Makoto feared she knew what was the drawing about. She was almost certain she had already seen it somewhere, a few hundred years ago in a dream she could never forget.
She knew of something she should not, knew of the existence of a God that was hidden, forgotten by people. A God she knew used to rule over Mondstadt for a while.
...She didn't know anything more about that God, nothing about how that God came to be in Enkanomiya, nothing about what brought that same God from Mondstadt to the sunken nation beneath Watatsumi.
As she opened her eyes, she took a look around here, watching the remaining archons materialize besides her. They were in Watatsumi Island, in front of the Sangonomiya Shrine.
At least, she could say the portal they had admittedly really recklessly jumped in did lead them to where they wanted to go. It was a relief on its own, to know that they weren't stuck somewhere else, or in Celestia.
The relief wqs short lived as Makoto knew they didn't have much time. Celestia would surely be after them for killing a Shade.
Makoto's eyebrows furrowed. They had killed the Shade relatively easily.
Too easily, for her taste.
The Plume of Death shouldn't have died that quickly. The Shade should have known they would trap her, would try to block her.
She should have been smarter, and something just didn't sit right with Makoto.
Archons... She wasn't sure if archons had enough power to win against a Shade, much less kill one. Could it be that the Plume of Death's powers somehow started diminishing? It couldn't be...
If it was, what would have caused it, then?
Getting closer to the edge, Makoto peered down, only to be met with the still water, the closed portal to Enkanomiya.
She hoped that if someone could answer all their questions, it would be Istaroth.
She seemed to be linked to Celestia, in some strange way Makoto couldn't understand, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it.
If they wanted to meet Istaroth, they would have to open the portal and fast. It wouldn't take long for Celestia to notice their absence, and she feared Inazuma would be their next target.
Makoto startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her head to see Morax looking at her with a straight face.
"Are you alright?"
Makoto nodded. "It's this way," she said calmly while looking back down.
"What is this?" she heard Tsaritsa ask.
"I will explain everything later," was her curt answer.
Turning back around, she assessed the situation. They were seven in total, and they had to find two sigils to activate the portal. Focalors had woken up, having suffered from a small concussion, but Makoto would rather she stay here with someone, preferably Rukkhadevata so the Dendro Archon could sooth her with some herbs, if she was carrying some on her person. That leaved them to five.
"Morax, I will need you to come with me," she said, to which the Geo Archon nodded. "Murata, Tsaritsa, you will go with the stranger."
Makoto moved, walked until she faced the North side of Watatsumi Island. She pointed to the horizon. "There, besides the sea right on the shore. A sigil is hidden there. I need you to retrieve it," she paused, lowering her hand, moving a bit then pointing to a strange structure below them, a bit far but still visible, easily accessible by gliding from where they stood.
"Once done, please activate the altar and come back here."
Turning back around, she waited until the three of them nodded, before signaling for Morax to follow her.
"Where are we going?"
"You see that waterfall?" she waited until Morax found the place she was pointing at. "There is a cave beside it."
The process was rather fast. All they had to do was glide to the cave, get the sigil and activate the second altar.
Then they would go to Enkanomiya.
Makoto wondered, would she finally get to know more about Istaroth? Was she even a being that existed? Makoto feared Istaroth was just a being that she had imagined because of her strange obsession with the God of Time, she feared she was leading all the archons to their impending doom because really, that was what awaited them when Celestia would figure out they went to Enkanomiya to search for forbidden knowledge.
Makoto knew, though, that she had no other choice but to find Istaroth.
She could only reassure herself with the fact that they weren't necessarily searching for something that was forbidden, rather they were searching for one person who - Makoto was pretty sure - would enlighten them on Barbatos more than anyone other than the Anemo Archon himself ever could.
There wasn't even a single doubt in her mind about that. She knew very well that the God of Time used to rule Mondstadt before she mysteriously disappeared, shortly replaced by another God that fell at the time Barbatos' reign started.
Reign, if she could even call it that.
It only made sense in Makoto's mind that wherever the God of Time was, she still kept an eye on Mondstadt.
"You are strangely quiet, Makoto," Morax said, interrupting her train of thoughts.
She hummed. The two of them were walking to the altar, having successfully gotten the sigil.
"And so are you," she replied.
Makoto liked to think she was a rather observant Archon - even if she couldn't manage to figure out the obvious concerning Barbatos, Venti. And now he was gone, corrupted, slowly eaten from the inside by a force that surpassed him.
However, she also knew he had fought the corruption once. She hoped he would be able to do it again.
Makoto desperately tried to ignore the voice at the back of her head that told her he would have done so already if he could, he probably wouldn't have succumbed to the corruption if he had been able to fight it.
