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bluey0petal · 1 month ago

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MORTALITY || CHAPTER 1

Masterlist

Pairings : Genshin various x Fem!reader

Synopsis : Clearing up a few misunderstandings and explaining some of the ropes of their new reality— you somehow manage to score your dream, with the new trio deeming your apartment as their new stationary home.

Word count : 6900+

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How did you get here exactly? You— weren't quite sure. Whether it was the shock that had blurred your memories, or the sheer whiplash of it all, either way, how you ended up with three fictional characters sitting on your couch, all experiencing their own forms of existential crisis' was faded.

You stood across the coffee table from the trio, plate in hand and standing while you ate your dinner, SpongeBob playing in the background. It was kind of awkward, and nobody spoke as they all seemed to be in the midst of processing your information.

It wasn't exactly easy to go from 'HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY HOUSE?'—to—'Okay so... you just became physically real', but you'd done it. You'd somehow successfully explained to them, with their own help, that they'd just entered the physical realm. The realm of existence.

It had started with disbelief, distrust, and most of all, quite a bit of arguing— that may or may not lead to you getting a knock from your landlord about a noise complaint, but either way, you couldn't care in the moment, not when you yourself were still recovering from the shock of it all.

Aether, Albedo and Paimon— as you'd confirmed, it was all three of them. All of them now sat on your couch, real, tangible, physical. Not just pixels any longer, but real people with real skin, with real blood pumping through their veins. If you weren't absolutely wrecked right now you might've started fangirling on the spot.

They were here, and you'd come to realise this wasn't a hallucination, but a real event that was happening. Maybe there was a god above, seeing as you'd begged the sky for them to descend, and here they had. While awkwardly, they were still here, in your reality. In your house.

Though, they didn't seem to be having the same joy you did, though it was kind of understandable. You had kind of dropped the whole 'you're not real bomb' on them right off the bat. Hey— it was an accident! You hadn't meant to, you'd kind of just been arguing and screamed that they weren't even supposed to exist.

From there, you were interrogated further and forced to explain the concept of Genshin Impact. They listened intently, and now they thought deeply, maybe a bit too deep as the only sounds filling the tense atmosphere was Sandy talking on the screen behind you.

"So... if Paimon is correct, Paimon isn't real?" Paimon finally looked up, her eyes wide and confused as she reaffirmed what you'd just explained. You stopped your eating, finishing your chewing before placing your fork down, making sure the noise was soft as you prepared to answer her question.

To be truthful, you didn't know the answer to that either, but you'd assumed that they were real, seeing as they were here now.

"Well— no? You're... real, now, at-least," you cringed inwardly at your own choice of words, hoping that your horribly pieced together answer would make some kind of tangible sense instead of making you sound like a complete idiot in their eyes.

They must be having one hell of an existential crisis. You could relate.

Fictional characters had just been spewed into your apartment, and this could either be a dream come true, or a nightmare waiting to happen. On one hand, magic one possible, and you had a chance—a very slim one—of perhaps scoring some in the bag. On the other hand, you could be falling into a pit of chaos you were never meant to touch.

Fun.

Actually— it's best not to think about that right now. Just... focus on the fact that they're real right now.

"But... does that mean— we weren't real before?" Paimon continued, one of her hands coming to press the heel of her palm against her forehead, the touch being slightly strange for the pixie who'd never felt such a strong physical sensation.

"I'd assume we were," Albedo spoke up, his words stemming from a place of comfort and or factual correction. "We would have never been able to transport to this reality if we didn't have some sort of tangible substance. Not to forget, everything we saw and felt back in Teyvat was real— it's just apparently dulled compared to this world."

"...Paimon doesn't understand."

"I think he's uh— trying to say that if you weren't real, you'd never be here in the first place," you coughed awkwardly, hoping your summed up and simplified clarification would prove to be of some use, though, you yourself weren't confounded by Albedo's explanation.

The alchemist was indeed complex in his ways, his intelligence proving even a little too much for you to fully comprehend in the moment.

"Oh... well that makes Paimon feel slightly better. But— Paimon is still really uncomfortable! She's never felt all these things! She can feel something thudding inside of her, and in her throat, and Paimon really doesn't like being able to feel her clothes!" Paimon just seemed to have more and more to unravel the more she spiraled, making gestures than went alongside her words.

She gestured to her chest as she mentioned the thudding, then to her throat as he mentioned the sensation and then down to her clothes once she spoke about the texture being too much. Ah... your eyes went slightly wide in realisation.

"Ohhh... you guys probably didn't have proper senses back there—" your mouth formed itself into the shape of an 'o', a striking sense of reality hitting you as it clicked within your brain what Paimon meant.

You had a hunch that back in Teyvat, a world that apparently existed—save it for later—and was in the form of anime, just like the game, didn't have proper physics. Which you assumed the most sense the characters had was sight and hearing, and the rest were just phantom feelings that never really occurred.

So... was it safe to say they'd likely never felt any kind of touch before? As in—any? Paimon was probably overstimulated, which would be why she's constantly tugging at her clothes as if the rugged texture of her one-piece bean suit is uncomfortably rubbing against her.

Now that you thought about it, their in-game outfits wouldn't be the most practical thing in real life. While in the animeesque world, they wouldn't have minded much, your theory of the lack of physics coming into play again, in real life, their outfits wouldn't be rather uncomfortable to wear.

You couldn't imagine wearing all that gold, and while you'd clearly seen the muscles developed on Aether, which you could assumed Albedo held as well, that wouldn't mean the sensation of weight was any less foreign to either of them.

"Huh?" Aether raised an eyebrow in confusion.

You blinked, shaking your head to bring yourself back to the current scenario.

"Sorry, uhm. I think that back in uh— your world," that still felt so weird to mention. "Physics didn't exactly... work, but here, they do. Hence uhhh, your realistic bodies. That means you have a proper sense of touch now, nerves. So, that thudding inside your chest is your heartbeat," you felt both smart and stupid at the same time.

Having some sense of knowledge over the group gave you a sense of pride, but the worry that you were absolutely failing at explaining a situation you also knew nada about gave you a foreboding feeling of disappointment and shame. What if what you were telling them was a complete joke?

No— if you weren't going to have faith in yourself, at least have faith in what you were taught way back in ninth grade science.

They all began to pay attention now, with Aether even bringing a hand up to press at his chest, his face once again twitching at the feeling of a faint pounding behind the clothing and skin of his chest.

"It's more noticeable at certain points, so if you extend your wrist," you extended your own, gesturing for the three to do the same, and they followed, curious to hear the end of your explanation.

"And then you press here, you'll notice your veins poking out, and if you touch them, you can feel your heartbeat a lot better," you pressed to the veins in your wrist, feeling your own heartbeat as again the others mimicked your movements like clones.

Albedo reacted with intrigue and fascination, his eyes examining the skin of his wrist—which was covered by gloves—carefully, as if his own body were his next experiment. Obviously, heartbeats weren't something they'd felt this obviously before.

Paimon seemed more surprised than the rest, her head tilting as she felt her very own pulse, like listening to a radio playing the best of her own life. Again, the experience was likely unusual and something they'd never experienced before.

Aether more so responded with more confusion, his eyebrows pinching downwards as he tried to feel around his wrist, searching for the vein. You watched him for a moment, his struggle obvious and blaring for you to awkwardly watch.

"I can't feel anything," Aether finally admitted, turning his wrist over as if checking the other side might yield better results. You sighed, placing your empty dinner plate onto the table and stepping around the small table to Aether, gentle grasping his hand.

"Probably because you have gloves on," you pointed out, holding his own hand up to his face to show him. He still remained dumbfounded. Gods— this was like trying to teach aliens how to exist. ... wait a minute.

"Uh, then how am I meant to feel it?" He seemed genuinely confused, and you wondered just how much of the game's physics applied to them. Did they seriously never change clothes? Ever? As in— not even gloves? Hair pieces? Shoes...?

