[Zhongli: "History can be recorded, but history is never reliable."]
["It twists and warps within the passage of time."]
["That is why, Traveler, I thought of you."]
["You are one who crosses the stars and drifts across the heavens."]
["If history is etched into your memory, it can travel with you to other worlds when the day finally comes."]
["As long as you, the Traveler, can remember... then the eras and history of Teyvat will always have a backup of their existence."]
Hu Tao blinked. "Eh?"
Zhongli remained silent. His expression was a mask of calm, though his eyes shifted slightly.
"Wait!" Hu Tao's voice rose an octave, her finger pointing accusingly. "Consultant Zhongli, you said those exact words to the Traveler? You're actually on the same level as the Anemo Archon?"
A scholar from Liyue gasped, his scrolls tumbling from his trembling hands and clattering against the stone floor. "What? Is this young man's identity truly as noble as the God of Mondstadt?"
Paimon crossed her arms, huffing with a smug grin. "Do you know Rex Lapis, or do I know Rex Lapis?"
The scholar's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "No... it can't be. This young... no, this Lord... could he be the Rex Lapis of Liyue?"
"This... well... how should I put it..." Zhongli cleared his throat, his gaze suddenly fascinated by the intricate patterns on a nearby pillar.
The scholar fell to his knees, his forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud. "Oh! My Lord! I was blind! To think I actually debated the use of the very first Mora with you!"
"It is fine," Zhongli said, his voice steady despite the chaos. "An occasional discussion can broaden one's horizons, after all..."
Hu Tao's face turned a brilliant shade of red. "What! Consultant Zhongli is actually Rex Lapis?"
Zhongli said nothing. He simply closed his eyes.
"Hey!" She stomped her foot, her pigtails bouncing with her fury. "Then you definitely have infinite Mora! How could you have the nerve to put every single bill on my tab?!"
Paimon sighed, shaking her head. "Ugh, Zhongli's cover is blown. This is so embarrassing."
A deep, rumbling laugh echoed through the broadcast, sounding like grinding tectonic plates.
"Morax," Azhdaha's voice was heavy with mockery. "You actually owe a little girl money? Has the erosion of thousands of years reduced you to this?"
"I concur," Osial hissed from the depths, his voice a chorus of drowning souls. "Don't let him off, little girl. Make him pay every cent back."
Pantalone's voice cut in, smooth and sharp as a razor. "If Rex Lapis is willing to look me in the eye, I wouldn't mind settling those debts for him."
Hu Tao ignored the gods and monsters, focusing her glare on her consultant. "Rex Lapis, pay me back!"
"I... I currently have no Mora on my person..."
[Raiden Ei: "If it is you, you can surely save everyone."]
["If it is you, you can surely save the world."]
["Just as I remember everything about Inazuma..."]
["As long as you remember me, I will live forever."]
[Nahida: "We look up, we perceive, we understand..."]
["Yet we remain trapped by questions."]
["There is no single answer. The living souls of this world always thirst for the truth."]
["Returning the truth to a person is the same as returning the power of choice over their own fate."]
["To an outsider, it might seem futile."]
["But to vanish according to one's own will... that must have meaning for him."]
["Please do not forget. Even when walking through dark clouds, even with many hardships along the way..."]
["The light of wisdom will still guide us toward a good end."]
[...]
The world went silent.
The people of Teyvat were lost in a sea of confusion.
Venti, Zhongli, Raiden Ei, Nahida.
The supreme authorities of their respective nations were all speaking to the same person. They spoke of the meaning of the journey, but they weren't talking about a simple walk across the continent.
It was deeper. It was heavier.
It was exactly what Aether had told Kael.
This journey was far more complex than Kael had ever imagined.
Kael was the Reincarnator.
The "Traveler" the gods spoke of could only be one person.
Lumine.
But the people didn't understand. What was the "meaning" the gods were so desperate to preserve?
"What are you all even talking about?" Arataki Itto scratched his head, his brow furrowed in genuine distress.
Venti let out a soft, melodic hum. "Oh... nothing much..."
"Is it a secret of the high heavens?" Dottore's voice was sharp with a hunger for forbidden knowledge.
Tartaglia laughed, though his eyes remained cold and vacant. "But they aren't talking, are they?"
"Kael might have the answer," Yae Miko said, her eyes narrowing as she watched the screen. "Let's see if our Reincarnator can enlighten us."
["The Sustainer is dying, the Creator has yet to arrive..."]
Kael whispered the words, his breath hitching in the freezing air.
["The fate of Teyvat cannot be easily shaken."]
["Even for the gods, the possibility of change is infinitesimal."]
["History will not be easily altered, but the hearts of people can be. Trust your eyes. What you see is the only truth."]
Kael's power surged.
