1 Chapter 1: Origins

— Asmoday (Sustainer of Heavenly Principles) —

As I stood at the boundary between worlds I ruminated over my past actions of the encounter I had with those twins some time ago. Their expressions when I was about to seal them and separate them once resurfaced again in my mind. The sheer desperation and worry they had when they realized how dire the situation they were in was.

Such strong emotions within them, made me reminisce over my past as a mortal and the emotions I long since mostly discarded after my ascension.

I was aware of the cruelty of my actions that day, but it was necessary, they were my last hope for my freedom.

They had so much potential to grow further into a force that could oppose Celestia, but their resolve was weaker than I expected. They chose to flee after seeing the ​​Khaenri'ahn forces they once aided fall into ruin, not that I could blame them since they weren't true inhabitants of that society in the first place. They did more than the vast majority of the Khaenri'ahn people could ever do.

I suppose it was the glimmer of hope that I saw in them that left me quite disappointed when they chose to flee. It was also because of that hope that I continued to cling onto, that I couldn't allow them to leave this world.

I had finally found a weapon I could wield and it would be foolish to let it escape from my grasp.

I needed the twins to grow stronger and more determined than they were during the Cataclysm. I needed to ignite a seed of vengeance inside them, one that would fester and grow over time.

Revenge is an excellent motivator and when coupled with time, the outcome would be nothing short of phenomenal.

A move I made that filled both criteria, after sealing their powers that they will eventually get back coupled with whatever 'new strength' they gain in the interim and separating them from their close bond would eventually lead them to bare their fangs towards Celestia and myself.

A splendid plan.

But…

"It's not enough."

*sigh*

As I continued to ruminate over the plan I had set into motion, I couldn't shake off the uneasiness I felt after simulating countless scenarios of obstacles that could interfere with my plan.

It was frustrating having to find suitable solutions that would bypass the potential interferences that would go against me. It was only after being stuck for some time without any substantial progress, that I realized I was being too technical with my pieces.

The true worth of a plan was tested by how adaptable it could be when faced with both unpredictable and irrational factors that would destroy it. Adaptability was key and it was the one thing I was missing.

A wild card.

A force that could flip the board over when the game isn't going their way. An unpredictable factor that couldn't be easily manipulated, but that was fine.

I didn't need to have strict control over them, I simply needed for them to be on the board and have the same enemy as me, the rest can take care of itself.

Trying to fool and control the unpredictable hardly ever ends on a positive note and usually does more harm than good.

I just so happened to have the perfect route to take for this. As I had already witnessed with the twins, foreigners are forces of change.

The way their very presence influences the world and those around them was something the inhabitants of the Teyvat didn't have.

It was special and fundamentally different, and it was proven when those twins aided Khaenri'ah with their rebellion. Despite not achieving victory they made the clash against Celestia much more difficult than the latter expected.

There weren't any other active foreigners in Teyvat, so it left me with a single option.

I had to bring one in.

It certainly would be troublesome to bring one in and ensure their entry would go undetected by the rest of Celestia.

My priority lay on deflecting Celestia's gaze away from what I was about to do. Possibly an archon or the old 'rulers' would take notice of something amiss in Teyvat as that's where I will be interfering, but it mattered not, as if they would be able to stop me anyway.

Spreading my senses over Teyvat once before commencing, something caught my attention. Something quite surprising.

My gaze stopped on the isolated archipelago in the far east. I hadn't paid close attention to all the workings of the lower world and its nations, but it seemed something has changed or is in the process of changing.

It seemed she was doing something quite interesting there.

I never thought one of them would be bold enough to rebel against us, perhaps my expectations for them were too low.

I never really thought to implement them into any of my more crucial plans, since the lot of them were so stubborn to their respective ideals. It would have been tasking to get their cooperation and maintaining an allied relationship would be shaky at best.

I suppose it wouldn't be a complete waste of time to reach out to her in the future, that is if she can complete what she's doing now.

Regardless it's a thought for another day, my present actions held precedence over anything else. I couldn't afford to allow myself to grow distracted from here on out.

It normally wouldn't be viable for the majority of those in Celestia to bend the laws enough to permit such interference in the way I was attempting to do.

Luckily I wasn't like the majority of the rabble here.

Although it would require nearly all the strength I had. It might even leave me feeling weak for a short time, but it was necessary.

Feeling for a connection to the outside and stretching my authority's reach to its limits, I finally felt a link form after some time. With a moment's hesitation to resolve myself, I then pulled it to me before the connection could be severed.

Looking curiously at what I brought back it wasn't a complete summons but a partial one, more specifically a soul.

It needed a body and a strong one at that. One that could withstand the power it will gain in the future without breaking apart.

Creating a normal mortal body wouldn't do, leaving me with the only option to create one.

I wasn't an expert in utilizing my creation abilities in this manner but I was proficient enough, only having tried it with making spare ones of myself should the need arise.

Regardless if I could do it once then I could do it again.

Thus I got work and began creating a new vessel that mimicked most of my divine traits and my myriad of passive abilities that consisted of certain immunities and resistances.

Letting my new piece die of something as mundane as poison or hunger would be a fault on my part for creating such mediocrity.

