Ren
'I've been walking for a while…' Ren thought.
The further he went, the quieter it became. Not silent, but the kind of eerie quiet where just talking normally could sound too loud.
He walked past the area where the Fatuu's camps were, and the area became much darker. He put out his hand, channeling concentrated Electro through it to create some light.
Looking ahead, Yoda was leading the way without issue. They didn't seem on guard at all, which meant that there weren't any monsters nearby.
'Why are there no monsters?' in an area like the Chasm, where negative energy saturated every area, a lack of monsters was concerning. Because that could either mean that there was too much concentrated negative energy for monsters to cluster, or there was a monster strong enough to wipe everything else out.
In the sections closer to camp, there had been some monsters. Shadowy Husks, some Hillichurls here and there.
Down here, there was nothing. No movement in the side tunnels, no energy signatures that spiked.
Honestly, it just made him even more on guard. Silence was never a good thing.
He pushed the thought back down where it belonged and kept his senses spread as wide as the environment would allow. The saturation down here was a problem. Every direction he reached in his awareness came back the same.
A dense, blended mass of negative energy that blurred together into something he couldn't parse individual signatures from.
It was like trying to hear a specific conversation in a room full of people all talking at once. Unless something was actively spiking its output, it was going to be invisible to him.
'At least Yoda isn't having trouble tracking.'
Every time the tunnel branched, Yoda was able to pick a direction immediately. He just turned and went, and Ren followed his shikigami with confidence.
'The Ten Shadows really is one of the most useful techniques ever.' Ren thought. If anyone looked deeper into the Ten Shadows, all the shikigami's abilities were very useful for utility.
Tracking, transportation, defence, and offence. The Ten Shadows had it all.
'Hopefully I find Nikolay soon. I really don't want to stay here any longer than—What the?'
He stopped.
His senses had caught something. A sudden spike not far ahead, maybe two tunnel lengths and a turn.
It was a concentrated spike that cut through the blended ambient energy and immediately got his attention.
But the signature was odd.
'A Vision wielder?' He focused on it properly. The elemental component was there. He could sense the lingering energy of Pyro that was left after someone used their Vision.
But underneath it, wrapped through it, was a layer of negative energy that had no business being there. Visions weren't supposed to carry any negative energy.
Whatever this was had both.
He honed his senses tighter and tried to categorize the negative energy specifically. It had faint similarities to Xiao's Karma, like something that had been accumulated.
It was also unstable like Karma, but in an odd way.
Karma was unstable in its volatility. Whatever this was was struggling just to keep its energy going. Like it was constantly working on maintaining itself, actually hurting itself just by manifesting.
'It's having trouble keeping itself existing.'
Yoda had stopped. He was looking back at Ren with his head tilted.
Ren got the message immediately and ran.
He turned the corner and immediately found what he was looking for.
It was a wider section of the tunnel. Three Shadowy Husks spread across the passage, surrounding one retreating figure.
Against the far wall, a figure was propped up with one hand braced flat against the rock. One leg bent at an angle that made Ren wince just looking at it.
'Nikolay!'
Nikolay was just barely conscious. His head was up, which meant he was still trying to fight, but the rest of him wasn't participating much.
His other hand hung at his side, his "Vision" on his hip still faintly warm with the last of what it had output.
The Husks went in for the kill.
Ren didn't give them the chance.
'Rabbit Escape!'
Dozens of anemo rabbits erupted from the shadows around him, swarming over the three Husks in a mass that shoved them back from Nikolay in every direction.
It wasn't an attack. He just needed them to get away from Nikolay.
He dispersed them the moment the path was clear and did a second hand sign before the Husks could recover.
'Orochi!'
The Great Serpent came up from the shadows fast, its body filling the passage, and leaving the Husks nowhere to retreat. It made quick work of them.
With three separate jaw snaps, the fight was over.
Ren quickly ran over to Nikolay's side.
He crouched down and got his first proper look at the leg. Up close, it looked worse, but not too bad that he'd die.
'He's still savable.' his mind was racing, 'I need to make a cast to hold his leg so I can bring him back—'
And then he saw the dark staining along the edges of the open wounds.
'...Oh shit.'
Black sludge. It had gotten into a few of his wounds, the dark tinge seeping in Nikolay's flesh and creating dark veins that slowly spread throughout.
