Chapter 29- Back in Action

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(Ok, let me say something first. I had written the entire thing, but I don't remember everything I wrote. THen I accidentally freaking DELETED the chapter, so don't mind me if some things are out of order. I honestly wish there was a feature to retrieve deleted parts within a certain time.Im honestly feeling rather pissed rn, and my brain doesn't seem to be responding well either >:O)

Lumine POV

"I am going back to Inazuma." She announced. This was met with silence as everyone stared at her. "Who said that?" Zhongli asked, crossing his arms. "I do. I am fully healed now. I've been killing monsters left right, day night. My karma has also been suppressed so that won't be a problem. Please stop babying me around." "That may be, but you still don't know what tricks Ei might be up to." Zhongli warned. "You mean the Shogun, don't you?" She asked calmly. "One and the same." Venti said dismissively. "Not so. Although I don't know the truth, from my experience, the Shogun seems to be more detached, almost emotionless, like a robot. That is definitely not the Ei I knew. Not to mention, that when I fought her, I seemed to have been transported into another dimension, which contained a look-alike, but this one showed feelings and emotions."

"What exactly are you trying to say, Lumine?" Xiao asked. "I'm saying that the Shogun is quite possibly different from Raiden Ei. Now that we know of our kinship, it should be easier to persuade Ei to take back the Vision Hunt."

Everyone was quiet for a while as this sunk in. Zhongli assertively stated then, "Alright, but you can go to Inazuma only on one condition. Xiao shall accompany you for the entire trip."

.

.

.

Both the concerned parties stared at him, dumbfounded. Lumine broke out of the stupor first. "And why exactly? I am quite capable of taking care of myself, If I can take out an entire hoard of hell- nevermind. But I am offended that you think that I can not handle myself." "He didn't mean it like that." Venti said calmingly. "But it would be better to have someone to rely on, rather than doing everything alone." Jiliana added.

"And why me?" Xiao asked. "Why not any of you?" "Well, we are gods. Even if we do not have our gnosis, we still do have a certain aura, you know? That's how Jiliana knew who we were instantly. She sensed our aura." Jiliana nodded in confirmation, and Zhongli continued. "So, the Shogun would sense our auras too. However, you two don't have that sort of aura, so you both are safe."

There was however, one fault in his logic that she wasn't too keen on pointing out. She met Xiao's eyes for a second, and it was clear he was thinking exactly what she was. Jiliana looked between the two of them with narrowed eyes. Sensing that Lumine was about to protest, Zhongli crossed his arms and said firmly, "No buts."

Unfortunately, for the most part, his logic did make sense. In moments like these, it became amply clear that he was a child of Athena.

"Sheesh. Geez. Fine, you old wisehead." Zhongli wrinkled his nose at his old nickname. "Don't call me that." "But it suits you." Venti piped up. "You are old, you are wise, and you have a head." Jiliana and Xiao snorted at 'you have a head', while Lumine slapped a hand on her mouth to cover her grin. This was almost like old times.

Speaking of old times.... "Where is Makoto though? I'd have thought she was the one ruling Inazuma." That instantly put a damper on everyone's mood. Looking around at everyone's now sober faces, she asked, "Did I say something wrong?" Jiliana delicately said, "Well... Makoto... was killed in the Cataclysm." Silence fell. "...Oh." Was all Lumine found to say. So death had even hit the archons...

After a few more awkward moments, Lumine stood up. "Well, I have certain things to wrap up. I shall leave for Inazuma tomorrow morning.." "I'd like to talk to you, Lumine." Jiliana called out. "Alone." Lumine raised an eyebrow as she shrugged. Everyone else returned to their schedules.

 As she walked with Jili in the fading twilight, Jiliana bluntly asked, "Have you been made a god?" That stopped Lumine in her tracks as she was taken by surprise. "Ex-Excuse me??" She stammered, trying to think of what to say. "I noticed the way you and Xiao exchanged glances when Zhongli mentioned you not having an aura. It looked like you disagreed." "Sheesh, you've grown wiser Jili." She sighed. "But please, don't tell anyone. It is crucial for this to remain a secret, at least until i find Aether." "Okay. But then it means you have to take better care of yourself." Lumine nodded as Jiliana disappeared.

