You Brought This To Yourselves
Thanks to this post from @mehiwilldoitlater, I now have more angst to fill the void and I HAD to make something with it. It took me a long time, but I think it ended up okay.
Warnings: Violence, Female reader, pregnant reader, death mentioned, just a lot of delicious angsty angst
Word Count: 2,512
Part 1 (You are here!) | Part 2
Masterlist
You were happy.
At some point before this.
You were expecting a child, a beautiful angel to arrive in the world in your embrace. A glowing aura had enveloped around you and made everyone around you glow in joy with you. The last thing you could remember before IT happened, was you humming softly to your belly. It was a lullaby that you had picked up from the countless of media, and you adored it, so you shared it with the new love growing in your belly. Gently rubbing your still flat stomach, barely feeling a baby bump as it was just the third month into your pregnancy. If anyone had walked upon you, they would see an ethereal scene, a soon-to-be mother gently humming to her child growing in her belly. The image of early motherhood.
You had loved to play Genshin Impact during the times you felt restless, even before your pregnancy. You loved watching the story unfold and the characters interact, it was your comfort. The game was your ground for years, and now it will be your safe haven for you and your child.
It was in your 5th month of pregnancy that it happened. The day was beautiful, but your belly was starting to feel uncomfortable, and your hormones flared. Laying against the soft cushion of your sofa, you closed your eyes and fell asleep, hoping a nap would help you stabilize. You were probably resting for 20 minutes before you felt the familiar sense of falling. You opened your eyes and sat up, frantically looking down to make sure your child was safe. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, you exhaled while visibly relaxing. 'Not good to stress, [Name], remember what the doctor told you. Your stress could affect the baby if high enough.' Gently massaging your temples with your eyes closed, you felt a slight cooling breeze. Did you leave the windows open again? Groaning in agitation for forgetting to close the windows again, you finally opened your eyes to notice the different terrain that surrounded you.
Thump.
Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
ThumpThumpThumpThumpThump
Your heartbeat quickened as anxiety and panic filled your body. 'Wh-where am I??' You were puzzled, frantically looking around at the somewhat familiar landscape. Hills and cliffs were everywhere your eyes wandered over, with lush grass and trees surrounding only you. The trees made it so you were shaded and comfortable, away from the direct sun. Your hand gentle touched the lush, greeb grass and made note of how soft and real it felt. Why was this so familiar...?
!!!!
Spotting a very worrying, and familiar, monster ahead you brought your hands up to muffle the gasp escaping your lips. The Geochishap hatchling was patroling its surrounding area, luckily a good few meters from you, and sat after it was satisfied. Whimpering softly, you turned around, hoping to find the way to the city of Liyue. As much as you would like to question your situation, it's best not to engage in anything dangerous. The mere thought of harm befalling your belly gnawed at your heart in fear. You were able to spot a building up in the sky and slowly got up and started your journey there. Although you are now heavier due to being halfway through your pregnancy, you walked as quickly as possible. It's best to make your way to the Jade Chamber sooner rather than later since it's surrounded by safety and possible answers.
It was difficult with how Liyue's terrain was, all hills with the occasional trail. You kept having to weave and walk the opposite way from where you came, otherwise you would have met some of the enemies face to face. You finally found the trail that led to Liyue, and soon saw the floating Jade Chamber up ahead. You stopped however, as you saw a large group of Treasure Hoarders camping next to the trail. In the game, they normally don't spot you or engage if you are on the trail, but this was now in real time with your own body. Not the traveller's, but your own physical body, which is 5 months along with child. You looked around, and noticed another way around them outside of the trail. It wasn't steep, but it would be difficult. You decided to take the chance, as you can never predict the actions of the Treasure Hoarders.
Somehow you were able to make it, you saw the Jade Chamber was above you now and the entrance to the city of Liyue was just ahead. Sitting down on a boulder, you rested while huffing for air, your face burning from the sunlight and your lungs feeling like they were suffocating. You took a big, deep breath and released it several times to gain oxygen back into your body and relax. 'You are safe now, you are okay.'
Oh, how wrong you were.
That day started the viscious cycle. Normal citizens chasing you out in fear or anger, calling you names and throwing small rocks and vegetables. It was a regular elder woman who spotted you, an obviously pregnant young woman, and decided to come close to see if she could help you. The closer she came to you, however, the more her attitude and aura warped. Almost like she was possessed, she stopped in front of you as you took your last relaxing breath and rubbed your stomach to make sure you were both okay. You noticed her stop before you and sensed something was wrong. Upon looking up to meet her eyes, you saw a sea of emptiness in the old woman's eyes, like a doll. As soon as your eyes had met hers, she screamed and alerted everyone nearby.
