Murata was rarely scared, if ever.
She followed Makoto without asking any questions. Venti's life was at risk. Barbatos'.
She couldn't quite come to term that Venti and Barbatos were the same person. Her mind kept repeating to her the first time she had met the bard. He had been lost in his thoughts, she had startled him. He had flinched.
Murata wondered how they could ever make it right with him, how they could ever excuse themselves properly to him.
All that time they had spent uselessly searching for him had been in vain. The Anemo Archon had been right under their nose from the very beginning, and Murata couldn't even bring herself to get mad at him.
What right did she have to?
She didn't know anything about him - she never did. She didn't know enough to judge him, she didn't know enough to pretend she could understand why he avoided them when he knew they were searching for him.
And the worst part was that she couldn't even ask him for forgiveness if he didn't want to face them, if he avoided them like the plague.
It made her think, why would he invite them to Weinselefest? Why would he make that move if he didn't want to have anything to do with them? He had seemed as surprised as Murata had felt in that moment.
It was like he didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore. Like he wanted to forget all about them. Murata had a feeling he would have never revealed to them who he was if he wasn't forced to, if he hadn't been so brutally attacked.
But even if Barbatos didn't want them anymore... She couldn't stand by while he was being probably experimented on or tortured in that place.
And this resolve led her to the present moment, in a nation that gave her the chills because there was just this forbidden feeling about it she couldn't shake away - and Makoto had never denied nor confirmed that this was somewhere they shouldn't be.
Murata didn't need her to say anything to draw conclusions by herself.
But now, she was standing in front of a strange being that was staring them down, looking at them directly in they eyes, expression cold and distant, lips pursed and clearly displeased. She made Murata feel like they were trespassing. Maybe that was precisely it, her mind supplied to her.
Murata gulped.
"Ah, the archons," she said, voice low and yet impossibly loud in the small space they were in, echoing around the walls and intensifying. Her voice was clear, her tone spiteful.
Murata didn't need anyone to say anything to know she held something against them.
Makoto was the first one among them to speak, "Are you...," she hesitated, biting her lower lip before continuing, "Are you the God of Time?"
The woman raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. Murata was mesmerized by the sheer strength that was emanating from her. The woman simply scoffed, raising her chin.
"And, pray tell, what exactly are you doing in my territory?"
Makoto seemed to be shocked into silence, not knowing how to respond. The woman was confirming she was the God of Time, but the attitude she had towards them... Murata couldn't decide if this was the God's personality or if she genuinely harbored bad feelings towards them.
Murata had to admit, she was lost. The deity seemed to not have any idea behind their presence here. If the God of Time hadn't been the spirit Makoto saw in her dream, then who was it? She was confused, Murata wanted to know what was going on.
The Pyro Archon startled as she heard the stranger gasp beside her, getting everyone's attention on him as he stared wide eyed at the God that faced them.
"That necklace..." he muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Murata noticed the God of Time frown as she raised a hand to her neck, gripping the end of the necklace she was sporting. Murata wasn't fast enough to identify what it was that had made both the stranger and the deity react the way they did, but she did notice the look of confusion that had oh so briefly crossed the God of Time's face, for barely a fraction of second. A fraction of second that Murata was fortunate enough to notice.
The stranger took a few steps forward, seeming more brave than he was a few moments ago, having apparently gotten a lead to something Murata wasn't sure he would easily let go of.
"It's an eye of the storm," he stated.
Murata couldn't say she was familiar with those creatures. Heck, she didn't even know what it was.
And she was ashamed to admit it. The only thing major this trip to Mondstadt taught her was how little she knew of Barbatos and Mondstadt.
It was very disappointing.
Looking around the room, it seemed only the stranger and the deity that faced them knew what an eye of the storm was. Murata couldn't tell if the spirit knew, she couldn't even see his expression to read it, and his body language betrayed nothing. She wasn't even sure if he could talk, but she assumed not since he had yet to say a word.
The stranger seemed to not be done yet. "Seeds of stories," he started, as if he was reciting something, "brought by the wind..."
"...And cultivated by time," the deity finished.
Whatever they were saying made absolutely no sense to Murata for whom that once sentence made no sense. But it seemed that both the stranger and the God of Time were into something important. She only wished she understood what they were on about.
Whatever the stranger said, it seemed to have set off the deity, and for that, Murata was grateful.
"How do you know that?" the deity asked, furrowing her eyebrows in what Murata identified to be mostly confusion and curiosity.
"The temple of the Thousands Winds," he replied, to which Makoto gasped.
