Sooooo… I might've had another idea while writing the Barbra!MC one…
It's inspired by the 'Khaenri'ah Descendants AU' where Collie was Rerir and Tholindis' descendant. So I had a THOUGHT, what if she their , but time travel shenanigans were involved sooooo… here we are.
Backstory time!
This MC was a forest/park ranger, they took care of the environment and such. She was passionate about her job(s) while also teaching classes about nature, poisonous plants/animal/bugs, hiking, what things to do if you're in danger/hurt, animals/bugs, etc. etc.
She simply adored nature.
MC played Genshin when she had free time, reaching and finishing Nod Krai.
But then hunters, illegal hunters, appeared. They stalked through her forests, and she followed. She had called the higher-ups, they told her to continuously give them updates of the hunter's location, so she was forced to follow them.
The hunters had set up camp multiple times, getting deeper and deeper into the forest, putting out their fires right after the fires were needed no longer, and making sure/trying to hide the smoke. It would've been affective, had MC not already been tailing them.
MC eventually was caught, much to her annoyance, but she had done this before. So she dropped down and then, they started attempting to hurt her, to 'shut her up' as one put it.
She was a skilled fighter, something not many expected, but she had grown up with military parents and three older brothers. You don't live in that kind of household without learning a few things.
Also, because they attacked her first, she could claim self defense. She got two of them down before the third lunged at her. She tussled and then she heard something ring out, a gunshot, and then her thigh BURNED, something warm and sticky flowing from it (blood).
Someone cursed and then she could smell smoke. Her eyes darted over quickly, catching sight of the fire from the campfire they hadn't smothered yet, and it was SPREADING.
Her heart seized in her chest.
Fire!
That fire would spread!
She attempted to get away from the third but they hadn't seemed to have noticed the fire yet so she was stuck. The fourth, the one who shot her, was attempting to put it out but their attempts were only making it worse.
MC kicked the third off of them, the two conscious hunters dragging away the first two who were groggy and basically useless. She got up and started doing the same things she had once taught, procedures she had memorized, all while calling/radioing her higher ups and letting them know of what happened.
And then another shot rang out and she felt pain in her chest.
She was shot, again.
MC hit the ground and at her superiors panicked voice, asking what happened, she just responded that she might not make it out and she was sorry she couldn't stop the fire. Then she cut off the call/radio.
She got up on shaky feet, attempting to do as many things to stop the spread of the fire. But it was too late and she was too injured, making her slow.
The fire spread and she hit the ground from blood loss and her vision distorting/blurring. Spots danced across her eyes and she felt the flames lick her skin.
She let out a scream as they consumed her.
MC didn't know which killed her first, the blood loss, or burning alive.
Then she opened her eyes.
Everything was disorientating and then she felt giant hands cradling her, just barely able to make out the words she heard and the shapes around her.
Collie!MC??
That's what they called her??
What?!
Oh fuck, she was reborn wasn't she.
Days later and it was confirmed, she truly was fucked wasn't she.
The first three years went by in a blur much to her relief (she did NOT want to remember being so helpless as a baby). She was currently three now, a calm but happy toddler, often toddling around after her mama or clinging to her papa when he was around.
Her mama… she was part of a 'clan' or something, and Collie!MC (she had accepted the new name, it reminded her of one of her favorite characters from Genshin after all) knew this because her mama sometimes spoke of it, but only when papa wasn't around. Her mama taught her about the 'clan' but she was being vague.
Her mama, when telling her of the 'clan' was often was telling her what to watch out for and what to do if she encountered one, she taught Collie!MC some traditions (old ones that no one really knows about) and legends along with songs and dances, but again she only did it when papa was gone.
It was amazing.
Her mother and father were the people who raised her in her last life and she would always love them.
Her mama and papa on the other hand were the people who raised her this life. The people who had a suspicious resemblance to a certain Tholindis and Rerir from her beloved game.
She was three when it was confirmed, her mama finally telling her the name of the 'clan'/'family' she was a part of, and as such, Collie!MC was also a part of it. The Crimson Moon Dynasty. Add in to the fact and that her eyes were STARRY, something she had been trying to convince herself was just some weird genetic mutation, and well…
It was quite easy to come to the conclusion she was in Genshin Impact.
She had been up late that night, before she just burst into tears when she could no longer deny it.
She was truly in a game.
Even if it was easy to conclude she was in Genshin Impact, it doesn't mean she WANTED to be in the game.
Collie!MC's crying had woken her parents and they rushed to her room (it was right next to theirs), cradling her, cooing at her, asking what was wrong. She caught sight of what they looked like and cried even harder.
And apparently her parents were Rerir and Tholindis!
The same tragic lovers.
One dies during the calamity.
The other goes insane with grief.
A love story with no happy ending.
Except apparently now they did have one!
The two had never even been engaged (Tholindis hadn't given her answer by the time the cataclysm happened), much less parents to a biological child!!
