Shinkai by Eve
Ayato POV.
I wave over to the small figures appearing bigger ahead as they walk closer.
"Y/N!!! PAIMON WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GET HERE?????" Paimon exclaims into Y/N's ear and I watch her cringe at the loudness.
"Alright, Paimon. I know you're excited but don't be too loud. We won't want to attract any monsters now, do we?" I sigh as I greet the traveller.
"A bunch of monsters came up to us at the crystal and one of them destroyed the rocky pillar so we fell all the way down here... Ayato and I passed out because it was such a long fall down, and when I woke up, we were laying on a river behind that tunnel you came from. I don't even know how long we've been here but it's probably been about a day," Y/N explains to them and Childe investigates the area.
"Time runs different in the Chasm," The traveller states.
"He's right. I see that you have eaten based on the remnants of the starshrooms but that is actually not needed. Time... does not flow here. We'll only begin to feel sleepy if we exhaust ourselves so much that we can't even walk, which of course, will not happen," Zhongli explains. Y/N and I exchange glances as images of last night flash quickly through my mind and she turns away, flustered.
"We were wondering how we would be able to find our way back but considering the fact that you're all here now..." My voice begins to trail away as my thoughts start to jumble.
How did they end up here?
"I assumed something happened to the both of you when we returned back to the crystal because there's no way the both of you would've just ran off without a word. Especially, when you're unfamiliar with the Chasm," Childe says, dusting himself off.
"We've been walking for HOURS," Venti whines, slumping down onto the floor before saying something about needing wine.
"You mentioned something about monsters?" Y/N's words doesn't slip the travellers mind.
"Yes, they were intelligent, too. I've told Ayato but... I think they're receiving orders from higher authority. I've read about monsters with intelligence in my time at the shrine. Lady Yae and I often shared scholarly books as we were the only ones at the shrine with visions, so learning about monsters was natural. If I had to make a guess, I think they're receiving orders from the Abyss," Y/N discusses with the traveller.
"Your heartbeat," I say as I recall the moments before we fell into the deep void.
"Oh! Yes... It completely slipped my mind. Although I'm sure it might just be wro-" Before Y/N could even finish her words Venti interrupts her.
"No. You were right. We found scriptures on the rocks much further away from the crystal in another chamber. It's not written in our language but..." Venti looks toward Zhongli, unsure of whether he should even begin to continue his sentence.
"They were written in Hilichurlian," Zhongli finishes his sentence.
"What?" The word escapes my lips before I could even stop myself.
"I don't understand. What were they even writing for you to even be able to know that it was Y/N's heartbeat?" I ask.
"The scriptures wrote about a woman," Paimon tells me softly.
"A woman?" Y/N probes.
"Yes... Zhongli and Venti said that it was about a woman who was raised righteously and is a maiden to a great monument. And something along the lines of how she will be trapped to face her fears and to learn about her own truth in the chasm alone," The traveller explains to me.
Childe and I exchange glances briefly and I can tell immediately that what the traveller told me wasn't the truth. Or rather... what Zhongli and Venti said wasn't the truth. After growing up in the abyss, the harbinger had learnt to pick up the Hilichurlian language and in doing so, became fluent in it. Not many people know, but when you're longtime business partners, sometimes conversations can tend to become a way to be... acquaintances.
"I see... I'll look out and be more wary now. The abyss are definitely capable of many things," Y/N says.
We settle on a plan to find more clues at the further tunnels with the guide of Zhongli. The dark areas are lit up by the electricity balled up in Y/N's hands, our visions aglow in this dark chasm as the purple light shows us the way ahead. The echoes of our breaths and steps mutter through the small tunnels, our shadows taking shape on the rocks around, the dry rock on the ground turning into gravel as we step further into the hollow fissure.
"It seems that there were hilichurls here," Childe announces as we near a tent with hilichurl weapons.
"We should take a rest here for a moment. It has been a long walk," I suggest before everyone agrees.
"It wasn't a curse," Childe speaks softly.
"What? What do you mean?" My neck snaps towards him as I lower down my volume.
We are standing some distance away from the tent where everyone is, Paimon entertaining the rest as Child and I discuss about what was actually written on the walls. Beyond us is a pitch black darkness that leads to archon-knows-where and some part of me thinks it's a bit ironic because it feels like the "abyss" is so near.
"It's more of a protection spell," Childe sighs, rubbing his neck as I furrow my brows in confusion, prodding for more.
"Look, I have no idea why Zhongli and Venti are lying about it but it seems that they believe the rest of us are gullible. The abyss is protecting her, Y/N, that is. There's some truth to what the Traveller said about facing something but it's more about... some kind of truth," Childe explains to me.
"Truth?" I ask again, not sure if I'm to believe what I'm hearing. He's taking this much more seriously than I thought... I'm honestly perplexed if anything.
"Yes. The scriptures described what seems to be the "heavens" which might be Celestia trying to take Y/N's consciousness away because they didn't mean for a time paradox to happen, which I'm assuming is something related to you. The spell is to keep Y/N's consciousness here, within this "current world", and in time, she will know the truth. It is true that she will be alone in the Chasm later on but she'll be talking to someone from the abyss instead of "facing her fears"," He continues, "And the crystal... I'm not too familiar with some of the words at this part but it seems to genuinely be connected to her heart because her consciousness is linked with it."
He pauses before he tells me the next part, as if he's unsure if I should know about it or not.
"What else?" I ask firmly, reminding him of why he needs me, our agreement not going under the blankets.
"I don't know what you did or what the full situation is but it seems that if her consciousness is gone from "this world", she will die because her "real body" isn't alive. Do you know what this means?" Childe looks at me, confused himself.
"Is there no other way to stop her from knowing the truth and being alone?" I ask, mind full of endless worries.
"My theory is that... Well, the spell is only delaying Celestia from doing whatever they want to do. I'm not too sure about the part where sh—"
The sound of gravel crunching on the ground makes us turn around and we see no one but as our eyes scan the tent, my heart sinks. I clench the hilt of my sword, breath staggering as I repeatedly scan the area around the tent again and again.
"Where... is Y/N?" My eyes widen as everyone looks around only to realise she's gone.
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Deja Vu || Kamisato Ayato x Reader
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