Y'ALLLLLL AAAAAHH SJIDKEKFKRFKFIFIJF LOOK WHAT I SAW 👀I APOLOGIZE IF THE LETTER ARE BIG I THINK THIS IS GONNA BE A SPOILER FOR SOME SO YEAHHH HAHAHAHHAHAHA ANYWAYSSSSS LOOK
This took me forever, since I initially wanted to post this in my main acc until I realized it had about 8.5k posts in there and... yeah, this story was the reason I made a sideblog for my self-indulgent bullshit writing since they’ll get lost in the sea of memes and things I find interesting skjskjskjsksjksjskjskjs-
This piece is heavily inspired by a lot of other SAGAU writers who I’m rather lazy to name, if anything... it’s been weeks, and I nearly pulled an all-nighter for this (because my brain was dead set on finishing it and it’s 12am right now), lmao. I’m so dead on my feet but I’ll be damned if I don’t finish this after lord knows how long I’ve been working on this.
Warning ahead that there is a huge divergent to the actual plot... which I think you’ll notice soon enough, haha.
(This fic is... long, surprisingly so but... it’s just my pet peeve of having super big paragraphs in a story that just-- askdjasldj I don’t know how many words are there, but I’ve re-edited this entire story like a thousand times until it felt just right... I lost count of how many words each of them had lmao.)
Now off you guys go, enjoy yourselves and be sure that you’re fed, hydrated and well rested... don’t be stupid like me, okay? Okay.
They say their eyes are the stars above, always watching even behind the daylight skies that hide them from sight.
They say their body is made of stardust, the speckles of light that sometimes descend down like curious little fireflies and occasionally play along with the children who find them before they fade away.
They say their hearts are made of diamonds and gold, brilliant and forever dazzling the world below with its warm, gentle nature full of so much love.
That is what the Gods say when they speak of the Exalted existence that lies beyond all of their reaches...
The God who stands above all, who is the reason for the world’s life and the reason they are all alive with what they have... they are all given a purpose because of them, and they are so very thankful for that purpose.
The divine all give their prayers in form of monuments of worship and formed traditions to celebrate their name.
The mortals give their prayers in form of little offerings, in their earnest desires to live their lives to the fullest... a blessing that was gifted to them before they were even born.
They are the God of Creation and Destruction.
The God of Life and Death.
The God of Peace and War.
The God of Transience and Eternity.
They are everything to this world.
They mean everything to its inhabitants and the land itself... for all things begins and ends with them.
There is no one who grants more privileges than them, after all... and they are the ones who decide whether the worshippers are worthy or not. They are the judge to the sinners, the punisher to those who dare overstep their bounds from the place they stand.
The Gods have witnessed it.
The Gods have felt it.
The Gods have experienced it.
The divine of Teyvat have come to learn its lessons one way or another... be it a miracle that bears great gifts or through their deaths within their final moments. Many who are left to fall from grace come to learn that there are things you just cannot selfishly achieve, lest they end up invoking the ire of the Exalted One who will deliver what is deserved...
For the God above all loves everyone who understands their place in the world.
Decabarian loved the existence that lies beyond his reaches... who had earned the love of the people and the world unconditionally and had strived to acheive the same.
He wanted to be like them... to be loved and regarded greatly as one of the highest above all others, thus did he built his towers and walls if only to observe the fragile lives below that he strove to shelter from the ruthless blizzards outside.
The towers were built as a symbol of worship to the Exalted existence above as a way for him to convey his innermost feelings for them... it was his manner to show how much he appreciated them and the way they are viewed by all.
But was it truly his worship? Did he truly do all of this because he loved them and their gifts that gave him a reason to exist? Decabarian, although a powerful God, could not understand that the feelings he held for the Exalted One was not love... but one of envy that is fueled by his desires of vanity.
He envied the Exalted existence for how much everyone loved them even if no one has ever seen their face before...
He envied the Exalted existence for how everyone looks up to them for guidance- for their acknowledgement and favor so they could strive for a wonderful future ahead.
Decabarian did not love the Exalted One as he would have believe... blinded by his own foolishness in his dreams that only benefitted himself.
The God of Storms did not understand what he did was the greatest of follies... for what he dreamt of was no more than to be the Exalted One.