'I'm sure they have medical supplies back at the camp to treat his leg—.' He ran through the situation quickly. 'But what about the infection? Anton said the sludge was corrosive. What's it going to do inside a wound?'
He stared at the staining for a moment.
Then a thought appeared.
'Could I absorb it?'
His body passively absorbed negative energy, even if it was pretty slow. The sludge was negative energy in a concentrated physical form—at least that's what he thinks it is.
If he were in close physical contact with Nikolay, maybe his absorption would pull some of it out before the damage could become fatal.
He wasn't sure that was how it worked. He wasn't sure about much of the specifics of how any of this worked.
But it was the best theory he had, so he went with it.
Nikolay made a groaning sound. His eyes were half-open, looking at Ren without much focus.
"You're Katarina's brother?" Ren asked, mostly just to check how conscious he was.
Nikolay blinked slowly, then moved his head slightly in a nod.
"Alright. I'm going to get you back. Try not to pass out."
Not like Nikolay was in any state to respond, so Ren got to work quickly.
He pulled Orochi's extension and pushed Geo out in a rough cast shape around the broken leg, forming it carefully to keep the bone as immobile as he could manage.
The process made him very nervous as he forgot what the right thing to do was when someone had a broken femur.
'This is what I get for dozing off in dad's lectures!' Beating himself up internally, 'But I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to just realign the thing, so I'll need to keep it immobile.'
Then he stripped off his shirt, tore it into strips, and used them to tie the cast in place. He would have used Geo for it, but he didn't like the idea of something too hard holding a broken leg in place.
'I should really read more books about dealing with injuries…'
The Geo platform came next. A flat, stable surface that he shaped beneath Nikolay and then pushed to lift. He kept his focus on it as it rose, feeling the drain of maintaining a floating construct.
'This is annoying,' he thought, adjusting the angle slightly. It took more concentration than he'd have liked. Moving constructs were easy. Keeping them floating was a pain in the ass and drained more CE than he'd like.
He settled it at a height he could control comfortably, then looked at Yoda.
"Lead the way."
Yoda woofed and immediately ran, with Ren running behind the shikigami in turn.
"I really hope I don't drop him," he muttered.
/ — /
The walk back was less smooth than Ren would have preferred.
He kept the Geo platform stable for the most part.
The issue was the tunnels themselves. Narrow in really odd places, and the walls were closer than he'd like. Maintaining a floating construct while also moving at pace and following a dog through the dark took a level of multitasking that was draining.
THUD.
Nikolay's head knocked against the cave wall.
He groaned.
"Sorry!" Ren winced and adjusted the platform's angle. "Not used to using Geo like this, haha…"
Nikolay said nothing. Probably for the best.
They kept moving. Yoda set a pace that was fast enough to be urgent and slow enough that Ren could keep the platform from hitting anything else…For the most part.
There were two more incidents with narrow sections that Ren chose not to apologize for verbally on the grounds that drawing attention to them would only make things worse.
He was focusing on the path ahead when his senses drifted back to Nikolay.
Specifically, to the object on his hip.
He'd clocked it briefly when he first reached him, but filed it away because of Nikolay's injuries. Now, with nothing to do but follow Yoda and keep the platform level, he let himself actually analyze the object.
The lingering energy was still there. The Pyro signature he'd felt had died down, but underneath it, the negative energy component was still lingering.
'What is that thing?'
It looked similar to a Vision, which was probably on purpose. But the construction was different, he could feel that even without touching it.
Visions had a specific quality to their energy. It was literally a gift from the heavens and emitted nothing but pure positive energy. This had that same elemental structure, but only on the surface.
'The inner workings are all negative energy…' Ren observed quietly. 'This thing is man-made.'
He kept the thought turning while he navigated another turn.
They made something that functioned like a Vision but wasn't one. And the way they'd done it, the negative energy woven through the elemental, made him realize something.
'They are using negative energy to recreate the effects of a Vision…'
He'd barely finished the thought when the implication hit him.
'That's exactly how cursed tools work!'
It was similar in logic. But the specifics were clearly different, the energy types weren't the same, the construction was its own thing.
But the underlying logic was the same. Take negative energy, shape it into something structured, and make it functional.
