Paraiso {Yae Miko x MALE!OC x Signora}

Chapter 3

"What happened?" Ichiro asked as he looked up at Ei. The woman sighed.

"Celestia had sent us on a mission. A mission to eliminate Khaenri'ah." Ei explained as Ichiro gaped at the information as he abruptly stood up.

"E-eliminate Khaenri'ah? Wha- why? I mean, they were prosperous, and very diligent. Sure, they didn't have a God ruling them, but that was never a problem before and besides, I occasionally check up on them. Why would they want to eliminate Khaenri'ah? And not to mention, I have the power to actually converse with Celestia and we meet every week, why haven't they mention this to me?" Ichiro asked.

Ever since the Archon War, Ichiro had grown attached to Khaenri'ah as they were neighbouring islands. Ichiro's land was at the very far edge of Teyvat and beside his land was Khaenri'ah so naturally, Ichiro had visited Khaenri'ah and occasionally told the land about Teyvat.

Ei sighed at her brother. "Celestia forbade us to speak of the matter until after it was dealt with, possibly knowing your attachment to the land. According to them, Khaenri'ah had managed to get a hold of a weapon that could possibly destroy the entire world. They had ordered us to eliminate and destroy the land to prevent any future creations of the technology and during the fight," Ei sighed.

"Makoto failed to mention the mission to me and instead, went to Khaenri'ah on her own. I was able to arrive there but I was too late and Makoto had taken a hit from behind. Of course, she didn't go down without a fight. She had managed to kill the one who had stabbed her and many more. Although she fought, this only seemed to drain her and killed her faster. I had only realised her death as the fight seemed to calm down and I- I felt a sharp pain in my chest." Ei's voice cracked by the end.

"I looked back, and saw... Her corpse."

Ei held back her tears as she watched her brother lose all of his strength and fell back down on his knees as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Ichiro had felt so much pain in his chest as he tried to comprehend and imagine what the battlefield had looked like and how he imagined his sister had died.

He had felt so guilty at the moment because in his mind, it was his fault.

It was his fault that Khaenri'ah had managed to find out the destructive technology.

It was his fault that Celestia had to send out the Archons to destroy the land.

It was his fault that the people of Khaenri'ah no longer existed.

It was his fault that Makoto is dead.

Ichiro felt like he couldn't breathe as he realized the cause of this chain of events.

If Ichiro had never taught the people of Khaenri'ah the basics of Alchemy and Machinery, they wouldn't have found the destructive technology.

"Stop it, you can't think like that. You know that they would've found that technology at some point. With or without your help." A whisper on the back of his mind told him.

After a few moments of silence, Ichiro spoke up again.

"What now?" Ichiro asked helplessly as he looked up to her remaining sibling. Ei looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked. "I meant, what happens now? Makoto's dead and the people of Inazuma doesn't even know it. Now, you're all alone here. What now? Can you handle things here by yourself? Do you need me to stay with you here, just for the time being? What will the future of Inazuma be?" Ichiro asked.

Ei shook her head. "There's no need for you to stay. I can handle things here just fine. And as for Inazuma, I've already decided on my next steps." She told him.

"Really? Well, what is it?" Ichiro asked. Makoto had never mentioned any plans for the future to him. To him, she seemed like the type of person to do and decide things according to the current moment. To Ichiro, Makoto had never planned anything certain for the future and only lived to enjoy the present.

"Forget the past, never plan for the future, and live for the present."

Those were always his sister's words to him. Quite ironic if you asked him of course. To Ichiro, no one had planned for the future more than Makoto. Of course after she says that, Ei would be nearby and thoroughly explain the dangers of doing so.

"I want to pursue Eternity."

Ichiro looked at Ei in confusion.

"Eternity? That seems a bit far fetched don't you think? I mean, Eternity is nothing but a theory. It has never been achieved before. It is simply an idea that is closest to the Heavenly Principles. Even Celestia doesn't know for sure if it works." Ichiro told her.

"Well, this is the promise I made to the people of Inazuma. I shall abide by it." Ei explained as Ichiro nodded in understanding.

"Alright, how do you plan on achieving Eternity?" While Ichiro knew that Eternity was nothing but a rumor among the Gods, he couldn't help but be curious of its existance. Ichiro didn't know whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing.

"I wish to lockdown Inazuma from any outsiders." Ei told him which had left Ichiro baffled. "Lock down Inazuma?" Ichiro repeated as Ei nodded.

"Yes, I've already drafted a decree for it." Ei told him as she summoned a piece of paper that she reached out to Ichiro who immediately stood up and read through the draft.

"To achieve the power of Eternity, we must practice it first. I plan to lockdown Inazuma to prevent it from encountering any foreign influences that might disrupt my plan." She explained as Ichiro skimmed through the details of the decree.

"But won't this affect Inazuma's resources and stability? If you were to close off the borders, you wouldn't be able to get any supplies that might help Inazuma." Ichiro tried to reason with her.

"Yes, exactly. Without any foreign supplies, we will avoid any influences that might disrupt our practice for Eternity." Ichiro only sighed at this. If Ei were to go through with the Sakoku Decree, Inazuma's markets and industries would definitely take a hit.

"Alright, so you plan to isolate Inazuma from the rest of the world to avoid unpredictability. What happens if you still don't achieve Eternity? How many years of this would you have to wait for Eternity? And what's the deal with your puppet over there?" Ichiro asked.

"I shall wait for a couple hundred years and if we still don't achieve Eternity by then, then I shall move on to phase two of my plan. Time is never a problem for us. As for the Raiden Shogun puppet, she will be enacting everything on land while I stay up here to meditate and formulate my future plans for Eternity. She is not yet perfect which is why I have another prototype hidden away to test all my calculations." She explained.

"Phase two? What's phase two?" Ichiro was now terrified to hear what great lengths her sister would go through for a false promise.

"I shall seize all visions in Inazuma to avoid any unpredictability and exceptions towards Eternity."

That was when Ichiro finally lost it.

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A/N: Surprise chapter because it's my birthday!

The schedule for the story's updates is every Wednesday

For the timeskip, which traveller would you like to see, Aether or Lumine? It doesn't really change much to the story but I just want to know :3

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