Work Text:
As various black-clad stage crew rushed around to finish preparations for the recording, one broke away and went onto the stage to hand a bottle of Fontaine-style soda to the short man sitting relaxed in a chair.
Though he was Inazuman, from the breast pocket of his frayed jean jacket hung an Anemo Vision with a distinct Sumeru lining. In fact, his entire outfit seemed to stem from all over the continent. His glasses were a stylish frame from Natlan glassworkers, the hoodie under his jacket sporting the emblem of The Steambird newspaper and the sneakers on his feet were from AirWisp, the Mondstat sporting shoe line. His violet eyes kept looking around and taking in his surroundings as he finished the soda and passed the bottle to a crew member, sitting up straight with a polite smile and speaking with a raspy voice that didn’t fit his small stature.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
A blonde woman appeared and sat down across from him with a genuine smile. Good, the man liked it when television personalities were genuine. It was so easy to tell when the kameras were edited to make smiles look nicer, he thought.
“Thank you so much for joining us today. I know traveling to Fontaine is hard this time of year, but we all at The Steambird Streaming are so thankful to have you here Mister…”
“Raiden, Mister Raiden.”
“Mister Raiden.” She snorted softly. “To reiterate what the producers have told you, we’re making a documentary about the history of Teyvat. As one of the surviving Eternals from the golden age of adventuring and the descent of Celestia, we wanted to know firsthand what was happening during this time.”
Mister Raiden snorted as well, continuing to look around before focusing on the interviewer. “‘Eternals’, is that what we’re being called now? I remember when we were just called gods, adepti and youkai. Eternals is nice, easier to say than going down a list. So… what do you want to know about life in Teyvat 1,500 years ago?”
“You speak so casually about being friends with adepti and youkai.” The woman marveled. “Most of us humans would never dream of meeting them.”
“To be fair, I’ve had a youkai as my step-mother and an adeptus as my best friend for a millennia.” He laughed. “It may sound ridiculous, but us Eternals do all mostly know each other. Granted, I’ve never wanted to interact with any of the remaining Fatui Harbingers that somehow haven’t kicked it yet, but that’s neither here nor there.”
“Youkai step-mother…” the interviewer narrowed her eyebrows. “Oh! You mean Guuji Yae Miko! I never knew she was married to the Raiden Shogun back in the day.”
He laughed again. “Oh, no, she wasn’t married to the Shogun. The Raiden Shogun is my younger sister, our mother is Raiden Ei, the god of Inazuma. That can get confusing since Sho and Mom share a body, but you can tell the difference by their eye color. Sho’s eyes are more blue while Mom’s are more pinkish-purple. And they weren’t married in the traditional sense. Mom and Miko were always close, even before Mom was the Electro Archon. After Auntie Makoto died, it was just the two of them taking on the world. Miko was Mom’s voice of reason for a millennia. So when Miko decided to ascend to the spirit world about five centuries ago to join the rest of the youkai… it took Mom a bit to come around. It helped having me and Sho there, and some of the other Eternals were there, too, but it took a lot to keep her from vanishing back into the Plane of Euthymia.”
“You’ve been referring to the Raiden Shogun as ‘Sho’, isn’t Raiden Shogun her title?”
“You’d think that, yeah? But you see, my Auntie Makoto was Raiden Makoto. Mom is Raiden Ei. I was Raiden Kunikuzushi before adopting the name Wanderer and then just dropping a first name all together after Miko left. Raiden Shogun is her title, yeah, because she was designed to be the Shogun… but Mom also accidentally made her first name Shogun!” He burst out laughing, taking a bit to catch his breath before sighing. “Yeah… Sho’s still learning to be more of an independent thinker, but that’s hard when you’re built to be a vessel for Eternity itself. Not to mention she once fought countless battles against Mom to sustain Eternity. Gods and their willpower, always forgetting that we’re made from the same materials as humans. Well, metaphorically speaking. I myself am made with nuts and bolts.”
