XXXII

We rush out of the heavy doors of the Golden House, only to be quickly assaulted by heavy rains and winds. Running through the streets of Liyue, we nearly slip multiple times, our vision clouded by the rain.

"Look! What's going on?" Paimon's voice is a mere muffle under the terribly loud storms, but her exclamation still serves a purpose as it brings yours and Aether's attention to the precariously moving Jade Chamber that is slowly making its way to the open water.

Aether takes off immediately, following the drifting, floating building as it nears closer and closer to several water spouts curling in the center of the water.

Dashing through the raging storm is difficult, the wind pushing us side to side to the point where you thought to yourself that you'd have some very stern words with Venti later. In the distance we see the five water snake heads of Osial rise from the water.

Your hair was so stuck to your face that you almost didn't notice when your guardian angel landed right in front of you, looking pristine as always. You jerk back in shock, but Ariel grasps your shoulders with a frantic look on his face.

"What the hell is happening?!" He yells. Despite being a few feet in front of you, his voice barely managed to reach your ears. You absentmindedly wondered if that was only from the storm as the deep cuts in your hand somehow became more prominent.

"A giant sea monster just got resurrected from the depths of the ocean!" You spit rain water that had fallen in your mouth as you spoke.

"WHAT?!"

You shake your head, no time to deal with Ariel's confusion. "We have to get on to the Jade Chamber!"

"Are you out of your mind?! You want to fight the giant ocean monster?!" Ariel's hand clamp down tighter on your shoulders.

"I'm not going to explain why I technically will not be fighting the ocean monster, we just need to get on the Jade Chamber!"

Ariel shakes his head. "I can only carry one of you up there!"

Fuck. In your hazy state it's kinda hard to think, but you remember a certain anemo shortie who had given you his permission to call him not too long ago. "Xiao!" You yell out as loud as you can.

For a moment you think he doesn't hear you, or worse, is choosing not to help you, and your stomach sinks. But the trademark flurry of black and green soon reveals the soaked adeptus, who looks entirely unaffected by the rain despite his state.

Xiao's stern eyes turn to you and he opens his mouth in what you feel is going to be a reprimand, so you quickly interrupt him. "I need you to carry Aether up to the Jade Chamber so he can help fight Osial!"

"That's what you called me for?!" Xiao's frown deepened even as he moved over to Aether, who had been standing beside you, shuffling his feet as he watched you have a quick conversation with the air. Once Aether sees Xiao, he smiles slightly before screaming as Xiao roughly picks him up. Aether has the incredible foresight to grab onto Paimon as they're whisked away.

You turn back to Ariel. "Okay, now you gotta carry me to the chamber!"

Ariel goes to grab your waist, but hesitates. "If you fight, are you going to be okay?!"

"I can't promise that right now! It's a fight, it's raining, my hands hurt, and who knows what else! I have to be up there, if not just because fighting is the right thing to do, but because Aether is up there and I will literally go crazy if I am not there with him!" Half way through your speech you lost what you were saying, but you knew you meant it. You were running so high on adrenaline right now that so many things weren't even crossing your mind.

It seems that Ariel understood that if he didn't take you up to the Jade Chamber himself, you'd find another (most definitely more dangerous) way to get up there yourself. Reluctantly he lifts you in a simple bridal carry, beating his delicate wings through the storm with ease.

Your feet were eventually placed on the wooden floor and looking around you saw everyone you remembered from the scene in the game, with an extra. Ningguang, Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, Moon Carver, Ganyu, Madame Ping, Keching, Xiao and random Millelith soldiers all permeated the chamber. But the one that caught your eye was a figure all in red.

A little ways away from the other adepti stood Jinfeng. In her slimming red and gold qipao, a matching umbrella thrown over her shoulder, she stood with an almost bored look on her face.

You wanted to run over to her, to question her, but you were interrupted by Paimon's own questioning of the appearance of the adepti and if the fighting between the adepti and the Qixing is over.

You stalked over to the group to hear the ending of Cloud Retainer's words about the Qixing's research into the Guizhong Ballistas.

"As fate would have it, one, who did craft the Guizhong Ballista with one's own hands, is here. For what could you mortals ever learn of adepti mechanisms? Yet it would take one but a little tinkering to turn this ballista into an engine of war beyond your wildest thoughts." The beast's echoing voice somehow manages to float above the noise of the storm.

Ningguang smiles, in a way you knew was polite on the surface yet secretly sarcastic. "I suppose this is one blessing from the adepti we should be thankful for." Ningguang's voice changes from that secret sarcasm to that of a leader. "We shall use the updated Guizhong Ballistas to fight off that god! All the adepti here can lend their strength to man it."

You prepare your sword, gripping it tightly even though you could feel your blood staining the grip, as Ningguag puts her hands together and calls out to everyone on the chamber. "We have not a moment to spare! Our battle begins now!"

Ningguang's body erupts in gold, using her geo abilities to light up the Jade Chamber and activate the mechanism that creates the large, glass-like platform. With a swipe of her hand, four Guizhong Ballistas appear in a flash of light.

Moon Carver, Cloud Retainer, and Mountain Shaper all took there place at a Guizhong Ballista. Your curiosity for who would take the forth was quickly answered when Jinfeng threw her umbrella to the side.

Her body began to morph, feathers sprouting all over her skin, neck branching off to form other heads. The transformation was grotesque, but you couldn't stop yourself from gaping at it. Standing in front of you was a gorgeous, abnormally large, phoenix with bright red feathers that shimmer iridescently and nine heads, each one looking vaguely human and vaguely bird-like.