Swallowing, you pulled his glove off for him, chucking it into his lap. Aether jumped in surprise, head snapping to watch the glove you'd just taken off of his hand. You could hear Paimon gasp from the left of the two of you.

"AHH! You took his glove off! You can do that here!?" Again, genuine surprise resonated off of them, and you could see Albedo leaning over to peer over Paimon and see the scene with his own eyes. You pressed your lips down awkwardly.

"Uh... yeah? Okay— never mind, try again," you shook your head, shrugging off the impending spiral that desperately wanted you to go down it. Instead, you focused back on Aether, gesturing for him to find his pulse again.

He softly nodded, removing his other glove carefully, the fabric laid in his lap, and with free hands he reached back for his pulse, his eyes widening as he felt the dull thud of his heartbeat pulsating in his wrist.

You wondered what it was like to suddenly gain the sense of touch. What would it have been like for them without it? How did they feel pain? Did they not? Or— did they simply react that way when injured for plot purposes? Did plot purposes now exist? What the hell is even going on right now?

"I must admit, while this is quite fascinating— and I would be eager to conduct more studies right now, is our main priority not to return back to Teyvat?" Albedo questioned, grasping the attention of the group gently with his soft yet stern words.

You pursed your lips. As much as this was amazing, he was kind of right, should their main goal not be to get home? What does their absence do to Teyvat? Will it have any effects on their world? What will you do after this? How are you going to keep living knowing the possibility of your favourite characters spawning into existence is truly possible?

"Yeah... Paimon almost forgot about that. How are we going to get back anyway?" The question seemed to be something without an answer, and all of them joined the pondering process, even you. You too were thinking about ways for them to get home, but there was a slight problem.

"I'm not quite sure, but my initial impression would be that the cube has a counterpart in this world. It would make sense, no? That would be how it has established a connection here?" Albedo's theorising was good, but you unfortunately had to shut the alchemist down on that idea.

"Yeah— uh, no. Number one, magic doesn't really exist here... so, I don't think a magic cube would exist... and uh, number two—" you paused, swallowing your cringe. "This world is kinda ginormous, as in, thousands of times bigger than Teyvat, meaning, searching for that cube would be impossible," you concluded, watching as Albedo fell back into thought.

"Then, how do we get back?" Paimon tilted her head. You shrugged.

"You said magic doesn't exist? I assume you mean elemental energy," Albedo glanced back to you. "Yeah," you nodded, expecting another theory— but instead his eyes, which were already a glazed shade of blue, had a strange sort of glimmer appear in them.

Your eyebrows raised as Albedo seemed to look around in contemplation, his eyebrows furrowing in the silence. Finally, the glimmer disappeared and he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're right, there's not a single trace of elemental energy aside from us three," Albedo sighed, his expression seeming more tense.

"So that means we're stuck!? AHHHH!! Paimon can't take this!!" Paimon squealed.

You winced at her loud tone, already feeling the impending knock that might wake you up tomorrow morning with a note about a noise complaint being gifted to you like a sacred scrawl.

"What do we do then?" Aether looked between Albedo and Paimon with worry in his gaze, clearly upset about the revelation that they couldn't return back to Teyvat, leaving them stuck here.

"I'm unsure..." Albedo sighed, shoulders dropping. They three were thinking, all trying to come up with some plot that would lead them back to their own world, but your instincts had a better idea.

"You can stay here!" You blurted, and the regret following chased after you violently.

Why did you say that? Oh gods— they couldn't stay here. You didn't have the room... or money, or anything really. Not to mention, it was kind of weird for you to offer them housing since you'd literally just met them. Though, you didn't exactly back down from your decision despite your second thoughts.

"At my place, I mean— just, until you guys find a way back to Teyvat," you clarified awkwardly, watching as the three of them all exchanged glances between each other. They were thinking, sharing acceptance and or rejection through a mere glint of their gaze.

"..."

"It wouldn't be the worst option, I would like to learn more about this world," Albedo chimed, folding his arms diligently over his chest.

Paimon and Aether listened to his words, carefully considering their options.

"Paimon doesn't know... she feels icky here— but... if we can't get home, we could stay here," she hummed, tilting her head.

Finally, Aether was the last one to add his opinion, all eyes turning to him. He seemed more conflicted, less accepting of staying in this world. It didn't seem like an option he was willing to go along with easily, and that was surprising considering he was the one who quite literally used to world-hop.

"Until we find a way home," he finally stated firmly, and with that, all votes were in.

"Very well then, we'll stay here until we find out a way back to Teyvat," Albedo hummed, and you could've sworn a spark flickered in your heart. Did you hear that right? They actually agreed to it—? They. They agreed.

You had Albedo, Aether and Paimon in your apartment. They were going to live with you. Oh gods once you got to your room you were going to collapse into your bed and squeal. This is the best hallucination to ever be conjured in existence.

"That's great! Sorry— great, okay Uhm... it's uh, kind of late right now... so uh, you guys might want to get to sleep. I'll set you up some blankets... Albedo and Aether, I think I can get you guys some clothes of mine to wear just to... get out of those, but I don't think I have anything for you Paimon," you stopped to breathe.

"Uh... then tomorrow, tomorrow— I can explain more to you guys tomorrow, and I'll show you the 'video game' I talked about earlier," you finished with a stern nod, earning one in reciprocation from all of them.

The plan was set then, and you wasted no time in getting to work on setting up a space for them.

You raced around your apartment, shoving your plate in the sink and switching off your TV— then running to your own room to take some blankets and pillows from your bed, bringing them out to the main room where the three stood. Each of them got a pillow, Aether and Paimon were sharing a blanket while Albedo got his own.

"Wow! This is so soft," Paimon cooed at the blanket, bringing the fabric up to press it against her face. "Paimon never wants to let go."

Next— uh, next. Clothes. Right! You sped back into your room, rifling through drawers and tossing shirts over one another. You found two shirts that would likely fit the two men, and then you had to check for pants. Sadly, all you found was tracksuit pants, so they'd have to deal with it for now.

Anywho, you tossed the two the clothes and let them use the bathroom to change. For Albedo, it took him around half an hour to simply just change his clothes. You assumed getting off all those accessories weren't easy, and when he stepped back out, he was wearing a black shirt with the words 'DIVA' on them. You had to suppress a giggle.

Next was Aether, and again he took an insanely long time to swap his clothes, but luckily, he didn't get what you deemed an embarrassing t-shirt, instead he got a plain light blue shirt, one that made him look strangely soft.

They both thanked you for the spare change of clothes, and for their old ones— you decided to just place them on the coffee table for now. You didn't really have anywhere to put them, so they'd just have to sit there for now.

Finally, everything had settled, yet an unreal air still lingered above.

Staring at the others sitting on the floor of your living room, you bid them a quick goodnight as you shut off the light. You left to your bedroom, shutting the door behind you and simply standing still when it fully closed.

You stayed standing in place for seconds, silent, unmoving— and then you smiled. You grinned as if you'd just been gifted a million dollars, and maybe you had been gifted just that. This— was the most unexpected, yet best day ever in your life. You had to declare it now.

Glancing down to your phone in your hand, you stared at the screen, noting the time. 10:38.

God... it was a little late— you should really get to bed, but first, you had a quick message to send.

─────

HARLEY RACHELS

Can you do a 7am - 3pm tomorrow?

Yeah, I can.

Thanks.

─────

You stared at the message you'd initially responded to this morning, eyes noting the time and date. You couldn't do that anymore. Not after what had just happened.

─────

HARLEY RACHELS

Can you do a 7am - 3pm tomorrow?

Yeah, I can.

Thanks.

Hey, sorry, something came up and I'm not available for that shift anymore.

─────

Done. With that, you walked over to you beside table, grasping the cord of your charger and plugging it into your phone. Your phone dinged as the charging symbol came up, lighting up green. Then, you placed it down with a soft thud.

