my other take on scheming/manipulative!creator again
welp here it is, i wasn't able to finish my scheming!creator AU, i think the last chapter was chap 4 and i'm still adjusting when it comes to writing serious stuff again after 2 years---? so this one might be a practice,,,, more like my self indulgence of psychological manipulation
They stripped you of divinity, spat the word āimpostor,ā and dragged you through the mud.
And yet, you never hated them.
You never forgave them, either.
Instead, you let them destroy themselvesā
with every guilty glance, every desperate prayer, every whispered plea for forgiveness that would never come.
Not in the way mortals doā not bone breaking on stone, not flesh yielding to earth. No, you fall as though the heavens themselves can no longer hold you. The sky tears open, scattering faint shimmers across the firmament, trailing behind you like the remnants of a forgotten constellation.
When you strike the ground, dust surges upward in a choking cloud. The crater smolders, stones cracked and glowing faintly from the force. Shapes blur through the hazeā soldiers, knights, huntersā their voices a chorus of suspicion.
āThe Creatorās likeness.ā
You try to rise, but rough hands seize you, forcing you down against the fractured earth. Shackles are clasped to your wrists, chains biting against raw skin. Iron presses into your ankles.
You bow your head instead, trembling but composed, and let their curses wash over you like waves against an unyielding shore.
The faint shimmer clinging to your wounds is dismissedā moonlight, dust, an illusion cast by the fire of your descent. None look closely enough. None dare.
They will not see it yet.
As if you would never blame them for this cruelty.
The first seed is planted.
They expect you to thrash against your bonds, to spit, to rageā to prove yourself monstrous in desperation. Instead, you fold your hands neatly in your lap, posture straight despite the ache of chains. Your silence is more unnerving than any denial.
Dragged through the streets of Mondstadt, you do not curse them. You do not plead. You only incline your head to each who recoils, as if you accept their hatred as your due.
By the time you are hauled before the Acting Grand Master, the whispers swell.
Jean sits stiff-backed behind her desk, exhaustion etched into her every line. The Archons stand in shadowed cornersā Venti slouched against a column, Zhongli observing with unreadable eyes, Ei rigid and cold, arms folded across her chest.
And the Traveler is there, standing at the center of it all, gaze sharp. Paimon hovers nervously at their shoulder.
You kneel when pushed forward, chains rattling softly against stone. You lower your head. Not in defeat. But in acceptance.
Venti speaks first, his voice slurred only slightly, like he had drunk himself steady enough to stand. āYou wear the face of the Creator. Do you know the crime of that?ā
You lift your gaze slowly, lashes heavy, and smile.
āIt must be terrifying,ā you murmur, voice quiet, steady. āTo think your god has returned, only to find it may be a lie.ā
No denial. No claim. Only understanding.
And thatā that is what twists the knife.
If you were false, wouldnāt you rage? Wouldnāt you deny or curse? Instead, you look at them with sympathy. As though you pity them.
Jean stiffens. Zhongliās hands tighten faintly where they rest behind his back.
The Traveler studies you in silence.
You bow your head again, voice soft. āDo with me what you must. If my presence troubles your peace, I will not resist. I would rather suffer chains than see Mondstadt divided by suspicion.ā
Too kind. Too good. Too merciful.
It rattles them more than wrath ever could.
They confine you beneath the cathedral, in a cold stone cell meant for heretics and zealots. Bars keep the faithful out as much as they keep you in. The walls smell of damp and dust.
You kneel on the floor, hands folded, head bowed. You hum sometimes, soft and low, melodies long forgotten. No one taught you those songsā they are remnants of nights when you held the world in your hands, commanding silence or joy with a touch of your finger.
Now, those songs return to them like ghosts.
The guards falter outside your cell. They try to ignore the sound, but the words echo from memoryā lullabies they muttered in prayer as children, never expecting an answer.
When Jean visits, you do not rise. You incline your head as though she were the one deserving reverence.