Ren was pretty sure all of the soldiers back at the camp had this, so he beat himself up a little for only noticing now.
'How could the Fatui mass produce an off-brand Vision?'
He wanted to ask Nikolay about it. But the man was clearly exhausted and in no condition to be answering any questions. So he filed the thought away for now.
The familiar flicker of the camp's light appeared at the end of the next passage. Yoda accelerated.
They came through into the wider area, his presence immediately known by all the Fatuu's. Their heads turned instantly, and he heard someone shouting.
Katarina was already moving before Ren had fully cleared the tunnel entrance.
"Nikolay—!" She reached the platform, both hands hovering over her brother, shaking violently. "You— what happened to his leg, what—"
"I'll explain later!" Ren said, turning to shout at the camp, "He needs medical attention!"
At the same time, someone was already shouting for the medics. Another Fatui agent grabbed Ren's arm and told him to follow.
Ren nodded and followed them to the medical camp.
/ — /
Ren stood outside a small tent in the medical camp. Through the opening, Ren could see Nikolay on a proper cot, breathing steadily.
Katarina was in the chair beside him, asleep with her head tipped forward and her hands still loosely holding her brother's.
He'd been standing outside for a while.
"How is he?"
The medic—Verochka, if he remembered correctly—glanced at the tent and then back at him.
"He will live." She said with certainty. Honestly, Ren was surprised that she looked more optimistic than the other agents, given her role so closely tied to death. "If you had arrived any later, that would not be the case."
"That's good…" Ren stared at the two of them for a moment longer.
Something about the sight, family caring and looking out for each other… It reminded him of home.
Ren quickly shook his head, filing the feeling away before it got anywhere.
He missed his family.
"Is he dealing with any infections?" he said, turning back to Verochka. "I saw Black Sludge in some of his wounds when I found him."
She shook her head slowly. "We found no traces of infection or corruption. Which admittedly is... odd."
"Odd how?"
"The Black Sludge is highly corrosive to organic matter. Nikolay's wounds should have shown significant corruption by the time you reached him." She folded her arms loosely. "The fact that he is relatively unscathed is nothing short of a miracle. Truly, long live Her Majesty."
"Y-Yeah," Ren said. "A miracle."
He did not mention that he had purposely been in close physical contact with Nikolay to make sure his body had probably been pulling the sludge's negative energy out the whole time.
'I'm glad it worked, even if just a little.' Ren allowed himself a small smile, 'But I am gonna need to buy a new shirt. This one they gave is uncomfortable.'
"You should sit down," Verochka said. "You have been standing here since you brought him back."
Ren blinked. "Have I?"
He actually wasn't tired at all. The rescue barely touched his reserves or demanded any stamina. But Nikolay was stable, and Katarina was finally getting some rest.
Hovering outside their tent wasn't doing anyone any good. He gave the siblings one last look and walked with Verochka back toward the main camp.
When he got there, he was surprised to see no one at all.
"Where's everyone else?"
"They have started packing up, we are going to be leaving soon after all." She explained.
Verochka steered him to a chair by a small fire and handed him a cup of water without asking. He took it and drank half of it in one go, then leaned back and allowed himself to relax.
He felt tension leaving his body for the first time in the entire day. 'This trip really took an unexpected turn…'
"You said you are a courier?" Verochka settled into the chair across from him.
"That's right."
She put a hand under her chin and made a thoughtful sound. "You have a considerable amount of strength for a courier."
'Oh, so this is where it's going.'
"It's a very demanding job." He sat a little straighter. "And I am but a small business, do you have any idea how much manual labor I have to do?"
She tilted her head.
"Well, it's a lot, just so you know."
That got a soft, short laugh from her. "Forgive me, I wasn't trying to pry." She held her cup a little tighter. "I just... wanted to say thank you. Properly. If you hadn't appeared, none of us would have made it out."
"I already told you all it's no problem—"
"It is a problem," she said quietly, but with enough firmness that he didn't interrupt. "You saved our lives, you saved this operation, and you helped the Fatui and Ninth Company… We will do whatever we can to repay that."
Even with the mask and the covered eyes, Ren could still feel her genuine, thankful gaze.
He let out a short breath, turning his head to the side. "Fine. Do whatever you want."
