Verisimilitude (GI Various x Reader)

Chapter Twenty-Two (Viatrix Arc I: Start)

        There's something about sleeping in one's own bed after a long time being away from home that brings a sense of comfort as you fall asleep. Yet, whenever I close my eyes, I see the sky aflame, no not just the sky- the whole world on fire. Monsters rise up from the Abyss and darkness clouds the light, leaving nothing but the burning flames to light the world.

"Why do I keep seeing those images? Are those images of the future? Or something else?" I mutter to myself, under my breath. I shake my head.

"It's probably nothing. Maybe I should just lay down for a while." The moment my head hit the pillow, I lost all sense of reality. The next time I opened my eyes, a figure stood before me, her body facing away from me. However, when she turned around, I felt my breath catch in my throat. The Raiden Shogun is before me. Yet, something is different about the Raiden Shogun compared to the visions I've seen of her. Her expression is softer and her eyes much kinder compared to the expressionless expressions the Raiden Shogun would normally be seen with. The Raiden Shogun in my visions is almost puppet-like compared to the living and breathing one before me. Looking around, I notice how strange the landscape is. The buildings on fire unfamiliar and the theme unknown.

"Where am I?" I asked myself, not expecting a response from the Raiden Shogun before me, as I was almost certain this was just a dream, but I wasn't sure if it was same sort of dream like the one with Guizhong and Morax.

"Khaenri'ah." Wait, can she actually see and hear me? Is this another dream about the past?

"This isn't a dream? But what else could this be if Khaenri'ah was destroyed five hundred years ago?" The Raiden Shogun before me gave a bitter sweet smile.

"I see. A higher power had a hand in this fateful meeting. It was destiny that we'd meet here, at this time and this hour." She explained. I couldn't help the frown that settled on my lips.

"A higher power? Like a god or something?" I asked her. She nodded, her eyes gentle and unlike the Raiden Shogun I know of today. There's no way the two of them are the same person. She approaches, her scent wafting in the air like the blooms of the Sacred Sakura. In her hair, a fan accessory with a little butterfly adorned her long braid. She reaches out, cupping my cheek with a soft tenderness un-befitting for a strange woman the Archon had just met.

"I believe I won't make it past this day. As much as it pains me to cause "her" even more grief, I know she will never be alone. For there will come a day where she meets the one to break through her stubbornness and help her see what I've always seen. That there's beauty in transience. In the fleeting moments..." She pauses, her gentle eyes turning sorrowful. Whoever this woman is that the Raiden Shogun is upset for must be someone extremely important to her.

"What is your name, child?" I want to retaliate and say that I'm not a child, but in an Archon's eyes, I may very well be. Yet, I hesitate in telling the Archon my name. This is the past, after all. My presence here will be remembered throughout the ages by those present.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you my name, as I'm not aware of what may happen due to the consequences of such an action. However, I can tell you a bit about myself." I offered her. She gives me a small smile back.

"I'll take it."

"Well then." I stand up a little straighter, holding my hand to my chest.

"In my time, I'm known as the Oracle Knight. I'm from Mondstadt and I'm on a journey to find my parents. They've been missing ever since I was sixteen..." I frowned softly at the thought of my parents.