Genshin Impact: Awakening in the Darkness

"Shadow, we have a guest," Thor Baal said to his sister Balzeb, who was practicing her sword in the courtyard.

"Who's here?" Balzeb put down the knife in his hand and turned to look at his sister who was making tea.

“I thought it would be a long time before you two met, but I didn’t expect this. What a pleasant surprise.” After Baal finished his cup of freshly brewed tea, he saw Balzeb walk over. Seeing the tea pushed in front of him, Balzeb did not refuse and drank with Baal.

After a while, a sound came from the doorway.

"Who!" Balzeb immediately raised his sword to meet the attack head-on. 'Clang!' The sound of sword and blade clashing rang out. After seeing who it was, Balzeb's sword was instantly covered in lightning, ready to get serious.

"Shadow, you must not be rude."

"But, really..."

Balzeb glanced at his sister, then put away his knife, but his face was full of resentment.

"Oh dear, oh dear, why are you fighting as soon as you meet? Little Xuan Yue, did you offend someone?" Barbatos's irritating voice rang out.

Xuan Yue wasn't going to let him off the hook. She grabbed him by the collar, pulled him out from behind him, and placed him in front of Baal.

"I'm so sorry, we were originally planning to go to Nata, but this guy got lost and ended up here without us realizing it. Please forgive us."

"We apologize for any shortcomings in our hospitality, esteemed guests. Let me introduce myself. I am Baal, the God of Thunder. You may call me Raiden Shin. This lady beside me is my sister, Balzeb, also known as Raiden Shin." Raiden Shin introduced politely.

"Ruyavis, the God of Order of Liyue, you may call me Xuan Yue."

"I am Barbatos, the god of wind. If you are walking among humans, just call me Wendy."

"Thank you for your courtesy." Lei Yingdong rarely responded, while Lei Dianzhen smiled with satisfaction.

Looking at the two identical demon gods in front of her, Xuan Yue thought of Xuan Qing again, and suddenly a question flashed through her mind: "That Thunder God, I want to ask, how can I appear in front of people at the same time like you two?"

"Ugh?"

"what?"

"..." Barbatos was unusually silent. He looked at the two sisters' faces full of question marks and explained for Xuan Yue: "This is a long story, so I will give a simple explanation. Xuan Yue also has a brother named Xuan Qing. Due to special circumstances, he and Xuan Yue cannot appear at the same time. During the Demon God War, Xuan Qing suddenly disappeared. Currently, only Xuan Yue is left in this body."

Raiden Shin and Raiden Dian looked at each other in bewilderment. Compared to Raiden Dian's blank expression, Raiden Shin quickly realized and said, "You and Xuanqing don't share the same body, do you? That's why you can't appear at the same time."

Xuan Yue nodded in agreement, saying, "As expected of the Thunder God, Barbatos has pinpointed the key point with just a few words. Xuan Qing and I are equivalent to the 'divinity' and 'humanity' of the Demon God, but I am the one who came later, having only existed for a short thousand years since my birth. Now, with Xuan Qing's fate unknown, I naturally have to take on this responsibility for Ruyavis."

Upon hearing this, Raiden nodded and said, "I'm sorry, we can't help you. Aying and I are twin demon gods, just like twins in the human world, so we can't give you any good advice."

"Um... everyone, could you please hear me out?" Lei Yingdong said, snapping out of his reverie. "You and Xuanqing are both demon gods, right? According to your description, if you want to walk in the world at the same time, what body would you use to accompany you?"

Lei Ying's words made Xuan Yue fall into thought as well. Lei Dian Zhen also crossed his arms, rested his chin on his hand, and laughed, "A Ying is really smart."

"According to Lei's description, could it be that he's going to make a puppet? That does fit the rules for a soul to possess a body, but putting aside whether there are suitable materials, just the fact that there are extraordinary people doesn't mean that a puppet won't be used by someone with ulterior motives." Barbatos pointed out the dangers and secretly reminded Xuan Yue to be careful.

“No, we don’t need puppets.” Xuan Yue bowed to Lei Yingdian and said, “Lei Yingdian, thank you. I was thinking in the wrong direction. I think I understand what to do now.”

"Oh~" Lei Dianzhen looked like he was watching a good show, while Lei Yingdian was completely dumbfounded, not understanding what Xuan Yue was talking about.

"Barbatos, how was the demon born?"

"Hiss, this question has stumped me. I was once a wisp of wind among a thousand winds. I was born with intelligence after hearing the song of the heavens and reversed the wind direction. I was then transformed into human form by the hope of the people and the divine power of the tornado demon god. I was born into the world in the form of a demon god."