āI hope my presence has not caused unrest,ā you murmur. āIf it does, then I accept confinement. Better me alone than Mondstadt troubled.ā
Her lips part, close, press into a line. She cannot look at you for long.
When Venti visits, half-drunk, you smile faintly.
āYou must miss them,ā you whisper, as though confiding in him. āThe god you knew. If my face pains you, I am sorry. It is cruel, I think, to carry a likeness that wounds the faithful.ā
His laugh cracks. He stumbles out before dawn, bottle shattering against the stones as he flees.
Zhongli visits in silence. He does not speak, only kneels near the bars, brushing a trembling hand across the dust where you sit. When you bow your head toward him, his amber eyes avert, his mask of calm nearly fractured.
Ei does not visit. Not yet.
Because silence and patience are sharper blades than wrath. Because martyrdom corrodes faith far more swiftly than proof.
It is the Traveler who lingers longest.
They crouch before your cell, Paimon hovering uneasily, tugging at their sleeve. Amber eyes cut into you, sharp and searching.
āWho are you really?ā they ask.
You tilt your head. Your expression serene, your voice quiet.
āI am no one worth your fear,ā you say. āOnlyā¦ someone who loves this world too much to blame it for its cruelty.ā
It is not an answer. It is worse.
Because it is not denial, not claim. Only martyrdom. Only silence.
The Traveler swallows hard, their throat dry. Something in your words echoes with memoryā of prayers whispered into empty air, of a hand unseen guiding them across Teyvat, choices shaped not by chance but by presence.
It happens one evening, when a guard shoves you too roughly into the corner of your cell. Your temple strikes stone.
Blood beads, red and human. At least, to their eyes.
The Traveler is there to see it. Their jaw clenches at the sound of your skull meeting stone. They half-step forward, halted only by Paimonās tug.
And you smile at them through the ache, voice steady: āDo not scold them. They did what they thought was right. How could I fault them for that?ā
The Traveler still chokes on guilt.
Because it is not proof that binds them to doubt. Not yet.
It is your gentleness. Your refusal to hate.
Your silence damns them more than deceiving them ever could.
They expect you to protest your innocence. They wait for you to rage, to cry, to break. Days pass, weeks blurā and still you remain kneeling in the cell, folded neatly as though you are content to spend eternity chained.
Knights begin to whisper in the barracks, uneasy. Some swear you are false, some claim impostors would have cursed by now, would have demanded freedom. The uncertainty infects them more efficiently than a plague.
Even Jean, ever-steady, avoids your eyes when she delivers orders.
You watch it happen. Quiet, patient. The cracks forming.
Zhongli comes again. Always at night, always in silence. He kneels just outside the bars, amber gaze fixed on the stone at his feet, as though looking at you directly would shatter something fragile within him.
āIt isā¦ unsettling, to see one wear the visage of divinity.ā
You tilt your head, expression soft, voice low.
āI can imagine. To see a shadow of your god, and yetā¦ not know if it is truth or deceit.ā
He stills, shoulders tightening.
You smile faintly. āI do not blame you for doubting me. To believe too easily would be dangerous.ā
And it is there, in the subtle tremor of his hands, that you see it: guilt gnawing at the edges of his stone-hard mask. He remembers every prayer spoken into silence, every hymn unanswered, every sacrifice wasted to nothing.
And now, here you kneelā understanding him. Forgiving him.
Zhongli leaves with his jaw clenched and his hands shaking.
You hum a lullaby as his footsteps echo away.
When Venti returns, he reeks of wine. His gaze is unfocused, but the tremble in his hands betrays him.
āI donāt like this,ā he says, voice higher than usual, too tight to be careless. āYou sit there, smiling, saying nothingā¦ Itās cruel.ā
You tilt your head, expression tender.
āYes!ā he snaps, then falters, looking away. His fists clench at his sides. āYou should be cursing us, should beā should be demanding, raging, something. Anything.ā
You fold your hands neatly in your lap.