"So that's what is written on it?!"
From where she stood, Murata could practically see Makoto's brain fuming, and she suddenly felt left out. She consoled herself by looking at the other four who seemed to also be as confused as Murata.
The Electro Archon continued, "But how could you read it? There is no record of old Mondstadtien!"
Murata felt her eyebrows lift up in surprise, head turning to stare at the stranger who simply shrugged, looking uncomfortable.
"I learned from Venti," he responded.
Murata felt a pang in her chest at the mention of the Archon's human name. The name also seemed to ring a bell to the deity who looked at the stranger with slightly widened eyes. The stranger seemed to regain some composure as he looked the deity right in the eyes.
"A few weeks ago, Venti and I encountered an eye of the storm," he said, frowning a bit. "He told me that apparently, someone didn't want him there."
He took a pause, as if waiting for something, some recognition, some sign that she would respond to him, that the deity knew what he was talking about. Murata wondered if she did.
"We killed it."
It seemed to be what set the deity off.
"So you are the one killing my creations?" The God seemed indignant, hand raised to her chest in a manner that showed she was annoyed by what the stranger had said.
Murata wanted to interrupt their - very confusing - conversation, but she didn't dare to. She wondered if she would discover something if she kept them going. She also feared she would annoy the deity even more if she said anything.
Normally, she would have asked, would have said something, would have refused to stay in the dark when they were talking about something she could sense was important, right in front of her, without explaining to them single thing. But she was in front of a Celestial being that was in her own territory, a place the Pyro Archon knew absolutely nothing about. Not how it functioned, nor its history, its people - if there were ever any, but the ruins seemed to be a clear indication - nor how much power that deity had.
Murata watched curiously as the deity sighed and closed her eyes, seeming to count in her head for a few seconds, before she opened her eyes again and started at them all, one by one, as if debating what to say. The silence that settled felt uncomfortable, Murata felt her skin crawl as she barely resisted the urge to scratch her arms, feeling uneasy.
She watched as the deity took in a deep breath, casting a side look at the spirit that was still silent, and looking back at each one of them, eyes stern.
What she said next seemed to be out of obligation, if anything else. "Follow me."
Silently, without uttering a single word, she got down from the floating platform she had been previously sitting on, walking down the stairs and passing by them without sparing them a single glance.
Before following her, Murata threw a last look at the spirit who was facing towards them. When it seemed to notice Murata staring at him, he shrugged. The movement was strangely distorted because of the spirit's physical appearance. Murata wondered if she would ever get used to it.
Turning her back to the spirit, she followed the others out of the door, going down a pair of stairs, walking a bit until they reached a room just under the one they were in a moment ago.
The deity walked to the far end of the room before stopping there, sitting on one of the rocks, indicating for the archons and the stranger to do the same. She gracefully put her hands on her laps, sitting straighter than Murata could ever manage to. The Pyro Archon took that opportunity to observe the necklace dangling by the deity's neck. It was strange, unlike anything she had ever seen.
Murata wondered what exactly were those 'eyes of the storm'.
The deity's gaze finally settled on the stranger. "Speak. Who are you?"
It didn't go past Murata that she was only addressing the stranger. She knew already who they were, and it made her feel observed.
"My name is Aether, and I am a traveler looking for my missing sister," he simply responded, voice even.
Finally, they had a name to put to the stranger, Murata thought. But that explained nothing. How come that traveler reach Celestia? How did he knew Barbatos? What did he know about the God of Time that they didn't?
The deity hummed. It was now Aether's turn to ask questions it seemed. "Why would you create such creatures? Who exactly are you?"
Murata admired the so called traveler for asking such bold questions. She watched as a bitter smile appeared on the God of Time's face.
"I created those creatures a long time ago, using them to observe Mondstadt." She took a pause, looking straight at the traveler. Then, she directed her gaze to the archons. Murata could feel the deity's glare burn her.
"Why, pray tell, do I have archons here? If Asmoday knew..." she interrupted herself, leaving the implications for them to guess.
None of them needed to, they all knew perfectly well what she was talking about. Once again, Murata wanted to ask. She had clearly said her name, so she must know her. Murata thought that maybe Makoto's theory wasn't so farfetched after all...
"Weren't you the one who sent me that dream?" Makoto asked, to which the deity only raised an eyebrow.
"Dream?"
Makoto frowned, seeming confused. "But if it wasn't you..."
The deity looked at Makoto as she frowned, putting a hand under her chin. Murata had an inkling the deity started understanding what was going on. She wanted to ask so bad.
