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gabriel-xander · 7 months

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I Wish You Died Instead Ch. 5

[Scaramouce x Fem!Reader]

A/N: I started writing this before all of his lore came out/Before the last Sumeru Archon quest, so there will be a handful of inconsistency later on. My advice to you? Just go with it!

{Also on Quotev, Ao3, and Wattpad under Gabriel Xander}

Chapter 5: Played Like The Cheap Kazoo You Are

One thing you can appreciate about Scaramouche is his guts. That man has nerves of steel like you wouldn't believe. And in an act of mercy, you were allowed to look away during his massacre.

"Help me gather them up."

".................I don't want to-"

"-HUH!?"

"My Lord, with all due respect..." You grimace with judgement as he hauls the bloody boar over his shoulder with ease, "That's really fucking gross."

"Quit your bitching. I already did you the favor of not helping me kill these things," Scaramouche frowns, "I order you to help me carry these back to the camp."

You roll your eyes before grabbing the other dead boar by the legs, swinging it over your shoulder.

"It's a Goddamn miracle that I haven't beaten the shit out of you yet," The Harbinger comments while you whine about the blood.

You deadpan, "I must be blessed."

It was the next morning of staying with Isaac, Ivan, and Noah, the Treasure Hoarders that had been so kind to allow you and Scaramouche to stay with them.

Noah was a person of interest; he was one the Treasure Hoarder's that was responsible for your misfortune. He didn't seem to recognize you both as Fatui, hopefully it stays that way for a while longer. You two are hoping that bringing them food and furs would get them to trust you a little more.

You wince in pain and stop walking for a moment, breathing through your nose to calm your nerves. Your injury still hurts, you haven't gotten the opportunity to properly heal yourself yet.

"What's the matter with you?" Scaramouche turns around when he notices you stopped.

"Nothing, My Lord," You sigh, starting your walk once more, "Just wondering how we'll learn anything from Noah."

He frowns, "Any ideas?"

"I don't know, I thought... He showed, like... a fraction of interest in me, I thought I could use, like... my woman-ness on him?"

"...Your what??"

"My womanly charms! I don't know! Seduce him or whatever!"

"..." Scaramouche squints at you with disbelief, "You want to whore yourself out to get some intel?"

You scoff, "Well, when you say it like that-"

"-No, you're not doing that," Scaramouche protested, "Anyway, you can't do that even if you wanted to. I told him you were my girlfriend."

Oh, right.

You sigh, "And I thought I would be able to forget about it easily."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

You shake your head, "Nothing, forget it. I don't really have any ideas, anyway."

You adjust your hold on the dead animal as you two walk in angry silence. Not a day goes by that you wish you were literally anywhere else but here. Hopefully Scaramouche had a plan, you honestly didn't know where to go from here.

"You might have to whore out." He says suddenly.

"Ah, so like a normal day then."

"......What?"

"I'm joking."

You were not.

"I liked it better when you didn't talk," The Balladeer huffs.

"Honestly, me too."

——

You and your superior had to stay another night with the Treasure Hoarders as the storm came back that evening. Luckily, you were all able to relocate to a small cave nearby before it got too bad. That also meant you did most of the heavy lifting as you're a strong, independent woman who don't need no man.

Scaramouche sat close by the fire to make sure it didn't die, and to try and eavesdrop on Isaac, Ivan, and Noah. You sat by the fire as well, but you were more focused on the letter you were writing to your best friend, Kazuki.

Which is fucking stupid, Nao!! It literally means Pants! The Tsaritsa is epic and all, don't get me wrong. But fucking Pantalone??? She couldn't give him a better title?? This has been bothering me forever and I need to say it if no one else will!!

With that said, yes. I DO want to wear a suit when we go see your sister in Sumeru soon. We should totally match, too. Maybe she'll think we're together and finally leave you alone about you being a lonely fuck.

Speaking of which, you know what Lord Scaramouche did?? The audacity of some bitches, I swear to the Gods-

"[Y/n]."