She seemed satisfied with that. The fire crackled. The two of them enjoyed a short moment of peaceful quiet.
Ren glanced at her again.
He'd been so focused on the tent and the water that he hadn't actually registered her properly until now.
The rest of the Ninth Company was head-to-toe in battle gear. Verochka was... not. Dark blue. Considerably less coverage than the others. Especially around—
'She looks like an animefied shrine maiden, those thighs are so—CONTROL YOURSELF!'
He shook his head hard. Which made Verochka give him a mildly concerned look.
He let his mind drift to the Fatui soldiers he saw before. All had different builds and gear, but each of them had a specific color scheme. He'd previously assumed it correlated with the kind of Vision they had.
Verochka was mostly dark blue, so she must have control over Hydro.
'Except there's no way those are Visions.'
"Something on your mind?"
He looked back at her. "Actually, yeah. Can I ask you something?"
She tilted her head. "Go ahead."
"You use Hydro, right?"
"Yes." She reached up and held out the object attached just beneath her collarbone. "My Hydro Vision. In the Fatui, I am what's known as a Mirror Maiden."
Ren was too focused on the "Vision" to notice the absurdity of a shrine maiden being in an army.
"...That's not actually a Vision, is it?"
Immediately, Verochka went rigid.
Her fingers tightened around it immediately, and her posture became much more alert. Her mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out.
The fire crackled between them, and Ren could see her growing more nervous by the second.
'Ok, now I feel kinda bad for asking… But I still need to know what that is.' He kept his gaze steady on her, and it looked like she was about to say something when someone else joined in the conversation.
"You are very perceptive, comrade."
Anton settled into the third chair like he'd been there the whole time, arms resting on his knees, looking as relaxed as ever.
Verochka flinched at his sudden appearance, but she still hadn't calmed down.
Anton turned to look at Ren, "What we possess are man-made alternatives to Visions," he said plainly. Which surprised both Verochka and Ren.
Verochka was about to voice her complaints, but Anton held up a hand. "He's done much for us, the least we can do is answer some questions."
She was still hesitant. Turning to look at Ren one more time before relenting.
"Thank you." Anton said, "We call them Delusions. They are how we—the Fatui—became as strong as we are now."
'That's why practically all of them have Visions. They just made their own!'
That's both impressive and terrifying. The strongest military force in Teyvat is all capable of elemental manipulation. Not because of a gift from the gods, but because of an off-brand Vision they made themselves.
"How did they make these?"
Anton gave a short exhale. "That, I genuinely don't know. How Delusions are produced is not information given to soldiers of our rank. I believe only the Harbingers and the Tsaritsa know."
Ren pushed his senses out and focused on the Delusion in Anton's hand. The negative energy beneath the elemental structure was clear now that he knew what he was looking for.
It was dense, with striking similarities to Karma running through its core.
From this observation alone, he had a theory forming about how it was made, but he kept it to himself.
"Fair enough." He leaned back. Then he gave Anton a small smirk, "Any chance you'd give me one?"
Anton laughed out loud, "I think you already know the answer to that, comrade."
Ren sighed. "Worth a shot."
A man-made vision using negative energy as the functional core.
The logic was the same as cursed tools. Which meant if he could get his hands on one properly, he could understand its construction and have a framework for making his own.
'That's the key to being able to make cursed tools. A Delusion.'
He just needed to get his hands on one. Which was apparently not happening today.
Inwardly, Ren wondered if he could just wander Liyue's wilderness to find a random Fatui corpse and take their Delusion. Though that'd be pretty unlikely.
He turned back to Verochka, who had relaxed slightly but was still watching him with a wary expression.
"Sorry for putting you on the spot," he said, feeling bad for the woman, "Should have known that it was a secret."
She blinked, then let out a slow breath. "It's alright... I am curious how you found out, though."
"Don't ask me things, and I won't ask you things."
"You were the one who asked first."
"Touché."
/ — /
Ren stood at the edge of the main camp and looked at everything that had been piled up.
'That's... a lot of stuff.'
It was neatly stacked, he'd give them that.
Crates and bags in organized rows, equipment bundled and tied, nothing haphazard about the arrangement. It was just research materials, documents in waterproofed cases, and other miscellaneous items.
Nothing he could reasonably tell them to leave behind.