You shifted softly as you tucked yourself under your sheets, grasping at the fabric of your doona. This felt real, and if you woke up tomorrow, and they were still there, you were going to start kissing the earth in forgiveness.

For once in your life, you weren't woken up by the absurdly annoying sound of your alarm beeping, screaming at you to awaken, instead you awoke naturally, sunlight streaming through your open window onto your face, and blankets wrapped tightly around your entire body.

You grumbled, eyes blinking open and registering your room. It seemed... normal. No sign of anything weird. You shot up immediately, eyes wide as you flipped the sheets right off of your own body.

The door to your room was slammed open by yourself, and you stood in the doorway with messy hair— frizzy and puffed, and clothing fit for a homeless person. Your eyes lingered on the floor of your living room, and you almost choked in surprise when three people still sat asleep on your floor.

"Holy shit..." you wheezed.

They were real. It wasn't just a dream— an insanely good one, they were actually here. You could feel your heartbeat speed up at the revelation. With more clarification, you could finally see the magic before you, the magic that shouldn't be possible. The magic of their existence.

They glimmered, and as the light from your bedroom slowly poured into the living room, you observed each of their faces delicately, now fully awake. Albedo— the actual Albedo, same hairstyle and everything, just in the clothes you'd gifted him, slept asleep on the floor. He was actually quite funny in the way he positioned himself, still, like a mummy in a coffin. It was comedic.

Aether though, oh lord... he was pretty, insanely so. Blonde hair ruffled from where he slept on the couch, a mouth half open and eyes shut tight, still heavily asleep. His braid had escaped its prison in the blanket, and boy was it lengthy— it cascaded off the side of Aether, falling all the way down the side of the couch to where the end touches the floor.

You'd never quite seen someone so majestic, and perhaps if Aether had been born onto Earth, he'd be a super model, because boy you'd never seen someone so stunning.

Never mind. You shook your head to regain your focus, eyes shifting to the much smaller Paimon tucked by his side. She was also fast asleep, drool falling down her chin and hair completely in frizzles. Her outfit was still the one she wore from Teyvat, but that made her look all the more adorable.

She was about the size of a toddler, she looked like one too, and her small hand was clutched around Aether's pinkie finger. The sight tugged at your heart strings. Being able to see these companions in real life was like a gift, truly— and holy hell did you have a lot to do.

Right... uh, you'd promised them you'd explain the whole video game life concept, but that could wait until later... you had to get yourself situated and cook breakfast. Did you make some for them too? Would they even like whatever you made? Could they even eat? Probably. Welp, there's only one way to find out.

Retreating back to your room, you shut the door carefully, hand steadying the handle as you carefully shut it closed. It took a bit of wincing and flinches every time the door groaned, but you did it, and the door fully shut close with a click. You sighed in relief and then turned back to your room.

Swiftly walking over to your clothing drawers, you took your shirt off at the same time, discarding the pyjamas over onto your messy bed and dragging a draw open, revealing a whole pile of chaotic organisation that was singularly made of shirts. Okay... what would be appropriate for today? Uhm, Y'know what, a plain shirt will do.

You fished out just a random shirt that wasn't anything too fancy, pulling it onto yourself swiftly and relaxing at the feeling of comfort it brought. Next, you repeated the same step with your pants, choosing a standard pair of denim shorts that felt uncharacteristically soft for the material they were supposedly made up of.

Finally in fresher clothes, you stepped back out into the living room, making sure to remain just as careful as you had been before. You still didn't want to wake the sleeping three, and you softly crept your way over to the bathroom opposite the kitchen, stealthily shuffling your way inside of the room.

It was dark when you first put yourself in there, but you felt the wall up for the light switch and flicked it when you found it. The light buzzed on, a bright, blinding white that never failed to flash bang you in the mornings. You grunted in annoyance, temporarily disoriented—but you quickly recovered.

Turning to face the mirror, you stared at yourself in the reflection, eyes blinking at the sight of yourself. Your hair was a total mess, the definition of a bedhead.

"Holy fuck... I look like shit," you murmured, your own words doing no better to comfort yourself as you fished for your hairbrush, picking up the item, only to drag itself bristles through your hair. The first few tugs hurt, pulling at your already mucked up hair roughly— but it didn't last long as soon all the knots dissipated.

You sighed as your hair was knot free but frowned once you saw your frizzed up reflection. What a beautiful after look. You bitterly thought, the internal words hanging heavy on your tongue.

Sighing, you reached for a hair tie, knowing the only way to save this mess without going into a full routine would be to pull it back and out of your face.

Loosely, you tied your hair back, all the while grumbling to yourself about the annoyance your hair caused you. It was a frizzed mess most days, and it frankly didn't make you feel any better when you woke up with eye-bags the size of craters hanging beneath your eyes.

Adjusting your hair slightly, you settled on a decent style that framed your face just right before exiting the bathroom.

You almost jumped when the face that greeted you was non other than Albedo, standing in all his messy haired glory yet wide awake, hauntingly blue eyes. He blinked at you, and you blinked back, eyes flickering to the star mark on his neck before glancing back to his face.

"Good morning," he greeted first, tone just as careful as it had always been and face monotone just the same. His voice was clear, not even groggy— perhaps that was a by product of him not being fully human.

Ugh, it felt kind of weird digesting that, like— life almost didn't feel real right now. How were you supposed to comprehend that Albedo himself was standing in front of you? Completely real and tangible? It just didn't seem possible, frankly, but you had to digest the idea anyway seeing as it was quite literally happening.

"Morning," you greeted back with a soft, subtly strained smile, your eye bags crinkling with the movement. His eyes flickered all over your face, and you felt strangely unsettled as he observed your features. It was almost as if he were dissecting you, taking apart your features and wondering what lay beneath.

"Are you ready to show the game you mentioned?"

Oh— oh. Straightforward as shown in game, Albedo hadn't seemed to of changed at all. Though, you didn't know him personally, you'd done plenty of digging into his lore, especially with the recent showcase of the four shades.

Yeah, Genshin just casually dropped a massive lore bomb on a Tuesday. Normal things.

"Oh, yeah— but can I make breakfast first? I was planning on cooking something for you guys," you pointed over to the kitchen, watching as his head turned to glance when you directed.

He went silent in contemplation, eyes observing the counter tops before looking back to you.

"Alright, I will wait," Albedo nodded, smiling gently before turning and walking back to the blanket he'd left on the floor, sitting himself back down onto it patiently.

Weird.

You watched after him, eyes trailing after him before you turned away, flicking off the bathroom light behind you and closing the door. You walked back over to your room, stepping back inside and trailing back over to your bed.

You reached for your phone which you'd left on the bedside table—having forgotten it—grasping it and pulling it into your grasp. Your thumb tapped the screen, and it lit up, the time being displayed in large bold letters at the very top of it all.

8:47.

If you'd accepted that shift, you would have been awake hours ago— and in shift right now. God, you cringed just thinking about it. Brushing off the thought, unwilling to continue thinking of work, you flipped through your home screen, diligently scrolling through apps and finding the one you particularly were searching for.

Your bank account.

You pressed the familiar icon, letting the screen of the passcode light up— only to be disrupted by the facial registration. It scanned you with the camera, then with a click the app opened for you, letting you inside the app right away.

Straight up, your eyes flickered to the top where your main account lay, the balance number sitting just below the name.

$568.

You deflated at that number, grumbling to yourself. You'd already paid rent for the week— but you'd have to go grocery shopping soon, and not to mention you likely needed clothes for the newly acquired acquaintances in your house.

Why did you agree to housing them?

You thought that the moment you offered, but there wasn't really any going back now— and it's not as if you truly wanted to reverse your decision, you just didn't know if you'd hold up well with them under your roof.

Whatever... you'd deal with it. That was a problem for future you.

Shutting your phone off with the click of a side button, you stuff it into the shallow pocket of your pants, turning and walking back out into the living room. Albedo was watching you from the floor, observing your actions, the way you moved— likely curious.