When her mama and papa asked what was wrong, lots of words came rushing out. But she carefully maneuvered it was framed like a night.
She said there was fire everywhere and everything was collapsing, weird tears in the air were sucking people in. And then papa had showed up, trying to find mama only for mama to fall through one of the tears. Then papa went crazy, joining with the bad forces to bring mama back.
Of course this was said with child words so the two didn't get suspicious.
(She wanted to warn them of what would happen, to try and steer them away from that path. They were already steered away from it because of Collie!MC existing)
Collie!MC wasn't crying because of a 'nightmare' she's crying because she's in Genshin, she knows the future, and yet she was stuck in the past!
She was crying because she was mourning.
Mourning her previous life, her previous family, her previous siblings.
She was mourning her old world.
Collie!MC was mourning her old self.
The toddler was mourning her parent's fate, mourning all those who had been lost already (either in death or something else), and mourning those who will be lost.
Also she was really overwhelmed right now.
The two comforted her and brought her back to their room, her pillowed between then. Her mama's soothing hands rubbed circles lightly on her back, her papa's calloused hands ran through her hair, and their soothing voices lulled her to sleep.
Ok, this was fine, this was FINE (it had to be fine, it had to be ok).
Maybe she was in some alternate universe where the cataclysm never happened and her papa wasn't the executioner of the Crimson Moon Dynasty.
And that thought was chucked straight out the window when she saw her papa come home one day, hiding wounds. Her mama was asleep but Collie!MC wasn't so she saw it when her papa gingerly unwrapped bandages from his arms, revealing several wounds. Her papa hadn't seen her, nor had he any reason to suspect her. It was after all around 1 in the morning and she was supposed to be asleep.
Tears wanted to well up in her eyes but she bit down on her fist, preventing any sound from coming out, and she forced the tears to not fall. Her papa kept repeating the same phrase over and over "It's all for Collie!MC and Tholindis"
He wasn't doing it to make himself feel better about killing, but more for making sure he didn't quiet (Rerir knew the consequences of leaving and besides, killing a Crimson Moon member meant one less person who would try to hurt the only bright spots in his lives) or give up.
Collie!MC snuck back into her room debating on going to her papa. She messed up her light green, but very fluffy, hair and made her starry eyes droopy and sleepy. The three year old grabbed one of her stuffed animals (one that looked like creature featured with Collie [for the life of me I cannot remember if it has a name]), the same one her papa had spent weeks making and remaking for her birthday when she was two, and padded out of her room, her free hand rubbing her eyes. She was quite skilled at acting, able to pretend she just woke up.
"Papa?" She mumbled in the doorway of her room.
Rerir jolted slightly, shoving his sleeve back down over the bandages, not expecting his three year old to be up. His eyes darted to her and he was glad he had already re-bandaged the wounds. Why was she even up?
"What are doing up little star?" Rerir asked softly, hiding the panic (what if she had seen something!) and worry (why was she up so late?!) in his voice.
Collie!MC just padded closer and made the uppy hands. Her papa obliged and she settled in his lap , curling up as she started drifting back asleep.
"Had a bad feeling" She mumbled before falling back asleep, one of her hands slightly on his injured arm (only later will he realize that the bad feeling was the first start of her seer abilities).
Over the next year she tried to figure out how long it would take until the calamity. She couldn't figure it out though which annoyed her greatly.
Another thing that happened was that Dainsleif's her babysitter and he adores her. Vedrfolnir was also her baby sitter and the two were like her uncles/brothers. When she first met them she was confused because why were they here.
Then she figured out they were her babysitters, which later evolved into the two men basically being part of the family. Then Rerir introduced his other friends, Sertalogi, Hroptatyr, and Rhonedottir.
The other four sinners (not that they were sinners yet) all simply adored Rerir's 'little star'. Tholindis made quick friends with them too. Dainsleif was obvious close with them as well.
They became her family and despite knowing what they will do and who they will become, she couldn't help but call them family. When she first called them by their respective familiar title(brother, sister/aunt, uncle, etc. etc.) she could only watch with childlike curiosity (she was sweat-dropping in her head) as they clutched their chests and looked like they where about to cry. Rerir's eye twitched as more than just two of them picked her up (stealing her from the others' arms) and snuggled her (jealous papa~) while Tholindis just laughed.
She cherished them all so very much and she was so SCARED for them. She was not scared for herself, whether she would die, become a monster, or be cursed with immortality during the cataclysm. Collie!MC knew her thoughts were not good, that she should be scared for herself but she isn't. She had died before, had taken someone else's place (granted she was just born when that happened so technically she hadn't taken anyone's place), so she could die again. She didn't care if she died, she only cared if her family would all survive.
The sinners, Dainsleif, Mama, and Papa were her FAMILY and she did ANYTHING for family.
If she needed to assassinate the king herself then she would do it.
