summary: *this is a time just before current story baal.* she wasn’t always that way. you had come to see her and the woman you had fallen for had purely disappeared.
inspiration: “what’s the matter baby, you don’t think I look pretty like this” (listen to the sound above if your unsure.)
—
Your eyes widened and your heart clenched at the sight before you.
Baal with the blood of her ‘enemies’ splattered all over her from head to toe.
she was sat there on her throne , with bodies of innocent people surrounding it, cleaning her sword.
“Raiden?” A tremble laced your voice, you had never seen her like this. She was not the type to hurt innocent people.
she looked up from her sword, analysing the fear in your form. there was not an ounce of remorse or concern in her gaze.
she stood and pushed her sword back into her chest. she doesn’t want to hurt you, but that doesn’t change her actions.
slowly she made her way towards you, with each step her smirk grew.
your mind was racing, why had she done this? Such slaughter was not something the Baal you knew would do.
but then it hit you…this was no longer the Baal you knew, this was no longer the woman you had fallen in love with…not even close.
you hesitated at her nearing presence , lifeless eyes piercing a gaze straight through you, you stepped back slightly but she reached out and cupped your cheeks with one of her hands the other sat firmly on your waist,
pulling you closer so that you were only mere inches apart, The blood on her hands stained your cheeks red along with your purity.
she could feel your shaking. brushing a strand of hair out of your face she smirked callously with a light sigh.
“What’s the matter baby, you don’t think I look pretty like this?…”
summary: the raiden shogunate and electro archon, baal, is absolutely certain of one thing - you are not an archon. and yet, you don't seem quite like the mortals inhabiting teyvat either. whatever the case, she's determined to find out what you are, and possibly get closer to you in the process. it's all for research, of course. nothing more, right?
# pairing - baal x fem!reader
# fandom - genshin impact
# warnings - mentions of illness, baal may be ooc since i don't know much about her yet, not proofread
# note (20/2/2022) - this was written pre release, so please keep that in mind! the personality may not be accurate
a/n - reader is based off an oc i have, hence the title. i may turn this into a multi-part fic? please let me know
this is set before the main storyline of genshin and so may contain spoilers for zhongli and venti's identity!
The first time Baal, the electro archon, met you was shortly after she had ascended. You were a young woman, living in Inazuma at the time, who had been one of her most loyal subjects, and so she saw fit to grant you an electro vision. You were deathly pale and weak, sick with an unknown illness, and she wanted you to live for some reason unknown to you. So she granted you a vision in the hopes you'd be able to protect yourself.
You were thankful; it was the only thing saving you from dying at several points as you struggled to defend yourself from enemies out to get your blood several times while you were in less-than-ideal health. Eventually, you did recover from your ailment and became stronger, now able to protect yourself better. There was far less risk of you dying now, and she was glad.
The second time she met you was several years later. She had been keeping track of you, and from this, had come to know that you were moving away from Inazuma, to Liyue. Something she noticed, however, was that you hadn't changed in the slightest, still just as fresh-faced and young as you had been before. It was certainly interesting, seeing as how you appeared to be an ordinary mortal like the others living there.
It had only been a few years, nothing that would make a major difference, but surely you would've looked older in some kind of way. That day, Baal resolved to keep watching you. She had to know what was happening.
The third time she met you, she knew something was different about you for sure. It had been over a century, you should've died by now. And yet there you were, still the same, young and beautiful.
That was exactly what she said when she called you to her court.
"You should've died by now. And yet...you're still here. What are you, Y/N? Tell me the truth."
You had merely laughed before leaving to attend to your work in Liyue, telling her that your identity was something you couldn't disclose to any of the archons.
That led the God of Eternity to where she was now, many more centuries later, mulling over any possible creature you could've been. She already knew that you weren't an adeptus from extensive research, and there was no way you could be a zombie like the little girl with the cryo vision named Qiqi. You weren't...cold enough, no, you were very much warm and living. And you didn't have to issue yourself orders to do things.
