Taking over the Abyss

43- Into the Deep

Taking a deep breath to calm your nerves, you walked alongside Kokomi up the small set of stairs to the makeshift stage. It'd been set up for the announcement of the Vision Hunt Decree being repealed, which you had completely slept through due to exhaustion. When you had finally woke up it was a day later, and you were underneath a table in Enjou's cabin. Once you had fully recovered from your exhaustion, it was time to make the announcement about you going down into Enkanomiya.

Honestly you didn't really give a shit what the people of Watatsumi Island thought of you going down there. But you had to keep up the appearance of a do-no-wrong leader to try and prevent any sort of backlash. So you weren't exactly enthusiastic about this whole thing. From the looks of the wary faces of the people who had gathered to hear Kokomi out, neither were they. At least you weren't alone in that.

Uncaring of the fact that just about everybody wanted to be anywhere else, Kokomi cleared her throat to make the official announcement, "People of Watatsumi, please listen! I've gathered you today to make an important announcement regarding one of the Captains of the Resistance. As per an agreement we made prior to her recruitment, she will be allowed to go down into Enkanomiya."

Many pairs of eyes fell onto you. You gave a slight wave to be friendly, "Hello."

One of the older residents clicked his teeth and turned back to Kokomi, "Lady Sangonomiya, are you sure this is a good idea? What on Teyvat would this outsider gain from going into Enkanomiya?"

"As I said, it was an agreement we made prior to her recruitment," Kokomi answered the grumpy old man.

"But what if she's just going to steal the treasures down there and then sell them?" Another resident worried aloud. Kokomi glanced back to you, seeming taken aback that the people of Watatsumi were putting up this much of a fuss.

"She won't be doing anything like that," Kokomi reassured them, while you watched the citizens closely. It was abundantly obvious that even with your contributions, they didn't trust you one bit. You sighed internally. Maybe forgoing getting involved in all this Inazuma business and sneaking in would've been the better idea after all.

"How can you be sure?" Another older resident pressured Kokomi to reconsider, "This is foolish! Enkanomiya is a highly sacred land, there is nothing to gain from there unless the aim is thievery! What if this is some secret plot by the Fatui?!"

"Oh please," you scoffed, "All those guys know how to do is betray, eat hot chip, and lie."

"Quiet, all of you!" Kokomi clapped her hands together, frustrated by the constant barrage of suspicions, "She will be doing no such thing! Enkanomiya will be used for the purpose of converting members of the Abyss Order onto her side, for the sake of ending the threat they possess to the rest of the world."

The crowd fell silent, their eyes burning holes into you as the stares turned from skeptical to fearful. One of the villagers suddenly gasped in horror before pointing at you, "It's... it's that monster from the Abyss! The one that stole the body of a human!"

What.

Staring confusedly at the crowd, you tried to think of where in the world they got that one from. You had been fairly secretive of who and what you were, not using your Abyssal powers in the presence of large groups of humans. Even in the cases where you did, the people of Teyvat didn't seem to care much beyond 'ooh pretty light'. Even Gorou had heard that you could manipulate Hydro without a Vision and moved on without a second thought other than 'sweet'.

"Where did you hear that?" Kokomi asked, just as curious as you were. You were especially curious as to where the body snatcher part had come from.

The villager explained in a panic, "There was a monster from the Abyss in Mondstadt that claimed to have a name, and then a few weeks later, a human with the same name popped up in Mondstadt!"