You raised an eyebrow, shutting your bedroom door behind you.

"Could you perhaps show me how this device works?" Albedo gestured to the TV, his words careful.

You glanced at the TV, both eyebrows raising in surprise. Albedo wanted to watch the TV—? No, he was probably just curious what it is, as you would be.

"Uh, yeah sure," you nodded, walking past the coffee table where the clothes and the remote lay. You swiped the remote from its spot on the floor before circling around to Albedo, crouching down to where he sat, his posture unnaturally perfect.

"Okay so this button, the red one," you pointed to the button in the very top left corner— one of the only buttons with colour. "This turns it on," as if to demonstrate, you pressed the button and the TV snapped on, instantly being on a news channel, the volume decently low.

Albedo watched with wonder, a calculating gaze behind his eyes.

"And if you want to watch something else, just press either of these to scroll through," you then pointed to two arrow buttons, one pointing up and the other pointing down, your show of location was then followed by another demonstration.

You flicked over channels, scrambling through them with uninterested eyes before you landed on one channel. National Geographic. Albedo would like that— right? Maybe, you didn't really know.

"Here," you handed Albedo the remote, his eyes still gleaming with interest as he transferred his gaze between the TV and the remote, eyes occasionally glancing to the cheetah being displayed.

"How does it work? Is it perhaps a receptor or a resonator?" Albedo turned the remote over in his hands, already observing every detail about the remote you'd given to him.

You pressed your lips down, internally screaming at your lack of knowledge on technology and the mechanisms behind it. "Uh... I don't know much, but the basic idea is that wires inside are connected to the buttons— and when the buttons are pressed they send an electrical signal to the TV which tells the TV what to do," yeah you were sure none of that was true, but whatever.

"That why if you point the remote away and press a button, nothing will happen," following your words, Albedo tilted the remote, pressing a button and watching for the TV's reaction. True to your words, nothing happened. He seemed even more fascinated now.

"Interesting, it appears to be a more complicated replica of those Fontanian kameras," Albedo hummed, again turning the remote over in his grip.

"I think I might try and create my own version— could electro be used as a substitute I wonder?" And with that, you were leaving. You were not getting stuck into answering questions you didn't have the answer to, Albedo could flick through the channels and entertain himself all he wanted, you had other things to do.

Oh wait... is this how parents of iPad kids feel? Suddenly you resonated with them.

Shaking your head, you stepped into the small kitchen area, walking to your fridge at the end. It lay in wait, and you pried the door open, being welcomed by ingredients instead of fully made ready to go meals. Just your luck that you hadn't prepared anything.

Sighing, you reached inside and pulled out a carton of eggs, a carton you'd yet to touch, and was about to expire. You should probably use them. With it— you pulled out a small jar of cream that was half-full, waiting to be used for another batch of eggs.

Okay... four eggs per people, a dozen eggs in the carton... uh, uh oh. Shit... okay Uhm, you could just eat something else.

Your own stomach growled in hunger at the thought of skipping breakfast, but you shut it up by grabbing a bowl from the below cabinets, the ceramic clinking against your faux marble counter tops.

Right. Time to get making some eggs.

You'd done this plenty of times, and the steps were practically engrained in your mind. Crack all the eggs into a bowl, which happened to be an extra-large one considering the quantity of eggs, and then pour the right amount of cream in, which also happened to be all the cream you had left.

Feeding four people—no, three, was hard. How did your mother ever do it...?

Whisking came naturally, and your hand moved with the skill of a home-taught chef as you diligently shuffled the ingredients together, combining them into one mix. Clear egg whites with yellow yolks transformed into a frothy yellow mix, and by the time it was ready you'd already set up a pan on your stove.

The gas stove crackled on with the turn of your hand, pressing against the knob, and the flames sparked beneath the pan, blue flames flickering through the stand the pan sat atop. You poured the eggs into the pan, being careful not to spill any, and you were so focused you didn't notice when Albedo stood up and walked over to watch you work.

Again, he stared at everything with this strange glance, one that told he was analysing everything he could. The stove? He was wondering how it worked, determining just what ingredients could be combined together to make fire— though the faint whiff of gas in the air gave it away.

A spatula was your tool to slowly form the eggs into a scrambled texture, with your constant folding and chopping shaping the once liquid into a proper fluffy cloud like object. Albedo still watched, and he remained silent at the same time, allowing you to work.

By the time about ten minutes had passed, and the eggs had finished cooking, the stove being switched off with a simple turn of a knob—Paimon had finally woken up to the smell of eggs. You knew this because she didn't even finish her yawn before she was shooting out of the blanket, rushing over to the counter.

Her mouth was already wide as she stared at the plates you were preparing, simply hungry for something to eat. The eggs weren't even all that flavourful, seeing as you didn't have any seasoning right now— you'd make sure to buy some later on, but that didn't stop Paimon from scarfing down her plate like nothing else mattered.

The only reason it had taken her over a minute to eat was because you had to teach her to use a fork, but once she got the hang of it she was downing the food as if it would disappear. Eating seemed to be a natural mechanism, then.

Albedo was far calmer in how he ate, showing no obvious reaction to the flavour or texture of the food, instead chewing like a robot. He easily held the fork like a painter would their brush, and he continued to eat softly, taking a little longer than Paimon would have to eat his entire portion.

Aether on the other hand... he had to be woken up to eat.

Paimon had done the honours for you, floating over to him—which still caught you off guard—and waking him up with a shake to the shoulders. He'd sat up with dry eyes, eyelids still heavy and braid almost falling out. An unusual sight.

He'd barely even registered the plate passed into his hands, and teaching the poor boy how to use a fork was a whole other story. He missed the target several times, which happened to take up the entire plate. By the end of it, he was fully awake, but it was only when it was ten minutes breezed by that he was able to look around properly.

The dishes were now tossed back in the sink, stacking up with the others, and the others had content stomachs—minus you.

So now, as promised... it was time to show them the video game they originated from, as you promised them you would.

Lined up on the couch like an awaiting audience, eyes following you like a hawk, they all watched as you fiddled with a box next to the TV— specifically, your ps4. Old, from your teen years, but still functioning and capable of running Genshin on it.

Once the box powered on, the TV picked up its signal right away, switching to the next HDMI cable and changing the channel from otters holding hands to that damned bright blue that would always haunt your nightmares.

You grabbed your controller from the TV cabinet and stepped back, allowing the others to see the screen fully. They stared in wonder as they watched the TV, eyes looking over the game covers, though you assumed they'd all be focused on the very first one.

The one with Aether, Amber, Jean and Kaeya standing in the front of it.

"Hey—! It's Amber and the others!" Paimon shouted, her eyes then noticing Aether. "And you too [REDACTED]!! Look! You're on the screen!" She placed a small hand on his shoulder, shaking Aether as she naggingly pointed to the TV over and over again.

Aether deadpanned, still tired from his interrupted sleep. "Yes... I see that Paimon," he hummed, his voice barely above a breath.

Again, they refocused when you clicked onto the game, awaiting its opening— but unfortunately your worst enemy popped up.

"This game is due for an update. Would you like to update now?"

Yes | Later

You were going to throw this controller at the TV, honestly, did it have to pop up now? Why did past you not update the game!???

You sighed, shoulders slumping. "It had to update..." you groaned, shoulders sagging.

"..."

"Uh... what's that mean?" Paimon looked back at you with confusion.

"It means there's new content— and it has to download it," you huffed, flicking the buttons to the 'yes' option, clicking down to confirm. Instantly, the screen was bombarded by bright blue again, a line cutting through the screen in the middle of it. Below that line, numbers lay, the percentage of the download lingering.

"1% completed. 3 hours remaining."

Oh well fuck me gently in the ass with a chainsaw why don't you?

Seriously, you rolled your eyes, arms falling to your side. The others noticed your obviously upset behaviour, again growing curious. "Uh... what's does it say?" Paimon was once again the one to ask the questions, and you let your head loll to the side, frown etched onto your face.