Its - Jinfeng's - enormous wings fluttered and she gracefully flew to the leftover Guizhong Ballista.

You were so in shock at the transformation that not even the bright, golden blasts from the ballistas and the shrieks of Osial didn't shake you. Only when Ariel roughly grabbed your bicep and jerked you to look at him, did you pay attention.

"Hey! You wanted to be here, so get your mind out of the clouds! Pay attention." Ariel yells, eyes narrowed.

You shook your head. You had to focus. The Fatui would show up soon, you're already dizzy and tired, you can't afford to be distracted now, even if what you saw was weird as fuck. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

Ariel let go of your arm and nodded. You focused your attention back on the adepti only to notice the portals being formed that allowed a swarm of Fatui agents onto the glass platform.

You grip your sword, take a deep breath, and jump into the fray.

-

You slashed and dodged and ducked without a thought. Your blade was covered in blood from the damage you inflicted on the swarm of agents but you had no time to think about it when another arrow nearly impaled itself in your knee had you not spun out of the way.

The thing that helped you the most was that the Fatui agents weren't actually aiming to fight you. Their focus was the ballistas, and though they would fight you to defend themselves, once your attention was not on them, they would return to their task of destroying the ballistas.

From the corner of your eyes you could see Aether, Keching, the Millelith soldiers and Xiao taking down as many Fatui agents as they could, but it seems the agency had pulled every recruit they could as once one agent went down, four more would appear.

Ariel had joined you at one point, abandoning his holy weapons to simply punch the agents in the face. In the chaos, no one noticed the invisible force helping to take down the enemy.

Eventually you noticed the number beginning to dwindle. Instead of four appearing there were three, and then two, then one, and soon, Fatui agents were no longer being replaced.

A little group still surrounded you. Your breathing was heavy and sharp, the strange tingle in the back in your throat that you get after running too long. Your hands were numb, not just from the blood loss, but from the freezing cold rain that soaked your form. Your body trembled and your vision was hazy, but you still held your sword strongly and rushed forward to take care of this last group.

When the last of the Fatui agents were taken out by Keching, the adepti refocused their power in the ballistas to center their attack and send out a devastating blast to Osial.

The beam of light caused the god to let out a horrible shriek. The cries of pain grated against your ears and the roar shook your core.

Three of the Osial heads converged their power, shooting it into the sky in a beam of blue light. The beam sent out shockwaves that managed to reach the chamber, causing you, and many others, to stumble on the platform.

It seems that everyone's eyes had collectively widened when the beam broke into several falling chunks of hail. Hail, that landed right on the platform you were standing on.

The glass cracked, deadly veins spreading through the platform, and it was like the air escaped your lungs. You turned and took off, paying no mind to the glass cracking under your feet in the hope that if you'd ignored it, your body wouldn't freeze.

But then it happened, you felt the open air under your feet, and it was like your heart rose to your throat when you began to fall.

You were vaguely aware of many soldiers falling around you, steadily being picked up by the adepti. Falling debris surrounded you and for just a moment, it was as if time slowed down.

The sounds of the screams of the soldiers, the crashing of large pieces of debris in the ocean, the shattering of more glass, the screaming, the screaming, the screaming. You weren't sure if it was you or someone else, but you were sure that it was at least Ariel.

In that slow motion, you noticed the stark fear in his eyes, his wings curled behind him like he was diving, and his arms desperately stretched out. You only had half a thought to reach back.

He's trying to catch me. You thought. Your fingertips brushed his before you slammed against the raging waters of the ocean, your vision going instantly black.

-

It was a completely encompassing, surrounding darkness. You felt it gather around your body, trapping your limbs in their uncomfortable spread position, arms twisted and legs bent terribly. You couldn't see, the blackness heavily shadowing your eyes, but you could still feel the pain of your broken bones and bloody fingers. Heavy syrup coated your body and a disgustingly metallic smell filled your nostrils, burning them to the point tears gathered in the corners of your eyes, slowly sliding down your bloody cheek.

You wished you could move, wished you could drag yourself away from this nothing, this never-ending nothing, but not even your fingers, would twitch, and you laid there with stilted breathing. Muffled noises entered your ears, it sounded like conversation but it could hardly be heard with the ringing in your own ears.

You felt a hand cup your cheek, uncomfortably warm compared to the chill of your dying body. They were speaking to you now, the other hand cupping your face and trying to get you to open your eyes. Despite the muffling and the ringing, you could hear their voice become steadily more frantic the longer you didn't respond.

You wanted to respond, truly, but a deep-seated apathy came over you, like a blanket weighing down your already unmoving limbs. Your brain felt fuzzy and you couldn't care to even open your eyes and let the frantic person now cradling you to their body know that you were still alive. With the movement to that person's chest, you slowly realized a gush of blood had trickled down your throat, matting your already crumpled clothes, the one holding onto you let out a pathetic scream and gripped your body tighter.

You noticed your breathing was slowing down, short breaths became short and farther apart. You were hanging on by a string now, you could tell. It was odd to be so acutely aware of the way you were dying, to understand every last breath taken and every feeling of calm, no, resignation, to your own death. It almost scared you, it definitely would've if you felt anything anymore, but both your emotions and the pain in your body was disappearing.

The last thing you heard was a desperate cry.