But looking at it from another angle, Barbatos had also been very weakened when he was sitting in that chair. It was already hard to overcome corruption, so it would only make sense for a weak and drained out Archon to be unable to resist long.
Ever since Barbatos had disappeared after that one faithful meeting in Jueun Karst... none of the archons could say they were still the same.
Rukkhadevata had revealed to them she had a child, told them how guilty she felt because she of all people should know not to judge a child too quickly - and even though Barbatos wasn't really a child, he was still he youngest Archon. They should have known better.
Tsaritsa started slowly becoming lonelier, colder. It wasn't until they started their trek for Mondstadt that they all really noticed how much she had distanced herself from them. Makoto never got around to ask her, but she knew she should. She knew, because none of them cared to ask Barbatos how he was, if he needed something, how he felt.
She feared leaving Tsaritsa on her own would have the same effect on her.
Murata, while still loud, became less rash, started thinking twice before speaking. She understood very well where she wronged Barbatos, and was determined to correct her wrong. It was admirable, Makoto thought.
Her mind took her back to the Weinselefest festival, when Murata had ran after Venti. The Pyro Archon had come back to them an hour later with a disappointed expression. She had explained that she hadn't been able to find Venti, no matter how hard she looked.
The guy had simply vanished.
Now, it all made more sense.
It warmed Makoto's heart that subconsciously, Murata had cared for Venti. She had unknowingly cared for Barbatos.
Focalors... Well, she had sworn she would pay more attention to the small details. She started valuing justice more than anything, looked deeper into things before making her judgment.
She had said to the other archons that she tried to imagine what it would have been like if she had given Barbatos a second chance instead of judging him for things she barely knew anything about.
As for Morax, well... it was complicated to say.
Makoto threw a side look at the Geo Archon.
He was undoubtfully the one that had changed the most out of the six of them. He became much calmer, learnt how to control his temper better.
Makoto also suspected his guilt went deeper than what they had all seen on the surface.
Morax... She didn't know just how much he felt guilty about the whole situation, but she knew he wasn't telling them everything.
"I have," he simply responded to her previous statement.
She wanted to ask, but she felt like it was neither the place nor the time to do so. So she would wait. That's all it seemed she could do. Wait.
"Here we are," she said, looking at the altar straight ahead.
Putting the sigil in its place, they watched as the altar lit up, indicating that their work here was clearly done.
While Makoto doubted the other had already gotten the sigil, she signaled for Morax to go back to the corals in front of the shrine. They would wait for the others there, and check up on Focalors.
She hoped the Hydro Archon felt better.
It turned out she jad guessed correctly. Upon arriving, she couldn't see the second group anywhere, nor did the portal to Enkanomiya change in any way.
It was still water, forming a closed pit.
Nothing more.
If only it were really like this, it would have avoided her long ago the troubles of time.
On the other hand, she wondered if they could ever have any hope of saving Barbatos if it wasn't for that same portal.
"You're back!" exclaimed Rukkhadevata.
"We are," stated Morax, soft smile on his lips upon seeing Focalors standing and seemingly well. It did also raise Makoto's spirit.
She was glad that Focalors felt better.
It only took a few more minutes before the second group reached them, smiles on their faces. Makoto guessed that their part of the mission had been successful.
Allowing a smile to spread wider on her face, she walked to the edge of the coral, followed by everyone else.
Looking down, her heart skipped a beat when she saw that even the color of the water had changed.
Its blue had turned deeper, and the water wasn't still anymore. It formed a whirlwind. Whirlwind that seemed like the calm before the storm, hiding something obscure reserved for later. Makoto was frightened by what they would see once they would jump. She had never activated Enkanomiya's portal, only knew it was there.
She didn't even know what she should expect, and that thought didn't reassure her the slightest bit.
"Now," she shakily said after she slowly exhaled, "we have to get down there."
She took a moment to look at the others beside her. There was a mixture of emotions on their faces. They all seemed as uncertain as her. She could tell none of them really wanted to see what was hidden down there.
But they also all knew that they had no other choices. The only thing they were all thinking about was Barbatos. They were doing it for him, consequences be damned.
They had already gone against Celestia, so one more offend shouldn't be that big of a deal, right?
In all cases, they were already on Celestia's bad side. Whether they went down and or not would not change anything on their current predicament.
It is with that thought in mind that Makoto jumped.
She felt the wind rush in her ears, heard the splash of water around her as she closed her eyes, felt the words turn.
She breath deeply, not knowing what awaited her.
It was terrifying. She never would have guessed that one day, she would openly go against Celestia.