"Hm?" You lift your head, making eye contact with Scaramouche who was across from you, "Yes, Kuni?"

He scrunches his nose, "Kuni?"

You look around, finally noticing that it was just you and him. "Oh, damn. Where did they go?"

"Gods, you're such an airhead."

You smack your lips at his comment, "Did you need something, Kunikuzushi?"

He rolls his eyes, "They left so I can attend to your wound. Get over here so I can clean it."

You sigh, setting down your paper and pencil while making sure it won't suddenly fly into the fire. It would be too inconvenient to rewrite it all. You start removing your coat and shirt as you walk around the fire to sit by Scaramouche.

He works silently and efficiently. You've never seen this man bleed or bruise before, and his body is a little abnormally solid. You doubt he's ever taken an injury based on his seemingly perfect skin.

And yet... You've never once had a wound so gently attended to the way Scaramouche is doing now.

"What were you writing? A report?" He asks, confusing you as he hates small talk.

"Uh, a report on my feelings and emotions, yeah."

"You keep a diary?"

"Ew, no," You quickly reject the notion, "I'm writing to Kazuki. He works under Lord Ch-erm, Lord Tartaglia."

"You should keep your work life and personal life separate."

"You're the one who asked, sir."

"Whatever."

You had to bite your tongue as he cleaned your injury. The pain was bearable, but you were also a little bitch that likes to whine at any minor inconvenience. You hate the silence, and you wish you can at least hum to yourself, no matter if you're good at singing or not, but you know damn well that you already showed too much personality to this bitch ass man.

"Hey!!"

"The fuck?!"

You jerk around to glare at your boss with a flustered expression, "Can you not do that?!"

Scaramouche holds his hands up in confusion, "The hell are you talking about?!"

"You-When you just–" You mimic his previous action with your hands mid-air, moving your hands slowly in a similar silhouette of your own figure, "–The way you ran your hands up and down my sides! It-It was way too gentle!!"

By the look on his face, you can tell that even Scaramouche wasn't aware that he was doing it. He must've been lost in thought and did it subconsciously.

"I-I-"

"-Some people are ticklish, okay!!" You huff out in frustration, "Next time you do something like that, keep that in mind!"

"..."

You can practically see the cogs turn in his head. You raise an eyebrow.

That... is not what he thought you were upset about. Whether you were saving him from the embarrassment of being caught admiring how nice your skin is, or you genuinely thought he did it by accident, he didn't know.

And frankly? He didn't have the guts to find out the truth.

"Uh, okay. I'll–keep that in mind..."

You nod in satisfaction. You look down at your side, poking at the gauze taped over your wound.

"You're done, right? Thanks!"

You stand up and reach over to grab your shirt when the Universe decides it wants to mess with you just a little more. Isaac, Ivan, and Noah enter the tent laughing with each other, though they quiet down when they see you without your shirt and only your arm covering your titties.

You all stare at each other in silence, the three men becoming more red and flustered the longer they stare, and Scaramouche gains an unreadable expression. Your gaze flickers to him, trying to remind him that "hey, you're supposed to be my boyfriend, probably do something?"

Reading what you had in mind, finally the Balladeer catches on and stands up with a pissed off look.

"THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!?! GET OUT!!"

"SORRY!!!"

———— Two Months Later ————

You slam the empty shot glass down on the counter, your gaze mindlessly wandering off to nothing in particular as you try desperately to forget the things you've seen today.

Scaramouche is not known for his patience, and out of all the Harbingers, he's definitely the least likable. But there's something you didn't think you'd ever take for granted, and that was his strange consideration for your feelings when it comes to-

"Cheer up, [L/n]. It wasn't that bad."

You roll your eyes and motion for the bartender to come over. "Easy for you to say. Some of us have morals and values, especially when it comes to human lives."

The bartender pours you your fourth shot of the night, you're finally beginning to feel a little tipsy from drinking straight Fire Water. You knock it back like a champ and semi-slam the glass back down.

"Ouch, is that judgment I hear?"

You look at your temporary comrade with a deadpan look, "What do you think, Soto?"