Having finished the creation process and then fusing the soul into the vessel. I took a moment to appreciate the male counterpart that resembled myself, and an amusing thought crept in.

'Was I being too narcissistic in making his appearance similar to mine?… Perhaps.'

Heh.

Indeed it had to be this way, nothing short of perfection would be tolerated.

I once again spread my senses over Teyvat looking for a relatively safe location to send him but one that harbored enough conflict where he could grow in strength and evolve.

Having found a suitable location I had one last thing to do before sending him off.

Implanting a [Seed of Authority] into his soul.

It would eventually blossom into a unique domain that will grant abilities solely for his use.

Only notable members of Celestia gained special abilities and domains from nurturing their [Seed of Authority]. A rare privilege granted to a select few and can be passed down to an inheritor so that they may manifest their own special power.

A power that manifests from the desires and yearning one has for themselves and their place in the world around them.

Once it's inherited it cannot be altered or taken in any way.

A necessary precaution should I meet an untimely demise, he could meet and hopefully surpass my level and bring Celestia to the ground.

Having completed the closest thing to a masterpiece given the allotted time at my disposal an odd thought came upon me as I stared at him.

'Could he be counted as my kin? Well, he certainly would be the closest thing to the concept of 'family' I would have.'

Having lost my family long ago before my ascension, this nostalgic feeling that once felt so warm and comfortable, now felt foreign.

This realization seemed to plague my mind for a few moments leading me to recall old memories I'd rather not get into.

Whether he could be considered my kin or not was something that hardly mattered for the time being. He only needed to do his part and I would do mine.

With a wave of my hand, the dimensional boundaries leading to Teyvat loosened enough for me to send him on his way.

*Sigh*

After doing so, I couldn't help but let out a sigh. I was now one step closer to my goal with another failsafe implemented into my plan and one I hoped wouldn't be necessary.

If it did my fate would rest on his shoulders.

Such deprecating thoughts are for another day, for now, there's nothing else to do but wait.

I have enough pieces on my board. I'll leave the rest to them until it's time for me to act again.

I can only hope this will be enough to gain my freedom back.

***

— Barbeloth (Hexenzirkal Member "B") —

It was that time when all eight of us would gather for our usual tea party and catch up with one another or share any intriguing endeavors we had recently.

Alice would go on and on about her daughter, Klee, and how the little gremlin was improving in controlling her pyro element.

Enthusiastically depicting how she once again managed to terraform the lands of Mondstadt.

Rhinedottir on the other hand was her usual stoic self which was a stark contrast to her personality when conducting alchemy like a woman possessed.

Nicole shared something rather interesting, for the past few months something or someone has tried to interfere with the tree, but their actions didn't manage to bear fruit apparently.

I also shared my thoughts on my foolish and perpetually broke disciple of mine who barely had a penny to her name.

Who fervently refuses to find normal employment and stubbornly pursued our practiced art of hydromancy in hopes of furthering her mastery. I can only hope she can learn to successfully scry locations of some treasure or maybe even a wealthy partner, archons know that she'll need it.

That cheeky brat thought I wouldn't be aware of all the times she's cursed my name to the heavens and back or called me an old hag.

She will find the consequences of such words quite disheartening in our next lesson.

The rest brought in their own topics of discussion or pitched in on others. Nothing happened that stood out from the range of normalcy that these gatherings consisted of.

It was only towards the end of our gathering that Nicole and I abruptly went silent for a few moments and our relaxed demeanors morphed into serious ones.

The others, taking note of our uncharacteristic change, focused their attention on us.

A force or rather interference had entered Teyvat it was quite discrete and hardly anyone would notice perhaps an archon or Apep and the rest of the sovereigns would but besides ourselves and them I don't think anyone would.

Sharing our reasons with the others for our little bout of distress had left the others silent and speculating as well.

Nicole pulled out one of her artifacts, one I recognized from the past which gave her a general status report on Irminsul. A mere prototype in her words as its only reports were generally vague and not specific.

Only noting things of great significance or severe negative effects that would require a more in-depth investigation.

I wasn't idle either and began scrying for any clues or hints into the matter. But all my efforts were in vain as my only worthwhile finding was hearing a few 'whispers of fate' that were quite obscure.

Normally very little can be concealed from me at my level of mastery of divination.

Failing to gleam any results on the cause most likely meant someone exceptionally powerful was behind it. Ones who I always kept an apt memory of in order to not garner any of their animosity.

A craft such as mine is easy to gain a substantial amount of enemies if utilized recklessly.

Forcefully prying into matters regarding any of them would mark me as a target. Something I certainly didn't want.

Yet…considering the circumstances we were in, it was a risk I had to gamble on.

The remnants of Khaenri'ah are still rebuilding and are not in a state to face an enemy like the ones from the past.

If the purpose of this anomaly was to purge the seeds before they were ready to bloom, I couldn't just ignore it as their ally.

I needed to gain some insight into the situation and it would appear I would need to employ more 'special' methods to achieve it.

Facing an unknown threat was troublesome, but facing an unknown threat unaware and unprepared guaranteed defeat.

Nicole and I along with some others excused ourselves from our gathering.

It seemed I wasn't the only one who needed to make preparations for whatever was to come.