If she were to tell Ei, her sister wouldn't even believe her.
What happened next was strange. Very strange.
Only a few seconds later, she felt herself free falling, wind slapping her in the face. The air was humid, much more than a few moments ago.
Makoto opened her eyes, only to be met with darkness that barely lasted as she felt freezing water engulfing her. She quickly swam to the surface, glad the water wasn't salty, and frantically looked around her for the others.
"Guys?" she called for them with a hint of panic in her voice.
Huge relief washed upon her when she almost immediately heard Tsaritsa's voice, yelling a "Here!" quickly followed by the others' voices responding to her, everyone reassuring themselves they weren't alone and had landed together.
At least, that was one thing out of the way, she thought. Her relief was short lived however as she swam to the small pond's extremity, feeling some fishes between her legs desperately getting away from the disturbance they all must have caused upon landing in the pond.
Somehow, those fishes were alive in this place. It could only be Enkanomiya. There was no other possibility.
Makoto wondered if they would see other kind of lifeforms in this place.
This was her first mistake, she realized. Thinking that no living thing lived in this sunken city.
But how could she have guessed? She had never heard of creatures able to live in the conditions Enkanomiya offered.
Fish meant living creatures. She could only hope they wouldn't come across any vicious one.
Makoto took a deep breath when she finally reached solid ground, standing besides Murata and Focalors, waiting for the others.
When everyone got to them, Makoto felt more than ever that they needed an explanation. After all, she was dragging them to some unknown place they knew nothing about without even telling them anything about it.
Not that she herself knew much, but she felt like they still deserved to know what she was thinking about, where she was leading them.
And when she looked at them all, opening her mouth and ready to give them some explanation, she finally noticed the looks they all had on their faces.
None of them seemed to doubt her. None of them seemed to regret following her in the unknown. They were all wearing determined expressions, ready to continue.
So she closed her mouth and smiled, ready to find Istaroth, to face whatever truth they would discover.
And even if Istaroth wasn't really in Enkanomiya, at least they would have tried.
She didn't know if they would find the God of Time, but one thing was for sure: they would find the tower that was drown in Celestia. Makoto knew she had seen it.
"Where to, now?" asked the stranger.
Makoto's smile only got more determined as she turned her back to them and started walking.
They entered a small cavern, blue grass familiar to Makoto, lianas hanging from the corners of the wall, water seeping from the top of the cavern on them.
It was a small passage, at the end of which they saw one of the most beautiful and yet lonelier place Makoto had ever been to.
Water was everywhere, on the ground and falling from small cascades, strange, tall rocks upon which sat giant purple flowers were scattered all around the place.
In the center, creatures Makoto never saw were circling around one of those tall rocks. Creatures that looked like purple lizards, with big tails and scales.
It wouldn't be a good idea to provoke them if they didn't know what those lizards were capable of. So they decided to counter them, passing as silently as they could, walking in water and paving the way until they finally reached dry ground again, away from the threat of the big lizards.
While walking, Makoto could distinctly make out two types of lizards: Hydro and Electro. It was fascinating, she thought, that creatures of Enkanomiya could wield the elements of the world. It made her wonder, just what more would she discover about this place?
She liked the feeling that engulfed her heart, learning about the hidden wonders of the world, things that were hidden from mortals, even from them. Things they were forbidden to know anything about.
Makoto wanted to know more than ever what kind of terrible, dark secret was Celestia hiding in Enkanomiya.
Then, the world seemed to open to them as in the horizon, they faced one big arc seeming to be broken from above, making it two arcs upon which blue plants and trees had taken refuge.
Makoto distinctly recognized those trees. She had seen the exact same ones in her dream so long ago.
"This is..." whispered Makoto.
"It's incredible..." finished the stranger for her. Makoto nodded in agreement, mouth agape, her spirit filled with wonder.
The walked closer to the broken arc. As they got closer, they noticed the strange markings glowing in blue between the two pieces of the arc. But not only that; it was strangely broken. The rocks... at the top of the arc, the rocks seemed to have eroded and were floating in the air, hovering above the arc in an unnatural way. No matter how beautiful it was, Makoto couldn't help the uneasiness she felt upon seeing it.
There was also a mechanism to activate, one she often saw on the surface. Rukkhadevata went to activate it, and they all watched as the sealed door under the markings opened to them, revealing the path to follow.
Passing under it, Makoto crossed her arms, bringing them closer to her chest, rubbing them up and down from the chills this place was giving her.
When they passed through the door, they were met with a cliff, and a long tunnel that opened before them. One by one, they jumped and glided there, landing in water again, sounds of people walking in a liquid echoing around the close cave around them.