āIf I were to rage,ā you murmur, āwould it comfort you?ā
āWould it be easier if I hated you? If I accused you? If I claimed what you would not believe?ā
Venti swallows hard, throat tight. His eyes sting, though he does not know why.
You smileā gentle, forgiving. āI do not blame you. None of you. You did what you thought was right. That is all anyone can do.ā
And it breaks him more than curses ever could.
He stumbles out, leaving silence in his wake.
The Shogun comes at last.
Her presence fills the hall with sharp ozone, every step deliberate, every gaze cold. She looks at you as one looks at a bladeā with suspicion, with calculation, with the instinct to strike first.
You bow your head, posture still, voice steady.
āArchon of Eternity,ā you murmur, reverent. āHow heavy it must be to guard your nation against lies and shadows. If I am a burden to that vigilance, then I understand.ā
Your tone does not hold mockery, no bite, no demand. Only recognition. Understanding.
And that is what unsettles her.
Because her eternity has been forged on silence and steel. Yet here you are, mirroring her devotion, offering patience instead of battle.
She leaves without speaking another word.
But her hands do not loosen on her blade for hours afterward.
The Traveler comes more often than any of them.
At first, they say nothing. Only stand at the bars, gaze sharp, as though they could cut through you with suspicion alone. You greet them always with a smile, soft and steady.
One night, they finally speak.
āWhy donāt you defend yourself?ā
You tilt your head. āWould it matter if I did?ā
You continue, quiet. āWords are easily twisted. A liar can claim innocence as easily as truth. If my silence burdens you, I am sorry.ā
They swallow hard, gaze breaking away.
You lean forward, hands folded delicately. āBut know this. I do not hate you. Even if you doubt me. Even if you condemn me. I will not hate you for it.ā
It cuts deeper than any accusation.
Because they remember your unseen presenceā the way their path was guided, their victories shaped by choices that felt never wholly their own. A companion in silence. A hand beyond the screen.
And now you kneel before them, patient, unflinching, forgiving.
They leave without another word.
But Paimon glances back at you, wide-eyed, trembling.
The Knights whisper louder. The Qixing argue in Liyue halls. Even the Fatui, proud and vicious, hesitate. For every voice that condemns you, another faltersā wondering why an impostor would remain so calm, so kind, so endlessly understanding.
Some begin to dream of you.
They wake at night to see your face, not accusing, not wrathfulā but smiling. Forgiving. Silent.
And it haunts them more than fire or sword ever could.
Jean comes again. This time, she cannot hold your gaze.
āIā¦ have failed you, if you are who you claim not to be,ā she whispers. āIf you are not, then I am still failing you by allowing such doubt to fester.ā
You smile at her, weary, patient.
āYou have done what you thought best for Mondstadt. I could never fault you for that.ā
Her lips tremble. She turns away, shoulders stiff.
Outside, you hear her whisper to herself: Why does it feel worse, being forgiven?
And you lower your gaze, hiding your satisfaction.
Because guilt is a blade best driven inward.
And you have all the time in the world.
It begins quietly. A whisper here, a mutter there.
Mondstadt Knights argue in hushed tones at their posts:
āImpostors donāt sit quietly for weeks.ā
āBut it could be a trick.ā
āThen why do I feel like weāre the ones in the wrong?ā
In Liyue, the Qixing tear at one another behind locked doors:
āIf this is false, we risk our nationās faith.ā
āIf this is true, then every moment we delay is blasphemy.ā
āOur hesitation alone may already condemn us.ā
Even the Fatui falter. The Harbingers mutter in low voices, unnerved. Some claim to have dreamed of your voice, urging, forgiving, unshakably kind. Others snarl that such softness is a weapon. Yet still, they hesitate to strike.
The doubt is poison. And you feed it by doing nothing at all.
Zhongli returns again and again. Always silent, always kneeling just beyond the bars.
āI have lived long enough to see false idols rise and fall,ā he murmurs, amber gaze heavy. āTo see men claim divinity in the shadow of despair. I thought I had become immune to doubt.ā
He looks at you, and the mask cracks.