Movement to his left. Nikolay was on a proper stretcher, propped up slightly, talking quietly with Katarina. He must have sensed Ren looking because he turned his head mid-conversation and met his eyes.
He gave a short nod.
Ren returned it.
Anton appeared at his shoulder. "More stuff than we anticipated." He winced slightly. "But we have to bring these up. Are we able to transport it?"
"It'll take some adjusting," Ren hummed. "But yeah, I can make it work."
A shout from the back of the camp. One of the agents signaled they were finished. Anton turned and shouted for everyone to gather up.
Not long after, eighteen people were standing in clean lines in the main camp.
'These really are soldiers.'
Even after everything they'd been through down here, they still acted so professional. It was commendable, honestly.
Ren could never see himself as a soldier, but these guys definitely deserved respect.
"Alright. Don't be alarmed when I do this."
He did a hand sign.
The shadows under his feet spread outward across the cave floor, and a massive head broke the surface first.
"Hssss…"
Orochi's slitted eyes caught the firelight before the rest of its body followed, the Great Serpent rising out of the dark until its entire body was visible. It let out a slow hiss that moved the air in the entire space.
Every Fatui soldier froze.
A few of them must have been scared of snakes because they were trembling. But they all managed to stay put in front of the shikigami.
"Orochi." Ren looked up at the enormous snake. "I need you to build a construct on your back. Something that can carry these people and those crates. Can you do that?"
Orochi's gaze moved slowly across the assembled soldiers and then the stacked supplies. Then it looked back at Ren with an expression that was very displeased. It clearly saw this as a hit to its dignity.
"It's just for a little while."
Orochi sighed, or whatever the snake equivalent of a sigh was.
Its body began to glow, Geo energy building along the upper length of its spine. Rocky formations grew and spread and joined together, shaped into two large enclosed boxes that reinforced themselves against Orochi's back with a deep resonant hum.
It didn't look pretty, but it would do.
Ren turned back to the group with a smug expression. "Load up."
The process was slow. Nobody was enthusiastic about moving cargo toward a giant snake, but they did it, the soldiers giving Orochi a wide berth as they stacked the crates and bags into the first construct.
Orochi, for its part, discovered that it could make sudden sharp noises and that doing so caused several agents to drop things.
It did this several times.
"Alright," Ren said finally. "People now."
"C-Comrade." Anton was standing just outside the box entrance. "Are we certain this is safe?"
"Completely." Ren stepped in first. "Orochi is very reliable."
Anton looked at Orochi. Orochi looked at Anton with its slitted eyes, almost as if it was mocking the man.
Anton sighed and went inside.
The box was more cramped than it appeared from the outside. Handles had been built into the walls, but eighteen people made it tight.
Nikolay was settled against one wall with his broken leg stabilized by a small secondary Geo construct.
He looked around at the available space. "Couldn't have made it a little bigger?"
Orochi shook the entire box.
"N-No!" Anton grabbed a handle with both hands so tightly that his knuckles went white. "It's perfect! Nobody say anything!"
Ren laughed. He reached out through the link.
'You know what to do. Get us up without alerting the Millelith.'
He felt Orochi respond, and then the box began to tremble. Several soldiers shouted as the Great Serpent drove upward through the rock, tunneling toward the surface with the whole camp riding on its back.
/ — /
The northern gate had been quiet all evening. Two Millelith guards yawned after another day of gate duty.
"You think Lao Wen will actually bring the dumplings tomorrow?" the shorter guard said, not looking up from the road.
"He said he would." The taller one shifted his spear to the other hand. "He also said that last week."
"And the week before."
"Yup."
The sun was dropping behind the harbor rooftops, painting everything in a beautiful orange hue. The road outside the gate was empty, creating a peaceful atmosphere at the end of the day.
Then eighteen Fatui soldiers appeared out of nowhere.
"What the—Halt!" he shouted.
A group of people in Fatui gear was standing outside with a pile of cargo crates between them. They looked… extremely tired and dirty.
But even so, the sudden appearance made the two guards anxious. They raised their weapons in warning.
Anton stepped forward with a piece of paper in his hand.
"We're part of Ninth Company!" He brought the paper to the guard.
"A contract?"
Anton nodded, "We were operating with the Qixing for an operation in the Chasm before an incident left us trapped. Only now were we able to get out."
