Deep Within - Electro | 7SENSES

Chapter One

Words of the old storyteller fled through the quiet night on the streets of the Electro Nation like water flows into a cup.

The Nation ruled by Kong Xiaoyin is the most closed off out of all the nations, of course excluding the Anemo nation ; nobody in the Nation dared to bring up any of the fallen Nations nor their archons, everybody knew not to say a word about the archon of Geo who was wise.

The storyteller, however, was the only one allowed to mention the name of the closed off Nation. He got permission from the archon of Electro herself, Kong Xiaoyin.

Even the Daimyo, as people in the Electro Nation like to call her would sit in occasionally to listen to what the storyteller would say about her beloved friends.

"I believe that was enough storytelling, everybody, go home, now." the Daimyo stood up, motioning with her hand for the people in the building to get out.

"That was excellent" Xiaoyin fixed her Hanfu and layed down about 10 thousand Fenghu, the currency adapted all over the Electro Nation.

"Thank you so much Daimyo! I will make sure to..."

"Don't even finish, I need my rest as well. For now, good night Yibo." Xiaoyin closed their dialogue and walked out of the building graceful as ever.

The storms were extremely strong that night. Lightning struck into hundreds of houses in the Nation, and for the first time in thousands of years, the locals cussed out the Daimyo.

However, Xiaoyin herself wasn't feeling the best, as expected: for the first time in forever, there was a storm in her heart.

The Daimyo was throwing stuff around in her room, yelling at her maids and ripping her favourite hanfus apart. You might ask, why, and that is a completely valid question, however even Xiaoyin had 2 guesses as to what was stressing out about so much:
Either it was the fact that her lover, Sun Rui just cancelled a date on her or the more realistic guess, how she just got a letter from the Xinqui, the Archon of Dendro about how they've been experiencing a lot of wild winds recently.

"Bring my knights. We shall send them to the Dendro Nation. Get Song Xinran as well, she shall deliver our response to Dai Meng. Be quick, I highly doubt we have a lot of time." Xiaoyin finally collected her thoughts and sat down behind her desk.

"Yes ma'am. We will make sure to deliver your letter as soon as possible!" Yuan Yuzhen wiped the blood off her cheek after getting a porcelain cup thrown at her face.

Xiaoyin scribbled down a note with ink onto paper and gave the slip to Yuzhen, folded up.

The head maiden bowed before leaving the room with about 10-30 knights following her.

The Daimyo took a deep breath as soon as the last person left her room, then she layed down onto her bed.

"We're fucked.." she sighed as the storm outside slowly stopped. "It's okay... I should be fine..." Xiaoyin wiped her sweat "Okay, I'll sleep now, then tomorrow I'll figure out the plan for the new battle..." she closed her eyes for the first time in over a week.

"Daimyo, Daimyo! Get up, messengers of Zhao Yue are here!" Yuzhen started violently shaking Xiaoyin and as soon as she heard the name of her old friend, she stood up, fixed her hair and rushed in front of her palace.

The knights of the Anemo Nation slammed their polearms onto the concrete of the street, as the head messager of the Nation, Lu Ting stepped out from behind the knights.

"Ahem..." she rolled out the paper Zhao Yue wrote her message on "Hello dear friend. I've heard you've been well recently. That is not why I'm messaging you today, however. My true intentions shall not be revealed yet, however I will tell you what will happen if you don't send your best fighters to my Nation: we will wipe your precious cities out in a day, and you will not be able to do anything about it. I suggest you follow my orders and pick the right option. With love: Zhao Yue." Lu Ting closed the paper. "You have 1 day to give us 10 of your best fighters. Age doesn't matter. Our representatives are all over the city, you cannot out smart us this time. Goodbye."

Lu Ting turned around and just as fast as they came, they all left.

Xiaoyin was left there speechless, as she turned to Yuzhen.

"Bring them. Give them to Lu Ting. Ask Zixuan who the strongest 10 are. Be quick." The Daimyo instructed the head maiden as she stormed into her castle.

"Xu fucking Jiaqi where are you when I need you?!" she yelled out her window in frustration as the leaving Anemo knights turned towards her, and Lu Ting with a smirk that can make one so annoyed instructed the knights to continue walking out the city.

"Uhm Daimyo..." Song Xinran slowly entered Xiaoyin's room. "Do we still go to the Den..."

"Yes. Go. Now." Xiaoyin clenched her first while looking at the people who will probably destroy her Nation soon, regardless of what she does. "Get the knights I lined up and go. Go as soon as you can. There are food supplies along the way beside the roads, under the pinkish rocks. Hurry now, Xinran" Xiaoyin turned around and gave her most trusted messager a big hug before returning to her balcony.

"Xiaoyin... I..." Xinran's heart beat went up as her dear friend embraced her "I will not let you down, your highness" Xinran bowed, fixed the sword hanging from the side of her belt and rushed to the backyard of the palace.

"I know you're there, Sun Rui. Come out, nobody's here anymore." Xiaoyin called out for her lover who's been hiding in a dresser this entire time.

"Are you sure about this, your highness?" Sun Rui stepped towards Xiaoyin who pulled her in by her waist.

"I am sure than I ever was. If they try anything Yuzhen will make sure they pay." she let go of Sun Rui and stepped back out on her balcony. "For now, let's make sure at least this city will be safe from the Anemo Nation..."

"Yes ma'am" Sun Rui sat down onto the bed and layed down "Ah, I haven't been on silk sheets for weeks! I really missed this feeling." she rolled around on the bed for a bit, then stood up ans fixed her messy Hanfu. "I'll go now, I have to help my father with crafting and stuff. Please take care of yourself Xiaoyin." she gave the Daimyo a kiss on the lips, then left in a hurry.

"I am only doing this for her.." Xiaoyin whispered, still looking out her balcony. "I swear to myself I will protect this place with my life." she stated firmly while her hair got blown by wind. Her demeanour suddenly changed from cold to on alert. "She's close." she stated, rushing down the hallway to the training site.

"Zixuan, get your 10 best fighters, hand them over to the Anemo knights waiting outside, then come consult ke in my office. We need to talk."

"As you wish your highness." she bowed, then turned to her fighters and yelled 10 names.

"I pick them. Yuzhen, lead them to the knight" Zixuan looked at the head maiden, who immediately looked away; they had a romantic relationship before but broke up due to stress.

"Yes ma'am" Yuzhen bowed and started firmly walking towards the front exit this time with only 10 knights following her.

"What a year this is gonna be..." Xiaoyin sighed at the thought of the fact it was only march, and there was already a war cooking up not even that far away...

Not even thinking about what was gonna happen next, she stopped everyone in what they were doing and instructed the Anemo knights to wait until tomorrow..