...such a folly came with the price of his life, as he is felled by the swords and arrows of the rebellion, their forms graced with the shine of the stars. He comes to see his mistakes too late, his conceit and envy had overstepped the forbidden and unspoken line that all dare not to walk beyond of.
He realized in his death, looking to the silhouette of stardust that stands behind the rebellion of mortals, that the Exalted existence has always been watching and will always be watching no matter the weather that hides the stars from the eyes of the world.
For every life, mortal and divine, have the smallest glimmer of stardust in their veins, and therefore the God shall always witness even if the stars never shine.
Barbatos lived to grant the wish of the Bard’s desires to see the clear skies and for the birds to fly.. he lived to give the people the freedom they deserved, to make sure that history does not repeat itself.
He also lived for the precious existence above, who blessed him and his comrades the power to overthrow the God of Storms, and gave him his power to let people experience freedom beyond the cage of storms and unforgiving blizzards.
He remains in the world until the day the nameless bard passes on, having lived out his life to the fullest and gifting him his lyre in the end... a special lyre that was made from the Exalted existence to give him power to inspire the rebellion with strength.
Barbatos called it the “Holy Lyre Der Himmel”, if only so it represented the one who gave it to them in the first place.
In the time before he went into a long sleep, he sang songs with his dear friend and helped create festivals that were formed to give thanks to the great Deity above who gave them strength to liberate themselves from the tyrant. He made sure that everything would remind everyone why Mondstadt was able to become what it was...
Because if the Exalted One had not stepped in, Decabarian’s reign would have been eternal, and Andrius would have continued to ruthlessly blanket the world outside the storm barrier in snow and ice... therefore, they would never have had the luxury of living freely like they do now.
So when Barbatos woke up again, and learnt of the tyranny by the hands of the nobles that had survived the harsh world outside that not only sullied the festivals made in their name, but also changed them to fit their own greediness...
Naturally, what kind of worshipper would he be if he were to let that continue on?
So when his eyes catch the sight of stardust that hovers over the Muratan’s shoulders, he knew what he must do to ensure that history does not repeat for the third time.
Guizhong devoted herself to her studies, both in the name of the Exalted One who gave her life meaning, but also to help the humans thrive when they sought to expand their civilization.
When the Archon War broke out, Guizhong knew that she would not survive... for unlike Morax, who was gifted with incredible strength, she was gifted with intelligence... and while her wisdom far surpassed many, she knew that it will not be enough to keep her alive.
And when she is felled during a particularly rainy day, she had believed her time was up...
Yet the stars had shined brightly through the crowns, and the warring world had swiftly silenced itself... All who fought for the Seven seats do not move out of anticipation and fear as the form of stardust had appeared.
No one does anything but watch, and as Guizhong breathes for what she thought were her last breaths... an undeniable warmth spreads across her body, and the pain that she once felt with the chill of the cold rain is washed away like the summer breeze.
Her eyes open, and she stares into the stars.
She could not see the eyes nor the face, but she could tell from the close proximity that they were smiling... that they were seemingly proud of something... but for what?
As of this moment, she is only aware of the fact that the Exalted One has given her a second chance to live, and she’ll be damned if she throws it away too soon.
So, when they departed, disappearing in shimmering fireflies, she quickly returns to her friend’s side as he gifts her a sword of jade to fight... and the sword was imbued with stardust- with their power as she feels warmth flow into her veins once more...
She will not die, for if the God she loved and worshipped wholly had given her another chance... she would be a fool to toss it away so recklessly.
Morax counts himself fortunate.
Though he had lost many friends throughout the entire journey of his life, from the rise and fall of the Guili Assembly, to the growing change of the Liyue Harbor as humanity strives to be independent from the divine... He counts himself lucky, blessed to still have familiar faces of his best friends who were also just as fortunate as he was.
All thanks to the Exalted One that exists above, who allowed him to be a victor in the war while still have his friends by his side.
Azhdaha, who could have been lost to his erosion, was gifted with special beads that helped keep himself together as damages to the ley lines continue. Such a bead as blue as the cloudy sky was so small yet held so much power... to keep such an erosion at bay, Morax had to wonder where such a thing came to be.
Guizhong, who could have been left to die at the Guili Plains, was given a second chance at life... not only was he allowed to finally gift her a sword he forged so she could protect herself better, but to continue experiencing life beside her as humans continue to grow and evolve with time...