If she needed to die she would do it.
If she needed to make herself bleed, needed to take the place of another one of them to prevent their injuries then she would do it.
If she needed to strike deal with Ronova she would do it.
If she needed fight the Shades she would do it.
If she needed to take all the curses onto herself, no doubt causing unimaginable pain and turning her into a monster, she would do it.
If she needed to go through the moon gate instead of her mama, she would do it.
If she needed to fight the abyss itself she would do it.
Anything for family.
That's something she learned from her last life, and it was a lesson she would carry through into this one.
Anything for family, no matter the cost or injury.
Family before everything else.
Watching her family all laugh and be just HAPPY with each other, her resolve strengthened.
Anything for this family, anything to make sure they all got their happy endings, even if it meant she never made it to six years old, even if it meant her ending happened early, even if it meant her ending was bad.
Collie!MC kept her smile bright, her eyes innocent, making sure to show only her child self.
She felt Vedrfolnir's eyes on her, confusion and worry in his eyes. She turned to him, tilting her head, her eyes shining with childlike curiosity. Vedrfolnir shook his head softly and smiled at her, though his eyes were conflicted.
She could see the cogs turning in his head, the hope in them, and she knew instantly that he was witnessing the paths she could take. She turned back to her family when her Papa lifted her up by her armpits, darting away from her, telling the others that they couldn't steal his little star. She giggled happily.
Yes.
She would do ANYTHING for this family.
So many paths for the little star. Vedrfolnir could see them all but at the same time, none.
He's never seen someone with more than one path, never seen someone with so many destination possibilities.
Vedrfolnir considered telling the others but… watching the paths, how so many (every. single. one.) ended in her death as a child, or torture, or being turned into slave or mindless machine… he couldn't. He watched as in all of the paths she looked at this same scene and later that night she vowed, vowed anything for the family.
This was the scene where she went from one path to hundreds. He could only hope that this path, the one where she was far more innocent and happy than the others, was the singular path where she never vowed it, where she lived well into old age, where she was happy all through her life (he did not know that the path he hoped for her was the path of an alternate reality, one where the abyss did not exist, one where Rerir was not an executioner, one where he was not a seer, one where everything that went wrong didn't). As he watched Rerir run with the little star in his arms, with the others chasing after them, his hope grew.
Yes. This would be the path where she would live happily, the one where she would live into old age, the one where she would never be tortured (he did not see how her path continued to branch off into thousands of paths)
A few weeks later and she woke from a nap, panic in her eyes, her eyes wide and fearful, brimming with tears. Her eyes landed on her mama, cooking dinner with papa, Dainsleif to the side, and Sertalogi who was teasing Dainsleif.
She got off the couch and tugged on her mama's dress. Everyone straightens up, worry on their face as they see her tears. Collie!MC cries when her papa ask what's wrong and she says she had a bad dream (it was a lie, sorta, but she had just remembered as she woke up what exactly will happen to her family).
Dainsleif comes over and gently asks what happened in the dream.
Sertalogi walks closer so now he's by Dainsleif.
They listen as she describes fire everywhere, buildings collapsing, three figures of purple brown/gold and green causing destruction, people turning into monsters, weird tears in the air appearing and sucking people. Then she describes Uncle Vedrfolnir being in the dungeons of the king's palace, his eyes GONE. Papa, Aunty Rhonedottir, Uncle Sertalogi, Uncle Hroptatyr, and Uncle Dainsleif were storming the castle to get Uncle Vedrfolnir back. Then they found him but he warned papa to find mama. Papa hurries to mama but mama falls through one of the weird tears and disappears. Then papa, Uncle Vedrfolnir, Aunty Rhonedottir, Uncle Sertalogi, and Uncle Hroptatyr join the dark (she literally just calls it dark because she knows that if she says abyss then they'll be suspicious but then again she IS trying to warn them) and let the dark infest them.
Her papa and mama soothe her, giving her a few snacks before sending her off to bed. Dainsleif and Sertalogi remain silent, and Rerir gives them a meaningful look. Tholindis mentions how that felt too detailed before giving the three a look, a look as if to say that she also recognizes how that dream was similar to Vedrfolnir's abilities.
Tholindis leaves to her room, where Collie!MC was and soothing the four year old more, humming and singing as Collie!MC drifted to sleep.
Rerir, Dainsleif, and Sertalogi stay silent for a long moment before Rerir's fists clenched and he looked at Dainsleif, something fierce burning in his eyes, asking if Vedrfolnir as a child ever had bad dreams that later turned out to be true.
Dainsleif only nods and Sertalogi nearly screams because the little star is hurting from these 'dreams' and how come she, a four year old, one of the very few bright spots in all of their lives, has to suffer through this! Dainsleif says he's going to get Vedrfolnir to come over the next day so he and Collie!MC can talk and perhaps find out more about her new abilities.