"It's estimated to take three hours to update."

Paimon audibly whined at that, and the disappointment lingering within the room was visible.

"So we have to wait?! Paimon doesn't wanna wait!"

"Welp... we're gonna have to, guess we should find something to do," you hummed, walking back to the TV cabinet as you tried to find something else to do in the meantime. What did you even have—? You didn't have many group activity games.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

CHAPTER 1 | 'A new world' COMPLETED

───── CHARACTERS INTRODUCED

'Aether' / [REDACTED] / The Traveler

Companionship level ; ☆☆☆☆☆

'Paimon' / The Traveler's guide

Companionship level ; ★☆☆☆☆

'Albedo' / Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius

Companionship level ; ☆☆☆☆☆

─────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐 | '𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞' — Loading

#canon divergence #genshin harbingers #genshin impact fanfictions #genshin x you #albedo genshin impact #genshin fanfic #genshin impact fatui #aether genshin impact #xiao genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact #paimon #aether x reader #aether #aetherxreader #albedo x reader #albedo

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bluey0petal · 2 months ago

Text

MORTALITY || PROLOGUE

Masterlist

Pairings : Genshin various x Fem!reader

Synopsis : After a few misleading events, three uninvited guests are thrown into the clutches of an unsuspecting, tired and underpaid you.

Word count : 6500+

Chemicals and vibrant brews bubbled, the sounds of gasses popping and the faint smell of acidic properties wafting through the space around Albedo. He stood at his desk, eyes trailing over the soft font on paper before him— and ears listening to the howling wind that writhed outside of the cave's maw.

Currently alone, he read over the print, eyes trailing over every word, examining his own handwriting that he'd carved in ink. Instructions, hypothesis', plans, all of the sorts scrawled on the very paper before him, pinned beneath a careful hand.

"Material shows possibility of connection. The energy seems to pulse when in close contact with abyssal fragments, and unrecognisable energy emanates from it. Further tests to be conducted, two and three lined up."

That's all he had. Those simple couple of sentences. It wasn't much, and if he were anyone lesser, he'd be disappointed by his slow progress— but he wasn't anyone lesser, and instead he was motivated by the fact he hadn't made any major moves in his experiment.

He was curious, willing to uncover the properties of the artefact he'd uncovered.

It was a curious little thing. A tiny cube, onyx at its base, yet covered in blue fractured lines, almost similar to a spider's web or the fractured pattern of broken glass. It was intriguing, he'd known that from the moment he pulled it from the snow.

With no obvious signs of its origin, and a suspicious energy pulsating from it, Albedo didn't necessarily think twice when picking it up and taking it back to his lab located half-way up the mountain side of Dragonspine.

Albedo reread his own scribbles, his eyes shifting to the instructions he'd laid out for himself. Plans. What to test next. The first test was to test its resonant properties, seeing how it interacted with the elements, and so far, nothing major had come from that.

─────

CUBE ASSESSMENT

"𝒜𝓃𝑒𝓂𝑜 : 𝒩𝑜𝓉 𝓂𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝓈𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝒸𝓊𝒷𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝑜𝓊𝓉𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝒾𝓃𝒻𝓁𝓊𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈. 𝒩𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑜𝓁𝒾𝒹.

𝒢𝑒𝑜 : 𝒩𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃.

𝐸𝓁𝑒𝒸𝓉𝓇𝑜 : 𝒮𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝓂 𝒷𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝓊𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓃𝑜 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒. 𝐹𝓊𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒷𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹.

𝒟𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑜 : 𝒮𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓁𝑒 𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓇𝑔𝓎 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝒻𝓉, 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒶𝒷𝓈𝑜𝓇𝒷 𝒹𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓇𝑜 𝑒𝓃𝑒𝓇𝑔𝓎. 𝐹𝓊𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒷𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹.

𝐻𝓎𝒹𝓇𝑜 : 𝒩𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃.

𝒫𝓎𝓇𝑜 : 𝒩𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃.

𝒞𝓇𝓎𝑜 : 𝒮𝓂𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃, 𝒸𝓊𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒾𝑔𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒹𝑒𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓈. 𝐹𝓊𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒷𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒹."

─────

Abyssal energy had come in a seperate test, one that was yet to be finished.

Abyssal energy was somewhat of an outlier, something that didn't fit into the category of the other seven elements. It was different, had different properties, did things that the other elements couldn't do. So, obviously it needed its own category and phase.

Part one of phase two— tests on purification.

The cube—as Albedo would continue to call it for now—had shown a much larger scale reaction to abyssal energy than to any of the others, as he had expected. It absorbed the energy from the abyssal fragments he provided, full on absorbed the energy.

It purified the fragments, but in turn poisoned itself. It only piqued Albedo's growing curiosity.

This artefact, was it some kind of abyssal material? Is that why is resonated with the energy so much and seemed to have no reaction to the elements? Or was it simply something that had conjured its own existence and just preferred abyssal energy?

He very much wanted to find out.

"Ah! He is here! He was so silent Paimon thought that he'd died!"

Albedo looked up at the voice, his eyes locking onto the sight of a very small, floating, white-haired pixie that was looking rather shocked upon finding Albedo up in his lab, even if that was where he spent most of his days.

Albedo blinked, his crystalline gaze shifting from Paimon over to the man standing beside her, blonde, and rolling his eyes as if he'd heard this a thousand times over already. [REDACTED], or better know as, The Traveler.

"Why would he be dead? I think there would be some big case happening if he died," The Traveller replied, softly shaking his head whilst walking past Paimon, stepping into the shelter of the inner cavern that contained Albedo's temporary station.

Paimon followed, joining [REDACTED] away from the snow, and they both walked up to where Albedo sat.

"Traveler, Paimon," Albedo duly greeted, nodding his head politely and standing himself from his chair as the two acquaintances of his strolled over towards him. Aether waved back in greeting, while Paimon just smiled and nodded hastily.

"Hey Albedo! It's been a while since we've seen you!" Paimon chittered, planting her hands on the hips of her clothing— which happened to be something resembling a white bean, an odd choice of fashion, yet not one that required any statements made about it.

"Indeed it has, it's good to see you both again," Albedo let a soft smile find its way to his face, and his calm grace seemed to waft over the duo on the opposing side of the desk, their own playful demeanours softening into something more passive.

"Yeah— we haven't heard from you in a while, Paimon almost thought you died, but [REDACTED] kept saying you were probably just busy," Paimon shook her head, nodding over to The Traveler who seemed to fall into a smug fit at Paimon's retell of their ideas.

Albedo noted the humorous atmosphere and softly snorted cordially in response. "Ah, I'm glad you were worried about my safety Paimon, but I'm afraid I'm not dead yet. I've simply been busy," he clarified, softly shaking his head, every action he took being gentle yet purposeful.

Paimon seemed to perk at Albedo's mention of being busy, and visible stars shone in her eyes as she leant forward, intrigued. "Busy? Are you working on a new project?" She inquired, adjusting her altitude to peer over his shoulder, as if snooping directly in his presence.

Albedo hummed, confirming her queries with another nod of his head. "Indeed, I've been experimenting with conducts and resonance, just a few small tests so far," Albedo explained, his head softly tilting to glance back over his own shoulder, eyes landing on the parchment stuck to his desk.

Paimon scrunched her face, deciphering his words before giving up with a shake of her head, defeated. "Paimon isn't going to pretend she knows what that means... but can we see? It sounds interesting!" Whether Paimon was interested in the beneficial aspects of viewing Albedo's experiment, or if she was simply curious was indecipherable, only an outer layer of interest hinting at both.

Albedo paused, contemplating the request.

The Traveler and Paimon weren't untrustworthy people, per se. Rather, Albedo wasn't sure of the constructs of the cube. It could be harmful to anything that didn't have resistant properties, like him, so allowing The Traveler and Paimon to approach it would be a risk... then again— they'd both shown varying degrees of elemental and abyssal resistance.