Morax wondered, every now and again as he anticipates the miracles formed by the hands of stardust time and time again, of the limits the Exalted One’s power... It is admirable yet terrifying to know what they were able to do, yet he is all the more thankful for their kindness that he is able to keep what he has now.
(Although he somewhat wishes he could be just a little more knowledgeable so he could finally solve Guizhong’s puzzle... would their beloved God grant him something like that?)
Makoto looks over from where she stood in the Tenshukaku, looking over Inazuma as yet another quiet year has passed...
The incident of 500 years ago changed everything, for the Heavenly Principles had acted out to a budding nation where only humans thrived in their evolution with technology that was said to have surpassed that of the Gods... it is something that Makoto wants to avoid, for she does not wish for Inazuma to face the same fate as that human kingdom.
The day when that nation fell and when the darkness of the Abyss was finally quelled down to the point the sky could be seen once more, it had been the last day anyone had seen the Exalted One.
They did much, not only saving her life along with those of her friends, but also prevented a war to break out between the people of Watatsumi and her people... Orobashi currently residing in Watatsumi Island, is still rather on edge after the events of the Cataclysm... not that Makoto blames him.
Even so, with the fact that the Exalted existence has not appeared since the end of those events, she felt as though things will take a turn for the worst.
Her concerns were correct about it when the Cryo Archon had changed, yet she had not expected to be another cause of the change when someone unknown struck her from the darkness... Though death did not reach her, she could not find it in herself to reawaken for a very long time.
She worries for Inazuma... for her friends, and for Ei.
Makoto sends her prayers to the stars beyond the heavens, hoping that her beloved God would hear her pleas for aide in these tense times.
Ei sits quietly within the top of Tenshukaku.
Another day the war continues between her people and that of Orobashi’s... another day without Makoto as her friends fight. She worries that she would finally lose them this time... with no God above to help them, what is to say that she won’t lose them now?
It’s not that she doubts the Exalted One’s strength, or the fact they might have died or abandoned them... but it’s been years since the Kingdom fell, and the world has been struggling with its monsters made from both man and the world itself.
She doesn’t know when Makoto would ever recover either, and with the war going on, she had no time to truly make prayers while she led the country without her sister’s aide. While she is safe with her Gnosis in the Narukami Shrine, protected by her dear friends who the Exalted One had saved, there was still the Cryo Archon’s meddlesome Fatui.
Without Makoto to deal with the governing affairs so foreign to her, Ei was at a loss for a long time.
When she was finally relieved from her duties, even for a short while, she finally took the time to make at least a prayer... a small hope for the Exalted existence to return to them and end the mess that became of this world since their disappearance 500 years ago.
She admits that she didn’t have expectations for it to be answered... that it would remain unheard like every other prayer she’s made since that day.
Whether it was by coincidence or not, all Ei could think of was her gratitude when the world was washed over and bathed in the familiar light of stardust... except the presence was more solid, and like a beacon amidst the darkness, called out to the world that sang along with that hum of warmth.
I am here.
I have returned.
And so Ei witness the world kneeling, all conflicts go silent as the stardust that painted the world in gentle light continues to bathe it until it disappears... but the presence that called to her like a beacon remains, and she comes to realize the meaning of those words thereafter.
You only remember how sudden it was.
You didn’t dwell too much on what had happened... but it was difficult to ever take in what had truly happened.
Death is a concept that you don’t ever think much about... being as young as you were, you didn’t even think about it. Education and work had taken most of the time in your head, and when did you did have time for yourself outside of that, you would play games until you were tired.
It just so happens that you enjoyed a certain game, very much that you felt a lot for its stories and the creatures created inside of it.
A shame that you never really got to spend at least one more day before your life had literally fell apart and changed...
For the best or worse, you don’t know.
But if there was a God out there, looking at you right now... you have a lot of questions to ask them. Honestly, dying was unexpected... but reincarnation in a familiar world, practically naked if you didn’t have that big white sheet of cloth covering your body like a big blanket...
Yeah, you have a lot of questions to ask.
Especially when you’re surrounded by familiar faces, both men and monster, kneeling right before you as though you were some sort of divine figure.
“Welcome back, Our Master.”
Your thoughts have all but vanquished by these words, with the singular sentence popping into your mind as great confusion washes over you while you awkwardly stood there with only a giant sheet of cloth covering your body as you stand in front of a crowd that seems to be numerous enough to match that of an empire.
