronya!”
The walls and windows rattled with the Sustainer’s anger, rumbling like the ground during an earthquake. Childe pulled her tighter into the curve of his chest as though he needed her to hold him back, his attention honed in on the threat against his Tsaritsa. From this angle, she could see the strong tic in his jaw and frustrated terror in his eye, his auburn brow creasing into a deep V. She understood his conflict; he couldn’t move without revealing himself but he couldn’t just watch his queen get hurt.
Thankfully, again, Bronya did not falter. “What? I was simply doing my part from trying to stop the Abyss Order’s plan that you told me about.”
“Do not lie.”
“I’m not–”
“You forget my power knows no end.” Again, the walls seemed to rumble; either the storm outside was getting stronger or the power radiating from the Sustainer’s body could not be contained by the building. “You think I didn’t have fail safes? You think I didn’t do what I could to prevent her from regaining her full abilities by rigging those beheaded statues? I may have been absent recently, but I’m not stupid. So, you’re going to tell me right now where she is.”
“I don’t know.”
The trembling windows suddenly shattered in a violent eruption, raining down in a million different pieces like shards of ice. In swept frigid gusts of wind and a vicious swirl of snow and ice, unrelenting and bitter. Both Childe and Lumine flinched, but neither made a sound, pressing tighter against the marble column to prevent the Sustainer from seeing them– not that he thought she would, seeing as her attention was firmly planted on the throne as she climbed the dais to get in his queen’s face.
He tightened his grip around Lumine’s waist as the wind whipped faster, a reflection of the strength of the storm and of the Tsaritsa’s own turbulent emotions. His need to keep his partner as close as possible wasn’t only a move of desperation to keep her warm and hidden, but a reminder not to move to assist his queen. What could he do? Without his Vision, he was weaponless– although he would not let that stop him if it came down to it. He could summon Foul Legacy, but that would alert Sustainer of part of the grand scheme they’d worked so hard to keep under wraps. While she seemed to know everything about Lumine, he seemed to have slipped under her radar for now.
His queen forced a mask of ice. “You ruined my throne room.”
“Oh, enough.”
“Why do you assume I know where she is?” He’d always known the Tsaritsa to hold her emotions and her cards as close to her chest as she possibly could, but he never thought she would be this good of an actress in the face of danger. If he didn’t have Lumine entangled in his arms, he would likely believe his queen that she didn’t know where his partner had gone. Then again, all of the others had called him naive…
“Because I’ve been watching her just as closely as I’ve been watching you. You didn’t think I would allow her and her brother to walk this planet freely when they are a risk to our very way of life, did you? Of course I had something watching her every move, and for it to activate means it’s completed its job as her guide.” The Sustainer barked a cold laugh, towering above where Bronya sat in her throne. “Granted, I never expected it to be so obnoxious or lazy that it would take extended breaks during moments where it should have been gathering crucial information. At least it did its correct job by alerting me that she’d finally received all of her elemental abilities.”
In his arms, Lumine stiffened at the mention of what he could only assume was her fairy companion. His own stomach did an awkward flip, trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle. Paimon was… some sort of double agent? Paimon had been charged with watching Lumine during her journey throughout Teyvat as a witness for Celestia? No– she was Celestia, a literal embodiment of the Sustainer’s power, a literal tether directly tied to the goddess’s abilities. Through Paimon, the Sustainer had been able to see exactly what Lumine had been getting up to, the same way she had kept a close eye on Vision users throughout Teyvat to make sure they weren’t investigating anything she deemed against the Heavenly Principles.
That meant Sustainer had known about them receiving the letters from the source they couldn’t have identified at the start of their journey– had known about their relationship and all the tumultuous moments that came with it– had known about Lumine nearly dying in the volcano, oozing starlight as well as blood. The only relief he felt came from the fact that he knew his partner had not uttered a word about the riddle and the prophecy to the little creature, nor had Paimon been with them when they’d fallen into the Abyss.
There were still some secrets the Sustainer could not– would not– know.
“So you must understand why I’m surprised that you continue to insist that the Traveler is not here,” The Sustainer continued, leaning in close to his queen’s face, her massive form still rippling with power as snow and ice spun up around her.
“Which, again, she is not.” His queen went to push her away with a manicured finger, but the high goddess did not budge. Even from here, he could sense her annoyance. “Surely you’d be able to sense her, yes?”
At that, the Sustainer grit her teeth. “I cannot sense her and her brother in Teyvat, as they are outlanders.”
One icy white brow rose. “Interesting.”
“That’s why I had to send that stupid fairy with her,” She snarled, standing up straighter. “If she is not here, how did it get to your palace?”