He laughs at your words, not feeling perturbed at all.

Amatista Soto, a man born and raised in Natlan only to somehow get involved with the Fatui. You don't know his story, other than the fact he has a Pyro vision and is most likely a fucking sociopath. You don't doubt that the only reason he joined the Fatui was so that he could kill people under the protection of the Fatui and the Tsaritsa.

His skin is medium brown with a beauty mark under his right eye. His very wavy hair was always tied back in a low ponytail, but that didn't make it look neater. He always wore an Iris flower behind his right ear, too. You have to admit that it brought out his vibrant eyes, the color of amethyst. That's probably how he was named, too.

You hated that he was attractive with a tall, large build. Made you hate him even more because how are you going to be a hot motherfucker who's so evil-

Under orders of Pierro, Scaramouche was sent somewhere unknown. You tried asking the Balladeer of his soon-to-be whereabouts, but all he did was shake his head in response. In the meantime, he ordered you to assist any other Harbinger so that your skill isn't wasted while you wait for him to come back.

——

"And... when WILL you be back, sir?" You had asked the day he left, accidentally showing concern.

Scaramouche sighed and shook his head, "I don't know. But... My advice is: don't wait for me. I could be gone for a VERY long time."

"Oh... O-Okay," You nodded, "Good luck, sir. And be careful."

He smirked, "You almost sound like someone who cares. Don't let me catch you getting soft again, [L/n]."

"Hmph! In your dreams."

——

After dealing with Noah and the other Treasure Hoarders (a memory you desperately are trying to forget due to how it ended), you started working under various Harbingers (minus Childe since he was still in Liyue).

Well, every Harbinger other than Dottore, though. You don't understand Scaramouche's resentment to the second Harbinger, but you don't question his demands as he is your superior.

Currently, you are working under the Knave, or at least, you think you are? You haven't been given direct orders from her yet, and the most you have done for her so far is fucking paper work.

"I'm going back to the Zapolyarny Palace," You sigh, pushing yourself off the stool, "Then I'm going to pass the fuck out."

"Have a good night!" "Bah."

———— Two Months Later ————

You wait patiently by the door for La Signora to be finished talking with Pantalone about some fundings, Il Dottore was with them, too. You were about to head off to Fontaine with Arlecchino, but she tells you there's a sudden change of plans, and that she was handing you off to the Fair Lady.

You were so lucky that your mask was hiding your deadpan expression. You asked her why you were suddenly being handed off to the 8th Harbinger, but Arlecchino just dismisses you with "she needs a new assistant since her last one died in Mondstadt."

...

HOW REASSURING!!

You were zoning out, a skill you learned in the Fatui so that you can be oblivious to the Harbinger's business. Unless it involves you directly, you don't want to know what their personal goals are.

You start to gnaw at your bottom lip. You are curious about this "Traveler" you keep hearing about, though. Apparently, La Signora has had an encounter with this blond haired person and their flying fairy while snatching the Gnosis from poor Barbatos. Barbatos... Barbie toes... Barbs... Barbara...

"Are you deaf?"

"Huh?"

You blink rapidly and look at who's talking to you.

La Signora, Pantalone, and Il Dottore were just staring at you now. Pantalone and the Doctor looked amused at your obliviousness. La Signora? Not so much.

"Oh, my apologies. I was lost in thought," You hold up the small stack of papers, "Here is the proper documentation on my temporary recruitment. I look forward to working with you, my Fair Lady."

"Hmph," The 8th Harbinger doesn't bother with the papers even though she requested them, "The Balladeer spoke highly of your abilities despite not having a Vision or a Delusion. So tell me, what exactly is it about you that is so praise worthy?"

"I was surprised as well to hear how high he puts you in regards. I never heard of a Harbinger having this much trust in anyone, even more so in a low ranking Fatui," Pantalone comments, "Then we hear from the Knave that you are quite competent, even in her standards?"

"It is hard not to be curious." Il Dottore adds.