It didn't go past Makoto the way everyone got closer to each other, as if a reassurance that they were together, avoid getting lost perhaps, or a fear of getting left alone. She had to admit, she could relate to it. That was precisely how she currently felt. But they had to make it to all the way there. They couldn't go back now; it was already too late.
The more they walked, the more the place became eerie, sinister and abandoned.
Until finally, the place seemed to brighten up a bit. The walls didn't seem to be closing around them anymore, four serpent statues were stationed around them, two on each side, with one big, tall, closed door directly in front of them.
It reminded Makoto of what they had seen in the throne room. The big throne, and the four others, smaller ones.
Once directly in front of the door, Makoto stopped, closing her eyes. She figured now was a better time than ever to tell them what she had on her mind.
"I had a dream, a few centuries ago," she said.
Makoto didn't turn around, didn't want to see their reactions, only opening her eyes again and staring at the door, wondering what she would find behind it.
No one spoke, everyone waiting to see what she would say.
"Does anyone know about Enkanomiya?" she simply asked. When she received no response, she continued. "We are in Enkanomiya right now."
Makoto would consider none of them knew what Enkanomiya was. She wouldn't explain much, just what they needed to know.
"It is a nation that sunk thousands of years ago." She paused. "I don't know why, really. But I dreamed of Enkanomiya. Of a figure I suspect to be the fourth Shade."
That had the merit to get Tsaritsa to talk. "There is a fourth?"
Morax almost immediately answered. "I always found it strange that there was four seat besides hers," there was a bite to Morax' words. A bite she hadn't heard in a while.
It took her by surprise, they way anger leaked through his voice at the simple mention of that deity. She wasn't used anymore to hear that tone coming from the Geo Archon, and it made her wonder just when exactly had Morax' respect for the Celestial beings reached such a level.
Least to say, none of the archons could say they liked Celestia. Not really. They never did.
But Celestia was terrifying.
One wouldn't want to be on their bad side. Ever.
But somehow, Barbatos did... For some reason, he dared oppose them.
"I believe she is the only one who will be able to help us," she said.
No one responded to her, silence hanging in the air.
Makoto took that as her cue to activate the mechanism sitting just at her right, putting her hand on it.
The ground shook under them, the doors rumbled, dust emanated from the sudden movement.
The doors opened.
Makoto could only stare at what presented itself in front of her. It was different from anything she had ever seen before, and yet it still felt familiar.
She knew she had seen this scenery already. She knew this wasn't anything new to her.
She knew she hadn't imagined the blue grass, the lonely and almost dying trees.
But most importantly, right in front of her, standing brightly in the horizon and shining, illuminating the entirety of the underground city, stood the tower.
That same tower she had briefly seen in her dream.
That same tower they had all seen on the parchment in Celestia.
"So this is Enkanomiya..." she whispered, her voice filled with wonder at the sight in front of her.
She knew what they were doing was very dangerous, but she couldn't help the feeling of excitement that suddenly took a hold of her.
Never would she have thought that one day, she would set foot in Enkanomiya. Her heart beat faster, ready to finally uncover the truth.
She hoped they would find what they came here for in the first place.
"So this is it..." she heard Rukkhadevata whisper behind her.
It seemed to Makoto they all shared the feeling of wonder, the satisfaction of standing in a city that would finally bring them one step closer to Barbatos.
One step they took from their free will, not a step that was dumped on them by someone they were all absolutely terrified of.
If it were to Makoto, she would have returned to Inazuma, willing to never try to search for Barbatos if it meant he wouldn't have suffered the way he did.
A gnosis...
While a gnosis isn't the source of an Archon's power, it was given to them by Celestia as a secondary heart. The heart of the gods.
It was now a part of them almost as much as a real heart was.
So to have it ripped out so violently...
Makoto shuddered at the thought, Barbatos' pained expression coming back to the surface as she thought of what they had been forced to witness.
Makoto had never wanted to see anything like this. And now, she had absolutely no idea of what was happening to him. She didn't know what they were doing to him.
But it hardened her resolve.
Just in time, the stranger spoke. "What exactly are we looking for?"
Makoto nodded slightly to herself, looking forward and trying to recognize at least what surrounded the cliff she had been looking at in her dreams.
But it was like searching a needle in a haystack.
"Some sort of spirit. Presumably on a cliff," was all she could say. All she knew about it.
"Well, that sure is helpful..." Murata muttered.
Makoto couldn't even find it in herself to get annoyed at the Pyro Archon. She could understand her frustration very well, they had absolutely nothing to help them. Makoto wondered just how much it would take them to find the God of Time, she wondered if she would reveal herself to them, if they had to somewhat prove something before they could reach her and talk to her.