In his arms, Lumine crumpled like a piece of paper, her fight dying the more the Sustainer revealed the truth about her long-term companion. He couldn’t even begin to process what she was thinking about; Paimon had been by her side for so long, even before he had saved her from the Millileth in Liyue during the Rite of Descension. They had shared countless meals and memories together, things he would never get to experience with her, moments he was never privy to. Lumine already had issues with deception and abandonment because of her brother’s disappearance and his own actions towards their partnership. To know that the friend she’d been confiding in long before he had taken his place by her side was nothing more than a Celestial plant… no, betrayal didn’t even begin to describe it.
“I’m not its keeper,” The Tsaritsa continued, investigating her nails. “It was taken from her during an encounter with one of my Harbingers. Dreadfully noisy thing.”
“Give it back.”
“How? I don’t know where your Traveler is.”
The Sustainer’s eyes narrowed, the cogs visibly turning in her head. Even from behind the pillar, he could see her pouty lip curl upward in disgust. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Your actions have been under scrutiny for quite some time now. It’s only heightening my suspicions that you may actually be helping the Traveler prepare for some sort of final battle against me– not that she’d win.”
“Sustainer, I can assure you, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” His queen said. Her voice dripped with that same annoyance that she’d used when he and Lumine had tried to hide the truth of their relationship to her earlier that afternoon, only to order him to kill her. A dare. A challenge– to prove her wrong. To call her bluff. What an insanely risky move, lying that she didn’t know about the location of someone literally in the room with them.
He tightened his cloak around his partner just in case the Sustainer really did go investigating.
Instead, she pointed to the lifeless shell of what had once been Paimon, splattered on the floor below the dais. “Through its eyes, I’ve seen you building up your army and gathering influence across Teyvat.” That sent a wave of shivers down his spine. Shit, he hadn’t thought about what else Paimon could have been subconsciously reporting back to her leader. His queen must not have thought of it either, the ease painting her resplendent features vanishing in an instant as well. “What’s with the surprise? You think just because you’re an Archon, you’re free of my suspicion?”
The Tsaritsa bristled like a wet cat. “I’ve done nothing to deserve it.”
“You’ve done everything to deserve it! Ever since you opened your borders to the Khaenri’ahn refugees before any of the other nations considered it–”
“-Venti did that as well!-”
“-And he will have his day soon, I assure you,” The Sustainer sneered at the mention of the Anemo Archon, pacing back and forth at the edge of the dais. “But it’s not like he had a relationship with one of the ringleaders of the Cataclysm.”
“That is not fair!” Bronya snapped, teeth bared in an uncharacteristic snarl. Oh, gods, now the Sustainer had come for blood. His queen was losing any modicum of control she’d had earlier, ice forming around the arm rests on her throne, on the banners hanging from the columns lining the path out of the throne room, the wind blowing in from the destroyed windows not strong enough to knock the fabric free of the frigid glaze. If this continued, the storm would become so uncontrollable that they wouldn’t be able to leave Zapolyarny for weeks.
“Is it now?” The Sustainer hummed, her vindictive smile colder than the ice surrounding them. “You and I both know she is a stain that will marr you forever. Because of your love for Rhinedottir, you will forever be under my watchful eye, no matter how long she’s been bones in the ground and ash in the wind. Now, tell me your plan before I’m forced to make another drastic movement.”
A pause. His queen’s shoulders trembled, her wrath barely concealable. Then, with a heavy sigh, she hung her head. “The truth?”
“Obviously.”
His queen let out a shuddering breath, and Childe stiffened, preparing for any possibility. Would she tell the goddess of their genuine plan? Surely not– that would spark a crisis that they could not control without the rest of the Harbingers on board. Besides, this was not the moment he’d been haunted by in his dreams over and over since his eye had been damaged in the Abyss. But how would the Sustainer react to any lie? Was the Tsaritsa a good enough actress to truly deceive her?
“If you must know,” She began, still trying to control her breathing and temper, “I’m building my army so that Snezhnaya can overtake Teyvat and create one nation under my rule.”
Silence. No one in the room moved. No one breathed. Even the wind settled for a heartbeat, as if waiting to see the Sustainer’s reaction.
“You’re not serious,” The goddess muttered, deadpanned.
His queen frowned. “Of course I am. Why would I lie about that?”
“Because I’ve never known you to be a fool.”
“You think I’ll fail.”
“I know you’ll fail,” The Sustainer corrected, hands on her slender hips. “Surely you can’t believe you will actually accomplish this feat. Even I’m not stupid enough to try and force something like this onto the people of this world.”
“The Fatui and Snezhnaya have been working tirelessly to do this properly, using both hard and soft diplomacy.”
“The conglomeration of cultures will never agree.”
“They’ll be made to.”