-Timeskip to Inazuma-

"So what is the plan? If there is one." Xiao asked, his arms crossed. "Of course I have a plan!" Lumine said, looking offended. "It's simple, actually. We teleport to Tenshakaku. We talk with the Shogun, and convince her to let us talk to Ei. Leave the rest to me. Straightforward, isn't it?"

"Seriously? That's your grand plan?" "Hey! It will work, trust me!" she replied defensively. "Lets pray to the archons it does." He muttered as Lumine vanished in golden mist, and he followed.

They found themselves at an elaborately carved door. "What about the guards?" Xiao asked again. "We have skipped all of them. I am sure we could deal with any inside, if it comes to that. No killing though." "I can not guarantee that." She shook her head and sighed. "Leave the fighting to me then. I don't want human deaths on my hands right now."

She extended her hand, touching the door. She could sense the area inside. It was almost like a domain. "Just imagine yourself inside." She told Xiao. "The door will automatically teleport you in." Clearly Xiao felt rather silly doing that, but he did it anyway. Lumine entered Tenshakaku, to find herself in a corridor, with guards up ahead, and walls decorated with purple swirls. "Leave the fighting to me." She whispered to Xiao who had appeared beside her. He nodded as her regular sword came into her hand.

It was rather annoying. She kept defeating guards, they kept calling for reinforcements. She was forced to knock them unconscious. Halfway through though, a silky smooth but commanding voice called out, "What is going on here?"

Everyone stopped in their tracks, as the guards hastily bowed down to the Raiden Shogun. Xiao instantly came to her side, hand ready to grab his lethal jade spear at any moment. "Your Highness! We were just getting rid of some imposters that had sneaked in! We apologise for the disturbance."

The Shogun regarded the duo in question with cold, unfeeling eyes from her high position. Eventually she said, "Leave us alone." The guards looked stunned as they stammered, "But-" "You heard me." She said in a threatening voice, that left no room for argument. "Leave us alone. I shall deal with them myself." Welp, that didn't sound exactly reassuring. The guards hastily filed out.

The Shogun stepped down. "Why are you here?" Lumine stepped forward as she calmly said, "We wish to talk to the one within." The Shogun glared at them "The one within does not entertain people. Now go, unless you wish to be struck down by the lightening's glow." Lumine was unabashed as the Shogun removed the Musou Isshin. "I repeat myself. I want to meet Ei. Talk to her. Tell her this: Lumine has returned. She will understand." The Shogun seemed outraged that Lumine dared to call Ei by her name, and Xiao's hold on her hand tightened. "Talk to her." Lumine insisted.

The Shogun's expression switched to slight surprise after a moment, indicating that she had spoken to Ei. "The one within has agreed to meet you. " She stated, back to being emotionless. She raised the Musou Isshin. Xiao tensed, but she motioned for him to stay still as it struck some distance away. The world around melted into inky darkness. "What-" Xiao stammered. "Relax. I think that Ei resides within the Musou Osshin, hence our mode of transport." As she said that, their surroundings reappeared. A red star glowed menacingly close in the background as tori gates formed around them. All different shapes and sizes, all different shaded of red. The floor was decorated with some sort of circular pattern. In the midst of it, Ei sat meditating.

As she sensed that the duo had arrived, she opened her strikingly violet eyes.
"I do not know who you are. You shouldn't have come. But since you are here... "
"I give you one chance to explain."

( 1553 words.
okay, so dont get used to this frequent update. I had an idea in mind, i had some free time, so I decided to write this down before it disappeared. However, while making some changes the entire freaking chapter got deleted. So then I had to rewrite the entire thing, and it was very timetaking. Welll, its 15 minutes to midnight here, so I'd better go, and fellow writers, dont make the mistake I did. Cya!)

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