Raiden Shogun

And she meant it. She really had nothing else going on, why not induldge herself? It was then that Ei realized: she had no idea how to refer to her.

   Curiously, Cerydra cocks her head, curious at her opponent-to-be’s subtle hints of nervousness. Of course, the nerves themselves were of little surprise to the Imperator; after all, in her heyday, even her title alone brought fear into those who heard it. One with enough wits about them wouldn’t dare challenge a tyrant brazenly, and even those who had lacked the chutzpah to follow through when met face to face with the Flamebearer. The curiosity, in this case, stemmed from what about the Imperator brought nerves to a stranger mere moments after meeting. 

   “The Raiden Shogun… quite the title you carry.” She chuckles, leaning forward ever slightly, a hand resting on her chin. Whoever this stranger, this Raiden Shogun, had been, she clearly carried some amount of power. Every passing moment, Cerydra found herself agreeing more with her initial judgment of the Raiden Shogun’s presence. “If we are to stick with titles, then refer to me as the Imperator. Of course, you’re allowed to be a little more personable with me, if you so choose. In which case, call me Cerydra.” 

   Perhaps providing this woman with a true name would ease whatever nerves stirred within her heart. That wasn’t the Imperator’s goal, merely a welcomed consequence of it. She just simply thought it would be easier to provide her true name, were they to communicate over a game of chess. She wasn’t looking to force someone from beyond the skies to bend the knee to her will and power.

   At least, not yet. That would come later.

Turning her attention back to Cerydra, she thought about which colour she wanted. WHich did she want…after some consideration, she nodde.

But Robin knew that such sharp things had their place here. What was it that the Interastral Peace Broadcast said? About a lingering sense of Destruction that hung over this planet? Harmony could only do so much in the face of entropy.

"Thank you..." she said, bowing her head slightly, "I'll take the lead confidently knowing that I have you to fall back on."

She glanced around once more. The land was swallowed up by gray vastness, mists where anything and everything could leap out toward them. Robin was not afraid of it, however, especially not now. She continued taking steps forward, the Hope that there was something still left to save continuing to guide her.

As Robin asked her name, Ei paused for a moment. Everyone normally referred to her with titles: The Shogun, her excellency, the Almighty Narukami Ogoshi, God of Thunder, etc... Her actual name very few people knew and were permitted to use. In this situation however, she was not on her land…or her world for that matter. Ei supposed she could give that up to Miss Robin. 

“I am the Raiden Shogun, but you may call me Ei.” 

She felt oddly…exposed admitting that, and she wasn’t sure why. Outside Inazuma, names are common, how people always refer to each other. Another reminder she had stayed cooped up to long-

That black and white board was a battle where warriors of the mind came to bat against one another. It was a game of strategy, not so easily solved through brute force. Conflict, resolution, and critical thinking were all tantamount to the way in which a game of chess could go. It was much like political discussion, in that way. 

And it was in such a black and white battlefield where Cerydra found herself most comfortable, able to express her strength of thought better than she could by any other means. And like all other times, she would simply need a partner to display this skill in chess. 

She hadn’t expected anyone to take the challenge; in fact, she was more than willing to just play the game against herself to test new strategies. However, the presence of a taller, far more domineering figure donned in unfamiliar purple had given the Imperator pause, before she smirked. “Hello,” she called out, her voice calm, yet challenging, “would you fancy me a game of chess? I’m looking for a quick round, I won’t take up much of your time.”

Scanning the taller figure up and down, Cerydra got the sense that this woman was definitely a sort of leader in her own right. After all, no average human would carry such a powerful presence about her so casually. Leaders recognize the strength found in one another. “You seem like a capable opponent.” It was a compliment, even if it might not have sounded like much. An acknowledgment of presence, that Cerydra hoped would levy up to potential skill. 

And she meant it. She really had nothing else going on, why not induldge herself? It was then that Ei realized: she had no idea how to refer to her.