"To be frank, I am just his secretary more than anything else. I take care of all his paperwork, I'm his messenger, I'm the commander of his Skirmishers, and I give orders to the lower ranks on his behalf." You shake your head, "Very seldomly would I go out on the front lines myself. I can probably count the amount of times I went into battle myself on both hands."

Which to the normal person, that is a lot. But for a Fatui? That's practically zero. And in all honesty, for anyone else, it'd be unacceptable.

Never once had he actually forced you to hurt someone if you didn't want to, and he never made you kill anyone either. Anytime you had to hurt someone, it was self defense. And anytime you kill someone...

Well, you do your best to repress those memories.

Working for the other Harbinger's made you realize you took that silent consideration for granted. Since all these fuckers want from you is violence.

"I see. So it's safe to say you are what makes him look good from the shadows," Pantalone puts a hand to his chin.

"Not at all. Lord Scaramouche has done a lot more than I. Really, I only take care of the boring things." You redirect your attention to the woman, "If I may, my Fair Lady, can I know why you have requested my assistance so suddenly?"

"Simple really. I haven't gotten the chance to personally witness what makes you so great. It'd be a shame if you went off to Fontaine for who knows how long before I got the chance to use you."

Mmmm pues.

"I-I see. Well, I hope I can meet your expectations," You force a smile, "Is there anything else you need?"

"Yes, pack your things," La Signora smirks slyly, "We're going to Liyue."

....

SHIIIT.

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travellereon · 1 year

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Someone probably got to this before me, but I haven't seen it yet, so I'm making my own sassy lil rant post about it!

We know that Hoyoverse is extremely lore conscious. I mean, take a look at the intense rewrites they do for Rukkhadevata's erasure! All of the Sumeru quests come with two versions of any line that mentions her, and they're played depending on whether you have or have not completed the Archon Quest. In all 4 languages, the team built in a hidden trigger that swaps out dialogue, changes voicelines, alters item descriptions, and even renamed a basic inventory item purely for the sake of lore consistency. They didn't have to rename the mushroom! Nobody needed to know the mushroom was named after a deity who didn't exist anymore! The Genshin team did that just for the sake of their world building and lore.

So why are Lumine's flowers still in the opening cutscene?

Lesson time kids

The flowers in Lumine's hair are the Inteyvat, the national flower of Khaenri'ah. That has been established since the main quest chapter 'Memories of Inteyvat.' Both Aether and Lumine will remark on that fact when they encounter the flower in the quest, saying that she's had the flowers since they woke up.

Since they woke up!

Hoyoverse polishes the daylights out of this game to ensure lore remains consistent. Could this really be a mistake on their part? It's such a major moment in the game when your character realizes the significance of the flower itself that I have a hard time believing this is a simple mistake.

The flowers certainly don't appear to change between the opening and the start of the game, not from where I'm standing. If someone can prove me wrong about the flowers being the same, I welcome it. But they really do look exactly the way they do in game from where I'm sitting.

It would be tedious, but they could edit the flower out if they really needed to. Hell, if they still have the full files for the original video, they could remove the flowers from the model in that set and re-render it for an update. They hid an entire trigger to swap out a massive amount of voice lines, written dialogue, lore, and even a useable item's name just to trip it based on where you stand in the Archon Quest. Hoyoverse clearly have the manpower and dedication to change this detail if it doesn't fit with their lore.

Lore and characters are the two big things that separate Genshin from other gacha games. If this truly is a continuity error, a video made before they decided the significance of the flowers in Lumine's hair, why would they not change it?

I'll tell you why!

Because it ISN'T a continuity error!

There's more than the 500 year slumber that we've missed. The siblings were in this world before they were separated. It could be insignificant, but from what we know of Hoyoverse, I'm betting it's not completely so. It might just be an emotional memory that will pop up towards the climax of the story, but it could be even more! It could be days of their time in Teyvat that have a great impact on why the Lost Sibling ended up in Khaenri'ah, and why they view the Archons with such disdain despite knowing Celestia probably forced them to participate in the Cataclysm.

