Verisimilitude (GI Various x Reader)

Chapter Twenty-Three

        Lumine's gaze bore into me as we walked out of Mondstadt. I could tell she wasn't buying what I'd said back in the tavern. I fight the urge to sigh. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't even dare think about telling them what I've been seeing in my dreams. But yet, Lumine is someone I can trust. She is an outsider in the world of Teyvat. A neutral party just trying to find her brother and go on her merry way. She wouldn't blab about these dreams. Unlike Paimon... She'd say something without even thinking twice. Perhaps I should say something about them the next time Lumine and I are alone...

It took no time at all for us to reach the Temple of the Falcon, what with it being just outside the city. Dainsleif was already there waiting for us. He doesn't turn when we approach him. Instead, he stares up at the entrance, his eyes narrowing.

"This abandoned temple does bear some marks of the Abyss. The Falcon of the West... though it can soar in the wind, it ultimately does naught but hover under the light of the gods..." Lumine frowns beside me.

"What are you talking about?" She asks him. He glances over, his deep sapphire blue orbs staring down at us.

"Mm? Oh, it's nothing. Let's head inside." He shakes his head and then proceeds to enter the temple. The three of us share a look and follow after him. Once inside, Dainsleif glaces around at the ruins of the temple within.

"The scent of the Abyss is getting stronger. It's not far now." He mentions and proceeds forward. Paimon floats beside Lumine and I as we follow him.

"Paimon wonders what the Abyss Heralds look like. Do they look something like the Abyss Mages?" Paimon asks. Dainsleif doesn't elaborate.

"Let's head further in first. If we do see that creature, that'll spare me the explanation either way." The enemies inside the temple were no match at all for the combined powers of Lumine, Dainsleif and myself. They were mostly Hilichurls and Abyss Mages controlling them. No sign of anything stronger than an Abyss Mage. Dainsleif frowns at this revelation.

"Just a few Abyss Mages? Seems like that Herald might have already left." He mutters.

"Could you tell me more about the Abyss Order?" Lumine asks him.

"The Abyss..." He trails off for a moment, seeming to find the right words to say. "It is chaos, and it is also destruction. It is a morass of inconceivable madness that encroaches upon this world's very foundations. That... is why even the Dragon of the East, a servant of a deity, was unable to resist its corrosive powers. And the creatures of the Abyss desire nothing less than the overthrow of a world ruled by the archons." He explains. He then turns his attention over to me.

"Yet, somehow, you were able to be completely cleansed of the Abyss's corrosive powers. A feat not even the gods of Celestia can achieve." My eyes widened slightly. He's right. Venti's Gnosis only stalled the corruption from spreading through my body and taking me over completely. A being of higher power- higher than even Celestia- had to of played a role in my purification. My thoughts return back to the name Makoto had given me.

Istaroth.

Just what role does this supposed God of Time play in all of this? Was this god the one who healed me? If so, does that mean they're a higher power than even Celestia?

"I..." The words fall flat in my throat as I find I'm unable to say anything; as, I'm currently not sure about what is going on myself. I never put much thought into the one who saved me nor their reason. Too much was going on at the time and I never found the opportunity to take a step back and review everything that had happened back then.