The guard inspected the contract carefully, noting the official stamp of the ministry. He motioned for his partner to lower his weapon.
What happened next was what could only be described as controlled chaos.
A senior Millelith officer appeared out of nowhere, giving orders to countless personnel. Medics and doctors arrived to help with the injured soldiers, and they carried Nikolay off.
Another group assessed the contents of the cargo, with Anton discussing with the present officers.
From a narrow gap between two buildings across the road, Ren watched it happen with a relieved sigh.
He'd found the spot the moment Orochi dissolved. It was far enough from the gate that the Millelith sweep wouldn't see him, and close enough that he had a clear line of sight on everything.
He leaned against the wall with his arms folded and let the scene play out without him.
There was nothing left to do. The Ninth Company was being processed, the medics had Nikolay on a proper stretcher, and Katarina was walking beside her brother and hadn't left his side since they surfaced.
Some soldiers even hugged each other in relief that they had gotten out.
'From 64 down to 18 people… It must have been torture.' But seeing them all safe made his little detour all worth it.
Ren exhaled slowly. 'Everything worked out.'
'Pretty good for an accidental rescue mission. But I wonder where Xiao is—'
"Not bad."
"!"
Ren turned his head around so fast that he thought it would snap.
Xiao was standing directly behind him.
His arms were folded, and he was staring at him with the same unreadable expression he had at Wangshu Inn.
Though oddly enough, he could see some grime and scratches on his body. No doubt because of some battle.
"...Have you been standing there the entire time?"
/ — /
"Sooo, did you leave the Chasm or were you constantly watching me?"
"No." Xiao's gaze moved back to the gate briefly. "There were Abyss Lectors that appeared in great numbers. Dealing with them required my full attention and drove me near the Chasm entrance. Finding my way back to you took some time."
'Was that an apology?'
It wasn't an apology in any conventional sense. But for the ever so stoic Yaksha, Ren really couldn't ask for more.
Not that he would.
Honestly, a part of him had just expected Xiao not to show up at all.
He didn't know what to say. So he said nothing.
Xiao took that as a sign to continue. "What I observed today, and what I have observed across Liyue in the months since your arrival, is sufficient."
Ren blinked. "Sufficient for what?"
"Your presence does not endanger this nation." Xiao's eyes were on him now, this time, with a glint of acknowledgement. "You have demonstrated that consistently… What you did today, acting to help people you had no obligation to, confirmed the rest."
Xiao might have been overestimating Ren's generosity a little.
While he did help the Fatui because it was the right thing any person would do. He also did it to gain a good word with the Fatui. It wasn't completely for selfless reasons.
But he didn't voice any of that.
"You are welcome in Liyue," Xiao said. "Ren Roman. I acknowledge your presence as a valued and protected citizen of this nation."
Ren was speechless.
Of all the ways he expected the day to end, this was just…
Ren opened his mouth, but in a blink, Xiao was gone.
He let out a slow breath, sliding his back down the building wall.
"I need a nap."
/ — /
Anton
"Oh, how I've missed an actual bed!"
Anton lay in the bed inside his guest room, sighing in satisfaction at the soft mattress. After months of sleeping on rocks, this felt like heaven.
Not a bedroll on cave stone, not a folded-up coat over gravel. A real bed. He exhaled slowly and let his entire body stop holding itself together for the first time in months.
'I could sleep for a hundred years…'
"I'm glad your company made it out safely."
"What the fuck!"
Anton shot out of the bed and brandished his weapon before staring at the intruder.
A man was sitting in the chair beside the cot. He was dressed plainly, but the pyro delusion on his hip showed that he was one of his own.
The man looked at Anton's weapon, raising a brow in amusement.
"Volkov," Anton said, lowering the weapon slowly. "Didn't expect to see you in Liyue. What—"
"Was it Ren Roman?" Volkov asked. "The one who brought you out."
Anton stopped dead in his tracks. Why was he asking about Ren?
He had a suspicion it was because Ren was too strong for any normal courier. That he'd earned the attention of the Fatui.
A part of him felt bad for selling Ren out, but it was just how things worked.
He nodded.
'Sorry, comrade.'
***
[TEASER ]
Where one Harbinger and two descenders finally let loose. (Image)