"IMPOSTER!! HOW COULD YOU DARE!! IMPOSTER! IMPOSTER! YOU WILL FACE HER WRATH! HOW DARE YOU!" She screamed wildly, inviting more people to come by and investigate what the problem was. She pointed at you, her eyes wild and empty. As soon as more people showed interest and stared, she shook her hand at you, screaming and yelling the same thing. People started to show concern, as you looked like an innocent bystander to a crazy elder's babblings. Some started to approach you both to help you, but as soon as they were within 5 feet of you, they began to change as well. The old woman had a walking cane that she was swinging side to side in front of you, dangerously close to hitting you several times. Horrified and confused, you got up and fled.
You knew there were more villages north of Liyue, and all of them were more or less remote. You were chased by a couple people, more so the elderly than the younger adults but the same thing kept happening. Every time they were mere feet from you, they began to act differently from how you initially inferred from their concerned gazes when looking at you from a distance. Sometimes they didn't even have to be within 5 feet of you, just a mere glance at your face was enough.
Once arriving at the villages, you looked for some sort of shelter. You were scared to be out in the open, or even near anyone that could possibly harm you or your baby. Luckily you were able to find an abandoned home and walked in. You looked for a chair, but couldn't find one that was usable. Groaning in frustration, and a bit from pain, you went against the wall and carefully sat. You felt a kick from your belly, immediately gaining your attention.
"I am sorry baby, you must be affected by all of this too, huh?" You gently rubbed your stomach, trying to relax your aching muscles that surprisingly were able to take you all the way to where you were.
It took only a day for someone to find you and chase you out of the calm village. This time it was a young man, and the same thing happened. He stepped within 5 feet of you and changed drastically. He was more dangerous, a crazed look in his eyes when getting closer. You were terrified and fled away, the adrenaline pumping in your body to push yourself to safety once more. You heard yelling from behind you, but didn't want to turn around and risk losing your footing. Unbeknownst to you, from the ground spawned branches that got in the way of the man chasing you and wrapped around him to stop him and give you an escape.
It went on for months. Finding a new shelter, feeding yourself and the baby, resting and then finally being found. The times in between you being found varied from a single day to a month, yet you were still being found and chased after. You are due soon now, and that horrified you to no end. You couldn't even get to a doctor for your checks ups, so you have no idea how your baby is. It's only peace of mind that there was nothing more than a bruise on your arms and legs the entire time you were fleeing and that your increased stress and anxiety has miraculously not affected the baby that you could tell. You also gained more stamina, and sometimes the nearby "enemies" also graciously helped you by acting as guards and providing shelter.
You are now waddling across the plains between Mondstadt and Liyue, too scared to get any nearer to either city. A gang of hilichurls followed you, to keep a lookout for any random NPC that could disturb you. These hilichurls were your main guards, more so your personal attendants if you really thought about it, but right now they were your closest friends.
Meanwhile, the vision holders were aware of some kind of disturbance. Mona had looked into the stars when she noticed something was off the day you appeared near Liyue. She had grasped the knowledge that you were arriving. She quickly met with the Traveller and several other figureheads to let them know of your 'descent,' unknowingly missing you at the entrance below Jade Chamber and leaving you to the mob. Zhongli and Ningguang immediately set to work in Liyue, sending letters of notice and invitations to the nearby nations to receive you. They received similar news in Inazuma and Mondstadt, their own seers and future gifted people spreading the word. While they were communicating with the higher-ups and other Vision holders, the regular citizens spread vicious rumors of an imposter wearing the face of The Great Goddess, the almighty Creator, and using it for evil. They spread the word of an evildoer who would disturb peaceful villages and cities with their wicked deeds, luring you with the appearance of innocence, a lone pregnant woman. The two sides remained and spread like wildfire; the Vision holders and Archons would gossip and excitedly wait for their Creator to show up while the regular citizens and guards spread the rumors of an imposter.
After 2 months, the Traveller had heard a regular shopkeeper speak about the awful imposter running amok and causing chaos, and brought it up to Zhongli and the others. Enraged, the Archons picked up their weapons and gave orders to their citizens to find the imposter. They did not give a second thought, and only worried about the wrath of the Creator should they find this imposter. Each Archon quickly dispatched their guards, in hopes of getting rid of the problem before the Creator's arrival.
~~~~♡~~~~
During the time of living in the wild, you had noticed the world bending to your needs. If you hungered, a patch of vegetables and trees plentiful with fruit were nearby. If you required water, a crystalfly would spawn and lead you to water. You were no fool, and it started to click little by little at what you could be. The blood that flowed in your veins was red, but if you looked closely.. it was speckled in gold. During your painful labor, your screams had crackled like thunder. Your grip cracked the earth below you and a thunderstorm came overhead. Once it was all over, the more you realized and became more aware of the possibility if what you could be, the more golden your blood turned. You kept it as a note for later, as you were much too weak for any other thought other than of your newborn.