“And if they don’t?”
Something crossed the Tsaritsa’s features, an emotion he could not read. “Then I’ll take a page from your book and use force.”
Childe swallowed hard; if the idea was so ridiculous, the Sustainer might think the Tsaritsa was actually lying to her face. She didn’t flinch once at the goddess’s confusion and callouts, instead keeping her features a mask of ice save for the small crease in her brow. He knew he wasn’t any good at scheming and going around people’s backs, but this was a masterclass on deception– if it worked, that is. Had he not known the truth of her plans, he might have seriously thought her this focused and furious, eager to explain her agenda to the one person who might be able to change her mind. Thank the Archons they had gotten to know the full truth only minutes before the Sustainer had arrived, elsewise Lumine surely wouldn’t have agreed to this plan.
“You’ve gone mad,” The Sustainer chuckled, but there was no joy in her laughter.
“I have not!”
“And what of the Traveler?” Once again, Lumine stiffened in his arms, as if brought out of her grief-induced trance at the mention of her name. Childe tightened his grip around her small body; it wasn’t as though he thought she would rush after the Sustainer, but he didn’t want her flinching now. “Do you really think she’ll go through with these ambitions of yours?”
“Seeing as I’ve never met her, I could not tell you of her opinions of us. Nor do I care. I’ve been working on this for far too long to stop now.”
That he knew to be true. Had Lumine not agreed in her own way to join the Fatui, his queen would have found another way to convince her, via threats or coercion. She would not let anything stop her from accomplishing her goal of freeing Teyvat from this cycle and the Celestial Dome under the Sustainer’s control. If that meant throwing around her weight and using whatever methods worked, no matter how painful they may be to her personal relationships, she would do it.
After all, she’d made countless sacrifices too.
“Very well,” The Sustainer finally said, shaking her head. “I’ll allow you to try your little world domination plan.”
“Allow?” What a stinging word. Even if she had been lying through her teeth about her real plans for the future, he couldn’t imagine how much it hurt to get permission from the goddess they were trying to overturn. “There’s nothing in this goal that would come close to breaking the Heavenly Principles–”
“I have absolute say over what happens in Teyvat. You’d be wise to remember that.” Another rumble of power flickered around the Sustainer’s lithe frame, the room growing hotter, like a paved path on a hot summer day despite the open windows. “Frankly, I can’t wait to see your proud smile wiped off your face when you discover just how difficult it is to take the others down. Especially Mondstadt, with its love of freedom and consistent resistance to your influence.”
“And I can’t wait to prove you wrong,” The Tsaritsa hissed. “When the new world rises from the ashes, you’ll see just how beautiful it will be.”
“Is that so? Very well.” The room only grew hotter and hotter with each passing moment, as though the Sustainer was the sun herself, scorching whatever she touched. She wore a too-wide grin, almost giddy as she said, “You have thirty days to enact your plan. If you haven’t conquered the world by then, I’ll retrieve your Gnosis and give it to someone who deserves it. Someone loyal to me and me alone.”
“Thirty days?” His queen whispered, breathless as though she’d taken a direct hit to the chest. Childe barely managed to smother the string of curses spilling out of him, thankful for the roaring wind to dull out anything he said. No, no, that was too short! Thirty days would pass in the blink of an eye, leaving them caught in the middle of their final preparations. Thirty days wasn’t enough to do everything he wanted. Thirty days with Lumine wasn’t nearly enough to spend with her before they had to take their final steps in this grand plan. He needed more time. “But–”
“Oh?” The Sustainer cooed, still grinning. “Where’s that confidence now?”
“Give me sixty.”
“This isn’t a negotiation–”
“Sixty,” The Tsaritsa hissed, desperately clutching the arms of her throne.
“Forty,” The goddess growled, another pulse of the overheated power radiating off of her in waves, no better than the sun on the verge of a major eruption. “That’s all you will get. Pray that I don’t take more from you. And if you even think about pressing for more time, perhaps I’ll drop a Celestial nail into the heart of your army to show you what real power is.”
His queen’s eyes widened to the size of two shiny Mora coins. “No–”
“Forty days, Bronya!” The Sustainer laughed, dark and dangerous, a predator toying with her meal. Tears in space and time ripped open in the air around her with a burst of light, far more rigid than the torn fabric of reality that had come with the Abyss. A loud groaning and whirring sound emanated from her, like the hum of an angry beehive whenever something dangerous entered their space. “I look forward to watching your failure from the Heavens above!”
Without giving any of them a chance to respond, she laughed again and spun up in that beam of light. The golden array of color burned his good eye, so vibrant it hurt. Then as quickly as she had arrived, she vanished from the throne room, leaving them all behind to brave the storm.