He demonstrated by rolling up his jacket sleeve and showcasing the ball-joint of his wrist to the kamera. The interviewer marveled at it before looking back at her notes and clearing her throat. “Earlier you mentioned that you also have adepti friends?”
Raiden nodded and folded his hands on his lap. “I was referring to Ganyu of the Liyue Qixing. It was a shame we only met after Morax’s passing, but ever since then we’ve been close. Most of the other adepti decided to continue to remove themselves from humanity after their Prime Adeptus passed, but not Ganyu or Yanfei, who was the Tianshu for a number of decades before age caught up with her, too. Ganyu’s one of the only few beings in the entire world who can recall the Archon War and actively participated in it. She may just be the quiet Yuheng now, but you shouldn’t ever underestimate anyone older than more than half of the ex-Archons. She also has exquisite tea taste.”
“And how do you two take your tea?”
“As bitter as possible.” His smile looked more like a sneer. “The more bitter, the better. If it doesn’t put a grown man through a wall by just smell alone, then we don’t want it.”
The interviewer let out a giggle that turned into a full, hearty laugh. Raiden joined her and even the kamera crew starting laughing for a while at the absurdity of Raiden’s words before everyone calmed down. She brushed her hair behind her ear and took a deep breath.
“It sounds like you have connections all over the place.”
“It wasn’t always this way. I started out as a wanderer and then became Lesser Lord Kusanali’s personal assistant because I have enough Archon Residue in me to patch into Irminsul. Did that for a few centuries and got to meet a lot of the other Eternals.”
“And you said you were there for the Rite of Passage for Morax?”
“Not the Rite of Passage, no.” Raiden shook his head. “A few centuries later, long after Morax came back to Teyvat from Celestia, he ended up succumbing to Erosion and died. We were all there, all of the gods and adepti we could find. You see, usually when a god dies, there’s a giant explosion of power as their magic shoots out of their form. Erosion degrades the mind of gods to the point where they become too weak to keep up with their powers. That’s what happened with Azhdaha, Dvalin, a few minor deities in Inazuma, they all just fade and explode. Not Morax. We had all prepared ourselves for his death to create a second Chasm, but instead, he simply sat down in Nantianmen under Azhdaha’s tree, and looked at all of us before turning to dust…” his voice trailed off as his eyes went distant. “… I’ve seen the birth and death of many gods and humans, but none were so peaceful as his. It was… it wasn’t sad, no… it was more like catharsis? Morax was over seven thousand years old at that point, he was ready to go and finally, finally leave his country in proper care. I think that’s why Ganyu finally took a position in the Qixing, she decided to step up and watch over the Liyue people.”
“You know a lot about Liyue history, Mister Raiden.”
“I’ve lived through some of it.” He responded, blinking and shaking his head. “Anyways, what’s next?”
The interviewer looked at her notes. “Oh, uh, what would you say has been the biggest change since the golden age of adventure?”
“Biggest change? Probably the invention of cars for sure. Cars and trucks made shipping and exporting over land much easier. It’s easier to speed past a group of slimes than to buy some muscle to get rid of them. I own a car myself, even though I can fly. They’re just comfortable.”
“But with cars also came more paved roads.”
“True, but with cars also came the Electro Crystal market skyrocketing to relevancy and the repurposing of the Mikage Furnace has opened up countless new jobs. Even with a decline in mercenary work, there’s more opportunities to be found in steel working. I also have faith in the historical departments of the nations. When you’ve got people like Grand Master Klee, Ganyu and even myself whose entire jobs are preservation of culture and nature, we’re not worried at all about losing what we come from. In fact, the ingenious ways we’ve found to incorporate the new technologies with the traditional style buildings always lets the artists in us run wild. You can’t drive a car across the Apam woods, but you can take a Dendro-powered sky ride! Get to see the Varuna Contraption and save some time!” He gestured broadly with his hands.
“So do you deny the rumor that the older immortals are anti-progress?”