The next day and Vedrfolnir came over, worry and resignation in his eyes. The little star's paths have always been hidden from gaze unless he is their witnessing a sharp turn/a place where her path branches out (like when she vows in her head to do anything for a family). But he had been able to see his own path where his brother told him about the little star's 'dream' and asked him to visit her and talk with her. After that when he reached the house the path forward blurs ad gets tangled, as it always is when his path intersects with the little star.
But he is grateful for that because that means his mind isn't plague with visions around her.
So when his little brother tells him about the 'dream' and asks him to visit the little star to talk to her, Vedrfolnir was already expecting it.
He goes to the house (he and the others basically live there now and they each have a space designated to them) and his mind calms, the paths quiet, and he steels his nerves.
He finds the little star on the couch, Tholindis and Rerir giving him a warning look before leaving so the Collie!MC and Vedrfolnir could talk to each other.
Vedrfolnir asks her to talk about the dream, to repeat it to him. And she does so and he feels fear strike his heart. The dark she speaks of… the way she describes the tears in the air, the three figures of purple, gold/brown, and green causing destruction… the part of him in the dungeons without eyes… everyone else minus Tholindis storming the castle… it all speaks of a dream being more than a dream.
He asks if she saw herself in it and she shook her head, saying that she didn't, that she didn't even exist in the dream, that mama and papa hadn't even been engaged yet, that everyone hadn't been as close as they are now. Vedrfolnir frowns, was it perhaps an alternate reality, but it was so hard to imagine that she didn't exist.
Vedrfolnir asks if she's had any other dreams in such detail and she bit her lip before nodding. She didn't say anything about the other dreams (which where actually just memories of cut-scenes and such from her past life while playing the game) and he didn't press her.
But he does ask Collie!MC if in the dreams she existed and she shook her head. Vedrfolnir just smiles sadly and ruffles her hair. It appears that she is a seer of an alternate timeline, one where she just doesn't exist. He knows she keeping things back about the dream but he does not press for all the details.
He asks her about things, like the dark that he and the others apparently let consume them. She bites her lip and fiddles with her fingers (she has to remind herself that to the others, she's just a seer, she can't say to much, can't reveal how much she knows, can only try and warn them) before saying that the dark was something apparently the king was trying to harness. Vedrfolnir's fears are confirmed.
The abyss brings ruin.
And she is a seer who had to witness that ruin.
He tells her to tell him of any other dreams she has and the two talk for hours. He tells stories of what he's experienced, and she listens as he tells her tips on how to handle her seer abilities (she feels guilty because she's NOT a seer, she feels guilty that he feels like he finally has someone who understands his struggles). By the end of it tears are in his eyes and he crushes her in a hug, telling her he's so sorry she has to suffer from the abilities no one should ever have to bare. Collie!MC just hugs him back, silent, biting her lip as tears brim in her eyes.
Vedrfolnir merely thinks the tears are from everything she's learned, her 'dreams', and the fact that now she has to suffer from her seer abilities. He's crying because he is mourning her childhood, he's mourning the fact that it is her, their little star, who has to suffer from this fate.
Later and Collie!MC is once again repeating the dream to everyone, those who weren't there to hear it are horrified and when all of their eyes dart to Vedrfolnir, as if to dissuade their fears, he merely nods. Ruffling Collie!MC's hair and she doesn't fight back against it, like she usually does, just staying silent, and that is what worries them to most.
Vedrfolnir reveals that she is a seer, one who sees into an alternate timeline where she doesn't exist but that eventually she may see into this timeline like he can/does.
Everyone is understandably horrified but Collie!MC just gives them all a wobbly smile with unshed tears, saying that it's ok, she'll be just fine and they shouldn't be worried. Vedrfolnir just looks away, tears in his own eyes. She forces her smile to stretch but it's wobbly and frail, but also genuine. This just makes everyone even more sad and horrified.
Despite all that she's learned, despite the visions she must've been plagued with for months, perhaps even a year or two now, she still tries to remain brave.
A month or two goes by and for some odd reason she's been having… dreams. But they are too real and they are far too detailed. It is as if she is an outsider viewing it.
Oh gods, she really was a seer wasn't she. Though for the oddest of reasons, she doesn't see the path her current reality is on, she sees alternate timelines, ones where she both exists and ones where she doesn't. Yet any time she does exist it is clear it is the original Collie. It is clear that Collie!MC is an anomaly.
More nights than not she wakes from her visions and lays on her bed in silence, just staring at her dark ceiling. Thoughts plague her mind. Those timelines with Collie!MC except she isn't MC and can't see the future seem to be so HAPPY. Everyone is close and they are happy, there is no sadness or fights. Would… would it have been better if she couldn't see the future if the original Collie had grown up here and MC didn't take her place.
She keeps these thoughts secret, along with the fact she was MC.