This could be a major lore detail hidden in plain sight.

Now watch Hoyoverse erase the flower in the 4.0 update because that's always my luck

#words of eons #mad ramblings of a feral tiktok psychic theorist #HERE WE GO HERE WE GO HERE WE FUCKIN GOOOOOOOOO #genshin impact #genshin theories #lumine #aether #inteyvat #genshin #khaenri'ah

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inyvat · 1 year

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MY THOUGHTS ON LUMINE'S TRAVELER ARCHON QUEST (from 3.5)— read more cause idk how long this is gonna get everyone.

Just to let you all know that I in-game play as Lumine. So when I say Abyss Prince, I'm referring to when AETHER is the leader of the Abyss Order.

First thing's first. Kaeya calling Paimon a FLOATING LITTLE WHITE HAIRED FAERIE and having her as the address for his Letter is FUCKING HILARIOUS. IDK about y'all, but I laughed. I mean KAEYA'S NOT WRONG. She's basically SUPERGLUED TO LUMINE.

Ahhh Kaeya, how I've missed you. I haven't seen you get any screen time since FUCKING SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER! He says he's here on official business, and I'm inclined to believe him. And we've NEVER ONCE seen Jean actually pissed. She's always so cool and collected, even when angry or sick. So if Kaeya's seen her actually pissed off then yeah it would make sense if she terrifies him. But he could also be saying this in jest.

Paimon chastising Kaeya for drinking on the clock while also telling him to STOP HOLDING A GRUDGE AGAINST DILUC AND GIVE HIS BIG BROTHER THE INFO is golden. Since Diluc is no longer a Knight and he HATES any and all alcohol despite being in the business. So it would fall to his brother who loves his wine to be sent for spice deal for wines because he'd HAVE to taste them. Dawn Winery is too busy to send people ALL THE WAY TO SUMERU for this.

And then there's the casual Kaenri'ah name drop. Just out of the blue while talking about his past. He said, "when he was very young". So I'm looking at anywhere between the ages of 4-9. Why not 10? because once you hit double digits, you slowly start to learn more and more about the adult world, making you grow up little by little. Kaeya will never be in the single digits again in terms of age. He'll always be in the double digits. He'll start having more responsibilities by the time he's 10. They'll be little and a lot less than Diluc I'm sure, but he'll still end up having some responsiblity entrusted to him and that'll grow as he does.

He wanted to find out about Khaenri'ah. He read it in a book somewhere. Either in the library at the Knights HQ or in the library at Dawn Winery. And he's probably kept the book with him ever since. Since Lumine would know if she saw anything, any book, that has any mention of Khaenri'ah within its pages. But what he did was very serious. He probably scared Diluc and Crepus half to death by being a stowaway aboard that ship.

Kaeya as a kid used to believe that had some sort of destiny to Khaenri'ah. And that's what everyone in the RPC, theorists, etc headcanon or think. That he's got to be some sort of savior for them. But I don't think so. Khaenri'ahns didn't have a God at all. And yet the CRYO ARCHON HERSELF, THE TSARISTA, or Celestia or whoever truly grants the Visions to a small percentage of people thought he was fit enough for the power of a Cryo Vision; a small amount of the power of the Cryo Archon herself. Khaenri'ahns detested the gods and yet Kaeya is friends with the Anemo Archon himself as well. If he had some sort of destiny to avenge his distant homeland then he would still harbor such hatred towards the Archons and the other Gods that failed to win a seat in Celestia and would have forsaken his Vision. That thought of him having some sort of destiny faded after some time and now he's more Mondstadt than Khnaeri'ahn, regardless of his roots. He'd protect his friends and his life there in Mondstadt if push came to shove.

I would assume that what we heard during the Wine festivial of Kaeya's father's last words to him, that he was their last hope, was that he was their bloodline's last hope at something GOOD; at something decent. Not the last hope for Khaenri'ah. Because remember his family, the ALBERICHS were REGENTS OF KHAENRI'AH. Not Queen, King, Princess or Prince. But REGENT. And REGENT is someone who rules FOR someone else, either due to the monarch being mentally unstable or a minor, and it is a position that is not INHERITED but granted by the monarch at their choosing usually to a someone of NOBLE FAMILY.

