Unforgiving Purpose

Neroth walked between sandstorms calmly. Harsh winds and sands were enough to blind someone. Then suddenly, a girl who radiated a regal and menacing aura with her flowing silver-white hair, glowing red eyes, and a sleek black dress adorned with crimson patterns appeared in front of Neroth. Her sharp wings, shaped like watching eyes, and the ethereal symbols etched into her outfit give her the presence of a divine judge from beyond the mortal world. She started to talk with her authoritative voice.

-You are aware you are ignoring Heavenly Principles, right?

-When I am done, you are going to see that the thing I am ignoring is not only Heavenly Principles.

-You will encounter the fury of Celestia soon. Don't say I didn't warn you.

-Kiddo, you are the ones who are not aware of the situation.

-I wonder how you came to become so daring.

-I can ask the same question.

-Hm, one way or another. You will bow to us anyway. I am just giving you time.

-I would prefer you to drop your merciful and divine acts. I am aware of your true intentions.

With Neroth's words, the girl's menacing aura has increased. Those words seem to anger her...

-So you were so divine with your genocide.

-Those were good days. Yet my only regret was to stop. You, the ones who call yourselves "Heavenly", were next on my list after all.

Suddenly, Neroth felt the coldness of a slender crimson blade with eye-shaped runes on his neck. Seems like this girl was no joke when it comes to speed. But Neroth was still carrying his cold experssionless face.

-What do you even know about Heavenly Principles? About Celestia? We have saved your filthy world from your hands, turned it into a beautiful place. Yet here you are still trying to betray us.

-Fancy sword. Do those eyes blink?

As Neroth teased the girl about her sword, the girl's eyes narrowed. He held the sword from the top with his two fingers, pulling it away from his neck calmly.

-Seems like our definition of "beauty" is completely different. Yet your behavior, which can't maintain your composure starting to bore me. I suggest you get out of my way.

The girl put her sword down. Still eyeing Neroth with piercing gazes.

-This is your last warning...

Suddenly, a blackhole with red eye figures inside appeared behind her. It was an anomaly piercing through the reality of this mortal world. The girl moved through the blackhole elegantly and disappeared inside it.

The blackhole starts to shape again, disappearing slowly. And finally, anomalies disappeared, leaving Neroth alone in this endless desert again.

-You are just another pawn in my way...

-Finally, you have arrived...

Nahida said. A woman with her violet eyes glowing beneath sleek black hair laced with purple, clad in an elegant kimono adorned with lightning motifs, came in.

-Ei! Paimon has missed you!

-I guess there is no time for chats. Where is Morax?

-He... has gone to fight against Neroth...

-Alone?!

-No, Aether and two friends of mine have gone to help him, too.

Suddenly door slams open. Aether, Cyno, and Tighnari get in. Aether was helping Zhongli to walk, who was still tired because of the fight. They were all out of breath.

-You are back!!

Paimon jumped on Aether and cuddled his arm.

-Be calm, Paimon. We have to let Zhongli rest for now.

While Cyno and Tighnari were taking care of Zhongli, Ei and Nahida turned to Aether. Started to ask many questions.

-What happened? How did it go?

-It was harsh. He was powerful for sure, but Zhongli was close to-

-I wasn't close to anything...

Everyone was surprised. And they turned their gaze to Zhongli, who was talking slowly.

-He just played with me... I thought that the laser of the Ruin Guard hurt him for a second. But all he was doing was letting me fight and see how much power I possess.

-You hurt him somehow..?

-If you are talking about a physical hurt, yeah. As proof that we can fight against him? No... I thought I could use it against him, but he has incredible regeneration powers...

-What about forbidden knowledge?

Nahida asked worriedly.

-He said there is nothing in that grave...

-That... can't be.

-But how can we trust his words?

Ei asked, turned to the Fatui harbinger, who was silent for a long time.

-Another question is, how can we trust a harbinger?

Arlecchino finally lifts her eyes from the ground while she was leaning on a wall. Her eyes seem thoughtful. But she had to answer Ei's question too.

-Raiden Ei, Archon of Electro. It's a pleasure to meet. Yet you don't have to worry. I am here to symbolize Fatui, who wants an alliance.

-An alliance? Fatui? That was a good joke from you. But I suggest you spill your true intentions.

Ei narrowed her eyes. Her memories of Fatui were filling her with hatred towards them. But Nahida interrupted before anything bad could happen.

-Please be calm, both of you! We are here to talk about a bigger threat. Like it or not, we will need all the help we can get.

After a few minutes. Everything calmed down, and it was time to make a plan, finally. Aether asked the first question.

-So what will we do? We are facing a powerful god here.

-You guys saw his powers from the first seat. Do you remember anything?

Zhongli sighed. Tried to remember things.

-He can use the Geo element too. And... to Pyro too? I saw him using a Pyro curtain to block my sight.

-Yeah... Mavuika mentioned it in one of her letters. He created a powerful explosive flame arrow with his hands.

Aether interrupted. He seemed like he had finally realized something.

-Nahida, do you have any idea about what black stands for? I mean like, green is for dendro and blue is for hydro. But is there any black element?

-Black element... No... But from my guesses, it stands for negative things.

-That black element was helping him to corrupt other elements. Allowing him to use them against us.

-A corruption, you are saying... That's possible. That attack clash between him and Zhongli could even be seen from here.

-But he won in that attack clash. I had to slide between those tentacles and land a hit on him to survive.

-That means any type of corrupted element is stronger than its original... But there has to be a weakness...

Zhongli finally got up. Collected himself and started to talk.

-While fighting, I realized he sometimes loses focus. His mind goes somewhere else completely. And I don't think it was happening because he wasn't paying attention to the fight. Even if it was an easy fight for him, he was still trying to learn my moves.

-So you are saying he sometimes dozes off in the middle of a fight?

-Something like that, but that happens for only a few milliseconds. I was able to slide his scythe away from his hands for a second using that.

-Wait!! Paimon remembers something about it! It happened to Aether for once, too!

-Yeah, I dozed off in the middle of a war in Natlan, too. And I felt an uncomfortable aura. Not too long after, he appeared.

-What did you think or see while that?

-I don't know what happened exactly. But I remember that I was asking questions to myself. I didn't know it was related to him...

-What type of questions?

The room was getting heavier. Aether tried to focus and remember that moment.

-Like... For a second. I questioned my choice to... protect innocents.

Everyone was silent for a moment. Nahida was holding her hand on her chin, thinking deeply and trying to find any hints.

-It wasn't because I wasn't worried about Natlan's people. But for a moment, ego took over me. I felt like my "precious time" was being wasted in this war... And I felt like I had something to do that was much more important... I mean, yeah, I had to find my sister, but I can't abandon innocents too!

Finally, Nahida started to talk.

-I thought that he could corrupt thoughts or people, too. But you are saying it only happened to Aether. He would use this skill against Mavuika, too, if he had something like this. Plus, you said he felt like that himself too. That seems like a connection more than a corruption.

-A... Connection?

-Maybe, for a second, you felt his feelings...

-His feelings..? Like an exchange..?

-Maybe. That would explain why he suddenly appeared and helped Natlan too. You were feeling an overwhelming urge to save Natlan, and he had something important to do... Like taking the Pyro gnosis... In that moment, you had a conncetion and felt each other's feelings.

-But that happened for only a few seconds. Do you think we can do it one more time to expose his plans?

-That's a probability...