But her mama and papa have noticed her subdued behavior yet no matter what they do they can't get her to be as bright, or smile as wide, or be as cheerful as she once was. They have more family nights than before, her uncles and aunt over more often, and they all try to do things that Collie!MC once loved to do with them.
But she is subdued, quieter, and more often than not sketching in her sketchbook, the one she once asked for as a way to doodle things. Collie!MC hadn't often used it back then but now it was always in her hands.
The first few pages where just random doodles, happy and bright ones, but… but then the drawings shift. The next drawings are far too detailed for just a random doodle. Many have fire and destruction, the cataclysm. Some have monsters that haven't been seen before (cursed Khaenrians). Some have pictures of her family except they are wrong, dressed differently and they look different too (after the cataclysm). Some show them all happy, with Collie!MC except it isn't her, it's a different reality her (without seeing the future and being from Earth and such obviously). Next to each of these drawings are notes.
She is nervous, and scared, her mind plagued with what ifs and worries.
Then Vedrfolnir quietly confronts her one day, asking to see her sketchbook, she just hands it over. He flips through it, his expression sad (she's quite good at drawing) as he saw each one and read the notes. He reassures her that they want HER, no other Collie!MC, just her.
She lets the words reassure the childish fears she has but there are some inklings in her mind that whisper dark things. Her smiles become a little brighter after that, her eyes a little less sad, her actions a bit more cheerful. It relieves them all and they asked what Vedrfolnir said/did, but he didn't say anything, understanding that some things are better left hidden.
Then one day the little four year old got lost, she had only been walking with Uncle Dain and Uncle Vedrfolnir before she lost them in the crowd. She was scared and alone and confused. She's been scared a lot these past few months because she can just FEEL the abyss in the air, can just FEEL it rising up getting ready to swallow everything.
She is lost but at the same time she isn't. She sorta knows how to get to a place she recognizes which would let her know how to get back home but… she wonders. Wonders if her family would be better off without her. So she turns and heads towards the hill nearby. It has a tree on it and she sits under it, in the shade. She's humming a song and then a shadow falls over her.
She opens her closed eyes and nearly freezes, because in front of her was a worried Thrain, Pierro a few feet away, seemingly looking for someone.
Thrain and Pierro had been talking when they saw a child alone under a tree. Pierro was looking for her family and had instructed Thrain to find out if she was alone or knew where she was.
Thrain asks if she knows where her family is and she shook her head, saying that she was lost, and that her mama and papa had told her that if she doesn't recognize where she is then she should stay in one spot.
Thrain gently pulls her up and takes her to Pierro, reporting what he learned. The two offer to help her find her family and she accepts. The three search for what seems like hours and the sun is starting to go down. She's getting really tired, and hungry. She really wants her family!
Tears are brimming in her eyes and Pierro is getting increasingly worried. Thrain is distracting her with stories. Then she sees a flash of blonde and turns, catching Thrain and Pierro's attention.
She cries out the names 'Uncle Dain!!' and 'Uncle Vedrfolnir!!' before running and Dainsleif catches her, relief in his eyes. Vedrfolnir is using over.
Pierro is struck still because that is Vedrfolnir, one of the kings court members. The four men talk stiffly but Collie!MC breaks the stillness by hugging one of Thrain's legs (she's short ok) and thanking him and Pierro.
She asks if she can see them again one day and Dainsleif and Vedrfolnir caught/laugh as the two other men just seem to melt from the cuteness of the four year old girl.
Eventually Thrain and Pierro become part of the family. Thrain becomes Uncle Thrain and Pierro becomes Grandpa Pierro.
The two, just like the rest of her family when they heard their titles, nearly cried from cuteness, and her papa once again had to snatch her away so the two didn't try and smuggle her away.
Finally her smiles, her eyes, and her actions/personality are back to how they were before she found out she was a seer.
That above all is what helps get Thrain and Pierro closer to the family, because they helped make her happy once more. Pierro recognizes the signs of a seer (he's worked with Vedrfolnir after all), and quietly asks them if Collie!MC is a seer. Thrain's head whips around so fast Collie!MC swears she hears it crack, and Thrain's eyes are burning. Because if this CHILD is a seer he's going to be pissed, because she's a fucking CHILD!! She shouldn't have to suffer from being a seer. Vedrfolnir merely nods and Collie!MC cheerfully confirms it.
The two new family members are shocked and so sad and worried for Collie!MC. Eventually they also get their own rooms/places. She has a big family now, the sinners, Tholindis, Pierro, Thrain, and Dainsleif. She's happy though (but it doesn't stop her from occasionally giving them all warnings, feigning them as visions of an alternate timeline where she doesn't exist). She doesn't know how the calamity will affect them all because of the fact she existed and originally was from Earth.
A year goes by and now she's five!
She's excited for her birthday, it's in two days!!
But recently she's been feeling sick, not physically, but something is going to happen. Her visions are getting more violent and fear is gripping her heart constantly. She can feel the abyss rising up more, wanting to CONSUME.