Kaeya knows he's being cut off. From what? We don't know.We can all assume that it's the power from the Abyss or the Abyss Order itself. But what if it's not? What if the love of a mother and a father? Of having blood related siblings? I'm sure he still loves Diluc with all of his heart, but there are things that he's kept from him. Perhaps it's something more concrete. We don't know yet or perhaps we'll never know. We just have to see.

Then there's the last name Alberich. The very same name I was just talking about. Dain comes in and says that he knows the last name Alberich is the same last name used by the man who founded the Abyss Order. This does not make Kaeya "Prince of the Abyss Order" as that role immediately went to Aether when his journey was done. Not even "king" would be correct. As the founder would have had to induct his family into the order for it to be a "family business" and have Kaeya inherit the title. And if that were the case then there would be no need for Aether as the Abyss Prince.

Put a pin in that for a second. I'll come back to that.

Lumine and Paimon go with Dain to the Avidya Forest. To an old abandoned hut. The hut is checked out, the only things worthy of note are the strong smell of medicinal items coming from the bowl and the broken mirror. Lumine takes on some pyro slimes while Dain goes off to check the ley lines in the area living Lumine and Paimon alone for the night.

It gets a little emotional as Paimon reveals that she hopes that Lumine isn't growing or doesn't grow tired of her. Lumine has to cheer her up because Paimon being down in the dumps hurts her to see, she doesn't like to see her friend or any of her friends sad. It gets even more emotional when Paimon asks about Aether and her travels before they came to Teyvat. Lumine tells her a little bit about their travels and how this is the first time in all of her life she can remember ever being separated from her big brother.

Paimon notices that Lumine is exhausted and probably a little sad since she brought up Aether and so she tells Lumine to go sleep and that she'll wake her when it's time for her shift since Paimon is taking first watch instead of her. Lumine falls asleep, dreaming about Aether.

She wakes up to Dain but everything is groggy and disoriented and she doesn't move to get up and she doesn't see Paimon at all or hear her. But Dain tells her to go back to sleep while he goes back into the forest after he tells her that he noticed her tear stains. She falls back asleep and wakes up sometime in the late morning.

That's when she goes to the hut and sees weirdly dressed man with STAR SHAPED pupils. Just like Kaeya and Dain. Immediately I know that he's Khaenri'ahn. But I don't know WHO exactly. He's mentally unstable, since his moods go from one extreme to the next and during the conversation with Lumine, Lumine is introduced to a hilichurl by the name of Caribert. Now Caribert means GLORIOUS WARRIOR in Old Frankish and probably has the same meaning in Khaenri'ahn or something similiar.

What strikes me is that Caribert is HALF KHAENRI'AHN AND HALF MONDSTADTER. And he's this man's illegitimate son. Meaning he was born out of wedlock. We only see Caribert in his hilichurlian form, so we don't know what his eyes would be in his original form. This man, his father, is trying to give his son's mind some clarity again so that they can talk again at the very least.

The man "Eide" tells Lumine that he was fed up with his arranged life, which means an arranged WIFE and KIDS and everything planned for him but not by him. But then he met and fell in love with a Mondstadter woman turned naturalized Khaenri'ahn citizen. They had an affiar and it produced a son, Caribert. After that, he had to hide his love and his son from the eyes of his family. He couldn't be there for either of them, as "Eide" said, "I resented my life arranged by my family… Caribert faced great hardship from the very moment of his birth, all due to my selfish desires… and I was never able to be there by his his side for any of it…" So this tells me that Caribert was perhaps sickly from the time of his birth. And he also had to deal with being a hidden son, who would be viewed as a great shame by his noble paternal family and half siblings and thus grew up poor.

