AMONG MIST • GI

13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN ;
VORTEX

ACT ONE ;
NEW LAND, NEW LIFE

I was starting to think the rain was made by the obnoxiously large serpent thing that had emerged from the sea.

Did I mention how big it was?

Yeah, it was fucking huge

So we did everything any other protagonists would do and ran straight towards it! Mostly because Aether actually cared that there was a possibility of Liyue getting blasted to smithereens, but I was just happy the sadistic (possibly masochistic as well) was gone and I didn't have to stare at his face for any longer.

The floating house, that was defying the laws of gravity, maneuverd slowly towards the ominous beast as we both looked on, sprinting like our lives depended on it.

It didn't take long for us to catch up and hop onto the sluggishly moving palace. We weren't the only ones there either.

A rich looking woman decorated in gold and white, an emo guy, an old lady, a purple haired girl and anither with horns protruding through her head.

Not only that, there was also a zoo! Two birds that were also huge and a reindeer.

"Why are you here?" a frustrated voice caught our attention, "And who are you?"

"Wait! The adepti are here? Paimon thought you guys were fighting with the Qixing! Is the fighting over?"

The much more poised woman started approaching us, "Faced with such calamity of this magnitude, we have agreed to put our differences aside now and unite against this comman enemy" she explained.

The reindeer huffed in distaste.

The duo beside me nodded in understanding whilst I was wondering how in the hell was the reindeer even making human noises.

"Paimon gets it... But how are you going to defend Liyue?" the pixie whined slightly, "Seeing the Lord of the Vortex guy puts a pit at the bottom of Paimon's tummy, even from here."

The girl with the pruple hair came closer as well, observing the monster, "It's not just you. We've got new millelith recruits who can't even stand at attention without shaking. The presence of an ancient god is proving to be to much for normal people to handle." she crossed her arms in determination, "this is why we must stop it from getting any closer to Liyue Harbor!"

'who tf are these people?'

"So the archon war was fought against enemies like that thing? So scary!" Paimon shivered slightly.

"So the power of the Qixing, Millelith and adepti together can stop that god?"

The taller woman started talking again, "We've already discussed that together and... Not necessarily"

"WHAT?!" Paimon shrieked in panic, "But you're all the guardians of Liyue, can't you think of something?!"

The white and blue bird now started to (unnaturally) started to explain, "One certainly could"

'

were birds always able to talk?'

"The Qixing did once research the matter of the Guizhong Ballista when it piqued their fancy" it continued. "and as fate would have it, one who did create the Guizhong Ballista with one's own hands, is here"

'it doesn't have hand though–'

"For what could mortals ever laern of the Adepti mechanisms? Yet it would take one but a little tinkering to have this ballista into an engine far beyond your wildest thoughts"

The white haired woman chuckled lowly, "a blessing from the adepti that we should be thankful for." she closed her eyes in thought before nodded to herself, "So be it. We shall use the upgraded Guizhong Ballista to fight off that God. All the adepti here can use their strength to man it."

She put her hands into some sort of casting position, "We have no moment to spare. Our battle begins now!"

'finally, I haven't trained in a while'

I didn't exactly enjoy fighting, but it would feel nice to give my arms and legs a stretch after running around a city giving passerbys coffin coupons.

A golden light then enveloped her form and she was suddenly up in the air. Doing some hand movements, a silhouette of a flower came from the tips of her fingers and a ring formed around the front of the floating building. The flower pattern then became solid ground, transparent, but solid.

Three beams of blue light then appeared and the three non-human forms took their place on them. Then, attacks from the contraptions started to shoot towards the God and dealt continous devastating blows.

Whilst they were attacking, black holes started to form on the platform and soldier like people started to emerge from them.

The blonde beside me gasped, "The Fatui!"

"What's a Fatui?" I asked in confusion as I watched the wierdly dressed people run out.

A bright idea seemed to pop into the travelers head, he knew how much I hated ginger (though for no personal reason)

"They're the people who work under Childe!"

'childe? I've heard that name...'

He seemed to of noticed the confusion and shouted, "GINGER!" a little too loud.

"oh" I muttered darkly.

That gave me a reason to hate them, so I wouldn't feel bad for attacking them.

The purple haired girl shot off towards them to protect the ballistas with blondie following on close persuit, so I followed as well taking the other machine.

I jogged over to the ballista and approached what looked to be 2 fat men with both jet and light blue backpacks on, another man in red and 2 girls with purple attire. This didn't include the rest still coming from the portals.

The two backpacked men turned around, noticing my not so subtle enterance, causing a domino effect and all the others to cease attacking the contraption and instead charging at me.

"Oh? You're all approaching me? With such confidence as well? I'm afraid it's futile to try and win against me. If you don't go back, you won't make it out – feel free to stay though, I'm more than happy to take care of you all here and now"

I withdrew my sword and watched with an uninterested expression as they all came at me at once.

══════════════════

yes that was a Jojo reference 😕