She's noticed her papa and the other future sinners along with Dainsleif planning something recently and she feels sick to her stomach. Vedrfolnir hadn't visited in a bit so she knew. He was taken, his eyes gouged out, and he was locked in the dungeons.
Then it's her birthday and it's the cataclysm. She knew her family had wanted to get Vedrfolnir out before then so he could celebrate her birthday with them, but they were forced to plan it for her birthday. The morning of her papa kissed her forehead, saying they were going to get her uncle back and then they would all celebrate her birthday together.
Collie!MC only nodded to her papa's words but unknown to all of her family members, her eyes were sad. She knew how this would end, had seen it in more realities than one. She cannot see this reality but she could guess and anticipate.
It's clear her mama knows about Rerir being the executioner now, with how she seems weary and is avoiding him slightly, much to her papa's worry and confusion.
But today her mama and papa had talked and it was clear things were confessed on both ends, her mama's lineage, and her papa's job. The two are closer and before her papa left to get her uncle out her mama had kissed him and told him that he and the others better come back.
Thrain and Pierro know of the plan vaguely but despite how much they want to, they can't help directly. What they can do however is make things easier for them all, so they did just that.
She doesn't have school that day so she's being extra clingy and attentive/attention seeking to her family members. They indulge in her, but not as much as they usually would because of the plan to get her uncle back.
She is worried, so very worried. She makes red tassels and gives them to all of her family members. She makes Kabbalah Red String Tassels to be specific. She makes 9, on for the five future sinners, one for her mama, one for Thrain, one for Pierro, and one for Dainsleif. She gives one to each of them, making sure they put it on their left wrist. She makes sure her papa's is extra big much to his amusement (she does not tell him it is so it can fit him when he becomes a sinner and his body/looks all change from abyssal energy) and instructs the future sinners + Dainsleif to give the ninth and final tassel to Uncle Vedrfolnir when they get to him.
Her family nod at her instructions and promise to do so. Eventually her mama has to leave and then Pierro and Thrain have to go so she is left all alone as the rest of her family is getting her uncle back.
She leaves the house only ten minutes after Thrain leaves, because Thrain and Pierro were the last ones with her and were under the assumption that her mama was coming back soon.
Collie!MC only watches with fear and horror as Khaenri'ah is destroyed. She is running through the destruction and is grateful she did so because soon after, her home is destroyed. She does not know how long she runs but tears are streaming for her eyes.
Then she hears voices calling for her and she sees all of her family, the future five sinners (minus Vedrfolnir obviously), Dainsleif, Pierro, and Capitano, along with her mama. They're all spread out, panic in their voices and eyes as they call for her.
Collie!MC starts to run as fast as her little legs can carry her, her stuffed animal, the same one her papa had made for her all those years ago (the one that looks like the stuffed animal/creature that's featured with canon Collie), clutched in her arms. Her mama and papa see her, relief filling their eyes. But then a building starts collapsing. She freezes but steals her nerves and keeps running. When she's clear of the building the ground starts to shake, cracks spreading. Her mama and papa are rushing over to her and then she's being cursed in their arms. She see's the rest of her family starting to run over, relief in their eyes. Her papa and mama start to drag her to the rest of the family and then the ground shakes once more.
She falls away from them and her papa turns sharply, his eyes widening with fear. The rest of the sinners, Dainsleif, Pierro, and Thrain are close enough now to see the cracks spread near her, as if targeting her.
And then the ground shakes once more and she is stuck there, on her knees, crying, her knees and elbows scraped and bleeding, clutching her stuffed animal close to her chest.
She gets up on shaky feet and runs to them but a crack goes under her feet and the world lurches as she's falling, and she can feel the energy of the moon gate as it ripped open behind her. Her family all lunge forward, fear in all eight (Vedrfolnir is watching, still in the dungeon, choking on a sob as he watches her fall through before her thread gets cut and blurs and tangles before his eyes, even more blurred, distorted, and tangled than before) of their eyes as she falls through. They all scream her name and then she's gone.
For the others, the events happened like this.
The little star had spent the night before making things and the next morning she was clingy, making them promise to stay in the light and out of the dark (they didn't she was speaking of staying out of the Abyss' clutches). Before they left she gave them all red bracelets, making them wearing them on their left wrists, making them promise to put the ninth on Vedrfolnir's left wrist when they found him.
The five stormed the castle while Tholindis went to work. Thrain and Pierro went to the castle to try and help from the shadows.
They found Vedrfolnir and he urged Rerir to get Tholindis after they had put the bracelet on his left wrist. Then he cried out and clutched his head, thousands of possibilities spinning in his head, all featuring Collie!MC (oh how he wishes she could've grown to old age like that one path showed. How he wishes this never happened). He chokes out her name and all of them straighten up before he screams at them to run and find her!