Perhaps he could use this as a double test, to both conduct an experiment on the cube and The Traveler. His first tests with them had been cut short due to unforeseen circumstances, so what better to do than continue here? Two birds with one stone, as some would say.

"I suppose... but please make sure not to touch anything. It wouldn't be the best course of action to accidentally harm yourselves," Albedo agreed in the end, and Paimon cheered to herself, successfully having levelled up her persuasion skills.

[REDACTED] had kept quiet for most of the conversation, but he was still watching, and he too seemed inquisitive when hearing about a new experiment. Albedo was a crafty person, so to say that whatever Albedo was working on wasn't interesting would be a bold-faced lie.

"This way," Albedo turned on his heel, the slight slip of the ground allowing for a smooth transition as she shifted from standing to walking away, not bothering to glance back to see if the two visitors were following. He knew they were it was their suggestion after all.

Paimon and [REDACTED] looked to each other, sharing a small flicker of their eyes before staring after Albedo, following him deeper into his station.

The cave wasn't that deep, but the sounds do the wind outside grew significantly quieter as they traversed deeper, and the lighting dimmer instinctively. Furniture grew scarce, only the rocky lined walls of the cave accompanying them as Albedo led them both into a back corner.

It was tucked away, blocked from the interference of the outside and protected by jutted out stones. Inside the darkened corner— shrouded in shadow — another table lie, one that was different in structure, made for a different purpose.

On it sat a strange contraption, like a metallic spider—clawed arms extended in a strange pattern, holding onto a solid black cube, the same one Albedo had founded lying damp in the snow. It hummed softly, a buzz emanating from it, and those striking fractured azure marks almost seemed to glow in the dark.

[REDACTED]'s eyes widened, the alluring pulse of the cube being the thing he caught hold of first. Paimon beside him had a similar reaction, the slight part of the pixie's lips being the more noticeable change in her expression.

They both stared, eyes honing onto the artefact with a precise strike of their gaze, each of them examining it to their own content.

"Woah... what is that?" Paimon tilted her head, drifting closer to the cube, but a hand stopped her. Albedo had put his hand out, keeping her at a metres distance, a safe one— one where she could be close, but wouldn't feel the heavy effects of the abyssal corrosion.

"I'm unsure of its origins, but I'm calling it the cube for now," Albedo retracted his hand, letting it fall back to his side.

"The cube? That's so boring. Why not— uh, the uh... never mind, Paimon isn't that good at naming things either," Paimon shook her head, unable to concoct her own idea for what to label the cube as.

"I'm not concerned about its name structure, it doesn't affect its physical properties," Albedo remarked softly, unbothered by the state of the cube's name. It wasn't important and giving it a complex and or 'interesting' name would only be a pain to say over and over again.

"What are its physical properties?" [REDACTED] stepped forward, aligning himself in position with the two— his eyes, golden, now reflecting with blue as he gazed hard into the composition of the artefact before him.

"..." Albedo paused, his gaze swiping to the cube. "I'm unsure of its full potential, but so far, its main function seems to be absorbing abyssal energy," he explained, gesturing to the obvious energy radiating from the cube.

It wasn't visible in a sense, but the foreboding air that struck them all the closer in proximity they got was a sure enough confirmation of the fact that abyssal energy did indeed cling to the surface of the cube. It was almost like a magnet in some ways.

"Woah, sounds dangerous," Paimon shuddered, floating back a step, now wary of the artefact.

"It is, that is why I didn't want either of you to get too close. As you know, abyssal energy isn't the friendliest kind of power around, and it wouldn't be beneficial if you both got corroded now, especially under my care," Albedo nodded, talking as if the possible outcome was nothing more than a jug of spilt paint.

Though, his words held truth. None of those in the trio wanted to get corroded, although, Albedo may be open to it if for the 'right' reasons.

Anywho.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem for [REDACTED]! He can purify abyssal energy!" Paimon chirped, the boast of pride as she gestured towards [REDACTED] coming out of nowhere.

Everyone in the room went silent, and the eyes craned to her. Paimon suddenly realised it may have not of been the best idea to suddenly blurt out the Traveler's properties in front of the alchemist who had a fond eye for experimenting on them (willingly, of course).

Albedo quirked a brow, and the sweat drop that formed on Paimon's face was an indicator she realised she should have kept her mouth shut. She lifted a hand and slapped it over her face, yet the silencing was too late, and all she could offer in apology was a muffled 'sorry'.

Albedo looked to The Traveler, and The Traveler looked to Albedo, both staring each other down. They kept staring, as if communicating through their eyes, and then Albedo broke the silence.

"You can purify abyssal energy?" The question was quick, like a snap of realisation had ignited within the alchemist.

[REDACTED] shifted from one foot to the other, unsure of how to reply before nodding in confirmation, the small jut of his head being the signal that what Paimon had accidentally blabbered was indeed founded in some truth.

How curious. Albedo thought.

"Is that so...? Do you mind doing something for me?" This part of the experiment had been something Albedo would have had to put on hold for ages, perhaps months, perhaps years— but now, it seems he could do it right away. Trying to purify the cube.

Finding properties in Teyvat that were able to remove and or purify abyssal energy was hard, almost impossible, and perhaps he'd need even a chunk of an archons skin to get close, but now with this information, that The Traveler could do it, he didn't need to go on a hunt. After all, why would he waste this opportunity?

[REDACTED] seemed skeptical, but he didn't show any signs of objection, humming a soft 'mmh' of confirmation. Albedo softly smiled in gratitude.

"I've been meaning to conduct an experiment... one of the next phases. Purifying the cube. I want to see if the abyssal energy surrounding it stems from the artefact itself, or if it just coagulates around it," Albedo gestured to the cube, offering up his favour.

"If you are willing, of course— all you need to do is purify it, however you would go about that," Albedo took a step back, clearing room.

"Uh... don't you need to prepare a bunch of safety thingies, y'know... so [REDACTED] doesn't get hurt?" Paimon asked nervously, her brows furrowing as she noticed the lack of visible precautions.

The question was a valid one, a fear worth having, but for Albedo, he didn't have any worries. This was his set-up after all, he wouldn't leave liabilities laying around out in the open. That would make him clumsy.

"Don't worry, this area is devoid of objects for a reason, plus, [REDACTED] is strong enough to fend for himself, I'm sure," Albedo shook off the pixies worries, and then turned his gaze back to The Traveler, who had taken a preparing step forward.

"Whenever you're ready," Albedo told, standing calmly to the side with Paimon.

He had to admit, he was unaware of this ability of The Traveler's, but now he was curious to see how it worked. Was it perhaps a difficult process? Likely not, seeing how [REDACTED] accepted the offer with little to no objection. If he needed more things to perhaps prepare a ceremony of sorts, Albedo was sure he'd speak up.

The Traveler stood before the cube, closer and definitely within the energy field of the abyssal corrosion— yet no reaction happened. The abyssal energy didn't try and claw at him, it didn't reach for him and try to strike daggers into his skin, it simply held itself dormant, that was until [REDACTED] outstretched his hand.

Instantly, a yellow glow balled itself in the outstretched hand of The Traveler, the move practiced like they'd done it a hundred times before. It was like a vacuum, and the change in air was palpable as the abyssal energy showed itself, forming in the visage of black wisps.

It seemed to almost writhe under The Traveler's ability, fighting back as if it were alive. Though, the manifested corrosion was no match for the purification as it begun to get sucked into the light, instantly dispersing and vanishing the moment it neared The Traveler's palm.

Albedo watched curiously, observing every element, while Paimon simply floated behind, having experienced this many times before.

'This energy being produced, it's almost as if it nullify's the abyssal corrosion. Like a vacuum, except instead of storing the abyssal product, it destroys it right away. Impressive.'

The Traveler continued to hold his palm out for about thirty seconds, and by the end of the procedure he'd cleared every single drop of abyssal energy that clung to the cube, and the aftereffects were noticeable.

