For Eternity

For Eternity - IV

The Shogun had just finished her daily schedule. She had a few things discover with the Kamisato Clan, as well as the Kujou Clan. Just a simple conversation about how to protect Inazuma better.

Ei also had a small walk around the city. As she is the Shogun, the citizens of Inazuma were quite surprised to see her yet again outside Tenshukaku. She found a nice spot under a Yumemiru tree and decided to sit down under it. The Sakura leaves perfectly covered the sun light, as Ei started to read the book she had bought with Miko.

Kujou Sara, the second commissioner of the Kujou Clan was just on her way to the encampment. Kokomi from the Watatsumi island had companied her, since they both needed to talk to the Beelzebul. Sangonomiya was amazed by the beauty of the first half of the island, that belonged to the Kujou Clan. Sara opened the gates to the camp itself, and was shocked by what it revealed inside.

All the guards inside the encampment, dead. Kokomi silently walked closer to a certain body and put her hand to the person's neck. They stayed silent for a moment, until Kokomi raised her head to look up at the other, then shook her head.

"How could've this have happened... What happened here...", Sara asked, looking around for any clues. Kokomi took a closer look at some other bodies of the dead people, noticing that they all have one thing in common.

"Sara, do you see this? So far, all of them have this... Mark on their body. It looks like a sunburn, but the spot feels harsh.", Kokomi told. Kujou took a step closer and noticed it too. The she looked at the closest body near, and it was the same.

Suddenly, something caught both of their attention. A map, sitting alone on the ground. Sara quickly grabbed it and took a close look around it. It was the map of the entire Teyvat. It had just one, small red circle, right on the edge of the Starsnatch cliff.

"Looks like we have to take matters in our own hands.", Kujou said and stood up. Kokomi stood up beside her, and put a hand on the other's shoulder.

"You're not going alone. Allow me to help you along the way, you can't go to an unknown land and possibly get lost. Besides, who knows what dangers there might wait for us?", she asked and told. Kujou went silent for a minute, then nodded with a smile.

"So be it. We'll have to tell someone to inform the Shogun about this.", she quickly replied as she started to walk away, leaving Kokomi alone in the encampment. She took one last look at the body in front of her, trying to examine the wound. Kokomi used her healing power against the small scar, which was enough to let the man let out a long catch for breath. This certainly was not what she expected.

"Excuse me, sir. What happened here? I assume someone attacked here, did you see anyone?", she asked constantly. The man kept on taking deep breaths, then turned to the woman in front of him. He tried to get word out of his mouth as he started to tremble, quite fearfully.

"Shh, calm down. Nothing bad will happen. No one is here, sir. Please, talk to me.", Kokomi kept on repeating. The man's breathing got stiffer and stiffer by every second, until he finally screamed.

"S-she's behind you!"

"E-excuse me? Almighty Shogun?", a young boy's voice said, causing Ei to wake up from sleep. She looked around, on her sides, the turned to the boy in front of him. He was holding a plate, where there was three neatly set Dangos.

"I-I am very sorry to wake you up! I just wanted to give you some food as a thank you... Thank you for giving my brother's vision back...", the young one said, slightly trembling. Ei was rather surprised by this, but smiled as she took the three dangos.

"Thank you, young one. Please, give your brother my best regards.", she said with a soft voice, which made the boy smile. He took a small step away from the woman, waved to her, then quickly ran away. Ei looked after the kid, then turned to look back at the dangos. She didn't hesitate to eat one of the dango sticks fully, two of them she decided to keep. She created an Eye of the Storm in front of her as she stood up and walked through it, which teleported her in front of Tenshukaku.

"Shogun, right on time. Kujou Sara ordered us to tell you that she will take her remaining soldiers with her to visit Mondstandt. She didn't give a clear reason why, but-", he got interrupted.

"Hold on. What do you mean 'take her remaining soldiers'?" Ei asked, not turning to the man speaking to her.

"Oh, you haven't heard? There was an attack to the Kujou Encampment, it seems. I heard that a lot of people were wounded, and most were dead.", a guard standing in front of the door said.

"Now, why hasn't anyone informed me about any of this?" Ei stated, looking at both the guard and Takayuki, the man who mentioned in the first place.

"I'm not sure... I thought you were already aware?", Takayuki said with a small shrug. Ei let out a quiet sigh as she opened the doors to Tenshukaku, and closed the doors after entering in.

She placed the dangos down on a table, then sat down on a chair next to a window. She had a perfect view to the grand Narukami shrine, which she couldn't help but stare at. Just seeing the place made her think about the Kitsune woman, which reminded her about her strange dream again. She teleported herself upstairs, right in front of the door to the balcony. She opened the door and started to recreate the scene in her mind. Over and over again. She kept on remembering Miko's words in the afternoon, how her dreams could've been caused by her herself missing Yae's company.

"... Maybe that is just the case... She is very dear to me after all... I was in the Plane of Euthymia for a few years... I... Truly did miss her company...", Ei whispered to herself as she felt few water drops on her cheeks. She looked on top of her, realizing that she had caused a heavy rain to start. She simply shrugged it off and walked back inside, closing the doors once more.

Meanwhile, Sara and the other members of the Kujou Clan were packing up the ship. Everything was ready, everyone was there, except for Kokomi. It made Sara truly anxious, but she decided to think it off as a sign that Kokomi had already left. 'Maybe she went on forward.', she told herself. At that moment, the ship started to move along the waves. It was quite peaceful, if the rain wasn't counted.

"We'll catch the criminal in act before they know it... No one needs to go through that pain anymore... No one will need to be afraid once we return, no one will lose their life again."