When the Stars Fall [Genshin Impact]

Chapter 17: Farewell of the Land of the Free

“I denounce the world…and laugh in its face!”

There were many things in this world that Scaramouche condemned as evil; if not everything.

Their status and power did not matter to him, whether it were the people who lived in the world, the gods who ruled over them, the creators, the deities, the divine. Everything and everyone was no more than the other, all comprised of the same thing - worldly filth, the same thing that had corrupted, defiled, even, his empty chest.

“My chest will never again be defiled by worldly filth.”

He would turn his back on the world, for the world had never once shown its face to him; leaving him nothing but betrayal, anger and deception.

And what of his plans for the future?

Scaramouche would patiently wait, biding his time until it was right. As soon as Tartaglia secured the Geo gnosis, the Fatui would move onto seizing the Electro gnosis. In fact, he would make sure he was the one to seize the Electro gnosis.

Perhaps ‘seize’ was not the right term. He was only going to reclaim what was rightfully his. A supreme gnosis, brimming with pure, unbridled divinity and power. It was his - it belonged to him, no less, to Scaramouche, the first puppet of Raiden Ei; not just some secondary, lesser who came into being after him or the Electro archon herself. No, she had been more than ready, more than happy to part ways with the gnosis.

Il Dottore, the second of the Fatui Harbingers, had been the one responsible for unsealing his power and enhancing it beyond comprehension. He had ties in Sumeru - according to his sources, there were rumours circulating about corruption within the famed Akademiya’s sages. Of course, these were hushed things, barely whispered in the streets, but rumours nonetheless.

Perhaps that sparked an opportunity. A little string-pulling here and a little interference there would surely plant some seeds for the future. If not, then, a little bit of misinformation couldn’t hurt anybody, could it?

But until then, there was a long, long way to go. And there were a multitude of things Scaramouche had to do first…which brought him back to his present work-in-progress.

Scaramouche was curious to know - could just about any living person become a vessel, just as he were? Could anybody be granted powers of the divine? How could a living, breathing, sentient being be expected to erase all emotion? Was it even possible?

Could somebody truly live without emotions? An empty husk of an organism, wandering in society, hopelessly unable to feel anything but numb.

But Scaramouche didn’t want a regular, visionless person. He needed a mortal who was able to control Electro - but not just that - one that could control the element of Electro well enough that it would not be a hindrance in his testing.

And it seemed this little project was off to a spectacular start. The anomaly he had identified had walked right into his trap. The letter he had wrote, so meticulously crafted in a way to pique her curiosity and still keep her somewhat in the dark of the grand scheme of things.

Still, he had wondered if it was too obvious. Perhaps she was too caught up in her actual task at hand, and was too busy with the meteorites?

Whatever. Things would soon become clear to both him and her in the near future.

***

The first thing you noticed when you came to was the fact that it was dark. Strangely dark. The world was blurry as you opened your eyes. You moved your arms up to rub your eyes - and then realised you couldn’t.