Stumped for the first time in her long life, Baal consulted the other archons for advice. Most of them offered nothing particularly helpful, but the God of Freedom, Barbatos, had told her a long and winding story that essentially said of an ancient deity from another land who had come to Teyvat a while before the archon war, leaving during it. The immortal person, who at the time used a female vessel, told only that she was the goddess of the stars, and fate.
Finally, she had a label on who you were. It wasn't certain, but highly likely, that you were the said star goddess, especially after Barbatos stated that from his knowledge, she was still in Teyvat and resided with Morax, also known as Rex Lapis. You fit the criteria perfectly.
The fourth time she met you, whenever it may be, she would tell you of the story. Maybe you would offer some kind of reaction, or even the truth of your character, Baal thought to herself.
fandom: genshin impact
pairing: baal x reader, kazuha x reader (if you squint)
word count: 923
synopsis: you’re on the run from the raiden shogun
a/n: not big ones, but it does contain spoilers from the archon quest in inazuma, so please keep scrolling if you haven’t completed it yet
please do not use any of my works, in any shape or form, without permission.
This pursuit had long since surpassed the point justifying it as an order under the Vision Hunt Decree and not a chase out of stubbornness and personal vengeance. Everyone else who'd fled Inazuma and had managed to find refuge in another country no longer worried about being hunted down or persecuted. Unless, for some reason, they decide to set foot in Inazuma again.
However, you have yet to experience that alleviation despite putting a whole ocean between you and the Raiden Shogun.
Not only have her lackeys followed you from one nation to the next, but they made sure anyone who aided you regretted that decision. Even before touching new soil, you're already an outcast. Someone others are warned not to cross paths with unless they want the wrath of an almighty archon aimed their way.
It makes it difficult to escape her grasp and feel safe, even when she's not the one actively hounding you. Sometimes you're awakened in the middle of the night believing you've felt her familiar touch. That delicate trace she liked to paint on your arms, and perhaps it's your newfound nightmares playing tricks on you, but you wake up just as she wraps her fingers around your wrist. It even stings several seconds after, as if she'd dug her nails in.
If you didn't know better, you'd think she'd been there.
But you shake that terrifying thought out of your mind, massaging your chafed wrists. Its daily occurrence makes it hard to tell if you've rubbed them raw or if someone has, in fact, held them so tight it's irritated your skin.
Maybe it's because winter is rapidly approaching, and all you've received as shelter during the chilling nights are small abandoned huts you've encountered along the way.
You're growing tired of it.
You know Kazuha means well by guiding you through such remote places you genuinely do. But you cannot continue pushing yourself through such harsh circumstances only to live another day with your vision. At this point, you might consider returning and giving the Raiden Shogun what she wants. If only that didn't mean your freedom.
"Can't sleep?" Kazuha's drowsy voice startled you, breaking your concentration.
"No," you look up from your wrists, glancing in his direction as he shuffled about to sit up.
"Nightmare?" Once he was upright, he met your gaze with a soft but tired one.
"The same one," you nodded, absentmindedly hiding your hands.
"We'll find a place soon, don't worry. I spoke with a merchant yesterday, and he mentioned a village just a day's travel away that would be perfect. All your troubles should end there."
Now that he was fully waking up, he tried to reassure you, something he did well ever since you both embarked on this journey.
"Thank you," you smiled. The dim lighting of the rising sun allowed him to see the corner of your lips twitch upwards just slightly.
"Shall we head off?"
You only nodded in response before getting up to gather your things.
Surprisingly, the trip took half the time Kazuha had anticipated. You arrived just as the sun began to set. The soft orange glow of the sky almost felt like a warm hug, welcoming you into a safe haven. For the first time since you'd left Inazuma, you felt out of harm's way.
You finally felt at ease.
But just as your shoulders began to relax, gradually falling and releasing all that pent-up stress, you saw her. In the middle of the village, surrounded by Inazuman soldiers, she stood with a petrifying smile.