āBut youā¦ I do not understand why you do not hate us.ā
You tilt your head, smile faintly.
āWhat good would hatred do?ā you ask softly. āWould it undo your suffering? Would it unmake your fears? No. It would only add weight to your burdens. I would not wish to do that to you.ā
Zhongliās chest tightens. His hands curl into fists against the floor.
Every sacrifice laid upon Liyueās altars. Every life offered in prayer to a silent sky. Every unanswered hymn.
And now, here you sitā chains at your wrists, bruises on your skinā telling him you would rather ease his suffering than condemn him.
When he leaves, his eyes are wet, though no tears fall.
Not for long, not entirelyā but long enough that the change is noticed.
He comes to you sober one night, steps faltering, eyes hollow.
āYouāre too kind,ā he says, voice breaking. āIt feels like mockery.ā
You smile gently. āWould you prefer cruelty?ā
āYes!ā His shout echoes down the stone walls, desperate, shaking. āI wish youād scream, or curse, orā or do something! Because thisāā He gestures to you, to your folded hands, to your patient smile. āThis hurts worse than anything else could.ā
No bite. No sarcasm. No edge. Only sincerity.
And Venti nearly collapses, clutching his head as though the silence itself is suffocating him.
The Shogun returns. This time, she stands longer.
Her eyes sweep over youā unyielding, sharp. Yet her fingers twitch faintly on the hilt of her blade.
āYou are dangerous,ā she says.
You incline your head. āPerhaps. But only because I unsettle what you wish unmoved.ā
āI do not blame you for your caution,ā you murmur. āEternity demands vigilance. To mistake shadows for truth is a sin too costly for Inazuma. If I burden you, I accept it.ā
Eiās throat tightens, though she masks it well.
Because she hears the echo of her own eternity in your words. A reflection of her vigilance. A mirror she cannot destroy without shattering herself.
She leaves without another word, but her steps are uneven as she goes.
The Traveler visits every day now.
At first they only stood silently. Now they sit at the bars, sometimes hours at a time, eyes never leaving you.
You never initiate. You only smile when they arrive, bow your head gently, hum softly under your breath.
One evening, their voice cuts through the stillness.
āIā¦ remember things.ā
You tilt your head, patient.
āVoices. Guidance. When I was alone, when no one was thereā something guided me. Choices I made, paths I walked. It was likeā¦ someone was with me.ā
They swallow hard, voice breaking. āWas that you?ā
You smile, faint, weary, kind.
āI would never demand you believe me,ā you say. āIf thinking it was only chance brings you peace, then let it be so. I do not wish to burden you with certainty.ā
The Traveler grips the bars tightly, knuckles white.
Because your refusal to claim, your refusal to demand faithā it makes the suspicion worse.
They leave restless, haunted, unable to sleep.
Arguments spill into the open.
The Knights divide: some rally to Jeanās orders, some whisper that holding you chained is a sin.
In Liyue, merchants whisper prayers under their breath as they pass, while the Qixing argue louder, more violently, fearing rebellion.
Even the Fatui cannot remain unified. Half claim you are a threat that must be erased. Half kneel in silence at makeshift altars, terrified of what they may have done.
And through it all, you remain silent.
Patient. Kind. Forgiving.
It happens one night when two guards argue outside your cell.
āYouāve seen them. Theyāre too calm to be a fraud.ā
āAnd you think that proves divinity?ā
āI think it proves weāre wrong.ā
The fight escalates. Voices rise.
You kneel quietly in the corner, watching them tear at each other, fists swinging, curses spilling.
When Jean arrives to stop them, she finds you sitting serenely in the middle of the chaos, expression soft, as though you mourn their pain more than your own chains.
Her voice falters as she orders the guards dragged away.
And you smile at herā weary, forgiving, endless.
She looks away, trembling.
By now, every Archon avoids each otherās eyes when your name is spoken. The Traveler walks with a haunted look, Paimon biting her lip in silence.
Nations are tense. Factions whisper rebellion.