The fractures in the cub— no longer were they blue, reflecting like the sky, but rather their hue had shifted to yellow, an obvious sign the clinging abyssal energy had been affecting the cube's body itself. So, it did resonate with abyssal energy, more so than Albedo had previously thought.

This was a huge step, one that Albedo wouldn't have been able to reach if it weren't for the help of his acquaintance.

Though, the outer appearance wasn't the only thing that had shifted with the cube. The entire aura surrounding it, it was— familiar, something Albedo recognised instantaneously. Something that resonated with him as a physical being.

It was something that hadn't appeared in years. Something that hadn't shown itself to the lower world for some time. It was an aura that had him stepping past The Traveler straight away.

"This energy— it's hers..." he muttered, and Albedo curiously observed the outer appearance of the cube. The energy grew stronger as he approached, and with the lack of abyssal corrosion there to harm any of them, Albedo extended his hand to reach for the cube.

"Uh— Albedo, is that a good idea?" Paimon piped up with worry, but her words of worry fell onto deaf ears when Albedo grabbed the cube.

The reaction was unexpected, something that happened instantly. Something that nobody in the room was able to process. A white light suddenly flashed blindingly through the space around them, and from there it went to nothing.

The cube dropped to the floor, and the hand that had been holding it vanished without a trace.

Oh, how your feet ached, bruised from a day's worth of standing— the entire weight of your body constantly pressing down on them for the full nine hours that your shift had lingered on for. It was torture, just in the form of paid labour.

Every step felt like glass shattering against the soles of your feet, and you don't even want to get started on the pain pressing against your lower spine, which had all so been unlucky, taking the second handed brunt of your weight during your shift.

From scattering through rush hour, ducking beneath people carrying a fresh batch of fries and skipping back over to the collection dish to grab the necessary food to fill out the orders posted on the screen, you were officially buggered. Absolutely ready to collapse onto your death bed.

No more did you want to hear any kind of beeping noise, for you feared it would trigger the new set sense of mild ptsd found in your brain. You swear, you'd be hearing that noise in your sleep— and that wouldn't be the best thing. You didn't want another dream of working to come about you again.

The worst thing when coming home from a nine-hour shift was to fall asleep and dream about working. It was the worst kind of torture. It had happened to you too many times, and no more did you want to take orders. You simply wanted to collapse on the couch of your tiny little apartment and watch your favourite movie for the nth time.

How you yearned for the cushions of your home, and not to forget your bed— which would surely be waiting your return with the dozens of squishy plushes you had decked onto its surface. You wanted to cuddle up with them, squeeze them to your chest as you drifted off into a dream state, which would hopefully be filled with dreams of isekai tropes.

Cliché? Yes. Fun? Also yes. There was nothing better than a good dream about getting transported to your favourite game, and you frankly prayed to whatever would listen above that your dream would either be lucid, or surrounding a certain video game you've caught yourself being addicted to.

A short breeze fluttered by, and you shuddered against it, mentally cursing the approaching winter for making the air this cold during the nights you'd walk home. Your eyes trailed along the street ahead of you, one that was lined by flickering streetlights and the occasional car that would pass by.

Their engines revved, stirring up the smell of smoke in the air, and you simply stifled your incoming coughs as you spotted the oh so familiar building of your apartment. How that sight became a blessing, your pace instinctively quickening a due to how eager you were to reach it.

The lobby lights were still on, and as you jogged up to the door— duffle bag containing your uniform slung over your arm, your own body wrapped in a thick hoodie— you could see the receptionist inside, Lyra, standing behind the desk and dozing off.

The woman was old, underpaid, almost like you— expect you weren't old. Or... you didn't consider twenty-five old. Anyway. A bell above chimed once you pushed open the front doors, your fingertips grazing the cold surface of the glass doors. It let off a few soft chimes, and Lyra sent you one quick glance, clarifying who you were before resuming her dozing off.

You walked by her, tuning out the faint hum of the fluorescent lights above and trailing your way to the left hallway, blocking yourself between walls with chipped white paint and doors reading numbers on their tiny little indicative signs.

'004'

'007'

'015'

The elevator stood before you, and one Quick Look to the writing at the top told you it was descending back down to your level. You waited patiently, hands tucking themselves into your pockets while one foot softly tapped itself up and down.

Finally, a ding, one different from the ones at your work rung, and the metal doors before you opened. Behind them was a small space, enough to cram maybe three people inside, and looking as if it were barely standing. The light above was faltering every few seconds, having yet to be repaired, and the audible whir of chains behind the scenes told you so.

Though, you didn't mind it anymore. At first, you'd been worried about even stepping foot in the elevator, worried it would give out on you, and you'd be stuck, but it proved to be stronger than it looked, and you stepped your way inside, situating yourself inside. Alone.

The doors closed, and on the wall to your right— you pressed the corresponding button along the many lining a panel. Its rim lit up with yellow, and an automated voice called from the speakers in the roof. "Heading to floor six."

The elevator jumped into motion, and gravity lessened its effect on your body as the elevator brought you upwards. You stood calmly, one hand wrapped securely around your keys you'd stuffed into your pocket, and the other simply keeping itself warm in the fabric of your pants.

Your eyes lazily trailed across the reflective metal walls, noticing the rebounding appearance of your own figure— then you glanced to the indicative light that was again back up at the top of the door. It clicked to a different number as each floor passed.

3...

4...

5...

"Floor six," that same voice called, feminine and robotic.

The doors once more opened, revealing a hallway that resembled the one in the lobby, and you stepped out into it. The elevator shut behind as you began to walk, and you fully fished your keys from your pocket while walking down the many rows of doors, already familiar with your apartment's location.

'608'.

'610'.

Finally, your eyes set onto 612, the words carved into metal, symbolising your ownership over the interior.

You brought your keys up to the hole, inserting the set into the lock before twisting it to the right. Something behind the wooden barrier clicked, and you pushed open the door, revealing a still and dark atmosphere inside.

You sighed as the scent of your own home came into play, and it filled your lungs gracefully— the front door shutting itself behind you, with you only sticking back to lock it shut once again.

You shuffled about once inside, dumping your bag of work supplies onto the small counter of your kitchen and kicking off your shoes with your own feet. Without looking, you flicked the lights on, not even flinching at the sudden brightness that permeated your visage.

It illuminated the small two room apartment of yours, which was rather clean compared to the outside of the apartment building. ...What? Just because you lived in a shithole didn't mean you had to act like it. Living in a dirty space demotivated you, and you rather not live in a slop zone like some of your neighbours.

You rounded the kitchen counter, pressing yourself into the small space of your kitchen and waltzing over to the fridge tucked at the far back corner. Magnets and photos of all kinds were stuck to the front, some of you when you were younger— a high school graduation photo, one of you and your mother, all of the sorts.

You didn't glance to them, only pulling open the upper compartment of your fridge to take a hungry glance at the pre-made dinner you'd prepared for yourself prior. It laid on a plate wrapped in glad wrap, confined and protected from the outside effects.

You reached into the fridge, picking up the plate and removing it. You closed the fridge with your free hand, and then you turned around, where beneath the counter lie a microwave. A simple press to a button sent the front of the small door opening, and you removed the glad wrap from the plate before placing it inside the microwave.

Scrunching the glad wrap, you tossed it over to the bin back at the other end of the counter, and then grabbed a protective lid, shoving it over the plate before slamming the microwave door shut. All it took next was a few buttons being pressed and a timer for the next two minutes was set.

You stared at the slowly descending numbers with content, standing back up straight and walking back out of your kitchen. Your stomach was tightening with hunger, but you held back your irritation due to the fact your dinner was cooking.

"Fuck— I'm tired..." you groaned to yourself, arms reaching for the hem of your hoodie and pulling it up, successfully discarding it from your body. The air that hit your exposed skin was cold, but you didn't care much and simply threw your hoodie over the back of your couch, sighing heavily before flopping down onto the grey cushions.