Makoto held on to the hope that Istaroth wouldn't have tried to reach out to her if she didn't want her in Enkanomiya.
Or maybe Makoto was just trying to find excuses. She didn't know anymore.
She looked around her. There was no way for them to reach the other side by walking. They had to glide there again.
Opening her wind glider, Makoto took the opportunity to stare at the void beneath her. It seemed that Enkanomiya was a floating nation, after all.
Her brain couldn't help but link it back to the temple of the Thousand Winds in Mondstadt.
Once they landed, they carefully started walking, grass blue, tree seeming dead, strange carvings in the walls...
The more they walked, the more Makoto wondered just how exactly they would find that place. She guessed that the easier way to do so would probably be by following the path.
It's not like they had any other choice.
So that's what they did, walking through ruins, jumping from a part of a broken bridge to another as to avoid falling into the void that lied beneath them.
They walked through smaller versions of the flowers they had seen earlier; upon closer inspection, it seemed to Makoto liked those were corals, not flowers. They found ruins, so, so many ruins...
Makoto wanted to know what had happened here, she wanted to discover what exactly transpired in this place. She wanted to pierce the secret of what seemed to be a land that was once filled with an ancient civilization.
In the end, she lost count of how many ruins they walked by. But one thing she knew for certain was the fact that the tower was getting clearer and clearer as they walked, and Makoto had no doubt anymore that they were in the right place.
Looking to her left, she climbed on a cliff, towering over an area strangely green, with a pond sitting right in the middle. Makoto stared. She couldn't remember having seen that striking green in the scenery of her dream.
Makoto sighed as Focalors put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly.
"It's not here?" She asked.
Makoto shook her head, staring straight ahead. She turned around to look at the tall tower, everyone one facing towards her.
And then she gasped.
The light of the tower suddenly turned off as everyone startled. And there, just behind the stranger, stood a spirit. A blue, see through spirit.
Makoto's breath got stuck in her throat as she stared wide eyed at the figure she had seen that one time in her dream. It was so strange, seeing something that she thought she hallucinated. But Makoto hadn't been going insane. Her dream, it seems, had been completely accurate. She hadn't imagined anything, everything she had dreamed of that night was of something that actually existed, something that was hidden from them.
Something that she had somehow unknowingly got in contact with.
"Is that...?" whispered Murata.
Everyone seemed to be just as shocked as Makoto was. For the Electro Archon, meeting this spirit was like meeting an idol, meeting someone she had always yearned to learn more about, but never dared to.
The figure was standing still as Makoto took a few hesitant steps forward, heart beating fast. She wanted to ask so many questions that were just sitting at the tip of her tongue, only waiting to be asked, she wanted to understand why was they tower drawn in Celestia, she wanted to ask if there was really a Fourth Shade, if that Fourth Shade was Istaroth...
The figure simply raised a hand, gesturing to them they should follow it. Without waiting for an answer, it turned it's back to them and walked away. Makoto shared a quick glance with the others before they all started walking behind the spirit.
Makoto felt heavy. She pursed her lips, eyebrows furrowed. As she and the others followed the Shade, she noticed quickly they were getting closer and closer to the tower, until they stopped right at it's foot. The spirit turned and took a quick look at them, before going inside the tower.
Makoto followed, albeit with some hesitation. Despite her burning desire to save Barbatos, and her original excitement at finally being in Enkanomiya, she couldn't help but question herself once more.
She knew why she was doing this, she also knew that was the least she could do for Barbatos. Or at least, that's how she felt.
She felt conflicted, and she didn't know how she should interpret those mixed feelings.
Once inside the tower, her frown disappeared when she took in the place, stairs going in spiral to a small device that was sitting in the center.
A device in front of which someone was sitting, their back facing them.
Makoto could only assume it was a woman, if the shape of the figure in front of her was anything to go by.
Something else was fragrant. Perhaps it was the fact that the figure was fully clothed in white, hood raised on her head and fully covering her from behind. Or was it the aura that Makoto could feel emanating from that being? She didn't know.
She sucked in a deep breath when the figure finally got up, lowered her hood and turned around, looking at them, looking at her with what Makoto could only identify to be a cold, stern gaze.
.
.
.
He started hearing voices.
It wasn't all silent anymore.
He was tired...
He couldn't really understand what they were saying, he only knew people were talking.
He heard someone laugh.
Venti didn't like that laugh. It sounded bad, dark.
Evil.
He felt in danger.
He felt observed.
He felt all alone.
Venti yearned for Carmen more than he ever did.