He watches in horror, watching it all play out in his head, watching as one by one the paths and possibilities, get cut down. First the better/best ones, ones where she does find happiness soon after the cataclysm and stuff, get cut down. Then one by one each path is cut down until he sees it. He sees the events that take place, the path she takes. She falls through the gate and screams her name, trying to grab the threads of fate and change fate but he can't.
Her path has been chosen.
The WORST path was chosen. He doesn't know how it was the worst path when others seem to be worse from the fragments he sees but then he sees a fragment of her screaming in pain, that scream much more pained than any other scream in any other path, and suddenly understands. This path IS the worst. He doesn't know how but it is the worst path that could've been chosen/taken.
Rerir and Tholindis watch in horror as the cracks spread through the ground, making their baby girl fall over. But then a moon gate opens behind her and she is falling through.
Thrain and Pierro watch in horror as the girl, the same one who brought them into her family with joy, falls through a moon gate, bleeding and crying.
Sertalogi, Dainsleif, Hroptatyr, and Rhonedottir all watch in horror as one of the very few bright spots in their lives was just extinguished.
All nine cannot help but wonder what would've happened if they stayed with her during the day, if they were fast enough, if that king had never done what he did, if this had never happened on her BIRTHDAY.
Countless what ifs race in their heads and one thing becomes VERY clear. The light has been extinguished, and they will not accept it.
They will get Collie!MC back, one way or another. No matter what it costs they will get her back. They will get back the child they considered their own, get back the child who embraced them into her heart, the one who gave them the red bracelets, the last reminder of her as their home had been destroyed. No matter what realities they venture to/realities they break, no matter what rules are broken and bent, no matter how many souls are sacrificed and torn apart, they will get Collie!MC back.
Six hear the whisper of the Abyss and they give in, falling into the darkness' embrace and becoming the sinners of Khaenri'ah.
Three are cursed with immortality.
And one is in a moon gate before being thrown into the present time.
Collie!MC's eyes open and she looks around. This is not the moon realm, nor is it anywhere she recognizes.
But then a couple finds her and takes her in.
Things happen and eventually she ends up in Dottore's clutches. Things happen as in canon and he is oh so curious about her eyes. He even mentions once that he might just tell Pierro about her eyes so he could learn more about them.
She behaves as canon except somehow, someway, Dottore's experiments unlock her ability to see the current timeline's fate. Eleazar HURTS so much and she is often in pain along with the experiments and her visions making everything just so much worse.
Collie!MC is helped by Kaeya, with him helping her escape when he is sent to investigate the place she is kept in.
He introduces her to Amber who declares herself the girl's sister.
A year or two goes by and she's better now but still so heavily traumatized. Kaeya had seen her eyes and realized she was of Khaenrian 'descent' (he did not know of her traveling through time, did not know of her parents and family). He and Amber became like her older siblings and eventually one day she met Diluc. He did not trust her at first, but he quickly warmed up to her, becoming fiercely protective of her.
Collie!MC is actually how Kaeya and Diluc's relationship improve, and while the two are still tense around each other occasionally, they once again openly consider each other brothers.
Then she goes to Sumeru and things keep going as canon. Tighnari and Cyno basically adopt her and she spends another night making five more of the Kabbalah Red String Tassels. Gifting one to Cyno, Tighnari, Amber, Diluc, and Kaeya. They are her family and she cherishes them deeply.
She misses her family though, she misses her aunt and uncles, misses her mama and papa. She often has visions but she doesn't tell any of her new family members about them. She keeps her stuffed animal close to her and never lets ANYONE touch it.
More things go as canon and now she is 14.
When the traveler and Paimon had arrived, she became very close to them and now the two also wear a certain red bracelet on their left wrist.
The two have also basically adopted her and are willing to fight ANYONE for her. Paimon has a knife and she's not afraid to use it!! The traveler also has a sword and they aren't afraid to make use of their fighting abilities!!
Collie!MC is often visited by the traveler and then after the Traveler is done with Natlan, they come back to Sumeru and tell her all about it. They even talk about a Fatui agent named Capitano, telling them of how he had a bracelet just like theirs on his left wrist (Traveler and Paimon only know that it came from someone very special to him, long, LONG ago. So the two come to the conclusion that not many people know how to make the bracelet but people do know how to. Because Collie!MC cannot be the one who made it for him, after all he got it 500 years ago and Collie!MC is only 14), how he managed to strike a deal with Ronova without it costing his life (Capitano/Thrain is NOT dying, no siree, not when he and Pierro still need to get their little star back). They mentioned how Capitano/Thrain questioned them coldly on where and who made the bracelets which made them panic and reveal her and where she lived. She waved off their apology despite fear in her heart (what if he hated her! What if he told Pierro [honey, Collie!MC, little star, he totally is] and they both hated her!!).