“Fools. Bumbling, greedy and stupid fools”

Was what The Raiden Shogun muttered under her breath as she began descending into the Chasm. In all honesty, she was not sure why she was helping these fools who simply wanted to plunge and get rid off of rare valuables. Perhaps she couldn’t say no when the traveller asked her a favour to help…or when Miko said it would be a way to ‘get out of her bubble’. Really, that Kitsune wanted to get up to trouble without worrying about getting caught…

Still, Ei continued descending into the Chasm, alone. She was not fond of working with others she didn’t know, yet was warned to take at least one other person with her. As if she wasn’t strong enough to handle whatever was down there, she was an archon for archon’s sake. 

As she approached the bottom, she noticed someone standing by the elevator looking into the pit below. She normally wouldn’t say anything, except that this stranger had an odd…vibe to them. Not dangerous per say, just…something Ei was not used to. Warm, calm…it was unnerving to the Electro Archon. After looking closely, she realized they looked…very ill prepared to be travelling into the chasm, if that was their intention. A long flowy dress and heels, while very stunning and beautiful, would be very impractical if any danger arises. 

Sighing, she decided she should say something. If for no other reason other than to not let someone waltz into certain death, like-no, don’t think about *her*.

“Excuse me, are you one of the rescuers? If so, may I recommend changing into something more…suited for combat?”

She'd expected wrath, indignation, fury; the thunder that cracks across the sky carries all that and more. And yet - that perfect image of power and composure shatters before her eyes.

She's...crying?

That scroll burns to ash in the Archon's hands as she admits her understanding, the meaning of the gesture and the words loud and clear. For a moment, the two of them just stand there, nothing but silence and tears between them.

And Kokomi's not blind to the opportunity before her. Is it a cold thing to do, to use the ugly truth to push her this far and then use that leverage to claw deeper? Perhaps. But for Watatsumi, she has done far worse, and will again. So she coats her hands in hydro and scrubs at her face for a moment, washing away both tears and ruined makeup, then sits down on the edge of a shipwreck. Let the Shogun see her hollow eyes and the shadowed circles that frame them, let her see her gaunt, pale cheeks and bloodshot eyes, let her see the exhaustion swallowing her body; truth is truth, and truth is still her best weapon.

She's already torn most of her own masks away anyway.

"If you don't want more of my - our - people to die needlessly, then help me save them"

Our people...when was the last time any Watatsumi leader and the Shogun have agreed on that? This was always true, but...the millennia long hate and anger long blinded them from this fact and all for what? Pride and ego from both sides? For the first time in a long, long time...Ei felt they could finally work towards healing and undoing all the anger...and it started with right now, with the priestess who was begging her for help and to work with one another.

"...Very well then. What is it you and your people are in need of immediately? I will personally ensure these are delivered swiftly and right away."

There was a part of Ei that wanted to silence Kokomi for the gall of her to speak to her like this...but that was only a small part of Ei currently. The reason she not only didn't silence Kokomi but was silent herself? She was right. Ei fucking knew it too.

Ei regretted the Vision Hunt Decree and the lasting damage it had caused to her people. She knew she was at fault for hiding away for 4 centuries. She was all too aware of the optics surrounding that, and all the damage it did to the inside and out of her nation. But the Sakoku Decree...She hadn't really paused to consider the lasting damage that had caused, particularly for Watatsumi Island... All caused by a Decree that cut the island off from many important imports and exports, her people starving- no, Ei allowing her people to starve while the Fatui corrupted the Tenryo and Kanjou commissions, all because of what? She could hide behind the "Eternity" excuse, but she damn well knew that it was caused by her inability to face reality as she grieved her twin sister... Ei closed her eyes for a moment, picturing for a moment what she would do if she were in Kokomi's shoes. The answer hit her quickly: Fight the god who let her people starve. And for Ei to even bring up a statue that they destroyed...Ei only now realizes the sheer ignorance of that request...

"Your vision of 'Eternity' is nothing more than the weeping silence of a mass grave, Raiden Ei".