You hum softly in your cell. You speak gently when spoken to. You forgive without being asked.
You do not raise your voice. You do not demand worship.
And guilt spreads like wildfire.
It doesnāt come during a grand trial, or a ceremony, or some scripted test.
Your body has been straining under the weight of starvation, sleeplessness, neglect. They do not harm you now, not physicallyā they wouldnāt dare. But they already have. The weeks of cold stone floors, the rations too sparse, the damp chains at your wrists.
And so one night, when the Traveler arrives againā restless, desperate, eyes bloodshot with obsessionā your hand slips on the iron bars. The chain jerks cruelly.
The wound spills stars.
Moons, constellations, drifting fragments of galaxies unfurling in liquid light. The blood does not drip to the floor but ascends in glittering threads, fading into the air like a prayer answered.
The Traveler stares, breath caught, lips parted. Their hands tremble against the bars.
And then you look up at them.
Not angry. Not proud. Not vengeful.
āWhyā¦ why didnāt you sayāā
The Travelerās voice cracks. Their throat closes, tears gathering in their eyes.
You smile faintly, the wound still glowing at your wrist, galaxies pulsing from your veins.
āBecause if I were false,ā you murmur, voice gentle, āno words of mine would make me true. And if I were trueā¦ I would not need to prove it.ā
The words are a knife, and they crumble under the weight.
The Traveler calls them all.
Zhongli arrives first, gaze falling upon your woundā and for the first time in millennia, the Archon of Contracts falters. His knees hit the floor before he realizes it, breath sharp in his chest.
Venti stumbles in soon after, his composure already shattered. At the sight, his voice breaks into sobs he cannot swallow, his lyre slipping from his fingers to clatter uselessly on the ground.
Ei comes silent, stiff, unyielding. But her blade lowers, and her hands shake. For eternity itself trembles before the sight of stars spilling from your body.
And when Nahida arrives, her tiny form quivers, tears streaking her cheeks before she even reaches you.
They kneel. Not out of ritual, but out of collapse.
The news spreads like wildfire. The guards who once struck you fall on their swords in shame. The Knights of Favonius weep openly. The Qixing convene in chaos, many resigning outright, unable to bear the guilt of chaining divinity. Even the Fatui fracture furtherā Harbingers silenced, some fleeing, some swearing vengeance upon themselves.
And the peopleā the ordinary, the faithfulā they gather outside, their cries carried through the wind. Pleas for forgiveness. Laments. Hymns turned into wails.
You forgive none.
But you blame no one.
āPlease ā punish usāā
āStrike us downāā
āSpare us nothing, only donātā donāt stay silentāā
You sit upon the cold stone, galaxies still shimmering faintly in your wound, and you look upon them with endless gentleness.
āI understand,ā you say softly. āYou were afraid. You protected yourselves, as you always have. It wasā¦ natural.ā
Your voice breaks nothing and everything.
Because they realizeā in your eyes, they are not guilty.
They are not forgiven.
They are understood.
And that is so much worse.
It happens when Venti crawls forward, hands bloody from stone, reaching, begging.
āPleaseā if you hate us, say it. Donātā donāt be this kindāā
And you smile at him, weary.
Your eyes shimmer.
And then the tears fall.
The first are whiteā brilliant, pristine, stars that fall to the floor and burn like snow. They are joy, pure and aching: joy that they came, that they knelt, that they saw.
But then the second fall red. Deep crimson, glowing with the color of Khaenriāahās wrath, searing the ground where they land. They are sorrowā a sorrow so deep it has no end, a sorrow that devours.
The Archons weep openly. The Traveler grips the bars until their hands bleed. Factions shatter under the weight of the sight.
Because the tears are proof.
The tears are a verdict.
They all lurch forward, begging, pleading, voices breaking ā āNo, no, pleaseāā ābut you only smile, tender and infinite.
āIt is not your fault,ā you whisper. āAnd yetā¦ it is not undone.ā
The galaxies in your blood dim. The star-tears fade. Your body grows still.