"Eide" during the Cataclysm went to his lover and his son, more than likely ABANDONING his first wife and kids, and watched as mother and son were changed into hilichurls. But because HE, his first wife and their kids as well as every other Pureblooded Khaenri'ahn were just that PUREBLOODED, they received a curse of Immortality. While those who were of the other nations, or were only half Khaenri'ahn, were turned into hilichurls. Lumine helps make some medicine for Caribert but it doesn't work. And "Eide" goes slightly more insane at the fact that it failed. But she reminds him that maybe one dose isn't going to be enough. Maybe it'll take more than one.

When Lumine and "Eide" go into the Chasm via the route into Sumeru after the man freaks about a lone hilichurl being Caribert and they end up facing a Frost Abyss Herald who tells them to go back that they have no business being down there. Now normally Abyss Heralds, Lectors and Mages (thus far) all have attacked Lumine. So it's strange that this one gives Lumine and "Eide" a chance to escape unscathed. But it ends up a battle anyway a "trial of destiny" as the Herald called it since it came to think that they were there for some sort of audience. Audience???? WITH WHAT OR WHO?! They go in and they see all these hilichurls bowing down to a crystal hanging in the sky. And it gives off the same familiar and unnatural evil that the Defiled Statue gave off. GREAT JUST GREAT!!!!!!

"Eide" bows and it reminds Lumine of the deceased thief from the Treasure Hoarders. YEP THIS IS BAD PLACE TIME TO YEET! And Lumine tells Eide pretty much that but is stopped from trying to pull him out of the trace/bow by a voice in her head, describing itself as a "sinner" not a god and to go and become a transcented one and learn the truth. Then the voice zaps "Eide" with a purple light and goes dormant.

THAT CAN'T BE GOOD OF FUCKING HELL NO. "Eide" gets up and Lumine and him return to the hut and they try the medicine again and this time it does work. I'm wondering right now if it's not the Abyssal Power that the voice gave him that made it work… Once Caribert regains his mind and he and "Eide" talk for a moment or two, he's told not take off his mask and to never look in a mirror. For good reason. Hilichurls hate how they look as they mourn the faces they can never have again.

Lumine and "Eide" go to unnamed/unknown sanctuary to go see the crystal again and find it missing "Eide" ponders if it was really a "sinner" and not a god after all. But soon as they return to the hut, Caribert had gone missing and "Eide" finds the broken mirror. They search around but find nothing. They decide to search outside of the hut and run into some forest rangers. One of them tells "Eide" that he saw a hilichurl just walking aimlessly and left be after a brief and heated confrontation.

Lumine and "Eide" find Caribert and he's got the dark purple Abyssal power following out of him. And he tells his father that it hurts and that he can't take the pain anymore and that he's sorry just as he takes off his mask and starts to fall the power explodes out of Caribert and Lumine passes out.

She wakes back up in the hut, but with only "Eide" there. Caribert is nowhere to be found. Lumine panics, understandable, as she doesn't know what happened to Caribert after he took off his mask. She hopes that he's okay, that he's not dead. And "Eide" laughs and tells her that Caribert can now weave his own destiny that he has become the "Loom of Fate".

So Dain is looking for A HILICHURL WITH A SCARF ON HIS ARM?! AND WHAT DOES THIS DUDE MEAN WHEN HE SAYS CARIBERT HAS NOW BECOME THE "LOOM OF FATE"?! IS HE DEAD, IS HE STILL ALIVE????? Or is he something else entirely now???? Is he something that's no longer human or hilichurl? Has he become something almost mythical to the point where Aether has to be the one to now find him as a part of his plans??????????

"Eide" then reveals that he's really CLOTHAR ALBERICH and is the FOUNDER OF THE ABYSS ORDER. Since he worshipped the thing that was a "sinner" and he figures that only salvation for a sinner must also come from a sinner. And then he reveals that to the people of Khaenri'ah that like the Abyss, which is mysterious and powerful and otherworldly, Lumine was viewed in the same light and everyone figured that she would lead them into a bright future.