The pitch-black energy of the Abyss transformed into wisps of mist, surging into the Skyfrost Nail like a dark tide.
["Ley Lines... Irminsul..."]
["The Ley Lines record every scrap of information in Teyvat and feed it all into Irminsul?"]
Kael paused.
He sat on the frozen ground, his head buried in his hands for a long time.
*Clap!*
He struck his palms together and stood up, his eyes wide with a sudden, terrifying clarity.
["The Sustainer is dying, the Creator..."]
["Is the Creator the one they call the Traveler?"]
["Is it Lumine?"]
["The earth burns."]
["Teyvat finally meets its destruction."]
["But because of the records of the past..."]
["The world restarts before the end. The Cycle. Reincarnation."]
["It repeats until the Creator ascends to the new throne and becomes the savior of this world."]
["And then, she can recreate the people and things she saw. She can create a perfect new world."]
Kael rubbed his temples. His head throbbed with the weight of the realization.
He had never imagined Lumine could be such a miraculous, terrifying existence.
'She's the backup. The save file for an entire civilization.'
["But we should probably ask Lumine what she wants, shouldn't we?"]
He waited.
There was no response from the void, only the howling wind of the mountain.
A bitter smile touched his lips. ["Right. Knowing her, she'd never just leave these people behind."]
["She isn't the type to flee Teyvat alone."]
["I guess... wanting her all to myself makes me the selfish one."]
The Hungry Throne
[Kael spoke up, his voice a casual blade meant to slice through the suffocating tension. "The thing that really caught me off guard, though... the so-called Heavenly Principles is running on fumes. It's nearly out of strength, barely holding enough power to keep this entire cycle from grinding to a halt."]
["And Celestia... it's actually siphoning the Abyss to recover."]
["The Abyss is like an ocean, a rising tide desperate to swallow the divine throne. But the throne acts like a massive tree. It doesn't drown. It simply drinks, soaking up the very essence meant to submerge it."]
["It's really amazing."]
Was this the ultimate truth of Teyvat?
The sky was a lie. Not a metaphor, but a literal, shimmering fabrication. Every destiny, every tragedy, and every triumph was etched into that false firmament long before the actors even took the stage.
The script had been written ages ago.
To shatter the false sky was to tear up the script itself. It was the only way to break the Cycle that choked Teyvat, a desperate bid to escape the loops of a predetermined history.
Overthrowing the Heavenly Principles wasn't just a rebellion. It was an act of creation. It was the only way to forge a world that actually breathed.
But the Heavenly Principles had fallen silent. After centuries of war, its grip was slipping, and the power maintaining the world's stability was bleeding into the void.
It made sense now. This was why the Abyss and Snezhnaya dared to look upward with bared teeth. They weren't just fighting a god. They were trying to dismantle the very laws of reality established before the silence fell.
Fear rippled through the continent. The truth was a weight too heavy for most to carry, a revelation that transcended their understanding of existence.
Arataki Itto: "If this is how it is... then what's the point? My whole life feels like a joke."
Kuki Shinobu: "Boss? Since when did you start saying things that actually sound deep?"
Paimon: "Wait! Does this mean Lumine is actually that important? Is everyone just... waiting for her to save them?"
Aether: "Hmph. It seems my decision to stop the Reincarnator was the right one after all."
Nahida: "It is like a dream within the Akasha. We have been repeating the same actions, over and over, just to give Lumine the experience she needs. We are pushing her toward the throne... toward a new Teyvat."
Furina: "How... utterly unexpected."
Lumine: "I..."
Paimon: "Look at her! Lumine's lost all her confidence. This is definitely Kael's fault."
Kael: "You little brat..."
Paimon: "No, you're the brat!"
Silence fell over the group. The weight of the revelation settled in the air like ash.
Paimon: "Everyone's so quiet. The truth is a lot to take in, isn't it? But hey, we have a Reincarnator now. Things have to change, right?"
Lumine: "Exactly. Kael is a Reincarnator. He's here to break the Cycle. He's probably way more useful than I am."
Kael: "Don't sell yourself short. It still has to be you."
Lumine: "Fine. Be that way. But if you refuse to help, just wait. Once I save Teyvat, I'll make you my personal servant on the new throne. You'll be on Celestia every day, washing my feet, giving me massages, cooking my meals, and..."
Kael: "Warming your bed?"
Lumine: "Yes! Warming my... wait, no! Not that! Shut up!"
'Why did I say that? My face is burning. Focus, Lumine. Focus!'
Lumine: "Anyway... how long do you plan on sitting there in that Celestia corridor?"
Paimon: "Lumine, you're losing it again. Why are you asking him? He doesn't have the answers."
~✦~ End of Chapter ~✦~
20+ Chapters at Patreon: patreon.com/rinyari
Join Community: https://discord.gg/szn5vDpz