The traveler and Paimon tell her of Dainsleif and how he questioned them vigorously/furiously when seeing their bracelets and they apologized to her for revealing that she made them and that she lived in Sumeru. Despite fear gripping her (what if Dainsleif hated her!!) she told them it was ok.
But then right after they told her that they invited her to adventure with them.
Collie!MC wants to travel and the Traveler and Paimon see this before offering to bring her to Nod Krai with them.
She agrees eagerly but it's later after they meet Flins does she start to worry, because soon enough they'll encounter the Wild Hunt and from what she's heard, there are TWO phantoms who govern over it instead of just one from canon. Her visions are getting more and more violent and often to the point she's told the Traveler and Paimon about them with those two being the only ones of the modern time knowing about her visions.
Her visions are mostly of alternate realities and possible paths she could take. She sees some where her family sees her and hates her, some where they find her and love her. She some where she is killed by them. She sees some where she's kidnapped by them so she never leaves them.
Collie!MC's visions are conflicting so she just acts how would normally, doing what's right.
She will only accept touch from the Traveler and Paimon after she just wakes up from a vision because she knows they are SAFE. she would count her old family, her Khaenrian family except she is scared of their reactions to her, scared they have forgotten her or even hate her. She doesn't know which is worse, them hating her or forgetting to hurt her.
Her family now, Amber, Kaeya, Diluc, Tighnari, Cyno, Traveler, and Paimon, are people she adores but only Traveler and Paimon know about her visions because she is worried about the others' reactions to the fact she has visions.
She is DREADING it when she meets Dottore again.
Also she remembers Wanderer, her soul is not from this reality, and add in to the fact of her visions and the fact she time traveled and yea…
She meets Columbina and the two bond immediately, Columbina becomes incredibly protective of her. The traveler seeing this gave the goddess a knife, just like they got one for Paimon, and Paimon teaches her how to use it. Columbina even learns of Collie!MC's visions and becomes even more protective/feral over her.
She meets Sandrone and Sandrone gives a little bot/creation in the form of a critter that held a slight resemblance to the stuffed animal she still kept clutched to her (the one Rerir made for all those years ago when she was two [it's the one that she's featured with in the game]) and it protected her. Sandrone and Columbina became like her big sisters and the two were protective of the little ranger (Collie!MC loved being a ranger because it reminded her of her first life).
Collie!MC wasn't afraid to fight for her family of this time period. Anything for family after all (that mentality and phrase/vow has given her more than her fair share of wounds and scars but she doesn't care. Anything for family).
Sandrone can often be found with Columbina and Collie!MC, all in Columbina's little hideout. Sandrone and Columbina a long with the Traveler and Paimon find out what Dottore did to her. All four know of her Visions and they are the only ones of her current family (her current family consists of Sandrone, Columbina, Traveler, Paimon, Amber, Kaeya, Diluc. Her past family consisted of Capitano/Thrain, Pierro, Vedrfolnir, Dainsleif, Rerir, Tholindis, Sertalogi, Hroptatyr, and Rhonedottir) that she is ok with touching her whenever, even after she has just woken from a vision.
Flins and Illuga are curious about her and they care for. She also met Varka and he was soft with her despite how rambunctious he usually was. Lauma was so soft and nice to her, she was something akin to an aunt/mum (mama is Tholindis, mother is her first life's mother, mum is Lauma). She was thinking of making the four some of the red bracelets. But first she needed to learn more about them, and needed to trust them more. Though she probably only needs just one more interaction with Lauma before making her a bracelet.
She was… happy. Despite the fears Collie!MC had, she was happy, and was quite eager to explore Nod Krai. Now if only she could shake off the trepidation that followed her. She curled up closer to Columbina's side as the two napped and hung out in Columbina's hide out. (she has a strong sense that it's her mama and considering her visions show the … she just doesn't want to believe it. Doesn't want to believe that
(This is NOT a Khaenrian descendants AU, Collie!MC is the only Khaenrian)
(Also I hope you liked this AU!!! You'll be getting the Barbra!MC idea soon enough because I have to keep stopping to compose myself. I'm a very emotional person so even if you or others might not cry for something, I usually do)
(Sorry it's taking so long and I keep teasing you about ideas!!)
(Hope you liked this and it made sense!!)
- 🦔 Anon
Collei!MC?! 🤩
I will keep saying it over and over again, 🦔anon! The things you come up with are so cool! Also, please never apologize for 'taking so long'! I can wait!
But seriously, my baby Collei!MC! She's too precious!😭
...Also, this makes me hate Dottore even more. Oh god, I can only imagine Pierro or Capitano's reaction if they ever found out what happened to her while under Dottore's 'care'. Like, what do you mean she was with Dottore?! What do you mean he experimented on her?!
Pierro and Capitano are going to kill a bitch... but I think Sinner Tholindis and Rerir would do much worse when they themselves find out...
Tagging: @platinumrosetail, @arn9tails, @bloodytea, @lovelyjane-stuff