“I can’t speak for all of us.” Raiden shrugged. “The adepti are older than any government system in history books. They have their own way of magic engineering that we can never understand. They think humans are fools for some things but genius for others. There’s not an immortal being in this world that would say they want to totally leave behind our traditional way of life, but you’ll find the majority of us are embracing this change and adding to it ourselves.”
“And the theory that Visions are becoming obsolete? The number of allogenes in the world has dropped since your time.”
Raiden barked in haughty laughter. “That was said about Visions after the Archon War, that was said about Visions after the Cataclysm and that was said about Visions after Celestia fell. If they were obsolete, then people wouldn’t be getting them anymore. Visions are a sign that a god has shown you favor. As long as there are gods, there will be Visions.”
“I see.” The interviewer nodded. “So what would you say to someone who claimed that Visions are symbols of a bygone era of war and Archons?”
“I’d say nothing at all, just laugh at their stupidity.” He sneered again. He then leaned forward in his chair and stared at the kamera. “If anyone is dumb enough to say that Visions have lost their meaning because we don’t have ‘Archons’ anymore, then they haven’t done their research. The notion of ‘Archons’ only came around with Celestia during the Archon War 3,500 years ago. All of the Nations already had gods that ruled the people, that looked after them. Visions were still given out hundreds of years before then, too. Visions are a manifestation of powerful emotions that correspond with an element. The Archons were simply the best gods to represent these elements. So if you valued freedom despite overwhelming obstacles, an Anemo Vision would be summoned through the power of Anemo-aligned gods. For Anemo, that would be Barbatos. Geo was Morax. Electro was Auntie Makoto before my mother. Archon was a superficial title for the defenders of humanity and the representatives of the elements. If someone wants to say that Visions no longer have meaning, they don’t know about the Adventurer’s Guild’s best investigator’s childhood loneliness being enough for her Vision to manifest a talking nightraven made of Electro that’s now considered a guardian deity of the Guild. They don’t know of a young exorcist who would have drowned himself if it wasn’t for a Cryo Vision freezing the water around him. They don’t know of a forest ranger who wanted to live so badly despite how horribly life had treated her, a terminal illness on top of being medically tortured, that it was her Vision that kept her alive long enough to let her see her family again and for her illness to be cured. Visions are physical manifestations of strength, of a will to live. Anyone who says otherwise can get fucked.”
The interviewer stared at him for a second before clearing her throat again. “Very wise words, Mister Raiden. I’ve only got a few more questions, are we okay to continue?”
“Yeah, no, yeah.” He sat back once more and cleaned his glasses on his hoodie. “Sorry, passionate speeches aren’t usually my thing.”
“It’s alright, it does make for good content. Are those prescription?”
“These?” He held up his frames. “Yeah, they are.”
“Really? You said that you were an artificial human, I suppose I thought that meant that your features didn’t really deteriorate.”
He snickered. “I’ll take that as you complimenting my appearance despite my age. And I’m a puppet, not a human. Albedo may not be able to deteriorate, but I can if I don’t keep up with my health. My body’s been fine the past few hundred years but recently my eyes are starting to go. Give them another century and I’ll most likely be legally blind. Until I can track down someone to fix them, I just wear glasses.”
“Who would even be qualified to repair them, I’d I may ask?”
“Usually my mom or one of the adepti. Even Albedo is technically qualified. Though I try not to bother any of them unless I have to. Albedo especially, he’s always hiding up on Dragonspine and refuses to buy a phone. Seriously, how can anyone be alive in this day and age without a phone?! Confuses me, but I digress. Really anyone with a Dendro Vision or some godly powers can repair me. Lesser Lord Kusanali is my current plug.”
“Fascinating. You mentioned that you became Lesser Lord Kusanali’s assistant after she returned to power, did you ever interact with the famed Traveler from another world?”
Raiden nodded before rolling his eyes. “Who didn’t interact with them? Insufferable do-gooder who can’t mind their own business. But… they saved my life a few times. I can’t deny they were good for this world. Not to mention we as all of Teyvat owe them a lot. It’s a shame they left, they would have loved to learn to drive.”