To anyone else, it seemed like a kind smile, so full of happiness and excitement. The perfect smile to greet a long-time friend with after so many months had passed. But to you, that smile was a threat. Every muscle in your body tensed, your heart skipped a beat, and your stomach dropped to your feet.
It meant impending doom.
"E-Ei..." You tried to grasp at anything, any word that would get you out of this situation, but your throat felt dry like it was going to close at any second.
"It has been a while, has it not?" Her voice was as velvety as ever, oozing of mock cheerfulness. “I missed you.”
You took a step back instinctively, your mind yelling at you to run despite how frozen in fear your body was.
"Are you happy to see as well? Is that why you're shaking? From excitement?" Her eyes studied every inch of you, enjoying just how frightened you were.
"You're okay."
Once again, Kazuha's voice managed to pull you out of your daze. It wasn't until then that you noticed his hand securely gripping your wrist. You still couldn't find your voice, so you hoped the look in your eyes conveyed how thankful you were.
"We can get through this," he reassured you, slightly squeezing your wrist.
"Have you forgotten what happens when someone attempts to challenge me?" This time her eyes and words were directed at Kazuha, but they were cold, every once of playfulness gone.
Kazuha winced at the memory of his friend, but he didn't falter. His hand had quickly moved from yours to the hilt of his sword.
"We won't meet the same fate."
"We'll see about that."
The air instantly thickened around you, a sign you were about to enter her Plane of Euthymia. If you could've avoided all of this, you would've given everything up to save Kazuha, but it was too late now.
It was all your fault.
please do not use any of my works, in any shape or form, without permission.
Synopsis: being close to the archon of electro wasn’t easy, but watching her slowly decent into madness, being consumed by her own greed for eternity… it was sickening. And the traveler made it no better…
Warnings: ehh… possibly out of character for baal, but I don’t know because as I’m writing this it’s only update 2.0, but other than that a little angst, and not proofread
Game/ fandom: genshin impact
Character: baal (platonic)
Pronouns for reader: gender neutral/ not mentioned
A/n: hello everyone! I hope you don’t mind an angsty fic? I got this idea while thinking what exactly baals… exact motives are… if that makes sense. But! This isn’t a theory post! This is an angsty fic! >:(
(Also this is just a for fun post so don’t take it too seriously)
“My deity I think you should sit down-“ you spoke calmly, contrast to the woman in front of you. “Are you trying to give me orders.” She spoke sharply, she could cut someone with her tone alone, she had the confidence to at least.
You thought for a moment, a simple sigh could set her off if she took it the wrong way… you spoke after a moment, “No I just think you’re… overreacting.” The archons eyes grew fierce, her posture straightening, as she walked towards you.
She grabbed your chin in her hand harshly as she said, “that… thing could jeopardize everything I’ve worked towards. How should I react? Hm?” You could feel electricity running through your body, a side effect of the archons… anger you presume.
She let you go so you could speak. “My deity I apologize I just… you almost killed him. You could do it again.” Your words seemed to calm her… only for a moment though. She walked over to the table, and slammed her fists on it in a moment of anger, and desperation.
“If that boy didn’t interfere I could’ve finished the job!” She yelled, her voice echoing through the room, you could practically feel it shaking. ‘Thoma’ you thought. ‘His name. Is thoma. You take peoples visions without even knowing their name? Their life, their struggles, what they’ve gone through…? How pathetic. No… how selfish.” You never thought it would come to a day where you would question your loyalty…
“I put out a bounty on him, he should be found soon enough.” You spoke walking up to where she stood. Her eyes skimmed the papers on the table… they were documents of vision bearers. She sighed and fixed her posture once more before saying, “I’m going to turn in for the night.” And walked away.
You stood by the table with the documents alone, oh how you wished to throw all of these papers away, burn them, throw them in the ocean, hell even throw them off the cliff and put them in the winds possession, letting it carry them wherever it pleases. You wondered what was going on in that beautiful mind of hers… what would drive her to this… this madness. This level of insanity, and obsessiveness. Yes… when did this truly begin…
