Chapter Text
Despite the tiredness of your body, you were buzzing with energy. Your heart was racing, breath shaking, sweat dripping, body aching. The struggle to control this tango of death was wearing both you and your brother down against this Abyss Lector who also was worse for wear. Each side bounced back, taking a moment to gather themselves. You gripped your polearm as you stood tall, refusing to allow yourself to look weak in front of the enemy. The being in front of you was one pawn in this game of chess that threatened the balance of this world, and you were not going to let it continue. The cycle with Gods and humans must continue on for the balance of life, and in front of you showed you how severe this threat has become.
"Your blades are well trained," the Lector hissed as he stood tall, "such a waste of potential. You'd be better accepting His love instead of fighting it."
"Like hell we would!" You yelled, holding your polearm next to her body as purple lightning crackled on the ends. "If this is ‘love’, then I’d rather continue being single thank you!"
A sickening laugh ripped from the Abyss Lector’s throat as it held out a hand. "Then may your last moment be seeing the beauty of His salvation. Rise O’ lost ones, be reborn yet again!"
Your eyes narrowed in disgust as you watched the dead fatui bodies become imbue with Cryo and rise once more. You knew that this Abyss Lector was different from the other knowledge out there about it, for the only recent recordings are that of Electro and the “Fathomless One” of Pyro, but the ability to raise the dead- you were disgusted as your determination filled you even greater than before. This is the saddening truth that you learned while searching the lost history of the Gods and Teyvat. Assessing the situation, you prepared for whatever your brother was planning. He was the tactician between the two of you after all.
"Heba, handle the Fatui! I'll keep the Lector busy!"
"Okay!" You shouted confidently as you ran to the side where two out of the four Fatui stood again. You felt the familiar buzzing on your waist as the Electro energy engulfed your polearm before you separated it into halves. "Bast! Sekhmet! I call for your aid!" Once again you call your Electro companions to your side as two large Electro felines join you.
You felt the shockwave from your brother as he also used his elemental burst, the swirls aiding your own damage. With your polearm now as two sickles, nothing could stop you. Each sickle connected to each of the felines, whenever you struck they would as well. The Electro energy lingered with you as you swiftly danced amongst the dead, striking them yet again. You felt pity for the souls of these men. Even if you didn’t agree with the Fatui's attitude and mannerism, life and death are both an inevitable beautiful cycle that should be respected. Not this.
Once you felt the Electro energy begin to leave you, you reunited your polearm into one. Seeing that these two were tethering, you decided to conserve your elemental energy and finish them off before going to the next two. You didn’t stop until you saw the Cryo energy leave their dead eyes as the corpse dropped yet again.
As you begun to focus on the other two, you glanced at your brother to ensure he is well. You hummed as you saw him overwhelm the Electro Lector, however worry filled you due to the fact that you both were struggling earlier together. Having trained and battled for the last few years by each other’s side, you both knew how to move in order to overwhelm your opponent. Never have you dealt with a Lector however. But the look of confidence on his face helped ease your nerves and worries a bit. All you had to do was finish up these last two and join up again in a surprise attack from the back. If you planned your moves just right, you should be able to summon both Bast and Sekhmet again.
Nodding to yourself, you used your elemental skill to mark the two in front of you. A chain linked the two as you began attacking the two. While linked, some of the damage from one would transfer to the other with the purple lightning shocking it. Even though it lasted for a short time, it definitely helped weaken them. Weaving between their attack and landing your blows just right, you felt confident as the plan was coming to fruition. Shooting out the link again, the energy between attacking the two was enough to build up your burst. You laughed a little as victory was so close.
However, just as quickly as you gained the upper hand however, the rugged was pulled from under you. You don’t know what happened, but you heard the most blood curdling scream from your brother. Even though you were mid movement, you quickly looked over only to see him shoot forward to the ground.
“Bingwen!” You yelled out, distracted from your own surroundings. With this opening, you felt a cold slam into your back causing you to cry out in pain. The coldness burned your back worse than any fire you have ever felt.
Losing grip of your polearm and your footing, you fell only to be caught by the two undead men. You tried to fight against them, but the coldness of their touch kept you locked within their grasp. You gritted your teeth and stood as tall as you could, refusing to look weak even if captured.
"If you two stayed together, I admit that I would have returned to the Holy Lands much sooner." The Lector hissed as he now floated in front of you. "But alas, all worked out as planned by His orders. May you be filled with His love as you repent for your crimes."
You eyes kept as slits and you watched the Lector place his hand over your vision. Suddenly, you felt a rush of cold energy burst out against it. You felt your body jolt as a flash freeze rushed over your nerves as your eyes shot wide open. Your cries of pain rang through the cave as you were forced through such torture. The pain caused your ears to ring before the buzzing of your vision burst out in an attempt to shove the Lector away. You couldn’t stay up straight after that, slumping into the hold of the reanimated Fatui men. The exhaustion of your body hit ten times harder as the feeling of coldness crept into your body. You glanced at your brother even if your sight was doubling, only to see actual ice begin to form on his skin. You knew that he was in much worse pain than you and you wanted so badly to reassure him you would be alright. But when the Lector returned to blast your vision with Cryo again, all you could do is cry a blood curdling cry.
This was how you would die, you just knew it. The tango of death you thought you controlled was never in your hands to begin with. You both prepared for a Herald, not this. You gathered as much information as you could to assure you would survive this, but instead you’ll die trying. Amidst the pain and agony, you wanted so desperately to live.
We can’t die like this, you thought as warm tears burned your freezing face, I can’t die like this. Please Gods, save us. Anyone, we cannot be stopped here. Please…
"Time for– Retribution !"
"Bellowing Thunder!"
Amidst the ringing, you heard those voices as the Cryo assault stopped. A flash of fire went past your eyes before you were dropped to the ground. Your body hit the freezing stone like a bag of bricks. You gasped for air, the coolness burning your coarse throat. You don’t know how long you were held like such, but you were grateful for it to finally be over. You could vaguely hear voices as you saw the purple glow of Electro dance on the ground. The tears that burned your face kept going on their own, seeming impossible to stop. So badly you wanted to look to see if your brother was alright, but you struggled to just breathe.
Strong arms lifted you into a hard warmth. You could get glimpses of a fiery red, but your vision kept going in and out as you clung desperately onto reality. As you struggled to look up, you saw the strong chin line of a man with fair skin. It looked as if he were speaking, but you couldn’t hear a single word.
“Is he okay…?” You felt yourself attempting to say, but you couldn’t even hear your own voice in your head.
You then saw fiery red eyes look down at you, acknowledging you. His lips moved yet again, but it was seeing his nod that set you at ease. You felt your face weakly attempt to smile before your eyes refused to stay open any longer. Feeling your head roll back, you slipped into a deep cold rest with a single warmth comforting your body.