acquirement | ic inbox

{ but he isn't from liyue, which is why he listens intently as she explains, his hand pausing in his sketching to give her the attention this conversation deserves. }

I see. I suppose it was important at the time, even if you didn't want it falling into mortal hands? People are after all rather greedy and twisted, it could do more harm than good.

[She hums out a little chuckle.]

I wasn't really thinking of it like that, but I suppose that's one thing to consider as well. [Her pencil taps against the paper as she looks out over the view.]

I had to keep it out of the hands of other gods, too. Not every participant in the Archon War would have had the best interests of humans in mind had they been able to claim a seat.

{ he sets down his pencil for a moment, hand instead raising to his mouth. }

Mm, admittedly I don't think many of the other gods would have been as considerate as you are either.

Mhm, that was my point.

[In the end, at least for Liyue, it seems to her that they got the best of the bunch. Zhongli would be a fine leader for them and hopefully he would have been able to take all of the things she had taught him over the years to heart.]

... Are the Archons good to you all, Ayato? Do they rule well?

{ he laughs under his breath at that. }

My answer would need to be 'yes' no matter what I think, you realise? That's hardly a question anyone would be able to answer honestly if they felt any differently.

And why not?

[Her brows lift slightly, curious. The answer itself as well as the way he gives it perplexes her.]

Do they all rule with such an iron fist that you fear speaking a word against them even when they aren't present in a world in which they would have no power even if they were?

{ he doesn't look her in the eye, instead gazing off to their surroundings as he considers the best way to answer her question. }

I can only speak of the archon I serve, not any others. { he pauses there, picking up a small bottle of paint to hold between his fingers. } But that archon already created a decree that would forcibly take away people's visions and left them empty. It has, thankfully, since been abolished and those visions were returned to their rightful owners, but I'm sure you can understand my lack of trust now.

[She looks up at him quietly while he speaks and then away, frowning softly towards the distant, golden-hazed horizon of this pocket realm.]

I can.

[Then she shakes her head. Of course it would be too much to expect that every individual who made it to one of the seats would be one who would rule with a fair and just hand, but still...]

Not all those who fought in the Archon Wars were kind beneath their ferocity, and nor were all of them wise.

{ he isn't giving her the full details, not telling her about how he'd enabled a resistance army to enter his archon's domain to fight back. effectively treason, in a way, but given how things have changed for the better he'd never regret it either. }

So it would seem. Thankfully we were blessed by a wandering Traveler who came to our aid. I'm not sure how much longer things would have gone on for otherwise. My family has served the Raiden Shogun for generations. My parents constantly spoke about how blessed we were, to serve our god. I admit, I've never really understood why.

When something goes on for that long, it can be difficult to understand how things might ever be different. Things that once truly were blessings can become anything but.

[She doesn't need to know the rest in order to understand. The lives of humans are short and they are comfortable in their patterns and traditions. That Ayato's family would serve this Shogun for generations without question isn't so strange a thought.]

Though, sometimes... all it takes is one person to raise an objection. Or a question.

{ his smile tightens a little at that. }

Perhaps so. Unfortunately, while my faith in the Raiden Shogun is very limited, I still want the best for the citizens of Inazuma. I've upheld my position for my family, and for those other people.

And there's very little a mortal can do against a god.

[She won't pretend to understand his position entirely. To do so would be an injustice to him and the life he's had, the difficulties he and Inazuma have faced under an uncaring god, but she can't help but bristle against the injustice of it.]

Maybe so.

[Guizhong has never discounted the ability of mortals, but in this he is right. There is little they can do against the power of gods.]

But should the Raiden Shogun make an appearance here... [An unfortunate possibility.] She will be speaking to me.

{ he wasn't there when it all went down, but he's heard the stories. the shuumatsuban were able to keep their eyes on the situation, after all, and everyone knows how kazuha stopped her attack. not to mention the traveler's bravery and perseverance. }

The Traveler would know better than I on the details as to why, but things have started to change again now, at least.

The Traveller?

[Please, Ayato, have pity on this poor adeptus from some thousands of years in the past. She simmers down a little from her irritation at the idea that one of those who came out of the Archon War could behave like that towards the humans they were supposed to be watching over.]

Who is that?

Mm... That really depends on who you speak to.

{ he settles with mixing paint onto a mixer tray, probably swirling it a lot more than needed as he thinks of how to explain it. }

Recently a Traveler arrived in Inazuma. For me it was a woman named Lumine, for my sister, a man named Aether. It's a strange situation as it seems that both of them experienced the same events, helped different nations in the same way. But some of us remember one of them, others of us remember the other.

I see... that is strange.

['Strange' is a rather tame word for it, perhaps, but she's trying to keep the general direction of the conversation a light one.]

I've never heard of anything like it, but then... [Hmm. She makes a vague gesture around herself.] The two of us are separated by thousands of years. Who is to say that the magic that brought us here could not also find two people separated by what could amount to a single choice they made?

Indeed. To explain further, they are twins who are searching for the other. From what I understand, their journey is taking them country to country to try and track the other down.

{ he frowns. }

Though I couldn't say if a single choice would say who was where between them.

Of course not, that was taking a more simple view of things that what is likely the reality.

[But this has distracted her from the work she brought over to keep him company with. Guizhong leans back on her hands and watches the line of the horizon.]

How interesting. Lumine and Aether, you said? Are they both here?

They're both here, yes. Lumine has been here as long as I have, if not longer. Aether arrived around a month or so after.

{ he'll keep talking, but he does start to apply the paint on the canvas now, eyeing the landscape in front of himself to try and copy its likeness. }

Hmm, I see. I think I've spoken to Lumine already.

[So that may give her something to go on should she decide this is interesting enough to follow up. In the meantime, while Ayato gets to his painting, Guizhong settles herself forwards and begins to pore over a half-finished sketch.

It's nice to have the company.]

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finish up?