“Compared to Lord Barbatos, we two sisters are of little value to refer to. We are innate demon gods. If it weren’t for Lord Xuan Yue, we wouldn’t be thinking about how we were born.” Lei Dian Zhen brewed some more tea and placed it beside the gods.

“Demons are born of nature and nurtured by the earth. Their power and authority come from the earth's veins. If I use the power of the earth's veins as a starting point to create a demon's body, that should be feasible, right?”

"Wouldn't that be easy to break?" Lei's first thought was that if he got into a fight, his body wouldn't be strong enough to withstand the blows.

"Hahaha, my goal is not to have Aqing fight alongside me, I just want him to stay with me... to see this world with me."

As the topic grew heavier, Raiden Shin smoothed things over, saying, "Since you're all chatting with us about these things, you can all be considered friends. In Liyue's words, I'll be the host and show you two around to see how Inazuma's cultural relics are being cultivated."

"Thor as our guide? Oh dear, Little Xuan Yue, we're the only ones of our kind."

"It would be impolite to refuse."

"Haha~ Let's go." Raiden Shin picked up the flower umbrella beside him, Raiden Film put away his pheasant sword, and led them through the crowd of Inazuma.

"Inazuma was originally a series of deserted islands, where only the survivors existed. But now, it has gradually become populated. Although it can't compare to Mondstadt and Liyue, it is still breathtakingly beautiful."

"Thor is too kind. Inazuma, though an island, is a rare and ideal location, offering both offensive and defensive advantages. Liyue is too large to manage." Xuan Yue's head ached just thinking about those drafts.

"Haha, the God of Order is really different from the rumors."

"Most of the rumors are untrue. Thor should just listen to them and not take them seriously."

"Hey, there's a white fox up ahead, and she's carrying a little fox. Thor, is she your friend?" Barbatos reminded him.

"Oh, we have guests. That explains why I'm late. Greetings, everyone. I am the priest of Inatsume Narukami Shrine, Kōshō-no-miya. This little fox in my arms is Yae no Miko. Come, Miko, greet everyone." Kōshō-no-miya said, teasing the little fox in his arms.

"Um... Hello everyone, I am... Goddess..." Goddess's voice was weak, and she looked like she had just been born.

"A cub!" Xuan Yue's eyes lit up. She had wanted to take the Water Dragon King Egg back to Liyue as soon as she left Fengdan, but Ergolia refused no matter what. She didn't expect that Inazuma would have a pink-haired fox.

"Ah!" The divine child was frightened by Xuan Yue's gaze and immediately shrank into the arms of the fox-gathering palace.

“Ah, sorry, my apologies. I am Noavis from Liyue, and this is Barbatos from Mondstadt,” Xuan Yue introduced herself.

"No problem at all, all guests are welcome. Would you mind having a picnic with us? We have a few friends there too, it'll be more fun with more people, so please don't refuse."

"can."

"Oh, a picnic? I've never tried that before."

"Fox Abode Palace, what about mine?" Lei Yingdong stepped forward and reached out, asking for something.

"Alright, alright, I've bought your tricolor dumplings. Sasa Yuri also bought some fried tofu at Torachiyo's place..."

"Ah! Fried tofu! Mine!" Yae no Miko instantly climbed onto Kitsune's shoulder and urged, "Let's hurry, let's go!"

"Alright, we only have two legs, are we going to fly there?"

"Fly? Sure."

"Shadow, stop causing trouble."

The three of them were making a ruckus, leaving Xuan Yue somewhat dazed. It seemed as if ten thousand years ago, three people had also argued like this, and a few years ago, when he returned to the end, Ping'er and Liu Yun had also argued in front of him in the same way. But in the end, they were just scattered dust, turning to ashes with a gust of wind…

"Xuan Yue, what's wrong with you..." Barbatos was smiling, but a message suddenly carried on the wind that made him sad noticed the sorrowful mood of the demon god beside him.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about the past."

Xuan Yue gestured to Barbatos and said, "We've been out having fun for so long, aren't you going back to Mondstadt to visit? Are you just going to give up completely like this?"

"No way, I already promised to take you out to play."

"After Inazuma, I'll be heading back to Liyue. If I don't go back soon, Morax will be looking for me to spar with," Xuan Yue said with a wry smile. He didn't have Xuan Qing protecting him now, so he couldn't beat Morax.

"You're lucky. I'll probably be the first one that old man takes care of. You'll have to help me out at the party."

"What party? I don't know anything about it." (Wait, I think Agoria said she'd look for me at a party.)

"Are you talking about the topic of the gods gathering together?" Raiden Shin leaned in: "It seems that the gods are quite curious about the God of War in Liyue, so they decided to hold a gathering of the seven gods in Liyue at the same time, and each god can bring their own familiars."

"!!!" Xuan Yue was shocked, then the next second: "Morax!"

…To be continued…