Clothar then reveals to Lumine the title of PRINCE OF KHAENR'IAH. Which isn't right. If it was Lumine he was talking to then it would have to be PRINCESS! Right????? Well, Lumine looks into the broken mirror and doesn't see her own reflection staring back at her but AETHER'S INSTEAD! Meaning that this wasn't really happening in the here and now. THIS WAS AETHER'S MEMORY RIGHT BEFORE HE JOINED THE ABYSS ORDER AS ITS PRINCE.

The dream memory ends and Paimon and Dain are there relieved to have her awake and she relys to them both about everything she saw and heard. Dain reveals that 100 years after Clothar founded the Abyss Order he went completely mad due to the curse and then simply vanished. And that Aether had made no mention of this to him during their travels except for the "Loom of Fate" a few times.

Lumine asks Dain to help her dig up the field remembering the weird mushrooms that Clothar had given Aether for the medicine. There she finds two human skeletons. One male and one female. And around one of them, the female, is a scarf that Lumine recognizes as having once been Caribert. Then she says that she thinks the male skeleton, which was brought back over here at a later date, was Clothar's and that he found some way to break the curse of immortality and died.

Dain wants to say more but he has to go and shift through his memories. And he's pretty sure that an person he refers to as "he" as seen Lumine and that if it is who he thinks it is, Dain will be in touch later on at some later date once he's shifted though his memories and leaves Lumine and Paimon. Lumine gives Paimon and hug which is sweet.

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Quick thoughts on the Abyss Heralds, Lectors and Mages. I think that the Abyss Heralds were the royal mages and their apprentices and other minor mages were the lectors and mages that we fight against in the game. That they were toying with the Abyssal magic and energy and it turned them not immortal humans or hilichurls but into monsters of the Abyss. And that they have their memories which haven't eroded away due to the curse of immortality. They know hilichurlian because it's a corruption of Khaenri'ahn.

The only royal mage who DIDN'T turn into a monster of the Abyss is Peirro, the 1st Harbinger. He left Khaenri'ah, but due to his being a pureblood, he's still cursed with the curse of immortality.

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Now back to Kaeya. Is he Caribert?! I don't think so. It's possible, but only just. But Caribert is the "Loom of Fate". Meaning he can be ANYTHING or ANYONE at this point. I think he's something that's not human or hilichurlian or Abyssal monster. I think he's something more mythical now and is in hiding because he knows that if he's found by the Abyss Order it will be the end of everything. It's why Aether and the Order is so hellbent on finding the "Loom of Fate" since it's a major part of their operation to revive Khaenri'ah.

And if Kaeya was Caribert in a new form, Aether would know I think since he knows the feeling of that power that Caribert was trying to hold back and then when it exploded. No I think Kaeya is descended from Clothar through the family he had that was ARRANGED. As a noble, regardless of fantasy or reality, or even a royal; marrying for love was very rare. Everything from birth was arranged for Clothar. As he was either the OLDEST son or the SECOND oldest son in the Alberich family at the time of the Catacylsm. So that means he has no freedom in what he wants in terms of life. His only rebellion was falling in love with a woman who was NOT noble and who bore him an illegitimate son who he could not even with. So Kaeya being descended from this legitimate line of the Alberichs would make more sense.

And we KNOW THAT KAEYA IS A PUREBLOODED KHAENRI'AHN TOO. Because BOTH HIS EYES, even the one that's hidden, the one that has the scars from the night Diluc and he fought, are star shaped. Yes he's dark skinned, but who says that all pureblooded Khaenri'ahns were PALE?! We've only seen 3 pale Pureblooded Kaenri'ahns. Dain. Peirro. Clothar.

That's how Kaeya knows about Dain being pureblooded. Star shaped pupils. And STAR SHAPED PUPILS are the immediate identifiers of someone who is pureblooded either by descent — pureblooded Khaenri'ahns marrying down the line to other purebloods — or by the sole factor that they are the cursed immortal humans of that ruined nation. Dain even says that humans, pureblooded Khaenri'ahns by descent or cursed, still live in Khaenri'ah despite it being in a ruined state.

#【ooc】from behind the traveler.

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