“What was it like when they left? Some people believe that the Traveler didn’t even exist, that they were just a symbol of humanity’s rebellion against Celestia.”
Raiden huffed at that statement. “Conspiracy theorists need to go touch some grass and get smacked by a Dendro core. The Traveler was a supernova, barreling into Teyvat and doing good without expecting much in return besides asking where their missing twin was hiding. Manipulating the elements without a Vision wasn’t unheard of, but to the extent that the Traveler could? They were a master. There’s a reason they became the First Sage of Buer, took on Focalors in court and won, braved the lighting’s glow. I remember when they left Teyvat at the end of their journey. It was…” He sighed and slumped a little in his chair. “It was like a star in the sky had gone out. There was a period of time when all of their friends were in a slump, waiting for them to come back…”
He sat there in silence for a bit before the interviewer leaned forward.
“Mister Raiden?”
He snapped out of it and cleared his throat, sitting back up. “Sorry, got lost in thought. Anyway, after they left, we all sort of came to the same conclusion: it didn’t matter if they were coming back or not. What mattered was if we chose to continue to be better people. So we did, I did. I’m proud of the progress we all made.”
“And I’m sure the Traveler would be proud, too.” She smiled warmly. “Do you mind elaborating more on this progress?”
“I don’t mind. The Traveler’s mortal friends took it better than the Eternals.” Raiden smiled to himself like he was remembering a joke. “I half expected Barbatos to take on the Traveler’s face, but he didn’t. Thank gods. Instead, he and Conqueror of Demons started traveling together.”
“Conqueror of Demons?”
“The last of the Liyue Yakshas. General Alatus was his name when he served with Morax, but not many know his real name. I certainly don’t. There’s a magic seal around it, only those he trusts with his name can use it to summon him. He used to be the stuff of legends, but I haven’t heard from him since Morax’s passing. Some of the Aranara have told me that he’s going all across Teyvat with Barbatos, I’ll see if I can catch him when I head back.”
“I’ve heard rumors that Aranara are real. They’re Sumeru forest fairies?”
“Oh yeah, and there’s tons of them. They usually only appear to small children or those who have favor with the god of Dendro, but being Lesser Lord Kusanali’s assistant has some benefits.” He crossed one leg over another. “In fact, I’ve already got my Aranara name: ‘Raidenara’.”
The interviewer covered her mouth. “That’s adorable.”
“Isn’t it?” He looked smug. “Hanging out with the Aranara is always a fun time, their unique grasps of human society are always entertaining.”
“Incredible. If I may ask, we’re almost done, do you think you’ve changed much since the fall of Celestia?”
Raiden thought for a moment before looking down at himself. “Uhh… yeah?”
“Really?” Her eyebrows shot up.
“Oh yeah. I used to be the biggest asshole on the continent!” He laughed. “Took Buer a few decades to beat it out of me, but I came around. Now, I’m the biggest asshole on the continent and I get paid to do it.”
“There’s money to be made in being an asshole in the preservation industry?”
“Oh no, being Lesser Lord Kusanali is my main gig. On the side, I’m a General Manager for the Tsukumomono Groceries branch in Ritou and at nights I do stand up comedy.”
“That’s quite the resume, Mister Raiden. Alright, one last question: this is the question of the interview that gets sent in by viewers at home in anticipation for our documentary. The viewers want to know…” A television screen was wheeled into view for them before showing the question. “Mister Raiden, if you could go back in time and change one thing, would you still have a favorite type of emergency food?”
Raiden blinked twice at the screen. “Who sent that in?”
“Steambird Streaming User ‘Golden_Nara’?” She read the bottom of the screen. “They are the user that spent the most Mora to have their question make the show… was it a personal question?”
“No, no, it’s fine.” He relaxed in his seat before chuckling to himself. “It’s a hell of a way for someone to say that they’re back, though.”
“Who’s back?”
Raiden looked dead at the kamera and a smile crept onto his face.