The deity closed her eyes, putting her hands back on her lap. She stayed silent a few seconds during which no one spoke, all looking at her and waiting for her to say something. Finally, when she opened her eyes, she seemed to have come to some resolution with herself.
"It seems Aberaku is the one who contacted you."
"Who?" asked Focalors, not that Murata could blame her.
the deity sighed. "The Sinshade who brought you here."
Murata's eyebrows rose slightly as she tried to comprehend what the deity had said. There was so much words that she didn't understand... Murata felt like she was in another world altogether, a world in which she was a trespasser.
In a sense, she was.
"I suppose," the God of Time said with an undertone of resignation, "if Aberaku brought you here then there must be a reason."
The deity didn't seem pleased at all. "I used to rule Mondstadt, a long time ago," she started explaining. Murata had to admit she was rather surprised the God decided to talk to them. She had thought the deity wouldn't.
Rule over Mondstadt, she had said...
"I am indeed one of the Four Shades, and when a catastrophe happened, I decided I wanted to help humankind," the deity said, sighing once more and closing her eyes, seeming deep in thoughts.
Although Murata barely understood what she was saying, she at least knew she was managing to get the gist of it.
First off, she understood the implication of the God of Time being one of the Four Shades. Four, not three.
Second, it was easy from here to conclude that the crossed out star was her. It was what made the most sense.
"The others did not understand why I would save humans, so I created the eyes of the storm. That way, I could keep an eye on Mondstadt without having to return to the surface."
The deity opened her eyes, crossing her arms. Murata was taken aback by how cold her gaze had become.
"But I was sealed off here, consequently losing control over the eyes of the storm who began attacking every random traveler passing by." Then, she raised a hand in a speaking motion, gesturing to the traveler who sat straighter, eyes a bit wider. "And you destroyed the last connection I had to the outside world."
From where she was sitting, Murata could see the sheepish look the traveler had the decency to make, although she could also feel he did not regret destroying those eyes of the storm, or whatever they were. Just by their name, the Pyro Archon knew it was probably for the better. Especially since the one who used to control them lost that control.
She couldn't imagine wild creatures attacking random, innocent travelers, and she didn't want to imagine how many persons had potentially gotten hurt because of those creatures.
Casting a quick look at the God, Murata wondered if she cared or not that the people she used to protect were also people she endangered by the creation of beings that had a destructive potential.
The cold stare of the deity turned into a harsh glare that made Murata shudder.
She wondered why would she abandon the people she was ruling to protect what she assumed to be Enkanomiya? Why would she take care of a nation that wasn't her own? Why would she risk so many things? Murata also wondered why was Makoto so certain this God had anything to do with Barbatos, why would this God bring them any clues, be willing to give them some help when she clearly couldn't stand being in the same room as them.
It made something in Murata tick.
"I see you are not complete," the deity remarked, voice as called as ice. Then, she added, "and that one of you shouldn't be here."
Tsaritsa gasped, the traveler clenched his fists, Rukkhadevata startled, Morax' jaw clenched.
Murata's heart skipped a beat.
"After what you did to Barbatos, one would think the least you would do is try to make things right," she snapped.
Murata's eyes widened as the deity conformed to them all that she indeed knw Barbatos. To Murata, it only made sense now that she would keep an eyes on her successor to the throne of Mondstadt, a throne Barbatos refused to sit on, giving liberty to his people - that was some bits of information Murata had managed to gather on Mondstadt's history, finding it fascinating.
But something in Murata broke when she realized the deity didn't know what had happened to Barbatos.
Truth be told, she was scared of the way she would react. If simply being in the presence of the archons bothered her... then it wasn't a question of if she knew of what transpired between them, but rather how much she knew.
To tell the truth, Murata was scared to tell her. She wondered how much the deity cared for Barbatos, how she would react if she learned of what transpired in the past few days.
If she learned of the way they left Barbatos there, all alone.
If she knew how much he suffered.
If she knew they came to her for guidance.
It was Makoto who spoke, hesitantly. "That is why we came here." She paused. "We hoped you could help us."
Makoto bit her lip while they watched the deity raise her head, scoffing. "What makes you think I would help you?"
Murata expected such an answer. "Because he's freaking being experimented on by Celestia," she snapped, glaring at the God.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Rukkhadevata flinch, Makoto closing her eyes, Tsaritsa looking extremely cold, and Morax clenching his jaw.