Now here you were, months later, behind a wall of hilichurls who quickly were being dispatched. You were clutching your baby in your arms, while you watched in horror as the hilichurls that stood protectively before you fell one by one, at the hands of characters you had so loved and longed to find but were too scared to for this very reason. A couple samachurls and mitachurls surrounded you while one Hydro samachurl led you away from the danger and into the safety of the forest.
You willed for the earth beneath them to shake, to throw them off their balance and hopefully keep them from harm. Zhongli and Ningguang felt this distrubance in the earth, stopping them from their conversation along with the other Geo Vision holders. They were puzzled as they felt the earth shake again, and it seems to come from the direction of where they had gotten the last reported sighting of the imposter. Ningguang suddenly gasped, and looked over to the Geo Archon with fear in her eyes.
They had made a mistake.
They silently looked at each other while the other Archons and the adepti stared perplexed. Ningguang stood from her seat, and ordered her assistance to assemble a team quickly to catch up to the other team. Zhongli quickly informed Xiao and Ganyu to take care of Liyue for some time and asked Venti to help them move quickly. Everyone scrambled to get everything together in the short time they had.
They hoped to make it in time.
Once the Millelith and Knights spotted you with your group of hilichurls, they attacked. Diluc, Childe, Eula, and Yae Miko were in the back, shocked at how fast the normally responsible and calm knights AND Millelith guards were now fervently going after you. Diluc and Eula were the first to react, yelling at the others to stop and trying to physically stop the guards from harming you, without using their Visions since they could potentially hurt you. They could all feel a tug towards you from their visions, and had a feeling that the tug was part of what was going on with their fellow members. Although they were suspicious of you when they noticed the regular enemies and monsters surrounding you protectively, they would never try to harm someone who has an infant in their arms. Childe and Yae quickly joined the fray, Childe making a wall of water to seperate the guards from you while Yae did quick attacks charged with Electro to have knock them unconcious, but it was too late.
One by one, your protectors fell until finally the last one had been stabbed and disappeared into nothing like in the game. You were crying, willing your power to stop them but it wasn't fast enough. One of the guards grabbed your arms, forcing you to stay still if you didn't wish to drop your baby. You begged them to let you go, but it went unheard as they all were yelling and screaming the same thing to you with the haunting, wild look in their eyes.
"Imposter!"
You felt it. One of the guards had taken your baby. Your baby cried and wailed, their tiny hands reaching towards the sky and wildly looking for you. You yelled as the guard that held you tried to force you down to have another guard tie you up, and as you watch the guard that held your child, your angel, walk away. They laughed, now satisfied that the imposter was captured, and started to talk about going back to the city like heroes.
You screamed.
Your scream traveled far and wide, causing the earth to shake, glass to shatter, and the wind to howl wildly. Watching your child taken away from you, barely a day old, made you snap and your protective motherly instincts take over. Overhead the clouds darkened, and the ground shook more fiercely as everyone around you stepped away in fear, watching you wide-eyed as your eyes glowed fiercely. Glaring down at the guards who tried to 'arrest' you, your power sizzling in your veins and your heart aflame with fury. Thunder howled, lightning struck behind you, and the winds picked up in intensity. Your hair wildly moved, but your eyes remained on the guards.
"Is this what you want?"
"If you think you are a hero,
then die like one!"
The earth opened on the guards, who previously were about to celebrate your arrest, and they fell. Their screams were echoing in your ears but you didn't care. Your gaze fell on the other guards, who were currently shaking in fear as Diluc, Childe, Eula, and Yae Miko were staring at you in surprise, wide-eyed as slow understanding reflected in their eyes.
The guard lowered your baby to the shaking ground, yelping when the earth raised the baby carefully. You coo'ed as you approached your little one and held them in your arms again, your anger appeased for now. Just then, Zhongli and the others arrived, stopping in their tracks to marvel at the mess around you. The Archons approached you, but a glare from you stopped them on their tracks. They all kneeled, and let their heads touch the ground as they muttered apologies.
You didn't have the energy, nor the capacity for forgiveness right now. The rage still looming under your skin, flushing it red as the only thing stopping you from killing the last guard was happily squealing in your arms, softening your eyes and bringing a gentle smile. The guard backs away, collapsing to the ground and shaking as they blinked. They stared at their hands with wide confusion and horror, the act coming back to him slowly. The small whispers of apologies fell from him but reached deaf ears.
You turned your back and waved, the earth raising in front of the characters as you left towards the nearby forest.
Once you calmed down, you will decide what to do, but for now...
You will retreat into the protective embrace of the forest.
Note: Woooooo, this was my longest fic yet. Originally I was going to make it so much darker and more detailed but decided that this was enough. Maybe I will make a darker version another time, but this definitely took most of my angst away, if not all of it. I do want to say I was listening to amazing songs from Cami-Cat, the main one being this one for the sad undertones and this one for the rage and most of the storytelling. Definitely listening to the latter one for more inspiration for another fic I got in the works, so will also probably link it over there as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, tootles!
Edit: IT HAS BEEN PROOFREAD NOW WOO