It's too late, far too late for all those who starved and bled and died, too late for those who'd had pieces of their souls torn out and sealed into cold stone. But it's progress, finally. A crack she can dig into and slowly, carefully, claw deeper and wider, opening the way for real change.

"Do you see, now?" she repeats, quieter again, not bothering to wipe away her tears. "Do you see what you've done? Tell me you see what you've done! Are your selfish, detached ideals worth so many innocent lives?"

She could pull her breathing back under control, wash away her tears and ruined makeup, present that image of perfection once again. But that's not the point. Not the truth. And so she does not. "And then you came here, demanding I set aside what little we have left, to rebuild your shrine. To honor the very god whose negligence left us starving, bleeding, dying. We cannot. And we will not."

Her eyes haven't once left Ei's, even as the Archon's drift closed, even as that solitary tear slips out. She half-wonders what she looks like to her, all wrath and grief and broken glass.

Kokomi's words hit Ei harder than she had anticipated. Yes, she had indeed assumed this was part of the millennia-old religious feud...but the timing of the shrine being destroyed and when the Vision Hunt Decree was put into place was too close to be a coincidence...

Kokomi laughs, eyes sparkling with tears. but there's no mirth or joy in it, only unfathomable fury, dancing along a knife-edge of control. "Merely a consequence of the true horror you unleashed."

She takes a breath. Takes ahold of that reckless anger once again, sharpening it, cooling it, directing it. And oh how she hates having to do this. It should not have to be on her shoulders to explain this; it should not have to be explained. But such are the consequences of a god who spends centuries ignoring the people she claims to rule over. Just like with the war, Kokomi must force her to see.

And so when she resumes speaking, her voice is deadly quiet, sharp and cold and brittle as razor-edged ice. "The Vision Hunt Decree was an atrocity, but it pales beside the damage the Sakoku Decree caused. Watatsumi Island has very little fertile soil, and what little we do have is of very poor quality. Fishing alone cannot make up the deficit - we rely on trade for food security. Mostly foreign trade, from Liyue and Sumeru. For many centuries, this arrangement, while far from ideal, kept us alive."

She's pacing back and forth, still not looking at the Archon, clenched fists trembling with controlled rage. Just thinking about those awful times is pushing her to the edge of a breakdown, and yet she continues. She cannot shatter here. "And then...then came the Sakoku Decree. Then came the storm-wall. I watched ship after ship sail out to try to breach that storm, never to return. I watched so many of my people waste away, struggling to survive on smaller and smaller portions as our stockpiles ran lower and lower."

She turns to stare into the pitiless ocean, feeling so, so empty of anything but that blade of cold rage and the howling grief that tempered it. "There came a day the famine had killed so many that even I couldn't remember all their names," she whispers, low and cutting and broken. "The smoke from the funeral pyres turned the sky black, and when the angry, grieving crowds turned towards your shrine...I saw no reason to even try to stop them. Don't you see? Of course we rebelled. Our blood - this generation's blood - stained your hands before the first blade was ever drawn!"

Kokomi turns back to the Archon who would claim her people, tears pouring down her face, ruining her makeup, washing away the illusion of the calm, collected leader. No more masks - let her see exactly what her negligence had made, all her rage, all her pain.

There was a part of Ei that wanted to silence Kokomi for the gall of her to speak to her like this...but that was only a small part of Ei currently. The reason she not only didn't silence Kokomi but was silent herself? She was right. Ei fucking knew it too.

Ei regretted the Vision Hunt Decree and the lasting damage it had caused to her people. She knew she was at fault for hiding away for 4 centuries. She was all too aware of the optics surrounding that, and all the damage it did to the inside and out of her nation. But the Sakoku Decree...She hadn't really paused to consider the lasting damage that had caused, particularly for Watatsumi Island... All caused by a Decree that cut the island off from many important imports and exports, her people starving- no, Ei allowing her people to starve while the Fatui corrupted the Tenryo and Kanjou commissions, all because of what? She could hide behind the "Eternity" excuse, but she damn well knew that it was caused by her inability to face reality as she grieved her twin sister... Ei closed her eyes for a moment, picturing for a moment what she would do if she were in Kokomi's shoes. The answer hit her quickly: Fight the god who let her people starve. And for Ei to even bring up a statue that they destroyed...Ei only now realizes the sheer ignorance of that request...