"I am actually considering quitting," you grunted again, beginning to ramble to yourself as the TV remote somehow found its way into your hand. Again, more buttons were pressed, and you watched the screen illuminate before clicking through the channels.

Footy... nah.

Cooking—? No.

SpongeBob...? Y'know what? YOLO. SpongeBob it is.

The TV switched channels, and you watched as that bright yellow sponge you'd always watched as a kid popped back up. It was a tiny bit nostalgic, hearing that stuttered yet signature laugh. Though, your time watching the show was instantly cut short as the microwave beeped, calling out for you to pick up your food.

You huffed, standing up from the couch and walking back around that small distance into your kitchen. The microwave now lay still, and as you crouched before it again, pressing open the door— you could see the steam covering the protective lid like a mask.

You picked it up, making sure to grab the rim of the plastic, seeing as it would be more beneficial than letting your hand get burnt, and you discarded the protective lid into the sink above. Then, you reached back in and this time grasped hold of the plate, removing it from the microwave.

Steam bubbled off of the food you'd re-heated, and the smell of it wafted into your nose, sending your mouth salivating and your stomach rumbling in hunger. How desperately you wanted to eat, after having been fed nothing but chips during your entire day.

You walked back to the edge of your kitchen— but stopped. Your feet froze in place, and your hands almost dropped the plate you were holding, your grip growing clammy.

Something... weird had just appeared in your way, and you stared with wide eyes as a hovering portal— or rip in time and space, whatever the hell it was mutated before you. It glistened with blues and purples, almost resembling those iconic portals that would take the form of a galaxy.

"What the fuck—" you took a step back, heart suddenly beginning to pound within your chest. Were you schizophrenic? Had your shift tired you so badly that now you were hallucinating? No. This felt— strangely real, somehow.

You poked your head to the side, trying to see if the object would change with how, you looked at it, and sure enough the angle switched. It was 3D, likely real, but you couldn't believe that. There was no way you were going to believe a portal was standing in front of you.

Not when in a pair of baggy jeans, a three-year old t-shirt and about to eat your pre-made dinner after clocking off from work. That was insane. Plus, stuff like that couldn't happened right? You were probably just tired, you just needed to ignore it, and hope it went away.

But you couldn't move. Not when distorted voices suddenly came from the object. They sounded muddled at first, almost like those horrifically slowed down crying recordings you'd find in horror games, but then they became clearer.

The voices separated, turning into what sounded like three or four different sounds. Then they grew louder. Still sounding like screams, but more panicked this time, not what you'd hear in a horror game, but an action game.

You were stuck in place as the screams grew louder, and then the portal jolted, causing you to jump back as well. It gurgled for a moment, prolonging whatever it was about to do, and then it did it— the action that officially set your heart on fire.

It spewed out a person.

A blonde haired... man? With a long braid— and... oh gods, those clothes seemed awfully familiar right now. Never-mind. No. Not the time. You were probably developing schizophrenia. Now is NOT the time to be thinking about video games.

The portal jolted again.

Another body.

This one tiny, a child, a girl. White hair—pristinely so, and another outfit that shouldn't be real. You were about to scream, but your words had got caught in your throat, and with that— the portal spat out one final person, another man.

Blonde again, but dirtier in colour. They all clattered into a heap of people before your feet, grunts of pain and shock being the first things to come from their mouths, then the portal disappeared. Closed? Shut? Whatever descriptive word was better for it, it was now gone. Vanished.

"Ugh... Paimon thinks she's going to throw up," the tiny girl spoke, her eyes dazed and her hand reaching up to place itself over her mouth.

Shock struck you again.

That way of speaking... that voice. What she called herself.

"What. The. Actual. Fuck."

They all snapped their heads towards you, and it was an awkward moment of eyes staring and SpongeBob laughing in the background as you all looked back and forth between each other.

Nobody spoke, everyone seemed too speechless. What you assumed to be 'Aether'—based off of his clothes, hair, and just look overall— parted his lips in surprise, and the other man who looked dangerously close to Albedo was even silenced himself.

Paimon was the one to speak, of course she was, and it was when she looked to herself that she spoke.

"AHHHH! What happened to Paimon's body!?" She squealed, her hands running up to feel at her face, and then... oh gods, she floated. She fucking floated up into the air, swirling around in a panic as she looked all around, tiny constellations trailing behind her.

"Where are we!? PAIMON FEELS SO WEIRD!" She continued to cry, and then she snapped her head to 'Albedo' who was beginning to pick himself back up off of the floor. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't of touched that stupid cube we wouldn't be here!" She jabbed a finger towards the alchemist, and you simply watched from the side lines, still in too much of a stupor to speak up.

"Hey— Paimon, calm down."

Yup. That's definitely Aether... the voice matches and so does everything else.

Aether brought his hand towards the pixie, attempting to be comforting in some way, but he seemed to recoil once his hand did touched her shoulder— as if he'd been burned or something. His face scrunched, and he looked at his own gloved hand then down, examining himself.

"Paimon is not going to calm down! Not when she feels so weird! Paimon's clothes feel so icky!" She continued to whine, shaking her hands in the air dramatically as she complained. Her and Aether both seemed to be having a valid crash out, one you might join soon, but Albedo appeared to be much calmer in his processing.

"Hm... it appears our bodies have morphed to fit this reality," he immediately deduced, and Aether and Paimon's eyes flitted to him.

"What!? What's that supposed to mean!?" Paimon jumped for the alchemist, hands grabbing onto his shoulders and attempting to shake him, but she was far too weak for anything of the sort.

Albedo's face twitched slightly at the action, but otherwise it remained neutral. "I mean that cube sent us to a different reality. Not just a different world, another dimension. One where our usual bodies wouldn't be able to exist."

"..."

"You're freaky! How did you figure that out already!?" Paimon stepped— or, floated? Back? You weren't even going to try and deduce how the fairy moved, it was going against all laws of physics that you knew about.

The constellations that followed after her still baffled you—a trail of stars—and if it weren't for the groups extravagant clothing and recognisable voices, you don't think you would have recognised them. They weren't anime anymore, they were completely realistic. Actually, looking like humans. Holy cow. This was one sick hallucination.

"It was a simple theory," Albedo shrugged, but then he turned to look at you. Yes. Right at you, dead in the eyes, in all your disheveled and ready to collapse glory. Oh god, he kind of looked like a prince... stop! Stop! You can't be finding hallucinations hot! This isn't okay!

Uh oh. Wait. Why was he staring at you for so long? Great, now Paimon and Aether had turned to look at you as well, their own expressions turning somewhere between curious and stern. Did you do something? Did they think you brought them here?

Wait a minute. Why were you even worried? They're hallucinations! But... what if they're not? No. That's what schizophrenic people think. They're not real— just, walk past them.

Shakily, you took a step forward, then another, attempting to go past them and pretend you were just going about your day, but a hand to your shoulder stopped you, one that came from your left, and was likely from Aether.

Your face cringed, and you froze on the spot, shoulders tensing. That felt... wayyy too real. Like, insanely real, not in a good way kind of real. Your hands gripped your dinner plate tighter, and you craned your head to glance back over your shoulder, seeing Aether was indeed the one to have stopped you.

"Who are you?"

Yep. You were going to die after this. This was probably some crazy afterlife dream, and you had accidentally collapsed earlier. Definitely. There was no way you were going to let your mind think this was true.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

PROLOGUE COMPLETED

───── NEW CHARACTERS INTRODUCED

'Aether' / [REDACTED] / The Traveler

Companionship level ; ☆☆☆☆☆

'Paimon' / The Traveler's guide

Companionship level ; ☆☆☆☆☆

'Albedo' / Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius

Companionship level ; ☆☆☆☆☆

─────

CHAPTER 1 | 'A new world' — Loading

Here are some portraits drawn by me of how I imagine the characters to look in real life (only side profiles).