And the world collapses around your silence.
The Knights no longer sing your hymns. They whisper them.
The cell where you once sat has become a shrineā not built by decree, but by the trembling hands of the same guards who chained you. They kneel there every morning, laying down their swords, pressing their foreheads to the cold stone as though it can forgive them.
Jean has not smiled since that day. Her hands shake when she signs orders. The banners of Barbatos still fly, but she cannot bear to look at them. She hears your voice in every prayer at the cathedral, sees your eyes in every star over Mondstadtās sky.
He does not drink anymore. His lyre lies broken in a corner of Angelās Share, strings cut. He wanders the city barefoot, silent, as though his songs would be an insult now. When the wind blows, people say it feels heavierā not because of storms, but because his archonās soul is thick with remorse.
The harbor thrives as always, but there is an edge in every merchantās eyes, an apology in every haggled deal. Offerings pile on your shrine at the edge of the docks: incense, talismans, jade cut to resemble stars.
Zhongli has not returned to his human guise since that night. He walks the streets in silence, bare-footed, robes dragging through puddles, amber eyes fixed on the ground. Children whisper that the old man who once told stories of contracts now kneels before the stars at dawn and dusk, lips moving without sound.
The Qixing are fractured. Many have resigned; the rest speak of nothing but atonement. They pass laws renaming districts, building monuments in your memory, but nothing feels like enough. They cannot undo the sound of chains on your wrists.
The Shogun has withdrawn to the Plane of Euthymia, leaving Ei to wander the empty halls of Tenshukaku alone. She carries no blade now.
At night, she stands at the shore and looks out at the horizon, watching the stars scatter across the waves. The constellations seem sharper these days, as though every point of light is a wound.
She whispers your name but receives no answer.
The eternity she once sought feels hollow nowā an unending stretch of time without your presence. She understands, too late, that she built her eternity to protect a world that had already betrayed its own creator.
In Sumeru, Nahida tends a garden no one else may enter. She plants star-shaped flowers at the base of a tree, watering them with tears she cannot stop.
Scholars rewrite the Akademiyaās archives. Theories and treatises burn in the courtyards as they replace every āimpostorā footnote with āthe One Who Was.ā
Nahida dreams of you every night. In her dreams you sit beneath the Irminsul and smile, and she always reaches for youā but before her fingers touch yours, you fade into motes of cosmic light.
She wakes with soil under her nails and cries without making a sound.
Nations have shifted. Old laws fallen. Shrines to you sprout everywhereā star-shaped altars, quiet prayers. Not because you demanded them, but because your silence is unbearable.
Your absence has done what no war could: it has stilled Teyvat.
No one dares crown a false god again. No one dares speak lightly of divinity.
Somewhere beyond the reach of mortals, you rest.
A garden stretches endlessly around you, woven from constellations. Galaxies drift like flowers on a cosmic river. The moons of your veins float lazily upward, gathering at the edges of the sky.
You sleep curled upon a bed of starlight, your chains dissolved into nothing.
Your hands are folded, your expression soft. The cosmos hums around you, like a lullaby.
You are not angry.
You are not vengeful.
You are simply tired.
And the world of Teyvat waits below, trembling, praying, hopingā but knowing deep down that their prayers will echo back unanswered for a long, long time.
When the night is clear, and the stars are bright, the people of Teyvat look up and whisper:
āPlease wake. Please forgive. Please return.ā
And though the stars seem to flicker in answer, they know:
No celestial rift, no quaking earth, no thunderous hymn.
One night, the stars pulse onceā twiceā like the echo of a heartbeat. Then silence. Then stillness.
And when dawn breaks, you are awake.
You rise from the bed of galaxies, your eyes heavy with ages of sleep. The stars shift around you, forming a veil that clings to your body like woven constellations.
The world feels different.
Not because it has changed. But because you have.
The Traveler is the first to find you. They stumble into the chamber, nearly falling to their knees in shock.
ā...Youāre awakeāā
Their voice cracks. Tears bloom instantly, unbidden, as they rush closer.