"Your vision of 'Eternity' is nothing more than the weeping silence of a mass grave, Raiden Ei".

She shakes her head, realizing how her reaction might’ve looked to be. She instead gave a nod at the woman’s offer. “Thank you, that would be appreciated.” Bronya offers a light bow, a showing of politeness to someone newly met. “I am Bronya, though you didn’t ask.” She walks to stand next to the woman who looked ever so suspiciously like her best friend. It was uncanny, and Bronya didn’t know how to address that fact without sounding potentially rude. 

“How may I address you?” She asked in the ever so polite way that she knew to ask. A stranger who offered to walk with her around this festival deserved to be treated with as much respect as she could offer. Plus, she would be able to guide her to a stall selling dango! Even if the other lady hadn’t directly said she would, just being able to lead a woman in the vague direction of such a treat and games was too enticing to pass up.

“Forgive me. I am…not sure where i am or how I ended up here.”

Ei admitted, still feeling unease from the situation she found herself in. Looking at Robin once again, she decided to offer her help for the time being. If she knew what was going on, she maybe the help Ei needed…

"We're in Empyrea. It was once a planet full of life, but now..." her voice trailed off, and her eyes glanced toward their Empty surroundings. How dust had naught even settled in the ground, how the foundations of buildings Once There jutted out like gray Teeth from the dirt.

“Indeed, any and all current resources will go towards supporting your people. Do not mistake this as something that I expect to be addressed in the immediate future. But I hope you understand the significance of this destroyed shrine.” She said firmly, unaware of any potential trigger points…

“The fact of the matter is, the shrine you and your people destroyed is a significant breach of Inazuman law, and defiling any shrines carries severe consequences. Given the circumstances of the outcome of the Vision Hunt Decree however, I am willing to instead negotiate it with you to address at some point in the future after your people are cared for.”

Not any blessing of Orobashi, no - this is something all too human, for all its bloodstained fangs and tortured howls. This is a heritage of anger - not hate, for hate is mindless and blinding, while anger can be focused. This is a macabre inheritance of simmering wrath, handed down from mother to daughter along with this name and this crown, growing brighter and hotter with every passing generation.

It awakened as news of the Decrees reached Watatsumi, as ship after ship tried to breach the storm-wall and never returned. It gorged itself on the smoke of a thousand funeral pyres and smiled a vicious, toothy smile with every meticulously-crafted battle plan. In that war room, Kokomi honed it into a frigid blade, cold and lethal as the ocean's depths, and saw it reflected in the eyes of her commanders; on the battlefields of Yashiori and Kannazuaka, she wielded it, and it laughed in unrestrained fury.

It cracks an eye open again, that sleeping anger, at the false Archon's demands. Not an old god's vengeance, no - just the smaller, more ordinary wrath of a people scorned. "And why do you think that shrine was destroyed?" she asks, soft as a snake waiting in ambush. "Did you imagine this to merely be another step in our millennia-old religious feud? Or perhaps retaliation by someone whose Vision you stole? The grief of a dead soldier's family, perhaps?"

She closes her eyes for a moment, and just like every night when she struggles to sleep, the image of those pyres, of the overflowing medical wards that preceded them, brands itself across her mind once more. When she looks again, the Archon watches her still, uncomprehending, detached, thinking she's being reasonable. Here they stand, amidst a monument to all her sins, and she still does not understand. "You still don't get it, do you?"

Famine is a crueler death than War will ever be.

Kokomi's words hit Ei harder than she had anticipated. Yes, she had indeed assumed this was part of the millennia-old religious feud...but the timing of the shrine being destroyed and when the Vision Hunt Decree was put into place was too close to be a coincidence...