Murata didn't care that she was glaring at a God that had the power to destroy her. All she cared about was her promise to give Barbatos the excuse he deserved. All she cared about was right her wrongs. All she cared about was get Barbatos out of the hell hole he was currently in.
But she also knew damn well she couldn't do that without the help of the freaking God of Time that seemed to be refusing to even listen to them.
Well not anymore, she thought as she watched the God's face turn livid. It brought Murata some sense of satisfaction that she had managed to shake the God out of whatever stupid thing she was into.
In truth, Murata knew the God's reaction was perfectly justified, she knew she would react that way if she saw her past self - even if she were to confront her current self.
But she refused to not say anything when she knew they had a chance to save Barbatos and get him back alive to his people. To them.
Even if they didn't deserve him.
And whatever connection the God of Time had with Venti, Murata knew damn well it must be something that had some significance if she was so strongly taking his side.
"Barbatos?" the deity whispered, voice barely above a whisper as she looked at Murata. "I told him to avoid them...!"
Murata certainly did raise her eyebrows at that. "Well it certainly failed."
As the deity glared at her, Murata knew that if there was a time she should have stayed silent, it was probably now.
So the two of them were in contact? She couldn't help but wonder for how long. She also was curious about the warning Barbatos had received.
The dumbass... Even after being told by a Celestia being to avoid Celestia, he still provoked them?
Murata gritted her teeth. It was infuriating.
"They corrupted him," announced Focalors, getting the deity's attention who snapped her head to the Hydro Archon.
"They did what?!"
Focalors only nodded. Looking at the God of Time, it seemed to Murata like she was remembering something. She laughed sourly, passing a hand in her hair. It was strange to see someone who should be so composed act so agitated. Particularly when only a few minutes ago, she was acting so put together.
And at the mere mention of Barbatos being in danger, her whole demeaner changed.
Murata felt like there was something going on, something that she wanted to raise questions at. But now was not the time, and she resolved to wait for later.
"He turned... purple," explained Morax.
The deity laughed once more, a nervous, agitated laugh that indicated just how worried she was. "Purple?" She laughed again. A small, sour laugh.
"It looked like Durin's corruption," added the traveler.
Murata frowned. Durin, wasn't that the dragon Barbatos had fought? Yes, of course, how could she forget about that same dragon that cause the Anemo Archon to be so late at their meeting that day...
But wasn't that dragon dead? It didn't make sense to Murata... The dragon shouldn't have affected Barbatos!
Didn't the stories mention that Barbatos and his friend defeated the cursed the dragon? Then how could it be that Barbatos got affected so badly that it even reached his gnosis?!
"We need your help to save him, please," added Tsaritsa.
The deity immediately nodded her head. Murata was in all honesty surprised that the deity hadn't thought twice about helping them after they mentioned Barbatos. Once more, she wondered just what kind of relationship the both of them had. She seemed to care for him more than she wanted to tell them, and it set something in Murata.
The Pyro Archon was just glad Barbatos had yet someone else to take care of him, someone who, unlike Mondstadt, unlike the archons, could protect him from Celestia, rip him out of their hands.
They would all work together to achieve this. Murata refused to see Barbatos wither at the hands of this force they all barely understood.
She was convinced more than ever that if someone could help them, it would be one of the Four Shades.
And it seemed they had just gotten her agreement.
"We need a plan," the deity finally said. "I will need you to tell me every single detail."
Murata felt hope bloom in her chest.
They would save Barbatos.
Just hang in there, little guy.
.
.
.
As time passed, he slowly felt his mind slip away.
He was starting to loose control even of his thoughts.
It was terrifying.
He was loosing himself.
He knew he didn't have long anymore before he completely lost himself.
Maybe it was already too late.
.
.
.
It was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have something pretty important to address:
My baccalaureate is in two months, but consider it one since the second will be the time I'm home to study all day and blabla we all know it.
This brings me to the fact that I do NOT know how this will affect my time, I'm expecting to barely have any time for myself since I have two tests almost every week until March. Thus, I really don't know what will happen to the fanfic in the meantime. I just wanted to warn you from today: if I suddenly start skipping a few Tuesdays or Fridays, you know why. My writing pace is probably going to get slower, which is what I'm currently scared of - and school is way more important.
If it DOES happen, just hang on until March ends, and please do keep in mind that I will NEVER, EVER abandon this fic. It needs its promised happy ending after all :')
Nor will I ever abandon you with a last, uncertain note T^T
I don't know when I will start getting slower, hopefully not before March, but I thought you still deserved to know from now.
See you Friday, and love you all ❤️❤️❤️