A simple gesture. Not sharp, not cruelā merely firm.
The smile you wear is faint, almost sorrowful.
āYes,ā you say. Your voice is calm, even. āI am awake.ā
They wait for moreā for the warmth that once guided them, the gentle hand on their back, the unseen voice that carried them across worlds.
Your kindness is no longer personal.
It is vast. Cold. Like the sun that shines on all things but touches nothing.
Zhongli bows his head so low his forehead touches the ground. Venti trembles with hope that breaks into sobs. Ei kneels in silence, hands folded as though in prayer. Nahida cannot speak at all, her lips quivering.
They wait for you to scold, to embrace, to forgive.
You only incline your head, expression unreadable.
āYou need not kneel,ā you murmur. āYou have nations to lead. People to protect. Rise, and continue your duty.ā
Zhongliās throat tightens. Ventiās fingers clutch at the floor as though it can anchor him. Eiās heart feels hollow. Nahidaās tears fall silently.
Because this is not the voice they remember.
This is not the gentle presence that laughed and sang through the skies and through your screen.
This is the Creator they have shaped with their own hands, distant and unreachable.
At first, they tell themselves it is temporary. That your coldness is a wound, and wounds heal.
You walk the streets of Mondstadt, blessing the harvests with a brush of starlightā and ignore the desperate eyes that seek yours.
You stand upon the mountains of Liyue, raising fallen stone after earthquakesā and turn away from trembling merchants who whisper apologies.
You walk Inazumaās shores, calming storms, guiding fleetsā but when Ei approaches, you smile politely and step past her.
You tend Sumeruās Irminsul, pruning corruption with a flick of your handā and Nahidaās prayers hang unanswered in the air.
You save them. You protect them. You help.
Your kindness has become mechanical, impersonal. Like rain. Like sunlight. Like the stars that shine whether or not anyone prays for them.
And that hurts more than silence ever did.
They remember the way your voice once guided themā through screens, through prayers, through laughter that echoed like hymns. They remember your joy, your warmth, the way you lingered like a friend at their side.
But that presence is gone.
You are here, but you are not here.
The Traveler is the first to shatter.
They trail after you constantly, desperate. āPleaseā talk to me. The way you used to. Just once. Pleaseāā
You only smile faintly, shake your head.
āI am not who I was.ā
Their heart crumbles at the words.
Paimon sobs openly, clutching the Travelerās sleeve, begging you for anything more than the chill in your eyes.
Venti sings again. But the songs are broken things, drunken slurs without wine, hymns that die in his throat.
He throws himself at your feet one night, hands clutching your robes, begging: āPlease, mock me, curse me, hate me, anything but thisā donāt be kind like this!ā
You touch his hair gently.
Zhongli speaks less and less. He follows at a distance, watching, but never approaches. Because every time your eyes pass over him without recognition, he feels the weight of five thousand years collapse onto his shoulders.
He was supposed to know.
He was supposed to protect.
He failed.
And now you are hereā but you are gone.
Ei kneels on the shore again, blade plunged into the sand before her. She whispers her apologies into the tide, but the waves only carry your reflection back to her: distant, starlit, unreachable.
Teyvat thrives. Famine fades, wars still, storms calm. Everywhere you walk, life flourishes.
But the world feels hollow.
Because though the Creator is here, the Player is gone.
The one who laughed, who sang, who guidedā lost to time, to betrayal, to exhaustion.
And what remains is divinity: kind, eternal, unreachable.
The sun in the sky. The stars at night. The rain that falls.
Helpful. Merciful.
But never again warm.
And when the people pray now, their voices tremble.
Because they know their god listens.
They know their god answers.
But they also know their god is gone.
And all that remains is the echo of what they destroyed with their own hands.
A little experiment in quiet cruelty--- no knives, no battles, just guilt, devotion, and a god who never needed to lift a hand. Think slow-burn psychological manipulation, a smiling Creator, and Teyvat crumbling under the weight of its own condemnation.
